CHAPTER VI.
Climate,—Temperature,—Rainy Season,—Thunder Storms,—Earthquakes,—Debility,—Diseases,—Smallpox.
In describing cities, ruins, or romantic scenery, every one is in danger of stating rather the species than the degree of his enjoyment; the latter is almost always exaggerated. And even when this is not the case, so much depends upon the state of the body and mind of the individual at the time he experienced his sensations, that it becomes almost impossible for another following the same route to bear witness to his fidelity, by having enjoyed the same degree of delight, or received precisely similar impressions. But in giving the climate of any country, or part of a country, no such risk is incurred, since of all other things this has least to do with the imagination. It may, therefore, be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that Guatimala literally enjoys a perpetual spring.
Situated at an elevation of about 5000 feet above the level of the ocean, in what are called by the natives, “Tierras Templadas,” or the
