Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/604

574 have horses, mules, and horned cattle, which breed and feed in the adjacent plains and mountains.

At certain seasons they collect the cattle, when each proprietor affixes his mark. It is by the number of cattle which a man possesses, that you estimate his wealth: very few have money, except the merchants. When they kill a bull, eight or ten families divide it, and so each kills in turn. When a merchant arrives with goods to offer, the people select what they want, and pay in mules, bullocks, horses, &c. In this way they manage almost all their affairs, without the necessity of money. I resided in Oposura nearly three months in the house of the Cura, it being a central point, from which I made various excursions, so that I had a good opportunity of gaining a thorough knowledge of the manners and customs of the natives. To enter into minutiæ, would require much time; I shall therefore confine myself to an outline. The men are a fine race, much superior to any in the Southern provinces of New Spain; they are very lively and industrious, and strangers to care. The women are generally well-grown, handsome, with good shapes and complexion: a great many have blue eyes and light hair, which is a proof that they are not of Moorish extraction. They pride themselves on not mixing their blood with the aborigines. The women are continually employed in domestic affairs, and are excellent wives and mothers. They make all the men's clothing, as well as their own shoes, which are of silk and stuff, and they are very celebrated for needlework of every description, ornamental as well as plain. Their embroidery is not excelled by any thing in Europe, if it is surpassed in China. Both sexes are passionately fond of dancing and cards, and the intercourse of society is constantly carried on in order to gratify these tastes.

About eight leagues to the north-west of Oposura, are the old and celebrated mines of San Juan Bautista, of Sonora, which was the seat of Government for this province long before Arispe was built. In fact, it was the main object of my journey from England in 1825, to visit this mineral. Ten days after our arrival in Oposura, the priest, Dr. Julian Moreno, informed us that he had ordered every thing to be prepared for