nd it is
considered a mark of distinction by the foreigner to be invited as
visiting member to this institution. The British and the American
Colonies each have comfortable club-houses, the Spanish their casino,
and the French and Germans their respective centres.

The Army of Mexico consists of some 28,000 officers and men, efficient
and disciplined, on a footing far superior to the dilapidated soldiery
that the traveller generally observes in, and ascribes to,
Spanish-America. The rank and file have that remarkable power of
performing long marches and heavy work on short rations, which
characterises the Spanish-American native soldier in times of stress.
Their officers receive an excellent training, and the military schools
are considered to take high rank as such. Every citizen, by law, is
obliged to serve in the army, but this is not necessarily carried out,
and needless to say the upper class, except as officers, do not figure
therein. A picturesque and remarkably efficient body of men are the
_rurales_, exceedingly expert horsemen, who range the country, and
whose work of the last few decades has entirely wiped out the prevalent
highway-robbery of earlier years. Mexico's Navy is small: she does not
require a large one, and it consists at present of two training ships,
five gunboats, and two transports.

[Illustration: MEXICAN ARTILLERY: A WAYSIDE ENCAMPMENT.]

The cost of living in the capital, like all other cities, varies much
according to style, but in general it may be considered high. Even
native produce is not cheap necessarily, whilst imported goods are very
expensive. Correspondingly high is the rent of houses or flats. The
houses of Mexico City are very generally constructed and let as
_viviendas_, or flats, usually of about six rooms to each floor, a
time-honoured arrangement among all classes. Such a flat, according to
its position, costs from 5 to 15 pounds sterling per month; and a
private house, such as in England would rent at, say, 200 pounds
sterling per annum, or, say, 300 pounds sterling in the United States,
brings 50 pounds sterling per month in Mexico City, whilst the rents in
the suburbs, and those of business establishments are scarcely less.
Such property is always expected to yield 12 to 15 per cent. per annum
upon the investment. The values of landed property or real estate in
the city have risen in an unprecedented manner of late years, from a
few cents per square yard a few years ag