In Indian Mexico — Chapter XII - The Mixes Revisited, part 1

(1899) After resting at Oaxaca, from our trip into the high Mixteca, we made preparations for our new journey, leaving at three o'clock in the afternoon for the land of the Zapotecs and Mixes.

Our late start compelled stopping at Tule for the night.

In the morning we went on to Tlacolula, where we nooned, in order to see the _jefe_ in regard to our work.

He is a competent man, showed great interest in our plan, and gave valuable advice, in addition to the orders to his officials.

He warned us that we might meet some difficulty at Milta, where we were planning to make our study of the Zapotecs, on account of the _fiesta_ then in progress.

He told us to notify him at once in case matters did not go well there.

The _fiesta_ at Milta should have been a three days' affair.

This year, however, it began on Sunday with the result that it filled four days.

Reaching there in the afternoon of Monday, we found the whole town in great excitement and dissipation.

The _plaza_ had been enclosed with a fencing of poles, and _toros_ were the amusement of the afternoon.

The country sports with bulls are different from the regular bull-fights of the cities.

Any one takes part who pleases, and while there is little of trained skill, there is often much of fun, frolic, and daring.

The bull is led into the ring from outside by a lasso.

It is then lassoed from behind and dragged up to a post or tree, to which it is firmly tied to prevent its moving.

A rope is then tightly cinched about its middle and a man mounts upon the back of the beast, fixing his feet firmly in the rope below, between it and the animal, and winding his hands into it above.

The ropes which hold the bull are then withdrawn so as to set it loose.

Dozens of men and big boys, with jackets and _serapes_, then torment the beast, which, plunging and dashing at them, scatters them in every direction.

Sometimes the angry animal attempts to break through the fence, causing excitement and consternation among the crowds who have been hanging to it and looking over.

When, as sometimes happens, he does break through, there is great scattering before him, and closing in behind him, until he is again captured.

The man riding on the bull's back clings as long as he can, in spite of the plunging and other frantic efforts of the animal to unseat him; comparatively few stay long in their uncomfortable position, and when they are thrown, much agility is required to escape from the furious animal.

[Illustration: IN TLACOLULA] [Illustration: TYPICAL ZAPOTEC HOUSE; TLACOLULA] As we rode into town these sports were in full blast; everyone, save the bull-fighters, was drunk.

Now and then a tube of iron filled with powder was exploded.

A band in front of the municipal house was supplying music.

A little group of men with _pitos_ and _tambours_ strolled from place to place, playing.

Much selling was in progress in the booths, the chief articles offered being intoxicating drinks.

A cluster of drunken vocalists, sitting flat upon the ground, but almost unable to hold themselves upright, were singing horribly to untuned guitars.

In front of the town-house a bench had been dragged out by the authorities for the benefit of the _cura_, who, seated thereon, was watching the sports with maudlin gravity.

The _presidente_ and other officials were standing by the _padre_, and all were drinking at frequent intervals.

Thinking the moment opportune, I approached the party and handed them my documents; but both _presidente_ and priest were far too drunk to realize my needs.

Surveying the drunken town, I felt that it was necessary to act promptly and firmly if we were to accomplish anything before the _fiesta_ ended.

The only member of the government who was not extremely drunk that afternoon was the _sindico_.

Calling him to me, I addressed him, scorning both priest and _presidente_.

I refused to drink with them, saying that they were already too drunk to know their duties, and that both should be ashamed of their condition.

At this time the _cura_ asked me if I were a clergyman.

On my replying no, he remarked that I looked like one.

I told him yes, that I was frequently mistaken for one; that a priest in the Mixteca had even thought that I was a bishop.

He then drunkenly inquired whether I were married, and on my replying no, made the astonishing observation that then, it was certain that I could not be a priest,--that every priest had one wife, bishops two, and archbishops three.

This drunken priest had just been making certain observations to the _presidente_ calculated to interfere with my work, and I felt that I now had my opportunity.

So, turning upon him, I gravely reproved him for his remark.

I told him that, in his language and his drunkenness, he was setting a bad example to his parish; that he should go at once to the _curato_, and not venture forth during the time that we remained in the town.

Half-sobered by my order, he arose without a word, went to his house, and did not again appear for four days.

Having gotten him out of the way, I turned to the drunken officials and told them that, early the next morning, I should begin my work, and that they must make the needful preparations; that I wished to measure, photograph, and make busts of the population.

I told them that at present they were too drunk to aid me, but that the following morning things must be different; that enough at least to attend to my orders must be sober.

After supper, attracted by the noise and hubbub, we set out to see the _plaza_.

Torches were flaring in every direction, and considerable business was being done at all the booths.

Crowds of drunken people were squatting on the ground in all directions; at the town-house the band of music was playing the _jarabe_, and 40 or 50 persons were dancing this lively dance.

Old and young, men and women, boys and girls, all were taking part; no one paid attention to any other person, but each seemed to be trying to prove himself the most agile of the party.

All were drunk, some astonishingly so.

Occasionally a dancer would bump against such an one, who would fall head over heels.

Immediately picking himself up, he would go at it again, with even greater vigor; sometimes one fell, of himself, in a helpless heap, and lay where he fell, until kicked out of the way or until the music stopped.

All around was pandemonium; yelling, singing, cursing, fighting were in progress; the jail was crowded, but every now and then a new case was dragged up; for an instant the door was opened, and against the crowd, pushing from within, the new prisoner would be crowded into the cell.

At one time in the evening a cry arose that a murder was being committed in the jail.

The door was opened, the policemen crowded in, and the two men who had clinched and were battling were torn apart.

One was dragged outside and thrown into the woman's jail, and for a time the air was blue with the most insulting cries.

Convinced that no work could be done in the afternoons, we labored with the greatest possible diligence each morning.

The first morning, going to the town-house, we ordered subjects to be brought.

The _presidente_ was drunk; the _sindico_ also; still, some of the town officials were found in a condition able to do our bidding.

Having measured a few of the officials, we proposed to take such prisoners as still remained in the jail, from the batch of the preceding day.

There were eighteen of these, and with them we made a good beginning.

Among the prisoners we found our first subject for modelling.

Oiling him, we began to make the moulds.

The back-piece had been applied; the second piece, covering the lower part of the face and upper chest, was hardening, and we were busily engaged in putting on the final application over the upper part of the face.

At this moment the _presidente_ staggered into the jail.

When his eyes fell upon our subject, he stopped aghast; for a moment he was unable to speak; then he groaned out the words, "O horrible spectacle!

To think of seeing a son of this town in such a position!"

As I was beginning to laugh and ridicule him, the old mother of the young man came bursting into the jail, weeping and trembling, to see what fate had overtaken her son.

Wringing her hands, the tears rolled down her face, and her voice was choked with sobs, as she asked pitifully whether he must die; she told me that he was her only support, and that, without him, she was absolutely alone.

Taking the old woman outside, while the mask should be completed, I chatted with her, and as soon as the pieces of the mould were removed, delivered her precious son, unharmed, into her hands.

Just as we were ready for a new subject, a young fellow, better dressed than most, passed by.

We called him to come in and be measured, but with a somewhat insolent manner, he walked by, paying no attention to our words.

Sending the policemen for him, they soon returned with the report, "_No quiere_" (He does not care to come).

To allow a first refusal was not to be thought of, so we ordered his return.

Again the policemen came back with no result.

Thereupon I declared that no more work should be done until he came; that time would be lost thereby, and the _jefe's_ order would be disregarded, but that it was not our fault.

Upon this the _presidente_ informed us that the order was not explicit;

it did not state that people must be measured; he would consult the civil code to see whether anyone but criminals must be measured.

"Very good," said I, "do as you like; but unless that young man is brought in we shall send complaint to the _jefe_; send for a messenger at once to carry my report."

At this stage, the policemen returned, telling me that the young man wanted did not belong to this town; that he could not be found, and probably had gone home.

We told them that we did not believe them, but that we would proceed with our work; however, I said, that, if he really were a stranger but appeared again, I should order his immediate arrest and jailing.

To this they all agreed; and we continued work until the town was again too drunk for anything to be done.

[Illustration: ORGANO CACTUS; TLACOLULA] [Illustration: WHERE TREE FERNS GROW] About the middle of the afternoon, when the bull-fighting was at its height, the young man wanted appeared in the ring as the chief fighter and attraction of the day.

Stepping at once to the policemen I told them that he must be brought immediately to the town-house,--that the bull-fight must cease while our matters were arranged.

With much grumbling and complaint they obeyed.

The young man dismounted from his bull and was brought by the policeman before us.

Here we asked the _sindico_ the name and residence of the young man; and, as we supposed, he belonged in Mitla.

Asking him why he had not come to be measured when he was told to do so, he replied that we had already measured him.

Telling him that lying would not save him, I commanded him to appear the following morning for measurement,--that otherwise he would be sent a prisoner to Oaxaca.

In the morning he did not appear until officials were sent to bring him.

After he had gone through the ordeal of measurement he swore eternal friendship to me, and at no time afterward was I able to pass him, on the street or in the square, without his begging me to drink _tepache_ with him.

Mitla is famous for its weaving; fine _mantas_ of wool are made there in two chief styles--one a long strip of black or blue-black cloth, the other a rich red, sometimes banded or striped with black.

These Mitla _mantas_ are widely sold to Zapotecs, in all the district around, and form the characteristic women's dress.

The Zapotecs of this district wear something on their feet that more nearly resembles true shoes than the footgear of any other Indians in southern Mexico.

The sandal of the man has a projecting heel-flap which is bound around the ankles by means of thongs, and forms a good protection to the hind part of the foot.

The women have not only such a flap, even higher than that used by the men, but also a broad strip of leather over the forward part of the foot, leaving the toes peeping out in front; between the heel flap and the toe covering, the foot is quite as well enclosed, excepting for the toes, as in a white man's shoe.

It was quite impossible, with the amount of work we had to do, and the difficulties under which we labored, to give the least attention to the ruins.

We arranged, however, to make a photograph of the town authorities standing in the great court of one of the fine old buildings--a court the walls of which are covered with beautiful mosaic decorations, betraying taste and skill.

The motley crew of half-drunk officials, miserably dressed, degraded, poor, in this scene of past magnificence, called up thoughts of the contrast between the government of old Mitla and the present,--of past magnificence and modern squalor.

[Illustration: THE CONTRAST; PAST AND PRESENT--MITLA] Having accomplished all we wished at Mitla, we again struck eastward toward the land of the Mixes.

Late in starting, we made no attempt to go further than San Lorenzo that afternoon.

The old road was familiar, and from there on, through the following day, everything came back to memory.

Even individual trees, projecting rock masses, and little streams, were precisely as we remembered them from our journey of three years earlier.

We reached Ayutla in the evening a little before sunset.

Riding directly to the municipal house we summoned the town government.

We had not provided ourselves with orders from the _jefe_ of the district, as Villa Alta, the _jefatura_, lay far out of our course.

We planned to use our general letter from the governor.

When the officials assembled we presented our order and explained it; we told them what we needed for the night, and arrangements were at once made for supplying us; we then told the _presidente_ of the work we had before us, and informed him that, because his town was small, we should ask for only thirty-five men for measurement, and that these must be ready, early in the morning, with no trouble to us.

The _presidente_ demurred; he doubted whether the people would come to be measured; we told him that they would not come, of course, unless he sent for them.

When morning came, although everything had been done for our comfort, there was no sign of subjects.

That no time might be lost, we took the _presidente_ and three or four other officials, who were waiting around the house; then, with firmness, we ordered that he should bring other subjects.

The officials were gone for upwards of an hour, and when they returned, had some ten or twelve men with them.

"Ah," said I, "you have brought these, then, for measurement?"

"On the contrary, sir," said the _presidente_, "this is a committee of the principal men of the town who have come to tell you that the people do not wish to be measured."

"Ah," said I, "so you are a committee, are you, come to tell me that you do not wish to be measured?"

"Yes."

Waiting a moment, I turned to the officials and asked, "And which one particularly does not wish to be measured of this committee?"

Immediately, a most conservative-looking individual was pointed out.

Addressing him, I said, "And so you do not wish to be measured?"

"No sir," said he, "I will not be measured."

"Very good," said I. "What is your name?"

He told us.

I marked it down upon my blank, and wrote out the description of his person.

Then, seizing my measuring rod, I said to him quite sharply, "Well, well!

Take off your hat and sandals.

We must lose no time!"

And before he really realized what we were doing, I had taken his measurements.

Having finished with him, I turned again to the _presidente_.

"And what other member of the committee particularly objects to being measured?"

As I spoke, another man was indicated.

Turning to him, I said, "Let us lose no time.

Take off your hat and sandals while I measure you."

In an instant the thing was done.

The operation was carried through.

Before I had finished with the second case, the others began to smile and snicker, and when I was ready for my third subject I simply asked, "Who next?"

and they came one after another without complaint.

Having measured all the members of the committee, I soberly addressed them.

"Now, if there is any harm in this that I have done, you are all as badly off as can be.

If I were you, I would try to get as many other people in the same position as I could;

go out and bring in others."

Before noon the work was done, and we were ready to go on to Juquila.

We rested, however, the balance of the day, and spent a second night at Ayutla.

The day had been given to drinking, throughout the town.

It will be remembered that the village proper lies on a terrace, upon a slope above the town-house.

As we sat before the house, in the afternoon and evening, we heard from time to time yells and cries above.

Some policemen, who were standing up there to keep order, would then appear upon the edge of the slope, and, waving their hands, would loudly cry for help; then the policemen from the town-house would run to their assistance, and in a little time the party would return, dragging one or more victims to the jail.

This operation continued from early in the afternoon until late at night; fully fifteen or twenty persons were brought down from the village to the jail during that time.