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[7]
Here stood the shrine, and here the sacred lamps were lit. Some scraps of monkish art still light the walls; poor chequers, lozenges, and flaming hearts.
Like other savages, the Rumsen of Carmelo had to learn religion through the sense of sight.
The Cross has fallen down.
Inside the church, but near the door, some stakes are driven into the ground.
These stakes are stems of pines.
One stake has just been driven into the earth; a second has been snapt by falling stones.
Who plants these stems of pine in holy soil?
Here lies the mystery of that aged chief.
Each stake betrays an Indian grave, and tells the story of a lost cause and vanishing race.
1875.
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