n, and these are described elsewhere. It is not to be
supposed that they are savages as a whole; for, on the contrary, they
are remarkably gifted in some cases, assimilating the civilisation and
intellect of the white man and furnishing excellent material for the
country's citizens. The upper-class Mexicans, like the Peruvians or
other Spanish-Americans when they are of unmixed white descent,
naturally pride themselves upon the fact, and to a certain extent aim
to preserve this condition. This is the "colour-line" of the race, and
the term "Indio" is still a term expressing something of contempt,
notwithstanding the fact that some of the prominent, and even
intellectual, men of Mexico's history have been drawn from the Mestizo
class, and--in the case of Juarez--from pure aboriginal stock. Of
course, the Indian is, as yet, an inferior being.

Included in Mexico's population is a foreign element numbering some
60,000 people, more or less, Spaniards predominating, with more than
16,000, and Americans of the United States with somewhat over 15,000.
This is according to the census of 1900, and it is probable that both
these elements have increased considerably since then. Of British there
are only some 3,000 in the country; of French about 4,000; and of
Germans 2,600, approximately. The vast area of Mexican territory
contains only about twenty persons to the square mile; were it
populated in the same ratio as parts of Europe it might support a
population of 180,000,000, it has been calculated.

As has been shown, but a small percentage of the Mexican people are of
purely white descent. As for the characteristic type of Mexican--those
of mixed white and aboriginal race--they form the principal human
element of the country, and shade off indefinably into the _peon_
class. This class, drawn both from Mestizos and Indians, forms the
great working population, in the fields and the mines, and without them
the national industries would be non-existent. They are a picturesque,
poor and generally ignorant class, although possessed of excellent
natural elements and traits which must develop as time goes on. They
form a strong, virile backbone to the country, but the conditions of
their life are at present but little removed from serfdom, due to their
general poverty as a class and to the monopolisation of the ownership
of land by the upper classes. In this connection it is to be
recollected that the natives of the civilised pre-Hispa