igner seems
almost a pathetic resignation, the style of dress which custom has
dictated to their class. There is no aping of the rich in their attire.
Whether it be the fine lace _mantilla_ or the Parisian hat which the
far-distant-from-her senorita wears, as in temple or _plaza_ she takes
her dainty way, or the pretty frock or delicate shoes, the poor woman
of the _peon_, or the _mujer_ of the petty shopkeeper, casts no envious
glance--but no, that would not be true! She casts them, but she will
not strive to imitate. Is there not some virtue in such non-emulation,
or is it but the spirit of a deadened race? Yet this rather sombre and
unattractive apparel is found more among the _peon_ class; the Indian
girl in some parts of Mexico--as at Tehuantepec--wears a handsome
native costume, derived from Aztec days, at holiday time.

[Illustration: NATIVE WOMEN OF TEHUANTEPEC: ORDINARY DRESS AND
CHURCH-GOING COSTUMES.]

The _reboso_, or shawl, is a useful article of clothing of the women of
this class. We shall meet her trudging along dusty roads or over steep
mountain trails, sad-faced and patient, with her baby slung behind her
in a _reboso_ tied round her waist; or possibly she has utilised it to
collect some scanty _lena_, or firewood, from among the dry scrub of
the _arroyo_, just as her man uses his _serape_ as a universal hold-all
on occasions for potatoes, maize, or other articles which he has
purchased at the village market.

The complexion of the Mexican _peon_ class is generally exceedingly
dark, approaching coffee-colour, although they have, of course, no
strain of African blood in their composition. But the types of faces
vary much for different parts of the country--due to the numerous
distinct races. Some purely aboriginal faces are almost clear-cut and
attractive, especially among the women. The _peon_ women, too, are
often soft and pretty, and attract, and are attracted, by the
foreigner. Near the lines of the railroads the progeny of Mexican
women--Anglo-Saxon in type--are often seen!

The Mexicans, _peones_ and Indians, have a remarkable aptitude--like
those other peoples of aboriginal blood in America, as Peru--for making
things by hand which require care and patience. The exquisite figures
with delicately carved features and dress, pottery, woven material, as
mats and pouches, straw (and Panama) hats, and so forth, are such in
delicacy and texture as it is improbable could be made by the workmen
of Eu