INDIANS OF MECHOACAN. 341 
Costumes of the ide of Mechoacan. 
have a remarkable talent for cutting out images in 
wood, and dressing them in clothes made of the pith 
of an aquatic plant, which being very porous im- 
bibes the most vivid colours. ‘Two figures of this 
kind, which Humboldt brought home for the Queen 
of Prussia, are here represented. They exhibit the 
characteristic traits of the American race, together 
with a strange mixture of the ancient costume with 
that which was introduced by the Spaniards. 
From Valladolid, the ancient kingdom of Mechoa- 
can, the travellers returned to Mexico by the eleva- 
ted plain of Tolucca, after examining the volcanic 
mountains in the vicinity. They also visited the ce- 
lebrated cheiranthostemon of Cervantes, a tree of 
which it was at one time supposed there did not 
exist more than a single specimen. 
At that city they remained several months, for the 
