Appendix - The White Chief by Mayne Reid
Notes
“Sierra Blanca.”—Page 1. The Sierra Blanca is so called because the tops of this range are usually covered with snow. The snow of the Sierra Blanca is not “eternal.” It only remains for about three parts of the year. Its highest peaks are below the snow-line of that latitude. Mountains that carry the eternal snow are by the Spanish Americans denominated “Nevada.”
“The Grand Prairie.”—Page 2. This name is somewhat indefinite, being applied by some to particular portions of prairie land. Among the hunters it is the general name given to the vast treeless region lying to the west of the timbered country on the Mississippi. The whole longitudinal belt from the Lower Rio Grande to the Great Slave Lake is, properly speaking, the Grand Prairie; but the phrase has been used in a more restricted sense, to designate the larger tracts of open country, in contra-distinction to the smaller prairies, such as those of Illinois and Louisiana, which last are separated from the true prairie country by wide tracts of timbered surface.
“Settlements of Nuevo Mexico.”—Page 2. The settlements of New Mexico covered at one time a much wider extent of country than they do now. The Indians have been constantly narrowing the boundaries for the last fifty years. At present these settlements are almost wholly restricted to the banks of the Del Norte and a few tributary streams.
“Gramma grass.”—Page 2. The Chondrosium, a beautiful and most nutritions herbage that covers many of the plains of Texas and North Mexico. There are several species of grass known among Mexicans as “gramma”; one in particular, the Chondrosium foeneum, as a food for horses, is but little inferior to oats.
“Cackle of his fighting-cock.”—Page 7. There is no exaggeration in all this. Every traveller in Mexico has witnessed such scenes, and many have borne testimony to these and similar facts. I have often seen the fighting chanticleer carried inside the church under the arm of its owner, while the latter entered to pray!
“Fiestas principales.”—Page 7. The more noted Saints’ days, or religious festivals, as Saint John’s, Good-Friday, Guadalupe, etcetera, are so styled to distinguish them from the many others of lesser celebrity.
“Tailing the bull.”—Page 7. “Bull-tailing” (coleo de toro) and “running the cock” (correr el gallo) are favourite sports in most parts of Mexico, but particularly in the Northern provinces. They were also Californian games while that country was Spano-Mexican.
“The Apache”—Page 8. One of the largest tribes of the “Indios bravos” or wild Indians, i.e. Indians who have never submitted to the Spanish yoke. Their country lies around the heads of the Gila, extending from that stream to the Del Norte, and down the latter to the range of another large and powerful tribe—the Comanches—also classed as “Indios bravos.”
“Familias principales.”—Page 8. The “first families,” a United States phrase, is the synonym of “familias principales” of Mexico.
“Comerciante.”—Page 8. Merchant or extensive trader. Merchandise is not degrading in Mexico. The rich merchant may be one of the “familias principales.” Although there is still an old noblesse in the Mexican republic, the titles are merely given by courtesy, and those who hold them are often outranked and eclipsed in style by the prosperous parvenu.
“Alcalde.”—Page 8. Pronounced Alkalde. The duties of the Alcalde are very similar to those of a magistrate or justice of the peace. Every village has its Alcalde, who is known by his large gold or silver-headed cane and tassel. In villages where the population is purely Indian, the Alcalde is usually either of Indian or mixed descent—often pure Indian.
“Mode de Paris!”—Page 8. The upper classes in Mexico, particularly those who reside in the large cities, have discarded the very picturesque national costume, and follow the fashions of Paris. In all the large towns, French tailors, modistes, jewellers, etcetera, may be met with. The ladies wear French dresses, but without the bonnet. The shawl is drawn over the head when it becomes necessary to cover it. The hideous bonnet is only seen upon foreign ladies residing in Mexico. The city gentleman of first-class wears a frock-coat, but the cloth jacket is the costume of the greater number. A long-tailed dress-coat is regarded as an outré affair, and never appears upon the streets of a Mexican town.
“Gachupino.”—Page 9. A Spaniard of Old Spain. The term is used contemptuously by the natives, or Creoles (Criollos), of Mexico, who hate their Spanish cousins as the Americans hate Englishmen, and for a very similar reason.
“Hijo de algo.”—Page 9. Literally, “son of somebody.” Hence the word hidalgo. The “blue blood” (sangre azul) is the term for pure blood or high birth.
“Poblanas.”—Page 9. A poblana is, literally, a village girl or woman, but in a more specific sense it signifies a village belle, or beauty. It is nearly a synonyme of the Spanish “maja.”
“Don Juan Tenorio.”—Page 9. Don Juan Tenorio—a celebrated character of Spanish romance and drama. He is the original from which Byron drew his conception of Don Juan. He is the hero of a thousand love-scrapes and “desafios,” or duels. The drama of “Don Juan Tenorio” still keeps the Spanish stage, and Spaniards can hardly find words to express their admiration of its poetry. It requires two nights to play this piece, which is about twice the length of a regular five-act play.
“Teniente.”—Page 9. “Lugar-teniente” is lieutenant in Spanish, but the “lugar” is left out, and “teniente” stands for the title of the subaltern.
“Quien sabel.”—Page 10. A noted phrase which figures largely in Spanish dialogue. Literally, “Who knows?”
“Gambucinos and rancheros!”—Page 10. Gambucino, a petty miner, who digs or washes gold on his own account. Ranchero, the dweller in a rancho, or country hut. The ranchero class corresponds pretty nearly to that known as “small farmers,” though in Mexico they are more often graziers than agriculturists.
“Enaguas.”—Page 10. Sometimes written “nagua,”—the petticoat, usually of coarse blue or red cotton stuff, with a list of white or some other colour forming the top part.
“Reboso.”—Page 10. The scarf of greyish or slaty blue, worn by all women in Mexico, except the ladies of the Upper Ten Thousand, who use it only on occasions.
“Allegria.”—Page 11. A singular custom prevails among the women of New Mexico, of daubing their faces all over with the juice of a berry called by them the “allegria,” which gives them anything but a charming look. The juice is of a purplish red colour, somewhat like that of blackberries. Some travellers allege that it is done for ornament, as the Indians use vermilion and other pigments. This is not a correct explanation. The “allegria” is used by the New Mexican belles to preserve the complexion, and get it up towards some special occasion, such as a grand fiesta or “fandango,” when it is washed off, and the skin comes out clear and free from “tan.” The “allegria” is the well known “poke-weed” of the United States (Phytolacca decandra.)
“Sombrero.”—Page 11. The black glaze hat with low crown and broad leaf is a universal favourite throughout Mexico. It is often worn several pounds in weight, and that, too, under a hot tropic sun. Some sort of gold or silver lace-band is common, but frequently this is of heavy bullion, and costly.
“Pueblos.”—Page 11. There are many towns in New Mexico inhabited exclusively by “Pueblos,” a name given to a large tribe of civilised Indians,—Indios mansos (tame Indians) such tribes are called, to distinguish them from the Indios bravos, or savages, who never acknowledged the sway of the Spanish conquerors.
“Peons.”—Page 12. The labouring serfs of the country are peons. They are not slaves by the wording of the political law, but most of them are in reality slaves by the law of debtor and creditor.
“Petates,” etcetera—Page 12. A “petate” is a small mat about the size of a blanket, woven out of palm-strips, or bulrushes, according to the district; it is the universal bed of the Mexican peasant.
Tunas and pitahayas are fruits of different species of cactus.
Sandias are water-melons.
Dulces are preserves.
Agua-miel and limonada, refreshing drinks peculiar to Mexico.
Piloncillos, loaves of coarse brown sugar, met with in all parts of Mexico, and very much like the maple-sugar of the States.
Tortillas, the often-described daily bread of the Mexican people.
Chili Colorado, red pepper.
Ollas, earthen pots of all sizes—almost the only sort used in the Mexican kitchen.
Atole, a thin gruel resembling flour and water, but in reality made out of the finer dust of the maize, boiled and sweetened.
Pinole, parched maize mixed with water and sweetened.
Clacos, copper cents, or half-pence,—the copper coin of Mexico.
Punche, a species of native-grown tobacco.
Aguardiente, whisky distilled from maize, or sometimes from the aloe—literally, agua ardiente, hot or fiery water. It is the common whisky of the country, and a vile stuff in most cases.