Page:About Mexico - Past and Present.djvu/34

28 building purposes from time immemorial. The natives employed porphyry and jasper in decoration. Various kinds of greenstone resembling emeralds were found, and were in great demand for ornaments. Amber came from Yucatan, and pearls from California. The salt-lakes of the table-land yielded abundance of that precious commodity, which formed a chief article of commerce between the people of that region and less favored tribes.