CHARACTERS. 



601 



riches and treasures therein are 

 great beyond description. The 

 custodia is made of silver, and 

 contains thirty thousand ounces 

 of that metal ; it took sixty-four 

 ounces of pure gold to gild it. It 

 contains a great number of silver 

 pillars, and one hundred little 

 images of different saints, all of 

 most rare workmanship. In the 

 centre of the cathedral stands the 

 image of St. Hypohto, the patron 

 of Mexico, as large as life, made 

 of pure gold, and placed on a 

 shrine of silver. In another silver 

 shrine stands an image of the in- 

 fant Jesus, made of pure gold, and 

 adorned with eight hundred pre- 

 cious stones ; likewise a grand sil- 

 ver throne, on which is placed the 

 image of the Blessed Virgin, made 

 of silver, wearing a superb crown, 

 and adorned with a profusion of 

 valuable and precious stones, the 

 whole weighing sixty arrobas of 

 silver, which at twenty-five pounds 

 in each arroba, make fifteen hun- 

 dred pounds weight. In the cha- 

 pel of the blessed virgin is a 

 beautiful altar, made of silver and 

 richly inlaid with gold, worked in 

 the most curious manner, by an 

 ingenious artist. 



In this cathedral, there are forty- 

 eight candlesticks, all made of 

 silver, each measuring six feet in 

 height, and of curious workman- 

 ship. There are three hundred 

 masses saidevery day in this cathe- 

 dral. They consume annually at 

 the altars and in the processions, 

 eight hundred arrobas of oil, mak- 

 ing 2,500 Spanish gallons; twelve 

 hundred arrobas of wax, making 

 30,000 Spanish pounds ; one thou- 

 sand arrobas of wine, making 

 3,125 Spanish gallons. Ten large 

 gold lamps, and thirty large silver 



lamps, burn oil both night and 

 day. The vestments and other 

 ornaments of the archbishop and 

 the rest of the clergy, as like- 

 wise the ornaments exhibited on 

 the altars, are beautiful beyond 

 description, and as rich as can be 

 made, with gold and silver, co- 

 vered with diamonds, rubies, eme- 

 ralds, pearls, and other precious 

 stones, of dazzling lustre : gold 

 and silver stuffs ; embroidered vel- 

 vets, satins, silks, &c. are the 

 richest and mostvaluable that mo- 

 ney can purchase and procure, in 

 any part of the world, and were 

 brought from Europe by the re- 

 gister ships. The rest of the 

 churches, the monasteries, and the 

 nunneries, are proportionably rich 

 and splendid, and their revenues 

 are great. 



Their warehouses and shops, 

 from theirgreat display of precious 

 metals and massive jewellery, are 

 the richest and most valuable that 

 can be imagined, though art has 

 done little for their arrangement. 

 Many of their household utensils 

 are made of gold and silver. 



The great market-place is a su- 

 perb and spacious square, in the 

 centre of the city ; on one side of 

 it runs an arcade, under which are 

 some of the richest shops, and on 

 the other side stands the magnifi- 

 cent palace of the viceroy of Mexi- 

 co, built with a large square in the 

 centre, so that it forms four mag- 

 nificent fronts; the grand front 

 presenting itself to the market- 

 place. 



In this city there is a royal mint, 

 for the coining of dollars and 

 other silver coins, as likewise of 

 gold coins. There is also a royal 

 university, conducted by some of 

 the nio&t able and leained clergy, 



