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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tiled shed is the center of attraction. 

 Women, children, pigs and dogs, baskets 

 of flowers — the heavily scented gardenia 

 and masses of pink geranium — imitation 

 coral beads, hideous iguanas, dukes of 

 many kinds, bananas and other tropical 

 fruits — all lend themselves to the making 

 of a scene at once picturesque and novel. 



picturksoue: costume:s 



The Tehuana women are beautiful. 

 Their stately carriage, regular features, 

 and beautiful soft brown eyes, added to 

 their fascinating costumes, mark them 

 with distinction and irresistible charm. 

 They wear the usual Indian corte, or 

 enagua dcrollada (rolled skirt), which is 

 nothing more nor less than a straight 

 piece of cotton cloth, generally one meter 

 wide and two meters long, dyed red, 

 blue, purple, or a checked red and white ; 

 a short chemise, or coton, sleeveless and 

 with a low neck, coming just to the waist 

 line. It is made of cotton material in 

 different colors or of velvet, and shows 

 to great advantage' the tawny, perfectly 

 formed arms and shoulders. The crown- 

 ing touch, however, is their head-dress. 

 Shaped somewhat like a short Japanese 

 kimono, with a wide flounce of starched 

 and pleated white cotton lace, it is thrown 

 over the head so that the stiffened, lacey 

 flounce stands out about the face like a 

 fan-shaped frame. The rest of the gar- 

 ment, alas ! hangs ignominiously down 

 the back. 



The more wealthy Tehuanas have' a 

 great quantity of jewelry — necklaces long 

 enough to wind two or three times about 

 the neck, falling down to the waist, and 

 usually made of United States five-dollar 

 gold pieces, alternating with irregularly 

 shaped pearls, are the most favored. A 

 small pendant, called paJomcta, or little 

 dove, made of gold, and somewhat re- 

 sembling the wings of a dove, often of 

 very fine workmanship and set with 

 pearls, is worn by almost all Tehuana 

 women, either suspended by a bit of dirty 

 string about the neck or a string of imi- 

 tation coral beads. 



Instead of baskets, the women use 

 large calabashes, which are dried and 



painted, some in vivid green with gaudy 

 flowers trailing over them, others in red, 

 and still others in yellow. These cala- 

 bashes, called "jicaras," filled with fruit 

 or other products, they balance on their 

 heads as they walk. 



NATIVE HANDICRAFT 



During one of my visits to Tehuante- 

 pec, I had a lively chat with an elderly 

 Tehuana, whose waving white hair, 

 drawn gently back from her forehead, 

 made a fitting frame for her regular, 

 cameo-like features. She had come over 

 to the market, she said, to look after the 

 girl who was selling the cortes ; she did 

 not make much money now in the weaving 

 and dyeing business, it was so hard to get 

 cheap labor ; times had changed greatly 

 since she had begun her work. Noticing 

 my interest in the cortes she had for 

 sale, she offered to show me her home, 

 and I followed her down the cobble- 

 stoned street and turned into the arched 

 doorway of a substantial adobe house, 

 evidently quite an old place, square and 

 one-storied, with a large brick patio in 

 the center. Here in .the patio was her 

 work-shop. 



Three young men were lazily dipping 

 pieces of cotton cloth into large caldrons 

 of a dark blue dye, the anil cimarron of 

 the Indians (Indigofera anil). After 

 soaking a suflicient time the cloth was 

 taken out and hung on a line to dry, 

 and, when dried and pressed, was ready 

 for the market. This indigo coloring is 

 made in a very simple way. Branches 

 of the Indigofera are boiled down in vats 

 until the water is thoroughly colored with 

 the dye. It is then left to settle, the solid 

 part of the dye sinking to the bottom of 

 the vat. The water is. drawn off and the 

 deposit is left in the sun to dry and 

 harden. The blue cortes are very com- 

 monly worn, and can be bought for from 

 three to six pesos. 



the: royal PURPIvK 



In a room off the patio two men were 

 sitting before large, old-fashioned looms 

 weaving the much-prized purple cortes. 

 Each corte of this purple color costs the 



