238 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



rank and titles availed them, it is stated, that a gentleman see- 

 ing a negro in the stocks, on a neighboring farm, asked who 

 he was. The other slaves replied, <Uhat is the King of 

 Congo V 



To defray the expenses of the feast of our Lady of the Ro- 

 sary, each individual pays a half real on the first Sunday after 

 Corpus, at a small table placed in front of the church ; and on 

 the death of any one of the corporals or brothers, each brother- 

 hood contributes six reales to defray the expense of masses 

 and responses. 



In by-gone days, the several brotherhoods worshipped their 

 respective saints in different convents, but now, those of this 

 convent only remain. 



The principal feast is celebrated on the Sunday of the In- 

 fraoctava of Corpus." All the tribes assemble, and form a pro- 

 cession, which moves from the convent of Santo Domingo. 

 Each one carries its standard, under which walks the king or 

 queen, with a sceptre in the right hand, and a stick in the left. 

 They are accompanied by noisy and disagreeably toned instru- 

 ments, amongst which the hautboy, marimba, and a rude 

 drum, are most conspicuous. In fact, there is scarcely a proces- 

 sion in Lima, whether civic, religious, or military, in which 

 some of these instruments are not seen, and what is worse, 

 heard, following in the rear. The negroes, on this occasion, 

 dress and decorate themselves in a most grotesque manner ; 

 some paint their faces with various colors, and others resemble 

 so many fiends from another world. The women ornament 

 the hair with a profusion of jasmine flowers and gilt paper. 

 Some of them carry a long pole, hung with pieces of tin, rib- 

 bons, and tinsel-paper, around which a half dozen circulate in 

 a slow dance, as they advance, screeching in most discordant 

 tones, while the pole is stricken on the ground, in time to what 

 they call music, causing a rattling and clattering, not easily 

 described. 



These customs were probably brought from the countries 

 whence the slaves were taken, and are still preserved by their 

 descendants, but not so strictly observed now, as when they 

 were first engrafted upon the Roman Church in Peru. At first 



