Mexico, the wonderland of the South . ry tribe and color, wrapped in bright blankets of everyhue, the women all wearing the inevitable blue were long lines of booths for the sale of tamales,chili-con-carne, green and red peppers and all the otherweird eatables the Indian heart delighteth in, together withgallons of pulque and mescal. There were stalls wherecrudely colored pictures of the sacred tilma and tilmapostcards were on sale, and a roaring trade was being donein candles, beads, charms and trinkets of every kind. Thegambling booths were surrounded by excited crowds ofIndians
Mexico, the wonderland of the South . ry tribe and color, wrapped in bright blankets of everyhue, the women all wearing the inevitable blue were long lines of booths for the sale of tamales,chili-con-carne, green and red peppers and all the otherweird eatables the Indian heart delighteth in, together withgallons of pulque and mescal. There were stalls wherecrudely colored pictures of the sacred tilma and tilmapostcards were on sale, and a roaring trade was being donein candles, beads, charms and trinkets of every kind. Thegambling booths were surrounded by excited crowds ofIndians intent on losing their last centavos, and a touchof the modern, with its vulgarity, was introduced by thewhining screech of a phonograph and the strumming of apiano-organ which ground out tunes for the merry-go-round. Inside the churchyard, a large stone-paved enclosure,were encamped hundreds of Indian families, some with alltheir belongings and eatables, a mass of men, women,children and babies. Most of them were filthy and travel-. CHURCH AT fine specimen of Mexican church architecture. CHURCHES AND MIRACLES 121 stained, and the smell of this unwashed humanity was almostintolerable. The encampment of these Indian pilgrimsextended for nearly a mile around the church; here andthere fires were burning, and repulsive-looking food was beingcooked. Pushing our way through the crowd, we managedto enter the church, which was filled with kneeling Indianworshippers, holding tapers in their hands. Almost everytribe in the Republic was represented in this strange as-sembly, the worshippers all pressing forward in the intensityof their devotion, trying to get still closer to the shrine oftheir patroness. Mass was being sung by gorgeously robed priests, amongwhom was the Archbishop of Mexico, wearing vestments ofwhite and gold. Choir boys in surplices of crimson andwhite, mostly swarthy young Indians, sang incessantly,their voices being very nasal and harsh. The Indians maysi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectmexicodescriptionand
