The lives of the Indian women of Mexico present a far different picture. Instead of living in great palaces, their homes are in little adobe cabins of one room, perhaps without the luxury of a window, or in bamboo huts covered with plantain leaves without chairs or table and only a mat of husks for a bed. There is no seclusion in their lives and the real duties of life begin at a very early age. I cannot call them serious duties for it is doubtful if these people regard any of the obligations of life as very serious. Their early experiences are with its hard realities. They can be seen on the streets and around their homes with baby brothers or sisters swung across their backs when they themselves are so small that the burden seems far too heavy for them. On the banks of the streams they can be seen doing the family washing with a great amount of rubbing and pounding and wringing. To the fountains and wells they come carrying earthen jars on their heads, which they fill with water and replace with a grace and charm that excites admiration. Some of the Indian maids are handsome. Yet you can tell just what their future lives will be by observing those of the parents. They will live in the same squalor, the same poverty as their ancestors have dwelt for centuries. They will go through life bareheaded and barefooted and empty-minded just as the generations which preceded have done. At twenty they have begun to fade and at thirty they retain scarcely a trace of their beauty. This is due to hard labour and deprivations. At fourteen few are unmarried or at least unmated. The marriage ceremony is frequently omitted because of the high charges of the priesthood, yet both parties are usually faithful. The number of children among this class is truly marvellous. More than one half of the younger women when seen on the street have infant children with them. No people could be more poorly housed or more poorly equipped for domestic duties than these small brown women; and none use the little they have to better advantage or are more loyal to the man they call lord and master. They frequently live and sleep on the bare ground and possess no more clothing than they have on their bodies. They will pound away at the _metate_, or stone kneading-board, all day making the _tortillas_ which are both bread and meat to the peon class. These comely Indian women will bend their lithe, active bodies for hours washing clothes on large round stones which serve as wash-boards.