Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/117

Rh world can surpass them, or offer suburban recreation grounds more attractive. About five leagues to the south-east of the city are the hot mineral springs of San Bartolomé, situated about a mile from the pueblo of that name, the medicinal properties of which both as a beverage and for the bath have proved efficacious in a variety of diseases. Although Querétaro is signally exempt from epidemics and physical catastrophes, it has occasionally been visited by disasters. The year 1786 was noticeable for the severity of a famine which caused much suffering, and in 1806 great mortality of children occurred from an epidemic lung disease.

The agricultural and manufacturing industries indicate great prosperity when compared with those of larger and more populous provinces. The cotton and woollen factories in 1793 worked up 200,000 pounds of the first-mentioned staple and 63,900 arrobas of wool, equivalent to 1,597,500 pounds, affording employment to three thousand operatives. The tobacco factory also employed three thousand workmen and women, producing annually cigars and cigarettes to the amount of $2,200,000.

Such was the city of Santiago de Querétaro at the time when the spirit of Mexican independence broke out. The reader will recollect that Miguel