ANove°mberS-}    A  Botanical  Excursion  to  Mexico.  591 
the  agave  juice  is  allowed  to  ferment,  changing  during  this  process 
from  a  yellowish-looking  fluid  to  a  milk-white,  yeasty-looking  liquid. 
It  is  a  very  refreshing  and  wholesome  drink  for  those  high  altitudes 
if  taken  in  moderation.  Drunkenness  is  the  result  of  its  too  free 
use.  It  is  laxative,  and  is  reputed  to  be  antiscorbutic,  and,  through 
its  assisting  digestion,  quiets  the  heart's  action.  The  best  pulque  is 
obtained  in  country  places,  the  writer  finding  its  use  refreshing  and 
cooling,  the  city  pulque  being  inferior  to  that  of  the  suburban  towns, 
being  watery  and  sour.  Pulque  keeps  its  freshness  but  a  day,  when 
it  begins  to  sour.  The  sour  liquid  is  distilled,  and  yields,  according 
to  the  process  used,  two  or  three  powerful  alcoholic  drinks,  mezcal, 
tequila  and  aguardiente  de  maguey.  There  are  two  or  three  bever- 
ages or  soft  drinks  in  use,  one  made  from  the  pineapple  and  called 
pino,  and  another,  tepache,  might  be  termed  sugar-cane  cider.  The 
latter  drink,  as  a  rule,  is  to  be  had  along  most  of  the  country  roads 
running  from  Mexico.  The  mezcal,  tequila  and  aguardiente  are 
very  powerful  in  their  effects.  A  Mexican  Indian,  addicted  to  their 
use,  can  drink  a  glass  of  any  one  of  the  three  without  effect ;  two  or 
three  glasses  will  set  him  demoniacally  crazy. 
The  alpine  flora  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  dwarf,  cespitose 
habit  of  the  plants,  their  hairy  covering  and  brilliantly  colored 
flowers.  The  plants  of  this  region  are  mostly  perennial,  very  few 
annual  plants  being  found  in  this  zone.  The  lake  flora  is  interesting, 
as  the  plants  are  distributed  in  the  ditches  and  along  the  borders  of 
the  lagoons  and  lakes.  Eichornia  crassipes  (the  water  hyacinth), 
Marsilia  heterophylla,  Ruppia,  Agenipea,  Escobedea  linearis,  Poly- 
gonum amphibium,  Nymphsea  Mexicana,  Lobelia  splendens,  and  a 
water-lily  with  white  flowers  and  large  leaves — are  a  few  of  the 
plants  of  the  hydrophytic  community. 
The  chinampas,  or  floafing  gardens,  are  in  Lakes  Chalco  and 
Xochimilcho.  At  one  time  they  leally  did  float,  but  now  they  are 
anchored  to  the  bottom  by  the  roots  of  trees,  and  form  little  patches 
of  garden  ground  separated  by  narrow  canals.  Here  are  grown 
flowers  and  vegetables  for  the  city  market.  The  canoes  of  the  In- 
dians bring  the  produce  to  the  city  by  the  Viga  Canal,  where  it  is 
sold  along  the  banks  of  the  canal,  or  in  the  markets,  the  principal 
one  of  which  is  called  the  Volador,  south  of  the  National  Palace  and 
occupj'ing  a  site  that  was  included  in  the  grounds  of  the  "  new 
house  "  of  Montezuma,  and,  therefore,  after  the  Conquest  was  a 
