MEXICAN CLASSES.
DIVISION OF
POPULATION--WHITES--INDIANS--AFRICANS--LEPEROS--RANCHEROS
--CHARACTERISTICS
--INDIFFERENCE--PROCRASTINATION.--FEMALES--BETTER
CLASSES--THEIR SOCIAL HABITS--ENTERTAINMENTS.--LEPEROS--THEIR
HABITS--EVANGELISTAS--THIEVING.--THE RANCHERO--HIS CHARACTER AND
HABITS.--THE INDIAN RACE--AGRICULTURISTS--TRADITIONARY HABITS
ADHERED TO--IMPROVIDENCE--SUPERSTITION--DRUNKENNESS--INDIAN
WOMEN--SERVILE CONDITION--LOCAL
ADHESIVENESS--PEONAGE--WHIPPING.--PLANTER-LIFE--ITS SOLITUDE AND
RESULTS.--MUHLENPFORDT'S CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS.--INDIAN TRIBES
AND RACES IN MEXICO.--TABLE OF CASTES IN MEXICO.
An adequate and proper classification of the Mexican population, for
descriptive purposes, may be made under the general heads of: Whites,
Indians, Africans, and the mixed breeds, who are socially sub-divided
into--1st, the educated and respectable Mexicans dwelling in towns,
villages or on estates; 2d, the Leperos; and 3d, the Rancheros.
The whites are still classed in Mexico as _creoles_, or, natives of the
country; and _gachupines_ and _chapetones_, who are Spaniards born in
the Peninsula. The Spanish population yet remaining in the country, its
immediate descendants, and the emigrants from Spain, form a numerous and
important body. Her Catholic Majesty's Consul General in Mexico derives
a lucrative revenue from supplying this large class of his countrymen
with annual "protections," or "_cartas de seguridad_," granted by the
Mexican government, but procured from it through the instrumentality of
this functionary.
The Spaniard no longer holds his former rank in the social scale of the
ancient colony. There are many wealthy mercantile families in the
republic, who owe allegiance to the crown; but among the mechanical
classes there are numbers of poor Castilians whose fate would be
melancholy in Mexico, were they not succored and protected by their
wealthier countrymen.
The Mexican native, in whose veins there is almost always a few drops of
indigenous blood, is commonly indolent and often vicious. The bland
climate and his natural temperament predispose him for an indulgent,
easy and voluptuous life; yet the many
[Illustration: RANCHEROS.]
faults of his character may be fairly attributed to the want of
education, early self-restraint and the disordered political state of
his country which has produced a bad effect upon social life. With quick
and often solid talents, the Mexican citizen is not devoted, early in
his career, by thoughtful parents, either to intellectual pursuits or to
that mental discipline which would regulate an impulsive temperament or
fit him for the domestic, scientific, or political position he might
attain in other countries, under a different social _régime_. He
recollects that in the best days of the colony his family had been
distinguished, powerful and rich, and he finds it difficult, in his
present impoverished state, to forget this traditionary position.
Accordingly, he acts upon the memorial basis of the past, as if it were
still within his grasp or control. This renders him thriftlessly
improvident. Mexicans still speak of the epoch when they or their
parents "swam in gold," or dispensed ducats to the dependants on whom
they now reluctantly bestow coppers. Besides this, their indolent
indifference, which almost amounts to Arab fatalism, makes them not only
subservient to the past, but idolaters of a hope which is quite as
fallacious. According to their belief, better times are continually
approaching. Something, they imagine, will shortly occur to improve
their broken or periled fortunes. "_Paciencia y barajar_,"--"patience
and shuffle the cards," is a maxim on the lips of every one who is
overthrown by a revolution, loses his friends, incurs censure, or finds
himself starving for want of a dollar. If you enquire as to their
prospects, their friends, their interests, or, indeed, in regard to
almost any subject that requires some reflection for a reasonable
reply,--they answer with the habitual--"_Quien Sabe!_"--"who can tell!"
which in the vocabulary of a common Mexican is the--"_quod erat
demonstrandum_" of any social or political problem.
Such qualities and habits do not prepare a nation for resolute action
upon progressive principles. We consequently find, throughout Mexico, an
universal predisposition to _dependence_ upon others, or to a blind
reliance upon _chance_. The drum and the bell which ring forever in our
ears in Mexico, apprise us that immense numbers who possess sufficient
influence to introduce them into the army or the church, repose
comfortably under the protection of those two eleemosynary institutions.
Such is, moreover, the case in all the administrative departments of the
government. Indeed, the state seems only to be constitutionally
organized in order to supply the wants of those it employs, or to found
a genteel hospital in which intriguing idlers are supported either at
the expense of industrious men or by contracting national loans which
may finally overwhelm the republic.
The church, the army, and the government, are thus three permanent
resources for young persons who are too indolent to engage in mercantile
pursuits, or too proud to stoop from their hereditary family rank either
into trade or the workshop.
Bad as are these social features, there is another which may be reckoned
still worse. There are thousands in the republic whose daily reliance is
exclusively on fortune, and for whom the turn of a card decides whether
they are to return to their comfortless families with a plentiful
dinner, or without a cent upon which they may, to-morrow, recommence
their contest with luck at the gambling table. This is a dreadful vice
when it becomes habitual among a naturally susceptible, thriftless and
procrastinating people like the Mexicans. Prodigal not only of their
gold but of their time, they squander the latter without ever reflecting
that it is the capital of industrious men. They regard business as a
burden, and put off, whenever they are permitted, a debt, an engagement,
or a duty, "_hasta manana_"--until to-morrow!
We are perhaps wrong in alleging that every duty is procrastinated, and
life given up exclusively to pleasure; for the genuine Mexican is strict
and punctual in the performance of, at least, the externals of religion.
The pious observances of the church, are, however, even more generally
rigorous among the women than the men.
* * * * *
The Mexican females in the upper ranks are badly, if at all, educated.
Few foreign modern improvements have been engrafted on the old Spanish
system of teaching, whilst the subjects taught, and the text-books used,
are quite as primitive. At home, the Mexican lady is obsequiously served
by devoted domestics, but is brought up without a personal knowledge of
a housewife's thrifty duties. The evil influence of such vacant minds
upon the male sex must, necessarily, be very great. If the intellect
does not suggest topics for conversation, it is natural that the
instincts will supply the deficiency. Thus it is that the life of large
numbers of Mexican men is summed up in devotion to their horses, their
_queridas_, and their favorite gambling tables; whilst the existence of
Mexican women is as easily divided between mass, meals, dress, driving,
and the theatre.
Yet we will not be tempted by an epigrammatic sentence, into
condemnation of the whole of Mexican society. It would be unjust to
convey an unqualified idea that such are the characteristics of the
entire white race whose birth or rank entitle it to an exalted social
position. Nevertheless, it is a true picture of perhaps the most
numerous class. The Mexican revolution--its struggles, endurance and
success,--disclose many manly features of national character, and
prepare us to appreciate that patriotic and cultivated body of men and
women who form the national heart and hope of the republic.
The Mexicans have been so harshly dealt with in the descriptions of
foreigners, that they are not always disposed to welcome them beyond
their thresholds. This arises neither from fear nor jealousy, but from
the natural distrust of persons whom they imagine visit their country
with but little sympathy for its institutions and less consideration for
their personal habits. Nor is this repulsiveness to strangers exhibited
so much in the fashionable circles of society as it is among that
loftier description of persons we have already referred to. Yet there
are occasions upon which the houses and hearts of this very class are
cordially opened to intelligent and discreet foreigners, and it is then
that an opportunity is afforded of seeing the best phases of Mexican
character. The fine benevolence of ancient friendship, the universal
respect for genius, a competent knowledge of the laws and institutions
of other countries, a perfect acquaintance with the causes of Mexican
decadence, and a charming regard and care for all those domestic rites
which cement the affections of a home circle, may all be observed and
admired within the walls of a Mexican dwelling.
When a stranger is thus received in the confidential intimacy of a
household, there is no longer any restraint put upon the inmates in his
presence. The courteous expressions which are ordinarily used in the
commerce of society, and whose formal but excessive politeness have
induced careless men to imagine the Mexicans insincere, are now only
expressive of the most cordial devotion to your interests and wants. "Mi
casa esta á su disposition," "my house is at your disposal," means
exactly what it says. You are at home.
As the Mexicans are not a people addicted to the same mode or extent of
informal social intercourse among themselves as the Germans, the
English, or the Americans, it is not strange that they should guard
their doors so carefully against foreigners who visit their country for
the purpose of acquiring fortunes rapidly, in order to enjoy them in the
society of their native land. The reception of a stranger upon an
intimate footing is therefore the greatest compliment he can receive
from the meritorious classes. It is not alone with public affairs or
purely intellectual discussions that we are entertained in such
re-unions of cultivated society. In the free conversation of the
intimate circle there is always a cordial display of sincere interest
for the welfare of each other. The aspirations of the rich or the hopes
of the poor, are always tenderly discussed. There is abundant evidence
of _heart_; and, even after years have elapsed, and the sojourner in
Mexico has returned to his home, he will find by his correspondence that
he is still remembered by the intelligent friends, who made him forget
that he was "a stranger in a strange land."
The Mexicans have generally supposed that it was impossible to entertain
their friends without an extravagant expenditure which was perhaps the
standard that measured the value of their guests. They have still to
learn that a simple style and a cordial welcome together with the
refined conversational intercourse are more valued than imported
champagne and "_pâté de foie gras_." As soon as their society becomes
less old fashioned and formal, they will find themselves more
comfortable in the presence of strangers. In Mexico, as in all
countries, there are notorious specimens of egotism, haughtiness,
ill-breeding, and loose morals, both among men and women; and although
we find these worthless elements floating like bubbles on the surface of
society, they must not be regarded as exclusive national
characteristics. "A nation, in which revolutions and counter-revolutions
are events of almost daily occurrence, is naturally prolific in
desperate and crafty political adventurers;" but the evils that have
been begotten by the past, must not be considered as permanent.
The _Lepero_ is a variety of the Indian, and combines in himself most of
the bad qualities of the two classes from whose union he derives his
being. He is the inhabitant of cities, towns or villages, and, is in
Mexico, what the _lazzaroni_ are in Naples. Neither white, black nor
copper colored; neither savage nor civilized; neither an agriculturist
nor a mechanic, the _lepero_ occupies an equivocal position upon the
boundaries of all these characters. His existence is altogether a matter
of chance. He has scarcely ever a permanent home. His wife and children,
or his _amiga_, are lodged on the ground floor of a hovel in the
outskirts of the town, from which he is often expelled in consequence
either of his poverty, intemperance, or quarrelsome behavior. If
unmarried, he finds a resting place, in these delicious climates, on a
mat beneath the sky, or within the friendly shelter of a wall
[Illustration: FANDANGO.]
or portico. He is devoted to _pulque_ and music; for, whilst he drains
his social glass in the _pulqueria_ amid a crowd of companion _leperos_,
he is ever ready to sing a stave or make a verse in which a spice of wit
or satire is certainly found. When he has earned a dollar by toil, he
quits his labor even before it is completed, in order to spend his
enormous gain. His wants are so small that he may be liberal in his
vices. He regards work as an odious imposition upon human nature; and,
created merely _to live_, he takes care only of to-day leaving to-morrow
to take care of itself. Prudence, he thinks, would be a manifest
distrust of Providence. His food, purchased at the corner of a street
from one of the peripatetic cooks, consists of a few _tortillas_ or
corncakes, steeped in a pan of Chili peppers compounded with lard. A
fragment of beef or fowl sometimes gives zest to the frugal mess. His
dress, of narrow cotton or leather trowsers, and a blanket which is at
once, bed, bedding, coat and cloak,--is worn season after season without
washing, except during the providential ablutions of rain, until the
mingled attrition of dirt and time entirely destroy the materials. An
occasional crime, or quarrel, which is terminated by a resort to knives
and copious phlebotomy, sends him several times every year to the public
prison, where he is faithfully visited, fed and consoled by his spouse
or _amiga_. As he passes along the streets with the manacled chain-gang
to sweep the town, he begs a _claco_ with such bewitching impudence that
the man who refuses the demanded alms must be insensible to humor. Like
the Indian, he is remarkably skilful in imitation, and makes figures of
wax or rags, which are not only singularly faithful as portraits, but
possess a certain degree of grace that is worthy of an artist. Some of
the tribe read and write with ease and even elegance. Among this class
are to be found the _evangelistas_ or letter writers, who, seated around
the _portales_ and side walks of the _plaza_, are ready, at a moment's
notice, to indite a sonnet to a mistress, a petition to government, a
letter to an absent husband, or a wrathful effusion to a faithless
lover. Another branch of this nomadic horde is engaged in the profitable
occupation of "thieving," which requires no capital in trade save nimble
fingers, rapid action, and a bold look with which detection may be
defied. The narrow streets and lanes of towns are the theatres in which
these accomplished rogues perform. No man in Mexico dares indulge in the
luxury of carrying a handkerchief in his pocket. The attempt would be
useless, for a _lepero_ would appropriate it before the stranger had
walked a square. Upon one occasion a hat was actually taken off an
Englishman's head by a _lepero_ in a dense crowd; but the act was so
adroitly done, that the jolly foreigner joined in the shout of laughter
with which the hero was hailed as he vanished among the masses. Should
the priest pass at such a moment with the _host_, on his way to the
chamber of a dying citizen, the _lepero_ would fall on his knees with
the rest of the townspeople, yet whilst he beat his breast with one
hand, he might be seen to keep the other tenaciously in his victim's
pocket. If caught in the felonious act, which rarely happens, the
_lepero_ takes the inflicted blows or choking with craven humility, and,
whilst he shouts--"_ya esta, Senor amo,--ya esta!_" "enough, my master,
oh enough!" he is seeking for another opportunity to pilfer his
punisher's watch or purse, during the conflict.
Such is the Mexican _lepero_. The sketch may seem broad or even
caricatured to those who are unacquainted with the country, but its
accuracy will be acknowledged by all who have resided in Mexico and been
haunted by the filthy tribe.
* * * * *
The RANCHERO comes next in our classification of the Mexicans. He is a
small farmer, or _vaquero_, who owns or hires a few acres on which he
cultivates his corn or grazes his cattle. He is not an Indian, a white
man, an African, or a lepero, yet he mixes the qualities of all in his
motly character. He is a person of lofty thoughts and aspirations;--a
devoted patriot;--a staunch fighter in all the revolutions whenever
_guerillas_ are required;--a hard rider and capital boon companion over
a bottle or in a journey among the mountains.
On his small estate he devotes himself to the cultivation of the ground,
or leaves this menial occupation to his family whilst he goes off to the
wars or to carousals and _fandangos_ in the neighboring village
_pulquerias_. He is an Arab in his habits, and especially in his love
and management of the horse. Dressed in his leather trowsers and jerkin;
with his serape over his shoulders, his broad brimed and silver corded
_sombrero_ on his head; his heels armed with spurs whose three-inch
rowels gleam like the blades of daggers; his sword strapped to the
saddle beneath his _armas de agua_, and, grasping his gun in his
hand,--the Ranchero is ready, as soon as he mounts, to follow you for
months over the republic. He is the _nomade_ of the country, as the
_lepero_ is of the town. His devotion to his animal is unbounded. The
faithful quadruped is his best friend and surest reliance. His _lazo_
lies curved gracefully in festoons around the pommel of his saddle.
Thus, with his trusty weapons and his horse, the mounted _ranchero_ is
at home in the forest or in the open field; on hill side or in valley.
Few riders, elsewhere, can equal him in speed or horsemanship; and few
can excel him as a herdsman, a robber, an enemy, or even a _friend_
whenever you hit his fancy or are willing to understand his character
and pardon his sins.
INDIAN RACE OF MEXICO.
Notwithstanding the brilliant pages which Aztec history contributed to
the annals of America and the civilization which prevailed, not only in
the valley of Mexico, but also in other portions of the territory now
within the limits of the republic, we find that the indigenous
descendants of these heroic and intelligent ancestors have degenerated
to such a degree that they are at present in general, fitted only for
the servile toils to which they are commonly and habitually devoted.
Three hundred years of oppression may have done much to produce this sad
result. Without union among the tribes; without community of feeling,
language or nationality; the Indians became an easy prey to the
Spaniards after the conquest of the great central power. Old prophecies
were accomplished, according to the Aztec belief, by the arrival of the
Spaniards. "It is long since we knew from our ancestors,"--said
Montezuma to Cortéz,--"that neither I nor all who inhabit these lands
were _originally_ of them, but that we are strangers, and came hither
from distant places. It was said that a great lord conveyed our race to
these regions and returned to the land of his birth, and yet, came back
once more to us. But, in the meantime, those whom he first brought had
intermarried with the women of the country; and when he desired them to
return again to the land of their fathers they refused to go. He went
alone; and ever since have we believed, that from among those who were
the descendants of that mighty lord, one shall come _to subdue this
land, and make us his vassals_! According to what you declare of the
place whence you come, which is _toward the rising sun_, and of the
great lord who is your King, we must surely believe that he is our
natural lord."
Such were the superstitious opinions amongst the most civilized of all
the Indian nations at the period of the conquest. It is not surprising
therefore to find the other nomadic, predatory hordes,--whose ferocity
was not so keen as that of their northern kindred, but had been tempered
and softened in some degree by the genial climate of the tropics,--soon
yielding to the superior will of a masculine race, eager, not only for
gold, but for the establishment of estates which were in fact
principalities, and whose beneficial improvement required the employment
of large bodies of continual and compulsory laborers. The Indians
afforded the staple of this stock at once. The conquest rooted out all
their old institutions by violence. Their government and laws were
overthrown by force; their religion was changed by power; their graven
idols, the material emblems of their gods, were ground to dust; their
social system was completely overturned; and thus, perfectly
annihiliated as a nation, in politics, theology, and domestic life or
habits, they were, in the end, but wretched outcasts in their own land.
The Indians may therefore be regarded as somewhat prepared by
degradation for the system of _repartimientos_, which, as we have
already seen in the historical part of this work, was instituted
immediately after the conquest.
The aborigines throughout Mexico have been devoted as a class to
agricultural labors. Immediately after the conquest the Spaniards forced
them to toil in the mines as well as in the fields; but as soon as a
race of mixed blood was found to replace these original laborers in the
bowels of the earth, the native Indian escaped to wilder districts where
there were no mines, or where his services were required on the surface
of the earth. Besides this, since the revolution, labor has been
somewhat more free than before that epoch. The Indian, if not bound to
the estate, by the slavery of debt, as we shall see hereafter, has the
right to do what he pleases, and consequently he selects that labor
which will give him support with least fatigue in a country whose soil
is almost spontaneously productive.
The Mexican Indian, may therefore be generally designated as an
agriculturist. A few of them engage in the manufacture of certain
elegant fabrics of wool and cotton; in some of the _imitative_ arts, in
which they greatly excel; and in the formation of utensils for domestic
use.
In the field, the Indian executes all the labor,--sometimes in the midst
of the great plantations of sugar, cotton, coffee, corn, tobacco, wheat,
and barley--or, at others, in the midst of the beautiful gardens for
which some parts of the republic are celebrated. In all these positions
his labor is faithfully performed;--but he is the enemy of all changes
in the modes or utensils of his work. He prefers the old system of
drawing water for irrigation; the old system of rooting the earth with
the Arab stake instead of the American plough; the old system of
carrying offal, stones, or whatever is to be removed from his fields,
in bags, instead of in barrows or carts; and the old system of bearing
every burden, no matter how onerous, on his shoulders instead of a dray
or a wagon. It offends him to speak of changes, which he regards as
unrighteous innovations. His character, like that of the Chinese, is one
of excessive tenacity for old customs. After three centuries of constant
intercourse with strange races, he still segregates himself from the
foreigner, and, nestling in his native village, keeps aloof from the
Spaniard. He speaks his hereditary language; clings to his old habits;
and,--according to the report of reliable travellers,--worships,
occasionally in private, his ancestral idols. In the capital, garlands
which have been secretly suspended on the images by Indians, are still
sometimes found around the hideous Aztec divinities preserved in the
court yard of the University. "You gave us three very good gods"--said
an Indian once to a respectable Catholic curate,--"yet you might as well
have left us a few of our own!"
Grave, taciturn and distrustful,--types, in manners, of a crushed and
conquered race,--the Indians of Mexico, wear a sombre look and demeanor,
accompanied by an air of evident submissiveness. It is rare to find them
merry, except at the end of harvest on the large estates, when an annual
festival is prepared, in which they are accustomed to unite with great
zest. They have other periods of cessation from toil, such as the
Sabbath day, the feasts of the patron saints of their village or parish
church. Upon these occasions their devotion to the externals of religion
is exhibited by a lavish expense in articles which they imagine may
contribute to the honor or glory of their spiritual protector in heaven.
In order to celebrate the occasion with due decorum, according to their
simple ideas, they not only spend whatever money they happen to possess
at the moment, but _pledge themselves_, in advance, at the _haciendas_,
for the loan of sums which they must repay by future labor. The result
is that these superstitious frivolities consume a large share of the
Indian's substance; and, notwithstanding his economy and frugality, he
and his family are obliged to spend the greater part of the year in
misery, in recompense for the rockets, fire crackers, music, wax
candles, and flowers, which he purchased on the Festival of his _Santo_.
In addition to these ecclesiastical costs, we must not omit his personal
expenses, for the Indian does not forget his bodily condition whilst he
pays attention to his spiritual wants. Liquor and gambling, fill up the
occasional pauses in the pious ceremonials, so that after the Indian has
finished his religious services and his dinner for the day, it is quite
likely that he is prepared to creep into a hovel or shelter with his
family, where they may sleep off the debauch that universally finishes
these ecclesiastical functions. Similar wild indulgences are permitted
among them at marriages, baptisms and interments, and in consequence of
this thriftlessness, these miserable wretches are never able either to
leave property to their offspring or to afford them an education by
which they may improve their lot in life.
The Indian woman is the true and faithful companion of her husband's
fortunes. She works incessantly at her appropriate tasks. She grinds the
corn for the _tortillias_ and _atolé_ of the family, and carries them to
her husband wherever he is at work; she weaves, in her rude manner, all
the materials of cotton or wool that are worn by her household; she
makes the garments of her spouse and children; she keeps the domestic
premises in order without an assistant; nor does she cease, for a
moment, to nourish and watch her offspring during their infancy. If her
husband departs to another district, or is enlisted as a soldier, she
straps her pack and her youngest child on her back, and accompanies her
liege lord, whilst a train of their mutual descendants, "small by
degrees and beautifully less," follows in their rear.
We have said that the Indians are frugal in their food and economical in
their dress, for in reality, their meals commonly consist only of cereal
products, and, especially, of corn. Atolé, tortillias, Chili peppers and
frijoles, are sufficient to support them. They do not eat flesh
habitually, and yet they are healthy and robust, nor is it extraordinary
to see individuals among them who attain the advanced age of more than
of ninety years.
Their occasional indulgence in drunkenness, disgusting and injurious as
it is at the moment, does not generally destroy the constitutions of
these hardy laborers, whose subsequent compulsory temperance, not only
in drink but in food, soon repairs the momentary inroads of a day's
debauch.
The dress of both men and women is the simplest and the cheapest
possible. In the state of ignorance and abjection in which this race has
been so long held, it is not easy to conceive whether their intellectual
faculties might be again aroused. In some of the colleges of Mexico,
individuals have applied themselves with great care, have received
classical educations, and made remarkable progress even in the sciences,
in some of which they excelled. But generally speaking, these instances
may be regarded as remarkable exceptions. The Indian, as we have
[Illustration: INDIAN'S OF THE SIERRA.]
[Illustration: HACIENDADO.]
before observed, when he quits the agricultural field, exhibits most
talent in the imitative arts. The instruments and materials he uses are
of the simplest and rudest kind, and, although the imitations produced
by him are wonderfully accurate, yet they want that lively variety which
is only produced by vivid imaginations.
Upon the plantations the Indians are in reality slaves, notwithstanding
the Mexican laws prohibit slavery. This condition is produced chiefly by
two causes. The Mexican Indian who cherishes, as we have seen, a
remarkable devotion to his old habits, customs, utensils and implements,
is gifted with an equal tenacity or adhesiveness for the place of his
birth. Nomadic as were his ancestors, the modern Mexican Indian is no
wanderer. The idea of emigration, even to another state or district,
never originates in his brain, or is tolerated if proposed to him as a
voluntary act. So helpless is his condition if placed beyond the limits
of his habitual neighborhood or hereditary haunts, that he feels himself
perfectly lost, abandoned and cast off, if compelled to change either
his residence or his occupation. He has no variety of resources. He
knows nothing of alternatives. The operations of his mind, as well as of
his hand, are perfectly mechanical. The utter helplessness of such an
individual, if suddenly transferred from the midst of his companions and
all the scenes of his life-long associations or duties, may be easily
conceived, and consequently the greatest punishment that a _haciendado_,
or Mexican planter, can inflict upon his Indian serf is to expel him
from the estate upon which he and his ancestors have worked from time
immemorial. When other punishments, which elsewhere would be thought
severe, fail to produce reform or amendment in the Indian's conduct, it
usually happens, that the serious threat of expulsion from the estate,
made by the owner himself, or his authorised representative, to the
native, reduces the refractory individual to subjection. Thus it is,
that this peculiar territorial and local adhesiveness contributes to
making the Indian's condition not only _menial_ but _servile_.
The second cause may be found in the habits of wild and extravagant
indulgence which we have already described. These licentious outbursts
of recklessness create a pecuniary bond between the proprietor and his
laborer. The Indian becomes his debtor. It is the policy of the
landholder to establish this relation between himself and the Indian,
and consequently he affords him every facility to sell himself in
advance, even for life, to his estate. The Indian, is thus at least
completely mortgaged to the landed proprietor, and as that personage
usually possesses considerable influence in his neighborhood, the
laborer finds it extremely difficult or nearly impossible to enforce his
freedom even by appeals to the legal authorities. Such is the origin and
system of _peonage_, which still curses Mexico although the
_repartimientos_ and slavery have been abolished by fundamental laws.
We have observed that there are other punishments of the Indians
resorted to on Mexican plantations for trifling faults or misdemeanors,
besides the great and final calamity of expulsion. They are fined and
they are flogged. "Looking into the corridor," says Mr. Stephens, in his
work on Yucatan, "we saw a poor Indian on his knees, on the pavement,
with his arms clasped around the knees of another Indian, so as to
present his back fairly to the lash. At every blow he rose on one knee
and sent forth a piercing cry, he seemed struggling to retain it, but it
burst forth in spite of all his efforts. His whole bearing showed the
subdued character of the present Indians, and with the last stripe the
expression of his face seemed that of thankfulness for not getting more.
Without uttering a word, he crept to the major-domo, took his hand,
kissed it, and walked away. No sense of degradation crossed his mind.
Indeed, so humbled is this once fierce people that they have a proverb
of their own: "Los Indios no oyien sino por las nalgas,"--"The Indians
only hear through their backs."
* * * * *
This hereditary condition or relation between the Indian and the
original Spanish races has acted and re-acted for their mutual
degradation. With a large population under his control, for all purposes
of labor and menial toil, the Spaniard, of whatever class, found himself
entirely free from the necessity of manual labor or mechanical pursuits.
Notwithstanding this immunity from bodily toil, the native of Castile
did not devote the leisure he enjoyed, whilst the Indians were working
for him, either to the improvement of his mind, or the preparation of
philanthropic plans for the amelioration of his servant's lot. A mere
physical life of personal indulgence, or an avaricious devotion to the
rapid acquisition of fortune, absorbed the whole time of these planters,
who lived in almost utter seclusion amid the lonely wastes of their
large territorial possessions. The planter who resides in a populous
nation, or who is enabled to visit easily the capitals of commerce,
literature, and art, is a man, who, from his personal independence,
culture, and wealth, is usually in our own country to be envied for the
peculiar privileges which his station affords him. But in Mexico, the
position and education of the planter, if he lives constantly on his
estate,--which is not universally the case,--are altogether different
from those of the North American land-holder. The Mexican possesses few
or none of those social and intellectual qualities that have been
cultivated by the North American in the best colleges and circles of his
country; nor does he enjoy equal facilities of intercommunication
between the cities or rural districts of Mexico. The immense size of his
plantation which sometimes extends several leagues in length and
breadth, necessarily disperses instead of congregating a populous
neighborhood. "He is master of all he surveys,--he is lord of the fowl
and the brute," but his dominion is a solitary and cheerless one. Few,
and irregular posts rarely bring him the news of what occurs in the
great world. Visits are seldom and ceremoniously paid. He must find
within himself the constant springing source of vivacity and of an
ambitious desire for progress, or he must subside into mere animal
existence. The latter is unfortunately in most instances the natural
result, and it is therefore not at all astonishing to find Mexican
planters or their mayordomos devoting all their energies to the
maintenance of the servile system we have described, whilst their
statute-book and constitution profess to have abolished slavery.
Whilst such is the effect upon the character of the master or his
representative, it is natural to suppose that the character of the
servant will be equally degraded by the want of those new ideas with
which the constant refreshing intercourse of society ventilates the
mind. The Indian knows no world but that bounded by his horizon.
Slavery, when involuntary, may even be respected in the sufferer, but
the Indian who becomes a slave in spite of law, by religious
superstition, loathsome vices, and time-hallowed servility, sinks far
below the level of the African, who is sober, careful, faithful to his
master and his family, and either from imitation, or a degree of natural
dignity, seeks to acquire respectability among his fellow slaves.
"It is hardly possible," says Mühlenpfordt, "to judge of the true
character and intellectual capacity of the Indian at a time when he has
but just partially recovered his rights as man, and has had little
opportunity of giving independent culture to his mental faculties.
Though the civic oppression under which the Spaniards and Creoles held
all the copper colored race and the colored people generally before the
revolution, has, for the most part disappeared, yet their emancipation
has, as yet, only nominally taken place. Hierarchial oppression has yet
hardly decreased, and the clergy, both the inferior secular priests and
the monks who have the greatest influence over the Indians, find their
account in declining to promote, if they do not positively retard, their
intellectual development. Time only can inform us what advantages will
accrue to the Indians from the new order of things. Up to this period
the introduction of the boasted civilization of Europe, as well as of
the Catholic religion, has been of but trifling benefit to them, and
only a trace here and there of progress to an amelioration of their
condition is to be remarked.
"The Mexican Indian of the present day is generally grave and taciturn,
and almost sullen, when not excited by music and intoxicating drinks to
loquacity and pleasure. This serious character may be remarked even in
the children, who appear more knowing at the age of five or six, than
those of northern Europeans at that of nine or ten. But this appearance
of steadiness is by no means consequent on a quicker development of
mind, and the looks of these young people, dejected and void of all the
cheerfulness and confidence of children, have nothing that gladdens the
observer. Gruffness and reserve appear to be essential features of the
Indian character, and it cannot, I think, be assumed that these
qualities were implanted in them only by the long oppression that
weighed down the Mexican race, first under their native rulers, and
afterwards under the Spaniards; inasmuch as they occur among the
aborigines almost universally throughout America, even when these have
never suffered any curtailment of political liberty. To that cause may
be rather attributed the stubbornness and selfishness which constitute a
striking trait in the character of the present Indians. It is almost
impossible to move any Indian to do a thing which they have resolved not
to do. Vehemence, threats, even corporal punishment, are of as little
avail as the offer of gold or reward; persuasion, coaxing, entreaties
help as little. The Mexican Indian loves to give an appearance of
mystery and importance to his most indifferent actions. If stirred up by
weighty interests, he breaks his accustomed silence, and speaks with
energy but never with fire. Jokes are as rare with him as raillery and
laughter. I never heard an Indian laugh heartily, even when excited by
spirituous liquors. His uncommon hardness of character allows him long
to conceal the passions of indignation and vengeance. No sign betrays
externally the fire that rages within until it suddenly breaks out with
uncontrollable violence. In this condition the Indian is most likely
inclined to commit the most dreadful cruelties and the most fearful
crimes. The Mexican aborigines bear with the greatest patience the
torments which the whites were formerly and are still inclined to
indulge against them. They oppose to these a cunning which they
dexterously hide under a semblance of indifference and stupidity.
Despite their long slavery; despite every effort which has been employed
to rob them of their historical recollections, they have by no means
forgotten their former greatness. They know right well that they were
once sole lords of the land, and that those Creoles who are so fond of
calling themselves Americans, are but the sons and heirs of their
oppressors. I have myself frequently heard Indians, when their ordinary
reserve has been overcome by spirituous liquors, declare that they were
the true masters of the country, that all others were mere foreign
intruders, and that if the Creoles could expel the Spaniards they had a
far better right to expel the Creoles. May the latter be taught by their
own acuteness to grant the Indians, while it is yet time, the practical
exercise of these civic rights theoretically conceded to them, for the
revolt of the copper colored race would indeed present a fearful
spectacle!"
INDIAN TRIBES OR RACES IN MEXICO IN THE STATE OF YUCATAN.
1. Mayas.
IN THE STATES OF CHIAPAS AND TABASCO.
2 Teochiapanécos,
3 Zoques,
4 Cendáles,
5 Mames.
IN THE STATE OF OAJACA.
6 Zapotécas,
7 Mixtecos,
8 Mixes,
9 Chinanutécos,
10 Chontáles,
11 Cuicatécos.
12 Chochos,
13 Chaténos,
14 Huabes,
15 Huatequimánes,
16 Izcatécos,
17 Almoloyas, a few.
18 Soltécos,
19 Trìques,
20 Pabúcos,
21 Amúsagos,
22 Zoques,
23 Aztécos.
IN THE STATES OF MEXICO, PUEBLA AND VERA CRUZ.
24 Aztécos,
25 Totonáques,
26 Popolúcas,
27 Tlapanécos,
28 Mixtécos,
29 Huastécos,
30 Cuitlatecos.
IN THE STATE OF QUERETARO.
31 Otomés,
32 Chichimecas, and a few Aztécos.
IN THE STATE OF MICHOACAN.
33 Tarráscos,
34 Otomés.
IN THE STATE OF GUANAJUATO.
35 Pamos,
36 Capúces,
37 Samues,
38 Mayolias,
39 Guamánes,
40 Guachichiles.
IN THE STATE OF JALISCO.
41 Cazcánes,
42 Guachichiles,
43 Guamánes,
44 Tenoxquínes,
45 Matlacingos,
46 Jaliscos.
STATES OF SAN LUIS POTOSI, NEW LEON AND TAMAULIPAS.
47 Chichimecas, Aztecos, or Tlascaltecas.
IN THE STATES OF DURANGO AND CHIHUAHUA.
48 Tepehuanés,
49 Topías,
50 Acaxis,
51 Xixímes,
52 Sicurabas,
53 Himas,
54 Huimis,
55 Acotlánes,
56 Cocoyámes,
57 Yanos,
58 Tarahumares.
IN THE STATE OF SINALOA.
59 Coras,
60 Nayarítes,
61 Hueicolhues,
62 Tubaras,
63 Cinaloas,
64 Cahitas.
IN THE STATE OF SONORA.
65 Mayos,
66 Zuáques,
67 Hiaquis,
68 Yaquis,
69 Guazare,
70 Ahome,
71 Ocoromi,
72 Teguéca,
73 Tepahue,
74 Zoe,
75 Huite,
76 Guaymas,
77 Pimas-bajos,
78 Mobas,
79 Onabas,
80 Nures,
81 Saboribas or Sisibolaris,
82 Huras,
83 Heris,
84 Sabaipures,
85 Sonoras,
86 Eudebes,
87 Opatas,
88 Seres,
89 Tiburones,
90 Pipos-altos,
91 Papagos or Papahi-Ootam,
92 Yumas,
93 Cucapachas,
94 Coanopas,
95 Cajuenches,
96 Cutguanes,
97 Hoahonómos,
98 Bagiópas,
99 Quiquimas,
100 Cocomaricopas,
101 Apaches-tontos,
102 Pimas-gileños,
103 Apaches-gileños,
104 Nijoras,
105 Apaches-mimbreños,
106 Apaches-Chiricaguis,
107 Yabipaïs or Yabipias,
108 Jalchedumes,
109 Juníguis,
110 Yamágas,
111 Chemeonahas or Chemeguabas,
112 Cosnínas,
113 Moquis,
114 Navajos,
115 Timpachis,
116 Yutas,
117 Tabeguachis
118 Payúches,
119 Talarénos,
120 Raguapuis.
IN OLD CALIFORNIA.
121 Pericuis,
122 Monquis or Menguis,
123 Guaycúras,
124 Coras,
125 Cochimas,
126 Colimies,
127 Laimones,
128 Utschetas,
129 Vehitis,
130 Icas.
IN NEW CALIFORNIA.
131 Rumsenes,
132 Escelenes,
133 Eclemaches,
134 Achastlies,
135 Matalanes,
136 Salses,
137 Quirotes.
IN NEW MEXICO AND PART OF TEXAS.
138 Keras,
139 Piras,
140 Xumanas,
141 Zuras,
142 Pecuris,
143 Cumanches,
144 Jetans,
145 Tetans or Tetaus,
146 Yutas,
147 Kiaways,
148 Apaches,
149 Nanahas,
150 Apaches-_llaneros_,
151 Lipans,
152 Faraones,
153 Mescaleros.
The following table exhibits, in separate groups, the varieties of
parentage and blood, forming the castes in Mexico and throughout Spanish
America:
TABLE OF CASTES
1. ORIGINAL RACES.
PARENTS.
{European _whites_ are called _gachupines_ or _chapetones_
White. {_Whites_, born in the colonies, are called _creoles_.
Negro.
Indian.
2. CASTES OF WHITE RACE.
PARENTS. CHILDREN.
White father and Negro mother, Mulatto.
White " Indian " Mestizo.
White " Mulatto " Quarteron.
{Creole, (only distinguishable
White " Mestiza " { from the white by a pale
{brown complexion.)
White " China " Chino-blanco.
White " Quarterona Quintero.
White " Quintera " White.
3. CASTES OF NEGRO RACE.
PARENTS. CHILDREN.
Negro father and Mulatto mother, Zambo-negro.
Negro " Mestiza " Mulatto-oscuro.
Negro " China " Zambo-chino.
Negro " Zamba " Zambo and Negro, (perfectly black.)
{Quarterona
Negro " {or Quintera " Dark Mulatto.
4. CASTES OF INDIAN RACE.
PARENTS. CHILDREN.
Indian father and Negro mother, Chino.
Indian " Mulatto " Chino-oscuro.
Indian " Mestiza " Mestizo-claro, often very beautiful.
Indian " China " Chino-cholo.
Indian " Zamba " Zambo-claro.
Indian " China-cholo Indian, with short frizzily hair.
Indian " {Quarterona
{or Quintera Brown Mestizo.
5. MULATTO CORRUPTION.
PARENTS. CHILDREN.
Mulatto father and Zamba mother, Zambo, (a miserable race.)
Mulatto " Mestiza " Chino, (rather clear race.)
Mulatto " China " Chino, (rather dark.)
Besides these specified castes there are several others not
distinguished by particular names; such, for instance, as the produce of
unions between the Mexican Indians or Spaniards and the people of the
East Indian continent or Philipines, numbers of whom came over during
the old viceroyal government. The best criterion for judging of the
purity of blood, is the hair of the women, which is much less deceiving
than their complexion. The short woolly hair, or coarse Indian locks,
may always be detected on the head or on the back of the neck. This
tabular statement exhibits at a glance the mongrel corruptions of the
human race in Mexico, and presents an interesting subject for students
of physiology and ethnology.[6]