of the land of such estates is uncultivated, and the water is wasted upon the remainder in the most reckless manner. The titles by which such properties are held are exceedingly varied, and probably to a considerable extent uncertain. Some originated with the Spanish crown, through its viceroys, and have been handed down from generation to generation; some came from Mexico, through its governors or political chiefs; while, over a not inconsiderable part of all the good land of the country, the titles of the Church, although not recognized by the Government, are still, to a certain extent, respected. As agricultural land generally upon the Mexican plateau, has little or no value apart from the use and control of water, it has come to pass that in various communities the title to land is vested in the water-right; and a small land-owner or farmer, instead of holding deeds for the land he occupies, owns a right to so many minutes, hours, or days of water per month—that is, he is entitled to draw from the main irrigation ditch, which skirts or runs through his land, water for so long a time each month, and to cultivate so much land as this water will irrigate. These rights to water, which are therefore equivalent to titles to land, are, like land-titles, inheritable, and subject to the laws of descent; and so scattered sometimes have become the heirs to such rights, that the re-
