Mexican Curiosities

We have on exliibition at the Courieu office a small collection of brass, copper and earthenwnre gathered by F. II. Borradaile, graduated from tlie Law school last year. Thcy are specimens of the crude workmanship of the inhabitants of Old and NewJMcxico. In regard to theni Mr. Iiorradaile writes: The small exhibitlon of brass, copper, and earlhenwaro to be seen at tlio (Jourikr office Is composed of oddltles collected In Old and New Mexico. The small glazed cup, long sleuUer knlfe, and clurasy brass bit are ir(" V litcr Thov Imm - - ul CIVlllziltlon í!,7 ?. eXiJftVn art of the inhabltar.ta of the northern partof that warm country, whlch fiecms toassoclate In our minds a land of perpetual display of sombrero, cacti, and stlver ornamenta. The small cap glves a fair Idea of the style of household ornaments and utensüs. Il is what weflod used In neariy all the Mexlan houses. The knile is used bot li as a fork, table-knlfe, or small saw. The bit is clumsy in comparlson to the bits we use In our north'iii country and Is heavy as are uil the accoatrements wlth whlch they adorn their houses. Thelr saddles welgh from forty tosixty pounds and seem to one at llrst slght to be a mass of great thlck leather, wood and lron, even as they are, but sorae of them are very prcttlly ornaraented havlng grotesque patterns of solid sllver worked lnto the hom and stirrups. The opper kettle and the other artlcles are from New Mexico, from the valley of the Bio Grand. The kettle is over three hundred year old. It was found at the bottom of an old mine, formerly worked by the Azetces, and carrled by a Pueblo i ndian to the town of Ysiletta where it was used according to thelr hlstory for over one hundred and twentyeightyears and after the explratlon of that time sola to a Mexican lmaily named Blance livlngnear Albugerque' in whicli famlly It was used for over seventy years and Mnally sold to the New Mexico Machine and lron Oompany os old copper, from whlch place I obtaiued possession of It. The Pueblos claim It had no handleson when they found It, so the two seen on It at present are of dllfererit ages. The mines had not been worked for a perlod beyond the recollections of the Pueblos ; so that three hundred years Is a safe estímate of lts age. The upper part In chissL'led out and the lower hammored or beaten. The Hule blrd, and duck of pottery are represen tatlons of unknown species to me. They were made by the Pueblos a very ludustrlous tribe of Indians who owu farms and cattle, and have polltlcal rights. They have nlneteen lowns, and are a powerful body. They are never known to becoine lntoxicated, or to Bteal. They manufacture thelr own clothlng and exnel In pottery whlch Is largely used all over New Mexico. Some of the earthen kettles made by the Pueblos, hold as much as an ordinnry hogshttad. andaré qulle curlously ornamentvd and colored.