Upon reaching the bottom we rode for some distance up the valley, and then ascended to the level of the plain. After a short ride across the open country we came to another equally steep barranca which had to be crossed. This chasm I estimated to be nearly twelve hundred feet deep. The sides were composed of volcanic ash, pozzolana and blocks of lava. The nature of the violent influences that must have been at work in the production of the ravines, which have thus separated these plateaux has yet to be fully investigated. With regard to the theory that they were caused by earthquakes, it may be observed that those around Tepan Guatemala must be approximately twenty miles from the nearest volcano. At noon we reached Las Godinas and halted at a rancho to get breakfast, and to give our mules a feed of sacate, which is an excellent and nutritious fodder composed of the stalks of maize. At this hamlet were assembled a large number of Indians who had come there from the adjoining highlands. The men were in many respects like the North American Indians. They were of a deep copper colour, and had black hair, and large, well shaped noses, broad faces and peculiarly long upper lips. Their eyes were round, black, furtive and restless. They belonged to the Kachiquel tribe, and spoke a dialect of the Quiché language. After a few hours’ rest we proceeded. Suddenly we opened upon a magnificent view. Two thousand feet below us was the great Lake of Atitlan, five thousand feet above the sea. It was a bright, calm, sunny afternoon, and the still waters, reflecting the colour of the sky, were as blue as a sapphire. On the opposite shore, overlooking the lake, was the Volcano of Atitlan, eleven thousand, eight hundred feet high, and beyond was a continuous chain of volcanoes stretching westwards towards Quezaltenango. As we descended the hills the points of view kept changing. It would be difficult to surpass these marvellously beautiful combinations of lake and volcanic mountain scenery.