The personal appearance of the Salvadorean peasant, as will be seen from the group shown in the photograph given, is unquestionably an agreeable one. The men are short in stature as a rule, but they possess regular and amiable features—those who are not of the pronounced negro type; while the women are also usually physically attractive, especially when young.
In regard to native costume, in the villages and smaller towns the men still wear the same attire as they have adopted for some hundred years past—namely, loose and baggy trousers of cotton spun and woven locally, mostly on the native hand-looms; a shapeless coat or loose jacket of the same material; and a large palm-leaf hat without any ribbon, binding, or other ornamentation. The women's ordinary attire consists of a dark blue cotton or cloth woven skirt, a loose cotton blouse with very short sleeves, and the native shawl worn gracefully over the head. To-day many affect the European style of costume, and almost generally they do so in the Capital and the larger towns.
The Indians are very domesticated, and are naturally of an affectionate and amiable disposition. It is quite a common occurrence to find several generations living together in one small but cleanly-kept hut, married and single members of the family occupying the same room, the oldest member—grandfather or great-grandfather—being much deferred to, and, as a rule, governing his extensive family with a firm but gentle hand. Parental authority is greatly respected in this country among the natives, and family life is often found very beautiful in some respects, offering, indeed, a marked contrast to what one finds existing in European countries, especially in England, among the working classes of the population.
The Indian inhabitants of Salvador are supposed to be lineal descendants of the Nahwals, whose other branch are found in Mexico and Guatemala. Certainly there is a strong connection both in their physical attributes and their ancient dialects. Naturally, the aboriginal population has been much modified by nearly four centuries of contact with the whites, and an almost equally long subjugation to the Spanish rule. Nevertheless there are some towns in the Republic which to-day retain their primitive customs, and in such, to all appearances, the aboriginal blood has undergone scarcely any, if indeed the slightest, intermixture. In most places, however, the original language has fallen into disuse, or merely a few words, which have also been partially adopted by the whites, are retained. The original names of places have in some localities been preserved with the greatest tenacity, and afford a sure guide in defining the extent of territory over which the various aboriginal nations have been spread.
I have visited several of the towns situated in the neighbourhood of Sonsonate, where the inhabitants are almost exclusively Indians, and I was then told that the language which they habitually speak to one another is also aboriginal. So curiously attached are some of these people to their ancient speech and government that in the year of 1832 a number of the inhabitants of San Vicente arose in revolt against the new government which was then imposed, and attempted to restore their ancient dominion, at the same time threatening to kill all the whites as well as everyone showing a trace of European blood in their veins.
The new census of the country will have been taken on July 1, 1911 (too late for inclusion in this volume, which will have gone to press), in accordance with instructions of the President, the officers engaged being attached to the General Bureau of Statistics. Every effort has been made to render the returns in as accurate a form and as complete as possible. The present population, according to the statistics of 1910, showed that the number of inhabitants stood at 1,084,850, of whom some 200,000 were foreigners.