146 MEXICO. 
before the image, they were deposited in the sacristy. A constant sue 
cession of these oblations poured in until near two o'clock ; when the 
morning services being finished, the image was taken from the tabernacle 
and placed under a canopy, while a priest bore the consecrated wafer, and 
the procession began its march. All heads were at once uncovered, and 
I went to the upper story of the church to have a better view of the cere- 
mony. At the door of the church stood a ragged Indian, with a large 
firework on his head, made in the shape of a horse, surrounded with 
squibs and rockets ; behind him were five men and a woman from one 
of the villages, neatly dressed, their heads being covered with red 
silk or cotton handkerchiefs. The men bore thin staves in their hands, 
and small coops, made of cane, were strapped on their backs. The 
woman held a covered basket before her, and one of the men thrummed 
a guitar, giving forth the same monotonous tune of the flageolets and 
drum. As soon as the procession reached the portal, the whole crowd 
knelt, and a number of small rockets and cannons were fired by the In- 
dians. The huge flowers — which I have before described as ascending 
and descending on ropes from the' church tower to the gate — were pulled 
open by a secret spring, and a shower of rose leaves fell from them over 
the passing priests and images. Juan Diego's knees were herd by some 
equally secret machinery, and he continued on his slack-rope pilgrimage 
through the air. The flageolet and the drum were once more put into 
requisition, and the Indian with the horse-firework, accompanied by six 
others, began retreating in a trotting dance as the holy image approached 
— whirling and hopping to the barbarous music, ever careful to keep 
their faces to the Virgin. Suddenly, an Indian stole behind the one 
who bore aloft the firework, and touched its match. At this moment 
the bells began to chime, — and thus, amid their clang, the detonation 
of the squibs, cannons and rockets, and the loud cracking of the ex- 
ploding horse, the procession sallied from the court-yard to the village, 
to make a tour of the plaza among the gamblers, pulque shops, and fruit- 
sellers ; all of whom suspended their operations for the moment, and knelt 
to the sacred figure. 
After the return of the Vii-gin to the church, there was another grand 
explosion of fireworks on a wheel, and more cannons were discharged. 
The multitude then gathered together in groups, and made their frugal 
meal of fruits, dulce, tortillas, and the never-failing frijoles and chile. 
By four o'clock, the majority of the Indians had trotted off once more 
to their villages, some of which were at a distance of not less than twenty 
or thirty miles. 
The whole of the ceremony of this day, seemed to me nothing more 
than an Indian " corn-dance ;" and it is, no doubt, among the simple- 
minded Indians, a festival of thankfulness to God for the crops with which 
the bountiful seasons have blessed them ; in other words, a substitute for 
the sacrifices which they once made of fruits, flowers, and birds, to their 
goddess Centeotl. 
