58 



THE COAST OF . Audience of 



G U A X A C A, 



T S a province as well fituated as any in America, extending on the north 

 1^ to the gulph of Mexico, and on the fouth to the pacific ocean. The cli- 

 mate is tolerable, and the foil rich, producing two very valuable drugs, cochi- 

 neal and vainillas, the former a rich dye, and the latter a valuable per- 

 fume ; it grows in various parts of the kingdom of Mexico, lut no where in 

 luch plenty as herej we will therefore take this opportunity to defcribe it» 

 Tlie Vainilla is a litde cod full of fmall black feeds j it is four or five inches 

 long, bigger than the the ftem of a tobacco-leaf, but when dried, much 

 refembling it ; fo that our privateers at' firft often threw them away,' 

 when they took any, wondering why the Spaniards fhould lay up tobacco- 

 ftems. This cod grows on a fmall vine, which climbs about and fupports 

 itfelf by the neighbouring trees : it firft bears a yellow-flower, from whence 

 the cod afterwards proceeds. It is at firft green, but when ripe, it turns yel- 

 low ; this the Indians (whofe manufaiture it is, and who fell it cheap to the 

 SpaniardsJ gSLthev and lay in the fun, which makes it foft, when it changes 

 to a dark colour. Then they frequently prefs it between their fingeiS, 

 till it becomes fiat. The principal ufe of this perfume is to give a flavour 

 to chocolate, and fometimes tobacco ; in both which it is extremely agreeable. 

 ^This province alfo abounds with an excellent breed of horfes, and great herds 

 of black cattle and fheep, the wool of which is manufa6lured by the clothiers of 

 Los Angeles. There is alfo great plenty of mulberry- trees, fo that this province 

 . might produce more filk than any other in America. Notwithftandingthefe ad- 

 vantages, the country of Guaxaca is but very thinly inhabited, for which no 

 fufficient reafon appears, fince it wants not good ports both on the North, and 

 in the South-Seas : in the gulph of Mexico, fhips ride fafely at the mouth of the 

 river Aharado, The capital of the province is an inland city of a middling fize,. 

 and indifferently built, feated in a fair and fruitful plain: its proper name is ^yz- 

 t€quera; but it is commonly called Guaxaca. It is a bifliop's fee of confijerable 



revenue* 



