and then returns to its place in the middle of the
platform. The same ceremony is repeated when the two other nails are
taken out. Throughout the whole performance of these solemnities, an
uninterrupted groaning and howling is kept up by the Indians, who at
every stroke of the hammer raise their cries of _Misericordia!_ These
sounds of anguish reach their climax when the priest consigns the body
of the Saviour to the charge of the Virgin. The image is laid in a
coffin tastefully adorned with flowers, which, together with the figure
of the Virgin Mary, is paraded through the streets. Whilst this
nocturnal procession, lighted by thousands of wax tapers, is making the
circuit of the town, a party of Indians busy themselves in erecting
before the church door twelve arches decorated with flowers. Between
every two of the arches they lay flowers on the ground, arranging them
in various figures and designs. These flower-carpets are singularly
ingenious and pretty. Each one is the work of two cholos, neither of
whom seems to bestow any attention to what his comrade is doing; and
yet, with a wonderful harmony of operation, they create the most
tasteful designs--arabesques, animals, and landscapes, which grow, as it
were by magic, under their hands. Whilst I was in Tarma, I was at once
interested and astonished to observe on one of these flower-carpets the
figure of the Austrian double eagle. On inquiry I learned from an Indian
that it had been copied from the quicksilver jars, exported from Idria
to Peru. On the return of the procession to the church, a hymn, with
harp accompaniment, is sung to the Virgin, as the figure is carried
under the arches of flowers. The bier of the Saviour is then deposited
in the church, where it is watched throughout the night.

On the following morning, at four o'clock, the ceremony of hanging Judas
takes place in front of the church. A figure of Judas, the size of
life, is filled with squibs and crackers, and is frequently made to bear
a resemblance to some obnoxious inhabitant of the place. After the match
is applied to the combustible figure, the cholos dance around it, and
exult in the blowing up of their enemy.

In the Sierra, as well as on the coast, the priests are usually the
tyrants rather than the guardians of their flocks; and they would
frequently be the objects of hatred and vengeance but for the
deep-rooted and almost idolatrous reverence which the Indians cherish
for priestcraft. It