SIX MONTHS IN MEXTCO. 125 



fire-places are never seen, and where it is even 

 scarcely necessary to have glass windows to 

 exclude the night air from the bed-rooms. 

 All that is requisite is a strong roof to protect 

 you from the heavy rains that occur at certain 

 seasons, and lofty rooms to afford a free cir- 

 culation of the air ; and certainly nothing 

 can be better adapted for this purpose than 

 the style of architecture introduced by the 

 Spaniards into Mexico. 



The fronts of the houses are in general 

 either white, crimson, brown, or light green, 

 painted in distemper, and having a pleasing 

 appearance ; and the dryness of the atmos- 

 phere is such, that they retain their beauty 

 unimpaired for many years. Many of these 

 fronts have inscriptions upon them taken 

 from Scripture, or stanzas addressed to the 

 Saviour or his divine Mother. 



Numbers too are entirely covered with 

 glazed porcelain, in a variety of elegant de« 



