It is a species of convolvolus, which delights in a temperate clime, shaded vallies, and mountain slopes. What is the state of the cultivation of tobacco?

This was much restricted by the introduction of the crown monopoly in 1764.

Are the Indians fond of it?

The Indians themselves make no use whatever of this noxious weed.

Is Indigo much cultivated?

The cultivation of indigo is much neglected in Mexico, but the indigo is annually imported from Guatemala, where the total annual produce of the plantations amounts to £600,000 sterling.

What are the domestic animals of Mexico?

With the exception of the cochineal insect, the most valuable animals known in Mexico have been introduced by Europeans.

What domestic animals had the ancient Mexicans?

The ancient Mexicans had not even reduced to a domesticated state the two species of wild oxen, which wander in immense herds near the plains of the Rio del Norte; they were unacquainted with the lama of the Cordilleras of the Andes; and made no use of the wild sheep of California, or of the wild goats of New California.

What animal food did the inhabitants possess ?

Among the numerous species of dogs peculiar to Mexico, one species, the Techichi, served for food to the inhabitants.

What was the effect of the want of other domestic animals, before the Spanish conquest, on the condition of the people?

That a large portion of the people were forced to labour as beasts of burden, and to do that service which is now performed by mules.

Have the domestic animals imported from Europe increased?

The oxen, sheep, horses, and hogs, have multiplied amazingly, especially in the vast plains of the internal provinces.

In what particular do the natives of Mexico resemble the Chinese, and Cochin-Chinese ?

That they care very little for milk, butter, or cheese.

What is the character of the horses?

That those of the northern provinces are as celebrated for their excellent qualities as those of Chili; both are said to be of Arabian extraction.

What are the chief beasts of burden?

Mules, which would be still more numerous if so many of them did not perish on the high-way, from the excessively fatiguing journeys of several months continuance. The commerce of Vera Cruz alone employs 70,000 mules, and 5000 are employed in the carriages of the city of Mexico.

Is the rearing of sheep much attended to?

No, it has been wonderfully neglected in all the Spanish colonies, none of the travelling Merino sheep seem to have been introduced, and no care has been taken to ameliorate the breed.

What wild animals are peculiar to Mexico?

The chief of these are the gigantic stags of New California, called, venados by the Spaniards. This is said to be the most beautiful quadruped of America, and is quite different from the elk of the United States. What other wild animals are there?

The tapir, great numbers of monkeys, bears, wolves, foxes and wild cats; all these, except the tapir, are common to both continents. The jaguar is met with in the lower part of Mexico; of the hog there are only two varieties, the one introduced from Europe, and the other from the Phillipine Islands.

Have they increased?

They have multiplied amazingly on the central tableland, and in the valley of Toluca a very extensive and lucrative commerce in bacon is carried on.

Are the feathered tribes numerous?

They are so numerous, and of such various appearances and qualities, that Mexico has been called the country of birds, as Africa is of quadrupeds.

What number of birds peculiar to Mexico have been described by Hernandez ?

Two hundred species.

What is said of the eagles and hawks?

That they are allowed to be superior to those of Europe; one hundred falcons were sent annually into Spain at the desire of Phillip II. The species of Mexi can eagle called isquaulitli, which is the largest and most beautiful, will attack, not merely the larger birds and quadrupeds, but even man himself.

What is peculiar in the Mexican ravens ?

That they do not, like those of other countries, feed on carrion, but upon grain.

Are aquatic birds numerous?

There are at least twenty species of ducks, also vast numbers of geese, with several species of herons, swans, pelicans, &c.

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What domestic bird has New Spain given to Europe? The largest of all, the turkey, several thousands of these were in the poultry yards of the unfortunate king, Montezuma, when the Spaniards conquered Mexico.

What is said of the humming bird?

That this beautiful race are scattered over the whole American Continent and its islands, the most diminutive species being smaller than some kinds of bee. These birds were great favourites with the ancient Mexicans, who called them "beams of the sun," and used their feathers as ornaments for their superb mantles.

What insects are reared in Mexico?

Bees are extremely productive in the province of Yucatan, they are said to be without stings, and called, on that account, by the Spaniards "little angels." The Cochineal Insect is a native of Mexico, and feeds on a species of cactus called the nopal, which was cultivated for the sake of the precious dye which the insect affords, long before the conquest of that country.

What fisheries are carried on, on the coast of Mexico? The Mexican fisheries, are at present of no importance. The pearl fisheries of California were much more productive anciently than they are now. The western coasts of New Spain abound in spermaceti whales, but this fishery has been wholly engrossed by the British and Americans.

What are the minerals of Mexico?

The Mexican mountains, like those of the old continent, contain almost every mineral indispensable to agriculture, manufactures, and the fine arts. Unfortunately, however, the labour of man has in Spanish America been almost exclusively devoted to the extraction of gold and silver from the bowels of the earth. The mines of iron and lead, although rich in ore, have been wholly neglected; while those of gold and silver have been sedulously wrought, even while they exhibited but small indications of wealth.

How did this affect the manufacturers and miners? That they suffered from the want of steel, iron, and mercury. Before the peace of Amiens the price of iron had risen in Mexico from 18s. 9d. to £11 5s. per cwt., and steel from £3 10s. to £56 17s. 6d.

per cwt. Has the backwardness of agriculture in the Spanish colonies been attributed to the superabundance of the precious metals, on good grounds?

It appears not, according to Humboldt, who states that no sooner is a mine discovered and wrought, than cultivation immediately commences in its vicinity; towns and villages are built, provisions are wanted for the workmen, and subsistence for the cattle employed in the mines whatever the vicinity can produce is raised in abundance. A flourishing agriculture is thus established, which very frequently survives the prosperity of the mine to which it was indebted for its origin.

What are the principal rocks which at present furnish almost all the silver of Mexico?

They are porphyritic, reposing on beds of primitive slate, grey wacke, and alpine limestone.

At what height are the most celebrated mines of Mexico situated?

At altitudes above the sea of from 5,904 to 9,842 feet, which great height tempers the climate of the mining towns in which respect, the cold arid and disagreeable climate of the mining stations in Peru, where the absolute height is generally much greater, presents a striking

contrast.

Were the ancient Mexicans content with those mine

E

rals they found in their native state on the surface of the earth, or in beds of rivers, and ravines formed by torrents?

No, they applied themselves to subterraneous operations; and gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, were publicly sold in the great market of Mexico.

Name the principal mines at present wrought.

The silver mines of Guanaxuato, whose annual produce bears to the produce of all the veins of Hungary and Transylvania put together, as 6 to 1. The mine of Valenciana in Guanaxuato did not begin to pay until the works were 262 feet in depth. In 1768 it began to pay in proportion as the pit grew deeper. The mine is now wrought to the depth of 1,685 feet.

What occasions the necessity for sinking shafts or pits of so much depth?

The vein is first found at the surface, and is generally, in these mines, at an angle of 45. In following the dip of the vein, the work is impeded, after a certain depth is arrived at, by water, and a shaft is then sunk, so as to intercept the vein at the termination of a gallery, in order to free the mine from water. The work is thus continued until it becomes necessary to sink another shaft still deeper, to clear the lower galleries. What is the thickness of the principal veins ? They vary in thickness from nine to forty yards. Name the other principal mines of Mexico.

The mines of Zacatecas, of Catorce, Pachuca, Real del Monte, Moran, the Biscaina vein, Zimapan, Durango, &c., &c., have afforded immense wealth, chiefly in silver. There are said to be 3,000 silver mines in Mexico.

What was the annual average in pounds sterling, of gold and silver coined in Mexico, from 1690 to 1806? £2,748,772 4s. 2.

Have these products exhausted, to any great extent, the mineral wealth of Mexico?

No, on the contrary, it is the opinion of Humboldt that New Spain produces only one-third of the precious metals which it would do under happier political circumstances when the unfettered energies of the colonists, aided by European skill and capital, can be brought into operation.