making tortillas.
and a lump of meat—then doubles up the edges of the cake sandwich fashion, and soon until his appetite is satisfied. He who is better off in the world, or indulges occasionally in a little extravagance, owns a clay platter. Into this he causes his frijoles, or chilé and meat, to be thrown, and making a spoon of his tortilia, gradually gets possession of his food, and terminates his repast by eating the spoon itself! There is great economy in this mode of housekeeping, which recommends itself, especially to the tastes of old bachelors. There are no dishes to be washed—no silver to be cleaned, or cared for. Your Indian—flings down his clacos—stretches himself to his full height—gives a valedictory grunt of satisfaction over a filled stomach—and is off to his labor.
Thus wonderful is the frugality not only of the humbler classes but, indeed, of almost all who have come under my observation in Spanish America. Whether this frugality is a virtue or the result of indolence, it is not necessary for me to slop to enquire. The reader may draw his own conclusions. But all classes are content with less physical comfort than the inhabitants of other countries. Their diet is poor, their lodging miserable, their clothing coarse, inelegant and inadequate for the climate; and yet, when the energies and intelligence of the very people who seem so supine are called into action, few men manifest those qualities in a higher degree. Let me, as an illustration, notice the ARRIEROS, or common carriers of the country, by whom almost all the transportation of the
