VOLCANOJ AT NIGHT. 141 will compare with their sublimity at night; their crests are surrounded by a halo of light, the smoke, illumined, crawls sluggishly out, and now are seen issuing balls and streams of liquid fire, accompanied by a most terrific shock, as if the furies were at war within; now a dark cloud floats sluggishly along, but now it is looking directly into the crater, and is burnished by the internal fires. Chapter Twenty-fourth. ACAPULCO-THE TREE OF LOVE-BATHING AND FEMALES-A CALIFORNIAN IN A TIGHT PLACE-EARTHQUAKES-SAIL FOR REALEJO-VOLCANO VIEJO-ITS DEVASTATING ERUPTION-REALEJO AND HARBOR-A CART AND ITS PASSENGERS-A WALL-STREET FINANCIER FLEECED CHINANDEGA-ITS BEAUTIFUL ARBORS-BATHING-PREPARING TORTILLOS-LEON-ITS MAGNIFICENCE AND DESOLATION-DON PEDRO VACA AND FAMILY. As we approach Acapulco, the most striking feature is the telegraph, which is erected on one of the highest peaks of the mountain, and from which, at the approach of a steamer, a blue flag is displayed, or a white one at the approach of a sailing vessel. The town is completely land-locked, there being not the slightest indication of it until passing around the bluff into the inner bay, when the castle is seen directly in our course, and passing on, bearing to the left, the town is seen stretching away up the side of the mountain. The bay has the appearance of a lake being entirely shut in by mountains. Our steamer passed on to within fifteen or twenty rods of the town when we dropped anchor and were immediately boarded by the officer of the port, also by innumerable men and boys for passengers, and females with fruit. Passengers are taken into bungoes, or canoes, which are headed in until the bow strikes the shore, when they take their stand preparatory to a jump as the sea runs back. (See Plate.) Not unfrequently they are overtaken by the next sea, which is extremely embarrassing, particularly if one has just changed his linen. We entered the town at the foot of the main street; two churches are seen, each supporting a tower, the custom-house being in the foreground at the left. The buildings are of one story, constructed of stone or adobes, and covered with tile. This is one of the most beautifully located towns on the Pacific coast. It is never visited by |