By a distinct line of demarcation, the Indians are separated from the rest of the population, who are at least partly white.

These latter call themselves "gente de razon"-- people of reason,--to distinguish themselves from the Indians, who are people without reason.

In common parlance the distinction is made thus: the whites and mixed breed are "gente"-- _people_,--the brown men being merely "Indios"-- Indians--and not people at all.
Here, in their own quarter, and among their own people, they seem talkative enough.

We can only tell what they are chattering about when they happen to speak Spanish, either for our benefit, or to show off their proficiency in that tongue.

People who can speak the Aztec language say that their way of forming compound words gives constant occasion for puns and quibbles, and that the talk of the Indians is full of such small jokes.