teeth and the over corpulency so common amongst them, are no doubt the natural consequences of want of exercise and of injudicious food. There is no country in the world where so much animal food is consumed, and there is no country in the world where so little is required. The consumers are not the Indians, who cannot afford it, but the better classes who generally eat meat three times a day. This, with the quantities of chile and sweetmeats, in a climate which every one complains of as being irritating and inflammatory, probably produces those nervous complants which are here so general, and for which constant hot baths are the universal and agreeable remedy.

In point of amiability and warmth of manner, I have met with no women who can possibly compete with those in Mexico, and it appears to me that women of all other countries will appear cold and stiff by comparison. To strangers, this is an unfailing charm, and it is to be hoped that whatever advantages they may derive from their intercourse with foreigners, they may never lose this graceful cordiality, which forms so agreeable a contrast with English and American frigidity.

C―n received an invitation some time ago to attend the honras of the daughter of the Marquis of S-a, that is, the celebration of mass for the repose of her soul. M was observing to-day, that if this Catholic doctrine be firmly believed, and that the prayers of the church are indeed availing to shorten the sufferings of those who have gone before us; to relieve those whom we love from thousands

MASS FOR THE DEAD.

153

of years of torture, it is astonishing how the rich do not become poor, and the poor beggars, in furtherance of this object; and that if the idea be purely human, it showed a wonderful knowledge of human nature, on the part of the inventor, as what source of profit could be more sure? . . .

Certainly no expense was spared on this occasion. San Augustin, in itself a beautiful church, was fitted up with extraordinary splendor. The walls and pillars were covered with draperies of rich crimson velvet. Innumerable wax candles were lighted, and an invisible band of music played during the intervals of the deep-rolling organ. All the monks of San Augustin, with their white hoods and sandalled feet, and carrying lighted tapers, were ranged near the altar. All the male relatives of the family, dressed in deep mourning, occupied the high-backed chairs placed along one side of the church, the floor of which was covered with a carpet, on which various veiled and mourning figures were kneeling, whom I joined. The whole service, the chanting, the solemn music, and the prayers, were very impressive, yet more joyous than sad, perhaps from the pervading feeling, that each note, as it rose to heaven, carried some alleviation to the spirit of the young and beloved one, for whose repose they prayed, and brought her nearer to the gates of the Holy City.

She was but twenty when she died; and our first house is close to that of the Marquis de Sa, her father, so that we were shocked to learn that she had expired on the night of our great serenade, (we, of course, not aware of her illness,) actually to the

154

MODES OF INVITATION.

sound of that gay music, and amidst the shouting and clapping of hands of the multitude. When the service was over, the procession passed out, every one kissing the hand of the Bishop as he went along, and we found some difficulty in making our way through the crowds of léperos, who, though not allowed to enter the church on this occasion, were swarming at the gates. Our carriage, as we returned home, formed one of a file of at least one hundred.

We found, on our table, another invitation to a very splendid Mass, which is to be performed in San Francisco, on account of the death of a friend of ours, a senator of distinguished family. The style of these invitations is as follows. A device is engraved on the paper, such as a tomb and cypress, and below is printed :

"José Maria A

José G de la Ca, and Basilio G brothers and uncle of the

Senator Don Augustin T

who died on the twenty-eighth of last month, request you to assist at the suffrage of the funeral honors, which, by the desire of his wife, Doña J————— A, will be celebrated in the church of San Francisco on the morning of the eighth of this month of February, 1840, at nine o'clock."

Beside this invitation, was a piece of information of a different description :

"General A- and Anna R-beg to inform you, that they have contracted matrimony, and have the honor of offering themselves to your disposal. Street, No. 24. Mexico, 1840."

"M

Here, as in Spain, a lady, after her marriage, retains her maiden name; and though she adds to it that of her husband, she is more commonly known by her own.

From ignorance of another Mexican custom, I made rather an awkward blunder the other day, though I must observe, in my justification, that I had lately been in all the agonies of searching for servants, and had just filled all the necessary departments pretty much to my satisfaction. Therefore, when the porter of the Señora de brought me

the compliments of his mistress, and that she begged to inform me that she had another servant at my disposal, (otra criada á mi disposicion,) I returned for answer, that I was greatly obliged, but had just hired a recamerera, (chambermaid). At this the man, stupid as he was, opened his great eyes with a slight expression of wonder. Fortunately, as he was turning away, I bethought me of inquiring after the Señora's health, and his reply, that "she and the baby were coming on very well," brought the truth suddenly before me, that the message was merely the etiquette used on informing the friends of the family of the birth of a child; a conviction which induced me slightly to alter the style of my answer. Experientia docet !

7

LETTER THE ELEVENTH.

Calle de Tacuba - The Leap of Alvarado - The "Noche Triste." Sale of a Curate's Goods - Padre Leon Leprosy - Pic

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tures- The Annunciation - The Alameda - Paseo de Bucarelli The Viga - Indians in canoes - A Murder -A Country Fête Visit to the Colegia Vizcaino - The Jota Arragonesa - Old Soldiers.

THE street in which we live forms part of the Calle de Tacuba, the ancient Tlacopan, one of the great causeways by which ancient Mexico communicated with the continent. The other two were Tepeyayac (now Guadalupe) and Iztapalapan, by which last, the Mexican Emperor and his nobles went out to receive Cortes on his entrance to Tenochtitlan. The ancient city was divided into four districts, and this division is still preserved, with a change from the Indian names to those of San Pablo, San Sebastian, San Juan, and Santa Maria. The streets run in the same direction as they did in former times. The same street frequently changes its name in each division, and this part of the Calle de Tacuba, is occasionally called the "Plazuela del Sopilote," "San Fernando," and the "Puente de Alvarado," which is the more classic of the three, as celebrating the valor of a hero; while a ditch, crossed by a small bridge near this, still retains the name of "el Salto de Alvarado," in memory of the famous leap given