Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/181

Rh afford to pay the government a commission, which is regularly demanded, upon the profits of their transactions.

The scene of a cock-fight such as I witnessed, occurs in a low room on one side of the courtyard of an hotel, up several steps, beneath a kind of pent-house in the shade of a withered acacia. It is an hour after vespers; and people are flocking to the place with eager and expectant looks, jocosely talking and laughing together as they go. There is an open space in the centre of the apartment, with benches arranged round it, occupied by a motley assemblage of the townspeople. Foremost, are some gaily apparelled young gentlemen, with dark faces, lounging manners, and a dissipated air; their smartly laced and ribanded hats set jauntily on their heads, and their serapés of unusually varied and brilliant patterns. Behind them are some buckish store-keepers, with whose constitutions amusement appears to agree better than confinement to their shops and traffic. Some frequenters of a meaner character may also be seen, accompanied by several females; and in the background are a few Indians and Indian girls. The company are evidently in most impatient expectation, and are becoming