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When nearly half our number had passed through our hands, and all presented this same unsatisfactory type, we were forced to make a sharp remonstrance, and only so did we get fair samples of young and middle-aged women. At Pantepec the centre of the town is mestizo; the Indians consist of Otomis, of whom there are thirty households, and Totonacs forming the bulk of the population.
Next to maize the chief culture among the Otomis is maguéy. This forms division lines between the corn-fields and the village yards, and is sometimes, though not commonly here, planted in fields. The maguéy is an agave very close to the century-plant. Manifold are its uses, but to the Otomi its value is chiefly in two directions. It furnishes ixtli fibre for ayates, and it yields pulque.
The indians under his charge are Otomis, and in one little village, Santa Maria, Totonac. When we came to inquire regarding the pagan practice for which we were searching, we learned that it was peculiar to the Otomis, and formed their annual costumbre custom. They believe that Montezuma is to come again. Meantime, from him come health, crops, and all good things.
XII. In my copy of the MS, the title of this song is written twice, and between the two the following memorandum appears in Spanish: "Ancient songs of the native Otomis, which they were accustomed to sing at their festivals and marriages, translated into the Mexican language, the play and the spirit of the song and its figures of speech being always retained; as Your Reverence will understand, they displayed considerable style and beauty, better than I can express with my slight talent; and may Your Reverence at your convenience approve and be entertained by them, as a skilled master of the tongue, as Your Reverence is."
A poem of unusually rich metaphors is presented, with the title "A Song of the Mexicans, after the manner of the Otomis." It is a rhapsody, in which the bard sings his "faculty divine," and describes the intoxication of the poetic inspiration. It has every inherent mark of antiquity, and its thought is free from any tincture of European influence.
What have you done, O you our friends, you Chiapanecs and Otomis, why have you grieved, that you were drunken with the wine which you took, that you were drunken? Come hither and sing: do not lie stretched out; arise, O friends, let us go to our houses here in this land of spring; come forth from your drunkenness, see in what a difficult place you must take it.
Thence, we struck, on horseback, through the Tarascan territory, across to Patzcuaro. On the way, we secured our full series of Tarascan busts, at the Once Pueblos. By rail, we went from Patzcuaro to Dos Rios, to secure our lacking busts of Otomis at Huixquilucan. In the second field expedition, January to March 1899, we worked entirely in the state of Oaxaca.
And near the high altar, where thick glass plates are set into the floor, letting a dim light into the crypts below, one may see crowds of indians rubbing the smooth surface with their diseased parts to effect a cure. On the streets of the capital city, one daily sees bands of pure Otomis in rags and filth, bringing their loads of charcoal and of corn to market.
The quichiquemils of the Otomis are smaller and completely covered with red and black embroidery; those of the Totonacs are much larger, and portions of the white foundations may still be seen, notwithstanding the heavy patterns in brilliant colors red, green, yellow and blue.
The next day was spent in town, waiting for our other baggage, and for the jefe to arrange our orders and lay out our journey. My day of fever was on, and I spent it mostly in bed. There were many indians in the market, most of whom were Aztecs, though a few were Otomis. The men wore dark brown or black cotones; the enaguas of the women were wool and were dark blue or black.
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