426 
SANTA CRUZ 
upon a platform or bier clothed in rich vestments, and 
covered with a piece of satin damask of the most gor- 
geous colors. The head, hands, and feet are alone ex- 
posed. These are made of wood, colored to represent 
flesh ; and I was informed by a Mexican gentleman, 
that these constituted the whole statue. The body, he 
told me, was merely a frame- work, stuffed with rags 
and cloths to give it a form, over which the drapery 
was disposed. The offerings consist of money and 
candles ; and as wax is quite expensive here, the poorer 
class present candles of tallow. There was a continual 
jingling of money ; in fact, so constant was the drop- 
ping of silver dollars into the receptacle placed for 
them, that no other sound was heard. What was sin- 
gular in all this mummery was, that no priest was 
present. The men who took the money were ordina- 
rily dressed, having on nothing to distinguish them 
from the crowd around. There may have been a priest 
behind the altar or somewhere not visible to the 
devotees ; but while I stood by the side of the image 
and witnessed the proceedings on two occasions, I 
could perceive none. An estimate may be formed of 
the crowds here present, when I state that the receipts 
this year, although the attendance was less than usual, 
were about twelve thousand dollars ; while on some 
former occasions, the amount of money voluntarily 
given had reached the sum of eighteen thousand. To 
the question what become of all this money, I received 
the usual reply of “ Quien sabe f A gentleman, how- 
ever, told me that it went to the city of Mexico, and 
that neither the poor of Magdalena nor the church 
there derived any benefit from it. 
