218 INHABITANTS. 
table not unfrequently conspire to render the poverty of the 
Creole greater than that of the peon. As a general rule, how- 
ever, they are hospitable and kind, but effeminate in character, 
and live without much regard for the obligations of strict moral- 
ity. With few exceptions, they exclusively possess the little 
amount of. learning which is disseminated over the Isthmus — a 
circumstance that helps to define, with rigid accuracy, the 
boundaries of social distinction. 
The Mestizos , in point of influence, may be justly considered 
next ; the more especially " where rank depends more on the 
complexion than on endowments, and where almost every shade 
has its limits defined by terms which, though apparently only 
expressing the color, in reality express the rank of the individ- 
ual." This division of the inhabitants has become, through the 
various attempts to colonize the Isthmus, an important part of 
its population, and constitute what may be appropriately de- 
nominated the middle class. As such, many of them are prom- 
inent men, and enjoy the advantages of comparative wealth and 
education. The Mestizos are scattered over almost all parts of 
the Isthmus, and comprise the mayor domos, the mayorales of 
the haciendas, the arrieros of the mule trains, and the under- 
officials of the custom-house, and of the municipal police. They 
are characterized by habits of industry, but not of strict so- 
briety. They are cruel and revengeful in their disposition, and 
exceedingly jealous of strangers. A peculiarity which marks 
this portion of the population is, that with few exceptions they 
are all of illegitimate birth ; and the instance is exceedingly 
rare, where the Mestizo can point with certainty to the record 
of his father's marriage : still, for all this, he prides himself on 
the respectability of his ancestry, and reaps, as the reward of 
his " glory and shame," a fair and undisputed division of the 
paternal estate. This fact, coupled with the mutual affection 
always found subsisting between parents and their offspring, 
tends greatly to compensate for the wrongs of illicit love and 
the shame of an unchaste life. 
The Indians, who are by far the most numerous portion of 
the inhabitants, comprehend the remnants of various once pow- 
erful tribes, which, notwithstanding the changes and vicissitudes 
