202 DOCTORS AND THEIR BILLS. 



in abundance all. over the country. But lest 

 a knowledge of this scarcity of doctors should 

 induce some of the Esculapian faculty to 

 strike for Santa Fe in quest of fortune, I 

 would remark that the country affords very 

 poor patronage. Foreign physicians who 

 have visited New Mexico, have found the prac- 

 tice quite unprofitable ; not more for the want 

 of patients, than on account of the poverty 

 of the people. Nine-tenths of those who are 

 most subject to disease, are generally so desti- 

 tute of means, that the only return they can 

 make, is, ''Dios se lo pague'' (May God pay you I) 

 Even the more affluent classes do not hesi- 

 tate somethnes to liquidate then bills in the 

 same currency. A French doctor of Santa 

 Fe, who had been favored with too many pay- 

 ments of this description, was wont to rebuke 

 their '' Dios se lopague" with a "No, Senor, su 

 hoba me lo pagaru^'—No, Sij, your pocket shaU 

 pay me ! 



The mechanical arts have scarcely risen 

 above the condition they were found in among 

 the aborigines. Gold and silversmiths are 

 perhaps better skiUed in their respective trades 

 !u ^'^ ^">' <^ther class of artisans whatever ; as 

 the abundance of precious metals in former 

 days, and the ruHng passion of the people for 

 ostentatious show, gave a very early stimulus 

 to the exercise of tliis peculiar talent. Some 

 mechanics of this class have produced such 

 singular specimens of ingenious workman- 

 ship, that on examining them, we are almost 

 unwilling to believe that rude art could ac- 





