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THERE are but two classes of people in Guatemala, Creoles and Indians. The Creoles include all those who are European or in whom the European blood predominates. They are the business and professional men of the country and the land owners. Although numbering not to exceed one-tenth of the population, this class own all but a small fraction of the wealth of the country. They busy themselves with the business and politics of the country, while the Indians do the real work and even the fighting if there is anything of that kind on hand to be done. A substantial middle class which usually form the backbone of a nation’s strength has not yet been developed.
The Creoles are an interesting race—kind, considerate and courteous. They enjoy leisure, always have time for a friendly conversation and welcome a holiday as a relief from the strain of business cares. If you should chance upon an acquaintance on the street he is never in such a hurry that he would not stop, shake hands, and inquire politely after each member of your family, and would then politely listen in turn to inquiries after each member of his own household, which you would be in duty bound to make, as a courtesy to his own friendly interest. The punctuality of an engagement never bothers them, and the man who persists in keeping or insisting upon such a thing is rather a bore. This easy-going, care-free nature has not hastened the progress of the country.
The Creole woman has ever been a favourite theme of poets, and their black, bewitching eyes have won many a eulogy from both poetic and prose writers; and deservedly so, for woman is ever an excuse for a eulogy and toast in all countries and in all languages. The Spanish-American woman is always interesting, and perhaps, as often as in other bloods, is beautiful. They are home lovers, and the _casa_, or home, is jealously shielded from prying eyes by the husband or father, who is lord and master. The idea of political suffrage or woman’s rights has never yet agitated their gentle bosoms. Their life is a reminder of Oriental exclusiveness, and a young woman is seldom seen on the street unless her mother or some older woman is with her as a companion.