MEXICAN BIRD-SELLERS.
"The description of the market by Bernal Diaz," wrote Fred in his journal, "would answer very well for to-day, so far as the appearance of the sellers and many of the buyers is concerned. They bring the produce of their farms and gardens to market just as they brought it before Columbus discovered America, and the chief difference to-day is that slaves, gold, silver, feathers, and some other things named by Diaz are not now offered for sale. The Indians bring fowls and vegetables just as of old and in the same way—in baskets carried on their shoulders or on those of their family. Since the introduction of the railway some produce comes to Mexico by train, and in course of time the old custom may disappear, but it will not do so in a hurry.
VIEW ON THE CANAL.
"There is a canal from the lake to the city," wrote the youth, "and it comes directly to the market-place, so that the natives bring their boats close to where they sell their wares. Much of the dealing takes place on board the boats or close to them, and the crowds that gather around while a bargain is in progress are very interesting. Some of the shops and stalls are at the very edge of the canal, so that the prows of the boats stick in among them, and you realize what a serious matter it would be to the market-people if by any accident the lake and the canal should be dried up and disappear. The whole system of local supply would be radically changed, and until a new order of things could be established the inhabitants of the capital might run the risk of starvation.
"The busiest day of the market is on Sunday, and the noise of the place is almost deafening. The ordinarily silent Mexican becomes very voluble in the market-place when there is a prospect of making something by talk.
"The description we have given of the market of Monterey will answer for this one, with the exception that you must multiply everything by ten or twenty, and add several things we did not see there. One part of the market is devoted to the sale of coffins; they are made on the spot, and had a specially sombre appearance to us, as they are all painted black. The shops in which they are made are in a narrow alley, and the workmen engaged in the dreary industry seemed as unconcerned as did the makers of furniture or picture-frames.
"We hired a canoe and took a short ride on the canal. Its banks are low and marshy; they are devoted to the culture of vegetables, and the gardens had a luxuriant appearance, as though the soil was prolific. The lake, as before said, is brackish and shallow; formerly it contained the famous chinampas, or floating gardens, but when we asked for them we were told they did not now exist, though the name is retained. We will say more about them later on.