CHAPTER VI.

front and deserves to be mentioned for its associations if not for its architectural beauty. The whole of the side walks on the southern part of the plaza, and a portion of the western, beyond the Calle Plateros, or street of the silversmiths, are protected by a broad and massive corridor or portico, called the portales, in which the traveller will constantly find crowds of hawkers, pedlars, shopmen, letter writers, clothiers, fruit sellers, liquor venders, crockery dealers and book hucksters. A few squares west of the plaza, is situated the magnificent palace of the Mineria, or