continued use; one represented
a long, warty, bearded face and was painted purple; others were painted
red or brown, but most of them were of the natural color of the wood;
great wigs of corn-husk or of matting were worn over the back of the
head; the clothing was ragged and dirty, and in some cases was really
of ancient style; some wore roughly made garments of the skin of the
_tigre_. Each band had its leader, and each tried to outdo the others in
the oddity of performance, vigor of dancing and coarseness of jest. Much
fun and laughter were caused by their antics. Meantime, boys and young
women were busied as waiters. Cups of steaming _atole_, delicious
_tortillas_, hot _tamales_ were distributed until everyone, including
the strangers, were supplied. No one ate until the whole company had
been served, when the town officials set the example and all fell to
feasting. Dancing, music, laughter and fun followed, and were kept up
until some time after nightfall.

On the second day after Christmas a strolling band of _pastores_, from
San Geronimo, passed from house to house singing their Christmas songs.
The company consisted of two or three musicians, a carrier--who was an
indian boy about fifteen years old--and half a dozen other youngsters,
wearing new palm hats and carrying long staves ending above in a loop
from which streamed strips of brilliantly colored tissue paper. The
carrier bore a cushion, upon which was stretched a figure of the infant
Christ. At each house, he passed before the spectators, allowing them
to kiss the figure and to deposit gifts of flowers or of money for the
little church at San Geronimo; the music then struck up, the leader
began to sing, and the little shepherds (_pastores_) marched around and
around singing in chorus.

We lost quite two days on account of the drunkenness of the town. When
it was past, by a vigorous indulgence in wheedling and threatening,
we got the work again under way, and were just finishing with our
one-hundredth man, when Padre Ponce returned for good and all. We had
nearly starved during his absence; his old housekeeper had done her best
with the poor materials which we were able to secure, but the best was
bad. With Padre Ponce came another priest, Padre Torres of Patzcuaro,
who used to be located at Santa Fe and was much loved by the natives.
With the assistance of the two Padres we were able to secure and deal
with our female subjects in less than a day, and were