The city of ruins as it exists to-day is a most interesting place to visit, and several thousand people still make it their home. Nearly every ruin houses a family who manage in some way to secure shelter within the broken walls and make a living by carving cane heads or making the doll images and effigies which are used in religious celebrations. The images are about five or six inches high, representing the nativity of Christ and are used at Christmas. It was built on much the same general plan as the present capital, with narrow streets laid out at right angles to each other. It was well provided with religious edifices, for there are the ruins of almost sixty churches that can be traced. They were all of solid masonry, many feet in thickness with vaulted roofs, and must have cost immense sums of money in material and transportation, for much of the material was imported from Spain. Now these vaulted arches support masses of vegetation, and the bells which formerly called Spaniard and Indian to service are silent. The grand old cathedral still stands a sad reminder of its former magnificence. Within its shattered walls the service of the church used to be performed in all its solemnity, and the burning incense filled every nook of the vast edifice with its fragrance. Indians with baskets of fowls on their back, and Spaniards whose very shoulders drooped with the burden of elongated names and lofty titles, knelt by a common genuflection before these magnificent altars. A number of the old buildings yet bear the arms of Castile and Leon—two castles and two lions rampant. Some of the images of the saints still stand in their niches on the façades of the churches, which causes them to be looked upon with special veneration by the ignorant natives, because only a direct interposition of Providence could have kept them unharmed during the frightful undulations of the earthquake. The once imposing square is now dotted here and there with the huts and booths of the market people, and the present town is a sad reminder of a once proud and powerful city. After seeing the ruins you know that the rickety old coach with its tires half off, which brought you there, and the harness held on the horses (or mules) by thongs, is just in harmony with the place itself. The present capital has been comparatively free from these volcanic disturbances, although several volcanic peaks are plainly visible in this translucent atmosphere, which equals or surpasses that of Colorado for clearness. It is situated in a long, narrow valley with a slight slope to the east. The hills surrounding the valley are indescribably soft and beautiful with deep shadowed ravines which contrast with the green vegetation in the rainy season. The grandeur of the scene is centred in three towering volcanoes that rise sharp and distinct against the blue sky—the symmetrical outline of Agua, the serrated ridge of Fuego and the isolated cone of Pacaya.