that in Mexico there were about 15,000 coaches.

"It is a by-word that at Mexico there are four things fair; that is to
say, the women, the apparel, the horses, and the streets. But to this I
may add the beauty of some of the coaches of the gentry, which do
exceed in cost the best of the court of Madrid, and other parts of
Christendom, for they spare no silver, nor gold, nor precious stones,
nor cloth of gold, nor the best silks from China, to enrich them; and
to the gallantry of their horses the pride of some doth add the cost of
bridles and shoes of silver. The streets of Christendom must not
compare with those in breadth and cleanness, but especially in the
riches of the shops which do adorn them. Above all, the goldsmith's
shops and works are to be admired. The [East] Indians, and the people
of China, that have been made Christians, and every year come thither,
have perfected the Spaniards in that trade. There is in the cloister of
the Dominicans a lamp hanging in the Church, with three hundred
branches wrought in silver, to hold so many candles, besides a hundred
little lamps for oil set in it, every one being made with several
workmanship so exquisitely that it is valued to be worth four hundred
thousand ducats; and with such like curious works are many streets made
more rich and beautiful from the shops of goldsmiths.

"To the by-word touching the beauty of the women I must add the liberty
they enjoy for gaming, which is such that the day and night is too
short for them to end a _primera_ when once it is begun; nay, gaming is
so common to them, that they invite gentlemen to their houses for no
other end. To myself it happened that, passing along the streets in
company with a friar that came with me the year before from Spain, a
gentlewoman of great birth, knowing us to be new-comers, from her
window called unto us, and, after two or three slight questions
concerning Spain, asked us if we would come in and play with her a game
at _primera_. Both men and women are excessive in their apparel, using
more silks than stuffs and cloth. Precious stones and pearls farther
much this vain ostentation. A hatband and rose made of diamonds in a
gentleman's hat is common, and a hatband of pearls is ordinary in a
tradesman; nay, a blackamore, or tawney young maid and slave, will make
hard shift but she will be in fashion with her neck-chain and Bracelets
of pearls, and her ear-bobs of considerable jewels.

[Illustration: MEXIC