The Plaza de Armas, which is in the center of the city, is quite a pretty square and is surrounded on three sides by public buildings, while on the other side are retail stores with the _portales_ so common in these countries. On the north side is the municipal building, on the west side the National Palace and government barracks, and on the east side lies the Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace. In the centre is a delightful little garden surrounded by an iron fence, within which are many exquisite flowers and pretty plants with wine coloured leaves. A few evergreens, fountains, a statue of Cristobal Colon, the ever present band-stand, and an old square stone tower, or temple, with an equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain complete the adornments of this square. Across one side rattle the little toy street-cars, and now and then a hooded victoria slips through, the top drawn like a vizor over the inside, so that all you can see is the tip of a chin or a bit of white parasol. It is not pleasant for the ladies to appear on the street unless they are very plain. [Illustration: THE PRESIDENT’S GUARD OF HONOUR.] In front of the National Palace a company of the President’s Guard of Honour parades each morning. This organization comprises about five hundred picked men from the army who actually wear shoes and a jaunty cap, and their uniforms look as bright as a working-man’s new suit of blue jeans, and they are of the same material. A good military band plays, and, aided by the music, the company manages to keep step occasionally, but only occasionally, for that little matter does not seem to them very important. Sedate Spaniards, descendants of the proud hidalgos, and Indians whose progenitors built the great palaces, or temples, at Palenque, Copan and Quirigua, mingle here, and types of several centuries may be seen side by side. Customs of the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries are here intermingled, but the twentieth century can hardly be said to have reached this city. The Indian with his pack on his back passes by followed by a mule dray, but the gasoline devil-wagon has not yet made its appearance in this city, and the warning horn of the street-cars takes the place of the honk-honk of the automobile.