AEMIJo's IMPOST. 113 



T 



For a few years, Gov. Armijo of Santa Fe, 

 established a tariff of his own, entirely arbi- 

 trary, — exacting five hundred dollars for each 

 wagon-load, whether large or small — of fine 

 or coarse goods ! Of course this was very- 

 advantageous to such traders as had latge 

 wagons and costly assortments, wliile it was 

 no less onerous to those with smaller vehicles 

 or coarse heavy goods. As might have been 

 anticipated, the traders soon took to conveying 

 their merchandise only in the largest wagons, 

 drawn by ten or twelve mules, and omitting 

 the coarser and more weighty articles of 

 trade. This caused the governor to return to 

 an ad valorem system, though still witliout re- 

 gard to the Arancel general of the nation. 

 How much of these duties found their way 



into the public treasur}'', I will not venture to 

 assert. 



The arrival of a caravan at Santa Fe 

 changes the aspect of the place at once. In- 

 stead of the idleness and stagnation which its 

 streets exhibited before, one now sees every- 

 where the bustle, noise and activity of a lively 

 market town. As the Mexicans very rarely 

 peak English, the negotiations are mostly 

 conducted in Spanish. 



Taking the circuit of the stores, I found 

 they usually contained general assortments, 

 niuch like those to be met with in the retaU 

 variety stores of the west. The stocks of the 

 inexperienced merchants are apt to abound 

 in unsalable goods — muhs, as the Mexicans 

 figuratively term them. 



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