ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



1033 



and numbers. Ths province of 

 Paraguay is famous for producing 

 birds of the most beautiful plumage ; 

 the banks of the river being, as I 

 am tokl by the fathers, nearly co- 

 Tered with those lovely little crea- 

 tures, of almost every description; 

 among which the most remarkable 

 is the celebrated humming-bird, so 

 well and so often described by natu- 

 ralists and travellers, ilcre they are 

 natives ; and frequently, when I am 

 in the convent garden, I see swarms 

 of them flying about on every side 

 like so many large wasps, or resting 

 on the shrubs and sucking the flow- 

 ers, which form the principal part of 

 their sustenance. They are very 

 tame ; so much so, indeed, as at 

 times to be very troublesome, when 

 they come by four and five together 

 humming and buzzing round my 

 head, till they confuse me to such a 

 degree that I am obliged to lay 

 about me in self-defence, and buftet 

 them away as we do the blue-bottle 

 flies in England." 



Perhaps the following account of 

 the celebration of the festival of 

 Corpus Christi, will give one of the 

 best specimens of the author's man- 

 ner of description, that his book 

 affords. 



On the eve of the day of the pro- 

 cession, it was announced with 

 great ceremony by the cannon of 

 the citadel, and by belfs ringing in 

 every part of the town. The fol- 

 lowing morning being the day of 

 Corpus Christi, it was ushered 

 in with a vast degree of pomp, 

 ringing of bells, firing of can- 

 non and other demonstrations of 

 joy. Divine service was thrice per- 

 formed with ihe utmost splendour ; at 

 six, at half past seven, and at nine. 



" At ten o'clock, upon a signal 

 given at the governor's house, the 



community prepared to join in the 

 general cavalcade ; and now, for the 

 flrst time, I was to see the outside of 

 the convent. We were arranged in 

 order, in a large square, within ths 

 gates : first, the young choristers 

 were divided into four bands, t\relve 

 in each ; these are the children un- 

 der the tuition of the fathers. The 

 first division was to precede the 

 whole, singing a particular service 

 appropriate to the day. On either 

 side these children walked lay-bro- 

 thers, bearing ensigns, or pictures 

 representing the different achieve- 

 ments of their patron saint. Then 

 followed the novices, among whom 

 was myself ; every one bearing some 

 precious relic or another, enclosed 

 in boxes of ebony and ivory, curi- 

 ously wrought. 



" To us succeeded another band 

 of music, accompanied by all the 

 visitors of distinction, of which there 

 were not a few from the distant 

 plantations. Next came the elder 

 fathers of the convent, two and two, 

 each carrying something relative to 

 the festival ; and after them the su- 

 perior, drest in all the regalia of 

 his office, surrounded by the young 

 students going to Cordovo, and six 

 lay-brothers, bearing banners. The 

 remainder of the community, cho- 

 risters, and several newly-baptizerf 

 Indians, brought up the rear ; every 

 one in this procession being arrayed 

 in their richest and gayest attire. 

 The cavalcade, having cleared the 

 convent-gate, entered a large hand- 

 some square ; on one side of which 

 stands the cathedral, a very fine 

 well-finished edifice, crowned with 

 a cupola, and open on all sides to 

 the view. Round this square were 

 assembled the societies of several 

 other orders, all dressed in para- 

 phernalia; and a more curious 



scene 



