Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/75

Rh The present corn production of Mexico is not accurately determined, but it is estimated that it is the chief subsistence of at least five millions of persons, whilst it supplies the only fodder for all kinds of domestic animals. Its average product must therefore be not far from at least twenty millions of bushels.

Corn is a varied article of diet among all classes. The ancient Mexicans made a species of sugar from the juice of the stalk—while the modern Mexicans brew from it a fermented drink, called pulque de maiz, or omayo. The extremely saccharine pith of this plant is often devoured raw by the Indians, and it has been also frequently used in the manufacture of brandy. The unripe ears are boiled or baked, and sold in the towns and villages to the poorer classes, forming their sole subsistence; while the leaves and stems afford a capital food for beasts. Sometimes these portions of the plant are devoted to architectural purposes, and a neat rustic hut is built of the cornlike stalks, interwoven and thatched with their broad and graceful leaves.

A kind of beer, called chicha, is sometimes prepared from the kernels of ripened maize, and is found, by natives and strangers, to be an agreeable as well as wholesome beverage. When the meal is boiled in water, and mixed with some farinacious roots, a favorite and exceedingly grateful gruel, known as atolé, is formed by the process. In the tierra caliente, the kernels are often roasted and ground into pinole;—but the most ordinary consumption of this precious vegetable is in the tortillas, for which Mexico is so celebrated, and in the preparation of which it is estimated that more than two hundred thousand females, in the republic, spend four or five hours of every day. In order to make tortillas, the grains of corn are soaked in water, to which a small quantity of lime has been added, until they are relieved of their shells. The pure and softened pulp is then laid on a flat stone or metate, one end of which is slightly raised from the ground. A Mexican woman kneels in the rear of the metate, and with another round stone, rolls, macerates, and amalgamates the crushed corn until it is formed into a rich succulent paste. Hard by, a thin metallic griddle is set over ignited coals, which is constantly supplied by another female, who pats the dough into extremely thin and delicate cakes. They are eaten hot from the griddle, but, even when carefully prepared, are deemed insipid and unsavory by foreigners.

Nor are these the only purposes to which this delightful plant and its offal are devoted by the Mexicans. They have discovered, within a few years, that a capital paper, for ordinary purposes, can be