12 A NATURALIST IN MEXICO. 



Church of San Cristoval, the Chapel of San Juan Bautista, 

 and the convent of Mejorada, are all interesting. Many of 

 them are of good style of architecture, and rich in orna- 

 ments. Of the many churches of the city, the cathedral, 

 situated, as before said, on the east side of the plaza, is the 

 largest and most interesting. While the service was yet in 

 progress we entered and stood near the door, the better to 

 study the interior. At the extreme end stood the altar, 

 upon a raised platform about thirty feet in height, elabor- 

 ately carved and ornamented. Upon either side, in large 

 cases, were life-size wax figures of biblical characters. The 

 organ was situated on the right-hand side. The center of 

 the church rose in a spacious dome of great height. Sev. 

 eral priests were officiating at the altar, and the floor of the 

 church was covered with kneeling women dressed in white. 

 Through the entire body of the church not a man was to be 

 seen. The music slowly died away, and the women rose 

 from their knees, appearing like a white cloud; but, as they 

 turned toward the door, the horizon became dusky with 

 black faces, the whole front rank being composed of na- 

 tives. The Spanish ladies occupied the part of the church 

 immediately in front of the altar. It was a beautiful siefht 

 to see that party of pretty native girls, many of whom 

 were of a decidedly handsome cast, slowly file out. 



After dinner we walked out one of the streets leading 

 north from the plaza. On either side of the street were the 

 huts of the natives They were built of stone and mortar, 

 and roofed over, or thatched, with palm leaves. Sometimes 

 there was a window, but more often two doors facing each 

 other on opposite sides, and in the center, of the hut. They 

 were set back a few feet from the road, and w^ere, in most 

 cases, surrounded by a stonewall. Inside they contained 

 but one room, w^ith a fire place in one end, and several ham- 

 mocks swung in the other. At one of these huts we 



