Spain an average return
of nearly a million annually. Under the Republic the consumption of the
weed had greatly increased, but, from the prevalence of disorder in
every branch of the administration, this important branch of the
revenue was almost entirely absorbed by the officials through whose
hands it passed, so that the sum realized by government in the most
unproductive year fell off to $25,000, but finally reached $45,000, the
amount at which it was farmed out by Escandon and Company. Since that
time the return to government has gone on increasing, until it was
advertised to be let the last year at the round sum of $1,200,000. How
much more the partners realized during the years that they held the
contract is, of course, known only to themselves.

The new house which Don Manuel has built at Tacubaya is decidedly the
finest palace in the republic. The position is well chosen, and the sum
of $300,000 has been laid out upon the house and grounds. It is a
combination of an Italian villa, with the comforts and conveniences of
English life. London, Paris, and New York have alike contributed to its
furniture. I was told that $50,000 was invested in pictures alone. When
I looked at the perfection to which the house, the grounds, and the
ornamental works had been carried, my only wonder was that $300,000
could have paid for such a combination of elegance and good taste. The
family, which consists only of Don Manuel and his widowed sisters, had
left on account of the cholera then prevailing in Tacubaya, but the
steward readily opened every door to my companion; and thus, without
intruding upon the privacy of a family, or even having the honor of
their acquaintance, I obtained access to one of the finest private
residences that I have ever yet seen, either in this country or any
other. In this house it was that the Gadsden treaty was proposed, at a
dinner-party at which Mr. Gadsden and Santa Anna were present.

THE DESIERTO.

There was nothing to detain me longer at Tacubaya; but a ride upon the
Tacubaya road is not well finished without being extended to the
_Desierto_, a place now as attractive in its ruins as it was in its
prosperity.

A description of what it once was I copy from old Thomas Gage: "But
more north [south] westward, three leagues from Mexico, is the
pleasantest place of all that are about Mexico, called the _Solidad_,
or _Desierto_, 'the Solitary Place' or 'Wilderness.' Were all
wildernesses like it