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A Lady's Ride Across Spanish Honduras, by Maria Soltera. (orig. Publ. in 'blackwood's Magazine').
A Lady's Ride Across Spanish Honduras by Maria Soltera - orig. Publ. in 'blackwood's Magazine' Author:Mary Lester General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1884 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER V. The consul's office in Amapala was a comfortable edifice, composed of whole store, half office, and half court of justice. It was situated near the water's edge, and entered by a broad flight of stone steps. These gradients were very much the worse for wear, being persistently embroidered by detachments of the loungers of Amapala, which consisted generally of idle young lads who stuck like mussels, and peered within, and smoked and spat without, with intolerable pertinacity. A sortie made from the interior sometimes succeeded in dislodging them; but this effort on the part of the consul's clerks more usually ended in strong language and violent perspiration than in any satisfactory result. I believe an earnest hope is daily avowed, that somebodycoming in may effectually clear away impediments by treading the life out of some of these human pests. Unfortunately also for the business public, a large ceiba tree fronting the right side of the building spread wide its arms of dark leaves, and beneath this shade were clustered mules, water-carriers, citizens in various styles of dress and undress, water-jars, melons, and naked brown children. The grouping certainly was picturesque. But how Consul Bahl has stood for so many years, as he has done, the nuisance of a conversazione and debating club combined, held within four feet of his house of business, surpasses my comprehension. Through a part of this assemblage I wended my way in the early morning of the day preceding that on which I was to start for Aceit- ufia. The youths on the steps made room for me with some alacrity; and it was whisper...« less