"_Mode de Paris_!"--Page 8. The upper classes in Mexico, particularly those who reside in the large cities, have discarded the very picturesque national costume, and follow the fashions of Paris. In all the large towns, French tailors, modistes, jewellers, etcetera, may be met with. The ladies wear French dresses, but without the bonnet. The shawl is drawn over the head when it becomes necessary to cover it. The hideous bonnet is only seen upon foreign ladies residing in Mexico. The city gentleman of first-class wears a frock-coat, but the cloth jacket is the costume of the greater number. A long-tailed dress-coat is regarded as an _outre_ affair, and never appears upon the streets of a Mexican town. "_Gachupino_."--Page 9. A Spaniard of Old Spain. The term is used contemptuously by the natives, or Creoles (Criollos), of Mexico, who hate their Spanish cousins as the Americans hate Englishmen, and for a very similar reason. "_Hijo de algo_."--Page 9. Literally, "son of somebody." Hence the word _hidalgo_. The "blue blood" (_sangre azul_) is the term for pure blood or high birth. "_Poblanas_."--Page 9. A _poblana_ is, literally, a village girl or woman, but in a more specific sense it signifies a village belle, or beauty. It is nearly a synonyme of the Spanish "maja." "_Don Juan Tenorio_."--Page 9. Don Juan Tenorio--a celebrated character of Spanish romance and drama. He is the original from which Byron drew his conception of Don Juan. He is the hero of a thousand love-scrapes and "_desafios_," or duels. The drama of "Don Juan Tenorio" still keeps the Spanish stage, and Spaniards can hardly find words to express their admiration of its poetry. It requires two nights to play this piece, which is about twice the length of a regular five-act play. "_Teniente_."--Page 9. "Lugar-teniente" is lieutenant in Spanish, but the "lugar" is left out, and "teniente" stands for the title of the subaltern. "_Quien sabel_."--Page 10. A noted phrase which figures largely in Spanish dialogue. Literally, "Who knows?" "_Gambucinos and rancheros_!"--Page 10. _Gambucino_, a petty miner, who digs or washes gold on his own account. _Ranchero_, the dweller in a _rancho_, or country hut. The ranchero class corresponds pretty nearly to that known as "small farmers," though in Mexico they are more often graziers than agriculturists. "_Enaguas_."--Page 10. Sometimes written "nagua,"--the petticoat, usually of coarse blue or red cotton stuff, with a list of white or some other colour forming the top part. "_Reboso_."--Page 10. The scarf of greyish or slaty blue, worn by all women in Mexico, except the ladies of the Upper Ten Thousand, who use it only on occasions.