frogs stuck frozen to his and his companions' cloaks, and they were even obliged to shake them off.
About the same time that this happened to Guzman, it also rained frogs in Guatimala, as I have been assured by my fellow-townsman Cosmo Roman. The most awful occurrence, however, took place in Guatimala, in the month of September, of the year 1541. Here a most terrific hurricane arose, accompanied by torrents of rain, which continued incessantly for the space of three days, and so vast was the quantity of water that came pouring down, that the crater of the volcano, which lies about four miles from the town of Guatimala, literally burst, and so terrific was the volume of water that came rolling down the mountain, that numbers of huge stones and trees were carried along with it. Those who did not witness it themselves will scarcely credit this, for there were masses of rock carried down by the flood which two oxen could not move, and these blocks of stone were left there as a memento of this fearful tempest. Every tree was torn up by the roots, and hurried down the precipices by the impetuosity of the torrent. The water had exactly the colour as if it had been mixed with chalk, and by the immense power of the hurricane it was raised into foaming billows. The noise occasioned by the rushing of the wind and water was so terrific, that persons could not hear each other speak, and fathers were unable to render their sons any assistance.
This direful tempest commenced at ten o'clock on Sunday evening, of the 11th of September, and the whole body of water, stones, and trees came rolling along over the half of the town of Guatimala, crumbling down the houses in its progress, strongly built as they were. A great number of men, women, and children perished in a few moments, and everything they possessed was lost. Some houses which had withstood the torrent were blocked up to the topmost windows by mud, pieces of rock, and large trees. During this tempest, also, Doña Beatriz de la Cueva, the wife of Pedro de Alvarado, perished, with several other ladies,