ABSTRACT
The Aztec merchant was a sort of itinerant trader, who made his journeys to the remotest borders of Anahuac, and to the countries beyond, carrying with him merchandise of rich stuffs, jewellery, slaves, and other valuable commodities. Agriculture in Mexico was in the advanced state as the other arts of social life. The public taxes were often paid in agricultural produce. There were no shops in Mexico, but the various manufactures and agricultural products were brought together for sale in the great marketplaces of the principal cities. The ancient Mexicans made utensils of earthenware for the ordinary purposes of domestic life, numerous specimens of which still exist. They made cups and vases of a lackered or painted wood, impervious to wet, and gaudily coloured. Their dyes were obtained from both mineral and vegetable substances. Polygamy was permitted among the Mexicans, though chiefly confined, probably, to the wealthiest classes.
