in any way strengthening his hands, and has induced "swelled head" to the detriment of proper pride and manhood.
The average peon is untidy and shaggy in appearance, uncleanly, given to gambling, superstitiously religious, patient, intelligent, and witty. He is hot-tempered and apt to be homicidal, and has Peon
Characteristics. a tendency to petty pilfering if a suitable occasion presents itself. He is piously obedient to his parents and his priest, and, when treated fairly, will perform a good day's work. If ill-used, he grows sullen and malingers. His womenkind make good nurses and mothers, and are economical and clever housekeepers. Indeed, there are probably no better managers in the domestic sphere any-where than the Mexican women of all classes. The peon woman is pathetically obedient to her husband, fond of her home, and prone to the love of Mammon (when he comes her way). She is dressy when she can afford to be so, and, as a rule, her fiesta, or holiday attire, is good of its kind, if showy and somewhat reminiscent of the wardrobe of a travelling circus.
The servant problem is quite as acute in Mexico as it is in our own country. Factories bid so highly for female labour, that to secure good native service is extremely Mexican
Servants. difficult. Mexican "generals" and house-maids are quite as touchy as the British "slavey," and a good deal more careless and quick-tempered. They usually refuse to do their hair in a civilised fashion, and wear it hanging or in plaits in the native style to the scandal of their long-suffering mistresses. Men-servants will not appear in livery if they can possibly avoid doing so, and they are usually lazy and perfunctory in the execution of their duties. But they are never impolite, even when refusing to obey an order; and if this courtesy be unreal, as certain travellers assert, it is much more refreshing and desirable than the pertness and surly rudeness of the average British
