Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/360

Rh common of all, and ordinarily practiced, in the streets, as a decent mode of begging.

The operator is usually stripped to his trowsers, and his capital in trade consists of a pair of stout thighs and muscular calves. The pole once balanced on the soles of his feet, he plays all manner of tricks with it as easily as if it were in his hands; but I have never seen them sport, as the ancients are said to have done, with men seated on each end of the heavy bar.