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Show 384 ON THE !~!MEDIATE CAUSES [ CII. VII. t.t nen t }a civilisation ait commence dans .l es D1on ... 1 . t a0{)' nes, sur un sol moins fertile, so us"' un c1e tno.n 1"s favorable au developpernent des ~tres organises ou le besoin tneme reveille l'industn~. . " Au pied de la Cordillere tlans les vallees humides des Intendances de Vera-Cruz, d~ V alladolid, ou de Guadalaxara, un hotn1:1e ~u1 etnploy.c seulen1ent deux jours de la sen1a1ne a un travail peu penible peut fournir de la subsistance a une fa- 111ille entiere."~x- .. It appears then, that the ext~~eme fert1hty of these countries, instead of affording an adequate stin1ulus to a rapid increase of \vealth and population, has produced, under the actual circuinst~nces in \tV hich they have been placed, a deg~·ee of Indolence ,vhich has kept then1 poor and tlunly pcop!ed after the ' lapse of ages. Though the labounng classes have such ample time to work for conveniences and comforts, they are altnost destitute of thetn. And, even in the neGessary article of food, their indolence and improvidence prevent them fron1 adopting those tneasures which would secure then1 ao·ainst the effects of unfavourable seasons. b M. Hun1boldt states that fan1ines are con1n1on to aln1ost all the equinoctial regions; an? o~scrv~s that, " sous la zone ton·ide, ou une n1a1n b!enfmsante setnble avoir repandu le germe de 1 abondance, l'honlme insouciant et phlegrnatique epro~ve periodiqucn1ent un n1anque de nourriture que lin-* Humboldt's Nouvelle Espagnc, t om. 1·1· 1· • 1• I·V . c. ix· · p· 38. SEC. IV.] OF THE PR06RE~S OF w:gALTH. dustrie des peuples cultives eloigne des regions les plus steriles duN ord.''* ' It is possible, however, that the heat of the climate in these lovver regions of New Spain, and an inferior degree of healthiness compared with the higher regions, though by no n1eans .... such as to preclude a full population, may have assisted in keeping them poor and thinly peopled. But 'vhen we ascend the Cordilleras, to climates which seem to be the finest in the "\i\rorld, the scene which presents itself is not essentially different. The chief food of the lower classes of the inhabitants on the elevated plains of the Cordilleras, is n1aize; and maize, though not so productive, cotnpared with the labour employed upon it, as the banana, exceeds very greatly in productiveness the grains of Europe, and even of the United States. Hun1boldt states, that "La fecondite du thaolli, ou ma!s Mexicain, est au-deHt de tout ce que l'on peut in1aginer en Europe. Laplante, favorisee par de fortes chaleurs et par beaucoup d'humidite, aquiert une hauteur de deux a trois metres. Dans les belles plaines qui s'etendent depuis SanJuan del Rio a Quiretaro, par exemple, ~ans les terres de la grande 1netairie de l'Esperanza, un fanegue de tna:is en produit quelquefois huit cents; des ter-reins fertiles en donnent, annee C01TI111Une, trois a quatre c,ents. Dans les environs de Valladolid on regarde COlTillle ITiauvaise une recolte qui ne donne que ISO ou 150 fois la setnence. La ou le sol est • Essai Politique sur Ia Nouvelle Espagne, tom. i. I. ii. c. v. p. 358. cc |
