he was going to Casa _Sororis_, to his sister's; and the strange word
_Minga_, which meets one at every turn, is corrupted, I believe, from
_Mica_, a crumb. _Piaz minga_, I have not a crumb of pleasure in it, &c.

The uniformity of dress here pleases the eye, and their custom of going
veiled to church, and always without a hat, which they consider as
profanation of the _temple_ as they call it, delights me much; it has an
air of decency in the individuals, of general respect for the place, and
of a resolution not to let external images intrude on devout thoughts.
The hanging churches, and even public pillars, set up in the streets or
squares for purposes of adoration, with black, when any person of
consequence dies, displeases me more; it is so very dismal, so paltry a
piece of pride and expiring vanity, and so dirty a custom, calling bugs
and spiders, and all manner of vermin about one so in those black
trappings, it is terrible; but if they remind us of our end, and set us
about preparing for it, the benefit is greater than the evil.

The equipages on the Corso here are very numerous, in proportion to the
size of the city, and excessively showy: the horses are long-tailed,
heavy, and for the most part black, with high rising forehands, while
the sinking of the back is artfully concealed by the harness of red
Morocco leather richly ornamented, and white reins. To this magnificence
much is added by large leopard, panther, or tyger skins, beautifully
striped or spotted by Nature's hand, and held fast on the horses by
heavy shining tassels of gold, coloured lace, &c. wonderfully handsome;
while the driver, clothed in a bright scarlet dress, adorned and trimmed
with bear's skin, makes a noble figure on the box at this season upon
days of gala. The carnival, however, exhibits a variety unspeakable;
boats and barges painted of a thousand colours, drawn upon wheels, and
filled with masks and merry-makers, who throw sugar-plums at each other,