A FESTIVAL. 



101 



but whose merry tongue and feet made him like 

 dancing and singing better than the needle : 

 and we agreed with him to bring over from the 

 village of Pasmado, a set of fandango per- 

 formers. The colours were raised upon long 

 staffs, very early in the morning of our day, in 

 two rows along the area of the town ; and as the 

 sun rose, several guns were fired, — of those 

 which are usually made use of at festivals ; they 

 are composed of a small and short iron tube^ 

 which has a touch-hole of disproportionate 

 dimensions ; they are placed upright upon the 

 ground, and the match is then applied. In the 

 course of the day the band played, and in the 

 evening were kindled about tw T enty bonfires in 

 the square of the village. The houses were 

 illuminated with lamps, which were made of the 

 half of the rind of an orange, each containing a 

 small quantity of oil and cotton. There were 

 likewise great numbers of large crosses, lighted 

 up in the same manner in several parts of the 

 square. The church was crowded, and the 

 noise of the people was great ; the guns were 

 tired at intervals ; the musicians of the festival, 

 with violins and violoncellos, played within the 

 church, and the Olinda men on the outside ; 

 and rockets were let off occasionally ; indeed 

 the confusion was extreme. Some of the nu- 

 merous horses which stood in all quarters, tied 

 to railings or to door-posts, or held by little chil- 



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