Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/221

Rh only a small fraction of the harvest, will neither buy machinery, nor, except along the railroads, can he rent it, since its transportation otherwise is next to impossible. Nor are the natives quick in using the railroads for local exchange of commodities. They continue to gaze upon the locomotive with awe, and they cling to old customs with a tenacity not free from disdain of the new ones. The men carry extraordinary burdens on their backs, and the small donkey is the favorite draught animal. The idea of raising foods for export has not yet crossed the brain of the vast bulk of the people. They undertake to raise enough for each year's local use; and so rigorous is the calculation, that, if a bad season come upon them, famine will be the consequence, unless the deficiency is supplied from the public granaries. It is to the credit of the Government that no appeals for aid are sent over the world. That distinction remains the undisputed dishonor of Great Britain. Poor as Mexico is, she has some sense of national decency.

If Nature has treated the country ill in failing to furnish roads, and in heaping up obstacles against their construction, thus impeding internal