New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-26

coloriug and composition, superior to any canvas
i'm the great at gallery III Mexico
There is perhaps no experience which a sym.
pathetic traveller can have in Mexico more sug-
gestive than is offered by glimpse of the
interior of this parish church. The surroundings
are so bare and mean, the images Of Christ on the
high altar are so coarse and vulgar, and both
priests and people 50 ignorant and super
sitiOus; yet homogeneous as the elect seems, here
is something of the highest value as an art treas
ure. jealousy guarded. and worshlpped almost as
an idol. by the impoverished population OF this
ruined village Large sums have been offered
both by Americans and by the ecclesiastical
authorities in Mexico for this painting but it
cannot be purchased. The TaraSean wOrShippers
this forlorn shrine kneel beside the picture and
offer the incense of slmple-mlnded alteration 70
the dead Christ and TO the living Mary, and IN
their rude, .unlettered way appreciate that they
have something almost divine that makes their
temple glorious Perhaps the little Indian women
say their prayers and glance with their piercing
black eyes at the pictured group. and then creep
out of the cloisteT with a feeling that they nave
been nearer Heaven. Certainly the tall Tarascan
men follow stranger into the church and stand
around him while he is there very much as
Gordon of police surround a suspected pickpOcket.
The natives are bent upon protecting their art
treasure with aboriginal vigilance against the
dcpredations Of foreign invaders. II Is the last
remnant of the faded grandeur of their race, and
they cling to il with passionate intensity Of
feeling
These Tarascans live very much as their an
cestors lived centuries ago, when good Bishop
QuirOga came out 10 convert them TO the Chris
tan faith. Their boats are still followed out
Of the trunks Of trees; they hunt the water
fowl on the lake with wooden Javellns; they have
carts with solid wheels, which are sections Of
trees with the pith knocked out at the centres;
they fashion clay into pottery. by the crudest
processes; and they have maintained without
change the diet and regimen, and even costumes,
Of their ancestors Civilization TO them is some
inn ffofn ahl Ia and ira
are fish in the lake. and tOrttllAs, frlJOles and
pulque on shore. What was enough in the genera
tons of their kings suflices now. They eat,
drink, sun themselves, go to mass and pay tribute
to tho priests; and what more can there be In
life? In their sight the old ways are the BEST
because the least laborious. a railway and
steamer between them have involved the eStab
llshment Of the lumber business. Timber is now
felled in the mountains and barges have to be
loaded morning and evening. Progress signifies
increased toll and is tolerated by them only a
necessary evil They were happier, they think,
when there was less TO do, before those terrible
Yankees employed them liz the lumber trade, when
their only employment was duck-stalklng and
fishing and when they could say their prayers
beside the picture at TzintZuntzan in peace with
out being stared out of countenance by Yankee
lntruders armed with cameras and tripods.
If the Northern vandals will come, they must
pay well for the privilege and be vigilantly
watched as suspects The Indian who Is content
Erangaricuaro will exact as high tariff for the
passage by canoe 70 TzintZuntzan as though the
paddle which he plies were of solid silver and his
leisure for pulque-drinking on shore the golddust
Of time The church may be open always 70 the
devOut, but the stranger may not enter without
money and without price. Let a camera be turned
upon group Of natives and every beggaT among
them expects TO have round fee for the privilege
of having his ugly face transferred TO glass. Are
they not descendants Of the Tarascan Kings, and
does it cOmpOrt with the dignity Of their an
ccstry that their beauty should be Sealthiy stolen
by those wicIed-lOoking Kodaks? Art comes high
here, whether it he glimpse Of the Titan in the
ruined church or an amateur photographers ran.
dom shot at ragged princess with bare arms
and feet. 80 also is the mysterious breakfast
a rickety table, with one halfbroken chair In the
corner by tie door, and back of it is bar. where
the master Of the fonda and his aged father sit
in solemn state 70 receive the revenues when
the meal has been eaten. A tottering bag, with
skin like discarded baseball shoe, serves first
broth, next soup, then garlic stew, and
with lingering slOwneSs a succession of hashed
meats, fearfullv and wonderfully made, and so on
in orderly course through eggs, lettuce underdOne
tortilas and overlooked frijOles 20 the sweets
some Indian preserves with puckery taste. While
his mother cooks and serves the Tarascan at the
seat Of customs sternly watches the guests and
possibly counts the mouthfulS When the ac-
count is paid without a struggle, a look Of keen
regret passes over the swarthy face as he fancies
that he might have got more for the asking
Indeed shall find il difficult 70 picture this
native innleeper in future rs chalking up all
sorts Of impossible scores, like good old Mr..
Willetts, and imagining that he has a good chance
Of collecting them with interest when the traveller
returns. /. n. +.