a  genuine  funeral  procession.  A  cross-bearer  in  a  large  surplice
led  the  way,  followed  by  acolytes  with  torches  and  chanting
priests.  The  coffin  was  carried  by  bearers,  and  the  members  of  the
deceased's  family  brought  up  the  rear.  What  surprised  me  was
the  great  rapidity  with  which  the  procession  passed,  priests,  bearers,
and  mourners  almost  running,  as  if  in  indecent  haste  to  get  rid  of
their  burden.  The  effect  produced  by  the  cortege  in  the  dark,
narrow  streets   was   fantastic   to    a  degree.     The    lurid    glare  of  the


torch  flames,  the
resounding
i  voices  of  the
dirge  chanters,
and  the  un-
seemly and  disorderly  haste  of  the  mourners,  gave  the  solemnity
.a  spectral,  preternatural  appearance.  It  was  a  blood-curdling
legend  in  action — a  troop  of  accursed  beings  driven  before  the  wind
of  the  celestial  vengeance,  or  hurried  to  doom  by  some  diabolical
■curse.
Yet  it  was  only  a  pauper  funeral.  The  body  would  be  conveyed
to  the  cemetery  mortuary,  to  lie  there  all  night  with  uncovered
face,  watched  by  two  guardians.  Only  on  the  evening  of  the  next
day  would  the  remains  be  sealed  up  in  the  Wall  of  the  Dead,  the


AT    POLLEN SA.
49


delay  of  twenty-four  hours  being  a  precaution  against  premature
burial.
But  from  these  matters  it  is  a  relief  to  turn  again  to  the  town
and  its  charming  environs.
Pollensa  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  of  Majorca,  and  the  site  was
formerly   occupied    by   a    Roman   colony.       The    antiquity   survives,


Cascade  of  the  Gala  de  Molins.
however,   more    as    an    atmosphere   than   in    the   concrete   form    of
masonry.
