Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/117

Rh for art needlework have shown nothing more delicate or more refined than the specimens of work  to be seen everywhere here from the hands of the common people. The celebrated embroideries of Fayal look coarse and mechanical in comparison; as soon as their worth is understood by strangers, there will certainly be a legitimate and profitable occupation opened to the women of the country. Much of the skill shown is no doubt due to the teaching of the convent schools, which have always been famous for their training in fine needlework. The gentleness and extreme patience of the popular character lend themselves with especial adaptability to the care required in such manipulation; and the renown which has followed the lace-makers of Belgium may be repeated again for the beautiful work of their southern sisters.

We have been more surprised throughout at the neatness in the country than at the filth. It is easy to see where carelessness creeps in, when water can only be dipped by the saucerful from the narrow trough of a fountain in the smaller towns, or at best be carried in jars from the aqueducts. But it is harder to explain the