vessels. It is not so pliable as hemp, and is more liable to be affected by the weather; but it is extremely tough, and durable, and consequently of very general utility. The annexed plate contains an Aloe in full produce, with the leaves cut, the central cup displayed, and the skin, gourd, and scraper, used in extracting the sap.
COLONIAL PRODUCE.
I come now to those productions, which are termed in Europe "Colonial produce," as being, usually, the growth of Colonies founded by the nations of the Old World in the warmer regions of the New, and supplying the parent States with those articles of luxury, or necessity, which the climate of Europe is not calculated to produce.
In Mexico they comprehend sugar, coffee, tobacco, indigo, chocolate, and cotton, besides vanilla and cochineal, of which Nature seems to have given to New Spain the almost exclusive possession. I shall begin with sugar, as being the only article of general consumption in Europe, the exportation of which, before the Revolution, was carried to any extent.
SUGAR.
Humboldt has endeavoured to fix the maximum of height at which the cane in Mexico may be cultivated; and to his scientific disquisitions I must refer such of my readers as are inclined to view
