SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



57 



I accepted the invitation of Mr. Hall,* an 

 English resident of Vera Cruz, to see a new 

 establishment for the distillation of brandy- 

 It was nearly five miles in the country, and 

 we found a party of about twenty persons 

 invited to a rural dinner and a day's amuse- 

 ment. We were shown the process of distil- 

 lation, which was very simple, and promised 

 amply to repay the proprietor. The juice of 

 the sugar-cane, fermented in large open bags 

 made of skins of oxen, was distilled in a 

 slight copper alembic covered with wood, and 

 a plentiful supply of spirit obtained, which 

 much resembled Irish poteen whiskey. The 

 visitors consisted of nearly an equal number 

 of ladies and gentlemen, mostly young per- 

 sons, and several of them officers in the army. 

 A plentiful repast was served up in the 

 Spanish style, in a house built of sticks. Of 



* He unfortunately fell a victim to the black vomit 

 during the bombardment of the city. 



