Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/58

56 small plantation of maguey, and tried for the first time the national beverage. If any one has ever tasted or smelled the old-fashioned yeast, which was one of the rising powers of the world before Fleischman's compressed tablets wiped it out, they will have a very good example of this delectable drink. It no doubt has virtues, but they are well hidden; and if, as they claim, one can become intoxicated by prolonged drinking, it is the sourest, thinnest, saddest means of reaching exhilaration that the mind of man ever conceived. Its introduction into any country as a popular stimulant would be better than a Maine liquor-law. It is one of the articles for which that ugly English word "nasty" was intended. And here, too, for the second time, we were introduced to the well-bred society of convicts. They were sweeping the streets with the inevitable small hand-broom, and returned our salute with the same smiling grace as their brothers at Zacatecas. I am not sure but that the Mexicans have come nearer than we to a solution of one problem, if they can punish a man satisfactorily for a breach of law or gospel, and at the same time allow him to retain his self-respect.