stood censers and small candle-sticks of rude pottery.
Upon the wall, over the saints, were decorations of rushes. Here the
whole village feast and dance. There were no _munecos_ present, but we
found plenty of cut paper, most of which was probably decorative; the
most curious was cut into groups of human figures, some of which had
crowns and horns, or tufts of hair, upon the top of their heads. These
were said to be decorations for Montezuma, in whose honor the feast was
given. Leaving San Pablo at eleven, we rapidly made what remained of the
great ascent. As we neared the jagged crest of rock, it appeared more
irregularly gashed and pinnacled than ever. At the crest, leaving the
old road, which passed directly through the fantastic mass of rocks,
we reached San Nicolas, from which, on looking backward, we gained a
magnificent view of the valley and a fine waterfall, which shone like a
sheet of polished metal, far up the mountain side. From here our road
descended gently, but winding, in and out, through a series of narrow
valleys, lying between parallel ridges. As we passed the crest, we saw a
level field of green corn, which looked as if we must reach it in a few
minutes. But the curves of the road proved frightfully long. It was
after two o'clock before we reached the green field, and, just below it,
Tenango del Doria, and made our way to the _jefatura_.

When the _jefe_ came, we found, to our surprise, that he was the Don
Pablo Leyra of whom Xochihua had told us two years before. He is a pure
indian, tall, smooth-faced, of gentlemanly manner, and with all the
reserve characteristic of his race. He has lived at Huehuetla since
boyhood, forty-four years, till just now, and has but recently come to
take the position of _jefe politico_. He has not yet moved his family
from Huehuetla, and occupies a single room in his office-building. He
secured us a pleasant room, with good beds for the older, and good
mattresses for the younger, members of our party, in a house near-by
upon the hill. The _jefatura_ fills one side of the little _plaza_;
around the other side are _tiendas_, with high-pitched single roofs, and
private houses. The town suffers much from _nublina_, and is cold most
of the time.

[Illustration: INDIANS FISHING IN STREAM]

[Illustration: PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY]

We asked Don Pablo about the lake, concerning which we had heard. He
says it is not as much visited as formerly. While used by Otomis, and
ot