SPANISH AMERICA. 5? I 



The former is of the animal kind, and of the species of the gall 

 insects. It adheres to the plant called opuntia ; and sucks the juice 

 of the fruit, which is of a crimson colour. It is. from this juice that 

 the cochineal derives its value; which consists in dyeing all sorts of 

 the finest scarlet, crimson, and purple. It is also used in medicine as 

 a sudorific, and as a cordial ; and it is computed that the Spaniards 

 annually export no less than nine hundred thousand pounds weight of 

 this commodity to answer the purposes of medicine and dyeing. The 

 cocoa, of which chocolate is made, grows on a tree of a middling size, 

 which bears a pod about the size and shape of a cucumber, contain- 

 ing the cocoa. The Spanish commerce in this article is immense ; 

 and such is the general consumption, as well as the external call for it) 

 that a small garden of cocoa trees is said to produce to the owner 

 twenty thousand crowns a year. At home it makes a principal part of 

 their diet, and is found wholesome, nutritious, and suitable to the cli- 

 mate. This country likewise produces silks, but not in such quantity 

 as to make any remarkable part of its export. Cotton is here in great 

 abundance, and, on account of its lightness, is the common wear of 

 the inhabitants. 



Animals.. ..Horses, asses, sheep, goats, hogs, dogs, and cats, have 

 been transported into this country from the old continent, and have all 

 multiplied. Horned cattle are found wild, in herds of from 30 to 

 40,000, and are killed merely for the sake of their hides. Among the 

 native animals are the puma and jaquar, or American lion and tiger : 

 the Mexican or hunchback dog, a kind of porcupine ; wild cats, foxes, 

 squirrels, and armadillos. The prodigious number of birds, their va- 

 riety and qualities, have occasioned some authors to observe, that as 

 Africa is the country of beasts, so Mexico is the country of birds. It 

 is said there are 200 species peculiar to this part of America. 



Population.. ..The population of Mexico has been estimated at 

 500,000 Spaniards, one million of negroes and mulattoes, and two 

 millions of native Indians. The number of inhabitants in all the Spa- 

 nish provinces in North America has been computed at about seven 

 millions; of whom the Spaniards are supposed to amount to one mil- 

 lion, the native Indians to four millions, and the persons of mixed 

 races to two millions. 



Character of inhabitants. ...We have already described the ori- 

 ginal inhabitants of Me::ico, and the conquest of that country by the 

 Spaniards. The present inhabitants may be divided into whites, Indi- 

 ans, and negroes. The whites are either born in Old Spain, or they 

 are Creoles, i. e. natives of Spanish America. The former are chiefly 

 employed in government or trade, and have nearly the same charac- 

 ter with the Spaniards in Europe ; only a still greater portion of piude, 

 lor they consider themselves as entitled to very high distinction as 

 natives of Europe, and look upon the other inhabitants as many de- 

 grees beneath them. The Creoles have all the bad qualities of the 

 Spaniards, from whom they are descended, without that courage, 

 firmness, and patience, which constitute the praise-worthy part of the 

 Spanish character. Naturally weak and effeminate, they dedicate 

 the greatest part of their lives to loitering and inactive pleasures. 

 Luxurious without variety or elegance, and expensive with great pa- 

 rade and little convenience, their general character is no more than 

 a grave and specious insignificance. From idleness and constitution, 

 their whole business is amour and intrigue ; and their ladies of con- 

 sequence, are not at all distinguished for their chastity and domestic 



