Indeed among
people of the character of these Mexicans, the waltz seemed to me to
have found its right place. The great amusement of the
evenings,- which I suppose was owing to its being carnival- was the
breaking of eggs filled with cologne, or other essences, upon the
heads of the company. One end of the egg is broken and the inside
taken out, then it is partly filled with cologne, and the whole sealed
up. The women bring a great number of these secretly about them, and
the amusement is to break one upon the head of a gentleman when his
back is turned. He is bound in gallantry to find out the lady and
return the compliment, though it must not be done if the person sees
you. A tall, stately Don, with immense grey whiskers, and a look of
great importance, was standing before me, when I felt a light hand
on my shoulder, and turning round, saw Donna Angustia, (whom we all
knew, as she had been up to Monterey, and down again, in the Alert,)
with her finger upon her lip, motioning me gently aside. I stepped
back a little, when she went up behind the Don, and with one hand
knocked off his huge sombrero, and at the same instant, with the
other, broke the egg upon his head, and springing behind me, was out
of sight in a moment.
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