The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1886-05-27
THE FUNERAL OF THE POOR.
The Peculiarly Impressive Burial cero-

Tho Peculiarly Impressive Burial Cero-
1nonies OF lIaxioo-At q "Fanda."
You see two or three kinds of fureraln
here. The frst-olass is grand, and is all
conducted from first to last with many
carriages. The second-class is the kind l
attempted to see by the street car route.
The third-class is the kind I now en-
ccuntered-the funeral of the poor. The
cofins of these are red or blue, as rule,
and have many figures or marks; much
like the signs and figures found on the
cases containing mummies. The wood
of these cohins is very thin and light.
Forwood is costly, and the poor here are
so pitifully poor.
I followed this mixed and stoid pro-
cession through the great high gate and
on up watered avenue of splendid eu-
calyptus trees for fully half mile. The
little barelegged Indian who bore his
neighbor on his back never once at
tempted to rest or break his "dog-trot"
till he set the coffin down on end at row
of graves.
Here, where the trees are small and
the ground is not in very good order,
saw at least 100 graves. The men-no
women were Immediately among the
mourners-ran along, looked down into
the graves. seemed to select one to please
them, came back, ordered the little bare
legged Indian to pack up, and in less
than minute, busy as lot of ants, they
let down the red coffin into the neat
white grave. And they then hastily
covered it over; while priest came from
little chapel close by, book and candle
in hand, sprinkling some dust, saying
few words softly, and then back to his
hermitage; while the barefooted men and
the little barelegged Indian-in fact
they were all Indians, all barefooted, and
the poorest of the poor-wentback down
the avenue of tombs, flowers and splen-
did trees slowly and silently.
1t was then that the impressive part
of the ceremony took place. A little
crowd of women had come lowering In
the distance after these men. They now
came closer and hovered around the
grave. They cried some and moaned
and moaned, all the time placing flowers
on the grave. And when they had done
there was one more billow of red in the
cemetery of Dolores.
knew not why, but this little group
of weeping women all the time kept re-
minding me of Mary and her friends
when they came to the tomb of our
savior. They had brought their flowers
in an extra little blue coffin, which they
carried back to the city with them. A
little stick was set up at the head, with
small piece of pewter or zinc about the
size of your palm, with the name and
date and age. That was ala little 2
cent tombstone. And there are miles
and miles of these here. You can see
by the holes in them that some of them
have been tackled up many times by
tender hands after the former sticks have
rotted down.
Over some of the graves of the poor
here you see little houses covered with
long cypress moss. These little houses
are nearly always full of flowers. On
orie-geape I.saw pair Of little baby
shoes. And this moved me greatly.
Not entirely because of the pathos of it,
but partly because it is little like the
feeling of the Indians of the western
states for their dead, where they place
all the property of the departed on the
grave.
Once outside the somber shadows of
the graveyard, the party of men and
women united and entered q restaurant
or sfanda," at the roadside by the en-
trance to the cemetery. I, too, was very
hungry, and passed in-with the others.
They had their own provisions, however,
and while I ate a broiled chicken, fried
eggs, and peppers, and drank three little
pitchers Of pulque, watched them at
their simple meal at the other end of the
little table; two other red and figured
cofins on mems backs passing the door
meantime, we one and all uncovered
and bowed our heads, as is the Mexican
custom.
One of the women had great heap of
tortillas, or corn cakes, which she
warmed up one by one and seasoned with
grease and pepper and salt at the char
coal fire burning at little red CRATE in
the corner of the adobe shed which 1
have named restaurant. 1t is labeled
outside "Fanda," but I have always found
it best in my travels to leave out all un-
familiar names, and so never use local
words or names if I can avoid it. An
other of the women had onions and q
great heap of the smallest of fishes, much
smaller than "whitebait" of the Thames.
Another woman with her sharp finger
nails tore up some onions and spread
them over the cakes, along with a few
small fishes. Another of the women had
some sort of weeds for salad. l think
it may have been radish tops. Finally,
when the tortillas, or thin corn cakes,
were all warmed and smeared over and
rolled up into rolls like q croquette, then
all began to eat and to drink. They
drank plenty of pulque from little brown