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diff --git a/old/13115-0.txt b/old/13115-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9076f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13115-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11816 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anahuac, by Edward Burnett Tylor + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Anahuac + +Author: Edward Burnett Tylor + +Release Date: August 4, 2004 [EBook #13115] +[Most recently updated: October 27, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. Eckrich, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreaders Team + + +[Illustration] + + + + +Anahuac + +or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern + +by Edward Burnett Tylor + + +1861 + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +INTRODUCTION. +ITINERARY. + +CHAPTER I. + +Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of Pines. +Mosquitos. Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fé. Alligators. The +Cura. Missionary Priest. Florida Colonists. Blacks in the West Indies. +Chinese and African slaves. + +CHAPTER II. + +Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. Slave-trade in +Natives. The Ten Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican +Politics. Casualties. The City of the Dead. Turkey-buzzards. Northers. +The “temperate region.” Cordova. The Chipi-chipi. The “cold region.” +Mirage. Sand-pillars. The rainy season. Plundered passengers. +Robber-priest. Aztec remains. Aloe-fields. Houses of mud-bricks. Huts +of aloes. Mexican churches. Mexican roads. Making pulque. + +CHAPTER III. + +Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. Changes in the +Valley of Mexico. Dearth of Trees. Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. +Rattles. Judas’s Bones. Burning Judas. Churches in Holy Week. Streets. +Barricades. People. Women. The cypress of Chapultepec. Old-fashioned +coaches. The canal of Chalco. Canoe-travelling. “Reasonable people.” +Taste for flowers. The “Floating Gardens.” Promenade. Flooded streets. +Earthquakes. + +CHAPTER IV. + +Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. Bullfight. +Lazoing and colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of organ-cactus. +Pachuca. Cold in the hills. Rapid evaporation. Mountain-roads. Real del +Monte. Guns and pistols. Regla. The father-confessor in Mexico. Morals +of servitude. Cornish miners. Dram-drinking. Salt-trade. The Indian +market. Indian Conservatism. Sardines. Account-keeping. The great +Barranca. Tropical fruits. Prickly pears. Their use. The +“Water-Throat.” Silver-works. Volcano of Jorullo. Cascade of Regla. +“Eyes of Water.” Fires. The Hill of Knives. Obsidian implements. +Obsidian mines. The Stone-age. The loadstone-mountain of Mexico. +Unequal Civilization of the Aztecs. Silver and commerce of Mexico. +Effect of Protection-duties. Silver mines. The Aztec numerals. + +CHAPTER V. + +A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military Statistics. +Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American war. Mexican army. Our +Lady of Guadalupe. Miracles. The rival Virgins. Sacred lottery-ticket. +Literature in Mexico. The clergy and their system of Education in +Mexico. The Holy Office. Indian Notions of Christianity. + +CHAPTER VI. + +To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. Salt-lakes. A +storm on the lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. Quarries. Stone Hammers. +Use of Bronze in stone-cutting in Mexico and Egypt. Prickly Pears. +Temple-pyramids of Teotihuacán. Sacrifice of Spaniards. Old Mexico. +Market of Antiquities. Police. Bull-dogs. Accumulation of Alluvium. +Tezcotzinco. Ancient baths and bridge. Salt and salt-pans. Fried +flies’-eggs. Water-pipes. Irrigation. Agriculture in Mexico. History +repeats itself. + +CHAPTER VII. + +Horses and their training. Saddles and bits. The Courier. Leather +clothes. The Serape. The Rag-fair of Mexico, Thieves. Gourd +water-bottles. Ploughing. Travelling by Diligence. Indian carriers. +Mules. Breakfast. Bragadoccio. Robbers. Escort. Cuernavaca. Tropical +Vegetation. Sugar-cane. Temisco. Sugar-hacienda. Indian labourers. The +evensong. The Raya. Strength of the Indians. Xochicalco. Ruins of the +Pyramid. Sculptures. Common ornaments. The people of Mexico and Central +America. Their civilization. Pear-shaped heads. Miacatlán. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Cocoyotla. Indian labourers. Political Condition of the Indians. Indian +Village and huts. Cotton-spinning. The Indian Alcalde. Great Cave of +Cacahuamilpán. Optical phenomenon. Monk on horseback. Religion of the +Indians. Idols. Baptism by wholesale. Village amusements. Dancing. +Chalma. The meson and the convent. Church-dances. The miller’s +daughter. Young friar. The Hill of Drums. Sacred cypress-tree. Oculan. +Change of climate. Grain-districts of Mexico. The Desierto. Tenancingo. +Toluca. Lerma. Robbers. + +CHAPTER IX. + +Museum. Fate of Antiquities. War-God. Sacrificial Stone. Mexican words +naturalized in Europe, &c. Chamber of Horrors. Aztec Art. Wooden Drums. +Aztec Picture-writings. The “Man-flaying” Mr. Uhde’s Collection. Mr. +Christy’s Collection. Bones of Giants. Cortes’ Armour. Mexican +Calendar-stone. Aztec Astronomy. Mongol Calendar. Peculiarities of +Aztec Civilization. The Prison at Mexico. No “Criminal class.” +Prison-discipline. The Garotte. Mexican law-courts. Statistics. The +Compadrazgo. Leperos and Lepers. Lazoing the bull. Cockfighting. +Gambling. Monte. The fortunate Miners. + +CHAPTER X. + +A travelling companion. Mexicans who live by their wits. Jackal-masks, +&c. Mexican words used in the United States. Miraflores. +Cotton-factory. Sacred Mount and Cypress-tree. Rainy Season. Ascent of +Popocatepetl. The Crater. View of Anahuac. Descent from Popocatepetl. +Plain of Puebla. Snow-blindness. Hospitable Shopkeeper. Morality of +Smuggling. Pyramid and Antiquities of Cholula. Hybrid Legends of +Mexico. Genuine Legends. Old-world analogies among the Aztecs. + +CHAPTER XI. + +Puebla. The Pasadizos. Revolutions in Mexico. Festival of Corpus +Christi. Mexican clergy. Their incomes and morals. Scourging. Religion +of the People. Anomalous constitution of the Republic. The horse-bath. +Debt-slaves or peons. Great fortunes in Mexico. Amozoque. Spurs. +Nopalucán. Orizaba. Robbers. Locusts. Indian village. Inroads of +Civilization. Lawsuits. Native Aristocracy. The vapour-bath. Scanty +population. Its explanation. Unhealthy habits. Epidemics. Intemperance. +Pineapples. Potrero. Negros. Mixed races. “Painted men.” + +CHAPTER XII. + +Barrancas. Indian trotting. Flowers. Armadillo. Fire-flies. Singular +Fandango. Epiphytes. The Junta. Indian Life. Decorative Art. Horses. +Jalapa. Anglo-Mexicans. Insect-life. Monte. Fate of Antonio. Scorpion. +White Negress. Cattle. Artificial lighting. Vera Cruz. Further Journey. +St. Thomas’s. Voyage to England. Future destinies of Mexico. + +APPENDIX. +I. The Manufacture of Obsidian Knives. +II. On the Solar Eclipses recorded in the Le Tellier MS. +III. Table of Aztec roots. +IV. Glossary. +V. Ancient Mexican mosaic work (in Mr. Christy’s Collection). +VI. Dasent’s Essay on the Ethnographical value of Popular Tales and +Legends. + +INDEX. + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: + +PLATES: + + Cascade of Regla. _From a photograph by J. Bell, Esq._ Porter and + Baker in Mexico. + Indians bringing Country Produce to Market. + Indians in a Rancho, making and baking Tortillas. + Map to illustrate Messrs. Tylor and Christy’s journeys and excursions + in Mexico. + +WOODCUTS: + +_(The cuts of smaller objects of antiquity, and articles at present in +use, have been drawn from specimens in the Collection of Henry Christy, +Esq.)_ + + + Indian Tlachiquero, collecting juice of the Agave for Pulque. + View of Part of the Valley of Mexico. + Water-carrier and Mexican Woman at the Fountain. + Group of Mexican Ecclesiastics. + Stone Spear-heads, and Obsidian Knives and Arrow-heads, from Mexico. + Fluted Prism of Obsidian, and Knife-flakes. + Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian. + Aztec Stone-knife, with wooden handle, inlaid with mosaic work. + Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + The Rebozo and the Serape. + Aztec Bridge near Tezcuco. + Spanish-Mexican Saddle and appendages. + Spanish-Mexican Bit, with ring and chain. + Sculptured Panel, from Xochicalco. _(After Nebel)_. + Small Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + Ixtacalco Church. + Spanish-Mexican Spurs. + Goddess of War. _(After Nebel)_. + Three Views of a Sacrificial Collar or Clamp, carved out of hard + stone. + Two Views of a Mask, carved out of hard stone. + Ancient Bronze Bells. + Spanish-Mexican Cock-spurs. + Leather Sandals. + Mexican Costumes. _(After Nebel)_. + View of Orizaba. + Indians of the Plateau. _(After Nebel)_. + +[Illustration: THE CASCADE OF REGLA. _From a Photograph by J. +Ball Esq. of the Hacienda de Regla. March 1856._] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the +narrative and remarks contained in this volume were made in the months +of March, April, May, and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback. +The author and his fellow-traveller enjoyed many advantageous +opportunities of studying the country, the people, and the antiquities +of Mexico, owing to the friendly assistance and hospitality which they +received there. With this aid they were enabled to accomplish much more +than usually falls to the lot of travellers in so limited a period; and +they had the great advantage too, of being able to substantiate or +correct their own observations by the local knowledge and experience of +their friends and entertainers. + +Visiting Mexico during a lull in the civil turmoil of that lamentably +disturbed Republic, they were fortunate in being able to avail +themselves of that peaceable season in making excursions to remarkable +places and ruins, and examining the national collection of antiquities, +and other objects of interest,—an opportunity that cannot have occurred +since owing to the recommencement of civil war in its worst form. + +The following are some of the chief points of interest in these Notes +on Mexico, which are either new or treated more fully than hitherto: + +1. The evidence of an immense ancient population, shewn by the +abundance of remains of works of art (treated of at pages 146-150), is +fully stated here. + +2. The notices and drawings of Obsidian knives and weapons (at page 95, +&c., and in the Appendix) are more ample than any previously given. + +3. The treatment of the Mexican Numerals (at page 108) is partly new. + +4. The proofs of the highly probable sophistication of the document in +the Library at Paris, relative to Mexican eclipses, have not previously +been advanced (see Appendix). + +5. The notices of objects of Mexican art, &c., in the chapter on +Antiquities, and elsewhere (including the Appendix), are for the most +part new to the public. + +6. The remarks on the connection between pure Mexican art and that of +Central America, in the chapter on Xochicalco, are in great part new. + +7. The singular native bridge at Tezcuco (page 153) is another novelty. + +The order in which places and things were visited is shewn in the +annexed Itinerary, or sketch of the journeys and excursions described. + + + + +ITINERARY. + + +Journey 1. Cuba. Havana. Batabano. Isles of Pines. Nueva Gerona. Baños +de Santa Fé. Back to Havana. _Pages_ 1-14. + +Journey 2. Havana. Sisal. Vera Cruz. _Pages_ 15-18. + +Journey 3. Vera Cruz. Cordova. Orizaba. Huamantla. Otumba. Guadalupe. +Mexico. _Pages_ 18-38. + +Journey 4. Mexico to Tacubaya and Chapultepec, and back. _Pages_ 55-58. + +Journey 5. Mexico to Santa Anita and back. _Pages_ 59-65. + +Journey 6. Mexico. Guadalupe. Pachuca. Real del Monte. Regla. +Atotonilco el Grande. Soquital and back to Real del Monte. Real del +Monte to Mount Jacal and Cerro de Navajas (obsidian-pits), and back to +Real del Monte. Pachuca. Guadalupe. Mexico. _Pages_ 72-105. + +Journey 7. Mexico to Tisapán. Ravine of Magdalena. Pedrigal +(lava-field), and back. _Pages_ 118-120. + +Journey 8. Mexico to Tezcuco. Pages 129—162. Tezcuco to Pyramids of +Teotihuacán and back. Pages 136—146. Tezcuco to Tezcotzinco (the +so-called “Montezuma’s Bath,” &c.). Aztec Bridge, and back to Tezcuco. +_Pages_ 152-153. Tezcuco to Bosque del Contador (the grove of +ahuehuetes, where excavations were made.) _Pages_ 154-156. Tezcuco to +Mexico. _Page_ 62. + +Journey 9. Mexico. San Juan de Dios. La Guarda. Cuernavaca. Temisco. +Xochicalco. Miacatlán. Cocoytla. _Pages_ 172-195. Cocoytla to village +and cave of Cacahuamilpán and back. _Pages_ 196-205. Cocoytla to +Chalma. Oculán. El Desierto. Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Las Cruzes. +Mexico. _Pages_ 214-220. + +Journey 10. Mexico to Tezcuco. Miraflores. Amecameca. Popocatepetl. San +Nicolas de los Ranchos. Cholula. Puebla. Amozoque. Nopaluca. San +Antonio de abajo. Orizaba. Amatlán. El Potrero. Cordova. San Andrés. +Chalchicomula. La Junta. Jalapa. Vera Cruz. West Indies and Home. +_Pages_ 260- 327. + + +Illustration: MAP OF PART OF MEXICO TO ILLUSTRATE A JOURNEY FROM +VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO AND BACK & EXCURSIONS IN THE COUNTRY, By Messrs. +E.B. Tylor & H. Cristy. + + + + +CHAPTER I. +THE ISLE OF PINES. + + +In the spring of 1856, I met with Mr. Christy accidentally in an +omnibus at Havana. He had been in Cuba for some months, leading an +adventurous life, visiting sugar-plantations, copper-mines, and +coffee-estates, descending into caves, and botanizing in tropical +jungles, cruising for a fortnight in an open boat among the +coral-reefs, hunting turtles and manatis, and visiting all sorts of +people from whom information was to be had, from foreign consuls and +Lazarist missionaries down to retired slave-dealers and assassins. + +As for myself, I had been travelling for the best part of a year in the +United States, and had but a short time since left the live-oak forests +and sugar-plantations of Louisiana. We agreed to go to Mexico together; +and the present notes are principally compiled from our +memorandum-books, and from letters written home on our journey. + +Before we left Cuba, however, we made one last excursion across the +island, and to the _Isla de Pinos_—the Isle of Pines—off the southern +coast. A volante took us to the railway-station. The volante is the +vehicle which the Cubans specially affect; it is like a Hansom cab, but +the wheels are much taller, six and a half feet high, and the black +driver sits postillion-wise upon the horse. Our man had a laced jacket, +black leather leggings, and a pair of silver spurs fastened upon his +bare feet, which seemed at a little distance to have well polished +boots on, they were so black and shiny. + +The railway which took us from Havana to Batabano had some striking +peculiarities. For a part of the way the track passed between two walls +of tropical jungle. The Indian fig trees sent down from every branch +suckers, like smooth strings, which rooted themselves in the ground to +draw up more water. Acacias and mimosas, the seiba and the mahagua, +with other hard-wood trees innumerable, crowded close to one another; +while epiphytes perched on every branch, and creepers bound the whole +forest into a compact mass of vegetation, through which no bird could +fly. We could catch the strings of convolvulus with our walking-sticks, +as the train passed through the jungle. Sometimes we came upon a swamp, +where clusters of bamboos were growing, crowned with tufts of pointed +leaves; or had a glimpse for a moment of a group of royal palms upon +the rising ground. + +We passed sugar-plantations with their wide cane-fields, the +sugar-houses with tall chimneys, and the balconied house of the +administrador, keeping a sharp look out over the village of +negro-cabins, arranged in double lines. + +In the houses near the stations where we stopped, cigar-making seemed +to be the universal occupation. Men, women, and children were sitting +round tables hard at work. It made us laugh to see the black men +rolling up cigars upon the hollow of their thighs, which nature has +fashioned into a curve exactly suited to this process. + +At Batabano the steamer was waiting at the pier, and our passports and +ourselves were carefully examined by the captain, for Cuba is the +paradise of passport offices, and one cannot stir without a visa. For +once everybody was _en règle_, and we had no such scene as my companion +had witnessed a few days before. + +If you are a married man resident in Cuba, you cannot get a passport to +go to the next town without your wife’s permission in writing. Now it +so happened that a respectable brazier, who lived at Santiago de Cuba, +wanted to go to Trinidad. His wife would not consent; so he either got +her signature by stratagem, or, what is more likely, gave somebody +something to get him a passport under false pretences. + +At any rate he was safe on board the steamer, when a middle-aged +female, well dressed, but evidently arrayed in haste, and with a face +crimson with hard running, came panting down to the steamer, and rushed +on board. Seizing upon the captain, she pointed out her husband, who +had taken refuge behind the other passengers at a respectful distance; +she declared that she had never consented to his going away, and +demanded that his body should be instantly delivered up to her. The +husband was appealed to, but preferred staying where he was. The +captain produced the passport, perfectly _en règle_, and the lady made +a rush at the document, which was torn in half in the scuffle. All +other means failing, she made a sudden dash at her husband, probably +intending to carry him off by main force. He ran for his life, and +there was a steeplechase round the deck, among benches, bales, and +coils of rope; while the passengers and the crew cheered first one and +then the other, till they could not speak for laughing. The husband was +all but caught once; but a benevolent passenger kicked a camp-stool in +the lady’s way, and he got a fresh start, which he utilized by climbing +up the ladder to the paddle-box. His wife tried to follow him, but the +shouts of laughter which the black men raised at seeing her +performances were too much for her, and she came down again. Here the +captain interposed, and put her ashore, where she stood like black-eyed +Susan till the vessel was far from the wharf, not waving her lily hand, +however, but shaking her clenched fist in the direction of the +fugitive. + +To return to our voyage to the Isle of Pines.—All the afternoon the +steamer threaded her way cautiously among the coral-reefs which rose +almost to the surface. Sometimes there seemed scarcely room to pass +between them, and by night navigation would have been impossible. We +were just in the place where Columbus and his companions arrived on +their expedition along the Cuban coast, to find out what countries lay +beyond. They sailed by day, and lay to at night, till their patience +was worn out. Another day or two of sailing would have brought them to +where the coast trends northwards; but they turned back, and Columbus +died in the belief that Cuba was the eastern extremity of the continent +of Asia. + +The Spaniards call these reefs “cayos,” and we have altered the name to +“keys,” such as _Key West_ in Florida, and _Ambergris Key_ off Belize. + +It was after sunset, and the phosphorescent animals were making the sea +glitter like molten metal, when we reached the Isle of Pines, and +steamed slowly up the river, among the mangroves that fringe the banks, +to the village of Nueva Gerona, the port of the island. It consisted of +two rows of houses thatched with palm-leaves, and surrounded by wide +verandahs; and between them a street of unmitigated mud. + +As we walked through the place in the dusk, we could dimly discern the +inhabitants sitting in their thatched verandahs, in the thinnest of +white dresses, gossipping, smoking, and love-making, tinkling guitars, +and singing seguidillas. It was quite a Spanish American scene out of a +romance. There was no romance about the mosquitos, however. The air was +alive with them. When I was new to Cuba, I used to go to bed in the +European fashion; and as the beds were all six inches too short, my +feet used to find their way out in the night, and the mosquitos came +down and sat upon them. Experience taught us that it was better to lie +down half-dressed, so that only our faces and hands were exposed to +their attacks. + +The Isle of Pines used to be the favourite resort of the pirates of the +Spanish main; indeed there were no other inhabitants. The creeks and +rivers being lined with the densest vegetation, a few yards up the +winding course of such a creek, they were lost in the forest, and a +cruiser might pass within a few yards of their lurking-place, and see +no traces of them. Captain Kyd often came here, and stories of his +buried treasures are still told among the inhabitants. Now the island +serves a double purpose; it is a place of resort for the Cubans, who +come to rusticate and bathe, and it serves as a settlement for those +free black inhabitants of Florida who chose to leave that country when +it was given up to the United States. One of these Floridanos +accompanied us as our guide next day to the Baños de Santa Fé. + +When we left the village we passed near the mangrove trees, which were +growing not only near the water but in it, and like to spread their +roots among the thick black slime which accumulates so fast in this +country of rapid vegetable growth, and as rapid decomposition. In Cuba, +the mangoe is the abomination of the planters, for they supply the +runaway slaves with food, upon which they have been known to subsist +for months, whilst the mangroves give them shelter. A little further +inland we found the guava, a thick-spreading tree, with smooth green +leaves. From its fruit is made guava-jelly, but as yet it was not ripe +enough to eat. + +In the middle of the island we came upon marble-quarries. They are +hardly worked now; but when they were first established, a number of +emancipados were employed there. What emancipados are, it is worth +while to explain. They are Africans taken from captured slavers, and +are set to work under government inspection for a limited number of +years, on a footing something like that of the apprentices in Jamaica, +in the interregnum between slavery and emancipation. In Cuba it is +remarked that the mortality among the emancipados is frightful. They +seldom outlive their years of probation. The explanation of this piece +of statistics is curious. The fact is that every now and then, when an +old man dies, they bury him as one of the emancipados, whose register +is sent in to the Government as dead; while the negro himself goes to +work as a slave in some out-of-the-way plantation where no tales are +told. + +We left the marble-quarries, and rode for miles over a wide savannah. +The soil was loose and sandy and full of flakes of mica, and in the +watercourses were fragments of granite, brought down from the hills. +Here flourished palm trees and palmettos, acacias, mimosas, and +cactuses, while the mangoe and the guava tree preferred the damper +patches nearer to the coast. The hills were covered with the pine-trees +from which the island has its name; and on the rising ground at their +base we saw the strange spectacle of palms and fir trees growing side +by side. + +Where we came upon a stream, the change in the vegetation was +astonishing. It was a sudden transition from an English, plantation of +fir trees into the jungle of the tropics, full of Indian figs, palms, +lancewood, and great mahagua[1] trees, all knotted together by endless +creepers and parasites; while the parrots kept up a continual +chattering and screaming in the tree-tops. The moment we left the +narrow strip of tropical forest that lined the stream we were in the +pine wood. Here the first two or three feet of the trunks of the pine +trees were scorched and blackened by the flames of the tall dry +savannah-grass, which grows close round them, and catches fire several +times every year. Through the pine forest the conflagration spreads +unobstructed, as in an American prairie; but it only runs along the +edge of the dense river-vegetation, which it cannot penetrate. + + [1] The mahagua tree furnishes that curious fibrous network which is + known as _bast_, and used to wrap bundles of cigars in. The mahogany + tree is called _caoba_ in Spanish, apparently the original Indian + name, as the Spaniards probably first became acquainted with it in + Cuba. Is our word “mahogany” the result of a confusion of words, and + corrupted from “mahagua?” + + +The Baños de Santa Fé are situated in a cleared space among the fir +trees. The baths themselves are nothing but a cavity in the rock, into +which a stream, at a temperature of about 80°, continually flows. A +partition in the middle divides the ladies from the gentlemen, but +allows them to continue their conversation while they sit and splash in +their respective compartments. + +The houses are even more quaint than the bathing-establishment. The +whole settlement consists of a square field surrounded by little +houses, each with its roof of palm leaves and indispensable verandah. +Here the Cubans come to stay for months, bathing, smoking cigarettes, +flirting, gossiping, playing cards, and strumming guitars; and they +seemed to be all agreed on one point, that it was a delightful +existence. We left them to their tranquil enjoyments, and rode back to +Nueva Gerona. + +Next morning we borrowed a gun from the engineer of the steamboat, and +I bought some powder and shot at a shop where they kept two young +alligators under the counter for the children to play with. The creeks +and lagoons of the island are full of them, and the negroes told us +that in a certain lake not far off there lived no less a personage than +“the crocodile king”—“_el rey de los crocodilos_;” but we had no time +to pay his majesty a visit. Two of the Floridan negroes rowed us up the +river. Even at some distance from the mouth, sting-rays and jelly-fish +were floating about. As we rowed upwards, the banks were overhung with +the densest vegetation. There were mahogany trees with their curious +lop-sided leaves, the copal-plant with its green egg-like fruit, from +which copal oozes when it is cut, like opium from a poppy-head, palms +with clusters of oily nuts, palmettos, and guavas. When a palm-tree on +the river-bank would not grow freely for the crowding of other trees, +it would strike out in a slanting direction till it reached the clear +space above the river, and then shoot straight upwards with its crown +of leaves. + +We shot a hawk and a woodpecker, and took them home; but, not many +minutes after we had laid them on the tiled floor of our room, we +became aware that we were invaded. The ants were upon us. They were +coming by thousands in a regular line of march up our window-sill and +down again inside, straight towards the birds. When we looked out of +the window, there was a black stripe lying across the court-yard on the +flags, a whole army of them coming. We saw it was impossible to get the +skins of the birds, so threw them out of the window, and the advanced +guard faced about and followed them. + +On the sand in front of the village the Castor-oil plant flourished, +the _Palma Christi_; its little nuts were ripe, and tasted so innocent +that, undeterred by the example of the boy in the Swiss Family +Robinson, I ate several, and was handsomely punished for it. In the +evening I recounted my ill-advised experiment to the white-jacketed +loungers in the verandah of the inn, and was assured that I must have +eaten an odd number! The second nut, they told me with much gravity, +counteracts the first, the fourth neutralizes the third, and so on ad +infinitum. + +We made two clerical acquaintances in the Isle of Pines. One was the +Cura of New Gerona, and his parentage was the only thing remarkable +about him. He was not merely the son of a priest, but his grandfather +was a priest also. + +The other was a middle-aged ecclesiastic, with a pleasant face and an +unfailing supply of good-humoured fun. Everybody seemed to get +acquainted with him directly, and to become quite confidential after +the first half-hour; and a drove of young men followed him about +everywhere. His reverence kept up the ball of conversation continually, +and showed considerable skill in amusing his auditors and drawing them +out in their turn. It is true the jokes which passed seemed to us mild, +but they appeared to suit the public exactly; and indeed, the Padre was +quite capable of providing better ones when there was a market for +them. + +We found that though a Spaniard by birth, he had been brought up at the +Lazarist College in Paris, which we know as the training-school of the +French missionaries in China; and we soon made friends with him, as +everyone else did. A day or two afterwards we went to see him in +Havana, and found him hard at his work, which was the superintendence +of several of the charitable institutions of the city—the Foundling +Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and others. His life was one of incessant +labour, and indeed people said he was killing himself with over-work, +but he seemed always in the same state of chronic hilarity; and when he +took us to see the hospitals, the children and patients received him +with demonstrations of great delight. + +I should not have said so much of our friend the Padre, were it not +that I think there is a moral to be got out of him. I believe he may be +taken as a type, not indeed of Roman Catholic missionaries in general, +but of a certain class among them, who are of considerable importance +in the missionary world, though there are not many of them. Taking the +Padre as a sample of his class, as I think we may—judging from the +accounts of them we meet with in books, it is curious to notice, how +the point in which their system is strongest is just that in which the +Protestant system is weakest, that is, in social training and +deportment. What a number of men go to India with the best intentions, +and set to work at once, flinging their doctrines at the natives before +they have learnt in the least to understand what the said natives’ +minds are like, or how they work,—dropping at once upon their pet +prejudices, mortally offending them as a preliminary step towards +arguing with them; and in short, stroking the cat of society backwards +in the most conscientious manner. By the time they have accomplished +this satisfactory result, a man like our Cuban Padre, though he may +have argued but little and preached even less, would have a hundred +natives bound to him by strong personal attachment, and ready to accept +anything from him in the way of teaching. + +We paid a regular round of visits to the Floridan settlers, and were +delighted with their pleasant simple ways. It is not much more than +thirty years since they left Florida, and many of the children born +since have learnt to speak English. The patches of cultivated land +round their cottages produce, with but little labour, enough vegetables +for their subsistence, and to sell, procuring clothing and such +luxuries as they care for. They seemed to live happily among +themselves, and to govern their little colony after the manner of the +Patriarchs. + +Whether any social condition can be better for the black inhabitants of +the West Indies, than that of these settlers, I very much doubt. They +are not a hard-working people, it is true; but hard work in the climate +of the tropics is unnatural, and can only be brought about by unnatural +means. That they are not sunk in utter laziness one can see by their +neat cottages and trim gardens. Their state does not correspond with +the idea of prosperity of the political economist, who would have them +work hard to produce sugar, rum, and tobacco, that they might earn +money to spend in crockery and Manchester goods; but it is suited to +the race and to the climate. If we measure prosperity by the enjoyment +of life, their condition is an enviable one. + +I think no unprejudiced observer can visit the West Indies without +seeing the absurdity of expecting the free blacks to work like slaves, +as though any inducement but the strongest necessity would ever bring +it about. There are only two causes which can possibly make the blacks +industrious, in our sense of the word,—slavery, or a population so +crowded as to make labour necessary to supply their wants. + +In one house in the Floridan colony we found a _ménage_ which was +surprising to me, after my experience of the United States. The father +of the family was a white man, a Spaniard, and his wife a black woman. +They received us with the greatest hospitality, and we sat in the porch +for a long time, talking to the family. One or two of the mulatto +daughters were very handsome; and there were some visitors, young white +men from the neighbouring village, who were apparently come to pay +their devoirs to the young ladies. Such marriages are not uncommon in +Cuba; and the climate of the island is not unfavourable for the mixed +negro and European race, while to the pure whites it is deadly. The +Creoles of the country are a poor degenerate race, and die out in the +fourth generation. It is only by intermarriage with Europeans, and +continual supplies of emigrants from Europe, that the white population +is kept up. + +On the morning of our departure we climbed a high hill of limestone, +covered in places with patches of a limestone-breccia, cemented with +sandstone, and filling the cavities in the rock. All over the hill we +found doubly refracting Iceland-spar in quantities. Euphorbias, in +Europe mere shrubs, were here smooth-limbed trees, with large flowers. +From the top of the hill, the character of the savannahs was well +displayed. Every water-course could be traced by its narrow line of +deep green forest, contrasting with the scantier vegetation of the rest +of the plain. + +As we steamed out of the river, rows of brilliant red flamingos were +standing in the shallow water, fishing, and here and there a pelican +with his ungainly beak. Our Chinese crew were having their meal of rice +when we walked forward, and the national chopsticks were hard at work. +We talked to several of them. They could all speak a little Spanish, +and were very intelligent. + +The history of these Chinese emigrants is a curious one. Agents in +China persuade them to come out, and they sign a contract to work for +eight years, receiving from three to five dollars a month, with their +food and clothing. The sum seems a fortune to them; but, when they come +to Cuba, they find to their cost that the value of money must be +estimated by what it will buy. They find that the value of a black +labourer is thirty dollars a month, and they have practically sold +themselves for slaves; for there is no one to prevent the masters who +have bought the contract for their work from treating them in all +respects as slaves. The value of such a contract—that is, of the +Chinaman himself, was from £30 to £40 when we were in the island. +Fortunately for them, they cannot bear the severe plantation-work. Some +die after a few days of such labour and exposure, and many more kill +themselves; and the utter indifference with which they commit suicide, +as soon as life seems not worth having, contributes to moderate the +exactions of their masters. A friend of ours in Cuba had a Chinese +servant who was impertinent one day, and his master turned him out of +the room, dismissing him with a kick. The other servants woke their +master early next morning, with the intelligence that the Chinese had +killed himself in the night, to expiate the insult he had received. + +Of African slaves brought into the island, the yearly number is about +15,000. All the details of the trade are matter of general notoriety, +even to the exact sum paid to each official as hush-money. It costs a +hundred dollars for each negro, they say, of which a gold ounce (about +£3 16s.) is the share of the Captain-general. To this must be added the +cost of the slave in Africa, and the expense of the voyage; but when +the slave is once fairly on a plantation he is worth eight hundred +dollars; so it may be understood how profitable the trade still is, if +only one slaver out of three gets through. + +The island itself with its creeks and mangrove-trees is most favourable +for their landing, if they can once make the shore; and the Spanish +cruisers will not catch them if they can help it. If a British cruiser +captures them, the negroes are made emancipados in the way I have +already explained. + +Hardly any country in the world is so thoroughly in a false position as +England in her endeavours to keep down the Cuban slave-trade, with the +nominal concurrence of the Spanish government, and the real vigorous +opposition of every Spaniard on the island, from the Captain-General +downwards. Even the most superficial observer who lands for an hour or +two in Havana, while his steamer is taking in coals, can have evidence +of the slave-trade brought before his eyes in the tattooed faces of +native Africans, young and middle-aged, in the streets and markets; +just as he can guess, from the scored backs of the negroes, what sort +of discipline is kept up among them. + +We slept on board the steamboat off the pier of Batabano, and the +railway took us back to Havana next morning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +HAVANA TO VERA CRUZ—VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO. + + +On the 8th of March, we went on board the “Méjico” steamer, +American-built, and retaining her American engineers, but in other +respects converted into a Spanish vessel, and now lying in the harbour +of Havana bound for Vera Cruz, touching at Sisal in Yucatan. At eight +o’clock we weighed anchor, and were piloted through the narrow passage +which leads out of the harbour past the castle of El Morro and the fort +of Cabañas, the view of whose ramparts and batteries caused quite a +flourish of trumpets among our Spanish fellow-passengers, who firmly +believe in their impregnability. + +Among our fellow-passengers were a company of fifth-rate comedians, +going to Merida by way of Sisal. There was nothing interesting to us +about them. Theatrical people and green-room slang vary but little over +the whole civilized world. There were two or three Spanish and French +tradesmen going back to Mexico. They talked of nothing but the dangers +of the road, and not without reason as it proved, for they were all +robbed before they got home. Several of the rest were gamblers or +political adventurers, or both, for the same person very often unites +the two professions out here. Spain and the Spanish American Republics +produce great numbers of these people, just as Missouri breeds +border-ruffians and sympathizers. But the ruffian is a good fellow in +comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have +given Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the +characters of Mr. Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count. + +On the morning of the third day of our voyage we reached Sisal, and as +soon as the captain would let us we went ashore, in a canoe that was +like a flat wooden box. This said captain was a Catalan, and a surly +fellow, and did not take the trouble to disguise the utter contempt he +felt for our inquisitive ways, which he seemed quite to take pleasure +in thwarting. It was the only place we were to see in Yucatan, a +country whose name is associated with ideas of tropical fruits, where +you must cut your forest-path with a machete, and of vast ruins of +deserted temples and cities, covered up with a mass of dense +vegetation. But here there was nothing of this kind. Sisal is a +miserable little town, standing on the shore, with a great salt-marsh +behind it. It has a sort of little jetty, which constitutes its claim +to the title of _port_; and two or three small merchant-vessels were +lying there, taking in cargoes of logwood (the staple product of the +district), mahogany, hides, and deerskins. The sight of these latter +surprised us; but we found on enquiry that numbers of deer as well as +horned cattle inhabit the thinly-peopled districts round the shores of +the Mexican Gulf, and flourish in spite of the burning climate, except +when a year of drought comes, which kills them off by thousands. + +One possible article of export we examined as closely as opportunity +would allow, namely, the Indian inhabitants. There they are, in every +respect the right article for trade:—brown-skinned, incapable of +defending themselves, strong, healthy, and industrious; and the creeks +and mangrove-swamps of Cuba only three days’ sail off. The plantations +and mines that want one hundred thousand men to bring them into full +work, and swallow aborigines, Chinese, and negroes +indifferently—anything that has a dark skin, and can be made to +work—would take these Yucatecos in any quantity, and pay well for them. +And once on a sugar-estate or down a mine, when their sham registers +are regularly made out, and the Governor has had his ounce of gold +apiece for passing them, and his subordinates their respective rights, +who shall get them out again, or even find them? + +This idea struck us as we sat looking at the Indians hard at work, +loading and unloading; and finding an intelligent Spaniard, we fell to +talking with him. Indians had been carried off to Cuba, he said, but +very few, none since 1854, when two Englishmen came to the coast with a +schooner on pretence of trading, and succeeded in getting clear off +with a cargo of seventy-two natives on board. But being caught in a +heavy gale of wind, they put in for safety—of all places in the +world—into the British port of Belize. There some one found out what +their cargo consisted of, the vessel was seized, the Indians sent back, +and the two adventurers condemned to hard labour, one for four years, +the other for two and a half. In a place where the fatigue and exposure +of drill and mounting guard is death to a European soldier, this was +most likely a way of inflicting capital punishment, slow, but pretty +sure.[2] + + [2] We heard talk elsewhere, however, of a war going on in the + interior of the country between the white inhabitants and the Indian + race; the apparent object of the whites being to take Indian + prisoners, and ship them off for slaves to Cuba. + + +When the Spaniards came to these countries, as soon as they had leisure +to ask themselves what could be the origin of the people they found +there, the answer came at once, “the lost tribes of Israel,” of course. +And as we looked at these grave taciturn men, with their brown +complexions, bright eyes, and strikingly aquiline noses, it did not +seem strange that this belief should have been generally held, +considering the state of knowledge on such matters in those days. We +English found the ten tribes in the Red men of the north; Jews have +written books in Hebrew for their own people, to make known to them +that the rest of their race had been found in the mountains of Chili, +retaining unmistakable traces of their origin and conversing fluently +in Hebrew; and but lately they turned up, collected together and +converted to Christianity, on the shores of the Caspian. The last two +theories have their supporters at the present day. Crude as most of +these ideas are, one feels a good deal of interest in the first inquiry +that set men thinking seriously about the origin of races, and laid the +foundation of the science of ethnology. + +Our return on board was a long affair, for there was a stiff breeze, +almost in our teeth; and our unwieldy craft was obliged to make tack +after tack before we could reach the steamer. Great Portuguese +men-of-war were floating about, waiting for prey; and we passed through +patches of stringy gulf-weed, trailing out into long ropes. The water +was hot, the thermometer standing at 84° when we dipped it over the +side. + +On the morning of the 12th, when we went on deck, there was a grand +sight displayed before us. No shore visible, but a heavy bank of clouds +on the horizon; and, high above them, towering up into the sky, the +snowy summit of Orizaba, a hundred and fifty miles off. + +Before noon, we are entering the harbour of Vera Cruz. The little +island and fort of San Juan de Ulúa just opposite the wharfs, the +island of Sacrificios a little farther to the left. A level line of +city-wall along the water’s edge; and, visible above it, the flat roofs +of the houses, and the towers and cupolas of many churches. All grey +stone, only relieved by the colored Spanish tiles on the church-roofs, +and a flag or two in the harbour. Not a scrap of vegetation to be seen, +and the rays of a tropical sun pouring down upon us. + +Established in the Casa de Diligencias, we deliberated as to our +journey to Mexico. The diligences to the capital, having been stopped +for some months on account of the disturbed state of the country, had +just begun to run again, avoiding Puebla, which was being besieged. We +were anxious to be off at once; but Mr. Christy sagaciously remarking +that the robbers would know of the arrival of the steamer, and would +probably take the first diligence that came afterwards, we booked our +places for the day after. + +We were very kindly received by the English merchants to whom my +companion had letters, and we set ourselves to learn what was the real +state of things in Mexico. + +On an average, the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico had changed +hands once every eight months for the last ten years; and Don Ignacio +Comonfort had stepped into the office in the previous December, on the +nomination of his predecessor the mulatto general Alvarez, who had +retired to the southern provinces with his army. + +President Comonfort, with empty coffers, and scarcely any real +political power, had felt it necessary to make some great effort to get +popularity for himself and his government. He had therefore adopted the +policy of attacking the _fueros_, the extraordinary privileges of the +two classes of priests and soldiers, which had become part of the +constitution under the first viceroys, and which not even the war of +independence, and the adoption of republican forms, ever did away with. +Neither class is amenable to the civil tribunals for debt or for any +offences.[3] The clergy have immense revenues, and much spiritual +influence among the lower classes; and as soon as they discovered the +disposition of the new President, they took one Don Antonio Haro y +Tamirez, set him up as a counter-President, and installed him at +Puebla, the second city of the Republic, where priests swarm, and +priestly influence is unbounded. At the same time, they tried a +pronunciamiento in the capital; but the President got the better of +them after a slight struggle, and marched all his regular soldiers on +Puebla. At the moment of our arrival in the country, the siege of this +city was going on quite briskly, ten thousand men being engaged, +commanded by forty-three general officers. + + [3] They must be judged by courts whose members belong to their own + body, and in these special tribunals one can imagine what sort of + justice is meted out to complainants and creditors. Comonfort’s hope + was to conciliate the mass of the people by attempting to relieve them + of this enormous abuse. I believe he was honest in his intentions, but + unfortunately the people had already had to do with too many + politicians who were to redress their wrongs and inaugurate a reign of + liberty. They had found very little to come of such movements, but + extra-taxation and civil war, which left them worse off than they were + before, and the patriots generally turned out rather more greedy and + unprincipled than the others; so it was not to be wondered at that no + one came forward to give any very energetic support to the new + President. + + +Whenever anything disagreeable is happening in the country, Vera Cruz +is sure to get its full share. A month before our arrival, one Salcedo, +who was a prisoner in the castle of San Juan de Ulúa, talked matters +over with the garrison, and persuaded them to make a pronunciamiento in +favour of the insurgents. They then summoned the town to join their +cause, which it declined doing for the present; and the castle opened +fire upon it, knocking about some of the principal buildings, and doing +a good deal of damage. A 30-pound shot went through the wall of our +hotel, taking off the leg of an unfortunate waiter who was cleaning +knives, and falling into the patio, or inner court. A daub of fresh +plaster just outside our bedroom door indicated the spot; and the +British Consul’s office had a similar decoration. The Governor of the +city could offer no active resistance, but he cut off the supplies from +the island, and in three or four days Salcedo—finding himself out of +ammunition, and short of water—surrendered in a neat speech, and the +revolution ended. + +We have but a short time to stay in Vera Cruz, so had better make our +observations quickly; for when we come back again there will be a sun +nearly in the zenith, and yellow fever—at the present moment hardly +showing itself—will have come for the summer; under those +circumstances, the unseasoned foreigner had better lie on his back in a +cool room, with a cigar in his mouth, and read novels, than go about +hunting for useful information. + +There are streets of good Spanish houses in Vera Cruz, built of white +coral-rock from the reefs near the shore, but they are mildewed and +dismal-looking. Outside the walls is the Alameda; and close by is a +line of houses, uninhabited, mouldy, and in ruins. We asked who built +them. “Los Españoles,” they said. + +Even now, when the “nortes” are blowing, and the city is comparatively +healthy, Vera Cruz is a melancholy place, with a plague-stricken look +about it; but it is from June to October that its name, “the city of +the dead”—la ciudad de los muertos—is really deserved. In that season +comes an accumulation of evils. The sun is at its height; there is no +north wind to clear the air; and the heavy tropical rains—more than +three times as much in quantity as falls in England in the whole +year—come down in a short rainy season of four months. The water +filters through the sand-hills, and forms great stagnant lagoons; a +rank tropical vegetation springs up, and the air is soon filled with +pestilential vapours. Add to this that the water is unwholesome; the +city too is placed in a sand-bath which keeps up a regular temperature, +by accumulating heat by day and giving it out into the air by night, so +that night gives no relief from the stifling closeness of the day. No +wonder that Mr. Bullock, the Mexican traveller, as he sat in his room +here in the hot season, heard the church-bells tolling for the dead +from morning to night without intermission; for weeks and weeks, one +can hardly even look into the street without seeing a funeral. + +We turned back through the city, and walked along watching the +Zopilotes—great turkey-buzzards—with their bald heads and foul +dingy-black plumage. They were sitting in compact rows on parapets of +houses and churches, and seemed specially to affect the cross of the +cathedral, where they perched, two on each arm, and some on the top. +When some offal was thrown into the streets, they came down leisurely +upon it, one after another; their appearance and deportment reminding +us of the undertaker’s men in England coming down from the hearse at +the public-house door, when the funeral is over. In all tropical +America these birds are the general scavengers, and there is a heavy +fine for killing them.[4] + + [4] No one ill uses them but the dogs, who drive them away when + anything better than usual is met with, and they have to stand round + in a circle, waiting for their turn. + + +Scarcely any one is about in the streets this afternoon, except a gang +or two of convicts dragging their heavy chains along, sweeping and +mending the streets. This is a punishment much approved of by the +Mexican authorities, as combining terror to evil-doers with advantage +to the community. That it puts all criminals on a level, from murderers +down to vagrants, does not seem to be considered as a matter of much +consequence. + +At the city-gate stands a sentry—the strangest thing I ever saw in the +guise of a soldier—a brown Indian of the coast, dressed in some rags +that were a uniform once, shoeless, filthy in the extreme, and armed +with an amazing old flint-lock. He is bad enough to look at, in all +conscience, and really worse than he looks, for—no doubt—he has been +pressed into the service against his will, and hates white men and +their ways with all his heart. Of course he will run away when he gets +a chance; and, though he will be no great loss to the service, he will +add his mite to the feeling of hatred that has been growing up for +these so many years among the brown Indians against the whites and the +half-cast Mexicans. But more of this hereafter. + +One step outside the gate, and we are among the sand-hills that stretch +for miles and miles round Vera Cruz. They are mere shifting +sand-mounds; and, though some of them are fifty feet high, the fierce +north wind moves them about bodily. The Texans know these winds well, +and call them “northers.” They come from Hudson’s Bay to the Gulf of +Mexico, right down the Continent of North America, over a level plain +with hardly a hill to obstruct their course, the Rocky Mountains and +the Alleghanies forming a sort of trough for them. When the “norte” +blows fiercely you can hardly keep your feet in the streets of Vera +Cruz, and vessels drag their anchors or break from their moorings in +the ill-protected harbour, and are blown out to sea—lucky if they +escape the ugly coral-reefs and sand-banks that fringe the coast. There +are a few bushes growing outside the walls, and there we found the +Nopal bush, the great prickly pear—the same that has established itself +all round the shores of the Mediterranean—growing in crevices of rocks, +and cracks in lava-beds, and barren places where nothing else will +live. But what made us notice these Nopals was, that they were covered +with what looked like little white cocoons, out of which, when they +were pressed, came a drop of deep crimson fluid. This is the cochineal +insect, but only the wild variety; the fine kind, which is used for +dye, and comes from the province of Oajaca, miles off, is covered only +with a mealy powder. There the Indians cultivate great plantations of +Nopals, and spread the insects over them with immense care, even +removing them, and carrying them up into the mountains in baskets when +the rainy season begins in the plains, and bringing them back when it +is over. + +On Friday, the 14th of March, at three o’clock in the morning, we took +our places in a strong American-built diligence, holding nine inside, +and began our journey by being dragged along the railroad—which was +commenced with great energy some time ago, and got fifteen miles on its +way to the capital, at which point it has stopped ever since. When day +broke we had left the railroad, and were jolting along through a +parched sandy plain, thinly covered with acacias, nopals, and other +kinds of cactus, bignonias, and the great tree-euphorbia, with which we +had been so familiar in Cuba, with its smooth limbs and huge white +flowers. At last we reached the first hill, and began gently to ascend. +The change was wonderful. Once out of the plain, we are in the midst of +a tropical forest. The trees are crowded close together, and the +convolvulus binds their branches into an impassable jungle, while ferns +and creepers weave themselves into a dense mass below; and here and +there a glimpse up some deep ravine shows great tree-ferns, thirty feet +high, standing close to the brink of a mountain-stream, and flourishing +in the damp shade. + +Indian Ranchos become more frequent as we ascend; and the +inhabitants—squatting on the ground, or leaning against the +door-posts—just condescend to glance at us as we pass, and then return +to their meditations, and their cigarettes, if they happen to have any. +These ranches are the merest huts of canes, thatched with palm-leaves; +and close by each a little patch of ground is enclosed by a fence of +prickly cactus, within which are growing plantains, with their large +smooth leaves and heavy ropes of fruit, the great staple of the “tierra +caliente.” + +Our road winds along valleys and through pass after pass; and now and +then a long zig-zag brings us out of a valley, up to a higher level. +The air grows cooler, we are rapidly changing our climate, and +afternoon finds us in the region of the sugar-cane and the +coffee-plant. We pass immense green cane-fields, protected from the +visits of passing muleteers and peasants by a thick hedge of thorny +coffee-bushes. The cane is but young yet; but the coffee-plant, with +its brilliant white flowers, like little stars, is a beautiful feature +in the landscape. + +At sunset we are rattling through the streets of the little town of +Cordova. There is such a thoroughly Spanish air about the place, that +it might be a suburb of the real Cordova, were it not for the crowds of +brown Indians in their scanty cotton dresses and great flat-brimmed +hats, and the Mexican costumes of the whiter folks. Low whitewashed +houses, with large windows to the street, protected by the heavy +iron-gratings, like cages, that are so familiar to travellers in +Southern Europe. Inside the grating are the ladies of the family, +outside stand their male acquaintance, and energetic gossiping is going +on. The smoky little lamp inside gives us a full view of the interior. +Four whitewashed walls; a table; a few stiff-backed chairs; a virgin or +saint resplendent in paint and tinsel; and, perhaps, two or three +coloured engravings, red, blue, and yellow. + +A few hours in the dark, and we reach Orizaba. We have changed our +climate for the last time to-day, and have reached that district where +tobacco flourishes at an altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea. But of +this we see nothing, for we are off again long before daylight; and by +the time that external objects can be made out we find ourselves in a +new region. A valley floored with rich alluvial soil from the hills +that rise steeply on both sides, their tops shrouded in clouds. Signs +of wonderful fertility in the fields of maize and barley along the +roadside. The air warm, but full of mist, which has already penetrated +our clothes and made them feel damp and sticky. “Splendid country, +this, Señores,” said an old Mexican, when he had twisted himself round +on his seat to get a good stare at us. “It seems so,” said I, “judging +by the look of the fields, but it is very unpleasantly damp just now.” +“Just now,” said the old gentleman, echoing my words, “it is always +damp here. You see that drizzling mist; that is the chipi-chipi. Never +heard of the chipi-chipi! Why it is the riches and blessing of the +country. Sometimes we never see the sun here for weeks at a time, and +it rains a little every day nearly; but look at the fields, we get +three crops a year from them where you have but one on the fields just +above. And it is healthy, too; look at those fellows at work there. +When we get up to the Llanos you will see the difference.” + +The valley grew narrower as we drove on; and at last, when it seemed to +end in a great ravine, we began to climb the steep hill by a zig-zag +road. Soon the air grows clearer again, the sunshine appears and gets +brighter and brighter, we have left the mist behind, and are among +ranges of grand steep hills, covered with the peculiar vegetation of +the plateau,—Cactus, Opuntia, and the Agave Americana. In the trough of +the valley lies a regular opaque layer of white clouds, hiding the +fields and cottages from our view. We have already passed the zone of +perpetual moisture, whose incessant clouds and showers are caused by +the stratum of hot air—charged with water evaporated from the +gulf—striking upon the mountains, and there depositing part of the +aqueous vapour it contains. + +You may see the same thing happening in almost every mountainous +district; but seldom on so grand a scale as here, or with so little +disturbance from other agents. Yesterday was passed in the “tierra +caliente,” the hot country; our journey of to-day and to-morrow is +through the “tierra templada” and the “tierra fría,” the temperate and +the cold country. Here a change of a few hundred feet in altitude above +the sea, brings with it a change of climate as great as many degrees of +latitude will cause, and in one day’s travel it is possible to descend +from the region of eternal snow to the utmost heat of the tropics. Our +ascent is more gradual; but, though we are three days on the road, we +have sometimes scarcely time to notice the different zones of +vegetation we pass through, before we change again. + +To make the account of the journey from the coast to Mexico somewhat +clearer, a few words must be said about the formation of the country, +as shown in a profile-map or section. The interior of Mexico consists +of a mass of volcanic rocks, thrust up to a great height above the +sea-level. The plateau of Mexico is 8,000 feet high, and that of Puebla +9,000 feet. This central mass consists principally of a greyish +trachytic porphyry, in some places rich in veins of silver-ore. The +tops of the hills are often crowned with basaltic columns, and a soft +porous amygdaloid abounds on the outskirts of the Mexican valley. +Besides this, traces of more recent volcanic action abound, in the +shape of numerous extinct craters in the high plateaus, and immense +“pedrigals” or fields of lava not yet old enough for their surface to +have been disintegrated into soil. Though sedimentary rocks occur in +Mexico, they are not the predominant feature of the country. Ridges of +limestone hills lie on the slopes of the great volcanic mass toward the +coast; and at a still lower level, just in the rise from the flat +coast-region, there are strata of sandstone. On our road from Vera Cruz +we came upon sandstone immediately after leaving the sandy plains; and +a few miles further on we reached the limestone, very much as it is +represented in Burkart’s profile of the country from Tampico upwards +towards San Luis Potosi. The mountain-plateaus, such as the plains of +Mexico and Puebla, are hollows filled up and floored with horizontal +strata of tertiary deposits, which again are covered by the constantly +accumulating layers of alluvium. + +Our heavy pull up the mountain-side has brought us into a new scene. +Every one knows how the snow lies in the valleys of the Alps, forming a +plain which slopes gradually downward towards the outlet. Imagine such +a valley ten miles across, with just such a sloping plain, not of snow +but of earth. There has been no rain for months, and the surface of the +ground is parched and cracked all over. There is hardly a tree to be +seen except clumps of wood on the mountain-sides miles off,—no +vegetation but tufts of coarse grass, among which herds of +disconsolate-looking cattle are roaming; the vaqueros, (herdsmen) are +cantering about after them on their lean horses, with their lazos +hanging in coils on their left arms, and now and then calling to order +some refractory beast who tries to get away from the herd, by sending +the loop over his horns or letting it fall before him as he runs, and +hitching it up with a jerk round his hind legs as he steps within it. +But the poor creatures are too thirsty and dispirited just now to give +any sport, and the first touch of the cord is enough to bring them back +to their allegiance. + +From the decomposed porphyry of the mountains carbonate of soda comes +down in solution to the valleys. Much of this is converted into natron +by the organic matter in the soil, and forms a white crust on the +earth. More of the carbonate of soda, mixed in various proportions with +common salt, drains continually out in the streams, or filters into the +ground and crystallizes there. This is why there is not a field to be +seen, and the land is fit for nothing but pasture. But when the rains +come on in a few months, say our friends in the diligence, this dismal +waste will be a luxuriant prairie, and the cattle will be here by +thousands, for most of them are dispersed now in the lower regions of +the tierra templada where grass and water are to be had. + +My companion and I climb upon the top of the diligence to spy out the +land. The grand volcano of Orizaba had been hidden from us ever since +that morning when we saw it from far out at sea, but now it rises on +our left, its upper half covered with snow of dazzling whiteness,—a +regular cone, for from this side the crater cannot be seen. It looks as +though one could walk half a mile or so across the valley and then go +straight up to the summit, but it is full thirty miles off. The air is +heated as by a furnace, and as we jolt along the road the clouds of +dust are suffocating. We go full gallop along such road as there is, +banging into holes, and across the trenches left by last year’s +watercourses, until we begin to think that it must end in a general +smash. We came to understand Mexican roads and Mexican drivers better, +even before we got to the capital. + +Before us and behind lay wide lakes, stretching from side to side of +the valley; but the lake behind followed us as steadily as the one +before us receded. It was only the mirage that tantalizes travellers in +these scorched valleys, all the long eight months of the rainless +season. It seemed beautiful at first, then monotonous; and long before +the day was out we hated it with a most cordial and unaffected hatred. + +Soon a new appearance attracted our attention. First, clouds of dust, +which gradually took a well-defined shape, and formed themselves into +immense pillars, rapidly spinning round upon themselves, and travelling +slowly about the plain. At one place, where several smaller valleys +opened upon us, these sand-pillars, some small, some large, were +promenading about by dozens, looking much like the genie when the +fisherman had just let him out of the bottle, and saw him with +astonishment beginning to shape himself into a giant of monstrous size. +Indeed I doubt not that the story-teller was thinking of such +sand-pillars when he wrote that wonderful description. You may see them +in the East by thousands. As they moved along, they sucked up small +stones, dust, and leaves; and our driver declared that they had been +known to take the roofs off houses, and carry flocks of sheep into the +air; “but these that you see now,” said he, “are no great matter.” We +estimated the size of the largest at about four hundred feet in height, +and thirty in diameter; and this very pillar, walking by chance against +a house, most decidedly got the worst of it, and had its lower limbs +knocked all to pieces. + +When the sun grows hot, the bare earth heats the air that lies upon it +so much that an upward current rises from the whole face of the valley; +and to supply its place the little valleys and ravines that open into +it pour in each its stream of cooler air; and wherever two of these +streams, flowing in different directions, strike one another, a little +whirlwind ensues, and makes itself manifest as a sand-pillar. The +coachman’s “molino de viento,” as he called it, may very well have +happened, but it must have been a whirlwind on a large scale, caused by +the meeting of great atmospheric currents, not by the little apparatus +we saw at work. + +There seems to be hardly a village in the plain; and the only buildings +we see for miles are the herdsmen’s houses of stone, flat-roofed, dark +inside, and uninviting in their appearance, and the great cattle-pens, +the corrals, which seem absurdly too large for the herds that we have +yet seen; but in two or three months there will be rain, the ground +will be covered with rank grass, the corrals will be crowded with +cattle every evening; the mirage will depart when real water comes, +dust and sand-pillars will be no longer to be seen, and all the nine +horses and mules of the diligence-team, floundering, splashing, and +kicking, will hardly keep the heavy coach from settling down +inextricably in the mire. And so on until October, and then the season +of water, “la estación de las aguas,” will cease, and things will be +again as they are now. + +In the usual course of travel to the capital, the second night would +have been passed at Puebla. This is the second city of the Republic, +and numbers some 70,000 inhabitants. As it was then in revolt, and +besieged by the President and his army, we made a detour to the north +when about 20 miles from it, in order to sleep for a few hours at +Huamantla, a place with a most evil reputation for thieves and vermin; +and about ten at night we drove into the court-yard of a dismal-looking +inn. Three or four dirty fellows stood round as we alighted, wrapped in +their serapes—great woollen blankets, the universal wear of the +Mexicans of the plateaus. One end of the serape was thrown across from +shoulder to shoulder, and hid the lower part of their faces; and the +broad-brimmed Mexican sombrero was slouched over their eyes; we +particularly disliked the look of them as they stood watching us and +our baggage going into the inn. A few minutes after, we returned to the +court-yard to complete our observation of them, but they were all gone. + +A party of Spaniards and Mexicans were at the other table in the sala +when we marched in, and as soon as we had taken off the edge of our +fierce hunger, we began to compare notes with them. “Had a pleasant +journey from Mexico?” They all answered at once, delighted to find an +audience to whom to tell their sorrows, as men always are under such +circumstances. It appeared that they had reached Huamantla an hour or +two before us, and to their surprise and delight no robbers had +appeared. But between the outskirts of the town and the inn, the cords +behind the diligence were cut, and every particle of luggage had +disappeared. At the inn-gate they got out and discovered their loss. +They set upon the Administrador of the diligence-company, who +sympathized deeply with them, but had no more substantial comfort to +offer. They declared the driver must have been an accomplice, and the +driver was sent for, for them to wreak their fury upon. He appeared +with his mouth full of beans, and told them, as soon as he could speak, +that they ought to be very thankful they had come off so easily, and, +looking at them with an expression of infinite disgust, returned to his +supper; they followed his example, and seemed to have at last found +consolation in hot dishes and Catalan wine. It was wonderful to hear of +the fine things that were in the lost portmanteaus,—the rings, the gold +watches, the rouleaux of dollars, the “papers of the utmost +importance.” + +I am afraid the Spanish American has not always a very strict regard +for truth. + +These gentlemen had indeed got off easily, as the driver said; for the +last diligence from Vera Cruz, with our steamboat acquaintances in it, +had been stopped just outside this very town of Huamantla as they left +it before daylight in the morning. The robbers were but three, but they +had plundered the unfortunate travellers as effectually as thirty could +have done. Now, all this was very pretty to hear as a tale, but not +satisfactory to travellers who were going by the same road the next +morning; and in the disagreeable barrack-room where our beds stood in +long lines, we, the nine passengers of the “up” diligence, held a +council, standing, like Mr. Macaulay’s senators, and there decided on a +most Christian line of conduct—that when the three bore down upon us, +and the muzzle of the inevitable escopeta was poked in at our window, +we would descend meekly, and at the command of “boca abajo,” (“mouth +downwards,”) we would humiliate ourselves with our noses in the dirt, +and be robbed quietly. Having thus decided beforehand, according to the +etiquette of the road, whether we were to fight or submit, and being +tired with a long day’s journey, we all turned in, and were fast asleep +in a moment. + +It seemed that almost directly afterwards the dirtiest man possible +came round, and shook us till we were conscious; and we washed in the +customary saucers, by the light of a real, flaring, smoking, Spanish +lamp with a beak, exactly what the Romans used in Pompeii, except that +this is of brass, not bronze. + +With our eyes still half-shut we crawled into the kitchen for our +morning chocolate, and demanded our bill. Such a bill! One of us, a +stout Spaniard, sent for the landlord and abused him in a set speech. +The “patron” divested his countenance of every trace of expression, +scratched his head through his greasy nightcap, and stood listening +patiently. The stout man grew fiercer and fiercer, and wound up with a +climax. “If we meet with the robbers,” said he, rolling himself up in +his great cloak, “we must tell them that we have passed through your +worship’s hands, and there is none left for them.” The landlord bowed +gravely, saw us into the diligence, and hoped we should have a +fortunate journey, and meet with no novelty on the road. A “novelty” in +Spanish countries means a misfortune. + +We met with no “novelty,” though, when we looked out of the window in +the early dawn and spied three men with muskets, following us at a +short distance, we thought our time had come, and watches and valuables +were plunged into boots and under seats, and through slits into the +padding of the diligence; but the three men came no nearer, and we +supposed them to be an escort of soldiers. When it was light the +difficulty was to recover the valuables—no easy matter, so securely had +they been hidden. + +We heard afterwards of a little peculiarity which distinguished the +robbers of Huamantla. It seems that no less a personage than the parish +priest was accustomed to lead his parishioners into action, like the +Cornish parson in old times when a ship went ashore on the coast. What +has become of his reverence since, I do not know. He is very likely +still in his parish, carrying on his double profession, unless somebody +has shot him. I wonder whether it is sacrilege to shoot a priest who is +also a highwayman, as it used to be to kill a bishop on the field of +battle. + +We are at last on the high lands of Mexico, the districts which at +least three different races have chosen to settle in, neglecting the +fertile country below. A sharp turn in the road brings its fairly out +into the plain; and then on our left are the two snowy mountains that +lie at the edge of the valley of Mexico, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, +famous in all Mexican books. Like Orizaba of yesterday, they seem to +rise from the plain close to us; and from the valley between them there +pours down upon us such a flood of icy wind, that, though windows are +pulled up and great-coats buttoned round our throats, we shiver +piteously, and our teeth fairly chatter till we get out of the river of +cold air; and then comes hot sunshine and dust again. + +Anxious to make sure that we have really got into the land of Aztec +civilization, Mr. Christy gets down from the diligence, and hunting +about for a few minutes by the road-side, returns in triumph with a +broken arrowhead of obsidian. A deep channel cut by a water-course +gives us our first idea of the depth of the soil; for these plateaus +were once nothing but deep hollows among the mountains, which rain and +melted snow, bringing down fragments of porphyry and basalt—partly in +their original state and partly decomposed—have filled up and formed +into plains. Signs of volcanic action are abundant. To say nothing of +the two great mountains we have just left behind, there is a hill of +red volcanic tufa just beyond us; and still further on, though this is +anticipating, our road passes over the lava-field at the foot of the +little volcano of Santa Barbara. + +There is a population here at any rate, village after village; and +between them are great plantations of maize and aloes; for this is the +district where the best pulque in Mexico is made, the “llanos de Apam.” +It is the _Agave Americana_, the same aloe that is so common in +southern Europe, where indeed it flowers, and that grows in our gardens +and used to have the reputation of flowering once in a hundred years. I +do not exaggerate when I say that we saw hundreds of thousands of them +that day, planted in long regular lines. Among them were walking the +Indian “tlachiqueros,” each with his pigskin on his back, and his long +calabash in his hand, milking such plants as were in season. + +[Illustration: INDIAN TLACHIQUERO, COLLECTING JUICE OF THE AGAVE FOR +PULQUE.] + +The fine buildings of the haciendas, and more especially the churches, +contrast strongly with the generality of houses, all of one story, +built of adobes (mud-bricks dried in the sun), with flat roofs of sand +and lime resting on wooden rafters, and the naked ground for a floor, +all dark, dirty, and comfortless. There are even many huts built +entirely of the universal aloe. The stems of wild aloes which have been +allowed to flower are stuck into the ground, side by side, and pieces +of leaves tied on outside them with aloe-fibre. These cut leaves are +set like tiles to form a roof, and pegged down with the thorns which +grow at their extremities. Picturesque and cheap, though hardly +comfortable, for we are in the “tierra fría” now, and the mornings and +evenings in winter are often bitterly cold. + +But the churches! Is it possible that they can belong to these wretched +filthy little cottages. As black Sam, our driver, a runaway Texan +slave, suggested, it looked as though the villagers might pull down +their houses and locate themselves and their families in their +churches. We thought of Mr. Ruskin, who has somewhere expressed an +earnest desire that all the money and energy that England has wasted in +making railroads, had been spent in building churches; and we wished he +had been here to see his principles carried out. + +I have travelled on rough roads in my time, but on such a road as this +never. My companion refused for a time to award the premium of badness +to our thoroughfare; but, just while we were discussing the question +and recounting our experience of bone-smashing highways, we reached a +pass where the road consisted of a series of steps, nearly a foot in +depth, down which steps we went at a swinging trot, holding on for our +lives, in terror lest the next jerk should fairly wrench our arms out +of their sockets, while we could plainly hear the inside passengers +howling for mercy, as they were shot up against the roof which knocked +them back into their seats. Aching all over, we reached level ground +again, and Mr. Christy withdrew his claims, and agreed that no road +anywhere else could possibly be so bad as a Mexican road; a decision +which later experiences only served to confirm. + +Our start, every time we changed horses, was a sight to see. Nine +half-broken horses and mules, in a furious state of excitement, were +harnessed to our unwieldy machine; the helpers let go, and off they +went, kicking, plunging, rearing, biting, and screaming, into ruts and +watercourses that were like the trenches they make for gas-pipes in +London streets, with our wheels on one side on a stone wall, and in a +pit on the other, and Black Sam leaning back with his feet on the +board, waiting with perfect tranquillity until the animals had got rid +of their superfluous energy and he could hold them in. We were always +just going to have some frightful accident, and always just missed it. +The last stage before we reached Otumba, a small dusky urchin ran +across the road just before us. How Black Sam contrived to pull up I +cannot tell, though, indeed, his arms were about the size of an +ordinary man’s thighs; but he did, and they got the child out from the +horses’ feet quite unhurt. + +It was at the inn where we stopped to breakfast that we made our first +acquaintance with the great Mexican institutions—tortillas and pulque. +The pulque was being brewed on a large scale in an adjoining building. +The vats were made of cow-skins (with the hair inside), supported by a +frame of sticks; and in them was pulque in every stage, beginning with +the sweet aguamiel—honeywater—the fresh juice of the aloe, and then the +same in different degrees of fermentation till we come to the _madre +pulque_, the mother pulque, a little of which is used like yeast, to +start the fermentation, and which has a combined odour of gas-works and +drains. Pulque, as you drink it, looks like milk and water, and has a +mild smell and taste of rotten eggs. Tortillas are like oat-cakes, but +made of Indian corn meal, not crisp, but soft and leathery. We thought +both dreadfully nasty for a day or two; then we could just endure them; +then we came to like them; and before we left the country we wondered +how we should do without them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. +CITY OF MEXICO. + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF PART OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.] + +Some thirty years ago, Don Agustín Yturbide, the first and last Emperor +of Mexico, found that he wanted a palace wherein to house his +newly-fledged dignity; and began to build one accordingly, in the high +street of Mexico, close to the great convent of San Francisco. It could +not have been nearly finished when its founder was shot: and it became +the _Hotel d’Yturbide_. We are now settled in it, in very comfortable +quarters. There is a restaurant down below, where the son of the late +Yturbide dines daily, and everybody points him out to us, and moralises +over him. + +Mr. Christy’s drawer-roll of letters of introduction has produced an +immediate crop of pleasant acquaintances, whose hospitality is +boundless. We are not idle, far from it; and a long day’s work is +generally followed by a social dinner, and an evening spent in noting +down the results of our investigations. + +Prescott’s _Conquest of Mexico_ has been more read in England than most +historical works; and the Mexico of Montezuma has a well-defined idea +attached to it. The amphitheatre of dark hills surrounding the level +plain, the two snowy mountain-peaks, the five lakes covering nearly +half the valley, the city rising out of the midst of the waters, miles +from the shore, with which it was connected by its four causeways, the +straight streets of low flat-roofed houses, the numbers of canals +crowded with canoes of Indians going to and from the market, the +floating gardens moved from place to place, on which vegetables and +flowers were cultivated, the great pyramid up which the Spanish army +saw their captured companions led in solemn procession, and sacrificed +on the top—all these are details in the mental picture. + +Much of this has changed since the Spaniards first saw it. Cortes tried +all ordinary means to overcome the desperate obstinacy with which the +Aztecs defended their capital. The Spaniards conquered wherever they +went; but, as they moved forward, the Mexicans closed in again behind, +and from every house-top showers of darts, arrows, and stones were +poured down upon them. Cortes resolved upon the utter demolition of the +city. He was grieved to destroy it, he said, for it was the most +beautiful thing in the whole world; but there was no alternative. He +moved slowly towards the great teocalli, his fifty thousand Tlascalan +allies following him, throwing down every house, and filling the canals +with the ruins. When the conquest was finished, but one district of the +city was left standing, and in it were crowded a quarter of the +population, miserable famished wretches, who had surrendered when their +king was taken. All that was left besides was a patch of swampy ground +strewed with fragments of walls, a few pyramids too large for present +destruction, and such great heaps of dead bodies that it was impossible +to get from place to place without walking over them. + +Cortes had resolved that a new city should be built, but it was not so +easy to decide where it was to be. The Aztecs, it seemed, had not +originally established themselves on the spot where Mexico was built. +When they came down from the north country, and across the hills into +the valley of Mexico, they were but an insignificant tribe, and as yet +mere savages. They settled down in one place after another, and were +always driven out by the persecutions of the neighbouring tribes. At +last they took possession of a little group of swampy islands in the +lake of Tezcuco; and then at last, safe from their enemies, they +increased and multiplied, and became a great and powerful nation. + +The first beginnings of Mexico, a cluster of huts built on wooden +piles, must have borne some likeness to those curious settlements of +early tribes in the shallow part of the lakes of Switzerland and the +British Isles, of which numerous remains are still to be found. As the +nation increased in numbers, Tenochtitlán, as the inhabitants called +their city (they called themselves _Tenochques_), came to be a great +city of houses built on piles, with canals running through the straight +streets, along which the natives poled their flat-bottomed canoes. The +name which the Spaniards gave to the city, the “Venice of the New +World,” was appropriate, not only to its situation in the midst of the +water, with canals for thoroughfares, but also to the history of the +causes which led to its being built in such a situation. + +The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon +the people by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as +a matter of taste, just as it is in Holland. Even after the Aztecs +became masters of the surrounding country, they built towns round the +lake, partly on the shore, and partly on piles in the water. The +Spanish chroniclers mention Iztapalapán, and many other towns, as built +in this way. Like the Swiss tribes, the early inhabitants of Mexico +depended much upon their fishing, for which their position gave them +great facilities. + +If you look at the arms of the Mexican Republic, on a passport or a +silver dollar, you will see a representation of a rock surrounded by +water. On the rock grows a cactus, and on the cactus sits an eagle with +a serpent in his beak. The story is that the wandering tribe preserved +a tradition of an oracle which said that when they should find an +eagle, holding a serpent, and perched on a cactus growing out of a +rock, then they should cease their wanderings. On an island in the lake +of Tezcuco, they found eagle, serpent, cactus, and rock, as described, +and they settled there in due course. What fragment of truth is hidden +in this myth it is hard to say. Tenochtitlán means “The Stone-cactus +place;” and the Aztec picture-writings express its name by a hieroglyph +of a prickly pear growing on a rock. Putting this history out of the +question, the Aztecs had excellent reasons for choosing this peculiar +site for their city; but these reasons were not equally valid in the +case of the new invaders. For them the surrounding salt-water was not +needed as a protection, and was merely a nuisance. Every year, when the +lake rose, the place was flooded, with enormous damage to the property +of the inhabitants; and sometimes an inundation of greater depth than +usual threatened as complete a destruction as Cortes and the Tlascalans +had made. At the best of times, the site was a salt-swamp, an ugly +place to build upon. And, lastly, all the fresh water must be brought +from the hills by aqueducts, which an enemy would cut off without +difficulty, as the Spaniards themselves had done during the siege. Now +Cortes was certainly not ignorant of all this, and he knew of many +places on the rising ground close by, where he could found his new city +under more favourable circumstances. He deliberated four or five months +on the matter, and at last decided in favour of the old site, giving as +his reason that “the city of Tenochtitlán had become celebrated, its +position was wonderful, and in all times it had been considered as the +capital and mistress of all these provinces.” + +The invaders were old hands at slave-driving, and so hard did they +drive the conquered Mexicans, that in four years there had arisen a +fine Spanish city, with massive stone houses of several storeys, having +the indispensable inner courts, flat roofs, and grated windows,—every +man’s house literally his castle, when once the great iron +entrance-gates were closed. The Indians had, of course, been converted +en masse, and churches were being built in all directions. The great +pyramid where Huitzilopochtli, the God of war, was worshipped, had been +razed to the ground, and its great sculptured blocks of basalt were +sunk in the earth as a foundation for a cathedral. The old lines of the +streets, running toward the four points of the compass, were kept to; +and to this it is that the present Mexico is indebted for much of its +beauty. Most of the smaller canals were filled up, and the +thoroughfares widened for carriages, things of course unknown to the +Mexicans, who had no beasts of burden. In the suburbs the natives +settled themselves after their own fashion, baking adobes, large mud +bricks, in the sun, and building with them one-storey houses with flat +roofs, much as they do at the present day. And thus a new Mexico, +nearly the same as that we are now exploring, came to be planted in the +midst of the waters. Three centuries have elapsed since; the city has +grown larger, churches, convents, and public buildings have increased, +but the architectural character of the place has scarcely altered. It +is the situation that has changed. The lake of Tezcuco is four miles +off, though the causeways which once connected the city with the dry +land still exist, and have even been enlarged. They look like +railway-embankments crossing the low ground, and serve as dykes when +there is a flood, a casualty which still often happens. + +This change is interesting to the student of physical geography; and +Humboldt’s account of the causes which have brought it about is full +and explicit. When Mexico had been built a few years, the frightful +inundations which threatened its very existence at length awoke the +Spaniards to a sense of the mistake that had been made in placing +themselves but a few feet above the lowest level of the valley, in such +a way that, from whatever point the flood might come, they were sure to +get the benefit of it. The Spanish authorities at home, with their +usual sagacity, sent over peremptory orders that the city should be +abandoned, and a new capital built at Tacubaya—a proposal something +like intimating to the inhabitants of Naples that their position, at +the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was most dangerous, and that they must +leave it and settle somewhere else. In those days the valley was a +complete basin, with no outlet—at least not one worth mentioning; and +the heavy tropical rains and the melted snow from the mountains, poured +vast quantities of water into it. Had the valley been at the level of +the sea, it would simply have become a great lake, surrounded by hills; +but at three thousand feet higher, the atmosphere is rarefied, and +evaporation goes on with such rapidity as to keep the accumulation of +water in check. So the affair had adjusted itself in this wise, that +the land and the five lakes should divide the valley about equally +between them. It became necessary to alter this state of things, and a +passage was cut at a place where the hills were but little above the +level of the highest lake. The history of this passage, the famous +“Desague de Huehuetoca,” is instructive enough, but it has been written +so threadbare that I cannot touch it. Suffice it to say, that by this +means a constant outlet was made for the lake of Zumpango, the highest +of the five, and for the Rio de Guatitlán, a stream which formerly ran +into it. + +So much for one cause of the change in the present appearance of the +city. Then the Spaniards were great cutters down of forests. They +rather liked to make their new country bear a resemblance to the arid +plains of Castile, where, when you arrive in Madrid, people ask you +whether you noticed _the tree_ on the road; and moreover, as they +wanted wood, they cut it, without troubling themselves to plant for the +benefit of future generations. Now, when the trees were cut down, the +small plants which grew in their shade died too, and left the bare +earth to serve as a kind of natural evaporating apparatus. And, between +these two causes, it has come to pass that the extent of the lakes has +been so much reduced, and that Mexico stands on the dry land—if, +indeed, that may be called dry land, where you cannot dig a foot +without coming to water. + +During the Tertiary period the whole valley of Mexico was one great +lake. Whether the proportion of water to land had adjusted itself +before the country was inhabited, or whether during historical times +the lakes were still gradually diminishing by the excess of evaporation +over the quantity of water supplied by rain and snow, is an open +question. At any rate the two causes I have mentioned will account for +the changes which have taken place since the conquest. + +Taking it as a whole, Mexico is a grand city, and, as Cortes truly +said, its situation is marvellous. But as for the buildings, I should +be sorry to inflict upon any one who may read these sketches, a +detailed description of any one of them. It is a thousand pities that, +just at the time when the Italians and Spaniards were most zealous in +church-building, so very questionable an architectural taste should +have been prevalent. + +The churches and convents in Mexico belong to that kind of renaissance +style that began to flourish in southern Europe in the sixteenth +century, and has held its ground there ever since. High façades abound, +with pilasters crowned by elaborate Corinthian capitals, forming a +curious contrast with the mean little buildings crouched behind the +tall front. In the doors of the churches outside, and the chapels +within, one is constantly coming upon that peculiar construction which +consists of what would be an arch, resting on two pillars, were not the +keystone wanting. Columns with shafts elaborately sculptured, and +twisted marble pillars of the bed-post pattern, are to be seen by +hundreds, very expensive in material and workmanship, but unfortunately +very ugly; while the numbers of puffy cherubs, inside and out, remind +the Englishman of the monuments of St. Paul’s. + +As to the interior decoration of the churches, the richer ones are +crowded with incongruous ornaments to a wonderful degree. Gold, silver, +costly marbles, jewels, stucco, paint, tinsel, and frippery are all +mixed up together in the wildest manner. We found the inside of the +churches to be generally the worst part of them. The Cathedral, for +instance, is really a very grand building when seen from a little +distance, with its two high towers and its cupola behind. I was greatly +edified by finding it described in the last book of Mexican travels I +have read, as built in the purest Doric style. + +The Minería, or School of Mines, is a fine building, something after +the manner of Somerset House on a small scale. As for the famous Plaza +Mayor, the great square, it is a very great square indeed, large enough +to review an army in, and large enough to damage by its size the effect +of the cathedral, and to dwarf the other buildings that surround it +into mere insignificance. However, one thing is certain, that we have +not come all this way to see Spanish architecture and great squares, +but must look for something more characteristic. + +I have said we arrived in Mexico on the eve of Palm Sunday, and next +morning we proceeded to consult with one of our newly-made +acquaintances as to our prospects for the ensuing Holy Week. This +gentleman, a man who took a practical view of things, mentioned a +circumstance which led him to expect that the affair would go off with +éclat. The Mexicans, both the nearly white Mestizos and the Indians of +pure race, delight in pulque. The brown people are grave and silent in +their sober state, but pulque stirs up their sluggish blood, and they +get into a condition of positive enjoyment. But very soon after this +comes a state of furious intoxication, and a general scuffle is a +common termination to a drinking-bout. Fortunately, the Indians are not +a bloodthirsty people; and, though every man carries a knife or +machete, or—if he can get nothing better—a bit of hoop-iron tempered, +sharpened, and fixed into a handle, yet nothing more serious than cuffs +and scratches generally ensues. Even if severe wounds are given, the +Indian has many chances in his favor, for his organization is somewhat +different from that of white men, and he recovers easily from wounds +that would kill any European outright. + +The lower orders of the half-breed population are also given to +pulque-drinking, but with far more serious consequences. Unlike the +pure Indians, they are a hot-blooded and excitable race, and +drunkenness with them is utter madness while it lasts. Knives are drawn +at the very beginning of a squabble, and scarcely an evening passes +without one or two bodies of men killed in these drunken mêlées being +carried to the Police Cuartel in the great square. On Sundays and +holidays the number increases; but on this Palm Sunday there were +fourteen, not killed in one great battle, but brought in by ones and +twos, from different parts of the city. It was this little piece of +statistics that induced our friend to conclude that the citizens of +Mexico had made up their minds to enjoy themselves thoroughly, and that +Holy Week would be a grand affair. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of +the Semana Santa have only this to distinguish them from ordinary days, +that the churches are crowded with men and women waiting their turn at +the confessional; and that in the afternoons the old promenade of Las +Vigas, down in the Indian quarter by the canal of Chalco, is patronized +by fashionable Mexico, which, except on some four or five special days, +frequents the new Alameda. The sight of these confessionals, so +constantly filled, prompts one to ask—why just before Easter? Just +after would be more appropriate; for as we find the Glasgow people much +worse on Sundays than on week-days, so the Mexican population, not very +virtuous at the best of times, are specially and particularly wicked +when the great Church-festivals come round. The name of Shrove Tuesday +survives in our Calendar, to remind us of the time when we also used to +go to be shriven before Easter. + +On Thursday at noon mass is over, the bells cease to ring, the organs +in the churches are silent, and all carriages disappear from the +streets, except the dusty Diligence which, like French law, “est +athée,” and cares nothing for fasts or festivals. Now we come to +understand the wonderful wooden machine like a water-wheel, which was +put up yesterday on one tower of the Cathedral. We had asked people in +the great square, just below, what it was, but could get no answer +except that it was _la Matraca_, the rattle, for to-morrow. And now we +found that, the church bells being incapacitated, this rattle does duty +instead, striking the hours, and occasionally going off into furious +fits of clattering, without apparent reason, for ten minutes at a time, +till the two men who worked it, who were either convicts or soldiers in +fatigue-dress, were tired out. It was not this one rattle only that was +disturbing the public peace that day and the next. Everybody was +walking about with a rattle, and working it like mad, and all over the +city there was a noise like the sound of the back-scratchers at +Greenwich Fair, or of an American forest when the woodpeckers are busy. +These little rattles stand for Judas’s bones, and all good Catholics +express in this odd way their desire to break them. They do the same +thing in Italy, but it is not so prominent a part of the celebration as +in Mexico, where old and young, rich and poor, all do their part in it. +As soon as we found out what it all meant, we bought matracas for +ourselves, and joined the rest of the world in their noisy occupation. +The breaking of his bones is but a preliminary measure. In the square a +fair is being held, in the booths of which the great articles of trade +now are Judas’s bones, of many patterns, at all prices, and Judas +himself in pasteboard, who is to be carried about and insulted till +Saturday morning, and then, hanging up by a string, is to burst asunder +by means of a packet of powder and a slow match in his inside, and +finally to perish in a bonfire. + +The first sight of these pasteboard Judases convinced us of one thing, +that we had unexpectedly come upon the old custom, of which our +processions and burning of Guy Fawkes in England are merely an +adaptation. After giving up the old custom as a Popish rite, what a +bright idea to revive it in this new shape, and to give the boys +something to carry about, bang, blow up, and make a final bonfire of, +and all in the Protestant interest! There was another thing to be +noticed about the Judases. The makers had evidently tried to vary them +as much as they could; and, by that very means, had shown how +impossible it was to them to strike out anything new. There were two +types; one was the Neapolitan _Polichinello_, whom we have naturalised +as _Punch_; and the other the God _Pan_, with his horns, and hoofs, and +tail, whom the whole Christian world has recognised as the devil, for +these many ages. Well, some took one type and some the other; and a few +tried to combine the two, of course spoiling both. But, beyond this, +their power of invention could not go. They were always trying to +conceal the old idea, and could do no more than to distort it. We could +see through their flimsy pretensions to originality much as a +schoolmaster recognises the extracts from the encyclopaedia in his +boys’ essays. + +As with this Judas trade, so it is with other more important arts and +sciences in this country. The old types descend, almost unchanged, from +generation to generation. Everything that is really Mexican is either +Aztec or Spanish. Among the Spanish types we may separate the Moorish. +Our knowledge of Mexico is not sufficient to enable us to analyse the +Aztec civilization, so we must be content with these three classes. I +will not go further into the question here, for occasions will +continually occur to show how—for three centuries at least—the +inhabitants of Mexico, both white and brown, have taken their ideas at +second-hand, always copying but never developing anything. + +All this time my companion and I have been walking about the streets; +in evening-dress, as the etiquette of the place demands, on these three +days, from the “better classes.” The Mexican ladies may be +advantageously studied just now in their church-going black silk dress +and mantilla, one of the most graceful costumes in the world. It is not +often that one has the chance of seeing them out of doors, except +hurrying to and from Mass in the morning, or in carriages on the +Alameda; but on these festival days one meets them by hundreds. They do +not contrast favorably with the ladies of Cadiz and Seville. The +mixture of Aztec blood seems to have detracted from the beauty of the +Spanish race; the dryness of the atmosphere spoils their complexions; +and the monstrous quantity of capsicums that are consumed at every meal +cannot possibly leave the Mexican digestion in its proper state. + +We dined that day with Don José de A., who, though Spanish-American by +birth, was English by education and feeling, and had known my +companion’s family well. Our dinner was half English, half Mexican; and +the favourite dishes of the country were there, to aid in our +initiation into Mexican manners and customs. The cooks at the inns, +mindful of our foreign origin, had dealt out the red pepper with a +sparing hand; but to-day the dish of “mole” was the genuine article, +and the first mouthful set as coughing and gasping for breath, while +the tears streamed down our faces, and Don Pepe and Don Pancho gravely +continued their dinner, assuring us that we should get quite to like it +in time. _Pepe_ and _Pancho_, by the way, are short for José and +Francisco. Dinner over, it was time to visit the churches, to which +people crowd by thousands, this evening and to-morrow, to see the +monuments, as they are called. Pancho departed, being on duty as escort +to his sisters; and we having, by Pepe’s advice, left our watches and +valuables in his room, and put our handkerchiefs in our breast-pockets, +started with him. Mr. Christy, always on the look-out for a new seed or +plant, had taken possession of the seeds of two _mameis_, which are +fleshy fruits—as big as cocoa-nuts—each containing a hard smooth seed +as large as a hen’s egg. These not being of great value, he put one in +each tail-pocket of his coat. When we got out, we found the streets +full of people, hurrying from one church to another, anxious to get as +many as possible visited in the evening. We went first to the monastery +of San Francisco, close to our hotel, the largest, and perhaps the +richest convent in the country. Entering through a great gate, we find +ourselves in a large courtyard, full of people, who are visiting—one +after another—the four churches which the establishment contains, going +in at one door and out at the other. At the door of the largest church, +stands a tall monk, soliciting customers for the rosaries of +olive-wood, crosses, and medals from Jerusalem, which are displayed on +a stall close by—shouting in a stentorian voice, every two or three +minutes, “He who gives alms to Holy Church, shall receive plenary +indulgence, and deliver one soul from purgatory.” We bought some, but +there did not seem to be many other purchasers. Indeed, we found, when +we had been longer in the country, that a few pence would buy all sorts +of church indulgences, from the permission to eat meat on fast-days up +to plenary absolution in the hour of death; and the trade, once so +flourishing here, is almost used up. The churches were hung with black, +and lighted up; and in each was a “monument,” a kind of bower of green +branches decorated with flowers, mirror’s, and gold and silver +church-plate, and supposed to stand for the Garden of Gethsemane. +Inside was reclining a wax figure of our Saviour, gaudily dressed in +silk and velvet; and there were also representations of the Last +Supper, with wax-work figures as large as life. To visit and criticise +these “monuments” was the object of the sort of pilgrimage people were +making from church to church, and they seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. +It was not a superfluous precaution that we had taken, in leaving our +valuables in a place of safety, for, on our exit from the first church, +we found that Pepe had lost his handkerchief and a cigar-case, which he +had stowed away in an inner pocket, and Mr. Christy had been relieved +of one of his mamei seeds by some “lepero” who probably took it for a +snuff-box. His feelings must have been like those of the English +pickpocket in Paris, when he robbed the Frenchman of the article he had +pocketed with so much care, and found it was a lump of sugar. And so +relieved of further care for our worldly goods, we went through with +the work of seeing monuments, till we were tired and disgusted with the +whole affair, and at last went home to bed. + +Next day, appropriate sermons in the churches, processions in the +afternoon, in which wax figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary were +carried by men got up in fancy dresses as soldiers and centurions, and +so called penitents, walking covered with black shrouds and veils, with +small round holes to look through, or in the yellow dress and +extinguisher cap, both with flames and devils painted on them. These +are exactly the costumes worn in old times, the first by the familiars +of the Inquisition, and the second by the criminals it condemned; and +the sight of them set us thinking of the processions they used to +figure in, when the Holy Office was flourishing at Santo Domingo, a +little way down the street where we are standing. + +In the evening the Crucifixion is represented in wax in the churches, +and the visiting goes on as the night before; and the next morning is +the Sábado de Gloria, the Saturday which ends Lent. We go to the +Jesuits’ church in the morning to hear the last sermon. Since Thursday +at noon, as the organs have been silenced, harps and violins have taken +their places. The sermon is long and prosy, and we rejoice that it is +the last. Then the service of the day goes on until they come to the +“Gloria in excelsis.” The organ peals out again, the black +curtain—which has hidden the high altar—parts in the middle, and +displays a perfect blaze of gold and jewels: all the bells in the city +begin to ring: the carriages, which have been waiting ready harnessed +in court yards, pour out into the streets: the lumbering hackney +coaches go racing to the great square, striving to get the first fare +for luck: the Judases, which have been hanging all the morning out of +windows and across streets, are set light to as the first bell begins +to ring, and fizzing and popping burst all to pieces, and then are +thrown into a heap in the street, where a bonfire is made of them, and +the children join hands and dance round it. So Holy Week ends. + +[Illustration: THE PORTER AND THE BAKER IN MEXICO. (From Models +made by Native Artists)] + +The arrangement of the day in Mexico is this. Early in the morning your +servant knocks at your door, and brings in a little cup of coffee or +chocolate and a small roll, which _desayuno_—literally breakfast—you +discuss while dressing. Going down into the courtyard, you find your +horse waiting for you, and off you go for an hour or two’s ride, and +back to a dejeuner-à-la-fourchette somewhere between ten and one +o’clock. Then you have seven or eight hours before dinner, so that a +good deal of work may be got into a day so divided. Things are managed +very differently in country places, but this is the fashion in the +capital among the higher class, that is, of course, the class of people +who put on dress-coats in the evening. + +When we had been a day or two in Mexico, we took our first ride to +Tacubaya and Chapultepec. Mexican saddles and bridles were a novelty to +us, but when we come to describe our Mexican and his appurtenances it +will be time enough to speak of them. + +The barricades in the streets constructed during the last revolution of +two or three weeks back had not yet been removed, but an opening at one +side allowed men and horses to get past. Carriages had to go round, an +easy matter in a city built as this is in squares like a chess-board. +The barricades mount two guns each, and as the streets are quite +straight they can sweep them in both directions, to the whole length of +their range. As in Turin, you can look backward and forward along the +straight streets from every part of the city, and see mountains at each +end. The suburbs of the city are quite as repulsive as our first +glimpse of them led us to expect; and, as far as one could judge by the +appearance of the half-caste inhabitants, it is not good to go there +alone after dark. Here is the end of the aqueduct of Chapultepec, the +Salto del Agua; and—crowded round it—a thoroughly characteristic group +of women and water-carriers, filling their great earthen jars with +water, which they carry about from house to house. The women are simply +and cheaply dressed, and though not generally pretty, are very graceful +in their movements. Their dress consists of a white cotton under-dress, +a coloured cotton skirt, generally blue, brown, or grey, with some +small pattern upon it, but never brilliant in colour, and a rebozo, +which is a small sober-coloured cotton shawl, long and narrow. This +rebozo passes over the back of the head, where it is somehow fixed to a +back hair-comb, and the two ends hang down over the shoulders in front; +or, more often, one end is thrown over the opposite shoulder, so that +the young lady’s face is set in it, like a picture in a frame. Add to +this a springy step, the peculiarly unconstrained movement in walking +which comes of living in the open air and wearing a loose dress, a +pleasant pale face, small features, bright eyes, small hands and feet, +little slippers and no stockings, and you have as good a picture of a +Mexican half-caste girl as I can give. A book of Mexican engravings, +however, will give a much better idea of her. Then we went past the +great prison, the Acordada, and out at the gate (we had purposely gone +out of our way to see more of the city), and so into the great +promenade, the Paseo or Alameda. The latter is the Spanish name for +this necessary appendage to every town. It comes from _álamo_, which +means a poplar. Imagine a long wide level road, a mile or so long, +generally so chosen as to have a fine view, with footpaths on each +side, lines of poplar trees, a fountain at each end and a statue in the +middle, and this description will stand pretty nearly for almost every +promenade of the kind I have seen in Spain or Spanish America. + +[Illustration: Water-carrier and a Mexican Woman, at the Fountain] + +Tacubaya is a pleasant place on the side of the first hills that begin +to rise towards the mountain-wall of the valley. Here rich Mexicans +have country-houses in large gardens, which are interesting from the +immense variety of plants which grow there, though badly kept up, and +systematically stripped by the gardeners of the fruit as it gets +ripe—for their own benefit, of course. From Tacubaya we go to +Chapultepec (Grasshopper Mountain), which is a volcanic hill of +porphyry rising from the plain. On the top is the palace on which the +viceroy Galvez expended great sums of money some seventy years ago, +making it into a building which would serve either as a palace or as a +fortress in cases of emergency. Though the Americans charged up the +hill and carried it easily in ’47, it would be a very strong place in +proper hands. It is a military school now. On the hill is the famous +grove of cypresses—ahuehuetes[5]—as they are called, grand trees with +their branches hung with fringes of the long grey Spanish moss—barba +Española—Spanish beard. I do not know what painters think of the effect +of this moss, trailing in long festoons from the branches of the trees, +but to me it is beautiful; and I shall never forget where I first saw +it, on a bayou of the Mississippi, winding through the depths of a +great forest in the swamps of Louisiana.[6] In this grove of +Chapultepec, there were sculptured on the side of the hill, in the +solid porphyry, likenesses of the two Montezumas, colossal in size. For +some reason or other, I forget now what, one of the last Spanish +viceroys thought it desirable to destroy them, and tried to blow them +up with gunpowder. He only partially succeeded, for the two great +bas-reliefs were still very distinguishable as we rode past, though +noseless and considerably knocked about. + + [5] Ahuehuete, pronounced _a-hwe-hwete_. Thus, Anahuac is pronounced + _Ana-hwac;_ and Chihuahua, _Chi-hwa-hwa_. + + + [6] In the Swiss Alps, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, + there is a similar plant to be seen fringing the branches of the + pine-trees; but it only grows to the length of a few inches, and will + hardly bear comparison to the long trailing festoons of the Spanish + moss, often fifteen or twenty feet in length. + + +We went home to breakfast with our friends, and looked at the +title-deeds of their house in crabbed Spanish of the sixteenth century, +and the great Chinese treasure-chest, still used as the strong-box of +the firm, with an immense lock, and a key like the key of Dover castle. +Fine old Chinese jars, and other curiosities, are often to be found in +Mexico; and they date from the time when the great galleon from Manila, +which was called “el nao”—the ship—to distinguish it from all other +ships, came once a year to Acapulco. + +After breakfast, business hours begin; so we took ourselves off to +visit the canal of Chalco, and the famous floating gardens—as they are +called. On our way we had a chance of studying the conveyances our +ancestors used to ride in, and availed ourselves of it. In books on +Spanish America, written at the beginning of this century, there are +wonderful descriptions of the gilt coaches, with six or eight mules, in +which the great folks used to drive in state on the promenades. They +are exactly the carriages that it was the height of a lady’s ambition +to ride in, in the days of Sir Charles Grandison, and Mr. Tom Jones. +Here, in Mexico, they were still to be found, after they had +disappeared from the rest of the habitable globe; and even now, though +the private carriages are all of a more modern type, there are still +left a few of these amazing vehicles, now degraded to the cab-stand; +and we got into one that was embellished with sculptured Cupids—their +faces as much mutilated as the two Montezumas—and with the remains of +the painting and gilding, which once covered the whole affair, just +visible in corners, like the colouring of the ceilings of the Alhambra. +We had to climb up three high steps, and haul ourselves into the body +of the coach, which hung on strong leather straps; springs belong to a +later period. By the time we had got to the Paseo de las Vigas we were +glad enough to get out, wondering at the sacrifice of comfort to +dignity those highly respectable grandees must have made, and not +surprised at the fate of some inquisitive travellers who have done as +we did, and have been obliged to stop by the qualms of sea-sickness. At +the bridge we chartered a canoe to Santa Anita. This Santa Anita is a +little Indian village on the canal of Chalco, and to-day there is to be +a festival there. For this, however, we shall be too early, as we have +to be back in time to see Mexico turn out for a promenade on the Paseo +de las Vigas, and then to go out to dinner. So we must just take the +opportunity of looking at the Indian population as they go up and down +the canal in canoes, and see their gardens and their houses. However, +as the Indian notion of a festival consists in going to mass in the +morning, and getting drunk and fighting in the afternoon, we are +perhaps as well out of it. We took our passage to Santa Anita and back +in a canoe—a mere flat-bottomed box with sloping sides, made of boards +put together with wooden pegs. There was a mat at the stern for us to +squat upon, and an awning over our heads. An old Indian and his son +were the crew; and they had long poles, which they set against the +banks or the bottom of the shallow canal, and so pushed us along. +Besides these two, an old woman with two little girls got in, as we +were starting—without asking our leave, by the way—and sat down at the +other end of the canoe. Of course, the old woman began to busy herself +with the two little girls, in the usual occupation of old women here, +during their idle moments; and though she left off at our earnest +request, she evidently thought us very crotchety people for objecting. + +The scene on the canal was a curious one. There were numbers of boats +going up and down; and the Indians, as soon as they caught sight of an +acquaintance, began to shout out a long string of complimentary +phrases, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in Mexican: “How is your +worship this morning?” “I trust that I have the happiness of seeing +your worship in good health.” “If there is anything I can have the +honour of doing for your worship, pray dispose of me,” and so forth; +till they are out of hearing. All this is accompanied by a taking-off +of hats, and a series of low bows and complimentary grimaces. As far as +we could ascertain, it is all mere matter of ceremony. It may be an +exaggeration of the formal, complimentary talk of the Spaniards, but +its origin probably dates further back. + +The Indians here no longer appeared the same dull, melancholy men whom +we had seen in the richer quarter of the town. There they were under a +strong feeling of constraint, for their language is not understood by +the whites and mestizos; and they, for their part, know but little +Spanish; and besides, there is very little sympathy between the two +classes. One thing will shew this clearly enough. By a distinct line of +demarcation, the Indians are separated from the rest of the population, +who are at least partly white. These latter call themselves “gente de +razón”—people of reason,—to distinguish themselves from the Indians, +who are people without reason. In common parlance the distinction is +made thus: the whites and mixed breed are “gente”—_people_,—the brown +men being merely “Indios”—Indians—and not people at all. + +Here, in their own quarter, and among their own people, they seem +talkative enough. We can only tell what they are chattering about when +they happen to speak Spanish, either for our benefit, or to show off +their proficiency in that tongue. People who can speak the Aztec +language say that their way of forming compound words gives constant +occasion for puns and quibbles, and that the talk of the Indians is +full of such small jokes. In this respect they differ exceedingly from +the Spaniards, whose jests are generally about _things_, and seldom +about their _names_, as one sees by their almost always bearing +translation into other languages. + +Most of the canoes were tastefully decorated with flowers, for the +Aztecs have not lost their old taste for ornamenting themselves, and +everything about them, with garlands and nosegays. The fruits and +vegetables they were carrying to market were very English in their +appearance. Mexico is supplied with all kinds of tropical fruits, which +come from a distance; but the district we are now in only produces +plants which might grow in our own country—barley, potatoes, cabbages, +parsnips, apples, pears, plums, peaches, and so forth, but scarcely +anything tropical in its character. One thing surprises us, that the +Indians, in a climate where the mornings and evenings are often very +chilly, should dress so scantily. The men have a general appearance of +having outgrown their clothes; for the sleeves of the kind of +cotton-shirt they wear only reach to their elbows, and their trousers, +of the same material, only fall to their knees. To these two garments +add a sort of blanket, thrown over the shoulders, a pair of sandals, +and a palm-leaf hat, and the man is dressed. His skin is brown, his +limbs muscular—especially his legs—his lips thick, his nose Jewish, his +hair coarse, black, and hanging straight down. The woman’s dress is as +simple as the man’s. She has on a kind of cotton sack, very short in +the sleeves, and very open at the shoulders, and some sort of a skirt +or petticoat besides. Sometimes she has a folded cotton cloth on her +head, like a Roman contadina; but, generally, nothing covers her thick +black hair, which hangs down behind in long twisted tails. + +In old times, when Mexico was in the middle of a great lake, and the +inhabitants were not strong enough to hold land on the shores, they +were driven to strange shifts to get food. Among other expedients, they +took to making little floating islands, which consisted of rafts of +reeds and brushwood, on which they heaped mud from the shores of the +lakes. On the banks of the lake of Tezcuco the mud was, at first, too +full of salt and soda to be good for cultivation; but by pouring the +water of the lake upon it, and letting it soak through, they dissolved +out most of the salts, and the island was fit for cultivation, and bore +splendid crops of vegetables.[7] These islands were called _chinampas_, +and they were often large enough for the proprietor to build a hut in +the middle, and live in it with his family. In later times, when the +Mexicans came to be no longer afraid of their neighbours, the chinampas +were not of much use; and when the water was drained off, and the city +stood on dry land, one would have supposed that such a troublesome and +costly arrangement would have been abandoned. The Mexican, however, is +hard to move from the customs of his ancestors; and we have Humboldt’s +word for it, that in his time there were some of these artificial +islands still in the lake of Chalco, which the owners towed about with +a rope, or pushed with a long pole. They are all gone now, at any rate, +though the name of _chinampa_ is still applied to the gardens along the +canal. These gardens very much resemble the floating islands in their +construction of mud, heaped on a foundation of reeds and branches; and +though they are not the real thing, and do not float, they are +interesting, as the present representatives of the famous Mexican +floating gardens. They are narrow strips of land, with a frontage of +four or five yards to the canal, and a depth of one hundred, or a +hundred and fifty yards. Between the strips are open ditches; and one +principal occupation of the proprietor seems to be bringing up mud from +the bottom of the ditch with a wooden shovel, and throwing it on the +garden, in places where it has sunk. The reason of the narrowness of +the strips is that he may be able to throw mud all over them from the +ditches on either side. + + [7] Chalco was and is a freshwater lake, and here they had not even + this to do. + + +While we are busy observing all these matters, and questioning our +boatmen about them, we reach Santa Anita. Here there are swampy lanes +and more swampy gardens, a little village of Indian houses, three or +four pulque-shops, and a church. Outside the pulque-shops are +fresco-paintings, representing Aztec warriors carousing, and draining +great bowls of pulque. These were no specimens of Aztec art, however, +but seemed to be copied (by some white or half-caste sign-painter, +probably) from the French coloured engravings which represent the +events of the Conquest. These extraordinary works of art are to be seen +everywhere in this country, where, of all places in the world, one +would have thought that people would have noticed that the artist had +not the faintest idea of what an Aztec was like, but supposed that his +limbs and face and hair were like an European’s. Here, with the real +Aztec standing underneath, the difference was striking enough. One +ought not to be too critical about these things, however, when one +remembers the pictures of shepherds and shepherdesses that adorn our +English farmhouses. We drank pulque at the sign of _The Cacique_, and +liked it, for we had now quite got over our aversion to its putrid +taste and smell. I wonder that our new faculty of pulque-drinking did +not make us able to relish the suspicious eggs that abound in Mexican +inns, but it had no such effect, unfortunately. + +Our canoe took us back to the Promenade of Las Vigas, which is a long +drive, planted with rows of trees, and extends along the last mile or +two of the canal. Indeed, its name comes from the beam (Viga) which +swings across the canal at the place where the canoes pay toll. This +was the great promenade, once upon a time; but the new Alameda has +taken away all the promenaders to a more fashionable quarter, except on +certain festival days, three or four times in the year, when it is the +correct thing for society to make a display of itself—on horseback or +in carriages—in this neglected Indian quarter. We had happened upon one +of these festival days; so, as we crawled along the side-path, tired +and dusty, we had a good opportunity of seeing the Mexican beau monde. +The display of really good carriages was extraordinary; but it must be +recollected that many families here are content to live miserably +enough at home, if they can manage to appear in good style at the +theatre and on the promenade. This is one reason why so many of the +Mexicans who are so friendly with you out of doors, and in the cafés, +are so very shy of letting you see the inside of their houses. They +say, and very likely it is true, that among the richer classes, it is +customary to put a stipulation in the marriage-contracts, that the +husband shall keep a carriage and pair, and a box at the theatre, for +his wife’s benefit. The horsemen turned out in great style, and the +foreigners were fully represented among them. It was noticeable that +while these latter generally adopted the high-peaked saddle, and the +jacket, and broad-brimmed felt hat of the country, and looked as though +the new arrangements quite suited them, the native dandies, on the +other hand, were prone to dressing in European fashion, and sitting +upon English saddles—in which they looked neither secure nor +comfortable. + +We walked home past the old Bull-ring, now replaced by a new one near +the new promenade, and found, to our surprise, that in this quarter of +the town many of the streets were under water. We knew that the level +of the lake of Tezcuco had been raised by a series of three very wet +seasons, but had no idea that things had got so far as this. Of course +the ground-floors had to be abandoned, and the people had made a raised +pathway of planks along the street, and adopted various contrivances +for getting dryshod up to their first floors; and in some places canoes +were floating in the street. The city looked like this some two hundred +years ago, when Martinez the engineer tried an unfortunate experiment +with his draining tunnel at Huehuetoca, and flooded the whole city for +five years. It was by the interference, they tell us, of the patroness +of the Indians, our Lady of Guadalupe, who was brought from her own +temple on purpose, that the city was delivered from the impending +destruction. A number of earthquakes took place, which caused the +ground to split in large fissures, down which the superfluous water +disappeared. For none of her many miracles has the Virgin of Guadalupe +got so much credit as for this. To be sure, it is not generally +mentioned in orthodox histories of the affair, that she was brought to +the capital a year or two before the earthquakes happened. + +Talking of earthquakes, it is to be remembered that we are in a +district where they are of continual occurrence. If one looks carefully +at a line of houses in a street, it is curious to see how some walls +slope inwards, and some outwards, and some are cracked from top to +bottom. There is hardly a church-tower in Mexico that is not visibly +out of the perpendicular. Any one who has noticed how the walls of the +Cathedral of Pisa have been thrown out of the perpendicular by the +settling down of the foundations, will have an idea of the general +appearance of the larger buildings of Mexico. On different occasions +the destruction caused by earthquakes has been very great. By the way, +the liability of Mexico to these shocks, explains the peculiarity of +the building of the houses. A modern English town with +two-or-three-storied houses, with their thin brick walls, would be laid +in ruins by a shock which would hardly affect Mexico. Here, the houses +of several storeys have stone walls of such thickness that they resist +by sheer strength; and the one-storey mud houses, in the suburbs, are +too low to suffer much by being shaken about. A few days before we +arrived here, our friends Pepe and Pancho were playing at billiards in +the Lonja,[8] the Merchants’ Exchange; and Pepe described to us the +feeling of utter astonishment with which he saw his ball, after +striking the other, go suddenly off at an absurd angle into a pocket. +The shock of an earthquake had tilted the table up on one side. While +we were in Mexico there was a slight shock, which set the chandeliers +swinging, but we did not even notice it. In April, a solemn procession +goes from the Cathedral, on a day marked in the Calendar as the +“Patrocinio de Señor San Jose”, to implore the “Santissimo Patriarca” +to protect the city from earthquakes (temblores). In connection with +this subject there is an opinion, so generally received in Mexico that +it is worth notice. Everybody there, even the most educated people, +will tell you that there is an earthquake-season, which occurs in +January or February; and that the shocks are far more frequent than at +any other time of the year. My impression is that this is all nonsense; +but I should like to test it with a list of the shocks that have been +felt, if such a thing were to be had. It does not follow that, because +the Mexicans have such frequent opportunities of trying the question, +they should therefore have done so. In fact, experience as to popular +beliefs in similar matters rather points the other way. I recollect +that in the earthquake districts of southern Italy, when shocks were of +almost daily occurrence, people believed that they were more frequent +in the middle four hours of the night, from ten to two, than at other +times. Of course, this proved on examination to be quite without +foundation. To take one more case in point. How many of our +almanack-books, even the better class of them, contain prophecies of +wet and fine weather, deduced from the moon’s quarters! How long will +it be before we get rid of this queer old astrological superstition? + + [8] The “Lonja” is a feature in the commercial towns of Spanish + America. It is not only the Merchants’ Exchange, but their club, + billiard-room, and smoking-room; in fact, their “lounge,” and I fancy + the two words are connected with one another. + + +We made a few rough observations of the thermometer and barometer +during our stay in Mexico. The barometer stands at about 22½ inches, +and our thermometer gave the boiling point of water at 199 degrees. We +could never get eggs well boiled in the high lands, and attributed +this, whether rightly or not I cannot say, to the low temperature of +boiling water. + + +[Illustration: Group of Ecclesiastics, Mexico.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +TACUBAYA. PACHUCA. REAL DEL MONTE. + + +We went one morning to the house of our friend Don Pepe, and were +informed by the servant as we entered the courtyard that the niño, the +child, was up stairs waiting for us. “The Child” seemed an odd term to +apply to a young man of five and twenty. The young ladies, in the same +way are called the nias, and keep the appellation until they marry. + +We went off with the niño to his uncle’s house at Tacubaya, on the +rising ground above Mexico. In the garden there we found a vegetation +such as one would find in southern Europe—figs, olives, peaches, roses, +and many other European trees and flowers—growing luxuriantly, but +among them the passion-flower, which produces one of the most delicious +of fruits, the granadita, and other semi-tropical plants. The live +creatures in the garden, however, were anything but European in their +character. There were numbers of immense butterflies of the most +brilliant colours; and the garden was full of hummingbirds, darting +backwards and forwards with wonderful swiftness, and dipping their long +beaks into the flowers. They call them chupa-mirtos—myrtle-suckers, and +the Indians take them by blowing water upon them from a cane, and +catching them before they have recovered from the shock. One day we +bought a cage full of them, and tried to keep them alive in our room by +feeding them with sugar and water, but the poor little things pined +away. In old times the Mexicans were famous for their ornaments of +humming-bird’s feathers. The taste with which they arranged feathers of +many shades of colour, excited the admiration of the conquerors; and +the specimens we may still see in museums are beautiful things, and +their great age has hardly impaired the brilliancy of their tints. This +curious art was practised by the highest nobility, and held in great +esteem, just as working tapestry used to be in Europe, only that the +feather-work was mostly done by men. It is a lost art, for one cannot +take much account of such poor things as are done now, in which, +moreover, the designs are European. In this garden at Tacubaya we saw +for the first time the praying Mantis, and caught him as he sat in his +usual devotional attitude. His Spanish name is “el predicador,” the +preacher. + +We got back to Mexico in time for the Corrida de Toros. The bull-ring +was a large one, and there were many thousands of people there; but as +to the spectacle itself, whether one took it upon its merits, or merely +compared it with the bull-fights of Old Spain, it was disgusting. The +bulls were cautious and cowardly, and could hardly be got to fight; and +the matadors almost always failed in killing them; partly through want +of skill, partly because it is really harder to kill a quiet bull than +a fierce one who runs straight at his assailant. To fill up the measure +of the whole iniquitous proceeding, they brought in a wretch in a white +jacket with a dagger, to finish the unfortunate beasts which the +matador could not kill in the legitimate way. It was evidently quite +the regular thing, for the spectators expressed no surprise at it. + +After the bull-fight proper was finished, there came two or three +supplementary performances, which were genuinely Mexican, and very well +worth seeing. A very wild bull was turned into the ring, where two +lazadores, on beautiful little horses, were waiting for him. The bull +set off at full speed after one of the riders, who cantered easily +ahead of him; and the other, leisurely untying his lazo, hung it over +his left arm, and then, taking the end in his light hand, let the cord +fall through the loop into a running noose, which he whirled two or +three times round his head, and threw it so neatly that it settled +gently down over the bull’s neck. In a moment the other end of the cord +was wound several times round the pummel of the saddle, and the little +horse set off at full speed to get ahead of the bull. But the first +rider had wheeled round, thrown his lazo upon the ground, and just as +the bull stepped within the noose, whipped it up round his hind leg, +and galloped off in a contrary direction. Just as the first lazo +tightened round his neck, the second jerked him by the leg, and the +beast rolled helplessly over in the sand. Then they got the lazos off, +no easy matter when one isn’t accustomed to it, and set him off again, +catching him by hind legs or fore legs just as they pleased, and +inevitably bringing him down, till the bull was tired out and no longer +resisted. Then they both lazo’d him over the horns, and galloped him +out, amid the cheers of the spectators. The amusements finished with +the “colear.” This is quite peculiar to Mexico, and is done on this +wise. The coleador rides after the bull, who has an idea that something +is going to happen, and gallops off as fast as he can go, throwing out +his hind legs in his awkward bullish fashion. Now, suppose you are the +coleador, sitting in your peaked Mexican saddle, that rises behind and +before, and keeps you in your seat without an effort on your part. You +gallop after the bull, and when you come up with him, you pull as hard +as you can to keep your horse back; for, if he is used to the sport, as +almost all Mexican horses are, he is wild to get past, not noticing +that his rider has got no hold of the toro. Well, you are just behind +the bull, a little to the left of him, and out of the way of his hind +legs, which will trip your horse up if you don’t take care; you take +your right foot out of the stirrup, catch hold of the end of the bull’s +tail (which is very long), throw your leg over it, and so twist the end +of the tail round your leg below the knee. You have either got the +bridle between your teeth or have let it go altogether, and with your +left hand you give your horse a crack with the whip; he goes forward +with a bound, and the bull, losing his balance by the sudden jerk +behind, rolls over on the ground, and gets up, looking very +uncomfortable. The faster the bull gallops, the easier it is to throw +him over; and two boys of twelve or fourteen years of age coleared a +couple of young bulls in the arena, in great style, pitching them over +in all directions. The farmers and landed proprietors are immensely +fond of both these sports, which the bulls—by the way—seem to dislike +most thoroughly; but this exhibition in the bull-ring was better than +what one generally sees, and the leperos were loud in their expressions +of delight. + +When we had been a week or two in the city of Mexico, we decided upon +making an excursion to the great silver mining district of the Real del +Monte. Some of our English friends were leaving for England, and had +engaged the whole of the Diligence to Pachuca, going from thence up to +the Real, and thence to Tampico, with all the pomp and circumstance of +a train of carriages and an armed escort. We were invited to go with +them as far as Pachuca; and accordingly we rose very early on the 28th +of March, got some chocolate under difficulties, and started in the +Diligence, seven grown-up people, and a baby, who was very good, and +was spoken of and to as “leoncito.” On the high plateaus of Mexico, the +children of European parents grow up as healthy and strong as at home; +it is only in the districts at a lower elevation above the sea, on the +coasts for instance, that they do not thrive. Mr. G., who was leaving +Mexico, was the head of a great merchant-house, and it was as a +compliment to him and Mrs. G. that we were accompanied by a party of +English horsemen for the first two or three leagues. Englishmen take +much more easily to Mexican ways about horses than the Mexicans do to +ours, and a finer turn-out of horses and riders than our amateur escort +could hardly have been found in Mexico. There was our friend Don +Guillermo, who rode a beautiful horse that had once belonged to the +captain of a band of robbers, and had not its equal in the city for +swiftness; and Don Juan on his splendid little brown horse Pancho, +lazoing stray mules as he went, and every now and then galloping into a +meadow by the roadside after a bull, who was off like a shot the moment +he heard the sound of hoofs. I wonder whether I shall ever see them +again, those jovial open-hearted countrymen of ours. At last our +companions said good-bye, and loaded pistols were carefully arranged on +the centre cushion in case of an attack, much to the edification of my +companion and myself, as it rather implied that, if fighting were to be +done, we two should have to sit inside to be shot at without a chance +of hitting anybody in return. + +The hedges of the Organ Cactus are a feature in the landscape of the +plains, and we first saw them to perfection on the road between Mexico +and Pachuca. This plant, the Cereus hexagonus, grows in Italy in the +open air, but seems not to be turned to account anywhere except in +Mexico for the purpose to which it is particularly suited. In its wild +state it grows like a candelabrum, with a thick trunk a few feet high, +from the top of which it sends out shoots, which, as soon as they have +room, rise straight upwards in fluted pillars fifteen or twenty feet in +height. Such a plant, with pillars rising side by side and almost +touching one another, has a curious resemblance to an organ with its +pipes, and thence its name “órgano.” + +To make a fence, they break off the straight lateral shoots, of the +height required, and plant them closely side by side, in a trench, +sufficiently deep to ensure their standing firmly; and it is a curious +sight to see a labourer bearing on his shoulder one of these vegetable +pillars, as high as himself, and carefully guarding himself against its +spines. A hedge perfectly impassable is obtained at once; the cactus +rooting so readily, that it is rare to see a gap where one has died. +The villagers surround their gardens with these fences of cactus, which +often line the road for miles together. Foreigners used to point out +such villages to us, and remark that they seemed “well organized,” a +small joke which unfortunately bears translation into all ordinary +European languages, and was inflicted without mercy upon us as new +comers. + +We reached Pachuca early in the afternoon, and took up our quarters in +the inn there, and our friends went on to Real del Monte. + +This little town of Pachuca has long been a place of some importance in +the world, as regards mining-operations. The Aztecs worked silver-mines +here, as well as at Tasco, long before the Spaniards came, and they +knew how to smelt the ore. It is true that, if no better process than +smelting were known now, most of the mines would scarcely be worth +working; but still, to know how to extract silver at all was a great +step; and indeed at that time, and for long after the Conquest, there +was no better method known in Europe. It was in this very place that a +Spaniard, Medina by name, discovered the process of amalgamation with +mercury, in the year 1557, some forty years after the invasion. We went +to see the place where he first worked his new process, and found it +still used as a “hacienda de beneficio” (establishment for extracting +silver from the ore.) So few discoveries in the arts have come out of +Mexico, or indeed out of any Spanish colony, that we must make the most +of this really very important method, which is more extensively used +than any other, both in North and South America. As for the rest of the +world, it produces, comparatively, so little silver, that it is +scarcely worth taking into account. + +We had forgotten, when we went to bed, that we were nearly seven +hundred feet higher than Mexico; but had the fact brought to our +remembrance by waking in the middle of the night, feeling very cold, +and finding our thermometer marking 40 degrees Fahr.; whereupon we +covered ourselves with cloaks, and the cloaks with the strips of carpet +at our bedsides, and went to sleep again. + +We had hired, of the French landlord, two horses and a mozo to guide +us, and sorry hacks they were when we saw them in the morning. It was +delightful to get a little circulation into our veins by going at the +best gallop our horses would agree to; for we were fresh from hot +countries, and not at all prepared for having our hands and feet numbed +with cold, and being as hoarse as ravens—for the sore throat which is +the nuisance of the district, and is very severe upon new comers, had +not spared us. Evaporation is so rapid at this high altitude that if +you wet the back of your hand it dries almost instantly, leaving a +smart sensation of cold. One may easily suppose, that when people have +been accustomed to live under the ordinary pressure of the air, their +throats and lungs do not like being dried up at this rate; besides +their having, on account of the rarity of the air, to work harder in +breathing, in order to get in the necessary quantity of oxygen. + +Coughs seem very common here, especially among the children, though +people look strong and healthy, but in the absence of proper statistics +one cannot undertake to say whether the district is a healthy one or +not. + +For a wonder we have a good road, and this simply because the Real del +Monte Company wanted one, and made it for themselves. How unfortunate +all Spanish countries are in roads, one of the most important first +steps towards civilization! When one has travelled in Old Spain, one +can imagine that the colonists did not bring over very enlightened +ideas on the subject; and as the Mexicans were not allowed to hold +intercourse with any other country, it is easy to explain why Mexico is +all but impassable for carriages. But if the money—or half of it—that +has been spent in building and endowing churches and convents had been +devoted to road-making, this might have been a great and prosperous +country. + +For some three hours we rode along among porphyritic mountains, getting +higher at every turn, and enjoying the clear bright air. Now and then +we met or passed a long recua (train) of loaded mules, taking care to +keep the safe side of the road till we were rid of them. It is not +pleasant to meet a great drove of horned cattle in an Alpine pass, but +I really think a recua of loaded mules among the Andes is worse. A +knowing old beast goes first, and the rest come tumbling after him +anyhow, with their loads often projecting a foot or two on either side, +and banging against anybody or anything. Then, wherever the road is +particularly narrow, and there is a precipice of two or three hundred +feet to fall over, one or two of them will fall down, or get their +packs loose, and so block up the road, and there is a general scrimmage +of kicking and shoving behind, till the arrieros can get things +straight again. At last we reach the top of a ridge, and see the little +settlement of Real del Monte below us. It is more like a Cornish mining +village than anything else; but of course the engine-houses, chimneys, +and mine-sheds, built by Cornishmen in true Cornish fashion, go a long +way towards making up the resemblance. The village is built on the +awkwardest bit of ground possible, up and down on the side of a steep +ravine, one house apparently standing on the roof of another; and it +takes half a mile of real hard climbing to get from the bottom of the +town to the top. + +We put up our horses at a neat little inn kept by an old Englishwoman, +and walked or climbed up to the Company’s house. We made several new +acquaintances at the Real, though we left within a few hours, intending +to see the place thoroughly on our return. + +One peculiarity of the Casa Grande—the great house of the Company—was +the warlike appearance of everybody in it. The clerks were posting up +the ledgers with loaded revolvers on the desk before them; the +manager’s room was a small arsenal, and the gentlemen rode out for +exercise, morning and evening, armed to the teeth. Not that there is +anything to be apprehended from robbers—indeed I should like to see any +of the Mexican ladrones interfering with the Cornish miners, who would +soon teach them better manners. I am inclined to think there is a +positive pleasure in possessing and handling guns and pistols, whether +they are likely to be of any use or not. Indeed, while travelling +through the western and southern States of America, where such things +are very generally carried, I was the possessor of a five-barrelled +revolver, and admit that I derived an amount of mild satisfaction from +carrying it about, and shooting at a mark with it, that amply +compensated for the loss of two dollars I incurred by selling it to a +Jew at New Orleans. + +We rode on to Regla, soon finding that our guide had never been there +before; so, next morning, we kept the two horses and dismissed him with +ignominy. A fine road leads from the Real to Regla, for all the +silver-ore from the mines is conveyed there to have the silver +separated from it. My notes of our ride mention a great water-wheel: +sections of porphyritic rocks, with enormous masses of alluvial soil +lying upon them: steep ravines: arroyos, cut by mountain-streams, and +forests of pine-trees—a thoroughly Alpine district altogether. At Regla +it became evident that our letter of introduction was not a mere +complimentary affair. There is not even a village there; it is only a +great hacienda, belonging to the Company, with the huts of the workmen +built near it. The Company, represented by Mr. Bell, received us with +the greatest hospitality. Almost before the letter was opened our +horses and mozo were off to the stables, our room was ready, and our +dinner being prepared as fast as might be. What a pleasant evening we +had, after our long day’s work! We had a great wood-fire, and sat by +it, talking and looking at Mr. Bell’s photographs and minerals, which +serve as an amusement in his leisure-hours. The Company’s Administrador +leads rather a peculiar life here. There is no want of work or +responsibility; he has two or three hundred Indians to manage, almost +all of whom will steal and cheat without the slightest scruple, if they +can but get a chance; he has to assay the ores, superintend a variety +of processes which require the greatest skill and judgment, and he is +in charge of property to the value of several hundred thousand pounds. +Then a man must have a constitution of iron to live in a place where +the air is so rarefied, and where the temperature varies thirty and +forty degrees between morning and noon. As for society, he must find it +in his own family; for even the better class of Mexicans are on so +different a level, intellectually, from an educated Englishman, that +their society bores him utterly, and he had rather be left in solitude +than have to talk to them. Well, it is a great advantage to travellers +that circumstances fix pleasant people in such out-of-the-way places. + +One necessary part of a hacienda is a church. The proprietors are +compelled by law to build one, and pay the priest’s fees for mass on +Sundays and feast-days. Now, almost all the English one meets with +engaged in business, or managing mines and plantations, are Scotch, and +one may well suppose that there is not much love lost between them and +the priests. The father confessor plays an important part in the great +system of dishonesty that prevails to so monstrous an extent throughout +the country. He hears the particulars of the thefts and cheatings that +have been practised on the proprietor who builds his church and pays +for his services, and he complacently absolves his penitents in +consideration of a small penance. Not a word about restitution; and +just a formal injunction to go and sin no more, which neither priest +nor penitent is very sincere about. The various evils of the Roman +Catholic system have been reiterated till the subject has become +tiresome, but this particular practice is so contrary to the simplest +notions of morality, and has produced such fearful effects on the +character of this nation, that one cannot pass it by without notice. If +the Superintendent should roast the parish priest in front of the +oxidising furnace, till he confessed all he knew about the thefts of +his parishioners from the Company, he would tell strange stories,—how +Juan Fernandez carried off sixpennyworth of silver in each car every +day for a month; and how Pedro Alvarado (the Indian names have almost +disappeared except in a few families, and Spanish names have been +substituted) had a hammer with a hollow handle, like the stick that +Sancho Panza delivered his famous judgment about, and carried away +silver in it every day when he left work; and how Vasco Nuñez stole the +iron key from the gate (which cost two dollars to replace), walking +twenty miles and losing a day’s work in order to sell it, and +eventually getting but twopence for it; and plenty more stories of the +same kind. The Padre at Regla, we heard, was not given to preaching +sermons, but had lately favoured his congregation with a very striking +one, to the effect that the Company paid him only three dollars a time +for saying mass, and that he ought to have four. + +Almost every traveller who visits Mexico enlarges on the dishonesty +which is rooted in the character of the people. That they are worse now +in this respect than they were before the Conquest is highly probable. +Their position as a conquered and enslaved people, tended, as it always +does, to foster the slavish vices of dissimulation and dishonesty. The +religion brought into the country by the Spanish missionaries concerned +itself with their belief, and left their morals to shift for +themselves, as it does still. + +In the mining-districts stealing is universal. Public feeling among the +Indians does not condemn it in the least, quite the contrary. To steal +successfully is considered a triumph, and to be found out is no +disgrace. Theft is not even punishable. In old times a thief might be +put in the stocks; but Burkart, who was a mining-inspector for many +years, says that in his time, some twenty years ago, tins was +abolished, and I believe the law has not been altered since. It is a +miserable sight to see the Indian labourers searched as they come out +of the mines. They are almost naked, but rich ore packs in such a small +compass, and they are so ingenious in stowing it away, that the +doorkeepers examine their mouths and ears, and their hair, and +constantly find pieces that have been secreted, while a far greater +quantity escapes. It is this system of thieving that accounts for the +existence of certain little smelting-sheds, close to the works of the +Company, who look at them with such feelings as may be imagined. These +places profess to smelt ore from one or two little mines in the +neighbourhood, but their real object is no secret. They buy the stolen +bits of rich ore from the Indian labourers, giving exactly half the +value for it. + +Of course, we must not judge these Mexican labourers as though we had a +very high standard of honesty at home. That we should see workmen +searched habitually in England, at the doors of our national +dock-yards, is a much greater disgrace to us. And not merely a +disgrace, but a serious moral evil, for to expose an honest man to such +a degradation is to make him half a thief already. + +People who know the Indian population best assure us that their lives +are a perpetual course of intrigue and dissimulation. Always trying to +practise some small fraud upon their masters, and even upon their own +people, they are in constant fear that every one is trying to overreach +them. They are afraid to answer the simplest question, lest it should +be a trap laid to catch them. They ponder over every word and action of +their European employers, to find out what hidden intrigue lies +beneath, and to devise some counter-plot. Sartorius says that when he +has met an Indian and asked his name, the brown man always gave a false +one, lest the enquirer should want to do him some harm. + +Never did any people show more clearly the effects of ages of servitude +and oppression; but, hopeless as the moral condition of this mining +population seems, there is one favourable circumstance to be put on +record. The Cornish miners, who have been living among them for years, +have worked quite perceptibly upon the Indian character by the example +of their persevering industry, their love of saving, and their utter +contempt for thieves and liars. Instead of squandering their wages, or +burying them in the ground, many of the Indian miners take their +savings to the Banks; and the opinions of the foreigners are +gradually—though very slowly—altering the popular standard of honesty, +the first step towards the moral improvement of the Mexican population. + +In the morning we went off for an excursion, having got a lively young +fellow from the hacienda in exchange for our stupid mozo. There was +hoar frost on the ground, and the feeling of cold was intense at first; +but the sun began to warm the ground about eight o’clock, and we were +soon glad to fasten our great coats and shawls to our saddles. Three +leagues took us to the town of Atotonilco[9] el Grande, which gives its +name to the plateau we were crossing. Here we are no longer in the +valley of Mexico, which is separated from this plain by the mountains +of the Real del Monte. We rode on two leagues more to the village of +Soquital[10] where, it being Sunday, we found the inhabitants—mostly +Indians—amusing themselves by standing in the sun, doing nothing. I can +hardly say “doing nothing,” though, for we went into the tienda, or +shop, and found a brisk trade going on in raw spirits. _Tienda_, in +Spanish, means a tent or booth. The first shops were tents or booths at +fairs or in market-places; and thence “tienda” came to mean a shop in +general; a derivation which corresponds with that of the word “shop” +itself. Such of the population as had money seemed to drop in at +regular intervals for a dram, which consisted of a small wine-glassful +of white-corn-brandy, called _chinguerito_. We tasted some, while the +people at the shop were frying eggs and boiling beans for our +breakfast; and found it so strong that a small sip brought tears into +our eyes, to the amusement of the bystanders. It seemed that everybody +was drinking who could afford it; from the old men and women to the +babies in their mothers’ arms; everybody had a share, except those who +were hard up, and they stood about the door looking stolidly at the +drinkers. There was nothing like gaiety in the whole affair; only a +sort of satisfaction appeared in the face of each as he took his dose. +It is the drinkers of pulque who get furiously drunk, and fight; here +it is different. These drinkers of spirits are not much given to that +enormous excess that kills off the Red Indians; indeed, they are seldom +drunk enough to lose their wits, and they never have delirium tremens, +which would come upon a European, with much less provocation. They get +into a habit of daily—almost hourly—dram-drinking, and go on, year +after year, in this way; seeming, as far as we could judge, to live a +long while, such a life as it is. As we mounted our horses and rode on, +we agreed that we had seldom seen a more melancholy and depressing +sight. + + [9] Atotonilco, “Hot-water-place,” so called from the hot springs in + the neighbourhood. + + [10] Soquital, “Clay-place,” from the potter’s clay which abounds in + the district. Earthenware is the staple manufacture here. + +We met some arrieros, who had brought up salt from the coast; and they, +seeing that we were English, judged we had something to do with mines, +and proposed to sell us their goods. The price of salt here is actually +three-pence per lb., in a district where its consumption is immense, as +it is used in refining the silver ore. It must be said, however, that +this is an unusual price; for the muleteers have been so victimised by +their mules being seized, either by the government or the rebels (one +seems about as bad as the other in this respect), that they must have a +high price to pay them for the risk. Generally seven reals, or 3s. 6d. +per arroba of 25 lbs. is the price. This salt is evaporated in the +salinas of Campeche, taken by water to Tuzpan, and then brought up the +country on mules’ backs—each beast carrying 300 lbs. Of course, this +salt is very coarse and very watery; all salt made in this way is. It +suits the New Orleans people better to import salt from England, than +to make it in this way in the Gulf of Mexico, though the water there is +very salt, and the sun very hot. The fact, that it pays to carry salt +on mules’ backs, tells volumes about the state of the country. At the +lowest computation, the mules would do four or five times as much work +if they were set to draw any kind of cart—however rough—on a +carriageable road. It is true that there is some sort of road from here +to Tampico, but an English waggoner would not acknowledge it by that +name at all; and the muleteers are still in possession of most of the +traffic in this district, as indeed they are over almost all the +country. + +It was mid-day by this time; and, as we could not get to the Rio Grande +without taking our chance for the night in some Indian rancho, we +turned back. The heat had become so oppressive that we took off our +coats; and Mr. Christy, riding in his shirt-sleeves and holding a white +umbrella over his head, which he had further protected with a turban, +declared that even in the East he had not had so fatiguing a ride. We +passed through Soquital, and there the natives were idling and drinking +spirits as before, and seemed hardly to have moved since we left. This +plateau of Atotonilco el Grande, called for shortness Grande, is, like +most of the high plains of Mexico, composed mostly of porphyry and +obsidian, a valley filled up with débris from the surrounding +mountains, which are all volcanic, embedded in reddish earth. The +mountain-torrents—in which the water, so to speak, comes down all at +once, not flowing in a steady stream all the year round as in +England—have left evidences of their immense power in the ravines with +which the sides of the hills, from their very tops downward, are +fluted. + +These fluted mountain-ridges resemble the “Kamms” (combs) of the Swiss +Alps, called so from their toothed appearance. + +We had met numbers of Indians, bringing their wares to the Sunday +market in the great square of Atotonilco el Grande; and when we reached +the town on our way home, business was still going on briskly; so we +put up our horses, and spent an hour or two in studying the people and +the commodities they dealt in. It was a real old-fashioned Indian +market, very much such as the Spaniards found when they first +penetrated into the country. A large proportion of the people could +speak no Spanish, or only a few words. The unglazed pottery, palm-leaf +mats, ropes and bags of aloe-fibre, dressed skins, &c., were just the +same wares that were made three centuries ago; and there is no +improvement in their manufacture. This people, who rose in three +centuries from the condition of wandering savages to a height of +civilization that has no equal in history—considering the shortness of +the time in which it grew up—have remained, since the Conquest, without +making one step in advance. They hardly understand any reason for what +they do, except that their ancestors did things so—they therefore must +be right. They make their unglazed pottery, and carry it five and +twenty miles to market on their heads, just as they used to do when +there were no beasts of burden in the country. The same with their +fruits and vegetables, which they have brought great distances, up the +most difficult mountain-paths, at a ruinous sacrifice of time and +trouble, considering what a miserable sum they will get for them after +all, and how much even of this will be spent in brandy. By working on a +hacienda they would get double what their labour produces in this way, +but they do not understand this kind of reasoning. They cultivate their +little patches of maize, by putting a sharp stick into the ground, and +dropping the seed into the hole. They carry pots of water to irrigate +their ground with, instead of digging trenches. This is the more +curious, as at the time of the Conquest irrigation was much practised +by the Aztecs in the plains, and remains of water-canals still exist, +showing that they had carried the art to great perfection. They bring +logs of wood over the mountains by harnessing horses or mules to them, +and dragging them with immense labour over the rough ground. The idea +of wheels or rollers has either not occurred to them, or is considered +as a pernicious novelty. + +It is very striking to see how, while Europeans are bringing the newest +machinery and the most advanced arts into the country, there is +scarcely any symptom of improvement among the people, who still hold +firmly to the wisdom of their ancestors. An American author, Mayer, +quotes a story of a certain people in Italy, as an illustration of the +feeling of the Indians in Mexico respecting improvements. In this +district, he says that the peasants loaded their panniers with +vegetables on one side, and balanced the opposite pannier by filling it +with stones; and when a traveller pointed out the advantage to be +gained by loading both panniers with vegetables, he was answered that +their forefathers from time immemorial had so carried their produce to +market, that they were wise and good men, and that a stranger showed +very little understanding or decency who interfered in the established +customs of a country. I need hardly say that the Indians are utterly +ignorant; and this of course accounts to a great extent for their +obstinate conservatism. + +There were several shops round the market-place at Grande, and the +brandy-drinking was going on much as at Soquital. The shops in these +small towns are general stores, like “the shop” in coal- and +iron-districts in England. It is only in large towns that the different +retail-trades are separated. One thing is very noticeable in these +country stores, the certainty of finding a great stock of sardines in +bright tin boxes. The idea of finding _Sardines à l’huile_ in Indian +villages seemed odd enough; but the fact is, that the difficulty of +getting fish up from the coast is so great that these sardines are not +much dearer than anything else, and they go a long way. Montezuma’s +method of supplying his table with fresh fish from the gulf, by having +relays of Indian porters to run up with it, is too expensive for +general use, and there is no efficient substitute. It is in consequence +of this scarcity of fish, that Church-fasts have never been very +strictly kept in Mexico. + +[Illustration: HIEROGLYPHICS.] + +The method of keeping accounts in the shops—which, it is to be +remembered, are almost always kept by white or half-white people, +hardly ever by Indians—is primitive enough. Here is a score which I +copied, the hieroglyphics standing for dollars, half-dollars, medios or +half-reals, cuartillos or quarter-reals, and tlacos—or clacos—which are +eighths of a real, or about ¾d. While account-keeping among the +comparatively educated trades-people is in this condition, one can +easily understand how very limited the Indian notions of calculation +are. They cannot realize any number much over ten; and +twenty—cempoalli—is with them the symbol of a great number, as a +hundred was with the Greeks. There is in Mexico a mountain called in +this indefinite way “Cempoatepetl”—the twenty-mountain. Sartorius +mentions the Indian name of the many-petaled +marigold—“cempoaxochitl”—the twenty-flower. We traded for some trifles +of aloe-fibre, but soon had to count up the reckoning with beans. + +I have delayed long enough for the present over the Indians and their +market; so, though there is much more to be said about them, I will +only add a few words respecting the commodities for sale, and then +leave them for awhile. + +There seemed to be a large business doing in costales (bags) made of +aloe-fibre, for carrying ore about in the mines. True to the traditions +of his ancestors, the Indian much prefers putting his load in a bag on +his back, to the far easier method of wheeling it about. Lazos sold at +one to four reals, (6d. to 2s.) according to quality. There are two +kinds of aloe-fibre; one coarse, _ichtli_, the other much finer, +_pito_; the first made from the great aloe that produces pulque, the +other from a much smaller species of the same genus. The stones with +which the boiled maize is ground into the paste of which the universal +tortillas are made were to be had here; indeed, they are made in the +neighbourhood, of the basalt and lava which abound in the district. The +metate is a sort of little table, hewn out of the basalt, with four +little feet, and its surface is curved from the ends to the middle. The +metalpile is of the same material, and like a rolling-pin. The +old-fashioned Mexican pottery I have mentioned already. It is +beautifully made, and very cheap. They only asked us nine-pence for a +great olla, or boiling-pot, that held four or five gallons, and no +doubt this was double the market-price. I never so thoroughly realized +before how climate is altered by altitude above the sea as in noticing +the fruits and vegetables that were being sold at this little market, +within fifteen or twenty miles of which they were all grown. There were +wheat and barley, and the piñones (the fruit of the stone-pine, which +grows in Italy, and is largely used instead of almonds); and from these +representatives of temperate climates the list extended to bananas and +zapotes, grown at the bottom of the great barrancas, 3,000 or 4,000 +feet lower in level than the plateau, though in distance but a few +miles off. Three or four thousand miles of latitude would not give a +greater difference. + +It would never do to be late, and break our necks in one of the awkward +water-courses that cut the plateau about in all directions; so we +started homewards, soon having to unfasten great-coats and shawls from +our saddles, to keep out the cold of the approaching sunset; and so we +got back to the hospitable hacienda, and were glad to warm ourselves at +the fire. + +Next morning, we went off to get a view of the great barranca of Regla. +A ride over the hills brought us to a wood of oaks, with their branches +fringed with the long grey Spanish moss, and a profusion of epiphytes +clinging to their bark, some splendidly in flower, showing the +fantastic shapes and brilliant colours one sees in English +orchid-houses. Cactuses of many species complete the picture of the +vegetation in this beautiful spot. This is at the top of the barranca. +Then imagine a valley a mile or two in width, with sides almost +perpendicular and capped with basaltic pillars, and at the bottom a +strip of land where the vegetation is of the deepest green of the +tropics, with a river winding along among palm-trees and bananas. This +great barranca is between two and three thousand feet deep, and the +view is wonderful. We went down a considerable way by a zig-zag road, +my companion collecting armfuls of plants by the way, but unfortunately +losing his thermometer, which could not be found, though a long hunt +for it produced a great many more plants, and so the trouble was not +wasted. The prickly pear was covered with ripe purple fruit a little +way down, and we refreshed ourselves with them, I managing—in my +clumsiness—to get into my fingers two or three of the little sheaves of +needles which are planted on the outside of the fruit, and thus +providing myself with occupation for leisure moments for three or four +days after in taking them out. + +Many species of cactus, and the nopal, or prickly pear, especially, are +full of watery sap, which trickles out in a stream when they are +pierced. In these thirsty regions, when springs and brooks are dry, the +cattle bite them to get at the moisture, regardless of the thorns. On +the north coast of Africa the camels delight in crunching the juicy +leaves of the same plant. I have often been amused in watching the +camel-drivers’ efforts to get their trains of laden beasts along the +narrow sandy lanes of Tangier, between hedges of prickly pears, where +the camels with their long necks could reach the tempting lobes on both +sides of the way. + +In this thirsty season, while the cattle in the Mexican plains derive +moisture from the cactus, the aloe provides for man a substitute for +water. It frequently happened to us to go from rancho to rancho asking +for water in vain, though pulque was to be had in abundance. + +To attempt any description of the varied forms of cactus in Mexico +would be out of the question. In the northern provinces alone, +botanists have described above eight hundred species. The most striking +we met with were the prickly pear (cactus opuntia), the órgano, the +night-blowing cereus, the various mamillarias—dome-shaped mounds +covered with thorns, varying in diameter from an inch to six or eight +feet—and the greybeard, _el viejo_, “the old man,” as our guide called +them, upright pillars like street-posts, and covered with grey +wool-like filaments. + +Getting to the top of the ravine again, we found an old Indian milking +an aloe, which flourishes here, though a little further down the +climate is too hot for it to produce pulque. This old gentleman had a +long gourd, of the shape and size of a great club, but hollow inside, +and very light. The small end of this gourd was pushed in among the +aloe-leaves into the hollow made by scooping out the inside of the +plant, and in which the sweet juice, the aguamiel, collects. By having +a little hole at each end of the gourd, and sucking at the large end, +the hollow of the plant emptied itself into the Acocote, (in proper +Mexican, _Acocotl_, Water-throat), as this queer implement is called. +Then the Indian stopped the hole at the end he had been sucking at, +with his finger, and dexterously emptied the contents of the gourd into +a pig-skin which he carried at his back. We went up with the old man to +his rancho, and tested his pulque, which was very good, though we could +not say the same of his domestic arrangements. It puzzled us not a +little to see people living up at this height in houses built of +sticks, such as are used in the hot lands, and hardly affording any +protection from the weather, severe as it is here. The pulque is taken +to market in pig-skins, which, though the pig himself is taken out of +them, still retain his shape very accurately; and when nearly full of +liquor, they roll about on their backs, and kick up the little dumpy +legs that are left them, in the most comical and life-like way. When we +went away we bought the old man’s acocote, and carried it home in +triumph, and is it not in the Museum at Kew Gardens to this day? _(See +the illustration at page 36.)_ + +At the hacienda of Regla are to be seen on a large scale most of the +processes which are employed in the extraction of silver from the +ore—the _beneficio_, or making good, as it is called. + +In the great yard, numbers of men and horses were walking round and +round upon the “tortas,” tarts or pies, as they are called, consisting +of powdered ore mixed with water, so as to form a circular bed of mud a +foot deep. To this mud, sulphate of copper, salt, and quicksilver are +added, and the men and mules walk round and round in it, mixing it +thoroughly together, a process which is kept up, with occasional +intervals of rest, for nearly two months. By that time the whole of the +silver has formed an amalgam with the mercury, and this amalgam is +afterwards separated from the earth by being trampled under water in +troughs. We were surprised to find that men and horses could pass their +lives in wading through mud containing mercury in a state of fine +division without absorbing it into their bodies, but neither men nor +horses suffer from it. + +We happened to visit the melting-house one evening, while silver and +lead were being separated by oxidizing the lead in a reverberatory +furnace. Here we noticed a curious effect. The melted litharge ran from +the mouth of the furnace upon a floor of damp sand, and spread over it +in a sheet. Presently, as the heat of the mass vaporized the water in +the sand below, the sheet of litharge, still slightly fluid, began to +heave and swell, and a number of small cones rose from its surface. +Some of these cones reached the height of four inches, and then burst +at the top, sending out a shower of red-hot fragments. I removed one of +these cones when the litharge was cool. It had a regidar funnel-shaped +crater, like that which Vesuvius had until three or four years ago. + +The analogy is complete between these little cones and those on the +lava-field at the foot of the volcano of Jorullo, the celebrated +“hornitos;” the concentric structure of which, as described by Burkart, +proves that they were formed in precisely the same manner. Until +lately, the formation of the great cone of Jorullo was attributed to +the same kind of action as the hornitos, but later travellers have +established the fact that this is incorrect. One of the De Saussure +family, who was in Mexico a few years back, describes Jorullo as +consisting of three terraces of basaltic lava, which have flowed one +above another from a central orifice, the whole being surmounted by a +cone of lapilli thrown up from the same opening, from which also later +streams of lava have issued. + +The celebrated cascade of Regla is just behind the hacienda. There is a +sort of basin, enclosed on three sides by a perpendicular wall of +basaltic columns, some eighty feet high. On the side opposite the +opening, a mountain stream has cut a deep notch in this wall, and pours +down in a cascade. The basaltic pillars rest upon an undisturbed layer +of basaltic conglomerate five feet thick, and that upon a bed of clay. +The place is very picturesque; and two great Yuccas which project over +the waterfall, crowned with their star-like tufts of pointed leaves, +have a strange effect. These basalt-columns are very regular, with from +five to eight sides; and are almost black in colour. They have a +curiously well-defined circular core in the middle, five or six inches +in diameter. This core is light grey, almost white. The Indians bring +down numbers of short lengths or joints of the columns, and they are +used at the hacienda in making a primitive kind of ore-crushing mill, +in which they are dragged round and round by mule-power, on a floor +also of basalt. + +When we had visited the falls we took leave of our hospitable friend, +and set off to return to the Real. We stopped at San Miguel, another of +the haciendas of the Company, where the German barrel-process is +worked. Just behind the hacienda is the Ojo de Agua—the Eye of Water—a +beautiful basin, surrounded by a green sward and a wood of oaks and +fir-trees. A little stream takes its rise from the spring which bubbles +up into this basin, and the name “Ojo de Agua,” is a general term +applied to such fountain-heads. When one looks down from a high hill +upon one of these Eyes of Water, one sees how the name came to be +given, and indeed, the idiom is thousands of years older than the +Spanish tongue, and belongs as well to the Hebrew and Arabic. A Mexican +calls a lake _atezcatl_, Water-Mirror, an expressive word, which +reminds one of the German _Wasserspiegel_. + +Soon after nightfall we got back to the English inn, and went to bed +without any further event happening, except the burning of some +outhouses, which we went out to see. The custom of roofing houses with +pine-shingles (“tacumeniles”), and the general use of wood for building +all the best houses, make fires very common here. During the few days +we spent in the Real district, I find in my notebook mention of three +fires which we saw. We spent the next day in resting, and in visiting +the mine-works near at hand. The day after, an Englishman who had lived +many years at the Real offered to take us out for a day’s ride; and the +Company’s Administrador lent us two of his own horses, for the poor +beasts from Pachuca could hardly have gone so far. The first place we +visited was Peñas Cargadas, the “loaded rocks.” Riding through a thick +wood of oaks and pines, we came suddenly in view of several sugar-loaf +peaks, some three hundred feet high, tapering almost to a point at the +top, and each one crowned with a mass of rocks which seem to have been +balanced in unstable equilibrium on its point,—looking as though the +first puff of wind would bring them down. The pillars were of +porphyritic conglomerate, which had been disintegrated and worn away by +wind and rain; while the great masses resting on them, probably of +solid porphyry, had been less affected by these influences. It was the +most curious example of the weathering of rocks that we had ever seen. +From Peñas Cargadas we rode on to the farm of Guajalote, where the +Company has forests, and cuts wood and burns charcoal for the mines and +the refining works. Don Alejandro, the tenant of the farm, was a +Scotchman, and a good fellow. He could not go on with us, for he had +invited a party of neighbours to eat up a kid that had been cooked in a +hole in the ground, with embers upon it, after Sandwich Island fashion. +This is called a _barbacoa_—a barbecue. We should have liked to be at +the feast, but time was short, so we rode on to the top of Mount Jacal, +12,000 feet above the sea, where there was a view of mountains and +valleys, and heat that was positively melting. Thence down to the Cerro +de Navajas, the “hill of knives.” It is on the sides of this hill that +obsidian is found in enormous quantities. Before the conquerors +introduced the use of iron, these deposits were regularly mined, and +this place was the Sheffield of Mexico. + +We were curious to see all that was to be seen; for Mr. Christy’s +Mexican collection, already large before our visit, and destined to +become much larger, contained numbers of implements and weapons of this +very peculiar material. Any one who does not know obsidian may imagine +great masses of bottle-glass, such as our orthodox ugly wine-bottles +are made of, very hard, very brittle, and—if one breaks it with any +ordinary implement—going, as glass does, in every direction but the +right one. We saw its resemblance to this portwine-bottle-glass in an +odd way at the Ojo de Agua, where the wall of the hacienda was armed at +the top, after our English fashion, apparently with bits of old +bottles, but which turned out to be chips of obsidian. Out of this +rather unpromising stuff the Mexicans made knives, razors, arrow- and +spear-heads, and +other things, some of great beauty. I say nothing of the polished +obsidian mirrors and ornaments, nor even of the curious masks of the +human face that are to be seen in collections, for these were only +laboriously cut and polished with jewellers’ sand, to us a common-place +process. + +[Illustration: STONE SPEAR-HEADS AND OBSIDIAN KNIVES AND ARROW-HEADS, +FROM MEXICO.] + +1. Flame shaped Arrow-head; obsidian: Teleohuacán. 2. Arrow-head; opake +obsidian: Teleohuacán. 3. Knife or Razor of Obsidian; shown in two +aspects; Mexico. 4. Leaf-shaped Knife or Javelin-head; obsidian: from +Real Del Monte. 5. Spear-head of Chalcedony; one of a pair supposed to +be spears of State: found in excavating for the Casa Grande, Tezcuco. +(This peculiar opalescent chalcedony occurs as concretions, sometimes +of large size, in the trachytic lavas of Mexico.) + + +Cortes found the barbers at the great market of Tlatelolco busy shaving +the natives with such razors, and he and his men had experience of +other uses of the same material in the flights of obsidian-headed +arrows which “darkened the sky,” as they said, and the more deadly +wooden maces stuck all over with obsidian points, and of the priests’ +sacrificial knives too, not long after. These things were not cut and +polished, but made by chipping or cracking off pieces from a lump. This +one can see by the traces of conchoidal fracture which they all show. + +The art is not wholly understood, for it perished soon after the +Conquest, when iron came in; but, as far as the theory is concerned, I +think I can give a tolerably satisfactory account of the process of +manufacture. In the first place, the workman who makes gun-flints could +probably make some of the simpler obsidian implements, which were no +doubt chipped off in the same way. The section of a gun-flint, with its +one side flat for sharpness and the other side ribbed for strength, is +one of the characteristics of obsidian knives. That the flint knives of +Scandinavia were made by chipping off strips from a mass is proved by +the many-sided prisms occasionally found there, and particularly by +that one which was discovered just where it had been worked, with the +knives chipped off it lying close by, and fitting accurately into their +places upon it. + +Now to make the case complete, we ought to find such prisms in Mexico; +and, accordingly, some months ago, when I examined the splendid Mexican +collection of Mr. Uhde at Heidelberg, I found one or two. No one seemed +to have suspected their real nature, and they had been classed as +maces, or the handles of some kind of weapon. + +[Illustration: Fluted Prism of Obsidian: the core from which flakes +have been struck off] + +I should say from memory that they were seven or eight inches long, and +as large as one could conveniently grasp; and one or both of them, as +if to remove all doubt as to what they were, had the stripping off of +ribbons not carried quite round them, but leaving an intermediate strip +rough. There is another point about the obsidian knives which requires +confirmation. One can often see, on the ends of the Scandinavian flint +knives, the bruise made by the blow of the hard stone with which they +were knocked off. I did not think of looking to this point when at Mr. +Uhde’s museum, but the only obsidian knife I have seen since seems to +be thus bruised at the end. + +[Illustration: Aztec Knives or Razors. Long narrow Flakes of +Obsidian, having a single face on one side and three facets on the +other.] + +Once able to break his obsidian straight, the workman has got on a long +way in his trade, for a large proportion of the articles he has to make +are formed by planes intersecting one another in various directions. +But the Mexican knives are generally not pointed, but turned up at the +end, as one may bend up a druggist’s spatula. This peculiar shape is +not given to answer a purpose, but results from the natural fracture of +the stone. + +Even then, the way of making several implements or weapons is not +entirely clear. We got several obsidian maces or lance-heads—one about +ten inches long—which were taper from base to point, and covered with +taper flutings; and there are other things which present great +difficulties. I have heard on good authority, that somewhere in Peru, +the Indians still have a way of working obsidian by laying a bone wedge +on the surface of a piece, and tapping it till the stone cracks. Such a +process may have been used in Mexico. + +We may see in museums beautiful little articles made in this +intractable material, such as the mirrors and masks I have mentioned, +and even rings and cups. But, as I have said, these are mere +lapidaries’ work. + +The situation of the mines was picturesque; grand hills of porphyritic +rock, and pine-forest everywhere. Not far off is the broad track of a +hurricane, which had walked through it for miles, knocking the great +trees down like ninepins, and leaving them to rot there. The vegetation +gave evident proof of a severe climate; and yet the heat and glare of +the sun were more intolerable than we had ever felt it in the region of +sugar-canes and bananas. About here, some of the trachytic porphyry +which forms the substance of the hills had happened to have cooled, +under suitable conditions, from the molten state into a sort of slag or +volcanic glass, which is the obsidian in question; and, in places, this +vitreous lava—from one layer having flowed over another which was +already cool—was regularly stratified. + +The mines were mere wells, not very deep; with horizontal workings into +the obsidian where it was very good and in thick layers. Round about +were heaps of fragments, hundreds of tons of them; and it was clear, +from the shape of these, that some of the manufacturing was done on the +spot. There had been great numbers of pits worked; and it was from +these “minillas,” little mines, as they are called, that we first got +an idea how important an element this obsidian was in the old Aztec +civilization. In excursions made since, we travelled over whole +districts in the plains, where fragments of these arrows and knives +were to be found, literally at every step, mixed with morsels of +pottery, and here and there a little clay idol. Among the heaps of +fragments were many that had become weathered on the upper side, and +had a remarkable lustre, like silver. Obsidian is called _bizcli_ by +the Indians, and the silvery sort is known as _bizcli platera_.[11] +They often find bits of it in the fields; and go with great secrecy and +mystery to Mr. Bell, or some other authority in mining matters, and +confide to him their discovery of a silver-mine. They go away angry and +unconvinced when told what their silver really is; and generally come +to the conclusion that he is deceiving them, with a view of throwing +them off the scent, that he may find the place for himself, and cheat +them of their share of the profits—just what their own miserable morbid +cunning would lead them to do under such circumstances. + + [11] The book-name for obsidian is _itztli_, a word which seems to + mean originally “sharp thing, knife,” and thence to have been applied + to the material knives are made of. Obsidian was also called + _itztetl_, knife-stone. But no Indian to whom I spoke on the subject + would ever acknowledge the existence of such a word as _itztli_ for + obsidian, but insisted that it was called _bizcli_, which is + apparently the corrupt modern pronunciation of another old name for + the same mineral, _petztli_, shiny-stone. + +[Illustration: Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian.] + +The family-likeness that exists among the stone tools and weapons found +in so many parts of the world is very remarkable. The flint-arrows of +North America, such as Mr. Longfellow’s arrow-maker used to work at in +the land of the Dacotahs, and which, in the wild northern states of +Mexico, the Apaches and Comanches use to this day, might be easily +mistaken for the weapons of our British ancestors, dug up on the banks +of the Thames. It is true that the finish of the Mexican obsidian +implements far exceeds that of the chipped flint and agate weapons of +Scandinavia, and still more those of England, Switzerland, and Italy, +where they are dug up in such quantities, in deposits of alluvial soil, +and in bone-caves in the limestone rocks. But this higher finish we may +attribute partly to the superiority of the material; for the Mexicans +also used flint to some extent, and their flint weapons are as hard to +distinguish by inspection as those from other parts of the world. We +may reasonably suppose, moreover, that the skill of the Mexican +artificer increased when he found a better material than flint to work +upon. Be this as it may, an inspection of any good collection of such +articles shows the much higher finish of the obsidian implements than +of those of flint, agate, and rock-crystal. They say there is an +ingenious artist who makes flint arrow-heads and stone axes for the +benefit of English antiquarians, and earns good profits by it: I should +like to give him an order for ribbed obsidian razors and spear-heads; I +don’t think he would make much of them. + +[Illustration: Aztec Knife of Chalcedony, mounted on a wooden handle, +which is shaped like a human figure with its face appearing through an +eagle-head mask, and has been inlaid with mosaic work of malachite, +shell, and turquoise. Length 12½ inches.[12]] + + [12] The unique Knife figured at page 101 and two masks incrusted with + a similar mosaic work (of turquoise and obsidian) are in Mr. Christy’s + collection; and a mask and head of similar workmanship are in the + collection at Copenhagen. These are the only known examples of this + advanced style of Aztec art. + The whole once belonged probably to one set, brought to Europe soon + after the Conquest of Mexico. The two at Copenhagen were obtained + at a convent in Rome; and, of the other three, two were for a long + period in a collection at Florence, and the other was obtained at + Bruges, where it was most probably brought by the Spaniards during + their rule in the Low Countries. + +The wonderful similarity of character among the stone weapons found in +different parts of the world has often been used by ethnologists as a +means of supporting the theory that this and other arts were carried +over the world by tribes migrating from one common centre of creation +of the human species. The argument has not much weight, and a larger +view of the subject quite supersedes it. + +We may put the question in this way. In Asia and in Europe the use of +stone tools and weapons has always characterized a very low state of +civilization; and such implements are only found among savage tribes +living by the chase, or just beginning to cultivate the ground and to +emerge from the condition of mere barbarians. Now, if the Mexicans got +their civilization from Europe, it must have been from some people +unacquainted with the use of iron, if not of bronze. Iron abounds in +Mexico, not only in the state of ore, but occurring nearly pure in +aerolites of great size, as at Cholula, and at Zacatecas, not far from +the great ruins there; so that the only reason for their not using it +must have been ignorance of its qualities. + +The Arabian Nights’ story of the mountain which consisted of a single +loadstone finds its literal fulfilment in Mexico. Not far from Huetamo, +on the road towards the Pacific, there is a conical hill composed +entirely of magnetic iron-ore. The blacksmiths in the neighbourhood, +with no other apparatus than their common forges, make it directly into +wrought iron, which they use for all ordinary purposes. + +Now, in supposing civilization to be transmitted from one country to +another, we must measure it by the height of its lowest point, as we +measure the strength of a chain by the strength of the weakest link. +The only civilization that the Mexicans can have received from the Old +World must have been from some people whose cutting implements were of +sharp stone, consequently, as we must conclude by analogy, some very +barbarous and ignorant tribe. + +From this point we must admit that the inhabitants of Mexico raised +themselves, independently, to the extraordinary degree of culture which +distinguished them when Europeans first became aware of their +existence. The curious distribution of their knowledge shows plainly +that they found it for themselves, and did not receive it by +transmission. We find a wonderful acquaintance with astronomy, even to +such details as the real cause of eclipses,—and the length of the year +given by intercalations of surprising accuracy; and, at the same time, +no knowledge whatever of the art of writing alphabetically, for their +hieroglyphics are nothing but suggestive pictures. They had carried the +art of gardening to a high degree of perfection; but, though there were +two kinds of ox, and the buffalo at no great distance from them, in the +countries they had already passed through in their migration from the +north, they had no idea of the employment of beasts of burden, nor of +the use of milk. They were a great trading people, and had money of +several kinds in general use, but the art of weighing was utterly +unknown to them; while, on the other hand, the Peruvians habitually +used scales and weights, but had no idea of the use of money. + +To return to the stone knives; the Mexicans may very well have invented +the art themselves, as they did so many others; or they may have +received it from the Old World. The things themselves prove nothing +either way. + +The real proof of their having, at some early period, communicated with +inhabitants of Europe or Asia rests upon the traditions current among +them, which are recorded by the early historians, and confirmed by the +Aztec picture-writings; and upon several extraordinary coincidences in +the signs used by them in reckoning astronomical cycles. Further on I +shall allude to these traditions. + +On the whole, the most probable view of the origin of the Mexican +tribes seems to be the one ordinarily held, that they really came from +the Old World, bringing with them several legends, evidently the same +as the histories recorded in the book of Genesis. This must have been, +however, at a time, when they were quite a barbarous, nomadic tribe; +and we must regard their civilization as of independent and far later +growth. + +We rode back through the woods to Guajalote, where the Mexican cook had +made us a feast after the manner of the country, and from her +experience of foreigners had learnt to temper the chile to our +susceptible throats. Decidedly the Mexicans are not without ideas in +the matter of cookery. We stayed talking with the hospitable Don +Alejandro and his sister till it was all but dark, and then rode back +to the Real, admiring the fire-flies that were darting about by +thousands, and listening to our companion’s stories, which turned on +robberies and murders—-as stories are apt to do in wild places after +dark. But, save an escape from being robbed some twenty years back, and +the history of an Indian who was murdered just here by some of his own +people, for a few shillings he was taking home, our friend had not much +reason to give for the two huge horse-pistols he carried, ready for +action. His story of the death of a German engineer in these parts is +worth recording here. He was riding home one dark night, with a +companion; and, trusting to his knowledge of the country, tried a short +cut through the woods, among the old open mines near the Regla road. +They had quite passed all the dangerous places, he thought, so he gave +his horse the spur, and plunged sheer down a shaft, hundreds of feet +deep. His friend pulled up in time, and got home safely. + +We had one more day among the mines, and then went back to Pachuca, and +next day to Mexico in the Diligence. Everywhere the same hospitality +and good-natured interest in us and our doings, often shown by people +with whom we had hardly the slightest acquaintance. Travelling here is +very different from what it is in a country on which the shadow of +Murray’s Handbook has fallen. + +Almost all the interest Europe takes in Mexico, politically and +commercially, turns upon the exportation of silver. The gold, +cochineal, and vanilla are of small account. It is the silver dollars +that pay for the Manchester goods, woollens, hardware, and many other +things—those ubiquitous boxes of sardines à l’huile, for instance. The +Mexicans send to Europe some five millions sterling in silver every +year, that is, about twelve shillings apiece for all the population. It +is just about what their government spends annually in promoting the +maladministration of the country (and, looking at the matter in that +point of view, they don’t do their work badly for the money). The +income of the Mexican church is not quite so much, but not far off. + +Baron Humboldt has expressed a hope that, at some future day, the +Mexicans will turn their attention to producing articles of real +intrinsic value, and not those which are merely a sign to represent it. +He tells us, quite feelingly, how the Peace of Amiens stopped the +working of the iron-mines that had been opened when they could get no +iron from abroad; for, when trade was reopened, people preferred buying +in Europe probably a better article at one-third the price. He even +hopes an enlightened government will encourage (that is, protect) more +useful industries. This was written fifty years ago, though. If an +enlightened government will give people some security for life and +property, and make reasonable laws, and execute them,—leaving men of +business to find out for themselves how it suits them to employ their +capital, it seems probable that the balance between articles of real +value and articles of imaginary value will adjust itself, perhaps +better than an enlightened government could do it. The Mexican +government has, unfortunately, followed Humboldt’s advice in some +respects. Cotton goods, woollens, and hardware are thus protected. We +may sum up the statistics of the Mexican cotton-manufacture in a rough +way thus,—taking merely into question the coarse cotton cloth called +_manta_, and used principally by the Indians. We may reckon roughly +that for this article alone the Mexicans have to pay a million sterling +annually more than they could get it for if there were no +protection-duty. The only advantage anybody gets by this is that a +certain part of the population is employed in a manufacture unsuited to +the country, and is thus taken away from work that may be done +profitably. The actual amount of money paid in wages to the class of +operatives thus forced into existence is much _less_ than the amount +which the country forfeits for the sake of making its manta at home. +Thus a sum actually amounting to a third of the annual taxation of the +country is thrown away upon this one article; and more goes the same +way, to encourage similar unprofitable manufactures. + +With respect to the silver-mines, it is stated, on competent authority, +that the northern States of Mexico are very rich in silver; but there +is scarcely any population, and that consisting mostly of Red Indians +who will not work. When this district becomes a territory of the United +States—as seems almost certain, this silver will, no doubt, be worked. +We may make three periods in the history of Mexican silver-mining. +Before the Conquest, the Aztecs worked the silver-ore at Tasco and +other places; and were very familiar with silver, though they did not +value it much. Under the Spaniards, the working of silver became the +prominent industry of the country; and, until the Mexican Independence, +the production steadily increased. The Spaniards invented amalgamation +by the _patio_-process, a most, important improvement. Then came above +twenty years of confusion, when little was done. But when the Republic +had fairly got under way, and the country was in some measure open to +foreigners, Europe, especially England, in hot haste to take advantage +of the opportunity, sent over engineers and machinery, and great sums +of money, much of which was quite wasted, to the hopeless ruin of a +great part of the adventurers. + +The improvements and the machinery remained, however; and the mines +passed into other hands. Of late years the companies have been doing +very well, and now export nearly as much silver as during the latter +years of the Spanish government—nearly, but not quite. The financial +history of the Real del Monte Company is worth putting down. The +original English company spent nearly one million sterling on it, +without getting any dividend. They sold it to two or three Mexicans for +about twenty-seven thousand pounds, and the Mexicans spent eighty +thousand more on it, and then began to make profits. The annual profit +is now some £200,000. + +I have said that the modern Mexican Indian has but little idea of +arithmetic. This was not the case with his ancestors, who had a curious +notation, serving for the highest numbers. The Indians of the present +day use the old Aztec numerals, and from these there is something to be +learnt. + +Baron Humboldt, speaking of the Muysca Indians of South America, says +that their word for eleven is _quihicha ata_, that is, “foot one;” +meaning that they have counted all their fingers, and are beginning +their toes. He proceeds to compare the Persian words, _pentcha_, hand, +and _pendj_, five, as being connected with one another, and gives +various other curious instances of finger-numeration. We may carry the +theory further. The Zulu language reckons from one up to five, and then +goes on with _tatisitupe_ (“take the thumb”), meaning _six_; +_tatukomba_ (“take the pointer,” or forefinger), meaning _seven_, and +so on. The Vei language counts from one up to nineteen, and for twenty +says _mo bande_—“a person is finished”—that is, both fingers and toes. +I venture to add another suggestion. Eichhoff gives a Sanskrit word for +finger, “daiçini” (taken apparently from _pra-deçinî_, forefinger), and +which corresponds curiously with “daçan,” ten; and we have the same +resemblance running through many of the Indo-European languages, as +δεκα and δακτυλος, _decem_ and _digitus_; German, _Zehn_ and _Zehe_, +and so on. + +Here the Mexican numerals will afford us a new illustration. Of the +meaning of the first four of them—_çe, ome, yei, nahui_—I can give no +idea, any more than I can of the meaning of the words one, two, three, +four, which correspond to them; but the Mexican for _five_ is +_macuilli_, “hand-depicting.” Then we go on in the dark as far as +_ten_, which is _matlactli_, “hand-half,” as I think it means, (from +_tlactli_, half); and this would mean, not the halving of a hand, but +the half of the whole person, which you get by counting his hands only. +The syllable _ma_, which means “hand,” makes its appearance in the +words five and ten, and no where else; just as it should do. When we +come to twenty, we have _cempoalli_, “one counting;” that is, one whole +man, fingers and toes—corresponding to the Vei word for twenty, “a +person is finished.” + +I think we need no more examples to show that people—in almost all +countries—reckon by fives, tens, or twenties, merely because they began +to count upon their fingers and toes. If the strong man who had six +fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, had invented a system +of numeration, it would have gone in twelves, nearly like the +duodecimals which our carpenters use; unless, indeed, he had been +stupid after the manner of very strong men, and not gone beyond sixes. +We see how the Romans, though they inherited from their Eastern +ancestors a numeration by tens up to _decem_, and then beginning again +_undecim_, &c., yet when they began to write a notation could get no +farther than five—I., II., III., IV., V.; and then on again, VI., VII., +up to ten, from ten to fifteen, and so on. + +There is a very curious vulgar error which prevails, even among people +who have a good practical acquaintance with arithmetic. It is that the +number _ten_ has some special virtue which fits it for counting up to. +The fact is that ten is not the best number for the purpose; you can +halve it, it is true, but that is about all you can do with it, for its +being divisible by five is of hardly any use for practical purposes. +_Eight_ would be a much better number, for you can halve it three times +in succession; and _twelve_ is perhaps the most convenient number +possible, as it will divide by two, three, and four. It is this +convenient property that leads tradesmen to sell by dozens, and +grosses, rather than by tens and hundreds. If we used eights or twelves +instead of tens for numeration, we might of course preserve all the +advantages of the Indian or Arabic numerals; in the first case, we +should discard the ciphers 8 and 9, and reckon 5, 6, 7, 10; and in the +second case, we should want two new ciphers for ten and eleven; and 10 +would stand for twelve, and 11 for thirteen. Our happening to have ten +fingers has really led us into a rather inconvenient numerical system. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD, IN TERRA COTTA. (PROBABLY EITHER A +HOUSEHOLD-GOD OR A VOTIVE OFFERING).] + + + + +CHAPTER V. +MEXICO. GUADALUPE. + + +[Illustration: The Rebozo worn by the Women of Mexico; and the Serape +worn by the Men.] + +While we were away at the Real del Monte, the news had reached Mexico +that Puebla had capitulated, and that the rebel leader had fled. The +victory was celebrated in the capital with the most triumphal entries, +harangues, bull-fights, and illuminations done to order. If you had a +house in one of the principal streets, the police would make you +illuminate it, whether you liked or not. The newspapers loudly +proclaimed the triumph of the constitutional principle, and the +inauguration of a reign of law and order that was never to cease. + +As for the newspapers, indeed, one looked in vain in them for any free +expression of public opinion. They were all either suppressed, or +converted into the merest mouthpieces of the government. The telegraph +was under the strictest surveillance, and no messages were allowed to +be sent which the government did not consider favourable to their +interests; a precaution which rather defeated itself, as the people +soon ceased to believe any public news at all. In all these mean little +shifts, which we in England consider as the special property of +despotic governments, the authorities of the Mexican Republic showed +themselves great proficients. + +We were left, therefore, to form what idea we could of the real state +of Mexican affairs, from the private information received by our +friends. Just for once it may be worth while to give a few details, not +because the people engaged were specially interesting, but because the +affair may serve to give an idea of the condition of the country. + +President Comonfort, not a bad sort of man, as it seemed, but not +“strong enough for the place,” and with an empty treasury, tried to +make a stand against the clergy and the army, who stood firm against +any attempt at reform—knowing, with a certain instinct, that, if any +real reform once began, their own unreasonable privileges would soon be +attacked. So the clergy and part of the army set up an anti-president, +one Haro; and he installed himself at Puebla, which is the second city +of the Republic, and there Comonfort besieged him. So far I have +already described the doings of the “reaccionarios.” + +The newspapers gave wonderful accounts of attacks and repulses, and +reckoned the killed on both sides at 2,500. There were 10,000 regular +troops, and 10,000 irregulars (very irregular troops indeed); and these +were commanded by a complete regiment of officers, and _forty_ +generals. This is reckoning both sides; but as, on pretty good +authority (Tejada’s statistical table), the troops in the Republic are +only reckoned at 12,000, no doubt the above numbers are much +exaggerated. As for the 2,500 killed, the fact is that the siege was a +mere farce; and, judging by what we heard at the time in Mexico, and +soon afterwards in Puebla itself, 25 was a much more correct estimate: +and some facetious people reduced it, by one more division, to two and +a half. The President had managed, by desperate efforts, to borrow some +money in Mexico, on the credit of the State, at sixty per cent.; and it +seems certain that it was this money, judiciously administered to some +of Haro’s generals, that brought about the flight of the +anti-president, and the capitulation of Puebla. The termination of the +affair, according to the newspapers, was, that the rebel army were +incorporated with the constitutional troops; that their officers—500 in +number—were reduced to the ranks for a term of years; that a hot +pursuit was made after the fugitive Haro; and that, as it was notorious +that the clergy had found the money for the rebellion, it was +considered suitable that they should pay the expenses of the other side +too; and an order was made on the church-estates of the district to +that effect. Of course, it was an understood thing that the officers +thus degraded would desert at the first opportunity, and thus the +Government would be rid of them. As for Haro, it is not probable that +they ever intended to catch him; and they were very glad when he +disguised himself in sailor’s clothes, and shipped himself off +somewhere. When the Mexicans first took to civil wars, the victorious +leader used to finish the contest by having his adversary shot. At the +time of our visit, this fashion had gone out; and the victor treated +the vanquished with great leniency, not unmindful of the time when he +might be in a like situation himself. + +Whether the President ever got much of the forced contribution from the +clergy, I cannot say. At any rate, they have turned him out since; and +for a very poor government have substituted mere chaotic anarchy, as +Mr. Carlyle would call it. While the siege was going on, all the +commerce between Vera Cruz and the capital was interrupted, and, of +course, trade and manufacturing felt the effects severely. Nothing +shews the capabilities of the country more clearly than the fact that, +in spite of its distracted state and continual wars, its industrial +interests seem to be gaining ground steadily, though very slowly. The +evil of these ceaseless wars and revolutions is not that great battles +are here fought, cities destroyed, and men sacrificed by thousands. +Perhaps in no country in the world are “decisive victories,” +“sanguinary engagements,” “brilliant attacks,” and the like, got over +with less loss of life. Incredible as it may seem to any one who knows +how many civil wars and revolutions occur in the history of the country +for the last four or five years, I should not wonder if the number of +persons killed during that time in actual battle was less than the +number of those deliberately assassinated, or killed in private +quarrels. + +Cheap as Mexican revolutions are in actual bloodshed, we must recollect +what they bring with them. Thousands of deserters prowling about the +country, robbing and murdering, and spreading everywhere the precious +lessons they have learnt in barracks. We know something in England of +the good moral influence that garrisons and recruiting sergeants carry +about with them; and can judge a little what must be the result of the +spreading of numbers of these fellows over a country where there is +nothing to restrain their excesses! As for the soldiers themselves, one +does not wonder at their deserting, for they are in great part pressed +men, carried off from their homes, and shut up in barracks till they +have been drilled, and are considered to be tamed; and moreover their +pay, as one may judge from the general state of the military finances, +is anything but regular. People who understand such matters, say that +the Mexicans make very good soldiers, and fight well and steadily when +well trained and well officered. They are able to march surprising +distances, day after day, to live cheerfully on the very minimum of +food, and to sleep anyhow. This we could judge for ourselves. One thing +there is, however, that they strongly object to, and that is to be +moved much beyond the range of their own climate. The men of the plains +are as susceptible as Europeans to the ill effects of the climate of +the tierra caliente; and the men of the hot lands cannot bear the cold +of the high plateaus. + +Travellers in the United States make great fun of the profusion of +colonels and generals, and tell ludicrous stories on the subject. There +is also talk of the absurd number of officers in the Spanish-American +armies, but we should not, by any means, confound the two things. In +the United States it is merely a harmless exhibition of vanity, and an +amusing comment on their own high-minded abnegation of mere titles. In +Spanish America it indicates a very real and serious evil indeed. + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, in his statistical chart for 1856, quoted +above, estimates the soldiers in the Republic at 12,000, and the +officers at 2,000, not counting those on half-pay. One officer to every +six men; and among them sixty-nine generals. These are not mere militia +heroes, walking about in fine uniforms, but have actual commissions +from some one of the many governments that have come and gone, and are +entitled to their pay, which they get or do not get, as may happen. +Only a fraction of them know anything whatever about the art of war. +They were political adventurers, friends or relatives of some one in +power, or simply speculators who bought their commissions as a sort of +illegitimate Government Annuities. The continual rebellions or +pronunciamientos have increased the number of officers still further. +Comonfort’s notion of degrading all the officers of the rebel army was +a new and bold experiment. A very common course had been, when a +pronunciamiento had been made anywhere against the then existing +government, and a revolutionary army had been raised, for an +amalgamation to take place between the two forces; intrigue and bribery +and mutual disinclination to fight bringing matters to this peaceful +kind of settlement. In this case, it was usual for the rebel officers +to retain their self-conferred dignities. + +I think this body of soldierless officers is one of the most +troublesome political elements at work in the Republic. The political +agitators are mostly among them; and it is they, more than any other +class, who are continually stirring up factions and making +pronunciamientos (what a pleasant thing it is that we have never had to +make an English word for “pronunciamiento”). Several times, efforts +have been made to reduce the Army List to decent proportions, but a +fresh crop always springs up. + +In the “lowest depth” of mismanagement to which Mexican military +affairs have sunk, the newspapers still triumphantly refer to countries +which surpass them in this respect, and, at the time of our arrival, +were citing the statistics of the Peruvian Republic, where there are a +general and twenty officers to every sixty soldiers, and as many naval +officers as seamen. + +These officers are not subject to the civil administration at all, +whatever they may do. They have their _fuero_, their private charter, +and are only amenable to their own tribunals, just as the clergy are to +theirs. To the ill effects of the presence of such armies and such +officers in the country, we must add the continual interruptions to +commerce arising from the distracted state of the republic, and the +uncertain tenure by which every one holds his property, not to say his +life; and this, in its effect on the morale of the whole country, is +worse than the positive suffering they inflict. So much for soldiering, +for the present. We leave the President trying, with the aid of his +Congress, to organize the government, and set things straight +generally. This August assembly is selected from the people by +universal suffrage, in the most approved manner, and ought to be a very +important and useful body, but unfortunately can do nothing but talk +and issue decrees, which no one else cares about. + +In consequence of the alarming increase of highway-robbery, steps are +taken to diminish the evil. It is made lawful to punish such offenders +on the spot, by Lynch law. This is all. You may do justice on him when +caught, but really you must catch him yourself. Sober citizens are even +regretting the days of Santa Ana (recollect, I speak now of 1856, and +they might regret him still more in 1860.) He was a great scoundrel, it +is true; but he sent down detachments of soldiery to where the robbers +practised their profession, and garotted them in pairs, till the roads +were as safe as ours are in England. A President who sells states and +pockets the money may have even that forgiven him in consideration of +roads kept free from robbers, and some attempt at an effectual police. +There is a lesson in this for Mexican rulers. + +The Congress professed to be hard at work cleaning out the Augean +stable of laws, rescripts, and proclamations, and making a working +constitution. We went to see them one day, and heard talking going on, +but it all came to nothing. Of one thing we may be quite sure, that if +this unlucky country ever does get set straight, it will not be done by +a Mexican Congress sitting and cackling over it. + +On our return from the Real, we spent two days at the house of an +English friend at Tisapán, at the edge of the great Pedrigal, or +lava-field, which lies south of the capital. It was across this +lava-field that a part of the American army marched in ’47, and +defeated a division of the Mexican forces encamped at Contrevas. On the +same day the American army attacked the Mexicans who held a strongly +fortified position at Churubusco, some four miles nearer Mexico, and +routed the main army there. They beat them again at Molino del Rey, +carried the hill of Chapultepec by storm, and then entered the city +without meeting with further resistance; though the Mexicans, after +they had formally yielded possession of the city, disgraced themselves +by assassinating stray Americans, stabbing them in the streets, and +lazoing them from the tops of the low mud houses in the suburbs. + +An acquaintance of ours in Mexico met some American soldiers, with a +corporal, in the street close to his house, and asked them in. +Presently the corporal sent one of the men off into the next street to +execute some commission; but half an hour elapsed, and the man not +returning, the corporal went out to see what was the matter. He came +back presently, and remarked that some of those cursed Mexicans had +stabbed the man as he was turning the corner of the street, and left +him lying there. “So,” said the corporal, “I may as well finish his +brandy and water for him;” he did so accordingly, and the men went home +to their quarters. + +The American soldiers were, as one may imagine, a rough lot. Only the +smaller part of them were born Americans, the rest were emigrants from +Europe; to judge by what we heard of them—both in the States and in +Mexico—the very refuse of all the scoundrels in the Republic; but they +were well officered, and rigid discipline was maintained. So +effectually were they kept in order, that the Mexicans confessed that +it was a smaller evil to have the enemy’s forces marching through the +country, than their own army. + +An elaborate account of the American invasion is given in Mayer’s +‘Mexico.’ To those who do not care for details of military operations, +there are still points of interest in the history. That ten thousand +Americans should have been able to get through the mountain-passes, and +to reach the capital at all, is an astonishing thing; and after that, +their successes in the valley of Mexico follow as a matter of course. +They could never have crossed the mountains but for a combination of +circumstances. + +The inhabitants generally displayed the most entire indifference; +possibly preferring to sell their provisions to the Americans, instead +of being robbed of them by their own countrymen. Add to this, that the +Mexican officers showed themselves grossly ignorant of the art of war; +and that the soldiers, though they do not seem to have been deficient +in courage, were badly drilled and insubordinate. One would not have +wondered at the army being in such a condition—-in a country that had +long been in a state of profound peace; but in Mexico a standing army +had been maintained for years, at a great expense, and continual civil +wars ought to have given people some ideas about soldiering. We may +judge, from the events of this war, that Mexico might be kept in good +order by a small number of American troops. The mere holding of the +country is not the greatest difficulty in the question of American +annexation. + +One thing that struck our friends at Tisapán, among their experiences +of the war, was the number of dead bodies of women and children that +were found on the battle-fields. A crowd of women follow close in the +rear of a Mexican army; almost every soldier having some woman who +belongs to him, and who carries a heavy load of Indian corn and babies, +and cooks tortillas for her lord and master. The number of these poor +creatures who perished in the war was very great. + +We spent much of our time at Tisapán in collecting plants, and +exploring the lava-field, and the cañada, or ravine, that leads up into +the mountains that skirt the valley of Mexico. I recollect one +interesting spot we came to in riding through the pine-forest on the +northern slope of the mountains, where the course of a torrent, now +dry, ran along a mere narrow trench in the hard porphyritic rock, some +ten or fifteen feet wide, until it had suddenly entered a bed of +gravel, where it had hollowed out a vast ravine, four hundred feet wide +and two hundred deep, the inlet of the water being, in proportion, as +small as the pipe that serves to fill a cistern. + +Such places are common enough in the south of Europe, but seldom on so +grand a scale as one finds them in this country, where the floods come +down from the hills with astounding suddenness and violence. Mr. L. had +experience of this one day, when he had got inside his waterwheel, to +inspect its condition, the water being securely shut off, as he +thought. However, an aversada—one of these sudden freshets—came down, +quite without notice; and enough water got into the channel to set the +wheel going, so as to afford its proprietor a very curious and exciting +ride, after the manner of a squirrel in a revolving cage, until the +people succeeded in drawing off the water. + +It was after our return from Tisapán that we paid a visit to Our Lady +of Guadalupe, rather an important personage in the history of Mexican +church-matters. The way lies past Santo Domingo, the church of the Holy +Office, and down a long street where live the purveyors of all things +for the muleteers. Here one may buy mats, ropes, pack-saddles—which the +arrieros delight to have ornamented with fanciful designs and +inscriptions, lazos, and many other things of the same kind. Passing +out through the city-gate, we ride along a straight causeway, which +extends to Guadalupe. A dull road enough in itself, but the +interminable strings of mules and donkeys, bringing in pig-skins full +of pulque, are worth seeing for once; and the Indians, trudging out and +in with their various commodities, are highly picturesque. + +On a building at the side of the causeway we notice “Estación de +Méjico” (Mexico Station) painted in large letters. As far as we could +observe, this very suggestive sign-board is the whole plant of the +Railway Company at this end of the line. A range of hills ends abruptly +in the plain, at a place which the Indians called Tepeyacac, “end of +the hill” (literally “at the hill’s nose”). Our causeway leads to this +spot; and there, at the foot and up the slope of the hill, are built +the great cathedral and other churches and chapels, altogether a vast +and imposing collection of buildings; and round these a considerable +town has grown up, for this is the great place of pilgrimage in the +country. + +The Spaniards had brought a miraculous picture with them, Nuestra +Señora de Remedios, which is still in the country, and many pilgrims +visit it; but Our Lady of Guadalupe is a native Mexican, and decidedly +holds the first rank in the veneration of the people. + +In the great church there is a picture mounted in a gold frame of great +value. Its distance from the altar-rails, and the pane of glass which +covers it, prevent one’s seeing it very well. This was the more +unfortunate, as, according to my history, the picture is in itself +evidently of miraculous origin, for the best artists are agreed that no +human hand could imitate the drawing or the colour! It appears that the +Aztecs, long before the arrival of the Spaniards, had been in the habit +of worshipping—in this very place—a goddess, who was known as +_Teotenantzin_, “mother-god,” or _Tonantzin_, “our mother.” Ten years +after the Conquest, a certain converted Indian, Juan Diego (John James) +by name, was passing that way, and to him appeared the Virgin Mary. She +told him to go to the bishop, and tell him to build her a temple on the +place where she stood, giving him a lapful of flowers as a token. When +the flowers were poured out of the garment, in presence of the bishop, +the miraculous picture appeared underneath, painted on the apron +itself. The bishop accepted the miracle with great unction; the temple +was built, and the miraculous image duly installed in it. Its name of +“Santa Maria de Guadalupe,” was not, as one might imagine, taken from +the Madonna of that name in Spain (of course not!), but was +communicated by Our Lady herself to another converted Indian. She told +him that her title was to be _Santa Maria de Tequatlanopeuh_, “Saint +Mary of the rocky hill,” of which hard word the Spaniards made +“Guadalupe,”—just as they had turned Quauhnahuac into Cuernavaca, and +Quauhaxallan into Guadalajara, substituting the nearest word of Spanish +form for the unpronounceable Mexican names. This at least is the +ingenious explanation given by my author, the Bachelor Tanco, Professor +of the Aztec language, and of Astrology, in the University of Mexico, +in the year 1666. The bishop who authenticated the miracle was no less +a person than Fray Juan de Zumarraga, whose name is well known in +Mexican history, for it was he who collected together all the Aztec +picture-writings that he could find, “quite a mountain of them,” say +the chroniclers, and made a solemn bonfire of them in the great square +of Tlatelolco. The miracles worked by the Virgin of Guadalupe, and by +copies of it, are innumerable; and the faith which the lower orders of +Mexicans and the Indians have in it is boundless. + +On the 12th of December, the Anniversary of the Apparition is kept, and +an amazing concourse of the faithful repair to the sanctuary. Heller, a +German traveller who was in Mexico in 1846, saw an Indian taken to the +church; he had broken his leg, which had not even been set, and he +simply expected Our Lady to cure him without any human intervention at +all. Unluckily, the author had no opportunity of seeing what became of +him. The great miracle of all was the deliverance of Mexico from the +great inundation of 1626, and the fact is established thus. The city +was under water, the inhabitants in despair. The picture was brought to +the Cathedral in a canoe, through the streets of Mexico; and between +one and two years afterwards the inundation subsided. _Ergo_, it was +the picture that saved the city! + +For centuries a fierce rivalry existed between the Spanish Virgin, +called “de Remedios,” and Our Lady of Guadalupe; the Spaniards +supporting the first, and the native Mexicans the second. A note of +Humboldt’s illustrates this feeling perfectly. He relates that whenever +the country was suffering from drought, the Virjen do Remedios was +carried into Mexico in procession, to bring rain, till it came to be +said, quite as a proverb, _Hasta el agua nos debe venir de la +Gachupina_—“We must get even our water from that Spanish creature.” If +it happened that the Spanish Madonna produced no effect after a long +trial, the native Madonna was allowed to be brought solemnly in by the +Indians, and never failed in bringing the wished-for rain, which always +came sooner or later. It is remarkable that the Spanish party, who were +then all-powerful, should have allowed their own Madonna to be placed +at such a disadvantage, in not having the last innings. I need hardly +say that the shrine of Guadalupe is monstrously rich. The Chapter has +been known to lend such a thing as a million or two of dollars at a +time, though most of their property is invested on landed security. +They are allowed to have lotteries, and make something handsome out of +them; and they even sell medals and prints of their patroness, which +have great powers. You may have plenary indulgence in the hour of death +for sixpence or less. We drank of the water of the chalybeate spring, +bought sacred lottery-tickets, which turned out blanks, and tickets for +indulgences, which, I greatly fear, will not prove more valuable; and +so rode home along the dusty causeway to breakfast. + +As means of learning what sort of books the poorer classes in Mexico +preferred, we overhauled with great diligence the book-stalls, of which +there are a few, especially under the arcades (Portales) near the great +square. The Mexican public have not much cheap literature to read; and +the scanty list of such popular works is half filled with Our Lady of +Guadalupe, and other miracle-books of the same kind. Father Ripalda’s +Catechism has a large circulation, and is apparently the one in general +use in the country. Zavala speaks of this catechism as containing the +maxims of blind obedience to king and pope; but my more modern edition +has scarcely anything to say about the Pope, and nothing at all about +the government. Of late years, indeed, the Pope has not counted for +much, politically, in Mexico; and on one occasion his Holiness found, +when he tried to interfere about church-benefices, that his authority +was rather nominal than real. On the whole, nothing in the Catechism +struck me so much as the multiplication-table, which, to my unspeakable +astonishment, turned up in the middle of the book; a table of fractions +followed; and then it began again with the Holy Trinity. + +To continue our catalogue; there are the almanacks, which contain rules +for foretelling the weather by the moon’s quarters, but none of the +other fooleries which we find in those that circulate in England among +the less educated classes. It is curious to notice how the taste for +putting sonnets and other dreary poems at the beginnings and ends of +books has survived in these Spanish countries. What used to be known in +England as “a copy of verses” is still appreciated here, and almanacks, +newspapers, religious books, even programmes of plays and bull-fights, +are full of such dismal compositions. We ought to be thankful that the +fashion has long since gone out with us (except in the religions tract, +where it still survives). It is not merely apropos of sonnets, but of +thousands of other things, that in these countries one is brought, in a +manner, face to face with England as it used to be; and very trifling +matters become interesting when viewed in this light. The last item in +the list comprises translations, principally of French novels, those +being preferred in which the agony is “piled up” to the highest point. +German literature is represented by the “Sorrows of Werter.” Of course, +“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is widely circulated here, as it is everywhere in +countries not given to the “particular vanity” attacked in it. + +One need hardly say that both literature and education are at a very +low ebb in Mexico. Referring to Tejada again, I find that he reckons +that in the capital, out of a population of 185,000, there are 12,000 +scholars at primary schools; but of course, as in other countries, a +large proportion of these children attend so irregularly that they can +hardly learn anything. For the country generally, he estimates one +child receiving instruction out of thirty-seven inhabitants, a very +significant piece of statistics. Efforts are being made, especially in +the capital, to raise the population out of this state. Mr. Christy +took much trouble in investigating the subject, with the assistance of +our friend Don José Miguel Cervantes, the head of the Ayuntamiento, or +Municipal Council. This gentleman, with a few others, has been doing +much up-hill work of this kind for years past, establishing schools, +and trying to make head against the opposition of the priests and the +indifference of the people, as yet with but small success. + +It seems hard to be always attacking the Roman Catholic clergy, but of +one thing we cannot remain in doubt,—that their influence has had more +to do than anything else with the doleful ignorance which reigns +supreme in Mexico. For centuries they had the education of the country +in their hands, and even at this day they retain the greater share of +it. The training which the priests themselves receive will therefore +give one some idea of what they teach their scholars. Unluckily, their +course of instruction was stereotyped ages ago, when learned men +devoted themselves to writing huge books on divinity, casuistry, logic, +and metaphysics; concealing their ignorance of facts under an +affectation of wisdom and clouds of long words; demonstrating how many +millions of angels could dance on a needle’s point; writing treatises +“_de omni re scibili_,” and on a good many things unknowable also; and +teaching their admiring scholars the art of building up sham arguments +on any subject, whether they know anything about it or not. This is a +very vicious system of training for a man’s mind, the more especially +when it is supposed to set him up with a stock of superior knowledge; +and this is what the Roman Catholic clergy have been learning, +generation after generation, in Mexico and elsewhere. Of course, there +are plenty of exceptions, particularly among the higher clergy; but, so +far as I have been able to ascertain, education in clerical schools has +generally been of this kind. It is instinctive to talk a little, as one +occasionally finds an opportunity of doing, to some youth just out of +these colleges. I recollect speaking to a young man who had just left +the Seminario of Mexico, where he had been through a long course of +theology and philosophy. He was astonished to hear that bull-fighting +and colearing were not universally practised in Europe; and, when his +father began to question me about the Crimean war, the young +gentleman’s remarks showed that he had not the faintest idea where +England and France were, nor how far they were from one another. + +I happened, not long ago, to visit a celebrated monastic college in +South Italy, where they educated, not ordinary mortals, but only young +men of noble birth; and here I took particular care in inspecting the +library, judging that, though the scholars need not learn all that was +there, yet that no department of knowledge would be taught there that +was not represented on the library-shelves. What I saw fully confirmed +all that I had previously seen and heard about the monastic learning of +the present day. There were to be seen many fine manuscripts, and +black-letter books, and curious old editions of great value, good store +of classics (mostly Latin, however), works of the Fathers by the +hundred-weight, and quartos and folios of canon-law, theology, +metaphysics, and such like, by the ton. But it seemed that, in the +estimation of the librarians, the world had stood still since the time +of Duns Scotus; for, of what we call positive knowledge, except a +little arithmetic and geometry, and a few very poor histories, I saw +nothing. It is easy to see how one result of the clerical monopoly of +education has therefore come about—that the intellectual standard is +very low in Mexico. The Holy Office, too, has had its word to say in +the matter. This institution had not much work to do in burning +Indians, who were anything but sceptical in their turn of mind, and, +indeed, were too much like Theodore Hook, and would believe “forty, if +you pleased.” They even went further, and were apt to believe not only +what the missionaries taught them, but to cherish the memory of their +old gods into the bargain. It was three centuries after the Conquest, +that Mr. Bullock got the goddess Teoyaomiqui dug up in Mexico; and the +old Indian remarked to him that it was true the Spaniards had given +them three very good new gods, but it was rather hard to take away all +their old ones. At any rate, the functions of the Inquisition were +mostly confined to working the _Index Expurgatorius_, and suppressing +knowledge generally, which they did with great industry until not long +ago. + +Here, then, are two causes of Mexican ignorance, and a third may be +this; that Mexico was a colony to which the Spaniards generally came to +make their fortunes, with a view of returning to their own land; and +this state of things was unfavourable to the country as regards the +progress of knowledge, as well as in other things. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +TEZCUCO. + + +Across the lake of Tezcuco is Tezcuco itself, a great city and the +capital of a kingdom at the time of the Conquest, and famous for its +palaces and its learned men. Now it is an insignificant Spanish town, +built, indeed, to a great extent, of the stones of the old buildings. +Mr. Bowring, who has evaporating-works at the edge of the lake, and +lives in the “Casa Grande”—the Great House, just outside Tezcuco, has +invited us to pay him a visit; so we get up early one April morning, +and drive down to the street of the Solitude of Holy Cross (Calle de la +Soledad de Santa Cruz). There we find Mr. Millard, a Frenchman, who is +an _employé_ of Mr. Bowling’s, and is going back to Tezcuco with us; +and we walk down to the canal with him, half a dozen Indian porters +with baskets following us, and trotting along in the queer shuffling +way that is habitual to them. At the landing-place we find a number of +canoes, and a crowd of Indians, men and women, in scanty cotton +garments which show the dirt in an unpleasant manner. A canoe is going +to Tezcuco, a sort of regular packet-boat, in fact; and of this canoe +Mr. Millard has retained for us three the stern half, over which is +stretched an awning of aloe-fibre cloth. The canoe itself is merely a +large shallow box, made of rough planks, with sloping prow and stern, +more like a bread-tray in shape than anything else I can think of. +There is no attempt at making the bows taper, and indeed the Indians +stoutly resist this or any other innovation. In the fore part of the +canoe there is already a heap of other passengers, lying like bait in a +box, and when we arrive the voyage begins. + +The crew are ten in number; the captain, eight men, and an old woman in +charge of the tortillas and the pulque-jar. All these are brown people; +in fact, the navigation of the lakes is entirely in the hands of the +Indians, and “reasonable people” have nothing to do with it. Reasonable +people—“gente de razón”—being, as I have said before, those who have +any white blood in them; and republican institutions have not in the +least effaced the distinction. + +So it comes to pass that the canoe-traffic is carried on in much the +same way as it was in Montezuma’s time. There is one curious +difference, however. These canoes are all poled about the lakes and +canals; and I do not think we saw an Indian oar or paddle in the whole +valley of Mexico. In the ancient picture-writings, however, the Indians +are paddling their canoes with a kind of oar, shaped at the end like +one of our fire-shovels. But, as we have seen, the distribution of land +and water has altered since those days; and the lakes, far greater in +extent, were of course several feet deeper all over the present beds; +and even at a short distance from the city poling would have been +impossible. I suspect that the Aztecs originally used both poles and +paddles, and that the latter went out of use when the water became +shallow enough for the pole to serve all purposes. Otherwise, we must +suppose that the Mexicans, since the Spanish Conquest, introduced a new +invention; which is not easy to believe. + +We had first to get out of the canal, and fairly out into the lake. +This was the more desirable, as the canal is one of the drains of the +city, an office that it fills badly enough, seeing that there is +scarcely any fall of water from the lower quarters of the city to the +lake. I never saw water-snakes in numbers to compare with those in the +canal, and by the side of it. They were swimming in the water, +wriggling in and out; and on the banks they were writhing in heaps, +like our passengers forward. Two of our crew tow us along, and we are +soon clear of the canal, and of the salt-swamp that extends on both +sides of it, where the bottom of the lake was in old times. Once fairly +out, we look round us. We see Mexico from a new point of view, and +begin to understand why the Spaniards called it the Venice of the New +World. Even now, though the lake is so much smaller than it was then, +the city, with its domes and battlemented roofs, seems to rise from the +water itself, for the intervening flat is soon foreshortened into +nothing. At the present moment it is evident that the level of the lake +is much higher than usual. A little way off, on our right, is the Peñón +de los Baños—“the rock of baths”—a porphyritic hill forced up by +volcanic agency, where there are hot springs. It is generally possible +to reach this hill by land, but the water is now so high that the rock +has become an island as it used to be. + +When the first two brigantines were launched on the Lake of Tezcuco by +the Spaniards, Cortes took Montezuma with him to sail upon the lake, +soon leaving the Aztec canoes far behind. They went to a Peñón or rocky +hill where Montezuma preserved game for his own hunting, and not even +the highest nobility were allowed to hunt there on pain of death. The +Spaniards had a regular battue there; killing deer, hares, and rabbits +till they were tired. This Peñón may have been the Peñón de los Baños +which we are just passing, but was more probably a similar hill a +little further off, of larger extent, now fortified and known as El +Peñón, the Hill. Both were in those days complete islands at some +distance from the shore. + +Now that we are out of the canal, our Indians begin to pole us along, +thrusting their long poles to the bottom of the shallow lake, and +walking on two narrow planks which extend along the sides of the canoe +from the prow to the middle point. Four walk on each plank, each man +throwing up his pole as he gets to the end, and running back up the +middle to begin again at the prow. The dexterity with which they swing +the poles about, and keep them out of each other’s way, is wonderful; +and, as seen from our end of the canoe, looks like a kind of +exaggerated quarter-staff playing, only nobody is ever hit. + +The great peculiarity of the lake of Tezcuco is that it is a salt lake, +containing much salt and carbonate of soda. The water is quite brackish +and undrinkable. How it has come to be so is plain enough. The streams +from the surrounding mountains bring down salt and soda in solution, +derived from the decomposed porphyry; and as the water of the lake is +not drained off into the sea, but evaporates, the solid constituents +are left to accumulate in the lake. + +In England, I think, we have no example of this; but the Dead Sea, the +Caspian, the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and even the Mediterranean, have +various salts accumulated in solution in the same way. It seems to me, +that, by taking into account the proportion of soluble material +contained in the water that flows down from the mountains, the probable +quantity of water that flows down in the year, and the proportion of +salt in the lake itself, some vague guess might be made as to the time +this state of things has been lasting. I have no data, unfortunately, +even for such a rough calculation as this, or I should like to try it. + +In spite of the splendid climate, a great portion of the Valley of +Mexico is anything but fertile; for the soil is impregnated with salt +and soda, which in many places are so abundant as to form, when the +water evaporates, a white efflorescence on the ground, which is called +_tequesquite_, and regularly collected by the Indians. Some of it is +stopped on its way down from the higher ground, by the evaporation of +the water that was carrying it; and some is left by the lake itself, in +its frequent floodings of the ground in its neighbourhood. So small is +the difference of level between the lake and the plain that surrounds +it, that the slightest rise in the height of the water makes an immense +difference in the size of the lake; and even a strong wind will drive +the water over great tracts of ground, from which it retires when the +gale ceases. It must have been this, or something similar, that set +Cortes upon writing home to Spain that the lakes were like inland seas, +and even had tides like the ocean. Of course, this impregnation with +salts is ruinous to the soil, which will produce nothing in such places +but tufts of coarse grass; and the shores of the lake are the most +dismal districts one can imagine. All the lakes, however, are not so +salt as Tezcuco; Chalco, for instance, is a fresh-water lake, and there +the fertility of the shores is very great, as I have already had +occasion to notice. + +As soon as the novelty of this kind of travelling had worn off, we +began to find it dull, and retired under our awning to breakfast and +bitter beer; which latter luxury, thanks to a suitable climate and an +English brewer, is very well understood in Mexico, and is even accepted +as a great institution by the Mexicans themselves. + +We were just getting into a drowsy state, when an unusual bustle among +the crew brought us out of our den, and we found that three hours of +assiduous poling had taken us half-way across the lake, just six +miles—a good test of the value of the Aztec system of navigation. Here +was a wooden cross set up in the water; and here, from time out of +mind, the boatmen have been used to sing a little hymn to the Madonna, +by whose favour we had got so far, and hoped to get safe to the end of +our voyage. Very well they sang it too, and the scene was as striking +as it was unexpected to us. It seemed to us, however, to be making a +great matter of crossing a piece of water only a few feet deep; but Mr. +Millard assured us, that when a sudden gale came on, it was a +particularly unpleasant place to be afloat in a Mexican canoe, which, +being flat-bottomed, has no hold at all on the water, and from its +shape is quite unmanageable in a wind. He himself was once caught in +this way, and kept out all night, with a “heavy sea” on the lake, the +boat drifting helplessly, and threatening to overturn every moment, and +that in places where the water was quite deep enough to drown them all. +The Indians lost their heads entirely, and throwing down their poles +fell on their knees, and joined in the chorus with the women and +children and the rest of the helpless brown people, beating their +breasts, and presenting medals and prints of our Lady of Guadalupe to +each wave as it dashed into them. The wind dropped, however, and Mr. +Millard got safe to Tezcuco next morning; but, instead of receiving +sympathy for his misfortunes when he got there, found that the idea of +a tempest on the lake was reckoned a mere joke, and that the +drawing-room of the Casa Grande had been decorated with a fancy +portrait of himself, hanging to the half-way cross, with his legs in +the water, and underneath, a poetical description of his sufferings to +the tune of “_Malbrouke s’en va-t-en guerre, ne sais quand reviendra_.” + +More poling across the lake, and then another little canal, also +constructed since the diminishing of the water of the lake (which once +came close to the city), and along which our Indians towed us. Then +came a short ride, which brought us to the Casa Grande, where Mrs. +Bowring received us with overflowing hospitality. We went off presently +into the town, to see the glassworks. In a country where all things +imported have to be carried in rough waggons, or on mules’ backs, and +over bad roads, it would be hard if it did not pay to make glass; and, +accordingly, we found the works in full operation. The soda is produced +at Mr. Bowling’s works close by, the fuel is charcoal from the +mountains, and for sand they have a substitute, which I never heard of +or saw anywhere else. It seems that a short distance from Tezcuco there +is a deposit of hydrated silica, which is brought down in great blocks +by the Indians; and this, when calcined, answers the purpose perfectly, +as there is scarcely any iron in it. 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. The Aztec palaces we read so much of were built in just the +same way. The roofs slope inwards from the sides of the quadrangle, and +drain into the open space in the middle. One afternoon, a tremendous +tropical rain-storm showed us how necessary it was to have the covered +walk round the quadrangle raised considerably above this open square in +the middle, which a few minutes of such rain converted into a pond. + +As for ourselves, we spent many very pleasant days at the Casa Grande, +and thoroughly approved of the arrangement of the house, except that +the four corners of the patio were provokingly alike, and the doors of +the rooms also, so that we were as much bothered as the captain of the +forty thieves to find our own doors, or any door except Mr. Millard’s, +whose name was indicated—with more regard to pronunciation than +spelling—with a 1 and nine 0’s chalked on it. + +In spite of a late evening spent in very pleasant society, we were up +early next morning, ready for an excursion to the Pyramids of +Teotihuacán, some sixteen miles off, or so, under the guidance of one +of Mr. Bowring’s men. The road lies through the plain, between great +plantations of magueys, for this is the most renowned district in the +Republic for the size of its aloes, and the quality of the pulque that +is made from them. We stopped sometimes to examine a particularly large +specimen, which might measure 30 feet round, and to see the juice, +which had collected in the night, drawn out of the great hollow that +had been cut to receive it, in the heart of the plant. The Indians have +a great fancy for making crosses, and the aloe lends itself +particularly to this kind of decoration. They have only to cut off six +or eight inches of one leaf, and impale the piece on the sharp point of +another, and the cross is made. Every good-sized aloe has two or three +of these primitive religious emblems upon it. + +Several little torrent-beds crossed the road, and over them were thrown +old-fashioned Spanish stone bridges, as steep as the Rialto, or the +bridge on the willow-patterned plates. + +Before going to see the pyramids, we visited the caves in the hill-side +not far from them, whence the stone was brought to build them. It is +_tetzontli_, the porous amygdaloid which abounds among the porphyritic +hills, a beautiful building-stone, easily worked, and durable. There +was a large space that seemed to have been quarried out bodily, and +into this opened numerous caves. We left our horses at the entrance, +and spent an hour or two in hunting the place over. The ground was +covered with pieces of obsidian knives and arrow-heads, and fragments +of what seemed to have been larger tools or weapons; and we found +numbers of hammer-heads, large and small, mostly made of greenstone, +some whole, but most broken. + +We find two sorts of stone hammers in Europe. Solid hammers belong to +the earliest period. They are made of longish rolled pebbles; some are +shaped a little artificially, and are grooved round to hold the handle, +which was a flexible twig bent double and with the two ends tied +together, so as to keep the stone head in its place. The hammers of a +later period of the “stone age” are shaped more like the iron ones our +smiths use at the present day, and they have a hole bored in the middle +for the handle. In Brittany, where Celtic remains are found in such +abundance, it is not uncommon to see stone hammers of the latter kind +hanging up in the cottages of the peasants, who use them to drive in +nails with. They have an odd way of providing them with handles, by +sticking them tight upon branches of young trees, and when the branch +has grown larger, and has thus rivetted itself tightly on both sides of +the stone head, they cut it off, and carry home the hammer ready for +use. + +Though the Mexicans carried the arts of knife and arrow-making and +sculpturing hard stone to such perfection, I do not think they ever +discovered the art of making a hole in a stone hammer. The handles of +the axes shown in the picture-writings are clumsy sticks swelling into +a large knob at one end, and the axe-blade is fixed into a hole in this +knob. Some of the Mexican hammers seem to have had their handles fixed +in this way; while others were made with a groove, in the same manner +as the earlier kind of European stone hammers just described. + +When we consider the beauty of the Mexican stonecutter’s work, it seems +wonderful that they should have been able to do it without iron tools. +It is quite clear that, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, they used +bronze hatchets, containing that very small proportion of tin which +gives the alloy nearly the hardness of steel. We saw many of these +hatchets in museums, and Mr. Christy bought some good specimens in a +collection of antiquities which had belonged to an old Mexican, who got +them principally from the suburb of Tlatelolco, in the neighbourhood of +the ancient market-place of the city. Such axes were certainly common +among the ancient Mexicans. One of the items of the hieroglyphic +tribute-roll in the Mendoza Codex is eighty bronze hatchets. + +A story told by Bernal Diaz is to the point. He says that he and his +companions, noticing that the Indians of the coast generally carried +bright metal axes, the material of which looked like gold of a low +quality, got as many as six hundred such axes from them in the course +of three days’ bartering, giving them coloured glass-beads in exchange. +Both sides were highly satisfied with their bargain; but it all came to +nothing, as the chronicler relates with considerable disgust, for the +gold turned out to be copper, and the beads were found to be trash when +the Indians began to understand them better. Such hard copper axes as +these have been found at Mitla, in the State of Oajaca, where the +ruined temples seem to form a connecting link between the monuments of +Teotihuacán and Xochicalco and the ruined cities of Yucatan and +Chiapas. + +We want one more link in the chain to show the use of the same kind of +tools from Mexico down to Yucatan, and this link we can supply. In Lord +Kingsborough’s great work on Mexican Antiquities there is one +picture-writing, the Dresden Codex, which is not of Aztec origin at +all. Its hieroglyphics are those of Palenque and Uxmal; and in this +manuscript we have drawings of hatchets like those of Mexico, and fixed +in the same kind of handles, but of much neater workmanship. + +But here we come upon a difficulty. It is supposed that the pyramids of +Teotihuacán, as well as most of the great architectural works of the +country, were the work of the Toltec race, who quitted this part of the +country several centuries before the Spanish Conquest. It seems +incredible that bronze should have been in use in the country for so +long a time, and not have superseded so bad a material as stone for +knives and weapons. We have good evidence to show that in Europe the +introduction of bronze was almost simultaneous with the complete disuse +of stone for such purposes. It is true that Herodotus describes the +embalmers, in his time, as cutting open the bodies with “an Ethiopic +stone” though they were familiar with the use of metal. Indeed the +flint knives which he probably meant may be seen in museums. But this +peculiar usage was most likely kept up for some mystical reason, and +does not affect the general question. Almost as soon as the Spaniards +brought iron to Mexico, it superseded the old material. The “bronze +age” ceased within a year or two, and that of iron began. + +The Mexicans called copper or bronze “tepuztli,” a word of rather +uncertain etymology. Judging from the analogous words in languages +allied to the Aztec, it seems not unlikely that it meant originally +_hatchet_ or _breaker_, just as “itztli,” or obsidian, appears to have +meant originally _knife_.[13] + + [13] There is an Aztec word “puztequi” (_to break sticks, &c_.) which + may belong to the same root as “tepuztli.” The first syllable “te” may + be “te-tl” (_stone_). + +When the Mexicans saw iron in the hands of the Spaniards, they called +it also “tepuztli,” which thus became a general word for metal; and +then they had to distinguish iron from copper, as they do at the +present day, by calling them “_tliltic_ tepuztli,” and “_chichiltic_ +tepuztli;” that is, “black metal,” and “red metal.” + +When the subject of the use of bronze in stone-cutting is discussed, as +it so often is with special reference to Egypt, one may doubt whether +people have not underrated its capabilities, when the proportion of tin +is accurately adjusted to give the maximum hardness; and especially +when a minute portion of iron enters into its composition. Sir Gardner +Wilkinson relates that he tried the edge of one of the Egyptian mason’s +chisels upon the very stone it had evidently been once used to cut, and +found that its edge was turned directly; and therefore he wonders that +such a tool could have been used for the purpose, of course supposing +that the tool as he found it was just as the mason left it. This, +however, is not quite certain. If we bury a brass tool in a damp place +for a few weeks, it will be found to have undergone a curious molecular +change, and to have become quite soft and weak, or, as the workmen call +it, dead. We ought to be quite sure whether lying for centimes under +ground may not have made some similar change in bronze. + +I have seen many prickly pears in different places, but never such +specimens as those that were growing among the stones in this old +quarry. They had gnarled and knotted trunks of hard wood, and were as +big as pollard-oaks; their age must have been immense; but, +unfortunately, one could not measure it, or it would have been a good +criterion of the age of the quarry, which had not only been excavated +but abandoned before their time. In one of the caves was a human +skeleton, blanched white and clean, and near it some one has stuck a +cross, made of two bits of stick, in the crevices of a heap of stones. + +Returning to the entrance of the quarry, well loaded with stone hammers +and knives, we sat down to breakfast, in a cave, where our man had +established himself with the horses. An attempt on my part to cut +German sausage with an obsidian knife proved a decided failure. + +We had already been struck by the appearance of the two pyramids of +Teotihuacán, when we passed by Otumba on our way to Mexico. The hills +which skirt the plain are so near them as to diminish their apparent +size; but even at a distance they are conspicuous objects. Now, when we +came close to them, and began by climbing to their summits, and walking +round their terraces, to measure ourselves against them, we began +gradually to realize their vast bulk; and this feeling continually grew +upon us. Modern architecture strives to unite the greatest possible +effect with the least cost; and the modern churches of southern Europe +and Spanish America, with their fine tall facades fronting the street, +and insignificant little buildings behind, show this idea in its +fullest development. Pyramids are built with no such object, and make +but little show in proportion to their vast mass of material; but then +one gets from them a sense of solid magnitude that no other building +gives, however vast its proportions may be. Neither of us had ever seen +the Egyptian pyramids. Even in Mexico these of Teotihuacán are not the +largest; for, though the pyramid of Cholula is no higher, it covers far +more ground. Were these monuments in Egypt, they would only rank, from +their size, in the second class. + +As has often been remarked, such buildings as these can only be raised +under peculiar social conditions. The ruler must be a despotic +sovereign, and the mass of the people slaves, whose subsistence and +whose lives are sacrificed without scruple to execute the fancies of +the monarch, who is not so much the governor as the unrestricted owner +of the country and the people. The population must be very dense, or it +would not bear the loss of so large a proportion of the working class; +and vegetable food must be exceedingly abundant in the country, to feed +them while engaged in this unprofitable labour. + +We know how great was the influence of the priestly classes in Egypt, +though the pyramids there, being rather tombs than temples, do not +prove it. In Mexico, however, the pyramids themselves were the temples, +serving only incidentally as tombs; and their size proves that—as +respects priestly influence—the resemblance between the two people is +fully carried out. + +Like the Egyptian pyramids, these fronted the four cardinal points. +Their shape was not accurately pyramidal, for the line from base to +summit was broken by three terraces, or perhaps four, running +completely round them; and at the top was a flat square space, where +stood the idols and the sacrificial altars. This construction closely +resembled that of some of the smaller Egyptian pyramids. Flights of +stone steps led straight up from terrace to terrace, and the procession +of priests and victims made the circuit of each before they ascended to +the one above. + +The larger of the two teocallis is dedicated to the Sun, has a base of +about 640 feet, and is about 170 feet high. The other, dedicated to the +Moon, is rather smaller. + +These monuments were called _teocallis_, not because they were +pyramids, but because they were temples; “Teocalli” means “god’s +house”—(_teotl_, god, _calli_, house), a name which the traveller hears +explained for the first time with some wonder; and Humboldt cannot help +adverting to its curious correspondence with θεου καλια, _dei cella_. +Another odd coincidence is found in the Aztec name for their priests, +_papahua_, the root of which _papa_, (the _hua_, is merely a +termination). In the Old World the word _Papa_, Pope, or Priest, was +connected with the idea of father or grandfather, but the Aztec word +has no such origin. + +When the Aztecs abandoned their temples, and began to build Christian +churches, they called them also “teocallis,” and perhaps do so to this +day. + +The heavy tropical rains have to a great extent broken the sharpness of +the outline of these structures, and brought them more nearly to the +shape of real pyramids than they were originally; but, as we climbed up +their sides, we could trace the terraces without any difficulty, and +even flights of steps. + +The pyramids consist of an outer casing of hewn stone, faced and +covered with smooth stucco, which has resisted the effects of time and +bad usage in a wonderful manner. Inside this casing were adobes, +stones, clay, and mortar, as one may see in places where the exterior +has been damaged, and by creeping into the small passage which leads +into the Temple of the Moon. Both pyramids are nearly covered with a +coating of debris, full of bits of obsidian arrows and knives, and +broken pottery. On the teocalli of the moon we found a number of recent +sea-shells, which mystified us extremely; and the only explanation we +could give of their presence there was that they might have been +brought up as offerings. A passage in Humboldt, which I met with long +after, seems to clear up the mystery. Speaking of the great teocalli of +the city of Mexico, he says, quoting an old description, that the Moon +had a little temple in the great courtyard, which was built of shells. +Those that we found may be the remains of a similar structure on the +top of the pyramid. + +Prickly pears, aloes, and mesquite bushes have overgrown the pyramids +in all directions, as though they had been mere natural hills. In +Sicily one may see the lava fields of Etna planted with prickly pears: +in the ordinary course of things, it requires several centuries before +even the surface of this hard lava will disintegrate into soil; but the +roots of the cactus soon crack it, and a few years suffice to break it +up to a sufficient depth to allow of vineyards being planted upon it. +Here the same plant has in the same way affected the porous amygdaloid +with which the pyramids are faced, and has cut up the surface sadly; +but the vegetation which covers them will at any rate defend them from +the rains, and now centuries will make but little change in the +appearance of these remarkable buildings. + +Near Nice there is a hill which gives a wonderfully correct idea of the +appearance of the terraced teocallis of Mexico, as they must have +looked before time effaced the sharpness of their lines. Where the +valley of the Paglione and that of St. Andre meet, the hill between +them terminates in a half pyramid, the angle of which lies toward the +south; and the inhabitants—as their custom is in southern Europe, have +turned the two slopes to account, by building them up into terraces, to +prevent the soil they have laboriously carried up from being swept down +by the first heavy rain. Seen from the proper point of view the +resemblance is complete. + +From the south side of the Temple of the Moon runs an avenue of +burial-mounds, the Micaotli, “the path of the dead.” On these mounds, +and round the foot of the pyramids themselves, the whole population of +the once great city of Teotihuacán and its neighbourhood used to +congregate, to see the priests and the victims march round the terraces +and up the stairs in full view of them all. Standing here, one could +imagine the scene that Cortes and his men saw from their camp, outside +Mexico, on that dreadful day when the Mexicans had cut off their +retreat along the causeways, and taken more than sixty Spanish +prisoners. Bernal Diaz was there, and tells the tale how they heard +from the city the great drum of Huitzilopochtli sending forth a strange +and awful sound, that could be heard for miles, and with it many horns +and trumpets; and how, when they had looked towards the great teocalli, +they saw the Mexicans dragging up the prisoners, pushing and beating +them as they went, till they had got them up to the open space at the +top, “where the cursed idols stood.” Then they put plumes of feathers +on their heads, and fans in their hands, and made them dance before the +idol; and when they had danced, they threw them on their backs on the +sacrificial stone that stood there, and, sawing open their breasts with +knives of stone, they tore out their hearts, and offered them up in +sacrifice; and the bodies they flung down the stairs to the bottom. +More than this the Spaniards cannot have seen, though Diaz describes +the rest of the proceedings as though they had been done in his sight; +but it was not the first time they had witnessed such things, and they +knew well enough what was happening down below,—how the butchers were +waiting to cut up the carcases as they came down, that they might be +cooked with chile, and eaten in the solemn banquet of the evening. + +The day was closing in by this time; and our man was waiting with the +horses at the foot of the great pyramid; and with him an Indian, whom +we had caught half an hour before, and sent off with a real to buy +pulque, and to collect such obsidian arrows and clay heads as were to +be found at the ranchos in the neighbourhood. + +Near the place we started from, two or three Indians were diligently at +work at their stone-quarry, that is to say, they were laboriously +bringing out great hewn stones from the side of the pyramid, to build +their walls with; and indeed we could see in every house for miles +round stones that had come from the same source, as was proved by the +stucco still remaining upon them, smoothed like polished marble, and +painted dull red with cinnabar. + +As I write this, it brings to my recollection an old Roman trophy in +North Italy, built—like these pyramids—of a shell of hewn stone, filled +with rough stones and cement, now as hard as the rock itself. There I +saw the inhabitants of the town which stands at its foot, carrying off +the great limestone blocks, but first cutting them up into pieces of a +size that they could move about, and build into their houses. Here and +there, in this little Italian town, there were to be seen in the walls +letters of the old inscription which were once upon the trophy; and the +age of the houses shewed that the monument had served as a quarry for +centuries. + +As we rode home, we noticed by the sides of the road, and where ditches +had been cut, numbers of old Mexican stone-floors covered with stucco. +The earth has accumulated above them to the depth of two or three feet, +so that their position is like that of the Roman pavements so often +found in Europe; and we may guess, from what we saw exposed, how great +must be the number of such remains still hidden, and how vast a +population must once have inhabited this plain, now almost deserted. + +Two days afterwards we came back. In the ploughed fields in the +neighbourhood we made repeated trials whether it was possible to stand +still in any spot where there was no relic of old Mexico within our +reach; but this we could not do. Everywhere the ground was full of +unglazed pottery and obsidian; and we even found arrows and clay +figures that were good enough for a museum. When we left England, we +both doubted the accounts of the historians of the Conquest, believing +that they had exaggerated the numbers of the population, and the size +of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their +victories, and to write as wonderful a history as they could, as +historians are prone to do. But our examination of Mexican remains soon +induced us to withdraw this accusation, and even made us inclined to +blame the chroniclers for having had no eyes for the wonderful things +that surrounded them. + +I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous +exaggerations of Solis and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who +seemed to think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and +that it sounded much better. But when this class of writers are set +aside, and the more valuable authorities severely criticised, it does +not seem to us that the history thus extracted from these sources is +much less reliable than European history of the same period. There is, +perhaps, no better way of expressing this opinion than to say that what +we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm Prescott’s History of the +Conquest, and but seldom to make his statements appear to us +improbable. + +There are other mounds near the pyramids, besides the Micaotli. Two +sides of the Pyramid of the Sun are surrounded by them; and there are +two squares of mounds at equal distances, north and south of it, +besides innumerable scattered hillocks. There are some sculptured +blocks of stone lying near the pyramids, and inside the smaller one is +buried what appears to be a female bust of colossal size, with the +mouth like an oval ring, so common in Mexican sculptures. + +The same abundance of ancient remains that we found here characterizes +the neighbourhood of all the Mexican monuments in the country, with one +curious exception. Burkart declares that in the vicinity of the +extensive remains of temples known as _Los Edificios_, near Zacatecas, +no traces of pottery or of obsidian were to be found. + +Before going away, we held a solemn market of antiquities. We sat +cross-legged on the ground, and the Indian women and children brought +us many curious articles in clay and obsidian, which we bought and +deposited in two great bags of aloe-fibre which our man carried at his +saddle-bow. Among the articles we bought were various pipes or whistles +of pottery, _pitos_, as they are called in Spanish, and just as we were +mounting our horses to ride off, a lad ran to the top of one of the +mounds, and blew on one of these pipes a long dismal note that could be +heard a mile off. Our friends had filled our heads so full of robbers +and ambushes, that we made sure it was a signal for some one who was +waiting for us, and the more so as the boy ran off as soon as he had +blown his blast; and when we looked round for the people whose +antiquities we had been buying, they had all disappeared. But nothing +came of it, and we got safely back to Tezcuco. As usual, we spent a +capital evening, and separated late. The owner of the glass-works, who +had been spending the evening with us, had an adventure on his road +home. He was peaceably riding along, when two men rushed out from +behind the corner of the street, and shouted “_alto ahí_!” (halte-là). +He thought they were robbers, and started at a gallop. His hat flew +off, and the men sent two bullets singing past his head, which sent him +on quicker than ever, till he reached his house. There he got his +pistols, and came back armed to the teeth to fetch the hat, which lay +where it had fallen. The supposed robbers turned out, on enquiry next +day, to have been national guards, patrolling the street; but certainly +their proceedings were rather questionable. + +We had an unpleasant visit the same night. The custom of the Casa +Grande was that after dark a watchman patrolled all night, giving a +long blast every quarter of an hour on one of these same doleful +Mexican whistles, to show that he was not sleeping on his rounds. This +was for the outside. Inside the house, _pour surcroît de précaution_, a +servant came round to see that every one was in his room; and having +satisfied himself of this, let loose in the courtyard two enormous +bulldogs, which were the terror of the household and of the whole +neighbourhood. On this particular night, a noise at our own door woke +me from a sound sleep; and I had the pleasure of seeing a creature walk +deliberately in, looking huge and terrific in the moonlight. The beast +had been into the stable two nights before, and had pinned a cow which +was there, keeping his hold upon her till next morning, when he was got +off by the keeper. With this specimen of the bulldog’s abilities fresh +in my recollection, I preferred not making any attempt to resent his +impertinent intrusion, but lay still, till he had satisfied himself +with walking about the room and sniffing at our beds, when he lay down +on my carpet; I soon fell asleep again, and next morning he was gone. +The foreigners in Mexico seem to delight in fierce bull-dogs. The Casa +Grande at Tezcuco is not by any means the only place where they form +part of the garrison. One English acquaintance of ours in the Capital +kept two of these beasts up in his rooms, and not even the servants +dared go up, unless the master was there. + +Every one who has read Prescott’s ‘Mexico’ will recollect +Nezahualcoyotl, the king of Tezcuco; and the palaces he built there for +his wives, and his poets, and the rest of his great court. These +palaces were built chiefly of mud bricks; and time and the Spaniards +have dealt so hardly with them, that even their outlines can no longer +be traced. Traces of two large teocallis are just visible, and Mr. +Bowring has some burial mounds in his grounds which will be examined +some day. There is a Mexican calendar built into the wall of one of the +churches; and, as we walked about the streets of the present town, we +noticed stones that must have been sculptured before the Spaniards +brought in their broken-down classic style, and so stopped the +development of native art. As for the rest of old Tezcuco, it has +“become heaps.” Wherever they dig ditches or lay the foundations of +houses, you may see the ground full of its remains. + +As I said before, when speaking of the stuccoed floors near +Teotihuacán, the accumulation of alluvial soil goes on very rapidly and +very regularly all over the plains of Mexico and Puebla, where +everything favours its deposit; and the human remains preserved in it +are so numerous that its age may readily be seen. We noticed this in +many places, but in no instance so well as between Tezcuco and the +hacienda of Miraflores. There a long ditch, some five feet deep, had +just been cut in anticipation of the rainy season. As yet it was dry, +and, as we walked along it, we found three periods of Mexican history +distinctly traceable from one end to the other. First came mere +alluvium, without human remains. Then, just above, came fragments of +obsidian knives and bits of unglazed pottery. Above this again, a third +layer, in which the obsidian ceased, and much of the pottery was still +unglazed; but many fragments were glazed, and bore the unmistakable +Spanish patterns in black and yellow. + +It is a pity that these alluvial deposits, which give such good +evidence as to the order in which different peoples or different states +of society succeeded one another on the earth, should be so valueless +as a means of calculating the time of their duration; but one can +easily see that they must always be so, by considering how the +thickness of the deposits is altered by such accidents as the formation +of a mud-bank, or the opening of a new channel,—things that must be +continually occurring in districts where this very accumulation is +going on. The only place where any calculation can be based upon its +thickness is on the banks of the Nile, where its accumulations round +the ancient monuments may perhaps give a criterion as to the time which +has elapsed since man ceased to clear away the deposits of the +river.[14] + + [14] The researches instituted by Mr. I. Horner in the alluvium near + Heliopolis and Memphis _(Philos. Transact._, 1855 & 1856), although + very elaborate, still leave much to be desired before we can arrive at + definite conclusions. + +As an instance of the tendency of alluvial deposits to entomb such +monuments of former ages, I must mention the temple of Segeste, which +stands on a gentle slope among the hills of northern Sicily. I had +heard talk of the graceful proportions of this Doric temple, built by +the Greek colonists; and great was my surprise, on first coming in +sight of it, to see a pediment supported by two rows of short squat +columns, without bases, and rising directly from the ground. A nearer +inspection showed the cause of this extraordinary distortion. The whole +slope had risen full six feet during the 2500 years, or so, that have +elapsed since its desertion; and the temple now stands in a large +oblong pit, which has lately been excavated. As we left the spot, and +turned to see it again a few yards off, the beautiful symmetry of the +whole had disappeared again. + +To return to Tezcuco. Some three or four miles from the town stands the +hill of Tezcotzinco, where Nezahualcoyotl had his pleasure-gardens; and +to this hill we made an excursion early one morning, with Mr. Bowring +for our guide. We did not go first to Tezcotzinco itself, but to +another hill which is connected with it by an aqueduct of immense size, +along which we walked. The mountains in this part are of porphyry, and +the channel of the aqueduct was made principally of blocks of the same +material, on which the smooth stucco that had once covered the whole, +inside and out, still remained very perfect. The channel was carried, +not on arches, but on a solid embankment, a hundred and fifty or two +hundred feet high, and wide enough for a carriage-road. + +The hill itself was overgrown with brushwood, aloes, and prickly pears, +but numerous roads and flights of steps cut in the rock were +distinguishable. Not far below the top of the hill, a terrace runs +completely round it, whence the monarch could survey a great part of +his little kingdom. On the summit itself I saw sculptured blocks of +stone; and on the side of the hill are two little circular baths, cut +in the solid rock. The lower of the two has a flight of steps down to +it; the seat for the bather, and the stone pipe which brought the +water, are still quite perfect. + +His majesty used to spend his afternoons here on the shady side of the +hill, apparently sitting up to his middle in water, like a frog, if one +may judge by the height of the little seat in the bath. If, as some +writers say, these were only tanks with streams of running water, and +not baths at all, why the steps cut in their sides, which are just +large enough and high enough for a man to sit in? No water has come +there for centuries now; and the morning-sun nearly broiled us, till we +got into a sort of cave, excavated in the hill, it is said, with an +idea of finding treasure. It seems there was once a Mexican calendar +cut in the rock at this spot; and some white people who were interested +in such matters, used to come to see it, and poke curiously about in +search of other antiquities. Naturally enough, the Indians thought that +they expected to find treasure; and with a view of getting the first +chance themselves, they cut down the calendar, and made this large +excavation behind it. + +Here we sat in the shade, breakfasting, and hearing Mr. Bowring’s +stories of the art of medicine as practised in the northern states of +Mexico, where decoction of shirt is considered an invaluable specific +when administered internally; and the recognised remedy for lumbago is +to rub the patient with the drawers of a man named John. No doubt the +latter treatment answers very well! + +[Illustration: OLD MEXICAN BRIDGE NEAR TEZCUCO.] + +There is an old Mexican bridge near Tezcuco which seems to be the +original _Puente de las Bergantinas_, the bridge where Cortes had the +brigantines launched on the lake of Tezcuco. This bridge has a span of +about twenty feet, and is curious as showing how nearly the Mexicans +had arrived at the idea of the arch. It is made in the form of a roof +resting on two buttresses, and composed of slabs of stone with the +edges upwards, with mortar in the interstices; the slabs being +sufficiently irregular in shape to admit of their holding together, +like the stones of a real arch. One may now and then see in Europe the +roofs of small stone hovels made in the same way; but twenty feet is an +immense span for such a construction. I have seen such buildings in +North Italy, in places where the limestone is so stratified as to +furnish rough slabs, three or four inches thick, with very little +labour in quarrying them out. In Kerry there are ancient houses and +churches roofed in the same way. What makes the Tezcuco bridge more +curious is that it is set askew, which must have made its construction +more difficult. + +The brigantines which the Spaniards made, and transported over the +mountains in such a wonderful manner, fully answered their purpose, for +without them Mexico could hardly have been taken. After the Conquest +they were kept for years, for the good service they had done; but +vessels of such size do not seem to have been used upon the lake since +then; and I believe the only sailing craft at present is Mr. Bowring’s +boat, which the Indians look at askance, and decidedly decline to +imitate. It is true that, somewhere near the city, there is moored a +little steamer, looking quite civilized at a distance. It never goes +anywhere, however; and I have a sort of impression of having heard that +when it was first made they got up the steam once, but the conduct of +the machinery under these circumstances was so extraordinary and +frantic that no one has ventured to repeat the experiment. + +Before we left Tezcuco, we went in a boat to explore Mr. Bowring’s +salt-works, which are rather like the salines of the South of France. +Patches of the lake are walled off, and the water allowed to evaporate, +which it does very rapidly under a hot sun, and with only three-fourths +of the pressure of air upon it that we have at the sea-level. The +lake-water thus concentrated is run into smaller tanks. It contains +carbonate and sesquicarbonate of soda, and common salt. The addition of +lime converts the sesquicarbonate of soda into simple carbonate, and +this is separated from the salt by taking advantage of their different +points of crystallization. The salt is partly consumed, and partly used +in the extraction of silver from the ore, and the soda is bought by the +soap-makers. + +Humboldt’s remarks on the small consumption of salt in Mexico are +curious. The average amount used with food is only a small fraction of +the European average. While the Tlascalans were at war with the Aztecs, +they had to do without salt for many years, as it was not produced in +their district. Humboldt thinks that the chile which the Indians +consume in such quantities acts as a substitute. It is to be remembered +that the soil is impregnated with both salt and natron in many of these +upland districts, and the inhabitants may have eaten earth containing +these ingredients, as they do for the same purpose in several places in +the Old World. + +We disembarked after sailing to the end of these great evaporating +pans, and found horses waiting to take us to the Bosque del Contador. +This is a grand square, looking towards the cardinal points, and +composed of ahuehuetes, grand old deciduous cypresses, many of them +forty feet round, and older than the discovery of America. My +companion, not content with buying collections at secondhand, wished to +have some excavations made on his own account, and very judiciously +fixed on this spot, where, though there were no buildings standing, the +appearance of the ground and the mounds in the neighbourhood, together +with the historical notoriety of the place, made it probable that +something would be found to repay a diligent search. This expectation +was fully realized, and some fine idols of hard stone were found, with +an infinitude of pottery and small objects. + +When I look through my notes about Tezcuco, I do not find much more to +mention, except that a favourite dish here consists of flies’ eggs +fried. These eggs are deposited at the edge of the lake, and the +Indians fish them out and sell them in the market-place. So large is +the quantity of these eggs, that at a spot where a little stream +deposits carbonate of lime, a peculiar kind of travertine is forming +which consists of masses of them imbedded in tho calcareous deposit. + +The flies[15] which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans +“_axayacatl_” or “water-face.” There was a celebrated Aztec king who +was called Axayacatl; and his name is indicated in the picture-writings +by a drawing of a man’s face covered with water. The eggs themselves +are sold in cakes in the market, pounded and cooked, and also in lumps +_au naturel_, forming a substance like the roe of a fish. This is known +by the characteristic name of “_ahuauhtli_”, that is “water-wheat.”[16] + + [15] _Corixa femorala_, and _Notonecta uniforciata_, according to MM. + Meneville and Virlet d’Aoust, in a Paper on the subject of the + granular or oolitic travertine of Tezcuco in the Bulletin (1859) of + the Geological Society of France. + + [16] Huauhtli is an indigenous grain abounding in Michoacán, for which + “wheat” is the best equivalent I can give. European wheat was, of + course, unknown in the country until after the Conquest. + +The last thing we did at Tezcuco, was to witness the laying down of a +new line of water-pipes for the saltworks. This I mention because of +the pipes, which were exactly those introduced into Spain by the Moors +and brought here by the Spaniards. These pipes are of glazed +earthenware, taper at one end, and each fitting into the large end of +the next. The cement is a mixture of lime, fat, and hair, which gets +hard and firm when cold, but can be loosened by a very slight +application of heat. A thousand years has made no alteration in the way +of making these pipes. Here, however, the ground is so level that one +great characteristic of Moorish waterworks is not to be seen. I mean +the water-columns which are such a feature in the country round +Palermo, and in other places where the system of irrigation introduced +by the Moorish invaders is still kept up. These are square pillars +twenty or thirty feet high, with a cistern at the top of each, into +which the water from the higher level flowed, and from which other +pipes carried it on; the sole object of the whole apparatus being to +break the column of water, and reduce the pressure to the thirty or +forty feet which the pipes of earthenware would bear. + +This subject of irrigation is very interesting with reference to the +future of Mexico. We visited two or three country-houses in the +plateaux, where the gardens are regularly watered by artificial +channels, and the result is a vegetation of wonderful exuberance and +beauty, converting these spots into oases in the desert. On the lower +levels of the tierra templada where the sugar-cane is cultivated, a +costly system of water-supply has been established in the haciendas +with the best results. Even in the plains of Mexico and Puebla, the +grain-fields are irrigated to some small degree. But notwithstanding +this progress in the right direction, the face of the country shows the +most miserable waste of one of the chief elements of the wealth and +prosperity of the country, the water. + +In this respect, Spain and the high lands of Mexico may be compared +together. There is no scarcity of rain in either country, and yet both +are dry and parched, while the number and size of their torrent-beds +show with what violence the mountain-streams descend into lakes or +rivers, rather agents of destruction than of benefit to the land. +Strangely enough, both countries have been in possession of races who +understood that water was the very life-blood of the land, and worked +hard to build systems of arteries to distribute it over the surface. In +both countries, the warlike Spaniards overcame these races, and +irrigating works already constructed were allowed to fall to ruin. + +When the Moriscos were expelled from their native provinces of +Andalusia and Granada, their places were but slowly filled up with +other settlers, so that a great part of their aqueducts and +watercourses fell into decay within a few years. These new colonists, +moreover, came from the Northern provinces, where the Moorish system of +culture was little understood; and, incredible as it may seem, though +they must have had ocular evidence of the advantages of artificial +irrigation, they even neglected to keep in repair the water-channels on +their own ground. Now the traveller, riding through Southern Spain, may +see in desolate barren valleys remains of the Moorish works which +centuries ago brought fertility to grain-fields and orchards, and made +the country the garden of Europe. + +There was another nation who seem to have far surpassed both Moors and +Aztecs in the magnitude of their engineering-works for this purpose. +The Peruvians cut through mountains, filled up valleys, and carried +whole rivers away in artificial channels to irrigate their thirsty +soil. The historians’ accounts of these water-works as they were, and +even travellers’ descriptions of the ruins that still remain, fill us +with astonishment. It seems almost like some strange fatality that this +nation too should have been conquered by the same race, the ruin of its +great national works following immediately upon the Conquest. + +Spain is rising again after long centuries of degradation, and is +developing energies and resources which seem likely to raise it high +among European nations, and the Spaniards are beginning to hold their +own again among the peoples of Europe. But they have had to pay dearly +for the errors of their ancestors in the great days of Charles the +Fifth. + +The ancient Mexicans were not, it is true, to be compared with the +Spanish Arabs or the Peruvians in their knowledge of agriculture and +the art of irrigation; but both history and the remains still to be +found in the country prove that in the more densely populated parts of +the plains they had made considerable progress. The ruined aqueduct of +Tetzcotzinco which I have just mentioned was a grand work, serving to +supply the great gardens of Nezahualcoyotl, which covered a large space +of ground and excited the admiration of the Conquerors, who soon +destroyed them, it is said, in order that they might not remain to +remind the conquered inhabitants of their days of heathendom. + +Such works as these seem, however, not to have extended over whole +provinces as they did in Spain. In the thinly peopled +mountain-districts, the Indians broke up their little patches of ground +with a hoe, and watered them from earthen jars, as indeed they do to +this day. + +The Spaniards improved the agriculture of the country by introducing +European grain, and fruit-trees, and by bringing the old Roman plough, +which is used to this day in Mexico as in Spain, where two thousand +years have not superseded its use or even altered it. Against these +improvements we must set a heavy account of injury done to the country +as regards its cultivation. The Conquest cost the lives of several +hundred thousand of the labouring class; and numbers more were taken +away from the cultivation of the land to work as slaves for the +conquerors in building houses and churches, and in the silver-mines. +When the inhabitants were taken away, the ground went out of +cultivation, and much of it has relapsed into desert. Even before the +Conquest, Mexico had been suffering for many years from incessant wars, +in which not only thousands perished on the field of battle, but the +prisoners sacrificed annually were to be counted by thousands more, +while famine carried off the women and children whose husbands and +fathers had perished. But the slaughter and famine of the first years +of the Spanish Conquest far exceeded anything that the country had +suffered before. + +At the time of the Conquest of Mexico the Spaniards let the native +irrigating-works fall into decay; and they took still more active +measures to deprive the land of its necessary water, by their +indiscriminate destruction of the forests on the hills that surround +the plains. When the trees were cut down, the undergrowth soon +perished, and the soil which had served to check the descending waters +in their course was soon swept away. During the four rainy months, each +heavy shower sends down a flood along the torrent-bed which flows into +a river, and so into the ocean, or, as in the Mexican valley, into a +salt lake, where it only serves to injure the surrounding land. In both +cases it runs away in utter waste. + +In later years the Spanish owners of the soil had the necessity of the +system impressed upon them by force of circumstances; and large sums +were spent upon the construction of irrigating channels, even in the +outlying states of the North. + +In the American territory recently acquired from Mexico history has +repeated itself in a most curious way. We learn from Froebel, the +German traveller, that the new American settlers did not take kindly to +the system of irrigation which they found at work in the country. They +were not used to it, and it interfered with their ideas of liberty by +placing restrictions upon their doing what they pleased on their own +land. So they actually allowed many of the water-canals to fall into +ruins. Of course they soon began to find out their mistake, and are +probably investing heavily in water-supply by this time. We ought not +to be too severe upon the Spaniards of the sixteenth century for an +economical mistake which we find the Americans falling into under +similar circumstances in the nineteenth. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +CUERNAVACA. TEMISCO. XOCHICALCO. + + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SADDLE AND ITS APPURTENANCES.] + +Much too soon, as we thought, the day came when we had arranged to +leave Tezcuco and return to Mexico, to prepare for a journey into the +tierra caliente. On the evening of our return to the capital there was +a little earthquake, but neither of us noticed it; and thus we lost our +one chance, and returned to England without having made acquaintance +with that peculiar sensation. + +The purchase of horses and saddles and other equipments for our +journey, gave us an opportunity of poking about into out-of-the-way +corners of the city, and seeing some new phases of Mexican life; and +certainly we made the most of the chance. We made acquaintance with +horse-dealers, who brought us horses to try in the courtyard of the +great house of our friends the English merchants in the Calle +Seminario, and there showed off their paces, walking, pacing, and +galloping. To trot is considered a disgusting vice in a Mexican horse; +and the universal substitute for it here is the _paso_, a queer +shuffling run, first, the two legs on one side together, and then the +other two. You jolt gently up and down without rising in the stirrups; +and when once you are used to it the paso is not disagreeable, and it +is well suited to long mountain-journeys. Horses in the United States +are often trained to this gait, and are known as “pacing” horses. +Another peculiarity in the training of Mexican horses is, that many of +them are taught to “rayar,” that is, to put their fore-feet out after +the manner of mules going down a pass; and slide a short distance along +the ground, so as to stop suddenly in the midst of a rapid gallop. To +practise the horses in this feat, the jockey draws a lino (“_raya_”) on +the ground, and teaches them to stop exactly as they reach it, and +whirl round in the opposite direction. This performance is often to be +seen on the paseo, and other places, where smart young gentlemen like +to show off themselves and their horses; but it is only a fancy trick, +and they acknowledge that it spoils the animal’s fore-legs. + +After much bargaining and chaffering we bought three horses for +ourselves and our man Antonio, giving eight, seven, and four pounds for +them. This does not seem much to give for good hackneys, as these were; +but they were not particularly cheap for Mexico. While we were at +Tezcuco, Mr. Christy used to ride one of Mr. Bowring’s horses, a pretty +little chestnut, which carried him beautifully, and had cost just +eleven dollars, or forty-six shillings. It had been bought of the +horse-dealers who come down every year from the almost uninhabited +states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Cohahuila, on the American frontier, +where innumerable herds of horses, all but wild, roam over boundless +prairies, feeding on the tall coarse grass. Their keep costs so little, +that the breeders are not compelled, as in England, to break them in +and sell them at the earliest possible moment, and they let the young +colts roam untamed till they are five or six years old. Their great +strength and power of endurance in proportion to their size is in great +measure to be ascribed to this early indulgence. + +It is very clear that when a horse is to be sold for somewhere between +two and six pounds, the breeder cannot afford to spend much time in +breaking him in. The rough-rider lazos him, puts on the bridle with its +severe bit, and springs upon his back in spite of kicking and plunging. +The horse gallops furiously off across country of his own accord, but +when his pace begins to flag, the great vaquero spurs come into +requisition, and in an hour or two he comes back to the corral dead +beat and conquered once for all. It is easy to teach him his paces +afterwards. The anquera—as it is called—is put on his haunches, to cure +him of trotting, and to teach him the paso instead. It is a leather +covering fringed with iron tags, which is put on behind the saddle, and +allows the horse to pace without annoying him; but the least approach +to a trot brings the pointed tags rattling upon his haunches. We bought +one of these anqueras at Puebla. It was very old, and curiously +ornamented with carved patterns. In the last century, these anqueras +were a regular part of Mexican horse-equipment; but now, except in +horse-breaking yards or old curiosity-shops, they are seldom to be +seen. + +Almost all the Mexican horses descend from the Arab breed—the gentlest +and yet the most spirited in the world, which have not degenerated +since the Spaniards brought them over in the early days of the +Conquest, but retain unchanged their small graceful shape, their +swiftness, and their power of bearing fatigue. There seem really to be +no large horses bred in the country. Instead of jolting about in a +carriage drawn by eight or ten mules, with harness covered with silver +and gold—as rich Mexicans used to do, the proper thing now is to have a +pair of tall carriage-horses, like ours in England; and these are +brought at great expense from the United States, and by the side of the +graceful little Mexicans they look as big and as clumsy as elephants. + +Our saddles were of the old Moorish pattern, of monstrous size and +weight, very comfortable for the rider, but, I fear, much less so for +the horse, whose back often gets sadly galled, in spite of the thick +padding and the two or three blankets that are put on underneath. These +saddles run into high peaks behind and before, so that you can hardly +fall out of them, even when you go to sleep in the saddle on a long +journey, as many people habitually do. In front, the saddle rises into +a pummel which is made of hard wood, and is something like a large +mushroom with its stalk. Round this the end of the lazo is wound, after +the noose has been thrown. All Mexican saddles are provided with these +heads in front, and have, moreover, several pairs of little thongs +attached to them on each side, which serve to tie on bags, whips, +water-gourds, and other odds and ends. Behind the seat of the saddle +are more straps, where cloaks and serapes are fastened; and in case of +need even a carpet-bag will travel there. We were in the habit of +returning from our expeditions with our horses so covered with the +plants and curiosities we had collected, that it became no easy matter +to get our legs safely over the horses’ backs, into their proper places +among the clusters of miscellanea. Our acquaintances used to compare us +to the perambulating butchers’ shops, which are a feature in Mexican +streets, and consist of a horse with a long saddle covered with hooks, +and on every hook a joint. + +The flaps of our saddles, the great spatterdashes that protected our +feet from the mud, and the broad stirrup-straps were covered with +carved and embossed patterns; indeed almost all leather-work is +decorated in this way, and the saddle-makers delight in ornamenting +their wares with silver plates and bosses; so that it was not +surprising that our saddles and bridles should have cost, though +second-hand, nearly as much as the horses. + +In books of travels in Mexico up to the beginning of the present +century, one of the staple articles of wondering description was the +gorgeous trappings of the horses, and the spurs, bits, and stirrups of +gold and silver. The costumes have not changed much, but the taste for +such costly ornaments has abated; and it is now hardly respectable to +have more than a few pounds worth of bullion on one’s saddle or around +one’s hat, or to wear a hundred or so of buttons of solid gold down the +sides of one’s leather trousers, with a very questionable cotton +calzoncillo underneath. + +The horses’ bits are made with a ring, which pinches the under-lip when +the bridle is tightened, and causes great pain when it is pulled at all +hard. At first sight it seems cruel to use such bits, but the system +works very well; and the horses, knowing the power their rider has over +them, rarely misbehave themselves. One rides along with the loop at the +end of the twisted horse-hair bridle hanging loose on one finger, so +that the horse’s mouth is much less pulled about than with the bridles +we are accustomed to in England. When it is necessary to guide the +horse, the least pressure is enough; but, as a general rule, the little +fellow can find his way as well as his rider can. We used continually +to let our reins drop on our horses’ necks, and jog on careless of pits +and stumbling-blocks. I have even seen my companion take out his +pocket-book, and improve the occasion by making notes and sketches as +he went. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN BIT, with its ring and chains. Length +9 inches, width 5½ inches.] + +The distance from Mexico to Vera Cruz is about two hundred and fifty +miles, and what the roads are I have in some measure described. Rafael +Beraza, the courier of the English Mission at Mexico, used to ride this +with despatches regularly once a month in forty hours, and occasionally +in thirty-five. He changed horses about every ten or fifteen miles; and +now and then, when, overcome by sleep, he would let the boy who +accompanied him to the next stage ride first, his own horse following, +and the rider comfortably dozing as he went along. + +As for our own equipment, Mr. Christy adopted the attributes of the +eastern traveller when he came into the country, the great umbrella, +the veil, and the felt hat with a white handkerchief over it. As for +me, my wardrobe was scanty; so, when my travelling coat wore out at the +elbows and my trousers were sat through—like the little bear’s chair in +the story, I replaced the garments with a jacket of chamois leather, +and a pair of loose trousers made of the same, after the manner of the +country. Then came a grey felt hat, as stiff as a boiler-plate, and of +more than quakerish lowness of crown and broadness of brim, but +secularized by a silver serpent for a hatband; also, a red silk sash, +which—fastening round the waist—held up my trousers, and interfered +with my digestion; lastly, a woollen serape to sleep under, and to wear +in the mornings and evenings. This is the genuine ranchero costume, and +it did me good service. Indeed, ever since my Mexican journey I have +considered that George Fox decidedly showed his good sense by dressing +himself in a suit of leather; much more so than the people who laughed +at him for it. + +In the country, all Mexicans—high and low—wear this national dress; and +in this they are distinguished from the Indians, who keep to the cotton +shirts and drawers, and the straw hats of their ancestors. In the +towns, it is only the lower classes who dress in the ranchero costume, +for “nous autres” wear European garments and follow the last Paris +fashion, with these exceptions—that for riding, people wear jackets and +calzoneras of the national cut, though made of cloth, and that the +Mexican hat is often worn even by people who adopt no other parts of +the costume. There never were such hats as these for awkwardness. The +flat sharp brims of passers-by are always threatening to cut your head +off in the streets. You cannot get into a carriage with your hat on, +nor sit there when you are in. But for walking and riding under a +fierce sun, they are perhaps better than anything else that can be +used. + +The Mexican blanket—the serape—is a national institution; It is wider +than a Scotch plaid, and nearly as long, with a slit in the middle; and +it is woven in the same gaudy Oriental patterns which are to be seen on +the prayer-carpets of Turkey and Palestine to this day. It is worn as a +cloak, with the end flung over the left shoulder, like the Spanish +_capa_, and muffling up half the face when its owner is chilly or does +not wish to be recognized. When a heavy rain comes down, and he is on +horseback, he puts his head through the slit in the middle, and becomes +a moving tent. At night he rolls himself up in it, and sleeps on a mat +or a board, or on the stones in the open air. + +Convenient as it is, the serape is as much tabooed among the +“respectable” classes in the cities as the rest of the national +costume. I recollect going one evening after dark to the house of our +friends in the Calle Seminario with my serape on, and nearly having to +fight it out with the great dog Nelson, who was taking charge of his +master’s room. Nelson knew me perfectly well, and had sat that very +morning at the hotel-gate for half an hour, holding my horse, while a +crowd of leperos stood round, admiring his size and the gravity of his +demeanour as he sat on the pavement, with the bridle in his mouth. But +that a man in a serape should come into his master’s room at dusk was a +thing he could not tolerate, till the master himself came in, and +satisfied his mind on the subject. + +As I said, the equipment of ourselves and our three horses took us into +a variety of strange places, for we bought the things we wanted piece +by piece, when we saw anything that suited us. Among other places we +went to the Baratillo, which is the Rag-Fair and Petticoat Lane of +Mexico, and moreover the emporium for whips, bridles, bits, old spurs, +old iron, and odds and ends generally. The little shops are arranged in +long lines, after the manner of the eastern bazaar; and the +shopkeepers, when they are not smoking cigarettes outside, are sitting +in their little dens, within arms-length of all the wares they have to +sell. Here we found what we had come for, and much more too, in the way +of wonderful old spurs, combs, boxes, and ornaments; so that we came +several times more before we left the country, and never without +carrying away some curious old relic. + +Mexico, as everybody knows, is decidedly a thievish place. The shops +are all shut at dark, after the _Oración_, for fear of thieves. Ladies +used to wear immense tortoise-shell combs at the back of their heads, +where the mantilla is fastened on; but, when it became a regular trade +for thieves to ride on horseback through the streets, and pull out the +combs as they went, the fashion had to be given up. These curiously +carved and ornamented combs are still preserved as curiosities, and we +bought several of them. + +While we were in Mexico, they knocked a man down in the great square at +noon-day, robbed him, and left him there for dead. The square is so +large, and the sun was so hot, that the police—whose head-quarters are +under the arches in that very square—could not possibly walk across to +see what was going on!—_moral_, if you will have the distinction of +having the largest square in the world, you must take the consequences. + +Of course, where thieving is so general, the market for stolen goods +must be a place of considerable trade, and this Baratillo is one of the +principal depôts for such wares. One may realize here the story of the +citizen, in the old book, who had his wig stolen at the beginning of +his walk through London, and found it hanging up for sale a little +further on. Here the deserter comes to sell his uniform and his +ricketty old flintlock. Small blame to him. I would do the same myself +if I were in his place, and were compelled to serve under one rascally +political adventurer against another rascally political adventurer—to +say nothing of being treated like a dog, half-starved, and not paid at +all, except by a sort of half license to plunder. “Those poor soldiers! +we can’t pay them, you know, and they must live somehow.” + +I have abused the Mexicans for being thieves, and not without reason, +though, as regards ourselves personally, we never lost anything except +a great brand-new waterproof coat which my companion had brought with +him, promising to himself that under its shelter he should bid defiance +to the daily rain-storms of the wet season. As we dismounted from the +Diligence in Mexico, in the courtyard of the hotel, some one relieved +him of it. We did not know of the Baratillo in those days, or would +have gone to look for it there. At the time of our visit it was too +late, for if it ever had been there, the Mexicans understand too well +the value of an English “ulli,” as they call them, to let it hang long +for sale. “Ulli” is not a borrowed word, but the genuine Aztec name for +India-rubber, which was used to make playing-balls with, long before +the time of Columbus. + +I mentioned the water-bottles as part of our equipment. They are +gourds, which are throttled with bandages while young, so as to make +them grow into the shape of bottles with necks. Then they are hung up +to dry; and the inside being cleaned out through a small hole near the +stalk, they are ready for use, holding two or three pints of water. A +couple of inches of a corn-cob (the inside of a ear of Indian corn) +makes a capital cork; and the bottle is hung by a loop of string to the +pummel of the saddle, where it swings about without fear of breaking. +One may see gourds, prepared in just the same way, in Italy, hanging up +under the eaves of the little farm-houses, among the festoons of red +and yellow ears of Indian corn; and indeed the gourd-bottle is a +regular institution of Southern Europe. + +We sent Antonio on with the horses to Cuernavaca, and started by the +Diligence early one morning, accompanied by one of our English friends, +whom I will call—as every-one else did—Don Guillermo. It is the regular +thing here, as in Spain, to call everybody by his or her Christian +name. You may have known Don Antonio or Don Felipe for weeks before you +happen to hear their surnames. + +The road ran at first over the plain, among great water-meadows, with +herds of cattle pasturing, and fields of wheat and maize. Ploughing was +going on, after the primitive fashion of the country, with two oxen +yoked to each plough. The yoke is fastened to the horns of the oxen, +and to the centre of the yoke a pole is attached. At the other end of +this pole is the plough itself, which consists of a wooden stake with +an iron point and a handle. The driver holds the handle in one hand and +his goad in the other (a long reed with an iron point), and so they +toil along, making a long scratch as they go. A man follows the plough, +and drops in single grains of Indian corn, about three feet apart. The +furrows are three feet from one another, so that each stalk occupies +some nine square feet of ground. When the plants are growing up they +dig between them, and heap up round each stalk a little mound of earth. + +We passed many little houses consisting of one square room, built of +mud-bricks, with mud-mortar stuck full of little stones; without +windows, but generally possessing the luxury of a chimney, with a +couple of bricks forming an arch over it to keep out the rain. Glimpses +of men smoking cigarettes at the doors, half-naked brown children +rolling in the dirt, and women on their knees inside, hard at work +grinding the corn for those eternal tortillas. + +At San Juan de Dios Mr. Christy climbed to the top of the Diligence, +behind the conductor, who sat with a large black leather bag full of +stones on the footboard before him. Whenever one of the nine mules +showed a disposition to shirk his work, a heavy stone came flying at +him, always hitting him in a tender place, for long practice had made +the conductor almost as good a shot as the goat-herds in the mountains, +who are said to be able to hit their goats on whichever horn they +please, and so to steer them straight when they seem inclined to stray. +But our conductor simply threw the stones, whereas the goat-herd uses +the aloe-fibre honda, or sling, that one sees hanging by dozens in the +Mexican shops. + +We pass near Churubusco, and along the line by which the American army +reached Mexico. The field of lava which they crossed is close at our +right hand; and just on the other side of it lie Tisapán and our friend +Don Alejandro’s cotton-factory. On our left are the freshwater-lakes of +Xochimilco and Chalco, which had risen several feet, and flooded the +valley in their neighbourhood. Between us and the great mountain-chain +that forms the rim of the valley, lies a group of extinct volcanos, +from one of which descends the great lava-field. + +Passing in full view of these picturesque craters, now mostly covered +with trees and brushwood, we begin to ascend, and are soon among the +porphyritic range that forms a wall between us and the land of +sugar-canes and palms. Along the road towards Mexico came long files of +Indians, dressed in the national white cotton shirts and short drawers +and sandals, made like Montezuma’s, though not with plates of gold on +the soles, such as that monarch’s sandals had. Some of these Indians +are bringing on their backs wood and charcoal from the pine-forest +higher up among the mountains, and some have fastened to their backs +light crates full of live fowls or vegetables; others are carrying up +tropical fruits from the tierra caliente below, zapotes and mameis, +nisperos and granaditas, tamarinds and fresh sugar-canes. These people +are walking with their loads thirty or forty miles to market: but their +race have been used as beasts of burden for ages, and they don’t mind +it. + +Bright blue and red birds, and larger and more brilliant butterflies +than are seen in Europe, show that, though we are among fields of wheat +and maize, we are in the tropics after all. As the road rises we get +views of the broad valley, with its lakes and green meadows, and the +great white haciendas with their clumps of willows, their +church-towers, and the clusters of adobe huts surrounding them—like the +peasants’ cottages in feudal Europe, crowding up to the baron’s castle. + +Our mules begin to flag as we toil up the steep ascent; but the +conductor rattles the stones in his black bag, and as the ominous sound +reaches their ears, they start off again with renewed vigour. We pass +San Mateo, a village of charcoal-burners, where a large and splendid +stone church, with its tall dark cypresses, stands among the huts of +reeds and pine-shingles that form the village. + +[Illustration: INDIANS BRINGING CHARCOAL, &C. TO MEXICO.] + +Trains of mules are continually passing with their heavy loads of wood +and charcoal, bales of goods and barrels of aguardiente de caña, which +is rum made from the sugar-cane, but not coloured like that which comes +to England. The men are continually rushing backwards and forwards +among their beasts, which are not content with kicking and biting, and +banging against one another, but are always trying to lie down in the +road; and one of the principal duties of the arriero is constantly to +keep an eye on all his beasts at once, and, when he sees one preparing +to lie down, to be beforehand with him, and drive him on by a furious +shower of blows, kicks, and curses. Certainly, the Mexican mules are +the finest and strongest in the world; and, though they are just as +obstinate here as elsewhere, they are worth two or three times as much +as horses. + +Our road lies through a forest of pines and oaks, which reaches to the +summit of the pass, where stands a wretched little village, La Guarda. +There we had a thoroughly Mexican breakfast, with pulque in tall +tumblers, and endless successions of tortillas, coming in hot and hot +from the kitchen, where we could see brown women with bare arms, and +black hair plaited in long tails, kneeling by the charcoal fire, and +industriously patting out fresh supplies, and baking them rapidly on a +hot plate. The _pièce de résistance_ was a stew, bright red with +tomatas, and hot as fire with chile; and then came the _frijoles_—the +black beans—without which no Mexican, high or low, considers a meal +complete. The walls of the room were decorated with highly coloured +engravings, one of which represented an engagement between a Spanish +and an English fleet, in which the English ships are being boarded by +the victorious Spaniards, or are being blown up in the background. +Where the engagement was I cannot recollect. People in Mexico, to whom +I mentioned this remarkable historical event, assured me that there are +still to be seen pictures of the destruction of the English fleet by +the French and Spaniards in the Bay of Trafalgar! + +Mexico was always, until the establishment of the republic, profoundly +ignorant of European affairs. In the old times, when the intercourse +with the mother-country was by the great ship, “el nao,” which came +once a year, the government at home could have just such news +circulated through the country as seemed proper and convenient to them. +We see in our own times how despotic governments can mystify their +subjects, and distort contemporary history into what shape they please. +But in Spanish America the system was worked to a greater extent than +in any other country I have heard of; and the undercurrent of popular +talk, which spreads in France and Russia things and opinions not to be +found in the newspapers, had in Mexico but little influence. Scarcely +any Mexican travelled, scarcely any foreigner visited the country, and +the Spaniards who came to hold offices and make fortunes were all in +the interest of the old country; so the Mexicans went on, until the +beginning of this century, believing that Spain still occupied the same +position among the nations of Europe that it had held in the days of +Charles the Fifth. + +While my companion was outside the Diligence, Don Guillermo and I were +left to the conversation of an Italian fellow-passenger. One finds such +characters in books, but never before or since have I seen the reality. +He might have been the original of the great Braggadoccio. His +conversation was like a chapter out of the autobiography of his +countryman Alfieri. + +He had accompanied the Italian nobleman who was killed in an affray +with the Mexican robbers, some years ago, and on that occasion his +defence had been most heroic. He himself had shot several of the +robbers; till at last, his friend being killed, the rest of the party +yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the brigands, and he ran off to +fetch assistance! + +Whenever he was riding along a Mexican road, and any suspicious-looking +person asked him for a light, his habit was to hand him his cigar stuck +in the muzzle of a pistol; “and they always take the hint,” he said, +“and see that it won’t do to interfere with us.” Alone, he had been +attacked by three armed men, but with a pistol in each hand he had +compelled them to retreat. But this was not all; our champion was +victorious in love as well as in arms. Like the great Alfieri, to whom +I have compared him, in every country where he travelled, the most +beautiful and distinguished ladies hardly waited for him to ask before +they cast themselves at his feet. Refusing the rich jewels that he +offered them, they declared that they loved him for himself alone. + +Weeks after, we were talking to our friend Mr. Del Pozzo, the Italian +apothecary in the Calle Plateros, and happened to ask him if he were +acquainted with his heroic countryman. Whereupon the apothecary went +off into fits of unextinguishable laughter, and told us how our friend +really had been in the skirmish he described, and had nobly run away +almost before a shot was fired, leaving his friends to fight it out. An +hour or two after, he was found shaking with terror in a ditch. + +To return to our road. The forest is on both sides of the Sierra; but +it is on the southern slope, over which we look down from the pass, +that the pines attain their fullest size and beauty; for here they are +as grand as in the Scandinavian forests, with all the beauty of the +pine-trees on the Italian hills. The pass, with its deep forest +skirting the road, has been a resort of robbers for many years; and the +driver pointed out to my companion a little grassy dell by the +road-side, from which forty men had rushed out and plundered the +Diligence just ten days before. With his mind just prepared, one may +imagine his feelings when he caught sight of some twenty wild-looking +fellows in all sorts of strange garments, with the bright sunshine +gleaming on the barrels of their muskets. A man was riding a little in +front of us, and as he approached the others they descended, and ranged +themselves by the side of the road. They were only the guard, after +all, and such a guard! Their thick matted black hair hung about over +their low foreheads and wild brown faces. Some had shoes, some had +none, and some had sandals. They had straw hats, glazed hats, no hats, +leather jackets and trousers, cotton shirts and drawers, or drawers +without any shirt at all; and—what looked worst of all—some had ragged +old uniforms on, like deserters from the army, and there are no worse +robbers than they. When the Diligence reached them, the guard joined +us; some galloping on before, some following behind, whooping and +yelling, brandishing their arms, and dashing in among the trees and out +into the road again. Every now and then my friend outside got a glimpse +down the muzzle of a musket, which did not add to his peace of mind. At +last we got through the dangerous pass, and then we made a subscription +for the guard, who departed making the forest ring again with +war-whoops, and firing off their muskets in our honour until we were +out of hearing. + +The top of the pass is 12,000 feet above the sea, but the clouds seemed +as high as ever above us, and the swallows were flying far up in the +air. Three thousand feet lower we were in a warmer region, among oaks +and arbutus; and here, as in our higher latitudes, the climate is far +hotter than on the northern slope at the same height. Bananas are to be +found at an elevation of 9,000 feet, three times the height at which +they ceased on the eastern slope, as we came up from Vera Cruz. This +difference between the two slopes depends, in part, on the different +quantity of sunshine they receive, which is of some importance, +although we are within the tropics. But the sheltering of the southern +sides from the chilling winds from the north still further contributes +to give their vegetation a really tropical character. + +We felt the heat becoming more and more intense as we descended, and +when we reached Cuernavaca we lay down in the beautiful garden of the +inn, among orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, listening to the pleasant +cool sound of running water, and looking down into the great barranca +with its perpendicular walls of rock, and the luxuriant vegetation of +the tierra caliente covering the banks of the stream that flowed far +below us. We could easily shout to the people on the other edge of the +ravine, but it would have taken hours of toiling down the steep paths +and up again before we could have reached them. + +Here our horses were waiting for us; and an hour or two’s ride brought +us to the great sugar-hacienda of Temisco, where we were to pass the +night, for towns and inns are few and far between in Mexico when one +leaves the more populous mountain-plateaus. So much the better, for my +companion had provided himself with letters of introduction, and we had +already seen something of hacienda life, and liked it. + +As we approached Temisco, we saw upon the slopes, immense fields of +sugar-cane, now grown into a dense mass, five or six feet high, most +pleasant to look upon for the delicate green tint of the leaves that +belongs to no other plant. The colour of our English turf is beautiful, +and so are the tints of our English woods in spring, but our fields of +grain have a dull and dingy green compared to the sugar-cane and the +young Indian corn. In this beautiful valley we cannot charge the +inhabitants with entirely neglecting the irrigation of the land. +Indeed, the culture of the sugar-cane cannot be carried on without it, +and the cost of the watercourses on the large estates has been very +great. Unfortunately, even here agriculture is not flourishing. The +small number of the white inhabitants, and the distracted state of the +country make both life and property very insecure; and the brown people +are becoming less and less disposed to labour on the plantations. + +It is true that most of these channels were made in old times; little +new is done now, and I could make a long list of estates that were once +busy and prosperous, giving employment to thousands of the Indian +inhabitants, and that are now over-grown with weeds and falling to +ruin. + +Entering the iron gate of the hacienda, we found ourselves in an +immense courtyard, into which open all the principal buildings of the +estate, the house of the proprietor, the church—which forms a necessary +part of every hacienda—the crushing-mill, and the boiling-houses. Into +the same great patio open the immense stables for the many +riding-horses and the many hundreds of mules that carry the sugar and +rum over the mountains to market, and the tienda, the shop of the +estate, through which almost all the money paid to the labourers comes +back to the proprietor in exchange for goods. A mountain of fresh-cut +canes stood near the door of the trapiche (the crushing-mill); and a +gang of Indians were constantly going backwards and forwards carrying +them in by armfuls; while a succession of mules were continually +bringing in fresh supplies from the plantation to replenish the great +heap. The court-yard was littered all over, knee-deep, with dry +cane-trash; and mules, just freed from their galling saddles, were +rolling on their backs in it, kicking with all their legs at once, and +evidently in a state of high enjoyment. Part of one side of the square +was a sort of wide cloister, and in it stood chairs and tables. + +Here the business of the place was transacted, and the Administrador +could look up from his ledger, and see pretty well what was going on +all over the establishment. + +It is very common for the owners of these haciendas to be absentees, +and to leave the entire control of their estates to the administradors; +but at Temisco, which is much better managed than most others, this is +not the case, and the son of the proprietor generally lives there. He +was out riding, so we sent our horses to the stable, and lounged about +eating sugar-canes till he should return. Presently he came, a young +man in a broad Mexican hat and white jacket and trousers, mounted on a +splendid little horse, with his saddle glittering with silver, every +inch a planter. He welcomed us hospitably, and we sat down together in +the cloister looking out on the courtyard. Evening was closing in, and +all at once the church-bell rang. Crowds of Indian labourers in their +white dresses came flocking in, hardly distinguishable in the twilight, +and the sound of their footsteps deadened as they walked over the dry +stubble that covered the ground. All work ceased, every one uncovered +and knelt down; while, through the open church-doors, we heard the +Indian choir chanting the vesper hymn. In the haciendas of Mexico every +day ends thus. Many times I heard the Oración chanted at nightfall, but +its effect never diminished by repetition, and to my mind it has always +seemed the most impressive of religious services. + +Then the Administrador seated himself behind a great book, and the +calling over the “raya” began. Every man in turn was called by name, +and answered in a loud voice, “I praise God!;” then saying how much he +had earned in the day, for the Administrador to write down. “Juan +Fernandez!”—“_Alabo a Dios, tres reales y medio_:” “I praise God, one +and ninepence.” “José Valdes!”—“I praise God, eighteen pence, and +sixpence for the boy;” and so on, through a couple of hundred names. + +Then came, not unacceptably, a little cup of pasty chocolate and a long +roll for each of us. Then Don Guillermo and our host talked about their +mutual acquaintances in Mexico, and we asked questions about +sugar-planting, and walked about the boiling-house, where the +night-gang of brown men were hard at work stirring and skimming at the +boiling-pans, and ladling out coarse unrefined sugar into little +earthen bowls to cool. This common sugar in bowls is very generally +used by the poorer Mexicans. The sugar-boilers were naked excepting a +cotton girdle. These men were very strong, and with great powers of +endurance, but they did not at all resemble the strong men of Europe +with their great muscles standing up under their skin, the men in +Michael Angelo’s pictures, or the Farnese Hercules. They are equally +unlike the thin wiry Arabs, whose strength seems so disproportionate to +their lean little bodies. + +The pure Mexican Indian is short and sturdy; and, until you have +observed the peculiarities of the race, you would say he was too stout +and flabby to be strong. But this appearance is caused by the immense +thickness of his skin, which conceals the play of his muscles; and in +reality his strength is very great, especially in the legs and thighs, +and in the muscles that are brought into action in carrying burdens. +Sartorius used to observe the Indian miners bringing loads of above +five-hundred-weight up a hundred fathoms of mine-ladders, which consist +of trunks of trees fixed slanting across the shaft, with notches cut in +them for steps. + +As I have said before, it is not the mere training of the individual +that has produced this remarkable development of the power of carrying +loads. The centuries before the Conquest, when there were no beasts of +burden, had gradually produced a race whose bodies were admirably +fitted for such work; and the persistency with which they have clung to +their old habits has done much to prevent their losing this +peculiarity. + +To complete the description of the Indians which I have been led into +by speaking of the sugar-boilers,—they are chocolate-brown in colour, +with curved noses, straight black hair hanging flat round their heads +and covering their wonderfully low foreheads, and occasionally a scanty +black beard. Their faces are broadly oval, their eyes far apart, and +they have wide mouths with coarse lips. Not bad faces on the whole, but +heavy and unexpressive. + +At ten o’clock came a heavy supper, the substantial meal of the day, +and immediately afterwards we went to bed, and dreamt such dreams as +may be imagined. We were off early in the morning with a wizened old +mestizo to guide us to the ruins of Xochicalco, which are on this very +estate of Temisco. The estate is forty miles across, however, and it is +a long ride to the ruins. After we leave the fields of sugar-cane, we +see scarcely a hut, nor a patch of cultivated ground. At last we get to +Xochicalco, and find ourselves at the foot of a hill, some four hundred +feet in height, extraordinarily regular in its conical shape, more so +than any natural hill could be, unless it were the cone of a volcano. +At different heights upon this hill, we could see from below broad +terraces running round and round it. A little nearer we came upon a +great ditch. The sides had fallen in, in many places; sometimes it was +quite filled up, and everywhere it was overgrown with thick brushwood, +as was the hill itself. It seems that this ditch runs quite round the +base of the hill, and is three miles long. Climbing up through the +thicket of thorny bushes and out upon the terraces, it became quite +evident that the hill had been artificially shaped. The terraces were +built up with blocks of solid stone, and paved with the same. On the +neighbouring hills we could discern traces of more terrace-roads of the +same kind; there must be many miles of them still remaining. + +But it was when we reached the summit, that we found the most +remarkable part of the structure. The top has been cut away so as to +form a large level space, which was surrounded by a stone wall, now in +ruins. Inside the inclosure are several mounds of stone, doubtless +burial-places, and all that is left of the pyramid. Ruined and defaced +as it is, I shall never forget our feelings of astonishment and +admiration as we pushed our way through the bushes, and suddenly came +upon it. We were quite unprepared for anything of the kind; all we knew +of the place when we started that morning being that there were some +curious old ruins there. + +The pyramid was composed of blocks of hewn stone, so accurately fitted +together as hardly to show the joints, and the carving goes on without +interruption from one block to another. Some of these blocks are eight +feet long, and nearly three feet wide. They were laid together without +mortar, and indeed, from the construction of the building, none was +required. The first storey is about sixteen feet high, including the +plinth at the bottom. Above the plinth comes a sculptured group of +figures, which is repeated in panels all round the pyramid, twice on +each side. Each panel occupies a space thirty feet long by ten in +height, and the bas-reliefs project three or four inches. There is a +chief, dressed in a girdle, and with a head-dress of feathers just like +those of the Red Indians of the north. Below the girdle he terminates +in a scroll. In the middle of the group is what may perhaps be a +palm-tree, with a rabbit at its foot. Close to the tree, and reaching +nearly to the same height, is a figure with a crocodile’s head wearing +a crown, and with drapery in parallel lines, like the wings of the +creatures in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Indeed this may very likely be a +conventional representation of the robes of feather-work so +characteristic of Mexico. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURED PANEL, +From the ruined Pyramid of Xochicalco. (_After Nebel_.)] + +Above these bas-reliefs is a frieze between three and four feet high, +with another sculptured panel repeated eight times on each side of the +pyramid. This remarkable sculpture represents a man sitting barefoot +and crosslegged. On his head is a kind of crown or helmet, with a plume +of feathers; and from the front of this helmet there protrudes a +serpent, just where in the Egyptian sculptures the royal basilisk is +fixed on the crowns of kings and queens. The eyes of this personage are +protected by round plates with holes in the middle, held on by a strap +round the head, like the coloured glasses used in the United States to +keep off the glare of the sun, and known as “goggles.” In front of this +figure are sculptured a rabbit and some unintelligible ornaments or +weapons. “Rabbit” may have been his name. + +The frieze is surmounted by a cornice; and above the cornice of the +second storey enough remains to show that it was covered with reliefs, +in the same way as the first There were five storeys originally: the +others have only been destroyed about a century. The former proprietor +of the hacienda of Temisco pulled down the upper storeys, and carried +away the blocks of stone to build walls and dams with. + +The perfect execution of the details in the bas-reliefs and the +accuracy with which they are repeated show clearly that it was not so +much want of skill as the necessity of keeping to the conventional mode +of representing objects that has given so grotesque a character to the +Mexican scriptures. Certain figures became associated with religion and +astrology in Mexico, as in many other countries; and the sculptor, +though his facility in details shows that he could have made far better +figures if he had had a chance, never had the opportunity, for he was +not allowed to depart from the original rude type of the sacred object. +Humboldt remarks that the same undeviating reproduction of fixed models +is as striking in the Mexican sculptures done since the Conquest. The +clumsy outlines of the rude figures of saints brought from Europe in +the 16th century were adopted as models by the native sculptors, and +have lasted without change to this day. + +It is evident that Xochicalco answered several purposes. It was a +fortified hill of great strength, also a sacred shrine, and a +burial-place for men of note, whose bodies, no doubt, still lie under +the ruined cairns near the pyramid. The magnitude of the ditch and the +terraces, as well as the great size of the blocks of stone brought up +the hill without the aid of beasts of burden, indicate a large +population and a despotic government. The beauty of the masonry and +sculpture show that the people who erected this monument had made no +small progress in the arts. We must remember, too, that they had no +iron, but laboriously cut and polished the hardest granite and porphyry +with instruments of stone and bronze; we can hardly tell how. + +The resemblances which people find between Assyrian and Egyptian +sculptures and the American monuments are of little value, and do not +seem sufficient to ground any argument upon. When slightly civilized +races copy men, trees, and animals in their rude way, it would be hard +if there were not some resemblance among the figures they produce. With +reference to their ornamentation, it is true that what is called the +“key-border” is quite common in Mexico and Yucatan, and that on this +very pyramid the panels are divided by a twisted border, which would +not be noticed as peculiar in a “renaissance” building. But the model +of this border may have been suggested—on either side of the globe—by +creepers twined together in the forest, or by a cord doubled and +twisted, such as is represented in one of the commonest Egyptian +hieroglyphs. + +The cornice which finishes the first storey of the pyramid is a +familiar pattern, but nothing can be concluded from these simple +geometrical designs, which might be invented over and over again by +different races when they began to find pleasure in tracing ornamental +devices upon their buildings. Upon the tattooed skins of savages such +designs may be seen, and the patterns were certainly in use among them +before they had any intercourse with white men. This is the view +Humboldt takes of these coincidences. That both the Egyptian king and +the Mexican chief should wear a helmet with a serpent standing out from +it just above the forehead, is somewhat extraordinary. + +Now, who built Xochicalco? Writers on Mexico are quite ready with their +answer. They tell us that, according to the Mexican tradition, the +country was formerly inhabited by another race, who were called +_Toltecâ_, or, as we say, _Toltecs_, from the name of their city, +_Tollan_, “the Reed-swamp;” and that they were of the same race as the +Aztecs, as shown by the names of their cities and their kings being +Aztec words; that they were a highly civilized people, and brought into +the country the arts of sculpture, hieroglyphic painting, great +improvements in agriculture, many of the peculiar religious rites since +practised by other nations who settled after them in Mexico, and the +famous astronomical calendar, of which I shall speak afterwards. The +particular Toltec king to whom the Mexican historians ascribe the +building of Xochicalco was called Nauhyotl, that is to say, “Four +Bells,” and died A.D. 945. + +We are further told that just about the time of our Norman Conquest, +the Toltecs were driven out from the Mexican plateau by famine and +pestilence, and migrated again southward. Only a few families remained, +and from them the Aztecs, Chichemecs, and other barbarous tribes by +whom the country was re-peopled, derived that knowledge of the arts and +sciences upon which their own civilization was founded. It was by this +Toltec nation—say the Mexican writers—that the monuments of +Xochichalco, Teotihuacán, and Cholula were built. In their architecture +the Aztecs did little more than copy the works left by their +predecessors; and, to this day, the Mexican Indians call a builder a +_toltecatl_ or _Toltec_. + +If we consider this circumstantial account to be anything but a mere +tissue of fables, the question naturally arises—what became of the +remains of the Toltecs when they left the high plains of Mexico? A +theory has been propounded to answer this question, that they settled +in Chiapas and Yucatan, and built Palenque, Copan, and Uxmal, and the +other cities, the ruins of which lie imbedded in the tropical forest. + +At the time that Prescott wrote his History of the Conquest, such a +theory was quite tenable; but the new historic matter lately made known +by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg has given a different aspect to the +question. Without attempting to maintain the credibility of this +writer’s history as a whole, I cannot but think that he has given us +satisfactory grounds for believing that the ruined cities of Central +America were built by a race which flourished long before the Toltecs; +that they were already declining in power and civilization in the +seventh century, when the Toltecs began to flourish in Mexico; and that +the present Mayas of Yucatan are their degenerate descendants. + +What I have seen of Central American and Mexican antiquities, and of +drawings of them in books, tends to support the Abbé Brasseur de +Bourbourg’s view of the history of these countries. Traces of +communication between the two peoples are to be found in abundance, but +nothing to warrant our holding that either people took its civilization +bodily from the other. My excuse for entering into these details must +be that some of the facts I have to offer are new. + +A bas-relief at Kabah, described in Mr. Stephens’ account of his second +journey, bears considerable resemblance to that on the so-called +“sacrificial stone” of Mexico; and the warrior has the characteristic +Mexican _maquahuitl_, or “Hand-wood,” a mace set with rows of obsidian +teeth. + +A curious ornament is met with in the Central American sculptures, +representing a serpent with a man’s face looking out from between its +distended jaws; and we find a similar design in the Aztec +picture-writings, sculptures, and pottery. + +A remarkable peculiarity in the Aztec picture-writings is that the +personages represented often have one or more figures of tongues +suspended in mid-air near their mouths, indicating that they are +speaking, or that they are persons in authority. Such tongues are to be +seen on the Yucatan sculptures. + +One of the panels on the Pyramid of Xochicalco seems to have a bearing +upon this subject, I mean that of the cross-legged chief, of which I +have just spoken. + +In the first place, sitting cross-legged is not an Aztec custom. I do +not think we ever saw an Indian in Mexico sitting cross-legged. In the +picture-writings of the Aztecs, the men sit doubled up, with their +chins almost touching their knees; while the women have their legs +tucked under them, and their feet sticking out on the left side. On the +other hand, this attitude is quite characteristic of the Yucatan +sculptures. At Copan there is an altar, with sixteen chiefs sitting +cross-legged round it; and, moreover, one of them has a head-dress very +much like that of the Xochicalco chief (except that it has no serpent), +and others are more or less similar; while I do not recollect anything +like it in the Mexican picture-writings. The curious perforated +eye-plates of the Xochicalco chief, which he wore—apparently—to keep +arrows and javelins out of his eyes, are part of the equipment of the +Aztec warrior in the picture-writings, while Palenque and Copan seemed +to afford no instance of them; so that in two peculiarities the +remarkable sculpture before us seems to belong rather to Yucatan than +to Mexico, and in one to Mexico rather than to Yucatan. + +It is not even possible in all cases to distinguish Central American +sculptures from those of Mexican origin. Among the numerous stone +figures in Mr. Christy’s museum, some are unmistakably of Central +American origin, and some as certainly Mexican; but beside these, there +are many which both their owner and myself, though we had handled +hundreds of such things, were obliged to leave on the debatable ground +between the two classes. + +So much for the resemblances. But the differences are of much greater +weight. The pear-shaped heads of most of the Central American figures, +whose peculiar configuration is only approached by the wildest +caricatures of Louis Philippe, are perfectly distinctive. So are the +hieroglyphics arranged in squares, found on the sculptures of Central +America and in the Dresden Codex. So is the general character of the +architecture and sculpture, as any one may see at a glance. + +It is quite true that the so-called Aztec Astronomical Calendar was in +use in Central America, and that many of the religious observances in +both countries, such as the method of sacrificing the human victims, +and the practice of the worshippers drawing blood from themselves in +honour of the gods, are identical. But there were several ways in which +this might have been brought about, and it is no real proof that the +civilization of either country was an offshoot from that of the other. +To consider it as such would be like arguing that the negroes of Cuba +and the Indians of Yucatan had derived their civilization one from the +other, because both peoples are Roman Catholics, and use the same +almanac. On the whole I am disposed to conclude that the civilizations +of Mexico and Central America were originally independent, but that +they came much into contact, and thus modified one another to no small +extent. + +At the risk of being prosy, I will mention the _a priori_ grounds upon +which we may argue that the civilization of Central America did not +grow up there, but was brought ready-made by a people who emigrated +there from some other country. There is a theory afloat, that it is +only in temperate climates that barbarous nations make much progress in +civilizing themselves. In tropical countries the intensity of the heat +makes man little disposed for exertion, and the luxuriance of the +vegetation supplies him with the little he requires. In such +climates—say the advocates of this theory—man acknowledges the +supremacy of nature over himself, and gives up the attempt to shape her +to his own purposes; and thus, in these countries, the inhabitants go +on from generation to generation, lazily enjoying their existence, +making no effort, and indeed feeling no desire to raise themselves in +the social scale. Upon this theory, therefore, when we find a high +civilization in hot countries, as in the plains of India, we have to +account for it by supposing an immigration of races bringing their +civilization with them from more temperate climates. This theory of +civilization favours the idea of the Central American cities having +been built by a people from Mexico. The climate of the Mexican +highlands, which may be taken in a rough way to correspond with that of +North Italy, is well suited to a nation’s development. But the cities +of Yucatan and Chiapas, though geographically not far removed from the +Mexican plateau, are brought by their small elevation above the sea +into a very different climate. They are in the land of tropical heat +and the rankest vegetation, in the midst of dense forests where +pestilential fevers and overwhelming lassitude make it almost +impossible for Europeans to live, and where the Indians who still +inhabit the neighbourhood of the ruined cities are the merest savages +sunk in the lowest depths of lazy ignorance. + +If this climate-theory of progress have any truth in it, no barbarous +tribe could have raised itself in such a country to the social state +which is indicated by the ruins of such temples and cities. They must +have been settlers from some more temperate region. + +While wandering about the hill of Xochicalco we came upon a spot that +strongly excited our curiosity. It was simply a small paved oval space +with a little altar at one end, and, lying round about it, some +fragments of what seemed to have been a hideous grotesque idol of baked +clay. Perhaps it was a shrine dedicated to one of the inferior deities, +such as often surrounded the greater temples; for, in Mexico, +astronomy, astrology, and religion had become mixed up together, as +they have been in other quarters of the globe, and even the +astronomical signs of days and months had temples of their own. + +Xochicalco means “In the House of Flowers.” The word +“flower,”—_xochitl_,—is often a part of the names of Mexican places and +people, such as the lake of Xochimilco—“In the Flower-plantation.” +_Tlilxochitl_, literally “black flower,” is the Aztec name for vanilla, +so that the name of that famous Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, whose +name sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott, means +“Vanilla-face.” Why the place was called “In the House of Flowers” is +not clear. The usual explanation seems not unlikely, that it was +because offerings of flowers and first-fruits were made upon its +shrines. The Toltecs, say the Mexican chroniclers, did not sacrifice +human victims; and it was not until long after other tribes had taken +possession of their deserted temples, that the Aztecs introduced the +custom by sacrificing their prisoners of war. It seems odd, however, +that one of the Toltec kings should have been called Topiltzin, which +was the title of the chief priest among the Aztecs, whose duty it was +to cut open the breasts of the human victims and tear out their hearts. + +The Indians always delighted in carrying flowers in their solemn +processions, crowning themselves with garlands, and decorating their +houses and temples with them; and, while they worshipped their gods +according to the simple rites which tradition says their prophet, +Quetzalcoatl, (“Feathered Snake,”) appointed, before he left them and +embarked in his canoe on the Eastern ocean, no name could have been +more appropriate for their temple. This pleasant custom did not +disappear after the Conquest; and to this day the churches in the +Indian districts are beautiful with their brilliant garlands and +nosegays, and are as emphatically “houses of flowers” as were the +temples in ages long past. + +Since writing the above notice of the Pyramid of Xochicalco, I have +come upon a new piece of evidence, which, if it may be depended on, +proves more about the history of this remarkable monument than all the +rest put together. Dupaix made a drawing of the ruins at Xochicalco in +1805, which is to be found in Lord Kingsborough’s ‘Antiquities of +Mexico,’ and among the sculptures of the upper tier of blocks is +represented a reed, with its leaves set in a square frame, with three +small circles underneath; the whole forming, in the most unmistakable +way, the sign 3 Acatl (3 Cane) of the Mexican Astronomical Calendar. + +Now it must be admitted that Dupaix’s drawing of these ruins is most +grossly incorrect; but still no amount of mere carelessness in an +artist will justify us in supposing him to have invented and put in out +of his own head a design so entirely _sui generis_ as this. It does not +even follow that the drawing is wrong because the sign may not be found +there now; for it was in an upper tier, and no doubt many stones have +been removed since 1805, for building-purposes. + +If the existence of the sign 3 Acatl on the pyramid may be considered +as certain, it will fit in perfectly with the accounts of the Mexican +historians, who state that Xochicalco was built by a king of the Toltec +race, and also that the Aztecs adopted the astronomical calendars of +years and days in use among the Toltecs. + +It was afternoon when we left Xochicalco and rode on over a gently +undulating country, crossing streams here and there, and had our +breakfast at Miacatlán under a shed in front of the village shop, where +all the activity of the little Indian town seemed to be concentrated. +By the road-side were beautiful tamarind-trees with their dark green +foliage, and the mamei-tree as large as a fine English horse-chestnut, +and not unlike it at a distance. On the branches were hanging the great +mameis, just like the inside of cocoa-nuts when the inner shell has +been cracked off. It appeared that Nature was not acquainted with M. De +La Fontaine’s works, or she would probably have got a hint from the +fable of the acorn and the pumpkin, and not have hung mameis and +cocoa-nuts at such a dangerous height. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD IN TERRA-COTTA. (_From Mr. Christy’s +Collection_.)] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +COCOYOTLA. CACAHUAMILPÁN. CHALMA. OCULAN. TENANCINGO. TOLUCA. + + +[Illustration: IXTCALCO CHURCH.] + +A little before dark we came to the hacienda of Santa Rosita de +Cocoyotla, another sugar-plantation which was to be our head-quarters +for some days to come. We presented our letter of introduction from the +owner of the estate, and the two administradors received us with open +arms. We were conducted into the strangers’ sleeping-room, a long +barrack-like apartment with stone walls and a stone floor that seemed +refreshingly dark and cool; we could look out through its barred +windows into the garden, where a rapid little stream of water running +along the channel just outside made a pleasant gurgling sound. +Appearances were delusive, however, and it was only the change from the +outside that made us feel the inside cool and pleasant. For days our +clothes clung to us as if we had been drowned, and the +pocket-handkerchiefs with which we mopped our faces had to be hung on +chair-backs to dry. Except in the early morning, there was no coolness +in that sweltering place. + +In one corner of our room I discerned a brown toad of monstrous size +squatting in great comfort on the damp flags. He was as big as a +trussed chicken, and looked something like one in the twilight. We +pointed him out to the administrador, who brought in two fierce +watchdogs, but the toad set up his back and spirted his acrid liquor, +and the dogs could not be got to go near him. We stirred him up with a +bamboo and drove him into the garden, but he left his portrait painted +in slime upon our floor. + +The Indian choir chanted the Oración as we had heard it the night +before at Temisco, and then came the calling over of the raya. After +that we walked about the place, and sat talking in the open corridor. +Owners of estates, and indeed all white folks living in this part of +the country were beginning to feel very anxious about their position, +and not without reason. Ordinary political events excite but little +interest in these Indian districts, and so trifling a matter as a +revolution and a change of people in power does not affect them +perceptibly. The Indians are absolutely free, and have their votes and +their civil privileges like any other citizens. All that the owners of +the plantations ask of them is to work for high wages, and hitherto +they have done this, but for years it has been becoming more and more +difficult to get them to work. All they do with the money when they get +it, is to spend it in drinking and gambling, if they are of an +extravagant turn of mind; or to bury it in some out-of-the-way place, +if they are given to saving. If they were whites or half-caste Mexicans +they would spend their money upon fine clothes and horses, but the +Indian keeps to the white cotton dress of his fathers, and is never +seen on horseback. Now this being the case, it does not seem +unreasonable that they should not much care about working hard for +money that is of so little use to them when they have got it, and that +they should prefer living in their little huts walled with canes and +thatched with palm-leaves, and cultivating the little patch of +garden-ground that lies round it—which will produce enough fruit and +vegetables for their own subsistence, and more besides, which they can +sell for clothes and tobacco. A day or two of this pleasant easy work +at their own ground will provide this, and they do not see why they +should labour as hired servants to get more. This is bad enough, think +the hacendados, but there is worse behind. The Indians have been of +late years becoming gradually aware that the government of the country +is quite rotten and powerless, and that in their own districts at +least, the power is very much in their own hands, for the few scattered +whites could offer but slight resistance. The doctrine of “America for +the Americans” is rapidly spreading among them, and active emissaries +are going about reminding them that the Spaniards only got their lands +by the right of the strongest, and that now is the time for them to +reassert their rights. + +The name of Alvarez is circulated among them, as the man who is to lead +them in the coming struggle—Alvarez the mulatto general, whose hideous +portrait is in every print-shop in Mexico. He was President before +Comonfort, and is now established with his Indian regiments in the hot +pestilential regions of the Pacific coast. + +The undisguised contempt with which the Indians have been treated for +ages by the whites and the mestizos has not been without its effect. +The revolution, and the abolition of all legal distinctions of caste +still left the Indians mere senseless unreasoning creatures in the eyes +of the whiter races; and, if the original race once get the upper hand, +it will go hard with the whites and their estates in these parts. Only +a day or two before we came down from Mexico, the government had +endeavoured to quarter some troops in one of the little Indian towns +which we passed through on our way from Temisco. But the inhabitants +saluted them with volleys of stones from the church-steeple and the +house-tops, and they had to retreat most ignominiously into their old +quarters among “reasonable people.” + +I have put down our notions on the “Indian Question,” just as they +presented themselves to us at the time. The dismal forebodings of the +planters seem to have been fulfilled to some extent at least, for we +heard, not long after our return to Europe, that the Indians had +plundered and set fire to numbers of the haciendas of the south +country, and that our friends the administradors of Cocoyotla had +escaped with their lives. The hacienda itself, if our information is +correct, which I can hardly doubt, is now a blackened deserted ruin. + +At supper appeared two more guests besides ourselves, apparently +traders carrying goods to sell at the villages and haciendas on the +road. In such places the hacienda offers its hospitality to all +travellers, and there was room in our caravanserai for yet more +visitors if they had come. Our beds were like those in general use in +the tropics, where mattresses would be unendurable, and even the +pillows become a nuisance. The frame of the bed has a piece of coarse +cloth stretched tightly over it; a sheet is laid upon this, and another +sheet covers the sleeper. This compromise between a bed and a hammock +answers the purpose better than anything else, and admits of some +circulation of air, especially when you have kicked off the sheet and +lie fully exposed to the air and the mosquitos. + +I cannot say that it is pleasant to wake an hour or two after going to +bed, with your exact profile depicted in a wet patch on the pillow; nor +is it agreeable to become conscious at the same time of an intolerable +itching, and to find, on lighting a candle, that an army of small ants +are walking over you, and biting furiously. These were my experiences +during my first night at Cocoyotla; and I finished the night, lying +half-dressed on my bed, with the ends of my trousers-legs tied close +with handkerchiefs to keep the creatures out. But when we got into our +saddles in the early morning, we forgot all these little miseries, and +started merrily on our expedition to the great stalactitic cave of +Cacahuamilpán. + +Our day’s journey had two objects; one was to see the cave, and the +other to visit the village close by,—one of the genuine unmixed Indian +communities, where even the Alcalde and the Cura, the temporal and +spiritual heads of the society, are both of pure Indian blood, and +white influence has never been much felt. + +[Illustration: INDIANS MAKING & BAKING TORTILLAS. (After Models +made by a Native Artist.)] + +A ride of two or three hours from the hacienda brought us into a +mountainous district, and there we found the village of Cacahuamilpán +on the slope of a hill. In the midst of neat trim gardens stood the +little white church, and the ranches of the inhabitants, cottages of +one room, with walls of canes which one can see through in all +directions, and roofs of thatch, with the ground smoothed and trodden +hard for a floor. Everything seemed clean and prosperous, and there was +a bright sunny look about the whole place; but to Englishmen, +accustomed to the innumerable appliances of civilized life, it seems +surprising how very few and simple are the wants of these people. The +inventory of their whole possessions will only occupy a few lines. The +_metate_ for grinding or rubbing down the maize to be patted out into +tortillas, a few calabashes for bottles, and pieces of calabashes for +bowls and cups, prettily ornamented and painted, and hanging on pegs +round the walls. A few palm-leaf mats (petates) to sleep upon, some +pots of thin unglazed earthenware for the cooking, which is done over a +wood-fire in the middle of the floor. A chimney is not necessary in +houses which are like the Irishman’s coat, consisting principally of +holes. A wooden box, somewhere, contains such of the clothes of the +family as are not in wear. There is really hardly anything I can think +of to add to this catalogue, except the agricultural implements, which +consist of a wooden spade, a hoe, some sharp stakes to make the drills +with, and the machete—which is an iron bill-hook, and serves for +pruning, woodcutting, and now and then for less peaceful purposes. +Sometimes one sees women weaving cotton-cloth, or _manta_, as it is +called, in a loom of the simplest possible construction; or sitting at +their doors in groups, spinning cotton-thread with the _malacates_, and +apparently finding as much material for gossip here as elsewhere. + +The Mexicans spun and wove their cotton-cloth just in this way before +the Conquest, and malacates of baked clay are found in great numbers in +the neighbourhood of the old Mexican cities. They are simple, like very +large button-moulds, and a thin wooden skewer stuck in the hole in the +middle makes them ready for use. Such spindles were used by the +lake-men of Switzerland, but the earthen heads were not quite the same +in shape, being like balls pierced with a hole, as are those at present +used in Mexico. + +The Indians here had not the dull sullen look we saw among those who +inhabit the colder regions; and, though belonging to the same race, +they were better formed and had a much freer bearing than their less +fortunate countrymen of the colder districts. + +Our business in the village was to get guides for the cavern. While +some men were gone to look for the Alcalde, we walked about the +village, and finally encamped under a tree. One of our men had got us a +bag full of fruit,—limes, zapotes, and nisperos, which last are a large +kind of medlar, besides a number of other kinds of fruit, which we ate +without knowing what they were. Though rather insipid, the limes are +deliciously refreshing in this thirsty country; and they do no harm, +however enormously one may indulge in them. The whole neighbourhood +abounds in fruit, and its name _Cacahuamilpán_ means “the plantation of +_cacahuate_ nuts.” + +It soon became evident that the Alcalde was keeping us waiting as a +matter of dignity, and to show that, though the white men might be held +in great estimation elsewhere, they did not think so much of them in +this free and independent village. At last a man came to summon us to a +solemn audience. In a hut of canes, the Alcalde, a little lame Indian, +was sitting on a mat spread on the ground in the middle, with his +escribano or secretary at his left hand. Other Indians were standing +outside at the door. The little man scarcely condescended to take any +notice of us when we saluted him, but sat bolt upright, positively +bursting with suppressed dignity, and the escribano inquired in a loud +voice what our business was. We told him we wanted guides to the cave, +which he knew as well as we did; but instead of answering, he began to +talk to the Alcalde. We quite appreciated the pleasure it must have +been to the two functionaries to show off before us and their assembled +countrymen, who were looking on at the proceedings with great respect; +and we had not minded affording them this cheap satisfaction; but at +last the joke seemed to be getting stale, so we proceeded some to sit +and some to lie down at full length, and to go on eating limes in the +presence of the August company. Thereupon they informed us what would +be the cost of guides and candles, and we eventually made a bargain +with them and started on foot. + +On looking at the map of the State of Mexico, there is to be seen a +river which stops suddenly on reaching the mountains of Cacahuamilpán, +and begins again on the other side, having found a passage for itself +through caves in the mountain for six or seven miles. Not far from the +place where this river flows out of the side of the hill, is a path +which leads to the entrance of the cave. A long downward slope brought +us into the first great vaulted chamber, perhaps a quarter of a mile +long and eighty feet high; then a long scramble through a narrow +passage, and another hall still grander than the first. At the end of +this hall is another passage leading on into another chamber. Beyond +this we did not go. As it was, we must have walked between one and two +miles into the cavern, but people have explored it to twice this +distance, always finding a repetition of the same arrangement, great +vaulted chambers alternating with long passages almost choked by fallen +rocks. In one of the passages, I think the last we came to, the roaring +of the river in its subterranean bed was distinctly audible below us. + +Excepting the great cave of Kentucky, I believe there is no stalactitic +cavern known so vast and beautiful as this. The appearance of the +largest hall was wonderful when some twenty of our Indian guides +stationed themselves on pinnacles of stalagmite, each one holding up a +blazing torch, while two more climbed upon a great mass at one end +called the altar, and burnt Bengal lights there; the rest stood at the +other extremity of the cave sending up rockets in rapid succession into +the vaulted roof, and making the millions of grotesque incrustations +glitter as if they had been masses of diamonds: All the quaint shapes +that are found in such caverns were to be seen here on the grandest +scale, columns, arched roof, organ-pipes, trees, altars, and squatting +monsters ranged in long lines like idols in a temple. There may very +well be some truth in the notion that the origin of Gothic architecture +was in stalactites of a limestone cavern, so numerous and perfect are +the long slender columns crowned with pointed Gothic arches. + +Our procession through the cave was a picturesque one. We carried long +wax altar-candles and our guides huge torches made of threads of +aloe-fibre soaked in resin and wrapped round with cloth, in appearance +and texture exactly like the legs and arms of mummies. As we went, the +Indians sang Mexican songs to strange, monotonous, plaintive tunes, or +raced about into dark corners shouting with laughter. They talked about +adventures in the cave, to them of course the great phenomenon of the +whole world; but it did not seem, as far as we could hear, that they +associated with it any recollections of the old Aztec divinities and +the mystic rites performed in their honour. + +No fossil bones have been found in the cavern, nor human remains except +in one of the passages far within, where a little wooden cross still +marks the spot where the skeleton of an Indian was found. Whether he +went alone for mere curiosity to explore the cave, or, what is more +likely, with an idea of finding treasure, is not known; nothing is +certain but that his candle was burnt out while he was still far from +the entrance, and that he died there. I said no fossil remains had been +found, but the level floors of the great halls are continually being +raised by fresh layers of stalagmite from the water dropping from the +roof, and no one knows what may lie under them. These floors are in +many places covered with little loose concretions like marbles, and +these concretions in the course of time are imbedded in the horizontal +layers of the same material. + +As we left the entrance hall and began to ascend the sloping passage +that leads to daylight, we saw an optical appearance which, had we not +seen it with our own eyes, we could never have believed to be a natural +effect of light and shade. To us, still far down in the cave, the +entrance was only illuminated by reflected light; but as the Indians +reached it, the direct rays of sunlight fell upon them, and their white +dresses shone with an intense phosphoric light, as though they had been +self-luminous. It is just such an effect that is wanting in our +pictures of the Transfiguration, but I fear it is as impossible to +paint it upon canvas as to describe it in words. + +Next morning our friend Don Guillermo said good-bye to us, and started +to return post-haste to his affairs in the capital. We stayed a few +days longer at Cocoyotla, never tiring of the beautiful garden with its +groves of orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, and the river which, running +through it, joins the stream that we heard rushing along in the cavern, +to flow down into the Pacific. + +On Sunday morning the priest arrived on an ambling mule, the favourite +clerical animal. They say it is impossible to ride a mule unless you +are either an arriero or a priest. Not that it is by any means +necessary, however, that he should ride a mule. I shall not soon forget +the jaunty young monk we saw at Tezcuco, just setting out for a country +festival, mounted on a splendid little horse, with his frock tucked up, +and a pair of hairy goat-skin _chaparreros_ underneath, a broad Mexican +hat, a pair of monstrous silver spurs, and a very large cigar in his +mouth. The girls came out of the cottage doors to look at him, as he +made the fiery little beast curvet and prance along the road; and he +was evidently not insensible to the looks of admiration of these young +ladies, as they muffled up their faces in their blue rebozos and looked +at him through the narrow opening. + +Nearly two hundred Indians crowded into the church to mass, and went +through the service with evident devotion. There are no more sincere +Catholics in the world than the Indians, though, as I have said, they +are apt to keep up some of their old rites in holes and corners. The +administradors did not trouble themselves to attend mass, but went on +posting up their books just outside the church-door; in this, as in a +great many other little matters, showing their contempt for the brown +men, and adding something every day to the feeling of dislike they are +regarded with. + +We speak of the Indians still keeping up their ancient superstitious +rites in secret, as we often heard it said so in Mexico, though we +ourselves never saw anything of it. The Abbé Clavigero, who wrote in +the last century, declares the charge to be untrue, except perhaps in a +few isolated cases. “The few examples of idolatry,” he says, “which can +be produced are partly excusable; since it is not to be wondered at +that rude uncultured men should not be able to distinguish the +idolatrous worship of a rough figure of wood or stone from that which +is rightly paid to the holy images.” (There are people who would quite +agree with the good Abbé that the distinction is rather a difficult one +to make.) “But how often has prejudice against them declared things to +be idols which were really images of the saints, though shapeless ones! +In 1754 I saw some images found in a cave, which were thought to be +idols; but I had no doubt that they were figures representing the +mystery of the Holy Nativity.” + +A good illustration of the wholesale way in which the early Catholic +missionaries went about the work of conversion is given in a remark of +Clavigero’s. There is one part of the order of baptism which proceeds +thus: “Then the Priest, wetting his right thumb with spittle from his +mouth, and touching therewith in the form of a cross the right ear of +the person to be baptized, &c.” The Mexican missionaries, it seems, had +to leave out this ceremony, from sheer inability to provide enough of +the requisite material for their crowds of converts. + +After mass we rode out to a mound that had attracted our attention a +day or two before, and which proved to be a fort or temple, or probably +both combined. There were no remains to be found there except the usual +fragments of pottery and obsidian. Then we returned to the hacienda to +say good-bye to our friends there, before starting on our journey back +to Mexico. All the population were hard at work amusing themselves, and +the shop was doing a roaring trade in glasses of aguardiente. The +Indian who had been our guide for some days past had opened a Monté +bank with the dollars we had given him, and was sitting on the ground +solemnly dealing cards one by one from the bottom of a dirty pack, a +crowd of gamblers standing or sitting in a semicircle before him, +silently watching the cards and keeping a vigilant eye upon their +stakes which lay on the ground before the banker. Other parties were +busy at the same game in other parts of the open space before the shop, +which served as the great square for the colony. + +Under the arcades in front of the shop a fandango was going on, though +it was quite early in the afternoon. A man and a woman stood facing +each other, an old man tinkled a guitar, producing a strange, endless, +monotonous tune, and the two dancers stamped with their feet, and moved +their arms and bodies about in time to the music, throwing themselves +into affected and voluptuous attitudes which evidently met with the +approval of the bystanders, though to us, who did not see with Indian +eyes, they seemed anything but beautiful. When the danseuse had tired +out one partner, another took his place. An admiring crowd stood round +or sat on the stone benches, smoking cigarettes, and looking on gravely +and silently, with evident enjoyment. Just as we saw it, it would go on +probably through half the night, one couple, or perhaps two, keeping it +up constantly, the rest looking on and refreshing themselves from time +to time with raw spirits. Though inferior to the Eastern dancing, it +resembled it most strikingly, my companion said. It has little to do +with the really beautiful and artistic dancing of Old Spain, but seems +to be the same that the people delighted in long before they ever saw a +white man. Montezuma’s palace contained a perfect colony of +professional dancers, whose sole business was to entertain him with +their performances, which only resembled those of the Old World because +human nature is similar everywhere, and the same wants and instincts +often find their development in the same way among nations totally +separated from each other. + +We left the natives to their amusement, and started on our twenty miles +ride. By the time the evening had fairly begun to close in upon us, we +crossed the crest of a hill and had a dim view of a valley below us, +but there were no signs of Chalma or its convent. We let our horses +find their way as well as they could along the rocky path, and got down +into the valley. A light behind us made us turn round, and we saw a +grand sight. The coarse grass on a large hill further down the valley +had been set fire to, and a broad band of flame stretched right across +the base of the hill, and was slowly moving upwards towards its top, +throwing a lurid glare over the surrounding country, and upon the +clouds of smoke that were rising from the flames. Every now and then we +turned to watch the line of fire as it rose higher and higher, till at +last it closed in together at the summit with one final blaze, and left +us in the darkness. We dismounted and stumbled along, leading our +horses down the precipitous sides of the deep ravines that run into the +valley, mounting again to cross the streams at the bottom, and +clambering up on the other side to the level of the road. At last a +turn in the valley showed lights just before us, and we entered the +village of Chalma, which was illuminated with flaring oil-lamps in the +streets, where men were hard at work setting up stalls and booths of +planks. It seemed there was to be a fair next day. + +They showed us the way to the _meson_[17] and there we left Antonio +with the horses, while the proprietor sent an idiot boy to show us the +way to the convent, for our inspection of the meson decided us at once +on seeking the hospitality of the monks for the night. We climbed up +the hill, went in at the convent-gate, across a courtyard, along a dim +cloister, and through another door where our guide made his way out by +a different opening, leaving us standing in total darkness. After a +time another door opened, and a good-natured-looking friar came in with +a lamp in his hand, and conducted us upstairs to his cell. I think our +friend was the sub-prior of the convent. His cell was a very +comfortable bachelor’s apartment, in a plain way, vaulted and +whitewashed, with good chairs and a table and a very +comfortable-looking bed. + + [17] The _meson_ of Mexico is a lineal descendant of the Eastern + Caravanserai, and has preserved its peculiarities unchanged for + centuries. It consists of two court-yards, one surrounded by stabling + and the other by miserable rooms for the travellers, who must cook + their food themselves, or go elsewhere for it. + +We sat talking with him for a long while, and heard that the fair next +day would be attended by numbers of Indians from remote places among +the mountains, and that at noon there would be an Indian dance in the +church. It is not the great festival, however, he said. That is once a +year; and then the Indians come from fifty miles round, and stay here +several days, living in the caves in the rock just by the town, buying +and selling in the fair, attending mass, and having solemn dances in +the church. We asked him about the ill feeling between the Indians and +the whites. He said that among the planters it might be as we said, but +that in the neighbourhood of his convent the respect and affection of +the Indians for the clergy, whether white or Indian, was as great as +ever. Then we gossipped about horses, of which our friend was evidently +an amateur, and when the conversation flagged, he turned to the table +in the middle of the room and handed us little bowls made of +calabashes, prettily decorated and carved, and full of sweetmeats. +There were ten or twelve of these little bowls on the table, each with +a different kind of “tuck” in it. We inquired where all those good +things came from, and learnt that making them was one of the favourite +occupations of the Mexican nuns, who keep their brethren in the +monasteries well supplied. At last the good monk went away to his +duties and left us, when I could not resist the temptation of having a +look at the little books in blue and green paper covers which were +lying on the table with the sweetmeat-bowls and the venerable old +missal. They proved to be all French novels done into Spanish, and +“Notre-Dame de Paris” was lying open (under a sheet of paper); so I +conclude that our visit had interrupted the sub-prior while deep in +that improving work. + +Presently a monk came to conduct us down into the refectory, and there +they gave us an uncommonly good supper of wonderful Mexican stews, +red-hot as usual, and plenty of good Spanish wine withal. The great +dignitaries of the cloister did not appear, but some fifteen or twenty +monks were at table with us, and never tired of questioning us—exactly +in the same fashion that the ladies of the harem questioned Doña Juana. +We delighted them with stories of the miraculous Easter fire at +Jerusalem, and the illumination of St. Peter’s, of the Sistine chapel +and the Pope, and we parted for the night in high good humour. + +Next morning a monk attached himself to us as our cicerone, a fine +young fellow with a handsome face, and no end of fun in him. + +Now that we saw the convent by daylight, we were delighted with the +beauty of its situation. The broad fertile valley grows narrower and +narrower until it becomes a gorge in the mountains; and here the +convent is built, with the mountain-stream running through its +beautiful gardens, and turning the wheel of the convent-mill before it +flows on into the plain to fertilize the broad lands of the reverend +fathers. + +When we had visited the gardens and the stables, our young monk brought +us back to the great church of the convent, where we took our places +near the monks, who had mustered in full force to be present at the +dancing. Presently the music arrived, an old man with a harp, and a +woman with a violin; and then came the dancers, eight Indian boys with +short tunics and head-dresses of feathers, and as many girls with white +dresses, and garlands of flowers on their heads. The costumes were +evidently intended to represent the Indian dresses of the days of +Montezuma, but they were rather modernized by the necessity of wearing +various articles of dress which would have been superfluous in old +times. They stationed themselves in the middle of the church, opposite +the high altar, and, to our unspeakable astonishment, began to dance +the polka. Then came a waltz, then a schottisch, then another waltz, +and finally a quadrille, set to unmitigated English tunes. They danced +exceedingly well, and behaved as though they had been used to European +ball-rooms all their lives. The spectators looked on as though it were +all a matter of course for these brown-skinned boys and girls to have +acquired so singular an accomplishment in their out-of-the-way village +among the mountains. As for us we looked on in open-mouthed +astonishment; and when, in the middle of the quadrille, the harp and +violin struck up no less a tune than “The King of the Cannibal +Islands,” we could hardly help bursting out into fits of laughter. We +restrained ourselves, however, and kept as grave a countenance as the +rest of the lookers-on, who had not the faintest idea that anything odd +was happening. The quadrille finished in perfect order; each dancer +took his partner by the hand and led her forward; and so, forming a +line in front of the high altar, they all knelt down, and the rest of +the congregation followed their example; there was a dead silence in +the church for about the space of an Ave Maria, then everyone rose, and +the ceremony was over.[18] + + [18] The Aztecs were accustomed, before the Conquest, to perform + dances as part of the celebration of their religious festivals, and + the missionaries allowed them to continue the practice after their + conversion. The dance in a church, described by Mr. Bullock in 1822, + was a much more genuine Indian ceremony than the one which we saw. + Church-dancing may be seen in Europe even at the present day. The + solemn Advent dances in Seville cathedral were described to me, by + an eyewitness, as consisting of minuets, or some such stately + old-fashioned dances, performed in front of the high altar by boys + in white surplices, with the greatest gravity and decorum. + +Our young monk asked permission of his superior to take us out for a +walk, and we went down together to the convent-mill. There we saw the +mill, which was primitive, and the miller, who was burly; and also +something much more worth seeing, at least to our young acquaintance, +who tucked up his skirts and ran briskly up a ladder into the upper +regions, calling to us to follow him. A door led from the granary into +the miller’s house, and the miller’s daughter happened, of course +entirely by chance, to be coming through that way. A very pretty girl +she was too, and I never in my life saw anything more intensely comic +than the looks of intelligence that passed between her and the young +friar when he presented us. It was decidedly contrary to good monastic +discipline it is true, and we ought to have been shocked, but it was so +intolerably laughable that my companion bolted into the granary to +examine the wheat, and I took refuge in a violent fit of coughing. Our +nerves had been already rudely shaken by the King of the Cannibal +Islands, and this little scene of convent-life fairly finished us. + +We asked our young friend what his day’s work consisted of, and how he +liked convent-life. He yawned, and intimated that it was very slow. We +enquired whether the monks had not some parochial duties to perform, +such as visiting the sick and the poor in their neighbourhood. He +evidently wondered whether we were really ignorant, or whether we were +“chaffing” him, and observed that that was no business of their’s, the +curas of the villages did all that sort of thing. “Then, what have you +to do?” we said. “Well,” he said, “there are so many services every +day, and high mass on Sundays and holidays; and besides that, +there’s—well, there isn’t anything particular. It’s rather a dull life. +I myself should like uncommonly to go and travel and see the world, or +go and fight somewhere.” We were quite sorry for the young fellow when +we shook hands with him at parting, and he left us to go back to his +convent. + +We had been clambering about the hill, seeing the caves with which it +is honeycombed, but at present they were uninhabited. At the time of +the great festival, when they are full of Indian families, the scene +must be a curious one. + +The monks had hospitably pressed us to stay till their mid-day meal, +but we preferred having it at the shop down in the village, so as to +start directly afterwards. Here the people gave us a regular reception, +entertained us with their best, and could not be prevailed upon to +accept any payment whatever. The proprietor of the meson sat down +before the barley-bin which served him for a desk, and indited a long +and eloquent letter of introduction for us to a friend of his in +Oculan, who was to find a night’s lodging for us. Before he sealed up +the despatch he read it to us in a loud voice, sentence by sentence. It +might have been an autograph letter from King Philip to some foreign +potentate. Armed with this important missive, we mounted our horses, +shook hands with no end of well-wishers, and rode off up the valley. + +For a little while our path lay through a sort of suburb of Chalma, +houses lying near one another, each surrounded by a pleasant garden, +and both houses and people looking prosperous and cheerful. Our +directions for finding the way were simple enough. We were to go up the +valley past the Cerra de los Atambores, “the hill of drums,” and the +great _ahuehuete_. What the Cerra de los Atambores might be, we could +not tell, but when we had followed the valley for an hour or so, it +came into view. On the other side of the stream rose a precipitous +cliff, several hundred feet high, and near the top a perpendicular wall +of rock was carved with rude designs. People have supposed, it seems, +that these carvings represented drums, and hence the name. + +Had we known of the place before, we should have made an effort to +explore it, and copy the sculptured designs; but now it was too late, +and from the other side of the valley we could not make out more than +that there seemed to be a figure of the sun among them. + +A little further on we came to the “Ahuehuete.” The name means a +deciduous cypress, a common tree in Mexico, and of which we had already +seen such splendid specimens in the grove near Tezcuco, and in the wood +of Chapoltepec. This was a remarkable tree as to size, some sixty feet +round at the lower part where the roots began to spread out. A copious +spring of water rose within the hollow trunk itself, and ran down +between the roots into the little river. All over its spreading +branches were fastened votive offerings of the Indians, hundreds of +locks of coarse black hair, teeth, bits of coloured cloth, rags, and +morsels of ribbon. The tree was many centuries old, and had probably +had some mysterious influence ascribed to it, and been decorated with +such simple offerings long before the discovery of America. In Brittany +the peasants still keep up the custom of hanging up locks of their hair +in certain chapels, to charm away diseases; and there it is certain +that the Christians only appropriated to their own worship places +already held sacred in the estimation of the people. + +Oculan is a dismal little place. We found the great man of the village +standing at his door, but our letter to him was dishonoured in the most +decided manner. He read the epistle, carefully folded it up and +pocketed it, then pointed in the direction of two or three houses on +the other side of the way, and saying he supposed we might get a +lodging over there, he wished us good-day and retired into his own +premises. The landlord of “over there” was very civil. He had a shed +for the horses, and could give us palm-mats to sleep upon on the floor, +or on the shop-counter, which was very narrow, but long enough for us +both; and this latter alternative we chose. + +We walked up to the top of a hill close by the village, and were +surveying the country from thence, keeping a sharp look-out all the +while for Mexican remains in the furrows. For a wonder, we found +nothing but some broken spindle-heads; but, while we were thus +occupied, two Indians suddenly made their appearance, each with his +_machete_ in his hand, and wanted to know what we were doing on their +land. We pacified them by politeness and a cigar apiece, but we were +still evidently objects of suspicion, and they were quite relieved to +see us return to the village. There, an old woman cooked us hard-boiled +eggs and tortillas, and then we went tranquilly to bed on our counter, +with our saddles for pillows, and our serapes for bed-clothes. + +All the way from Cocoyotla our height above the sea had been gradually +increasing; and soon after we started from Oculan next morning, we came +to the foot of one of the grand passes that lead up into the high +lands, where the road mounts by zig-zag turns through a splendid forest +of pines and oaks, and at the top of the ascent we were in a broad +fertile plain as high or higher than the valley of Mexico. It was like +England to ride between large fields of wheat and barley, and to pick +blackberries in the hedges. It was only April, and yet the grain was +almost ready for the sickle, and the blackberries were fully ripe. +Fresh green grass was growing in the woods under the oak-trees, and the +banks were covered with Alpine strawberries. + +We are in the great grain-district of the Republic. Wheat is grown for +the supply of the large towns, and barley for the horses. Green barley +is the favourite fodder for the horses in the Mexican highlands, and in +the hotter districts the leaves of young Indian corn. Oats are to be +seen growing by chance among other grain, but they are never +cultivated. Though wheat is so much grown upon the plains, it is not +because the soil and climate are more favourable than elsewhere for +such culture. In the plains of Toluca and Tenancingo the yield of wheat +is less than the average of the Republic, which is from 25- to 30-fold, +and in the cloudy valleys we passed through near Orizaba it is much +greater. Labour is tolerably cheap and plentiful here, however; and +then each large town must draw its supplies of grain from the +neighbouring districts, for, in a country where it pays to carry goods +on mules’ backs, it is clear that grain cannot be carried far to +market. + +In the question of the population of Mexico, one begins to speculate +why—in a country with a splendid climate, a fertile soil, and almost +unlimited space to spread in, the inhabitants do not increase one-half +so fast as in England, and about one-sixth as fast as their neighbours +of the United States. One of the most important causes which tend to +bring about this state of things is the impossibility of conveying +grain to any distance, except by doubling and trebling its price. The +disastrous effects of a failure of the crop in one district cannot be +remedied by a plentiful harvest fifty miles off; for the peasants, +already ruined by the loss of their own harvest, can find neither money +nor credit to buy food brought from a distance at so great an expense. +Next year may be fruitful again, but numbers die in the interval, and +the constitutions of a great proportion of the children never recover +the effects of that one year’s famine. + +We left the regular road and struck up still higher into the hills, +riding amongst winding roads with forest above and below us, and great +orchids of the most brilliant colours, blue, white, and crimson, +shining among the branches of the oak-trees. The boughs were often +breaking down with the bulbs of such epiphytes; but as yet it was early +in the season, and only here and there one was in flower. At the top of +the hill, still in the midst of the woods, is the Desierto, “the +desert,” the place we had selected for our noon-day halt. There are +many of these Desiertos in Mexico, founded by rich people in old times. +They are a kind of convent, with some few resident ecclesiastics, and +numbers of cells for laymen who retire for a time into this secluded +place and are received gratuitously. They spend a week or two in prayer +and fasting, then confess themselves, receive the sacrament, and return +into the world. The situation of this quiet place was well chosen in +the midst of the forest, and once upon a time the cells used to be full +of penitents; but now we saw no one but the old porter, as we walked +about the gardens and explored the quadrangle and the rows of cells, +each with a hideous little wood-cut of a martyr being tortured, upon +the door. + +Thence we rode down into the plain, looking down, as we descended, upon +a hill which seemed to be an old crater, rising from the level ground; +and then our path lay among broad fields where oxen were ploughing, and +across marshes covered with coarse grass, until we came to the quaint +little town of Tenancingo. There we found the _meson_; and the landlord +handed us the key of our room, which was square, whitewashed, and with +a tiled floor. There was no window, so we had to keep the door open for +light. The furniture consisted of three articles,—two low tables on +four legs, made of rough planks, and a bracket to stick a candle in. +The tables were beds after the manner of the country; but, as a special +attention to us, the patron produced two old mattresses; the first +sight of them was enough for us, and we expelled them with shouts of +execration. We had to go to a shop in the square to get some supper; +and on our return, about nine o’clock, our man Antonio remarked that he +was going to sleep, which he did at once in the following manner. He +took off his broad-brimmed hat and hung it on a nail, tied a red cotton +handkerchief round his head, rolled himself up in his serape, lay down +on the flags in the courtyard outside our door, and was asleep in an +instant. We retired to our planks inside and followed his example. + +The next afternoon we reached Toluca, a large and prosperous town, but +with little noticeable in it except the arcades (portales) along the +streets, and the hams which are cured with sugar, and are famous all +over the Republic. Our road passed near the Nevado de Toluca, an +extinct snow-covered volcano, nearly 15,000 feet above the sea. It +consists entirely of grey and red porphyry, and in the interior of its +crater are two small lakes. We were not sorry to take up our quarters +in a comfortable European-looking hotel again, for roughing it is much +less pleasant in these high altitudes—where the nights and mornings are +bitterly cold—than in the hotter climate of the lower levels. + +Our next day’s ride brought us back to Mexico, crossing the corn-land +of the plain of Lerma, where the soil consists of disintegrated +porphyry from the mountains around, and is very fertile. Lerma itself +is the worst den of robbers in all Mexico; and, as we rode through the +street of dingy adobe houses, and saw the rascally-looking fellows who +were standing at the doors in knots, with their horses ready saddled +and bridled close by, we got a very strong impression that the +reputation of the place was no worse than it deserved. After Lerma, +there still remained the pass over the mountains which border the +valley of Mexico; and here in the midst of a dense pine-forest is Las +Cruzes, “the crosses,” a place with an ugly name, where several +robberies are done every week. We waited for the Diligence at some +little glass-works at the entrance of the pass, and then let it go on +first, as a sop to those gentlemen if they should be out that day. I +suppose they knew pretty accurately that no one had much to lose, for +they never made their appearance. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SPURS. _From 5 to 6 inches long, with +rowels from 2½ to 3 inches in diameter. The broad instep-strap of +embossed leather is also shewn. (From Mr. Christy’s Collection)_] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +ANTIQUITIES. PRISON. SPORTS. + + +[Illustration: STATUE OF THE MEXICAN GODDESS OF WAR (OR OF DEATH), +TEOYAOMIQUI. +_(After Nebel). +Height of the original, about Nine Feet_.] + +It was like getting home again to reach Mexico, we had so many friends +there, though our stay had been so short. We were fully occupied, for +weeks of hard sight-seeing are hardly enough to investigate the objects +of interest to be found in the city. We saw these things under the best +auspices, for Mr. Christy had letters to the Minister of Public +Instruction and other people in authority, who were exceedingly civil, +and did all they could to put us in the way of seeing everything we +wished. Among the places we visited, the Museum must have some notice. +It is in part of the building of the University; but we were rather +surprised, when we reached the gate leading into the court-yard, to be +stopped by a sentry who demanded what we wanted. The lower storey had +been turned into a barrack by the Government, there being a want of +quarters for the soldiers. As the ground-floor under the cloisters is +used for the heavier pieces of sculpture, the scene was somewhat +curious. The soldiers had laid several of the smaller idols down on +their faces, and were sitting on the comfortable seat on the small of +their backs, busy playing at cards. An enterprising soldier had built +up a hutch with idols and sculptured stones against the statue of the +great war-goddess Teoyaomiqui herself, and kept rabbits there. The +state which the whole place was in when thus left to the tender mercies +of a Mexican regiment may be imagined by any one who knows what a dirty +and destructive animal a Mexican soldier is. + +The guardians of the Museum have treated it even worse. People who know +how often the curators of the Museums of southern Europe are ready to +sell anything not very likely to be missed will not be astonished to +hear of the same thing being done to a great extent some six or eight +years before our visit. + +The stone known as the statue of the war-goddess is a huge block of +basalt covered with sculptures. The antiquaries think that the figures +on it stand for different personages, and that it is three +gods,—Huitzilopochtli the god of war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and +Mictlanteuctli the god of hell. It has necklaces of alternate hearts +and dead man’s hands, with death’s heads for a central ornament. At the +bottom of the block is a strange sprawling figure, which one cannot see +now, for it is the base which rests on the ground; but there are two +shoulders projecting from the idol, which show plainly that it did not +stand on the ground, but was supported aloft on the tops of two +pillars. The figure carved upon the bottom represents a monster holding +a skull in each hand, while others hang from his knees and elbows. His +mouth is a mere oval ring, a common feature of Mexican idols, and four +tusks project just above it. The new moon laid down like a bridge forms +his forehead, and a star is placed on each side of it. This is thought +to have been the conventional representation of Mictlanteuctli (Lord of +the Land of the Dead), the god of hell, which was a place of utter and +eternal darkness. Probably each victim as he was led to the altar could +look up between the two pillars and see the hideous god of hell staring +down upon him from above. + +There is little doubt that this is the famous war-idol which stood on +the great teocalli of Mexico, and before which so many thousands of +human victims were sacrificed. It lay undisturbed underground in the +great square, close to the very site of the teocalli, until sixty years +ago. For many years after that it was kept buried, lest the sight of +one of their old deities might be too exciting for the Indians, who, as +I have mentioned before, had certainly not forgotten it, and secretly +ornamented it with garlands of flowers while it remained above ground. + +The “sacrificial stone,” so called, which also stands in the court-yard +of the Museum, was not one of the ordinary altars on which victims were +sacrificed. These altars seem to have been raised slabs of hard stone +with a protuberant part near one end, so that the breast of the victim +was raised into an arch, which made it more easy for the priest to cut +across it with his obsidian knife. The Breton altars, where the slab +was hollowed into the outline of a human figure, have some analogy to +this; but, though there were very many of these altars in different +cities of Mexico, none are now known to exist. The stone we are now +observing is quite a different thing, a cylindrical block of basalt +nine feet across and three feet high: and Humboldt considers it to be +the stone described by early Spanish writers, and called _temalacatl_ +(spindle-stone) from its circular shape, something like a distaff-head. +Upon this the captive chiefs stood in the gladiatorial fights which +took place within the space surrounding the great teocalli. Slightly +armed, they stood upon this raised platform in the midst of the crowd +of spectators; and six champions in succession, armed with better +weapons, came up to fight with them. If the captive worsted his +assailants in this unequal contest, he was set free with presents; but +this success was the lot of but few, and the fate of most was to be +overpowered and dragged off ignominiously to be sacrificed like +ordinary prisoners. On the top of the stone is sculptured an outline of +the sun with its eight rays, and a hollow in the centre, whence a +groove runs to the edge of the stone, probably to let the blood run +down. All round it is an appropriate bas-relief repeated several times. +A vanquished warrior is giving up his stone-sword and his spears to his +conqueror, who is tearing the plumed crest from his head. + +The above explanation by Humboldt is a plausible one. But in Central +America altars not unlike this, and with grooves upon the top, stand in +front of the great stone idols; and this curious monument may have been +nothing after all but an ordinary altar to sacrifice birds and small +animals upon. + +[Illustration: THREE VIEWS OF A SACRIFICIAL COLLAR, +_Carved out of hard mottled greenstone. (In Mr. Christy’s Collection.) +This is 17 inches long, and varies from 11 to 16 inches in width. The +arms are 4 inches wide and 3 inches deep; and are 8 inches apart at +about half their length._] + +Señor Leon Ramirez, the curator, had come to the Museum to meet us, and +we went over the collection of smaller objects, which are kept up +stairs in glass-cases,—at any rate out of the way of the soldiers. + +Here are the stone clamps shaped like the letter U, which were put over +the wrists and ankles of the victims, to hold them down on the +sacrificial stone. They are of hard stone, very heavy and covered with +carvings. It is remarkable that, though the altars for human sacrifices +are no longer to be found, these accessory stone clamps, or yoke-like +collars, are not uncommon. A fine one from Mr. Christy’s collection is +figured. _(See opposite page.)_ + +The obsidian knives and arrow-heads are very good, but these I have +spoken of already, as well as of the stone hammers. The axes and +chisels of stone are so exactly like those found in Europe that it is +quite impossible to distinguish them. The bronze hatchet-blades are +thin and flat, slightly thickened at the sides to give them strength, +and mostly of a very peculiar shape, something like a T, but still more +resembling the section of a mushroom cut vertically through the middle +of the stalk. + +The obsidian mask is an extraordinary piece of work, considering the +difficulty of cutting such a material. It was chipped into a rude +outline, and finished into its exact shape by polishing down with +jeweller’s sand. The polish is perfect, and there is hardly a scratch +upon it. At least one of the old Spanish writers on Mexico gives the +details of the process of cutting precious stones and polishing them +with _teoxalli_ or “god’s sand.” Masks in stone, wood, and terra-cotta +are to be seen in considerable number in museums of Mexican +antiquities. Their use is explained by passages in the old Mexican +writers, who mention that it was customary to mask the idols on the +occasion of the king being sick, or of any other public calamity; and +that men and women wore masks in some of the religious ceremonies. A +fine mask of brown lava (from Mr. Christy’s collection), which has been +coloured, is here figured. _(See illustration.)_ The mirrors of +obsidian have the same beautifully polished surface as the obsidian +mask shows; and those made of nodules of pyrites, cut and polished, are +worth notice. + +The Mexicans were very skilful in making pottery; and of course there +is a good collection here of terra-cotta vases, little altars and +incense-dishes, rattles, flageolets, and whistles, tobacco-pipes and +masks. Some of the large vases, which were formerly filled with skulls +and bones, are admirable in their designs and decorations; and many +specimens are to be seen of the red and black ware of Cholula, which +was famous at the time of the Conquest, and was sent to all parts of +the country. The art of glazing pottery seems only to have been +introduced by the Spaniards, and to this day the Indians hardly care to +use it. The terra-cotta rattles are very characteristic. They have +little balls in them which shake about, and they puzzled us much as the +apple-dumpling did good King George, for we could not make out very +easily how the balls got inside. They were probably attached very +slightly to the inside, and so baked and then broken loose. We often +got little balls like schoolboys’ marbles, among lots of Mexican +antiquities, and these were most likely the balls out of broken +rattles. + +Burning incense was always an important part of the Mexican ceremonies. +When the white men were on their march to the capital, the inhabitants +used to come out to meet them with such plates as we saw here, and burn +copal before the leaders; and in Indian villages to this day the +procession on saints’ days would not be complete without men burning +incense, not in regular censers, but in unglazed earthen platters such +as their forefathers used. + +[Illustration: THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF AN AZTEC MASK. +_Sculptured out of hard brown lava. Twelve inches high; ten inches +wide. +(From Mr. Christy’s Collection.)_] + +Our word _copal_ is the Mexican _copalli_. There are a few other +Mexican words which have been naturalized in our European languages, of +course indicating that the things they represent came from Mexico. +_Ocelotl_ is _ocelot_; _Tomatl_ is _tomata_; _Chilli_ is the Spanish +_chile_ and our _chili_; _Cacahuatl_ is _cacao_ or cocoa; and +_Chocolatl_, the beverage made from the cacao-bean with a mixture of +vanilla, is our chocolate. + +Cacao-beans were used by the Mexicans as money. Even in Humboldt’s +time, when there was no copper coinage, they were used as small change, +six for a halfpenny; and Stephens says the Central Americans use them +to this day. A mat in Mexican is _petlatl_, and thence a basket made of +matting was called _petlacalli_—“mathouse.” The name passed to the +plaited grass cigar-cases that are exported to Europe; and now in Spain +any kind of cigar-case is called a _petaca_. + +The pretty little ornamented calabashes—used, among other purposes, for +drinking chocolate out of—were called by the Mexicans _xicalli_, a word +which the Spaniards made into _jícara_, and now use to mean a +chocolate-cup; and even the Italians have taken to it, and call a +tea-cup a _chicchera_. + +There is a well-known West Indian fruit which we call an _avocado_ or +_alligator-pear_, and which the French call _avocat_ and the Spaniards +_aguacate_. All these names are corruptions of the Aztec name of the +fruit, _ahuacatl_. + +Vanilla and cochineal were first found in Mexico; but the Spaniards did +not adopt the unpronounceable native names, _tlilxochitl_ and +_nocheztli_. Vanilla, _vainilla_, means a little bean, from _vaina_, +which signifies a scabbard or sheath, also a pod. _Cochinilla_ is from +_coccus_, a berry, as it was at first supposed to be of vegetable +origin. The Aztec name for cochineal, _nocheztli_, means +“cactus-blood,” and is a very apt description of the insect, which has +in it a drop of deep crimson fluid, in which the colouring matter of +the dye is contained. + +The turkey, which was introduced into Europe from Mexico, was called +_huexolotl_ from the gobbling noise it makes. (It must be remembered +that x and j in Spanish are not the same letters as in English, but a +hard guttural aspirate, like the German ch). The name, slightly altered +into _guajalote_, is still used in Mexico; but when these birds were +brought to Europe, the Spaniards called them peacocks (_pavos_). To get +rid of the confusion, it became necessary to call the real peacock +“_pavón_” (big peacock), or “_pavo real_” (royal peacock). The German +name for a turkey, “Wälscher Hahn,” “Italian fowl,” is reasonable, for +the Germans got them from Italy; but our name “turkey” is wonderfully +absurd. + +There may be other Mexican words to be found in our language, but not +many. The Mexicans were cultivating maize and tobacco when the +Spaniards invaded the country, and had done so for ages; but these +vegetables had been found already in the West India islands, and had +got their name from the language of Hayti, _mahiz_ and _tabaco_; the +latter word, it seems, meaning not the tobacco itself, but the cigars +made of it. + +I do not recollect anything else worthy of note that Europe has +borrowed from Ancient Mexico, except Botanic Gardens, and dishes made +to keep hot at dinner-time, which the Aztecs managed by having a pan of +burning charcoal underneath them. + +To return to the Museum. There are stamps in terra-cotta with +geometrical patterns, for making lines and ornaments on the vases +before they were baked, and for stamping patterns upon the cotton cloth +which was one of their principal manufactures, as it is now. Connected +with the same art are the _malacates_, or winders, which I have already +described. Little grotesque heads made of baked clay, like those I have +mentioned as being found in such immense numbers on the sites of old +Mexican cities, are here by hundreds. I think there were, besides, some +of the moulds, also in terra-cotta, in which they were formed; at any +rate, they are to be seen, so that making the little heads must have +been a regular trade. What they were for is not so easy to say. Some +have bodies, and are made with flat backs to stand against a wall, and +these were probably idols. The ancient Mexicans, we read, had +household-gods in great numbers, and called them _Tepitotons_, “little +ones.” The greatest proportion, however, are mere heads which never had +had bodies, and will not stand anyhow. They could not have been +personal ornaments, for there is nothing to fasten them on by. They are +rather a puzzle. I have seen a suggestion somewhere, that when a man +was buried, each surviving member of his family put one of these heads +into his grave. This sounds plausible enough, especially as both male +and female heads are found. + +One shelf in the museum is particularly instructive. We called it the +“Chamber of Horrors,” after the manner of Marlborough House, and it +contains numbers of the sham antiquities, the manufacture of which is a +regular thing in Mexico, as it is in Italy. They are principally vases +and idols of earthenware, for the art of working obsidian is lost, and +there can be no trickery about that;[19] and as to the hammers, +chisels, and idols in green jade, serpentine, and such like hard +materials, they are decidedly cheaper to find than to make. The Indians +in Mexico make their unglazed pottery just as they did before the +Conquest, so that, if they imitate real antiques exactly, there is no +possibility of detecting the fraud; but when they begin to work from +their own designs, or even to copy from memory, they are almost sure to +put in something that betrays them. + + [19] This assertion must be qualified by a remark of the Abbé Brasseur + de Bourbourg, who tells us that in some places the Indians still use + lancets of obsidian to bleed themselves with. I believe there is + nothing of the kind to be found in the part of Mexico which we + visited. + +As soon as the Spaniards came, they began to introduce drawing as it +was understood in Europe; and from that moment the peculiarities of +Mexican art began to disappear. The foreheads of the Mexican races are +all very low, and their painters and sculptors even exaggerated this +peculiarity, to make the faces they depicted more beautiful,—so +producing an effect which to us Europeans seems hideously ugly, but +which is not more unnatural than the ideal type of beauty we see in the +Greek statues. After the era of the Spaniards we see no more of such +foreheads; and the eyes, which were drawn in profiles as one sees them +in the full face, are put in their natural position. The short squat +figures become slim and tall; and in numberless little details of +dress, modelling, and ornament, the acquaintance of the artist with +European types is shown; and it is very seldom that the modern +counterfeiter can keep clear of these and get back to the old standard. + +Among the things on the condemned shelf were men’s faces too correctly +drawn to be genuine, grotesque animals that no artist would ever have +designed who had not seen a horse, head-dresses and drapery that were +European and not Mexican. Among the figures in Mayer’s _Mexico_, a vase +is represented as a real antique, which, I think, is one of the worst +cases I ever noticed. There is a man’s head upon it, with long +projecting pointed nose and chin, a long thin pendant moustache, an eye +drawn in profile, and a cap. It is true the pure Mexican race +occasionally have moustaches, but they are very slight, not like this, +which falls in a curve on both sides of the mouth; and no Mexican of +pure Indian race ever had such a nose and chin, which must have been +modelled from the face of some toothless old Spaniard. + +Mention must be made of the wooden drums—_teponaztli_—of which some few +specimens are still to be seen in Mexico. Such drums figured in the +religious ceremonies of the Aztecs, and one often hears of them in +Mexican history. I have mentioned already the great drum which Bernal +Diaz saw when he went up the Mexican teocalli with Cortes, and which he +describes as a hellish instrument, made with skins of great serpents; +and which, when it was struck, gave a loud and melancholy sound, that +could be heard at two leagues’ distance. Indeed, they did afterwards +hear it from their camp a mile or two off, when their unfortunate +companions were being sacrificed on the teocalli. + +The Aztec drums, which are still to be seen, are altogether of wood, +nearly cylindrical, but swelling out in the middle, and hollowed out of +solid logs. Some have the sounding-board made unequally thick in +different parts, so as to give several notes when struck. All are +elaborately carved over with various designs, such as faces, +head-dresses, weapons, suns with rays, and fanciful patterns, among +which the twisted cord is one of the commonest. + +Besides the drums which are preserved in museums, there are others, +carefully kept in Indian villages, not as curiosities, but as +instruments of magical power. Heller mentions such a _teponaztli_, +which is still preserved among the Indians of Huatusco, an Indian +village near Mirador in the tierra templada, where the inhabitants have +had their customs comparatively little altered by intercourse with +white men. They keep this drum as a sacred instrument, and beat it only +at certain times of the year, though they have no reason to give for +doing so. It is to be regretted that Heller did not take a note of the +particular days on which this took place; for the times of the Mexican +festivals are well known, and this information would have settled the +question whether the Indians of the present day have really any +definite recollection of their old customs. + +Drums of this kind do not belong exclusively to Mexico. Among all the +tribes of North America they were one of the principal “properties” +used by the Medicine-men in their ceremonies; and among the tribes +which have not been christianized they are still to be found in use. +After we left Mexico, Mr. Christy visited some tribes in the Hudson’s +Bay Territory; and on one occasion, happening to assist at a festival +in which just such a wooden drum was used, he bought it of the +Medicine-man of the tribe, and packed it off triumphantly to his +museum. + +A few picture-writings are still to be seen in the Museum, which, with +the few preserved in Europe, are all we have left of these interesting +records, of which there were thousands upon thousands in Mexico and +Tezcuco. Some were burnt or destroyed during the sieges of the cities, +some perished by mere neglect, but the great mass was destroyed by +archbishop Zumarraga, when he made an attempt—and, to some extent, a +successful one—to obliterate every trace of heathenism, by destroying +all the monuments and records in the country. One of the +picture-writings hanging on the wall is very probably the same that was +sent up from Vera Cruz to Montezuma, with figures of the newly-arrived +white men, their ships and horses, and their cannons with fire and +smoke issuing from their mouths. Another shows a white man being +sacrificed, of course one of the Spanish prisoners. The pictorial +history of the migration of the Aztecs is here, and a list of tributes +paid to the Mexican sovereign; the different articles being drawn with +numbers against each, to show the quantities to be paid, as in the +Egyptian inscriptions. Lord Kingsborough’s great work contains +fac-similes of several Mexican manuscripts, and in Humboldt’s _Vues des +Cordillères_ some of the most remarkable are figured and described. + +One of the most curious of the Aztec picture-writings is in the +Bodleian Library, and in fac-simile in Lord Kingsborough’s _Antiquities +of Mexico_. In it are shown, in a series of little pictures, the +education of Mexican boys and girls, as prescribed by law. The child +four days old is being sprinkled with water, and receiving its name. At +four years old they are to be allowed one tortilla a meal, which is +indicated by a drawing above their heads, of four circles representing +years, and one cake; and the father sends the son to carry water, while +the mother shows the daughter how to spin. A tortilla is like an +oat-cake, but is made of Indian corn. + +At seven years old the boy is taken to learn to fish, while the girl +spins; and so on with different occupations for one year after another. +At nine years old the father is allowed to punish his son for +disobedience, by sticking aloe-points all over his naked body, while +the daughters only have them stuck into their hands; and at eleven +years old, both boy and girl were to be punished by holding their faces +in the smoke of burning capsicums. + +At fifteen the youth is married by the simple process of tying the +corner of his shirt to the corner of the bride’s petticoat (thus +literally “splicing” them, as my companion remarked). And so on; after +scenes of cutting wood, visiting the temples, fighting and feasting, we +come to the last scene of all, headed “_seventy years_,” and see an old +man and woman reeling about helplessly drunk with pulque; for +drunkenness, which was severely punished up to that age, was tolerated +afterwards as a compensation for the sorrows and infirmities of the +last period of life. + +Astrological charts formed a large proportion of these +picture-writings. Here, as elsewhere, we may trace the origin of +astrology. The signs of the days and years were represented, for +convenience sake, by different animals, and objects, like the signs of +the Zodiac which we still retain. The signs remained after the history +of their origin was lost; and then—what more natural than to imagine +that the symbols handed down by their wise ancestors had some +mysterious meaning, connected with the days and years they stood for; +and then, that a man’s destiny had to do with the names of the signs +that “prevailed” at his birth? + +There is little to be seen here or elsewhere, of one kind of work in +which the Mexicans excelled perhaps more than in any other, the +goldsmith’s work. Where are the calendars of solid gold and silver—as +big as great wheels, and covered with hieroglyphics, and the cups and +collars, the golden birds, beasts, and fishes? The Spaniards who saw +them record how admirable their workmanship was, and they were good +judges of such matters. Benvenuto Cellini saw some of these things, and +was filled with admiration. They have all gone to the melting-pot +centuries ago! How important the goldsmith’s trade was accounted in old +times is shown by a strange Aztec law. It was no ordinary offence to +steal gold and silver. Criminals convicted of this offence were not +treated as common thieves, but were kept till the time when the +goldsmiths celebrated their annual festival, and were then solemnly +sacrificed to their god Xipe;[20] the priests flaying their bodies, +cooking and eating them, and walking about dressed in their skins, a +ceremony which was called _tlacaxipehualiztli_, “the man-flaying.” + + [20] The Aztecs had but one word to denote both gold and silver, as + they afterwards made one serve for both iron and copper. This curious + word _teocuitlatl_ we may translate as “Precious Metal,” but it means + literally “Dung of the Gods.” Gold was “Yellow Precious Metal,” and + silver “White Precious Metal.” Lead they called _temetztli_, + “Moon-stone;” and when the Spaniards showed them quicksilver, they + gave it the name of _yoli amuchitl_, “Live Tin.” + +Museums of Mexican antiquities are so much alike, that, in general, one +description will do for all of them. Mr. Uhde’s Museum at Heidelberg is +a far finer one than that at Mexico, except as regards the +picture-writings. I was astonished at the enormous quantity of stone +idols, delicately worked trinkets in various hard stones and even in +obsidian, terra-cotta tobacco-pipes, figures, and astronomical +calendars, &c., displayed there. + +Mr. Christy’s collection is richer than any other in small sculptured +figures from Central America. It contains a squatting female figure in +hard brown lava, like the one in black basalt which is drawn in +Humboldt’s _Vues des Cordillères_, and there called (I cannot imagine +why) an Aztec priestess. Above all, it contains what I believe to be +the three finest specimens of Aztec decorative art which exist in the +world. One of these is the knife of which the figure at page 101 gives +some faint idea, the other two being a wooden mask overlaid with +mosaic, and a human skull decorated in the same manner, of which a more +particular description will be found in the Appendix. There are two +kinds of Aztec articles in Mr. Christy’s collection which I did not +observe either at Mexico or Heidelberg. These are bronze needles, +resembling our packing-needles, and little cast bronze bells, called in +Aztec _yotl_, not unlike small horse-bells made in England at the +present day; these are figured in the tribute-lists in the +picture-writings. + +[Illustration: ANTIQUE BRONZE BELLS FROM MEXICO. +_Such as are often sculptured on Aztec Images._] + +Apropos of the mammoth bones preserved in the Mexican Museum, I must +insert a quotation from Bernal Diaz. It is clear that the traditions of +giants which exist in almost every country had their origin in the +discovery of fossil bones, whose real character was not suspected until +a century ago; but I never saw so good an example of this as in the +Tlascalan tradition, which my author relates as follows.—“And they” +(the Tlascalan chiefs) “said that their ancestors had told them that, +in times past, there lived amongst them in settlements men and women of +great size, with huge bones; and, as they were wicked and of evil +dispositions, they (the ancestors of the Tlascalans) fought against +them and killed them; and those who were left died out. And that we +might see what stature they were of, they brought a bone of one of +them, and it was very big, and its height was that of a man of +reasonable stature; it was a thigh-bone, and I (Bernal Diaz) measured +myself against it, and it was as tall as I am, who am a man of +reasonable stature; and they brought other pieces of bones like the +first, but they were already eaten through and rotted by the earth; and +we were all amazed to see those bones, and held that for certain there +had been giants in that land; and our captain, Cortes, said to us that +it would be well to send the great bone to Castile, that His Majesty +might see it; and so we did send it by the first messengers who went.” + +Among other things belonging to the Spanish period is the banner, with +the picture of the Virgin, which accompanied the Spanish army during +the Conquest. Authentic or not, it is certainly very well painted. +There is a suit of armour said to have belonged to Cortes. Its +genuineness has been doubted; but I think its extreme smallness seems +to go towards proving that it is a true relic, for Bullock saw the tomb +of Cortes opened some thirty years ago, and was surprised at the small +proportions of his skeleton. Specimens of the pottery and glass now +made in the country, and other curiosities, complete the catalogue of +this interesting collection. + +The Mexican calendar is not in the Museum, but is built into the wall +of the cathedral, in the Plaza Mayor. It is sculptured on the face of a +single block of basalt, which weighs between twenty and thirty tons, +and must have been transported thirty miles by Mexican labourers, for +the stone is not found nearer than that distance from the city; and +this transportation was, of course, managed by hand-labour alone, as +there were no beasts of burden. + +We know pretty well the whole system of Mexican astronomy from this +calendar-stone and a few manuscripts which still exist, and from the +information given in the work of Gama the astronomer and other writers. +The Aztecs and Tezcucans who used it, did not claim its invention as +their own, but said they had received it from the Toltecs, their +predecessors. The year consisted of 365 days, with an intercalation of +13 days for each cycle of 52 years, which brought it to the same length +as the Julian year of 365 days 6 hours. The theory of Gama, that the +intercalation was still more exact, namely, 12½ days instead of 13, +seems to be erroneous. + +Our reckoning only became more exact than this when we adopted the +Gregorian calendar in 1752, and the people marched about the streets in +procession, crying “Give us back our eleven days!” Perhaps this is not +quite a fair way of putting the case, however, for the new style would +have been adopted in our country long before, had it not been a Romish +institution. It was the deliberate opinion of the English, as of people +in other Protestant countries, that it was much better to have the +almanack a few days wrong than to adopt a Popish innovation. One often +hears of the Papal Bull which settles the question of the earth’s +standing still. The history of the Gregorian calendar is not a bad +set-off against it on the other side. At any rate, the new style was +not introduced anywhere until sixty or seventy years after the +discovery of Mexico, and five hundred years after the introduction of +the Toltec calendar in Mexico. + +The Mexican calendar-stone should be photographed on a large scale, and +studied yet more carefully than it has been, for only a part of the +divided circles which surround it have been explained. It should be +photographed, because, to my certain knowledge, Mayer’s drawing gives +the year, above the figure of the sun which indicates the date of the +calendar, quite wrongly; and yet, presuming on his own accuracy, he +accuses another writer of leaving out the hieroglyph of the winter +solstice. What is much more strange is, that Humboldt’s drawing in the +small edition of the _Vues des Cordillères_ is wrong in both points. +The drawing in Nebel’s great work is probably the best. As to the wax +models which Mr. Christy and I bought in Mexico, in the innocence of +our hearts, a nearer inspection showed that the artist, observing that +the circle of days would divide more neatly into sixteen parts than +into twenty, had arranged his divisions accordingly; apparently leaving +out the four hieroglyphics which he considered the ugliest. + +The details made out at present on the calendar are as follows:—the +summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, the two +passages of the Sun over the zenith of Mexico, and some dates which +possibly belong to religious festivals. The dates of the two +zenith-transits are especially interesting; for, as they vary with the +latitude, they must have been made out by actual observation in Mexico +itself, and not borrowed from some more civilised people in the distant +countries through which the Mexicans migrated. This fact alone is +sufficient to prove a considerable practical knowledge of astronomy. + +Besides this, the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years seems to be +indicated in the circle outside the signs of days, and also the days in +the priestly year of 260 days; but to make these numbers, we must allow +for the compartments supposed to be hidden by the projecting rays of +the sun. + +The arrangement of the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years is very +curious. They had four signs of years, _tochtli, acatl, tecpatl_, and +_calli_,—_rabbit, canes, flint_, and _house_; and against these signs +they ranged numbers, from 1 to 13, so that a cycle exactly corresponds +to a pack of cards, the four signs being the four suits, thirteen of +each. Now, any one would suppose that in making such a reckoning, they +would first take one suit, count _one, two, three_, &c. in it, up to +13, and then begin another suit. This is not the Mexican idea, however. +Their reckoning is 1 _tochtli_, 2 _acatl_, 3 _tecpatl_, &c., just as it +may be made with the cards thus: ace of hearts, two of diamonds, 3 of +spades, 4 of clubs, 5 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, and so on through the +pack. The correspondence between the cycle of 52 years, divided among 4 +signs, and our year of 52 weeks, divided among 4 seasons, is also +curious, though as entirely accidental as the resemblance to the pack +of cards, for the Mexican week (if we may call it so) consisted of 5 +days instead of 7, which to a great extent nullifies the comparison. + +The reckoning of days is still more cumbrous. It consists of the days +of the week written in succession from 1 to 13, underneath these the 20 +signs of days, and underneath these again another series of 9 signs; so +that each day was distinguished by a combination of a number and two +signs, which combination could not belong to any other day. + +The date of the year at the top of the calendar is 13 _acatl_ (13 +canes), which stands for 1479, 1427, 1375, 1323, and so on, subtracting +52 years each time. Now, why was this year chosen? It was not the +beginning of a cycle, but the 26th year; and so, in ascertaining the +meaning of the dates on the calendar, allowance has to be made for six +days which have been gained by the leap-years only being adjusted at +the end of the cycle; but this certainly offers no advantage whatever; +and if an arbitrary date had been chosen to start the calendar with, of +course it would have been the first year of a cycle. The year may have +been chosen in commemoration of the foundation of Mexico or +Tenochtitlán, which historians give as somewhere about 1324 or 1325. +The sign 13 _acatl_ would stand for 1323. It is more likely that the +date merely refers to the year in which the calendar was put up. As +such a massive and elaborate piece of sculpture could only belong to +the most flourishing period of the Aztec empire, the year indicated +would be 1279, nine years before the building of the great pyramid +close by. + +Baron Humboldt’s celebrated argument to prove the Asiatic origin of the +Mexicans is principally founded upon the remarkable resemblance of this +system of cycles in reckoning years to those found in use in different +parts of Asia. For instance, we may take that described by Hue and +Gabet as still existing in Tartary and Thibet, which consists of one +set of signs, _wood, fire, earth_, &c., combined with a set of names of +animals, _mouse, ox, tiger_, &c. The combination is made almost exactly +in the same way as that in which the Aztecs combine their signs and +numbers, as for instance, the year of the fire-pig, the iron-hare, &c. +If these were simple systems of counting years, or even if, although +difficult, they had some advantages to offer, we might suppose that two +different races in want of a system to count their years by, had +devised them independently. But, in fact, both the Asiatic and the +Mexican cycles are not only most intricate and troublesome to work, but +by the constant liability to confound one cycle with another, they lead +to endless mistakes. Hue says that the Mongols, to get over this +difficulty, affix a special name to all the years of each king’s reign, +as for instance, “the year Tao-Kouang of the fire-ram;” apparently not +seeing that to give the special name and the number of the year of the +reign, and call it the 44th year of Tao-Kouang, would answer the same +purpose, with one-tenth of the trouble. + +Not only are the Mexican and Asiatic systems alike in the singular +principle they go upon, but there are resemblances in the signs used +that seem too close for chance.[21] + + [21] It is curious that these latter resemblances (as far as I have + been able to investigate the subject) disappear in the signs of the + Yucatan calendar, though its arrangement is precisely that of the + Mexican. Any one interested in the theory of the Toltecs being the + builders of Palenque and Copan will see the importance of this point. + If the Toltecs ever took the original calendar, with the traces of its + Asiatic origin fresh upon it, down into Yucatan with them, it is at + any rate not to be found there now. + +The other arguments which tend to prove that the Mexicans either came +from the Old World or had in some way been brought into connexion with +tribes from thence, are principally founded on coincidences in customs +and traditions. We must be careful to eliminate from them all such as +we can imagine to have originated from the same outward causes at work +in both hemispheres, and from the fact that man is fundamentally the +same everywhere. To take an instance from Peru. We find the Incas there +calling themselves “Child of the Sun,” and marrying their own sisters, +just as the Egyptian kings did. But this proves nothing whatever as to +connexion between the two people. The worship of the Sun, the giver of +light and heat, may easily spring up among different people without any +external teaching; and what more natural, among imperfectly civilized +tribes, than that the monarch should claim relationship with the +divinity? And the second custom was introduced that the royal race +might be kept unmixed. + +Thus, when we find the Aztecs burning incense before their gods, kings, +and great men, and propitiating their deities with human sacrifices, we +can conclude nothing from this. But we find them baptizing their +children, anointing their kings, and sprinkling them with holy water, +punishing the crime of adultery by stoning the criminals to death, and +practising several other Old World usages of which I have already +spoken. We must give some weight to these coincidences. + +Of some of the supposed Aztec Bible-traditions I have already spoken in +no very high terms. There is another tradition, however, resting upon +unimpeachable evidence, which relates the occurrence of a series of +destructions and regenerations of the world, and recalls in the most +striking manner the Indian cosmogony; and, when added to the argument +from the similarity of the systems of astronomical notation of Mexico +and Asia, goes far towards proving a more or less remote connection +between the inhabitants of the two continents. + +There is another side to the question, however, as has been stated +already. How could the Mexicans have had these traditions and customs +from the Old World, and not have got the knowledge of some of the +commonest arts of life from the same source? As I have said, they do +not seem to have known the proper way of putting the handle on to a +stone-hammer; and, though they used bronze, they had not applied it to +making such things as knives and spear-heads. They had no beasts of +burden; and, though there were animals in the country which they +probably might have domesticated and milked, they had no idea of +anything of the kind. They had oil, and employed it for various +purposes, but had no notion of using it or wax for burning. They +lighted their houses with pine-torches; and in fact the Aztec name for +a pine-torch—_ocotl_—was transferred to candles when they were +introduced. + +Though they were a commercial people, and had several substitutes for +money—such as cacao-grains, quills of gold-dust, and pieces of tin of a +particular shape, they had no knowledge of the art of weighing +anything, but sold entirely by tale and measure. This statement, made +by the best authorities, their language tends to confirm. After the +Conquest they made the word _tlapexouia_ out of the Spanish “peso,” and +also gave the meaning of weighing to two other words which mean +properly _to measure_ and _to divide equally_. Had they had a proper +word of their own for the process, we should find it. The Mexicans +scarcely ever adopted a Spanish word even for Spanish animals or +implements, if they could possibly make their own language serve. They +called a sheep an _ichcatl_, literally a “_thread-thing_,” or +“_cotton_”: a gun a “_fire-trumpet_:” and sulphur +“_fire-trumpet-earth_.” And yet, a people ignorant of some of the +commonest arts had extraordinary knowledge of astronomy, and even knew +the real cause of eclipses,[22] and represented them in their sacred +dances. + + [22] The Aztec name for an eclipse of the sun is worthy of remark. + They called it _tonatiuh qualo_, literally “the sun’s being eaten.” + The expression seems to belong to a time when they knew less about the + phenomenon, and had some idea like that of the Asiatic nations who + thought the sun was occasionally swallowed up by the great dragon. + +Set the difficulties on one side of the question against those on the +other, and they will nearly balance. We must wait for further evidence. + +Our friend Don José Miguel Cervantes, the President of the +Ayuntamiento, took us one day to see the great prison of Mexico, the +Acordada. As to the prison itself, it is a great gloomy building, with +its rooms and corridors arranged round two courtyards, one appropriated +to the men, the other to the women. A few of the men were at work +making shoes and baskets, but most were sitting and lying about in the +sun, smoking cigarettes and talking together in knots, the young ones +hard at work taking lessons in villainy from the older hands; just the +old story. + +Offenders of all orders, from drunkards and vagrants up to highway +robbers and murderers, all were mixed indiscriminately together. But we +should remember that in England twenty years ago it was usual for +prisons to be such places as this; and even now, in spite of model +prisons and severe discipline, the miserable results of our +prison-system show, as plainly as can be, that when we have caught our +criminal we do not in the least know how to reform him, now that our +colonists have refused him the only chance he ever had. + +It is bad enough to mix together these men under the most favourable +circumstances for corrupting one another. Every man must come out worse +than he went in; but this wrong is not so great as that which the +untried prisoners suffer in being forced into the society of condemned +criminals, while their trials drag on from session to session, through +the endless technicalities and quibbles of Spanish law. + +We made rather a curious observation in this prison. When one enters +such a place in Europe, one expects to see in a moment, by the faces +and demeanour of the occupants, that most of them belong to a special +criminal class, brought up to a life of crime which is their only +possible career, belonging naturally to police-courts and prisons, +herding together when out of prison in their own districts and their +own streets, and carefully avoided by the rest of society. You may know +a London thief when you see him; he carries his profession in his face +and in the very curl of his hair. Now in this prison there was nothing +of the kind to be seen. The inmates were brown Indians and half-bred +Mexicans, appearing generally to belong to the poorest class, but just +like the average of the people in the streets outside. As my companion +said, “If these fellows are thieves and murderers, so are our servants, +and so is every man in a serape we meet in the streets, for all we can +tell to the contrary.” There was positively nothing at all peculiar +about them. + +If they had been all Indians we might have been easily deceived. +Nothing can be more true than Humboldt’s observation that the Indian +face differs so much from ours that it is only after years of +experience that a European can learn to distinguish the varieties of +feature by which character can be judged of. He mistakes peculiarities +which belong to the race in general for personal characteristics; and +the thickness of the skin serves still more to mask the expression of +their faces. But the greater part of these men were Mexicans of mixed +Indian and Spanish blood, and their faces are pretty much European. + +The only explanation we could give of this identity of character inside +the prison and outside is not flattering to the Mexican people, but I +really believe it to be true. We came to the conclusion that the +prisoners did not belong to a class apart, but that they were a +tolerably fair specimen of the poorer population of the table-lands of +Mexico. They had been more tempted than others, or they had been more +unlucky, and that was why they were here. + +There were perhaps a thousand prisoners in the place, two men to one +woman. Their crimes were—one-third, drunken disturbance and vagrancy; +another third, robberies of various kinds; a fourth, wounding and +homicides, mostly arising out of quarrels; leaving a small residue for +all other crimes. + +Our idea was confirmed by many foreigners who had lived long in the +country and had been brought into personal contact with the people. +Every Mexican, they said, has a thief and a murderer in him, which the +slightest provocation will bring out. This of course is an +exaggeration, but there is a great deal of truth in it. The crimes in +the prison-calendar belong as characteristics to the population in +general. Highway-robbery, cutting and wounding in drunken brawls, and +deliberate assassination, are offences which prevail among the +half-white Mexicans; while stealing is common to them and the pure +Indian population. We noticed several instances of bigamy, a crime +which Mexican law is very severe upon. As far as we could judge by the +amount of punishment inflicted, it is a greater crime to marry two +women than to kill two men. In one gallery are the cells for criminals +condemned to death, but the occupants were allowed to mix freely with +the rest of the prisoners, and they seemed comfortable enough. + +Everybody knows how much in England the condition of a prisoner depends +on the disposition of the governor in office and the system in vogue +for the moment. The mere words of his sentence do not indicate at all +what his fate will be. He comes in—under Sir John—to light labour, much +schoolmaster and chaplain, and the expectation of a ticket-of-leave +when a fraction of his time is expired. All at once Sir James +supersedes Sir John, and with him comes in a régime of hard work, short +rations, and the black hole. If he had been “in” a month sooner, he +would have been “out” now with those more fortunate criminals, his late +companions. + +Things ought not to be so in England, but we need hardly wonder at +their being still worse in Mexico in this respect as in all others. +There have been twenty changes of government in ten years, and +sometimes extreme severity has been the rule, which may change at a +day’s notice into the extreme of mildness. In Santa Ana’s time the +utmost rigour of the law prevailed. Our friends in the Calle Seminario, +as they came back from their morning’s ride in the Paseo, had to pass +through the great square; and used to see there, day after day, pairs +of garotted malefactors sitting bolt upright in the high wooden chairs +they had just been executed in, with a frightful calm look on their +dead faces. + +For the last year or so all this had ceased, and there had scarcely +been an execution. It seems that one principal reason of this lenity is +that the government is too weak to support its judges; and that the +ministers of justice are actually intimidated by threats mysteriously +conveyed to witnesses and authorities, that, if such or such a criminal +is executed, his friends have sworn to avenge his death, and are on the +look-out, every man with his knife ready. To political offences the +same mercy is extended. In the early times of the war of independence, +and for years afterwards, when one leader caught an officer on the +other side, he had him tried by a drum-head court-martial, and shot. +Since then it has come to be better understood that civil war is waged +for the benefit of individuals who wish for their turn of power and +their pull at the public purse; and the successful leader spares his +opponent, not caring to establish a precedent which might prove so very +inconvenient to himself. + +We were taken to see the garotte by the President, who took it out of +its little mahogany case, into which it was fitted like any other +surgical instrument. We noticed that it was rusty, and indeed it had +not been used for many months. It is not worth while to describe it. + +Mexican law well administered is bad enough, not essentially unjust, +but hampered with endless quibbles and technicalities, quite justifying +the Spanish proverb, “_Mas vale una mala composición que un buen +pleito_,”—a bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. As things +stand now, the law of any case is the least item in the account, there +are so many ways of working upon judges and witnesses. Bribery first +and foremost; and—if that fails—personal intimidation, political +influence, private friendship, and the _compadrazgo_. Naturally, if you +have a lawsuit or are tried for a crime, you should lay a good +foundation. This is done by working upon the _Juez de primera +instancia_, who corresponds in some degree to the _Juge d’instruction_ +in France. This functionary is wretchedly paid, so that a small sum is +acceptable to him; and, moreover, the records of the case, as tried by +him, form the basis of all future litigation, so that it is very bad +economy not to get him into proper order. If you do not, it will cost +you three times as much afterwards. If your suit is with a soldier or a +priest, the ordinary tribunals will not help you. These two classes—the +most influential in the community—have their _fuero_, their special +jurisdiction; and woe to the unfortunate civilian who attacks them in +their own courts! + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, whose sense of humour occasionally peeps +out from among his statistics, remarks gravely that “the clergy has its +special legislation, which consists of the Sacred Volumes, the decision +of General and Provincial Councils, the Pontifical Decretals, and +doctrines of the Holy Fathers.” Of what sort of justice is dealt out in +that court, one may form some faint idea. + +One of our friends in Mexico had a house which was too large for him, +and in a moment of weakness he let part of it to a priest. Two years +afterwards, when we made his acquaintance, he was hard at work trying, +not to get his rent, he had given up that idea long before, but to get +the priest out. I believe that, eventually, he gave him something +handsome to take his departure. + +I have often quoted Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, and shall do so again. +His statistics of the country for 1856 are given in a broad sheet, and +seem to be generally reliable. The annual balance-sheet of the country +he sums up in three lines— + + Annual Expenditure . . . . . . 25,000,000 dollars. + Annual Revenue . . . . . . . . 15,000,000 dollars. + —————————— + Annual Deficit . . . . . . . . 10,000,000 dollars. + +The President of the Ayuntamiento was a pleasant person to know, among +the dishonest, intriguing Mexican officials. He received but little pay +in return for a great deal of hard work; but he liked to be in office +for the opportunities it afforded him of improving the condition of the +poor of the city. It was a sight to see the prisoners crowd round him +as he entered the court. They all knew him, and it was quite evident +they all considered him as a friend. In what little can be done for the +ignorant and destitute under the unfavourable circumstances of the +country, Don Miguel has had a large share; but until an orderly +government, that is, a foreign one, succeeds to the present anarchy, +not very much can be done. + +I mentioned the word “_compadrazgo_” a little way back. The thing +itself is curious, and quite novel to an Englishman of the present day. +The godfathers and godmothers of a child become, by their participation +in the ceremony, relations to one another and to the priest who +baptizes the child, and call one another ever afterwards _compadre_ and +_comadre_. Just such a relationship was once expressed by the word +“gossip,” “God-sib,” that is “akin in God.” Gossip has quite +degenerated from its old meaning, and even “sib,” though good English +in Chaucer’s time, is now only to be found in provincial dialects; but +in German “sipp” still means “kin.” + +In Mexico this connexion obliges the compadres and comadres to +hospitality and honesty and all sorts of good offices towards one +another; and it is wonderful how conscientiously this obligation is +kept to, even by people who have no conscience at all for the rest of +the world. A man who will cheat his own father or his own son will keep +faith with his _compadre_. To such an extent does this influence become +mixed up with all sorts of affairs, and so important is it, that it is +necessary to count it among the things that tend to alter the course of +justice in the country. + +The French have the words _compère_ and _commère_; and it is curious to +observe that the name of _compère_ is given to the confederate of the +juggler, who stands among the crowd, and slyly helps in the performance +of the trick. + +We went one day to the Hospital of San Lazaro. I have mentioned the +word “_lepero_” as applied to the poor and idle class of half-caste +Mexicans. It is only a term of reproach, exactly corresponding to the +“_lazzarone_” of Naples, who resembles the Mexican lepers in his social +condition, and whose name implies the same thing; for, of course, Saint +Lazarus is the patron saint of lepers and foul beggars. There are some +few real lepers in Mexico, who are obliged by law to be shut up in this +hospital. We rather expected to see something like what one reads of +the treatment of lepers which prevailed in Europe until a few years +ago—shutting them up in dismal dens cut off from communication with +other human beings. We were agreeably disappointed. They were confined, +it is true, but in a spacious building, with court-yard and garden; +their nurses and attendants appeared to be very kind to them; and it +seems that many charitable people come to visit the inmates, and bring +them cigars and other small luxuries, to relieve the monotony of their +dismal lives. Some had their faces horribly distorted by the falling of +the corners of the eyes and mouth, and the disappearance of the +cartilage of the nose; and a few, in whom the disease had terminated in +a sort of gangrene, were frightful objects, with their features +scarcely distinguishable; but in the majority of cases the leprosy had +caused a gradual disappearance of the ends of the fingers and toes, and +even of the whole hands and feet. The limbs thus mutilated looked as +though the parts which were wanting had been amputated, and the wound +had quite healed over, but it is caused by a gradual absorption without +wound and without pain. As every one knows, leprosy of these kinds was +held until quite lately to be dangerously contagious; but, fortunately +for the poor creatures themselves, this is quite clearly proved to be +false, and the lepers are only shut up that they may have no children, +for the affection appears to be hereditary. + +It was early one morning, when we were going out to breakfast at +Tisapán, that Don Juan recounted to us his experience of garrotted +malefactors sitting dead in their chairs in the great square across +which we were riding. “It was really almost enough to spoil a fellow’s +breakfast,” he added pathetically. Though an Englishman, and only +arrived in the country a few years before, Don Juan was as clever with +the lazo as most Mexicans, and could _colear_ a bull in great style. +Indeed, we had started early that morning in order to have time enough +to look at the bulls in the _potreros_—the great grass-meadows—that lie +for miles outside the city, and which are made immensely fertile by +flooding from time to time. Wherever we saw a bull in the distance, Don +Juan and his grand little horse _Pancho_ plunged over a bank and +through a gap, and we after him. No one ever leaps anything in this +country, indeed the form of the saddle puts it out of the question. One +or two bulls looked up as we entered the enclosure, and bolted into +other fields, pushing in among the thorns of the aloes which formed +close hedges of fixed bayonets round the meadows. At last Don Juan cut +off the retreat of an old bull, and galloping after him like mad, flung +the running loop of the lazo over his horns, at the same time winding +the other end round the pummel of his saddle. The bull was still +standing on all four legs, pulling with all its might against Pancho. +Galloping after him, so as to slacken the end of the lazo, we contrived +to transfer it from Don Juan’s saddle to mine. Now my own horse +happened to be a little lame, and I was riding a poor little black +beast whose bones really seemed to rattle in his skin. Our +acquaintances in the Paseo had been quite facetious about him, +recommending us to be careful and not to smoke up against him, for fear +we should blow him over, and otherwise whetting their wit upon him. He +acquitted himself very creditably, however, and when the bull began to +pull against him, he leant over on the other side, as if he had been +galloping round a circus; and the bull could not move him an inch. It +was quite evident that it was not his first experiment. In the mean +time Don Juan had dropped the noose of my lazo just before the bull’s +nose, and presently that animal incautiously put his foot into it, when +Don Juan whipped it up round his leg and went off at full gallop. My +little black horse knew perfectly well what had happened, though his +head was exactly in the opposite direction; and he tugged with all his +might, and leant over more than ever. The two lazos tightened with a +twang, as though they had been guitar-strings; and in a moment the +unfortunate bull was rolling with all his legs in the air, in the midst +of a whirlwind of dust. Having thus humiliated him we let him go, and +off he went at full speed. All this time the proprietor of the field +was tranquilly standing on a bank, looking on. Far from raging at us +for treating his property in this free and easy manner, he returned our +salutation when we rode up to him, and, addressing our sporting +countryman, said, “Well done, old fellow, come another day and try +again.” + +Our whole ride to Tisapán was enlivened by a series of Don Juan’s +exploits. He raced after bulls, got hold of their tails, and coleared +them over into the dust. He lazo’d everything in the road, from +milestones and trunks of trees upwards; and I shall never forget our +meeting with a great mule which was trotting along the road without a +burden,—just as he passed us, our companion slipped the noose round his +hind leg, and the beast went down as if he had been shot, the muleteers +pulling up on purpose to have a good open-mouthed laugh at the +incident. + +We seemed to be in rather a sporting line that day, for, after our +return from Tisapán, Don Juan and I went to see a cockfight. In Mexico, +as in Cuba and all Spanish America, this is the favourite sport of the +people. In Cuba, the principal shopkeeper in every village keeps the +cockpit—the “_plaza de gallos_.” The people from the whole district +round about come in on Sunday to the village, with a triple object; +_first_, to hear mass; _secondly_, to buy their supplies for the +ensuing week; and _thirdly_, to spend the afternoon in cockfighting, at +which amusement it is easy to win or lose two or three hundred pounds +in an afternoon. The custom that the cockpit brings to the shop more +than repays the proprietor for the expense and trouble of keeping it. +In Cuba, the spurs of the cock are artificially pointed by paring with +a penknife, but the Mexican way of arming them is even more abominable. + +[Illustration: STEEL COCK-SPURS (_4 inches long_), WITH SHEATH AND +PADDING.] + +Each bird has a sharp steel knife three or four inches long, just like +a little scythe-blade, fastened over the natural spur before the fight +commences. A leather sheath covers the weapon while the cocks are being +put into the ring, and held with their beaks almost touching till they +are furious. Then they are drawn back to opposite sides of the ring, +the sheaths are taken off, and they fly at one another, giving +desperate cuts with the steel blades. + +The cockpit was a small round wooden shed, with the ring in the middle, +and circular benches round it, rising one above another. The place was +full of people, mostly Mexicans of the lower orders, smoking, betting, +and talking sporting-slang. The betting was surprising, when one +compared its amount with the appearance of the spectators, among whom +there was hardly a decent coat to be seen. Every now and then, a dirty +scoundrel in a shabby leather jacket would walk round the ring with a +handful of gold, offering the odds—ten to five, ten to seven, ten to +nine, or whatever they might be, in gold ounces, which coins are worth +above three pounds apiece. + +Cockfighting is such a passion here that we thought it as well to see +it for once. Santa Ana, now he has retired from politics, spends his +time at Carthagena pretty much entirely in this his favourite sport, +which forms one of the great items among the pleasures and excitements +of a Mexican life. We saw a couple of mains fought, in which the +victorious birds were dreadfully mangled, while the vanquished were +literally cut to pieces; as much money changed hands as we should have +thought sufficient to buy up the whole of the people present, cockpit +and all. Then, being both agreed that it was a disgusting sight, we +went away. + +Before we left Mexico we were taken by our man Antonio to a cutler’s +shop, where the principal trade seemed to be the making of these +_cuchillos_ to arm the cocks with. We bought a couple of pairs of them, +and had them carefully fitted up. The old cutler was quite delighted, +and remarked that foreigners must acknowledge that there were some +things which were done better in Mexico than anywhere else. I fear we +left him under the pleasing impression that we were taking home the +blades to introduce as models in our own benighted country. + +The Mexican is a great gambler. Bad fortune he bears with the greatest +equanimity. You never hear of his committing suicide after being ruined +at play; he just goes away, and sets to work to earn enough for a fresh +stake. The government have tried to put down gambling in the State of +Mexico, but not with much success. For three days in the year, however, +at the festival of San Agustín de las Cuevas, public gambling-tables +are tolerated, though soldiers and officials are strictly forbidden to +play, an injunction which they carefully set at nought. Oddly enough, +the government, while doing all it could to keep its own functionaries +away from the _monte_ table, did not scruple to send a military escort +to convoy the bankers with their bags of gold from Mexico to San +Agustín. On one of the three days, Mr. Christy and I went there. There +was a great crowd, this time mostly a well-dressed one, and the cockpit +was on a large scale. But of course the great attraction was the +_monte_, which was being played everywhere, the stakes in some places +being coppers, in others silver, while more aristocratic establishments +would allow no stake under a gold ounce. Dead silence prevailed in +these places, and the players seemed to pride themselves upon not +showing the slightest change in their countenances, whether they won or +lost. The game itself is very simple, and has some points of +resemblance to that of lansquenet, known in Europe. The first two cards +in the pack, say a four and a king, are laid down, face up, on the +table, and the gamblers put down their money against one or the other. +Then the _croupier_ deals the cards out slowly and solemnly one after +another, calling out their names as they fall, until he comes—say to a +king; when those who have betted on the king have their stakes doubled, +and the others lose theirs. The banker has a great advantage to +compensate him for his expense and risk. If the first card which is +thrown out be one of the two numbers on the table, the banker withholds +a quarter of the stake he would otherwise have lost, paying only a +stake and three-quarters, instead of two stakes. Now, as there are +forty cards in a Spanish pack, two of which have been already thrown +out, the chances for a throw favourable to the banker are about one in +six, so that he may reckon on an average profit of about two per cent, +on all the money staked. + +As for the players, they sat round the table, carefully noticing the +course of the games, and regulating their play accordingly, as they do +at Baden-Baden and Hombourg. I suppose that now and then these +scientific calculators must be told that their whole theory of chances +is the most baseless delusion, but they certainly do not believe it; +and at any rate this curious pseudo-science of winning by skill at +games of pure chance will last our time, if not longer. + +On some tables there were as much as three or four thousand gold +ounces. This struck us the more because we had often tried to get gold +coin for our own use, instead of the silver dollars, the general +currency of the country, of which twenty pounds’ worth to carry home on +a hot day was enough to break one’s heart. We often tried to get gold, +but the answer was always that what little there was in the country was +in the hands of the gamblers, whose operations could not be worked on a +large scale without it. + +The prevalence of mining, as a means of getting wealth, has contributed +greatly to make the love of gambling an important part of the national +character. Silver-mining in the old times was a most hazardous +speculation, and people engaged in it used to make and lose great +fortunes a dozen times in their lives. The miners worked not on fixed +wages, but for a share of the produce, and so every man became a +gambler on his own account. To a great extent the same evils prevail +now, but two things have tended to lessen them. Poor ores are now +worked profitably which used to be neglected by the miners; and, as +these ores occur in almost inexhaustible masses, their mining is a much +less speculative affair than the old system of mining for rich veins. +Moreover, the men are, in some of the largest mines, paid by the day, +so that their life has become more regular. In many places, however, +the work is still done on shares by the miners, who pass their lives in +alternations of excessive riches and all kinds of extravagance, +succeeded by times of extreme poverty. + +An acquaintance of ours was telling us one day about the lives of these +men. One week, a party of three miners had come upon a very rich bit of +ore, and went away from the _raya_, each man with a handkerchief full +of dollars. This was on Saturday evening. On Monday morning our +informant went out for a ride, and on the road he met three dirty +haggard-looking men, dressed in some old rags; one of the three came +forward, taking off the sort of apology for a hat which he had on, and +said, “Good morning, Señor Doctor, would you mind doing us the favour +of lending us half a dollar to get something to eat?” They were the +three successful miners; and when, a few days afterwards, the man who +had asked for the money came back to return it, the Doctor inquired +what had happened. + +It seemed that the three, as soon as they had received their money on +Saturday, got a lift to the nearest town, and there rigged themselves +out with new clothes, silver buttons, five-pound serapes, and a horse +for each, with magnificent silver mountings to the saddle and spurs. +Here they have dinner, and lots of pulque, and swagger about outside +the door, smoking cigarettes. There, quite by chance, an acquaintance +meets them, and admires the horses, but would like to see their paces +tried a little outside the town. So they pace and gallop along for half +a mile or so; when, also quite accidentally, they find two men sitting +outside a rancho, playing at cards. The two men—strangely enough—are +old acquaintances of the curious friend, and they produce a bowl of +cool pulque from within, which our miners find quite refreshing after +the ride. Thereupon they sit down to have a little game at _monte_, +then more pulque, then more cards; and when they awake the next +morning, they find themselves possessed of a suit of old rags, with no +money in the pockets. They had dim recollections of losing—first money, +then horses, and lastly clothes, the night before; but—as they were +informed by the old woman, who was the only occupant of the place +besides themselves—their friends had been obliged to go away on urgent +business, and could not be so impolite as to disturb them. So they +walked back to the mines, ragged and hungry, and borrowed the doctor’s +half-dollar. + +[Illustration: LEATHER SANDALS, WORN BY THE NATIVE INDIANS.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. +TEZCUCO. MIRAFLORES. POPOCATEPETL. CHOLULA. + + +[Illustration: WALKING AND RIDING COSTUMES IN MEXICO. +_(After Nebel.)_] + +The wet season was fast coming on when we left Mexico for the last +time. We had to pass through Vera Cruz, where the rain and the yellow +fever generally set in together; so that to stay longer would have been +too great a risk. + +Our first stage was to Tezcuco, across the lake in a canoe, just as we +had been before. We noticed on our way to the canoes, a church, +apparently from one to two centuries old, with the following doggerel +inscription in huge letters over the portico, which shows that the +dogma of the Immaculate Conception is by no means a recent institution +in Mexico: + + _Antes de entrar afirma con tu vida, + S. Maria fué sin pecado concebida:_ + +Which may be translated into verse of equal quality, + + _Confess on thy life before coming in, + That blessed Saint Mary was conceived without sin._ + +Nothing particular happened on our journey, except that a well-dressed +Mexican turned up at the landing-place, wanting a passage, and as we +had taken a canoe for ourselves, we offered to let him come with us. He +was a well-bred young man, speaking one or two languages besides his +own; and he presently informed us that he was going on a visit to a +rich old lady at Tezcuco, whose name was Doña Maria Lopez, or something +of the kind. When we drove away from the other end of the lake, towards +Tezcuco, we took him as far as the road leading to the old lady’s +house; when he rather astonished us by hinting that he should like to +go on with us to the Casa Grande, and could walk back. At the same +time, it struck us that the youth, though so well dressed, had no +luggage; and we began to understand the queer expression of the +coachman’s face when he saw him get into the carriage with us. So we +stopped at the corner of the road, and the young gentleman had to get +out. + +At the Casa Grande, our friends laughed at us immensely when we told +them of the incident, and offered us twenty to one that he would come +to ask for money within twenty-four hours. He came the same evening, +and brought a wonderful story about his passport not being _en règle_, +and that unless we could lend him ten dollars to bribe the police, he +should be in a dreadful scrape. We referred him to the master of the +house, who said something to him which caused him to depart +precipitately, and we never saw him again; but we heard afterwards that +he had been to the other foreigners in the neighbourhood with various +histories. We made more enquiries about him in the town, and it +appeared that his expedition to Tezcuco was improvised when he saw us +going down to the boat, and of course the visit to the rich old lady +was purely imaginary. Now this youth was not more than eighteen, and +looked and spoke like a gentleman. They say that the class he belonged +to is to be counted rather by thousands than by hundreds in Mexico. +They are the children of white Creoles, or nearly white mestizos; they +get a superficial education and the art of dressing, and with this +slender capital go out into the world to live by their wits, until they +get a government appointment or set up as political adventurers, and so +have a chance of helping themselves out of the public purse, which is +naturally easier and more profitable than mere sponging upon +individuals. One gets to understand the course of Mexican affairs much +better by knowing what sort of raw material the politicians are +recruited from. + +We saw some good things in a small collection of antiquities, on this +second visit to Tezcuco. Among them was a nude female figure in +alabaster, four or five feet high, and—comparatively speaking—of high +artistic merit. Such figures are not common in Mexico, and they are +supposed to represent the Aztec Venus, who was called _Tlazolteocihua_, +“Goddess of Pleasure.” A figure, laboriously cut in hard stone, +representing a man wearing a jackal’s head as a mask, was supposed to +be a figurative representation of the celebrated king of Tezcuco, +_Nezahualcoyotl_, “hungry jackal,” of whom Mexican history relates that +he walked about the streets of his capital in disguise, after the +manner of the Caliph in the Arabian Nights. The explanation is +plausible, but I think not correct. The _coyote_ or jackal was a sacred +animal among the Aztecs, as the Anubis-jackal was among the Egyptians. +Humboldt found in Mexico the tomb of a coyote, which had been carefully +interred with an earthen vase, and a number of the little cast-bronze +bells which I noticed in the last chapter. The Mexicans used actually +to make a kind of fetish—or charm—of a jackal’s skin, prepared in a +peculiar way, and called by the same name, _nezahualcoyotl_, and very +likely they do so still. From this fetish the king’s name was, no +doubt, borrowed; and it is not improbable that the whole story of the +king’s walking in disguise may have grown up out of his name being the +same as that of the figure we saw, muffled up in a jackal’s skin. + +It is curious that the jackal, or the human figure in a jackal-mask, +should have been an object of superstitious veneration both in Mexico +and in Egypt. This, the extraordinary serpent-crown of Xochicalco, and +the pyramids, are the three most striking resemblances to be found +between the two countries; all probably accidental, but not the less +noteworthy on that account. + +The collection contained a number of spherical beads in green jade, +highly polished, and some as large as pigeon’s eggs. They were found in +an alabaster box, of such elaborate and beautiful workmanship that the +owner deemed it worthy to be presented as a sort of peace-offering to +the wife of President Santa Ana. + +The word _coyotl_ in the name of the Tezcucan king is the present word +_coyote_—a jackal. Though unknown in English, it has passed, with +several Spanish words, into what we may call the American dialect of +our language. Prairie-hunters and Californians have introduced several +other words in this way, such as _ranch_, _gulch, corral_, &c. + +The word _lariat_ one is constantly meeting with in books about +American prairies. A horse-rope, or a lazo, is called in Spanish +_reata_; and, by absorbing the article, _la reata_ is made into lariat, +just as such words as _alligator_, _alcove_, and _pyramid_ were formed. +The flexible leather riding-whip or _cuarta_ is apparently the _quirt_ +that some American politicians use in arguing with their opponents. + +Our last day at Tezcuco was spent in packing up antiquities to be sent +to England, the express orders of the Government against such +exportation to the contrary notwithstanding. Next morning we rode off +to Miraflores, passing on our way the curious stratum of alluvial soil +containing pottery, &c., which I have described already. Miraflores is +a cotton-factory, in the opening of a picturesque gorge just at the +edge of the plain of Mexico. The machinery is American, for the mill +dates from the time when it was considered expedient to prohibit the +exportation of cotton-mill machinery from England; and having begun +with American work, it naturally suits them to go on with it. It is +driven by a great Barker’s mill, which works in a sort of well, having +an outlet into the valley, and roars as though it would tear the place +down. It is not common to see this kind of machine working on a large +scale; but here, with a great fall of water, it does very well. +Otherwise the place was like an ordinary cotton-factory, and one cannot +be surprised at people thinking that such establishments are a source +of prosperity to the country. They see a population hard at work and +getting good wages, masters making great profits, and no end of bales +going off to town; and do not consider that half the price of the cloth +is wasted, and that the protection-duty sets the people to work which +they cannot do to advantage, while it takes them away from occupations +which their country is fit for. + +Next morning took us to Amecameca, a town in a little plain at the foot +of Popocatepetl, whose snow-covered top towers high up in the clouds, +like Mont Blanc over Sallanches. We had at one time cherished hopes of +getting to the top of this grand volcano, but had heard such frightful +reports of difficulties and dangers that we had concluded not to do +more than look at it from a distance, the more especially as there had +been a heavy fall of snow upon it a day or two before. We presented our +letter to the Spaniard who kept the great shop at Amecameca, and asked +him, casually, about the mountain. He assured us that the surface of +the snow would be frozen over, and that instead of being a disadvantage +the fall of snow was in our favour, for it was easier to climb over +frozen snow than up a loose heap of volcanic ashes. So we sent for the +guide, a big man, who used to manage the sulphur-workings in the crater +until that undertaking was given up. He set to work to get things ready +for the expedition, and we strolled out for a walk. + +Close by the town is a “sacred mount,” with little stations, and on one +day in the year numbers of pilgrims come to visit the place. Near the +top, the Indian lad who came with us showed us the mouth of a cavern, +which leads by subterranean passages under the sea to Rome—as caverns +not unfrequently do in Roman Catholic countries! What was more worth +noticing was that here there was a cypress-tree, covered with votive +offerings, like the great ahuchuete in the valley above Chalma; so that +it is likely that the place was sacred long before chapels and stations +were built upon it. Our guide told us that whenever a man touched the +tree, all feeling of weariness left him. How characteristic this +superstition is of a nation of carriers of burdens! + +In the afternoon we started—ourselves, our guide, and an Indian to +carry cloaks, &c. up the mountain. We soon left the cultivated region, +and entered upon the pine-forest, which we never left during our +afternoon journey. One of the first showers of the rainy season came +down upon us as we rode through the forest. It only lasted half an +hour, but it was a deluge. In a shower of the same kind at Tezcuco, a +day or two before, rain to the amount of 1-1/10 inches fell in the +hour. By dusk we reached the highest habitation in North America, the +place where the sulphur used to be sublimed from the pumice brought +down from the crater. This place was shut up, for the undertaking has +been abandoned; but in a _rancho_ close by we found some Indian women +and children, and there we took up our quarters. The _rancho_ was a +circular hut, built and thatched with reeds, though in the midst of a +pine-forest; and presently a smart shower began, which came in upon us +as though the roof had been a sieve. + +The Indian women were kneeling all the evening round the wood-fire in +the centre of the hut, baking _tortillas_ and boiling beans and coffee +in earthen pots. The wood was green, and the place was full of +suffocating smoke, except within eighteen inches of the ground, where +lay a stratum of purer air. We were obliged to lie down at once, upon +mats and serapes, for we could not exist in the smoke; and as often as +we raised ourselves into a sitting posture, we had to dive down again, +half suffocated. The line of demarcation was so accurately drawn that +it was like the Grotto del Cane, only reversed. + +After a primitive supper in earthen bowls, we lay round the fire, +listening to the talk of our men and the Indian women. It was mostly +about adventures with wolves, and about the sulphur-workings, now +discontinued. The weather had cleared, and as we lay we could see the +stars shining in through the roof. About three in the morning I awoke, +feeling bruised all over, as was natural after sleeping on a mat on the +ground. Moreover, the fire had gone out, and it was horribly cold, as +well it might be at 13,000 feet above the sea. I shook some one up to +make up the fire, and went out into the open air. It was nearly full +moon; but the moonlight was very different from what we can see in +England, even on the clearest nights. On the plateau of Mexico, the +rarity and dryness of the air are such that distant objects are seen +far more distinctly than at the level of the sea, and the European +traveller’s measurements of distance by the eye are always too small. +The sunlight and moonlight, for the same reason, are more intense than +at lower levels. Here, at about the same elevation as the top of the +Jungfrau, the effect was far more striking, and I shall never forget +the brilliant flood of light that illuminated that grand scene. Far +down below I could see the plain, with houses and fields dimly visible. +At the bottom of the slope began the dark pine-forest, which enveloped +the mountains up to the level at which I stood, and there broke into an +uneven line, with straggling patches running up a few hundred feet +higher in sheltered crevices. Above the forest came a region of bare +volcanic sand, and then began the snow. The highest peak no longer +looked steep and pointed as from below, but seemed to rise from the +darker line of sand in a gentle swelling curve up into the sky. There +did not seem to be a speck or a wrinkle on this smooth snowy dome, the +brilliant whiteness of which contrasted so wonderfully with the dark +pine-forest below. + +About seven in the morning we started on horseback, rode up across the +sandy district, and entered upon the snow. After we left the pines, +small bushes and tufts of coarse Alpine grass succeeded. Where rocks of +basaltic lava stood out from the heaps of crumbling ashes, after the +grass had ceased, lichens—the occupants of the highest zone—were still +to be seen. Before we reached the snow, we were in the midst of utter +desolation, where no sign of life was visible. From this point we sent +back the horses, and started for the ascent of the cone. On our +yesterday’s ride we had cut young pine-trees in the forest, for +alpenstocks; and we tied silk handkerchiefs completely over our faces, +to keep off the glare of the sun. Our guide did the same; but the +Indian, who had been many times before up to the crater to get sulphur, +had brought no protection for his face. We marched in a line, the guide +first, sounding the depth of the snow with his pole, and keeping as +nearly as he could along ridges just covered with snow, where we did +not sink far. It was from the lower part of the snow that we began to +understand the magnificent proportions of Iztaccihuatl—the “White +Woman,” the twin mountain which is connected with Popocatepetl by an +immense col, which stretches across below the snow-line. This mountain +is not conical like Popocatepetl, but its shoulders are broader, and +break into grand peaks, like some of the _Dents_ of Switzerland, and it +has no crater.[23] Indeed, the two mountains, joined together like +Siamese twins, look as though they had been set up, side by side, to +illustrate the two contending theories of the formation of volcanos. +Von Buch and Humboldt might have made Iztaccihuatl on the “upheaval +theory,” by a force pushing up from below, without breaking through the +crust to form a crater; while Poulett Scrope was building Popocatepetl +on the “accumulation theory,” by throwing up lava and volcanic ashes +out of an open vent, until he had formed a conical heap some five +thousand feet high, with a great crater at the top. + + [23] I was surprised to find Iztaccihuatl classed among the active + volcanos in Johnston’s Physical Atlas, and supposed at first that a + crater had really been found. But it is likely to be only a mistake, + caused by the name of “Volcan” being given to both mountains by the + Mexicans, who used the word in a very loose way. + +As we toiled slowly up the snow, we took off our veils from time to +time, to look more clearly about us. The glare of the sun upon the snow +was dazzling, and its intense whiteness contrasted wonderfully with the +cloudless dark indigo-blue of the sky. Between twelve and one we +reached the edge of the crater, 17,884 feet above the sea. The ridge +upon which we stood was only a few feet wide, and covered with snow; +but it seemed that there was still heat enough to keep the crater +itself clear, for none lay on the bottom, or in clefts on the steep +sides. + +The crater was oval, full a mile in its longest diameter, and perhaps +700 to 800 feet in depth; and its almost perpendicular walls of +basaltic lava are covered with red and yellow patches of sublimed +sulphur. We climbed a little way down into it to get protection from +the wind, but to descend further unassisted was not possible, so we sat +there, with our legs dangling down into the abyss. Part of the +_malacate_, or winder, used by the Indians in descending, was still +there; but it was not complete, and even if it had been, so many months +had elapsed since it was last used that we should not have cared to try +it. It consisted of a rope of hide, descending into the bottom of the +crater in a slanting direction; and the sulphur-collectors were lowered +and drawn up it by a windlass, in a basket to which another rope was +attached. A few years back, the volcano used to send up showers of +ashes, and even large stones; but now it has sunk to the condition of a +mere _solfatara_, sending out, from two crevices in the floor, great +volumes of sulphurous acid and steam, with a loud roaring noise. The +sulphur-working merely consisted in looking for places where the +pumice-stone was fully impregnated with sulphur, and breaking out +pieces, which were hauled up in the basket. The chief risk which the +labourers ran was from the terrific snow-storms, which come on suddenly +and without the slightest notice. Men at work collecting sulphur have +once or twice been caught by such storms in parts of the crater at a +distance from the rope, and buried in the snow. + +The appearance of the “White Woman,” but little lower than the point +where we stood, was very grand, but all other objects looked small. The +two great plains of Mexico and Puebla, with their lakes and towns, were +laid out like a map; and the ranges of mountains which hem them in made +them look like Roman encampments surrounded by earthworks. Even now +that the lakes have shrunk to a fraction of their former size, we could +see the fitness of the name given in old times to the Valley of Mexico, +_Anahuac_, that is, “By the Water-side.” The peaks of Orizaba and +Perote were conspicuous to the east; to the north lay the +silver-mountains of Pachuca; and to the south-west a darker shade of +green indicated the forests and plantations of the _tierra caliente_, +below Cuernavaca. + +It was a novel sensation to be at an altitude where the barometer +stands at 15½ inches, so that the pressure on our lungs was hardly more +than one-half what we are accustomed to in England; but we did not +experience much inconvenience from it. The last thousand feet or so had +been very hard work, and we were obliged to stop every few steps, but +on the comparatively level edge of the crater we felt no difficulty in +moving about. + +_Popocatepetl_ means “Smoking Mountain.” The Indians naturally enough +considered it to be the abode of evil spirits, and told Cortes and his +companions that they could never reach the top. One of the Spaniards, +Diego Ordaz, tried to climb to the summit, and got as far as the snow; +whereupon he returned, and got permission to put a burning mountain in +his coat of arms, in commemoration of the exploit! If, as he declared, +a high wind was blowing, and showers of ashes falling, his turning back +was excusable, though his bragging was not. He seems to have afterwards +told Bernal Diaz that he got to the top, which we know, by Cortes’ +letters to Spain, was not true. A few years later, Francesco Montano +went up, and was lowered into the crater to get sulphur. When Humboldt +relates the story, in his _New Spain_, he seems incredulous about this; +but since the _Essai Politique_ was written the same thing has been +regularly done by the Indians, as the merest matter of business, until +the crater has been fairly worked out. + +We took our last look at Mexico from the ridge of the crater, and, +descending twenty feet at a stride, soon reached the bottom of the +cone. As far as we could see, the substance of the hill seemed to be of +basaltic lava, which was mostly covered with the _lapilli_ which I have +spoken of before as ashes and volcanic sand. Even before we reached the +pine-forest there was evidence of the action of water, which had +covered the slope of the mountain with beds of thick compact tufa, +composed of these lapilli mixed with fragments of lava. The +water-courses had cut deep channels through these beds, and down into +the rock below; so that the streams from the melted snow rushed down +between walls of lava, in which traces of columnar structure were +observable. + +The snow we had travelled over was sometimes dry and powdery, and +sometimes hard and compact. There were no glaciers, and no glacier-ice, +properly so called. It never rains at this elevation; and, though +evaporation goes on rapidly with half the pressure taken off the air, +and a great increase in the intensity of the sun’s rays, the snow +either passes directly into vapour, or carries the water off +instantaneously, as it is formed. Only so much water seems to be +produced and re-frozen as suffices to make the snow hard, and in some +favourable places near the rocks to form lumps of ice, and some of +those great icicles which the Spaniards brought down from the mountain +on their first expedition, so greatly astonishing their companions. + +When we reached the rancho we thought of passing another night there; +but the Indians who had gone down to the valley for corn had not +returned, and everything was eaten up except beans, which are all very +well as accessories to dinner, but our English digestions could not +stand living upon them; so we started at once for San Nícolas de los +Ranchos. Our ride was down a deep ravine, by the side of a +mountain-torrent coming down from the snows of Popocatepetl; and, when +we stopped now and then to look behind us, we had one of the grandest +views which I have ever witnessed. The elements of the picture were +simple enough. A deep gorge at our feet, with a fierce torrent rushing +down it, dark pine-trees all round us, and above us—on either side—a +snow-covered mountain towering up into the sky. We were just in the +track of the Spanish invaders, who crossed most likely by this very +road between the two volcanos; and they record the amazement which they +felt that in the tropics snow should be unmelted upon the mountains. + +A few hours riding down the steep descent, and we were in the flat +plain of Puebla. There were our two mountains behind us, but now they +looked as we had so often seen them before from a distance. The power +of realizing their size was gone, and with it most of their grandeur +and beauty. Nothing was left us but a vivid recollection of the +wonderful scenes that were before us a few hours ago, impressions not +likely to be ever effaced from our minds, where the picture of the +great snowy cone seen in the bright moonlight, and the descent between +the mountains, remain indelibly impressed as the types of all that is +most grand and impressive in the scenery of lofty mountains. + +We slept at San Nícolas de los Ranches, “St. Nicholas of the huts,” +where the shopkeeper, to whom we had a letter, insisted upon turning +out of his own room for us, and treated us like princes. The reason of +our often being provided with letters to the shopkeepers in small +places, was, that they are the only people who have houses fit for +entertaining travellers. Many of them are very rich, and in the United +States they would call themselves merchants. Next morning our Indian +carrier, who had ascended the mountain without a veil, was brought in +by our guide, a pitiful object. All the skin of his face was peeling +off, and his eyes were frightfully inflamed, so that he was all but +blind, and had to be led about. Fortunately, this blindness only lasts +for a time, and no doubt he got well in a few days. + +We rode through the plain to Cholula. Our number was now four; for, +besides Antonio, we had engaged another servant a few days before. We +wanted some one who knew this district well; and when a friend of ours +mentioned that there was a young man to be had who had a good horse and +was a smuggler by profession, we engaged him directly, and he proved a +great acquisition. Of course, from the nature of his trade, he knew +every bypath between Mexico and the tobacco-districts towards which we +were going; he was always ready with an expedient whenever there was a +difficulty, he was never tired and never out of temper. As for the +morality of his peculiar profession, it probably does harm to the +honesty of the people; but, considering it as a question of abstract +justice, we must remember that almost the whole of the taxes which the +Mexicans are compelled to pay to the general government are utterly +wasted upon paying officials who do nothing but intrigue, and keeping +up armies which—far from being a protection to life and property—are a +permanent and most destructive nuisance. The contract between +government and subject ought to be a two-sided one; and when the +government so entirely misuses the taxes paid by the people, I am quite +inclined to sympathize with the subjects who will not pay them if they +can help it. + +We scarcely entered the town of Cholula, which is a poor place now, +though it was a great city at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The +Spanish city of Puebla, only a few miles off, quite ruined it. + +We went straight to the great pyramid, which lies close to the town, +and which had been rising before us like a hill during the last miles +of our journey. This extraordinary structure is perhaps the oldest ruin +in Mexico, and certainly the largest. A close examination of its +structure in places where the outline is still to some extent +preserved, and a comparison of it with better preserved structures of +the same kind, make it quite clear that it was a terraced _teocalli_, +resembling the drawing called the “Pyramid of Cholula,” in Humboldt’s +_Vues des Cordillères_. But let no one imagine that the well-defined +and symmetrical structure represented in that drawing is in the least +like what we saw, and from which Humboldt made the rough sketch, which +he and his artist afterwards “idealized” for his great work. At the +present day, the appearance of the structure is that of a shapeless +tree-grown hill; and until the traveller comes quite close to it he may +be excused for not believing that it is an artificial mound at all. + +The pyramid is built of rows of bricks baked in the sun, and cemented +together with mortar in which had been stuck quantities of small +stones, fragments of pottery, and bits of obsidian knives and weapons. +Between rows of bricks are alternate layers of clay. It was built in +four terraces, of which traces are still to be distinguished; and is +about 200 feet high. Upon the platform at the top stand some trees and +a church. The sides front the four cardinal points, and the base line +is of immense length, over thirteen hundred feet, so that the ascent is +very gradual. + +When we reached Cholula we sent the two men to enquire in the +neighbourhood for antiquities, of which numbers are to be found in +every ploughed field round. At the top of the pyramid we held a market, +and got some curious things, all of small size however. Among them was +a mould for making little jackal-heads in the clay, ready for baking; +the little earthen heads which are found in such quantities in the +country being evidently made by wholesale in moulds of this kind, not +modelled separately. We got also several terra-cotta stamps, used in +old times for stamping coloured patterns upon the native cloth, and +perhaps also for ornamenting vases and other articles of earthenware. +Cholula used to be a famous place for making pottery, and its +red-and-black ware was famous at the time of the Conquest, but the +trade now seems to have left it. We were struck by observing that, +though there was plenty of coloured pottery to be found in the +neighbourhood of the pyramid, the pyramid itself had only fragments of +uncoloured ware imbedded in its structure; which seems to prove that it +was built before the art of colouring pottery was invented. + +They have cut a road through one corner of the pyramid, and this +cutting exposed a chamber within. Humboldt describes this chamber as +roofed with blocks, each overlapping the one before, till they can be +made to meet by a block of ordinary size. This is the false arch so +common in Egypt and Peru, and in the ruined cities of Central America. +Every child who builds houses with a box of bricks discovers it for +himself. The bridge at Tezcuco, already described, is much more +remarkable in its structure. Whether our inspection was careless, or +whether the chamber has fallen in since Humboldt’s time, I cannot say, +but we missed this peculiar roof. + +There are several legends about the Pyramid of Cholula. That recorded +by Humboldt on the authority of a certain Dominican friar, Pedro de los +Rios, I mention—not because of its intrinsic value, which is very +slight, but because it will enable us to see the way in which legends +grew up under the hands of the early missionaries, who were delighted +to find fragments of Scripture-history among the traditions of the +Ancient Mexicans, and who seem to have taken down from the lips of +their converts, as native traditions, the very Bible-stories that they +had been teaching them, mixed however with other details, of which it +is hard to say whether they were imagined on purpose to fill up gaps in +the story, or whether they were really of native traditional origin. + +Pedro de los Rios’ story tells us that the land of Anahuac was +inhabited by giants; that there was a great deluge, which devastated +the earth; that all the inhabitants were turned into fishes, except +seven who took refuge in a cave (apparently with their wives). Years +after the waters had subsided, and the earth had been re-peopled by +these seven men, their leader began to build a vast pyramid, whose top +should reach to heaven. He built it of bricks baked in the sun, which +were brought from a great distance, passing them from hand to hand by a +file of men. The gods were enraged at the presumption of these men, and +they sent down fire from heaven upon the pyramid, which caused its +building to be discontinued. It is stated that at the time of the +Spanish Conquest, the inhabitants of Cholula preserved with great +veneration a large aerolite, which they said was the thunderbolt that +fell upon the top of the pyramid when the fire struck it. + +The history of the confusion of tongues seems also to have existed in +the country, not long after the Conquest, having very probably been +learnt from the missionaries; but it does not seem to have been +connected with the Tower-of-Babel legend of Cholula. Something like it +at least appears in the Gemelli table of Mexican migrations, reproduced +in Humboldt, where a bird in a tree is sending down a number of tongues +to a crowd of men standing below. + +I think we need not hesitate in condemning the legend of Cholula, which +I have just related, as not genuine, or at least as partly of late +fabrication. But we fortunately possess another version of it, which +shows the legend to have developed itself farther than was quite +discreet. A MS. history, written by Duran in 1579, and quoted by the +Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, relates that people built the pyramid to +reach heaven, finding clay or mud _(“terre glaise”)_ and a very sticky +_bitumen (“bitume fort gluant”)_, with which they began at once to +build, &c. This is evidently the slime or bitumen of the Book of +Genesis; but I believe I may safely assert that the Mexicans never used +bitumen for any such purpose, and that it is not found anywhere near +Cholula. + +The Aztec historians ascribe the building of the Pyramid of Cholula to +the prophet Quetzalcoatl. The legends which relate to this celebrated +personage are to be found in writers on Mexican history, and, more +fully than elsewhere, in the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg’s work. + +I am inclined to consider Quetzalcoatl a real personage, and not a +mythical one. He is said to have been a white, bearded man, to have +come from the East, to have reigned in Tollan, and to have been driven +out from thence by the votaries of human sacrifices, which he opposed. +He took refuge in Cholollan, now called Cholula (which means the “place +of the fugitive”), and taught the inhabitants to work in metals, to +observe various fasts and festivals, to use the Toltec calendar of days +and years, and to perform penance to appease the gods. + +A relic of the father of Quetzalcoatl is said to have been kept until +after the Spanish Conquest, when it was opened, and found to contain a +quantity of fair human hair. The prophet himself departed from Cholula, +and put to sea in a canoe, promising to return. So strong was the +belief in the tradition of these events among the Aztecs, that when the +Spaniards appeared on the coast, they were supposed to be of the race +of the prophet, and the strange conduct of Montezuma to Cortes is to be +ascribed to the influence of this belief. + +There is a singular legend, mentioned by the Abbé Brasseur de +Bourbourg, of a white man, with a hooded robe and white beard, bearing +a cross in his hand, who lands at Tehuantepec (on the Pacific coast of +Mexico), and introduces among the Indians auricular confession, +penance, and vows of chastity. + +The coming of white, bearded men from the East, centuries before the +Spanish invasion in the 16th century, and the introduction of new arts +and rites by them in Mexico, is as certain as most historical events of +which we have only legendary knowledge. As to who they were I cannot +offer an opinion. There are, however, one or two points connected with +the presence of the Irish and Northmen in America in the 9th and +following centuries—a period not very far from that ascribed to +Quetzalcoatl—which are worthy of notice. + +The Scandinavian antiquarians make the “white-man’s land” +_(Hvitramannaland)_ extend down as far as Florida, on the very Gulf of +Mexico. It is curious to notice the coincidence between the remark of +Bernal Diaz, that the Mexicans called their priests _papa_ (more +properly _papahua_), and that in the old Norse Chronicle, which tells +of the first colonization of Iceland by the Northmen, and relates that +they found living there “Christian men whom the Northmen call _Papa_.” +These latter are shown by the context to have been Irish priests. The +Aztec root _teo (teo-tl, God)_ comes nearer to the Greek and Latin, but +is not unlike the Irish _dia_, and the Norse _ty-r_. The Aztec root +_col_ (charcoal) is exactly the Norse _kol_ (our word _coat_), but not +so near to the Irish _gual_. It is desirable to notice such +coincidences, even when they are too slight to ground an argument upon. + +This seems to be the proper place to mention the many Christian +analogies to be found in the customs of the ancient Aztecs. + +Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given to them. +This is certainly true, though the statement that they believed that +the process purified them from original sin is probably a monkish +fiction. Water was consecrated by the priests, and was supposed thus to +acquire magical qualities. In the coronation of kings, anointing was +part of the ceremony, as well as the use of holy water. The festival of +All Souls’ Day reminds us of the Aztec feasts of the Dead in the autumn +of each year; and in Mexico the Indians still keep up some of their old +rites on that day. There was a singular rite observed by the Aztecs, +which they called the _teoqualo_, that is, “the eating of the god.” A +figure of one of their gods was made in dough, and after certain +ceremonies they made a pretence of killing it, and divided it into +morsels, which were eaten by the votaries as a kind of sacred food. + +We may add to the list the habitual use of incense in the ceremonies: +the existence of monasteries and nunneries, in which the monks wore +long hair, but the nuns had their hair cut off: and the use of the +cross as a religious emblem in Mexico and Central America. + +Less certain is the recorded use of knotted scourges in performing +penance, and the existence of a peculiar kind of auricular confession. + +It is difficult to ascribe this mass of coincidences to mere chance, +and not to see in them traces of connexion, more or less remote, with +Christians. Perhaps these peculiar rites came, with the Mexican system +of astronomy, from Asia; or perhaps the white, bearded men from the +East may have brought them. It is true that such a supposition runs +quite counter to the argument founded on the ignorance of the Mexicans +of common arts known in Europe and Asia. We should have expected +Christian missionaries to have brought with them the knowledge of the +use of iron, and the alphabet. Perhaps our increasing knowledge of the +ancient Mexicans may some day allow us to adopt a theory which shall at +least have the merit of being consistent with itself; but at present +this seems impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +PUEBLA. NOPALUCÁN. ORIZABA. POTRERO. + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF THE VOLCANO ORIZABA.] + +We reached Puebla in the afternoon, and found it a fine Spanish city, +with straight streets of handsome stone houses, and paved with +flag-stones. We rather wondered at the _pasadizos_, a kind of arched +stone-pavement across the streets at short intervals, very much +impeding the progress of the carriages, which had to go up and down +them upon inclined planes. In the evening we saw the use of them +however, for a shower of rain came down which turned every street into +a furious river within five minutes after the first drop fell. For half +an hour the pasadizos did their duty, letting the water pass through +underneath, while passengers could get across the streets dryshod. At +last, the flood swept clear along, over bridges and all; but this only +lasted a few minutes, and then the way was practicable again. The +moveable iron bridges on wheels, which are to be seen standing in the +streets of Sicilian cities, ready to be wheeled across them for the +benefit of foot-passengers whenever the carriage-way is flooded, are on +the whole a better arrangement. + +We should never have thought, from looking at Puebla, that it had just +been undergoing a siege; for, beyond a few patches of whitewash in the +great square, where the cannon-balls had knocked the houses about, +there were no traces of it. + +We made many enquiries about the siege, and found nothing to invalidate +our former estimate of twenty-five killed,—one per cent of the number +stated in the government manifestos. Among the casualties we heard of +an Englishman who went out to see the fun, and was wounded in a +particularly ignominious manner as he was going back to his house. + +Revolutions and sieges form curious episodes in the life of the foreign +merchants in the Republic. Their trade is flourishing, perhaps,—plenty +of buyers and good prices; and hundreds of mules are on the road, +bringing up their wares from the coast. All at once there is a +pronunciamiento. The street-walls are covered with proclamations. Half +the army takes one side, half the other; and crowds of volunteers and +self-made officers join them, in the hope of present pillage or future +emolument. Barricades appear in the streets; and at intervals there is +to be heard the roaring of cannon, and desultory firing of musketry +from the flat roofs, killing a peaceable citizen now and then, but +doing little execution on the enemy. + +Trade comes to a dead stop. Our merchant gets his house well furnished +with provisions, shuts the outer shutters, locks up the great gates, +and retires into seclusion for a week or a fortnight, or a month or +two, as may be. At the time we were there he used to run no great risk, +for neither party was hostile to him; and if a stray cannon-ball did +hit his house, or the insurgents shot his cook going out on an +expedition in search of fresh beef, it was only by accident. + +Having no business to do, the counting-house would probably take stock, +and balance the books; but when this is finished there is little to be +done but to practice pistol-shooting and hold tournaments in the +court-yard, and to teach the horses to rayar; while the head of the +house sits moodily smoking in his arm-chair, reckoning up how many of +his debtors would be ruined, and wondering whether the loaded mules +with his goods had got into shelter, or had been seized by one party or +the other. + +At last the revolution is over. The new president is inaugurated with +pompous speeches. The newspapers announce that now the glorious reign +of justice, order, and prosperity has begun at last. If the millennium +had come, they could not make much more talk about it. Our unfortunate +friend, coming out of his den only to hear dismal news of runaway +debtors and confiscated bales, has to illuminate his house, and set to +getting his affairs into something like order again. + +Since we left the country things have got even worse. Formerly, all +that the foreign merchants had to suffer were the incidental miseries +of a state of civil war. Now, the revolutionary leaders put them in +prison; and, if threats are not sufficient, they get forced loans out +of them, much as King John did out of his Jews. + +Even in times of peace, foreign goods must be dear in Mexico. In a +country where they have to be carried nearly three hundred miles on +mules’ backs, and where credit is so long that the merchant can never +hope to see his money again in less than two years, he cannot be +expected to sell very cheaply. But the continual revolutions and the +insecurity of property make things far worse, and one almost wonders +how foreign trade can go on at all. + +One of our friends in Mexico had three or four hundred mules coming up +the country laden with American cotton for his mill, just when Haro’s +revolution began. He got off much better than most people, however; +for, greatly to the disgust of the legitimate authorities, he went down +into the enemy’s camp, and gave the revolutionary chief a dollar a bale +to let them go. + +As may be supposed, commercial transactions have often very curious +features here. Strange things happen in the eastern states; but people +there say that they are nothing to the doings on the Pacific coast, +where the merchants get up a revolution when their ships appear in the +offing, and turn out the Custom-house officers, who do not enter upon +their functions again until the rich cargos have started for the +interior. + +One little incident, which happened—-I think—at Vera Cruz, rather +amused us. When the Government is hard-up, a favourite way of raising +ready money is to sell—of course at a very low price—orders upon the +Custom-house, to pass certain quantities of goods, duty-free. Such a +transaction as this was concluded between the Minister of Finance and a +merchant’s house who gave hard dollars in exchange for an order to pass +so many hundred bales of cotton, free of duty. When the ship arrived at +port, however, the Yankee captain brought in his manifest with a broad +grin upon his face. The inspectors went down to the ship, and stood +aghast. There were the bales of cotton, but such bales! They had to be +shoved and coaxed to get them up through the hatchways at all. The +Customhouse officials protested in vain. The order was for so many +bales of cotton, and these overgrown monsters were bales of cotton, and +the merchants sent them up to Mexico in triumph. + +To us, Puebla was not an interesting city. It was built by the +Spaniards, and called _Puebla de los Angeles_, because angels assisted +in building the cathedral, which does no great credit to their good +taste. Its costly ornaments of gold, silver, jewels, and variegated +marbles, are most extraordinary. One does not know which to wonder at +most, the value and beauty of the materials, or the unmitigated +ugliness of the designs. + +We saw the festival of Corpus Christi while we were in Puebla; but were +to a certain extent disappointed in the display of plate and jewelled +vestments for the clergy, whose attempt to overthrow Comonfort’s +government had only resulted in themselves being heavily fined, and who +were in consequence keeping their wealth in the background, and making +as little display as possible. The most interesting part of the +ceremonial to us was to see the processions of Indians from the +surrounding villages, walking crowned with flowers, and carrying +Madonnas in bowers of green branches and blossoms. + +At the head of each procession walked an Indian beating a drum, _tap, +tap, tap_, without a vestige of time. The other processions with stoles +and canopies, and the officials of the city in dress-coats and yellow +kid gloves, were paltry affairs enough. + +Neither during this ceremonial, nor at Easter in the Capital were any +miracles exhibited, like the performances of the Madonna at Palermo, +which the coachmen of the city carry about at Easter, weeping real +tears into a cambric pocket-handkerchief; nor is anything done in the +country like the lighting of the Greek fire, or the melting of the +blood of St. Januarius. + +Puebla pretty much belongs to the clergy, who are paramount there. A +population of some sixty thousand has seventy-two churches, some of +them very large. It is the focus of the church-party, whose steady +powerful resistance to reform is one of the causes of the unhappy +political state of the country. As is usual in cathedral-towns, the +morality of the people is rather lower than elsewhere. I have said +already that the revenues of the Mexican Church are very large. Tejada +estimates the income at twenty millions of dollars yearly, more than +the whole revenue of the State; but this calculation far exceeds that +given by any other authority. He remarks that the Church has always +tried as much as possible to conceal its riches, and probably he makes +a very large allowance for this. At any rate, I think we may reasonably +estimate the annual income of the Church at $10,000,000, or £2,000,000, +two-thirds of the income of the State. + +There is nothing extraordinary in the Church having become very rich by +the accumulations of three centuries in a Spanish colony, where the +manners and customs remained in the 18th century to a great extent as +they were in the 16th, and the practice of giving and leaving great +properties to the Church was in full vigour—long after it had declined +in Europe. It is considered that half the city of Mexico belongs to the +Church. This seems an extraordinary statement; but, if we remember that +in Philip the Second’s time half the freehold property of Spain +belonged to the Church, we shall cease to wonder at this. The +extraordinary feature of the case is that, counting both secular and +regular clergy, there are only 4600 ecclesiastics in the country. The +number has been steadily decreasing for years. In 1826 it was 6,000; in +1844 it had fallen to 5,200, in 1856 to 4,600, giving, on the lowest +reckoning, an average of over £200 a year for each priest and monk. A +great part of this income is probably left to accumulate; but, when we +remember that the pay of the country curas is very small, often not +more than £30 to £50, there must be fine incomes left for the +church-dignitaries and the monks. Now any one would suppose that a +profession with such prizes to give away would become more and more +crowded. Why it is not so I cannot tell. It is true that the lives of +the ecclesiastics are anything but respectable, and that the profession +is in such bad odour that many fathers of families, though good +Catholics, will not let a priest enter their houses; but we do not +generally find Mexicans deterred by a little bad reputation from +occupations where much money and influence are to be had for very +little work. + +The ill conduct of the Mexican clergy, especially of the monks, is +matter of common notoriety, and every writer on Mexico mentions it, +from the time of Father Gage—the English friar—who travelled with a +number of Spanish monks through Mexico in 1625, and described the +clergy and the people as he saw them. He was disgusted with their ways, +and, going back to England, turned Protestant, and died Vicar of Deal. + +To show what monastic discipline is in Mexico, I will tell one story, +and only one. An English acquaintance of mine was coming down the Calle +San Francisco late one night, and saw a man who had been stabbed in the +street close to the convent-gate. People sent into the convent to fetch +a confessor for the dying man, but none was to be had. There was only +one monk in the place, and he was bed-ridden. The rest were enjoying +themselves in the city, or fast asleep at their lodgings in the bosom +of their families. + +In condemning the Mexican clergy, some exception must be made. There +are many of the country curas who lead most exemplary lives, and do +much good. So do the priests of the order of St. Vincent de Paule, and +the Sisters of Charity with whom they are associated; but then, few of +these, either priests or sisters, are Mexicans. + +Among the curious odds and ends which we came upon in Puebla, in the +shop of a dealer in old iron and things in general, were two or three +very curious old scourges, made of light iron chains with projecting +points on the links—terrific instruments, once in very general use. Up +to the present time, there are certain nights when penitents assemble +in churches, in total darkness, and kneeling on the pavement, scourge +themselves, while a monk in the pulpit screams out fierce exhortations +to strike harder. The description carries us back at once to the +Egyptian origin of this strange custom; and we think of the annual +festival of Isis, where the multitudes scourged themselves in memory of +the sufferings of Osiris. A story is told of a sceptical individual who +got admission to this ceremony by making great professions of devotion, +and did terrific execution on the backs of his kneeling +fellow-penitents. Before he began, the place was resounding with +doleful cries and groans; but he noticed that the cry which arose when +he struck was not like these other sounds, but had quite a different +accent. The practice of devotional scourging is still kept up in Rome, +but in a very mild form, as it appears that the penitents keep their +coats on, and only use a kind of miniature cat-o’-nine-tails of thin +cord, with a morsel of lead at the end of each tail, and not such +bloodthirsty implements as those we found at Puebla. + +It seemed to us that the great influence of the priests in Mexico was +among the women of all classes, the Indians, and the poorer and less +educated half-castes. The men of the higher classes, especially the +younger ones, did not appear to have much respect for the priests or +for religion, and, indeed, seemed to be sceptical, after the manner of +the French school of freethinking. It was quite curious to see the +young dandies, dressed in their finest clothes, at the doors of the +fashionable churches on Sunday morning. None of them seemed to go to +mass, but they simply went to stare at the ladies, who, as they came +out, had to run the gauntlet through a double line of these critical +young gentlemen. As far as we could see, however, they did not mind +being looked at. The poorer mestizos and Indians, on the other hand, +are still zealous churchmen, and spend their time and money on masses +and religious duties so perseveringly that one wishes they had a +religion which was of some use to them. As it is, I cannot ascertain +that Christianity has produced any improvement in the Mexican people. +They no longer sacrifice and eat their enemies, it is true, but against +this we must debit them with a great increase of dishonesty and general +immorality, which will pretty well square the account. + +Practically, there is not much difference between the old heathenism +and the new Christianity. We may put the dogmas out of the question. +They hear them and believe in them devoutly, and do not understand them +in the least. They had just received the Immaculate Conception, as they +had received many mysteries before it; and were not a little delighted +to have a new occasion for decorating themselves and their churches +with flowers, marching in procession, dancing, beating drums, and +letting off rockets by daylight, as their manner is. The real essence +of both religions is the same to them. They had gods, to whom they +built temples, and in whose honour they gave offerings, maintained +priests, danced and walked in processions—much as they do now, that +their divinities might be favourable to them, and give them good crops +and success in their enterprises. This is pretty much what their +present Christianity consists of. As a moral influence, working upon +the character of the people, it seems scarcely to have had the +slightest effect, except, as I said, in causing them to leave off human +sacrifices, which were probably not an original feature of their +worship, but were introduced comparatively at a late time, and had +already been almost abolished by one king. + +The Indians still show the greatest veneration for a priest; and Heller +well illustrates this feeling when he tells us how he happened to ride +through the country in a long black cloak, and the Indians he met on +the road used to fall on their knees as he passed, and ask for his +blessing, regardless of the deep mud and their white trousers. However, +this was ten years before we were in the country, and I doubt whether +the cloak would get so much veneration now. The best measure of the +influence of the Church is the fact that when Mexico adopted a +republican constitution, in imitation of that of the United States, it +was settled that no Church but that of Rome should be tolerated in the +country; and this law still remains one of the fundamental principles +of the State, in which universal liberty and equality, freedom of the +press, and absolute religious intolerance form rather a strange jumble. +It is curious to observe that, though the Independence confirmed the +authority of the Roman Catholic religion, it considerably reduced the +church-revenues, by making the payment of tithes a matter of mere +option. The Church—of course—diligently preaches the necessity of +paying tithes, putting their obligation in the catechism, between the +ten commandments and the seven sacraments, and they still get a good +deal in this way. + +We sent our horses to the bath at Pueblo. This is usually done once a +week in the cities of Mexico. We went once to see the process while we +were in the capital, and were very much amused. The horses had been to +the place before, and turned in of their own accord through a gateway +in a shabby back street; and when they got into the courtyard, began to +dance about in such a frantic manner that the _mozos_ could hardly hold +them in while their saddles and bridles were being taken off. Then they +put their heads down, and bolted into a large shed, with a sort of +floor of dust several inches deep, in which six or eight other horses +were rushing about, kicking, prancing, plunging, and literally +screaming with delight. I will not positively assert that I saw an old +white horse stand upon his head in a corner and kick with all his four +legs at once, but he certainly did something very much like it. +Presently the old _mozo_ walked into the shed, with his lazo over his +arm, and carelessly flung the noose across. Of course it fell over the +right horse’s neck, when the animal was quiet in a moment, and walked +out after the old man in quite a subdued frame of mind. One horse came +out after another in the same way, took his swim obediently across a +great tank of water, was rubbed down, and went off home in high +spirits. + +Though slavery has long been abolished in the Republic, there still +exists a curious “domestic institution” which is nearly akin to it. It +is not peculiar to the plains of Puebla, but flourishes there more than +elsewhere. It is called “_peonaje_,” and its operation is in this wise. +If a debtor owes money and cannot pay it, his creditor is allowed by +law to make a slave or _peon _of him until the debt is liquidated. +Though the name is Spanish, I believe the origin of the custom is to be +found in an Aztec usage which prevailed before the Conquest. + +A _peon_ means a man on foot, that is, a labourer, journeyman, or +foot-soldier. We have the word in English as “_pioneer_” and as the +“_pawn_” among chessmen; but I think not with any meaning like that it +has come to bear in Mexico. + +On the great haciendas in the neighbourhood of Puebla, the Indian +labourers are very generally in this condition. They owe money to their +masters, and are slaves; nominally till they can work off the sum they +owe, but practically for their whole lives. Even should they earn +enough to be able to pay their debt, the contract cannot be cancelled +so easily. A particular day is fixed for striking a balance, generally, +I believe, Easter Monday, just after a season when the custom of +centuries has made it incumbent upon the Indians to spend all that they +have and all that they can borrow upon church-fees, wax-candles, and +rockets, for the religious ceremonies of the season, and the drunken +debauches which form an essential part of the festival. The masters, or +at least the _administradors_, are accused of mystifying the annual +statement of accounts between the labourer and the estate, and it is +certain that the Indian’s feeble knowledge of arithmetic leaves him +quite helpless in the hands of the bookkeeper; but whether this is mere +slander or not, we never had any means of ascertaining. + +Long servitude has obliterated every feeling of independence from the +minds of these Indians. Their fathers were slaves, and they are quite +content to be so too. Totally wanting in self-restraint, they cannot +resist the slightest temptation to run into debt; and they are not +insensible to the miserable advantage which a slave enjoys over a free +labourer, that his master, having a pecuniary interest in him, will not +let him starve. They have a cat-like attachment to the places they live +in; and to be expelled from the estate they were born on, and turned +out into the world to get a living, we are told by writers on Mexico, +is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon them. + +There was nothing that we could see in the appearance of these _peons_ +to distinguish them from ordinary free Indians; and our having +travelled hastily through the district where the system prevails does +not give us a right to judge of its working. We can but compare the +opinions of writers who have studied it, and who speak of it in terms +of the strongest reprobation, as deliberately using the moral weakness +of the Indians as a means of reducing them to slavery. Sartorius, +however, takes the other side, and throws the whole blame upon the +careless improvident character of the brown men, whose masters are +obliged to lend them money to supply their pressing wants, and must +take the only security they can get. He says, and truly enough, that +the system works wretchedly both for masters and labourers. Any one who +knows the working of the common English system of allowing workmen to +run into debt with the view of retaining them permanently in their +master’s service may form some faint idea of the way in which this +Mexican debt-slavery destroys the energy and self-reliance of the +people. + +But in one essential particular Sartorius mis-states the case. It is +not the money which the masters lend the _peons_ to help them in +distress and sickness that keeps them in slavery. It is the money spent +in wax-candles and rockets, and such like fooleries, for Easter and All +Saints; in the reckless profusion of drunken feasts on the days of +their patron saints, and on the occasion of births, deaths, and +marriages. These feasts are as utterly disproportioned to the means of +the givers as the Irish wakes which reduce whole families to beggary. +The sums of money spent upon them are provided by the owners of the +estates, who know exactly how they are to be spent. If they preferred +that their labourers should be free from debt, they could withhold this +money; and their not doing so proves that it is their desire to keep +the _peons_ in a state of slavery, and throws the whole blame of the +system upon them. + +I have spoken of the _peons_ as Indians, and so they are for the most +part in the districts we visited; but travellers who have been in +Chihuahua and other northern states tell stories of creditors +travelling through the country to collect their debts, and, where money +was not forthcoming, collecting their debtors instead,—not merely brown +Indians, but also nearly white mestizos. + +Mexico is one of the countries in which the contrast between great +riches and great poverty is most striking. No traveller ever enters the +country without making this remark. The mass of the people are hardly +even with the world; and there are some few capitalists whose incomes +can scarcely be matched in England or Russia. Yet this state of things +has not produced a permanent aristocracy. + +The general history of great fortunes repeats itself with monotonous +regularity. Fortunate miners or clever speculators, who have happened +to possess the gift of accumulating in addition to that of getting, +often make colossal fortunes. Miners have made the greatest sums, and +made them most rapidly. Fortunes of two or three millions sterling are +not uncommon now, and we often meet with them in the history of the +last century. They never seem to have lasted many years. Before the +Independence, the capitalist used to buy a patent of nobility, and +leave great sums to his children to maintain the new dignity; but they +hardly ever seem to have done anything but squander away their +inheritance, and we find the family returning to its original poverty +by the third or fourth generation. + +Mexico is an easy place to make money in, in spite of the continual +disorders that prevail. In the mining-districts most men make money at +some time or other. The difficulty lies in keeping it. There seems to +be no training better suited for making a capitalist than the life of +the retail shopkeeper, especially in the neighbourhood of a mine. A +good share of all the money that is won and of all that is lost stops +in his till. Whoever makes a lucky hit in a mining-speculation, he has +a share of the profits, and when there is a “good thing” going, he is +on the spot to profit by it. + +When once a man becomes a capitalist, there are many very profitable +ways of employing his money. Mines and cotton-factories pay well, so do +cattle-haciendas in the north, when honest administradors can be got to +manage them; and discounting merchants’ bills is a lucrative business. +But far better than these ordinary investments are the monopolies, such +as the farming of the tobacco-duty, the mints, and those mysterious +transactions with the government in which ready cash is exchanged for +orders to pass goods at the Custom-house, and the other financial +transactions familiar to those who know the shifts and mystifications +of that astonishing institution, the Finance-department of Mexico. + +We rode from Puebla to Orizaba. Amozoque, the first town on the road, +is a famous place for spurs, and we bought some. They are of blue steel +inlaid with strips of silver, and the rowel is a sort of cogged wheel, +from an inch and a half to three inches in diameter. _(See page 220.)_ +They look terrific instruments, but really the cogs or points of the +rowels are quite blunt, and they keep the horse going less by hurting +him than by their incessant jingling, which is increased by bits of +steel put on for the purpose. Monstrous as the spurs now used are, they +are small in comparison with those of a century or two ago. One reads +of spurs, of gold and silver, with rowels in the shape of five-pointed +stars six inches in diameter. These have quite gone out now, and seem +to have been melted up, for they are hardly ever to be seen; but we +bought at the _baratillo_ of Mexico spurs of steel quite as large as +this. + +My companion sent to the Art-exhibition at Manchester a couple of pairs +of the ordinary spurs of the country, such as we ourselves and +everybody else wore. They were put among the mediæval armour, and +excited great admiration in that capacity! + +We slept at Nopalucán that night, and rode on next day to San Antonio +de Abajo, a little out-of-the-way village at the foot of the mountain +of Orizaba. Our principal adventure in the day’s ride was that, finding +that our road made a détour of a mile or so round a beautiful piece of +green turf, we boldly struck across it, and nearly lamed our horses +thereby; for the ground was completely undermined by moles, and at +every third step the horses’ feet went into a deep hole. We had to get +off and lead them back to the road. + +Orizaba is the great feature in the scenery of this district of Mexico. +It is one point in the line of volcanos which stretches across the +continent from east to west. It is a conical mountain, like +Popocatepetl, and about the same height; measurements vary from twenty +feet higher to sixty feet lower. The crater has fallen in on one side, +leaving a deep notch clearly visible from below. At present, as we hear +from travellers who have ascended it, the crater, like that of +Popocatepetl, is in the condition of a _solfatara_, sending out jets of +steam and sulphurous acid gas. About three centuries ago its eruptions +were frequent; and its Mexican name, _Citlaltepetl_, “Mountain of the +Star,” carries us back to the time when it showed in the darkness a +star-like light from its crater, like that of Stromboli at the present +time, when one sees it from a distance. + +San Antonio de Abajo is a quaint little village, frequented by +muleteers and smugglers. Tobacco, the principal contraband article, is +grown in the plains just below; and, once carried up into the paths +among the mountains, it is hard for any custom-house officer to catch +sight of it. + +When there was a government, there used sometimes to be fighting +between the revenue-officers and the smugglers; but now, if there is a +meeting, a few dollars will settle the disputed question to the +satisfaction of both parties, so that the contraband trade, though +profitable, is by no means so exciting as it used to be. + +On the road towards San Antonio we saw ancient remains in the banks by +the road-side, but had no time for a regular examination. We slept on +damp mattresses in a room of the inn, where the fowls roosted on the +rafters above our heads, and walked over our faces in the early morning +in an unpleasant manner. We started before daybreak, and a descent down +a winding road, through a forest of pines and oaks, brought us by seven +in the morning from the region of pines and barley down to the district +where tobacco and the sugar-cane flourish, at the level of 3,000 to +4,000 feet above the sea. + +We met a jaunty-looking party in the valley, two women and five or six +men, all on good horses, and dressed in the extreme of fashion which +the Mexican _ranchero_ affects—broad-brimmed hats with costly gold and +silver serpents for hat-bands, and clothes and saddles glittering with +silver. Martin rode up to us as they passed, and said he knew them well +for the boldest highwaymen in Mexico. Had we started an hour or two +later we should have met them in the forest, and have had an adventure +to tell of. As it was, the descent of three thousand feet had brought +us from a land of thieves to a region where highway robbery is never +known, unless when a party from the high lands come down on a marauding +expedition. It is an unquestionable fact that the Mexican robbers, +whose exploits have become a matter of world-wide notoriety, all belong +to the cold region of the plateaus, the _tierra fría_. Once down in the +_tierra templada_, or the _tierra caliente_, the temperate or the hot +regions, you hear no more of them; or at least this is the case in the +parts of Mexico we visited. The reason is clear; it is only on the +plateaus that the whites, preferring a region where the climate was not +unlike that of Castile, settled in large numbers; so that it is there +that Creoles and mestizos predominate, and they are the robbers. + +We rode over great beds of gravel, cut up in deep trenches by the +mountain-streams; then along the banks of the river, among plantations +of tobacco, looking like beds of lettuces. As we were riding along the +valley, we saw before us a curious dark cloud, hanging over some fields +near the river. Our men, who had seen the appearance before, recognized +it at once as a flight of locusts, and, turning out of the high-road, +we came upon them just as they had settled on a clump of trees in a +meadow. They covered the branches and foliage until only the outline of +the trees was visible, while the rest of the swarm descended on a green +hedge, and on the grass. As for us, we went and knocked them down with +our riding-whips, and carried away specimens in our hats; but the +survivors took no manner of notice of us, and in about ten minutes they +left the trees mere skeletons, leafless and stripped of their bark, and +moved across the field in a dense mass towards some fruit-trees a +little way off. For days after this, when we met with travellers on the +road, or stopped at the door of a cottage to get a light or something +to drink, and chatted a few minutes with the inhabitants, we found that +our descent of the mountain-pass had brought us into a new set of +interests. News of the government and of the revolutionary party +excited no curiosity,—talk of robbers still less. At every house the +question was, “¿_De donde vienen, Señores_?” “Where are you from, +gentlemen?”—and when we told them, “¿_Y estaban allí las langostas_?” +“And were the locusts there?” The whole country was being devastated by +them; and the large rewards offered for them to the peasants, though +they caused dead locusts to be brought by tons, seemed hardly to +diminish their numbers. Firing guns had some slight effect in driving +off the swarms of locusts; and in some places the reports of muskets +were to be heard, at short intervals, all day long. Some idea of the +destruction caused by the locusts may be formed from the fact that in +six weeks they doubled the price of grain in the district. Fortunately, +they only appear in such numbers about once in half a century. + +We had ridden a hundred miles over a rough country in the last +forty-eight hours, and were glad to get a rest at Orizaba; but on the +morning of the third day we were in the saddle again, accompanied by a +new friend, the English administrador of the cotton-mill at Orizaba. +Until we left the high-road, the country seemed well cultivated, with +plantations of tobacco, coffee, and sugar-cane; but as soon as we +turned into by-paths and struck across country, we found woods and +grassy patches, but little tilled ground, until we arrived at the +Indian village which we had gone out of our way to visit, Amatlán, that +is to say, “_The place of paper_.” + +In its arrangement this village was like the one that I have already +described, with its scattered huts of canes and palm-leaf thatch; but +the vegetation indicated a more tropical climate. Large fields, the +joint property of the community, were cultivated with pine-apples in +close rows, now just ripening; and bananas, with broad leaves and heavy +clusters of fruit, were growing in the little garden belonging to each +hut. The inhabitants stared at us sulkily, and gave short answers to +our questions. We went to the cottage of the Indian alcalde, who +declared that there was nothing to eat or drink in the village, though +we were standing in his doorway and could see the strings of plantains +hanging to the roof, and the old women were hard at work cooking. +However, when Mr. G. explained who he was, the old man became more +placable; and we were soon sitting on mats and benches inside the hut, +on the best of terms with the whole village. The life of these people +is simple enough, and not unsuited to their beautiful climate. The +white men have never interfered much with them; and it has been their +pride for centuries to keep as much as possible from associating with +Europeans, whom they politely speak of as _coyotes_, jackals. The +priest was a _mestizo_, and, as the Alcalde said, he was the only +_coyote_ in the settlement; but his sacred office neutralized the +dislike that his parishioners felt for his race. + +These Indian communities always rejoiced in being able to produce for +themselves almost everything necessary for their simple wants; but of +late years the law of supply and demand has begun to undermine this +principle, and the cotton-cloth, spun and woven at home, is yielding to +the cheaper material supplied by the factories. Though so averse to +receiving Europeans among them, they do not object to go themselves to +work for good wages on the plantations. Those who leave their native +place, however, bring back with them tastes and wants hitherto unknown, +and inconsistent with their primitive way of life. + +Another habit of theirs brings them into contact with the “reasonable +people,” not to their advantage. They are excessively litigious, and +their continual law-suits take them to the large towns where the courts +of justice are held, and where lawyers’ fees swallow up a large +proportion of their savings. There is a natural connexion between +farming and law-suits; and the taste for writs and hard swearing is as +remarkable among this agricultural people as it is among our own small +farmers in England. + +Theoretically, the Indians in their villages live under the general +government, like any other citizens; for, since the establishment of +the republic, the civil disabilities which had kept them down for three +centuries were all abolished at a sweep, and the brown people have +their votes, and are eligible for any office. Practically, these +advantages do not come to much at present, for custom, which is +stronger than law, keeps them under the government of their own +aristocracy, composed of certain families whose nobility dates beyond +the Conquest, and was always recognized by the Spaniards. These noble +Indians seem to be pretty much as dirty, as ignorant, and as idle as +the plebeians—the ordinary field-labourers or “_earth-hands_” +(_tlalmaitl_), as they were called in ancient times,—and a stranger +cannot recognize their claims to superiority by anything in their +houses, dress, language, or bearing; nevertheless, they are the +patrician families, and republicanism has not yet deprived them of +their power over the other Indians. In early times, when men of white +or mixed blood were few in the country, it suited the Spanish +government to maintain the authority of these families, who collected +the taxes and managed the estates of the little communities. The common +people were the sufferers by this arrangement, for the Alcaldes of +their own race cheated them without mercy, and were harder upon them +than even their white rulers, just as on slave-estates a black driver +is much severer than a white one. + +Near some of the houses we noticed that curious institution—the +_temazcalli_, which corresponds exactly to the Russian vapour-bath. It +is a sort of oven, into which the bather creeps on all fours, and lies +down, and the stones at one end are heated by a fire outside. Upon +these stones the bather sprinkles cold water, which fills the place +with suffocating steam. When he feels himself to have been sufficiently +sweated, he crawls out again, and has jars of cold water poured over +him; whereupon he dresses himself (which is not a long process, as he +only wears a shirt and a pair of drawers), and so goes in to supper, +feeling much refreshed. If he would take the cold bath only, and keep +the hot one for his clothes, which want it sadly, it would be all the +better for him, for the constant indulgence in this enervating luxury +weakens him very much. One would think the bath would make the Indians +cleanly in their persons, but it hardly seems so, for they look rather +dirtier after they have been in the _temazcalli_ than before, just as +the author of _A Journey due North_ says of the Russian peasants. + +To us the most interesting question about the Mexican Indians of this +district was this, _Why are there so few of them?_ There are five +thousand square leagues in the State of Vera Cruz, and about fifty +inhabitants to the square league. Now, let us consider half the State, +which is at a low level above the sea, as too hot and unhealthy for men +to flourish in, and suppose the whole population concentrated on the +other half, which lies upon the rising ground from three thousand to +six thousand feet above the sea. This is not very far from the truth, +and gives us one hundred inhabitants to the square league—about +one-sixth of the population of the plains of Puebla, in a climate which +may be compared to that of North Italy, and where the chief products +are maize and European grain. + +In the district of the lower temperate region, which we are now +speaking of, nature would seem to have done everything to encourage the +formation of a dense population. In the lower part of this favoured +region the banana grows. This plant requires scarcely any labour in its +cultivation; and, according to the most moderate estimate, taking an +acre of wheat against an acre of bananas, the bananas will support +twenty times as many people as the wheat. Though it is a fruit of +sweet, rather luscious taste, and only acceptable to us Europeans as +one small item of our complicated diet, the Indians who have been +brought up in the districts where it flourishes can live almost +entirely upon it, just as the inhabitants of North Africa live upon +dates. + +In the upper portion of this district, where the banana no longer +flourishes, nutritious plants produce an immense yield with easy +cultivation. The _yucca_ which produces cassava, rice, the sweet +potato, yams, all flourish here, and maize produces 200 to 300 fold. +According to the accepted theory among political economists, where the +soil produces with slight labour an abundant nutriment for man, there +we ought to find a teeming population, unless other counteracting +causes are to be found. + +The history of the country, as far as we can get at it, indicates a +movement in the opposite direction. Judging from the numerous towns the +Spanish invaders found in the district, the numbers of armed men they +could raise, and the abundance of provisions, we must reckon the +population at that time to have been more dense than at present; and +the numerous ruins of Indian settlements that exist in the upper +temperate region are unquestionable evidence of the former existence of +an agricultural people, perhaps ten times as numerous as at present. +The ruins of their fortifications and temples are still to be seen in +great numbers, and the soil all over large districts is full of the +remains of their pottery and weapons. + +How far these settlements were depopulated by wars before the Spanish +Conquest, it is not easy to say. During the Conquest itself they did +not offer much resistance to the European invaders, and consequently +they escaped the wholesale destruction which fell upon the more +patriotic inhabitants of the higher regions. Since that time the +country has been peaceable enough; and even since the Mexican +Independence, the wars and revolutions which have done so much injury +to the inhabitants of the plateaus have not been much felt here. + +In reasoning upon Mexican statistics we have to go to a great extent +upon guess-work. A very slight investigation, however, shows that the +calculation made in Mexico, that the population increases between one +and two per cent. annually, is incorrect. The present population of the +country is reckoned at a little under eight millions; and in 1806, it +seems, from the best authorities we can get, to have been a little +under six millions. Even this rate of increase, one-third every +half-century, is far above the rate of increase since the Conquest; +for, at that rate, a population a little over a million and a quarter +would have brought up the number to what it is at present, and we +cannot at the lowest estimation suppose the inhabitants after the siege +of Mexico to have been less than three or four millions. So that, badly +as Mexico is now going on with regard to the increase of its +population, about ½ per cent. per annum, while England increases over +1½ per cent., and the United States twice as much, we may still discern +an improvement upon the times of the Spanish dominion, when it was +almost stationary. + +Why then has this fertile and beautiful country only a small fraction +of the number of inhabitants that formerly lived in it? That it is not +caused by the climate being unfavourable to man is clear, for this +district is free from the intense heat and the pestilential fevers of +the low lands which lie nearer the sea. + +It is a noticeable fact that the remains of the old settlements +generally lie above the district where the banana grows; and the higher +we rise above the sea, the more abundant do we find the signs of +ancient population, until we reach the level of 8,000 feet or a little +higher. The actual inhabitants at the present day are distributed +according to the same rule, increasing in numbers, according to the +elevation, from 3,000 to 8,000 feet, after which the severity of the +climate causes a rapid decrease. + +In making these observations, I leave out of the question the hot +unhealthy coast-lands of the _tierra caliente_, and the cold and +comparatively sterile plains of the _tierra fría_, and confine myself +to that part of the country which lies between the altitudes of 3,000 +and 8,000 feet, between which limits the European races flourish under +circumstances of climate which also suited the various Mexican races, +who probably came from a colder northern country. Now, if we begin to +descend from the level of the Mexican plateau—say 8,000 feet above the +sea—we find that less and less labour will provide nourishment for the +cultivator of the soil, until we reach the limit of the banana, where +the inhabitants ought to be crowded together like Chinese on their +rice-grounds, or the inhabitants of Egypt in the time of Herodotus. +Exactly the opposite rule takes effect; the banana-country is a mere +wilderness, and the higher the traveller rises the more abundant become +both present population and the remains of ancient settlements. + +I suppose the reason of this is to be found in the habits and +constitution of the tribes who colonized the country, and preferred to +settle in a climate resembling that of their native land, without +troubling themselves about the extra labour it would cost them to +obtain their food. The European invaders have acted precisely in the +same way; and the distribution of the white and partly white +inhabitants of the country follows the same rule as that of the +Indians. + +So far the matter is intelligible, on the principle that the +constitution and habits of the races which have successively taken up +their residence in the country have been strong enough to prevail over +the rule which regulates the supply of men by the abundance of food; +but this does not explain the fact of an actual diminution of the +inhabitants of the lower temperate districts. They were not mere +migratory tribes, staying for a few years before moving forward. They +had been settled in the country long enough to be perfectly +acclimatized; and yet, under circumstances apparently so favourable to +their increase, they have been diminishing for centuries, and are +perhaps even doing so now. + +The only intelligible solution I can find for this problem is that +given by Sartorius, whose work on Mexico is well known in Germany, and +has been translated and published in England. This author’s remarks on +the condition of the Indians are very valuable; and, as he was for +years a planter in this very district, he may be taken as an excellent +authority on the subject. He considers the evil to lie principally in +the diet and habits of the people. The children are not weaned till +very late, and then are allowed to feed all day without restriction on +boiled maize, or beans, or whatever other vegetable diet may be eaten +by the family. The climate does not dispose them to take much exercise; +so that this unwholesome cramming with vegetable food has nothing to +counteract its evil effects, and the poor little children get miserably +pot-bellied and scrofulous,—an observation of which we can confirm the +truth. A great proportion of the children die young, and those that +grow up have their constitutions impaired. Then they live in close +communities, and marry “in-and-in,” so that the effect of unhealthy +living becomes strengthened into hereditary disease; and habitual +intemperance does its work upon their constitutions, though the +quantities of raw spirits they consume appear to produce scarcely any +immediate effect. Among a race in this bodily condition, the ordinary +epidemics of the country—cholera, small-pox, and dysentery—make fearful +havoc. Whole villages have often been depopulated in a few days by +these diseases; and a deadly fever which used to appear from time to +time among the Indians, until the last century, sometimes carried off +ten thousand and twenty thousand at once. It seemed to me worth while +to make some remarks about this question, with a view of showing that +the theory as to the relation between food and population, though +partly true, is not wholly so; and that in the region of which we have +been speaking it can be clearly shown to fail. + +After spending a long morning with the Indians and their _cura_, we +took quite an affectionate leave of them. Their last words were an +apology for making us pay threepence apiece for the pineapples which we +loaded our horses with. In the season, they said, twelve for sixpence +is the price, but the fruit was scarce and dear as yet. + +Our companion, besides being engaged in the Orizaba cotton-mill, was +one of the owners of the sugar-hacienda of the Potrero, below Cordova, +and we all rode down there together from the Indian village, and spent +the evening in walking about the plantation, and inspecting the new +machinery and mills. It was a pleasant sight to see the people coming +to the well with their earthen jars, after their work was done, in an +unceasing procession, laughing and chattering. They were partly Indian, +but with a considerable admixture of negro blood, for many black slaves +were brought into the country in old times by the Spanish planters. +Now, of course, they and their descendants are free, and the hotter +parts of Mexico are the paradise of runaway slaves from Louisiana and +Texas; for, so far from their race being despised, the Indian women +seek them as husbands, liking their liveliness and good humour better +than the quieter ways of their own countrymen. Even Europeans settled +in Mexico sometimes take wives of negro blood. + +I have never noticed in any country so large a number of mixed races, +whose parentage is indicated by their features and complexion. In +Europe, the parent races are too nearly alike for the children of such +mixed marriages to be strikingly different from either parent. In +America and the West Indies we are familiar with the various mixtures +of white and negro, mulatto, quadroon, &c.; but in Mexico we have three +races, Spanish, pure Mexican, and Negro, which, with their +combinations, make a list of twenty-five varieties of the human race, +distinguishable from one another, and with regular names, which Mayer +gives in his work on Mexico, such as _mulatto, mestizo, zambo, chino_, +and so forth. Here all the brown Mexican Indians are taken as one race, +and the Red Indians of the frontier-states are not included at all. If +we come to dividing out the various tribes which have been or still are +existing in the country, we can count over a hundred and fifty, with +from fifty to a hundred distinct languages among them. + +Out of this immense variety of tribes, we can make one great +classification. The men of one race are brown in complexion, and have +been for ages cultivators of the land. It is among them only that the +Mexican civilization sprang up, and they still remain in the country, +having acquiesced in the authority of the Europeans, and to a great +extent mingled with them by marriage. This class includes the Aztecs, +Acolhuans, Chichemecs, Zapotecs, &c., the old Toltecs, the present +Indians of Central America, and, if we may consider them to be the same +race, the nations who built the now ruined cities of Palenque, Copan, +Uxmal, and so forth. The other race is that of the Red Indians who +inhabit the prairie-states of North Mexico, such as the Apaches, +Comanches, and Navajos. They are hunters, as they always were, and they +will never preserve their existence by adopting agriculture as their +regular means of subsistence, and settling in peace among the white +men. As it has been with their countrymen further north, so it will be +with them; a few years more, and the Americans will settle Chihuahua +and Sonora, and we shall only know these tribes by specimens of their +flint arrow-heads and their pipes in collections of curiosities, and +their skulls in ethnological cabinets. + +One of the strangest races (or varieties, I cannot say which) are the +_Pintos_ of the low lands towards the Pacific coast. A short time +before we were in the country General Alvarez had quartered a whole +regiment of them in the capital; but when we were there they had +returned with their commander into the tierra caliente towards +Acapulco. They are called _“Pintos”_ or painted men, from their faces +and bodies being marked with great daubs of deep blue, like our British +ancestors; but here the decoration is natural and cannot be effaced. + +They have the reputation of being a set of most ferocious savages; and, +badly armed as they are with ricketty flint- or match-locks, and sabres +of hoop-iron, they are the terror of the other Mexican soldiery, +especially when the war has to be carried on in the hot pestilential +coast-region, their native country. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +CHALCHICOMULA. JALAPA. VERA CRUZ. CONCLUSION. + + +[Illustration: INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU. +_(After Nebel.)_] + +The mountain-slopes which descend from the Sierra Madre eastward toward +the sea are furrowed by _barrancas_—deep ravines with perpendicular +sides, and with streams flowing at the bottom. But here all these +_barrancas_ run almost due east and west, so that our journey from Vera +Cruz to Mexico was made, as far as I can recollect, without crossing +one. Now, the case was quite different. We had to go from the Potrero +to the city of Jalapa, about fifty miles on the map, nearly northward, +and to get over these fifty miles cost us two days and a half of hard +riding. + +By the road it cannot be much less than eighty miles; but people used +to tell us that, during the American war, an Indian went from Orizaba +to Jalapa with despatches within the twenty-four hours, probably by +mountain-paths which made it a little shorter. He came quite easily +into Jalapa at the same shuffling trot which he had kept up almost +without intermission for the whole distance. This is the Indian’s +regular pace when he is on a journey, and I believe that the Red +Indians of the north have a similar gait. + +We used sometimes to see a village or a house three or four miles off, +and count upon reaching it in half an hour. But a few steps further on +there would be a barranca, invisible till we came close to it, perhaps +not more than a few hundred feet wide, so that it was easy to talk to +people on the other bank. But the bottom of the chasm might be five +hundred or a thousand feet below us; and the only way to cross was to +ride along the bank, often for miles, until we reached a place where it +had been possible to make a steep bridle-path zigzagging down to the +stream below, and up again on the other side. It is only here and there +that even such paths can be made, for the walls of rock are generally +too steep even for any vegetation, except grass and climbing plants in +the crevices. Our half-hour’s ride, as we supposed it would be, would +often extend to two or three hours, for on these slopes two or three +barrancas—large and small—-have sometimes to be crossed within as many +miles. + +If our journey had been even slower and more difficult, we should not +have regretted it; the country through which we were riding was so +beautiful. There were but few inhabitants, and the landscape was much +as nature had left it. The great volcano of Orizaba came into view now +and then with its snowy cone,[24] mountain-streams came rushing along +the ravines, and the forests of oaks were covered with innumerable +species of orchids and creepers, breaking down the branches with their +weight. Many kinds were already in flower, and their great blossoms of +white, purple, blue, and yellow, stood out against the dark green of +the oak-leaves. Wherever a mountain-stream ran down some shady little +valley, there were tree-ferns thirty feet high, with the new fronds +forming a tuft at the top of the old scarred trunk. Round the Indian +cottages were cactuses with splendid crimson flowers, daturas with +brilliant white blossoms, palm- and fruit-trees of fifty kinds. We +stopped at one of the cottages, and bought an armadillo that had just +been caught in the woods close by, while routing among his favourite +ants’ nests. He was put into a palm-leaf basket, which held him all but +the tip of his long taper tail, which, like the rest of his body, was +covered with rings of armour fitting beautifully into one another. One +of our men carried him thus in his arms to Jalapa. + + [24] See the illustration at page 281. + +The Mexicans call an armadillo “_ayotochtli_,” that is, +“tortoise-rabbit,” a name which will be appreciated by any one who +knows the appearance of the little animal. + +The villages and towns we passed were dismal places enough, and the +population scanty; but that this had not always been the case was +evident from the numerous remains of ancient Indian mound-forts or +temples which we passed on our road, indicating the existence of large +towns at some former period. There is a drawing in Lord Kingsborough’s +work of a _teocalli_ or pyramid at San Andrés Chalchicomula, which we +seem to have missed on account of the darkness having come on before we +reached the town. We were several times deceived that evening by the +fireflies, which we took for lights moving about in some village just +ahead of us; and we became so incredulous at last that we would not +believe we had reached our journey’s end until we could made out the +dim outlines of the houses. At the inn at San Andrés we found that we +could have no rooms, as all the little windowless dens were occupied by +people from the country who had come in for a _fiesta_. There were +indeed a good many men loafing about the courtyard, but scarcely any +women, and we could hardly understand a fandango happening without +them. They thought otherwise, however; and presently, hearing the +tinkling of a guitar, we went out and saw two great fellows in broad +hats, jackets, and serapes, solemnly dancing opposite to one another; +while more men looked on, smoking cigarettes, and an old fellow with a +face like a baboon was squatting in one corner and producing the music +we had heard. To do them justice, I must say that we found, on further +enquiry, they had not come from their respective ranchos merely to make +fools of themselves in this way, but that there was to be some +horsefair in the neighbourhood next day, and they were going there. + +Our not being able to get any supper but eggs and bread, and having to +sleep on the supper-table afterwards, confirmed us in the theory we +were beginning to adopt, that nature and mankind vary in an inverse +ratio; and we were off at daybreak, delighted to get into the forest +again. We rode over hill and dale for four or five hours, and then +along the edge of a barranca for the rest of the day. This was one of +the grandest chasms we had ever seen, even in Mexico. It was four or +five miles wide, and two or three thousand feet deep, and its floor was +a mass of tropical verdure, with here and there an Indian rancho and a +patch of cultivated ground on the bank of the rapid river, whose sound +we heard when we approached the edge of the barranca. There were more +orchids and epidendrites than ever in the forest. In some places they +had killed every third tree, by forming so and close a covering over +its branches as to destroy its life; they were flourishing unimpaired +on the rotting branches of trees which they had brought down to the +ground years before. The rainy season had not yet set in in this part +of the country; and, though we could hear the rushing of the torrent +below, we looked in vain for water in the forest, until our man Martin +showed us the _bromelias_ in the forks of the branches, in the inside +of whose hollow leaves nature has laid up a supply of water for the +thirsty traveller. + +We loaded our horses with the bulbs of such orchids as were still in +the dry state, and would travel safely to Europe. Sometimes we climbed +into the trees for promising specimens, but oftener contented ourselves +with tearing them from the branches as we rode below. When saddle-bags +and pockets were full, we were for a time at fault, for there seemed no +place for new treasures, when suddenly I remembered a pair of old +trousers. We tied up the ends of the legs, which we filled with +orchids; and the garment travelled to Jalapa sitting in its natural +position across my saddle, to the amazement of such Mexican society as +we met. The contents of the two pendant legs are now producing splendid +flowers in several English hothouses. + +By evening we reached the _Junta_, a place where the great ravine was +joined by a smaller one, and a long slanting descent brought us to the +edge of the river. There was a ferry here, consisting of a raft of logs +which the Indian ferryman hauled across along a stout rope. The horses +were attached to the raft by their halters, and so swam across. On the +point of land between the two rivers the Indians had their huts, and +there we spent the night. We chose the fattest _guajalote_ of the +turkey-pen, and in ten minutes he was simmering in the great earthen +pot over the fire, having been cut into many pieces for convenience of +cooking, and the women were busy grinding Indian corn to be patted out +into tortillas. While supper was getting ready, and Mr. Christy’s day’s +collection of plants was being pressed (the country we had been passing +through is so rich that the new specimens gathered that day filled +several quires of paper), we had a good deal of talk with the brown +people, who could all speak a little Spanish. Some years before, the +two old people had settled there, and set up the ferry. Besides this, +they made nets and caught much fish in the river, and cultivated the +little piece of ground which formed the point of the promontory. While +their descendants went no further than grandchildren the colony had +done very well; but now great-grandchildren had begun to arrive, and +they would soon have to divide, and form a settlement up in the woods +across the river, or upon some patch of ground at the bottom of one of +the barrancas. + +We were interested in studying the home-life of these people, so +different from what we are accustomed to among our peasants of Northern +Europe, whose hard continuous labour is quite unknown here. For the +men, an occasional pull at the _balsas_ (the rafts of the ferry), a +little fishing, and now and then—when they are in the humour for it— a +little digging in the garden-ground with a wooden spade, or dibbling +with a pointed stick. The women have a harder life of it, with the +eternal grinding and cooking, cotton-spinning, mat-weaving, and tending +of the crowds of babies. Still it is an easy lazy life, without much +trouble for to-day or care for to-morrow. When the simple occupations +of the day are finished, the time does not seem to hang heavy upon +their hands. The men lie about, “thinking of nothing at all;” and the +women—old and young—gossip by the hour, in obedience to that beneficent +law of nature which provides that their talk shall increase inversely +in proportion to what they have to talk about. We find this law +attaining to its most complete fulfilment when they shut themselves up +in nunneries, to escape as much as possible from all sources of worldly +interest, and gossip there more industriously than anywhere else, as we +are informed on very good authority. + +Like all the other Mexican Indians whose houses we visited, the people +here showed but little taste in adorning their dwellings, their dresses +and their household implements. Beyond a few calabashes scraped smooth +and ornamented with coloured devices, and the blue patterns on the +women’s cotton skirts, there was scarcely anything to be seen in the +way of ornament. How great was the skill of the Mexicans in ornamental +work at the time of the Conquest, we can tell from the carved work in +wood and stone preserved in museums, the graceful designs on the +pottery, the tapestry, and the beautiful feather-work; but this taste +has almost disappeared in the country. Just in the same way, contact +with Europeans has almost destroyed the little decorative arts among +most barbarous people, as, for example, the Red Indians and the natives +of the Pacific Islands; and what little skill in these things is left +among them is employed less for themselves than in making curious +trifles for the white people, and even in these we find that European +patterns have mixed with the old designs, or totally superseded them. + +The Indians lodged us in an empty cane-hut, where they spread mats upon +the ground, and we made pillows of our saddles. We were soon tired of +looking up at the stars through the chinks in the roof, and slept till +long after sunrise. Then the Indians rafted us across the second river; +and we rode on to Jalapa, having accomplished our horseback journey of +nearly three hundred miles with but one accident, the death of a horse, +the four-pound one. He had been rather overworked, but would most +likely have got through, had we not stopped the last night at the +Indian _ranchos_, where there was no forage but green maize leaves, a +food our beasts were not accustomed to. It seems our men gave him too +much of this, and then allowed him to drink excessively; and next +morning he grew weaker and weaker, and died not long after we reached +Jalapa. Our other two horses were rather thin, but otherwise in good +condition; and the horse-dealers, after no end of diplomacy on both +sides, knocked under to our threat of sending them back to Mexico in +charge of Antonio, and gave us within a pound or two of what they had +cost us. There, is a good deal of trading in horses done at Jalapa, +where travellers coming down from Mexico sell their beasts, which are +disposed of at great prices to other travellers coming up from the +coast. Between here and Vera Cruz, people prefer travelling in the +Diligence, or in some covered carriage, to exposing themselves to the +sun in the hot and pestilential region of the coast. + +Jalapa is a pleasant city among the hills, in a country of forests, +green turf, and running streams. It is the very paradise of botanists; +and its products include a wonderful variety of trees and flowers, from +the apple- and pear-trees of England to the _mameis_ and _zapotes_ of +tropical America, and the brilliant orchids which are the ornament of +our hot-houses. The name of the town itself has a botanical celebrity, +for in the neighbouring forests grows the _Purga de Jalapa_, which we +have shortened into _jalap_. + +A day’s journey above it, lies the limit of eternal snow, upon the peak +of Orizaba; a day’s journey below it is Vera Cruz, the city of the +yellow fever, surrounded by burning sands and poisonous exhalations, in +a district where, during the hot months now commencing, the thermometer +scarcely ever descends below 80°, day or night. Jalapa hardly knows +summer or winter, heat or cold. The upper current of hot air from the +Gulf of Mexico, highly charged with aqueous vapour, strikes the +mountains about this level, and forms the belt of clouds that we have +already crossed more than once during our journey. Jalapa is in this +cloudy zone, and the sky is seldom clear there. It is hardly hotter in +summer than in England, and not even hot enough for the mosquitoes, +which are not to be found here though they swarm in the plain below. +This warm damp climate changes but little in the course of the year. +There are no seasons, in our sense of the word, for spring lasts +through the year. + +We walked out on the first afternoon of our arrival; and sat on stone +seats on a piece of green turf surrounded by trees, that reminded us +pleasantly of the village-greens of England. There we talked with the +children of an English acquaintance who had been settled for many years +in the town, and had married a Mexican lady. They were fine lads; but, +as very often happens in such cases, they could only speak the language +of the country. Nothing can show more clearly how thoroughly a +foreigner yields to the influences around him, when he settles in a +country and marries among its people. An Englishman’s own character, +for instance, may remain to some extent; but his children are scarcely +English in language or in feeling, and in the next generation there is +nothing foreign about his descendants but the name. + +When we reached our hotel it was about sunset, and the heavy dew had +wetted us through, as though we had been walking in the rain. This was +no exceptional occurrence. All the year round such dews fall morning +and evening, as well as almost daily showers of rain. The climate is +too warm for this dampness to injure health, as it would in our colder +regions. To us, who had just left the bracing air of the high plateaus, +it seemed close and relaxing; but the inhabitants are certainly strong +and healthy, and one can imagine the enjoyment which the white +inhabitants of Vera Cruz must feel, when they can get away from that +city of pestilence into the pure air of the mountains. + +Our quarters were at the _Veracruzana_, where we occupied a great +whitewashed room. A large grated window opened into the garden, where +the armadillo was fastened to a tree by a long string, and had soon dug +a deep hole with his powerful fore-claws, as the manner of the creature +is. The necessity of supplying the “little man in armour” with insects +for his daily food gave us some idea of the amazing abundance and +variety of the insects of the district. We caught creeping things +innumerable in the garden, but narrowly escaped being stung by a small +scorpion; and therefore delegated the task to an old Indian, who walked +out into the fields with an earthen pot, and returned with it full of +insects in about half an hour. We reckoned that there were over fifty +species in the pot. + +Many of the houses and Indian huts were adorned with collections of +insects pinned on the walls in patterns, among which figured scorpions +some three inches long; and the centre-ornament was usually a +tarantula, said to be one of the most poisonous creatures of the +tropics, a monstrous spider, whose dark grey body and legs are covered +with hairs. A fine specimen will have a body about as large as a small +hen’s egg, and, with his legs in their natural position, will just +stand in a cheese-plate. The Boots of the hotel went out and caught a +fine scorpion for our amusement; he brought it into our room wrapped in +a piece of brown paper, and was on the point of letting it out on our +table for us to see it run. We protested against this, and had it put +into a tumbler and covered it up with a book. + +The inner _patio_ of the hotel was surrounded with the usual arcade, +into which the rooms opened. Close to our door was a long table, with a +green cloth, where the Jalapenians were constantly playing _monte_, +from nine in the morning till late at night. All classes were +represented there, from the muleteer who came to lose his hard-earned +dollars, to the rich shopkeepers and planters of the town and +neighbourhood. + +I went early one afternoon to the house of the principal agent for the +Vera Cruz carriers, to arrange for sending down our heavy packages to +the coast. There was no one at the office but a girl. I enquired for +the master—“_Está jugando_,”—“He is playing,” she said. I need not have +gone so far to look for him, for he was sitting just outside our +bedroom door, and indeed had been there all day. Before he condescended +to arrange our business, he waited to see the fate of the dollar he had +just put down, and which I was glad to see he lost. + +Jalapa was not always the stagnant place it is now. Its pleasant houses +and gardens date from a period when it was a town of some importance. +In old times the only practicable road from Vera Cruz to Mexico passed +this way; and Jalapa was the entrepôt where the merchants had their +warehouses, and from whence the trains of mules distributed the +European merchandise from the coast to the different markets of the +country. By this arrangement, the carrying from the coast was done by a +small number of muleteers, who were seasoned to the climate, while the +great mass of traders and carriers were not obliged to descend from the +healthy region. This was of the more importance, because, though the +pure Indians are not liable to the attacks of yellow fever, the disease +is as deadly to the other inhabitants of the high lands as to +Europeans; and even those of the _mestizos_ who have the least +admixture of white blood are subject to it. Of late years, this system +has been given up, and the carriers from the high lands go down to the +coast to fetch their loads, and every year they leave some of their +number in the church-yards of the City of the Dead; while many others, +though they recover from the fever, never regain their former health +and strength. The high-road to Mexico now goes by Orizaba, so that the +importance of Jalapa as a trading-place has almost ceased. + +Our Mexican journey was now all but finished, and I left my companion +here, and took the Diligence to Vera Cruz, to meet the West India +Mail-packet. Mr. Christy followed a day or two later, and went to the +United States. We dismissed our two servants, Martin and Antonio. +Martin invested his wages in a package of tobacco, which he proposed to +carry home on his horse, travelling by night along unfrequented +mountain-paths, where custom-house officers seldom penetrate. We never +heard any more of him; but no doubt he got safe home, for he was +perfectly competent to take care of himself, and he probably made a +very good thing of his journey. It was quite with regret that we parted +from him, for he was a most sensible, useful fellow, with a continual +flow of high spirits, and no end of stories of his experiences in +smuggling, and hunting wild cattle in the _tierra caliente_, in which +two adventurous occupations most of his life had been passed. In his +dealings with us, he was honesty itself, notwithstanding his equivocal +profession. + +We offered Antonio a cheque on Mexico for his wages, as he was going +back there, but he said he would rather have hard dollars. We paid his +fare to Mexico by the Diligence, and gave him his money, telling him at +the same time, that he was a fool for his pains. He started next +morning; and we heard, a month or two later, that the coach was stopped +the same afternoon in the plains of Perote, and Antonio was robbed not +only of his money but even of his jacket and serape, and reached Mexico +penniless and half-naked. He was always a silly fellow, and his last +exploit was worthy of him. + +Mr. Christy sat up till daybreak to see me off, filling up his time by +writing letters and pressing plants. When I was gone, he lay down in +his bed, in rather a dreamy state of mind, looking up at the ceiling. +There was a large beam just above his head, and at one side of it a +hole, which struck him as being a suitable place for a scorpion to come +out of. This idea had come into his head from the sight of the specimen +in the tumbler on the table, who had with great difficulty been drowned +in _aguardiente_. Presently something moved in the hole, and the +spectator below instantly became wide awake. Then came out a claw and a +head, and finally the body and tail of a very fine scorpion, two inches +and a half long. It was rather an awkward moment, for it was not safe +to move suddenly, for fear of startling the creature, whose footing +seemed anything but secure; and if he fell, he would naturally sting +whatever he might come in contact with. However, he met with no +accident on his way, and getting into another hole, about a yard off, +he drew up his tail after him and disappeared. Mr. Christy slipped out +of his bed with a sense of considerable relief; and having ascertained +that there were no holes in the ceiling above the bed on the other side +of the room, he turned in there, and went comfortably to sleep. + +My only companion in the Diligence was a German shopman from Vera Cruz, +who was sociable, but not of an instructive turn of conversation. When +we had descended for a few hours, the heat became intolerable. Scarcely +any habitation but a few Indian cane-huts by the way-side, with bananas +and palm-trees. We stopped, about three in the afternoon, at a _rancho_ +in a small village, and did not start again until next morning, a +little before day-break. Negroes and people of negro descent began to +abound in this congenial climate. I remember especially the +waiting-maid at the _rancho_, who was a “white negress,” as they are +called. Her hair and features showed her African origin; but her hair +was like white wool, and her face and hands were as colourless as those +of a dead body. This animated corpse was healthy enough, however; and +this peculiarity of the skin is, it seems, not very uncommon. + +The coast-regions through which I was passing abound in horned cattle, +but they are mostly far away from the high-roads. In spite of the +intense heat of the climate they thrive as well as in the higher lands. +Some are tolerably tame, and are kept within bounds by the _vaqueros_; +but the greater proportion, numbering tens of thousands, roam wild +about the country. In comparison with these cattle of the _tierra +caliente_, the fiercest beasts of the plateaus are safe and quiet +creatures. The only way of bringing them into the _corral_ is by using +tame animals for decoys, just as wild elephants are caught. + +Our man Martin, who had once been a _vaquero_ on the Vera Cruz coast, +used to look upon the bulls of the high lands with great contempt. If +you chase them they run away, he said. If you lazo a bull of the hot +country, you have to gallop off with all your might, with the _toro_ +close at your heels; and, if the horse falls, it may cost his life or +his rider’s. + +We thus find the horned cattle flourishing at every elevation, from the +sea-level to the mountain-pastures ten thousand feet above it. Horses +and sheep show less adaptability to this variety of climates. The +horses and mules come mostly from the States of the North, at a level +of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet; that remarkable country of which +Humboldt’s observation gives us the best idea, when he says that, +although there are no made roads, wheel-carriages can travel distances +of a thousand miles over gently-undulating prairies, without meeting +any obstruction on the way. + +Numbers of sheep are reared in the mountains, principally for the sake +of the tallow, for the consumption of tallow-candles in the mines is +enormous. The owners scarcely care at all for the rest of the animal; +and popular scandal accuses the sheep-farmers of driving their flocks +straight into the melting-coppers, without going through the +preliminary ceremony of killing them. People told us that the tallow +made in the cold regions loses its consistency when brought down into +hotter climates, but we had no means of ascertaining the truth of this. + +Artificial lighting by means of tallow was not known to the ancient +Mexicans, who could not indeed have procured tallow except from the fat +of deer and smaller animals. + +Bernal Diaz tells how the Spanish invaders used to dress their wounds +with “Indian Ointment.” He explains the nature of this preparation in +another place. The Spaniards could get no oil in the country, nor +anything else to make salve with, so they took some fat Indian who had +just been killed in battle, and simply boiled him down. + +Our ride next morning was but a few hours, the journey being so divided +in order that the passengers may reach Vera Cruz before the heat of the +day begins. We passed over a dreary district, generally too dry for +anything but cactus and acacias, but now and then, when a little water +was to be found, displaying clumps of bamboos with their elegant +feathery tufts. Then the railway took us through the dismal downs, with +their swamps and sand-hills, and so into Vera Cruz. + +The English merchants we had already made acquaintance with were as +kind and hospitable as ever, and I found an Englishman, whom we had +known before, going as far as Havana by the same packet. The yellow +fever was unusually late this year, and, though June had begun, there +were but few cases. We heard afterwards that it set in a week or two +after our departure, and by its extraordinary severity made ample +amends for the lateness of its arrival. + +After sunset, the air was alive with mosquitos, and the floors of the +hotel swarmed with cockroaches. The armadillo took quite naturally to +the latter creatures, and crunched them up as fast as we could catch +them for him. I was surprised to find that our word “cockroaches” does +not come from the German stock, like most of our names for insects and +small creatures, but from the Latin side of the house. The Spanish +waiter called them _cucarachas_, and the French ones _coqueraches_. The +history of the armadillo ends unfortunately: for some days he seemed to +take quite kindly to the diet of bits of meat which we had to put him +on, on shipboard, but he fell sick at Havana, and died. + +My late companion travelled up into the Northern States, went to the +Indian assembly at Manitoulin Island, paid a visit to various tribes of +Red Men in the Hudson’s Bay Territory—as yet unmissionized, carried +away in triumph the big medicine-drum I have already spoken of, and saw +and did many other things not to be related here. One sight that he +saw, some months later, reminded him of the wild country where we had +travelled together. He was in Iowa City, a little town of a year or +two’s growth, out in the prairie States of the Far West. As he stood +one morning in the outskirts, among the plank-houses and half-made +roads, there came a solitary horseman riding in. Evidently he had come +from the Mexican frontier, a thousand miles and more away across the +plains; and no doubt, his waggons and the rest of his party were behind +him on the road, beyond the distant horizon of the prairie. By his face +he was American, but his costume was the dress of old Mexico, the +leather jacket and trousers, the broad white hat and huge jingling +spurs. His lazo hung in front of his high-peaked saddle, and his +well-worn serape was rolled up behind him like a trooper’s cloak. As he +approached the town, he spurred his jaded beast, who broke into the old +familiar _paso_ of the Mexican plains. “It was my last sight of +Mexico,” said my companion. He saluted the horseman in Spanish, and the +well-known words of welcome made the grim man’s haggard sunburnt +features relax into a smile as he returned the salutation and rode on. + +As for myself, my voyage home was short and unadventurous. From Vera +Cruz to Havana, most of my companions were Mexican refugees who had +been turned out of the country for being mixed up with Haro’s +revolution or Santa Ana’s intrigues. They were showily got-up men, +elaborately polite, and with much to say for themselves; but every now +and then some casual remark showed what stuff they were made of, and I +pitied more than ever the unfortunate countries whose political +destinies depend on the intrigues of these adventurers. + +In the hot land-locked bay of St. Thomas’s we, with the contents of +eight or nine more steamers, were shifted into the great steamer bound +homeward. I went ashore with an old German gentleman, and walked about +the streets. St. Thomas’s is a Danish island, and a free port, that is, +a smuggling depôt for the rest of the West India islands, much as +Gibraltar is for the Mediterranean. It is a stifling place, full of +mosquitos and yellow fever, and the confusion of tongues reigns there +even more than in Gibraltar, for the blacks in the streets all speak +three or four languages, and the shopkeepers six or seven. + +We were a strange mixture on board the ‘Atrato’, over two hundred of +us. Peruvians and Chilians from across the isthmus, Spaniards and +Cubans, black gentlemen from Hayti, French colonists from Martinique, +but English preponderating above all other nationalities. One or two +governors of small islands, with their families, maintaining the +dignity of Government House, at least as far as Southampton, and +unapproachable by common mortals. Army men from West India stations, +who appeared to spend their mornings in ordering the wine for dinner, +and their evenings in abusing it when they had drunk it. West India +planters, who thought it was rather hard that the Anti-slavery Society, +after ruining them and their plantations, should moreover insist on +their believing themselves to be great gainers by the change. We were +all crowded, hot, and uncomfortable, and showed our worst side, but as +we neared England better influences got the ascendant again. + +It was pleasant to breathe a cooler air, and to feel that I was getting +back to my own country and my own people; but with this feeling there +was mixed some regret for the beautiful scenes I had left. The evenings +of our latitudes seemed poor when we lost the gorgeous sunsets of the +tropics, and the sea alive with luminous creatures. When I came on deck +one evening and missed the brightest ornament of the sky—the Southern +Cross, I felt that I had left the tropics, and that all my efforts to +realize the life of the last half-year would produce but a vague and +shadowy picture. + +Since we left Mexico, I have not cared to follow very accurately even +the newspaper intelligence of what has been and still is going on +there. It is a pitiable history. Continual wars and revolutions, utter +insecurity of life and property, the Indians burning down the haciendas +in the South and turning out the white people, the roads on the plains +impassable on account of deserters and robbers; sometimes no practical +government at all, then two or three at once, who raise armies and +fight a little sometimes, but generally confine themselves to +plundering the peaceable inhabitants. An army besieges the capital for +months, but appears to do nothing but cut the water off from the +aqueducts, shoot stragglers, and levy contributions. One leader raises +a forced loan among the foreign residents, and imprisons or expels +those who do not submit. The leader on the other side does the same in +his part of the country, putting the British merchant in prisons where +a fortnight would be a fair average life for an European, and +threatening him with summary courtmartial and execution if he does not +pay. + +London newspapers dwell on these details, and tell us that we may learn +from the condition of this unfortunate country how useless are +democratic forms among a people incapable of liberty, and that very +weak governments can commit all sorts of crimes with impunity, from the +fact that they have no official existence which foreign powers can +recognize; and various other weighty moral lessons, which must be +highly edifying to our countrymen in the Republic, who are meanwhile +left pretty much to shift for themselves. + +All this time the United States are steadily advancing; and the destiny +of the country is gradually accomplishing itself. That its total +absorption must come, sooner or later, we can hardly doubt. The chief +difficulty seems to be that the American constitution will not exactly +suit the case. The Republic laid down the right of each citizen to his +share in the government of the country as a universal law, founded on +indefeasible lights of humanity, fundamental laws of nature, and what +not, making, it is true, some slight exceptions with regard to red and +black men. The Mexicans, or at least the white and half-caste Mexicans, +will be a difficulty. Their claims to citizenship are unquestionable, +if Mexico were made a State of the Union; and, as everybody knows, they +are totally incapable of governing themselves, which they must be left +to do under the constitutional system of the United States; moreover, +it is certain that American citizens would never allow even the whitest +of the Mexicans to be placed on a footing of equality with themselves. +Supposing these difficulties got over by a Protectorate, an armed +occupation, or some similar contrivance, Mexico will undergo a great +change. There will be roads and even rail-roads, some security for life +and property, liberty of opinion, a nourishing commerce, a rapidly +increasing population, and a variety of good things. Every intelligent +Mexican must wish for an event so greatly to the advantage of his +country and of the world in general. + +Some of our good friends in Mexico have bought land on the American +frontier by the hundred square leagues, and can point out patches upon +the map of the world as large as Scotland or Ireland—as their private +property. What their gains will be when enterprising western men begin +to bring the country under cultivation, it is not an easy matter to +realize. + +As for ourselves individually, we may be excused for cherishing a +lurking kindness for the quaint, picturesque manners and customs of +Mexico, as yet un-Americanized; and for rejoicing that it was our +fortune to travel there before the coming change, when its most curious +peculiarities and its very language must yield before foreign +influences. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +I. THE MANUFACTURE OF OBSIDIAN KNIVES, ETC. (_Note to p. 97._) + +Some of the old Spanish writers on Mexico give a tolerably full account +of the manner in which the obsidian knives, &c., were made by the +Aztecs. It will be seen that it only modifies in one particular the +theory we had formed by mere inspection as to the way in which these +objects were made, which is given at p.97; that is, they were cracked +off by pressure, and not, as we conjectured, by a blow of some hard +substance. + +Torquemada (_Monarquía Indiana, Seville_, 1615) says; (free +translation) + +“They had, and still have, workmen who make knives of a certain black +stone or flint, which it is a most wonderful and admirable thing to see +them make out of the stone; and the ingenuity which invented this art +is much to be praised. They are made and got out of the stone (if one +can explain it) in this manner. One of these Indian workmen sits down +upon the ground, and takes a piece of this black stone, which is like +jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone which might be called precious, +more beautiful and brilliant than alabaster or jasper, so much so that +of it are made tablets[25] and mirrors. The piece they take is about 8 +inches long or rather more, and as thick as one’s leg or rather less, +and cylindrical; they have a stick as large as the shaft of a lance, +and 3 cubits or rather more in length; and at the end of it they fasten +firmly another piece of wood, 8 inches long, to give more weight to +this part; then, pressing their naked feet together, they hold the +stone as with a pair of pincers or the vice of a carpenter’s bench. +They take the stick (which is cut off smooth at the end) with both +hands, and set it well home against the edge of the front of the stone +(_y ponenlo avesar con el canto de la frente de la piedra_) which also +is cut smooth in that part; and then they press it against their +breast, and with the force of the pressure there flies off a knife, +with its point, and edge on each tide, as neatly as if one were to make +them of a turnip with a sharp knife, or of iron in the fire. Then they +sharpen it on a stone, using a hone to give it a very fine edge; and in +a very short time these workmen will make more than twenty knives in +the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape as our barbers’ +lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, and have a slight +graceful curve towards the point. They will cut and shave the hair the +first time they are used, at the first cut nearly as well as a steel +razor, but they lose their edge at the second cut; and so, to finish +shaving one’s beard or hair, one after another has to be used; though +indeed they are cheap, and spoiling them is of no consequence. Many +Spaniards, both regular and secular clergy, have been shaved with them, +especially at the beginning of the colonization of these realms, when +there was no such abundance as now of the necessary instruments, and +people who gain their livelihood by practising this occupation. But I +conclude by saying that it is an admirable thing to see them made, and +no small argument for the capacity of the men who found out such an +invention.” + + [25] In the original, _aras_. In the Latin of Hernandez, _arae_ I + suppose to be the little polished stone slabs which are set on the + altars in Roman Catholic churches, and in which their sacred quality + is, so to speak, contained. + +Vetancurt (_Teatro Mejicano_) gives an account, taken from the above. +Hernandez (_Rerum Med. Nov. Hisp. Thes.: Rome_, 1631) gives a similar +account of the process. He compares the wooden instrument used to a +cross-bow. It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the workman held +the cross-piece with his two hands against his breast, while the end of +the straight stick rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a +description of the making of the well-known _maquahuitl_, or Aztec +war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian knives, +or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. With this instrument, he +says, a man could be cut in half at a blow—an absurd statement, which +has been repeated by more modern writers. + + +II. ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSES RECORDED IN THE LE TELLIER MS. + +The curious Aztec Picture-writing, known as the _Codex +Telleriano-Remenensis_, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, +contains a list or calendar of a long series of years, indicated by the +ordinary signs of the Aztec system of notation of cycles of years. +Below the signs of the years are a number of hieroglyphic pictures, +conveying the record of remarkable events which happened in them, such +as the succession and death of kings, the dates of wars, pestilences, +&c. The great work of Lord Kingsborough, which contains a fac-simile of +this curious document, reproduces also an ancient interpretation of the +matters contained in it, evidently the work of a person who not only +understood the interpretation of the Aztec picture-writings, but had +access to some independent source of information,—probably the more +ample oral traditions, for the recalling of which the picture-writing +appears only to have served as a sort of artificial memory. It is not +necessary to enter here into a fuller description of the MS., which has +also been described by Humboldt and Gallatin. + +Among the events recorded in the Codex are four eclipses of the sun, +depicted as having happened in the years 1476, 1496, 1507. 1510. +Humboldt, in quoting these dates, makes a remark to the effect that the +record tends to prove the veracity of the Aztec history, for solar +eclipses really happened in those years, according to the list in the +well-known chronological work, _L’Art de Vérifier les Dates_, as +follows: 28 Feb., 1476; 8 Aug., 1496; 13 Jan., 1507; 8 May, 1510. The +work quoted, however, has only reference to eclipses visible in Europe, +Asia, and Africa, and not to those in America. The question therefore +arises, whether all these four eclipses recorded in _L’Art de Vérifier +les Dates_, were visible in Mexico. As to the last three, I have no +means of answering the question; but it appears that Gama, a Mexican +astronomer of some standing, made a series of calculations for a +totally distinct purpose about the end of the last century, and found +that in 1476 _there was no eclipse of the sun visible in Mexico_, but +that there was a great one on the 13th Feb., 1477, and another on the +28th May, 1481. + +Supposing that Gama made no mistake in his calculations, the idea at +once suggests itself, that the person who compiled or copied the Le +Tellier Codex, some few years after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, +inserted under the date of 1476 (long before the time of the Spaniards) +an eclipse which could not have been recorded there had the document +been a genuine Aztec Calendar; _as, though visible in Europe, it was +not visible in Mexico_. The supposition of the compiler having merely +inserted this date from a European table of eclipses is strengthened by +the fact that _the great eclipse of 1477, which was visible in Mexico, +but not in Europe, is not to be found there_. These two facts tend to +prove that the Codex, though undoubtedly in great part a copy or +compilation from genuine native materials, has been deliberately +sophisticated with a view of giving it a greater appearance of +historical accuracy, by some person who was not quite clever enough to +do his work properly. It may, however, be urged as a proof that the +mistake is merely the result of carelessness, that we find in the MS. +no notice of the eclipse of 25th May, 1481, which was visible both in +Mexico and in Europe, and so ought to have been in the record. This +supposition would be consistent with the Codex being really a document +in which the part relating to the events before the Spanish Conquest in +1521 is of genuine ancient and native origin, though the whole is +compiled in a very grossly careless manner. It would be very desirable +to verify the years of all the four eclipses with reference to their +being visible in Mexico, as this might probably clear up the +difficulty. + + +III. TABLE OK AZTEC ROOTS COMPARED WITH SANSCRIT, ETC. + +Several lists of Aztec words compared with those of various +Indo-European languages have been given by philologists. The present is +larger than any I have met with; several words in it are taken from +Buschmann’s work on the Mexican languages. It is desirable in a +philological point of view that comparative lists of words of this kind +should be made, even when, as in the present instance, they are not of +sufficient extent to found any theory upon. + +As the Aztec alphabet does not contain nearly all the Sanscrit +consonants, many of them must be compared with the nearest Aztec +sounds, as: + +SANSCRIT, t, th, d, dh, &c. AZTEC, t. +SANSCRIT, k, kh, g, gh, &c. AZTEC c. q. +SANSCRIT, l, r. AZTEC, l. +SANSCRIT, b, bh, v. AZTEC, v. or u. + +The Aztec c is soft (as s) before e and i, hard (as k) before a, o, u. +The Aztec ch as in _cheese_. I have followed Molina’s orthography in +writing such words as _uel_ or _vel_ (English, _well_) instead of the +more modern, but I think less correct way, _huel_. + + +1. a-, _negative prefix_ (_as_ qualli, _good_; aqualli, _bad_). SANS., +a-; GREEK, a-, &c. + +2. o-, _preterite augment_ (_as_ nitemachtia, _I teach_; onitemachti, +_I taught_); SANS., a-; compare GREEK ε-. + +3. pal, _prep. by_: compare SANS. _prep._, para, _back_; pari, +_circum_; pra, _before_; GREEK, παρα; LAT., per. + +4. ce-, cen-, cem-, _prefix collective_ (_as_ tlalla, _to place_, +centlalla, _to collect_); SANS., sa-, san-, sam-; GREEK, συν; LAT., +syn. + +5. ce, cen-, cem-, _one_. SANS., sa (_in_ sa-krit, _once_: comp. Bopp, +Gloss., p. 362.) LAT., se-_mel_, si-_mul_, sim-_plex_. + +6. metz (metz-tli), _moon_. SANS., mas. + +7. tlal (tlal-li), _earth_. SANS., tala, dhara. LAT., terra, tellus. + +8. citlal (citlal-in), _star_. SANS., stri, stâra. LAT., stella. Eng., +star. + +9. atoya (atoya-tl), _river_. SANS., udya. + +10. teuh (teuh-tli), _dust_. Sans., dhû-li (_from_ dhû, to drive +about.) + +11. teo (teo-tl), _god_. Sans., deva. Greek, θεος. Lat., deus. + +12. qual (qual-li), _good_. Sans., kalya, kalyâna. Greek, καλος. + +13. uel, _well_. Sans., vara, _excellent_; vli, _to choose_. Lat., +velle. Icel., vel. Eng., well. + +14. uel, _power, brave, &c_., (uel-e, tla-uel-e.) Sans., bala, +_strength_. Lat., valeo, valor. + +15. auil, _vicious, wasteful_. Sans., âvila, _sinful, guilty;_ abala, +_weak_. Eng., evil. + +16. miec, _much_. Sans., mahat, _great_; manh _or_ mah, _to grow_. +Icel., miok, _much_. Eng., much. + +17. vey, _great_. Sans., bahu, _much_. + +18. -pol, _augmentative affix_ (as tepe-tl. _mountain_; tepepol, _great +mountain_.) Sans., puru, _much_; pula, _great, ample_. Greek, πολυς. + +19. naua (naua-c), _near, by the side of_. Sans., nah, _to join or +connect_. German, nah, _near_. + +20. ten (ten-qui), _fuil_. Sans., tûn, _to fill_. + +21. izta (izta-c), _white_. Sans., sita. + +22. cuz (cuz-tic), _red_. Sans, kashãya, kasãya. + +23. ta (ta-tli), _father_. Sans., tãta. + +24. cone (cone-tl), _child. Compare_ Sans., jan, _to beget_. Lat., +gen-itus. German, kin-d. Eng., kin. + +25. pil (pil-li), _child. Compare_ Sans., bâla, _boy, child_; bhri, _to +bear children_, &c. Greek, πωλος, _foal_. Lat., pullus, filius. Eng., +_foal_, &c., &c. + +26. cax (cax-itl), _cup_. Sans., chasbaka. + +27. paz(?)(a-paz-tli), _vase, basin_. Sans., bajana. _Compare_ Lat., +vas. Eng., vase. + +28. com (com-itl), _earthen pot_. Sans., kumbha. + +29. xuma (xuma-tli), _spoon_. Sans., chamasa; _from_ Sans., cham, _to +eat_. + +30. mich (mich-in), _fish_. Sans., machcha. + +31. zaca (zaca-tl), _grass_. Sans., sâka. + +32. col (te-col-li, col-ceuia, &c.), _charcoal_. Sans., jval, _to burn, +flame_; Icel., kol; Eng., coal; Irish, gual. + +33. cen (cen-tli), _grain, maize_. Sans., kana, _grain_. + +34. ehe (ehe-catl), _wind_. Sans., vâyu. + +35. mix (mix-tli), _cloud_. Sans., megha; Icel., and Eng., mist. + +36. cal (cal-ii), _house_. Sans., sâlâ. Greek, καλια; Lat., cella. + +37. qua (qua-itl), _head_. Sans., ka. + +38. ix (ix-tli), _eye, face_. Sans., aksha, _eye_; âsya, _face_. + +39. can (can-tli), _cheek_, Sans., ganda; Lat., gena. + +40. chichi (chichi-tl), _teat_. Sans., chuchuka. + +41. nene (nene-tl), _pupil of eye_. Sans., nayanâ. + +42. choloa, _to run or leap_. Sans., char. + +43. caqui (caqui-ztli), _sound_. Sans., kach, _to sound_. + +44. xin (xi-xin-ia), _to cut, ruin, destroy_. Sans., ksin, _to hurt, +kill._ + +45. tlacç (tlacç-ani), _to run_. Sans., triks, _to go_; Greek, τρεχω. + +46. patlani, _to fly_. Sans., pat. + +47. mati, _to know_. Sans., medh, _to understand_; mati, _thought, +mind_; Greek root μαθ. + +48. it (it-ta), _to see_. Sans., vid; Greek root ιδ, ειδομαι, &c.; +Lat., video. + +49. meya, _to flow, trickle_. Sans., mih. + +50. mic (mic-tia), _to kill_. Sans., mi, mith. + +51. cuica, _to sing_. Sans., kûj. _to sing, as birds_, &c. + +52. chichi _to suck_. SANS., chûsh. + +53. ahnachia, _to sprinkle_: _compare_ SANS. uks. + +54. coton (coton-a), _to cut_. SANS. kutt. + +55. nex (nex-tia), _to shine_. SANS, nad; LAT., niteo. + +55. notz (notz-a), _to call_. SANS., nad. + +57. choc (choc-a), _to lament, cry_. SANS, kuch, _to cry aloud, +scream;_ such, _to wail_. + +58. me(?)(in me-catl, _binding-thing, chain?) to bind_ SANS., mû, mava. + +59. qua, _to eat, bite_: compare SANS. charv, _to chew, bite, gnaw_; +chah, _to bruize_; khad, _to eat_.; GERMAN, kauen; ENG., to chew. + +60. te, _thou_. SANS. tvam; LAT., tu. + +61. quen, _how?_ SANS. kena. + +_Other curious resemblances between the Aztec and European languages +are_: + +62. pepeyol, _poplar_. LAT., populus; ICEL., popel. + +63. papal (papal-otl), _butterfly_; LAT., papilio. + +64. ul (ul-li), _juice of the India-rubber tree, used as oil for +anointing, &c._ LAT., oleum; ENG., oil, &c. + + +IV. GLOSSARY. + +ANAHUAC. _Aztec_. “By the water-side.” The name at first applied to the +Valley of Mexico, from the situation of the towns on the banks of the +lakes; afterwards used to denote a great part of the present Republic +of Mexico. + +ACOCOTE (_Aztec_, acocotl, water-throat), aloe-sucker’s gourd; _see p._ +91. + +ADOBE, a mud-brick, baked in the sun. (Perhaps a _Moorish-Spanish_ +word. _Ancient Egyptian_, tobe, a mud-brick; _Arabic_, toob, pronounced +with the article _at-toob_, whence adobe?) + +AGUAMIEL (honey-water), unfermented aloe-juice. + +AGUARDIENTE (burning-water), ardent spirits. + +AHUEHUETE (_Aztec_, ahuehuetl), the deciduous cypress. + +ALAMEDA (poplar-avenue), public promenade; _see p._ 57. + +ALCALDE, a magistrate (_Moorish-Spanish_, al cadi, “the cadi”). + +ANQUERA (hauncher), covering for horses’ haunches; _see p._ 164 (_and +cut, p._ 260). + +ARRIERO, a muleteer. + +ARROYO, a rivulet, mountain-torrent. + +ATAMBOB, a drum. + +ATOLE (_Aztec_, atolli), porridge. + +AVERSADA, a freshet. + +BARATILLO, a Rag-fair, market of odds and ends; _see p._ 169. + +BARBACOA, whence English “barbecue;” _see p._ 95; a native Haitian +word. + +BARRANCCA, a ravine. + +CALZONCILLOS, drawers. + +CAPA, a cloak. + +CAYO, a coral-reef. + +CHAPARREROS, over-trousers of goatskin with the hair on, used in +riding. + +CHINAMPA (_Aztec_, “a place fenced in),” a Mexican “floating garden;” +_see p._ 62. + +CHINGUERITO, Indian-corn brandy. + +CHIPI-CHIPI (_Aztec_, chipini, drizzling rain); _see p._ 26. + +CHUPA-MIRTO (myrtle-sucker), a humming-bird. + +COLEAR, to throw a bull over by the tail (cola); _see p._ 71. + +COMPADRE. COMADRE; _French_, compère, commère; _see p._ 250. + +CORRAL, an enclosure for cattle. + +COSTAL, a bag, or sack. + +COYOTE (_Aztec_, coyotl), a jackal. + +CUARTA, a leather horse-whip; _see_ p. 264. + +CUARTEL, a barrack. + +CUCARACHA, a cockroach. + +CUCHILLO, a knife. + +CURA, a parish-priest. + +DESAGUE, a draining-cut. + +DESAYUNO, breakfast. + +EMANCIPADO (emancipated negro); see p. 6. + +ESCOPETA, a musket. + +ESCRIBANO, a scribe or secretary. + +FANDANGO, a dance. + +FIESTA, a church-festival. + +FRIJOLES, beans. + +FUERO, a legal privilege; _see pp._ 19, 249. + +GACHUPIN, a native of Spain. Supposed to be an Aztec epithet, +_cac-chopina_, that is, “prickly shoes,” applied to the Spanish +conquerors from their wearing spurs, which to the Indians were strange +and incomprehensible appendages. + +GARROTE, an instrument for strangling criminals. + +GENTE DE RAZÓN (reasonable people), white men and half-breed Mexicans, +but not Indians;_ see p._ 61. + +GUAJALOTE (Aztec, huexolotl), a turkey: _see p._ 228. + +GULCHE, a ravine. + +HACENDADO, a planter, landed proprietor, from HACIENDA (literally +“doing,” from _hacer_, or _facer_, to do). An estate, establishment, +&c. + +HACIENDA DE BENEFICIO, an establishment for “benefiting” silver, i.e., +for extracting it from the ore. + +HONDA, a sling. + +HORNITOS (little ovens), the small cones near the volcano of Jorullo, +which formerly emitted steam; see p. 92. + +HULE (_Aztec, _ ulli. India-rubber?) a waterproof coat. + +ICHTL (_Aztec, _ thread), thread or string of aloe-fibre. + +ITZTLI (Aztec), obsidian; _see_ p. 100. + +LAZADOR, one who throws the lazo. + +LAZO. a running noose. + +LEPERO, lazzarone, or prolétaire; _see p._ 251. + +LLANOS, plains. + +MACHETE, a kind of bill-hook. + +MALACATE (_Aztec, _ malacatl), a spindle, spindle-head, windlass, &c. + +MANTA, cotton-cloth. + +MATRACA, a rattle; _see p._ 49. + +MESON, a Mexican caravansery; _see p._ 209. + +MESTIZO (mixtus) a Mexican of mixed Spanish and Aztec blood. + +METATE (_Aztec_, metlatl) the stone used for rubbing down Indian corn +into paste; see p. 88. + +METALPILE (_Aztec_, metlapilli, i.e. little metlatl), the stone +rolling-pin used in the same process. + +MOLE (_Aztec, _ mulli), Mexican stew. + +MOLINO DE VIENTO (literally a windmill), a whirlwind; _see p._ 31. + +MONTE (literally a mountain), the favourite Mexican game; _see p. _256. + +MOZO, a lad, servant, groom. + +NIÑO, a child. + +NOPAL (_Aztec_, nopalli), the prickly pear. + +NOETE, the north wind; see p. 21. + +OCOTE (_Aztec_, ocotl), a pine-tree, pine-torch. OLLA, a boiling-pot. + +PASADIZO, a passage; _see p._ 231. + +PASEO, a public promenade. + +PASO, a kind of amble; _see p._ 163. + +PATIO, a court-yard, especially the inner court of a house. + +PATIO-PROCESS, method of extracting the silver from the ore, so called +from its being carried on in paved yards; _see p. _92. + +PATRON, a master, landlord. + +PEDRIGAL, a lava-field. + +PEOS, a debt-slave; _see_ p. 291. + +PETATE (_Aztec_, petlatl), a palm-leaf mat. + +PITO, 1, a whistle, pipe; 2, aloe-fibre thread. + +POTRERO, a water-meadow. + +PULQUE, a drink made from the juice of the aloe; _see_ p. 38. (It is a +corruption of a native South American word, introduced into Mexico by +the Spaniards). + +RANCHERO, a cottager, yeoman. + +RANCHO, a hut. + +RAYA (literally a line), the paying of workmen at a hacienda, &c. + +RAYAR, to pull a horse up short at a line; _see_ p. 163. + +REATA, a horse-rope; _see_ p. 264. + +REBOZO, a woman’s shawl; _see_ p. 56. + +RECUA, a train of mules. + +SALA, a hall, dining-room. + +SERAPE, a Mexican blanket; _see_ p. 169. + +SOMBRERO, a hat. + +TACUMENILES, pine-shingles for roofing. + +TEMAZCALLI, Indian vapour-bath; _see_ p. 301. + +TEOCALLI (_Aztec_, god’s house), an Aztec pyramid-temple. + +TEFONAZTLI, Indian wooden drum. + +TEQUESQUITE (_Aztec_, tequesquiti), an alkaline efflorescence abundant +on the soil in Mexico, used for soap-making, &c. + +TETZONTLI, porous amygdaloid lava, a stone much used for building in +Mexico. + +TIENDA, a shop; _see_ p. 82. + +TIERRA CALIENTE, the hot region. + +TIERRA FRÍA, the cold region. + +TIERRA TEMPLADA. the temperate region. + +TLACHIQUEBO (_Aztec_, tlacbiqui, an overseer, from tlachia, to see), a +labourer in an aloe-field, who draws the juice for pulque; _see_ p. 36. + +TORO, a bull. + +TORTA (literally, a cake); _see_ p. 92. + +TORTILLAS, thin cakes made of Indian corn, resembling oat-cakes; _see_ +p. 33. + +TRAPICHE, a sugar-mill. + +ULEI, _see_ Hule. + +VAQUERO, cow-herd. + +ZOPILOTE (_Aztec_, zopilotl), a turkey-buzzard. + + +V. DESCRIPTION OF THREE VERY RARE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT MEXICAN +MOSAIC-WORK (IN THE COLLECTION OF HENRY CHRISTY, ESQ.). + +These Specimens, two Masks and a Knife, (_see_ _page_ 101.) are +interesting as presenting examples of higher art than has been supposed +to have been attained to by the ancient Mexicans, or any other of the +native American peoples. Their distinctive feature is an incrustation +of Mosaic of Turquoise, cut and polished, and fitted with extreme +nicety,—a work of great labour, time, and cost in any country, and +especially so amongst a people to whom the use of iron was unknown,—and +carried out with a perfection which suggests the idea that the art must +have been long practised under the fostering of wealth and power, +although so few examples of it have come down to us. + +Although considerably varied, they are all three of one family of work, +so to speak; the predominant feature being the use of turquoise; and +the question which presents itself at the outset is—what are the +evidences that this unique work is of Aztec origin? + +The proofs are so interwoven with the style and structure of the +specimens that their appearance and nationality are best treated of +together. + +The Mask of wood is covered with minute pieces of turquoise—cut and +polished, accurately fitted, many thousands in number, and set on a +dark gum or cement. The eyes, however, are acute-oval patches of +mother-of-pearl; and there are two small square patches of the same on +the temples, through which a string passed to suspend the mask; and the +teeth are of hard white shell. The eyes are perforated, and so are the +nostrils, and the upper and lower teeth are separated by a transverse +chink; thus a wearer of the mask (which sits easily on one’s face) can +see, breathe, and speak with ease. The features bear that remarkably +placid and contemplative expression which distinguishes so many of the +Aztec works, in common with those of the Egyptians, whether in their +massive stone sculptures, or in the smallest and commonest heads of +baked earth. The face, which is well-proportioned, pleasing, and of +great symmetry, is studded also with numerous projecting pieces of +turquoise, rounded and polished. + +In addition to the character of the work and the style of face, the +evidence of the Aztec origin of this mask is confirmed by the wood +being of the fragrant cedar or cypress of Mexico. It may be remarked +also that the inside is painted red, as are the wooden masks of the +Indians of the North-west coast of America at the present day. + +The Knife presents, both in form and substance, more direct evidence of +its Aztec origin; for, in addition to its incrustation with the unique +mosaic of turquoise, blended (in this case) with malachite and white +and red shell, its handle is sculptured in the form of a crouching +human figure, covered with the skin of an eagle, and presenting the +well-known and distinctive Aztec type of the human head issuing from +the mouth of an animal. (_See cut_, p. 101.) Beyond this there is in +the stone blade the curious fact of a people which had attained to so +complex a design and such an elaborate ornamentation remaining in the +Stone-age; and, somewhat curiously, the locality of that stone blade is +fixed, by its being of that semi-transparent opalescent calcedony which +Humboldt describes as occurring in the volcanic districts of Mexico—the +concretionary silex of the trachytic lavas. + +The second Mask is yet more distinctive. The incrustation of +turquoise-mosaic is placed on the forehead, face, and jaws of a human +skull, the back part of which has been cut away to allow of its being +hung, by the leather thongs which still remain, over the face of an +idol, as was the custom in Mexico thus to mask their gods on +state-occasions. The mosaic of turquoise is interrupted by three broad +transverse bands, on the forehead, face, and chin, of a mosaic of +obsidian, similarly cut (but in larger pieces) and highly polished,—a +very unusual treatment of this difficult and intractable material, the +use of which in any artistic way appears to have been confined to the +Aztecs (with the exception, perhaps, of the Egyptians). + +The eye-balls are nodules of iron-pyrites, cut hemispherically and +highly polished, and are surrounded by circles of hard white shell, +similar to that forming the teeth of the wooden mask. + +The Aztecs made their mirrors of iron-pyrites polished, and are the +only people who are known to have put this material to ornamental use. + +The mixture of art, civilization, and barbarism which the hideous +aspect of this green and black skull-mask presents accords with the +condition of Mexico at the time of the Conquest, under which human +sacrifices on a gigantic scale were coincident with much refinement in +arts and manners. + +The European history of these three specimens is somewhat curious. With +the exception of two in the Museum at Copenhagen, obtained many years +ago by Professor Thomsen from a convent in Rome, and, though greatly +dilapidated, presenting some traces of the game kind of ornamentation, +they are believed to be unique. + +The Wooden Mask and the Knife were long known in a collection at +Florence. Thirty years ago the mask was brought into England from that +city, as Egyptian: and, somewhat later, the knife was obtained from +Venice. + +Subsequently the Skull-mask, with a wig of hair said to be a scalp, was +found at Bruges; a locality which leads to the presumption that the +mask was brought from Mexico soon after the Conquest in 1521, and prior +to the expulsion of the Spaniards from Flanders consequent on the +revolt of the Low Countries in 1579. + +_Note_.—It happens singularly enough, that a curious old work, +_Aldrorandus, Musaeum Metallicum, Bologna_, 1613, contains drawings of +a knife and wooden mask ornamented with mosaic-work of stone, made just +in the came way as those described above, and only differing from them +in the design. What became of them I cannot tell. + + +VI. DASENT’S ESSAY ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL VALUE OF POPULAR TALES AND +LEGENDS. + +Whilst treating of legendary lore in connection with Ethnographry, we +must not forget to refer the reader to the highly useful and +philosophical remarks on this subject in Dasent’s Introduction to his +_Popular Tales from the Norse_.[26] Here we see that not only are the +popular tales of any nation indicative of its early condition and its +later progress, but also that the legends, fables, and tales of the +Indo-European nations, at least, bear internal evidence of their having +grown out of a few simple notes—of having sprung from primæval germs +originating with the old Aryan family, from whom successive migrations +carried away the original myth to be elaborated or degraded according +to the genius and habits of the people. + + [26] _Popular Tales from the Norse_. (Translated from Asbjörnsen and + Moe’s Collection.) By George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. With an Introductory + Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales.—_Second Edition, + Edinburgh_: 1859. + +Thus other means of resolving the relations of the early races of Man +are added to those previously afforded by ethnographical and +philological research. + + + + +INDEX. + + +Account-keeping, 87. + +Acodada, 57. + +Africans and Chinese, 13. + +Agriculture, 26, 61, 63, 89, 157-161, 172, 216. + +Ahuehuetes, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Alameda, 57. + +Alluvial Deposits, 150. + +Aloes, 35, 136; huts built of, 36. + +Aloe-fibre, manufacture of, 88. + +Aloe-juice, collected for Pulque, 36, 91. + +Amatlan, 299. + +Amecameca, 265. + +American War, 118-120. + +Amozoque, 295. + +Anahuac, 57, 270. + +Antiquities, collections of, 222-236, 262. + +Antonio, our man, 321. + +Ants, 8. + +Aqueduct of Chapultepec, 55. + +Arch, Aztec, 153, 276. + +Armadillo, 312, 319, 325. + +Arms of Mexico, 42. + +Army, Mexican, 114-119. + +Arrow-heads, 137. + +Art, Aztec, 186, 230, 316. + +Astronomy, Aztec, 237-241, 244. + +Atotonilco, 82, 85. + +Aztec Antiquities, 35, 137, 141-148, 150-156, 183-195, 222-244, +262-264, 274-280. + +Aztec Civilization, 103. + +Aztec Language, 143, 227, 235, 243, 279, 333. + +Bananas, 178. + +Baratillo, 169-171. + +Barometer, height of, 68. + +Barrancas, 89, 179, 310, 313. + +Barricades, 55. + +Batabano, 3. + +Baths of Santa Fé, 7. + +Bells, ancient, 235. + +Bits, 167. + +Books, 124. + +Bronze-age, 139. + +Bronze, + stone-cutting with, 138-140; + hatchets, 225; + bells and needles, 235. + +Bull-fights, 70. + +Bull-dogs in Mexico, 149. + +Bull, lazoing the, 253, 323. + +Cacahuamilpán, 200-205. + +Cacao-beans, 227. + +Cactuses, 73, 90, 140, 144. + +Calendar-stone of Mexico, 237-240. + +Canals, 58, 130. + +Canoes, 60, 129, 132, 134. + +Capitalists, 295. + +Cascade of Regla, 93. + +Castor-oil plant, 9. + +Casa Grande, 77, 135. + +Cattle, 16, 31, 323. + +Cave of Cacahuamilpán, 203-205. + +Central American Antiquities, 189-193. + +Cerro de Navajas, 95-100. + +Chalco, + Canal of, 58; + Lake, 173; + +Chalma, 208-214. + +Chapultepec, 55, 57. + +Chinampas, 62. + +Chinese in Cuba, 12. + +Chipi-chipi, 26. + +Cholula, 274-278. + +Church, the, 113, 213, 285-290. + +Church-dances, 211. + +Churches in Mexico, 36, 46. + +Civil-war, 112, 283, 328. + +Cigar-making, 3. + +Clergy of Mexico, 7, 79, 287. + +Clay figures, 229, 275. + +Coach, old-fashioned, 59. + +Cochineal-insect, 24. + +Cockfighting, 254, 256. + +Cockroaches, 325. + +Cocoyotla, 196. + +Colearing, 71. + +Columbus, 4. + +Comonfort, President, 19, 112. + +Compadrazgo, 250. + +Commerce of Mexico, 105. + +Convents in Mexico, 46, 287. + +Convicts, 22. + +Cordova, 25. + +Corrida de Toros, 70. + +Costumes, 51, 62, 168. + +Courier, 167, 310. + +Criminals, 245-249. + +Cuba, 2. + +Cuernavaca, 179. + +Cura of New Gerona, 9. + +Cypress-trees, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Dancing, 207, 211. + +Dasent on Popular Legends, &c., 339. + +Debt-slavery, 291. + +Diligence, travelling by, 37, 173. + +Dishonesty of Mexicans, 80-82. + +Dram-drinking, 83. + +Dress of the Indians, 61. + +Drums, 231. + +Earthquakes, 66. + +Eclipses observed in Mexico, 333. + +Education, 125-128. + +Emancipados, 6, 14. + +English in Mexico, 73, 318. + +Estación de Méjico, 121. + +Ethnology, 17, 102-104, 187-195, 241-244, 276-280. + +Evaporation, rapid, 75. + +Feather-work, 70. + +Flies’ eggs, 156. + +Floating gardens, 62. + +Flooded streets, 65. + +Florida, free blacks from, 5, 10-12. + +Forests, destruction of by Spaniards, 45. + +Fueros, 19. + +Future of Mexico, 329. + +Gambling, 15, 207, 256-258, 320. + +Glass-works, 135. + +Glossary, 335. + +Goddess of War, 222. + +Gold and Silver work, 234. + +Gourd-bottles, 171. + +Grove of Cypresses, 57. + +Guadalupe (Our Lady of), 66, 120-224. + +Hams, Toluca, 219. + +Havana, 1, 326. + +Hedges of Cactus, 73. + +Highlands of Mexico, 35. + +Hill of Drums, 215. + +Holy Week, 47-54. + +Horse-bath, 290. + +Horses, 163-165, 317. + +Hotel d’Yturbide, 39. + +Houses, 25, 36, 91, 135, 172; built on piles, 41. + +Huamantla, 31. + +Huehuetoca, draining-cut of, 45. + +Humming-birds, 69. + +Indian Baptism, 207. + +Indian Ointment, 324. + +Indians of Mexico, 47,60-64, 80-88, 173, 182, 197-199, 200-208, +299-309, 314-316. + +Indian Soldiers, 23, 120, 122. + +Indulgences, 52, 124. + +Inquisition, the, 128. + +Insects, 319. + +Intemperance, 47, 83, 307. + +Inundations, 44, 65, 123. + +Iron, 102, 140. + +Irrigation, 86, 157-161, 179. + +Isle of Pines, 4. + +Iztaccihnatl, 268. + +Jacal, Mount, 95. + +Jalapa, 317-321. + +Jorullo, 92. + +Judas, 50. + +Judas’s Bones, 49. + +Junta, La, 314. + +Justice, Administration of, 246-248, 300. + +Lakes in Valley of Mexico, 44-46, 65, 130-134, 173. + +Lava-fields, 28, 35, 118. + +Law-courts of Mexico, 249. + +Lazoing, 71, 252-254, 323. + +Legends, 236, 276-279, 340. + +Leper Hospital, 251. + +Leperos, 251. + +Lerma, 219. + +Le Tellier MS., on Eclipses, 332. + +Loadstone mountain, 102. + +Locusts, 298. + +Lonja, 66. + +Machinery in Mexico, 109. + +Magnetic Iron-ore, 102. + +Manufacture of Obsidian Knives, 97, 331. + +Marble Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6. + +Market, Indian, 85, 89. + +Martin, our servant, 273, 321. + +Masks, 110, 226, 235, 337. + +Matracas, 49. + +Mestizos, 48, 61, 300. + +Metate, 88. + +Mexican Dishes, 51; + Ladies, 51; + Words, 227, 263. + +Mexican Police, 149; + War with United States, 118. + +Mexico, City of, 41-44, 111; + Old, 147; + Formation of the country of, 27; + Future of, 329; + People of, 55; + Valley of, 40-46, 270. + +Military Statistics, 115. + +Miners, 79, 258. + +Miraflores, 264. + +Minería, or School of Mines, 47. + +Mirage, 30. + +Mongolian Calendar, 241. + +Monks, 205, 209, 213. + +Morals of Servitude, 81, 293. + +Mosaic work, 101, 110, 235. + +Mosquitos, 5, 325. + +Mules, Mexican, 175. + +Museum of Mexico, 222-237. + +Negress, white, 323. + +Negros in Mexico, 13, 323. + +Nevado de Toluca, 219. + +Nopals, Plantations of, 24. + +Nopalucán, 296. + +Nortes, 21, 23. + +Nuestra Señora de Remedies, 121. + +Nueva Gerona, 4, 8. + +Numerals, Mexican, &c., 107-110. + +Obsidian, mines of, 95, 99; knives, &c., 95-102, 137, 229, 331. + +Oculan, 215. + +Old Mexico, 147; + Baths near Tezcuco, 153; + Bridge near Tezcuco, 153. + +Organ-cactus, 73. + +Orizaba, town of, 26; volcano of, 18, 29, 226. + +Ornament, common styles of, 185. + +Pachuca, 69, 74. + +Palma Christi, 9. + +Paseo, or Alameda, 57. + +Passport-system (Cuba), 3. + +Peñón de los Baños, 131. + +Peons, 291-294. + +People of Mexico, 55. + +Picture-writings, 104, 130, 232-234. + +Pintos, 309. + +Pirates of the Spanish Main, 5. + +Ploughing, 172. + +Police, Mexican, 149. + +Political Economy, 105, 217, 264, 294, 302-309, 328. + +Politics of Mexico, 19, 111-118, 282-284, 290, 328. + +Popocatepetl, ascent of, 265-273. + +Population, 217, 302-309. + +Potrero, 307. + +Pottery, 85, 88, 151, 226, 275. + +Priests, 9, 79, 285-290. + +Prisons, 244-248. + +Promenade of Las Vigas, 64. + +Protective duties, 104, 264. + +Puebla, 113, 281-291. + +Pulque, 35, 37, 91. + +Pulque-shops, 63. + +Pyramids, 43, 141-148, 190, 274-278. + +Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6; of obsidian, 99; of Teotihuacán, 137. + +Rag-fair in Mexico, 169. + +Railway, 2, 24, 121. + +Rain, 136, 266. + +Rainy Region, 26. + +Ranches, 25, 266, 299. + +Rattles, 49. + +Real del Monte, 77. + +Rebozo, 56. + +Reform in Mexico, 117. + +Regla, 78; cascade of, 93. + +Revolutions, 20, 114, 282-284. + +Roads in Mexico, 29, 37, 76. + +Robbers, 32, 117, 170, 297; + Priest-captain of, 34. + +Sacred trees, 215, 265. + +Sacrifice of Spaniards, 145. + +Sacrificial + Clamps, 225; + Stone, 223. + +Saddles, &c., 162-167. + +St. Thomas’s, W. Indies, 327. + +Salinas of Campeche, 84. + +Saline condition of the soil, 133. + +Salt, 83, 154. + +Salt-pans, 155. + +Salto del Agua, 55. + +Sand-pillars, 30. + +San Andrés Chalchicomula, 312. + +San Antonio de Abajo, 296. + +San José and Earthquakes, 67. + +San Nícolas, 272. + +Santa Anita, 63. + +Santa Maria de Guadalupe, 121. + +Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, 196. + +Sardines, 87. + +School of Mines, 47. + +Scorpions, 319, 322. + +Sculptures at Xochicalco, 185. + +Serape, 169. + +Sheep, 324. + +Shrines of Xochicalco, 193. + +Silver-mines, &c., 74, 92, 105, 107. + +Siege & Capitulation of Puebla, 113, 282. + +Sisal, 16. + +Skull decorated with mosaic work, 337. + +Slave-trade, 13, 16. + +Smuggling, 273, 296. + +Solar Eclipses observed in Mexico, 331. + +Soldiers, 23, 114, 171. + +Soquital, 82. + +Spanish-moss, 57. + +Spurs, 295. + +Stalactitic Cave, 200. + +Statistics of Mexico, 115, 249, 286. + +Stone-hammers, 137. + +Stone knives and weapons, 90, 103. + +Streets of Mexico, 41, 55. + +Sugar-canes, 179. + +Sugar-hacienda, of Santa Rosita, 196; of Temisco, 180. + +Sugar-plantations of Havana, 2. + +Tacubaya, 57, 69. + +Tallow, 324. + +Tasco, Silver-mines at, 74. + +Temisco, 179. + +Temple-pyramids—_see_ Pyramids. + +Tenancingo, 218. + +Tenochtitlán, 41. + +Ten Tribes, the, 17. + +Teocallis, _see_ Pyramids. + +Teotihuacán, + Pyramids of, 141-148; + Quarries of, 137, 141. + +Tequesquite, 133. + +Tezcotzinco, 152. + +Tezcuco, 129, 150, 260-264; + Aztec Bridge at, 153. + +Tezcuco, Lake of, 65, 129, 138. + +Thieves, 52, 170, 245. + +Tisapán, 118-120. + +Toluca, 219. + +Tortillas, 38. + +Tropical Vegetation, 2, 24, 179. + +Turkey-buzzards, 22. + +Valley of Mexico, 45. + +Yapour-bath, native, 301. + +Vegetation, zones of, 21-27, 178, 216. + +Vera Cruz, 18-21, 325. + +Virjen de Remedios, 123. + +Virgins, the rival, 123. + +Volantes, 2. + +War-idol, 222. + +Water-bottles, 171. + +Water-pipes, 157. + +Xochimilco, Lake of, 173. + +Xochicalco, Ruins of, 183-195. + +Yucatan, 16. + +Zopilites, 22. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Anahuac, by Edward Burnett Tylor + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC *** + +***** This file should be named 13115-0.txt or 13115-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/1/13115/ + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Anahuac + +Author: Edward Burnett Tylor + +Release Date: August 4, 2004 [EBook #13115] +[Most recently updated: October 27, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. Eckrich, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreaders Team + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> +<h1>Anahuac</h1> + +<h4>or,<br />Mexico and the Mexicans,<br />Ancient and Modern</h4> + +<h2>by Edward Burnett Tylor</h2> + +<p class="center"> +1861 +</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#pref01">INTRODUCTION.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#pref02">ITINERARY.</a><br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<br /> +Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of Pines. Mosquitos. +Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fé. Alligators. The Cura. Missionary +Priest. Florida Colonists. Blacks in the West Indies. Chinese and African +slaves.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<br /> +Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. Slave-trade in Natives. The +Ten Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican Politics. Casualties. The +City of the Dead. Turkey-buzzards. Northers. The “temperate +region.” Cordova. The Chipi-chipi. The “cold region.” Mirage. +Sand-pillars. The rainy season. Plundered passengers. Robber-priest. Aztec +remains. Aloe-fields. Houses of mud-bricks. Huts of aloes. Mexican churches. +Mexican roads. Making pulque.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<br /> +Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. Changes in the Valley of +Mexico. Dearth of Trees. Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. Rattles. +Judas’s Bones. Burning Judas. Churches in Holy Week. Streets. Barricades. +People. Women. The cypress of Chapultepec. Old-fashioned coaches. The canal of +Chalco. Canoe-travelling. “Reasonable people.” Taste for flowers. +The “Floating Gardens.” Promenade. Flooded streets. Earthquakes.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<br /> +Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. Bullfight. Lazoing +and colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of organ-cactus. Pachuca. Cold in the +hills. Rapid evaporation. Mountain-roads. Real del Monte. Guns and pistols. +Regla. The father-confessor in Mexico. Morals of servitude. Cornish miners. +Dram-drinking. Salt-trade. The Indian market. Indian Conservatism. Sardines. +Account-keeping. The great Barranca. Tropical fruits. Prickly pears. Their use. +The “Water-Throat.” Silver-works. Volcano of Jorullo. Cascade of +Regla. “Eyes of Water.” Fires. The Hill of Knives. Obsidian +implements. Obsidian mines. The Stone-age. The loadstone-mountain of Mexico. +Unequal Civilization of the Aztecs. Silver and commerce of Mexico. Effect of +Protection-duties. Silver mines. The Aztec numerals.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> +<br /> +A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military Statistics. +Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American war. Mexican army. Our Lady of +Guadalupe. Miracles. The rival Virgins. Sacred lottery-ticket. Literature in +Mexico. The clergy and their system of Education in Mexico. The Holy Office. +Indian Notions of Christianity.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<br /> +To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. Salt-lakes. A storm on +the lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. Quarries. Stone Hammers. Use of Bronze in +stone-cutting in Mexico and Egypt. Prickly Pears. Temple-pyramids of +Teotihuacán. Sacrifice of Spaniards. Old Mexico. Market of Antiquities. Police. +Bull-dogs. Accumulation of Alluvium. Tezcotzinco. Ancient baths and bridge. +Salt and salt-pans. Fried flies’-eggs. Water-pipes. Irrigation. +Agriculture in Mexico. History repeats itself.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<br /> +Horses and their training. Saddles and bits. The Courier. Leather clothes. The +Serape. The Rag-fair of Mexico, Thieves. Gourd water-bottles. Ploughing. +Travelling by Diligence. Indian carriers. Mules. Breakfast. Bragadoccio. +Robbers. Escort. Cuernavaca. Tropical Vegetation. Sugar-cane. Temisco. +Sugar-hacienda. Indian labourers. The evensong. The Raya. Strength of the +Indians. Xochicalco. Ruins of the Pyramid. Sculptures. Common ornaments. The +people of Mexico and Central America. Their civilization. Pear-shaped heads. +Miacatlán.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<br /> +Cocoyotla. Indian labourers. Political Condition of the Indians. Indian Village +and huts. Cotton-spinning. The Indian Alcalde. Great Cave of Cacahuamilpán. +Optical phenomenon. Monk on horseback. Religion of the Indians. Idols. Baptism +by wholesale. Village amusements. Dancing. Chalma. The meson and the convent. +Church-dances. The miller’s daughter. Young friar. The Hill of Drums. +Sacred cypress-tree. Oculan. Change of climate. Grain-districts of Mexico. The +Desierto. Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Robbers.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<br /> +Museum. Fate of Antiquities. War-God. Sacrificial Stone. Mexican words +naturalized in Europe, &c. Chamber of Horrors. Aztec Art. Wooden Drums. +Aztec Picture-writings. The “Man-flaying” Mr. Uhde’s +Collection. Mr. Christy’s Collection. Bones of Giants. Cortes’ +Armour. Mexican Calendar-stone. Aztec Astronomy. Mongol Calendar. Peculiarities +of Aztec Civilization. The Prison at Mexico. No “Criminal class.” +Prison-discipline. The Garotte. Mexican law-courts. Statistics. The +Compadrazgo. Leperos and Lepers. Lazoing the bull. Cockfighting. Gambling. +Monte. The fortunate Miners.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> +<br /> +A travelling companion. Mexicans who live by their wits. Jackal-masks, &c. +Mexican words used in the United States. Miraflores. Cotton-factory. Sacred +Mount and Cypress-tree. Rainy Season. Ascent of Popocatepetl. The Crater. View +of Anahuac. Descent from Popocatepetl. Plain of Puebla. Snow-blindness. +Hospitable Shopkeeper. Morality of Smuggling. Pyramid and Antiquities of +Cholula. Hybrid Legends of Mexico. Genuine Legends. Old-world analogies among +the Aztecs.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> +<br /> +Puebla. The Pasadizos. Revolutions in Mexico. Festival of Corpus Christi. +Mexican clergy. Their incomes and morals. Scourging. Religion of the People. +Anomalous constitution of the Republic. The horse-bath. Debt-slaves or peons. +Great fortunes in Mexico. Amozoque. Spurs. Nopalucán. Orizaba. Robbers. +Locusts. Indian village. Inroads of Civilization. Lawsuits. Native Aristocracy. +The vapour-bath. Scanty population. Its explanation. Unhealthy habits. +Epidemics. Intemperance. Pineapples. Potrero. Negros. Mixed races. +“Painted men.”<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> +<br /> +Barrancas. Indian trotting. Flowers. Armadillo. Fire-flies. Singular Fandango. +Epiphytes. The Junta. Indian Life. Decorative Art. Horses. Jalapa. +Anglo-Mexicans. Insect-life. Monte. Fate of Antonio. Scorpion. White Negress. +Cattle. Artificial lighting. Vera Cruz. Further Journey. St. Thomas’s. +Voyage to England. Future destinies of Mexico.<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap13">APPENDIX.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +I. The Manufacture of Obsidian Knives.<br /> +II. On the Solar Eclipses recorded in the Le Tellier MS.<br /> +III. Table of Aztec roots.<br /> +IV. Glossary.<br /> +V. Ancient Mexican mosaic work (in Mr. Christy’s Collection).<br /> +VI. Dasent’s Essay on the Ethnographical value of Popular Tales and Legends. +<br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap14">INDEX.</a> +</p> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:</h2> + +<p class="center"> +PLATES: +</p> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus01">Cascade of Regla. <i>From a photograph by J. Bell, +Esq.</i></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus02">Porter and Baker in Mexico.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus03">Indians bringing Country Produce to Market.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus04">Indians in a Rancho, making and baking Tortillas.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus05">Map to illustrate Messrs. Tylor and Christy’s +journeys and excursions in Mexico.</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p class="center"> +WOODCUTS: +</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>(The cuts of smaller objects of antiquity, and articles at present in use, +have been drawn from specimens in the Collection of Henry Christy, Esq.)</i> +</p> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus06">Indian Tlachiquero, collecting juice of the Agave for Pulque.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus07">View of Part of the Valley of Mexico.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus08">Water-carrier and Mexican Woman at the Fountain.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus09">Group of Mexican Ecclesiastics.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus10">Stone Spear-heads, and Obsidian Knives and Arrow-heads, from Mexico.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus11">Fluted Prism of Obsidian, and Knife-flakes.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus12">Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus13">Aztec Stone-knife, with wooden handle, inlaid with mosaic work.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus14">Aztec Head in Terra-cotta.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus15">The Rebozo and the Serape.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus16">Aztec Bridge near Tezcuco.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus17">Spanish-Mexican Saddle and appendages.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus18">Spanish-Mexican Bit, with ring and chain.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus19">Sculptured Panel, from Xochicalco. <i>(After Nebel)</i>.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus20">Small Aztec Head in Terra-cotta.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus21">Ixtacalco Church.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus22">Spanish-Mexican Spurs.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus23">Goddess of War. <i>(After Nebel)</i>.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus24">Three Views of a Sacrificial Collar or Clamp, carved out of hard stone.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus25">Two Views of a Mask, carved out of hard stone.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus26">Ancient Bronze Bells.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus27">Spanish-Mexican Cock-spurs.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus28">Leather Sandals.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus29">Mexican Costumes. <i>(After Nebel)</i>.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus30">View of Orizaba.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#illus31">Indians of the Plateau. <i>(After Nebel)</i>.</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus01"></a> +<a href="images/plate01.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate01.jpg" width="700" height="518" alt="Illustration: +" /></a> +<p class="caption">THE CASCADE OF REGLA.<br /><i>From a Photograph by J. Ball +Esq. of the Hacienda de Regla. March 1856.</i></p> +</div> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p> +The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the narrative and +remarks contained in this volume were made in the months of March, April, May, +and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback. The author and his +fellow-traveller enjoyed many advantageous opportunities of studying the +country, the people, and the antiquities of Mexico, owing to the friendly +assistance and hospitality which they received there. With this aid they were +enabled to accomplish much more than usually falls to the lot of travellers in +so limited a period; and they had the great advantage too, of being able to +substantiate or correct their own observations by the local knowledge and +experience of their friends and entertainers. +</p> + +<p> +Visiting Mexico during a lull in the civil turmoil of that lamentably disturbed +Republic, they were fortunate in being able to avail themselves of that +peaceable season in making excursions to remarkable places and ruins, and +examining the national collection of antiquities, and other objects of +interest,—an opportunity that cannot have occurred since owing to the +recommencement of civil war in its worst form. +</p> + +<p> +The following are some of the chief points of interest in these Notes on +Mexico, which are either new or treated more fully than hitherto: +</p> + +<p> +1. The evidence of an immense ancient population, shewn by the abundance of +remains of works of art (treated of at pages 146-150), is fully stated here. +</p> + +<p> +2. The notices and drawings of Obsidian knives and weapons (at page 95, +&c., and in the Appendix) are more ample than any previously given. +</p> + +<p> +3. The treatment of the Mexican Numerals (at page 108) is partly new. +</p> + +<p> +4. The proofs of the highly probable sophistication of the document in the +Library at Paris, relative to Mexican eclipses, have not previously been +advanced (see Appendix). +</p> + +<p> +5. The notices of objects of Mexican art, &c., in the chapter on +Antiquities, and elsewhere (including the Appendix), are for the most part new +to the public. +</p> + +<p> +6. The remarks on the connection between pure Mexican art and that of Central +America, in the chapter on Xochicalco, are in great part new. +</p> + +<p> +7. The singular native bridge at Tezcuco (page 153) is another novelty. +</p> + +<p> +The order in which places and things were visited is shewn in the annexed +Itinerary, or sketch of the journeys and excursions described. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref02"></a>ITINERARY.</h2> + +<p> +Journey 1. Cuba. Havana. Batabano. Isles of Pines. Nueva Gerona. Baños de Santa +Fé. Back to Havana. <i>Pages</i> 1-14. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 2. Havana. Sisal. Vera Cruz. <i>Pages</i> 15-18. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 3. Vera Cruz. Cordova. Orizaba. Huamantla. Otumba. Guadalupe. Mexico. +<i>Pages</i> 18-38. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 4. Mexico to Tacubaya and Chapultepec, and back. <i>Pages</i> 55-58. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 5. Mexico to Santa Anita and back. <i>Pages</i> 59-65. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 6. Mexico. Guadalupe. Pachuca. Real del Monte. Regla. Atotonilco el +Grande. Soquital and back to Real del Monte. Real del Monte to Mount Jacal and +Cerro de Navajas (obsidian-pits), and back to Real del Monte. Pachuca. +Guadalupe. Mexico. <i>Pages</i> 72-105. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 7. Mexico to Tisapán. Ravine of Magdalena. Pedrigal (lava-field), and +back. <i>Pages</i> 118-120. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 8. Mexico to Tezcuco. Pages 129—162. Tezcuco to Pyramids of Teotihuacán +and back. Pages 136—146. Tezcuco to Tezcotzinco (the so-called +“Montezuma’s Bath,” &c.). Aztec Bridge, and back to +Tezcuco. <i>Pages</i> 152-153. Tezcuco to Bosque del Contador (the grove of +ahuehuetes, where excavations were made.) <i>Pages</i> 154-156. Tezcuco to +Mexico. <i>Page</i> 62. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 9. Mexico. San Juan de Dios. La Guarda. Cuernavaca. Temisco. +Xochicalco. Miacatlán. Cocoytla. <i>Pages</i> 172-195. Cocoytla to village and +cave of Cacahuamilpán and back. <i>Pages</i> 196-205. Cocoytla to Chalma. +Oculán. El Desierto. Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Las Cruzes. Mexico. +<i>Pages</i> 214-220. +</p> + +<p> +Journey 10. Mexico to Tezcuco. Miraflores. Amecameca. Popocatepetl. San Nicolas +de los Ranchos. Cholula. Puebla. Amozoque. Nopaluca. San Antonio de abajo. +Orizaba. Amatlán. El Potrero. Cordova. San Andrés. Chalchicomula. La Junta. +Jalapa. Vera Cruz. West Indies and Home. <i>Pages</i> 260- 327. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus05"></a> +<a href="images/plate05.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate05.jpg" width="700" height="508" alt="Illustration: +" /></a> +<p class="caption">MAP OF PART OF MEXICO TO ILLUSTRATE A JOURNEY FROM VERA CRUZ +TO MEXICO AND BACK & EXCURSIONS IN THE COUNTRY, By Mess<sup>rs</sup>. E.B. +Tylor & H. Cristy.</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +THE ISLE OF PINES.</h2> + +<p> +In the spring of 1856, I met with Mr. Christy accidentally in an omnibus at +Havana. He had been in Cuba for some months, leading an adventurous life, +visiting sugar-plantations, copper-mines, and coffee-estates, descending into +caves, and botanizing in tropical jungles, cruising for a fortnight in an open +boat among the coral-reefs, hunting turtles and manatis, and visiting all sorts +of people from whom information was to be had, from foreign consuls and +Lazarist missionaries down to retired slave-dealers and assassins. +</p> + +<p> +As for myself, I had been travelling for the best part of a year in the United +States, and had but a short time since left the live-oak forests and +sugar-plantations of Louisiana. We agreed to go to Mexico together; and the +present notes are principally compiled from our memorandum-books, and from +letters written home on our journey. +</p> + +<p> +Before we left Cuba, however, we made one last excursion across the island, and +to the <i>Isla de Pinos</i>—the Isle of Pines—off the southern coast. A volante +took us to the railway-station. The volante is the vehicle which the Cubans +specially affect; it is like a Hansom cab, but the wheels are much taller, six +and a half feet high, and the black driver sits postillion-wise upon the horse. +Our man had a laced jacket, black leather leggings, and a pair of silver spurs +fastened upon his bare feet, which seemed at a little distance to have well +polished boots on, they were so black and shiny. +</p> + +<p> +The railway which took us from Havana to Batabano had some striking +peculiarities. For a part of the way the track passed between two walls of +tropical jungle. The Indian fig trees sent down from every branch suckers, like +smooth strings, which rooted themselves in the ground to draw up more water. +Acacias and mimosas, the seiba and the mahagua, with other hard-wood trees +innumerable, crowded close to one another; while epiphytes perched on every +branch, and creepers bound the whole forest into a compact mass of vegetation, +through which no bird could fly. We could catch the strings of convolvulus with +our walking-sticks, as the train passed through the jungle. Sometimes we came +upon a swamp, where clusters of bamboos were growing, crowned with tufts of +pointed leaves; or had a glimpse for a moment of a group of royal palms upon +the rising ground. +</p> + +<p> +We passed sugar-plantations with their wide cane-fields, the sugar-houses with +tall chimneys, and the balconied house of the administrador, keeping a sharp +look out over the village of negro-cabins, arranged in double lines. +</p> + +<p> +In the houses near the stations where we stopped, cigar-making seemed to be the +universal occupation. Men, women, and children were sitting round tables hard +at work. It made us laugh to see the black men rolling up cigars upon the +hollow of their thighs, which nature has fashioned into a curve exactly suited +to this process. +</p> + +<p> +At Batabano the steamer was waiting at the pier, and our passports and +ourselves were carefully examined by the captain, for Cuba is the paradise of +passport offices, and one cannot stir without a visa. For once everybody was +<i>en règle</i>, and we had no such scene as my companion had witnessed a few +days before. +</p> + +<p> +If you are a married man resident in Cuba, you cannot get a passport to go to +the next town without your wife’s permission in writing. Now it so +happened that a respectable brazier, who lived at Santiago de Cuba, wanted to +go to Trinidad. His wife would not consent; so he either got her signature by +stratagem, or, what is more likely, gave somebody something to get him a +passport under false pretences. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate he was safe on board the steamer, when a middle-aged female, well +dressed, but evidently arrayed in haste, and with a face crimson with hard +running, came panting down to the steamer, and rushed on board. Seizing upon +the captain, she pointed out her husband, who had taken refuge behind the other +passengers at a respectful distance; she declared that she had never consented +to his going away, and demanded that his body should be instantly delivered up +to her. The husband was appealed to, but preferred staying where he was. The +captain produced the passport, perfectly <i>en règle</i>, and the lady made a +rush at the document, which was torn in half in the scuffle. All other means +failing, she made a sudden dash at her husband, probably intending to carry him +off by main force. He ran for his life, and there was a steeplechase round the +deck, among benches, bales, and coils of rope; while the passengers and the +crew cheered first one and then the other, till they could not speak for +laughing. The husband was all but caught once; but a benevolent passenger +kicked a camp-stool in the lady’s way, and he got a fresh start, which he +utilized by climbing up the ladder to the paddle-box. His wife tried to follow +him, but the shouts of laughter which the black men raised at seeing her +performances were too much for her, and she came down again. Here the captain +interposed, and put her ashore, where she stood like black-eyed Susan till the +vessel was far from the wharf, not waving her lily hand, however, but shaking +her clenched fist in the direction of the fugitive. +</p> + +<p> +To return to our voyage to the Isle of Pines.—All the afternoon the steamer +threaded her way cautiously among the coral-reefs which rose almost to the +surface. Sometimes there seemed scarcely room to pass between them, and by +night navigation would have been impossible. We were just in the place where +Columbus and his companions arrived on their expedition along the Cuban coast, +to find out what countries lay beyond. They sailed by day, and lay to at night, +till their patience was worn out. Another day or two of sailing would have +brought them to where the coast trends northwards; but they turned back, and +Columbus died in the belief that Cuba was the eastern extremity of the +continent of Asia. +</p> + +<p> +The Spaniards call these reefs “cayos,” and we have altered the +name to “keys,” such as <i>Key West</i> in Florida, and +<i>Ambergris Key</i> off Belize. +</p> + +<p> +It was after sunset, and the phosphorescent animals were making the sea glitter +like molten metal, when we reached the Isle of Pines, and steamed slowly up the +river, among the mangroves that fringe the banks, to the village of Nueva +Gerona, the port of the island. It consisted of two rows of houses thatched +with palm-leaves, and surrounded by wide verandahs; and between them a street +of unmitigated mud. +</p> + +<p> +As we walked through the place in the dusk, we could dimly discern the +inhabitants sitting in their thatched verandahs, in the thinnest of white +dresses, gossipping, smoking, and love-making, tinkling guitars, and singing +seguidillas. It was quite a Spanish American scene out of a romance. There was +no romance about the mosquitos, however. The air was alive with them. When I +was new to Cuba, I used to go to bed in the European fashion; and as the beds +were all six inches too short, my feet used to find their way out in the night, +and the mosquitos came down and sat upon them. Experience taught us that it was +better to lie down half-dressed, so that only our faces and hands were exposed +to their attacks. +</p> + +<p> +The Isle of Pines used to be the favourite resort of the pirates of the Spanish +main; indeed there were no other inhabitants. The creeks and rivers being lined +with the densest vegetation, a few yards up the winding course of such a creek, +they were lost in the forest, and a cruiser might pass within a few yards of +their lurking-place, and see no traces of them. Captain Kyd often came here, +and stories of his buried treasures are still told among the inhabitants. Now +the island serves a double purpose; it is a place of resort for the Cubans, who +come to rusticate and bathe, and it serves as a settlement for those free black +inhabitants of Florida who chose to leave that country when it was given up to +the United States. One of these Floridanos accompanied us as our guide next day +to the Baños de Santa Fé. +</p> + +<p> +When we left the village we passed near the mangrove trees, which were growing +not only near the water but in it, and like to spread their roots among the +thick black slime which accumulates so fast in this country of rapid vegetable +growth, and as rapid decomposition. In Cuba, the mangoe is the abomination of +the planters, for they supply the runaway slaves with food, upon which they +have been known to subsist for months, whilst the mangroves give them shelter. +A little further inland we found the guava, a thick-spreading tree, with smooth +green leaves. From its fruit is made guava-jelly, but as yet it was not ripe +enough to eat. +</p> + +<p> +In the middle of the island we came upon marble-quarries. They are hardly +worked now; but when they were first established, a number of emancipados were +employed there. What emancipados are, it is worth while to explain. They are +Africans taken from captured slavers, and are set to work under government +inspection for a limited number of years, on a footing something like that of +the apprentices in Jamaica, in the interregnum between slavery and +emancipation. In Cuba it is remarked that the mortality among the emancipados +is frightful. They seldom outlive their years of probation. The explanation of +this piece of statistics is curious. The fact is that every now and then, when +an old man dies, they bury him as one of the emancipados, whose register is +sent in to the Government as dead; while the negro himself goes to work as a +slave in some out-of-the-way plantation where no tales are told. +</p> + +<p> +We left the marble-quarries, and rode for miles over a wide savannah. The soil +was loose and sandy and full of flakes of mica, and in the watercourses were +fragments of granite, brought down from the hills. Here flourished palm trees +and palmettos, acacias, mimosas, and cactuses, while the mangoe and the guava +tree preferred the damper patches nearer to the coast. The hills were covered +with the pine-trees from which the island has its name; and on the rising +ground at their base we saw the strange spectacle of palms and fir trees +growing side by side. +</p> + +<p> +Where we came upon a stream, the change in the vegetation was astonishing. It +was a sudden transition from an English, plantation of fir trees into the +jungle of the tropics, full of Indian figs, palms, lancewood, and great +mahagua<a href="#fn-1" name="fnref-1" id="fnref-1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +trees, all knotted together by endless creepers and parasites; while the +parrots kept up a continual chattering and screaming in the tree-tops. The +moment we left the narrow strip of tropical forest that lined the stream we +were in the pine wood. Here the first two or three feet of the trunks of the +pine trees were scorched and blackened by the flames of the tall dry +savannah-grass, which grows close round them, and catches fire several times +every year. Through the pine forest the conflagration spreads unobstructed, as +in an American prairie; but it only runs along the edge of the dense +river-vegetation, which it cannot penetrate. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-1" id="fn-1"></a> <a href="#fnref-1">[1]</a> +The mahagua tree furnishes that curious fibrous network which is known as +<i>bast</i>, and used to wrap bundles of cigars in. The mahogany tree is called +<i>caoba</i> in Spanish, apparently the original Indian name, as the Spaniards +probably first became acquainted with it in Cuba. Is our word +“mahogany” the result of a confusion of words, and corrupted from +“mahagua?” +</p> + +<p> +The Baños de Santa Fé are situated in a cleared space among the fir trees. The +baths themselves are nothing but a cavity in the rock, into which a stream, at +a temperature of about 80°, continually flows. A partition in the middle +divides the ladies from the gentlemen, but allows them to continue their +conversation while they sit and splash in their respective compartments. +</p> + +<p> +The houses are even more quaint than the bathing-establishment. The whole +settlement consists of a square field surrounded by little houses, each with +its roof of palm leaves and indispensable verandah. Here the Cubans come to +stay for months, bathing, smoking cigarettes, flirting, gossiping, playing +cards, and strumming guitars; and they seemed to be all agreed on one point, +that it was a delightful existence. We left them to their tranquil enjoyments, +and rode back to Nueva Gerona. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning we borrowed a gun from the engineer of the steamboat, and I bought +some powder and shot at a shop where they kept two young alligators under the +counter for the children to play with. The creeks and lagoons of the island are +full of them, and the negroes told us that in a certain lake not far off there +lived no less a personage than “the crocodile king”—“<i>el +rey de los crocodilos</i>;” but we had no time to pay his majesty a +visit. Two of the Floridan negroes rowed us up the river. Even at some distance +from the mouth, sting-rays and jelly-fish were floating about. As we rowed +upwards, the banks were overhung with the densest vegetation. There were +mahogany trees with their curious lop-sided leaves, the copal-plant with its +green egg-like fruit, from which copal oozes when it is cut, like opium from a +poppy-head, palms with clusters of oily nuts, palmettos, and guavas. When a +palm-tree on the river-bank would not grow freely for the crowding of other +trees, it would strike out in a slanting direction till it reached the clear +space above the river, and then shoot straight upwards with its crown of +leaves. +</p> + +<p> +We shot a hawk and a woodpecker, and took them home; but, not many minutes +after we had laid them on the tiled floor of our room, we became aware that we +were invaded. The ants were upon us. They were coming by thousands in a regular +line of march up our window-sill and down again inside, straight towards the +birds. When we looked out of the window, there was a black stripe lying across +the court-yard on the flags, a whole army of them coming. We saw it was +impossible to get the skins of the birds, so threw them out of the window, and +the advanced guard faced about and followed them. +</p> + +<p> +On the sand in front of the village the Castor-oil plant flourished, the +<i>Palma Christi</i>; its little nuts were ripe, and tasted so innocent that, +undeterred by the example of the boy in the Swiss Family Robinson, I ate +several, and was handsomely punished for it. In the evening I recounted my +ill-advised experiment to the white-jacketed loungers in the verandah of the +inn, and was assured that I must have eaten an odd number! The second nut, they +told me with much gravity, counteracts the first, the fourth neutralizes the +third, and so on ad infinitum. +</p> + +<p> +We made two clerical acquaintances in the Isle of Pines. One was the Cura of +New Gerona, and his parentage was the only thing remarkable about him. He was +not merely the son of a priest, but his grandfather was a priest also. +</p> + +<p> +The other was a middle-aged ecclesiastic, with a pleasant face and an unfailing +supply of good-humoured fun. Everybody seemed to get acquainted with him +directly, and to become quite confidential after the first half-hour; and a +drove of young men followed him about everywhere. His reverence kept up the +ball of conversation continually, and showed considerable skill in amusing his +auditors and drawing them out in their turn. It is true the jokes which passed +seemed to us mild, but they appeared to suit the public exactly; and indeed, +the Padre was quite capable of providing better ones when there was a market +for them. +</p> + +<p> +We found that though a Spaniard by birth, he had been brought up at the +Lazarist College in Paris, which we know as the training-school of the French +missionaries in China; and we soon made friends with him, as everyone else did. +A day or two afterwards we went to see him in Havana, and found him hard at his +work, which was the superintendence of several of the charitable institutions +of the city—the Foundling Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and others. His life +was one of incessant labour, and indeed people said he was killing himself with +over-work, but he seemed always in the same state of chronic hilarity; and when +he took us to see the hospitals, the children and patients received him with +demonstrations of great delight. +</p> + +<p> +I should not have said so much of our friend the Padre, were it not that I +think there is a moral to be got out of him. I believe he may be taken as a +type, not indeed of Roman Catholic missionaries in general, but of a certain +class among them, who are of considerable importance in the missionary world, +though there are not many of them. Taking the Padre as a sample of his class, +as I think we may—judging from the accounts of them we meet with in books, it +is curious to notice, how the point in which their system is strongest is just +that in which the Protestant system is weakest, that is, in social training and +deportment. What a number of men go to India with the best intentions, and set +to work at once, flinging their doctrines at the natives before they have +learnt in the least to understand what the said natives’ minds are like, +or how they work,—dropping at once upon their pet prejudices, mortally +offending them as a preliminary step towards arguing with them; and in short, +stroking the cat of society backwards in the most conscientious manner. By the +time they have accomplished this satisfactory result, a man like our Cuban +Padre, though he may have argued but little and preached even less, would have +a hundred natives bound to him by strong personal attachment, and ready to +accept anything from him in the way of teaching. +</p> + +<p> +We paid a regular round of visits to the Floridan settlers, and were delighted +with their pleasant simple ways. It is not much more than thirty years since +they left Florida, and many of the children born since have learnt to speak +English. The patches of cultivated land round their cottages produce, with but +little labour, enough vegetables for their subsistence, and to sell, procuring +clothing and such luxuries as they care for. They seemed to live happily among +themselves, and to govern their little colony after the manner of the +Patriarchs. +</p> + +<p> +Whether any social condition can be better for the black inhabitants of the +West Indies, than that of these settlers, I very much doubt. They are not a +hard-working people, it is true; but hard work in the climate of the tropics is +unnatural, and can only be brought about by unnatural means. That they are not +sunk in utter laziness one can see by their neat cottages and trim gardens. +Their state does not correspond with the idea of prosperity of the political +economist, who would have them work hard to produce sugar, rum, and tobacco, +that they might earn money to spend in crockery and Manchester goods; but it is +suited to the race and to the climate. If we measure prosperity by the +enjoyment of life, their condition is an enviable one. +</p> + +<p> +I think no unprejudiced observer can visit the West Indies without seeing the +absurdity of expecting the free blacks to work like slaves, as though any +inducement but the strongest necessity would ever bring it about. There are +only two causes which can possibly make the blacks industrious, in our sense of +the word,—slavery, or a population so crowded as to make labour necessary to +supply their wants. +</p> + +<p> +In one house in the Floridan colony we found a <i>ménage</i> which was +surprising to me, after my experience of the United States. The father of the +family was a white man, a Spaniard, and his wife a black woman. They received +us with the greatest hospitality, and we sat in the porch for a long time, +talking to the family. One or two of the mulatto daughters were very handsome; +and there were some visitors, young white men from the neighbouring village, +who were apparently come to pay their devoirs to the young ladies. Such +marriages are not uncommon in Cuba; and the climate of the island is not +unfavourable for the mixed negro and European race, while to the pure whites it +is deadly. The Creoles of the country are a poor degenerate race, and die out +in the fourth generation. It is only by intermarriage with Europeans, and +continual supplies of emigrants from Europe, that the white population is kept +up. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of our departure we climbed a high hill of limestone, covered in +places with patches of a limestone-breccia, cemented with sandstone, and +filling the cavities in the rock. All over the hill we found doubly refracting +Iceland-spar in quantities. Euphorbias, in Europe mere shrubs, were here +smooth-limbed trees, with large flowers. From the top of the hill, the +character of the savannahs was well displayed. Every water-course could be +traced by its narrow line of deep green forest, contrasting with the scantier +vegetation of the rest of the plain. +</p> + +<p> +As we steamed out of the river, rows of brilliant red flamingos were standing +in the shallow water, fishing, and here and there a pelican with his ungainly +beak. Our Chinese crew were having their meal of rice when we walked forward, +and the national chopsticks were hard at work. We talked to several of them. +They could all speak a little Spanish, and were very intelligent. +</p> + +<p> +The history of these Chinese emigrants is a curious one. Agents in China +persuade them to come out, and they sign a contract to work for eight years, +receiving from three to five dollars a month, with their food and clothing. The +sum seems a fortune to them; but, when they come to Cuba, they find to their +cost that the value of money must be estimated by what it will buy. They find +that the value of a black labourer is thirty dollars a month, and they have +practically sold themselves for slaves; for there is no one to prevent the +masters who have bought the contract for their work from treating them in all +respects as slaves. The value of such a contract—that is, of the Chinaman +himself, was from £30 to £40 when we were in the island. Fortunately for them, +they cannot bear the severe plantation-work. Some die after a few days of such +labour and exposure, and many more kill themselves; and the utter indifference +with which they commit suicide, as soon as life seems not worth having, +contributes to moderate the exactions of their masters. A friend of ours in +Cuba had a Chinese servant who was impertinent one day, and his master turned +him out of the room, dismissing him with a kick. The other servants woke their +master early next morning, with the intelligence that the Chinese had killed +himself in the night, to expiate the insult he had received. +</p> + +<p> +Of African slaves brought into the island, the yearly number is about 15,000. +All the details of the trade are matter of general notoriety, even to the exact +sum paid to each official as hush-money. It costs a hundred dollars for each +negro, they say, of which a gold ounce (about £3 16s.) is the share of the +Captain-general. To this must be added the cost of the slave in Africa, and the +expense of the voyage; but when the slave is once fairly on a plantation he is +worth eight hundred dollars; so it may be understood how profitable the trade +still is, if only one slaver out of three gets through. +</p> + +<p> +The island itself with its creeks and mangrove-trees is most favourable for +their landing, if they can once make the shore; and the Spanish cruisers will +not catch them if they can help it. If a British cruiser captures them, the +negroes are made emancipados in the way I have already explained. +</p> + +<p> +Hardly any country in the world is so thoroughly in a false position as England +in her endeavours to keep down the Cuban slave-trade, with the nominal +concurrence of the Spanish government, and the real vigorous opposition of +every Spaniard on the island, from the Captain-General downwards. Even the most +superficial observer who lands for an hour or two in Havana, while his steamer +is taking in coals, can have evidence of the slave-trade brought before his +eyes in the tattooed faces of native Africans, young and middle-aged, in the +streets and markets; just as he can guess, from the scored backs of the +negroes, what sort of discipline is kept up among them. +</p> + +<p> +We slept on board the steamboat off the pier of Batabano, and the railway took +us back to Havana next morning. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +HAVANA TO VERA CRUZ—VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO.</h2> + +<p> +On the 8th of March, we went on board the “Méjico” steamer, +American-built, and retaining her American engineers, but in other respects +converted into a Spanish vessel, and now lying in the harbour of Havana bound +for Vera Cruz, touching at Sisal in Yucatan. At eight o’clock we weighed +anchor, and were piloted through the narrow passage which leads out of the +harbour past the castle of El Morro and the fort of Cabañas, the view of whose +ramparts and batteries caused quite a flourish of trumpets among our Spanish +fellow-passengers, who firmly believe in their impregnability. +</p> + +<p> +Among our fellow-passengers were a company of fifth-rate comedians, going to +Merida by way of Sisal. There was nothing interesting to us about them. +Theatrical people and green-room slang vary but little over the whole civilized +world. There were two or three Spanish and French tradesmen going back to +Mexico. They talked of nothing but the dangers of the road, and not without +reason as it proved, for they were all robbed before they got home. Several of +the rest were gamblers or political adventurers, or both, for the same person +very often unites the two professions out here. Spain and the Spanish American +Republics produce great numbers of these people, just as Missouri breeds +border-ruffians and sympathizers. But the ruffian is a good fellow in +comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have given +Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the characters of Mr. +Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of the third day of our voyage we reached Sisal, and as soon as +the captain would let us we went ashore, in a canoe that was like a flat wooden +box. This said captain was a Catalan, and a surly fellow, and did not take the +trouble to disguise the utter contempt he felt for our inquisitive ways, which +he seemed quite to take pleasure in thwarting. It was the only place we were to +see in Yucatan, a country whose name is associated with ideas of tropical +fruits, where you must cut your forest-path with a machete, and of vast ruins +of deserted temples and cities, covered up with a mass of dense vegetation. But +here there was nothing of this kind. Sisal is a miserable little town, standing +on the shore, with a great salt-marsh behind it. It has a sort of little jetty, +which constitutes its claim to the title of <i>port</i>; and two or three small +merchant-vessels were lying there, taking in cargoes of logwood (the staple +product of the district), mahogany, hides, and deerskins. The sight of these +latter surprised us; but we found on enquiry that numbers of deer as well as +horned cattle inhabit the thinly-peopled districts round the shores of the +Mexican Gulf, and flourish in spite of the burning climate, except when a year +of drought comes, which kills them off by thousands. +</p> + +<p> +One possible article of export we examined as closely as opportunity would +allow, namely, the Indian inhabitants. There they are, in every respect the +right article for trade:—brown-skinned, incapable of defending themselves, +strong, healthy, and industrious; and the creeks and mangrove-swamps of Cuba +only three days’ sail off. The plantations and mines that want one +hundred thousand men to bring them into full work, and swallow aborigines, +Chinese, and negroes indifferently—anything that has a dark skin, and can be +made to work—would take these Yucatecos in any quantity, and pay well for them. +And once on a sugar-estate or down a mine, when their sham registers are +regularly made out, and the Governor has had his ounce of gold apiece for +passing them, and his subordinates their respective rights, who shall get them +out again, or even find them? +</p> + +<p> +This idea struck us as we sat looking at the Indians hard at work, loading and +unloading; and finding an intelligent Spaniard, we fell to talking with him. +Indians had been carried off to Cuba, he said, but very few, none since 1854, +when two Englishmen came to the coast with a schooner on pretence of trading, +and succeeded in getting clear off with a cargo of seventy-two natives on +board. But being caught in a heavy gale of wind, they put in for safety—of all +places in the world—into the British port of Belize. There some one found out +what their cargo consisted of, the vessel was seized, the Indians sent back, +and the two adventurers condemned to hard labour, one for four years, the other +for two and a half. In a place where the fatigue and exposure of drill and +mounting guard is death to a European soldier, this was most likely a way of +inflicting capital punishment, slow, but pretty sure.<a href="#fn-2" name="fnref-2" id="fnref-2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-2" id="fn-2"></a> <a href="#fnref-2">[2]</a> +We heard talk elsewhere, however, of a war going on in the interior of the +country between the white inhabitants and the Indian race; the apparent object +of the whites being to take Indian prisoners, and ship them off for slaves to +Cuba. +</p> + +<p> +When the Spaniards came to these countries, as soon as they had leisure to ask +themselves what could be the origin of the people they found there, the answer +came at once, “the lost tribes of Israel,” of course. And as we +looked at these grave taciturn men, with their brown complexions, bright eyes, +and strikingly aquiline noses, it did not seem strange that this belief should +have been generally held, considering the state of knowledge on such matters in +those days. We English found the ten tribes in the Red men of the north; Jews +have written books in Hebrew for their own people, to make known to them that +the rest of their race had been found in the mountains of Chili, retaining +unmistakable traces of their origin and conversing fluently in Hebrew; and but +lately they turned up, collected together and converted to Christianity, on the +shores of the Caspian. The last two theories have their supporters at the +present day. Crude as most of these ideas are, one feels a good deal of +interest in the first inquiry that set men thinking seriously about the origin +of races, and laid the foundation of the science of ethnology. +</p> + +<p> +Our return on board was a long affair, for there was a stiff breeze, almost in +our teeth; and our unwieldy craft was obliged to make tack after tack before we +could reach the steamer. Great Portuguese men-of-war were floating about, +waiting for prey; and we passed through patches of stringy gulf-weed, trailing +out into long ropes. The water was hot, the thermometer standing at 84° when we +dipped it over the side. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of the 12th, when we went on deck, there was a grand sight +displayed before us. No shore visible, but a heavy bank of clouds on the +horizon; and, high above them, towering up into the sky, the snowy summit of +Orizaba, a hundred and fifty miles off. +</p> + +<p> +Before noon, we are entering the harbour of Vera Cruz. The little island and +fort of San Juan de Ulúa just opposite the wharfs, the island of Sacrificios a +little farther to the left. A level line of city-wall along the water’s +edge; and, visible above it, the flat roofs of the houses, and the towers and +cupolas of many churches. All grey stone, only relieved by the colored Spanish +tiles on the church-roofs, and a flag or two in the harbour. Not a scrap of +vegetation to be seen, and the rays of a tropical sun pouring down upon us. +</p> + +<p> +Established in the Casa de Diligencias, we deliberated as to our journey to +Mexico. The diligences to the capital, having been stopped for some months on +account of the disturbed state of the country, had just begun to run again, +avoiding Puebla, which was being besieged. We were anxious to be off at once; +but Mr. Christy sagaciously remarking that the robbers would know of the +arrival of the steamer, and would probably take the first diligence that came +afterwards, we booked our places for the day after. +</p> + +<p> +We were very kindly received by the English merchants to whom my companion had +letters, and we set ourselves to learn what was the real state of things in +Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +On an average, the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico had changed hands once +every eight months for the last ten years; and Don Ignacio Comonfort had +stepped into the office in the previous December, on the nomination of his +predecessor the mulatto general Alvarez, who had retired to the southern +provinces with his army. +</p> + +<p> +President Comonfort, with empty coffers, and scarcely any real political power, +had felt it necessary to make some great effort to get popularity for himself +and his government. He had therefore adopted the policy of attacking the +<i>fueros</i>, the extraordinary privileges of the two classes of priests and +soldiers, which had become part of the constitution under the first viceroys, +and which not even the war of independence, and the adoption of republican +forms, ever did away with. Neither class is amenable to the civil tribunals for +debt or for any offences.<a href="#fn-3" name="fnref-3" id="fnref-3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +The clergy have immense revenues, and much spiritual influence among the lower +classes; and as soon as they discovered the disposition of the new President, +they took one Don Antonio Haro y Tamirez, set him up as a counter-President, +and installed him at Puebla, the second city of the Republic, where priests +swarm, and priestly influence is unbounded. At the same time, they tried a +pronunciamiento in the capital; but the President got the better of them after +a slight struggle, and marched all his regular soldiers on Puebla. At the +moment of our arrival in the country, the siege of this city was going on quite +briskly, ten thousand men being engaged, commanded by forty-three general +officers. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-3" id="fn-3"></a> <a href="#fnref-3">[3]</a> +They must be judged by courts whose members belong to their own body, and in +these special tribunals one can imagine what sort of justice is meted out to +complainants and creditors. Comonfort’s hope was to conciliate the mass +of the people by attempting to relieve them of this enormous abuse. I believe +he was honest in his intentions, but unfortunately the people had already had +to do with too many politicians who were to redress their wrongs and inaugurate +a reign of liberty. They had found very little to come of such movements, but +extra-taxation and civil war, which left them worse off than they were before, +and the patriots generally turned out rather more greedy and unprincipled than +the others; so it was not to be wondered at that no one came forward to give +any very energetic support to the new President. +</p> + +<p> +Whenever anything disagreeable is happening in the country, Vera Cruz is sure +to get its full share. A month before our arrival, one Salcedo, who was a +prisoner in the castle of San Juan de Ulúa, talked matters over with the +garrison, and persuaded them to make a pronunciamiento in favour of the +insurgents. They then summoned the town to join their cause, which it declined +doing for the present; and the castle opened fire upon it, knocking about some +of the principal buildings, and doing a good deal of damage. A 30-pound shot +went through the wall of our hotel, taking off the leg of an unfortunate waiter +who was cleaning knives, and falling into the patio, or inner court. A daub of +fresh plaster just outside our bedroom door indicated the spot; and the British +Consul’s office had a similar decoration. The Governor of the city could +offer no active resistance, but he cut off the supplies from the island, and in +three or four days Salcedo—finding himself out of ammunition, and short of +water—surrendered in a neat speech, and the revolution ended. +</p> + +<p> +We have but a short time to stay in Vera Cruz, so had better make our +observations quickly; for when we come back again there will be a sun nearly in +the zenith, and yellow fever—at the present moment hardly showing itself—will +have come for the summer; under those circumstances, the unseasoned foreigner +had better lie on his back in a cool room, with a cigar in his mouth, and read +novels, than go about hunting for useful information. +</p> + +<p> +There are streets of good Spanish houses in Vera Cruz, built of white +coral-rock from the reefs near the shore, but they are mildewed and +dismal-looking. Outside the walls is the Alameda; and close by is a line of +houses, uninhabited, mouldy, and in ruins. We asked who built them. “Los +Españoles,” they said. +</p> + +<p> +Even now, when the “nortes” are blowing, and the city is +comparatively healthy, Vera Cruz is a melancholy place, with a plague-stricken +look about it; but it is from June to October that its name, “the city of +the dead”—la ciudad de los muertos—is really deserved. In that season +comes an accumulation of evils. The sun is at its height; there is no north +wind to clear the air; and the heavy tropical rains—more than three times as +much in quantity as falls in England in the whole year—come down in a short +rainy season of four months. The water filters through the sand-hills, and +forms great stagnant lagoons; a rank tropical vegetation springs up, and the +air is soon filled with pestilential vapours. Add to this that the water is +unwholesome; the city too is placed in a sand-bath which keeps up a regular +temperature, by accumulating heat by day and giving it out into the air by +night, so that night gives no relief from the stifling closeness of the day. No +wonder that Mr. Bullock, the Mexican traveller, as he sat in his room here in +the hot season, heard the church-bells tolling for the dead from morning to +night without intermission; for weeks and weeks, one can hardly even look into +the street without seeing a funeral. +</p> + +<p> +We turned back through the city, and walked along watching the Zopilotes—great +turkey-buzzards—with their bald heads and foul dingy-black plumage. They were +sitting in compact rows on parapets of houses and churches, and seemed +specially to affect the cross of the cathedral, where they perched, two on each +arm, and some on the top. When some offal was thrown into the streets, they +came down leisurely upon it, one after another; their appearance and deportment +reminding us of the undertaker’s men in England coming down from the +hearse at the public-house door, when the funeral is over. In all tropical +America these birds are the general scavengers, and there is a heavy fine for +killing them.<a href="#fn-4" name="fnref-4" id="fnref-4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-4" id="fn-4"></a> <a href="#fnref-4">[4]</a> +No one ill uses them but the dogs, who drive them away when anything better +than usual is met with, and they have to stand round in a circle, waiting for +their turn. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely any one is about in the streets this afternoon, except a gang or two +of convicts dragging their heavy chains along, sweeping and mending the +streets. This is a punishment much approved of by the Mexican authorities, as +combining terror to evil-doers with advantage to the community. That it puts +all criminals on a level, from murderers down to vagrants, does not seem to be +considered as a matter of much consequence. +</p> + +<p> +At the city-gate stands a sentry—the strangest thing I ever saw in the guise of +a soldier—a brown Indian of the coast, dressed in some rags that were a uniform +once, shoeless, filthy in the extreme, and armed with an amazing old +flint-lock. He is bad enough to look at, in all conscience, and really worse +than he looks, for—no doubt—he has been pressed into the service against his +will, and hates white men and their ways with all his heart. Of course he will +run away when he gets a chance; and, though he will be no great loss to the +service, he will add his mite to the feeling of hatred that has been growing up +for these so many years among the brown Indians against the whites and the +half-cast Mexicans. But more of this hereafter. +</p> + +<p> +One step outside the gate, and we are among the sand-hills that stretch for +miles and miles round Vera Cruz. They are mere shifting sand-mounds; and, +though some of them are fifty feet high, the fierce north wind moves them about +bodily. The Texans know these winds well, and call them “northers.” +They come from Hudson’s Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, right down the +Continent of North America, over a level plain with hardly a hill to obstruct +their course, the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies forming a sort of trough +for them. When the “norte” blows fiercely you can hardly keep your +feet in the streets of Vera Cruz, and vessels drag their anchors or break from +their moorings in the ill-protected harbour, and are blown out to sea—lucky if +they escape the ugly coral-reefs and sand-banks that fringe the coast. There +are a few bushes growing outside the walls, and there we found the Nopal bush, +the great prickly pear—the same that has established itself all round the +shores of the Mediterranean—growing in crevices of rocks, and cracks in +lava-beds, and barren places where nothing else will live. But what made us +notice these Nopals was, that they were covered with what looked like little +white cocoons, out of which, when they were pressed, came a drop of deep +crimson fluid. This is the cochineal insect, but only the wild variety; the +fine kind, which is used for dye, and comes from the province of Oajaca, miles +off, is covered only with a mealy powder. There the Indians cultivate great +plantations of Nopals, and spread the insects over them with immense care, even +removing them, and carrying them up into the mountains in baskets when the +rainy season begins in the plains, and bringing them back when it is over. +</p> + +<p> +On Friday, the 14th of March, at three o’clock in the morning, we took +our places in a strong American-built diligence, holding nine inside, and began +our journey by being dragged along the railroad—which was commenced with great +energy some time ago, and got fifteen miles on its way to the capital, at which +point it has stopped ever since. When day broke we had left the railroad, and +were jolting along through a parched sandy plain, thinly covered with acacias, +nopals, and other kinds of cactus, bignonias, and the great tree-euphorbia, +with which we had been so familiar in Cuba, with its smooth limbs and huge +white flowers. At last we reached the first hill, and began gently to ascend. +The change was wonderful. Once out of the plain, we are in the midst of a +tropical forest. The trees are crowded close together, and the convolvulus +binds their branches into an impassable jungle, while ferns and creepers weave +themselves into a dense mass below; and here and there a glimpse up some deep +ravine shows great tree-ferns, thirty feet high, standing close to the brink of +a mountain-stream, and flourishing in the damp shade. +</p> + +<p> +Indian Ranchos become more frequent as we ascend; and the inhabitants—squatting +on the ground, or leaning against the door-posts—just condescend to glance at +us as we pass, and then return to their meditations, and their cigarettes, if +they happen to have any. These ranches are the merest huts of canes, thatched +with palm-leaves; and close by each a little patch of ground is enclosed by a +fence of prickly cactus, within which are growing plantains, with their large +smooth leaves and heavy ropes of fruit, the great staple of the “tierra +caliente.” +</p> + +<p> +Our road winds along valleys and through pass after pass; and now and then a +long zig-zag brings us out of a valley, up to a higher level. The air grows +cooler, we are rapidly changing our climate, and afternoon finds us in the +region of the sugar-cane and the coffee-plant. We pass immense green +cane-fields, protected from the visits of passing muleteers and peasants by a +thick hedge of thorny coffee-bushes. The cane is but young yet; but the +coffee-plant, with its brilliant white flowers, like little stars, is a +beautiful feature in the landscape. +</p> + +<p> +At sunset we are rattling through the streets of the little town of Cordova. +There is such a thoroughly Spanish air about the place, that it might be a +suburb of the real Cordova, were it not for the crowds of brown Indians in +their scanty cotton dresses and great flat-brimmed hats, and the Mexican +costumes of the whiter folks. Low whitewashed houses, with large windows to the +street, protected by the heavy iron-gratings, like cages, that are so familiar +to travellers in Southern Europe. Inside the grating are the ladies of the +family, outside stand their male acquaintance, and energetic gossiping is going +on. The smoky little lamp inside gives us a full view of the interior. Four +whitewashed walls; a table; a few stiff-backed chairs; a virgin or saint +resplendent in paint and tinsel; and, perhaps, two or three coloured +engravings, red, blue, and yellow. +</p> + +<p> +A few hours in the dark, and we reach Orizaba. We have changed our climate for +the last time to-day, and have reached that district where tobacco flourishes +at an altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea. But of this we see nothing, for we +are off again long before daylight; and by the time that external objects can +be made out we find ourselves in a new region. A valley floored with rich +alluvial soil from the hills that rise steeply on both sides, their tops +shrouded in clouds. Signs of wonderful fertility in the fields of maize and +barley along the roadside. The air warm, but full of mist, which has already +penetrated our clothes and made them feel damp and sticky. “Splendid +country, this, Señores,” said an old Mexican, when he had twisted himself +round on his seat to get a good stare at us. “It seems so,” said I, +“judging by the look of the fields, but it is very unpleasantly damp just +now.” “Just now,” said the old gentleman, echoing my words, +“it is always damp here. You see that drizzling mist; that is the +chipi-chipi. Never heard of the chipi-chipi! Why it is the riches and blessing +of the country. Sometimes we never see the sun here for weeks at a time, and it +rains a little every day nearly; but look at the fields, we get three crops a +year from them where you have but one on the fields just above. And it is +healthy, too; look at those fellows at work there. When we get up to the Llanos +you will see the difference.” +</p> + +<p> +The valley grew narrower as we drove on; and at last, when it seemed to end in +a great ravine, we began to climb the steep hill by a zig-zag road. Soon the +air grows clearer again, the sunshine appears and gets brighter and brighter, +we have left the mist behind, and are among ranges of grand steep hills, +covered with the peculiar vegetation of the plateau,—Cactus, Opuntia, and the +Agave Americana. In the trough of the valley lies a regular opaque layer of +white clouds, hiding the fields and cottages from our view. We have already +passed the zone of perpetual moisture, whose incessant clouds and showers are +caused by the stratum of hot air—charged with water evaporated from the +gulf—striking upon the mountains, and there depositing part of the aqueous +vapour it contains. +</p> + +<p> +You may see the same thing happening in almost every mountainous district; but +seldom on so grand a scale as here, or with so little disturbance from other +agents. Yesterday was passed in the “tierra caliente,” the hot +country; our journey of to-day and to-morrow is through the “tierra +templada” and the “tierra fría,” the temperate and the cold +country. Here a change of a few hundred feet in altitude above the sea, brings +with it a change of climate as great as many degrees of latitude will cause, +and in one day’s travel it is possible to descend from the region of +eternal snow to the utmost heat of the tropics. Our ascent is more gradual; +but, though we are three days on the road, we have sometimes scarcely time to +notice the different zones of vegetation we pass through, before we change +again. +</p> + +<p> +To make the account of the journey from the coast to Mexico somewhat clearer, a +few words must be said about the formation of the country, as shown in a +profile-map or section. The interior of Mexico consists of a mass of volcanic +rocks, thrust up to a great height above the sea-level. The plateau of Mexico +is 8,000 feet high, and that of Puebla 9,000 feet. This central mass consists +principally of a greyish trachytic porphyry, in some places rich in veins of +silver-ore. The tops of the hills are often crowned with basaltic columns, and +a soft porous amygdaloid abounds on the outskirts of the Mexican valley. +Besides this, traces of more recent volcanic action abound, in the shape of +numerous extinct craters in the high plateaus, and immense +“pedrigals” or fields of lava not yet old enough for their surface +to have been disintegrated into soil. Though sedimentary rocks occur in Mexico, +they are not the predominant feature of the country. Ridges of limestone hills +lie on the slopes of the great volcanic mass toward the coast; and at a still +lower level, just in the rise from the flat coast-region, there are strata of +sandstone. On our road from Vera Cruz we came upon sandstone immediately after +leaving the sandy plains; and a few miles further on we reached the limestone, +very much as it is represented in Burkart’s profile of the country from +Tampico upwards towards San Luis Potosi. The mountain-plateaus, such as the +plains of Mexico and Puebla, are hollows filled up and floored with horizontal +strata of tertiary deposits, which again are covered by the constantly +accumulating layers of alluvium. +</p> + +<p> +Our heavy pull up the mountain-side has brought us into a new scene. Every one +knows how the snow lies in the valleys of the Alps, forming a plain which +slopes gradually downward towards the outlet. Imagine such a valley ten miles +across, with just such a sloping plain, not of snow but of earth. There has +been no rain for months, and the surface of the ground is parched and cracked +all over. There is hardly a tree to be seen except clumps of wood on the +mountain-sides miles off,—no vegetation but tufts of coarse grass, among which +herds of disconsolate-looking cattle are roaming; the vaqueros, (herdsmen) are +cantering about after them on their lean horses, with their lazos hanging in +coils on their left arms, and now and then calling to order some refractory +beast who tries to get away from the herd, by sending the loop over his horns +or letting it fall before him as he runs, and hitching it up with a jerk round +his hind legs as he steps within it. But the poor creatures are too thirsty and +dispirited just now to give any sport, and the first touch of the cord is +enough to bring them back to their allegiance. +</p> + +<p> +From the decomposed porphyry of the mountains carbonate of soda comes down in +solution to the valleys. Much of this is converted into natron by the organic +matter in the soil, and forms a white crust on the earth. More of the carbonate +of soda, mixed in various proportions with common salt, drains continually out +in the streams, or filters into the ground and crystallizes there. This is why +there is not a field to be seen, and the land is fit for nothing but pasture. +But when the rains come on in a few months, say our friends in the diligence, +this dismal waste will be a luxuriant prairie, and the cattle will be here by +thousands, for most of them are dispersed now in the lower regions of the +tierra templada where grass and water are to be had. +</p> + +<p> +My companion and I climb upon the top of the diligence to spy out the land. The +grand volcano of Orizaba had been hidden from us ever since that morning when +we saw it from far out at sea, but now it rises on our left, its upper half +covered with snow of dazzling whiteness,—a regular cone, for from this side the +crater cannot be seen. It looks as though one could walk half a mile or so +across the valley and then go straight up to the summit, but it is full thirty +miles off. The air is heated as by a furnace, and as we jolt along the road the +clouds of dust are suffocating. We go full gallop along such road as there is, +banging into holes, and across the trenches left by last year’s +watercourses, until we begin to think that it must end in a general smash. We +came to understand Mexican roads and Mexican drivers better, even before we got +to the capital. +</p> + +<p> +Before us and behind lay wide lakes, stretching from side to side of the +valley; but the lake behind followed us as steadily as the one before us +receded. It was only the mirage that tantalizes travellers in these scorched +valleys, all the long eight months of the rainless season. It seemed beautiful +at first, then monotonous; and long before the day was out we hated it with a +most cordial and unaffected hatred. +</p> + +<p> +Soon a new appearance attracted our attention. First, clouds of dust, which +gradually took a well-defined shape, and formed themselves into immense +pillars, rapidly spinning round upon themselves, and travelling slowly about +the plain. At one place, where several smaller valleys opened upon us, these +sand-pillars, some small, some large, were promenading about by dozens, looking +much like the genie when the fisherman had just let him out of the bottle, and +saw him with astonishment beginning to shape himself into a giant of monstrous +size. Indeed I doubt not that the story-teller was thinking of such +sand-pillars when he wrote that wonderful description. You may see them in the +East by thousands. As they moved along, they sucked up small stones, dust, and +leaves; and our driver declared that they had been known to take the roofs off +houses, and carry flocks of sheep into the air; “but these that you see +now,” said he, “are no great matter.” We estimated the size +of the largest at about four hundred feet in height, and thirty in diameter; +and this very pillar, walking by chance against a house, most decidedly got the +worst of it, and had its lower limbs knocked all to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +When the sun grows hot, the bare earth heats the air that lies upon it so much +that an upward current rises from the whole face of the valley; and to supply +its place the little valleys and ravines that open into it pour in each its +stream of cooler air; and wherever two of these streams, flowing in different +directions, strike one another, a little whirlwind ensues, and makes itself +manifest as a sand-pillar. The coachman’s “molino de viento,” +as he called it, may very well have happened, but it must have been a whirlwind +on a large scale, caused by the meeting of great atmospheric currents, not by +the little apparatus we saw at work. +</p> + +<p> +There seems to be hardly a village in the plain; and the only buildings we see +for miles are the herdsmen’s houses of stone, flat-roofed, dark inside, +and uninviting in their appearance, and the great cattle-pens, the corrals, +which seem absurdly too large for the herds that we have yet seen; but in two +or three months there will be rain, the ground will be covered with rank grass, +the corrals will be crowded with cattle every evening; the mirage will depart +when real water comes, dust and sand-pillars will be no longer to be seen, and +all the nine horses and mules of the diligence-team, floundering, splashing, +and kicking, will hardly keep the heavy coach from settling down inextricably +in the mire. And so on until October, and then the season of water, “la +estación de las aguas,” will cease, and things will be again as they are +now. +</p> + +<p> +In the usual course of travel to the capital, the second night would have been +passed at Puebla. This is the second city of the Republic, and numbers some +70,000 inhabitants. As it was then in revolt, and besieged by the President and +his army, we made a detour to the north when about 20 miles from it, in order +to sleep for a few hours at Huamantla, a place with a most evil reputation for +thieves and vermin; and about ten at night we drove into the court-yard of a +dismal-looking inn. Three or four dirty fellows stood round as we alighted, +wrapped in their serapes—great woollen blankets, the universal wear of the +Mexicans of the plateaus. One end of the serape was thrown across from shoulder +to shoulder, and hid the lower part of their faces; and the broad-brimmed +Mexican sombrero was slouched over their eyes; we particularly disliked the +look of them as they stood watching us and our baggage going into the inn. A +few minutes after, we returned to the court-yard to complete our observation of +them, but they were all gone. +</p> + +<p> +A party of Spaniards and Mexicans were at the other table in the sala when we +marched in, and as soon as we had taken off the edge of our fierce hunger, we +began to compare notes with them. “Had a pleasant journey from +Mexico?” They all answered at once, delighted to find an audience to whom +to tell their sorrows, as men always are under such circumstances. It appeared +that they had reached Huamantla an hour or two before us, and to their surprise +and delight no robbers had appeared. But between the outskirts of the town and +the inn, the cords behind the diligence were cut, and every particle of luggage +had disappeared. At the inn-gate they got out and discovered their loss. They +set upon the Administrador of the diligence-company, who sympathized deeply +with them, but had no more substantial comfort to offer. They declared the +driver must have been an accomplice, and the driver was sent for, for them to +wreak their fury upon. He appeared with his mouth full of beans, and told them, +as soon as he could speak, that they ought to be very thankful they had come +off so easily, and, looking at them with an expression of infinite disgust, +returned to his supper; they followed his example, and seemed to have at last +found consolation in hot dishes and Catalan wine. It was wonderful to hear of +the fine things that were in the lost portmanteaus,—the rings, the gold +watches, the rouleaux of dollars, the “papers of the utmost +importance.” +</p> + +<p> +I am afraid the Spanish American has not always a very strict regard for truth. +</p> + +<p> +These gentlemen had indeed got off easily, as the driver said; for the last +diligence from Vera Cruz, with our steamboat acquaintances in it, had been +stopped just outside this very town of Huamantla as they left it before +daylight in the morning. The robbers were but three, but they had plundered the +unfortunate travellers as effectually as thirty could have done. Now, all this +was very pretty to hear as a tale, but not satisfactory to travellers who were +going by the same road the next morning; and in the disagreeable barrack-room +where our beds stood in long lines, we, the nine passengers of the +“up” diligence, held a council, standing, like Mr. Macaulay’s +senators, and there decided on a most Christian line of conduct—that when the +three bore down upon us, and the muzzle of the inevitable escopeta was poked in +at our window, we would descend meekly, and at the command of “boca +abajo,” (“mouth downwards,”) we would humiliate ourselves +with our noses in the dirt, and be robbed quietly. Having thus decided +beforehand, according to the etiquette of the road, whether we were to fight or +submit, and being tired with a long day’s journey, we all turned in, and +were fast asleep in a moment. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that almost directly afterwards the dirtiest man possible came round, +and shook us till we were conscious; and we washed in the customary saucers, by +the light of a real, flaring, smoking, Spanish lamp with a beak, exactly what +the Romans used in Pompeii, except that this is of brass, not bronze. +</p> + +<p> +With our eyes still half-shut we crawled into the kitchen for our morning +chocolate, and demanded our bill. Such a bill! One of us, a stout Spaniard, +sent for the landlord and abused him in a set speech. The “patron” +divested his countenance of every trace of expression, scratched his head +through his greasy nightcap, and stood listening patiently. The stout man grew +fiercer and fiercer, and wound up with a climax. “If we meet with the +robbers,” said he, rolling himself up in his great cloak, “we must +tell them that we have passed through your worship’s hands, and there is +none left for them.” The landlord bowed gravely, saw us into the +diligence, and hoped we should have a fortunate journey, and meet with no +novelty on the road. A “novelty” in Spanish countries means a +misfortune. +</p> + +<p> +We met with no “novelty,” though, when we looked out of the window +in the early dawn and spied three men with muskets, following us at a short +distance, we thought our time had come, and watches and valuables were plunged +into boots and under seats, and through slits into the padding of the +diligence; but the three men came no nearer, and we supposed them to be an +escort of soldiers. When it was light the difficulty was to recover the +valuables—no easy matter, so securely had they been hidden. +</p> + +<p> +We heard afterwards of a little peculiarity which distinguished the robbers of +Huamantla. It seems that no less a personage than the parish priest was +accustomed to lead his parishioners into action, like the Cornish parson in old +times when a ship went ashore on the coast. What has become of his reverence +since, I do not know. He is very likely still in his parish, carrying on his +double profession, unless somebody has shot him. I wonder whether it is +sacrilege to shoot a priest who is also a highwayman, as it used to be to kill +a bishop on the field of battle. +</p> + +<p> +We are at last on the high lands of Mexico, the districts which at least three +different races have chosen to settle in, neglecting the fertile country below. +A sharp turn in the road brings its fairly out into the plain; and then on our +left are the two snowy mountains that lie at the edge of the valley of Mexico, +Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, famous in all Mexican books. Like Orizaba of +yesterday, they seem to rise from the plain close to us; and from the valley +between them there pours down upon us such a flood of icy wind, that, though +windows are pulled up and great-coats buttoned round our throats, we shiver +piteously, and our teeth fairly chatter till we get out of the river of cold +air; and then comes hot sunshine and dust again. +</p> + +<p> +Anxious to make sure that we have really got into the land of Aztec +civilization, Mr. Christy gets down from the diligence, and hunting about for a +few minutes by the road-side, returns in triumph with a broken arrowhead of +obsidian. A deep channel cut by a water-course gives us our first idea of the +depth of the soil; for these plateaus were once nothing but deep hollows among +the mountains, which rain and melted snow, bringing down fragments of porphyry +and basalt—partly in their original state and partly decomposed—have filled up +and formed into plains. Signs of volcanic action are abundant. To say nothing +of the two great mountains we have just left behind, there is a hill of red +volcanic tufa just beyond us; and still further on, though this is +anticipating, our road passes over the lava-field at the foot of the little +volcano of Santa Barbara. +</p> + +<p> +There is a population here at any rate, village after village; and between them +are great plantations of maize and aloes; for this is the district where the +best pulque in Mexico is made, the “llanos de Apam.” It is the +<i>Agave Americana</i>, the same aloe that is so common in southern Europe, +where indeed it flowers, and that grows in our gardens and used to have the +reputation of flowering once in a hundred years. I do not exaggerate when I say +that we saw hundreds of thousands of them that day, planted in long regular +lines. Among them were walking the Indian “tlachiqueros,” each with +his pigskin on his back, and his long calabash in his hand, milking such plants +as were in season. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus06"></a> +<img src="images/fig01.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="[Illustration: INDIAN +TLACHIQUERO, COLLECTING JUICE OF THE AGAVE FOR PULQUE.]" /> +</div> + +<p> +The fine buildings of the haciendas, and more especially the churches, contrast +strongly with the generality of houses, all of one story, built of adobes +(mud-bricks dried in the sun), with flat roofs of sand and lime resting on +wooden rafters, and the naked ground for a floor, all dark, dirty, and +comfortless. There are even many huts built entirely of the universal aloe. The +stems of wild aloes which have been allowed to flower are stuck into the +ground, side by side, and pieces of leaves tied on outside them with +aloe-fibre. These cut leaves are set like tiles to form a roof, and pegged down +with the thorns which grow at their extremities. Picturesque and cheap, though +hardly comfortable, for we are in the “tierra fría” now, and the +mornings and evenings in winter are often bitterly cold. +</p> + +<p> +But the churches! Is it possible that they can belong to these wretched filthy +little cottages. As black Sam, our driver, a runaway Texan slave, suggested, it +looked as though the villagers might pull down their houses and locate +themselves and their families in their churches. We thought of Mr. Ruskin, who +has somewhere expressed an earnest desire that all the money and energy that +England has wasted in making railroads, had been spent in building churches; +and we wished he had been here to see his principles carried out. +</p> + +<p> +I have travelled on rough roads in my time, but on such a road as this never. +My companion refused for a time to award the premium of badness to our +thoroughfare; but, just while we were discussing the question and recounting +our experience of bone-smashing highways, we reached a pass where the road +consisted of a series of steps, nearly a foot in depth, down which steps we +went at a swinging trot, holding on for our lives, in terror lest the next jerk +should fairly wrench our arms out of their sockets, while we could plainly hear +the inside passengers howling for mercy, as they were shot up against the roof +which knocked them back into their seats. Aching all over, we reached level +ground again, and Mr. Christy withdrew his claims, and agreed that no road +anywhere else could possibly be so bad as a Mexican road; a decision which +later experiences only served to confirm. +</p> + +<p> +Our start, every time we changed horses, was a sight to see. Nine half-broken +horses and mules, in a furious state of excitement, were harnessed to our +unwieldy machine; the helpers let go, and off they went, kicking, plunging, +rearing, biting, and screaming, into ruts and watercourses that were like the +trenches they make for gas-pipes in London streets, with our wheels on one side +on a stone wall, and in a pit on the other, and Black Sam leaning back with his +feet on the board, waiting with perfect tranquillity until the animals had got +rid of their superfluous energy and he could hold them in. We were always just +going to have some frightful accident, and always just missed it. The last +stage before we reached Otumba, a small dusky urchin ran across the road just +before us. How Black Sam contrived to pull up I cannot tell, though, indeed, +his arms were about the size of an ordinary man’s thighs; but he did, and +they got the child out from the horses’ feet quite unhurt. +</p> + +<p> +It was at the inn where we stopped to breakfast that we made our first +acquaintance with the great Mexican institutions—tortillas and pulque. The +pulque was being brewed on a large scale in an adjoining building. The vats +were made of cow-skins (with the hair inside), supported by a frame of sticks; +and in them was pulque in every stage, beginning with the sweet +aguamiel—honeywater—the fresh juice of the aloe, and then the same in different +degrees of fermentation till we come to the <i>madre pulque</i>, the mother +pulque, a little of which is used like yeast, to start the fermentation, and +which has a combined odour of gas-works and drains. Pulque, as you drink it, +looks like milk and water, and has a mild smell and taste of rotten eggs. +Tortillas are like oat-cakes, but made of Indian corn meal, not crisp, but soft +and leathery. We thought both dreadfully nasty for a day or two; then we could +just endure them; then we came to like them; and before we left the country we +wondered how we should do without them. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +CITY OF MEXICO.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus07"></a> +<img src="images/fig02.jpg" width="412" height="400" alt="[Illustration: VIEW +OF PART OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.]" /> +</div> + +<p> +Some thirty years ago, Don Agustín Yturbide, the first and last Emperor of +Mexico, found that he wanted a palace wherein to house his newly-fledged +dignity; and began to build one accordingly, in the high street of Mexico, +close to the great convent of San Francisco. It could not have been nearly +finished when its founder was shot: and it became the <i>Hotel +d’Yturbide</i>. We are now settled in it, in very comfortable quarters. +There is a restaurant down below, where the son of the late Yturbide dines +daily, and everybody points him out to us, and moralises over him. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Christy’s drawer-roll of letters of introduction has produced an +immediate crop of pleasant acquaintances, whose hospitality is boundless. We +are not idle, far from it; and a long day’s work is generally followed by +a social dinner, and an evening spent in noting down the results of our +investigations. +</p> + +<p> +Prescott’s <i>Conquest of Mexico</i> has been more read in England than +most historical works; and the Mexico of Montezuma has a well-defined idea +attached to it. The amphitheatre of dark hills surrounding the level plain, the +two snowy mountain-peaks, the five lakes covering nearly half the valley, the +city rising out of the midst of the waters, miles from the shore, with which it +was connected by its four causeways, the straight streets of low flat-roofed +houses, the numbers of canals crowded with canoes of Indians going to and from +the market, the floating gardens moved from place to place, on which vegetables +and flowers were cultivated, the great pyramid up which the Spanish army saw +their captured companions led in solemn procession, and sacrificed on the +top—all these are details in the mental picture. +</p> + +<p> +Much of this has changed since the Spaniards first saw it. Cortes tried all +ordinary means to overcome the desperate obstinacy with which the Aztecs +defended their capital. The Spaniards conquered wherever they went; but, as +they moved forward, the Mexicans closed in again behind, and from every +house-top showers of darts, arrows, and stones were poured down upon them. +Cortes resolved upon the utter demolition of the city. He was grieved to +destroy it, he said, for it was the most beautiful thing in the whole world; +but there was no alternative. He moved slowly towards the great teocalli, his +fifty thousand Tlascalan allies following him, throwing down every house, and +filling the canals with the ruins. When the conquest was finished, but one +district of the city was left standing, and in it were crowded a quarter of the +population, miserable famished wretches, who had surrendered when their king +was taken. All that was left besides was a patch of swampy ground strewed with +fragments of walls, a few pyramids too large for present destruction, and such +great heaps of dead bodies that it was impossible to get from place to place +without walking over them. +</p> + +<p> +Cortes had resolved that a new city should be built, but it was not so easy to +decide where it was to be. The Aztecs, it seemed, had not originally +established themselves on the spot where Mexico was built. When they came down +from the north country, and across the hills into the valley of Mexico, they +were but an insignificant tribe, and as yet mere savages. They settled down in +one place after another, and were always driven out by the persecutions of the +neighbouring tribes. At last they took possession of a little group of swampy +islands in the lake of Tezcuco; and then at last, safe from their enemies, they +increased and multiplied, and became a great and powerful nation. +</p> + +<p> +The first beginnings of Mexico, a cluster of huts built on wooden piles, must +have borne some likeness to those curious settlements of early tribes in the +shallow part of the lakes of Switzerland and the British Isles, of which +numerous remains are still to be found. As the nation increased in numbers, +Tenochtitlán, as the inhabitants called their city (they called themselves +<i>Tenochques</i>), came to be a great city of houses built on piles, with +canals running through the straight streets, along which the natives poled +their flat-bottomed canoes. The name which the Spaniards gave to the city, the +“Venice of the New World,” was appropriate, not only to its +situation in the midst of the water, with canals for thoroughfares, but also to +the history of the causes which led to its being built in such a situation. +</p> + +<p> +The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon the people +by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as a matter of taste, +just as it is in Holland. Even after the Aztecs became masters of the +surrounding country, they built towns round the lake, partly on the shore, and +partly on piles in the water. The Spanish chroniclers mention Iztapalapán, and +many other towns, as built in this way. Like the Swiss tribes, the early +inhabitants of Mexico depended much upon their fishing, for which their +position gave them great facilities. +</p> + +<p> +If you look at the arms of the Mexican Republic, on a passport or a silver +dollar, you will see a representation of a rock surrounded by water. On the +rock grows a cactus, and on the cactus sits an eagle with a serpent in his +beak. The story is that the wandering tribe preserved a tradition of an oracle +which said that when they should find an eagle, holding a serpent, and perched +on a cactus growing out of a rock, then they should cease their wanderings. On +an island in the lake of Tezcuco, they found eagle, serpent, cactus, and rock, +as described, and they settled there in due course. What fragment of truth is +hidden in this myth it is hard to say. Tenochtitlán means “The +Stone-cactus place;” and the Aztec picture-writings express its name by a +hieroglyph of a prickly pear growing on a rock. Putting this history out of the +question, the Aztecs had excellent reasons for choosing this peculiar site for +their city; but these reasons were not equally valid in the case of the new +invaders. For them the surrounding salt-water was not needed as a protection, +and was merely a nuisance. Every year, when the lake rose, the place was +flooded, with enormous damage to the property of the inhabitants; and sometimes +an inundation of greater depth than usual threatened as complete a destruction +as Cortes and the Tlascalans had made. At the best of times, the site was a +salt-swamp, an ugly place to build upon. And, lastly, all the fresh water must +be brought from the hills by aqueducts, which an enemy would cut off without +difficulty, as the Spaniards themselves had done during the siege. Now Cortes +was certainly not ignorant of all this, and he knew of many places on the +rising ground close by, where he could found his new city under more favourable +circumstances. He deliberated four or five months on the matter, and at last +decided in favour of the old site, giving as his reason that “the city of +Tenochtitlán had become celebrated, its position was wonderful, and in all +times it had been considered as the capital and mistress of all these +provinces.” +</p> + +<p> +The invaders were old hands at slave-driving, and so hard did they drive the +conquered Mexicans, that in four years there had arisen a fine Spanish city, +with massive stone houses of several storeys, having the indispensable inner +courts, flat roofs, and grated windows,—every man’s house literally his +castle, when once the great iron entrance-gates were closed. The Indians had, +of course, been converted en masse, and churches were being built in all +directions. The great pyramid where Huitzilopochtli, the God of war, was +worshipped, had been razed to the ground, and its great sculptured blocks of +basalt were sunk in the earth as a foundation for a cathedral. The old lines of +the streets, running toward the four points of the compass, were kept to; and +to this it is that the present Mexico is indebted for much of its beauty. Most +of the smaller canals were filled up, and the thoroughfares widened for +carriages, things of course unknown to the Mexicans, who had no beasts of +burden. In the suburbs the natives settled themselves after their own fashion, +baking adobes, large mud bricks, in the sun, and building with them one-storey +houses with flat roofs, much as they do at the present day. And thus a new +Mexico, nearly the same as that we are now exploring, came to be planted in the +midst of the waters. Three centuries have elapsed since; the city has grown +larger, churches, convents, and public buildings have increased, but the +architectural character of the place has scarcely altered. It is the situation +that has changed. The lake of Tezcuco is four miles off, though the causeways +which once connected the city with the dry land still exist, and have even been +enlarged. They look like railway-embankments crossing the low ground, and serve +as dykes when there is a flood, a casualty which still often happens. +</p> + +<p> +This change is interesting to the student of physical geography; and +Humboldt’s account of the causes which have brought it about is full and +explicit. When Mexico had been built a few years, the frightful inundations +which threatened its very existence at length awoke the Spaniards to a sense of +the mistake that had been made in placing themselves but a few feet above the +lowest level of the valley, in such a way that, from whatever point the flood +might come, they were sure to get the benefit of it. The Spanish authorities at +home, with their usual sagacity, sent over peremptory orders that the city +should be abandoned, and a new capital built at Tacubaya—a proposal something +like intimating to the inhabitants of Naples that their position, at the foot +of Mount Vesuvius, was most dangerous, and that they must leave it and settle +somewhere else. In those days the valley was a complete basin, with no +outlet—at least not one worth mentioning; and the heavy tropical rains and the +melted snow from the mountains, poured vast quantities of water into it. Had +the valley been at the level of the sea, it would simply have become a great +lake, surrounded by hills; but at three thousand feet higher, the atmosphere is +rarefied, and evaporation goes on with such rapidity as to keep the +accumulation of water in check. So the affair had adjusted itself in this wise, +that the land and the five lakes should divide the valley about equally between +them. It became necessary to alter this state of things, and a passage was cut +at a place where the hills were but little above the level of the highest lake. +The history of this passage, the famous “Desague de Huehuetoca,” is +instructive enough, but it has been written so threadbare that I cannot touch +it. Suffice it to say, that by this means a constant outlet was made for the +lake of Zumpango, the highest of the five, and for the Rio de Guatitlán, a +stream which formerly ran into it. +</p> + +<p> +So much for one cause of the change in the present appearance of the city. Then +the Spaniards were great cutters down of forests. They rather liked to make +their new country bear a resemblance to the arid plains of Castile, where, when +you arrive in Madrid, people ask you whether you noticed <i>the tree</i> on the +road; and moreover, as they wanted wood, they cut it, without troubling +themselves to plant for the benefit of future generations. Now, when the trees +were cut down, the small plants which grew in their shade died too, and left +the bare earth to serve as a kind of natural evaporating apparatus. And, +between these two causes, it has come to pass that the extent of the lakes has +been so much reduced, and that Mexico stands on the dry land—if, indeed, that +may be called dry land, where you cannot dig a foot without coming to water. +</p> + +<p> +During the Tertiary period the whole valley of Mexico was one great lake. +Whether the proportion of water to land had adjusted itself before the country +was inhabited, or whether during historical times the lakes were still +gradually diminishing by the excess of evaporation over the quantity of water +supplied by rain and snow, is an open question. At any rate the two causes I +have mentioned will account for the changes which have taken place since the +conquest. +</p> + +<p> +Taking it as a whole, Mexico is a grand city, and, as Cortes truly said, its +situation is marvellous. But as for the buildings, I should be sorry to inflict +upon any one who may read these sketches, a detailed description of any one of +them. It is a thousand pities that, just at the time when the Italians and +Spaniards were most zealous in church-building, so very questionable an +architectural taste should have been prevalent. +</p> + +<p> +The churches and convents in Mexico belong to that kind of renaissance style +that began to flourish in southern Europe in the sixteenth century, and has +held its ground there ever since. High façades abound, with pilasters crowned +by elaborate Corinthian capitals, forming a curious contrast with the mean +little buildings crouched behind the tall front. In the doors of the churches +outside, and the chapels within, one is constantly coming upon that peculiar +construction which consists of what would be an arch, resting on two pillars, +were not the keystone wanting. Columns with shafts elaborately sculptured, and +twisted marble pillars of the bed-post pattern, are to be seen by hundreds, +very expensive in material and workmanship, but unfortunately very ugly; while +the numbers of puffy cherubs, inside and out, remind the Englishman of the +monuments of St. Paul’s. +</p> + +<p> +As to the interior decoration of the churches, the richer ones are crowded with +incongruous ornaments to a wonderful degree. Gold, silver, costly marbles, +jewels, stucco, paint, tinsel, and frippery are all mixed up together in the +wildest manner. We found the inside of the churches to be generally the worst +part of them. The Cathedral, for instance, is really a very grand building when +seen from a little distance, with its two high towers and its cupola behind. I +was greatly edified by finding it described in the last book of Mexican travels +I have read, as built in the purest Doric style. +</p> + +<p> +The Minería, or School of Mines, is a fine building, something after the manner +of Somerset House on a small scale. As for the famous Plaza Mayor, the great +square, it is a very great square indeed, large enough to review an army in, +and large enough to damage by its size the effect of the cathedral, and to +dwarf the other buildings that surround it into mere insignificance. However, +one thing is certain, that we have not come all this way to see Spanish +architecture and great squares, but must look for something more +characteristic. +</p> + +<p> +I have said we arrived in Mexico on the eve of Palm Sunday, and next morning we +proceeded to consult with one of our newly-made acquaintances as to our +prospects for the ensuing Holy Week. This gentleman, a man who took a practical +view of things, mentioned a circumstance which led him to expect that the +affair would go off with éclat. The Mexicans, both the nearly white Mestizos +and the Indians of pure race, delight in pulque. The brown people are grave and +silent in their sober state, but pulque stirs up their sluggish blood, and they +get into a condition of positive enjoyment. But very soon after this comes a +state of furious intoxication, and a general scuffle is a common termination to +a drinking-bout. Fortunately, the Indians are not a bloodthirsty people; and, +though every man carries a knife or machete, or—if he can get nothing better—a +bit of hoop-iron tempered, sharpened, and fixed into a handle, yet nothing more +serious than cuffs and scratches generally ensues. Even if severe wounds are +given, the Indian has many chances in his favor, for his organization is +somewhat different from that of white men, and he recovers easily from wounds +that would kill any European outright. +</p> + +<p> +The lower orders of the half-breed population are also given to +pulque-drinking, but with far more serious consequences. Unlike the pure +Indians, they are a hot-blooded and excitable race, and drunkenness with them +is utter madness while it lasts. Knives are drawn at the very beginning of a +squabble, and scarcely an evening passes without one or two bodies of men +killed in these drunken mêlées being carried to the Police Cuartel in the great +square. On Sundays and holidays the number increases; but on this Palm Sunday +there were fourteen, not killed in one great battle, but brought in by ones and +twos, from different parts of the city. It was this little piece of statistics +that induced our friend to conclude that the citizens of Mexico had made up +their minds to enjoy themselves thoroughly, and that Holy Week would be a grand +affair. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the Semana Santa have only this to +distinguish them from ordinary days, that the churches are crowded with men and +women waiting their turn at the confessional; and that in the afternoons the +old promenade of Las Vigas, down in the Indian quarter by the canal of Chalco, +is patronized by fashionable Mexico, which, except on some four or five special +days, frequents the new Alameda. The sight of these confessionals, so +constantly filled, prompts one to ask—why just before Easter? Just after would +be more appropriate; for as we find the Glasgow people much worse on Sundays +than on week-days, so the Mexican population, not very virtuous at the best of +times, are specially and particularly wicked when the great Church-festivals +come round. The name of Shrove Tuesday survives in our Calendar, to remind us +of the time when we also used to go to be shriven before Easter. +</p> + +<p> +On Thursday at noon mass is over, the bells cease to ring, the organs in the +churches are silent, and all carriages disappear from the streets, except the +dusty Diligence which, like French law, “est athée,” and cares +nothing for fasts or festivals. Now we come to understand the wonderful wooden +machine like a water-wheel, which was put up yesterday on one tower of the +Cathedral. We had asked people in the great square, just below, what it was, +but could get no answer except that it was <i>la Matraca</i>, the rattle, for +to-morrow. And now we found that, the church bells being incapacitated, this +rattle does duty instead, striking the hours, and occasionally going off into +furious fits of clattering, without apparent reason, for ten minutes at a time, +till the two men who worked it, who were either convicts or soldiers in +fatigue-dress, were tired out. It was not this one rattle only that was +disturbing the public peace that day and the next. Everybody was walking about +with a rattle, and working it like mad, and all over the city there was a noise +like the sound of the back-scratchers at Greenwich Fair, or of an American +forest when the woodpeckers are busy. These little rattles stand for +Judas’s bones, and all good Catholics express in this odd way their +desire to break them. They do the same thing in Italy, but it is not so +prominent a part of the celebration as in Mexico, where old and young, rich and +poor, all do their part in it. As soon as we found out what it all meant, we +bought matracas for ourselves, and joined the rest of the world in their noisy +occupation. The breaking of his bones is but a preliminary measure. In the +square a fair is being held, in the booths of which the great articles of trade +now are Judas’s bones, of many patterns, at all prices, and Judas himself +in pasteboard, who is to be carried about and insulted till Saturday morning, +and then, hanging up by a string, is to burst asunder by means of a packet of +powder and a slow match in his inside, and finally to perish in a bonfire. +</p> + +<p> +The first sight of these pasteboard Judases convinced us of one thing, that we +had unexpectedly come upon the old custom, of which our processions and burning +of Guy Fawkes in England are merely an adaptation. After giving up the old +custom as a Popish rite, what a bright idea to revive it in this new shape, and +to give the boys something to carry about, bang, blow up, and make a final +bonfire of, and all in the Protestant interest! There was another thing to be +noticed about the Judases. The makers had evidently tried to vary them as much +as they could; and, by that very means, had shown how impossible it was to them +to strike out anything new. There were two types; one was the Neapolitan +<i>Polichinello</i>, whom we have naturalised as <i>Punch</i>; and the other +the God <i>Pan</i>, with his horns, and hoofs, and tail, whom the whole +Christian world has recognised as the devil, for these many ages. Well, some +took one type and some the other; and a few tried to combine the two, of course +spoiling both. But, beyond this, their power of invention could not go. They +were always trying to conceal the old idea, and could do no more than to +distort it. We could see through their flimsy pretensions to originality much +as a schoolmaster recognises the extracts from the encyclopaedia in his +boys’ essays. +</p> + +<p> +As with this Judas trade, so it is with other more important arts and sciences +in this country. The old types descend, almost unchanged, from generation to +generation. Everything that is really Mexican is either Aztec or Spanish. Among +the Spanish types we may separate the Moorish. Our knowledge of Mexico is not +sufficient to enable us to analyse the Aztec civilization, so we must be +content with these three classes. I will not go further into the question here, +for occasions will continually occur to show how—for three centuries at +least—the inhabitants of Mexico, both white and brown, have taken their ideas +at second-hand, always copying but never developing anything. +</p> + +<p> +All this time my companion and I have been walking about the streets; in +evening-dress, as the etiquette of the place demands, on these three days, from +the “better classes.” The Mexican ladies may be advantageously +studied just now in their church-going black silk dress and mantilla, one of +the most graceful costumes in the world. It is not often that one has the +chance of seeing them out of doors, except hurrying to and from Mass in the +morning, or in carriages on the Alameda; but on these festival days one meets +them by hundreds. They do not contrast favorably with the ladies of Cadiz and +Seville. The mixture of Aztec blood seems to have detracted from the beauty of +the Spanish race; the dryness of the atmosphere spoils their complexions; and +the monstrous quantity of capsicums that are consumed at every meal cannot +possibly leave the Mexican digestion in its proper state. +</p> + +<p> +We dined that day with Don José de A., who, though Spanish-American by birth, +was English by education and feeling, and had known my companion’s family +well. Our dinner was half English, half Mexican; and the favourite dishes of +the country were there, to aid in our initiation into Mexican manners and +customs. The cooks at the inns, mindful of our foreign origin, had dealt out +the red pepper with a sparing hand; but to-day the dish of “mole” +was the genuine article, and the first mouthful set as coughing and gasping for +breath, while the tears streamed down our faces, and Don Pepe and Don Pancho +gravely continued their dinner, assuring us that we should get quite to like it +in time. <i>Pepe</i> and <i>Pancho</i>, by the way, are short for José and +Francisco. Dinner over, it was time to visit the churches, to which people +crowd by thousands, this evening and to-morrow, to see the monuments, as they +are called. Pancho departed, being on duty as escort to his sisters; and we +having, by Pepe’s advice, left our watches and valuables in his room, and +put our handkerchiefs in our breast-pockets, started with him. Mr. Christy, +always on the look-out for a new seed or plant, had taken possession of the +seeds of two <i>mameis</i>, which are fleshy fruits—as big as cocoa-nuts—each +containing a hard smooth seed as large as a hen’s egg. These not being of +great value, he put one in each tail-pocket of his coat. When we got out, we +found the streets full of people, hurrying from one church to another, anxious +to get as many as possible visited in the evening. We went first to the +monastery of San Francisco, close to our hotel, the largest, and perhaps the +richest convent in the country. Entering through a great gate, we find +ourselves in a large courtyard, full of people, who are visiting—one after +another—the four churches which the establishment contains, going in at one +door and out at the other. At the door of the largest church, stands a tall +monk, soliciting customers for the rosaries of olive-wood, crosses, and medals +from Jerusalem, which are displayed on a stall close by—shouting in a +stentorian voice, every two or three minutes, “He who gives alms to Holy +Church, shall receive plenary indulgence, and deliver one soul from +purgatory.” We bought some, but there did not seem to be many other +purchasers. Indeed, we found, when we had been longer in the country, that a +few pence would buy all sorts of church indulgences, from the permission to eat +meat on fast-days up to plenary absolution in the hour of death; and the trade, +once so flourishing here, is almost used up. The churches were hung with black, +and lighted up; and in each was a “monument,” a kind of bower of +green branches decorated with flowers, mirror’s, and gold and silver +church-plate, and supposed to stand for the Garden of Gethsemane. Inside was +reclining a wax figure of our Saviour, gaudily dressed in silk and velvet; and +there were also representations of the Last Supper, with wax-work figures as +large as life. To visit and criticise these “monuments” was the +object of the sort of pilgrimage people were making from church to church, and +they seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. It was not a superfluous precaution that we +had taken, in leaving our valuables in a place of safety, for, on our exit from +the first church, we found that Pepe had lost his handkerchief and a +cigar-case, which he had stowed away in an inner pocket, and Mr. Christy had +been relieved of one of his mamei seeds by some “lepero” who +probably took it for a snuff-box. His feelings must have been like those of the +English pickpocket in Paris, when he robbed the Frenchman of the article he had +pocketed with so much care, and found it was a lump of sugar. And so relieved +of further care for our worldly goods, we went through with the work of seeing +monuments, till we were tired and disgusted with the whole affair, and at last +went home to bed. +</p> + +<p> +Next day, appropriate sermons in the churches, processions in the afternoon, in +which wax figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary were carried by men got up in +fancy dresses as soldiers and centurions, and so called penitents, walking +covered with black shrouds and veils, with small round holes to look through, +or in the yellow dress and extinguisher cap, both with flames and devils +painted on them. These are exactly the costumes worn in old times, the first by +the familiars of the Inquisition, and the second by the criminals it condemned; +and the sight of them set us thinking of the processions they used to figure +in, when the Holy Office was flourishing at Santo Domingo, a little way down +the street where we are standing. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening the Crucifixion is represented in wax in the churches, and the +visiting goes on as the night before; and the next morning is the Sábado de +Gloria, the Saturday which ends Lent. We go to the Jesuits’ church in the +morning to hear the last sermon. Since Thursday at noon, as the organs have +been silenced, harps and violins have taken their places. The sermon is long +and prosy, and we rejoice that it is the last. Then the service of the day goes +on until they come to the “Gloria in excelsis.” The organ peals out +again, the black curtain—which has hidden the high altar—parts in the middle, +and displays a perfect blaze of gold and jewels: all the bells in the city +begin to ring: the carriages, which have been waiting ready harnessed in court +yards, pour out into the streets: the lumbering hackney coaches go racing to +the great square, striving to get the first fare for luck: the Judases, which +have been hanging all the morning out of windows and across streets, are set +light to as the first bell begins to ring, and fizzing and popping burst all to +pieces, and then are thrown into a heap in the street, where a bonfire is made +of them, and the children join hands and dance round it. So Holy Week ends. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus02"></a> +<a href="images/plate02.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate02.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="Illustration: +" /></a> +<p class="caption">THE PORTER AND THE BAKER IN MEXICO.<br />(From Models made +by Native Artists)</p> +</div> + +<p> +The arrangement of the day in Mexico is this. Early in the morning your servant +knocks at your door, and brings in a little cup of coffee or chocolate and a +small roll, which <i>desayuno</i>—literally breakfast—you discuss while +dressing. Going down into the courtyard, you find your horse waiting for you, +and off you go for an hour or two’s ride, and back to a +dejeuner-à-la-fourchette somewhere between ten and one o’clock. Then you +have seven or eight hours before dinner, so that a good deal of work may be got +into a day so divided. Things are managed very differently in country places, +but this is the fashion in the capital among the higher class, that is, of +course, the class of people who put on dress-coats in the evening. +</p> + +<p> +When we had been a day or two in Mexico, we took our first ride to Tacubaya and +Chapultepec. Mexican saddles and bridles were a novelty to us, but when we come +to describe our Mexican and his appurtenances it will be time enough to speak +of them. +</p> + +<p> +The barricades in the streets constructed during the last revolution of two or +three weeks back had not yet been removed, but an opening at one side allowed +men and horses to get past. Carriages had to go round, an easy matter in a city +built as this is in squares like a chess-board. The barricades mount two guns +each, and as the streets are quite straight they can sweep them in both +directions, to the whole length of their range. As in Turin, you can look +backward and forward along the straight streets from every part of the city, +and see mountains at each end. The suburbs of the city are quite as repulsive +as our first glimpse of them led us to expect; and, as far as one could judge +by the appearance of the half-caste inhabitants, it is not good to go there +alone after dark. Here is the end of the aqueduct of Chapultepec, the Salto del +Agua; and—crowded round it—a thoroughly characteristic group of women and +water-carriers, filling their great earthen jars with water, which they carry +about from house to house. The women are simply and cheaply dressed, and though +not generally pretty, are very graceful in their movements. Their dress +consists of a white cotton under-dress, a coloured cotton skirt, generally +blue, brown, or grey, with some small pattern upon it, but never brilliant in +colour, and a rebozo, which is a small sober-coloured cotton shawl, long and +narrow. This rebozo passes over the back of the head, where it is somehow fixed +to a back hair-comb, and the two ends hang down over the shoulders in front; +or, more often, one end is thrown over the opposite shoulder, so that the young +lady’s face is set in it, like a picture in a frame. Add to this a +springy step, the peculiarly unconstrained movement in walking which comes of +living in the open air and wearing a loose dress, a pleasant pale face, small +features, bright eyes, small hands and feet, little slippers and no stockings, +and you have as good a picture of a Mexican half-caste girl as I can give. A +book of Mexican engravings, however, will give a much better idea of her. Then +we went past the great prison, the Acordada, and out at the gate (we had +purposely gone out of our way to see more of the city), and so into the great +promenade, the Paseo or Alameda. The latter is the Spanish name for this +necessary appendage to every town. It comes from <i>álamo</i>, which means a +poplar. Imagine a long wide level road, a mile or so long, generally so chosen +as to have a fine view, with footpaths on each side, lines of poplar trees, a +fountain at each end and a statue in the middle, and this description will +stand pretty nearly for almost every promenade of the kind I have seen in Spain +or Spanish America. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus08"></a> +<img src="images/fig03.jpg" width="409" height="400" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Water-carrier and a Mexican Woman, at the Fountain</p> +</div> + +<p> +Tacubaya is a pleasant place on the side of the first hills that begin to rise +towards the mountain-wall of the valley. Here rich Mexicans have country-houses +in large gardens, which are interesting from the immense variety of plants +which grow there, though badly kept up, and systematically stripped by the +gardeners of the fruit as it gets ripe—for their own benefit, of course. From +Tacubaya we go to Chapultepec (Grasshopper Mountain), which is a volcanic hill +of porphyry rising from the plain. On the top is the palace on which the +viceroy Galvez expended great sums of money some seventy years ago, making it +into a building which would serve either as a palace or as a fortress in cases +of emergency. Though the Americans charged up the hill and carried it easily in +’47, it would be a very strong place in proper hands. It is a military +school now. On the hill is the famous grove of cypresses—ahuehuetes<a href="#fn-5" name="fnref-5" id="fnref-5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>—as +they are called, grand trees with their branches hung with fringes of the long +grey Spanish moss—barba Española—Spanish beard. I do not know what painters +think of the effect of this moss, trailing in long festoons from the branches +of the trees, but to me it is beautiful; and I shall never forget where I first +saw it, on a bayou of the Mississippi, winding through the depths of a great +forest in the swamps of Louisiana.<a href="#fn-6" name="fnref-6" id="fnref-6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +In this grove of Chapultepec, there were sculptured on the side of the hill, in +the solid porphyry, likenesses of the two Montezumas, colossal in size. For +some reason or other, I forget now what, one of the last Spanish viceroys +thought it desirable to destroy them, and tried to blow them up with gunpowder. +He only partially succeeded, for the two great bas-reliefs were still very +distinguishable as we rode past, though noseless and considerably knocked +about. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-5" id="fn-5"></a> <a href="#fnref-5">[5]</a> +Ahuehuete, pronounced <i>a-hwe-hwete</i>. Thus, Anahuac is pronounced +<i>Ana-hwac;</i> and Chihuahua, <i>Chi-hwa-hwa</i>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-6" id="fn-6"></a> <a href="#fnref-6">[6]</a> +In the Swiss Alps, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, there is a +similar plant to be seen fringing the branches of the pine-trees; but it only +grows to the length of a few inches, and will hardly bear comparison to the +long trailing festoons of the Spanish moss, often fifteen or twenty feet in +length. +</p> + +<p> +We went home to breakfast with our friends, and looked at the title-deeds of +their house in crabbed Spanish of the sixteenth century, and the great Chinese +treasure-chest, still used as the strong-box of the firm, with an immense lock, +and a key like the key of Dover castle. Fine old Chinese jars, and other +curiosities, are often to be found in Mexico; and they date from the time when +the great galleon from Manila, which was called “el nao”—the +ship—to distinguish it from all other ships, came once a year to Acapulco. +</p> + +<p> +After breakfast, business hours begin; so we took ourselves off to visit the +canal of Chalco, and the famous floating gardens—as they are called. On our way +we had a chance of studying the conveyances our ancestors used to ride in, and +availed ourselves of it. In books on Spanish America, written at the beginning +of this century, there are wonderful descriptions of the gilt coaches, with six +or eight mules, in which the great folks used to drive in state on the +promenades. They are exactly the carriages that it was the height of a +lady’s ambition to ride in, in the days of Sir Charles Grandison, and Mr. +Tom Jones. Here, in Mexico, they were still to be found, after they had +disappeared from the rest of the habitable globe; and even now, though the +private carriages are all of a more modern type, there are still left a few of +these amazing vehicles, now degraded to the cab-stand; and we got into one that +was embellished with sculptured Cupids—their faces as much mutilated as the two +Montezumas—and with the remains of the painting and gilding, which once covered +the whole affair, just visible in corners, like the colouring of the ceilings +of the Alhambra. We had to climb up three high steps, and haul ourselves into +the body of the coach, which hung on strong leather straps; springs belong to a +later period. By the time we had got to the Paseo de las Vigas we were glad +enough to get out, wondering at the sacrifice of comfort to dignity those +highly respectable grandees must have made, and not surprised at the fate of +some inquisitive travellers who have done as we did, and have been obliged to +stop by the qualms of sea-sickness. At the bridge we chartered a canoe to Santa +Anita. This Santa Anita is a little Indian village on the canal of Chalco, and +to-day there is to be a festival there. For this, however, we shall be too +early, as we have to be back in time to see Mexico turn out for a promenade on +the Paseo de las Vigas, and then to go out to dinner. So we must just take the +opportunity of looking at the Indian population as they go up and down the +canal in canoes, and see their gardens and their houses. However, as the Indian +notion of a festival consists in going to mass in the morning, and getting +drunk and fighting in the afternoon, we are perhaps as well out of it. We took +our passage to Santa Anita and back in a canoe—a mere flat-bottomed box with +sloping sides, made of boards put together with wooden pegs. There was a mat at +the stern for us to squat upon, and an awning over our heads. An old Indian and +his son were the crew; and they had long poles, which they set against the +banks or the bottom of the shallow canal, and so pushed us along. Besides these +two, an old woman with two little girls got in, as we were starting—without +asking our leave, by the way—and sat down at the other end of the canoe. Of +course, the old woman began to busy herself with the two little girls, in the +usual occupation of old women here, during their idle moments; and though she +left off at our earnest request, she evidently thought us very crotchety people +for objecting. +</p> + +<p> +The scene on the canal was a curious one. There were numbers of boats going up +and down; and the Indians, as soon as they caught sight of an acquaintance, +began to shout out a long string of complimentary phrases, sometimes in Spanish +and sometimes in Mexican: “How is your worship this morning?” +“I trust that I have the happiness of seeing your worship in good +health.” “If there is anything I can have the honour of doing for +your worship, pray dispose of me,” and so forth; till they are out of +hearing. All this is accompanied by a taking-off of hats, and a series of low +bows and complimentary grimaces. As far as we could ascertain, it is all mere +matter of ceremony. It may be an exaggeration of the formal, complimentary talk +of the Spaniards, but its origin probably dates further back. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians here no longer appeared the same dull, melancholy men whom we had +seen in the richer quarter of the town. There they were under a strong feeling +of constraint, for their language is not understood by the whites and mestizos; +and they, for their part, know but little Spanish; and besides, there is very +little sympathy between the two classes. One thing will shew this clearly +enough. By a distinct line of demarcation, the Indians are separated from the +rest of the population, who are at least partly white. These latter call +themselves “gente de razón”—people of reason,—to distinguish +themselves from the Indians, who are people without reason. In common parlance +the distinction is made thus: the whites and mixed breed are +“gente”—<i>people</i>,—the brown men being merely +“Indios”—Indians—and not people at all. +</p> + +<p> +Here, in their own quarter, and among their own people, they seem talkative +enough. We can only tell what they are chattering about when they happen to +speak Spanish, either for our benefit, or to show off their proficiency in that +tongue. People who can speak the Aztec language say that their way of forming +compound words gives constant occasion for puns and quibbles, and that the talk +of the Indians is full of such small jokes. In this respect they differ +exceedingly from the Spaniards, whose jests are generally about <i>things</i>, +and seldom about their <i>names</i>, as one sees by their almost always bearing +translation into other languages. +</p> + +<p> +Most of the canoes were tastefully decorated with flowers, for the Aztecs have +not lost their old taste for ornamenting themselves, and everything about them, +with garlands and nosegays. The fruits and vegetables they were carrying to +market were very English in their appearance. Mexico is supplied with all kinds +of tropical fruits, which come from a distance; but the district we are now in +only produces plants which might grow in our own country—barley, potatoes, +cabbages, parsnips, apples, pears, plums, peaches, and so forth, but scarcely +anything tropical in its character. One thing surprises us, that the Indians, +in a climate where the mornings and evenings are often very chilly, should +dress so scantily. The men have a general appearance of having outgrown their +clothes; for the sleeves of the kind of cotton-shirt they wear only reach to +their elbows, and their trousers, of the same material, only fall to their +knees. To these two garments add a sort of blanket, thrown over the shoulders, +a pair of sandals, and a palm-leaf hat, and the man is dressed. His skin is +brown, his limbs muscular—especially his legs—his lips thick, his nose Jewish, +his hair coarse, black, and hanging straight down. The woman’s dress is +as simple as the man’s. She has on a kind of cotton sack, very short in +the sleeves, and very open at the shoulders, and some sort of a skirt or +petticoat besides. Sometimes she has a folded cotton cloth on her head, like a +Roman contadina; but, generally, nothing covers her thick black hair, which +hangs down behind in long twisted tails. +</p> + +<p> +In old times, when Mexico was in the middle of a great lake, and the +inhabitants were not strong enough to hold land on the shores, they were driven +to strange shifts to get food. Among other expedients, they took to making +little floating islands, which consisted of rafts of reeds and brushwood, on +which they heaped mud from the shores of the lakes. On the banks of the lake of +Tezcuco the mud was, at first, too full of salt and soda to be good for +cultivation; but by pouring the water of the lake upon it, and letting it soak +through, they dissolved out most of the salts, and the island was fit for +cultivation, and bore splendid crops of vegetables.<a href="#fn-7" name="fnref-7" id="fnref-7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> +These islands were called <i>chinampas</i>, and they were often large enough +for the proprietor to build a hut in the middle, and live in it with his +family. In later times, when the Mexicans came to be no longer afraid of their +neighbours, the chinampas were not of much use; and when the water was drained +off, and the city stood on dry land, one would have supposed that such a +troublesome and costly arrangement would have been abandoned. The Mexican, +however, is hard to move from the customs of his ancestors; and we have +Humboldt’s word for it, that in his time there were some of these +artificial islands still in the lake of Chalco, which the owners towed about +with a rope, or pushed with a long pole. They are all gone now, at any rate, +though the name of <i>chinampa</i> is still applied to the gardens along the +canal. These gardens very much resemble the floating islands in their +construction of mud, heaped on a foundation of reeds and branches; and though +they are not the real thing, and do not float, they are interesting, as the +present representatives of the famous Mexican floating gardens. They are narrow +strips of land, with a frontage of four or five yards to the canal, and a depth +of one hundred, or a hundred and fifty yards. Between the strips are open +ditches; and one principal occupation of the proprietor seems to be bringing up +mud from the bottom of the ditch with a wooden shovel, and throwing it on the +garden, in places where it has sunk. The reason of the narrowness of the strips +is that he may be able to throw mud all over them from the ditches on either +side. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-7" id="fn-7"></a> <a href="#fnref-7">[7]</a> +Chalco was and is a freshwater lake, and here they had not even this to do. +</p> + +<p> +While we are busy observing all these matters, and questioning our boatmen +about them, we reach Santa Anita. Here there are swampy lanes and more swampy +gardens, a little village of Indian houses, three or four pulque-shops, and a +church. Outside the pulque-shops are fresco-paintings, representing Aztec +warriors carousing, and draining great bowls of pulque. These were no specimens +of Aztec art, however, but seemed to be copied (by some white or half-caste +sign-painter, probably) from the French coloured engravings which represent the +events of the Conquest. These extraordinary works of art are to be seen +everywhere in this country, where, of all places in the world, one would have +thought that people would have noticed that the artist had not the faintest +idea of what an Aztec was like, but supposed that his limbs and face and hair +were like an European’s. Here, with the real Aztec standing underneath, +the difference was striking enough. One ought not to be too critical about +these things, however, when one remembers the pictures of shepherds and +shepherdesses that adorn our English farmhouses. We drank pulque at the sign of +<i>The Cacique</i>, and liked it, for we had now quite got over our aversion to +its putrid taste and smell. I wonder that our new faculty of pulque-drinking +did not make us able to relish the suspicious eggs that abound in Mexican inns, +but it had no such effect, unfortunately. +</p> + +<p> +Our canoe took us back to the Promenade of Las Vigas, which is a long drive, +planted with rows of trees, and extends along the last mile or two of the +canal. Indeed, its name comes from the beam (Viga) which swings across the +canal at the place where the canoes pay toll. This was the great promenade, +once upon a time; but the new Alameda has taken away all the promenaders to a +more fashionable quarter, except on certain festival days, three or four times +in the year, when it is the correct thing for society to make a display of +itself—on horseback or in carriages—in this neglected Indian quarter. We had +happened upon one of these festival days; so, as we crawled along the +side-path, tired and dusty, we had a good opportunity of seeing the Mexican +beau monde. The display of really good carriages was extraordinary; but it must +be recollected that many families here are content to live miserably enough at +home, if they can manage to appear in good style at the theatre and on the +promenade. This is one reason why so many of the Mexicans who are so friendly +with you out of doors, and in the cafés, are so very shy of letting you see the +inside of their houses. They say, and very likely it is true, that among the +richer classes, it is customary to put a stipulation in the marriage-contracts, +that the husband shall keep a carriage and pair, and a box at the theatre, for +his wife’s benefit. The horsemen turned out in great style, and the +foreigners were fully represented among them. It was noticeable that while +these latter generally adopted the high-peaked saddle, and the jacket, and +broad-brimmed felt hat of the country, and looked as though the new +arrangements quite suited them, the native dandies, on the other hand, were +prone to dressing in European fashion, and sitting upon English saddles—in +which they looked neither secure nor comfortable. +</p> + +<p> +We walked home past the old Bull-ring, now replaced by a new one near the new +promenade, and found, to our surprise, that in this quarter of the town many of +the streets were under water. We knew that the level of the lake of Tezcuco had +been raised by a series of three very wet seasons, but had no idea that things +had got so far as this. Of course the ground-floors had to be abandoned, and +the people had made a raised pathway of planks along the street, and adopted +various contrivances for getting dryshod up to their first floors; and in some +places canoes were floating in the street. The city looked like this some two +hundred years ago, when Martinez the engineer tried an unfortunate experiment +with his draining tunnel at Huehuetoca, and flooded the whole city for five +years. It was by the interference, they tell us, of the patroness of the +Indians, our Lady of Guadalupe, who was brought from her own temple on purpose, +that the city was delivered from the impending destruction. A number of +earthquakes took place, which caused the ground to split in large fissures, +down which the superfluous water disappeared. For none of her many miracles has +the Virgin of Guadalupe got so much credit as for this. To be sure, it is not +generally mentioned in orthodox histories of the affair, that she was brought +to the capital a year or two before the earthquakes happened. +</p> + +<p> +Talking of earthquakes, it is to be remembered that we are in a district where +they are of continual occurrence. If one looks carefully at a line of houses in +a street, it is curious to see how some walls slope inwards, and some outwards, +and some are cracked from top to bottom. There is hardly a church-tower in +Mexico that is not visibly out of the perpendicular. Any one who has noticed +how the walls of the Cathedral of Pisa have been thrown out of the +perpendicular by the settling down of the foundations, will have an idea of the +general appearance of the larger buildings of Mexico. On different occasions +the destruction caused by earthquakes has been very great. By the way, the +liability of Mexico to these shocks, explains the peculiarity of the building +of the houses. A modern English town with two-or-three-storied houses, with +their thin brick walls, would be laid in ruins by a shock which would hardly +affect Mexico. Here, the houses of several storeys have stone walls of such +thickness that they resist by sheer strength; and the one-storey mud houses, in +the suburbs, are too low to suffer much by being shaken about. A few days +before we arrived here, our friends Pepe and Pancho were playing at billiards +in the Lonja,<a href="#fn-8" name="fnref-8" id="fnref-8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> the +Merchants’ Exchange; and Pepe described to us the feeling of utter +astonishment with which he saw his ball, after striking the other, go suddenly +off at an absurd angle into a pocket. The shock of an earthquake had tilted the +table up on one side. While we were in Mexico there was a slight shock, which +set the chandeliers swinging, but we did not even notice it. In April, a solemn +procession goes from the Cathedral, on a day marked in the Calendar as the +“Patrocinio de Señor San Jose”, to implore the “Santissimo +Patriarca” to protect the city from earthquakes (temblores). In +connection with this subject there is an opinion, so generally received in +Mexico that it is worth notice. Everybody there, even the most educated people, +will tell you that there is an earthquake-season, which occurs in January or +February; and that the shocks are far more frequent than at any other time of +the year. My impression is that this is all nonsense; but I should like to test +it with a list of the shocks that have been felt, if such a thing were to be +had. It does not follow that, because the Mexicans have such frequent +opportunities of trying the question, they should therefore have done so. In +fact, experience as to popular beliefs in similar matters rather points the +other way. I recollect that in the earthquake districts of southern Italy, when +shocks were of almost daily occurrence, people believed that they were more +frequent in the middle four hours of the night, from ten to two, than at other +times. Of course, this proved on examination to be quite without foundation. To +take one more case in point. How many of our almanack-books, even the better +class of them, contain prophecies of wet and fine weather, deduced from the +moon’s quarters! How long will it be before we get rid of this queer old +astrological superstition? +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-8" id="fn-8"></a> <a href="#fnref-8">[8]</a> +The “Lonja” is a feature in the commercial towns of Spanish +America. It is not only the Merchants’ Exchange, but their club, +billiard-room, and smoking-room; in fact, their “lounge,” and I +fancy the two words are connected with one another. +</p> + +<p> +We made a few rough observations of the thermometer and barometer during our +stay in Mexico. The barometer stands at about 22½ inches, and our thermometer +gave the boiling point of water at 199 degrees. We could never get eggs well +boiled in the high lands, and attributed this, whether rightly or not I cannot +say, to the low temperature of boiling water. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus09"></a> +<img src="images/fig04.jpg" width="450" height="302" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Group of Ecclesiastics, Mexico.</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +TACUBAYA. PACHUCA. REAL DEL MONTE.</h2> + +<p> +We went one morning to the house of our friend Don Pepe, and were informed by +the servant as we entered the courtyard that the niño, the child, was up stairs +waiting for us. “The Child” seemed an odd term to apply to a young +man of five and twenty. The young ladies, in the same way are called the nias, +and keep the appellation until they marry. +</p> + +<p> +We went off with the niño to his uncle’s house at Tacubaya, on the rising +ground above Mexico. In the garden there we found a vegetation such as one +would find in southern Europe—figs, olives, peaches, roses, and many other +European trees and flowers—growing luxuriantly, but among them the +passion-flower, which produces one of the most delicious of fruits, the +granadita, and other semi-tropical plants. The live creatures in the garden, +however, were anything but European in their character. There were numbers of +immense butterflies of the most brilliant colours; and the garden was full of +hummingbirds, darting backwards and forwards with wonderful swiftness, and +dipping their long beaks into the flowers. They call them +chupa-mirtos—myrtle-suckers, and the Indians take them by blowing water upon +them from a cane, and catching them before they have recovered from the shock. +One day we bought a cage full of them, and tried to keep them alive in our room +by feeding them with sugar and water, but the poor little things pined away. In +old times the Mexicans were famous for their ornaments of humming-bird’s +feathers. The taste with which they arranged feathers of many shades of colour, +excited the admiration of the conquerors; and the specimens we may still see in +museums are beautiful things, and their great age has hardly impaired the +brilliancy of their tints. This curious art was practised by the highest +nobility, and held in great esteem, just as working tapestry used to be in +Europe, only that the feather-work was mostly done by men. It is a lost art, +for one cannot take much account of such poor things as are done now, in which, +moreover, the designs are European. In this garden at Tacubaya we saw for the +first time the praying Mantis, and caught him as he sat in his usual devotional +attitude. His Spanish name is “el predicador,” the preacher. +</p> + +<p> +We got back to Mexico in time for the Corrida de Toros. The bull-ring was a +large one, and there were many thousands of people there; but as to the +spectacle itself, whether one took it upon its merits, or merely compared it +with the bull-fights of Old Spain, it was disgusting. The bulls were cautious +and cowardly, and could hardly be got to fight; and the matadors almost always +failed in killing them; partly through want of skill, partly because it is +really harder to kill a quiet bull than a fierce one who runs straight at his +assailant. To fill up the measure of the whole iniquitous proceeding, they +brought in a wretch in a white jacket with a dagger, to finish the unfortunate +beasts which the matador could not kill in the legitimate way. It was evidently +quite the regular thing, for the spectators expressed no surprise at it. +</p> + +<p> +After the bull-fight proper was finished, there came two or three supplementary +performances, which were genuinely Mexican, and very well worth seeing. A very +wild bull was turned into the ring, where two lazadores, on beautiful little +horses, were waiting for him. The bull set off at full speed after one of the +riders, who cantered easily ahead of him; and the other, leisurely untying his +lazo, hung it over his left arm, and then, taking the end in his light hand, +let the cord fall through the loop into a running noose, which he whirled two +or three times round his head, and threw it so neatly that it settled gently +down over the bull’s neck. In a moment the other end of the cord was +wound several times round the pummel of the saddle, and the little horse set +off at full speed to get ahead of the bull. But the first rider had wheeled +round, thrown his lazo upon the ground, and just as the bull stepped within the +noose, whipped it up round his hind leg, and galloped off in a contrary +direction. Just as the first lazo tightened round his neck, the second jerked +him by the leg, and the beast rolled helplessly over in the sand. Then they got +the lazos off, no easy matter when one isn’t accustomed to it, and set +him off again, catching him by hind legs or fore legs just as they pleased, and +inevitably bringing him down, till the bull was tired out and no longer +resisted. Then they both lazo’d him over the horns, and galloped him out, +amid the cheers of the spectators. The amusements finished with the +“colear.” This is quite peculiar to Mexico, and is done on this +wise. The coleador rides after the bull, who has an idea that something is +going to happen, and gallops off as fast as he can go, throwing out his hind +legs in his awkward bullish fashion. Now, suppose you are the coleador, sitting +in your peaked Mexican saddle, that rises behind and before, and keeps you in +your seat without an effort on your part. You gallop after the bull, and when +you come up with him, you pull as hard as you can to keep your horse back; for, +if he is used to the sport, as almost all Mexican horses are, he is wild to get +past, not noticing that his rider has got no hold of the toro. Well, you are +just behind the bull, a little to the left of him, and out of the way of his +hind legs, which will trip your horse up if you don’t take care; you take +your right foot out of the stirrup, catch hold of the end of the bull’s +tail (which is very long), throw your leg over it, and so twist the end of the +tail round your leg below the knee. You have either got the bridle between your +teeth or have let it go altogether, and with your left hand you give your horse +a crack with the whip; he goes forward with a bound, and the bull, losing his +balance by the sudden jerk behind, rolls over on the ground, and gets up, +looking very uncomfortable. The faster the bull gallops, the easier it is to +throw him over; and two boys of twelve or fourteen years of age coleared a +couple of young bulls in the arena, in great style, pitching them over in all +directions. The farmers and landed proprietors are immensely fond of both these +sports, which the bulls—by the way—seem to dislike most thoroughly; but this +exhibition in the bull-ring was better than what one generally sees, and the +leperos were loud in their expressions of delight. +</p> + +<p> +When we had been a week or two in the city of Mexico, we decided upon making an +excursion to the great silver mining district of the Real del Monte. Some of +our English friends were leaving for England, and had engaged the whole of the +Diligence to Pachuca, going from thence up to the Real, and thence to Tampico, +with all the pomp and circumstance of a train of carriages and an armed escort. +We were invited to go with them as far as Pachuca; and accordingly we rose very +early on the 28th of March, got some chocolate under difficulties, and started +in the Diligence, seven grown-up people, and a baby, who was very good, and was +spoken of and to as “leoncito.” On the high plateaus of Mexico, the +children of European parents grow up as healthy and strong as at home; it is +only in the districts at a lower elevation above the sea, on the coasts for +instance, that they do not thrive. Mr. G., who was leaving Mexico, was the head +of a great merchant-house, and it was as a compliment to him and Mrs. G. that +we were accompanied by a party of English horsemen for the first two or three +leagues. Englishmen take much more easily to Mexican ways about horses than the +Mexicans do to ours, and a finer turn-out of horses and riders than our amateur +escort could hardly have been found in Mexico. There was our friend Don +Guillermo, who rode a beautiful horse that had once belonged to the captain of +a band of robbers, and had not its equal in the city for swiftness; and Don +Juan on his splendid little brown horse Pancho, lazoing stray mules as he went, +and every now and then galloping into a meadow by the roadside after a bull, +who was off like a shot the moment he heard the sound of hoofs. I wonder +whether I shall ever see them again, those jovial open-hearted countrymen of +ours. At last our companions said good-bye, and loaded pistols were carefully +arranged on the centre cushion in case of an attack, much to the edification of +my companion and myself, as it rather implied that, if fighting were to be +done, we two should have to sit inside to be shot at without a chance of +hitting anybody in return. +</p> + +<p> +The hedges of the Organ Cactus are a feature in the landscape of the plains, +and we first saw them to perfection on the road between Mexico and Pachuca. +This plant, the Cereus hexagonus, grows in Italy in the open air, but seems not +to be turned to account anywhere except in Mexico for the purpose to which it +is particularly suited. In its wild state it grows like a candelabrum, with a +thick trunk a few feet high, from the top of which it sends out shoots, which, +as soon as they have room, rise straight upwards in fluted pillars fifteen or +twenty feet in height. Such a plant, with pillars rising side by side and +almost touching one another, has a curious resemblance to an organ with its +pipes, and thence its name “órgano.” +</p> + +<p> +To make a fence, they break off the straight lateral shoots, of the height +required, and plant them closely side by side, in a trench, sufficiently deep +to ensure their standing firmly; and it is a curious sight to see a labourer +bearing on his shoulder one of these vegetable pillars, as high as himself, and +carefully guarding himself against its spines. A hedge perfectly impassable is +obtained at once; the cactus rooting so readily, that it is rare to see a gap +where one has died. The villagers surround their gardens with these fences of +cactus, which often line the road for miles together. Foreigners used to point +out such villages to us, and remark that they seemed “well +organized,” a small joke which unfortunately bears translation into all +ordinary European languages, and was inflicted without mercy upon us as new +comers. +</p> + +<p> +We reached Pachuca early in the afternoon, and took up our quarters in the inn +there, and our friends went on to Real del Monte. +</p> + +<p> +This little town of Pachuca has long been a place of some importance in the +world, as regards mining-operations. The Aztecs worked silver-mines here, as +well as at Tasco, long before the Spaniards came, and they knew how to smelt +the ore. It is true that, if no better process than smelting were known now, +most of the mines would scarcely be worth working; but still, to know how to +extract silver at all was a great step; and indeed at that time, and for long +after the Conquest, there was no better method known in Europe. It was in this +very place that a Spaniard, Medina by name, discovered the process of +amalgamation with mercury, in the year 1557, some forty years after the +invasion. We went to see the place where he first worked his new process, and +found it still used as a “hacienda de beneficio” (establishment for +extracting silver from the ore.) So few discoveries in the arts have come out +of Mexico, or indeed out of any Spanish colony, that we must make the most of +this really very important method, which is more extensively used than any +other, both in North and South America. As for the rest of the world, it +produces, comparatively, so little silver, that it is scarcely worth taking +into account. +</p> + +<p> +We had forgotten, when we went to bed, that we were nearly seven hundred feet +higher than Mexico; but had the fact brought to our remembrance by waking in +the middle of the night, feeling very cold, and finding our thermometer marking +40 degrees Fahr.; whereupon we covered ourselves with cloaks, and the cloaks +with the strips of carpet at our bedsides, and went to sleep again. +</p> + +<p> +We had hired, of the French landlord, two horses and a mozo to guide us, and +sorry hacks they were when we saw them in the morning. It was delightful to get +a little circulation into our veins by going at the best gallop our horses +would agree to; for we were fresh from hot countries, and not at all prepared +for having our hands and feet numbed with cold, and being as hoarse as +ravens—for the sore throat which is the nuisance of the district, and is very +severe upon new comers, had not spared us. Evaporation is so rapid at this high +altitude that if you wet the back of your hand it dries almost instantly, +leaving a smart sensation of cold. One may easily suppose, that when people +have been accustomed to live under the ordinary pressure of the air, their +throats and lungs do not like being dried up at this rate; besides their +having, on account of the rarity of the air, to work harder in breathing, in +order to get in the necessary quantity of oxygen. +</p> + +<p> +Coughs seem very common here, especially among the children, though people look +strong and healthy, but in the absence of proper statistics one cannot +undertake to say whether the district is a healthy one or not. +</p> + +<p> +For a wonder we have a good road, and this simply because the Real del Monte +Company wanted one, and made it for themselves. How unfortunate all Spanish +countries are in roads, one of the most important first steps towards +civilization! When one has travelled in Old Spain, one can imagine that the +colonists did not bring over very enlightened ideas on the subject; and as the +Mexicans were not allowed to hold intercourse with any other country, it is +easy to explain why Mexico is all but impassable for carriages. But if the +money—or half of it—that has been spent in building and endowing churches and +convents had been devoted to road-making, this might have been a great and +prosperous country. +</p> + +<p> +For some three hours we rode along among porphyritic mountains, getting higher +at every turn, and enjoying the clear bright air. Now and then we met or passed +a long recua (train) of loaded mules, taking care to keep the safe side of the +road till we were rid of them. It is not pleasant to meet a great drove of +horned cattle in an Alpine pass, but I really think a recua of loaded mules +among the Andes is worse. A knowing old beast goes first, and the rest come +tumbling after him anyhow, with their loads often projecting a foot or two on +either side, and banging against anybody or anything. Then, wherever the road +is particularly narrow, and there is a precipice of two or three hundred feet +to fall over, one or two of them will fall down, or get their packs loose, and +so block up the road, and there is a general scrimmage of kicking and shoving +behind, till the arrieros can get things straight again. At last we reach the +top of a ridge, and see the little settlement of Real del Monte below us. It is +more like a Cornish mining village than anything else; but of course the +engine-houses, chimneys, and mine-sheds, built by Cornishmen in true Cornish +fashion, go a long way towards making up the resemblance. The village is built +on the awkwardest bit of ground possible, up and down on the side of a steep +ravine, one house apparently standing on the roof of another; and it takes half +a mile of real hard climbing to get from the bottom of the town to the top. +</p> + +<p> +We put up our horses at a neat little inn kept by an old Englishwoman, and +walked or climbed up to the Company’s house. We made several new +acquaintances at the Real, though we left within a few hours, intending to see +the place thoroughly on our return. +</p> + +<p> +One peculiarity of the Casa Grande—the great house of the Company—was the +warlike appearance of everybody in it. The clerks were posting up the ledgers +with loaded revolvers on the desk before them; the manager’s room was a +small arsenal, and the gentlemen rode out for exercise, morning and evening, +armed to the teeth. Not that there is anything to be apprehended from +robbers—indeed I should like to see any of the Mexican ladrones interfering +with the Cornish miners, who would soon teach them better manners. I am +inclined to think there is a positive pleasure in possessing and handling guns +and pistols, whether they are likely to be of any use or not. Indeed, while +travelling through the western and southern States of America, where such +things are very generally carried, I was the possessor of a five-barrelled +revolver, and admit that I derived an amount of mild satisfaction from carrying +it about, and shooting at a mark with it, that amply compensated for the loss +of two dollars I incurred by selling it to a Jew at New Orleans. +</p> + +<p> +We rode on to Regla, soon finding that our guide had never been there before; +so, next morning, we kept the two horses and dismissed him with ignominy. A +fine road leads from the Real to Regla, for all the silver-ore from the mines +is conveyed there to have the silver separated from it. My notes of our ride +mention a great water-wheel: sections of porphyritic rocks, with enormous +masses of alluvial soil lying upon them: steep ravines: arroyos, cut by +mountain-streams, and forests of pine-trees—a thoroughly Alpine district +altogether. At Regla it became evident that our letter of introduction was not +a mere complimentary affair. There is not even a village there; it is only a +great hacienda, belonging to the Company, with the huts of the workmen built +near it. The Company, represented by Mr. Bell, received us with the greatest +hospitality. Almost before the letter was opened our horses and mozo were off +to the stables, our room was ready, and our dinner being prepared as fast as +might be. What a pleasant evening we had, after our long day’s work! We +had a great wood-fire, and sat by it, talking and looking at Mr. Bell’s +photographs and minerals, which serve as an amusement in his leisure-hours. The +Company’s Administrador leads rather a peculiar life here. There is no +want of work or responsibility; he has two or three hundred Indians to manage, +almost all of whom will steal and cheat without the slightest scruple, if they +can but get a chance; he has to assay the ores, superintend a variety of +processes which require the greatest skill and judgment, and he is in charge of +property to the value of several hundred thousand pounds. Then a man must have +a constitution of iron to live in a place where the air is so rarefied, and +where the temperature varies thirty and forty degrees between morning and noon. +As for society, he must find it in his own family; for even the better class of +Mexicans are on so different a level, intellectually, from an educated +Englishman, that their society bores him utterly, and he had rather be left in +solitude than have to talk to them. Well, it is a great advantage to travellers +that circumstances fix pleasant people in such out-of-the-way places. +</p> + +<p> +One necessary part of a hacienda is a church. The proprietors are compelled by +law to build one, and pay the priest’s fees for mass on Sundays and +feast-days. Now, almost all the English one meets with engaged in business, or +managing mines and plantations, are Scotch, and one may well suppose that there +is not much love lost between them and the priests. The father confessor plays +an important part in the great system of dishonesty that prevails to so +monstrous an extent throughout the country. He hears the particulars of the +thefts and cheatings that have been practised on the proprietor who builds his +church and pays for his services, and he complacently absolves his penitents in +consideration of a small penance. Not a word about restitution; and just a +formal injunction to go and sin no more, which neither priest nor penitent is +very sincere about. The various evils of the Roman Catholic system have been +reiterated till the subject has become tiresome, but this particular practice +is so contrary to the simplest notions of morality, and has produced such +fearful effects on the character of this nation, that one cannot pass it by +without notice. If the Superintendent should roast the parish priest in front +of the oxidising furnace, till he confessed all he knew about the thefts of his +parishioners from the Company, he would tell strange stories,—how Juan +Fernandez carried off sixpennyworth of silver in each car every day for a +month; and how Pedro Alvarado (the Indian names have almost disappeared except +in a few families, and Spanish names have been substituted) had a hammer with a +hollow handle, like the stick that Sancho Panza delivered his famous judgment +about, and carried away silver in it every day when he left work; and how Vasco +Nuñez stole the iron key from the gate (which cost two dollars to replace), +walking twenty miles and losing a day’s work in order to sell it, and +eventually getting but twopence for it; and plenty more stories of the same +kind. The Padre at Regla, we heard, was not given to preaching sermons, but had +lately favoured his congregation with a very striking one, to the effect that +the Company paid him only three dollars a time for saying mass, and that he +ought to have four. +</p> + +<p> +Almost every traveller who visits Mexico enlarges on the dishonesty which is +rooted in the character of the people. That they are worse now in this respect +than they were before the Conquest is highly probable. Their position as a +conquered and enslaved people, tended, as it always does, to foster the slavish +vices of dissimulation and dishonesty. The religion brought into the country by +the Spanish missionaries concerned itself with their belief, and left their +morals to shift for themselves, as it does still. +</p> + +<p> +In the mining-districts stealing is universal. Public feeling among the Indians +does not condemn it in the least, quite the contrary. To steal successfully is +considered a triumph, and to be found out is no disgrace. Theft is not even +punishable. In old times a thief might be put in the stocks; but Burkart, who +was a mining-inspector for many years, says that in his time, some twenty years +ago, tins was abolished, and I believe the law has not been altered since. It +is a miserable sight to see the Indian labourers searched as they come out of +the mines. They are almost naked, but rich ore packs in such a small compass, +and they are so ingenious in stowing it away, that the doorkeepers examine +their mouths and ears, and their hair, and constantly find pieces that have +been secreted, while a far greater quantity escapes. It is this system of +thieving that accounts for the existence of certain little smelting-sheds, +close to the works of the Company, who look at them with such feelings as may +be imagined. These places profess to smelt ore from one or two little mines in +the neighbourhood, but their real object is no secret. They buy the stolen bits +of rich ore from the Indian labourers, giving exactly half the value for it. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, we must not judge these Mexican labourers as though we had a very +high standard of honesty at home. That we should see workmen searched +habitually in England, at the doors of our national dock-yards, is a much +greater disgrace to us. And not merely a disgrace, but a serious moral evil, +for to expose an honest man to such a degradation is to make him half a thief +already. +</p> + +<p> +People who know the Indian population best assure us that their lives are a +perpetual course of intrigue and dissimulation. Always trying to practise some +small fraud upon their masters, and even upon their own people, they are in +constant fear that every one is trying to overreach them. They are afraid to +answer the simplest question, lest it should be a trap laid to catch them. They +ponder over every word and action of their European employers, to find out what +hidden intrigue lies beneath, and to devise some counter-plot. Sartorius says +that when he has met an Indian and asked his name, the brown man always gave a +false one, lest the enquirer should want to do him some harm. +</p> + +<p> +Never did any people show more clearly the effects of ages of servitude and +oppression; but, hopeless as the moral condition of this mining population +seems, there is one favourable circumstance to be put on record. The Cornish +miners, who have been living among them for years, have worked quite +perceptibly upon the Indian character by the example of their persevering +industry, their love of saving, and their utter contempt for thieves and liars. +Instead of squandering their wages, or burying them in the ground, many of the +Indian miners take their savings to the Banks; and the opinions of the +foreigners are gradually—though very slowly—altering the popular standard of +honesty, the first step towards the moral improvement of the Mexican +population. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning we went off for an excursion, having got a lively young fellow +from the hacienda in exchange for our stupid mozo. There was hoar frost on the +ground, and the feeling of cold was intense at first; but the sun began to warm +the ground about eight o’clock, and we were soon glad to fasten our great +coats and shawls to our saddles. Three leagues took us to the town of +Atotonilco<a href="#fn-9" name="fnref-9" id="fnref-9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> el +Grande, which gives its name to the plateau we were crossing. Here we are no +longer in the valley of Mexico, which is separated from this plain by the +mountains of the Real del Monte. We rode on two leagues more to the village of +Soquital<a href="#fn-10" name="fnref-10" id="fnref-10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> +where, it being Sunday, we found the inhabitants—mostly Indians—amusing +themselves by standing in the sun, doing nothing. I can hardly say “doing +nothing,” though, for we went into the tienda, or shop, and found a brisk +trade going on in raw spirits. <i>Tienda</i>, in Spanish, means a tent or +booth. The first shops were tents or booths at fairs or in market-places; and +thence “tienda” came to mean a shop in general; a derivation which +corresponds with that of the word “shop” itself. Such of the +population as had money seemed to drop in at regular intervals for a dram, +which consisted of a small wine-glassful of white-corn-brandy, called +<i>chinguerito</i>. We tasted some, while the people at the shop were frying +eggs and boiling beans for our breakfast; and found it so strong that a small +sip brought tears into our eyes, to the amusement of the bystanders. It seemed +that everybody was drinking who could afford it; from the old men and women to +the babies in their mothers’ arms; everybody had a share, except those +who were hard up, and they stood about the door looking stolidly at the +drinkers. There was nothing like gaiety in the whole affair; only a sort of +satisfaction appeared in the face of each as he took his dose. It is the +drinkers of pulque who get furiously drunk, and fight; here it is different. +These drinkers of spirits are not much given to that enormous excess that kills +off the Red Indians; indeed, they are seldom drunk enough to lose their wits, +and they never have delirium tremens, which would come upon a European, with +much less provocation. They get into a habit of daily—almost +hourly—dram-drinking, and go on, year after year, in this way; seeming, as far +as we could judge, to live a long while, such a life as it is. As we mounted +our horses and rode on, we agreed that we had seldom seen a more melancholy and +depressing sight. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-9" id="fn-9"></a> <a href="#fnref-9">[9]</a> +Atotonilco, “Hot-water-place,” so called from the hot springs in +the neighbourhood. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-10" id="fn-10"></a> <a href="#fnref-10">[10]</a> +Soquital, “Clay-place,” from the potter’s clay which abounds +in the district. Earthenware is the staple manufacture here. +</p> + +<p> +We met some arrieros, who had brought up salt from the coast; and they, seeing +that we were English, judged we had something to do with mines, and proposed to +sell us their goods. The price of salt here is actually three-pence per lb., in +a district where its consumption is immense, as it is used in refining the +silver ore. It must be said, however, that this is an unusual price; for the +muleteers have been so victimised by their mules being seized, either by the +government or the rebels (one seems about as bad as the other in this respect), +that they must have a high price to pay them for the risk. Generally seven +reals, or 3s. 6d. per arroba of 25 lbs. is the price. This salt is evaporated +in the salinas of Campeche, taken by water to Tuzpan, and then brought up the +country on mules’ backs—each beast carrying 300 lbs. Of course, this salt +is very coarse and very watery; all salt made in this way is. It suits the New +Orleans people better to import salt from England, than to make it in this way +in the Gulf of Mexico, though the water there is very salt, and the sun very +hot. The fact, that it pays to carry salt on mules’ backs, tells volumes +about the state of the country. At the lowest computation, the mules would do +four or five times as much work if they were set to draw any kind of +cart—however rough—on a carriageable road. It is true that there is some sort +of road from here to Tampico, but an English waggoner would not acknowledge it +by that name at all; and the muleteers are still in possession of most of the +traffic in this district, as indeed they are over almost all the country. +</p> + +<p> +It was mid-day by this time; and, as we could not get to the Rio Grande without +taking our chance for the night in some Indian rancho, we turned back. The heat +had become so oppressive that we took off our coats; and Mr. Christy, riding in +his shirt-sleeves and holding a white umbrella over his head, which he had +further protected with a turban, declared that even in the East he had not had +so fatiguing a ride. We passed through Soquital, and there the natives were +idling and drinking spirits as before, and seemed hardly to have moved since we +left. This plateau of Atotonilco el Grande, called for shortness Grande, is, +like most of the high plains of Mexico, composed mostly of porphyry and +obsidian, a valley filled up with débris from the surrounding mountains, which +are all volcanic, embedded in reddish earth. The mountain-torrents—in which the +water, so to speak, comes down all at once, not flowing in a steady stream all +the year round as in England—have left evidences of their immense power in the +ravines with which the sides of the hills, from their very tops downward, are +fluted. +</p> + +<p> +These fluted mountain-ridges resemble the “Kamms” (combs) of the +Swiss Alps, called so from their toothed appearance. +</p> + +<p> +We had met numbers of Indians, bringing their wares to the Sunday market in the +great square of Atotonilco el Grande; and when we reached the town on our way +home, business was still going on briskly; so we put up our horses, and spent +an hour or two in studying the people and the commodities they dealt in. It was +a real old-fashioned Indian market, very much such as the Spaniards found when +they first penetrated into the country. A large proportion of the people could +speak no Spanish, or only a few words. The unglazed pottery, palm-leaf mats, +ropes and bags of aloe-fibre, dressed skins, &c., were just the same wares +that were made three centuries ago; and there is no improvement in their +manufacture. This people, who rose in three centuries from the condition of +wandering savages to a height of civilization that has no equal in +history—considering the shortness of the time in which it grew up—have +remained, since the Conquest, without making one step in advance. They hardly +understand any reason for what they do, except that their ancestors did things +so—they therefore must be right. They make their unglazed pottery, and carry it +five and twenty miles to market on their heads, just as they used to do when +there were no beasts of burden in the country. The same with their fruits and +vegetables, which they have brought great distances, up the most difficult +mountain-paths, at a ruinous sacrifice of time and trouble, considering what a +miserable sum they will get for them after all, and how much even of this will +be spent in brandy. By working on a hacienda they would get double what their +labour produces in this way, but they do not understand this kind of reasoning. +They cultivate their little patches of maize, by putting a sharp stick into the +ground, and dropping the seed into the hole. They carry pots of water to +irrigate their ground with, instead of digging trenches. This is the more +curious, as at the time of the Conquest irrigation was much practised by the +Aztecs in the plains, and remains of water-canals still exist, showing that +they had carried the art to great perfection. They bring logs of wood over the +mountains by harnessing horses or mules to them, and dragging them with immense +labour over the rough ground. The idea of wheels or rollers has either not +occurred to them, or is considered as a pernicious novelty. +</p> + +<p> +It is very striking to see how, while Europeans are bringing the newest +machinery and the most advanced arts into the country, there is scarcely any +symptom of improvement among the people, who still hold firmly to the wisdom of +their ancestors. An American author, Mayer, quotes a story of a certain people +in Italy, as an illustration of the feeling of the Indians in Mexico respecting +improvements. In this district, he says that the peasants loaded their panniers +with vegetables on one side, and balanced the opposite pannier by filling it +with stones; and when a traveller pointed out the advantage to be gained by +loading both panniers with vegetables, he was answered that their forefathers +from time immemorial had so carried their produce to market, that they were +wise and good men, and that a stranger showed very little understanding or +decency who interfered in the established customs of a country. I need hardly +say that the Indians are utterly ignorant; and this of course accounts to a +great extent for their obstinate conservatism. +</p> + +<p> +There were several shops round the market-place at Grande, and the +brandy-drinking was going on much as at Soquital. The shops in these small +towns are general stores, like “the shop” in coal- and +iron-districts in England. It is only in large towns that the different +retail-trades are separated. One thing is very noticeable in these country +stores, the certainty of finding a great stock of sardines in bright tin boxes. +The idea of finding <i>Sardines à l’huile</i> in Indian villages seemed +odd enough; but the fact is, that the difficulty of getting fish up from the +coast is so great that these sardines are not much dearer than anything else, +and they go a long way. Montezuma’s method of supplying his table with +fresh fish from the gulf, by having relays of Indian porters to run up with it, +is too expensive for general use, and there is no efficient substitute. It is +in consequence of this scarcity of fish, that Church-fasts have never been very +strictly kept in Mexico. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/fig05.jpg" width="300" height="86" alt="[Illustration: +HIEROGLYPHICS.]" /> +</div> + +<p> +The method of keeping accounts in the shops—which, it is to be remembered, are +almost always kept by white or half-white people, hardly ever by Indians—is +primitive enough. Here is a score which I copied, the hieroglyphics standing +for dollars, half-dollars, medios or half-reals, cuartillos or quarter-reals, +and tlacos—or clacos—which are eighths of a real, or about ¾d. While +account-keeping among the comparatively educated trades-people is in this +condition, one can easily understand how very limited the Indian notions of +calculation are. They cannot realize any number much over ten; and +twenty—cempoalli—is with them the symbol of a great number, as a hundred was +with the Greeks. There is in Mexico a mountain called in this indefinite way +“Cempoatepetl”—the twenty-mountain. Sartorius mentions the Indian +name of the many-petaled marigold—“cempoaxochitl”—the +twenty-flower. We traded for some trifles of aloe-fibre, but soon had to count +up the reckoning with beans. +</p> + +<p> +I have delayed long enough for the present over the Indians and their market; +so, though there is much more to be said about them, I will only add a few +words respecting the commodities for sale, and then leave them for awhile. +</p> + +<p> +There seemed to be a large business doing in costales (bags) made of +aloe-fibre, for carrying ore about in the mines. True to the traditions of his +ancestors, the Indian much prefers putting his load in a bag on his back, to +the far easier method of wheeling it about. Lazos sold at one to four reals, +(6d. to 2s.) according to quality. There are two kinds of aloe-fibre; one +coarse, <i>ichtli</i>, the other much finer, <i>pito</i>; the first made from +the great aloe that produces pulque, the other from a much smaller species of +the same genus. The stones with which the boiled maize is ground into the paste +of which the universal tortillas are made were to be had here; indeed, they are +made in the neighbourhood, of the basalt and lava which abound in the district. +The metate is a sort of little table, hewn out of the basalt, with four little +feet, and its surface is curved from the ends to the middle. The metalpile is +of the same material, and like a rolling-pin. The old-fashioned Mexican pottery +I have mentioned already. It is beautifully made, and very cheap. They only +asked us nine-pence for a great olla, or boiling-pot, that held four or five +gallons, and no doubt this was double the market-price. I never so thoroughly +realized before how climate is altered by altitude above the sea as in noticing +the fruits and vegetables that were being sold at this little market, within +fifteen or twenty miles of which they were all grown. There were wheat and +barley, and the piñones (the fruit of the stone-pine, which grows in Italy, and +is largely used instead of almonds); and from these representatives of +temperate climates the list extended to bananas and zapotes, grown at the +bottom of the great barrancas, 3,000 or 4,000 feet lower in level than the +plateau, though in distance but a few miles off. Three or four thousand miles +of latitude would not give a greater difference. +</p> + +<p> +It would never do to be late, and break our necks in one of the awkward +water-courses that cut the plateau about in all directions; so we started +homewards, soon having to unfasten great-coats and shawls from our saddles, to +keep out the cold of the approaching sunset; and so we got back to the +hospitable hacienda, and were glad to warm ourselves at the fire. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning, we went off to get a view of the great barranca of Regla. A ride +over the hills brought us to a wood of oaks, with their branches fringed with +the long grey Spanish moss, and a profusion of epiphytes clinging to their +bark, some splendidly in flower, showing the fantastic shapes and brilliant +colours one sees in English orchid-houses. Cactuses of many species complete +the picture of the vegetation in this beautiful spot. This is at the top of the +barranca. Then imagine a valley a mile or two in width, with sides almost +perpendicular and capped with basaltic pillars, and at the bottom a strip of +land where the vegetation is of the deepest green of the tropics, with a river +winding along among palm-trees and bananas. This great barranca is between two +and three thousand feet deep, and the view is wonderful. We went down a +considerable way by a zig-zag road, my companion collecting armfuls of plants +by the way, but unfortunately losing his thermometer, which could not be found, +though a long hunt for it produced a great many more plants, and so the trouble +was not wasted. The prickly pear was covered with ripe purple fruit a little +way down, and we refreshed ourselves with them, I managing—in my clumsiness—to +get into my fingers two or three of the little sheaves of needles which are +planted on the outside of the fruit, and thus providing myself with occupation +for leisure moments for three or four days after in taking them out. +</p> + +<p> +Many species of cactus, and the nopal, or prickly pear, especially, are full of +watery sap, which trickles out in a stream when they are pierced. In these +thirsty regions, when springs and brooks are dry, the cattle bite them to get +at the moisture, regardless of the thorns. On the north coast of Africa the +camels delight in crunching the juicy leaves of the same plant. I have often +been amused in watching the camel-drivers’ efforts to get their trains of +laden beasts along the narrow sandy lanes of Tangier, between hedges of prickly +pears, where the camels with their long necks could reach the tempting lobes on +both sides of the way. +</p> + +<p> +In this thirsty season, while the cattle in the Mexican plains derive moisture +from the cactus, the aloe provides for man a substitute for water. It +frequently happened to us to go from rancho to rancho asking for water in vain, +though pulque was to be had in abundance. +</p> + +<p> +To attempt any description of the varied forms of cactus in Mexico would be out +of the question. In the northern provinces alone, botanists have described +above eight hundred species. The most striking we met with were the prickly +pear (cactus opuntia), the órgano, the night-blowing cereus, the various +mamillarias—dome-shaped mounds covered with thorns, varying in diameter from an +inch to six or eight feet—and the greybeard, <i>el viejo</i>, “the old +man,” as our guide called them, upright pillars like street-posts, and +covered with grey wool-like filaments. +</p> + +<p> +Getting to the top of the ravine again, we found an old Indian milking an aloe, +which flourishes here, though a little further down the climate is too hot for +it to produce pulque. This old gentleman had a long gourd, of the shape and +size of a great club, but hollow inside, and very light. The small end of this +gourd was pushed in among the aloe-leaves into the hollow made by scooping out +the inside of the plant, and in which the sweet juice, the aguamiel, collects. +By having a little hole at each end of the gourd, and sucking at the large end, +the hollow of the plant emptied itself into the Acocote, (in proper Mexican, +<i>Acocotl</i>, Water-throat), as this queer implement is called. Then the +Indian stopped the hole at the end he had been sucking at, with his finger, and +dexterously emptied the contents of the gourd into a pig-skin which he carried +at his back. We went up with the old man to his rancho, and tested his pulque, +which was very good, though we could not say the same of his domestic +arrangements. It puzzled us not a little to see people living up at this height +in houses built of sticks, such as are used in the hot lands, and hardly +affording any protection from the weather, severe as it is here. The pulque is +taken to market in pig-skins, which, though the pig himself is taken out of +them, still retain his shape very accurately; and when nearly full of liquor, +they roll about on their backs, and kick up the little dumpy legs that are left +them, in the most comical and life-like way. When we went away we bought the +old man’s acocote, and carried it home in triumph, and is it not in the +Museum at Kew Gardens to this day? <i>(See the illustration at +<a href="#illus06">page 36</a>.)</i> +</p> + +<p> +At the hacienda of Regla are to be seen on a large scale most of the processes +which are employed in the extraction of silver from the ore—the +<i>beneficio</i>, or making good, as it is called. +</p> + +<p> +In the great yard, numbers of men and horses were walking round and round upon +the “tortas,” tarts or pies, as they are called, consisting of +powdered ore mixed with water, so as to form a circular bed of mud a foot deep. +To this mud, sulphate of copper, salt, and quicksilver are added, and the men +and mules walk round and round in it, mixing it thoroughly together, a process +which is kept up, with occasional intervals of rest, for nearly two months. By +that time the whole of the silver has formed an amalgam with the mercury, and +this amalgam is afterwards separated from the earth by being trampled under +water in troughs. We were surprised to find that men and horses could pass +their lives in wading through mud containing mercury in a state of fine +division without absorbing it into their bodies, but neither men nor horses +suffer from it. +</p> + +<p> +We happened to visit the melting-house one evening, while silver and lead were +being separated by oxidizing the lead in a reverberatory furnace. Here we +noticed a curious effect. The melted litharge ran from the mouth of the furnace +upon a floor of damp sand, and spread over it in a sheet. Presently, as the +heat of the mass vaporized the water in the sand below, the sheet of litharge, +still slightly fluid, began to heave and swell, and a number of small cones +rose from its surface. Some of these cones reached the height of four inches, +and then burst at the top, sending out a shower of red-hot fragments. I removed +one of these cones when the litharge was cool. It had a regidar funnel-shaped +crater, like that which Vesuvius had until three or four years ago. +</p> + +<p> +The analogy is complete between these little cones and those on the lava-field +at the foot of the volcano of Jorullo, the celebrated “hornitos;” +the concentric structure of which, as described by Burkart, proves that they +were formed in precisely the same manner. Until lately, the formation of the +great cone of Jorullo was attributed to the same kind of action as the +hornitos, but later travellers have established the fact that this is +incorrect. One of the De Saussure family, who was in Mexico a few years back, +describes Jorullo as consisting of three terraces of basaltic lava, which have +flowed one above another from a central orifice, the whole being surmounted by +a cone of lapilli thrown up from the same opening, from which also later +streams of lava have issued. +</p> + +<p> +The celebrated cascade of Regla is just behind the hacienda. There is a sort of +basin, enclosed on three sides by a perpendicular wall of basaltic columns, +some eighty feet high. On the side opposite the opening, a mountain stream has +cut a deep notch in this wall, and pours down in a cascade. The basaltic +pillars rest upon an undisturbed layer of basaltic conglomerate five feet +thick, and that upon a bed of clay. The place is very picturesque; and two +great Yuccas which project over the waterfall, crowned with their star-like +tufts of pointed leaves, have a strange effect. These basalt-columns are very +regular, with from five to eight sides; and are almost black in colour. They +have a curiously well-defined circular core in the middle, five or six inches +in diameter. This core is light grey, almost white. The Indians bring down +numbers of short lengths or joints of the columns, and they are used at the +hacienda in making a primitive kind of ore-crushing mill, in which they are +dragged round and round by mule-power, on a floor also of basalt. +</p> + +<p> +When we had visited the falls we took leave of our hospitable friend, and set +off to return to the Real. We stopped at San Miguel, another of the haciendas +of the Company, where the German barrel-process is worked. Just behind the +hacienda is the Ojo de Agua—the Eye of Water—a beautiful basin, surrounded by a +green sward and a wood of oaks and fir-trees. A little stream takes its rise +from the spring which bubbles up into this basin, and the name “Ojo de +Agua,” is a general term applied to such fountain-heads. When one looks +down from a high hill upon one of these Eyes of Water, one sees how the name +came to be given, and indeed, the idiom is thousands of years older than the +Spanish tongue, and belongs as well to the Hebrew and Arabic. A Mexican calls a +lake <i>atezcatl</i>, Water-Mirror, an expressive word, which reminds one of +the German <i>Wasserspiegel</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after nightfall we got back to the English inn, and went to bed without +any further event happening, except the burning of some outhouses, which we +went out to see. The custom of roofing houses with pine-shingles +(“tacumeniles”), and the general use of wood for building all the +best houses, make fires very common here. During the few days we spent in the +Real district, I find in my notebook mention of three fires which we saw. We +spent the next day in resting, and in visiting the mine-works near at hand. The +day after, an Englishman who had lived many years at the Real offered to take +us out for a day’s ride; and the Company’s Administrador lent us +two of his own horses, for the poor beasts from Pachuca could hardly have gone +so far. The first place we visited was Peñas Cargadas, the “loaded +rocks.” Riding through a thick wood of oaks and pines, we came suddenly +in view of several sugar-loaf peaks, some three hundred feet high, tapering +almost to a point at the top, and each one crowned with a mass of rocks which +seem to have been balanced in unstable equilibrium on its point,—looking as +though the first puff of wind would bring them down. The pillars were of +porphyritic conglomerate, which had been disintegrated and worn away by wind +and rain; while the great masses resting on them, probably of solid porphyry, +had been less affected by these influences. It was the most curious example of +the weathering of rocks that we had ever seen. From Peñas Cargadas we rode on +to the farm of Guajalote, where the Company has forests, and cuts wood and +burns charcoal for the mines and the refining works. Don Alejandro, the tenant +of the farm, was a Scotchman, and a good fellow. He could not go on with us, +for he had invited a party of neighbours to eat up a kid that had been cooked +in a hole in the ground, with embers upon it, after Sandwich Island fashion. +This is called a <i>barbacoa</i>—a barbecue. We should have liked to be at the +feast, but time was short, so we rode on to the top of Mount Jacal, 12,000 feet +above the sea, where there was a view of mountains and valleys, and heat that +was positively melting. Thence down to the Cerro de Navajas, the “hill of +knives.” It is on the sides of this hill that obsidian is found in +enormous quantities. Before the conquerors introduced the use of iron, these +deposits were regularly mined, and this place was the Sheffield of Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +We were curious to see all that was to be seen; for Mr. Christy’s Mexican +collection, already large before our visit, and destined to become much larger, +contained numbers of implements and weapons of this very peculiar material. Any +one who does not know obsidian may imagine great masses of bottle-glass, such +as our orthodox ugly wine-bottles are made of, very hard, very brittle, and—if +one breaks it with any ordinary implement—going, as glass does, in every +direction but the right one. We saw its resemblance to this +portwine-bottle-glass in an odd way at the Ojo de Agua, where the wall of the +hacienda was armed at the top, after our English fashion, apparently with bits +of old bottles, but which turned out to be chips of obsidian. Out of this +rather unpromising stuff the Mexicans made knives, razors, arrow- and +spear-heads, and +<a name="Page97"></a> +other things, some of great beauty. I say nothing of the polished obsidian +mirrors and ornaments, nor even of the curious masks of the human face that are +to be seen in collections, for these were only laboriously cut and polished +with jewellers’ sand, to us a common-place process. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus10"></a> +<img src="images/fig06.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">STONE SPEAR-HEADS AND OBSIDIAN KNIVES AND ARROW-HEADS, FROM +MEXICO.</p> +</div> + +<p class="poem"> +1. Flame shaped Arrow-head; obsidian: Teleohuacán. 2. Arrow-head; opake +obsidian: Teleohuacán. 3. Knife or Razor of Obsidian; shown in two aspects; +Mexico. 4. Leaf-shaped Knife or Javelin-head; obsidian: from Real Del Monte. 5. +Spear-head of Chalcedony; one of a pair supposed to be spears of State: found +in excavating for the Casa Grande, Tezcuco. (This peculiar opalescent +chalcedony occurs as concretions, sometimes of large size, in the trachytic +lavas of Mexico.) +</p> + +<p> +Cortes found the barbers at the great market of Tlatelolco busy shaving the +natives with such razors, and he and his men had experience of other uses of +the same material in the flights of obsidian-headed arrows which +“darkened the sky,” as they said, and the more deadly wooden maces +stuck all over with obsidian points, and of the priests’ sacrificial +knives too, not long after. These things were not cut and polished, but made by +chipping or cracking off pieces from a lump. This one can see by the traces of +conchoidal fracture which they all show. +</p> + +<p> +The art is not wholly understood, for it perished soon after the Conquest, when +iron came in; but, as far as the theory is concerned, I think I can give a +tolerably satisfactory account of the process of manufacture. In the first +place, the workman who makes gun-flints could probably make some of the simpler +obsidian implements, which were no doubt chipped off in the same way. The +section of a gun-flint, with its one side flat for sharpness and the other side +ribbed for strength, is one of the characteristics of obsidian knives. That the +flint knives of Scandinavia were made by chipping off strips from a mass is +proved by the many-sided prisms occasionally found there, and particularly by +that one which was discovered just where it had been worked, with the knives +chipped off it lying close by, and fitting accurately into their places upon +it. +</p> + +<p> +Now to make the case complete, we ought to find such prisms in Mexico; and, +accordingly, some months ago, when I examined the splendid Mexican collection +of Mr. Uhde at Heidelberg, I found one or two. No one seemed to have suspected +their real nature, and they had been classed as maces, or the handles of some +kind of weapon. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus11"></a> +<img src="images/fig07.jpg" width="133" height="400" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Fluted Prism of Obsidian:<br />the core from which flakes +have been struck off</p> +</div> + +<p> +I should say from memory that they were seven or eight inches long, and as +large as one could conveniently grasp; and one or both of them, as if to remove +all doubt as to what they were, had the stripping off of ribbons not carried +quite round them, but leaving an intermediate strip rough. There is another +point about the obsidian knives which requires confirmation. One can often see, +on the ends of the Scandinavian flint knives, the bruise made by the blow of +the hard stone with which they were knocked off. I did not think of looking to +this point when at Mr. Uhde’s museum, but the only obsidian knife I have +seen since seems to be thus bruised at the end. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/fig08.jpg" width="171" height="400" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Aztec Knives or Razors. Long narrow Flakes of Obsidian, +having a single face on one side and three facets on the other.</p> +</div> + +<p> +Once able to break his obsidian straight, the workman has got on a long way in +his trade, for a large proportion of the articles he has to make are formed by +planes intersecting one another in various directions. But the Mexican knives +are generally not pointed, but turned up at the end, as one may bend up a +druggist’s spatula. This peculiar shape is not given to answer a purpose, +but results from the natural fracture of the stone. +</p> + +<p> +Even then, the way of making several implements or weapons is not entirely +clear. We got several obsidian maces or lance-heads—one about ten inches +long—which were taper from base to point, and covered with taper flutings; and +there are other things which present great difficulties. I have heard on good +authority, that somewhere in Peru, the Indians still have a way of working +obsidian by laying a bone wedge on the surface of a piece, and tapping it till +the stone cracks. Such a process may have been used in Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +We may see in museums beautiful little articles made in this intractable +material, such as the mirrors and masks I have mentioned, and even rings and +cups. But, as I have said, these are mere lapidaries’ work. +</p> + +<p> +The situation of the mines was picturesque; grand hills of porphyritic rock, +and pine-forest everywhere. Not far off is the broad track of a hurricane, +which had walked through it for miles, knocking the great trees down like +ninepins, and leaving them to rot there. The vegetation gave evident proof of a +severe climate; and yet the heat and glare of the sun were more intolerable +than we had ever felt it in the region of sugar-canes and bananas. About here, +some of the trachytic porphyry which forms the substance of the hills had +happened to have cooled, under suitable conditions, from the molten state into +a sort of slag or volcanic glass, which is the obsidian in question; and, in +places, this vitreous lava—from one layer having flowed over another which was +already cool—was regularly stratified. +</p> + +<p> +The mines were mere wells, not very deep; with horizontal workings into the +obsidian where it was very good and in thick layers. Round about were heaps of +fragments, hundreds of tons of them; and it was clear, from the shape of these, +that some of the manufacturing was done on the spot. There had been great +numbers of pits worked; and it was from these “minillas,” little +mines, as they are called, that we first got an idea how important an element +this obsidian was in the old Aztec civilization. In excursions made since, we +travelled over whole districts in the plains, where fragments of these arrows +and knives were to be found, literally at every step, mixed with morsels of +pottery, and here and there a little clay idol. Among the heaps of fragments +were many that had become weathered on the upper side, and had a remarkable +lustre, like silver. Obsidian is called <i>bizcli</i> by the Indians, and the +silvery sort is known as <i>bizcli platera</i>.<a href="#fn-11" name="fnref-11" id="fnref-11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +They often find bits of it in the fields; and go with great secrecy and mystery +to Mr. Bell, or some other authority in mining matters, and confide to him +their discovery of a silver-mine. They go away angry and unconvinced when told +what their silver really is; and generally come to the conclusion that he is +deceiving them, with a view of throwing them off the scent, that he may find +the place for himself, and cheat them of their share of the profits—just what +their own miserable morbid cunning would lead them to do under such +circumstances. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-11" id="fn-11"></a> <a href="#fnref-11">[11]</a> +The book-name for obsidian is <i>itztli</i>, a word which seems to mean +originally “sharp thing, knife,” and thence to have been applied to +the material knives are made of. Obsidian was also called <i>itztetl</i>, +knife-stone. But no Indian to whom I spoke on the subject would ever +acknowledge the existence of such a word as <i>itztli</i> for obsidian, but +insisted that it was called <i>bizcli</i>, which is apparently the corrupt +modern pronunciation of another old name for the same mineral, <i>petztli</i>, +shiny-stone. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus12"></a> +<img src="images/fig09.jpg" width="400" height="295" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian.</p> +</div> + +<p> +The family-likeness that exists among the stone tools and weapons found in so +many parts of the world is very remarkable. The flint-arrows of North America, +such as Mr. Longfellow’s arrow-maker used to work at in the land of the +Dacotahs, and which, in the wild northern states of Mexico, the Apaches and +Comanches use to this day, might be easily mistaken for the weapons of our +British ancestors, dug up on the banks of the Thames. It is true that the +finish of the Mexican obsidian implements far exceeds that of the chipped flint +and agate weapons of Scandinavia, and still more those of England, Switzerland, +and Italy, where they are dug up in such quantities, in deposits of alluvial +soil, and in bone-caves in the limestone rocks. But this higher finish we may +attribute partly to the superiority of the material; for the Mexicans also used +flint to some extent, and their flint weapons are as hard to distinguish by +inspection as those from other parts of the world. We may reasonably suppose, +moreover, that the skill of the Mexican artificer increased when he found a +better material than flint to work upon. Be this as it may, an inspection of +any good collection of such articles shows the much higher finish of the +obsidian implements than of those of flint, agate, and rock-crystal. They say +there is an ingenious artist who makes flint arrow-heads and stone axes for the +benefit of English antiquarians, and earns good profits by it: I should like to +give him an order for ribbed obsidian razors and spear-heads; I don’t +think he would make much of them. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus13"></a> +<img src="images/fig10.jpg" width="500" height="185" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">Aztec Knife of Chalcedony, mounted on a wooden handle, which +is shaped like a human figure with its face appearing through an eagle-head +mask, and has been inlaid with mosaic work of malachite, shell, and +turquoise. Length 12½ inches.<a href="#fn-12" name="fnref-12" id="fnref-12"><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> +</div> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-12" id="fn-12"></a> <a href="#fnref-12">[12]</a> +The unique Knife figured at <a href="#illus13">page 101</a> and two masks +incrusted with a similar mosaic work (of turquoise and obsidian) are in Mr. +Christy’s collection; and a mask and head of similar workmanship are in +the collection at Copenhagen. These are the only known examples of this +advanced style of Aztec art.<br /> + The whole once belonged probably to one set, brought to Europe soon after +the Conquest of Mexico. The two at Copenhagen were obtained at a convent in +Rome; and, of the other three, two were for a long period in a collection at +Florence, and the other was obtained at Bruges, where it was most probably +brought by the Spaniards during their rule in the Low Countries. +</p> + +<p> +The wonderful similarity of character among the stone weapons found in +different parts of the world has often been used by ethnologists as a means of +supporting the theory that this and other arts were carried over the world by +tribes migrating from one common centre of creation of the human species. The +argument has not much weight, and a larger view of the subject quite supersedes +it. +</p> + +<p> +We may put the question in this way. In Asia and in Europe the use of stone +tools and weapons has always characterized a very low state of civilization; +and such implements are only found among savage tribes living by the chase, or +just beginning to cultivate the ground and to emerge from the condition of mere +barbarians. Now, if the Mexicans got their civilization from Europe, it must +have been from some people unacquainted with the use of iron, if not of bronze. +Iron abounds in Mexico, not only in the state of ore, but occurring nearly pure +in aerolites of great size, as at Cholula, and at Zacatecas, not far from the +great ruins there; so that the only reason for their not using it must have +been ignorance of its qualities. +</p> + +<p> +The Arabian Nights’ story of the mountain which consisted of a single +loadstone finds its literal fulfilment in Mexico. Not far from Huetamo, on the +road towards the Pacific, there is a conical hill composed entirely of magnetic +iron-ore. The blacksmiths in the neighbourhood, with no other apparatus than +their common forges, make it directly into wrought iron, which they use for all +ordinary purposes. +</p> + +<p> +Now, in supposing civilization to be transmitted from one country to another, +we must measure it by the height of its lowest point, as we measure the +strength of a chain by the strength of the weakest link. The only civilization +that the Mexicans can have received from the Old World must have been from some +people whose cutting implements were of sharp stone, consequently, as we must +conclude by analogy, some very barbarous and ignorant tribe. +</p> + +<p> +From this point we must admit that the inhabitants of Mexico raised themselves, +independently, to the extraordinary degree of culture which distinguished them +when Europeans first became aware of their existence. The curious distribution +of their knowledge shows plainly that they found it for themselves, and did not +receive it by transmission. We find a wonderful acquaintance with astronomy, +even to such details as the real cause of eclipses,—and the length of the year +given by intercalations of surprising accuracy; and, at the same time, no +knowledge whatever of the art of writing alphabetically, for their +hieroglyphics are nothing but suggestive pictures. They had carried the art of +gardening to a high degree of perfection; but, though there were two kinds of +ox, and the buffalo at no great distance from them, in the countries they had +already passed through in their migration from the north, they had no idea of +the employment of beasts of burden, nor of the use of milk. They were a great +trading people, and had money of several kinds in general use, but the art of +weighing was utterly unknown to them; while, on the other hand, the Peruvians +habitually used scales and weights, but had no idea of the use of money. +</p> + +<p> +To return to the stone knives; the Mexicans may very well have invented the art +themselves, as they did so many others; or they may have received it from the +Old World. The things themselves prove nothing either way. +</p> + +<p> +The real proof of their having, at some early period, communicated with +inhabitants of Europe or Asia rests upon the traditions current among them, +which are recorded by the early historians, and confirmed by the Aztec +picture-writings; and upon several extraordinary coincidences in the signs used +by them in reckoning astronomical cycles. Further on I shall allude to these +traditions. +</p> + +<p> +On the whole, the most probable view of the origin of the Mexican tribes seems +to be the one ordinarily held, that they really came from the Old World, +bringing with them several legends, evidently the same as the histories +recorded in the book of Genesis. This must have been, however, at a time, when +they were quite a barbarous, nomadic tribe; and we must regard their +civilization as of independent and far later growth. +</p> + +<p> +We rode back through the woods to Guajalote, where the Mexican cook had made us +a feast after the manner of the country, and from her experience of foreigners +had learnt to temper the chile to our susceptible throats. Decidedly the +Mexicans are not without ideas in the matter of cookery. We stayed talking with +the hospitable Don Alejandro and his sister till it was all but dark, and then +rode back to the Real, admiring the fire-flies that were darting about by +thousands, and listening to our companion’s stories, which turned on +robberies and murders—-as stories are apt to do in wild places after dark. But, +save an escape from being robbed some twenty years back, and the history of an +Indian who was murdered just here by some of his own people, for a few +shillings he was taking home, our friend had not much reason to give for the +two huge horse-pistols he carried, ready for action. His story of the death of +a German engineer in these parts is worth recording here. He was riding home +one dark night, with a companion; and, trusting to his knowledge of the +country, tried a short cut through the woods, among the old open mines near the +Regla road. They had quite passed all the dangerous places, he thought, so he +gave his horse the spur, and plunged sheer down a shaft, hundreds of feet deep. +His friend pulled up in time, and got home safely. +</p> + +<p> +We had one more day among the mines, and then went back to Pachuca, and next +day to Mexico in the Diligence. Everywhere the same hospitality and +good-natured interest in us and our doings, often shown by people with whom we +had hardly the slightest acquaintance. Travelling here is very different from +what it is in a country on which the shadow of Murray’s Handbook has +fallen. +</p> + +<p> +Almost all the interest Europe takes in Mexico, politically and commercially, +turns upon the exportation of silver. The gold, cochineal, and vanilla are of +small account. It is the silver dollars that pay for the Manchester goods, +woollens, hardware, and many other things—those ubiquitous boxes of sardines à +l’huile, for instance. The Mexicans send to Europe some five millions +sterling in silver every year, that is, about twelve shillings apiece for all +the population. It is just about what their government spends annually in +promoting the maladministration of the country (and, looking at the matter in +that point of view, they don’t do their work badly for the money). The +income of the Mexican church is not quite so much, but not far off. +</p> + +<p> +Baron Humboldt has expressed a hope that, at some future day, the Mexicans will +turn their attention to producing articles of real intrinsic value, and not +those which are merely a sign to represent it. He tells us, quite feelingly, +how the Peace of Amiens stopped the working of the iron-mines that had been +opened when they could get no iron from abroad; for, when trade was reopened, +people preferred buying in Europe probably a better article at one-third the +price. He even hopes an enlightened government will encourage (that is, +protect) more useful industries. This was written fifty years ago, though. If +an enlightened government will give people some security for life and property, +and make reasonable laws, and execute them,—leaving men of business to find out +for themselves how it suits them to employ their capital, it seems probable +that the balance between articles of real value and articles of imaginary value +will adjust itself, perhaps better than an enlightened government could do it. +The Mexican government has, unfortunately, followed Humboldt’s advice in +some respects. Cotton goods, woollens, and hardware are thus protected. We may +sum up the statistics of the Mexican cotton-manufacture in a rough way +thus,—taking merely into question the coarse cotton cloth called <i>manta</i>, +and used principally by the Indians. We may reckon roughly that for this +article alone the Mexicans have to pay a million sterling annually more than +they could get it for if there were no protection-duty. The only advantage +anybody gets by this is that a certain part of the population is employed in a +manufacture unsuited to the country, and is thus taken away from work that may +be done profitably. The actual amount of money paid in wages to the class of +operatives thus forced into existence is much <i>less</i> than the amount which +the country forfeits for the sake of making its manta at home. Thus a sum +actually amounting to a third of the annual taxation of the country is thrown +away upon this one article; and more goes the same way, to encourage similar +unprofitable manufactures. +</p> + +<p> +With respect to the silver-mines, it is stated, on competent authority, that +the northern States of Mexico are very rich in silver; but there is scarcely +any population, and that consisting mostly of Red Indians who will not work. +When this district becomes a territory of the United States—as seems almost +certain, this silver will, no doubt, be worked. We may make three periods in +the history of Mexican silver-mining. Before the Conquest, the Aztecs worked +the silver-ore at Tasco and other places; and were very familiar with silver, +though they did not value it much. Under the Spaniards, the working of silver +became the prominent industry of the country; and, until the Mexican +Independence, the production steadily increased. The Spaniards invented +amalgamation by the <i>patio</i>-process, a most, important improvement. Then +came above twenty years of confusion, when little was done. But when the +Republic had fairly got under way, and the country was in some measure open to +foreigners, Europe, especially England, in hot haste to take advantage of the +opportunity, sent over engineers and machinery, and great sums of money, much +of which was quite wasted, to the hopeless ruin of a great part of the +adventurers. +</p> + +<p> +The improvements and the machinery remained, however; and the mines passed into +other hands. Of late years the companies have been doing very well, and now +export nearly as much silver as during the latter years of the Spanish +government—nearly, but not quite. The financial history of the Real del Monte +Company is worth putting down. The original English company spent nearly one +million sterling on it, without getting any dividend. They sold it to two or +three Mexicans for about twenty-seven thousand pounds, and the Mexicans spent +eighty thousand more on it, and then began to make profits. The annual profit +is now some £200,000. +</p> + +<p> +I have said that the modern Mexican Indian has but little idea of arithmetic. +This was not the case with his ancestors, who had a curious notation, serving +for the highest numbers. The Indians of the present day use the old Aztec +numerals, and from these there is something to be learnt. +</p> + +<p> +Baron Humboldt, speaking of the Muysca Indians of South America, says that +their word for eleven is <i>quihicha ata</i>, that is, “foot one;” +meaning that they have counted all their fingers, and are beginning their toes. +He proceeds to compare the Persian words, <i>pentcha</i>, hand, and +<i>pendj</i>, five, as being connected with one another, and gives various +other curious instances of finger-numeration. We may carry the theory further. +The Zulu language reckons from one up to five, and then goes on with +<i>tatisitupe</i> (“take the thumb”), meaning <i>six</i>; +<i>tatukomba</i> (“take the pointer,” or forefinger), meaning +<i>seven</i>, and so on. The Vei language counts from one up to nineteen, and +for twenty says <i>mo bande</i>—“a person is finished”—that is, +both fingers and toes. I venture to add another suggestion. Eichhoff gives a +Sanskrit word for finger, “daiçini” (taken apparently from +<i>pra-deçinî</i>, forefinger), and which corresponds curiously with +“daçan,” ten; and we have the same resemblance running through many +of the Indo-European languages, as δεκα and +δακτυλος, <i>decem</i> and +<i>digitus</i>; German, <i>Zehn</i> and <i>Zehe</i>, and so +on. +</p> + +<p> +Here the Mexican numerals will afford us a new illustration. Of the meaning of +the first four of them—<i>çe, ome, yei, nahui</i>—I can give no idea, any more +than I can of the meaning of the words one, two, three, four, which correspond +to them; but the Mexican for <i>five</i> is <i>macuilli</i>, +“hand-depicting.” Then we go on in the dark as far as <i>ten</i>, +which is <i>matlactli</i>, “hand-half,” as I think it means, (from +<i>tlactli</i>, half); and this would mean, not the halving of a hand, but the +half of the whole person, which you get by counting his hands only. The +syllable <i>ma</i>, which means “hand,” makes its appearance in the +words five and ten, and no where else; just as it should do. When we come to +twenty, we have <i>cempoalli</i>, “one counting;” that is, one +whole man, fingers and toes—corresponding to the Vei word for twenty, “a +person is finished.” +</p> + +<p> +I think we need no more examples to show that people—in almost all +countries—reckon by fives, tens, or twenties, merely because they began to +count upon their fingers and toes. If the strong man who had six fingers on +each hand, and six toes on each foot, had invented a system of numeration, it +would have gone in twelves, nearly like the duodecimals which our carpenters +use; unless, indeed, he had been stupid after the manner of very strong men, +and not gone beyond sixes. We see how the Romans, though they inherited from +their Eastern ancestors a numeration by tens up to <i>decem</i>, and then +beginning again <i>undecim</i>, &c., yet when they began to write a +notation could get no farther than five—I., II., III., IV., V.; and then on +again, VI., VII., up to ten, from ten to fifteen, and so on. +</p> + +<p> +There is a very curious vulgar error which prevails, even among people who have +a good practical acquaintance with arithmetic. It is that the number <i>ten</i> +has some special virtue which fits it for counting up to. The fact is that ten +is not the best number for the purpose; you can halve it, it is true, but that +is about all you can do with it, for its being divisible by five is of hardly +any use for practical purposes. <i>Eight</i> would be a much better number, for +you can halve it three times in succession; and <i>twelve</i> is perhaps the +most convenient number possible, as it will divide by two, three, and four. It +is this convenient property that leads tradesmen to sell by dozens, and +grosses, rather than by tens and hundreds. If we used eights or twelves instead +of tens for numeration, we might of course preserve all the advantages of the +Indian or Arabic numerals; in the first case, we should discard the ciphers 8 +and 9, and reckon 5, 6, 7, 10; and in the second case, we should want two new +ciphers for ten and eleven; and 10 would stand for twelve, and 11 for thirteen. +Our happening to have ten fingers has really led us into a rather inconvenient +numerical system. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus14"></a> +<img src="images/fig11.jpg" width="450" height="420" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">AZTEC HEAD, IN TERRA COTTA.<br />(PROBABLY EITHER A +HOUSEHOLD-GOD OR A VOTIVE OFFERING).</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +MEXICO. GUADALUPE.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus15"></a> +<img src="images/fig12.jpg" width="500" height="336" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">The Rebozo worn by the Women of Mexico; and the Serape worn +by the Men.</p> +</div> + +<p> +While we were away at the Real del Monte, the news had reached Mexico that +Puebla had capitulated, and that the rebel leader had fled. The victory was +celebrated in the capital with the most triumphal entries, harangues, +bull-fights, and illuminations done to order. If you had a house in one of the +principal streets, the police would make you illuminate it, whether you liked +or not. The newspapers loudly proclaimed the triumph of the constitutional +principle, and the inauguration of a reign of law and order that was never to +cease. +</p> + +<p> +As for the newspapers, indeed, one looked in vain in them for any free +expression of public opinion. They were all either suppressed, or converted +into the merest mouthpieces of the government. The telegraph was under the +strictest surveillance, and no messages were allowed to be sent which the +government did not consider favourable to their interests; a precaution which +rather defeated itself, as the people soon ceased to believe any public news at +all. In all these mean little shifts, which we in England consider as the +special property of despotic governments, the authorities of the Mexican +Republic showed themselves great proficients. +</p> + +<p> +We were left, therefore, to form what idea we could of the real state of +Mexican affairs, from the private information received by our friends. Just for +once it may be worth while to give a few details, not because the people +engaged were specially interesting, but because the affair may serve to give an +idea of the condition of the country. +</p> + +<p> +President Comonfort, not a bad sort of man, as it seemed, but not “strong +enough for the place,” and with an empty treasury, tried to make a stand +against the clergy and the army, who stood firm against any attempt at +reform—knowing, with a certain instinct, that, if any real reform once began, +their own unreasonable privileges would soon be attacked. So the clergy and +part of the army set up an anti-president, one Haro; and he installed himself +at Puebla, which is the second city of the Republic, and there Comonfort +besieged him. So far I have already described the doings of the +“reaccionarios.” +</p> + +<p> +The newspapers gave wonderful accounts of attacks and repulses, and reckoned +the killed on both sides at 2,500. There were 10,000 regular troops, and 10,000 +irregulars (very irregular troops indeed); and these were commanded by a +complete regiment of officers, and <i>forty</i> generals. This is reckoning +both sides; but as, on pretty good authority (Tejada’s statistical +table), the troops in the Republic are only reckoned at 12,000, no doubt the +above numbers are much exaggerated. As for the 2,500 killed, the fact is that +the siege was a mere farce; and, judging by what we heard at the time in +Mexico, and soon afterwards in Puebla itself, 25 was a much more correct +estimate: and some facetious people reduced it, by one more division, to two +and a half. The President had managed, by desperate efforts, to borrow some +money in Mexico, on the credit of the State, at sixty per cent.; and it seems +certain that it was this money, judiciously administered to some of +Haro’s generals, that brought about the flight of the anti-president, and +the capitulation of Puebla. The termination of the affair, according to the +newspapers, was, that the rebel army were incorporated with the constitutional +troops; that their officers—500 in number—were reduced to the ranks for a term +of years; that a hot pursuit was made after the fugitive Haro; and that, as it +was notorious that the clergy had found the money for the rebellion, it was +considered suitable that they should pay the expenses of the other side too; +and an order was made on the church-estates of the district to that effect. Of +course, it was an understood thing that the officers thus degraded would desert +at the first opportunity, and thus the Government would be rid of them. As for +Haro, it is not probable that they ever intended to catch him; and they were +very glad when he disguised himself in sailor’s clothes, and shipped +himself off somewhere. When the Mexicans first took to civil wars, the +victorious leader used to finish the contest by having his adversary shot. At +the time of our visit, this fashion had gone out; and the victor treated the +vanquished with great leniency, not unmindful of the time when he might be in a +like situation himself. +</p> + +<p> +Whether the President ever got much of the forced contribution from the clergy, +I cannot say. At any rate, they have turned him out since; and for a very poor +government have substituted mere chaotic anarchy, as Mr. Carlyle would call it. +While the siege was going on, all the commerce between Vera Cruz and the +capital was interrupted, and, of course, trade and manufacturing felt the +effects severely. Nothing shews the capabilities of the country more clearly +than the fact that, in spite of its distracted state and continual wars, its +industrial interests seem to be gaining ground steadily, though very slowly. +The evil of these ceaseless wars and revolutions is not that great battles are +here fought, cities destroyed, and men sacrificed by thousands. Perhaps in no +country in the world are “decisive victories,” “sanguinary +engagements,” “brilliant attacks,” and the like, got over +with less loss of life. Incredible as it may seem to any one who knows how many +civil wars and revolutions occur in the history of the country for the last +four or five years, I should not wonder if the number of persons killed during +that time in actual battle was less than the number of those deliberately +assassinated, or killed in private quarrels. +</p> + +<p> +Cheap as Mexican revolutions are in actual bloodshed, we must recollect what +they bring with them. Thousands of deserters prowling about the country, +robbing and murdering, and spreading everywhere the precious lessons they have +learnt in barracks. We know something in England of the good moral influence +that garrisons and recruiting sergeants carry about with them; and can judge a +little what must be the result of the spreading of numbers of these fellows +over a country where there is nothing to restrain their excesses! As for the +soldiers themselves, one does not wonder at their deserting, for they are in +great part pressed men, carried off from their homes, and shut up in barracks +till they have been drilled, and are considered to be tamed; and moreover their +pay, as one may judge from the general state of the military finances, is +anything but regular. People who understand such matters, say that the Mexicans +make very good soldiers, and fight well and steadily when well trained and well +officered. They are able to march surprising distances, day after day, to live +cheerfully on the very minimum of food, and to sleep anyhow. This we could +judge for ourselves. One thing there is, however, that they strongly object to, +and that is to be moved much beyond the range of their own climate. The men of +the plains are as susceptible as Europeans to the ill effects of the climate of +the tierra caliente; and the men of the hot lands cannot bear the cold of the +high plateaus. +</p> + +<p> +Travellers in the United States make great fun of the profusion of colonels and +generals, and tell ludicrous stories on the subject. There is also talk of the +absurd number of officers in the Spanish-American armies, but we should not, by +any means, confound the two things. In the United States it is merely a +harmless exhibition of vanity, and an amusing comment on their own high-minded +abnegation of mere titles. In Spanish America it indicates a very real and +serious evil indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, in his statistical chart for 1856, quoted above, +estimates the soldiers in the Republic at 12,000, and the officers at 2,000, +not counting those on half-pay. One officer to every six men; and among them +sixty-nine generals. These are not mere militia heroes, walking about in fine +uniforms, but have actual commissions from some one of the many governments +that have come and gone, and are entitled to their pay, which they get or do +not get, as may happen. Only a fraction of them know anything whatever about +the art of war. They were political adventurers, friends or relatives of some +one in power, or simply speculators who bought their commissions as a sort of +illegitimate Government Annuities. The continual rebellions or pronunciamientos +have increased the number of officers still further. Comonfort’s notion +of degrading all the officers of the rebel army was a new and bold experiment. +A very common course had been, when a pronunciamiento had been made anywhere +against the then existing government, and a revolutionary army had been raised, +for an amalgamation to take place between the two forces; intrigue and bribery +and mutual disinclination to fight bringing matters to this peaceful kind of +settlement. In this case, it was usual for the rebel officers to retain their +self-conferred dignities. +</p> + +<p> +I think this body of soldierless officers is one of the most troublesome +political elements at work in the Republic. The political agitators are mostly +among them; and it is they, more than any other class, who are continually +stirring up factions and making pronunciamientos (what a pleasant thing it is +that we have never had to make an English word for +“pronunciamiento”). Several times, efforts have been made to reduce +the Army List to decent proportions, but a fresh crop always springs up. +</p> + +<p> +In the “lowest depth” of mismanagement to which Mexican military +affairs have sunk, the newspapers still triumphantly refer to countries which +surpass them in this respect, and, at the time of our arrival, were citing the +statistics of the Peruvian Republic, where there are a general and twenty +officers to every sixty soldiers, and as many naval officers as seamen. +</p> + +<p> +These officers are not subject to the civil administration at all, whatever +they may do. They have their <i>fuero</i>, their private charter, and are only +amenable to their own tribunals, just as the clergy are to theirs. To the ill +effects of the presence of such armies and such officers in the country, we +must add the continual interruptions to commerce arising from the distracted +state of the republic, and the uncertain tenure by which every one holds his +property, not to say his life; and this, in its effect on the morale of the +whole country, is worse than the positive suffering they inflict. So much for +soldiering, for the present. We leave the President trying, with the aid of his +Congress, to organize the government, and set things straight generally. This +August assembly is selected from the people by universal suffrage, in the most +approved manner, and ought to be a very important and useful body, but +unfortunately can do nothing but talk and issue decrees, which no one else +cares about. +</p> + +<p> +In consequence of the alarming increase of highway-robbery, steps are taken to +diminish the evil. It is made lawful to punish such offenders on the spot, by +Lynch law. This is all. You may do justice on him when caught, but really you +must catch him yourself. Sober citizens are even regretting the days of Santa +Ana (recollect, I speak now of 1856, and they might regret him still more in +1860.) He was a great scoundrel, it is true; but he sent down detachments of +soldiery to where the robbers practised their profession, and garotted them in +pairs, till the roads were as safe as ours are in England. A President who +sells states and pockets the money may have even that forgiven him in +consideration of roads kept free from robbers, and some attempt at an effectual +police. There is a lesson in this for Mexican rulers. +</p> + +<p> +The Congress professed to be hard at work cleaning out the Augean stable of +laws, rescripts, and proclamations, and making a working constitution. We went +to see them one day, and heard talking going on, but it all came to nothing. Of +one thing we may be quite sure, that if this unlucky country ever does get set +straight, it will not be done by a Mexican Congress sitting and cackling over +it. +</p> + +<p> +On our return from the Real, we spent two days at the house of an English +friend at Tisapán, at the edge of the great Pedrigal, or lava-field, which lies +south of the capital. It was across this lava-field that a part of the American +army marched in ’47, and defeated a division of the Mexican forces +encamped at Contrevas. On the same day the American army attacked the Mexicans +who held a strongly fortified position at Churubusco, some four miles nearer +Mexico, and routed the main army there. They beat them again at Molino del Rey, +carried the hill of Chapultepec by storm, and then entered the city without +meeting with further resistance; though the Mexicans, after they had formally +yielded possession of the city, disgraced themselves by assassinating stray +Americans, stabbing them in the streets, and lazoing them from the tops of the +low mud houses in the suburbs. +</p> + +<p> +An acquaintance of ours in Mexico met some American soldiers, with a corporal, +in the street close to his house, and asked them in. Presently the corporal +sent one of the men off into the next street to execute some commission; but +half an hour elapsed, and the man not returning, the corporal went out to see +what was the matter. He came back presently, and remarked that some of those +cursed Mexicans had stabbed the man as he was turning the corner of the street, +and left him lying there. “So,” said the corporal, “I may as +well finish his brandy and water for him;” he did so accordingly, and the +men went home to their quarters. +</p> + +<p> +The American soldiers were, as one may imagine, a rough lot. Only the smaller +part of them were born Americans, the rest were emigrants from Europe; to judge +by what we heard of them—both in the States and in Mexico—the very refuse of +all the scoundrels in the Republic; but they were well officered, and rigid +discipline was maintained. So effectually were they kept in order, that the +Mexicans confessed that it was a smaller evil to have the enemy’s forces +marching through the country, than their own army. +</p> + +<p> +An elaborate account of the American invasion is given in Mayer’s +‘Mexico.’ To those who do not care for details of military +operations, there are still points of interest in the history. That ten +thousand Americans should have been able to get through the mountain-passes, +and to reach the capital at all, is an astonishing thing; and after that, their +successes in the valley of Mexico follow as a matter of course. They could +never have crossed the mountains but for a combination of circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +The inhabitants generally displayed the most entire indifference; possibly +preferring to sell their provisions to the Americans, instead of being robbed +of them by their own countrymen. Add to this, that the Mexican officers showed +themselves grossly ignorant of the art of war; and that the soldiers, though +they do not seem to have been deficient in courage, were badly drilled and +insubordinate. One would not have wondered at the army being in such a +condition—-in a country that had long been in a state of profound peace; but in +Mexico a standing army had been maintained for years, at a great expense, and +continual civil wars ought to have given people some ideas about soldiering. We +may judge, from the events of this war, that Mexico might be kept in good order +by a small number of American troops. The mere holding of the country is not +the greatest difficulty in the question of American annexation. +</p> + +<p> +One thing that struck our friends at Tisapán, among their experiences of the +war, was the number of dead bodies of women and children that were found on the +battle-fields. A crowd of women follow close in the rear of a Mexican army; +almost every soldier having some woman who belongs to him, and who carries a +heavy load of Indian corn and babies, and cooks tortillas for her lord and +master. The number of these poor creatures who perished in the war was very +great. +</p> + +<p> +We spent much of our time at Tisapán in collecting plants, and exploring the +lava-field, and the cañada, or ravine, that leads up into the mountains that +skirt the valley of Mexico. I recollect one interesting spot we came to in +riding through the pine-forest on the northern slope of the mountains, where +the course of a torrent, now dry, ran along a mere narrow trench in the hard +porphyritic rock, some ten or fifteen feet wide, until it had suddenly entered +a bed of gravel, where it had hollowed out a vast ravine, four hundred feet +wide and two hundred deep, the inlet of the water being, in proportion, as +small as the pipe that serves to fill a cistern. +</p> + +<p> +Such places are common enough in the south of Europe, but seldom on so grand a +scale as one finds them in this country, where the floods come down from the +hills with astounding suddenness and violence. Mr. L. had experience of this +one day, when he had got inside his waterwheel, to inspect its condition, the +water being securely shut off, as he thought. However, an aversada—one of these +sudden freshets—came down, quite without notice; and enough water got into the +channel to set the wheel going, so as to afford its proprietor a very curious +and exciting ride, after the manner of a squirrel in a revolving cage, until +the people succeeded in drawing off the water. +</p> + +<p> +It was after our return from Tisapán that we paid a visit to Our Lady of +Guadalupe, rather an important personage in the history of Mexican +church-matters. The way lies past Santo Domingo, the church of the Holy Office, +and down a long street where live the purveyors of all things for the +muleteers. Here one may buy mats, ropes, pack-saddles—which the arrieros +delight to have ornamented with fanciful designs and inscriptions, lazos, and +many other things of the same kind. Passing out through the city-gate, we ride +along a straight causeway, which extends to Guadalupe. A dull road enough in +itself, but the interminable strings of mules and donkeys, bringing in +pig-skins full of pulque, are worth seeing for once; and the Indians, trudging +out and in with their various commodities, are highly picturesque. +</p> + +<p> +On a building at the side of the causeway we notice “Estación de +Méjico” (Mexico Station) painted in large letters. As far as we could +observe, this very suggestive sign-board is the whole plant of the Railway +Company at this end of the line. A range of hills ends abruptly in the plain, +at a place which the Indians called Tepeyacac, “end of the hill” +(literally “at the hill’s nose”). Our causeway leads to this +spot; and there, at the foot and up the slope of the hill, are built the great +cathedral and other churches and chapels, altogether a vast and imposing +collection of buildings; and round these a considerable town has grown up, for +this is the great place of pilgrimage in the country. +</p> + +<p> +The Spaniards had brought a miraculous picture with them, Nuestra Señora de +Remedios, which is still in the country, and many pilgrims visit it; but Our +Lady of Guadalupe is a native Mexican, and decidedly holds the first rank in +the veneration of the people. +</p> + +<p> +In the great church there is a picture mounted in a gold frame of great value. +Its distance from the altar-rails, and the pane of glass which covers it, +prevent one’s seeing it very well. This was the more unfortunate, as, +according to my history, the picture is in itself evidently of miraculous +origin, for the best artists are agreed that no human hand could imitate the +drawing or the colour! It appears that the Aztecs, long before the arrival of +the Spaniards, had been in the habit of worshipping—in this very place—a +goddess, who was known as <i>Teotenantzin</i>, “mother-god,” or +<i>Tonantzin</i>, “our mother.” Ten years after the Conquest, a +certain converted Indian, Juan Diego (John James) by name, was passing that +way, and to him appeared the Virgin Mary. She told him to go to the bishop, and +tell him to build her a temple on the place where she stood, giving him a +lapful of flowers as a token. When the flowers were poured out of the garment, +in presence of the bishop, the miraculous picture appeared underneath, painted +on the apron itself. The bishop accepted the miracle with great unction; the +temple was built, and the miraculous image duly installed in it. Its name of +“Santa Maria de Guadalupe,” was not, as one might imagine, taken +from the Madonna of that name in Spain (of course not!), but was communicated +by Our Lady herself to another converted Indian. She told him that her title +was to be <i>Santa Maria de Tequatlanopeuh</i>, “Saint Mary of the rocky +hill,” of which hard word the Spaniards made +“Guadalupe,”—just as they had turned Quauhnahuac into Cuernavaca, +and Quauhaxallan into Guadalajara, substituting the nearest word of Spanish +form for the unpronounceable Mexican names. This at least is the ingenious +explanation given by my author, the Bachelor Tanco, Professor of the Aztec +language, and of Astrology, in the University of Mexico, in the year 1666. The +bishop who authenticated the miracle was no less a person than Fray Juan de +Zumarraga, whose name is well known in Mexican history, for it was he who +collected together all the Aztec picture-writings that he could find, +“quite a mountain of them,” say the chroniclers, and made a solemn +bonfire of them in the great square of Tlatelolco. The miracles worked by the +Virgin of Guadalupe, and by copies of it, are innumerable; and the faith which +the lower orders of Mexicans and the Indians have in it is boundless. +</p> + +<p> +On the 12th of December, the Anniversary of the Apparition is kept, and an +amazing concourse of the faithful repair to the sanctuary. Heller, a German +traveller who was in Mexico in 1846, saw an Indian taken to the church; he had +broken his leg, which had not even been set, and he simply expected Our Lady to +cure him without any human intervention at all. Unluckily, the author had no +opportunity of seeing what became of him. The great miracle of all was the +deliverance of Mexico from the great inundation of 1626, and the fact is +established thus. The city was under water, the inhabitants in despair. The +picture was brought to the Cathedral in a canoe, through the streets of Mexico; +and between one and two years afterwards the inundation subsided. <i>Ergo</i>, +it was the picture that saved the city! +</p> + +<p> +For centuries a fierce rivalry existed between the Spanish Virgin, called +“de Remedios,” and Our Lady of Guadalupe; the Spaniards supporting +the first, and the native Mexicans the second. A note of Humboldt’s +illustrates this feeling perfectly. He relates that whenever the country was +suffering from drought, the Virjen do Remedios was carried into Mexico in +procession, to bring rain, till it came to be said, quite as a proverb, +<i>Hasta el agua nos debe venir de la Gachupina</i>—“We must get even our +water from that Spanish creature.” If it happened that the Spanish +Madonna produced no effect after a long trial, the native Madonna was allowed +to be brought solemnly in by the Indians, and never failed in bringing the +wished-for rain, which always came sooner or later. It is remarkable that the +Spanish party, who were then all-powerful, should have allowed their own +Madonna to be placed at such a disadvantage, in not having the last innings. I +need hardly say that the shrine of Guadalupe is monstrously rich. The Chapter +has been known to lend such a thing as a million or two of dollars at a time, +though most of their property is invested on landed security. They are allowed +to have lotteries, and make something handsome out of them; and they even sell +medals and prints of their patroness, which have great powers. You may have +plenary indulgence in the hour of death for sixpence or less. We drank of the +water of the chalybeate spring, bought sacred lottery-tickets, which turned out +blanks, and tickets for indulgences, which, I greatly fear, will not prove more +valuable; and so rode home along the dusty causeway to breakfast. +</p> + +<p> +As means of learning what sort of books the poorer classes in Mexico preferred, +we overhauled with great diligence the book-stalls, of which there are a few, +especially under the arcades (Portales) near the great square. The Mexican +public have not much cheap literature to read; and the scanty list of such +popular works is half filled with Our Lady of Guadalupe, and other +miracle-books of the same kind. Father Ripalda’s Catechism has a large +circulation, and is apparently the one in general use in the country. Zavala +speaks of this catechism as containing the maxims of blind obedience to king +and pope; but my more modern edition has scarcely anything to say about the +Pope, and nothing at all about the government. Of late years, indeed, the Pope +has not counted for much, politically, in Mexico; and on one occasion his +Holiness found, when he tried to interfere about church-benefices, that his +authority was rather nominal than real. On the whole, nothing in the Catechism +struck me so much as the multiplication-table, which, to my unspeakable +astonishment, turned up in the middle of the book; a table of fractions +followed; and then it began again with the Holy Trinity. +</p> + +<p> +To continue our catalogue; there are the almanacks, which contain rules for +foretelling the weather by the moon’s quarters, but none of the other +fooleries which we find in those that circulate in England among the less +educated classes. It is curious to notice how the taste for putting sonnets and +other dreary poems at the beginnings and ends of books has survived in these +Spanish countries. What used to be known in England as “a copy of +verses” is still appreciated here, and almanacks, newspapers, religious +books, even programmes of plays and bull-fights, are full of such dismal +compositions. We ought to be thankful that the fashion has long since gone out +with us (except in the religions tract, where it still survives). It is not +merely apropos of sonnets, but of thousands of other things, that in these +countries one is brought, in a manner, face to face with England as it used to +be; and very trifling matters become interesting when viewed in this light. The +last item in the list comprises translations, principally of French novels, +those being preferred in which the agony is “piled up” to the +highest point. German literature is represented by the “Sorrows of +Werter.” Of course, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is widely +circulated here, as it is everywhere in countries not given to the +“particular vanity” attacked in it. +</p> + +<p> +One need hardly say that both literature and education are at a very low ebb in +Mexico. Referring to Tejada again, I find that he reckons that in the capital, +out of a population of 185,000, there are 12,000 scholars at primary schools; +but of course, as in other countries, a large proportion of these children +attend so irregularly that they can hardly learn anything. For the country +generally, he estimates one child receiving instruction out of thirty-seven +inhabitants, a very significant piece of statistics. Efforts are being made, +especially in the capital, to raise the population out of this state. Mr. +Christy took much trouble in investigating the subject, with the assistance of +our friend Don José Miguel Cervantes, the head of the Ayuntamiento, or +Municipal Council. This gentleman, with a few others, has been doing much +up-hill work of this kind for years past, establishing schools, and trying to +make head against the opposition of the priests and the indifference of the +people, as yet with but small success. +</p> + +<p> +It seems hard to be always attacking the Roman Catholic clergy, but of one +thing we cannot remain in doubt,—that their influence has had more to do than +anything else with the doleful ignorance which reigns supreme in Mexico. For +centuries they had the education of the country in their hands, and even at +this day they retain the greater share of it. The training which the priests +themselves receive will therefore give one some idea of what they teach their +scholars. Unluckily, their course of instruction was stereotyped ages ago, when +learned men devoted themselves to writing huge books on divinity, casuistry, +logic, and metaphysics; concealing their ignorance of facts under an +affectation of wisdom and clouds of long words; demonstrating how many millions +of angels could dance on a needle’s point; writing treatises “<i>de +omni re scibili</i>,” and on a good many things unknowable also; and +teaching their admiring scholars the art of building up sham arguments on any +subject, whether they know anything about it or not. This is a very vicious +system of training for a man’s mind, the more especially when it is +supposed to set him up with a stock of superior knowledge; and this is what the +Roman Catholic clergy have been learning, generation after generation, in +Mexico and elsewhere. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions, particularly +among the higher clergy; but, so far as I have been able to ascertain, +education in clerical schools has generally been of this kind. It is +instinctive to talk a little, as one occasionally finds an opportunity of +doing, to some youth just out of these colleges. I recollect speaking to a +young man who had just left the Seminario of Mexico, where he had been through +a long course of theology and philosophy. He was astonished to hear that +bull-fighting and colearing were not universally practised in Europe; and, when +his father began to question me about the Crimean war, the young +gentleman’s remarks showed that he had not the faintest idea where +England and France were, nor how far they were from one another. +</p> + +<p> +I happened, not long ago, to visit a celebrated monastic college in South +Italy, where they educated, not ordinary mortals, but only young men of noble +birth; and here I took particular care in inspecting the library, judging that, +though the scholars need not learn all that was there, yet that no department +of knowledge would be taught there that was not represented on the +library-shelves. What I saw fully confirmed all that I had previously seen and +heard about the monastic learning of the present day. There were to be seen +many fine manuscripts, and black-letter books, and curious old editions of +great value, good store of classics (mostly Latin, however), works of the +Fathers by the hundred-weight, and quartos and folios of canon-law, theology, +metaphysics, and such like, by the ton. But it seemed that, in the estimation +of the librarians, the world had stood still since the time of Duns Scotus; +for, of what we call positive knowledge, except a little arithmetic and +geometry, and a few very poor histories, I saw nothing. It is easy to see how +one result of the clerical monopoly of education has therefore come about—that +the intellectual standard is very low in Mexico. The Holy Office, too, has had +its word to say in the matter. This institution had not much work to do in +burning Indians, who were anything but sceptical in their turn of mind, and, +indeed, were too much like Theodore Hook, and would believe “forty, if +you pleased.” They even went further, and were apt to believe not only +what the missionaries taught them, but to cherish the memory of their old gods +into the bargain. It was three centuries after the Conquest, that Mr. Bullock +got the goddess Teoyaomiqui dug up in Mexico; and the old Indian remarked to +him that it was true the Spaniards had given them three very good new gods, but +it was rather hard to take away all their old ones. At any rate, the functions +of the Inquisition were mostly confined to working the <i>Index +Expurgatorius</i>, and suppressing knowledge generally, which they did with +great industry until not long ago. +</p> + +<p> +Here, then, are two causes of Mexican ignorance, and a third may be this; that +Mexico was a colony to which the Spaniards generally came to make their +fortunes, with a view of returning to their own land; and this state of things +was unfavourable to the country as regards the progress of knowledge, as well +as in other things. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +TEZCUCO.</h2> + +<p> +Across the lake of Tezcuco is Tezcuco itself, a great city and the capital of a +kingdom at the time of the Conquest, and famous for its palaces and its learned +men. Now it is an insignificant Spanish town, built, indeed, to a great extent, +of the stones of the old buildings. Mr. Bowring, who has evaporating-works at +the edge of the lake, and lives in the “Casa Grande”—the Great +House, just outside Tezcuco, has invited us to pay him a visit; so we get up +early one April morning, and drive down to the street of the Solitude of Holy +Cross (Calle de la Soledad de Santa Cruz). There we find Mr. Millard, a +Frenchman, who is an <i>employé</i> of Mr. Bowling’s, and is going back +to Tezcuco with us; and we walk down to the canal with him, half a dozen Indian +porters with baskets following us, and trotting along in the queer shuffling +way that is habitual to them. At the landing-place we find a number of canoes, +and a crowd of Indians, men and women, in scanty cotton garments which show the +dirt in an unpleasant manner. A canoe is going to Tezcuco, a sort of regular +packet-boat, in fact; and of this canoe Mr. Millard has retained for us three +the stern half, over which is stretched an awning of aloe-fibre cloth. The +canoe itself is merely a large shallow box, made of rough planks, with sloping +prow and stern, more like a bread-tray in shape than anything else I can think +of. There is no attempt at making the bows taper, and indeed the Indians +stoutly resist this or any other innovation. In the fore part of the canoe +there is already a heap of other passengers, lying like bait in a box, and when +we arrive the voyage begins. +</p> + +<p> +The crew are ten in number; the captain, eight men, and an old woman in charge +of the tortillas and the pulque-jar. All these are brown people; in fact, the +navigation of the lakes is entirely in the hands of the Indians, and +“reasonable people” have nothing to do with it. Reasonable +people—“gente de razón”—being, as I have said before, those who +have any white blood in them; and republican institutions have not in the least +effaced the distinction. +</p> + +<p> +So it comes to pass that the canoe-traffic is carried on in much the same way +as it was in Montezuma’s time. There is one curious difference, however. +These canoes are all poled about the lakes and canals; and I do not think we +saw an Indian oar or paddle in the whole valley of Mexico. In the ancient +picture-writings, however, the Indians are paddling their canoes with a kind of +oar, shaped at the end like one of our fire-shovels. But, as we have seen, the +distribution of land and water has altered since those days; and the lakes, far +greater in extent, were of course several feet deeper all over the present +beds; and even at a short distance from the city poling would have been +impossible. I suspect that the Aztecs originally used both poles and paddles, +and that the latter went out of use when the water became shallow enough for +the pole to serve all purposes. Otherwise, we must suppose that the Mexicans, +since the Spanish Conquest, introduced a new invention; which is not easy to +believe. +</p> + +<p> +We had first to get out of the canal, and fairly out into the lake. This was +the more desirable, as the canal is one of the drains of the city, an office +that it fills badly enough, seeing that there is scarcely any fall of water +from the lower quarters of the city to the lake. I never saw water-snakes in +numbers to compare with those in the canal, and by the side of it. They were +swimming in the water, wriggling in and out; and on the banks they were +writhing in heaps, like our passengers forward. Two of our crew tow us along, +and we are soon clear of the canal, and of the salt-swamp that extends on both +sides of it, where the bottom of the lake was in old times. Once fairly out, we +look round us. We see Mexico from a new point of view, and begin to understand +why the Spaniards called it the Venice of the New World. Even now, though the +lake is so much smaller than it was then, the city, with its domes and +battlemented roofs, seems to rise from the water itself, for the intervening +flat is soon foreshortened into nothing. At the present moment it is evident +that the level of the lake is much higher than usual. A little way off, on our +right, is the Peñón de los Baños—“the rock of baths”—a porphyritic +hill forced up by volcanic agency, where there are hot springs. It is generally +possible to reach this hill by land, but the water is now so high that the rock +has become an island as it used to be. +</p> + +<p> +When the first two brigantines were launched on the Lake of Tezcuco by the +Spaniards, Cortes took Montezuma with him to sail upon the lake, soon leaving +the Aztec canoes far behind. They went to a Peñón or rocky hill where Montezuma +preserved game for his own hunting, and not even the highest nobility were +allowed to hunt there on pain of death. The Spaniards had a regular battue +there; killing deer, hares, and rabbits till they were tired. This Peñón may +have been the Peñón de los Baños which we are just passing, but was more +probably a similar hill a little further off, of larger extent, now fortified +and known as El Peñón, the Hill. Both were in those days complete islands at +some distance from the shore. +</p> + +<p> +Now that we are out of the canal, our Indians begin to pole us along, thrusting +their long poles to the bottom of the shallow lake, and walking on two narrow +planks which extend along the sides of the canoe from the prow to the middle +point. Four walk on each plank, each man throwing up his pole as he gets to the +end, and running back up the middle to begin again at the prow. The dexterity +with which they swing the poles about, and keep them out of each other’s +way, is wonderful; and, as seen from our end of the canoe, looks like a kind of +exaggerated quarter-staff playing, only nobody is ever hit. +</p> + +<p> +The great peculiarity of the lake of Tezcuco is that it is a salt lake, +containing much salt and carbonate of soda. The water is quite brackish and +undrinkable. How it has come to be so is plain enough. The streams from the +surrounding mountains bring down salt and soda in solution, derived from the +decomposed porphyry; and as the water of the lake is not drained off into the +sea, but evaporates, the solid constituents are left to accumulate in the lake. +</p> + +<p> +In England, I think, we have no example of this; but the Dead Sea, the Caspian, +the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and even the Mediterranean, have various salts +accumulated in solution in the same way. It seems to me, that, by taking into +account the proportion of soluble material contained in the water that flows +down from the mountains, the probable quantity of water that flows down in the +year, and the proportion of salt in the lake itself, some vague guess might be +made as to the time this state of things has been lasting. I have no data, +unfortunately, even for such a rough calculation as this, or I should like to +try it. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the splendid climate, a great portion of the Valley of Mexico is +anything but fertile; for the soil is impregnated with salt and soda, which in +many places are so abundant as to form, when the water evaporates, a white +efflorescence on the ground, which is called <i>tequesquite</i>, and regularly +collected by the Indians. Some of it is stopped on its way down from the higher +ground, by the evaporation of the water that was carrying it; and some is left +by the lake itself, in its frequent floodings of the ground in its +neighbourhood. So small is the difference of level between the lake and the +plain that surrounds it, that the slightest rise in the height of the water +makes an immense difference in the size of the lake; and even a strong wind +will drive the water over great tracts of ground, from which it retires when +the gale ceases. It must have been this, or something similar, that set Cortes +upon writing home to Spain that the lakes were like inland seas, and even had +tides like the ocean. Of course, this impregnation with salts is ruinous to the +soil, which will produce nothing in such places but tufts of coarse grass; and +the shores of the lake are the most dismal districts one can imagine. All the +lakes, however, are not so salt as Tezcuco; Chalco, for instance, is a +fresh-water lake, and there the fertility of the shores is very great, as I +have already had occasion to notice. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the novelty of this kind of travelling had worn off, we began to +find it dull, and retired under our awning to breakfast and bitter beer; which +latter luxury, thanks to a suitable climate and an English brewer, is very well +understood in Mexico, and is even accepted as a great institution by the +Mexicans themselves. +</p> + +<p> +We were just getting into a drowsy state, when an unusual bustle among the crew +brought us out of our den, and we found that three hours of assiduous poling +had taken us half-way across the lake, just six miles—a good test of the value +of the Aztec system of navigation. Here was a wooden cross set up in the water; +and here, from time out of mind, the boatmen have been used to sing a little +hymn to the Madonna, by whose favour we had got so far, and hoped to get safe +to the end of our voyage. Very well they sang it too, and the scene was as +striking as it was unexpected to us. It seemed to us, however, to be making a +great matter of crossing a piece of water only a few feet deep; but Mr. Millard +assured us, that when a sudden gale came on, it was a particularly unpleasant +place to be afloat in a Mexican canoe, which, being flat-bottomed, has no hold +at all on the water, and from its shape is quite unmanageable in a wind. He +himself was once caught in this way, and kept out all night, with a +“heavy sea” on the lake, the boat drifting helplessly, and +threatening to overturn every moment, and that in places where the water was +quite deep enough to drown them all. The Indians lost their heads entirely, and +throwing down their poles fell on their knees, and joined in the chorus with +the women and children and the rest of the helpless brown people, beating their +breasts, and presenting medals and prints of our Lady of Guadalupe to each wave +as it dashed into them. The wind dropped, however, and Mr. Millard got safe to +Tezcuco next morning; but, instead of receiving sympathy for his misfortunes +when he got there, found that the idea of a tempest on the lake was reckoned a +mere joke, and that the drawing-room of the Casa Grande had been decorated with +a fancy portrait of himself, hanging to the half-way cross, with his legs in +the water, and underneath, a poetical description of his sufferings to the tune +of “<i>Malbrouke s’en va-t-en guerre, ne sais quand +reviendra</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +More poling across the lake, and then another little canal, also constructed +since the diminishing of the water of the lake (which once came close to the +city), and along which our Indians towed us. Then came a short ride, which +brought us to the Casa Grande, where Mrs. Bowring received us with overflowing +hospitality. We went off presently into the town, to see the glassworks. In a +country where all things imported have to be carried in rough waggons, or on +mules’ backs, and over bad roads, it would be hard if it did not pay to +make glass; and, accordingly, we found the works in full operation. The soda is +produced at Mr. Bowling’s works close by, the fuel is charcoal from the +mountains, and for sand they have a substitute, which I never heard of or saw +anywhere else. It seems that a short distance from Tezcuco there is a deposit +of hydrated silica, which is brought down in great blocks by the Indians; and +this, when calcined, answers the purpose perfectly, as there is scarcely any +iron in it. In its natural state it resembles beeswax in colour. +</p> + +<p> +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. The Aztec palaces we read so much of were built in +just the same way. The roofs slope inwards from the sides of the quadrangle, +and drain into the open space in the middle. One afternoon, a tremendous +tropical rain-storm showed us how necessary it was to have the covered walk +round the quadrangle raised considerably above this open square in the middle, +which a few minutes of such rain converted into a pond. +</p> + +<p> +As for ourselves, we spent many very pleasant days at the Casa Grande, and +thoroughly approved of the arrangement of the house, except that the four +corners of the patio were provokingly alike, and the doors of the rooms also, +so that we were as much bothered as the captain of the forty thieves to find +our own doors, or any door except Mr. Millard’s, whose name was +indicated—with more regard to pronunciation than spelling—with a 1 and nine +0’s chalked on it. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of a late evening spent in very pleasant society, we were up early +next morning, ready for an excursion to the Pyramids of Teotihuacán, some +sixteen miles off, or so, under the guidance of one of Mr. Bowring’s men. +The road lies through the plain, between great plantations of magueys, for this +is the most renowned district in the Republic for the size of its aloes, and +the quality of the pulque that is made from them. We stopped sometimes to +examine a particularly large specimen, which might measure 30 feet round, and +to see the juice, which had collected in the night, drawn out of the great +hollow that had been cut to receive it, in the heart of the plant. The Indians +have a great fancy for making crosses, and the aloe lends itself particularly +to this kind of decoration. They have only to cut off six or eight inches of +one leaf, and impale the piece on the sharp point of another, and the cross is +made. Every good-sized aloe has two or three of these primitive religious +emblems upon it. +</p> + +<p> +Several little torrent-beds crossed the road, and over them were thrown +old-fashioned Spanish stone bridges, as steep as the Rialto, or the bridge on +the willow-patterned plates. +</p> + +<p> +Before going to see the pyramids, we visited the caves in the hill-side not far +from them, whence the stone was brought to build them. It is <i>tetzontli</i>, +the porous amygdaloid which abounds among the porphyritic hills, a beautiful +building-stone, easily worked, and durable. There was a large space that seemed +to have been quarried out bodily, and into this opened numerous caves. We left +our horses at the entrance, and spent an hour or two in hunting the place over. +The ground was covered with pieces of obsidian knives and arrow-heads, and +fragments of what seemed to have been larger tools or weapons; and we found +numbers of hammer-heads, large and small, mostly made of greenstone, some +whole, but most broken. +</p> + +<p> +We find two sorts of stone hammers in Europe. Solid hammers belong to the +earliest period. They are made of longish rolled pebbles; some are shaped a +little artificially, and are grooved round to hold the handle, which was a +flexible twig bent double and with the two ends tied together, so as to keep +the stone head in its place. The hammers of a later period of the “stone +age” are shaped more like the iron ones our smiths use at the present +day, and they have a hole bored in the middle for the handle. In Brittany, +where Celtic remains are found in such abundance, it is not uncommon to see +stone hammers of the latter kind hanging up in the cottages of the peasants, +who use them to drive in nails with. They have an odd way of providing them +with handles, by sticking them tight upon branches of young trees, and when the +branch has grown larger, and has thus rivetted itself tightly on both sides of +the stone head, they cut it off, and carry home the hammer ready for use. +</p> + +<p> +Though the Mexicans carried the arts of knife and arrow-making and sculpturing +hard stone to such perfection, I do not think they ever discovered the art of +making a hole in a stone hammer. The handles of the axes shown in the +picture-writings are clumsy sticks swelling into a large knob at one end, and +the axe-blade is fixed into a hole in this knob. Some of the Mexican hammers +seem to have had their handles fixed in this way; while others were made with a +groove, in the same manner as the earlier kind of European stone hammers just +described. +</p> + +<p> +When we consider the beauty of the Mexican stonecutter’s work, it seems +wonderful that they should have been able to do it without iron tools. It is +quite clear that, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, they used bronze +hatchets, containing that very small proportion of tin which gives the alloy +nearly the hardness of steel. We saw many of these hatchets in museums, and Mr. +Christy bought some good specimens in a collection of antiquities which had +belonged to an old Mexican, who got them principally from the suburb of +Tlatelolco, in the neighbourhood of the ancient market-place of the city. Such +axes were certainly common among the ancient Mexicans. One of the items of the +hieroglyphic tribute-roll in the Mendoza Codex is eighty bronze hatchets. +</p> + +<p> +A story told by Bernal Diaz is to the point. He says that he and his +companions, noticing that the Indians of the coast generally carried bright +metal axes, the material of which looked like gold of a low quality, got as +many as six hundred such axes from them in the course of three days’ +bartering, giving them coloured glass-beads in exchange. Both sides were highly +satisfied with their bargain; but it all came to nothing, as the chronicler +relates with considerable disgust, for the gold turned out to be copper, and +the beads were found to be trash when the Indians began to understand them +better. Such hard copper axes as these have been found at Mitla, in the State +of Oajaca, where the ruined temples seem to form a connecting link between the +monuments of Teotihuacán and Xochicalco and the ruined cities of Yucatan and +Chiapas. +</p> + +<p> +We want one more link in the chain to show the use of the same kind of tools +from Mexico down to Yucatan, and this link we can supply. In Lord +Kingsborough’s great work on Mexican Antiquities there is one +picture-writing, the Dresden Codex, which is not of Aztec origin at all. Its +hieroglyphics are those of Palenque and Uxmal; and in this manuscript we have +drawings of hatchets like those of Mexico, and fixed in the same kind of +handles, but of much neater workmanship. +</p> + +<p> +But here we come upon a difficulty. It is supposed that the pyramids of +Teotihuacán, as well as most of the great architectural works of the country, +were the work of the Toltec race, who quitted this part of the country several +centuries before the Spanish Conquest. It seems incredible that bronze should +have been in use in the country for so long a time, and not have superseded so +bad a material as stone for knives and weapons. We have good evidence to show +that in Europe the introduction of bronze was almost simultaneous with the +complete disuse of stone for such purposes. It is true that Herodotus describes +the embalmers, in his time, as cutting open the bodies with “an Ethiopic +stone” though they were familiar with the use of metal. Indeed the flint +knives which he probably meant may be seen in museums. But this peculiar usage +was most likely kept up for some mystical reason, and does not affect the +general question. Almost as soon as the Spaniards brought iron to Mexico, it +superseded the old material. The “bronze age” ceased within a year +or two, and that of iron began. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexicans called copper or bronze “tepuztli,” a word of rather +uncertain etymology. Judging from the analogous words in languages allied to +the Aztec, it seems not unlikely that it meant originally <i>hatchet</i> or +<i>breaker</i>, just as “itztli,” or obsidian, appears to have +meant originally <i>knife</i>.<a href="#fn-13" name="fnref-13" id="fnref-13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-13" id="fn-13"></a> <a href="#fnref-13">[13]</a> +There is an Aztec word “puztequi” (<i>to break sticks, &c</i>.) +which may belong to the same root as “tepuztli.” The first syllable +“te” may be “te-tl” (<i>stone</i>). +</p> + +<p> +When the Mexicans saw iron in the hands of the Spaniards, they called it also +“tepuztli,” which thus became a general word for metal; and then +they had to distinguish iron from copper, as they do at the present day, by +calling them “<i>tliltic</i> tepuztli,” and +“<i>chichiltic</i> tepuztli;” that is, “black metal,” +and “red metal.” +</p> + +<p> +When the subject of the use of bronze in stone-cutting is discussed, as it so +often is with special reference to Egypt, one may doubt whether people have not +underrated its capabilities, when the proportion of tin is accurately adjusted +to give the maximum hardness; and especially when a minute portion of iron +enters into its composition. Sir Gardner Wilkinson relates that he tried the +edge of one of the Egyptian mason’s chisels upon the very stone it had +evidently been once used to cut, and found that its edge was turned directly; +and therefore he wonders that such a tool could have been used for the purpose, +of course supposing that the tool as he found it was just as the mason left it. +This, however, is not quite certain. If we bury a brass tool in a damp place +for a few weeks, it will be found to have undergone a curious molecular change, +and to have become quite soft and weak, or, as the workmen call it, dead. We +ought to be quite sure whether lying for centimes under ground may not have +made some similar change in bronze. +</p> + +<p> +I have seen many prickly pears in different places, but never such specimens as +those that were growing among the stones in this old quarry. They had gnarled +and knotted trunks of hard wood, and were as big as pollard-oaks; their age +must have been immense; but, unfortunately, one could not measure it, or it +would have been a good criterion of the age of the quarry, which had not only +been excavated but abandoned before their time. In one of the caves was a human +skeleton, blanched white and clean, and near it some one has stuck a cross, +made of two bits of stick, in the crevices of a heap of stones. +</p> + +<p> +Returning to the entrance of the quarry, well loaded with stone hammers and +knives, we sat down to breakfast, in a cave, where our man had established +himself with the horses. An attempt on my part to cut German sausage with an +obsidian knife proved a decided failure. +</p> + +<p> +We had already been struck by the appearance of the two pyramids of +Teotihuacán, when we passed by Otumba on our way to Mexico. The hills which +skirt the plain are so near them as to diminish their apparent size; but even +at a distance they are conspicuous objects. Now, when we came close to them, +and began by climbing to their summits, and walking round their terraces, to +measure ourselves against them, we began gradually to realize their vast bulk; +and this feeling continually grew upon us. Modern architecture strives to unite +the greatest possible effect with the least cost; and the modern churches of +southern Europe and Spanish America, with their fine tall facades fronting the +street, and insignificant little buildings behind, show this idea in its +fullest development. Pyramids are built with no such object, and make but +little show in proportion to their vast mass of material; but then one gets +from them a sense of solid magnitude that no other building gives, however vast +its proportions may be. Neither of us had ever seen the Egyptian pyramids. Even +in Mexico these of Teotihuacán are not the largest; for, though the pyramid of +Cholula is no higher, it covers far more ground. Were these monuments in Egypt, +they would only rank, from their size, in the second class. +</p> + +<p> +As has often been remarked, such buildings as these can only be raised under +peculiar social conditions. The ruler must be a despotic sovereign, and the +mass of the people slaves, whose subsistence and whose lives are sacrificed +without scruple to execute the fancies of the monarch, who is not so much the +governor as the unrestricted owner of the country and the people. The +population must be very dense, or it would not bear the loss of so large a +proportion of the working class; and vegetable food must be exceedingly +abundant in the country, to feed them while engaged in this unprofitable +labour. +</p> + +<p> +We know how great was the influence of the priestly classes in Egypt, though +the pyramids there, being rather tombs than temples, do not prove it. In +Mexico, however, the pyramids themselves were the temples, serving only +incidentally as tombs; and their size proves that—as respects priestly +influence—the resemblance between the two people is fully carried out. +</p> + +<p> +Like the Egyptian pyramids, these fronted the four cardinal points. Their shape +was not accurately pyramidal, for the line from base to summit was broken by +three terraces, or perhaps four, running completely round them; and at the top +was a flat square space, where stood the idols and the sacrificial altars. This +construction closely resembled that of some of the smaller Egyptian pyramids. +Flights of stone steps led straight up from terrace to terrace, and the +procession of priests and victims made the circuit of each before they ascended +to the one above. +</p> + +<p> +The larger of the two teocallis is dedicated to the Sun, has a base of about +640 feet, and is about 170 feet high. The other, dedicated to the Moon, is +rather smaller. +</p> + +<p> +These monuments were called <i>teocallis</i>, not because they were pyramids, +but because they were temples; “Teocalli” means “god’s +house”—(<i>teotl</i>, god, <i>calli</i>, house), a name which the +traveller hears explained for the first time with some wonder; and Humboldt +cannot help adverting to its curious correspondence with +θεου καλια, <i>dei cella</i>. +Another odd coincidence is found in the Aztec name for their priests, +<i>papahua</i>, the root of which <i>papa</i>, (the <i>hua</i>, is merely a +termination). In the Old World the word <i>Papa</i>, Pope, or Priest, was +connected with the idea of father or grandfather, but the Aztec word has no +such origin. +</p> + +<p> +When the Aztecs abandoned their temples, and began to build Christian churches, +they called them also “teocallis,” and perhaps do so to this day. +</p> + +<p> +The heavy tropical rains have to a great extent broken the sharpness of the +outline of these structures, and brought them more nearly to the shape of real +pyramids than they were originally; but, as we climbed up their sides, we could +trace the terraces without any difficulty, and even flights of steps. +</p> + +<p> +The pyramids consist of an outer casing of hewn stone, faced and covered with +smooth stucco, which has resisted the effects of time and bad usage in a +wonderful manner. Inside this casing were adobes, stones, clay, and mortar, as +one may see in places where the exterior has been damaged, and by creeping into +the small passage which leads into the Temple of the Moon. Both pyramids are +nearly covered with a coating of debris, full of bits of obsidian arrows and +knives, and broken pottery. On the teocalli of the moon we found a number of +recent sea-shells, which mystified us extremely; and the only explanation we +could give of their presence there was that they might have been brought up as +offerings. A passage in Humboldt, which I met with long after, seems to clear +up the mystery. Speaking of the great teocalli of the city of Mexico, he says, +quoting an old description, that the Moon had a little temple in the great +courtyard, which was built of shells. Those that we found may be the remains of +a similar structure on the top of the pyramid. +</p> + +<p> +Prickly pears, aloes, and mesquite bushes have overgrown the pyramids in all +directions, as though they had been mere natural hills. In Sicily one may see +the lava fields of Etna planted with prickly pears: in the ordinary course of +things, it requires several centuries before even the surface of this hard lava +will disintegrate into soil; but the roots of the cactus soon crack it, and a +few years suffice to break it up to a sufficient depth to allow of vineyards +being planted upon it. Here the same plant has in the same way affected the +porous amygdaloid with which the pyramids are faced, and has cut up the surface +sadly; but the vegetation which covers them will at any rate defend them from +the rains, and now centuries will make but little change in the appearance of +these remarkable buildings. +</p> + +<p> +Near Nice there is a hill which gives a wonderfully correct idea of the +appearance of the terraced teocallis of Mexico, as they must have looked before +time effaced the sharpness of their lines. Where the valley of the Paglione and +that of St. Andre meet, the hill between them terminates in a half pyramid, the +angle of which lies toward the south; and the inhabitants—as their custom is in +southern Europe, have turned the two slopes to account, by building them up +into terraces, to prevent the soil they have laboriously carried up from being +swept down by the first heavy rain. Seen from the proper point of view the +resemblance is complete. +</p> + +<p> +From the south side of the Temple of the Moon runs an avenue of burial-mounds, +the Micaotli, “the path of the dead.” On these mounds, and round +the foot of the pyramids themselves, the whole population of the once great +city of Teotihuacán and its neighbourhood used to congregate, to see the +priests and the victims march round the terraces and up the stairs in full view +of them all. Standing here, one could imagine the scene that Cortes and his men +saw from their camp, outside Mexico, on that dreadful day when the Mexicans had +cut off their retreat along the causeways, and taken more than sixty Spanish +prisoners. Bernal Diaz was there, and tells the tale how they heard from the +city the great drum of Huitzilopochtli sending forth a strange and awful sound, +that could be heard for miles, and with it many horns and trumpets; and how, +when they had looked towards the great teocalli, they saw the Mexicans dragging +up the prisoners, pushing and beating them as they went, till they had got them +up to the open space at the top, “where the cursed idols stood.” +Then they put plumes of feathers on their heads, and fans in their hands, and +made them dance before the idol; and when they had danced, they threw them on +their backs on the sacrificial stone that stood there, and, sawing open their +breasts with knives of stone, they tore out their hearts, and offered them up +in sacrifice; and the bodies they flung down the stairs to the bottom. More +than this the Spaniards cannot have seen, though Diaz describes the rest of the +proceedings as though they had been done in his sight; but it was not the first +time they had witnessed such things, and they knew well enough what was +happening down below,—how the butchers were waiting to cut up the carcases as +they came down, that they might be cooked with chile, and eaten in the solemn +banquet of the evening. +</p> + +<p> +The day was closing in by this time; and our man was waiting with the horses at +the foot of the great pyramid; and with him an Indian, whom we had caught half +an hour before, and sent off with a real to buy pulque, and to collect such +obsidian arrows and clay heads as were to be found at the ranchos in the +neighbourhood. +</p> + +<p> +Near the place we started from, two or three Indians were diligently at work at +their stone-quarry, that is to say, they were laboriously bringing out great +hewn stones from the side of the pyramid, to build their walls with; and indeed +we could see in every house for miles round stones that had come from the same +source, as was proved by the stucco still remaining upon them, smoothed like +polished marble, and painted dull red with cinnabar. +</p> + +<p> +As I write this, it brings to my recollection an old Roman trophy in North +Italy, built—like these pyramids—of a shell of hewn stone, filled with rough +stones and cement, now as hard as the rock itself. There I saw the inhabitants +of the town which stands at its foot, carrying off the great limestone blocks, +but first cutting them up into pieces of a size that they could move about, and +build into their houses. Here and there, in this little Italian town, there +were to be seen in the walls letters of the old inscription which were once +upon the trophy; and the age of the houses shewed that the monument had served +as a quarry for centuries. +</p> + +<p> +As we rode home, we noticed by the sides of the road, and where ditches had +been cut, numbers of old Mexican stone-floors covered with stucco. The earth +has accumulated above them to the depth of two or three feet, so that their +position is like that of the Roman pavements so often found in Europe; and we +may guess, from what we saw exposed, how great must be the number of such +remains still hidden, and how vast a population must once have inhabited this +plain, now almost deserted. +</p> + +<p> +Two days afterwards we came back. In the ploughed fields in the neighbourhood +we made repeated trials whether it was possible to stand still in any spot +where there was no relic of old Mexico within our reach; but this we could not +do. Everywhere the ground was full of unglazed pottery and obsidian; and we +even found arrows and clay figures that were good enough for a museum. When we +left England, we both doubted the accounts of the historians of the Conquest, +believing that they had exaggerated the numbers of the population, and the size +of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their victories, and +to write as wonderful a history as they could, as historians are prone to do. +But our examination of Mexican remains soon induced us to withdraw this +accusation, and even made us inclined to blame the chroniclers for having had +no eyes for the wonderful things that surrounded them. +</p> + +<p> +I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous +exaggerations of Solis and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who seemed to +think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and that it sounded +much better. But when this class of writers are set aside, and the more +valuable authorities severely criticised, it does not seem to us that the +history thus extracted from these sources is much less reliable than European +history of the same period. There is, perhaps, no better way of expressing this +opinion than to say that what we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm +Prescott’s History of the Conquest, and but seldom to make his statements +appear to us improbable. +</p> + +<p> +There are other mounds near the pyramids, besides the Micaotli. Two sides of +the Pyramid of the Sun are surrounded by them; and there are two squares of +mounds at equal distances, north and south of it, besides innumerable scattered +hillocks. There are some sculptured blocks of stone lying near the pyramids, +and inside the smaller one is buried what appears to be a female bust of +colossal size, with the mouth like an oval ring, so common in Mexican +sculptures. +</p> + +<p> +The same abundance of ancient remains that we found here characterizes the +neighbourhood of all the Mexican monuments in the country, with one curious +exception. Burkart declares that in the vicinity of the extensive remains of +temples known as <i>Los Edificios</i>, near Zacatecas, no traces of pottery or +of obsidian were to be found. +</p> + +<p> +Before going away, we held a solemn market of antiquities. We sat cross-legged +on the ground, and the Indian women and children brought us many curious +articles in clay and obsidian, which we bought and deposited in two great bags +of aloe-fibre which our man carried at his saddle-bow. Among the articles we +bought were various pipes or whistles of pottery, <i>pitos</i>, as they are +called in Spanish, and just as we were mounting our horses to ride off, a lad +ran to the top of one of the mounds, and blew on one of these pipes a long +dismal note that could be heard a mile off. Our friends had filled our heads so +full of robbers and ambushes, that we made sure it was a signal for some one +who was waiting for us, and the more so as the boy ran off as soon as he had +blown his blast; and when we looked round for the people whose antiquities we +had been buying, they had all disappeared. But nothing came of it, and we got +safely back to Tezcuco. As usual, we spent a capital evening, and separated +late. The owner of the glass-works, who had been spending the evening with us, +had an adventure on his road home. He was peaceably riding along, when two men +rushed out from behind the corner of the street, and shouted “<i>alto +ahí</i>!” (halte-là). He thought they were robbers, and started at a +gallop. His hat flew off, and the men sent two bullets singing past his head, +which sent him on quicker than ever, till he reached his house. There he got +his pistols, and came back armed to the teeth to fetch the hat, which lay where +it had fallen. The supposed robbers turned out, on enquiry next day, to have +been national guards, patrolling the street; but certainly their proceedings +were rather questionable. +</p> + +<p> +We had an unpleasant visit the same night. The custom of the Casa Grande was +that after dark a watchman patrolled all night, giving a long blast every +quarter of an hour on one of these same doleful Mexican whistles, to show that +he was not sleeping on his rounds. This was for the outside. Inside the house, +<i>pour surcroît de précaution</i>, a servant came round to see that every one +was in his room; and having satisfied himself of this, let loose in the +courtyard two enormous bulldogs, which were the terror of the household and of +the whole neighbourhood. On this particular night, a noise at our own door woke +me from a sound sleep; and I had the pleasure of seeing a creature walk +deliberately in, looking huge and terrific in the moonlight. The beast had been +into the stable two nights before, and had pinned a cow which was there, +keeping his hold upon her till next morning, when he was got off by the keeper. +With this specimen of the bulldog’s abilities fresh in my recollection, I +preferred not making any attempt to resent his impertinent intrusion, but lay +still, till he had satisfied himself with walking about the room and sniffing +at our beds, when he lay down on my carpet; I soon fell asleep again, and next +morning he was gone. The foreigners in Mexico seem to delight in fierce +bull-dogs. The Casa Grande at Tezcuco is not by any means the only place where +they form part of the garrison. One English acquaintance of ours in the Capital +kept two of these beasts up in his rooms, and not even the servants dared go +up, unless the master was there. +</p> + +<p> +Every one who has read Prescott’s ‘Mexico’ will recollect +Nezahualcoyotl, the king of Tezcuco; and the palaces he built there for his +wives, and his poets, and the rest of his great court. These palaces were built +chiefly of mud bricks; and time and the Spaniards have dealt so hardly with +them, that even their outlines can no longer be traced. Traces of two large +teocallis are just visible, and Mr. Bowring has some burial mounds in his +grounds which will be examined some day. There is a Mexican calendar built into +the wall of one of the churches; and, as we walked about the streets of the +present town, we noticed stones that must have been sculptured before the +Spaniards brought in their broken-down classic style, and so stopped the +development of native art. As for the rest of old Tezcuco, it has “become +heaps.” Wherever they dig ditches or lay the foundations of houses, you +may see the ground full of its remains. +</p> + +<p> +As I said before, when speaking of the stuccoed floors near Teotihuacán, the +accumulation of alluvial soil goes on very rapidly and very regularly all over +the plains of Mexico and Puebla, where everything favours its deposit; and the +human remains preserved in it are so numerous that its age may readily be seen. +We noticed this in many places, but in no instance so well as between Tezcuco +and the hacienda of Miraflores. There a long ditch, some five feet deep, had +just been cut in anticipation of the rainy season. As yet it was dry, and, as +we walked along it, we found three periods of Mexican history distinctly +traceable from one end to the other. First came mere alluvium, without human +remains. Then, just above, came fragments of obsidian knives and bits of +unglazed pottery. Above this again, a third layer, in which the obsidian +ceased, and much of the pottery was still unglazed; but many fragments were +glazed, and bore the unmistakable Spanish patterns in black and yellow. +</p> + +<p> +It is a pity that these alluvial deposits, which give such good evidence as to +the order in which different peoples or different states of society succeeded +one another on the earth, should be so valueless as a means of calculating the +time of their duration; but one can easily see that they must always be so, by +considering how the thickness of the deposits is altered by such accidents as +the formation of a mud-bank, or the opening of a new channel,—things that must +be continually occurring in districts where this very accumulation is going on. +The only place where any calculation can be based upon its thickness is on the +banks of the Nile, where its accumulations round the ancient monuments may +perhaps give a criterion as to the time which has elapsed since man ceased to +clear away the deposits of the river.<a href="#fn-14" name="fnref-14" id="fnref-14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-14" id="fn-14"></a> <a href="#fnref-14">[14]</a> +The researches instituted by Mr. I. Horner in the alluvium near Heliopolis and +Memphis <i>(Philos. Transact.</i>, 1855 & 1856), although very elaborate, +still leave much to be desired before we can arrive at definite conclusions. +</p> + +<p> +As an instance of the tendency of alluvial deposits to entomb such monuments of +former ages, I must mention the temple of Segeste, which stands on a gentle +slope among the hills of northern Sicily. I had heard talk of the graceful +proportions of this Doric temple, built by the Greek colonists; and great was +my surprise, on first coming in sight of it, to see a pediment supported by two +rows of short squat columns, without bases, and rising directly from the +ground. A nearer inspection showed the cause of this extraordinary distortion. +The whole slope had risen full six feet during the 2500 years, or so, that have +elapsed since its desertion; and the temple now stands in a large oblong pit, +which has lately been excavated. As we left the spot, and turned to see it +again a few yards off, the beautiful symmetry of the whole had disappeared +again. +</p> + +<p> +To return to Tezcuco. Some three or four miles from the town stands the hill of +Tezcotzinco, where Nezahualcoyotl had his pleasure-gardens; and to this hill we +made an excursion early one morning, with Mr. Bowring for our guide. We did not +go first to Tezcotzinco itself, but to another hill which is connected with it +by an aqueduct of immense size, along which we walked. The mountains in this +part are of porphyry, and the channel of the aqueduct was made principally of +blocks of the same material, on which the smooth stucco that had once covered +the whole, inside and out, still remained very perfect. The channel was +carried, not on arches, but on a solid embankment, a hundred and fifty or two +hundred feet high, and wide enough for a carriage-road. +</p> + +<p> +The hill itself was overgrown with brushwood, aloes, and prickly pears, but +numerous roads and flights of steps cut in the rock were distinguishable. Not +far below the top of the hill, a terrace runs completely round it, whence the +monarch could survey a great part of his little kingdom. On the summit itself I +saw sculptured blocks of stone; and on the side of the hill are two little +circular baths, cut in the solid rock. The lower of the two has a flight of +steps down to it; the seat for the bather, and the stone pipe which brought the +water, are still quite perfect. +</p> + +<p> +His majesty used to spend his afternoons here on the shady side of the hill, +apparently sitting up to his middle in water, like a frog, if one may judge by +the height of the little seat in the bath. If, as some writers say, these were +only tanks with streams of running water, and not baths at all, why the steps +cut in their sides, which are just large enough and high enough for a man to +sit in? No water has come there for centuries now; and the morning-sun nearly +broiled us, till we got into a sort of cave, excavated in the hill, it is said, +with an idea of finding treasure. It seems there was once a Mexican calendar +cut in the rock at this spot; and some white people who were interested in such +matters, used to come to see it, and poke curiously about in search of other +antiquities. Naturally enough, the Indians thought that they expected to find +treasure; and with a view of getting the first chance themselves, they cut down +the calendar, and made this large excavation behind it. +</p> + +<p> +Here we sat in the shade, breakfasting, and hearing Mr. Bowring’s stories +of the art of medicine as practised in the northern states of Mexico, where +decoction of shirt is considered an invaluable specific when administered +internally; and the recognised remedy for lumbago is to rub the patient with +the drawers of a man named John. No doubt the latter treatment answers very +well! +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus16"></a> +<img src="images/fig13.jpg" width="400" height="215" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">OLD MEXICAN BRIDGE NEAR TEZCUCO.</p> +</div> + +<p> +There is an old Mexican bridge near Tezcuco which seems to be the original +<i>Puente de las Bergantinas</i>, the bridge where Cortes had the brigantines +launched on the lake of Tezcuco. This bridge has a span of about twenty feet, +and is curious as showing how nearly the Mexicans had arrived at the idea of +the arch. It is made in the form of a roof resting on two buttresses, and +composed of slabs of stone with the edges upwards, with mortar in the +interstices; the slabs being sufficiently irregular in shape to admit of their +holding together, like the stones of a real arch. One may now and then see in +Europe the roofs of small stone hovels made in the same way; but twenty feet is +an immense span for such a construction. I have seen such buildings in North +Italy, in places where the limestone is so stratified as to furnish rough +slabs, three or four inches thick, with very little labour in quarrying them +out. In Kerry there are ancient houses and churches roofed in the same way. +What makes the Tezcuco bridge more curious is that it is set askew, which must +have made its construction more difficult. +</p> + +<p> +The brigantines which the Spaniards made, and transported over the mountains in +such a wonderful manner, fully answered their purpose, for without them Mexico +could hardly have been taken. After the Conquest they were kept for years, for +the good service they had done; but vessels of such size do not seem to have +been used upon the lake since then; and I believe the only sailing craft at +present is Mr. Bowring’s boat, which the Indians look at askance, and +decidedly decline to imitate. It is true that, somewhere near the city, there +is moored a little steamer, looking quite civilized at a distance. It never +goes anywhere, however; and I have a sort of impression of having heard that +when it was first made they got up the steam once, but the conduct of the +machinery under these circumstances was so extraordinary and frantic that no +one has ventured to repeat the experiment. +</p> + +<p> +Before we left Tezcuco, we went in a boat to explore Mr. Bowring’s +salt-works, which are rather like the salines of the South of France. Patches +of the lake are walled off, and the water allowed to evaporate, which it does +very rapidly under a hot sun, and with only three-fourths of the pressure of +air upon it that we have at the sea-level. The lake-water thus concentrated is +run into smaller tanks. It contains carbonate and sesquicarbonate of soda, and +common salt. The addition of lime converts the sesquicarbonate of soda into +simple carbonate, and this is separated from the salt by taking advantage of +their different points of crystallization. The salt is partly consumed, and +partly used in the extraction of silver from the ore, and the soda is bought by +the soap-makers. +</p> + +<p> +Humboldt’s remarks on the small consumption of salt in Mexico are +curious. The average amount used with food is only a small fraction of the +European average. While the Tlascalans were at war with the Aztecs, they had to +do without salt for many years, as it was not produced in their district. +Humboldt thinks that the chile which the Indians consume in such quantities +acts as a substitute. It is to be remembered that the soil is impregnated with +both salt and natron in many of these upland districts, and the inhabitants may +have eaten earth containing these ingredients, as they do for the same purpose +in several places in the Old World. +</p> + +<p> +We disembarked after sailing to the end of these great evaporating pans, and +found horses waiting to take us to the Bosque del Contador. This is a grand +square, looking towards the cardinal points, and composed of ahuehuetes, grand +old deciduous cypresses, many of them forty feet round, and older than the +discovery of America. My companion, not content with buying collections at +secondhand, wished to have some excavations made on his own account, and very +judiciously fixed on this spot, where, though there were no buildings standing, +the appearance of the ground and the mounds in the neighbourhood, together with +the historical notoriety of the place, made it probable that something would be +found to repay a diligent search. This expectation was fully realized, and some +fine idols of hard stone were found, with an infinitude of pottery and small +objects. +</p> + +<p> +When I look through my notes about Tezcuco, I do not find much more to mention, +except that a favourite dish here consists of flies’ eggs fried. These +eggs are deposited at the edge of the lake, and the Indians fish them out and +sell them in the market-place. So large is the quantity of these eggs, that at +a spot where a little stream deposits carbonate of lime, a peculiar kind of +travertine is forming which consists of masses of them imbedded in tho +calcareous deposit. +</p> + +<p> +The flies<a href="#fn-15" name="fnref-15" id="fnref-15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> +which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans +“<i>axayacatl</i>” or “water-face.” There was a +celebrated Aztec king who was called Axayacatl; and his name is indicated in +the picture-writings by a drawing of a man’s face covered with water. The +eggs themselves are sold in cakes in the market, pounded and cooked, and also +in lumps <i>au naturel</i>, forming a substance like the roe of a fish. This is +known by the characteristic name of “<i>ahuauhtli</i>”, that is +“water-wheat.”<a href="#fn-16" name="fnref-16" id="fnref-16"><sup>[16]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-15" id="fn-15"></a> <a href="#fnref-15">[15]</a> +<i>Corixa femorala</i>, and <i>Notonecta uniforciata</i>, according to MM. +Meneville and Virlet d’Aoust, in a Paper on the subject of the granular +or oolitic travertine of Tezcuco in the Bulletin (1859) of the Geological +Society of France. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-16" id="fn-16"></a> <a href="#fnref-16">[16]</a> +Huauhtli is an indigenous grain abounding in Michoacán, for which +“wheat” is the best equivalent I can give. European wheat was, of +course, unknown in the country until after the Conquest. +</p> + +<p> +The last thing we did at Tezcuco, was to witness the laying down of a new line +of water-pipes for the saltworks. This I mention because of the pipes, which +were exactly those introduced into Spain by the Moors and brought here by the +Spaniards. These pipes are of glazed earthenware, taper at one end, and each +fitting into the large end of the next. The cement is a mixture of lime, fat, +and hair, which gets hard and firm when cold, but can be loosened by a very +slight application of heat. A thousand years has made no alteration in the way +of making these pipes. Here, however, the ground is so level that one great +characteristic of Moorish waterworks is not to be seen. I mean the +water-columns which are such a feature in the country round Palermo, and in +other places where the system of irrigation introduced by the Moorish invaders +is still kept up. These are square pillars twenty or thirty feet high, with a +cistern at the top of each, into which the water from the higher level flowed, +and from which other pipes carried it on; the sole object of the whole +apparatus being to break the column of water, and reduce the pressure to the +thirty or forty feet which the pipes of earthenware would bear. +</p> + +<p> +This subject of irrigation is very interesting with reference to the future of +Mexico. We visited two or three country-houses in the plateaux, where the +gardens are regularly watered by artificial channels, and the result is a +vegetation of wonderful exuberance and beauty, converting these spots into +oases in the desert. On the lower levels of the tierra templada where the +sugar-cane is cultivated, a costly system of water-supply has been established +in the haciendas with the best results. Even in the plains of Mexico and +Puebla, the grain-fields are irrigated to some small degree. But +notwithstanding this progress in the right direction, the face of the country +shows the most miserable waste of one of the chief elements of the wealth and +prosperity of the country, the water. +</p> + +<p> +In this respect, Spain and the high lands of Mexico may be compared together. +There is no scarcity of rain in either country, and yet both are dry and +parched, while the number and size of their torrent-beds show with what +violence the mountain-streams descend into lakes or rivers, rather agents of +destruction than of benefit to the land. Strangely enough, both countries have +been in possession of races who understood that water was the very life-blood +of the land, and worked hard to build systems of arteries to distribute it over +the surface. In both countries, the warlike Spaniards overcame these races, and +irrigating works already constructed were allowed to fall to ruin. +</p> + +<p> +When the Moriscos were expelled from their native provinces of Andalusia and +Granada, their places were but slowly filled up with other settlers, so that a +great part of their aqueducts and watercourses fell into decay within a few +years. These new colonists, moreover, came from the Northern provinces, where +the Moorish system of culture was little understood; and, incredible as it may +seem, though they must have had ocular evidence of the advantages of artificial +irrigation, they even neglected to keep in repair the water-channels on their +own ground. Now the traveller, riding through Southern Spain, may see in +desolate barren valleys remains of the Moorish works which centuries ago +brought fertility to grain-fields and orchards, and made the country the garden +of Europe. +</p> + +<p> +There was another nation who seem to have far surpassed both Moors and Aztecs +in the magnitude of their engineering-works for this purpose. The Peruvians cut +through mountains, filled up valleys, and carried whole rivers away in +artificial channels to irrigate their thirsty soil. The historians’ +accounts of these water-works as they were, and even travellers’ +descriptions of the ruins that still remain, fill us with astonishment. It +seems almost like some strange fatality that this nation too should have been +conquered by the same race, the ruin of its great national works following +immediately upon the Conquest. +</p> + +<p> +Spain is rising again after long centuries of degradation, and is developing +energies and resources which seem likely to raise it high among European +nations, and the Spaniards are beginning to hold their own again among the +peoples of Europe. But they have had to pay dearly for the errors of their +ancestors in the great days of Charles the Fifth. +</p> + +<p> +The ancient Mexicans were not, it is true, to be compared with the Spanish +Arabs or the Peruvians in their knowledge of agriculture and the art of +irrigation; but both history and the remains still to be found in the country +prove that in the more densely populated parts of the plains they had made +considerable progress. The ruined aqueduct of Tetzcotzinco which I have just +mentioned was a grand work, serving to supply the great gardens of +Nezahualcoyotl, which covered a large space of ground and excited the +admiration of the Conquerors, who soon destroyed them, it is said, in order +that they might not remain to remind the conquered inhabitants of their days of +heathendom. +</p> + +<p> +Such works as these seem, however, not to have extended over whole provinces as +they did in Spain. In the thinly peopled mountain-districts, the Indians broke +up their little patches of ground with a hoe, and watered them from earthen +jars, as indeed they do to this day. +</p> + +<p> +The Spaniards improved the agriculture of the country by introducing European +grain, and fruit-trees, and by bringing the old Roman plough, which is used to +this day in Mexico as in Spain, where two thousand years have not superseded +its use or even altered it. Against these improvements we must set a heavy +account of injury done to the country as regards its cultivation. The Conquest +cost the lives of several hundred thousand of the labouring class; and numbers +more were taken away from the cultivation of the land to work as slaves for the +conquerors in building houses and churches, and in the silver-mines. When the +inhabitants were taken away, the ground went out of cultivation, and much of it +has relapsed into desert. Even before the Conquest, Mexico had been suffering +for many years from incessant wars, in which not only thousands perished on the +field of battle, but the prisoners sacrificed annually were to be counted by +thousands more, while famine carried off the women and children whose husbands +and fathers had perished. But the slaughter and famine of the first years of +the Spanish Conquest far exceeded anything that the country had suffered +before. +</p> + +<p> +At the time of the Conquest of Mexico the Spaniards let the native +irrigating-works fall into decay; and they took still more active measures to +deprive the land of its necessary water, by their indiscriminate destruction of +the forests on the hills that surround the plains. When the trees were cut +down, the undergrowth soon perished, and the soil which had served to check the +descending waters in their course was soon swept away. During the four rainy +months, each heavy shower sends down a flood along the torrent-bed which flows +into a river, and so into the ocean, or, as in the Mexican valley, into a salt +lake, where it only serves to injure the surrounding land. In both cases it +runs away in utter waste. +</p> + +<p> +In later years the Spanish owners of the soil had the necessity of the system +impressed upon them by force of circumstances; and large sums were spent upon +the construction of irrigating channels, even in the outlying states of the +North. +</p> + +<p> +In the American territory recently acquired from Mexico history has repeated +itself in a most curious way. We learn from Froebel, the German traveller, that +the new American settlers did not take kindly to the system of irrigation which +they found at work in the country. They were not used to it, and it interfered +with their ideas of liberty by placing restrictions upon their doing what they +pleased on their own land. So they actually allowed many of the water-canals to +fall into ruins. Of course they soon began to find out their mistake, and are +probably investing heavily in water-supply by this time. We ought not to be too +severe upon the Spaniards of the sixteenth century for an economical mistake +which we find the Americans falling into under similar circumstances in the +nineteenth. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +CUERNAVACA. TEMISCO. XOCHICALCO.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus17"></a> +<img src="images/fig14.jpg" width="426" height="600" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">SPANISH-MEXICAN SADDLE AND ITS APPURTENANCES.</p> +</div> + +<p> +Much too soon, as we thought, the day came when we had arranged to leave +Tezcuco and return to Mexico, to prepare for a journey into the tierra +caliente. On the evening of our return to the capital there was a little +earthquake, but neither of us noticed it; and thus we lost our one chance, and +returned to England without having made acquaintance with that peculiar +sensation. +</p> + +<p> +The purchase of horses and saddles and other equipments for our journey, gave +us an opportunity of poking about into out-of-the-way corners of the city, and +seeing some new phases of Mexican life; and certainly we made the most of the +chance. We made acquaintance with horse-dealers, who brought us horses to try +in the courtyard of the great house of our friends the English merchants in the +Calle Seminario, and there showed off their paces, walking, pacing, and +galloping. To trot is considered a disgusting vice in a Mexican horse; and the +universal substitute for it here is the <i>paso</i>, a queer shuffling run, +first, the two legs on one side together, and then the other two. You jolt +gently up and down without rising in the stirrups; and when once you are used +to it the paso is not disagreeable, and it is well suited to long +mountain-journeys. Horses in the United States are often trained to this gait, +and are known as “pacing” horses. Another peculiarity in the +training of Mexican horses is, that many of them are taught to +“rayar,” that is, to put their fore-feet out after the manner of +mules going down a pass; and slide a short distance along the ground, so as to +stop suddenly in the midst of a rapid gallop. To practise the horses in this +feat, the jockey draws a lino (“<i>raya</i>”) on the ground, and +teaches them to stop exactly as they reach it, and whirl round in the opposite +direction. This performance is often to be seen on the paseo, and other places, +where smart young gentlemen like to show off themselves and their horses; but +it is only a fancy trick, and they acknowledge that it spoils the +animal’s fore-legs. +</p> + +<p> +After much bargaining and chaffering we bought three horses for ourselves and +our man Antonio, giving eight, seven, and four pounds for them. This does not +seem much to give for good hackneys, as these were; but they were not +particularly cheap for Mexico. While we were at Tezcuco, Mr. Christy used to +ride one of Mr. Bowring’s horses, a pretty little chestnut, which carried +him beautifully, and had cost just eleven dollars, or forty-six shillings. It +had been bought of the horse-dealers who come down every year from the almost +uninhabited states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Cohahuila, on the American +frontier, where innumerable herds of horses, all but wild, roam over boundless +prairies, feeding on the tall coarse grass. Their keep costs so little, that +the breeders are not compelled, as in England, to break them in and sell them +at the earliest possible moment, and they let the young colts roam untamed till +they are five or six years old. Their great strength and power of endurance in +proportion to their size is in great measure to be ascribed to this early +indulgence. +</p> + +<p> +It is very clear that when a horse is to be sold for somewhere between two and +six pounds, the breeder cannot afford to spend much time in breaking him in. +The rough-rider lazos him, puts on the bridle with its severe bit, and springs +upon his back in spite of kicking and plunging. The horse gallops furiously off +across country of his own accord, but when his pace begins to flag, the great +vaquero spurs come into requisition, and in an hour or two he comes back to the +corral dead beat and conquered once for all. It is easy to teach him his paces +afterwards. The anquera—as it is called—is put on his haunches, to cure him of +trotting, and to teach him the paso instead. It is a leather covering fringed +with iron tags, which is put on behind the saddle, and allows the horse to pace +without annoying him; but the least approach to a trot brings the pointed tags +rattling upon his haunches. We bought one of these anqueras at Puebla. It was +very old, and curiously ornamented with carved patterns. In the last century, +these anqueras were a regular part of Mexican horse-equipment; but now, except +in horse-breaking yards or old curiosity-shops, they are seldom to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +Almost all the Mexican horses descend from the Arab breed—the gentlest and yet +the most spirited in the world, which have not degenerated since the Spaniards +brought them over in the early days of the Conquest, but retain unchanged their +small graceful shape, their swiftness, and their power of bearing fatigue. +There seem really to be no large horses bred in the country. Instead of jolting +about in a carriage drawn by eight or ten mules, with harness covered with +silver and gold—as rich Mexicans used to do, the proper thing now is to have a +pair of tall carriage-horses, like ours in England; and these are brought at +great expense from the United States, and by the side of the graceful little +Mexicans they look as big and as clumsy as elephants. +</p> + +<p> +Our saddles were of the old Moorish pattern, of monstrous size and weight, very +comfortable for the rider, but, I fear, much less so for the horse, whose back +often gets sadly galled, in spite of the thick padding and the two or three +blankets that are put on underneath. These saddles run into high peaks behind +and before, so that you can hardly fall out of them, even when you go to sleep +in the saddle on a long journey, as many people habitually do. In front, the +saddle rises into a pummel which is made of hard wood, and is something like a +large mushroom with its stalk. Round this the end of the lazo is wound, after +the noose has been thrown. All Mexican saddles are provided with these heads in +front, and have, moreover, several pairs of little thongs attached to them on +each side, which serve to tie on bags, whips, water-gourds, and other odds and +ends. Behind the seat of the saddle are more straps, where cloaks and serapes +are fastened; and in case of need even a carpet-bag will travel there. We were +in the habit of returning from our expeditions with our horses so covered with +the plants and curiosities we had collected, that it became no easy matter to +get our legs safely over the horses’ backs, into their proper places +among the clusters of miscellanea. Our acquaintances used to compare us to the +perambulating butchers’ shops, which are a feature in Mexican streets, +and consist of a horse with a long saddle covered with hooks, and on every hook +a joint. +</p> + +<p> +The flaps of our saddles, the great spatterdashes that protected our feet from +the mud, and the broad stirrup-straps were covered with carved and embossed +patterns; indeed almost all leather-work is decorated in this way, and the +saddle-makers delight in ornamenting their wares with silver plates and bosses; +so that it was not surprising that our saddles and bridles should have cost, +though second-hand, nearly as much as the horses. +</p> + +<p> +In books of travels in Mexico up to the beginning of the present century, one +of the staple articles of wondering description was the gorgeous trappings of +the horses, and the spurs, bits, and stirrups of gold and silver. The costumes +have not changed much, but the taste for such costly ornaments has abated; and +it is now hardly respectable to have more than a few pounds worth of bullion on +one’s saddle or around one’s hat, or to wear a hundred or so of +buttons of solid gold down the sides of one’s leather trousers, with a +very questionable cotton calzoncillo underneath. +</p> + +<p> +The horses’ bits are made with a ring, which pinches the under-lip when +the bridle is tightened, and causes great pain when it is pulled at all hard. +At first sight it seems cruel to use such bits, but the system works very well; +and the horses, knowing the power their rider has over them, rarely misbehave +themselves. One rides along with the loop at the end of the twisted horse-hair +bridle hanging loose on one finger, so that the horse’s mouth is much +less pulled about than with the bridles we are accustomed to in England. When +it is necessary to guide the horse, the least pressure is enough; but, as a +general rule, the little fellow can find his way as well as his rider can. We +used continually to let our reins drop on our horses’ necks, and jog on +careless of pits and stumbling-blocks. I have even seen my companion take out +his pocket-book, and improve the occasion by making notes and sketches as he +went. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus18"></a> +<img src="images/fig15.jpg" width="357" height="400" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">SPANISH-MEXICAN BIT,<br />with its ring and chains. Length +9 inches, width 5½ inches.</p> +</div> + +<p> +The distance from Mexico to Vera Cruz is about two hundred and fifty miles, and +what the roads are I have in some measure described. Rafael Beraza, the courier +of the English Mission at Mexico, used to ride this with despatches regularly +once a month in forty hours, and occasionally in thirty-five. He changed horses +about every ten or fifteen miles; and now and then, when, overcome by sleep, he +would let the boy who accompanied him to the next stage ride first, his own +horse following, and the rider comfortably dozing as he went along. +</p> + +<p> +As for our own equipment, Mr. Christy adopted the attributes of the eastern +traveller when he came into the country, the great umbrella, the veil, and the +felt hat with a white handkerchief over it. As for me, my wardrobe was scanty; +so, when my travelling coat wore out at the elbows and my trousers were sat +through—like the little bear’s chair in the story, I replaced the +garments with a jacket of chamois leather, and a pair of loose trousers made of +the same, after the manner of the country. Then came a grey felt hat, as stiff +as a boiler-plate, and of more than quakerish lowness of crown and broadness of +brim, but secularized by a silver serpent for a hatband; also, a red silk sash, +which—fastening round the waist—held up my trousers, and interfered with my +digestion; lastly, a woollen serape to sleep under, and to wear in the mornings +and evenings. This is the genuine ranchero costume, and it did me good service. +Indeed, ever since my Mexican journey I have considered that George Fox +decidedly showed his good sense by dressing himself in a suit of leather; much +more so than the people who laughed at him for it. +</p> + +<p> +In the country, all Mexicans—high and low—wear this national dress; and in this +they are distinguished from the Indians, who keep to the cotton shirts and +drawers, and the straw hats of their ancestors. In the towns, it is only the +lower classes who dress in the ranchero costume, for “nous autres” +wear European garments and follow the last Paris fashion, with these +exceptions—that for riding, people wear jackets and calzoneras of the national +cut, though made of cloth, and that the Mexican hat is often worn even by +people who adopt no other parts of the costume. There never were such hats as +these for awkwardness. The flat sharp brims of passers-by are always +threatening to cut your head off in the streets. You cannot get into a carriage +with your hat on, nor sit there when you are in. But for walking and riding +under a fierce sun, they are perhaps better than anything else that can be +used. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexican blanket—the serape—is a national institution; It is wider than a +Scotch plaid, and nearly as long, with a slit in the middle; and it is woven in +the same gaudy Oriental patterns which are to be seen on the prayer-carpets of +Turkey and Palestine to this day. It is worn as a cloak, with the end flung +over the left shoulder, like the Spanish <i>capa</i>, and muffling up half the +face when its owner is chilly or does not wish to be recognized. When a heavy +rain comes down, and he is on horseback, he puts his head through the slit in +the middle, and becomes a moving tent. At night he rolls himself up in it, and +sleeps on a mat or a board, or on the stones in the open air. +</p> + +<p> +Convenient as it is, the serape is as much tabooed among the +“respectable” classes in the cities as the rest of the national +costume. I recollect going one evening after dark to the house of our friends +in the Calle Seminario with my serape on, and nearly having to fight it out +with the great dog Nelson, who was taking charge of his master’s room. +Nelson knew me perfectly well, and had sat that very morning at the hotel-gate +for half an hour, holding my horse, while a crowd of leperos stood round, +admiring his size and the gravity of his demeanour as he sat on the pavement, +with the bridle in his mouth. But that a man in a serape should come into his +master’s room at dusk was a thing he could not tolerate, till the master +himself came in, and satisfied his mind on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +As I said, the equipment of ourselves and our three horses took us into a +variety of strange places, for we bought the things we wanted piece by piece, +when we saw anything that suited us. Among other places we went to the +Baratillo, which is the Rag-Fair and Petticoat Lane of Mexico, and moreover the +emporium for whips, bridles, bits, old spurs, old iron, and odds and ends +generally. The little shops are arranged in long lines, after the manner of the +eastern bazaar; and the shopkeepers, when they are not smoking cigarettes +outside, are sitting in their little dens, within arms-length of all the wares +they have to sell. Here we found what we had come for, and much more too, in +the way of wonderful old spurs, combs, boxes, and ornaments; so that we came +several times more before we left the country, and never without carrying away +some curious old relic. +</p> + +<p> +Mexico, as everybody knows, is decidedly a thievish place. The shops are all +shut at dark, after the <i>Oración</i>, for fear of thieves. Ladies used to +wear immense tortoise-shell combs at the back of their heads, where the +mantilla is fastened on; but, when it became a regular trade for thieves to +ride on horseback through the streets, and pull out the combs as they went, the +fashion had to be given up. These curiously carved and ornamented combs are +still preserved as curiosities, and we bought several of them. +</p> + +<p> +While we were in Mexico, they knocked a man down in the great square at +noon-day, robbed him, and left him there for dead. The square is so large, and +the sun was so hot, that the police—whose head-quarters are under the arches in +that very square—could not possibly walk across to see what was going +on!—<i>moral</i>, if you will have the distinction of having the largest square +in the world, you must take the consequences. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, where thieving is so general, the market for stolen goods must be a +place of considerable trade, and this Baratillo is one of the principal depôts +for such wares. One may realize here the story of the citizen, in the old book, +who had his wig stolen at the beginning of his walk through London, and found +it hanging up for sale a little further on. Here the deserter comes to sell his +uniform and his ricketty old flintlock. Small blame to him. I would do the same +myself if I were in his place, and were compelled to serve under one rascally +political adventurer against another rascally political adventurer—to say +nothing of being treated like a dog, half-starved, and not paid at all, except +by a sort of half license to plunder. “Those poor soldiers! we +can’t pay them, you know, and they must live somehow.” +</p> + +<p> +I have abused the Mexicans for being thieves, and not without reason, though, +as regards ourselves personally, we never lost anything except a great +brand-new waterproof coat which my companion had brought with him, promising to +himself that under its shelter he should bid defiance to the daily rain-storms +of the wet season. As we dismounted from the Diligence in Mexico, in the +courtyard of the hotel, some one relieved him of it. We did not know of the +Baratillo in those days, or would have gone to look for it there. At the time +of our visit it was too late, for if it ever had been there, the Mexicans +understand too well the value of an English “ulli,” as they call +them, to let it hang long for sale. “Ulli” is not a borrowed word, +but the genuine Aztec name for India-rubber, which was used to make +playing-balls with, long before the time of Columbus. +</p> + +<p> +I mentioned the water-bottles as part of our equipment. They are gourds, which +are throttled with bandages while young, so as to make them grow into the shape +of bottles with necks. Then they are hung up to dry; and the inside being +cleaned out through a small hole near the stalk, they are ready for use, +holding two or three pints of water. A couple of inches of a corn-cob (the +inside of a ear of Indian corn) makes a capital cork; and the bottle is hung by +a loop of string to the pummel of the saddle, where it swings about without +fear of breaking. One may see gourds, prepared in just the same way, in Italy, +hanging up under the eaves of the little farm-houses, among the festoons of red +and yellow ears of Indian corn; and indeed the gourd-bottle is a regular +institution of Southern Europe. +</p> + +<p> +We sent Antonio on with the horses to Cuernavaca, and started by the Diligence +early one morning, accompanied by one of our English friends, whom I will +call—as every-one else did—Don Guillermo. It is the regular thing here, as in +Spain, to call everybody by his or her Christian name. You may have known Don +Antonio or Don Felipe for weeks before you happen to hear their surnames. +</p> + +<p> +The road ran at first over the plain, among great water-meadows, with herds of +cattle pasturing, and fields of wheat and maize. Ploughing was going on, after +the primitive fashion of the country, with two oxen yoked to each plough. The +yoke is fastened to the horns of the oxen, and to the centre of the yoke a pole +is attached. At the other end of this pole is the plough itself, which consists +of a wooden stake with an iron point and a handle. The driver holds the handle +in one hand and his goad in the other (a long reed with an iron point), and so +they toil along, making a long scratch as they go. A man follows the plough, +and drops in single grains of Indian corn, about three feet apart. The furrows +are three feet from one another, so that each stalk occupies some nine square +feet of ground. When the plants are growing up they dig between them, and heap +up round each stalk a little mound of earth. +</p> + +<p> +We passed many little houses consisting of one square room, built of +mud-bricks, with mud-mortar stuck full of little stones; without windows, but +generally possessing the luxury of a chimney, with a couple of bricks forming +an arch over it to keep out the rain. Glimpses of men smoking cigarettes at the +doors, half-naked brown children rolling in the dirt, and women on their knees +inside, hard at work grinding the corn for those eternal tortillas. +</p> + +<p> +At San Juan de Dios Mr. Christy climbed to the top of the Diligence, behind the +conductor, who sat with a large black leather bag full of stones on the +footboard before him. Whenever one of the nine mules showed a disposition to +shirk his work, a heavy stone came flying at him, always hitting him in a +tender place, for long practice had made the conductor almost as good a shot as +the goat-herds in the mountains, who are said to be able to hit their goats on +whichever horn they please, and so to steer them straight when they seem +inclined to stray. But our conductor simply threw the stones, whereas the +goat-herd uses the aloe-fibre honda, or sling, that one sees hanging by dozens +in the Mexican shops. +</p> + +<p> +We pass near Churubusco, and along the line by which the American army reached +Mexico. The field of lava which they crossed is close at our right hand; and +just on the other side of it lie Tisapán and our friend Don Alejandro’s +cotton-factory. On our left are the freshwater-lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, +which had risen several feet, and flooded the valley in their neighbourhood. +Between us and the great mountain-chain that forms the rim of the valley, lies +a group of extinct volcanos, from one of which descends the great lava-field. +</p> + +<p> +Passing in full view of these picturesque craters, now mostly covered with +trees and brushwood, we begin to ascend, and are soon among the porphyritic +range that forms a wall between us and the land of sugar-canes and palms. Along +the road towards Mexico came long files of Indians, dressed in the national +white cotton shirts and short drawers and sandals, made like Montezuma’s, +though not with plates of gold on the soles, such as that monarch’s +sandals had. Some of these Indians are bringing on their backs wood and +charcoal from the pine-forest higher up among the mountains, and some have +fastened to their backs light crates full of live fowls or vegetables; others +are carrying up tropical fruits from the tierra caliente below, zapotes and +mameis, nisperos and granaditas, tamarinds and fresh sugar-canes. These people +are walking with their loads thirty or forty miles to market: but their race +have been used as beasts of burden for ages, and they don’t mind it. +</p> + +<p> +Bright blue and red birds, and larger and more brilliant butterflies than are +seen in Europe, show that, though we are among fields of wheat and maize, we +are in the tropics after all. As the road rises we get views of the broad +valley, with its lakes and green meadows, and the great white haciendas with +their clumps of willows, their church-towers, and the clusters of adobe huts +surrounding them—like the peasants’ cottages in feudal Europe, crowding +up to the baron’s castle. +</p> + +<p> +Our mules begin to flag as we toil up the steep ascent; but the conductor +rattles the stones in his black bag, and as the ominous sound reaches their +ears, they start off again with renewed vigour. We pass San Mateo, a village of +charcoal-burners, where a large and splendid stone church, with its tall dark +cypresses, stands among the huts of reeds and pine-shingles that form the +village. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus03"></a> +<a href="images/plate03.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate03.jpg" width="365" height="600" alt="Illustration: +" /></a> +<p class="caption">INDIANS BRINGING CHARCOAL, &C. TO MEXICO.</p> +</div> + +<p> +Trains of mules are continually passing with their heavy loads of wood and +charcoal, bales of goods and barrels of aguardiente de caña, which is rum made +from the sugar-cane, but not coloured like that which comes to England. The men +are continually rushing backwards and forwards among their beasts, which are +not content with kicking and biting, and banging against one another, but are +always trying to lie down in the road; and one of the principal duties of the +arriero is constantly to keep an eye on all his beasts at once, and, when he +sees one preparing to lie down, to be beforehand with him, and drive him on by +a furious shower of blows, kicks, and curses. Certainly, the Mexican mules are +the finest and strongest in the world; and, though they are just as obstinate +here as elsewhere, they are worth two or three times as much as horses. +</p> + +<p> +Our road lies through a forest of pines and oaks, which reaches to the summit +of the pass, where stands a wretched little village, La Guarda. There we had a +thoroughly Mexican breakfast, with pulque in tall tumblers, and endless +successions of tortillas, coming in hot and hot from the kitchen, where we +could see brown women with bare arms, and black hair plaited in long tails, +kneeling by the charcoal fire, and industriously patting out fresh supplies, +and baking them rapidly on a hot plate. The <i>pièce de résistance</i> was a +stew, bright red with tomatas, and hot as fire with chile; and then came the +<i>frijoles</i>—the black beans—without which no Mexican, high or low, +considers a meal complete. The walls of the room were decorated with highly +coloured engravings, one of which represented an engagement between a Spanish +and an English fleet, in which the English ships are being boarded by the +victorious Spaniards, or are being blown up in the background. Where the +engagement was I cannot recollect. People in Mexico, to whom I mentioned this +remarkable historical event, assured me that there are still to be seen +pictures of the destruction of the English fleet by the French and Spaniards in +the Bay of Trafalgar! +</p> + +<p> +Mexico was always, until the establishment of the republic, profoundly ignorant +of European affairs. In the old times, when the intercourse with the +mother-country was by the great ship, “el nao,” which came once a +year, the government at home could have just such news circulated through the +country as seemed proper and convenient to them. We see in our own times how +despotic governments can mystify their subjects, and distort contemporary +history into what shape they please. But in Spanish America the system was +worked to a greater extent than in any other country I have heard of; and the +undercurrent of popular talk, which spreads in France and Russia things and +opinions not to be found in the newspapers, had in Mexico but little influence. +Scarcely any Mexican travelled, scarcely any foreigner visited the country, and +the Spaniards who came to hold offices and make fortunes were all in the +interest of the old country; so the Mexicans went on, until the beginning of +this century, believing that Spain still occupied the same position among the +nations of Europe that it had held in the days of Charles the Fifth. +</p> + +<p> +While my companion was outside the Diligence, Don Guillermo and I were left to +the conversation of an Italian fellow-passenger. One finds such characters in +books, but never before or since have I seen the reality. He might have been +the original of the great Braggadoccio. His conversation was like a chapter out +of the autobiography of his countryman Alfieri. +</p> + +<p> +He had accompanied the Italian nobleman who was killed in an affray with the +Mexican robbers, some years ago, and on that occasion his defence had been most +heroic. He himself had shot several of the robbers; till at last, his friend +being killed, the rest of the party yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the +brigands, and he ran off to fetch assistance! +</p> + +<p> +Whenever he was riding along a Mexican road, and any suspicious-looking person +asked him for a light, his habit was to hand him his cigar stuck in the muzzle +of a pistol; “and they always take the hint,” he said, “and +see that it won’t do to interfere with us.” Alone, he had been +attacked by three armed men, but with a pistol in each hand he had compelled +them to retreat. But this was not all; our champion was victorious in love as +well as in arms. Like the great Alfieri, to whom I have compared him, in every +country where he travelled, the most beautiful and distinguished ladies hardly +waited for him to ask before they cast themselves at his feet. Refusing the +rich jewels that he offered them, they declared that they loved him for himself +alone. +</p> + +<p> +Weeks after, we were talking to our friend Mr. Del Pozzo, the Italian +apothecary in the Calle Plateros, and happened to ask him if he were acquainted +with his heroic countryman. Whereupon the apothecary went off into fits of +unextinguishable laughter, and told us how our friend really had been in the +skirmish he described, and had nobly run away almost before a shot was fired, +leaving his friends to fight it out. An hour or two after, he was found shaking +with terror in a ditch. +</p> + +<p> +To return to our road. The forest is on both sides of the Sierra; but it is on +the southern slope, over which we look down from the pass, that the pines +attain their fullest size and beauty; for here they are as grand as in the +Scandinavian forests, with all the beauty of the pine-trees on the Italian +hills. The pass, with its deep forest skirting the road, has been a resort of +robbers for many years; and the driver pointed out to my companion a little +grassy dell by the road-side, from which forty men had rushed out and plundered +the Diligence just ten days before. With his mind just prepared, one may +imagine his feelings when he caught sight of some twenty wild-looking fellows +in all sorts of strange garments, with the bright sunshine gleaming on the +barrels of their muskets. A man was riding a little in front of us, and as he +approached the others they descended, and ranged themselves by the side of the +road. They were only the guard, after all, and such a guard! Their thick matted +black hair hung about over their low foreheads and wild brown faces. Some had +shoes, some had none, and some had sandals. They had straw hats, glazed hats, +no hats, leather jackets and trousers, cotton shirts and drawers, or drawers +without any shirt at all; and—what looked worst of all—some had ragged old +uniforms on, like deserters from the army, and there are no worse robbers than +they. When the Diligence reached them, the guard joined us; some galloping on +before, some following behind, whooping and yelling, brandishing their arms, +and dashing in among the trees and out into the road again. Every now and then +my friend outside got a glimpse down the muzzle of a musket, which did not add +to his peace of mind. At last we got through the dangerous pass, and then we +made a subscription for the guard, who departed making the forest ring again +with war-whoops, and firing off their muskets in our honour until we were out +of hearing. +</p> + +<p> +The top of the pass is 12,000 feet above the sea, but the clouds seemed as high +as ever above us, and the swallows were flying far up in the air. Three +thousand feet lower we were in a warmer region, among oaks and arbutus; and +here, as in our higher latitudes, the climate is far hotter than on the +northern slope at the same height. Bananas are to be found at an elevation of +9,000 feet, three times the height at which they ceased on the eastern slope, +as we came up from Vera Cruz. This difference between the two slopes depends, +in part, on the different quantity of sunshine they receive, which is of some +importance, although we are within the tropics. But the sheltering of the +southern sides from the chilling winds from the north still further contributes +to give their vegetation a really tropical character. +</p> + +<p> +We felt the heat becoming more and more intense as we descended, and when we +reached Cuernavaca we lay down in the beautiful garden of the inn, among +orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, listening to the pleasant cool sound of +running water, and looking down into the great barranca with its perpendicular +walls of rock, and the luxuriant vegetation of the tierra caliente covering the +banks of the stream that flowed far below us. We could easily shout to the +people on the other edge of the ravine, but it would have taken hours of +toiling down the steep paths and up again before we could have reached them. +</p> + +<p> +Here our horses were waiting for us; and an hour or two’s ride brought us +to the great sugar-hacienda of Temisco, where we were to pass the night, for +towns and inns are few and far between in Mexico when one leaves the more +populous mountain-plateaus. So much the better, for my companion had provided +himself with letters of introduction, and we had already seen something of +hacienda life, and liked it. +</p> + +<p> +As we approached Temisco, we saw upon the slopes, immense fields of sugar-cane, +now grown into a dense mass, five or six feet high, most pleasant to look upon +for the delicate green tint of the leaves that belongs to no other plant. The +colour of our English turf is beautiful, and so are the tints of our English +woods in spring, but our fields of grain have a dull and dingy green compared +to the sugar-cane and the young Indian corn. In this beautiful valley we cannot +charge the inhabitants with entirely neglecting the irrigation of the land. +Indeed, the culture of the sugar-cane cannot be carried on without it, and the +cost of the watercourses on the large estates has been very great. +Unfortunately, even here agriculture is not flourishing. The small number of +the white inhabitants, and the distracted state of the country make both life +and property very insecure; and the brown people are becoming less and less +disposed to labour on the plantations. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that most of these channels were made in old times; little new is +done now, and I could make a long list of estates that were once busy and +prosperous, giving employment to thousands of the Indian inhabitants, and that +are now over-grown with weeds and falling to ruin. +</p> + +<p> +Entering the iron gate of the hacienda, we found ourselves in an immense +courtyard, into which open all the principal buildings of the estate, the house +of the proprietor, the church—which forms a necessary part of every +hacienda—the crushing-mill, and the boiling-houses. Into the same great patio +open the immense stables for the many riding-horses and the many hundreds of +mules that carry the sugar and rum over the mountains to market, and the +tienda, the shop of the estate, through which almost all the money paid to the +labourers comes back to the proprietor in exchange for goods. A mountain of +fresh-cut canes stood near the door of the trapiche (the crushing-mill); and a +gang of Indians were constantly going backwards and forwards carrying them in +by armfuls; while a succession of mules were continually bringing in fresh +supplies from the plantation to replenish the great heap. The court-yard was +littered all over, knee-deep, with dry cane-trash; and mules, just freed from +their galling saddles, were rolling on their backs in it, kicking with all +their legs at once, and evidently in a state of high enjoyment. Part of one +side of the square was a sort of wide cloister, and in it stood chairs and +tables. +</p> + +<p> +Here the business of the place was transacted, and the Administrador could look +up from his ledger, and see pretty well what was going on all over the +establishment. +</p> + +<p> +It is very common for the owners of these haciendas to be absentees, and to +leave the entire control of their estates to the administradors; but at +Temisco, which is much better managed than most others, this is not the case, +and the son of the proprietor generally lives there. He was out riding, so we +sent our horses to the stable, and lounged about eating sugar-canes till he +should return. Presently he came, a young man in a broad Mexican hat and white +jacket and trousers, mounted on a splendid little horse, with his saddle +glittering with silver, every inch a planter. He welcomed us hospitably, and we +sat down together in the cloister looking out on the courtyard. Evening was +closing in, and all at once the church-bell rang. Crowds of Indian labourers in +their white dresses came flocking in, hardly distinguishable in the twilight, +and the sound of their footsteps deadened as they walked over the dry stubble +that covered the ground. All work ceased, every one uncovered and knelt down; +while, through the open church-doors, we heard the Indian choir chanting the +vesper hymn. In the haciendas of Mexico every day ends thus. Many times I heard +the Oración chanted at nightfall, but its effect never diminished by +repetition, and to my mind it has always seemed the most impressive of +religious services. +</p> + +<p> +Then the Administrador seated himself behind a great book, and the calling over +the “raya” began. Every man in turn was called by name, and +answered in a loud voice, “I praise God!;” then saying how much he +had earned in the day, for the Administrador to write down. “Juan +Fernandez!”—“<i>Alabo a Dios, tres reales y medio</i>:” +“I praise God, one and ninepence.” “José +Valdes!”—“I praise God, eighteen pence, and sixpence for the +boy;” and so on, through a couple of hundred names. +</p> + +<p> +Then came, not unacceptably, a little cup of pasty chocolate and a long roll +for each of us. Then Don Guillermo and our host talked about their mutual +acquaintances in Mexico, and we asked questions about sugar-planting, and +walked about the boiling-house, where the night-gang of brown men were hard at +work stirring and skimming at the boiling-pans, and ladling out coarse +unrefined sugar into little earthen bowls to cool. This common sugar in bowls +is very generally used by the poorer Mexicans. The sugar-boilers were naked +excepting a cotton girdle. These men were very strong, and with great powers of +endurance, but they did not at all resemble the strong men of Europe with their +great muscles standing up under their skin, the men in Michael Angelo’s +pictures, or the Farnese Hercules. They are equally unlike the thin wiry Arabs, +whose strength seems so disproportionate to their lean little bodies. +</p> + +<p> +The pure Mexican Indian is short and sturdy; and, until you have observed the +peculiarities of the race, you would say he was too stout and flabby to be +strong. But this appearance is caused by the immense thickness of his skin, +which conceals the play of his muscles; and in reality his strength is very +great, especially in the legs and thighs, and in the muscles that are brought +into action in carrying burdens. Sartorius used to observe the Indian miners +bringing loads of above five-hundred-weight up a hundred fathoms of +mine-ladders, which consist of trunks of trees fixed slanting across the shaft, +with notches cut in them for steps. +</p> + +<p> +As I have said before, it is not the mere training of the individual that has +produced this remarkable development of the power of carrying loads. The +centuries before the Conquest, when there were no beasts of burden, had +gradually produced a race whose bodies were admirably fitted for such work; and +the persistency with which they have clung to their old habits has done much to +prevent their losing this peculiarity. +</p> + +<p> +To complete the description of the Indians which I have been led into by +speaking of the sugar-boilers,—they are chocolate-brown in colour, with curved +noses, straight black hair hanging flat round their heads and covering their +wonderfully low foreheads, and occasionally a scanty black beard. Their faces +are broadly oval, their eyes far apart, and they have wide mouths with coarse +lips. Not bad faces on the whole, but heavy and unexpressive. +</p> + +<p> +At ten o’clock came a heavy supper, the substantial meal of the day, and +immediately afterwards we went to bed, and dreamt such dreams as may be +imagined. We were off early in the morning with a wizened old mestizo to guide +us to the ruins of Xochicalco, which are on this very estate of Temisco. The +estate is forty miles across, however, and it is a long ride to the ruins. +After we leave the fields of sugar-cane, we see scarcely a hut, nor a patch of +cultivated ground. At last we get to Xochicalco, and find ourselves at the foot +of a hill, some four hundred feet in height, extraordinarily regular in its +conical shape, more so than any natural hill could be, unless it were the cone +of a volcano. At different heights upon this hill, we could see from below +broad terraces running round and round it. A little nearer we came upon a great +ditch. The sides had fallen in, in many places; sometimes it was quite filled +up, and everywhere it was overgrown with thick brushwood, as was the hill +itself. It seems that this ditch runs quite round the base of the hill, and is +three miles long. Climbing up through the thicket of thorny bushes and out upon +the terraces, it became quite evident that the hill had been artificially +shaped. The terraces were built up with blocks of solid stone, and paved with +the same. On the neighbouring hills we could discern traces of more +terrace-roads of the same kind; there must be many miles of them still +remaining. +</p> + +<p> +But it was when we reached the summit, that we found the most remarkable part +of the structure. The top has been cut away so as to form a large level space, +which was surrounded by a stone wall, now in ruins. Inside the inclosure are +several mounds of stone, doubtless burial-places, and all that is left of the +pyramid. Ruined and defaced as it is, I shall never forget our feelings of +astonishment and admiration as we pushed our way through the bushes, and +suddenly came upon it. We were quite unprepared for anything of the kind; all +we knew of the place when we started that morning being that there were some +curious old ruins there. +</p> + +<p> +The pyramid was composed of blocks of hewn stone, so accurately fitted together +as hardly to show the joints, and the carving goes on without interruption from +one block to another. Some of these blocks are eight feet long, and nearly +three feet wide. They were laid together without mortar, and indeed, from the +construction of the building, none was required. The first storey is about +sixteen feet high, including the plinth at the bottom. Above the plinth comes a +sculptured group of figures, which is repeated in panels all round the pyramid, +twice on each side. Each panel occupies a space thirty feet long by ten in +height, and the bas-reliefs project three or four inches. There is a chief, +dressed in a girdle, and with a head-dress of feathers just like those of the +Red Indians of the north. Below the girdle he terminates in a scroll. In the +middle of the group is what may perhaps be a palm-tree, with a rabbit at its +foot. Close to the tree, and reaching nearly to the same height, is a figure +with a crocodile’s head wearing a crown, and with drapery in parallel +lines, like the wings of the creatures in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Indeed this +may very likely be a conventional representation of the robes of feather-work +so characteristic of Mexico. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus19"></a> +<img src="images/fig16.jpg" width="450" height="276" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">SCULPTURED PANEL,<br /> +From the ruined Pyramid of Xochicalco. (<i>After Nebel</i>.)</p> +</div> + +<p> +Above these bas-reliefs is a frieze between three and four feet high, with +another sculptured panel repeated eight times on each side of the pyramid. This +remarkable sculpture represents a man sitting barefoot and crosslegged. On his +head is a kind of crown or helmet, with a plume of feathers; and from the front +of this helmet there protrudes a serpent, just where in the Egyptian sculptures +the royal basilisk is fixed on the crowns of kings and queens. The eyes of this +personage are protected by round plates with holes in the middle, held on by a +strap round the head, like the coloured glasses used in the United States to +keep off the glare of the sun, and known as “goggles.” In front of +this figure are sculptured a rabbit and some unintelligible ornaments or +weapons. “Rabbit” may have been his name. +</p> + +<p> +The frieze is surmounted by a cornice; and above the cornice of the second +storey enough remains to show that it was covered with reliefs, in the same way +as the first There were five storeys originally: the others have only been +destroyed about a century. The former proprietor of the hacienda of Temisco +pulled down the upper storeys, and carried away the blocks of stone to build +walls and dams with. +</p> + +<p> +The perfect execution of the details in the bas-reliefs and the accuracy with +which they are repeated show clearly that it was not so much want of skill as +the necessity of keeping to the conventional mode of representing objects that +has given so grotesque a character to the Mexican scriptures. Certain figures +became associated with religion and astrology in Mexico, as in many other +countries; and the sculptor, though his facility in details shows that he could +have made far better figures if he had had a chance, never had the opportunity, +for he was not allowed to depart from the original rude type of the sacred +object. Humboldt remarks that the same undeviating reproduction of fixed models +is as striking in the Mexican sculptures done since the Conquest. The clumsy +outlines of the rude figures of saints brought from Europe in the 16th century +were adopted as models by the native sculptors, and have lasted without change +to this day. +</p> + +<p> +It is evident that Xochicalco answered several purposes. It was a fortified +hill of great strength, also a sacred shrine, and a burial-place for men of +note, whose bodies, no doubt, still lie under the ruined cairns near the +pyramid. The magnitude of the ditch and the terraces, as well as the great size +of the blocks of stone brought up the hill without the aid of beasts of burden, +indicate a large population and a despotic government. The beauty of the +masonry and sculpture show that the people who erected this monument had made +no small progress in the arts. We must remember, too, that they had no iron, +but laboriously cut and polished the hardest granite and porphyry with +instruments of stone and bronze; we can hardly tell how. +</p> + +<p> +The resemblances which people find between Assyrian and Egyptian sculptures and +the American monuments are of little value, and do not seem sufficient to +ground any argument upon. When slightly civilized races copy men, trees, and +animals in their rude way, it would be hard if there were not some resemblance +among the figures they produce. With reference to their ornamentation, it is +true that what is called the “key-border” is quite common in Mexico +and Yucatan, and that on this very pyramid the panels are divided by a twisted +border, which would not be noticed as peculiar in a “renaissance” +building. But the model of this border may have been suggested—on either side +of the globe—by creepers twined together in the forest, or by a cord doubled +and twisted, such as is represented in one of the commonest Egyptian +hieroglyphs. +</p> + +<p> +The cornice which finishes the first storey of the pyramid is a familiar +pattern, but nothing can be concluded from these simple geometrical designs, +which might be invented over and over again by different races when they began +to find pleasure in tracing ornamental devices upon their buildings. Upon the +tattooed skins of savages such designs may be seen, and the patterns were +certainly in use among them before they had any intercourse with white men. +This is the view Humboldt takes of these coincidences. That both the Egyptian +king and the Mexican chief should wear a helmet with a serpent standing out +from it just above the forehead, is somewhat extraordinary. +</p> + +<p> +Now, who built Xochicalco? Writers on Mexico are quite ready with their answer. +They tell us that, according to the Mexican tradition, the country was formerly +inhabited by another race, who were called <i>Toltecâ</i>, or, as we say, +<i>Toltecs</i>, from the name of their city, <i>Tollan</i>, “the +Reed-swamp;” and that they were of the same race as the Aztecs, as shown +by the names of their cities and their kings being Aztec words; that they were +a highly civilized people, and brought into the country the arts of sculpture, +hieroglyphic painting, great improvements in agriculture, many of the peculiar +religious rites since practised by other nations who settled after them in +Mexico, and the famous astronomical calendar, of which I shall speak +afterwards. The particular Toltec king to whom the Mexican historians ascribe +the building of Xochicalco was called Nauhyotl, that is to say, “Four +Bells,” and died A.D. 945. +</p> + +<p> +We are further told that just about the time of our Norman Conquest, the +Toltecs were driven out from the Mexican plateau by famine and pestilence, and +migrated again southward. Only a few families remained, and from them the +Aztecs, Chichemecs, and other barbarous tribes by whom the country was +re-peopled, derived that knowledge of the arts and sciences upon which their +own civilization was founded. It was by this Toltec nation—say the Mexican +writers—that the monuments of Xochichalco, Teotihuacán, and Cholula were built. +In their architecture the Aztecs did little more than copy the works left by +their predecessors; and, to this day, the Mexican Indians call a builder a +<i>toltecatl</i> or <i>Toltec</i>. +</p> + +<p> +If we consider this circumstantial account to be anything but a mere tissue of +fables, the question naturally arises—what became of the remains of the Toltecs +when they left the high plains of Mexico? A theory has been propounded to +answer this question, that they settled in Chiapas and Yucatan, and built +Palenque, Copan, and Uxmal, and the other cities, the ruins of which lie +imbedded in the tropical forest. +</p> + +<p> +At the time that Prescott wrote his History of the Conquest, such a theory was +quite tenable; but the new historic matter lately made known by the Abbé +Brasseur de Bourbourg has given a different aspect to the question. Without +attempting to maintain the credibility of this writer’s history as a +whole, I cannot but think that he has given us satisfactory grounds for +believing that the ruined cities of Central America were built by a race which +flourished long before the Toltecs; that they were already declining in power +and civilization in the seventh century, when the Toltecs began to flourish in +Mexico; and that the present Mayas of Yucatan are their degenerate descendants. +</p> + +<p> +What I have seen of Central American and Mexican antiquities, and of drawings +of them in books, tends to support the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg’s view +of the history of these countries. Traces of communication between the two +peoples are to be found in abundance, but nothing to warrant our holding that +either people took its civilization bodily from the other. My excuse for +entering into these details must be that some of the facts I have to offer are +new. +</p> + +<p> +A bas-relief at Kabah, described in Mr. Stephens’ account of his second +journey, bears considerable resemblance to that on the so-called +“sacrificial stone” of Mexico; and the warrior has the +characteristic Mexican <i>maquahuitl</i>, or “Hand-wood,” a mace +set with rows of obsidian teeth. +</p> + +<p> +A curious ornament is met with in the Central American sculptures, representing +a serpent with a man’s face looking out from between its distended jaws; +and we find a similar design in the Aztec picture-writings, sculptures, and +pottery. +</p> + +<p> +A remarkable peculiarity in the Aztec picture-writings is that the personages +represented often have one or more figures of tongues suspended in mid-air near +their mouths, indicating that they are speaking, or that they are persons in +authority. Such tongues are to be seen on the Yucatan sculptures. +</p> + +<p> +One of the panels on the Pyramid of Xochicalco seems to have a bearing upon +this subject, I mean that of the cross-legged chief, of which I have just +spoken. +</p> + +<p> +In the first place, sitting cross-legged is not an Aztec custom. I do not think +we ever saw an Indian in Mexico sitting cross-legged. In the picture-writings +of the Aztecs, the men sit doubled up, with their chins almost touching their +knees; while the women have their legs tucked under them, and their feet +sticking out on the left side. On the other hand, this attitude is quite +characteristic of the Yucatan sculptures. At Copan there is an altar, with +sixteen chiefs sitting cross-legged round it; and, moreover, one of them has a +head-dress very much like that of the Xochicalco chief (except that it has no +serpent), and others are more or less similar; while I do not recollect +anything like it in the Mexican picture-writings. The curious perforated +eye-plates of the Xochicalco chief, which he wore—apparently—to keep arrows and +javelins out of his eyes, are part of the equipment of the Aztec warrior in the +picture-writings, while Palenque and Copan seemed to afford no instance of +them; so that in two peculiarities the remarkable sculpture before us seems to +belong rather to Yucatan than to Mexico, and in one to Mexico rather than to +Yucatan. +</p> + +<p> +It is not even possible in all cases to distinguish Central American sculptures +from those of Mexican origin. Among the numerous stone figures in Mr. +Christy’s museum, some are unmistakably of Central American origin, and +some as certainly Mexican; but beside these, there are many which both their +owner and myself, though we had handled hundreds of such things, were obliged +to leave on the debatable ground between the two classes. +</p> + +<p> +So much for the resemblances. But the differences are of much greater weight. +The pear-shaped heads of most of the Central American figures, whose peculiar +configuration is only approached by the wildest caricatures of Louis Philippe, +are perfectly distinctive. So are the hieroglyphics arranged in squares, found +on the sculptures of Central America and in the Dresden Codex. So is the +general character of the architecture and sculpture, as any one may see at a +glance. +</p> + +<p> +It is quite true that the so-called Aztec Astronomical Calendar was in use in +Central America, and that many of the religious observances in both countries, +such as the method of sacrificing the human victims, and the practice of the +worshippers drawing blood from themselves in honour of the gods, are identical. +But there were several ways in which this might have been brought about, and it +is no real proof that the civilization of either country was an offshoot from +that of the other. To consider it as such would be like arguing that the +negroes of Cuba and the Indians of Yucatan had derived their civilization one +from the other, because both peoples are Roman Catholics, and use the same +almanac. On the whole I am disposed to conclude that the civilizations of +Mexico and Central America were originally independent, but that they came much +into contact, and thus modified one another to no small extent. +</p> + +<p> +At the risk of being prosy, I will mention the <i>a priori</i> grounds upon +which we may argue that the civilization of Central America did not grow up +there, but was brought ready-made by a people who emigrated there from some +other country. There is a theory afloat, that it is only in temperate climates +that barbarous nations make much progress in civilizing themselves. In tropical +countries the intensity of the heat makes man little disposed for exertion, and +the luxuriance of the vegetation supplies him with the little he requires. In +such climates—say the advocates of this theory—man acknowledges the supremacy +of nature over himself, and gives up the attempt to shape her to his own +purposes; and thus, in these countries, the inhabitants go on from generation +to generation, lazily enjoying their existence, making no effort, and indeed +feeling no desire to raise themselves in the social scale. Upon this theory, +therefore, when we find a high civilization in hot countries, as in the plains +of India, we have to account for it by supposing an immigration of races +bringing their civilization with them from more temperate climates. This theory +of civilization favours the idea of the Central American cities having been +built by a people from Mexico. The climate of the Mexican highlands, which may +be taken in a rough way to correspond with that of North Italy, is well suited +to a nation’s development. But the cities of Yucatan and Chiapas, though +geographically not far removed from the Mexican plateau, are brought by their +small elevation above the sea into a very different climate. They are in the +land of tropical heat and the rankest vegetation, in the midst of dense forests +where pestilential fevers and overwhelming lassitude make it almost impossible +for Europeans to live, and where the Indians who still inhabit the +neighbourhood of the ruined cities are the merest savages sunk in the lowest +depths of lazy ignorance. +</p> + +<p> +If this climate-theory of progress have any truth in it, no barbarous tribe +could have raised itself in such a country to the social state which is +indicated by the ruins of such temples and cities. They must have been settlers +from some more temperate region. +</p> + +<p> +While wandering about the hill of Xochicalco we came upon a spot that strongly +excited our curiosity. It was simply a small paved oval space with a little +altar at one end, and, lying round about it, some fragments of what seemed to +have been a hideous grotesque idol of baked clay. Perhaps it was a shrine +dedicated to one of the inferior deities, such as often surrounded the greater +temples; for, in Mexico, astronomy, astrology, and religion had become mixed up +together, as they have been in other quarters of the globe, and even the +astronomical signs of days and months had temples of their own. +</p> + +<p> +Xochicalco means “In the House of Flowers.” The word +“flower,”—<i>xochitl</i>,—is often a part of the names of Mexican +places and people, such as the lake of Xochimilco—“In the +Flower-plantation.” <i>Tlilxochitl</i>, literally “black +flower,” is the Aztec name for vanilla, so that the name of that famous +Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, whose name sticks in the throats of readers +of Prescott, means “Vanilla-face.” Why the place was called +“In the House of Flowers” is not clear. The usual explanation seems +not unlikely, that it was because offerings of flowers and first-fruits were +made upon its shrines. The Toltecs, say the Mexican chroniclers, did not +sacrifice human victims; and it was not until long after other tribes had taken +possession of their deserted temples, that the Aztecs introduced the custom by +sacrificing their prisoners of war. It seems odd, however, that one of the +Toltec kings should have been called Topiltzin, which was the title of the +chief priest among the Aztecs, whose duty it was to cut open the breasts of the +human victims and tear out their hearts. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians always delighted in carrying flowers in their solemn processions, +crowning themselves with garlands, and decorating their houses and temples with +them; and, while they worshipped their gods according to the simple rites which +tradition says their prophet, Quetzalcoatl, (“Feathered Snake,”) +appointed, before he left them and embarked in his canoe on the Eastern ocean, +no name could have been more appropriate for their temple. This pleasant custom +did not disappear after the Conquest; and to this day the churches in the +Indian districts are beautiful with their brilliant garlands and nosegays, and +are as emphatically “houses of flowers” as were the temples in ages +long past. +</p> + +<p> +Since writing the above notice of the Pyramid of Xochicalco, I have come upon a +new piece of evidence, which, if it may be depended on, proves more about the +history of this remarkable monument than all the rest put together. Dupaix made +a drawing of the ruins at Xochicalco in 1805, which is to be found in Lord +Kingsborough’s ‘Antiquities of Mexico,’ and among the +sculptures of the upper tier of blocks is represented a reed, with its leaves +set in a square frame, with three small circles underneath; the whole forming, +in the most unmistakable way, the sign 3 Acatl (3 Cane) of the Mexican +Astronomical Calendar. +</p> + +<p> +Now it must be admitted that Dupaix’s drawing of these ruins is most +grossly incorrect; but still no amount of mere carelessness in an artist will +justify us in supposing him to have invented and put in out of his own head a +design so entirely <i>sui generis</i> as this. It does not even follow that the +drawing is wrong because the sign may not be found there now; for it was in an +upper tier, and no doubt many stones have been removed since 1805, for +building-purposes. +</p> + +<p> +If the existence of the sign 3 Acatl on the pyramid may be considered as +certain, it will fit in perfectly with the accounts of the Mexican historians, +who state that Xochicalco was built by a king of the Toltec race, and also that +the Aztecs adopted the astronomical calendars of years and days in use among +the Toltecs. +</p> + +<p> +It was afternoon when we left Xochicalco and rode on over a gently undulating +country, crossing streams here and there, and had our breakfast at Miacatlán +under a shed in front of the village shop, where all the activity of the little +Indian town seemed to be concentrated. By the road-side were beautiful +tamarind-trees with their dark green foliage, and the mamei-tree as large as a +fine English horse-chestnut, and not unlike it at a distance. On the branches +were hanging the great mameis, just like the inside of cocoa-nuts when the +inner shell has been cracked off. It appeared that Nature was not acquainted +with M. De La Fontaine’s works, or she would probably have got a hint +from the fable of the acorn and the pumpkin, and not have hung mameis and +cocoa-nuts at such a dangerous height. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus20"></a> +<img src="images/fig17.jpg" width="400" height="288" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">AZTEC HEAD IN TERRA-COTTA.<br />(<i>From Mr. Christy’s +Collection</i>.)</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +COCOYOTLA. CACAHUAMILPÁN. CHALMA. OCULAN. TENANCINGO. TOLUCA.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus21"></a> +<img src="images/fig18.jpg" width="550" height="370" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">IXTCALCO CHURCH.</p> +</div> + +<p> +A little before dark we came to the hacienda of Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, +another sugar-plantation which was to be our head-quarters for some days to +come. We presented our letter of introduction from the owner of the estate, and +the two administradors received us with open arms. We were conducted into the +strangers’ sleeping-room, a long barrack-like apartment with stone walls +and a stone floor that seemed refreshingly dark and cool; we could look out +through its barred windows into the garden, where a rapid little stream of +water running along the channel just outside made a pleasant gurgling sound. +Appearances were delusive, however, and it was only the change from the outside +that made us feel the inside cool and pleasant. For days our clothes clung to +us as if we had been drowned, and the pocket-handkerchiefs with which we mopped +our faces had to be hung on chair-backs to dry. Except in the early morning, +there was no coolness in that sweltering place. +</p> + +<p> +In one corner of our room I discerned a brown toad of monstrous size squatting +in great comfort on the damp flags. He was as big as a trussed chicken, and +looked something like one in the twilight. We pointed him out to the +administrador, who brought in two fierce watchdogs, but the toad set up his +back and spirted his acrid liquor, and the dogs could not be got to go near +him. We stirred him up with a bamboo and drove him into the garden, but he left +his portrait painted in slime upon our floor. +</p> + +<p> +The Indian choir chanted the Oración as we had heard it the night before at +Temisco, and then came the calling over of the raya. After that we walked about +the place, and sat talking in the open corridor. Owners of estates, and indeed +all white folks living in this part of the country were beginning to feel very +anxious about their position, and not without reason. Ordinary political events +excite but little interest in these Indian districts, and so trifling a matter +as a revolution and a change of people in power does not affect them +perceptibly. The Indians are absolutely free, and have their votes and their +civil privileges like any other citizens. All that the owners of the +plantations ask of them is to work for high wages, and hitherto they have done +this, but for years it has been becoming more and more difficult to get them to +work. All they do with the money when they get it, is to spend it in drinking +and gambling, if they are of an extravagant turn of mind; or to bury it in some +out-of-the-way place, if they are given to saving. If they were whites or +half-caste Mexicans they would spend their money upon fine clothes and horses, +but the Indian keeps to the white cotton dress of his fathers, and is never +seen on horseback. Now this being the case, it does not seem unreasonable that +they should not much care about working hard for money that is of so little use +to them when they have got it, and that they should prefer living in their +little huts walled with canes and thatched with palm-leaves, and cultivating +the little patch of garden-ground that lies round it—which will produce enough +fruit and vegetables for their own subsistence, and more besides, which they +can sell for clothes and tobacco. A day or two of this pleasant easy work at +their own ground will provide this, and they do not see why they should labour +as hired servants to get more. This is bad enough, think the hacendados, but +there is worse behind. The Indians have been of late years becoming gradually +aware that the government of the country is quite rotten and powerless, and +that in their own districts at least, the power is very much in their own +hands, for the few scattered whites could offer but slight resistance. The +doctrine of “America for the Americans” is rapidly spreading among +them, and active emissaries are going about reminding them that the Spaniards +only got their lands by the right of the strongest, and that now is the time +for them to reassert their rights. +</p> + +<p> +The name of Alvarez is circulated among them, as the man who is to lead them in +the coming struggle—Alvarez the mulatto general, whose hideous portrait is in +every print-shop in Mexico. He was President before Comonfort, and is now +established with his Indian regiments in the hot pestilential regions of the +Pacific coast. +</p> + +<p> +The undisguised contempt with which the Indians have been treated for ages by +the whites and the mestizos has not been without its effect. The revolution, +and the abolition of all legal distinctions of caste still left the Indians +mere senseless unreasoning creatures in the eyes of the whiter races; and, if +the original race once get the upper hand, it will go hard with the whites and +their estates in these parts. Only a day or two before we came down from +Mexico, the government had endeavoured to quarter some troops in one of the +little Indian towns which we passed through on our way from Temisco. But the +inhabitants saluted them with volleys of stones from the church-steeple and the +house-tops, and they had to retreat most ignominiously into their old quarters +among “reasonable people.” +</p> + +<p> +I have put down our notions on the “Indian Question,” just as they +presented themselves to us at the time. The dismal forebodings of the planters +seem to have been fulfilled to some extent at least, for we heard, not long +after our return to Europe, that the Indians had plundered and set fire to +numbers of the haciendas of the south country, and that our friends the +administradors of Cocoyotla had escaped with their lives. The hacienda itself, +if our information is correct, which I can hardly doubt, is now a blackened +deserted ruin. +</p> + +<p> +At supper appeared two more guests besides ourselves, apparently traders +carrying goods to sell at the villages and haciendas on the road. In such +places the hacienda offers its hospitality to all travellers, and there was +room in our caravanserai for yet more visitors if they had come. Our beds were +like those in general use in the tropics, where mattresses would be +unendurable, and even the pillows become a nuisance. The frame of the bed has a +piece of coarse cloth stretched tightly over it; a sheet is laid upon this, and +another sheet covers the sleeper. This compromise between a bed and a hammock +answers the purpose better than anything else, and admits of some circulation +of air, especially when you have kicked off the sheet and lie fully exposed to +the air and the mosquitos. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot say that it is pleasant to wake an hour or two after going to bed, +with your exact profile depicted in a wet patch on the pillow; nor is it +agreeable to become conscious at the same time of an intolerable itching, and +to find, on lighting a candle, that an army of small ants are walking over you, +and biting furiously. These were my experiences during my first night at +Cocoyotla; and I finished the night, lying half-dressed on my bed, with the +ends of my trousers-legs tied close with handkerchiefs to keep the creatures +out. But when we got into our saddles in the early morning, we forgot all these +little miseries, and started merrily on our expedition to the great stalactitic +cave of Cacahuamilpán. +</p> + +<p> +Our day’s journey had two objects; one was to see the cave, and the other +to visit the village close by,—one of the genuine unmixed Indian communities, +where even the Alcalde and the Cura, the temporal and spiritual heads of the +society, are both of pure Indian blood, and white influence has never been much +felt. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus04"></a> +<a href="images/plate04.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate04.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="Illustration: +" /></a> +<p class="caption">INDIANS MAKING & BAKING TORTILLAS.<br />(After Models +made by a Native Artist.)</p> +</div> + +<p> +A ride of two or three hours from the hacienda brought us into a mountainous +district, and there we found the village of Cacahuamilpán on the slope of a +hill. In the midst of neat trim gardens stood the little white church, and the +ranches of the inhabitants, cottages of one room, with walls of canes which one +can see through in all directions, and roofs of thatch, with the ground +smoothed and trodden hard for a floor. Everything seemed clean and prosperous, +and there was a bright sunny look about the whole place; but to Englishmen, +accustomed to the innumerable appliances of civilized life, it seems surprising +how very few and simple are the wants of these people. The inventory of their +whole possessions will only occupy a few lines. The <i>metate</i> for grinding +or rubbing down the maize to be patted out into tortillas, a few calabashes for +bottles, and pieces of calabashes for bowls and cups, prettily ornamented and +painted, and hanging on pegs round the walls. A few palm-leaf mats (petates) to +sleep upon, some pots of thin unglazed earthenware for the cooking, which is +done over a wood-fire in the middle of the floor. A chimney is not necessary in +houses which are like the Irishman’s coat, consisting principally of +holes. A wooden box, somewhere, contains such of the clothes of the family as +are not in wear. There is really hardly anything I can think of to add to this +catalogue, except the agricultural implements, which consist of a wooden spade, +a hoe, some sharp stakes to make the drills with, and the machete—which is an +iron bill-hook, and serves for pruning, woodcutting, and now and then for less +peaceful purposes. Sometimes one sees women weaving cotton-cloth, or +<i>manta</i>, as it is called, in a loom of the simplest possible construction; +or sitting at their doors in groups, spinning cotton-thread with the +<i>malacates</i>, and apparently finding as much material for gossip here as +elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexicans spun and wove their cotton-cloth just in this way before the +Conquest, and malacates of baked clay are found in great numbers in the +neighbourhood of the old Mexican cities. They are simple, like very large +button-moulds, and a thin wooden skewer stuck in the hole in the middle makes +them ready for use. Such spindles were used by the lake-men of Switzerland, but +the earthen heads were not quite the same in shape, being like balls pierced +with a hole, as are those at present used in Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians here had not the dull sullen look we saw among those who inhabit +the colder regions; and, though belonging to the same race, they were better +formed and had a much freer bearing than their less fortunate countrymen of the +colder districts. +</p> + +<p> +Our business in the village was to get guides for the cavern. While some men +were gone to look for the Alcalde, we walked about the village, and finally +encamped under a tree. One of our men had got us a bag full of fruit,—limes, +zapotes, and nisperos, which last are a large kind of medlar, besides a number +of other kinds of fruit, which we ate without knowing what they were. Though +rather insipid, the limes are deliciously refreshing in this thirsty country; +and they do no harm, however enormously one may indulge in them. The whole +neighbourhood abounds in fruit, and its name <i>Cacahuamilpán</i> means +“the plantation of <i>cacahuate</i> nuts.” +</p> + +<p> +It soon became evident that the Alcalde was keeping us waiting as a matter of +dignity, and to show that, though the white men might be held in great +estimation elsewhere, they did not think so much of them in this free and +independent village. At last a man came to summon us to a solemn audience. In a +hut of canes, the Alcalde, a little lame Indian, was sitting on a mat spread on +the ground in the middle, with his escribano or secretary at his left hand. +Other Indians were standing outside at the door. The little man scarcely +condescended to take any notice of us when we saluted him, but sat bolt +upright, positively bursting with suppressed dignity, and the escribano +inquired in a loud voice what our business was. We told him we wanted guides to +the cave, which he knew as well as we did; but instead of answering, he began +to talk to the Alcalde. We quite appreciated the pleasure it must have been to +the two functionaries to show off before us and their assembled countrymen, who +were looking on at the proceedings with great respect; and we had not minded +affording them this cheap satisfaction; but at last the joke seemed to be +getting stale, so we proceeded some to sit and some to lie down at full length, +and to go on eating limes in the presence of the August company. Thereupon they +informed us what would be the cost of guides and candles, and we eventually +made a bargain with them and started on foot. +</p> + +<p> +On looking at the map of the State of Mexico, there is to be seen a river which +stops suddenly on reaching the mountains of Cacahuamilpán, and begins again on +the other side, having found a passage for itself through caves in the mountain +for six or seven miles. Not far from the place where this river flows out of +the side of the hill, is a path which leads to the entrance of the cave. A long +downward slope brought us into the first great vaulted chamber, perhaps a +quarter of a mile long and eighty feet high; then a long scramble through a +narrow passage, and another hall still grander than the first. At the end of +this hall is another passage leading on into another chamber. Beyond this we +did not go. As it was, we must have walked between one and two miles into the +cavern, but people have explored it to twice this distance, always finding a +repetition of the same arrangement, great vaulted chambers alternating with +long passages almost choked by fallen rocks. In one of the passages, I think +the last we came to, the roaring of the river in its subterranean bed was +distinctly audible below us. +</p> + +<p> +Excepting the great cave of Kentucky, I believe there is no stalactitic cavern +known so vast and beautiful as this. The appearance of the largest hall was +wonderful when some twenty of our Indian guides stationed themselves on +pinnacles of stalagmite, each one holding up a blazing torch, while two more +climbed upon a great mass at one end called the altar, and burnt Bengal lights +there; the rest stood at the other extremity of the cave sending up rockets in +rapid succession into the vaulted roof, and making the millions of grotesque +incrustations glitter as if they had been masses of diamonds: All the quaint +shapes that are found in such caverns were to be seen here on the grandest +scale, columns, arched roof, organ-pipes, trees, altars, and squatting monsters +ranged in long lines like idols in a temple. There may very well be some truth +in the notion that the origin of Gothic architecture was in stalactites of a +limestone cavern, so numerous and perfect are the long slender columns crowned +with pointed Gothic arches. +</p> + +<p> +Our procession through the cave was a picturesque one. We carried long wax +altar-candles and our guides huge torches made of threads of aloe-fibre soaked +in resin and wrapped round with cloth, in appearance and texture exactly like +the legs and arms of mummies. As we went, the Indians sang Mexican songs to +strange, monotonous, plaintive tunes, or raced about into dark corners shouting +with laughter. They talked about adventures in the cave, to them of course the +great phenomenon of the whole world; but it did not seem, as far as we could +hear, that they associated with it any recollections of the old Aztec +divinities and the mystic rites performed in their honour. +</p> + +<p> +No fossil bones have been found in the cavern, nor human remains except in one +of the passages far within, where a little wooden cross still marks the spot +where the skeleton of an Indian was found. Whether he went alone for mere +curiosity to explore the cave, or, what is more likely, with an idea of finding +treasure, is not known; nothing is certain but that his candle was burnt out +while he was still far from the entrance, and that he died there. I said no +fossil remains had been found, but the level floors of the great halls are +continually being raised by fresh layers of stalagmite from the water dropping +from the roof, and no one knows what may lie under them. These floors are in +many places covered with little loose concretions like marbles, and these +concretions in the course of time are imbedded in the horizontal layers of the +same material. +</p> + +<p> +As we left the entrance hall and began to ascend the sloping passage that leads +to daylight, we saw an optical appearance which, had we not seen it with our +own eyes, we could never have believed to be a natural effect of light and +shade. To us, still far down in the cave, the entrance was only illuminated by +reflected light; but as the Indians reached it, the direct rays of sunlight +fell upon them, and their white dresses shone with an intense phosphoric light, +as though they had been self-luminous. It is just such an effect that is +wanting in our pictures of the Transfiguration, but I fear it is as impossible +to paint it upon canvas as to describe it in words. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning our friend Don Guillermo said good-bye to us, and started to +return post-haste to his affairs in the capital. We stayed a few days longer at +Cocoyotla, never tiring of the beautiful garden with its groves of orange-trees +and cocoanut-palms, and the river which, running through it, joins the stream +that we heard rushing along in the cavern, to flow down into the Pacific. +</p> + +<p> +On Sunday morning the priest arrived on an ambling mule, the favourite clerical +animal. They say it is impossible to ride a mule unless you are either an +arriero or a priest. Not that it is by any means necessary, however, that he +should ride a mule. I shall not soon forget the jaunty young monk we saw at +Tezcuco, just setting out for a country festival, mounted on a splendid little +horse, with his frock tucked up, and a pair of hairy goat-skin +<i>chaparreros</i> underneath, a broad Mexican hat, a pair of monstrous silver +spurs, and a very large cigar in his mouth. The girls came out of the cottage +doors to look at him, as he made the fiery little beast curvet and prance along +the road; and he was evidently not insensible to the looks of admiration of +these young ladies, as they muffled up their faces in their blue rebozos and +looked at him through the narrow opening. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly two hundred Indians crowded into the church to mass, and went through +the service with evident devotion. There are no more sincere Catholics in the +world than the Indians, though, as I have said, they are apt to keep up some of +their old rites in holes and corners. The administradors did not trouble +themselves to attend mass, but went on posting up their books just outside the +church-door; in this, as in a great many other little matters, showing their +contempt for the brown men, and adding something every day to the feeling of +dislike they are regarded with. +</p> + +<p> +We speak of the Indians still keeping up their ancient superstitious rites in +secret, as we often heard it said so in Mexico, though we ourselves never saw +anything of it. The Abbé Clavigero, who wrote in the last century, declares the +charge to be untrue, except perhaps in a few isolated cases. “The few +examples of idolatry,” he says, “which can be produced are partly +excusable; since it is not to be wondered at that rude uncultured men should +not be able to distinguish the idolatrous worship of a rough figure of wood or +stone from that which is rightly paid to the holy images.” (There are +people who would quite agree with the good Abbé that the distinction is rather +a difficult one to make.) “But how often has prejudice against them +declared things to be idols which were really images of the saints, though +shapeless ones! In 1754 I saw some images found in a cave, which were thought +to be idols; but I had no doubt that they were figures representing the mystery +of the Holy Nativity.” +</p> + +<p> +A good illustration of the wholesale way in which the early Catholic +missionaries went about the work of conversion is given in a remark of +Clavigero’s. There is one part of the order of baptism which proceeds +thus: “Then the Priest, wetting his right thumb with spittle from his +mouth, and touching therewith in the form of a cross the right ear of the +person to be baptized, &c.” The Mexican missionaries, it seems, had +to leave out this ceremony, from sheer inability to provide enough of the +requisite material for their crowds of converts. +</p> + +<p> +After mass we rode out to a mound that had attracted our attention a day or two +before, and which proved to be a fort or temple, or probably both combined. +There were no remains to be found there except the usual fragments of pottery +and obsidian. Then we returned to the hacienda to say good-bye to our friends +there, before starting on our journey back to Mexico. All the population were +hard at work amusing themselves, and the shop was doing a roaring trade in +glasses of aguardiente. The Indian who had been our guide for some days past +had opened a Monté bank with the dollars we had given him, and was sitting on +the ground solemnly dealing cards one by one from the bottom of a dirty pack, a +crowd of gamblers standing or sitting in a semicircle before him, silently +watching the cards and keeping a vigilant eye upon their stakes which lay on +the ground before the banker. Other parties were busy at the same game in other +parts of the open space before the shop, which served as the great square for +the colony. +</p> + +<p> +Under the arcades in front of the shop a fandango was going on, though it was +quite early in the afternoon. A man and a woman stood facing each other, an old +man tinkled a guitar, producing a strange, endless, monotonous tune, and the +two dancers stamped with their feet, and moved their arms and bodies about in +time to the music, throwing themselves into affected and voluptuous attitudes +which evidently met with the approval of the bystanders, though to us, who did +not see with Indian eyes, they seemed anything but beautiful. When the danseuse +had tired out one partner, another took his place. An admiring crowd stood +round or sat on the stone benches, smoking cigarettes, and looking on gravely +and silently, with evident enjoyment. Just as we saw it, it would go on +probably through half the night, one couple, or perhaps two, keeping it up +constantly, the rest looking on and refreshing themselves from time to time +with raw spirits. Though inferior to the Eastern dancing, it resembled it most +strikingly, my companion said. It has little to do with the really beautiful +and artistic dancing of Old Spain, but seems to be the same that the people +delighted in long before they ever saw a white man. Montezuma’s palace +contained a perfect colony of professional dancers, whose sole business was to +entertain him with their performances, which only resembled those of the Old +World because human nature is similar everywhere, and the same wants and +instincts often find their development in the same way among nations totally +separated from each other. +</p> + +<p> +We left the natives to their amusement, and started on our twenty miles ride. +By the time the evening had fairly begun to close in upon us, we crossed the +crest of a hill and had a dim view of a valley below us, but there were no +signs of Chalma or its convent. We let our horses find their way as well as +they could along the rocky path, and got down into the valley. A light behind +us made us turn round, and we saw a grand sight. The coarse grass on a large +hill further down the valley had been set fire to, and a broad band of flame +stretched right across the base of the hill, and was slowly moving upwards +towards its top, throwing a lurid glare over the surrounding country, and upon +the clouds of smoke that were rising from the flames. Every now and then we +turned to watch the line of fire as it rose higher and higher, till at last it +closed in together at the summit with one final blaze, and left us in the +darkness. We dismounted and stumbled along, leading our horses down the +precipitous sides of the deep ravines that run into the valley, mounting again +to cross the streams at the bottom, and clambering up on the other side to the +level of the road. At last a turn in the valley showed lights just before us, +and we entered the village of Chalma, which was illuminated with flaring +oil-lamps in the streets, where men were hard at work setting up stalls and +booths of planks. It seemed there was to be a fair next day. +</p> + +<p> +They showed us the way to the <i>meson</i><a href="#fn-17" name="fnref-17" id="fnref-17"><sup>[17]</sup></a> +and there we left Antonio with the horses, while the proprietor sent an idiot +boy to show us the way to the convent, for our inspection of the meson decided +us at once on seeking the hospitality of the monks for the night. We climbed up +the hill, went in at the convent-gate, across a courtyard, along a dim +cloister, and through another door where our guide made his way out by a +different opening, leaving us standing in total darkness. After a time another +door opened, and a good-natured-looking friar came in with a lamp in his hand, +and conducted us upstairs to his cell. I think our friend was the sub-prior of +the convent. His cell was a very comfortable bachelor’s apartment, in a +plain way, vaulted and whitewashed, with good chairs and a table and a very +comfortable-looking bed. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-17" id="fn-17"></a> <a href="#fnref-17">[17]</a> +The <i>meson</i> of Mexico is a lineal descendant of the Eastern Caravanserai, +and has preserved its peculiarities unchanged for centuries. It consists of two +court-yards, one surrounded by stabling and the other by miserable rooms for +the travellers, who must cook their food themselves, or go elsewhere for it. +</p> + +<p> +We sat talking with him for a long while, and heard that the fair next day +would be attended by numbers of Indians from remote places among the mountains, +and that at noon there would be an Indian dance in the church. It is not the +great festival, however, he said. That is once a year; and then the Indians +come from fifty miles round, and stay here several days, living in the caves in +the rock just by the town, buying and selling in the fair, attending mass, and +having solemn dances in the church. We asked him about the ill feeling between +the Indians and the whites. He said that among the planters it might be as we +said, but that in the neighbourhood of his convent the respect and affection of +the Indians for the clergy, whether white or Indian, was as great as ever. Then +we gossipped about horses, of which our friend was evidently an amateur, and +when the conversation flagged, he turned to the table in the middle of the room +and handed us little bowls made of calabashes, prettily decorated and carved, +and full of sweetmeats. There were ten or twelve of these little bowls on the +table, each with a different kind of “tuck” in it. We inquired +where all those good things came from, and learnt that making them was one of +the favourite occupations of the Mexican nuns, who keep their brethren in the +monasteries well supplied. At last the good monk went away to his duties and +left us, when I could not resist the temptation of having a look at the little +books in blue and green paper covers which were lying on the table with the +sweetmeat-bowls and the venerable old missal. They proved to be all French +novels done into Spanish, and “Notre-Dame de Paris” was lying open +(under a sheet of paper); so I conclude that our visit had interrupted the +sub-prior while deep in that improving work. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a monk came to conduct us down into the refectory, and there they +gave us an uncommonly good supper of wonderful Mexican stews, red-hot as usual, +and plenty of good Spanish wine withal. The great dignitaries of the cloister +did not appear, but some fifteen or twenty monks were at table with us, and +never tired of questioning us—exactly in the same fashion that the ladies of +the harem questioned Doña Juana. We delighted them with stories of the +miraculous Easter fire at Jerusalem, and the illumination of St. Peter’s, +of the Sistine chapel and the Pope, and we parted for the night in high good +humour. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning a monk attached himself to us as our cicerone, a fine young fellow +with a handsome face, and no end of fun in him. +</p> + +<p> +Now that we saw the convent by daylight, we were delighted with the beauty of +its situation. The broad fertile valley grows narrower and narrower until it +becomes a gorge in the mountains; and here the convent is built, with the +mountain-stream running through its beautiful gardens, and turning the wheel of +the convent-mill before it flows on into the plain to fertilize the broad lands +of the reverend fathers. +</p> + +<p> +When we had visited the gardens and the stables, our young monk brought us back +to the great church of the convent, where we took our places near the monks, +who had mustered in full force to be present at the dancing. Presently the +music arrived, an old man with a harp, and a woman with a violin; and then came +the dancers, eight Indian boys with short tunics and head-dresses of feathers, +and as many girls with white dresses, and garlands of flowers on their heads. +The costumes were evidently intended to represent the Indian dresses of the +days of Montezuma, but they were rather modernized by the necessity of wearing +various articles of dress which would have been superfluous in old times. They +stationed themselves in the middle of the church, opposite the high altar, and, +to our unspeakable astonishment, began to dance the polka. Then came a waltz, +then a schottisch, then another waltz, and finally a quadrille, set to +unmitigated English tunes. They danced exceedingly well, and behaved as though +they had been used to European ball-rooms all their lives. The spectators +looked on as though it were all a matter of course for these brown-skinned boys +and girls to have acquired so singular an accomplishment in their +out-of-the-way village among the mountains. As for us we looked on in +open-mouthed astonishment; and when, in the middle of the quadrille, the harp +and violin struck up no less a tune than “The King of the Cannibal +Islands,” we could hardly help bursting out into fits of laughter. We +restrained ourselves, however, and kept as grave a countenance as the rest of +the lookers-on, who had not the faintest idea that anything odd was happening. +The quadrille finished in perfect order; each dancer took his partner by the +hand and led her forward; and so, forming a line in front of the high altar, +they all knelt down, and the rest of the congregation followed their example; +there was a dead silence in the church for about the space of an Ave Maria, +then everyone rose, and the ceremony was over.<a href="#fn-18" name="fnref-18" id="fnref-18"><sup>[18]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-18" id="fn-18"></a> <a href="#fnref-18">[18]</a> +The Aztecs were accustomed, before the Conquest, to perform dances as part of +the celebration of their religious festivals, and the missionaries allowed them +to continue the practice after their conversion. The dance in a church, +described by Mr. Bullock in 1822, was a much more genuine Indian ceremony than +the one which we saw.<br /> + Church-dancing may be seen in Europe even at the present day. The solemn +Advent dances in Seville cathedral were described to me, by an eyewitness, as +consisting of minuets, or some such stately old-fashioned dances, performed in +front of the high altar by boys in white surplices, with the greatest gravity +and decorum. +</p> + +<p> +Our young monk asked permission of his superior to take us out for a walk, and +we went down together to the convent-mill. There we saw the mill, which was +primitive, and the miller, who was burly; and also something much more worth +seeing, at least to our young acquaintance, who tucked up his skirts and ran +briskly up a ladder into the upper regions, calling to us to follow him. A door +led from the granary into the miller’s house, and the miller’s +daughter happened, of course entirely by chance, to be coming through that way. +A very pretty girl she was too, and I never in my life saw anything more +intensely comic than the looks of intelligence that passed between her and the +young friar when he presented us. It was decidedly contrary to good monastic +discipline it is true, and we ought to have been shocked, but it was so +intolerably laughable that my companion bolted into the granary to examine the +wheat, and I took refuge in a violent fit of coughing. Our nerves had been +already rudely shaken by the King of the Cannibal Islands, and this little +scene of convent-life fairly finished us. +</p> + +<p> +We asked our young friend what his day’s work consisted of, and how he +liked convent-life. He yawned, and intimated that it was very slow. We enquired +whether the monks had not some parochial duties to perform, such as visiting +the sick and the poor in their neighbourhood. He evidently wondered whether we +were really ignorant, or whether we were “chaffing” him, and +observed that that was no business of their’s, the curas of the villages +did all that sort of thing. “Then, what have you to do?” we said. +“Well,” he said, “there are so many services every day, and +high mass on Sundays and holidays; and besides that, there’s—well, there +isn’t anything particular. It’s rather a dull life. I myself should +like uncommonly to go and travel and see the world, or go and fight +somewhere.” We were quite sorry for the young fellow when we shook hands +with him at parting, and he left us to go back to his convent. +</p> + +<p> +We had been clambering about the hill, seeing the caves with which it is +honeycombed, but at present they were uninhabited. At the time of the great +festival, when they are full of Indian families, the scene must be a curious +one. +</p> + +<p> +The monks had hospitably pressed us to stay till their mid-day meal, but we +preferred having it at the shop down in the village, so as to start directly +afterwards. Here the people gave us a regular reception, entertained us with +their best, and could not be prevailed upon to accept any payment whatever. The +proprietor of the meson sat down before the barley-bin which served him for a +desk, and indited a long and eloquent letter of introduction for us to a friend +of his in Oculan, who was to find a night’s lodging for us. Before he +sealed up the despatch he read it to us in a loud voice, sentence by sentence. +It might have been an autograph letter from King Philip to some foreign +potentate. Armed with this important missive, we mounted our horses, shook +hands with no end of well-wishers, and rode off up the valley. +</p> + +<p> +For a little while our path lay through a sort of suburb of Chalma, houses +lying near one another, each surrounded by a pleasant garden, and both houses +and people looking prosperous and cheerful. Our directions for finding the way +were simple enough. We were to go up the valley past the Cerra de los +Atambores, “the hill of drums,” and the great <i>ahuehuete</i>. +What the Cerra de los Atambores might be, we could not tell, but when we had +followed the valley for an hour or so, it came into view. On the other side of +the stream rose a precipitous cliff, several hundred feet high, and near the +top a perpendicular wall of rock was carved with rude designs. People have +supposed, it seems, that these carvings represented drums, and hence the name. +</p> + +<p> +Had we known of the place before, we should have made an effort to explore it, +and copy the sculptured designs; but now it was too late, and from the other +side of the valley we could not make out more than that there seemed to be a +figure of the sun among them. +</p> + +<p> +A little further on we came to the “Ahuehuete.” The name means a +deciduous cypress, a common tree in Mexico, and of which we had already seen +such splendid specimens in the grove near Tezcuco, and in the wood of +Chapoltepec. This was a remarkable tree as to size, some sixty feet round at +the lower part where the roots began to spread out. A copious spring of water +rose within the hollow trunk itself, and ran down between the roots into the +little river. All over its spreading branches were fastened votive offerings of +the Indians, hundreds of locks of coarse black hair, teeth, bits of coloured +cloth, rags, and morsels of ribbon. The tree was many centuries old, and had +probably had some mysterious influence ascribed to it, and been decorated with +such simple offerings long before the discovery of America. In Brittany the +peasants still keep up the custom of hanging up locks of their hair in certain +chapels, to charm away diseases; and there it is certain that the Christians +only appropriated to their own worship places already held sacred in the +estimation of the people. +</p> + +<p> +Oculan is a dismal little place. We found the great man of the village standing +at his door, but our letter to him was dishonoured in the most decided manner. +He read the epistle, carefully folded it up and pocketed it, then pointed in +the direction of two or three houses on the other side of the way, and saying +he supposed we might get a lodging over there, he wished us good-day and +retired into his own premises. The landlord of “over there” was +very civil. He had a shed for the horses, and could give us palm-mats to sleep +upon on the floor, or on the shop-counter, which was very narrow, but long +enough for us both; and this latter alternative we chose. +</p> + +<p> +We walked up to the top of a hill close by the village, and were surveying the +country from thence, keeping a sharp look-out all the while for Mexican remains +in the furrows. For a wonder, we found nothing but some broken spindle-heads; +but, while we were thus occupied, two Indians suddenly made their appearance, +each with his <i>machete</i> in his hand, and wanted to know what we were +doing on their land. We pacified them by politeness and a cigar apiece, but we +were still evidently objects of suspicion, and they were quite relieved to see +us return to the village. There, an old woman cooked us hard-boiled eggs and +tortillas, and then we went tranquilly to bed on our counter, with our saddles +for pillows, and our serapes for bed-clothes. +</p> + +<p> +All the way from Cocoyotla our height above the sea had been gradually +increasing; and soon after we started from Oculan next morning, we came to the +foot of one of the grand passes that lead up into the high lands, where the +road mounts by zig-zag turns through a splendid forest of pines and oaks, and +at the top of the ascent we were in a broad fertile plain as high or higher +than the valley of Mexico. It was like England to ride between large fields of +wheat and barley, and to pick blackberries in the hedges. It was only April, +and yet the grain was almost ready for the sickle, and the blackberries were +fully ripe. Fresh green grass was growing in the woods under the oak-trees, and +the banks were covered with Alpine strawberries. +</p> + +<p> +We are in the great grain-district of the Republic. Wheat is grown for the +supply of the large towns, and barley for the horses. Green barley is the +favourite fodder for the horses in the Mexican highlands, and in the hotter +districts the leaves of young Indian corn. Oats are to be seen growing by +chance among other grain, but they are never cultivated. Though wheat is so +much grown upon the plains, it is not because the soil and climate are more +favourable than elsewhere for such culture. In the plains of Toluca and +Tenancingo the yield of wheat is less than the average of the Republic, which +is from 25- to 30-fold, and in the cloudy valleys we passed through near +Orizaba it is much greater. Labour is tolerably cheap and plentiful here, +however; and then each large town must draw its supplies of grain from the +neighbouring districts, for, in a country where it pays to carry goods on +mules’ backs, it is clear that grain cannot be carried far to market. +</p> + +<p> +In the question of the population of Mexico, one begins to speculate why—in a +country with a splendid climate, a fertile soil, and almost unlimited space to +spread in, the inhabitants do not increase one-half so fast as in England, and +about one-sixth as fast as their neighbours of the United States. One of the +most important causes which tend to bring about this state of things is the +impossibility of conveying grain to any distance, except by doubling and +trebling its price. The disastrous effects of a failure of the crop in one +district cannot be remedied by a plentiful harvest fifty miles off; for the +peasants, already ruined by the loss of their own harvest, can find neither +money nor credit to buy food brought from a distance at so great an expense. +Next year may be fruitful again, but numbers die in the interval, and the +constitutions of a great proportion of the children never recover the effects +of that one year’s famine. +</p> + +<p> +We left the regular road and struck up still higher into the hills, riding +amongst winding roads with forest above and below us, and great orchids of the +most brilliant colours, blue, white, and crimson, shining among the branches of +the oak-trees. The boughs were often breaking down with the bulbs of such +epiphytes; but as yet it was early in the season, and only here and there one +was in flower. At the top of the hill, still in the midst of the woods, is the +Desierto, “the desert,” the place we had selected for our noon-day +halt. There are many of these Desiertos in Mexico, founded by rich people in +old times. They are a kind of convent, with some few resident ecclesiastics, +and numbers of cells for laymen who retire for a time into this secluded place +and are received gratuitously. They spend a week or two in prayer and fasting, +then confess themselves, receive the sacrament, and return into the world. The +situation of this quiet place was well chosen in the midst of the forest, and +once upon a time the cells used to be full of penitents; but now we saw no one +but the old porter, as we walked about the gardens and explored the quadrangle +and the rows of cells, each with a hideous little wood-cut of a martyr being +tortured, upon the door. +</p> + +<p> +Thence we rode down into the plain, looking down, as we descended, upon a hill +which seemed to be an old crater, rising from the level ground; and then our +path lay among broad fields where oxen were ploughing, and across marshes +covered with coarse grass, until we came to the quaint little town of +Tenancingo. There we found the <i>meson</i>; and the landlord handed us the key +of our room, which was square, whitewashed, and with a tiled floor. There was +no window, so we had to keep the door open for light. The furniture consisted +of three articles,—two low tables on four legs, made of rough planks, and a +bracket to stick a candle in. The tables were beds after the manner of the +country; but, as a special attention to us, the patron produced two old +mattresses; the first sight of them was enough for us, and we expelled them +with shouts of execration. We had to go to a shop in the square to get some +supper; and on our return, about nine o’clock, our man Antonio remarked +that he was going to sleep, which he did at once in the following manner. He +took off his broad-brimmed hat and hung it on a nail, tied a red cotton +handkerchief round his head, rolled himself up in his serape, lay down on the +flags in the courtyard outside our door, and was asleep in an instant. We +retired to our planks inside and followed his example. +</p> + +<p> +The next afternoon we reached Toluca, a large and prosperous town, but with +little noticeable in it except the arcades (portales) along the streets, and +the hams which are cured with sugar, and are famous all over the Republic. Our +road passed near the Nevado de Toluca, an extinct snow-covered volcano, nearly +15,000 feet above the sea. It consists entirely of grey and red porphyry, and +in the interior of its crater are two small lakes. We were not sorry to take up +our quarters in a comfortable European-looking hotel again, for roughing it is +much less pleasant in these high altitudes—where the nights and mornings are +bitterly cold—than in the hotter climate of the lower levels. +</p> + +<p> +Our next day’s ride brought us back to Mexico, crossing the corn-land of +the plain of Lerma, where the soil consists of disintegrated porphyry from the +mountains around, and is very fertile. Lerma itself is the worst den of robbers +in all Mexico; and, as we rode through the street of dingy adobe houses, and +saw the rascally-looking fellows who were standing at the doors in knots, with +their horses ready saddled and bridled close by, we got a very strong +impression that the reputation of the place was no worse than it deserved. +After Lerma, there still remained the pass over the mountains which border the +valley of Mexico; and here in the midst of a dense pine-forest is Las Cruzes, +“the crosses,” a place with an ugly name, where several robberies +are done every week. We waited for the Diligence at some little glass-works at +the entrance of the pass, and then let it go on first, as a sop to those +gentlemen if they should be out that day. I suppose they knew pretty accurately +that no one had much to lose, for they never made their appearance. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus22"></a> +<img src="images/fig19.jpg" width="450" height="270" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">SPANISH-MEXICAN SPURS.<br /><i>From 5 to 6 inches long, with +rowels from 2½ to 3 inches in diameter. The broad instep-strap of embossed +leather is also shewn. (From Mr. Christy’s Collection)</i></p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +ANTIQUITIES. PRISON. SPORTS.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus23"></a> +<img src="images/fig20.jpg" width="432" height="650" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">STATUE OF THE MEXICAN GODDESS OF WAR (OR OF DEATH), +TEOYAOMIQUI.<br /> +<i>(After Nebel).<br /> +Height of the original, about Nine Feet</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p> +It was like getting home again to reach Mexico, we had so many friends there, +though our stay had been so short. We were fully occupied, for weeks of hard +sight-seeing are hardly enough to investigate the objects of interest to be +found in the city. We saw these things under the best auspices, for Mr. Christy +had letters to the Minister of Public Instruction and other people in +authority, who were exceedingly civil, and did all they could to put us in the +way of seeing everything we wished. Among the places we visited, the Museum +must have some notice. It is in part of the building of the University; but we +were rather surprised, when we reached the gate leading into the court-yard, to +be stopped by a sentry who demanded what we wanted. The lower storey had been +turned into a barrack by the Government, there being a want of quarters for the +soldiers. As the ground-floor under the cloisters is used for the heavier +pieces of sculpture, the scene was somewhat curious. The soldiers had laid +several of the smaller idols down on their faces, and were sitting on the +comfortable seat on the small of their backs, busy playing at cards. An +enterprising soldier had built up a hutch with idols and sculptured stones +against the statue of the great war-goddess Teoyaomiqui herself, and kept +rabbits there. The state which the whole place was in when thus left to the +tender mercies of a Mexican regiment may be imagined by any one who knows what +a dirty and destructive animal a Mexican soldier is. +</p> + +<p> +The guardians of the Museum have treated it even worse. People who know how +often the curators of the Museums of southern Europe are ready to sell anything +not very likely to be missed will not be astonished to hear of the same thing +being done to a great extent some six or eight years before our visit. +</p> + +<p> +The stone known as the statue of the war-goddess is a huge block of basalt +covered with sculptures. The antiquaries think that the figures on it stand for +different personages, and that it is three gods,—Huitzilopochtli the god of +war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and Mictlanteuctli the god of hell. It has necklaces +of alternate hearts and dead man’s hands, with death’s heads for a +central ornament. At the bottom of the block is a strange sprawling figure, +which one cannot see now, for it is the base which rests on the ground; but +there are two shoulders projecting from the idol, which show plainly that it +did not stand on the ground, but was supported aloft on the tops of two +pillars. The figure carved upon the bottom represents a monster holding a skull +in each hand, while others hang from his knees and elbows. His mouth is a mere +oval ring, a common feature of Mexican idols, and four tusks project just above +it. The new moon laid down like a bridge forms his forehead, and a star is +placed on each side of it. This is thought to have been the conventional +representation of Mictlanteuctli (Lord of the Land of the Dead), the god of +hell, which was a place of utter and eternal darkness. Probably each victim as +he was led to the altar could look up between the two pillars and see the +hideous god of hell staring down upon him from above. +</p> + +<p> +There is little doubt that this is the famous war-idol which stood on the great +teocalli of Mexico, and before which so many thousands of human victims were +sacrificed. It lay undisturbed underground in the great square, close to the +very site of the teocalli, until sixty years ago. For many years after that it +was kept buried, lest the sight of one of their old deities might be too +exciting for the Indians, who, as I have mentioned before, had certainly not +forgotten it, and secretly ornamented it with garlands of flowers while it +remained above ground. +</p> + +<p> +The “sacrificial stone,” so called, which also stands in the +court-yard of the Museum, was not one of the ordinary altars on which victims +were sacrificed. These altars seem to have been raised slabs of hard stone with +a protuberant part near one end, so that the breast of the victim was raised +into an arch, which made it more easy for the priest to cut across it with his +obsidian knife. The Breton altars, where the slab was hollowed into the outline +of a human figure, have some analogy to this; but, though there were very many +of these altars in different cities of Mexico, none are now known to exist. The +stone we are now observing is quite a different thing, a cylindrical block of +basalt nine feet across and three feet high: and Humboldt considers it to be +the stone described by early Spanish writers, and called <i>temalacatl</i> +(spindle-stone) from its circular shape, something like a distaff-head. Upon +this the captive chiefs stood in the gladiatorial fights which took place +within the space surrounding the great teocalli. Slightly armed, they stood +upon this raised platform in the midst of the crowd of spectators; and six +champions in succession, armed with better weapons, came up to fight with them. +If the captive worsted his assailants in this unequal contest, he was set free +with presents; but this success was the lot of but few, and the fate of most +was to be overpowered and dragged off ignominiously to be sacrificed like +ordinary prisoners. On the top of the stone is sculptured an outline of the sun +with its eight rays, and a hollow in the centre, whence a groove runs to the +edge of the stone, probably to let the blood run down. All round it is an +appropriate bas-relief repeated several times. A vanquished warrior is giving +up his stone-sword and his spears to his conqueror, who is tearing the plumed +crest from his head. +</p> + +<p> +The above explanation by Humboldt is a plausible one. But in Central America +altars not unlike this, and with grooves upon the top, stand in front of the +great stone idols; and this curious monument may have been nothing after all +but an ordinary altar to sacrifice birds and small animals upon. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus24"></a> +<img src="images/fig21.jpg" width="329" height="550" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">THREE VIEWS OF A SACRIFICIAL COLLAR,<br /> +<i>Carved out of hard mottled greenstone. (In Mr. Christy’s Collection.)<br /> +This is 17 inches long, and varies from 11 to 16 inches in width. The arms are +4 inches wide and 3 inches deep; and are 8 inches apart at about half their +length.</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +Señor Leon Ramirez, the curator, had come to the Museum to meet us, and we went +over the collection of smaller objects, which are kept up stairs in +glass-cases,—at any rate out of the way of the soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +Here are the stone clamps shaped like the letter U, which were put over the +wrists and ankles of the victims, to hold them down on the sacrificial stone. +They are of hard stone, very heavy and covered with carvings. It is remarkable +that, though the altars for human sacrifices are no longer to be found, these +accessory stone clamps, or yoke-like collars, are not uncommon. A fine one from +Mr. Christy’s collection is figured. <i>(See opposite page.)</i> +</p> + +<p> +The obsidian knives and arrow-heads are very good, but these I have spoken of +already, as well as of the stone hammers. The axes and chisels of stone are so +exactly like those found in Europe that it is quite impossible to distinguish +them. The bronze hatchet-blades are thin and flat, slightly thickened at the +sides to give them strength, and mostly of a very peculiar shape, something +like a T, but still more resembling the section of a mushroom cut vertically +through the middle of the stalk. +</p> + +<p> +The obsidian mask is an extraordinary piece of work, considering the difficulty +of cutting such a material. It was chipped into a rude outline, and finished +into its exact shape by polishing down with jeweller’s sand. The polish +is perfect, and there is hardly a scratch upon it. At least one of the old +Spanish writers on Mexico gives the details of the process of cutting precious +stones and polishing them with <i>teoxalli</i> or “god’s +sand.” Masks in stone, wood, and terra-cotta are to be seen in +considerable number in museums of Mexican antiquities. Their use is explained +by passages in the old Mexican writers, who mention that it was customary to +mask the idols on the occasion of the king being sick, or of any other public +calamity; and that men and women wore masks in some of the religious +ceremonies. A fine mask of brown lava (from Mr. Christy’s collection), +which has been coloured, is here figured. <i>(See illustration.)</i> The +mirrors of obsidian have the same beautifully polished surface as the obsidian +mask shows; and those made of nodules of pyrites, cut and polished, are worth +notice. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexicans were very skilful in making pottery; and of course there is a good +collection here of terra-cotta vases, little altars and incense-dishes, +rattles, flageolets, and whistles, tobacco-pipes and masks. Some of the large +vases, which were formerly filled with skulls and bones, are admirable in their +designs and decorations; and many specimens are to be seen of the red and black +ware of Cholula, which was famous at the time of the Conquest, and was sent to +all parts of the country. The art of glazing pottery seems only to have been +introduced by the Spaniards, and to this day the Indians hardly care to use it. +The terra-cotta rattles are very characteristic. They have little balls in them +which shake about, and they puzzled us much as the apple-dumpling did good King +George, for we could not make out very easily how the balls got inside. They +were probably attached very slightly to the inside, and so baked and then +broken loose. We often got little balls like schoolboys’ marbles, among +lots of Mexican antiquities, and these were most likely the balls out of broken +rattles. +</p> + +<p> +Burning incense was always an important part of the Mexican ceremonies. When +the white men were on their march to the capital, the inhabitants used to come +out to meet them with such plates as we saw here, and burn copal before the +leaders; and in Indian villages to this day the procession on saints’ +days would not be complete without men burning incense, not in regular censers, +but in unglazed earthen platters such as their forefathers used. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus25"></a> +<img src="images/fig22.jpg" width="600" height="286" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF AN AZTEC MASK.<br /> +<i>Sculptured out of hard brown lava. Twelve inches high; ten inches wide.<br /> +(From Mr. Christy’s Collection.)</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +Our word <i>copal</i> is the Mexican <i>copalli</i>. There are a few other +Mexican words which have been naturalized in our European languages, of course +indicating that the things they represent came from Mexico. <i>Ocelotl</i> is +<i>ocelot</i>; <i>Tomatl</i> is <i>tomata</i>; <i>Chilli</i> is the Spanish +<i>chile</i> and our <i>chili</i>; <i>Cacahuatl</i> is <i>cacao</i> or cocoa; +and <i>Chocolatl</i>, the beverage made from the cacao-bean with a mixture of +vanilla, is our chocolate. +</p> + +<p> +Cacao-beans were used by the Mexicans as money. Even in Humboldt’s time, +when there was no copper coinage, they were used as small change, six for a +halfpenny; and Stephens says the Central Americans use them to this day. A mat +in Mexican is <i>petlatl</i>, and thence a basket made of matting was called +<i>petlacalli</i>—“mathouse.” The name passed to the plaited grass +cigar-cases that are exported to Europe; and now in Spain any kind of +cigar-case is called a <i>petaca</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The pretty little ornamented calabashes—used, among other purposes, for +drinking chocolate out of—were called by the Mexicans <i>xicalli</i>, a word +which the Spaniards made into <i>jícara</i>, and now use to mean a +chocolate-cup; and even the Italians have taken to it, and call a tea-cup a +<i>chicchera</i>. +</p> + +<p> +There is a well-known West Indian fruit which we call an <i>avocado</i> or +<i>alligator-pear</i>, and which the French call <i>avocat</i> and the +Spaniards <i>aguacate</i>. All these names are corruptions of the Aztec name of +the fruit, <i>ahuacatl</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Vanilla and cochineal were first found in Mexico; but the Spaniards did not +adopt the unpronounceable native names, <i>tlilxochitl</i> and +<i>nocheztli</i>. Vanilla, <i>vainilla</i>, means a little bean, from +<i>vaina</i>, which signifies a scabbard or sheath, also a pod. +<i>Cochinilla</i> is from <i>coccus</i>, a berry, as it was at first supposed +to be of vegetable origin. The Aztec name for cochineal, <i>nocheztli</i>, +means “cactus-blood,” and is a very apt description of the insect, +which has in it a drop of deep crimson fluid, in which the colouring matter of +the dye is contained. +</p> + +<p> +The turkey, which was introduced into Europe from Mexico, was called +<i>huexolotl</i> from the gobbling noise it makes. (It must be remembered that +x and j in Spanish are not the same letters as in English, but a hard guttural +aspirate, like the German ch). The name, slightly altered into +<i>guajalote</i>, is still used in Mexico; but when these birds were brought to +Europe, the Spaniards called them peacocks (<i>pavos</i>). To get rid of the +confusion, it became necessary to call the real peacock +“<i>pavón</i>” (big peacock), or “<i>pavo real</i>” +(royal peacock). The German name for a turkey, “Wälscher Hahn,” +“Italian fowl,” is reasonable, for the Germans got them from Italy; +but our name “turkey” is wonderfully absurd. +</p> + +<p> +There may be other Mexican words to be found in our language, but not many. The +Mexicans were cultivating maize and tobacco when the Spaniards invaded the +country, and had done so for ages; but these vegetables had been found already +in the West India islands, and had got their name from the language of Hayti, +<i>mahiz</i> and <i>tabaco</i>; the latter word, it seems, meaning not the +tobacco itself, but the cigars made of it. +</p> + +<p> +I do not recollect anything else worthy of note that Europe has borrowed from +Ancient Mexico, except Botanic Gardens, and dishes made to keep hot at +dinner-time, which the Aztecs managed by having a pan of burning charcoal +underneath them. +</p> + +<p> +To return to the Museum. There are stamps in terra-cotta with geometrical +patterns, for making lines and ornaments on the vases before they were baked, +and for stamping patterns upon the cotton cloth which was one of their +principal manufactures, as it is now. Connected with the same art are the +<i>malacates</i>, or winders, which I have already described. Little grotesque +heads made of baked clay, like those I have mentioned as being found in such +immense numbers on the sites of old Mexican cities, are here by hundreds. I +think there were, besides, some of the moulds, also in terra-cotta, in which +they were formed; at any rate, they are to be seen, so that making the little +heads must have been a regular trade. What they were for is not so easy to say. +Some have bodies, and are made with flat backs to stand against a wall, and +these were probably idols. The ancient Mexicans, we read, had household-gods in +great numbers, and called them <i>Tepitotons</i>, “little ones.” +The greatest proportion, however, are mere heads which never had had bodies, +and will not stand anyhow. They could not have been personal ornaments, for +there is nothing to fasten them on by. They are rather a puzzle. I have seen a +suggestion somewhere, that when a man was buried, each surviving member of his +family put one of these heads into his grave. This sounds plausible enough, +especially as both male and female heads are found. +</p> + +<p> +One shelf in the museum is particularly instructive. We called it the +“Chamber of Horrors,” after the manner of Marlborough House, and it +contains numbers of the sham antiquities, the manufacture of which is a regular +thing in Mexico, as it is in Italy. They are principally vases and idols of +earthenware, for the art of working obsidian is lost, and there can be no +trickery about that;<a href="#fn-19" name="fnref-19" id="fnref-19"><sup>[19]</sup></a> +and as to the hammers, chisels, and idols in green jade, serpentine, and such +like hard materials, they are decidedly cheaper to find than to make. The +Indians in Mexico make their unglazed pottery just as they did before the +Conquest, so that, if they imitate real antiques exactly, there is no +possibility of detecting the fraud; but when they begin to work from their own +designs, or even to copy from memory, they are almost sure to put in something +that betrays them. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-19" id="fn-19"></a> <a href="#fnref-19">[19]</a> +This assertion must be qualified by a remark of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, +who tells us that in some places the Indians still use lancets of obsidian to +bleed themselves with. I believe there is nothing of the kind to be found in +the part of Mexico which we visited. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the Spaniards came, they began to introduce drawing as it was +understood in Europe; and from that moment the peculiarities of Mexican art +began to disappear. The foreheads of the Mexican races are all very low, and +their painters and sculptors even exaggerated this peculiarity, to make the +faces they depicted more beautiful,—so producing an effect which to us +Europeans seems hideously ugly, but which is not more unnatural than the ideal +type of beauty we see in the Greek statues. After the era of the Spaniards we +see no more of such foreheads; and the eyes, which were drawn in profiles as +one sees them in the full face, are put in their natural position. The short +squat figures become slim and tall; and in numberless little details of dress, +modelling, and ornament, the acquaintance of the artist with European types is +shown; and it is very seldom that the modern counterfeiter can keep clear of +these and get back to the old standard. +</p> + +<p> +Among the things on the condemned shelf were men’s faces too correctly +drawn to be genuine, grotesque animals that no artist would ever have designed +who had not seen a horse, head-dresses and drapery that were European and not +Mexican. Among the figures in Mayer’s <i>Mexico</i>, a vase is +represented as a real antique, which, I think, is one of the worst cases I ever +noticed. There is a man’s head upon it, with long projecting pointed nose +and chin, a long thin pendant moustache, an eye drawn in profile, and a cap. It +is true the pure Mexican race occasionally have moustaches, but they are very +slight, not like this, which falls in a curve on both sides of the mouth; and +no Mexican of pure Indian race ever had such a nose and chin, which must have +been modelled from the face of some toothless old Spaniard. +</p> + +<p> +Mention must be made of the wooden drums—<i>teponaztli</i>—of which some few +specimens are still to be seen in Mexico. Such drums figured in the religious +ceremonies of the Aztecs, and one often hears of them in Mexican history. I +have mentioned already the great drum which Bernal Diaz saw when he went up the +Mexican teocalli with Cortes, and which he describes as a hellish instrument, +made with skins of great serpents; and which, when it was struck, gave a loud +and melancholy sound, that could be heard at two leagues’ distance. +Indeed, they did afterwards hear it from their camp a mile or two off, when +their unfortunate companions were being sacrificed on the teocalli. +</p> + +<p> +The Aztec drums, which are still to be seen, are altogether of wood, nearly +cylindrical, but swelling out in the middle, and hollowed out of solid logs. +Some have the sounding-board made unequally thick in different parts, so as to +give several notes when struck. All are elaborately carved over with various +designs, such as faces, head-dresses, weapons, suns with rays, and fanciful +patterns, among which the twisted cord is one of the commonest. +</p> + +<p> +Besides the drums which are preserved in museums, there are others, carefully +kept in Indian villages, not as curiosities, but as instruments of magical +power. Heller mentions such a <i>teponaztli</i>, which is still preserved among +the Indians of Huatusco, an Indian village near Mirador in the tierra templada, +where the inhabitants have had their customs comparatively little altered by +intercourse with white men. They keep this drum as a sacred instrument, and +beat it only at certain times of the year, though they have no reason to give +for doing so. It is to be regretted that Heller did not take a note of the +particular days on which this took place; for the times of the Mexican +festivals are well known, and this information would have settled the question +whether the Indians of the present day have really any definite recollection of +their old customs. +</p> + +<p> +Drums of this kind do not belong exclusively to Mexico. Among all the tribes of +North America they were one of the principal “properties” used by +the Medicine-men in their ceremonies; and among the tribes which have not been +christianized they are still to be found in use. After we left Mexico, Mr. +Christy visited some tribes in the Hudson’s Bay Territory; and on one +occasion, happening to assist at a festival in which just such a wooden drum +was used, he bought it of the Medicine-man of the tribe, and packed it off +triumphantly to his museum. +</p> + +<p> +A few picture-writings are still to be seen in the Museum, which, with the few +preserved in Europe, are all we have left of these interesting records, of +which there were thousands upon thousands in Mexico and Tezcuco. Some were +burnt or destroyed during the sieges of the cities, some perished by mere +neglect, but the great mass was destroyed by archbishop Zumarraga, when he made +an attempt—and, to some extent, a successful one—to obliterate every trace of +heathenism, by destroying all the monuments and records in the country. One of +the picture-writings hanging on the wall is very probably the same that was +sent up from Vera Cruz to Montezuma, with figures of the newly-arrived white +men, their ships and horses, and their cannons with fire and smoke issuing from +their mouths. Another shows a white man being sacrificed, of course one of the +Spanish prisoners. The pictorial history of the migration of the Aztecs is +here, and a list of tributes paid to the Mexican sovereign; the different +articles being drawn with numbers against each, to show the quantities to be +paid, as in the Egyptian inscriptions. Lord Kingsborough’s great work +contains fac-similes of several Mexican manuscripts, and in Humboldt’s +<i>Vues des Cordillères</i> some of the most remarkable are figured and +described. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most curious of the Aztec picture-writings is in the Bodleian +Library, and in fac-simile in Lord Kingsborough’s <i>Antiquities of +Mexico</i>. In it are shown, in a series of little pictures, the education of +Mexican boys and girls, as prescribed by law. The child four days old is being +sprinkled with water, and receiving its name. At four years old they are to be +allowed one tortilla a meal, which is indicated by a drawing above their heads, +of four circles representing years, and one cake; and the father sends the son +to carry water, while the mother shows the daughter how to spin. A tortilla is +like an oat-cake, but is made of Indian corn. +</p> + +<p> +At seven years old the boy is taken to learn to fish, while the girl spins; and +so on with different occupations for one year after another. At nine years old +the father is allowed to punish his son for disobedience, by sticking +aloe-points all over his naked body, while the daughters only have them stuck +into their hands; and at eleven years old, both boy and girl were to be +punished by holding their faces in the smoke of burning capsicums. +</p> + +<p> +At fifteen the youth is married by the simple process of tying the corner of +his shirt to the corner of the bride’s petticoat (thus literally +“splicing” them, as my companion remarked). And so on; after scenes +of cutting wood, visiting the temples, fighting and feasting, we come to the +last scene of all, headed “<i>seventy years</i>,” and see an old +man and woman reeling about helplessly drunk with pulque; for drunkenness, +which was severely punished up to that age, was tolerated afterwards as a +compensation for the sorrows and infirmities of the last period of life. +</p> + +<p> +Astrological charts formed a large proportion of these picture-writings. Here, +as elsewhere, we may trace the origin of astrology. The signs of the days and +years were represented, for convenience sake, by different animals, and +objects, like the signs of the Zodiac which we still retain. The signs remained +after the history of their origin was lost; and then—what more natural than to +imagine that the symbols handed down by their wise ancestors had some +mysterious meaning, connected with the days and years they stood for; and then, +that a man’s destiny had to do with the names of the signs that +“prevailed” at his birth? +</p> + +<p> +There is little to be seen here or elsewhere, of one kind of work in which the +Mexicans excelled perhaps more than in any other, the goldsmith’s work. +Where are the calendars of solid gold and silver—as big as great wheels, and +covered with hieroglyphics, and the cups and collars, the golden birds, beasts, +and fishes? The Spaniards who saw them record how admirable their workmanship +was, and they were good judges of such matters. Benvenuto Cellini saw some of +these things, and was filled with admiration. They have all gone to the +melting-pot centuries ago! How important the goldsmith’s trade was +accounted in old times is shown by a strange Aztec law. It was no ordinary +offence to steal gold and silver. Criminals convicted of this offence were not +treated as common thieves, but were kept till the time when the goldsmiths +celebrated their annual festival, and were then solemnly sacrificed to their +god Xipe;<a href="#fn-20" name="fnref-20" id="fnref-20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> the +priests flaying their bodies, cooking and eating them, and walking about +dressed in their skins, a ceremony which was called <i>tlacaxipehualiztli</i>, +“the man-flaying.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-20" id="fn-20"></a> <a href="#fnref-20">[20]</a> +The Aztecs had but one word to denote both gold and silver, as they afterwards +made one serve for both iron and copper. This curious word <i>teocuitlatl</i> +we may translate as “Precious Metal,” but it means literally +“Dung of the Gods.” Gold was “Yellow Precious Metal,” +and silver “White Precious Metal.” Lead they called +<i>temetztli</i>, “Moon-stone;” and when the Spaniards showed them +quicksilver, they gave it the name of <i>yoli amuchitl</i>, “Live +Tin.” +</p> + +<p> +Museums of Mexican antiquities are so much alike, that, in general, one +description will do for all of them. Mr. Uhde’s Museum at Heidelberg is a +far finer one than that at Mexico, except as regards the picture-writings. I +was astonished at the enormous quantity of stone idols, delicately worked +trinkets in various hard stones and even in obsidian, terra-cotta +tobacco-pipes, figures, and astronomical calendars, &c., displayed there. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Christy’s collection is richer than any other in small sculptured +figures from Central America. It contains a squatting female figure in hard +brown lava, like the one in black basalt which is drawn in Humboldt’s +<i>Vues des Cordillères</i>, and there called (I cannot imagine why) an Aztec +priestess. Above all, it contains what I believe to be the three finest +specimens of Aztec decorative art which exist in the world. One of these is the +knife of which the figure at <a href="#illus13">page 101</a> gives some faint +idea, the other two being a wooden mask overlaid with mosaic, and a human skull +decorated in the same manner, of which a more particular description will be +found in the Appendix. There are two kinds of Aztec articles in Mr. +Christy’s collection which I did not observe either at Mexico or +Heidelberg. These are bronze needles, resembling our packing-needles, and +little cast bronze bells, called in Aztec <i>yotl</i>, not unlike small +horse-bells made in England at the present day; these are figured in the +tribute-lists in the picture-writings. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus26"></a> +<img src="images/fig23.jpg" width="450" height="230" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">ANTIQUE BRONZE BELLS FROM MEXICO.<br /> +<i>Such as are often sculptured on Aztec Images.</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +Apropos of the mammoth bones preserved in the Mexican Museum, I must insert a +quotation from Bernal Diaz. It is clear that the traditions of giants which +exist in almost every country had their origin in the discovery of fossil +bones, whose real character was not suspected until a century ago; but I never +saw so good an example of this as in the Tlascalan tradition, which my author +relates as follows.—“And they” (the Tlascalan chiefs) “said +that their ancestors had told them that, in times past, there lived amongst +them in settlements men and women of great size, with huge bones; and, as they +were wicked and of evil dispositions, they (the ancestors of the Tlascalans) +fought against them and killed them; and those who were left died out. And that +we might see what stature they were of, they brought a bone of one of them, and +it was very big, and its height was that of a man of reasonable stature; it was +a thigh-bone, and I (Bernal Diaz) measured myself against it, and it was as +tall as I am, who am a man of reasonable stature; and they brought other pieces +of bones like the first, but they were already eaten through and rotted by the +earth; and we were all amazed to see those bones, and held that for certain +there had been giants in that land; and our captain, Cortes, said to us that it +would be well to send the great bone to Castile, that His Majesty might see it; +and so we did send it by the first messengers who went.” +</p> + +<p> +Among other things belonging to the Spanish period is the banner, with the +picture of the Virgin, which accompanied the Spanish army during the Conquest. +Authentic or not, it is certainly very well painted. There is a suit of armour +said to have belonged to Cortes. Its genuineness has been doubted; but I think +its extreme smallness seems to go towards proving that it is a true relic, for +Bullock saw the tomb of Cortes opened some thirty years ago, and was surprised +at the small proportions of his skeleton. Specimens of the pottery and glass +now made in the country, and other curiosities, complete the catalogue of this +interesting collection. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexican calendar is not in the Museum, but is built into the wall of the +cathedral, in the Plaza Mayor. It is sculptured on the face of a single block +of basalt, which weighs between twenty and thirty tons, and must have been +transported thirty miles by Mexican labourers, for the stone is not found +nearer than that distance from the city; and this transportation was, of +course, managed by hand-labour alone, as there were no beasts of burden. +</p> + +<p> +We know pretty well the whole system of Mexican astronomy from this +calendar-stone and a few manuscripts which still exist, and from the +information given in the work of Gama the astronomer and other writers. The +Aztecs and Tezcucans who used it, did not claim its invention as their own, but +said they had received it from the Toltecs, their predecessors. The year +consisted of 365 days, with an intercalation of 13 days for each cycle of 52 +years, which brought it to the same length as the Julian year of 365 days 6 +hours. The theory of Gama, that the intercalation was still more exact, namely, +12½ days instead of 13, seems to be erroneous. +</p> + +<p> +Our reckoning only became more exact than this when we adopted the Gregorian +calendar in 1752, and the people marched about the streets in procession, +crying “Give us back our eleven days!” Perhaps this is not quite a +fair way of putting the case, however, for the new style would have been +adopted in our country long before, had it not been a Romish institution. It +was the deliberate opinion of the English, as of people in other Protestant +countries, that it was much better to have the almanack a few days wrong than +to adopt a Popish innovation. One often hears of the Papal Bull which settles +the question of the earth’s standing still. The history of the Gregorian +calendar is not a bad set-off against it on the other side. At any rate, the +new style was not introduced anywhere until sixty or seventy years after the +discovery of Mexico, and five hundred years after the introduction of the +Toltec calendar in Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexican calendar-stone should be photographed on a large scale, and studied +yet more carefully than it has been, for only a part of the divided circles +which surround it have been explained. It should be photographed, because, to +my certain knowledge, Mayer’s drawing gives the year, above the figure of +the sun which indicates the date of the calendar, quite wrongly; and yet, +presuming on his own accuracy, he accuses another writer of leaving out the +hieroglyph of the winter solstice. What is much more strange is, that +Humboldt’s drawing in the small edition of the <i>Vues des +Cordillères</i> is wrong in both points. The drawing in Nebel’s great +work is probably the best. As to the wax models which Mr. Christy and I bought +in Mexico, in the innocence of our hearts, a nearer inspection showed that the +artist, observing that the circle of days would divide more neatly into sixteen +parts than into twenty, had arranged his divisions accordingly; apparently +leaving out the four hieroglyphics which he considered the ugliest. +</p> + +<p> +The details made out at present on the calendar are as follows:—the summer and +winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, the two passages of the Sun +over the zenith of Mexico, and some dates which possibly belong to religious +festivals. The dates of the two zenith-transits are especially interesting; +for, as they vary with the latitude, they must have been made out by actual +observation in Mexico itself, and not borrowed from some more civilised people +in the distant countries through which the Mexicans migrated. This fact alone +is sufficient to prove a considerable practical knowledge of astronomy. +</p> + +<p> +Besides this, the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years seems to be indicated in the +circle outside the signs of days, and also the days in the priestly year of 260 +days; but to make these numbers, we must allow for the compartments supposed to +be hidden by the projecting rays of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +The arrangement of the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years is very curious. They +had four signs of years, <i>tochtli, acatl, tecpatl</i>, and +<i>calli</i>,—<i>rabbit, canes, flint</i>, and <i>house</i>; and against these +signs they ranged numbers, from 1 to 13, so that a cycle exactly corresponds to +a pack of cards, the four signs being the four suits, thirteen of each. Now, +any one would suppose that in making such a reckoning, they would first take +one suit, count <i>one, two, three</i>, &c. in it, up to 13, and then begin +another suit. This is not the Mexican idea, however. Their reckoning is 1 +<i>tochtli</i>, 2 <i>acatl</i>, 3 <i>tecpatl</i>, &c., just as it may be +made with the cards thus: ace of hearts, two of diamonds, 3 of spades, 4 of +clubs, 5 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, and so on through the pack. The +correspondence between the cycle of 52 years, divided among 4 signs, and our +year of 52 weeks, divided among 4 seasons, is also curious, though as entirely +accidental as the resemblance to the pack of cards, for the Mexican week (if we +may call it so) consisted of 5 days instead of 7, which to a great extent +nullifies the comparison. +</p> + +<p> +The reckoning of days is still more cumbrous. It consists of the days of the +week written in succession from 1 to 13, underneath these the 20 signs of days, +and underneath these again another series of 9 signs; so that each day was +distinguished by a combination of a number and two signs, which combination +could not belong to any other day. +</p> + +<p> +The date of the year at the top of the calendar is 13 <i>acatl</i> (13 canes), +which stands for 1479, 1427, 1375, 1323, and so on, subtracting 52 years each +time. Now, why was this year chosen? It was not the beginning of a cycle, but +the 26th year; and so, in ascertaining the meaning of the dates on the +calendar, allowance has to be made for six days which have been gained by the +leap-years only being adjusted at the end of the cycle; but this certainly +offers no advantage whatever; and if an arbitrary date had been chosen to start +the calendar with, of course it would have been the first year of a cycle. The +year may have been chosen in commemoration of the foundation of Mexico or +Tenochtitlán, which historians give as somewhere about 1324 or 1325. The sign +13 <i>acatl</i> would stand for 1323. It is more likely that the date merely +refers to the year in which the calendar was put up. As such a massive and +elaborate piece of sculpture could only belong to the most flourishing period +of the Aztec empire, the year indicated would be 1279, nine years before the +building of the great pyramid close by. +</p> + +<p> +Baron Humboldt’s celebrated argument to prove the Asiatic origin of the +Mexicans is principally founded upon the remarkable resemblance of this system +of cycles in reckoning years to those found in use in different parts of Asia. +For instance, we may take that described by Hue and Gabet as still existing in +Tartary and Thibet, which consists of one set of signs, <i>wood, fire, +earth</i>, &c., combined with a set of names of animals, <i>mouse, ox, +tiger</i>, &c. The combination is made almost exactly in the same way as +that in which the Aztecs combine their signs and numbers, as for instance, the +year of the fire-pig, the iron-hare, &c. If these were simple systems of +counting years, or even if, although difficult, they had some advantages to +offer, we might suppose that two different races in want of a system to count +their years by, had devised them independently. But, in fact, both the Asiatic +and the Mexican cycles are not only most intricate and troublesome to work, but +by the constant liability to confound one cycle with another, they lead to +endless mistakes. Hue says that the Mongols, to get over this difficulty, affix +a special name to all the years of each king’s reign, as for instance, +“the year Tao-Kouang of the fire-ram;” apparently not seeing that +to give the special name and the number of the year of the reign, and call it +the 44th year of Tao-Kouang, would answer the same purpose, with one-tenth of +the trouble. +</p> + +<p> +Not only are the Mexican and Asiatic systems alike in the singular principle +they go upon, but there are resemblances in the signs used that seem too close +for chance.<a href="#fn-21" name="fnref-21" id="fnref-21"><sup>[21]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-21" id="fn-21"></a> <a href="#fnref-21">[21]</a> +It is curious that these latter resemblances (as far as I have been able to +investigate the subject) disappear in the signs of the Yucatan calendar, though +its arrangement is precisely that of the Mexican. Any one interested in the +theory of the Toltecs being the builders of Palenque and Copan will see the +importance of this point. If the Toltecs ever took the original calendar, with +the traces of its Asiatic origin fresh upon it, down into Yucatan with them, it +is at any rate not to be found there now. +</p> + +<p> +The other arguments which tend to prove that the Mexicans either came from the +Old World or had in some way been brought into connexion with tribes from +thence, are principally founded on coincidences in customs and traditions. We +must be careful to eliminate from them all such as we can imagine to have +originated from the same outward causes at work in both hemispheres, and from +the fact that man is fundamentally the same everywhere. To take an instance +from Peru. We find the Incas there calling themselves “Child of the +Sun,” and marrying their own sisters, just as the Egyptian kings did. But +this proves nothing whatever as to connexion between the two people. The +worship of the Sun, the giver of light and heat, may easily spring up among +different people without any external teaching; and what more natural, among +imperfectly civilized tribes, than that the monarch should claim relationship +with the divinity? And the second custom was introduced that the royal race +might be kept unmixed. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, when we find the Aztecs burning incense before their gods, kings, and +great men, and propitiating their deities with human sacrifices, we can +conclude nothing from this. But we find them baptizing their children, +anointing their kings, and sprinkling them with holy water, punishing the crime +of adultery by stoning the criminals to death, and practising several other Old +World usages of which I have already spoken. We must give some weight to these +coincidences. +</p> + +<p> +Of some of the supposed Aztec Bible-traditions I have already spoken in no very +high terms. There is another tradition, however, resting upon unimpeachable +evidence, which relates the occurrence of a series of destructions and +regenerations of the world, and recalls in the most striking manner the Indian +cosmogony; and, when added to the argument from the similarity of the systems +of astronomical notation of Mexico and Asia, goes far towards proving a more or +less remote connection between the inhabitants of the two continents. +</p> + +<p> +There is another side to the question, however, as has been stated already. How +could the Mexicans have had these traditions and customs from the Old World, +and not have got the knowledge of some of the commonest arts of life from the +same source? As I have said, they do not seem to have known the proper way of +putting the handle on to a stone-hammer; and, though they used bronze, they had +not applied it to making such things as knives and spear-heads. They had no +beasts of burden; and, though there were animals in the country which they +probably might have domesticated and milked, they had no idea of anything of +the kind. They had oil, and employed it for various purposes, but had no notion +of using it or wax for burning. They lighted their houses with pine-torches; +and in fact the Aztec name for a pine-torch—<i>ocotl</i>—was transferred to +candles when they were introduced. +</p> + +<p> +Though they were a commercial people, and had several substitutes for +money—such as cacao-grains, quills of gold-dust, and pieces of tin of a +particular shape, they had no knowledge of the art of weighing anything, but +sold entirely by tale and measure. This statement, made by the best +authorities, their language tends to confirm. After the Conquest they made the +word <i>tlapexouia</i> out of the Spanish “peso,” and also gave the +meaning of weighing to two other words which mean properly <i>to measure</i> +and <i>to divide equally</i>. Had they had a proper word of their own for the +process, we should find it. The Mexicans scarcely ever adopted a Spanish word +even for Spanish animals or implements, if they could possibly make their own +language serve. They called a sheep an <i>ichcatl</i>, literally a +“<i>thread-thing</i>,” or “<i>cotton</i>”: a gun a +“<i>fire-trumpet</i>:” and sulphur +“<i>fire-trumpet-earth</i>.” And yet, a people ignorant of some of +the commonest arts had extraordinary knowledge of astronomy, and even knew the +real cause of eclipses,<a href="#fn-22" name="fnref-22" id="fnref-22"><sup>[22]</sup></a> +and represented them in their sacred dances. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-22" id="fn-22"></a> <a href="#fnref-22">[22]</a> +The Aztec name for an eclipse of the sun is worthy of remark. They called it +<i>tonatiuh qualo</i>, literally “the sun’s being eaten.” The +expression seems to belong to a time when they knew less about the phenomenon, +and had some idea like that of the Asiatic nations who thought the sun was +occasionally swallowed up by the great dragon. +</p> + +<p> +Set the difficulties on one side of the question against those on the other, +and they will nearly balance. We must wait for further evidence. +</p> + +<p> +Our friend Don José Miguel Cervantes, the President of the Ayuntamiento, took +us one day to see the great prison of Mexico, the Acordada. As to the prison +itself, it is a great gloomy building, with its rooms and corridors arranged +round two courtyards, one appropriated to the men, the other to the women. A +few of the men were at work making shoes and baskets, but most were sitting and +lying about in the sun, smoking cigarettes and talking together in knots, the +young ones hard at work taking lessons in villainy from the older hands; just +the old story. +</p> + +<p> +Offenders of all orders, from drunkards and vagrants up to highway robbers and +murderers, all were mixed indiscriminately together. But we should remember +that in England twenty years ago it was usual for prisons to be such places as +this; and even now, in spite of model prisons and severe discipline, the +miserable results of our prison-system show, as plainly as can be, that when we +have caught our criminal we do not in the least know how to reform him, now +that our colonists have refused him the only chance he ever had. +</p> + +<p> +It is bad enough to mix together these men under the most favourable +circumstances for corrupting one another. Every man must come out worse than he +went in; but this wrong is not so great as that which the untried prisoners +suffer in being forced into the society of condemned criminals, while their +trials drag on from session to session, through the endless technicalities and +quibbles of Spanish law. +</p> + +<p> +We made rather a curious observation in this prison. When one enters such a +place in Europe, one expects to see in a moment, by the faces and demeanour of +the occupants, that most of them belong to a special criminal class, brought up +to a life of crime which is their only possible career, belonging naturally to +police-courts and prisons, herding together when out of prison in their own +districts and their own streets, and carefully avoided by the rest of society. +You may know a London thief when you see him; he carries his profession in his +face and in the very curl of his hair. Now in this prison there was nothing of +the kind to be seen. The inmates were brown Indians and half-bred Mexicans, +appearing generally to belong to the poorest class, but just like the average +of the people in the streets outside. As my companion said, “If these +fellows are thieves and murderers, so are our servants, and so is every man in +a serape we meet in the streets, for all we can tell to the contrary.” +There was positively nothing at all peculiar about them. +</p> + +<p> +If they had been all Indians we might have been easily deceived. Nothing can be +more true than Humboldt’s observation that the Indian face differs so +much from ours that it is only after years of experience that a European can +learn to distinguish the varieties of feature by which character can be judged +of. He mistakes peculiarities which belong to the race in general for personal +characteristics; and the thickness of the skin serves still more to mask the +expression of their faces. But the greater part of these men were Mexicans of +mixed Indian and Spanish blood, and their faces are pretty much European. +</p> + +<p> +The only explanation we could give of this identity of character inside the +prison and outside is not flattering to the Mexican people, but I really +believe it to be true. We came to the conclusion that the prisoners did not +belong to a class apart, but that they were a tolerably fair specimen of the +poorer population of the table-lands of Mexico. They had been more tempted than +others, or they had been more unlucky, and that was why they were here. +</p> + +<p> +There were perhaps a thousand prisoners in the place, two men to one woman. +Their crimes were—one-third, drunken disturbance and vagrancy; another third, +robberies of various kinds; a fourth, wounding and homicides, mostly arising +out of quarrels; leaving a small residue for all other crimes. +</p> + +<p> +Our idea was confirmed by many foreigners who had lived long in the country and +had been brought into personal contact with the people. Every Mexican, they +said, has a thief and a murderer in him, which the slightest provocation will +bring out. This of course is an exaggeration, but there is a great deal of +truth in it. The crimes in the prison-calendar belong as characteristics to the +population in general. Highway-robbery, cutting and wounding in drunken brawls, +and deliberate assassination, are offences which prevail among the half-white +Mexicans; while stealing is common to them and the pure Indian population. We +noticed several instances of bigamy, a crime which Mexican law is very severe +upon. As far as we could judge by the amount of punishment inflicted, it is a +greater crime to marry two women than to kill two men. In one gallery are the +cells for criminals condemned to death, but the occupants were allowed to mix +freely with the rest of the prisoners, and they seemed comfortable enough. +</p> + +<p> +Everybody knows how much in England the condition of a prisoner depends on the +disposition of the governor in office and the system in vogue for the moment. +The mere words of his sentence do not indicate at all what his fate will be. He +comes in—under Sir John—to light labour, much schoolmaster and chaplain, and +the expectation of a ticket-of-leave when a fraction of his time is expired. +All at once Sir James supersedes Sir John, and with him comes in a régime of +hard work, short rations, and the black hole. If he had been “in” a +month sooner, he would have been “out” now with those more +fortunate criminals, his late companions. +</p> + +<p> +Things ought not to be so in England, but we need hardly wonder at their being +still worse in Mexico in this respect as in all others. There have been twenty +changes of government in ten years, and sometimes extreme severity has been the +rule, which may change at a day’s notice into the extreme of mildness. In +Santa Ana’s time the utmost rigour of the law prevailed. Our friends in +the Calle Seminario, as they came back from their morning’s ride in the +Paseo, had to pass through the great square; and used to see there, day after +day, pairs of garotted malefactors sitting bolt upright in the high wooden +chairs they had just been executed in, with a frightful calm look on their dead +faces. +</p> + +<p> +For the last year or so all this had ceased, and there had scarcely been an +execution. It seems that one principal reason of this lenity is that the +government is too weak to support its judges; and that the ministers of justice +are actually intimidated by threats mysteriously conveyed to witnesses and +authorities, that, if such or such a criminal is executed, his friends have +sworn to avenge his death, and are on the look-out, every man with his knife +ready. To political offences the same mercy is extended. In the early times of +the war of independence, and for years afterwards, when one leader caught an +officer on the other side, he had him tried by a drum-head court-martial, and +shot. Since then it has come to be better understood that civil war is waged +for the benefit of individuals who wish for their turn of power and their pull +at the public purse; and the successful leader spares his opponent, not caring +to establish a precedent which might prove so very inconvenient to himself. +</p> + +<p> +We were taken to see the garotte by the President, who took it out of its +little mahogany case, into which it was fitted like any other surgical +instrument. We noticed that it was rusty, and indeed it had not been used for +many months. It is not worth while to describe it. +</p> + +<p> +Mexican law well administered is bad enough, not essentially unjust, but +hampered with endless quibbles and technicalities, quite justifying the Spanish +proverb, “<i>Mas vale una mala composición que un buen +pleito</i>,”—a bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. As things +stand now, the law of any case is the least item in the account, there are so +many ways of working upon judges and witnesses. Bribery first and foremost; +and—if that fails—personal intimidation, political influence, private +friendship, and the <i>compadrazgo</i>. Naturally, if you have a lawsuit or are +tried for a crime, you should lay a good foundation. This is done by working +upon the <i>Juez de primera instancia</i>, who corresponds in some degree to +the <i>Juge d’instruction</i> in France. This functionary is wretchedly +paid, so that a small sum is acceptable to him; and, moreover, the records of +the case, as tried by him, form the basis of all future litigation, so that it +is very bad economy not to get him into proper order. If you do not, it will +cost you three times as much afterwards. If your suit is with a soldier or a +priest, the ordinary tribunals will not help you. These two classes—the most +influential in the community—have their <i>fuero</i>, their special +jurisdiction; and woe to the unfortunate civilian who attacks them in their own +courts! +</p> + +<p> +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, whose sense of humour occasionally peeps out from +among his statistics, remarks gravely that “the clergy has its special +legislation, which consists of the Sacred Volumes, the decision of General and +Provincial Councils, the Pontifical Decretals, and doctrines of the Holy +Fathers.” Of what sort of justice is dealt out in that court, one may +form some faint idea. +</p> + +<p> +One of our friends in Mexico had a house which was too large for him, and in a +moment of weakness he let part of it to a priest. Two years afterwards, when we +made his acquaintance, he was hard at work trying, not to get his rent, he had +given up that idea long before, but to get the priest out. I believe that, +eventually, he gave him something handsome to take his departure. +</p> + +<p> +I have often quoted Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, and shall do so again. His +statistics of the country for 1856 are given in a broad sheet, and seem to be +generally reliable. The annual balance-sheet of the country he sums up in three +lines— +</p> + +<pre> + Annual Expenditure . . . . . . 25,000,000 dollars. + Annual Revenue . . . . . . . . 15,000,000 dollars. + —————————— + Annual Deficit . . . . . . . . 10,000,000 dollars. +</pre> + +<p> +The President of the Ayuntamiento was a pleasant person to know, among the +dishonest, intriguing Mexican officials. He received but little pay in return +for a great deal of hard work; but he liked to be in office for the +opportunities it afforded him of improving the condition of the poor of the +city. It was a sight to see the prisoners crowd round him as he entered the +court. They all knew him, and it was quite evident they all considered him as a +friend. In what little can be done for the ignorant and destitute under the +unfavourable circumstances of the country, Don Miguel has had a large share; +but until an orderly government, that is, a foreign one, succeeds to the +present anarchy, not very much can be done. +</p> + +<p> +I mentioned the word “<i>compadrazgo</i>” a little way back. The +thing itself is curious, and quite novel to an Englishman of the present day. +The godfathers and godmothers of a child become, by their participation in the +ceremony, relations to one another and to the priest who baptizes the child, +and call one another ever afterwards <i>compadre</i> and <i>comadre</i>. Just +such a relationship was once expressed by the word “gossip,” +“God-sib,” that is “akin in God.” Gossip has quite +degenerated from its old meaning, and even “sib,” though good +English in Chaucer’s time, is now only to be found in provincial +dialects; but in German “sipp” still means “kin.” +</p> + +<p> +In Mexico this connexion obliges the compadres and comadres to hospitality and +honesty and all sorts of good offices towards one another; and it is wonderful +how conscientiously this obligation is kept to, even by people who have no +conscience at all for the rest of the world. A man who will cheat his own +father or his own son will keep faith with his <i>compadre</i>. To such an +extent does this influence become mixed up with all sorts of affairs, and so +important is it, that it is necessary to count it among the things that tend to +alter the course of justice in the country. +</p> + +<p> +The French have the words <i>compère</i> and <i>commère</i>; and it is curious +to observe that the name of <i>compère</i> is given to the confederate of the +juggler, who stands among the crowd, and slyly helps in the performance of the +trick. +</p> + +<p> +We went one day to the Hospital of San Lazaro. I have mentioned the word +“<i>lepero</i>” as applied to the poor and idle class of half-caste +Mexicans. It is only a term of reproach, exactly corresponding to the +“<i>lazzarone</i>” of Naples, who resembles the Mexican lepers in +his social condition, and whose name implies the same thing; for, of course, +Saint Lazarus is the patron saint of lepers and foul beggars. There are some +few real lepers in Mexico, who are obliged by law to be shut up in this +hospital. We rather expected to see something like what one reads of the +treatment of lepers which prevailed in Europe until a few years ago—shutting +them up in dismal dens cut off from communication with other human beings. We +were agreeably disappointed. They were confined, it is true, but in a spacious +building, with court-yard and garden; their nurses and attendants appeared to +be very kind to them; and it seems that many charitable people come to visit +the inmates, and bring them cigars and other small luxuries, to relieve the +monotony of their dismal lives. Some had their faces horribly distorted by the +falling of the corners of the eyes and mouth, and the disappearance of the +cartilage of the nose; and a few, in whom the disease had terminated in a sort +of gangrene, were frightful objects, with their features scarcely +distinguishable; but in the majority of cases the leprosy had caused a gradual +disappearance of the ends of the fingers and toes, and even of the whole hands +and feet. The limbs thus mutilated looked as though the parts which were +wanting had been amputated, and the wound had quite healed over, but it is +caused by a gradual absorption without wound and without pain. As every one +knows, leprosy of these kinds was held until quite lately to be dangerously +contagious; but, fortunately for the poor creatures themselves, this is quite +clearly proved to be false, and the lepers are only shut up that they may have +no children, for the affection appears to be hereditary. +</p> + +<p> +It was early one morning, when we were going out to breakfast at Tisapán, that +Don Juan recounted to us his experience of garrotted malefactors sitting dead +in their chairs in the great square across which we were riding. “It was +really almost enough to spoil a fellow’s breakfast,” he added +pathetically. Though an Englishman, and only arrived in the country a few years +before, Don Juan was as clever with the lazo as most Mexicans, and could +<i>colear</i> a bull in great style. Indeed, we had started early that morning +in order to have time enough to look at the bulls in the <i>potreros</i>—the +great grass-meadows—that lie for miles outside the city, and which are made +immensely fertile by flooding from time to time. Wherever we saw a bull in the +distance, Don Juan and his grand little horse <i>Pancho</i> plunged over a bank +and through a gap, and we after him. No one ever leaps anything in this +country, indeed the form of the saddle puts it out of the question. One or two +bulls looked up as we entered the enclosure, and bolted into other fields, +pushing in among the thorns of the aloes which formed close hedges of fixed +bayonets round the meadows. At last Don Juan cut off the retreat of an old +bull, and galloping after him like mad, flung the running loop of the lazo over +his horns, at the same time winding the other end round the pummel of his +saddle. The bull was still standing on all four legs, pulling with all its +might against Pancho. Galloping after him, so as to slacken the end of the +lazo, we contrived to transfer it from Don Juan’s saddle to mine. Now my +own horse happened to be a little lame, and I was riding a poor little black +beast whose bones really seemed to rattle in his skin. Our acquaintances in the +Paseo had been quite facetious about him, recommending us to be careful and not +to smoke up against him, for fear we should blow him over, and otherwise +whetting their wit upon him. He acquitted himself very creditably, however, and +when the bull began to pull against him, he leant over on the other side, as if +he had been galloping round a circus; and the bull could not move him an inch. +It was quite evident that it was not his first experiment. In the mean time Don +Juan had dropped the noose of my lazo just before the bull’s nose, and +presently that animal incautiously put his foot into it, when Don Juan whipped +it up round his leg and went off at full gallop. My little black horse knew +perfectly well what had happened, though his head was exactly in the opposite +direction; and he tugged with all his might, and leant over more than ever. The +two lazos tightened with a twang, as though they had been guitar-strings; and +in a moment the unfortunate bull was rolling with all his legs in the air, in +the midst of a whirlwind of dust. Having thus humiliated him we let him go, and +off he went at full speed. All this time the proprietor of the field was +tranquilly standing on a bank, looking on. Far from raging at us for treating +his property in this free and easy manner, he returned our salutation when we +rode up to him, and, addressing our sporting countryman, said, “Well +done, old fellow, come another day and try again.” +</p> + +<p> +Our whole ride to Tisapán was enlivened by a series of Don Juan’s +exploits. He raced after bulls, got hold of their tails, and coleared them over +into the dust. He lazo’d everything in the road, from milestones and +trunks of trees upwards; and I shall never forget our meeting with a great mule +which was trotting along the road without a burden,—just as he passed us, our +companion slipped the noose round his hind leg, and the beast went down as if +he had been shot, the muleteers pulling up on purpose to have a good +open-mouthed laugh at the incident. +</p> + +<p> +We seemed to be in rather a sporting line that day, for, after our return from +Tisapán, Don Juan and I went to see a cockfight. In Mexico, as in Cuba and all +Spanish America, this is the favourite sport of the people. In Cuba, the +principal shopkeeper in every village keeps the cockpit—the “<i>plaza de +gallos</i>.” The people from the whole district round about come in on +Sunday to the village, with a triple object; <i>first</i>, to hear mass; +<i>secondly</i>, to buy their supplies for the ensuing week; and +<i>thirdly</i>, to spend the afternoon in cockfighting, at which amusement it +is easy to win or lose two or three hundred pounds in an afternoon. The custom +that the cockpit brings to the shop more than repays the proprietor for the +expense and trouble of keeping it. In Cuba, the spurs of the cock are +artificially pointed by paring with a penknife, but the Mexican way of arming +them is even more abominable. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus27"></a> +<img src="images/fig24.jpg" width="450" height="287" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">STEEL COCK-SPURS (<i>4 inches long</i>), WITH SHEATH AND +PADDING.</p> +</div> + +<p> +Each bird has a sharp steel knife three or four inches long, just like a little +scythe-blade, fastened over the natural spur before the fight commences. A +leather sheath covers the weapon while the cocks are being put into the ring, +and held with their beaks almost touching till they are furious. Then they are +drawn back to opposite sides of the ring, the sheaths are taken off, and they +fly at one another, giving desperate cuts with the steel blades. +</p> + +<p> +The cockpit was a small round wooden shed, with the ring in the middle, and +circular benches round it, rising one above another. The place was full of +people, mostly Mexicans of the lower orders, smoking, betting, and talking +sporting-slang. The betting was surprising, when one compared its amount with +the appearance of the spectators, among whom there was hardly a decent coat to +be seen. Every now and then, a dirty scoundrel in a shabby leather jacket would +walk round the ring with a handful of gold, offering the odds—ten to five, ten +to seven, ten to nine, or whatever they might be, in gold ounces, which coins +are worth above three pounds apiece. +</p> + +<p> +Cockfighting is such a passion here that we thought it as well to see it for +once. Santa Ana, now he has retired from politics, spends his time at +Carthagena pretty much entirely in this his favourite sport, which forms one of +the great items among the pleasures and excitements of a Mexican life. We saw a +couple of mains fought, in which the victorious birds were dreadfully mangled, +while the vanquished were literally cut to pieces; as much money changed hands +as we should have thought sufficient to buy up the whole of the people present, +cockpit and all. Then, being both agreed that it was a disgusting sight, we +went away. +</p> + +<p> +Before we left Mexico we were taken by our man Antonio to a cutler’s +shop, where the principal trade seemed to be the making of these +<i>cuchillos</i> to arm the cocks with. We bought a couple of pairs of them, +and had them carefully fitted up. The old cutler was quite delighted, and +remarked that foreigners must acknowledge that there were some things which +were done better in Mexico than anywhere else. I fear we left him under the +pleasing impression that we were taking home the blades to introduce as models +in our own benighted country. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexican is a great gambler. Bad fortune he bears with the greatest +equanimity. You never hear of his committing suicide after being ruined at +play; he just goes away, and sets to work to earn enough for a fresh stake. The +government have tried to put down gambling in the State of Mexico, but not with +much success. For three days in the year, however, at the festival of San +Agustín de las Cuevas, public gambling-tables are tolerated, though soldiers +and officials are strictly forbidden to play, an injunction which they +carefully set at nought. Oddly enough, the government, while doing all it could +to keep its own functionaries away from the <i>monte</i> table, did not scruple +to send a military escort to convoy the bankers with their bags of gold from +Mexico to San Agustín. On one of the three days, Mr. Christy and I went there. +There was a great crowd, this time mostly a well-dressed one, and the cockpit +was on a large scale. But of course the great attraction was the <i>monte</i>, +which was being played everywhere, the stakes in some places being coppers, in +others silver, while more aristocratic establishments would allow no stake +under a gold ounce. Dead silence prevailed in these places, and the players +seemed to pride themselves upon not showing the slightest change in their +countenances, whether they won or lost. The game itself is very simple, and has +some points of resemblance to that of lansquenet, known in Europe. The first +two cards in the pack, say a four and a king, are laid down, face up, on the +table, and the gamblers put down their money against one or the other. Then the +<i>croupier</i> deals the cards out slowly and solemnly one after another, +calling out their names as they fall, until he comes—say to a king; when those +who have betted on the king have their stakes doubled, and the others lose +theirs. The banker has a great advantage to compensate him for his expense and +risk. If the first card which is thrown out be one of the two numbers on the +table, the banker withholds a quarter of the stake he would otherwise have +lost, paying only a stake and three-quarters, instead of two stakes. Now, as +there are forty cards in a Spanish pack, two of which have been already thrown +out, the chances for a throw favourable to the banker are about one in six, so +that he may reckon on an average profit of about two per cent, on all the money +staked. +</p> + +<p> +As for the players, they sat round the table, carefully noticing the course of +the games, and regulating their play accordingly, as they do at Baden-Baden and +Hombourg. I suppose that now and then these scientific calculators must be told +that their whole theory of chances is the most baseless delusion, but they +certainly do not believe it; and at any rate this curious pseudo-science of +winning by skill at games of pure chance will last our time, if not longer. +</p> + +<p> +On some tables there were as much as three or four thousand gold ounces. This +struck us the more because we had often tried to get gold coin for our own use, +instead of the silver dollars, the general currency of the country, of which +twenty pounds’ worth to carry home on a hot day was enough to break +one’s heart. We often tried to get gold, but the answer was always that +what little there was in the country was in the hands of the gamblers, whose +operations could not be worked on a large scale without it. +</p> + +<p> +The prevalence of mining, as a means of getting wealth, has contributed greatly +to make the love of gambling an important part of the national character. +Silver-mining in the old times was a most hazardous speculation, and people +engaged in it used to make and lose great fortunes a dozen times in their +lives. The miners worked not on fixed wages, but for a share of the produce, +and so every man became a gambler on his own account. To a great extent the +same evils prevail now, but two things have tended to lessen them. Poor ores +are now worked profitably which used to be neglected by the miners; and, as +these ores occur in almost inexhaustible masses, their mining is a much less +speculative affair than the old system of mining for rich veins. Moreover, the +men are, in some of the largest mines, paid by the day, so that their life has +become more regular. In many places, however, the work is still done on shares +by the miners, who pass their lives in alternations of excessive riches and all +kinds of extravagance, succeeded by times of extreme poverty. +</p> + +<p> +An acquaintance of ours was telling us one day about the lives of these men. +One week, a party of three miners had come upon a very rich bit of ore, and +went away from the <i>raya</i>, each man with a handkerchief full of dollars. +This was on Saturday evening. On Monday morning our informant went out for a +ride, and on the road he met three dirty haggard-looking men, dressed in some +old rags; one of the three came forward, taking off the sort of apology for a +hat which he had on, and said, “Good morning, Señor Doctor, would you +mind doing us the favour of lending us half a dollar to get something to +eat?” They were the three successful miners; and when, a few days +afterwards, the man who had asked for the money came back to return it, the +Doctor inquired what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that the three, as soon as they had received their money on Saturday, +got a lift to the nearest town, and there rigged themselves out with new +clothes, silver buttons, five-pound serapes, and a horse for each, with +magnificent silver mountings to the saddle and spurs. Here they have dinner, +and lots of pulque, and swagger about outside the door, smoking cigarettes. +There, quite by chance, an acquaintance meets them, and admires the horses, but +would like to see their paces tried a little outside the town. So they pace and +gallop along for half a mile or so; when, also quite accidentally, they find +two men sitting outside a rancho, playing at cards. The two men—strangely +enough—are old acquaintances of the curious friend, and they produce a bowl of +cool pulque from within, which our miners find quite refreshing after the ride. +Thereupon they sit down to have a little game at <i>monte</i>, then more +pulque, then more cards; and when they awake the next morning, they find +themselves possessed of a suit of old rags, with no money in the pockets. They +had dim recollections of losing—first money, then horses, and lastly clothes, +the night before; but—as they were informed by the old woman, who was the only +occupant of the place besides themselves—their friends had been obliged to go +away on urgent business, and could not be so impolite as to disturb them. So +they walked back to the mines, ragged and hungry, and borrowed the +doctor’s half-dollar. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus28"></a> +<img src="images/fig25.jpg" width="450" height="159" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">LEATHER SANDALS, WORN BY THE NATIVE INDIANS.</p> +</div> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +TEZCUCO. MIRAFLORES. POPOCATEPETL. CHOLULA.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus29"></a> +<img src="images/fig26.jpg" width="498" height="500" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">WALKING AND RIDING COSTUMES IN MEXICO.<br /> +<i>(After Nebel.)</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +The wet season was fast coming on when we left Mexico for the last time. We had +to pass through Vera Cruz, where the rain and the yellow fever generally set in +together; so that to stay longer would have been too great a risk. +</p> + +<p> +Our first stage was to Tezcuco, across the lake in a canoe, just as we had been +before. We noticed on our way to the canoes, a church, apparently from one to +two centuries old, with the following doggerel inscription in huge letters over +the portico, which shows that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is by no +means a recent institution in Mexico: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<i>Antes de entrar afirma con tu vida,<br /> +S. Maria fué sin pecado concebida:</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Which may be translated into verse of equal quality, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<i>Confess on thy life before coming in,<br /> +That blessed Saint Mary was conceived without sin.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Nothing particular happened on our journey, except that a well-dressed Mexican +turned up at the landing-place, wanting a passage, and as we had taken a canoe +for ourselves, we offered to let him come with us. He was a well-bred young +man, speaking one or two languages besides his own; and he presently informed +us that he was going on a visit to a rich old lady at Tezcuco, whose name was +Doña Maria Lopez, or something of the kind. When we drove away from the other +end of the lake, towards Tezcuco, we took him as far as the road leading to the +old lady’s house; when he rather astonished us by hinting that he should +like to go on with us to the Casa Grande, and could walk back. At the same +time, it struck us that the youth, though so well dressed, had no luggage; and +we began to understand the queer expression of the coachman’s face when +he saw him get into the carriage with us. So we stopped at the corner of the +road, and the young gentleman had to get out. +</p> + +<p> +At the Casa Grande, our friends laughed at us immensely when we told them of +the incident, and offered us twenty to one that he would come to ask for money +within twenty-four hours. He came the same evening, and brought a wonderful +story about his passport not being <i>en règle</i>, and that unless we could +lend him ten dollars to bribe the police, he should be in a dreadful scrape. We +referred him to the master of the house, who said something to him which caused +him to depart precipitately, and we never saw him again; but we heard +afterwards that he had been to the other foreigners in the neighbourhood with +various histories. We made more enquiries about him in the town, and it +appeared that his expedition to Tezcuco was improvised when he saw us going +down to the boat, and of course the visit to the rich old lady was purely +imaginary. Now this youth was not more than eighteen, and looked and spoke like +a gentleman. They say that the class he belonged to is to be counted rather by +thousands than by hundreds in Mexico. They are the children of white Creoles, +or nearly white mestizos; they get a superficial education and the art of +dressing, and with this slender capital go out into the world to live by their +wits, until they get a government appointment or set up as political +adventurers, and so have a chance of helping themselves out of the public +purse, which is naturally easier and more profitable than mere sponging upon +individuals. One gets to understand the course of Mexican affairs much better +by knowing what sort of raw material the politicians are recruited from. +</p> + +<p> +We saw some good things in a small collection of antiquities, on this second +visit to Tezcuco. Among them was a nude female figure in alabaster, four or +five feet high, and—comparatively speaking—of high artistic merit. Such figures +are not common in Mexico, and they are supposed to represent the Aztec Venus, +who was called <i>Tlazolteocihua</i>, “Goddess of Pleasure.” A +figure, laboriously cut in hard stone, representing a man wearing a +jackal’s head as a mask, was supposed to be a figurative representation +of the celebrated king of Tezcuco, <i>Nezahualcoyotl</i>, “hungry +jackal,” of whom Mexican history relates that he walked about the streets +of his capital in disguise, after the manner of the Caliph in the Arabian +Nights. The explanation is plausible, but I think not correct. The +<i>coyote</i> or jackal was a sacred animal among the Aztecs, as the +Anubis-jackal was among the Egyptians. Humboldt found in Mexico the tomb of a +coyote, which had been carefully interred with an earthen vase, and a number of +the little cast-bronze bells which I noticed in the last chapter. The Mexicans +used actually to make a kind of fetish—or charm—of a jackal’s skin, +prepared in a peculiar way, and called by the same name, <i>nezahualcoyotl</i>, +and very likely they do so still. From this fetish the king’s name was, +no doubt, borrowed; and it is not improbable that the whole story of the +king’s walking in disguise may have grown up out of his name being the +same as that of the figure we saw, muffled up in a jackal’s skin. +</p> + +<p> +It is curious that the jackal, or the human figure in a jackal-mask, should +have been an object of superstitious veneration both in Mexico and in Egypt. +This, the extraordinary serpent-crown of Xochicalco, and the pyramids, are the +three most striking resemblances to be found between the two countries; all +probably accidental, but not the less noteworthy on that account. +</p> + +<p> +The collection contained a number of spherical beads in green jade, highly +polished, and some as large as pigeon’s eggs. They were found in an +alabaster box, of such elaborate and beautiful workmanship that the owner +deemed it worthy to be presented as a sort of peace-offering to the wife of +President Santa Ana. +</p> + +<p> +The word <i>coyotl</i> in the name of the Tezcucan king is the present word +<i>coyote</i>—a jackal. Though unknown in English, it has passed, with several +Spanish words, into what we may call the American dialect of our language. +Prairie-hunters and Californians have introduced several other words in this +way, such as <i>ranch</i>, <i>gulch, corral</i>, &c. +</p> + +<p> +The word <i>lariat</i> one is constantly meeting with in books about American +prairies. A horse-rope, or a lazo, is called in Spanish <i>reata</i>; and, by +absorbing the article, <i>la reata</i> is made into lariat, just as such words +as <i>alligator</i>, <i>alcove</i>, and <i>pyramid</i> were formed. The +flexible leather riding-whip or <i>cuarta</i> is apparently the <i>quirt</i> +that some American politicians use in arguing with their opponents. +</p> + +<p> +Our last day at Tezcuco was spent in packing up antiquities to be sent to +England, the express orders of the Government against such exportation to the +contrary notwithstanding. Next morning we rode off to Miraflores, passing on +our way the curious stratum of alluvial soil containing pottery, &c., which +I have described already. Miraflores is a cotton-factory, in the opening of a +picturesque gorge just at the edge of the plain of Mexico. The machinery is +American, for the mill dates from the time when it was considered expedient to +prohibit the exportation of cotton-mill machinery from England; and having +begun with American work, it naturally suits them to go on with it. It is +driven by a great Barker’s mill, which works in a sort of well, having an +outlet into the valley, and roars as though it would tear the place down. It is +not common to see this kind of machine working on a large scale; but here, with +a great fall of water, it does very well. Otherwise the place was like an +ordinary cotton-factory, and one cannot be surprised at people thinking that +such establishments are a source of prosperity to the country. They see a +population hard at work and getting good wages, masters making great profits, +and no end of bales going off to town; and do not consider that half the price +of the cloth is wasted, and that the protection-duty sets the people to work +which they cannot do to advantage, while it takes them away from occupations +which their country is fit for. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning took us to Amecameca, a town in a little plain at the foot of +Popocatepetl, whose snow-covered top towers high up in the clouds, like Mont +Blanc over Sallanches. We had at one time cherished hopes of getting to the top +of this grand volcano, but had heard such frightful reports of difficulties and +dangers that we had concluded not to do more than look at it from a distance, +the more especially as there had been a heavy fall of snow upon it a day or two +before. We presented our letter to the Spaniard who kept the great shop at +Amecameca, and asked him, casually, about the mountain. He assured us that the +surface of the snow would be frozen over, and that instead of being a +disadvantage the fall of snow was in our favour, for it was easier to climb +over frozen snow than up a loose heap of volcanic ashes. So we sent for the +guide, a big man, who used to manage the sulphur-workings in the crater until +that undertaking was given up. He set to work to get things ready for the +expedition, and we strolled out for a walk. +</p> + +<p> +Close by the town is a “sacred mount,” with little stations, and on +one day in the year numbers of pilgrims come to visit the place. Near the top, +the Indian lad who came with us showed us the mouth of a cavern, which leads by +subterranean passages under the sea to Rome—as caverns not unfrequently do in +Roman Catholic countries! What was more worth noticing was that here there was +a cypress-tree, covered with votive offerings, like the great ahuchuete in the +valley above Chalma; so that it is likely that the place was sacred long before +chapels and stations were built upon it. Our guide told us that whenever a man +touched the tree, all feeling of weariness left him. How characteristic this +superstition is of a nation of carriers of burdens! +</p> + +<p> +In the afternoon we started—ourselves, our guide, and an Indian to carry +cloaks, &c. up the mountain. We soon left the cultivated region, and +entered upon the pine-forest, which we never left during our afternoon journey. +One of the first showers of the rainy season came down upon us as we rode +through the forest. It only lasted half an hour, but it was a deluge. In a +shower of the same kind at Tezcuco, a day or two before, rain to the amount of +1-1/10 inches fell in the hour. By dusk we reached the highest habitation in +North America, the place where the sulphur used to be sublimed from the pumice +brought down from the crater. This place was shut up, for the undertaking has +been abandoned; but in a <i>rancho</i> close by we found some Indian women and +children, and there we took up our quarters. The <i>rancho</i> was a circular +hut, built and thatched with reeds, though in the midst of a pine-forest; and +presently a smart shower began, which came in upon us as though the roof had +been a sieve. +</p> + +<p> +The Indian women were kneeling all the evening round the wood-fire in the +centre of the hut, baking <i>tortillas</i> and boiling beans and coffee in +earthen pots. The wood was green, and the place was full of suffocating smoke, +except within eighteen inches of the ground, where lay a stratum of purer air. +We were obliged to lie down at once, upon mats and serapes, for we could not +exist in the smoke; and as often as we raised ourselves into a sitting posture, +we had to dive down again, half suffocated. The line of demarcation was so +accurately drawn that it was like the Grotto del Cane, only reversed. +</p> + +<p> +After a primitive supper in earthen bowls, we lay round the fire, listening to +the talk of our men and the Indian women. It was mostly about adventures with +wolves, and about the sulphur-workings, now discontinued. The weather had +cleared, and as we lay we could see the stars shining in through the roof. +About three in the morning I awoke, feeling bruised all over, as was natural +after sleeping on a mat on the ground. Moreover, the fire had gone out, and it +was horribly cold, as well it might be at 13,000 feet above the sea. I shook +some one up to make up the fire, and went out into the open air. It was nearly +full moon; but the moonlight was very different from what we can see in +England, even on the clearest nights. On the plateau of Mexico, the rarity and +dryness of the air are such that distant objects are seen far more distinctly +than at the level of the sea, and the European traveller’s measurements +of distance by the eye are always too small. The sunlight and moonlight, for +the same reason, are more intense than at lower levels. Here, at about the same +elevation as the top of the Jungfrau, the effect was far more striking, and I +shall never forget the brilliant flood of light that illuminated that grand +scene. Far down below I could see the plain, with houses and fields dimly +visible. At the bottom of the slope began the dark pine-forest, which enveloped +the mountains up to the level at which I stood, and there broke into an uneven +line, with straggling patches running up a few hundred feet higher in sheltered +crevices. Above the forest came a region of bare volcanic sand, and then began +the snow. The highest peak no longer looked steep and pointed as from below, +but seemed to rise from the darker line of sand in a gentle swelling curve up +into the sky. There did not seem to be a speck or a wrinkle on this smooth +snowy dome, the brilliant whiteness of which contrasted so wonderfully with the +dark pine-forest below. +</p> + +<p> +About seven in the morning we started on horseback, rode up across the sandy +district, and entered upon the snow. After we left the pines, small bushes and +tufts of coarse Alpine grass succeeded. Where rocks of basaltic lava stood out +from the heaps of crumbling ashes, after the grass had ceased, lichens—the +occupants of the highest zone—were still to be seen. Before we reached the +snow, we were in the midst of utter desolation, where no sign of life was +visible. From this point we sent back the horses, and started for the ascent of +the cone. On our yesterday’s ride we had cut young pine-trees in the +forest, for alpenstocks; and we tied silk handkerchiefs completely over our +faces, to keep off the glare of the sun. Our guide did the same; but the +Indian, who had been many times before up to the crater to get sulphur, had +brought no protection for his face. We marched in a line, the guide first, +sounding the depth of the snow with his pole, and keeping as nearly as he could +along ridges just covered with snow, where we did not sink far. It was from the +lower part of the snow that we began to understand the magnificent proportions +of Iztaccihuatl—the “White Woman,” the twin mountain which is +connected with Popocatepetl by an immense col, which stretches across below the +snow-line. This mountain is not conical like Popocatepetl, but its shoulders +are broader, and break into grand peaks, like some of the <i>Dents</i> of +Switzerland, and it has no crater.<a href="#fn-23" name="fnref-23" id="fnref-23"><sup>[23]</sup></a> +Indeed, the two mountains, joined together like Siamese twins, look as though +they had been set up, side by side, to illustrate the two contending theories +of the formation of volcanos. Von Buch and Humboldt might have made +Iztaccihuatl on the “upheaval theory,” by a force pushing up from +below, without breaking through the crust to form a crater; while Poulett +Scrope was building Popocatepetl on the “accumulation theory,” by +throwing up lava and volcanic ashes out of an open vent, until he had formed a +conical heap some five thousand feet high, with a great crater at the top. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-23" id="fn-23"></a> <a href="#fnref-23">[23]</a> +I was surprised to find Iztaccihuatl classed among the active volcanos in +Johnston’s Physical Atlas, and supposed at first that a crater had really +been found. But it is likely to be only a mistake, caused by the name of +“Volcan” being given to both mountains by the Mexicans, who used +the word in a very loose way. +</p> + +<p> +As we toiled slowly up the snow, we took off our veils from time to time, to +look more clearly about us. The glare of the sun upon the snow was dazzling, +and its intense whiteness contrasted wonderfully with the cloudless dark +indigo-blue of the sky. Between twelve and one we reached the edge of the +crater, 17,884 feet above the sea. The ridge upon which we stood was only a few +feet wide, and covered with snow; but it seemed that there was still heat +enough to keep the crater itself clear, for none lay on the bottom, or in +clefts on the steep sides. +</p> + +<p> +The crater was oval, full a mile in its longest diameter, and perhaps 700 to +800 feet in depth; and its almost perpendicular walls of basaltic lava are +covered with red and yellow patches of sublimed sulphur. We climbed a little +way down into it to get protection from the wind, but to descend further +unassisted was not possible, so we sat there, with our legs dangling down into +the abyss. Part of the <i>malacate</i>, or winder, used by the Indians in +descending, was still there; but it was not complete, and even if it had been, +so many months had elapsed since it was last used that we should not have cared +to try it. It consisted of a rope of hide, descending into the bottom of the +crater in a slanting direction; and the sulphur-collectors were lowered and +drawn up it by a windlass, in a basket to which another rope was attached. A +few years back, the volcano used to send up showers of ashes, and even large +stones; but now it has sunk to the condition of a mere <i>solfatara</i>, +sending out, from two crevices in the floor, great volumes of sulphurous acid +and steam, with a loud roaring noise. The sulphur-working merely consisted in +looking for places where the pumice-stone was fully impregnated with sulphur, +and breaking out pieces, which were hauled up in the basket. The chief risk +which the labourers ran was from the terrific snow-storms, which come on +suddenly and without the slightest notice. Men at work collecting sulphur have +once or twice been caught by such storms in parts of the crater at a distance +from the rope, and buried in the snow. +</p> + +<p> +The appearance of the “White Woman,” but little lower than the +point where we stood, was very grand, but all other objects looked small. The +two great plains of Mexico and Puebla, with their lakes and towns, were laid +out like a map; and the ranges of mountains which hem them in made them look +like Roman encampments surrounded by earthworks. Even now that the lakes have +shrunk to a fraction of their former size, we could see the fitness of the name +given in old times to the Valley of Mexico, <i>Anahuac</i>, that is, “By +the Water-side.” The peaks of Orizaba and Perote were conspicuous to the +east; to the north lay the silver-mountains of Pachuca; and to the south-west a +darker shade of green indicated the forests and plantations of the <i>tierra +caliente</i>, below Cuernavaca. +</p> + +<p> +It was a novel sensation to be at an altitude where the barometer stands at +15½ inches, so that the pressure on our lungs was hardly more than one-half +what we are accustomed to in England; but we did not experience much +inconvenience from it. The last thousand feet or so had been very hard work, +and we were obliged to stop every few steps, but on the comparatively level +edge of the crater we felt no difficulty in moving about. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Popocatepetl</i> means “Smoking Mountain.” The Indians naturally +enough considered it to be the abode of evil spirits, and told Cortes and his +companions that they could never reach the top. One of the Spaniards, Diego +Ordaz, tried to climb to the summit, and got as far as the snow; whereupon he +returned, and got permission to put a burning mountain in his coat of arms, in +commemoration of the exploit! If, as he declared, a high wind was blowing, and +showers of ashes falling, his turning back was excusable, though his bragging +was not. He seems to have afterwards told Bernal Diaz that he got to the top, +which we know, by Cortes’ letters to Spain, was not true. A few years +later, Francesco Montano went up, and was lowered into the crater to get +sulphur. When Humboldt relates the story, in his <i>New Spain</i>, he seems +incredulous about this; but since the <i>Essai Politique</i> was written the +same thing has been regularly done by the Indians, as the merest matter of +business, until the crater has been fairly worked out. +</p> + +<p> +We took our last look at Mexico from the ridge of the crater, and, descending +twenty feet at a stride, soon reached the bottom of the cone. As far as we +could see, the substance of the hill seemed to be of basaltic lava, which was +mostly covered with the <i>lapilli</i> which I have spoken of before as ashes +and volcanic sand. Even before we reached the pine-forest there was evidence of +the action of water, which had covered the slope of the mountain with beds of +thick compact tufa, composed of these lapilli mixed with fragments of lava. The +water-courses had cut deep channels through these beds, and down into the rock +below; so that the streams from the melted snow rushed down between walls of +lava, in which traces of columnar structure were observable. +</p> + +<p> +The snow we had travelled over was sometimes dry and powdery, and sometimes +hard and compact. There were no glaciers, and no glacier-ice, properly so +called. It never rains at this elevation; and, though evaporation goes on +rapidly with half the pressure taken off the air, and a great increase in the +intensity of the sun’s rays, the snow either passes directly into vapour, +or carries the water off instantaneously, as it is formed. Only so much water +seems to be produced and re-frozen as suffices to make the snow hard, and in +some favourable places near the rocks to form lumps of ice, and some of those +great icicles which the Spaniards brought down from the mountain on their first +expedition, so greatly astonishing their companions. +</p> + +<p> +When we reached the rancho we thought of passing another night there; but the +Indians who had gone down to the valley for corn had not returned, and +everything was eaten up except beans, which are all very well as accessories to +dinner, but our English digestions could not stand living upon them; so we +started at once for San Nícolas de los Ranchos. Our ride was down a deep +ravine, by the side of a mountain-torrent coming down from the snows of +Popocatepetl; and, when we stopped now and then to look behind us, we had one +of the grandest views which I have ever witnessed. The elements of the picture +were simple enough. A deep gorge at our feet, with a fierce torrent rushing +down it, dark pine-trees all round us, and above us—on either side—a +snow-covered mountain towering up into the sky. We were just in the track of +the Spanish invaders, who crossed most likely by this very road between the two +volcanos; and they record the amazement which they felt that in the tropics +snow should be unmelted upon the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +A few hours riding down the steep descent, and we were in the flat plain of +Puebla. There were our two mountains behind us, but now they looked as we had +so often seen them before from a distance. The power of realizing their size +was gone, and with it most of their grandeur and beauty. Nothing was left us +but a vivid recollection of the wonderful scenes that were before us a few +hours ago, impressions not likely to be ever effaced from our minds, where the +picture of the great snowy cone seen in the bright moonlight, and the descent +between the mountains, remain indelibly impressed as the types of all that is +most grand and impressive in the scenery of lofty mountains. +</p> + +<p> +We slept at San Nícolas de los Ranches, “St. Nicholas of the huts,” +where the shopkeeper, to whom we had a letter, insisted upon turning out of his +own room for us, and treated us like princes. The reason of our often being +provided with letters to the shopkeepers in small places, was, that they are +the only people who have houses fit for entertaining travellers. Many of them +are very rich, and in the United States they would call themselves merchants. +Next morning our Indian carrier, who had ascended the mountain without a veil, +was brought in by our guide, a pitiful object. All the skin of his face was +peeling off, and his eyes were frightfully inflamed, so that he was all but +blind, and had to be led about. Fortunately, this blindness only lasts for a +time, and no doubt he got well in a few days. +</p> + +<p> +We rode through the plain to Cholula. Our number was now four; for, besides +Antonio, we had engaged another servant a few days before. We wanted some one +who knew this district well; and when a friend of ours mentioned that there was +a young man to be had who had a good horse and was a smuggler by profession, we +engaged him directly, and he proved a great acquisition. Of course, from the +nature of his trade, he knew every bypath between Mexico and the +tobacco-districts towards which we were going; he was always ready with an +expedient whenever there was a difficulty, he was never tired and never out of +temper. As for the morality of his peculiar profession, it probably does harm +to the honesty of the people; but, considering it as a question of abstract +justice, we must remember that almost the whole of the taxes which the Mexicans +are compelled to pay to the general government are utterly wasted upon paying +officials who do nothing but intrigue, and keeping up armies which—far from +being a protection to life and property—are a permanent and most destructive +nuisance. The contract between government and subject ought to be a two-sided +one; and when the government so entirely misuses the taxes paid by the people, +I am quite inclined to sympathize with the subjects who will not pay them if +they can help it. +</p> + +<p> +We scarcely entered the town of Cholula, which is a poor place now, though it +was a great city at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The Spanish city of +Puebla, only a few miles off, quite ruined it. +</p> + +<p> +We went straight to the great pyramid, which lies close to the town, and which +had been rising before us like a hill during the last miles of our journey. +This extraordinary structure is perhaps the oldest ruin in Mexico, and +certainly the largest. A close examination of its structure in places where the +outline is still to some extent preserved, and a comparison of it with better +preserved structures of the same kind, make it quite clear that it was a +terraced <i>teocalli</i>, resembling the drawing called the “Pyramid of +Cholula,” in Humboldt’s <i>Vues des Cordillères</i>. But let no one +imagine that the well-defined and symmetrical structure represented in that +drawing is in the least like what we saw, and from which Humboldt made the +rough sketch, which he and his artist afterwards “idealized” for +his great work. At the present day, the appearance of the structure is that of +a shapeless tree-grown hill; and until the traveller comes quite close to it he +may be excused for not believing that it is an artificial mound at all. +</p> + +<p> +The pyramid is built of rows of bricks baked in the sun, and cemented together +with mortar in which had been stuck quantities of small stones, fragments of +pottery, and bits of obsidian knives and weapons. Between rows of bricks are +alternate layers of clay. It was built in four terraces, of which traces are +still to be distinguished; and is about 200 feet high. Upon the platform at the +top stand some trees and a church. The sides front the four cardinal points, +and the base line is of immense length, over thirteen hundred feet, so that the +ascent is very gradual. +</p> + +<p> +When we reached Cholula we sent the two men to enquire in the neighbourhood for +antiquities, of which numbers are to be found in every ploughed field round. At +the top of the pyramid we held a market, and got some curious things, all of +small size however. Among them was a mould for making little jackal-heads in +the clay, ready for baking; the little earthen heads which are found in such +quantities in the country being evidently made by wholesale in moulds of this +kind, not modelled separately. We got also several terra-cotta stamps, used in +old times for stamping coloured patterns upon the native cloth, and perhaps +also for ornamenting vases and other articles of earthenware. Cholula used to +be a famous place for making pottery, and its red-and-black ware was famous at +the time of the Conquest, but the trade now seems to have left it. We were +struck by observing that, though there was plenty of coloured pottery to be +found in the neighbourhood of the pyramid, the pyramid itself had only +fragments of uncoloured ware imbedded in its structure; which seems to prove +that it was built before the art of colouring pottery was invented. +</p> + +<p> +They have cut a road through one corner of the pyramid, and this cutting +exposed a chamber within. Humboldt describes this chamber as roofed with +blocks, each overlapping the one before, till they can be made to meet by a +block of ordinary size. This is the false arch so common in Egypt and Peru, and +in the ruined cities of Central America. Every child who builds houses with a +box of bricks discovers it for himself. The bridge at Tezcuco, already +described, is much more remarkable in its structure. Whether our inspection was +careless, or whether the chamber has fallen in since Humboldt’s time, I +cannot say, but we missed this peculiar roof. +</p> + +<p> +There are several legends about the Pyramid of Cholula. That recorded by +Humboldt on the authority of a certain Dominican friar, Pedro de los Rios, I +mention—not because of its intrinsic value, which is very slight, but because +it will enable us to see the way in which legends grew up under the hands of +the early missionaries, who were delighted to find fragments of +Scripture-history among the traditions of the Ancient Mexicans, and who seem to +have taken down from the lips of their converts, as native traditions, the very +Bible-stories that they had been teaching them, mixed however with other +details, of which it is hard to say whether they were imagined on purpose to +fill up gaps in the story, or whether they were really of native traditional +origin. +</p> + +<p> +Pedro de los Rios’ story tells us that the land of Anahuac was inhabited +by giants; that there was a great deluge, which devastated the earth; that all +the inhabitants were turned into fishes, except seven who took refuge in a cave +(apparently with their wives). Years after the waters had subsided, and the +earth had been re-peopled by these seven men, their leader began to build a +vast pyramid, whose top should reach to heaven. He built it of bricks baked in +the sun, which were brought from a great distance, passing them from hand to +hand by a file of men. The gods were enraged at the presumption of these men, +and they sent down fire from heaven upon the pyramid, which caused its building +to be discontinued. It is stated that at the time of the Spanish Conquest, the +inhabitants of Cholula preserved with great veneration a large aerolite, which +they said was the thunderbolt that fell upon the top of the pyramid when the +fire struck it. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the confusion of tongues seems also to have existed in the +country, not long after the Conquest, having very probably been learnt from the +missionaries; but it does not seem to have been connected with the +Tower-of-Babel legend of Cholula. Something like it at least appears in the +Gemelli table of Mexican migrations, reproduced in Humboldt, where a bird in a +tree is sending down a number of tongues to a crowd of men standing below. +</p> + +<p> +I think we need not hesitate in condemning the legend of Cholula, which I have +just related, as not genuine, or at least as partly of late fabrication. But we +fortunately possess another version of it, which shows the legend to have +developed itself farther than was quite discreet. A MS. history, written by +Duran in 1579, and quoted by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, relates that +people built the pyramid to reach heaven, finding clay or mud <i>(“terre +glaise”)</i> and a very sticky <i>bitumen (“bitume fort +gluant”)</i>, with which they began at once to build, &c. This is +evidently the slime or bitumen of the Book of Genesis; but I believe I may +safely assert that the Mexicans never used bitumen for any such purpose, and +that it is not found anywhere near Cholula. +</p> + +<p> +The Aztec historians ascribe the building of the Pyramid of Cholula to the +prophet Quetzalcoatl. The legends which relate to this celebrated personage are +to be found in writers on Mexican history, and, more fully than elsewhere, in +the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg’s work. +</p> + +<p> +I am inclined to consider Quetzalcoatl a real personage, and not a mythical +one. He is said to have been a white, bearded man, to have come from the East, +to have reigned in Tollan, and to have been driven out from thence by the +votaries of human sacrifices, which he opposed. He took refuge in Cholollan, +now called Cholula (which means the “place of the fugitive”), and +taught the inhabitants to work in metals, to observe various fasts and +festivals, to use the Toltec calendar of days and years, and to perform penance +to appease the gods. +</p> + +<p> +A relic of the father of Quetzalcoatl is said to have been kept until after the +Spanish Conquest, when it was opened, and found to contain a quantity of fair +human hair. The prophet himself departed from Cholula, and put to sea in a +canoe, promising to return. So strong was the belief in the tradition of these +events among the Aztecs, that when the Spaniards appeared on the coast, they +were supposed to be of the race of the prophet, and the strange conduct of +Montezuma to Cortes is to be ascribed to the influence of this belief. +</p> + +<p> +There is a singular legend, mentioned by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, of a +white man, with a hooded robe and white beard, bearing a cross in his hand, who +lands at Tehuantepec (on the Pacific coast of Mexico), and introduces among the +Indians auricular confession, penance, and vows of chastity. +</p> + +<p> +The coming of white, bearded men from the East, centuries before the Spanish +invasion in the 16th century, and the introduction of new arts and rites by +them in Mexico, is as certain as most historical events of which we have only +legendary knowledge. As to who they were I cannot offer an opinion. There are, +however, one or two points connected with the presence of the Irish and +Northmen in America in the 9th and following centuries—a period not very far +from that ascribed to Quetzalcoatl—which are worthy of notice. +</p> + +<p> +The Scandinavian antiquarians make the “white-man’s land” +<i>(Hvitramannaland)</i> extend down as far as Florida, on the very Gulf of +Mexico. It is curious to notice the coincidence between the remark of Bernal +Diaz, that the Mexicans called their priests <i>papa</i> (more properly +<i>papahua</i>), and that in the old Norse Chronicle, which tells of the first +colonization of Iceland by the Northmen, and relates that they found living +there “Christian men whom the Northmen call <i>Papa</i>.” These +latter are shown by the context to have been Irish priests. The Aztec root +<i>teo (teo-tl, God)</i> comes nearer to the Greek and Latin, but is not unlike +the Irish <i>dia</i>, and the Norse <i>ty-r</i>. The Aztec root <i>col</i> +(charcoal) is exactly the Norse <i>kol</i> (our word <i>coat</i>), but not so +near to the Irish <i>gual</i>. It is desirable to notice such coincidences, +even when they are too slight to ground an argument upon. +</p> + +<p> +This seems to be the proper place to mention the many Christian analogies to be +found in the customs of the ancient Aztecs. +</p> + +<p> +Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given to them. This is +certainly true, though the statement that they believed that the process +purified them from original sin is probably a monkish fiction. Water was +consecrated by the priests, and was supposed thus to acquire magical qualities. +In the coronation of kings, anointing was part of the ceremony, as well as the +use of holy water. The festival of All Souls’ Day reminds us of the Aztec +feasts of the Dead in the autumn of each year; and in Mexico the Indians still +keep up some of their old rites on that day. There was a singular rite observed +by the Aztecs, which they called the <i>teoqualo</i>, that is, “the +eating of the god.” A figure of one of their gods was made in dough, and +after certain ceremonies they made a pretence of killing it, and divided it +into morsels, which were eaten by the votaries as a kind of sacred food. +</p> + +<p> +We may add to the list the habitual use of incense in the ceremonies: the +existence of monasteries and nunneries, in which the monks wore long hair, but +the nuns had their hair cut off: and the use of the cross as a religious emblem +in Mexico and Central America. +</p> + +<p> +Less certain is the recorded use of knotted scourges in performing penance, and +the existence of a peculiar kind of auricular confession. +</p> + +<p> +It is difficult to ascribe this mass of coincidences to mere chance, and not to +see in them traces of connexion, more or less remote, with Christians. Perhaps +these peculiar rites came, with the Mexican system of astronomy, from Asia; or +perhaps the white, bearded men from the East may have brought them. It is true +that such a supposition runs quite counter to the argument founded on the +ignorance of the Mexicans of common arts known in Europe and Asia. We should +have expected Christian missionaries to have brought with them the knowledge of +the use of iron, and the alphabet. Perhaps our increasing knowledge of the +ancient Mexicans may some day allow us to adopt a theory which shall at least +have the merit of being consistent with itself; but at present this seems +impossible. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +PUEBLA. NOPALUCÁN. ORIZABA. POTRERO.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus30"></a> +<img src="images/fig27.jpg" width="311" height="450" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">VIEW OF THE VOLCANO ORIZABA.</p> +</div> + +<p> +We reached Puebla in the afternoon, and found it a fine Spanish city, with +straight streets of handsome stone houses, and paved with flag-stones. We +rather wondered at the <i>pasadizos</i>, a kind of arched stone-pavement across +the streets at short intervals, very much impeding the progress of the +carriages, which had to go up and down them upon inclined planes. In the +evening we saw the use of them however, for a shower of rain came down which +turned every street into a furious river within five minutes after the first +drop fell. For half an hour the pasadizos did their duty, letting the water +pass through underneath, while passengers could get across the streets dryshod. +At last, the flood swept clear along, over bridges and all; but this only +lasted a few minutes, and then the way was practicable again. The moveable iron +bridges on wheels, which are to be seen standing in the streets of Sicilian +cities, ready to be wheeled across them for the benefit of foot-passengers +whenever the carriage-way is flooded, are on the whole a better arrangement. +</p> + +<p> +We should never have thought, from looking at Puebla, that it had just been +undergoing a siege; for, beyond a few patches of whitewash in the great square, +where the cannon-balls had knocked the houses about, there were no traces of +it. +</p> + +<p> +We made many enquiries about the siege, and found nothing to invalidate our +former estimate of twenty-five killed,—one per cent of the number stated in the +government manifestos. Among the casualties we heard of an Englishman who went +out to see the fun, and was wounded in a particularly ignominious manner as he +was going back to his house. +</p> + +<p> +Revolutions and sieges form curious episodes in the life of the foreign +merchants in the Republic. Their trade is flourishing, perhaps,—plenty of +buyers and good prices; and hundreds of mules are on the road, bringing up +their wares from the coast. All at once there is a pronunciamiento. The +street-walls are covered with proclamations. Half the army takes one side, half +the other; and crowds of volunteers and self-made officers join them, in the +hope of present pillage or future emolument. Barricades appear in the streets; +and at intervals there is to be heard the roaring of cannon, and desultory +firing of musketry from the flat roofs, killing a peaceable citizen now and +then, but doing little execution on the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Trade comes to a dead stop. Our merchant gets his house well furnished with +provisions, shuts the outer shutters, locks up the great gates, and retires +into seclusion for a week or a fortnight, or a month or two, as may be. At the +time we were there he used to run no great risk, for neither party was hostile +to him; and if a stray cannon-ball did hit his house, or the insurgents shot +his cook going out on an expedition in search of fresh beef, it was only by +accident. +</p> + +<p> +Having no business to do, the counting-house would probably take stock, and +balance the books; but when this is finished there is little to be done but to +practice pistol-shooting and hold tournaments in the court-yard, and to teach +the horses to rayar; while the head of the house sits moodily smoking in his +arm-chair, reckoning up how many of his debtors would be ruined, and wondering +whether the loaded mules with his goods had got into shelter, or had been +seized by one party or the other. +</p> + +<p> +At last the revolution is over. The new president is inaugurated with pompous +speeches. The newspapers announce that now the glorious reign of justice, +order, and prosperity has begun at last. If the millennium had come, they could +not make much more talk about it. Our unfortunate friend, coming out of his den +only to hear dismal news of runaway debtors and confiscated bales, has to +illuminate his house, and set to getting his affairs into something like order +again. +</p> + +<p> +Since we left the country things have got even worse. Formerly, all that the +foreign merchants had to suffer were the incidental miseries of a state of +civil war. Now, the revolutionary leaders put them in prison; and, if threats +are not sufficient, they get forced loans out of them, much as King John did +out of his Jews. +</p> + +<p> +Even in times of peace, foreign goods must be dear in Mexico. In a country +where they have to be carried nearly three hundred miles on mules’ backs, +and where credit is so long that the merchant can never hope to see his money +again in less than two years, he cannot be expected to sell very cheaply. But +the continual revolutions and the insecurity of property make things far worse, +and one almost wonders how foreign trade can go on at all. +</p> + +<p> +One of our friends in Mexico had three or four hundred mules coming up the +country laden with American cotton for his mill, just when Haro’s +revolution began. He got off much better than most people, however; for, +greatly to the disgust of the legitimate authorities, he went down into the +enemy’s camp, and gave the revolutionary chief a dollar a bale to let +them go. +</p> + +<p> +As may be supposed, commercial transactions have often very curious features +here. Strange things happen in the eastern states; but people there say that +they are nothing to the doings on the Pacific coast, where the merchants get up +a revolution when their ships appear in the offing, and turn out the +Custom-house officers, who do not enter upon their functions again until the +rich cargos have started for the interior. +</p> + +<p> +One little incident, which happened—-I think—at Vera Cruz, rather amused us. +When the Government is hard-up, a favourite way of raising ready money is to +sell—of course at a very low price—orders upon the Custom-house, to pass +certain quantities of goods, duty-free. Such a transaction as this was +concluded between the Minister of Finance and a merchant’s house who gave +hard dollars in exchange for an order to pass so many hundred bales of cotton, +free of duty. When the ship arrived at port, however, the Yankee captain +brought in his manifest with a broad grin upon his face. The inspectors went +down to the ship, and stood aghast. There were the bales of cotton, but such +bales! They had to be shoved and coaxed to get them up through the hatchways at +all. The Customhouse officials protested in vain. The order was for so many +bales of cotton, and these overgrown monsters were bales of cotton, and the +merchants sent them up to Mexico in triumph. +</p> + +<p> +To us, Puebla was not an interesting city. It was built by the Spaniards, and +called <i>Puebla de los Angeles</i>, because angels assisted in building the +cathedral, which does no great credit to their good taste. Its costly ornaments +of gold, silver, jewels, and variegated marbles, are most extraordinary. One +does not know which to wonder at most, the value and beauty of the materials, +or the unmitigated ugliness of the designs. +</p> + +<p> +We saw the festival of Corpus Christi while we were in Puebla; but were to a +certain extent disappointed in the display of plate and jewelled vestments for +the clergy, whose attempt to overthrow Comonfort’s government had only +resulted in themselves being heavily fined, and who were in consequence keeping +their wealth in the background, and making as little display as possible. The +most interesting part of the ceremonial to us was to see the processions of +Indians from the surrounding villages, walking crowned with flowers, and +carrying Madonnas in bowers of green branches and blossoms. +</p> + +<p> +At the head of each procession walked an Indian beating a drum, <i>tap, tap, +tap</i>, without a vestige of time. The other processions with stoles and +canopies, and the officials of the city in dress-coats and yellow kid gloves, +were paltry affairs enough. +</p> + +<p> +Neither during this ceremonial, nor at Easter in the Capital were any miracles +exhibited, like the performances of the Madonna at Palermo, which the coachmen +of the city carry about at Easter, weeping real tears into a cambric +pocket-handkerchief; nor is anything done in the country like the lighting of +the Greek fire, or the melting of the blood of St. Januarius. +</p> + +<p> +Puebla pretty much belongs to the clergy, who are paramount there. A population +of some sixty thousand has seventy-two churches, some of them very large. It is +the focus of the church-party, whose steady powerful resistance to reform is +one of the causes of the unhappy political state of the country. As is usual in +cathedral-towns, the morality of the people is rather lower than elsewhere. I +have said already that the revenues of the Mexican Church are very large. +Tejada estimates the income at twenty millions of dollars yearly, more than the +whole revenue of the State; but this calculation far exceeds that given by any +other authority. He remarks that the Church has always tried as much as +possible to conceal its riches, and probably he makes a very large allowance +for this. At any rate, I think we may reasonably estimate the annual income of +the Church at $10,000,000, or £2,000,000, two-thirds of the income of the +State. +</p> + +<p> +There is nothing extraordinary in the Church having become very rich by the +accumulations of three centuries in a Spanish colony, where the manners and +customs remained in the 18th century to a great extent as they were in the +16th, and the practice of giving and leaving great properties to the Church was +in full vigour—long after it had declined in Europe. It is considered that half +the city of Mexico belongs to the Church. This seems an extraordinary +statement; but, if we remember that in Philip the Second’s time half the +freehold property of Spain belonged to the Church, we shall cease to wonder at +this. The extraordinary feature of the case is that, counting both secular and +regular clergy, there are only 4600 ecclesiastics in the country. The number +has been steadily decreasing for years. In 1826 it was 6,000; in 1844 it had +fallen to 5,200, in 1856 to 4,600, giving, on the lowest reckoning, an average +of over £200 a year for each priest and monk. A great part of this income is +probably left to accumulate; but, when we remember that the pay of the country +curas is very small, often not more than £30 to £50, there must be fine incomes +left for the church-dignitaries and the monks. Now any one would suppose that a +profession with such prizes to give away would become more and more crowded. +Why it is not so I cannot tell. It is true that the lives of the ecclesiastics +are anything but respectable, and that the profession is in such bad odour that +many fathers of families, though good Catholics, will not let a priest enter +their houses; but we do not generally find Mexicans deterred by a little bad +reputation from occupations where much money and influence are to be had for +very little work. +</p> + +<p> +The ill conduct of the Mexican clergy, especially of the monks, is matter of +common notoriety, and every writer on Mexico mentions it, from the time of +Father Gage—the English friar—who travelled with a number of Spanish monks +through Mexico in 1625, and described the clergy and the people as he saw them. +He was disgusted with their ways, and, going back to England, turned +Protestant, and died Vicar of Deal. +</p> + +<p> +To show what monastic discipline is in Mexico, I will tell one story, and only +one. An English acquaintance of mine was coming down the Calle San Francisco +late one night, and saw a man who had been stabbed in the street close to the +convent-gate. People sent into the convent to fetch a confessor for the dying +man, but none was to be had. There was only one monk in the place, and he was +bed-ridden. The rest were enjoying themselves in the city, or fast asleep at +their lodgings in the bosom of their families. +</p> + +<p> +In condemning the Mexican clergy, some exception must be made. There are many +of the country curas who lead most exemplary lives, and do much good. So do the +priests of the order of St. Vincent de Paule, and the Sisters of Charity with +whom they are associated; but then, few of these, either priests or sisters, +are Mexicans. +</p> + +<p> +Among the curious odds and ends which we came upon in Puebla, in the shop of a +dealer in old iron and things in general, were two or three very curious old +scourges, made of light iron chains with projecting points on the +links—terrific instruments, once in very general use. Up to the present time, +there are certain nights when penitents assemble in churches, in total +darkness, and kneeling on the pavement, scourge themselves, while a monk in the +pulpit screams out fierce exhortations to strike harder. The description +carries us back at once to the Egyptian origin of this strange custom; and we +think of the annual festival of Isis, where the multitudes scourged themselves +in memory of the sufferings of Osiris. A story is told of a sceptical +individual who got admission to this ceremony by making great professions of +devotion, and did terrific execution on the backs of his kneeling +fellow-penitents. Before he began, the place was resounding with doleful cries +and groans; but he noticed that the cry which arose when he struck was not like +these other sounds, but had quite a different accent. The practice of +devotional scourging is still kept up in Rome, but in a very mild form, as it +appears that the penitents keep their coats on, and only use a kind of +miniature cat-o’-nine-tails of thin cord, with a morsel of lead at the +end of each tail, and not such bloodthirsty implements as those we found at +Puebla. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to us that the great influence of the priests in Mexico was among the +women of all classes, the Indians, and the poorer and less educated +half-castes. The men of the higher classes, especially the younger ones, did +not appear to have much respect for the priests or for religion, and, indeed, +seemed to be sceptical, after the manner of the French school of freethinking. +It was quite curious to see the young dandies, dressed in their finest clothes, +at the doors of the fashionable churches on Sunday morning. None of them seemed +to go to mass, but they simply went to stare at the ladies, who, as they came +out, had to run the gauntlet through a double line of these critical young +gentlemen. As far as we could see, however, they did not mind being looked at. +The poorer mestizos and Indians, on the other hand, are still zealous +churchmen, and spend their time and money on masses and religious duties so +perseveringly that one wishes they had a religion which was of some use to +them. As it is, I cannot ascertain that Christianity has produced any +improvement in the Mexican people. They no longer sacrifice and eat their +enemies, it is true, but against this we must debit them with a great increase +of dishonesty and general immorality, which will pretty well square the +account. +</p> + +<p> +Practically, there is not much difference between the old heathenism and the +new Christianity. We may put the dogmas out of the question. They hear them and +believe in them devoutly, and do not understand them in the least. They had +just received the Immaculate Conception, as they had received many mysteries +before it; and were not a little delighted to have a new occasion for +decorating themselves and their churches with flowers, marching in procession, +dancing, beating drums, and letting off rockets by daylight, as their manner +is. The real essence of both religions is the same to them. They had gods, to +whom they built temples, and in whose honour they gave offerings, maintained +priests, danced and walked in processions—much as they do now, that their +divinities might be favourable to them, and give them good crops and success in +their enterprises. This is pretty much what their present Christianity consists +of. As a moral influence, working upon the character of the people, it seems +scarcely to have had the slightest effect, except, as I said, in causing them +to leave off human sacrifices, which were probably not an original feature of +their worship, but were introduced comparatively at a late time, and had +already been almost abolished by one king. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians still show the greatest veneration for a priest; and Heller well +illustrates this feeling when he tells us how he happened to ride through the +country in a long black cloak, and the Indians he met on the road used to fall +on their knees as he passed, and ask for his blessing, regardless of the deep +mud and their white trousers. However, this was ten years before we were in the +country, and I doubt whether the cloak would get so much veneration now. The +best measure of the influence of the Church is the fact that when Mexico +adopted a republican constitution, in imitation of that of the United States, +it was settled that no Church but that of Rome should be tolerated in the +country; and this law still remains one of the fundamental principles of the +State, in which universal liberty and equality, freedom of the press, and +absolute religious intolerance form rather a strange jumble. It is curious to +observe that, though the Independence confirmed the authority of the Roman +Catholic religion, it considerably reduced the church-revenues, by making the +payment of tithes a matter of mere option. The Church—of course—diligently +preaches the necessity of paying tithes, putting their obligation in the +catechism, between the ten commandments and the seven sacraments, and they +still get a good deal in this way. +</p> + +<p> +We sent our horses to the bath at Pueblo. This is usually done once a week in +the cities of Mexico. We went once to see the process while we were in the +capital, and were very much amused. The horses had been to the place before, +and turned in of their own accord through a gateway in a shabby back street; +and when they got into the courtyard, began to dance about in such a frantic +manner that the <i>mozos</i> could hardly hold them in while their saddles and +bridles were being taken off. Then they put their heads down, and bolted into a +large shed, with a sort of floor of dust several inches deep, in which six or +eight other horses were rushing about, kicking, prancing, plunging, and +literally screaming with delight. I will not positively assert that I saw an +old white horse stand upon his head in a corner and kick with all his four legs +at once, but he certainly did something very much like it. Presently the old +<i>mozo</i> walked into the shed, with his lazo over his arm, and carelessly +flung the noose across. Of course it fell over the right horse’s neck, +when the animal was quiet in a moment, and walked out after the old man in +quite a subdued frame of mind. One horse came out after another in the same +way, took his swim obediently across a great tank of water, was rubbed down, +and went off home in high spirits. +</p> + +<p> +Though slavery has long been abolished in the Republic, there still exists a +curious “domestic institution” which is nearly akin to it. It is +not peculiar to the plains of Puebla, but flourishes there more than elsewhere. +It is called “<i>peonaje</i>,” and its operation is in this wise. +If a debtor owes money and cannot pay it, his creditor is allowed by law to +make a slave or _peon _of him until the debt is liquidated. Though the name is +Spanish, I believe the origin of the custom is to be found in an Aztec usage +which prevailed before the Conquest. +</p> + +<p> +A <i>peon</i> means a man on foot, that is, a labourer, journeyman, or +foot-soldier. We have the word in English as “<i>pioneer</i>” and +as the “<i>pawn</i>” among chessmen; but I think not with any +meaning like that it has come to bear in Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +On the great haciendas in the neighbourhood of Puebla, the Indian labourers are +very generally in this condition. They owe money to their masters, and are +slaves; nominally till they can work off the sum they owe, but practically for +their whole lives. Even should they earn enough to be able to pay their debt, +the contract cannot be cancelled so easily. A particular day is fixed for +striking a balance, generally, I believe, Easter Monday, just after a season +when the custom of centuries has made it incumbent upon the Indians to spend +all that they have and all that they can borrow upon church-fees, wax-candles, +and rockets, for the religious ceremonies of the season, and the drunken +debauches which form an essential part of the festival. The masters, or at +least the <i>administradors</i>, are accused of mystifying the annual statement +of accounts between the labourer and the estate, and it is certain that the +Indian’s feeble knowledge of arithmetic leaves him quite helpless in the +hands of the bookkeeper; but whether this is mere slander or not, we never had +any means of ascertaining. +</p> + +<p> +Long servitude has obliterated every feeling of independence from the minds of +these Indians. Their fathers were slaves, and they are quite content to be so +too. Totally wanting in self-restraint, they cannot resist the slightest +temptation to run into debt; and they are not insensible to the miserable +advantage which a slave enjoys over a free labourer, that his master, having a +pecuniary interest in him, will not let him starve. They have a cat-like +attachment to the places they live in; and to be expelled from the estate they +were born on, and turned out into the world to get a living, we are told by +writers on Mexico, is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon them. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing that we could see in the appearance of these <i>peons</i> to +distinguish them from ordinary free Indians; and our having travelled hastily +through the district where the system prevails does not give us a right to +judge of its working. We can but compare the opinions of writers who have +studied it, and who speak of it in terms of the strongest reprobation, as +deliberately using the moral weakness of the Indians as a means of reducing +them to slavery. Sartorius, however, takes the other side, and throws the whole +blame upon the careless improvident character of the brown men, whose masters +are obliged to lend them money to supply their pressing wants, and must take +the only security they can get. He says, and truly enough, that the system +works wretchedly both for masters and labourers. Any one who knows the working +of the common English system of allowing workmen to run into debt with the view +of retaining them permanently in their master’s service may form some +faint idea of the way in which this Mexican debt-slavery destroys the energy +and self-reliance of the people. +</p> + +<p> +But in one essential particular Sartorius mis-states the case. It is not the +money which the masters lend the <i>peons</i> to help them in distress and +sickness that keeps them in slavery. It is the money spent in wax-candles and +rockets, and such like fooleries, for Easter and All Saints; in the reckless +profusion of drunken feasts on the days of their patron saints, and on the +occasion of births, deaths, and marriages. These feasts are as utterly +disproportioned to the means of the givers as the Irish wakes which reduce +whole families to beggary. The sums of money spent upon them are provided by +the owners of the estates, who know exactly how they are to be spent. If they +preferred that their labourers should be free from debt, they could withhold +this money; and their not doing so proves that it is their desire to keep the +<i>peons</i> in a state of slavery, and throws the whole blame of the system +upon them. +</p> + +<p> +I have spoken of the <i>peons</i> as Indians, and so they are for the most part +in the districts we visited; but travellers who have been in Chihuahua and +other northern states tell stories of creditors travelling through the country +to collect their debts, and, where money was not forthcoming, collecting their +debtors instead,—not merely brown Indians, but also nearly white mestizos. +</p> + +<p> +Mexico is one of the countries in which the contrast between great riches and +great poverty is most striking. No traveller ever enters the country without +making this remark. The mass of the people are hardly even with the world; and +there are some few capitalists whose incomes can scarcely be matched in England +or Russia. Yet this state of things has not produced a permanent aristocracy. +</p> + +<p> +The general history of great fortunes repeats itself with monotonous +regularity. Fortunate miners or clever speculators, who have happened to +possess the gift of accumulating in addition to that of getting, often make +colossal fortunes. Miners have made the greatest sums, and made them most +rapidly. Fortunes of two or three millions sterling are not uncommon now, and +we often meet with them in the history of the last century. They never seem to +have lasted many years. Before the Independence, the capitalist used to buy a +patent of nobility, and leave great sums to his children to maintain the new +dignity; but they hardly ever seem to have done anything but squander away +their inheritance, and we find the family returning to its original poverty by +the third or fourth generation. +</p> + +<p> +Mexico is an easy place to make money in, in spite of the continual disorders +that prevail. In the mining-districts most men make money at some time or +other. The difficulty lies in keeping it. There seems to be no training better +suited for making a capitalist than the life of the retail shopkeeper, +especially in the neighbourhood of a mine. A good share of all the money that +is won and of all that is lost stops in his till. Whoever makes a lucky hit in +a mining-speculation, he has a share of the profits, and when there is a +“good thing” going, he is on the spot to profit by it. +</p> + +<p> +When once a man becomes a capitalist, there are many very profitable ways of +employing his money. Mines and cotton-factories pay well, so do +cattle-haciendas in the north, when honest administradors can be got to manage +them; and discounting merchants’ bills is a lucrative business. But far +better than these ordinary investments are the monopolies, such as the farming +of the tobacco-duty, the mints, and those mysterious transactions with the +government in which ready cash is exchanged for orders to pass goods at the +Custom-house, and the other financial transactions familiar to those who know +the shifts and mystifications of that astonishing institution, the +Finance-department of Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +We rode from Puebla to Orizaba. Amozoque, the first town on the road, is a +famous place for spurs, and we bought some. They are of blue steel inlaid with +strips of silver, and the rowel is a sort of cogged wheel, from an inch and a +half to three inches in diameter. <i>(See page 220.)</i> They look terrific +instruments, but really the cogs or points of the rowels are quite blunt, and +they keep the horse going less by hurting him than by their incessant jingling, +which is increased by bits of steel put on for the purpose. Monstrous as the +spurs now used are, they are small in comparison with those of a century or two +ago. One reads of spurs, of gold and silver, with rowels in the shape of +five-pointed stars six inches in diameter. These have quite gone out now, and +seem to have been melted up, for they are hardly ever to be seen; but we bought +at the <i>baratillo</i> of Mexico spurs of steel quite as large as this. +</p> + +<p> +My companion sent to the Art-exhibition at Manchester a couple of pairs of the +ordinary spurs of the country, such as we ourselves and everybody else wore. +They were put among the mediæval armour, and excited great admiration in that +capacity! +</p> + +<p> +We slept at Nopalucán that night, and rode on next day to San Antonio de Abajo, +a little out-of-the-way village at the foot of the mountain of Orizaba. Our +principal adventure in the day’s ride was that, finding that our road +made a détour of a mile or so round a beautiful piece of green turf, we boldly +struck across it, and nearly lamed our horses thereby; for the ground was +completely undermined by moles, and at every third step the horses’ feet +went into a deep hole. We had to get off and lead them back to the road. +</p> + +<p> +Orizaba is the great feature in the scenery of this district of Mexico. It is +one point in the line of volcanos which stretches across the continent from +east to west. It is a conical mountain, like Popocatepetl, and about the same +height; measurements vary from twenty feet higher to sixty feet lower. The +crater has fallen in on one side, leaving a deep notch clearly visible from +below. At present, as we hear from travellers who have ascended it, the crater, +like that of Popocatepetl, is in the condition of a <i>solfatara</i>, sending +out jets of steam and sulphurous acid gas. About three centuries ago its +eruptions were frequent; and its Mexican name, <i>Citlaltepetl</i>, +“Mountain of the Star,” carries us back to the time when it showed +in the darkness a star-like light from its crater, like that of Stromboli at +the present time, when one sees it from a distance. +</p> + +<p> +San Antonio de Abajo is a quaint little village, frequented by muleteers and +smugglers. Tobacco, the principal contraband article, is grown in the plains +just below; and, once carried up into the paths among the mountains, it is hard +for any custom-house officer to catch sight of it. +</p> + +<p> +When there was a government, there used sometimes to be fighting between the +revenue-officers and the smugglers; but now, if there is a meeting, a few +dollars will settle the disputed question to the satisfaction of both parties, +so that the contraband trade, though profitable, is by no means so exciting as +it used to be. +</p> + +<p> +On the road towards San Antonio we saw ancient remains in the banks by the +road-side, but had no time for a regular examination. We slept on damp +mattresses in a room of the inn, where the fowls roosted on the rafters above +our heads, and walked over our faces in the early morning in an unpleasant +manner. We started before daybreak, and a descent down a winding road, through +a forest of pines and oaks, brought us by seven in the morning from the region +of pines and barley down to the district where tobacco and the sugar-cane +flourish, at the level of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea. +</p> + +<p> +We met a jaunty-looking party in the valley, two women and five or six men, all +on good horses, and dressed in the extreme of fashion which the Mexican +<i>ranchero</i> affects—broad-brimmed hats with costly gold and silver serpents +for hat-bands, and clothes and saddles glittering with silver. Martin rode up +to us as they passed, and said he knew them well for the boldest highwaymen in +Mexico. Had we started an hour or two later we should have met them in the +forest, and have had an adventure to tell of. As it was, the descent of three +thousand feet had brought us from a land of thieves to a region where highway +robbery is never known, unless when a party from the high lands come down on a +marauding expedition. It is an unquestionable fact that the Mexican robbers, +whose exploits have become a matter of world-wide notoriety, all belong to the +cold region of the plateaus, the <i>tierra fría</i>. Once down in the <i>tierra +templada</i>, or the <i>tierra caliente</i>, the temperate or the hot regions, +you hear no more of them; or at least this is the case in the parts of Mexico +we visited. The reason is clear; it is only on the plateaus that the whites, +preferring a region where the climate was not unlike that of Castile, settled +in large numbers; so that it is there that Creoles and mestizos predominate, +and they are the robbers. +</p> + +<p> +We rode over great beds of gravel, cut up in deep trenches by the +mountain-streams; then along the banks of the river, among plantations of +tobacco, looking like beds of lettuces. As we were riding along the valley, we +saw before us a curious dark cloud, hanging over some fields near the river. +Our men, who had seen the appearance before, recognized it at once as a flight +of locusts, and, turning out of the high-road, we came upon them just as they +had settled on a clump of trees in a meadow. They covered the branches and +foliage until only the outline of the trees was visible, while the rest of the +swarm descended on a green hedge, and on the grass. As for us, we went and +knocked them down with our riding-whips, and carried away specimens in our +hats; but the survivors took no manner of notice of us, and in about ten +minutes they left the trees mere skeletons, leafless and stripped of their +bark, and moved across the field in a dense mass towards some fruit-trees a +little way off. For days after this, when we met with travellers on the road, +or stopped at the door of a cottage to get a light or something to drink, and +chatted a few minutes with the inhabitants, we found that our descent of the +mountain-pass had brought us into a new set of interests. News of the +government and of the revolutionary party excited no curiosity,—talk of robbers +still less. At every house the question was, “¿<i>De donde vienen, +Señores</i>?” “Where are you from, gentlemen?”—and when we +told them, “¿<i>Y estaban allí las langostas</i>?” “And were +the locusts there?” The whole country was being devastated by them; and +the large rewards offered for them to the peasants, though they caused dead +locusts to be brought by tons, seemed hardly to diminish their numbers. Firing +guns had some slight effect in driving off the swarms of locusts; and in some +places the reports of muskets were to be heard, at short intervals, all day +long. Some idea of the destruction caused by the locusts may be formed from the +fact that in six weeks they doubled the price of grain in the district. +Fortunately, they only appear in such numbers about once in half a century. +</p> + +<p> +We had ridden a hundred miles over a rough country in the last forty-eight +hours, and were glad to get a rest at Orizaba; but on the morning of the third +day we were in the saddle again, accompanied by a new friend, the English +administrador of the cotton-mill at Orizaba. Until we left the high-road, the +country seemed well cultivated, with plantations of tobacco, coffee, and +sugar-cane; but as soon as we turned into by-paths and struck across country, +we found woods and grassy patches, but little tilled ground, until we arrived +at the Indian village which we had gone out of our way to visit, Amatlán, that +is to say, “<i>The place of paper</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +In its arrangement this village was like the one that I have already described, +with its scattered huts of canes and palm-leaf thatch; but the vegetation +indicated a more tropical climate. Large fields, the joint property of the +community, were cultivated with pine-apples in close rows, now just ripening; +and bananas, with broad leaves and heavy clusters of fruit, were growing in the +little garden belonging to each hut. The inhabitants stared at us sulkily, and +gave short answers to our questions. We went to the cottage of the Indian +alcalde, who declared that there was nothing to eat or drink in the village, +though we were standing in his doorway and could see the strings of plantains +hanging to the roof, and the old women were hard at work cooking. However, when +Mr. G. explained who he was, the old man became more placable; and we were soon +sitting on mats and benches inside the hut, on the best of terms with the whole +village. The life of these people is simple enough, and not unsuited to their +beautiful climate. The white men have never interfered much with them; and it +has been their pride for centuries to keep as much as possible from associating +with Europeans, whom they politely speak of as <i>coyotes</i>, jackals. The +priest was a <i>mestizo</i>, and, as the Alcalde said, he was the only +<i>coyote</i> in the settlement; but his sacred office neutralized the dislike +that his parishioners felt for his race. +</p> + +<p> +These Indian communities always rejoiced in being able to produce for +themselves almost everything necessary for their simple wants; but of late +years the law of supply and demand has begun to undermine this principle, and +the cotton-cloth, spun and woven at home, is yielding to the cheaper material +supplied by the factories. Though so averse to receiving Europeans among them, +they do not object to go themselves to work for good wages on the plantations. +Those who leave their native place, however, bring back with them tastes and +wants hitherto unknown, and inconsistent with their primitive way of life. +</p> + +<p> +Another habit of theirs brings them into contact with the “reasonable +people,” not to their advantage. They are excessively litigious, and +their continual law-suits take them to the large towns where the courts of +justice are held, and where lawyers’ fees swallow up a large proportion +of their savings. There is a natural connexion between farming and law-suits; +and the taste for writs and hard swearing is as remarkable among this +agricultural people as it is among our own small farmers in England. +</p> + +<p> +Theoretically, the Indians in their villages live under the general government, +like any other citizens; for, since the establishment of the republic, the +civil disabilities which had kept them down for three centuries were all +abolished at a sweep, and the brown people have their votes, and are eligible +for any office. Practically, these advantages do not come to much at present, +for custom, which is stronger than law, keeps them under the government of +their own aristocracy, composed of certain families whose nobility dates beyond +the Conquest, and was always recognized by the Spaniards. These noble Indians +seem to be pretty much as dirty, as ignorant, and as idle as the plebeians—the +ordinary field-labourers or “<i>earth-hands</i>” +(<i>tlalmaitl</i>), as they were called in ancient times,—and a stranger cannot +recognize their claims to superiority by anything in their houses, dress, +language, or bearing; nevertheless, they are the patrician families, and +republicanism has not yet deprived them of their power over the other Indians. +In early times, when men of white or mixed blood were few in the country, it +suited the Spanish government to maintain the authority of these families, who +collected the taxes and managed the estates of the little communities. The +common people were the sufferers by this arrangement, for the Alcaldes of their +own race cheated them without mercy, and were harder upon them than even their +white rulers, just as on slave-estates a black driver is much severer than a +white one. +</p> + +<p> +Near some of the houses we noticed that curious institution—the +<i>temazcalli</i>, which corresponds exactly to the Russian vapour-bath. It is +a sort of oven, into which the bather creeps on all fours, and lies down, and +the stones at one end are heated by a fire outside. Upon these stones the +bather sprinkles cold water, which fills the place with suffocating steam. When +he feels himself to have been sufficiently sweated, he crawls out again, and +has jars of cold water poured over him; whereupon he dresses himself (which is +not a long process, as he only wears a shirt and a pair of drawers), and so +goes in to supper, feeling much refreshed. If he would take the cold bath only, +and keep the hot one for his clothes, which want it sadly, it would be all the +better for him, for the constant indulgence in this enervating luxury weakens +him very much. One would think the bath would make the Indians cleanly in their +persons, but it hardly seems so, for they look rather dirtier after they have +been in the <i>temazcalli</i> than before, just as the author of <i>A Journey +due North</i> says of the Russian peasants. +</p> + +<p> +To us the most interesting question about the Mexican Indians of this district +was this, <i>Why are there so few of them?</i> There are five thousand square +leagues in the State of Vera Cruz, and about fifty inhabitants to the square +league. Now, let us consider half the State, which is at a low level above the +sea, as too hot and unhealthy for men to flourish in, and suppose the whole +population concentrated on the other half, which lies upon the rising ground +from three thousand to six thousand feet above the sea. This is not very far +from the truth, and gives us one hundred inhabitants to the square league—about +one-sixth of the population of the plains of Puebla, in a climate which may be +compared to that of North Italy, and where the chief products are maize and +European grain. +</p> + +<p> +In the district of the lower temperate region, which we are now speaking of, +nature would seem to have done everything to encourage the formation of a dense +population. In the lower part of this favoured region the banana grows. This +plant requires scarcely any labour in its cultivation; and, according to the +most moderate estimate, taking an acre of wheat against an acre of bananas, the +bananas will support twenty times as many people as the wheat. Though it is a +fruit of sweet, rather luscious taste, and only acceptable to us Europeans as +one small item of our complicated diet, the Indians who have been brought up in +the districts where it flourishes can live almost entirely upon it, just as the +inhabitants of North Africa live upon dates. +</p> + +<p> +In the upper portion of this district, where the banana no longer flourishes, +nutritious plants produce an immense yield with easy cultivation. The +<i>yucca</i> which produces cassava, rice, the sweet potato, yams, all flourish +here, and maize produces 200 to 300 fold. According to the accepted theory +among political economists, where the soil produces with slight labour an +abundant nutriment for man, there we ought to find a teeming population, unless +other counteracting causes are to be found. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the country, as far as we can get at it, indicates a movement in +the opposite direction. Judging from the numerous towns the Spanish invaders +found in the district, the numbers of armed men they could raise, and the +abundance of provisions, we must reckon the population at that time to have +been more dense than at present; and the numerous ruins of Indian settlements +that exist in the upper temperate region are unquestionable evidence of the +former existence of an agricultural people, perhaps ten times as numerous as at +present. The ruins of their fortifications and temples are still to be seen in +great numbers, and the soil all over large districts is full of the remains of +their pottery and weapons. +</p> + +<p> +How far these settlements were depopulated by wars before the Spanish Conquest, +it is not easy to say. During the Conquest itself they did not offer much +resistance to the European invaders, and consequently they escaped the +wholesale destruction which fell upon the more patriotic inhabitants of the +higher regions. Since that time the country has been peaceable enough; and even +since the Mexican Independence, the wars and revolutions which have done so +much injury to the inhabitants of the plateaus have not been much felt here. +</p> + +<p> +In reasoning upon Mexican statistics we have to go to a great extent upon +guess-work. A very slight investigation, however, shows that the calculation +made in Mexico, that the population increases between one and two per cent. +annually, is incorrect. The present population of the country is reckoned at a +little under eight millions; and in 1806, it seems, from the best authorities +we can get, to have been a little under six millions. Even this rate of +increase, one-third every half-century, is far above the rate of increase since +the Conquest; for, at that rate, a population a little over a million and a +quarter would have brought up the number to what it is at present, and we +cannot at the lowest estimation suppose the inhabitants after the siege of +Mexico to have been less than three or four millions. So that, badly as Mexico +is now going on with regard to the increase of its population, about ½ per +cent. per annum, while England increases over 1½ per cent., and the United +States twice as much, we may still discern an improvement upon the times of the +Spanish dominion, when it was almost stationary. +</p> + +<p> +Why then has this fertile and beautiful country only a small fraction of the +number of inhabitants that formerly lived in it? That it is not caused by the +climate being unfavourable to man is clear, for this district is free from the +intense heat and the pestilential fevers of the low lands which lie nearer the +sea. +</p> + +<p> +It is a noticeable fact that the remains of the old settlements generally lie +above the district where the banana grows; and the higher we rise above the +sea, the more abundant do we find the signs of ancient population, until we +reach the level of 8,000 feet or a little higher. The actual inhabitants at the +present day are distributed according to the same rule, increasing in numbers, +according to the elevation, from 3,000 to 8,000 feet, after which the severity +of the climate causes a rapid decrease. +</p> + +<p> +In making these observations, I leave out of the question the hot unhealthy +coast-lands of the <i>tierra caliente</i>, and the cold and comparatively +sterile plains of the <i>tierra fría</i>, and confine myself to that part of +the country which lies between the altitudes of 3,000 and 8,000 feet, between +which limits the European races flourish under circumstances of climate which +also suited the various Mexican races, who probably came from a colder northern +country. Now, if we begin to descend from the level of the Mexican plateau—say +8,000 feet above the sea—we find that less and less labour will provide +nourishment for the cultivator of the soil, until we reach the limit of the +banana, where the inhabitants ought to be crowded together like Chinese on +their rice-grounds, or the inhabitants of Egypt in the time of Herodotus. +Exactly the opposite rule takes effect; the banana-country is a mere +wilderness, and the higher the traveller rises the more abundant become both +present population and the remains of ancient settlements. +</p> + +<p> +I suppose the reason of this is to be found in the habits and constitution of +the tribes who colonized the country, and preferred to settle in a climate +resembling that of their native land, without troubling themselves about the +extra labour it would cost them to obtain their food. The European invaders +have acted precisely in the same way; and the distribution of the white and +partly white inhabitants of the country follows the same rule as that of the +Indians. +</p> + +<p> +So far the matter is intelligible, on the principle that the constitution and +habits of the races which have successively taken up their residence in the +country have been strong enough to prevail over the rule which regulates the +supply of men by the abundance of food; but this does not explain the fact of +an actual diminution of the inhabitants of the lower temperate districts. They +were not mere migratory tribes, staying for a few years before moving forward. +They had been settled in the country long enough to be perfectly acclimatized; +and yet, under circumstances apparently so favourable to their increase, they +have been diminishing for centuries, and are perhaps even doing so now. +</p> + +<p> +The only intelligible solution I can find for this problem is that given by +Sartorius, whose work on Mexico is well known in Germany, and has been +translated and published in England. This author’s remarks on the +condition of the Indians are very valuable; and, as he was for years a planter +in this very district, he may be taken as an excellent authority on the +subject. He considers the evil to lie principally in the diet and habits of the +people. The children are not weaned till very late, and then are allowed to +feed all day without restriction on boiled maize, or beans, or whatever other +vegetable diet may be eaten by the family. The climate does not dispose them to +take much exercise; so that this unwholesome cramming with vegetable food has +nothing to counteract its evil effects, and the poor little children get +miserably pot-bellied and scrofulous,—an observation of which we can confirm +the truth. A great proportion of the children die young, and those that grow up +have their constitutions impaired. Then they live in close communities, and +marry “in-and-in,” so that the effect of unhealthy living becomes +strengthened into hereditary disease; and habitual intemperance does its work +upon their constitutions, though the quantities of raw spirits they consume +appear to produce scarcely any immediate effect. Among a race in this bodily +condition, the ordinary epidemics of the country—cholera, small-pox, and +dysentery—make fearful havoc. Whole villages have often been depopulated in a +few days by these diseases; and a deadly fever which used to appear from time +to time among the Indians, until the last century, sometimes carried off ten +thousand and twenty thousand at once. It seemed to me worth while to make some +remarks about this question, with a view of showing that the theory as to the +relation between food and population, though partly true, is not wholly so; and +that in the region of which we have been speaking it can be clearly shown to +fail. +</p> + +<p> +After spending a long morning with the Indians and their <i>cura</i>, we took +quite an affectionate leave of them. Their last words were an apology for +making us pay threepence apiece for the pineapples which we loaded our horses +with. In the season, they said, twelve for sixpence is the price, but the fruit +was scarce and dear as yet. +</p> + +<p> +Our companion, besides being engaged in the Orizaba cotton-mill, was one of the +owners of the sugar-hacienda of the Potrero, below Cordova, and we all rode +down there together from the Indian village, and spent the evening in walking +about the plantation, and inspecting the new machinery and mills. It was a +pleasant sight to see the people coming to the well with their earthen jars, +after their work was done, in an unceasing procession, laughing and chattering. +They were partly Indian, but with a considerable admixture of negro blood, for +many black slaves were brought into the country in old times by the Spanish +planters. Now, of course, they and their descendants are free, and the hotter +parts of Mexico are the paradise of runaway slaves from Louisiana and Texas; +for, so far from their race being despised, the Indian women seek them as +husbands, liking their liveliness and good humour better than the quieter ways +of their own countrymen. Even Europeans settled in Mexico sometimes take wives +of negro blood. +</p> + +<p> +I have never noticed in any country so large a number of mixed races, whose +parentage is indicated by their features and complexion. In Europe, the parent +races are too nearly alike for the children of such mixed marriages to be +strikingly different from either parent. In America and the West Indies we are +familiar with the various mixtures of white and negro, mulatto, quadroon, +&c.; but in Mexico we have three races, Spanish, pure Mexican, and Negro, +which, with their combinations, make a list of twenty-five varieties of the +human race, distinguishable from one another, and with regular names, which +Mayer gives in his work on Mexico, such as <i>mulatto, mestizo, zambo, +chino</i>, and so forth. Here all the brown Mexican Indians are taken as one +race, and the Red Indians of the frontier-states are not included at all. If we +come to dividing out the various tribes which have been or still are existing +in the country, we can count over a hundred and fifty, with from fifty to a +hundred distinct languages among them. +</p> + +<p> +Out of this immense variety of tribes, we can make one great classification. +The men of one race are brown in complexion, and have been for ages cultivators +of the land. It is among them only that the Mexican civilization sprang up, and +they still remain in the country, having acquiesced in the authority of the +Europeans, and to a great extent mingled with them by marriage. This class +includes the Aztecs, Acolhuans, Chichemecs, Zapotecs, &c., the old Toltecs, +the present Indians of Central America, and, if we may consider them to be the +same race, the nations who built the now ruined cities of Palenque, Copan, +Uxmal, and so forth. The other race is that of the Red Indians who inhabit the +prairie-states of North Mexico, such as the Apaches, Comanches, and Navajos. +They are hunters, as they always were, and they will never preserve their +existence by adopting agriculture as their regular means of subsistence, and +settling in peace among the white men. As it has been with their countrymen +further north, so it will be with them; a few years more, and the Americans +will settle Chihuahua and Sonora, and we shall only know these tribes by +specimens of their flint arrow-heads and their pipes in collections of +curiosities, and their skulls in ethnological cabinets. +</p> + +<p> +One of the strangest races (or varieties, I cannot say which) are the +<i>Pintos</i> of the low lands towards the Pacific coast. A short time before +we were in the country General Alvarez had quartered a whole regiment of them +in the capital; but when we were there they had returned with their commander +into the tierra caliente towards Acapulco. They are called +<i>“Pintos”</i> or painted men, from their faces and bodies being +marked with great daubs of deep blue, like our British ancestors; but here the +decoration is natural and cannot be effaced. +</p> + +<p> +They have the reputation of being a set of most ferocious savages; and, badly +armed as they are with ricketty flint- or match-locks, and sabres of hoop-iron, +they are the terror of the other Mexican soldiery, especially when the war has +to be carried on in the hot pestilential coast-region, their native country. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +CHALCHICOMULA. JALAPA. VERA CRUZ. CONCLUSION.</h2> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a name="illus31"></a> +<img src="images/fig28.jpg" width="370" height="500" alt="[Illustration: ]" /> +<p class="caption">INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU.<br /> +<i>(After Nebel.)</i></p> +</div> + +<p> +The mountain-slopes which descend from the Sierra Madre eastward toward the sea +are furrowed by <i>barrancas</i>—deep ravines with perpendicular sides, and +with streams flowing at the bottom. But here all these <i>barrancas</i> run +almost due east and west, so that our journey from Vera Cruz to Mexico was +made, as far as I can recollect, without crossing one. Now, the case was quite +different. We had to go from the Potrero to the city of Jalapa, about fifty +miles on the map, nearly northward, and to get over these fifty miles cost us +two days and a half of hard riding. +</p> + +<p> +By the road it cannot be much less than eighty miles; but people used to tell +us that, during the American war, an Indian went from Orizaba to Jalapa with +despatches within the twenty-four hours, probably by mountain-paths which made +it a little shorter. He came quite easily into Jalapa at the same shuffling +trot which he had kept up almost without intermission for the whole distance. +This is the Indian’s regular pace when he is on a journey, and I believe +that the Red Indians of the north have a similar gait. +</p> + +<p> +We used sometimes to see a village or a house three or four miles off, and +count upon reaching it in half an hour. But a few steps further on there would +be a barranca, invisible till we came close to it, perhaps not more than a few +hundred feet wide, so that it was easy to talk to people on the other bank. But +the bottom of the chasm might be five hundred or a thousand feet below us; and +the only way to cross was to ride along the bank, often for miles, until we +reached a place where it had been possible to make a steep bridle-path +zigzagging down to the stream below, and up again on the other side. It is only +here and there that even such paths can be made, for the walls of rock are +generally too steep even for any vegetation, except grass and climbing plants +in the crevices. Our half-hour’s ride, as we supposed it would be, would +often extend to two or three hours, for on these slopes two or three +barrancas—large and small—-have sometimes to be crossed within as many miles. +</p> + +<p> +If our journey had been even slower and more difficult, we should not have +regretted it; the country through which we were riding was so beautiful. There +were but few inhabitants, and the landscape was much as nature had left it. The +great volcano of Orizaba came into view now and then with its snowy cone,<a href="#fn-24" name="fnref-24" id="fnref-24"><sup>[24]</sup></a> +mountain-streams came rushing along the ravines, and the forests of oaks were +covered with innumerable species of orchids and creepers, breaking down the +branches with their weight. Many kinds were already in flower, and their great +blossoms of white, purple, blue, and yellow, stood out against the dark green +of the oak-leaves. Wherever a mountain-stream ran down some shady little +valley, there were tree-ferns thirty feet high, with the new fronds forming a +tuft at the top of the old scarred trunk. Round the Indian cottages were +cactuses with splendid crimson flowers, daturas with brilliant white blossoms, +palm- and fruit-trees of fifty kinds. We stopped at one of the cottages, and +bought an armadillo that had just been caught in the woods close by, while +routing among his favourite ants’ nests. He was put into a palm-leaf +basket, which held him all but the tip of his long taper tail, which, like the +rest of his body, was covered with rings of armour fitting beautifully into one +another. One of our men carried him thus in his arms to Jalapa. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-24" id="fn-24"></a> <a href="#fnref-24">[24]</a> +See the illustration at <a href="#illus30">page 281</a>. +</p> + +<p> +The Mexicans call an armadillo “<i>ayotochtli</i>,” that is, +“tortoise-rabbit,” a name which will be appreciated by any one who +knows the appearance of the little animal. +</p> + +<p> +The villages and towns we passed were dismal places enough, and the population +scanty; but that this had not always been the case was evident from the +numerous remains of ancient Indian mound-forts or temples which we passed on +our road, indicating the existence of large towns at some former period. There +is a drawing in Lord Kingsborough’s work of a <i>teocalli</i> or pyramid +at San Andrés Chalchicomula, which we seem to have missed on account of the +darkness having come on before we reached the town. We were several times +deceived that evening by the fireflies, which we took for lights moving about +in some village just ahead of us; and we became so incredulous at last that we +would not believe we had reached our journey’s end until we could made +out the dim outlines of the houses. At the inn at San Andrés we found that we +could have no rooms, as all the little windowless dens were occupied by people +from the country who had come in for a <i>fiesta</i>. There were indeed a good +many men loafing about the courtyard, but scarcely any women, and we could +hardly understand a fandango happening without them. They thought otherwise, +however; and presently, hearing the tinkling of a guitar, we went out and saw +two great fellows in broad hats, jackets, and serapes, solemnly dancing +opposite to one another; while more men looked on, smoking cigarettes, and an +old fellow with a face like a baboon was squatting in one corner and producing +the music we had heard. To do them justice, I must say that we found, on +further enquiry, they had not come from their respective ranchos merely to make +fools of themselves in this way, but that there was to be some horsefair in the +neighbourhood next day, and they were going there. +</p> + +<p> +Our not being able to get any supper but eggs and bread, and having to sleep on +the supper-table afterwards, confirmed us in the theory we were beginning to +adopt, that nature and mankind vary in an inverse ratio; and we were off at +daybreak, delighted to get into the forest again. We rode over hill and dale +for four or five hours, and then along the edge of a barranca for the rest of +the day. This was one of the grandest chasms we had ever seen, even in Mexico. +It was four or five miles wide, and two or three thousand feet deep, and its +floor was a mass of tropical verdure, with here and there an Indian rancho and +a patch of cultivated ground on the bank of the rapid river, whose sound we +heard when we approached the edge of the barranca. There were more orchids and +epidendrites than ever in the forest. In some places they had killed every +third tree, by forming so and close a covering over its branches as to destroy +its life; they were flourishing unimpaired on the rotting branches of trees +which they had brought down to the ground years before. The rainy season had +not yet set in in this part of the country; and, though we could hear the +rushing of the torrent below, we looked in vain for water in the forest, until +our man Martin showed us the <i>bromelias</i> in the forks of the branches, in +the inside of whose hollow leaves nature has laid up a supply of water for the +thirsty traveller. +</p> + +<p> +We loaded our horses with the bulbs of such orchids as were still in the dry +state, and would travel safely to Europe. Sometimes we climbed into the trees +for promising specimens, but oftener contented ourselves with tearing them from +the branches as we rode below. When saddle-bags and pockets were full, we were +for a time at fault, for there seemed no place for new treasures, when suddenly +I remembered a pair of old trousers. We tied up the ends of the legs, which we +filled with orchids; and the garment travelled to Jalapa sitting in its natural +position across my saddle, to the amazement of such Mexican society as we met. +The contents of the two pendant legs are now producing splendid flowers in +several English hothouses. +</p> + +<p> +By evening we reached the <i>Junta</i>, a place where the great ravine was +joined by a smaller one, and a long slanting descent brought us to the edge of +the river. There was a ferry here, consisting of a raft of logs which the +Indian ferryman hauled across along a stout rope. The horses were attached to +the raft by their halters, and so swam across. On the point of land between the +two rivers the Indians had their huts, and there we spent the night. We chose +the fattest <i>guajalote</i> of the turkey-pen, and in ten minutes he was +simmering in the great earthen pot over the fire, having been cut into many +pieces for convenience of cooking, and the women were busy grinding Indian corn +to be patted out into tortillas. While supper was getting ready, and Mr. +Christy’s day’s collection of plants was being pressed (the country +we had been passing through is so rich that the new specimens gathered that day +filled several quires of paper), we had a good deal of talk with the brown +people, who could all speak a little Spanish. Some years before, the two old +people had settled there, and set up the ferry. Besides this, they made nets +and caught much fish in the river, and cultivated the little piece of ground +which formed the point of the promontory. While their descendants went no +further than grandchildren the colony had done very well; but now +great-grandchildren had begun to arrive, and they would soon have to divide, +and form a settlement up in the woods across the river, or upon some patch of +ground at the bottom of one of the barrancas. +</p> + +<p> +We were interested in studying the home-life of these people, so different from +what we are accustomed to among our peasants of Northern Europe, whose hard +continuous labour is quite unknown here. For the men, an occasional pull at the +<i>balsas</i> (the rafts of the ferry), a little fishing, and now and then—when +they are in the humour for it— a little digging in the garden-ground with a +wooden spade, or dibbling with a pointed stick. The women have a harder life of +it, with the eternal grinding and cooking, cotton-spinning, mat-weaving, and +tending of the crowds of babies. Still it is an easy lazy life, without much +trouble for to-day or care for to-morrow. When the simple occupations of the +day are finished, the time does not seem to hang heavy upon their hands. The +men lie about, “thinking of nothing at all;” and the women—old and +young—gossip by the hour, in obedience to that beneficent law of nature which +provides that their talk shall increase inversely in proportion to what they +have to talk about. We find this law attaining to its most complete fulfilment +when they shut themselves up in nunneries, to escape as much as possible from +all sources of worldly interest, and gossip there more industriously than +anywhere else, as we are informed on very good authority. +</p> + +<p> +Like all the other Mexican Indians whose houses we visited, the people here +showed but little taste in adorning their dwellings, their dresses and their +household implements. Beyond a few calabashes scraped smooth and ornamented +with coloured devices, and the blue patterns on the women’s cotton +skirts, there was scarcely anything to be seen in the way of ornament. How +great was the skill of the Mexicans in ornamental work at the time of the +Conquest, we can tell from the carved work in wood and stone preserved in +museums, the graceful designs on the pottery, the tapestry, and the beautiful +feather-work; but this taste has almost disappeared in the country. Just in the +same way, contact with Europeans has almost destroyed the little decorative +arts among most barbarous people, as, for example, the Red Indians and the +natives of the Pacific Islands; and what little skill in these things is left +among them is employed less for themselves than in making curious trifles for +the white people, and even in these we find that European patterns have mixed +with the old designs, or totally superseded them. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians lodged us in an empty cane-hut, where they spread mats upon the +ground, and we made pillows of our saddles. We were soon tired of looking up at +the stars through the chinks in the roof, and slept till long after sunrise. +Then the Indians rafted us across the second river; and we rode on to Jalapa, +having accomplished our horseback journey of nearly three hundred miles with +but one accident, the death of a horse, the four-pound one. He had been rather +overworked, but would most likely have got through, had we not stopped the last +night at the Indian <i>ranchos</i>, where there was no forage but green maize +leaves, a food our beasts were not accustomed to. It seems our men gave him too +much of this, and then allowed him to drink excessively; and next morning he +grew weaker and weaker, and died not long after we reached Jalapa. Our other +two horses were rather thin, but otherwise in good condition; and the +horse-dealers, after no end of diplomacy on both sides, knocked under to our +threat of sending them back to Mexico in charge of Antonio, and gave us within +a pound or two of what they had cost us. There, is a good deal of trading in +horses done at Jalapa, where travellers coming down from Mexico sell their +beasts, which are disposed of at great prices to other travellers coming up +from the coast. Between here and Vera Cruz, people prefer travelling in the +Diligence, or in some covered carriage, to exposing themselves to the sun in +the hot and pestilential region of the coast. +</p> + +<p> +Jalapa is a pleasant city among the hills, in a country of forests, green turf, +and running streams. It is the very paradise of botanists; and its products +include a wonderful variety of trees and flowers, from the apple- and +pear-trees of England to the <i>mameis</i> and <i>zapotes</i> of tropical +America, and the brilliant orchids which are the ornament of our hot-houses. +The name of the town itself has a botanical celebrity, for in the neighbouring +forests grows the <i>Purga de Jalapa</i>, which we have shortened into +<i>jalap</i>. +</p> + +<p> +A day’s journey above it, lies the limit of eternal snow, upon the peak +of Orizaba; a day’s journey below it is Vera Cruz, the city of the yellow +fever, surrounded by burning sands and poisonous exhalations, in a district +where, during the hot months now commencing, the thermometer scarcely ever +descends below 80°, day or night. Jalapa hardly knows summer or winter, heat or +cold. The upper current of hot air from the Gulf of Mexico, highly charged with +aqueous vapour, strikes the mountains about this level, and forms the belt of +clouds that we have already crossed more than once during our journey. Jalapa +is in this cloudy zone, and the sky is seldom clear there. It is hardly hotter +in summer than in England, and not even hot enough for the mosquitoes, which +are not to be found here though they swarm in the plain below. This warm damp +climate changes but little in the course of the year. There are no seasons, in +our sense of the word, for spring lasts through the year. +</p> + +<p> +We walked out on the first afternoon of our arrival; and sat on stone seats on +a piece of green turf surrounded by trees, that reminded us pleasantly of the +village-greens of England. There we talked with the children of an English +acquaintance who had been settled for many years in the town, and had married a +Mexican lady. They were fine lads; but, as very often happens in such cases, +they could only speak the language of the country. Nothing can show more +clearly how thoroughly a foreigner yields to the influences around him, when he +settles in a country and marries among its people. An Englishman’s own +character, for instance, may remain to some extent; but his children are +scarcely English in language or in feeling, and in the next generation there is +nothing foreign about his descendants but the name. +</p> + +<p> +When we reached our hotel it was about sunset, and the heavy dew had wetted us +through, as though we had been walking in the rain. This was no exceptional +occurrence. All the year round such dews fall morning and evening, as well as +almost daily showers of rain. The climate is too warm for this dampness to +injure health, as it would in our colder regions. To us, who had just left the +bracing air of the high plateaus, it seemed close and relaxing; but the +inhabitants are certainly strong and healthy, and one can imagine the enjoyment +which the white inhabitants of Vera Cruz must feel, when they can get away from +that city of pestilence into the pure air of the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Our quarters were at the <i>Veracruzana</i>, where we occupied a great +whitewashed room. A large grated window opened into the garden, where the +armadillo was fastened to a tree by a long string, and had soon dug a deep hole +with his powerful fore-claws, as the manner of the creature is. The necessity +of supplying the “little man in armour” with insects for his daily +food gave us some idea of the amazing abundance and variety of the insects of +the district. We caught creeping things innumerable in the garden, but narrowly +escaped being stung by a small scorpion; and therefore delegated the task to an +old Indian, who walked out into the fields with an earthen pot, and returned +with it full of insects in about half an hour. We reckoned that there were over +fifty species in the pot. +</p> + +<p> +Many of the houses and Indian huts were adorned with collections of insects +pinned on the walls in patterns, among which figured scorpions some three +inches long; and the centre-ornament was usually a tarantula, said to be one of +the most poisonous creatures of the tropics, a monstrous spider, whose dark +grey body and legs are covered with hairs. A fine specimen will have a body +about as large as a small hen’s egg, and, with his legs in their natural +position, will just stand in a cheese-plate. The Boots of the hotel went out +and caught a fine scorpion for our amusement; he brought it into our room +wrapped in a piece of brown paper, and was on the point of letting it out on +our table for us to see it run. We protested against this, and had it put into +a tumbler and covered it up with a book. +</p> + +<p> +The inner <i>patio</i> of the hotel was surrounded with the usual arcade, into +which the rooms opened. Close to our door was a long table, with a green cloth, +where the Jalapenians were constantly playing <i>monte</i>, from nine in the +morning till late at night. All classes were represented there, from the +muleteer who came to lose his hard-earned dollars, to the rich shopkeepers and +planters of the town and neighbourhood. +</p> + +<p> +I went early one afternoon to the house of the principal agent for the Vera +Cruz carriers, to arrange for sending down our heavy packages to the coast. +There was no one at the office but a girl. I enquired for the +master—“<i>Está jugando</i>,”—“He is playing,” she +said. I need not have gone so far to look for him, for he was sitting just +outside our bedroom door, and indeed had been there all day. Before he +condescended to arrange our business, he waited to see the fate of the dollar +he had just put down, and which I was glad to see he lost. +</p> + +<p> +Jalapa was not always the stagnant place it is now. Its pleasant houses and +gardens date from a period when it was a town of some importance. In old times +the only practicable road from Vera Cruz to Mexico passed this way; and Jalapa +was the entrepôt where the merchants had their warehouses, and from whence the +trains of mules distributed the European merchandise from the coast to the +different markets of the country. By this arrangement, the carrying from the +coast was done by a small number of muleteers, who were seasoned to the +climate, while the great mass of traders and carriers were not obliged to +descend from the healthy region. This was of the more importance, because, +though the pure Indians are not liable to the attacks of yellow fever, the +disease is as deadly to the other inhabitants of the high lands as to +Europeans; and even those of the <i>mestizos</i> who have the least admixture +of white blood are subject to it. Of late years, this system has been given up, +and the carriers from the high lands go down to the coast to fetch their loads, +and every year they leave some of their number in the church-yards of the City +of the Dead; while many others, though they recover from the fever, never +regain their former health and strength. The high-road to Mexico now goes by +Orizaba, so that the importance of Jalapa as a trading-place has almost ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Our Mexican journey was now all but finished, and I left my companion here, and +took the Diligence to Vera Cruz, to meet the West India Mail-packet. Mr. +Christy followed a day or two later, and went to the United States. We +dismissed our two servants, Martin and Antonio. Martin invested his wages in a +package of tobacco, which he proposed to carry home on his horse, travelling by +night along unfrequented mountain-paths, where custom-house officers seldom +penetrate. We never heard any more of him; but no doubt he got safe home, for +he was perfectly competent to take care of himself, and he probably made a very +good thing of his journey. It was quite with regret that we parted from him, +for he was a most sensible, useful fellow, with a continual flow of high +spirits, and no end of stories of his experiences in smuggling, and hunting +wild cattle in the <i>tierra caliente</i>, in which two adventurous occupations +most of his life had been passed. In his dealings with us, he was honesty +itself, notwithstanding his equivocal profession. +</p> + +<p> +We offered Antonio a cheque on Mexico for his wages, as he was going back +there, but he said he would rather have hard dollars. We paid his fare to +Mexico by the Diligence, and gave him his money, telling him at the same time, +that he was a fool for his pains. He started next morning; and we heard, a +month or two later, that the coach was stopped the same afternoon in the plains +of Perote, and Antonio was robbed not only of his money but even of his jacket +and serape, and reached Mexico penniless and half-naked. He was always a silly +fellow, and his last exploit was worthy of him. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Christy sat up till daybreak to see me off, filling up his time by writing +letters and pressing plants. When I was gone, he lay down in his bed, in rather +a dreamy state of mind, looking up at the ceiling. There was a large beam just +above his head, and at one side of it a hole, which struck him as being a +suitable place for a scorpion to come out of. This idea had come into his head +from the sight of the specimen in the tumbler on the table, who had with great +difficulty been drowned in <i>aguardiente</i>. Presently something moved in the +hole, and the spectator below instantly became wide awake. Then came out a claw +and a head, and finally the body and tail of a very fine scorpion, two inches +and a half long. It was rather an awkward moment, for it was not safe to move +suddenly, for fear of startling the creature, whose footing seemed anything but +secure; and if he fell, he would naturally sting whatever he might come in +contact with. However, he met with no accident on his way, and getting into +another hole, about a yard off, he drew up his tail after him and disappeared. +Mr. Christy slipped out of his bed with a sense of considerable relief; and +having ascertained that there were no holes in the ceiling above the bed on the +other side of the room, he turned in there, and went comfortably to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +My only companion in the Diligence was a German shopman from Vera Cruz, who was +sociable, but not of an instructive turn of conversation. When we had descended +for a few hours, the heat became intolerable. Scarcely any habitation but a few +Indian cane-huts by the way-side, with bananas and palm-trees. We stopped, +about three in the afternoon, at a <i>rancho</i> in a small village, and did +not start again until next morning, a little before day-break. Negroes and +people of negro descent began to abound in this congenial climate. I remember +especially the waiting-maid at the <i>rancho</i>, who was a “white +negress,” as they are called. Her hair and features showed her African +origin; but her hair was like white wool, and her face and hands were as +colourless as those of a dead body. This animated corpse was healthy enough, +however; and this peculiarity of the skin is, it seems, not very uncommon. +</p> + +<p> +The coast-regions through which I was passing abound in horned cattle, but they +are mostly far away from the high-roads. In spite of the intense heat of the +climate they thrive as well as in the higher lands. Some are tolerably tame, +and are kept within bounds by the <i>vaqueros</i>; but the greater proportion, +numbering tens of thousands, roam wild about the country. In comparison with +these cattle of the <i>tierra caliente</i>, the fiercest beasts of the plateaus +are safe and quiet creatures. The only way of bringing them into the +<i>corral</i> is by using tame animals for decoys, just as wild elephants are +caught. +</p> + +<p> +Our man Martin, who had once been a <i>vaquero</i> on the Vera Cruz coast, used +to look upon the bulls of the high lands with great contempt. If you chase them +they run away, he said. If you lazo a bull of the hot country, you have to +gallop off with all your might, with the <i>toro</i> close at your heels; and, +if the horse falls, it may cost his life or his rider’s. +</p> + +<p> +We thus find the horned cattle flourishing at every elevation, from the +sea-level to the mountain-pastures ten thousand feet above it. Horses and sheep +show less adaptability to this variety of climates. The horses and mules come +mostly from the States of the North, at a level of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet; +that remarkable country of which Humboldt’s observation gives us the best +idea, when he says that, although there are no made roads, wheel-carriages can +travel distances of a thousand miles over gently-undulating prairies, without +meeting any obstruction on the way. +</p> + +<p> +Numbers of sheep are reared in the mountains, principally for the sake of the +tallow, for the consumption of tallow-candles in the mines is enormous. The +owners scarcely care at all for the rest of the animal; and popular scandal +accuses the sheep-farmers of driving their flocks straight into the +melting-coppers, without going through the preliminary ceremony of killing +them. People told us that the tallow made in the cold regions loses its +consistency when brought down into hotter climates, but we had no means of +ascertaining the truth of this. +</p> + +<p> +Artificial lighting by means of tallow was not known to the ancient Mexicans, +who could not indeed have procured tallow except from the fat of deer and +smaller animals. +</p> + +<p> +Bernal Diaz tells how the Spanish invaders used to dress their wounds with +“Indian Ointment.” He explains the nature of this preparation in +another place. The Spaniards could get no oil in the country, nor anything else +to make salve with, so they took some fat Indian who had just been killed in +battle, and simply boiled him down. +</p> + +<p> +Our ride next morning was but a few hours, the journey being so divided in +order that the passengers may reach Vera Cruz before the heat of the day +begins. We passed over a dreary district, generally too dry for anything but +cactus and acacias, but now and then, when a little water was to be found, +displaying clumps of bamboos with their elegant feathery tufts. Then the +railway took us through the dismal downs, with their swamps and sand-hills, and +so into Vera Cruz. +</p> + +<p> +The English merchants we had already made acquaintance with were as kind and +hospitable as ever, and I found an Englishman, whom we had known before, going +as far as Havana by the same packet. The yellow fever was unusually late this +year, and, though June had begun, there were but few cases. We heard afterwards +that it set in a week or two after our departure, and by its extraordinary +severity made ample amends for the lateness of its arrival. +</p> + +<p> +After sunset, the air was alive with mosquitos, and the floors of the hotel +swarmed with cockroaches. The armadillo took quite naturally to the latter +creatures, and crunched them up as fast as we could catch them for him. I was +surprised to find that our word “cockroaches” does not come from +the German stock, like most of our names for insects and small creatures, but +from the Latin side of the house. The Spanish waiter called them +<i>cucarachas</i>, and the French ones <i>coqueraches</i>. The history of the +armadillo ends unfortunately: for some days he seemed to take quite kindly to +the diet of bits of meat which we had to put him on, on shipboard, but he fell +sick at Havana, and died. +</p> + +<p> +My late companion travelled up into the Northern States, went to the Indian +assembly at Manitoulin Island, paid a visit to various tribes of Red Men in the +Hudson’s Bay Territory—as yet unmissionized, carried away in triumph the +big medicine-drum I have already spoken of, and saw and did many other things +not to be related here. One sight that he saw, some months later, reminded him +of the wild country where we had travelled together. He was in Iowa City, a +little town of a year or two’s growth, out in the prairie States of the +Far West. As he stood one morning in the outskirts, among the plank-houses and +half-made roads, there came a solitary horseman riding in. Evidently he had +come from the Mexican frontier, a thousand miles and more away across the +plains; and no doubt, his waggons and the rest of his party were behind him on +the road, beyond the distant horizon of the prairie. By his face he was +American, but his costume was the dress of old Mexico, the leather jacket and +trousers, the broad white hat and huge jingling spurs. His lazo hung in front +of his high-peaked saddle, and his well-worn serape was rolled up behind him +like a trooper’s cloak. As he approached the town, he spurred his jaded +beast, who broke into the old familiar <i>paso</i> of the Mexican plains. +“It was my last sight of Mexico,” said my companion. He saluted the +horseman in Spanish, and the well-known words of welcome made the grim +man’s haggard sunburnt features relax into a smile as he returned the +salutation and rode on. +</p> + +<p> +As for myself, my voyage home was short and unadventurous. From Vera Cruz to +Havana, most of my companions were Mexican refugees who had been turned out of +the country for being mixed up with Haro’s revolution or Santa +Ana’s intrigues. They were showily got-up men, elaborately polite, and +with much to say for themselves; but every now and then some casual remark +showed what stuff they were made of, and I pitied more than ever the +unfortunate countries whose political destinies depend on the intrigues of +these adventurers. +</p> + +<p> +In the hot land-locked bay of St. Thomas’s we, with the contents of eight +or nine more steamers, were shifted into the great steamer bound homeward. I +went ashore with an old German gentleman, and walked about the streets. St. +Thomas’s is a Danish island, and a free port, that is, a smuggling depôt +for the rest of the West India islands, much as Gibraltar is for the +Mediterranean. It is a stifling place, full of mosquitos and yellow fever, and +the confusion of tongues reigns there even more than in Gibraltar, for the +blacks in the streets all speak three or four languages, and the shopkeepers +six or seven. +</p> + +<p> +We were a strange mixture on board the ‘Atrato’, over two hundred +of us. Peruvians and Chilians from across the isthmus, Spaniards and Cubans, +black gentlemen from Hayti, French colonists from Martinique, but English +preponderating above all other nationalities. One or two governors of small +islands, with their families, maintaining the dignity of Government House, at +least as far as Southampton, and unapproachable by common mortals. Army men +from West India stations, who appeared to spend their mornings in ordering the +wine for dinner, and their evenings in abusing it when they had drunk it. West +India planters, who thought it was rather hard that the Anti-slavery Society, +after ruining them and their plantations, should moreover insist on their +believing themselves to be great gainers by the change. We were all crowded, +hot, and uncomfortable, and showed our worst side, but as we neared England +better influences got the ascendant again. +</p> + +<p> +It was pleasant to breathe a cooler air, and to feel that I was getting back to +my own country and my own people; but with this feeling there was mixed some +regret for the beautiful scenes I had left. The evenings of our latitudes +seemed poor when we lost the gorgeous sunsets of the tropics, and the sea alive +with luminous creatures. When I came on deck one evening and missed the +brightest ornament of the sky—the Southern Cross, I felt that I had left the +tropics, and that all my efforts to realize the life of the last half-year +would produce but a vague and shadowy picture. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Since we left Mexico, I have not cared to follow very accurately even the +newspaper intelligence of what has been and still is going on there. It is a +pitiable history. Continual wars and revolutions, utter insecurity of life and +property, the Indians burning down the haciendas in the South and turning out +the white people, the roads on the plains impassable on account of deserters +and robbers; sometimes no practical government at all, then two or three at +once, who raise armies and fight a little sometimes, but generally confine +themselves to plundering the peaceable inhabitants. An army besieges the +capital for months, but appears to do nothing but cut the water off from the +aqueducts, shoot stragglers, and levy contributions. One leader raises a forced +loan among the foreign residents, and imprisons or expels those who do not +submit. The leader on the other side does the same in his part of the country, +putting the British merchant in prisons where a fortnight would be a fair +average life for an European, and threatening him with summary courtmartial and +execution if he does not pay. +</p> + +<p> +London newspapers dwell on these details, and tell us that we may learn from +the condition of this unfortunate country how useless are democratic forms +among a people incapable of liberty, and that very weak governments can commit +all sorts of crimes with impunity, from the fact that they have no official +existence which foreign powers can recognize; and various other weighty moral +lessons, which must be highly edifying to our countrymen in the Republic, who +are meanwhile left pretty much to shift for themselves. +</p> + +<p> +All this time the United States are steadily advancing; and the destiny of the +country is gradually accomplishing itself. That its total absorption must come, +sooner or later, we can hardly doubt. The chief difficulty seems to be that the +American constitution will not exactly suit the case. The Republic laid down +the right of each citizen to his share in the government of the country as a +universal law, founded on indefeasible lights of humanity, fundamental laws of +nature, and what not, making, it is true, some slight exceptions with regard to +red and black men. The Mexicans, or at least the white and half-caste Mexicans, +will be a difficulty. Their claims to citizenship are unquestionable, if Mexico +were made a State of the Union; and, as everybody knows, they are totally +incapable of governing themselves, which they must be left to do under the +constitutional system of the United States; moreover, it is certain that +American citizens would never allow even the whitest of the Mexicans to be +placed on a footing of equality with themselves. Supposing these difficulties +got over by a Protectorate, an armed occupation, or some similar contrivance, +Mexico will undergo a great change. There will be roads and even rail-roads, +some security for life and property, liberty of opinion, a nourishing commerce, +a rapidly increasing population, and a variety of good things. Every +intelligent Mexican must wish for an event so greatly to the advantage of his +country and of the world in general. +</p> + +<p> +Some of our good friends in Mexico have bought land on the American frontier by +the hundred square leagues, and can point out patches upon the map of the world +as large as Scotland or Ireland—as their private property. What their gains +will be when enterprising western men begin to bring the country under +cultivation, it is not an easy matter to realize. +</p> + +<p> +As for ourselves individually, we may be excused for cherishing a lurking +kindness for the quaint, picturesque manners and customs of Mexico, as yet +un-Americanized; and for rejoicing that it was our fortune to travel there +before the coming change, when its most curious peculiarities and its very +language must yield before foreign influences. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h3>I. THE MANUFACTURE OF OBSIDIAN KNIVES, ETC. (<i>Note to +<a href="#Page97">p. 97.</a></i>)</h3> + +<p> +Some of the old Spanish writers on Mexico give a tolerably full account of the +manner in which the obsidian knives, &c., were made by the Aztecs. It will +be seen that it only modifies in one particular the theory we had formed by +mere inspection as to the way in which these objects were made, which is given +at p.97; that is, they were cracked off by pressure, and not, as we +conjectured, by a blow of some hard substance. +</p> + +<p> +Torquemada (<i>Monarquía Indiana, Seville</i>, 1615) says; (free translation) +</p> + +<p> +“They had, and still have, workmen who make knives of a certain black +stone or flint, which it is a most wonderful and admirable thing to see them +make out of the stone; and the ingenuity which invented this art is much to be +praised. They are made and got out of the stone (if one can explain it) in this +manner. One of these Indian workmen sits down upon the ground, and takes a +piece of this black stone, which is like jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone +which might be called precious, more beautiful and brilliant than alabaster or +jasper, so much so that of it are made tablets<a href="#fn-25" name="fnref-25" id="fnref-25"><sup>[25]</sup></a> +and mirrors. The piece they take is about 8 inches long or rather more, and as +thick as one’s leg or rather less, and cylindrical; they have a stick as +large as the shaft of a lance, and 3 cubits or rather more in length; and at +the end of it they fasten firmly another piece of wood, 8 inches long, to give +more weight to this part; then, pressing their naked feet together, they hold +the stone as with a pair of pincers or the vice of a carpenter’s bench. +They take the stick (which is cut off smooth at the end) with both hands, and +set it well home against the edge of the front of the stone (<i>y ponenlo +avesar con el canto de la frente de la piedra</i>) which also is cut smooth in +that part; and then they press it against their breast, and with the force of +the pressure there flies off a knife, with its point, and edge on each tide, as +neatly as if one were to make them of a turnip with a sharp knife, or of iron +in the fire. Then they sharpen it on a stone, using a hone to give it a very +fine edge; and in a very short time these workmen will make more than twenty +knives in the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape as our +barbers’ lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, and have a +slight graceful curve towards the point. They will cut and shave the hair the +first time they are used, at the first cut nearly as well as a steel razor, but +they lose their edge at the second cut; and so, to finish shaving one’s +beard or hair, one after another has to be used; though indeed they are cheap, +and spoiling them is of no consequence. Many Spaniards, both regular and +secular clergy, have been shaved with them, especially at the beginning of the +colonization of these realms, when there was no such abundance as now of the +necessary instruments, and people who gain their livelihood by practising this +occupation. But I conclude by saying that it is an admirable thing to see them +made, and no small argument for the capacity of the men who found out such an +invention.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-25" id="fn-25"></a> <a href="#fnref-25">[25]</a> +In the original, <i>aras</i>. In the Latin of Hernandez, <i>arae</i> I suppose +to be the little polished stone slabs which are set on the altars in Roman +Catholic churches, and in which their sacred quality is, so to speak, +contained. +</p> + +<p> +Vetancurt (<i>Teatro Mejicano</i>) gives an account, taken from the above. +Hernandez (<i>Rerum Med. Nov. Hisp. Thes.: Rome</i>, 1631) gives a similar +account of the process. He compares the wooden instrument used to a cross-bow. +It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the workman held the cross-piece +with his two hands against his breast, while the end of the straight stick +rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a description of the making of the +well-known <i>maquahuitl</i>, or Aztec war-club, which was armed on both sides +with a row of obsidian knives, or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. +With this instrument, he says, a man could be cut in half at a blow—an absurd +statement, which has been repeated by more modern writers. +</p> + +<h3>II. ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSES RECORDED IN THE LE TELLIER MS.</h3> + +<p> +The curious Aztec Picture-writing, known as the <i>Codex +Telleriano-Remenensis</i>, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, contains a +list or calendar of a long series of years, indicated by the ordinary signs of +the Aztec system of notation of cycles of years. Below the signs of the years +are a number of hieroglyphic pictures, conveying the record of remarkable +events which happened in them, such as the succession and death of kings, the +dates of wars, pestilences, &c. The great work of Lord Kingsborough, which +contains a fac-simile of this curious document, reproduces also an ancient +interpretation of the matters contained in it, evidently the work of a person +who not only understood the interpretation of the Aztec picture-writings, but +had access to some independent source of information,—probably the more ample +oral traditions, for the recalling of which the picture-writing appears only to +have served as a sort of artificial memory. It is not necessary to enter here +into a fuller description of the MS., which has also been described by Humboldt +and Gallatin. +</p> + +<p> +Among the events recorded in the Codex are four eclipses of the sun, depicted +as having happened in the years 1476, 1496, 1507. 1510. Humboldt, in quoting +these dates, makes a remark to the effect that the record tends to prove the +veracity of the Aztec history, for solar eclipses really happened in those +years, according to the list in the well-known chronological work, +<i>L’Art de Vérifier les Dates</i>, as follows: 28 Feb., 1476; 8 Aug., +1496; 13 Jan., 1507; 8 May, 1510. The work quoted, however, has only reference +to eclipses visible in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not to those in America. +The question therefore arises, whether all these four eclipses recorded in +<i>L’Art de Vérifier les Dates</i>, were visible in Mexico. As to the +last three, I have no means of answering the question; but it appears that +Gama, a Mexican astronomer of some standing, made a series of calculations for +a totally distinct purpose about the end of the last century, and found that in +1476 <i>there was no eclipse of the sun visible in Mexico</i>, but that there +was a great one on the 13th Feb., 1477, and another on the 28th May, 1481. +</p> + +<p> +Supposing that Gama made no mistake in his calculations, the idea at once +suggests itself, that the person who compiled or copied the Le Tellier Codex, +some few years after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, inserted under the date of +1476 (long before the time of the Spaniards) an eclipse which could not have +been recorded there had the document been a genuine Aztec Calendar; <i>as, +though visible in Europe, it was not visible in Mexico</i>. The supposition of +the compiler having merely inserted this date from a European table of eclipses +is strengthened by the fact that <i>the great eclipse of 1477, which was +visible in Mexico, but not in Europe, is not to be found there</i>. These two +facts tend to prove that the Codex, though undoubtedly in great part a copy or +compilation from genuine native materials, has been deliberately sophisticated +with a view of giving it a greater appearance of historical accuracy, by some +person who was not quite clever enough to do his work properly. It may, +however, be urged as a proof that the mistake is merely the result of +carelessness, that we find in the MS. no notice of the eclipse of 25th May, +1481, which was visible both in Mexico and in Europe, and so ought to have been +in the record. This supposition would be consistent with the Codex being really +a document in which the part relating to the events before the Spanish Conquest +in 1521 is of genuine ancient and native origin, though the whole is compiled +in a very grossly careless manner. It would be very desirable to verify the +years of all the four eclipses with reference to their being visible in Mexico, +as this might probably clear up the difficulty. +</p> + +<h3>III. TABLE OK AZTEC ROOTS COMPARED WITH SANSCRIT, ETC.</h3> + +<p> +Several lists of Aztec words compared with those of various Indo-European +languages have been given by philologists. The present is larger than any I +have met with; several words in it are taken from Buschmann’s work on the +Mexican languages. It is desirable in a philological point of view that +comparative lists of words of this kind should be made, even when, as in the +present instance, they are not of sufficient extent to found any theory upon. +</p> + +<p> +As the Aztec alphabet does not contain nearly all the Sanscrit consonants, many +of them must be compared with the nearest Aztec sounds, as: +</p> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td>SANSCRIT, t, th, d, dh, &c.</td><td> </td><td>AZTEC, t.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>SANSCRIT, k, kh, g, gh, &c.</td><td> </td><td>AZTEC c. q.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>SANSCRIT, l, r.</td><td> </td><td>AZTEC, l.</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>SANSCRIT, b, bh, v.</td><td> </td><td>AZTEC, v. or u.</td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p> +The Aztec c is soft (as s) before e and i, hard (as k) before a, o, u. The +Aztec ch as in <i>cheese</i>. I have followed Molina’s orthography in +writing such words as <i>uel</i> or <i>vel</i> (English, <i>well</i>) instead +of the more modern, but I think less correct way, <i>huel</i>. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +1. a-, <i>negative prefix</i> (<i>as</i> qualli, <i>good</i>; aqualli, +<i>bad</i>). SANS., a-; GREEK, a-, &c. +</p> + +<p> +2. o-, <i>preterite augment</i> (<i>as</i> nitemachtia, <i>I teach</i>; +onitemachti, <i>I taught</i>); SANS., a-; compare GREEK ε-. +</p> + +<p> +3. pal, <i>prep. by</i>: compare SANS. <i>prep.</i>, para, <i>back</i>; pari, +<i>circum</i>; pra, <i>before</i>; GREEK, παρα; LAT., per. +</p> + +<p> +4. ce-, cen-, cem-, <i>prefix collective</i> (<i>as</i> tlalla, <i>to +place</i>, centlalla, <i>to collect</i>); SANS., sa-, san-, sam-; GREEK, +συν; LAT., syn. +</p> + +<p> +5. ce, cen-, cem-, <i>one</i>. SANS., sa (<i>in</i> sa-krit, <i>once</i>: +comp. Bopp, Gloss., p. 362.) LAT., se-<i>mel</i>, si-<i>mul</i>, +sim-<i>plex</i>. +</p> + +<p> +6. metz (metz-tli), <i>moon</i>. SANS., mas. +</p> + +<p> +7. tlal (tlal-li), <i>earth</i>. SANS., tala, dhara. LAT., terra, tellus. +</p> + +<p> +8. citlal (citlal-in), <i>star</i>. SANS., stri, stâra. LAT., stella. Eng., +star. +</p> + +<p> +9. atoya (atoya-tl), <i>river</i>. SANS., udya. +</p> + +<p> +10. teuh (teuh-tli), <i>dust</i>. Sans., dhû-li (<i>from</i> dhû, to drive +about.) +</p> + +<p> +11. teo (teo-tl), <i>god</i>. Sans., deva. Greek, θεος. +Lat., deus. +</p> + +<p> +12. qual (qual-li), <i>good</i>. Sans., kalya, kalyâna. Greek, +καλος. +</p> + +<p> +13. uel, <i>well</i>. Sans., vara, <i>excellent</i>; vli, <i>to choose</i>. +Lat., velle. Icel., vel. Eng., well. +</p> + +<p> +14. uel, <i>power, brave, &c</i>., (uel-e, tla-uel-e.) Sans., bala, +<i>strength</i>. Lat., valeo, valor. +</p> + +<p> +15. auil, <i>vicious, wasteful</i>. Sans., âvila, <i>sinful, guilty;</i> abala, +<i>weak</i>. Eng., evil. +</p> + +<p> +16. miec, <i>much</i>. Sans., mahat, <i>great</i>; manh <i>or</i> mah, <i>to +grow</i>. Icel., miok, <i>much</i>. Eng., much. +</p> + +<p> +17. vey, <i>great</i>. Sans., bahu, <i>much</i>. +</p> + +<p> +18. -pol, <i>augmentative affix</i> (as tepe-tl. <i>mountain</i>; tepepol, +<i>great mountain</i>.) Sans., puru, <i>much</i>; pula, <i>great, ample</i>. +Greek, πολυς. +</p> + +<p> +19. naua (naua-c), <i>near, by the side of</i>. Sans., nah, <i>to join or +connect</i>. German, nah, <i>near</i>. +</p> + +<p> +20. ten (ten-qui), <i>fuil</i>. Sans., tûn, <i>to fill</i>. +</p> + +<p> +21. izta (izta-c), <i>white</i>. Sans., sita. +</p> + +<p> +22. cuz (cuz-tic), <i>red</i>. Sans, kashãya, kasãya. +</p> + +<p> +23. ta (ta-tli), <i>father</i>. Sans., tãta. +</p> + +<p> +24. cone (cone-tl), <i>child. Compare</i> Sans., jan, <i>to beget</i>. Lat., +gen-itus. German, kin-d. Eng., kin. +</p> + +<p> +25. pil (pil-li), <i>child. Compare</i> Sans., bâla, <i>boy, child</i>; bhri, +<i>to bear children</i>, &c. Greek, πωλος, +<i>foal</i>. Lat., pullus, filius. Eng., <i>foal</i>, &c., &c. +</p> + +<p> +26. cax (cax-itl), <i>cup</i>. Sans., chasbaka. +</p> + +<p> +27. paz(?)(a-paz-tli), <i>vase, basin</i>. Sans., bajana. <i>Compare</i> Lat., +vas. Eng., vase. +</p> + +<p> +28. com (com-itl), <i>earthen pot</i>. Sans., kumbha. +</p> + +<p> +29. xuma (xuma-tli), <i>spoon</i>. Sans., chamasa; <i>from</i> Sans., cham, +<i>to eat</i>. +</p> + +<p> +30. mich (mich-in), <i>fish</i>. Sans., machcha. +</p> + +<p> +31. zaca (zaca-tl), <i>grass</i>. Sans., sâka. +</p> + +<p> +32. col (te-col-li, col-ceuia, &c.), <i>charcoal</i>. Sans., jval, <i>to +burn, flame</i>; Icel., kol; Eng., coal; Irish, gual. +</p> + +<p> +33. cen (cen-tli), <i>grain, maize</i>. Sans., kana, <i>grain</i>. +</p> + +<p> +34. ehe (ehe-catl), <i>wind</i>. Sans., vâyu. +</p> + +<p> +35. mix (mix-tli), <i>cloud</i>. Sans., megha; Icel., and Eng., mist. +</p> + +<p> +36. cal (cal-ii), <i>house</i>. Sans., sâlâ. Greek, +καλια; Lat., cella. +</p> + +<p> +37. qua (qua-itl), <i>head</i>. Sans., ka. +</p> + +<p> +38. ix (ix-tli), <i>eye, face</i>. Sans., aksha, <i>eye</i>; âsya, <i>face</i>. +</p> + +<p> +39. can (can-tli), <i>cheek</i>, Sans., ganda; Lat., gena. +</p> + +<p> +40. chichi (chichi-tl), <i>teat</i>. Sans., chuchuka. +</p> + +<p> +41. nene (nene-tl), <i>pupil of eye</i>. Sans., nayanâ. +</p> + +<p> +42. choloa, <i>to run or leap</i>. Sans., char. +</p> + +<p> +43. caqui (caqui-ztli), <i>sound</i>. Sans., kach, <i>to sound</i>. +</p> + +<p> +44. xin (xi-xin-ia), <i>to cut, ruin, destroy</i>. Sans., ksin, <i>to hurt, +kill.</i> +</p> + +<p> +45. tlacç (tlacç-ani), <i>to run</i>. Sans., triks, <i>to go</i>; Greek, +τρεχω. +</p> + +<p> +46. patlani, <i>to fly</i>. Sans., pat. +</p> + +<p> +47. mati, <i>to know</i>. Sans., medh, <i>to understand</i>; mati, <i>thought, +mind</i>; Greek root μαθ. +</p> + +<p> +48. it (it-ta), <i>to see</i>. Sans., vid; Greek root ιδ, +ειδομαι, &c.; Lat., video. +</p> + +<p> +49. meya, <i>to flow, trickle</i>. Sans., mih. +</p> + +<p> +50. mic (mic-tia), <i>to kill</i>. Sans., mi, mith. +</p> + +<p> +51. cuica, <i>to sing</i>. Sans., kûj. <i>to sing, as birds</i>, &c. +</p> + +<p> +52. chichi <i>to suck</i>. SANS., chûsh. +</p> + +<p> +53. ahnachia, <i>to sprinkle</i>: <i>compare</i> SANS. uks. +</p> + +<p> +54. coton (coton-a), <i>to cut</i>. SANS. kutt. +</p> + +<p> +55. nex (nex-tia), <i>to shine</i>. SANS, nad; LAT., niteo. +</p> + +<p> +55. notz (notz-a), <i>to call</i>. SANS., nad. +</p> + +<p> +57. choc (choc-a), <i>to lament, cry</i>. SANS, kuch, <i>to cry aloud, +scream;</i> such, <i>to wail</i>. +</p> + +<p> +58. me(?)(in me-catl, <i>binding-thing, chain?) to bind</i> SANS., mû, mava. +</p> + +<p> +59. qua, <i>to eat, bite</i>: compare SANS. charv, <i>to chew, bite, gnaw</i>; +chah, <i>to bruize</i>; khad, <i>to eat</i>.; GERMAN, kauen; ENG., to chew. +</p> + +<p> +60. te, <i>thou</i>. SANS. tvam; LAT., tu. +</p> + +<p> +61. quen, <i>how?</i> SANS. kena. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>Other curious resemblances between the Aztec and European languages are</i>: +</p> + +<p> +62. pepeyol, <i>poplar</i>. LAT., populus; ICEL., popel. +</p> + +<p> +63. papal (papal-otl), <i>butterfly</i>; LAT., papilio. +</p> + +<p> +64. ul (ul-li), <i>juice of the India-rubber tree, used as oil for anointing, +&c.</i> LAT., oleum; ENG., oil, &c. +</p> + +<h3>IV. GLOSSARY.</h3> + +<p> +ANAHUAC. <i>Aztec</i>. “By the water-side.” The name at first +applied to the Valley of Mexico, from the situation of the towns on the banks +of the lakes; afterwards used to denote a great part of the present Republic of +Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +ACOCOTE (<i>Aztec</i>, acocotl, water-throat), aloe-sucker’s gourd; +<i>see p.</i> 91. +</p> + +<p> +ADOBE, a mud-brick, baked in the sun. (Perhaps a <i>Moorish-Spanish</i> word. +<i>Ancient Egyptian</i>, tobe, a mud-brick; <i>Arabic</i>, toob, pronounced +with the article <i>at-toob</i>, whence adobe?) +</p> + +<p> +AGUAMIEL (honey-water), unfermented aloe-juice. +</p> + +<p> +AGUARDIENTE (burning-water), ardent spirits. +</p> + +<p> +AHUEHUETE (<i>Aztec</i>, ahuehuetl), the deciduous cypress. +</p> + +<p> +ALAMEDA (poplar-avenue), public promenade; <i>see p.</i> 57. +</p> + +<p> +ALCALDE, a magistrate (<i>Moorish-Spanish</i>, al cadi, “the +cadi”). +</p> + +<p> +ANQUERA (hauncher), covering for horses’ haunches; <i>see p.</i> 164 +(<i>and cut, p.</i> 260). +</p> + +<p> +ARRIERO, a muleteer. +</p> + +<p> +ARROYO, a rivulet, mountain-torrent. +</p> + +<p> +ATAMBOB, a drum. +</p> + +<p> +ATOLE (<i>Aztec</i>, atolli), porridge. +</p> + +<p> +AVERSADA, a freshet. +</p> + +<p> +BARATILLO, a Rag-fair, market of odds and ends; <i>see p.</i> 169. +</p> + +<p> +BARBACOA, whence English “barbecue;” <i>see p.</i> 95; a native +Haitian word. +</p> + +<p> +BARRANCCA, a ravine. +</p> + +<p> +CALZONCILLOS, drawers. +</p> + +<p> +CAPA, a cloak. +</p> + +<p> +CAYO, a coral-reef. +</p> + +<p> +CHAPARREROS, over-trousers of goatskin with the hair on, used in riding. +</p> + +<p> +CHINAMPA (<i>Aztec</i>, “a place fenced in),” a Mexican +“floating garden;” <i>see p.</i> 62. +</p> + +<p> +CHINGUERITO, Indian-corn brandy. +</p> + +<p> +CHIPI-CHIPI (<i>Aztec</i>, chipini, drizzling rain); <i>see p.</i> 26. +</p> + +<p> +CHUPA-MIRTO (myrtle-sucker), a humming-bird. +</p> + +<p> +COLEAR, to throw a bull over by the tail (cola); <i>see p.</i> 71. +</p> + +<p> +COMPADRE. COMADRE; <i>French</i>, compère, commère; <i>see p.</i> 250. +</p> + +<p> +CORRAL, an enclosure for cattle. +</p> + +<p> +COSTAL, a bag, or sack. +</p> + +<p> +COYOTE (<i>Aztec</i>, coyotl), a jackal. +</p> + +<p> +CUARTA, a leather horse-whip; <i>see</i> p. 264. +</p> + +<p> +CUARTEL, a barrack. +</p> + +<p> +CUCARACHA, a cockroach. +</p> + +<p> +CUCHILLO, a knife. +</p> + +<p> +CURA, a parish-priest. +</p> + +<p> +DESAGUE, a draining-cut. +</p> + +<p> +DESAYUNO, breakfast. +</p> + +<p> +EMANCIPADO (emancipated negro); see p. 6. +</p> + +<p> +ESCOPETA, a musket. +</p> + +<p> +ESCRIBANO, a scribe or secretary. +</p> + +<p> +FANDANGO, a dance. +</p> + +<p> +FIESTA, a church-festival. +</p> + +<p> +FRIJOLES, beans. +</p> + +<p> +FUERO, a legal privilege; <i>see pp.</i> 19, 249. +</p> + +<p> +GACHUPIN, a native of Spain. Supposed to be an Aztec epithet, +<i>cac-chopina</i>, that is, “prickly shoes,” applied to the +Spanish conquerors from their wearing spurs, which to the Indians were strange +and incomprehensible appendages. +</p> + +<p> +GARROTE, an instrument for strangling criminals. +</p> + +<p> +GENTE DE RAZÓN (reasonable people), white men and half-breed Mexicans, but not +Indians;<i> see p.</i> 61. +</p> + +<p> +GUAJALOTE (Aztec, huexolotl), a turkey: <i>see p.</i> 228. +</p> + +<p> +GULCHE, a ravine. +</p> + +<p> +HACENDADO, a planter, landed proprietor, from HACIENDA (literally +“doing,” from <i>hacer</i>, or <i>facer</i>, to do). An estate, +establishment, &c. +</p> + +<p> +HACIENDA DE BENEFICIO, an establishment for “benefiting” silver, +i.e., for extracting it from the ore. +</p> + +<p> +HONDA, a sling. +</p> + +<p> +HORNITOS (little ovens), the small cones near the volcano of Jorullo, which +formerly emitted steam; see p. 92. +</p> + +<p> +HULE (<i>Aztec, </i> ulli. India-rubber?) a waterproof coat. +</p> + +<p> +ICHTL (<i>Aztec, </i> thread), thread or string of aloe-fibre. +</p> + +<p> +ITZTLI (Aztec), obsidian; <i>see</i> p. 100. +</p> + +<p> +LAZADOR, one who throws the lazo. +</p> + +<p> +LAZO. a running noose. +</p> + +<p> +LEPERO, lazzarone, or prolétaire; <i>see p.</i> 251. +</p> + +<p> +LLANOS, plains. +</p> + +<p> +MACHETE, a kind of bill-hook. +</p> + +<p> +MALACATE (<i>Aztec, </i> malacatl), a spindle, spindle-head, windlass, &c. +</p> + +<p> +MANTA, cotton-cloth. +</p> + +<p> +MATRACA, a rattle; <i>see p.</i> 49. +</p> + +<p> +MESON, a Mexican caravansery; <i>see p.</i> 209. +</p> + +<p> +MESTIZO (mixtus) a Mexican of mixed Spanish and Aztec blood. +</p> + +<p> +METATE (<i>Aztec</i>, metlatl) the stone used for rubbing down Indian corn into +paste; see p. 88. +</p> + +<p> +METALPILE (<i>Aztec</i>, metlapilli, i.e. little metlatl), the stone +rolling-pin used in the same process. +</p> + +<p> +MOLE (<i>Aztec, </i> mulli), Mexican stew. +</p> + +<p> +MOLINO DE VIENTO (literally a windmill), a whirlwind; <i>see p.</i> 31. +</p> + +<p> +MONTE (literally a mountain), the favourite Mexican game; _see p. _256. +</p> + +<p> +MOZO, a lad, servant, groom. +</p> + +<p> +NIÑO, a child. +</p> + +<p> +NOPAL (<i>Aztec</i>, nopalli), the prickly pear. +</p> + +<p> +NOETE, the north wind; see p. 21. +</p> + +<p> +OCOTE (<i>Aztec</i>, ocotl), a pine-tree, pine-torch. OLLA, a boiling-pot. +</p> + +<p> +PASADIZO, a passage; <i>see p.</i> 231. +</p> + +<p> +PASEO, a public promenade. +</p> + +<p> +PASO, a kind of amble; <i>see p.</i> 163. +</p> + +<p> +PATIO, a court-yard, especially the inner court of a house. +</p> + +<p> +PATIO-PROCESS, method of extracting the silver from the ore, so called from its +being carried on in paved yards; _see p. _92. +</p> + +<p> +PATRON, a master, landlord. +</p> + +<p> +PEDRIGAL, a lava-field. +</p> + +<p> +PEOS, a debt-slave; <i>see</i> p. 291. +</p> + +<p> +PETATE (<i>Aztec</i>, petlatl), a palm-leaf mat. +</p> + +<p> +PITO, 1, a whistle, pipe; 2, aloe-fibre thread. +</p> + +<p> +POTRERO, a water-meadow. +</p> + +<p> +PULQUE, a drink made from the juice of the aloe; <i>see</i> p. 38. (It is a +corruption of a native South American word, introduced into Mexico by the +Spaniards). +</p> + +<p> +RANCHERO, a cottager, yeoman. +</p> + +<p> +RANCHO, a hut. +</p> + +<p> +RAYA (literally a line), the paying of workmen at a hacienda, &c. +</p> + +<p> +RAYAR, to pull a horse up short at a line; <i>see</i> p. 163. +</p> + +<p> +REATA, a horse-rope; <i>see</i> p. 264. +</p> + +<p> +REBOZO, a woman’s shawl; <i>see</i> p. 56. +</p> + +<p> +RECUA, a train of mules. +</p> + +<p> +SALA, a hall, dining-room. +</p> + +<p> +SERAPE, a Mexican blanket; <i>see</i> p. 169. +</p> + +<p> +SOMBRERO, a hat. +</p> + +<p> +TACUMENILES, pine-shingles for roofing. +</p> + +<p> +TEMAZCALLI, Indian vapour-bath; <i>see</i> p. 301. +</p> + +<p> +TEOCALLI (<i>Aztec</i>, god’s house), an Aztec pyramid-temple. +</p> + +<p> +TEFONAZTLI, Indian wooden drum. +</p> + +<p> +TEQUESQUITE (<i>Aztec</i>, tequesquiti), an alkaline efflorescence abundant on +the soil in Mexico, used for soap-making, &c. +</p> + +<p> +TETZONTLI, porous amygdaloid lava, a stone much used for building in Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +TIENDA, a shop; <i>see</i> p. 82. +</p> + +<p> +TIERRA CALIENTE, the hot region. +</p> + +<p> +TIERRA FRÍA, the cold region. +</p> + +<p> +TIERRA TEMPLADA. the temperate region. +</p> + +<p> +TLACHIQUEBO (<i>Aztec</i>, tlacbiqui, an overseer, from tlachia, to see), a +labourer in an aloe-field, who draws the juice for pulque; <i>see</i> p. 36. +</p> + +<p> +TORO, a bull. +</p> + +<p> +TORTA (literally, a cake); <i>see</i> p. 92. +</p> + +<p> +TORTILLAS, thin cakes made of Indian corn, resembling oat-cakes; <i>see</i> p. +33. +</p> + +<p> +TRAPICHE, a sugar-mill. +</p> + +<p> +ULEI, <i>see</i> Hule. +</p> + +<p> +VAQUERO, cow-herd. +</p> + +<p> +ZOPILOTE (<i>Aztec</i>, zopilotl), a turkey-buzzard. +</p> + +<h3>V. DESCRIPTION OF THREE VERY RARE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT MEXICAN MOSAIC-WORK +(IN THE COLLECTION OF HENRY CHRISTY, ESQ.).</h3> + +<p> +These Specimens, two Masks and a Knife, (<i>see</i> <a +href="#illus13"><i>page</i> 101</a>.) are interesting as presenting examples of +higher art than has been supposed to have been attained to by the ancient +Mexicans, or any other of the native American peoples. Their distinctive +feature is an incrustation of Mosaic of Turquoise, cut and polished, and fitted +with extreme nicety,—a work of great labour, time, and cost in any country, and +especially so amongst a people to whom the use of iron was unknown,—and carried +out with a perfection which suggests the idea that the art must have been long +practised under the fostering of wealth and power, although so few examples of +it have come down to us. +</p> + +<p> +Although considerably varied, they are all three of one family of work, so to +speak; the predominant feature being the use of turquoise; and the question +which presents itself at the outset is—what are the evidences that this unique +work is of Aztec origin? +</p> + +<p> +The proofs are so interwoven with the style and structure of the specimens that +their appearance and nationality are best treated of together. +</p> + +<p> +The Mask of wood is covered with minute pieces of turquoise—cut and polished, +accurately fitted, many thousands in number, and set on a dark gum or cement. +The eyes, however, are acute-oval patches of mother-of-pearl; and there are two +small square patches of the same on the temples, through which a string passed +to suspend the mask; and the teeth are of hard white shell. The eyes are +perforated, and so are the nostrils, and the upper and lower teeth are +separated by a transverse chink; thus a wearer of the mask (which sits easily +on one’s face) can see, breathe, and speak with ease. The features bear +that remarkably placid and contemplative expression which distinguishes so many +of the Aztec works, in common with those of the Egyptians, whether in their +massive stone sculptures, or in the smallest and commonest heads of baked +earth. The face, which is well-proportioned, pleasing, and of great symmetry, +is studded also with numerous projecting pieces of turquoise, rounded and +polished. +</p> + +<p> +In addition to the character of the work and the style of face, the evidence of +the Aztec origin of this mask is confirmed by the wood being of the fragrant +cedar or cypress of Mexico. It may be remarked also that the inside is painted +red, as are the wooden masks of the Indians of the North-west coast of America +at the present day. +</p> + +<p> +The Knife presents, both in form and substance, more direct evidence of its +Aztec origin; for, in addition to its incrustation with the unique mosaic of +turquoise, blended (in this case) with malachite and white and red shell, its +handle is sculptured in the form of a crouching human figure, covered with the +skin of an eagle, and presenting the well-known and distinctive Aztec type of +the human head issuing from the mouth of an animal. (<i>See cut</i>, <a +href="#illus13">p. 101</a>.) Beyond this there is in the stone blade the +curious fact of a people which had attained to so complex a design and such an +elaborate ornamentation remaining in the Stone-age; and, somewhat curiously, +the locality of that stone blade is fixed, by its being of that +semi-transparent opalescent calcedony which Humboldt describes as occurring in +the volcanic districts of Mexico—the concretionary silex of the trachytic +lavas. +</p> + +<p> +The second Mask is yet more distinctive. The incrustation of turquoise-mosaic +is placed on the forehead, face, and jaws of a human skull, the back part of +which has been cut away to allow of its being hung, by the leather thongs which +still remain, over the face of an idol, as was the custom in Mexico thus to +mask their gods on state-occasions. The mosaic of turquoise is interrupted by +three broad transverse bands, on the forehead, face, and chin, of a mosaic of +obsidian, similarly cut (but in larger pieces) and highly polished,—a very +unusual treatment of this difficult and intractable material, the use of which +in any artistic way appears to have been confined to the Aztecs (with the +exception, perhaps, of the Egyptians). +</p> + +<p> +The eye-balls are nodules of iron-pyrites, cut hemispherically and highly +polished, and are surrounded by circles of hard white shell, similar to that +forming the teeth of the wooden mask. +</p> + +<p> +The Aztecs made their mirrors of iron-pyrites polished, and are the only people +who are known to have put this material to ornamental use. +</p> + +<p> +The mixture of art, civilization, and barbarism which the hideous aspect of +this green and black skull-mask presents accords with the condition of Mexico +at the time of the Conquest, under which human sacrifices on a gigantic scale +were coincident with much refinement in arts and manners. +</p> + +<p> +The European history of these three specimens is somewhat curious. With the +exception of two in the Museum at Copenhagen, obtained many years ago by +Professor Thomsen from a convent in Rome, and, though greatly dilapidated, +presenting some traces of the game kind of ornamentation, they are believed to +be unique. +</p> + +<p> +The Wooden Mask and the Knife were long known in a collection at Florence. +Thirty years ago the mask was brought into England from that city, as Egyptian: +and, somewhat later, the knife was obtained from Venice. +</p> + +<p> +Subsequently the Skull-mask, with a wig of hair said to be a scalp, was found +at Bruges; a locality which leads to the presumption that the mask was brought +from Mexico soon after the Conquest in 1521, and prior to the expulsion of the +Spaniards from Flanders consequent on the revolt of the Low Countries in 1579. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Note</i>.—It happens singularly enough, that a curious old work, +<i>Aldrorandus, Musaeum Metallicum, Bologna</i>, 1613, contains drawings of a +knife and wooden mask ornamented with mosaic-work of stone, made just in the +came way as those described above, and only differing from them in the design. +What became of them I cannot tell. +</p> + +<h3>VI. DASENT’S ESSAY ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL VALUE OF POPULAR TALES AND +LEGENDS.</h3> + +<p> +Whilst treating of legendary lore in connection with Ethnographry, we must not +forget to refer the reader to the highly useful and philosophical remarks on +this subject in Dasent’s Introduction to his <i>Popular Tales from the +Norse</i>.<a href="#fn-26" name="fnref-26" id="fnref-26"><sup>[26]</sup></a> +Here we see that not only are the popular tales of any nation indicative of its +early condition and its later progress, but also that the legends, fables, and +tales of the Indo-European nations, at least, bear internal evidence of their +having grown out of a few simple notes—of having sprung from primæval germs +originating with the old Aryan family, from whom successive migrations carried +away the original myth to be elaborated or degraded according to the genius and +habits of the people. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-26" id="fn-26"></a> <a href="#fnref-26">[26]</a> +<i>Popular Tales from the Norse</i>. (Translated from Asbjörnsen and +Moe’s Collection.) By George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. With an Introductory +Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales.—<i>Second Edition, +Edinburgh</i>: 1859. +</p> + +<p> +Thus other means of resolving the relations of the early races of Man are added +to those previously afforded by ethnographical and philological research. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>INDEX.</h2> + +<p> +Account-keeping, 87. +</p> + +<p> +Acodada, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Africans and Chinese, 13. +</p> + +<p> +Agriculture, 26, 61, 63, 89, 157-161, 172, 216. +</p> + +<p> +Ahuehuetes, 57, 155, 215, 265. +</p> + +<p> +Alameda, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Alluvial Deposits, 150. +</p> + +<p> +Aloes, 35, 136; huts built of, 36. +</p> + +<p> +Aloe-fibre, manufacture of, 88. +</p> + +<p> +Aloe-juice, collected for Pulque, 36, 91. +</p> + +<p> +Amatlan, 299. +</p> + +<p> +Amecameca, 265. +</p> + +<p> +American War, 118-120. +</p> + +<p> +Amozoque, 295. +</p> + +<p> +Anahuac, 57, 270. +</p> + +<p> +Antiquities, collections of, 222-236, 262. +</p> + +<p> +Antonio, our man, 321. +</p> + +<p> +Ants, 8. +</p> + +<p> +Aqueduct of Chapultepec, 55. +</p> + +<p> +Arch, Aztec, 153, 276. +</p> + +<p> +Armadillo, 312, 319, 325. +</p> + +<p> +Arms of Mexico, 42. +</p> + +<p> +Army, Mexican, 114-119. +</p> + +<p> +Arrow-heads, 137. +</p> + +<p> +Art, Aztec, 186, 230, 316. +</p> + +<p> +Astronomy, Aztec, 237-241, 244. +</p> + +<p> +Atotonilco, 82, 85. +</p> + +<p> +Aztec Antiquities, 35, 137, 141-148, 150-156, 183-195, 222-244, 262-264, +274-280. +</p> + +<p> +Aztec Civilization, 103. +</p> + +<p> +Aztec Language, 143, 227, 235, 243, 279, 333. +</p> + +<p> +Bananas, 178. +</p> + +<p> +Baratillo, 169-171. +</p> + +<p> +Barometer, height of, 68. +</p> + +<p> +Barrancas, 89, 179, 310, 313. +</p> + +<p> +Barricades, 55. +</p> + +<p> +Batabano, 3. +</p> + +<p> +Baths of Santa Fé, 7. +</p> + +<p> +Bells, ancient, 235. +</p> + +<p> +Bits, 167. +</p> + +<p> +Books, 124. +</p> + +<p> +Bronze-age, 139. +</p> + +<p> +Bronze,<br /> + stone-cutting with, 138-140;<br /> + hatchets, 225;<br /> + bells and needles, 235. +</p> + +<p> +Bull-fights, 70. +</p> + +<p> +Bull-dogs in Mexico, 149. +</p> + +<p> +Bull, lazoing the, 253, 323. +</p> + +<p> +Cacahuamilpán, 200-205. +</p> + +<p> +Cacao-beans, 227. +</p> + +<p> +Cactuses, 73, 90, 140, 144. +</p> + +<p> +Calendar-stone of Mexico, 237-240. +</p> + +<p> +Canals, 58, 130. +</p> + +<p> +Canoes, 60, 129, 132, 134. +</p> + +<p> +Capitalists, 295. +</p> + +<p> +Cascade of Regla, 93. +</p> + +<p> +Castor-oil plant, 9. +</p> + +<p> +Casa Grande, 77, 135. +</p> + +<p> +Cattle, 16, 31, 323. +</p> + +<p> +Cave of Cacahuamilpán, 203-205. +</p> + +<p> +Central American Antiquities, 189-193. +</p> + +<p> +Cerro de Navajas, 95-100. +</p> + +<p> +Chalco,<br /> + Canal of, 58;<br /> + Lake, 173; +</p> + +<p> +Chalma, 208-214. +</p> + +<p> +Chapultepec, 55, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Chinampas, 62. +</p> + +<p> +Chinese in Cuba, 12. +</p> + +<p> +Chipi-chipi, 26. +</p> + +<p> +Cholula, 274-278. +</p> + +<p> +Church, the, 113, 213, 285-290. +</p> + +<p> +Church-dances, 211. +</p> + +<p> +Churches in Mexico, 36, 46. +</p> + +<p> +Civil-war, 112, 283, 328. +</p> + +<p> +Cigar-making, 3. +</p> + +<p> +Clergy of Mexico, 7, 79, 287. +</p> + +<p> +Clay figures, 229, 275. +</p> + +<p> +Coach, old-fashioned, 59. +</p> + +<p> +Cochineal-insect, 24. +</p> + +<p> +Cockfighting, 254, 256. +</p> + +<p> +Cockroaches, 325. +</p> + +<p> +Cocoyotla, 196. +</p> + +<p> +Colearing, 71. +</p> + +<p> +Columbus, 4. +</p> + +<p> +Comonfort, President, 19, 112. +</p> + +<p> +Compadrazgo, 250. +</p> + +<p> +Commerce of Mexico, 105. +</p> + +<p> +Convents in Mexico, 46, 287. +</p> + +<p> +Convicts, 22. +</p> + +<p> +Cordova, 25. +</p> + +<p> +Corrida de Toros, 70. +</p> + +<p> +Costumes, 51, 62, 168. +</p> + +<p> +Courier, 167, 310. +</p> + +<p> +Criminals, 245-249. +</p> + +<p> +Cuba, 2. +</p> + +<p> +Cuernavaca, 179. +</p> + +<p> +Cura of New Gerona, 9. +</p> + +<p> +Cypress-trees, 57, 155, 215, 265. +</p> + +<p> +Dancing, 207, 211. +</p> + +<p> +Dasent on Popular Legends, &c., 339. +</p> + +<p> +Debt-slavery, 291. +</p> + +<p> +Diligence, travelling by, 37, 173. +</p> + +<p> +Dishonesty of Mexicans, 80-82. +</p> + +<p> +Dram-drinking, 83. +</p> + +<p> +Dress of the Indians, 61. +</p> + +<p> +Drums, 231. +</p> + +<p> +Earthquakes, 66. +</p> + +<p> +Eclipses observed in Mexico, 333. +</p> + +<p> +Education, 125-128. +</p> + +<p> +Emancipados, 6, 14. +</p> + +<p> +English in Mexico, 73, 318. +</p> + +<p> +Estación de Méjico, 121. +</p> + +<p> +Ethnology, 17, 102-104, 187-195, 241-244, 276-280. +</p> + +<p> +Evaporation, rapid, 75. +</p> + +<p> +Feather-work, 70. +</p> + +<p> +Flies’ eggs, 156. +</p> + +<p> +Floating gardens, 62. +</p> + +<p> +Flooded streets, 65. +</p> + +<p> +Florida, free blacks from, 5, 10-12. +</p> + +<p> +Forests, destruction of by Spaniards, 45. +</p> + +<p> +Fueros, 19. +</p> + +<p> +Future of Mexico, 329. +</p> + +<p> +Gambling, 15, 207, 256-258, 320. +</p> + +<p> +Glass-works, 135. +</p> + +<p> +Glossary, 335. +</p> + +<p> +Goddess of War, 222. +</p> + +<p> +Gold and Silver work, 234. +</p> + +<p> +Gourd-bottles, 171. +</p> + +<p> +Grove of Cypresses, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Guadalupe (Our Lady of), 66, 120-224. +</p> + +<p> +Hams, Toluca, 219. +</p> + +<p> +Havana, 1, 326. +</p> + +<p> +Hedges of Cactus, 73. +</p> + +<p> +Highlands of Mexico, 35. +</p> + +<p> +Hill of Drums, 215. +</p> + +<p> +Holy Week, 47-54. +</p> + +<p> +Horse-bath, 290. +</p> + +<p> +Horses, 163-165, 317. +</p> + +<p> +Hotel d’Yturbide, 39. +</p> + +<p> +Houses, 25, 36, 91, 135, 172; built on piles, 41. +</p> + +<p> +Huamantla, 31. +</p> + +<p> +Huehuetoca, draining-cut of, 45. +</p> + +<p> +Humming-birds, 69. +</p> + +<p> +Indian Baptism, 207. +</p> + +<p> +Indian Ointment, 324. +</p> + +<p> +Indians of Mexico, 47,60-64, 80-88, 173, 182, 197-199, 200-208, 299-309, +314-316. +</p> + +<p> +Indian Soldiers, 23, 120, 122. +</p> + +<p> +Indulgences, 52, 124. +</p> + +<p> +Inquisition, the, 128. +</p> + +<p> +Insects, 319. +</p> + +<p> +Intemperance, 47, 83, 307. +</p> + +<p> +Inundations, 44, 65, 123. +</p> + +<p> +Iron, 102, 140. +</p> + +<p> +Irrigation, 86, 157-161, 179. +</p> + +<p> +Isle of Pines, 4. +</p> + +<p> +Iztaccihnatl, 268. +</p> + +<p> +Jacal, Mount, 95. +</p> + +<p> +Jalapa, 317-321. +</p> + +<p> +Jorullo, 92. +</p> + +<p> +Judas, 50. +</p> + +<p> +Judas’s Bones, 49. +</p> + +<p> +Junta, La, 314. +</p> + +<p> +Justice, Administration of, 246-248, 300. +</p> + +<p> +Lakes in Valley of Mexico, 44-46, 65, 130-134, 173. +</p> + +<p> +Lava-fields, 28, 35, 118. +</p> + +<p> +Law-courts of Mexico, 249. +</p> + +<p> +Lazoing, 71, 252-254, 323. +</p> + +<p> +Legends, 236, 276-279, 340. +</p> + +<p> +Leper Hospital, 251. +</p> + +<p> +Leperos, 251. +</p> + +<p> +Lerma, 219. +</p> + +<p> +Le Tellier MS., on Eclipses, 332. +</p> + +<p> +Loadstone mountain, 102. +</p> + +<p> +Locusts, 298. +</p> + +<p> +Lonja, 66. +</p> + +<p> +Machinery in Mexico, 109. +</p> + +<p> +Magnetic Iron-ore, 102. +</p> + +<p> +Manufacture of Obsidian Knives, 97, 331. +</p> + +<p> +Marble Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6. +</p> + +<p> +Market, Indian, 85, 89. +</p> + +<p> +Martin, our servant, 273, 321. +</p> + +<p> +Masks, 110, 226, 235, 337. +</p> + +<p> +Matracas, 49. +</p> + +<p> +Mestizos, 48, 61, 300. +</p> + +<p> +Metate, 88. +</p> + +<p> +Mexican Dishes, 51;<br /> + Ladies, 51;<br /> + Words, 227, 263. +</p> + +<p> +Mexican Police, 149;<br /> + War with United States, 118. +</p> + +<p> +Mexico, City of, 41-44, 111;<br /> + Old, 147;<br /> + Formation of the country of, 27;<br /> + Future of, 329;<br /> + People of, 55;<br /> + Valley of, 40-46, 270. +</p> + +<p> +Military Statistics, 115. +</p> + +<p> +Miners, 79, 258. +</p> + +<p> +Miraflores, 264. +</p> + +<p> +Minería, or School of Mines, 47. +</p> + +<p> +Mirage, 30. +</p> + +<p> +Mongolian Calendar, 241. +</p> + +<p> +Monks, 205, 209, 213. +</p> + +<p> +Morals of Servitude, 81, 293. +</p> + +<p> +Mosaic work, 101, 110, 235. +</p> + +<p> +Mosquitos, 5, 325. +</p> + +<p> +Mules, Mexican, 175. +</p> + +<p> +Museum of Mexico, 222-237. +</p> + +<p> +Negress, white, 323. +</p> + +<p> +Negros in Mexico, 13, 323. +</p> + +<p> +Nevado de Toluca, 219. +</p> + +<p> +Nopals, Plantations of, 24. +</p> + +<p> +Nopalucán, 296. +</p> + +<p> +Nortes, 21, 23. +</p> + +<p> +Nuestra Señora de Remedies, 121. +</p> + +<p> +Nueva Gerona, 4, 8. +</p> + +<p> +Numerals, Mexican, &c., 107-110. +</p> + +<p> +Obsidian, mines of, 95, 99; knives, &c., 95-102, 137, 229, 331. +</p> + +<p> +Oculan, 215. +</p> + +<p> +Old Mexico, 147;<br /> + Baths near Tezcuco, 153;<br /> + Bridge near Tezcuco, 153. +</p> + +<p> +Organ-cactus, 73. +</p> + +<p> +Orizaba, town of, 26; volcano of, 18, 29, 226. +</p> + +<p> +Ornament, common styles of, 185. +</p> + +<p> +Pachuca, 69, 74. +</p> + +<p> +Palma Christi, 9. +</p> + +<p> +Paseo, or Alameda, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Passport-system (Cuba), 3. +</p> + +<p> +Peñón de los Baños, 131. +</p> + +<p> +Peons, 291-294. +</p> + +<p> +People of Mexico, 55. +</p> + +<p> +Picture-writings, 104, 130, 232-234. +</p> + +<p> +Pintos, 309. +</p> + +<p> +Pirates of the Spanish Main, 5. +</p> + +<p> +Ploughing, 172. +</p> + +<p> +Police, Mexican, 149. +</p> + +<p> +Political Economy, 105, 217, 264, 294, 302-309, 328. +</p> + +<p> +Politics of Mexico, 19, 111-118, 282-284, 290, 328. +</p> + +<p> +Popocatepetl, ascent of, 265-273. +</p> + +<p> +Population, 217, 302-309. +</p> + +<p> +Potrero, 307. +</p> + +<p> +Pottery, 85, 88, 151, 226, 275. +</p> + +<p> +Priests, 9, 79, 285-290. +</p> + +<p> +Prisons, 244-248. +</p> + +<p> +Promenade of Las Vigas, 64. +</p> + +<p> +Protective duties, 104, 264. +</p> + +<p> +Puebla, 113, 281-291. +</p> + +<p> +Pulque, 35, 37, 91. +</p> + +<p> +Pulque-shops, 63. +</p> + +<p> +Pyramids, 43, 141-148, 190, 274-278. +</p> + +<p> +Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6; of obsidian, 99; of Teotihuacán, 137. +</p> + +<p> +Rag-fair in Mexico, 169. +</p> + +<p> +Railway, 2, 24, 121. +</p> + +<p> +Rain, 136, 266. +</p> + +<p> +Rainy Region, 26. +</p> + +<p> +Ranches, 25, 266, 299. +</p> + +<p> +Rattles, 49. +</p> + +<p> +Real del Monte, 77. +</p> + +<p> +Rebozo, 56. +</p> + +<p> +Reform in Mexico, 117. +</p> + +<p> +Regla, 78; cascade of, 93. +</p> + +<p> +Revolutions, 20, 114, 282-284. +</p> + +<p> +Roads in Mexico, 29, 37, 76. +</p> + +<p> +Robbers, 32, 117, 170, 297;<br /> + Priest-captain of, 34. +</p> + +<p> +Sacred trees, 215, 265. +</p> + +<p> +Sacrifice of Spaniards, 145. +</p> + +<p> +Sacrificial<br /> + Clamps, 225;<br /> + Stone, 223. +</p> + +<p> +Saddles, &c., 162-167. +</p> + +<p> +St. Thomas’s, W. Indies, 327. +</p> + +<p> +Salinas of Campeche, 84. +</p> + +<p> +Saline condition of the soil, 133. +</p> + +<p> +Salt, 83, 154. +</p> + +<p> +Salt-pans, 155. +</p> + +<p> +Salto del Agua, 55. +</p> + +<p> +Sand-pillars, 30. +</p> + +<p> +San Andrés Chalchicomula, 312. +</p> + +<p> +San Antonio de Abajo, 296. +</p> + +<p> +San José and Earthquakes, 67. +</p> + +<p> +San Nícolas, 272. +</p> + +<p> +Santa Anita, 63. +</p> + +<p> +Santa Maria de Guadalupe, 121. +</p> + +<p> +Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, 196. +</p> + +<p> +Sardines, 87. +</p> + +<p> +School of Mines, 47. +</p> + +<p> +Scorpions, 319, 322. +</p> + +<p> +Sculptures at Xochicalco, 185. +</p> + +<p> +Serape, 169. +</p> + +<p> +Sheep, 324. +</p> + +<p> +Shrines of Xochicalco, 193. +</p> + +<p> +Silver-mines, &c., 74, 92, 105, 107. +</p> + +<p> +Siege & Capitulation of Puebla, 113, 282. +</p> + +<p> +Sisal, 16. +</p> + +<p> +Skull decorated with mosaic work, 337. +</p> + +<p> +Slave-trade, 13, 16. +</p> + +<p> +Smuggling, 273, 296. +</p> + +<p> +Solar Eclipses observed in Mexico, 331. +</p> + +<p> +Soldiers, 23, 114, 171. +</p> + +<p> +Soquital, 82. +</p> + +<p> +Spanish-moss, 57. +</p> + +<p> +Spurs, 295. +</p> + +<p> +Stalactitic Cave, 200. +</p> + +<p> +Statistics of Mexico, 115, 249, 286. +</p> + +<p> +Stone-hammers, 137. +</p> + +<p> +Stone knives and weapons, 90, 103. +</p> + +<p> +Streets of Mexico, 41, 55. +</p> + +<p> +Sugar-canes, 179. +</p> + +<p> +Sugar-hacienda, of Santa Rosita, 196; of Temisco, 180. +</p> + +<p> +Sugar-plantations of Havana, 2. +</p> + +<p> +Tacubaya, 57, 69. +</p> + +<p> +Tallow, 324. +</p> + +<p> +Tasco, Silver-mines at, 74. +</p> + +<p> +Temisco, 179. +</p> + +<p> +Temple-pyramids—<i>see</i> Pyramids. +</p> + +<p> +Tenancingo, 218. +</p> + +<p> +Tenochtitlán, 41. +</p> + +<p> +Ten Tribes, the, 17. +</p> + +<p> +Teocallis, <i>see</i> Pyramids. +</p> + +<p> +Teotihuacán,<br /> + Pyramids of, 141-148;<br /> + Quarries of, 137, 141. +</p> + +<p> +Tequesquite, 133. +</p> + +<p> +Tezcotzinco, 152. +</p> + +<p> +Tezcuco, 129, 150, 260-264;<br /> + Aztec Bridge at, 153. +</p> + +<p> +Tezcuco, Lake of, 65, 129, 138. +</p> + +<p> +Thieves, 52, 170, 245. +</p> + +<p> +Tisapán, 118-120. +</p> + +<p> +Toluca, 219. +</p> + +<p> +Tortillas, 38. +</p> + +<p> +Tropical Vegetation, 2, 24, 179. +</p> + +<p> +Turkey-buzzards, 22. +</p> + +<p> +Valley of Mexico, 45. +</p> + +<p> +Yapour-bath, native, 301. +</p> + +<p> +Vegetation, zones of, 21-27, 178, 216. +</p> + +<p> +Vera Cruz, 18-21, 325. +</p> + +<p> +Virjen de Remedios, 123. +</p> + +<p> +Virgins, the rival, 123. +</p> + +<p> +Volantes, 2. +</p> + +<p> +War-idol, 222. +</p> + +<p> +Water-bottles, 171. +</p> + +<p> +Water-pipes, 157. +</p> + +<p> +Xochimilco, Lake of, 173. +</p> + +<p> +Xochicalco, Ruins of, 183-195. +</p> + +<p> +Yucatan, 16. +</p> + +<p> +Zopilites, 22. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Anahuac, by Edward Burnett Tylor + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC *** + +***** This file should be named 13115-h.htm or 13115-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/1/13115/ + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. 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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Anahuac, by Edward Burnett Tylor + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + + + + +Title: Anahuac + +Author: Edward Burnett Tylor + +Release Date: August 4, 2004 [eBook #13115] +Last Updated: October 18, 2017 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC*** + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreaders Team + + + +ANAHUAC + +or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern + +by + +EDWARD B. TYLOR + +1861 + + + + + + +[Illustration: Frontspiece. See page 93. THE CASCADE OF REGLA. From a +Photograph by J. Ball Esq. of the Hacienda de Regla. March 1856.] + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the +narrative and remarks contained in this volume were made in the months +of March, April, May, and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback. +The author and his fellow-traveller enjoyed many advantageous +opportunities of studying the country, the people, and the antiquities +of Mexico, owing to the friendly assistance and hospitality which they +received there. With this aid they were enabled to accomplish much more +than usually falls to the lot of travellers in so limited a period; and +they had the great advantage too, of being able to substantiate or +correct their own observations by the local knowledge and experience of +their friends and entertainers. + +Visiting Mexico during a lull in the civil turmoil of that lamentably +disturbed Republic, they were fortunate in being able to avail +themselves of that peaceable season in making excursions to remarkable +places and ruins, and examining the national collection of antiquities, +and other objects of interest,--an opportunity that cannot have +occurred since owing to the recommencement of civil war in its worst +form. + +The following are some of the chief points of interest in these Notes +on Mexico, which are either new or treated more fully than hitherto: + + 1. The evidence of an immense ancient population, + shewn by the abundance of remains of works of art + (treated of at pages 146-150), is fully stated + here. + + 2. The notices and drawings of Obsidian knives and + weapons (at page 95, &c., and in the Appendix) are + more ample than any previously given. + + 3. The treatment of the Mexican Numerals (at page 108) + is partly new. + + 4. The proofs of the highly probable sophistication of + the document in the Library at Paris, relative to + Mexican eclipses, have not previously been advanced + (see Appendix). + + 5. The notices of objects of Mexican art, &c., in the + chapter on Antiquities, and elsewhere (including + the Appendix), are for the most part new to the + public. + + 6. The remarks on the connection between pure Mexican + art and that of Central America, in the chapter on + Xochicalco, are in great part new. + + 7. The singular native bridge at Tezcuco (page 153) is + another novelty. + +The order in which places and things were visited is shewn in the +annexed Itinerary, or sketch of the journeys and excursions described. + + + + +ITINERARY: + +Journey 1. Cuba. Havana. Batabano. Isles of Pines. + Nueva Gerona. Baos de Santa F. Back to + Havana. _Pages_ 1-14. + +Journey 2. Havana. Sisal. Vera Cruz. _Pages_ 15-18. + +Journey 3. Vera Cruz. Cordova. Orizaba. Huamantla. + Otumba. Guadalupe. Mexico. _Pages_ 18-38. + +Journey 4. Mexico to Tacubaya and Chapultepec, and + back. _Pages_ 55-58. + +Journey 5. Mexico to Santa Anita and back. _Pages_ + 59-65. + +Journey 6. Mexico. Guadalupe. Pachuca. Real del + Monte. Regla. Atotonilco el Grande. + Soquital and back to Real del Monte. Real + del Monte to Mount Jacal and Cerro de + Navajas (obsidian-pits), and back to Real + del Monte. Pachuca. Guadalupe. Mexico. + _Pages_ 72-105. + +Journey 7. Mexico to Tisapn. Ravine of Magdalena. + Pedrigal (lava-field), and back. _Pages_ + 118-120. + +Journey 8. Mexico to Tezcuco. Pages 129--162. + Tezcuco to Pyramids of Teotihuacn and + back. Pages 136--146. Tezcuco to + Tezcotzinco (the so-called "Montezuma's + Bath," &c.). Aztec Bridge, and back to + Tezcuco. _Pages_ 152-153. Tezcuco to + Bosque del Contador (the grove of + ahuehuetes, where excavations were made.) + _Pages_ 154-156. Tezcuco to Mexico. + _Page_ 62. + +Journey 9. Mexico. San Juan de Dios. La Guarda. + Cuernavaca. Temisco. Xochicalco. + Miacatln. Cocoytla. _Pages_ 172-195. + Cocoytla to village and cave of + Cacahuamilpn and back. _Pages_ 196-205. + Cocoytla to Chalma. Oculn. El Desierto. + Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Las Cruzes. + Mexico. _Pages_ 214-220. + +Journey 10. Mexico to Tezcuco. Miraflores. Amecameca. + Popocatepetl. San Nicolas de los Ranchos. + Cholula. Puebla. Amozoque. Nopaluca. San + Antonio de abajo. Orizaba. Amatln. El + Potrero. Cordova. San Andrs. + Chalchicomula. La Junta. Jalapa. Vera + Cruz. West Indies and Home. _Pages_ 260- + 327. + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of + Pines. Mosquitos. Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa F. + Alligators. The Cura. Missionary Priest. Florida Colonists. + Blacks in the West Indies. Chinese and African slaves. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. + Slave-trade in Natives. The Ten Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don + Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican Politics. Casualties. The City of + the Dead. Turkey-buzzards. Northers. The "temperate region." + Cordova. The Chipi-chipi. The "cold region." Mirage. + Sand-pillars. The rainy season. Plundered passengers. + Robber-priest. Aztec remains. Aloe-fields. Houses of + mud-bricks. Huts of aloes. Mexican churches. Mexican roads. + Making pulque. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. + Changes in the Valley of Mexico. Dearth of Trees. + Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. Rattles. Judas's Bones. + Burning Judas. Churches in Holy Week. Streets. Barricades. + People. Women. The cypress of Chapultepec. Old-fashioned + coaches. The canal of Chalco. Canoe-travelling. "Reasonable + people." Taste for flowers. The "Floating Gardens." + Promenade. Flooded streets. Earthquakes. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. + Bullfight. Lazoing and colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of + organ-cactus. Pachuca. Cold in the hills. Rapid evaporation. + Mountain-roads. Real del Monte. Guns and pistols. Regla. The + father-confessor in Mexico. Morals of servitude. Cornish + miners. Dram-drinking. Salt-trade. The Indian market. Indian + Conservatism. Sardines. Account-keeping. The great Barranca. + Tropical fruits. Prickly pears. Their use. The + "Water-Throat." Silver-works. Volcano of Jorullo. Cascade of + Regla. "Eyes of Water." Fires. The Hill of Knives. Obsidian + implements. Obsidian mines. The Stone-age. The + loadstone-mountain of Mexico. Unequal Civilization of the + Aztecs. Silver and commerce of Mexico. Effect of + Protection-duties. Silver mines. The Aztec numerals. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military + Statistics. Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American + war. Mexican army. Our Lady of Guadalupe. Miracles. The rival + Virgins. Sacred lottery-ticket. Literature in Mexico. The + clergy and their system of Education in Mexico. The Holy + Office. Indian Notions of Christianity. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. + Salt-lakes. A storm on the lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. + Quarries. Stone Hammers. Use of Bronze in stone-cutting in + Mexico and Egypt. Prickly Pears. Temple-pyramids of + Teotihuacn. Sacrifice of Spaniards. Old Mexico. Market of + Antiquities. Police. Bull-dogs. Accumulation of Alluvium. + Tezcotzinco. Ancient baths and bridge. Salt and salt-pans. + Fried flies'-eggs. Water-pipes. Irrigation. Agriculture in + Mexico. History repeats itself. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Horses and their training. Saddles and bits. The Courier. + Leather clothes. The Serape. The Rag-fair of Mexico, Thieves. + Gourd water-bottles. Ploughing. Travelling by Diligence. + Indian carriers. Mules. Breakfast. Bragadoccio. Robbers. + Escort. Cuernavaca. Tropical Vegetation. Sugar-cane. Temisco. + Sugar-hacienda. Indian labourers. The evensong. The Raya. + Strength of the Indians. Xochicalco. Ruins of the Pyramid. + Sculptures. Common ornaments. The people of Mexico and + Central America. Their civilization. Pear-shaped heads. + Miacatln. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Cocoyotla. Indian labourers. Political Condition of the + Indians. Indian Village and huts. Cotton-spinning. The Indian + Alcalde. Great Cave of Cacahuamilpn. Optical phenomenon. + Monk on horseback. Religion of the Indians. Idols. Baptism by + wholesale. Village amusements. Dancing. Chalma. The meson and + the convent. Church-dances. The miller's daughter. Young + friar. The Hill of Drums. Sacred cypress-tree. Oculan. Change + of climate. Grain-districts of Mexico. The Desierto. + Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Robbers. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Museum. Fate of Antiquities. War-God. Sacrificial Stone. + Mexican words naturalized in Europe, &c. Chamber of Horrors. + Aztec Art. Wooden Drums. Aztec Picture-writings. The + "Man-flaying" Mr. Uhde's Collection. Mr. Christy's + Collection. Bones of Giants. Cortes' Armour. Mexican + Calendar-stone. Aztec Astronomy. Mongol Calendar. + Peculiarities of Aztec Civilization. The Prison at Mexico. No + "Criminal class." Prison-discipline. The Garotte. Mexican + law-courts. Statistics. The Compadrazgo. Leperos and Lepers. + Lazoing the bull. Cockfighting. Gambling. Monte. The + fortunate Miners. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + A travelling companion. Mexicans who live by their wits. + Jackal-masks, &c. Mexican words used in the United States. + Miraflores. Cotton-factory. Sacred Mount and Cypress-tree. + Rainy Season. Ascent of Popocatepetl. The Crater. View of + Anahuac. Descent from Popocatepetl. Plain of Puebla. + Snow-blindness. Hospitable Shopkeeper. Morality of Smuggling. + Pyramid and Antiquities of Cholula. Hybrid Legends of Mexico. + Genuine Legends. Old-world analogies among the Aztecs. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Puebla. The Pasadizos. Revolutions in Mexico. Festival of + Corpus Christi. Mexican clergy. Their incomes and morals. + Scourging. Religion of the People. Anomalous constitution of + the Republic. The horse-bath. Debt-slaves or peons. Great + fortunes in Mexico. Amozoque. Spurs. Nopalucn. Orizaba. + Robbers. Locusts. Indian village. Inroads of Civilization. + Lawsuits. Native Aristocracy. The vapour-bath. Scanty + population. Its explanation. Unhealthy habits. Epidemics. + Intemperance. Pineapples. Potrero. Negros. Mixed races. + "Painted men." + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Barrancas. Indian trotting. Flowers. Armadillo. Fire-flies. + Singular Fandango. Epiphytes. The Junta. Indian Life. + Decorative Art. Horses. Jalapa. Anglo-Mexicans. Insect-life. + Monte. Fate of Antonio. Scorpion. White Negress. Cattle. + Artificial lighting. Vera Cruz. Further Journey. St. + Thomas's. Voyage to England. Future destinies of Mexico. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + I. The Manufacture of Obsidian Knives. + II. On the Solar Eclipses recorded in the Le Tellier MS. +III. Table of Aztec roots. + IV. Glossary. + V. Ancient Mexican mosaic work (in Mr. Christy's Collection). + VI. Dasent's Essay on the Ethnographical value of Popular Tales and + Legends. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: + +PLATES: + + Cascade of Regla. _From a photograph by J. Bell, Esq. (To face + title-page.)_ + + Porter and Baker in Mexico. + + Indians bringing Country Produce to Market. + + Indians in a Rancho, making and baking Tortillas. + + Map to illustrate Messrs. Tylor and Christy's journeys and excursions + In Mexico. + + + +WOODCUTS: + + _(The cuts of smaller objects of antiquity, and articles at present + in use, have been drawn from specimens in the Collection of Henry + Christy, Esq.)_ + + Indian Tlachiquero, collecting juice of the Agave for Pulque. + + View of Part of the Valley of Mexico. + + Water-carrier and Mexican Woman at the Fountain. + + Group of Mexican Ecclesiastics. + + Stone Spear-heads, and Obsidian Knives and Arrow-heads, from Mexico. + + Fluted Prism of Obsidian, and Knife-flakes. + + Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian. + + Aztec Stone-knife, with wooden handle, inlaid with mosaic work. + + Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + + The Rebozo and the Serape. + + Aztec Bridge near Tezcuco. + + Spanish-Mexican Saddle and appendages. + + Spanish-Mexican Bit, with ring and chain. + + Sculptured Panel, from Xochicalco. _(After Nebel)_. + + Small Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + + Ixtacalco Church. + + Spanish-Mexican Spurs. + + Goddess of War. _(After Nebel)_. + + Three Views of a Sacrificial Collar or Clamp, carved out of hard + stone. + + Two Views of a Mask, carved out of hard stone. + + Ancient Bronze Bells. + + Spanish-Mexican Cock-spurs. + + Leather Sandals. + + Mexican Costumes. _(After Nebel)_. + + View of Orizaba. + + Indians of the Plateau. _(After Nebel)_. + + + + +[Illustration: MAP OF PART OF MEXICO TO ILLUSTRATE A JOURNEY FROM VERA +CRUZ TO MEXICO AND BACK & EXCURSIONS IN THE COUNTRY, By Messrs. E.B. +Tylor and H. Cristy.] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +THE ISLE OF PINES. + +In the spring of 1856, I met with Mr. Christy accidentally in an +omnibus at Havana. He had been in Cuba for some months, leading an +adventurous life, visiting sugar-plantations, copper-mines, and +coffee-estates, descending into caves, and botanizing in tropical +jungles, cruising for a fortnight in an open boat among the +coral-reefs, hunting turtles and manatis, and visiting all sorts of +people from whom information was to be had, from foreign consuls and +Lazarist missionaries down to retired slave-dealers and assassins. + +As for myself, I had been travelling for the best part of a year in the +United States, and had but a short time since left the live-oak forests +and sugar-plantations of Louisiana. We agreed to go to Mexico together; +and the present notes are principally compiled from our +memorandum-books, and from letters written home on our journey. + +Before we left Cuba, however, we made one last excursion across the +island, and to the _Isla de Pinos_--the Isle of Pines--off the southern +coast. A volante took us to the railway-station. The volante is the +vehicle which the Cubans specially affect; it is like a Hansom cab, but +the wheels are much taller, six and a half feet high, and the black +driver sits postillion-wise upon the horse. Our man had a laced jacket, +black leather leggings, and a pair of silver spurs fastened upon his +bare feet, which seemed at a little distance to have well polished +boots on, they were so black and shiny. + +The railway which took us from Havana to Batabano had some striking +peculiarities. For a part of the way the track passed between two walls +of tropical jungle. The Indian fig trees sent down from every branch +suckers, like smooth strings, which rooted themselves in the ground to +draw up more water. Acacias and mimosas, the seiba and the mahagua, +with other hard-wood trees innumerable, crowded close to one another; +while epiphytes perched on every branch, and creepers bound the whole +forest into a compact mass of vegetation, through which no bird could +fly. We could catch the strings of convolvulus with our walking-sticks, +as the train passed through the jungle. Sometimes we came upon a swamp, +where clusters of bamboos were growing, crowned with tufts of pointed +leaves; or had a glimpse for a moment of a group of royal palms upon +the rising ground. + +We passed sugar-plantations with their wide cane-fields, the +sugar-houses with tall chimneys, and the balconied house of the +administrador, keeping a sharp look out over the village of +negro-cabins, arranged in double lines. + +In the houses near the stations where we stopped, cigar-making seemed +to be the universal occupation. Men, women, and children were sitting +round tables hard at work. It made us laugh to see the black men +rolling up cigars upon the hollow of their thighs, which nature has +fashioned into a curve exactly suited to this process. + +At Batabano the steamer was waiting at the pier, and our passports and +ourselves were carefully examined by the captain, for Cuba is the +paradise of passport offices, and one cannot stir without a visa. For +once everybody was _en rgle_, and we had no such scene as my companion +had witnessed a few days before. + +If you are a married man resident in Cuba, you cannot get a passport to +go to the next town without your wife's permission in writing. Now it +so happened that a respectable brazier, who lived at Santiago de Cuba, +wanted to go to Trinidad. His wife would not consent; so he either got +her signature by stratagem, or, what is more likely, gave somebody +something to get him a passport under false pretences. + +At any rate he was safe on board the steamer, when a middle-aged +female, well dressed, but evidently arrayed in haste, and with a face +crimson with hard running, came panting down to the steamer, and rushed +on board. Seizing upon the captain, she pointed out her husband, who +had taken refuge behind the other passengers at a respectful distance; +she declared that she had never consented to his going away, and +demanded that his body should be instantly delivered up to her. The +husband was appealed to, but preferred staying where he was. The +captain produced the passport, perfectly _en rgle_, and the lady made +a rush at the document, which was torn in half in the scuffle. All +other means failing, she made a sudden dash at her husband, probably +intending to carry him off by main force. He ran for his life, and +there was a steeplechase round the deck, among benches, bales, and +coils of rope; while the passengers and the crew cheered first one and +then the other, till they could not speak for laughing. The husband was +all but caught once; but a benevolent passenger kicked a camp-stool in +the lady's way, and he got a fresh start, which he utilized by climbing +up the ladder to the paddle-box. His wife tried to follow him, but the +shouts of laughter which the black men raised at seeing her +performances were too much for her, and she came down again. Here the +captain interposed, and put her ashore, where she stood like black-eyed +Susan till the vessel was far from the wharf, not waving her lily hand, +however, but shaking her clenched fist in the direction of the +fugitive. + +To return to our voyage to the Isle of Pines.--All the afternoon the +steamer threaded her way cautiously among the coral-reefs which rose +almost to the surface. Sometimes there seemed scarcely room to pass +between them, and by night navigation would have been impossible. We +were just in the place where Columbus and his companions arrived on +their expedition along the Cuban coast, to find out what countries lay +beyond. They sailed by day, and lay to at night, till their patience +was worn out. Another day or two of sailing would have brought them to +where the coast trends northwards; but they turned back, and Columbus +died in the belief that Cuba was the eastern extremity of the continent +of Asia. + +The Spaniards call these reefs "cayos," and we have altered the name to +"keys," such as _Key West_ in Florida, and _Ambergris Key_ off Belize. + +It was after sunset, and the phosphorescent animals were making the sea +glitter like molten metal, when we reached the Isle of Pines, and +steamed slowly up the river, among the mangroves that fringe the banks, +to the village of Nueva Gerona, the port of the island. It consisted of +two rows of houses thatched with palm-leaves, and surrounded by wide +verandahs; and between them a street of unmitigated mud. + +As we walked through the place in the dusk, we could dimly discern the +inhabitants sitting in their thatched verandahs, in the thinnest of +white dresses, gossipping, smoking, and love-making, tinkling guitars, +and singing seguidillas. It was quite a Spanish American scene out of a +romance. There was no romance about the mosquitos, however. The air was +alive with them. When I was new to Cuba, I used to go to bed in the +European fashion; and as the beds were all six inches too short, my +feet used to find their way out in the night, and the mosquitos came +down and sat upon them. Experience taught us that it was better to lie +down half-dressed, so that only our faces and hands were exposed to +their attacks. + +The Isle of Pines used to be the favourite resort of the pirates of the +Spanish main; indeed there were no other inhabitants. The creeks and +rivers being lined with the densest vegetation, a few yards up the +winding course of such a creek, they were lost in the forest, and a +cruiser might pass within a few yards of their lurking-place, and see +no traces of them. Captain Kyd often came here, and stories of his +buried treasures are still told among the inhabitants. Now the island +serves a double purpose; it is a place of resort for the Cubans, who +come to rusticate and bathe, and it serves as a settlement for those +free black inhabitants of Florida who chose to leave that country when +it was given up to the United States. One of these Floridanos +accompanied us as our guide next day to the Baos de Santa F. + +When we left the village we passed near the mangrove trees, which were +growing not only near the water but in it, and like to spread their +roots among the thick black slime which accumulates so fast in this +country of rapid vegetable growth, and as rapid decomposition. In Cuba, +the mangoe is the abomination of the planters, for they supply the +runaway slaves with food, upon which they have been known to subsist +for months, whilst the mangroves give them shelter. A little further +inland we found the guava, a thick-spreading tree, with smooth green +leaves. From its fruit is made guava-jelly, but as yet it was not ripe +enough to eat. + +In the middle of the island we came upon marble-quarries. They are +hardly worked now; but when they were first established, a number of +emancipados were employed there. What emancipados are, it is worth +while to explain. They are Africans taken from captured slavers, and +are set to work under government inspection for a limited number of +years, on a footing something like that of the apprentices in Jamaica, +in the interregnum between slavery and emancipation. In Cuba it is +remarked that the mortality among the emancipados is frightful. They +seldom outlive their years of probation. The explanation of this piece +of statistics is curious. The fact is that every now and then, when an +old man dies, they bury him as one of the emancipados, whose register +is sent in to the Government as dead; while the negro himself goes to +work as a slave in some out-of-the-way plantation where no tales are +told. + +We left the marble-quarries, and rode for miles over a wide savannah. +The soil was loose and sandy and full of flakes of mica, and in the +watercourses were fragments of granite, brought down from the hills. +Here flourished palm trees and palmettos, acacias, mimosas, and +cactuses, while the mangoe and the guava tree preferred the damper +patches nearer to the coast. The hills were covered with the pine-trees +from which the island has its name; and on the rising ground at their +base we saw the strange spectacle of palms and fir trees growing side +by side. + +Where we came upon a stream, the change in the vegetation was +astonishing. It was a sudden transition from an English, plantation of +fir trees into the jungle of the tropics, full of Indian figs, palms, +lancewood, and great mahagua[1] trees, all knotted together by endless +creepers and parasites; while the parrots kept up a continual +chattering and screaming in the tree-tops. The moment we left the +narrow strip of tropical forest that lined the stream we were in the +pine wood. Here the first two or three feet of the trunks of the pine +trees were scorched and blackened by the flames of the tall dry +savannah-grass, which grows close round them, and catches fire several +times every year. Through the pine forest the conflagration spreads +unobstructed, as in an American prairie; but it only runs along the +edge of the dense river-vegetation, which it cannot penetrate. + +The Baos de Santa F are situated in a cleared space among the fir +trees. The baths themselves are nothing but a cavity in the rock, into +which a stream, at a temperature of about 80, continually flows. A +partition in the middle divides the ladies from the gentlemen, but +allows them to continue their conversation while they sit and splash in +their respective compartments. + +The houses are even more quaint than the bathing-establishment. The +whole settlement consists of a square field surrounded by little +houses, each with its roof of palm leaves and indispensable verandah. +Here the Cubans come to stay for months, bathing, smoking cigarettes, +flirting, gossiping, playing cards, and strumming guitars; and they +seemed to be all agreed on one point, that it was a delightful +existence. We left them to their tranquil enjoyments, and rode back to +Nueva Gerona. + +Next morning we borrowed a gun from the engineer of the steamboat, and +I bought some powder and shot at a shop where they kept two young +alligators under the counter for the children to play with. The creeks +and lagoons of the island are full of them, and the negroes told us +that in a certain lake not far off there lived no less a personage than +"the crocodile king"--"_el rey de los crocodilos_;" but we had no time +to pay his majesty a visit. Two of the Floridan negroes rowed us up the +river. Even at some distance from the mouth, sting-rays and jelly-fish +were floating about. As we rowed upwards, the banks were overhung with +the densest vegetation. There were mahogany trees with their curious +lop-sided leaves, the copal-plant with its green egg-like fruit, from +which copal oozes when it is cut, like opium from a poppy-head, palms +with clusters of oily nuts, palmettos, and guavas. When a palm-tree on +the river-bank would not grow freely for the crowding of other trees, +it would strike out in a slanting direction till it reached the clear +space above the river, and then shoot straight upwards with its crown +of leaves. + +We shot a hawk and a woodpecker, and took them home; but, not many +minutes after we had laid them on the tiled floor of our room, we +became aware that we were invaded. The ants were upon us. They were +coming by thousands in a regular line of march up our window-sill and +down again inside, straight towards the birds. When we looked out of +the window, there was a black stripe lying across the court-yard on the +flags, a whole army of them coming. We saw it was impossible to get the +skins of the birds, so threw them out of the window, and the advanced +guard faced about and followed them. + +On the sand in front of the village the Castor-oil plant flourished, +the _Palma Christi_; its little nuts were ripe, and tasted so innocent +that, undeterred by the example of the boy in the Swiss Family +Robinson, I ate several, and was handsomely punished for it. In the +evening I recounted my ill-advised experiment to the white-jacketed +loungers in the verandah of the inn, and was assured that I must have +eaten an odd number! The second nut, they told me with much gravity, +counteracts the first, the fourth neutralizes the third, and so on ad +infinitum. + +We made two clerical acquaintances in the Isle of Pines. One was the +Cura of New Gerona, and his parentage was the only thing remarkable +about him. He was not merely the son of a priest, but his grandfather +was a priest also. + +The other was a middle-aged ecclesiastic, with a pleasant face and an +unfailing supply of good-humoured fun. Everybody seemed to get +acquainted with him directly, and to become quite confidential after +the first half-hour; and a drove of young men followed him about +everywhere. His reverence kept up the ball of conversation continually, +and showed considerable skill in amusing his auditors and drawing them +out in their turn. It is true the jokes which passed seemed to us mild, +but they appeared to suit the public exactly; and indeed, the Padre was +quite capable of providing better ones when there was a market for +them. + +We found that though a Spaniard by birth, he had been brought up at the +Lazarist College in Paris, which we know as the training-school of the +French missionaries in China; and we soon made friends with him, as +everyone else did. A day or two afterwards we went to see him in +Havana, and found him hard at his work, which was the superintendence +of several of the charitable institutions of the city--the Foundling +Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and others. His life was one of incessant +labour, and indeed people said he was killing himself with over-work, +but he seemed always in the same state of chronic hilarity; and when he +took us to see the hospitals, the children and patients received him +with demonstrations of great delight. + +I should not have said so much of our friend the Padre, were it not +that I think there is a moral to be got out of him. I believe he may be +taken as a type, not indeed of Roman Catholic missionaries in general, +but of a certain class among them, who are of considerable importance +in the missionary world, though there are not many of them. Taking the +Padre as a sample of his class, as I think we may--judging from the +accounts of them we meet with in books, it is curious to notice, how +the point in which their system is strongest is just that in which the +Protestant system is weakest, that is, in social training and +deportment. What a number of men go to India with the best intentions, +and set to work at once, flinging their doctrines at the natives before +they have learnt in the least to understand what the said natives' +minds are like, or how they work,--dropping at once upon their pet +prejudices, mortally offending them as a preliminary step towards +arguing with them; and in short, stroking the cat of society backwards +in the most conscientious manner. By the time they have accomplished +this satisfactory result, a man like our Cuban Padre, though he may +have argued but little and preached even less, would have a hundred +natives bound to him by strong personal attachment, and ready to accept +anything from him in the way of teaching. + +We paid a regular round of visits to the Floridan settlers, and were +delighted with their pleasant simple ways. It is not much more than +thirty years since they left Florida, and many of the children born +since have learnt to speak English. The patches of cultivated land +round their cottages produce, with but little labour, enough vegetables +for their subsistence, and to sell, procuring clothing and such +luxuries as they care for. They seemed to live happily among +themselves, and to govern their little colony after the manner of the +Patriarchs. + +Whether any social condition can be better for the black inhabitants of +the West Indies, than that of these settlers, I very much doubt. They +are not a hard-working people, it is true; but hard work in the climate +of the tropics is unnatural, and can only be brought about by unnatural +means. That they are not sunk in utter laziness one can see by their +neat cottages and trim gardens. Their state does not correspond with +the idea of prosperity of the political economist, who would have them +work hard to produce sugar, rum, and tobacco, that they might earn +money to spend in crockery and Manchester goods; but it is suited to +the race and to the climate. If we measure prosperity by the enjoyment +of life, their condition is an enviable one. + +I think no unprejudiced observer can visit the West Indies without +seeing the absurdity of expecting the free blacks to work like slaves, +as though any inducement but the strongest necessity would ever bring +it about. There are only two causes which can possibly make the blacks +industrious, in our sense of the word,--slavery, or a population so +crowded as to make labour necessary to supply their wants. + +In one house in the Floridan colony we found a _mnage_ which was +surprising to me, after my experience of the United States. The father +of the family was a white man, a Spaniard, and his wife a black woman. +They received us with the greatest hospitality, and we sat in the porch +for a long time, talking to the family. One or two of the mulatto +daughters were very handsome; and there were some visitors, young white +men from the neighbouring village, who were apparently come to pay +their devoirs to the young ladies. Such marriages are not uncommon in +Cuba; and the climate of the island is not unfavourable for the mixed +negro and European race, while to the pure whites it is deadly. The +Creoles of the country are a poor degenerate race, and die out in the +fourth generation. It is only by intermarriage with Europeans, and +continual supplies of emigrants from Europe, that the white population +is kept up. + +On the morning of our departure we climbed a high lull of limestone, +covered in places with patches of a limestone-breccia, cemented with +sandstone, and filling the cavities in the rock. All over the hill we +found doubly refracting Iceland-spar in quantities. Euphorbias, in +Europe mere shrubs, were here smooth-limbed trees, with large flowers. +From the top of the hill, the character of the savannahs was well +displayed. Every water-course could be traced by its narrow line of +deep green forest, contrasting with the scantier vegetation of the rest +of the plain. + +As we steamed out of the river, rows of brilliant red flamingos were +standing in the shallow water, fishing, and here and there a pelican +with his ungainly beak. Our Chinese crew were having their meal of rice +when we walked forward, and the national chopsticks were hard at work. +We talked to several of them. They could all speak a little Spanish, +and were very intelligent. + +The history of these Chinese emigrants is a curious one. Agents in +China persuade them to come out, and they sign a contract to work for +eight years, receiving from three to five dollars a month, with their +food and clothing. The sum seems a fortune to them; but, when they come +to Cuba, they find to their cost that the value of money must be +estimated by what it will buy. They find that the value of a black +labourer is thirty dollars a month, and they have practically sold +themselves for slaves; for there is no one to prevent the masters who +have bought the contract for their work from treating them in all +respects as slaves. The value of such a contract--that is, of the +Chinaman himself, was from 30 to 40 when we were in the island. +Fortunately for them, they cannot bear the severe plantation-work. Some +die after a few days of such labour and exposure, and many more kill +themselves; and the utter indifference with which they commit suicide, +as soon as life seems not worth having, contributes to moderate the +exactions of their masters. A friend of ours in Cuba had a Chinese +servant who was impertinent one day, and his master turned him out of +the room, dismissing him with a kick. The other servants woke their +master early next morning, with the intelligence that the Chinese had +killed himself in the night, to expiate the insult he had received. + +Of African slaves brought into the island, the yearly number is about +15,000. All the details of the trade are matter of general notoriety, +even to the exact sum paid to each official as hush-money. It costs a +hundred dollars for each negro, they say, of which a gold ounce (about +3 16s.) is the share of the Captain-general. To this must be added the +cost of the slave in Africa, and the expense of the voyage; but when +the slave is once fairly on a plantation he is worth eight hundred +dollars; so it may be understood how profitable the trade still is, if +only one slaver out of three gets through. + +The island itself with its creeks and mangrove-trees is most favourable +for their landing, if they can once make the shore; and the Spanish +cruisers will not catch them if they can help it. If a British cruiser +captures them, the negroes are made emancipados in the way I have +already explained. + +Hardly any country in the world is so thoroughly in a false position as +England in her endeavours to keep down the Cuban slave-trade, with the +nominal concurrence of the Spanish government, and the real vigorous +opposition of every Spaniard on the island, from the Captain-General +downwards. Even the most superficial observer who lands for an hour or +two in Havana, while his steamer is taking in coals, can have evidence +of the slave-trade brought before his eyes in the tattooed faces of +native Africans, young and middle-aged, in the streets and markets; +just as he can guess, from the scored backs of the negroes, what sort +of discipline is kept up among them. + +We slept on board the steamboat off the pier of Batabano, and the +railway took us back to Havana next morning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +HAVANA TO VERA CRUZ--VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO. + +On the 8th of March, we went on board the "Mjico" steamer, +American-built, and retaining her American engineers, but in other +respects converted into a Spanish vessel, and now lying in the harbour +of Havana bound for Vera Cruz, touching at Sisal in Yucatan. At eight +o'clock we weighed anchor, and were piloted through the narrow passage +which leads out of the harbour past the castle of El Morro and the fort +of Cabaas, the view of whose ramparts and batteries caused quite a +flourish of trumpets among our Spanish fellow-passengers, who firmly +believe in their impregnability. + +Among our fellow-passengers were a company of fifth-rate comedians, +going to Merida by way of Sisal. There was nothing interesting to us +about them. Theatrical people and green-room slang vary but little over +the whole civilized world. There were two or three Spanish and French +tradesmen going back to Mexico. They talked of nothing but the dangers +of the road, and not without reason as it proved, for they were all +robbed before they got home. Several of the rest were gamblers or +political adventurers, or both, for the same person very often unites +the two professions out here. Spain and the Spanish American Republics +produce great numbers of these people, just as Missouri breeds +border-ruffians and sympathizers. But the ruffian is a good fellow in +comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have +given Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the +characters of Mr. Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count. + +On the morning of the third day of our voyage we reached Sisal, and as +soon as the captain would let us we went ashore, in a canoe that was +like a flat wooden box. This said captain was a Catalan, and a surly +fellow, and did not take the trouble to disguise the utter contempt he +felt for our inquisitive ways, which he seemed quite to take pleasure +in thwarting. It was the only place we were to see in Yucatan, a +country whose name is associated with ideas of tropical fruits, where +you must cut your forest-path with a machete, and of vast ruins of +deserted temples and cities, covered up with a mass of dense +vegetation. But here there was nothing of this kind. Sisal is a +miserable little town, standing on the shore, with a great salt-marsh +behind it. It has a sort of little jetty, which constitutes its claim +to the title of _port_; and two or three small merchant-vessels were +lying there, taking in cargoes of logwood (the staple product of the +district), mahogany, hides, and deerskins. The sight of these latter +surprised us; but we found on enquiry that numbers of deer as well as +horned cattle inhabit the thinly-peopled districts round the shores of +the Mexican Gulf, and flourish in spite of the burning climate, except +when a year of drought comes, which kills them off by thousands. + +One possible article of export we examined as closely as opportunity +would allow, namely, the Indian inhabitants. There they are, in +every respect the right article for trade:--brown-skinned, incapable +of defending themselves, strong, healthy, and industrious; and +the creeks and mangrove-swamps of Cuba only three days' sail off. +The plantations and mines that want one hundred thousand men to bring +them into full work, and swallow aborigines, Chinese, and negroes +indifferently--anything that has a dark skin, and can be made to +work--would take these Yucatecos in any quantity, and pay well for +them. And once on a sugar-estate or down a mine, when their sham +registers are regularly made out, and the Governor has had his ounce of +gold apiece for passing them, and his subordinates their respective +rights, who shall get them out again, or even find them? + +This idea struck us as we sat looking at the Indians hard at work, +loading and unloading; and finding an intelligent Spaniard, we fell to +talking with him. Indians had been carried off to Cuba, he said, but +very few, none since 1854, when two Englishmen came to the coast with a +schooner on pretence of trading, and succeeded in getting clear off +with a cargo of seventy-two natives on board. But being caught in a +heavy gale of wind, they put in for safety--of all places in the +world--into the British part of Belize. There some one found out what +their cargo consisted of, the vessel was seized, the Indians sent back, +and the two adventurers condemned to hard labour, one for four years, +the other for two and a half. In a place where the fatigue and exposure +of drill and mounting guard is death to a European soldier, this was +most likely a way of inflicting capital punishment, slow, but pretty +sure.[2] + +When the Spaniards came to these countries, as soon as they had leisure +to ask themselves what could be the origin of the people they found +there, the answer came at once, "the lost tribes of Israel," of course. +And as we looked at these grave taciturn men, with their brown +complexions, bright eyes, and strikingly aquiline noses, it did not +seem strange that this belief should have been generally held, +considering the state of knowledge on such matters in those days. We +English found the ten tribes in the Red men of the north; Jews have +written books in Hebrew for their own people, to make known to them +that the rest of their race had been found in the mountains of Chili, +retaining unmistakable traces of their origin and conversing fluently +in Hebrew; and but lately they turned up, collected together and +converted to Christianity, on the shores of the Caspian. The last two +theories have their supporters at the present day. Crude as most of +these ideas are, one feels a good deal of interest in the first inquiry +that set men thinking seriously about the origin of races, and laid the +foundation of the science of ethnology. + +Our return on board was a long affair, for there was a stiff breeze, +almost in our teeth; and our unwieldy craft was obliged to make tack +after tack before we could reach the steamer. Great Portuguese +men-of-war were floating about, waiting for prey; and we passed through +patches of stringy gulf-weed, trailing out into long ropes. The water +was hot, the thermometer standing at 84 when we dipped it over the +side. + +On the morning of the 12th, when we went on deck, there was a grand +sight displayed before us. No shore visible, but a heavy bank of clouds +on the horizon; and, high above them, towering up into the sky, the +snowy summit of Orizaba, a hundred and fifty miles off. + +Before noon, we are entering the harbour of Vera Cruz. The little +island and fort of San Juan de Ula just opposite the wharfs, the +island of Sacrificios a little farther to the left. A level line of +city-wall along the water's edge; and, visible above it, the flat roofs +of the houses, and the towers and cupolas of many churches. All grey +stone, only relieved by the colored Spanish tiles on the church-roofs, +and a flag or two in the harbour. Not a scrap of vegetation to be seen, +and the rays of a tropical sun pouring down upon us. + +Established in the Casa de Diligencias, we deliberated as to our +journey to Mexico. The diligences to the capital, having been stopped +for some months on account of the disturbed state of the country, had +just begun to run again, avoiding Puebla, which was being besieged. We +were anxious to be off at once; but Mr. Christy sagaciously remarking +that the robbers would know of the arrival of the steamer, and would +probably take the first diligence that came afterwards, we booked our +places for the day after. + +We were very kindly received by the English merchants to whom my +companion had letters, and we set ourselves to learn what was the real +state of things in Mexico. + +On an average, the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico had changed +hands once every eight months for the last ten years; and Don Ignacio +Comonfort had stepped into the office in the previous December, on the +nomination of his predecessor the mulatto general Alvarez, who had +retired to the southern provinces with his army. + +President Comonfort, with empty coffers, and scarcely any real +political power, had felt it necessary to make some great effort to get +popularity for himself and his government. He had therefore adopted the +policy of attacking the _fueros_, the extraordinary privileges of the +two classes of priests and soldiers, which had become part of the +constitution under the first viceroys, and which not even the war of +independence, and the adoption of republican forms, ever did away with. +Neither class is amenable to the civil tribunals for debt or for any +offences.[3] The clergy have immense revenues, and much spiritual +influence among the lower classes; and as soon as they discovered the +disposition of the new President, they took one Don Antonio Haro y +Tamirez, set him up as a counter-President, and installed him at +Puebla, the second city of the Republic, where priests swarm, and +priestly influence is unbounded. At the same time, they tried a +pronunciamiento in the capital; but the President got the better of +them after a slight struggle, and marched all his regular soldiers on +Puebla. At the moment of our arrival in the country, the siege of this +city was going on quite briskly, ten thousand men being engaged, +commanded by forty-three general officers. + +Whenever anything disagreeable is happening in the country, Vera Cruz +is sure to get its full share. A month before our arrival, one Salcedo, +who was a prisoner in the castle of San Juan de Ula, talked matters +over with the garrison, and persuaded them to make a pronunciamento in +favour of the insurgents. They then summoned the town to join their +cause, which it declined doing for the present; and the castle opened +fire upon it, knocking about some of the principal buildings, and doing +a good deal of damage. A 30-pound shot went through the wall of our +hotel, taking off the leg of an unfortunate waiter who was cleaning +knives, and falling into the patio, or inner court. A daub of fresh +plaster just outside our bedroom door indicated the spot; and the +British Consul's office had a similar decoration. The Governor of the +city could offer no active resistance, but he cut off the supplies from +the island, and in three or four days Salcedo--finding himself out of +ammunition, and short of water--surrendered in a neat speech, and the +revolution ended. + +We have but a short time to stay in Vera Cruz, so had better make our +observations quickly; for when we come back again there will be a sun +nearly in the zenith, and yellow fever--at the present moment hardly +showing itself--will have come for the summer; under those +circumstances, the unseasoned foreigner had better lie on his back in a +cool room, with a cigar in his mouth, and read novels, than go about +hunting for useful information. + +There are streets of good Spanish houses in Vera Cruz, built of white +coral-rock from the reefs near the shore, but they are mildewed and +dismal-looking. Outside the walls is the Alameda; and close by is a +line of houses, uninhabited, mouldy, and in ruins. We asked who built +them. "Los Espaoles," they said. + +Even now, when the "nortes" are blowing, and the city is comparatively +healthy, Vera Cruz is a melancholy place, with a plague-stricken look +about it; but it is from June to October that its name, "the city of +the dead"--la ciudad de los muertos--is really deserved. In that season +comes an accumulation of evils. The sun is at its height; there is no +north wind to clear the air; and the heavy tropical rains--more than +three times as much in quantity as falls in England in the whole +year--come down in a short rainy season of four months. The water +filters through the sand-hills, and forms great stagnant lagoons; a +rank tropical vegetation springs up, and the air is soon filled with +pestilential vapours. Add to this that the water is unwholesome; the +city too is placed in a sand-bath which keeps up a regular temperature, +by accumulating heat by day and giving it out into the air by night, so +that night gives no relief from the stifling closeness of the day. No +wonder that Mr. Bullock, the Mexican traveller, as he sat in his room +here in the hot season, heard the church-bells tolling for the dead +from morning to night without intermission; for weeks and weeks, one +can hardly even look into the street without seeing a funeral. + +We turned back through the city, and walked along watching the +Zopilotes--great turkey-buzzards--with their bald heads and foul +dingy-black plumage. They were sitting in compact rows on parapets of +houses and churches, and seemed specially to affect the cross of the +cathedral, where they perched, two on each arm, and some on the top. +When some offal was thrown into the streets, they came down leisurely +upon it, one after another; their appearance and deportment reminding +us of the undertaker's men in England coming down from the hearse at +the public-house door, when the funeral is over. In all tropical +America these birds are the general scavengers, and there is a heavy +fine for killing them.[4] + +Scarcely any one is about in the streets this afternoon, except a gang +or two of convicts dragging their heavy chains along, sweeping and +mending the streets. This is a punishment much approved of by the +Mexican authorities, as combining terror to evil-doers with advantage +to the community. That it puts all criminals on a level, from murderers +down to vagrants, does not seem to be considered as a matter of much +consequence. + +At the city-gate stands a sentry--the strangest thing I ever saw in the +guise of a soldier--a brown Indian of the coast, dressed in some rags +that were a uniform once, shoeless, filthy in the extreme, and armed +with an amazing old flint-lock. He is bad enough to look at, in all +conscience, and really worse than he looks, for--no doubt--he has been +pressed into the service against his will, and hates white men and +their ways with all his heart. Of course he will run away when he gets +a chance; and, though he will be no great loss to the service, he will +add his mite to the feeling of hatred that has been growing up for +these so many years among the brown Indians against the whites and the +half-cast Mexicans. But more of this hereafter. + +One step outside the gate, and we are among the sand-hills that stretch +for miles and miles round Vera Cruz. They are mere shifting +sand-mounds; and, though some of them are fifty feet high, the fierce +north wind moves them about bodily. The Texans know these winds well, +and call them "northers." They come from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of +Mexico, right down the Continent of North America, over a level plain +with hardly a hill to obstruct their course, the Rocky Mountains and +the Alleghanies forming a sort of trough for them. When the "norte" +blows fiercely you can hardly keep your feet in the streets of Vera +Cruz, and vessels drag their anchors or break from their moorings in +the ill-protected harbour, and are blown out to sea--lucky if they +escape the ugly coral-reefs and sand-banks that fringe the coast. There +are a few bushes growing outside the walls, and there we found the +Nopal bush, the great prickly pear--the same that has established +itself all round the shores of the Mediterranean--growing in crevices +of rocks, and cracks in lava-beds, and barren places where nothing else +will live. But what made us notice these Nopals was, that they were +covered with what looked like little white cocoons, out of which, when +they were pressed, came a drop of deep crimson fluid. This is the +cochineal insect, but only the wild variety; the fine kind, which is +used for dye, and comes from the province of Oajaca, miles off, is +covered only with a mealy powder. There the Indians cultivate great +plantations of Nopals, and spread the insects over them with immense +care, even removing them, and carrying them up into the mountains in +baskets when the rainy season begins in the plains, and bringing them +back when it is over. + +On Friday, the 14th of March, at three o'clock in the morning, we took +our places in a strong American-built diligence, holding nine inside, +and began our journey by being dragged along the railroad--which was +commenced with great energy some time ago, and got fifteen miles on its +way to the capital, at which point it has stopped ever since. When day +broke we had left the railroad, and were jolting along through a +parched sandy plain, thinly covered with acacias, nopals, and other +kinds of cactus, bignonias, and the great tree-euphorbia, with which we +had been so familiar in Cuba, with its smooth limbs and huge white +flowers. At last we reached the first hill, and began gently to ascend. +The change was wonderful. Once out of the plain, we are in the midst of +a tropical forest. The trees are crowded close together, and the +convolvulus binds their branches into an impassable jungle, while ferns +and creepers weave themselves into a dense mass below; and here and +there a glimpse up some deep ravine shows great tree-ferns, thirty feet +high, standing close to the brink of a mountain-stream, and flourishing +in the damp shade. + +Indian Ranchos become more frequent as we ascend; and the +inhabitants--squatting on the ground, or leaning against the +door-posts--just condescend to glance at us as we pass, and then return +to their meditations, and their cigarettes, if they happen to have any. +These ranches are the merest huts of canes, thatched with palm-leaves; +and close by each a little patch of ground is enclosed by a fence of +prickly cactus, within which are growing plantains, with their large +smooth leaves and heavy ropes of fruit, the great staple of the "tierra +caliente." + +Our road winds along valleys and through pass after pass; and now and +then a long zig-zag brings us out of a valley, up to a higher level. +The air grows cooler, we are rapidly changing our climate, and +afternoon finds us in the region of the sugar-cane and the +coffee-plant. We pass immense green cane-fields, protected from the +visits of passing muleteers and peasants by a thick hedge of thorny +coffee-bushes. The cane is but young yet; but the coffee-plant, with +its brilliant white flowers, like little stars, is a beautiful feature +in the landscape. + +At sunset we are rattling through the streets of the little town of +Cordova. There is such a thoroughly Spanish air about the place, that +it might be a suburb of the real Cordova, were it not for the crowds of +brown Indians in their scanty cotton dresses and great flat-brimmed +hats, and the Mexican costumes of the whiter folks. Low whitewashed +houses, with large windows to the street, protected by the heavy +iron-gratings, like cages, that are so familiar to travellers in +Southern Europe. Inside the grating are the ladies of the family, +outside stand their male acquaintance, and energetic gossiping is going +on. The smoky little lamp inside gives us a full view of the interior. +Four whitewashed walls; a table; a few stiff-backed chairs; a virgin or +saint resplendent in paint and tinsel; and, perhaps, two or three +coloured engravings, red, blue, and yellow. + +A few hours in the dark, and we reach Orizaba. We have changed our +climate for the last time to-day, and have reached that district where +tobacco flourishes at an altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea. But of +this we see nothing, for we are off again long before daylight; and by +the time that external objects can be made out we find ourselves in a +new region. A valley floored with rich alluvial soil from the hills +that rise steeply on both sides, their tops shrouded in clouds. Signs +of wonderful fertility in the fields of maize and barley along the +roadside. The air warm, but full of mist, which has already penetrated +our clothes and made them feel damp and sticky. "Splendid country, +this, Seores," said an old Mexican, when he had twisted himself round +on his seat to get a good stare at us. "It seems so," said I, "judging +by the look of the fields, but it is very unpleasantly damp just now." +"Just now," said the old gentleman, echoing my words, "it is always +damp here. You see that drizzling mist; that is the chipi-chipi. Never +heard of the chipi-chipi! Why it is the riches and blessing of the +country. Sometimes we never see the sun here for weeks at a time, and +it rains a little every day nearly; but look at the fields, we get +three crops a year from them where you have but one on the fields just +above. And it is healthy, too; look at those fellows at work there. +When we get up to the Llanos you will see the difference." + +The valley grew narrower as we drove on; and at last, when it seemed to +end in a great ravine, we began to climb the steep hill by a zig-zag +road. Soon the air grows clearer again, the sunshine appears and gets +brighter and brighter, we have left the mist behind, and are among +ranges of grand steep hills, covered with the peculiar vegetation of +the plateau,--Cactus, Opuntia, and the Agave Americana. In the trough +of the valley lies a regular opaque layer of white clouds, hiding the +fields and cottages from our view. We have already passed the zone of +perpetual moisture, whose incessant clouds and showers are caused by +the stratum of hot air--charged with water evaporated from the +gulf--striking upon the mountains, and there depositing part of the +aqueous vapour it contains. + +You may see the same thing happening in almost every mountainous +district; but seldom on so grand a scale as here, or with so little +disturbance from other agents. Yesterday was passed in the "tierra +caliente," the hot country; our journey of to-day and to-morrow is +through the "tierra templada" and the "tierra fra," the temperate and +the cold country. Here a change of a few hundred feet in altitude above +the sea, brings with it a change of climate as great as many degrees of +latitude will cause, and in one day's travel it is possible to descend +from the region of eternal snow to the utmost heat of the tropics. Our +ascent is more gradual; but, though we are three days on the road, we +have sometimes scarcely time to notice the different zones of +vegetation we pass through, before we change again. + +To make the account of the journey from the coast to Mexico somewhat +clearer, a few words must be said about the formation of the country, +as shown in a profile-map or section. The interior of Mexico consists +of a mass of volcanic rocks, thrust up to a great height above the +sea-level. The plateau of Mexico is 8,000 feet high, and that of Puebla +9,000 feet. This central mass consists principally of a greyish +trachytic porphyry, in some places rich in veins of silver-ore. The +tops of the hills are often crowned with basaltic columns, and a soft +porous amygdaloid abounds on the outskirts of the Mexican valley. +Besides this, traces of more recent volcanic action abound, in the +shape of numerous extinct craters in the high plateaus, and immense +"pedrigals" or fields of lava not yet old enough for their surface to +have been disintegrated into soil. Though sedimentary rocks occur in +Mexico, they are not the predominant feature of the country. Ridges of +limestone hills lie on the slopes of the great volcanic mass toward the +coast; and at a still lower level, just in the rise from the flat +coast-region, there are strata of sandstone. On our road from Vera Cruz +we came upon sandstone immediately after leaving the sandy plains; and +a few miles further on we reached the limestone, very much as it is +represented in Burkart's profile of the country from Tampico upwards +towards San Luis Potosi. The mountain-plateaus, such as the plains of +Mexico and Puebla, are hollows filled up and floored with horizontal +strata of tertiary deposits, which again are covered by the constantly +accumulating layers of alluvium. + +Our heavy pull up the mountain-side has brought us into a new scene. +Every one knows how the snow lies in the valleys of the Alps, forming a +plain which slopes gradually downward towards the outlet. Imagine such a +valley ten miles across, with just such a sloping plain, not of snow +but of earth. There has been no rain for months, and the surface of the +ground is parched and cracked all over. There is hardly a tree to be +seen except clumps of wood on the mountain-sides miles off,--no +vegetation but tufts of coarse grass, among which herds of +disconsolate-looking cattle are roaming; the vaqueros, (herdsmen) are +cantering about after them on their lean horses, with their lazos +hanging in coils on their left arms, and now and then calling to order +some refractory beast who tries to get away from the herd, by sending +the loop over his horns or letting it fall before him as he runs, and +hitching it up with a jerk round his hind legs as he steps within it. +But the poor creatures are too thirsty and dispirited just now to give +any sport, and the first touch of the cord is enough to bring them back +to their allegiance. + +From the decomposed porphyry of the mountains carbonate of soda comes +down in solution to the valleys. Much of this is converted into natron +by the organic matter in the soil, and forms a white crust on the +earth. More of the carbonate of soda, mixed in various proportions with +common salt, drains continually out in the streams, or filters into the +ground and crystallizes there. This is why there is not a field to be +seen, and the land is fit for nothing but pasture. But when the rains +come on in a few months, say our friends in the diligence, this dismal +waste will be a luxuriant prairie, and the cattle will be here by +thousands, for most of them are dispersed now in the lower regions of +the tierra templada where grass and water are to be had. + +My companion and I climb upon the top of the diligence to spy out the +land. The grand volcano of Orizaba had been hidden from us ever since +that morning when we saw it from far out at sea, but now it rises on +our left, its upper half covered with snow of dazzling whiteness,--a +regular cone, for from this side the crater cannot be seen. It looks as +though one could walk half a mile or so across the valley and then go +straight up to the summit, but it is full thirty miles off. The air is +heated as by a furnace, and as we jolt along the road the clouds of +dust are suffocating. We go full gallop along such road as there is, +banging into holes, and across the trenches left by last year's +watercourses, until we begin to think that it must end in a general +smash. We came to understand Mexican roads and Mexican drivers better, +even before we got to the capital. + +Before us and behind lay wide lakes, stretching from side to side of +the valley; but the lake behind followed us as steadily as the one +before us receded. It was only the mirage that tantalizes travellers in +these scorched valleys, all the long eight months of the rainless +season. It seemed beautiful at first, then monotonous; and long before +the day was out we hated it with a most cordial and unaffected hatred. + +Soon a new appearance attracted our attention. First, clouds of dust, +which gradually took a well-defined shape, and formed themselves into +immense pillars, rapidly spinning round upon themselves, and travelling +slowly about the plain. At one place, where several smaller valleys +opened upon us, these sand-pillars, some small, some large, were +promenading about by dozens, looking much like the genie when the +fisherman had just let him out of the bottle, and saw him with +astonishment beginning to shape himself into a giant of monstrous size. +Indeed I doubt not that the story-teller was thinking of such +sand-pillars when he wrote that wonderful description. You may see them +in the East by thousands. As they moved along, they sucked up small +stones, dust, and leaves; and our driver declared that they had been +known to take the roofs off houses, and carry flocks of sheep into the +air; "but these that you see now," said he, "are no great matter." We +estimated the size of the largest at about four hundred feet in height, +and thirty in diameter; and this very pillar, walking by chance against +a house, most decidedly got the worst of it, and had its lower limbs +knocked all to pieces. + +When the sun grows hot, the bare earth heats the air that lies upon it +so much that an upward current rises from the whole face of the valley; +and to supply its place the little valleys and ravines that open into +it pour in each its stream of cooler air; and wherever two of these +streams, flowing in different directions, strike one another, a little +whirlwind ensues, and makes itself manifest as a sand-pillar. The +coachman's "molino de viento," as he called it, may very well have +happened, but it must have been a whirlwind on a large scale, caused by +the meeting of great atmospheric currents, not by the little apparatus +we saw at work. + +There seems to be hardly a village in the plain; and the only buildings +we see for miles are the herdsmen's houses of stone, flat-roofed, dark +inside, and uninviting in their appearance, and the great cattle-pens, +the corrals, which seem absurdly too large for the herds that we have +yet seen; but in two or three months there will be rain, the ground +will be covered with rank grass, the corrals will be crowded with +cattle every evening; the mirage will depart when real water comes, +dust and sand-pillars will be no longer to be seen, and all the nine +horses and mules of the diligence-team, floundering, splashing, and +kicking, will hardly keep the heavy coach from settling down +inextricably in the mire. And so on until October, and then the season +of water, "la estacin de las aguas," will cease, and things will be +again as they are now. + +In the usual course of travel to the capital, the second night would +have been passed at Puebla. This is the second city of the Republic, +and numbers some 70,000 inhabitants. As it was then in revolt, and +besieged by the President and his army, we made a detour to the north +when about 20 miles from it, in order to sleep for a few hours at +Huamantla, a place with a most evil reputation for thieves and vermin; +and about ten at night we drove into the court-yard of a dismal-looking +inn. Three or four dirty fellows stood round as we alighted, wrapped in +their serapes--great woollen blankets, the universal wear of the +Mexicans of the plateaus. One end of the serape was thrown across from +shoulder to shoulder, and hid the lower part of their faces; and the +broad-brimmed Mexican sombrero was slouched over their eyes; we +particularly disliked the look of them as they stood watching us and +our baggage going into the inn. A few minutes after, we returned to the +court-yard to complete our observation of them, but they were all gone. + +A party of Spaniards and Mexicans were at the other table in the sala +when we marched in, and as soon as we had taken off the edge of our +fierce hunger, we began to compare notes with them. "Had a pleasant +journey from Mexico?" They all answered at once, delighted to find an +audience to whom to tell their sorrows, as men always are under such +circumstances. It appeared that they had reached Huamantla an hour or +two before us, and to their surprise and delight no robbers had +appeared. But between the outskirts of the town and the inn, the cords +behind the diligence were cut, and every particle of luggage had +disappeared. At the inn-gate they got out and discovered their loss. +They set upon the Administrador of the diligence-company, who +sympathized deeply with them, but had no more substantial comfort to +offer. They declared the driver must have been an accomplice, and the +driver was sent for, for them to wreak their fury upon. He appeared +with his mouth full of beans, and told them, as soon as he could speak, +that they ought to be very thankful they had come off so easily, and, +looking at them with an expression of infinite disgust, returned to his +supper; they followed his example, and seemed to have at last found +consolation in hot dishes and Catalan wine. It was wonderful to hear of +the fine things that were in the lost portmanteaus,--the rings, the +gold watches, the rouleaux of dollars, the "papers of the utmost +importance." + +I am afraid the Spanish American has not always a very strict regard +for truth. + +These gentlemen had indeed got off easily, as the driver said; for the +last diligence from Vera Cruz, with our steamboat acquaintances in it, +had been stopped just outside this very town of Huamantla as they left +it before daylight in the morning. The robbers were but three, but they +had plundered the unfortunate travellers as effectually as thirty could +have done. Now, all this was very pretty to hear as a tale, but not +satisfactory to travellers who were going by the same road the next +morning; and in the disagreeable barrack-room where our beds stood in +long lines, we, the nine passengers of the "up" diligence, held a +council, standing, like Mr. Macaulay's senators, and there decided on a +most Christian line of conduct--that when the three bore down upon us, +and the muzzle of the inevitable escopeta was poked in at our window, +we would descend meekly, and at the command of "boca abajo," ("mouth +downwards,") we would humiliate ourselves with our noses in the dirt, +and be robbed quietly. Having thus decided beforehand, according to the +etiquette of the road, whether we were to fight or submit, and being +tired with a long day's journey, we all turned in, and were fast asleep +in a moment. + +It seemed that almost directly afterwards the dirtiest man possible +came round, and shook us till we were conscious; and we washed in the +customary saucers, by the light of a real, flaring, smoking, Spanish +lamp with a beak, exactly what the Romans used in Pompeii, except that +this is of brass, not bronze. + +With our eyes still half-shut we crawled into the kitchen for our +morning chocolate, and demanded our bill. Such a bill! One of us, a +stout Spaniard, sent for the landlord and abused him in a set speech. +The "patron" divested his countenance of every trace of expression, +scratched his head through his greasy nightcap, and stood listening +patiently. The stout man grew fiercer and fiercer, and wound up with a +climax. "If we meet with the robbers," said he, rolling himself up in +his great cloak, "we must tell them that we have passed through your +worship's hands, and there is none left for them." The landlord bowed +gravely, saw us into the diligence, and hoped we should have a +fortunate journey, and meet with no novelty on the road. A "novelty" in +Spanish countries means a misfortune. + +We met with no "novelty," though, when we looked out of the window in +the early dawn and spied three men with muskets, following us at a +short distance, we thought our time had come, and watches and valuables +were plunged into boots and under seats, and through slits into the +padding of the diligence; but the three men came no nearer, and we +supposed them to be an escort of soldiers. When it was light the +difficulty was to recover the valuables--no easy matter, so securely +had they been hidden. + +We heard afterwards of a little peculiarity which distinguished the +robbers of Huamantla. It seems that no less a personage than the parish +priest was accustomed to lead his parishioners into action, like the +Cornish parson in old times when a ship went ashore on the coast. What +has become of his reverence since, I do not know. He is very likely +still in his parish, carrying on his double profession, unless somebody +has shot him. I wonder whether it is sacrilege to shoot a priest who is +also a highwayman, as it used to be to kill a bishop on the field of +battle. + +We are at last on the high lands of Mexico, the districts which at +least three different races have chosen to settle in, neglecting the +fertile country below. A sharp turn in the road brings its fairly out +into the plain; and then on our left are the two snowy mountains that +lie at the edge of the valley of Mexico, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, +famous in all Mexican books. Like Orizaba of yesterday, they seem to +rise from the plain close to us; and from the valley between them there +pours down upon us such a flood of icy wind, that, though windows are +pulled up and great-coats buttoned round our throats, we shiver +piteously, and our teeth fairly chatter till we get out of the river of +cold air; and then comes hot sunshine and dust again. + +Anxious to make sure that we have really got into the land of Aztec +civilization, Mr. Christy gets down from the diligence, and hunting +about for a few minutes by the road-side, returns in triumph with a +broken arrowhead of obsidian. A deep channel cut by a water-course +gives us our first idea of the depth of the soil; for these plateaus +were once nothing but deep hollows among the mountains, which rain and +melted snow, bringing down fragments of porphyry and basalt--partly in +their original state and partly decomposed--have filled up and formed +into plains. Signs of volcanic action are abundant. To say nothing of +the two great mountains we have just left behind, there is a hill of +red volcanic tufa just beyond us; and still further on, though this is +anticipating, our road passes over the lava-field at the foot of the +little volcano of Santa Barbara. + +There is a population here at any rate, village after village; and +between them are great plantations of maize and aloes; for this is the +district where the best pulque in Mexico is made, the "llanos de Apam." +It is the _Agave Americana_, the same aloe that is so common in +southern Europe, where indeed it flowers, and that grows in our gardens +and used to have the reputation of flowering once in a hundred years. I +do not exaggerate when I say that we saw hundreds of thousands of them +that day, planted in long regular lines. Among them were walking the +Indian "tlachiqueros," each with his pigskin on his back, and his long +calabash in his hand, milking such plants as were in season. + +[Illustration: INDIAN TLACHIQUERO, COLLECTING JUICE OF THE AGAVE FOR +PULQUE.] + +The fine buildings of the haciendas, and more especially the churches, +contrast strongly with the generality of houses, all of one story, +built of adobes (mud-bricks dried in the sun), with flat roofs of sand +and lime resting on wooden rafters, and the naked ground for a floor, +all dark, dirty, and comfortless. There are even many huts built +entirely of the universal aloe. The stems of wild aloes which have been +allowed to flower are stuck into the ground, side by side, and pieces +of leaves tied on outside them with aloe-fibre. These cut leaves are +set like tiles to form a roof, and pegged down with the thorns which +grow at their extremities. Picturesque and cheap, though hardly +comfortable, for we are in the "tierra fra" now, and the mornings and +evenings in winter are often bitterly cold. + +But the churches! Is it possible that they can belong to these wretched +filthy little cottages. As black Sam, our driver, a runaway Texan +slave, suggested, it looked as though the villagers might pull down +their houses and locate themselves and their families in their +churches. We thought of Mr. Ruskin, who has somewhere expressed an +earnest desire that all the money and energy that England has wasted in +making railroads, had been spent in building churches; and we wished he +had been here to see his principles carried out. + +I have travelled on rough roads in my time, but on such a road as this +never. My companion refused for a time to award the premium of badness +to our thoroughfare; but, just while we were discussing the question +and recounting our experience of bone-smashing highways, we reached a +pass where the road consisted of a series of steps, nearly a foot in +depth, down which steps we went at a swinging trot, holding on for our +lives, in terror lest the next jerk should fairly wrench our arms out +of their sockets, while we could plainly hear the inside passengers +howling for mercy, as they were shot up against the roof which knocked +them back into their seats. Aching all over, we reached level ground +again, and Mr. Christy withdrew his claims, and agreed that no road +anywhere else could possibly be so bad as a Mexican road; a decision +which later experiences only served to confirm. + +Our start, every time we changed horses, was a sight to see. Nine +half-broken horses and mules, in a furious state of excitement, were +harnessed to our unwieldy machine; the helpers let go, and off they +went, kicking, plunging, rearing, biting, and screaming, into ruts and +watercourses that were like the trenches they make for gas-pipes in +London streets, with our wheels on one side on a stone wall, and in a +pit on the other, and Black Sam leaning back with his feet on the +board, waiting with perfect tranquillity until the animals had got rid +of their superfluous energy and he could hold them in. We were always +just going to have some frightful accident, and always just missed it. +The last stage before we reached Otumba, a small dusky urchin ran +across the road just before us. How Black Sam contrived to pull up I +cannot tell, though, indeed, his arms were about the size of an +ordinary man's thighs; but he did, and they got the child out from the +horses' feet quite unhurt. + +It was at the inn where we stopped to breakfast that we made our first +acquaintance with the great Mexican institutions--tortillas and pulque. +The pulque was being brewed on a large scale in an adjoining building. +The vats were made of cow-skins (with the hair inside), supported by a +frame of sticks; and in them was pulque in every stage, beginning with +the sweet aguamiel--honeywater--the fresh juice of the aloe, and then +the same in different degrees of fermentation till we come to the +_madre pulque_, the mother pulque, a little of which is used like +yeast, to start the fermentation, and which has a combined odour of +gas-works and drains. Pulque, as you drink it, looks like milk and +water, and has a mild smell and taste of rotten eggs. Tortillas are +like oat-cakes, but made of Indian corn meal, not crisp, but soft and +leathery. We thought both dreadfully nasty for a day or two; then we +could just endure them; then we came to like them; and before we left +the country we wondered how we should do without them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +CITY OF MEXICO. + + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF PART OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.] + +Some thirty years ago, Don Agustn Yturbide, the first and last Emperor +of Mexico, found that he wanted a palace wherein to house his +newly-fledged dignity; and began to build one accordingly, in the high +street of Mexico, close to the great convent of San Francisco. It could +not have been nearly finished when its founder was shot: and it became +the _Hotel d'Yturbide_. We are now settled in it, in very comfortable +quarters. There is a restaurant down below, where the son of the late +Yturbide dines daily, and everybody points him out to us, and moralises +over him. + +Mr. Christy's drawer-roll of letters of introduction has produced an +immediate crop of pleasant acquaintances, whose hospitality is +boundless. We are not idle, far from it; and a long day's work is +generally followed by a social dinner, and an evening spent in noting +down the results of our investigations. + +Prescott's _Conquest of Mexico_ has been more read in England than most +historical works; and the Mexico of Montezuma has a well-defined idea +attached to it. The amphitheatre of dark hills surrounding the level +plain, the two snowy mountain-peaks, the five lakes covering nearly +half the valley, the city rising out of the midst of the waters, miles +from the shore, with which it was connected by its four causeways, the +straight streets of low flat-roofed houses, the numbers of canals +crowded with canoes of Indians going to and from the market, the +floating gardens moved from place to place, on which vegetables and +flowers were cultivated, the great pyramid up which the Spanish army +saw their captured companions led in solemn procession, and sacrificed +on the top--all these are details in the mental picture. + +Much of this has changed since the Spaniards first saw it. Cortes tried +all ordinary means to overcome the desperate obstinacy with which the +Aztecs defended their capital. The Spaniards conquered wherever they +went; but, as they moved forward, the Mexicans closed in again behind, +and from every house-top showers of darts, arrows, and stones were +poured down upon them. Cortes resolved upon the utter demolition of the +city. He was grieved to destroy it, he said, for it was the most +beautiful thing in the whole world; but there was no alternative. He +moved slowly towards the great teocalli, his fifty thousand Tlascalan +allies following him, throwing down every house, and filling the canals +with the ruins. When the conquest was finished, but one district of the +city was left standing, and in it were crowded a quarter of the +population, miserable famished wretches, who had surrendered when their +king was taken. All that was left besides was a patch of swampy ground +strewed with fragments of walls, a few pyramids too large for present +destruction, and such great heaps of dead bodies that it was impossible +to get from place to place without walking over them. + +Cortes had resolved that a new city should be built, but it was not so +easy to decide where it was to be. The Aztecs, it seemed, had not +originally established themselves on the spot where Mexico was built. +When they came down from the north country, and across the hills into +the valley of Mexico, they were but an insignificant tribe, and as yet +mere savages. They settled down in one place after another, and were +always driven out by the persecutions of the neighbouring tribes. At +last they took possession of a little group of swampy islands in the +lake of Tezcuco; and then at last, safe from their enemies, they +increased and multiplied, and became a great and powerful nation. + +The first beginnings of Mexico, a cluster of huts built on wooden +piles, must have borne some likeness to those curious settlements of +early tribes in the shallow part of the lakes of Switzerland and the +British Isles, of which numerous remains are still to be found. As the +nation increased in numbers, Tenochtitln, as the inhabitants called +their city (they called themselves _Tenochques_), came to be a great +city of houses built on piles, with canals running through the straight +streets, along which the natives poled their flat-bottomed canoes. The +name which the Spaniards gave to the city, the "Venice of the New +World," was appropriate, not only to its situation in the midst of the +water, with canals for thoroughfares, but also to the history of the +causes which led to its being built in such a situation. + +The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon +the people by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as +a matter of taste, just as it is in Holland. Even after the Aztecs +became masters of the surrounding country, they built towns round the +lake, partly on the shore, and partly on piles in the water. The +Spanish chroniclers mention Iztapalapn, and many other towns, as built +in this way. Like the Swiss tribes, the early inhabitants of Mexico +depended much upon their fishing, for which their position gave them +great facilities. + +If you look at the arms of the Mexican Republic, on a passport or a +silver dollar, you will see a representation of a rock surrounded by +water. On the rock grows a cactus, and on the cactus sits an eagle with +a serpent in his beak. The story is that the wandering tribe preserved +a tradition of an oracle which said that when they should find an +eagle, holding a serpent, and perched on a cactus growing out of a +rock, then they should cease their wanderings. On an island in the lake +of Tezcuco, they found eagle, serpent, cactus, and rock, as described, +and they settled there in due course. What fragment of truth is hidden +in this myth it is hard to say. Tenochtitln means "The Stone-cactus +place;" and the Aztec picture-writings express its name by a hieroglyph +of a prickly pear growing on a rock. Putting this history out of the +question, the Aztecs had excellent reasons for choosing this peculiar +site for their city; but these reasons were not equally valid in the +case of the new invaders. For them the surrounding salt-water was not +needed as a protection, and was merely a nuisance. Every year, when the +lake rose, the place was flooded, with enormous damage to the property +of the inhabitants; and sometimes an inundation of greater depth than +usual threatened as complete a destruction as Cortes and the Tlascalans +had made. At the best of times, the site was a salt-swamp, an ugly +place to build upon. And, lastly, all the fresh water must be brought +from the hills by aqueducts, which an enemy would cut off without +difficulty, as the Spaniards themselves had done during the siege. Now +Cortes was certainly not ignorant of all this, and he knew of many +places on the rising ground close by, where he could found his new city +under more favourable circumstances. He deliberated four or five months +on the matter, and at last decided in favour of the old site, giving as +his reason that "the city of Tenochtitln had become celebrated, its +position was wonderful, and in all times it had been considered as the +capital and mistress of all these provinces." + +The invaders were old hands at slave-driving, and so hard did they +drive the conquered Mexicans, that in four years there had arisen a +fine Spanish city, with massive stone houses of several storeys, having +the indispensable inner courts, flat roofs, and grated windows,--every +man's house literally his castle, when once the great iron +entrance-gates were closed. The Indians had, of course, been converted +en masse, and churches were being built in all directions. The great +pyramid where Huitzilopochtli, the God of war, was worshipped, had been +razed to the ground, and its great sculptured blocks of basalt were +sunk in the earth as a foundation for a cathedral. The old lines of the +streets, running toward the four points of the compass, were kept to; +and to this it is that the present Mexico is indebted for much of its +beauty. Most of the smaller canals were filled up, and the +thoroughfares widened for carriages, things of course unknown to the +Mexicans, who had no beasts of burden. In the suburbs the natives +settled themselves after their own fashion, baking adobes, large mud +bricks, in the sun, and building with them one-storey houses with flat +roofs, much as they do at the present day. And thus a new Mexico, +nearly the same as that we are now exploring, came to be planted in the +midst of the waters. Three centuries have elapsed since; the city has +grown larger, churches, convents, and public buildings have increased, +but the architectural character of the place has scarcely altered. It +is the situation that has changed. The lake of Tezcuco is four miles +off, though the causeways which once connected the city with the dry +land still exist, and have even been enlarged. They look like +railway-embankments crossing the low ground, and serve as dykes when +there is a flood, a casualty which still often happens. + +This change is interesting to the student of physical geography; and +Humboldt's account of the causes which have brought it about is full +and explicit. When Mexico had been built a few years, the frightful +inundations which threatened its very existence at length awoke the +Spaniards to a sense of the mistake that had been made in placing +themselves but a few feet above the lowest level of the valley, in such +a way that, from whatever point the flood might come, they were sure to +get the benefit of it. The Spanish authorities at home, with their +usual sagacity, sent over peremptory orders that the city should be +abandoned, and a new capital built at Tacubaya--a proposal something +like intimating to the inhabitants of Naples that their position, at +the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was most dangerous, and that they must +leave it and settle somewhere else. In those days the valley was a +complete basin, with no outlet--at least not one worth mentioning; and +the heavy tropical rains and the melted snow from the mountains, poured +vast quantities of water into it. Had the valley been at the level of +the sea, it would simply have become a great lake, surrounded by hills; +but at three thousand feet higher, the atmosphere is rarefied, and +evaporation goes on with such rapidity as to keep the accumulation of +water in check. So the affair had adjusted itself in this wise, that +the land and the five lakes should divide the valley about equally +between them. It became necessary to alter this state of things, and a +passage was cut at a place where the hills were but little above the +level of the highest lake. The history of this passage, the famous +"Desague de Huehuetoca," is instructive enough, but it has been written +so threadbare that I cannot touch it. Suffice it to say, that by this +means a constant outlet was made for the lake of Zumpango, the highest +of the five, and for the Rio de Guatitln, a stream which formerly ran +into it. + +So much for one cause of the change in the present appearance of the +city. Then the Spaniards were great cutters down of forests. They +rather liked to make their new country bear a resemblance to the arid +plains of Castile, where, when you arrive in Madrid, people ask you +whether you noticed _the tree_ on the road; and moreover, as they +wanted wood, they cut it, without troubling themselves to plant for the +benefit of future generations. Now, when the trees were cut down, the +small plants which grew in their shade died too, and left the bare +earth to serve as a kind of natural evaporating apparatus. And, between +these two causes, it has come to pass that the extent of the lakes has +been so much reduced, and that Mexico stands on the dry land--if, +indeed, that may be called dry land, where you cannot dig a foot +without coming to water. + +During the Tertiary period the whole valley of Mexico was one great +lake. Whether the proportion of water to land had adjusted itself +before the country was inhabited, or whether during historical times +the lakes were still gradually diminishing by the excess of evaporation +over the quantity of water supplied by rain and snow, is an open +question. At any rate the two causes I have mentioned will account for +the changes which have taken place since the conquest. + +Taking it as a whole, Mexico is a grand city, and, as Cortes truly +said, its situation is marvellous. But as for the buildings, I should +be sorry to inflict upon any one who may read these sketches, a +detailed description of any one of them. It is a thousand pities that, +just at the time when the Italians and Spaniards were most zealous in +church-building, so very questionable an architectural taste should +have been prevalent. + +The churches and convents in Mexico belong to that kind of renaissance +style that began to flourish in southern Europe in the sixteenth +century, and has held its ground there ever since. High faades abound, +with pilasters crowned by elaborate Corinthian capitals, forming a +curious contrast with the mean little buildings crouched behind the +tall front. In the doors of the churches outside, and the chapels +within, one is constantly coming upon that peculiar construction which +consists of what would be an arch, resting on two pillars, were not the +keystone wanting. Columns with shafts elaborately sculptured, and +twisted marble pillars of the bed-post pattern, are to be seen by +hundreds, very expensive in material and workmanship, but unfortunately +very ugly; while the numbers of puffy cherubs, inside and out, remind +the Englishman of the monuments of St. Paul's. + +As to the interior decoration of the churches, the richer ones are +crowded with incongruous ornaments to a wonderful degree. Gold, silver, +costly marbles, jewels, stucco, paint, tinsel, and frippery are all +mixed up together in the wildest manner. We found the inside of the +churches to be generally the worst part of them. The Cathedral, for +instance, is really a very grand building when seen from a little +distance, with its two high towers and its cupola behind. I was greatly +edified by finding it described in the last book of Mexican travels I +have read, as built in the purest Doric style. + +The Minera, or School of Mines, is a fine building, something after +the manner of Somerset House on a small scale. As for the famous Plaza +Mayor, the great square, it is a very great square indeed, large enough +to review an army in, and large enough to damage by its size the effect +of the cathedral, and to dwarf the other buildings that surround it +into mere insignificance. However, one thing is certain, that we have +not come all this way to see Spanish architecture and great squares, +but must look for something more characteristic. + +I have said we arrived in Mexico on the eve of Palm Sunday, and next +morning we proceeded to consult with one of our newly-made +acquaintances as to our prospects for the ensuing Holy Week. This +gentleman, a man who took a practical view of things, mentioned a +circumstance which led him to expect that the affair would go off with +clat. The Mexicans, both the nearly white Mestizos and the Indians of +pure race, delight in pulque. The brown people are grave and silent in +their sober state, but pulque stirs up their sluggish blood, and they +get into a condition of positive enjoyment. But very soon after this +comes a state of furious intoxication, and a general scuffle is a +common termination to a drinking-bout. Fortunately, the Indians are not +a bloodthirsty people; and, though every man carries a knife or +machete, or--if he can get nothing better--a bit of hoop-iron tempered, +sharpened, and fixed into a handle, yet nothing more serious than cuffs +and scratches generally ensues. Even if severe wounds are given, the +Indian has many chances in his favor, for his organization is somewhat +different from that of white men, and he recovers easily from wounds +that would kill any European outright. + +The lower orders of the half-breed population are also given to +pulque-drinking, but with far more serious consequences. Unlike the +pure Indians, they are a hot-blooded and excitable race, and +drunkenness with them is utter madness while it lasts. Knives are drawn +at the very beginning of a squabble, and scarcely an evening passes +without one or two bodies of men killed in these drunken mles being +carried to the Police Cuartel in the great square. On Sundays and +holidays the number increases; but on this Palm Sunday there were +fourteen, not killed in one great battle, but brought in by ones and +twos, from different parts of the city. It was this little piece of +statistics that induced our friend to conclude that the citizens of +Mexico had made up their minds to enjoy themselves thoroughly, and that +Holy Week would be a grand affair. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of +the Semana Santa have only this to distinguish them from ordinary days, +that the churches are crowded with men and women waiting their turn at +the confessional; and that in the afternoons the old promenade of Las +Vigas, down in the Indian quarter by the canal of Chalco, is patronized +by fashionable Mexico, which, except on some four or five special days, +frequents the new Alameda. The sight of these confessionals, so +constantly filled, prompts one to ask--why just before Easter? Just +after would be more appropriate; for as we find the Glasgow people much +worse on Sundays than on week-days, so the Mexican population, not very +virtuous at the best of times, are specially and particularly wicked +when the great Church-festivals come round. The name of Shrove Tuesday +survives in our Calendar, to remind us of the time when we also used to +go to be shriven before Easter. + +On Thursday at noon mass is over, the bells cease to ring, the organs +in the churches are silent, and all carriages disappear from the +streets, except the dusty Diligence which, like French law, "est +athe," and cares nothing for fasts or festivals. Now we come to +understand the wonderful wooden machine like a water-wheel, which was +put up yesterday on one tower of the Cathedral. We had asked people in +the great square, just below, what it was, but could get no answer +except that it was _la Matraca_, the rattle, for to-morrow. And now we +found that, the church bells being incapacitated, this rattle does duty +instead, striking the hours, and occasionally going off into furious +fits of clattering, without apparent reason, for ten minutes at a time, +till the two men who worked it, who were either convicts or soldiers in +fatigue-dress, were tired out. It was not this one rattle only that was +disturbing the public peace that day and the next. Everybody was +walking about with a rattle, and working it like mad, and all over the +city there was a noise like the sound of the back-scratchers at +Greenwich Fair, or of an American forest when the woodpeckers are busy. +These little rattles stand for Judas's bones, and all good Catholics +express in this odd way their desire to break them. They do the same +thing in Italy, but it is not so prominent a part of the celebration as +in Mexico, where old and young, rich and poor, all do their part in it. +As soon as we found out what it all meant, we bought matracas for +ourselves, and joined the rest of the world in their noisy occupation. +The breaking of his bones is but a preliminary measure. In the square a +fair is being held, in the booths of which the great articles of trade +now are Judas's bones, of many patterns, at all prices, and Judas +himself in pasteboard, who is to be carried about and insulted till +Saturday morning, and then, hanging up by a string, is to burst asunder +by means of a packet of powder and a slow match in his inside, and +finally to perish in a bonfire. + +The first sight of these pasteboard Judases convinced us of one thing, +that we had unexpectedly come upon the old custom, of which our +processions and burning of Guy Fawkes in England are merely an +adaptation. After giving up the old custom as a Popish rite, what a +bright idea to revive it in this new shape, and to give the boys +something to carry about, bang, blow up, and make a final bonfire of, +and all in the Protestant interest! There was another thing to be +noticed about the Judases. The makers had evidently tried to vary them +as much as they could; and, by that very means, had shown how +impossible it was to them to strike out anything new. There were two +types; one was the Neapolitan _Polichinello_, whom we have naturalised +as _Punch_; and the other the God _Pan_, with his horns, and hoofs, and +tail, whom the whole Christian world has recognised as the devil, for +these many ages. Well, some took one type and some the other; and a few +tried to combine the two, of course spoiling both. But, beyond this, +their power of invention could not go. They were always trying to +conceal the old idea, and could do no more than to distort it. We could +see through their flimsy pretensions to originality much as a +schoolmaster recognises the extracts from the encyclopaedia in his +boys' essays. + +As with this Judas trade, so it is with other more important arts and +sciences in this country. The old types descend, almost unchanged, from +generation to generation. Everything that is really Mexican is either +Aztec or Spanish. Among the Spanish types we may separate the Moorish. +Our knowledge of Mexico is not sufficient to enable us to analyse the +Aztec civilization, so we must be content with these three classes. I +will not go further into the question here, for occasions will +continually occur to show how--for three centuries at least--the +inhabitants of Mexico, both white and brown, have taken their ideas at +second-hand, always copying but never developing anything. + +All this time my companion and I have been walking about the streets; +in evening-dress, as the etiquette of the place demands, on these three +days, from the "better classes." The Mexican ladies may be +advantageously studied just now in their church-going black silk dress +and mantilla, one of the most graceful costumes in the world. It is not +often that one has the chance of seeing them out of doors, except +hurrying to and from Mass in the morning, or in carriages on the +Alameda; but on these festival days one meets them by hundreds. They do +not contrast favorably with the ladies of Cadiz and Seville. The +mixture of Aztec blood seems to have detracted from the beauty of the +Spanish race; the dryness of the atmosphere spoils their complexions; +and the monstrous quantity of capsicums that are consumed at every meal +cannot possibly leave the Mexican digestion in its proper state. + +We dined that day with Don Jos de A., who, though Spanish-American by +birth, was English by education and feeling, and had known my +companion's family well. Our dinner was half English, half Mexican; and +the favourite dishes of the country were there, to aid in our +initiation into Mexican manners and customs. The cooks at the inns, +mindful of our foreign origin, had dealt out the red pepper with a +sparing hand; but to-day the dish of "mole" was the genuine article, +and the first mouthful set as coughing and gasping for breath, while +the tears streamed down our faces, and Don Pepe and Don Pancho gravely +continued their dinner, assuring us that we should get quite to like it +in time. _Pepe_ and _Pancho_, by the way, are short for Jos and +Francisco. Dinner over, it was time to visit the churches, to which +people crowd by thousands, this evening and to-morrow, to see the +monuments, as they are called. Pancho departed, being on duty as escort +to his sisters; and we having, by Pepe's advice, left our watches and +valuables in his room, and put our handkerchiefs in our breast-pockets, +started with him. Mr. Christy, always on the look-out for a new seed or +plant, had taken possession of the seeds of two _mameis_, which are +fleshy fruits--as big as cocoa-nuts--each containing a hard smooth seed +as large as a hen's egg. These not being of great value, he put one in +each tail-pocket of his coat. When we got out, we found the streets +full of people, hurrying from one church to another, anxious to get as +many as possible visited in the evening. We went first to the monastery +of San Francisco, close to our hotel, the largest, and perhaps the +richest convent in the country. Entering through a great gate, we find +ourselves in a large courtyard, full of people, who are visiting--one +after another--the four churches which the establishment contains, +going in at one door and out at the other. At the door of the largest +church, stands a tall monk, soliciting customers for the rosaries of +olive-wood, crosses, and medals from Jerusalem, which are displayed on +a stall close by--shouting in a stentorian voice, every two or three +minutes, "He who gives alms to Holy Church, shall receive plenary +indulgence, and deliver one soul from purgatory." We bought some, but +there did not seem to be many other purchasers. Indeed, we found, when +we had been longer in the country, that a few pence would buy all sorts +of church indulgences, from the permission to eat meat on fast-days up +to plenary absolution in the hour of death; and the trade, once so +flourishing here, is almost used up. The churches were hung with black, +and lighted up; and in each was a "monument," a kind of bower of green +branches decorated with flowers, mirror's, and gold and silver +church-plate, and supposed to stand for the Garden of Gethsemane. +Inside was reclining a wax figure of our Saviour, gaudily dressed in +silk and velvet; and there were also representations of the Last +Supper, with wax-work figures as large as life. To visit and criticise +these "monuments" was the object of the sort of pilgrimage people were +making from church to church, and they seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. +It was not a superfluous precaution that we had taken, in leaving our +valuables in a place of safety, for, on our exit from the first church, +we found that Pepe had lost his handkerchief and a cigar-case, which he +had stowed away in an inner pocket, and Mr. Christy had been relieved +of one of his mamei seeds by some "lepero" who probably took it for a +snuff-box. His feelings must have been like those of the English +pickpocket in Paris, when he robbed the Frenchman of the article he had +pocketed with so much care, and found it was a lump of sugar. And so +relieved of further care for our worldly goods, we went through with +the work of seeing monuments, till we were tired and disgusted with the +whole affair, and at last went home to bed. + +Next day, appropriate sermons in the churches, processions in the +afternoon, in which wax figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary were +carried by men got up in fancy dresses as soldiers and centurions, and +so called penitents, walking covered with black shrouds and veils, with +small round holes to look through, or in the yellow dress and +extinguisher cap, both with flames and devils painted on them. These +are exactly the costumes worn in old times, the first by the familiars +of the Inquisition, and the second by the criminals it condemned; and +the sight of them set us thinking of the processions they used to +figure in, when the Holy Office was flourishing at Santo Domingo, a +little way down the street where we are standing. + +In the evening the Crucifixion is represented in wax in the churches, +and the visiting goes on as the night before; and the next morning is +the Sbado de Gloria, the Saturday which ends Lent. We go to the +Jesuits' church in the morning to hear the last sermon. Since Thursday +at noon, as the organs have been silenced, harps and violins have taken +their places. The sermon is long and prosy, and we rejoice that it is +the last. Then the service of the day goes on until they come to the +"Gloria in excelsis." The organ peals out again, the black +curtain--which has hidden the high altar--parts in the middle, and +displays a perfect blaze of gold and jewels: all the bells in the city +begin to ring: the carriages, which have been waiting ready harnessed +in court yards, pour out into the streets: the lumbering hackney +coaches go racing to the great square, striving to get the first fare +for luck: the Judases, which have been hanging all the morning out of +windows and across streets, are set light to as the first bell begins +to ring, and fizzing and popping burst all to pieces, and then are +thrown into a heap in the street, where a bonfire is made of them, and +the children join hands and dance round it. So Holy Week ends. + +[Illustration: THE PORTER AND THE BAKER IN MEXICO. (From Models made by +Native Artists)] + +The arrangement of the day in Mexico is this. Early in the morning your +servant knocks at your door, and brings in a little cup of coffee or +chocolate and a small roll, which _desayuno_--literally breakfast--you +discuss while dressing. Going down into the courtyard, you find your +horse waiting for you, and off you go for an hour or two's ride, and +back to a dejeuner--la-fourchette somewhere between ten and one +o'clock. Then you have seven or eight hours before dinner, so that a +good deal of work may be got into a day so divided. Things are managed +very differently in country places, but this is the fashion in the +capital among the higher class, that is, of course, the class of people +who put on dress-coats in the evening. + +When we had been a day or two in Mexico, we took our first ride to +Tacubaya and Chapultepec. Mexican saddles and bridles were a novelty to +us, but when we come to describe our Mexican and his appurtenances it +will be time enough to speak of them. + +The barricades in the streets constructed during the last revolution of +two or three weeks back had not yet been removed, but an opening at one +side allowed men and horses to get past. Carriages had to go round, an +easy matter in a city built as this is in squares like a chess-board. +The barricades mount two guns each, and as the streets are quite +straight they can sweep them in both directions, to the whole length of +their range. As in Turin, you can look backward and forward along the +straight streets from every part of the city, and see mountains at each +end. The suburbs of the city are quite as repulsive as our first +glimpse of them led us to expect; and, as far as one could judge by the +appearance of the half-caste inhabitants, it is not good to go there +alone after dark. Here is the end of the aqueduct of Chapultepec, the +Salto del Agua; and--crowded round it--a thoroughly characteristic +group of women and water-carriers, filling their great earthen jars +with water, which they carry about from house to house. The women are +simply and cheaply dressed, and though not generally pretty, are very +graceful in their movements. Their dress consists of a white cotton +under-dress, a coloured cotton skirt, generally blue, brown, or grey, +with some small pattern upon it, but never brilliant in colour, and a +rebozo, which is a small sober-coloured cotton shawl, long and narrow. +This rebozo passes over the back of the head, where it is somehow fixed +to a back hair-comb, and the two ends hang down over the shoulders in +front; or, more often, one end is thrown over the opposite shoulder, so +that the young lady's face is set in it, like a picture in a frame. Add +to this a springy step, the peculiarly unconstrained movement in +walking which comes of living in the open air and wearing a loose +dress, a pleasant pale face, small features, bright eyes, small hands +and feet, little slippers and no stockings, and you have as good a +picture of a Mexican half-caste girl as I can give. A book of Mexican +engravings, however, will give a much better idea of her. Then we went +past the great prison, the Acordada, and out at the gate (we had +purposely gone out of our way to see more of the city), and so into the +great promenade, the Paseo or Alameda. The latter is the Spanish name +for this necessary appendage to every town. It comes from _lamo_, +which means a poplar. Imagine a long wide level road, a mile or so +long, generally so chosen as to have a fine view, with footpaths on +each side, lines of poplar trees, a fountain at each end and a statue +in the middle, and this description will stand pretty nearly for almost +every promenade of the kind I have seen in Spain or Spanish America. + +[Illustration: WATER-CARRIER AND A MEXICAN WOMAN, AT THE FOUNTAIN.] + +Tacubaya is a pleasant place on the side of the first hills that begin +to rise towards the mountain-wall of the valley. Here rich Mexicans +have country-houses in large gardens, which are interesting from the +immense variety of plants which grow there, though badly kept up, and +systematically stripped by the gardeners of the fruit as it gets +ripe--for their own benefit, of course. From Tacubaya we go to +Chapultepec (Grasshopper Mountain), which is a volcanic hill of +porphyry rising from the plain. On the top is the palace on which the +viceroy Galvez expended great sums of money some seventy years ago, +making it into a building which would serve either as a palace or as a +fortress in cases of emergency. Though the Americans charged up the +hill and carried it easily in '47, it would be a very strong place in +proper hands. It is a military school now. On the hill is the famous +grove of cypresses--ahuehuetes[5]--as they are called, grand trees with +their branches hung with fringes of the long grey Spanish moss--barba +Espaola--Spanish beard. I do not know what painters think of the +effect of this moss, trailing in long festoons from the branches of the +trees, but to me it is beautiful; and I shall never forget where I +first saw it, on a bayou of the Mississippi, winding through the depths +of a great forest in the swamps of Louisiana.[6] In this grove of +Chapultepec, there were sculptured on the side of the hill, in the +solid porphyry, likenesses of the two Montezumas, colossal in size. For +some reason or other, I forget now what, one of the last Spanish +viceroys thought it desirable to destroy them, and tried to blow them +up with gunpowder. He only partially succeeded, for the two great +bas-reliefs were still very distinguishable as we rode past, though +noseless and considerably knocked about. + +We went home to breakfast with our friends, and looked at the +title-deeds of their house in crabbed Spanish of the sixteenth century, +and the great Chinese treasure-chest, still used as the strong-box of +the firm, with an immense lock, and a key like the key of Dover castle. +Fine old Chinese jars, and other curiosities, are often to be found in +Mexico; and they date from the time when the great galleon from Manila, +which was called "el nao"--the ship--to distinguish it from all other +ships, came once a year to Acapulco. + +After breakfast, business hours begin; so we took ourselves off to +visit the canal of Chalco, and the famous floating gardens--as they are +called. On our way we had a chance of studying the conveyances our +ancestors used to ride in, and availed ourselves of it. In books on +Spanish America, written at the beginning of this century, there are +wonderful descriptions of the gilt coaches, with six or eight mules, in +which the great folks used to drive in state on the promenades. They +are exactly the carriages that it was the height of a lady's ambition +to ride in, in the days of Sir Charles Grandison, and Mr. Tom Jones. +Here, in Mexico, they were still to be found, after they had +disappeared from the rest of the habitable globe; and even now, though +the private carriages are all of a more modern type, there are still +left a few of these amazing vehicles, now degraded to the cab-stand; +and we got into one that was embellished with sculptured Cupids--their +faces as much mutilated as the two Montezumas--and with the remains of +the painting and gilding, which once covered the whole affair, just +visible in corners, like the colouring of the ceilings of the Alhambra. +We had to climb up three high steps, and haul ourselves into the body +of the coach, which hung on strong leather straps; springs belong to a +later period. By the time we had got to the Paseo de las Vigas we were +glad enough to get out, wondering at the sacrifice of comfort to +dignity those highly respectable grandees must have made, and not +surprised at the fate of some inquisitive travellers who have done as +we did, and have been obliged to stop by the qualms of sea-sickness. At +the bridge we chartered a canoe to Santa Anita. This Santa Anita is a +little Indian village on the canal of Chalco, and to-day there is to be +a festival there. For this, however, we shall be too early, as we have +to be back in time to see Mexico turn out for a promenade on the Paseo +de las Vigas, and then to go out to dinner. So we must just take the +opportunity of looking at the Indian population as they go up and down +the canal in canoes, and see their gardens and their houses. However, +as the Indian notion of a festival consists in going to mass in the +morning, and getting drunk and fighting in the afternoon, we are +perhaps as well out of it. We took our passage to Santa Anita and back +in a canoe--a mere flat-bottomed box with sloping sides, made of boards +put together with wooden pegs. There was a mat at the stern for us to +squat upon, and an awning over our heads. An old Indian and his son +were the crew; and they had long poles, which they set against the +banks or the bottom of the shallow canal, and so pushed us along. +Besides these two, an old woman with two little girls got in, as we +were starting--without asking our leave, by the way--and sat down at +the other end of the canoe. Of course, the old woman began to busy +herself with the two little girls, in the usual occupation of old women +here, during their idle moments; and though she left off at our earnest +request, she evidently thought us very crotchety people for objecting. + +The scene on the canal was a curious one. There were numbers of boats +going up and down; and the Indians, as soon as they caught sight of an +acquaintance, began to shout out a long string of complimentary +phrases, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in Mexican: "How is your +worship this morning?" "I trust that I have the happiness of seeing +your worship in good health." "If there is anything I can have the +honour of doing for your worship, pray dispose of me," and so forth; +till they are out of hearing. All this is accompanied by a taking-off +of hats, and a series of low bows and complimentary grimaces. As far as +we could ascertain, it is all mere matter of ceremony. It may be an +exaggeration of the formal, complimentary talk of the Spaniards, but +its origin probably dates further back. + +The Indians here no longer appeared the same dull, melancholy men whom +we had seen in the richer quarter of the town. There they were under a +strong feeling of constraint, for their language is not understood by +the whites and mestizos; and they, for their part, know but little +Spanish; and besides, there is very little sympathy between the two +classes. One thing will shew this clearly enough. By a distinct line of +demarcation, the Indians are separated from the rest of the population, +who are at least partly white. These latter call themselves "gente de +razn"--people of reason,--to distinguish themselves from the Indians, +who are people without reason. In common parlance the distinction is +made thus: the whites and mixed breed are "gente"--_people_,--the brown +men being merely "Indios"--Indians--and not people at all. + +Here, in their own quarter, and among their own people, they seem +talkative enough. We can only tell what they are chattering about when +they happen to speak Spanish, either for our benefit, or to show off +their proficiency in that tongue. People who can speak the Aztec +language say that their way of forming compound words gives constant +occasion for puns and quibbles, and that the talk of the Indians is +full of such small jokes. In this respect they differ exceedingly from +the Spaniards, whose jests are generally about _things_, and seldom +about their _names_, as one sees by their almost always bearing +translation into other languages. + +Most of the canoes were tastefully decorated with flowers, for the +Aztecs have not lost their old taste for ornamenting themselves, and +everything about them, with garlands and nosegays. The fruits and +vegetables they were carrying to market were very English in their +appearance. Mexico is supplied with all kinds of tropical fruits, which +come from a distance; but the district we are now in only produces +plants which might grow in our own country--barley, potatoes, cabbages, +parsnips, apples, pears, plums, peaches, and so forth, but scarcely +anything tropical in its character. One thing surprises us, that the +Indians, in a climate where the mornings and evenings are often very +chilly, should dress so scantily. The men have a general appearance of +having outgrown their clothes; for the sleeves of the kind of +cotton-shirt they wear only reach to their elbows, and their trousers, +of the same material, only fall to their knees. To these two garments +add a sort of blanket, thrown over the shoulders, a pair of sandals, +and a palm-leaf hat, and the man is dressed. His skin is brown, his +limbs muscular--especially his legs--his lips thick, his nose Jewish, +his hair coarse, black, and hanging straight down. The woman's dress is +as simple as the man's. She has on a kind of cotton sack, very short in +the sleeves, and very open at the shoulders, and some sort of a skirt +or petticoat besides. Sometimes she has a folded cotton cloth on her +head, like a Roman contadina; but, generally, nothing covers her thick +black hair, which hangs down behind in long twisted tails. + +In old times, when Mexico was in the middle of a great lake, and the +inhabitants were not strong enough to hold land on the shores, they +were driven to strange shifts to get food. Among other expedients, they +took to making little floating islands, which consisted of rafts of +reeds and brushwood, on which they heaped mud from the shores of the +lakes. On the banks of the lake of Tezcuco the mud was, at first, too +full of salt and soda to be good for cultivation; but by pouring the +water of the lake upon it, and letting it soak through, they dissolved +out most of the salts, and the island was fit for cultivation, and bore +splendid crops of vegetables.[7] These islands were called _chinampas_, +and they were often large enough for the proprietor to build a hut in +the middle, and live in it with his family. In later times, when the +Mexicans came to be no longer afraid of their neighbours, the chinampas +were not of much use; and when the water was drained off, and the city +stood on dry land, one would have supposed that such a troublesome and +costly arrangement would have been abandoned. The Mexican, however, is +hard to move from the customs of his ancestors; and we have Humboldt's +word for it, that in his time there were some of these artificial +islands still in the lake of Chalco, which the owners towed about with +a rope, or pushed with a long pole. They are all gone now, at any rate, +though the name of _chinampa_ is still applied to the gardens along the +canal. These gardens very much resemble the floating islands in their +construction of mud, heaped on a foundation of reeds and branches; and +though they are not the real thing, and do not float, they are +interesting, as the present representatives of the famous Mexican +floating gardens. They are narrow strips of land, with a frontage of +four or five yards to the canal, and a depth of one hundred, or a +hundred and fifty yards. Between the strips are open ditches; and one +principal occupation of the proprietor seems to be bringing up mud from +the bottom of the ditch with a wooden shovel, and throwing it on the +garden, in places where it has sunk. The reason of the narrowness of +the strips is that he may be able to throw mud all over them from the +ditches on either side. + +While we are busy observing all these matters, and questioning our +boatmen about them, we reach Santa Anita. Here there are swampy lanes +and more swampy gardens, a little village of Indian houses, three or +four pulque-shops, and a church. Outside the pulque-shops are +fresco-paintings, representing Aztec warriors carousing, and draining +great bowls of pulque. These were no specimens of Aztec art, however, +but seemed to be copied (by some white or half-caste sign-painter, +probably) from the French coloured engravings which represent the +events of the Conquest. These extraordinary works of art are to be seen +everywhere in this country, where, of all places in the world, one +would have thought that people would have noticed that the artist had +not the faintest idea of what an Aztec was like, but supposed that his +limbs and face and hair were like an European's. Here, with the real +Aztec standing underneath, the difference was striking enough. One +ought not to be too critical about these things, however, when one +remembers the pictures of shepherds and shepherdesses that adorn our +English farmhouses. We drank pulque at the sign of _The Cacique_, and +liked it, for we had now quite got over our aversion to its putrid +taste and smell. I wonder that our new faculty of pulque-drinking did +not make us able to relish the suspicious eggs that abound in Mexican +inns, but it had no such effect, unfortunately. + +Our canoe took us back to the Promenade of Las Vigas, which is a long +drive, planted with rows of trees, and extends along the last mile or +two of the canal. Indeed, its name comes from the beam (Viga) which +swings across the canal at the place where the canoes pay toll. This +was the great promenade, once upon a time; but the new Alameda has +taken away all the promenaders to a more fashionable quarter, except on +certain festival days, three or four times in the year, when it is the +correct thing for society to make a display of itself--on horseback or +in carriages--in this neglected Indian quarter. We had happened upon +one of these festival days; so, as we crawled along the side-path, +tired and dusty, we had a good opportunity of seeing the Mexican beau +monde. The display of really good carriages was extraordinary; but it +must be recollected that many families here are content to live +miserably enough at home, if they can manage to appear in good style at +the theatre and on the promenade. This is one reason why so many of the +Mexicans who are so friendly with you out of doors, and in the cafs, +are so very shy of letting you see the inside of their houses. They +say, and very likely it is true, that among the richer classes, it is +customary to put a stipulation in the marriage-contracts, that the +husband shall keep a carriage and pair, and a box at the theatre, for +his wife's benefit. The horsemen turned out in great style, and the +foreigners were fully represented among them. It was noticeable that +while these latter generally adopted the high-peaked saddle, and the +jacket, and broad-brimmed felt hat of the country, and looked as though +the new arrangements quite suited them, the native dandies, on the +other hand, were prone to dressing in European fashion, and sitting +upon English saddles--in which they looked neither secure nor +comfortable. + +We walked home past the old Bull-ring, now replaced by a new one near +the new promenade, and found, to our surprise, that in this quarter of +the town many of the streets were under water. We knew that the level +of the lake of Tezcuco had been raised by a series of three very wet +seasons, but had no idea that things had got so far as this. Of course +the ground-floors had to be abandoned, and the people had made a raised +pathway of planks along the street, and adopted various contrivances +for getting dryshod up to their first floors; and in some places canoes +were floating in the street. The city looked like this some two hundred +years ago, when Martinez the engineer tried an unfortunate experiment +with his draining tunnel at Huehuetoca, and flooded the whole city for +five years. It was by the interference, they tell us, of the patroness +of the Indians, our Lady of Guadalupe, who was brought from her own +temple on purpose, that the city was delivered from the impending +destruction. A number of earthquakes took place, which caused the +ground to split in large fissures, down which the superfluous water +disappeared. For none of her many miracles has the Virgin of Guadalupe +got so much credit as for this. To be sure, it is not generally +mentioned in orthodox histories of the affair, that she was brought to +the capital a year or two before the earthquakes happened. + +Talking of earthquakes, it is to be remembered that we are in a +district where they are of continual occurrence. If one looks carefully +at a line of houses in a street, it is curious to see how some walls +slope inwards, and some outwards, and some are cracked from top to +bottom. There is hardly a church-tower in Mexico that is not visibly +out of the perpendicular. Any one who has noticed how the walls of the +Cathedral of Pisa have been thrown out of the perpendicular by the +settling down of the foundations, will have an idea of the general +appearance of the larger buildings of Mexico. On different occasions the +destruction caused by earthquakes has been very great. By the way, the +liability of Mexico to these shocks, explains the peculiarity of the +building of the houses. A modern English town with two-or-three-storied +houses, with their thin brick walls, would be laid in ruins by a shock +which would hardly affect Mexico. Here, the houses of several storeys +have stone walls of such thickness that they resist by sheer strength; +and the one-storey mud houses, in the suburbs, are too low to suffer +much by being shaken about. A few days before we arrived here, our +friends Pepe and Pancho were playing at billiards in the Lonja,[8] the +Merchants' Exchange; and Pepe described to us the feeling of utter +astonishment with which he saw his ball, after striking the other, +go suddenly off at an absurd angle into a pocket. The shock of an +earthquake had tilted the table up on one side. While we were in +Mexico there was a slight shock, which set the chandeliers swinging, +but we did not even notice it. In April, a solemn procession goes from +the Cathedral, on a day marked in the Calendar as the "Patrocinio de +Seor San Jose", to implore the "Santissimo Patriarca" to protect the +city from earthquakes (temblores). In connection with this subject +there is an opinion, so generally received in Mexico that it is worth +notice. Everybody there, even the most educated people, will tell you +that there is an earthquake-season, which occurs in January or +February; and that the shocks are far more frequent than at any other +time of the year. My impression is that this is all nonsense; but I +should like to test it with a list of the shocks that have been felt, +if such a thing were to be had. It does not follow that, because +the Mexicans have such frequent opportunities of trying the question, +they should therefore have done so. In fact, experience as to popular +beliefs in similar matters rather points the other way. I recollect +that in the earthquake districts of southern Italy, when shocks were of +almost daily occurrence, people believed that they were more frequent +in the middle four hours of the night, from ten to two, than at other +times. Of course, this proved on examination to be quite without +foundation. To take one more case in point. How many of our +almanack-books, even the better class of them, contain prophecies of +wet and fine weather, deduced from the moon's quarters! How long will +it be before we get rid of this queer old astrological superstition? + +We made a few rough observations of the thermometer and barometer +during our stay in Mexico. The barometer stands at about 22-1/2 inches, +and our thermometer gave the boiling point of water at 199 degrees. We +could never get eggs well boiled in the high lands, and attributed +this, whether rightly or not I cannot say, to the low temperature of +boiling water. + +[Illustration: GROUP OF ECCLESIASTICS, MEXICO.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +TACUBAYA. PACHUCA. REAL DEL MONTE. + +We went one morning to the house of our friend Don Pepe, and were +informed by the servant as we entered the courtyard that the nio, the +child, was up stairs waiting for us. "The Child" seemed an odd term to +apply to a young man of five and twenty. The young ladies, in the same +way are called the nias, and keep the appellation until they marry. + +We went off with the nio to his uncle's house at Tacubaya, on the +rising ground above Mexico. In the garden there we found a vegetation +such as one would find in southern Europe--figs, olives, peaches, +roses, and many other European trees and flowers--growing luxuriantly, +but among them the passion-flower, which produces one of the most +delicious of fruits, the granadita, and other semi-tropical plants. The +live creatures in the garden, however, were anything but European in +their character. There were numbers of immense butterflies of the most +brilliant colours; and the garden was full of hummingbirds, darting +backwards and forwards with wonderful swiftness, and dipping their long +beaks into the flowers. They call them chupa-mirtos--myrtle-suckers, +and the Indians take them by blowing water upon them from a cane, and +catching them before they have recovered from the shock. One day we +bought a cage full of them, and tried to keep them alive in our room by +feeding them with sugar and water, but the poor little things pined +away. In old times the Mexicans were famous for their ornaments of +humming-bird's feathers. The taste with which they arranged feathers of +many shades of colour, excited the admiration of the conquerors; and +the specimens we may still see in museums are beautiful things, and +their great age has hardly impaired the brilliancy of their tints. This +curious art was practised by the highest nobility, and held in great +esteem, just as working tapestry used to be in Europe, only that the +feather-work was mostly done by men. It is a lost art, for one cannot +take much account of such poor things as are done now, in which, +moreover, the designs are European. In this garden at Tacubaya we saw +for the first time the praying Mantis, and caught him as he sat in his +usual devotional attitude. His Spanish name is "el predicador," the +preacher. + +We got back to Mexico in time for the Corrida de Toros. The bull-ring +was a large one, and there were many thousands of people there; but as +to the spectacle itself, whether one took it upon its merits, or merely +compared it with the bull-fights of Old Spain, it was disgusting. The +bulls were cautious and cowardly, and could hardly be got to fight; and +the matadors almost always failed in killing them; partly through want +of skill, partly because it is really harder to kill a quiet bull than +a fierce one who runs straight at his assailant. To fill up the measure +of the whole iniquitous proceeding, they brought in a wretch in a white +jacket with a dagger, to finish the unfortunate beasts which the +matador could not kill in the legitimate way. It was evidently quite +the regular thing, for the spectators expressed no surprise at it. + +After the bull-fight proper was finished, there came two or three +supplementary performances, which were genuinely Mexican, and very well +worth seeing. A very wild bull was turned into the ring, where two +lazadores, on beautiful little horses, were waiting for him. The bull +set off at full speed after one of the riders, who cantered easily +ahead of him; and the other, leisurely untying his lazo, hung it over +his left arm, and then, taking the end in his light hand, let the cord +fall through the loop into a running noose, which he whirled two or +three times round his head, and threw it so neatly that it settled +gently down over the bull's neck. In a moment the other end of the cord +was wound several times round the pummel of the saddle, and the little +horse set off at full speed to get ahead of the bull. But the first +rider had wheeled round, thrown his lazo upon the ground, and just as +the bull stepped within the noose, whipped it up round his hind leg, +and galloped off in a contrary direction. Just as the first lazo +tightened round his neck, the second jerked him by the leg, and the +beast rolled helplessly over in the sand. Then they got the lazos off, +no easy matter when one isn't accustomed to it, and set him off again, +catching him by hind legs or fore legs just as they pleased, and +inevitably bringing him down, till the bull was tired out and no longer +resisted. Then they both lazo'd him over the horns, and galloped him +out, amid the cheers of the spectators. The amusements finished with +the "colear." This is quite peculiar to Mexico, and is done on this +wise. The coleador rides after the bull, who has an idea that something +is going to happen, and gallops off as fast as he can go, throwing out +his hind legs in his awkward bullish fashion. Now, suppose you are the +coleador, sitting in your peaked Mexican saddle, that rises behind and +before, and keeps you in your seat without an effort on your part. You +gallop after the bull, and when you come up with him, you pull as hard +as you can to keep your horse back; for, if he is used to the sport, as +almost all Mexican horses are, he is wild to get past, not noticing +that his rider has got no hold of the toro. Well, you are just behind +the bull, a little to the left of him, and out of the way of his hind +legs, which will trip your horse up if you don't take care; you take +your right foot out of the stirrup, catch hold of the end of the bull's +tail (which is very long), throw your leg over it, and so twist the end +of the tail round your leg below the knee. You have either got the +bridle between your teeth or have let it go altogether, and with your +left hand you give your horse a crack with the whip; he goes forward +with a bound, and the bull, losing his balance by the sudden jerk +behind, rolls over on the ground, and gets up, looking very +uncomfortable. The faster the bull gallops, the easier it is to throw +him over; and two boys of twelve or fourteen years of age coleared a +couple of young bulls in the arena, in great style, pitching them over +in all directions. The farmers and landed proprietors are immensely +fond of both these sports, which the bulls--by the way--seem to dislike +most thoroughly; but this exhibition in the bull-ring was better than +what one generally sees, and the leperos were loud in their expressions +of delight. + +When we had been a week or two in the city of Mexico, we decided upon +making an excursion to the great silver mining district of the Real del +Monte. Some of our English friends were leaving for England, and had +engaged the whole of the Diligence to Pachuca, going from thence up to +the Real, and thence to Tampico, with all the pomp and circumstance of +a train of carriages and an armed escort. We were invited to go with +them as far as Pachuca; and accordingly we rose very early on the 28th +of March, got some chocolate under difficulties, and started in the +Diligence, seven grown-up people, and a baby, who was very good, and +was spoken of and to as "leoncito." On the high plateaus of Mexico, the +children of European parents grow up as healthy and strong as at home; +it is only in the districts at a lower elevation above the sea, on the +coasts for instance, that they do not thrive. Mr. G., who was leaving +Mexico, was the head of a great merchant-house, and it was as a +compliment to him and Mrs. G. that we were accompanied by a party of +English horsemen for the first two or three leagues. Englishmen take +much more easily to Mexican ways about horses than the Mexicans do to +ours, and a finer turn-out of horses and riders than our amateur escort +could hardly have been found in Mexico. There was our friend Don +Guillermo, who rode a beautiful horse that had once belonged to the +captain of a band of robbers, and had not its equal in the city for +swiftness; and Don Juan on his splendid little brown horse Pancho, +lazoing stray mules as he went, and every now and then galloping into a +meadow by the roadside after a bull, who was off like a shot the moment +he heard the sound of hoofs. I wonder whether I shall ever see them +again, those jovial open-hearted countrymen of ours. At last our +companions said good-bye, and loaded pistols were carefully arranged on +the centre cushion in case of an attack, much to the edification of my +companion and myself, as it rather implied that, if fighting were to be +done, we two should have to sit inside to be shot at without a chance +of hitting anybody in return. + +The hedges of the Organ Cactus are a feature in the landscape of the +plains, and we first saw them to perfection on the road between Mexico +and Pachuca. This plant, the Cereus hexagonus, grows in Italy in the +open air, but seems not to be turned to account anywhere except in +Mexico for the purpose to which it is particularly suited. In its wild +state it grows like a candelabrum, with a thick trunk a few feet high, +from the top of which it sends out shoots, which, as soon as they have +room, rise straight upwards in fluted pillars fifteen or twenty feet in +height. Such a plant, with pillars rising side by side and almost +touching one another, has a curious resemblance to an organ with its +pipes, and thence its name "rgano." + +To make a fence, they break off the straight lateral shoots, of the +height required, and plant them closely side by side, in a trench, +sufficiently deep to ensure their standing firmly; and it is a curious +sight to see a labourer bearing on his shoulder one of these vegetable +pillars, as high as himself, and carefully guarding himself against its +spines. A hedge perfectly impassable is obtained at once; the cactus +rooting so readily, that it is rare to see a gap where one has died. +The villagers surround their gardens with these fences of cactus, which +often line the road for miles together. Foreigners used to point out +such villages to us, and remark that they seemed "well organized," a +small joke which unfortunately bears translation into all ordinary +European languages, and was inflicted without mercy upon us as new +comers. + +We reached Pachuca early in the afternoon, and took up our quarters in +the inn there, and our friends went on to Real del Monte. + +This little town of Pachuca has long been a place of some importance in +the world, as regards mining-operations. The Aztecs worked silver-mines +here, as well as at Tasco, long before the Spaniards came, and they +knew how to smelt the ore. It is true that, if no better process than +smelting were known now, most of the mines would scarcely be worth +working; but still, to know how to extract silver at all was a great +step; and indeed at that time, and for long after the Conquest, there +was no better method known in Europe. It was in this very place that a +Spaniard, Medina by name, discovered the process of amalgamation with +mercury, in the year 1557, some forty years after the invasion. We went +to see the place where he first worked his new process, and found it +still used as a "hacienda de beneficio" (establishment for extracting +silver from the ore.) So few discoveries in the arts have come out of +Mexico, or indeed out of any Spanish colony, that we must make the most +of this really very important method, which is more extensively used +than any other, both in North and South America. As for the rest of the +world, it produces, comparatively, so little silver, that it is +scarcely worth taking into account. + +We had forgotten, when we went to bed, that we were nearly seven +hundred feet higher than Mexico; but had the fact brought to our +remembrance by waking in the middle of the night, feeling very cold, +and finding our thermometer marking 40 degrees Fahr.; whereupon we +covered ourselves with cloaks, and the cloaks with the strips of carpet +at our bedsides, and went to sleep again. + +We had hired, of the French landlord, two horses and a mozo to guide +us, and sorry hacks they were when we saw them in the morning. It was +delightful to get a little circulation into our veins by going at the +best gallop our horses would agree to; for we were fresh from hot +countries, and not at all prepared for having our hands and feet numbed +with cold, and being as hoarse as ravens--for the sore throat which is +the nuisance of the district, and is very severe upon new comers, had +not spared us. Evaporation is so rapid at this high altitude that if +you wet the back of your hand it dries almost instantly, leaving a +smart sensation of cold. One may easily suppose, that when people have +been accustomed to live under the ordinary pressure of the air, their +throats and lungs do not like being dried up at this rate; besides +their having, on account of the rarity of the air, to work harder in +breathing, in order to get in the necessary quantity of oxygen. + +Coughs seem very common here, especially among the children, though +people look strong and healthy, but in the absence of proper statistics +one cannot undertake to say whether the district is a healthy one or +not. + +For a wonder we have a good road, and this simply because the Real del +Monte Company wanted one, and made it for themselves. How unfortunate +all Spanish countries are in roads, one of the most important first +steps towards civilization! When one has travelled in Old Spain, one +can imagine that the colonists did not bring over very enlightened +ideas on the subject; and as the Mexicans were not allowed to hold +intercourse with any other country, it is easy to explain why Mexico is +all but impassable for carriages. But if the money--or half of it--that +has been spent in building and endowing churches and convents had been +devoted to road-making, this might have been a great and prosperous +country. + +For some three hours we rode along among porphyritic mountains, getting +higher at every turn, and enjoying the clear bright air. Now and then +we met or passed a long recua (train) of loaded mules, taking care to +keep the safe side of the road till we were rid of them. It is not +pleasant to meet a great drove of horned cattle in an Alpine pass, but +I really think a recua of loaded mules among the Andes is worse. A +knowing old beast goes first, and the rest come tumbling after him +anyhow, with their loads often projecting a foot or two on either side, +and banging against anybody or anything. Then, wherever the road is +particularly narrow, and there is a precipice of two or three hundred +feet to fall over, one or two of them will fall down, or get their +packs loose, and so block up the road, and there is a general scrimmage +of kicking and shoving behind, till the arrieros can get things +straight again. At last we reach the top of a ridge, and see the little +settlement of Real del Monte below us. It is more like a Cornish mining +village than anything else; but of course the engine-houses, chimneys, +and mine-sheds, built by Cornishmen in true Cornish fashion, go a long +way towards making up the resemblance. The village is built on the +awkwardest bit of ground possible, up and down on the side of a steep +ravine, one house apparently standing on the roof of another; and it +takes half a mile of real hard climbing to get from the bottom of the +town to the top. + +We put up our horses at a neat little inn kept by an old Englishwoman, +and walked or climbed up to the Company's house. We made several new +acquaintances at the Real, though we left within a few hours, intending +to see the place thoroughly on our return. + +One peculiarity of the Casa Grande--the great house of the Company--was +the warlike appearance of everybody in it. The clerks were posting up +the ledgers with loaded revolvers on the desk before them; the +manager's room was a small arsenal, and the gentlemen rode out for +exercise, morning and evening, armed to the teeth. Not that there is +anything to be apprehended from robbers--indeed I should like to see +any of the Mexican ladrones interfering with the Cornish miners, who +would soon teach them better manners. I am inclined to think there is a +positive pleasure in possessing and handling guns and pistols, whether +they are likely to be of any use or not. Indeed, while travelling +through the western and southern States of America, where such things +are very generally carried, I was the possessor of a five-barrelled +revolver, and admit that I derived an amount of mild satisfaction from +carrying it about, and shooting at a mark with it, that amply +compensated for the loss of two dollars I incurred by selling it to a +Jew at New Orleans. + +We rode on to Regla, soon finding that our guide had never been there +before; so, next morning, we kept the two horses and dismissed him with +ignominy. A fine road leads from the Real to Regla, for all the +silver-ore from the mines is conveyed there to have the silver +separated from it. My notes of our ride mention a great water-wheel: +sections of porphyritic rocks, with enormous masses of alluvial soil +lying upon them: steep ravines: arroyos, cut by mountain-streams, and +forests of pine-trees--a thoroughly Alpine district altogether. At +Regla it became evident that our letter of introduction was not a mere +complimentary affair. There is not even a village there; it is only a +great hacienda, belonging to the Company, with the huts of the workmen +built near it. The Company, represented by Mr. Bell, received us with +the greatest hospitality. Almost before the letter was opened our +horses and mozo were off to the stables, our room was ready, and our +dinner being prepared as fast as might be. What a pleasant evening we +had, after our long day's work! We had a great wood-fire, and sat by +it, talking and looking at Mr. Bell's photographs and minerals, which +serve as an amusement in his leisure-hours. The Company's Administrador +leads rather a peculiar life here. There is no want of work or +responsibility; he has two or three hundred Indians to manage, almost +all of whom will steal and cheat without the slightest scruple, if they +can but get a chance; he has to assay the ores, superintend a variety +of processes which require the greatest skill and judgment, and he is +in charge of property to the value of several hundred thousand pounds. +Then a man must have a constitution of iron to live in a place where +the air is so rarefied, and where the temperature varies thirty and +forty degrees between morning and noon. As for society, he must find it +in his own family; for even the better class of Mexicans are on so +different a level, intellectually, from an educated Englishman, that +their society bores him utterly, and he had rather be left in solitude +than have to talk to them. Well, it is a great advantage to travellers +that circumstances fix pleasant people in such out-of-the-way places. + +One necessary part of a hacienda is a church. The proprietors are +compelled by law to build one, and pay the priest's fees for mass on +Sundays and feast-days. Now, almost all the English one meets with +engaged in business, or managing mines and plantations, are Scotch, and +one may well suppose that there is not much love lost between them and +the priests. The father confessor plays an important part in the great +system of dishonesty that prevails to so monstrous an extent throughout +the country. He hears the particulars of the thefts and cheatings that +have been practised on the proprietor who builds his church and pays +for his services, and he complacently absolves his penitents in +consideration of a small penance. Not a word about restitution; and +just a formal injunction to go and sin no more, which neither priest +nor penitent is very sincere about. The various evils of the Roman +Catholic system have been reiterated till the subject has become +tiresome, but this particular practice is so contrary to the simplest +notions of morality, and has produced such fearful effects on the +character of this nation, that one cannot pass it by without notice. If +the Superintendent should roast the parish priest in front of the +oxidising furnace, till he confessed all he knew about the thefts of +his parishioners from the Company, he would tell strange stories,--how +Juan Fernandez carried off sixpennyworth of silver in each car every +day for a month; and how Pedro Alvarado (the Indian names have almost +disappeared except in a few families, and Spanish names have been +substituted) had a hammer with a hollow handle, like the stick that +Sancho Panza delivered his famous judgment about, and carried away +silver in it every day when he left work; and how Vasco Nuez stole the +iron key from the gate (which cost two dollars to replace), walking +twenty miles and losing a day's work in order to sell it, and +eventually getting but twopence for it; and plenty more stories of the +same kind. The Padre at Regla, we heard, was not given to preaching +sermons, but had lately favoured his congregation with a very striking +one, to the effect that the Company paid him only three dollars a time +for saying mass, and that he ought to have four. + +Almost every traveller who visits Mexico enlarges on the dishonesty +which is rooted in the character of the people. That they are worse now +in this respect than they were before the Conquest is highly probable. +Their position as a conquered and enslaved people, tended, as it always +does, to foster the slavish vices of dissimulation and dishonesty. The +religion brought into the country by the Spanish missionaries concerned +itself with their belief, and left their morals to shift for +themselves, as it does still. + +In the mining-districts stealing is universal. Public feeling among the +Indians does not condemn it in the least, quite the contrary. To steal +successfully is considered a triumph, and to be found out is no +disgrace. Theft is not even punishable. In old times a thief might be +put in the stocks; but Burkart, who was a mining-inspector for many +years, says that in his time, some twenty years ago, tins was +abolished, and I believe the law has not been altered since. It is a +miserable sight to see the Indian labourers searched as they come out +of the mines. They are almost naked, but rich ore packs in such a small +compass, and they are so ingenious in stowing it away, that the +doorkeepers examine their mouths and ears, and their hair, and +constantly find pieces that have been secreted, while a far greater +quantity escapes. It is this system of thieving that accounts for the +existence of certain little smelting-sheds, close to the works of the +Company, who look at them with such feelings as may be imagined. These +places profess to smelt ore from one or two little mines in the +neighbourhood, but their real object is no secret. They buy the stolen +bits of rich ore from the Indian labourers, giving exactly half the +value for it. + +Of course, we must not judge these Mexican labourers as though we had a +very high standard of honesty at home. That we should see workmen +searched habitually in England, at the doors of our national +dock-yards, is a much greater disgrace to us. And not merely a +disgrace, but a serious moral evil, for to expose an honest man to such +a degradation is to make him half a thief already. + +People who know the Indian population best assure us that their lives +are a perpetual course of intrigue and dissimulation. Always trying to +practise some small fraud upon their masters, and even upon their own +people, they are in constant fear that every one is trying to overreach +them. They are afraid to answer the simplest question, lest it should +be a trap laid to catch them. They ponder over every word and action of +their European employers, to find out what hidden intrigue lies +beneath, and to devise some counter-plot. Sartorius says that when he +has met an Indian and asked his name, the brown man always gave a false +one, lest the enquirer should want to do him some harm. + +Never did any people show more clearly the effects of ages of servitude +and oppression; but, hopeless as the moral condition of this mining +population seems, there is one favourable circumstance to be put on +record. The Cornish miners, who have been living among them for years, +have worked quite perceptibly upon the Indian character by the example +of their persevering industry, their love of saving, and their utter +contempt for thieves and liars. Instead of squandering their wages, or +burying them in the ground, many of the Indian miners take their +savings to the Banks; and the opinions of the foreigners are +gradually--though very slowly--altering the popular standard of +honesty, the first step towards the moral improvement of the Mexican +population. + +In the morning we went off for an excursion, having got a lively young +fellow from the hacienda in exchange for our stupid mozo. There was +hoar frost on the ground, and the feeling of cold was intense at first; +but the sun began to warm the ground about eight o'clock, and we were +soon glad to fasten our great coats and shawls to our saddles. Three +leagues took us to the town of Atotonilco[9] el Grande, which gives its +name to the plateau we were crossing. Here we are no longer in the +valley of Mexico, which is separated from this plain by the mountains +of the Real del Monte. We rode on two leagues more to the village of +Soquital[10] where, it being Sunday, we found the inhabitants--mostly +Indians--amusing themselves by standing in the sun, doing nothing. I +can hardly say "doing nothing," though, for we went into the tienda, or +shop, and found a brisk trade going on in raw spirits. _Tienda_, in +Spanish, means a tent or booth. The first shops were tents or booths at +fairs or in market-places; and thence "tienda" came to mean a shop in +general; a derivation which corresponds with that of the word "shop" +itself. Such of the population as had money seemed to drop in at +regular intervals for a dram, which consisted of a small wine-glassful +of white-corn-brandy, called _chinguerito_. We tasted some, while the +people at the shop were frying eggs and boiling beans for our +breakfast; and found it so strong that a small sip brought tears into +our eyes, to the amusement of the bystanders. It seemed that everybody +was drinking who could afford it; from the old men and women to the +babies in their mothers' arms; everybody had a share, except those who +were hard up, and they stood about the door looking stolidly at the +drinkers. There was nothing like gaiety in the whole affair; only a +sort of satisfaction appeared in the face of each as he took his dose. +It is the drinkers of pulque who get furiously drunk, and fight; here +it is different. These drinkers of spirits are not much given to that +enormous excess that kills off the Red Indians; indeed, they are seldom +drunk enough to lose their wits, and they never have delirium tremens, +which would come upon a European, with much less provocation. They get +into a habit of daily--almost hourly--dram-drinking, and go on, year +after year, in this way; seeming, as far as we could judge, to live a +long while, such a life as it is. As we mounted our horses and rode on, +we agreed that we had seldom seen a more melancholy and depressing +sight. + +We met some arrieros, who had brought up salt from the coast; and they, +seeing that we were English, judged we had something to do with mines, +and proposed to sell us their goods. The price of salt here is actually +three-pence per lb., in a district where its consumption is immense, as +it is used in refining the silver ore. It must be said, however, that +this is an unusual price; for the muleteers have been so victimised by +their mules being seized, either by the government or the rebels (one +seems about as bad as the other in this respect), that they must have a +high price to pay them for the risk. Generally seven reals, or 3s. 6d. +per arroba of 25 lbs. is the price. This salt is evaporated in the +salinas of Campeche, taken by water to Tuzpan, and then brought up the +country on mules' backs--each beast carrying 300 lbs. Of course, this +salt is very coarse and very watery; all salt made in this way is. It +suits the New Orleans people better to import salt from England, than +to make it in this way in the Gulf of Mexico, though the water there is +very salt, and the sun very hot. The fact, that it pays to carry salt +on mules' backs, tells volumes about the state of the country. At the +lowest computation, the mules would do four or five times as much work +if they were set to draw any kind of cart--however rough--on a +carriageable road. It is true that there is some sort of road from here +to Tampico, but an English waggoner would not acknowledge it by that +name at all; and the muleteers are still in possession of most of the +traffic in this district, as indeed they are over almost all the +country. + +It was mid-day by this time; and, as we could not get to the Rio Grande +without taking our chance for the night in some Indian rancho, we +turned back. The heat had become so oppressive that we took off our +coats; and Mr. Christy, riding in his shirt-sleeves and holding a white +umbrella over his head, which he had further protected with a turban, +declared that even in the East he had not had so fatiguing a ride. We +passed through Soquital, and there the natives were idling and drinking +spirits as before, and seemed hardly to have moved since we left. This +plateau of Atotonilco el Grande, called for shortness Grande, is, like +most of the high plains of Mexico, composed mostly of porphyry and +obsidian, a valley filled up with dbris from the surrounding +mountains, which are all volcanic, embedded in reddish earth. The +mountain-torrents--in which the water, so to speak, comes down all at +once, not flowing in a steady stream all the year round as in +England--have left evidences of their immense power in the ravines with +which the sides of the hills, from their very tops downward, are +fluted. + +These fluted mountain-ridges resemble the "Kamms" (combs) of the Swiss +Alps, called so from their toothed appearance. + +We had met numbers of Indians, bringing their wares to the Sunday +market in the great square of Atotonilco el Grande; and when we reached +the town on our way home, business was still going on briskly; so we +put up our horses, and spent an hour or two in studying the people and +the commodities they dealt in. It was a real old-fashioned Indian +market, very much such as the Spaniards found when they first +penetrated into the country. A large proportion of the people could +speak no Spanish, or only a few words. The unglazed pottery, palm-leaf +mats, ropes and bags of aloe-fibre, dressed skins, &c., were just the +same wares that were made three centuries ago; and there is no +improvement in their manufacture. This people, who rose in three +centuries from the condition of wandering savages to a height of +civilization that has no equal in history--considering the shortness of +the time in which it grew up--have remained, since the Conquest, +without making one step in advance. They hardly understand any reason +for what they do, except that their ancestors did things so--they +therefore must be right. They make their unglazed pottery, and carry it +five and twenty miles to market on their heads, just as they used to do +when there were no beasts of burden in the country. The same with their +fruits and vegetables, which they have brought great distances, up the +most difficult mountain-paths, at a ruinous sacrifice of time and +trouble, considering what a miserable sum they will get for them after +all, and how much even of this will be spent in brandy. By working on a +hacienda they would get double what their labour produces in this way, +but they do not understand this kind of reasoning. They cultivate their +little patches of maize, by putting a sharp stick into the ground, and +dropping the seed into the hole. They carry pots of water to irrigate +their ground with, instead of digging trenches. This is the more +curious, as at the time of the Conquest irrigation was much practised +by the Aztecs in the plains, and remains of water-canals still exist, +showing that they had carried the art to great perfection. They bring +logs of wood over the mountains by harnessing horses or mules to them, +and dragging them with immense labour over the rough ground. The idea +of wheels or rollers has either not occurred to them, or is considered +as a pernicious novelty. + +It is very striking to see how, while Europeans are bringing the newest +machinery and the most advanced arts into the country, there is +scarcely any symptom of improvement among the people, who still hold +firmly to the wisdom of their ancestors. An American author, Mayer, +quotes a story of a certain people in Italy, as an illustration of the +feeling of the Indians in Mexico respecting improvements. In this +district, he says that the peasants loaded their panniers with +vegetables on one side, and balanced the opposite pannier by filling it +with stones; and when a traveller pointed out the advantage to be +gained by loading both panniers with vegetables, he was answered that +their forefathers from time immemorial had so carried their produce to +market, that they were wise and good men, and that a stranger showed +very little understanding or decency who interfered in the established +customs of a country. I need hardly say that the Indians are utterly +ignorant; and this of course accounts to a great extent for their +obstinate conservatism. + +There were several shops round the market-place at Grande, and the +brandy-drinking was going on much as at Soquital. The shops in these +small towns are general stores, like "the shop" in coal- and +iron-districts in England. It is only in large towns that the different +retail-trades are separated. One thing is very noticeable in these +country stores, the certainty of finding a great stock of sardines in +bright tin boxes. The idea of finding _Sardines l'huile_ in Indian +villages seemed odd enough; but the fact is, that the difficulty of +getting fish up from the coast is so great that these sardines are not +much dearer than anything else, and they go a long way. Montezuma's +method of supplying his table with fresh fish from the gulf, by having +relays of Indian porters to run up with it, is too expensive for +general use, and there is no efficient substitute. It is in consequence +of this scarcity of fish, that Church-fasts have never been very +strictly kept in Mexico. + +[Illustration: HIEROGLYPHICS.] + +The method of keeping accounts in the shops--which, it is to be +remembered, are almost always kept by white or half-white people, +hardly ever by Indians--is primitive enough. Here is a score which I +copied, the hieroglyphics standing for dollars, half-dollars, medios or +half-reals, cuartillos or quarter-reals, and tlacos--or clacos--which +are eighths of a real, or about 3/4d. While account-keeping among +the comparatively educated trades-people is in this condition, +one can easily understand how very limited the Indian notions of +calculation are. They cannot realize any number much over ten; and +twenty--cempoalli--is with them the symbol of a great number, +as a hundred was with the Greeks. There is in Mexico a mountain +called in this indefinite way "Cempoatepetl"--the twenty-mountain. +Sartorius mentions the Indian name of the many-petaled +marigold--"cempoaxochitl"--the twenty-flower. We traded for some +trifles of aloe-fibre, but soon had to count up the reckoning with +beans. + +I have delayed long enough for the present over the Indians and their +market; so, though there is much more to be said about them, I will +only add a few words respecting the commodities for sale, and then +leave them for awhile. + +There seemed to be a large business doing in costales (bags) made of +aloe-fibre, for carrying ore about in the mines. True to the traditions +of his ancestors, the Indian much prefers putting his load in a bag on +his back, to the far easier method of wheeling it about. Lazos sold at +one to four reals, (6d. to 2s.) according to quality. There are two +kinds of aloe-fibre; one coarse, _ichtli_, the other much finer, +_pito_; the first made from the great aloe that produces pulque, the +other from a much smaller species of the same genus. The stones with +which the boiled maize is ground into the paste of which the universal +tortillas are made were to be had here; indeed, they are made in the +neighbourhood, of the basalt and lava which abound in the district. The +metate is a sort of little table, hewn out of the basalt, with four +little feet, and its surface is curved from the ends to the middle. The +metalpile is of the same material, and like a rolling-pin. The +old-fashioned Mexican pottery I have mentioned already. It is +beautifully made, and very cheap. They only asked us nine-pence for a +great olla, or boiling-pot, that held four or five gallons, and no +doubt this was double the market-price. I never so thoroughly realized +before how climate is altered by altitude above the sea as in noticing +the fruits and vegetables that were being sold at this little market, +within fifteen or twenty miles of which they were all grown. There were +wheat and barley, and the piones (the fruit of the stone-pine, which +grows in Italy, and is largely used instead of almonds); and from these +representatives of temperate climates the list extended to bananas and +zapotes, grown at the bottom of the great barrancas, 3,000 or 4,000 +feet lower in level than the plateau, though in distance but a few +miles off. Three or four thousand miles of latitude would not give a +greater difference. + +It would never do to be late, and break our necks in one of the awkward +water-courses that cut the plateau about in all directions; so we +started homewards, soon having to unfasten great-coats and shawls from +our saddles, to keep out the cold of the approaching sunset; and so we +got back to the hospitable hacienda, and were glad to warm ourselves at +the fire. + +Next morning, we went off to get a view of the great barranca of Regla. +A ride over the hills brought us to a wood of oaks, with their branches +fringed with the long grey Spanish moss, and a profusion of epiphytes +clinging to their bark, some splendidly in flower, showing the +fantastic shapes and brilliant colours one sees in English +orchid-houses. Cactuses of many species complete the picture of the +vegetation in this beautiful spot. This is at the top of the barranca. +Then imagine a valley a mile or two in width, with sides almost +perpendicular and capped with basaltic pillars, and at the bottom a +strip of land where the vegetation is of the deepest green of the +tropics, with a river winding along among palm-trees and bananas. This +great barranca is between two and three thousand feet deep, and the +view is wonderful. We went down a considerable way by a zig-zag road, +my companion collecting armfuls of plants by the way, but unfortunately +losing his thermometer, which could not be found, though a long hunt +for it produced a great many more plants, and so the trouble was not +wasted. The prickly pear was covered with ripe purple fruit a little +way down, and we refreshed ourselves with them, I managing--in my +clumsiness--to get into my fingers two or three of the little sheaves +of needles which are planted on the outside of the fruit, and thus +providing myself with occupation for leisure moments for three or four +days after in taking them out. + +Many species of cactus, and the nopal, or prickly pear, especially, are +full of watery sap, which trickles out in a stream when they are +pierced. In these thirsty regions, when springs and brooks are dry, the +cattle bite them to get at the moisture, regardless of the thorns. On +the north coast of Africa the camels delight in crunching the juicy +leaves of the same plant. I have often been amused in watching the +camel-drivers' efforts to get their trains of laden beasts along the +narrow sandy lanes of Tangier, between hedges of prickly pears, where +the camels with their long necks could reach the tempting lobes on both +sides of the way. + +In this thirsty season, while the cattle in the Mexican plains derive +moisture from the cactus, the aloe provides for man a substitute for +water. It frequently happened to us to go from rancho to rancho asking +for water in vain, though pulque was to be had in abundance. + +To attempt any description of the varied forms of cactus in Mexico +would be out of the question. In the northern provinces alone, +botanists have described above eight hundred species. The most striking +we met with were the prickly pear (cactus opuntia), the rgano, the +night-blowing cereus, the various mamillarias--dome-shaped mounds +covered with thorns, varying in diameter from an inch to six or eight +feet--and the greybeard, _el viejo,_ "the old man," as our guide called +them, upright pillars like street-posts, and covered with grey +wool-like filaments. + +Getting to the top of the ravine again, we found an old Indian milking +an aloe, which flourishes here, though a little further down the +climate is too hot for it to produce pulque. This old gentleman had a +long gourd, of the shape and size of a great club, but hollow inside, +and very light. The small end of this gourd was pushed in among the +aloe-leaves into the hollow made by scooping out the inside of the +plant, and in which the sweet juice, the aguamiel, collects. By having +a little hole at each end of the gourd, and sucking at the large end, +the hollow of the plant emptied itself into the Acocote, (in proper +Mexican, _Acocotl_, Water-throat), as this queer implement is called. +Then the Indian stopped the hole at the end he had been sucking at, +with his finger, and dexterously emptied the contents of the gourd into +a pig-skin which he carried at his back. We went up with the old man to +his rancho, and tested his pulque, which was very good, though we could +not say the same of his domestic arrangements. It puzzled us not a +little to see people living up at this height in houses built of +sticks, such as are used in the hot lands, and hardly affording any +protection from the weather, severe as it is here. The pulque is taken +to market in pig-skins, which, though the pig himself is taken out of +them, still retain his shape very accurately; and when nearly full of +liquor, they roll about on their backs, and kick up the little dumpy +legs that are left them, in the most comical and life-like way. When we +went away we bought the old man's acocote, and carried it home in +triumph, and is it not in the Museum at Kew Gardens to this day? _(See +the illustration at page 36.)_ + +At the hacienda of Regla are to be seen on a large scale most of the +processes which are employed in the extraction of silver from the +ore--the _beneficio_, or making good, as it is called. + +In the great yard, numbers of men and horses were walking round and +round upon the "tortas," tarts or pies, as they are called, consisting +of powdered ore mixed with water, so as to form a circular bed of mud a +foot deep. To this mud, sulphate of copper, salt, and quicksilver are +added, and the men and mules walk round and round in it, mixing it +thoroughly together, a process which is kept up, with occasional +intervals of rest, for nearly two months. By that time the whole of the +silver has formed an amalgam with the mercury, and this amalgam is +afterwards separated from the earth by being trampled under water in +troughs. We were surprised to find that men and horses could pass their +lives in wading through mud containing mercury in a state of fine +division without absorbing it into their bodies, but neither men nor +horses suffer from it. + +We happened to visit the melting-house one evening, while silver and +lead were being separated by oxidizing the lead in a reverberatory +furnace. Here we noticed a curious effect. The melted litharge ran from +the mouth of the furnace upon a floor of damp sand, and spread over it +in a sheet. Presently, as the heat of the mass vaporized the water in +the sand below, the sheet of litharge, still slightly fluid, began to +heave and swell, and a number of small cones rose from its surface. +Some of these cones reached the height of four inches, and then burst +at the top, sending out a shower of red-hot fragments. I removed one of +these cones when the litharge was cool. It had a regidar funnel-shaped +crater, like that which Vesuvius had until three or four years ago. + +The analogy is complete between these little cones and those on the +lava-field at the foot of the volcano of Jorullo, the celebrated +"hornitos;" the concentric structure of which, as described by Burkart, +proves that they were formed in precisely the same manner. Until +lately, the formation of the great cone of Jorullo was attributed to +the same kind of action as the hornitos, but later travellers have +established the fact that this is incorrect. One of the De Saussure +family, who was in Mexico a few years back, describes Jorullo as +consisting of three terraces of basaltic lava, which have flowed one +above another from a central orifice, the whole being surmounted by a +cone of lapilli thrown up from the same opening, from which also later +streams of lava have issued. + +The celebrated cascade of Regla is just behind the hacienda. There is a +sort of basin, enclosed on three sides by a perpendicular wall of +basaltic columns, some eighty feet high. On the side opposite the +opening, a mountain stream has cut a deep notch in this wall, and pours +down in a cascade. The basaltic pillars rest upon an undisturbed layer +of basaltic conglomerate five feet thick, and that upon a bed of clay. +The place is very picturesque; and two great Yuccas which project over +the waterfall, crowned with their star-like tufts of pointed leaves, +have a strange effect. These basalt-columns are very regular, with from +five to eight sides; and are almost black in colour. They have a +curiously well-defined circular core in the middle, five or six inches +in diameter. This core is light grey, almost white. The Indians bring +down numbers of short lengths or joints of the columns, and they are +used at the hacienda in making a primitive kind of ore-crushing mill, +in which they are dragged round and round by mule-power, on a floor +also of basalt. + +When we had visited the falls we took leave of our hospitable friend, +and set off to return to the Real. We stopped at San Miguel, another of +the haciendas of the Company, where the German barrel-process is +worked. Just behind the hacienda is the Ojo de Agua--the Eye of +Water--a beautiful basin, surrounded by a green sward and a wood of +oaks and fir-trees. A little stream takes its rise from the spring +which bubbles up into this basin, and the name "Ojo de Agua," is a +general term applied to such fountain-heads. When one looks down from a +high hill upon one of these Eyes of Water, one sees how the name came +to be given, and indeed, the idiom is thousands of years older than the +Spanish tongue, and belongs as well to the Hebrew and Arabic. A Mexican +calls a lake _atezcatl_, Water-Mirror, an expressive word, which +reminds one of the German _Wasserspiegel_. + +Soon after nightfall we got back to the English inn, and went to bed +without any further event happening, except the burning of some +outhouses, which we went out to see. The custom of roofing houses with +pine-shingles ("tacumeniles"), and the general use of wood for building +all the best houses, make fires very common here. During the few days +we spent in the Real district, I find in my notebook mention of three +fires which we saw. We spent the next day in resting, and in visiting +the mine-works near at hand. The day after, an Englishman who had lived +many years at the Real offered to take us out for a day's ride; and the +Company's Administrador lent us two of his own horses, for the poor +beasts from Pachuca could hardly have gone so far. The first place we +visited was Peas Cargadas, the "loaded rocks." Riding through a thick +wood of oaks and pines, we came suddenly in view of several sugar-loaf +peaks, some three hundred feet high, tapering almost to a point at the +top, and each one crowned with a mass of rocks which seem to have been +balanced in unstable equilibrium on its point,--looking as though the +first puff of wind would bring them down. The pillars were of +porphyritic conglomerate, which had been disintegrated and worn away by +wind and rain; while the great masses resting on them, probably of +solid porphyry, had been less affected by these influences. It was the +most curious example of the weathering of rocks that we had ever seen. +From Peas Cargadas we rode on to the farm of Guajalote, where the +Company has forests, and cuts wood and burns charcoal for the mines and +the refining works. Don Alejandro, the tenant of the farm, was a +Scotchman, and a good fellow. He could not go on with us, for he had +invited a party of neighbours to eat up a kid that had been cooked in a +hole in the ground, with embers upon it, after Sandwich Island fashion. +This is called a _barbacoa_--a barbecue. We should have liked to be at +the feast, but time was short, so we rode on to the top of Mount Jacal, +12,000 feet above the sea, where there was a view of mountains and +valleys, and heat that was positively melting. Thence down to the Cerro +de Navajas, the "hill of knives." It is on the sides of this hill that +obsidian is found in enormous quantities. Before the conquerors +introduced the use of iron, these deposits were regularly mined, and +this place was the Sheffield of Mexico. + +We were curious to see all that was to be seen; for Mr. Christy's +Mexican collection, already large before our visit, and destined to +become much larger, contained numbers of implements and weapons of this +very peculiar material. Any one who does not know obsidian may imagine +great masses of bottle-glass, such as our orthodox ugly wine-bottles +are made of, very hard, very brittle, and--if one breaks it with any +ordinary implement--going, as glass does, in every direction but the +right one. We saw its resemblance to this portwine-bottle-glass in an +odd way at the Ojo de Agua, where the wall of the hacienda was armed at +the top, after our English fashion, apparently with bits of old +bottles, but which turned out to be chips of obsidian. Out of this +rather unpromising stuff the Mexicans made knives, razors, arrow- and +spear-heads, and other things, some of great beauty. I say nothing of +the polished obsidian mirrors and ornaments, nor even of the curious +masks of the human face that are to be seen in collections, for these +were only laboriously cut and polished with jewellers' sand, to us a +common-place process. + +[Illustration: STONE SPEAR-HEADS AND OBSIDIAN KNIVES AND ARROW-HEADS, +FROM MEXICO. 1. Flame shaped Arrow-head; obsidian: Teleohuacn. 2. +Arrow-head; opake obsidian: Teleohuacn. 3. Knife or Razor of Obsidian; +shown in two aspects; Mexico. 4. Leaf-shaped Knife or Javelin-head; +obsidian: from Real Del Monte. 5. Spear-head of Chalcedony; one of a +pair supposed to be spears of State: found in excavating for the Casa +Grande, Tezcuco. (This peculiar opalescent chalcedony occurs as +concretions, sometimes of large size, in the trachytic lavas of +Mexico.)] + +Cortes found the barbers at the great market of Tlatelolco busy shaving +the natives with such razors, and he and his men had experience of +other uses of the same material in the flights of obsidian-headed +arrows which "darkened the sky," as they said, and the more deadly +wooden maces stuck all over with obsidian points, and of the priests' +sacrificial knives too, not long after. These things were not cut and +polished, but made by chipping or cracking off pieces from a lump. This +one can see by the traces of conchoidal fracture which they all show. + +The art is not wholly understood, for it perished soon after the +Conquest, when iron came in; but, as far as the theory is concerned, I +think I can give a tolerably satisfactory account of the process of +manufacture. In the first place, the workman who makes gun-flints could +probably make some of the simpler obsidian implements, which were no +doubt chipped off in the same way. The section of a gun-flint, with its +one side flat for sharpness and the other side ribbed for strength, is +one of the characteristics of obsidian knives. That the flint knives of +Scandinavia were made by chipping off strips from a mass is proved by +the many-sided prisms occasionally found there, and particularly by +that one which was discovered just where it had been worked, with the +knives chipped off it lying close by, and fitting accurately into their +places upon it. + +Now to make the case complete, we ought to find such prisms in Mexico; +and, accordingly, some months ago, when I examined the splendid Mexican +collection of Mr. Uhde at Heidelberg, I found one or two. No one seemed +to have suspected their real nature, and they had been classed as +maces, or the handles of some kind of weapon. + +[Illustration: FLUTED PRISM OF OBSIDIAN: THE CORE FROM WHICH FLAKES +HAVE BEEN STRUCK OFF.] + +I should say from memory that they were seven or eight inches long, and +as large as one could conveniently grasp; and one or both of them, as +if to remove all doubt as to what they were, had the stripping off of +ribbons not carried quite round them, but leaving an intermediate strip +rough. There is another point about the obsidian knives which requires +confirmation. One can often see, on the ends of the Scandinavian flint +knives, the bruise made by the blow of the hard stone with which they +were knocked off. I did not think of looking to this point when at Mr. +Uhde's museum, but the only obsidian knife I have seen since seems to +be thus bruised at the end. + +[Illustration: AZTEC KNIVES OR RAZORS. LONG NARROW FLAKES OF OBSIDIAN, +HAVING A SINGLE FACE ON THE ONE SIDE AND THREE FACETS ON THE OTHER.] + +Once able to break his obsidian straight, the workman has got on a long +way in his trade, for a large proportion of the articles he has to make +are formed by planes intersecting one another in various directions. +But the Mexican knives are generally not pointed, but turned up at the +end, as one may bend up a druggist's spatula. This peculiar shape is +not given to answer a purpose, but results from the natural fracture of +the stone. + +Even then, the way of making several implements or weapons is not +entirely clear. We got several obsidian maces or lance-heads--one about +ten inches long--which were taper from base to point, and covered with +taper flutings; and there are other things which present great +difficulties. I have heard on good authority, that somewhere in Peru, +the Indians still have a way of working obsidian by laying a bone wedge +on the surface of a piece, and tapping it till the stone cracks. Such a +process may have been used in Mexico. + +We may see in museums beautiful little articles made in this +intractable material, such as the mirrors and masks I have mentioned, +and even rings and cups. But, as I have said, these are mere +lapidaries' work. + +The situation of the mines was picturesque; grand hills of porphyritic +rock, and pine-forest everywhere. Not far off is the broad track of a +hurricane, which had walked through it for miles, knocking the great +trees down like ninepins, and leaving them to rot there. The vegetation +gave evident proof of a severe climate; and yet the heat and glare of +the sun were more intolerable than we had ever felt it in the region of +sugar-canes and bananas. About here, some of the trachytic porphyry +which forms the substance of the hills had happened to have cooled, +under suitable conditions, from the molten state into a sort of slag or +volcanic glass, which is the obsidian in question; and, in places, this +vitreous lava--from one layer having flowed over another which was +already cool--was regularly stratified. + +The mines were mere wells, not very deep; with horizontal workings into +the obsidian where it was very good and in thick layers. Round about +were heaps of fragments, hundreds of tons of them; and it was clear, +from the shape of these, that some of the manufacturing was done on the +spot. There had been great numbers of pits worked; and it was from +these "minillas," little mines, as they are called, that we first got +an idea how important an element this obsidian was in the old Aztec +civilization. In excursions made since, we travelled over whole +districts in the plains, where fragments of these arrows and knives +were to be found, literally at every step, mixed with morsels of +pottery, and here and there a little clay idol. Among the heaps of +fragments were many that had become weathered on the upper side, and +had a remarkable lustre, like silver. Obsidian is called _bizcli_ by +the Indians, and the silvery sort is known as _bizcli platera_.[11] +They often find bits of it in the fields; and go with great secrecy and +mystery to Mr. Bell, or some other authority in mining matters, and +confide to him their discovery of a silver-mine. They go away angry and +unconvinced when told what their silver really is; and generally come +to the conclusion that he is deceiving them, with a view of throwing +them off the scent, that he may find the place for himself, and cheat +them of their share of the profits--just what their own miserable +morbid cunning would lead them to do under such circumstances. + +[Illustration: MEXICAN ARROW-HEADS OF OBSIDIAN.] + +The family-likeness that exists among the stone tools and weapons found +in so many parts of the world is very remarkable. The flint-arrows of +North America, such as Mr. Longfellow's arrow-maker used to work at in +the land of the Dacotahs, and which, in the wild northern states of +Mexico, the Apaches and Comanches use to this day, might be easily +mistaken for the weapons of our British ancestors, dug up on the banks +of the Thames. It is true that the finish of the Mexican obsidian +implements far exceeds that of the chipped flint and agate weapons of +Scandinavia, and still more those of England, Switzerland, and Italy, +where they are dug up in such quantities, in deposits of alluvial soil, +and in bone-caves in the limestone rocks. But this higher finish we may +attribute partly to the superiority of the material; for the Mexicans +also used flint to some extent, and their flint weapons are as hard to +distinguish by inspection as those from other parts of the world. We +may reasonably suppose, moreover, that the skill of the Mexican +artificer increased when he found a better material than flint to work +upon. Be this as it may, an inspection of any good collection of such +articles shows the much higher finish of the obsidian implements than +of those of flint, agate, and rock-crystal. They say there is an +ingenious artist who makes flint arrow-heads and stone axes for the +benefit of English antiquarians, and earns good profits by it: I should +like to give him an order for ribbed obsidian razors and spear-heads; I +don't think he would make much of them. + +[Illustration: AZTEC KNIFE OF CHALCEDONY, MOUNTED ON A WOODEN HANDLE, +WHICH IS SHAPED LIKE A HUMAN FIGURE WITH ITS FACE APPEARING THROUGH AN +EAGLE-HEAD MASK, AND HAS BEEN INLAID WITH MOSAIC WORK OF MALACHITE, +SHELL, AND TURQUOISE. LENGTH 12-1/2 INCHES.] + +The wonderful similarity of character among the stone weapons found in +different parts of the world has often been used by ethnologists as a +means of supporting the theory that this and other arts were carried +over the world by tribes migrating from one common centre of creation +of the human species. The argument has not much weight, and a larger +view of the subject quite supersedes it. + +We may put the question in this way. In Asia and in Europe the use of +stone tools and weapons has always characterized a very low state of +civilization; and such implements are only found among savage tribes +living by the chase, or just beginning to cultivate the ground and to +emerge from the condition of mere barbarians. Now, if the Mexicans got +their civilization from Europe, it must have been from some people +unacquainted with the use of iron, if not of bronze. Iron abounds in +Mexico, not only in the state of ore, but occurring nearly pure in +aerolites of great size, as at Cholula, and at Zacatecas, not far from +the great ruins there; so that the only reason for their not using it +must have been ignorance of its qualities. + +The Arabian Nights' story of the mountain which consisted of a single +loadstone finds its literal fulfilment in Mexico. Not far from Huetamo, +on the road towards the Pacific, there is a conical hill composed +entirely of magnetic iron-ore. The blacksmiths in the neighbourhood, +with no other apparatus than their common forges, make it directly into +wrought iron, which they use for all ordinary purposes. + +Now, in supposing civilization to be transmitted from one country to +another, we must measure it by the height of its lowest point, as we +measure the strength of a chain by the strength of the weakest link. +The only civilization that the Mexicans can have received from the Old +World must have been from some people whose cutting implements were of +sharp stone, consequently, as we must conclude by analogy, some very +barbarous and ignorant tribe. + +From this point we must admit that the inhabitants of Mexico raised +themselves, independently, to the extraordinary degree of culture which +distinguished them when Europeans first became aware of their +existence. The curious distribution of their knowledge shows plainly +that they found it for themselves, and did not receive it by +transmission. We find a wonderful acquaintance with astronomy, even to +such details as the real cause of eclipses,--and the length of the year +given by intercalations of surprising accuracy; and, at the same time, +no knowledge whatever of the art of writing alphabetically, for their +hieroglyphics are nothing but suggestive pictures. They had carried the +art of gardening to a high degree of perfection; but, though there were +two kinds of ox, and the buffalo at no great distance from them, in the +countries they had already passed through in their migration from the +north, they had no idea of the employment of beasts of burden, nor of +the use of milk. They were a great trading people, and had money of +several kinds in general use, but the art of weighing was utterly +unknown to them; while, on the other hand, the Peruvians habitually +used scales and weights, but had no idea of the use of money. + +To return to the stone knives; the Mexicans may very well have invented +the art themselves, as they did so many others; or they may have +received it from the Old World. The things themselves prove nothing +either way. + +The real proof of their having, at some early period, communicated with +inhabitants of Europe or Asia rests upon the traditions current among +them, which are recorded by the early historians, and confirmed by the +Aztec picture-writings; and upon several extraordinary coincidences in +the signs used by them in reckoning astronomical cycles. Further on I +shall allude to these traditions. + +On the whole, the most probable view of the origin of the Mexican +tribes seems to be the one ordinarily held, that they really came from +the Old World, bringing with them several legends, evidently the same +as the histories recorded in the book of Genesis. This must have been, +however, at a time, when they were quite a barbarous, nomadic tribe; +and we must regard their civilization as of independent and far later +growth. + +We rode back through the woods to Guajalote, where the Mexican cook had +made us a feast after the manner of the country, and from her +experience of foreigners had learnt to temper the chile to our +susceptible throats. Decidedly the Mexicans are not without ideas in +the matter of cookery. We stayed talking with the hospitable Don +Alejandro and his sister till it was all but dark, and then rode back +to the Real, admiring the fire-flies that were darting about by +thousands, and listening to our companion's stories, which turned on +robberies and murders---as stories are apt to do in wild places after +dark. But, save an escape from being robbed some twenty years back, and +the history of an Indian who was murdered just here by some of his own +people, for a few shillings he was taking home, our friend had not much +reason to give for the two huge horse-pistols he carried, ready for +action. His story of the death of a German engineer in these parts is +worth recording here. He was riding home one dark night, with a +companion; and, trusting to his knowledge of the country, tried a short +cut through the woods, among the old open mines near the Regla road. +They had quite passed all the dangerous places, he thought, so he gave +his horse the spur, and plunged sheer down a shaft, hundreds of feet +deep. His friend pulled up in time, and got home safely. + +We had one more day among the mines, and then went back to Pachuca, and +next day to Mexico in the Diligence. Everywhere the same hospitality +and good-natured interest in us and our doings, often shown by people +with whom we had hardly the slightest acquaintance. Travelling here is +very different from what it is in a country on which the shadow of +Murray's Handbook has fallen. + +Almost all the interest Europe takes in Mexico, politically and +commercially, turns upon the exportation of silver. The gold, +cochineal, and vanilla are of small account. It is the silver dollars +that pay for the Manchester goods, woollens, hardware, and many other +things--those ubiquitous boxes of sardines l'huile, for instance. The +Mexicans send to Europe some five millions sterling in silver every +year, that is, about twelve shillings apiece for all the population. It +is just about what their government spends annually in promoting the +maladministration of the country (and, looking at the matter in that +point of view, they don't do their work badly for the money). The +income of the Mexican church is not quite so much, but not far off. + +Baron Humboldt has expressed a hope that, at some future day, the +Mexicans will turn their attention to producing articles of real +intrinsic value, and not those which are merely a sign to represent it. +He tells us, quite feelingly, how the Peace of Amiens stopped the +working of the iron-mines that had been opened when they could get no +iron from abroad; for, when trade was reopened, people preferred buying +in Europe probably a better article at one-third the price. He even +hopes an enlightened government will encourage (that is, protect) more +useful industries. This was written fifty years ago, though. If an +enlightened government will give people some security for life and +property, and make reasonable laws, and execute them,--leaving men of +business to find out for themselves how it suits them to employ their +capital, it seems probable that the balance between articles of real +value and articles of imaginary value will adjust itself, perhaps +better than an enlightened government could do it. The Mexican +government has, unfortunately, followed Humboldt's advice in some +respects. Cotton goods, woollens, and hardware are thus protected. We +may sum up the statistics of the Mexican cotton-manufacture in a rough +way thus,--taking merely into question the coarse cotton cloth called +_manta_, and used principally by the Indians. We may reckon roughly +that for this article alone the Mexicans have to pay a million sterling +annually more than they could get it for if there were no +protection-duty. The only advantage anybody gets by this is that a +certain part of the population is employed in a manufacture unsuited to +the country, and is thus taken away from work that may be done +profitably. The actual amount of money paid in wages to the class of +operatives thus forced into existence is much _less_ than the amount +which the country forfeits for the sake of making its manta at home. +Thus a sum actually amounting to a third of the annual taxation of the +country is thrown away upon this one article; and more goes the same +way, to encourage similar unprofitable manufactures. + +With respect to the silver-mines, it is stated, on competent authority, +that the northern States of Mexico are very rich in silver; but there +is scarcely any population, and that consisting mostly of Red Indians +who will not work. When this district becomes a territory of the United +States--as seems almost certain, this silver will, no doubt, be worked. +We may make three periods in the history of Mexican silver-mining. +Before the Conquest, the Aztecs worked the silver-ore at Tasco and +other places; and were very familiar with silver, though they did not +value it much. Under the Spaniards, the working of silver became the +prominent industry of the country; and, until the Mexican Independence, +the production steadily increased. The Spaniards invented amalgamation +by the _patio_-process, a most, important improvement. Then came above +twenty years of confusion, when little was done. But when the Republic +had fairly got under way, and the country was in some measure open to +foreigners, Europe, especially England, in hot haste to take advantage +of the opportunity, sent over engineers and machinery, and great sums +of money, much of which was quite wasted, to the hopeless ruin of a +great part of the adventurers. + +The improvements and the machinery remained, however; and the mines +passed into other hands. Of late years the companies have been doing +very well, and now export nearly as much silver as during the latter +years of the Spanish government--nearly, but not quite. The financial +history of the Real del Monte Company is worth putting down. The +original English company spent nearly one million sterling on it, +without getting any dividend. They sold it to two or three Mexicans for +about twenty-seven thousand pounds, and the Mexicans spent eighty +thousand more on it, and then began to make profits. The annual profit +is now some 200,000. + +I have said that the modern Mexican Indian has but little idea of +arithmetic. This was not the case with his ancestors, who had a curious +notation, serving for the highest numbers. The Indians of the present +day use the old Aztec numerals, and from these there is something to be +learnt. + +Baron Humboldt, speaking of the Muysca Indians of South America, says +that their word for eleven is _quihicha ata_, that is, "foot one;" +meaning that they have counted all their fingers, and are beginning +their toes. He proceeds to compare the Persian words, _pentcha_, hand, +and _pendj_, five, as being connected with one another, and gives +various other curious instances of finger-numeration. We may carry the +theory further. The Zulu language reckons from one up to five, and then +goes on with _tatisitupe_ ("take the thumb"), meaning _six_; +_tatukomba_ ("take the pointer," or forefinger), meaning _seven_, and +so on. The Vei language counts from one up to nineteen, and for twenty +says _mo bande_--"a person is finished"--that is, both fingers and +toes. I venture to add another suggestion. Eichhoff gives a Sanskrit +word for finger, "daiini" (taken apparently from _pra-dein_, +forefinger), and which corresponds curiously with "daan," ten; and we +have the same resemblance running through many of the Indo-European +languages, as [Greek: deka] and [Greek: daktylos], _decem_ and +_digitus_; German, _Zehn_ and _Zehe_, and so on. + +Here the Mexican numerals will afford us a new illustration. Of the +meaning of the first four of them--_e, ome, yei, nahui_--I can give no +idea, any more than I can of the meaning of the words one, two, three, +four, which correspond to them; but the Mexican for _five_ is +_macuilli_, "hand-depicting." Then we go on in the dark as far as +_ten_, which is _matlactli_, "hand-half," as I think it means, (from +_tlactli_, half); and this would mean, not the halving of a hand, but +the half of the whole person, which you get by counting his hands only. +The syllable _ma_, which means "hand," makes its appearance in the +words five and ten, and no where else; just as it should do. When we +come to twenty, we have _cempoalli_, "one counting;" that is, one whole +man, fingers and toes--corresponding to the Vei word for twenty, "a +person is finished." + +I think we need no more examples to show that people--in almost all +countries--reckon by fives, tens, or twenties, merely because they +began to count upon their fingers and toes. If the strong man who had +six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, had invented a +system of numeration, it would have gone in twelves, nearly like the +duodecimals which our carpenters use; unless, indeed, he had been +stupid after the manner of very strong men, and not gone beyond sixes. +We see how the Romans, though they inherited from their Eastern +ancestors a numeration by tens up to _decem_, and then beginning again +_undecim_, &c., yet when they began to write a notation could get no +farther than five--I., II., III., IV., V.; and then on again, VI., +VII., up to ten, from ten to fifteen, and so on. + +There is a very curious vulgar error which prevails, even among people +who have a good practical acquaintance with arithmetic. It is that the +number _ten_ has some special virtue which fits it for counting up to. +The fact is that ten is not the best number for the purpose; you can +halve it, it is true, but that is about all you can do with it, for its +being divisible by five is of hardly any use for practical purposes. +_Eight_ would be a much better number, for you can halve it three times +in succession; and _twelve_ is perhaps the most convenient number +possible, as it will divide by two, three, and four. It is this +convenient property that leads tradesmen to sell by dozens, and +grosses, rather than by tens and hundreds. If we used eights or twelves +instead of tens for numeration, we might of course preserve all the +advantages of the Indian or Arabic numerals; in the first case, we +should discard the ciphers 8 and 9, and reckon 5, 6, 7, 10; and in the +second case, we should want two new ciphers for ten and eleven; and 10 +would stand for twelve, and 11 for thirteen. Our happening to have ten +fingers has really led us into a rather inconvenient numerical system. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD, IN TERRA COTTA. (PROBABLY EITHER A +HOUSEHOLD-GOD OR A VOTIVE OFFERING).] + + * * * * * + +NOTE. + +The unique Knife figured at page 101 and two masks incrusted with a +similar mosaic work (of turquoise and obsidian) are in Mr. Christy's +collection; and a mask and head of similar workmanship are in the +collection at Copenhagen. These are the only known examples of this +advanced style of Aztec art. + +The whole once belonged probably to one set, brought to Europe soon +after the Conquest of Mexico. The two at Copenhagen were obtained at a +convent in Rome; and, of the other three, two were for a long period in +a collection at Florence, and the other was obtained at Bruges, where +it was most probably brought by the Spaniards during their rule in the +Low Countries. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +MEXICO. GUADALUPE. + + + +[Illustration: THE ROBES WORN BY THE WOMEN OF MEXICO; AND THE SERAPE +WORN BY THE MEN.] + +While we were away at the Real del Monte, the news had reached Mexico +that Puebla had capitulated, and that the rebel leader had fled. The +victory was celebrated in the capital with the most triumphal entries, +harangues, bull-fights, and illuminations done to order. If you had a +house in one of the principal streets, the police would make you +illuminate it, whether you liked or not. The newspapers loudly +proclaimed the triumph of the constitutional principle, and the +inauguration of a reign of law and order that was never to cease. + +As for the newspapers, indeed, one looked in vain in them for any free +expression of public opinion. They were all either suppressed, or +converted into the merest mouthpieces of the government. The telegraph +was under the strictest surveillance, and no messages were allowed to +be sent which the government did not consider favourable to their +interests; a precaution which rather defeated itself, as the people +soon ceased to believe any public news at all. In all these mean little +shifts, which we in England consider as the special property of +despotic governments, the authorities of the Mexican Republic showed +themselves great proficients. + +We were left, therefore, to form what idea we could of the real state +of Mexican affairs, from the private information received by our +friends. Just for once it may be worth while to give a few details, not +because the people engaged were specially interesting, but because the +affair may serve to give an idea of the condition of the country. + +President Comonfort, not a bad sort of man, as it seemed, but not +"strong enough for the place," and with an empty treasury, tried to +make a stand against the clergy and the army, who stood firm against +any attempt at reform--knowing, with a certain instinct, that, if any +real reform once began, their own unreasonable privileges would soon be +attacked. So the clergy and part of the army set up an anti-president, +one Haro; and he installed himself at Puebla, which is the second city +of the Republic, and there Comonfort besieged him. So far I have +already described the doings of the "reaccionarios." + +The newspapers gave wonderful accounts of attacks and repulses, and +reckoned the killed on both sides at 2,500. There were 10,000 regular +troops, and 10,000 irregulars (very irregular troops indeed); and these +were commanded by a complete regiment of officers, and _forty_ +generals. This is reckoning both sides; but as, on pretty good +authority (Tejada's statistical table), the troops in the Republic are +only reckoned at 12,000, no doubt the above numbers are much +exaggerated. As for the 2,500 killed, the fact is that the siege was a +mere farce; and, judging by what we heard at the time in Mexico, and +soon afterwards in Puebla itself, 25 was a much more correct estimate: +and some facetious people reduced it, by one more division, to two and +a half. The President had managed, by desperate efforts, to borrow some +money in Mexico, on the credit of the State, at sixty per cent.; and it +seems certain that it was this money, judiciously administered to some +of Haro's generals, that brought about the flight of the +anti-president, and the capitulation of Puebla. The termination of the +affair, according to the newspapers, was, that the rebel army were +incorporated with the constitutional troops; that their officers--500 +in number--were reduced to the ranks for a term of years; that a hot +pursuit was made after the fugitive Haro; and that, as it was notorious +that the clergy had found the money for the rebellion, it was +considered suitable that they should pay the expenses of the other side +too; and an order was made on the church-estates of the district to +that effect. Of course, it was an understood thing that the officers +thus degraded would desert at the first opportunity, and thus the +Government would be rid of them. As for Haro, it is not probable that +they ever intended to catch him; and they were very glad when he +disguised himself in sailor's clothes, and shipped himself off +somewhere. When the Mexicans first took to civil wars, the victorious +leader used to finish the contest by having his adversary shot. At the +time of our visit, this fashion had gone out; and the victor treated +the vanquished with great leniency, not unmindful of the time when he +might be in a like situation himself. + +Whether the President ever got much of the forced contribution from the +clergy, I cannot say. At any rate, they have turned him out since; and +for a very poor government have substituted mere chaotic anarchy, as +Mr. Carlyle would call it. While the siege was going on, all the +commerce between Vera Cruz and the capital was interrupted, and, of +course, trade and manufacturing felt the effects severely. Nothing +shews the capabilities of the country more clearly than the fact that, +in spite of its distracted state and continual wars, its industrial +interests seem to be gaining ground steadily, though very slowly. The +evil of these ceaseless wars and revolutions is not that great battles +are here fought, cities destroyed, and men sacrificed by thousands. +Perhaps in no country in the world are "decisive victories," +"sanguinary engagements," "brilliant attacks," and the like, got over +with less loss of life. Incredible as it may seem to any one who knows +how many civil wars and revolutions occur in the history of the country +for the last four or five years, I should not wonder if the number of +persons killed during that time in actual battle was less than the +number of those deliberately assassinated, or killed in private +quarrels. + +Cheap as Mexican revolutions are in actual bloodshed, we must recollect +what they bring with them. Thousands of deserters prowling about the +country, robbing and murdering, and spreading everywhere the precious +lessons they have learnt in barracks. We know something in England of +the good moral influence that garrisons and recruiting sergeants carry +about with them; and can judge a little what must be the result of the +spreading of numbers of these fellows over a country where there is +nothing to restrain their excesses! As for the soldiers themselves, one +does not wonder at their deserting, for they are in great part pressed +men, carried off from their homes, and shut up in barracks till they +have been drilled, and are considered to be tamed; and moreover their +pay, as one may judge from the general state of the military finances, +is anything but regular. People who understand such matters, say that +the Mexicans make very good soldiers, and fight well and steadily when +well trained and well officered. They are able to march surprising +distances, day after day, to live cheerfully on the very minimum of +food, and to sleep anyhow. This we could judge for ourselves. One thing +there is, however, that they strongly object to, and that is to be +moved much beyond the range of their own climate. The men of the plains +are as susceptible as Europeans to the ill effects of the climate of +the tierra caliente; and the men of the hot lands cannot bear the cold +of the high plateaus. + +Travellers in the United States make great fun of the profusion of +colonels and generals, and tell ludicrous stories on the subject. There +is also talk of the absurd number of officers in the Spanish-American +armies, but we should not, by any means, confound the two things. In +the United States it is merely a harmless exhibition of vanity, and an +amusing comment on their own high-minded abnegation of mere titles. In +Spanish America it indicates a very real and serious evil indeed. + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, in his statistical chart for 1856, quoted +above, estimates the soldiers in the Republic at 12,000, and the +officers at 2,000, not counting those on half-pay. One officer to every +six men; and among them sixty-nine generals. These are not mere militia +heroes, walking about in fine uniforms, but have actual commissions +from some one of the many governments that have come and gone, and are +entitled to their pay, which they get or do not get, as may happen. +Only a fraction of them know anything whatever about the art of war. +They were political adventurers, friends or relatives of some one in +power, or simply speculators who bought their commissions as a sort of +illegitimate Government Annuities. The continual rebellions or +pronunciamientos have increased the number of officers still further. +Comonfort's notion of degrading all the officers of the rebel army was +a new and bold experiment. A very common course had been, when a +pronunciamiento had been made anywhere against the then existing +government, and a revolutionary army had been raised, for an +amalgamation to take place between the two forces; intrigue and bribery +and mutual disinclination to fight bringing matters to this peaceful +kind of settlement. In this case, it was usual for the rebel officers +to retain their self-conferred dignities. + +I think this body of soldierless officers is one of the most +troublesome political elements at work in the Republic. The political +agitators are mostly among them; and it is they, more than any other +class, who are continually stirring up factions and making +pronunciamientos (what a pleasant thing it is that we have never had to +make an English word for "pronunciamiento"). Several times, efforts +have been made to reduce the Army List to decent proportions, but a +fresh crop always springs up. + +In the "lowest depth" of mismanagement to which Mexican military +affairs have sunk, the newspapers still triumphantly refer to countries +which surpass them in this respect, and, at the time of our arrival, +were citing the statistics of the Peruvian Republic, where there are a +general and twenty officers to every sixty soldiers, and as many naval +officers as seamen. + +These officers are not subject to the civil administration at all, +whatever they may do. They have their _fuero_, their private charter, +and are only amenable to their own tribunals, just as the clergy are to +theirs. To the ill effects of the presence of such armies and such +officers in the country, we must add the continual interruptions to +commerce arising from the distracted state of the republic, and the +uncertain tenure by which every one holds his property, not to say his +life; and this, in its effect on the morale of the whole country, is +worse than the positive suffering they inflict. So much for soldiering, +for the present. We leave the President trying, with the aid of his +Congress, to organize the government, and set things straight +generally. This August assembly is selected from the people by +universal suffrage, in the most approved manner, and ought to be a very +important and useful body, but unfortunately can do nothing but talk +and issue decrees, which no one else cares about. + +In consequence of the alarming increase of highway-robbery, steps are +taken to diminish the evil. It is made lawful to punish such offenders +on the spot, by Lynch law. This is all. You may do justice on him when +caught, but really you must catch him yourself. Sober citizens are even +regretting the days of Santa Ana (recollect, I speak now of 1856, and +they might regret him still more in 1860.) He was a great scoundrel, it +is true; but he sent down detachments of soldiery to where the robbers +practised their profession, and garotted them in pairs, till the roads +were as safe as ours are in England. A President who sells states and +pockets the money may have even that forgiven him in consideration of +roads kept free from robbers, and some attempt at an effectual police. +There is a lesson in this for Mexican rulers. + +The Congress professed to be hard at work cleaning out the Augean +stable of laws, rescripts, and proclamations, and making a working +constitution. We went to see them one day, and heard talking going on, +but it all came to nothing. Of one thing we may be quite sure, that if +this unlucky country ever does get set straight, it will not be done by +a Mexican Congress sitting and cackling over it. + +On our return from the Real, we spent two days at the house of an +English friend at Tisapn, at the edge of the great Pedrigal, or +lava-field, which lies south of the capital. It was across this +lava-field that a part of the American army marched in '47, and +defeated a division of the Mexican forces encamped at Contrevas. On the +same day the American army attacked the Mexicans who held a strongly +fortified position at Churubusco, some four miles nearer Mexico, and +routed the main army there. They beat them again at Molino del Rey, +carried the hill of Chapultepec by storm, and then entered the city +without meeting with further resistance; though the Mexicans, after +they had formally yielded possession of the city, disgraced themselves +by assassinating stray Americans, stabbing them in the streets, and +lazoing them from the tops of the low mud houses in the suburbs. + +An acquaintance of ours in Mexico met some American soldiers, with a +corporal, in the street close to his house, and asked them in. +Presently the corporal sent one of the men off into the next street to +execute some commission; but half an hour elapsed, and the man not +returning, the corporal went out to see what was the matter. He came +back presently, and remarked that some of those cursed Mexicans had +stabbed the man as he was turning the corner of the street, and left +him lying there. "So," said the corporal, "I may as well finish his +brandy and water for him;" he did so accordingly, and the men went home +to their quarters. + +The American soldiers were, as one may imagine, a rough lot. Only the +smaller part of them were born Americans, the rest were emigrants from +Europe; to judge by what we heard of them--both in the States and in +Mexico--the very refuse of all the scoundrels in the Republic; but they +were well officered, and rigid discipline was maintained. So +effectually were they kept in order, that the Mexicans confessed that +it was a smaller evil to have the enemy's forces marching through the +country, than their own army. + +An elaborate account of the American invasion is given in Mayer's +'Mexico.' To those who do not care for details of military operations, +there are still points of interest in the history. That ten thousand +Americans should have been able to get through the mountain-passes, and +to reach the capital at all, is an astonishing thing; and after that, +their successes in the valley of Mexico follow as a matter of course. +They could never have crossed the mountains but for a combination of +circumstances. + +The inhabitants generally displayed the most entire indifference; +possibly preferring to sell their provisions to the Americans, instead +of being robbed of them by their own countrymen. Add to this, that the +Mexican officers showed themselves grossly ignorant of the art of war; +and that the soldiers, though they do not seem to have been deficient +in courage, were badly drilled and insubordinate. One would not have +wondered at the army being in such a condition---in a country that had +long been in a state of profound peace; but in Mexico a standing army +had been maintained for years, at a great expense, and continual civil +wars ought to have given people some ideas about soldiering. We may +judge, from the events of this war, that Mexico might be kept in good +order by a small number of American troops. The mere holding of the +country is not the greatest difficulty in the question of American +annexation. + +One thing that struck our friends at Tisapn, among their experiences +of the war, was the number of dead bodies of women and children that +were found on the battle-fields. A crowd of women follow close in the +rear of a Mexican army; almost every soldier having some woman who +belongs to him, and who carries a heavy load of Indian corn and babies, +and cooks tortillas for her lord and master. The number of these poor +creatures who perished in the war was very great. + +We spent much of our time at Tisapn in collecting plants, and +exploring the lava-field, and the caada, or ravine, that leads up into +the mountains that skirt the valley of Mexico. I recollect one +interesting spot we came to in riding through the pine-forest on the +northern slope of the mountains, where the course of a torrent, now +dry, ran along a mere narrow trench in the hard porphyritic rock, some +ten or fifteen feet wide, until it had suddenly entered a bed of +gravel, where it had hollowed out a vast ravine, four hundred feet wide +and two hundred deep, the inlet of the water being, in proportion, as +small as the pipe that serves to fill a cistern. + +Such places are common enough in the south of Europe, but seldom on so +grand a scale as one finds them in this country, where the floods come +down from the hills with astounding suddenness and violence. Mr. L. had +experience of this one day, when he had got inside his waterwheel, to +inspect its condition, the water being securely shut off, as he +thought. However, an aversada--one of these sudden freshets--came down, +quite without notice; and enough water got into the channel to set the +wheel going, so as to afford its proprietor a very curious and exciting +ride, after the manner of a squirrel in a revolving cage, until the +people succeeded in drawing off the water. + +It was after our return from Tisapn that we paid a visit to Our Lady +of Guadalupe, rather an important personage in the history of Mexican +church-matters. The way lies past Santo Domingo, the church of the Holy +Office, and down a long street where live the purveyors of all things +for the muleteers. Here one may buy mats, ropes, pack-saddles--which +the arrieros delight to have ornamented with fanciful designs and +inscriptions, lazos, and many other things of the same kind. Passing +out through the city-gate, we ride along a straight causeway, which +extends to Guadalupe. A dull road enough in itself, but the +interminable strings of mules and donkeys, bringing in pig-skins full +of pulque, are worth seeing for once; and the Indians, trudging out and +in with their various commodities, are highly picturesque. + +On a building at the side of the causeway we notice "Estacin de +Mjico" (Mexico Station) painted in large letters. As far as we could +observe, this very suggestive sign-board is the whole plant of the +Railway Company at this end of the line. A range of hills ends abruptly +in the plain, at a place which the Indians called Tepeyacac, "end of +the hill" (literally "at the hill's nose"). Our causeway leads to this +spot; and there, at the foot and up the slope of the hill, are built +the great cathedral and other churches and chapels, altogether a vast +and imposing collection of buildings; and round these a considerable +town has grown up, for this is the great place of pilgrimage in the +country. + +The Spaniards had brought a miraculous picture with them, Nuestra +Seora de Remedios, which is still in the country, and many pilgrims +visit it; but Our Lady of Guadalupe is a native Mexican, and decidedly +holds the first rank in the veneration of the people. + +In the great church there is a picture mounted in a gold frame of great +value. Its distance from the altar-rails, and the pane of glass which +covers it, prevent one's seeing it very well. This was the more +unfortunate, as, according to my history, the picture is in itself +evidently of miraculous origin, for the best artists are agreed that no +human hand could imitate the drawing or the colour! It appears that the +Aztecs, long before the arrival of the Spaniards, had been in the habit +of worshipping--in this very place--a goddess, who was known as +_Teotenantzin_, "mother-god," or _Tonantzin_, "our mother." Ten years +after the Conquest, a certain converted Indian, Juan Diego (John James) +by name, was passing that way, and to him appeared the Virgin Mary. She +told him to go to the bishop, and tell him to build her a temple on the +place where she stood, giving him a lapful of flowers as a token. When +the flowers were poured out of the garment, in presence of the bishop, +the miraculous picture appeared underneath, painted on the apron +itself. The bishop accepted the miracle with great unction; the temple +was built, and the miraculous image duly installed in it. Its name of +"Santa Maria de Guadalupe," was not, as one might imagine, taken from +the Madonna of that name in Spain (of course not!), but was +communicated by Our Lady herself to another converted Indian. She told +him that her title was to be _Santa Maria de Tequatlanopeuh_, "Saint +Mary of the rocky hill," of which hard word the Spaniards made +"Guadalupe,"--just as they had turned Quauhnahuac into Cuernavaca, and +Quauhaxallan into Guadalajara, substituting the nearest word of Spanish +form for the unpronounceable Mexican names. This at least is the +ingenious explanation given by my author, the Bachelor Tanco, Professor +of the Aztec language, and of Astrology, in the University of Mexico, +in the year 1666. The bishop who authenticated the miracle was no less +a person than Fray Juan de Zumarraga, whose name is well known in +Mexican history, for it was he who collected together all the Aztec +picture-writings that he could find, "quite a mountain of them," say +the chroniclers, and made a solemn bonfire of them in the great square +of Tlatelolco. The miracles worked by the Virgin of Guadalupe, and by +copies of it, are innumerable; and the faith which the lower orders of +Mexicans and the Indians have in it is boundless. + +On the 12th of December, the Anniversary of the Apparition is kept, and +an amazing concourse of the faithful repair to the sanctuary. Heller, a +German traveller who was in Mexico in 1846, saw an Indian taken to the +church; he had broken his leg, which had not even been set, and he +simply expected Our Lady to cure him without any human intervention at +all. Unluckily, the author had no opportunity of seeing what became of +him. The great miracle of all was the deliverance of Mexico from the +great inundation of 1626, and the fact is established thus. The city +was under water, the inhabitants in despair. The picture was brought to +the Cathedral in a canoe, through the streets of Mexico; and between +one and two years afterwards the inundation subsided. _Ergo_, it was +the picture that saved the city! + +For centuries a fierce rivalry existed between the Spanish Virgin, +called "de Remedios," and Our Lady of Guadalupe; the Spaniards +supporting the first, and the native Mexicans the second. A note of +Humboldt's illustrates this feeling perfectly. He relates that whenever +the country was suffering from drought, the Virjen do Remedios was +carried into Mexico in procession, to bring rain, till it came to be +said, quite as a proverb, _Hasta el agua nos debe venir de la +Gachupina_--"We must get even our water from that Spanish creature." If +it happened that the Spanish Madonna produced no effect after a long +trial, the native Madonna was allowed to be brought solemnly in by the +Indians, and never failed in bringing the wished-for rain, which always +came sooner or later. It is remarkable that the Spanish party, who were +then all-powerful, should have allowed their own Madonna to be placed +at such a disadvantage, in not having the last innings. I need hardly +say that the shrine of Guadalupe is monstrously rich. The Chapter has +been known to lend such a thing as a million or two of dollars at a +time, though most of their property is invested on landed security. +They are allowed to have lotteries, and make something handsome out of +them; and they even sell medals and prints of their patroness, which +have great powers. You may have plenary indulgence in the hour of death +for sixpence or less. We drank of the water of the chalybeate spring, +bought sacred lottery-tickets, which turned out blanks, and tickets for +indulgences, which, I greatly fear, will not prove more valuable; and +so rode home along the dusty causeway to breakfast. + +As means of learning what sort of books the poorer classes in Mexico +preferred, we overhauled with great diligence the book-stalls, of which +there are a few, especially under the arcades (Portales) near the great +square. The Mexican public have not much cheap literature to read; and +the scanty list of such popular works is half filled with Our Lady of +Guadalupe, and other miracle-books of the same kind. Father Ripalda's +Catechism has a large circulation, and is apparently the one in general +use in the country. Zavala speaks of this catechism as containing the +maxims of blind obedience to king and pope; but my more modern edition +has scarcely anything to say about the Pope, and nothing at all about +the government. Of late years, indeed, the Pope has not counted for +much, politically, in Mexico; and on one occasion his Holiness found, +when he tried to interfere about church-benefices, that his authority +was rather nominal than real. On the whole, nothing in the Catechism +struck me so much as the multiplication-table, which, to my unspeakable +astonishment, turned up in the middle of the book; a table of fractions +followed; and then it began again with the Holy Trinity. + +To continue our catalogue; there are the almanacks, which contain rules +for foretelling the weather by the moon's quarters, but none of the +other fooleries which we find in those that circulate in England among +the less educated classes. It is curious to notice how the taste for +putting sonnets and other dreary poems at the beginnings and ends of +books has survived in these Spanish countries. What used to be known in +England as "a copy of verses" is still appreciated here, and almanacks, +newspapers, religious books, even programmes of plays and bull-fights, +are full of such dismal compositions. We ought to be thankful that the +fashion has long since gone out with us (except in the religions tract, +where it still survives). It is not merely apropos of sonnets, but of +thousands of other things, that in these countries one is brought, in a +manner, face to face with England as it used to be; and very trifling +matters become interesting when viewed in this light. The last item in +the list comprises translations, principally of French novels, those +being preferred in which the agony is "piled up" to the highest point. +German literature is represented by the "Sorrows of Werter." Of course, +"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is widely circulated here, as it is everywhere in +countries not given to the "particular vanity" attacked in it. + +One need hardly say that both literature and education are at a very +low ebb in Mexico. Referring to Tejada again, I find that he reckons +that in the capital, out of a population of 185,000, there are 12,000 +scholars at primary schools; but of course, as in other countries, a +large proportion of these children attend so irregularly that they can +hardly learn anything. For the country generally, he estimates one +child receiving instruction out of thirty-seven inhabitants, a very +significant piece of statistics. Efforts are being made, especially in +the capital, to raise the population out of this state. Mr. Christy +took much trouble in investigating the subject, with the assistance of +our friend Don Jos Miguel Cervantes, the head of the Ayuntamiento, or +Municipal Council. This gentleman, with a few others, has been doing +much up-hill work of this kind for years past, establishing schools, +and trying to make head against the opposition of the priests and the +indifference of the people, as yet with but small success. + +It seems hard to be always attacking the Roman Catholic clergy, but of +one thing we cannot remain in doubt,--that their influence has had more +to do than anything else with the doleful ignorance which reigns +supreme in Mexico. For centuries they had the education of the country +in their hands, and even at this day they retain the greater share of +it. The training which the priests themselves receive will therefore +give one some idea of what they teach their scholars. Unluckily, their +course of instruction was stereotyped ages ago, when learned men +devoted themselves to writing huge books on divinity, casuistry, logic, +and metaphysics; concealing their ignorance of facts under an +affectation of wisdom and clouds of long words; demonstrating how many +millions of angels could dance on a needle's point; writing treatises +"_de omni re scibili_," and on a good many things unknowable also; and +teaching their admiring scholars the art of building up sham arguments +on any subject, whether they know anything about it or not. This is a +very vicious system of training for a man's mind, the more especially +when it is supposed to set him up with a stock of superior knowledge; +and this is what the Roman Catholic clergy have been learning, +generation after generation, in Mexico and elsewhere. Of course, there +are plenty of exceptions, particularly among the higher clergy; but, so +far as I have been able to ascertain, education in clerical schools has +generally been of this kind. It is instinctive to talk a little, as one +occasionally finds an opportunity of doing, to some youth just out of +these colleges. I recollect speaking to a young man who had just left +the Seminario of Mexico, where he had been through a long course of +theology and philosophy. He was astonished to hear that bull-fighting +and colearing were not universally practised in Europe; and, when his +father began to question me about the Crimean war, the young +gentleman's remarks showed that he had not the faintest idea where +England and France were, nor how far they were from one another. + +I happened, not long ago, to visit a celebrated monastic college in +South Italy, where they educated, not ordinary mortals, but only young +men of noble birth; and here I took particular care in inspecting the +library, judging that, though the scholars need not learn all that was +there, yet that no department of knowledge would be taught there that +was not represented on the library-shelves. What I saw fully confirmed +all that I had previously seen and heard about the monastic learning of +the present day. There were to be seen many fine manuscripts, and +black-letter books, and curious old editions of great value, good store +of classics (mostly Latin, however), works of the Fathers by the +hundred-weight, and quartos and folios of canon-law, theology, +metaphysics, and such like, by the ton. But it seemed that, in the +estimation of the librarians, the world had stood still since the time +of Duns Scotus; for, of what we call positive knowledge, except a +little arithmetic and geometry, and a few very poor histories, I saw +nothing. It is easy to see how one result of the clerical monopoly of +education has therefore come about--that the intellectual standard is +very low in Mexico. The Holy Office, too, has had its word to say in +the matter. This institution had not much work to do in burning +Indians, who were anything but sceptical in their turn of mind, and, +indeed, were too much like Theodore Hook, and would believe "forty, if +you pleased." They even went further, and were apt to believe not only +what the missionaries taught them, but to cherish the memory of their +old gods into the bargain. It was three centuries after the Conquest, +that Mr. Bullock got the goddess Teoyaomiqui dug up in Mexico; and the +old Indian remarked to him that it was true the Spaniards had given +them three very good new gods, but it was rather hard to take away all +their old ones. At any rate, the functions of the Inquisition were +mostly confined to working the _Index Expurgatorius_, and suppressing +knowledge generally, which they did with great industry until not long +ago. + +Here, then, are two causes of Mexican ignorance, and a third may be +this; that Mexico was a colony to which the Spaniards generally came to +make their fortunes, with a view of returning to their own land; and +this state of things was unfavourable to the country as regards the +progress of knowledge, as well as in other things. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +TEZCUCO. + +Across the lake of Tezcuco is Tezcuco itself, a great city and the +capital of a kingdom at the time of the Conquest, and famous for its +palaces and its learned men. Now it is an insignificant Spanish town, +built, indeed, to a great extent, of the stones of the old buildings. +Mr. Bowring, who has evaporating-works at the edge of the lake, and +lives in the "Casa Grande"--the Great House, just outside Tezcuco, has +invited us to pay him a visit; so we get up early one April morning, +and drive down to the street of the Solitude of Holy Cross (Calle de la +Soledad de Santa Cruz). There we find Mr. Millard, a Frenchman, who is +an _employ_ of Mr. Bowling's, and is going back to Tezcuco with us; +and we walk down to the canal with him, half a dozen Indian porters +with baskets following us, and trotting along in the queer shuffling +way that is habitual to them. At the landing-place we find a number of +canoes, and a crowd of Indians, men and women, in scanty cotton +garments which show the dirt in an unpleasant manner. A canoe is going +to Tezcuco, a sort of regular packet-boat, in fact; and of this canoe +Mr. Millard has retained for us three the stern half, over which is +stretched an awning of aloe-fibre cloth. The canoe itself is merely a +large shallow box, made of rough planks, with sloping prow and stern, +more like a bread-tray in shape than anything else I can think of. +There is no attempt at making the bows taper, and indeed the Indians +stoutly resist this or any other innovation. In the fore part of the +canoe there is already a heap of other passengers, lying like bait in a +box, and when we arrive the voyage begins. + +The crew are ten in number; the captain, eight men, and an old woman in +charge of the tortillas and the pulque-jar. All these are brown people; +in fact, the navigation of the lakes is entirely in the hands of the +Indians, and "reasonable people" have nothing to do with it. Reasonable +people--"gente de razn"--being, as I have said before, those who have +any white blood in them; and republican institutions have not in the +least effaced the distinction. + +So it comes to pass that the canoe-traffic is carried on in much the +same way as it was in Montezuma's time. There is one curious +difference, however. These canoes are all poled about the lakes and +canals; and I do not think we saw an Indian oar or paddle in the whole +valley of Mexico. In the ancient picture-writings, however, the Indians +are paddling their canoes with a kind of oar, shaped at the end like +one of our fire-shovels. But, as we have seen, the distribution of land +and water has altered since those days; and the lakes, far greater in +extent, were of course several feet deeper all over the present beds; +and even at a short distance from the city poling would have been +impossible. I suspect that the Aztecs originally used both poles and +paddles, and that the latter went out of use when the water became +shallow enough for the pole to serve all purposes. Otherwise, we must +suppose that the Mexicans, since the Spanish Conquest, introduced a new +invention; which is not easy to believe. + +We had first to get out of the canal, and fairly out into the lake. +This was the more desirable, as the canal is one of the drains of the +city, an office that it fills badly enough, seeing that there is +scarcely any fall of water from the lower quarters of the city to the +lake. I never saw water-snakes in numbers to compare with those in the +canal, and by the side of it. They were swimming in the water, +wriggling in and out; and on the banks they were writhing in heaps, +like our passengers forward. Two of our crew tow us along, and we are +soon clear of the canal, and of the salt-swamp that extends on both +sides of it, where the bottom of the lake was in old times. Once fairly +out, we look round us. We see Mexico from a new point of view, and +begin to understand why the Spaniards called it the Venice of the New +World. Even now, though the lake is so much smaller than it was then, +the city, with its domes and battlemented roofs, seems to rise from the +water itself, for the intervening flat is soon foreshortened into +nothing. At the present moment it is evident that the level of the lake +is much higher than usual. A little way off, on our right, is the Pen +de los Baos--"the rock of baths"--a porphyritic hill forced up by +volcanic agency, where there are hot springs. It is generally possible +to reach this hill by land, but the water is now so high that the rock +has become an island as it used to be. + +When the first two brigantines were launched on the Lake of Tezcuco by +the Spaniards, Cortes took Montezuma with him to sail upon the lake, +soon leaving the Aztec canoes far behind. They went to a Pen or rocky +hill where Montezuma preserved game for his own hunting, and not even +the highest nobility were allowed to hunt there on pain of death. The +Spaniards had a regular battue there; killing deer, hares, and rabbits +till they were tired. This Pen may have been the Pen de los Baos +which we are just passing, but was more probably a similar hill a +little further off, of larger extent, now fortified and known as El +Pen, the Hill. Both were in those days complete islands at some +distance from the shore. + +Now that we are out of the canal, our Indians begin to pole us along, +thrusting their long poles to the bottom of the shallow lake, and +walking on two narrow planks which extend along the sides of the canoe +from the prow to the middle point. Four walk on each plank, each man +throwing up his pole as he gets to the end, and running back up the +middle to begin again at the prow. The dexterity with which they swing +the poles about, and keep them out of each other's way, is wonderful; +and, as seen from our end of the canoe, looks like a kind of +exaggerated quarter-staff playing, only nobody is ever hit. + +The great peculiarity of the lake of Tezcuco is that it is a salt lake, +containing much salt and carbonate of soda. The water is quite brackish +and undrinkable. How it has come to be so is plain enough. The streams +from the surrounding mountains bring down salt and soda in solution, +derived from the decomposed porphyry; and as the water of the lake is +not drained off into the sea, but evaporates, the solid constituents +are left to accumulate in the lake. + +In England, I think, we have no example of this; but the Dead Sea, the +Caspian, the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and even the Mediterranean, have +various salts accumulated in solution in the same way. It seems to me, +that, by taking into account the proportion of soluble material +contained in the water that flows down from the mountains, the probable +quantity of water that flows down in the year, and the proportion of +salt in the lake itself, some vague guess might be made as to the time +this state of things has been lasting. I have no data, unfortunately, +even for such a rough calculation as this, or I should like to try it. + +In spite of the splendid climate, a great portion of the Valley of +Mexico is anything but fertile; for the soil is impregnated with salt +and soda, which in many places are so abundant as to form, when the +water evaporates, a white efflorescence on the ground, which is called +_tequesquite_, and regularly collected by the Indians. Some of it is +stopped on its way down from the higher ground, by the evaporation of +the water that was carrying it; and some is left by the lake itself, in +its frequent floodings of the ground in its neighbourhood. So small is +the difference of level between the lake and the plain that surrounds +it, that the slightest rise in the height of the water makes an immense +difference in the size of the lake; and even a strong wind will drive +the water over great tracts of ground, from which it retires when the +gale ceases. It must have been this, or something similar, that set +Cortes upon writing home to Spain that the lakes were like inland seas, +and even had tides like the ocean. Of course, this impregnation with +salts is ruinous to the soil, which will produce nothing in such places +but tufts of coarse grass; and the shores of the lake are the most +dismal districts one can imagine. All the lakes, however, are not so +salt as Tezcuco; Chalco, for instance, is a fresh-water lake, and there +the fertility of the shores is very great, as I have already had +occasion to notice. + +As soon as the novelty of this kind of travelling had worn off, we +began to find it dull, and retired under our awning to breakfast and +bitter beer; which latter luxury, thanks to a suitable climate and an +English brewer, is very well understood in Mexico, and is even accepted +as a great institution by the Mexicans themselves. + +We were just getting into a drowsy state, when an unusual bustle among +the crew brought us out of our den, and we found that three hours of +assiduous poling had taken us half-way across the lake, just six +miles--a good test of the value of the Aztec system of navigation. Here +was a wooden cross set up in the water; and here, from time out of +mind, the boatmen have been used to sing a little hymn to the Madonna, +by whose favour we had got so far, and hoped to get safe to the end of +our voyage. Very well they sang it too, and the scene was as striking +as it was unexpected to us. It seemed to us, however, to be making a +great matter of crossing a piece of water only a few feet deep; but Mr. +Millard assured us, that when a sudden gale came on, it was a +particularly unpleasant place to be afloat in a Mexican canoe, which, +being flat-bottomed, has no hold at all on the water, and from its +shape is quite unmanageable in a wind. He himself was once caught in +this way, and kept out all night, with a "heavy sea" on the lake, the +boat drifting helplessly, and threatening to overturn every moment, and +that in places where the water was quite deep enough to drown them all. +The Indians lost their heads entirely, and throwing down their poles +fell on their knees, and joined in the chorus with the women and +children and the rest of the helpless brown people, beating their +breasts, and presenting medals and prints of our Lady of Guadalupe to +each wave as it dashed into them. The wind dropped, however, and Mr. +Millard got safe to Tezcuco next morning; but, instead of receiving +sympathy for his misfortunes when he got there, found that the idea of +a tempest on the lake was reckoned a mere joke, and that the +drawing-room of the Casa Grande had been decorated with a fancy +portrait of himself, hanging to the half-way cross, with his legs in +the water, and underneath, a poetical description of his sufferings to +the tune of "_Malbrouke s'en va-t-en guerre, ne sais quand reviendra_." + +More poling across the lake, and then another little canal, also +constructed since the diminishing of the water of the lake (which once +came close to the city), and along which our Indians towed us. Then +came a short ride, which brought us to the Casa Grande, where Mrs. +Bowring received us with overflowing hospitality. We went off presently +into the town, to see the glassworks. In a country where all things +imported have to be carried in rough waggons, or on mules' backs, and +over bad roads, it would be hard if it did not pay to make glass; and, +accordingly, we found the works in full operation. The soda is produced +at Mr. Bowling's works close by, the fuel is charcoal from the +mountains, and for sand they have a substitute, which I never heard of +or saw anywhere else. It seems that a short distance from Tezcuco there +is a deposit of hydrated silica, which is brought down in great blocks +by the Indians; and this, when calcined, answers the purpose perfectly, +as there is scarcely any iron in it. 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. The Aztec palaces we read so much of were built in just the +same way. The roofs slope inwards from the sides of the quadrangle, and +drain into the open space in the middle. One afternoon, a tremendous +tropical rain-storm showed us how necessary it was to have the covered +walk round the quadrangle raised considerably above this open square in +the middle, which a few minutes of such rain converted into a pond. + +As for ourselves, we spent many very pleasant days at the Casa Grande, +and thoroughly approved of the arrangement of the house, except that +the four corners of the patio were provokingly alike, and the doors of +the rooms also, so that we were as much bothered as the captain of the +forty thieves to find our own doors, or any door except Mr. Millard's, +whose name was indicated--with more regard to pronunciation than +spelling--with a 1 and nine 0's chalked on it. + +In spite of a late evening spent in very pleasant society, we were up +early next morning, ready for an excursion to the Pyramids of +Teotihuacn, some sixteen miles off, or so, under the guidance of one +of Mr. Bowring's men. The road lies through the plain, between great +plantations of magueys, for this is the most renowned district in the +Republic for the size of its aloes, and the quality of the pulque that +is made from them. We stopped sometimes to examine a particularly large +specimen, which might measure 30 feet round, and to see the juice, +which had collected in the night, drawn out of the great hollow that +had been cut to receive it, in the heart of the plant. The Indians have +a great fancy for making crosses, and the aloe lends itself +particularly to this kind of decoration. They have only to cut off six +or eight inches of one leaf, and impale the piece on the sharp point of +another, and the cross is made. Every good-sized aloe has two or three +of these primitive religious emblems upon it. + +Several little torrent-beds crossed the road, and over them were thrown +old-fashioned Spanish stone bridges, as steep as the Rialto, or the +bridge on the willow-patterned plates. + +Before going to see the pyramids, we visited the caves in the hill-side +not far from them, whence the stone was brought to build them. It is +_tetzontli_, the porous amygdaloid which abounds among the porphyritic +hills, a beautiful building-stone, easily worked, and durable. There +was a large space that seemed to have been quarried out bodily, and +into this opened numerous caves. We left our horses at the entrance, +and spent an hour or two in hunting the place over. The ground was +covered with pieces of obsidian knives and arrow-heads, and fragments +of what seemed to have been larger tools or weapons; and we found +numbers of hammer-heads, large and small, mostly made of greenstone, +some whole, but most broken. + +We find two sorts of stone hammers in Europe. Solid hammers belong to +the earliest period. They are made of longish rolled pebbles; some are +shaped a little artificially, and are grooved round to hold the handle, +which was a flexible twig bent double and with the two ends tied +together, so as to keep the stone head in its place. The hammers of a +later period of the "stone age" are shaped more like the iron ones our +smiths use at the present day, and they have a hole bored in the middle +for the handle. In Brittany, where Celtic remains are found in such +abundance, it is not uncommon to see stone hammers of the latter kind +hanging up in the cottages of the peasants, who use them to drive in +nails with. They have an odd way of providing them with handles, by +sticking them tight upon branches of young trees, and when the branch +has grown larger, and has thus rivetted itself tightly on both sides of +the stone head, they cut it off, and carry home the hammer ready for +use. + +Though the Mexicans carried the arts of knife and arrow-making and +sculpturing hard stone to such perfection, I do not think they ever +discovered the art of making a hole in a stone hammer. The handles of +the axes shown in the picture-writings are clumsy sticks swelling into +a large knob at one end, and the axe-blade is fixed into a hole in this +knob. Some of the Mexican hammers seem to have had their handles fixed +in this way; while others were made with a groove, in the same manner +as the earlier kind of European stone hammers just described. + +When we consider the beauty of the Mexican stonecutter's work, it seems +wonderful that they should have been able to do it without iron tools. +It is quite clear that, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, they used +bronze hatchets, containing that very small proportion of tin which +gives the alloy nearly the hardness of steel. We saw many of these +hatchets in museums, and Mr. Christy bought some good specimens in a +collection of antiquities which had belonged to an old Mexican, who got +them principally from the suburb of Tlatelolco, in the neighbourhood of +the ancient market-place of the city. Such axes were certainly common +among the ancient Mexicans. One of the items of the hieroglyphic +tribute-roll in the Mendoza Codex is eighty bronze hatchets. + +A story told by Bernal Diaz is to the point. He says that he and his +companions, noticing that the Indians of the coast generally carried +bright metal axes, the material of which looked like gold of a low +quality, got as many as six hundred such axes from them in the course +of three days' bartering, giving them coloured glass-beads in exchange. +Both sides were highly satisfied with their bargain; but it all came to +nothing, as the chronicler relates with considerable disgust, for the +gold turned out to be copper, and the beads were found to be trash when +the Indians began to understand them better. Such hard copper axes as +these have been found at Mitla, in the State of Oajaca, where the +ruined temples seem to form a connecting link between the monuments of +Teotihuacn and Xochicalco and the ruined cities of Yucatan and +Chiapas. + +We want one more link in the chain to show the use of the same kind of +tools from Mexico down to Yucatan, and this link we can supply. In Lord +Kingsborough's great work on Mexican Antiquities there is one +picture-writing, the Dresden Codex, which is not of Aztec origin at +all. Its hieroglyphics are those of Palenque and Uxmal; and in this +manuscript we have drawings of hatchets like those of Mexico, and fixed +in the same kind of handles, but of much neater workmanship. + +But here we come upon a difficulty. It is supposed that the pyramids of +Teotihuacn, as well as most of the great architectural works of the +country, were the work of the Toltec race, who quitted this part of the +country several centuries before the Spanish Conquest. It seems +incredible that bronze should have been in use in the country for so +long a time, and not have superseded so bad a material as stone for +knives and weapons. We have good evidence to show that in Europe the +introduction of bronze was almost simultaneous with the complete disuse +of stone for such purposes. It is true that Herodotus describes the +embalmers, in his time, as cutting open the bodies with "an Ethiopic +stone" though they were familiar with the use of metal. Indeed the +flint knives which he probably meant may be seen in museums. But this +peculiar usage was most likely kept up for some mystical reason, and +does not affect the general question. Almost as soon as the Spaniards +brought iron to Mexico, it superseded the old material. The "bronze +age" ceased within a year or two, and that of iron began. + +The Mexicans called copper or bronze "tepuztli," a word of rather +uncertain etymology. Judging from the analogous words in languages +allied to the Aztec, it seems not unlikely that it meant originally +_hatchet_ or _breaker_, just as "itztli," or obsidian, appears to have +meant originally _knife_.[12] + +When the Mexicans saw iron in the hands of the Spaniards, they called +it also "tepuztli," which thus became a general word for metal; and +then they had to distinguish iron from copper, as they do at the +present day, by calling them "_tliltic_ tepuztli," and "_chichiltic_ +tepuztli;" that is, "black metal," and "red metal." + +When the subject of the use of bronze in stone-cutting is discussed, as +it so often is with special reference to Egypt, one may doubt whether +people have not underrated its capabilities, when the proportion of tin +is accurately adjusted to give the maximum hardness; and especially +when a minute portion of iron enters into its composition. Sir Gardner +Wilkinson relates that he tried the edge of one of the Egyptian mason's +chisels upon the very stone it had evidently been once used to cut, and +found that its edge was turned directly; and therefore he wonders that +such a tool could have been used for the purpose, of course supposing +that the tool as he found it was just as the mason left it. This, +however, is not quite certain. If we bury a brass tool in a damp place +for a few weeks, it will be found to have undergone a curious molecular +change, and to have become quite soft and weak, or, as the workmen call +it, dead. We ought to be quite sure whether lying for centimes under +ground may not have made some similar change in bronze. + +I have seen many prickly pears in different places, but never such +specimens as those that were growing among the stones in this old +quarry. They had gnarled and knotted trunks of hard wood, and were as +big as pollard-oaks; their age must have been immense; but, +unfortunately, one could not measure it, or it would have been a good +criterion of the age of the quarry, which had not only been excavated +but abandoned before their time. In one of the caves was a human +skeleton, blanched white and clean, and near it some one has stuck a +cross, made of two bits of stick, in the crevices of a heap of stones. + +Returning to the entrance of the quarry, well loaded with stone hammers +and knives, we sat down to breakfast, in a cave, where our man had +established himself with the horses. An attempt on my part to cut +German sausage with an obsidian knife proved a decided failure. + +We had already been struck by the appearance of the two pyramids of +Teotihuacn, when we passed by Otumba on our way to Mexico. The hills +which skirt the plain are so near them as to diminish their apparent +size; but even at a distance they are conspicuous objects. Now, when we +came close to them, and began by climbing to their summits, and walking +round their terraces, to measure ourselves against them, we began +gradually to realize their vast bulk; and this feeling continually grew +upon us. Modern architecture strives to unite the greatest possible +effect with the least cost; and the modern churches of southern Europe +and Spanish America, with their fine tall facades fronting the street, +and insignificant little buildings behind, show this idea in its +fullest development. Pyramids are built with no such object, and make +but little show in proportion to their vast mass of material; but then +one gets from them a sense of solid magnitude that no other building +gives, however vast its proportions may be. Neither of us had ever seen +the Egyptian pyramids. Even in Mexico these of Teotihuacn are not the +largest; for, though the pyramid of Cholula is no higher, it covers far +more ground. Were these monuments in Egypt, they would only rank, from +their size, in the second class. + +As has often been remarked, such buildings as these can only be raised +under peculiar social conditions. The ruler must be a despotic +sovereign, and the mass of the people slaves, whose subsistence and +whose lives are sacrificed without scruple to execute the fancies of +the monarch, who is not so much the governor as the unrestricted owner +of the country and the people. The population must be very dense, or it +would not bear the loss of so large a proportion of the working class; +and vegetable food must be exceedingly abundant in the country, to feed +them while engaged in this unprofitable labour. + +We know how great was the influence of the priestly classes in Egypt, +though the pyramids there, being rather tombs than temples, do not +prove it. In Mexico, however, the pyramids themselves were the temples, +serving only incidentally as tombs; and their size proves that--as +respects priestly influence--the resemblance between the two people is +fully carried out. + +Like the Egyptian pyramids, these fronted the four cardinal points. +Their shape was not accurately pyramidal, for the line from base to +summit was broken by three terraces, or perhaps four, running +completely round them; and at the top was a flat square space, where +stood the idols and the sacrificial altars. This construction closely +resembled that of some of the smaller Egyptian pyramids. Flights of +stone steps led straight up from terrace to terrace, and the procession +of priests and victims made the circuit of each before they ascended to +the one above. + +The larger of the two teocallis is dedicated to the Sun, has a base of +about 640 feet, and is about 170 feet high. The other, dedicated to the +Moon, is rather smaller. + +These monuments were called _teocallis_, not because they were +pyramids, but because they were temples; "Teocalli" means "god's +house"--(_teotl_, god, _calli_, house), a name which the traveller +hears explained for the first time with some wonder; and Humboldt +cannot help adverting to its curious correspondence with [Greek: theou +kalia], _dei cella_. Another odd coincidence is found in the Aztec name +for their priests, _papahua_, the root of which _papa_, (the _hua_, is +merely a termination). In the Old World the word _Papa_, Pope, or +Priest, was connected with the idea of father or grandfather, but the +Aztec word has no such origin. + +When the Aztecs abandoned their temples, and began to build Christian +churches, they called them also "teocallis," and perhaps do so to this +day. + +The heavy tropical rains have to a great extent broken the sharpness of +the outline of these structures, and brought them more nearly to the +shape of real pyramids than they were originally; but, as we climbed up +their sides, we could trace the terraces without any difficulty, and +even flights of steps. + +The pyramids consist of an outer casing of hewn stone, faced and +covered with smooth stucco, which has resisted the effects of time and +bad usage in a wonderful manner. Inside this casing were adobes, +stones, clay, and mortar, as one may see in places where the exterior +has been damaged, and by creeping into the small passage which leads +into the Temple of the Moon. Both pyramids are nearly covered with a +coating of debris, full of bits of obsidian arrows and knives, and +broken pottery. On the teocalli of the moon we found a number of recent +sea-shells, which mystified us extremely; and the only explanation we +could give of their presence there was that they might have been +brought up as offerings. A passage in Humboldt, which I met with long +after, seems to clear up the mystery. Speaking of the great teocalli of +the city of Mexico, he says, quoting an old description, that the Moon +had a little temple in the great courtyard, which was built of shells. +Those that we found may be the remains of a similar structure on the +top of the pyramid. + +Prickly pears, aloes, and mesquite bushes have overgrown the pyramids +in all directions, as though they had been mere natural hills. In +Sicily one may see the lava fields of Etna planted with prickly pears: +in the ordinary course of things, it requires several centuries before +even the surface of this hard lava will disintegrate into soil; but the +roots of the cactus soon crack it, and a few years suffice to break it +up to a sufficient depth to allow of vineyards being planted upon it. +Here the same plant has in the same way affected the porous amygdaloid +with which the pyramids are faced, and has cut up the surface sadly; +but the vegetation which covers them will at any rate defend them from +the rains, and now centuries will make but little change in the +appearance of these remarkable buildings. + +Near Nice there is a hill which gives a wonderfully correct idea of the +appearance of the terraced teocallis of Mexico, as they must have +looked before time effaced the sharpness of their lines. Where the +valley of the Paglione and that of St. Andre meet, the hill between +them terminates in a half pyramid, the angle of which lies toward the +south; and the inhabitants--as their custom is in southern Europe, have +turned the two slopes to account, by building them up into terraces, to +prevent the soil they have laboriously carried up from being swept down +by the first heavy rain. Seen from the proper point of view the +resemblance is complete. + +From the south side of the Temple of the Moon runs an avenue of +burial-mounds, the Micaotli, "the path of the dead." On these mounds, +and round the foot of the pyramids themselves, the whole population of +the once great city of Teotihuacn and its neighbourhood used to +congregate, to see the priests and the victims march round the terraces +and up the stairs in full view of them all. Standing here, one could +imagine the scene that Cortes and his men saw from their camp, outside +Mexico, on that dreadful day when the Mexicans had cut off their +retreat along the causeways, and taken more than sixty Spanish +prisoners. Bernal Diaz was there, and tells the tale how they heard +from the city the great drum of Huitzilopochtli sending forth a strange +and awful sound, that could be heard for miles, and with it many horns +and trumpets; and how, when they had looked towards the great teocalli, +they saw the Mexicans dragging up the prisoners, pushing and beating +them as they went, till they had got them up to the open space at the +top, "where the cursed idols stood." Then they put plumes of feathers +on their heads, and fans in their hands, and made them dance before the +idol; and when they had danced, they threw them on their backs on the +sacrificial stone that stood there, and, sawing open their breasts with +knives of stone, they tore out their hearts, and offered them up in +sacrifice; and the bodies they flung down the stairs to the bottom. +More than this the Spaniards cannot have seen, though Diaz describes +the rest of the proceedings as though they had been done in his sight; +but it was not the first time they had witnessed such things, and they +knew well enough what was happening down below,--how the butchers were +waiting to cut up the carcases as they came down, that they might be +cooked with chile, and eaten in the solemn banquet of the evening. + +The day was closing in by this time; and our man was waiting with the +horses at the foot of the great pyramid; and with him an Indian, whom +we had caught half an hour before, and sent off with a real to buy +pulque, and to collect such obsidian arrows and clay heads as were to +be found at the ranchos in the neighbourhood. + +Near the place we started from, two or three Indians were diligently at +work at their stone-quarry, that is to say, they were laboriously +bringing out great hewn stones from the side of the pyramid, to build +their walls with; and indeed we could see in every house for miles +round stones that had come from the same source, as was proved by the +stucco still remaining upon them, smoothed like polished marble, and +painted dull red with cinnabar. + +As I write this, it brings to my recollection an old Roman trophy in +North Italy, built--like these pyramids--of a shell of hewn stone, +filled with rough stones and cement, now as hard as the rock itself. +There I saw the inhabitants of the town which stands at its foot, +carrying off the great limestone blocks, but first cutting them up into +pieces of a size that they could move about, and build into their +houses. Here and there, in this little Italian town, there were to be +seen in the walls letters of the old inscription which were once upon +the trophy; and the age of the houses shewed that the monument had +served as a quarry for centuries. + +As we rode home, we noticed by the sides of the road, and where ditches +had been cut, numbers of old Mexican stone-floors covered with stucco. +The earth has accumulated above them to the depth of two or three feet, +so that their position is like that of the Roman pavements so often +found in Europe; and we may guess, from what we saw exposed, how great +must be the number of such remains still hidden, and how vast a +population must once have inhabited this plain, now almost deserted. + +Two days afterwards we came back. In the ploughed fields in the +neighbourhood we made repeated trials whether it was possible to stand +still in any spot where there was no relic of old Mexico within our +reach; but this we could not do. Everywhere the ground was full of +unglazed pottery and obsidian; and we even found arrows and clay +figures that were good enough for a museum. When we left England, we +both doubted the accounts of the historians of the Conquest, believing +that they had exaggerated the numbers of the population, and the size +of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their +victories, and to write as wonderful a history as they could, as +historians are prone to do. But our examination of Mexican remains soon +induced us to withdraw this accusation, and even made us inclined to +blame the chroniclers for having had no eyes for the wonderful things +that surrounded them. + +I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous +exaggerations of Solis and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who +seemed to think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and +that it sounded much better. But when this class of writers are set +aside, and the more valuable authorities severely criticised, it does +not seem to us that the history thus extracted from these sources is +much less reliable than European history of the same period. There is, +perhaps, no better way of expressing this opinion than to say that what +we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm Prescott's History of the +Conquest, and but seldom to make his statements appear to us +improbable. + +There are other mounds near the pyramids, besides the Micaotli. Two +sides of the Pyramid of the Sun are surrounded by them; and there are +two squares of mounds at equal distances, north and south of it, +besides innumerable scattered hillocks. There are some sculptured +blocks of stone lying near the pyramids, and inside the smaller one is +buried what appears to be a female bust of colossal size, with the +mouth like an oval ring, so common in Mexican sculptures. + +The same abundance of ancient remains that we found here characterizes +the neighbourhood of all the Mexican monuments in the country, with one +curious exception. Burkart declares that in the vicinity of the +extensive remains of temples known as _Los Edificios_, near Zacatecas, +no traces of pottery or of obsidian were to be found. + +Before going away, we held a solemn market of antiquities. We sat +cross-legged on the ground, and the Indian women and children brought +us many curious articles in clay and obsidian, which we bought and +deposited in two great bags of aloe-fibre which our man carried at his +saddle-bow. Among the articles we bought were various pipes or whistles +of pottery, _pitos_, as they are called in Spanish, and just as we were +mounting our horses to ride off, a lad ran to the top of one of the +mounds, and blew on one of these pipes a long dismal note that could be +heard a mile off. Our friends had filled our heads so full of robbers +and ambushes, that we made sure it was a signal for some one who was +waiting for us, and the more so as the boy ran off as soon as he had +blown his blast; and when we looked round for the people whose +antiquities we had been buying, they had all disappeared. But nothing +came of it, and we got safely back to Tezcuco. As usual, we spent a +capital evening, and separated late. The owner of the glass-works, who +had been spending the evening with us, had an adventure on his road +home. He was peaceably riding along, when two men rushed out from +behind the corner of the street, and shouted "_alto ah_!" (halte-l). +He thought they were robbers, and started at a gallop. His hat flew +off, and the men sent two bullets singing past his head, which sent him +on quicker than ever, till he reached his house. There he got his +pistols, and came back armed to the teeth to fetch the hat, which lay +where it had fallen. The supposed robbers turned out, on enquiry next +day, to have been national guards, patrolling the street; but certainly +their proceedings were rather questionable. + +We had an unpleasant visit the same night. The custom of the Casa +Grande was that after dark a watchman patrolled all night, giving a +long blast every quarter of an hour on one of these same doleful +Mexican whistles, to show that he was not sleeping on his rounds. This +was for the outside. Inside the house, _pour surcrot de prcaution_, a +servant came round to see that every one was in his room; and having +satisfied himself of this, let loose in the courtyard two enormous +bulldogs, which were the terror of the household and of the whole +neighbourhood. On this particular night, a noise at our own door woke +me from a sound sleep; and I had the pleasure of seeing a creature walk +deliberately in, looking huge and terrific in the moonlight. The beast +had been into the stable two nights before, and had pinned a cow which +was there, keeping his hold upon her till next morning, when he was got +off by the keeper. With this specimen of the bulldog's abilities fresh +in my recollection, I preferred not making any attempt to resent his +impertinent intrusion, but lay still, till he had satisfied himself +with walking about the room and sniffing at our beds, when he lay down +on my carpet; I soon fell asleep again, and next morning he was gone. +The foreigners in Mexico seem to delight in fierce bull-dogs. The Casa +Grande at Tezcuco is not by any means the only place where they form +part of the garrison. One English acquaintance of ours in the Capital +kept two of these beasts up in his rooms, and not even the servants +dared go up, unless the master was there. + +Every one who has read Prescott's 'Mexico' will recollect +Nezahualcoyotl, the king of Tezcuco; and the palaces he built there for +his wives, and his poets, and the rest of his great court. These +palaces were built chiefly of mud bricks; and time and the Spaniards +have dealt so hardly with them, that even their outlines can no longer +be traced. Traces of two large teocallis are just visible, and Mr. +Bowring has some burial mounds in his grounds which will be examined +some day. There is a Mexican calendar built into the wall of one of the +churches; and, as we walked about the streets of the present town, we +noticed stones that must have been sculptured before the Spaniards +brought in their broken-down classic style, and so stopped the +development of native art. As for the rest of old Tezcuco, it has +"become heaps." Wherever they dig ditches or lay the foundations of +houses, you may see the ground full of its remains. + +As I said before, when speaking of the stuccoed floors near +Teotihuacn, the accumulation of alluvial soil goes on very rapidly and +very regularly all over the plains of Mexico and Puebla, where +everything favours its deposit; and the human remains preserved in it +are so numerous that its age may readily be seen. We noticed this in +many places, but in no instance so well as between Tezcuco and the +hacienda of Miraflores. There a long ditch, some five feet deep, had +just been cut in anticipation of the rainy season. As yet it was dry, +and, as we walked along it, we found three periods of Mexican history +distinctly traceable from one end to the other. First came mere +alluvium, without human remains. Then, just above, came fragments of +obsidian knives and bits of unglazed pottery. Above this again, a third +layer, in which the obsidian ceased, and much of the pottery was still +unglazed; but many fragments were glazed, and bore the unmistakable +Spanish patterns in black and yellow. + +It is a pity that these alluvial deposits, which give such good +evidence as to the order in which different peoples or different states +of society succeeded one another on the earth, should be so valueless +as a means of calculating the time of their duration; but one can +easily see that they must always be so, by considering how the +thickness of the deposits is altered by such accidents as the formation +of a mud-bank, or the opening of a new channel,--things that must be +continually occurring in districts where this very accumulation is +going on. The only place where any calculation can be based upon its +thickness is on the banks of the Nile, where its accumulations round +the ancient monuments may perhaps give a criterion as to the time which +has elapsed since man ceased to clear away the deposits of the +river.[13] + +As an instance of the tendency of alluvial deposits to entomb such +monuments of former ages, I must mention the temple of Segeste, which +stands on a gentle slope among the hills of northern Sicily. I had +heard talk of the graceful proportions of this Doric temple, built by +the Greek colonists; and great was my surprise, on first coming in +sight of it, to see a pediment supported by two rows of short squat +columns, without bases, and rising directly from the ground. A nearer +inspection showed the cause of this extraordinary distortion. The whole +slope had risen full six feet during the 2500 years, or so, that have +elapsed since its desertion; and the temple now stands in a large +oblong pit, which has lately been excavated. As we left the spot, and +turned to see it again a few yards off, the beautiful symmetry of the +whole had disappeared again. + +To return to Tezcuco. Some three or four miles from the town stands the +hill of Tezcotzinco, where Nezahualcoyotl had his pleasure-gardens; and +to this hill we made an excursion early one morning, with Mr. Bowring +for our guide. We did not go first to Tezcotzinco itself, but to +another hill which is connected with it by an aqueduct of immense size, +along which we walked. The mountains in this part are of porphyry, and +the channel of the aqueduct was made principally of blocks of the same +material, on which the smooth stucco that had once covered the whole, +inside and out, still remained very perfect. The channel was carried, +not on arches, but on a solid embankment, a hundred and fifty or two +hundred feet high, and wide enough for a carriage-road. + +The hill itself was overgrown with brushwood, aloes, and prickly pears, +but numerous roads and flights of steps cut in the rock were +distinguishable. Not far below the top of the hill, a terrace runs +completely round it, whence the monarch could survey a great part of +his little kingdom. On the summit itself I saw sculptured blocks of +stone; and on the side of the hill are two little circular baths, cut +in the solid rock. The lower of the two has a flight of steps down to +it; the seat for the bather, and the stone pipe which brought the +water, are still quite perfect. + +His majesty used to spend his afternoons here on the shady side of the +hill, apparently sitting up to his middle in water, like a frog, if one +may judge by the height of the little seat in the bath. If, as some +writers say, these were only tanks with streams of running water, and +not baths at all, why the steps cut in their sides, which are just +large enough and high enough for a man to sit in? No water has come +there for centuries now; and the morning-sun nearly broiled us, till we +got into a sort of cave, excavated in the hill, it is said, with an +idea of finding treasure. It seems there was once a Mexican calendar +cut in the rock at this spot; and some white people who were interested +in such matters, used to come to see it, and poke curiously about in +search of other antiquities. Naturally enough, the Indians thought that +they expected to find treasure; and with a view of getting the first +chance themselves, they cut down the calendar, and made this large +excavation behind it. + +Here we sat in the shade, breakfasting, and hearing Mr. Bowring's +stories of the art of medicine as practised in the northern states of +Mexico, where decoction of shirt is considered an invaluable specific +when administered internally; and the recognised remedy for lumbago is +to rub the patient with the drawers of a man named John. No doubt the +latter treatment answers very well! + +[Illustration: OLD MEXICAN BRIDGE NEAR TEZCUCO.] + +There is an old Mexican bridge near Tezcuco which seems to be the +original _Puente de las Bergantinas_, the bridge where Cortes had the +brigantines launched on the lake of Tezcuco. This bridge has a span of +about twenty feet, and is curious as showing how nearly the Mexicans +had arrived at the idea of the arch. It is made in the form of a roof +resting on two buttresses, and composed of slabs of stone with the +edges upwards, with mortar in the interstices; the slabs being +sufficiently irregular in shape to admit of their holding together, +like the stones of a real arch. One may now and then see in Europe the +roofs of small stone hovels made in the same way; but twenty feet is an +immense span for such a construction. I have seen such buildings in +North Italy, in places where the limestone is so stratified as to +furnish rough slabs, three or four inches thick, with very little +labour in quarrying them out. In Kerry there are ancient houses and +churches roofed in the same way. What makes the Tezcuco bridge more +curious is that it is set askew, which must have made its construction +more difficult. + +The brigantines which the Spaniards made, and transported over the +mountains in such a wonderful manner, fully answered their purpose, for +without them Mexico could hardly have been taken. After the Conquest +they were kept for years, for the good service they had done; but +vessels of such size do not seem to have been used upon the lake since +then; and I believe the only sailing craft at present is Mr. Bowring's +boat, which the Indians look at askance, and decidedly decline to +imitate. It is true that, somewhere near the city, there is moored a +little steamer, looking quite civilized at a distance. It never goes +anywhere, however; and I have a sort of impression of having heard that +when it was first made they got up the steam once, but the conduct of +the machinery under these circumstances was so extraordinary and +frantic that no one has ventured to repeat the experiment. + +Before we left Tezcuco, we went in a boat to explore Mr. Bowring's +salt-works, which are rather like the salines of the South of France. +Patches of the lake are walled off, and the water allowed to evaporate, +which it does very rapidly under a hot sun, and with only three-fourths +of the pressure of air upon it that we have at the sea-level. The +lake-water thus concentrated is run into smaller tanks. It contains +carbonate and sesquicarbonate of soda, and common salt. The addition of +lime converts the sesquicarbonate of soda into simple carbonate, and +this is separated from the salt by taking advantage of their different +points of crystallization. The salt is partly consumed, and partly used +in the extraction of silver from the ore, and the soda is bought by the +soap-makers. + +Humboldt's remarks on the small consumption of salt in Mexico are +curious. The average amount used with food is only a small fraction of +the European average. While the Tlascalans were at war with the Aztecs, +they had to do without salt for many years, as it was not produced in +their district. Humboldt thinks that the chile which the Indians +consume in such quantities acts as a substitute. It is to be remembered +that the soil is impregnated with both salt and natron in many of these +upland districts, and the inhabitants may have eaten earth containing +these ingredients, as they do for the same purpose in several places in +the Old World. + +We disembarked after sailing to the end of these great evaporating +pans, and found horses waiting to take us to the Bosque del Contador. +This is a grand square, looking towards the cardinal points, and +composed of ahuehuetes, grand old deciduous cypresses, many of them +forty feet round, and older than the discovery of America. My +companion, not content with buying collections at secondhand, wished to +have some excavations made on his own account, and very judiciously +fixed on this spot, where, though there were no buildings standing, the +appearance of the ground and the mounds in the neighbourhood, together +with the historical notoriety of the place, made it probable that +something would be found to repay a diligent search. This expectation +was fully realized, and some fine idols of hard stone were found, with +an infinitude of pottery and small objects. + +When I look through my notes about Tezcuco, I do not find much more to +mention, except that a favourite dish here consists of flies' eggs +fried. These eggs are deposited at the edge of the lake, and the +Indians fish them out and sell them in the market-place. So large is +the quantity of these eggs, that at a spot where a little stream +deposits carbonate of lime, a peculiar kind of travertine is forming +which consists of masses of them imbedded in tho calcareous deposit. + +The flies[14] which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans +"_axayacatl_" or "water-face." There was a celebrated Aztec king who +was called Axayacatl; and his name is indicated in the picture-writings +by a drawing of a man's face covered with water. The eggs themselves +are sold in cakes in the market, pounded and cooked, and also in lumps +_au naturel_, forming a substance like the roe of a fish. This is known +by the characteristic name of "_ahuauhtli_", that is "water-wheat."[15] + +The last thing we did at Tezcuco, was to witness the laying down of a +new line of water-pipes for the saltworks. This I mention because of +the pipes, which were exactly those introduced into Spain by the Moors +and brought here by the Spaniards. These pipes are of glazed +earthenware, taper at one end, and each fitting into the large end of +the next. The cement is a mixture of lime, fat, and hair, which gets +hard and firm when cold, but can be loosened by a very slight +application of heat. A thousand years has made no alteration in the way +of making these pipes. Here, however, the ground is so level that one +great characteristic of Moorish waterworks is not to be seen. I mean +the water-columns which are such a feature in the country round +Palermo, and in other places where the system of irrigation introduced +by the Moorish invaders is still kept up. These are square pillars +twenty or thirty feet high, with a cistern at the top of each, into +which the water from the higher level flowed, and from which other +pipes carried it on; the sole object of the whole apparatus being to +break the column of water, and reduce the pressure to the thirty or +forty feet which the pipes of earthenware would bear. + +This subject of irrigation is very interesting with reference to the +future of Mexico. We visited two or three country-houses in the +plateaux, where the gardens are regularly watered by artificial +channels, and the result is a vegetation of wonderful exuberance and +beauty, converting these spots into oases in the desert. On the lower +levels of the tierra templada where the sugar-cane is cultivated, a +costly system of water-supply has been established in the haciendas +with the best results. Even in the plains of Mexico and Puebla, the +grain-fields are irrigated to some small degree. But notwithstanding +this progress in the right direction, the face of the country shows the +most miserable waste of one of the chief elements of the wealth and +prosperity of the country, the water. + +In this respect, Spain and the high lands of Mexico may be compared +together. There is no scarcity of rain in either country, and yet both +are dry and parched, while the number and size of their torrent-beds +show with what violence the mountain-streams descend into lakes or +rivers, rather agents of destruction than of benefit to the land. +Strangely enough, both countries have been in possession of races who +understood that water was the very life-blood of the land, and worked +hard to build systems of arteries to distribute it over the surface. In +both countries, the warlike Spaniards overcame these races, and +irrigating works already constructed were allowed to fall to ruin. + +When the Moriscos were expelled from their native provinces of +Andalusia and Granada, their places were but slowly filled up with +other settlers, so that a great part of their aqueducts and +watercourses fell into decay within a few years. These new colonists, +moreover, came from the Northern provinces, where the Moorish system of +culture was little understood; and, incredible as it may seem, though +they must have had ocular evidence of the advantages of artificial +irrigation, they even neglected to keep in repair the water-channels on +their own ground. Now the traveller, riding through Southern Spain, may +see in desolate barren valleys remains of the Moorish works which +centuries ago brought fertility to grain-fields and orchards, and made +the country the garden of Europe. + +There was another nation who seem to have far surpassed both Moors and +Aztecs in the magnitude of their engineering-works for this purpose. +The Peruvians cut through mountains, filled up valleys, and carried +whole rivers away in artificial channels to irrigate their thirsty +soil. The historians' accounts of these water-works as they were, and +even travellers' descriptions of the ruins that still remain, fill us +with astonishment. It seems almost like some strange fatality that this +nation too should have been conquered by the same race, the ruin of its +great national works following immediately upon the Conquest. + +Spain is rising again after long centuries of degradation, and is +developing energies and resources which seem likely to raise it high +among European nations, and the Spaniards are beginning to hold their +own again among the peoples of Europe. But they have had to pay dearly +for the errors of their ancestors in the great days of Charles the +Fifth. + +The ancient Mexicans were not, it is true, to be compared with the +Spanish Arabs or the Peruvians in their knowledge of agriculture and +the art of irrigation; but both history and the remains still to be +found in the country prove that in the more densely populated parts of +the plains they had made considerable progress. The ruined aqueduct of +Tetzcotzinco which I have just mentioned was a grand work, serving to +supply the great gardens of Nezahualcoyotl, which covered a large space +of ground and excited the admiration of the Conquerors, who soon +destroyed them, it is said, in order that they might not remain to +remind the conquered inhabitants of their days of heathendom. + +Such works as these seem, however, not to have extended over +whole provinces as they did in Spain. In the thinly peopled +mountain-districts, the Indians broke up their little patches of ground +with a hoe, and watered them from earthen jars, as indeed they do to +this day. + +The Spaniards improved the agriculture of the country by introducing +European grain, and fruit-trees, and by bringing the old Roman plough, +which is used to this day in Mexico as in Spain, where two thousand +years have not superseded its use or even altered it. Against these +improvements we must set a heavy account of injury done to the country +as regards its cultivation. The Conquest cost the lives of several +hundred thousand of the labouring class; and numbers more were taken +away from the cultivation of the land to work as slaves for the +conquerors in building houses and churches, and in the silver-mines. +When the inhabitants were taken away, the ground went out of +cultivation, and much of it has relapsed into desert. Even before the +Conquest, Mexico had been suffering for many years from incessant wars, +in which not only thousands perished on the field of battle, but the +prisoners sacrificed annually were to be counted by thousands more, +while famine carried off the women and children whose husbands and +fathers had perished. But the slaughter and famine of the first years +of the Spanish Conquest far exceeded anything that the country had +suffered before. + +At the time of the Conquest of Mexico the Spaniards let the native +irrigating-works fall into decay; and they took still more active +measures to deprive the land of its necessary water, by their +indiscriminate destruction of the forests on the hills that surround +the plains. When the trees were cut down, the undergrowth soon +perished, and the soil which had served to check the descending waters +in their course was soon swept away. During the four rainy months, each +heavy shower sends down a flood along the torrent-bed which flows into +a river, and so into the ocean, or, as in the Mexican valley, into a +salt lake, where it only serves to injure the surrounding land. In both +cases it runs away in utter waste. + +In later years the Spanish owners of the soil had the necessity of the +system impressed upon them by force of circumstances; and large sums +were spent upon the construction of irrigating channels, even in the +outlying states of the North. + +In the American territory recently acquired from Mexico history has +repeated itself in a most curious way. We learn from Froebel, the +German traveller, that the new American settlers did not take kindly to +the system of irrigation which they found at work in the country. They +were not used to it, and it interfered with their ideas of liberty by +placing restrictions upon their doing what they pleased on their own +land. So they actually allowed many of the water-canals to fall into +ruins. Of course they soon began to find out their mistake, and are +probably investing heavily in water-supply by this time. We ought not +to be too severe upon the Spaniards of the sixteenth century for an +economical mistake which we find the Americans falling into under +similar circumstances in the nineteenth. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +CUERNAVACA. TEMISCO. XOCHICALCO. + + + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SADDLE AND ITS APPURTENANCES.] + +Much too soon, as we thought, the day came when we had arranged to +leave Tezcuco and return to Mexico, to prepare for a journey into the +tierra caliente. On the evening of our return to the capital there was +a little earthquake, but neither of us noticed it; and thus we lost our +one chance, and returned to England without having made acquaintance +with that peculiar sensation. + +The purchase of horses and saddles and other equipments for our +journey, gave us an opportunity of poking about into out-of-the-way +corners of the city, and seeing some new phases of Mexican life; and +certainly we made the most of the chance. We made acquaintance with +horse-dealers, who brought us horses to try in the courtyard of the +great house of our friends the English merchants in the Calle +Seminario, and there showed off their paces, walking, pacing, and +galloping. To trot is considered a disgusting vice in a Mexican horse; +and the universal substitute for it here is the _paso_, a queer +shuffling run, first, the two legs on one side together, and then the +other two. You jolt gently up and down without rising in the stirrups; +and when once you are used to it the paso is not disagreeable, and it +is well suited to long mountain-journeys. Horses in the United States +are often trained to this gait, and are known as "pacing" horses. +Another peculiarity in the training of Mexican horses is, that many of +them are taught to "rayar," that is, to put their fore-feet out after +the manner of mules going down a pass; and slide a short distance along +the ground, so as to stop suddenly in the midst of a rapid gallop. To +practise the horses in this feat, the jockey draws a lino ("_raya_") on +the ground, and teaches them to stop exactly as they reach it, and +whirl round in the opposite direction. This performance is often to be +seen on the paseo, and other places, where smart young gentlemen like +to show off themselves and their horses; but it is only a fancy trick, +and they acknowledge that it spoils the animal's fore-legs. + +After much bargaining and chaffering we bought three horses for +ourselves and our man Antonio, giving eight, seven, and four pounds for +them. This does not seem much to give for good hackneys, as these were; +but they were not particularly cheap for Mexico. While we were at +Tezcuco, Mr. Christy used to ride one of Mr. Bowring's horses, a pretty +little chestnut, which carried him beautifully, and had cost just +eleven dollars, or forty-six shillings. It had been bought of the +horse-dealers who come down every year from the almost uninhabited +states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Cohahuila, on the American frontier, +where innumerable herds of horses, all but wild, roam over boundless +prairies, feeding on the tall coarse grass. Their keep costs so little, +that the breeders are not compelled, as in England, to break them in +and sell them at the earliest possible moment, and they let the young +colts roam untamed till they are five or six years old. Their great +strength and power of endurance in proportion to their size is in great +measure to be ascribed to this early indulgence. + +It is very clear that when a horse is to be sold for somewhere between +two and six pounds, the breeder cannot afford to spend much time in +breaking him in. The rough-rider lazos him, puts on the bridle with its +severe bit, and springs upon his back in spite of kicking and plunging. +The horse gallops furiously off across country of his own accord, but +when his pace begins to flag, the great vaquero spurs come into +requisition, and in an hour or two he comes back to the corral dead +beat and conquered once for all. It is easy to teach him his paces +afterwards. The anquera--as it is called--is put on his haunches, to +cure him of trotting, and to teach him the paso instead. It is a +leather covering fringed with iron tags, which is put on behind the +saddle, and allows the horse to pace without annoying him; but the +least approach to a trot brings the pointed tags rattling upon his +haunches. We bought one of these anqueras at Puebla. It was very old, +and curiously ornamented with carved patterns. In the last century, +these anqueras were a regular part of Mexican horse-equipment; but now, +except in horse-breaking yards or old curiosity-shops, they are seldom +to be seen. + +Almost all the Mexican horses descend from the Arab breed--the gentlest +and yet the most spirited in the world, which have not degenerated +since the Spaniards brought them over in the early days of the +Conquest, but retain unchanged their small graceful shape, their +swiftness, and their power of bearing fatigue. There seem really to be +no large horses bred in the country. Instead of jolting about in a +carriage drawn by eight or ten mules, with harness covered with silver +and gold--as rich Mexicans used to do, the proper thing now is to have +a pair of tall carriage-horses, like ours in England; and these are +brought at great expense from the United States, and by the side of the +graceful little Mexicans they look as big and as clumsy as elephants. + +Our saddles were of the old Moorish pattern, of monstrous size and +weight, very comfortable for the rider, but, I fear, much less so for +the horse, whose back often gets sadly galled, in spite of the thick +padding and the two or three blankets that are put on underneath. These +saddles run into high peaks behind and before, so that you can hardly +fall out of them, even when you go to sleep in the saddle on a long +journey, as many people habitually do. In front, the saddle rises into +a pummel which is made of hard wood, and is something like a large +mushroom with its stalk. Round this the end of the lazo is wound, after +the noose has been thrown. All Mexican saddles are provided with these +heads in front, and have, moreover, several pairs of little thongs +attached to them on each side, which serve to tie on bags, whips, +water-gourds, and other odds and ends. Behind the seat of the saddle +are more straps, where cloaks and serapes are fastened; and in case of +need even a carpet-bag will travel there. We were in the habit of +returning from our expeditions with our horses so covered with the +plants and curiosities we had collected, that it became no easy matter +to get our legs safely over the horses' backs, into their proper places +among the clusters of miscellanea. Our acquaintances used to compare us +to the perambulating butchers' shops, which are a feature in Mexican +streets, and consist of a horse with a long saddle covered with hooks, +and on every hook a joint. + +The flaps of our saddles, the great spatterdashes that protected our +feet from the mud, and the broad stirrup-straps were covered with +carved and embossed patterns; indeed almost all leather-work is +decorated in this way, and the saddle-makers delight in ornamenting +their wares with silver plates and bosses; so that it was not +surprising that our saddles and bridles should have cost, though +second-hand, nearly as much as the horses. + +In books of travels in Mexico up to the beginning of the present +century, one of the staple articles of wondering description was the +gorgeous trappings of the horses, and the spurs, bits, and stirrups of +gold and silver. The costumes have not changed much, but the taste for +such costly ornaments has abated; and it is now hardly respectable to +have more than a few pounds worth of bullion on one's saddle or around +one's hat, or to wear a hundred or so of buttons of solid gold down the +sides of one's leather trousers, with a very questionable cotton +calzoncillo underneath. + +The horses' bits are made with a ring, which pinches the under-lip when +the bridle is tightened, and causes great pain when it is pulled at all +hard. At first sight it seems cruel to use such bits, but the system +works very well; and the horses, knowing the power their rider has over +them, rarely misbehave themselves. One rides along with the loop at the +end of the twisted horse-hair bridle hanging loose on one finger, so +that the horse's mouth is much less pulled about than with the bridles +we are accustomed to in England. When it is necessary to guide the +horse, the least pressure is enough; but, as a general rule, the little +fellow can find his way as well as his rider can. We used continually +to let our reins drop on our horses' necks, and jog on careless of pits +and stumbling-blocks. I have even seen my companion take out his +pocket-book, and improve the occasion by making notes and sketches as +he went. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN BIT, WITH ITS RING AND CHAINS. LENGTH 9 +INCHES, WIDTH 5-1/2 INCHES.] + +The distance from Mexico to Vera Cruz is about two hundred and fifty +miles, and what the roads are I have in some measure described. Rafael +Beraza, the courier of the English Mission at Mexico, used to ride this +with despatches regularly once a month in forty hours, and occasionally +in thirty-five. He changed horses about every ten or fifteen miles; and +now and then, when, overcome by sleep, he would let the boy who +accompanied him to the next stage ride first, his own horse following, +and the rider comfortably dozing as he went along. + +As for our own equipment, Mr. Christy adopted the attributes of the +eastern traveller when he came into the country, the great umbrella, +the veil, and the felt hat with a white handkerchief over it. As for +me, my wardrobe was scanty; so, when my travelling coat wore out at the +elbows and my trousers were sat through--like the little bear's chair +in the story, I replaced the garments with a jacket of chamois leather, +and a pair of loose trousers made of the same, after the manner of the +country. Then came a grey felt hat, as stiff as a boiler-plate, and of +more than quakerish lowness of crown and broadness of brim, but +secularized by a silver serpent for a hatband; also, a red silk sash, +which--fastening round the waist--held up my trousers, and interfered +with my digestion; lastly, a woollen serape to sleep under, and to wear +in the mornings and evenings. This is the genuine ranchero costume, and +it did me good service. Indeed, ever since my Mexican journey I have +considered that George Fox decidedly showed his good sense by dressing +himself in a suit of leather; much more so than the people who laughed +at him for it. + +In the country, all Mexicans--high and low--wear this national dress; +and in this they are distinguished from the Indians, who keep to the +cotton shirts and drawers, and the straw hats of their ancestors. In +the towns, it is only the lower classes who dress in the ranchero +costume, for "nous autres" wear European garments and follow the last +Paris fashion, with these exceptions--that for riding, people wear +jackets and calzoneras of the national cut, though made of cloth, and +that the Mexican hat is often worn even by people who adopt no other +parts of the costume. There never were such hats as these for +awkwardness. The flat sharp brims of passers-by are always threatening +to cut your head off in the streets. You cannot get into a carriage +with your hat on, nor sit there when you are in. But for walking and +riding under a fierce sun, they are perhaps better than anything else +that can be used. + +The Mexican blanket--the serape--is a national institution; It is wider +than a Scotch plaid, and nearly as long, with a slit in the middle; and +it is woven in the same gaudy Oriental patterns which are to be seen on +the prayer-carpets of Turkey and Palestine to this day. It is worn as a +cloak, with the end flung over the left shoulder, like the Spanish +_capa_, and muffling up half the face when its owner is chilly or does +not wish to be recognized. When a heavy rain comes down, and he is on +horseback, he puts his head through the slit in the middle, and becomes +a moving tent. At night he rolls himself up in it, and sleeps on a mat +or a board, or on the stones in the open air. + +Convenient as it is, the serape is as much tabooed among the +"respectable" classes in the cities as the rest of the national +costume. I recollect going one evening after dark to the house of our +friends in the Calle Seminario with my serape on, and nearly having to +fight it out with the great dog Nelson, who was taking charge of his +master's room. Nelson knew me perfectly well, and had sat that very +morning at the hotel-gate for half an hour, holding my horse, while a +crowd of leperos stood round, admiring his size and the gravity of his +demeanour as he sat on the pavement, with the bridle in his mouth. But +that a man in a serape should come into his master's room at dusk was a +thing he could not tolerate, till the master himself came in, and +satisfied his mind on the subject. + +As I said, the equipment of ourselves and our three horses took us into +a variety of strange places, for we bought the things we wanted piece +by piece, when we saw anything that suited us. Among other places we +went to the Baratillo, which is the Rag-Fair and Petticoat Lane of +Mexico, and moreover the emporium for whips, bridles, bits, old spurs, +old iron, and odds and ends generally. The little shops are arranged in +long lines, after the manner of the eastern bazaar; and the +shopkeepers, when they are not smoking cigarettes outside, are sitting +in their little dens, within arms-length of all the wares they have to +sell. Here we found what we had come for, and much more too, in the way +of wonderful old spurs, combs, boxes, and ornaments; so that we came +several times more before we left the country, and never without +carrying away some curious old relic. + +Mexico, as everybody knows, is decidedly a thievish place. The shops +are all shut at dark, after the _Oracin_, for fear of thieves. Ladies +used to wear immense tortoise-shell combs at the back of their heads, +where the mantilla is fastened on; but, when it became a regular trade +for thieves to ride on horseback through the streets, and pull out the +combs as they went, the fashion had to be given up. These curiously +carved and ornamented combs are still preserved as curiosities, and we +bought several of them. + +While we were in Mexico, they knocked a man down in the great square at +noon-day, robbed him, and left him there for dead. The square is so +large, and the sun was so hot, that the police--whose head-quarters are +under the arches in that very square--could not possibly walk across to +see what was going on!--_moral_, if you will have the distinction of +having the largest square in the world, you must take the consequences. + +Of course, where thieving is so general, the market for stolen goods +must be a place of considerable trade, and this Baratillo is one of the +principal depts for such wares. One may realize here the story of the +citizen, in the old book, who had his wig stolen at the beginning of +his walk through London, and found it hanging up for sale a little +further on. Here the deserter comes to sell his uniform and his +ricketty old flintlock. Small blame to him. I would do the same myself +if I were in his place, and were compelled to serve under one rascally +political adventurer against another rascally political adventurer--to +say nothing of being treated like a dog, half-starved, and not paid at +all, except by a sort of half license to plunder. "Those poor soldiers! +we can't pay them, you know, and they must live somehow." + +I have abused the Mexicans for being thieves, and not without reason, +though, as regards ourselves personally, we never lost anything except +a great brand-new waterproof coat which my companion had brought with +him, promising to himself that under its shelter he should bid defiance +to the daily rain-storms of the wet season. As we dismounted from the +Diligence in Mexico, in the courtyard of the hotel, some one relieved +him of it. We did not know of the Baratillo in those days, or would +have gone to look for it there. At the time of our visit it was too +late, for if it ever had been there, the Mexicans understand too well +the value of an English "ulli," as they call them, to let it hang long +for sale. "Ulli" is not a borrowed word, but the genuine Aztec name for +India-rubber, which was used to make playing-balls with, long before +the time of Columbus. + +I mentioned the water-bottles as part of our equipment. They are +gourds, which are throttled with bandages while young, so as to make +them grow into the shape of bottles with necks. Then they are hung up +to dry; and the inside being cleaned out through a small hole near the +stalk, they are ready for use, holding two or three pints of water. A +couple of inches of a corn-cob (the inside of a ear of Indian corn) +makes a capital cork; and the bottle is hung by a loop of string to the +pummel of the saddle, where it swings about without fear of breaking. +One may see gourds, prepared in just the same way, in Italy, hanging up +under the eaves of the little farm-houses, among the festoons of red +and yellow ears of Indian corn; and indeed the gourd-bottle is a +regular institution of Southern Europe. + +We sent Antonio on with the horses to Cuernavaca, and started by the +Diligence early one morning, accompanied by one of our English friends, +whom I will call--as every-one else did--Don Guillermo. It is the +regular thing here, as in Spain, to call everybody by his or her +Christian name. You may have known Don Antonio or Don Felipe for weeks +before you happen to hear their surnames. + +The road ran at first over the plain, among great water-meadows, with +herds of cattle pasturing, and fields of wheat and maize. Ploughing was +going on, after the primitive fashion of the country, with two oxen +yoked to each plough. The yoke is fastened to the horns of the oxen, +and to the centre of the yoke a pole is attached. At the other end of +this pole is the plough itself, which consists of a wooden stake with +an iron point and a handle. The driver holds the handle in one hand and +his goad in the other (a long reed with an iron point), and so they +toil along, making a long scratch as they go. A man follows the plough, +and drops in single grains of Indian corn, about three feet apart. The +furrows are three feet from one another, so that each stalk occupies +some nine square feet of ground. When the plants are growing up they +dig between them, and heap up round each stalk a little mound of earth. + +We passed many little houses consisting of one square room, built of +mud-bricks, with mud-mortar stuck full of little stones; without +windows, but generally possessing the luxury of a chimney, with a +couple of bricks forming an arch over it to keep out the rain. Glimpses +of men smoking cigarettes at the doors, half-naked brown children +rolling in the dirt, and women on their knees inside, hard at work +grinding the corn for those eternal tortillas. + +At San Juan de Dios Mr. Christy climbed to the top of the Diligence, +behind the conductor, who sat with a large black leather bag full of +stones on the footboard before him. Whenever one of the nine mules +showed a disposition to shirk his work, a heavy stone came flying at +him, always hitting him in a tender place, for long practice had made +the conductor almost as good a shot as the goat-herds in the mountains, +who are said to be able to hit their goats on whichever horn they +please, and so to steer them straight when they seem inclined to stray. +But our conductor simply threw the stones, whereas the goat-herd uses +the aloe-fibre honda, or sling, that one sees hanging by dozens in the +Mexican shops. + +We pass near Churubusco, and along the line by which the American army +reached Mexico. The field of lava which they crossed is close at our +right hand; and just on the other side of it lie Tisapn and our friend +Don Alejandro's cotton-factory. On our left are the freshwater-lakes of +Xochimilco and Chalco, which had risen several feet, and flooded the +valley in their neighbourhood. Between us and the great mountain-chain +that forms the rim of the valley, lies a group of extinct volcanos, +from one of which descends the great lava-field. + +Passing in full view of these picturesque craters, now mostly covered +with trees and brushwood, we begin to ascend, and are soon among the +porphyritic range that forms a wall between us and the land of +sugar-canes and palms. Along the road towards Mexico came long files of +Indians, dressed in the national white cotton shirts and short drawers +and sandals, made like Montezuma's, though not with plates of gold on +the soles, such as that monarch's sandals had. Some of these Indians +are bringing on their backs wood and charcoal from the pine-forest +higher up among the mountains, and some have fastened to their backs +light crates full of live fowls or vegetables; others are carrying up +tropical fruits from the tierra caliente below, zapotes and mameis, +nisperos and granaditas, tamarinds and fresh sugar-canes. These people +are walking with their loads thirty or forty miles to market: but their +race have been used as beasts of burden for ages, and they don't mind +it. + +Bright blue and red birds, and larger and more brilliant butterflies +than are seen in Europe, show that, though we are among fields of wheat +and maize, we are in the tropics after all. As the road rises we get +views of the broad valley, with its lakes and green meadows, and the +great white haciendas with their clumps of willows, their +church-towers, and the clusters of adobe huts surrounding them--like +the peasants' cottages in feudal Europe, crowding up to the baron's +castle. + +Our mules begin to flag as we toil up the steep ascent; but the +conductor rattles the stones in his black bag, and as the ominous sound +reaches their ears, they start off again with renewed vigour. We pass +San Mateo, a village of charcoal-burners, where a large and splendid +stone church, with its tall dark cypresses, stands among the huts of +reeds and pine-shingles that form the village. + +[Illustration: INDIANS BRINGING CHARCOAL, &C. TO MEXICO.] + +Trains of mules are continually passing with their heavy loads of wood +and charcoal, bales of goods and barrels of aguardiente de caa, which +is rum made from the sugar-cane, but not coloured like that which comes +to England. The men are continually rushing backwards and forwards +among their beasts, which are not content with kicking and biting, and +banging against one another, but are always trying to lie down in the +road; and one of the principal duties of the arriero is constantly to +keep an eye on all his beasts at once, and, when he sees one preparing +to lie down, to be beforehand with him, and drive him on by a furious +shower of blows, kicks, and curses. Certainly, the Mexican mules are +the finest and strongest in the world; and, though they are just as +obstinate here as elsewhere, they are worth two or three times as much +as horses. + +Our road lies through a forest of pines and oaks, which reaches to the +summit of the pass, where stands a wretched little village, La Guarda. +There we had a thoroughly Mexican breakfast, with pulque in tall +tumblers, and endless successions of tortillas, coming in hot and hot +from the kitchen, where we could see brown women with bare arms, and +black hair plaited in long tails, kneeling by the charcoal fire, and +industriously patting out fresh supplies, and baking them rapidly on a +hot plate. The _pice de rsistance_ was a stew, bright red with +tomatas, and hot as fire with chile; and then came the _frijoles_--the +black beans--without which no Mexican, high or low, considers a meal +complete. The walls of the room were decorated with highly coloured +engravings, one of which represented an engagement between a Spanish +and an English fleet, in which the English ships are being boarded by +the victorious Spaniards, or are being blown up in the background. +Where the engagement was I cannot recollect. People in Mexico, to whom +I mentioned this remarkable historical event, assured me that there are +still to be seen pictures of the destruction of the English fleet by +the French and Spaniards in the Bay of Trafalgar! + +Mexico was always, until the establishment of the republic, profoundly +ignorant of European affairs. In the old times, when the intercourse +with the mother-country was by the great ship, "el nao," which came +once a year, the government at home could have just such news +circulated through the country as seemed proper and convenient to them. +We see in our own times how despotic governments can mystify their +subjects, and distort contemporary history into what shape they please. +But in Spanish America the system was worked to a greater extent than +in any other country I have heard of; and the undercurrent of popular +talk, which spreads in France and Russia things and opinions not to be +found in the newspapers, had in Mexico but little influence. Scarcely +any Mexican travelled, scarcely any foreigner visited the country, and +the Spaniards who came to hold offices and make fortunes were all in +the interest of the old country; so the Mexicans went on, until the +beginning of this century, believing that Spain still occupied the same +position among the nations of Europe that it had held in the days of +Charles the Fifth. + +While my companion was outside the Diligence, Don Guillermo and I were +left to the conversation of an Italian fellow-passenger. One finds such +characters in books, but never before or since have I seen the reality. +He might have been the original of the great Braggadoccio. His +conversation was like a chapter out of the autobiography of his +countryman Alfieri. + +He had accompanied the Italian nobleman who was killed in an affray +with the Mexican robbers, some years ago, and on that occasion his +defence had been most heroic. He himself had shot several of the +robbers; till at last, his friend being killed, the rest of the party +yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the brigands, and he ran off to +fetch assistance! + +Whenever he was riding along a Mexican road, and any suspicious-looking +person asked him for a light, his habit was to hand him his cigar stuck +in the muzzle of a pistol; "and they always take the hint," he said, +"and see that it won't do to interfere with us." Alone, he had been +attacked by three armed men, but with a pistol in each hand he had +compelled them to retreat. But this was not all; our champion was +victorious in love as well as in arms. Like the great Alfieri, to whom +I have compared him, in every country where he travelled, the most +beautiful and distinguished ladies hardly waited for him to ask before +they cast themselves at his feet. Refusing the rich jewels that he +offered them, they declared that they loved him for himself alone. + +Weeks after, we were talking to our friend Mr. Del Pozzo, the Italian +apothecary in the Calle Plateros, and happened to ask him if he were +acquainted with his heroic countryman. Whereupon the apothecary went +off into fits of unextinguishable laughter, and told us how our friend +really had been in the skirmish he described, and had nobly run away +almost before a shot was fired, leaving his friends to fight it out. An +hour or two after, he was found shaking with terror in a ditch. + +To return to our road. The forest is on both sides of the Sierra; but +it is on the southern slope, over which we look down from the pass, +that the pines attain their fullest size and beauty; for here they are +as grand as in the Scandinavian forests, with all the beauty of the +pine-trees on the Italian hills. The pass, with its deep forest +skirting the road, has been a resort of robbers for many years; and the +driver pointed out to my companion a little grassy dell by the +road-side, from which forty men had rushed out and plundered the +Diligence just ten days before. With his mind just prepared, one may +imagine his feelings when he caught sight of some twenty wild-looking +fellows in all sorts of strange garments, with the bright sunshine +gleaming on the barrels of their muskets. A man was riding a little in +front of us, and as he approached the others they descended, and ranged +themselves by the side of the road. They were only the guard, after +all, and such a guard! Their thick matted black hair hung about over +their low foreheads and wild brown faces. Some had shoes, some had +none, and some had sandals. They had straw hats, glazed hats, no hats, +leather jackets and trousers, cotton shirts and drawers, or drawers +without any shirt at all; and--what looked worst of all--some had +ragged old uniforms on, like deserters from the army, and there are no +worse robbers than they. When the Diligence reached them, the guard +joined us; some galloping on before, some following behind, whooping +and yelling, brandishing their arms, and dashing in among the trees and +out into the road again. Every now and then my friend outside got a +glimpse down the muzzle of a musket, which did not add to his peace of +mind. At last we got through the dangerous pass, and then we made a +subscription for the guard, who departed making the forest ring again +with war-whoops, and firing off their muskets in our honour until we +were out of hearing. + +The top of the pass is 12,000 feet above the sea, but the clouds seemed +as high as ever above us, and the swallows were flying far up in the +air. Three thousand feet lower we were in a warmer region, among oaks +and arbutus; and here, as in our higher latitudes, the climate is far +hotter than on the northern slope at the same height. Bananas are to be +found at an elevation of 9,000 feet, three times the height at which +they ceased on the eastern slope, as we came up from Vera Cruz. This +difference between the two slopes depends, in part, on the different +quantity of sunshine they receive, which is of some importance, +although we are within the tropics. But the sheltering of the southern +sides from the chilling winds from the north still further contributes +to give their vegetation a really tropical character. + +We felt the heat becoming more and more intense as we descended, and +when we reached Cuernavaca we lay down in the beautiful garden of the +inn, among orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, listening to the pleasant +cool sound of running water, and looking down into the great barranca +with its perpendicular walls of rock, and the luxuriant vegetation of +the tierra caliente covering the banks of the stream that flowed far +below us. We could easily shout to the people on the other edge of the +ravine, but it would have taken hours of toiling down the steep paths +and up again before we could have reached them. + +Here our horses were waiting for us; and an hour or two's ride brought +us to the great sugar-hacienda of Temisco, where we were to pass the +night, for towns and inns are few and far between in Mexico when one +leaves the more populous mountain-plateaus. So much the better, for my +companion had provided himself with letters of introduction, and we had +already seen something of hacienda life, and liked it. + +As we approached Temisco, we saw upon the slopes, immense fields of +sugar-cane, now grown into a dense mass, five or six feet high, most +pleasant to look upon for the delicate green tint of the leaves that +belongs to no other plant. The colour of our English turf is beautiful, +and so are the tints of our English woods in spring, but our fields of +grain have a dull and dingy green compared to the sugar-cane and the +young Indian corn. In this beautiful valley we cannot charge the +inhabitants with entirely neglecting the irrigation of the land. +Indeed, the culture of the sugar-cane cannot be carried on without it, +and the cost of the watercourses on the large estates has been very +great. Unfortunately, even here agriculture is not flourishing. The +small number of the white inhabitants, and the distracted state of the +country make both life and property very insecure; and the brown people +are becoming less and less disposed to labour on the plantations. + +It is true that most of these channels were made in old times; little +new is done now, and I could make a long list of estates that were once +busy and prosperous, giving employment to thousands of the Indian +inhabitants, and that are now over-grown with weeds and falling to +ruin. + +Entering the iron gate of the hacienda, we found ourselves in an +immense courtyard, into which open all the principal buildings of the +estate, the house of the proprietor, the church--which forms a +necessary part of every hacienda--the crushing-mill, and the +boiling-houses. Into the same great patio open the immense stables for +the many riding-horses and the many hundreds of mules that carry the +sugar and rum over the mountains to market, and the tienda, the shop of +the estate, through which almost all the money paid to the labourers +comes back to the proprietor in exchange for goods. A mountain of +fresh-cut canes stood near the door of the trapiche (the +crushing-mill); and a gang of Indians were constantly going backwards +and forwards carrying them in by armfuls; while a succession of mules +were continually bringing in fresh supplies from the plantation to +replenish the great heap. The court-yard was littered all over, +knee-deep, with dry cane-trash; and mules, just freed from their +galling saddles, were rolling on their backs in it, kicking with all +their legs at once, and evidently in a state of high enjoyment. Part of +one side of the square was a sort of wide cloister, and in it stood +chairs and tables. + +Here the business of the place was transacted, and the Administrador +could look up from his ledger, and see pretty well what was going on +all over the establishment. + +It is very common for the owners of these haciendas to be absentees, +and to leave the entire control of their estates to the administradors; +but at Temisco, which is much better managed than most others, this is +not the case, and the son of the proprietor generally lives there. He +was out riding, so we sent our horses to the stable, and lounged about +eating sugar-canes till he should return. Presently he came, a young +man in a broad Mexican hat and white jacket and trousers, mounted on a +splendid little horse, with his saddle glittering with silver, every +inch a planter. He welcomed us hospitably, and we sat down together in +the cloister looking out on the courtyard. Evening was closing in, and +all at once the church-bell rang. Crowds of Indian labourers in their +white dresses came flocking in, hardly distinguishable in the twilight, +and the sound of their footsteps deadened as they walked over the dry +stubble that covered the ground. All work ceased, every one uncovered +and knelt down; while, through the open church-doors, we heard the +Indian choir chanting the vesper hymn. In the haciendas of Mexico every +day ends thus. Many times I heard the Oracin chanted at nightfall, but +its effect never diminished by repetition, and to my mind it has always +seemed the most impressive of religious services. + +Then the Administrador seated himself behind a great book, and the +calling over the "raya" began. Every man in turn was called by name, +and answered in a loud voice, "I praise God!;" then saying how much he +had earned in the day, for the Administrador to write down. "Juan +Fernandez!"--"_Alabo a Dios, tres reales y medio_:" "I praise God, one +and ninepence." "Jos Valdes!"--"I praise God, eighteen pence, and +sixpence for the boy;" and so on, through a couple of hundred names. + +Then came, not unacceptably, a little cup of pasty chocolate and a long +roll for each of us. Then Don Guillermo and our host talked about their +mutual acquaintances in Mexico, and we asked questions about +sugar-planting, and walked about the boiling-house, where the +night-gang of brown men were hard at work stirring and skimming at the +boiling-pans, and ladling out coarse unrefined sugar into little +earthen bowls to cool. This common sugar in bowls is very generally +used by the poorer Mexicans. The sugar-boilers were naked excepting a +cotton girdle. These men were very strong, and with great powers of +endurance, but they did not at all resemble the strong men of Europe +with their great muscles standing up under their skin, the men in +Michael Angelo's pictures, or the Farnese Hercules. They are equally +unlike the thin wiry Arabs, whose strength seems so disproportionate to +their lean little bodies. + +The pure Mexican Indian is short and sturdy; and, until you have +observed the peculiarities of the race, you would say he was too stout +and flabby to be strong. But this appearance is caused by the immense +thickness of his skin, which conceals the play of his muscles; and in +reality his strength is very great, especially in the legs and thighs, +and in the muscles that are brought into action in carrying burdens. +Sartorius used to observe the Indian miners bringing loads of above +five-hundred-weight up a hundred fathoms of mine-ladders, which consist +of trunks of trees fixed slanting across the shaft, with notches cut in +them for steps. + +As I have said before, it is not the mere training of the individual +that has produced this remarkable development of the power of carrying +loads. The centuries before the Conquest, when there were no beasts of +burden, had gradually produced a race whose bodies were admirably +fitted for such work; and the persistency with which they have clung to +their old habits has done much to prevent their losing this +peculiarity. + +To complete the description of the Indians which I have been led into +by speaking of the sugar-boilers,--they are chocolate-brown in colour, +with curved noses, straight black hair hanging flat round their heads +and covering their wonderfully low foreheads, and occasionally a scanty +black beard. Their faces are broadly oval, their eyes far apart, and +they have wide mouths with coarse lips. Not bad faces on the whole, but +heavy and unexpressive. + +At ten o'clock came a heavy supper, the substantial meal of the day, +and immediately afterwards we went to bed, and dreamt such dreams as +may be imagined. We were off early in the morning with a wizened old +mestizo to guide us to the ruins of Xochicalco, which are on this very +estate of Temisco. The estate is forty miles across, however, and it is +a long ride to the ruins. After we leave the fields of sugar-cane, we +see scarcely a hut, nor a patch of cultivated ground. At last we get to +Xochicalco, and find ourselves at the foot of a hill, some four hundred +feet in height, extraordinarily regular in its conical shape, more so +than any natural hill could be, unless it were the cone of a volcano. +At different heights upon this hill, we could see from below broad +terraces running round and round it. A little nearer we came upon a +great ditch. The sides had fallen in, in many places; sometimes it was +quite filled up, and everywhere it was overgrown with thick brushwood, +as was the hill itself. It seems that this ditch runs quite round the +base of the hill, and is three miles long. Climbing up through the +thicket of thorny bushes and out upon the terraces, it became quite +evident that the hill had been artificially shaped. The terraces were +built up with blocks of solid stone, and paved with the same. On the +neighbouring hills we could discern traces of more terrace-roads of the +same kind; there must be many miles of them still remaining. + +But it was when we reached the summit, that we found the most +remarkable part of the structure. The top has been cut away so as to +form a large level space, which was surrounded by a stone wall, now in +ruins. Inside the inclosure are several mounds of stone, doubtless +burial-places, and all that is left of the pyramid. Ruined and defaced +as it is, I shall never forget our feelings of astonishment and +admiration as we pushed our way through the bushes, and suddenly came +upon it. We were quite unprepared for anything of the kind; all we knew +of the place when we started that morning being that there were some +curious old ruins there. + +The pyramid was composed of blocks of hewn stone, so accurately fitted +together as hardly to show the joints, and the carving goes on without +interruption from one block to another. Some of these blocks are eight +feet long, and nearly three feet wide. They were laid together without +mortar, and indeed, from the construction of the building, none was +required. The first storey is about sixteen feet high, including the +plinth at the bottom. Above the plinth comes a sculptured group of +figures, which is repeated in panels all round the pyramid, twice on +each side. Each panel occupies a space thirty feet long by ten in +height, and the bas-reliefs project three or four inches. There is a +chief, dressed in a girdle, and with a head-dress of feathers just like +those of the Red Indians of the north. Below the girdle he terminates +in a scroll. In the middle of the group is what may perhaps be a +palm-tree, with a rabbit at its foot. Close to the tree, and reaching +nearly to the same height, is a figure with a crocodile's head wearing +a crown, and with drapery in parallel lines, like the wings of the +creatures in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Indeed this may very likely be a +conventional representation of the robes of feather-work so +characteristic of Mexico. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURED PANEL. From the ruined Pyramid of Xochicalco. +(After Nebel.)] + +Above these bas-reliefs is a frieze between three and four feet high, +with another sculptured panel repeated eight times on each side of the +pyramid. This remarkable sculpture represents a man sitting barefoot +and crosslegged. On his head is a kind of crown or helmet, with a plume +of feathers; and from the front of this helmet there protrudes a +serpent, just where in the Egyptian sculptures the royal basilisk is +fixed on the crowns of kings and queens. The eyes of this personage are +protected by round plates with holes in the middle, held on by a strap +round the head, like the coloured glasses used in the United States to +keep off the glare of the sun, and known as "goggles." In front of this +figure are sculptured a rabbit and some unintelligible ornaments or +weapons. "Rabbit" may have been his name. + +The frieze is surmounted by a cornice; and above the cornice of the +second storey enough remains to show that it was covered with reliefs, +in the same way as the first There were five storeys originally: the +others have only been destroyed about a century. The former proprietor +of the hacienda of Temisco pulled down the upper storeys, and carried +away the blocks of stone to build walls and dams with. + +The perfect execution of the details in the bas-reliefs and the +accuracy with which they are repeated show clearly that it was not so +much want of skill as the necessity of keeping to the conventional mode +of representing objects that has given so grotesque a character to the +Mexican scriptures. Certain figures became associated with religion and +astrology in Mexico, as in many other countries; and the sculptor, +though his facility in details shows that he could have made far better +figures if he had had a chance, never had the opportunity, for he was +not allowed to depart from the original rude type of the sacred object. +Humboldt remarks that the same undeviating reproduction of fixed models +is as striking in the Mexican sculptures done since the Conquest. The +clumsy outlines of the rude figures of saints brought from Europe in +the 16th century were adopted as models by the native sculptors, and +have lasted without change to this day. + +It is evident that Xochicalco answered several purposes. It was a +fortified hill of great strength, also a sacred shrine, and a +burial-place for men of note, whose bodies, no doubt, still lie under +the ruined cairns near the pyramid. The magnitude of the ditch and the +terraces, as well as the great size of the blocks of stone brought up +the hill without the aid of beasts of burden, indicate a large +population and a despotic government. The beauty of the masonry and +sculpture show that the people who erected this monument had made no +small progress in the arts. We must remember, too, that they had no +iron, but laboriously cut and polished the hardest granite and porphyry +with instruments of stone and bronze; we can hardly tell how. + +The resemblances which people find between Assyrian and Egyptian +sculptures and the American monuments are of little value, and do not +seem sufficient to ground any argument upon. When slightly civilized +races copy men, trees, and animals in their rude way, it would be hard +if there were not some resemblance among the figures they produce. With +reference to their ornamentation, it is true that what is called the +"key-border" is quite common in Mexico and Yucatan, and that on this +very pyramid the panels are divided by a twisted border, which would +not be noticed as peculiar in a "renaissance" building. But the model +of this border may have been suggested--on either side of the globe--by +creepers twined together in the forest, or by a cord doubled and +twisted, such as is represented in one of the commonest Egyptian +hieroglyphs. + +The cornice which finishes the first storey of the pyramid is a +familiar pattern, but nothing can be concluded from these simple +geometrical designs, which might be invented over and over again by +different races when they began to find pleasure in tracing ornamental +devices upon their buildings. Upon the tattooed skins of savages such +designs may be seen, and the patterns were certainly in use among them +before they had any intercourse with white men. This is the view +Humboldt takes of these coincidences. That both the Egyptian king and +the Mexican chief should wear a helmet with a serpent standing out from +it just above the forehead, is somewhat extraordinary. + +Now, who built Xochicalco? Writers on Mexico are quite ready with their +answer. They tell us that, according to the Mexican tradition, the +country was formerly inhabited by another race, who were called +_Toltec_, or, as we say, _Toltecs_, from the name of their city, +_Tollan_, "the Reed-swamp;" and that they were of the same race as the +Aztecs, as shown by the names of their cities and their kings being +Aztec words; that they were a highly civilized people, and brought into +the country the arts of sculpture, hieroglyphic painting, great +improvements in agriculture, many of the peculiar religious rites since +practised by other nations who settled after them in Mexico, and the +famous astronomical calendar, of which I shall speak afterwards. The +particular Toltec king to whom the Mexican historians ascribe the +building of Xochicalco was called Nauhyotl, that is to say, "Four +Bells," and died A.D. 945. + +We are further told that just about the time of our Norman Conquest, +the Toltecs were driven out from the Mexican plateau by famine and +pestilence, and migrated again southward. Only a few families remained, +and from them the Aztecs, Chichemecs, and other barbarous tribes by +whom the country was re-peopled, derived that knowledge of the arts and +sciences upon which their own civilization was founded. It was by this +Toltec nation--say the Mexican writers--that the monuments of +Xochichalco, Teotihuacn, and Cholula were built. In their architecture +the Aztecs did little more than copy the works left by their +predecessors; and, to this day, the Mexican Indians call a builder a +_toltecatl_ or _Toltec_. + +If we consider this circumstantial account to be anything but a mere +tissue of fables, the question naturally arises--what became of the +remains of the Toltecs when they left the high plains of Mexico? A +theory has been propounded to answer this question, that they settled +in Chiapas and Yucatan, and built Palenque, Copan, and Uxmal, and the +other cities, the ruins of which lie imbedded in the tropical forest. + +At the time that Prescott wrote his History of the Conquest, such a +theory was quite tenable; but the new historic matter lately made known +by the Abb Brasseur de Bourbourg has given a different aspect to the +question. Without attempting to maintain the credibility of this +writer's history as a whole, I cannot but think that he has given us +satisfactory grounds for believing that the ruined cities of Central +America were built by a race which flourished long before the Toltecs; +that they were already declining in power and civilization in the +seventh century, when the Toltecs began to flourish in Mexico; and that +the present Mayas of Yucatan are their degenerate descendants. + +What I have seen of Central American and Mexican antiquities, and of +drawings of them in books, tends to support the Abb Brasseur de +Bourbourg's view of the history of these countries. Traces of +communication between the two peoples are to be found in abundance, but +nothing to warrant our holding that either people took its civilization +bodily from the other. My excuse for entering into these details must +be that some of the facts I have to offer are new. + +A bas-relief at Kabah, described in Mr. Stephens' account of his second +journey, bears considerable resemblance to that on the so-called +"sacrificial stone" of Mexico; and the warrior has the characteristic +Mexican _maquahuitl_, or "Hand-wood," a mace set with rows of obsidian +teeth. + +A curious ornament is met with in the Central American sculptures, +representing a serpent with a man's face looking out from between its +distended jaws; and we find a similar design in the Aztec +picture-writings, sculptures, and pottery. + +A remarkable peculiarity in the Aztec picture-writings is that the +personages represented often have one or more figures of tongues +suspended in mid-air near their mouths, indicating that they are +speaking, or that they are persons in authority. Such tongues are to be +seen on the Yucatan sculptures. + +One of the panels on the Pyramid of Xochicalco seems to have a bearing +upon this subject, I mean that of the cross-legged chief, of which I +have just spoken. + +In the first place, sitting cross-legged is not an Aztec custom. I do +not think we ever saw an Indian in Mexico sitting cross-legged. In the +picture-writings of the Aztecs, the men sit doubled up, with their +chins almost touching their knees; while the women have their legs +tucked under them, and their feet sticking out on the left side. On the +other hand, this attitude is quite characteristic of the Yucatan +sculptures. At Copan there is an altar, with sixteen chiefs sitting +cross-legged round it; and, moreover, one of them has a head-dress very +much like that of the Xochicalco chief (except that it has no serpent), +and others are more or less similar; while I do not recollect anything +like it in the Mexican picture-writings. The curious perforated +eye-plates of the Xochicalco chief, which he wore--apparently--to keep +arrows and javelins out of his eyes, are part of the equipment of the +Aztec warrior in the picture-writings, while Palenque and Copan seemed +to afford no instance of them; so that in two peculiarities the +remarkable sculpture before us seems to belong rather to Yucatan than +to Mexico, and in one to Mexico rather than to Yucatan. + +It is not even possible in all cases to distinguish Central American +sculptures from those of Mexican origin. Among the numerous stone +figures in Mr. Christy's museum, some are unmistakably of Central +American origin, and some as certainly Mexican; but beside these, there +are many which both their owner and myself, though we had handled +hundreds of such things, were obliged to leave on the debatable ground +between the two classes. + +So much for the resemblances. But the differences are of much greater +weight. The pear-shaped heads of most of the Central American figures, +whose peculiar configuration is only approached by the wildest +caricatures of Louis Philippe, are perfectly distinctive. So are the +hieroglyphics arranged in squares, found on the sculptures of Central +America and in the Dresden Codex. So is the general character of the +architecture and sculpture, as any one may see at a glance. + +It is quite true that the so-called Aztec Astronomical Calendar was in +use in Central America, and that many of the religious observances in +both countries, such as the method of sacrificing the human victims, +and the practice of the worshippers drawing blood from themselves in +honour of the gods, are identical. But there were several ways in which +this might have been brought about, and it is no real proof that the +civilization of either country was an offshoot from that of the other. +To consider it as such would be like arguing that the negroes of Cuba +and the Indians of Yucatan had derived their civilization one from the +other, because both peoples are Roman Catholics, and use the same +almanac. On the whole I am disposed to conclude that the civilizations +of Mexico and Central America were originally independent, but that +they came much into contact, and thus modified one another to no small +extent. + +At the risk of being prosy, I will mention the _a priori_ grounds upon +which we may argue that the civilization of Central America did not +grow up there, but was brought ready-made by a people who emigrated +there from some other country. There is a theory afloat, that it is +only in temperate climates that barbarous nations make much progress in +civilizing themselves. In tropical countries the intensity of the heat +makes man little disposed for exertion, and the luxuriance of the +vegetation supplies him with the little he requires. In such +climates--say the advocates of this theory--man acknowledges the +supremacy of nature over himself, and gives up the attempt to shape her +to his own purposes; and thus, in these countries, the inhabitants go +on from generation to generation, lazily enjoying their existence, +making no effort, and indeed feeling no desire to raise themselves in +the social scale. Upon this theory, therefore, when we find a high +civilization in hot countries, as in the plains of India, we have to +account for it by supposing an immigration of races bringing their +civilization with them from more temperate climates. This theory of +civilization favours the idea of the Central American cities having +been built by a people from Mexico. The climate of the Mexican +highlands, which may be taken in a rough way to correspond with that of +North Italy, is well suited to a nation's development. But the cities +of Yucatan and Chiapas, though geographically not far removed from the +Mexican plateau, are brought by their small elevation above the sea +into a very different climate. They are in the land of tropical heat +and the rankest vegetation, in the midst of dense forests where +pestilential fevers and overwhelming lassitude make it almost +impossible for Europeans to live, and where the Indians who still +inhabit the neighbourhood of the ruined cities are the merest savages +sunk in the lowest depths of lazy ignorance. + +If this climate-theory of progress have any truth in it, no barbarous +tribe could have raised itself in such a country to the social state +which is indicated by the ruins of such temples and cities. They must +have been settlers from some more temperate region. + +While wandering about the hill of Xochicalco we came upon a spot that +strongly excited our curiosity. It was simply a small paved oval space +with a little altar at one end, and, lying round about it, some +fragments of what seemed to have been a hideous grotesque idol of baked +clay. Perhaps it was a shrine dedicated to one of the inferior deities, +such as often surrounded the greater temples; for, in Mexico, +astronomy, astrology, and religion had become mixed up together, as +they have been in other quarters of the globe, and even the +astronomical signs of days and months had temples of their own. + +Xochicalco means "In the House of Flowers." The word +"flower,"--_xochitl_,--is often a part of the names of Mexican places +and people, such as the lake of Xochimilco--"In the Flower-plantation." +_Tlilxochitl_, literally "black flower," is the Aztec name for vanilla, +so that the name of that famous Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, whose +name sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott, means +"Vanilla-face." Why the place was called "In the House of Flowers" is +not clear. The usual explanation seems not unlikely, that it was +because offerings of flowers and first-fruits were made upon its +shrines. The Toltecs, say the Mexican chroniclers, did not sacrifice +human victims; and it was not until long after other tribes had taken +possession of their deserted temples, that the Aztecs introduced the +custom by sacrificing their prisoners of war. It seems odd, however, +that one of the Toltec kings should have been called Topiltzin, which +was the title of the chief priest among the Aztecs, whose duty it was +to cut open the breasts of the human victims and tear out their hearts. + +The Indians always delighted in carrying flowers in their solemn +processions, crowning themselves with garlands, and decorating their +houses and temples with them; and, while they worshipped their gods +according to the simple rites which tradition says their prophet, +Quetzalcoatl, ("Feathered Snake,") appointed, before he left them and +embarked in his canoe on the Eastern ocean, no name could have been +more appropriate for their temple. This pleasant custom did not +disappear after the Conquest; and to this day the churches in the +Indian districts are beautiful with their brilliant garlands and +nosegays, and are as emphatically "houses of flowers" as were the +temples in ages long past. + +Since writing the above notice of the Pyramid of Xochicalco, I have +come upon a new piece of evidence, which, if it may be depended on, +proves more about the history of this remarkable monument than all the +rest put together. Dupaix made a drawing of the ruins at Xochicalco in +1805, which is to be found in Lord Kingsborough's 'Antiquities of +Mexico,' and among the sculptures of the upper tier of blocks is +represented a reed, with its leaves set in a square frame, with three +small circles underneath; the whole forming, in the most unmistakable +way, the sign 3 Acatl (3 Cane) of the Mexican Astronomical Calendar. + +Now it must be admitted that Dupaix's drawing of these ruins is most +grossly incorrect; but still no amount of mere carelessness in an +artist will justify us in supposing him to have invented and put in out +of his own head a design so entirely _sui generis_ as this. It does not +even follow that the drawing is wrong because the sign may not be found +there now; for it was in an upper tier, and no doubt many stones have +been removed since 1805, for building-purposes. + +If the existence of the sign 3 Acatl on the pyramid may be considered +as certain, it will fit in perfectly with the accounts of the Mexican +historians, who state that Xochicalco was built by a king of the Toltec +race, and also that the Aztecs adopted the astronomical calendars of +years and days in use among the Toltecs. + +It was afternoon when we left Xochicalco and rode on over a gently +undulating country, crossing streams here and there, and had our +breakfast at Miacatln under a shed in front of the village shop, where +all the activity of the little Indian town seemed to be concentrated. +By the road-side were beautiful tamarind-trees with their dark green +foliage, and the mamei-tree as large as a fine English horse-chestnut, +and not unlike it at a distance. On the branches were hanging the great +mameis, just like the inside of cocoa-nuts when the inner shell has +been cracked off. It appeared that Nature was not acquainted with M. De +La Fontaine's works, or she would probably have got a hint from the +fable of the acorn and the pumpkin, and not have hung mameis and +cocoa-nuts at such a dangerous height. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD IN TERRA-COTTA. (From Mr. Christy's +Collection.)] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +COCOYOTLA. CACAHUAMILPN. CHALMA. OCULAN. TENANCINGO. TOLUCA. + + + +[Illustration: IXTCALCO CHURCH.] + +A little before dark we came to the hacienda of Santa Rosita de +Cocoyotla, another sugar-plantation which was to be our head-quarters +for some days to come. We presented our letter of introduction from the +owner of the estate, and the two administradors received us with open +arms. We were conducted into the strangers' sleeping-room, a long +barrack-like apartment with stone walls and a stone floor that seemed +refreshingly dark and cool; we could look out through its barred +windows into the garden, where a rapid little stream of water running +along the channel just outside made a pleasant gurgling sound. +Appearances were delusive, however, and it was only the change +from the outside that made us feel the inside cool and pleasant. For +days our clothes clung to us as if we had been drowned, and the +pocket-handkerchiefs with which we mopped our faces had to be hung on +chair-backs to dry. Except in the early morning, there was no coolness +in that sweltering place. + +In one corner of our room I discerned a brown toad of monstrous size +squatting in great comfort on the damp flags. He was as big as a +trussed chicken, and looked something like one in the twilight. We +pointed him out to the administrador, who brought in two fierce +watchdogs, but the toad set up his back and spirted his acrid liquor, +and the dogs could not be got to go near him. We stirred him up with a +bamboo and drove him into the garden, but he left his portrait painted +in slime upon our floor. + +The Indian choir chanted the Oracin as we had heard it the night +before at Temisco, and then came the calling over of the raya. After +that we walked about the place, and sat talking in the open corridor. +Owners of estates, and indeed all white folks living in this part of +the country were beginning to feel very anxious about their position, +and not without reason. Ordinary political events excite but little +interest in these Indian districts, and so trifling a matter as a +revolution and a change of people in power does not affect them +perceptibly. The Indians are absolutely free, and have their votes and +their civil privileges like any other citizens. All that the owners of +the plantations ask of them is to work for high wages, and hitherto +they have done this, but for years it has been becoming more and more +difficult to get them to work. All they do with the money when they get +it, is to spend it in drinking and gambling, if they are of an +extravagant turn of mind; or to bury it in some out-of-the-way place, +if they are given to saving. If they were whites or half-caste Mexicans +they would spend their money upon fine clothes and horses, but the +Indian keeps to the white cotton dress of his fathers, and is never +seen on horseback. Now this being the case, it does not seem +unreasonable that they should not much care about working hard for +money that is of so little use to them when they have got it, and that +they should prefer living in their little huts walled with canes and +thatched with palm-leaves, and cultivating the little patch of +garden-ground that lies round it--which will produce enough fruit and +vegetables for their own subsistence, and more besides, which they can +sell for clothes and tobacco. A day or two of this pleasant easy work +at their own ground will provide this, and they do not see why they +should labour as hired servants to get more. This is bad enough, think +the hacendados, but there is worse behind. The Indians have been of +late years becoming gradually aware that the government of the country +is quite rotten and powerless, and that in their own districts at +least, the power is very much in their own hands, for the few scattered +whites could offer but slight resistance. The doctrine of "America for +the Americans" is rapidly spreading among them, and active emissaries +are going about reminding them that the Spaniards only got their lands +by the right of the strongest, and that now is the time for them to +reassert their rights. + +The name of Alvarez is circulated among them, as the man who is to lead +them in the coming struggle--Alvarez the mulatto general, whose hideous +portrait is in every print-shop in Mexico. He was President before +Comonfort, and is now established with his Indian regiments in the hot +pestilential regions of the Pacific coast. + +The undisguised contempt with which the Indians have been treated for +ages by the whites and the mestizos has not been without its effect. +The revolution, and the abolition of all legal distinctions of caste +still left the Indians mere senseless unreasoning creatures in the eyes +of the whiter races; and, if the original race once get the upper hand, +it will go hard with the whites and their estates in these parts. Only +a day or two before we came down from Mexico, the government had +endeavoured to quarter some troops in one of the little Indian towns +which we passed through on our way from Temisco. But the inhabitants +saluted them with volleys of stones from the church-steeple and the +house-tops, and they had to retreat most ignominiously into their old +quarters among "reasonable people." + +I have put down our notions on the "Indian Question," just as they +presented themselves to us at the time. The dismal forebodings of the +planters seem to have been fulfilled to some extent at least, for we +heard, not long after our return to Europe, that the Indians had +plundered and set fire to numbers of the haciendas of the south +country, and that our friends the administradors of Cocoyotla had +escaped with their lives. The hacienda itself, if our information is +correct, which I can hardly doubt, is now a blackened deserted ruin. + +At supper appeared two more guests besides ourselves, apparently +traders carrying goods to sell at the villages and haciendas on the +road. In such places the hacienda offers its hospitality to all +travellers, and there was room in our caravanserai for yet more +visitors if they had come. Our beds were like those in general use in +the tropics, where mattresses would be unendurable, and even the +pillows become a nuisance. The frame of the bed has a piece of coarse +cloth stretched tightly over it; a sheet is laid upon this, and another +sheet covers the sleeper. This compromise between a bed and a hammock +answers the purpose better than anything else, and admits of some +circulation of air, especially when you have kicked off the sheet and +lie fully exposed to the air and the mosquitos. + +I cannot say that it is pleasant to wake an hour or two after going to +bed, with your exact profile depicted in a wet patch on the pillow; nor +is it agreeable to become conscious at the same time of an intolerable +itching, and to find, on lighting a candle, that an army of small ants +are walking over you, and biting furiously. These were my experiences +during my first night at Cocoyotla; and I finished the night, lying +half-dressed on my bed, with the ends of my trousers-legs tied close +with handkerchiefs to keep the creatures out. But when we got into our +saddles in the early morning, we forgot all these little miseries, and +started merrily on our expedition to the great stalactitic cave of +Cacahuamilpn. + +Our day's journey had two objects; one was to see the cave, and the +other to visit the village close by,--one of the genuine unmixed Indian +communities, where even the Alcalde and the Cura, the temporal and +spiritual heads of the society, are both of pure Indian blood, and +white influence has never been much felt. + +[Illustration: INDIANS MAKING & BAKING TORTILLAS. (After Models made by +a Native Artist.)] + +A ride of two or three hours from the hacienda brought us into a +mountainous district, and there we found the village of Cacahuamilpn +on the slope of a hill. In the midst of neat trim gardens stood the +little white church, and the ranches of the inhabitants, cottages of +one room, with walls of canes which one can see through in all +directions, and roofs of thatch, with the ground smoothed and trodden +hard for a floor. Everything seemed clean and prosperous, and there was +a bright sunny look about the whole place; but to Englishmen, +accustomed to the innumerable appliances of civilized life, it seems +surprising how very few and simple are the wants of these people. The +inventory of their whole possessions will only occupy a few lines. The +_metate_ for grinding or rubbing down the maize to be patted out into +tortillas, a few calabashes for bottles, and pieces of calabashes for +bowls and cups, prettily ornamented and painted, and hanging on pegs +round the walls. A few palm-leaf mats (petates) to sleep upon, some +pots of thin unglazed earthenware for the cooking, which is done over a +wood-fire in the middle of the floor. A chimney is not necessary in +houses which are like the Irishman's coat, consisting principally of +holes. A wooden box, somewhere, contains such of the clothes of the +family as are not in wear. There is really hardly anything I can think +of to add to this catalogue, except the agricultural implements, which +consist of a wooden spade, a hoe, some sharp stakes to make the drills +with, and the machete--which is an iron bill-hook, and serves for +pruning, woodcutting, and now and then for less peaceful purposes. +Sometimes one sees women weaving cotton-cloth, or _manta_, as it is +called, in a loom of the simplest possible construction; or sitting at +their doors in groups, spinning cotton-thread with the _malacates_, and +apparently finding as much material for gossip here as elsewhere. + +The Mexicans spun and wove their cotton-cloth just in this way before +the Conquest, and malacates of baked clay are found in great numbers in +the neighbourhood of the old Mexican cities. They are simple, like very +large button-moulds, and a thin wooden skewer stuck in the hole in the +middle makes them ready for use. Such spindles were used by the +lake-men of Switzerland, but the earthen heads were not quite the same +in shape, being like balls pierced with a hole, as are those at present +used in Mexico. + +The Indians here had not the dull sullen look we saw among those who +inhabit the colder regions; and, though belonging to the same race, +they were better formed and had a much freer bearing than their less +fortunate countrymen of the colder districts. + +Our business in the village was to get guides for the cavern. While +some men were gone to look for the Alcalde, we walked about the +village, and finally encamped under a tree. One of our men had got us a +bag full of fruit,--limes, zapotes, and nisperos, which last are a +large kind of medlar, besides a number of other kinds of fruit, which +we ate without knowing what they were. Though rather insipid, the limes +are deliciously refreshing in this thirsty country; and they do no +harm, however enormously one may indulge in them. The whole +neighbourhood abounds in fruit, and its name _Cacahuamilpn_ means "the +plantation of _cacahuate_ nuts." + +It soon became evident that the Alcalde was keeping us waiting as a +matter of dignity, and to show that, though the white men might be held +in great estimation elsewhere, they did not think so much of them in +this free and independent village. At last a man came to summon us to a +solemn audience. In a hut of canes, the Alcalde, a little lame Indian, +was sitting on a mat spread on the ground in the middle, with his +escribano or secretary at his left hand. Other Indians were standing +outside at the door. The little man scarcely condescended to take any +notice of us when we saluted him, but sat bolt upright, positively +bursting with suppressed dignity, and the escribano inquired in a loud +voice what our business was. We told him we wanted guides to the cave, +which he knew as well as we did; but instead of answering, he began to +talk to the Alcalde. We quite appreciated the pleasure it must have +been to the two functionaries to show off before us and their assembled +countrymen, who were looking on at the proceedings with great respect; +and we had not minded affording them this cheap satisfaction; but at +last the joke seemed to be getting stale, so we proceeded some to sit +and some to lie down at full length, and to go on eating limes in the +presence of the August company. Thereupon they informed us what would +be the cost of guides and candles, and we eventually made a bargain +with them and started on foot. + +On looking at the map of the State of Mexico, there is to be seen a +river which stops suddenly on reaching the mountains of Cacahuamilpn, +and begins again on the other side, having found a passage for itself +through caves in the mountain for six or seven miles. Not far from the +place where this river flows out of the side of the hill, is a path +which leads to the entrance of the cave. A long downward slope brought +us into the first great vaulted chamber, perhaps a quarter of a mile +long and eighty feet high; then a long scramble through a narrow +passage, and another hall still grander than the first. At the end of +this hall is another passage leading on into another chamber. Beyond +this we did not go. As it was, we must have walked between one and two +miles into the cavern, but people have explored it to twice this +distance, always finding a repetition of the same arrangement, great +vaulted chambers alternating with long passages almost choked by fallen +rocks. In one of the passages, I think the last we came to, the roaring +of the river in its subterranean bed was distinctly audible below us. + +Excepting the great cave of Kentucky, I believe there is no stalactitic +cavern known so vast and beautiful as this. The appearance of the +largest hall was wonderful when some twenty of our Indian guides +stationed themselves on pinnacles of stalagmite, each one holding up a +blazing torch, while two more climbed upon a great mass at one end +called the altar, and burnt Bengal lights there; the rest stood at the +other extremity of the cave sending up rockets in rapid succession into +the vaulted roof, and making the millions of grotesque incrustations +glitter as if they had been masses of diamonds: All the quaint shapes +that are found in such caverns were to be seen here on the grandest +scale, columns, arched roof, organ-pipes, trees, altars, and squatting +monsters ranged in long lines like idols in a temple. There may very +well be some truth in the notion that the origin of Gothic architecture +was in stalactites of a limestone cavern, so numerous and perfect are +the long slender columns crowned with pointed Gothic arches. + +Our procession through the cave was a picturesque one. We carried long +wax altar-candles and our guides huge torches made of threads of +aloe-fibre soaked in resin and wrapped round with cloth, in appearance +and texture exactly like the legs and arms of mummies. As we went, the +Indians sang Mexican songs to strange, monotonous, plaintive tunes, or +raced about into dark corners shouting with laughter. They talked about +adventures in the cave, to them of course the great phenomenon of the +whole world; but it did not seem, as far as we could hear, that they +associated with it any recollections of the old Aztec divinities and +the mystic rites performed in their honour. + +No fossil bones have been found in the cavern, nor human remains except +in one of the passages far within, where a little wooden cross still +marks the spot where the skeleton of an Indian was found. Whether he +went alone for mere curiosity to explore the cave, or, what is more +likely, with an idea of finding treasure, is not known; nothing is +certain but that his candle was burnt out while he was still far from +the entrance, and that he died there. I said no fossil remains had been +found, but the level floors of the great halls are continually being +raised by fresh layers of stalagmite from the water dropping from the +roof, and no one knows what may lie under them. These floors are in +many places covered with little loose concretions like marbles, and +these concretions in the course of time are imbedded in the horizontal +layers of the same material. + +As we left the entrance hall and began to ascend the sloping passage +that leads to daylight, we saw an optical appearance which, had we not +seen it with our own eyes, we could never have believed to be a natural +effect of light and shade. To us, still far down in the cave, the +entrance was only illuminated by reflected light; but as the Indians +reached it, the direct rays of sunlight fell upon them, and their white +dresses shone with an intense phosphoric light, as though they had been +self-luminous. It is just such an effect that is wanting in our +pictures of the Transfiguration, but I fear it is as impossible to +paint it upon canvas as to describe it in words. + +Next morning our friend Don Guillermo said good-bye to us, and started +to return post-haste to his affairs in the capital. We stayed a few +days longer at Cocoyotla, never tiring of the beautiful garden with its +groves of orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, and the river which, running +through it, joins the stream that we heard rushing along in the cavern, +to flow down into the Pacific. + +On Sunday morning the priest arrived on an ambling mule, the favourite +clerical animal. They say it is impossible to ride a mule unless you +are either an arriero or a priest. Not that it is by any means +necessary, however, that he should ride a mule. I shall not soon forget +the jaunty young monk we saw at Tezcuco, just setting out for a country +festival, mounted on a splendid little horse, with his frock tucked up, +and a pair of hairy goat-skin _chaparreros_ underneath, a broad Mexican +hat, a pair of monstrous silver spurs, and a very large cigar in his +mouth. The girls came out of the cottage doors to look at him, as he +made the fiery little beast curvet and prance along the road; and he +was evidently not insensible to the looks of admiration of these young +ladies, as they muffled up their faces in their blue rebozos and looked +at him through the narrow opening. + +Nearly two hundred Indians crowded into the church to mass, and went +through the service with evident devotion. There are no more sincere +Catholics in the world than the Indians, though, as I have said, they +are apt to keep up some of their old rites in holes and corners. The +administradors did not trouble themselves to attend mass, but went on +posting up their books just outside the church-door; in this, as in a +great many other little matters, showing their contempt for the brown +men, and adding something every day to the feeling of dislike they are +regarded with. + +We speak of the Indians still keeping up their ancient superstitious +rites in secret, as we often heard it said so in Mexico, though we +ourselves never saw anything of it. The Abb Clavigero, who wrote in +the last century, declares the charge to be untrue, except perhaps in a +few isolated cases. "The few examples of idolatry," he says, "which can +be produced are partly excusable; since it is not to be wondered at +that rude uncultured men should not be able to distinguish the +idolatrous worship of a rough figure of wood or stone from that which +is rightly paid to the holy images." (There are people who would quite +agree with the good Abb that the distinction is rather a difficult one +to make.) "But how often has prejudice against them declared things to +be idols which were really images of the saints, though shapeless ones! +In 1754 I saw some images found in a cave, which were thought to be +idols; but I had no doubt that they were figures representing the +mystery of the Holy Nativity." + +A good illustration of the wholesale way in which the early Catholic +missionaries went about the work of conversion is given in a remark of +Clavigero's. There is one part of the order of baptism which proceeds +thus: "Then the Priest, wetting his right thumb with spittle from his +mouth, and touching therewith in the form of a cross the right ear of +the person to be baptized, &c." The Mexican missionaries, it seems, had +to leave out this ceremony, from sheer inability to provide enough of +the requisite material for their crowds of converts. + +After mass we rode out to a mound that had attracted our attention a +day or two before, and which proved to be a fort or temple, or probably +both combined. There were no remains to be found there except the usual +fragments of pottery and obsidian. Then we returned to the hacienda to +say good-bye to our friends there, before starting on our journey back +to Mexico. All the population were hard at work amusing themselves, and +the shop was doing a roaring trade in glasses of aguardiente. The +Indian who had been our guide for some days past had opened a Mont +bank with the dollars we had given him, and was sitting on the ground +solemnly dealing cards one by one from the bottom of a dirty pack, a +crowd of gamblers standing or sitting in a semicircle before him, +silently watching the cards and keeping a vigilant eye upon their +stakes which lay on the ground before the banker. Other parties were +busy at the same game in other parts of the open space before the shop, +which served as the great square for the colony. + +Under the arcades in front of the shop a fandango was going on, though +it was quite early in the afternoon. A man and a woman stood facing +each other, an old man tinkled a guitar, producing a strange, endless, +monotonous tune, and the two dancers stamped with their feet, and moved +their arms and bodies about in time to the music, throwing themselves +into affected and voluptuous attitudes which evidently met with the +approval of the bystanders, though to us, who did not see with Indian +eyes, they seemed anything but beautiful. When the danseuse had tired +out one partner, another took his place. An admiring crowd stood round +or sat on the stone benches, smoking cigarettes, and looking on gravely +and silently, with evident enjoyment. Just as we saw it, it would go on +probably through half the night, one couple, or perhaps two, keeping it +up constantly, the rest looking on and refreshing themselves from time +to time with raw spirits. Though inferior to the Eastern dancing, it +resembled it most strikingly, my companion said. It has little to do +with the really beautiful and artistic dancing of Old Spain, but seems +to be the same that the people delighted in long before they ever saw a +white man. Montezuma's palace contained a perfect colony of +professional dancers, whose sole business was to entertain him with +their performances, which only resembled those of the Old World because +human nature is similar everywhere, and the same wants and instincts +often find their development in the same way among nations totally +separated from each other. + +We left the natives to their amusement, and started on our twenty miles +ride. By the time the evening had fairly begun to close in upon us, we +crossed the crest of a hill and had a dim view of a valley below us, +but there were no signs of Chalma or its convent. We let our horses +find their way as well as they could along the rocky path, and got down +into the valley. A light behind us made us turn round, and we saw a +grand sight. The coarse grass on a large hill further down the valley +had been set fire to, and a broad band of flame stretched right across +the base of the hill, and was slowly moving upwards towards its top, +throwing a lurid glare over the surrounding country, and upon the +clouds of smoke that were rising from the flames. Every now and then we +turned to watch the line of fire as it rose higher and higher, till at +last it closed in together at the summit with one final blaze, and left +us in the darkness. We dismounted and stumbled along, leading our +horses down the precipitous sides of the deep ravines that run into the +valley, mounting again to cross the streams at the bottom, and +clambering up on the other side to the level of the road. At last a +turn in the valley showed lights just before us, and we entered the +village of Chalma, which was illuminated with flaring oil-lamps in the +streets, where men were hard at work setting up stalls and booths of +planks. It seemed there was to be a fair next day. + +They showed us the way to the _meson_[16] and there we left Antonio +with the horses, while the proprietor sent an idiot boy to show us the +way to the convent, for our inspection of the meson decided us at once +on seeking the hospitality of the monks for the night. We climbed up +the hill, went in at the convent-gate, across a courtyard, along a dim +cloister, and through another door where our guide made his way out by +a different opening, leaving us standing in total darkness. After a +time another door opened, and a good-natured-looking friar came in with +a lamp in his hand, and conducted us upstairs to his cell. I think our +friend was the sub-prior of the convent. His cell was a very comfortable +bachelor's apartment, in a plain way, vaulted and whitewashed, with good +chairs and a table and a very comfortable-looking bed. + +We sat talking with him for a long while, and heard that the fair next +day would be attended by numbers of Indians from remote places among +the mountains, and that at noon there would be an Indian dance in the +church. It is not the great festival, however, he said. That is once a +year; and then the Indians come from fifty miles round, and stay here +several days, living in the caves in the rock just by the town, buying +and selling in the fair, attending mass, and having solemn dances in +the church. We asked him about the ill feeling between the Indians and +the whites. He said that among the planters it might be as we said, but +that in the neighbourhood of his convent the respect and affection of +the Indians for the clergy, whether white or Indian, was as great as +ever. Then we gossipped about horses, of which our friend was evidently +an amateur, and when the conversation flagged, he turned to the table +in the middle of the room and handed us little bowls made of +calabashes, prettily decorated and carved, and full of sweetmeats. +There were ten or twelve of these little bowls on the table, each with +a different kind of "tuck" in it. We inquired where all those good +things came from, and learnt that making them was one of the favourite +occupations of the Mexican nuns, who keep their brethren in the +monasteries well supplied. At last the good monk went away to his +duties and left us, when I could not resist the temptation of having a +look at the little books in blue and green paper covers which were +lying on the table with the sweetmeat-bowls and the venerable old +missal. They proved to be all French novels done into Spanish, and +"Notre-Dame de Paris" was lying open (under a sheet of paper); so I +conclude that our visit had interrupted the sub-prior while deep in +that improving work. + +Presently a monk came to conduct us down into the refectory, and there +they gave us an uncommonly good supper of wonderful Mexican stews, +red-hot as usual, and plenty of good Spanish wine withal. The great +dignitaries of the cloister did not appear, but some fifteen or twenty +monks were at table with us, and never tired of questioning us--exactly +in the same fashion that the ladies of the harem questioned Doa Juana. +We delighted them with stories of the miraculous Easter fire at +Jerusalem, and the illumination of St. Peter's, of the Sistine chapel +and the Pope, and we parted for the night in high good humour. + +Next morning a monk attached himself to us as our cicerone, a fine +young fellow with a handsome face, and no end of fun in him. + +Now that we saw the convent by daylight, we were delighted with the +beauty of its situation. The broad fertile valley grows narrower and +narrower until it becomes a gorge in the mountains; and here the +convent is built, with the mountain-stream running through its +beautiful gardens, and turning the wheel of the convent-mill before it +flows on into the plain to fertilize the broad lands of the reverend +fathers. + +When we had visited the gardens and the stables, our young monk brought +us back to the great church of the convent, where we took our places +near the monks, who had mustered in full force to be present at the +dancing. Presently the music arrived, an old man with a harp, and a +woman with a violin; and then came the dancers, eight Indian boys with +short tunics and head-dresses of feathers, and as many girls with white +dresses, and garlands of flowers on their heads. The costumes were +evidently intended to represent the Indian dresses of the days of +Montezuma, but they were rather modernized by the necessity of wearing +various articles of dress which would have been superfluous in old +times. They stationed themselves in the middle of the church, opposite +the high altar, and, to our unspeakable astonishment, began to dance +the polka. Then came a waltz, then a schottisch, then another waltz, +and finally a quadrille, set to unmitigated English tunes. They danced +exceedingly well, and behaved as though they had been used to European +ball-rooms all their lives. The spectators looked on as though it were +all a matter of course for these brown-skinned boys and girls to have +acquired so singular an accomplishment in their out-of-the-way village +among the mountains. As for us we looked on in open-mouthed +astonishment; and when, in the middle of the quadrille, the harp and +violin struck up no less a tune than "The King of the Cannibal +Islands," we could hardly help bursting out into fits of laughter. We +restrained ourselves, however, and kept as grave a countenance as the +rest of the lookers-on, who had not the faintest idea that anything odd +was happening. The quadrille finished in perfect order; each dancer +took his partner by the hand and led her forward; and so, forming a +line in front of the high altar, they all knelt down, and the rest of +the congregation followed their example; there was a dead silence in +the church for about the space of an Ave Maria, then everyone rose, and +the ceremony was over.[17] + +Our young monk asked permission of his superior to take us out for a +walk, and we went down together to the convent-mill. There we saw the +mill, which was primitive, and the miller, who was burly; and also +something much more worth seeing, at least to our young acquaintance, +who tucked up his skirts and ran briskly up a ladder into the upper +regions, calling to us to follow him. A door led from the granary into +the miller's house, and the miller's daughter happened, of course +entirely by chance, to be coming through that way. A very pretty girl +she was too, and I never in my life saw anything more intensely comic +than the looks of intelligence that passed between her and the young +friar when he presented us. It was decidedly contrary to good monastic +discipline it is true, and we ought to have been shocked, but it was so +intolerably laughable that my companion bolted into the granary to +examine the wheat, and I took refuge in a violent fit of coughing. Our +nerves had been already rudely shaken by the King of the Cannibal +Islands, and this little scene of convent-life fairly finished us. + +We asked our young friend what his day's work consisted of, and how he +liked convent-life. He yawned, and intimated that it was very slow. We +enquired whether the monks had not some parochial duties to perform, +such as visiting the sick and the poor in their neighbourhood. He +evidently wondered whether we were really ignorant, or whether we were +"chaffing" him, and observed that that was no business of their's, the +curas of the villages did all that sort of thing. "Then, what have you +to do?" we said. "Well," he said, "there are so many services every +day, and high mass on Sundays and holidays; and besides that, +there's--well, there isn't anything particular. It's rather a dull +life. I myself should like uncommonly to go and travel and see the +world, or go and fight somewhere." We were quite sorry for the young +fellow when we shook hands with him at parting, and he left us to go +back to his convent. + +We had been clambering about the hill, seeing the caves with which it +is honeycombed, but at present they were uninhabited. At the time of +the great festival, when they are full of Indian families, the scene +must be a curious one. + +The monks had hospitably pressed us to stay till their mid-day meal, +but we preferred having it at the shop down in the village, so as to +start directly afterwards. Here the people gave us a regular reception, +entertained us with their best, and could not be prevailed upon to +accept any payment whatever. The proprietor of the meson sat down +before the barley-bin which served him for a desk, and indited a long +and eloquent letter of introduction for us to a friend of his in +Oculan, who was to find a night's lodging for us. Before he sealed up +the despatch he read it to us in a loud voice, sentence by sentence. It +might have been an autograph letter from King Philip to some foreign +potentate. Armed with this important missive, we mounted our horses, +shook hands with no end of well-wishers, and rode off up the valley. + +For a little while our path lay through a sort of suburb of Chalma, +houses lying near one another, each surrounded by a pleasant garden, +and both houses and people looking prosperous and cheerful. Our +directions for finding the way were simple enough. We were to go up the +valley past the Cerra de los Atambores, "the hill of drums," and the +great _ahuehuete_. What the Cerra de los Atambores might be, we could +not tell, but when we had followed the valley for an hour or so, it +came into view. On the other side of the stream rose a precipitous +cliff, several hundred feet high, and near the top a perpendicular wall +of rock was carved with rude designs. People have supposed, it seems, +that these carvings represented drums, and hence the name. + +Had we known of the place before, we should have made an effort to +explore it, and copy the sculptured designs; but now it was too late, +and from the other side of the valley we could not make out more than +that there seemed to be a figure of the sun among them. + +A little further on we came to the "Ahuehuete." The name means a +deciduous cypress, a common tree in Mexico, and of which we had already +seen such splendid specimens in the grove near Tezcuco, and in the wood +of Chapoltepec. This was a remarkable tree as to size, some sixty feet +round at the lower part where the roots began to spread out. A copious +spring of water rose within the hollow trunk itself, and ran down +between the roots into the little river. All over its spreading +branches were fastened votive offerings of the Indians, hundreds of +locks of coarse black hair, teeth, bits of coloured cloth, rags, and +morsels of ribbon. The tree was many centuries old, and had probably +had some mysterious influence ascribed to it, and been decorated with +such simple offerings long before the discovery of America. In Brittany +the peasants still keep up the custom of hanging up locks of their hair +in certain chapels, to charm away diseases; and there it is certain +that the Christians only appropriated to their own worship places +already held sacred in the estimation of the people. + +Oculan is a dismal little place. We found the great man of the village +standing at his door, but our letter to him was dishonoured in the most +decided manner. He read the epistle, carefully folded it up and +pocketed it, then pointed in the direction of two or three houses on +the other side of the way, and saying he supposed we might get a +lodging over there, he wished us good-day and retired into his own +premises. The landlord of "over there" was very civil. He had a shed +for the horses, and could give us palm-mats to sleep upon on the floor, +or on the shop-counter, which was very narrow, but long enough for us +both; and this latter alternative we chose. + +We walked up to the top of a hill close by the village, and were +surveying the country from thence, keeping a sharp look-out all the +while for Mexican remains in the furrows. For a wonder, we found +nothing but some broken spindle-heads; but, while we were thus +occupied, two Indians suddenly made their appearance, each with his +_machete_ in his hands, and wanted to know what we were doing on their +land. We pacified them by politeness and a cigar apiece, but we were +still evidently objects of suspicion, and they were quite relieved to +see us return to the village. There, an old woman cooked us hard-boiled +eggs and tortillas, and then we went tranquilly to bed on our counter, +with our saddles for pillows, and our serapes for bed-clothes. + +All the way from Cocoyotla our height above the sea had been gradually +increasing; and soon after we started from Oculan next morning, we came +to the foot of one of the grand passes that lead up into the high +lands, where the road mounts by zig-zag turns through a splendid forest +of pines and oaks, and at the top of the ascent we were in a broad +fertile plain as high or higher than the valley of Mexico. It was like +England to ride between large fields of wheat and barley, and to pick +blackberries in the hedges. It was only April, and yet the grain was +almost ready for the sickle, and the blackberries were fully ripe. +Fresh green grass was growing in the woods under the oak-trees, and the +banks were covered with Alpine strawberries. + +We are in the great grain-district of the Republic. Wheat is grown for +the supply of the large towns, and barley for the horses. Green barley +is the favourite fodder for the horses in the Mexican highlands, and in +the hotter districts the leaves of young Indian corn. Oats are to be +seen growing by chance among other grain, but they are never +cultivated. Though wheat is so much grown upon the plains, it is not +because the soil and climate are more favourable than elsewhere for +such culture. In the plains of Toluca and Tenancingo the yield of wheat +is less than the average of the Republic, which is from 25- to 30-fold, +and in the cloudy valleys we passed through near Orizaba it is much +greater. Labour is tolerably cheap and plentiful here, however; and +then each large town must draw its supplies of grain from the +neighbouring districts, for, in a country where it pays to carry goods +on mules' backs, it is clear that grain cannot be carried far to +market. + +In the question of the population of Mexico, one begins to speculate +why--in a country with a splendid climate, a fertile soil, and almost +unlimited space to spread in, the inhabitants do not increase one-half +so fast as in England, and about one-sixth as fast as their neighbours +of the United States. One of the most important causes which tend to +bring about this state of things is the impossibility of conveying +grain to any distance, except by doubling and trebling its price. The +disastrous effects of a failure of the crop in one district cannot be +remedied by a plentiful harvest fifty miles off; for the peasants, +already ruined by the loss of their own harvest, can find neither money +nor credit to buy food brought from a distance at so great an expense. +Next year may be fruitful again, but numbers die in the interval, and +the constitutions of a great proportion of the children never recover +the effects of that one year's famine. + +We left the regular road and struck up still higher into the hills, +riding amongst winding roads with forest above and below us, and great +orchids of the most brilliant colours, blue, white, and crimson, +shining among the branches of the oak-trees. The boughs were often +breaking down with the bulbs of such epiphytes; but as yet it was early +in the season, and only here and there one was in flower. At the top of +the hill, still in the midst of the woods, is the Desierto, "the +desert," the place we had selected for our noon-day halt. There are +many of these Desiertos in Mexico, founded by rich people in old times. +They are a kind of convent, with some few resident ecclesiastics, and +numbers of cells for laymen who retire for a time into this secluded +place and are received gratuitously. They spend a week or two in prayer +and fasting, then confess themselves, receive the sacrament, and return +into the world. The situation of this quiet place was well chosen in +the midst of the forest, and once upon a time the cells used to be full +of penitents; but now we saw no one but the old porter, as we walked +about the gardens and explored the quadrangle and the rows of cells, +each with a hideous little wood-cut of a martyr being tortured, upon +the door. + +Thence we rode down into the plain, looking down, as we descended, upon +a hill which seemed to be an old crater, rising from the level ground; +and then our path lay among broad fields where oxen were ploughing, and +across marshes covered with coarse grass, until we came to the quaint +little town of Tenancingo. There we found the _meson_; and the landlord +handed us the key of our room, which was square, whitewashed, and with +a tiled floor. There was no window, so we had to keep the door open for +light. The furniture consisted of three articles,--two low tables on +four legs, made of rough planks, and a bracket to stick a candle in. +The tables were beds after the manner of the country; but, as a special +attention to us, the patron produced two old mattresses; the first +sight of them was enough for us, and we expelled them with shouts of +execration. We had to go to a shop in the square to get some supper; +and on our return, about nine o'clock, our man Antonio remarked that he +was going to sleep, which he did at once in the following manner. He +took off his broad-brimmed hat and hung it on a nail, tied a red cotton +handkerchief round his head, rolled himself up in his serape, lay down +on the flags in the courtyard outside our door, and was asleep in an +instant. We retired to our planks inside and followed his example. + +The next afternoon we reached Toluca, a large and prosperous town, but +with little noticeable in it except the arcades (portales) along the +streets, and the hams which are cured with sugar, and are famous all +over the Republic. Our road passed near the Nevado de Toluca, an +extinct snow-covered volcano, nearly 15,000 feet above the sea. It +consists entirely of grey and red porphyry, and in the interior of its +crater are two small lakes. We were not sorry to take up our quarters +in a comfortable European-looking hotel again, for roughing it is much +less pleasant in these high altitudes--where the nights and mornings +are bitterly cold--than in the hotter climate of the lower levels. + +Our next day's ride brought us back to Mexico, crossing the corn-land +of the plain of Lerma, where the soil consists of disintegrated +porphyry from the mountains around, and is very fertile. Lerma itself +is the worst den of robbers in all Mexico; and, as we rode through the +street of dingy adobe houses, and saw the rascally-looking fellows who +were standing at the doors in knots, with their horses ready saddled +and bridled close by, we got a very strong impression that the +reputation of the place was no worse than it deserved. After Lerma, +there still remained the pass over the mountains which border the +valley of Mexico; and here in the midst of a dense pine-forest is Las +Cruzes, "the crosses," a place with an ugly name, where several +robberies are done every week. We waited for the Diligence at some +little glass-works at the entrance of the pass, and then let it go on +first, as a sop to those gentlemen if they should be out that day. I +suppose they knew pretty accurately that no one had much to lose, for +they never made their appearance. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SPURS. _From 5 to 6 inches long, with +rowels from 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. The broad instep-strap of +embossed leather is also shewn. (From Mr. Christy's Collection)_] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + +ANTIQUITIES. PRISON. SPORTS. + + + +[Illustration: STATUE OF THE MEXICAN GODDESS OF WAR (OR OF DEATH), +TEOYAOMIQUI. _(After Nebel). Height of the original, about Nine Feet_.] + +It was like getting home again to reach Mexico, we had so many friends +there, though our stay had been so short. We were fully occupied, for +weeks of hard sight-seeing are hardly enough to investigate the objects +of interest to be found in the city. We saw these things under the best +auspices, for Mr. Christy had letters to the Minister of Public +Instruction and other people in authority, who were exceedingly civil, +and did all they could to put us in the way of seeing everything we +wished. Among the places we visited, the Museum must have some notice. +It is in part of the building of the University; but we were rather +surprised, when we reached the gate leading into the court-yard, to be +stopped by a sentry who demanded what we wanted. The lower storey had +been turned into a barrack by the Government, there being a want of +quarters for the soldiers. As the ground-floor under the cloisters is +used for the heavier pieces of sculpture, the scene was somewhat +curious. The soldiers had laid several of the smaller idols down on +their faces, and were sitting on the comfortable seat on the small of +their backs, busy playing at cards. An enterprising soldier had built +up a hutch with idols and sculptured stones against the statue of the +great war-goddess Teoyaomiqui herself, and kept rabbits there. The +state which the whole place was in when thus left to the tender mercies +of a Mexican regiment may be imagined by any one who knows what a dirty +and destructive animal a Mexican soldier is. + +The guardians of the Museum have treated it even worse. People who know +how often the curators of the Museums of southern Europe are ready to +sell anything not very likely to be missed will not be astonished to +hear of the same thing being done to a great extent some six or eight +years before our visit. + +The stone known as the statue of the war-goddess is a huge block of +basalt covered with sculptures. The antiquaries think that the figures +on it stand for different personages, and that it is three +gods,--Huitzilopochtli the god of war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and +Mictlanteuctli the god of hell. It has necklaces of alternate hearts +and dead man's hands, with death's heads for a central ornament. At the +bottom of the block is a strange sprawling figure, which one cannot see +now, for it is the base which rests on the ground; but there are two +shoulders projecting from the idol, which show plainly that it did not +stand on the ground, but was supported aloft on the tops of two +pillars. The figure carved upon the bottom represents a monster holding +a skull in each hand, while others hang from his knees and elbows. His +mouth is a mere oval ring, a common feature of Mexican idols, and four +tusks project just above it. The new moon laid down like a bridge forms +his forehead, and a star is placed on each side of it. This is thought +to have been the conventional representation of Mictlanteuctli (Lord of +the Land of the Dead), the god of hell, which was a place of utter and +eternal darkness. Probably each victim as he was led to the altar could +look up between the two pillars and see the hideous god of hell staring +down upon him from above. + +There is little doubt that this is the famous war-idol which stood on +the great teocalli of Mexico, and before which so many thousands of +human victims were sacrificed. It lay undisturbed underground in the +great square, close to the very site of the teocalli, until sixty years +ago. For many years after that it was kept buried, lest the sight of +one of their old deities might be too exciting for the Indians, who, as +I have mentioned before, had certainly not forgotten it, and secretly +ornamented it with garlands of flowers while it remained above ground. + +The "sacrificial stone," so called, which also stands in the court-yard +of the Museum, was not one of the ordinary altars on which victims were +sacrificed. These altars seem to have been raised slabs of hard stone +with a protuberant part near one end, so that the breast of the victim +was raised into an arch, which made it more easy for the priest to cut +across it with his obsidian knife. The Breton altars, where the slab +was hollowed into the outline of a human figure, have some analogy to +this; but, though there were very many of these altars in different +cities of Mexico, none are now known to exist. The stone we are now +observing is quite a different thing, a cylindrical block of basalt +nine feet across and three feet high: and Humboldt considers it to be +the stone described by early Spanish writers, and called _temalacatl_ +(spindle-stone) from its circular shape, something like a distaff-head. +Upon this the captive chiefs stood in the gladiatorial fights which +took place within the space surrounding the great teocalli. Slightly +armed, they stood upon this raised platform in the midst of the crowd +of spectators; and six champions in succession, armed with better +weapons, came up to fight with them. If the captive worsted his +assailants in this unequal contest, he was set free with presents; but +this success was the lot of but few, and the fate of most was to be +overpowered and dragged off ignominiously to be sacrificed like +ordinary prisoners. On the top of the stone is sculptured an outline of +the sun with its eight rays, and a hollow in the centre, whence a +groove runs to the edge of the stone, probably to let the blood run +down. All round it is an appropriate bas-relief repeated several times. +A vanquished warrior is giving up his stone-sword and his spears to his +conqueror, who is tearing the plumed crest from his head. + +The above explanation by Humboldt is a plausible one. But in Central +America altars not unlike this, and with grooves upon the top, stand in +front of the great stone idols; and this curious monument may have been +nothing after all but an ordinary altar to sacrifice birds and small +animals upon. + +[Illustration: THREE VIEWS OF A SACRIFICIAL COLLAR. _Carved out of hard +mottled greenstone. (In Mr. Christy's Collection.) This is 17 inches +long, and varies from 11 to 16 inches in width. The arms are 4 inches +wide and 3 inches deep; and are 8 inches apart at about half their +length._] + +Seor Leon Ramirez, the curator, had come to the Museum to meet us, and +we went over the collection of smaller objects, which are kept up +stairs in glass-cases,--at any rate out of the way of the soldiers. + +Here are the stone clamps shaped like the letter U, which were put over +the wrists and ankles of the victims, to hold them down on the +sacrificial stone. They are of hard stone, very heavy and covered with +carvings. It is remarkable that, though the altars for human sacrifices +are no longer to be found, these accessory stone clamps, or yoke-like +collars, are not uncommon. A fine one from Mr. Christy's collection is +figured. _(See opposite page.)_ + +The obsidian knives and arrow-heads are very good, but these I have +spoken of already, as well as of the stone hammers. The axes and +chisels of stone are so exactly like those found in Europe that it is +quite impossible to distinguish them. The bronze hatchet-blades are +thin and flat, slightly thickened at the sides to give them strength, +and mostly of a very peculiar shape, something like a T, but still more +resembling the section of a mushroom cut vertically through the middle +of the stalk. + +The obsidian mask is an extraordinary piece of work, considering the +difficulty of cutting such a material. It was chipped into a rude +outline, and finished into its exact shape by polishing down with +jeweller's sand. The polish is perfect, and there is hardly a scratch +upon it. At least one of the old Spanish writers on Mexico gives the +details of the process of cutting precious stones and polishing them +with _teoxalli_ or "god's sand." Masks in stone, wood, and terra-cotta +are to be seen in considerable number in museums of Mexican +antiquities. Their use is explained by passages in the old Mexican +writers, who mention that it was customary to mask the idols on the +occasion of the king being sick, or of any other public calamity; and +that men and women wore masks in some of the religious ceremonies. A +fine mask of brown lava (from Mr. Christy's collection), which has been +coloured, is here figured. _(See illustration.)_ The mirrors of +obsidian have the same beautifully polished surface as the obsidian +mask shows; and those made of nodules of pyrites, cut and polished, are +worth notice. + +The Mexicans were very skilful in making pottery; and of course there +is a good collection here of terra-cotta vases, little altars and +incense-dishes, rattles, flageolets, and whistles, tobacco-pipes and +masks. Some of the large vases, which were formerly filled with skulls +and bones, are admirable in their designs and decorations; and many +specimens are to be seen of the red and black ware of Cholula, which +was famous at the time of the Conquest, and was sent to all parts of +the country. The art of glazing pottery seems only to have been +introduced by the Spaniards, and to this day the Indians hardly care to +use it. The terra-cotta rattles are very characteristic. They have +little balls in them which shake about, and they puzzled us much as the +apple-dumpling did good King George, for we could not make out very +easily how the balls got inside. They were probably attached very +slightly to the inside, and so baked and then broken loose. We often +got little balls like schoolboys' marbles, among lots of Mexican +antiquities, and these were most likely the balls out of broken +rattles. + +Burning incense was always an important part of the Mexican ceremonies. +When the white men were on their march to the capital, the inhabitants +used to come out to meet them with such plates as we saw here, and burn +copal before the leaders; and in Indian villages to this day the +procession on saints' days would not be complete without men burning +incense, not in regular censers, but in unglazed earthen platters such +as their forefathers used. + +[Illustration: THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF AN AZTEC MASK. _Sculptured out +of hard brown lava. Twelve inches high; ten inches wide. (From Mr. +Christy's Collection.)_] + +Our word _copal_ is the Mexican _copalli_. There are a few other +Mexican words which have been naturalized in our European languages, of +course indicating that the things they represent came from Mexico. +_Ocelotl_ is _ocelot_; _Tomatl_ is _tomata_; _Chilli_ is the Spanish +_chile_ and our _chili_; _Cacahuatl_ is _cacao_ or cocoa; and +_Chocolatl_, the beverage made from the cacao-bean with a mixture of +vanilla, is our chocolate. + +Cacao-beans were used by the Mexicans as money. Even in Humboldt's +time, when there was no copper coinage, they were used as small change, +six for a halfpenny; and Stephens says the Central Americans use them +to this day. A mat in Mexican is _petlatl_, and thence a basket made of +matting was called _petlacalli_--"mathouse." The name passed to the +plaited grass cigar-cases that are exported to Europe; and now in Spain +any kind of cigar-case is called a _petaca_. + +The pretty little ornamented calabashes--used, among other purposes, +for drinking chocolate out of--were called by the Mexicans _xicalli_, a +word which the Spaniards made into _jcara_, and now use to mean a +chocolate-cup; and even the Italians have taken to it, and call a +tea-cup a _chicchera_. + +There is a well-known West Indian fruit which we call an _avocado_ or +_alligator-pear_, and which the French call _avocat_ and the Spaniards +_aguacate_. All these names are corruptions of the Aztec name of the +fruit, _ahuacatl_. + +Vanilla and cochineal were first found in Mexico; but the Spaniards did +not adopt the unpronounceable native names, _tlilxochitl_ and +_nocheztli_. Vanilla, _vainilla_, means a little bean, from _vaina_, +which signifies a scabbard or sheath, also a pod. _Cochinilla_ is from +_coccus_, a berry, as it was at first supposed to be of vegetable +origin. The Aztec name for cochineal, _nocheztli_, means +"cactus-blood," and is a very apt description of the insect, which has +in it a drop of deep crimson fluid, in which the colouring matter of +the dye is contained. + +The turkey, which was introduced into Europe from Mexico, was called +_huexolotl_ from the gobbling noise it makes. (It must be remembered +that x and j in Spanish are not the same letters as in English, but a +hard guttural aspirate, like the German ch). The name, slightly altered +into _guajalote_, is still used in Mexico; but when these birds were +brought to Europe, the Spaniards called them peacocks (_pavos_). To get +rid of the confusion, it became necessary to call the real peacock +"_pavn_" (big peacock), or "_pavo real_" (royal peacock). The German +name for a turkey, "Wlscher Hahn," "Italian fowl," is reasonable, for +the Germans got them from Italy; but our name "turkey" is wonderfully +absurd. + +There may be other Mexican words to be found in our language, but not +many. The Mexicans were cultivating maize and tobacco when the +Spaniards invaded the country, and had done so for ages; but these +vegetables had been found already in the West India islands, and had +got their name from the language of Hayti, _mahiz_ and _tabaco_; the +latter word, it seems, meaning not the tobacco itself, but the cigars +made of it. + +I do not recollect anything else worthy of note that Europe has +borrowed from Ancient Mexico, except Botanic Gardens, and dishes made +to keep hot at dinner-time, which the Aztecs managed by having a pan of +burning charcoal underneath them. + +To return to the Museum. There are stamps in terra-cotta with +geometrical patterns, for making lines and ornaments on the vases +before they were baked, and for stamping patterns upon the cotton cloth +which was one of their principal manufactures, as it is now. Connected +with the same art are the _malacates_, or winders, which I have already +described. Little grotesque heads made of baked clay, like those I have +mentioned as being found in such immense numbers on the sites of old +Mexican cities, are here by hundreds. I think there were, besides, some +of the moulds, also in terra-cotta, in which they were formed; at any +rate, they are to be seen, so that making the little heads must have +been a regular trade. What they were for is not so easy to say. Some +have bodies, and are made with flat backs to stand against a wall, and +these were probably idols. The ancient Mexicans, we read, had +household-gods in great numbers, and called them _Tepitotons_, "little +ones." The greatest proportion, however, are mere heads which never had +had bodies, and will not stand anyhow. They could not have been +personal ornaments, for there is nothing to fasten them on by. They are +rather a puzzle. I have seen a suggestion somewhere, that when a man +was buried, each surviving member of his family put one of these heads +into his grave. This sounds plausible enough, especially as both male +and female heads are found. + +One shelf in the museum is particularly instructive. We called it the +"Chamber of Horrors," after the manner of Marlborough House, and it +contains numbers of the sham antiquities, the manufacture of which is a +regular thing in Mexico, as it is in Italy. They are principally vases +and idols of earthenware, for the art of working obsidian is lost, and +there can be no trickery about that[18]; and as to the hammers, +chisels, and idols in green jade, serpentine, and such like hard +materials, they are decidedly cheaper to find than to make. The Indians +in Mexico make their unglazed pottery just as they did before the +Conquest, so that, if they imitate real antiques exactly, there is no +possibility of detecting the fraud; but when they begin to work from +their own designs, or even to copy from memory, they are almost sure to +put in something that betrays them. + +As soon as the Spaniards came, they began to introduce drawing as it +was understood in Europe; and from that moment the peculiarities of +Mexican art began to disappear. The foreheads of the Mexican races are +all very low, and their painters and sculptors even exaggerated this +peculiarity, to make the faces they depicted more beautiful,--so +producing an effect which to us Europeans seems hideously ugly, but +which is not more unnatural than the ideal type of beauty we see in the +Greek statues. After the era of the Spaniards we see no more of such +foreheads; and the eyes, which were drawn in profiles as one sees them +in the full face, are put in their natural position. The short squat +figures become slim and tall; and in numberless little details of +dress, modelling, and ornament, the acquaintance of the artist with +European types is shown; and it is very seldom that the modern +counterfeiter can keep clear of these and get back to the old standard. + +Among the things on the condemned shelf were men's faces too correctly +drawn to be genuine, grotesque animals that no artist would ever have +designed who had not seen a horse, head-dresses and drapery that were +European and not Mexican. Among the figures in Mayer's _Mexico_, a vase +is represented as a real antique, which, I think, is one of the worst +cases I ever noticed. There is a man's head upon it, with long +projecting pointed nose and chin, a long thin pendant moustache, an eye +drawn in profile, and a cap. It is true the pure Mexican race +occasionally have moustaches, but they are very slight, not like this, +which falls in a curve on both sides of the mouth; and no Mexican of +pure Indian race ever had such a nose and chin, which must have been +modelled from the face of some toothless old Spaniard. + +Mention must be made of the wooden drums--_teponaztli_--of which some +few specimens are still to be seen in Mexico. Such drums figured in the +religious ceremonies of the Aztecs, and one often hears of them in +Mexican history. I have mentioned already the great drum which Bernal +Diaz saw when he went up the Mexican teocalli with Cortes, and which he +describes as a hellish instrument, made with skins of great serpents; +and which, when it was struck, gave a loud and melancholy sound, that +could be heard at two leagues' distance. Indeed, they did afterwards +hear it from their camp a mile or two off, when their unfortunate +companions were being sacrificed on the teocalli. + +The Aztec drums, which are still to be seen, are altogether of wood, +nearly cylindrical, but swelling out in the middle, and hollowed out of +solid logs. Some have the sounding-board made unequally thick in +different parts, so as to give several notes when struck. All are +elaborately carved over with various designs, such as faces, +head-dresses, weapons, suns with rays, and fanciful patterns, among +which the twisted cord is one of the commonest. + +Besides the drums which are preserved in museums, there are others, +carefully kept in Indian villages, not as curiosities, but as +instruments of magical power. Heller mentions such a _teponaztli_, +which is still preserved among the Indians of Huatusco, an Indian +village near Mirador in the tierra templada, where the inhabitants have +had their customs comparatively little altered by intercourse with +white men. They keep this drum as a sacred instrument, and beat it only +at certain times of the year, though they have no reason to give for +doing so. It is to be regretted that Heller did not take a note of the +particular days on which this took place; for the times of the Mexican +festivals are well known, and this information would have settled the +question whether the Indians of the present day have really any +definite recollection of their old customs. + +Drums of this kind do not belong exclusively to Mexico. Among all the +tribes of North America they were one of the principal "properties" +used by the Medicine-men in their ceremonies; and among the tribes +which have not been christianized they are still to be found in use. +After we left Mexico, Mr. Christy visited some tribes in the Hudson's +Bay Territory; and on one occasion, happening to assist at a festival +in which just such a wooden drum was used, he bought it of the +Medicine-man of the tribe, and packed it off triumphantly to his +museum. + +A few picture-writings are still to be seen in the Museum, which, with +the few preserved in Europe, are all we have left of these interesting +records, of which there were thousands upon thousands in Mexico and +Tezcuco. Some were burnt or destroyed during the sieges of the cities, +some perished by mere neglect, but the great mass was destroyed by +archbishop Zumarraga, when he made an attempt--and, to some extent, a +successful one--to obliterate every trace of heathenism, by destroying +all the monuments and records in the country. One of the +picture-writings hanging on the wall is very probably the same that was +sent up from Vera Cruz to Montezuma, with figures of the newly-arrived +white men, their ships and horses, and their cannons with fire and +smoke issuing from their mouths. Another shows a white man being +sacrificed, of course one of the Spanish prisoners. The pictorial +history of the migration of the Aztecs is here, and a list of tributes +paid to the Mexican sovereign; the different articles being drawn with +numbers against each, to show the quantities to be paid, as in the +Egyptian inscriptions. Lord Kingsborough's great work contains +fac-similes of several Mexican manuscripts, and in Humboldt's _Vues des +Cordillres_ some of the most remarkable are figured and described. + +One of the most curious of the Aztec picture-writings is in the +Bodleian Library, and in fac-simile in Lord Kingsborough's _Antiquities +of Mexico_. In it are shown, in a series of little pictures, the +education of Mexican boys and girls, as prescribed by law. The child +four days old is being sprinkled with water, and receiving its name. At +four years old they are to be allowed one tortilla a meal, which is +indicated by a drawing above their heads, of four circles representing +years, and one cake; and the father sends the son to carry water, while +the mother shows the daughter how to spin. A tortilla is like an +oat-cake, but is made of Indian corn. + +At seven years old the boy is taken to learn to fish, while the girl +spins; and so on with different occupations for one year after another. +At nine years old the father is allowed to punish his son for +disobedience, by sticking aloe-points all over his naked body, while +the daughters only have them stuck into their hands; and at eleven +years old, both boy and girl were to be punished by holding their faces +in the smoke of burning capsicums. + +At fifteen the youth is married by the simple process of tying the +corner of his shirt to the corner of the bride's petticoat (thus +literally "splicing" them, as my companion remarked). And so on; after +scenes of cutting wood, visiting the temples, fighting and feasting, we +come to the last scene of all, headed "_seventy years_," and see an old +man and woman reeling about helplessly drunk with pulque; for +drunkenness, which was severely punished up to that age, was tolerated +afterwards as a compensation for the sorrows and infirmities of the +last period of life. + +Astrological charts formed a large proportion of these +picture-writings. Here, as elsewhere, we may trace the origin of +astrology. The signs of the days and years were represented, for +convenience sake, by different animals, and objects, like the signs of +the Zodiac which we still retain. The signs remained after the history +of their origin was lost; and then--what more natural than to imagine +that the symbols handed down by their wise ancestors had some +mysterious meaning, connected with the days and years they stood for; +and then, that a man's destiny had to do with the names of the signs +that "prevailed" at his birth? + +There is little to be seen here or elsewhere, of one kind of work in +which the Mexicans excelled perhaps more than in any other, the +goldsmith's work. Where are the calendars of solid gold and silver--as +big as great wheels, and covered with hieroglyphics, and the cups and +collars, the golden birds, beasts, and fishes? The Spaniards who saw +them record how admirable their workmanship was, and they were good +judges of such matters. Benvenuto Cellini saw some of these things, and +was filled with admiration. They have all gone to the melting-pot +centuries ago! How important the goldsmith's trade was accounted in old +times is shown by a strange Aztec law. It was no ordinary offence to +steal gold and silver. Criminals convicted of this offence were not +treated as common thieves, but were kept till the time when the +goldsmiths celebrated their annual festival, and were then solemnly +sacrificed to their god Xipe;[19] the priests flaying their bodies, +cooking and eating them, and walking about dressed in their skins, a +ceremony which was called _tlacaxipehualiztli_, "the man-flaying." + +Museums of Mexican antiquities are so much alike, that, in general, one +description will do for all of them. Mr. Uhde's Museum at Heidelberg is +a far finer one than that at Mexico, except as regards the +picture-writings. I was astonished at the enormous quantity of stone +idols, delicately worked trinkets in various hard stones and even in +obsidian, terra-cotta tobacco-pipes, figures, and astronomical +calendars, &c., displayed there. + +Mr. Christy's collection is richer than any other in small sculptured +figures from Central America. It contains a squatting female figure in +hard brown lava, like the one in black basalt which is drawn in +Humboldt's _Vues des Cordillres_, and there called (I cannot imagine +why) an Aztec priestess. Above all, it contains what I believe to be +the three finest specimens of Aztec decorative art which exist in the +world. One of these is the knife of which the figure at page 101 gives +some faint idea, the other two being a wooden mask overlaid with +mosaic, and a human skull decorated in the same manner, of which a more +particular description will be found in the Appendix. There are two +kinds of Aztec articles in Mr. Christy's collection which I did not +observe either at Mexico or Heidelberg. These are bronze needles, +resembling our packing-needles, and little cast bronze bells, called +in Aztec _yotl_, not unlike small horse-bells made in England at the +present day; these are figured in the tribute-lists in the +picture-writings. + +[Illustration: ANTIQUE BRONZE BELLS FROM MEXICO. _Such as are often +sculptured on Aztec Images._] + +Apropos of the mammoth bones preserved in the Mexican Museum, I must +insert a quotation from Bernal Diaz. It is clear that the traditions of +giants which exist in almost every country had their origin in the +discovery of fossil bones, whose real character was not suspected until +a century ago; but I never saw so good an example of this as in the +Tlascalan tradition, which my author relates as follows.--"And they" +(the Tlascalan chiefs) "said that their ancestors had told them that, +in times past, there lived amongst them in settlements men and women of +great size, with huge bones; and, as they were wicked and of evil +dispositions, they (the ancestors of the Tlascalans) fought against +them and killed them; and those who were left died out. And that we +might see what stature they were of, they brought a bone of one of +them, and it was very big, and its height was that of a man of +reasonable stature; it was a thigh-bone, and I (Bernal Diaz) measured +myself against it, and it was as tall as I am, who am a man of +reasonable stature; and they brought other pieces of bones like the +first, but they were already eaten through and rotted by the earth; and +we were all amazed to see those bones, and held that for certain there +had been giants in that land; and our captain, Cortes, said to us that +it would be well to send the great bone to Castile, that His Majesty +might see it; and so we did send it by the first messengers who went." + +Among other things belonging to the Spanish period is the banner, with +the picture of the Virgin, which accompanied the Spanish army during +the Conquest. Authentic or not, it is certainly very well painted. +There is a suit of armour said to have belonged to Cortes. Its +genuineness has been doubted; but I think its extreme smallness seems +to go towards proving that it is a true relic, for Bullock saw the tomb +of Cortes opened some thirty years ago, and was surprised at the small +proportions of his skeleton. Specimens of the pottery and glass now +made in the country, and other curiosities, complete the catalogue of +this interesting collection. + +The Mexican calendar is not in the Museum, but is built into the wall +of the cathedral, in the Plaza Mayor. It is sculptured on the face of a +single block of basalt, which weighs between twenty and thirty tons, +and must have been transported thirty miles by Mexican labourers, for +the stone is not found nearer than that distance from the city; and +this transportation was, of course, managed by hand-labour alone, as +there were no beasts of burden. + +We know pretty well the whole system of Mexican astronomy from this +calendar-stone and a few manuscripts which still exist, and from the +information given in the work of Gama the astronomer and other writers. +The Aztecs and Tezcucans who used it, did not claim its invention as +their own, but said they had received it from the Toltecs, their +predecessors. The year consisted of 365 days, with an intercalation of +13 days for each cycle of 52 years, which brought it to the same length +as the Julian year of 365 days 6 hours. The theory of Gama, that the +intercalation was still more exact, namely, 12-1/2 days instead of 13, +seems to be erroneous. + +Our reckoning only became more exact than this when we adopted the +Gregorian calendar in 1752, and the people marched about the streets in +procession, crying "Give us back our eleven days!" Perhaps this is not +quite a fair way of putting the case, however, for the new style would +have been adopted in our country long before, had it not been a Romish +institution. It was the deliberate opinion of the English, as of people +in other Protestant countries, that it was much better to have the +almanack a few days wrong than to adopt a Popish innovation. One often +hears of the Papal Bull which settles the question of the earth's +standing still. The history of the Gregorian calendar is not a bad +set-off against it on the other side. At any rate, the new style was +not introduced anywhere until sixty or seventy years after the +discovery of Mexico, and five hundred years after the introduction of +the Toltec calendar in Mexico. + +The Mexican calendar-stone should be photographed on a large scale, and +studied yet more carefully than it has been, for only a part of the +divided circles which surround it have been explained. It should be +photographed, because, to my certain knowledge, Mayer's drawing gives +the year, above the figure of the sun which indicates the date of the +calendar, quite wrongly; and yet, presuming on his own accuracy, he +accuses another writer of leaving out the hieroglyph of the winter +solstice. What is much more strange is, that Humboldt's drawing in the +small edition of the _Vues des Cordillres_ is wrong in both points. +The drawing in Nebel's great work is probably the best. As to the wax +models which Mr. Christy and I bought in Mexico, in the innocence of +our hearts, a nearer inspection showed that the artist, observing that +the circle of days would divide more neatly into sixteen parts than +into twenty, had arranged his divisions accordingly; apparently leaving +out the four hieroglyphics which he considered the ugliest. + +The details made out at present on the calendar are as follows:--the +summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, the two +passages of the Sun over the zenith of Mexico, and some dates which +possibly belong to religious festivals. The dates of the two +zenith-transits are especially interesting; for, as they vary with the +latitude, they must have been made out by actual observation in Mexico +itself, and not borrowed from some more civilised people in the distant +countries through which the Mexicans migrated. This fact alone is +sufficient to prove a considerable practical knowledge of astronomy. + +Besides this, the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years seems to be +indicated in the circle outside the signs of days, and also the days in +the priestly year of 260 days; but to make these numbers, we must allow +for the compartments supposed to be hidden by the projecting rays of +the sun. + +The arrangement of the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years is very +curious. They had four signs of years, _tochtli, acatl, tecpatl_, and +_calli_,--_rabbit, canes, flint_, and _house_; and against these signs +they ranged numbers, from 1 to 13, so that a cycle exactly corresponds +to a pack of cards, the four signs being the four suits, thirteen of +each. Now, any one would suppose that in making such a reckoning, they +would first take one suit, count _one, two, three_, &c. in it, up to +13, and then begin another suit. This is not the Mexican idea, however. +Their reckoning is 1 _tochtli_, 2 _acatl_, 3 _tecpatl_, &c., just as it +may be made with the cards thus: ace of hearts, two of diamonds, 3 of +spades, 4 of clubs, 5 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, and so on through the +pack. The correspondence between the cycle of 52 years, divided among 4 +signs, and our year of 52 weeks, divided among 4 seasons, is also +curious, though as entirely accidental as the resemblance to the pack +of cards, for the Mexican week (if we may call it so) consisted of 5 +days instead of 7, which to a great extent nullifies the comparison. + +The reckoning of days is still more cumbrous. It consists of the days +of the week written in succession from 1 to 13, underneath these the 20 +signs of days, and underneath these again another series of 9 signs; so +that each day was distinguished by a combination of a number and two +signs, which combination could not belong to any other day. + +The date of the year at the top of the calendar is 13 _acatl_ (13 +canes), which stands for 1479, 1427, 1375, 1323, and so on, subtracting +52 years each time. Now, why was this year chosen? It was not the +beginning of a cycle, but the 26th year; and so, in ascertaining the +meaning of the dates on the calendar, allowance has to be made for six +days which have been gained by the leap-years only being adjusted at +the end of the cycle; but this certainly offers no advantage whatever; +and if an arbitrary date had been chosen to start the calendar with, of +course it would have been the first year of a cycle. The year may have +been chosen in commemoration of the foundation of Mexico or +Tenochtitln, which historians give as somewhere about 1324 or 1325. +The sign 13 _acatl_ would stand for 1323. It is more likely that the +date merely refers to the year in which the calendar was put up. As +such a massive and elaborate piece of sculpture could only belong to +the most flourishing period of the Aztec empire, the year indicated +would be 1279, nine years before the building of the great pyramid +close by. + +Baron Humboldt's celebrated argument to prove the Asiatic origin of the +Mexicans is principally founded upon the remarkable resemblance of this +system of cycles in reckoning years to those found in use in different +parts of Asia. For instance, we may take that described by Hue and +Gabet as still existing in Tartary and Thibet, which consists of one +set of signs, _wood, fire, earth_, &c., combined with a set of names of +animals, _mouse, ox, tiger_, &c. The combination is made almost exactly +in the same way as that in which the Aztecs combine their signs and +numbers, as for instance, the year of the fire-pig, the iron-hare, &c. +If these were simple systems of counting years, or even if, although +difficult, they had some advantages to offer, we might suppose that two +different races in want of a system to count their years by, had +devised them independently. But, in fact, both the Asiatic and the +Mexican cycles are not only most intricate and troublesome to work, but +by the constant liability to confound one cycle with another, they lead +to endless mistakes. Hue says that the Mongols, to get over this +difficulty, affix a special name to all the years of each king's reign, +as for instance, "the year Tao-Kouang of the fire-ram;" apparently not +seeing that to give the special name and the number of the year of the +reign, and call it the 44th year of Tao-Kouang, would answer the same +purpose, with one-tenth of the trouble. + +Not only are the Mexican and Asiatic systems alike in the singular +principle they go upon, but there are resemblances in the signs used +that seem too close for chance.[20] The other arguments which tend to +prove that the Mexicans either came from the Old World or had in some +way been brought into connexion with tribes from thence, are +principally founded on coincidences in customs and traditions. We must +be careful to eliminate from them all such as we can imagine to have +originated from the same outward causes at work in both hemispheres, +and from the fact that man is fundamentally the same everywhere. To +take an instance from Peru. We find the Incas there calling themselves +"Child of the Sun," and marrying their own sisters, just as the +Egyptian kings did. But this proves nothing whatever as to connexion +between the two people. The worship of the Sun, the giver of light and +heat, may easily spring up among different people without any external +teaching; and what more natural, among imperfectly civilized tribes, +than that the monarch should claim relationship with the divinity? And +the second custom was introduced that the royal race might be kept +unmixed. + +Thus, when we find the Aztecs burning incense before their gods, kings, +and great men, and propitiating their deities with human sacrifices, we +can conclude nothing from this. But we find them baptizing their +children, anointing their kings, and sprinkling them with holy water, +punishing the crime of adultery by stoning the criminals to death, and +practising several other Old World usages of which I have already +spoken. We must give some weight to these coincidences. + +Of some of the supposed Aztec Bible-traditions I have already spoken in +no very high terms. There is another tradition, however, resting upon +unimpeachable evidence, which relates the occurrence of a series of +destructions and regenerations of the world, and recalls in the most +striking manner the Indian cosmogony; and, when added to the argument +from the similarity of the systems of astronomical notation of Mexico +and Asia, goes far towards proving a more or less remote connection +between the inhabitants of the two continents. + +There is another side to the question, however, as has been stated +already. How could the Mexicans have had these traditions and customs +from the Old World, and not have got the knowledge of some of the +commonest arts of life from the same source? As I have said, they do +not seem to have known the proper way of putting the handle on to a +stone-hammer; and, though they used bronze, they had not applied it to +making such things as knives and spear-heads. They had no beasts of +burden; and, though there were animals in the country which they +probably might have domesticated and milked, they had no idea of +anything of the kind. They had oil, and employed it for various +purposes, but had no notion of using it or wax for burning. They +lighted their houses with pine-torches; and in fact the Aztec name for +a pine-torch--_ocotl_--was transferred to candles when they were +introduced. + +Though they were a commercial people, and had several substitutes for +money--such as cacao-grains, quills of gold-dust, and pieces of tin of +a particular shape, they had no knowledge of the art of weighing +anything, but sold entirely by tale and measure. This statement, made +by the best authorities, their language tends to confirm. After the +Conquest they made the word _tlapexouia_ out of the Spanish "peso," and +also gave the meaning of weighing to two other words which mean properly +_to measure_ and _to divide equally_. Had they had a proper word of +their own for the process, we should find it. The Mexicans scarcely ever +adopted a Spanish word even for Spanish animals or implements, if they +could possibly make their own language serve. They called a sheep an +_ichcatl_, literally a "_thread-thing_," or "_cotton_": a gun a +"_fire-trumpet_:" and sulphur "_fire-trumpet-earth_." And yet, a people +ignorant of some of the commonest arts had extraordinary knowledge of +astronomy, and even knew the real cause of eclipses,[21] and represented +them in their sacred dances. + +Set the difficulties on one side of the question against those on the +other, and they will nearly balance. We must wait for further evidence. + +Our friend Don Jos Miguel Cervantes, the President of the +Ayuntamiento, took us one day to see the great prison of Mexico, the +Acordada. As to the prison itself, it is a great gloomy building, with +its rooms and corridors arranged round two courtyards, one appropriated +to the men, the other to the women. A few of the men were at work +making shoes and baskets, but most were sitting and lying about in the +sun, smoking cigarettes and talking together in knots, the young ones +hard at work taking lessons in villainy from the older hands; just the +old story. + +Offenders of all orders, from drunkards and vagrants up to highway +robbers and murderers, all were mixed indiscriminately together. But we +should remember that in England twenty years ago it was usual for +prisons to be such places as this; and even now, in spite of model +prisons and severe discipline, the miserable results of our +prison-system show, as plainly as can be, that when we have caught our +criminal we do not in the least know how to reform him, now that our +colonists have refused him the only chance he ever had. + +It is bad enough to mix together these men under the most favourable +circumstances for corrupting one another. Every man must come out worse +than he went in; but this wrong is not so great as that which the +untried prisoners suffer in being forced into the society of condemned +criminals, while their trials drag on from session to session, through +the endless technicalities and quibbles of Spanish law. + +We made rather a curious observation in this prison. When one enters +such a place in Europe, one expects to see in a moment, by the faces +and demeanour of the occupants, that most of them belong to a special +criminal class, brought up to a life of crime which is their only +possible career, belonging naturally to police-courts and prisons, +herding together when out of prison in their own districts and their +own streets, and carefully avoided by the rest of society. You may know +a London thief when you see him; he carries his profession in his face +and in the very curl of his hair. Now in this prison there was nothing +of the kind to be seen. The inmates were brown Indians and half-bred +Mexicans, appearing generally to belong to the poorest class, but just +like the average of the people in the streets outside. As my companion +said, "If these fellows are thieves and murderers, so are our servants, +and so is every man in a serape we meet in the streets, for all we can +tell to the contrary." There was positively nothing at all peculiar +about them. + +If they had been all Indians we might have been easily deceived. +Nothing can be more true than Humboldt's observation that the Indian +face differs so much from ours that it is only after years of +experience that a European can learn to distinguish the varieties of +feature by which character can be judged of. He mistakes peculiarities +which belong to the race in general for personal characteristics; and +the thickness of the skin serves still more to mask the expression of +their faces. But the greater part of these men were Mexicans of mixed +Indian and Spanish blood, and their faces are pretty much European. + +The only explanation we could give of this identity of character inside +the prison and outside is not flattering to the Mexican people, but I +really believe it to be true. We came to the conclusion that the +prisoners did not belong to a class apart, but that they were a +tolerably fair specimen of the poorer population of the table-lands of +Mexico. They had been more tempted than others, or they had been more +unlucky, and that was why they were here. + +There were perhaps a thousand prisoners in the place, two men to one +woman. Their crimes were--one-third, drunken disturbance and vagrancy; +another third, robberies of various kinds; a fourth, wounding and +homicides, mostly arising out of quarrels; leaving a small residue for +all other crimes. + +Our idea was confirmed by many foreigners who had lived long in the +country and had been brought into personal contact with the people. +Every Mexican, they said, has a thief and a murderer in him, which the +slightest provocation will bring out. This of course is an +exaggeration, but there is a great deal of truth in it. The crimes in +the prison-calendar belong as characteristics to the population in +general. Highway-robbery, cutting and wounding in drunken brawls, and +deliberate assassination, are offences which prevail among the +half-white Mexicans; while stealing is common to them and the pure +Indian population. We noticed several instances of bigamy, a crime +which Mexican law is very severe upon. As far as we could judge by the +amount of punishment inflicted, it is a greater crime to marry two +women than to kill two men. In one gallery are the cells for criminals +condemned to death, but the occupants were allowed to mix freely with +the rest of the prisoners, and they seemed comfortable enough. + +Everybody knows how much in England the condition of a prisoner depends +on the disposition of the governor in office and the system in vogue +for the moment. The mere words of his sentence do not indicate at all +what his fate will be. He comes in--under Sir John--to light labour, +much schoolmaster and chaplain, and the expectation of a +ticket-of-leave when a fraction of his time is expired. All at once Sir +James supersedes Sir John, and with him comes in a rgime of hard work, +short rations, and the black hole. If he had been "in" a month sooner, +he would have been "out" now with those more fortunate criminals, his +late companions. + +Things ought not to be so in England, but we need hardly wonder at +their being still worse in Mexico in this respect as in all others. +There have been twenty changes of government in ten years, and +sometimes extreme severity has been the rule, which may change at a +day's notice into the extreme of mildness. In Santa Ana's time the +utmost rigour of the law prevailed. Our friends in the Calle Seminario, +as they came back from their morning's ride in the Paseo, had to pass +through the great square; and used to see there, day after day, pairs +of garotted malefactors sitting bolt upright in the high wooden chairs +they had just been executed in, with a frightful calm look on their +dead faces. + +For the last year or so all this had ceased, and there had scarcely +been an execution. It seems that one principal reason of this lenity is +that the government is too weak to support its judges; and that the +ministers of justice are actually intimidated by threats mysteriously +conveyed to witnesses and authorities, that, if such or such a criminal +is executed, his friends have sworn to avenge his death, and are on the +look-out, every man with his knife ready. To political offences the +same mercy is extended. In the early times of the war of independence, +and for years afterwards, when one leader caught an officer on the +other side, he had him tried by a drum-head court-martial, and shot. +Since then it has come to be better understood that civil war is waged +for the benefit of individuals who wish for their turn of power and +their pull at the public purse; and the successful leader spares his +opponent, not caring to establish a precedent which might prove so very +inconvenient to himself. + +We were taken to see the garotte by the President, who took it out of +its little mahogany case, into which it was fitted like any other +surgical instrument. We noticed that it was rusty, and indeed it had +not been used for many months. It is not worth while to describe it. + +Mexican law well administered is bad enough, not essentially unjust, +but hampered with endless quibbles and technicalities, quite justifying +the Spanish proverb, "_Mas vale una mala composicin que un buen +pleito_,"--a bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. As things +stand now, the law of any case is the least item in the account, there +are so many ways of working upon judges and witnesses. Bribery first +and foremost; and--if that fails--personal intimidation, political +influence, private friendship, and the _compadrazgo_. Naturally, if you +have a lawsuit or are tried for a crime, you should lay a good +foundation. This is done by working upon the _Juez de primera +instancia_, who corresponds in some degree to the _Juge d'instruction_ +in France. This functionary is wretchedly paid, so that a small sum is +acceptable to him; and, moreover, the records of the case, as tried by +him, form the basis of all future litigation, so that it is very bad +economy not to get him into proper order. If you do not, it will cost +you three times as much afterwards. If your suit is with a soldier or a +priest, the ordinary tribunals will not help you. These two +classes--the most influential in the community--have their _fuero_, +their special jurisdiction; and woe to the unfortunate civilian who +attacks them in their own courts! + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, whose sense of humour occasionally peeps +out from among his statistics, remarks gravely that "the clergy has its +special legislation, which consists of the Sacred Volumes, the decision +of General and Provincial Councils, the Pontifical Decretals, and +doctrines of the Holy Fathers." Of what sort of justice is dealt out in +that court, one may form some faint idea. + +One of our friends in Mexico had a house which was too large for him, +and in a moment of weakness he let part of it to a priest. Two years +afterwards, when we made his acquaintance, he was hard at work trying, +not to get his rent, he had given up that idea long before, but to get +the priest out. I believe that, eventually, he gave him something +handsome to take his departure. + +I have often quoted Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, and shall do so again. +His statistics of the country for 1856 are given in a broad sheet, and +seem to be generally reliable. The annual balance-sheet of the country +he sums up in three lines-- + + Annual Expenditure . . . . . . 25,000,000 dollars. + Annual Revenue . . . . . . . . 15,000,000 dollars. + ---------- + Annual Deficit . . . . . . . . 10,000,000 dollars. + +The President of the Ayuntamiento was a pleasant person to know, among +the dishonest, intriguing Mexican officials. He received but little pay +in return for a great deal of hard work; but he liked to be in office +for the opportunities it afforded him of improving the condition of the +poor of the city. It was a sight to see the prisoners crowd round him +as he entered the court. They all knew him, and it was quite evident +they all considered him as a friend. In what little can be done for the +ignorant and destitute under the unfavourable circumstances of the +country, Don Miguel has had a large share; but until an orderly +government, that is, a foreign one, succeeds to the present anarchy, +not very much can be done. + +I mentioned the word "_compadrazgo_" a little way back. The thing +itself is curious, and quite novel to an Englishman of the present day. +The godfathers and godmothers of a child become, by their participation +in the ceremony, relations to one another and to the priest who +baptizes the child, and call one another ever afterwards _compadre_ and +_comadre_. Just such a relationship was once expressed by the word +"gossip," "God-sib," that is "akin in God." Gossip has quite +degenerated from its old meaning, and even "sib," though good English +in Chaucer's time, is now only to be found in provincial dialects; but +in German "sipp" still means "kin." + +In Mexico this connexion obliges the compadres and comadres to +hospitality and honesty and all sorts of good offices towards one +another; and it is wonderful how conscientiously this obligation is +kept to, even by people who have no conscience at all for the rest of +the world. A man who will cheat his own father or his own son will keep +faith with his _compadre_. To such an extent does this influence become +mixed up with all sorts of affairs, and so important is it, that it is +necessary to count it among the things that tend to alter the course of +justice in the country. + +The French have the words _compre_ and _commre_; and it is curious to +observe that the name of _compre_ is given to the confederate of the +juggler, who stands among the crowd, and slyly helps in the performance +of the trick. + +We went one day to the Hospital of San Lazaro. I have mentioned the +word "_lepero_" as applied to the poor and idle class of half-caste +Mexicans. It is only a term of reproach, exactly corresponding to the +"_lazzarone_" of Naples, who resembles the Mexican lepers in his social +condition, and whose name implies the same thing; for, of course, Saint +Lazarus is the patron saint of lepers and foul beggars. There are some +few real lepers in Mexico, who are obliged by law to be shut up in this +hospital. We rather expected to see something like what one reads of +the treatment of lepers which prevailed in Europe until a few years +ago--shutting them up in dismal dens cut off from communication with +other human beings. We were agreeably disappointed. They were confined, +it is true, but in a spacious building, with court-yard and garden; +their nurses and attendants appeared to be very kind to them; and it +seems that many charitable people come to visit the inmates, and bring +them cigars and other small luxuries, to relieve the monotony of their +dismal lives. Some had their faces horribly distorted by the falling of +the corners of the eyes and mouth, and the disappearance of the +cartilage of the nose; and a few, in whom the disease had terminated in +a sort of gangrene, were frightful objects, with their features +scarcely distinguishable; but in the majority of cases the leprosy had +caused a gradual disappearance of the ends of the fingers and toes, and +even of the whole hands and feet. The limbs thus mutilated looked as +though the parts which were wanting had been amputated, and the wound +had quite healed over, but it is caused by a gradual absorption without +wound and without pain. As every one knows, leprosy of these kinds was +held until quite lately to be dangerously contagious; but, fortunately +for the poor creatures themselves, this is quite clearly proved to be +false, and the lepers are only shut up that they may have no children, +for the affection appears to be hereditary. + +It was early one morning, when we were going out to breakfast at +Tisapn, that Don Juan recounted to us his experience of garrotted +malefactors sitting dead in their chairs in the great square across +which we were riding. "It was really almost enough to spoil a fellow's +breakfast," he added pathetically. Though an Englishman, and only +arrived in the country a few years before, Don Juan was as clever with +the lazo as most Mexicans, and could _colear_ a bull in great style. +Indeed, we had started early that morning in order to have time enough +to look at the bulls in the _potreros_--the great grass-meadows--that +lie for miles outside the city, and which are made immensely fertile by +flooding from time to time. Wherever we saw a bull in the distance, Don +Juan and his grand little horse _Pancho_ plunged over a bank and +through a gap, and we after him. No one ever leaps anything in this +country, indeed the form of the saddle puts it out of the question. One +or two bulls looked up as we entered the enclosure, and bolted into +other fields, pushing in among the thorns of the aloes which formed +close hedges of fixed bayonets round the meadows. At last Don Juan cut +off the retreat of an old bull, and galloping after him like mad, flung +the running loop of the lazo over his horns, at the same time winding +the other end round the pummel of his saddle. The bull was still +standing on all four legs, pulling with all its might against Pancho. +Galloping after him, so as to slacken the end of the lazo, we contrived +to transfer it from Don Juan's saddle to mine. Now my own horse +happened to be a little lame, and I was riding a poor little black +beast whose bones really seemed to rattle in his skin. Our +acquaintances in the Paseo had been quite facetious about him, +recommending us to be careful and not to smoke up against him, for fear +we should blow him over, and otherwise whetting their wit upon him. He +acquitted himself very creditably, however, and when the bull began to +pull against him, he leant over on the other side, as if he had been +galloping round a circus; and the bull could not move him an inch. It +was quite evident that it was not his first experiment. In the mean +time Don Juan had dropped the noose of my lazo just before the bull's +nose, and presently that animal incautiously put his foot into it, when +Don Juan whipped it up round his leg and went off at full gallop. My +little black horse knew perfectly well what had happened, though his +head was exactly in the opposite direction; and he tugged with all his +might, and leant over more than ever. The two lazos tightened with a +twang, as though they had been guitar-strings; and in a moment the +unfortunate bull was rolling with all his legs in the air, in the midst +of a whirlwind of dust. Having thus humiliated him we let him go, and +off he went at full speed. All this time the proprietor of the field +was tranquilly standing on a bank, looking on. Far from raging at us +for treating his property in this free and easy manner, he returned our +salutation when we rode up to him, and, addressing our sporting +countryman, said, "Well done, old fellow, come another day and try +again." + +Our whole ride to Tisapn was enlivened by a series of Don Juan's +exploits. He raced after bulls, got hold of their tails, and coleared +them over into the dust. He lazo'd everything in the road, from +milestones and trunks of trees upwards; and I shall never forget our +meeting with a great mule which was trotting along the road without a +burden,--just as he passed us, our companion slipped the noose round +his hind leg, and the beast went down as if he had been shot, the +muleteers pulling up on purpose to have a good open-mouthed laugh at +the incident. + +We seemed to be in rather a sporting line that day, for, after our +return from Tisapn, Don Juan and I went to see a cockfight. In Mexico, +as in Cuba and all Spanish America, this is the favourite sport of the +people. In Cuba, the principal shopkeeper in every village keeps the +cockpit--the "_plaza de gallos_." The people from the whole district +round about come in on Sunday to the village, with a triple object; +_first_, to hear mass; _secondly_, to buy their supplies for the +ensuing week; and _thirdly_, to spend the afternoon in cockfighting, at +which amusement it is easy to win or lose two or three hundred pounds +in an afternoon. The custom that the cockpit brings to the shop more +than repays the proprietor for the expense and trouble of keeping it. +In Cuba, the spurs of the cock are artificially pointed by paring with +a penknife, but the Mexican way of arming them is even more abominable. + +[Illustration: STEEL COCK-SPURS (8 inches long), WITH SHEATH AND +PADDING.] + +Each bird has a sharp steel knife three or four inches long, just like +a little scythe-blade, fastened over the natural spur before the fight +commences. A leather sheath covers the weapon while the cocks are being +put into the ring, and held with their beaks almost touching till they +are furious. Then they are drawn back to opposite sides of the ring, +the sheaths are taken off, and they fly at one another, giving +desperate cuts with the steel blades. + +The cockpit was a small round wooden shed, with the ring in the middle, +and circular benches round it, rising one above another. The place was +full of people, mostly Mexicans of the lower orders, smoking, betting, +and talking sporting-slang. The betting was surprising, when one +compared its amount with the appearance of the spectators, among whom +there was hardly a decent coat to be seen. Every now and then, a dirty +scoundrel in a shabby leather jacket would walk round the ring with a +handful of gold, offering the odds--ten to five, ten to seven, ten to +nine, or whatever they might be, in gold ounces, which coins are worth +above three pounds apiece. + +Cockfighting is such a passion here that we thought it as well to see +it for once. Santa Ana, now he has retired from politics, spends his +time at Carthagena pretty much entirely in this his favourite sport, +which forms one of the great items among the pleasures and excitements +of a Mexican life. We saw a couple of mains fought, in which the +victorious birds were dreadfully mangled, while the vanquished were +literally cut to pieces; as much money changed hands as we should have +thought sufficient to buy up the whole of the people present, cockpit +and all. Then, being both agreed that it was a disgusting sight, we +went away. + +Before we left Mexico we were taken by our man Antonio to a cutler's +shop, where the principal trade seemed to be the making of these +_cuchillos_ to arm the cocks with. We bought a couple of pairs of them, +and had them carefully fitted up. The old cutler was quite delighted, +and remarked that foreigners must acknowledge that there were some +things which were done better in Mexico than anywhere else. I fear we +left him under the pleasing impression that we were taking home the +blades to introduce as models in our own benighted country. + +The Mexican is a great gambler. Bad fortune he bears with the greatest +equanimity. You never hear of his committing suicide after being ruined +at play; he just goes away, and sets to work to earn enough for a fresh +stake. The government have tried to put down gambling in the State of +Mexico, but not with much success. For three days in the year, however, +at the festival of San Agustn de las Cuevas, public gambling-tables +are tolerated, though soldiers and officials are strictly forbidden to +play, an injunction which they carefully set at nought. Oddly enough, +the government, while doing all it could to keep its own functionaries +away from the _monte_ table, did not scruple to send a military escort +to convoy the bankers with their bags of gold from Mexico to San +Agustn. On one of the three days, Mr. Christy and I went there. There +was a great crowd, this time mostly a well-dressed one, and the cockpit +was on a large scale. But of course the great attraction was the +_monte_, which was being played everywhere, the stakes in some places +being coppers, in others silver, while more aristocratic establishments +would allow no stake under a gold ounce. Dead silence prevailed in +these places, and the players seemed to pride themselves upon not +showing the slightest change in their countenances, whether they won or +lost. The game itself is very simple, and has some points of +resemblance to that of lansquenet, known in Europe. The first two cards +in the pack, say a four and a king, are laid down, face up, on the +table, and the gamblers put down their money against one or the other. +Then the _croupier_ deals the cards out slowly and solemnly one after +another, calling out their names as they fall, until he comes--say to a +king; when those who have betted on the king have their stakes doubled, +and the others lose theirs. The banker has a great advantage to +compensate him for his expense and risk. If the first card which is +thrown out be one of the two numbers on the table, the banker withholds +a quarter of the stake he would otherwise have lost, paying only a +stake and three-quarters, instead of two stakes. Now, as there are +forty cards in a Spanish pack, two of which have been already thrown +out, the chances for a throw favourable to the banker are about one in +six, so that he may reckon on an average profit of about two per cent, +on all the money staked. + +As for the players, they sat round the table, carefully noticing the +course of the games, and regulating their play accordingly, as they do +at Baden-Baden and Hombourg. I suppose that now and then these +scientific calculators must be told that their whole theory of chances +is the most baseless delusion, but they certainly do not believe it; +and at any rate this curious pseudo-science of winning by skill at +games of pure chance will last our time, if not longer. + +On some tables there were as much as three or four thousand gold +ounces. This struck us the more because we had often tried to get gold +coin for our own use, instead of the silver dollars, the general +currency of the country, of which twenty pounds' worth to carry home on +a hot day was enough to break one's heart. We often tried to get gold, +but the answer was always that what little there was in the country was +in the hands of the gamblers, whose operations could not be worked on a +large scale without it. + +The prevalence of mining, as a means of getting wealth, has contributed +greatly to make the love of gambling an important part of the national +character. Silver-mining in the old times was a most hazardous +speculation, and people engaged in it used to make and lose great +fortunes a dozen times in their lives. The miners worked not on fixed +wages, but for a share of the produce, and so every man became a +gambler on his own account. To a great extent the same evils prevail +now, but two things have tended to lessen them. Poor ores are now +worked profitably which used to be neglected by the miners; and, as +these ores occur in almost inexhaustible masses, their mining is a much +less speculative affair than the old system of mining for rich veins. +Moreover, the men are, in some of the largest mines, paid by the day, +so that their life has become more regular. In many places, however, +the work is still done on shares by the miners, who pass their lives in +alternations of excessive riches and all kinds of extravagance, +succeeded by times of extreme poverty. + +An acquaintance of ours was telling us one day about the lives of these +men. One week, a party of three miners had come upon a very rich bit of +ore, and went away from the _raya_, each man with a handkerchief full +of dollars. This was on Saturday evening. On Monday morning our +informant went out for a ride, and on the road he met three dirty +haggard-looking men, dressed in some old rags; one of the three came +forward, taking off the sort of apology for a hat which he had on, and +said, "Good morning, Seor Doctor, would you mind doing us the favour +of lending us half a dollar to get something to eat?" They were the +three successful miners; and when, a few days afterwards, the man who +had asked for the money came back to return it, the Doctor inquired +what had happened. + +It seemed that the three, as soon as they had received their money on +Saturday, got a lift to the nearest town, and there rigged themselves +out with new clothes, silver buttons, five-pound serapes, and a horse +for each, with magnificent silver mountings to the saddle and spurs. +Here they have dinner, and lots of pulque, and swagger about outside +the door, smoking cigarettes. There, quite by chance, an acquaintance +meets them, and admires the horses, but would like to see their paces +tried a little outside the town. So they pace and gallop along for half +a mile or so; when, also quite accidentally, they find two men sitting +outside a rancho, playing at cards. The two men--strangely enough--are +old acquaintances of the curious friend, and they produce a bowl of +cool pulque from within, which our miners find quite refreshing after +the ride. Thereupon they sit down to have a little game at _monte_, +then more pulque, then more cards; and when they awake the next +morning, they find themselves possessed of a suit of old rags, with no +money in the pockets. They had dim recollections of losing--first +money, then horses, and lastly clothes, the night before; but--as they +were informed by the old woman, who was the only occupant of the place +besides themselves--their friends had been obliged to go away on urgent +business, and could not be so impolite as to disturb them. So they +walked back to the mines, ragged and hungry, and borrowed the doctor's +half-dollar. + +[Illustration: LEATHER SANDALS, WORN BY THE NATIVE INDIANS.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + +TEZCUCO. MIRAFLORES. POPOCATEPETL. CHOLULA. + + + +[Illustration: WALKING AND RIDING COSTUMES IN MEXICO. _(After Nebel.)_] + +The wet season was fast coming on when we left Mexico for the last +time. We had to pass through Vera Cruz, where the rain and the yellow +fever generally set in together; so that to stay longer would have been +too great a risk. + +Our first stage was to Tezcuco, across the lake in a canoe, just as we +had been before. We noticed on our way to the canoes, a church, +apparently from one to two centuries old, with the following doggerel +inscription in huge letters over the portico, which shows that the +dogma of the Immaculate Conception is by no means a recent institution +in Mexico: + + _Antes de entrar afirma con tu vida, + S. Maria fu sin pecado concebida:_ + +Which may be translated into verse of equal quality, + + _Confess on thy life before coming in, + That blessed Saint Mary was conceived without sin._ + +Nothing particular happened on our journey, except that a well-dressed +Mexican turned up at the landing-place, wanting a passage, and as we +had taken a canoe for ourselves, we offered to let him come with us. He +was a well-bred young man, speaking one or two languages besides his +own; and he presently informed us that he was going on a visit to a +rich old lady at Tezcuco, whose name was Doa Maria Lopez, or something +of the kind. When we drove away from the other end of the lake, towards +Tezcuco, we took him as far as the road leading to the old lady's +house; when he rather astonished us by hinting that he should like to +go on with us to the Casa Grande, and could walk back. At the same +time, it struck us that the youth, though so well dressed, had no +luggage; and we began to understand the queer expression of the +coachman's face when he saw him get into the carriage with us. So we +stopped at the corner of the road, and the young gentleman had to get +out. + +At the Casa Grande, our friends laughed at us immensely when we told +them of the incident, and offered us twenty to one that he would come +to ask for money within twenty-four hours. He came the same evening, +and brought a wonderful story about his passport not being _en rgle_, +and that unless we could lend him ten dollars to bribe the police, he +should be in a dreadful scrape. We referred him to the master of the +house, who said something to him which caused him to depart +precipitately, and we never saw him again; but we heard afterwards that +he had been to the other foreigners in the neighbourhood with various +histories. We made more enquiries about him in the town, and it +appeared that his expedition to Tezcuco was improvised when he saw us +going down to the boat, and of course the visit to the rich old lady +was purely imaginary. Now this youth was not more than eighteen, and +looked and spoke like a gentleman. They say that the class he belonged +to is to be counted rather by thousands than by hundreds in Mexico. +They are the children of white Creoles, or nearly white mestizos; they +get a superficial education and the art of dressing, and with this +slender capital go out into the world to live by their wits, until they +get a government appointment or set up as political adventurers, and so +have a chance of helping themselves out of the public purse, which is +naturally easier and more profitable than mere sponging upon +individuals. One gets to understand the course of Mexican affairs much +better by knowing what sort of raw material the politicians are +recruited from. + +We saw some good things in a small collection of antiquities, on this +second visit to Tezcuco. Among them was a nude female figure in +alabaster, four or five feet high, and--comparatively speaking--of high +artistic merit. Such figures are not common in Mexico, and they are +supposed to represent the Aztec Venus, who was called _Tlazolteocihua_, +"Goddess of Pleasure." A figure, laboriously cut in hard stone, +representing a man wearing a jackal's head as a mask, was supposed to +be a figurative representation of the celebrated king of Tezcuco, +_Nezahualcoyotl_, "hungry jackal," of whom Mexican history relates that +he walked about the streets of his capital in disguise, after the +manner of the Caliph in the Arabian Nights. The explanation is +plausible, but I think not correct. The _coyote_ or jackal was a sacred +animal among the Aztecs, as the Anubis-jackal was among the Egyptians. +Humboldt found in Mexico the tomb of a coyote, which had been carefully +interred with an earthen vase, and a number of the little cast-bronze +bells which I noticed in the last chapter. The Mexicans used actually +to make a kind of fetish--or charm--of a jackal's skin, prepared in a +peculiar way, and called by the same name, _nezahualcoyotl_, and very +likely they do so still. From this fetish the king's name was, no +doubt, borrowed; and it is not improbable that the whole story of the +king's walking in disguise may have grown up out of his name being the +same as that of the figure we saw, muffled up in a jackal's skin. + +It is curious that the jackal, or the human figure in a jackal-mask, +should have been an object of superstitious veneration both in Mexico +and in Egypt. This, the extraordinary serpent-crown of Xochicalco, and +the pyramids, are the three most striking resemblances to be found +between the two countries; all probably accidental, but not the less +noteworthy on that account. + +The collection contained a number of spherical beads in green jade, +highly polished, and some as large as pigeon's eggs. They were found in +an alabaster box, of such elaborate and beautiful workmanship that the +owner deemed it worthy to be presented as a sort of peace-offering to +the wife of President Santa Ana. + +The word _coyotl_ in the name of the Tezcucan king is the present word +_coyote_--a jackal. Though unknown in English, it has passed, with +several Spanish words, into what we may call the American dialect of +our language. Prairie-hunters and Californians have introduced several +other words in this way, such as _ranch_, _gulch, corral_, &c. + +The word _lariat_ one is constantly meeting with in books about +American prairies. A horse-rope, or a lazo, is called in Spanish +_reata_; and, by absorbing the article, _la reata_ is made into lariat, +just as such words as _alligator_, _alcove_, and _pyramid_ were formed. +The flexible leather riding-whip or _cuarta_ is apparently the _quirt_ +that some American politicians use in arguing with their opponents. + +Our last day at Tezcuco was spent in packing up antiquities to be sent +to England, the express orders of the Government against such +exportation to the contrary notwithstanding. Next morning we rode off +to Miraflores, passing on our way the curious stratum of alluvial soil +containing pottery, &c., which I have described already. Miraflores is +a cotton-factory, in the opening of a picturesque gorge just at the +edge of the plain of Mexico. The machinery is American, for the mill +dates from the time when it was considered expedient to prohibit the +exportation of cotton-mill machinery from England; and having begun +with American work, it naturally suits them to go on with it. It is +driven by a great Barker's mill, which works in a sort of well, having +an outlet into the valley, and roars as though it would tear the place +down. It is not common to see this kind of machine working on a large +scale; but here, with a great fall of water, it does very well. +Otherwise the place was like an ordinary cotton-factory, and one cannot +be surprised at people thinking that such establishments are a source +of prosperity to the country. They see a population hard at work and +getting good wages, masters making great profits, and no end of bales +going off to town; and do not consider that half the price of the cloth +is wasted, and that the protection-duty sets the people to work which +they cannot do to advantage, while it takes them away from occupations +which their country is fit for. + +Next morning took us to Amecameca, a town in a little plain at the foot +of Popocatepetl, whose snow-covered top towers high up in the clouds, +like Mont Blanc over Sallanches. We had at one time cherished hopes of +getting to the top of this grand volcano, but had heard such frightful +reports of difficulties and dangers that we had concluded not to do +more than look at it from a distance, the more especially as there had +been a heavy fall of snow upon it a day or two before. We presented our +letter to the Spaniard who kept the great shop at Amecameca, and asked +him, casually, about the mountain. He assured us that the surface of +the snow would be frozen over, and that instead of being a disadvantage +the fall of snow was in our favour, for it was easier to climb over +frozen snow than up a loose heap of volcanic ashes. So we sent for the +guide, a big man, who used to manage the sulphur-workings in the crater +until that undertaking was given up. He set to work to get things ready +for the expedition, and we strolled out for a walk. + +Close by the town is a "sacred mount," with little stations, and on one +day in the year numbers of pilgrims come to visit the place. Near the +top, the Indian lad who came with us showed us the mouth of a cavern, +which leads by subterranean passages under the sea to Rome--as caverns +not unfrequently do in Roman Catholic countries! What was more worth +noticing was that here there was a cypress-tree, covered with votive +offerings, like the great ahuchuete in the valley above Chalma; so that +it is likely that the place was sacred long before chapels and stations +were built upon it. Our guide told us that whenever a man touched the +tree, all feeling of weariness left him. How characteristic this +superstition is of a nation of carriers of burdens! + +In the afternoon we started--ourselves, our guide, and an Indian to +carry cloaks, &c. up the mountain. We soon left the cultivated region, +and entered upon the pine-forest, which we never left during our +afternoon journey. One of the first showers of the rainy season came +down upon us as we rode through the forest. It only lasted half an +hour, but it was a deluge. In a shower of the same kind at Tezcuco, a +day or two before, rain to the amount of 1-1/10 inches fell in the +hour. By dusk we reached the highest habitation in North America, the +place where the sulphur used to be sublimed from the pumice brought +down from the crater. This place was shut up, for the undertaking has +been abandoned; but in a _rancho_ close by we found some Indian women +and children, and there we took up our quarters. The _rancho_ was a +circular hut, built and thatched with reeds, though in the midst of a +pine-forest; and presently a smart shower began, which came in upon us +as though the roof had been a sieve. + +The Indian women were kneeling all the evening round the wood-fire in +the centre of the hut, baking _tortillas_ and boiling beans and coffee +in earthen pots. The wood was green, and the place was full of +suffocating smoke, except within eighteen inches of the ground, where +lay a stratum of purer air. We were obliged to lie down at once, upon +mats and serapes, for we could not exist in the smoke; and as often as +we raised ourselves into a sitting posture, we had to dive down again, +half suffocated. The line of demarcation was so accurately drawn that +it was like the Grotto del Cane, only reversed. + +After a primitive supper in earthen bowls, we lay round the fire, +listening to the talk of our men and the Indian women. It was mostly +about adventures with wolves, and about the sulphur-workings, now +discontinued. The weather had cleared, and as we lay we could see the +stars shining in through the roof. About three in the morning I awoke, +feeling bruised all over, as was natural after sleeping on a mat on the +ground. Moreover, the fire had gone out, and it was horribly cold, as +well it might be at 13,000 feet above the sea. I shook some one up to +make up the fire, and went out into the open air. It was nearly full +moon; but the moonlight was very different from what we can see in +England, even on the clearest nights. On the plateau of Mexico, the +rarity and dryness of the air are such that distant objects are seen +far more distinctly than at the level of the sea, and the European +traveller's measurements of distance by the eye are always too small. +The sunlight and moonlight, for the same reason, are more intense than +at lower levels. Here, at about the same elevation as the top of the +Jungfrau, the effect was far more striking, and I shall never forget +the brilliant flood of light that illuminated that grand scene. Far +down below I could see the plain, with houses and fields dimly visible. +At the bottom of the slope began the dark pine-forest, which enveloped +the mountains up to the level at which I stood, and there broke into an +uneven line, with straggling patches running up a few hundred feet +higher in sheltered crevices. Above the forest came a region of bare +volcanic sand, and then began the snow. The highest peak no longer +looked steep and pointed as from below, but seemed to rise from the +darker line of sand in a gentle swelling curve up into the sky. There +did not seem to be a speck or a wrinkle on this smooth snowy dome, the +brilliant whiteness of which contrasted so wonderfully with the dark +pine-forest below. + +About seven in the morning we started on horseback, rode up across the +sandy district, and entered upon the snow. After we left the pines, +small bushes and tufts of coarse Alpine grass succeeded. Where rocks of +basaltic lava stood out from the heaps of crumbling ashes, after the +grass had ceased, lichens--the occupants of the highest zone--were +still to be seen. Before we reached the snow, we were in the midst of +utter desolation, where no sign of life was visible. From this point we +sent back the horses, and started for the ascent of the cone. On our +yesterday's ride we had cut young pine-trees in the forest, for +alpenstocks; and we tied silk handkerchiefs completely over our faces, +to keep off the glare of the sun. Our guide did the same; but the +Indian, who had been many times before up to the crater to get sulphur, +had brought no protection for his face. We marched in a line, the guide +first, sounding the depth of the snow with his pole, and keeping as +nearly as he could along ridges just covered with snow, where we did +not sink far. It was from the lower part of the snow that we began to +understand the magnificent proportions of Iztaccihuatl--the "White +Woman," the twin mountain which is connected with Popocatepetl by an +immense col, which stretches across below the snow-line. This mountain +is not conical like Popocatepetl, but its shoulders are broader, and +break into grand peaks, like some of the _Dents_ of Switzerland, and it +has no crater.[22] Indeed, the two mountains, joined together like +Siamese twins, look as though they had been set up, side by side, to +illustrate the two contending theories of the formation of volcanos. +Von Buch and Humboldt might have made Iztaccihuatl on the "upheaval +theory," by a force pushing up from below, without breaking through the +crust to form a crater; while Poulett Scrope was building Popocatepetl +on the "accumulation theory," by throwing up lava and volcanic ashes +out of an open vent, until he had formed a conical heap some five +thousand feet high, with a great crater at the top. + +As we toiled slowly up the snow, we took off our veils from time to +time, to look more clearly about us. The glare of the sun upon the snow +was dazzling, and its intense whiteness contrasted wonderfully with the +cloudless dark indigo-blue of the sky. Between twelve and one we +reached the edge of the crater, 17,884 feet above the sea. The ridge +upon which we stood was only a few feet wide, and covered with snow; +but it seemed that there was still heat enough to keep the crater +itself clear, for none lay on the bottom, or in clefts on the steep +sides. + +The crater was oval, full a mile in its longest diameter, and perhaps +700 to 800 feet in depth; and its almost perpendicular walls of +basaltic lava are covered with red and yellow patches of sublimed +sulphur. We climbed a little way down into it to get protection from +the wind, but to descend further unassisted was not possible, so we sat +there, with our legs dangling down into the abyss. Part of the +_malacate_, or winder, used by the Indians in descending, was still +there; but it was not complete, and even if it had been, so many months +had elapsed since it was last used that we should not have cared to try +it. It consisted of a rope of hide, descending into the bottom of the +crater in a slanting direction; and the sulphur-collectors were lowered +and drawn up it by a windlass, in a basket to which another rope was +attached. A few years back, the volcano used to send up showers of +ashes, and even large stones; but now it has sunk to the condition of a +mere _solfatara_, sending out, from two crevices in the floor, great +volumes of sulphurous acid and steam, with a loud roaring noise. The +sulphur-working merely consisted in looking for places where the +pumice-stone was fully impregnated with sulphur, and breaking out +pieces, which were hauled up in the basket. The chief risk which the +labourers ran was from the terrific snow-storms, which come on suddenly +and without the slightest notice. Men at work collecting sulphur have +once or twice been caught by such storms in parts of the crater at a +distance from the rope, and buried in the snow. + +The appearance of the "White Woman," but little lower than the point +where we stood, was very grand, but all other objects looked small. The +two great plains of Mexico and Puebla, with their lakes and towns, were +laid out like a map; and the ranges of mountains which hem them in made +them look like Roman encampments surrounded by earthworks. Even now +that the lakes have shrunk to a fraction of their former size, we could +see the fitness of the name given in old times to the Valley of Mexico, +_Anahuac_, that is, "By the Water-side." The peaks of Orizaba and +Perote were conspicuous to the east; to the north lay the +silver-mountains of Pachuca; and to the south-west a darker shade of +green indicated the forests and plantations of the _tierra caliente_, +below Cuernavaca. + +It was a novel sensation to be at an altitude where the barometer +stands at 15-1/2 inches, so that the pressure on our lungs was hardly +more than one-half what we are accustomed to in England; but we did not +experience much inconvenience from it. The last thousand feet or so had +been very hard work, and we were obliged to stop every few steps, but +on the comparatively level edge of the crater we felt no difficulty in +moving about. + +_Popocatepetl_ means "Smoking Mountain." The Indians naturally enough +considered it to be the abode of evil spirits, and told Cortes and his +companions that they could never reach the top. One of the Spaniards, +Diego Ordaz, tried to climb to the summit, and got as far as the snow; +whereupon he returned, and got permission to put a burning mountain in +his coat of arms, in commemoration of the exploit! If, as he declared, +a high wind was blowing, and showers of ashes falling, his turning back +was excusable, though his bragging was not. He seems to have afterwards +told Bernal Diaz that he got to the top, which we know, by Cortes' +letters to Spain, was not true. A few years later, Francesco Montano +went up, and was lowered into the crater to get sulphur. When Humboldt +relates the story, in his _New Spain_, he seems incredulous about this; +but since the _Essai Politique_ was written the same thing has been +regularly done by the Indians, as the merest matter of business, until +the crater has been fairly worked out. + +We took our last look at Mexico from the ridge of the crater, and, +descending twenty feet at a stride, soon reached the bottom of the +cone. As far as we could see, the substance of the hill seemed to be of +basaltic lava, which was mostly covered with the _lapilli_ which I have +spoken of before as ashes and volcanic sand. Even before we reached the +pine-forest there was evidence of the action of water, which had +covered the slope of the mountain with beds of thick compact tufa, +composed of these lapilli mixed with fragments of lava. The +water-courses had cut deep channels through these beds, and down into +the rock below; so that the streams from the melted snow rushed down +between walls of lava, in which traces of columnar structure were +observable. + +The snow we had travelled over was sometimes dry and powdery, and +sometimes hard and compact. There were no glaciers, and no glacier-ice, +properly so called. It never rains at this elevation; and, though +evaporation goes on rapidly with half the pressure taken off the air, +and a great increase in the intensity of the sun's rays, the snow +either passes directly into vapour, or carries the water off +instantaneously, as it is formed. Only so much water seems to be +produced and re-frozen as suffices to make the snow hard, and in some +favourable places near the rocks to form lumps of ice, and some of +those great icicles which the Spaniards brought down from the mountain +on their first expedition, so greatly astonishing their companions. + +When we reached the rancho we thought of passing another night there; +but the Indians who had gone down to the valley for corn had not +returned, and everything was eaten up except beans, which are all very +well as accessories to dinner, but our English digestions could not +stand living upon them; so we started at once for San Ncolas de los +Ranchos. Our ride was down a deep ravine, by the side of a +mountain-torrent coming down from the snows of Popocatepetl; and, when +we stopped now and then to look behind us, we had one of the grandest +views which I have ever witnessed. The elements of the picture were +simple enough. A deep gorge at our feet, with a fierce torrent rushing +down it, dark pine-trees all round us, and above us--on either side--a +snow-covered mountain towering up into the sky. We were just in the +track of the Spanish invaders, who crossed most likely by this very +road between the two volcanos; and they record the amazement which they +felt that in the tropics snow should be unmelted upon the mountains. + +A few hours riding down the steep descent, and we were in the flat +plain of Puebla. There were our two mountains behind us, but now they +looked as we had so often seen them before from a distance. The power +of realizing their size was gone, and with it most of their grandeur +and beauty. Nothing was left us but a vivid recollection of the +wonderful scenes that were before us a few hours ago, impressions not +likely to be ever effaced from our minds, where the picture of the +great snowy cone seen in the bright moonlight, and the descent between +the mountains, remain indelibly impressed as the types of all that is +most grand and impressive in the scenery of lofty mountains. + +We slept at San Ncolas de los Ranches, "St. Nicholas of the huts," +where the shopkeeper, to whom we had a letter, insisted upon turning +out of his own room for us, and treated us like princes. The reason of +our often being provided with letters to the shopkeepers in small +places, was, that they are the only people who have houses fit for +entertaining travellers. Many of them are very rich, and in the United +States they would call themselves merchants. Next morning our Indian +carrier, who had ascended the mountain without a veil, was brought in +by our guide, a pitiful object. All the skin of his face was peeling +off, and his eyes were frightfully inflamed, so that he was all but +blind, and had to be led about. Fortunately, this blindness only lasts +for a time, and no doubt he got well in a few days. + +We rode through the plain to Cholula. Our number was now four; for, +besides Antonio, we had engaged another servant a few days before. We +wanted some one who knew this district well; and when a friend of ours +mentioned that there was a young man to be had who had a good horse and +was a smuggler by profession, we engaged him directly, and he proved a +great acquisition. Of course, from the nature of his trade, he knew +every bypath between Mexico and the tobacco-districts towards which we +were going; he was always ready with an expedient whenever there was a +difficulty, he was never tired and never out of temper. As for the +morality of his peculiar profession, it probably does harm to the +honesty of the people; but, considering it as a question of abstract +justice, we must remember that almost the whole of the taxes which the +Mexicans are compelled to pay to the general government are utterly +wasted upon paying officials who do nothing but intrigue, and keeping +up armies which--far from being a protection to life and property--are +a permanent and most destructive nuisance. The contract between +government and subject ought to be a two-sided one; and when the +government so entirely misuses the taxes paid by the people, I am quite +inclined to sympathize with the subjects who will not pay them if they +can help it. + +We scarcely entered the town of Cholula, which is a poor place now, +though it was a great city at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The +Spanish city of Puebla, only a few miles off, quite ruined it. + +We went straight to the great pyramid, which lies close to the town, +and which had been rising before us like a hill during the last miles +of our journey. This extraordinary structure is perhaps the oldest ruin +in Mexico, and certainly the largest. A close examination of its +structure in places where the outline is still to some extent +preserved, and a comparison of it with better preserved structures of +the same kind, make it quite clear that it was a terraced _teocalli_, +resembling the drawing called the "Pyramid of Cholula," in Humboldt's +_Vues des Cordillres_. But let no one imagine that the well-defined +and symmetrical structure represented in that drawing is in the least +like what we saw, and from which Humboldt made the rough sketch, which +he and his artist afterwards "idealized" for his great work. At the +present day, the appearance of the structure is that of a shapeless +tree-grown hill; and until the traveller comes quite close to it he may +be excused for not believing that it is an artificial mound at all. + +The pyramid is built of rows of bricks baked in the sun, and cemented +together with mortar in which had been stuck quantities of small +stones, fragments of pottery, and bits of obsidian knives and weapons. +Between rows of bricks are alternate layers of clay. It was built in +four terraces, of which traces are still to be distinguished; and is +about 200 feet high. Upon the platform at the top stand some trees and +a church. The sides front the four cardinal points, and the base line +is of immense length, over thirteen hundred feet, so that the ascent is +very gradual. + +When we reached Cholula we sent the two men to enquire in the +neighbourhood for antiquities, of which numbers are to be found in +every ploughed field round. At the top of the pyramid we held a market, +and got some curious things, all of small size however. Among them was +a mould for making little jackal-heads in the clay, ready for baking; +the little earthen heads which are found in such quantities in the +country being evidently made by wholesale in moulds of this kind, not +modelled separately. We got also several terra-cotta stamps, used in +old times for stamping coloured patterns upon the native cloth, and +perhaps also for ornamenting vases and other articles of earthenware. +Cholula used to be a famous place for making pottery, and its +red-and-black ware was famous at the time of the Conquest, but the +trade now seems to have left it. We were struck by observing that, +though there was plenty of coloured pottery to be found in the +neighbourhood of the pyramid, the pyramid itself had only fragments of +uncoloured ware imbedded in its structure; which seems to prove that it +was built before the art of colouring pottery was invented. + +They have cut a road through one corner of the pyramid, and this +cutting exposed a chamber within. Humboldt describes this chamber as +roofed with blocks, each overlapping the one before, till they can be +made to meet by a block of ordinary size. This is the false arch so +common in Egypt and Peru, and in the ruined cities of Central America. +Every child who builds houses with a box of bricks discovers it for +himself. The bridge at Tezcuco, already described, is much more +remarkable in its structure. Whether our inspection was careless, or +whether the chamber has fallen in since Humboldt's time, I cannot say, +but we missed this peculiar roof. + +There are several legends about the Pyramid of Cholula. That recorded +by Humboldt on the authority of a certain Dominican friar, Pedro de los +Rios, I mention--not because of its intrinsic value, which is very +slight, but because it will enable us to see the way in which legends +grew up under the hands of the early missionaries, who were delighted +to find fragments of Scripture-history among the traditions of the +Ancient Mexicans, and who seem to have taken down from the lips of +their converts, as native traditions, the very Bible-stories that they +had been teaching them, mixed however with other details, of which it +is hard to say whether they were imagined on purpose to fill up gaps in +the story, or whether they were really of native traditional origin. + +Pedro de los Rios' story tells us that the land of Anahuac was +inhabited by giants; that there was a great deluge, which devastated +the earth; that all the inhabitants were turned into fishes, except +seven who took refuge in a cave (apparently with their wives). Years +after the waters had subsided, and the earth had been re-peopled by +these seven men, their leader began to build a vast pyramid, whose top +should reach to heaven. He built it of bricks baked in the sun, which +were brought from a great distance, passing them from hand to hand by a +file of men. The gods were enraged at the presumption of these men, and +they sent down fire from heaven upon the pyramid, which caused its +building to be discontinued. It is stated that at the time of the +Spanish Conquest, the inhabitants of Cholula preserved with great +veneration a large aerolite, which they said was the thunderbolt that +fell upon the top of the pyramid when the fire struck it. + +The history of the confusion of tongues seems also to have existed in +the country, not long after the Conquest, having very probably been +learnt from the missionaries; but it does not seem to have been +connected with the Tower-of-Babel legend of Cholula. Something like it +at least appears in the Gemelli table of Mexican migrations, reproduced +in Humboldt, where a bird in a tree is sending down a number of tongues +to a crowd of men standing below. + +I think we need not hesitate in condemning the legend of Cholula, which +I have just related, as not genuine, or at least as partly of late +fabrication. But we fortunately possess another version of it, which +shows the legend to have developed itself farther than was quite +discreet. A MS. history, written by Duran in 1579, and quoted by the +Abb Brasseur de Bourbourg, relates that people built the pyramid to +reach heaven, finding clay or mud _("terre glaise")_ and a very sticky +_bitumen ("bitume fort gluant")_, with which they began at once to +build, &c. This is evidently the slime or bitumen of the Book of +Genesis; but I believe I may safely assert that the Mexicans never used +bitumen for any such purpose, and that it is not found anywhere near +Cholula. + +The Aztec historians ascribe the building of the Pyramid of Cholula to +the prophet Quetzalcoatl. The legends which relate to this celebrated +personage are to be found in writers on Mexican history, and, more +fully than elsewhere, in the Abb Brasseur de Bourbourg's work. + +I am inclined to consider Quetzalcoatl a real personage, and not a +mythical one. He is said to have been a white, bearded man, to have +come from the East, to have reigned in Tollan, and to have been driven +out from thence by the votaries of human sacrifices, which he opposed. +He took refuge in Cholollan, now called Cholula (which means the "place +of the fugitive"), and taught the inhabitants to work in metals, to +observe various fasts and festivals, to use the Toltec calendar of days +and years, and to perform penance to appease the gods. + +A relic of the father of Quetzalcoatl is said to have been kept until +after the Spanish Conquest, when it was opened, and found to contain a +quantity of fair human hair. The prophet himself departed from Cholula, +and put to sea in a canoe, promising to return. So strong was the +belief in the tradition of these events among the Aztecs, that when the +Spaniards appeared on the coast, they were supposed to be of the race +of the prophet, and the strange conduct of Montezuma to Cortes is to be +ascribed to the influence of this belief. + +There is a singular legend, mentioned by the Abb Brasseur de +Bourbourg, of a white man, with a hooded robe and white beard, bearing +a cross in his hand, who lands at Tehuantepec (on the Pacific coast of +Mexico), and introduces among the Indians auricular confession, +penance, and vows of chastity. + +The coming of white, bearded men from the East, centuries before the +Spanish invasion in the 16th century, and the introduction of new arts +and rites by them in Mexico, is as certain as most historical events of +which we have only legendary knowledge. As to who they were I cannot +offer an opinion. There are, however, one or two points connected with +the presence of the Irish and Northmen in America in the 9th and +following centuries--a period not very far from that ascribed to +Quetzalcoatl--which are worthy of notice. + +The Scandinavian antiquarians make the "white-man's land" +_(Hvitramannaland)_ extend down as far as Florida, on the very Gulf of +Mexico. It is curious to notice the coincidence between the remark of +Bernal Diaz, that the Mexicans called their priests _papa_ (more +properly _papahua_), and that in the old Norse Chronicle, which tells +of the first colonization of Iceland by the Northmen, and relates that +they found living there "Christian men whom the Northmen call _Papa_." +These latter are shown by the context to have been Irish priests. The +Aztec root _teo (teo-tl, God)_ comes nearer to the Greek and Latin, but +is not unlike the Irish _dia_, and the Norse _ty-r_. The Aztec root +_col_ (charcoal) is exactly the Norse _kol_ (our word _coat_), but not +so near to the Irish _gual_. It is desirable to notice such +coincidences, even when they are too slight to ground an argument upon. + +This seems to be the proper place to mention the many Christian +analogies to be found in the customs of the ancient Aztecs. + +Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given to them. +This is certainly true, though the statement that they believed that +the process purified them from original sin is probably a monkish +fiction. Water was consecrated by the priests, and was supposed thus to +acquire magical qualities. In the coronation of kings, anointing was +part of the ceremony, as well as the use of holy water. The festival of +All Souls' Day reminds us of the Aztec feasts of the Dead in the autumn +of each year; and in Mexico the Indians still keep up some of their old +rites on that day. There was a singular rite observed by the Aztecs, +which they called the _teoqualo_, that is, "the eating of the god." A +figure of one of their gods was made in dough, and after certain +ceremonies they made a pretence of killing it, and divided it into +morsels, which were eaten by the votaries as a kind of sacred food. + +We may add to the list the habitual use of incense in the ceremonies: +the existence of monasteries and nunneries, in which the monks wore +long hair, but the nuns had their hair cut off: and the use of the +cross as a religious emblem in Mexico and Central America. + +Less certain is the recorded use of knotted scourges in performing +penance, and the existence of a peculiar kind of auricular confession. + +It is difficult to ascribe this mass of coincidences to mere chance, +and not to see in them traces of connexion, more or less remote, with +Christians. Perhaps these peculiar rites came, with the Mexican system +of astronomy, from Asia; or perhaps the white, bearded men from the +East may have brought them. It is true that such a supposition runs +quite counter to the argument founded on the ignorance of the Mexicans +of common arts known in Europe and Asia. We should have expected +Christian missionaries to have brought with them the knowledge of the +use of iron, and the alphabet. Perhaps our increasing knowledge of the +ancient Mexicans may some day allow us to adopt a theory which shall at +least have the merit of being consistent with itself; but at present +this seems impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + +PUEBLA. NOPALUCN. ORIZABA. POTRERO. + + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF THE VOLCANO ORIZABA.] + +We reached Puebla in the afternoon, and found it a fine Spanish city, +with straight streets of handsome stone houses, and paved with +flag-stones. We rather wondered at the _pasadizos_, a kind of arched +stone-pavement across the streets at short intervals, very much +impeding the progress of the carriages, which had to go up and down +them upon inclined planes. In the evening we saw the use of them +however, for a shower of rain came down which turned every street into +a furious river within five minutes after the first drop fell. For half +an hour the pasadizos did their duty, letting the water pass through +underneath, while passengers could get across the streets dryshod. At +last, the flood swept clear along, over bridges and all; but this only +lasted a few minutes, and then the way was practicable again. The +moveable iron bridges on wheels, which are to be seen standing in the +streets of Sicilian cities, ready to be wheeled across them for the +benefit of foot-passengers whenever the carriage-way is flooded, are on +the whole a better arrangement. + +We should never have thought, from looking at Puebla, that it had just +been undergoing a siege; for, beyond a few patches of whitewash in the +great square, where the cannon-balls had knocked the houses about, +there were no traces of it. + +We made many enquiries about the siege, and found nothing to invalidate +our former estimate of twenty-five killed,--one per cent of the number +stated in the government manifestos. Among the casualties we heard of +an Englishman who went out to see the fun, and was wounded in a +particularly ignominious manner as he was going back to his house. + +Revolutions and sieges form curious episodes in the life of the foreign +merchants in the Republic. Their trade is flourishing, perhaps,--plenty +of buyers and good prices; and hundreds of mules are on the road, +bringing up their wares from the coast. All at once there is a +pronunciamiento. The street-walls are covered with proclamations. Half +the army takes one side, half the other; and crowds of volunteers and +self-made officers join them, in the hope of present pillage or future +emolument. Barricades appear in the streets; and at intervals there is +to be heard the roaring of cannon, and desultory firing of musketry +from the flat roofs, killing a peaceable citizen now and then, but +doing little execution on the enemy. + +Trade comes to a dead stop. Our merchant gets his house well furnished +with provisions, shuts the outer shutters, locks up the great gates, +and retires into seclusion for a week or a fortnight, or a month or +two, as may be. At the time we were there he used to run no great risk, +for neither party was hostile to him; and if a stray cannon-ball did +hit his house, or the insurgents shot his cook going out on an +expedition in search of fresh beef, it was only by accident. + +Having no business to do, the counting-house would probably take stock, +and balance the books; but when this is finished there is little to be +done but to practice pistol-shooting and hold tournaments in the +court-yard, and to teach the horses to rayar; while the head of the +house sits moodily smoking in his arm-chair, reckoning up how many of +his debtors would be ruined, and wondering whether the loaded mules +with his goods had got into shelter, or had been seized by one party or +the other. + +At last the revolution is over. The new president is inaugurated with +pompous speeches. The newspapers announce that now the glorious reign +of justice, order, and prosperity has begun at last. If the millennium +had come, they could not make much more talk about it. Our unfortunate +friend, coming out of his den only to hear dismal news of runaway +debtors and confiscated bales, has to illuminate his house, and set to +getting his affairs into something like order again. + +Since we left the country things have got even worse. Formerly, all +that the foreign merchants had to suffer were the incidental miseries +of a state of civil war. Now, the revolutionary leaders put them in +prison; and, if threats are not sufficient, they get forced loans out +of them, much as King John did out of his Jews. + +Even in times of peace, foreign goods must be dear in Mexico. In a +country where they have to be carried nearly three hundred miles on +mules' backs, and where credit is so long that the merchant can never +hope to see his money again in less than two years, he cannot be +expected to sell very cheaply. But the continual revolutions and the +insecurity of property make things far worse, and one almost wonders +how foreign trade can go on at all. + +One of our friends in Mexico had three or four hundred mules coming up +the country laden with American cotton for his mill, just when Haro's +revolution began. He got off much better than most people, however; +for, greatly to the disgust of the legitimate authorities, he went down +into the enemy's camp, and gave the revolutionary chief a dollar a bale +to let them go. + +As may be supposed, commercial transactions have often very curious +features here. Strange things happen in the eastern states; but people +there say that they are nothing to the doings on the Pacific coast, +where the merchants get up a revolution when their ships appear in the +offing, and turn out the Custom-house officers, who do not enter upon +their functions again until the rich cargos have started for the +interior. + +One little incident, which happened---I think--at Vera Cruz, rather +amused us. When the Government is hard-up, a favourite way of raising +ready money is to sell--of course at a very low price--orders upon the +Custom-house, to pass certain quantities of goods, duty-free. Such a +transaction as this was concluded between the Minister of Finance and a +merchant's house who gave hard dollars in exchange for an order to pass +so many hundred bales of cotton, free of duty. When the ship arrived at +port, however, the Yankee captain brought in his manifest with a broad +grin upon his face. The inspectors went down to the ship, and stood +aghast. There were the bales of cotton, but such bales! They had to be +shoved and coaxed to get them up through the hatchways at all. The +Customhouse officials protested in vain. The order was for so many +bales of cotton, and these overgrown monsters were bales of cotton, and +the merchants sent them up to Mexico in triumph. + +To us, Puebla was not an interesting city. It was built by the +Spaniards, and called _Puebla de los Angeles_, because angels assisted +in building the cathedral, which does no great credit to their good +taste. Its costly ornaments of gold, silver, jewels, and variegated +marbles, are most extraordinary. One does not know which to wonder at +most, the value and beauty of the materials, or the unmitigated +ugliness of the designs. + +We saw the festival of Corpus Christi while we were in Puebla; but were +to a certain extent disappointed in the display of plate and jewelled +vestments for the clergy, whose attempt to overthrow Comonfort's +government had only resulted in themselves being heavily fined, and who +were in consequence keeping their wealth in the background, and making +as little display as possible. The most interesting part of the +ceremonial to us was to see the processions of Indians from the +surrounding villages, walking crowned with flowers, and carrying +Madonnas in bowers of green branches and blossoms. + +At the head of each procession walked an Indian beating a drum, _tap, +tap, tap_, without a vestige of time. The other processions with stoles +and canopies, and the officials of the city in dress-coats and yellow +kid gloves, were paltry affairs enough. + +Neither during this ceremonial, nor at Easter in the Capital were any +miracles exhibited, like the performances of the Madonna at Palermo, +which the coachmen of the city carry about at Easter, weeping real +tears into a cambric pocket-handkerchief; nor is anything done in the +country like the lighting of the Greek fire, or the melting of the +blood of St. Januarius. + +Puebla pretty much belongs to the clergy, who are paramount there. A +population of some sixty thousand has seventy-two churches, some of +them very large. It is the focus of the church-party, whose steady +powerful resistance to reform is one of the causes of the unhappy +political state of the country. As is usual in cathedral-towns, the +morality of the people is rather lower than elsewhere. I have said +already that the revenues of the Mexican Church are very large. Tejada +estimates the income at twenty millions of dollars yearly, more than +the whole revenue of the State; but this calculation far exceeds that +given by any other authority. He remarks that the Church has always +tried as much as possible to conceal its riches, and probably he makes +a very large allowance for this. At any rate, I think we may reasonably +estimate the annual income of the Church at $10,000,000, or 2,000,000, +two-thirds of the income of the State. + +There is nothing extraordinary in the Church having become very rich by +the accumulations of three centuries in a Spanish colony, where the +manners and customs remained in the 18th century to a great extent as +they were in the 16th, and the practice of giving and leaving great +properties to the Church was in full vigour--long after it had declined +in Europe. It is considered that half the city of Mexico belongs to the +Church. This seems an extraordinary statement; but, if we remember that +in Philip the Second's time half the freehold property of Spain +belonged to the Church, we shall cease to wonder at this. The +extraordinary feature of the case is that, counting both secular and +regular clergy, there are only 4600 ecclesiastics in the country. The +number has been steadily decreasing for years. In 1826 it was 6,000; in +1844 it had fallen to 5,200, in 1856 to 4,600, giving, on the lowest +reckoning, an average of over 200 a year for each priest and monk. A +great part of this income is probably left to accumulate; but, when we +remember that the pay of the country curas is very small, often not +more than 30 to 50, there must be fine incomes left for the +church-dignitaries and the monks. Now any one would suppose that a +profession with such prizes to give away would become more and more +crowded. Why it is not so I cannot tell. It is true that the lives of +the ecclesiastics are anything but respectable, and that the profession +is in such bad odour that many fathers of families, though good +Catholics, will not let a priest enter their houses; but we do not +generally find Mexicans deterred by a little bad reputation from +occupations where much money and influence are to be had for very +little work. + +The ill conduct of the Mexican clergy, especially of the monks, is +matter of common notoriety, and every writer on Mexico mentions it, +from the time of Father Gage--the English friar--who travelled with a +number of Spanish monks through Mexico in 1625, and described the +clergy and the people as he saw them. He was disgusted with their ways, +and, going back to England, turned Protestant, and died Vicar of Deal. + +To show what monastic discipline is in Mexico, I will tell one story, +and only one. An English acquaintance of mine was coming down the Calle +San Francisco late one night, and saw a man who had been stabbed in the +street close to the convent-gate. People sent into the convent to fetch +a confessor for the dying man, but none was to be had. There was only +one monk in the place, and he was bed-ridden. The rest were enjoying +themselves in the city, or fast asleep at their lodgings in the bosom +of their families. + +In condemning the Mexican clergy, some exception must be made. There +are many of the country curas who lead most exemplary lives, and do +much good. So do the priests of the order of St. Vincent de Paule, and +the Sisters of Charity with whom they are associated; but then, few of +these, either priests or sisters, are Mexicans. + +Among the curious odds and ends which we came upon in Puebla, in the +shop of a dealer in old iron and things in general, were two or three +very curious old scourges, made of light iron chains with projecting +points on the links--terrific instruments, once in very general use. Up +to the present time, there are certain nights when penitents assemble +in churches, in total darkness, and kneeling on the pavement, scourge +themselves, while a monk in the pulpit screams out fierce exhortations +to strike harder. The description carries us back at once to the +Egyptian origin of this strange custom; and we think of the annual +festival of Isis, where the multitudes scourged themselves in memory of +the sufferings of Osiris. A story is told of a sceptical individual who +got admission to this ceremony by making great professions of devotion, +and did terrific execution on the backs of his kneeling +fellow-penitents. Before he began, the place was resounding with +doleful cries and groans; but he noticed that the cry which arose when +he struck was not like these other sounds, but had quite a different +accent. The practice of devotional scourging is still kept up in Rome, +but in a very mild form, as it appears that the penitents keep their +coats on, and only use a kind of miniature cat-o'-nine-tails of thin +cord, with a morsel of lead at the end of each tail, and not such +bloodthirsty implements as those we found at Puebla. + +It seemed to us that the great influence of the priests in Mexico was +among the women of all classes, the Indians, and the poorer and less +educated half-castes. The men of the higher classes, especially the +younger ones, did not appear to have much respect for the priests or +for religion, and, indeed, seemed to be sceptical, after the manner of +the French school of freethinking. It was quite curious to see the +young dandies, dressed in their finest clothes, at the doors of the +fashionable churches on Sunday morning. None of them seemed to go to +mass, but they simply went to stare at the ladies, who, as they came +out, had to run the gauntlet through a double line of these critical +young gentlemen. As far as we could see, however, they did not mind +being looked at. The poorer mestizos and Indians, on the other hand, +are still zealous churchmen, and spend their time and money on masses +and religious duties so perseveringly that one wishes they had a +religion which was of some use to them. As it is, I cannot ascertain +that Christianity has produced any improvement in the Mexican people. +They no longer sacrifice and eat their enemies, it is true, but against +this we must debit them with a great increase of dishonesty and general +immorality, which will pretty well square the account. + +Practically, there is not much difference between the old heathenism +and the new Christianity. We may put the dogmas out of the question. +They hear them and believe in them devoutly, and do not understand them +in the least. They had just received the Immaculate Conception, as they +had received many mysteries before it; and were not a little delighted +to have a new occasion for decorating themselves and their churches +with flowers, marching in procession, dancing, beating drums, and +letting off rockets by daylight, as their manner is. The real essence +of both religions is the same to them. They had gods, to whom they +built temples, and in whose honour they gave offerings, maintained +priests, danced and walked in processions--much as they do now, that +their divinities might be favourable to them, and give them good crops +and success in their enterprises. This is pretty much what their +present Christianity consists of. As a moral influence, working upon +the character of the people, it seems scarcely to have had the +slightest effect, except, as I said, in causing them to leave off human +sacrifices, which were probably not an original feature of their +worship, but were introduced comparatively at a late time, and had +already been almost abolished by one king. + +The Indians still show the greatest veneration for a priest; and Heller +well illustrates this feeling when he tells us how he happened to ride +through the country in a long black cloak, and the Indians he met on +the road used to fall on their knees as he passed, and ask for his +blessing, regardless of the deep mud and their white trousers. However, +this was ten years before we were in the country, and I doubt whether +the cloak would get so much veneration now. The best measure of the +influence of the Church is the fact that when Mexico adopted a +republican constitution, in imitation of that of the United States, it +was settled that no Church but that of Rome should be tolerated in the +country; and this law still remains one of the fundamental principles +of the State, in which universal liberty and equality, freedom of the +press, and absolute religious intolerance form rather a strange jumble. +It is curious to observe that, though the Independence confirmed the +authority of the Roman Catholic religion, it considerably reduced the +church-revenues, by making the payment of tithes a matter of mere +option. The Church--of course--diligently preaches the necessity of +paying tithes, putting their obligation in the catechism, between the +ten commandments and the seven sacraments, and they still get a good +deal in this way. + +We sent our horses to the bath at Pueblo. This is usually done once a +week in the cities of Mexico. We went once to see the process while we +were in the capital, and were very much amused. The horses had been to +the place before, and turned in of their own accord through a gateway +in a shabby back street; and when they got into the courtyard, began to +dance about in such a frantic manner that the _mozos_ could hardly hold +them in while their saddles and bridles were being taken off. Then they +put their heads down, and bolted into a large shed, with a sort of +floor of dust several inches deep, in which six or eight other horses +were rushing about, kicking, prancing, plunging, and literally +screaming with delight. I will not positively assert that I saw an old +white horse stand upon his head in a corner and kick with all his four +legs at once, but he certainly did something very much like it. +Presently the old _mozo_ walked into the shed, with his lazo over his +arm, and carelessly flung the noose across. Of course it fell over the +right horse's neck, when the animal was quiet in a moment, and walked +out after the old man in quite a subdued frame of mind. One horse came +out after another in the same way, took his swim obediently across a +great tank of water, was rubbed down, and went off home in high +spirits. + +Though slavery has long been abolished in the Republic, there still +exists a curious "domestic institution" which is nearly akin to it. It +is not peculiar to the plains of Puebla, but flourishes there more than +elsewhere. It is called "_peonaje_," and its operation is in this wise. +If a debtor owes money and cannot pay it, his creditor is allowed by +law to make a slave or _peon _of him until the debt is liquidated. +Though the name is Spanish, I believe the origin of the custom is to be +found in an Aztec usage which prevailed before the Conquest. + +A _peon_ means a man on foot, that is, a labourer, journeyman, or +foot-soldier. We have the word in English as "_pioneer_" and as the +"_pawn_" among chessmen; but I think not with any meaning like that it +has come to bear in Mexico. + +On the great haciendas in the neighbourhood of Puebla, the Indian +labourers are very generally in this condition. They owe money to their +masters, and are slaves; nominally till they can work off the sum they +owe, but practically for their whole lives. Even should they earn +enough to be able to pay their debt, the contract cannot be cancelled +so easily. A particular day is fixed for striking a balance, generally, +I believe, Easter Monday, just after a season when the custom of +centuries has made it incumbent upon the Indians to spend all that they +have and all that they can borrow upon church-fees, wax-candles, and +rockets, for the religious ceremonies of the season, and the drunken +debauches which form an essential part of the festival. The masters, or +at least the _administradors_, are accused of mystifying the annual +statement of accounts between the labourer and the estate, and it is +certain that the Indian's feeble knowledge of arithmetic leaves him +quite helpless in the hands of the bookkeeper; but whether this is mere +slander or not, we never had any means of ascertaining. + +Long servitude has obliterated every feeling of independence from the +minds of these Indians. Their fathers were slaves, and they are quite +content to be so too. Totally wanting in self-restraint, they cannot +resist the slightest temptation to run into debt; and they are not +insensible to the miserable advantage which a slave enjoys over a free +labourer, that his master, having a pecuniary interest in him, will not +let him starve. They have a cat-like attachment to the places they live +in; and to be expelled from the estate they were born on, and turned +out into the world to get a living, we are told by writers on Mexico, +is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon them. + +There was nothing that we could see in the appearance of these _peons_ +to distinguish them from ordinary free Indians; and our having +travelled hastily through the district where the system prevails does +not give us a right to judge of its working. We can but compare the +opinions of writers who have studied it, and who speak of it in terms +of the strongest reprobation, as deliberately using the moral weakness +of the Indians as a means of reducing them to slavery. Sartorius, +however, takes the other side, and throws the whole blame upon the +careless improvident character of the brown men, whose masters are +obliged to lend them money to supply their pressing wants, and must +take the only security they can get. He says, and truly enough, that +the system works wretchedly both for masters and labourers. Any one who +knows the working of the common English system of allowing workmen to +run into debt with the view of retaining them permanently in their +master's service may form some faint idea of the way in which this +Mexican debt-slavery destroys the energy and self-reliance of the +people. + +But in one essential particular Sartorius mis-states the case. It is +not the money which the masters lend the _peons_ to help them in +distress and sickness that keeps them in slavery. It is the money spent +in wax-candles and rockets, and such like fooleries, for Easter and All +Saints; in the reckless profusion of drunken feasts on the days of +their patron saints, and on the occasion of births, deaths, and +marriages. These feasts are as utterly disproportioned to the means of +the givers as the Irish wakes which reduce whole families to beggary. +The sums of money spent upon them are provided by the owners of the +estates, who know exactly how they are to be spent. If they preferred +that their labourers should be free from debt, they could withhold this +money; and their not doing so proves that it is their desire to keep +the _peons_ in a state of slavery, and throws the whole blame of the +system upon them. + +I have spoken of the _peons_ as Indians, and so they are for the most +part in the districts we visited; but travellers who have been in +Chihuahua and other northern states tell stories of creditors +travelling through the country to collect their debts, and, where money +was not forthcoming, collecting their debtors instead,--not merely +brown Indians, but also nearly white mestizos. + +Mexico is one of the countries in which the contrast between great +riches and great poverty is most striking. No traveller ever enters the +country without making this remark. The mass of the people are hardly +even with the world; and there are some few capitalists whose incomes +can scarcely be matched in England or Russia. Yet this state of things +has not produced a permanent aristocracy. + +The general history of great fortunes repeats itself with monotonous +regularity. Fortunate miners or clever speculators, who have happened +to possess the gift of accumulating in addition to that of getting, +often make colossal fortunes. Miners have made the greatest sums, and +made them most rapidly. Fortunes of two or three millions sterling are +not uncommon now, and we often meet with them in the history of the +last century. They never seem to have lasted many years. Before the +Independence, the capitalist used to buy a patent of nobility, and +leave great sums to his children to maintain the new dignity; but they +hardly ever seem to have done anything but squander away their +inheritance, and we find the family returning to its original poverty +by the third or fourth generation. + +Mexico is an easy place to make money in, in spite of the continual +disorders that prevail. In the mining-districts most men make money at +some time or other. The difficulty lies in keeping it. There seems to +be no training better suited for making a capitalist than the life of +the retail shopkeeper, especially in the neighbourhood of a mine. A +good share of all the money that is won and of all that is lost stops +in his till. Whoever makes a lucky hit in a mining-speculation, he has +a share of the profits, and when there is a "good thing" going, he is +on the spot to profit by it. + +When once a man becomes a capitalist, there are many very profitable +ways of employing his money. Mines and cotton-factories pay well, so do +cattle-haciendas in the north, when honest administradors can be got to +manage them; and discounting merchants' bills is a lucrative business. +But far better than these ordinary investments are the monopolies, such +as the farming of the tobacco-duty, the mints, and those mysterious +transactions with the government in which ready cash is exchanged for +orders to pass goods at the Custom-house, and the other financial +transactions familiar to those who know the shifts and mystifications +of that astonishing institution, the Finance-department of Mexico. + +We rode from Puebla to Orizaba. Amozoque, the first town on the road, +is a famous place for spurs, and we bought some. They are of blue steel +inlaid with strips of silver, and the rowel is a sort of cogged wheel, +from an inch and a half to three inches in diameter. _(See page 220.)_ +They look terrific instruments, but really the cogs or points of the +rowels are quite blunt, and they keep the horse going less by hurting +him than by their incessant jingling, which is increased by bits of +steel put on for the purpose. Monstrous as the spurs now used are, they +are small in comparison with those of a century or two ago. One reads +of spurs, of gold and silver, with rowels in the shape of five-pointed +stars six inches in diameter. These have quite gone out now, and seem +to have been melted up, for they are hardly ever to be seen; but we +bought at the _baratillo_ of Mexico spurs of steel quite as large as +this. + +My companion sent to the Art-exhibition at Manchester a couple of pairs +of the ordinary spurs of the country, such as we ourselves and +everybody else wore. They were put among the medival armour, and +excited great admiration in that capacity! + +We slept at Nopalucn that night, and rode on next day to San Antonio +de Abajo, a little out-of-the-way village at the foot of the mountain +of Orizaba. Our principal adventure in the day's ride was that, finding +that our road made a dtour of a mile or so round a beautiful piece of +green turf, we boldly struck across it, and nearly lamed our horses +thereby; for the ground was completely undermined by moles, and at +every third step the horses' feet went into a deep hole. We had to get +off and lead them back to the road. + +Orizaba is the great feature in the scenery of this district of Mexico. +It is one point in the line of volcanos which stretches across the +continent from east to west. It is a conical mountain, like +Popocatepetl, and about the same height; measurements vary from twenty +feet higher to sixty feet lower. The crater has fallen in on one side, +leaving a deep notch clearly visible from below. At present, as we hear +from travellers who have ascended it, the crater, like that of +Popocatepetl, is in the condition of a _solfatara_, sending out jets of +steam and sulphurous acid gas. About three centuries ago its eruptions +were frequent; and its Mexican name, _Citlaltepetl_, "Mountain of the +Star," carries us back to the time when it showed in the darkness a +star-like light from its crater, like that of Stromboli at the present +time, when one sees it from a distance. + +San Antonio de Abajo is a quaint little village, frequented by +muleteers and smugglers. Tobacco, the principal contraband article, is +grown in the plains just below; and, once carried up into the paths +among the mountains, it is hard for any custom-house officer to catch +sight of it. + +When there was a government, there used sometimes to be fighting +between the revenue-officers and the smugglers; but now, if there is a +meeting, a few dollars will settle the disputed question to the +satisfaction of both parties, so that the contraband trade, though +profitable, is by no means so exciting as it used to be. + +On the road towards San Antonio we saw ancient remains in the banks by +the road-side, but had no time for a regular examination. We slept on +damp mattresses in a room of the inn, where the fowls roosted on the +rafters above our heads, and walked over our faces in the early morning +in an unpleasant manner. We started before daybreak, and a descent down +a winding road, through a forest of pines and oaks, brought us by seven +in the morning from the region of pines and barley down to the district +where tobacco and the sugar-cane flourish, at the level of 3,000 to +4,000 feet above the sea. + +We met a jaunty-looking party in the valley, two women and five or six +men, all on good horses, and dressed in the extreme of fashion which +the Mexican _ranchero_ affects--broad-brimmed hats with costly gold and +silver serpents for hat-bands, and clothes and saddles glittering with +silver. Martin rode up to us as they passed, and said he knew them well +for the boldest highwaymen in Mexico. Had we started an hour or two +later we should have met them in the forest, and have had an adventure +to tell of. As it was, the descent of three thousand feet had brought +us from a land of thieves to a region where highway robbery is never +known, unless when a party from the high lands come down on a marauding +expedition. It is an unquestionable fact that the Mexican robbers, +whose exploits have become a matter of world-wide notoriety, all belong +to the cold region of the plateaus, the _tierra fra_. Once down in the +_tierra templada_, or the _tierra caliente_, the temperate or the hot +regions, you hear no more of them; or at least this is the case in the +parts of Mexico we visited. The reason is clear; it is only on the +plateaus that the whites, preferring a region where the climate was not +unlike that of Castile, settled in large numbers; so that it is there +that Creoles and mestizos predominate, and they are the robbers. + +We rode over great beds of gravel, cut up in deep trenches by the +mountain-streams; then along the banks of the river, among plantations +of tobacco, looking like beds of lettuces. As we were riding along the +valley, we saw before us a curious dark cloud, hanging over some fields +near the river. Our men, who had seen the appearance before, recognized +it at once as a flight of locusts, and, turning out of the high-road, +we came upon them just as they had settled on a clump of trees in a +meadow. They covered the branches and foliage until only the outline of +the trees was visible, while the rest of the swarm descended on a green +hedge, and on the grass. As for us, we went and knocked them down with +our riding-whips, and carried away specimens in our hats; but the +survivors took no manner of notice of us, and in about ten minutes they +left the trees mere skeletons, leafless and stripped of their bark, and +moved across the field in a dense mass towards some fruit-trees a +little way off. For days after this, when we met with travellers on the +road, or stopped at the door of a cottage to get a light or something +to drink, and chatted a few minutes with the inhabitants, we found that +our descent of the mountain-pass had brought us into a new set of +interests. News of the government and of the revolutionary party +excited no curiosity,--talk of robbers still less. At every house the +question was, "_De donde vienen, Seores_?" "Where are you from, +gentlemen?"--and when we told them, "_Y estaban all las langostas_?" +"And were the locusts there?" The whole country was being devastated by +them; and the large rewards offered for them to the peasants, though +they caused dead locusts to be brought by tons, seemed hardly to +diminish their numbers. Firing guns had some slight effect in driving +off the swarms of locusts; and in some places the reports of muskets +were to be heard, at short intervals, all day long. Some idea of the +destruction caused by the locusts may be formed from the fact that in +six weeks they doubled the price of grain in the district. Fortunately, +they only appear in such numbers about once in half a century. + +We had ridden a hundred miles over a rough country in the last +forty-eight hours, and were glad to get a rest at Orizaba; but on the +morning of the third day we were in the saddle again, accompanied by a +new friend, the English administrador of the cotton-mill at Orizaba. +Until we left the high-road, the country seemed well cultivated, with +plantations of tobacco, coffee, and sugar-cane; but as soon as we +turned into by-paths and struck across country, we found woods and +grassy patches, but little tilled ground, until we arrived at the +Indian village which we had gone out of our way to visit, Amatln, that +is to say, "_The place of paper_." + +In its arrangement this village was like the one that I have already +described, with its scattered huts of canes and palm-leaf thatch; but +the vegetation indicated a more tropical climate. Large fields, the +joint property of the community, were cultivated with pine-apples in +close rows, now just ripening; and bananas, with broad leaves and heavy +clusters of fruit, were growing in the little garden belonging to each +hut. The inhabitants stared at us sulkily, and gave short answers to +our questions. We went to the cottage of the Indian alcalde, who +declared that there was nothing to eat or drink in the village, though +we were standing in his doorway and could see the strings of plantains +hanging to the roof, and the old women were hard at work cooking. +However, when Mr. G. explained who he was, the old man became more +placable; and we were soon sitting on mats and benches inside the hut, +on the best of terms with the whole village. The life of these people +is simple enough, and not unsuited to their beautiful climate. The +white men have never interfered much with them; and it has been their +pride for centuries to keep as much as possible from associating with +Europeans, whom they politely speak of as _coyotes_, jackals. The +priest was a _mestizo_, and, as the Alcalde said, he was the only +_coyote_ in the settlement; but his sacred office neutralized the +dislike that his parishioners felt for his race. + +These Indian communities always rejoiced in being able to produce for +themselves almost everything necessary for their simple wants; but of +late years the law of supply and demand has begun to undermine this +principle, and the cotton-cloth, spun and woven at home, is yielding to +the cheaper material supplied by the factories. Though so averse to +receiving Europeans among them, they do not object to go themselves to +work for good wages on the plantations. Those who leave their native +place, however, bring back with them tastes and wants hitherto unknown, +and inconsistent with their primitive way of life. + +Another habit of theirs brings them into contact with the "reasonable +people," not to their advantage. They are excessively litigious, and +their continual law-suits take them to the large towns where the courts +of justice are held, and where lawyers' fees swallow up a large +proportion of their savings. There is a natural connexion between +farming and law-suits; and the taste for writs and hard swearing is as +remarkable among this agricultural people as it is among our own small +farmers in England. + +Theoretically, the Indians in their villages live under the general +government, like any other citizens; for, since the establishment of +the republic, the civil disabilities which had kept them down for three +centuries were all abolished at a sweep, and the brown people have +their votes, and are eligible for any office. Practically, these +advantages do not come to much at present, for custom, which is +stronger than law, keeps them under the government of their own +aristocracy, composed of certain families whose nobility dates beyond +the Conquest, and was always recognized by the Spaniards. These noble +Indians seem to be pretty much as dirty, as ignorant, and as idle as +the plebeians--the ordinary field-labourers or "_earth-hands_" +(_tlalmaitl_), as they were called in ancient times,--and a stranger +cannot recognize their claims to superiority by anything in their +houses, dress, language, or bearing; nevertheless, they are the +patrician families, and republicanism has not yet deprived them of +their power over the other Indians. In early times, when men of white +or mixed blood were few in the country, it suited the Spanish +government to maintain the authority of these families, who collected +the taxes and managed the estates of the little communities. The common +people were the sufferers by this arrangement, for the Alcaldes of +their own race cheated them without mercy, and were harder upon them +than even their white rulers, just as on slave-estates a black driver +is much severer than a white one. + +Near some of the houses we noticed that curious institution--the +_temazcalli_, which corresponds exactly to the Russian vapour-bath. It +is a sort of oven, into which the bather creeps on all fours, and lies +down, and the stones at one end are heated by a fire outside. Upon +these stones the bather sprinkles cold water, which fills the place +with suffocating steam. When he feels himself to have been sufficiently +sweated, he crawls out again, and has jars of cold water poured over +him; whereupon he dresses himself (which is not a long process, as he +only wears a shirt and a pair of drawers), and so goes in to supper, +feeling much refreshed. If he would take the cold bath only, and keep +the hot one for his clothes, which want it sadly, it would be all the +better for him, for the constant indulgence in this enervating luxury +weakens him very much. One would think the bath would make the Indians +cleanly in their persons, but it hardly seems so, for they look rather +dirtier after they have been in the _temazcalli_ than before, just as +the author of _A Journey due North_ says of the Russian peasants. + +To us the most interesting question about the Mexican Indians of this +district was this, _Why are there so few of them?_ There are five +thousand square leagues in the State of Vera Cruz, and about fifty +inhabitants to the square league. Now, let us consider half the State, +which is at a low level above the sea, as too hot and unhealthy for men +to flourish in, and suppose the whole population concentrated on the +other half, which lies upon the rising ground from three thousand to +six thousand feet above the sea. This is not very far from the truth, +and gives us one hundred inhabitants to the square league--about +one-sixth of the population of the plains of Puebla, in a climate which +may be compared to that of North Italy, and where the chief products +are maize and European grain. + +In the district of the lower temperate region, which we are now +speaking of, nature would seem to have done everything to encourage the +formation of a dense population. In the lower part of this favoured +region the banana grows. This plant requires scarcely any labour in its +cultivation; and, according to the most moderate estimate, taking an +acre of wheat against an acre of bananas, the bananas will support +twenty times as many people as the wheat. Though it is a fruit of +sweet, rather luscious taste, and only acceptable to us Europeans as +one small item of our complicated diet, the Indians who have been +brought up in the districts where it flourishes can live almost +entirely upon it, just as the inhabitants of North Africa live upon +dates. + +In the upper portion of this district, where the banana no longer +flourishes, nutritious plants produce an immense yield with easy +cultivation. The _yucca_ which produces cassava, rice, the sweet +potato, yams, all flourish here, and maize produces 200 to 300 fold. +According to the accepted theory among political economists, where the +soil produces with slight labour an abundant nutriment for man, there +we ought to find a teeming population, unless other counteracting +causes are to be found. + +The history of the country, as far as we can get at it, indicates a +movement in the opposite direction. Judging from the numerous towns the +Spanish invaders found in the district, the numbers of armed men they +could raise, and the abundance of provisions, we must reckon the +population at that time to have been more dense than at present; and +the numerous ruins of Indian settlements that exist in the upper +temperate region are unquestionable evidence of the former existence of +an agricultural people, perhaps ten times as numerous as at present. +The ruins of their fortifications and temples are still to be seen in +great numbers, and the soil all over large districts is full of the +remains of their pottery and weapons. + +How far these settlements were depopulated by wars before the Spanish +Conquest, it is not easy to say. During the Conquest itself they did +not offer much resistance to the European invaders, and consequently +they escaped the wholesale destruction which fell upon the more +patriotic inhabitants of the higher regions. Since that time the +country has been peaceable enough; and even since the Mexican +Independence, the wars and revolutions which have done so much injury +to the inhabitants of the plateaus have not been much felt here. + +In reasoning upon Mexican statistics we have to go to a great extent +upon guess-work. A very slight investigation, however, shows that the +calculation made in Mexico, that the population increases between one +and two per cent. annually, is incorrect. The present population of the +country is reckoned at a little under eight millions; and in 1806, it +seems, from the best authorities we can get, to have been a little +under six millions. Even this rate of increase, one-third every +half-century, is far above the rate of increase since the Conquest; +for, at that rate, a population a little over a million and a quarter +would have brought up the number to what it is at present, and we +cannot at the lowest estimation suppose the inhabitants after the siege +of Mexico to have been less than three or four millions. So that, badly +as Mexico is now going on with regard to the increase of its +population, about per cent. per annum, while England increases over +1-1/2 per cent., and the United States twice as much, we may still +discern an improvement upon the times of the Spanish dominion, when it +was almost stationary. + +Why then has this fertile and beautiful country only a small fraction +of the number of inhabitants that formerly lived in it? That it is not +caused by the climate being unfavourable to man is clear, for this +district is free from the intense heat and the pestilential fevers of +the low lands which lie nearer the sea. + +It is a noticeable fact that the remains of the old settlements +generally lie above the district where the banana grows; and the higher +we rise above the sea, the more abundant do we find the signs of +ancient population, until we reach the level of 8,000 feet or a little +higher. The actual inhabitants at the present day are distributed +according to the same rule, increasing in numbers, according to the +elevation, from 3,000 to 8,000 feet, after which the severity of the +climate causes a rapid decrease. + +In making these observations, I leave out of the question the hot +unhealthy coast-lands of the _tierra caliente_, and the cold and +comparatively sterile plains of the _tierra fra_, and confine myself +to that part of the country which lies between the altitudes of 3,000 +and 8,000 feet, between which limits the European races flourish under +circumstances of climate which also suited the various Mexican races, +who probably came from a colder northern country. Now, if we begin to +descend from the level of the Mexican plateau--say 8,000 feet above the +sea--we find that less and less labour will provide nourishment for the +cultivator of the soil, until we reach the limit of the banana, where +the inhabitants ought to be crowded together like Chinese on their +rice-grounds, or the inhabitants of Egypt in the time of Herodotus. +Exactly the opposite rule takes effect; the banana-country is a mere +wilderness, and the higher the traveller rises the more abundant become +both present population and the remains of ancient settlements. + +I suppose the reason of this is to be found in the habits and +constitution of the tribes who colonized the country, and preferred to +settle in a climate resembling that of their native land, without +troubling themselves about the extra labour it would cost them to +obtain their food. The European invaders have acted precisely in the +same way; and the distribution of the white and partly white +inhabitants of the country follows the same rule as that of the +Indians. + +So far the matter is intelligible, on the principle that the +constitution and habits of the races which have successively taken up +their residence in the country have been strong enough to prevail over +the rule which regulates the supply of men by the abundance of food; +but this does not explain the fact of an actual diminution of the +inhabitants of the lower temperate districts. They were not mere +migratory tribes, staying for a few years before moving forward. They +had been settled in the country long enough to be perfectly +acclimatized; and yet, under circumstances apparently so favourable to +their increase, they have been diminishing for centuries, and are +perhaps even doing so now. + +The only intelligible solution I can find for this problem is that +given by Sartorius, whose work on Mexico is well known in Germany, and +has been translated and published in England. This author's remarks on +the condition of the Indians are very valuable; and, as he was for +years a planter in this very district, he may be taken as an excellent +authority on the subject. He considers the evil to lie principally in +the diet and habits of the people. The children are not weaned till +very late, and then are allowed to feed all day without restriction on +boiled maize, or beans, or whatever other vegetable diet may be eaten +by the family. The climate does not dispose them to take much exercise; +so that this unwholesome cramming with vegetable food has nothing to +counteract its evil effects, and the poor little children get miserably +pot-bellied and scrofulous,--an observation of which we can confirm the +truth. A great proportion of the children die young, and those that +grow up have their constitutions impaired. Then they live in close +communities, and marry "in-and-in," so that the effect of unhealthy +living becomes strengthened into hereditary disease; and habitual +intemperance does its work upon their constitutions, though the +quantities of raw spirits they consume appear to produce scarcely any +immediate effect. Among a race in this bodily condition, the ordinary +epidemics of the country--cholera, small-pox, and dysentery--make +fearful havoc. Whole villages have often been depopulated in a few days +by these diseases; and a deadly fever which used to appear from time to +time among the Indians, until the last century, sometimes carried off +ten thousand and twenty thousand at once. It seemed to me worth while +to make some remarks about this question, with a view of showing that +the theory as to the relation between food and population, though +partly true, is not wholly so; and that in the region of which we have +been speaking it can be clearly shown to fail. + +After spending a long morning with the Indians and their _cura_, we +took quite an affectionate leave of them. Their last words were an +apology for making us pay threepence apiece for the pineapples which we +loaded our horses with. In the season, they said, twelve for sixpence +is the price, but the fruit was scarce and dear as yet. + +Our companion, besides being engaged in the Orizaba cotton-mill, was +one of the owners of the sugar-hacienda of the Potrero, below Cordova, +and we all rode down there together from the Indian village, and spent +the evening in walking about the plantation, and inspecting the new +machinery and mills. It was a pleasant sight to see the people coming +to the well with their earthen jars, after their work was done, in an +unceasing procession, laughing and chattering. They were partly Indian, +but with a considerable admixture of negro blood, for many black slaves +were brought into the country in old times by the Spanish planters. +Now, of course, they and their descendants are free, and the hotter +parts of Mexico are the paradise of runaway slaves from Louisiana and +Texas; for, so far from their race being despised, the Indian women +seek them as husbands, liking their liveliness and good humour better +than the quieter ways of their own countrymen. Even Europeans settled +in Mexico sometimes take wives of negro blood. + +I have never noticed in any country so large a number of mixed races, +whose parentage is indicated by their features and complexion. In +Europe, the parent races are too nearly alike for the children of such +mixed marriages to be strikingly different from either parent. In +America and the West Indies we are familiar with the various mixtures +of white and negro, mulatto, quadroon, &c.; but in Mexico we have three +races, Spanish, pure Mexican, and Negro, which, with their +combinations, make a list of twenty-five varieties of the human race, +distinguishable from one another, and with regular names, which Mayer +gives in his work on Mexico, such as _mulatto, mestizo, zambo, chino_, +and so forth. Here all the brown Mexican Indians are taken as one race, +and the Red Indians of the frontier-states are not included at all. If +we come to dividing out the various tribes which have been or still are +existing in the country, we can count over a hundred and fifty, with +from fifty to a hundred distinct languages among them. + +Out of this immense variety of tribes, we can make one great +classification. The men of one race are brown in complexion, and have +been for ages cultivators of the land. It is among them only that the +Mexican civilization sprang up, and they still remain in the country, +having acquiesced in the authority of the Europeans, and to a great +extent mingled with them by marriage. This class includes the Aztecs, +Acolhuans, Chichemecs, Zapotecs, &c., the old Toltecs, the present +Indians of Central America, and, if we may consider them to be the same +race, the nations who built the now ruined cities of Palenque, Copan, +Uxmal, and so forth. The other race is that of the Red Indians who +inhabit the prairie-states of North Mexico, such as the Apaches, +Comanches, and Navajos. They are hunters, as they always were, and they +will never preserve their existence by adopting agriculture as their +regular means of subsistence, and settling in peace among the white +men. As it has been with their countrymen further north, so it will be +with them; a few years more, and the Americans will settle Chihuahua +and Sonora, and we shall only know these tribes by specimens of their +flint arrow-heads and their pipes in collections of curiosities, and +their skulls in ethnological cabinets. + +One of the strangest races (or varieties, I cannot say which) are the +_Pintos_ of the low lands towards the Pacific coast. A short time +before we were in the country General Alvarez had quartered a whole +regiment of them in the capital; but when we were there they had +returned with their commander into the tierra caliente towards +Acapulco. They are called _"Pintos"_ or painted men, from their faces +and bodies being marked with great daubs of deep blue, like our British +ancestors; but here the decoration is natural and cannot be effaced. + +They have the reputation of being a set of most ferocious savages; and, +badly armed as they are with ricketty flint- or match-locks, and sabres +of hoop-iron, they are the terror of the other Mexican soldiery, +especially when the war has to be carried on in the hot pestilential +coast-region, their native country. + +CHAR XII. + +CHALCHICOMULA. JALAPA. VERA CRUZ. CONCLUSION. + +[Illustration: INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU. _(After Nebel.)_] + +The mountain-slopes which descend from the Sierra Madre eastward toward +the sea are furrowed by _barrancas_--deep ravines with perpendicular +sides, and with streams flowing at the bottom. But here all these +_barrancas_ run almost due east and west, so that our journey from Vera +Cruz to Mexico was made, as far as I can recollect, without crossing +one. Now, the case was quite different. We had to go from the Potrero +to the city of Jalapa, about fifty miles on the map, nearly northward, +and to get over these fifty miles cost us two days and a half of hard +riding. + +By the road it cannot be much less than eighty miles; but people used +to tell us that, during the American war, an Indian went from Orizaba +to Jalapa with despatches within the twenty-four hours, probably by +mountain-paths which made it a little shorter. He came quite easily +into Jalapa at the same shuffling trot which he had kept up almost +without intermission for the whole distance. This is the Indian's +regular pace when he is on a journey, and I believe that the Red +Indians of the north have a similar gait. + +We used sometimes to see a village or a house three or four miles off, +and count upon reaching it in half an hour. But a few steps further on +there would be a barranca, invisible till we came close to it, perhaps +not more than a few hundred feet wide, so that it was easy to talk to +people on the other bank. But the bottom of the chasm might be five +hundred or a thousand feet below us; and the only way to cross was to +ride along the bank, often for miles, until we reached a place where it +had been possible to make a steep bridle-path zigzagging down to the +stream below, and up again on the other side. It is only here and there +that even such paths can be made, for the walls of rock are generally +too steep even for any vegetation, except grass and climbing plants in +the crevices. Our half-hour's ride, as we supposed it would be, would +often extend to two or three hours, for on these slopes two or three +barrancas--large and small---have sometimes to be crossed within as +many miles. + +If our journey had been even slower and more difficult, we should not +have regretted it; the country through which we were riding was so +beautiful. There were but few inhabitants, and the landscape was much +as nature had left it. The great volcano of Orizaba came into view now +and then with its snowy cone,[23] mountain-streams came rushing along +the ravines, and the forests of oaks were covered with innumerable +species of orchids and creepers, breaking down the branches with their +weight. Many kinds were already in flower, and their great blossoms of +white, purple, blue, and yellow, stood out against the dark green of +the oak-leaves. Wherever a mountain-stream ran down some shady little +valley, there were tree-ferns thirty feet high, with the new fronds +forming a tuft at the top of the old scarred trunk. Round the Indian +cottages were cactuses with splendid crimson flowers, daturas with +brilliant white blossoms, palm- and fruit-trees of fifty kinds. We +stopped at one of the cottages, and bought an armadillo that had just +been caught in the woods close by, while routing among his favourite +ants' nests. He was put into a palm-leaf basket, which held him all but +the tip of his long taper tail, which, like the rest of his body, was +covered with rings of armour fitting beautifully into one another. One +of our men carried him thus in his arms to Jalapa. + +The Mexicans call an armadillo "_ayotochtli_," that is, +"tortoise-rabbit," a name which will be appreciated by any one who +knows the appearance of the little animal. + +The villages and towns we passed were dismal places enough, and the +population scanty; but that this had not always been the case was +evident from the numerous remains of ancient Indian mound-forts or +temples which we passed on our road, indicating the existence of large +towns at some former period. There is a drawing in Lord Kingsborough's +work of a _teocalli_ or pyramid at San Andrs Chalchicomula, which we +seem to have missed on account of the darkness having come on before we +reached the town. We were several times deceived that evening by the +fireflies, which we took for lights moving about in some village just +ahead of us; and we became so incredulous at last that we would not +believe we had reached our journey's end until we could made out the +dim outlines of the houses. At the inn at San Andrs we found that we +could have no rooms, as all the little windowless dens were occupied by +people from the country who had come in for a _fiesta_. There were +indeed a good many men loafing about the courtyard, but scarcely any +women, and we could hardly understand a fandango happening without +them. They thought otherwise, however; and presently, hearing the +tinkling of a guitar, we went out and saw two great fellows in broad +hats, jackets, and serapes, solemnly dancing opposite to one another; +while more men looked on, smoking cigarettes, and an old fellow with a +face like a baboon was squatting in one corner and producing the music +we had heard. To do them justice, I must say that we found, on further +enquiry, they had not come from their respective ranchos merely to make +fools of themselves in this way, but that there was to be some +horsefair in the neighbourhood next day, and they were going there. + +Our not being able to get any supper but eggs and bread, and having to +sleep on the supper-table afterwards, confirmed us in the theory we +were beginning to adopt, that nature and mankind vary in an inverse +ratio; and we were off at daybreak, delighted to get into the forest +again. We rode over hill and dale for four or five hours, and then +along the edge of a barranca for the rest of the day. This was one of +the grandest chasms we had ever seen, even in Mexico. It was four or +five miles wide, and two or three thousand feet deep, and its floor was +a mass of tropical verdure, with here and there an Indian rancho and a +patch of cultivated ground on the bank of the rapid river, whose sound +we heard when we approached the edge of the barranca. There were more +orchids and epidendrites than ever in the forest. In some places they +had killed every third tree, by forming so and close a covering over +its branches as to destroy its life; they were flourishing unimpaired +on the rotting branches of trees which they had brought down to the +ground years before. The rainy season had not yet set in in this part +of the country; and, though we could hear the rushing of the torrent +below, we looked in vain for water in the forest, until our man Martin +showed us the _bromelias_ in the forks of the branches, in the inside +of whose hollow leaves nature has laid up a supply of water for the +thirsty traveller. + +We loaded our horses with the bulbs of such orchids as were still in +the dry state, and would travel safely to Europe. Sometimes we climbed +into the trees for promising specimens, but oftener contented ourselves +with tearing them from the branches as we rode below. When saddle-bags +and pockets were full, we were for a time at fault, for there seemed no +place for new treasures, when suddenly I remembered a pair of old +trousers. We tied up the ends of the legs, which we filled with +orchids; and the garment travelled to Jalapa sitting in its natural +position across my saddle, to the amazement of such Mexican society as +we met. The contents of the two pendant legs are now producing splendid +flowers in several English hothouses. + +By evening we reached the _Junta_, a place where the great ravine was +joined by a smaller one, and a long slanting descent brought us to the +edge of the river. There was a ferry here, consisting of a raft of logs +which the Indian ferryman hauled across along a stout rope. The horses +were attached to the raft by their halters, and so swam across. On the +point of land between the two rivers the Indians had their huts, and +there we spent the night. We chose the fattest _guajalote_ of the +turkey-pen, and in ten minutes he was simmering in the great earthen +pot over the fire, having been cut into many pieces for convenience of +cooking, and the women were busy grinding Indian corn to be patted out +into tortillas. While supper was getting ready, and Mr. Christy's day's +collection of plants was being pressed (the country we had been passing +through is so rich that the new specimens gathered that day filled +several quires of paper), we had a good deal of talk with the brown +people, who could all speak a little Spanish. Some years before, the +two old people had settled there, and set up the ferry. Besides this, +they made nets and caught much fish in the river, and cultivated the +little piece of ground which formed the point of the promontory. While +their descendants went no further than grandchildren the colony had +done very well; but now great-grandchildren had begun to arrive, and +they would soon have to divide, and form a settlement up in the woods +across the river, or upon some patch of ground at the bottom of one of +the barrancas. + +We were interested in studying the home-life of these people, so +different from what we are accustomed to among our peasants of Northern +Europe, whose hard continuous labour is quite unknown here. For the +men, an occasional pull at the _balsas_ (the rafts of the ferry), a +little fishing, and now and then--when they are in the humour for it-- +a little digging in the garden-ground with a wooden spade, or dibbling +with a pointed stick. The women have a harder life of it, with the +eternal grinding and cooking, cotton-spinning, mat-weaving, and tending +of the crowds of babies. Still it is an easy lazy life, without much +trouble for to-day or care for to-morrow. When the simple occupations +of the day are finished, the time does not seem to hang heavy upon +their hands. The men lie about, "thinking of nothing at all;" and the +women--old and young--gossip by the hour, in obedience to that +beneficent law of nature which provides that their talk shall increase +inversely in proportion to what they have to talk about. We find this +law attaining to its most complete fulfilment when they shut themselves +up in nunneries, to escape as much as possible from all sources of +worldly interest, and gossip there more industriously than anywhere +else, as we are informed on very good authority. + +Like all the other Mexican Indians whose houses we visited, the people +here showed but little taste in adorning their dwellings, their dresses +and their household implements. Beyond a few calabashes scraped smooth +and ornamented with coloured devices, and the blue patterns on the +women's cotton skirts, there was scarcely anything to be seen in the +way of ornament. How great was the skill of the Mexicans in ornamental +work at the time of the Conquest, we can tell from the carved work in +wood and stone preserved in museums, the graceful designs on the +pottery, the tapestry, and the beautiful feather-work; but this taste +has almost disappeared in the country. Just in the same way, contact +with Europeans has almost destroyed the little decorative arts among +most barbarous people, as, for example, the Red Indians and the natives +of the Pacific Islands; and what little skill in these things is left +among them is employed less for themselves than in making curious +trifles for the white people, and even in these we find that European +patterns have mixed with the old designs, or totally superseded them. + +The Indians lodged us in an empty cane-hut, where they spread mats upon +the ground, and we made pillows of our saddles. We were soon tired of +looking up at the stars through the chinks in the roof, and slept till +long after sunrise. Then the Indians rafted us across the second river; +and we rode on to Jalapa, having accomplished our horseback journey of +nearly three hundred miles with but one accident, the death of a horse, +the four-pound one. He had been rather overworked, but would most +likely have got through, had we not stopped the last night at the +Indian _ranchos_, where there was no forage but green maize leaves, a +food our beasts were not accustomed to. It seems our men gave him too +much of this, and then allowed him to drink excessively; and next +morning he grew weaker and weaker, and died not long after we reached +Jalapa. Our other two horses were rather thin, but otherwise in good +condition; and the horse-dealers, after no end of diplomacy on both +sides, knocked under to our threat of sending them back to Mexico in +charge of Antonio, and gave us within a pound or two of what they had +cost us. There, is a good deal of trading in horses done at Jalapa, +where travellers coming down from Mexico sell their beasts, which are +disposed of at great prices to other travellers coming up from the +coast. Between here and Vera Cruz, people prefer travelling in the +Diligence, or in some covered carriage, to exposing themselves to the +sun in the hot and pestilential region of the coast. + +Jalapa is a pleasant city among the hills, in a country of forests, +green turf, and running streams. It is the very paradise of botanists; +and its products include a wonderful variety of trees and flowers, from +the apple- and pear-trees of England to the _mameis_ and _zapotes_ of +tropical America, and the brilliant orchids which are the ornament of +our hot-houses. The name of the town itself has a botanical celebrity, +for in the neighbouring forests grows the _Purga de Jalapa_, which we +have shortened into _jalap_. + +A day's journey above it, lies the limit of eternal snow, upon the peak +of Orizaba; a day's journey below it is Vera Cruz, the city of the +yellow fever, surrounded by burning sands and poisonous exhalations, in +a district where, during the hot months now commencing, the thermometer +scarcely ever descends below 80, day or night. Jalapa hardly knows +summer or winter, heat or cold. The upper current of hot air from the +Gulf of Mexico, highly charged with aqueous vapour, strikes the +mountains about this level, and forms the belt of clouds that we have +already crossed more than once during our journey. Jalapa is in this +cloudy zone, and the sky is seldom clear there. It is hardly hotter in +summer than in England, and not even hot enough for the mosquitoes, +which are not to be found here though they swarm in the plain below. +This warm damp climate changes but little in the course of the year. +There are no seasons, in our sense of the word, for spring lasts +through the year. + +We walked out on the first afternoon of our arrival; and sat on stone +seats on a piece of green turf surrounded by trees, that reminded us +pleasantly of the village-greens of England. There we talked with the +children of an English acquaintance who had been settled for many years +in the town, and had married a Mexican lady. They were fine lads; but, +as very often happens in such cases, they could only speak the language +of the country. Nothing can show more clearly how thoroughly a +foreigner yields to the influences around him, when he settles in a +country and marries among its people. An Englishman's own character, +for instance, may remain to some extent; but his children are scarcely +English in language or in feeling, and in the next generation there is +nothing foreign about his descendants but the name. + +When we reached our hotel it was about sunset, and the heavy dew had +wetted us through, as though we had been walking in the rain. This was +no exceptional occurrence. All the year round such dews fall morning +and evening, as well as almost daily showers of rain. The climate is +too warm for this dampness to injure health, as it would in our colder +regions. To us, who had just left the bracing air of the high plateaus, +it seemed close and relaxing; but the inhabitants are certainly strong +and healthy, and one can imagine the enjoyment which the white +inhabitants of Vera Cruz must feel, when they can get away from that +city of pestilence into the pure air of the mountains. + +Our quarters were at the _Veracruzana_, where we occupied a great +whitewashed room. A large grated window opened into the garden, where +the armadillo was fastened to a tree by a long string, and had soon dug +a deep hole with his powerful fore-claws, as the manner of the creature +is. The necessity of supplying the "little man in armour" with insects +for his daily food gave us some idea of the amazing abundance and +variety of the insects of the district. We caught creeping things +innumerable in the garden, but narrowly escaped being stung by a small +scorpion; and therefore delegated the task to an old Indian, who walked +out into the fields with an earthen pot, and returned with it full of +insects in about half an hour. We reckoned that there were over fifty +species in the pot. + +Many of the houses and Indian huts were adorned with collections of +insects pinned on the walls in patterns, among which figured scorpions +some three inches long; and the centre-ornament was usually a +tarantula, said to be one of the most poisonous creatures of the +tropics, a monstrous spider, whose dark grey body and legs are covered +with hairs. A fine specimen will have a body about as large as a small +hen's egg, and, with his legs in their natural position, will just +stand in a cheese-plate. The Boots of the hotel went out and caught a +fine scorpion for our amusement; he brought it into our room wrapped in +a piece of brown paper, and was on the point of letting it out on our +table for us to see it run. We protested against this, and had it put +into a tumbler and covered it up with a book. + +The inner _patio_ of the hotel was surrounded with the usual arcade, +into which the rooms opened. Close to our door was a long table, with a +green cloth, where the Jalapenians were constantly playing _monte_, +from nine in the morning till late at night. All classes were +represented there, from the muleteer who came to lose his hard-earned +dollars, to the rich shopkeepers and planters of the town and +neighbourhood. + +I went early one afternoon to the house of the principal agent for the +Vera Cruz carriers, to arrange for sending down our heavy packages to +the coast. There was no one at the office but a girl. I enquired for +the master--"_Est jugando_,"--"He is playing," she said. I need not +have gone so far to look for him, for he was sitting just outside our +bedroom door, and indeed had been there all day. Before he condescended +to arrange our business, he waited to see the fate of the dollar he had +just put down, and which I was glad to see he lost. + +Jalapa was not always the stagnant place it is now. Its pleasant houses +and gardens date from a period when it was a town of some importance. +In old times the only practicable road from Vera Cruz to Mexico passed +this way; and Jalapa was the entrept where the merchants had their +warehouses, and from whence the trains of mules distributed the +European merchandise from the coast to the different markets of the +country. By this arrangement, the carrying from the coast was done by a +small number of muleteers, who were seasoned to the climate, while the +great mass of traders and carriers were not obliged to descend from the +healthy region. This was of the more importance, because, though the +pure Indians are not liable to the attacks of yellow fever, the disease +is as deadly to the other inhabitants of the high lands as to +Europeans; and even those of the _mestizos_ who have the least +admixture of white blood are subject to it. Of late years, this system +has been given up, and the carriers from the high lands go down to the +coast to fetch their loads, and every year they leave some of their +number in the church-yards of the City of the Dead; while many others, +though they recover from the fever, never regain their former health +and strength. The high-road to Mexico now goes by Orizaba, so that the +importance of Jalapa as a trading-place has almost ceased. + +Our Mexican journey was now all but finished, and I left my companion +here, and took the Diligence to Vera Cruz, to meet the West India +Mail-packet. Mr. Christy followed a day or two later, and went to the +United States. We dismissed our two servants, Martin and Antonio. +Martin invested his wages in a package of tobacco, which he proposed to +carry home on his horse, travelling by night along unfrequented +mountain-paths, where custom-house officers seldom penetrate. We never +heard any more of him; but no doubt he got safe home, for he was +perfectly competent to take care of himself, and he probably made a +very good thing of his journey. It was quite with regret that we parted +from him, for he was a most sensible, useful fellow, with a continual +flow of high spirits, and no end of stories of his experiences in +smuggling, and hunting wild cattle in the _tierra caliente_, in which +two adventurous occupations most of his life had been passed. In his +dealings with us, he was honesty itself, notwithstanding his equivocal +profession. + +We offered Antonio a cheque on Mexico for his wages, as he was going +back there, but he said he would rather have hard dollars. We paid his +fare to Mexico by the Diligence, and gave him his money, telling him at +the same time, that he was a fool for his pains. He started next +morning; and we heard, a month or two later, that the coach was stopped +the same afternoon in the plains of Perote, and Antonio was robbed not +only of his money but even of his jacket and serape, and reached Mexico +penniless and half-naked. He was always a silly fellow, and his last +exploit was worthy of him. + +Mr. Christy sat up till daybreak to see me off, filling up his time by +writing letters and pressing plants. When I was gone, he lay down in +his bed, in rather a dreamy state of mind, looking up at the ceiling. +There was a large beam just above his head, and at one side of it a +hole, which struck him as being a suitable place for a scorpion to come +out of. This idea had come into his head from the sight of the specimen +in the tumbler on the table, who had with great difficulty been drowned +in _aguardiente_. Presently something moved in the hole, and the +spectator below instantly became wide awake. Then came out a claw and a +head, and finally the body and tail of a very fine scorpion, two inches +and a half long. It was rather an awkward moment, for it was not safe +to move suddenly, for fear of startling the creature, whose footing +seemed anything but secure; and if he fell, he would naturally sting +whatever he might come in contact with. However, he met with no +accident on his way, and getting into another hole, about a yard off, +he drew up his tail after him and disappeared. Mr. Christy slipped out +of his bed with a sense of considerable relief; and having ascertained +that there were no holes in the ceiling above the bed on the other side +of the room, he turned in there, and went comfortably to sleep. + +My only companion in the Diligence was a German shopman from Vera Cruz, +who was sociable, but not of an instructive turn of conversation. When +we had descended for a few hours, the heat became intolerable. Scarcely +any habitation but a few Indian cane-huts by the way-side, with bananas +and palm-trees. We stopped, about three in the afternoon, at a _rancho_ +in a small village, and did not start again until next morning, a +little before day-break. Negroes and people of negro descent began to +abound in this congenial climate. I remember especially the +waiting-maid at the _rancho_, who was a "white negress," as they are +called. Her hair and features showed her African origin; but her hair +was like white wool, and her face and hands were as colourless as those +of a dead body. This animated corpse was healthy enough, however; and +this peculiarity of the skin is, it seems, not very uncommon. + +The coast-regions through which I was passing abound in horned cattle, +but they are mostly far away from the high-roads. In spite of the +intense heat of the climate they thrive as well as in the higher lands. +Some are tolerably tame, and are kept within bounds by the _vaqueros_; +but the greater proportion, numbering tens of thousands, roam wild +about the country. In comparison with these cattle of the _tierra +caliente_, the fiercest beasts of the plateaus are safe and quiet +creatures. The only way of bringing them into the _corral_ is by using +tame animals for decoys, just as wild elephants are caught. + +Our man Martin, who had once been a _vaquero_ on the Vera Cruz coast, +used to look upon the bulls of the high lands with great contempt. If +you chase them they run away, he said. If you lazo a bull of the hot +country, you have to gallop off with all your might, with the _toro_ +close at your heels; and, if the horse falls, it may cost his life or +his rider's. + +We thus find the horned cattle flourishing at every elevation, from the +sea-level to the mountain-pastures ten thousand feet above it. Horses +and sheep show less adaptability to this variety of climates. The +horses and mules come mostly from the States of the North, at a level +of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet; that remarkable country of which +Humboldt's observation gives us the best idea, when he says that, +although there are no made roads, wheel-carriages can travel distances +of a thousand miles over gently-undulating prairies, without meeting +any obstruction on the way. + +Numbers of sheep are reared in the mountains, principally for the sake +of the tallow, for the consumption of tallow-candles in the mines is +enormous. The owners scarcely care at all for the rest of the animal; +and popular scandal accuses the sheep-farmers of driving their flocks +straight into the melting-coppers, without going through the +preliminary ceremony of killing them. People told us that the tallow +made in the cold regions loses its consistency when brought down into +hotter climates, but we had no means of ascertaining the truth of this. + +Artificial lighting by means of tallow was not known to the ancient +Mexicans, who could not indeed have procured tallow except from the fat +of deer and smaller animals. + +Bernal Diaz tells how the Spanish invaders used to dress their wounds +with "Indian Ointment." He explains the nature of this preparation in +another place. The Spaniards could get no oil in the country, nor +anything else to make salve with, so they took some fat Indian who had +just been killed in battle, and simply boiled him down. + +Our ride next morning was but a few hours, the journey being so divided +in order that the passengers may reach Vera Cruz before the heat of the +day begins. We passed over a dreary district, generally too dry for +anything but cactus and acacias, but now and then, when a little water +was to be found, displaying clumps of bamboos with their elegant +feathery tufts. Then the railway took us through the dismal downs, with +their swamps and sand-hills, and so into Vera Cruz. + +The English merchants we had already made acquaintance with were as +kind and hospitable as ever, and I found an Englishman, whom we had +known before, going as far as Havana by the same packet. The yellow +fever was unusually late this year, and, though June had begun, there +were but few cases. We heard afterwards that it set in a week or two +after our departure, and by its extraordinary severity made ample +amends for the lateness of its arrival. + +After sunset, the air was alive with mosquitos, and the floors of the +hotel swarmed with cockroaches. The armadillo took quite naturally to +the latter creatures, and crunched them up as fast as we could catch +them for him. I was surprised to find that our word "cockroaches" does +not come from the German stock, like most of our names for insects and +small creatures, but from the Latin side of the house. The Spanish +waiter called them _cucarachas_, and the French ones _coqueraches_. The +history of the armadillo ends unfortunately: for some days he seemed to +take quite kindly to the diet of bits of meat which we had to put him +on, on shipboard, but he fell sick at Havana, and died. + +My late companion travelled up into the Northern States, went to the +Indian assembly at Manitoulin Island, paid a visit to various tribes of +Red Men in the Hudson's Bay Territory--as yet unmissionized, carried +away in triumph the big medicine-drum I have already spoken of, and saw +and did many other things not to be related here. One sight that he +saw, some months later, reminded him of the wild country where we had +travelled together. He was in Iowa City, a little town of a year or +two's growth, out in the prairie States of the Far West. As he stood +one morning in the outskirts, among the plank-houses and half-made +roads, there came a solitary horseman riding in. Evidently he had come +from the Mexican frontier, a thousand miles and more away across the +plains; and no doubt, his waggons and the rest of his party were behind +him on the road, beyond the distant horizon of the prairie. By his face +he was American, but his costume was the dress of old Mexico, the +leather jacket and trousers, the broad white hat and huge jingling +spurs. His lazo hung in front of his high-peaked saddle, and his +well-worn serape was rolled up behind him like a trooper's cloak. As he +approached the town, he spurred his jaded beast, who broke into the old +familiar _paso_ of the Mexican plains. "It was my last sight of +Mexico," said my companion. He saluted the horseman in Spanish, and the +well-known words of welcome made the grim man's haggard sunburnt +features relax into a smile as he returned the salutation and rode on. + +As for myself, my voyage home was short and unadventurous. From Vera +Cruz to Havana, most of my companions were Mexican refugees who had +been turned out of the country for being mixed up with Haro's +revolution or Santa Ana's intrigues. They were showily got-up men, +elaborately polite, and with much to say for themselves; but every now +and then some casual remark showed what stuff they were made of, and I +pitied more than ever the unfortunate countries whose political +destinies depend on the intrigues of these adventurers. + +In the hot land-locked bay of St. Thomas's we, with the contents of +eight or nine more steamers, were shifted into the great steamer bound +homeward. I went ashore with an old German gentleman, and walked about +the streets. St. Thomas's is a Danish island, and a free port, that is, +a smuggling dept for the rest of the West India islands, much as +Gibraltar is for the Mediterranean. It is a stifling place, full of +mosquitos and yellow fever, and the confusion of tongues reigns there +even more than in Gibraltar, for the blacks in the streets all speak +three or four languages, and the shopkeepers six or seven. + +We were a strange mixture on board the 'Atrato', over two hundred of +us. Peruvians and Chilians from across the isthmus, Spaniards and +Cubans, black gentlemen from Hayti, French colonists from Martinique, +but English preponderating above all other nationalities. One or two +governors of small islands, with their families, maintaining the +dignity of Government House, at least as far as Southampton, and +unapproachable by common mortals. Army men from West India stations, +who appeared to spend their mornings in ordering the wine for dinner, +and their evenings in abusing it when they had drunk it. West India +planters, who thought it was rather hard that the Anti-slavery Society, +after ruining them and their plantations, should moreover insist on +their believing themselves to be great gainers by the change. We were +all crowded, hot, and uncomfortable, and showed our worst side, but as +we neared England better influences got the ascendant again. + +It was pleasant to breathe a cooler air, and to feel that I was getting +back to my own country and my own people; but with this feeling there +was mixed some regret for the beautiful scenes I had left. The evenings +of our latitudes seemed poor when we lost the gorgeous sunsets of the +tropics, and the sea alive with luminous creatures. When I came on deck +one evening and missed the brightest ornament of the sky--the Southern +Cross, I felt that I had left the tropics, and that all my efforts to +realize the life of the last half-year would produce but a vague and +shadowy picture. + +Since we left Mexico, I have not cared to follow very accurately even +the newspaper intelligence of what has been and still is going on +there. It is a pitiable history. Continual wars and revolutions, utter +insecurity of life and property, the Indians burning down the haciendas +in the South and turning out the white people, the roads on the plains +impassable on account of deserters and robbers; sometimes no practical +government at all, then two or three at once, who raise armies and +fight a little sometimes, but generally confine themselves to +plundering the peaceable inhabitants. An army besieges the capital for +months, but appears to do nothing but cut the water off from the +aqueducts, shoot stragglers, and levy contributions. One leader raises +a forced loan among the foreign residents, and imprisons or expels +those who do not submit. The leader on the other side does the same in +his part of the country, putting the British merchant in prisons where +a fortnight would be a fair average life for an European, and +threatening him with summary courtmartial and execution if he does not +pay. + +London newspapers dwell on these details, and tell us that we may learn +from the condition of this unfortunate country how useless are +democratic forms among a people incapable of liberty, and that very +weak governments can commit all sorts of crimes with impunity, from the +fact that they have no official existence which foreign powers can +recognize; and various other weighty moral lessons, which must be +highly edifying to our countrymen in the Republic, who are meanwhile +left pretty much to shift for themselves. + +All this time the United States are steadily advancing; and the destiny +of the country is gradually accomplishing itself. That its total +absorption must come, sooner or later, we can hardly doubt. The chief +difficulty seems to be that the American constitution will not exactly +suit the case. The Republic laid down the right of each citizen to his +share in the government of the country as a universal law, founded on +indefeasible lights of humanity, fundamental laws of nature, and what +not, making, it is true, some slight exceptions with regard to red and +black men. The Mexicans, or at least the white and half-caste Mexicans, +will be a difficulty. Their claims to citizenship are unquestionable, +if Mexico were made a State of the Union; and, as everybody knows, they +are totally incapable of governing themselves, which they must be left +to do under the constitutional system of the United States; moreover, +it is certain that American citizens would never allow even the whitest +of the Mexicans to be placed on a footing of equality with themselves. +Supposing these difficulties got over by a Protectorate, an armed +occupation, or some similar contrivance, Mexico will undergo a great +change. There will be roads and even rail-roads, some security for life +and property, liberty of opinion, a nourishing commerce, a rapidly +increasing population, and a variety of good things. Every intelligent +Mexican must wish for an event so greatly to the advantage of his +country and of the world in general. + +Some of our good friends in Mexico have bought land on the American +frontier by the hundred square leagues, and can point out patches upon +the map of the world as large as Scotland or Ireland--as their private +property. What their gains will be when enterprising western men begin +to bring the country under cultivation, it is not an easy matter to +realize. + +As for ourselves individually, we may be excused for cherishing a +lurking kindness for the quaint, picturesque manners and customs of +Mexico, as yet un-Americanized; and for rejoicing that it was our +fortune to travel there before the coming change, when its most curious +peculiarities and its very language must yield before foreign +influences. + +[Illustration: THE REBOZO AND THE SERAPE.] + + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + * * * * * + +I. THE MANUFACTURE OF OBSIDIAN KNIVES, ETC. (_Note to p. 97._) + +Some of the old Spanish writers on Mexico give a tolerably full account +of the manner in which the obsidian knives, &c., were made by the +Aztecs. It will be seen that it only modifies in one particular the +theory we had formed by mere inspection as to the way in which these +objects were made, which is given at p.97; that is, they were cracked +off by pressure, and not, as we conjectured, by a blow of some hard +substance. + +Torquemada (_Monarqua Indiana, Seville_, 1615) says; (free +translation) "They had, and still have, workmen who make knives of a +certain black stone or flint, which it is a most wonderful and +admirable thing to see them make out of the stone; and the ingenuity +which invented this art is much to be praised. They are made and got +out of the stone (if one can explain it) in this manner. One of these +Indian workmen sits down upon the ground, and takes a piece of this +black stone, which is like jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone which +might be called precious, more beautiful and brilliant than alabaster +or jasper, so much so that of it are made tablets[24] and mirrors. The +piece they take is about 8 inches long or rather more, and as thick as +one's leg or rather less, and cylindrical; they have a stick as large +as the shaft of a lance, and 3 cubits or rather more in length; and at +the end of it they fasten firmly another piece of wood, 8 inches long, +to give more weight to this part; then, pressing their naked feet +together, they hold the stone as with a pair of pincers or the vice of +a carpenter's bench. They take the stick (which is cut off smooth at +the end) with both hands, and set it well home against the edge of the +front of the stone (_y ponenlo avesar con el canto de la frente de la +piedra_) which also is cut smooth in that part; and then they press it +against their breast, and with the force of the pressure there flies +off a knife, with its point, and edge on each tide, as neatly as if one +were to make them of a turnip with a sharp knife, or of iron in the +fire. Then they sharpen it on a stone, using a hone to give it a very +fine edge; and in a very short time these workmen will make more than +twenty knives in the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape +as our barbers' lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, and +have a slight graceful curve towards the point. They will cut and shave +the hair the first time they are used, at the first cut nearly as well +as a steel razor, but they lose their edge at the second cut; and so, +to finish shaving one's beard or hair, one after another has to be +used; though indeed they are cheap, and spoiling them is of no +consequence. Many Spaniards, both regular and secular clergy, have been +shaved with them, especially at the beginning of the colonization of +these realms, when there was no such abundance as now of the necessary +instruments, and people who gain their livelihood by practising this +occupation. But I conclude by saying that it is an admirable thing to +see them made, and no small argument for the capacity of the men who +found out such an invention." + +Vetancurt (_Teatro Mejicano_) gives an account, taken from the above. +Hernandez (_Rerum Med. Nov. Hisp. Thes.: Rome_, 1631) gives a similar +account of the process. He compares the wooden instrument used to a +cross-bow. It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the workman held +the cross-piece with his two hands against his breast, while the end of +the straight stick rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a +description of the making of the well-known _maquahuitl_, or Aztec +war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian knives, +or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. With this instrument, he +says, a man could be cut in half at a blow--an absurd statement, which +has been repeated by more modern writers. + +II. ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSES RECORDED IN THE LE TELLIER MS. + +The curious Aztec Picture-writing, known as the _Codex +Telleriano-Remenensis_, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, +contains a list or calendar of a long series of years, indicated by the +ordinary signs of the Aztec system of notation of cycles of years. +Below the signs of the years are a number of hieroglyphic pictures, +conveying the record of remarkable events which happened in them, such +as the succession and death of kings, the dates of wars, pestilences, +&c. The great work of Lord Kingsborough, which contains a fac-simile of +this curious document, reproduces also an ancient interpretation of the +matters contained in it, evidently the work of a person who not only +understood the interpretation of the Aztec picture-writings, but had +access to some independent source of information,--probably the more +ample oral traditions, for the recalling of which the picture-writing +appears only to have served as a sort of artificial memory. It is not +necessary to enter here into a fuller description of the MS., which has +also been described by Humboldt and Gallatin. + +Among the events recorded in the Codex are four eclipses of the sun, +depicted as having happened in the years 1476, 1496, 1507. 1510. +Humboldt, in quoting these dates, makes a remark to the effect that the +record tends to prove the veracity of the Aztec history, for solar +eclipses really happened in those years, according to the list in the +well-known chronological work, _L'Art de Vrifier les Dates_, as +follows: 28 Feb., 1476; 8 Aug., 1496; 13 Jan., 1507; 8 May, 1510. The +work quoted, however, has only reference to eclipses visible in Europe, +Asia, and Africa, and not to those in America. The question therefore +arises, whether all these four eclipses recorded in _L'Art de Vrifier +les Dates_, were visible in Mexico. As to the last three, I have no +means of answering the question; but it appears that Gama, a Mexican +astronomer of some standing, made a series of calculations for a +totally distinct purpose about the end of the last century, and found +that in 1476 _there was no eclipse of the sun visible in Mexico_, but +that there was a great one on the 13th Feb., 1477, and another on the +28th May, 1481. + +Supposing that Gama made no mistake in his calculations, the idea at +once suggests itself, that the person who compiled or copied the Le +Tellier Codex, some few years after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, +inserted under the date of 1476 (long before the time of the Spaniards) +an eclipse which could not have been recorded there had the document +been a genuine Aztec Calendar; _as, though visible in Europe, it was +not visible in Mexico_. The supposition of the compiler having merely +inserted this date from a European table of eclipses is strengthened by +the fact that _the great eclipse of 1477, which was visible in Mexico, +but not in Europe, is not to be found there_. These two facts tend to +prove that the Codex, though undoubtedly in great part a copy or +compilation from genuine native materials, has been deliberately +sophisticated with a view of giving it a greater appearance of +historical accuracy, by some person who was not quite clever enough to +do his work properly. It may, however, be urged as a proof that the +mistake is merely the result of carelessness, that we find in the MS. +no notice of the eclipse of 25th May, 1481, which was visible both in +Mexico and in Europe, and so ought to have been in the record. This +supposition would be consistent with the Codex being really a document +in which the part relating to the events before the Spanish Conquest in +1521 is of genuine ancient and native origin, though the whole is +compiled in a very grossly careless manner. It would be very desirable +to verify the years of all the four eclipses with reference to their +being visible in Mexico, as this might probably clear up the +difficulty. + +III. TABLE OK AZTEC ROOTS COMPARED WITH SANSCRIT, ETC. + +Several lists of Aztec words compared with those of various +Indo-European languages have been given by philologists. The present is +larger than any I have met with; several words in it are taken from +Buschmann's work on the Mexican languages. It is desirable in a +philological point of view that comparative lists of words of this kind +should be made, even when, as in the present instance, they are not of +sufficient extent to found any theory upon. + +As the Aztec alphabet does not contain nearly all the Sanscrit +consonants, many of them must be compared with the nearest Aztec +sounds, as: + +SANSCRIT, t, th, d, dh, &c. ... AZTEC, t. +SANSCRIT, k, kh, g, gh, &c. ... AZTEC c.q. +SANSCRIT, l, r. ... AZTEC, l. +SANSCRIT, b, bh, v. ... AZTEC, v. or u. + +The Aztec c is soft (as s) before e and i, hard (as k) before a, o, u. +The Aztec ch as in _cheese_. I have followed Molina's orthography in +writing such words as _uel_ or _vel_ (English, _well_) instead of the +more modern, but I think less correct way, _huel_. + + 1. a-, _negative prefix_ (_as_ qualli, _good_; aqualli, _bad_). SANS., + a-; GREEK, a-, &c. + + 2. o-, _preterite augment_ (_as_ nitemachtia, _I teach_; onitemachti, + _I taught_); SANS., a-; compare GREEK e-. + + 3. pal, _prep. by_: compare SANS. _prep._, para, _back_; pari, + _circum_; pra, _before_; GREEK, para; LAT., per. + + 4. ce-, cen-, cem-, _prefix collective_ (_as_ tlalla, _to place_, + centlalla, _to collect_); SANS., sa-, san-, sam-; GREEK, syn; LAT., + syn. + + 5. ce, cen-, cem-, _one_. SANS., sa (_in_ sa-krit, _once_: comp. Bopp, + Gloss., p. 362.) LAT., se-_mel_, si-_mul_, sim-_plex_. + + 6. metz (metz-tli), _moon_. SANS., mas. + + 7. tlal (tlal-li), _earth_. SANS., tala, dhara. LAT., terra, tellus. + + 8. citlal (citlal-in), _star_. SANS., stri, stara. LAT., stella. Eng., + star. + + 9. atoya (atoya-tl), _river_. SANS., udya. + +10. teuh (teuh-tli), _dust_. Sans., dh-li (_from_ dh, to drive + about.) + +11. teo (teo-tl),_god_. Sans., deva. Greek, _Theos_. Lat., deus. + +12. qual (qual-li),_good_. Sans., kalya, kalyna. Greek, kalor. + +13. uel, _well_. Sans., vara, _excellent_; vli, _to choose_. Lat., + velle. Icel., vel. Eng., well. + +14. uel, _power, brave, &c_., (uel-e, tla-uel-e.) Sans., bala, + _strength_. Lat., valeo, valor. + +15. auil, _vicious, wasteful_. Sans., vila, _sinful, guilty;_ abala, + _weak_. Eng., evil. + +16. miec, _much_. Sans., mahat, _great_; manh _or_ mah, _to grow_. + Icel., miok, _much_. Eng., much. + +17. vey, _great_. Sans., bahu, _much_. + +18. -pol, _augmentative affix_ (as tepe-tl. _mountain_; tepepol, _great + mountain_.) Sans., puru, _much_; pula, _great, ample_. Greek, + pothus. + +19. naua (naua-c), _near, by the side of_. Sans., nah, _to join or + connect_. German, nah, _near_. + +20. ten (ten-qui), _fuil_. Sans., tn, _to fill_. + +21. izta (izta-c), _white_. Sans., sita. + +22. cuz (cuz-tic), _red_. Sans, kashya, kasya. + +23. ta (ta-tli), _father_. Sans., tta. + +24. cone (cone-tl), _child. Compare_ Sans., jan, _to beget_. Lat., + gen-itus. German, kin-d. Eng., kin. + +25. pil (pil-li), _child. Compare_ Sans., bla, _boy, child_; bhri, _to + bear children_, &c. Greek, polos, _foal_. Lat., pullus, filius. + Eng.,_foal_, &c., &c. + +26. cax (cax-itl), _cup_. Sans., chasbaka. + +27. paz(?)(a-paz-tli), _vase, basin_. Sans., bajana. _Compare_ Lat., + vas. Eng., vase. + +28. com (com-itl), _earthen pot_. Sans., kumbha. + +29. xuma (xuma-tli), _spoon_. Sans., chamasa; _from_ Sans., cham, _to + eat_. + +30. mich (mich-in), _fish_. Sans., machcha. + +31. zaca (zaca-tl), _grass_. Sans., ska. + +32. col (te-col-li, col-ceuia, &c.), _charcoal_. Sans., jval, _to burn, + flame_; Icel., kol; Eng., coal; Irish, gual. + +33. cen (cen-tli), _grain, maize_. Sans., kana, _grain_. + +34. ehe (ehe-catl), _wind_. Sans., vyu. + +35. mix (mix-tli), _cloud_. Sans., megha; Icel., and Eng., mist. + +36. cal (cal-ii),_house_. Sans., sl. Greek, kalia; Lat., cella. + +37. qua (qua-itl), _head_. Sans., ka. + +38. ix (ix-tli), _eye, face_. Sans., aksha, _eye_; sya, _face_. + +39. can (can-tli), _cheek_, Sans., ganda; Lat., gena. + +40. chichi (chichi-tl), _teat_. Sans., chuchuka. + +41. nene (nene-tl), _pupil of eye_. Sans., nayan. + +42. choloa, _to run or leap_. Sans., char. + +43. caqui (caqui-ztli), _sound_. Sans., kach, _to sound_. + +44. xin (xi-xin-ia), _to cut, ruin, destroy_. Sans., ksin, _to hurt, + kill._ + +45. tlac (tlac-ani), _to run_. Sans., triks, _to go_; Greek, trecho. + +46. patlani, _to fly_. Sans., pat. + +47. mati, _to know_. Sans., medh, _to understand_; mati, _thought, + mind_; Greek root math. + +48. it (it-ta), _to see_. Sans., vid; Greek root id, eidomai, &c.; + Lat., video. + +49. meya, _to flow, trickle_. Sans., mih. + +50. mic (mic-tia), _to kill_. Sans., mi, mith. + +51. cuica, _to sing_. Sans., kj. _to sing, as birds_, &c. + +52. chichi _to suck_. SANS., chsh. + +53. ahnachia, _to sprinkle_: _compare_ SANS. uks. + +54. coton (coton-a),_to cut_. SANS. kutt. + +55. nex (nex-tia), _to shine_. SANS, nad; LAT., niteo. + +55. notz (notz-a), _to call_. SANS., nad. + +57. choc (choc-a),_to lament, cry_. SANS, kuch, _to cry aloud, scream;_ + such, _to wail_. + +58. me(?)(in me-catl, _binding-thing, chain?) to bind_ SANS., m, mava. + +59. qua, _to eat, bite_: compare SANS. charv, _to chew, bite, gnaw_; + chah, _to bruize_; khad, _to eat_.; GERMAN, kauen; ENG., to chew. + +60. te, _thou_. SANS. tvam; LAT., tu. + +61. quen, _how?_ SANS. kena. + +_Other curious resemblances between the Aztec and European languages +are_: + +62. pepeyol, _poplar_. LAT., populus; ICEL., popel. + +63. papal (papal-otl), _butterfly_; LAT., papilio. + +64. ul (ul-li), _juice of the India-rubber tree, used as oil for + anointing, &c._ LAT., oleum; ENG., oil, &c. + + * * * * * + +IV. GLOSSARY. + +ANAHUAC. _Aztec_. "By the water-side." + The name at first applied to the Valley of Mexico, from the + situation of the towns on the banks of the lakes; afterwards + used to denote a great part of the present Republic of Mexico. + +ACOCOTE (_Aztec_, acocotl, water-throat), aloe-sucker's gourd; _see p._ + 91. + +ADOBE, a mud-brick, baked in the sun. + (Perhaps a _Moorish-Spanish_ word. + _Ancient Egyptian_, tobe, a mud-brick; + _Arabic_, toob, pronounced with the article + _at-toob_, whence adobe?) + +AGUAMIEL (honey-water), unfermented aloe-juice. + +AGUARDIENTE (burning-water), ardent spirits. + +AHUEHUETE (_Aztec_, ahuehuetl), the deciduous cypress. + +ALAMEDA (poplar-avenue), public promenade; _see p._ 57. + +ALCALDE, a magistrate (_Moorish-Spanish_, al cadi, "the cadi"). + +ANQUERA (hauncher), covering for horses' haunches; _see p._ 164 (_and + cut, p._ 260). + +ARRIERO, a muleteer. + +ARROYO, a rivulet, mountain-torrent. + +ATAMBOB, a drum. + +ATOLE (_Aztec_, atolli), porridge. + +AVERSADA, a freshet. + +BARATILLO, a Rag-fair, market of odds and ends; _see p._ 169. + +BARBACOA, whence English "barbecue;" _see p._ 95; a native Haitian + word. + +BARRANCCA, a ravine. + +CALZONCILLOS, drawers. + +CAPA, a cloak. + +CAYO, a coral-reef. + +CHAPARREROS, over-trousers of goatskin with the hair on, used in + riding. + +CHINAMPA (_Aztec_, "a place fenced in)," a Mexican "floating garden;" + _see p._ 62. + +CHINGUERITO, Indian-corn brandy. + +CHIPI-CHIPI (_Aztec_, chipini, drizzling rain); _see p._ 26. + +CHUPA-MIRTO (myrtle-sucker), a humming-bird. + +COLEAR, to throw a bull over by the tail (cola); _see p._ 71. + +COMPADRE. COMADRE; _French_, compre, commre; _see p._ 250. + +CORRAL, an enclosure for cattle. + +COSTAL, a bag, or sack. + +COYOTE (_Aztec_, coyotl), a jackal. + +CUARTA, a leather horse-whip; _see_ p. 264. + +CUARTEL, a barrack. + +CUCARACHA, a cockroach. + +CUCHILLO, a knife. + +CURA, a parish-priest. + +DESAGUE, a draining-cut. + +DESAYUNO, breakfast. + +EMANCIPADO (emancipated negro); see p. 6. + +ESCOPETA, a musket. + +ESCRIBANO, a scribe or secretary. + +FANDANGO, a dance. + +FIESTA, a church-festival. + +FRIJOLES, beans. + +FUERO, a legal privilege; _see pp._ 19, 249. + +GACHUPIN, a native of Spain. Supposed to be an Aztec epithet, + _cac-chopina_, that is, "prickly shoes," applied to the Spanish + conquerors from their wearing spurs, which to the Indians were + strange and incomprehensible appendages. + +GARROTE, an instrument for strangling criminals. + +GENTE DE RAZN (reasonable people), white men and half-breed Mexicans, + but not Indians;_ see p._ 61. + +GUAJALOTE (Aztec, huexolotl), a turkey: _see p._ 228. + +GULCHE, a ravine. + +HACENDADO, a planter, landed proprietor, from HACIENDA (literally + "doing," from _hacer_, or _facer_, to do). An estate, establishment, + &c. + +HACIENDA DE BENEFICIO, an establishment for "benefiting" silver, i.e., + for extracting it from the ore. + +HONDA, a sling. + +HORNITOS (little ovens), the small cones near the volcano of Jorullo, + which formerly emitted steam; see p. 92. + +HULE (_Aztec,_ ulli. India-rubber?) a waterproof coat. + +ICHTL (_Aztec,_ thread), thread or string of aloe-fibre. + +ITZTLI (Aztec), obsidian; _see_ p. 100. + +LAZADOR, one who throws the lazo. + +LAZO. a running noose. + +LEPERO, lazzarone, or proltaire; _see p._ 251. + +LLANOS, plains. + +MACHETE, a kind of bill-hook. + +MALACATE (_Aztec,_ malacatl), a spindle, spindle-head, windlass, &c. + +MANTA, cotton-cloth. +MATRACA, a rattle; _see p._ 49. + +MESON, a Mexican caravansery; _see p._ + 209. + +MESTIZO (mixtus) a Mexican of mixed Spanish and Aztec blood. + +METATE (_Aztec_, metlatl) the stone used for rubbing down Indian corn +into paste; see p. 88. + +METALPILE (_Aztec_, metlapilli, i.e. little metlatl), the stone +rolling-pin used in the same process. + +MOLE (_Aztec,_ mulli), Mexican stew. + +MOLINO DE VIENTO (literally a windmill), a whirlwind; _see p._ 31. + +MONTE (literally a mountain), the favourite Mexican game; _see p. _256. + +MOZO, a lad, servant, groom. + +NIO, a child. + +NOPAL (_Aztec_, nopalli), the prickly pear. + +NOETE, the north wind; see p. 21. + +OCOTE (_Aztec_, ocotl), a pine-tree, pine-torch. OLLA, a boiling-pot. + +PASADIZO, a passage; _see p._ 231. + +PASEO, a public promenade. + +PASO, a kind of amble; _see p._ 163. + +PATIO, a court-yard, especially the inner court of a house. + +PATIO-PROCESS, method of extracting the silver from the ore, so called + from its being carried on in paved yards; _see p. _92. + +PATRON, a master, landlord. + +PEDRIGAL, a lava-field. + +PEOS, a debt-slave; _see_ p. 291. + +PETATE (_Aztec_, petlatl), a palm-leaf mat. + +PITO, 1, a whistle, pipe; 2, aloe-fibre thread. + +POTRERO, a water-meadow. + +PULQUE, a drink made from the juice of the aloe; _see_ p. 38. (It is a + corruption of a native South American word, introduced into Mexico by + the Spaniards). + +RANCHERO, a cottager, yeoman. + +RANCHO, a hut. + +RAYA (literally a line), the paying of workmen at a hacienda, &c. + +RAYAR, to pull a horse up short at a line; _see_ p. 163. + +REATA, a horse-rope; _see_ p. 264. + +REBOZO, a woman's shawl; _see_ p. 56. + +RECUA, a train of mules. + +SALA, a hall, dining-room. + +SERAPE, a Mexican blanket; _see_ p. 169. + +SOMBRERO, a hat. + +TACUMENILES, pine-shingles for roofing. + +TEMAZCALLI, Indian vapour-bath; _see_ p. 301. + +TEOCALLI (_Aztec_, god's house), an Aztec pyramid-temple. + +TEFONAZTLI, Indian wooden drum. + +TEQUESQUITE (_Aztec_, tequesquiti), an alkaline efflorescence abundant + on the soil in Mexico, used for soap-making, &c. + +TETZONTLI, porous amygdaloid lava, a stone much used for building in + Mexico. + +TIENDA, a shop; _see_ p. 82. + +TIERRA CALIENTE, the hot region. + +TIERRA FRA, the cold region. + +TIERRA TEMPLADA. the temperate region. + +TLACHIQUEBO (_Aztec_, tlacbiqui, an overseer, from tlachia, to see), a + labourer in an aloe-field, who draws the juice for pulque; _see_ p. + 36. + +TORO, a bull. + +TORTA (literally, a cake); _see_ p. 92. + +TORTILLAS, thin cakes made of Indian corn, resembling oat-cakes; _see_ + p. 33. + +TRAPICHE, a sugar-mill. + +ULEI, _see_ Hule. + +VAQUERO, cow-herd. + +ZOPILOTE (_Aztec_, zopilotl), a turkey-buzzard. + + * * * * * + +V. DESCRIPTION OF THREE VERY RARE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT MEXICAN +MOSAIC-WORK (IN THE COLLECTION OF HENRY CHRISTY, ESQ.). + +These Specimens, two Masks and a Knife, (_see page_ 101.) are +interesting as presenting examples of higher art than has been supposed +to have been attained to by the ancient Mexicans, or any other of the +native American peoples. Their distinctive feature is an incrustation +of Mosaic of Turquoise, cut and polished, and fitted with extreme +nicety,--a work of great labour, time, and cost in any country, and +especially so amongst a people to whom the use of iron was +unknown,--and carried out with a perfection which suggests the idea +that the art must have been long practised under the fostering of +wealth and power, although so few examples of it have come down to us. + +Although considerably varied, they are all three of one family of work, +so to speak; the predominant feature being the use of turquoise; and +the question which presents itself at the outset is--what are the +evidences that this unique work is of Aztec origin? + +The proofs are so interwoven with the style and structure of the +specimens that their appearance and nationality are best treated of +together. + +The Mask of wood is covered with minute pieces of turquoise--cut and +polished, accurately fitted, many thousands in number, and set on a +dark gum or cement. The eyes, however, are acute-oval patches of +mother-of-pearl; and there are two small square patches of the same on +the temples, through which a string passed to suspend the mask; and the +teeth are of hard white shell. The eyes are perforated, and so are the +nostrils, and the upper and lower teeth are separated by a transverse +chink; thus a wearer of the mask (which sits easily on one's face) can +see, breathe, and speak with ease. The features bear that remarkably +placid and contemplative expression which distinguishes so many of the +Aztec works, in common with those of the Egyptians, whether in their +massive stone sculptures, or in the smallest and commonest heads of +baked earth. The face, which is well-proportioned, pleasing, and of +great symmetry, is studded also with numerous projecting pieces of +turquoise, rounded and polished. + +In addition to the character of the work and the style of face, the +evidence of the Aztec origin of this mask is confirmed by the wood +being of the fragrant cedar or cypress of Mexico. It may be remarked +also that the inside is painted red, as are the wooden masks of the +Indians of the North-west coast of America at the present day. + +The Knife presents, both in form and substance, more direct evidence of +its Aztec origin; for, in addition to its incrustation with the unique +mosaic of turquoise, blended (in this case) with malachite and white +and red shell, its handle is sculptured in the form of a crouching +human figure, covered with the skin of an eagle, and presenting the +well-known and distinctive Aztec type of the human head issuing from +the mouth of an animal. (_See cut_, p. 101.) Beyond this there is in +the stone blade the curious fact of a people which had attained to so +complex a design and such an elaborate ornamentation remaining in the +Stone-age; and, somewhat curiously, the locality of that stone blade is +fixed, by its being of that semi-transparent opalescent calcedony which +Humboldt describes as occurring in the volcanic districts of +Mexico--the concretionary silex of the trachytic lavas. + +The second Mask is yet more distinctive. The incrustation of +turquoise-mosaic is placed on the forehead, face, and jaws of a human +skull, the back part of which has been cut away to allow of its being +hung, by the leather thongs which still remain, over the face of an +idol, as was the custom in Mexico thus to mask their gods on +state-occasions. The mosaic of turquoise is interrupted by three broad +transverse bands, on the forehead, face, and chin, of a mosaic of +obsidian, similarly cut (but in larger pieces) and highly polished,--a +very unusual treatment of this difficult and intractable material, the +use of which in any artistic way appears to have been confined to the +Aztecs (with the exception, perhaps, of the Egyptians). + +The eye-balls are nodules of iron-pyrites, cut hemispherically and +highly polished, and are surrounded by circles of hard white shell, +similar to that forming the teeth of the wooden mask. + +The Aztecs made their mirrors of iron-pyrites polished, and are the +only people who are known to have put this material to ornamental use. + +The mixture of art, civilization, and barbarism which the hideous +aspect of this green and black skull-mask presents accords with the +condition of Mexico at the time of the Conquest, under which human +sacrifices on a gigantic scale were coincident with much refinement in +arts and manners. + +The European history of these three specimens is somewhat curious. With +the exception of two in the Museum at Copenhagen, obtained many years +ago by Professor Thomsen from a convent in Rome, and, though greatly +dilapidated, presenting some traces of the game kind of ornamentation, +they are believed to be unique. + +The Wooden Mask and the Knife were long known in a collection at +Florence. Thirty years ago the mask was brought into England from that +city, as Egyptian: and, somewhat later, the knife was obtained from +Venice. + +Subsequently the Skull-mask, with a wig of hair said to be a scalp, was +found at Bruges; a locality which leads to the presumption that the +mask was brought from Mexico soon after the Conquest in 1521, and prior +to the expulsion of the Spaniards from Flanders consequent on the +revolt of the Low Countries in 1579. + +_Note_.--It happens singularly enough, that a curious old work, +_Aldrorandus, Musaeum Metallicum, Bologna_, 1613, contains drawings of +a knife and wooden mask ornamented with mosaic-work of stone, made just +in the came way as those described above, and only differing from them +in the design. What became of them I cannot tell. + + * * * * * + +VI. DASENT'S ESSAY ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL VALUE OF POPULAR TALES AND +LEGENDS. + +Whilst treating of legendary lore in connection with Ethnographry, we +must not forget to refer the reader to the highly useful and +philosophical remarks on this subject in Dasent's Introduction to his +_Popular Tales from the Norse_.[25] Here we see that not only are the +popular tales of any nation indicative of its early condition and its +later progress, but also that the legends, fables, and tales of the +Indo-European nations, at least, bear internal evidence of their having +grown out of a few simple notes--of having sprung from primaeval germs +originating with the old Aryan family, from whom successive migrations +carried away the original myth to be elaborated or degraded according +to the genius and habits of the people. + +Thus other means of resolving the relations of the early races of Man +are added to those previously afforded by ethnographical and +philological research. + + + + + + + +INDEX. + + +Account-keeping, 87. + +Acodada, 57. + +Africans and Chinese, 13. + +Agriculture, 26, 61, 63, 89, 157-161, 172, 216. + +Ahuehuetes, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Alameda, 57. + +Alluvial Deposits, 150. + +Aloes, 35, 136; + huts built of, 36. + +Aloe-fibre, manufacture of, 88. + +Aloe-juice, collected for Pulque, 36, 91. + +Amatlan, 299. + +Amecameca, 265. + +American War, 118-120. + +Amozoque, 295. + +Anahuac, 57, 270. + +Antiquities, collections of, 222-236, 262. + +Antonio, our man, 321. + +Ants, 8. + +Aqueduct of Chapultepec, 55. + +Arch, Aztec, 153, 276. + +Armadillo, 312, 319, 325. + +Arms of Mexico, 42. + +Army, Mexican, 114-119. + +Arrow-heads, 137. + +Art, Aztec, 186, 230, 316. + +Astronomy, Aztec, 237-241, 244. + +Atotonilco, 82, 85. + +Aztec Antiquities, 35, 137, 141-148, 150-156, 183-195, 222-244, + 262-264, 274-280. + +Aztec Civilization, 103. + +Aztec Language, 143, 227, 235, 243, 279, 333. + +Bananas, 178. + +Baratillo, 169-171. + +Barometer, height of, 68. + +Barrancas, 89, 179, 310, 313. + +Barricades, 55. + +Batabano, 3. + +Baths of Santa F, 7. + +Bells, ancient, 235. + +Bits, 167. + +Books, 124. + +Bronze-age, 139. + +Bronze, + stone-cutting with, 138-140; + hatchets, 225; + bells and needles, 235. + +Bull-fights, 70. + +Bull-dogs in Mexico, 149. + +Bull, lazoing the, 253, 323. + +Cacahuamilpn, 200-205. + +Cacao-beans, 227. + +Cactuses, 73, 90, 140, 144. + +Calendar-stone of Mexico, 237-240. + +Canals, 58, 130. + +Canoes, 60, 129, 132, 134. + +Capitalists, 295. + +Cascade of Regla, 93. + +Castor-oil plant, 9. + +Casa Grande, 77, 135. + +Cattle, 16, 31, 323. + +Cave of Cacahuamilpn, 203-205. + +Central American Antiquities, 189-193. + +Cerro de Navajas, 95-100. + +Chalco, + Canal of, 58; + Lake, 173; + +Chalma, 208-214. + +Chapultepec, 55, 57. + +Chinampas, 62. + +Chinese in Cuba, 12. + +Chipi-chipi, 26. + +Cholula, 274-278. + +Church, the, 113, 213, 285-290. + +Church-dances, 211. + +Churches in Mexico, 36, 46. + +Civil-war, 112, 283, 328. + +Cigar-making, 3. + +Clergy of Mexico, 7, 79, 287. + +Clay figures, 229, 275. + +Coach, old-fashioned, 59. + +Cochineal-insect, 24. + +Cockfighting, 254, 256. + +Cockroaches, 325. + +Cocoyotla, 196. + +Colearing, 71. + +Columbus, 4. + +Comonfort, President, 19, 112. + +Compadrazgo, 250. + +Commerce of Mexico, 105. + +Convents in Mexico, 46, 287. + +Convicts, 22. + +Cordova, 25. + +Corrida de Toros, 70. + +Costumes, 51, 62, 168. + +Courier, 167, 310. + +Criminals, 245-249. + +Cuba, 2. + +Cuernavaca, 179. + +Cura of New Gerona, 9. + +Cypress-trees, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Dancing, 207, 211. + +Dasent on Popular Legends, &c., 339. + +Debt-slavery, 291. + +Diligence, travelling by, 37, 173. + +Dishonesty of Mexicans, 80-82. + +Dram-drinking, 83. + +Dress of the Indians, 61. + +Drums, 231. + +Earthquakes, 66. + +Eclipses observed in Mexico, 333. + +Education, 125-128. + +Emancipados, 6, 14. + +English in Mexico, 73, 318. + +Estacin de Mjico, 121. + +Ethnology, 17, 102-104, 187-195, 241-244, 276-280. + +Evaporation, rapid, 75. + +Feather-work, 70. + +Flies' eggs, 156. + +Floating gardens, 62. + +Flooded streets, 65. + +Florida, free blacks from, 5, 10-12. + +Forests, destruction of by Spaniards, 45. + +Fueros, 19. + +Future of Mexico, 329. + +Gambling, 15, 207, 256-258, 320. + +Glass-works, 135. + +Glossary, 335. + +Goddess of War, 222. + +Gold and Silver work, 234. + +Gourd-bottles, 171. + +Grove of Cypresses, 57. + +Guadalupe (Our Lady of), 66, 120-224. + +Hams, Toluca, 219. + +Havana, 1, 326. + +Hedges of Cactus, 73. + +Highlands of Mexico, 35. + +Hill of Drums, 215. + +Holy Week, 47-54. + +Horse-bath, 290. + +Horses, 163-165, 317. + +Hotel d'Yturbide, 39. + +Houses, 25, 36, 91, 135, 172; + built on piles, 41. + +Huamantla, 31. + +Huehuetoca, draining-cut of, 45. + +Humming-birds, 69. + +Indian Baptism, 207. + +Indian Ointment, 324. + +Indians of Mexico, 47,60-64, 80-88, 173, 182, 197-199, 200-208, + 299-309, 314-316. + +Indian Soldiers, 23, 120, 122. + +Indulgences, 52, 124. + +Inquisition, the, 128. + +Insects, 319. + +Intemperance, 47, 83, 307. + +Inundations, 44, 65, 123. + +Iron, 102, 140. + +Irrigation, 86, 157-161, 179. + +Isle of Pines, 4. + +Iztaccihnatl, 268. + +Jacal, Mount, 95. + +Jalapa, 317-321. + +Jorullo, 92. + +Judas, 50. + +Judas's Bones, 49. + +Junta, La, 314. + +Justice, Administration of, 246-248, 300. + +Lakes in Valley of Mexico, 44-46, 65, 130-134, 173. + +Lava-fields, 28, 35, 118. + +Law-courts of Mexico, 249. + +Lazoing, 71, 252-254, 323. + +Legends, 236, 276-279, 340. + +Leper Hospital, 251. + +Leperos, 251. + +Lerma, 219. + +Le Tellier MS., on Eclipses, 332. + +Loadstone mountain, 102. + +Locusts, 298. + +Lonja, 66. + +Machinery in Mexico, 109. + +Magnetic Iron-ore, 102. + +Manufacture of Obsidian Knives, 97, 331. + +Marble Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6. + +Market, Indian, 85, 89. + +Martin, our servant, 273, 321. + +Masks, 110, 226, 235, 337. + +Matracas, 49. + +Mestizos, 48, 61, 300. + +Metate, 88. + +Mexican Dishes, 51; + Ladies, 51; + Words, 227, 263. + +Mexican Police, 149; + War with United States, 118. + +Mexico, City of, 41-44, 111; + Old, 147; + Formation of the country of, 27; + Future of, 329; + People of, 55; + Valley of, 40-46, 270. + +Military Statistics, 115. + +Miners, 79, 258. + +Miraflores, 264. + +Minera, or School of Mines, 47. + +Mirage, 30. + +Mongolian Calendar, 241. + +Monks, 205, 209, 213. + +Morals of Servitude, 81, 293. + +Mosaic work, 101, 110, 235. + +Mosquitos, 5, 325. + +Mules, Mexican, 175. + +Museum of Mexico, 222-237. + +Negress, white, 323. + +Negros in Mexico, 13, 323. + +Nevado de Toluca, 219. + +Nopals, Plantations of, 24. + +Nopalucn, 296. + +Nortes, 21, 23. + +Nuestra Seora de Remedies, 121. + +Nueva Gerona, 4, 8. + +Numerals, Mexican, &c., 107-110. + +Obsidian, + mines of, 95, 99; + knives, &c., 95-102, 137, 229, 331. + +Oculan, 215. + +Old Mexico, 147; + Baths near Tezcuco, 153; + Bridge near Tezcuco, 153. + +Organ-cactus, 73. + +Orizaba, + town of, 26; + volcano of, 18, 29, 226. + +Ornament, common styles of, 185. + +Pachuca, 69, 74. + +Palma Christi, 9. + +Paseo, or Alameda, 57. + +Passport-system (Cuba), 3. + +Pen de los Baos, 131. + +Peons, 291-294. + +People of Mexico, 55. + +Picture-writings, 104, 130, 232-234. + +Pintos, 309. + +Pirates of the Spanish Main, 5. + +Ploughing, 172. + +Police, Mexican, 149. + +Political Economy, 105, 217, 264, 294, 302-309, 328. + +Politics of Mexico, 19, 111-118, 282-284, 290, 328. + +Popocatepetl, ascent of, 265-273. + +Population, 217, 302-309. + +Potrero, 307. + +Pottery, 85, 88, 151, 226, 275. + +Priests, 9, 79, 285-290. + +Prisons, 244-248. + +Promenade of Las Vigas, 64. + +Protective duties, 104, 264. + +Puebla, 113, 281-291. + +Pulque, 35, 37, 91. + +Pulque-shops, 63. + +Pyramids, 43, 141-148, 190, 274-278. + +Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6; + of obsidian, 99; + of Teotihuacn, 137. + +Rag-fair in Mexico, 169. + +Railway, 2, 24, 121. + +Rain, 136, 266. + +Rainy Region, 26. + +Ranches, 25, 266, 299. + +Rattles, 49. + +Real del Monte, 77. + +Rebozo, 56. + +Reform in Mexico, 117. + +Regla, 78; + cascade of, 93. + +Revolutions, 20, 114, 282-284. + +Roads in Mexico, 29, 37, 76. + +Robbers, 32, 117, 170, 297; + Priest-captain of, 34. + +Sacred trees, 215, 265. + +Sacrifice of Spaniards, 145. + +Sacrificial + Clamps, 225; + Stone, 223. + +Saddles, &c., 162-167. + +St. Thomas's, W. Indies, 327. + +Salinas of Campeche, 84. + +Saline condition of the soil, 133. + +Salt, 83, 154. + +Salt-pans, 155. + +Salto del Agua, 55. + +Sand-pillars, 30. + +San Andrs Chalchicomula, 312. + +San Antonio de Abajo, 296. + +San Jos and Earthquakes, 67. + +San Ncolas, 272. + +Santa Anita, 63. + +Santa Maria de Guadalupe, 121. + +Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, 196. + +Sardines, 87. + +School of Mines, 47. + +Scorpions, 319, 322. + +Sculptures at Xochicalco, 185. + +Serape, 169. + +Sheep, 324. + +Shrines of Xochicalco, 193. + +Silver-mines, &c., 74, 92, 105, 107. + +Siege & Capitulation of Puebla, 113, 282. + +Sisal, 16. + +Skull decorated with mosaic work, 337. + +Slave-trade, 13, 16. + +Smuggling, 273, 296. + +Solar Eclipses observed in Mexico, 331. + +Soldiers, 23, 114, 171. + +Soquital, 82. + +Spanish-moss, 57. + +Spurs, 295. + +Stalactitic Cave, 200. + +Statistics of Mexico, 115, 249, 286. + +Stone-hammers, 137. + +Stone knives and weapons, 90, 103. + +Streets of Mexico, 41, 55. + +Sugar-canes, 179. + +Sugar-hacienda, + of Santa Rosita, 196; + of Temisco, 180. + +Sugar-plantations of Havana, 2. + +Tacubaya, 57, 69. + +Tallow, 324. + +Tasco, Silver-mines at, 74. + +Temisco, 179. + +Temple-pyramids--_see_ Pyramids. + +Tenancingo, 218. + +Tenochtitln, 41. + +Ten Tribes, the, 17. + +Teocallis, _see_ Pyramids. + +Teotihuacn, + Pyramids of, 141-148; + Quarries of, 137, 141. + +Tequesquite, 133. + +Tezcotzinco, 152. + +Tezcuco, 129, 150, 260-264; + Aztec Bridge at, 153. + +Tezcuco, Lake of, 65, 129, 138. + +Thieves, 52, 170, 245. + +Tisapn, 118-120. + +Toluca, 219. + +Tortillas, 38. + +Tropical Vegetation, 2, 24, 179. + +Turkey-buzzards, 22. + +Valley of Mexico, 45. + +Yapour-bath, native, 301. + +Vegetation, zones of, 21-27, 178, 216. + +Vera Cruz, 18-21, 325. + +Virjen de Remedios, 123. + +Virgins, the rival, 123. + +Volantes, 2. + +War-idol, 222. + +Water-bottles, 171. + +Water-pipes, 157. + +Xochimilco, Lake of, 173. + +Xochicalco, Ruins of, 183-195. + +Yucatan, 16. + +Zopilites, 22. + + + +[Illustration: DESIGN.] + + + + +NOTES + + + +[1: The mahagua tree furnishes that curious fibrous network which is +known as _bast_, and used to wrap bundles of cigars in. The mahogany +tree is called _caoba_ in Spanish, apparently the original Indian name, +as the Spaniards probably first became acquainted with it in Cuba. Is +our word "mahogany" the result of a confusion of words, and corrupted +from "mahagua?"] + +[2: We heard talk elsewhere, however, of a war going on in the interior +of the country between the white inhabitants and the Indian race; the +apparent object of the whites being to take Indian prisoners, and ship +them off for slaves to Cuba.] + +[3: They must be judged by courts whose members belong to their own +body, and in these special tribunals one can imagine what sort of +justice is meted out to complainants and creditors. Comonfort's hope +was to conciliate the mass of the people by attempting to relieve them +of this enormous abuse. I believe he was honest in his intentions, but +unfortunately the people had already had to do with too many +politicians who were to redress their wrongs and inaugurate a reign of +liberty. They had found very little to come of such movements, but +extra-taxation and civil war, which left them worse off than they were +before, and the patriots generally turned out rather more greedy and +unprincipled than the others; so it was not to be wondered at that no +one came forward to give any very energetic support to the new +President.] + +[4: No one ill uses them but the dogs, who drive them away when +anything better than usual is met with, and they have to stand round in +a circle, waiting for their turn.] + +[5: Ahuehuete, pronounced _a-hwe-hwete_. Thus, Anahuac is +pronounced Ana-hwac; and Chihuahua, Chi-hwa-hwa.] + +[6: In the Swiss Alps, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, +there is a similar plant to be seen fringing the branches of the +pine-trees; but it only grows to the length of a few inches, and will +hardly bear comparison to the long trailing festoons of the Spanish +moss, often fifteen or twenty feet in length.] + +[7: Chalco was and is a freshwater lake, and here they had not even +this to do.] + +[8: The "Lonja" is a feature in the commercial towns of Spanish +America. It is not only the Merchants' Exchange, but their club, +billiard-room, and smoking-room; in fact, their "lounge," and I fancy +the two words are connected with one another.] + +[9: Atotonilco, "Hot-water-place," so called from the hot springs in +the neighbourhood.] + +[10: Soquital, "Clay-place," from the potter's clay which abounds in +the district. Earthenware is the staple manufacture here.] + +[11: The book-name for obsidian is _itztli_, a word which seems to mean +originally "sharp thing, knife," and thence to have been applied to the +material knives are made of. Obsidian was also called _itztetl_, +knife-stone. But no Indian to whom I spoke on the subject would ever +acknowledge the existence of such a word as _itztli_ for obsidian, but +insisted that it was called _bizcli_, which is apparently the corrupt +modern pronunciation of another old name for the same mineral, +_petztli_, shiny-stone.] + +[12: There is an Aztec word "puztequi" (_to break sticks, &c_.) which +may belong to the same root as "tepuztli." The first syllable "te" may +be "te-tl" (_stone_).] + +[13: The researches instituted by Mr. I. Horner in the alluvium near +Heliopolis and Memphis _(Philos. Transact.,_ 1855 & 1856), although +very elaborate, still leave much to be desired before we can arrive at +definite conclusions.] + +[14: _Corixa femorala_, and _Notonecta uniforciata_, according to MM. +Meneville and Virlet d'Aoust, in a Paper on the subject of the granular +or oolitic travertine of Tezcuco in the Bulletin (1859) of the +Geological Society of France.] + +[15: Huauhtli is an indigenous grain abounding in Michoacn, for which +"wheat" is the best equivalent I can give. European wheat was, of +course, unknown in the country until after the Conquest.] + +[16: The _meson_ of Mexico is a lineal descendant of the Eastern +Caravanserai, and has preserved its peculiarities unchanged for +centuries. It consists of two court-yards, one surrounded by stabling +and the other by miserable rooms for the travellers, who must cook +their food themselves, or go elsewhere for it.] + +[17: The Aztecs were accustomed, before the Conquest, to perform dances +as part of the celebration of their religious festivals, and the +missionaries allowed them to continue the practice after their +conversion. The dance in a church, described by Mr. Bullock in 1822, +was a much more genuine Indian ceremony than the one which we saw. + +Church-dancing may be seen in Europe even at the present day. The +solemn Advent dances in Seville cathedral were described to me, by an +eyewitness, as consisting of minuets, or some such stately +old-fashioned dances, performed in front of the high altar by boys in +white surplices, with the greatest gravity and decorum.] + +[18: This assertion must be qualified by a remark of the Abb Brasseur +de Bourbourg, who tells us that in some places the Indians still use +lancets of obsidian to bleed themselves with. I believe there is +nothing of the kind to be found in the part of Mexico which we +visited.] + +[19: The Aztecs had but one word to denote both gold and silver, as +they afterwards made one serve for both iron and copper. This curious +word _teocuitlatl_ we may translate as "Precious Metal," but it means +literally "Dung of the Gods." Gold was "Yellow Precious Metal," and +silver "White Precious Metal." Lead they called _temetztli_, +"Moon-stone;" and when the Spaniards showed them quicksilver, they gave +it the name of _yoli amuchitl_, "Live Tin."] + +[20: It is curious that these latter resemblances (as far as I have +been able to investigate the subject) disappear in the signs of the +Yucatan calendar, though its arrangement is precisely that of the +Mexican. Any one interested in the theory of the Toltecs being the +builders of Palenque and Copan will see the importance of this point. +If the Toltecs ever took the original calendar, with the traces of its +Asiatic origin fresh upon it, down into Yucatan with them, it is at +any rate not to be found there now.] + +[21: The Aztec name for an eclipse of the sun is worthy of remark. They +called it _tonatiuh qualo_, literally "_the sun's being eaten_." The +expression seems to belong to a time when they knew less about the +phenomenon, and had some idea like that of the Asiatic nations who +thought the sun was occasionally swallowed up by the great dragon.] + +[22: I was surprised to find Iztaccihuatl classed among the active +volcanos in Johnston's Physical Atlas, and supposed at first that a +crater had really been found. But it is likely to be only a mistake, +caused by the name of "Volcan" being given to both mountains by the +Mexicans, who used the word in a very loose way.] + +[23: See the illustration at page 281.] + +[24: In the original, _aras_. In the Latin of Hernandez, _arae_ I +suppose to be the little polished stone slabs which are set on the +altars in Roman Catholic churches, and in which their sacred quality +is, so to speak, contained.] + +[25: _Popular Tales from the Norse_. (Translated from Asbjrnsen and +Moe's Collection.) By George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. With an Introductory +Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales.--_Second Edition, +Edinburgh_: 1859.] + + + + +ERRATA: + + Page 5, line 2, _for_ verandalis _read_ verandahs. + + Page 8, line 12, _for_ il _read_ el. + + Page 17, line 17, _for_ part _read_ port. + + Page 20, line 8, _for_ pronunciamento _read_ pronunciamiento. + + Page 22, line 10, _for_ I could _read_ one can. + + Page 27, line 2, _for_ Mexicans _read_ Americana. + + Page 31, Heading, _for_ THE HLANS. HUEMANTLA. _read_ THE RAINS. + HUAMANTLA. + + Page 31, line 4, _for_ molina de viente _read_ molino de viento. + + Page 101, in description of woodcut. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + + + + +Title: Anahuac + +Author: Edward Burnett Tylor + +Release Date: August 4, 2004 [eBook #13115] +Last Updated: October 18, 2017 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC*** + + +E-text prepared by Carlo Traverso, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreaders Team + + + +ANAHUAC + +or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern + +by + +EDWARD B. TYLOR + +1861 + + + + + + +[Illustration: Frontspiece. See page 93. THE CASCADE OF REGLA. From a +Photograph by J. Ball Esq. of the Hacienda de Regla. March 1856.] + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the +narrative and remarks contained in this volume were made in the months +of March, April, May, and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback. +The author and his fellow-traveller enjoyed many advantageous +opportunities of studying the country, the people, and the antiquities +of Mexico, owing to the friendly assistance and hospitality which they +received there. With this aid they were enabled to accomplish much more +than usually falls to the lot of travellers in so limited a period; and +they had the great advantage too, of being able to substantiate or +correct their own observations by the local knowledge and experience of +their friends and entertainers. + +Visiting Mexico during a lull in the civil turmoil of that lamentably +disturbed Republic, they were fortunate in being able to avail +themselves of that peaceable season in making excursions to remarkable +places and ruins, and examining the national collection of antiquities, +and other objects of interest,--an opportunity that cannot have +occurred since owing to the recommencement of civil war in its worst +form. + +The following are some of the chief points of interest in these Notes +on Mexico, which are either new or treated more fully than hitherto: + + 1. The evidence of an immense ancient population, + shewn by the abundance of remains of works of art + (treated of at pages 146-150), is fully stated + here. + + 2. The notices and drawings of Obsidian knives and + weapons (at page 95, &c., and in the Appendix) are + more ample than any previously given. + + 3. The treatment of the Mexican Numerals (at page 108) + is partly new. + + 4. The proofs of the highly probable sophistication of + the document in the Library at Paris, relative to + Mexican eclipses, have not previously been advanced + (see Appendix). + + 5. The notices of objects of Mexican art, &c., in the + chapter on Antiquities, and elsewhere (including + the Appendix), are for the most part new to the + public. + + 6. The remarks on the connection between pure Mexican + art and that of Central America, in the chapter on + Xochicalco, are in great part new. + + 7. The singular native bridge at Tezcuco (page 153) is + another novelty. + +The order in which places and things were visited is shewn in the +annexed Itinerary, or sketch of the journeys and excursions described. + + + + +ITINERARY: + +Journey 1. Cuba. Havana. Batabano. Isles of Pines. + Nueva Gerona. Banos de Santa Fe. Back to + Havana. _Pages_ 1-14. + +Journey 2. Havana. Sisal. Vera Cruz. _Pages_ 15-18. + +Journey 3. Vera Cruz. Cordova. Orizaba. Huamantla. + Otumba. Guadalupe. Mexico. _Pages_ 18-38. + +Journey 4. Mexico to Tacubaya and Chapultepec, and + back. _Pages_ 55-58. + +Journey 5. Mexico to Santa Anita and back. _Pages_ + 59-65. + +Journey 6. Mexico. Guadalupe. Pachuca. Real del + Monte. Regla. Atotonilco el Grande. + Soquital and back to Real del Monte. Real + del Monte to Mount Jacal and Cerro de + Navajas (obsidian-pits), and back to Real + del Monte. Pachuca. Guadalupe. Mexico. + _Pages_ 72-105. + +Journey 7. Mexico to Tisapan. Ravine of Magdalena. + Pedrigal (lava-field), and back. _Pages_ + 118-120. + +Journey 8. Mexico to Tezcuco. Pages 129--162. + Tezcuco to Pyramids of Teotihuacan and + back. Pages 136--146. Tezcuco to + Tezcotzinco (the so-called "Montezuma's + Bath," &c.). Aztec Bridge, and back to + Tezcuco. _Pages_ 152-153. Tezcuco to + Bosque del Contador (the grove of + ahuehuetes, where excavations were made.) + _Pages_ 154-156. Tezcuco to Mexico. + _Page_ 62. + +Journey 9. Mexico. San Juan de Dios. La Guarda. + Cuernavaca. Temisco. Xochicalco. + Miacatlan. Cocoytla. _Pages_ 172-195. + Cocoytla to village and cave of + Cacahuamilpan and back. _Pages_ 196-205. + Cocoytla to Chalma. Oculan. El Desierto. + Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Las Cruzes. + Mexico. _Pages_ 214-220. + +Journey 10. Mexico to Tezcuco. Miraflores. Amecameca. + Popocatepetl. San Nicolas de los Ranchos. + Cholula. Puebla. Amozoque. Nopaluca. San + Antonio de abajo. Orizaba. Amatlan. El + Potrero. Cordova. San Andres. + Chalchicomula. La Junta. Jalapa. Vera + Cruz. West Indies and Home. _Pages_ 260- + 327. + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of + Pines. Mosquitos. Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fe. + Alligators. The Cura. Missionary Priest. Florida Colonists. + Blacks in the West Indies. Chinese and African slaves. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. + Slave-trade in Natives. The Ten Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don + Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican Politics. Casualties. The City of + the Dead. Turkey-buzzards. Northers. The "temperate region." + Cordova. The Chipi-chipi. The "cold region." Mirage. + Sand-pillars. The rainy season. Plundered passengers. + Robber-priest. Aztec remains. Aloe-fields. Houses of + mud-bricks. Huts of aloes. Mexican churches. Mexican roads. + Making pulque. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. + Changes in the Valley of Mexico. Dearth of Trees. + Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. Rattles. Judas's Bones. + Burning Judas. Churches in Holy Week. Streets. Barricades. + People. Women. The cypress of Chapultepec. Old-fashioned + coaches. The canal of Chalco. Canoe-travelling. "Reasonable + people." Taste for flowers. The "Floating Gardens." + Promenade. Flooded streets. Earthquakes. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. + Bullfight. Lazoing and colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of + organ-cactus. Pachuca. Cold in the hills. Rapid evaporation. + Mountain-roads. Real del Monte. Guns and pistols. Regla. The + father-confessor in Mexico. Morals of servitude. Cornish + miners. Dram-drinking. Salt-trade. The Indian market. Indian + Conservatism. Sardines. Account-keeping. The great Barranca. + Tropical fruits. Prickly pears. Their use. The + "Water-Throat." Silver-works. Volcano of Jorullo. Cascade of + Regla. "Eyes of Water." Fires. The Hill of Knives. Obsidian + implements. Obsidian mines. The Stone-age. The + loadstone-mountain of Mexico. Unequal Civilization of the + Aztecs. Silver and commerce of Mexico. Effect of + Protection-duties. Silver mines. The Aztec numerals. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military + Statistics. Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American + war. Mexican army. Our Lady of Guadalupe. Miracles. The rival + Virgins. Sacred lottery-ticket. Literature in Mexico. The + clergy and their system of Education in Mexico. The Holy + Office. Indian Notions of Christianity. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. + Salt-lakes. A storm on the lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. + Quarries. Stone Hammers. Use of Bronze in stone-cutting in + Mexico and Egypt. Prickly Pears. Temple-pyramids of + Teotihuacan. Sacrifice of Spaniards. Old Mexico. Market of + Antiquities. Police. Bull-dogs. Accumulation of Alluvium. + Tezcotzinco. Ancient baths and bridge. Salt and salt-pans. + Fried flies'-eggs. Water-pipes. Irrigation. Agriculture in + Mexico. History repeats itself. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Horses and their training. Saddles and bits. The Courier. + Leather clothes. The Serape. The Rag-fair of Mexico, Thieves. + Gourd water-bottles. Ploughing. Travelling by Diligence. + Indian carriers. Mules. Breakfast. Bragadoccio. Robbers. + Escort. Cuernavaca. Tropical Vegetation. Sugar-cane. Temisco. + Sugar-hacienda. Indian labourers. The evensong. The Raya. + Strength of the Indians. Xochicalco. Ruins of the Pyramid. + Sculptures. Common ornaments. The people of Mexico and + Central America. Their civilization. Pear-shaped heads. + Miacatlan. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Cocoyotla. Indian labourers. Political Condition of the + Indians. Indian Village and huts. Cotton-spinning. The Indian + Alcalde. Great Cave of Cacahuamilpan. Optical phenomenon. + Monk on horseback. Religion of the Indians. Idols. Baptism by + wholesale. Village amusements. Dancing. Chalma. The meson and + the convent. Church-dances. The miller's daughter. Young + friar. The Hill of Drums. Sacred cypress-tree. Oculan. Change + of climate. Grain-districts of Mexico. The Desierto. + Tenancingo. Toluca. Lerma. Robbers. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Museum. Fate of Antiquities. War-God. Sacrificial Stone. + Mexican words naturalized in Europe, &c. Chamber of Horrors. + Aztec Art. Wooden Drums. Aztec Picture-writings. The + "Man-flaying" Mr. Uhde's Collection. Mr. Christy's + Collection. Bones of Giants. Cortes' Armour. Mexican + Calendar-stone. Aztec Astronomy. Mongol Calendar. + Peculiarities of Aztec Civilization. The Prison at Mexico. No + "Criminal class." Prison-discipline. The Garotte. Mexican + law-courts. Statistics. The Compadrazgo. Leperos and Lepers. + Lazoing the bull. Cockfighting. Gambling. Monte. The + fortunate Miners. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + A travelling companion. Mexicans who live by their wits. + Jackal-masks, &c. Mexican words used in the United States. + Miraflores. Cotton-factory. Sacred Mount and Cypress-tree. + Rainy Season. Ascent of Popocatepetl. The Crater. View of + Anahuac. Descent from Popocatepetl. Plain of Puebla. + Snow-blindness. Hospitable Shopkeeper. Morality of Smuggling. + Pyramid and Antiquities of Cholula. Hybrid Legends of Mexico. + Genuine Legends. Old-world analogies among the Aztecs. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Puebla. The Pasadizos. Revolutions in Mexico. Festival of + Corpus Christi. Mexican clergy. Their incomes and morals. + Scourging. Religion of the People. Anomalous constitution of + the Republic. The horse-bath. Debt-slaves or peons. Great + fortunes in Mexico. Amozoque. Spurs. Nopalucan. Orizaba. + Robbers. Locusts. Indian village. Inroads of Civilization. + Lawsuits. Native Aristocracy. The vapour-bath. Scanty + population. Its explanation. Unhealthy habits. Epidemics. + Intemperance. Pineapples. Potrero. Negros. Mixed races. + "Painted men." + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Barrancas. Indian trotting. Flowers. Armadillo. Fire-flies. + Singular Fandango. Epiphytes. The Junta. Indian Life. + Decorative Art. Horses. Jalapa. Anglo-Mexicans. Insect-life. + Monte. Fate of Antonio. Scorpion. White Negress. Cattle. + Artificial lighting. Vera Cruz. Further Journey. St. + Thomas's. Voyage to England. Future destinies of Mexico. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + I. The Manufacture of Obsidian Knives. + II. On the Solar Eclipses recorded in the Le Tellier MS. +III. Table of Aztec roots. + IV. Glossary. + V. Ancient Mexican mosaic work (in Mr. Christy's Collection). + VI. Dasent's Essay on the Ethnographical value of Popular Tales and + Legends. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: + +PLATES: + + Cascade of Regla. _From a photograph by J. Bell, Esq. (To face + title-page.)_ + + Porter and Baker in Mexico. + + Indians bringing Country Produce to Market. + + Indians in a Rancho, making and baking Tortillas. + + Map to illustrate Messrs. Tylor and Christy's journeys and excursions + In Mexico. + + + +WOODCUTS: + + _(The cuts of smaller objects of antiquity, and articles at present + in use, have been drawn from specimens in the Collection of Henry + Christy, Esq.)_ + + Indian Tlachiquero, collecting juice of the Agave for Pulque. + + View of Part of the Valley of Mexico. + + Water-carrier and Mexican Woman at the Fountain. + + Group of Mexican Ecclesiastics. + + Stone Spear-heads, and Obsidian Knives and Arrow-heads, from Mexico. + + Fluted Prism of Obsidian, and Knife-flakes. + + Mexican Arrow-heads of Obsidian. + + Aztec Stone-knife, with wooden handle, inlaid with mosaic work. + + Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + + The Rebozo and the Serape. + + Aztec Bridge near Tezcuco. + + Spanish-Mexican Saddle and appendages. + + Spanish-Mexican Bit, with ring and chain. + + Sculptured Panel, from Xochicalco. _(After Nebel)_. + + Small Aztec Head in Terra-cotta. + + Ixtacalco Church. + + Spanish-Mexican Spurs. + + Goddess of War. _(After Nebel)_. + + Three Views of a Sacrificial Collar or Clamp, carved out of hard + stone. + + Two Views of a Mask, carved out of hard stone. + + Ancient Bronze Bells. + + Spanish-Mexican Cock-spurs. + + Leather Sandals. + + Mexican Costumes. _(After Nebel)_. + + View of Orizaba. + + Indians of the Plateau. _(After Nebel)_. + + + + +[Illustration: MAP OF PART OF MEXICO TO ILLUSTRATE A JOURNEY FROM VERA +CRUZ TO MEXICO AND BACK & EXCURSIONS IN THE COUNTRY, By Messrs. E.B. +Tylor and H. Cristy.] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +THE ISLE OF PINES. + +In the spring of 1856, I met with Mr. Christy accidentally in an +omnibus at Havana. He had been in Cuba for some months, leading an +adventurous life, visiting sugar-plantations, copper-mines, and +coffee-estates, descending into caves, and botanizing in tropical +jungles, cruising for a fortnight in an open boat among the +coral-reefs, hunting turtles and manatis, and visiting all sorts of +people from whom information was to be had, from foreign consuls and +Lazarist missionaries down to retired slave-dealers and assassins. + +As for myself, I had been travelling for the best part of a year in the +United States, and had but a short time since left the live-oak forests +and sugar-plantations of Louisiana. We agreed to go to Mexico together; +and the present notes are principally compiled from our +memorandum-books, and from letters written home on our journey. + +Before we left Cuba, however, we made one last excursion across the +island, and to the _Isla de Pinos_--the Isle of Pines--off the southern +coast. A volante took us to the railway-station. The volante is the +vehicle which the Cubans specially affect; it is like a Hansom cab, but +the wheels are much taller, six and a half feet high, and the black +driver sits postillion-wise upon the horse. Our man had a laced jacket, +black leather leggings, and a pair of silver spurs fastened upon his +bare feet, which seemed at a little distance to have well polished +boots on, they were so black and shiny. + +The railway which took us from Havana to Batabano had some striking +peculiarities. For a part of the way the track passed between two walls +of tropical jungle. The Indian fig trees sent down from every branch +suckers, like smooth strings, which rooted themselves in the ground to +draw up more water. Acacias and mimosas, the seiba and the mahagua, +with other hard-wood trees innumerable, crowded close to one another; +while epiphytes perched on every branch, and creepers bound the whole +forest into a compact mass of vegetation, through which no bird could +fly. We could catch the strings of convolvulus with our walking-sticks, +as the train passed through the jungle. Sometimes we came upon a swamp, +where clusters of bamboos were growing, crowned with tufts of pointed +leaves; or had a glimpse for a moment of a group of royal palms upon +the rising ground. + +We passed sugar-plantations with their wide cane-fields, the +sugar-houses with tall chimneys, and the balconied house of the +administrador, keeping a sharp look out over the village of +negro-cabins, arranged in double lines. + +In the houses near the stations where we stopped, cigar-making seemed +to be the universal occupation. Men, women, and children were sitting +round tables hard at work. It made us laugh to see the black men +rolling up cigars upon the hollow of their thighs, which nature has +fashioned into a curve exactly suited to this process. + +At Batabano the steamer was waiting at the pier, and our passports and +ourselves were carefully examined by the captain, for Cuba is the +paradise of passport offices, and one cannot stir without a visa. For +once everybody was _en regle_, and we had no such scene as my companion +had witnessed a few days before. + +If you are a married man resident in Cuba, you cannot get a passport to +go to the next town without your wife's permission in writing. Now it +so happened that a respectable brazier, who lived at Santiago de Cuba, +wanted to go to Trinidad. His wife would not consent; so he either got +her signature by stratagem, or, what is more likely, gave somebody +something to get him a passport under false pretences. + +At any rate he was safe on board the steamer, when a middle-aged +female, well dressed, but evidently arrayed in haste, and with a face +crimson with hard running, came panting down to the steamer, and rushed +on board. Seizing upon the captain, she pointed out her husband, who +had taken refuge behind the other passengers at a respectful distance; +she declared that she had never consented to his going away, and +demanded that his body should be instantly delivered up to her. The +husband was appealed to, but preferred staying where he was. The +captain produced the passport, perfectly _en regle_, and the lady made +a rush at the document, which was torn in half in the scuffle. All +other means failing, she made a sudden dash at her husband, probably +intending to carry him off by main force. He ran for his life, and +there was a steeplechase round the deck, among benches, bales, and +coils of rope; while the passengers and the crew cheered first one and +then the other, till they could not speak for laughing. The husband was +all but caught once; but a benevolent passenger kicked a camp-stool in +the lady's way, and he got a fresh start, which he utilized by climbing +up the ladder to the paddle-box. His wife tried to follow him, but the +shouts of laughter which the black men raised at seeing her +performances were too much for her, and she came down again. Here the +captain interposed, and put her ashore, where she stood like black-eyed +Susan till the vessel was far from the wharf, not waving her lily hand, +however, but shaking her clenched fist in the direction of the +fugitive. + +To return to our voyage to the Isle of Pines.--All the afternoon the +steamer threaded her way cautiously among the coral-reefs which rose +almost to the surface. Sometimes there seemed scarcely room to pass +between them, and by night navigation would have been impossible. We +were just in the place where Columbus and his companions arrived on +their expedition along the Cuban coast, to find out what countries lay +beyond. They sailed by day, and lay to at night, till their patience +was worn out. Another day or two of sailing would have brought them to +where the coast trends northwards; but they turned back, and Columbus +died in the belief that Cuba was the eastern extremity of the continent +of Asia. + +The Spaniards call these reefs "cayos," and we have altered the name to +"keys," such as _Key West_ in Florida, and _Ambergris Key_ off Belize. + +It was after sunset, and the phosphorescent animals were making the sea +glitter like molten metal, when we reached the Isle of Pines, and +steamed slowly up the river, among the mangroves that fringe the banks, +to the village of Nueva Gerona, the port of the island. It consisted of +two rows of houses thatched with palm-leaves, and surrounded by wide +verandahs; and between them a street of unmitigated mud. + +As we walked through the place in the dusk, we could dimly discern the +inhabitants sitting in their thatched verandahs, in the thinnest of +white dresses, gossipping, smoking, and love-making, tinkling guitars, +and singing seguidillas. It was quite a Spanish American scene out of a +romance. There was no romance about the mosquitos, however. The air was +alive with them. When I was new to Cuba, I used to go to bed in the +European fashion; and as the beds were all six inches too short, my +feet used to find their way out in the night, and the mosquitos came +down and sat upon them. Experience taught us that it was better to lie +down half-dressed, so that only our faces and hands were exposed to +their attacks. + +The Isle of Pines used to be the favourite resort of the pirates of the +Spanish main; indeed there were no other inhabitants. The creeks and +rivers being lined with the densest vegetation, a few yards up the +winding course of such a creek, they were lost in the forest, and a +cruiser might pass within a few yards of their lurking-place, and see +no traces of them. Captain Kyd often came here, and stories of his +buried treasures are still told among the inhabitants. Now the island +serves a double purpose; it is a place of resort for the Cubans, who +come to rusticate and bathe, and it serves as a settlement for those +free black inhabitants of Florida who chose to leave that country when +it was given up to the United States. One of these Floridanos +accompanied us as our guide next day to the Banos de Santa Fe. + +When we left the village we passed near the mangrove trees, which were +growing not only near the water but in it, and like to spread their +roots among the thick black slime which accumulates so fast in this +country of rapid vegetable growth, and as rapid decomposition. In Cuba, +the mangoe is the abomination of the planters, for they supply the +runaway slaves with food, upon which they have been known to subsist +for months, whilst the mangroves give them shelter. A little further +inland we found the guava, a thick-spreading tree, with smooth green +leaves. From its fruit is made guava-jelly, but as yet it was not ripe +enough to eat. + +In the middle of the island we came upon marble-quarries. They are +hardly worked now; but when they were first established, a number of +emancipados were employed there. What emancipados are, it is worth +while to explain. They are Africans taken from captured slavers, and +are set to work under government inspection for a limited number of +years, on a footing something like that of the apprentices in Jamaica, +in the interregnum between slavery and emancipation. In Cuba it is +remarked that the mortality among the emancipados is frightful. They +seldom outlive their years of probation. The explanation of this piece +of statistics is curious. The fact is that every now and then, when an +old man dies, they bury him as one of the emancipados, whose register +is sent in to the Government as dead; while the negro himself goes to +work as a slave in some out-of-the-way plantation where no tales are +told. + +We left the marble-quarries, and rode for miles over a wide savannah. +The soil was loose and sandy and full of flakes of mica, and in the +watercourses were fragments of granite, brought down from the hills. +Here flourished palm trees and palmettos, acacias, mimosas, and +cactuses, while the mangoe and the guava tree preferred the damper +patches nearer to the coast. The hills were covered with the pine-trees +from which the island has its name; and on the rising ground at their +base we saw the strange spectacle of palms and fir trees growing side +by side. + +Where we came upon a stream, the change in the vegetation was +astonishing. It was a sudden transition from an English, plantation of +fir trees into the jungle of the tropics, full of Indian figs, palms, +lancewood, and great mahagua[1] trees, all knotted together by endless +creepers and parasites; while the parrots kept up a continual +chattering and screaming in the tree-tops. The moment we left the +narrow strip of tropical forest that lined the stream we were in the +pine wood. Here the first two or three feet of the trunks of the pine +trees were scorched and blackened by the flames of the tall dry +savannah-grass, which grows close round them, and catches fire several +times every year. Through the pine forest the conflagration spreads +unobstructed, as in an American prairie; but it only runs along the +edge of the dense river-vegetation, which it cannot penetrate. + +The Banos de Santa Fe are situated in a cleared space among the fir +trees. The baths themselves are nothing but a cavity in the rock, into +which a stream, at a temperature of about 80 deg., continually flows. A +partition in the middle divides the ladies from the gentlemen, but +allows them to continue their conversation while they sit and splash in +their respective compartments. + +The houses are even more quaint than the bathing-establishment. The +whole settlement consists of a square field surrounded by little +houses, each with its roof of palm leaves and indispensable verandah. +Here the Cubans come to stay for months, bathing, smoking cigarettes, +flirting, gossiping, playing cards, and strumming guitars; and they +seemed to be all agreed on one point, that it was a delightful +existence. We left them to their tranquil enjoyments, and rode back to +Nueva Gerona. + +Next morning we borrowed a gun from the engineer of the steamboat, and +I bought some powder and shot at a shop where they kept two young +alligators under the counter for the children to play with. The creeks +and lagoons of the island are full of them, and the negroes told us +that in a certain lake not far off there lived no less a personage than +"the crocodile king"--"_el rey de los crocodilos_;" but we had no time +to pay his majesty a visit. Two of the Floridan negroes rowed us up the +river. Even at some distance from the mouth, sting-rays and jelly-fish +were floating about. As we rowed upwards, the banks were overhung with +the densest vegetation. There were mahogany trees with their curious +lop-sided leaves, the copal-plant with its green egg-like fruit, from +which copal oozes when it is cut, like opium from a poppy-head, palms +with clusters of oily nuts, palmettos, and guavas. When a palm-tree on +the river-bank would not grow freely for the crowding of other trees, +it would strike out in a slanting direction till it reached the clear +space above the river, and then shoot straight upwards with its crown +of leaves. + +We shot a hawk and a woodpecker, and took them home; but, not many +minutes after we had laid them on the tiled floor of our room, we +became aware that we were invaded. The ants were upon us. They were +coming by thousands in a regular line of march up our window-sill and +down again inside, straight towards the birds. When we looked out of +the window, there was a black stripe lying across the court-yard on the +flags, a whole army of them coming. We saw it was impossible to get the +skins of the birds, so threw them out of the window, and the advanced +guard faced about and followed them. + +On the sand in front of the village the Castor-oil plant flourished, +the _Palma Christi_; its little nuts were ripe, and tasted so innocent +that, undeterred by the example of the boy in the Swiss Family +Robinson, I ate several, and was handsomely punished for it. In the +evening I recounted my ill-advised experiment to the white-jacketed +loungers in the verandah of the inn, and was assured that I must have +eaten an odd number! The second nut, they told me with much gravity, +counteracts the first, the fourth neutralizes the third, and so on ad +infinitum. + +We made two clerical acquaintances in the Isle of Pines. One was the +Cura of New Gerona, and his parentage was the only thing remarkable +about him. He was not merely the son of a priest, but his grandfather +was a priest also. + +The other was a middle-aged ecclesiastic, with a pleasant face and an +unfailing supply of good-humoured fun. Everybody seemed to get +acquainted with him directly, and to become quite confidential after +the first half-hour; and a drove of young men followed him about +everywhere. His reverence kept up the ball of conversation continually, +and showed considerable skill in amusing his auditors and drawing them +out in their turn. It is true the jokes which passed seemed to us mild, +but they appeared to suit the public exactly; and indeed, the Padre was +quite capable of providing better ones when there was a market for +them. + +We found that though a Spaniard by birth, he had been brought up at the +Lazarist College in Paris, which we know as the training-school of the +French missionaries in China; and we soon made friends with him, as +everyone else did. A day or two afterwards we went to see him in +Havana, and found him hard at his work, which was the superintendence +of several of the charitable institutions of the city--the Foundling +Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum, and others. His life was one of incessant +labour, and indeed people said he was killing himself with over-work, +but he seemed always in the same state of chronic hilarity; and when he +took us to see the hospitals, the children and patients received him +with demonstrations of great delight. + +I should not have said so much of our friend the Padre, were it not +that I think there is a moral to be got out of him. I believe he may be +taken as a type, not indeed of Roman Catholic missionaries in general, +but of a certain class among them, who are of considerable importance +in the missionary world, though there are not many of them. Taking the +Padre as a sample of his class, as I think we may--judging from the +accounts of them we meet with in books, it is curious to notice, how +the point in which their system is strongest is just that in which the +Protestant system is weakest, that is, in social training and +deportment. What a number of men go to India with the best intentions, +and set to work at once, flinging their doctrines at the natives before +they have learnt in the least to understand what the said natives' +minds are like, or how they work,--dropping at once upon their pet +prejudices, mortally offending them as a preliminary step towards +arguing with them; and in short, stroking the cat of society backwards +in the most conscientious manner. By the time they have accomplished +this satisfactory result, a man like our Cuban Padre, though he may +have argued but little and preached even less, would have a hundred +natives bound to him by strong personal attachment, and ready to accept +anything from him in the way of teaching. + +We paid a regular round of visits to the Floridan settlers, and were +delighted with their pleasant simple ways. It is not much more than +thirty years since they left Florida, and many of the children born +since have learnt to speak English. The patches of cultivated land +round their cottages produce, with but little labour, enough vegetables +for their subsistence, and to sell, procuring clothing and such +luxuries as they care for. They seemed to live happily among +themselves, and to govern their little colony after the manner of the +Patriarchs. + +Whether any social condition can be better for the black inhabitants of +the West Indies, than that of these settlers, I very much doubt. They +are not a hard-working people, it is true; but hard work in the climate +of the tropics is unnatural, and can only be brought about by unnatural +means. That they are not sunk in utter laziness one can see by their +neat cottages and trim gardens. Their state does not correspond with +the idea of prosperity of the political economist, who would have them +work hard to produce sugar, rum, and tobacco, that they might earn +money to spend in crockery and Manchester goods; but it is suited to +the race and to the climate. If we measure prosperity by the enjoyment +of life, their condition is an enviable one. + +I think no unprejudiced observer can visit the West Indies without +seeing the absurdity of expecting the free blacks to work like slaves, +as though any inducement but the strongest necessity would ever bring +it about. There are only two causes which can possibly make the blacks +industrious, in our sense of the word,--slavery, or a population so +crowded as to make labour necessary to supply their wants. + +In one house in the Floridan colony we found a _menage_ which was +surprising to me, after my experience of the United States. The father +of the family was a white man, a Spaniard, and his wife a black woman. +They received us with the greatest hospitality, and we sat in the porch +for a long time, talking to the family. One or two of the mulatto +daughters were very handsome; and there were some visitors, young white +men from the neighbouring village, who were apparently come to pay +their devoirs to the young ladies. Such marriages are not uncommon in +Cuba; and the climate of the island is not unfavourable for the mixed +negro and European race, while to the pure whites it is deadly. The +Creoles of the country are a poor degenerate race, and die out in the +fourth generation. It is only by intermarriage with Europeans, and +continual supplies of emigrants from Europe, that the white population +is kept up. + +On the morning of our departure we climbed a high lull of limestone, +covered in places with patches of a limestone-breccia, cemented with +sandstone, and filling the cavities in the rock. All over the hill we +found doubly refracting Iceland-spar in quantities. Euphorbias, in +Europe mere shrubs, were here smooth-limbed trees, with large flowers. +From the top of the hill, the character of the savannahs was well +displayed. Every water-course could be traced by its narrow line of +deep green forest, contrasting with the scantier vegetation of the rest +of the plain. + +As we steamed out of the river, rows of brilliant red flamingos were +standing in the shallow water, fishing, and here and there a pelican +with his ungainly beak. Our Chinese crew were having their meal of rice +when we walked forward, and the national chopsticks were hard at work. +We talked to several of them. They could all speak a little Spanish, +and were very intelligent. + +The history of these Chinese emigrants is a curious one. Agents in +China persuade them to come out, and they sign a contract to work for +eight years, receiving from three to five dollars a month, with their +food and clothing. The sum seems a fortune to them; but, when they come +to Cuba, they find to their cost that the value of money must be +estimated by what it will buy. They find that the value of a black +labourer is thirty dollars a month, and they have practically sold +themselves for slaves; for there is no one to prevent the masters who +have bought the contract for their work from treating them in all +respects as slaves. The value of such a contract--that is, of the +Chinaman himself, was from L30 to L40 when we were in the island. +Fortunately for them, they cannot bear the severe plantation-work. Some +die after a few days of such labour and exposure, and many more kill +themselves; and the utter indifference with which they commit suicide, +as soon as life seems not worth having, contributes to moderate the +exactions of their masters. A friend of ours in Cuba had a Chinese +servant who was impertinent one day, and his master turned him out of +the room, dismissing him with a kick. The other servants woke their +master early next morning, with the intelligence that the Chinese had +killed himself in the night, to expiate the insult he had received. + +Of African slaves brought into the island, the yearly number is about +15,000. All the details of the trade are matter of general notoriety, +even to the exact sum paid to each official as hush-money. It costs a +hundred dollars for each negro, they say, of which a gold ounce (about +L3 16s.) is the share of the Captain-general. To this must be added the +cost of the slave in Africa, and the expense of the voyage; but when +the slave is once fairly on a plantation he is worth eight hundred +dollars; so it may be understood how profitable the trade still is, if +only one slaver out of three gets through. + +The island itself with its creeks and mangrove-trees is most favourable +for their landing, if they can once make the shore; and the Spanish +cruisers will not catch them if they can help it. If a British cruiser +captures them, the negroes are made emancipados in the way I have +already explained. + +Hardly any country in the world is so thoroughly in a false position as +England in her endeavours to keep down the Cuban slave-trade, with the +nominal concurrence of the Spanish government, and the real vigorous +opposition of every Spaniard on the island, from the Captain-General +downwards. Even the most superficial observer who lands for an hour or +two in Havana, while his steamer is taking in coals, can have evidence +of the slave-trade brought before his eyes in the tattooed faces of +native Africans, young and middle-aged, in the streets and markets; +just as he can guess, from the scored backs of the negroes, what sort +of discipline is kept up among them. + +We slept on board the steamboat off the pier of Batabano, and the +railway took us back to Havana next morning. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +HAVANA TO VERA CRUZ--VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO. + +On the 8th of March, we went on board the "Mejico" steamer, +American-built, and retaining her American engineers, but in other +respects converted into a Spanish vessel, and now lying in the harbour +of Havana bound for Vera Cruz, touching at Sisal in Yucatan. At eight +o'clock we weighed anchor, and were piloted through the narrow passage +which leads out of the harbour past the castle of El Morro and the fort +of Cabanas, the view of whose ramparts and batteries caused quite a +flourish of trumpets among our Spanish fellow-passengers, who firmly +believe in their impregnability. + +Among our fellow-passengers were a company of fifth-rate comedians, +going to Merida by way of Sisal. There was nothing interesting to us +about them. Theatrical people and green-room slang vary but little over +the whole civilized world. There were two or three Spanish and French +tradesmen going back to Mexico. They talked of nothing but the dangers +of the road, and not without reason as it proved, for they were all +robbed before they got home. Several of the rest were gamblers or +political adventurers, or both, for the same person very often unites +the two professions out here. Spain and the Spanish American Republics +produce great numbers of these people, just as Missouri breeds +border-ruffians and sympathizers. But the ruffian is a good fellow in +comparison with these well-dressed, polite scoundrels, who could have +given Fielding a hint or two he would have been glad of for the +characters of Mr. Jonathan Wild and his friend the Count. + +On the morning of the third day of our voyage we reached Sisal, and as +soon as the captain would let us we went ashore, in a canoe that was +like a flat wooden box. This said captain was a Catalan, and a surly +fellow, and did not take the trouble to disguise the utter contempt he +felt for our inquisitive ways, which he seemed quite to take pleasure +in thwarting. It was the only place we were to see in Yucatan, a +country whose name is associated with ideas of tropical fruits, where +you must cut your forest-path with a machete, and of vast ruins of +deserted temples and cities, covered up with a mass of dense +vegetation. But here there was nothing of this kind. Sisal is a +miserable little town, standing on the shore, with a great salt-marsh +behind it. It has a sort of little jetty, which constitutes its claim +to the title of _port_; and two or three small merchant-vessels were +lying there, taking in cargoes of logwood (the staple product of the +district), mahogany, hides, and deerskins. The sight of these latter +surprised us; but we found on enquiry that numbers of deer as well as +horned cattle inhabit the thinly-peopled districts round the shores of +the Mexican Gulf, and flourish in spite of the burning climate, except +when a year of drought comes, which kills them off by thousands. + +One possible article of export we examined as closely as opportunity +would allow, namely, the Indian inhabitants. There they are, in +every respect the right article for trade:--brown-skinned, incapable +of defending themselves, strong, healthy, and industrious; and +the creeks and mangrove-swamps of Cuba only three days' sail off. +The plantations and mines that want one hundred thousand men to bring +them into full work, and swallow aborigines, Chinese, and negroes +indifferently--anything that has a dark skin, and can be made to +work--would take these Yucatecos in any quantity, and pay well for +them. And once on a sugar-estate or down a mine, when their sham +registers are regularly made out, and the Governor has had his ounce of +gold apiece for passing them, and his subordinates their respective +rights, who shall get them out again, or even find them? + +This idea struck us as we sat looking at the Indians hard at work, +loading and unloading; and finding an intelligent Spaniard, we fell to +talking with him. Indians had been carried off to Cuba, he said, but +very few, none since 1854, when two Englishmen came to the coast with a +schooner on pretence of trading, and succeeded in getting clear off +with a cargo of seventy-two natives on board. But being caught in a +heavy gale of wind, they put in for safety--of all places in the +world--into the British part of Belize. There some one found out what +their cargo consisted of, the vessel was seized, the Indians sent back, +and the two adventurers condemned to hard labour, one for four years, +the other for two and a half. In a place where the fatigue and exposure +of drill and mounting guard is death to a European soldier, this was +most likely a way of inflicting capital punishment, slow, but pretty +sure.[2] + +When the Spaniards came to these countries, as soon as they had leisure +to ask themselves what could be the origin of the people they found +there, the answer came at once, "the lost tribes of Israel," of course. +And as we looked at these grave taciturn men, with their brown +complexions, bright eyes, and strikingly aquiline noses, it did not +seem strange that this belief should have been generally held, +considering the state of knowledge on such matters in those days. We +English found the ten tribes in the Red men of the north; Jews have +written books in Hebrew for their own people, to make known to them +that the rest of their race had been found in the mountains of Chili, +retaining unmistakable traces of their origin and conversing fluently +in Hebrew; and but lately they turned up, collected together and +converted to Christianity, on the shores of the Caspian. The last two +theories have their supporters at the present day. Crude as most of +these ideas are, one feels a good deal of interest in the first inquiry +that set men thinking seriously about the origin of races, and laid the +foundation of the science of ethnology. + +Our return on board was a long affair, for there was a stiff breeze, +almost in our teeth; and our unwieldy craft was obliged to make tack +after tack before we could reach the steamer. Great Portuguese +men-of-war were floating about, waiting for prey; and we passed through +patches of stringy gulf-weed, trailing out into long ropes. The water +was hot, the thermometer standing at 84 deg. when we dipped it over the +side. + +On the morning of the 12th, when we went on deck, there was a grand +sight displayed before us. No shore visible, but a heavy bank of clouds +on the horizon; and, high above them, towering up into the sky, the +snowy summit of Orizaba, a hundred and fifty miles off. + +Before noon, we are entering the harbour of Vera Cruz. The little +island and fort of San Juan de Ulua just opposite the wharfs, the +island of Sacrificios a little farther to the left. A level line of +city-wall along the water's edge; and, visible above it, the flat roofs +of the houses, and the towers and cupolas of many churches. All grey +stone, only relieved by the colored Spanish tiles on the church-roofs, +and a flag or two in the harbour. Not a scrap of vegetation to be seen, +and the rays of a tropical sun pouring down upon us. + +Established in the Casa de Diligencias, we deliberated as to our +journey to Mexico. The diligences to the capital, having been stopped +for some months on account of the disturbed state of the country, had +just begun to run again, avoiding Puebla, which was being besieged. We +were anxious to be off at once; but Mr. Christy sagaciously remarking +that the robbers would know of the arrival of the steamer, and would +probably take the first diligence that came afterwards, we booked our +places for the day after. + +We were very kindly received by the English merchants to whom my +companion had letters, and we set ourselves to learn what was the real +state of things in Mexico. + +On an average, the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico had changed +hands once every eight months for the last ten years; and Don Ignacio +Comonfort had stepped into the office in the previous December, on the +nomination of his predecessor the mulatto general Alvarez, who had +retired to the southern provinces with his army. + +President Comonfort, with empty coffers, and scarcely any real +political power, had felt it necessary to make some great effort to get +popularity for himself and his government. He had therefore adopted the +policy of attacking the _fueros_, the extraordinary privileges of the +two classes of priests and soldiers, which had become part of the +constitution under the first viceroys, and which not even the war of +independence, and the adoption of republican forms, ever did away with. +Neither class is amenable to the civil tribunals for debt or for any +offences.[3] The clergy have immense revenues, and much spiritual +influence among the lower classes; and as soon as they discovered the +disposition of the new President, they took one Don Antonio Haro y +Tamirez, set him up as a counter-President, and installed him at +Puebla, the second city of the Republic, where priests swarm, and +priestly influence is unbounded. At the same time, they tried a +pronunciamiento in the capital; but the President got the better of +them after a slight struggle, and marched all his regular soldiers on +Puebla. At the moment of our arrival in the country, the siege of this +city was going on quite briskly, ten thousand men being engaged, +commanded by forty-three general officers. + +Whenever anything disagreeable is happening in the country, Vera Cruz +is sure to get its full share. A month before our arrival, one Salcedo, +who was a prisoner in the castle of San Juan de Ulua, talked matters +over with the garrison, and persuaded them to make a pronunciamento in +favour of the insurgents. They then summoned the town to join their +cause, which it declined doing for the present; and the castle opened +fire upon it, knocking about some of the principal buildings, and doing +a good deal of damage. A 30-pound shot went through the wall of our +hotel, taking off the leg of an unfortunate waiter who was cleaning +knives, and falling into the patio, or inner court. A daub of fresh +plaster just outside our bedroom door indicated the spot; and the +British Consul's office had a similar decoration. The Governor of the +city could offer no active resistance, but he cut off the supplies from +the island, and in three or four days Salcedo--finding himself out of +ammunition, and short of water--surrendered in a neat speech, and the +revolution ended. + +We have but a short time to stay in Vera Cruz, so had better make our +observations quickly; for when we come back again there will be a sun +nearly in the zenith, and yellow fever--at the present moment hardly +showing itself--will have come for the summer; under those +circumstances, the unseasoned foreigner had better lie on his back in a +cool room, with a cigar in his mouth, and read novels, than go about +hunting for useful information. + +There are streets of good Spanish houses in Vera Cruz, built of white +coral-rock from the reefs near the shore, but they are mildewed and +dismal-looking. Outside the walls is the Alameda; and close by is a +line of houses, uninhabited, mouldy, and in ruins. We asked who built +them. "Los Espanoles," they said. + +Even now, when the "nortes" are blowing, and the city is comparatively +healthy, Vera Cruz is a melancholy place, with a plague-stricken look +about it; but it is from June to October that its name, "the city of +the dead"--la ciudad de los muertos--is really deserved. In that season +comes an accumulation of evils. The sun is at its height; there is no +north wind to clear the air; and the heavy tropical rains--more than +three times as much in quantity as falls in England in the whole +year--come down in a short rainy season of four months. The water +filters through the sand-hills, and forms great stagnant lagoons; a +rank tropical vegetation springs up, and the air is soon filled with +pestilential vapours. Add to this that the water is unwholesome; the +city too is placed in a sand-bath which keeps up a regular temperature, +by accumulating heat by day and giving it out into the air by night, so +that night gives no relief from the stifling closeness of the day. No +wonder that Mr. Bullock, the Mexican traveller, as he sat in his room +here in the hot season, heard the church-bells tolling for the dead +from morning to night without intermission; for weeks and weeks, one +can hardly even look into the street without seeing a funeral. + +We turned back through the city, and walked along watching the +Zopilotes--great turkey-buzzards--with their bald heads and foul +dingy-black plumage. They were sitting in compact rows on parapets of +houses and churches, and seemed specially to affect the cross of the +cathedral, where they perched, two on each arm, and some on the top. +When some offal was thrown into the streets, they came down leisurely +upon it, one after another; their appearance and deportment reminding +us of the undertaker's men in England coming down from the hearse at +the public-house door, when the funeral is over. In all tropical +America these birds are the general scavengers, and there is a heavy +fine for killing them.[4] + +Scarcely any one is about in the streets this afternoon, except a gang +or two of convicts dragging their heavy chains along, sweeping and +mending the streets. This is a punishment much approved of by the +Mexican authorities, as combining terror to evil-doers with advantage +to the community. That it puts all criminals on a level, from murderers +down to vagrants, does not seem to be considered as a matter of much +consequence. + +At the city-gate stands a sentry--the strangest thing I ever saw in the +guise of a soldier--a brown Indian of the coast, dressed in some rags +that were a uniform once, shoeless, filthy in the extreme, and armed +with an amazing old flint-lock. He is bad enough to look at, in all +conscience, and really worse than he looks, for--no doubt--he has been +pressed into the service against his will, and hates white men and +their ways with all his heart. Of course he will run away when he gets +a chance; and, though he will be no great loss to the service, he will +add his mite to the feeling of hatred that has been growing up for +these so many years among the brown Indians against the whites and the +half-cast Mexicans. But more of this hereafter. + +One step outside the gate, and we are among the sand-hills that stretch +for miles and miles round Vera Cruz. They are mere shifting +sand-mounds; and, though some of them are fifty feet high, the fierce +north wind moves them about bodily. The Texans know these winds well, +and call them "northers." They come from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of +Mexico, right down the Continent of North America, over a level plain +with hardly a hill to obstruct their course, the Rocky Mountains and +the Alleghanies forming a sort of trough for them. When the "norte" +blows fiercely you can hardly keep your feet in the streets of Vera +Cruz, and vessels drag their anchors or break from their moorings in +the ill-protected harbour, and are blown out to sea--lucky if they +escape the ugly coral-reefs and sand-banks that fringe the coast. There +are a few bushes growing outside the walls, and there we found the +Nopal bush, the great prickly pear--the same that has established +itself all round the shores of the Mediterranean--growing in crevices +of rocks, and cracks in lava-beds, and barren places where nothing else +will live. But what made us notice these Nopals was, that they were +covered with what looked like little white cocoons, out of which, when +they were pressed, came a drop of deep crimson fluid. This is the +cochineal insect, but only the wild variety; the fine kind, which is +used for dye, and comes from the province of Oajaca, miles off, is +covered only with a mealy powder. There the Indians cultivate great +plantations of Nopals, and spread the insects over them with immense +care, even removing them, and carrying them up into the mountains in +baskets when the rainy season begins in the plains, and bringing them +back when it is over. + +On Friday, the 14th of March, at three o'clock in the morning, we took +our places in a strong American-built diligence, holding nine inside, +and began our journey by being dragged along the railroad--which was +commenced with great energy some time ago, and got fifteen miles on its +way to the capital, at which point it has stopped ever since. When day +broke we had left the railroad, and were jolting along through a +parched sandy plain, thinly covered with acacias, nopals, and other +kinds of cactus, bignonias, and the great tree-euphorbia, with which we +had been so familiar in Cuba, with its smooth limbs and huge white +flowers. At last we reached the first hill, and began gently to ascend. +The change was wonderful. Once out of the plain, we are in the midst of +a tropical forest. The trees are crowded close together, and the +convolvulus binds their branches into an impassable jungle, while ferns +and creepers weave themselves into a dense mass below; and here and +there a glimpse up some deep ravine shows great tree-ferns, thirty feet +high, standing close to the brink of a mountain-stream, and flourishing +in the damp shade. + +Indian Ranchos become more frequent as we ascend; and the +inhabitants--squatting on the ground, or leaning against the +door-posts--just condescend to glance at us as we pass, and then return +to their meditations, and their cigarettes, if they happen to have any. +These ranches are the merest huts of canes, thatched with palm-leaves; +and close by each a little patch of ground is enclosed by a fence of +prickly cactus, within which are growing plantains, with their large +smooth leaves and heavy ropes of fruit, the great staple of the "tierra +caliente." + +Our road winds along valleys and through pass after pass; and now and +then a long zig-zag brings us out of a valley, up to a higher level. +The air grows cooler, we are rapidly changing our climate, and +afternoon finds us in the region of the sugar-cane and the +coffee-plant. We pass immense green cane-fields, protected from the +visits of passing muleteers and peasants by a thick hedge of thorny +coffee-bushes. The cane is but young yet; but the coffee-plant, with +its brilliant white flowers, like little stars, is a beautiful feature +in the landscape. + +At sunset we are rattling through the streets of the little town of +Cordova. There is such a thoroughly Spanish air about the place, that +it might be a suburb of the real Cordova, were it not for the crowds of +brown Indians in their scanty cotton dresses and great flat-brimmed +hats, and the Mexican costumes of the whiter folks. Low whitewashed +houses, with large windows to the street, protected by the heavy +iron-gratings, like cages, that are so familiar to travellers in +Southern Europe. Inside the grating are the ladies of the family, +outside stand their male acquaintance, and energetic gossiping is going +on. The smoky little lamp inside gives us a full view of the interior. +Four whitewashed walls; a table; a few stiff-backed chairs; a virgin or +saint resplendent in paint and tinsel; and, perhaps, two or three +coloured engravings, red, blue, and yellow. + +A few hours in the dark, and we reach Orizaba. We have changed our +climate for the last time to-day, and have reached that district where +tobacco flourishes at an altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea. But of +this we see nothing, for we are off again long before daylight; and by +the time that external objects can be made out we find ourselves in a +new region. A valley floored with rich alluvial soil from the hills +that rise steeply on both sides, their tops shrouded in clouds. Signs +of wonderful fertility in the fields of maize and barley along the +roadside. The air warm, but full of mist, which has already penetrated +our clothes and made them feel damp and sticky. "Splendid country, +this, Senores," said an old Mexican, when he had twisted himself round +on his seat to get a good stare at us. "It seems so," said I, "judging +by the look of the fields, but it is very unpleasantly damp just now." +"Just now," said the old gentleman, echoing my words, "it is always +damp here. You see that drizzling mist; that is the chipi-chipi. Never +heard of the chipi-chipi! Why it is the riches and blessing of the +country. Sometimes we never see the sun here for weeks at a time, and +it rains a little every day nearly; but look at the fields, we get +three crops a year from them where you have but one on the fields just +above. And it is healthy, too; look at those fellows at work there. +When we get up to the Llanos you will see the difference." + +The valley grew narrower as we drove on; and at last, when it seemed to +end in a great ravine, we began to climb the steep hill by a zig-zag +road. Soon the air grows clearer again, the sunshine appears and gets +brighter and brighter, we have left the mist behind, and are among +ranges of grand steep hills, covered with the peculiar vegetation of +the plateau,--Cactus, Opuntia, and the Agave Americana. In the trough +of the valley lies a regular opaque layer of white clouds, hiding the +fields and cottages from our view. We have already passed the zone of +perpetual moisture, whose incessant clouds and showers are caused by +the stratum of hot air--charged with water evaporated from the +gulf--striking upon the mountains, and there depositing part of the +aqueous vapour it contains. + +You may see the same thing happening in almost every mountainous +district; but seldom on so grand a scale as here, or with so little +disturbance from other agents. Yesterday was passed in the "tierra +caliente," the hot country; our journey of to-day and to-morrow is +through the "tierra templada" and the "tierra fria," the temperate and +the cold country. Here a change of a few hundred feet in altitude above +the sea, brings with it a change of climate as great as many degrees of +latitude will cause, and in one day's travel it is possible to descend +from the region of eternal snow to the utmost heat of the tropics. Our +ascent is more gradual; but, though we are three days on the road, we +have sometimes scarcely time to notice the different zones of +vegetation we pass through, before we change again. + +To make the account of the journey from the coast to Mexico somewhat +clearer, a few words must be said about the formation of the country, +as shown in a profile-map or section. The interior of Mexico consists +of a mass of volcanic rocks, thrust up to a great height above the +sea-level. The plateau of Mexico is 8,000 feet high, and that of Puebla +9,000 feet. This central mass consists principally of a greyish +trachytic porphyry, in some places rich in veins of silver-ore. The +tops of the hills are often crowned with basaltic columns, and a soft +porous amygdaloid abounds on the outskirts of the Mexican valley. +Besides this, traces of more recent volcanic action abound, in the +shape of numerous extinct craters in the high plateaus, and immense +"pedrigals" or fields of lava not yet old enough for their surface to +have been disintegrated into soil. Though sedimentary rocks occur in +Mexico, they are not the predominant feature of the country. Ridges of +limestone hills lie on the slopes of the great volcanic mass toward the +coast; and at a still lower level, just in the rise from the flat +coast-region, there are strata of sandstone. On our road from Vera Cruz +we came upon sandstone immediately after leaving the sandy plains; and +a few miles further on we reached the limestone, very much as it is +represented in Burkart's profile of the country from Tampico upwards +towards San Luis Potosi. The mountain-plateaus, such as the plains of +Mexico and Puebla, are hollows filled up and floored with horizontal +strata of tertiary deposits, which again are covered by the constantly +accumulating layers of alluvium. + +Our heavy pull up the mountain-side has brought us into a new scene. +Every one knows how the snow lies in the valleys of the Alps, forming a +plain which slopes gradually downward towards the outlet. Imagine such a +valley ten miles across, with just such a sloping plain, not of snow +but of earth. There has been no rain for months, and the surface of the +ground is parched and cracked all over. There is hardly a tree to be +seen except clumps of wood on the mountain-sides miles off,--no +vegetation but tufts of coarse grass, among which herds of +disconsolate-looking cattle are roaming; the vaqueros, (herdsmen) are +cantering about after them on their lean horses, with their lazos +hanging in coils on their left arms, and now and then calling to order +some refractory beast who tries to get away from the herd, by sending +the loop over his horns or letting it fall before him as he runs, and +hitching it up with a jerk round his hind legs as he steps within it. +But the poor creatures are too thirsty and dispirited just now to give +any sport, and the first touch of the cord is enough to bring them back +to their allegiance. + +From the decomposed porphyry of the mountains carbonate of soda comes +down in solution to the valleys. Much of this is converted into natron +by the organic matter in the soil, and forms a white crust on the +earth. More of the carbonate of soda, mixed in various proportions with +common salt, drains continually out in the streams, or filters into the +ground and crystallizes there. This is why there is not a field to be +seen, and the land is fit for nothing but pasture. But when the rains +come on in a few months, say our friends in the diligence, this dismal +waste will be a luxuriant prairie, and the cattle will be here by +thousands, for most of them are dispersed now in the lower regions of +the tierra templada where grass and water are to be had. + +My companion and I climb upon the top of the diligence to spy out the +land. The grand volcano of Orizaba had been hidden from us ever since +that morning when we saw it from far out at sea, but now it rises on +our left, its upper half covered with snow of dazzling whiteness,--a +regular cone, for from this side the crater cannot be seen. It looks as +though one could walk half a mile or so across the valley and then go +straight up to the summit, but it is full thirty miles off. The air is +heated as by a furnace, and as we jolt along the road the clouds of +dust are suffocating. We go full gallop along such road as there is, +banging into holes, and across the trenches left by last year's +watercourses, until we begin to think that it must end in a general +smash. We came to understand Mexican roads and Mexican drivers better, +even before we got to the capital. + +Before us and behind lay wide lakes, stretching from side to side of +the valley; but the lake behind followed us as steadily as the one +before us receded. It was only the mirage that tantalizes travellers in +these scorched valleys, all the long eight months of the rainless +season. It seemed beautiful at first, then monotonous; and long before +the day was out we hated it with a most cordial and unaffected hatred. + +Soon a new appearance attracted our attention. First, clouds of dust, +which gradually took a well-defined shape, and formed themselves into +immense pillars, rapidly spinning round upon themselves, and travelling +slowly about the plain. At one place, where several smaller valleys +opened upon us, these sand-pillars, some small, some large, were +promenading about by dozens, looking much like the genie when the +fisherman had just let him out of the bottle, and saw him with +astonishment beginning to shape himself into a giant of monstrous size. +Indeed I doubt not that the story-teller was thinking of such +sand-pillars when he wrote that wonderful description. You may see them +in the East by thousands. As they moved along, they sucked up small +stones, dust, and leaves; and our driver declared that they had been +known to take the roofs off houses, and carry flocks of sheep into the +air; "but these that you see now," said he, "are no great matter." We +estimated the size of the largest at about four hundred feet in height, +and thirty in diameter; and this very pillar, walking by chance against +a house, most decidedly got the worst of it, and had its lower limbs +knocked all to pieces. + +When the sun grows hot, the bare earth heats the air that lies upon it +so much that an upward current rises from the whole face of the valley; +and to supply its place the little valleys and ravines that open into +it pour in each its stream of cooler air; and wherever two of these +streams, flowing in different directions, strike one another, a little +whirlwind ensues, and makes itself manifest as a sand-pillar. The +coachman's "molino de viento," as he called it, may very well have +happened, but it must have been a whirlwind on a large scale, caused by +the meeting of great atmospheric currents, not by the little apparatus +we saw at work. + +There seems to be hardly a village in the plain; and the only buildings +we see for miles are the herdsmen's houses of stone, flat-roofed, dark +inside, and uninviting in their appearance, and the great cattle-pens, +the corrals, which seem absurdly too large for the herds that we have +yet seen; but in two or three months there will be rain, the ground +will be covered with rank grass, the corrals will be crowded with +cattle every evening; the mirage will depart when real water comes, +dust and sand-pillars will be no longer to be seen, and all the nine +horses and mules of the diligence-team, floundering, splashing, and +kicking, will hardly keep the heavy coach from settling down +inextricably in the mire. And so on until October, and then the season +of water, "la estacion de las aguas," will cease, and things will be +again as they are now. + +In the usual course of travel to the capital, the second night would +have been passed at Puebla. This is the second city of the Republic, +and numbers some 70,000 inhabitants. As it was then in revolt, and +besieged by the President and his army, we made a detour to the north +when about 20 miles from it, in order to sleep for a few hours at +Huamantla, a place with a most evil reputation for thieves and vermin; +and about ten at night we drove into the court-yard of a dismal-looking +inn. Three or four dirty fellows stood round as we alighted, wrapped in +their serapes--great woollen blankets, the universal wear of the +Mexicans of the plateaus. One end of the serape was thrown across from +shoulder to shoulder, and hid the lower part of their faces; and the +broad-brimmed Mexican sombrero was slouched over their eyes; we +particularly disliked the look of them as they stood watching us and +our baggage going into the inn. A few minutes after, we returned to the +court-yard to complete our observation of them, but they were all gone. + +A party of Spaniards and Mexicans were at the other table in the sala +when we marched in, and as soon as we had taken off the edge of our +fierce hunger, we began to compare notes with them. "Had a pleasant +journey from Mexico?" They all answered at once, delighted to find an +audience to whom to tell their sorrows, as men always are under such +circumstances. It appeared that they had reached Huamantla an hour or +two before us, and to their surprise and delight no robbers had +appeared. But between the outskirts of the town and the inn, the cords +behind the diligence were cut, and every particle of luggage had +disappeared. At the inn-gate they got out and discovered their loss. +They set upon the Administrador of the diligence-company, who +sympathized deeply with them, but had no more substantial comfort to +offer. They declared the driver must have been an accomplice, and the +driver was sent for, for them to wreak their fury upon. He appeared +with his mouth full of beans, and told them, as soon as he could speak, +that they ought to be very thankful they had come off so easily, and, +looking at them with an expression of infinite disgust, returned to his +supper; they followed his example, and seemed to have at last found +consolation in hot dishes and Catalan wine. It was wonderful to hear of +the fine things that were in the lost portmanteaus,--the rings, the +gold watches, the rouleaux of dollars, the "papers of the utmost +importance." + +I am afraid the Spanish American has not always a very strict regard +for truth. + +These gentlemen had indeed got off easily, as the driver said; for the +last diligence from Vera Cruz, with our steamboat acquaintances in it, +had been stopped just outside this very town of Huamantla as they left +it before daylight in the morning. The robbers were but three, but they +had plundered the unfortunate travellers as effectually as thirty could +have done. Now, all this was very pretty to hear as a tale, but not +satisfactory to travellers who were going by the same road the next +morning; and in the disagreeable barrack-room where our beds stood in +long lines, we, the nine passengers of the "up" diligence, held a +council, standing, like Mr. Macaulay's senators, and there decided on a +most Christian line of conduct--that when the three bore down upon us, +and the muzzle of the inevitable escopeta was poked in at our window, +we would descend meekly, and at the command of "boca abajo," ("mouth +downwards,") we would humiliate ourselves with our noses in the dirt, +and be robbed quietly. Having thus decided beforehand, according to the +etiquette of the road, whether we were to fight or submit, and being +tired with a long day's journey, we all turned in, and were fast asleep +in a moment. + +It seemed that almost directly afterwards the dirtiest man possible +came round, and shook us till we were conscious; and we washed in the +customary saucers, by the light of a real, flaring, smoking, Spanish +lamp with a beak, exactly what the Romans used in Pompeii, except that +this is of brass, not bronze. + +With our eyes still half-shut we crawled into the kitchen for our +morning chocolate, and demanded our bill. Such a bill! One of us, a +stout Spaniard, sent for the landlord and abused him in a set speech. +The "patron" divested his countenance of every trace of expression, +scratched his head through his greasy nightcap, and stood listening +patiently. The stout man grew fiercer and fiercer, and wound up with a +climax. "If we meet with the robbers," said he, rolling himself up in +his great cloak, "we must tell them that we have passed through your +worship's hands, and there is none left for them." The landlord bowed +gravely, saw us into the diligence, and hoped we should have a +fortunate journey, and meet with no novelty on the road. A "novelty" in +Spanish countries means a misfortune. + +We met with no "novelty," though, when we looked out of the window in +the early dawn and spied three men with muskets, following us at a +short distance, we thought our time had come, and watches and valuables +were plunged into boots and under seats, and through slits into the +padding of the diligence; but the three men came no nearer, and we +supposed them to be an escort of soldiers. When it was light the +difficulty was to recover the valuables--no easy matter, so securely +had they been hidden. + +We heard afterwards of a little peculiarity which distinguished the +robbers of Huamantla. It seems that no less a personage than the parish +priest was accustomed to lead his parishioners into action, like the +Cornish parson in old times when a ship went ashore on the coast. What +has become of his reverence since, I do not know. He is very likely +still in his parish, carrying on his double profession, unless somebody +has shot him. I wonder whether it is sacrilege to shoot a priest who is +also a highwayman, as it used to be to kill a bishop on the field of +battle. + +We are at last on the high lands of Mexico, the districts which at +least three different races have chosen to settle in, neglecting the +fertile country below. A sharp turn in the road brings its fairly out +into the plain; and then on our left are the two snowy mountains that +lie at the edge of the valley of Mexico, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, +famous in all Mexican books. Like Orizaba of yesterday, they seem to +rise from the plain close to us; and from the valley between them there +pours down upon us such a flood of icy wind, that, though windows are +pulled up and great-coats buttoned round our throats, we shiver +piteously, and our teeth fairly chatter till we get out of the river of +cold air; and then comes hot sunshine and dust again. + +Anxious to make sure that we have really got into the land of Aztec +civilization, Mr. Christy gets down from the diligence, and hunting +about for a few minutes by the road-side, returns in triumph with a +broken arrowhead of obsidian. A deep channel cut by a water-course +gives us our first idea of the depth of the soil; for these plateaus +were once nothing but deep hollows among the mountains, which rain and +melted snow, bringing down fragments of porphyry and basalt--partly in +their original state and partly decomposed--have filled up and formed +into plains. Signs of volcanic action are abundant. To say nothing of +the two great mountains we have just left behind, there is a hill of +red volcanic tufa just beyond us; and still further on, though this is +anticipating, our road passes over the lava-field at the foot of the +little volcano of Santa Barbara. + +There is a population here at any rate, village after village; and +between them are great plantations of maize and aloes; for this is the +district where the best pulque in Mexico is made, the "llanos de Apam." +It is the _Agave Americana_, the same aloe that is so common in +southern Europe, where indeed it flowers, and that grows in our gardens +and used to have the reputation of flowering once in a hundred years. I +do not exaggerate when I say that we saw hundreds of thousands of them +that day, planted in long regular lines. Among them were walking the +Indian "tlachiqueros," each with his pigskin on his back, and his long +calabash in his hand, milking such plants as were in season. + +[Illustration: INDIAN TLACHIQUERO, COLLECTING JUICE OF THE AGAVE FOR +PULQUE.] + +The fine buildings of the haciendas, and more especially the churches, +contrast strongly with the generality of houses, all of one story, +built of adobes (mud-bricks dried in the sun), with flat roofs of sand +and lime resting on wooden rafters, and the naked ground for a floor, +all dark, dirty, and comfortless. There are even many huts built +entirely of the universal aloe. The stems of wild aloes which have been +allowed to flower are stuck into the ground, side by side, and pieces +of leaves tied on outside them with aloe-fibre. These cut leaves are +set like tiles to form a roof, and pegged down with the thorns which +grow at their extremities. Picturesque and cheap, though hardly +comfortable, for we are in the "tierra fria" now, and the mornings and +evenings in winter are often bitterly cold. + +But the churches! Is it possible that they can belong to these wretched +filthy little cottages. As black Sam, our driver, a runaway Texan +slave, suggested, it looked as though the villagers might pull down +their houses and locate themselves and their families in their +churches. We thought of Mr. Ruskin, who has somewhere expressed an +earnest desire that all the money and energy that England has wasted in +making railroads, had been spent in building churches; and we wished he +had been here to see his principles carried out. + +I have travelled on rough roads in my time, but on such a road as this +never. My companion refused for a time to award the premium of badness +to our thoroughfare; but, just while we were discussing the question +and recounting our experience of bone-smashing highways, we reached a +pass where the road consisted of a series of steps, nearly a foot in +depth, down which steps we went at a swinging trot, holding on for our +lives, in terror lest the next jerk should fairly wrench our arms out +of their sockets, while we could plainly hear the inside passengers +howling for mercy, as they were shot up against the roof which knocked +them back into their seats. Aching all over, we reached level ground +again, and Mr. Christy withdrew his claims, and agreed that no road +anywhere else could possibly be so bad as a Mexican road; a decision +which later experiences only served to confirm. + +Our start, every time we changed horses, was a sight to see. Nine +half-broken horses and mules, in a furious state of excitement, were +harnessed to our unwieldy machine; the helpers let go, and off they +went, kicking, plunging, rearing, biting, and screaming, into ruts and +watercourses that were like the trenches they make for gas-pipes in +London streets, with our wheels on one side on a stone wall, and in a +pit on the other, and Black Sam leaning back with his feet on the +board, waiting with perfect tranquillity until the animals had got rid +of their superfluous energy and he could hold them in. We were always +just going to have some frightful accident, and always just missed it. +The last stage before we reached Otumba, a small dusky urchin ran +across the road just before us. How Black Sam contrived to pull up I +cannot tell, though, indeed, his arms were about the size of an +ordinary man's thighs; but he did, and they got the child out from the +horses' feet quite unhurt. + +It was at the inn where we stopped to breakfast that we made our first +acquaintance with the great Mexican institutions--tortillas and pulque. +The pulque was being brewed on a large scale in an adjoining building. +The vats were made of cow-skins (with the hair inside), supported by a +frame of sticks; and in them was pulque in every stage, beginning with +the sweet aguamiel--honeywater--the fresh juice of the aloe, and then +the same in different degrees of fermentation till we come to the +_madre pulque_, the mother pulque, a little of which is used like +yeast, to start the fermentation, and which has a combined odour of +gas-works and drains. Pulque, as you drink it, looks like milk and +water, and has a mild smell and taste of rotten eggs. Tortillas are +like oat-cakes, but made of Indian corn meal, not crisp, but soft and +leathery. We thought both dreadfully nasty for a day or two; then we +could just endure them; then we came to like them; and before we left +the country we wondered how we should do without them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +CITY OF MEXICO. + + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF PART OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.] + +Some thirty years ago, Don Agustin Yturbide, the first and last Emperor +of Mexico, found that he wanted a palace wherein to house his +newly-fledged dignity; and began to build one accordingly, in the high +street of Mexico, close to the great convent of San Francisco. It could +not have been nearly finished when its founder was shot: and it became +the _Hotel d'Yturbide_. We are now settled in it, in very comfortable +quarters. There is a restaurant down below, where the son of the late +Yturbide dines daily, and everybody points him out to us, and moralises +over him. + +Mr. Christy's drawer-roll of letters of introduction has produced an +immediate crop of pleasant acquaintances, whose hospitality is +boundless. We are not idle, far from it; and a long day's work is +generally followed by a social dinner, and an evening spent in noting +down the results of our investigations. + +Prescott's _Conquest of Mexico_ has been more read in England than most +historical works; and the Mexico of Montezuma has a well-defined idea +attached to it. The amphitheatre of dark hills surrounding the level +plain, the two snowy mountain-peaks, the five lakes covering nearly +half the valley, the city rising out of the midst of the waters, miles +from the shore, with which it was connected by its four causeways, the +straight streets of low flat-roofed houses, the numbers of canals +crowded with canoes of Indians going to and from the market, the +floating gardens moved from place to place, on which vegetables and +flowers were cultivated, the great pyramid up which the Spanish army +saw their captured companions led in solemn procession, and sacrificed +on the top--all these are details in the mental picture. + +Much of this has changed since the Spaniards first saw it. Cortes tried +all ordinary means to overcome the desperate obstinacy with which the +Aztecs defended their capital. The Spaniards conquered wherever they +went; but, as they moved forward, the Mexicans closed in again behind, +and from every house-top showers of darts, arrows, and stones were +poured down upon them. Cortes resolved upon the utter demolition of the +city. He was grieved to destroy it, he said, for it was the most +beautiful thing in the whole world; but there was no alternative. He +moved slowly towards the great teocalli, his fifty thousand Tlascalan +allies following him, throwing down every house, and filling the canals +with the ruins. When the conquest was finished, but one district of the +city was left standing, and in it were crowded a quarter of the +population, miserable famished wretches, who had surrendered when their +king was taken. All that was left besides was a patch of swampy ground +strewed with fragments of walls, a few pyramids too large for present +destruction, and such great heaps of dead bodies that it was impossible +to get from place to place without walking over them. + +Cortes had resolved that a new city should be built, but it was not so +easy to decide where it was to be. The Aztecs, it seemed, had not +originally established themselves on the spot where Mexico was built. +When they came down from the north country, and across the hills into +the valley of Mexico, they were but an insignificant tribe, and as yet +mere savages. They settled down in one place after another, and were +always driven out by the persecutions of the neighbouring tribes. At +last they took possession of a little group of swampy islands in the +lake of Tezcuco; and then at last, safe from their enemies, they +increased and multiplied, and became a great and powerful nation. + +The first beginnings of Mexico, a cluster of huts built on wooden +piles, must have borne some likeness to those curious settlements of +early tribes in the shallow part of the lakes of Switzerland and the +British Isles, of which numerous remains are still to be found. As the +nation increased in numbers, Tenochtitlan, as the inhabitants called +their city (they called themselves _Tenochques_), came to be a great +city of houses built on piles, with canals running through the straight +streets, along which the natives poled their flat-bottomed canoes. The +name which the Spaniards gave to the city, the "Venice of the New +World," was appropriate, not only to its situation in the midst of the +water, with canals for thoroughfares, but also to the history of the +causes which led to its being built in such a situation. + +The habit of building houses upon piles, which was first forced upon +the people by the position they had chosen, was afterwards followed as +a matter of taste, just as it is in Holland. Even after the Aztecs +became masters of the surrounding country, they built towns round the +lake, partly on the shore, and partly on piles in the water. The +Spanish chroniclers mention Iztapalapan, and many other towns, as built +in this way. Like the Swiss tribes, the early inhabitants of Mexico +depended much upon their fishing, for which their position gave them +great facilities. + +If you look at the arms of the Mexican Republic, on a passport or a +silver dollar, you will see a representation of a rock surrounded by +water. On the rock grows a cactus, and on the cactus sits an eagle with +a serpent in his beak. The story is that the wandering tribe preserved +a tradition of an oracle which said that when they should find an +eagle, holding a serpent, and perched on a cactus growing out of a +rock, then they should cease their wanderings. On an island in the lake +of Tezcuco, they found eagle, serpent, cactus, and rock, as described, +and they settled there in due course. What fragment of truth is hidden +in this myth it is hard to say. Tenochtitlan means "The Stone-cactus +place;" and the Aztec picture-writings express its name by a hieroglyph +of a prickly pear growing on a rock. Putting this history out of the +question, the Aztecs had excellent reasons for choosing this peculiar +site for their city; but these reasons were not equally valid in the +case of the new invaders. For them the surrounding salt-water was not +needed as a protection, and was merely a nuisance. Every year, when the +lake rose, the place was flooded, with enormous damage to the property +of the inhabitants; and sometimes an inundation of greater depth than +usual threatened as complete a destruction as Cortes and the Tlascalans +had made. At the best of times, the site was a salt-swamp, an ugly +place to build upon. And, lastly, all the fresh water must be brought +from the hills by aqueducts, which an enemy would cut off without +difficulty, as the Spaniards themselves had done during the siege. Now +Cortes was certainly not ignorant of all this, and he knew of many +places on the rising ground close by, where he could found his new city +under more favourable circumstances. He deliberated four or five months +on the matter, and at last decided in favour of the old site, giving as +his reason that "the city of Tenochtitlan had become celebrated, its +position was wonderful, and in all times it had been considered as the +capital and mistress of all these provinces." + +The invaders were old hands at slave-driving, and so hard did they +drive the conquered Mexicans, that in four years there had arisen a +fine Spanish city, with massive stone houses of several storeys, having +the indispensable inner courts, flat roofs, and grated windows,--every +man's house literally his castle, when once the great iron +entrance-gates were closed. The Indians had, of course, been converted +en masse, and churches were being built in all directions. The great +pyramid where Huitzilopochtli, the God of war, was worshipped, had been +razed to the ground, and its great sculptured blocks of basalt were +sunk in the earth as a foundation for a cathedral. The old lines of the +streets, running toward the four points of the compass, were kept to; +and to this it is that the present Mexico is indebted for much of its +beauty. Most of the smaller canals were filled up, and the +thoroughfares widened for carriages, things of course unknown to the +Mexicans, who had no beasts of burden. In the suburbs the natives +settled themselves after their own fashion, baking adobes, large mud +bricks, in the sun, and building with them one-storey houses with flat +roofs, much as they do at the present day. And thus a new Mexico, +nearly the same as that we are now exploring, came to be planted in the +midst of the waters. Three centuries have elapsed since; the city has +grown larger, churches, convents, and public buildings have increased, +but the architectural character of the place has scarcely altered. It +is the situation that has changed. The lake of Tezcuco is four miles +off, though the causeways which once connected the city with the dry +land still exist, and have even been enlarged. They look like +railway-embankments crossing the low ground, and serve as dykes when +there is a flood, a casualty which still often happens. + +This change is interesting to the student of physical geography; and +Humboldt's account of the causes which have brought it about is full +and explicit. When Mexico had been built a few years, the frightful +inundations which threatened its very existence at length awoke the +Spaniards to a sense of the mistake that had been made in placing +themselves but a few feet above the lowest level of the valley, in such +a way that, from whatever point the flood might come, they were sure to +get the benefit of it. The Spanish authorities at home, with their +usual sagacity, sent over peremptory orders that the city should be +abandoned, and a new capital built at Tacubaya--a proposal something +like intimating to the inhabitants of Naples that their position, at +the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was most dangerous, and that they must +leave it and settle somewhere else. In those days the valley was a +complete basin, with no outlet--at least not one worth mentioning; and +the heavy tropical rains and the melted snow from the mountains, poured +vast quantities of water into it. Had the valley been at the level of +the sea, it would simply have become a great lake, surrounded by hills; +but at three thousand feet higher, the atmosphere is rarefied, and +evaporation goes on with such rapidity as to keep the accumulation of +water in check. So the affair had adjusted itself in this wise, that +the land and the five lakes should divide the valley about equally +between them. It became necessary to alter this state of things, and a +passage was cut at a place where the hills were but little above the +level of the highest lake. The history of this passage, the famous +"Desague de Huehuetoca," is instructive enough, but it has been written +so threadbare that I cannot touch it. Suffice it to say, that by this +means a constant outlet was made for the lake of Zumpango, the highest +of the five, and for the Rio de Guatitlan, a stream which formerly ran +into it. + +So much for one cause of the change in the present appearance of the +city. Then the Spaniards were great cutters down of forests. They +rather liked to make their new country bear a resemblance to the arid +plains of Castile, where, when you arrive in Madrid, people ask you +whether you noticed _the tree_ on the road; and moreover, as they +wanted wood, they cut it, without troubling themselves to plant for the +benefit of future generations. Now, when the trees were cut down, the +small plants which grew in their shade died too, and left the bare +earth to serve as a kind of natural evaporating apparatus. And, between +these two causes, it has come to pass that the extent of the lakes has +been so much reduced, and that Mexico stands on the dry land--if, +indeed, that may be called dry land, where you cannot dig a foot +without coming to water. + +During the Tertiary period the whole valley of Mexico was one great +lake. Whether the proportion of water to land had adjusted itself +before the country was inhabited, or whether during historical times +the lakes were still gradually diminishing by the excess of evaporation +over the quantity of water supplied by rain and snow, is an open +question. At any rate the two causes I have mentioned will account for +the changes which have taken place since the conquest. + +Taking it as a whole, Mexico is a grand city, and, as Cortes truly +said, its situation is marvellous. But as for the buildings, I should +be sorry to inflict upon any one who may read these sketches, a +detailed description of any one of them. It is a thousand pities that, +just at the time when the Italians and Spaniards were most zealous in +church-building, so very questionable an architectural taste should +have been prevalent. + +The churches and convents in Mexico belong to that kind of renaissance +style that began to flourish in southern Europe in the sixteenth +century, and has held its ground there ever since. High facades abound, +with pilasters crowned by elaborate Corinthian capitals, forming a +curious contrast with the mean little buildings crouched behind the +tall front. In the doors of the churches outside, and the chapels +within, one is constantly coming upon that peculiar construction which +consists of what would be an arch, resting on two pillars, were not the +keystone wanting. Columns with shafts elaborately sculptured, and +twisted marble pillars of the bed-post pattern, are to be seen by +hundreds, very expensive in material and workmanship, but unfortunately +very ugly; while the numbers of puffy cherubs, inside and out, remind +the Englishman of the monuments of St. Paul's. + +As to the interior decoration of the churches, the richer ones are +crowded with incongruous ornaments to a wonderful degree. Gold, silver, +costly marbles, jewels, stucco, paint, tinsel, and frippery are all +mixed up together in the wildest manner. We found the inside of the +churches to be generally the worst part of them. The Cathedral, for +instance, is really a very grand building when seen from a little +distance, with its two high towers and its cupola behind. I was greatly +edified by finding it described in the last book of Mexican travels I +have read, as built in the purest Doric style. + +The Mineria, or School of Mines, is a fine building, something after +the manner of Somerset House on a small scale. As for the famous Plaza +Mayor, the great square, it is a very great square indeed, large enough +to review an army in, and large enough to damage by its size the effect +of the cathedral, and to dwarf the other buildings that surround it +into mere insignificance. However, one thing is certain, that we have +not come all this way to see Spanish architecture and great squares, +but must look for something more characteristic. + +I have said we arrived in Mexico on the eve of Palm Sunday, and next +morning we proceeded to consult with one of our newly-made +acquaintances as to our prospects for the ensuing Holy Week. This +gentleman, a man who took a practical view of things, mentioned a +circumstance which led him to expect that the affair would go off with +eclat. The Mexicans, both the nearly white Mestizos and the Indians of +pure race, delight in pulque. The brown people are grave and silent in +their sober state, but pulque stirs up their sluggish blood, and they +get into a condition of positive enjoyment. But very soon after this +comes a state of furious intoxication, and a general scuffle is a +common termination to a drinking-bout. Fortunately, the Indians are not +a bloodthirsty people; and, though every man carries a knife or +machete, or--if he can get nothing better--a bit of hoop-iron tempered, +sharpened, and fixed into a handle, yet nothing more serious than cuffs +and scratches generally ensues. Even if severe wounds are given, the +Indian has many chances in his favor, for his organization is somewhat +different from that of white men, and he recovers easily from wounds +that would kill any European outright. + +The lower orders of the half-breed population are also given to +pulque-drinking, but with far more serious consequences. Unlike the +pure Indians, they are a hot-blooded and excitable race, and +drunkenness with them is utter madness while it lasts. Knives are drawn +at the very beginning of a squabble, and scarcely an evening passes +without one or two bodies of men killed in these drunken melees being +carried to the Police Cuartel in the great square. On Sundays and +holidays the number increases; but on this Palm Sunday there were +fourteen, not killed in one great battle, but brought in by ones and +twos, from different parts of the city. It was this little piece of +statistics that induced our friend to conclude that the citizens of +Mexico had made up their minds to enjoy themselves thoroughly, and that +Holy Week would be a grand affair. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of +the Semana Santa have only this to distinguish them from ordinary days, +that the churches are crowded with men and women waiting their turn at +the confessional; and that in the afternoons the old promenade of Las +Vigas, down in the Indian quarter by the canal of Chalco, is patronized +by fashionable Mexico, which, except on some four or five special days, +frequents the new Alameda. The sight of these confessionals, so +constantly filled, prompts one to ask--why just before Easter? Just +after would be more appropriate; for as we find the Glasgow people much +worse on Sundays than on week-days, so the Mexican population, not very +virtuous at the best of times, are specially and particularly wicked +when the great Church-festivals come round. The name of Shrove Tuesday +survives in our Calendar, to remind us of the time when we also used to +go to be shriven before Easter. + +On Thursday at noon mass is over, the bells cease to ring, the organs +in the churches are silent, and all carriages disappear from the +streets, except the dusty Diligence which, like French law, "est +athee," and cares nothing for fasts or festivals. Now we come to +understand the wonderful wooden machine like a water-wheel, which was +put up yesterday on one tower of the Cathedral. We had asked people in +the great square, just below, what it was, but could get no answer +except that it was _la Matraca_, the rattle, for to-morrow. And now we +found that, the church bells being incapacitated, this rattle does duty +instead, striking the hours, and occasionally going off into furious +fits of clattering, without apparent reason, for ten minutes at a time, +till the two men who worked it, who were either convicts or soldiers in +fatigue-dress, were tired out. It was not this one rattle only that was +disturbing the public peace that day and the next. Everybody was +walking about with a rattle, and working it like mad, and all over the +city there was a noise like the sound of the back-scratchers at +Greenwich Fair, or of an American forest when the woodpeckers are busy. +These little rattles stand for Judas's bones, and all good Catholics +express in this odd way their desire to break them. They do the same +thing in Italy, but it is not so prominent a part of the celebration as +in Mexico, where old and young, rich and poor, all do their part in it. +As soon as we found out what it all meant, we bought matracas for +ourselves, and joined the rest of the world in their noisy occupation. +The breaking of his bones is but a preliminary measure. In the square a +fair is being held, in the booths of which the great articles of trade +now are Judas's bones, of many patterns, at all prices, and Judas +himself in pasteboard, who is to be carried about and insulted till +Saturday morning, and then, hanging up by a string, is to burst asunder +by means of a packet of powder and a slow match in his inside, and +finally to perish in a bonfire. + +The first sight of these pasteboard Judases convinced us of one thing, +that we had unexpectedly come upon the old custom, of which our +processions and burning of Guy Fawkes in England are merely an +adaptation. After giving up the old custom as a Popish rite, what a +bright idea to revive it in this new shape, and to give the boys +something to carry about, bang, blow up, and make a final bonfire of, +and all in the Protestant interest! There was another thing to be +noticed about the Judases. The makers had evidently tried to vary them +as much as they could; and, by that very means, had shown how +impossible it was to them to strike out anything new. There were two +types; one was the Neapolitan _Polichinello_, whom we have naturalised +as _Punch_; and the other the God _Pan_, with his horns, and hoofs, and +tail, whom the whole Christian world has recognised as the devil, for +these many ages. Well, some took one type and some the other; and a few +tried to combine the two, of course spoiling both. But, beyond this, +their power of invention could not go. They were always trying to +conceal the old idea, and could do no more than to distort it. We could +see through their flimsy pretensions to originality much as a +schoolmaster recognises the extracts from the encyclopaedia in his +boys' essays. + +As with this Judas trade, so it is with other more important arts and +sciences in this country. The old types descend, almost unchanged, from +generation to generation. Everything that is really Mexican is either +Aztec or Spanish. Among the Spanish types we may separate the Moorish. +Our knowledge of Mexico is not sufficient to enable us to analyse the +Aztec civilization, so we must be content with these three classes. I +will not go further into the question here, for occasions will +continually occur to show how--for three centuries at least--the +inhabitants of Mexico, both white and brown, have taken their ideas at +second-hand, always copying but never developing anything. + +All this time my companion and I have been walking about the streets; +in evening-dress, as the etiquette of the place demands, on these three +days, from the "better classes." The Mexican ladies may be +advantageously studied just now in their church-going black silk dress +and mantilla, one of the most graceful costumes in the world. It is not +often that one has the chance of seeing them out of doors, except +hurrying to and from Mass in the morning, or in carriages on the +Alameda; but on these festival days one meets them by hundreds. They do +not contrast favorably with the ladies of Cadiz and Seville. The +mixture of Aztec blood seems to have detracted from the beauty of the +Spanish race; the dryness of the atmosphere spoils their complexions; +and the monstrous quantity of capsicums that are consumed at every meal +cannot possibly leave the Mexican digestion in its proper state. + +We dined that day with Don Jose de A., who, though Spanish-American by +birth, was English by education and feeling, and had known my +companion's family well. Our dinner was half English, half Mexican; and +the favourite dishes of the country were there, to aid in our +initiation into Mexican manners and customs. The cooks at the inns, +mindful of our foreign origin, had dealt out the red pepper with a +sparing hand; but to-day the dish of "mole" was the genuine article, +and the first mouthful set as coughing and gasping for breath, while +the tears streamed down our faces, and Don Pepe and Don Pancho gravely +continued their dinner, assuring us that we should get quite to like it +in time. _Pepe_ and _Pancho_, by the way, are short for Jose and +Francisco. Dinner over, it was time to visit the churches, to which +people crowd by thousands, this evening and to-morrow, to see the +monuments, as they are called. Pancho departed, being on duty as escort +to his sisters; and we having, by Pepe's advice, left our watches and +valuables in his room, and put our handkerchiefs in our breast-pockets, +started with him. Mr. Christy, always on the look-out for a new seed or +plant, had taken possession of the seeds of two _mameis_, which are +fleshy fruits--as big as cocoa-nuts--each containing a hard smooth seed +as large as a hen's egg. These not being of great value, he put one in +each tail-pocket of his coat. When we got out, we found the streets +full of people, hurrying from one church to another, anxious to get as +many as possible visited in the evening. We went first to the monastery +of San Francisco, close to our hotel, the largest, and perhaps the +richest convent in the country. Entering through a great gate, we find +ourselves in a large courtyard, full of people, who are visiting--one +after another--the four churches which the establishment contains, +going in at one door and out at the other. At the door of the largest +church, stands a tall monk, soliciting customers for the rosaries of +olive-wood, crosses, and medals from Jerusalem, which are displayed on +a stall close by--shouting in a stentorian voice, every two or three +minutes, "He who gives alms to Holy Church, shall receive plenary +indulgence, and deliver one soul from purgatory." We bought some, but +there did not seem to be many other purchasers. Indeed, we found, when +we had been longer in the country, that a few pence would buy all sorts +of church indulgences, from the permission to eat meat on fast-days up +to plenary absolution in the hour of death; and the trade, once so +flourishing here, is almost used up. The churches were hung with black, +and lighted up; and in each was a "monument," a kind of bower of green +branches decorated with flowers, mirror's, and gold and silver +church-plate, and supposed to stand for the Garden of Gethsemane. +Inside was reclining a wax figure of our Saviour, gaudily dressed in +silk and velvet; and there were also representations of the Last +Supper, with wax-work figures as large as life. To visit and criticise +these "monuments" was the object of the sort of pilgrimage people were +making from church to church, and they seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. +It was not a superfluous precaution that we had taken, in leaving our +valuables in a place of safety, for, on our exit from the first church, +we found that Pepe had lost his handkerchief and a cigar-case, which he +had stowed away in an inner pocket, and Mr. Christy had been relieved +of one of his mamei seeds by some "lepero" who probably took it for a +snuff-box. His feelings must have been like those of the English +pickpocket in Paris, when he robbed the Frenchman of the article he had +pocketed with so much care, and found it was a lump of sugar. And so +relieved of further care for our worldly goods, we went through with +the work of seeing monuments, till we were tired and disgusted with the +whole affair, and at last went home to bed. + +Next day, appropriate sermons in the churches, processions in the +afternoon, in which wax figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary were +carried by men got up in fancy dresses as soldiers and centurions, and +so called penitents, walking covered with black shrouds and veils, with +small round holes to look through, or in the yellow dress and +extinguisher cap, both with flames and devils painted on them. These +are exactly the costumes worn in old times, the first by the familiars +of the Inquisition, and the second by the criminals it condemned; and +the sight of them set us thinking of the processions they used to +figure in, when the Holy Office was flourishing at Santo Domingo, a +little way down the street where we are standing. + +In the evening the Crucifixion is represented in wax in the churches, +and the visiting goes on as the night before; and the next morning is +the Sabado de Gloria, the Saturday which ends Lent. We go to the +Jesuits' church in the morning to hear the last sermon. Since Thursday +at noon, as the organs have been silenced, harps and violins have taken +their places. The sermon is long and prosy, and we rejoice that it is +the last. Then the service of the day goes on until they come to the +"Gloria in excelsis." The organ peals out again, the black +curtain--which has hidden the high altar--parts in the middle, and +displays a perfect blaze of gold and jewels: all the bells in the city +begin to ring: the carriages, which have been waiting ready harnessed +in court yards, pour out into the streets: the lumbering hackney +coaches go racing to the great square, striving to get the first fare +for luck: the Judases, which have been hanging all the morning out of +windows and across streets, are set light to as the first bell begins +to ring, and fizzing and popping burst all to pieces, and then are +thrown into a heap in the street, where a bonfire is made of them, and +the children join hands and dance round it. So Holy Week ends. + +[Illustration: THE PORTER AND THE BAKER IN MEXICO. (From Models made by +Native Artists)] + +The arrangement of the day in Mexico is this. Early in the morning your +servant knocks at your door, and brings in a little cup of coffee or +chocolate and a small roll, which _desayuno_--literally breakfast--you +discuss while dressing. Going down into the courtyard, you find your +horse waiting for you, and off you go for an hour or two's ride, and +back to a dejeuner-a-la-fourchette somewhere between ten and one +o'clock. Then you have seven or eight hours before dinner, so that a +good deal of work may be got into a day so divided. Things are managed +very differently in country places, but this is the fashion in the +capital among the higher class, that is, of course, the class of people +who put on dress-coats in the evening. + +When we had been a day or two in Mexico, we took our first ride to +Tacubaya and Chapultepec. Mexican saddles and bridles were a novelty to +us, but when we come to describe our Mexican and his appurtenances it +will be time enough to speak of them. + +The barricades in the streets constructed during the last revolution of +two or three weeks back had not yet been removed, but an opening at one +side allowed men and horses to get past. Carriages had to go round, an +easy matter in a city built as this is in squares like a chess-board. +The barricades mount two guns each, and as the streets are quite +straight they can sweep them in both directions, to the whole length of +their range. As in Turin, you can look backward and forward along the +straight streets from every part of the city, and see mountains at each +end. The suburbs of the city are quite as repulsive as our first +glimpse of them led us to expect; and, as far as one could judge by the +appearance of the half-caste inhabitants, it is not good to go there +alone after dark. Here is the end of the aqueduct of Chapultepec, the +Salto del Agua; and--crowded round it--a thoroughly characteristic +group of women and water-carriers, filling their great earthen jars +with water, which they carry about from house to house. The women are +simply and cheaply dressed, and though not generally pretty, are very +graceful in their movements. Their dress consists of a white cotton +under-dress, a coloured cotton skirt, generally blue, brown, or grey, +with some small pattern upon it, but never brilliant in colour, and a +rebozo, which is a small sober-coloured cotton shawl, long and narrow. +This rebozo passes over the back of the head, where it is somehow fixed +to a back hair-comb, and the two ends hang down over the shoulders in +front; or, more often, one end is thrown over the opposite shoulder, so +that the young lady's face is set in it, like a picture in a frame. Add +to this a springy step, the peculiarly unconstrained movement in +walking which comes of living in the open air and wearing a loose +dress, a pleasant pale face, small features, bright eyes, small hands +and feet, little slippers and no stockings, and you have as good a +picture of a Mexican half-caste girl as I can give. A book of Mexican +engravings, however, will give a much better idea of her. Then we went +past the great prison, the Acordada, and out at the gate (we had +purposely gone out of our way to see more of the city), and so into the +great promenade, the Paseo or Alameda. The latter is the Spanish name +for this necessary appendage to every town. It comes from _alamo_, +which means a poplar. Imagine a long wide level road, a mile or so +long, generally so chosen as to have a fine view, with footpaths on +each side, lines of poplar trees, a fountain at each end and a statue +in the middle, and this description will stand pretty nearly for almost +every promenade of the kind I have seen in Spain or Spanish America. + +[Illustration: WATER-CARRIER AND A MEXICAN WOMAN, AT THE FOUNTAIN.] + +Tacubaya is a pleasant place on the side of the first hills that begin +to rise towards the mountain-wall of the valley. Here rich Mexicans +have country-houses in large gardens, which are interesting from the +immense variety of plants which grow there, though badly kept up, and +systematically stripped by the gardeners of the fruit as it gets +ripe--for their own benefit, of course. From Tacubaya we go to +Chapultepec (Grasshopper Mountain), which is a volcanic hill of +porphyry rising from the plain. On the top is the palace on which the +viceroy Galvez expended great sums of money some seventy years ago, +making it into a building which would serve either as a palace or as a +fortress in cases of emergency. Though the Americans charged up the +hill and carried it easily in '47, it would be a very strong place in +proper hands. It is a military school now. On the hill is the famous +grove of cypresses--ahuehuetes[5]--as they are called, grand trees with +their branches hung with fringes of the long grey Spanish moss--barba +Espanola--Spanish beard. I do not know what painters think of the +effect of this moss, trailing in long festoons from the branches of the +trees, but to me it is beautiful; and I shall never forget where I +first saw it, on a bayou of the Mississippi, winding through the depths +of a great forest in the swamps of Louisiana.[6] In this grove of +Chapultepec, there were sculptured on the side of the hill, in the +solid porphyry, likenesses of the two Montezumas, colossal in size. For +some reason or other, I forget now what, one of the last Spanish +viceroys thought it desirable to destroy them, and tried to blow them +up with gunpowder. He only partially succeeded, for the two great +bas-reliefs were still very distinguishable as we rode past, though +noseless and considerably knocked about. + +We went home to breakfast with our friends, and looked at the +title-deeds of their house in crabbed Spanish of the sixteenth century, +and the great Chinese treasure-chest, still used as the strong-box of +the firm, with an immense lock, and a key like the key of Dover castle. +Fine old Chinese jars, and other curiosities, are often to be found in +Mexico; and they date from the time when the great galleon from Manila, +which was called "el nao"--the ship--to distinguish it from all other +ships, came once a year to Acapulco. + +After breakfast, business hours begin; so we took ourselves off to +visit the canal of Chalco, and the famous floating gardens--as they are +called. On our way we had a chance of studying the conveyances our +ancestors used to ride in, and availed ourselves of it. In books on +Spanish America, written at the beginning of this century, there are +wonderful descriptions of the gilt coaches, with six or eight mules, in +which the great folks used to drive in state on the promenades. They +are exactly the carriages that it was the height of a lady's ambition +to ride in, in the days of Sir Charles Grandison, and Mr. Tom Jones. +Here, in Mexico, they were still to be found, after they had +disappeared from the rest of the habitable globe; and even now, though +the private carriages are all of a more modern type, there are still +left a few of these amazing vehicles, now degraded to the cab-stand; +and we got into one that was embellished with sculptured Cupids--their +faces as much mutilated as the two Montezumas--and with the remains of +the painting and gilding, which once covered the whole affair, just +visible in corners, like the colouring of the ceilings of the Alhambra. +We had to climb up three high steps, and haul ourselves into the body +of the coach, which hung on strong leather straps; springs belong to a +later period. By the time we had got to the Paseo de las Vigas we were +glad enough to get out, wondering at the sacrifice of comfort to +dignity those highly respectable grandees must have made, and not +surprised at the fate of some inquisitive travellers who have done as +we did, and have been obliged to stop by the qualms of sea-sickness. At +the bridge we chartered a canoe to Santa Anita. This Santa Anita is a +little Indian village on the canal of Chalco, and to-day there is to be +a festival there. For this, however, we shall be too early, as we have +to be back in time to see Mexico turn out for a promenade on the Paseo +de las Vigas, and then to go out to dinner. So we must just take the +opportunity of looking at the Indian population as they go up and down +the canal in canoes, and see their gardens and their houses. However, +as the Indian notion of a festival consists in going to mass in the +morning, and getting drunk and fighting in the afternoon, we are +perhaps as well out of it. We took our passage to Santa Anita and back +in a canoe--a mere flat-bottomed box with sloping sides, made of boards +put together with wooden pegs. There was a mat at the stern for us to +squat upon, and an awning over our heads. An old Indian and his son +were the crew; and they had long poles, which they set against the +banks or the bottom of the shallow canal, and so pushed us along. +Besides these two, an old woman with two little girls got in, as we +were starting--without asking our leave, by the way--and sat down at +the other end of the canoe. Of course, the old woman began to busy +herself with the two little girls, in the usual occupation of old women +here, during their idle moments; and though she left off at our earnest +request, she evidently thought us very crotchety people for objecting. + +The scene on the canal was a curious one. There were numbers of boats +going up and down; and the Indians, as soon as they caught sight of an +acquaintance, began to shout out a long string of complimentary +phrases, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in Mexican: "How is your +worship this morning?" "I trust that I have the happiness of seeing +your worship in good health." "If there is anything I can have the +honour of doing for your worship, pray dispose of me," and so forth; +till they are out of hearing. All this is accompanied by a taking-off +of hats, and a series of low bows and complimentary grimaces. As far as +we could ascertain, it is all mere matter of ceremony. It may be an +exaggeration of the formal, complimentary talk of the Spaniards, but +its origin probably dates further back. + +The Indians here no longer appeared the same dull, melancholy men whom +we had seen in the richer quarter of the town. There they were under a +strong feeling of constraint, for their language is not understood by +the whites and mestizos; and they, for their part, know but little +Spanish; and besides, there is very little sympathy between the two +classes. One thing will shew this clearly enough. By a distinct line of +demarcation, the Indians are separated from the rest of the population, +who are at least partly white. These latter call themselves "gente de +razon"--people of reason,--to distinguish themselves from the Indians, +who are people without reason. In common parlance the distinction is +made thus: the whites and mixed breed are "gente"--_people_,--the brown +men being merely "Indios"--Indians--and not people at all. + +Here, in their own quarter, and among their own people, they seem +talkative enough. We can only tell what they are chattering about when +they happen to speak Spanish, either for our benefit, or to show off +their proficiency in that tongue. People who can speak the Aztec +language say that their way of forming compound words gives constant +occasion for puns and quibbles, and that the talk of the Indians is +full of such small jokes. In this respect they differ exceedingly from +the Spaniards, whose jests are generally about _things_, and seldom +about their _names_, as one sees by their almost always bearing +translation into other languages. + +Most of the canoes were tastefully decorated with flowers, for the +Aztecs have not lost their old taste for ornamenting themselves, and +everything about them, with garlands and nosegays. The fruits and +vegetables they were carrying to market were very English in their +appearance. Mexico is supplied with all kinds of tropical fruits, which +come from a distance; but the district we are now in only produces +plants which might grow in our own country--barley, potatoes, cabbages, +parsnips, apples, pears, plums, peaches, and so forth, but scarcely +anything tropical in its character. One thing surprises us, that the +Indians, in a climate where the mornings and evenings are often very +chilly, should dress so scantily. The men have a general appearance of +having outgrown their clothes; for the sleeves of the kind of +cotton-shirt they wear only reach to their elbows, and their trousers, +of the same material, only fall to their knees. To these two garments +add a sort of blanket, thrown over the shoulders, a pair of sandals, +and a palm-leaf hat, and the man is dressed. His skin is brown, his +limbs muscular--especially his legs--his lips thick, his nose Jewish, +his hair coarse, black, and hanging straight down. The woman's dress is +as simple as the man's. She has on a kind of cotton sack, very short in +the sleeves, and very open at the shoulders, and some sort of a skirt +or petticoat besides. Sometimes she has a folded cotton cloth on her +head, like a Roman contadina; but, generally, nothing covers her thick +black hair, which hangs down behind in long twisted tails. + +In old times, when Mexico was in the middle of a great lake, and the +inhabitants were not strong enough to hold land on the shores, they +were driven to strange shifts to get food. Among other expedients, they +took to making little floating islands, which consisted of rafts of +reeds and brushwood, on which they heaped mud from the shores of the +lakes. On the banks of the lake of Tezcuco the mud was, at first, too +full of salt and soda to be good for cultivation; but by pouring the +water of the lake upon it, and letting it soak through, they dissolved +out most of the salts, and the island was fit for cultivation, and bore +splendid crops of vegetables.[7] These islands were called _chinampas_, +and they were often large enough for the proprietor to build a hut in +the middle, and live in it with his family. In later times, when the +Mexicans came to be no longer afraid of their neighbours, the chinampas +were not of much use; and when the water was drained off, and the city +stood on dry land, one would have supposed that such a troublesome and +costly arrangement would have been abandoned. The Mexican, however, is +hard to move from the customs of his ancestors; and we have Humboldt's +word for it, that in his time there were some of these artificial +islands still in the lake of Chalco, which the owners towed about with +a rope, or pushed with a long pole. They are all gone now, at any rate, +though the name of _chinampa_ is still applied to the gardens along the +canal. These gardens very much resemble the floating islands in their +construction of mud, heaped on a foundation of reeds and branches; and +though they are not the real thing, and do not float, they are +interesting, as the present representatives of the famous Mexican +floating gardens. They are narrow strips of land, with a frontage of +four or five yards to the canal, and a depth of one hundred, or a +hundred and fifty yards. Between the strips are open ditches; and one +principal occupation of the proprietor seems to be bringing up mud from +the bottom of the ditch with a wooden shovel, and throwing it on the +garden, in places where it has sunk. The reason of the narrowness of +the strips is that he may be able to throw mud all over them from the +ditches on either side. + +While we are busy observing all these matters, and questioning our +boatmen about them, we reach Santa Anita. Here there are swampy lanes +and more swampy gardens, a little village of Indian houses, three or +four pulque-shops, and a church. Outside the pulque-shops are +fresco-paintings, representing Aztec warriors carousing, and draining +great bowls of pulque. These were no specimens of Aztec art, however, +but seemed to be copied (by some white or half-caste sign-painter, +probably) from the French coloured engravings which represent the +events of the Conquest. These extraordinary works of art are to be seen +everywhere in this country, where, of all places in the world, one +would have thought that people would have noticed that the artist had +not the faintest idea of what an Aztec was like, but supposed that his +limbs and face and hair were like an European's. Here, with the real +Aztec standing underneath, the difference was striking enough. One +ought not to be too critical about these things, however, when one +remembers the pictures of shepherds and shepherdesses that adorn our +English farmhouses. We drank pulque at the sign of _The Cacique_, and +liked it, for we had now quite got over our aversion to its putrid +taste and smell. I wonder that our new faculty of pulque-drinking did +not make us able to relish the suspicious eggs that abound in Mexican +inns, but it had no such effect, unfortunately. + +Our canoe took us back to the Promenade of Las Vigas, which is a long +drive, planted with rows of trees, and extends along the last mile or +two of the canal. Indeed, its name comes from the beam (Viga) which +swings across the canal at the place where the canoes pay toll. This +was the great promenade, once upon a time; but the new Alameda has +taken away all the promenaders to a more fashionable quarter, except on +certain festival days, three or four times in the year, when it is the +correct thing for society to make a display of itself--on horseback or +in carriages--in this neglected Indian quarter. We had happened upon +one of these festival days; so, as we crawled along the side-path, +tired and dusty, we had a good opportunity of seeing the Mexican beau +monde. The display of really good carriages was extraordinary; but it +must be recollected that many families here are content to live +miserably enough at home, if they can manage to appear in good style at +the theatre and on the promenade. This is one reason why so many of the +Mexicans who are so friendly with you out of doors, and in the cafes, +are so very shy of letting you see the inside of their houses. They +say, and very likely it is true, that among the richer classes, it is +customary to put a stipulation in the marriage-contracts, that the +husband shall keep a carriage and pair, and a box at the theatre, for +his wife's benefit. The horsemen turned out in great style, and the +foreigners were fully represented among them. It was noticeable that +while these latter generally adopted the high-peaked saddle, and the +jacket, and broad-brimmed felt hat of the country, and looked as though +the new arrangements quite suited them, the native dandies, on the +other hand, were prone to dressing in European fashion, and sitting +upon English saddles--in which they looked neither secure nor +comfortable. + +We walked home past the old Bull-ring, now replaced by a new one near +the new promenade, and found, to our surprise, that in this quarter of +the town many of the streets were under water. We knew that the level +of the lake of Tezcuco had been raised by a series of three very wet +seasons, but had no idea that things had got so far as this. Of course +the ground-floors had to be abandoned, and the people had made a raised +pathway of planks along the street, and adopted various contrivances +for getting dryshod up to their first floors; and in some places canoes +were floating in the street. The city looked like this some two hundred +years ago, when Martinez the engineer tried an unfortunate experiment +with his draining tunnel at Huehuetoca, and flooded the whole city for +five years. It was by the interference, they tell us, of the patroness +of the Indians, our Lady of Guadalupe, who was brought from her own +temple on purpose, that the city was delivered from the impending +destruction. A number of earthquakes took place, which caused the +ground to split in large fissures, down which the superfluous water +disappeared. For none of her many miracles has the Virgin of Guadalupe +got so much credit as for this. To be sure, it is not generally +mentioned in orthodox histories of the affair, that she was brought to +the capital a year or two before the earthquakes happened. + +Talking of earthquakes, it is to be remembered that we are in a +district where they are of continual occurrence. If one looks carefully +at a line of houses in a street, it is curious to see how some walls +slope inwards, and some outwards, and some are cracked from top to +bottom. There is hardly a church-tower in Mexico that is not visibly +out of the perpendicular. Any one who has noticed how the walls of the +Cathedral of Pisa have been thrown out of the perpendicular by the +settling down of the foundations, will have an idea of the general +appearance of the larger buildings of Mexico. On different occasions the +destruction caused by earthquakes has been very great. By the way, the +liability of Mexico to these shocks, explains the peculiarity of the +building of the houses. A modern English town with two-or-three-storied +houses, with their thin brick walls, would be laid in ruins by a shock +which would hardly affect Mexico. Here, the houses of several storeys +have stone walls of such thickness that they resist by sheer strength; +and the one-storey mud houses, in the suburbs, are too low to suffer +much by being shaken about. A few days before we arrived here, our +friends Pepe and Pancho were playing at billiards in the Lonja,[8] the +Merchants' Exchange; and Pepe described to us the feeling of utter +astonishment with which he saw his ball, after striking the other, +go suddenly off at an absurd angle into a pocket. The shock of an +earthquake had tilted the table up on one side. While we were in +Mexico there was a slight shock, which set the chandeliers swinging, +but we did not even notice it. In April, a solemn procession goes from +the Cathedral, on a day marked in the Calendar as the "Patrocinio de +Senor San Jose", to implore the "Santissimo Patriarca" to protect the +city from earthquakes (temblores). In connection with this subject +there is an opinion, so generally received in Mexico that it is worth +notice. Everybody there, even the most educated people, will tell you +that there is an earthquake-season, which occurs in January or +February; and that the shocks are far more frequent than at any other +time of the year. My impression is that this is all nonsense; but I +should like to test it with a list of the shocks that have been felt, +if such a thing were to be had. It does not follow that, because +the Mexicans have such frequent opportunities of trying the question, +they should therefore have done so. In fact, experience as to popular +beliefs in similar matters rather points the other way. I recollect +that in the earthquake districts of southern Italy, when shocks were of +almost daily occurrence, people believed that they were more frequent +in the middle four hours of the night, from ten to two, than at other +times. Of course, this proved on examination to be quite without +foundation. To take one more case in point. How many of our +almanack-books, even the better class of them, contain prophecies of +wet and fine weather, deduced from the moon's quarters! How long will +it be before we get rid of this queer old astrological superstition? + +We made a few rough observations of the thermometer and barometer +during our stay in Mexico. The barometer stands at about 22-1/2 inches, +and our thermometer gave the boiling point of water at 199 degrees. We +could never get eggs well boiled in the high lands, and attributed +this, whether rightly or not I cannot say, to the low temperature of +boiling water. + +[Illustration: GROUP OF ECCLESIASTICS, MEXICO.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +TACUBAYA. PACHUCA. REAL DEL MONTE. + +We went one morning to the house of our friend Don Pepe, and were +informed by the servant as we entered the courtyard that the nino, the +child, was up stairs waiting for us. "The Child" seemed an odd term to +apply to a young man of five and twenty. The young ladies, in the same +way are called the ni-as, and keep the appellation until they marry. + +We went off with the nino to his uncle's house at Tacubaya, on the +rising ground above Mexico. In the garden there we found a vegetation +such as one would find in southern Europe--figs, olives, peaches, +roses, and many other European trees and flowers--growing luxuriantly, +but among them the passion-flower, which produces one of the most +delicious of fruits, the granadita, and other semi-tropical plants. The +live creatures in the garden, however, were anything but European in +their character. There were numbers of immense butterflies of the most +brilliant colours; and the garden was full of hummingbirds, darting +backwards and forwards with wonderful swiftness, and dipping their long +beaks into the flowers. They call them chupa-mirtos--myrtle-suckers, +and the Indians take them by blowing water upon them from a cane, and +catching them before they have recovered from the shock. One day we +bought a cage full of them, and tried to keep them alive in our room by +feeding them with sugar and water, but the poor little things pined +away. In old times the Mexicans were famous for their ornaments of +humming-bird's feathers. The taste with which they arranged feathers of +many shades of colour, excited the admiration of the conquerors; and +the specimens we may still see in museums are beautiful things, and +their great age has hardly impaired the brilliancy of their tints. This +curious art was practised by the highest nobility, and held in great +esteem, just as working tapestry used to be in Europe, only that the +feather-work was mostly done by men. It is a lost art, for one cannot +take much account of such poor things as are done now, in which, +moreover, the designs are European. In this garden at Tacubaya we saw +for the first time the praying Mantis, and caught him as he sat in his +usual devotional attitude. His Spanish name is "el predicador," the +preacher. + +We got back to Mexico in time for the Corrida de Toros. The bull-ring +was a large one, and there were many thousands of people there; but as +to the spectacle itself, whether one took it upon its merits, or merely +compared it with the bull-fights of Old Spain, it was disgusting. The +bulls were cautious and cowardly, and could hardly be got to fight; and +the matadors almost always failed in killing them; partly through want +of skill, partly because it is really harder to kill a quiet bull than +a fierce one who runs straight at his assailant. To fill up the measure +of the whole iniquitous proceeding, they brought in a wretch in a white +jacket with a dagger, to finish the unfortunate beasts which the +matador could not kill in the legitimate way. It was evidently quite +the regular thing, for the spectators expressed no surprise at it. + +After the bull-fight proper was finished, there came two or three +supplementary performances, which were genuinely Mexican, and very well +worth seeing. A very wild bull was turned into the ring, where two +lazadores, on beautiful little horses, were waiting for him. The bull +set off at full speed after one of the riders, who cantered easily +ahead of him; and the other, leisurely untying his lazo, hung it over +his left arm, and then, taking the end in his right hand, let the cord +fall through the loop into a running noose, which he whirled two or +three times round his head, and threw it so neatly that it settled +gently down over the bull's neck. In a moment the other end of the cord +was wound several times round the pummel of the saddle, and the little +horse set off at full speed to get ahead of the bull. But the first +rider had wheeled round, thrown his lazo upon the ground, and just as +the bull stepped within the noose, whipped it up round his hind leg, +and galloped off in a contrary direction. Just as the first lazo +tightened round his neck, the second jerked him by the leg, and the +beast rolled helplessly over in the sand. Then they got the lazos off, +no easy matter when one isn't accustomed to it, and set him off again, +catching him by hind legs or fore legs just as they pleased, and +inevitably bringing him down, till the bull was tired out and no longer +resisted. Then they both lazo'd him over the horns, and galloped him +out, amid the cheers of the spectators. The amusements finished with +the "colear." This is quite peculiar to Mexico, and is done on this +wise. The coleador rides after the bull, who has an idea that something +is going to happen, and gallops off as fast as he can go, throwing out +his hind legs in his awkward bullish fashion. Now, suppose you are the +coleador, sitting in your peaked Mexican saddle, that rises behind and +before, and keeps you in your seat without an effort on your part. You +gallop after the bull, and when you come up with him, you pull as hard +as you can to keep your horse back; for, if he is used to the sport, as +almost all Mexican horses are, he is wild to get past, not noticing +that his rider has got no hold of the toro. Well, you are just behind +the bull, a little to the left of him, and out of the way of his hind +legs, which will trip your horse up if you don't take care; you take +your right foot out of the stirrup, catch hold of the end of the bull's +tail (which is very long), throw your leg over it, and so twist the end +of the tail round your leg below the knee. You have either got the +bridle between your teeth or have let it go altogether, and with your +left hand you give your horse a crack with the whip; he goes forward +with a bound, and the bull, losing his balance by the sudden jerk +behind, rolls over on the ground, and gets up, looking very +uncomfortable. The faster the bull gallops, the easier it is to throw +him over; and two boys of twelve or fourteen years of age coleared a +couple of young bulls in the arena, in great style, pitching them over +in all directions. The farmers and landed proprietors are immensely +fond of both these sports, which the bulls--by the way--seem to dislike +most thoroughly; but this exhibition in the bull-ring was better than +what one generally sees, and the leperos were loud in their expressions +of delight. + +When we had been a week or two in the city of Mexico, we decided upon +making an excursion to the great silver mining district of the Real del +Monte. Some of our English friends were leaving for England, and had +engaged the whole of the Diligence to Pachuca, going from thence up to +the Real, and thence to Tampico, with all the pomp and circumstance of +a train of carriages and an armed escort. We were invited to go with +them as far as Pachuca; and accordingly we rose very early on the 28th +of March, got some chocolate under difficulties, and started in the +Diligence, seven grown-up people, and a baby, who was very good, and +was spoken of and to as "leoncito." On the high plateaus of Mexico, the +children of European parents grow up as healthy and strong as at home; +it is only in the districts at a lower elevation above the sea, on the +coasts for instance, that they do not thrive. Mr. G., who was leaving +Mexico, was the head of a great merchant-house, and it was as a +compliment to him and Mrs. G. that we were accompanied by a party of +English horsemen for the first two or three leagues. Englishmen take +much more easily to Mexican ways about horses than the Mexicans do to +ours, and a finer turn-out of horses and riders than our amateur escort +could hardly have been found in Mexico. There was our friend Don +Guillermo, who rode a beautiful horse that had once belonged to the +captain of a band of robbers, and had not its equal in the city for +swiftness; and Don Juan on his splendid little brown horse Pancho, +lazoing stray mules as he went, and every now and then galloping into a +meadow by the roadside after a bull, who was off like a shot the moment +he heard the sound of hoofs. I wonder whether I shall ever see them +again, those jovial open-hearted countrymen of ours. At last our +companions said good-bye, and loaded pistols were carefully arranged on +the centre cushion in case of an attack, much to the edification of my +companion and myself, as it rather implied that, if fighting were to be +done, we two should have to sit inside to be shot at without a chance +of hitting anybody in return. + +The hedges of the Organ Cactus are a feature in the landscape of the +plains, and we first saw them to perfection on the road between Mexico +and Pachuca. This plant, the Cereus hexagonus, grows in Italy in the +open air, but seems not to be turned to account anywhere except in +Mexico for the purpose to which it is particularly suited. In its wild +state it grows like a candelabrum, with a thick trunk a few feet high, +from the top of which it sends out shoots, which, as soon as they have +room, rise straight upwards in fluted pillars fifteen or twenty feet in +height. Such a plant, with pillars rising side by side and almost +touching one another, has a curious resemblance to an organ with its +pipes, and thence its name "organo." + +To make a fence, they break off the straight lateral shoots, of the +height required, and plant them closely side by side, in a trench, +sufficiently deep to ensure their standing firmly; and it is a curious +sight to see a labourer bearing on his shoulder one of these vegetable +pillars, as high as himself, and carefully guarding himself against its +spines. A hedge perfectly impassable is obtained at once; the cactus +rooting so readily, that it is rare to see a gap where one has died. +The villagers surround their gardens with these fences of cactus, which +often line the road for miles together. Foreigners used to point out +such villages to us, and remark that they seemed "well organized," a +small joke which unfortunately bears translation into all ordinary +European languages, and was inflicted without mercy upon us as new +comers. + +We reached Pachuca early in the afternoon, and took up our quarters in +the inn there, and our friends went on to Real del Monte. + +This little town of Pachuca has long been a place of some importance in +the world, as regards mining-operations. The Aztecs worked silver-mines +here, as well as at Tasco, long before the Spaniards came, and they +knew how to smelt the ore. It is true that, if no better process than +smelting were known now, most of the mines would scarcely be worth +working; but still, to know how to extract silver at all was a great +step; and indeed at that time, and for long after the Conquest, there +was no better method known in Europe. It was in this very place that a +Spaniard, Medina by name, discovered the process of amalgamation with +mercury, in the year 1557, some forty years after the invasion. We went +to see the place where he first worked his new process, and found it +still used as a "hacienda de beneficio" (establishment for extracting +silver from the ore.) So few discoveries in the arts have come out of +Mexico, or indeed out of any Spanish colony, that we must make the most +of this really very important method, which is more extensively used +than any other, both in North and South America. As for the rest of the +world, it produces, comparatively, so little silver, that it is +scarcely worth taking into account. + +We had forgotten, when we went to bed, that we were nearly seven +hundred feet higher than Mexico; but had the fact brought to our +remembrance by waking in the middle of the night, feeling very cold, +and finding our thermometer marking 40 degrees Fahr.; whereupon we +covered ourselves with cloaks, and the cloaks with the strips of carpet +at our bedsides, and went to sleep again. + +We had hired, of the French landlord, two horses and a mozo to guide +us, and sorry hacks they were when we saw them in the morning. It was +delightful to get a little circulation into our veins by going at the +best gallop our horses would agree to; for we were fresh from hot +countries, and not at all prepared for having our hands and feet numbed +with cold, and being as hoarse as ravens--for the sore throat which is +the nuisance of the district, and is very severe upon new comers, had +not spared us. Evaporation is so rapid at this high altitude that if +you wet the back of your hand it dries almost instantly, leaving a +smart sensation of cold. One may easily suppose, that when people have +been accustomed to live under the ordinary pressure of the air, their +throats and lungs do not like being dried up at this rate; besides +their having, on account of the rarity of the air, to work harder in +breathing, in order to get in the necessary quantity of oxygen. + +Coughs seem very common here, especially among the children, though +people look strong and healthy, but in the absence of proper statistics +one cannot undertake to say whether the district is a healthy one or +not. + +For a wonder we have a good road, and this simply because the Real del +Monte Company wanted one, and made it for themselves. How unfortunate +all Spanish countries are in roads, one of the most important first +steps towards civilization! When one has travelled in Old Spain, one +can imagine that the colonists did not bring over very enlightened +ideas on the subject; and as the Mexicans were not allowed to hold +intercourse with any other country, it is easy to explain why Mexico is +all but impassable for carriages. But if the money--or half of it--that +has been spent in building and endowing churches and convents had been +devoted to road-making, this might have been a great and prosperous +country. + +For some three hours we rode along among porphyritic mountains, getting +higher at every turn, and enjoying the clear bright air. Now and then +we met or passed a long recua (train) of loaded mules, taking care to +keep the safe side of the road till we were rid of them. It is not +pleasant to meet a great drove of horned cattle in an Alpine pass, but +I really think a recua of loaded mules among the Andes is worse. A +knowing old beast goes first, and the rest come tumbling after him +anyhow, with their loads often projecting a foot or two on either side, +and banging against anybody or anything. Then, wherever the road is +particularly narrow, and there is a precipice of two or three hundred +feet to fall over, one or two of them will fall down, or get their +packs loose, and so block up the road, and there is a general scrimmage +of kicking and shoving behind, till the arrieros can get things +straight again. At last we reach the top of a ridge, and see the little +settlement of Real del Monte below us. It is more like a Cornish mining +village than anything else; but of course the engine-houses, chimneys, +and mine-sheds, built by Cornishmen in true Cornish fashion, go a long +way towards making up the resemblance. The village is built on the +awkwardest bit of ground possible, up and down on the side of a steep +ravine, one house apparently standing on the roof of another; and it +takes half a mile of real hard climbing to get from the bottom of the +town to the top. + +We put up our horses at a neat little inn kept by an old Englishwoman, +and walked or climbed up to the Company's house. We made several new +acquaintances at the Real, though we left within a few hours, intending +to see the place thoroughly on our return. + +One peculiarity of the Casa Grande--the great house of the Company--was +the warlike appearance of everybody in it. The clerks were posting up +the ledgers with loaded revolvers on the desk before them; the +manager's room was a small arsenal, and the gentlemen rode out for +exercise, morning and evening, armed to the teeth. Not that there is +anything to be apprehended from robbers--indeed I should like to see +any of the Mexican ladrones interfering with the Cornish miners, who +would soon teach them better manners. I am inclined to think there is a +positive pleasure in possessing and handling guns and pistols, whether +they are likely to be of any use or not. Indeed, while travelling +through the western and southern States of America, where such things +are very generally carried, I was the possessor of a five-barrelled +revolver, and admit that I derived an amount of mild satisfaction from +carrying it about, and shooting at a mark with it, that amply +compensated for the loss of two dollars I incurred by selling it to a +Jew at New Orleans. + +We rode on to Regla, soon finding that our guide had never been there +before; so, next morning, we kept the two horses and dismissed him with +ignominy. A fine road leads from the Real to Regla, for all the +silver-ore from the mines is conveyed there to have the silver +separated from it. My notes of our ride mention a great water-wheel: +sections of porphyritic rocks, with enormous masses of alluvial soil +lying upon them: steep ravines: arroyos, cut by mountain-streams, and +forests of pine-trees--a thoroughly Alpine district altogether. At +Regla it became evident that our letter of introduction was not a mere +complimentary affair. There is not even a village there; it is only a +great hacienda, belonging to the Company, with the huts of the workmen +built near it. The Company, represented by Mr. Bell, received us with +the greatest hospitality. Almost before the letter was opened our +horses and mozo were off to the stables, our room was ready, and our +dinner being prepared as fast as might be. What a pleasant evening we +had, after our long day's work! We had a great wood-fire, and sat by +it, talking and looking at Mr. Bell's photographs and minerals, which +serve as an amusement in his leisure-hours. The Company's Administrador +leads rather a peculiar life here. There is no want of work or +responsibility; he has two or three hundred Indians to manage, almost +all of whom will steal and cheat without the slightest scruple, if they +can but get a chance; he has to assay the ores, superintend a variety +of processes which require the greatest skill and judgment, and he is +in charge of property to the value of several hundred thousand pounds. +Then a man must have a constitution of iron to live in a place where +the air is so rarefied, and where the temperature varies thirty and +forty degrees between morning and noon. As for society, he must find it +in his own family; for even the better class of Mexicans are on so +different a level, intellectually, from an educated Englishman, that +their society bores him utterly, and he had rather be left in solitude +than have to talk to them. Well, it is a great advantage to travellers +that circumstances fix pleasant people in such out-of-the-way places. + +One necessary part of a hacienda is a church. The proprietors are +compelled by law to build one, and pay the priest's fees for mass on +Sundays and feast-days. Now, almost all the English one meets with +engaged in business, or managing mines and plantations, are Scotch, and +one may well suppose that there is not much love lost between them and +the priests. The father confessor plays an important part in the great +system of dishonesty that prevails to so monstrous an extent throughout +the country. He hears the particulars of the thefts and cheatings that +have been practised on the proprietor who builds his church and pays +for his services, and he complacently absolves his penitents in +consideration of a small penance. Not a word about restitution; and +just a formal injunction to go and sin no more, which neither priest +nor penitent is very sincere about. The various evils of the Roman +Catholic system have been reiterated till the subject has become +tiresome, but this particular practice is so contrary to the simplest +notions of morality, and has produced such fearful effects on the +character of this nation, that one cannot pass it by without notice. If +the Superintendent should roast the parish priest in front of the +oxidising furnace, till he confessed all he knew about the thefts of +his parishioners from the Company, he would tell strange stories,--how +Juan Fernandez carried off sixpennyworth of silver in each car every +day for a month; and how Pedro Alvarado (the Indian names have almost +disappeared except in a few families, and Spanish names have been +substituted) had a hammer with a hollow handle, like the stick that +Sancho Panza delivered his famous judgment about, and carried away +silver in it every day when he left work; and how Vasco Nunez stole the +iron key from the gate (which cost two dollars to replace), walking +twenty miles and losing a day's work in order to sell it, and +eventually getting but twopence for it; and plenty more stories of the +same kind. The Padre at Regla, we heard, was not given to preaching +sermons, but had lately favoured his congregation with a very striking +one, to the effect that the Company paid him only three dollars a time +for saying mass, and that he ought to have four. + +Almost every traveller who visits Mexico enlarges on the dishonesty +which is rooted in the character of the people. That they are worse now +in this respect than they were before the Conquest is highly probable. +Their position as a conquered and enslaved people, tended, as it always +does, to foster the slavish vices of dissimulation and dishonesty. The +religion brought into the country by the Spanish missionaries concerned +itself with their belief, and left their morals to shift for +themselves, as it does still. + +In the mining-districts stealing is universal. Public feeling among the +Indians does not condemn it in the least, quite the contrary. To steal +successfully is considered a triumph, and to be found out is no +disgrace. Theft is not even punishable. In old times a thief might be +put in the stocks; but Burkart, who was a mining-inspector for many +years, says that in his time, some twenty years ago, tins was +abolished, and I believe the law has not been altered since. It is a +miserable sight to see the Indian labourers searched as they come out +of the mines. They are almost naked, but rich ore packs in such a small +compass, and they are so ingenious in stowing it away, that the +doorkeepers examine their mouths and ears, and their hair, and +constantly find pieces that have been secreted, while a far greater +quantity escapes. It is this system of thieving that accounts for the +existence of certain little smelting-sheds, close to the works of the +Company, who look at them with such feelings as may be imagined. These +places profess to smelt ore from one or two little mines in the +neighbourhood, but their real object is no secret. They buy the stolen +bits of rich ore from the Indian labourers, giving exactly half the +value for it. + +Of course, we must not judge these Mexican labourers as though we had a +very high standard of honesty at home. That we should see workmen +searched habitually in England, at the doors of our national +dock-yards, is a much greater disgrace to us. And not merely a +disgrace, but a serious moral evil, for to expose an honest man to such +a degradation is to make him half a thief already. + +People who know the Indian population best assure us that their lives +are a perpetual course of intrigue and dissimulation. Always trying to +practise some small fraud upon their masters, and even upon their own +people, they are in constant fear that every one is trying to overreach +them. They are afraid to answer the simplest question, lest it should +be a trap laid to catch them. They ponder over every word and action of +their European employers, to find out what hidden intrigue lies +beneath, and to devise some counter-plot. Sartorius says that when he +has met an Indian and asked his name, the brown man always gave a false +one, lest the enquirer should want to do him some harm. + +Never did any people show more clearly the effects of ages of servitude +and oppression; but, hopeless as the moral condition of this mining +population seems, there is one favourable circumstance to be put on +record. The Cornish miners, who have been living among them for years, +have worked quite perceptibly upon the Indian character by the example +of their persevering industry, their love of saving, and their utter +contempt for thieves and liars. Instead of squandering their wages, or +burying them in the ground, many of the Indian miners take their +savings to the Banks; and the opinions of the foreigners are +gradually--though very slowly--altering the popular standard of +honesty, the first step towards the moral improvement of the Mexican +population. + +In the morning we went off for an excursion, having got a lively young +fellow from the hacienda in exchange for our stupid mozo. There was +hoar frost on the ground, and the feeling of cold was intense at first; +but the sun began to warm the ground about eight o'clock, and we were +soon glad to fasten our great coats and shawls to our saddles. Three +leagues took us to the town of Atotonilco[9] el Grande, which gives its +name to the plateau we were crossing. Here we are no longer in the +valley of Mexico, which is separated from this plain by the mountains +of the Real del Monte. We rode on two leagues more to the village of +Soquital[10] where, it being Sunday, we found the inhabitants--mostly +Indians--amusing themselves by standing in the sun, doing nothing. I +can hardly say "doing nothing," though, for we went into the tienda, or +shop, and found a brisk trade going on in raw spirits. _Tienda_, in +Spanish, means a tent or booth. The first shops were tents or booths at +fairs or in market-places; and thence "tienda" came to mean a shop in +general; a derivation which corresponds with that of the word "shop" +itself. Such of the population as had money seemed to drop in at +regular intervals for a dram, which consisted of a small wine-glassful +of white-corn-brandy, called _chinguerito_. We tasted some, while the +people at the shop were frying eggs and boiling beans for our +breakfast; and found it so strong that a small sip brought tears into +our eyes, to the amusement of the bystanders. It seemed that everybody +was drinking who could afford it; from the old men and women to the +babies in their mothers' arms; everybody had a share, except those who +were hard up, and they stood about the door looking stolidly at the +drinkers. There was nothing like gaiety in the whole affair; only a +sort of satisfaction appeared in the face of each as he took his dose. +It is the drinkers of pulque who get furiously drunk, and fight; here +it is different. These drinkers of spirits are not much given to that +enormous excess that kills off the Red Indians; indeed, they are seldom +drunk enough to lose their wits, and they never have delirium tremens, +which would come upon a European, with much less provocation. They get +into a habit of daily--almost hourly--dram-drinking, and go on, year +after year, in this way; seeming, as far as we could judge, to live a +long while, such a life as it is. As we mounted our horses and rode on, +we agreed that we had seldom seen a more melancholy and depressing +sight. + +We met some arrieros, who had brought up salt from the coast; and they, +seeing that we were English, judged we had something to do with mines, +and proposed to sell us their goods. The price of salt here is actually +three-pence per lb., in a district where its consumption is immense, as +it is used in refining the silver ore. It must be said, however, that +this is an unusual price; for the muleteers have been so victimised by +their mules being seized, either by the government or the rebels (one +seems about as bad as the other in this respect), that they must have a +high price to pay them for the risk. Generally seven reals, or 3s. 6d. +per arroba of 25 lbs. is the price. This salt is evaporated in the +salinas of Campeche, taken by water to Tuzpan, and then brought up the +country on mules' backs--each beast carrying 300 lbs. Of course, this +salt is very coarse and very watery; all salt made in this way is. It +suits the New Orleans people better to import salt from England, than +to make it in this way in the Gulf of Mexico, though the water there is +very salt, and the sun very hot. The fact, that it pays to carry salt +on mules' backs, tells volumes about the state of the country. At the +lowest computation, the mules would do four or five times as much work +if they were set to draw any kind of cart--however rough--on a +carriageable road. It is true that there is some sort of road from here +to Tampico, but an English waggoner would not acknowledge it by that +name at all; and the muleteers are still in possession of most of the +traffic in this district, as indeed they are over almost all the +country. + +It was mid-day by this time; and, as we could not get to the Rio Grande +without taking our chance for the night in some Indian rancho, we +turned back. The heat had become so oppressive that we took off our +coats; and Mr. Christy, riding in his shirt-sleeves and holding a white +umbrella over his head, which he had further protected with a turban, +declared that even in the East he had not had so fatiguing a ride. We +passed through Soquital, and there the natives were idling and drinking +spirits as before, and seemed hardly to have moved since we left. This +plateau of Atotonilco el Grande, called for shortness Grande, is, like +most of the high plains of Mexico, composed mostly of porphyry and +obsidian, a valley filled up with debris from the surrounding +mountains, which are all volcanic, embedded in reddish earth. The +mountain-torrents--in which the water, so to speak, comes down all at +once, not flowing in a steady stream all the year round as in +England--have left evidences of their immense power in the ravines with +which the sides of the hills, from their very tops downward, are +fluted. + +These fluted mountain-ridges resemble the "Kamms" (combs) of the Swiss +Alps, called so from their toothed appearance. + +We had met numbers of Indians, bringing their wares to the Sunday +market in the great square of Atotonilco el Grande; and when we reached +the town on our way home, business was still going on briskly; so we +put up our horses, and spent an hour or two in studying the people and +the commodities they dealt in. It was a real old-fashioned Indian +market, very much such as the Spaniards found when they first +penetrated into the country. A large proportion of the people could +speak no Spanish, or only a few words. The unglazed pottery, palm-leaf +mats, ropes and bags of aloe-fibre, dressed skins, &c., were just the +same wares that were made three centuries ago; and there is no +improvement in their manufacture. This people, who rose in three +centuries from the condition of wandering savages to a height of +civilization that has no equal in history--considering the shortness of +the time in which it grew up--have remained, since the Conquest, +without making one step in advance. They hardly understand any reason +for what they do, except that their ancestors did things so--they +therefore must be right. They make their unglazed pottery, and carry it +five and twenty miles to market on their heads, just as they used to do +when there were no beasts of burden in the country. The same with their +fruits and vegetables, which they have brought great distances, up the +most difficult mountain-paths, at a ruinous sacrifice of time and +trouble, considering what a miserable sum they will get for them after +all, and how much even of this will be spent in brandy. By working on a +hacienda they would get double what their labour produces in this way, +but they do not understand this kind of reasoning. They cultivate their +little patches of maize, by putting a sharp stick into the ground, and +dropping the seed into the hole. They carry pots of water to irrigate +their ground with, instead of digging trenches. This is the more +curious, as at the time of the Conquest irrigation was much practised +by the Aztecs in the plains, and remains of water-canals still exist, +showing that they had carried the art to great perfection. They bring +logs of wood over the mountains by harnessing horses or mules to them, +and dragging them with immense labour over the rough ground. The idea +of wheels or rollers has either not occurred to them, or is considered +as a pernicious novelty. + +It is very striking to see how, while Europeans are bringing the newest +machinery and the most advanced arts into the country, there is +scarcely any symptom of improvement among the people, who still hold +firmly to the wisdom of their ancestors. An American author, Mayer, +quotes a story of a certain people in Italy, as an illustration of the +feeling of the Indians in Mexico respecting improvements. In this +district, he says that the peasants loaded their panniers with +vegetables on one side, and balanced the opposite pannier by filling it +with stones; and when a traveller pointed out the advantage to be +gained by loading both panniers with vegetables, he was answered that +their forefathers from time immemorial had so carried their produce to +market, that they were wise and good men, and that a stranger showed +very little understanding or decency who interfered in the established +customs of a country. I need hardly say that the Indians are utterly +ignorant; and this of course accounts to a great extent for their +obstinate conservatism. + +There were several shops round the market-place at Grande, and the +brandy-drinking was going on much as at Soquital. The shops in these +small towns are general stores, like "the shop" in coal- and +iron-districts in England. It is only in large towns that the different +retail-trades are separated. One thing is very noticeable in these +country stores, the certainty of finding a great stock of sardines in +bright tin boxes. The idea of finding _Sardines a l'huile_ in Indian +villages seemed odd enough; but the fact is, that the difficulty of +getting fish up from the coast is so great that these sardines are not +much dearer than anything else, and they go a long way. Montezuma's +method of supplying his table with fresh fish from the gulf, by having +relays of Indian porters to run up with it, is too expensive for +general use, and there is no efficient substitute. It is in consequence +of this scarcity of fish, that Church-fasts have never been very +strictly kept in Mexico. + +[Illustration: HIEROGLYPHICS.] + +The method of keeping accounts in the shops--which, it is to be +remembered, are almost always kept by white or half-white people, +hardly ever by Indians--is primitive enough. Here is a score which I +copied, the hieroglyphics standing for dollars, half-dollars, medios or +half-reals, cuartillos or quarter-reals, and tlacos--or clacos--which +are eighths of a real, or about 3/4d. While account-keeping among +the comparatively educated trades-people is in this condition, +one can easily understand how very limited the Indian notions of +calculation are. They cannot realize any number much over ten; and +twenty--cempoalli--is with them the symbol of a great number, +as a hundred was with the Greeks. There is in Mexico a mountain +called in this indefinite way "Cempoatepetl"--the twenty-mountain. +Sartorius mentions the Indian name of the many-petaled +marigold--"cempoaxochitl"--the twenty-flower. We traded for some +trifles of aloe-fibre, but soon had to count up the reckoning with +beans. + +I have delayed long enough for the present over the Indians and their +market; so, though there is much more to be said about them, I will +only add a few words respecting the commodities for sale, and then +leave them for awhile. + +There seemed to be a large business doing in costales (bags) made of +aloe-fibre, for carrying ore about in the mines. True to the traditions +of his ancestors, the Indian much prefers putting his load in a bag on +his back, to the far easier method of wheeling it about. Lazos sold at +one to four reals, (6d. to 2s.) according to quality. There are two +kinds of aloe-fibre; one coarse, _ichtli_, the other much finer, +_pito_; the first made from the great aloe that produces pulque, the +other from a much smaller species of the same genus. The stones with +which the boiled maize is ground into the paste of which the universal +tortillas are made were to be had here; indeed, they are made in the +neighbourhood, of the basalt and lava which abound in the district. The +metate is a sort of little table, hewn out of the basalt, with four +little feet, and its surface is curved from the ends to the middle. The +metalpile is of the same material, and like a rolling-pin. The +old-fashioned Mexican pottery I have mentioned already. It is +beautifully made, and very cheap. They only asked us nine-pence for a +great olla, or boiling-pot, that held four or five gallons, and no +doubt this was double the market-price. I never so thoroughly realized +before how climate is altered by altitude above the sea as in noticing +the fruits and vegetables that were being sold at this little market, +within fifteen or twenty miles of which they were all grown. There were +wheat and barley, and the pinones (the fruit of the stone-pine, which +grows in Italy, and is largely used instead of almonds); and from these +representatives of temperate climates the list extended to bananas and +zapotes, grown at the bottom of the great barrancas, 3,000 or 4,000 +feet lower in level than the plateau, though in distance but a few +miles off. Three or four thousand miles of latitude would not give a +greater difference. + +It would never do to be late, and break our necks in one of the awkward +water-courses that cut the plateau about in all directions; so we +started homewards, soon having to unfasten great-coats and shawls from +our saddles, to keep out the cold of the approaching sunset; and so we +got back to the hospitable hacienda, and were glad to warm ourselves at +the fire. + +Next morning, we went off to get a view of the great barranca of Regla. +A ride over the hills brought us to a wood of oaks, with their branches +fringed with the long grey Spanish moss, and a profusion of epiphytes +clinging to their bark, some splendidly in flower, showing the +fantastic shapes and brilliant colours one sees in English +orchid-houses. Cactuses of many species complete the picture of the +vegetation in this beautiful spot. This is at the top of the barranca. +Then imagine a valley a mile or two in width, with sides almost +perpendicular and capped with basaltic pillars, and at the bottom a +strip of land where the vegetation is of the deepest green of the +tropics, with a river winding along among palm-trees and bananas. This +great barranca is between two and three thousand feet deep, and the +view is wonderful. We went down a considerable way by a zig-zag road, +my companion collecting armfuls of plants by the way, but unfortunately +losing his thermometer, which could not be found, though a long hunt +for it produced a great many more plants, and so the trouble was not +wasted. The prickly pear was covered with ripe purple fruit a little +way down, and we refreshed ourselves with them, I managing--in my +clumsiness--to get into my fingers two or three of the little sheaves +of needles which are planted on the outside of the fruit, and thus +providing myself with occupation for leisure moments for three or four +days after in taking them out. + +Many species of cactus, and the nopal, or prickly pear, especially, are +full of watery sap, which trickles out in a stream when they are +pierced. In these thirsty regions, when springs and brooks are dry, the +cattle bite them to get at the moisture, regardless of the thorns. On +the north coast of Africa the camels delight in crunching the juicy +leaves of the same plant. I have often been amused in watching the +camel-drivers' efforts to get their trains of laden beasts along the +narrow sandy lanes of Tangier, between hedges of prickly pears, where +the camels with their long necks could reach the tempting lobes on both +sides of the way. + +In this thirsty season, while the cattle in the Mexican plains derive +moisture from the cactus, the aloe provides for man a substitute for +water. It frequently happened to us to go from rancho to rancho asking +for water in vain, though pulque was to be had in abundance. + +To attempt any description of the varied forms of cactus in Mexico +would be out of the question. In the northern provinces alone, +botanists have described above eight hundred species. The most striking +we met with were the prickly pear (cactus opuntia), the organo, the +night-blowing cereus, the various mamillarias--dome-shaped mounds +covered with thorns, varying in diameter from an inch to six or eight +feet--and the greybeard, _el viejo,_ "the old man," as our guide called +them, upright pillars like street-posts, and covered with grey +wool-like filaments. + +Getting to the top of the ravine again, we found an old Indian milking +an aloe, which flourishes here, though a little further down the +climate is too hot for it to produce pulque. This old gentleman had a +long gourd, of the shape and size of a great club, but hollow inside, +and very light. The small end of this gourd was pushed in among the +aloe-leaves into the hollow made by scooping out the inside of the +plant, and in which the sweet juice, the aguamiel, collects. By having +a little hole at each end of the gourd, and sucking at the large end, +the hollow of the plant emptied itself into the Acocote, (in proper +Mexican, _Acocotl_, Water-throat), as this queer implement is called. +Then the Indian stopped the hole at the end he had been sucking at, +with his finger, and dexterously emptied the contents of the gourd into +a pig-skin which he carried at his back. We went up with the old man to +his rancho, and tested his pulque, which was very good, though we could +not say the same of his domestic arrangements. It puzzled us not a +little to see people living up at this height in houses built of +sticks, such as are used in the hot lands, and hardly affording any +protection from the weather, severe as it is here. The pulque is taken +to market in pig-skins, which, though the pig himself is taken out of +them, still retain his shape very accurately; and when nearly full of +liquor, they roll about on their backs, and kick up the little dumpy +legs that are left them, in the most comical and life-like way. When we +went away we bought the old man's acocote, and carried it home in +triumph, and is it not in the Museum at Kew Gardens to this day? _(See +the illustration at page 36.)_ + +At the hacienda of Regla are to be seen on a large scale most of the +processes which are employed in the extraction of silver from the +ore--the _beneficio_, or making good, as it is called. + +In the great yard, numbers of men and horses were walking round and +round upon the "tortas," tarts or pies, as they are called, consisting +of powdered ore mixed with water, so as to form a circular bed of mud a +foot deep. To this mud, sulphate of copper, salt, and quicksilver are +added, and the men and mules walk round and round in it, mixing it +thoroughly together, a process which is kept up, with occasional +intervals of rest, for nearly two months. By that time the whole of the +silver has formed an amalgam with the mercury, and this amalgam is +afterwards separated from the earth by being trampled under water in +troughs. We were surprised to find that men and horses could pass their +lives in wading through mud containing mercury in a state of fine +division without absorbing it into their bodies, but neither men nor +horses suffer from it. + +We happened to visit the melting-house one evening, while silver and +lead were being separated by oxidizing the lead in a reverberatory +furnace. Here we noticed a curious effect. The melted litharge ran from +the mouth of the furnace upon a floor of damp sand, and spread over it +in a sheet. Presently, as the heat of the mass vaporized the water in +the sand below, the sheet of litharge, still slightly fluid, began to +heave and swell, and a number of small cones rose from its surface. +Some of these cones reached the height of four inches, and then burst +at the top, sending out a shower of red-hot fragments. I removed one of +these cones when the litharge was cool. It had a regidar funnel-shaped +crater, like that which Vesuvius had until three or four years ago. + +The analogy is complete between these little cones and those on the +lava-field at the foot of the volcano of Jorullo, the celebrated +"hornitos;" the concentric structure of which, as described by Burkart, +proves that they were formed in precisely the same manner. Until +lately, the formation of the great cone of Jorullo was attributed to +the same kind of action as the hornitos, but later travellers have +established the fact that this is incorrect. One of the De Saussure +family, who was in Mexico a few years back, describes Jorullo as +consisting of three terraces of basaltic lava, which have flowed one +above another from a central orifice, the whole being surmounted by a +cone of lapilli thrown up from the same opening, from which also later +streams of lava have issued. + +The celebrated cascade of Regla is just behind the hacienda. There is a +sort of basin, enclosed on three sides by a perpendicular wall of +basaltic columns, some eighty feet high. On the side opposite the +opening, a mountain stream has cut a deep notch in this wall, and pours +down in a cascade. The basaltic pillars rest upon an undisturbed layer +of basaltic conglomerate five feet thick, and that upon a bed of clay. +The place is very picturesque; and two great Yuccas which project over +the waterfall, crowned with their star-like tufts of pointed leaves, +have a strange effect. These basalt-columns are very regular, with from +five to eight sides; and are almost black in colour. They have a +curiously well-defined circular core in the middle, five or six inches +in diameter. This core is light grey, almost white. The Indians bring +down numbers of short lengths or joints of the columns, and they are +used at the hacienda in making a primitive kind of ore-crushing mill, +in which they are dragged round and round by mule-power, on a floor +also of basalt. + +When we had visited the falls we took leave of our hospitable friend, +and set off to return to the Real. We stopped at San Miguel, another of +the haciendas of the Company, where the German barrel-process is +worked. Just behind the hacienda is the Ojo de Agua--the Eye of +Water--a beautiful basin, surrounded by a green sward and a wood of +oaks and fir-trees. A little stream takes its rise from the spring +which bubbles up into this basin, and the name "Ojo de Agua," is a +general term applied to such fountain-heads. When one looks down from a +high hill upon one of these Eyes of Water, one sees how the name came +to be given, and indeed, the idiom is thousands of years older than the +Spanish tongue, and belongs as well to the Hebrew and Arabic. A Mexican +calls a lake _atezcatl_, Water-Mirror, an expressive word, which +reminds one of the German _Wasserspiegel_. + +Soon after nightfall we got back to the English inn, and went to bed +without any further event happening, except the burning of some +outhouses, which we went out to see. The custom of roofing houses with +pine-shingles ("tacumeniles"), and the general use of wood for building +all the best houses, make fires very common here. During the few days +we spent in the Real district, I find in my notebook mention of three +fires which we saw. We spent the next day in resting, and in visiting +the mine-works near at hand. The day after, an Englishman who had lived +many years at the Real offered to take us out for a day's ride; and the +Company's Administrador lent us two of his own horses, for the poor +beasts from Pachuca could hardly have gone so far. The first place we +visited was Penas Cargadas, the "loaded rocks." Riding through a thick +wood of oaks and pines, we came suddenly in view of several sugar-loaf +peaks, some three hundred feet high, tapering almost to a point at the +top, and each one crowned with a mass of rocks which seem to have been +balanced in unstable equilibrium on its point,--looking as though the +first puff of wind would bring them down. The pillars were of +porphyritic conglomerate, which had been disintegrated and worn away by +wind and rain; while the great masses resting on them, probably of +solid porphyry, had been less affected by these influences. It was the +most curious example of the weathering of rocks that we had ever seen. +From Penas Cargadas we rode on to the farm of Guajalote, where the +Company has forests, and cuts wood and burns charcoal for the mines and +the refining works. Don Alejandro, the tenant of the farm, was a +Scotchman, and a good fellow. He could not go on with us, for he had +invited a party of neighbours to eat up a kid that had been cooked in a +hole in the ground, with embers upon it, after Sandwich Island fashion. +This is called a _barbacoa_--a barbecue. We should have liked to be at +the feast, but time was short, so we rode on to the top of Mount Jacal, +12,000 feet above the sea, where there was a view of mountains and +valleys, and heat that was positively melting. Thence down to the Cerro +de Navajas, the "hill of knives." It is on the sides of this hill that +obsidian is found in enormous quantities. Before the conquerors +introduced the use of iron, these deposits were regularly mined, and +this place was the Sheffield of Mexico. + +We were curious to see all that was to be seen; for Mr. Christy's +Mexican collection, already large before our visit, and destined to +become much larger, contained numbers of implements and weapons of this +very peculiar material. Any one who does not know obsidian may imagine +great masses of bottle-glass, such as our orthodox ugly wine-bottles +are made of, very hard, very brittle, and--if one breaks it with any +ordinary implement--going, as glass does, in every direction but the +right one. We saw its resemblance to this portwine-bottle-glass in an +odd way at the Ojo de Agua, where the wall of the hacienda was armed at +the top, after our English fashion, apparently with bits of old +bottles, but which turned out to be chips of obsidian. Out of this +rather unpromising stuff the Mexicans made knives, razors, arrow- and +spear-heads, and other things, some of great beauty. I say nothing of +the polished obsidian mirrors and ornaments, nor even of the curious +masks of the human face that are to be seen in collections, for these +were only laboriously cut and polished with jewellers' sand, to us a +common-place process. + +[Illustration: STONE SPEAR-HEADS AND OBSIDIAN KNIVES AND ARROW-HEADS, +FROM MEXICO. 1. Flame shaped Arrow-head; obsidian: Teleohuacan. 2. +Arrow-head; opake obsidian: Teleohuacan. 3. Knife or Razor of Obsidian; +shown in two aspects; Mexico. 4. Leaf-shaped Knife or Javelin-head; +obsidian: from Real Del Monte. 5. Spear-head of Chalcedony; one of a +pair supposed to be spears of State: found in excavating for the Casa +Grande, Tezcuco. (This peculiar opalescent chalcedony occurs as +concretions, sometimes of large size, in the trachytic lavas of +Mexico.)] + +Cortes found the barbers at the great market of Tlatelolco busy shaving +the natives with such razors, and he and his men had experience of +other uses of the same material in the flights of obsidian-headed +arrows which "darkened the sky," as they said, and the more deadly +wooden maces stuck all over with obsidian points, and of the priests' +sacrificial knives too, not long after. These things were not cut and +polished, but made by chipping or cracking off pieces from a lump. This +one can see by the traces of conchoidal fracture which they all show. + +The art is not wholly understood, for it perished soon after the +Conquest, when iron came in; but, as far as the theory is concerned, I +think I can give a tolerably satisfactory account of the process of +manufacture. In the first place, the workman who makes gun-flints could +probably make some of the simpler obsidian implements, which were no +doubt chipped off in the same way. The section of a gun-flint, with its +one side flat for sharpness and the other side ribbed for strength, is +one of the characteristics of obsidian knives. That the flint knives of +Scandinavia were made by chipping off strips from a mass is proved by +the many-sided prisms occasionally found there, and particularly by +that one which was discovered just where it had been worked, with the +knives chipped off it lying close by, and fitting accurately into their +places upon it. + +Now to make the case complete, we ought to find such prisms in Mexico; +and, accordingly, some months ago, when I examined the splendid Mexican +collection of Mr. Uhde at Heidelberg, I found one or two. No one seemed +to have suspected their real nature, and they had been classed as +maces, or the handles of some kind of weapon. + +[Illustration: FLUTED PRISM OF OBSIDIAN: THE CORE FROM WHICH FLAKES +HAVE BEEN STRUCK OFF.] + +I should say from memory that they were seven or eight inches long, and +as large as one could conveniently grasp; and one or both of them, as +if to remove all doubt as to what they were, had the stripping off of +ribbons not carried quite round them, but leaving an intermediate strip +rough. There is another point about the obsidian knives which requires +confirmation. One can often see, on the ends of the Scandinavian flint +knives, the bruise made by the blow of the hard stone with which they +were knocked off. I did not think of looking to this point when at Mr. +Uhde's museum, but the only obsidian knife I have seen since seems to +be thus bruised at the end. + +[Illustration: AZTEC KNIVES OR RAZORS. LONG NARROW FLAKES OF OBSIDIAN, +HAVING A SINGLE FACE ON THE ONE SIDE AND THREE FACETS ON THE OTHER.] + +Once able to break his obsidian straight, the workman has got on a long +way in his trade, for a large proportion of the articles he has to make +are formed by planes intersecting one another in various directions. +But the Mexican knives are generally not pointed, but turned up at the +end, as one may bend up a druggist's spatula. This peculiar shape is +not given to answer a purpose, but results from the natural fracture of +the stone. + +Even then, the way of making several implements or weapons is not +entirely clear. We got several obsidian maces or lance-heads--one about +ten inches long--which were taper from base to point, and covered with +taper flutings; and there are other things which present great +difficulties. I have heard on good authority, that somewhere in Peru, +the Indians still have a way of working obsidian by laying a bone wedge +on the surface of a piece, and tapping it till the stone cracks. Such a +process may have been used in Mexico. + +We may see in museums beautiful little articles made in this +intractable material, such as the mirrors and masks I have mentioned, +and even rings and cups. But, as I have said, these are mere +lapidaries' work. + +The situation of the mines was picturesque; grand hills of porphyritic +rock, and pine-forest everywhere. Not far off is the broad track of a +hurricane, which had walked through it for miles, knocking the great +trees down like ninepins, and leaving them to rot there. The vegetation +gave evident proof of a severe climate; and yet the heat and glare of +the sun were more intolerable than we had ever felt it in the region of +sugar-canes and bananas. About here, some of the trachytic porphyry +which forms the substance of the hills had happened to have cooled, +under suitable conditions, from the molten state into a sort of slag or +volcanic glass, which is the obsidian in question; and, in places, this +vitreous lava--from one layer having flowed over another which was +already cool--was regularly stratified. + +The mines were mere wells, not very deep; with horizontal workings into +the obsidian where it was very good and in thick layers. Round about +were heaps of fragments, hundreds of tons of them; and it was clear, +from the shape of these, that some of the manufacturing was done on the +spot. There had been great numbers of pits worked; and it was from +these "minillas," little mines, as they are called, that we first got +an idea how important an element this obsidian was in the old Aztec +civilization. In excursions made since, we travelled over whole +districts in the plains, where fragments of these arrows and knives +were to be found, literally at every step, mixed with morsels of +pottery, and here and there a little clay idol. Among the heaps of +fragments were many that had become weathered on the upper side, and +had a remarkable lustre, like silver. Obsidian is called _bizcli_ by +the Indians, and the silvery sort is known as _bizcli platera_.[11] +They often find bits of it in the fields; and go with great secrecy and +mystery to Mr. Bell, or some other authority in mining matters, and +confide to him their discovery of a silver-mine. They go away angry and +unconvinced when told what their silver really is; and generally come +to the conclusion that he is deceiving them, with a view of throwing +them off the scent, that he may find the place for himself, and cheat +them of their share of the profits--just what their own miserable +morbid cunning would lead them to do under such circumstances. + +[Illustration: MEXICAN ARROW-HEADS OF OBSIDIAN.] + +The family-likeness that exists among the stone tools and weapons found +in so many parts of the world is very remarkable. The flint-arrows of +North America, such as Mr. Longfellow's arrow-maker used to work at in +the land of the Dacotahs, and which, in the wild northern states of +Mexico, the Apaches and Comanches use to this day, might be easily +mistaken for the weapons of our British ancestors, dug up on the banks +of the Thames. It is true that the finish of the Mexican obsidian +implements far exceeds that of the chipped flint and agate weapons of +Scandinavia, and still more those of England, Switzerland, and Italy, +where they are dug up in such quantities, in deposits of alluvial soil, +and in bone-caves in the limestone rocks. But this higher finish we may +attribute partly to the superiority of the material; for the Mexicans +also used flint to some extent, and their flint weapons are as hard to +distinguish by inspection as those from other parts of the world. We +may reasonably suppose, moreover, that the skill of the Mexican +artificer increased when he found a better material than flint to work +upon. Be this as it may, an inspection of any good collection of such +articles shows the much higher finish of the obsidian implements than +of those of flint, agate, and rock-crystal. They say there is an +ingenious artist who makes flint arrow-heads and stone axes for the +benefit of English antiquarians, and earns good profits by it: I should +like to give him an order for ribbed obsidian razors and spear-heads; I +don't think he would make much of them. + +[Illustration: AZTEC KNIFE OF CHALCEDONY, MOUNTED ON A WOODEN HANDLE, +WHICH IS SHAPED LIKE A HUMAN FIGURE WITH ITS FACE APPEARING THROUGH AN +EAGLE-HEAD MASK, AND HAS BEEN INLAID WITH MOSAIC WORK OF MALACHITE, +SHELL, AND TURQUOISE. LENGTH 12-1/2 INCHES.] + +The wonderful similarity of character among the stone weapons found in +different parts of the world has often been used by ethnologists as a +means of supporting the theory that this and other arts were carried +over the world by tribes migrating from one common centre of creation +of the human species. The argument has not much weight, and a larger +view of the subject quite supersedes it. + +We may put the question in this way. In Asia and in Europe the use of +stone tools and weapons has always characterized a very low state of +civilization; and such implements are only found among savage tribes +living by the chase, or just beginning to cultivate the ground and to +emerge from the condition of mere barbarians. Now, if the Mexicans got +their civilization from Europe, it must have been from some people +unacquainted with the use of iron, if not of bronze. Iron abounds in +Mexico, not only in the state of ore, but occurring nearly pure in +aerolites of great size, as at Cholula, and at Zacatecas, not far from +the great ruins there; so that the only reason for their not using it +must have been ignorance of its qualities. + +The Arabian Nights' story of the mountain which consisted of a single +loadstone finds its literal fulfilment in Mexico. Not far from Huetamo, +on the road towards the Pacific, there is a conical hill composed +entirely of magnetic iron-ore. The blacksmiths in the neighbourhood, +with no other apparatus than their common forges, make it directly into +wrought iron, which they use for all ordinary purposes. + +Now, in supposing civilization to be transmitted from one country to +another, we must measure it by the height of its lowest point, as we +measure the strength of a chain by the strength of the weakest link. +The only civilization that the Mexicans can have received from the Old +World must have been from some people whose cutting implements were of +sharp stone, consequently, as we must conclude by analogy, some very +barbarous and ignorant tribe. + +From this point we must admit that the inhabitants of Mexico raised +themselves, independently, to the extraordinary degree of culture which +distinguished them when Europeans first became aware of their +existence. The curious distribution of their knowledge shows plainly +that they found it for themselves, and did not receive it by +transmission. We find a wonderful acquaintance with astronomy, even to +such details as the real cause of eclipses,--and the length of the year +given by intercalations of surprising accuracy; and, at the same time, +no knowledge whatever of the art of writing alphabetically, for their +hieroglyphics are nothing but suggestive pictures. They had carried the +art of gardening to a high degree of perfection; but, though there were +two kinds of ox, and the buffalo at no great distance from them, in the +countries they had already passed through in their migration from the +north, they had no idea of the employment of beasts of burden, nor of +the use of milk. They were a great trading people, and had money of +several kinds in general use, but the art of weighing was utterly +unknown to them; while, on the other hand, the Peruvians habitually +used scales and weights, but had no idea of the use of money. + +To return to the stone knives; the Mexicans may very well have invented +the art themselves, as they did so many others; or they may have +received it from the Old World. The things themselves prove nothing +either way. + +The real proof of their having, at some early period, communicated with +inhabitants of Europe or Asia rests upon the traditions current among +them, which are recorded by the early historians, and confirmed by the +Aztec picture-writings; and upon several extraordinary coincidences in +the signs used by them in reckoning astronomical cycles. Further on I +shall allude to these traditions. + +On the whole, the most probable view of the origin of the Mexican +tribes seems to be the one ordinarily held, that they really came from +the Old World, bringing with them several legends, evidently the same +as the histories recorded in the book of Genesis. This must have been, +however, at a time, when they were quite a barbarous, nomadic tribe; +and we must regard their civilization as of independent and far later +growth. + +We rode back through the woods to Guajalote, where the Mexican cook had +made us a feast after the manner of the country, and from her +experience of foreigners had learnt to temper the chile to our +susceptible throats. Decidedly the Mexicans are not without ideas in +the matter of cookery. We stayed talking with the hospitable Don +Alejandro and his sister till it was all but dark, and then rode back +to the Real, admiring the fire-flies that were darting about by +thousands, and listening to our companion's stories, which turned on +robberies and murders---as stories are apt to do in wild places after +dark. But, save an escape from being robbed some twenty years back, and +the history of an Indian who was murdered just here by some of his own +people, for a few shillings he was taking home, our friend had not much +reason to give for the two huge horse-pistols he carried, ready for +action. His story of the death of a German engineer in these parts is +worth recording here. He was riding home one dark night, with a +companion; and, trusting to his knowledge of the country, tried a short +cut through the woods, among the old open mines near the Regla road. +They had quite passed all the dangerous places, he thought, so he gave +his horse the spur, and plunged sheer down a shaft, hundreds of feet +deep. His friend pulled up in time, and got home safely. + +We had one more day among the mines, and then went back to Pachuca, and +next day to Mexico in the Diligence. Everywhere the same hospitality +and good-natured interest in us and our doings, often shown by people +with whom we had hardly the slightest acquaintance. Travelling here is +very different from what it is in a country on which the shadow of +Murray's Handbook has fallen. + +Almost all the interest Europe takes in Mexico, politically and +commercially, turns upon the exportation of silver. The gold, +cochineal, and vanilla are of small account. It is the silver dollars +that pay for the Manchester goods, woollens, hardware, and many other +things--those ubiquitous boxes of sardines a l'huile, for instance. The +Mexicans send to Europe some five millions sterling in silver every +year, that is, about twelve shillings apiece for all the population. It +is just about what their government spends annually in promoting the +maladministration of the country (and, looking at the matter in that +point of view, they don't do their work badly for the money). The +income of the Mexican church is not quite so much, but not far off. + +Baron Humboldt has expressed a hope that, at some future day, the +Mexicans will turn their attention to producing articles of real +intrinsic value, and not those which are merely a sign to represent it. +He tells us, quite feelingly, how the Peace of Amiens stopped the +working of the iron-mines that had been opened when they could get no +iron from abroad; for, when trade was reopened, people preferred buying +in Europe probably a better article at one-third the price. He even +hopes an enlightened government will encourage (that is, protect) more +useful industries. This was written fifty years ago, though. If an +enlightened government will give people some security for life and +property, and make reasonable laws, and execute them,--leaving men of +business to find out for themselves how it suits them to employ their +capital, it seems probable that the balance between articles of real +value and articles of imaginary value will adjust itself, perhaps +better than an enlightened government could do it. The Mexican +government has, unfortunately, followed Humboldt's advice in some +respects. Cotton goods, woollens, and hardware are thus protected. We +may sum up the statistics of the Mexican cotton-manufacture in a rough +way thus,--taking merely into question the coarse cotton cloth called +_manta_, and used principally by the Indians. We may reckon roughly +that for this article alone the Mexicans have to pay a million sterling +annually more than they could get it for if there were no +protection-duty. The only advantage anybody gets by this is that a +certain part of the population is employed in a manufacture unsuited to +the country, and is thus taken away from work that may be done +profitably. The actual amount of money paid in wages to the class of +operatives thus forced into existence is much _less_ than the amount +which the country forfeits for the sake of making its manta at home. +Thus a sum actually amounting to a third of the annual taxation of the +country is thrown away upon this one article; and more goes the same +way, to encourage similar unprofitable manufactures. + +With respect to the silver-mines, it is stated, on competent authority, +that the northern States of Mexico are very rich in silver; but there +is scarcely any population, and that consisting mostly of Red Indians +who will not work. When this district becomes a territory of the United +States--as seems almost certain, this silver will, no doubt, be worked. +We may make three periods in the history of Mexican silver-mining. +Before the Conquest, the Aztecs worked the silver-ore at Tasco and +other places; and were very familiar with silver, though they did not +value it much. Under the Spaniards, the working of silver became the +prominent industry of the country; and, until the Mexican Independence, +the production steadily increased. The Spaniards invented amalgamation +by the _patio_-process, a most, important improvement. Then came above +twenty years of confusion, when little was done. But when the Republic +had fairly got under way, and the country was in some measure open to +foreigners, Europe, especially England, in hot haste to take advantage +of the opportunity, sent over engineers and machinery, and great sums +of money, much of which was quite wasted, to the hopeless ruin of a +great part of the adventurers. + +The improvements and the machinery remained, however; and the mines +passed into other hands. Of late years the companies have been doing +very well, and now export nearly as much silver as during the latter +years of the Spanish government--nearly, but not quite. The financial +history of the Real del Monte Company is worth putting down. The +original English company spent nearly one million sterling on it, +without getting any dividend. They sold it to two or three Mexicans for +about twenty-seven thousand pounds, and the Mexicans spent eighty +thousand more on it, and then began to make profits. The annual profit +is now some L200,000. + +I have said that the modern Mexican Indian has but little idea of +arithmetic. This was not the case with his ancestors, who had a curious +notation, serving for the highest numbers. The Indians of the present +day use the old Aztec numerals, and from these there is something to be +learnt. + +Baron Humboldt, speaking of the Muysca Indians of South America, says +that their word for eleven is _quihicha ata_, that is, "foot one;" +meaning that they have counted all their fingers, and are beginning +their toes. He proceeds to compare the Persian words, _pentcha_, hand, +and _pendj_, five, as being connected with one another, and gives +various other curious instances of finger-numeration. We may carry the +theory further. The Zulu language reckons from one up to five, and then +goes on with _tatisitupe_ ("take the thumb"), meaning _six_; +_tatukomba_ ("take the pointer," or forefinger), meaning _seven_, and +so on. The Vei language counts from one up to nineteen, and for twenty +says _mo bande_--"a person is finished"--that is, both fingers and +toes. I venture to add another suggestion. Eichhoff gives a Sanskrit +word for finger, "daicini" (taken apparently from _pra-decini_, +forefinger), and which corresponds curiously with "dacan," ten; and we +have the same resemblance running through many of the Indo-European +languages, as [Greek: deka] and [Greek: daktylos], _decem_ and +_digitus_; German, _Zehn_ and _Zehe_, and so on. + +Here the Mexican numerals will afford us a new illustration. Of the +meaning of the first four of them--_ce, ome, yei, nahui_--I can give no +idea, any more than I can of the meaning of the words one, two, three, +four, which correspond to them; but the Mexican for _five_ is +_macuilli_, "hand-depicting." Then we go on in the dark as far as +_ten_, which is _matlactli_, "hand-half," as I think it means, (from +_tlactli_, half); and this would mean, not the halving of a hand, but +the half of the whole person, which you get by counting his hands only. +The syllable _ma_, which means "hand," makes its appearance in the +words five and ten, and no where else; just as it should do. When we +come to twenty, we have _cempoalli_, "one counting;" that is, one whole +man, fingers and toes--corresponding to the Vei word for twenty, "a +person is finished." + +I think we need no more examples to show that people--in almost all +countries--reckon by fives, tens, or twenties, merely because they +began to count upon their fingers and toes. If the strong man who had +six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, had invented a +system of numeration, it would have gone in twelves, nearly like the +duodecimals which our carpenters use; unless, indeed, he had been +stupid after the manner of very strong men, and not gone beyond sixes. +We see how the Romans, though they inherited from their Eastern +ancestors a numeration by tens up to _decem_, and then beginning again +_undecim_, &c., yet when they began to write a notation could get no +farther than five--I., II., III., IV., V.; and then on again, VI., +VII., up to ten, from ten to fifteen, and so on. + +There is a very curious vulgar error which prevails, even among people +who have a good practical acquaintance with arithmetic. It is that the +number _ten_ has some special virtue which fits it for counting up to. +The fact is that ten is not the best number for the purpose; you can +halve it, it is true, but that is about all you can do with it, for its +being divisible by five is of hardly any use for practical purposes. +_Eight_ would be a much better number, for you can halve it three times +in succession; and _twelve_ is perhaps the most convenient number +possible, as it will divide by two, three, and four. It is this +convenient property that leads tradesmen to sell by dozens, and +grosses, rather than by tens and hundreds. If we used eights or twelves +instead of tens for numeration, we might of course preserve all the +advantages of the Indian or Arabic numerals; in the first case, we +should discard the ciphers 8 and 9, and reckon 5, 6, 7, 10; and in the +second case, we should want two new ciphers for ten and eleven; and 10 +would stand for twelve, and 11 for thirteen. Our happening to have ten +fingers has really led us into a rather inconvenient numerical system. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD, IN TERRA COTTA. (PROBABLY EITHER A +HOUSEHOLD-GOD OR A VOTIVE OFFERING).] + + * * * * * + +NOTE. + +The unique Knife figured at page 101 and two masks incrusted with a +similar mosaic work (of turquoise and obsidian) are in Mr. Christy's +collection; and a mask and head of similar workmanship are in the +collection at Copenhagen. These are the only known examples of this +advanced style of Aztec art. + +The whole once belonged probably to one set, brought to Europe soon +after the Conquest of Mexico. The two at Copenhagen were obtained at a +convent in Rome; and, of the other three, two were for a long period in +a collection at Florence, and the other was obtained at Bruges, where +it was most probably brought by the Spaniards during their rule in the +Low Countries. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +MEXICO. GUADALUPE. + + + +[Illustration: THE ROBES WORN BY THE WOMEN OF MEXICO; AND THE SERAPE +WORN BY THE MEN.] + +While we were away at the Real del Monte, the news had reached Mexico +that Puebla had capitulated, and that the rebel leader had fled. The +victory was celebrated in the capital with the most triumphal entries, +harangues, bull-fights, and illuminations done to order. If you had a +house in one of the principal streets, the police would make you +illuminate it, whether you liked or not. The newspapers loudly +proclaimed the triumph of the constitutional principle, and the +inauguration of a reign of law and order that was never to cease. + +As for the newspapers, indeed, one looked in vain in them for any free +expression of public opinion. They were all either suppressed, or +converted into the merest mouthpieces of the government. The telegraph +was under the strictest surveillance, and no messages were allowed to +be sent which the government did not consider favourable to their +interests; a precaution which rather defeated itself, as the people +soon ceased to believe any public news at all. In all these mean little +shifts, which we in England consider as the special property of +despotic governments, the authorities of the Mexican Republic showed +themselves great proficients. + +We were left, therefore, to form what idea we could of the real state +of Mexican affairs, from the private information received by our +friends. Just for once it may be worth while to give a few details, not +because the people engaged were specially interesting, but because the +affair may serve to give an idea of the condition of the country. + +President Comonfort, not a bad sort of man, as it seemed, but not +"strong enough for the place," and with an empty treasury, tried to +make a stand against the clergy and the army, who stood firm against +any attempt at reform--knowing, with a certain instinct, that, if any +real reform once began, their own unreasonable privileges would soon be +attacked. So the clergy and part of the army set up an anti-president, +one Haro; and he installed himself at Puebla, which is the second city +of the Republic, and there Comonfort besieged him. So far I have +already described the doings of the "reaccionarios." + +The newspapers gave wonderful accounts of attacks and repulses, and +reckoned the killed on both sides at 2,500. There were 10,000 regular +troops, and 10,000 irregulars (very irregular troops indeed); and these +were commanded by a complete regiment of officers, and _forty_ +generals. This is reckoning both sides; but as, on pretty good +authority (Tejada's statistical table), the troops in the Republic are +only reckoned at 12,000, no doubt the above numbers are much +exaggerated. As for the 2,500 killed, the fact is that the siege was a +mere farce; and, judging by what we heard at the time in Mexico, and +soon afterwards in Puebla itself, 25 was a much more correct estimate: +and some facetious people reduced it, by one more division, to two and +a half. The President had managed, by desperate efforts, to borrow some +money in Mexico, on the credit of the State, at sixty per cent.; and it +seems certain that it was this money, judiciously administered to some +of Haro's generals, that brought about the flight of the +anti-president, and the capitulation of Puebla. The termination of the +affair, according to the newspapers, was, that the rebel army were +incorporated with the constitutional troops; that their officers--500 +in number--were reduced to the ranks for a term of years; that a hot +pursuit was made after the fugitive Haro; and that, as it was notorious +that the clergy had found the money for the rebellion, it was +considered suitable that they should pay the expenses of the other side +too; and an order was made on the church-estates of the district to +that effect. Of course, it was an understood thing that the officers +thus degraded would desert at the first opportunity, and thus the +Government would be rid of them. As for Haro, it is not probable that +they ever intended to catch him; and they were very glad when he +disguised himself in sailor's clothes, and shipped himself off +somewhere. When the Mexicans first took to civil wars, the victorious +leader used to finish the contest by having his adversary shot. At the +time of our visit, this fashion had gone out; and the victor treated +the vanquished with great leniency, not unmindful of the time when he +might be in a like situation himself. + +Whether the President ever got much of the forced contribution from the +clergy, I cannot say. At any rate, they have turned him out since; and +for a very poor government have substituted mere chaotic anarchy, as +Mr. Carlyle would call it. While the siege was going on, all the +commerce between Vera Cruz and the capital was interrupted, and, of +course, trade and manufacturing felt the effects severely. Nothing +shews the capabilities of the country more clearly than the fact that, +in spite of its distracted state and continual wars, its industrial +interests seem to be gaining ground steadily, though very slowly. The +evil of these ceaseless wars and revolutions is not that great battles +are here fought, cities destroyed, and men sacrificed by thousands. +Perhaps in no country in the world are "decisive victories," +"sanguinary engagements," "brilliant attacks," and the like, got over +with less loss of life. Incredible as it may seem to any one who knows +how many civil wars and revolutions occur in the history of the country +for the last four or five years, I should not wonder if the number of +persons killed during that time in actual battle was less than the +number of those deliberately assassinated, or killed in private +quarrels. + +Cheap as Mexican revolutions are in actual bloodshed, we must recollect +what they bring with them. Thousands of deserters prowling about the +country, robbing and murdering, and spreading everywhere the precious +lessons they have learnt in barracks. We know something in England of +the good moral influence that garrisons and recruiting sergeants carry +about with them; and can judge a little what must be the result of the +spreading of numbers of these fellows over a country where there is +nothing to restrain their excesses! As for the soldiers themselves, one +does not wonder at their deserting, for they are in great part pressed +men, earned off from their homes, and shut up in barracks till they +have been drilled, and are considered to be tamed; and moreover their +pay, as one may judge from the general state of the military finances, +is anything but regular. People who understand such matters, say that +the Mexicans make very good soldiers, and fight well and steadily when +well trained and well officered. They are able to march surprising +distances, day after day, to live cheerfully on the very minimum of +food, and to sleep anyhow. This we could judge for ourselves. One thing +there is, however, that they strongly object to, and that is to be +moved much beyond the range of their own climate. The men of the plains +are as susceptible as Europeans to the ill effects of the climate of +the tierra caliente; and the men of the hot lands cannot bear the cold +of the high plateaus. + +Travellers in the United States make great fun of the profusion of +colonels and generals, and tell ludicrous stories on the subject. There +is also talk of the absurd number of officers in the Spanish-American +armies, but we should not, by any means, confound the two things. In +the United States it is merely a harmless exhibition of vanity, and an +amusing comment on their own high-minded abnegation of mere titles. In +Spanish America it indicates a very real and serious evil indeed. + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, in his statistical chart for 1856, quoted +above, estimates the soldiers in the Republic at 12,000, and the +officers at 2,000, not counting those on half-pay. One officer to every +six men; and among them sixty-nine generals. These are not mere militia +heroes, walking about in fine uniforms, but have actual commissions +from some one of the many governments that have come and gone, and are +entitled to their pay, which they get or do not get, as may happen. +Only a fraction of them know anything whatever about the art of war. +They were political adventurers, friends or relatives of some one in +power, or simply speculators who bought their commissions as a sort of +illegitimate Government Annuities. The continual rebellions or +pronunciamientos have increased the number of officers still further. +Comonfort's notion of degrading all the officers of the rebel army was +a new and bold experiment. A very common course had been, when a +pronunciamiento had been made anywhere against the then existing +government, and a revolutionary army had been raised, for an +amalgamation to take place between the two forces; intrigue and bribery +and mutual disinclination to fight bringing matters to this peaceful +kind of settlement. In this case, it was usual for the rebel officers +to retain their self-conferred dignities. + +I think this body of soldierless officers is one of the most +troublesome political elements at work in the Republic. The political +agitators are mostly among them; and it is they, more than any other +class, who are continually stirring up factions and making +pronunciamientos (what a pleasant thing it is that we have never had to +make an English word for "pronunciamiento"). Several times, efforts +have been made to reduce the Army List to decent proportions, but a +fresh crop always springs up. + +In the "lowest depth" of mismanagement to which Mexican military +affairs have sunk, the newspapers still triumphantly refer to countries +which surpass them in this respect, and, at the time of our arrival, +were citing the statistics of the Peruvian Republic, where there are a +general and twenty officers to every sixty soldiers, and as many naval +officers as seamen. + +These officers are not subject to the civil administration at all, +whatever they may do. They have their _fuero_, their private charter, +and are only amenable to their own tribunals, just as the clergy are to +theirs. To the ill effects of the presence of such armies and such +officers in the country, we must add the continual interruptions to +commerce arising from the distracted state of the republic, and the +uncertain tenure by which every one holds his property, not to say his +life; and this, in its effect on the morale of the whole country, is +worse than the positive suffering they inflict. So much for soldiering, +for the present. We leave the President trying, with the aid of his +Congress, to organize the government, and set things straight +generally. This August assembly is selected from the people by +universal suffrage, in the most approved manner, and ought to be a very +important and useful body, but unfortunately can do nothing but talk +and issue decrees, which no one else cares about. + +In consequence of the alarming increase of highway-robbery, steps are +taken to diminish the evil. It is made lawful to punish such offenders +on the spot, by Lynch law. This is all. You may do justice on him when +caught, but really you must catch him yourself. Sober citizens are even +regretting the days of Santa Ana (recollect, I speak now of 1856, and +they might regret him still more in 1860.) He was a great scoundrel, it +is true; but he sent down detachments of soldiery to where the robbers +practised their profession, and garotted them in pairs, till the roads +were as safe as ours are in England. A President who sells states and +pockets the money may have even that forgiven him in consideration of +roads kept free from robbers, and some attempt at an effectual police. +There is a lesson in this for Mexican rulers. + +The Congress professed to be hard at work cleaning out the Augean +stable of laws, rescripts, and proclamations, and making a working +constitution. We went to see them one day, and heard talking going on, +but it all came to nothing. Of one thing we may be quite sure, that if +this unlucky country ever does get set straight, it will not be done by +a Mexican Congress sitting and cackling over it. + +On our return from the Real, we spent two days at the house of an +English friend at Tisapan, at the edge of the great Pedrigal, or +lava-field, which lies south of the capital. It was across this +lava-field that a part of the American army marched in '47, and +defeated a division of the Mexican forces encamped at Contrevas. On the +same day the American army attacked the Mexicans who held a strongly +fortified position at Churubusco, some four miles nearer Mexico, and +routed the main army there. They beat them again at Molino del Rey, +carried the hill of Chapultepec by storm, and then entered the city +without meeting with further resistance; though the Mexicans, after +they had formally yielded possession of the city, disgraced themselves +by assassinating stray Americans, stabbing them in the streets, and +lazoing them from the tops of the low mud houses in the suburbs. + +An acquaintance of ours in Mexico met some American soldiers, with a +corporal, in the street close to his house, and asked them in. +Presently the corporal sent one of the men off into the next street to +execute some commission; but half an hour elapsed, and the man not +returning, the corporal went out to see what was the matter. He came +back presently, and remarked that some of those cursed Mexicans had +stabbed the man as he was turning the corner of the street, and left +him lying there. "So," said the corporal, "I may as well finish his +brandy and water for him;" he did so accordingly, and the men went home +to their quarters. + +The American soldiers were, as one may imagine, a rough lot. Only the +smaller part of them were born Americans, the rest were emigrants from +Europe; to judge by what we heard of them--both in the States and in +Mexico--the very refuse of all the scoundrels in the Republic; but they +were well officered, and rigid discipline was maintained. So +effectually were they kept in order, that the Mexicans confessed that +it was a smaller evil to have the enemy's forces marching through the +country, than their own army. + +An elaborate account of the American invasion is given in Mayer's +'Mexico.' To those who do not care for details of military operations, +there are still points of interest in the history. That ten thousand +Americans should have been able to get through the mountain-passes, and +to reach the capital at all, is an astonishing thing; and after that, +their successes in the valley of Mexico follow as a matter of course. +They could never have crossed the mountains but for a combination of +circumstances. + +The inhabitants generally displayed the most entire indifference; +possibly preferring to sell their provisions to the Americans, instead +of being robbed of them by their own countrymen. Add to this, that the +Mexican officers showed themselves grossly ignorant of the art of war; +and that the soldiers, though they do not seem to have been deficient +in courage, were badly drilled and insubordinate. One would not have +wondered at the army being in such a condition---in a country that had +long been in a state of profound peace; but in Mexico a standing army +had been maintained for years, at a great expense, and continual civil +wars ought to have given people some ideas about soldiering. We may +judge, from the events of this war, that Mexico might be kept in good +order by a small number of American troops. The mere holding of the +country is not the greatest difficulty in the question of American +annexation. + +One thing that struck our friends at Tisapan, among their experiences +of the war, was the number of dead bodies of women and children that +were found on the battle-fields. A crowd of women follow close in the +rear of a Mexican army; almost every soldier having some woman who +belongs to him, and who carries a heavy load of Indian corn and babies, +and cooks tortillas for her lord and master. The number of these poor +creatures who perished in the war was very great. + +We spent much of our time at Tisapan in collecting plants, and +exploring the lava-field, and the canada, or ravine, that leads up into +the mountains that skirt the valley of Mexico. I recollect one +interesting spot we came to in riding through the pine-forest on the +northern slope of the mountains, where the course of a torrent, now +dry, ran along a mere narrow trench in the hard porphyritic rock, some +ten or fifteen feet wide, until it had suddenly entered a bed of +gravel, where it had hollowed out a vast ravine, four hundred feet wide +and two hundred deep, the inlet of the water being, in proportion, as +small as the pipe that serves to fill a cistern. + +Such places are common enough in the south of Europe, but seldom on so +grand a scale as one finds them in this country, where the floods come +down from the hills with astounding suddenness and violence. Mr. L. had +experience of this one day, when he had got inside his waterwheel, to +inspect its condition, the water being securely shut off, as he +thought. However, an aversada--one of these sudden freshets--came down, +quite without notice; and enough water got into the channel to set the +wheel going, so as to afford its proprietor a very curious and exciting +ride, after the manner of a squirrel in a revolving cage, until the +people succeeded in drawing off the water. + +It was after our return from Tisapan that we paid a visit to Our Lady +of Guadalupe, rather an important personage in the history of Mexican +church-matters. The way lies past Santo Domingo, the church of the Holy +Office, and down a long street where live the purveyors of all things +for the muleteers. Here one may buy mats, ropes, pack-saddles--which +the arrieros delight to have ornamented with fanciful designs and +inscriptions, lazos, and many other things of the same kind. Passing +out through the city-gate, we ride along a straight causeway, which +extends to Guadalupe. A dull road enough in itself, but the +interminable strings of mules and donkeys, bringing in pig-skins full +of pulque, are worth seeing for once; and the Indians, trudging out and +in with their various commodities, are highly picturesque. + +On a building at the side of the causeway we notice "Estacion de +Mejico" (Mexico Station) painted in large letters. As far as we could +observe, this very suggestive sign-board is the whole plant of the +Railway Company at this end of the line. A range of hills ends abruptly +in the plain, at a place which the Indians called Tepeyacac, "end of +the hill" (literally "at the hill's nose"). Our causeway leads to this +spot; and there, at the foot and up the slope of the hill, are built +the great cathedral and other churches and chapels, altogether a vast +and imposing collection of buildings; and round these a considerable +town has grown up, for this is the great place of pilgrimage in the +country. + +The Spaniards had brought a miraculous picture with them, Nuestra +Senora de Remedios, which is still in the country, and many pilgrims +visit it; but Our Lady of Guadalupe is a native Mexican, and decidedly +holds the first rank in the veneration of the people. + +In the great church there is a picture mounted in a gold frame of great +value. Its distance from the altar-rails, and the pane of glass which +covers it, prevent one's seeing it very well. This was the more +unfortunate, as, according to my history, the picture is in itself +evidently of miraculous origin, for the best artists are agreed that no +human hand could imitate the drawing or the colour! It appears that the +Aztecs, long before the arrival of the Spaniards, had been in the habit +of worshipping--in this very place--a goddess, who was known as +_Teotenantzin_, "mother-god," or _Tonantzin_, "our mother." Ten years +after the Conquest, a certain converted Indian, Juan Diego (John James) +by name, was passing that way, and to him appeared the Virgin Mary. She +told him to go to the bishop, and tell him to build her a temple on the +place where she stood, giving him a lapful of flowers as a token. When +the flowers were poured out of the garment, in presence of the bishop, +the miraculous picture appeared underneath, painted on the apron +itself. The bishop accepted the miracle with great unction; the temple +was built, and the miraculous image duly installed in it. Its name of +"Santa Maria de Guadalupe," was not, as one might imagine, taken from +the Madonna of that name in Spain (of course not!), but was +communicated by Our Lady herself to another converted Indian. She told +him that her title was to be _Santa Maria de Tequatlanopeuh_, "Saint +Mary of the rocky hill," of which hard word the Spaniards made +"Guadalupe,"--just as they had turned Quauhnahuac into Cuernavaca, and +Quauhaxallan into Guadalajara, substituting the nearest word of Spanish +form for the unpronounceable Mexican names. This at least is the +ingenious explanation given by my author, the Bachelor Tanco, Professor +of the Aztec language, and of Astrology, in the University of Mexico, +in the year 1666. The bishop who authenticated the miracle was no less +a person than Fray Juan de Zumarraga, whose name is well known in +Mexican history, for it was he who collected together all the Aztec +picture-writings that he could find, "quite a mountain of them," say +the chroniclers, and made a solemn bonfire of them in the great square +of Tlatelolco. The miracles worked by the Virgin of Guadalupe, and by +copies of it, are innumerable; and the faith which the lower orders of +Mexicans and the Indians have in it is boundless. + +On the 12th of December, the Anniversary of the Apparition is kept, and +an amazing concourse of the faithful repair to the sanctuary. Heller, a +German traveller who was in Mexico in 1846, saw an Indian taken to the +church; he had broken his leg, which had not even been set, and he +simply expected Our Lady to cure him without any human intervention at +all. Unluckily, the author had no opportunity of seeing what became of +him. The great miracle of all was the deliverance of Mexico from the +great inundation of 1626, and the fact is established thus. The city +was under water, the inhabitants in despair. The picture was brought to +the Cathedral in a canoe, through the streets of Mexico; and between +one and two years afterwards the inundation subsided. _Ergo_, it was +the picture that saved the city! + +For centuries a fierce rivalry existed between the Spanish Virgin, +called "de Remedios," and Our Lady of Guadalupe; the Spaniards +supporting the first, and the native Mexicans the second. A note of +Humboldt's illustrates this feeling perfectly. He relates that whenever +the country was suffering from drought, the Virjen do Remedios was +carried into Mexico in procession, to bring rain, till it came to be +said, quite as a proverb, _Hasta el agua nos debe venir de la +Gachupina_--"We must get even our water from that Spanish creature." If +it happened that the Spanish Madonna produced no effect after a long +trial, the native Madonna was allowed to be brought solemnly in by the +Indians, and never failed in bringing the wished-for rain, which always +came sooner or later. It is remarkable that the Spanish party, who were +then all-powerful, should have allowed their own Madonna to be placed +at such a disadvantage, in not having the last innings. I need hardly +say that the shrine of Guadalupe is monstrously rich. The Chapter has +been known to lend such a thing as a million or two of dollars at a +time, though most of their property is invested on landed security. +They are allowed to have lotteries, and make something handsome out of +them; and they even sell medals and prints of their patroness, which +have great powers. You may have plenary indulgence in the hour of death +for sixpence or less. We drank of the water of the chalybeate spring, +bought sacred lottery-tickets, which turned out blanks, and tickets for +indulgences, which, I greatly fear, will not prove more valuable; and +so rode home along the dusty causeway to breakfast. + +As means of learning what sort of books the poorer classes in Mexico +preferred, we overhauled with great diligence the book-stalls, of which +there are a few, especially under the arcades (Portales) near the great +square. The Mexican public have not much cheap literature to read; and +the scanty list of such popular works is half filled with Our Lady of +Guadalupe, and other miracle-books of the same kind. Father Ripalda's +Catechism has a large circulation, and is apparently the one in general +use in the country. Zavala speaks of this catechism as containing the +maxims of blind obedience to king and pope; but my more modern edition +has scarcely anything to say about the Pope, and nothing at all about +the government. Of late years, indeed, the Pope has not counted for +much, politically, in Mexico; and on one occasion his Holiness found, +when he tried to interfere about church-benefices, that his authority +was rather nominal than real. On the whole, nothing in the Catechism +struck me so much as the multiplication-table, which, to my unspeakable +astonishment, turned up in the middle of the book; a table of fractions +followed; and then it began again with the Holy Trinity. + +To continue our catalogue; there are the almanacks, which contain rules +for foretelling the weather by the moon's quarters, but none of the +other fooleries which we find in those that circulate in England among +the less educated classes. It is curious to notice how the taste for +putting sonnets and other dreary poems at the beginnings and ends of +books has survived in these Spanish countries. What used to be known in +England as "a copy of verses" is still appreciated here, and almanacks, +newspapers, religious books, even programmes of plays and bull-fights, +are full of such dismal compositions. We ought to be thankful that the +fashion has long since gone out with us (except in the religions tract, +where it still survives). It is not merely apropos of sonnets, but of +thousands of other things, that in these countries one is brought, in a +manner, face to face with England as it used to be; and very trifling +matters become interesting when viewed in this right. The last item in +the list comprises translations, principally of French novels, those +being preferred in which the agony is "piled up" to the highest point. +German literature is represented by the "Sorrows of Werter." Of course, +"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is widely circulated here, as it is everywhere in +countries not given to the "particular vanity" attacked in it. + +One need hardly say that both literature and education are at a very +low ebb in Mexico. Referring to Tejada again, I find that he reckons +that in the capital, out of a population of 185,000, there are 12,000 +scholars at primary schools; but of course, as in other countries, a +large proportion of these children attend so irregularly that they can +hardly learn anything. For the country generally, he estimates one +child receiving instruction out of thirty-seven inhabitants, a very +significant piece of statistics. Efforts are being made, especially in +the capital, to raise the population out of this state. Mr. Christy +took much trouble in investigating the subject, with the assistance of +our friend Don Jose Miguel Cervantes, the head of the Ayuntamiento, or +Municipal Council. This gentleman, with a few others, has been doing +much up-hill work of this kind for years past, establishing schools, +and trying to make head against the opposition of the priests and the +indifference of the people, as yet with but small success. + +It seems hard to be always attacking the Roman Catholic clergy, but of +one thing we cannot remain in doubt,--that their influence has had more +to do than anything else with the doleful ignorance which reigns +supreme in Mexico. For centuries they had the education of the country +in their hands, and even at this day they retain the greater share of +it. The training which the priests themselves receive will therefore +give one some idea of what they teach their scholars. Unluckily, their +course of instruction was stereotyped ages ago, when learned men +devoted themselves to writing huge books on divinity, casuistry, logic, +and metaphysics; concealing their ignorance of facts under an +affectation of wisdom and clouds of long words; demonstrating how many +millions of angels could dance on a needle's point; writing treatises +"_de omni re scibili_," and on a good many things unknowable also; and +teaching their admiring scholars the art of building up sham arguments +on any subject, whether they know anything about it or not. This is a +very vicious system of training for a man's mind, the more especially +when it is supposed to set him up with a stock of superior knowledge; +and this is what the Roman Catholic clergy have been learning, +generation after generation, in Mexico and elsewhere. Of course, there +are plenty of exceptions, particularly among the higher clergy; but, so +far as I have been able to ascertain, education in clerical schools has +generally been of this kind. It is instinctive to talk a little, as one +occasionally finds an opportunity of doing, to some youth just out of +these colleges. I recollect speaking to a young man who had just left +the Seminario of Mexico, where he had been through a long course of +theology and philosophy. He was astonished to hear that bull-fighting +and colearing were not universally practised in Europe; and, when his +father began to question me about the Crimean war, the young +gentleman's remarks showed that he had not the faintest idea where +England and France were, nor how far they were from one another. + +I happened, not long ago, to visit a celebrated monastic college in +South Italy, where they educated, not ordinary mortals, but only young +men of noble birth; and here I took particular care in inspecting the +library, judging that, though the scholars need not learn all that was +there, yet that no department of knowledge would be taught there that +was not represented on the library-shelves. What I saw fully confirmed +all that I had previously seen and heard about the monastic learning of +the present day. There were to be seen many fine manuscripts, and +black-letter books, and curious old editions of great value, good store +of classics (mostly Latin, however), works of the Fathers by the +hundred-weight, and quartos and folios of canon-law, theology, +metaphysics, and such like, by the ton. But it seemed that, in the +estimation of the librarians, the world had stood still since the time +of Duns Scotus; for, of what we call positive knowledge, except a +little arithmetic and geometry, and a few very poor histories, I saw +nothing. It is easy to see how one result of the clerical monopoly of +education has therefore come about--that the intellectual standard is +very low in Mexico. The Holy Office, too, has had its word to say in +the matter. This institution had not much work to do in burning +Indians, who were anything but sceptical in their turn of mind, and, +indeed, were too much like Theodore Hook, and would believe "forty, if +you pleased." They even went further, and were apt to believe not only +what the missionaries taught them, but to cherish the memory of their +old gods into the bargain. It was three centuries after the Conquest, +that Mr. Bullock got the goddess Teoyaomiqui dug up in Mexico; and the +old Indian remarked to him that it was true the Spaniards had given +them three very good new gods, but it was rather hard to take away all +their old ones. At any rate, the functions of the Inquisition were +mostly confined to working the _Index Expurgatorius_, and suppressing +knowledge generally, which they did with great industry until not long +ago. + +Here, then, are two causes of Mexican ignorance, and a third may be +this; that Mexico was a colony to which the Spaniards generally came to +make their fortunes, with a view of returning to their own land; and +this state of things was unfavourable to the country as regards the +progress of knowledge, as well as in other things. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +TEZCUCO. + +Across the lake of Tezcuco is Tezcuco itself, a great city and the +capital of a kingdom at the time of the Conquest, and famous for its +palaces and its learned men. Now it is an insignificant Spanish town, +built, indeed, to a great extent, of the stones of the old buildings. +Mr. Bowring, who has evaporating-works at the edge of the lake, and +lives in the "Casa Grande"--the Great House, just outside Tezcuco, has +invited us to pay him a visit; so we get up early one April morning, +and drive down to the street of the Solitude of Holy Cross (Calle de la +Soledad de Santa Cruz). There we find Mr. Millard, a Frenchman, who is +an _employe_ of Mr. Bowling's, and is going back to Tezcuco with us; +and we walk down to the canal with him, half a dozen Indian porters +with baskets following us, and trotting along in the queer shuffling +way that is habitual to them. At the landing-place we find a number of +canoes, and a crowd of Indians, men and women, in scanty cotton +garments which show the dirt in an unpleasant manner. A canoe is going +to Tezcuco, a sort of regular packet-boat, in fact; and of this canoe +Mr. Millard has retained for us three the stern half, over which is +stretched an awning of aloe-fibre cloth. The canoe itself is merely a +large shallow box, made of rough planks, with sloping prow and stern, +more like a bread-tray in shape than anything else I can think of. +There is no attempt at making the bows taper, and indeed the Indians +stoutly resist this or any other innovation. In the fore part of the +canoe there is already a heap of other passengers, lying like bait in a +box, and when we arrive the voyage begins. + +The crew are ten in number; the captain, eight men, and an old woman in +charge of the tortillas and the pulque-jar. All these are brown people; +in fact, the navigation of the lakes is entirely in the hands of the +Indians, and "reasonable people" have nothing to do with it. Reasonable +people--"gente de razon"--being, as I have said before, those who have +any white blood in them; and republican institutions have not in the +least effaced the distinction. + +So it comes to pass that the canoe-traffic is carried on in much the +same way as it was in Montezuma's time. There is one curious +difference, however. These canoes are all poled about the lakes and +canals; and I do not think we saw an Indian oar or paddle in the whole +valley of Mexico. In the ancient picture-writings, however, the Indians +are paddling their canoes with a kind of oar, shaped at the end like +one of our fire-shovels. But, as we have seen, the distribution of land +and water has altered since those days; and the lakes, far greater in +extent, were of course several feet deeper all over the present beds; +and even at a short distance from the city poling would have been +impossible. I suspect that the Aztecs originally used both poles and +paddles, and that the latter went out of use when the water became +shallow enough for the pole to serve all purposes. Otherwise, we must +suppose that the Mexicans, since the Spanish Conquest, introduced a new +invention; which is not easy to believe. + +We had first to get out of the canal, and fairly out into the lake. +This was the more desirable, as the canal is one of the drains of the +city, an office that it fills badly enough, seeing that there is +scarcely any fall of water from the lower quarters of the city to the +lake. I never saw water-snakes in numbers to compare with those in the +canal, and by the side of it. They were swimming in the water, +wriggling in and out; and on the banks they were writhing in heaps, +like our passengers forward. Two of our crew tow us along, and we are +soon clear of the canal, and of the salt-swamp that extends on both +sides of it, where the bottom of the lake was in old times. Once fairly +out, we look round us. We see Mexico from a new point of view, and +begin to understand why the Spaniards called it the Venice of the New +World. Even now, though the lake is so much smaller than it was then, +the city, with its domes and battlemented roofs, seems to rise from the +water itself, for the intervening flat is soon foreshortened into +nothing. At the present moment it is evident that the level of the lake +is much higher than usual. A little way off, on our right, is the Penon +de los Banos--"the rock of baths"--a porphyritic hill forced up by +volcanic agency, where there are hot springs. It is generally possible +to reach this hill by land, but the water is now so high that the rock +has become an island as it used to be. + +When the first two brigantines were launched on the Lake of Tezcuco by +the Spaniards, Cortes took Montezuma with him to sail upon the lake, +soon leaving the Aztec canoes far behind. They went to a Penon or rocky +hill where Montezuma preserved game for his own hunting, and not even +the highest nobility were allowed to hunt there on pain of death. The +Spaniards had a regular battue there; killing deer, hares, and rabbits +till they were tired. This Penon may have been the Penon de los Banos +which we are just passing, but was more probably a similar hill a +little further off, of larger extent, now fortified and known as El +Penon, the Hill. Both were in those days complete islands at some +distance from the shore. + +Now that we are out of the canal, our Indians begin to pole us along, +thrusting their long poles to the bottom of the shallow lake, and +walking on two narrow planks which extend along the sides of the canoe +from the prow to the middle point. Four walk on each plank, each man +throwing up his pole as he gets to the end, and running back up the +middle to begin again at the prow. The dexterity with which they swing +the poles about, and keep them out of each other's way, is wonderful; +and, as seen from our end of the canoe, looks like a kind of +exaggerated quarter-staff playing, only nobody is ever hit. + +The great peculiarity of the lake of Tezcuco is that it is a salt lake, +containing much salt and carbonate of soda. The water is quite brackish +and undrinkable. How it has come to be so is plain enough. The streams +from the surrounding mountains bring down salt and soda in solution, +derived from the decomposed porphyry; and as the water of the lake is +not drained off into the sea, but evaporates, the solid constituents +are left to accumulate in the lake. + +In England, I think, we have no example of this; but the Dead Sea, the +Caspian, the Great Salt Lake of Utah, and even the Mediterranean, have +various salts accumulated in solution in the same way. It seems to me, +that, by taking into account the proportion of soluble material +contained in the water that flows down from the mountains, the probable +quantity of water that flows down in the year, and the proportion of +salt in the lake itself, some vague guess might be made as to the time +this state of things has been lasting. I have no data, unfortunately, +even for such a rough calculation as this, or I should like to try it. + +In spite of the splendid climate, a great portion of the Valley of +Mexico is anything but fertile; for the soil is impregnated with salt +and soda, which in many places are so abundant as to form, when the +water evaporates, a white efflorescence on the ground, which is called +_tequesquite_, and regularly collected by the Indians. Some of it is +stopped on its way down from the higher ground, by the evaporation of +the water that was carrying it; and some is left by the lake itself, in +its frequent floodings of the ground in its neighbourhood. So small is +the difference of level between the lake and the plain that surrounds +it, that the slightest rise in the height of the water makes an immense +difference in the size of the lake; and even a strong wind will drive +the water over great tracts of ground, from which it retires when the +gale ceases. It must have been this, or something similar, that set +Cortes upon writing home to Spain that the lakes were like inland seas, +and even had tides like the ocean. Of course, this impregnation with +salts is ruinous to the soil, which will produce nothing in such places +but tufts of coarse grass; and the shores of the lake are the most +dismal districts one can imagine. All the lakes, however, are not so +salt as Tezcuco; Chalco, for instance, is a fresh-water lake, and there +the fertility of the shores is very great, as I have already had +occasion to notice. + +As soon as the novelty of this kind of travelling had worn off, we +began to find it dull, and retired under our awning to breakfast and +bitter beer; which latter luxury, thanks to a suitable climate and an +English brewer, is very well understood in Mexico, and is even accepted +as a great institution by the Mexicans themselves. + +We were just getting into a drowsy state, when an unusual bustle among +the crew brought us out of our den, and we found that three hours of +assiduous poling had taken us half-way across the lake, just six +miles--a good test of the value of the Aztec system of navigation. Here +was a wooden cross set up in the water; and here, from time out of +mind, the boatmen have been used to sing a little hymn to the Madonna, +by whose favour we had got so far, and hoped to get safe to the end of +our voyage. Very well they sang it too, and the scene was as striking +as it was unexpected to us. It seemed to us, however, to be making a +great matter of crossing a piece of water only a few feet deep; but Mr. +Millard assured us, that when a sudden gale came on, it was a +particularly unpleasant place to be afloat in a Mexican canoe, which, +being flat-bottomed, has no hold at all on the water, and from its +shape is quite unmanageable in a wind. He himself was once caught in +this way, and kept out all night, with a "heavy sea" on the lake, the +boat drifting helplessly, and threatening to overturn every moment, and +that in places where the water was quite deep enough to drown them all. +The Indians lost their heads entirely, and throwing down their poles +fell on their knees, and joined in the chorus with the women and +children and the rest of the helpless brown people, beating their +breasts, and presenting medals and prints of our Lady of Guadalupe to +each wave as it dashed into them. The wind dropped, however, and Mr. +Millard got safe to Tezcuco next morning; but, instead of receiving +sympathy for his misfortunes when he got there, found that the idea of +a tempest on the lake was reckoned a mere joke, and that the +drawing-room of the Casa Grande had been decorated with a fancy +portrait of himself, hanging to the half-way cross, with his legs in +the water, and underneath, a poetical description of his sufferings to +the tune of "_Malbrouke s'en va-t-en guerre, ne sais quand reviendra_." + +More poling across the lake, and then another little canal, also +constructed since the diminishing of the water of the lake (which once +came close to the city), and along which our Indians towed us. Then +came a short ride, which brought us to the Casa Grande, where Mrs. +Bowring received us with overflowing hospitality. We went off presently +into the town, to see the glassworks. In a country where all things +imported have to be carried in rough waggons, or on mules' backs, and +over bad roads, it would be hard if it did not pay to make glass; and, +accordingly, we found the works in full operation. The soda is produced +at Mr. Bowling's works close by, the fuel is charcoal from the +mountains, and for sand they have a substitute, which I never heard of +or saw anywhere else. It seems that a short distance from Tezcuco there +is a deposit of hydrated silica, which is brought down in great blocks +by the Indians; and this, when calcined, answers the purpose perfectly, +as there is scarcely any iron in it. 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. The Aztec palaces we read so much of were built in just the +same way. The roofs slope inwards from the sides of the quadrangle, and +drain into the open space in the middle. One afternoon, a tremendous +tropical rain-storm showed us how necessary it was to have the covered +walk round the quadrangle raised considerably above this open square in +the middle, which a few minutes of such rain converted into a pond. + +As for ourselves, we spent many very pleasant days at the Casa Grande, +and thoroughly approved of the arrangement of the house, except that +the four corners of the patio were provokingly alike, and the doors of +the rooms also, so that we were as much bothered as the captain of the +forty thieves to find our own doors, or any door except Mr. Millard's, +whose name was indicated--with more regard to pronunciation than +spelling--with a 1 and nine 0's chalked on it. + +In spite of a late evening spent in very pleasant society, we were up +early next morning, ready for an excursion to the Pyramids of +Teotihuacan, some sixteen miles off, or so, under the guidance of one +of Mr. Bowring's men. The road lies through the plain, between great +plantations of magueys, for this is the most renowned district in the +Republic for the size of its aloes, and the quality of the pulque that +is made from them. We stopped sometimes to examine a particularly large +specimen, which might measure 30 feet round, and to see the juice, +which had collected in the night, drawn out of the great hollow that +had been cut to receive it, in the heart of the plant. The Indians have +a great fancy for making crosses, and the aloe lends itself +particularly to this kind of decoration. They have only to cut off six +or eight inches of one leaf, and impale the piece on the sharp point of +another, and the cross is made. Every good-sized aloe has two or three +of these primitive religious emblems upon it. + +Several little torrent-beds crossed the road, and over them were thrown +old-fashioned Spanish stone bridges, as steep as the Rialto, or the +bridge on the willow-patterned plates. + +Before going to see the pyramids, we visited the caves in the hill-side +not far from them, whence the stone was brought to build them. It is +_tetzontli_, the porous amygdaloid which abounds among the porphyritic +hills, a beautiful building-stone, easily worked, and durable. There +was a large space that seemed to have been quarried out bodily, and +into this opened numerous caves. We left our horses at the entrance, +and spent an hour or two in hunting the place over. The ground was +covered with pieces of obsidian knives and arrow-heads, and fragments +of what seemed to have been larger tools or weapons; and we found +numbers of hammer-heads, large and small, mostly made of greenstone, +some whole, but most broken. + +We find two sorts of stone hammers in Europe. Solid hammers belong to +the earliest period. They are made of longish rolled pebbles; some are +shaped a little artificially, and are grooved round to hold the handle, +which was a flexible twig bent double and with the two ends tied +together, so as to keep the stone head in its place. The hammers of a +later period of the "stone age" are shaped more like the iron ones our +smiths use at the present day, and they have a hole bored in the middle +for the handle. In Brittany, where Celtic remains are found in such +abundance, it is not uncommon to see stone hammers of the latter kind +hanging up in the cottages of the peasants, who use them to drive in +nails with. They have an odd way of providing them with handles, by +sticking them tight upon branches of young trees, and when the branch +has grown larger, and has thus rivetted itself tightly on both sides of +the stone head, they cut it off, and carry home the hammer ready for +use. + +Though the Mexicans carried the arts of knife and arrow-making and +sculpturing hard stone to such perfection, I do not think they ever +discovered the art of making a hole in a stone hammer. The handles of +the axes shown in the picture-writings are clumsy sticks swelling into +a large knob at one end, and the axe-blade is fixed into a hole in this +knob. Some of the Mexican hammers seem to have had their handles fixed +in this way; while others were made with a groove, in the same manner +as the earlier kind of European stone hammers just described. + +When we consider the beauty of the Mexican stonecutter's work, it seems +wonderful that they should have been able to do it without iron tools. +It is quite clear that, at the time of the Spanish Conquest, they used +bronze hatchets, containing that very small proportion of tin which +gives the alloy nearly the hardness of steel. We saw many of these +hatchets in museums, and Mr. Christy bought some good specimens in a +collection of antiquities which had belonged to an old Mexican, who got +them principally from the suburb of Tlatelolco, in the neighbourhood of +the ancient market-place of the city. Such axes were certainly common +among the ancient Mexicans. One of the items of the hieroglyphic +tribute-roll in the Mendoza Codex is eighty bronze hatchets. + +A story told by Bernal Diaz is to the point. He says that he and his +companions, noticing that the Indians of the coast generally carried +bright metal axes, the material of which looked like gold of a low +quality, got as many as six hundred such axes from them in the course +of three days' bartering, giving them coloured glass-beads in exchange. +Both sides were highly satisfied with their bargain; but it all came to +nothing, as the chronicler relates with considerable disgust, for the +gold turned out to be copper, and the beads were found to be trash when +the Indians began to understand them better. Such hard copper axes as +these have been found at Mitla, in the State of Oajaca, where the +ruined temples seem to form a connecting link between the monuments of +Teotihuacan and Xochicalco and the ruined cities of Yucatan and +Chiapas. + +We want one more link in the chain to show the use of the same kind of +tools from Mexico down to Yucatan, and this link we can supply. In Lord +Kingsborough's great work on Mexican Antiquities there is one +picture-writing, the Dresden Codex, which is not of Aztec origin at +all. Its hieroglyphics are those of Palenque and Uxmal; and in this +manuscript we have drawings of hatchets like those of Mexico, and fixed +in the same kind of handles, but of much neater workmanship. + +But here we come upon a difficulty. It is supposed that the pyramids of +Teotihuacan, as well as most of the great architectural works of the +country, were the work of the Toltec race, who quitted this part of the +country several centuries before the Spanish Conquest. It seems +incredible that bronze should have been in use in the country for so +long a time, and not have superseded so bad a material as stone for +knives and weapons. We have good evidence to show that in Europe the +introduction of bronze was almost simultaneous with the complete disuse +of stone for such purposes. It is true that Herodotus describes the +embalmers, in his time, as cutting open the bodies with "an Ethiopic +stone" though they were familiar with the use of metal. Indeed the +flint knives which he probably meant may be seen in museums. But this +peculiar usage was most likely kept up for some mystical reason, and +does not affect the general question. Almost as soon as the Spaniards +brought iron to Mexico, it superseded the old material. The "bronze +age" ceased within a year or two, and that of iron began. + +The Mexicans called copper or bronze "tepuztli," a word of rather +uncertain etymology. Judging from the analogous words in languages +allied to the Aztec, it seems not unlikely that it meant originally +_hatchet_ or _breaker_, just as "itztli," or obsidian, appears to have +meant originally _knife_.[12] + +When the Mexicans saw iron in the hands of the Spaniards, they called +it also "tepuztli," which thus became a general word for metal; and +then they had to distinguish iron from copper, as they do at the +present day, by calling them "_tliltic_ tepuztli," and "_chichiltic_ +tepuztli;" that is, "black metal," and "red metal." + +When the subject of the use of bronze in stone-cutting is discussed, as +it so often is with special reference to Egypt, one may doubt whether +people have not underrated its capabilities, when the proportion of tin +is accurately adjusted to give the maximum hardness; and especially +when a minute portion of iron enters into its composition. Sir Gardner +Wilkinson relates that he tried the edge of one of the Egyptian mason's +chisels upon the very stone it had evidently been once used to cut, and +found that its edge was turned directly; and therefore he wonders that +such a tool could have been used for the purpose, of course supposing +that the tool as he found it was just as the mason left it. This, +however, is not quite certain. If we bury a brass tool in a damp place +for a few weeks, it will be found to have undergone a curious molecular +change, and to have become quite soft and weak, or, as the workmen call +it, dead. We ought to be quite sure whether lying for centimes under +ground may not have made some similar change in bronze. + +I have seen many prickly pears in different places, but never such +specimens as those that were growing among the stones in this old +quarry. They had gnarled and knotted trunks of hard wood, and were as +big as pollard-oaks; their age must have been immense; but, +unfortunately, one could not measure it, or it would have been a good +criterion of the age of the quarry, which had not only been excavated +but abandoned before their time. In one of the caves was a human +skeleton, blanched white and clean, and near it some one has stuck a +cross, made of two bits of stick, in the crevices of a heap of stones. + +Returning to the entrance of the quarry, well loaded with stone hammers +and knives, we sat down to breakfast, in a cave, where our man had +established himself with the horses. An attempt on my part to cut +German sausage with an obsidian knife proved a decided failure. + +We had already been struck by the appearance of the two pyramids of +Teotihuacan, when we passed by Otumba on our way to Mexico. The hills +which skirt the plain are so near them as to diminish their apparent +size; but even at a distance they are conspicuous objects. Now, when we +came close to them, and began by climbing to their summits, and walking +round their terraces, to measure ourselves against them, we began +gradually to realize their vast bulk; and this feeling continually grew +upon us. Modern architecture strives to unite the greatest possible +effect with the least cost; and the modern churches of southern Europe +and Spanish America, with their fine tall facades fronting the street, +and insignificant little buildings behind, show this idea in its +fullest development. Pyramids are built with no such object, and make +but little show in proportion to their vast mass of material; but then +one gets from them a sense of solid magnitude that no other building +gives, however vast its proportions may be. Neither of us had ever seen +the Egyptian pyramids. Even in Mexico these of Teotihuacan are not the +largest; for, though the pyramid of Cholula is no higher, it covers far +more ground. Were these monuments in Egypt, they would only rank, from +their size, in the second class. + +As has often been remarked, such buildings as these can only be raised +under peculiar social conditions. The ruler must be a despotic +sovereign, and the mass of the people slaves, whose subsistence and +whose lives are sacrificed without scruple to execute the fancies of +the monarch, who is not so much the governor as the unrestricted owner +of the country and the people. The population must be very dense, or it +would not bear the loss of so large a proportion of the working class; +and vegetable food must be exceedingly abundant in the country, to feed +them while engaged in this unprofitable labour. + +We know how great was the influence of the priestly classes in Egypt, +though the pyramids there, being rather tombs than temples, do not +prove it. In Mexico, however, the pyramids themselves were the temples, +serving only incidentally as tombs; and their size proves that--as +respects priestly influence--the resemblance between the two people is +fully carried out. + +Like the Egyptian pyramids, these fronted the four cardinal points. +Their shape was not accurately pyramidal, for the line from base to +summit was broken by three terraces, or perhaps four, running +completely round them; and at the top was a flat square space, where +stood the idols and the sacrificial altars. This construction closely +resembled that of some of the smaller Egyptian pyramids. Flights of +stone steps led straight up from terrace to terrace, and the procession +of priests and victims made the circuit of each before they ascended to +the one above. + +The larger of the two teocallis is dedicated to the Sun, has a base of +about 640 feet, and is about 170 feet high. The other, dedicated to the +Moon, is rather smaller. + +These monuments were called _teocallis_, not because they were +pyramids, but because they were temples; "Teocalli" means "god's +house"--(_teotl_, god, _calli_, house), a name which the traveller +hears explained for the first time with some wonder; and Humboldt +cannot help adverting to its curious correspondence with [Greek: theou +kalia], _dei cella_. Another odd coincidence is found in the Aztec name +for their priests, _papahua_, the root of which _papa_, (the _hua_, is +merely a termination). In the Old World the word _Papa_, Pope, or +Priest, was connected with the idea of father or grandfather, but the +Aztec word has no such origin. + +When the Aztecs abandoned their temples, and began to build Christian +churches, they called them also "teocallis," and perhaps do so to this +day. + +The heavy tropical rains have to a great extent broken the sharpness of +the outline of these structures, and brought them more nearly to the +shape of real pyramids than they were originally; but, as we climbed up +their sides, we could trace the terraces without any difficulty, and +even flights of steps. + +The pyramids consist of an outer casing of hewn stone, faced and +covered with smooth stucco, which has resisted the effects of time and +bad usage in a wonderful manner. Inside this casing were adobes, +stones, clay, and mortar, as one may see in places where the exterior +has been damaged, and by creeping into the small passage which leads +into the Temple of the Moon. Both pyramids are nearly covered with a +coating of debris, full of bits of obsidian arrows and knives, and +broken pottery. On the teocalli of the moon we found a number of recent +sea-shells, which mystified us extremely; and the only explanation we +could give of their presence there was that they might have been +brought up as offerings. A passage in Humboldt, which I met with long +after, seems to clear up the mystery. Speaking of the great teocalli of +the city of Mexico, he says, quoting an old description, that the Moon +had a little temple in the great courtyard, which was built of shells. +Those that we found may be the remains of a similar structure on the +top of the pyramid. + +Prickly pears, aloes, and mesquite bushes have overgrown the pyramids +in all directions, as though they had been mere natural hills. In +Sicily one may see the lava fields of Etna planted with prickly pears: +in the ordinary course of things, it requires several centuries before +even the surface of this hard lava will disintegrate into soil; but the +roots of the cactus soon crack it, and a few years suffice to break it +up to a sufficient depth to allow of vineyards being planted upon it. +Here the same plant has in the same way affected the porous amygdaloid +with which the pyramids are faced, and has cut up the surface sadly; +but the vegetation which covers them will at any rate defend them from +the rains, and now centuries will make but little change in the +appearance of these remarkable buildings. + +Near Nice there is a hill which gives a wonderfully correct idea of the +appearance of the terraced teocallis of Mexico, as they must have +looked before time effaced the sharpness of their lines. Where the +valley of the Paglione and that of St. Andre meet, the hill between +them terminates in a half pyramid, the angle of which lies toward the +south; and the inhabitants--as their custom is in southern Europe, have +turned the two slopes to account, by building them up into terraces, to +prevent the soil they have laboriously carried up from being swept down +by the first heavy rain. Seen from the proper point of view the +resemblance is complete. + +From the south side of the Temple of the Moon runs an avenue of +burial-mounds, the Micaotli, "the path of the dead." On these mounds, +and round the foot of the pyramids themselves, the whole population of +the once great city of Teotihuacan and its neighbourhood used to +congregate, to see the priests and the victims march round the terraces +and up the stairs in full view of them all. Standing here, one could +imagine the scene that Cortes and his men saw from their camp, outside +Mexico, on that dreadful day when the Mexicans had cut off their +retreat along the causeways, and taken more than sixty Spanish +prisoners. Bernal Diaz was there, and tells the tale how they heard +from the city the great drum of Huitzilopochtli sending forth a strange +and awful sound, that could be heard for miles, and with it many horns +and trumpets; and how, when they had looked towards the great teocalli, +they saw the Mexicans dragging up the prisoners, pushing and beating +them as they went, till they had got them up to the open space at the +top, "where the cursed idols stood." Then they put plumes of feathers +on their heads, and fans in their hands, and made them dance before the +idol; and when they had danced, they threw them on their backs on the +sacrificial stone that stood there, and, sawing open their breasts with +knives of stone, they tore out their hearts, and offered them up in +sacrifice; and the bodies they flung down the stairs to the bottom. +More than this the Spaniards cannot have seen, though Diaz describes +the rest of the proceedings as though they had been done in his sight; +but it was not the first time they had witnessed such things, and they +knew well enough what was happening down below,--how the butchers were +waiting to cut up the carcases as they came down, that they might be +cooked with chile, and eaten in the solemn banquet of the evening. + +The day was closing in by this time; and our man was waiting with the +horses at the foot of the great pyramid; and with him an Indian, whom +we had caught half an hour before, and sent off with a real to buy +pulque, and to collect such obsidian arrows and clay heads as were to +be found at the ranchos in the neighbourhood. + +Near the place we started from, two or three Indians were diligently at +work at their stone-quarry, that is to say, they were laboriously +bringing out great hewn stones from the side of the pyramid, to build +their walls with; and indeed we could see in every house for miles +round stones that had come from the same source, as was proved by the +stucco still remaining upon them, smoothed like polished marble, and +painted dull red with cinnabar. + +As I write this, it brings to my recollection an old Roman trophy in +North Italy, built--like these pyramids--of a shell of hewn stone, +filled with rough stones and cement, now as hard as the rock itself. +There I saw the inhabitants of the town which stands at its foot, +carrying off the great limestone blocks, but first cutting them up into +pieces of a size that they could move about, and build into their +houses. Here and there, in this little Italian town, there were to be +seen in the walls letters of the old inscription which were once upon +the trophy; and the age of the houses shewed that the monument had +served as a quarry for centuries. + +As we rode home, we noticed by the sides of the road, and where ditches +had been cut, numbers of old Mexican stone-floors covered with stucco. +The earth has accumulated above them to the depth of two or three feet, +so that their position is like that of the Roman pavements so often +found in Europe; and we may guess, from what we saw exposed, how great +must be the number of such remains still hidden, and how vast a +population must once have inhabited this plain, now almost deserted. + +Two days afterwards we came back. In the ploughed fields in the +neighbourhood we made repeated trials whether it was possible to stand +still in any spot where there was no relic of old Mexico within our +reach; but this we could not do. Everywhere the ground was full of +unglazed pottery and obsidian; and we even found arrows and clay +figures that were good enough for a museum. When we left England, we +both doubted the accounts of the historians of the Conquest, believing +that they had exaggerated the numbers of the population, and the size +of the cities, from a natural desire to make the most of their +victories, and to write as wonderful a history as they could, as +historians are prone to do. But our examination of Mexican remains soon +induced us to withdraw this accusation, and even made us inclined to +blame the chroniclers for having had no eyes for the wonderful things +that surrounded them. + +I do not mean by this that we felt inclined to swallow the monstrous +exaggerations of Solis and Gomara and other Spanish chroniclers, who +seemed to think that it was as easy to say a thousand as a hundred, and +that it sounded much better. But when this class of writers are set +aside, and the more valuable authorities severely criticised, it does +not seem to us that the history thus extracted from these sources is +much less reliable than European history of the same period. There is, +perhaps, no better way of expressing this opinion than to say that what +we saw of Mexico tended generally to confirm Prescott's History of the +Conquest, and but seldom to make his statements appear to us +improbable. + +There are other mounds near the pyramids, besides the Micaotli. Two +sides of the Pyramid of the Sun are surrounded by them; and there are +two squares of mounds at equal distances, north and south of it, +besides innumerable scattered hillocks. There are some sculptured +blocks of stone lying near the pyramids, and inside the smaller one is +buried what appears to be a female bust of colossal size, with the +mouth like an oval ring, so common in Mexican sculptures. + +The same abundance of ancient remains that we found here characterizes +the neighbourhood of all the Mexican monuments in the country, with one +curious exception. Burkart declares that in the vicinity of the +extensive remains of temples known as _Los Edificios_, near Zacatecas, +no traces of pottery or of obsidian were to be found. + +Before going away, we held a solemn market of antiquities. We sat +cross-legged on the ground, and the Indian women and children brought +us many curious articles in clay and obsidian, which we bought and +deposited in two great bags of aloe-fibre which our man carried at his +saddle-bow. Among the articles we bought were various pipes or whistles +of pottery, _pitos_, as they are called in Spanish, and just as we were +mounting our horses to ride off, a lad ran to the top of one of the +mounds, and blew on one of these pipes a long dismal note that could be +heard a mile off. Our friends had filled our heads so full of robbers +and ambushes, that we made sure it was a signal for some one who was +waiting for us, and the more so as the boy ran off as soon as he had +blown his blast; and when we looked round for the people whose +antiquities we had been buying, they had all disappeared. But nothing +came of it, and we got safely back to Tezcuco. As usual, we spent a +capital evening, and separated late. The owner of the glass-works, who +had been spending the evening with us, had an adventure on his road +home. He was peaceably riding along, when two men rushed out from +behind the corner of the street, and shouted "_alto ahi_!" (halte-la). +He thought they were robbers, and started at a gallop. His hat flew +off, and the men sent two bullets singing past his head, which sent him +on quicker than ever, till he reached his house. There he got his +pistols, and came back armed to the teeth to fetch the hat, which lay +where it had fallen. The supposed robbers turned out, on enquiry next +day, to have been national guards, patrolling the street; but certainly +their proceedings were rather questionable. + +We had an unpleasant visit the same night. The custom of the Casa +Grande was that after dark a watchman patrolled all night, giving a +long blast every quarter of an hour on one of these same doleful +Mexican whistles, to show that he was not sleeping on his rounds. This +was for the outside. Inside the house, _pour surcroit de precaution_, a +servant came round to see that every one was in his room; and having +satisfied himself of this, let loose in the courtyard two enormous +bulldogs, which were the terror of the household and of the whole +neighbourhood. On this particular night, a noise at our own door woke +me from a sound sleep; and I had the pleasure of seeing a creature walk +deliberately in, looking huge and terrific in the moonlight. The beast +had been into the stable two nights before, and had pinned a cow which +was there, keeping his hold upon her till next morning, when he was got +off by the keeper. With this specimen of the bulldog's abilities fresh +in my recollection, I preferred not making any attempt to resent his +impertinent intrusion, but lay still, till he had satisfied himself +with walking about the room and sniffing at our beds, when he lay down +on my carpet; I soon fell asleep again, and next morning he was gone. +The foreigners in Mexico seem to delight in fierce bull-dogs. The Casa +Grande at Tezcuco is not by any means the only place where they form +part of the garrison. One English acquaintance of ours in the Capital +kept two of these beasts up in his rooms, and not even the servants +dared go up, unless the master was there. + +Every one who has read Prescott's 'Mexico' will recollect +Nezahualcoyotl, the king of Tezcuco; and the palaces he built there for +his wives, and his poets, and the rest of his great court. These +palaces were built chiefly of mud bricks; and time and the Spaniards +have dealt so hardly with them, that even their outlines can no longer +be traced. Traces of two large teocallis are just visible, and Mr. +Bowring has some burial mounds in his grounds which will be examined +some day. There is a Mexican calendar built into the wall of one of the +churches; and, as we walked about the streets of the present town, we +noticed stones that must have been sculptured before the Spaniards +brought in their broken-down classic style, and so stopped the +development of native art. As for the rest of old Tezcuco, it has +"become heaps." Wherever they dig ditches or lay the foundations of +houses, you may see the ground full of its remains. + +As I said before, when speaking of the stuccoed floors near +Teotihuacan, the accumulation of alluvial soil goes on very rapidly and +very regularly all over the plains of Mexico and Puebla, where +everything favours its deposit; and the human remains preserved in it +are so numerous that its age may readily be seen. We noticed this in +many places, but in no instance so well as between Tezcuco and the +hacienda of Miraflores. There a long ditch, some five feet deep, had +just been cut in anticipation of the rainy season. As yet it was dry, +and, as we walked along it, we found three periods of Mexican history +distinctly traceable from one end to the other. First came mere +alluvium, without human remains. Then, just above, came fragments of +obsidian knives and bits of unglazed pottery. Above this again, a third +layer, in which the obsidian ceased, and much of the pottery was still +unglazed; but many fragments were glazed, and bore the unmistakable +Spanish patterns in black and yellow. + +It is a pity that these alluvial deposits, which give such good +evidence as to the order in which different peoples or different states +of society succeeded one another on the earth, should be so valueless +as a means of calculating the time of their duration; but one can +easily see that they must always be so, by considering how the +thickness of the deposits is altered by such accidents as the formation +of a mud-bank, or the opening of a new channel,--things that must be +continually occurring in districts where this very accumulation is +going on. The only place where any calculation can be based upon its +thickness is on the banks of the Nile, where its accumulations round +the ancient monuments may perhaps give a criterion as to the time which +has elapsed since man ceased to clear away the deposits of the +river.[13] + +As an instance of the tendency of alluvial deposits to entomb such +monuments of former ages, I must mention the temple of Segeste, which +stands on a gentle slope among the hills of northern Sicily. I had +heard talk of the graceful proportions of this Doric temple, built by +the Greek colonists; and great was my surprise, on first coming in +sight of it, to see a pediment supported by two rows of short squat +columns, without bases, and rising directly from the ground. A nearer +inspection showed the cause of this extraordinary distortion. The whole +slope had risen full six feet during the 2500 years, or so, that have +elapsed since its desertion; and the temple now stands in a large +oblong pit, which has lately been excavated. As we left the spot, and +turned to see it again a few yards off, the beautiful symmetry of the +whole had disappeared again. + +To return to Tezcuco. Some three or four miles from the town stands the +hill of Tezcotzinco, where Nezahualcoyotl had his pleasure-gardens; and +to this hill we made an excursion early one morning, with Mr. Bowring +for our guide. We did not go first to Tezcotzinco itself, but to +another hill which is connected with it by an aqueduct of immense size, +along which we walked. The mountains in this part are of porphyry, and +the channel of the aqueduct was made principally of blocks of the same +material, on which the smooth stucco that had once covered the whole, +inside and out, still remained very perfect. The channel was carried, +not on arches, but on a solid embankment, a hundred and fifty or two +hundred feet high, and wide enough for a carriage-road. + +The hill itself was overgrown with brushwood, aloes, and prickly pears, +but numerous roads and flights of steps cut in the rock were +distinguishable. Not far below the top of the hill, a terrace runs +completely round it, whence the monarch could survey a great part of +his little kingdom. On the summit itself I saw sculptured blocks of +stone; and on the side of the hill are two little circular baths, cut +in the solid rock. The lower of the two has a flight of steps down to +it; the seat for the bather, and the stone pipe which brought the +water, are still quite perfect. + +His majesty used to spend his afternoons here on the shady side of the +hill, apparently sitting up to his middle in water, like a frog, if one +may judge by the height of the little seat in the bath. If, as some +writers say, these were only tanks with streams of running water, and +not baths at all, why the steps cut in their sides, which are just +large enough and high enough for a man to sit in? No water has come +there for centuries now; and the morning-sun nearly broiled us, till we +got into a sort of cave, excavated in the hill, it is said, with an +idea of finding treasure. It seems there was once a Mexican calendar +cut in the rock at this spot; and some white people who were interested +in such matters, used to come to see it, and poke curiously about in +search of other antiquities. Naturally enough, the Indians thought that +they expected to find treasure; and with a view of getting the first +chance themselves, they cut down the calendar, and made this large +excavation behind it. + +Here we sat in the shade, breakfasting, and hearing Mr. Bowring's +stories of the art of medicine as practised in the northern states of +Mexico, where decoction of shirt is considered an invaluable specific +when administered internally; and the recognised remedy for lumbago is +to rub the patient with the drawers of a man named John. No doubt the +latter treatment answers very well! + +[Illustration: OLD MEXICAN BRIDGE NEAR TEZCUCO.] + +There is an old Mexican bridge near Tezcuco which seems to be the +original _Puente de las Bergantinas_, the bridge where Cortes had the +brigantines launched on the lake of Tezcuco. This bridge has a span of +about twenty feet, and is curious as showing how nearly the Mexicans +had arrived at the idea of the arch. It is made in the form of a roof +resting on two buttresses, and composed of slabs of stone with the +edges upwards, with mortar in the interstices; the slabs being +sufficiently irregular in shape to admit of their holding together, +like the stones of a real arch. One may now and then see in Europe the +roofs of small stone hovels made in the same way; but twenty feet is an +immense span for such a construction. I have seen such buildings in +North Italy, in places where the limestone is so stratified as to +furnish rough slabs, three or four inches thick, with very little +labour in quarrying them out. In Kerry there are ancient houses and +churches roofed in the same way. What makes the Tezcuco bridge more +curious is that it is set askew, which must have made its construction +more difficult. + +The brigantines which the Spaniards made, and transported over the +mountains in such a wonderful manner, fully answered their purpose, for +without them Mexico could hardly have been taken. After the Conquest +they were kept for years, for the good service they had done; but +vessels of such size do not seem to have been used upon the lake since +then; and I believe the only sailing craft at present is Mr. Bowring's +boat, which the Indians look at askance, and decidedly decline to +imitate. It is true that, somewhere near the city, there is moored a +little steamer, looking quite civilized at a distance. It never goes +anywhere, however; and I have a sort of impression of having heard that +when it was first made they got up the steam once, but the conduct of +the machinery under these circumstances was so extraordinary and +frantic that no one has ventured to repeat the experiment. + +Before we left Tezcuco, we went in a boat to explore Mr. Bowring's +salt-works, which are rather like the salines of the South of France. +Patches of the lake are walled off, and the water allowed to evaporate, +which it does very rapidly under a hot sun, and with only three-fourths +of the pressure of air upon it that we have at the sea-level. The +lake-water thus concentrated is run into smaller tanks. It contains +carbonate and sesquicarbonate of soda, and common salt. The addition of +lime converts the sesquicarbonate of soda into simple carbonate, and +this is separated from the salt by taking advantage of their different +points of crystallization. The salt is partly consumed, and partly used +in the extraction of silver from the ore, and the soda is bought by the +soap-makers. + +Humboldt's remarks on the small consumption of salt in Mexico are +curious. The average amount used with food is only a small fraction of +the European average. While the Tlascalans were at war with the Aztecs, +they had to do without salt for many years, as it was not produced in +their district. Humboldt thinks that the chile which the Indians +consume in such quantities acts as a substitute. It is to be remembered +that the soil is impregnated with both salt and natron in many of these +upland districts, and the inhabitants may have eaten earth containing +these ingredients, as they do for the same purpose in several places in +the Old World. + +We disembarked after sailing to the end of these great evaporating +pans, and found horses waiting to take us to the Bosque del Contador. +This is a grand square, looking towards the cardinal points, and +composed of ahuehuetes, grand old deciduous cypresses, many of them +forty feet round, and older than the discovery of America. My +companion, not content with buying collections at secondhand, wished to +have some excavations made on his own account, and very judiciously +fixed on this spot, where, though there were no buildings standing, the +appearance of the ground and the mounds in the neighbourhood, together +with the historical notoriety of the place, made it probable that +something would be found to repay a diligent search. This expectation +was fully realized, and some fine idols of hard stone were found, with +an infinitude of pottery and small objects. + +When I look through my notes about Tezcuco, I do not find much more to +mention, except that a favourite dish here consists of flies' eggs +fried. These eggs are deposited at the edge of the lake, and the +Indians fish them out and sell them in the market-place. So large is +the quantity of these eggs, that at a spot where a little stream +deposits carbonate of lime, a peculiar kind of travertine is forming +which consists of masses of them imbedded in tho calcareous deposit. + +The flies[14] which produce these eggs are called by the Mexicans +"_axayacatl_" or "water-face." There was a celebrated Aztec king who +was called Axayacatl; and his name is indicated in the picture-writings +by a drawing of a man's face covered with water. The eggs themselves +are sold in cakes in the market, pounded and cooked, and also in lumps +_au naturel_, forming a substance like the roe of a fish. This is known +by the characteristic name of "_ahuauhtli_", that is "water-wheat."[15] + +The last thing we did at Tezcuco, was to witness the laying down of a +new line of water-pipes for the saltworks. This I mention because of +the pipes, which were exactly those introduced into Spain by the Moors +and brought here by the Spaniards. These pipes are of glazed +earthenware, taper at one end, and each fitting into the large end of +the next. The cement is a mixture of lime, fat, and hair, which gets +hard and firm when cold, but can be loosened by a very slight +application of heat. A thousand years has made no alteration in the way +of making these pipes. Here, however, the ground is so level that one +great characteristic of Moorish waterworks is not to be seen. I mean +the water-columns which are such a feature in the country round +Palermo, and in other places where the system of irrigation introduced +by the Moorish invaders is still kept up. These are square pillars +twenty or thirty feet high, with a cistern at the top of each, into +which the water from the higher level flowed, and from which other +pipes carried it on; the sole object of the whole apparatus being to +break the column of water, and reduce the pressure to the thirty or +forty feet which the pipes of earthenware would bear. + +This subject of irrigation is very interesting with reference to the +future of Mexico. We visited two or three country-houses in the +plateaux, where the gardens are regularly watered by artificial +channels, and the result is a vegetation of wonderful exuberance and +beauty, converting these spots into oases in the desert. On the lower +levels of the tierra templada where the sugar-cane is cultivated, a +costly system of water-supply has been established in the haciendas +with the best results. Even in the plains of Mexico and Puebla, the +grain-fields are irrigated to some small degree. But notwithstanding +this progress in the right direction, the face of the country shows the +most miserable waste of one of the chief elements of the wealth and +prosperity of the country, the water. + +In this respect, Spain and the high lands of Mexico may be compared +together. There is no scarcity of rain in either country, and yet both +are dry and parched, while the number and size of their torrent-beds +show with what violence the mountain-streams descend into lakes or +rivers, rather agents of destruction than of benefit to the land. +Strangely enough, both countries have been in possession of races who +understood that water was the very life-blood of the land, and worked +hard to build systems of arteries to distribute it over the surface. In +both countries, the warlike Spaniards overcame these races, and +irrigating works already constructed were allowed to fall to ruin. + +When the Moriscos were expelled from their native provinces of +Andalusia and Granada, their places were but slowly filled up with +other settlers, so that a great part of their aqueducts and +watercourses fell into decay within a few years. These new colonists, +moreover, came from the Northern provinces, where the Moorish system of +culture was little understood; and, incredible as it may seem, though +they must have had ocular evidence of the advantages of artificial +irrigation, they even neglected to keep in repair the water-channels on +their own ground. Now the traveller, riding through Southern Spain, may +see in desolate barren valleys remains of the Moorish works which +centuries ago brought fertility to grain-fields and orchards, and made +the country the garden of Europe. + +There was another nation who seem to have far surpassed both Moors and +Aztecs in the magnitude of their engineering-works for this purpose. +The Peruvians cut through mountains, filled up valleys, and carried +whole rivers away in artificial channels to irrigate their thirsty +soil. The historians' accounts of these water-works as they were, and +even travellers' descriptions of the ruins that still remain, fill us +with astonishment. It seems almost like some strange fatality that this +nation too should have been conquered by the same race, the ruin of its +great national works following immediately upon the Conquest. + +Spain is rising again after long centuries of degradation, and is +developing energies and resources which seem likely to raise it high +among European nations, and the Spaniards are beginning to hold their +own again among the peoples of Europe. But they have had to pay dearly +for the errors of their ancestors in the great days of Charles the +Fifth. + +The ancient Mexicans were not, it is true, to be compared with the +Spanish Arabs or the Peruvians in their knowledge of agriculture and +the art of irrigation; but both history and the remains still to be +found in the country prove that in the more densely populated parts of +the plains they had made considerable progress. The ruined aqueduct of +Tetzcotzinco which I have just mentioned was a grand work, serving to +supply the great gardens of Nezahualcoyotl, which covered a large space +of ground and excited the admiration of the Conquerors, who soon +destroyed them, it is said, in order that they might not remain to +remind the conquered inhabitants of their days of heathendom. + +Such works as these seem, however, not to have extended over +whole provinces as they did in Spain. In the thinly peopled +mountain-districts, the Indians broke up their little patches of ground +with a hoe, and watered them from earthen jars, as indeed they do to +this day. + +The Spaniards improved the agriculture of the country by introducing +European grain, and fruit-trees, and by bringing the old Roman plough, +which is used to this day in Mexico as in Spain, where two thousand +years have not superseded its use or even altered it. Against these +improvements we must set a heavy account of injury done to the country +as regards its cultivation. The Conquest cost the lives of several +hundred thousand of the labouring class; and numbers more were taken +away from the cultivation of the land to work as slaves for the +conquerors in building houses and churches, and in the silver-mines. +When the inhabitants were taken away, the ground went out of +cultivation, and much of it has relapsed into desert. Even before the +Conquest, Mexico had been suffering for many years from incessant wars, +in which not only thousands perished on the field of battle, but the +prisoners sacrificed annually were to be counted by thousands more, +while famine carried off the women and children whose husbands and +fathers had perished. But the slaughter and famine of the first years +of the Spanish Conquest far exceeded anything that the country had +suffered before. + +At the time of the Conquest of Mexico the Spaniards let the native +irrigating-works fall into decay; and they took still more active +measures to deprive the land of its necessary water, by their +indiscriminate destruction of the forests on the hills that surround +the plains. When the trees were cut down, the undergrowth soon +perished, and the soil which had served to check the descending waters +in their course was soon swept away. During the four rainy months, each +heavy shower sends down a flood along the torrent-bed which flows into +a river, and so into the ocean, or, as in the Mexican valley, into a +salt lake, where it only serves to injure the surrounding land. In both +cases it runs away in utter waste. + +In later years the Spanish owners of the soil had the necessity of the +system impressed upon them by force of circumstances; and large sums +were spent upon the construction of irrigating channels, even in the +outlying states of the North. + +In the American territory recently acquired from Mexico history has +repeated itself in a most curious way. We learn from Froebel, the +German traveller, that the new American settlers did not take kindly to +the system of irrigation which they found at work in the country. They +were not used to it, and it interfered with their ideas of liberty by +placing restrictions upon their doing what they pleased on their own +land. So they actually allowed many of the water-canals to fall into +ruins. Of course they soon began to find out their mistake, and are +probably investing heavily in water-supply by this time. We ought not +to be too severe upon the Spaniards of the sixteenth century for an +economical mistake which we find the Americans falling into under +similar circumstances in the nineteenth. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +CUERNAVACA. TEMISCO. XOCHICALCO. + + + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SADDLE AND ITS APPURTENANCES.] + +Much too soon, as we thought, the day came when we had arranged to +leave Tezcuco and return to Mexico, to prepare for a journey into the +tierra caliente. On the evening of our return to the capital there was +a little earthquake, but neither of us noticed it; and thus we lost our +one chance, and returned to England without having made acquaintance +with that peculiar sensation. + +The purchase of horses and saddles and other equipments for our +journey, gave us an opportunity of poking about into out-of-the-way +corners of the city, and seeing some new phases of Mexican life; and +certainly we made the most of the chance. We made acquaintance with +horse-dealers, who brought us horses to try in the courtyard of the +great house of our friends the English merchants in the Calle +Seminario, and there showed off their paces, walking, pacing, and +galloping. To trot is considered a disgusting vice in a Mexican horse; +and the universal substitute for it here is the _paso_, a queer +shuffling run, first, the two legs on one side together, and then the +other two. You jolt gently up and down without rising in the stirrups; +and when once you are used to it the paso is not disagreeable, and it +is well suited to long mountain-journeys. Horses in the United States +are often trained to this gait, and are known as "pacing" horses. +Another peculiarity in the training of Mexican horses is, that many of +them are taught to "rayar," that is, to put their fore-feet out after +the manner of mules going down a pass; and slide a short distance along +the ground, so as to stop suddenly in the midst of a rapid gallop. To +practise the horses in this feat, the jockey draws a lino ("_raya_") on +the ground, and teaches them to stop exactly as they reach it, and +whirl round in the opposite direction. This performance is often to be +seen on the paseo, and other places, where smart young gentlemen like +to show off themselves and their horses; but it is only a fancy trick, +and they acknowledge that it spoils the animal's fore-legs. + +After much bargaining and chaffering we bought three horses for +ourselves and our man Antonio, giving eight, seven, and four pounds for +them. This does not seem much to give for good hackneys, as these were; +but they were not particularly cheap for Mexico. While we were at +Tezcuco, Mr. Christy used to ride one of Mr. Bowring's horses, a pretty +little chestnut, which carried him beautifully, and had cost just +eleven dollars, or forty-six shillings. It had been bought of the +horse-dealers who come down every year from the almost uninhabited +states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Cohahuila, on the American frontier, +where innumerable herds of horses, all but wild, roam over boundless +prairies, feeding on the tall coarse grass. Their keep costs so little, +that the breeders are not compelled, as in England, to break them in +and sell them at the earliest possible moment, and they let the young +colts roam untamed till they are five or six years old. Their great +strength and power of endurance in proportion to their size is in great +measure to be ascribed to this early indulgence. + +It is very clear that when a horse is to be sold for somewhere between +two and six pounds, the breeder cannot afford to spend much time in +breaking him in. The rough-rider lazos him, puts on the bridle with its +severe bit, and springs upon his back in spite of kicking and plunging. +The horse gallops furiously off across country of his own accord, but +when his pace begins to flag, the great vaquero spurs come into +requisition, and in an hour or two he comes back to the corral dead +beat and conquered once for all. It is easy to teach him his paces +afterwards. The anquera--as it is called--is put on his haunches, to +cure him of trotting, and to teach him the paso instead. It is a +leather covering fringed with iron tags, which is put on behind the +saddle, and allows the horse to pace without annoying him; but the +least approach to a trot brings the pointed tags rattling upon his +haunches. We bought one of these anqueras at Puebla. It was very old, +and curiously ornamented with carved patterns. In the last century, +these anqueras were a regular part of Mexican horse-equipment; but now, +except in horse-breaking yards or old curiosity-shops, they are seldom +to be seen. + +Almost all the Mexican horses descend from the Arab breed--the gentlest +and yet the most spirited in the world, which have not degenerated +since the Spaniards brought them over in the early days of the +Conquest, but retain unchanged their small graceful shape, their +swiftness, and their power of bearing fatigue. There seem really to be +no large horses bred in the country. Instead of jolting about in a +carriage drawn by eight or ten mules, with harness covered with silver +and gold--as rich Mexicans used to do, the proper thing now is to have +a pair of tall carriage-horses, like ours in England; and these are +brought at great expense from the United States, and by the side of the +graceful little Mexicans they look as big and as clumsy as elephants. + +Our saddles were of the old Moorish pattern, of monstrous size and +weight, very comfortable for the rider, but, I fear, much less so for +the horse, whose back often gets sadly galled, in spite of the thick +padding and the two or three blankets that are put on underneath. These +saddles run into high peaks behind and before, so that you can hardly +fall out of them, even when you go to sleep in the saddle on a long +journey, as many people habitually do. In front, the saddle rises into +a pummel which is made of hard wood, and is something like a large +mushroom with its stalk. Round this the end of the lazo is wound, after +the noose has been thrown. All Mexican saddles are provided with these +heads in front, and have, moreover, several pairs of little thongs +attached to them on each side, which serve to tie on bags, whips, +water-gourds, and other odds and ends. Behind the seat of the saddle +are more straps, where cloaks and serapes are fastened; and in case of +need even a carpet-bag will travel there. We were in the habit of +returning from our expeditions with our horses so covered with the +plants and curiosities we had collected, that it became no easy matter +to get our legs safely over the horses' backs, into their proper places +among the clusters of miscellanea. Our acquaintances used to compare us +to the perambulating butchers' shops, which are a feature in Mexican +streets, and consist of a horse with a long saddle covered with hooks, +and on every hook a joint. + +The flaps of our saddles, the great spatterdashes that protected our +feet from the mud, and the broad stirrup-straps were covered with +carved and embossed patterns; indeed almost all leather-work is +decorated in this way, and the saddle-makers delight in ornamenting +their wares with silver plates and bosses; so that it was not +surprising that our saddles and bridles should have cost, though +second-hand, nearly as much as the horses. + +In books of travels in Mexico up to the beginning of the present +century, one of the staple articles of wondering description was the +gorgeous trappings of the horses, and the spurs, bits, and stirrups of +gold and silver. The costumes have not changed much, but the taste for +such costly ornaments has abated; and it is now hardly respectable to +have more than a few pounds worth of bullion on one's saddle or around +one's hat, or to wear a hundred or so of buttons of solid gold down the +sides of one's leather trousers, with a very questionable cotton +calzoncillo underneath. + +The horses' bits are made with a ring, which pinches the under-lip when +the bridle is tightened, and causes great pain when it is pulled at all +hard. At first sight it seems cruel to use such bits, but the system +works very well; and the horses, knowing the power their rider has over +them, rarely misbehave themselves. One rides along with the loop at the +end of the twisted horse-hair bridle hanging loose on one finger, so +that the horse's mouth is much less pulled about than with the bridles +we are accustomed to in England. When it is necessary to guide the +horse, the least pressure is enough; but, as a general rule, the little +fellow can find his way as well as his rider can. We used continually +to let our reins drop on our horses' necks, and jog on careless of pits +and stumbling-blocks. I have even seen my companion take out his +pocket-book, and improve the occasion by making notes and sketches as +he went. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN BIT, WITH ITS RING AND CHAINS. LENGTH 9 +INCHES, WIDTH 5-1/2 INCHES.] + +The distance from Mexico to Vera Cruz is about two hundred and fifty +miles, and what the roads are I have in some measure described. Rafael +Beraza, the courier of the English Mission at Mexico, used to ride this +with despatches regularly once a month in forty hours, and occasionally +in thirty-five. He changed horses about every ten or fifteen miles; and +now and then, when, overcome by sleep, he would let the boy who +accompanied him to the next stage ride first, his own horse following, +and the rider comfortably dozing as he went along. + +As for our own equipment, Mr. Christy adopted the attributes of the +eastern traveller when he came into the country, the great umbrella, +the veil, and the felt hat with a white handkerchief over it. As for +me, my wardrobe was scanty; so, when my travelling coat wore out at the +elbows and my trousers were sat through--like the little bear's chair +in the story, I replaced the garments with a jacket of chamois leather, +and a pair of loose trousers made of the same, after the manner of the +country. Then came a grey felt hat, as stiff as a boiler-plate, and of +more than quakerish lowness of crown and broadness of brim, but +secularized by a silver serpent for a hatband; also, a red silk sash, +which--fastening round the waist--held up my trousers, and interfered +with my digestion; lastly, a woollen serape to sleep under, and to wear +in the mornings and evenings. This is the genuine ranchero costume, and +it did me good service. Indeed, ever since my Mexican journey I have +considered that George Fox decidedly showed his good sense by dressing +himself in a suit of leather; much more so than the people who laughed +at him for it. + +In the country, all Mexicans--high and low--wear this national dress; +and in this they are distinguished from the Indians, who keep to the +cotton shirts and drawers, and the straw hats of their ancestors. In +the towns, it is only the lower classes who dress in the ranchero +costume, for "nous autres" wear European garments and follow the last +Paris fashion, with these exceptions--that for riding, people wear +jackets and calzoneras of the national cut, though made of cloth, and +that the Mexican hat is often worn even by people who adopt no other +parts of the costume. There never were such hats as these for +awkwardness. The flat sharp brims of passers-by are always threatening +to cut your head off in the streets. You cannot get into a carriage +with your hat on, nor sit there when you are in. But for walking and +riding under a fierce sun, they are perhaps better than anything else +that can be used. + +The Mexican blanket--the serape--is a national institution; It is wider +than a Scotch plaid, and nearly as long, with a slit in the middle; and +it is woven in the same gaudy Oriental patterns which are to be seen on +the prayer-carpets of Turkey and Palestine to this day. It is worn as a +cloak, with the end flung over the left shoulder, like the Spanish +_capa_, and muffling up half the face when its owner is chilly or does +not wish to be recognized. When a heavy rain comes down, and he is on +horseback, he puts his head through the slit in the middle, and becomes +a moving tent. At night he rolls himself up in it, and sleeps on a mat +or a board, or on the stones in the open air. + +Convenient as it is, the serape is as much tabooed among the +"respectable" classes in the cities as the rest of the national +costume. I recollect going one evening after dark to the house of our +friends in the Calle Seminario with my serape on, and nearly having to +fight it out with the great dog Nelson, who was taking charge of his +master's room. Nelson knew me perfectly well, and had sat that very +morning at the hotel-gate for half an hour, holding my horse, while a +crowd of leperos stood round, admiring his size and the gravity of his +demeanour as he sat on the pavement, with the bridle in his mouth. But +that a man in a serape should come into his master's room at dusk was a +thing he could not tolerate, till the master himself came in, and +satisfied his mind on the subject. + +As I said, the equipment of ourselves and our three horses took us into +a variety of strange places, for we bought the things we wanted piece +by piece, when we saw anything that suited us. Among other places we +went to the Baratillo, which is the Rag-Fair and Petticoat Lane of +Mexico, and moreover the emporium for whips, bridles, bits, old spurs, +old iron, and odds and ends generally. The little shops are arranged in +long lines, after the manner of the eastern bazaar; and the +shopkeepers, when they are not smoking cigarettes outside, are sitting +in their little dens, within arms-length of all the wares they have to +sell. Here we found what we had come for, and much more too, in the way +of wonderful old spurs, combs, boxes, and ornaments; so that we came +several times more before we left the country, and never without +carrying away some curious old relic. + +Mexico, as everybody knows, is decidedly a thievish place. The shops +are all shut at dark, after the _Oracion_, for fear of thieves. Ladies +used to wear immense tortoise-shell combs at the back of their heads, +where the mantilla is fastened on; but, when it became a regular trade +for thieves to ride on horseback through the streets, and pull out the +combs as they went, the fashion had to be given up. These curiously +carved and ornamented combs are still preserved as curiosities, and we +bought several of them. + +While we were in Mexico, they knocked a man down in the great square at +noon-day, robbed him, and left him there for dead. The square is so +large, and the sun was so hot, that the police--whose head-quarters are +under the arches in that very square--could not possibly walk across to +see what was going on!--_moral_, if you will have the distinction of +having the largest square in the world, you must take the consequences. + +Of course, where thieving is so general, the market for stolen goods +must be a place of considerable trade, and this Baratillo is one of the +principal depots for such wares. One may realize here the story of the +citizen, in the old book, who had his wig stolen at the beginning of +his walk through London, and found it hanging up for sale a little +further on. Here the deserter comes to sell his uniform and his +ricketty old flintlock. Small blame to him. I would do the same myself +if I were in his place, and were compelled to serve under one rascally +political adventurer against another rascally political adventurer--to +say nothing of being treated like a dog, half-starved, and not paid at +all, except by a sort of half license to plunder. "Those poor soldiers! +we can't pay them, you know, and they must live somehow." + +I have abused the Mexicans for being thieves, and not without reason, +though, as regards ourselves personally, we never lost anything except +a great brand-new waterproof coat which my companion had brought with +him, promising to himself that under its shelter he should bid defiance +to the daily rain-storms of the wet season. As we dismounted from the +Diligence in Mexico, in the courtyard of the hotel, some one relieved +him of it. We did not know of the Baratillo in those days, or would +have gone to look for it there. At the time of our visit it was too +late, for if it ever had been there, the Mexicans understand too well +the value of an English "ulli," as they call them, to let it hang long +for sale. "Ulli" is not a borrowed word, but the genuine Aztec name for +India-rubber, which was used to make playing-balls with, long before +the time of Columbus. + +I mentioned the water-bottles as part of our equipment. They are +gourds, which are throttled with bandages while young, so as to make +them grow into the shape of bottles with necks. Then they are hung up +to dry; and the inside being cleaned out through a small hole near the +stalk, they are ready for use, holding two or three pints of water. A +couple of inches of a corn-cob (the inside of a ear of Indian corn) +makes a capital cork; and the bottle is hung by a loop of string to the +pummel of the saddle, where it swings about without fear of breaking. +One may see gourds, prepared in just the same way, in Italy, hanging up +under the eaves of the little farm-houses, among the festoons of red +and yellow ears of Indian corn; and indeed the gourd-bottle is a +regular institution of Southern Europe. + +We sent Antonio on with the horses to Cuernavaca, and started by the +Diligence early one morning, accompanied by one of our English friends, +whom I will call--as every-one else did--Don Guillermo. It is the +regular thing here, as in Spain, to call everybody by his or her +Christian name. You may have known Don Antonio or Don Felipe for weeks +before you happen to hear their surnames. + +The road ran at first over the plain, among great water-meadows, with +herds of cattle pasturing, and fields of wheat and maize. Ploughing was +going on, after the primitive fashion of the country, with two oxen +yoked to each plough. The yoke is fastened to the horns of the oxen, +and to the centre of the yoke a pole is attached. At the other end of +this pole is the plough itself, which consists of a wooden stake with +an iron point and a handle. The driver holds the handle in one hand and +his goad in the other (a long reed with an iron point), and so they +toil along, making a long scratch as they go. A man follows the plough, +and drops in single grains of Indian corn, about three feet apart. The +furrows are three feet from one another, so that each stalk occupies +some nine square feet of ground. When the plants are growing up they +dig between them, and heap up round each stalk a little mound of earth. + +We passed many little houses consisting of one square room, built of +mud-bricks, with mud-mortar stuck full of little stones; without +windows, but generally possessing the luxury of a chimney, with a +couple of bricks forming an arch over it to keep out the rain. Glimpses +of men smoking cigarettes at the doors, half-naked brown children +rolling in the dirt, and women on their knees inside, hard at work +grinding the corn for those eternal tortillas. + +At San Juan de Dios Mr. Christy climbed to the top of the Diligence, +behind the conductor, who sat with a large black leather bag full of +stones on the footboard before him. Whenever one of the nine mules +showed a disposition to shirk his work, a heavy stone came flying at +him, always hitting him in a tender place, for long practice had made +the conductor almost as good a shot as the goat-herds in the mountains, +who are said to be able to hit their goats on whichever horn they +please, and so to steer them straight when they seem inclined to stray. +But our conductor simply threw the stones, whereas the goat-herd uses +the aloe-fibre honda, or sling, that one sees hanging by dozens in the +Mexican shops. + +We pass near Churubusco, and along the line by which the American army +reached Mexico. The field of lava which they crossed is close at our +right hand; and just on the other side of it lie Tisapan and our friend +Don Alejandro's cotton-factory. On our left are the freshwater-lakes of +Xochimilco and Chalco, which had risen several feet, and flooded the +valley in their neighbourhood. Between us and the great mountain-chain +that forms the rim of the valley, lies a group of extinct volcanos, +from one of which descends the great lava-field. + +Passing in full view of these picturesque craters, now mostly covered +with trees and brushwood, we begin to ascend, and are soon among the +porphyritic range that forms a wall between us and the land of +sugar-canes and palms. Along the road towards Mexico came long files of +Indians, dressed in the national white cotton shirts and short drawers +and sandals, made like Montezuma's, though not with plates of gold on +the soles, such as that monarch's sandals had. Some of these Indians +are bringing on their backs wood and charcoal from the pine-forest +higher up among the mountains, and some have fastened to their backs +light crates full of live fowls or vegetables; others are carrying up +tropical fruits from the tierra caliente below, zapotes and mameis, +nisperos and granaditas, tamarinds and fresh sugar-canes. These people +are walking with their loads thirty or forty miles to market: but their +race have been used as beasts of burden for ages, and they don't mind +it. + +Bright blue and red birds, and larger and more brilliant butterflies +than are seen in Europe, show that, though we are among fields of wheat +and maize, we are in the tropics after all. As the road rises we get +views of the broad valley, with its lakes and green meadows, and the +great white haciendas with their clumps of willows, their +church-towers, and the clusters of adobe huts surrounding them--like +the peasants' cottages in feudal Europe, crowding up to the baron's +castle. + +Our mules begin to flag as we toil up the steep ascent; but the +conductor rattles the stones in his black bag, and as the ominous sound +reaches their ears, they start off again with renewed vigour. We pass +San Mateo, a village of charcoal-burners, where a large and splendid +stone church, with its tall dark cypresses, stands among the huts of +reeds and pine-shingles that form the village. + +[Illustration: INDIANS BRINGING CHARCOAL, &C. TO MEXICO.] + +Trains of mules are continually passing with their heavy loads of wood +and charcoal, bales of goods and barrels of aguardiente de cana, which +is rum made from the sugar-cane, but not coloured like that which comes +to England. The men are continually rushing backwards and forwards +among their beasts, which are not content with kicking and biting, and +banging against one another, but are always trying to lie down in the +road; and one of the principal duties of the arriero is constantly to +keep an eye on all his beasts at once, and, when he sees one preparing +to lie down, to be beforehand with him, and drive him on by a furious +shower of blows, kicks, and curses. Certainly, the Mexican mules are +the finest and strongest in the world; and, though they are just as +obstinate here as elsewhere, they are worth two or three times as much +as horses. + +Our road lies through a forest of pines and oaks, which reaches to the +summit of the pass, where stands a wretched little village, La Guarda. +There we had a thoroughly Mexican breakfast, with pulque in tall +tumblers, and endless successions of tortillas, coming in hot and hot +from the kitchen, where we could see brown women with bare arms, and +black hair plaited in long tails, kneeling by the charcoal fire, and +industriously patting out fresh supplies, and baking them rapidly on a +hot plate. The _piece de resistance_ was a stew, bright red with +tomatas, and hot as fire with chile; and then came the _frijoles_--the +black beans--without which no Mexican, high or low, considers a meal +complete. The walls of the room were decorated with highly coloured +engravings, one of which represented an engagement between a Spanish +and an English fleet, in which the English ships are being boarded by +the victorious Spaniards, or are being blown up in the background. +Where the engagement was I cannot recollect. People in Mexico, to whom +I mentioned this remarkable historical event, assured me that there are +still to be seen pictures of the destruction of the English fleet by +the French and Spaniards in the Bay of Trafalgar! + +Mexico was always, until the establishment of the republic, profoundly +ignorant of European affairs. In the old times, when the intercourse +with the mother-country was by the great ship, "el nao," which came +once a year, the government at home could have just such news +circulated through the country as seemed proper and convenient to them. +We see in our own times how despotic governments can mystify their +subjects, and distort contemporary history into what shape they please. +But in Spanish America the system was worked to a greater extent than +in any other country I have heard of; and the undercurrent of popular +talk, which spreads in France and Russia things and opinions not to be +found in the newspapers, had in Mexico but little influence. Scarcely +any Mexican travelled, scarcely any foreigner visited the country, and +the Spaniards who came to hold offices and make fortunes were all in +the interest of the old country; so the Mexicans went on, until the +beginning of this century, believing that Spain still occupied the same +position among the nations of Europe that it had held in the days of +Charles the Fifth. + +While my companion was outside the Diligence, Don Guillermo and I were +left to the conversation of an Italian fellow-passenger. One finds such +characters in books, but never before or since have I seen the reality. +He might have been the original of the great Braggadoccio. His +conversation was like a chapter out of the autobiography of his +countryman Alfieri. + +He had accompanied the Italian nobleman who was killed in an affray +with the Mexican robbers, some years ago, and on that occasion his +defence had been most heroic. He himself had shot several of the +robbers; till at last, his friend being killed, the rest of the party +yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the brigands, and he ran off to +fetch assistance! + +Whenever he was riding along a Mexican road, and any suspicious-looking +person asked him for a light, his habit was to hand him his cigar stuck +in the muzzle of a pistol; "and they always take the hint," he said, +"and see that it won't do to interfere with us." Alone, he had been +attacked by three armed men, but with a pistol in each hand he had +compelled them to retreat. But this was not all; our champion was +victorious in love as well as in arms. Like the great Alfieri, to whom +I have compared him, in every country where he travelled, the most +beautiful and distinguished ladies hardly waited for him to ask before +they cast themselves at his feet. Refusing the rich jewels that he +offered them, they declared that they loved him for himself alone. + +Weeks after, we were talking to our friend Mr. Del Pozzo, the Italian +apothecary in the Calle Plateros, and happened to ask him if he were +acquainted with his heroic countryman. Whereupon the apothecary went +off into fits of unextinguishable laughter, and told us how our friend +really had been in the skirmish he described, and had nobly run away +almost before a shot was fired, leaving his friends to fight it out. An +hour or two after, he was found shaking with terror in a ditch. + +To return to our road. The forest is on both sides of the Sierra; but +it is on the southern slope, over which we look down from the pass, +that the pines attain their fullest size and beauty; for here they are +as grand as in the Scandinavian forests, with all the beauty of the +pine-trees on the Italian hills. The pass, with its deep forest +skirting the road, has been a resort of robbers for many years; and the +driver pointed out to my companion a little grassy dell by the +road-side, from which forty men had rushed out and plundered the +Diligence just ten days before. With his mind just prepared, one may +imagine his feelings when he caught sight of some twenty wild-looking +fellows in all sorts of strange garments, with the bright sunshine +gleaming on the barrels of their muskets. A man was riding a little in +front of us, and as he approached the others they descended, and ranged +themselves by the side of the road. They were only the guard, after +all, and such a guard! Their thick matted black hair hung about over +their low foreheads and wild brown faces. Some had shoes, some had +none, and some had sandals. They had straw hats, glazed hats, no hats, +leather jackets and trousers, cotton shirts and drawers, or drawers +without any shirt at all; and--what looked worst of all--some had +ragged old uniforms on, like deserters from the army, and there are no +worse robbers than they. When the Diligence reached them, the guard +joined us; some galloping on before, some following behind, whooping +and yelling, brandishing their arms, and dashing in among the trees and +out into the road again. Every now and then my friend outside got a +glimpse down the muzzle of a musket, which did not add to his peace of +mind. At last we got through the dangerous pass, and then we made a +subscription for the guard, who departed making the forest ring again +with war-whoops, and firing off their muskets in our honour until we +were out of hearing. + +The top of the pass is 12,000 feet above the sea, but the clouds seemed +as high as ever above us, and the swallows were flying far up in the +air. Three thousand feet lower we were in a warmer region, among oaks +and arbutus; and here, as in our higher latitudes, the climate is far +hotter than on the northern slope at the same height. Bananas are to be +found at an elevation of 9,000 feet, three times the height at which +they ceased on the eastern slope, as we came up from Vera Cruz. This +difference between the two slopes depends, in part, on the different +quantity of sunshine they receive, which is of some importance, +although we are within the tropics. But the sheltering of the southern +sides from the chilling winds from the north still further contributes +to give their vegetation a really tropical character. + +We felt the heat becoming more and more intense as we descended, and +when we reached Cuernavaca we lay down in the beautiful garden of the +inn, among orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, listening to the pleasant +cool sound of running water, and looking down into the great barranca +with its perpendicular walls of rock, and the luxuriant vegetation of +the tierra caliente covering the banks of the stream that flowed far +below us. We could easily shout to the people on the other edge of the +ravine, but it would have taken hours of toiling down the steep paths +and up again before we could have reached them. + +Here our horses were waiting for us; and an hour or two's ride brought +us to the great sugar-hacienda of Temisco, where we were to pass the +night, for towns and inns are few and far between in Mexico when one +leaves the more populous mountain-plateaus. So much the better, for my +companion had provided himself with letters of introduction, and we had +already seen something of hacienda life, and liked it. + +As we approached Temisco, we saw upon the slopes, immense fields of +sugar-cane, now grown into a dense mass, five or six feet high, most +pleasant to look upon for the delicate green tint of the leaves that +belongs to no other plant. The colour of our English turf is beautiful, +and so are the tints of our English woods in spring, but our fields of +grain have a dull and dingy green compared to the sugar-cane and the +young Indian corn. In this beautiful valley we cannot charge the +inhabitants with entirely neglecting the irrigation of the land. +Indeed, the culture of the sugar-cane cannot be carried on without it, +and the cost of the watercourses on the large estates has been very +great. Unfortunately, even here agriculture is not flourishing. The +small number of the white inhabitants, and the distracted state of the +country make both life and property very insecure; and the brown people +are becoming less and less disposed to labour on the plantations. + +It is true that most of these channels were made in old times; little +new is done now, and I could make a long list of estates that were once +busy and prosperous, giving employment to thousands of the Indian +inhabitants, and that are now over-grown with weeds and falling to +ruin. + +Entering the iron gate of the hacienda, we found ourselves in an +immense courtyard, into which open all the principal buildings of the +estate, the house of the proprietor, the church--which forms a +necessary part of every hacienda--the crushing-mill, and the +boiling-houses. Into the same great patio open the immense stables for +the many riding-horses and the many hundreds of mules that carry the +sugar and rum over the mountains to market, and the tienda, the shop of +the estate, through which almost all the money paid to the labourers +comes back to the proprietor in exchange for goods. A mountain of +fresh-cut canes stood near the door of the trapiche (the +crushing-mill); and a gang of Indians were constantly going backwards +and forwards carrying them in by armfuls; while a succession of mules +were continually bringing in fresh supplies from the plantation to +replenish the great heap. The court-yard was littered all over, +knee-deep, with dry cane-trash; and mules, just freed from their +galling saddles, were rolling on their backs in it, kicking with all +their legs at once, and evidently in a state of high enjoyment. Part of +one side of the square was a sort of wide cloister, and in it stood +chairs and tables. + +Here the business of the place was transacted, and the Administrador +could look up from his ledger, and see pretty well what was going on +all over the establishment. + +It is very common for the owners of these haciendas to be absentees, +and to leave the entire control of their estates to the administradors; +but at Temisco, which is much better managed than most others, this is +not the case, and the son of the proprietor generally lives there. He +was out riding, so we sent our horses to the stable, and lounged about +eating sugar-canes till he should return. Presently he came, a young +man in a broad Mexican hat and white jacket and trousers, mounted on a +splendid little horse, with his saddle glittering with silver, every +inch a planter. He welcomed us hospitably, and we sat down together in +the cloister looking out on the courtyard. Evening was closing in, and +all at once the church-bell rang. Crowds of Indian labourers in their +white dresses came flocking in, hardly distinguishable in the twilight, +and the sound of their footsteps deadened as they walked over the dry +stubble that covered the ground. All work ceased, every one uncovered +and knelt down; while, through the open church-doors, we heard the +Indian choir chanting the vesper hymn. In the haciendas of Mexico every +day ends thus. Many times I heard the Oracion chanted at nightfall, but +its effect never diminished by repetition, and to my mind it has always +seemed the most impressive of religious services. + +Then the Administrador seated himself behind a great book, and the +calling over the "raya" began. Every man in turn was called by name, +and answered in a loud voice, "I praise God!;" then saying how much he +had earned in the day, for the Administrador to write down. "Juan +Fernandez!"--"_Alabo a Dios, tres reales y medio_:" "I praise God, one +and ninepence." "Jose Valdes!"--"I praise God, eighteen pence, and +sixpence for the boy;" and so on, through a couple of hundred names. + +Then came, not unacceptably, a little cup of pasty chocolate and a long +roll for each of us. Then Don Guillermo and our host talked about their +mutual acquaintances in Mexico, and we asked questions about +sugar-planting, and walked about the boiling-house, where the +night-gang of brown men were hard at work stirring and skimming at the +boiling-pans, and ladling out coarse unrefined sugar into little +earthen bowls to cool. This common sugar in bowls is very generally +used by the poorer Mexicans. The sugar-boilers were naked excepting a +cotton girdle. These men were very strong, and with great powers of +endurance, but they did not at all resemble the strong men of Europe +with their great muscles standing up under their skin, the men in +Michael Angelo's pictures, or the Farnese Hercules. They are equally +unlike the thin wiry Arabs, whose strength seems so disproportionate to +their lean little bodies. + +The pure Mexican Indian is short and sturdy; and, until you have +observed the peculiarities of the race, you would say he was too stout +and flabby to be strong. But this appearance is caused by the immense +thickness of his skin, which conceals the play of his muscles; and in +reality his strength is very great, especially in the legs and thighs, +and in the muscles that are brought into action in carrying burdens. +Sartorius used to observe the Indian miners bringing loads of above +five-hundred-weight up a hundred fathoms of mine-ladders, which consist +of trunks of trees fixed slanting across the shaft, with notches cut in +them for steps. + +As I have said before, it is not the mere training of the individual +that has produced this remarkable development of the power of carrying +loads. The centuries before the Conquest, when there were no beasts of +burden, had gradually produced a race whose bodies were admirably +fitted for such work; and the persistency with which they have clung to +their old habits has done much to prevent their losing this +peculiarity. + +To complete the description of the Indians which I have been led into +by speaking of the sugar-boilers,--they are chocolate-brown in colour, +with curved noses, straight black hair hanging flat round their heads +and covering their wonderfully low foreheads, and occasionally a scanty +black beard. Their faces are broadly oval, their eyes far apart, and +they have wide mouths with coarse lips. Not bad faces on the whole, but +heavy and unexpressive. + +At ten o'clock came a heavy supper, the substantial meal of the day, +and immediately afterwards we went to bed, and dreamt such dreams as +may be imagined. We were off early in the morning with a wizened old +mestizo to guide us to the ruins of Xochicalco, which are on this very +estate of Temisco. The estate is forty miles across, however, and it is +a long ride to the ruins. After we leave the fields of sugar-cane, we +see scarcely a hut, nor a patch of cultivated ground. At last we get to +Xochicalco, and find ourselves at the foot of a hill, some four hundred +feet in height, extraordinarily regular in its conical shape, more so +than any natural hill could be, unless it were the cone of a volcano. +At different heights upon this hill, we could see from below broad +terraces running round and round it. A little nearer we came upon a +great ditch. The sides had fallen in, in many places; sometimes it was +quite filled up, and everywhere it was overgrown with thick brushwood, +as was the hill itself. It seems that this ditch runs quite round the +base of the hill, and is three miles long. Climbing up through the +thicket of thorny bushes and out upon the terraces, it became quite +evident that the hill had been artificially shaped. The terraces were +built up with blocks of solid stone, and paved with the same. On the +neighbouring hills we could discern traces of more terrace-roads of the +same kind; there must be many miles of them still remaining. + +But it was when we reached the summit, that we found the most +remarkable part of the structure. The top has been cut away so as to +form a large level space, which was surrounded by a stone wall, now in +ruins. Inside the inclosure are several mounds of stone, doubtless +burial-places, and all that is left of the pyramid. Ruined and defaced +as it is, I shall never forget our feelings of astonishment and +admiration as we pushed our way through the bushes, and suddenly came +upon it. We were quite unprepared for anything of the kind; all we knew +of the place when we started that morning being that there were some +curious old ruins there. + +The pyramid was composed of blocks of hewn stone, so accurately fitted +together as hardly to show the joints, and the carving goes on without +interruption from one block to another. Some of these blocks are eight +feet long, and nearly three feet wide. They were laid together without +mortar, and indeed, from the construction of the building, none was +required. The first storey is about sixteen feet high, including the +plinth at the bottom. Above the plinth comes a sculptured group of +figures, which is repeated in panels all round the pyramid, twice on +each side. Each panel occupies a space thirty feet long by ten in +height, and the bas-reliefs project three or four inches. There is a +chief, dressed in a girdle, and with a head-dress of feathers just like +those of the Red Indians of the north. Below the girdle he terminates +in a scroll. In the middle of the group is what may perhaps be a +palm-tree, with a rabbit at its foot. Close to the tree, and reaching +nearly to the same height, is a figure with a crocodile's head wearing +a crown, and with drapery in parallel lines, like the wings of the +creatures in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. Indeed this may very likely be a +conventional representation of the robes of feather-work so +characteristic of Mexico. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURED PANEL. From the ruined Pyramid of Xochicalco. +(After Nebel.)] + +Above these bas-reliefs is a frieze between three and four feet high, +with another sculptured panel repeated eight times on each side of the +pyramid. This remarkable sculpture represents a man sitting barefoot +and crosslegged. On his head is a kind of crown or helmet, with a plume +of feathers; and from the front of this helmet there protrudes a +serpent, just where in the Egyptian sculptures the royal basilisk is +fixed on the crowns of kings and queens. The eyes of this personage are +protected by round plates with holes in the middle, held on by a strap +round the head, like the coloured glasses used in the United States to +keep off the glare of the sun, and known as "goggles." In front of this +figure are sculptured a rabbit and some unintelligible ornaments or +weapons. "Rabbit" may have been his name. + +The frieze is surmounted by a cornice; and above the cornice of the +second storey enough remains to show that it was covered with reliefs, +in the same way as the first There were five storeys originally: the +others have only been destroyed about a century. The former proprietor +of the hacienda of Temisco pulled down the upper storeys, and carried +away the blocks of stone to build walls and dams with. + +The perfect execution of the details in the bas-reliefs and the +accuracy with which they are repeated show clearly that it was not so +much want of skill as the necessity of keeping to the conventional mode +of representing objects that has given so grotesque a character to the +Mexican scriptures. Certain figures became associated with religion and +astrology in Mexico, as in many other countries; and the sculptor, +though his facility in details shows that he could have made far better +figures if he had had a chance, never had the opportunity, for he was +not allowed to depart from the original rude type of the sacred object. +Humboldt remarks that the same undeviating reproduction of fixed models +is as striking in the Mexican sculptures done since the Conquest. The +clumsy outlines of the rude figures of saints brought from Europe in +the 16th century were adopted as models by the native sculptors, and +have lasted without change to this day. + +It is evident that Xochicalco answered several purposes. It was a +fortified hill of great strength, also a sacred shrine, and a +burial-place for men of note, whose bodies, no doubt, still lie under +the ruined cairns near the pyramid. The magnitude of the ditch and the +terraces, as well as the great size of the blocks of stone brought up +the hill without the aid of beasts of burden, indicate a large +population and a despotic government. The beauty of the masonry and +sculpture show that the people who erected this monument had made no +small progress in the arts. We must remember, too, that they had no +iron, but laboriously cut and polished the hardest granite and porphyry +with instruments of stone and bronze; we can hardly tell how. + +The resemblances which people find between Assyrian and Egyptian +sculptures and the American monuments are of little value, and do not +seem sufficient to ground any argument upon. When slightly civilized +races copy men, trees, and animals in their rude way, it would be hard +if there were not some resemblance among the figures they produce. With +reference to their ornamentation, it is true that what is called the +"key-border" is quite common in Mexico and Yucatan, and that on this +very pyramid the panels are divided by a twisted border, which would +not be noticed as peculiar in a "renaissance" building. But the model +of this border may have been suggested--on either side of the globe--by +creepers twined together in the forest, or by a cord doubled and +twisted, such as is represented in one of the commonest Egyptian +hieroglyphs. + +The cornice which finishes the first storey of the pyramid is a +familiar pattern, but nothing can be concluded from these simple +geometrical designs, which might be invented over and over again by +different races when they began to find pleasure in tracing ornamental +devices upon their buildings. Upon the tattooed skins of savages such +designs may be seen, and the patterns were certainly in use among them +before they had any intercourse with white men. This is the view +Humboldt takes of these coincidences. That both the Egyptian king and +the Mexican chief should wear a helmet with a serpent standing out from +it just above the forehead, is somewhat extraordinary. + +Now, who built Xochicalco? Writers on Mexico are quite ready with their +answer. They tell us that, according to the Mexican tradition, the +country was formerly inhabited by another race, who were called +_Tolteca_, or, as we say, _Toltecs_, from the name of their city, +_Tollan_, "the Reed-swamp;" and that they were of the same race as the +Aztecs, as shown by the names of their cities and their kings being +Aztec words; that they were a highly civilized people, and brought into +the country the arts of sculpture, hieroglyphic painting, great +improvements in agriculture, many of the peculiar religious rites since +practised by other nations who settled after them in Mexico, and the +famous astronomical calendar, of which I shall speak afterwards. The +particular Toltec king to whom the Mexican historians ascribe the +building of Xochicalco was called Nauhyotl, that is to say, "Four +Bells," and died A.D. 945. + +We are further told that just about the time of our Norman Conquest, +the Toltecs were driven out from the Mexican plateau by famine and +pestilence, and migrated again southward. Only a few families remained, +and from them the Aztecs, Chichemecs, and other barbarous tribes by +whom the country was re-peopled, derived that knowledge of the arts and +sciences upon which their own civilization was founded. It was by this +Toltec nation--say the Mexican writers--that the monuments of +Xochichalco, Teotihuacan, and Cholula were built. In their architecture +the Aztecs did little more than copy the works left by their +predecessors; and, to this day, the Mexican Indians call a builder a +_toltecatl_ or _Toltec_. + +If we consider this circumstantial account to be anything but a mere +tissue of fables, the question naturally arises--what became of the +remains of the Toltecs when they left the high plains of Mexico? A +theory has been propounded to answer this question, that they settled +in Chiapas and Yucatan, and built Palenque, Copan, and Uxmal, and the +other cities, the ruins of which lie imbedded in the tropical forest. + +At the time that Prescott wrote his History of the Conquest, such a +theory was quite tenable; but the new historic matter lately made known +by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg has given a different aspect to the +question. Without attempting to maintain the credibility of this +writer's history as a whole, I cannot but think that he has given us +satisfactory grounds for believing that the ruined cities of Central +America were built by a race which flourished long before the Toltecs; +that they were already declining in power and civilization in the +seventh century, when the Toltecs began to flourish in Mexico; and that +the present Mayas of Yucatan are their degenerate descendants. + +What I have seen of Central American and Mexican antiquities, and of +drawings of them in books, tends to support the Abbe Brasseur de +Bourbourg's view of the history of these countries. Traces of +communication between the two peoples are to be found in abundance, but +nothing to warrant our holding that either people took its civilization +bodily from the other. My excuse for entering into these details must +be that some of the facts I have to offer are new. + +A bas-relief at Kabah, described in Mr. Stephens' account of his second +journey, bears considerable resemblance to that on the so-called +"sacrificial stone" of Mexico; and the warrior has the characteristic +Mexican _maquahuitl_, or "Hand-wood," a mace set with rows of obsidian +teeth. + +A curious ornament is met with in the Central American sculptures, +representing a serpent with a man's face looking out from between its +distended jaws; and we find a similar design in the Aztec +picture-writings, sculptures, and pottery. + +A remarkable peculiarity in the Aztec picture-writings is that the +personages represented often have one or more figures of tongues +suspended in mid-air near their mouths, indicating that they are +speaking, or that they are persons in authority. Such tongues are to be +seen on the Yucatan sculptures. + +One of the panels on the Pyramid of Xochicalco seems to have a bearing +upon this subject, I mean that of the cross-legged chief, of which I +have just spoken. + +In the first place, sitting cross-legged is not an Aztec custom. I do +not think we ever saw an Indian in Mexico sitting cross-legged. In the +picture-writings of the Aztecs, the men sit doubled up, with their +chins almost touching their knees; while the women have their legs +tucked under them, and their feet sticking out on the left side. On the +other hand, this attitude is quite characteristic of the Yucatan +sculptures. At Copan there is an altar, with sixteen chiefs sitting +cross-legged round it; and, moreover, one of them has a head-dress very +much like that of the Xochicalco chief (except that it has no serpent), +and others are more or less similar; while I do not recollect anything +like it in the Mexican picture-writings. The curious perforated +eye-plates of the Xochicalco chief, which he wore--apparently--to keep +arrows and javelins out of his eyes, are part of the equipment of the +Aztec warrior in the picture-writings, while Palenque and Copan seemed +to afford no instance of them; so that in two peculiarities the +remarkable sculpture before us seems to belong rather to Yucatan than +to Mexico, and in one to Mexico rather than to Yucatan. + +It is not even possible in all cases to distinguish Central American +sculptures from those of Mexican origin. Among the numerous stone +figures in Mr. Christy's museum, some are unmistakably of Central +American origin, and some as certainly Mexican; but beside these, there +are many which both their owner and myself, though we had handled +hundreds of such things, were obliged to leave on the debatable ground +between the two classes. + +So much for the resemblances. But the differences are of much greater +weight. The pear-shaped heads of most of the Central American figures, +whose peculiar configuration is only approached by the wildest +caricatures of Louis Philippe, are perfectly distinctive. So are the +hieroglyphics arranged in squares, found on the sculptures of Central +America and in the Dresden Codex. So is the general character of the +architecture and sculpture, as any one may see at a glance. + +It is quite true that the so-called Aztec Astronomical Calendar was in +use in Central America, and that many of the religious observances in +both countries, such as the method of sacrificing the human victims, +and the practice of the worshippers drawing blood from themselves in +honour of the gods, are identical. But there were several ways in which +this might have been brought about, and it is no real proof that the +civilization of either country was an offshoot from that of the other. +To consider it as such would be like arguing that the negroes of Cuba +and the Indians of Yucatan had derived their civilization one from the +other, because both peoples are Roman Catholics, and use the same +almanac. On the whole I am disposed to conclude that the civilizations +of Mexico and Central America were originally independent, but that +they came much into contact, and thus modified one another to no small +extent. + +At the risk of being prosy, I will mention the _a priori_ grounds upon +which we may argue that the civilization of Central America did not +grow up there, but was brought ready-made by a people who emigrated +there from some other country. There is a theory afloat, that it is +only in temperate climates that barbarous nations make much progress in +civilizing themselves. In tropical countries the intensity of the heat +makes man little disposed for exertion, and the luxuriance of the +vegetation supplies him with the little he requires. In such +climates--say the advocates of this theory--man acknowledges the +supremacy of nature over himself, and gives up the attempt to shape her +to his own purposes; and thus, in these countries, the inhabitants go +on from generation to generation, lazily enjoying their existence, +making no effort, and indeed feeling no desire to raise themselves in +the social scale. Upon this theory, therefore, when we find a high +civilization in hot countries, as in the plains of India, we have to +account for it by supposing an immigration of races bringing their +civilization with them from more temperate climates. This theory of +civilization favours the idea of the Central American cities having +been built by a people from Mexico. The climate of the Mexican +highlands, which may be taken in a rough way to correspond with that of +North Italy, is well suited to a nation's development. But the cities +of Yucatan and Chiapas, though geographically not far removed from the +Mexican plateau, are brought by their small elevation above the sea +into a very different climate. They are in the land of tropical heat +and the rankest vegetation, in the midst of dense forests where +pestilential fevers and overwhelming lassitude make it almost +impossible for Europeans to live, and where the Indians who still +inhabit the neighbourhood of the ruined cities are the merest savages +sunk in the lowest depths of lazy ignorance. + +If this climate-theory of progress have any truth in it, no barbarous +tribe could have raised itself in such a country to the social state +which is indicated by the ruins of such temples and cities. They must +have been settlers from some more temperate region. + +While wandering about the hill of Xochicalco we came upon a spot that +strongly excited our curiosity. It was simply a small paved oval space +with a little altar at one end, and, lying round about it, some +fragments of what seemed to have been a hideous grotesque idol of baked +clay. Perhaps it was a shrine dedicated to one of the inferior deities, +such as often surrounded the greater temples; for, in Mexico, +astronomy, astrology, and religion had become mixed up together, as +they have been in other quarters of the globe, and even the +astronomical signs of days and months had temples of their own. + +Xochicalco means "In the House of Flowers." The word +"flower,"--_xochitl_,--is often a part of the names of Mexican places +and people, such as the lake of Xochimilco--"In the Flower-plantation." +_Tlilxochitl_, literally "black flower," is the Aztec name for vanilla, +so that the name of that famous Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, whose +name sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott, means +"Vanilla-face." Why the place was called "In the House of Flowers" is +not clear. The usual explanation seems not unlikely, that it was +because offerings of flowers and first-fruits were made upon its +shrines. The Toltecs, say the Mexican chroniclers, did not sacrifice +human victims; and it was not until long after other tribes had taken +possession of their deserted temples, that the Aztecs introduced the +custom by sacrificing their prisoners of war. It seems odd, however, +that one of the Toltec kings should have been called Topiltzin, which +was the title of the chief priest among the Aztecs, whose duty it was +to cut open the breasts of the human victims and tear out their hearts. + +The Indians always delighted in carrying flowers in their solemn +processions, crowning themselves with garlands, and decorating their +houses and temples with them; and, while they worshipped their gods +according to the simple rites which tradition says their prophet, +Quetzalcoatl, ("Feathered Snake,") appointed, before he left them and +embarked in his canoe on the Eastern ocean, no name could have been +more appropriate for their temple. This pleasant custom did not +disappear after the Conquest; and to this day the churches in the +Indian districts are beautiful with their brilliant garlands and +nosegays, and are as emphatically "houses of flowers" as were the +temples in ages long past. + +Since writing the above notice of the Pyramid of Xochicalco, I have +come upon a new piece of evidence, which, if it may be depended on, +proves more about the history of this remarkable monument than all the +rest put together. Dupaix made a drawing of the ruins at Xochicalco in +1805, which is to be found in Lord Kingsborough's 'Antiquities of +Mexico,' and among the sculptures of the upper tier of blocks is +represented a reed, with its leaves set in a square frame, with three +small circles underneath; the whole forming, in the most unmistakable +way, the sign 3 Acatl (3 Cane) of the Mexican Astronomical Calendar. + +Now it must be admitted that Dupaix's drawing of these ruins is most +grossly incorrect; but still no amount of mere carelessness in an +artist will justify us in supposing him to have invented and put in out +of his own head a design so entirely _sui generis_ as this. It does not +even follow that the drawing is wrong because the sign may not be found +there now; for it was in an upper tier, and no doubt many stones have +been removed since 1805, for building-purposes. + +If the existence of the sign 3 Acatl on the pyramid may be considered +as certain, it will fit in perfectly with the accounts of the Mexican +historians, who state that Xochicalco was built by a king of the Toltec +race, and also that the Aztecs adopted the astronomical calendars of +years and days in use among the Toltecs. + +It was afternoon when we left Xochicalco and rode on over a gently +undulating country, crossing streams here and there, and had our +breakfast at Miacatlan under a shed in front of the village shop, where +all the activity of the little Indian town seemed to be concentrated. +By the road-side were beautiful tamarind-trees with their dark green +foliage, and the mamei-tree as large as a fine English horse-chestnut, +and not unlike it at a distance. On the branches were hanging the great +mameis, just like the inside of cocoa-nuts when the inner shell has +been cracked off. It appeared that Nature was not acquainted with M. De +La Fontaine's works, or she would probably have got a hint from the +fable of the acorn and the pumpkin, and not have hung mameis and +cocoa-nuts at such a dangerous height. + +[Illustration: AZTEC HEAD IN TERRA-COTTA. (From Mr. Christy's +Collection.)] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +COCOYOTLA. CACAHUAMILPAN. CHALMA. OCULAN. TENANCINGO. TOLUCA. + + + +[Illustration: IXTCALCO CHURCH.] + +A little before dark we came to the hacienda of Santa Rosita de +Cocoyotla, another sugar-plantation which was to be our head-quarters +for some days to come. We presented our letter of introduction from the +owner of the estate, and the two administradors received us with open +arms. We were conducted into the strangers' sleeping-room, a long +barrack-like apartment with stone walls and a stone floor that seemed +refreshingly dark and cool; we could look out through its barred +windows into the garden, where a rapid little stream of water running +along the channel just outside made a pleasant gurgling sound. +Appearances were delusive, however, and it was only the change +from the outside that made us feel the inside cool and pleasant. For +days our clothes clung to us as if we had been drowned, and the +pocket-handkerchiefs with which we mopped our faces had to be hung on +chair-backs to dry. Except in the early morning, there was no coolness +in that sweltering place. + +In one corner of our room I discerned a brown toad of monstrous size +squatting in great comfort on the damp flags. He was as big as a +trussed chicken, and looked something like one in the twilight. We +pointed him out to the administrador, who brought in two fierce +watchdogs, but the toad set up his back and spirted his acrid liquor, +and the dogs could not be got to go near him. We stirred him up with a +bamboo and drove him into the garden, but he left his portrait painted +in slime upon our floor. + +The Indian choir chanted the Oracion as we had heard it the night +before at Temisco, and then came the calling over of the raya. After +that we walked about the place, and sat talking in the open corridor. +Owners of estates, and indeed all white folks living in this part of +the country were beginning to feel very anxious about their position, +and not without reason. Ordinary political events excite but little +interest in these Indian districts, and so trifling a matter as a +revolution and a change of people in power does not affect them +perceptibly. The Indians are absolutely free, and have their votes and +their civil privileges like any other citizens. All that the owners of +the plantations ask of them is to work for high wages, and hitherto +they have done this, but for years it has been becoming more and more +difficult to get them to work. All they do with the money when they get +it, is to spend it in drinking and gambling, if they are of an +extravagant turn of mind; or to bury it in some out-of-the-way place, +if they are given to saving. If they were whites or half-caste Mexicans +they would spend their money upon fine clothes and horses, but the +Indian keeps to the white cotton dress of his fathers, and is never +seen on horseback. Now this being the case, it does not seem +unreasonable that they should not much care about working hard for +money that is of so little use to them when they have got it, and that +they should prefer living in their little huts walled with canes and +thatched with palm-leaves, and cultivating the little patch of +garden-ground that lies round it--which will produce enough fruit and +vegetables for their own subsistence, and more besides, which they can +sell for clothes and tobacco. A day or two of this pleasant easy work +at their own ground will provide this, and they do not see why they +should labour as hired servants to get more. This is bad enough, think +the hacendados, but there is worse behind. The Indians have been of +late years becoming gradually aware that the government of the country +is quite rotten and powerless, and that in their own districts at +least, the power is very much in their own hands, for the few scattered +whites could offer but slight resistance. The doctrine of "America for +the Americans" is rapidly spreading among them, and active emissaries +are going about reminding them that the Spaniards only got their lands +by the right of the strongest, and that now is the time for them to +reassert their rights. + +The name of Alvarez is circulated among them, as the man who is to lead +them in the coming struggle--Alvarez the mulatto general, whose hideous +portrait is in every print-shop in Mexico. He was President before +Comonfort, and is now established with his Indian regiments in the hot +pestilential regions of the Pacific coast. + +The undisguised contempt with which the Indians have been treated for +ages by the whites and the mestizos has not been without its effect. +The revolution, and the abolition of all legal distinctions of caste +still left the Indians mere senseless unreasoning creatures in the eyes +of the whiter races; and, if the original race once get the upper hand, +it will go hard with the whites and their estates in these parts. Only +a day or two before we came down from Mexico, the government had +endeavoured to quarter some troops in one of the little Indian towns +which we passed through on our way from Temisco. But the inhabitants +saluted them with volleys of stones from the church-steeple and the +house-tops, and they had to retreat most ignominiously into their old +quarters among "reasonable people." + +I have put down our notions on the "Indian Question," just as they +presented themselves to us at the time. The dismal forebodings of the +planters seem to have been fulfilled to some extent at least, for we +heard, not long after our return to Europe, that the Indians had +plundered and set fire to numbers of the haciendas of the south +country, and that our friends the administradors of Cocoyotla had +escaped with their lives. The hacienda itself, if our information is +correct, which I can hardly doubt, is now a blackened deserted ruin. + +At supper appeared two more guests besides ourselves, apparently +traders carrying goods to sell at the villages and haciendas on the +road. In such places the hacienda offers its hospitality to all +travellers, and there was room in our caravanserai for yet more +visitors if they had come. Our beds were like those in general use in +the tropics, where mattresses would be unendurable, and even the +pillows become a nuisance. The frame of the bed has a piece of coarse +cloth stretched tightly over it; a sheet is laid upon this, and another +sheet covers the sleeper. This compromise between a bed and a hammock +answers the purpose better than anything else, and admits of some +circulation of air, especially when you have kicked off the sheet and +lie fully exposed to the air and the mosquitos. + +I cannot say that it is pleasant to wake an hour or two after going to +bed, with your exact profile depicted in a wet patch on the pillow; nor +is it agreeable to become conscious at the same time of an intolerable +itching, and to find, on lighting a candle, that an army of small ants +are walking over you, and biting furiously. These were my experiences +during my first night at Cocoyotla; and I finished the night, lying +half-dressed on my bed, with the ends of my trousers-legs tied close +with handkerchiefs to keep the creatures out. But when we got into our +saddles in the early morning, we forgot all these little miseries, and +started merrily on our expedition to the great stalactitic cave of +Cacahuamilpan. + +Our day's journey had two objects; one was to see the cave, and the +other to visit the village close by,--one of the genuine unmixed Indian +communities, where even the Alcalde and the Cura, the temporal and +spiritual heads of the society, are both of pure Indian blood, and +white influence has never been much felt. + +[Illustration: INDIANS MAKING & BAKING TORTILLAS. (After Models made by +a Native Artist.)] + +A ride of two or three hours from the hacienda brought us into a +mountainous district, and there we found the village of Cacahuamilpan +on the slope of a hill. In the midst of neat trim gardens stood the +little white church, and the ranches of the inhabitants, cottages of +one room, with walls of canes which one can see through in all +directions, and roofs of thatch, with the ground smoothed and trodden +hard for a floor. Everything seemed clean and prosperous, and there was +a bright sunny look about the whole place; but to Englishmen, +accustomed to the innumerable appliances of civilized life, it seems +surprising how very few and simple are the wants of these people. The +inventory of their whole possessions will only occupy a few lines. The +_metate_ for grinding or rubbing down the maize to be patted out into +tortillas, a few calabashes for bottles, and pieces of calabashes for +bowls and cups, prettily ornamented and painted, and hanging on pegs +round the walls. A few palm-leaf mats (petates) to sleep upon, some +pots of thin unglazed earthenware for the cooking, which is done over a +wood-fire in the middle of the floor. A chimney is not necessary in +houses which are like the Irishman's coat, consisting principally of +holes. A wooden box, somewhere, contains such of the clothes of the +family as are not in wear. There is really hardly anything I can think +of to add to this catalogue, except the agricultural implements, which +consist of a wooden spade, a hoe, some sharp stakes to make the drills +with, and the machete--which is an iron bill-hook, and serves for +pruning, woodcutting, and now and then for less peaceful purposes. +Sometimes one sees women weaving cotton-cloth, or _manta_, as it is +called, in a loom of the simplest possible construction; or sitting at +their doors in groups, spinning cotton-thread with the _malacates_, and +apparently finding as much material for gossip here as elsewhere. + +The Mexicans spun and wove their cotton-cloth just in this way before +the Conquest, and malacates of baked clay are found in great numbers in +the neighbourhood of the old Mexican cities. They are simple, like very +large button-moulds, and a thin wooden skewer stuck in the hole in the +middle makes them ready for use. Such spindles were used by the +lake-men of Switzerland, but the earthen heads were not quite the same +in shape, being like balls pierced with a hole, as are those at present +used in Mexico. + +The Indians here had not the dull sullen look we saw among those who +inhabit the colder regions; and, though belonging to the same race, +they were better formed and had a much freer bearing than their less +fortunate countrymen of the colder districts. + +Our business in the village was to get guides for the cavern. While +some men were gone to look for the Alcalde, we walked about the +village, and finally encamped under a tree. One of our men had got us a +bag full of fruit,--limes, zapotes, and nisperos, which last are a +large kind of medlar, besides a number of other kinds of fruit, which +we ate without knowing what they were. Though rather insipid, the limes +are deliciously refreshing in this thirsty country; and they do no +harm, however enormously one may indulge in them. The whole +neighbourhood abounds in fruit, and its name _Cacahuamilpan_ means "the +plantation of _cacahuate_ nuts." + +It soon became evident that the Alcalde was keeping us waiting as a +matter of dignity, and to show that, though the white men might be held +in great estimation elsewhere, they did not think so much of them in +this free and independent village. At last a man came to summon us to a +solemn audience. In a hut of canes, the Alcalde, a little lame Indian, +was sitting on a mat spread on the ground in the middle, with his +escribano or secretary at his left hand. Other Indians were standing +outside at the door. The little man scarcely condescended to take any +notice of us when we saluted him, but sat bolt upright, positively +bursting with suppressed dignity, and the escribano inquired in a loud +voice what our business was. We told him we wanted guides to the cave, +which he knew as well as we did; but instead of answering, he began to +talk to the Alcalde. We quite appreciated the pleasure it must have +been to the two functionaries to show off before us and their assembled +countrymen, who were looking on at the proceedings with great respect; +and we had not minded affording them this cheap satisfaction; but at +last the joke seemed to be getting stale, so we proceeded some to sit +and some to lie down at full length, and to go on eating limes in the +presence of the August company. Thereupon they informed us what would +be the cost of guides and candles, and we eventually made a bargain +with them and started on foot. + +On looking at the map of the State of Mexico, there is to be seen a +river which stops suddenly on reaching the mountains of Cacahuamilpan, +and begins again on the other side, having found a passage for itself +through caves in the mountain for six or seven miles. Not far from the +place where this river flows out of the side of the hill, is a path +which leads to the entrance of the cave. A long downward slope brought +us into the first great vaulted chamber, perhaps a quarter of a mile +long and eighty feet high; then a long scramble through a narrow +passage, and another hall still grander than the first. At the end of +this hall is another passage leading on into another chamber. Beyond +this we did not go. As it was, we must have walked between one and two +miles into the cavern, but people have explored it to twice this +distance, always finding a repetition of the same arrangement, great +vaulted chambers alternating with long passages almost choked by fallen +rocks. In one of the passages, I think the last we came to, the roaring +of the river in its subterranean bed was distinctly audible below us. + +Excepting the great cave of Kentucky, I believe there is no stalactitic +cavern known so vast and beautiful as this. The appearance of the +largest hall was wonderful when some twenty of our Indian guides +stationed themselves on pinnacles of stalagmite, each one holding up a +blazing torch, while two more climbed upon a great mass at one end +called the altar, and burnt Bengal lights there; the rest stood at the +other extremity of the cave sending up rockets in rapid succession into +the vaulted roof, and making the millions of grotesque incrustations +glitter as if they had been masses of diamonds: All the quaint shapes +that are found in such caverns were to be seen here on the grandest +scale, columns, arched roof, organ-pipes, trees, altars, and squatting +monsters ranged in long lines like idols in a temple. There may very +well be some truth in the notion that the origin of Gothic architecture +was in stalactites of a limestone cavern, so numerous and perfect are +the long slender columns crowned with pointed Gothic arches. + +Our procession through the cave was a picturesque one. We carried long +wax altar-candles and our guides huge torches made of threads of +aloe-fibre soaked in resin and wrapped round with cloth, in appearance +and texture exactly like the legs and arms of mummies. As we went, the +Indians sang Mexican songs to strange, monotonous, plaintive tunes, or +raced about into dark corners shouting with laughter. They talked about +adventures in the cave, to them of course the great phenomenon of the +whole world; but it did not seem, as far as we could hear, that they +associated with it any recollections of the old Aztec divinities and +the mystic rites performed in their honour. + +No fossil bones have been found in the cavern, nor human remains except +in one of the passages far within, where a little wooden cross still +marks the spot where the skeleton of an Indian was found. Whether he +went alone for mere curiosity to explore the cave, or, what is more +likely, with an idea of finding treasure, is not known; nothing is +certain but that his candle was burnt out while he was still far from +the entrance, and that he died there. I said no fossil remains had been +found, but the level floors of the great halls are continually being +raised by fresh layers of stalagmite from the water dropping from the +roof, and no one knows what may lie under them. These floors are in +many places covered with little loose concretions like marbles, and +these concretions in the course of time are imbedded in the horizontal +layers of the same material. + +As we left the entrance hall and began to ascend the sloping passage +that leads to daylight, we saw an optical appearance which, had we not +seen it with our own eyes, we could never have believed to be a natural +effect of light and shade. To us, still far down in the cave, the +entrance was only illuminated by reflected light; but as the Indians +reached it, the direct rays of sunlight fell upon them, and their white +dresses shone with an intense phosphoric light, as though they had been +self-luminous. It is just such an effect that is wanting in our +pictures of the Transfiguration, but I fear it is as impossible to +paint it upon canvas as to describe it in words. + +Next morning our friend Don Guillermo said good-bye to us, and started +to return post-haste to his affairs in the capital. We stayed a few +days longer at Cocoyotla, never tiring of the beautiful garden with its +groves of orange-trees and cocoanut-palms, and the river which, running +through it, joins the stream that we heard rushing along in the cavern, +to flow down into the Pacific. + +On Sunday morning the priest arrived on an ambling mule, the favourite +clerical animal. They say it is impossible to ride a mule unless you +are either an arriero or a priest. Not that it is by any means +necessary, however, that he should ride a mule. I shall not soon forget +the jaunty young monk we saw at Tezcuco, just setting out for a country +festival, mounted on a splendid little horse, with his frock tucked up, +and a pair of hairy goat-skin _chaparreros_ underneath, a broad Mexican +hat, a pair of monstrous silver spurs, and a very large cigar in his +mouth. The girls came out of the cottage doors to look at him, as he +made the fiery little beast curvet and prance along the road; and he +was evidently not insensible to the looks of admiration of these young +ladies, as they muffled up their faces in their blue rebozos and looked +at him through the narrow opening. + +Nearly two hundred Indians crowded into the church to mass, and went +through the service with evident devotion. There are no more sincere +Catholics in the world than the Indians, though, as I have said, they +are apt to keep up some of their old rites in holes and corners. The +administradors did not trouble themselves to attend mass, but went on +posting up their books just outside the church-door; in this, as in a +great many other little matters, showing their contempt for the brown +men, and adding something every day to the feeling of dislike they are +regarded with. + +We speak of the Indians still keeping up their ancient superstitious +rites in secret, as we often heard it said so in Mexico, though we +ourselves never saw anything of it. The Abbe Clavigero, who wrote in +the last century, declares the charge to be untrue, except perhaps in a +few isolated cases. "The few examples of idolatry," he says, "which can +be produced are partly excusable; since it is not to be wondered at +that rude uncultured men should not be able to distinguish the +idolatrous worship of a rough figure of wood or stone from that which +is rightly paid to the holy images." (There are people who would quite +agree with the good Abbe that the distinction is rather a difficult one +to make.) "But how often has prejudice against them declared things to +be idols which were really images of the saints, though shapeless ones! +In 1754 I saw some images found in a cave, which were thought to be +idols; but I had no doubt that they were figures representing the +mystery of the Holy Nativity." + +A good illustration of the wholesale way in which the early Catholic +missionaries went about the work of conversion is given in a remark of +Clavigero's. There is one part of the order of baptism which proceeds +thus: "Then the Priest, wetting his right thumb with spittle from his +mouth, and touching therewith in the form of a cross the right ear of +the person to be baptized, &c." The Mexican missionaries, it seems, had +to leave out this ceremony, from sheer inability to provide enough of +the requisite material for their crowds of converts. + +After mass we rode out to a mound that had attracted our attention a +day or two before, and which proved to be a fort or temple, or probably +both combined. There were no remains to be found there except the usual +fragments of pottery and obsidian. Then we returned to the hacienda to +say good-bye to our friends there, before starting on our journey back +to Mexico. All the population were hard at work amusing themselves, and +the shop was doing a roaring trade in glasses of aguardiente. The +Indian who had been our guide for some days past had opened a Monte +bank with the dollars we had given him, and was sitting on the ground +solemnly dealing cards one by one from the bottom of a dirty pack, a +crowd of gamblers standing or sitting in a semicircle before him, +silently watching the cards and keeping a vigilant eye upon their +stakes which lay on the ground before the banker. Other parties were +busy at the same game in other parts of the open space before the shop, +which served as the great square for the colony. + +Under the arcades in front of the shop a fandango was going on, though +it was quite early in the afternoon. A man and a woman stood facing +each other, an old man tinkled a guitar, producing a strange, endless, +monotonous tune, and the two dancers stamped with their feet, and moved +their arms and bodies about in time to the music, throwing themselves +into affected and voluptuous attitudes which evidently met with the +approval of the bystanders, though to us, who did not see with Indian +eyes, they seemed anything but beautiful. When the danseuse had tired +out one partner, another took his place. An admiring crowd stood round +or sat on the stone benches, smoking cigarettes, and looking on gravely +and silently, with evident enjoyment. Just as we saw it, it would go on +probably through half the night, one couple, or perhaps two, keeping it +up constantly, the rest looking on and refreshing themselves from time +to time with raw spirits. Though inferior to the Eastern dancing, it +resembled it most strikingly, my companion said. It has little to do +with the really beautiful and artistic dancing of Old Spain, but seems +to be the same that the people delighted in long before they ever saw a +white man. Montezuma's palace contained a perfect colony of +professional dancers, whose sole business was to entertain him with +their performances, which only resembled those of the Old World because +human nature is similar everywhere, and the same wants and instincts +often find their development in the same way among nations totally +separated from each other. + +We left the natives to their amusement, and started on our twenty miles +ride. By the time the evening had fairly begun to close in upon us, we +crossed the crest of a hill and had a dim view of a valley below us, +but there were no signs of Chalma or its convent. We let our horses +find their way as well as they could along the rocky path, and got down +into the valley. A light behind us made us turn round, and we saw a +grand sight. The coarse grass on a large hill further down the valley +had been set fire to, and a broad band of flame stretched right across +the base of the hill, and was slowly moving upwards towards its top, +throwing a lurid glare over the surrounding country, and upon the +clouds of smoke that were rising from the flames. Every now and then we +turned to watch the line of fire as it rose higher and higher, till at +last it closed in together at the summit with one final blaze, and left +us in the darkness. We dismounted and stumbled along, leading our +horses down the precipitous sides of the deep ravines that run into the +valley, mounting again to cross the streams at the bottom, and +clambering up on the other side to the level of the road. At last a +turn in the valley showed lights just before us, and we entered the +village of Chalma, which was illuminated with flaring oil-lamps in the +streets, where men were hard at work setting up stalls and booths of +planks. It seemed there was to be a fair next day. + +They showed us the way to the _meson_[16] and there we left Antonio +with the horses, while the proprietor sent an idiot boy to show us the +way to the convent, for our inspection of the meson decided us at once +on seeking the hospitality of the monks for the night. We climbed up +the hill, went in at the convent-gate, across a courtyard, along a dim +cloister, and through another door where our guide made his way out by +a different opening, leaving us standing in total darkness. After a +time another door opened, and a good-natured-looking friar came in with +a lamp in his hand, and conducted us upstairs to his cell. I think our +friend was the sub-prior of the convent. His cell was a very comfortable +bachelor's apartment, in a plain way, vaulted and whitewashed, with good +chairs and a table and a very comfortable-looking bed. + +We sat talking with him for a long while, and heard that the fair next +day would be attended by numbers of Indians from remote places among +the mountains, and that at noon there would be an Indian dance in the +church. It is not the great festival, however, he said. That is once a +year; and then the Indians come from fifty miles round, and stay here +several days, living in the caves in the rock just by the town, buying +and selling in the fair, attending mass, and having solemn dances in +the church. We asked him about the ill feeling between the Indians and +the whites. He said that among the planters it might be as we said, but +that in the neighbourhood of his convent the respect and affection of +the Indians for the clergy, whether white or Indian, was as great as +ever. Then we gossipped about horses, of which our friend was evidently +an amateur, and when the conversation flagged, he turned to the table +in the middle of the room and handed us little bowls made of +calabashes, prettily decorated and carved, and full of sweetmeats. +There were ten or twelve of these little bowls on the table, each with +a different kind of "tuck" in it. We inquired where all those good +things came from, and learnt that making them was one of the favourite +occupations of the Mexican nuns, who keep their brethren in the +monasteries well supplied. At last the good monk went away to his +duties and left us, when I could not resist the temptation of having a +look at the little books in blue and green paper covers which were +lying on the table with the sweetmeat-bowls and the venerable old +missal. They proved to be all French novels done into Spanish, and +"Notre-Dame de Paris" was lying open (under a sheet of paper); so I +conclude that our visit had interrupted the sub-prior while deep in +that improving work. + +Presently a monk came to conduct us down into the refectory, and there +they gave us an uncommonly good supper of wonderful Mexican stews, +red-hot as usual, and plenty of good Spanish wine withal. The great +dignitaries of the cloister did not appear, but some fifteen or twenty +monks were at table with us, and never tired of questioning us--exactly +in the same fashion that the ladies of the harem questioned Dona Juana. +We delighted them with stories of the miraculous Easter fire at +Jerusalem, and the illumination of St. Peter's, of the Sistine chapel +and the Pope, and we parted for the night in high good humour. + +Next morning a monk attached himself to us as our cicerone, a fine +young fellow with a handsome face, and no end of fun in him. + +Now that we saw the convent by daylight, we were delighted with the +beauty of its situation. The broad fertile valley grows narrower and +narrower until it becomes a gorge in the mountains; and here the +convent is built, with the mountain-stream running through its +beautiful gardens, and turning the wheel of the convent-mill before it +flows on into the plain to fertilize the broad lands of the reverend +fathers. + +When we had visited the gardens and the stables, our young monk brought +us back to the great church of the convent, where we took our places +near the monks, who had mustered in full force to be present at the +dancing. Presently the music arrived, an old man with a harp, and a +woman with a violin; and then came the dancers, eight Indian boys with +short tunics and head-dresses of feathers, and as many girls with white +dresses, and garlands of flowers on their heads. The costumes were +evidently intended to represent the Indian dresses of the days of +Montezuma, but they were rather modernized by the necessity of wearing +various articles of dress which would have been superfluous in old +times. They stationed themselves in the middle of the church, opposite +the high altar, and, to our unspeakable astonishment, began to dance +the polka. Then came a waltz, then a schottisch, then another waltz, +and finally a quadrille, set to unmitigated English tunes. They danced +exceedingly well, and behaved as though they had been used to European +ball-rooms all their lives. The spectators looked on as though it were +all a matter of course for these brown-skinned boys and girls to have +acquired so singular an accomplishment in their out-of-the-way village +among the mountains. As for us we looked on in open-mouthed +astonishment; and when, in the middle of the quadrille, the harp and +violin struck up no less a tune than "The King of the Cannibal +Islands," we could hardly help bursting out into fits of laughter. We +restrained ourselves, however, and kept as grave a countenance as the +rest of the lookers-on, who had not the faintest idea that anything odd +was happening. The quadrille finished in perfect order; each dancer +took his partner by the hand and led her forward; and so, forming a +line in front of the high altar, they all knelt down, and the rest of +the congregation followed their example; there was a dead silence in +the church for about the space of an Ave Maria, then everyone rose, and +the ceremony was over.[17] + +Our young monk asked permission of his superior to take us out for a +walk, and we went down together to the convent-mill. There we saw the +mill, which was primitive, and the miller, who was burly; and also +something much more worth seeing, at least to our young acquaintance, +who tucked up his skirts and ran briskly up a ladder into the upper +regions, calling to us to follow him. A door led from the granary into +the miller's house, and the miller's daughter happened, of course +entirely by chance, to be coming through that way. A very pretty girl +she was too, and I never in my life saw anything more intensely comic +than the looks of intelligence that passed between her and the young +friar when he presented us. It was decidedly contrary to good monastic +discipline it is true, and we ought to have been shocked, but it was so +intolerably laughable that my companion bolted into the granary to +examine the wheat, and I took refuge in a violent fit of coughing. Our +nerves had been already rudely shaken by the King of the Cannibal +Islands, and this little scene of convent-life fairly finished us. + +We asked our young friend what his day's work consisted of, and how he +liked convent-life. He yawned, and intimated that it was very slow. We +enquired whether the monks had not some parochial duties to perform, +such as visiting the sick and the poor in their neighbourhood. He +evidently wondered whether we were really ignorant, or whether we were +"chaffing" him, and observed that that was no business of their's, the +curas of the villages did all that sort of thing. "Then, what have you +to do?" we said. "Well," he said, "there are so many services every +day, and high mass on Sundays and holidays; and besides that, +there's--well, there isn't anything particular. It's rather a dull +life. I myself should like uncommonly to go and travel and see the +world, or go and fight somewhere." We were quite sorry for the young +fellow when we shook hands with him at parting, and he left us to go +back to his convent. + +We had been clambering about the hill, seeing the caves with which it +is honeycombed, but at present they were uninhabited. At the time of +the great festival, when they are full of Indian families, the scene +must be a curious one. + +The monks had hospitably pressed us to stay till their mid-day meal, +but we preferred having it at the shop down in the village, so as to +start directly afterwards. Here the people gave us a regular reception, +entertained us with their best, and could not be prevailed upon to +accept any payment whatever. The proprietor of the meson sat down +before the barley-bin which served him for a desk, and indited a long +and eloquent letter of introduction for us to a friend of his in +Oculan, who was to find a night's lodging for us. Before he sealed up +the despatch he read it to us in a loud voice, sentence by sentence. It +might have been an autograph letter from King Philip to some foreign +potentate. Armed with this important missive, we mounted our horses, +shook hands with no end of well-wishers, and rode off up the valley. + +For a little while our path lay through a sort of suburb of Chalma, +houses lying near one another, each surrounded by a pleasant garden, +and both houses and people looking prosperous and cheerful. Our +directions for finding the way were simple enough. We were to go up the +valley past the Cerra de los Atambores, "the hill of drums," and the +great _ahuehuete_. What the Cerra de los Atambores might be, we could +not tell, but when we had followed the valley for an hour or so, it +came into view. On the other side of the stream rose a precipitous +cliff, several hundred feet high, and near the top a perpendicular wall +of rock was carved with rude designs. People have supposed, it seems, +that these carvings represented drums, and hence the name. + +Had we known of the place before, we should have made an effort to +explore it, and copy the sculptured designs; but now it was too late, +and from the other side of the valley we could not make out more than +that there seemed to be a figure of the sun among them. + +A little further on we came to the "Ahuehuete." The name means a +deciduous cypress, a common tree in Mexico, and of which we had already +seen such splendid specimens in the grove near Tezcuco, and in the wood +of Chapoltepec. This was a remarkable tree as to size, some sixty feet +round at the lower part where the roots began to spread out. A copious +spring of water rose within the hollow trunk itself, and ran down +between the roots into the little river. All over its spreading +branches were fastened votive offerings of the Indians, hundreds of +locks of coarse black hair, teeth, bits of coloured cloth, rags, and +morsels of ribbon. The tree was many centuries old, and had probably +had some mysterious influence ascribed to it, and been decorated with +such simple offerings long before the discovery of America. In Brittany +the peasants still keep up the custom of hanging up locks of their hair +in certain chapels, to charm away diseases; and there it is certain +that the Christians only appropriated to their own worship places +already held sacred in the estimation of the people. + +Oculan is a dismal little place. We found the great man of the village +standing at his door, but our letter to him was dishonoured in the most +decided manner. He read the epistle, carefully folded it up and +pocketed it, then pointed in the direction of two or three houses on +the other side of the way, and saying he supposed we might get a +lodging over there, he wished us good-day and retired into his own +premises. The landlord of "over there" was very civil. He had a shed +for the horses, and could give us palm-mats to sleep upon on the floor, +or on the shop-counter, which was very narrow, but long enough for us +both; and this latter alternative we chose. + +We walked up to the top of a hill close by the village, and were +surveying the country from thence, keeping a sharp look-out all the +while for Mexican remains in the furrows. For a wonder, we found +nothing but some broken spindle-heads; but, while we were thus +occupied, two Indians suddenly made their appearance, each with his +_machete_ in his hands, and wanted to know what we were doing on their +land. We pacified them by politeness and a cigar apiece, but we were +still evidently objects of suspicion, and they were quite relieved to +see us return to the village. There, an old woman cooked us hard-boiled +eggs and tortillas, and then we went tranquilly to bed on our counter, +with our saddles for pillows, and our serapes for bed-clothes. + +All the way from Cocoyotla our height above the sea had been gradually +increasing; and soon after we started from Oculan next morning, we came +to the foot of one of the grand passes that lead up into the high +lands, where the road mounts by zig-zag turns through a splendid forest +of pines and oaks, and at the top of the ascent we were in a broad +fertile plain as high or higher than the valley of Mexico. It was like +England to ride between large fields of wheat and barley, and to pick +blackberries in the hedges. It was only April, and yet the grain was +almost ready for the sickle, and the blackberries were fully ripe. +Fresh green grass was growing in the woods under the oak-trees, and the +banks were covered with Alpine strawberries. + +We are in the great grain-district of the Republic. Wheat is grown for +the supply of the large towns, and barley for the horses. Green barley +is the favourite fodder for the horses in the Mexican highlands, and in +the hotter districts the leaves of young Indian corn. Oats are to be +seen growing by chance among other grain, but they are never +cultivated. Though wheat is so much grown upon the plains, it is not +because the soil and climate are more favourable than elsewhere for +such culture. In the plains of Toluca and Tenancingo the yield of wheat +is less than the average of the Republic, which is from 25- to 30-fold, +and in the cloudy valleys we passed through near Orizaba it is much +greater. Labour is tolerably cheap and plentiful here, however; and +then each large town must draw its supplies of grain from the +neighbouring districts, for, in a country where it pays to carry goods +on mules' backs, it is clear that grain cannot be carried far to +market. + +In the question of the population of Mexico, one begins to speculate +why--in a country with a splendid climate, a fertile soil, and almost +unlimited space to spread in, the inhabitants do not increase one-half +so fast as in England, and about one-sixth as fast as their neighbours +of the United States. One of the most important causes which tend to +bring about this state of things is the impossibility of conveying +grain to any distance, except by doubling and trebling its price. The +disastrous effects of a failure of the crop in one district cannot be +remedied by a plentiful harvest fifty miles off; for the peasants, +already ruined by the loss of their own harvest, can find neither money +nor credit to buy food brought from a distance at so great an expense. +Next year may be fruitful again, but numbers die in the interval, and +the constitutions of a great proportion of the children never recover +the effects of that one year's famine. + +We left the regular road and struck up still higher into the hills, +riding amongst winding roads with forest above and below us, and great +orchids of the most brilliant colours, blue, white, and crimson, +shining among the branches of the oak-trees. The boughs were often +breaking down with the bulbs of such epiphytes; but as yet it was early +in the season, and only here and there one was in flower. At the top of +the hill, still in the midst of the woods, is the Desierto, "the +desert," the place we had selected for our noon-day halt. There are +many of these Desiertos in Mexico, founded by rich people in old times. +They are a kind of convent, with some few resident ecclesiastics, and +numbers of cells for laymen who retire for a time into this secluded +place and are received gratuitously. They spend a week or two in prayer +and fasting, then confess themselves, receive the sacrament, and return +into the world. The situation of this quiet place was well chosen in +the midst of the forest, and once upon a time the cells used to be full +of penitents; but now we saw no one but the old porter, as we walked +about the gardens and explored the quadrangle and the rows of cells, +each with a hideous little wood-cut of a martyr being tortured, upon +the door. + +Thence we rode down into the plain, looking down, as we descended, upon +a hill which seemed to be an old crater, rising from the level ground; +and then our path lay among broad fields where oxen were ploughing, and +across marshes covered with coarse grass, until we came to the quaint +little town of Tenancingo. There we found the _meson_; and the landlord +handed us the key of our room, which was square, whitewashed, and with +a tiled floor. There was no window, so we had to keep the door open for +light. The furniture consisted of three articles,--two low tables on +four legs, made of rough planks, and a bracket to stick a candle in. +The tables were beds after the manner of the country; but, as a special +attention to us, the patron produced two old mattresses; the first +sight of them was enough for us, and we expelled them with shouts of +execration. We had to go to a shop in the square to get some supper; +and on our return, about nine o'clock, our man Antonio remarked that he +was going to sleep, which he did at once in the following manner. He +took off his broad-brimmed hat and hung it on a nail, tied a red cotton +handkerchief round his head, rolled himself up in his serape, lay down +on the flags in the courtyard outside our door, and was asleep in an +instant. We retired to our planks inside and followed his example. + +The next afternoon we reached Toluca, a large and prosperous town, but +with little noticeable in it except the arcades (portales) along the +streets, and the hams which are cured with sugar, and are famous all +over the Republic. Our road passed near the Nevado de Toluca, an +extinct snow-covered volcano, nearly 15,000 feet above the sea. It +consists entirely of grey and red porphyry, and in the interior of its +crater are two small lakes. We were not sorry to take up our quarters +in a comfortable European-looking hotel again, for roughing it is much +less pleasant in these high altitudes--where the nights and mornings +are bitterly cold--than in the hotter climate of the lower levels. + +Our next day's ride brought us back to Mexico, crossing the corn-land +of the plain of Lerma, where the soil consists of disintegrated +porphyry from the mountains around, and is very fertile. Lerma itself +is the worst den of robbers in all Mexico; and, as we rode through the +street of dingy adobe houses, and saw the rascally-looking fellows who +were standing at the doors in knots, with their horses ready saddled +and bridled close by, we got a very strong impression that the +reputation of the place was no worse than it deserved. After Lerma, +there still remained the pass over the mountains which border the +valley of Mexico; and here in the midst of a dense pine-forest is Las +Cruzes, "the crosses," a place with an ugly name, where several +robberies are done every week. We waited for the Diligence at some +little glass-works at the entrance of the pass, and then let it go on +first, as a sop to those gentlemen if they should be out that day. I +suppose they knew pretty accurately that no one had much to lose, for +they never made their appearance. + +[Illustration: SPANISH-MEXICAN SPURS. _From 5 to 6 inches long, with +rowels from 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. The broad instep-strap of +embossed leather is also shewn. (From Mr. Christy's Collection)_] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + +ANTIQUITIES. PRISON. SPORTS. + + + +[Illustration: STATUE OF THE MEXICAN GODDESS OF WAR (OR OF DEATH), +TEOYAOMIQUI. _(After Nebel). Height of the original, about Nine Feet_.] + +It was like getting home again to reach Mexico, we had so many friends +there, though our stay had been so short. We were fully occupied, for +weeks of hard sight-seeing are hardly enough to investigate the objects +of interest to be found in the city. We saw these things under the best +auspices, for Mr. Christy had letters to the Minister of Public +Instruction and other people in authority, who were exceedingly civil, +and did all they could to put us in the way of seeing everything we +wished. Among the places we visited, the Museum must have some notice. +It is in part of the building of the University; but we were rather +surprised, when we reached the gate leading into the court-yard, to be +stopped by a sentry who demanded what we wanted. The lower storey had +been turned into a barrack by the Government, there being a want of +quarters for the soldiers. As the ground-floor under the cloisters is +used for the heavier pieces of sculpture, the scene was somewhat +curious. The soldiers had laid several of the smaller idols down on +their faces, and were sitting on the comfortable seat on the small of +their backs, busy playing at cards. An enterprising soldier had built +up a hutch with idols and sculptured stones against the statue of the +great war-goddess Teoyaomiqui herself, and kept rabbits there. The +state which the whole place was in when thus left to the tender mercies +of a Mexican regiment may be imagined by any one who knows what a dirty +and destructive animal a Mexican soldier is. + +The guardians of the Museum have treated it even worse. People who know +how often the curators of the Museums of southern Europe are ready to +sell anything not very likely to be missed will not be astonished to +hear of the same thing being done to a great extent some six or eight +years before our visit. + +The stone known as the statue of the war-goddess is a huge block of +basalt covered with sculptures. The antiquaries think that the figures +on it stand for different personages, and that it is three +gods,--Huitzilopochtli the god of war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and +Mictlanteuctli the god of hell. It has necklaces of alternate hearts +and dead man's hands, with death's heads for a central ornament. At the +bottom of the block is a strange sprawling figure, which one cannot see +now, for it is the base which rests on the ground; but there are two +shoulders projecting from the idol, which show plainly that it did not +stand on the ground, but was supported aloft on the tops of two +pillars. The figure carved upon the bottom represents a monster holding +a skull in each hand, while others hang from his knees and elbows. His +mouth is a mere oval ring, a common feature of Mexican idols, and four +tusks project just above it. The new moon laid down like a bridge forms +his forehead, and a star is placed on each side of it. This is thought +to have been the conventional representation of Mictlanteuctli (Lord of +the Land of the Dead), the god of hell, which was a place of utter and +eternal darkness. Probably each victim as he was led to the altar could +look up between the two pillars and see the hideous god of hell staring +down upon him from above. + +There is little doubt that this is the famous war-idol which stood on +the great teocalli of Mexico, and before which so many thousands of +human victims were sacrificed. It lay undisturbed underground in the +great square, close to the very site of the teocalli, until sixty years +ago. For many years after that it was kept buried, lest the sight of +one of their old deities might be too exciting for the Indians, who, as +I have mentioned before, had certainly not forgotten it, and secretly +ornamented it with garlands of flowers while it remained above ground. + +The "sacrificial stone," so called, which also stands in the court-yard +of the Museum, was not one of the ordinary altars on which victims were +sacrificed. These altars seem to have been raised slabs of hard stone +with a protuberant part near one end, so that the breast of the victim +was raised into an arch, which made it more easy for the priest to cut +across it with his obsidian knife. The Breton altars, where the slab +was hollowed into the outline of a human figure, have some analogy to +this; but, though there were very many of these altars in different +cities of Mexico, none are now known to exist. The stone we are now +observing is quite a different thing, a cylindrical block of basalt +nine feet across and three feet high: and Humboldt considers it to be +the stone described by early Spanish writers, and called _temalacatl_ +(spindle-stone) from its circular shape, something like a distaff-head. +Upon this the captive chiefs stood in the gladiatorial fights which +took place within the space surrounding the great teocalli. Slightly +armed, they stood upon this raised platform in the midst of the crowd +of spectators; and six champions in succession, armed with better +weapons, came up to fight with them. If the captive worsted his +assailants in this unequal contest, he was set free with presents; but +this success was the lot of but few, and the fate of most was to be +overpowered and dragged off ignominiously to be sacrificed like +ordinary prisoners. On the top of the stone is sculptured an outline of +the sun with its eight rays, and a hollow in the centre, whence a +groove runs to the edge of the stone, probably to let the blood run +down. All round it is an appropriate bas-relief repeated several times. +A vanquished warrior is giving up his stone-sword and his spears to his +conqueror, who is tearing the plumed crest from his head. + +The above explanation by Humboldt is a plausible one. But in Central +America altars not unlike this, and with grooves upon the top, stand in +front of the great stone idols; and this curious monument may have been +nothing after all but an ordinary altar to sacrifice birds and small +animals upon. + +[Illustration: THREE VIEWS OF A SACRIFICIAL COLLAR. _Carved out of hard +mottled greenstone. (In Mr. Christy's Collection.) This is 17 inches +long, and varies from 11 to 16 inches in width. The arms are 4 inches +wide and 3 inches deep; and are 8 inches apart at about half their +length._] + +Senor Leon Ramirez, the curator, had come to the Museum to meet us, and +we went over the collection of smaller objects, which are kept up +stairs in glass-cases,--at any rate out of the way of the soldiers. + +Here are the stone clamps shaped like the letter U, which were put over +the wrists and ankles of the victims, to hold them down on the +sacrificial stone. They are of hard stone, very heavy and covered with +carvings. It is remarkable that, though the altars for human sacrifices +are no longer to be found, these accessory stone clamps, or yoke-like +collars, are not uncommon. A fine one from Mr. Christy's collection is +figured. _(See opposite page.)_ + +The obsidian knives and arrow-heads are very good, but these I have +spoken of already, as well as of the stone hammers. The axes and +chisels of stone are so exactly like those found in Europe that it is +quite impossible to distinguish them. The bronze hatchet-blades are +thin and flat, slightly thickened at the sides to give them strength, +and mostly of a very peculiar shape, something like a T, but still more +resembling the section of a mushroom cut vertically through the middle +of the stalk. + +The obsidian mask is an extraordinary piece of work, considering the +difficulty of cutting such a material. It was chipped into a rude +outline, and finished into its exact shape by polishing down with +jeweller's sand. The polish is perfect, and there is hardly a scratch +upon it. At least one of the old Spanish writers on Mexico gives the +details of the process of cutting precious stones and polishing them +with _teoxalli_ or "god's sand." Masks in stone, wood, and terra-cotta +are to be seen in considerable number in museums of Mexican +antiquities. Their use is explained by passages in the old Mexican +writers, who mention that it was customary to mask the idols on the +occasion of the king being sick, or of any other public calamity; and +that men and women wore masks in some of the religious ceremonies. A +fine mask of brown lava (from Mr. Christy's collection), which has been +coloured, is here figured. _(See illustration.)_ The mirrors of +obsidian have the same beautifully polished surface as the obsidian +mask shows; and those made of nodules of pyrites, cut and polished, are +worth notice. + +The Mexicans were very skilful in making pottery; and of course there +is a good collection here of terra-cotta vases, little altars and +incense-dishes, rattles, flageolets, and whistles, tobacco-pipes and +masks. Some of the large vases, which were formerly filled with skulls +and bones, are admirable in their designs and decorations; and many +specimens are to be seen of the red and black ware of Cholula, which +was famous at the time of the Conquest, and was sent to all parts of +the country. The art of glazing pottery seems only to have been +introduced by the Spaniards, and to this day the Indians hardly care to +use it. The terra-cotta rattles are very characteristic. They have +little balls in them which shake about, and they puzzled us much as the +apple-dumpling did good King George, for we could not make out very +easily how the balls got inside. They were probably attached very +slightly to the inside, and so baked and then broken loose. We often +got little balls like schoolboys' marbles, among lots of Mexican +antiquities, and these were most likely the balls out of broken +rattles. + +Burning incense was always an important part of the Mexican ceremonies. +When the white men were on their march to the capital, the inhabitants +used to come out to meet them with such plates as we saw here, and burn +copal before the leaders; and in Indian villages to this day the +procession on saints' days would not be complete without men burning +incense, not in regular censers, but in unglazed earthen platters such +as their forefathers used. + +[Illustration: THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF AN AZTEC MASK. _Sculptured out +of hard brown lava. Twelve inches high; ten inches wide. (From Mr. +Christy's Collection.)_] + +Our word _copal_ is the Mexican _copalli_. There are a few other +Mexican words which have been naturalized in our European languages, of +course indicating that the things they represent came from Mexico. +_Ocelotl_ is _ocelot_; _Tomatl_ is _tomata_; _Chilli_ is the Spanish +_chile_ and our _chili_; _Cacahuatl_ is _cacao_ or cocoa; and +_Chocolatl_, the beverage made from the cacao-bean with a mixture of +vanilla, is our chocolate. + +Cacao-beans were used by the Mexicans as money. Even in Humboldt's +time, when there was no copper coinage, they were used as small change, +six for a halfpenny; and Stephens says the Central Americans use them +to this day. A mat in Mexican is _petlatl_, and thence a basket made of +matting was called _petlacalli_--"mathouse." The name passed to the +plaited grass cigar-cases that are exported to Europe; and now in Spain +any kind of cigar-case is called a _petaca_. + +The pretty little ornamented calabashes--used, among other purposes, +for drinking chocolate out of--were called by the Mexicans _xicalli_, a +word which the Spaniards made into _jicara_, and now use to mean a +chocolate-cup; and even the Italians have taken to it, and call a +tea-cup a _chicchera_. + +There is a well-known West Indian fruit which we call an _avocado_ or +_alligator-pear_, and which the French call _avocat_ and the Spaniards +_aguacate_. All these names are corruptions of the Aztec name of the +fruit, _ahuacatl_. + +Vanilla and cochineal were first found in Mexico; but the Spaniards did +not adopt the unpronounceable native names, _tlilxochitl_ and +_nocheztli_. Vanilla, _vainilla_, means a little bean, from _vaina_, +which signifies a scabbard or sheath, also a pod. _Cochinilla_ is from +_coccus_, a berry, as it was at first supposed to be of vegetable +origin. The Aztec name for cochineal, _nocheztli_, means +"cactus-blood," and is a very apt description of the insect, which has +in it a drop of deep crimson fluid, in which the colouring matter of +the dye is contained. + +The turkey, which was introduced into Europe from Mexico, was called +_huexolotl_ from the gobbling noise it makes. (It must be remembered +that x and j in Spanish are not the same letters as in English, but a +hard guttural aspirate, like the German ch). The name, slightly altered +into _guajalote_, is still used in Mexico; but when these birds were +brought to Europe, the Spaniards called them peacocks (_pavos_). To get +rid of the confusion, it became necessary to call the real peacock +"_pavon_" (big peacock), or "_pavo real_" (royal peacock). The German +name for a turkey, "Waelscher Hahn," "Italian fowl," is reasonable, for +the Germans got them from Italy; but our name "turkey" is wonderfully +absurd. + +There may be other Mexican words to be found in our language, but not +many. The Mexicans were cultivating maize and tobacco when the +Spaniards invaded the country, and had done so for ages; but these +vegetables had been found already in the West India islands, and had +got their name from the language of Hayti, _mahiz_ and _tabaco_; the +latter word, it seems, meaning not the tobacco itself, but the cigars +made of it. + +I do not recollect anything else worthy of note that Europe has +borrowed from Ancient Mexico, except Botanic Gardens, and dishes made +to keep hot at dinner-time, which the Aztecs managed by having a pan of +burning charcoal underneath them. + +To return to the Museum. There are stamps in terra-cotta with +geometrical patterns, for making lines and ornaments on the vases +before they were baked, and for stamping patterns upon the cotton cloth +which was one of their principal manufactures, as it is now. Connected +with the same art are the _malacates_, or winders, which I have already +described. Little grotesque heads made of baked clay, like those I have +mentioned as being found in such immense numbers on the sites of old +Mexican cities, are here by hundreds. I think there were, besides, some +of the moulds, also in terra-cotta, in which they were formed; at any +rate, they are to be seen, so that making the little heads must have +been a regular trade. What they were for is not so easy to say. Some +have bodies, and are made with flat backs to stand against a wall, and +these were probably idols. The ancient Mexicans, we read, had +household-gods in great numbers, and called them _Tepitotons_, "little +ones." The greatest proportion, however, are mere heads which never had +had bodies, and will not stand anyhow. They could not have been +personal ornaments, for there is nothing to fasten them on by. They are +rather a puzzle. I have seen a suggestion somewhere, that when a man +was buried, each surviving member of his family put one of these heads +into his grave. This sounds plausible enough, especially as both male +and female heads are found. + +One shelf in the museum is particularly instructive. We called it the +"Chamber of Horrors," after the manner of Marlborough House, and it +contains numbers of the sham antiquities, the manufacture of which is a +regular thing in Mexico, as it is in Italy. They are principally vases +and idols of earthenware, for the art of working obsidian is lost, and +there can be no trickery about that[18]; and as to the hammers, +chisels, and idols in green jade, serpentine, and such like hard +materials, they are decidedly cheaper to find than to make. The Indians +in Mexico make their unglazed pottery just as they did before the +Conquest, so that, if they imitate real antiques exactly, there is no +possibility of detecting the fraud; but when they begin to work from +their own designs, or even to copy from memory, they are almost sure to +put in something that betrays them. + +As soon as the Spaniards came, they began to introduce drawing as it +was understood in Europe; and from that moment the peculiarities of +Mexican art began to disappear. The foreheads of the Mexican races are +all very low, and their painters and sculptors even exaggerated this +peculiarity, to make the faces they depicted more beautiful,--so +producing an effect which to us Europeans seems hideously ugly, but +which is not more unnatural than the ideal type of beauty we see in the +Greek statues. After the era of the Spaniards we see no more of such +foreheads; and the eyes, which were drawn in profiles as one sees them +in the full face, are put in their natural position. The short squat +figures become slim and tall; and in numberless little details of +dress, modelling, and ornament, the acquaintance of the artist with +European types is shown; and it is very seldom that the modern +counterfeiter can keep clear of these and get back to the old standard. + +Among the things on the condemned shelf were men's faces too correctly +drawn to be genuine, grotesque animals that no artist would ever have +designed who had not seen a horse, head-dresses and drapery that were +European and not Mexican. Among the figures in Mayer's _Mexico_, a vase +is represented as a real antique, which, I think, is one of the worst +cases I ever noticed. There is a man's head upon it, with long +projecting pointed nose and chin, a long thin pendant moustache, an eye +drawn in profile, and a cap. It is true the pure Mexican race +occasionally have moustaches, but they are very slight, not like this, +which falls in a curve on both sides of the mouth; and no Mexican of +pure Indian race ever had such a nose and chin, which must have been +modelled from the face of some toothless old Spaniard. + +Mention must be made of the wooden drums--_teponaztli_--of which some +few specimens are still to be seen in Mexico. Such drums figured in the +religious ceremonies of the Aztecs, and one often hears of them in +Mexican history. I have mentioned already the great drum which Bernal +Diaz saw when he went up the Mexican teocalli with Cortes, and which he +describes as a hellish instrument, made with skins of great serpents; +and which, when it was struck, gave a loud and melancholy sound, that +could be heard at two leagues' distance. Indeed, they did afterwards +hear it from their camp a mile or two off, when their unfortunate +companions were being sacrificed on the teocalli. + +The Aztec drums, which are still to be seen, are altogether of wood, +nearly cylindrical, but swelling out in the middle, and hollowed out of +solid logs. Some have the sounding-board made unequally thick in +different parts, so as to give several notes when struck. All are +elaborately carved over with various designs, such as faces, +head-dresses, weapons, suns with rays, and fanciful patterns, among +which the twisted cord is one of the commonest. + +Besides the drums which are preserved in museums, there are others, +carefully kept in Indian villages, not as curiosities, but as +instruments of magical power. Heller mentions such a _teponaztli_, +which is still preserved among the Indians of Huatusco, an Indian +village near Mirador in the tierra templada, where the inhabitants have +had their customs comparatively little altered by intercourse with +white men. They keep this drum as a sacred instrument, and beat it only +at certain times of the year, though they have no reason to give for +doing so. It is to be regretted that Heller did not take a note of the +particular days on which this took place; for the times of the Mexican +festivals are well known, and this information would have settled the +question whether the Indians of the present day have really any +definite recollection of their old customs. + +Drums of this kind do not belong exclusively to Mexico. Among all the +tribes of North America they were one of the principal "properties" +used by the Medicine-men in their ceremonies; and among the tribes +which have not been christianized they are still to be found in use. +After we left Mexico, Mr. Christy visited some tribes in the Hudson's +Bay Territory; and on one occasion, happening to assist at a festival +in which just such a wooden drum was used, he bought it of the +Medicine-man of the tribe, and packed it off triumphantly to his +museum. + +A few picture-writings are still to be seen in the Museum, which, with +the few preserved in Europe, are all we have left of these interesting +records, of which there were thousands upon thousands in Mexico and +Tezcuco. Some were burnt or destroyed during the sieges of the cities, +some perished by mere neglect, but the great mass was destroyed by +archbishop Zumarraga, when he made an attempt--and, to some extent, a +successful one--to obliterate every trace of heathenism, by destroying +all the monuments and records in the country. One of the +picture-writings hanging on the wall is very probably the same that was +sent up from Vera Cruz to Montezuma, with figures of the newly-arrived +white men, their ships and horses, and their cannons with fire and +smoke issuing from their mouths. Another shows a white man being +sacrificed, of course one of the Spanish prisoners. The pictorial +history of the migration of the Aztecs is here, and a list of tributes +paid to the Mexican sovereign; the different articles being drawn with +numbers against each, to show the quantities to be paid, as in the +Egyptian inscriptions. Lord Kingsborough's great work contains +fac-similes of several Mexican manuscripts, and in Humboldt's _Vues des +Cordilleres_ some of the most remarkable are figured and described. + +One of the most curious of the Aztec picture-writings is in the +Bodleian Library, and in fac-simile in Lord Kingsborough's _Antiquities +of Mexico_. In it are shown, in a series of little pictures, the +education of Mexican boys and girls, as prescribed by law. The child +four days old is being sprinkled with water, and receiving its name. At +four years old they are to be allowed one tortilla a meal, which is +indicated by a drawing above their heads, of four circles representing +years, and one cake; and the father sends the son to carry water, while +the mother shows the daughter how to spin. A tortilla is like an +oat-cake, but is made of Indian corn. + +At seven years old the boy is taken to learn to fish, while the girl +spins; and so on with different occupations for one year after another. +At nine years old the father is allowed to punish his son for +disobedience, by sticking aloe-points all over his naked body, while +the daughters only have them stuck into their hands; and at eleven +years old, both boy and girl were to be punished by holding their faces +in the smoke of burning capsicums. + +At fifteen the youth is married by the simple process of tying the +corner of his shirt to the corner of the bride's petticoat (thus +literally "splicing" them, as my companion remarked). And so on; after +scenes of cutting wood, visiting the temples, fighting and feasting, we +come to the last scene of all, headed "_seventy years_," and see an old +man and woman reeling about helplessly drunk with pulque; for +drunkenness, which was severely punished up to that age, was tolerated +afterwards as a compensation for the sorrows and infirmities of the +last period of life. + +Astrological charts formed a large proportion of these +picture-writings. Here, as elsewhere, we may trace the origin of +astrology. The signs of the days and years were represented, for +convenience sake, by different animals, and objects, like the signs of +the Zodiac which we still retain. The signs remained after the history +of their origin was lost; and then--what more natural than to imagine +that the symbols handed down by their wise ancestors had some +mysterious meaning, connected with the days and years they stood for; +and then, that a man's destiny had to do with the names of the signs +that "prevailed" at his birth? + +There is little to be seen here or elsewhere, of one kind of work in +which the Mexicans excelled perhaps more than in any other, the +goldsmith's work. Where are the calendars of solid gold and silver--as +big as great wheels, and covered with hieroglyphics, and the cups and +collars, the golden birds, beasts, and fishes? The Spaniards who saw +them record how admirable their workmanship was, and they were good +judges of such matters. Benvenuto Cellini saw some of these things, and +was filled with admiration. They have all gone to the melting-pot +centuries ago! How important the goldsmith's trade was accounted in old +times is shown by a strange Aztec law. It was no ordinary offence to +steal gold and silver. Criminals convicted of this offence were not +treated as common thieves, but were kept till the time when the +goldsmiths celebrated their annual festival, and were then solemnly +sacrificed to their god Xipe;[19] the priests flaying their bodies, +cooking and eating them, and walking about dressed in their skins, a +ceremony which was called _tlacaxipehualiztli_, "the man-flaying." + +Museums of Mexican antiquities are so much alike, that, in general, one +description will do for all of them. Mr. Uhde's Museum at Heidelberg is +a far finer one than that at Mexico, except as regards the +picture-writings. I was astonished at the enormous quantity of stone +idols, delicately worked trinkets in various hard stones and even in +obsidian, terra-cotta tobacco-pipes, figures, and astronomical +calendars, &c., displayed there. + +Mr. Christy's collection is richer than any other in small sculptured +figures from Central America. It contains a squatting female figure in +hard brown lava, like the one in black basalt which is drawn in +Humboldt's _Vues des Cordilleres_, and there called (I cannot imagine +why) an Aztec priestess. Above all, it contains what I believe to be +the three finest specimens of Aztec decorative art which exist in the +world. One of these is the knife of which the figure at page 101 gives +some faint idea, the other two being a wooden mask overlaid with +mosaic, and a human skull decorated in the same manner, of which a more +particular description will be found in the Appendix. There are two +kinds of Aztec articles in Mr. Christy's collection which I did not +observe either at Mexico or Heidelberg. These are bronze needles, +resembling our packing-needles, and little cast bronze bells, called +in Aztec _yotl_, not unlike small horse-bells made in England at the +present day; these are figured in the tribute-lists in the +picture-writings. + +[Illustration: ANTIQUE BRONZE BELLS FROM MEXICO. _Such as are often +sculptured on Aztec Images._] + +Apropos of the mammoth bones preserved in the Mexican Museum, I must +insert a quotation from Bernal Diaz. It is clear that the traditions of +giants which exist in almost every country had their origin in the +discovery of fossil bones, whose real character was not suspected until +a century ago; but I never saw so good an example of this as in the +Tlascalan tradition, which my author relates as follows.--"And they" +(the Tlascalan chiefs) "said that their ancestors had told them that, +in times past, there lived amongst them in settlements men and women of +great size, with huge bones; and, as they were wicked and of evil +dispositions, they (the ancestors of the Tlascalans) fought against +them and killed them; and those who were left died out. And that we +might see what stature they were of, they brought a bone of one of +them, and it was very big, and its height was that of a man of +reasonable stature; it was a thigh-bone, and I (Bernal Diaz) measured +myself against it, and it was as tall as I am, who am a man of +reasonable stature; and they brought other pieces of bones like the +first, but they were already eaten through and rotted by the earth; and +we were all amazed to see those bones, and held that for certain there +had been giants in that land; and our captain, Cortes, said to us that +it would be well to send the great bone to Castile, that His Majesty +might see it; and so we did send it by the first messengers who went." + +Among other things belonging to the Spanish period is the banner, with +the picture of the Virgin, which accompanied the Spanish army during +the Conquest. Authentic or not, it is certainly very well painted. +There is a suit of armour said to have belonged to Cortes. Its +genuineness has been doubted; but I think its extreme smallness seems +to go towards proving that it is a true relic, for Bullock saw the tomb +of Cortes opened some thirty years ago, and was surprised at the small +proportions of his skeleton. Specimens of the pottery and glass now +made in the country, and other curiosities, complete the catalogue of +this interesting collection. + +The Mexican calendar is not in the Museum, but is built into the wall +of the cathedral, in the Plaza Mayor. It is sculptured on the face of a +single block of basalt, which weighs between twenty and thirty tons, +and must have been transported thirty miles by Mexican labourers, for +the stone is not found nearer than that distance from the city; and +this transportation was, of course, managed by hand-labour alone, as +there were no beasts of burden. + +We know pretty well the whole system of Mexican astronomy from this +calendar-stone and a few manuscripts which still exist, and from the +information given in the work of Gama the astronomer and other writers. +The Aztecs and Tezcucans who used it, did not claim its invention as +their own, but said they had received it from the Toltecs, their +predecessors. The year consisted of 365 days, with an intercalation of +13 days for each cycle of 52 years, which brought it to the same length +as the Julian year of 365 days 6 hours. The theory of Gama, that the +intercalation was still more exact, namely, 12-1/2 days instead of 13, +seems to be erroneous. + +Our reckoning only became more exact than this when we adopted the +Gregorian calendar in 1752, and the people marched about the streets in +procession, crying "Give us back our eleven days!" Perhaps this is not +quite a fair way of putting the case, however, for the new style would +have been adopted in our country long before, had it not been a Romish +institution. It was the deliberate opinion of the English, as of people +in other Protestant countries, that it was much better to have the +almanack a few days wrong than to adopt a Popish innovation. One often +hears of the Papal Bull which settles the question of the earth's +standing still. The history of the Gregorian calendar is not a bad +set-off against it on the other side. At any rate, the new style was +not introduced anywhere until sixty or seventy years after the +discovery of Mexico, and five hundred years after the introduction of +the Toltec calendar in Mexico. + +The Mexican calendar-stone should be photographed on a large scale, and +studied yet more carefully than it has been, for only a part of the +divided circles which surround it have been explained. It should be +photographed, because, to my certain knowledge, Mayer's drawing gives +the year, above the figure of the sun which indicates the date of the +calendar, quite wrongly; and yet, presuming on his own accuracy, he +accuses another writer of leaving out the hieroglyph of the winter +solstice. What is much more strange is, that Humboldt's drawing in the +small edition of the _Vues des Cordilleres_ is wrong in both points. +The drawing in Nebel's great work is probably the best. As to the wax +models which Mr. Christy and I bought in Mexico, in the innocence of +our hearts, a nearer inspection showed that the artist, observing that +the circle of days would divide more neatly into sixteen parts than +into twenty, had arranged his divisions accordingly; apparently leaving +out the four hieroglyphics which he considered the ugliest. + +The details made out at present on the calendar are as follows:--the +summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, the two +passages of the Sun over the zenith of Mexico, and some dates which +possibly belong to religious festivals. The dates of the two +zenith-transits are especially interesting; for, as they vary with the +latitude, they must have been made out by actual observation in Mexico +itself, and not borrowed from some more civilised people in the distant +countries through which the Mexicans migrated. This fact alone is +sufficient to prove a considerable practical knowledge of astronomy. + +Besides this, the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years seems to be +indicated in the circle outside the signs of days, and also the days in +the priestly year of 260 days; but to make these numbers, we must allow +for the compartments supposed to be hidden by the projecting rays of +the sun. + +The arrangement of the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years is very +curious. They had four signs of years, _tochtli, acatl, tecpatl_, and +_calli_,--_rabbit, canes, flint_, and _house_; and against these signs +they ranged numbers, from 1 to 13, so that a cycle exactly corresponds +to a pack of cards, the four signs being the four suits, thirteen of +each. Now, any one would suppose that in making such a reckoning, they +would first take one suit, count _one, two, three_, &c. in it, up to +13, and then begin another suit. This is not the Mexican idea, however. +Their reckoning is 1 _tochtli_, 2 _acatl_, 3 _tecpatl_, &c., just as it +may be made with the cards thus: ace of hearts, two of diamonds, 3 of +spades, 4 of clubs, 5 of hearts, 6 of diamonds, and so on through the +pack. The correspondence between the cycle of 52 years, divided among 4 +signs, and our year of 52 weeks, divided among 4 seasons, is also +curious, though as entirely accidental as the resemblance to the pack +of cards, for the Mexican week (if we may call it so) consisted of 5 +days instead of 7, which to a great extent nullifies the comparison. + +The reckoning of days is still more cumbrous. It consists of the days +of the week written in succession from 1 to 13, underneath these the 20 +signs of days, and underneath these again another series of 9 signs; so +that each day was distinguished by a combination of a number and two +signs, which combination could not belong to any other day. + +The date of the year at the top of the calendar is 13 _acatl_ (13 +canes), which stands for 1479, 1427, 1375, 1323, and so on, subtracting +52 years each time. Now, why was this year chosen? It was not the +beginning of a cycle, but the 26th year; and so, in ascertaining the +meaning of the dates on the calendar, allowance has to be made for six +days which have been gained by the leap-years only being adjusted at +the end of the cycle; but this certainly offers no advantage whatever; +and if an arbitrary date had been chosen to start the calendar with, of +course it would have been the first year of a cycle. The year may have +been chosen in commemoration of the foundation of Mexico or +Tenochtitlan, which historians give as somewhere about 1324 or 1325. +The sign 13 _acatl_ would stand for 1323. It is more likely that the +date merely refers to the year in which the calendar was put up. As +such a massive and elaborate piece of sculpture could only belong to +the most flourishing period of the Aztec empire, the year indicated +would be 1279, nine years before the building of the great pyramid +close by. + +Baron Humboldt's celebrated argument to prove the Asiatic origin of the +Mexicans is principally founded upon the remarkable resemblance of this +system of cycles in reckoning years to those found in use in different +parts of Asia. For instance, we may take that described by Hue and +Gabet as still existing in Tartary and Thibet, which consists of one +set of signs, _wood, fire, earth_, &c., combined with a set of names of +animals, _mouse, ox, tiger_, &c. The combination is made almost exactly +in the same way as that in which the Aztecs combine their signs and +numbers, as for instance, the year of the fire-pig, the iron-hare, &c. +If these were simple systems of counting years, or even if, although +difficult, they had some advantages to offer, we might suppose that two +different races in want of a system to count their years by, had +devised them independently. But, in fact, both the Asiatic and the +Mexican cycles are not only most intricate and troublesome to work, but +by the constant liability to confound one cycle with another, they lead +to endless mistakes. Hue says that the Mongols, to get over this +difficulty, affix a special name to all the years of each king's reign, +as for instance, "the year Tao-Kouang of the fire-ram;" apparently not +seeing that to give the special name and the number of the year of the +reign, and call it the 44th year of Tao-Kouang, would answer the same +purpose, with one-tenth of the trouble. + +Not only are the Mexican and Asiatic systems alike in the singular +principle they go upon, but there are resemblances in the signs used +that seem too close for chance.[20] The other arguments which tend to +prove that the Mexicans either came from the Old World or had in some +way been brought into connexion with tribes from thence, are +principally founded on coincidences in customs and traditions. We must +be careful to eliminate from them all such as we can imagine to have +originated from the same outward causes at work in both hemispheres, +and from the fact that man is fundamentally the same everywhere. To +take an instance from Peru. We find the Incas there calling themselves +"Child of the Sun," and marrying their own sisters, just as the +Egyptian kings did. But this proves nothing whatever as to connexion +between the two people. The worship of the Sun, the giver of light and +heat, may easily spring up among different people without any external +teaching; and what more natural, among imperfectly civilized tribes, +than that the monarch should claim relationship with the divinity? And +the second custom was introduced that the royal race might be kept +unmixed. + +Thus, when we find the Aztecs burning incense before their gods, kings, +and great men, and propitiating their deities with human sacrifices, we +can conclude nothing from this. But we find them baptizing their +children, anointing their kings, and sprinkling them with holy water, +punishing the crime of adultery by stoning the criminals to death, and +practising several other Old World usages of which I have already +spoken. We must give some weight to these coincidences. + +Of some of the supposed Aztec Bible-traditions I have already spoken in +no very high terms. There is another tradition, however, resting upon +unimpeachable evidence, which relates the occurrence of a series of +destructions and regenerations of the world, and recalls in the most +striking manner the Indian cosmogony; and, when added to the argument +from the similarity of the systems of astronomical notation of Mexico +and Asia, goes far towards proving a more or less remote connection +between the inhabitants of the two continents. + +There is another side to the question, however, as has been stated +already. How could the Mexicans have had these traditions and customs +from the Old World, and not have got the knowledge of some of the +commonest arts of life from the same source? As I have said, they do +not seem to have known the proper way of putting the handle on to a +stone-hammer; and, though they used bronze, they had not applied it to +making such things as knives and spear-heads. They had no beasts of +burden; and, though there were animals in the country which they +probably might have domesticated and milked, they had no idea of +anything of the kind. They had oil, and employed it for various +purposes, but had no notion of using it or wax for burning. They +lighted their houses with pine-torches; and in fact the Aztec name for +a pine-torch--_ocotl_--was transferred to candles when they were +introduced. + +Though they were a commercial people, and had several substitutes for +money--such as cacao-grains, quills of gold-dust, and pieces of tin of +a particular shape, they had no knowledge of the art of weighing +anything, but sold entirely by tale and measure. This statement, made +by the best authorities, their language tends to confirm. After the +Conquest they made the word _tlapexouia_ out of the Spanish "peso," and +also gave the meaning of weighing to two other words which mean properly +_to measure_ and _to divide equally_. Had they had a proper word of +their own for the process, we should find it. The Mexicans scarcely ever +adopted a Spanish word even for Spanish animals or implements, if they +could possibly make their own language serve. They called a sheep an +_ichcatl_, literally a "_thread-thing_," or "_cotton_": a gun a +"_fire-trumpet_:" and sulphur "_fire-trumpet-earth_." And yet, a people +ignorant of some of the commonest arts had extraordinary knowledge of +astronomy, and even knew the real cause of eclipses,[21] and represented +them in their sacred dances. + +Set the difficulties on one side of the question against those on the +other, and they will nearly balance. We must wait for further evidence. + +Our friend Don Jose Miguel Cervantes, the President of the +Ayuntamiento, took us one day to see the great prison of Mexico, the +Acordada. As to the prison itself, it is a great gloomy building, with +its rooms and corridors arranged round two courtyards, one appropriated +to the men, the other to the women. A few of the men were at work +making shoes and baskets, but most were sitting and lying about in the +sun, smoking cigarettes and talking together in knots, the young ones +hard at work taking lessons in villainy from the older hands; just the +old story. + +Offenders of all orders, from drunkards and vagrants up to highway +robbers and murderers, all were mixed indiscriminately together. But we +should remember that in England twenty years ago it was usual for +prisons to be such places as this; and even now, in spite of model +prisons and severe discipline, the miserable results of our +prison-system show, as plainly as can be, that when we have caught our +criminal we do not in the least know how to reform him, now that our +colonists have refused him the only chance he ever had. + +It is bad enough to mix together these men under the most favourable +circumstances for corrupting one another. Every man must come out worse +than he went in; but this wrong is not so great as that which the +untried prisoners suffer in being forced into the society of condemned +criminals, while their trials drag on from session to session, through +the endless technicalities and quibbles of Spanish law. + +We made rather a curious observation in this prison. When one enters +such a place in Europe, one expects to see in a moment, by the faces +and demeanour of the occupants, that most of them belong to a special +criminal class, brought up to a life of crime which is their only +possible career, belonging naturally to police-courts and prisons, +herding together when out of prison in their own districts and their +own streets, and carefully avoided by the rest of society. You may know +a London thief when you see him; he carries his profession in his face +and in the very curl of his hair. Now in this prison there was nothing +of the kind to be seen. The inmates were brown Indians and half-bred +Mexicans, appearing generally to belong to the poorest class, but just +like the average of the people in the streets outside. As my companion +said, "If these fellows are thieves and murderers, so are our servants, +and so is every man in a serape we meet in the streets, for all we can +tell to the contrary." There was positively nothing at all peculiar +about them. + +If they had been all Indians we might have been easily deceived. +Nothing can be more true than Humboldt's observation that the Indian +face differs so much from ours that it is only after years of +experience that a European can learn to distinguish the varieties of +feature by which character can be judged of. He mistakes peculiarities +which belong to the race in general for personal characteristics; and +the thickness of the skin serves still more to mask the expression of +their faces. But the greater part of these men were Mexicans of mixed +Indian and Spanish blood, and their faces are pretty much European. + +The only explanation we could give of this identity of character inside +the prison and outside is not flattering to the Mexican people, but I +really believe it to be true. We came to the conclusion that the +prisoners did not belong to a class apart, but that they were a +tolerably fair specimen of the poorer population of the table-lands of +Mexico. They had been more tempted than others, or they had been more +unlucky, and that was why they were here. + +There were perhaps a thousand prisoners in the place, two men to one +woman. Their crimes were--one-third, drunken disturbance and vagrancy; +another third, robberies of various kinds; a fourth, wounding and +homicides, mostly arising out of quarrels; leaving a small residue for +all other crimes. + +Our idea was confirmed by many foreigners who had lived long in the +country and had been brought into personal contact with the people. +Every Mexican, they said, has a thief and a murderer in him, which the +slightest provocation will bring out. This of course is an +exaggeration, but there is a great deal of truth in it. The crimes in +the prison-calendar belong as characteristics to the population in +general. Highway-robbery, cutting and wounding in drunken brawls, and +deliberate assassination, are offences which prevail among the +half-white Mexicans; while stealing is common to them and the pure +Indian population. We noticed several instances of bigamy, a crime +which Mexican law is very severe upon. As far as we could judge by the +amount of punishment inflicted, it is a greater crime to marry two +women than to kill two men. In one gallery are the cells for criminals +condemned to death, but the occupants were allowed to mix freely with +the rest of the prisoners, and they seemed comfortable enough. + +Everybody knows how much in England the condition of a prisoner depends +on the disposition of the governor in office and the system in vogue +for the moment. The mere words of his sentence do not indicate at all +what his fate will be. He comes in--under Sir John--to light labour, +much schoolmaster and chaplain, and the expectation of a +ticket-of-leave when a fraction of his time is expired. All at once Sir +James supersedes Sir John, and with him comes in a regime of hard work, +short rations, and the black hole. If he had been "in" a month sooner, +he would have been "out" now with those more fortunate criminals, his +late companions. + +Things ought not to be so in England, but we need hardly wonder at +their being still worse in Mexico in this respect as in all others. +There have been twenty changes of government in ten years, and +sometimes extreme severity has been the rule, which may change at a +day's notice into the extreme of mildness. In Santa Ana's time the +utmost rigour of the law prevailed. Our friends in the Calle Seminario, +as they came back from their morning's ride in the Paseo, had to pass +through the great square; and used to see there, day after day, pairs +of garotted malefactors sitting bolt upright in the high wooden chairs +they had just been executed in, with a frightful calm look on their +dead faces. + +For the last year or so all this had ceased, and there had scarcely +been an execution. It seems that one principal reason of this lenity is +that the government is too weak to support its judges; and that the +ministers of justice are actually intimidated by threats mysteriously +conveyed to witnesses and authorities, that, if such or such a criminal +is executed, his friends have sworn to avenge his death, and are on the +look-out, every man with his knife ready. To political offences the +same mercy is extended. In the early times of the war of independence, +and for years afterwards, when one leader caught an officer on the +other side, he had him tried by a drum-head court-martial, and shot. +Since then it has come to be better understood that civil war is waged +for the benefit of individuals who wish for their turn of power and +their pull at the public purse; and the successful leader spares his +opponent, not caring to establish a precedent which might prove so very +inconvenient to himself. + +We were taken to see the garotte by the President, who took it out of +its little mahogany case, into which it was fitted like any other +surgical instrument. We noticed that it was rusty, and indeed it had +not been used for many months. It is not worth while to describe it. + +Mexican law well administered is bad enough, not essentially unjust, +but hampered with endless quibbles and technicalities, quite justifying +the Spanish proverb, "_Mas vale una mala composicion que un buen +pleito_,"--a bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. As things +stand now, the law of any case is the least item in the account, there +are so many ways of working upon judges and witnesses. Bribery first +and foremost; and--if that fails--personal intimidation, political +influence, private friendship, and the _compadrazgo_. Naturally, if you +have a lawsuit or are tried for a crime, you should lay a good +foundation. This is done by working upon the _Juez de primera +instancia_, who corresponds in some degree to the _Juge d'instruction_ +in France. This functionary is wretchedly paid, so that a small sum is +acceptable to him; and, moreover, the records of the case, as tried by +him, form the basis of all future litigation, so that it is very bad +economy not to get him into proper order. If you do not, it will cost +you three times as much afterwards. If your suit is with a soldier or a +priest, the ordinary tribunals will not help you. These two +classes--the most influential in the community--have their _fuero_, +their special jurisdiction; and woe to the unfortunate civilian who +attacks them in their own courts! + +Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, whose sense of humour occasionally peeps +out from among his statistics, remarks gravely that "the clergy has its +special legislation, which consists of the Sacred Volumes, the decision +of General and Provincial Councils, the Pontifical Decretals, and +doctrines of the Holy Fathers." Of what sort of justice is dealt out in +that court, one may form some faint idea. + +One of our friends in Mexico had a house which was too large for him, +and in a moment of weakness he let part of it to a priest. Two years +afterwards, when we made his acquaintance, he was hard at work trying, +not to get his rent, he had given up that idea long before, but to get +the priest out. I believe that, eventually, he gave him something +handsome to take his departure. + +I have often quoted Don Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, and shall do so again. +His statistics of the country for 1856 are given in a broad sheet, and +seem to be generally reliable. The annual balance-sheet of the country +he sums up in three lines-- + + Annual Expenditure . . . . . . 25,000,000 dollars. + Annual Revenue . . . . . . . . 15,000,000 dollars. + ---------- + Annual Deficit . . . . . . . . 10,000,000 dollars. + +The President of the Ayuntamiento was a pleasant person to know, among +the dishonest, intriguing Mexican officials. He received but little pay +in return for a great deal of hard work; but he liked to be in office +for the opportunities it afforded him of improving the condition of the +poor of the city. It was a sight to see the prisoners crowd round him +as he entered the court. They all knew him, and it was quite evident +they all considered him as a friend. In what little can be done for the +ignorant and destitute under the unfavourable circumstances of the +country, Don Miguel has had a large share; but until an orderly +government, that is, a foreign one, succeeds to the present anarchy, +not very much can be done. + +I mentioned the word "_compadrazgo_" a little way back. The thing +itself is curious, and quite novel to an Englishman of the present day. +The godfathers and godmothers of a child become, by their participation +in the ceremony, relations to one another and to the priest who +baptizes the child, and call one another ever afterwards _compadre_ and +_comadre_. Just such a relationship was once expressed by the word +"gossip," "God-sib," that is "akin in God." Gossip has quite +degenerated from its old meaning, and even "sib," though good English +in Chaucer's time, is now only to be found in provincial dialects; but +in German "sipp" still means "kin." + +In Mexico this connexion obliges the compadres and comadres to +hospitality and honesty and all sorts of good offices towards one +another; and it is wonderful how conscientiously this obligation is +kept to, even by people who have no conscience at all for the rest of +the world. A man who will cheat his own father or his own son will keep +faith with his _compadre_. To such an extent does this influence become +mixed up with all sorts of affairs, and so important is it, that it is +necessary to count it among the things that tend to alter the course of +justice in the country. + +The French have the words _compere_ and _commere_; and it is curious to +observe that the name of _compere_ is given to the confederate of the +juggler, who stands among the crowd, and slyly helps in the performance +of the trick. + +We went one day to the Hospital of San Lazaro. I have mentioned the +word "_lepero_" as applied to the poor and idle class of half-caste +Mexicans. It is only a term of reproach, exactly corresponding to the +"_lazzarone_" of Naples, who resembles the Mexican lepers in his social +condition, and whose name implies the same thing; for, of course, Saint +Lazarus is the patron saint of lepers and foul beggars. There are some +few real lepers in Mexico, who are obliged by law to be shut up in this +hospital. We rather expected to see something like what one reads of +the treatment of lepers which prevailed in Europe until a few years +ago--shutting them up in dismal dens cut off from communication with +other human beings. We were agreeably disappointed. They were confined, +it is true, but in a spacious building, with court-yard and garden; +their nurses and attendants appeared to be very kind to them; and it +seems that many charitable people come to visit the inmates, and bring +them cigars and other small luxuries, to relieve the monotony of their +dismal lives. Some had their faces horribly distorted by the falling of +the corners of the eyes and mouth, and the disappearance of the +cartilage of the nose; and a few, in whom the disease had terminated in +a sort of gangrene, were frightful objects, with their features +scarcely distinguishable; but in the majority of cases the leprosy had +caused a gradual disappearance of the ends of the fingers and toes, and +even of the whole hands and feet. The limbs thus mutilated looked as +though the parts which were wanting had been amputated, and the wound +had quite healed over, but it is caused by a gradual absorption without +wound and without pain. As every one knows, leprosy of these kinds was +held until quite lately to be dangerously contagious; but, fortunately +for the poor creatures themselves, this is quite clearly proved to be +false, and the lepers are only shut up that they may have no children, +for the affection appears to be hereditary. + +It was early one morning, when we were going out to breakfast at +Tisapan, that Don Juan recounted to us his experience of garrotted +malefactors sitting dead in their chairs in the great square across +which we were riding. "It was really almost enough to spoil a fellow's +breakfast," he added pathetically. Though an Englishman, and only +arrived in the country a few years before, Don Juan was as clever with +the lazo as most Mexicans, and could _colear_ a bull in great style. +Indeed, we had started early that morning in order to have time enough +to look at the bulls in the _potreros_--the great grass-meadows--that +lie for miles outside the city, and which are made immensely fertile by +flooding from time to time. Wherever we saw a bull in the distance, Don +Juan and his grand little horse _Pancho_ plunged over a bank and +through a gap, and we after him. No one ever leaps anything in this +country, indeed the form of the saddle puts it out of the question. One +or two bulls looked up as we entered the enclosure, and bolted into +other fields, pushing in among the thorns of the aloes which formed +close hedges of fixed bayonets round the meadows. At last Don Juan cut +off the retreat of an old bull, and galloping after him like mad, flung +the running loop of the lazo over his horns, at the same time winding +the other end round the pummel of his saddle. The bull was still +standing on all four legs, pulling with all its might against Pancho. +Galloping after him, so as to slacken the end of the lazo, we contrived +to transfer it from Don Juan's saddle to mine. Now my own horse +happened to be a little lame, and I was riding a poor little black +beast whose bones really seemed to rattle in his skin. Our +acquaintances in the Paseo had been quite facetious about him, +recommending us to be careful and not to smoke up against him, for fear +we should blow him over, and otherwise whetting their wit upon him. He +acquitted himself very creditably, however, and when the bull began to +pull against him, he leant over on the other side, as if he had been +galloping round a circus; and the bull could not move him an inch. It +was quite evident that it was not his first experiment. In the mean +time Don Juan had dropped the noose of my lazo just before the bull's +nose, and presently that animal incautiously put his foot into it, when +Don Juan whipped it up round his leg and went off at full gallop. My +little black horse knew perfectly well what had happened, though his +head was exactly in the opposite direction; and he tugged with all his +might, and leant over more than ever. The two lazos tightened with a +twang, as though they had been guitar-strings; and in a moment the +unfortunate bull was rolling with all his legs in the air, in the midst +of a whirlwind of dust. Having thus humiliated him we let him go, and +off he went at full speed. All this time the proprietor of the field +was tranquilly standing on a bank, looking on. Far from raging at us +for treating his property in this free and easy manner, he returned our +salutation when we rode up to him, and, addressing our sporting +countryman, said, "Well done, old fellow, come another day and try +again." + +Our whole ride to Tisapan was enlivened by a series of Don Juan's +exploits. He raced after bulls, got hold of their tails, and coleared +them over into the dust. He lazo'd everything in the road, from +milestones and trunks of trees upwards; and I shall never forget our +meeting with a great mule which was trotting along the road without a +burden,--just as he passed us, our companion slipped the noose round +his hind leg, and the beast went down as if he had been shot, the +muleteers pulling up on purpose to have a good open-mouthed laugh at +the incident. + +We seemed to be in rather a sporting line that day, for, after our +return from Tisapan, Don Juan and I went to see a cockfight. In Mexico, +as in Cuba and all Spanish America, this is the favourite sport of the +people. In Cuba, the principal shopkeeper in every village keeps the +cockpit--the "_plaza de gallos_." The people from the whole district +round about come in on Sunday to the village, with a triple object; +_first_, to hear mass; _secondly_, to buy their supplies for the +ensuing week; and _thirdly_, to spend the afternoon in cockfighting, at +which amusement it is easy to win or lose two or three hundred pounds +in an afternoon. The custom that the cockpit brings to the shop more +than repays the proprietor for the expense and trouble of keeping it. +In Cuba, the spurs of the cock are artificially pointed by paring with +a penknife, but the Mexican way of arming them is even more abominable. + +[Illustration: STEEL COCK-SPURS (8 inches long), WITH SHEATH AND +PADDING.] + +Each bird has a sharp steel knife three or four inches long, just like +a little scythe-blade, fastened over the natural spur before the fight +commences. A leather sheath covers the weapon while the cocks are being +put into the ring, and held with their beaks almost touching till they +are furious. Then they are drawn back to opposite sides of the ring, +the sheaths are taken off, and they fly at one another, giving +desperate cuts with the steel blades. + +The cockpit was a small round wooden shed, with the ring in the middle, +and circular benches round it, rising one above another. The place was +full of people, mostly Mexicans of the lower orders, smoking, betting, +and talking sporting-slang. The betting was surprising, when one +compared its amount with the appearance of the spectators, among whom +there was hardly a decent coat to be seen. Every now and then, a dirty +scoundrel in a shabby leather jacket would walk round the ring with a +handful of gold, offering the odds--ten to five, ten to seven, ten to +nine, or whatever they might be, in gold ounces, which coins are worth +above three pounds apiece. + +Cockfighting is such a passion here that we thought it as well to see +it for once. Santa Ana, now he has retired from politics, spends his +time at Carthagena pretty much entirely in this his favourite sport, +which forms one of the great items among the pleasures and excitements +of a Mexican life. We saw a couple of mains fought, in which the +victorious birds were dreadfully mangled, while the vanquished were +literally cut to pieces; as much money changed hands as we should have +thought sufficient to buy up the whole of the people present, cockpit +and all. Then, being both agreed that it was a disgusting sight, we +went away. + +Before we left Mexico we were taken by our man Antonio to a cutler's +shop, where the principal trade seemed to be the making of these +_cuchillos_ to arm the cocks with. We bought a couple of pairs of them, +and had them carefully fitted up. The old cutler was quite delighted, +and remarked that foreigners must acknowledge that there were some +things which were done better in Mexico than anywhere else. I fear we +left him under the pleasing impression that we were taking home the +blades to introduce as models in our own benighted country. + +The Mexican is a great gambler. Bad fortune he bears with the greatest +equanimity. You never hear of his committing suicide after being ruined +at play; he just goes away, and sets to work to earn enough for a fresh +stake. The government have tried to put down gambling in the State of +Mexico, but not with much success. For three days in the year, however, +at the festival of San Agustin de las Cuevas, public gambling-tables +are tolerated, though soldiers and officials are strictly forbidden to +play, an injunction which they carefully set at nought. Oddly enough, +the government, while doing all it could to keep its own functionaries +away from the _monte_ table, did not scruple to send a military escort +to convoy the bankers with their bags of gold from Mexico to San +Agustin. On one of the three days, Mr. Christy and I went there. There +was a great crowd, this time mostly a well-dressed one, and the cockpit +was on a large scale. But of course the great attraction was the +_monte_, which was being played everywhere, the stakes in some places +being coppers, in others silver, while more aristocratic establishments +would allow no stake under a gold ounce. Dead silence prevailed in +these places, and the players seemed to pride themselves upon not +showing the slightest change in their countenances, whether they won or +lost. The game itself is very simple, and has some points of +resemblance to that of lansquenet, known in Europe. The first two cards +in the pack, say a four and a king, are laid down, face up, on the +table, and the gamblers put down their money against one or the other. +Then the _croupier_ deals the cards out slowly and solemnly one after +another, calling out their names as they fall, until he comes--say to a +king; when those who have betted on the king have their stakes doubled, +and the others lose theirs. The banker has a great advantage to +compensate him for his expense and risk. If the first card which is +thrown out be one of the two numbers on the table, the banker withholds +a quarter of the stake he would otherwise have lost, paying only a +stake and three-quarters, instead of two stakes. Now, as there are +forty cards in a Spanish pack, two of which have been already thrown +out, the chances for a throw favourable to the banker are about one in +six, so that he may reckon on an average profit of about two per cent, +on all the money staked. + +As for the players, they sat round the table, carefully noticing the +course of the games, and regulating their play accordingly, as they do +at Baden-Baden and Hombourg. I suppose that now and then these +scientific calculators must be told that their whole theory of chances +is the most baseless delusion, but they certainly do not believe it; +and at any rate this curious pseudo-science of winning by skill at +games of pure chance will last our time, if not longer. + +On some tables there were as much as three or four thousand gold +ounces. This struck us the more because we had often tried to get gold +coin for our own use, instead of the silver dollars, the general +currency of the country, of which twenty pounds' worth to carry home on +a hot day was enough to break one's heart. We often tried to get gold, +but the answer was always that what little there was in the country was +in the hands of the gamblers, whose operations could not be worked on a +large scale without it. + +The prevalence of mining, as a means of getting wealth, has contributed +greatly to make the love of gambling an important part of the national +character. Silver-mining in the old times was a most hazardous +speculation, and people engaged in it used to make and lose great +fortunes a dozen times in their lives. The miners worked not on fixed +wages, but for a share of the produce, and so every man became a +gambler on his own account. To a great extent the same evils prevail +now, but two things have tended to lessen them. Poor ores are now +worked profitably which used to be neglected by the miners; and, as +these ores occur in almost inexhaustible masses, their mining is a much +less speculative affair than the old system of mining for rich veins. +Moreover, the men are, in some of the largest mines, paid by the day, +so that their life has become more regular. In many places, however, +the work is still done on shares by the miners, who pass their lives in +alternations of excessive riches and all kinds of extravagance, +succeeded by times of extreme poverty. + +An acquaintance of ours was telling us one day about the lives of these +men. One week, a party of three miners had come upon a very rich bit of +ore, and went away from the _raya_, each man with a handkerchief full +of dollars. This was on Saturday evening. On Monday morning our +informant went out for a ride, and on the road he met three dirty +haggard-looking men, dressed in some old rags; one of the three came +forward, taking off the sort of apology for a hat which he had on, and +said, "Good morning, Senor Doctor, would you mind doing us the favour +of lending us half a dollar to get something to eat?" They were the +three successful miners; and when, a few days afterwards, the man who +had asked for the money came back to return it, the Doctor inquired +what had happened. + +It seemed that the three, as soon as they had received their money on +Saturday, got a lift to the nearest town, and there rigged themselves +out with new clothes, silver buttons, five-pound serapes, and a horse +for each, with magnificent silver mountings to the saddle and spurs. +Here they have dinner, and lots of pulque, and swagger about outside +the door, smoking cigarettes. There, quite by chance, an acquaintance +meets them, and admires the horses, but would like to see their paces +tried a little outside the town. So they pace and gallop along for half +a mile or so; when, also quite accidentally, they find two men sitting +outside a rancho, playing at cards. The two men--strangely enough--are +old acquaintances of the curious friend, and they produce a bowl of +cool pulque from within, which our miners find quite refreshing after +the ride. Thereupon they sit down to have a little game at _monte_, +then more pulque, then more cards; and when they awake the next +morning, they find themselves possessed of a suit of old rags, with no +money in the pockets. They had dim recollections of losing--first +money, then horses, and lastly clothes, the night before; but--as they +were informed by the old woman, who was the only occupant of the place +besides themselves--their friends had been obliged to go away on urgent +business, and could not be so impolite as to disturb them. So they +walked back to the mines, ragged and hungry, and borrowed the doctor's +half-dollar. + +[Illustration: LEATHER SANDALS, WORN BY THE NATIVE INDIANS.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + +TEZCUCO. MIRAFLORES. POPOCATEPETL. CHOLULA. + + + +[Illustration: WALKING AND RIDING COSTUMES IN MEXICO. _(After Nebel.)_] + +The wet season was fast coming on when we left Mexico for the last +time. We had to pass through Vera Cruz, where the rain and the yellow +fever generally set in together; so that to stay longer would have been +too great a risk. + +Our first stage was to Tezcuco, across the lake in a canoe, just as we +had been before. We noticed on our way to the canoes, a church, +apparently from one to two centuries old, with the following doggerel +inscription in huge letters over the portico, which shows that the +dogma of the Immaculate Conception is by no means a recent institution +in Mexico: + + _Antes de entrar afirma con tu vida, + S. Maria fue sin pecado concebida:_ + +Which may be translated into verse of equal quality, + + _Confess on thy life before coming in, + That blessed Saint Mary was conceived without sin._ + +Nothing particular happened on our journey, except that a well-dressed +Mexican turned up at the landing-place, wanting a passage, and as we +had taken a canoe for ourselves, we offered to let him come with us. He +was a well-bred young man, speaking one or two languages besides his +own; and he presently informed us that he was going on a visit to a +rich old lady at Tezcuco, whose name was Dona Maria Lopez, or something +of the kind. When we drove away from the other end of the lake, towards +Tezcuco, we took him as far as the road leading to the old lady's +house; when he rather astonished us by hinting that he should like to +go on with us to the Casa Grande, and could walk back. At the same +time, it struck us that the youth, though so well dressed, had no +luggage; and we began to understand the queer expression of the +coachman's face when he saw him get into the carriage with us. So we +stopped at the corner of the road, and the young gentleman had to get +out. + +At the Casa Grande, our friends laughed at us immensely when we told +them of the incident, and offered us twenty to one that he would come +to ask for money within twenty-four hours. He came the same evening, +and brought a wonderful story about his passport not being _en regle_, +and that unless we could lend him ten dollars to bribe the police, he +should be in a dreadful scrape. We referred him to the master of the +house, who said something to him which caused him to depart +precipitately, and we never saw him again; but we heard afterwards that +he had been to the other foreigners in the neighbourhood with various +histories. We made more enquiries about him in the town, and it +appeared that his expedition to Tezcuco was improvised when he saw us +going down to the boat, and of course the visit to the rich old lady +was purely imaginary. Now this youth was not more than eighteen, and +looked and spoke like a gentleman. They say that the class he belonged +to is to be counted rather by thousands than by hundreds in Mexico. +They are the children of white Creoles, or nearly white mestizos; they +get a superficial education and the art of dressing, and with this +slender capital go out into the world to live by their wits, until they +get a government appointment or set up as political adventurers, and so +have a chance of helping themselves out of the public purse, which is +naturally easier and more profitable than mere sponging upon +individuals. One gets to understand the course of Mexican affairs much +better by knowing what sort of raw material the politicians are +recruited from. + +We saw some good things in a small collection of antiquities, on this +second visit to Tezcuco. Among them was a nude female figure in +alabaster, four or five feet high, and--comparatively speaking--of high +artistic merit. Such figures are not common in Mexico, and they are +supposed to represent the Aztec Venus, who was called _Tlazolteocihua_, +"Goddess of Pleasure." A figure, laboriously cut in hard stone, +representing a man wearing a jackal's head as a mask, was supposed to +be a figurative representation of the celebrated king of Tezcuco, +_Nezahualcoyotl_, "hungry jackal," of whom Mexican history relates that +he walked about the streets of his capital in disguise, after the +manner of the Caliph in the Arabian Nights. The explanation is +plausible, but I think not correct. The _coyote_ or jackal was a sacred +animal among the Aztecs, as the Anubis-jackal was among the Egyptians. +Humboldt found in Mexico the tomb of a coyote, which had been carefully +interred with an earthen vase, and a number of the little cast-bronze +bells which I noticed in the last chapter. The Mexicans used actually +to make a kind of fetish--or charm--of a jackal's skin, prepared in a +peculiar way, and called by the same name, _nezahualcoyotl_, and very +likely they do so still. From this fetish the king's name was, no +doubt, borrowed; and it is not improbable that the whole story of the +king's walking in disguise may have grown up out of his name being the +same as that of the figure we saw, muffled up in a jackal's skin. + +It is curious that the jackal, or the human figure in a jackal-mask, +should have been an object of superstitious veneration both in Mexico +and in Egypt. This, the extraordinary serpent-crown of Xochicalco, and +the pyramids, are the three most striking resemblances to be found +between the two countries; all probably accidental, but not the less +noteworthy on that account. + +The collection contained a number of spherical beads in green jade, +highly polished, and some as large as pigeon's eggs. They were found in +an alabaster box, of such elaborate and beautiful workmanship that the +owner deemed it worthy to be presented as a sort of peace-offering to +the wife of President Santa Ana. + +The word _coyotl_ in the name of the Tezcucan king is the present word +_coyote_--a jackal. Though unknown in English, it has passed, with +several Spanish words, into what we may call the American dialect of +our language. Prairie-hunters and Californians have introduced several +other words in this way, such as _ranch_, _gulch, corral_, &c. + +The word _lariat_ one is constantly meeting with in books about +American prairies. A horse-rope, or a lazo, is called in Spanish +_reata_; and, by absorbing the article, _la reata_ is made into lariat, +just as such words as _alligator_, _alcove_, and _pyramid_ were formed. +The flexible leather riding-whip or _cuarta_ is apparently the _quirt_ +that some American politicians use in arguing with their opponents. + +Our last day at Tezcuco was spent in packing up antiquities to be sent +to England, the express orders of the Government against such +exportation to the contrary notwithstanding. Next morning we rode off +to Miraflores, passing on our way the curious stratum of alluvial soil +containing pottery, &c., which I have described already. Miraflores is +a cotton-factory, in the opening of a picturesque gorge just at the +edge of the plain of Mexico. The machinery is American, for the mill +dates from the time when it was considered expedient to prohibit the +exportation of cotton-mill machinery from England; and having begun +with American work, it naturally suits them to go on with it. It is +driven by a great Barker's mill, which works in a sort of well, having +an outlet into the valley, and roars as though it would tear the place +down. It is not common to see this kind of machine working on a large +scale; but here, with a great fall of water, it does very well. +Otherwise the place was like an ordinary cotton-factory, and one cannot +be surprised at people thinking that such establishments are a source +of prosperity to the country. They see a population hard at work and +getting good wages, masters making great profits, and no end of bales +going off to town; and do not consider that half the price of the cloth +is wasted, and that the protection-duty sets the people to work which +they cannot do to advantage, while it takes them away from occupations +which their country is fit for. + +Next morning took us to Amecameca, a town in a little plain at the foot +of Popocatepetl, whose snow-covered top towers high up in the clouds, +like Mont Blanc over Sallanches. We had at one time cherished hopes of +getting to the top of this grand volcano, but had heard such frightful +reports of difficulties and dangers that we had concluded not to do +more than look at it from a distance, the more especially as there had +been a heavy fall of snow upon it a day or two before. We presented our +letter to the Spaniard who kept the great shop at Amecameca, and asked +him, casually, about the mountain. He assured us that the surface of +the snow would be frozen over, and that instead of being a disadvantage +the fall of snow was in our favour, for it was easier to climb over +frozen snow than up a loose heap of volcanic ashes. So we sent for the +guide, a big man, who used to manage the sulphur-workings in the crater +until that undertaking was given up. He set to work to get things ready +for the expedition, and we strolled out for a walk. + +Close by the town is a "sacred mount," with little stations, and on one +day in the year numbers of pilgrims come to visit the place. Near the +top, the Indian lad who came with us showed us the mouth of a cavern, +which leads by subterranean passages under the sea to Rome--as caverns +not unfrequently do in Roman Catholic countries! What was more worth +noticing was that here there was a cypress-tree, covered with votive +offerings, like the great ahuchuete in the valley above Chalma; so that +it is likely that the place was sacred long before chapels and stations +were built upon it. Our guide told us that whenever a man touched the +tree, all feeling of weariness left him. How characteristic this +superstition is of a nation of carriers of burdens! + +In the afternoon we started--ourselves, our guide, and an Indian to +carry cloaks, &c. up the mountain. We soon left the cultivated region, +and entered upon the pine-forest, which we never left during our +afternoon journey. One of the first showers of the rainy season came +down upon us as we rode through the forest. It only lasted half an +hour, but it was a deluge. In a shower of the same kind at Tezcuco, a +day or two before, rain to the amount of 1-1/10 inches fell in the +hour. By dusk we reached the highest habitation in North America, the +place where the sulphur used to be sublimed from the pumice brought +down from the crater. This place was shut up, for the undertaking has +been abandoned; but in a _rancho_ close by we found some Indian women +and children, and there we took up our quarters. The _rancho_ was a +circular hut, built and thatched with reeds, though in the midst of a +pine-forest; and presently a smart shower began, which came in upon us +as though the roof had been a sieve. + +The Indian women were kneeling all the evening round the wood-fire in +the centre of the hut, baking _tortillas_ and boiling beans and coffee +in earthen pots. The wood was green, and the place was full of +suffocating smoke, except within eighteen inches of the ground, where +lay a stratum of purer air. We were obliged to lie down at once, upon +mats and serapes, for we could not exist in the smoke; and as often as +we raised ourselves into a sitting posture, we had to dive down again, +half suffocated. The line of demarcation was so accurately drawn that +it was like the Grotto del Cane, only reversed. + +After a primitive supper in earthen bowls, we lay round the fire, +listening to the talk of our men and the Indian women. It was mostly +about adventures with wolves, and about the sulphur-workings, now +discontinued. The weather had cleared, and as we lay we could see the +stars shining in through the roof. About three in the morning I awoke, +feeling bruised all over, as was natural after sleeping on a mat on the +ground. Moreover, the fire had gone out, and it was horribly cold, as +well it might be at 13,000 feet above the sea. I shook some one up to +make up the fire, and went out into the open air. It was nearly full +moon; but the moonlight was very different from what we can see in +England, even on the clearest nights. On the plateau of Mexico, the +rarity and dryness of the air are such that distant objects are seen +far more distinctly than at the level of the sea, and the European +traveller's measurements of distance by the eye are always too small. +The sunlight and moonlight, for the same reason, are more intense than +at lower levels. Here, at about the same elevation as the top of the +Jungfrau, the effect was far more striking, and I shall never forget +the brilliant flood of light that illuminated that grand scene. Far +down below I could see the plain, with houses and fields dimly visible. +At the bottom of the slope began the dark pine-forest, which enveloped +the mountains up to the level at which I stood, and there broke into an +uneven line, with straggling patches running up a few hundred feet +higher in sheltered crevices. Above the forest came a region of bare +volcanic sand, and then began the snow. The highest peak no longer +looked steep and pointed as from below, but seemed to rise from the +darker line of sand in a gentle swelling curve up into the sky. There +did not seem to be a speck or a wrinkle on this smooth snowy dome, the +brilliant whiteness of which contrasted so wonderfully with the dark +pine-forest below. + +About seven in the morning we started on horseback, rode up across the +sandy district, and entered upon the snow. After we left the pines, +small bushes and tufts of coarse Alpine grass succeeded. Where rocks of +basaltic lava stood out from the heaps of crumbling ashes, after the +grass had ceased, lichens--the occupants of the highest zone--were +still to be seen. Before we reached the snow, we were in the midst of +utter desolation, where no sign of life was visible. From this point we +sent back the horses, and started for the ascent of the cone. On our +yesterday's ride we had cut young pine-trees in the forest, for +alpenstocks; and we tied silk handkerchiefs completely over our faces, +to keep off the glare of the sun. Our guide did the same; but the +Indian, who had been many times before up to the crater to get sulphur, +had brought no protection for his face. We marched in a line, the guide +first, sounding the depth of the snow with his pole, and keeping as +nearly as he could along ridges just covered with snow, where we did +not sink far. It was from the lower part of the snow that we began to +understand the magnificent proportions of Iztaccihuatl--the "White +Woman," the twin mountain which is connected with Popocatepetl by an +immense col, which stretches across below the snow-line. This mountain +is not conical like Popocatepetl, but its shoulders are broader, and +break into grand peaks, like some of the _Dents_ of Switzerland, and it +has no crater.[22] Indeed, the two mountains, joined together like +Siamese twins, look as though they had been set up, side by side, to +illustrate the two contending theories of the formation of volcanos. +Von Buch and Humboldt might have made Iztaccihuatl on the "upheaval +theory," by a force pushing up from below, without breaking through the +crust to form a crater; while Poulett Scrope was building Popocatepetl +on the "accumulation theory," by throwing up lava and volcanic ashes +out of an open vent, until he had formed a conical heap some five +thousand feet high, with a great crater at the top. + +As we toiled slowly up the snow, we took off our veils from time to +time, to look more clearly about us. The glare of the sun upon the snow +was dazzling, and its intense whiteness contrasted wonderfully with the +cloudless dark indigo-blue of the sky. Between twelve and one we +reached the edge of the crater, 17,884 feet above the sea. The ridge +upon which we stood was only a few feet wide, and covered with snow; +but it seemed that there was still heat enough to keep the crater +itself clear, for none lay on the bottom, or in clefts on the steep +sides. + +The crater was oval, full a mile in its longest diameter, and perhaps +700 to 800 feet in depth; and its almost perpendicular walls of +basaltic lava are covered with red and yellow patches of sublimed +sulphur. We climbed a little way down into it to get protection from +the wind, but to descend further unassisted was not possible, so we sat +there, with our legs dangling down into the abyss. Part of the +_malacate_, or winder, used by the Indians in descending, was still +there; but it was not complete, and even if it had been, so many months +had elapsed since it was last used that we should not have cared to try +it. It consisted of a rope of hide, descending into the bottom of the +crater in a slanting direction; and the sulphur-collectors were lowered +and drawn up it by a windlass, in a basket to which another rope was +attached. A few years back, the volcano used to send up showers of +ashes, and even large stones; but now it has sunk to the condition of a +mere _solfatara_, sending out, from two crevices in the floor, great +volumes of sulphurous acid and steam, with a loud roaring noise. The +sulphur-working merely consisted in looking for places where the +pumice-stone was fully impregnated with sulphur, and breaking out +pieces, which were hauled up in the basket. The chief risk which the +labourers ran was from the terrific snow-storms, which come on suddenly +and without the slightest notice. Men at work collecting sulphur have +once or twice been caught by such storms in parts of the crater at a +distance from the rope, and buried in the snow. + +The appearance of the "White Woman," but little lower than the point +where we stood, was very grand, but all other objects looked small. The +two great plains of Mexico and Puebla, with their lakes and towns, were +laid out like a map; and the ranges of mountains which hem them in made +them look like Roman encampments surrounded by earthworks. Even now +that the lakes have shrunk to a fraction of their former size, we could +see the fitness of the name given in old times to the Valley of Mexico, +_Anahuac_, that is, "By the Water-side." The peaks of Orizaba and +Perote were conspicuous to the east; to the north lay the +silver-mountains of Pachuca; and to the south-west a darker shade of +green indicated the forests and plantations of the _tierra caliente_, +below Cuernavaca. + +It was a novel sensation to be at an altitude where the barometer +stands at 15-1/2 inches, so that the pressure on our lungs was hardly +more than one-half what we are accustomed to in England; but we did not +experience much inconvenience from it. The last thousand feet or so had +been very hard work, and we were obliged to stop every few steps, but +on the comparatively level edge of the crater we felt no difficulty in +moving about. + +_Popocatepetl_ means "Smoking Mountain." The Indians naturally enough +considered it to be the abode of evil spirits, and told Cortes and his +companions that they could never reach the top. One of the Spaniards, +Diego Ordaz, tried to climb to the summit, and got as far as the snow; +whereupon he returned, and got permission to put a burning mountain in +his coat of arms, in commemoration of the exploit! If, as he declared, +a high wind was blowing, and showers of ashes falling, his turning back +was excusable, though his bragging was not. He seems to have afterwards +told Bernal Diaz that he got to the top, which we know, by Cortes' +letters to Spain, was not true. A few years later, Francesco Montano +went up, and was lowered into the crater to get sulphur. When Humboldt +relates the story, in his _New Spain_, he seems incredulous about this; +but since the _Essai Politique_ was written the same thing has been +regularly done by the Indians, as the merest matter of business, until +the crater has been fairly worked out. + +We took our last look at Mexico from the ridge of the crater, and, +descending twenty feet at a stride, soon reached the bottom of the +cone. As far as we could see, the substance of the hill seemed to be of +basaltic lava, which was mostly covered with the _lapilli_ which I have +spoken of before as ashes and volcanic sand. Even before we reached the +pine-forest there was evidence of the action of water, which had +covered the slope of the mountain with beds of thick compact tufa, +composed of these lapilli mixed with fragments of lava. The +water-courses had cut deep channels through these beds, and down into +the rock below; so that the streams from the melted snow rushed down +between walls of lava, in which traces of columnar structure were +observable. + +The snow we had travelled over was sometimes dry and powdery, and +sometimes hard and compact. There were no glaciers, and no glacier-ice, +properly so called. It never rains at this elevation; and, though +evaporation goes on rapidly with half the pressure taken off the air, +and a great increase in the intensity of the sun's rays, the snow +either passes directly into vapour, or carries the water off +instantaneously, as it is formed. Only so much water seems to be +produced and re-frozen as suffices to make the snow hard, and in some +favourable places near the rocks to form lumps of ice, and some of +those great icicles which the Spaniards brought down from the mountain +on their first expedition, so greatly astonishing their companions. + +When we reached the rancho we thought of passing another night there; +but the Indians who had gone down to the valley for corn had not +returned, and everything was eaten up except beans, which are all very +well as accessories to dinner, but our English digestions could not +stand living upon them; so we started at once for San Nicolas de los +Ranchos. Our ride was down a deep ravine, by the side of a +mountain-torrent coming down from the snows of Popocatepetl; and, when +we stopped now and then to look behind us, we had one of the grandest +views which I have ever witnessed. The elements of the picture were +simple enough. A deep gorge at our feet, with a fierce torrent rushing +down it, dark pine-trees all round us, and above us--on either side--a +snow-covered mountain towering up into the sky. We were just in the +track of the Spanish invaders, who crossed most likely by this very +road between the two volcanos; and they record the amazement which they +felt that in the tropics snow should be unmelted upon the mountains. + +A few hours riding down the steep descent, and we were in the flat +plain of Puebla. There were our two mountains behind us, but now they +looked as we had so often seen them before from a distance. The power +of realizing their size was gone, and with it most of their grandeur +and beauty. Nothing was left us but a vivid recollection of the +wonderful scenes that were before us a few hours ago, impressions not +likely to be ever effaced from our minds, where the picture of the +great snowy cone seen in the bright moonlight, and the descent between +the mountains, remain indelibly impressed as the types of all that is +most grand and impressive in the scenery of lofty mountains. + +We slept at San Nicolas de los Ranches, "St. Nicholas of the huts," +where the shopkeeper, to whom we had a letter, insisted upon turning +out of his own room for us, and treated us like princes. The reason of +our often being provided with letters to the shopkeepers in small +places, was, that they are the only people who have houses fit for +entertaining travellers. Many of them are very rich, and in the United +States they would call themselves merchants. Next morning our Indian +carrier, who had ascended the mountain without a veil, was brought in +by our guide, a pitiful object. All the skin of his face was peeling +off, and his eyes were frightfully inflamed, so that he was all but +blind, and had to be led about. Fortunately, this blindness only lasts +for a time, and no doubt he got well in a few days. + +We rode through the plain to Cholula. Our number was now four; for, +besides Antonio, we had engaged another servant a few days before. We +wanted some one who knew this district well; and when a friend of ours +mentioned that there was a young man to be had who had a good horse and +was a smuggler by profession, we engaged him directly, and he proved a +great acquisition. Of course, from the nature of his trade, he knew +every bypath between Mexico and the tobacco-districts towards which we +were going; he was always ready with an expedient whenever there was a +difficulty, he was never tired and never out of temper. As for the +morality of his peculiar profession, it probably does harm to the +honesty of the people; but, considering it as a question of abstract +justice, we must remember that almost the whole of the taxes which the +Mexicans are compelled to pay to the general government are utterly +wasted upon paying officials who do nothing but intrigue, and keeping +up armies which--far from being a protection to life and property--are +a permanent and most destructive nuisance. The contract between +government and subject ought to be a two-sided one; and when the +government so entirely misuses the taxes paid by the people, I am quite +inclined to sympathize with the subjects who will not pay them if they +can help it. + +We scarcely entered the town of Cholula, which is a poor place now, +though it was a great city at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The +Spanish city of Puebla, only a few miles off, quite ruined it. + +We went straight to the great pyramid, which lies close to the town, +and which had been rising before us like a hill during the last miles +of our journey. This extraordinary structure is perhaps the oldest ruin +in Mexico, and certainly the largest. A close examination of its +structure in places where the outline is still to some extent +preserved, and a comparison of it with better preserved structures of +the same kind, make it quite clear that it was a terraced _teocalli_, +resembling the drawing called the "Pyramid of Cholula," in Humboldt's +_Vues des Cordilleres_. But let no one imagine that the well-defined +and symmetrical structure represented in that drawing is in the least +like what we saw, and from which Humboldt made the rough sketch, which +he and his artist afterwards "idealized" for his great work. At the +present day, the appearance of the structure is that of a shapeless +tree-grown hill; and until the traveller comes quite close to it he may +be excused for not believing that it is an artificial mound at all. + +The pyramid is built of rows of bricks baked in the sun, and cemented +together with mortar in which had been stuck quantities of small +stones, fragments of pottery, and bits of obsidian knives and weapons. +Between rows of bricks are alternate layers of clay. It was built in +four terraces, of which traces are still to be distinguished; and is +about 200 feet high. Upon the platform at the top stand some trees and +a church. The sides front the four cardinal points, and the base line +is of immense length, over thirteen hundred feet, so that the ascent is +very gradual. + +When we reached Cholula we sent the two men to enquire in the +neighbourhood for antiquities, of which numbers are to be found in +every ploughed field round. At the top of the pyramid we held a market, +and got some curious things, all of small size however. Among them was +a mould for making little jackal-heads in the clay, ready for baking; +the little earthen heads which are found in such quantities in the +country being evidently made by wholesale in moulds of this kind, not +modelled separately. We got also several terra-cotta stamps, used in +old times for stamping coloured patterns upon the native cloth, and +perhaps also for ornamenting vases and other articles of earthenware. +Cholula used to be a famous place for making pottery, and its +red-and-black ware was famous at the time of the Conquest, but the +trade now seems to have left it. We were struck by observing that, +though there was plenty of coloured pottery to be found in the +neighbourhood of the pyramid, the pyramid itself had only fragments of +uncoloured ware imbedded in its structure; which seems to prove that it +was built before the art of colouring pottery was invented. + +They have cut a road through one corner of the pyramid, and this +cutting exposed a chamber within. Humboldt describes this chamber as +roofed with blocks, each overlapping the one before, till they can be +made to meet by a block of ordinary size. This is the false arch so +common in Egypt and Peru, and in the ruined cities of Central America. +Every child who builds houses with a box of bricks discovers it for +himself. The bridge at Tezcuco, already described, is much more +remarkable in its structure. Whether our inspection was careless, or +whether the chamber has fallen in since Humboldt's time, I cannot say, +but we missed this peculiar roof. + +There are several legends about the Pyramid of Cholula. That recorded +by Humboldt on the authority of a certain Dominican friar, Pedro de los +Rios, I mention--not because of its intrinsic value, which is very +slight, but because it will enable us to see the way in which legends +grew up under the hands of the early missionaries, who were delighted +to find fragments of Scripture-history among the traditions of the +Ancient Mexicans, and who seem to have taken down from the lips of +their converts, as native traditions, the very Bible-stories that they +had been teaching them, mixed however with other details, of which it +is hard to say whether they were imagined on purpose to fill up gaps in +the story, or whether they were really of native traditional origin. + +Pedro de los Rios' story tells us that the land of Anahuac was +inhabited by giants; that there was a great deluge, which devastated +the earth; that all the inhabitants were turned into fishes, except +seven who took refuge in a cave (apparently with their wives). Years +after the waters had subsided, and the earth had been re-peopled by +these seven men, their leader began to build a vast pyramid, whose top +should reach to heaven. He built it of bricks baked in the sun, which +were brought from a great distance, passing them from hand to hand by a +file of men. The gods were enraged at the presumption of these men, and +they sent down fire from heaven upon the pyramid, which caused its +building to be discontinued. It is stated that at the time of the +Spanish Conquest, the inhabitants of Cholula preserved with great +veneration a large aerolite, which they said was the thunderbolt that +fell upon the top of the pyramid when the fire struck it. + +The history of the confusion of tongues seems also to have existed in +the country, not long after the Conquest, having very probably been +learnt from the missionaries; but it does not seem to have been +connected with the Tower-of-Babel legend of Cholula. Something like it +at least appears in the Gemelli table of Mexican migrations, reproduced +in Humboldt, where a bird in a tree is sending down a number of tongues +to a crowd of men standing below. + +I think we need not hesitate in condemning the legend of Cholula, which +I have just related, as not genuine, or at least as partly of late +fabrication. But we fortunately possess another version of it, which +shows the legend to have developed itself farther than was quite +discreet. A MS. history, written by Duran in 1579, and quoted by the +Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, relates that people built the pyramid to +reach heaven, finding clay or mud _("terre glaise")_ and a very sticky +_bitumen ("bitume fort gluant")_, with which they began at once to +build, &c. This is evidently the slime or bitumen of the Book of +Genesis; but I believe I may safely assert that the Mexicans never used +bitumen for any such purpose, and that it is not found anywhere near +Cholula. + +The Aztec historians ascribe the building of the Pyramid of Cholula to +the prophet Quetzalcoatl. The legends which relate to this celebrated +personage are to be found in writers on Mexican history, and, more +fully than elsewhere, in the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg's work. + +I am inclined to consider Quetzalcoatl a real personage, and not a +mythical one. He is said to have been a white, bearded man, to have +come from the East, to have reigned in Tollan, and to have been driven +out from thence by the votaries of human sacrifices, which he opposed. +He took refuge in Cholollan, now called Cholula (which means the "place +of the fugitive"), and taught the inhabitants to work in metals, to +observe various fasts and festivals, to use the Toltec calendar of days +and years, and to perform penance to appease the gods. + +A relic of the father of Quetzalcoatl is said to have been kept until +after the Spanish Conquest, when it was opened, and found to contain a +quantity of fair human hair. The prophet himself departed from Cholula, +and put to sea in a canoe, promising to return. So strong was the +belief in the tradition of these events among the Aztecs, that when the +Spaniards appeared on the coast, they were supposed to be of the race +of the prophet, and the strange conduct of Montezuma to Cortes is to be +ascribed to the influence of this belief. + +There is a singular legend, mentioned by the Abbe Brasseur de +Bourbourg, of a white man, with a hooded robe and white beard, bearing +a cross in his hand, who lands at Tehuantepec (on the Pacific coast of +Mexico), and introduces among the Indians auricular confession, +penance, and vows of chastity. + +The coming of white, bearded men from the East, centuries before the +Spanish invasion in the 16th century, and the introduction of new arts +and rites by them in Mexico, is as certain as most historical events of +which we have only legendary knowledge. As to who they were I cannot +offer an opinion. There are, however, one or two points connected with +the presence of the Irish and Northmen in America in the 9th and +following centuries--a period not very far from that ascribed to +Quetzalcoatl--which are worthy of notice. + +The Scandinavian antiquarians make the "white-man's land" +_(Hvitramannaland)_ extend down as far as Florida, on the very Gulf of +Mexico. It is curious to notice the coincidence between the remark of +Bernal Diaz, that the Mexicans called their priests _papa_ (more +properly _papahua_), and that in the old Norse Chronicle, which tells +of the first colonization of Iceland by the Northmen, and relates that +they found living there "Christian men whom the Northmen call _Papa_." +These latter are shown by the context to have been Irish priests. The +Aztec root _teo (teo-tl, God)_ comes nearer to the Greek and Latin, but +is not unlike the Irish _dia_, and the Norse _ty-r_. The Aztec root +_col_ (charcoal) is exactly the Norse _kol_ (our word _coat_), but not +so near to the Irish _gual_. It is desirable to notice such +coincidences, even when they are too slight to ground an argument upon. + +This seems to be the proper place to mention the many Christian +analogies to be found in the customs of the ancient Aztecs. + +Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given to them. +This is certainly true, though the statement that they believed that +the process purified them from original sin is probably a monkish +fiction. Water was consecrated by the priests, and was supposed thus to +acquire magical qualities. In the coronation of kings, anointing was +part of the ceremony, as well as the use of holy water. The festival of +All Souls' Day reminds us of the Aztec feasts of the Dead in the autumn +of each year; and in Mexico the Indians still keep up some of their old +rites on that day. There was a singular rite observed by the Aztecs, +which they called the _teoqualo_, that is, "the eating of the god." A +figure of one of their gods was made in dough, and after certain +ceremonies they made a pretence of killing it, and divided it into +morsels, which were eaten by the votaries as a kind of sacred food. + +We may add to the list the habitual use of incense in the ceremonies: +the existence of monasteries and nunneries, in which the monks wore +long hair, but the nuns had their hair cut off: and the use of the +cross as a religious emblem in Mexico and Central America. + +Less certain is the recorded use of knotted scourges in performing +penance, and the existence of a peculiar kind of auricular confession. + +It is difficult to ascribe this mass of coincidences to mere chance, +and not to see in them traces of connexion, more or less remote, with +Christians. Perhaps these peculiar rites came, with the Mexican system +of astronomy, from Asia; or perhaps the white, bearded men from the +East may have brought them. It is true that such a supposition runs +quite counter to the argument founded on the ignorance of the Mexicans +of common arts known in Europe and Asia. We should have expected +Christian missionaries to have brought with them the knowledge of the +use of iron, and the alphabet. Perhaps our increasing knowledge of the +ancient Mexicans may some day allow us to adopt a theory which shall at +least have the merit of being consistent with itself; but at present +this seems impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + +PUEBLA. NOPALUCAN. ORIZABA. POTRERO. + + + +[Illustration: VIEW OF THE VOLCANO ORIZABA.] + +We reached Puebla in the afternoon, and found it a fine Spanish city, +with straight streets of handsome stone houses, and paved with +flag-stones. We rather wondered at the _pasadizos_, a kind of arched +stone-pavement across the streets at short intervals, very much +impeding the progress of the carriages, which had to go up and down +them upon inclined planes. In the evening we saw the use of them +however, for a shower of rain came down which turned every street into +a furious river within five minutes after the first drop fell. For half +an hour the pasadizos did their duty, letting the water pass through +underneath, while passengers could get across the streets dryshod. At +last, the flood swept clear along, over bridges and all; but this only +lasted a few minutes, and then the way was practicable again. The +moveable iron bridges on wheels, which are to be seen standing in the +streets of Sicilian cities, ready to be wheeled across them for the +benefit of foot-passengers whenever the carriage-way is flooded, are on +the whole a better arrangement. + +We should never have thought, from looking at Puebla, that it had just +been undergoing a siege; for, beyond a few patches of whitewash in the +great square, where the cannon-balls had knocked the houses about, +there were no traces of it. + +We made many enquiries about the siege, and found nothing to invalidate +our former estimate of twenty-five killed,--one per cent of the number +stated in the government manifestos. Among the casualties we heard of +an Englishman who went out to see the fun, and was wounded in a +particularly ignominious manner as he was going back to his house. + +Revolutions and sieges form curious episodes in the life of the foreign +merchants in the Republic. Their trade is flourishing, perhaps,--plenty +of buyers and good prices; and hundreds of mules are on the road, +bringing up their wares from the coast. All at once there is a +pronunciamiento. The street-walls are covered with proclamations. Half +the army takes one side, half the other; and crowds of volunteers and +self-made officers join them, in the hope of present pillage or future +emolument. Barricades appear in the streets; and at intervals there is +to be heard the roaring of cannon, and desultory firing of musketry +from the flat roofs, killing a peaceable citizen now and then, but +doing little execution on the enemy. + +Trade comes to a dead stop. Our merchant gets his house well furnished +with provisions, shuts the outer shutters, locks up the great gates, +and retires into seclusion for a week or a fortnight, or a month or +two, as may be. At the time we were there he used to run no great risk, +for neither party was hostile to him; and if a stray cannon-ball did +hit his house, or the insurgents shot his cook going out on an +expedition in search of fresh beef, it was only by accident. + +Having no business to do, the counting-house would probably take stock, +and balance the books; but when this is finished there is little to be +done but to practice pistol-shooting and hold tournaments in the +court-yard, and to teach the horses to rayar; while the head of the +house sits moodily smoking in his arm-chair, reckoning up how many of +his debtors would be ruined, and wondering whether the loaded mules +with his goods had got into shelter, or had been seized by one party or +the other. + +At last the revolution is over. The new president is inaugurated with +pompous speeches. The newspapers announce that now the glorious reign +of justice, order, and prosperity has begun at last. If the millennium +had come, they could not make much more talk about it. Our unfortunate +friend, coming out of his den only to hear dismal news of runaway +debtors and confiscated bales, has to illuminate his house, and set to +getting his affairs into something like order again. + +Since we left the country things have got even worse. Formerly, all +that the foreign merchants had to suffer were the incidental miseries +of a state of civil war. Now, the revolutionary leaders put them in +prison; and, if threats are not sufficient, they get forced loans out +of them, much as King John did out of his Jews. + +Even in times of peace, foreign goods must be dear in Mexico. In a +country where they have to be carried nearly three hundred miles on +mules' backs, and where credit is so long that the merchant can never +hope to see his money again in less than two years, he cannot be +expected to sell very cheaply. But the continual revolutions and the +insecurity of property make things far worse, and one almost wonders +how foreign trade can go on at all. + +One of our friends in Mexico had three or four hundred mules coming up +the country laden with American cotton for his mill, just when Haro's +revolution began. He got off much better than most people, however; +for, greatly to the disgust of the legitimate authorities, he went down +into the enemy's camp, and gave the revolutionary chief a dollar a bale +to let them go. + +As may be supposed, commercial transactions have often very curious +features here. Strange things happen in the eastern states; but people +there say that they are nothing to the doings on the Pacific coast, +where the merchants get up a revolution when their ships appear in the +offing, and turn out the Custom-house officers, who do not enter upon +their functions again until the rich cargos have started for the +interior. + +One little incident, which happened---I think--at Vera Cruz, rather +amused us. When the Government is hard-up, a favourite way of raising +ready money is to sell--of course at a very low price--orders upon the +Custom-house, to pass certain quantities of goods, duty-free. Such a +transaction as this was concluded between the Minister of Finance and a +merchant's house who gave hard dollars in exchange for an order to pass +so many hundred bales of cotton, free of duty. When the ship arrived at +port, however, the Yankee captain brought in his manifest with a broad +grin upon his face. The inspectors went down to the ship, and stood +aghast. There were the bales of cotton, but such bales! They had to be +shoved and coaxed to get them up through the hatchways at all. The +Customhouse officials protested in vain. The order was for so many +bales of cotton, and these overgrown monsters were bales of cotton, and +the merchants sent them up to Mexico in triumph. + +To us, Puebla was not an interesting city. It was built by the +Spaniards, and called _Puebla de los Angeles_, because angels assisted +in building the cathedral, which does no great credit to their good +taste. Its costly ornaments of gold, silver, jewels, and variegated +marbles, are most extraordinary. One does not know which to wonder at +most, the value and beauty of the materials, or the unmitigated +ugliness of the designs. + +We saw the festival of Corpus Christi while we were in Puebla; but were +to a certain extent disappointed in the display of plate and jewelled +vestments for the clergy, whose attempt to overthrow Comonfort's +government had only resulted in themselves being heavily fined, and who +were in consequence keeping their wealth in the background, and making +as little display as possible. The most interesting part of the +ceremonial to us was to see the processions of Indians from the +surrounding villages, walking crowned with flowers, and carrying +Madonnas in bowers of green branches and blossoms. + +At the head of each procession walked an Indian beating a drum, _tap, +tap, tap_, without a vestige of time. The other processions with stoles +and canopies, and the officials of the city in dress-coats and yellow +kid gloves, were paltry affairs enough. + +Neither during this ceremonial, nor at Easter in the Capital were any +miracles exhibited, like the performances of the Madonna at Palermo, +which the coachmen of the city carry about at Easter, weeping real +tears into a cambric pocket-handkerchief; nor is anything done in the +country like the lighting of the Greek fire, or the melting of the +blood of St. Januarius. + +Puebla pretty much belongs to the clergy, who are paramount there. A +population of some sixty thousand has seventy-two churches, some of +them very large. It is the focus of the church-party, whose steady +powerful resistance to reform is one of the causes of the unhappy +political state of the country. As is usual in cathedral-towns, the +morality of the people is rather lower than elsewhere. I have said +already that the revenues of the Mexican Church are very large. Tejada +estimates the income at twenty millions of dollars yearly, more than +the whole revenue of the State; but this calculation far exceeds that +given by any other authority. He remarks that the Church has always +tried as much as possible to conceal its riches, and probably he makes +a very large allowance for this. At any rate, I think we may reasonably +estimate the annual income of the Church at $10,000,000, or L2,000,000, +two-thirds of the income of the State. + +There is nothing extraordinary in the Church having become very rich by +the accumulations of three centuries in a Spanish colony, where the +manners and customs remained in the 18th century to a great extent as +they were in the 16th, and the practice of giving and leaving great +properties to the Church was in full vigour--long after it had declined +in Europe. It is considered that half the city of Mexico belongs to the +Church. This seems an extraordinary statement; but, if we remember that +in Philip the Second's time half the freehold property of Spain +belonged to the Church, we shall cease to wonder at this. The +extraordinary feature of the case is that, counting both secular and +regular clergy, there are only 4600 ecclesiastics in the country. The +number has been steadily decreasing for years. In 1826 it was 6,000; in +1844 it had fallen to 5,200, in 1856 to 4,600, giving, on the lowest +reckoning, an average of over L200 a year for each priest and monk. A +great part of this income is probably left to accumulate; but, when we +remember that the pay of the country curas is very small, often not +more than L30 to L50, there must be fine incomes left for the +church-dignitaries and the monks. Now any one would suppose that a +profession with such prizes to give away would become more and more +crowded. Why it is not so I cannot tell. It is true that the lives of +the ecclesiastics are anything but respectable, and that the profession +is in such bad odour that many fathers of families, though good +Catholics, will not let a priest enter their houses; but we do not +generally find Mexicans deterred by a little bad reputation from +occupations where much money and influence are to be had for very +little work. + +The ill conduct of the Mexican clergy, especially of the monks, is +matter of common notoriety, and every writer on Mexico mentions it, +from the time of Father Gage--the English friar--who travelled with a +number of Spanish monks through Mexico in 1625, and described the +clergy and the people as he saw them. He was disgusted with their ways, +and, going back to England, turned Protestant, and died Vicar of Deal. + +To show what monastic discipline is in Mexico, I will tell one story, +and only one. An English acquaintance of mine was coming down the Calle +San Francisco late one night, and saw a man who had been stabbed in the +street close to the convent-gate. People sent into the convent to fetch +a confessor for the dying man, but none was to be had. There was only +one monk in the place, and he was bed-ridden. The rest were enjoying +themselves in the city, or fast asleep at their lodgings in the bosom +of their families. + +In condemning the Mexican clergy, some exception must be made. There +are many of the country curas who lead most exemplary lives, and do +much good. So do the priests of the order of St. Vincent de Paule, and +the Sisters of Charity with whom they are associated; but then, few of +these, either priests or sisters, are Mexicans. + +Among the curious odds and ends which we came upon in Puebla, in the +shop of a dealer in old iron and things in general, were two or three +very curious old scourges, made of light iron chains with projecting +points on the links--terrific instruments, once in very general use. Up +to the present time, there are certain nights when penitents assemble +in churches, in total darkness, and kneeling on the pavement, scourge +themselves, while a monk in the pulpit screams out fierce exhortations +to strike harder. The description carries us back at once to the +Egyptian origin of this strange custom; and we think of the annual +festival of Isis, where the multitudes scourged themselves in memory of +the sufferings of Osiris. A story is told of a sceptical individual who +got admission to this ceremony by making great professions of devotion, +and did terrific execution on the backs of his kneeling +fellow-penitents. Before he began, the place was resounding with +doleful cries and groans; but he noticed that the cry which arose when +he struck was not like these other sounds, but had quite a different +accent. The practice of devotional scourging is still kept up in Rome, +but in a very mild form, as it appears that the penitents keep their +coats on, and only use a kind of miniature cat-o'-nine-tails of thin +cord, with a morsel of lead at the end of each tail, and not such +bloodthirsty implements as those we found at Puebla. + +It seemed to us that the great influence of the priests in Mexico was +among the women of all classes, the Indians, and the poorer and less +educated half-castes. The men of the higher classes, especially the +younger ones, did not appear to have much respect for the priests or +for religion, and, indeed, seemed to be sceptical, after the manner of +the French school of freethinking. It was quite curious to see the +young dandies, dressed in their finest clothes, at the doors of the +fashionable churches on Sunday morning. None of them seemed to go to +mass, but they simply went to stare at the ladies, who, as they came +out, had to run the gauntlet through a double line of these critical +young gentlemen. As far as we could see, however, they did not mind +being looked at. The poorer mestizos and Indians, on the other hand, +are still zealous churchmen, and spend their time and money on masses +and religious duties so perseveringly that one wishes they had a +religion which was of some use to them. As it is, I cannot ascertain +that Christianity has produced any improvement in the Mexican people. +They no longer sacrifice and eat their enemies, it is true, but against +this we must debit them with a great increase of dishonesty and general +immorality, which will pretty well square the account. + +Practically, there is not much difference between the old heathenism +and the new Christianity. We may put the dogmas out of the question. +They hear them and believe in them devoutly, and do not understand them +in the least. They had just received the Immaculate Conception, as they +had received many mysteries before it; and were not a little delighted +to have a new occasion for decorating themselves and their churches +with flowers, marching in procession, dancing, beating drums, and +letting off rockets by daylight, as their manner is. The real essence +of both religions is the same to them. They had gods, to whom they +built temples, and in whose honour they gave offerings, maintained +priests, danced and walked in processions--much as they do now, that +their divinities might be favourable to them, and give them good crops +and success in their enterprises. This is pretty much what their +present Christianity consists of. As a moral influence, working upon +the character of the people, it seems scarcely to have had the +slightest effect, except, as I said, in causing them to leave off human +sacrifices, which were probably not an original feature of their +worship, but were introduced comparatively at a late time, and had +already been almost abolished by one king. + +The Indians still show the greatest veneration for a priest; and Heller +well illustrates this feeling when he tells us how he happened to ride +through the country in a long black cloak, and the Indians he met on +the road used to fall on their knees as he passed, and ask for his +blessing, regardless of the deep mud and their white trousers. However, +this was ten years before we were in the country, and I doubt whether +the cloak would get so much veneration now. The best measure of the +influence of the Church is the fact that when Mexico adopted a +republican constitution, in imitation of that of the United States, it +was settled that no Church but that of Rome should be tolerated in the +country; and this law still remains one of the fundamental principles +of the State, in which universal liberty and equality, freedom of the +press, and absolute religious intolerance form rather a strange jumble. +It is curious to observe that, though the Independence confirmed the +authority of the Roman Catholic religion, it considerably reduced the +church-revenues, by making the payment of tithes a matter of mere +option. The Church--of course--diligently preaches the necessity of +paying tithes, putting their obligation in the catechism, between the +ten commandments and the seven sacraments, and they still get a good +deal in this way. + +We sent our horses to the bath at Pueblo. This is usually done once a +week in the cities of Mexico. We went once to see the process while we +were in the capital, and were very much amused. The horses had been to +the place before, and turned in of their own accord through a gateway +in a shabby back street; and when they got into the courtyard, began to +dance about in such a frantic manner that the _mozos_ could hardly hold +them in while their saddles and bridles were being taken off. Then they +put their heads down, and bolted into a large shed, with a sort of +floor of dust several inches deep, in which six or eight other horses +were rushing about, kicking, prancing, plunging, and literally +screaming with delight. I will not positively assert that I saw an old +white horse stand upon his head in a corner and kick with all his four +legs at once, but he certainly did something very much like it. +Presently the old _mozo_ walked into the shed, with his lazo over his +arm, and carelessly flung the noose across. Of course it fell over the +right horse's neck, when the animal was quiet in a moment, and walked +out after the old man in quite a subdued frame of mind. One horse came +out after another in the same way, took his swim obediently across a +great tank of water, was rubbed down, and went off home in high +spirits. + +Though slavery has long been abolished in the Republic, there still +exists a curious "domestic institution" which is nearly akin to it. It +is not peculiar to the plains of Puebla, but flourishes there more than +elsewhere. It is called "_peonaje_," and its operation is in this wise. +If a debtor owes money and cannot pay it, his creditor is allowed by +law to make a slave or _peon _of him until the debt is liquidated. +Though the name is Spanish, I believe the origin of the custom is to be +found in an Aztec usage which prevailed before the Conquest. + +A _peon_ means a man on foot, that is, a labourer, journeyman, or +foot-soldier. We have the word in English as "_pioneer_" and as the +"_pawn_" among chessmen; but I think not with any meaning like that it +has come to bear in Mexico. + +On the great haciendas in the neighbourhood of Puebla, the Indian +labourers are very generally in this condition. They owe money to their +masters, and are slaves; nominally till they can work off the sum they +owe, but practically for their whole lives. Even should they earn +enough to be able to pay their debt, the contract cannot be cancelled +so easily. A particular day is fixed for striking a balance, generally, +I believe, Easter Monday, just after a season when the custom of +centuries has made it incumbent upon the Indians to spend all that they +have and all that they can borrow upon church-fees, wax-candles, and +rockets, for the religious ceremonies of the season, and the drunken +debauches which form an essential part of the festival. The masters, or +at least the _administradors_, are accused of mystifying the annual +statement of accounts between the labourer and the estate, and it is +certain that the Indian's feeble knowledge of arithmetic leaves him +quite helpless in the hands of the bookkeeper; but whether this is mere +slander or not, we never had any means of ascertaining. + +Long servitude has obliterated every feeling of independence from the +minds of these Indians. Their fathers were slaves, and they are quite +content to be so too. Totally wanting in self-restraint, they cannot +resist the slightest temptation to run into debt; and they are not +insensible to the miserable advantage which a slave enjoys over a free +labourer, that his master, having a pecuniary interest in him, will not +let him starve. They have a cat-like attachment to the places they live +in; and to be expelled from the estate they were born on, and turned +out into the world to get a living, we are told by writers on Mexico, +is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon them. + +There was nothing that we could see in the appearance of these _peons_ +to distinguish them from ordinary free Indians; and our having +travelled hastily through the district where the system prevails does +not give us a right to judge of its working. We can but compare the +opinions of writers who have studied it, and who speak of it in terms +of the strongest reprobation, as deliberately using the moral weakness +of the Indians as a means of reducing them to slavery. Sartorius, +however, takes the other side, and throws the whole blame upon the +careless improvident character of the brown men, whose masters are +obliged to lend them money to supply their pressing wants, and must +take the only security they can get. He says, and truly enough, that +the system works wretchedly both for masters and labourers. Any one who +knows the working of the common English system of allowing workmen to +run into debt with the view of retaining them permanently in their +master's service may form some faint idea of the way in which this +Mexican debt-slavery destroys the energy and self-reliance of the +people. + +But in one essential particular Sartorius mis-states the case. It is +not the money which the masters lend the _peons_ to help them in +distress and sickness that keeps them in slavery. It is the money spent +in wax-candles and rockets, and such like fooleries, for Easter and All +Saints; in the reckless profusion of drunken feasts on the days of +their patron saints, and on the occasion of births, deaths, and +marriages. These feasts are as utterly disproportioned to the means of +the givers as the Irish wakes which reduce whole families to beggary. +The sums of money spent upon them are provided by the owners of the +estates, who know exactly how they are to be spent. If they preferred +that their labourers should be free from debt, they could withhold this +money; and their not doing so proves that it is their desire to keep +the _peons_ in a state of slavery, and throws the whole blame of the +system upon them. + +I have spoken of the _peons_ as Indians, and so they are for the most +part in the districts we visited; but travellers who have been in +Chihuahua and other northern states tell stories of creditors +travelling through the country to collect their debts, and, where money +was not forthcoming, collecting their debtors instead,--not merely +brown Indians, but also nearly white mestizos. + +Mexico is one of the countries in which the contrast between great +riches and great poverty is most striking. No traveller ever enters the +country without making this remark. The mass of the people are hardly +even with the world; and there are some few capitalists whose incomes +can scarcely be matched in England or Russia. Yet this state of things +has not produced a permanent aristocracy. + +The general history of great fortunes repeats itself with monotonous +regularity. Fortunate miners or clever speculators, who have happened +to possess the gift of accumulating in addition to that of getting, +often make colossal fortunes. Miners have made the greatest sums, and +made them most rapidly. Fortunes of two or three millions sterling are +not uncommon now, and we often meet with them in the history of the +last century. They never seem to have lasted many years. Before the +Independence, the capitalist used to buy a patent of nobility, and +leave great sums to his children to maintain the new dignity; but they +hardly ever seem to have done anything but squander away their +inheritance, and we find the family returning to its original poverty +by the third or fourth generation. + +Mexico is an easy place to make money in, in spite of the continual +disorders that prevail. In the mining-districts most men make money at +some time or other. The difficulty lies in keeping it. There seems to +be no training better suited for making a capitalist than the life of +the retail shopkeeper, especially in the neighbourhood of a mine. A +good share of all the money that is won and of all that is lost stops +in his till. Whoever makes a lucky hit in a mining-speculation, he has +a share of the profits, and when there is a "good thing" going, he is +on the spot to profit by it. + +When once a man becomes a capitalist, there are many very profitable +ways of employing his money. Mines and cotton-factories pay well, so do +cattle-haciendas in the north, when honest administradors can be got to +manage them; and discounting merchants' bills is a lucrative business. +But far better than these ordinary investments are the monopolies, such +as the farming of the tobacco-duty, the mints, and those mysterious +transactions with the government in which ready cash is exchanged for +orders to pass goods at the Custom-house, and the other financial +transactions familiar to those who know the shifts and mystifications +of that astonishing institution, the Finance-department of Mexico. + +We rode from Puebla to Orizaba. Amozoque, the first town on the road, +is a famous place for spurs, and we bought some. They are of blue steel +inlaid with strips of silver, and the rowel is a sort of cogged wheel, +from an inch and a half to three inches in diameter. _(See page 220.)_ +They look terrific instruments, but really the cogs or points of the +rowels are quite blunt, and they keep the horse going less by hurting +him than by their incessant jingling, which is increased by bits of +steel put on for the purpose. Monstrous as the spurs now used are, they +are small in comparison with those of a century or two ago. One reads +of spurs, of gold and silver, with rowels in the shape of five-pointed +stars six inches in diameter. These have quite gone out now, and seem +to have been melted up, for they are hardly ever to be seen; but we +bought at the _baratillo_ of Mexico spurs of steel quite as large as +this. + +My companion sent to the Art-exhibition at Manchester a couple of pairs +of the ordinary spurs of the country, such as we ourselves and +everybody else wore. They were put among the mediaeval armour, and +excited great admiration in that capacity! + +We slept at Nopalucan that night, and rode on next day to San Antonio +de Abajo, a little out-of-the-way village at the foot of the mountain +of Orizaba. Our principal adventure in the day's ride was that, finding +that our road made a detour of a mile or so round a beautiful piece of +green turf, we boldly struck across it, and nearly lamed our horses +thereby; for the ground was completely undermined by moles, and at +every third step the horses' feet went into a deep hole. We had to get +off and lead them back to the road. + +Orizaba is the great feature in the scenery of this district of Mexico. +It is one point in the line of volcanos which stretches across the +continent from east to west. It is a conical mountain, like +Popocatepetl, and about the same height; measurements vary from twenty +feet higher to sixty feet lower. The crater has fallen in on one side, +leaving a deep notch clearly visible from below. At present, as we hear +from travellers who have ascended it, the crater, like that of +Popocatepetl, is in the condition of a _solfatara_, sending out jets of +steam and sulphurous acid gas. About three centuries ago its eruptions +were frequent; and its Mexican name, _Citlaltepetl_, "Mountain of the +Star," carries us back to the time when it showed in the darkness a +star-like light from its crater, like that of Stromboli at the present +time, when one sees it from a distance. + +San Antonio de Abajo is a quaint little village, frequented by +muleteers and smugglers. Tobacco, the principal contraband article, is +grown in the plains just below; and, once carried up into the paths +among the mountains, it is hard for any custom-house officer to catch +sight of it. + +When there was a government, there used sometimes to be fighting +between the revenue-officers and the smugglers; but now, if there is a +meeting, a few dollars will settle the disputed question to the +satisfaction of both parties, so that the contraband trade, though +profitable, is by no means so exciting as it used to be. + +On the road towards San Antonio we saw ancient remains in the banks by +the road-side, but had no time for a regular examination. We slept on +damp mattresses in a room of the inn, where the fowls roosted on the +rafters above our heads, and walked over our faces in the early morning +in an unpleasant manner. We started before daybreak, and a descent down +a winding road, through a forest of pines and oaks, brought us by seven +in the morning from the region of pines and barley down to the district +where tobacco and the sugar-cane flourish, at the level of 3,000 to +4,000 feet above the sea. + +We met a jaunty-looking party in the valley, two women and five or six +men, all on good horses, and dressed in the extreme of fashion which +the Mexican _ranchero_ affects--broad-brimmed hats with costly gold and +silver serpents for hat-bands, and clothes and saddles glittering with +silver. Martin rode up to us as they passed, and said he knew them well +for the boldest highwaymen in Mexico. Had we started an hour or two +later we should have met them in the forest, and have had an adventure +to tell of. As it was, the descent of three thousand feet had brought +us from a land of thieves to a region where highway robbery is never +known, unless when a party from the high lands come down on a marauding +expedition. It is an unquestionable fact that the Mexican robbers, +whose exploits have become a matter of world-wide notoriety, all belong +to the cold region of the plateaus, the _tierra fria_. Once down in the +_tierra templada_, or the _tierra caliente_, the temperate or the hot +regions, you hear no more of them; or at least this is the case in the +parts of Mexico we visited. The reason is clear; it is only on the +plateaus that the whites, preferring a region where the climate was not +unlike that of Castile, settled in large numbers; so that it is there +that Creoles and mestizos predominate, and they are the robbers. + +We rode over great beds of gravel, cut up in deep trenches by the +mountain-streams; then along the banks of the river, among plantations +of tobacco, looking like beds of lettuces. As we were riding along the +valley, we saw before us a curious dark cloud, hanging over some fields +near the river. Our men, who had seen the appearance before, recognized +it at once as a flight of locusts, and, turning out of the high-road, +we came upon them just as they had settled on a clump of trees in a +meadow. They covered the branches and foliage until only the outline of +the trees was visible, while the rest of the swarm descended on a green +hedge, and on the grass. As for us, we went and knocked them down with +our riding-whips, and carried away specimens in our hats; but the +survivors took no manner of notice of us, and in about ten minutes they +left the trees mere skeletons, leafless and stripped of their bark, and +moved across the field in a dense mass towards some fruit-trees a +little way off. For days after this, when we met with travellers on the +road, or stopped at the door of a cottage to get a light or something +to drink, and chatted a few minutes with the inhabitants, we found that +our descent of the mountain-pass had brought us into a new set of +interests. News of the government and of the revolutionary party +excited no curiosity,--talk of robbers still less. At every house the +question was, "?_De donde vienen, Senores_?" "Where are you from, +gentlemen?"--and when we told them, "?_Y estaban alli las langostas_?" +"And were the locusts there?" The whole country was being devastated by +them; and the large rewards offered for them to the peasants, though +they caused dead locusts to be brought by tons, seemed hardly to +diminish their numbers. Firing guns had some slight effect in driving +off the swarms of locusts; and in some places the reports of muskets +were to be heard, at short intervals, all day long. Some idea of the +destruction caused by the locusts may be formed from the fact that in +six weeks they doubled the price of grain in the district. Fortunately, +they only appear in such numbers about once in half a century. + +We had ridden a hundred miles over a rough country in the last +forty-eight hours, and were glad to get a rest at Orizaba; but on the +morning of the third day we were in the saddle again, accompanied by a +new friend, the English administrador of the cotton-mill at Orizaba. +Until we left the high-road, the country seemed well cultivated, with +plantations of tobacco, coffee, and sugar-cane; but as soon as we +turned into by-paths and struck across country, we found woods and +grassy patches, but little tilled ground, until we arrived at the +Indian village which we had gone out of our way to visit, Amatlan, that +is to say, "_The place of paper_." + +In its arrangement this village was like the one that I have already +described, with its scattered huts of canes and palm-leaf thatch; but +the vegetation indicated a more tropical climate. Large fields, the +joint property of the community, were cultivated with pine-apples in +close rows, now just ripening; and bananas, with broad leaves and heavy +clusters of fruit, were growing in the little garden belonging to each +hut. The inhabitants stared at us sulkily, and gave short answers to +our questions. We went to the cottage of the Indian alcalde, who +declared that there was nothing to eat or drink in the village, though +we were standing in his doorway and could see the strings of plantains +hanging to the roof, and the old women were hard at work cooking. +However, when Mr. G. explained who he was, the old man became more +placable; and we were soon sitting on mats and benches inside the hut, +on the best of terms with the whole village. The life of these people +is simple enough, and not unsuited to their beautiful climate. The +white men have never interfered much with them; and it has been their +pride for centuries to keep as much as possible from associating with +Europeans, whom they politely speak of as _coyotes_, jackals. The +priest was a _mestizo_, and, as the Alcalde said, he was the only +_coyote_ in the settlement; but his sacred office neutralized the +dislike that his parishioners felt for his race. + +These Indian communities always rejoiced in being able to produce for +themselves almost everything necessary for their simple wants; but of +late years the law of supply and demand has begun to undermine this +principle, and the cotton-cloth, spun and woven at home, is yielding to +the cheaper material supplied by the factories. Though so averse to +receiving Europeans among them, they do not object to go themselves to +work for good wages on the plantations. Those who leave their native +place, however, bring back with them tastes and wants hitherto unknown, +and inconsistent with their primitive way of life. + +Another habit of theirs brings them into contact with the "reasonable +people," not to their advantage. They are excessively litigious, and +their continual law-suits take them to the large towns where the courts +of justice are held, and where lawyers' fees swallow up a large +proportion of their savings. There is a natural connexion between +farming and law-suits; and the taste for writs and hard swearing is as +remarkable among this agricultural people as it is among our own small +farmers in England. + +Theoretically, the Indians in their villages live under the general +government, like any other citizens; for, since the establishment of +the republic, the civil disabilities which had kept them down for three +centuries were all abolished at a sweep, and the brown people have +their votes, and are eligible for any office. Practically, these +advantages do not come to much at present, for custom, which is +stronger than law, keeps them under the government of their own +aristocracy, composed of certain families whose nobility dates beyond +the Conquest, and was always recognized by the Spaniards. These noble +Indians seem to be pretty much as dirty, as ignorant, and as idle as +the plebeians--the ordinary field-labourers or "_earth-hands_" +(_tlalmaitl_), as they were called in ancient times,--and a stranger +cannot recognize their claims to superiority by anything in their +houses, dress, language, or bearing; nevertheless, they are the +patrician families, and republicanism has not yet deprived them of +their power over the other Indians. In early times, when men of white +or mixed blood were few in the country, it suited the Spanish +government to maintain the authority of these families, who collected +the taxes and managed the estates of the little communities. The common +people were the sufferers by this arrangement, for the Alcaldes of +their own race cheated them without mercy, and were harder upon them +than even their white rulers, just as on slave-estates a black driver +is much severer than a white one. + +Near some of the houses we noticed that curious institution--the +_temazcalli_, which corresponds exactly to the Russian vapour-bath. It +is a sort of oven, into which the bather creeps on all fours, and lies +down, and the stones at one end are heated by a fire outside. Upon +these stones the bather sprinkles cold water, which fills the place +with suffocating steam. When he feels himself to have been sufficiently +sweated, he crawls out again, and has jars of cold water poured over +him; whereupon he dresses himself (which is not a long process, as he +only wears a shirt and a pair of drawers), and so goes in to supper, +feeling much refreshed. If he would take the cold bath only, and keep +the hot one for his clothes, which want it sadly, it would be all the +better for him, for the constant indulgence in this enervating luxury +weakens him very much. One would think the bath would make the Indians +cleanly in their persons, but it hardly seems so, for they look rather +dirtier after they have been in the _temazcalli_ than before, just as +the author of _A Journey due North_ says of the Russian peasants. + +To us the most interesting question about the Mexican Indians of this +district was this, _Why are there so few of them?_ There are five +thousand square leagues in the State of Vera Cruz, and about fifty +inhabitants to the square league. Now, let us consider half the State, +which is at a low level above the sea, as too hot and unhealthy for men +to flourish in, and suppose the whole population concentrated on the +other half, which lies upon the rising ground from three thousand to +six thousand feet above the sea. This is not very far from the truth, +and gives us one hundred inhabitants to the square league--about +one-sixth of the population of the plains of Puebla, in a climate which +may be compared to that of North Italy, and where the chief products +are maize and European grain. + +In the district of the lower temperate region, which we are now +speaking of, nature would seem to have done everything to encourage the +formation of a dense population. In the lower part of this favoured +region the banana grows. This plant requires scarcely any labour in its +cultivation; and, according to the most moderate estimate, taking an +acre of wheat against an acre of bananas, the bananas will support +twenty times as many people as the wheat. Though it is a fruit of +sweet, rather luscious taste, and only acceptable to us Europeans as +one small item of our complicated diet, the Indians who have been +brought up in the districts where it flourishes can live almost +entirely upon it, just as the inhabitants of North Africa live upon +dates. + +In the upper portion of this district, where the banana no longer +flourishes, nutritious plants produce an immense yield with easy +cultivation. The _yucca_ which produces cassava, rice, the sweet +potato, yams, all flourish here, and maize produces 200 to 300 fold. +According to the accepted theory among political economists, where the +soil produces with slight labour an abundant nutriment for man, there +we ought to find a teeming population, unless other counteracting +causes are to be found. + +The history of the country, as far as we can get at it, indicates a +movement in the opposite direction. Judging from the numerous towns the +Spanish invaders found in the district, the numbers of armed men they +could raise, and the abundance of provisions, we must reckon the +population at that time to have been more dense than at present; and +the numerous ruins of Indian settlements that exist in the upper +temperate region are unquestionable evidence of the former existence of +an agricultural people, perhaps ten times as numerous as at present. +The ruins of their fortifications and temples are still to be seen in +great numbers, and the soil all over large districts is full of the +remains of their pottery and weapons. + +How far these settlements were depopulated by wars before the Spanish +Conquest, it is not easy to say. During the Conquest itself they did +not offer much resistance to the European invaders, and consequently +they escaped the wholesale destruction which fell upon the more +patriotic inhabitants of the higher regions. Since that time the +country has been peaceable enough; and even since the Mexican +Independence, the wars and revolutions which have done so much injury +to the inhabitants of the plateaus have not been much felt here. + +In reasoning upon Mexican statistics we have to go to a great extent +upon guess-work. A very slight investigation, however, shows that the +calculation made in Mexico, that the population increases between one +and two per cent. annually, is incorrect. The present population of the +country is reckoned at a little under eight millions; and in 1806, it +seems, from the best authorities we can get, to have been a little +under six millions. Even this rate of increase, one-third every +half-century, is far above the rate of increase since the Conquest; +for, at that rate, a population a little over a million and a quarter +would have brought up the number to what it is at present, and we +cannot at the lowest estimation suppose the inhabitants after the siege +of Mexico to have been less than three or four millions. So that, badly +as Mexico is now going on with regard to the increase of its +population, about 1/2 per cent. per annum, while England increases over +1-1/2 per cent., and the United States twice as much, we may still +discern an improvement upon the times of the Spanish dominion, when it +was almost stationary. + +Why then has this fertile and beautiful country only a small fraction +of the number of inhabitants that formerly lived in it? That it is not +caused by the climate being unfavourable to man is clear, for this +district is free from the intense heat and the pestilential fevers of +the low lands which lie nearer the sea. + +It is a noticeable fact that the remains of the old settlements +generally lie above the district where the banana grows; and the higher +we rise above the sea, the more abundant do we find the signs of +ancient population, until we reach the level of 8,000 feet or a little +higher. The actual inhabitants at the present day are distributed +according to the same rule, increasing in numbers, according to the +elevation, from 3,000 to 8,000 feet, after which the severity of the +climate causes a rapid decrease. + +In making these observations, I leave out of the question the hot +unhealthy coast-lands of the _tierra caliente_, and the cold and +comparatively sterile plains of the _tierra fria_, and confine myself +to that part of the country which lies between the altitudes of 3,000 +and 8,000 feet, between which limits the European races flourish under +circumstances of climate which also suited the various Mexican races, +who probably came from a colder northern country. Now, if we begin to +descend from the level of the Mexican plateau--say 8,000 feet above the +sea--we find that less and less labour will provide nourishment for the +cultivator of the soil, until we reach the limit of the banana, where +the inhabitants ought to be crowded together like Chinese on their +rice-grounds, or the inhabitants of Egypt in the time of Herodotus. +Exactly the opposite rule takes effect; the banana-country is a mere +wilderness, and the higher the traveller rises the more abundant become +both present population and the remains of ancient settlements. + +I suppose the reason of this is to be found in the habits and +constitution of the tribes who colonized the country, and preferred to +settle in a climate resembling that of their native land, without +troubling themselves about the extra labour it would cost them to +obtain their food. The European invaders have acted precisely in the +same way; and the distribution of the white and partly white +inhabitants of the country follows the same rule as that of the +Indians. + +So far the matter is intelligible, on the principle that the +constitution and habits of the races which have successively taken up +their residence in the country have been strong enough to prevail over +the rule which regulates the supply of men by the abundance of food; +but this does not explain the fact of an actual diminution of the +inhabitants of the lower temperate districts. They were not mere +migratory tribes, staying for a few years before moving forward. They +had been settled in the country long enough to be perfectly +acclimatized; and yet, under circumstances apparently so favourable to +their increase, they have been diminishing for centuries, and are +perhaps even doing so now. + +The only intelligible solution I can find for this problem is that +given by Sartorius, whose work on Mexico is well known in Germany, and +has been translated and published in England. This author's remarks on +the condition of the Indians are very valuable; and, as he was for +years a planter in this very district, he may be taken as an excellent +authority on the subject. He considers the evil to lie principally in +the diet and habits of the people. The children are not weaned till +very late, and then are allowed to feed all day without restriction on +boiled maize, or beans, or whatever other vegetable diet may be eaten +by the family. The climate does not dispose them to take much exercise; +so that this unwholesome cramming with vegetable food has nothing to +counteract its evil effects, and the poor little children get miserably +pot-bellied and scrofulous,--an observation of which we can confirm the +truth. A great proportion of the children die young, and those that +grow up have their constitutions impaired. Then they live in close +communities, and marry "in-and-in," so that the effect of unhealthy +living becomes strengthened into hereditary disease; and habitual +intemperance does its work upon their constitutions, though the +quantities of raw spirits they consume appear to produce scarcely any +immediate effect. Among a race in this bodily condition, the ordinary +epidemics of the country--cholera, small-pox, and dysentery--make +fearful havoc. Whole villages have often been depopulated in a few days +by these diseases; and a deadly fever which used to appear from time to +time among the Indians, until the last century, sometimes carried off +ten thousand and twenty thousand at once. It seemed to me worth while +to make some remarks about this question, with a view of showing that +the theory as to the relation between food and population, though +partly true, is not wholly so; and that in the region of which we have +been speaking it can be clearly shown to fail. + +After spending a long morning with the Indians and their _cura_, we +took quite an affectionate leave of them. Their last words were an +apology for making us pay threepence apiece for the pineapples which we +loaded our horses with. In the season, they said, twelve for sixpence +is the price, but the fruit was scarce and dear as yet. + +Our companion, besides being engaged in the Orizaba cotton-mill, was +one of the owners of the sugar-hacienda of the Potrero, below Cordova, +and we all rode down there together from the Indian village, and spent +the evening in walking about the plantation, and inspecting the new +machinery and mills. It was a pleasant sight to see the people coming +to the well with their earthen jars, after their work was done, in an +unceasing procession, laughing and chattering. They were partly Indian, +but with a considerable admixture of negro blood, for many black slaves +were brought into the country in old times by the Spanish planters. +Now, of course, they and their descendants are free, and the hotter +parts of Mexico are the paradise of runaway slaves from Louisiana and +Texas; for, so far from their race being despised, the Indian women +seek them as husbands, liking their liveliness and good humour better +than the quieter ways of their own countrymen. Even Europeans settled +in Mexico sometimes take wives of negro blood. + +I have never noticed in any country so large a number of mixed races, +whose parentage is indicated by their features and complexion. In +Europe, the parent races are too nearly alike for the children of such +mixed marriages to be strikingly different from either parent. In +America and the West Indies we are familiar with the various mixtures +of white and negro, mulatto, quadroon, &c.; but in Mexico we have three +races, Spanish, pure Mexican, and Negro, which, with their +combinations, make a list of twenty-five varieties of the human race, +distinguishable from one another, and with regular names, which Mayer +gives in his work on Mexico, such as _mulatto, mestizo, zambo, chino_, +and so forth. Here all the brown Mexican Indians are taken as one race, +and the Red Indians of the frontier-states are not included at all. If +we come to dividing out the various tribes which have been or still are +existing in the country, we can count over a hundred and fifty, with +from fifty to a hundred distinct languages among them. + +Out of this immense variety of tribes, we can make one great +classification. The men of one race are brown in complexion, and have +been for ages cultivators of the land. It is among them only that the +Mexican civilization sprang up, and they still remain in the country, +having acquiesced in the authority of the Europeans, and to a great +extent mingled with them by marriage. This class includes the Aztecs, +Acolhuans, Chichemecs, Zapotecs, &c., the old Toltecs, the present +Indians of Central America, and, if we may consider them to be the same +race, the nations who built the now ruined cities of Palenque, Copan, +Uxmal, and so forth. The other race is that of the Red Indians who +inhabit the prairie-states of North Mexico, such as the Apaches, +Comanches, and Navajos. They are hunters, as they always were, and they +will never preserve their existence by adopting agriculture as their +regular means of subsistence, and settling in peace among the white +men. As it has been with their countrymen further north, so it will be +with them; a few years more, and the Americans will settle Chihuahua +and Sonora, and we shall only know these tribes by specimens of their +flint arrow-heads and their pipes in collections of curiosities, and +their skulls in ethnological cabinets. + +One of the strangest races (or varieties, I cannot say which) are the +_Pintos_ of the low lands towards the Pacific coast. A short time +before we were in the country General Alvarez had quartered a whole +regiment of them in the capital; but when we were there they had +returned with their commander into the tierra caliente towards +Acapulco. They are called _"Pintos"_ or painted men, from their faces +and bodies being marked with great daubs of deep blue, like our British +ancestors; but here the decoration is natural and cannot be effaced. + +They have the reputation of being a set of most ferocious savages; and, +badly armed as they are with ricketty flint- or match-locks, and sabres +of hoop-iron, they are the terror of the other Mexican soldiery, +especially when the war has to be carried on in the hot pestilential +coast-region, their native country. + +CHAR XII. + +CHALCHICOMULA. JALAPA. VERA CRUZ. CONCLUSION. + +[Illustration: INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU. _(After Nebel.)_] + +The mountain-slopes which descend from the Sierra Madre eastward toward +the sea are furrowed by _barrancas_--deep ravines with perpendicular +sides, and with streams flowing at the bottom. But here all these +_barrancas_ run almost due east and west, so that our journey from Vera +Cruz to Mexico was made, as far as I can recollect, without crossing +one. Now, the case was quite different. We had to go from the Potrero +to the city of Jalapa, about fifty miles on the map, nearly northward, +and to get over these fifty miles cost us two days and a half of hard +riding. + +By the road it cannot be much less than eighty miles; but people used +to tell us that, during the American war, an Indian went from Orizaba +to Jalapa with despatches within the twenty-four hours, probably by +mountain-paths which made it a little shorter. He came quite easily +into Jalapa at the same shuffling trot which he had kept up almost +without intermission for the whole distance. This is the Indian's +regular pace when he is on a journey, and I believe that the Red +Indians of the north have a similar gait. + +We used sometimes to see a village or a house three or four miles off, +and count upon reaching it in half an hour. But a few steps further on +there would be a barranca, invisible till we came close to it, perhaps +not more than a few hundred feet wide, so that it was easy to talk to +people on the other bank. But the bottom of the chasm might be five +hundred or a thousand feet below us; and the only way to cross was to +ride along the bank, often for miles, until we reached a place where it +had been possible to make a steep bridle-path zigzagging down to the +stream below, and up again on the other side. It is only here and there +that even such paths can be made, for the walls of rock are generally +too steep even for any vegetation, except grass and climbing plants in +the crevices. Our half-hour's ride, as we supposed it would be, would +often extend to two or three hours, for on these slopes two or three +barrancas--large and small---have sometimes to be crossed within as +many miles. + +If our journey had been even slower and more difficult, we should not +have regretted it; the country through which we were riding was so +beautiful. There were but few inhabitants, and the landscape was much +as nature had left it. The great volcano of Orizaba came into view now +and then with its snowy cone,[23] mountain-streams came rushing along +the ravines, and the forests of oaks were covered with innumerable +species of orchids and creepers, breaking down the branches with their +weight. Many kinds were already in flower, and their great blossoms of +white, purple, blue, and yellow, stood out against the dark green of +the oak-leaves. Wherever a mountain-stream ran down some shady little +valley, there were tree-ferns thirty feet high, with the new fronds +forming a tuft at the top of the old scarred trunk. Round the Indian +cottages were cactuses with splendid crimson flowers, daturas with +brilliant white blossoms, palm- and fruit-trees of fifty kinds. We +stopped at one of the cottages, and bought an armadillo that had just +been caught in the woods close by, while routing among his favourite +ants' nests. He was put into a palm-leaf basket, which held him all but +the tip of his long taper tail, which, like the rest of his body, was +covered with rings of armour fitting beautifully into one another. One +of our men carried him thus in his arms to Jalapa. + +The Mexicans call an armadillo "_ayotochtli_," that is, +"tortoise-rabbit," a name which will be appreciated by any one who +knows the appearance of the little animal. + +The villages and towns we passed were dismal places enough, and the +population scanty; but that this had not always been the case was +evident from the numerous remains of ancient Indian mound-forts or +temples which we passed on our road, indicating the existence of large +towns at some former period. There is a drawing in Lord Kingsborough's +work of a _teocalli_ or pyramid at San Andres Chalchicomula, which we +seem to have missed on account of the darkness having come on before we +reached the town. We were several times deceived that evening by the +fireflies, which we took for lights moving about in some village just +ahead of us; and we became so incredulous at last that we would not +believe we had reached our journey's end until we could made out the +dim outlines of the houses. At the inn at San Andres we found that we +could have no rooms, as all the little windowless dens were occupied by +people from the country who had come in for a _fiesta_. There were +indeed a good many men loafing about the courtyard, but scarcely any +women, and we could hardly understand a fandango happening without +them. They thought otherwise, however; and presently, hearing the +tinkling of a guitar, we went out and saw two great fellows in broad +hats, jackets, and serapes, solemnly dancing opposite to one another; +while more men looked on, smoking cigarettes, and an old fellow with a +face like a baboon was squatting in one corner and producing the music +we had heard. To do them justice, I must say that we found, on further +enquiry, they had not come from their respective ranchos merely to make +fools of themselves in this way, but that there was to be some +horsefair in the neighbourhood next day, and they were going there. + +Our not being able to get any supper but eggs and bread, and having to +sleep on the supper-table afterwards, confirmed us in the theory we +were beginning to adopt, that nature and mankind vary in an inverse +ratio; and we were off at daybreak, delighted to get into the forest +again. We rode over hill and dale for four or five hours, and then +along the edge of a barranca for the rest of the day. This was one of +the grandest chasms we had ever seen, even in Mexico. It was four or +five miles wide, and two or three thousand feet deep, and its floor was +a mass of tropical verdure, with here and there an Indian rancho and a +patch of cultivated ground on the bank of the rapid river, whose sound +we heard when we approached the edge of the barranca. There were more +orchids and epidendrites than ever in the forest. In some places they +had killed every third tree, by forming so and close a covering over +its branches as to destroy its life; they were flourishing unimpaired +on the rotting branches of trees which they had brought down to the +ground years before. The rainy season had not yet set in in this part +of the country; and, though we could hear the rushing of the torrent +below, we looked in vain for water in the forest, until our man Martin +showed us the _bromelias_ in the forks of the branches, in the inside +of whose hollow leaves nature has laid up a supply of water for the +thirsty traveller. + +We loaded our horses with the bulbs of such orchids as were still in +the dry state, and would travel safely to Europe. Sometimes we climbed +into the trees for promising specimens, but oftener contented ourselves +with tearing them from the branches as we rode below. When saddle-bags +and pockets were full, we were for a time at fault, for there seemed no +place for new treasures, when suddenly I remembered a pair of old +trousers. We tied up the ends of the legs, which we filled with +orchids; and the garment travelled to Jalapa sitting in its natural +position across my saddle, to the amazement of such Mexican society as +we met. The contents of the two pendant legs are now producing splendid +flowers in several English hothouses. + +By evening we reached the _Junta_, a place where the great ravine was +joined by a smaller one, and a long slanting descent brought us to the +edge of the river. There was a ferry here, consisting of a raft of logs +which the Indian ferryman hauled across along a stout rope. The horses +were attached to the raft by their halters, and so swam across. On the +point of land between the two rivers the Indians had their huts, and +there we spent the night. We chose the fattest _guajalote_ of the +turkey-pen, and in ten minutes he was simmering in the great earthen +pot over the fire, having been cut into many pieces for convenience of +cooking, and the women were busy grinding Indian corn to be patted out +into tortillas. While supper was getting ready, and Mr. Christy's day's +collection of plants was being pressed (the country we had been passing +through is so rich that the new specimens gathered that day filled +several quires of paper), we had a good deal of talk with the brown +people, who could all speak a little Spanish. Some years before, the +two old people had settled there, and set up the ferry. Besides this, +they made nets and caught much fish in the river, and cultivated the +little piece of ground which formed the point of the promontory. While +their descendants went no further than grandchildren the colony had +done very well; but now great-grandchildren had begun to arrive, and +they would soon have to divide, and form a settlement up in the woods +across the river, or upon some patch of ground at the bottom of one of +the barrancas. + +We were interested in studying the home-life of these people, so +different from what we are accustomed to among our peasants of Northern +Europe, whose hard continuous labour is quite unknown here. For the +men, an occasional pull at the _balsas_ (the rafts of the ferry), a +little fishing, and now and then--when they are in the humour for it-- +a little digging in the garden-ground with a wooden spade, or dibbling +with a pointed stick. The women have a harder life of it, with the +eternal grinding and cooking, cotton-spinning, mat-weaving, and tending +of the crowds of babies. Still it is an easy lazy life, without much +trouble for to-day or care for to-morrow. When the simple occupations +of the day are finished, the time does not seem to hang heavy upon +their hands. The men lie about, "thinking of nothing at all;" and the +women--old and young--gossip by the hour, in obedience to that +beneficent law of nature which provides that their talk shall increase +inversely in proportion to what they have to talk about. We find this +law attaining to its most complete fulfilment when they shut themselves +up in nunneries, to escape as much as possible from all sources of +worldly interest, and gossip there more industriously than anywhere +else, as we are informed on very good authority. + +Like all the other Mexican Indians whose houses we visited, the people +here showed but little taste in adorning their dwellings, their dresses +and their household implements. Beyond a few calabashes scraped smooth +and ornamented with coloured devices, and the blue patterns on the +women's cotton skirts, there was scarcely anything to be seen in the +way of ornament. How great was the skill of the Mexicans in ornamental +work at the time of the Conquest, we can tell from the carved work in +wood and stone preserved in museums, the graceful designs on the +pottery, the tapestry, and the beautiful feather-work; but this taste +has almost disappeared in the country. Just in the same way, contact +with Europeans has almost destroyed the little decorative arts among +most barbarous people, as, for example, the Red Indians and the natives +of the Pacific Islands; and what little skill in these things is left +among them is employed less for themselves than in making curious +trifles for the white people, and even in these we find that European +patterns have mixed with the old designs, or totally superseded them. + +The Indians lodged us in an empty cane-hut, where they spread mats upon +the ground, and we made pillows of our saddles. We were soon tired of +looking up at the stars through the chinks in the roof, and slept till +long after sunrise. Then the Indians rafted us across the second river; +and we rode on to Jalapa, having accomplished our horseback journey of +nearly three hundred miles with but one accident, the death of a horse, +the four-pound one. He had been rather overworked, but would most +likely have got through, had we not stopped the last night at the +Indian _ranchos_, where there was no forage but green maize leaves, a +food our beasts were not accustomed to. It seems our men gave him too +much of this, and then allowed him to drink excessively; and next +morning he grew weaker and weaker, and died not long after we reached +Jalapa. Our other two horses were rather thin, but otherwise in good +condition; and the horse-dealers, after no end of diplomacy on both +sides, knocked under to our threat of sending them back to Mexico in +charge of Antonio, and gave us within a pound or two of what they had +cost us. There, is a good deal of trading in horses done at Jalapa, +where travellers coming down from Mexico sell their beasts, which are +disposed of at great prices to other travellers coming up from the +coast. Between here and Vera Cruz, people prefer travelling in the +Diligence, or in some covered carriage, to exposing themselves to the +sun in the hot and pestilential region of the coast. + +Jalapa is a pleasant city among the hills, in a country of forests, +green turf, and running streams. It is the very paradise of botanists; +and its products include a wonderful variety of trees and flowers, from +the apple- and pear-trees of England to the _mameis_ and _zapotes_ of +tropical America, and the brilliant orchids which are the ornament of +our hot-houses. The name of the town itself has a botanical celebrity, +for in the neighbouring forests grows the _Purga de Jalapa_, which we +have shortened into _jalap_. + +A day's journey above it, lies the limit of eternal snow, upon the peak +of Orizaba; a day's journey below it is Vera Cruz, the city of the +yellow fever, surrounded by burning sands and poisonous exhalations, in +a district where, during the hot months now commencing, the thermometer +scarcely ever descends below 80 deg., day or night. Jalapa hardly knows +summer or winter, heat or cold. The upper current of hot air from the +Gulf of Mexico, highly charged with aqueous vapour, strikes the +mountains about this level, and forms the belt of clouds that we have +already crossed more than once during our journey. Jalapa is in this +cloudy zone, and the sky is seldom clear there. It is hardly hotter in +summer than in England, and not even hot enough for the mosquitoes, +which are not to be found here though they swarm in the plain below. +This warm damp climate changes but little in the course of the year. +There are no seasons, in our sense of the word, for spring lasts +through the year. + +We walked out on the first afternoon of our arrival; and sat on stone +seats on a piece of green turf surrounded by trees, that reminded us +pleasantly of the village-greens of England. There we talked with the +children of an English acquaintance who had been settled for many years +in the town, and had married a Mexican lady. They were fine lads; but, +as very often happens in such cases, they could only speak the language +of the country. Nothing can show more clearly how thoroughly a +foreigner yields to the influences around him, when he settles in a +country and marries among its people. An Englishman's own character, +for instance, may remain to some extent; but his children are scarcely +English in language or in feeling, and in the next generation there is +nothing foreign about his descendants but the name. + +When we reached our hotel it was about sunset, and the heavy dew had +wetted us through, as though we had been walking in the rain. This was +no exceptional occurrence. All the year round such dews fall morning +and evening, as well as almost daily showers of rain. The climate is +too warm for this dampness to injure health, as it would in our colder +regions. To us, who had just left the bracing air of the high plateaus, +it seemed close and relaxing; but the inhabitants are certainly strong +and healthy, and one can imagine the enjoyment which the white +inhabitants of Vera Cruz must feel, when they can get away from that +city of pestilence into the pure air of the mountains. + +Our quarters were at the _Veracruzana_, where we occupied a great +whitewashed room. A large grated window opened into the garden, where +the armadillo was fastened to a tree by a long string, and had soon dug +a deep hole with his powerful fore-claws, as the manner of the creature +is. The necessity of supplying the "little man in armour" with insects +for his daily food gave us some idea of the amazing abundance and +variety of the insects of the district. We caught creeping things +innumerable in the garden, but narrowly escaped being stung by a small +scorpion; and therefore delegated the task to an old Indian, who walked +out into the fields with an earthen pot, and returned with it full of +insects in about half an hour. We reckoned that there were over fifty +species in the pot. + +Many of the houses and Indian huts were adorned with collections of +insects pinned on the walls in patterns, among which figured scorpions +some three inches long; and the centre-ornament was usually a +tarantula, said to be one of the most poisonous creatures of the +tropics, a monstrous spider, whose dark grey body and legs are covered +with hairs. A fine specimen will have a body about as large as a small +hen's egg, and, with his legs in their natural position, will just +stand in a cheese-plate. The Boots of the hotel went out and caught a +fine scorpion for our amusement; he brought it into our room wrapped in +a piece of brown paper, and was on the point of letting it out on our +table for us to see it run. We protested against this, and had it put +into a tumbler and covered it up with a book. + +The inner _patio_ of the hotel was surrounded with the usual arcade, +into which the rooms opened. Close to our door was a long table, with a +green cloth, where the Jalapenians were constantly playing _monte_, +from nine in the morning till late at night. All classes were +represented there, from the muleteer who came to lose his hard-earned +dollars, to the rich shopkeepers and planters of the town and +neighbourhood. + +I went early one afternoon to the house of the principal agent for the +Vera Cruz carriers, to arrange for sending down our heavy packages to +the coast. There was no one at the office but a girl. I enquired for +the master--"_Esta jugando_,"--"He is playing," she said. I need not +have gone so far to look for him, for he was sitting just outside our +bedroom door, and indeed had been there all day. Before he condescended +to arrange our business, he waited to see the fate of the dollar he had +just put down, and which I was glad to see he lost. + +Jalapa was not always the stagnant place it is now. Its pleasant houses +and gardens date from a period when it was a town of some importance. +In old times the only practicable road from Vera Cruz to Mexico passed +this way; and Jalapa was the entrepot where the merchants had their +warehouses, and from whence the trains of mules distributed the +European merchandise from the coast to the different markets of the +country. By this arrangement, the carrying from the coast was done by a +small number of muleteers, who were seasoned to the climate, while the +great mass of traders and carriers were not obliged to descend from the +healthy region. This was of the more importance, because, though the +pure Indians are not liable to the attacks of yellow fever, the disease +is as deadly to the other inhabitants of the high lands as to +Europeans; and even those of the _mestizos_ who have the least +admixture of white blood are subject to it. Of late years, this system +has been given up, and the carriers from the high lands go down to the +coast to fetch their loads, and every year they leave some of their +number in the church-yards of the City of the Dead; while many others, +though they recover from the fever, never regain their former health +and strength. The high-road to Mexico now goes by Orizaba, so that the +importance of Jalapa as a trading-place has almost ceased. + +Our Mexican journey was now all but finished, and I left my companion +here, and took the Diligence to Vera Cruz, to meet the West India +Mail-packet. Mr. Christy followed a day or two later, and went to the +United States. We dismissed our two servants, Martin and Antonio. +Martin invested his wages in a package of tobacco, which he proposed to +carry home on his horse, travelling by night along unfrequented +mountain-paths, where custom-house officers seldom penetrate. We never +heard any more of him; but no doubt he got safe home, for he was +perfectly competent to take care of himself, and he probably made a +very good thing of his journey. It was quite with regret that we parted +from him, for he was a most sensible, useful fellow, with a continual +flow of high spirits, and no end of stories of his experiences in +smuggling, and hunting wild cattle in the _tierra caliente_, in which +two adventurous occupations most of his life had been passed. In his +dealings with us, he was honesty itself, notwithstanding his equivocal +profession. + +We offered Antonio a cheque on Mexico for his wages, as he was going +back there, but he said he would rather have hard dollars. We paid his +fare to Mexico by the Diligence, and gave him his money, telling him at +the same time, that he was a fool for his pains. He started next +morning; and we heard, a month or two later, that the coach was stopped +the same afternoon in the plains of Perote, and Antonio was robbed not +only of his money but even of his jacket and serape, and reached Mexico +penniless and half-naked. He was always a silly fellow, and his last +exploit was worthy of him. + +Mr. Christy sat up till daybreak to see me off, filling up his time by +writing letters and pressing plants. When I was gone, he lay down in +his bed, in rather a dreamy state of mind, looking up at the ceiling. +There was a large beam just above his head, and at one side of it a +hole, which struck him as being a suitable place for a scorpion to come +out of. This idea had come into his head from the sight of the specimen +in the tumbler on the table, who had with great difficulty been drowned +in _aguardiente_. Presently something moved in the hole, and the +spectator below instantly became wide awake. Then came out a claw and a +head, and finally the body and tail of a very fine scorpion, two inches +and a half long. It was rather an awkward moment, for it was not safe +to move suddenly, for fear of startling the creature, whose footing +seemed anything but secure; and if he fell, he would naturally sting +whatever he might come in contact with. However, he met with no +accident on his way, and getting into another hole, about a yard off, +he drew up his tail after him and disappeared. Mr. Christy slipped out +of his bed with a sense of considerable relief; and having ascertained +that there were no holes in the ceiling above the bed on the other side +of the room, he turned in there, and went comfortably to sleep. + +My only companion in the Diligence was a German shopman from Vera Cruz, +who was sociable, but not of an instructive turn of conversation. When +we had descended for a few hours, the heat became intolerable. Scarcely +any habitation but a few Indian cane-huts by the way-side, with bananas +and palm-trees. We stopped, about three in the afternoon, at a _rancho_ +in a small village, and did not start again until next morning, a +little before day-break. Negroes and people of negro descent began to +abound in this congenial climate. I remember especially the +waiting-maid at the _rancho_, who was a "white negress," as they are +called. Her hair and features showed her African origin; but her hair +was like white wool, and her face and hands were as colourless as those +of a dead body. This animated corpse was healthy enough, however; and +this peculiarity of the skin is, it seems, not very uncommon. + +The coast-regions through which I was passing abound in horned cattle, +but they are mostly far away from the high-roads. In spite of the +intense heat of the climate they thrive as well as in the higher lands. +Some are tolerably tame, and are kept within bounds by the _vaqueros_; +but the greater proportion, numbering tens of thousands, roam wild +about the country. In comparison with these cattle of the _tierra +caliente_, the fiercest beasts of the plateaus are safe and quiet +creatures. The only way of bringing them into the _corral_ is by using +tame animals for decoys, just as wild elephants are caught. + +Our man Martin, who had once been a _vaquero_ on the Vera Cruz coast, +used to look upon the bulls of the high lands with great contempt. If +you chase them they run away, he said. If you lazo a bull of the hot +country, you have to gallop off with all your might, with the _toro_ +close at your heels; and, if the horse falls, it may cost his life or +his rider's. + +We thus find the horned cattle flourishing at every elevation, from the +sea-level to the mountain-pastures ten thousand feet above it. Horses +and sheep show less adaptability to this variety of climates. The +horses and mules come mostly from the States of the North, at a level +of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet; that remarkable country of which +Humboldt's observation gives us the best idea, when he says that, +although there are no made roads, wheel-carriages can travel distances +of a thousand miles over gently-undulating prairies, without meeting +any obstruction on the way. + +Numbers of sheep are reared in the mountains, principally for the sake +of the tallow, for the consumption of tallow-candles in the mines is +enormous. The owners scarcely care at all for the rest of the animal; +and popular scandal accuses the sheep-farmers of driving their flocks +straight into the melting-coppers, without going through the +preliminary ceremony of killing them. People told us that the tallow +made in the cold regions loses its consistency when brought down into +hotter climates, but we had no means of ascertaining the truth of this. + +Artificial lighting by means of tallow was not known to the ancient +Mexicans, who could not indeed have procured tallow except from the fat +of deer and smaller animals. + +Bernal Diaz tells how the Spanish invaders used to dress their wounds +with "Indian Ointment." He explains the nature of this preparation in +another place. The Spaniards could get no oil in the country, nor +anything else to make salve with, so they took some fat Indian who had +just been killed in battle, and simply boiled him down. + +Our ride next morning was but a few hours, the journey being so divided +in order that the passengers may reach Vera Cruz before the heat of the +day begins. We passed over a dreary district, generally too dry for +anything but cactus and acacias, but now and then, when a little water +was to be found, displaying clumps of bamboos with their elegant +feathery tufts. Then the railway took us through the dismal downs, with +their swamps and sand-hills, and so into Vera Cruz. + +The English merchants we had already made acquaintance with were as +kind and hospitable as ever, and I found an Englishman, whom we had +known before, going as far as Havana by the same packet. The yellow +fever was unusually late this year, and, though June had begun, there +were but few cases. We heard afterwards that it set in a week or two +after our departure, and by its extraordinary severity made ample +amends for the lateness of its arrival. + +After sunset, the air was alive with mosquitos, and the floors of the +hotel swarmed with cockroaches. The armadillo took quite naturally to +the latter creatures, and crunched them up as fast as we could catch +them for him. I was surprised to find that our word "cockroaches" does +not come from the German stock, like most of our names for insects and +small creatures, but from the Latin side of the house. The Spanish +waiter called them _cucarachas_, and the French ones _coqueraches_. The +history of the armadillo ends unfortunately: for some days he seemed to +take quite kindly to the diet of bits of meat which we had to put him +on, on shipboard, but he fell sick at Havana, and died. + +My late companion travelled up into the Northern States, went to the +Indian assembly at Manitoulin Island, paid a visit to various tribes of +Red Men in the Hudson's Bay Territory--as yet unmissionized, carried +away in triumph the big medicine-drum I have already spoken of, and saw +and did many other things not to be related here. One sight that he +saw, some months later, reminded him of the wild country where we had +travelled together. He was in Iowa City, a little town of a year or +two's growth, out in the prairie States of the Far West. As he stood +one morning in the outskirts, among the plank-houses and half-made +roads, there came a solitary horseman riding in. Evidently he had come +from the Mexican frontier, a thousand miles and more away across the +plains; and no doubt, his waggons and the rest of his party were behind +him on the road, beyond the distant horizon of the prairie. By his face +he was American, but his costume was the dress of old Mexico, the +leather jacket and trousers, the broad white hat and huge jingling +spurs. His lazo hung in front of his high-peaked saddle, and his +well-worn serape was rolled up behind him like a trooper's cloak. As he +approached the town, he spurred his jaded beast, who broke into the old +familiar _paso_ of the Mexican plains. "It was my last sight of +Mexico," said my companion. He saluted the horseman in Spanish, and the +well-known words of welcome made the grim man's haggard sunburnt +features relax into a smile as he returned the salutation and rode on. + +As for myself, my voyage home was short and unadventurous. From Vera +Cruz to Havana, most of my companions were Mexican refugees who had +been turned out of the country for being mixed up with Haro's +revolution or Santa Ana's intrigues. They were showily got-up men, +elaborately polite, and with much to say for themselves; but every now +and then some casual remark showed what stuff they were made of, and I +pitied more than ever the unfortunate countries whose political +destinies depend on the intrigues of these adventurers. + +In the hot land-locked bay of St. Thomas's we, with the contents of +eight or nine more steamers, were shifted into the great steamer bound +homeward. I went ashore with an old German gentleman, and walked about +the streets. St. Thomas's is a Danish island, and a free port, that is, +a smuggling depot for the rest of the West India islands, much as +Gibraltar is for the Mediterranean. It is a stifling place, full of +mosquitos and yellow fever, and the confusion of tongues reigns there +even more than in Gibraltar, for the blacks in the streets all speak +three or four languages, and the shopkeepers six or seven. + +We were a strange mixture on board the 'Atrato', over two hundred of +us. Peruvians and Chilians from across the isthmus, Spaniards and +Cubans, black gentlemen from Hayti, French colonists from Martinique, +but English preponderating above all other nationalities. One or two +governors of small islands, with their families, maintaining the +dignity of Government House, at least as far as Southampton, and +unapproachable by common mortals. Army men from West India stations, +who appeared to spend their mornings in ordering the wine for dinner, +and their evenings in abusing it when they had drunk it. West India +planters, who thought it was rather hard that the Anti-slavery Society, +after ruining them and their plantations, should moreover insist on +their believing themselves to be great gainers by the change. We were +all crowded, hot, and uncomfortable, and showed our worst side, but as +we neared England better influences got the ascendant again. + +It was pleasant to breathe a cooler air, and to feel that I was getting +back to my own country and my own people; but with this feeling there +was mixed some regret for the beautiful scenes I had left. The evenings +of our latitudes seemed poor when we lost the gorgeous sunsets of the +tropics, and the sea alive with luminous creatures. When I came on deck +one evening and missed the brightest ornament of the sky--the Southern +Cross, I felt that I had left the tropics, and that all my efforts to +realize the life of the last half-year would produce but a vague and +shadowy picture. + +Since we left Mexico, I have not cared to follow very accurately even +the newspaper intelligence of what has been and still is going on +there. It is a pitiable history. Continual wars and revolutions, utter +insecurity of life and property, the Indians burning down the haciendas +in the South and turning out the white people, the roads on the plains +impassable on account of deserters and robbers; sometimes no practical +government at all, then two or three at once, who raise armies and +fight a little sometimes, but generally confine themselves to +plundering the peaceable inhabitants. An army besieges the capital for +months, but appears to do nothing but cut the water off from the +aqueducts, shoot stragglers, and levy contributions. One leader raises +a forced loan among the foreign residents, and imprisons or expels +those who do not submit. The leader on the other side does the same in +his part of the country, putting the British merchant in prisons where +a fortnight would be a fair average life for an European, and +threatening him with summary courtmartial and execution if he does not +pay. + +London newspapers dwell on these details, and tell us that we may learn +from the condition of this unfortunate country how useless are +democratic forms among a people incapable of liberty, and that very +weak governments can commit all sorts of crimes with impunity, from the +fact that they have no official existence which foreign powers can +recognize; and various other weighty moral lessons, which must be +highly edifying to our countrymen in the Republic, who are meanwhile +left pretty much to shift for themselves. + +All this time the United States are steadily advancing; and the destiny +of the country is gradually accomplishing itself. That its total +absorption must come, sooner or later, we can hardly doubt. The chief +difficulty seems to be that the American constitution will not exactly +suit the case. The Republic laid down the right of each citizen to his +share in the government of the country as a universal law, founded on +indefeasible lights of humanity, fundamental laws of nature, and what +not, making, it is true, some slight exceptions with regard to red and +black men. The Mexicans, or at least the white and half-caste Mexicans, +will be a difficulty. Their claims to citizenship are unquestionable, +if Mexico were made a State of the Union; and, as everybody knows, they +are totally incapable of governing themselves, which they must be left +to do under the constitutional system of the United States; moreover, +it is certain that American citizens would never allow even the whitest +of the Mexicans to be placed on a footing of equality with themselves. +Supposing these difficulties got over by a Protectorate, an armed +occupation, or some similar contrivance, Mexico will undergo a great +change. There will be roads and even rail-roads, some security for life +and property, liberty of opinion, a nourishing commerce, a rapidly +increasing population, and a variety of good things. Every intelligent +Mexican must wish for an event so greatly to the advantage of his +country and of the world in general. + +Some of our good friends in Mexico have bought land on the American +frontier by the hundred square leagues, and can point out patches upon +the map of the world as large as Scotland or Ireland--as their private +property. What their gains will be when enterprising western men begin +to bring the country under cultivation, it is not an easy matter to +realize. + +As for ourselves individually, we may be excused for cherishing a +lurking kindness for the quaint, picturesque manners and customs of +Mexico, as yet un-Americanized; and for rejoicing that it was our +fortune to travel there before the coming change, when its most curious +peculiarities and its very language must yield before foreign +influences. + +[Illustration: THE REBOZO AND THE SERAPE.] + + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + * * * * * + +I. THE MANUFACTURE OF OBSIDIAN KNIVES, ETC. (_Note to p. 97._) + +Some of the old Spanish writers on Mexico give a tolerably full account +of the manner in which the obsidian knives, &c., were made by the +Aztecs. It will be seen that it only modifies in one particular the +theory we had formed by mere inspection as to the way in which these +objects were made, which is given at p.97; that is, they were cracked +off by pressure, and not, as we conjectured, by a blow of some hard +substance. + +Torquemada (_Monarquia Indiana, Seville_, 1615) says; (free +translation) "They had, and still have, workmen who make knives of a +certain black stone or flint, which it is a most wonderful and +admirable thing to see them make out of the stone; and the ingenuity +which invented this art is much to be praised. They are made and got +out of the stone (if one can explain it) in this manner. One of these +Indian workmen sits down upon the ground, and takes a piece of this +black stone, which is like jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone which +might be called precious, more beautiful and brilliant than alabaster +or jasper, so much so that of it are made tablets[24] and mirrors. The +piece they take is about 8 inches long or rather more, and as thick as +one's leg or rather less, and cylindrical; they have a stick as large +as the shaft of a lance, and 3 cubits or rather more in length; and at +the end of it they fasten firmly another piece of wood, 8 inches long, +to give more weight to this part; then, pressing their naked feet +together, they hold the stone as with a pair of pincers or the vice of +a carpenter's bench. They take the stick (which is cut off smooth at +the end) with both hands, and set it well home against the edge of the +front of the stone (_y ponenlo avesar con el canto de la frente de la +piedra_) which also is cut smooth in that part; and then they press it +against their breast, and with the force of the pressure there flies +off a knife, with its point, and edge on each tide, as neatly as if one +were to make them of a turnip with a sharp knife, or of iron in the +fire. Then they sharpen it on a stone, using a hone to give it a very +fine edge; and in a very short time these workmen will make more than +twenty knives in the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape +as our barbers' lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, and +have a slight graceful curve towards the point. They will cut and shave +the hair the first time they are used, at the first cut nearly as well +as a steel razor, but they lose their edge at the second cut; and so, +to finish shaving one's beard or hair, one after another has to be +used; though indeed they are cheap, and spoiling them is of no +consequence. Many Spaniards, both regular and secular clergy, have been +shaved with them, especially at the beginning of the colonization of +these realms, when there was no such abundance as now of the necessary +instruments, and people who gain their livelihood by practising this +occupation. But I conclude by saying that it is an admirable thing to +see them made, and no small argument for the capacity of the men who +found out such an invention." + +Vetancurt (_Teatro Mejicano_) gives an account, taken from the above. +Hernandez (_Rerum Med. Nov. Hisp. Thes.: Rome_, 1631) gives a similar +account of the process. He compares the wooden instrument used to a +cross-bow. It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the workman held +the cross-piece with his two hands against his breast, while the end of +the straight stick rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a +description of the making of the well-known _maquahuitl_, or Aztec +war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian knives, +or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. With this instrument, he +says, a man could be cut in half at a blow--an absurd statement, which +has been repeated by more modern writers. + +II. ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSES RECORDED IN THE LE TELLIER MS. + +The curious Aztec Picture-writing, known as the _Codex +Telleriano-Remenensis_, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, +contains a list or calendar of a long series of years, indicated by the +ordinary signs of the Aztec system of notation of cycles of years. +Below the signs of the years are a number of hieroglyphic pictures, +conveying the record of remarkable events which happened in them, such +as the succession and death of kings, the dates of wars, pestilences, +&c. The great work of Lord Kingsborough, which contains a fac-simile of +this curious document, reproduces also an ancient interpretation of the +matters contained in it, evidently the work of a person who not only +understood the interpretation of the Aztec picture-writings, but had +access to some independent source of information,--probably the more +ample oral traditions, for the recalling of which the picture-writing +appears only to have served as a sort of artificial memory. It is not +necessary to enter here into a fuller description of the MS., which has +also been described by Humboldt and Gallatin. + +Among the events recorded in the Codex are four eclipses of the sun, +depicted as having happened in the years 1476, 1496, 1507. 1510. +Humboldt, in quoting these dates, makes a remark to the effect that the +record tends to prove the veracity of the Aztec history, for solar +eclipses really happened in those years, according to the list in the +well-known chronological work, _L'Art de Verifier les Dates_, as +follows: 28 Feb., 1476; 8 Aug., 1496; 13 Jan., 1507; 8 May, 1510. The +work quoted, however, has only reference to eclipses visible in Europe, +Asia, and Africa, and not to those in America. The question therefore +arises, whether all these four eclipses recorded in _L'Art de Verifier +les Dates_, were visible in Mexico. As to the last three, I have no +means of answering the question; but it appears that Gama, a Mexican +astronomer of some standing, made a series of calculations for a +totally distinct purpose about the end of the last century, and found +that in 1476 _there was no eclipse of the sun visible in Mexico_, but +that there was a great one on the 13th Feb., 1477, and another on the +28th May, 1481. + +Supposing that Gama made no mistake in his calculations, the idea at +once suggests itself, that the person who compiled or copied the Le +Tellier Codex, some few years after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, +inserted under the date of 1476 (long before the time of the Spaniards) +an eclipse which could not have been recorded there had the document +been a genuine Aztec Calendar; _as, though visible in Europe, it was +not visible in Mexico_. The supposition of the compiler having merely +inserted this date from a European table of eclipses is strengthened by +the fact that _the great eclipse of 1477, which was visible in Mexico, +but not in Europe, is not to be found there_. These two facts tend to +prove that the Codex, though undoubtedly in great part a copy or +compilation from genuine native materials, has been deliberately +sophisticated with a view of giving it a greater appearance of +historical accuracy, by some person who was not quite clever enough to +do his work properly. It may, however, be urged as a proof that the +mistake is merely the result of carelessness, that we find in the MS. +no notice of the eclipse of 25th May, 1481, which was visible both in +Mexico and in Europe, and so ought to have been in the record. This +supposition would be consistent with the Codex being really a document +in which the part relating to the events before the Spanish Conquest in +1521 is of genuine ancient and native origin, though the whole is +compiled in a very grossly careless manner. It would be very desirable +to verify the years of all the four eclipses with reference to their +being visible in Mexico, as this might probably clear up the +difficulty. + +III. TABLE OK AZTEC ROOTS COMPARED WITH SANSCRIT, ETC. + +Several lists of Aztec words compared with those of various +Indo-European languages have been given by philologists. The present is +larger than any I have met with; several words in it are taken from +Buschmann's work on the Mexican languages. It is desirable in a +philological point of view that comparative lists of words of this kind +should be made, even when, as in the present instance, they are not of +sufficient extent to found any theory upon. + +As the Aztec alphabet does not contain nearly all the Sanscrit +consonants, many of them must be compared with the nearest Aztec +sounds, as: + +SANSCRIT, t, th, d, dh, &c. ... AZTEC, t. +SANSCRIT, k, kh, g, gh, &c. ... AZTEC c.q. +SANSCRIT, l, r. ... AZTEC, l. +SANSCRIT, b, bh, v. ... AZTEC, v. or u. + +The Aztec c is soft (as s) before e and i, hard (as k) before a, o, u. +The Aztec ch as in _cheese_. I have followed Molina's orthography in +writing such words as _uel_ or _vel_ (English, _well_) instead of the +more modern, but I think less correct way, _huel_. + + 1. a-, _negative prefix_ (_as_ qualli, _good_; aqualli, _bad_). SANS., + a-; GREEK, a-, &c. + + 2. o-, _preterite augment_ (_as_ nitemachtia, _I teach_; onitemachti, + _I taught_); SANS., a-; compare GREEK e-. + + 3. pal, _prep. by_: compare SANS. _prep._, para, _back_; pari, + _circum_; pra, _before_; GREEK, para; LAT., per. + + 4. ce-, cen-, cem-, _prefix collective_ (_as_ tlalla, _to place_, + centlalla, _to collect_); SANS., sa-, san-, sam-; GREEK, syn; LAT., + syn. + + 5. ce, cen-, cem-, _one_. SANS., sa (_in_ sa-krit, _once_: comp. Bopp, + Gloss., p. 362.) LAT., se-_mel_, si-_mul_, sim-_plex_. + + 6. metz (metz-tli), _moon_. SANS., mas. + + 7. tlal (tlal-li), _earth_. SANS., tala, dhara. LAT., terra, tellus. + + 8. citlal (citlal-in), _star_. SANS., stri, stara. LAT., stella. Eng., + star. + + 9. atoya (atoya-tl), _river_. SANS., udya. + +10. teuh (teuh-tli), _dust_. Sans., dhu-li (_from_ dhu, to drive + about.) + +11. teo (teo-tl),_god_. Sans., deva. Greek, _Theos_. Lat., deus. + +12. qual (qual-li),_good_. Sans., kalya, kalyana. Greek, kalor. + +13. uel, _well_. Sans., vara, _excellent_; vli, _to choose_. Lat., + velle. Icel., vel. Eng., well. + +14. uel, _power, brave, &c_., (uel-e, tla-uel-e.) Sans., bala, + _strength_. Lat., valeo, valor. + +15. auil, _vicious, wasteful_. Sans., avila, _sinful, guilty;_ abala, + _weak_. Eng., evil. + +16. miec, _much_. Sans., mahat, _great_; manh _or_ mah, _to grow_. + Icel., miok, _much_. Eng., much. + +17. vey, _great_. Sans., bahu, _much_. + +18. -pol, _augmentative affix_ (as tepe-tl. _mountain_; tepepol, _great + mountain_.) Sans., puru, _much_; pula, _great, ample_. Greek, + pothus. + +19. naua (naua-c), _near, by the side of_. Sans., nah, _to join or + connect_. German, nah, _near_. + +20. ten (ten-qui), _fuil_. Sans., tun, _to fill_. + +21. izta (izta-c), _white_. Sans., sita. + +22. cuz (cuz-tic), _red_. Sans, kashaya, kasaya. + +23. ta (ta-tli), _father_. Sans., tata. + +24. cone (cone-tl), _child. Compare_ Sans., jan, _to beget_. Lat., + gen-itus. German, kin-d. Eng., kin. + +25. pil (pil-li), _child. Compare_ Sans., bala, _boy, child_; bhri, _to + bear children_, &c. Greek, polos, _foal_. Lat., pullus, filius. + Eng.,_foal_, &c., &c. + +26. cax (cax-itl), _cup_. Sans., chasbaka. + +27. paz(?)(a-paz-tli), _vase, basin_. Sans., bajana. _Compare_ Lat., + vas. Eng., vase. + +28. com (com-itl), _earthen pot_. Sans., kumbha. + +29. xuma (xuma-tli), _spoon_. Sans., chamasa; _from_ Sans., cham, _to + eat_. + +30. mich (mich-in), _fish_. Sans., machcha. + +31. zaca (zaca-tl), _grass_. Sans., saka. + +32. col (te-col-li, col-ceuia, &c.), _charcoal_. Sans., jval, _to burn, + flame_; Icel., kol; Eng., coal; Irish, gual. + +33. cen (cen-tli), _grain, maize_. Sans., kana, _grain_. + +34. ehe (ehe-catl), _wind_. Sans., vayu. + +35. mix (mix-tli), _cloud_. Sans., megha; Icel., and Eng., mist. + +36. cal (cal-ii),_house_. Sans., sala. Greek, kalia; Lat., cella. + +37. qua (qua-itl), _head_. Sans., ka. + +38. ix (ix-tli), _eye, face_. Sans., aksha, _eye_; asya, _face_. + +39. can (can-tli), _cheek_, Sans., ganda; Lat., gena. + +40. chichi (chichi-tl), _teat_. Sans., chuchuka. + +41. nene (nene-tl), _pupil of eye_. Sans., nayana. + +42. choloa, _to run or leap_. Sans., char. + +43. caqui (caqui-ztli), _sound_. Sans., kach, _to sound_. + +44. xin (xi-xin-ia), _to cut, ruin, destroy_. Sans., ksin, _to hurt, + kill._ + +45. tlacc (tlacc-ani), _to run_. Sans., triks, _to go_; Greek, trecho. + +46. patlani, _to fly_. Sans., pat. + +47. mati, _to know_. Sans., medh, _to understand_; mati, _thought, + mind_; Greek root math. + +48. it (it-ta), _to see_. Sans., vid; Greek root id, eidomai, &c.; + Lat., video. + +49. meya, _to flow, trickle_. Sans., mih. + +50. mic (mic-tia), _to kill_. Sans., mi, mith. + +51. cuica, _to sing_. Sans., kuj. _to sing, as birds_, &c. + +52. chichi _to suck_. SANS., chush. + +53. ahnachia, _to sprinkle_: _compare_ SANS. uks. + +54. coton (coton-a),_to cut_. SANS. kutt. + +55. nex (nex-tia), _to shine_. SANS, nad; LAT., niteo. + +55. notz (notz-a), _to call_. SANS., nad. + +57. choc (choc-a),_to lament, cry_. SANS, kuch, _to cry aloud, scream;_ + such, _to wail_. + +58. me(?)(in me-catl, _binding-thing, chain?) to bind_ SANS., mu, mava. + +59. qua, _to eat, bite_: compare SANS. charv, _to chew, bite, gnaw_; + chah, _to bruize_; khad, _to eat_.; GERMAN, kauen; ENG., to chew. + +60. te, _thou_. SANS. tvam; LAT., tu. + +61. quen, _how?_ SANS. kena. + +_Other curious resemblances between the Aztec and European languages +are_: + +62. pepeyol, _poplar_. LAT., populus; ICEL., popel. + +63. papal (papal-otl), _butterfly_; LAT., papilio. + +64. ul (ul-li), _juice of the India-rubber tree, used as oil for + anointing, &c._ LAT., oleum; ENG., oil, &c. + + * * * * * + +IV. GLOSSARY. + +ANAHUAC. _Aztec_. "By the water-side." + The name at first applied to the Valley of Mexico, from the + situation of the towns on the banks of the lakes; afterwards + used to denote a great part of the present Republic of Mexico. + +ACOCOTE (_Aztec_, acocotl, water-throat), aloe-sucker's gourd; _see p._ + 91. + +ADOBE, a mud-brick, baked in the sun. + (Perhaps a _Moorish-Spanish_ word. + _Ancient Egyptian_, tobe, a mud-brick; + _Arabic_, toob, pronounced with the article + _at-toob_, whence adobe?) + +AGUAMIEL (honey-water), unfermented aloe-juice. + +AGUARDIENTE (burning-water), ardent spirits. + +AHUEHUETE (_Aztec_, ahuehuetl), the deciduous cypress. + +ALAMEDA (poplar-avenue), public promenade; _see p._ 57. + +ALCALDE, a magistrate (_Moorish-Spanish_, al cadi, "the cadi"). + +ANQUERA (hauncher), covering for horses' haunches; _see p._ 164 (_and + cut, p._ 260). + +ARRIERO, a muleteer. + +ARROYO, a rivulet, mountain-torrent. + +ATAMBOB, a drum. + +ATOLE (_Aztec_, atolli), porridge. + +AVERSADA, a freshet. + +BARATILLO, a Rag-fair, market of odds and ends; _see p._ 169. + +BARBACOA, whence English "barbecue;" _see p._ 95; a native Haitian + word. + +BARRANCCA, a ravine. + +CALZONCILLOS, drawers. + +CAPA, a cloak. + +CAYO, a coral-reef. + +CHAPARREROS, over-trousers of goatskin with the hair on, used in + riding. + +CHINAMPA (_Aztec_, "a place fenced in)," a Mexican "floating garden;" + _see p._ 62. + +CHINGUERITO, Indian-corn brandy. + +CHIPI-CHIPI (_Aztec_, chipini, drizzling rain); _see p._ 26. + +CHUPA-MIRTO (myrtle-sucker), a humming-bird. + +COLEAR, to throw a bull over by the tail (cola); _see p._ 71. + +COMPADRE. COMADRE; _French_, compere, commere; _see p._ 250. + +CORRAL, an enclosure for cattle. + +COSTAL, a bag, or sack. + +COYOTE (_Aztec_, coyotl), a jackal. + +CUARTA, a leather horse-whip; _see_ p. 264. + +CUARTEL, a barrack. + +CUCARACHA, a cockroach. + +CUCHILLO, a knife. + +CURA, a parish-priest. + +DESAGUE, a draining-cut. + +DESAYUNO, breakfast. + +EMANCIPADO (emancipated negro); see p. 6. + +ESCOPETA, a musket. + +ESCRIBANO, a scribe or secretary. + +FANDANGO, a dance. + +FIESTA, a church-festival. + +FRIJOLES, beans. + +FUERO, a legal privilege; _see pp._ 19, 249. + +GACHUPIN, a native of Spain. Supposed to be an Aztec epithet, + _cac-chopina_, that is, "prickly shoes," applied to the Spanish + conquerors from their wearing spurs, which to the Indians were + strange and incomprehensible appendages. + +GARROTE, an instrument for strangling criminals. + +GENTE DE RAZON (reasonable people), white men and half-breed Mexicans, + but not Indians;_ see p._ 61. + +GUAJALOTE (Aztec, huexolotl), a turkey: _see p._ 228. + +GULCHE, a ravine. + +HACENDADO, a planter, landed proprietor, from HACIENDA (literally + "doing," from _hacer_, or _facer_, to do). An estate, establishment, + &c. + +HACIENDA DE BENEFICIO, an establishment for "benefiting" silver, i.e., + for extracting it from the ore. + +HONDA, a sling. + +HORNITOS (little ovens), the small cones near the volcano of Jorullo, + which formerly emitted steam; see p. 92. + +HULE (_Aztec,_ ulli. India-rubber?) a waterproof coat. + +ICHTL (_Aztec,_ thread), thread or string of aloe-fibre. + +ITZTLI (Aztec), obsidian; _see_ p. 100. + +LAZADOR, one who throws the lazo. + +LAZO. a running noose. + +LEPERO, lazzarone, or proletaire; _see p._ 251. + +LLANOS, plains. + +MACHETE, a kind of bill-hook. + +MALACATE (_Aztec,_ malacatl), a spindle, spindle-head, windlass, &c. + +MANTA, cotton-cloth. +MATRACA, a rattle; _see p._ 49. + +MESON, a Mexican caravansery; _see p._ + 209. + +MESTIZO (mixtus) a Mexican of mixed Spanish and Aztec blood. + +METATE (_Aztec_, metlatl) the stone used for rubbing down Indian corn +into paste; see p. 88. + +METALPILE (_Aztec_, metlapilli, i.e. little metlatl), the stone +rolling-pin used in the same process. + +MOLE (_Aztec,_ mulli), Mexican stew. + +MOLINO DE VIENTO (literally a windmill), a whirlwind; _see p._ 31. + +MONTE (literally a mountain), the favourite Mexican game; _see p. _256. + +MOZO, a lad, servant, groom. + +NINO, a child. + +NOPAL (_Aztec_, nopalli), the prickly pear. + +NOETE, the north wind; see p. 21. + +OCOTE (_Aztec_, ocotl), a pine-tree, pine-torch. OLLA, a boiling-pot. + +PASADIZO, a passage; _see p._ 231. + +PASEO, a public promenade. + +PASO, a kind of amble; _see p._ 163. + +PATIO, a court-yard, especially the inner court of a house. + +PATIO-PROCESS, method of extracting the silver from the ore, so called + from its being carried on in paved yards; _see p. _92. + +PATRON, a master, landlord. + +PEDRIGAL, a lava-field. + +PEOS, a debt-slave; _see_ p. 291. + +PETATE (_Aztec_, petlatl), a palm-leaf mat. + +PITO, 1, a whistle, pipe; 2, aloe-fibre thread. + +POTRERO, a water-meadow. + +PULQUE, a drink made from the juice of the aloe; _see_ p. 38. (It is a + corruption of a native South American word, introduced into Mexico by + the Spaniards). + +RANCHERO, a cottager, yeoman. + +RANCHO, a hut. + +RAYA (literally a line), the paying of workmen at a hacienda, &c. + +RAYAR, to pull a horse up short at a line; _see_ p. 163. + +REATA, a horse-rope; _see_ p. 264. + +REBOZO, a woman's shawl; _see_ p. 56. + +RECUA, a train of mules. + +SALA, a hall, dining-room. + +SERAPE, a Mexican blanket; _see_ p. 169. + +SOMBRERO, a hat. + +TACUMENILES, pine-shingles for roofing. + +TEMAZCALLI, Indian vapour-bath; _see_ p. 301. + +TEOCALLI (_Aztec_, god's house), an Aztec pyramid-temple. + +TEFONAZTLI, Indian wooden drum. + +TEQUESQUITE (_Aztec_, tequesquiti), an alkaline efflorescence abundant + on the soil in Mexico, used for soap-making, &c. + +TETZONTLI, porous amygdaloid lava, a stone much used for building in + Mexico. + +TIENDA, a shop; _see_ p. 82. + +TIERRA CALIENTE, the hot region. + +TIERRA FRIA, the cold region. + +TIERRA TEMPLADA. the temperate region. + +TLACHIQUEBO (_Aztec_, tlacbiqui, an overseer, from tlachia, to see), a + labourer in an aloe-field, who draws the juice for pulque; _see_ p. + 36. + +TORO, a bull. + +TORTA (literally, a cake); _see_ p. 92. + +TORTILLAS, thin cakes made of Indian corn, resembling oat-cakes; _see_ + p. 33. + +TRAPICHE, a sugar-mill. + +ULEI, _see_ Hule. + +VAQUERO, cow-herd. + +ZOPILOTE (_Aztec_, zopilotl), a turkey-buzzard. + + * * * * * + +V. DESCRIPTION OF THREE VERY RARE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT MEXICAN +MOSAIC-WORK (IN THE COLLECTION OF HENRY CHRISTY, ESQ.). + +These Specimens, two Masks and a Knife, (_see page_ 101.) are +interesting as presenting examples of higher art than has been supposed +to have been attained to by the ancient Mexicans, or any other of the +native American peoples. Their distinctive feature is an incrustation +of Mosaic of Turquoise, cut and polished, and fitted with extreme +nicety,--a work of great labour, time, and cost in any country, and +especially so amongst a people to whom the use of iron was +unknown,--and carried out with a perfection which suggests the idea +that the art must have been long practised under the fostering of +wealth and power, although so few examples of it have come down to us. + +Although considerably varied, they are all three of one family of work, +so to speak; the predominant feature being the use of turquoise; and +the question which presents itself at the outset is--what are the +evidences that this unique work is of Aztec origin? + +The proofs are so interwoven with the style and structure of the +specimens that their appearance and nationality are best treated of +together. + +The Mask of wood is covered with minute pieces of turquoise--cut and +polished, accurately fitted, many thousands in number, and set on a +dark gum or cement. The eyes, however, are acute-oval patches of +mother-of-pearl; and there are two small square patches of the same on +the temples, through which a string passed to suspend the mask; and the +teeth are of hard white shell. The eyes are perforated, and so are the +nostrils, and the upper and lower teeth are separated by a transverse +chink; thus a wearer of the mask (which sits easily on one's face) can +see, breathe, and speak with ease. The features bear that remarkably +placid and contemplative expression which distinguishes so many of the +Aztec works, in common with those of the Egyptians, whether in their +massive stone sculptures, or in the smallest and commonest heads of +baked earth. The face, which is well-proportioned, pleasing, and of +great symmetry, is studded also with numerous projecting pieces of +turquoise, rounded and polished. + +In addition to the character of the work and the style of face, the +evidence of the Aztec origin of this mask is confirmed by the wood +being of the fragrant cedar or cypress of Mexico. It may be remarked +also that the inside is painted red, as are the wooden masks of the +Indians of the North-west coast of America at the present day. + +The Knife presents, both in form and substance, more direct evidence of +its Aztec origin; for, in addition to its incrustation with the unique +mosaic of turquoise, blended (in this case) with malachite and white +and red shell, its handle is sculptured in the form of a crouching +human figure, covered with the skin of an eagle, and presenting the +well-known and distinctive Aztec type of the human head issuing from +the mouth of an animal. (_See cut_, p. 101.) Beyond this there is in +the stone blade the curious fact of a people which had attained to so +complex a design and such an elaborate ornamentation remaining in the +Stone-age; and, somewhat curiously, the locality of that stone blade is +fixed, by its being of that semi-transparent opalescent calcedony which +Humboldt describes as occurring in the volcanic districts of +Mexico--the concretionary silex of the trachytic lavas. + +The second Mask is yet more distinctive. The incrustation of +turquoise-mosaic is placed on the forehead, face, and jaws of a human +skull, the back part of which has been cut away to allow of its being +hung, by the leather thongs which still remain, over the face of an +idol, as was the custom in Mexico thus to mask their gods on +state-occasions. The mosaic of turquoise is interrupted by three broad +transverse bands, on the forehead, face, and chin, of a mosaic of +obsidian, similarly cut (but in larger pieces) and highly polished,--a +very unusual treatment of this difficult and intractable material, the +use of which in any artistic way appears to have been confined to the +Aztecs (with the exception, perhaps, of the Egyptians). + +The eye-balls are nodules of iron-pyrites, cut hemispherically and +highly polished, and are surrounded by circles of hard white shell, +similar to that forming the teeth of the wooden mask. + +The Aztecs made their mirrors of iron-pyrites polished, and are the +only people who are known to have put this material to ornamental use. + +The mixture of art, civilization, and barbarism which the hideous +aspect of this green and black skull-mask presents accords with the +condition of Mexico at the time of the Conquest, under which human +sacrifices on a gigantic scale were coincident with much refinement in +arts and manners. + +The European history of these three specimens is somewhat curious. With +the exception of two in the Museum at Copenhagen, obtained many years +ago by Professor Thomsen from a convent in Rome, and, though greatly +dilapidated, presenting some traces of the game kind of ornamentation, +they are believed to be unique. + +The Wooden Mask and the Knife were long known in a collection at +Florence. Thirty years ago the mask was brought into England from that +city, as Egyptian: and, somewhat later, the knife was obtained from +Venice. + +Subsequently the Skull-mask, with a wig of hair said to be a scalp, was +found at Bruges; a locality which leads to the presumption that the +mask was brought from Mexico soon after the Conquest in 1521, and prior +to the expulsion of the Spaniards from Flanders consequent on the +revolt of the Low Countries in 1579. + +_Note_.--It happens singularly enough, that a curious old work, +_Aldrorandus, Musaeum Metallicum, Bologna_, 1613, contains drawings of +a knife and wooden mask ornamented with mosaic-work of stone, made just +in the came way as those described above, and only differing from them +in the design. What became of them I cannot tell. + + * * * * * + +VI. DASENT'S ESSAY ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL VALUE OF POPULAR TALES AND +LEGENDS. + +Whilst treating of legendary lore in connection with Ethnographry, we +must not forget to refer the reader to the highly useful and +philosophical remarks on this subject in Dasent's Introduction to his +_Popular Tales from the Norse_.[25] Here we see that not only are the +popular tales of any nation indicative of its early condition and its +later progress, but also that the legends, fables, and tales of the +Indo-European nations, at least, bear internal evidence of their having +grown out of a few simple notes--of having sprung from primaeval germs +originating with the old Aryan family, from whom successive migrations +carried away the original myth to be elaborated or degraded according +to the genius and habits of the people. + +Thus other means of resolving the relations of the early races of Man +are added to those previously afforded by ethnographical and +philological research. + + + + + + + +INDEX. + + +Account-keeping, 87. + +Acodada, 57. + +Africans and Chinese, 13. + +Agriculture, 26, 61, 63, 89, 157-161, 172, 216. + +Ahuehuetes, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Alameda, 57. + +Alluvial Deposits, 150. + +Aloes, 35, 136; + huts built of, 36. + +Aloe-fibre, manufacture of, 88. + +Aloe-juice, collected for Pulque, 36, 91. + +Amatlan, 299. + +Amecameca, 265. + +American War, 118-120. + +Amozoque, 295. + +Anahuac, 57, 270. + +Antiquities, collections of, 222-236, 262. + +Antonio, our man, 321. + +Ants, 8. + +Aqueduct of Chapultepec, 55. + +Arch, Aztec, 153, 276. + +Armadillo, 312, 319, 325. + +Arms of Mexico, 42. + +Army, Mexican, 114-119. + +Arrow-heads, 137. + +Art, Aztec, 186, 230, 316. + +Astronomy, Aztec, 237-241, 244. + +Atotonilco, 82, 85. + +Aztec Antiquities, 35, 137, 141-148, 150-156, 183-195, 222-244, + 262-264, 274-280. + +Aztec Civilization, 103. + +Aztec Language, 143, 227, 235, 243, 279, 333. + +Bananas, 178. + +Baratillo, 169-171. + +Barometer, height of, 68. + +Barrancas, 89, 179, 310, 313. + +Barricades, 55. + +Batabano, 3. + +Baths of Santa Fe, 7. + +Bells, ancient, 235. + +Bits, 167. + +Books, 124. + +Bronze-age, 139. + +Bronze, + stone-cutting with, 138-140; + hatchets, 225; + bells and needles, 235. + +Bull-fights, 70. + +Bull-dogs in Mexico, 149. + +Bull, lazoing the, 253, 323. + +Cacahuamilpan, 200-205. + +Cacao-beans, 227. + +Cactuses, 73, 90, 140, 144. + +Calendar-stone of Mexico, 237-240. + +Canals, 58, 130. + +Canoes, 60, 129, 132, 134. + +Capitalists, 295. + +Cascade of Regla, 93. + +Castor-oil plant, 9. + +Casa Grande, 77, 135. + +Cattle, 16, 31, 323. + +Cave of Cacahuamilpan, 203-205. + +Central American Antiquities, 189-193. + +Cerro de Navajas, 95-100. + +Chalco, + Canal of, 58; + Lake, 173; + +Chalma, 208-214. + +Chapultepec, 55, 57. + +Chinampas, 62. + +Chinese in Cuba, 12. + +Chipi-chipi, 26. + +Cholula, 274-278. + +Church, the, 113, 213, 285-290. + +Church-dances, 211. + +Churches in Mexico, 36, 46. + +Civil-war, 112, 283, 328. + +Cigar-making, 3. + +Clergy of Mexico, 7, 79, 287. + +Clay figures, 229, 275. + +Coach, old-fashioned, 59. + +Cochineal-insect, 24. + +Cockfighting, 254, 256. + +Cockroaches, 325. + +Cocoyotla, 196. + +Colearing, 71. + +Columbus, 4. + +Comonfort, President, 19, 112. + +Compadrazgo, 250. + +Commerce of Mexico, 105. + +Convents in Mexico, 46, 287. + +Convicts, 22. + +Cordova, 25. + +Corrida de Toros, 70. + +Costumes, 51, 62, 168. + +Courier, 167, 310. + +Criminals, 245-249. + +Cuba, 2. + +Cuernavaca, 179. + +Cura of New Gerona, 9. + +Cypress-trees, 57, 155, 215, 265. + +Dancing, 207, 211. + +Dasent on Popular Legends, &c., 339. + +Debt-slavery, 291. + +Diligence, travelling by, 37, 173. + +Dishonesty of Mexicans, 80-82. + +Dram-drinking, 83. + +Dress of the Indians, 61. + +Drums, 231. + +Earthquakes, 66. + +Eclipses observed in Mexico, 333. + +Education, 125-128. + +Emancipados, 6, 14. + +English in Mexico, 73, 318. + +Estacion de Mejico, 121. + +Ethnology, 17, 102-104, 187-195, 241-244, 276-280. + +Evaporation, rapid, 75. + +Feather-work, 70. + +Flies' eggs, 156. + +Floating gardens, 62. + +Flooded streets, 65. + +Florida, free blacks from, 5, 10-12. + +Forests, destruction of by Spaniards, 45. + +Fueros, 19. + +Future of Mexico, 329. + +Gambling, 15, 207, 256-258, 320. + +Glass-works, 135. + +Glossary, 335. + +Goddess of War, 222. + +Gold and Silver work, 234. + +Gourd-bottles, 171. + +Grove of Cypresses, 57. + +Guadalupe (Our Lady of), 66, 120-224. + +Hams, Toluca, 219. + +Havana, 1, 326. + +Hedges of Cactus, 73. + +Highlands of Mexico, 35. + +Hill of Drums, 215. + +Holy Week, 47-54. + +Horse-bath, 290. + +Horses, 163-165, 317. + +Hotel d'Yturbide, 39. + +Houses, 25, 36, 91, 135, 172; + built on piles, 41. + +Huamantla, 31. + +Huehuetoca, draining-cut of, 45. + +Humming-birds, 69. + +Indian Baptism, 207. + +Indian Ointment, 324. + +Indians of Mexico, 47,60-64, 80-88, 173, 182, 197-199, 200-208, + 299-309, 314-316. + +Indian Soldiers, 23, 120, 122. + +Indulgences, 52, 124. + +Inquisition, the, 128. + +Insects, 319. + +Intemperance, 47, 83, 307. + +Inundations, 44, 65, 123. + +Iron, 102, 140. + +Irrigation, 86, 157-161, 179. + +Isle of Pines, 4. + +Iztaccihnatl, 268. + +Jacal, Mount, 95. + +Jalapa, 317-321. + +Jorullo, 92. + +Judas, 50. + +Judas's Bones, 49. + +Junta, La, 314. + +Justice, Administration of, 246-248, 300. + +Lakes in Valley of Mexico, 44-46, 65, 130-134, 173. + +Lava-fields, 28, 35, 118. + +Law-courts of Mexico, 249. + +Lazoing, 71, 252-254, 323. + +Legends, 236, 276-279, 340. + +Leper Hospital, 251. + +Leperos, 251. + +Lerma, 219. + +Le Tellier MS., on Eclipses, 332. + +Loadstone mountain, 102. + +Locusts, 298. + +Lonja, 66. + +Machinery in Mexico, 109. + +Magnetic Iron-ore, 102. + +Manufacture of Obsidian Knives, 97, 331. + +Marble Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6. + +Market, Indian, 85, 89. + +Martin, our servant, 273, 321. + +Masks, 110, 226, 235, 337. + +Matracas, 49. + +Mestizos, 48, 61, 300. + +Metate, 88. + +Mexican Dishes, 51; + Ladies, 51; + Words, 227, 263. + +Mexican Police, 149; + War with United States, 118. + +Mexico, City of, 41-44, 111; + Old, 147; + Formation of the country of, 27; + Future of, 329; + People of, 55; + Valley of, 40-46, 270. + +Military Statistics, 115. + +Miners, 79, 258. + +Miraflores, 264. + +Mineria, or School of Mines, 47. + +Mirage, 30. + +Mongolian Calendar, 241. + +Monks, 205, 209, 213. + +Morals of Servitude, 81, 293. + +Mosaic work, 101, 110, 235. + +Mosquitos, 5, 325. + +Mules, Mexican, 175. + +Museum of Mexico, 222-237. + +Negress, white, 323. + +Negros in Mexico, 13, 323. + +Nevado de Toluca, 219. + +Nopals, Plantations of, 24. + +Nopalucan, 296. + +Nortes, 21, 23. + +Nuestra Senora de Remedies, 121. + +Nueva Gerona, 4, 8. + +Numerals, Mexican, &c., 107-110. + +Obsidian, + mines of, 95, 99; + knives, &c., 95-102, 137, 229, 331. + +Oculan, 215. + +Old Mexico, 147; + Baths near Tezcuco, 153; + Bridge near Tezcuco, 153. + +Organ-cactus, 73. + +Orizaba, + town of, 26; + volcano of, 18, 29, 226. + +Ornament, common styles of, 185. + +Pachuca, 69, 74. + +Palma Christi, 9. + +Paseo, or Alameda, 57. + +Passport-system (Cuba), 3. + +Penon de los Banos, 131. + +Peons, 291-294. + +People of Mexico, 55. + +Picture-writings, 104, 130, 232-234. + +Pintos, 309. + +Pirates of the Spanish Main, 5. + +Ploughing, 172. + +Police, Mexican, 149. + +Political Economy, 105, 217, 264, 294, 302-309, 328. + +Politics of Mexico, 19, 111-118, 282-284, 290, 328. + +Popocatepetl, ascent of, 265-273. + +Population, 217, 302-309. + +Potrero, 307. + +Pottery, 85, 88, 151, 226, 275. + +Priests, 9, 79, 285-290. + +Prisons, 244-248. + +Promenade of Las Vigas, 64. + +Protective duties, 104, 264. + +Puebla, 113, 281-291. + +Pulque, 35, 37, 91. + +Pulque-shops, 63. + +Pyramids, 43, 141-148, 190, 274-278. + +Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6; + of obsidian, 99; + of Teotihuacan, 137. + +Rag-fair in Mexico, 169. + +Railway, 2, 24, 121. + +Rain, 136, 266. + +Rainy Region, 26. + +Ranches, 25, 266, 299. + +Rattles, 49. + +Real del Monte, 77. + +Rebozo, 56. + +Reform in Mexico, 117. + +Regla, 78; + cascade of, 93. + +Revolutions, 20, 114, 282-284. + +Roads in Mexico, 29, 37, 76. + +Robbers, 32, 117, 170, 297; + Priest-captain of, 34. + +Sacred trees, 215, 265. + +Sacrifice of Spaniards, 145. + +Sacrificial + Clamps, 225; + Stone, 223. + +Saddles, &c., 162-167. + +St. Thomas's, W. Indies, 327. + +Salinas of Campeche, 84. + +Saline condition of the soil, 133. + +Salt, 83, 154. + +Salt-pans, 155. + +Salto del Agua, 55. + +Sand-pillars, 30. + +San Andres Chalchicomula, 312. + +San Antonio de Abajo, 296. + +San Jose and Earthquakes, 67. + +San Nicolas, 272. + +Santa Anita, 63. + +Santa Maria de Guadalupe, 121. + +Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, 196. + +Sardines, 87. + +School of Mines, 47. + +Scorpions, 319, 322. + +Sculptures at Xochicalco, 185. + +Serape, 169. + +Sheep, 324. + +Shrines of Xochicalco, 193. + +Silver-mines, &c., 74, 92, 105, 107. + +Siege & Capitulation of Puebla, 113, 282. + +Sisal, 16. + +Skull decorated with mosaic work, 337. + +Slave-trade, 13, 16. + +Smuggling, 273, 296. + +Solar Eclipses observed in Mexico, 331. + +Soldiers, 23, 114, 171. + +Soquital, 82. + +Spanish-moss, 57. + +Spurs, 295. + +Stalactitic Cave, 200. + +Statistics of Mexico, 115, 249, 286. + +Stone-hammers, 137. + +Stone knives and weapons, 90, 103. + +Streets of Mexico, 41, 55. + +Sugar-canes, 179. + +Sugar-hacienda, + of Santa Rosita, 196; + of Temisco, 180. + +Sugar-plantations of Havana, 2. + +Tacubaya, 57, 69. + +Tallow, 324. + +Tasco, Silver-mines at, 74. + +Temisco, 179. + +Temple-pyramids--_see_ Pyramids. + +Tenancingo, 218. + +Tenochtitlan, 41. + +Ten Tribes, the, 17. + +Teocallis, _see_ Pyramids. + +Teotihuacan, + Pyramids of, 141-148; + Quarries of, 137, 141. + +Tequesquite, 133. + +Tezcotzinco, 152. + +Tezcuco, 129, 150, 260-264; + Aztec Bridge at, 153. + +Tezcuco, Lake of, 65, 129, 138. + +Thieves, 52, 170, 245. + +Tisapan, 118-120. + +Toluca, 219. + +Tortillas, 38. + +Tropical Vegetation, 2, 24, 179. + +Turkey-buzzards, 22. + +Valley of Mexico, 45. + +Yapour-bath, native, 301. + +Vegetation, zones of, 21-27, 178, 216. + +Vera Cruz, 18-21, 325. + +Virjen de Remedios, 123. + +Virgins, the rival, 123. + +Volantes, 2. + +War-idol, 222. + +Water-bottles, 171. + +Water-pipes, 157. + +Xochimilco, Lake of, 173. + +Xochicalco, Ruins of, 183-195. + +Yucatan, 16. + +Zopilites, 22. + + + +[Illustration: DESIGN.] + + + + +NOTES + + + +[1: The mahagua tree furnishes that curious fibrous network which is +known as _bast_, and used to wrap bundles of cigars in. The mahogany +tree is called _caoba_ in Spanish, apparently the original Indian name, +as the Spaniards probably first became acquainted with it in Cuba. Is +our word "mahogany" the result of a confusion of words, and corrupted +from "mahagua?"] + +[2: We heard talk elsewhere, however, of a war going on in the interior +of the country between the white inhabitants and the Indian race; the +apparent object of the whites being to take Indian prisoners, and ship +them off for slaves to Cuba.] + +[3: They must be judged by courts whose members belong to their own +body, and in these special tribunals one can imagine what sort of +justice is meted out to complainants and creditors. Comonfort's hope +was to conciliate the mass of the people by attempting to relieve them +of this enormous abuse. I believe he was honest in his intentions, but +unfortunately the people had already had to do with too many +politicians who were to redress their wrongs and inaugurate a reign of +liberty. They had found very little to come of such movements, but +extra-taxation and civil war, which left them worse off than they were +before, and the patriots generally turned out rather more greedy and +unprincipled than the others; so it was not to be wondered at that no +one came forward to give any very energetic support to the new +President.] + +[4: No one ill uses them but the dogs, who drive them away when +anything better than usual is met with, and they have to stand round in +a circle, waiting for their turn.] + +[5: Ahuehuete, pronounced _a-hwe-hwete_. Thus, Anahuac is +pronounced Ana-hwac; and Chihuahua, Chi-hwa-hwa.] + +[6: In the Swiss Alps, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, +there is a similar plant to be seen fringing the branches of the +pine-trees; but it only grows to the length of a few inches, and will +hardly bear comparison to the long trailing festoons of the Spanish +moss, often fifteen or twenty feet in length.] + +[7: Chalco was and is a freshwater lake, and here they had not even +this to do.] + +[8: The "Lonja" is a feature in the commercial towns of Spanish +America. It is not only the Merchants' Exchange, but their club, +billiard-room, and smoking-room; in fact, their "lounge," and I fancy +the two words are connected with one another.] + +[9: Atotonilco, "Hot-water-place," so called from the hot springs in +the neighbourhood.] + +[10: Soquital, "Clay-place," from the potter's clay which abounds in +the district. Earthenware is the staple manufacture here.] + +[11: The book-name for obsidian is _itztli_, a word which seems to mean +originally "sharp thing, knife," and thence to have been applied to the +material knives are made of. Obsidian was also called _itztetl_, +knife-stone. But no Indian to whom I spoke on the subject would ever +acknowledge the existence of such a word as _itztli_ for obsidian, but +insisted that it was called _bizcli_, which is apparently the corrupt +modern pronunciation of another old name for the same mineral, +_petztli_, shiny-stone.] + +[12: There is an Aztec word "puztequi" (_to break sticks, &c_.) which +may belong to the same root as "tepuztli." The first syllable "te" may +be "te-tl" (_stone_).] + +[13: The researches instituted by Mr. I. Horner in the alluvium near +Heliopolis and Memphis _(Philos. Transact.,_ 1855 & 1856), although +very elaborate, still leave much to be desired before we can arrive at +definite conclusions.] + +[14: _Corixa femorala_, and _Notonecta uniforciata_, according to MM. +Meneville and Virlet d'Aoust, in a Paper on the subject of the granular +or oolitic travertine of Tezcuco in the Bulletin (1859) of the +Geological Society of France.] + +[15: Huauhtli is an indigenous grain abounding in Michoacan, for which +"wheat" is the best equivalent I can give. European wheat was, of +course, unknown in the country until after the Conquest.] + +[16: The _meson_ of Mexico is a lineal descendant of the Eastern +Caravanserai, and has preserved its peculiarities unchanged for +centuries. It consists of two court-yards, one surrounded by stabling +and the other by miserable rooms for the travellers, who must cook +their food themselves, or go elsewhere for it.] + +[17: The Aztecs were accustomed, before the Conquest, to perform dances +as part of the celebration of their religious festivals, and the +missionaries allowed them to continue the practice after their +conversion. The dance in a church, described by Mr. Bullock in 1822, +was a much more genuine Indian ceremony than the one which we saw. + +Church-dancing may be seen in Europe even at the present day. The +solemn Advent dances in Seville cathedral were described to me, by an +eyewitness, as consisting of minuets, or some such stately +old-fashioned dances, performed in front of the high altar by boys in +white surplices, with the greatest gravity and decorum.] + +[18: This assertion must be qualified by a remark of the Abbe Brasseur +de Bourbourg, who tells us that in some places the Indians still use +lancets of obsidian to bleed themselves with. I believe there is +nothing of the kind to be found in the part of Mexico which we +visited.] + +[19: The Aztecs had but one word to denote both gold and silver, as +they afterwards made one serve for both iron and copper. This curious +word _teocuitlatl_ we may translate as "Precious Metal," but it means +literally "Dung of the Gods." Gold was "Yellow Precious Metal," and +silver "White Precious Metal." Lead they called _temetztli_, +"Moon-stone;" and when the Spaniards showed them quicksilver, they gave +it the name of _yoli amuchitl_, "Live Tin."] + +[20: It is curious that these latter resemblances (as far as I have +been able to investigate the subject) disappear in the signs of the +Yucatan calendar, though its arrangement is precisely that of the +Mexican. Any one interested in the theory of the Toltecs being the +builders of Palenque and Copan will see the importance of this point. +If the Toltecs ever took the original calendar, with the traces of its +Asiatic origin fresh upon it, down into Yucatan with them, it is at +any rate not to be found there now.] + +[21: The Aztec name for an eclipse of the sun is worthy of remark. They +called it _tonatiuh qualo_, literally "_the sun's being eaten_." The +expression seems to belong to a time when they knew less about the +phenomenon, and had some idea like that of the Asiatic nations who +thought the sun was occasionally swallowed up by the great dragon.] + +[22: I was surprised to find Iztaccihuatl classed among the active +volcanos in Johnston's Physical Atlas, and supposed at first that a +crater had really been found. But it is likely to be only a mistake, +caused by the name of "Volcan" being given to both mountains by the +Mexicans, who used the word in a very loose way.] + +[23: See the illustration at page 281.] + +[24: In the original, _aras_. In the Latin of Hernandez, _arae_ I +suppose to be the little polished stone slabs which are set on the +altars in Roman Catholic churches, and in which their sacred quality +is, so to speak, contained.] + +[25: _Popular Tales from the Norse_. (Translated from Asbjoernsen and +Moe's Collection.) By George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. With an Introductory +Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales.--_Second Edition, +Edinburgh_: 1859.] + + + + +ERRATA: + + Page 5, line 2, _for_ verandalis _read_ verandahs. + + Page 8, line 12, _for_ il _read_ el. + + Page 17, line 17, _for_ part _read_ port. + + Page 20, line 8, _for_ pronunciamento _read_ pronunciamiento. + + Page 22, line 10, _for_ I could _read_ one can. + + Page 27, line 2, _for_ Mexicans _read_ Americana. + + Page 31, Heading, _for_ THE HLANS. HUEMANTLA. _read_ THE RAINS. + HUAMANTLA. + + Page 31, line 4, _for_ molina de viente _read_ molino de viento. + + Page 101, in description of woodcut. Delete _bone_. + + Page 216, line 9, _for_ hands _read_ hand. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANAHUAC*** + + +******* This file should be named 13115.txt or 13115.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.net/1/3/1/1/13115 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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