470 EXPERIENCES CONTINUED. 



half a dozen kinds, with piles of oranges, lemons, figs, plums, strawberries, cherries, pears, 

 medlars, and water-melons the last undoubtedly green, as it is probable that a proportion of 

 the others are. Then as to vegetables, there are small mountains of green corn, potatoes, beans, 

 squashes, cabbages, and onions. The flowers most in demand are clusters of spicy pinks of 

 every color and size, the poorer classes delighting also in bunches of marjoram and sweet 

 basil. 



At nightfall multitudes of candles and lanterns about the tables and stalls of the venders are 

 lighted, and for a little while the scene is strikingly gay; but the ladies begin flocking to make 

 their visits before sundown, and a crowd soon obstructs visions of the illuminated coup d'ceiL As 

 it is fashionable to visit the market on la noche buena, unpleasant as are the odors and sights of 

 butchered meats, and obscene as is the language of the crowds of half-drunken loafers who revel 

 there, the most refined and delicate occasionally resort to it until long after midnight. Scalding 

 mate, green fruits, and water-ices to excess under the open sky at such hours ! No wonder that 

 the priests are kept busy during the ensuing three days in carrying round the Host. In order 

 to avoid the disagreeable objects just mentioned, or a part of them at least, the ladies whom I 

 accompanied deemed it prudent to go just before sunset, when we would be able to see every 

 production to the greatest advantage. But the world of Santiago had not then assembled; and 

 as we left after a turn or two though the vacant walks lined with flowers and fruits, my curi- 

 osity was unsatisfied. Later at night, or rather at half-past 1 A. M., finding the service at the 

 cathedral very monotonous, I made a second visit alone. All the choice specimens were gone; 

 and though the number of fashionable people about the tables was quite large, and the night 

 most lovely, I was glad to escape at the very first door. 



Though destitute of special interest to me, there was service at the cathedral from about half- 

 past 11 until 3 A. M. There was a procession through the aisles by priests with lighted candles; 

 any amount of Latin very badly recited and worse chanted ; the old story of using the arch- 

 bishop every five minutes as a sort of tailor's block for the trial of new garments; only 

 tolerably good music for the very first time ; and the reading of a special bull from Pope Pius 

 IX, who was formerly secretary to a nuncio at Santiago voild tout. At three o'clock in the 

 morning, as I went towards home, the venders of ice-creams, cakes, and fancy bread were still 

 about the plaza, and the streets were gay with promenaders going to or corning from the 

 market-place. 



Keturning to it after breakfast, a miserable wreck was presented. Its ornaments were gone, 

 the tables in many places were overturned, and the venders slept on the bare ground beneath the 

 benches, amid remnants of confectioners' freezers, broken fruits, and flowers. The day being a 

 festival, the church closes the doors of the shops ; and as there were neither visits of congratu- 

 lation nor ceremony, and no animation among the juveniles, the streets were unusually quiet. 



One of the customs in a number of private residences is to make a display during the Christ- 

 mas holidays of elaborately dressed images, the groups representing eras in the infancy of the 

 Saviour. Much taste is frequently displayed in the combinations and arrangements of the 

 children's dolls and playthings, of which these exhibitions (called nacimientos) are composed. 

 One side or end of a room is fitted up with broad shelves, every portion of them filled with 

 groups or isolated figures symbolical of every age, clime, and occupation. The infant Saviour 

 occupies the centre, under a gilded canopy, "clothed in purple and fine linen," with jewels and 

 ornaments in profusion about his couch. Near by is Herod on his throne, surrounded by guards, 

 who await the order to slay. In front ride three kings, as they persist in fixing their number, 

 one of them invariably a negro ; and on the side opposite Herod we have the shepherds with 

 their flocks. In another house I saw the "Annunciation," the "expulsion from the garden 

 of Eden," the "gathering into the ark," and the "'deluge," together with any number of military 

 horse and foot companions, husbandmen, tradesmen, robbers, and priests, the last with minia- 

 ture garments of existing orders at Santiago. Well arranged and lighted, the effect is rather 

 pretty, and especially interesting to the crowds of children, for whose entertainment one would 



