The great enemy of the _peon_ and Indian class is alcohol. Whether it be the mild intoxicant _pulque_ of the plateau--for the beverage will not keep in the _tierra caliente_--or whether the fiery _aguadiente_, or cane-rum, or the potent _mezcal_, also made from _maguey_, the habit of drinking to excess is the ruination of the working class. Wherever it may be, whether under the shade of a tree in the noonday sun, or riding an attenuated horse across the plains, or at the dwelling of some _compadre_ or other acquaintance, there is a bottle protruding from pocket or saddle-bags, and the odour of spirits in the air. The remedy lies largely in prohibition, but, alas! the country's legislators are generally great landowners, and part of their revenue comes from the growing of the _maguey_, or of the sugar-cane, and in the making and sale of _pulque_ and _aguadiente_. The dress of the _peon_ is picturesque, and to the foreign observer ever strikes a note of almost operatic strain. As the sun sets the _peon_ dons his _poncho_, or _serape_, as the red blanket which is his invariable outer garment is termed. In the cool air of the morning or evening he speaks but little, covering his mouth with a corner of the _serape_, for he has a constant and, as far as the foreigner can observe, unfounded fear of pneumonia. The crowning point of his dress is the great conical, broad-brimmed hat, which is the main and peculiar characteristic of the inhabitants of this land; a national and remarkable headgear which is met with nowhere else. There is ever a brigand-like local colour about the Mexican _peon_, and indeed of some of the upper classes in their national dress. The _peon_, or the _vaquero_,[32] as he stalks muffled through the streets or _plaza_, or lurks within his habitation with a corner of the _serape_ thrown over his shoulder and a knife stuck in his belt, is a subject which might have stepped from the boards of a theatre! Although he is respectful in his demeanour, and often devout in his language, the open greeting and confident demeanour of the Anglo-Saxon is absent. Who can blame him? The oppression of centuries weighs upon him; he has been doomed to ignorance and poverty ever since his Iberian conquerors set foot upon the soil which was his, and the descendants of this same conquering race do little but perpetuate his melancholy state. In the years since the Republic was established he has been constantly dragged from his peaceful labours to serve this or that revolutionary malcontent, and so made to destroy rather than create industry. And to-day he is the subject of such unequal wealth and class distinction whose change it seems impossible to hope for. Yet there is some progress. [Footnote 32: Cowboy.]