Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/255

Rh Spanish houses, and of course ineffectual against the attacks of a mob, unless a strong armed force were stationed within.

Although the greater portion of the dwellings with their massive walls of stone or adobe, their tiled roofs, and solid doors, afforded some protection for life and property in the event of a riot, the immense quantity of merchandise contained in the stalls situated in the main plaza had no such protection. Here were built without order two hundred and eighty light wooden structures, styled cajones, in which native and foreign wares of all descriptions were sold. Among them and scattered over other portions of the public square were numberless booths of canes and rushes, for the sale of fruit, vegetables, and provisions, giving to this plaza, which was one of the finest in the world, the appearance of an irregular village of huts.

In 1658 several of the stalls were destroyed by fire, and during the confusion which ensued many were plundered. In the following year orders were given for the plaza to be cleared of both stalls and booths, but the danger from fire and thieves being quickly forgotten, they were soon restored to their former location. Later the attention of the authorities was called to the danger to which this collection of unguarded inflammable structures was exposed, but with their usual apathy they paid no heed to the matter until a second and greater disaster compelled the application of a permanent remedy.

Such was the condition of the capital in the beginning of June 1692. Though the scarcity of grain still continued, the careful distribution of the supply daily received at the public granary sufficed to keep starvation from the city. The natives, however, daily grew bolder and more insolent, and awaited but a pretext to revolt, encouraged, as they were, by the