188 
THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. 
flutes, liai-jjs, ami tlieir remarkable bajones, a sort of trombones in the 
shape of huge Pan’s pipes, made of palm-leaves skilfully pasted together. 
All these are pi'cscrvcd in the chiu'ohes; and the Indians themselves 
take special care to keep up their practice on tliem, and their fiimiliai'ity 
in reading the notes. A high mass at whieh I assisted in Trinidad was 
executed Avith a precision and coiTcctness that did not show the least 
trace of decline, and reflected credit on the musical capacity of the 
red race. Altogether, that Sxinday nioming I spent in the old church 
of Trinidad is one of the memories I most like to dwell upon of all 
the voyage. 
At eai'ly morn I left the house of my kind host, and Avalked leisurely 
through the lonely streets of the Pueblo to the square in which the 
church is situated. The rising sun was gilding the clay walls of the 
edifice, which, thougb devoid of all architectural beauty, yet contrasted 
effectively with the Ioav mud-houses in its 'vdeinity j sparkling dcAv- 
drops clothed the grass and floAvers ; and a refreshing cool wind • swejA 
in from the campos. Again I contemplated the naively-conceived 
ft’escoes on its front of 8t. Pranciseo and of St. Lniz do Gonzaga (albeit 
they were not executed by artists great in coloxu’s and lines), and the 
masterpiece of the tympanum, the mystic dcA'ice representing the Holy 
Trinity. In a Mission singularly consecrated to this mystery, such an 
explanation, if avc may bo permitted so to call it, was rendered all the 
it away. Yielding to the ardent entreaties of the fascinated fool, he consented, 
reluctantly, to entrust the Avateh to his keeping for a few hours ; aR his anxious pro- 
posals to purchase it being repelled with indignant resentment, wliich ordj’ served to 
infiamo the planter’s eagerness to possess the sacred treasure to such a degree that ho 
continued to offer higher, and stUl higher, terms for it. This was exactly Avhat the 
rogue wanted. After his repeated protestations tlint he never could be so degraded 
as to part, for dirty money, with his most sacred property, he at length consented to 
seU, or rather to exchange {trocar, to exchange, is the respectful Brazilian word for 
sale or purchase of sacred objects) his talisman for the trilling sum of £ 250 , vowing 
again and again that nothing but the claims of an old friend reconciled him to the 
saciifice. As soon as the bargain was concluded, our niasoate, pleading urgeiit 
business, moiinted his best horse, and, Rke a prudent man, took to his heels, followed 
by his servant and mules. And well he might hasten away! Hardly had he departed 
when there came friends and neighbours of the poor victim of superstition, who soon 
opened his eyes to the cheat that had been practised upon him ; and their sneers and 
laughter roused his fiiry to such a pitch that, putting himsoR’ at the head of his 
negroes, he gaUoped off in pursuit of the impostor ; but in vain. He had to do with 
an old fox, who did not intend to wait until he felt the point of a long Minas knife 
between his ribs. What has become of the effigy of Nossa Senhora,” by the hand 
of St. Luke, I cannot tell. At any rate, it was a dear familj' piece, and may jierhaps 
avail as a talisman against futui'o ibUies. 
