252 A WATER MIRACLE. 



taken to see the Indian who played first fiddle 

 in the matter, provided with a tilma, similar 

 to the one on which the image of the Virgin 

 was painted, and that this was artfully slipped 

 in the place of the former, which the Indian 

 had doffed when he climbed the rock after 

 the flowers, I have not seen the original por- 

 trait, but most of the copies and imitations I 

 have met with, represent the Virgin with that 

 peculiarly tawny <;omplexion which was pro- 

 bably deemed indispensable to conciliate the 

 prejudices of the aborigines. 



The reader may reconcile the foregoing dis- 

 crepancies in the best way he can : ail that I 

 have to add is, that the apparition having 

 been canonized by the Pope, a behef in it 

 now constitutes as much a part of the reli- 

 gious fahh of the Mexicans, as any article of 

 the Apostolic Creed. To judge from the 

 blind and reverential awe in which the Vir- 

 gin Guadalupe is held by the lowly and the 

 ignorant, one would suppose her to be the 

 first person in the Divinity ; for to her their 

 vows are directed, their prayers offered up, 

 and all their confessions made. 



Among the many traditions implicitly be- 

 heved in by the people, and which tend to 

 obstruct the advancement of knowledge, there 

 is one equally as amusing and extravagant as 

 the foregoing, which has been gravely re- 

 counted by the present Vicar of New Mexico 

 and ex-delegate to Congress. During the 

 memorable insurrection of 1680, the Pueblo 

 of San Felipe was about the only one that 



