Page:Memoir of a tour to northern Mexico.djvu/27

Rh seen; and the ladies of all classes are more than justified in not giving up their coquetish rebozo, a small shawl drawn over the head. Both sexes enjoy the cigarrito or paper cigar, hold their siesta after dinner, and amuse themselves in the evening with monte, (a hazard me,) or fandangos. Their dances are, by-the-by, very graceful, and generally a combination of quadrille and waltz. The principal ingredient in the Mexican race is Indian blood, which is visible, in their features, complexion, and disposition. The men are, generally taken, ill-featured, while the women are often quite handsome. Another striking singularity is the wide difference in the character of the two sexes. While the men have often been censured for their indolence, mendacity, treachery, and cruelty, the women are active, affectionate, open-hearted, and even faithful when their affections are reciprocated. Though generally not initiated in the art of reading and writing, the females possess, nevertheless, a strong common sense and a natural sympathy for every suffering being, be it friend or foe; which compensates them to some degree for the wants of a refined education. The treatment of the Texan prisoners is but one of the many instances where the cruelties of the Mexican men were mitigated by the disinterested kindness of their women.

The rulers of New Mexico, under the Mexican government, used to be a governor and a legislative power, (junta departmental;) but as the latter was more a nominal than a real power, the governor was generally unrestrained, and subject only to the law of revolution, which the New Mexicans used to administer very freely, by upsetting the gubernatorial chai as often as the whole republic did that of the President. Governor Armijo, the last ruler of New Mexico, before it was invaded by the Americans, has already received his full share of comment from the public press. He is one of those smart, self-confident men, who, like their prototype Santa Anna, are aware that the wheel of fortune is always turning, and that the Mexicans are a most credulous and easily deceived people; and though at present he is a fugitive from his country, and subdued, I have no doubt he will before long appear once more on the stage, and by some means come into power again. The judiciary power in New Mexico has always been as dependent as the governor was independent. Besides that, the clergy, as well as the military class, had their own courts of justice. In relation to the general government of Mexico, New Mexico has always maintained greater independence than most of the other States–partly from its distance from Mexico, and partly from the spirit of opposition in the inhabitants, who derived very little benefit from their connexion with the republic, and would therefore not be taxed without an equivalent. Several times the general government tried to introduce in New Mexico the so called estanquillas, or the sale of tobacco in all its forms, as a monopoly of the general government; but it never succeded. In the same way the introduction of copper coin was resisted. This loose connexion with the mother country will aid a great deal its annexation to the United States, provided that the latter will bestow upon it what the Mexican government never could–stability of government, safety of property and personal rights, and especially protection from the hostile Indians.

Finally, we will take a view of the capital of New Mexico. Santa Fe is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in New Mexico; its origin dates probably as far back as the end of the sixteenth century. It lies in 35° 41′ 6″