

u 



c iTai-mci-'s illoni!)l|) lUsitor. 



eparate the bran from the flonr. It then makes a 



ight bread; and I must say, I have never eaten sweet- 



f or better liijht bread than is made by the bakers in 



Tcnelova and Parras. 

 Oal3 and rye are not grown in Alexico. Corn is 

 flol generally fed to horses. When they are fed with 

 grain at all, it ,s usually v. iih barley, which grows fine- 

 ly ; but little of it is raised, however. 



Nearly all descriptions of vegetables grow finely. 

 M ilh most kinds, a person may select his own lioio 

 for planting. Fresh peas, lettuce, beans, &c., may 

 lie had the year round, by planting them' repeatedly. 

 I saw pe.nssuL inches in length growing ui Parras on 

 the 16th December, which were planted for a winter 

 rop. As the chmate is so propitious, arid all plants 

 lave to be reared by irrigation, a planter or gardener 

 Jiay select hi.s own lime for planting. I 



It might not be profitable to plant corn in llie fall ; 

 ut there is a wide range from February ,to August to 

 I'Ut It into the ground, and still have a good crop. 



Oranges grow beautifullv und iiiognilicenlly ; but to 

 ur great disappointment, they are all of tjhe sour kind, 

 weet oranges are cultivated farther ^outh, and in 

 iwer plains and valleys, near the sea coa;9t. 



An execution to be levied on Irish potii.toes, if sent 

 ito Mexico, would be returned, "not found in the 

 ailiwick They cannot be profitably raised. By 

 le aid ol a search warrant and a magnify ing glass, 1 



were the size 



id find a 



few in Saltillo. They were' the size of 

 larbles and pigeons' eggs, and were of l»ittle account 

 eat. I 



' Pumpkins, and a variety of squashes, .'grow abun- 

 dantly, and are much used. As a genera 1 thing, very 

 lew vegetables are used by the Mexicans., except red 

 pepper. - "^ 



an ' 



XICANS. 



are of the 

 well said, 

 f every kind, 

 I'he same 

 t( he conquest. 



F.IRMING UTENSILS OF THE ME 



The firming utensils of the Mexi 

 .tidest possible description. It has bee 

 that they seem to be opposed to change o 

 except in their governors and government .. 

 ntensils which were used by Cortez, at 

 m the sixteenth century, are used at'this i day in Mexi^ 



' kiding, on the lOlh of December, upl the valley in 

 t' hich I .,,r;,s IS situated, I came to a fiej^d where they 

 vwere sowing wheat. The sower wai , sowing the 

 \»vh,,t broadcast on the unploughed gioui' id. Twenty- 

 tlhiee ploughs fo lowed each other, on thft same land, 

 l.loughing the (vheal in. A contrivance for a harrow, 

 trcvellcd the ground after the plnudi.«. "Each plough 

 ],.asorawnb) two o.xen. 'J'he ploughs irwcre of the 

 1- >ie paltern used by the Romans two t'oousand years 

 j-^ce. Ihey were made of the fork ofela sma' 

 one prong of which answered for the bil."am 



aeul long enough to fa: ' ' 



c 



4 



a«e 



plough— lock, stock and barrel '"''' """ 

 jjcannot be found, the short stick 



A„ / •":'"'"•'"« Ol ine loru 01 eia small tree, 



one prong of which answered for the bmeam, and was 



rw s r? T"r'' '"/'""" '^' °-^«" '»; ""« "'l'^'- P^-S 



1 nd , 'T "^^ ^"'^ '""?!• ••'"'' «ha l.pened at the 



1 nd, and a single stick fastened into the iWork and pio- 

 'T"l "■r'V "'^'J« 'he handle. This wv's the wliob 



When ' a forked tree 



lnn„ „., , ri'L ' , " " ■""•" ''^ mori;ticed into the 



'i tn!Z < 'fe*;! P™"g ''■"' "■'^ couf tcr_lhe long 



y-Z'Jr "'7/-•7''^ ^vhich, in turn, w^' s fastened in 

 ,. e\iH 5 "'"' """-'horns of the oxen, by^. another raw- 

 emde thong The handle was held hJ\ a pteon who 



'1 t »e,n , ,'," "" '"'' "'" ■'- ^'"'^h '' -^ ""^P^-inglv 

 (,C Hinge their direction. ' 



''■Uraltl^V-"''"^^""^^'- ''^^-^ theh,'' coulter shod 

 <i IcLt Z :?"' '^'''"^^^'"S " bull, .totigue, eight 



. t;l ,li"e',,lo'uS " ="'""' ''""4!~ -"'^ 



'^''"■' gi-ouiid is never thoroughly brokJ"^n tin 

 '..only scratched into furrows a few^inrsf'dec ' 



and 

 F.lforls 



ventions. It has not a piece of iron in it or about it. 

 It is constructed entirely of wood and raw hide. The 

 axletree is a rough-hewed log, rounded at the ends. 

 The wheels are made of knotty live-oak, two feet and 

 a half through the hub, and trimmed down to seven 

 iiiches in the tread. Two slabs of the same width are 

 pinned on to the centre piece, to give rotundity to the 

 wheel. A heavy tongue is morticed into the axle, and 

 has a wooden pin inserted through the upper end, by 

 which to fasten it to the joke. T'he body is made of 

 wooden poles, inserted into round saplings eight feet 

 long. This is used for hauling wood, &c. When 

 they wish to haul corn, corn-stalks are placed acros.s 

 the wooden poles, and lashed tightly to them with 

 strips of raw hide. When wheat or shelled corn is to 

 be carried, they line the inside of the stalk bed with 

 matting made of the palmilla, which resembles the 

 material of which gunny-bags are made. 



The ox yoke is a piece of timber five inches wide 

 and three inches thick, slightly indented near each 

 end. This is lied in front of and across the horns, 

 with a piece of tough raw hide. Another piece fas- 

 tens the yoke tightly to the tongue of the cart. A 

 second yoke of catlle is usually fastened to the cart. 

 A strong rope of raw hide, of sufficient length, fastens 

 their yoke to the tongue of the cart. 



The driver moves along by the side of the cart, 

 sometimes on foot and sometimes riding an ugly, ill- 

 natured looking mustang, with a long ox-goad in his 

 hand. He uses this very freely, and when he wishes 

 to " file left," he pops his goad into the olT ox, who 

 screws Ins tail and runs around his fellow, and changes 

 the direction of the cart. They move more briskly 

 than .'\merican oxen. This is no wonder, for they are 

 all taught to " walk Spanish." 



They haul very large loads in these carts, and travel 

 as fast as horse teams usually do on a journey. A 

 Mexican frequently carries his wife and children in 

 these carts. He then puts a raw hide on the bottom, 

 to keep the children ftom falling through, and puts 

 another over the top for a cover, when in crawls the 

 whole family. As soon as " all's set," he hisses at 

 his oxen, as a bear hunter would do when close on 

 bruin, and off starts the whole contrivance, with a full 

 band of road music. 



Some ladies in the United States seem to be fond of 

 travelling in stages and railroad ears with squalling 

 children, to the great annoyance of their fellow-pas- 

 .sengers. I would advise such, by all means, to try a 

 Jiexican cart, for however much a cross-grained brat 

 may scream and hawl, it would not in the least dis- 

 turb his neighbors, or interfere with the harsh discord 

 produced by the outlandish screeching of a Mexican 

 cart. 



t '\n-,'n I -■■■•" ■-•■"vva ,1 lew incies deet). I oris 



! : ine been made to introduce better pIou''"nhs md son e 

 t , j've been broi/Sht from the United' .Vl'ates'. But ," e 

 ' b : n": ; "" "''=.'° "- "'-'• l>''"hey wc7c ; on 



• ploiL'li 'in,7r.Tn"'T /'"/'"'l.''^ a conl.iuivance aa the 



;-:^typi:f'X!;i;:;::i'Ti/-'-d""''-^ 

 ""-'ft';;--;:-^r;h:;l'w-f 



r<ms at the |ir.t conquest of Mexico 



:tj — 1 for preparing 

 r^ed by Ihc Iiuli- 



them. •» <-'J'"actci as I knoiv^^^^ how to gwe 



to 



ri'l von f: ■■'".'' '•"'■■"''I'-' 'ho .'''•'.piM.rparlof a 



•^ 'houdt'v;'V"'?r- " '""'^-^ r.^'^^UL. .ha 



..nenc;.ed,h;ro'f:h:.;i:""'"""'" ^-"-i «"- "-«"■"- 



:NV .Mexican c«r. jn ,he mo^t uniquo.J; of „U their in- 

 itio i*""-, ^WA'.*"- • * ' . 

 — -'t'aves I 



Pigeon Expresses. 



Among the various plans adopted of late years fur 

 securing early intelligence for Stock Exchange purposes, 

 none have proved more successful than that of "pigeon 

 expresses." Till within the last seven or eight years, 

 the ordinary courier brought the news from the conti- 

 nent; and It was only the Rotlhschilds, and one or two 

 other important firn:s, that " ran " intelligence in anti- 

 cipation of the regular French mail. However, about 

 ten years ago, the project was conceived of establish- 

 ing a eommunicalion between Paris and London by 

 nieaiis of pigeons, and in the course of two years it 

 was in complele operation. The training of the birds 

 considerable time before they could be relied on; and 

 the delays and organization required to perfect the 

 scheme, not only involved a vast expenditure of time 

 but also of money. In the first place, to make the 

 communication ui' use on both sides of the channel, it 

 was necessary to get two distinct estMblisliments for the 

 flight pigeons, one in England and the other in France. 

 It was then nece.5.i;ary that persons in whom reliance 

 could be placed, should be stationed ir. the two capitals, 

 to be in readiness to receive or despatch the birds that 

 might bring or carry the intelligence, and make it 

 available for the parties interested. Hence it became 

 necessary that one speculator, without he was a very 

 wealthy man, could not hope to support a " pigeon '' 

 express. The consequence was, that the project being 

 meetcd, two or three of the sjieculators including bro- 

 kers of Ilic house Ihemselves, joined, and wcuked for 

 their own benefit. Through this medium several of the 

 dealers have made largo sums of iiiouey; but the trade 

 is scarcely so profitable as it was, because the success 

 of the first operators has induced othei.s to follow the 

 example ol eslabliahing this species of communication. 

 The cost of keeping a " pigcoa " express has been es- 

 timated at .tCU(.> ur X;uOa year; but whether this 

 amouul i.s lua-jnified with the view of deterring others 

 from venturing into the speculation, isaqueslioii which 

 never seems to have been properly explained. It ii 

 staled that the daily p.iper.i avail' themselves of thu 

 news bnnight by these " expresses;" but in cousider- 

 atiopi of allowing ihe speculators to read the despatch- 

 es first, propiirlois, it is understood, bear but a mi/ii- 

 III am proporiion of the expenses;. The birds generallv 

 used are of the Antwerp breed; strong in the wing, 

 fully featlicrod. Tho months in which they urecliieflv 



worked are the latter end of May, June, July, August 

 and the beginning of September, and though' the newa 

 may not always be of importance, communication is 

 generally kept on daily between London and Paris in 

 this manner. 



In I837-3S-39 and 40, a great deal of money was 

 made by the " pigeon men," as the speculators sup- 

 posed to have possession of such intelligence are fa- 

 miliarly termed ; and their appearance in the market 

 was alway.s indicative of a rise or fall, according to the 

 tendency of their operations. Having the first chance 

 ol buying or selling, they of course had the markets 

 in their own hands; but, as time progressed, and it was 

 found that the papers, by their " secoad edition," 

 would communicate the news, the gener.il brokers re- 

 fused to do business until the papers reached the city. 

 The pigeons bringing the newa occasionally got sh'ot 

 down on their passage; but, as a flock of sotiie eight or 

 a dozen are started at a time, miscarriage is not of fre- 

 quent occurrence. .\t Ihe time of the death of Mr. 

 Rothschild one was caught at Brighton, having been 

 disabled by a gun-shot wound; and, beneath the should- 

 er of the left wing was discovered a small note with 

 the words "II est mort,'' followed by a number of hi- 

 eroglyphics. Each pigeon establishment has a method 

 of communication entirely their own; and the conduc- 

 tors, if they fancy the key to it is in another person's 

 power, immediately vary it. A case of this descrip- 

 tion occurred not long ago. The parties interested in 

 the scheme f incied that, however soon they received 

 intelligence, there were others in the market who were 

 quite equ.il with them. In order to arrive at the real 

 position of afiiiirs, the chief proprietor consented, at 

 the advice of a friend, to pay .f 10 for the yearly peru- 

 sal of a supposed rival's " pigeon expre.ss." The "ex- 

 press " came on hand; ho read it, and was a little sur- 

 prised to find that he was in reality paying for the pe- 

 rusal of his own news! The truth soon came out. — 

 Somebody had bribed the keeper of his pigeons, and 

 were thus not only making a profit by the sale of his 

 iotelligence, but also on the speculations they in conse- 

 quence conducted. The defect was soon remedied by 

 changing the style of the characters employed, and ail 

 went right as before. 



Before the daily press established theirown exclusive 

 sources of information, these caterers for the public 

 were much indebted to the Stock Exchange people for 

 rumoi's, or to those members who could supply them 

 with the nature of the intelligence that affected the val- 

 ue of the dillennt secuiificsl but sur-h has been the 

 progress of the age through the indefatigable exerlion.s 

 of the conductors of our journals, that iTot only are the 

 expresses of the Rothschilds useless for priority of in- 

 formation, but also that of the Government. SirRob- 

 ert Peel, a t\'w months since, in the House of Com- 

 mons, acknowledged the obligation he was under to the 

 editor of 'The Times for the perusal of India papers, 

 containing news of interest on the state of Punjuub, 

 they having been received at that office in advance of 

 all sin.ilar establishments. The " pigeon expresses," 

 though they serve but for a few months in the year, oc- 

 casionally communicate important inlelligence; and it 

 is by a few lucky events of this sort occurring that the 

 proprietors stand a chance of profit or remuneration. It 

 will often happen that three months out of the fourths 

 intelligence is not worth using for Stock Exchange op- 

 erations, and several of the seasons lately have been 

 most barren in this respecl. — Physiolo^ij of London 

 Ijusiness, 



Severe Freshet.— Damaitc So the Northern 

 Ruilroati. 



The Merrimack and Contoornok rivers rose to a 

 higher point last week than has happened the case for 

 several years past, overflowing their Ininks in many pla- 

 ces and covering the lower intervale grounds with wa- 

 ter. T'he principal damage sust.-iined in this vicinity, 

 has occlirrud on the line of the iXoilbeni Railroad be- 

 tween this town and Boscawen, a distance of 10 miles. 

 The road has been badly damaged at several poinia, 

 so much so that the passage of the cars must necessa- 

 rily he interrupted for some time. Pussengers are al 

 present conveyed in stages between this town and Bos- 

 cawen. .'\t Farnuiii's Eddy, one mile above here, the 

 hca\y embankiiient ha.s been considerably injured, but 

 in no place entirelj carried away. The two embank- 

 ments atSewalJ's Island both stand securely. W Good- 

 win s Point, however, where an attempt has been 

 made, at consiiler;;blf? expense, to turn the rixer by cut- 

 ting a new channel, oneof tho embankments und bridg- 

 ing across the old channel of the river has been almost 

 entirely destroyed, and the other more than half car- 

 ried away. \s ,1 will necessarily require several week* 

 to put tbeui again in a passable condilion, passengers 

 must in the mean t'mie bo carried round by coachcri. 

 '1 he etiibankiiienls at the two mouths ol the Contoocook 

 (at the jiinclion of that river Willi the .Merrimack near 

 I"ishers\ lUe) lia\e been somevvliat iiijuied, but can bo 

 rcp.iired in a day or two, so that ihe ears can p.ass. — 

 The le.o bridges at lliese points both stand, allluiugh 

 the water rose as high as the lop of their ubutmenrs. 

 Had there Iwen an ict>-fre«het, in our opinion it would 



