SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



103 



It likewise contains a few pictures, statues, 

 and silver ornaments. 



Puebla is governed by four Alcaldes or 

 Mayors, (and sixteen officers under them), 

 who may be considered as corresponding with 

 the aldermen of our cities. The police seems 

 to be good, and well regulated. Handsome 

 hackney-coaches, drawn by mules, are stand- 

 ing ready for hire in the great square. Here too 

 the market is held, which is well supplied by 

 the Indians with every article of food, except- 

 ing fish, which is very dear and scarce, owing 

 to the distance from the sea, and the want of 

 rivers or lakes. Even fish, however, is often 

 received from great distances, enclosed in 

 coarse paste pies, half baked to preserve it. 

 The markets here, as in most Mexican cities, 

 commence with the dawn of day, and it is an 

 interesting sight to a stranger to see them 

 thronged by the various Indian tribes, busied 

 in arranging and displaying their different 



