From “Land of Wonder and Fear” Â by F.A. Mitchell-Hedges, The Century Company, 1931. Page 113-114.
“I shall never forget the next morning. Five thousand one hundred and fifty feet above sea-level lay Lake Atitlan, seventeen miles long, without a ripple, green-blue in colour, and completely surrounded by gigantic mountains. Rising sheer from the edge of the water were the two volcanoes Atitlan and San Pedro, towering twelve thousand feet to the skies. Indian women in beautifully worked, brilliantly coloured costumes, and men with strangely woven coats, short pants and skirts, were already busy doing nothing as usual among the masses of flowering plants, bushes, and trees. The sky was mottled 
with gold flecks–a miracle of beauty which changed continually as the sun rose higher until, as it appeared above the heights, the lake shimmered, a molton silver mirror, reflecting the volcanoes and mountains perfectly. Humming-birds and gorgeous butterflies fluttered everywhere, adding splashes of vivid colouring to the exotic scenery. The lazy drone of insects arose through the heavily scented air; the lure, the insidious lure of the tropics enervated us with its narcotic somnolence. Addicts, we revelled in the drug.”
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