Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/54

28 1827, at eight millions, I shall, I think, be making a very moderate computation, and one, in which the census, now forming in the different states, will bear me out.

Before the revolution, this population was divided into seven distinct castes. 1. The old Spaniards, designated as Găchŭpīnĕs, in the history of the civil wars. 2. The Creoles, or Whites of pure European race, born in America, and regarded by the old Spaniards as natives. 3. The Indians, or Indigenous copper-coloured race. 4. The Mestizos, or mixed breed of Whites and Indians, gradually merging into Creoles, as the cross with the Indian race became more remote. 5. The Mulattoes, or descendants of Whites and Negroes. 6. The Zambos, or Chinos, descendants of Negroes and Indians. And, 7. The African Negroes, either manumitted, or slaves.

Of these Castes, the three first, and the last, were pure, and gave rise, in their various combinations, to the others; which again, were sub-divided, ad infinitum, by names expressing the relation borne by each generation of its descendants to the White, (Quarteroons, Quinteroons, &c.) to which, as the ruling colour, any approximation was desirable.

The principal seat of the white population of Mexico is the Table-land, towards the centre of which the Indian race is likewise concentrated, (in the intendancies of La Pūēblă, Mēxĭcŏ, Guănăjūātŏ, Ŏăxācă, and Vāllădŏlīd;) while the Northern frontier is inhabited almost entirely by whites, and