On the Mexican highlands, with a passing glimpse of Cuba . e suggests the fumes of beer. Just so, haveI been told that the great cities of the world maybe distinguished by their odors. Paris is said toexhale absinthe. London is said to smell of aleand stale tobacco, and Mexico City, I think, maybe said to be enwrapped with the scent of pulque{Pool-Kay). ^Pulque, blessed pulque/ says theMexican! Pulque, the great national drink of theancient Aztec, which has been readily adopted bythe Spanish conqueror, and which is to-day thefavorite intoxicating beverage of every bibulatingMexican. At the rai
On the Mexican highlands, with a passing glimpse of Cuba . e suggests the fumes of beer. Just so, haveI been told that the great cities of the world maybe distinguished by their odors. Paris is said toexhale absinthe. London is said to smell of aleand stale tobacco, and Mexico City, I think, maybe said to be enwrapped with the scent of pulque{Pool-Kay). ^Pulque, blessed pulque/ says theMexican! Pulque, the great national drink of theancient Aztec, which has been readily adopted bythe Spanish conqueror, and which is to-day thefavorite intoxicating beverage of every bibulatingMexican. At the railway stations, as we de-scended into the great valley wherein Mexico Citylies, Indian women handed up little brown pitchersof pulque, fresh pulque new tapped. Sweet andcool and delicious it was, as mild as lemonade (inthis unfermented condition it is called agua mlel,honey water). The thirsty passengers reachedout of the car windows and gladly paid the cincocentavos (five cents) and drank it at leisure as thetrain rolled on. Through miles and miles we 70. A PULQUE PEDDLER Vivid Characteristics of Mexican Life traversed plantations of the maguey plant fromwhich the pulque is extracted. For pulque is merelythe sap of the maguey or century plant, whichaccumulates at the base of the flower stalk, just be-fore it begins to shoot up. The pulque-gd^thcrerthrusts a long, hollow reed into the stalk, sucks itfull to the mouth, using the tongue for a stopper,and then blows it into a pigskin sack which hecarries on his back. When the pigskin is full ofjuice, it is emptied into a tub, and when the tubis filled with liquor it is poured into a cask, andthe cask is shipped to the nearest market. Itin-erant peddlars tramp through the towns and vil-lages, bearing a pigskin of pulque on their shoul-ders and selling drinks to whosoever is thirsty andmay have the uno centavo (one cent) to pay forit. When fresh, the drink is delightful and innoc-uous. But when the liquid has begun to ferment,it is s
Size: 1367px × 1828px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidonmexicanhig, bookyear1906
