Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/484

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464
HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL

neal, indigo, tobacco, cotton, wheat, maize and other esculent grain and fruits;—that it has some manufactures of an ordinary nature, and that in the sierras, or mountains, are many mineral and precious stones. The whole of the territory being uneven and mountainous, there is scarcely a district, however small, in which the fruits of different climates might not be cultivated with success. In the low and hot tracts, cacao, indigo, and cotton abound; in the high and cold, animals of the lanigerous kind are bred. In Sololá and other parts are manufactures of coarse woollen cloths for the consumption of the natives: finer cloths have been attempted, but, on account of the price or the expense of manufacture, the former only are in general use. Flax and hemp are produced plentifully, but no pains are bestowed on their cultivation, owing to the abundance of cotton, which does not require so much preparation for its manufacture.