and that of wheat only fourteen and a fraction; a ratio of increase very much below the average of the corn and maize lands in the more Southern Provinces.
Zacatecas contains one hundred and twenty Haciendas de campo, with six hundred and sixteen Ranches, most of which consist, however, of three or four wretched hovels. There are eleven convents of friars in the State, containing in all one hundred and ninety-eight individuals; four nunneries, with thirty-one professed nuns; and four hospitals. Manufactures there are none, except in the Capital, where there are a few cotton-spinners, and at Aguas Calientes: mining and agriculture furnish occupation for all the rest of the population. A little Maguey brandy, (Vino Mescal,) is distilled at Pinos; but every thing else requisite for the consumption of the inhabitants is imported from other States.
The Constitution of Zacatecas was completed as early as January 1825. The Legislature consists of one chamber. The religious Article is as uncompromising as might be expected from the influence exercised in the Capital, until very recently, by the friars, mostly old Spaniards; who, in conjunction with a numerous body of Spanish residents, have certainly contrived to preserve the lower orders in a very primitive state of ignorance and brutality. The Government has done little as yet towards correcting this pernicious influence, and its indifference is the
