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And there’s never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature’s palace.”
The last two verses are especially true, for the insect life is almost incredibly abundant. Mosquitoes and sandflies there are in great numbers to annoy the visitor, and beautifully coloured butterflies upon which to feast one’s eyes. I met three naturalists, who were called “bug hunters” by the people, one of whom was making a collection of dragon-flies, and another butterflies, and the third was gathering specimens of ferns. All of them had visited many parts of tropical America, but they found this section the most fruitful field in each line of research. Bugs and beetles, bees and wasps, ants and plant-lice, moths and spiders, and all the other little crawling and flying forms of life are innumerable in the number of individuals and a multitude in the variety of species represented.
The bright sparkling pools are the haunts of myriads of dainty little humming birds. One naturalist has figured that these little fairy-like creatures equal in number all of the other birds together. They may be seen darting in and out among the flowers or, poised on wings, and clothed in their purple, golden or emerald beauty, hanging suspended in the air. Then, after a startled look at the intruder upon their haunts, turning first one eye and then the other, they will suddenly disappear like a flash of light.
CHAPTER III
THE CAPITAL
Guatemala City long ago laid aside its swaddling clothes. While Boston was yet a mere village, the capital of Guatemala was the abode of one hundred thousand people, and was surpassed in importance only by Lima, Peru, and the City of Mexico. It was the home of some of the most learned men in Spanish-America, the site of great schools of theology and science, the seat of the Inquisition and the headquarters of the Jesuits. The present Guatemala City, however, is the third one to bear that name, the first two having been destroyed by volcanic disturbances. It is now the commercial, political and social centre of the republic, and in it is concentrated the wealth, culture and refinement of the whole country. Because of its superiority over other Central American municipalities Guatemala City has been called the “Little Paris,” a designation very pleasing to the inhabitants of the metropolis of Central America. Its similarity to Paris is about as great as that of St. Augustine to New York.
The present city was founded in 1776, just about the time that the American patriots were breaking the shackles which bound them to the mother country. The former capital, now known as Antigua, was located about thirty miles distant, near the base of the volcanoes Agua (water) and Fuego (fire), the latter so called because formerly it constantly emitted smoke and flames. Suddenly, one evening, earthquake rumblings were heard, intense darkness spread over the valley, and without warning a great deluge of water overwhelmed the city, demolishing the houses and destroying eight thousand of the inhabitants. It was considered a judgment of heaven because of certain impious remarks that had been made. The natural explanation is that the crater of the volcano, then called Hunapu, had become filled with water, the earthquake rent the crater, and the water rushing down in torrents acquired terrific force in its descent of several thousand feet. After the first destruction in this unusual and terrible way, in 1541, the city had been rebuilt in grander style than before and the inhabitants rested in fancied security within the shadow of the lofty volcanic peaks which abound here, and which fill the visitor with a strange awe. These volcanoes had been baptized and received into the church and were supposed to be on their good behaviour. The baptism of the volcanoes did not seem to have a permanent effect upon their disposition, for another eruption accompanied by a severe earthquake destroyed the second capital in 1773.
