Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/769

Rh, his cold reasoning devoid of mobility and imagination. His look is gloomy, and a general air of melancholy hangs over him; his very dance and music lack gayety; his song is lugubrious; yet the more vivacious woman can evoke a smile which for sweetness belies the customary trait, and reveals a deep vein of gentleness that favors the attribute of patience under adversity, of fidelity and constancy. While rather chaste and frugal, he has not been trained in provident habits, and yields readily to the cup, though not more so than could be expected from persons in his condition. He shares in the general indolence of his surroundings; and kept in ignorance, he yields readily to superstition, and incorporates puerile and ridiculous fancies and practices in his worship, impressing the beholder with the idea that he is less intelligent than is really the case. Indeed, he is docile, and grasps any lessons easily enough, though not impulsively; but he lacks creative power; his speech and writing are rather bare, and his art servile imitation. These defects are due in part to the lack of opportutunityopportunity [sic] for development, and vary somewhat in different parts of the country, where environment and change of condition have evolved characteristics that may still be classed as distinctively tribal.

On the whole the Indian mind has not the breadth, strength, or subtilty of the European; and this was early intimated by the Spaniards in withholding from