THE MEXICAN IN NEW MEXICO 33 



town on a cold, brilliant winter's morning, 

 crouched on the seat of his unpainted, ram- 

 shackle waggon, behind his dejected, rope- 

 harnessed ponies, his blanket drawn far over 

 his head and shoulders, his high-crowned hat 

 perched on top of all, and the point where 

 we opine his nose to be buried in his knees, 

 comes in well as a figure for a middle distance. 

 If not in his waggon or on his pony, he may 

 be found in rows nay, in heaps squatting 

 in winter against a sun-warmed adobe wall 

 - ' the Mexican fireplace ' smoking the 

 perennial cigarette, gambling, possibly, at 

 monte or chusas, drinking the wine of the 

 country, or, better still, simply chattering ; 

 for it is a garrulous race. 



The Mexican dude is another affair alto- 

 gether. He is not common with us, but he 

 is to be found. His is the hat of romance ; 

 the everyday Mexican's is the everyday hat. 

 Both are steeple-crowned, broad-brimmed, 

 and heavy enough to resist the wind of the 

 country ; but while the one is built in plain 

 straw, unadorned, the other is bravely 

 fashioned in solid goods of scarlet, black, or 

 gray, embroidered in silver spread-eagles, or 



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