SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 168 



roof of wooden shingles, admirably adapted 

 to the climate ; they have but few glass win- 

 dows and no chimnies, as the temperature is 

 such as to render fires at all times unnecessary, 

 excepting for culinary purposes, when char- 

 coal only is used in simple brick stoves. I 

 have often been surprised at the great facility 

 and ease with which as good a dinner has 

 been cooked, as by the elaborate and expen- 

 sive apparatus used in our kitchens ; the 

 whole place of which is supplied by a few 

 earthen vessels, of their own manufacture: 

 grates, ranges, stoves, ovens, jacks, and all 

 the et-ceteras of pots, kettles, stewpans, sauce- 

 pans, steam and fryingpans, and a hundred 

 others, are unknown here even by their names; 

 the value of a few shillings in earthenware 

 supplies the whole, and will furnish a greater 

 variety of dishes than are in general to be 

 met with at English tables. The town has 

 a well supplied weekly market on Sundays, 



m 2 



