In its natural state it resembles beeswax in colour.
It is worth while to describe the Casa Grande, which is strikingly different from our European notions of the "great house" of the village.

As we enter by the gate, we find ourselves in a patio--an open quadrangle surrounded by a covered walk--a cloister in fact, into which open the rooms inhabited by the family.

The second quadrangle, which opens into the first, is devoted to stables, kitchen, &c.

The outer wall which surrounds the whole is very thick, and the entire building is built of mud bricks baked in the sun, and has no upper storey at all.

It is a Pompeian house on a large scale, and suits the climate perfectly.