House and Garden 
THE FRONT COURTYARD OR PATIO 
flags ready to be run up. 
I took my place at the 
starboard after-gun, and 
we all waited for the sig¬ 
nal from the shore. 
“At ten o’clock the bride 
went up with her sister 
to the confessional, 
dressed in deep black. 
Nearly an hour intervened, 
when the great doors of the 
Mission church opened, 
the hells rano; out a loud 
discordant peal, a private 
signal for us was run up by 
the captain ashore, the bride, dressed 
in complete white, came out of the church 
with the bridegroom, followed by a long 
procession. Just as she stepped from 
the church door, a small white cloud 
issued from the bows of our ship, which 
was in full sight, a loud report echoed 
among the surrounding hills and over the 
bay, and instantly the ship was dressed 
in flags and pennants from stem to stern. 
Twenty-three guns followed in regular 
succession, with an interval of fifteen 
seconds between each, when the cloud 
cleared away, and the ship lay dressed 
in her colors all day. 
“At sundown, another salute of the 
same number of guns was fired, and all 
the flags were run down. This we 
thought was pretty well—a gun every 
fifteen seconds—for a merchantman with 
only four guns and a dozen or twenty 
men. After supper the gig’s crew was 
called, and we rowed ashore, dressed in 
r>ACK COURT SHOWING OLD STORE HOUSE 
our uniform, beached the boat, and went 
up to the fandango. The bride’s father’s 
house was the principal one in the place, with 
a large court in front, upon which a tent was 
built, capable of containing several hundred 
people. As we drew near, we heard the accus¬ 
tomed sound of violins and guitars, and we 
saw a great motion of people within. Going 
within, we found nearly all the people of the 
town, men, women and children, collected 
and crowded together, leaving barely room 
for the dancers; for on these occasions no 
invitations are given, but everyone is ex¬ 
pected to come, although there is always a 
private entertainment within the house for 
particular friends. The old women sat down 
in rows, clapping their hands to the music, 
and applauding the young ones. The music 
was lively and among the tunes we recognized 
several of our popular 
airs, which we, without 
doubt, have taken from 
the Spanish. In the danc¬ 
ing I was much disap¬ 
pointed. The women 
stood upright with their 
hands down by their 
sides, their eyes fixed 
upon the ground before 
them, and slid about 
without any perceptible 
means of motion; for 
their feet were invisible, 
the hem of their dresses 
reaching the ground.” 
BEDROOM SHOWING HIGH POSTER BROUGHT FROM SPAIN EARLY 
IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. ORATORY AT LEFT OF BED 
112 
