In the midst of the conversation the Governor suddenly appears, and Güegüence turns to him with the customary and proper salutation, thus showing that his desire for instruction from the Alguacil was a sham.
On the phrase te calas qui provincia real, see the [Notes] to page 14.
[Page 30.] Mesonero, a person who owns or has charge of a meson, a house in which the poorer classes of travelers sleep, providing their own food, and that of their beasts (Dr. Valentine). For tupile see [Vocabulary].
Antepeque or Tecoantepeque, the seaport of Guaxaca. Thomas Gage, who visited it in 1625, wrote of it: "This Port of Tecoantepeque is the chief for fishing in all that country; we met here in the ways, sometimes with fifty, sometimes with a hundred mules together, laden with nothing but salt fish for Guaxaca, the City of Angels, and Mexico."—A new Survey of the West Indies, p. 195. (London, 1699.)
Dulces are sweetmeats of various kinds, eaten usually between meals. Squier remarks: "The Spanish taste for 'dulces' long ago passed into a proverb, but it rather surpasses itself in Nicaragua. The venders of 'dulces', generally bright Indian girls, gaily dressed, and bearing a tray, covered with the purest white napkins, and temptingly spread upon their heads, pass daily from house to house; and it is sometimes difficult, and always ungallant, to refuse purchasing something from their stock."—Nicaragua, Vol. I, p. 275.
The punctuation toward the foot of the page should probably be, "no seremos guancos; no; seremos amigos," etc. The guipil de pecho is the short upper jacket worn by the women. A guipil de pluma is a skirt woven of feathers. In ancient times, these garments, skillfully constructed of the beautiful plumes of tropical birds, were esteemed as the most valued articles in the treasures of kings, and the most magnificent of royal costumes. The art of feather-weaving continued for some generations after the Conquest. Indeed, as late as 1840 one family in Mechoacan preserved it. The reference to it in the text, however, is a sign of antiquity, as it has long since disappeared in Central America. See an interesting monograph on the subject by the eminent French antiquary, Ferdinand Denis.—Arte Plumaria; Les Plumes, leur Valeur et leur Emploi dans les Arts au Mexique, au Perou, etc. Paris, 1875.
[Page 32.] Much of this page is rendered with doubtful accuracy, as the text is very obscure.
[Page 34.] Hay me sagua, the same as hoy melague, p. [36]; hoy, Spanish, now, to-day, melaua, Nah., to speak out, or openly.
[Page 40.] The reference to the star would seem to be that when the tent is opened a star is visible through it, which Güegüence offers to the Governor.