es on foot. Negro servants
of both sexes were seen passing to and fro, carrying mats on which their
mistresses were to kneel in the morning service. All the white female
population, young and old, were dressed in black, with black lace veils.
In the afternoon, three wooden or waxen images of the size of life,
representing Christ in the different stages of his passion, were placed in
the spacious Church of St. Catharine, which was so thronged that I found
it difficult to enter. Near the door was a figure of the Saviour sinking
under the weight of his cross, and the worshipers were kneeling to kiss
his feet. Aged negro men and women, half-naked negro children, ladies
richly attired, little girls in Parisian dresses, with lustrous black eyes
and a profusion of ringlets, cast themselves down before the image, and
pressed their lips to its feet in a passion of devotion. Mothers led up
their little ones, and showed them how to perform this act of adoration. I
saw matrons and young women rise from it with their eyes red with tears.

The next day, which was Good Friday, about twilight, a long procession
came trailing slowly through the streets under my window, bearing an image
of the dead Christ, lying upon a cloth of gold. It was accompanied by a
body of soldiery, holding their muskets reversed, and a band playing
plaintive tunes; the crowd uncovered their heads as it passed. On Saturday
morning, at ten o'clock, the solemnities of holy week were over; the bells
rang a merry peal; hundreds of volantes and drays, which had stood ready
harnessed, rushed into the streets; the city became suddenly noisy with
the rattle of wheels and the tramp of horses; the shops which had been
shut for the last two days, were opened; and the ladies, in white or
light-colored muslins, were proceeding in their volantes to purchase at
the shops their costumes for the Easter festivities.

I passed the evening on the _Plaza de Armas_, a public square in front of
the Governor's house, planted with palms and other trees, paved with broad
flags, and bordered with a row of benches. It was crowded with people in
their best dresses, the ladies mostly in white, and without bonnets, for
the bonnet in this country is only worn while travelling. Chairs had been
placed for them in a double row around the edge of the square, and a row
of volantes surrounded the square, in each of which sat two or more
ladies, the ample folds of their muslin dresses flowing out on e