The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1882-03-02
MEXICAN HOSPITALITY.

In her third, illustrating Mexican
life with pen and pencil, Mrs. Mary
HallOck FOOte describes six DAYS
ride of 80 miles From Morelia To
Mexico City on Horseback" This
appears i'm THE CENTURY for March,
and contains the following interestin g
account of her reception at an extern
sive Mexican farm or hdcicn,ia.
TepitongO, with its mansion and
castillo, or fortress, for refuge and
defense i'm unsettled times, its c0ryales,
out-buildings, and dependencies great
and small, form in Itself a village i'm
the solitude of the pastoral plain
which surrounds it.
The administrator took Us the
rounds of the out-buildings before sup
per, which is served very late i'm the
Mexican household. Wewere shown
the threshing- floor, stone paved
amphitheIter over one hundred feet
in diameter, very slightly concave,
sinking towards Il large circular flat
stone in the center. 10 was surrounded
by "a circle of low STONE buildings. tile
rooted and supported on stone pillars
AT supper we sat down to "a me-
diacvai hoard like that of Quiercniern,
with vassalS and serfs" around US
We were invited to consider he house
AMI everything in il as our own.
Our mOzOs had the freedom of the
kitchen and the stables, our host
gave up his place at the head of the
table, and. in effect, the entire estai,-
iishment WAS placed at our disposal,
with u curtesy rs graceful rs il was
irrcsi-ti BILE.
flor al In I...
cloistered court u lovely, secluded
precinct with formal trees planted in
open spaces left in the pavement. We
lief: il, when we returned To our winter
evenings, and fire, aud lamp light,
hanging large and low over the Gulf.
From the p,ttio we entered the
the sdio-a long, tiIe-paved-roon, with
u sofa at one end, the place Of honor for
the lady guest, the members Of the
faniily occupying the arm chairs which
are ranged on either side, at right
angles with the sofa. IL il considered
"A di,courtesy for n guest To sit down in
any of the chairs, instead of walking
through the room to the sofa. As there
were no Ia lies ut TepitongO, was obi
ged tn sit lone on the long sofa. The
the Colon |, oar host. and
another unhi lien s-!''-' !I'sr".ir Gives.
who hal found shelter for iiIe n. ght,
occupied the arm-chairs.
After awhile. | ventured In ask the
to take the seat beside
me. 1t may have been all enormity
on my part, but ut all events our host
was too well-bred to exhibit any horror
1t the situation. The little fouryear- |
Did boy whom we had seen on his po-
ny came shyly into the room and
stood by his fathers knee. He was n !
little man. dressed i'm a suit |
IF leather, with tiny pair of spurs |
strapped to his baby shoes; but in
'pite of his spurs aud his horseman-
hip, he was not unwilling to sit In
nv lap and be coaXed into friendli-
less. The lisping Spanish novels Of
his little motherless child were eX-
Iuisite. But there was other Emusic
II the country in store for US. At
he lower end of the room n company
4 musicians gathered by the light Of
andes clustered on a table; strik-
ng group. with violins. a violoncello,
,uitars, "a harp-I cannot recall all the
bu. the music and the
Gene it would not be easy to forget.