146 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



in a very unostentatious manner ; the same 

 coffin being used for ages to remove indiscri- 

 minately the bodies of the deceased. How 

 different in this respect are the more pleasing 

 customs of the Swedes, and other northern 

 nations of Europe, where the graves of the 

 departed are kept in the greatest order by 

 surviving relatives, who weekly visit them and 

 plant them with flowers. I have often wit- 

 nessed with satisfaction in Sweden, and indeed 

 even in some parts of North Wales, on a 

 Saturday evening, whole families employed 

 in this affectionate office. 



The Franciscan convent of Mexico is an 

 immense establishment, with an annual income 

 of nearly dPSljOOO, arising principally from 

 alms. Its church is fine, and, with its nu- 

 merous apartments, courts, and cloisters, it 

 is covered with large paintings, descriptive of 

 the miracles and life of the founder : — to those 

 who, like myself, are fond of church-seeing, 



