9 



face upon a narrow longitudinal strip of the leaf, which is 

 then drawn through by the unemployed hand. The length, 

 weight, strength, and other qualities of the fibres, as well as 

 the labour of separating them, vary with the magnitude, age, 

 and position of the leaves; but, when extracted, a few hours' 

 exposure to the sun completes the preparation of the Sisal 

 hemp for manufactures and commerce. 



" The above brief sketch will shew that the bales of ex- 

 ported Sisal hemp may contain materials of very different 

 qualities ; and that hence the opinions of its merits expressed 

 by our merchants, our manufacturers, and our scientific men, 

 must vary with the parcels that fall into their hands. The 

 fibres of a single cultivated variety of the Agave Sisalana 

 might be assorted like cotton for the foreign market, with 

 denominations and prices corresponding to their relative 

 value ; but the collectors for exportation, unconscious of the 

 true interests of themselves or their country, not merely 

 mingle the whole products of both the Sacqui and the Yaxqui, 

 but add inferior qualities, obtained from wild varieties of the 

 same, and even of different species ; and injure still further 

 the reputation of this sample abroad, by including the worst 

 proceeds of its imperfect dressings. 



"The peninsula of Yucatan embraces the worst soils of 

 any province of Mexico. It is principally composed of arid, 

 cavernous limestone, and has not a river, brook, or spring 

 within several hundred miles of the coast, beginning at 

 Campeachy and running thence north to Sisal, east to Cape 

 Catoche, and south down to Bacalar. Nature has, however, 

 compensated the aridity of both soil and air by bestowing 

 upon the indolent inhabitants very valuable plants, princi- 

 pally composed of large succulent leaves, or long flesh}'- and 

 fibrous leaves, which propagate themselves both on the stony 

 surfaces of the interior and the sandy shores of the coast. 

 Those species and varieties whose living leaves yield supe- 

 rior substitutes for hemp, are the most remarkable, and the 

 plants themselves are embraced by the natives under the 

 generic name of Henequen. As the Spanish j has the sound 

 of our h, the white or Spanish Mexicans frequently write the 

 common name thus, Jenequen for Henequen. The coarse 

 foliaceous fibres obtained from the green leaves of all the 

 species are called by the generic name of Sosquil. The 

 equivalent to this Mexican term for coarse foliaceous fibres 



A. Januari/y 1839. b 



