He Was Loudly Applauded, And Danced
Frequently Toward The Close Of The Evening.
After the supper,
the waltzing began, which was confined to a very few of the "gente
de razón," and was considered a high accomplishment, and a mark of
aristocracy.
Here, too, Don Juan figured greatly, waltzing with the
sister of the bride, (Donna Angustia, a handsome woman and a general
favorite,) in a variety of beautiful, but, to me, offensive figures,
which lasted as much as half an hour, no one else taking the floor.
They were repeatedly and loudly applauded, the old men and women
jumping out of their seats in admiration, and the young people
waving their hats and handkerchiefs. Indeed among people of the
character of these Mexicans, the waltz seemed to me to have found
its right place. The great amusement of the evening, - which
I suppose was owing to its being carnival - was the breaking of
eggs filled with cologne, or other essences, upon the heads of
the company. One end of the egg is broken and the inside taken
out, then it is partly filled with cologne, and the whole sealed
up. The women bring a great number of these secretly about them,
and the amusement is to break one upon the head of a gentleman
when his back is turned. He is bound in gallantry to find out
the lady and return the compliment, though it must not be done
if the person sees you. A tall, stately Don, with immense grey
whiskers, and a look of great importance, was standing before me,
when I felt a light hand on my shoulder, and turning round, saw Donna
Angustia, (whom we all knew, as she had been up to Monterey, and down
again, in the Alert,) with her finger upon her lip, motioning me
gently aside. I stepped back a little, when she went up behind
the Don, and with one hand knocked off his huge sombrero, and at
the same instant, with the other, broke the egg upon his head,
and springing behind me, was out of sight in a moment. The Don
turned slowly round, the cologne, running down his face, and over
his clothes, and a loud laugh breaking out from every quarter.
He looked round in vain, for some time, until the direction of
so many laughing eyes showed him the fair offender. She was his
niece, and a great favorite with him, so old Don Domingo had to
join in the laugh. A great many such tricks were played, and many
a war of sharp manoeuvering was carried on between couples of the
younger people, and at every successful exploit a general laugh
was raised.
Another singular custom I was for some time at a loss about.
A pretty young girl was dancing, named, after what would appear to
us the sacrilegious custom of the country - Espiritu Santo, when a
young man went behind her and placed his hat directly upon her
head, letting it fall down over her eyes, and sprang back among
the crowd.
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