Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/42

20 principal features are still much the same everywhere: there is always a similar influx of petty merchants and retailers to the markets and great thoroughfares; the same recourse to dancing and drinking; pulque and ardent spirits; and the same eager abandonment to the absorbing and universal habit of gaming. There are about twelve or fourteen annual fairs held in the chief towns and cities of the republic; they are all well attended; and the traffic of each continues for about a week or ten days. For an average specimen of one of these celebrations I will select one of the ferias in the capital.

Directly after sunrise, the canals of Chalco and Istacalo presented a gay and animated spectacle: throngs of Indians in boats descending one after the other, with brilliant cargoes of flowers, fruits, and provisions, for sale in the market-places and upon the pavements during the day. A great portion of these flowers and vegetables are grown upon the chinampas or floating gardens—such as we hear of in descriptions of the rivers and canals in China. These constructions are of two kinds, the greater number are attached to the shore, but a few are left to be driven to and