Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/168

The village of San Juan de Amatitan, and the town of Escuintla may be termed the fashionable bathing places of Guatimala. The former is situated near the lake of the same name, and has a fine river flowing near it, the waters of which are supposed to be medicinal. The latter which is by far the most frequented, although fifteen leagues distant, possesses a similar stream in which the visiters bathe. This place is infested by vermin of every description, the houses are wretched and the accommodations miserable; the climate is excessively hot, and the town so destitute of every comfort, that even chairs must be brought from Guatimala by the fanciful mortals who arrive for the benefit of their health. In the months of January and February the old and the young, the grave and the gay flock hither to derive as they imagine new vigour from the profuse perspiration they experience, and the bracing influence of this wonder-working water. It is amusing to observe how universally prejudice and fashion lead the world in chains; and one can scarcely restrain a smile at the remembrance that four months after the return of the good citizens of Guatimala, from their beloved Escuintla, the enlightened fashionables of Grosvenor square will be deserting country seats, furnished with every luxury, to crowd themselves into dirty garrets at the “adorable Brighton.”