national vessels, carrying such produce at exorbitant prices, as Spain might think proper to despatch from Seville or Cadiz.[3]

I have thought it proper to state in my introductory chapter, thus much of the laws and system under which Mexico began her national existence;—for laws modify the character whenever they are not self-imposed. Let us now, for a moment consider the population which was subjected to the bad administration of such laws; and we shall then understand better the character of the belligerents.

The blood of the Spaniards, even at home, is a mixed blood. But when we remember the various races that have overrun, resided in, ruled, and incorporated themselves with Spain, we cannot be surprised at detecting so many and diverse characteristics in Mexico. The Celti-gallic, Celt-Iberian, Carthagenian, Roman, Vandalic, Visigothic, and Moorish blood have mingled again in Mexico and Peru with the Indian, and in some cases have been dashed even with the Negro.[4] Mexicans are thus, as I have observed elsewhere, grafts rather of the wild Arab on the American Indian, than of the Spanish Don on the noble Aztec.[5]

When Mexico was completely conquered and emigration began to fill up the land, the soil was divided, in large estates, among the adventurers and the Indians, by a system of repartimientos, were apportioned to the land holders.[6] This created an absolute vassalage, and bound the Indian, virtually and forever, to the spot where he was born. As it became wearisome to the planters to dwell in the seclusion of these vast and lonely estates, they left them and their Indians to the care of an administrador, and retreated to the chief cities of the provinces or to the capital. Thus all the intelligence and cultivation of Mexico became compacted in the towns, whilst the original ignorance and semi-civilization remained diffused over the country. It is, therefore, not at all surprising to find that out of a population of seven millions, four millions are Indians and only one million purely white, while more than two millions, of the rest, are zambos, mestizos and mulattos. Nor is it singular that of this whole population of seven millions, not more than six hundred thousand whites and eighty thousand of other castes, can read and write.[7]

Indeed it may be said with truth,—as agriculture has received but little attention beyond the ordinary wants of life, and as the great proprietors of estates have chiefly devoted their attention to the raising of cattle,—that the ancient nomadic habits of the Indian and half-breed, have remained unchanged, and, consequently, that the great body of this semi-civilized people is quite as much at home on horseback with sword and lance as in the corral or hacienda.[8]

The Ranchero, who has played so conspicuous a part in this war, is the natural offspring of such a state of society. This class of men is composed of individuals, half Spanish half Indian, who resemble the gauchos of the South American Pampas. Gaunt, shrivelled and bronzed by exposure, though hardy and muscular from athletic exercise, they are, indeed, the Arabs of our continent. Living half the time in their saddles, for they are matchless horsemen, they traverse the plains and mountains, with lasso[9] in hand, either searching for, or tending their herds. The slaughter of beasts and preparation and sale of hides is their chief means of livelihood, varied occasionally by the cultivation of a small patch of ground, or by taking part in the civil wars that are always waging. Their costume generally consists of a pair of tough leggings of skin and leathern trousers, over which is a serape or blanket, with a hole in the centre large enough for the head to pass through, whence it falls in graceful folds over the chest and shoulders, leaving room for the play of hands and arms. Add to this a broad sombrero, and the lasso, hanging ready for use at his saddle bow, and the reader will have a picture of the ranchero as he appears in peace or in the ordinary pursuit of his occupation. Join to this garb a long sabre, a horse as savage and untamed as himself, and a belt plentifully studded with pistols and machetes, and the ranchero presents himself ready either to join a troop of banditti, or to serve in a body of cavalry.

Cowardly as they generally are in the open field when encountering regular troops, yet, in ambuscade, a sudden fight, or, as guerillas, they are both a formidable and cruel foe. Their power of endurance is inexhaustible. Fatigue is almost unknown to them, and a scanty meal, each day, of jerked beef and corn or plantain, is sufficient to sustain them on the longest marches.

Such are the rancheros, who, by discipline, might be rendered the best light troops in the world. These are the men who form the material of the Mexican cavalry; and they bear the same relation to the armies of that republic that the Cossacks do to the Russians;—ever on the alert,—easily lodged,—capable of supporting fatigue or hunger,—and untiring in pursuit of an enemy, when even the most trifling plunder is to be obtained.[10]

Another large and formidable body in Mexico is that of the Indians, amounting, as we have seen, to four millions; whose knowledge of their governors' language is generally confined to such phrases as will enable them to buy and sell, or perform the ordinary functions of life. Formerly they lived, and usually still live, in narrow huts built of mud, thatched with straw or palm leaves, and which have scarcely the merit of being picturesque. In these miserable lairs, they nestle with their families, their domestic animals, and a table or altar on which they erect a cross or place the figure of a patron saint. Their food is mostly maize, and their dress corresponds with this grovelling wretchedness. Five out of every hundred may perhaps possess two suits of clothes, but their general vesture consists of a large cotton shirt, a pair of leathern trousers, and a blanket. Even the Indian women, who elsewhere, like their sex in civilized countries, are always fond of personal adornment, exhibit no desire to appear decent or to rival each other in tasteful