Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/520

500 to encounter any regular invading army. They are usually dressed in white or coloured cotton or nankeen jackets and trowsers, with broad-brimmed hats made of straw or other light material: their arms and other equipments are very indifferent: their muskets are of various calibres, and many of them are almost unserviceable: of course, their whole appearance is very far from soldier-like.

The cavalry horses are small but very active and hardy and well adapted to the country: they are never curried or cleaned, and scarcely ever shod. The body of civic or local militia purports to include every male citizen from the age of eighteen to forty-five years: as the population is estimated at two millions, the number of individuals liable to serve in that militia should amount, on an average, to about 250,000: the fact, however, is that, according to the latest returns made up previously to my leaving the country, the actual number enlisted did not exceed 10,000 men. This