tunes to which the traditional dances, the "deer and hounds," the "monkey-dance," "death-dance," or the "Moros and Christianos," were performed with becoming gravity by untiring young bucks, whilst inside the house, before the saint, the "zon" would be solemnly gone through by the elders.
My informant on these points had often been present at such meetings, and tells me that the courteous invitation to walk in and join the revels was always extended to a passing foreigner. The proceedings are described as characteristically Indian, crowded in the first place, and smelly; then, as the spirits of the partakers rose with the effects of frequent nips of aguardiente and abundant food cooked to their taste with liberal seasonings of garlic, onions, achiote, and chili, they would gradually grow more and more noisy and uproarious; but however lively they might get in the course of the day they would never turn quarrelsome, and, if anything, the tipsy Indian would be more amiable and more communicative than the same man when sober.
A COBANERA
After the revolution of 1870 and the fall of the ecclesiastical party from power the newly constituted Government decreed the suppression of all religious societies (excepting the Sisters of Charity), and the last of the monks and nuns were driven out of the country; but it was not until three years later that the cofradias were interfered with and the saints deprived of their yearly visits to their own houses. Not long after this the Government offered the vacant houses for sale; but I am delighted to say that the scheme was for many years a failure, partly on account of a lingering belief that the Church party might return to power, and partly because no Indian or Ladino could be found sufficiently bold to risk a midnight encounter with an angry saint who might tire of his residence in the church and come back to look after his own property. At last, saints' houses fell so low in the market that some of the less superstitious were attracted by the bargains offered. Gorgonio was one of the first to take advantage of this state of affairs, and managed to secure a well-built house, but not until he had many earnest consultations with my husband as to his prospects of receiving unsolicited visits from another world.
