AN ECONOMIC STUDY OF MEXICO. 733 



south of the Rio Grande, that in the United States, east of the 

 Mississippi, would be regarded as of any special importance. In re- 

 spect, therefore, to this element of commercial prosperity, Mexico has 

 been characterized as less favored than any considerable country ex- 

 cept Arabia ; the name of which last, as is well known, stands almost 

 as a synonym for aridity. 



No one accurately knows the actual population of Mexico, as no 

 accurate census has ever been taken ; and there is no immediate pros- 

 pect that any will be : certainly not so long as a majority of the peo- 

 ple have a fear of giving any information in respect to their numbers, 

 as is represented, and a not inconsiderable part of the country, as has 

 already been pointed out, has never yet been brought under the rule 

 of civil authority. The estimate is, however, from ten to twelve 

 million ; and of this number, fully nine tenths are believed to be 

 located upon the high or table lands, and only one tenth on the low- 

 lands of the east and west coasts. 



So much, then, for Mexico, considered geographically or in respect 

 to its natural conditions. Let us next, as a means of better compre- 

 hending its present condition, briefly consider its historical, social, and 

 political experiences. 



The authentic history of Mexico practically commences with its 

 conquest and occupation by the Spaniards under Cortes in 1521. The 

 general idea is, that the peoj^le whom the Spaniards found in Mexico 

 had attained to a degree of civilization that raised them far above the 

 level of the average Indians of North America, more especially in all that 

 pertained to government, architecture, agriculture, manufactures, and 

 the useful arts, and the production and accumulation of property. For 

 all this there is certainly but very little foundation, and the fascinat- 

 ing narrations of Prescott, which have done so much to make what 

 is popularly considered "Mexican history," as well as the Spanish 

 chronicles from which Prescott drew his so-called historic data, are, in 

 the opinion of the writer, and with the exception of the military rec- 

 ord of the Spaniards, little other than the merest romance, not much 

 more worthy, in fact, of respect and credence than the equally fasci- 

 nating stories of " Sinbad the Sailor." And, in defense and warrant 

 for such an unusual and perhaps unpopular conclusion, attention is 

 asked to the following circumstances and reasons : 



In the Museum of the city of Mexico, there is probably the best col- 

 lection of the remains of the so-called Aztec people that ever has, or 

 probably ever will be gathered. Here, ranged upon shelves and prop- 

 erly classified, the visitor will see a large number and variety of their 

 tools, weapons, and implements. Setting aside their fictile or pottery 

 products, they are all of stone — the same arrow-heads, the same stone 

 hatchets, pestles, and the like, which are still picked up on the fields and 

 along the water-courses of New England, the South, and the West ; 

 and of which there are so many public and private collections in the 



