penetrated the minds of the people. The diplomatic corps entertained our
little coterie, which included those Mexicans who were willing to mix
with the foreign element.

Society danced and flirted, rode in the Paseo, and walked in the
Alameda, just as though the Cinco de Mayo had been a decisive battle and
General de Lorencez's army had been driven back to its ships.

The bull-fights once in a while gathered in the vast enceinte of the
Plaza de Toros the society of the capital. During the winter of 1863 the
young men of fashion of Mexico took the Plaza de Toros, and invited
Mexican society to a performance. All who took part were amateurs, and
it was a brilliant affair. The huge amphitheater, crowded with the
well-dressed audience, was in itself a memorable spectacle, and as the
sun went down, casting great shadows and oblique rays of light upon the
gay assemblage, intent upon the fierce games of the picturesque
performers in the arena, one unconsciously dreamed of the Colosseum and
of the bloody sports of semibarbarous Rome.

Besides the ordinary bull-fight, there were many exercises of
horsemanship and with the lasso that did credit to the skill of the
young gentlemen. Moreover, as these men, who were all wealthy, rode
their own spirited horses, the performance presented none of the most
revolting features of the usual bull-fight, where the poor, miserable
hacks, too jaded to obey the rein, are generally gored, and soon turn
the arena into a slaughter-house, the sight of which it is impossible
for an Anglo-Saxon to endure.

Our box was sent us by Don Jose Rincon Gallardo and his brother Don
Pedro, who belonged to the elite of Mexican society and were among the