90 MEXICO, CENTEAJL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



when kneeling, with motionless head and bust, fixed gaze, and upheaved chest, 

 have the aspect of ancient Egyptian statues ; so striking is the resemblance that, in 

 the language of Lucien Biart, " we dream despite ourselves of a possible kinship 

 between the two peoples." The Mexican Indian is extremely frugal and regular 

 in his almost exclusivel}'' vegetable diet, consisting mainly of beans, maize, 

 pimento, and bananas. In the family circle he is fond of occasionally drinking to 

 excess ; but whatever quantity of pulque or other intoxicating liquors he may take, 

 lie is never affected by delirium tremens. The natives suffer from few ailments, and 

 those who escape from the convulsions and other disorders of infancy generally 

 arrive at mature age, though seldom taking the trouble to count the years of their 

 unchequered lives. 



Nevertheless the Indians who have kept aloof from the European and settled 

 Mestizo communities, rejecting the culture and customs of civilised society, betray 

 that appearance of gloom and incurable sadness which seems to hang over races 

 destined to perish. They are always serious, silent if not sullen, and justly 

 suspicious. They seek the solitude, and reluctantly quit their native homes, 

 which are carefully enclosed by tall cactus hedges. Beyond their lowly hamlet 

 with its belfry fondly raised by the villagers, nothing seems to awaken their 

 curiosity. Nevertheless they follow with a furtive glance the man from whom 

 they have suffered wrong ; they can dissemble while awaiting the opportunity for 

 vengeance. 



The half-castes, who tend more and more to constitute the bulk of the popula- 

 tion, are on the whole of more graceful form and more delicate frame than the 

 full-blood Indians. Like them, they have black and mostly lank hair, straight 

 and at times slightly flattened nose, and depressed brow. But what the features 

 lack in regular outline is always compensated by a kindly expression and winning 

 smile. The articulations of hands and feet are extremely delicate, notwithstanding 

 the tendency of the women to corpulence. It was stated at a recent meeting of 

 the French Anthropological Society* that of all clients of the French glove- 

 makers the Mexican and Peruvian créoles have the smallest hands. The Mexican 

 civilian is noted for his quiet, easy carriage ; he is always courteous even towards 

 his most intimate friends ; unaffectedly polite even towards those against whom 

 he may bear a grudge. But despite a clear intellect he seldom betrays any marked 

 aptitude for any profession, and in youth he is easily led into dissipated, frivolous 

 ways. lie is open-handed, shares freely with his friends, and with a light 

 heart will stake his all at a single hazard. " His purse burns," says a local 

 proverb, to give some idea of the recklessness of the Mestizo, which contrasts so 

 strangely with the greed of the pure Indian. Thus the IMixtecs and Zapotecs of 

 Oaxaca, for instance, are said still to hide away all their savings, concealing them 

 even from their own families, so that at the day of resurrection they may have 

 all the enjoyment to themselves. A prodigious amount of treisure is supposed to 

 lie buried in the ground in consequence of this practice, which, however, dates 

 from pre-Christian times. Property accompanied its owner to the grave, and 



* February 6th, 1890. 



