180 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



Urate, could not have been able to have provided for 

 their neceffities, if the country had been nothing but 

 mountain, wood, and marfh. Mr. de Buffon, who in 

 his firft vol. fays, that America is nothing but a continu- 

 ed marfh, and in vol. v. affirms, that the inacceffible 

 mountains of America fcarcely leave any fmali fpaces for 

 agriculture, and the habitation of men, in the fame vol. 

 v. confefTcs that the people of Mexico and Peru were 

 very numerous. But if thofe people who occupied a 

 very large part of America were very numerous, and 

 lived as he fays in focieties, and under the control of 

 laws, America is certainly not a continued marfh : if 

 thofe people fupported themfelves, as is certain they 

 did, on corn and fruits which they cultivated, the fpaces 

 are not fmall which the mountains leave for agriculture, 

 and the habitation of men. 



The multitude, variety and excellence of the plants of 

 Mexico, leave us in no doubt of the very lingular ferti- 

 lity of its lands. The paflure grounds, fays Acofta, of 

 New Spain are excellent, and breed accordingly an in- 

 numerable quantity of horfes, cows, flieep, and other 

 animals. It is alfo as abundant in fruit as in any kind 

 of grain. In ftiort, there is no grain, pulfe, kitchen- 

 herbs, or fruit, which does not thrive in that foil. The 

 wheat, which Mr. de Paw fcarcely allows to fome coun- 

 tries of the North, does not grow in general in the hot 

 lands of New Spain, as it does not in the greater part of 

 Africa, and many other parts of the old continent; 

 but in the cool and temperate lands of that kingdom it 

 thrives well, and is more abundant than it is in Europe. 



It is fufficient to fay, that the quantity gathered in the 

 diocefs of Angelopoli is fo great, that with what remain- 

 ed, after all its numerous inhabitants were provided, 



they 



