The streets are mostly broad, but wretchedly paved, with a considerable declivity on each side, which forms a gutter in the middle, so that while after a heavy shower of rain, they are almost impassable from the sudden stream of water, at other times the sharp pointed and ill arranged pebbles extort groans from the unhappy sufferer, who, in light shoes, is doomed to undergo the miserable penance of passing over them.
In walking through the city, the first thought that strikes a stranger is, that Guatimala is one of the dullest places he has ever entered. This melancholy appearance is chiefly occasioned by the way in which the houses are built. Consisting of only one story, and occupying a great deal of ground, they present to the street only a series of white washed walls and red tiled roofs, with here and there a window, carefully gnarded by large bars of iron, and a pair of massy folding doors, studded on the outside with heavy nails, thus giving to it, at the best of times, more the appearance of a deserted than an inhabited city.
The plaza or market-place is a square of about 150 yards each way, with a fountain in the middle, and besides the daily market, is occupied by numerous temporary shops or stalls, and surrounded by buildings, offices, and shops. Projecting piazzas form a covered walk on three
