The manner of doing business is simple. Nothing of that stir and bustle is seen that is to be observed in cities and towns of the United States; nor do you find the care-worn and anxious look that is so often to be noticed with us. Speculation, kite-flying, lame ducks, bulls and bears, and all those curses with which large mercantile communities are usually visited, are entirely unknown in the province of Yucatan. During my stay in the city of Merida, a ball was given at the Governor’s house, apropos of some political event, which I did not esteem of moment enough to remember. As usual upon such occasions, there were grand preparations. The man-milliners were busily engaged upon female finery—and their shop-boards were decorated with the most unlimited gayety. Every door-way along the principal streets, throughout the day, was filled with ladies seated upon stools, (their favorite posture,) working fancy articles, in anticipation of the approaching festival. But their dresses gaping behind, and hanging loosely upon their shoulders, and their slip-shod feet, made them appear exceedingly slovenly at home, and awakened in me a strong desire to see them in full toilet at the ball in the evening. On entering the hall, I passed through a dense line of ladies arranged along the corridors, principally mammas, and wall-flowering spinsters garlanding the corridors. The dancing had already commenced. At first sight, the display was dazzling; but after the lapse of a few minutes, the fascination dissipated. The absence of all conversation, even of small-talk, which upon such occasions is a relief, rendered even the ball-room, like all their other domestic institutions here, exceedingly monotonous and dull. During the dance, not a lip is seen to move—like Marryat’s wench, they refuse to talk, because they came here to dance! At the conclusion of a cotillon, the ladies took seats separate from the gentlemen. They dressed here in very good taste; though a partiality for brilliant colors was rather too conspicuously displayed for a Northern eye. There was no extravagant display of jewellery or rich brocades, in which particular I may be pardoned for commending their example to my own fair countrywomen. There were many pretty faces, that only required expression to render them charming. The skill of the man-milliner, however, deserves full credit. I will add, for the benefit of my bachelor friends, that there were in attendance about twelve ladies to one gentleman. This disproportionate abundance of females is common in warm climates, and constitutes, I believe, one of Bishop Warburton’s arguments in defence of polygamy in Asia. The ladies in the corridors were silently enjoying their cigars during the whole evening, and only relieving the monotony of their occupation, by carrying on a telegraphic correspondence with some of their neighbors by the aid of their fans.