Note 66 — Chapter XIII · THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. CORDOVA, LA RIOJA, SANTIAGO, TUCUMAN, CATAMARCA, SALTA.

Pulqué is described by Mr. Ward as the favourite beverage of the lower classes in some parts of Mexico. The aloe plant, from which it is prepared, is cultivated for the purpose in extensive plantations; and so great is the consumption of it, that before the revolution the revenue derived from a very small municipal duty levied upon it at the gates of the towns averaged 600,000 hard dollars a-year, and in 1793 amounted to 817,739, or about 170,000l. sterling.—See Ward's 'Mexico,' vol. i. p. 55.