Note XXVIII-39 — Chapter XXVIII · THE PEOPLE OF COSTA RICA, NICARAGUA, AND SALVADOR. 1800-1887.
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That is to say, they are not given to stealing or barefaced cheating; but at a bargain they will take all the advantage they can; and if a lie will help, their conscience is elastic enough to use it. In this they are neither better nor worse than other nations claiming a high standard of honesty. Their sense of morality, in sex relations, is not what it should be. Divorces and separations are common, and concubinage quite prevalent. The superintendent of the census for 1864 recorded '1,200 separados de hecho, quienes sin equivocarme puedo decir que viven en concubinato, sin contar la frecuencia de este entre solteros y solteras.' Costa R., Censo, 1864, xxv.