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MEXICO. 



yond it, and part of the great public walk, could 

 be seen from the porch at the entrance of the 

 church : in other respects the spot was quite se- 

 cluded, and cut off from the sight of the low 

 country surrounding the town. 



As none except women attended the service, 

 we were unwilling to intrude to see what ceremo- 

 nies were performed. The door was thronged with 

 comers and goers, and a continued low humming 

 noise, like that round a bee-hive on a fine sum- 

 mer's day, indicated that a multitude were en- 

 gaged in a common pursuit. Sometimes a group 

 of six or eight damsels would arrive together, and 

 vanish at the entrance ; or a stray demure Beata 

 would steal in at the side with affected humility. 

 A compact cluster of merry lasses, a minute be- 

 fore in high gossip, might be seen sobering dowu 

 their looks and adjusting their shawls as they ap- 

 proached the church ; while another party, still 

 running over their last ' Ave," were pressing out- 

 wards, and, as soon as the threshold was passed, 

 flying off in all directions. 



The women of the lower class wore lively co- 

 loured gowns, and scarfs, called Rebozos, gene- 



