40 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Mary Magdalen, large as life, dressed in red. Over 

 her head was a blue silk mantilla, with a broad gold 

 border, and across her lap the figure of the dead 

 Christ. The barrow was ornamented with large 

 glass shades, under which candles were burning, and 

 garlands and wreaths of flowers. This constituted 

 the whole of the ceremonial part of the procession, 

 and it was followed by a large concourse of Indians, 

 men and women, dressed in white, all carrying in 

 their hands long lighted candles. 



When the crowd had passed by we strolled to the 

 Alameda. This is the great place of promenade 

 and paseo in Merida. It consists of a broad paved 

 avenue, with a line of stone seats on each side, and 

 beyond, on both sides, are carriage roads, shaded by 

 rows of trees. In full sight, and giving a picturesque 

 beauty to the scene, rises the Castillo, a ruined for- 

 tress, with battlements of dark gray stone, and the 

 spires of the old Franciscan church rising inside, 

 romantic in its appearance, and identified with the 

 history of the Spanish conquest. Regularly every 

 Sunday there is a paseo around the castle and along 

 the Alameda, and this day, on account of the fete, it 

 was one of the best and gayest of the year. 



The most striking feature, the life and beauty of 

 the paseo, were the calesas. Except one or two gigs, 

 and a black, square box-wagon, which occasionally 

 shame the paseo, the calesa is the only wheeled car- 

 riage in Merida. The body is somewhat like that 

 of an oldfashioned gig, only much larger, and rest- 



