92 A NATURALIST IN MEXICO. . 



The principal market-place is situated near the plaza, 

 at its southwest end, a block away. Sunday morning is the 

 great market day of the week, the same as in all Mexican 

 cities. Each line of trade has its special location, and the 

 confusion of tongues, while bartering is going on, would 

 silence the New York Stock Exchange. Occasionally, in 

 the market, one will witness the Mexican style of saluting 

 each other. This they do by embracing, and patting each 

 other on the back in a most demonstrative manner. This 

 seems rather a queer salutation for individuals of the same 

 sex. 



A tourist soon becomes acquainted with the topogra- 

 phy of the city. The chief business street leads from the 

 railroad d^pot to the Plaza Major. The most fashionable 

 street for shopping is that known as the Street of the Silver- 

 smiths. This is nearly a mile in length, and of good width. 

 The streets are mostly named from churches or convents 

 standing on or near them. One street is named the 

 Street of the Holy Ghost, after the church of the same 

 name, situated near by. The Calle de San Francisco is 

 another of the business thoroughfares devoted to busi- 

 nesses of all kinds. The streets near the Plaza Major, 

 and Alameda, are lighted by electricity, other portions of 

 the city proper by gas, and the outlying districts by oil- 

 fed lanterns. One object, always observable in the city at 

 night, is the lantern of the policeman placed in the middle 

 of the junction of the streets, with the policeman himself 

 standing beside it. The police system of the city is 

 excellent, and very few street brawls happened during our 

 six weeks' sojourn. 



The shops of Mexico, instead of having the name of the 

 proprietor over the entrance, as in the United States, are 

 all named; some of these names are worthy of record, and 



