Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/62

 of the inhabitants, amongst the most important of which is Indian corn.

are few parts, either of the Tierra caliente, or the Table-land, in which Maize is not cultivated with success. In the low hot grounds upon the coast, and on the slope of the Cordillera, its growth is more colossal than on the Tableland; but even there, at seven and eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, its fecundity is such as will hardly be credited in Europe. In some particularly favoured spots, it has been known to produce eight hundred fanegas’ for one sown; and wherever irrigation is practicable, from three to four hundred for one is the ordinary ratio of increase. Where the crop depends upon the season, it is more variable; so that, upon the high lands of Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi, where there are few reservoirs to supply the want of the periodical rains, the farmer does not reckon upon more than one very good year in ten: but although the ratio of increase in the intervening years does not exceed forty or fifty bushels for one sown, it is usually sufficient to supply the demand, and prevent any dearth of provisions from being felt amongst the lower classes, to whom wheaten bread is a luxury nearly unknown.

The great majority of the inhabitants of New Spain subsists almost entirely upon maize flour, made up into a sort of unfermented, doughy, but nutritious bread, called arépa, or more generally tortillas, which they eat rather warmed through, than baked, with a pungent sauce, composed of chile, (a sort of capsicum,) and tomates.

The price of maize varies with the year, and the distance from the principal markets. In the capital, I have seldom