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Show dwelling I could see that it held a position on a knoll well above the leve f the flod that are certain to appear every year duri ing the rainy months In front of the cottage there were many Ahckcm\g yellow castor oil light and I could detecta moving crovid of men dressed in loose white robes. I were no electic hgm, tclphone trange moist coolness T was overheated from the long tramp, and the dcw, as heavy as rain, ha saturated my clothing. As we approached nearer the cottage I could se that many men were present, each carrying his own old-fashioned oil lantern a myriad mosquitoes hovering about each yellow flame. The gentleme ‘came forward to greet the first American and the first unofficial Occidenta person who had ever visited their village. I was at once struck with th dignity of the assemblage, many of the men were middle aged, some wer patriarchal, few were young, all had a nobility of countenance and simplicity found only in the remote Indian villages; the cit es seemed t break down this splendid character inherited from ages past. As I stoo among these kindly men, in the glare of the yellow lights, T was introduce 10 the leaders of the community-the librarian, the village doctor, th master of the school and his eleven teachers, the president of the Unio Board-all were there to greet us and to wish us a pleasant sojourn in thei humble community. Phc tograph 75 /as delighted with the dignity and sincerity of these noble looking e o me; soon many mor gentlemen arrived, until the dark countryside was alive with white-robe villagers, cach with his own antique lantern. In Autsahai the night was blac and there were no village lights. No women appeared. Indian women ar seldom seen in countr groups, as they always remain to themselves; bein totally uneducated, it would be presumptuou for them to assume the sam stati ion as their men. The crowd increased until there were several hundre Digtal image© 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah, All rihts reserved |