He then told me of the six orphan boys who, in memory of his body-guard, he had adopted and educated; he told me with pride of the success which the five who still live had made, and of the positions they were filling.  When he reached the portrait of the little Mixtec, carrying a sack of corn, who, with pride, had told me, in answer to my question, that his name was Porfirio Diaz, the President of the Republic looked long and earnestly at the picture, and I noticed that, when we turned the pages, his finger marked the spot where the likeness of his name-sake was, and, when the book was finished, before closing it, he turned back again, and looked at the little fellow’s face.  At the first Otomi portrait, he had said:  “Ah, sir, but my schools will change the Otomis.”

It would be pleasant to have faith in President Diaz’ solution of the Otomi problem, but to me it seems doubtful.  Of course, I recall with pleasure my visit to the boys’ school at San Nicolas Panotla.  It was interesting to see those little Tlaxcalan fellows solve problems in alligation and percentage, in bonds and mortgages; but it is doubtful whether any of them, in actual life, will have to deal with blending coffees, or with selling bonds, and cutting coupons.  Still, from such indian towns great men have come in the past, and great men will come in the future.  Benito Juarez, who laid the foundations on which Diaz has so magnificently built, was a pure-blood Zapotec.  From the Aztecs, the Tlaxcalans, Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Mayas, we may hope much in the future.  They were races of achievement in the past, and the monuments of their achievement still remain.  But that the Otomi, the Triqui, or the Mixe, should be made over by the schools is doubtful.  Personally, I feel that the prosperity of Mexico rests more upon the indian blood than on any other element of national power.  That schools will do much to train the more gifted tribes perhaps is true.  But there are indians, and indians, in Mexico.

GLOSSARY OF SPANISH AND INDIAN WORDS

abusos. abuses, disturbances. adios. adieu, good-bye. agente. agent. agua. water. agua bendita. blessed water. agua miel. lit. honey water, the unfermented juice of the maguey. aguardiente. a spirituous liquor. aguas frescas. refreshing drinks. ahuacate. a fruit, the alligator pear. aje, or axe. an insect; a greasy mass, yielding a lacquer-like lustre. alcalde. a town judge. arbol. tree. arriero. a convoyer of loaded mules or horses. atole. a corn gruel. autorizada. authorized, having authority. axolotl. a water salamander, with peculiar life-history. ayatl, or ayate. a carry-cloth. barranca. a gorge, or gully. bruja. witch. brujeria. witchcraft. burro. ass. cabecera. the head-town of a district. cafe. coffee. caiman. a reptile much like an alligator. camaron. shrimp. camisa. shirt. cantera, cantero. a water-jar, or pitcher. cargador.