The diversity of climatic and botanical conditions of Mexico gives as a natural corollary a variety of animal life, and the fauna is an extensive one, including, with small exception, all the species of North America on the one hand, and of South America on the other. Those of the former, naturally, are found upon the great plateau; those of the latter in the tropical lowlands. Among the main exceptions are the llama and alpaca, the domestic wool-bearing animals of the camel family, and kindred varieties, which do not exist in Mexico, nor are found anywhere in the world outside the highlands of Peru and Bolivia. Indeed, native Mexico, before the introduction of the equine race from Europe, had no beast of burden whatever, such as the llama afforded to the South American aboriginal peoples.
The fauna of the country embraces fifty-two varieties of mammal quadrupeds, including three species of large felidæ—the jaguar, the puma, or cougar, and the ocelot, a carnivorous cat-like animal, whose name is derived from the native Mexican word ocelotl. There are five varieties of monkeys in the tropical forests, as well as a sloth. There are forty-three classes of reptiles, including alligators and turtles, and several kinds of venomous serpents, and the great boa-constrictor. Upon the plateau and mountain ranges wolves and wild-cats abound, and the coyote is the wild inhabitant of the desert plains most in evidence. There are several kinds of bears, and the wolf, skunk, bison, and tapir are found.
Mexico cannot be said to offer a field for hunters of big game, and the term "a sportsman's paradise" which is sometimes applied to it, is something of an exaggeration. Nevertheless, there is considerable sport to be had, and certain kinds of game abound. Among animals may be enumerated the peccaries, or javilines, deer, rabbits, hares; of reptiles, alligators, turtles, and iguanas; whilst whales, seals, and sea-lions are encountered upon the Pacific coast. Alligators are numerous in the estuaries of the rivers of both the Gulf and the Pacific sides, as well as turtles and tortoises. Of birds for the sportsman may be mentioned the wild turkey—which, indeed, was introduced to Europe from Mexico—partridges, quail, and wild pigeons. The armadillo, beaver, martin, otter, and others are among the Mexican fauna. Of noxious reptiles and insects the rattlesnake is much in evidence, as well as the tarantula, centipede, alacran, or scorpion, and varieties of ants. Of birds of beautiful plumage the Mexican tropics abound with life, and they are famed for their fine feathers, and as songsters. They are an example of Nature's compensating circumstances; for in the hot lowlands they are more distinguished for their bright plumage than their voice; whilst in the uplands they are of much more modest dress, but higher singing capacities. More than 350 species of birds have been enumerated throughout the country, and among these are fifty varieties of humming-birds, which range throughout the whole colour-scale, from blue and green to scarlet. The zenzontle, or mocking-bird, is a well-known bird in Mexico.
Such are, in brief, the natural conditions of geological structure, climatic conditions, and the organic world consequent thereon, of this varied and interesting land; and having thus observed them we must turn our attention to the human family whose habitat they form—the men and women of Mexico of to-day.
CHAPTER IX
THE MEXICAN PEOPLE
Ethnic conditions—Spanish, Mestizos, Indians—Colour-line—Foreign element—The peones—Land tenure—The Spanish people—The native tribes—The Apaches—The Mexican constitution—Class distinctions—Mexican upper class—Courtesy and hospitality—Quixotism of the Mexicans—Idealism and eloquence—General characteristics—Ideas of progress—American anomalies—Haciendas—Sport—Military distinctions—Comparison with Anglo-Saxons—Republicanism—Language—Life in the cities—Warlike instincts—The women of Mexico—Mexican youths—Religious observance—Romantic Mexican damsels—The bull-fights.
The Mexican people are divided for sociological or ethnological purposes into three divisions—the people of purely white European or Spanish descent, those of combined European and native races, and the pure-blooded Indians. The first have been technically termed Criollas, or Creoles, although the designation has, of recent years, been used in a different sense; the second Mestizos, or mixed race; whilst the third, the Indios, are the direct descendants of the peoples who occupied the country in pre-Hispanic times.
The total population is estimated at fifteen million souls, or possibly slightly under. Of this, according to the census of 1900, the people of purely white descent numbered about 19 per cent.; the Mestizos, who may be looked upon as the typical Mexicans of to-day, 43 per cent.; whilst the remaining 38 per cent. were assigned as the proportion for the Indians. The figures and divisions cannot be looked upon, however, as arbitrary or exact. At the present time it is considered that the Mestizo class probably embraces more than half of the total, whilst the real proportion of people of absolutely pure white race is probably much less than described, possibly not more than 10 per cent., as the mixture permeates all classes.