It is not known when the first _castillo_ (bamboo tower) spat fire. When there was ample gunpowder, someone fashioned a windmill for pinwheels, rockets, Roman candles, blazing globes of flame, and strings of tangled lights. It was a windmill of bamboo, a shivering, shaking tower of color, 20 to 30 feet high. Throughout the fiesta, workers dipped into the pulque casks. They tried to dance off their intoxication; they did their best to forget their hardships; sometimes they found themselves in the hacienda jail. Notables played billiards, pool and cards and tossed dice; until far into the night they might gamble at the _Monte_ (card game) tables; when the fiesta came to an end they laid down their cards reluctantly--it might be a long way home. July, August, September--the summer calendar rolled on and new fiesta dates became important: Candlemas, Holy Week, Corpus Christi, Día de Los Reyes. On the Day of Divine Proficience, candles burned for twenty-four hours. On carts and on men's shoulders, biblical floats appeared: It was time for a reappraisal of faith, time to honor the local Virgin. [Illustration: Hacienda de Yaxche, Yucatán: Virgin, 14 inches high, 17th century.] +V. Education+ [Illustration: Hacienda cattle brand] In bygone days--two hundred years ago--an hacienda church or chapel bell signaled school. A youngster or priest or acolyte yanked the bell rope. In the tropics, if you were lucky, you put on your _shirgo_ (raincoat), and got to school dry. Your class started at 7:00 A.M. and lasted until noon, when the heat moved in. You walked to your home for lunch or picked it off the trees as you went home. If school convened regularly you were fortunate. You were fortunate if classes freed you from hacienda chores. In the temperate zone, school began about 9:00 A.M. and reconvened after the siesta--closing at 4:00 P.M. Again intermittency played havoc with the sessions. The _maestro_ (teacher) was very informal; if you had a teacher who was dedicated, your education began to acquire meaning. Teaching was in Spanish, though the pupils might speak one or more of the sixty dialects. For centuries the parents objected to Spanish being taught; at home the children spoke their native tongue. Since Spanish coercion was continual, it was only normal for the students to rebel. Intuitively, they sensed the destruction of their way of life. Both school and church were suspect. [Illustration: Hacienda de Tamanche, Yucatán: 17th-century colonial residence and remains of sugar refinery chimney.] Priests, as instructors, read selections from the Bible, religious treatises, and pamphlets. There were no books for the students. With pencil, paper, and blackboard or slate, children learned the rudiments of writing, reading, and arithmetic. Without musical accompaniment, they learned hymns and poetry. Their centuries were centuries of neglect.