Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/643

Rh Carnival is celebrated with nearly the same exuberance as in southern Europe, with a predilection for casting flour and breaking egg-shells filled with little bits of colored paper. The masked balls are less vivacious than among the French, but disorderly enough to have more than once called out episcopal remonstrance and restrictive laws. Most of the disorders are due to the excessive indulgence in strong liquors, which is apt to drive the excitable mestizo ta the knife and other means of violence. The other passion, gambling, which predominates among both sexes, never carries him beyond the control of his temper. With wonderful nonchalance, he wins large suns or loses perhaps his entire fortune. The utmost order prevails at the tables, a dispute concerning the ownership of a stake hardly ever arising. The only lack of control is over the mania itself. After seeing his last dollar disappear, with beggary staring him in the face, the Mexican never thinks of suicide, but looks around for sources whence to draw future stakes. While this passion lies rooted in the very character of the people, yet the prevalence of mining and the lack of other amusements no doubt foster it.

The favorite game is monte, but roulette and lotto are also much patronized. The government has at times sought to check, or even prohibit, games of hazard, only, however, to yield again, or to leave the laws unfulfilled. At the annual fairs, restrictions have seldom been enforced, so much so that these commercial institutions have become to a great extent mere vehicles for the vice. The Whitsunday festival of San Agustin de los Cuevas, or Tlalpam, near Mexico, is still famed chiefly for its gambling-tables. Owners