CHAPTER IX

THE MEXICAN PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Ethnic conditions--Spanish, Mestizos, Indians--Colour-line--Foreign element--The _peones_--Land tenure--The Spanish people--The native tribes--The Apaches--The Mexican constitution--Class distinctions-- Mexican upper class--Courtesy and hospitality--Quixotism of the Mexicans--Idealism and eloquence--General characteristics--Ideas of progress--American anomalies--_Haciendas_--Sport--Military distinctions--Comparison with Anglo-Saxons--Republicanism--Language-- Life in the cities--Warlike instincts--The women of Mexico--Mexican youths--Religious observance--Romantic Mexican damsels--The bull-fights.