fined to their stable morning, noon, and night—such was the tumult excited by their appearance and character. At length the possessor was fairly driven to bow to popular opinion.
There is a certain church in Mexico, of which I have omitted to note down the patron saint, but I know that you leave it a little to the left hand as you approach the garita on the road to San Augustin. To this church, from time immemorial, it has been the custom of the country, for the inhabitants of the city and adjoining valley to bring their domestic animals for baptism by the hands of the priest; the popular belief being, that till this is done, they do not belong to the Catholic church, and cannot possibly prosper.
And here, at the proper time, in company with many animals of less pretension, came the two English dray horses. They were regularly sprinkled, the fee was paid to the cura, and from that time, being considered as Christianos, they were allowed to hold up their heads and perform their labours without molestation!
Our stay at La Puebla was, as you may suppose, very hurried, as we here found the report that the packet really sailed on the first instant fully confirmed. My sketch, therefore, like my survey, must be hasty and brief. The city is large, and regularly and handsomely built, with a population estimated at 60,000 souls; and the traveller sees much to remind him of the capital. It was founded three centuries ago, by the Spaniards. A hill clothed with wood rises to the north; and the plain in its immediate vicinity is well cultivated, and produces a vast quantity of wheat and maize. In adornment and arrangement the houses resemble those of Mexico in every particular. Sixty-nine churches, many of them richly endowed, many monasteries, nunneries, and colleges, prove the sanctity of the city and the piety of the inhabitants.
The cathedral is the most splendid and richest structure in New Spain, superior to that of the capital in the beauty of its architecture and for the mass of riches collected within its walls. The high altar, throughout its
