uffers much for want of water, though the dew falls
heavily every night. The soil is rich, and well cultivated, although
not so carefully as with us. Indian corn is the principal food of the
natives, and is cultivated so generally, that when the crop fails,
there is a year of famine. A drink is also made from it, called
chicha. Sweet potatoes, yams, and quantities of red pepper, together
with vegetables, and fruits, and tobacco, are grown. A kind of plant,
called a cacao, is so highly prized that the grains are used for
money.

For want of streams, of which the country is sadly deficient, the
mills are mostly worked by animals, and are very inferior; and the
machinery is so bad, that the cotton is separated from the seed by the
hands of workpeople. The principal manufactures are cigars, cottons,
soap, tanned leather, gunpowder, pottery, and hats.

The rich people use a number of silver vessels, and a quantity of
plate, on account of the want of manufactures of china and glass, so
that the trade of a silversmith is rather good. Boots, saddles, and
coaches, are well made: but the furniture, which is mostly of pine and
cedar, is coarsely and clumsily put together.

The streets of Mexico are rather wide and well paved; the houses
are ornamental, and the churches and public buildings are
magnificent.--The rich people pass the greater part of the day on
their sofas, in darkened rooms; but in the evening, they appear
arrayed in the most elegant costume, for they are particularly partial
to parties and brilliant assemblies.

[Illustration]

There are numerous beggars, called Leperos, who are very drunken and
dishonest; but lively, voluble, and extremely civil; though they will
pick any body's pocket. There are also innumerable Indians, who make
earthen pots very neatly, and use them instead of iron or copper
vessels.

You have heard of Canada, which is a part of North America, and all
that now remains to England of her vast American colonies.--Well, we
have an enormous canoe from Canada!--I wonder who can have sent that?
A canoe, as you know, is a kind of boat, which uncivilized people, who
live near rivers, use. The canoes of Canada are of a very thin
material, and so light, that the boatmen, in passing overland from one
river to another, generally carry them on their heads. The canoes are
mostly covered with bark, the pieces of which are sewed together with
a particular kind of grass; the bark being usually not more t