play twice or thrice a week in all the large towns, even in the poorer quarters, and are a great source of pleasure to the citizens.
The Indians and mestizos are also extremely fond of the guitar and the mandoline. Nowhere is such mandoline playing to be found as in Mexico, not even in Spain itself. It can be said that these stringed instalments are the national instruments. The performance of a Mexican guitar and mandoline band, its rhythmic harmony, its twittering beauty of tone and its richness of melody usually comes as a surprise to the foreigner who expects little of the poor Indian or despised half-breed.
The same applies to native singing. The climate of Mexico—clear, pure, and healthy—is just the air for song. The Native
Singing.natives are often possessed of beautiful voices, and are as ready at improvisation as any Neapolitan.
Opera in Mexico is usually provided by touring companies. In Mexico city, opera is usually performed in the National Theatre (completed in 1910), or the Teatro Renacimiento, in the Calle de Puerta Falsa de San Andres, which is a handsome theatre, seating 1,900 people. The operatic companies which tour in Mexico are usually Italian, but occasionally French opéra bouffe companies visit the Republic. The singers in these companies are not always of the best type, and are usually often veterans in their art; but in this respect Mexico is in no way behind the British provinces, which have usually to put up with artistes of a third-rate character.
The other theatres in Mexico besides these already alluded to are the Teatro Principal, an old house, built in the middle of the eighteenth century, but which has been extensively altered. Its performances are usually suited to its audiences, which are by no means the cream of Mexican society. It is, however, a real Mexican theatre, and no attempt has been made to denationalise it. The Teatro Arbeu, in the Calle San Felipé, has been established for about forty years, and
