For water the people have, until quite recently, been dependent upon
cisterns, in which the rain that falls upon the flat roofs is collected.
These cisterns are in the patio, or courtyard, and an open drain runs
through the same place.
[Illustration: THE BREAD SELLER.]
Much of the cooking is done here by the poorer people.
It seems to us that cooking in houses without chimneys would be rather
difficult, but then these people do not use stoves or coal. They cook
over a small pot, or brazier, or furnace of charcoal.
They cook less food, too, than people who live in the North. They live
largely on fruits and vegetables and have little meat.
Ice is used only by the families of the wealthy, and it is impossible to
keep milk or fresh meat for any length of time. In place of ice-water
the people store water in porous jars, and in this way it is kept cool.
They prepare many refreshing drinks to be used in place of water by
using oranges, lemons, limes, cocoanuts, and the milk of almonds.
They also indulge very often in little ices, which the venders bring to
the doors many times a day.
The poorer people, who can not afford to indulge in such expensive
drinks and ices, use barley water, or water with toasted corn and sugar
in it.
The people have coffee or chocolate and biscuits for the first or early
breakfast. The second breakfast is eaten between eleven and twelve
o'clock, and corresponds to our lunch. Dinner is eaten at six or seven
o'clock in the evening.
Many of the business men take the morning meal with their clerks at a
long table on a veranda, or in a room of the establishment. From three
to four o'clock in the afternoon everyone indulges in a siesta or nap.
Along the wharves and in the outskirts of the city, the houses are but
one story high, and many of them are built of wood. These houses have
but one window and are dark and poorly ventilated; yet they are crowded
with poor people.
Some of them have patches of garden separated by rows or hedges of
cactus. Here we see brown mothers sitting in the sun mending fish nets.
Their naked little children are at play near them.
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