Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-09-05
DAUGHTERS OF THE AzrECs.

The commonly received opinion that
all Mexican women are of the deep
brunette type, with corresponding su-
Perb black eyes, enchantingly mysterious
in their glances, says the San Francisco
Chronicle, is a fallacy which arises from
ignorance. There are now visiting in
this city three families from Mexico, the
ladies Of which are blondes of the most
perfect ideal, and who in their own
country are clasSed under the title of
las gueras, term generally applied to
all light compleXioned people, whether
natives or foreigners. The Mexican
gueras are of pure Spanish descent,
their ancestors having come from the
mountainous regions in the north of
Spain, where the people are as fair as
are the Danes, though differing in the
tinge of complexion. All the social up
heavals in Mexico for the past sixty
years have failed to mingle the blood of
the Indians with the blue blood of
certain element of their conquerors and
descendants Of the eonquerors. This is
the guerra element, amid temptations
which nothing but a naughty pride of
race would or could have resisted. In
termarriage among this Spanish element
in Mexico is as strict and exclusive as it
is among the Hebrew people. Pride has
built an impregnable wall against which
passion, lust and love have in vain
dashed themselves.
1t is woman and not man who has
preserved the distinctive type of race
called the gueras. She alone has been
true to herself, and she alone has kept
the man within those bounds that have
ever preserved him from entirely falling
into the chaos of blood admixt1re.
Whenever the woman element of the
Spanish race was wanting there the
Spaniard willingly succumbed to the
crude charms and fervid destinations of
Indian maidens. The pure current and
Mexico, typifies the fidelity of woman
to higher moral principle than man.
Were It not for heroic devotion to this
principle, Mexico, as represented by the
Spaniard, would have been so thoroughly
Indianized that pure descendant of
the Spaniards would not have been
found from the Rio Grande to Yucatan,
from the gulf to the Pacific. Through
the love and devotion of the Spanish
women, who left their native country
and settled in the land of the Aztecs, to
an exalted idea of the marital relation,
is due the existence of such portion Of
the population as the gueras.
All through Mexico you will find
them in the heart of settlements thickly
populated by Indians and mixed races,
forming colonies in themselves, marry
ing and intermaTTying year after year,
and rearing families who hold to the
social customs and traditions Of their
parents. There are two types of gueras.
The type mentioned has some very dis
tinct characteristics. The face is spirit
uelle, and has that subdued expression
which invariably results from religious
meditation, and in color is white as ala
baster. The flesh is Eultlessly white,
tinged with a refined but healthy pal
lidness. The eyes are usually dark,
large and lustrous, and the hair abun-
dant and black as the ravens wing. The |
teeth are perfect, and white as snow |
fakes. The "rubias," the second type,
are superb specimens of womanhood, !
and are so called because they have |
auburn or golden hair, which in some |
instances runs into a flaming rich red |
color. The eyes are often deep blue, |
and soft and entreating in their expires |
sion. The flesh has sunset tinge to it |
Which indicates a more warm and sens |
uous nature than of the paler-hued |
women. Near the town of Aqua Cali |
ente, state of Sinala, there is a village |
Of rubias, the young women of which |
are matchless in their style of beauty. |
Tall and graceful, with richly rounded |
busts and symmetrical forms, and q step |
Rs 1.-the. and elastic IS a fawn's, they |
move about, the very symbols Of the |
poetry Of motion. They have something |
in their manner and sty'e milJr to the /
higher classes of Russian women. ana |
whom they greatly resemble. The ru-
bias, Like the gueras, live mostly in the |
interior, where the climate Is more mild |
and genial, while the dark races inhabit |
the hot regions along the coast.
In La Paz, Mazatlan, Acapulco and |
other coast towns, however, there are
numbers Of families of |
distinctive Spanish blood They are |
usually the wealthy classes, and their
mode of life corresponds with that of |
their ancestors. The residences have q
large entrance-Wsy; there is always the
natio or large vesibule, such as may be |
seen in the Palace hotel of this city. A |
water-fountRin, flowers and birds often
sEiorn the patio. 1t Is here where the /
little gueras hold revel and seldom mix |
with the outside world, except when
taken out by the nurse. HsvinRGrrived
to the age of Womanhood, they never
appear on the public street without
their moza, or serving-maid. A Spanish
mother never allows her daughter out
of her sight, without the ever attendant
moEa: it is the social custom. and as
faithfully obeyed as were the laws OF
the Medes and Persians. Warm, ardent,
imDulsive natures and tropical climate
render the mozas important personages
IN the social life of the higher classes Of
hexicans. They have all the family
secrets at heart, but to divulge them
would be perfdy. So true are they to
Their trusts and 80 faithful to their mis-
tresses that they are looked upon as
virtual members of the family. The
mozas are born, live and die, without
ever going, SO to speak, block from
their patio. Their happiness is supreme
in serving those whom they look at as
their protectors and parientes.