A MEXICAN HACIENDA 



569 



A PRETENTIOUS HOME 



Entering the mansion by the main door, 

 a portal large enough to admit a load of 

 hay, one finds himself in a tunnel-like 

 passage leading through to the inner 

 court, or patio. On either side of this 

 passage are doors, and farther on a stair- 

 way leads to the upper rooms, though 

 originally they were reached through a 

 trap-door by means of a ladder, which 

 was drawn up at night. 



The patio itself, some 60 or 70 feet 

 square, is designed on the simple lines of 

 some of the more primitive and isolated 

 places, and from this court, after the 

 usual fashion, doors open into various 

 rooms. In the center of the patio a well 

 furnishes water for the household, a 

 flower bed occupies a cement basin of 

 ample size, and a grape vine scrambles 

 over an arbor of rude poles. 



Entering a door from the passageway, 

 one finds himself in a large sala, or parlor, 

 with tinted walls and tiled floor. The 

 tiles, perhaps at one time level, are now 

 uneven after nearly 200 years of use. 

 They are about 8 inches square, hard and 

 smooth of surface. Such formed the 

 chief flooring material in this and other 

 houses of the time. Hewn timbers ex- 

 tend from wall to wall, supporting the 

 floor above. The origin of these and 

 much larger timbers in the construction 

 of the buildings is a matter of some con- 

 jecture. Although it is reported that orig- 

 inally a cedar grove of considerable size 

 .grew here about the springs, there is at 

 present no evidence that such a stand of 

 timber formerly existed, except the few 

 aged and decrepit junipers scattered along 

 the feeble watercourses. 



MUNITIONS OF WAR 



A smaller room opening off the sala is 

 an arsenal. Rows of Winchesters are 

 stacked along the wall, some of recent, 

 -others of older, models ; also some an- 

 cient muzzle-loading pieces of ponderous 

 weight. Revolvers and pistols of ancient 

 pattern complete the assortment, along 

 with a small supply of drugs and medi- 

 cines. 



Passing out at the other end of the 

 .sala, one enters a corridor, at the far end 

 of which glazed doors give access to the 



huerta, or garden. Off this corridor 

 rooms open to the right and left, but, as 

 none of these are of special interest, at- 

 tention may now be turned to the kitchen, 

 entrance to which may be gained from 

 the patio. This room, 20 feet square, is 

 lighted during the day through the open 

 door. 



In the center of the room was origi- 

 nally a circular, altar-like structure of 

 stone or adobe, 6 feet across, from which 

 arose a huge conical chimney, supported 

 by several legs forming the sides of as 

 many arches. Upon this bench, prior to 

 the advent of the modern range, cooking 

 was done by the open fire. From the 

 kitchen food was carried by an out-of- 

 door route to the dining-room, there be- 

 ing no connecting passage. 



Adjoining the main building a long 

 row of lower structures flanks the plaza. 

 Among the several doors along this row 

 two are noteworthy — one gives entrance 

 to the jail, the other to the wine cellar. 

 The juxtaposition of these two institu- 

 tions probably was not meant to convey 

 any idea of their logical association, but 

 that one of these sometimes contributed 

 to the other there can be no doubt. 



A GREAT WINE CELLAR 



The commodious vault of the wine cel- 

 lar is reached through several outer rooms 

 containing the various appurtenances con- 

 cerned with the manufacture of wine. 

 Huge fermenting vats built of adobe and 

 lined with cement, each capable of hold- 

 ing several cartloads of grapes, stand 

 close by the press in one of the outer 

 rooms, and in another a still was built 

 close by the steps which lead under a high 

 and heavy archway down to the cellar. 

 The cellar itself, about 100 by 40 feet, is 

 divided lengthwise by supporting arches 

 of the same masonry which figures in the 

 construction of all the buildings. 



Along the walls stand rows of huge 

 casks, most of them now empty, but some 

 containing a few gallons of the more 

 recent vintages. Midway of the cellar a 

 well reaches down to a flowing spring, 

 whence water was drawn for uses in con- 

 nection with the winery. As indicated 

 above, not only fermented, but also dis- 

 tilled, liquors were manufactured here, 



