Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The women of Tehuantepec enjoy the reputation of being the prettiest in Mexico; their spirit,
courage and beauty have made the women of this region famous for generations. Many of
them are perfectly white, due to the cross breeding of French and Spanish. The costumes of
the 'Tehuanas', as the women of Tehuantepec are called, are most picturesque. I had the op-
portunity of seeing them at their best at a dance given in my honour.
Towards evening men and women paraded down the main street, some riding on ox-wag-
ons decorated with flags and foliage, whilst others went afoot. Behind the wagons came the
band, followed by the men, who marched in two long files. All were dressed in loose white
blouses and white trousers and wore large Mexican sombreros, and then, last but not least,
came the
pièce de résistance
, the women. They were also in two-column formation, and
slowly walked along, all dressed in their very best, only costumes of the region being worn.
Manyhadlarge,fan-shapedheadgearofstarchedwhiteclothorlace.Thesehead-dresseswere
very becoming, especially as all the women, without exception, had a very graceful carriage.
Only a few wore shoes, and I had noticed before that women who are accustomed to go
barefoot have invariably a similar, graceful and swaying walk, whereas our modern city girls
merely waddle along when they go unshod. The 'Tehuanas' wear loose-fitting blouses with
short sleeves, moderately open around the neck, and richly embroidered in front and behind.
The long skirts are of different colours and designs, and adornments are arranged in circles
around them. All the dresses were made of fine material and I noticed that each ended with a
white bordering a little above the ankles.
At night a dance was held. A sandy square had been levelled and covered with a big sheet
ofsailcloth.Arounditafencehadbeenerected,andarchesoffoliageandgaily-colouredflags
made the place look most attractive. Electric bulbs of many colours had been fixed every-
where, the light of which made the ladies' dresses look doubly bright. There were some very
graceful dancers among the merry throng, and nobody thought about going home until early
dawn. Mexico is the Latin American country where national customs have not disappeared
with the modern invasion, and every citizen may justly be proud of the picturesque traditions
of his beautiful country.
I was almost sorry when the commander of my new escort told me to make ready to start
immediately after sunset. I had spent four delightful days in old Tehuantepec, but then I had
to remember that I was not on a pleasure trip.
Had it not been for the revolution I should have crossed the isthmus to Port Mexico on the
Atlantic side, more or less following the railway line, but this would have been unwise be-
cause thefighting wascentred onthat side,andawell-organised gangofbandits hadforsome
time past taken advantage of the favourable topography of the country around there to carry
