San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-09-15

They burn charcoal, having furnaces; made
Of the same es<then.wars; their dishes arc
made Of the same material andrersmbIs iAal-
low bowls, wooden spoon. scsvss for stir
ring and ladling out the commodity which
has the appearapce Of . pot Of red paint.
When customer comes along, he y dealt
out his portion in one Of these bowls, he
squats down ON the ground Il Il is dry, and
II wet, be siss ON q chip or rock, aud TAX
ing, o arOll Of tortillas from, some recess in
his blanket proceeds 70 Lusinem without
knife, fork or spoon. The tortilla serving
admirably the purpose Of The latter when
dexterously handled, though operating more
after the manner offa scoop. Tables or
chairs are never used, which, together with
knives, forks and spoonsare, among the Mex
lean Indians, considered altogether superda-
ous The habits and customs Of these people
are dirty and repugnant IN The extreme, aud
they have no osense ofdelicacy They predom-
mate largely in the streets, which are full
Of them from early morn till late at night,
and the men with their dirty blankets and
the barsfooted women with their greasy re- .
bosas, which serves a. shawl.and covering
forthe head, lendanything butt picturesque
appearance to the acene; on the contrary, It
givesa poverty stricken appearancsto every.
thing. Added to thisis the ancient appear.
ance Of the heavy solid stone builings Of
which all the cities are composed, which has.
tendency to lend . gloomy effect to per-
sons coming here for the first time wnen con-
trasting It with the. brighter and more cheer
full appearance Of modern cities. II the. !,
ancient prison.like buildings and thess dirty.
ragged Indians could be done away with this
would be beautiful country. have 'ttavelt d
nearly q thousand milssin MEXICO this sum-
mer, and with the exception of yery, Cruz on
the coast, have not seen the Thermometer
register over SOC in the middle of the dsy,.
from the 18th Of June up to the present time
in August, OF course this is ON the table,
lands, but they constitute nearly three-fourths
!.
Of the Republic, extending about twelve hum
dred miles from north to south through the
center Of the country, having y width Of from
four to six hundred miles. The altitude Of
this immense extent Of country ranges from
five to eight thousand miles above the sea -.
The city Of Mexico 10 seven thousand six hun-s
dred feet. Asyou approach the coast on
either the Gulf or Pacific sida yon have a
gradual descent, 30 that in this country ane,
can get any climate from one foot above ules
sea to eight thousand !. and then there are
mountains extending, to fifteen. thousand
feet, some Of which. are covered with per-
petual snow, and. in three cities / visited,
the ice we used every day WINS brough from
these mountains. The snow can be- seen
quite distinctly on the tops Of these mcun-
tains. from, the city Of Mexico, The princi-
pal products Of thesa,tpbls. lands are corn
and frijoles (beans) an article on which thu
natives largely subsist. These are plant h
as soon as the rainy season begins genera
ly in. May. Wheat and barley are also rails
ed there, but only where they have facilities
for. irrigating. A scarcity Of water is ,ona of
the drawbacks to the table lands. The. rainy
season lasts about four monthsr--pat adrop
of rain the balance of the year. The airrat
this altitude is very pure, but very thin
hence is no place for persons with diseased
lungs or asthmatic troubles Ahorse, could
not run half mile In this atmosphere at full
speed, so that when they have races, which
is seldom, the track is 300 yards and Of
course necessarily in straight line. One
of the peculiarities of this rare, dry DQs-
phere, is that q person does not require IU lFe
than hall. the amount of food necessary a
lower attitudes. One hearty meal day is ail
one has an appetite fcr The custom is cof-
fee in the morning, breakfast at II azp. to l
p. M, which.is the principal meal, and with
mapy it is all, except. chocolate and cake in
the evening, though many take light sup
per. Dinner seems to have been lost. though
the SO called breakfast amounts to the same
thing. except that it is the first meal Of The
day.
AsI nm on.my way back to Texas through
the. interior. where Ishall arrive in few
weeks, my next, If should find time to write
again, viii be description Of an. overlan.l
trip from Mexico City TO the Rio Gnsnde.
Respectfully yours.
Aasas H. Broys.
SanAntpnio. .TeSss.