50 THE ATLANTIC. [chap. i. 



priests in white, and then a group of the higher clergy in cloth 

 of gold and richly "appareled" vestments, preceding the image, 

 which was carried aloft under a crimson canopy. The image 

 was certainly not a high work of art, but it seemed to be loaded 

 with valuable ornaments. Behind the canopy walked the civil 

 governor (Count de Praya de Victoria), the military governor, 

 and some of the high State functionaries, and the procession 

 was closed by a column of monks. As the image approached, 

 the people knelt everywhere within sight of it, and remained 

 kneeling until it was past. It is, of course, difficult for us to 

 realize the convictions and feelings under which the inhabitants 

 of San Miguel unite in these singular pageants. No one could 

 doubt that the devotional feeling was perfectly sincere ; and it 

 was moderate, with no appearance either of gloom or of excite- 

 ment ; the manner of the large crowd was throughout grave 

 and decorous. 



We looked with great interest the next morning to see 



Fig. \2.—Flabellum alabastrtim, Moseley. Slightly enlarged. (No. 78.) 



whether our friends had got the coveted rain ; but although the 

 peaks and ridges fringing the crater- valleys were shrouded un- 



