498 PARRAS TO SALTILLO. 
stone aqueduct through which it ran was eighteen 
inches broad, and the water between ten and twelve 
inches deep. One of the mills was carried by an over- 
shot wheel forty feet in diameter; the others by 
wheels somewhat less. The superintendent of Dr. 
Hewison’s mill is from Rhode Island. The operatives 
are all Mexicans, and, I was told are very quick at 
learning the art of weaving, and much easier to man- 
age than American operatives. ‘The cotton used is 
raised in the valleys near, and a ready market is found 
for the goods as fast as they are produced. 
This factory was the favorite ride of General Tay- 
lor while in Saltillo; and it was a source of gratifica- 
tion to find that the officers of the American army 
were still held in high respect by the citizens of the 
place. 
Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, is a well-built city, 
with paved streets. Many of its houses are of two 
stories, and all of them painted in warm colors. The 
population is about fifteen thousand. JBesides the 
churches mentioned, there is an unfinished edifice, 
which was commenced by the Jesuits. The Alameda 
is the finest place of the kind we had yet seen. It is 
filled with large trees, and its walks are lined with 
agaves and rose-bushes. In the evening I called, ac- 
companied by the gentlemen of the Commission, to pay 
‘our respects to Dr. Hewison and his lady. . 
