MEXICO: Pilgrimage

A tall, gaunt man strode south down the rough road from the mountain city of Querétaro last week at the head of a five-mile-long column of men. Mile on mile he moved across rugged hills, over the naked brown mountains. He walked past ancient churches and haciendas, through villages with pre-Christian names—Tepoztlán, Tlalnepantla, Cuautitlán. As he drew near Mexico City he passed modern factories—Azteca Cement, Nash Motors, La Consolidida Steel—whose chimneys ribbed the blue of Mexico's sky.

All this he ignored. In his right hand, outthrust before him, were three eggs, the...