92 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



sustained the old order of things, and the Francis- 

 can friars, confident in their hold upon the feelings 

 of the populace, endeavoured to put down this 

 demonstration of liberal feeling. A mob gathered in 

 the plaza ; friars appeared among them, urging them 

 on ; field-pieces were brought out, the mob dispers- 

 ed, and Don Juan Rivas marched to the Franciscan 

 convent, opened the doors, drove out the monks, above 

 300 in number, at the point of the bayonet, and gave 

 up the building to destruction. The superior and 

 some of the brothers became seculars or regular 

 priests ; others turned to worldly pursuits ; and of this 

 once powerful order, but eleven are now left who 

 wear the garb of the Franciscan monks. 



It was in company with one of these that I paid 

 my last visit to this convent. We entered by the 

 great portal of the castle wall into an overgrown 

 courtyard. In front was the convent, with its large 

 corridors and two great churches, the walls of all 

 three standing, but without doors or windows. The 

 roof of one of the churches had fallen, and the broad 

 glare of day was streaming into the interior. We 

 entered the other — the oldest, and identified with 

 the times of the conquerors. Near the door was a 

 blacksmith's forge. A Mestizo was blowing at the 

 bellows, hauling out a red-hot bar of iron, and ham- 

 mering it into spikes. All along the floor were half- 

 naked Indians and brawny Mestizoes, hewing tim- 

 ber, driving nails, and carrying on the business of 

 making gun-carriages for artillery. The altars were 



