Such is the Mexican lepero. The sketch may seem broad or even caricatured to those who are unacquainted with the country, but its accuracy will be acknowledged by all who have resided in Mexico and been haunted by the filthy tribe.
The Ranchero comes next in our classification of the Mexicans. He is a small farmer, or vaquero, who owns or hires a few acres on which he cultivates his corn or grazes his cattle. He is not an Indian, a white man, an African, or a lepero, yet he mixes the qualities of all in his motly character. He is a person of lofty thoughts and aspirations;—a devoted patriot;—a staunch fighter in all the revolutions whenever guerillas are required;—a hard rider and capital boon companion over a bottle or in a journey among the mountains.
On his small estate he devotes himself to the cultivation of the ground, or leaves this menial occupation to his family whilst he goes off to the wars or to carousals and fandangos in the neighboring village pulquerias. He is an Arab in his habits, and especially in his love and management of the horse. Dressed in his leather trowsers and jerkin; with his serape over his shoulders, his broad brimed and silver corded sombrero on his head; his heels armed with spurs whose three-inch rowels gleam like the blades of daggers; his sword strapped to the saddle beneath his armas de agua, and, grasping his gun in his hand,—the Ranchero is ready, as soon as he mounts, to follow you for months over the republic. He is the nomade of the country, as the lepero is of the town. His devotion to his animal is unbounded. The faithful quadruped is his best friend and surest reliance. His lazo lies curved gracefully in festoons around the pommel of his saddle. Thus, with his trusty weapons and his horse, the mounted ranchero is at home in the forest or in the open field; on hill side or in valley. Few riders, elsewhere, can equal him in speed or horsemanship; and few can excel him as a herdsman, a robber, an enemy, or even a friend whenever you hit his fancy or are willing to understand his character and pardon his sins.