re is a commotion, the crowd part, and WAKOMETKLA advances
to the altar. The drum beats, all prostrate themselves; the drum again
beats, and the initiatory ceremony is concluded; the crowd is
motionless; all face to the east. The quartz wall that shuts in the
valley, and whose pinnacles point heavenward in needle-shaped spires,
brighten; the points sparkle like diamonds; a ray penetrates into the
valley; the mountain suddenly seems on fire, and, as if by magic, the
god of light flashes on our upturned faces, bathing the surrounding
objects in a flood of glory. All nature seems jubilant. The birds carol
forth their blithest songs; the river sparkles and dances in the
sunlight; the drum is heard once more; the devotees prostrate themselves
and bend in submissive adoration before the coming of the fiery god,
Quetzalcoatl.

CHAPTER VIII.

A NEW VOCATION.

This ceremony over, the priests and worshipers withdrew; my wife was led
away by her guards, and I was left for a moment alone with
WAKOMETKLA; he stood gazing toward the distant mountains and
seemed lost in reverie. At length he roused himself, and turning towards
me, approached and taking me by the arm, conducted me once more to the
lower part of the temple. We descended to the subterranean apartments,
and passing through several, at length entered a room of good size, but
so littered with the various utensils of his profession as to be almost
impassable. Huge earthen cauldrons, set upon blocks of stone, were
ranged across one end, and these were filled with a thick liquid of a
dark brown color. Bundles of dried herbs were suspended from the walls
and ceiling; the plants seemed to be of many species, but were all
strange and unknown to me. A large block of stone standing in the center
of the room served as a table, and upon this were a number of piles of
bark and small lumps of a thick resinous gum; in one corner, were two or
three smaller stone blocks, each with a cavity in the center, and
evidently used for the same purpose as a druggist's mortar.

[Illustration: Mrs. Eastman in Costume.]

I viewed the strange apartment and its contents with much interest, for
I saw that in this place the old man compounded such simple remedies as
he had been taught by experience, were necessary for the treatment of
the ailments to which his tribe was subject. On entering, he had
motioned me to a seat, and I had accordingly placed myself upon a
fragment of rock and sat qu