The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-07-27
A MEXICAN MEAL.
Eatables and Drin kables at a
Wayside Inn.
Bread Like Cannon Balls, and Native
Fruits Washed Down with "Pulque."


able name, says a letter from Mexico to
the Philadelphia Record, we stopped for
luncheon, in its only public resting-place
"a typical Jfondita, which is Spanish for
'Iittle restaurant" The earth floor of
this waysidc inn was neatly swept, and
its whitewashed inner walls hung with
pictured saints wreathed with gaudy pa
per roses. Rickety legged benches
were ranged ~Gmmovably) around the ia
bic; and the only two chairs the estab-
Eshment afforded-which were kept as
articles of gertu, of little actual use to
their owners--were brought for the &C
eommodation Of los Americanas, who
were suspected of not wishing TO con
form to the rural custom of squatting up
on a petate (straw mat) spread on the
door. The windows, of course, were
guiltless of glass, and had the usual iron
bars before them, but I observed that the
rude barn-door-like shutters were Of solid
m~ahogany-a wool, by the way, which
Is cheaper in many parts of Mexico (be-
cause less rare) than common pine. The
great oaken door, with its enormous
hinges and lock like the brcastplate of a
medieval warrior, was quantity carved
probably not less than a century ago by
some long-forgotten artist. There are
many things in this wonderful country
which are calculated to arouse the spirit
Of highway robbery in the breast of the
most honorable tourist. I longcd to tear
that door from its hinges and run off with
It, or to seize from the shoulders of the
master of the mansion his zarape--a ma
tive blanket of softly blended oriental
HUGS, with the national escutchcon in
the centre "a big eagle perched upon a
cactus bush, with a serpent in his beak)
which would make a most ravishing
portiere.
Our refreshments were speedily served
upon a well-scoured table to which the
addition of a cloth would have been an
incongruous superfuity, and the menu
was as follows: Stewed frs;oles cred
beans), with our choice as to ssseason-
tng"-whether. we would pour rancid
goats milk over them or molasses from
the Chinese sugar-cane ;small black loaves
Of Mexican bread that would have made
excellent cannon balls, of course without
butter, which does not 'tgrow" in this
country; watercresses and fresh olive oil,
from which we compounded a salad fit
for an emperor's table; wild honey and
stewed apricots and q basket of ripe tam
ninds, po~megranates, figs and mangoes,
arranged in their own green leaves, as
che poorest of these people have a taste
full habit of doing. The inevitable
pulquc was at hand in a pig-skin ''bot-
he" which retains the perfect shape of
The animal, minus head and tail, and
gurgled an approving note, alarmingly
IKE life, while its contents were being
smptied into our mugs. These so-called
"pig-skins" are really the undressed hides
of sheep, with the woolly side turned in.
Nothing else is considered so good for
holding the popular beverage, though
! we are told that a skin of small size costs
not less than So. so, aud lasts little more
than a month, as the constant fermenta-
ton going on inside soon cats the wool
off. In this volcanic country the travel
Ter must eschew water, or suffer serious
consequences, and one must drink some
thing besides the bitter Mexican coffee;
therefore we long ago made up our minds
to pulque-the cheap drink of the ma
!tives-and pulque it is, every day of our
lives at dinner. Iconfess, how. yer, that
it required considerable effort to educate
ourselves to it, and it was only accom-
plished by %resolutely fixing our thoughts
upon that glorious product of the year
the century plant-from whence it came,
and by repeatedly assuring one another
that the thick, white, nasty liquid re-
sembles home buttermilk, though we
know it to be an outrageous libel on
northern diaries. But, even now.
Betsy and 1 sometimes amuse ourselves
In leisure moments striving to compute
the quantity of sleeps wool which we
must have absorbed in the course of the
last two years, since the contents of each
alleged pig-skin contains a good deal of
tin solution, " so to speak.
Immediately following this dainty re-
past the mistress of the Jfondita produced
her private cigarette holder and rendered
us the customary courtesy with the air of
. princess, an act of kindly hospitality
which we would not for the world have
wounded her ~feelinrs hu ref,,ainn