[XXVIII-54] 'The aristocracy keeps the shops, and there it dozes;... the lower orders keep the plaza, and there they doze.' Boyle's Ride Across a Continent, 102.
[XXVIII-55] Belly, Nic., 217, speaking of those of mixed blood, says they are the victims of traditional indolence, and of the absence of moral light rather than of actual depravity. The nearer to the pure Indian type, the more reliable and faithful they are. Stout, Nic., 118, says that the Nicaraguans are possessed of many virtues.
[XXVIII-56] Such offences which in other countries would be indelible blots, throwing their authors out of the company of honorable people, are after a while overlooked, and the perpetrators reinstated in society. Lévy, Nic., 275.
[XXVIII-57] The waistcoat and cravat are often dispensed with. Gloves are rarely worn. Loud colors, with large chains and trinkets are too often displayed.
[XXVIII-58] The ordinary saddle or albarda is a cheap affair and uncomfortable. There are horses of an easy amble, which are quite rapid and yet gentle. Squier's Travels, i. 157; ii. 91.
[XXVIII-59] Lévy, Nic., 272; Belly, Nic., i. 198; Wells' Explor., 74-5. The people generally are clean in their persons except when travelling, or when ill, and in the latter case the touch of water is prohibited. Squier's Travels, 59, 153-4, 269, 271, 289.
[XXVIII-60] For a hot climate the adobe, warm in winter and cool in summer, is not to be surpassed as a dwelling. In the courts are shade trees, making the corridors upon which all the rooms open exceedingly pleasant. Id., i. 33-4; Id., Cent. Am., 365; Id., Nic., 649; Stout's Nic., 38, 62-4, 66. Doors and windows are wide. The windows have no glass, being enclosed on the outside with an iron railing constructed sometimes like a balcony. The floors are of soft brick. The roof, sloping considerably, is of concave tiles. The yard often has a flower garden, or is used for raising poultry, or maybe pigs.
[XXVIII-61] Kitchen, laundry, stables, etc., are at the end of the yard, or when possible, in a separate yard.
[XXVIII-62] In late years some foreign furniture has been imported. Most parlors are furnished as follows: Chairs with leather seats, easy chairs of the same, mostly rockers. In houses of the wealthy is a round or oval centre-table, and other tables fitting into the corners, and possibly a piano, a hanging lamp, and small mirrors, together with framed lithographs or paintings hanging on the walls. The bedrooms have similar chairs, a hammock, and a bed of rawhide extended and nailed to a wooden frame, supported by four legs. At each end rises a pillar to sustain a sort of awning which covers the whole bed, and answers also for a mosquito net. The appurtenances of the bed are a mat, sheets, and pillows. No mattresses are ever used. Some persons prefer a common cot. Levy, Nic., 262-7; Belly, Nic., 197.
[XXVIII-63] In some places coyol oil or lard in tin lamps are used, with or without a glass chimney. In Segovia the people often have no other light than that emitted by a burning piece of resinous pine.