Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/558

552 in letters he may be the most ignorant, yet in that little narrow skull he can carry more accounts than the most expert book-keeper. He knows the antecedents of everybody and everything on that place. He is a peon just as they are, but in many ways he shows his power over them.



The accompanying illustration, taken from life at San Miguel Sesma, shows him in the robes and dignity of his office.

Every night the raya (an account of the days' doings) is gone through by the mayordomo and capitan, who come to the office of the hacienda to give an account to the administrador of what has been done during the day. The names of the peons are read, and the captain answers: "Cetonale" ("He has worked to-day "), or "Homo cleno " ("He has not"), as the case may be. The mayordomo has a box full of beans kept for the purpose. Each time the captain answers "Cetonale" or "Homo cleno," a bean is pushed aside. When the calling and answering are finished, the beans in the two piles thus formed are counted, and the result entered in the day-book. The captain retires and the mayordomo takes orders for the next day.

Everything is kept as systematically as in a banking business. The books of the hacienda are under government seal, and any one wishing to purchase the property may satisfy himself by looking at them.

Haciendas have their marketable small products, such as pulque, wood, milk, lumber, charcoal, beans, sheep, goats, and many others known as esquilmos. Hogs are also fattened, but they are little used save to make soap, which is excellent in any part of the country.

The impression prevails that the peon is in such a state of servitude that he can be easily compelled to adopt any method his