in the town--rather a small
proportion for ten thousand inhabitants: perhaps the marriage formula is
considered a bore, and since even the rite within pale of the church is
not so religiously respected as elsewhere, it appears unreasonable that
they should place any legal check upon their domestic felicity. Still
this system of _relatione_, as so generally practised in Mazatlan,
appeared to work well, and we never heard of lawsuits for children.
Occasionally, it is true, a jealous master would thrust a _cuchillo_
into the tender bosom of his spouse; but what of that--it was _costumbre
del pais_; however, these were the exceptions.

Among the lower orders, the women were invariably gifted with amiable
dispositions, natural in manner, never peevish or petulant, requiring
but little, and never happier than when moving night after night in the
slow measure of their national dances. Even the men were not
bad-tempered, though beyond comparison the laziest and most ignorant set
of vagabonds the world produces. They were a quiet people also, never so
far forgetting their natal sloth, as to go through the exertion of
making a noise. Even their knife encounters were conducted with a
certain show of dignity and decorum. For example, at the _esquina_ of
some street is a group of _leperos_--gentlemen throughout the Republic
of Mexico, enjoying the same moral attributes as Neapolitan
Lazzaroni;--their property at all times on their backs, and residences
precarious; they are playing monte on a coarse blanket or _serapa_ laid
upon the ground; one accuses another of cheating, and at the same time
twits him with the most deadly insult a Spaniard can offer, possibly
because it is so near the truth: _tu eres cornudo_; true or false, his
antagonist calls on all the saints to bear witness to his innocence,
springs to his feet, twists a serapa around the left arm, and, before
one can say Jack Robinson, their keen blades are playing in quick, rapid
passes, seldom giving over until deep and sometimes fatal stabs are
interchanged; but if not seriously hurt they drink a cup of aguadiente
together, light cigarillos, and continue the game until another quarrel
arises. These little passages of arms were of hourly occurrence, and the
severest regulations were not sufficient to repress the evil, although
there never was a solitary instance, during our stay, where a quarrel
had arisen between the townspeople and the garrison. I chanced to be an
eye-wit