The cactus plant is not wholly inedible, as the donkeys of Mexico feed on some of them, and the goat will also make a meal of the leaves and stalks. But this is not to be wondered at when it is borne in mind that the goat is popularly credited with dining upon tomato-cans, scraps of tin, old boots, newspapers, umbrellas, and other articles not ordinarily included among esculents. Of late years the cactus has been found useful for paper-making, and thousands of tons of it are annually converted into paper fibre.
A little past eight o'clock in the evening the train rolled into Saltillo, a city containing from fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants, the capital of the State of Cohahuila, and for some years the terminus of the National Railway. There are several cotton factories at Saltillo or in its immediate vicinity, and the place boasts of its serapes. Evidently the boast is justified, as the serapes of Saltillo have a reputation all through northern Mexico. Our friends improved the opportunity to provide themselves with these needed articles of Mexican travel, and through the rest of their journey they carried their souvenirs of Saltillo and were well satisfied with them.
They had been advised to go to the Hotel Tomasichi, but with the condition that they must not expect anything remarkable in the way of a hotel. The Doctor secured a carriage which was so rickety that it threatened dissolution before reaching the Plaza Mayor, where the hotel is situated, but by good-fortune it held together and landed them safely. The proprietor of the hotel told them that there was only one good carriage in the city, and if they wanted it for the next day it would be well to order it at once. It belonged to Señor Sada, the owner of the diligence that would take them to Jaral, where it connected with the trains on the International Railway. The advice was taken, and the one good carriage of Saltillo was ordered for the next day's driving in and around the city. Six reals, or seventy-five cents, an hour was the price of the vehicle, with a gratification to the driver.
IN THE SAN JUAN VALLEY.
By this time Frank and Fred were able to make all their financial calculations in the currency of the country. Here is the list of values which they had noted down and committed to memory:
"The peso, or dollar, is divided into eight reals or reales, of the value of 12½ cents each. A medio real is 6¼ cents, a cuartillo is 3 cents, and a tlaco is 1½ cents; 2 reals make a peseta (25 cents), and 4 reals a toston (50 cents). Values are reckoned in centavos (100 centavos make 1 peso), reals, or pesos until large sums are reached, when they are counted in gold. Of gold coins there are the escudito de oro, $1; escudo de oro, $2; pistola, $4; media onza de oro, $8; and onza de oro (gold ounce), $16."
American currency can be used without difficulty in the large cities, but not elsewhere. Notes of the Banco National and the Bank of London, Mexico, and South America can be carried in place of silver, which is inconveniently heavy; but our friends were advised not to rely upon bank-notes of any kind away from the lines of railway.