Journey to the Rancho of Nohcacab.--A Fountain and Seybo Tree.--Arrival
at the Rancho.--Its Appearance.--A sick Trio.--Effects of a good
Breakfast.--Visit to the Ruins.--Terrace and Buildings.--Three other
Buildings.--Character of these Ruins.--Disappointment.--Return to
Xul.--Visit to another ruined City.--Ruined Building.--An Arch,
plastered and covered with Painted Figures.--Other
Paintings.--Subterranean Well.--Return to the Village.--Journey to
Ticul.--Large Mounds.--Passage of the Sierra.--Grand View.--Arrival at
Ticul.--A Village Festival.--Ball of the Mestizas.--Costumes.--Dance
of the Toros.--Lassoing Cattle.--Ball by Daylight.--The
Fiscales.--Ludicrous Scene.--A Dance.--Love in a Phrensy.--A unique
Breakfast.--Close of the Ball.
Early the next morning we set out for the rancho of Nohcacab, three
leagues distant. The proprietor had gone before daylight, to receive us
on the ground. We had not gone far when Mr. C. complained of a slight
headache, and wishing to ride moderately, Dr. Cabot and myself went on,
leaving him to follow with the luggage. The morning air was fresh and
invigorating, and the country rolling, hilly, and picturesque. At the
distance of two leagues we reached what was called a hebe, or fountain.
It was a large rocky basin, about ninety feet in circumference and ten
feet deep, which served as a receptacle for rain-water. In that dry
country it was a grateful spectacle, and beside it was a large seybo
tree, that seemed inviting the traveller to repose under its branches.
We watered our horses from the same waccal, or drinking cup, that we
used ourselves and felt strongly tempted to take a bath, but, with our
experience of fever and ague, were afraid to run the risk. This
fountain was a league from the rancho to which we were going, and was
the only watering-place for its inhabitants.
At nine o'clock we reached the rancho, which showed the truth of the
Spanish proverb, "La vista del amo engorda el caballo;" "The sight of
the master fattens the horse." The first huts were enclosed by a
well-built stone wall, along which appeared, in various places,
sculptured fragments from the ruins. Beyond was another wall, enclosing
the hut occupied by the master on his visits to the rancho, the
entrance to which was by a gateway formed of two sculptured monuments
of curious design and excellent workmanship, raising high our
expectations in regard to the ruins on this rancho, and sustaining the
accounts we had heard of them.
The proprietor was waiting to receive us, and, having taken possession
of an empty hut, and disposed of our horses, we accompanied him to look
over the rancho. What he regarded as most worth showing was his tobacco
crop, lying in some empty huts to dry, which he contemplated with great
satisfaction, and the well, which he looked at with as much sorrow. It
was three hundred and fifty-four feet deep, and even at this great
depth it was dry.
While we were thus engaged, our baggage carriers arrived with
intelligence that Mr. Catherwood was taken ill, and they had left him
lying in the road. I immediately applied to the proprietor for a coche
and Indians, and he, with great alacrity, undertook to get them ready;
in the mean time I saddled my horse and hastened back to Mr.
Catherwood, whom I found lying on the ground, with Albino by his side,
under the shade of the tree by the fountain, with an ague upon him,
wrapped up in all the coverings he could muster, even to the
saddle-cloths of the horses. While he was in this state, two men came
along, bestriding the same horse, and bringing sheets and ponchas to
make a covering for the coche; then came a straggling line of Indians,
each with a long pole, and withes to lash them together; and it was more
than an hour before the coche was ready. The path was narrow, and lined
on each side with thorn bushes, the spikes of which stuck in the naked
flesh of the Indians as they carried the coche, and they were obliged
to stop frequently and disentangle themselves. On reaching the rancho I
found Doctor Cabot down with a fever. From the excitement and anxiety
of following Mr. Catherwood under the hot sun, and now finding Doctor
Cabot down, a cold shivering crept over me, and in a few minutes we
were all three in our hammocks. A few hours had made a great change in
our condition; and we came near bringing our host down with us. He had
been employed in preparing breakfast upon a large scale, and seemed
mortified that there was no one to do it justice. Out of pure good
feeling toward him, I had it brought to the side of my hammock. My
effort made him happy, and I began to think my prostration was merely
the reaction from over-excitement; and by degrees what I began to
please our host I continued for my own satisfaction. The troubles of my
companions no longer disturbed me. My equanimity was perfectly
restored, and, breakfast over, I set out to look at the ruins.
Ever since our arrival in Yucatan we had received courtesies and
civilities, but none more thorough than those bestowed by our host of
Nohcacab. He had come out with the intention of passing a week with us,
and the Indians and the whole rancho were at our service as long as we
chose to remain.
Passing through one of the huts, we soon came to a hill covered with
trees and very steep, up which the proprietor had cut, not a mere
Indian path, but a road two or three yards wide, leading to a building
standing upon a terrace on the brow of the hill. The facade above the
cornice had fallen, and below it was of plain stone. The interior was
entire, but without any distinguishing features. Following the brow of
this hill, we came to three other buildings, all standing on the same
range, and without any important variations in the details, except that
in one the arch had no overlapping stone, but the two sides of the
ceiling ran up to a point, and formed a complete angle. These, the
Indian told as, were the only buildings that remained. That from which
the pillars in the church at Xul were taken was a mere mass of ruins. I
was extremely disappointed. From the accounts which had induced us to
visit this place, we had made larger calculations. It was the first
time I had been thoroughly disappointed. There were no subjects for the
pencil, and, except the deep and abiding impression of moving among the
deserted structures of another ruined and desolate city, there was
nothing to carry away. The proprietor seemed mortified that he had not
better ruins to show us, but I gave him to understand that it was not
his fault, and that he was in no wise to blame. Nevertheless, it was
really vexatious, with such good-will on his part, and such a troop of
Indians at command, that there was nothing for us to do. The Indians
sympathized in the mortification of their master, and, to indemnify me,
told me of two other ruined cities, one of which was but two leagues
from the village of Xul.
I returned and made my report, and Mr. Catherwood immediately proposed
a return to the village. Albino had given him an alarming account of
the unhealthiness of the rancho, and he considered it advisable to
avoid sleeping there a single night. Doctor Cabot was sitting up in his
hammock, dissecting a bird. A recurrence of fever might detain us some
time, and we determined on returning immediately to Xul. Our decision
was carried into execution as promptly as it was made and, leaving our
luggage to the care of Albino, in half an hour, to the astonishment of
the Indians and the mortification of the proprietor, we were on our way
to the village.
It was late in the evening when we arrived, but the cura received us as
kindly as before. During the evening I made inquiries for the place of
which the Indians at the rancho had told me. It was but two leagues
distant, but of all who happened to drop in, not one was aware of its
existence. The cura, however, sent for a young man who had a rancho in
that direction, and who promised to accompany me.
At six o'clock the next morning we started, neither Mr. Catherwood nor
Doctor Cabot being able to accompany me. At the distance of about two
leagues we reached an Indian rancho, where we learned from an old woman
that we had passed the path leading to the ruins. We could not prevail
on her to go back and show us the way, but she gave us a direction to
another rancho, where she said we could procure a guide. This rancho
was situated in a small clearing in the midst of the woods, enclosed by
a bush fence, and before the door was an arbour covered with palm
leaves, with little hammocks swinging under it, and all together the
picture of Indian comfort.
My companion went in, and I dismounted, thinking that this promised a
good stopping-place, when, looking down, I saw my pantaloons brown with
garrapatas. I laid hold of a twig, intending to switch them off, and
hundreds fell upon my hand and arm. Getting rid of those in sight as
well as I could, and mounting immediately, I rode off, hoping most
earnestly not to find any ruins, nor any necessity of taking up our
abode in this comfortable-seeming rancho.
We were fortunate in finding at this place an Indian, who, for reasons
known to himself and the wife of the master, was making a visit during
the absence of the latter at his milpa; but for which we should not
have been able to procure a guide. Retracing our steps, and crossing
the camino real, we entered the woods on the other side, and tying our
horses, the Indian cut a path up the side of a hill, on the top of
which were the ruins of a building. The outer wall had fallen, leaving
exposed to view the inner half of the arch, by which, as we approached
it, my attention was strongly attracted. This arch was plastered and
covered with painted figures in profile, much mutilated, but in one
place a row of legs remained, which seemed to have belonged to a
procession, and at the first glance brought to my mind the funeral
processions on the walls of the tombs at Thebes. In the triangular wall
forming the end of the room were three compartments, in which were
figures, some having their heads adorned with plumes, others with a
sort of steeple cap, and carrying on their heads something like a
basket; and two were standing on their hands with their heels in the
air. These figures were about a foot high, and painted red. The drawing
was good, the attitudes were spirited and life-like, and altogether,
even in their mutilated state, they were by far the most interesting
paintings we had seen in the country.
Another apartment had been plastered and covered with paintings, the
colours of which were in some places still bright and vivid. In this
apartment we cornered and killed a snake five feet long, and as I threw
it out at the door a strong picture rose up before me of the terrific
scenes which most have been enacted in this region; the cries of wo
that must have ascended to Heaven when these sculptured and painted
edifices were abandoned, to become the dwelling-place of vultures and
serpents.
There was one other building, and these two, my guide said were all,
but probably others lie buried in the woods. Returning to our horses,
he led me to another extraordinary subterraneous well, which probably
furnished water to the ancient inhabitants. I looked into the mouth,
and saw that the first descent was by a steep ladder, but had no
disposition to explore it.
In a few minutes we mounted to return to the village. Ruins were
increasing upon us, to explore which thoroughly would be the work of
years; we had but months, and were again arrested by illness. For some
days, at least, Mr. Catherwood would not be able to resume work. I was
really distressed by the magnitude of what was before us, but, for the
present, we could do nothing, and I determined at once to change the
scene. The festival of Ticul was at hand, and that night it was to open
with el bayle de las Mestizas, or the Mestiza ball. Ticul lay in our
return route, nine leagues from the village of Xul, but I determined to
reach it that evening. My companion did not sympathize in my humour;
his vaquero saddle hurt him, and he could not ride faster than a walk.
I had need to economize all my strength; but I took his hard-trotting
horse and uneasy saddle, and gave him mine. Pushing on, at eleven
o'clock we reached Xul, where I had my horse unsaddled and washed,
ordered him a good mess of corn, and two boiled eggs for myself. In the
mean time, Mr. Catherwood had a recurrence of fever and ague, and my
horse was led away; but the attack proved slight, and I had him brought
out again. At two o'clock I resumed my journey, with a sheet, a
hammock, and Albino. The heat was scorching, and Albino would have
grumbled at setting out at this hour, but he, too, was ripe for the
fiesta of Ticul.
In an hour we saw in the woods on our right large mounds, indicating
that here, too, had once stood an ancient city. I rode in to look at
them, but the buildings which had crowned them were all fallen and
ruined, and I only gained an addition to the stock of garrapatas
already on hand. We had not heard of these ruins at the village, and,
on inquiring afterward, I could find no name for them.
At the distance of three leagues we commenced ascending the sierra, and
for two hours the road lay over an immense ledge of solid rock. Next to
the Mico Mountain, it was the worst range I ever crossed, but of
entirely different character; instead of gullies, and holes, and walls
of mud, it consisted of naked, broken rock, the reflection of the sun
upon which was intense and extremely painful to the eyes. In some
places it was slippery as glass. I had crossed the sierra in two
different places before, but they were comparatively like the passage
of the Simplon with that of San Bernard or San Gothard across the Alps.
My horse's hoofs clattered and rang at every step, and, though strong
and sure-footed, he stumbled and slid in a way that was painful and
dangerous to both horse and rider; indeed, it would have been an
agreeable change to be occasionally stuck in the mud. It was impossible
to go faster than a walk, and, afraid that night would overtake us, in
which case, as there was no moon, we might lose our way, I dismounted
and hurried on, leading my horse.
It was nearly dark when we reached the top of the last range. The view
was the grandest I had seen in the country. On the very brink stood the
church of La Hermita, below the village of Oxcutzcab, and beyond a
boundless wooded plain, dotted in three places with villages. We
descended by a steep and stony path, and, winding along the front of La
Hermita, came upon a broad pavement of stones from the ruined buildings
of an aboriginal town. We passed under an imposing gateway, and,
entering the village, stopped at the first house for a draught of
water, where, looking back, we saw the shades of night gathering over
the sierra, a token of our narrow escape. There were ruined mounds in
the neighbourhood, which I intended to look at in passing, but we had
still four leagues to make, and pushed on. The road was straight and
level, but stony, and very soon it became so dark that we could see
nothing. My horse had done a hard day's work, and stumbled so that I
could scarcely keep him from falling. We roused the barking dogs of two
villages, of which, however, I could distinguish, nothing but the
outline of their gigantic churches, and at nine o'clock rode into the
plaza of Ticul. It was crowded with Indians, blazing with lights, and
occupied by a great circular scaffold for a bull-ring, and a long,
enclosed arbour, from the latter of which strains of music gave notice
that the bayle de las Mestizas had already begun.
Once more I received a cordial welcome from the cura Carillo; but the
music from the arbour reminded me that the moments of pleasure were
fleeting. Our trunks had been ordered over from Nohcacab, and, making a
hurried toilet, I hastened to the ball-room, accompanied by the padre
Brizena; the crowd outside opened a way, Don Philippe Peon beckoned to
me as I entered, and in a moment more I was seated in one of the best
places at the bayle de las Mestizas. After a month in Indian ranchos,
that day toiling among ruins, almost driven to distraction by
garrapatas, clambering over a frightful sierra, and making a journey
worse than any sixty miles in our country, all at once I settled down
at a fancy ball, amid music, lights, and pretty women, in the full
enjoyment of an armchair and a cigar. For a moment a shade of regret
came over me as I thought of my invalid friends, but I soon forgot
them.
The enramada, or enclosure for the ball-room, was an arbour about one
hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet wide, surrounded by a
railing of rude lattice-work, covered with costal, or hemp bagging, as
a protection against the night air and sun, and lighted by lamps with
large glass shades. The floor was of hard cement; along the railing was
a row of chairs, all occupied by ladies; gentlemen, boys, and girls,
children and nurses, were sitting promiscuously on the floor, and Don
Philippe Peon, when he gave me his chair, took a place among them. El
bayle de las Mestizas was what might be called a fancy ball, in which
the senoritas of the village appeared as las Mestizas, or in the
costume of Mestiza women: loose white frock, with red worked border
round the neck and skirt, a man's black hat, a blue scarf over the
shoulder, gold necklace and bracelets. The young men figured as
vaqueros, or major domos, in shirt and pantaloons of pink striped
muslin, yellow buckskin shoes, and low, round-crowned, hard-platted
straw hat, with narrow brim rolled up at the sides, and trimmed with
gold cord and tassels. Both costumes were fanciful and pretty, but at
first the black hat was repulsive. I had heard of the sombreros negros
as part of the Mestiza costume, and had imagined some neat and graceful
fabric of straw; but the faces of the girls were so soft and mild that
even a man's hat could not divest them of their feminine charm.
Altogether the scene was somewhat different from what I expected, more
refined, fanciful, and picturesque.
To sustain the fancy character, the only dance was that of the toros. A
vaquero stood up, and each Mestiza was called out in order. This dance,
as we had seen it among the Indians, was extremely uninteresting, and
required a movement of the body, a fling of the arms, and a snapping of
the fingers, which were at least inelegant; but with las Mestizas of
Ticul it was all graceful and pleasing and there was something
particularly winning in the snapping of the fingers. There were no
dashing beauties, and not one who seemed to have any idea of being a
belle; but all exhibited a mildness, softness, and amiability of
expression that created a feeling of promiscuous tenderness. Sitting at
ease in an arm-chair, after my sojourn in Indian ranchos, I was
particularly alive to these influences. And there was such a charm
about that Mestiza dress. It was so clean, simple, and loose, leaving
"Every beauty free
To sink or swell as Nature pleases."
The ball broke up too soon, when I was but beginning to reap the fruit
of my hard day's work. There was an irruption of servants to carry home
the chairs, and in half an hour, except along a line of tables in front
of the audiencia, the village was still. For a little while, in my
quiet chamber at the convent, the gentle figures of las Mestizas still
haunted me, but, worn down by the fatigues of the day, I very soon
forgot them.
At daylight the next morning the ringing of bells and firing of rockets
announced the continuance of the fiesta; high mass was performed in the
church, and at eight o'clock there was a grand exhibition of lassoing
cattle in the plaza by amateur vaqueros. These were now mounted, had
large vaquero saddles, spurs to match, and each was provided with a
coil of rope in hand; bulls of two years old were let loose in the
plaza, with the bull-ring to double round, and every street in the
village open to them. The amateurs rode after them like mad, to the
great peril of old people, women, and children, who scampered out of
the way as well as they could, but all as much pleased with the sport
as the bull or the vaqueros. One horse fell and hurt his rider, but
there were no necks broken.
This over, all dispersed to prepare for the bayle de dia, or ball by
daylight. I sat for an hour in the corridor of the convent, looking out
upon the plaza. The sun was beaming with intense heat, and the village
was as still as if some great calamity had suddenly overtaken it. At
length a group was seen crossing the plaza: a vaquero escorting a
Mestiza to the ball, holding over her head a red silk umbrella to
protect her from the scorching rays of the sun; then an old lady and
gentleman, children, and servants, a complete family group, the females
all in white, with bright-coloured scarfs and shawls. Other groups
appeared crossing in other directions, forming picturesque and pleasing
spectacles in the plaza. I walked over to the arbour. Although in broad
daylight, under the glare of a midday sun, and shaded only on one side
by hemp bagging, as the Mestizas took their seats they seemed prettier
than the night before. No adjustment of curtain light was necessary for
the morning after the ball, for the ladies had retired at an early
hour. The black hat had lost its repugnant character, and on some it
seemed most becoming. The costumes of the vaqueros, too, bore well the
light of day. The place was open to all who chose to enter, and the
floor was covered with Indian women and children, and real Mestizoes in
cotton shirts, drawers, and sandals; the barrier, too, was lined with a
dense mass of Indians and Mestizoes, looking on good-humouredly at this
personification of themselves and their ways. The whole gathering was
more informal and gayer, and seemed more what it was intended to be, a
fiesta of the village.
The bayle de dia was intended to give a picture of life at a hacienda,
and there were two prominent personages, who did not appear the evening
before, called fiscales, being the officers attendant upon the ancient
caciques, and representing them in their authority over the Indians.
These wore long, loose, dirty camisas hanging off one shoulder, and
with the sleeves below the hands; calzoncillos, or drawers to match,
held up by a long cotton sash, the ends of which dangled below the
knees; sandals, slouching straw hats, with brims ten or twelve inches
wide, and long locks of horse hair hanging behind their ears. One of
them wore awry over his shoulder a mantle of faded blue cotton cloth,
said to be an heirloom descended from an ancient cacique, and each
flourished a leather whip with eight or ten lashes. These were the
managers and masters of ceremonies, with absolute and unlimited
authority over the whole company, and, as they boasted, they had a
right to whip the Mestizas if they pleased.
As each Mestiza arrived they quietly put aside the gentleman escorting
her, and conducted the lady to her seat. If the gentleman did not give
way readily, they took him by the shoulders, and walked him to the
other end of the floor. A crowd followed wherever they moved, and all
the time the company was assembling they threw everything into laughter
and confusion by their whimsical efforts to preserve order.
At length they undertook to clear a space for dancing, backing the
company in a summary way as far as they could go, and then taking the
men and boys by the shoulder, and jamming them down upon the floor.
While they were thus engaged, a stout gentleman, of respectable
appearance, holding some high office in the village, appeared in the
doorway, quietly lighting another straw cigar, and as soon as they saw
him they desisted from the work they had in hand, and, in the
capricious and wanton exercise of their arbitrary power, rushed across,
seized him, dragged him to the centre of the floor, hoisted him upon
the shoulders of a vaquero, and, pulling apart the skirts of his coat,
belaboured him with a mock vigour and earnestness that convulsed the
whole company with laughter. The sides of the elevated dignitary shook,
the vaquero shook under him, and they were near coming down together.
This over, the rogues came directly upon me. El Ingles had not long
escaped their eye. I had with difficulty avoided a scene, and my time
seemed now to have come. The one with the cacique's mantle led the way
with long strides, lash raised in the air, a loud voice, and his eyes,
sparkling with frolic and mischief, fastened upon mine. The crowd
followed, and I was a little afraid of an attempt to hoist me too on
the shoulders of a vaquero; but all at once he stopped short, and,
unexpectedly changing his language, opened upon me with a loud harangue
in Maya. All knew that I did not understand a word he said, and the
laugh was strong against me. I was a little annoyed at being made such
a mark, but, recollecting the achievement of our vernacular at
Nohcacab, I answered him with an English oration. The effect was
instantaneous. He had never before heard a language that he could not
understand, bent his ear earnestly, as if by close attention he could
catch the meaning, and looked up with an air of real perplexity that
turned the laugh completely against him. He began again, and I answered
with a stanza of Greek poetry, which had hung by me in some
unaccountable way; this, again, completely silenced him, and he dropped
the title Ingles, put his arms around my neck, called me "amigo," and
made a covenant not to speak in any language but Castilian.
This over, he ordered the music to commence, planted a vaquero on the
floor, and led out a Mestiza to dance, again threw all the bystanders
into confusion, and sat down quietly on the floor at my feet. All the
Mestizas were again called out in order, presenting the same pretty
spectacle I had seen the evening before. And there was one whom I had
noticed then, not more than fifteen, delicate and fragile, with eyes so
soft and dovelike that it was impossible to look upon them without a
feeling of tenderness. She seemed sent into the world to be cherished
and cared for, and closeted like the finest china, the very emblem of
purity, innocence, and loveliness; and, as I had learned, she was the
child of shame, being the crianza, or natural daughter, of a gentleman
of the village; perhaps it was that she seemed so ill fitted to buffet
with contumely and reproach that gave such an indescribable interest to
her appearance; but, fortunately, brought up in her father's house, she
may go through life without meeting an averted face, or feeling that a
stain rests upon her name.
As may be supposed, the presence of this senorita on the floor did not
escape the keen eyes of the mercurial fiscal. All at once he became
excited and restless, and, starting to his feet, gazed at her for a
moment as if entranced by a vision, and then, as if carried away by his
excitement, and utterly unconscious of what he was about, he pushed
aside the vaquero who was dancing with her, and, flinging his sombrero
on the ground, cried out in a tone of ecstacy, "Voy baylar con vd, mi
corazon!" "I am going to dance with you, my heart!" As he danced, his
excitement seemed to increase; forgetting everything around him, the
expression of his face became rapt, fixed, intense; he tore off his
cacique's mantle, and, dancing toward her, spread it at the lady's
feet. This seemed only to excite him more; and, as if forgetful of
everything else, he seized the collar of his camisa and, dancing
violently all the time, with a nervous grasp, tugged as if he meant to
pull it over his head, and throw all that he was worth at her feet.
Failing in this, for a moment he seemed to give up in despair, but all
at once he thrust his hands under the long garment, seized the sash
around his waist, and still dancing with all his might, unwound it,
and, moving up to her with mingled grace, gallantry, and desperation,
dropped it at her feet, and danced back to his place. By this time his
calzoncillos, kept up by the sash, were giving way. Grasping them
furiously, and holding them up with both hands, as if by a great
effort, he went on dancing with a desperate expression of face that was
irresistibly ludicrous.
During all this time the company was convulsed with laughter, and I
could not help remarking the extreme modesty and propriety of the young
lady, who never even smiled or looked at him, but, when the dance was
ended, bowed and returned to her seat. The poor fiscal stood gating at
the vacant place where she had stood, as if the sun of his existence
had set. At length he turned his head and called out "amigo," asked if
there were any such Mestizas in my country; if I would like to take her
home with me; then said that he could not spare this one, but I might
take my choice of the others; insisting loudly upon my making a
selection, and promising to deliver any one I liked to me at the
convent.
At first I supposed that these fiscales were, like the vaqueros, the
principal young men of the village, who, for that day, gave themselves
up to frolic and fun, but I learned that these were not willing to
assume such a character, but employed others known to them for wit and
humour, and, at the same time, for propriety and respectability of
behaviour. This was a _matador de cochinos_, or pig butcher, of
excellent character, and _muy vivo_, by which may be understood "a
fellow of infinite wit and humour." The people of the village seemed to
think that the power given him to whip the Mestizas was the extremity
of license, but they did not consider that, even for the day, they put
him on equal terms with those who, in his daily walks, were to him as
beings of another sphere; for the time he might pour out his tribute of
feeling to beauty and attraction, but it was all to be regarded as a
piece of extravagance, to be forgotten by all who heard it, and
particularly by her to whom it was addressed. Alas, poor matador de
cochinos!
According to the rules, the mantle and sash which he had thrown at the
feet of the lady belonged to her, and he was obliged to appeal to the
charity of the spectators for money to redeem them. In the mean time
the dance continued. The fiscales, having once taken ground as dancers,
were continually ordering the vaqueros to step aside, and taking their
places. At times, too, under the direction of the fiscales, the idle
vaqueros seated themselves on the ground at the head of the arbour, and
all joined in the hacienda song of the vaqueria, in alternate lines of
Maya and Castilian. The chorus was led by the fiscales, with a noise
that drowned every other sound; and while this boisterous merriment was
going on, the light figures of the Mestizas were moving in the dance.
At twelve o'clock preparations were made for a dejeuner a la
fourchette, dispensing, however, with knives and forks. The centre of
the floor was cleared, and an enormous earthen jar, equal in capacity
to a barrel, was brought in, containing frigoles, or black beans fried.
Another vessel of the same size had a preparation of eggs and meat, and
near them was a small mountain of tortillas, with all which it was the
business of the Mestizas to serve the company. The fiscal did not
neglect his amigo, but led to me one of whom I had expressed my opinion
to him in confidence, and who brought in the palm of her hand a layer
of tortillas, with frigoles in the centre, and turned up at the sides
by means of the fingers, so as to prevent the frigoles from escaping.
An attempt to acknowledge the civility was repressed by the fiscal, who
crowded my hat over my eyes, saying that they passed no compliments on
the haciendas, and we were all Indians together. The tortillas, with
the frigoles in them, were not easy to hold without endangering my only
pair of white pantaloons. I relieved myself by passing them over the
railing, where any number of Indians stood ready to receive them; but I
had hardly got rid of this when another Mestiza brought another
portion, and while this engaged my one hand a third placed tortillas
with eggs in the other, and left me afraid to move; but I contrived to
pass both handfuls over the railing. Breakfast over, the dancing was
resumed with new spirit. The fiscales were more amusing than ever; all
agreed that the ball was muy allegre, or very gay, and I could not but
notice that, amid all this motley company and extraordinary license,
there was less noise than in a private drawing-room at home. At two
o'clock, to my great regret, the ball of las Mestizas broke up. It was
something entirely new, and remains engraven on my mind as the best of
village balls.