he
whole company was convulsed with laughter at some good thing which one
of them had uttered, and which was repeated for our benefit; a strange
scene at the threshold of a house of mourning. We entered the house,
which was crowded with women, and hammocks were vacated for our use,
these being in all cases the seat of honour. The house, like most of
those in the village, consisted of a single room rounded at each end.
The floor was of earth, and the roof thatched with long leaves of the
guano. From the cross-poles hung a few small hammocks, and in the
middle of the room stood a table, on which lay the body of the child.
It had on the same clothes which it wore when the accident happened,
torn and stained with blood. At one side of the face the skin was
scratched off from being draped on the ground; the skull was cracked;
and there was a deep gash under the ear, from which the blood was still
oozing. On each side of the head was a lighted candle. It was a white
child, three years old, and that morning had been playing about the
house. The mother, a woman of uncommonly tall and muscular frame, was
applying rags to stanch the flow of blood. She had set out that morning
with all her family for Campeachy, with the intention of removing to
that place. An Indian woman went before on horseback, carrying this
child and another. In the suburbs of the village the horse took fright
and ran away, throwing them all off; the servant and one child escaped
unhurt; but this one was dragged some distance, and in two hours died
of its wounds. The women were quiet and grave, but outside there was a
continual laughing, jesting, and uproar, which, with the dead child
before our eyes, seemed rude and heartless. While this was going on, we
heard the gay voice of the padrecito, just arrived, contributing
largely to the jest, and presently he came in, went up to the child,
and, addressing himself to us, lifted up the head, showed us the
wounds, told what he had done for it, and said that if the doctor had
been there it might have been saved, or if it had been a man, but,
being so young, its bones were very tender; then he lighted a straw
cigar, threw himself into a hammock, and, looking around, asked us, in
a tone of voice that was intended for the whole company, what we
thought of the girls.

This ceremony of el velorio is always observed when there is death in a
family. It is intended, as the padrecito told us, para divertirse, or
to amuse and