MEXICO.
South-west of the United States is the country of _Mexico_. Till
within a few years, it was a Spanish colony; but is now independent.
In Mexico there are _seven_ kinds of people: 1. _Whites_, born in
Europe; 2. _Creoles_, born of Spanish parents in America; 3.
_Mestizoes_, or descendants of Whites and Indians; 4. _Mulattoes_,
sprung from Whites and Negroes; 5. _Zambas_, the offspring of Indians
and Negroes; 6. _Indians_, who are the copper-colored native race; and
7. _African Negroes_.
The Mexicans are of good _stature_, well proportioned, and so free
from personal defects, that there is scarcely upon the earth a nation,
in which fewer deformed persons are to be met with. Their skin is of a
copper-color; and they have good complexions, narrow foreheads, black
eyes, white, firm, regular teeth, and thick, glossy, black hair.
Some of the ladies are said to be very beautiful; but they have one
practice, which is very disgusting――that of _smoking cigars_. They
carry their cigars in a gold, or silver case, suspended by a ribbon at
their side; and as soon as one cigar is exhausted, another is lighted;
and they only cease to smoke, when they eat or sleep.
It is said that the Mexicans are moderate in eating; yet one would
think they must eat a great deal, as they have eight meals a day. This
I suppose, however, is only among the higher classes. Chocolate is a
favorite beverage, but if they eat little, they drink much. Indeed,
drunkenness is so common, that in the city of Mexico, the police send
round _tumbrils_, or carts, to collect such as are found stretched in
the streets.
The senses of these people are very acute, especially that of sight,
which they enjoy to old age, unimpaired. Their constitutions are
naturally sound; and, though most of them die of severe diseases, it
is not uncommon for them to attain to the age of a hundred years.
The Mexicans have good understandings; but education among them is not
very general. They are said not to be as passionate as the people of
some other countries. They are slow, and very persevering in respect
to works, which require time. They are generous and disinterested.
They set but little value upon gold. The Spanish inhabitants dress
very expensively. They generally wear silks, and adorn their hats with
belts of gold, and roses of diamonds. Even some of the slaves have
bracelets, and necklaces of gold, silver, pearls, and gems.
The Roman Catholic is the established religion. The natives retain
many of their superstitious notions and practices. When one of them
dies, the deceased has a jug of water given him, and pieces of paper,
with directions where to go. At the same time, a little dog, or some
other domestic animal, is killed, to accompany the deceased on his
journey, to the invisible world. The corpse and the animal are now
burned, and the ashes placed in an earthen pot, which is buried in a
deep ditch.
BRAZIL.
Before we speak of the inhabitants of Brazil, however, we shall say a
word or two of the country. Scarcely a finer country is to be found on
the globe. Its climate is healthful; its soil fertile; its scenery
charming, and even romantic; thick forests crown its hills, and
perpetual verdure adorns its valleys; noble rivers pass in every
direction, and the richest tropical fruits abound in every quarter.
Brazil also is famous for its gold and diamonds. Until recently, the
country belonged to the king of Portugal; but it is now independent.
The Roman Catholic is the established religion.
The European settlers are generally gay and fond of pleasure. The men
generally wear cloaks and swords. The ladies have fine dark eyes, and
expressive countenances. They adorn their heads with tresses, tied
with ribbons and flowers. The labor of this class of persons is
chiefly performed by slaves.
If you go into the country, but not into the mining districts, you
will find the people living in small mud cottages, covered with tiles
or leaves. The people here use no knives or forks; and but few have
tables. They eat their meals, squatting on the ground, with dishes,
bowls or gourds, placed in the centre. The people dress in a slovenly
and mean manner, but the women more so than the men.
In the mining districts, the inhabitants are still more degraded. You
may indeed see cups, coffee-pots, wash-basins, and the like, all of
silver; but other things, food, dress, and manner of living, by no
means correspond.
The native Indians of Brazil are divided into numerous tribes, and
speak different languages; but they all agree in wearing few clothes.
Many are entirely naked. They are of a copper-color, with long,
coarse, black hair; but, like the more northern Indians, they are
destitute of beards. They are a strong, lively, and gay race of
people. Few diseases are known among them. They delight in feasting
and dancing, both of which they carry to excess.
Their huts are made of the branches of trees, and covered with palm
leaves. Their articles of furniture are few and simple. Their weapons
of war are bows, arrows, and wooden clubs. The flesh of monkeys is
their principal animal food. This they so prepare, that at the same
time it is roasted, it is blackened with smoke. A monkey roasted by a
Brazilian, would frighten an American: or if it did not frighten, it
would disgust him, for it is always roasted with its head on, and in a
sitting posture.
PERU.
To the west of Brazil, lies Peru; and hither we shall now conduct our
readers, to take a view of the inhabitants of that country.
We must first tell them, however, a few words of the country itself.
Peru is a hot and barren country. It is barren, because it seldom
rains there. It has many dreary deserts. The lofty Andes pass through,
and divide it. It abounds in gold, and silver, and mercury, or
quicksilver. Here, too, is found Peruvian bark, which is so much used
in this, and other parts of the world.
Peru is a large country; and yet it has but about a million and a half
of inhabitants. They consist of _Creoles_, _Mestizoes_, and _Indians_,
or natives of the country. The _Creoles_ are natives of Spanish
descent. They are well made, and of good stature, with lively,
agreeable countenances. The _Mestizoes_ are a mixed race. They are,
also, generally well made, very robust, and quite tall.
By far the greater part of the inhabitants of Peru are _Indians_; but
they are not now what they once were. Many years ago, the Spaniards
conquered them. At that time, they were a rich and flourishing people.
They understood several of the arts, and many of them lived in a style
of magnificence.
At that time, gold was so common among them, that they used it, as we
use iron and brass. Their sovereigns were called _Incas_. They
believed the sun to be a god, and worshipped it as such. The glory of
their former days has, however, passed away. They are now almost
savages. They are well proportioned, and even strong; but are
generally low in stature, and some of them remarkably so. They have
deep black hair, which is thick, long, harsh and coarse, like that of
a horse. The men wear theirs loose, but the women plait theirs behind
with a ribbon. They set great value upon their hair; the greatest
insult which can be offered to either sex, is to cut it off; and when
this is done by way of punishment, they never forgive the disgrace put
upon them.
Their dress consists of white cotton drawers, reaching to the calf of
the leg, loose, and edged with lace. Instead of a shirt, they wear a
black cotton frock, in the form of a sack, with two openings for the
arms, and a third for the head to pass through; over this, they throw
a kind of cloak, and cover the head with a hat.
This dress they never put off, even when they sleep. Some of the
richer class distinguish themselves by the fineness of their drawers,
and wear shirts with lace four or five inches broad, fastened round
the neck like a ruff. Though they wear no stockings, they have silver
or gold buckles in their shoes; and their cloak, which is of fine
cloth, is often adorned with gold or silver lace.
――――
INTEMPERANCE IN ENGLAND.――At a meeting recently held in Exeter Hall,
London, the Hon. J. S. Buckingham stated, that £53,000,000 was the
annual cost of intoxicating drinks to the people of that country. That
this sum was fifty times as much as all the collections for the relief
of the distressed, under every form of appealing to public sympathy.
In that land of distress and wretchedness, where thousands perish for
the necessaries of life, and tens of thousands more gain a scanty
subsistence, fifty-three millions of pounds, or 250 millions of
dollars, are annually spent for poison to augment the poverty, misery,
and death. Strange infatuation!――When will old England be alive to the
interests of the great mass of her citizens, and place an everlasting
quarantine upon this source of physical and moral disease, temporal
and eternal death.
――――
The whole community of whites on the Columbia River, and the various
settlements in Oregon, have abandoned the use of intoxicating drinks.
[Illustration: _A Tapir._]
Dick Boldhero.