284 



MEXICO. 



lores ! — Dolorcita !— no conocesa tu madre?'' are 

 words I shall never forget. I sat down by her^ 

 and she made me touch its cold cheek — accus- 

 tomed, poor woman, to derive consolation from 

 the encouragement I had formerly given to her 

 hopes — I did as she desired, but the child was 

 gone. 



The funeral, as is usual in Catholic countries, 

 when a child under seven years of age dies, was 

 a sort of merry-making ; it being considered a 

 source of rejoicing that an innocent soul has been 

 added to the number of angels. The effect, how- 

 ever, I must say was very distressing. The re- 

 spect I felt for the family, and the curiosity I had 

 to see the ceremony, were barely sufficient motives 

 to induce me to accompany the procession ; where 

 fiddles, drums, and fifes, played merry tunes 

 round the bier ; while the priests chaunted hymns 

 of rejoicing at the accession which had been made 

 to the host of little angels. 



The effect of our failure on the minds of the 

 people was the very reverse of what we had anti- 

 cipated : for both the surgeon and myself were ever 

 afterwards treated by all classes of the society 

 with a more marked, respectful, and even cordial 



