SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 189 



arches, formed of various-coloured draperies, 

 entwined with branches of trees and the most 

 showy flowers, and decorated with various 

 mottos and inscriptions, indicating their at- 

 tachment to the man who had suffered so 

 much in the cause of liberty and the love of 

 his country. There was scarcely a house 

 which had not been whitewashed for the 

 occasion, and which did not display some 

 testimony of the joy of its inhabitants ; and 

 the crowds of Indians in their holyday 

 dresses showed the interest felt by the whole 

 of the neighbourhood. On reaching the 

 plaza, we found a space about the size of 

 Covent Garden, enclosed with rails and 

 palisadoes firmly bound together by a kind 

 of vine or creeper. This was the intended 

 scene of action for the bull-fight : we passed 

 through it, and, having procured a place of 

 security and some provender for our horses, 

 took a ramble through the village. In a short 

 time the firing of rockets, the sound of music^ 



