chatted, we were refreshed with a delicious
orange-wine, which is made here, and during our days spent with Don
Quirino, we had meals fit for a king. The indians under his charge are
Otomis, and in one little village, Santa Maria, Totonac. When we came
to inquire regarding the pagan practice for which we were searching,
we learned that it was peculiar to the Otomis, and formed their annual
_costumbre_--custom. They believe that Montezuma is to come again.
Meantime, from him come health, crops, and all good things. Their
_costumbre_ is a feast given in his honor, of which he is believed to
partake. A _jacal_--hut--is prepared in a retired spot; a table is
constructed full length of the house within, and upon this a feast is
spread of which all partake.

Upon this table they place many _munecos_ of paper; formerly these were
made of the bark paper, but they are now made of ordinary paper bought
in the stores. There may be so many of these that they cover the table
an inch or two thick. The feasters shove money, usually small pieces
of silver, beneath these figures. They then kill turkeys and hens and
chickens, and sprinkle the blood from the headless bodies over the
_munecos_. This they do that Montezuma may be propitiated, and give them
what they desire; the money and the _munecos_, sprinkled with blood, are
left upon the table after the feast, the former being stolen by passing
_mestizos_.

The _presidente_ stated that, at the _pueblito_ of Santa Maria, where we
should go upon the morrow to see some Totonacs, they had just celebrated
their annual _costumbre_. He said that it might be somewhat similar,
as they had sent him a headless turkey, as a gift. In the morning, we
visited this village accompanied by the two brothers. A half hour's ride
brought us to the spot, from which one gets one of the most lovely views
in all this picturesque country. Standing on the end of a little spur
upon which the village lies, one sees the handsome river below, which
separates this _municipio_ from that of Villa Juarez. To the left, rise
magnificent mountains covered with brilliant green vegetation, broken
here and there by bare rock faces, from the base of which gentle slopes,
extending down to the river, are covered with little corn-fields.
Cuauhtepec, a Totonac pueblo, where all are said to dress in white, lies
upon this stream, and immediately back from it the cultivated fields
of the village stretch up to the very crest. To the r