"I've been thinking of the same thing," was the reply, "especially as the Mexicans are opprobriously termed 'greasers' by the people of Texas and the South-west generally. It's a sort of lucus à non lucendo, that appellation of greaser, at least so far as their cart-axles are concerned."
A WINDOW IN MONTEREY.
After seeing the market, they strolled along some of the narrow streets, which appeared gloomy enough, with their long stretches of masonry, broken only here and there with a grated window or a balcony which seemed to be a part of a prison, so heavily was it barred with iron. Some of the larger and finer buildings have handsome windows, whose design was evidently brought from Old Spain, and in turn obtained from the Moors. Our friends were invited to a house which had formerly belonged to one of the wealthy Spanish residents, but is now the property of an American merchant. Fred thus describes it:
"Like all the better class of houses in Monterey, this one is built in the form of a hollow square. This style of architecture was brought from Spain by the conquerors of the country, and it reminded us of houses in Damascus and other cities of the Oriental world. The square encloses a patio, or court-yard, and the rooms of the lower story open on the patio; there is a colonnade surrounding the yard, and it is freely ornamented with tropical plants and flowers, so that you seem at first glance to have entered a conservatory. Vines climb around most of the columns of the colonnade, and in the centre is a well in which hangs, not the 'old oaken bucket' made famous in song, but an equally substantial bucket of leather. The water drawn from the well is cool and sweet, and from the length of the rope it is evident that the excavation goes down to a great depth. Monterey is abundantly supplied with water, and in this respect as well as in the appearance of some of the interiors of the houses, it is entitled to be called the Damascus of Mexico.
"There is one house in Monterey, the residence of Don Patricio Milmo, which has a double-arched court-yard and gallery, and is most liberally supplied with plants and flowers, among which a botanist would enjoy himself for many hours, and an ordinary mortal with no scientific knowledge need not be far behind him. There are some very pretty marbles in the neighborhood of Monterey, and they have been liberally used in the ornamentation of this and other houses. Don Patricio is a wealthy banker, and the owner of an immense area of land in Nuevo Leon, including much of the building-ground in and around Monterey."
