Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/520

512 They would never have done so had I not excited their curiosity by carrying a butterfly-net, which, as it was the first they had ever seen, prompted them to speak to me, their curiosity having overcome their timidity. A naturalist, especially one hunting for birds and butterflies, is looked upon with pity and compassion, and these ladies shared the general impression,—that a man who went about with a gun and insect-net needed looking after,—and took me under their care. It was the 1st of July, and they were going to celebrate mass, and if I would go with them to church they would later accompany me in my search for antiquities. So I went to church, gun, net, and all, and took a back seat, while my four fair companions knelt at their devotions. The church was gayly decorated, the kneeling figures, draped in rebozos, were picturesque, but the service was long and unintelligible; so I took advantage of the absorption of my friends, and slipped away. I wandered all day through the fields and in the suburbs of this old city, and met with no one who offered to molest me or obstruct my path, though this section has a reputation as a rendezvous for robbers.

In truth, as mentioned above, the Mexican has either great respect, or great contempt, for a man engaged in so-called scientific pursuits. A certain German traveller also notices this, and mentions how it aided him in securing the passage of his effects through the custom-house: "Este cavallero es botanista, cried the director, giving an order to leave my things unmolested. As far as I know the Spanish-American nations, scientific occupations are held in very high esteem amongst them. It may be fairly said that this feature, originally belonging to the Spanish nationality, has been greatly developed and generalized, as to the colonial population, by the travels and highly scientific researches of Humboldt."

Be this as it may, I know that the name of naturalista has often proved an open sesame to places I should not have otherwise had the privilege of visiting. It was explained to me, by a friend who has travelled extensively in that country, and who never carried anything in the way of a weapon of defence,