THE COPPER MINES. 
283 
besides having a variety of architectural ornaments 
sufficient to impress one with the former wealth of the 
place and taste of its people. It is indeed melancholy, 
to walk through its deserted streets, and see its dilapi- 
dated tenements, neglected courts, and closed stores. 
The only building of particular interest is the church, 
which was once a fine edifice, but is now fast falling 
to decay. Its interior is of unpleasing proportions, its 
length, as in most churches of the frontier wh^re large 
timber cannot be procured, being too great for its 
breadth. It contains some fine pictures among the 
hundred or more that are suspended from its walls. 
They are all in beautifully carved frames richly gilt ; 
but both pictures and frames are suffering from neglect. 
The altar is covered with massive plates of embossed 
silver, and there is a profusion of this metal displayed 
in the shape of massive flower vases, chandeliers, cen- 
sers, etc. We attended mass, and found the church 
filled almost exclusively with women. The music was 
performed by a band in which clarionets predominated, 
and we recognized among the tunes several of our 
popular Ethiopian airs, such as “Dearest May.” The 
singing was performed by two girls, who seemed to 
have perfected themselves in the art under the tuition 
of the Chinese. 
We find the same scarcity of provisions here as in 
the other towns we haVe stopped at, and that it will 
be impossible to procure any fruits, or vegetables with 
which to load our teams ; at least there are none that 
admit of transportation. It is not the season for 
oranges, lemons, pomegranates, or grapes, and we find 
that there is no dried fruit of any kind. The more sub- 
