| [67] First Report of Pedro de Alvarado to Cortes, dated Utatlan, | | 11th April, 1524. | | | | [68] See the 5th letter of Cortes, to the Emperor Charles V. | | | | [69] Small black beans. | | | | [70] Juarros, Baily’s Translation, p. 457. | | | | [71] In Guatemala this prayer is called La Oracion. | | | | This custom is familiar to those who have travelled upon the | | Italian coasts, or who have visited the western parts of Brittany | | near Carnac and in the Morbihan, where the faith of the peasants | | still remains strong. | | | | The Indians living amongst the hills frequently assemble in | | considerable numbers, and, kneeling on the ground, worship outside | | the doors of their churches; and there is a singular resemblance | | in the manner of their devotion to what is to be seen at the | | “Pardons” of the Bretons, where the peasants come from long | | distances, light their candles, and kneel before the church door, | | the line of the worshippers often extending beyond the precincts | | of the churchyard. | | | | [72] A name given by Spanish priests to the ancient temples and | | shrines of the Indians. | | | | [73] Las Casas, who was Bishop of the adjacent diocese of Chiapas | | in the sixteenth century, mentions that it was the custom there | | amongst the lower classes to give a year’s service to the | | parents.—“Pero la gente comun tenía de costumbre de servir in sus | | labores un año al padre de la que por mujer queria, de la manera | | que Jacob sirvio à Laban por sus hijas Rachel y Lya.” This was | | also the custom in Yucatan. | | | | [74] Long capes made of sackcloth. | | | | [75] When I passed through Mexico, the execution of the Emperor | | Maximilian and the unhappy fate of the Empress Carlotta, were | | subjects of discussion. It has often been a matter of surprise, |