230 THE ADVENTURFS OF 



it is ripe, by scraping the plant with a long flexible knife, and 

 all the creatures, still alive, are plunged into boiling water. They 

 are taken out as soon as they are dead, and dried in the sun. 

 Afterwards, packed up in goat-skin bags, they are sent to Europe, 

 where they are used for dyeing and for making the carmine which 

 gives to some kinds of sweetmeats their bright pink colour." 



A little farther on, I found myself facing a maguey — agavt 

 mexkana — a sort of aloe, from which pulque is extracted. The 

 maguey only blooms once every twenty-five or thirty years, and 

 the stalk, which is to support the clusters of flowers, grows, in 

 the space of two months, to a height of about sixteen to twenty 

 feet. This stalk bears at its summit no less than four or five 

 thousand blossoms, and the plant expends all its strength in 

 producing them, for it dies soon after. 



In the plantations on the plains of Apam, where the maguey is 

 largely cultivated, they prevent its flowering. As soon as the 

 conical bud appears from which the stalk is about to spring, it 

 is cut off, and a cylindrical cavity is hollowed out with a large 

 spoon to a depth of from five to eight inches. The sap collects 

 in this hole, and it is taken out two or three times a day with a 

 long bent gourd, which the Indians use as a siphon. It has been 

 calculated that, in twenty-four hours, a strong plant should supply 

 about three quarts of a sweet liquor called agua miel, which is 

 without odour, and has an acidulated sweet taste. 



The agua miel is collected in ox-skins, placed like troughs 

 on four stakes, where the liquor ferments; in about seventy-two 

 hours it is ready for delivery to those that use it, among whom 

 must be placed many Europeans. A maguey plant is serviceable 

 in producing sap for two or three months. 



Pulque is an intoxicating beverage, the flavour of which varies 

 according to the degree of fermentation ; it might be compared 

 to good cider or perry, and is said to fatten those who habitually 

 drink it. 



I reached Coyotepec's dwelling just as the sun had set. Sumi- 

 chrast was finishing his work, and I'Encuerado, coming from a heap 

 of dry palm-leaves, presented to me a splendid broad-brimmed hat, 

 which he had just made. 



