_camisa_ and drawers, but these had a red stripe
down the side of the leg; jingling hawk-bells of tin or brass were
attached to various parts of their dress; a red belt encircled the
waist; all wore sandals. The "female" dancers wore white dresses of the
usual sort, with decorated borders at the arm and neck; also necklaces
of gold beads and gold chains with pendants. Two of the dancers were
little children, but the rest appeared to be young men up to about
thirty-five years of age. All wore crowns upon the head; these
consisted of a circlet of tin, from which rose two curved strips, which
intersected over the middle of the head; from the circlet rose four
feathers--either natural or made of tin. Two of the crowns of special
size, with real feathers, marked the king and queen. Under the crowns,
covering the top of the head and hanging down from the shoulders, were
gay handkerchiefs of red or blue. All the dancers were masked. The men
wore bandoliers of cotton, worked with bright designs representing
animals, birds and geometrical forms; the square ends of these were hung
with marine shells. In their hands, the dancers carried curious rattles
and fans, which they used in making graceful movements as they danced.
The handle of the fan consisted of the leg and foot of a turkey, while
the body was composed of the brilliant and beautifully spotted feathers
of the ocellated turkey, a bird peculiar to Yucatan and the adjacent
country. There were two musicians, one with a long _pito_, or fife, and
the other with a _huehuetl_ or drum, which he struck with his hand.
Hanging to the side of the drum near the top was a turtle-shell, upon
which the drummer beat, from time to time, with a deer's horn. A
standard was carried by the company, which bore a representation of the
sun, with dancers and a serpent; the pole by which it was carried was
surmounted with a tin disk representing the sun's face. The music was
apparently of indian origin and the words of the song were Maya. The
dancing itself was graceful and accompanied by many curious movements.
Mr. Thompson, our American consul to Yucatan, believes this dance is
ancient, and thinks he has found representations of it painted on the
walls of ancient ruins at Chichen Itza.

[Illustration: THE XTOLES; Merida]

[Illustration: THE XTOLES; Merida]

Merida prides itself upon its carnival, which, it claims, ranks
third,--Venice and New Orleans alone surpassing it. It was admitted that