the spirited little horses of the country. As usual, we were accompanied by
four armed outriders.

We passed through miserable suburbs, ruined, dirty, and with a commingling
of odours which I could boldly challenge those of Cologne to rival. After
leaving the town, the road is not particularly pretty, but is for the most
part a broad, straight avenue, bounded on either side by trees.

At Guadalupe, on the hill of Tepayac, there stood, in days of yore, the
Temple of Tonantzin, the goddess of earth and of corn, a mild deity, who
rejected human victims, and was only to be propitiated by the sacrifices of
turtle-doves, swallows, pigeons, etc. She was the protectress of the
Totonoqui Indians. The spacious church, which now stands at the foot of the
mountain, is one of the richest in Mexico. Having put on veils, no bonnets
being permitted within the precincts of a church, we entered this far-famed
sanctuary, and were dazzled by the profusion of silver with which it is
ornamented.

The divine painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, represents her in a blue
cloak covered with stars, a garment of crimson and gold, her hands clasped,
and her foot on a crescent, supported by a cherub. The painting is coarse,
and only remarkable on account of the tradition attached to it.

We afterwards visited a small chapel, covered by a dome, built over a
boiling spring, whose waters possess miraculous qualities, and bought
crosses and medals which have touched the holy image, and pieces of white
ribbon, marked with the measure of the Virgin's hands and feet. We climbed
(albeit very warm) by a steep path to the top of the hill, where there is
another chapel, from which there is a superb view of Mexico; and beside it,
a sort of monument in the form of the sails of a ship, erected by a