M E X I C O. 
jkin is valued on account of its being fufficiently ftrong 
to refill- mulket-balls. There are likewife monkeys of 
many different kinds; feme of which are ftrong and 
fierce, almoft equalling a man in ftature when they Hand 
upright. 
The birds are fo numerous, and of fuch various appear¬ 
ances and qualities, that Mexico has been 'called the 
country of birds, as Africa is of quadrupeds. Hernan¬ 
dez deicribes above two hundred peculiar to the country. 
He allows to the eagles and hawks of Mexico a fuperiority 
over thole of Europe; and the falcons of this country 
were formerly efteemed fo excellent, that, by the defire of 
Philip II. a hundred of them were lent every year over 
to Spain. The largeft, the moil beautiful, and the moft 
valuable, kind of eagles, is called by the Mexicans itz- 
qaanhtli, and will purfue not only the larger kinds of 
birds, but quadrupeds, and even men. The aquatic birds 
are very numerous, and of great variety. There are at 
lealt twenty fpecies of ducks, a vail number of geele, with 
lev era 1 kinds of herons, great numbers of lwans, quails, 
vyater-rails, divers, king’s nfhers, pelicans, &c. The mul¬ 
titude of ducks is fometimes fo great, that they cover 
the fieids, and appear at a diftance like flocks of Iheep. 
Numbers of the other clafles of birds are valuable for 
their flelli, plumage, or long, while fome are remarkable 
for their, extraordinary inltindl or other properties. Cla- 
vigero enumerates more than leventy fpecies of thofe 
which afford an agreeable and wholefome food. Belides 
the common fowls which were brought from the Canaries 
to the Antilles, and from thefe to Mexico, there were, 
and ftill are, fowls peculiar to the country itfelf. 
Mexico, like all other American countries, abounds 
with reptiles, many of them of an enormous fize. The 
crocodiles are not lefs to be dreaded than thofe of Africa 
or Afia; and there are iikewife fome of thofe monftrous 
ferpents met with in the Eaft Indies and in South Ame¬ 
rica ; though happily the fpecies of thofe terrible crea¬ 
tures feems to be nearly extinil, as they are leldom to be 
found but in fome folitary wood, or other remote place. 
There are feverai kinds of poifonous ferpents, of which 
the rattleihake is one. 
The aquatic animals are innumerable. Clavigero men¬ 
tions a fpecies of frogs fo large that a fingle one will weigh 
a pound, and which are excellent"food. Of fiih proper 
for food, he fays that he has cotmted upwards of one hun¬ 
dred fpecies, without taking in the turtle, crab, lobfter, 
or any other cruftaceous animal. The fharks are well 
known for their voracity. The hottetto is a fiih about 
eight inches in length, but excefiively thick. While this 
fiih lies alive upon the beach, it fvvells Whenever it is 
touched to an enormous fize, and boys often take plea- 
lure in making it buril with a kick. The liver is faid to 
be fo poifonous as to kill with ftrong convuifions in half 
an hour after it is eaten. 
Of flying and other minute infefts, the number is pro- 
digioufly great. There are a variety of beetles ; fome of 
a green colour make a great noil'e in flying ; on which 
account children are fond of them. There are great num¬ 
bers of fhining beetles, which make a delightful appear¬ 
ance at night, as well as the luminous flies which abound 
in the country. There are fix kinds of bees, and four 
kinds of wafps ; of which laft, one colleds wax and ho¬ 
ney of a very Iweet tafte ; another is called the wandering 
•wajp, from its frequent change of abode. The lake of 
Mexico abounds with a kind of fly, the eggs of which 
aredepoiited upon the flags and ruffes in fuch quantities 
as to form large maffes : thefe are collected by the fifiier- 
men, and carried to market for fale : they are eaten by 
both Mexicans and Spaniards, and have much the lame 
tafte as the caviare of fifti. There are abundance of gnats 
in the moift piacS's and lakes; but the capital, though 
fituated upon a lake, is entirely free from them. The 
butterflies are in vaft numbers, and their wings glow witli 
colours far fuperior to thofe of Europe; the figures of 
fome of them are given by Hernandez. But, notwith- 
Vol. XV. No. 104.3. 
29 7 
(landing its beauties and advantages, Mexico is fubjeSl 
to the dreadful devaluations of locuils, which fometimes 
occaficn the moll deftruftive famines. 
Some of the worms of Mexico are made life of by the 
inhabitants as food; others are poifonous. There are 
great numbers of fcoldpendrae and fcorpions, fome of the 
former growing to an immenfe fize. Hernandez fays, 
that he has feen fome of them two feet long and two 
inches thick. The fcorpions are very numerous; and in 
the hot parts o( the country their poifon is fo ftrong as. to 
kill children, and give terrible pain to adults. Their 
fling is mod dangerous during thofe hours of the day in 
which the fun is hotted. Mexico produces fiik.-worms; 
and the manufa&ure of fiik might bq carried on to 
great advantage, were it not prohibited for (bme poli¬ 
tical reafons. Befides the common fiik, there is another 
found in the woods, very white, foft, and ftrong. It 
grows on tne trees in feverai maritime places, particu¬ 
larly in dry feafons. Unlefs by poor people, however, 
this fiik is not turned to any ule, partly from inatten¬ 
tion to their intereils, but chiefly from the obflru&ions 
which would be thrown in the way of any one who ihould 
attempt a trade of that kind. We know from Cortes’s 
letters to Charles V. that fiik ufed to be fold in the Mex¬ 
ican markets; and fome pictures are ftill preferred, done 
by the ancient Mexicans upon a paper made of fiik. Co¬ 
chineal is one of the moft valuable products of Mexico, 
and great care is taken to rear the infett in different parts; 
bui the bed is that which comes from the province of 
Mizteca. Some have reckoned that more than 2500 ba-s 
of cochineal are fent every year from Mizteca to Spain ; 
and the trade in- that article carried on by the city of 
Guaxaca is computed at 200,000 crowns value. 
Though Mexico was originally inhabited by a number 
of different nations, yet all of them relembled each other 
pretty much, not only in character, but in external ap¬ 
pearance. “ They generally rather exceed (fays Clavi¬ 
gero) than fall under the middle fize, and are well pro¬ 
portioned in all their limbs. They have good com¬ 
plexions, narrow foreheads, black eyes; clean, firm, white, 
and regular, teeth ; thick, black, coarle, gloffy, hair; thin 
beards, and generally no hair upon their legs, thighs, and 
arms, their (kin being of an olive-colour. There is fierce¬ 
ly a nation on earth in which there are fewer perfons de¬ 
formed ; and it would be more difficult to find a fingle 
hump-backed, lame, or (quint-eyed, man, among a thou- 
fand Mexicans, than among a hundred of any other na¬ 
tion. They become grey-headed and bald earlier than 
the Spaniards; and, although moft of them die of acute 
dileales, it is not very uncommon among them to attain 
the age of a hundred. They are now, and ever have been, 
moderate in eating; but their paffion for ftrong liquors is 
carried to the greateft excels. 
“ Many perlons allow the Mexicans to poffefs a great 
talent of imitation, but deny them that of invention ; a 
vulgar .error, which is contradicted by the'ancient hiflory 
of that people. Their minds are affedled by the fame va¬ 
riety of pafli.ons with thole of other nations, butnot to an 
equal degree. The Mexicans leldom exhibit thole trans¬ 
ports of anger, or frenzies of love, which are fo common 
in other countries. They are flow in their motions ; and 
(how a wonderful tenacity and fteadinefs in thofe works 
which require time and long-continued attention. They 
are moll patient of injury and hardlhip ; and, where they 
fufpell no evii intention, are moft grateful for any kind- 
nelslhown; but fome Spaniards, wno cannot dillinguiih 
patience from inleniibility, nor diffrull from ingratitude- 
fay proverbially, that the Indians are alike inleniible to 
injuries or benefits.” 
The drels of the Mexicans was very Ample ; that of 
the men confided only of a large belt or girdle, the two 
ends of which hung down before and behind. The wo¬ 
men wore a i'quare mantle, about four feet long ; the two 
ends were tied upon the bread or upon one ffiouider. The 
gown was alfo a piece of I'quare cloth, in which the wa- 
4 - G men 
