Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle

Wheat was first introduced by the Spaniards, and promises to become, with the other European grains, when the great roads are completed, one of the most abundant articles of the commerce of New Spain, as it already enters into competition, at the Havannah, with the flour of the United States; but the means of transport are at present so bad in the interior, that no great quantity is cultivated for exportation. The potato which was introduced by the Europeans thrives very well; for although it originally came from America, it was known only in the southern part at the time of the conquest. The capsicum, or pimento, the tomatas, rice, turnips, cabbages, sallads of all sorts, onions, and every kind of European vegetable are successfully cultivated. The table land produces all sorts of European fruits in great plenty; plums, apricots, figs, cherries, peaches, melons, pears, apples, &c. The vine and olive also flourish equally well, but are not frequently to be seen, on account of the Spanish Government discouraging the culture of these plants, as the commerce of the Peninsula, in oils and wine, would cease, if they were allowed to be reared; the climate of New Spain being more favourable for their production than that of Europe; however they are found in California, and some of the northern provinces, in great abundance. The tropical fruits, of every species, are met with in New Spain, guavas, ananas, sapotes, mameis, &c; and the Europeans appear to take great delight in their gardens. The orange and lemon plants, of almost every species, grow in these delightful regions, where animal food forms the secondary article of human nourishment.

The principal vegetable decoction which supplies the place of the brandies and strong liquors of Europe, is that produced from the agave, or maguey. The natives and Spaniards have large plantations of agave, for the purpose of forming from it their favourite beverage, called pulque, which is procured by wounding the plant at a particular season, from which there flows a ropy liquor, which they collect and ferment. Pulque, from being the great beverage of the Indians, and lower orders of Mexican Spaniards, yields an immense revenue to the government. The sugar cane is successfully cultivated, and sugar already forms one of the principal articles of export. Cotton is also an article of commerce, as is likewise coffee, but neither of them to a great amount. Their cocoa and chocolate have long been famous; the name of the latter being originally Mexican, but the best chocolate comes from Guatimala.

Vanilla, of the finest quality, is imported into Spain from Mexico. Sarsaparilla and jalap, which takes its name from the town of Xalapa, near which it is found, are celebrated articles of its export trade. Of tobacco, it does not grow enough for its own consumption, not owing to the soil, but to its culture being discouraged. The indigo from the Spanish colonies is raised chiefly in Guatimala. Odoriferous, gums, medicinal plants, and drugs; the dying woods, particularly logwood; the valuable woods used in making articles of furniture; are the produce of this Viceroyalty; which is as rich in the productions of the vegetable as of the mineral kingdom. Cochineal, and the plant on which the insect feeds and comes to maturity, are amongst the most singular of its products; they are principally managed by the Indians, who are most skilful in the mode of collecting the harvests of this extraordinary dye.

The animals wild and domestic, are chiefly the horse, mules, of which thousands are employed in carrying goods over the crests of the mountains separating the two oceans, and in drawing the metals from the mines, &c., sheep, goats, and cattle; the cougar, or American tiger; the puma, the tiger-cat, loupcervier, wild-boar, swine, buffalo bison, tapir, marmadillo, and immense tribes of apes and monkeys, with birds of every variety and beauty, amongst which are wild and tame turkeys, ducks, domestic fowls, &c.

The insects are as numerous as singular, and the serpents and reptiles thrive under the vertical sun, and amid the humid exhalations of the low-lands. The alligator is found in its rivers and swamps, and is nearly as formidable as the Egyptian crocodile.

In the northern part of New Spain, horses, cattle, sheep and goats, are found in a state of nature, having multiplied to an extraordinary degree in the wide spread plains and Savannahs.

The silk-worm is reared in some of the provinces; but as the growing of silk would interfere with the commerce of the East Indian possessions of Spain, this article is not much attended to.

Honey and wax are procured in the greatest plenty, as may reasonably be imagined in a country abounding with aromatic herbs and flowers; wax forms a great article of its home consumption, which is the case in all Catholic countries, where such immense quantities of it are burnt in processions and the churches.

The pearl fisheries of the Californian Gulf, are not at present carried on with much activity, but pearls of great value have been found on its coasts.

In the description of the different provinces of this kingdom, we shall occasionally give more particular relations of the animal and vegetable productions of New Spain.