break in the dreariness of the surrounding country, we did not meet with a living creature upon the way. Nothing can convey more thoroughly the feeling of desolation than the solitude of so extensive a district, and we were all rejoiced when, after nine hours' travelling, we at last discovered the Hacienda, which is not visible until you are within a league of the house, as it is situated in a hollow, a little below the general level of the plain.
The Mēzquītĕ is one of the fourteen Haciendas of which the Conde de Pĕrĕz Gālvĕz is proprietor. Some of these are situated in the Baxio, (about Silao;) another, (Gŭanămē,) lies near El Vĕnādŏ; and in the neighbourhood of the Mēzquītĕ there are three, (Las Nōrĭăs, Bĕrgēl, and La Sălādă,) all bordering upon one another, and placed under the orders of the same superintendent (administrador,) who resides at El Mēzquītĕ, where the căsă de mătānză is also established.
The four Haciendas contain 200 Sitios, upon which there are about 150,000 goats and sheep. The mătānză of 1826 consisted of 29,000 fat goats, bred upon the lands of Bĕrgēl and Las Nōrĭăs, and killed at the rate of two hundred every twenty-four hours: the tallow (cebo) made from their fat was sent to Mexico; the skins to Guadalajara, where they sold upon an average for six reals each.
The house at El Mēzquītĕ is large, and well furnished, having occasionally been visited by the proprietors. A tienda (or-shop) is attached to it.
