tied his hind legs, ropes were fastened to the saddles of two
horsemen, others took hold, and as the carcase was dragged across the
ring, a fair and gentle-voiced neighbour said, in a tone of surprise,
"Dos caballos y seis Christianos!" "Two horses and six Christians!"

I omit the rest. From the bull-fight we again went to the ball, which,
in the evening, was the bayle del etiquette, no gentleman being
admitted without pantaloons. Society in Yucatan stands upon an
aristocratic footing. It is divided into two great classes: those who
wear pantaloons, and those who do not; the latter, and by far the most
numerous body, going in calconcillos, or drawers. The high-handed
regulation of the ball of etiquette was aimed at them, and excluded
many of our friends of the morning; but it did not seem to give any
offence, the excluded quietly taking their places at the outside of the
railing. El matador de cochinos, or the pig butcher, was admitted in
drawers, but as assistant to the servants, handing refreshments to the
ladies he had danced with in the morning. The whole aspect of things
was changed; the vaqueros were in dress suits, or such undress as was
not unbecoming at a village ball. The senoritas had thrown aside their
simple Mestiza dresses, and appeared in tunicas, or frocks, made to fit
the figure or, rather, to cut the figure in two. The Indian dances had
disappeared, and quadrilles and contra-dances, waltzes and gallopades,
supplied their place. It wanted the piquancy of the bayle de las
Mestizas; the young ladies were not so pretty in their more fashionable
costume. Still there was the same gentleness of expression, the dances
were slow, the music low and soft, and, in the quiet and decorum of
all, it was difficult to recognise the gay and tumultuous party of the
morning, and yet more difficult to believe that these gentle and, in
some cases, lovely faces, had been but a few hours before lighted up
with the barbarous excitement of the bull-ring.

At ten the next day there was another bull-fight, then a horse-race
from the plaza down the principal street to the house of Don Philippe
Peon; and in the afternoon yet another bull-fight which opened for me
under pleasant circumstances. I did not intend to go, had not secured a
seat, and took my place in a box so full that I was obliged to stand up
by the door. In front was one of the prettiest of the Mestizas of the
ball; on her right was a vacant seat, and next to this sat