16i SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



appear to have been the case, or, if it were, 

 they have accompanied the Spaniards in their 

 retreat to their mother-country, 



I saw no traces of the occupation of the 

 sculptor in marble : this may be accounted 

 for by the customs of the country forbidding 

 the use of monuments — nor are there any 

 fire-places which could admit of chimney orna- 

 ments. Of carvers in wood there are many, 

 as every house has a statue of a saint or ma- 

 donna painted and generally superbly dressed. 

 The art of engraving on stone is unknown in 

 Mexico ; but the Indians greatly excel in the 

 modelling and working of wax. The speci- 

 mens of different tribes with their costumes, 

 and the habiliments of the gentry of the 

 country, which I have brought over, will am- 

 ply testify their merits in this department of 

 the Arts : they also model fruit and vege- 

 tables in a beautiful manner. A lady at Pue- 

 bla de los Angeles executes, in a singular 



