Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/350

342 It is said that there are thirty-three species of this plant growing on these broad plains. The best plants yield liquor for six months after being tapped. From the leaves, root, and juice are obtained a greater variety of products than one would think it possible for one plant to yield. First, paper is made from the pulp of the leaves, and twine and thread from their fibres. The rare and valuable Mexican manuscripts were composed  of paper made from the maguey, which resembled more the papyrus than anything else.

Another use of this plant is in furnishing needles. The leaves are tipped with sharp thorns, and by breaking off the thorn and stripping the fibres attached to it away from the pulp, and then rolling and twisting them together, the native has a serviceable needle ready threaded. The poor people thatch their houses with the leaves, placing one over the other, like shingles; the hollowed leaf also serves as a gutter, or trough, by which the water falling from the eaves is conducted away. The fibrous parts of the maguey supply the country with pita, or strong thread, which is made up into ropes, and is in universal use. It is not so pliable as hemp, and