CHURCH CEREMONY CLIMATE. 141 



lead us astray. The father was evidently dying in the next room, the 

 doctors being said to have given him up. 



The sound of music drew us all to the balconies to see a grand pro- 

 cession. A large wooden image of a female was carried on a platform ; 

 a company of regular soldiers followed with music ; then came priests 

 and attendants, with lighted candles, and a long train of young padres, all 

 under a shower of flowers from the balcony. When the wooden image 

 appeared opposite the house, the men under the front part of the platform 

 • let her down on the carpet ; the priests knelt by her side. The bells of 

 the city churches struck, and the population took off their hats and knelt 

 in prayer for the dying man. After singing a hymn they marched away 

 to the music. The carpets were removed from the street, and, as night 

 came on, the.fire works commenced. Wires leading from the sick man's 

 bed-room to the altar of the church, carried messengers of fire back- 

 wards and forwards, while brilliant fire works attached to the great 

 frames were set off along the street. The noise made about the poor 

 man was deafening. The crowd of people returned home, stopping on 

 their way for ice-cream sold in little shops alongside of the plaza. In 

 a few days after the doctors reported the sick man out of danger. The 

 cost of these proceedings was two hundred dollars. 



The climate of Cochabamba is very apt to deceive persons from the 

 Andes. The people here are very careful about their dress, and never 

 expose themselves by drinking water or sitting in a draft of wind when 

 heated ; severe colds taken in this way, with sore throats, frequently 

 cause death. 



We observe the same phenomenon as in the Titicaca basin. A verti- 

 cal sun shines upon the valley, and at mid-day its effects are very power- 

 ful ; while all around, on the tops of the highlands, hang curtains of 

 clouds reaching half way down the mountains. The air underneath 

 and on the snow, near the city, becomes very cold, and suddenly a puff 

 of wind comes down, bringing along the clouds, and the population are 

 shivering. In an instant they clap on their woollen ponchos and close 

 their doors. 



We have had processions through the streets for some days. Padres, 

 with bands of music and wooden images, praying for rain, as the crops 

 are suffering in some parts of the valley. Numbers of Indians join as 

 they pass along. The praying continued till rain fell, and then the 

 Indians believed the priests had the power of persuading the Almighty 

 to send them relief. 



We met the bishop of Cochabamba in society. He inquired anxiously 

 whether " the people of the United States wanted to navigate the rivers 



