LETTER XIV.
ST. AGUSTIN DE LAS CUEVAS, AND THE FEAST OF SAN AGUSTIN.
GAMBLING AND COCK–FIGHTING.
San Agustin is one of the most charming villages in the neighborhood of Mexico. It lies, like most of the other villages, at the foot of the mountains, south of the city, and is reached by a level road about twelve miles long, leading through some of the most beautiful farms in the Valley. Here, not only are immense herds of cattle grazed and large quantities of grain cultivated, but you see extensive plantations of the maguey aloe, or Agave Americana, from which the favorite drink of the natives is made, in the valleys of Puebla and Mexico.[1]
When the plant reaches the age of seven years, it is usually ready to bloom. Upon the appearance of the first symptoms of a bud, the centre stalk is cut out, and a bowl hollowed in the middle of the large leaves; into this, for several days, the juice of the plant exudes plentifully; and as the bowl fills at certain periods during the day, it is sucked into a long gourd by the Indian laborers, who transfer it from this to hog-skins. In these it is taken to the haciendas, slightly fermented in large vats lined with bull-hides, whence it is again transferred to skins, and so carried to the city or the shops and sold. It is really amusing, thus to behold the skin of a stout porker injected with the heady liquid—his legs sticking out, and even the remnant of his tail twisting with its wonted curve!
The cultivation of the maguey is one of the most profitable in the Valley; the outlay is calculated generally at about two dollars per plant, and the return is from seven to ten, according to the size of it. I cannot say that the flavor is pleasant, though it varies greatly in different parts of the country. I have tasted some in Mexico that had been sent as a present from a hacienda near Puebla, which was delicious; but the ordinary liquid sold in the shops, seemed to me very like sour lemonade improved by the addition of cream-of-tartar. It was like the famous wine of one of the vallies that pours its stream into the Rhine, with which the old women of that neighborhood darn their stockings. One drop, it is said, put on any ordinary hole, draws it up for ever and securely like a purse-string!
- ↑ This plant is one of the most useful in Mexico. It makes an excellent fence while it is growing after it arrives at perfection, pulque is extracted from its stalk: the leaves are then either cut up as food for animals, or are manufactured late rope, twine, coarse Indian cloth, or wrapping-paper of wax walled toughness.
