He Had A Black Velvet Robe Purchased For
Him, And Trimmed With Deep Gold Lace.
Hovering over him was a cherub.
Every friend of Dona Juana had lent some part of her jewellery for
the decoration of the holy man.
Rings sparkled on his fingers;
collars hung around his neck; a tiara graced his venerable brow. The
lacings of his sandals were studded with pearls; a precious girdle
bound his slender waist, and six large wax candles were lighted up at
the shrine. There, embosomed in fragrant evergreens - the orange, the
lime, the acacia - stood the favorite saint, destined to receive the
first homage of every guest that should arrive. These all solemnly
took off their hats to the image."
Such religious mummery as this is painful to witness, and to see the
saint borne round in procession, with men carrying candles, and
white-clad girls with large birds' wings fastened to their shoulders,
dispels the idea of its being Christianity at all.
The people are gentle and mild-spoken. White-robed women lead strings
of donkeys along the streets, bearing huge panniers full of
vegetables, among which frequently play the women's babies. The
panniers are about a yard deep, and may often be seen full to the
brim with live fowls pinioned by the legs. Other women go around with
large wicker trays on their heads, selling chipa, the native bread,
made from Indian corn, or mandioca root, the staple food of the
country. Wheat is not grown in Paraguay, and any flour used is
imported. These daughters of Eve often wear nothing more than a robe-
de-chambre, and invariably smoke cigars six or eight inches long.
Their figure is erect and stately, and the laughing eyes full of
mischief and merriment; but they fade into old age at forty. Until
then they seem proud as children of their brass jewellery and red
coral beads. The Paraguayans are the happiest race of people I have
met; care seems undreamed of by them.
In the post-office of the capital I have sometimes been unable to
procure stamps, and "Dypore" (We have none) has been the civil
answer of the clerk. When they had stamps they were not provided
with mucilage, but a brush and pot of paste were handed the buyer. If
you ask for a one cent stamp the clerk will cut a two cent stamp and
give you a half. They have, however, stamps the tenth part of a cent
in value, and a bank note in circulation whose face value is less
than a cent. There are only four numerals in the Guarani language: 1,
petei; 2,moncoi; 3,bohapy; 4,irundu. It is not possible to
express five or six. No wonder, therefore, that when I bought five
40-cent stamps, I found the clerk was unable to count the sum, and I
had to come to the rescue and tell him it was $2.00. At least eighty
per cent. of the people are unable to read.
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