MEXICO. 
17 
MAKING TORTILIAS. 
and a lump of meat — then doubles up the edges of the cake sandwich 
fashion, and soon until his appetite is satisfied. He who is better off in 
the world, or indulges occasionally in a little extravagance, owns a clay 
flatter. Into this he causes his frijoles, or cliiU and meat, to be thrown, 
and making a spoon of his tortilia, gradually gets possession of his food, 
and terminates his repast by eating the spoon itself! There is great 
economy in this mode of housekeeping, which recommends itself, espe- 
cially, to the tastes of old bachelors. There are no dishes to be washed 
— no silver to be cleaned, or cared for. Your Indian — flings down his 
clacos — stretches himself to his full height — gives a valedictory grunt of 
satisfaction over a filled stomach — and is off to his labor. 
Thus wonderful is the frugality not only of the humbler classes, but, 
indeed, of almost all who have come under my observation in Spanish 
America. Whether this frugality is a virtue or the result of indalence, 
it is not necessary for me to stop to enquire. The reader may draw his 
own conclusions. But all classes are content with less physical comfort 
than the inhabitants of other countries. .Their diet is poor, their lodging 
miserable, their clothing coarse, inelegant and inadequate for the climate ; 
and yet, when the energies and intelligence of the very people who seem 
so supine are called into action, few men manifest those qualities in a 
higher degree. Let me, as an illustration, notice the Arrieros, or com- 
men carriers of the country, by whom almost all the transportation of the 
