with buttons. There may be anything from 1,000 to 10,000 beasts on such a run, and the staff varies in numbers accordingly. There are certainly no more expert horsemen in the world, and they have to work fairly hard for wonderfully small wages, for, besides food, they are lucky if they get 4s. a week. The major-domo, or head of the staff, usually earns as much again, and the hours worked at for these wages are generally from sunrise to sunset. It is inspiring to think that the new Provisional Government of Mexico is honestly doing its best to improve the conditions of life of these men, for it was undoubtedly the system of peonage—call it slavery, if you like—which caused the brooding sense of wrong which precipitated the Revolution. It is no excuse to argue that labour is cheap in Mexico because of the poverty of the land. The land is not poor, neither are the haciendados. One cannot support life in Paris on an impoverished estate.
