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OFFICIAL VISIT
[CH. XVII.

CHAPTER XVII.


Description of the Antigua, or Old City of Guatemala.


I had obtained, through the obliging interference of Mr. Bayley, an order to the steward, who inhabited the chateau of the Marquis Ayzenena, to furnish me with accommodation, of which I gladly availed myself; for, as I before said, houses were extremely scarce, and there was no such thing as an inn in the place. It happened that Doña Maria, the daughter of my hostess, had adjourned to this beautiful spot for the purpose of spending a few days on an annual visit to a lady of the name of Doña Joanita de Quiñones, one of the most respectable and, I may add, most numerous families in the place. She was a pleasing little woman of about twenty-six years of age: her husband, much more advanced in life, was a physician, and