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 g. — 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 ; 



