Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-05-09

rison, myself among them, launched at al
once into the stream, and of course the al
monotony vanished. There was no by p'
street, Or orange grove, or shady alley, hi
or pleasant garden, but 10 which we soon dl
contrived to gain admission. Fandan- W
goes, though forbidden by the Mexican 1T
authorities, were sanctioned by the pre- W
sence of Americans. Billiard-rooms, tt
monte banks, quino tables, and agudr-
dlente depots, though likewise interdic- II
ted by both Mexican and American au IL
thorities, were opened and thronged.-
In short, every variety of dissipation II
known to that careless people, with some
that they were ignorant Of until our ar "
rival, was eagerly afforded. But that o
which had the greatest attraction for US Il
was attendance upon the .tandangoeS.-- Il
These assemblies here are similar TO those b
in San Antonio, though rather better bred i
and the women who attend them are r
more uniformly pretty. | cannot say, 4
however, that on the whole they present a
any very fattering picture of the state
OF society nor consequently, can our I
constant attendance upon them be at
tributed to any higher motive than the
desire TO pass the time pleasantly. Wo-
men, though essentially the same every
where-impEessible, plastic and prone 10
self-delusion-are here more natural and
$50 to speak, more distinctly feminine,
than in any other region that have vis-
ited
There s,of course, "a better class among
them, with very few of whom we came
IN contact But the false social organi-
cation which obtains in the country, es-
tablishes fallacies and evils which exists |
; only under such system. Where the
strict etiquette of the country is observed, |
: women are kept in leading strings, (gen-
orally held by some ogress Of an aunt,
until they are married; and before that
epoch, look upon any, even the common
! est, intercourse with the other sex, un-
less in the presence of the chaperoRe. as
J almost compromise of their virtue
: They, however, manage to secure ample
: indemnity for this Imprisonment, as soon
r as they are welded and well through the
= honeymoon. Marriage is thus sort of
: debut into society and the priests dis
: pensation allowing pair 10 get married,
: cense Of this country TO keep tippling-
shop. This is so well understood there,
} that very few seem to care about the pee
= cadilloes of the husbanded-the main
!, question on such occasions being, is she
= = married T-for the matrimonial cloak is
/" like charlty-'it covereth multitude Of
: sins The state of society where such
: things exists is, Of course, very lamenta-
! ~ BILE and to this vicious system, think,
- may be traced much Of the pusillanimity
= !. of the men. For code which condemns
:, lapse from virtue only as a venial Of
y Tense against conventional rules. to be
y atoned for by few masses or one or two
= extra prisons, can have none but de-
= grading influence upon those whom il
8 governs.
- After the fandangoes, the next place
in the scale Of amusement was assign eC
lo to the billiard-rooms for, as in the for
a. mer the female side OF Mexican life was
: 1e best seen, in the latter the masculine
e aspect was most clearly presented. AL
" the men Of that race are very fond 0
u games of chance; and many are attach
=, ~ ed to those which depend, like billiards
81 upon mingled chance and skill Thi
~ is true, also, Of other races besides th
v" Mexican !; for the Americans-mysel
" among them, again-were as constan
~ in their attendance upon these places, a
M ~ upon the fandangoes, or evening parade
~ About ten o'clock, one evening in De
u' Va cember, aftef having visited the picket
So quar:er-guard and patrols, / strolled I'M
billiard saloon on the Gale del I1adepe
nv dcncid, with the intention of passing q
'in- hour Of my tour in that fascinating gam
IN As | entered, two Mexicans were pla,
ing a game of pool, (as | believe it
called y and | stood watching them f
iee' some minutes. had become somewh
-oe interested in the progress of the pla
7eP' and did not observe the crowd aroul
@ an me, until the game was finished. th
Nn' advanced to the table and cast CLAN
about the room to seek competito
~. when the first eye that met mine was t
.ne same which had first seen on the brid
Ple at San Antonio The lower part of t
iIP' face was covered by serape, and
~ was drawn down over the brows but t
t" u'uu eye was unques!ionably that of Visca
Montaverde A visitant from the oil
nus world would not have startled me NOR
for had never doubted that he had be
z 70 drowned. even if my bullet had not m
nun tally wounded him. There he sto
ace however, calmly surveying me from
rren' other side of the table, with that glow
ana eye and though the idea that it wa
cty disembodied spirit which stood before
CHleI ,uas soon dismissed I could not avoi,
pula- certain sbudder as if a damn current
pres slo,,r, - ,,,,,,, one from q tomb soon