146 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



bursts of music in the church. The cura was giv- 

 ing them the benefit of his accidental visit by an 

 early mass. After this we heard music of a differ- 

 ent kind. It was the lash on the back of an Indian. 

 Looking out into the corridor, we saw the poor fel- 

 low on his knees on the pavement, with his arms 

 clasped around the legs of another Indian, so as to 

 present his back fair to the lash. At every blow he 

 rose on one knee, and sent forth a piercing cry. He 

 seemed struggling to restrain it, but it burst from him 

 in spite of all his efforts. His whole bearing show- 

 ed the subdued character of the present Indians, 

 and with the last stripe the expression of his face 

 seemed that of thankfulness for not getting more. 

 Without uttering a word, he crept to the major 

 domo, took his hand, kissed it, and walked away. 

 No sense of degradation crossed his mind. Indeed, 

 so humbled is this once fierce people, that they have 

 a proverb of their own, " Los Indios no oigan si no 

 por las nalgas" — " The Indians cannot hear except 

 through their backs," and the cura related to us a 

 fact which indicates an abasement of character per- 

 haps never found in any other people. In a village 

 not far distant, the name of which I have lost, they 

 have a fiesta with a scenic representation called 

 Shtol. The scene is laid at the time of the con- 

 quest. The Indians of the village gather within a 

 large place enclosed by poles, and are supposed to 

 be brought together by an invasion of the Spaniards. 

 An old man rises and exhorts them to defend their 



