152 ON THE GARDENS OF MEXICO. 



general Sandoval took up his quarters in the dwelling of the lord of 

 the place, surrounded by gardens which rivalled those of Iztapalapan 

 in magnificence, and surpassed them in extent. They are said to 

 have been two leagues in circumference, having pleasure houses, and 

 numerous tanks stocked with various kinds of fish, and they were 

 embellished with trees, shrubs, and plants, native and exotic; some 

 selected for their beauty and fragrance, others for their medicinal 

 properties. They were scientifically arranged; and the whole of 

 the establishment displayed a horticultural taste and knowledge, of 

 which it would not have been easy to find a counterpart at that day 

 in the more civilized communities of Europe. Such is the testimony 

 not only of the rude conquerers, but of men of science, who visited 

 these beautiful repositories in the day of their glory. 



" But the best wealth of the first settlers was in the vegetable 

 productions of the soil, whether indigenous or introduced from abroad 

 by the wise economy of Cortes. He had earnestly recommended the 

 Crown to require all vessels coming to the country to bring over a 

 certain quantity of seeds and plants. He made it a condition of the 

 grants of land on the plateau, that the proprietor of every estate 

 should plant a specified number of vines in it. He further stipulated, 

 that no one should get a clear title to his estate until he had occupied 

 it eight years. He knew that permanent residence could alone 

 create that interest in the soil which would lead to its efficient 

 culture ; and that the opposite system had caused the impoverish- 

 ment of the best plantations in the islands. His various regulations, 

 some of them not a little distasteful to the colonists, augmented the 

 agricultural resources of the country by the addition of the most 

 important European grains, and other vegetables, for which the 

 diversified climate of New Spain was admirably adapted. The 

 sugar-cane was transplanted from the neighbouring islands to the 

 lower level of the country, and, together with indigo, cotton, and 

 cochineal, formed a more desirable staple for the colony than its 

 precious metals. Under the sun of the tropics, the peach, the 

 almond, the orange, the vine, and the olive, before unknown there, 

 flourished in the gardens of the table-land, at an elevation twice as 

 great as that at which the clouds are suspended in summer above our 

 heads. The importation of a European fruit or vegetable was hailed 

 by the simple colonists with delight. The first produce of the exotic 



