ccustomed to the use of iron
utensils. The diet of the _peon_ is largely vegetarian, and indeed he
is a living example of the working force contained in cereals and
leguminous plants. Meat is a scarce and expensive luxury which he is
rarely able to obtain.

[Illustration: MEXICAN PEON LIFE: TYPICAL VILLAGE MARKET-PLACE.]

Most important of all in this primitive menu is the _tortilla_; and,
indeed, this simple article of food is worthy of being blazoned upon
the country's escutcheon! for it may be said to be the basis of all
labour here. The _tortilla_ is simply an unsweetened pancake of _maiz_
flour, patted out thin in the hands and baked, and its preparation is
the principal occupation of the women of the _peones_ during the time
their men are toiling in the fields. Let us watch a Mexican woman of
the working class making her _tortillas_, probably sitting on the
threshold of her habitation for purposes of light and neighbourly
gossip. She has brought forth a grinding-stone or flat mortar known as
a _metate_, for the purpose of grinding the _maiz_--an article shaped
out of a block of a special kind of volcanic stone, called _recinta_,
an implement inherited from Aztec times. The _maiz_ has been boiled
with a little lime, and is somewhat softened, and she places handfuls
of the grain upon the _metate_, adding water, and shortly reduces it to
a stiff paste under the grinding of the upper stone. The _tortilla_ is
then patted out into the form of a thin pancake and baked in an
earthenware dish, or _casuela_. If it is to be our fortune to partake
of this preparation--and if we have been travelling in a remote part of
the country it may be so--it is advisable not to inquire too closely
into the cleanliness of the operation, for the Mexican _peon_ and his
woman do not consider morning ablutions at all a necessary part of
their toilette! The supply of _tortillas_ being finished, they are
sufficient for the day's requirements, and take the place of bread,
and, indeed, of plates, knives and forks, for the _peones_ scoop up
their food or put it upon these handy pancakes for depositing it in
their mouths, and munch them with their _frijoles_ with the utmost
gusto. To re-heat the _tortillas_ they are placed for a few moments
upon the glowing embers of the fire, and with a roll of _tortillas_ in
his pocket the _peon_ will undertake a day's work, or toilsome march,
and ask little else. The _tortilla_, and, indeed, the consumption of