158 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



tion pressed forward to genuflect and kiss the end of one 

 of the cords. 



It was certainly an imposing ceremony. Being a dark 

 evening, the light from hundreds of lanterns, which were 

 hung outside all the windows, besides the flaring candles 

 in the procession, made the scene picturesque, while a 

 heavy thunderstorm just before, and continual lightning 

 all the time, added to its solemnity. Everything through- 

 out was conducted very reverently and decorously, though 

 there were crowds in the streets, most of whom knelt on 

 the damp ground while the procession was passing. 



April 9. Since last Saturday people have been arriving 

 from all the country round in daily increasing numbers, 

 and the town is now crowded. Two most extraordinary 

 vehicles passed the office to-day, the only kind of convey- 

 ance, other than ox-carts, or sheep- or goat-carts, that I 

 have seen since I left Rio eight and a half months ago. 

 Imagine the body of a chariot, bereft of coach-box, springs, 

 and wheels, with two long poles braced to it across the 

 doors, borne by one mule in front and another behind ! 

 Inside were women and children of some of the more 

 aristocratic fazendeiros ; but the vehicles looked brown 

 with age and the use of past generations. 



Scattered along the main street are six small oratories, 

 capable of holding half a dozen people. They have all 

 been cleaned out and decorated for this week, and the 

 entrance adorned by a huge palm leaf on each side. Each 

 chapel has a small altar, with six candles, and a painted 

 altarpiece of more or less artistic merit. 



Picture my surprise on returning from the office at being 

 met on the threshold by a little angel the youngest son 

 of my cook. I had never seen him otherwise than as a 

 dirty youngster, whose only apparel was a ragged shirt ; 



