Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/578

 542 MEXICO.

in the returns of 1862, is given at 4,868,000 ; they speak the Aztec or old Mexican language. 4. The Mestizos, or mixed races, distinguished by various names ; the issue of an Indian and a negro being called a zambo ; that of a white and a negress, a mulatto ; of a white and a mulatto female, a terzeron ; of the latter and a white, a quadroon ; and so on to the eighth or tenth shade of colour. The number of Mestizos in the country is stated at 1,500,000. 5. The Europeans, among whom the Spaniards pre- dominate. The number of the latter is about 40,000 ; they are generally nicknamed Gachupinos — which, in the old Mexican tongue, means pricking with the heel, in allusion to the spurs the first conquerors wore. The King of Spain formerly exercised a right of conferring the exclusive privileges enjoyed by the white population on individuals of any shade by a decree of the audiencia, ' Que se tenga por bianco ' — that he be deemed white. These distinctions of colour have been abolished as far as political privileges are con- cerned, by the constitution of 1824, which admits persons of all colours to the equal enjoyment of civil rights.

Trade and Industry.

The total exports of Mexico, in the ten years 1860-69, averaged in value 27,000,000 dollars, or 5,400,000/., per annum, and the total imports 24,000,000 dollars, or 4,800,000/. The value of both the exports and imports was highest in the years 1863 to 1865, during the French occupation and the rule of the Emperor Maxi- milian, and sank lowest in the year following the re-establishment of the republic. The regular exports embrace copper and silver ores, cochineal, indigo, hides, and mahogany and other woods. Exceptionally, during the years 1863 to 1865, raw cotton was largely cultivated and exported. The staple imports comprise cotton and linen manufactures, wrought iron, and machinery.

The commerce of Great Britain with Mexico has undergone great fluctuations for the last fifty years. The imports of British produce into Mexico amounted to 112,599/. in 1818; they fell to 1,598/. in 1821; rose to 1,228,040/. in 1S27; fell to 160,752/. in 1831; and rose again to 779,059/. in 1849. Then again came a period of decline, which continued till 1861, after which avast progress made itself felt, which again met with a sudden relapse in 1866. The sub- joined tabular statement shows the total value of the exports from Mexico to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the imports of British and Irish produce into Mexico, in each of the six years, 1864 to 1869 :—