48 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



the merchants. The city at present is said 

 to contain 13,000 inhabitants; but at the 

 time of the fair it was crowded to excess. It 

 is probably decreasing in population, though 

 still a very handsome place. It has many 

 two-storied houses, built after the old Spanish 

 manner, forming a square, and enclosing a 

 court planted with trees and flowers, and 

 having a well or fountain. The roofs are 

 tiled, and not flat as in Vera Cruz, but pro- 

 jecting from the sides, sheltering tha houses 

 from the sun in hot weather, and keeping them 

 dry in the rainy season. Many are furnished 

 with glass windows, and most have an orna- 

 mental grating in front of such as are on the 

 ground floor— these admit a free circulation 

 of air, for the climate is so delightful as 

 seldom to require their being closed. There 

 are still eight churches, built in a mixed 

 style of architecture; they are kept clean — 

 and the interiors highly decorated with 



