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NARRATIVE OF A 



wore the usual scarf, called rebozo. They were other- 

 wise neatly dressed, but none of them had shoes or stock- 

 ings. The men stood round, except a few of the better 

 class, who were accommodated with benches, of which 

 there was one on efich side of the church. The cere- 

 mony was soon brought to a conclusion, when we re- 

 turned to the house to breakfast. After this, it was pro- 

 posed to pay a visit to the temple of Esquipulas, about a 

 mile distant from the town ; and mules being procured 

 for the purpose, we started for that celebrated shrine with 

 the curate, who, as is usual with his brethren, was admi- 

 rably mounted. 



The temple, or church, in question, stands by itself in 

 the midst of a plain. It is a noble pile, and contrasts singu- 

 larly with the insignificance of the town in the vicinity of 

 which it is situated. It has a lofty and spacious dome, and 

 at each angle a tower of considerable elevation. The 

 architecture is sufficiently regular and chaste. As a work 

 of art, this edifice is calculated to produce a greater im- 

 pression on the beholder, from its situation in a spot where, 

 for some hundred miles round, there is nothing of the kind 

 bearing even a remote comparison with it. To a traveller 

 coming in view of it on a sudden, it might look like the 

 work of enchantment. It had to me the appearance of an 

 Escurial in miniature. Entering the church through a 

 lofty portal, rich with ornaments of sculpture, we took a 

 view of the interior, which is divided into three aisles, the 

 central one formed by two rows of heavy pillars, with their 

 corresponding arches. On each side are various chapels, 

 images and pictures, and the walls in many parts are cov- 

 ered with ex votoSj in the shape of hands, arms, and feet, 

 made of wax, and offered there by devotees who have 

 attributed to this shrine the mre of diseases they have been 

 afflicted with. Over the principal entrance in the choir, 

 and at the other extremity of the building, is the principal 

 altar, in front of which, in a shrine richly carved and gilt, 

 is an image of Christ crucified, to whom the church m 



