In vain he entreated them not to kill themselves; and assured them that heaven would be satisfied, and that human nature could not endure beyond a certain point. No answer, but the loud sound of the scourges, which are many of them of iron, with sharp points that enter the flesh. At length, as if they were perfectly exhausted, the sound grew fainter, and little by little ceased altogether. We then got up in the dark, and, with great difficulty, groped our way in the pitch darkness through the galleries and down the stairs, till we reached the door, and had the pleasure of feeling the fresh air again. They say that the church-floor is frequently covered with blood after one of these penances, and that a man died the other day in consequence of his wounds.
I then went to the house of the ——- Minister, where there was a reunion, and where I found the company comfortably engaged in eating a very famous kind of German salad, composed of herrings, smoked salmon, cold potatoes, and apples; (salmagundi?) and drinking hot punch. After the cold, darkness, and horrors of the church, this formed rather a contrast; and it was some time before I could shake off the disagreeable impression left by the desagravios, and join in the conversation….
Along with this you will receive some Mexican airs, which I have written by ear from hearing them played, and of some of which I gave you the words in a former letter.
[Illustration: MEXICAN AIRS See Letters 12th and 16th. JARAVE PALAMO.]
[Illustration: LOS ENANOS.]
[Illustration: PERICO.]
[Illustration: EL AFORRADO.]
LETTER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
Fête-day—Friendly Hint—Precautions—General Tranquillity—President in San Agustin—Revisit Museum—Ancient Manuscripts—Sculpture—Bronze Bust, etc.—Freshness after Rain—Ball at the French Minister's—Pamphlet— Gutierrez Estrada—His Character—Concealment—Mexicalsingo—Minister of the Treasury—Archbishop's Permission—Paintings—Mexican Painters—Santa Teresa—Description of the Interior—The Penitences—Tortures— Disciplines, etc.—Supper—Profane Ballads—Monasteries—San Francisco— Padre Prior—Soldiers and Friars.
October 3rd.