Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/587

Rh with the last collector, the grand canal, which was to have its debouchure at the Ametlac tunnel. The work is yet unaccomplished, although on the drainage of the valley depends the health of the inhabitants of the capital. The city of Mexico is cradled on a subterranean lake, ever emitting poisonous exhalations. The mortality is excessive, and seems to be increasing.

Maize, or Indian corn, constitutes the principal article of food, and its cultivation, in later years, has become most important in the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Oajaca, Puebla, and Vera Cruz. About the middle of the present century, great uncertainty as to the yield of the crops in different localities is noticeable, and while in one place corn would be selling for almost its weight in gold, at another it would be so abundant as to be used as food for hogs. The main reason of this great difference was the difficulty of transportation. During later years, the increase in the production of maize has been prodigious, its value in 1879 amounting to $112,164,424, representing about five eighths of the total product of the country.