The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-11-13
MEXICAN MUCHACHAS.

Ihe MOst picturesque Typo OF Peasant
., Girls to he Found Anywhere.
As rule, tho most interesting OBJ
jccts which the visitors will find are the
girls of the hacienda, the Mexican
muchachas, than whom a more pictur-
esque type of peasant can not be met
with on the hills of Normandy, or in
the wales of Switzerland. When the
numbering old diligencia comes clattcr-
ing up laden with passengers, and the
driver shouts his cheery "Buenos dias'
always tho first to issue from tho gray
walls in answer to his summons is the
muchacha- True to the fiber of curios-
ity which runs through the heart of
every feminine descendant of Eve, she is
anxious to see the arrivals. and is rs
ready to ooquette with any who may in
terest her as was our early ancestress
with the serpent Without her the
picture would be incomplete. There
are the flocks and herds of Father Abra-
ham, forked sticks turning up the soil
like the plows of the early Egyptians,
the 'rhreshing floor" of King David's
day, spinning Penelopes and water-car-
rying Rebeccas, and women making un-
leavened bread outside their doors, pre-
cisely rs their sist rs do on the Nile, the
Ganges and the Euphrates.
Whatever may be her age, this
muchaca is but grown-up child fully
developed, physically, when ten years
old), simple, picturesque and content
ed. Though she never saw a bonnet,
her face is never freckled, and her feet
are very small though never manacled
by shoes or stock ngs; her limbs are in
variably well rounded. her bust is su-
peril and she carries herself with inev-
table grace which comes from proper
proportions and can never be acquired
without that primary essential. A lean
limbed, b g-footed, slab-sided girl, or
one who is o mountain OF superiluous
fat may undergo years of careful train
ing as to gait and attitude. and yet
move like giratfo; while q Venus or a
Juno could scarcely be made ungrace-
full under any circumstances.
The muchacha's name is probably Do
lores, Refugio, Guadalupe or ,Antonia.
Her nut-brOwn skin is soft as velvet,
having never been roughened by soap,
powder or cosmetics; and het jetty hair,
tied Mt the ends with bit of bright-hued
ribbon, hangs behind her bare shoulders
in two long braids except when she
talks (Which, like others OF her SEX, is
whenever she has opportunity, when
invariably she filings her hair forward
upon her breast and fingers the ribbons
which confine it. 1t Ia not banged over
tho eyes like poodle's, nor crimped
like an Ethiop.an's, but parted
straight through the middle. is
glossy as ravens wing and black as
the a zdbdtche of her native hills. The
fickc freaks of fashion make no change
in her dress, which is always the same
ono short skirt and loose chemise,
the latter generally embroidered little
about the shoulders, leaving naked her
symmetrical arms-and. in fact, mos
OF her person to the waist She Is en-
tlrely unconscious of want of further
clothing, and the utmost "smarting
mp" she ever indulges in is to add a
string Of red beads, u brass bracelet or
two, and to hang pair of enormous
silver hoops in her ears and u rosary at
her belt. For church wear and other
extraordinary ocoas Ons she has blue
or black roboso the national cotton
long which, with one careless
toss, sho twists tightly over head and
shoulders Whether she be the child OF
u l,oon, the daughter of q houso-servant
or oven the heiress of small farmer,
tho muchacha is always tho same, y
product peculiar 10 rural Mexlco--at'