belts are called by the Spanish name, _faja_. Both men and women carry
_ayates_. These are square or rectangular blankets made of _ixtli_, the
strong fibre of the maguéy. Like the _enaguas_, they usually consist of
two pieces, side by side, stitched together with some bright color. The
fibre, which is gotten from the leaves partly by maceration, partly by
beating, is spun in a primitive fashion. Almost every woman one meets
upon the road, no matter what burden of babies or goods she carries,
has a hank of the fibre thrown over her shoulder, and keeps her little
spindle whirling, spinning the strong thread as she walks. Her spindle
consists of a slender stick thrust through a whorl of baked pottery.
Such whorls are no longer made, but the ancient ones, called by the
Aztec name _malacates_, are picked up in the fields and reapplied to
their old use. Usually the _ixtli_ thread is left of its original grey
or white color, but sometimes the fibre is dyed, a fine shade of orange
being favored. The _ixtli_ thread is woven into _ayates_, which are used
for carrying burdens. Vegetables, charcoal, babies--anything--are put
into them. Two ends are tied together to hold the burden in place, and
the other two are passed across the breast and tied in front. These
blankets are astonishingly strong and unyielding.

At evening, after a fair day's work, we made our way on foot across the
valley and up the long slope to the summit of the ridge on which lay
Huixquilucan, the official centre of a municipality of 11,000 persons.
Of these, 3,000 live in the village, while the remainder are clustered
together in hamlets like San Bartolito, San Francisco, Agua Bendita, or
are scattered in single-house settlements over the mountains. Of the
11,000 persons, more than three-fourths claim to be full Otomis. There
are no truly poor in the whole town. Every family has its field, its
house, its bit of woodland. All the people still speak the native
tongue, and many speak no other. The town is picturesquely situated upon