roduct of
the sugar-cane for aguardiente. The German combines his malt and hops to
produce beer. The Frenchman depends upon the juice of the grape in
various forms, from light claret to fierce Bordeaux brandy. The Puritans
of Massachusetts distilled New England rum from molasses. The faithful
Mohammedan, who drinks neither wine nor spirits, makes up for his
abstinence by free indulgence in coffee. In the islands of the Indian
Ocean the natives stimulate themselves by chewing the betel nut; and in
the Malacca Straits Settlements, Penang, Singapore, and other islands,
the people obtain their spirit from the fermented sap of the toddy-palm.
In Japan the natives get mildly stimulated by immoderate drinking of tea
many times each day; and all of the civilized and barbaric world is
addicted, more or less, to the use of tobacco.

One of the staple commodities produced here is that classic, beautiful,
and precious gem, the opal. It is found imbedded in a certain kind of
rock, in the neighboring mountains, sometimes in cubes, but oftener in
very irregular forms. It will be remembered that Nonius, who possessed a
large and brilliant specimen of the opal, preferred exile to
surrendering it to Marc Antony. Whether he was opal-mad or not, it is
clear that persons who visit this place are very apt to become
monomaniacs upon the subject of this beautiful gem. Our party expended
considerable sums for these precious stones, cut and uncut, during the
brief period of our visit. The choicest of these specimens is the true
fire-opal, which in brilliancy and iridescence excels all others. Nearly
every person one meets in Queretaro seems to have more or less of these
lovely stones to sell; nine tenths of them are of a very cheap quality,
really fine ones, being the exception, are valued accordingly. The
pretty flower-girl, who first offers you her more fragrant wares,
presently becomes confidential, and, drawing nearer, brings out from
some mysterious fold of her dress half a dozen sparkling stones which
she is anxious to dispose of. Even the water carrier, with his huge red
earthen jar strapped to his head and back, if he sees a favorable
opportunity, will importune the stranger regarding these fiery little
stones. These irresponsible itinerants have some ingenious way of
filling up the cracks in an opal successfully for the time being; but,
after a few days, the defect will again appear.

The finest specimens of the opal come from Hungary.