four millions are Indians and only one million purely white,
while more than two millions, of the rest, are zambos, mestizos and
mulattos. Nor is it singular that of this whole population of seven
millions, not more than six hundred thousand whites and eighty thousand
of other castes, can read and write.[7]

Indeed it may be said with truth,--as agriculture has received but
little attention beyond the ordinary wants of life, and as the great
proprietors of estates have chiefly devoted their attention to the
_raising of cattle_,--that the ancient nomadic habits of the Indian and
half-breed, have remained unchanged, and, consequently, that the great
body of this semi-civilized people is quite as much at home on horseback
with sword and lance as in the _corral_ or _hacienda_.[8]

The RANCHERO, who has played so conspicuous a part in this war,
is the natural offspring of such a state of society. This class of men
is composed of individuals, half Spanish half Indian, who resemble the
_gauchos_ of the South American Pampas. Gaunt, shrivelled and bronzed by
exposure, though hardy and muscular from athletic exercise, they are,
indeed, the Arabs of our continent. Living half the time in their
saddles, for they are matchless horsemen, they traverse the plains and
mountains, with lasso[9] in hand, either searching for, or tending their
herds. The slaughter of beasts and preparation and sale of hides is
their chief means of livelihood, varied occasionally by the cultivation
of a small patch of ground, or by taking part in the civil wars that are
always waging. Their costume generally consists of a pair of tough
leggings of skin and leathern trousers, over which is a _serape_ or
blanket, with a hole in the centre large enough for the head to pass
through, whence it falls in graceful folds over the chest and shoulders,
leaving room for the play of hands and arms. Add to this a broad
_sombrero_, and the _lasso_, hanging ready for use at his saddle bow,
and the reader will have a picture of the _ranchero_ as he appears in
peace or in the ordinary pursuit of his occupation. Join to this garb a
long sabre, a horse as savage and untamed as himself, and a belt
plentifully studded with pistols and _machetes_, and the _ranchero_
presents himself ready either to join a troop of banditti, or to serve
in a body of cavalry.

Cowardly as they generally are in the open field when encountering
regular troops, yet, in ambuscade, a sudden fight, or