WEAVING A BLANKET IN INDIAN MEXICO 



The hand-woven blankets made by the Indian girls, to whom a dime a day is a good 

 wage, although they begin work at sunrise and labor until sunset, are the admiration and 

 despair of all who appreciate fine handiwork or value perfect color combinations. A small 

 blanket bought in Mexico City five years ago, although it has been used as a wall tapestry 

 ever since, seems as bright in every one of its rainbow colors as on the day it was bought. 

 The weaving is so perfect that it has no right or wrong side. 



ford a saccharine matter not found to the 

 same extent in northern latitudes, and 

 supplied the natives with sugar little in- 

 ferior to that of the cane itself, which 

 was not introduced among them till after 

 the Conquest. 



THE MAGUEY'' S VERSATILITY 



But the miracle of nature was the great 

 Mexican aloe, or maguey, whose cluster- 

 ing pyramids of flowers, towering above 

 their dark coronals of leaves, were seen 

 sprinkled over many a broad acre of the 

 table-land. As we have already noticed, 

 its bruised leaves afforded a paste from 

 which paper was manufactured; its juice 



was fermented into an intoxicating bev- 

 erage, pulque, of which the natives to 

 this day are excessively fond ; its leaves 

 further supplied an impenetrable thatch 

 for the more humble dwellings ; thread, 

 of which coarse stuffs were made, and 

 strong cords, were drawn from its tough 

 and twisted fibers ; pins and needles were 

 made of the thorns at the extremity of its 

 leaves, and the root, when properly 

 cooked, was converted into a palatable 

 and nutritious food. The agave, in short, 

 was meat, drink, clothing, and writing 

 materials for the Aztec ! 



The Mexicans were as well acquainted 

 with the mineral as with the vegetable 



