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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aztec Land, by Maturin M. Ballou
+
+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.org
+
+
+Title: Aztec Land
+
+Author: Maturin M. Ballou
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2009 [EBook #29747]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AZTEC LAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  By Maturin M. Ballou.
+
+
+  AZTEC LAND. A new Book. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska.
+  Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS.
+  Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo,
+  $1.50.
+
+  UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA.
+  Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA.
+  Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+  EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Selected and edited by Mr.
+  BALLOU. 8vo, $3.50.
+
+  A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations.
+  8vo, full gilt, $3.50.
+
+  PEARLS OF THOUGHT. 16mo, full gilt, $1.25.
+
+  NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. Crown 8vo,
+  $1.50.
+
+
+  HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY,
+  BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+
+AZTEC LAND
+
+BY
+
+MATURIN M. BALLOU
+
+
+
+
+  The dust is old upon my sandal-shoon,
+  And still I am a pilgrim.
+
+  N. P. WILLIS.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+  BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+  HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
+  The Riverside Press, Cambridge
+  1890
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1890,
+  BY MATURIN M. BALLOU.
+
+
+  _All rights reserved._
+
+
+  _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
+  Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Having resolved to visit Mexico, the question first to be considered was
+how to do so in the most advantageous manner. Repairing to the office of
+Messrs. Raymond & Whitcomb, in Boston, after a brief consultation with
+those experienced organizers of travel, the author handed the firm a
+check for the cost of a round trip to Mexico and back. On the following
+day he took his seat in a Pullman parlor car in Boston, to occupy the
+same section until his return from an excursion of ten thousand miles. A
+select party of ladies and gentlemen came together at the same time in
+the Fitchburg railroad station, most of whom were strangers to each
+other, but who were united by the same purpose. The traveler lives,
+eats, and sleeps in the vestibule train, while _en route_, in which he
+first embarks, until his return to the starting-point, a dining-car,
+with reading and writing rooms, also forming a part of the train. All
+care regarding the routes to be followed, as to hotel accommodations
+while stopping in large cities, side excursions, and the providing of
+domestic necessities, are dismissed from his mind. He luxuriates in the
+pleasure of seeing a strange and beautiful land, without a thought as to
+the _modus operandi_, or the means by which detail is conquered. In
+short, he dons Fortunatus's cap, and permits events to develop
+themselves to his intense delight. Such was the author's experience on
+the occasion concerning which these wayside views of Mexico were
+written. It was a holiday journey, but it is hoped that a description of
+it may impart to the general reader a portion of the pleasure and useful
+information which the author realized from an excursion into Aztec Land,
+full of novel and uninterrupted enjoyment.
+
+  M. M. B.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+
+  Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish
+      Historians.--Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances.
+      --Products of the Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races.
+      --Early Civilization.--Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money.
+      --Aztec Religious Sacrifices.--A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican
+      Independence.--European Civilization introduced by Cortez.--
+      Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival of Mexican
+      Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native Writer's
+      Statement.--Divorce of Church and State                            1
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  Remarkably Fertile Soil.--Valuable Native Woods.--Mexican Flora.--
+      Coffee and Tobacco.--Mineral Products.--Silver Mines.--Sugar
+      Lands.--Manufactories.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--Water
+      Power.--Coal Measures.--Railroads.--Historic Locality.--Social
+      Characteristics.--People divided into Castes.--Peonage.--
+      Radical Progress.--Education and the Priesthood.--A Threshing
+      Machine.--Social Etiquette.--Political Organization of the
+      Government.--Mexico the Synonym of Barbarism.--Production and
+      Business Handicapped by an Excessive Tariff                       23
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  The Route to Mexico.--Via the Mammoth Cave.--Across the Rio
+      Grande.--A Large River.--Piedras Negras.--Characteristic Scene.
+      --A Barren Prairie Land.--Castano, a Native Village.--Adobe
+      Cabins.--Indian Irrigation.--Sparsely Populated Country.--
+      Interior Haciendas.--Immigration.--City of Saltillo.--Battle
+      of Buena Vista.--City of Monterey.--The Cacti and Yucca-Palm.
+      --Capture by General Taylor.--Mexican Central Railroad.--
+      Jack-Rabbits.--A Dreary Region.--The Mesquite Bushes.--Lonely
+      Graves                                                            43
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  Zacatecas.--Sand-Spouts.--Fertile Lands.--A Silver Mining Region.
+      --Alpine Scenery.--Table-Land of Mexico.--An Aged Miner.--
+      Zacatecas Cathedral.--Church and People.--A Mountain Climb.--
+      Ownership of the Mines.--Want of Drainage.--A Battlefield.--
+      Civil War.--Local Market.--Peculiar Scenes.--Native Beauties.
+      --City Tramway Experience.--Town of Guadalupe.--Organized
+      Beggars.--A Noble and Successful Institution.--Market of
+      Guadalupe.--Attractive Senoritas.--Private Gardens                62
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  A Mexican Watering Place.--Delightful Climate.--Aguas Calientes.
+      --Young Senoritas.--Local City Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches.
+      --A Mummified Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot
+      Springs.--Bathing in Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities."
+      --Delicious Fruits.--Market Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The
+      Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A Beautiful Plaza.--Local
+      Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--The City of Silao.
+      --Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.--Fierce
+      Sand Storm                                                        76
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  Guanajuato.--An Ex-President.--Richest Silver Mine in Mexico.--
+      Reducing the Ores.--Plenty of Silver.--Open Sewers.--A Venal
+      Priesthood.--A Big Prison.--The Catholic Church.--Getting Rid
+      of a Prisoner.--The Frog-Rock.--Idolaters.--A Strawberry
+      Festival at Irapuato.--Salamanca.--City of Queretaro.--A Fine
+      Old Capital.--Maximilian and His Fate.--A Charming Plaza.--
+      Mammoth Cotton Factory.--The Maguey Plant.--Pulque and Other
+      Stimulants.--Beautiful Opals.--Honey Water.--Ancient Tula.--
+      A Freak of Tropical Weather                                       97
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  City of Mexico.--Private Dwellings.--Thieves.--Old Mexico.--
+      Climate.--Tramways.--The Plaza Mayor.--City Streets.--The
+      Grand Paseo.--Public Statues.--Scenes upon the Paseo.--The
+      Paseo de la Viga.--Out-of-door Concerts.--A Mexican Caballero.
+      --Lottery Ticket Venders.--High Noon.--Mexican Soldiers.--
+      Musicians.--Criminals as Soldiers.--The Grand Cathedral.--The
+      Ancient Aztec Temple.--Magnificent View from the Towers of
+      the Cathedral.--Cost of the Edifice.--Valley of Anahuac          126
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  An Extinct Volcano.--Mexican Mountains.--The Public Institutions
+      of the Capital.--The Government Palace.--The Museum.--
+      Maximilian's State Carriage.--A Peculiar Plant.--The Academy
+      of Fine Arts.--Choice Paintings.--Art School.--Picture
+      Writing.--Native Artists.--Exquisite Pottery.--Cortez's
+      Presents to Charles V.--A Special Aztec Art.--The Sacrificial
+      Stone.--Spanish Historical Authorities.--Public Library.--The
+      Plaza.--Flower Market.--A Morning Visit.--Public Market.--
+      Concealed Weapons                                                150
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  A City of Vistas.--Want of Proper Drainage.--Unfortunate Site.--
+      Insecure Foundations.--A Boom in Building Lots.--Pleasant
+      Suburbs.--Night Watchmen.--The Iturbide Hotel--A Would-be
+      Emperor.--Domestic Arrangements.--A New Hotel wanted.--
+      Places of Public Entertainment.--The Bull Ring.--Repulsive
+      Performance.--Monte de Piedad.--An English Syndicate purchase
+      it.--The Alameda.--The Inquisition.--Festal Days.--Pulque
+      Shops.--The Church Party.--Gilded Bar-Rooms.--Mexican
+      Marriages.--Mothers and Infants.--A Family Group                 170
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  Benito Juarez's Grandest Monument.--Hotel del Jardin.--General
+      Jose Morelos.--Mexican Ex-Convents.--City Restaurants.--Lady
+      Smokers.--Domestic Courtyards.--A Beautiful Bird.--The Grand
+      Cathedral Interior.--A Devout Lottery Ticket Vender.--
+      Porcelain-Ornamented Houses.--Rogues in Church.--Expensive
+      Justice.--Cemetery of San Fernando.--Juarez's Monument.--
+      Coffins to Let.--American and English Cemetery.--A Doleful
+      Street and Trade                                                 194
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  The Shrine of Guadalupe.--Priestly Miracles.--A Remarkable
+      Spring.--The Chapels about the Hill.--A Singular Votive
+      Offering.--Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.--Costly
+      Decorations.--A Campo Santo.--Tomb of Santa Anna.--Strange
+      Contrasts.--Guadalupe-Hidalgo.--The Twelve Shrines on the
+      Causeway.--The Viga Canal.--The Floating Islands.--Indian
+      Gamblers.--Vegetable Market.--Flower Girls.--The "Noche-
+      Triste" Tree.--Ridiculous Signs.--Queer Titles.--Floral
+      Festival                                                         205
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  Castle of Chapultepec.--"Hill of the Grasshopper."--Montezuma's
+      Retreat.--Palace of the Aztec Kings.--West Point of Mexico.
+      --Battles of Molino del Rey and Churubusco.--The Mexican White
+      House.--High above Sea Level.--Village of Tacubaya.--Antique
+      Carvings.--Ancient Toluca.--The Maguey.--Fine Scenery.--Cima.
+      --Snowy Peaks.--Leon d'Oro.--The Bull-Ring and Cockpit.--A
+      Literary Institution.--The Coral Tree.--Ancient Pyramids.--
+      Pachuca.--Silver Product of the Mines.--A Cornish Colony.--
+      Native Cabins.--Indian Endurance                                 220
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  Puebla, the Sacred City.--General Forey.--Battle-Ground.--View of
+      the City.--Priestly Miracles.--The Cathedral.--Snow-Crowned
+      Mountains.--A Cleanly Capital.--The Plaza Mayor.--A Typical
+      Picture.--The Old Seller of Rosaries.--Mexican Ladies.--Palm
+      Sunday.--Church Gala Day.--Education--Confiscation of Church
+      Property.--A Curious Arch.--A Doll Image.--Use of Glazed
+      Tiles.--Onyx a Staple Production.--Fine Work of Native Indian
+      Women.--State of Puebla full of Rich Resources.--A Dynamite
+      Bomb.--The Key of the Capital                                    241
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  Ancient Cholula.--A Grand Antiquity.--The Cheops of Mexico.--
+      Traditions relating to the Pyramid.--The Toltecs.--Cholula of
+      To-Day.--Comprehensive View.--A Modern Tower of Babel.--
+      Multiplicity of Ruins.--Cortez's Exaggerations.--Sacrifices of
+      Human Beings.--The Hateful Inquisition.--A Wholesale Murderous
+      Scheme.--Unreliable Historians.--Spanish Falsification.--
+      Interesting Churches.--Off the Track.--Personal Relics of
+      Cortez.--Torturing a Victim.--Aztec Antiquities.--Tlaxcala.--
+      Church of San Francisco.--Peon Dwellings.--Cortez and the
+      Tlaxcalans                                                       258
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  Down into the Hot Lands.--Wonderful Mountain Scenery.--Parasitic
+      Vines.--Luscious Fruits.--Orchids.--Orizaba.--State of Vera
+      Cruz.--The Kodak.--Churches.--A Native Artist.--Schools.--
+      Climate.--Crystal Peak of Orizaba.--Grand Waterfall.--The
+      American Flag.--Disappointed Climbers.--A Night Surprise.--
+      The French Invasion.--The Plaza.--Indian Characteristics.--
+      Early Morning Sights.--Maximilian in Council.--Difficult
+      Engineering.--Wild Flowers.--A Cascade.--Cordova.--The Banana.
+      --Coffee Plantations.--Fertile Soil.--Market Scenes              282
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  The City of Vera Cruz.--Defective Harbor.--The Dreaded and also
+      Welcome Norther.--San Juan d'Ulloa.--Landing of Cortez.--His
+      Expedition Piratical.--View of the City from the Sea.--
+      Cortez's Destruction of his Ships.--Anecdote of Charles V.--A
+      Sickly Capital.--Street Scenes.--Trade.--The Mantilla.--Plaza
+      de la Constitucion.--Typical Characters.--Brilliant Fireflies.
+      --Well-To-Do Beggars.--Principal Edifices.--The Campo Santo.
+      --City Dwelling-Houses.--The Dark-Plumed Buzzards.--A City
+      Fountain.--A Varied History.--Medillin.--State of Vera Cruz      301
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  Jalapa.--A Health Resort.--Birds, Flowers, and Fruits.--Cerro
+      Gordo.--Cathedral.--Earthquakes.--Local Characteristics.--
+      Vanilla.--Ancient Ruins.--Tortillas.--Blondes in a City of
+      Brunettes.--Curiosities of Mexican Courtship.--Caged Singing
+      Birds.--Banditti Outwitted.--Socialistic Indians.--Traces of
+      a Lost City.--Guadalajara.--On the Mexican Plateau.--A
+      Progressive Capital.--Fine Modern Buildings.--The Cathedral.
+      --Native Artists.--A Noble Institution.--Amusements.--San
+      Pedro.--Evening in the Plaza.--A Ludicrous Carnival.--Judas
+      Day                                                              320
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  Santa Rosalia.--Mineral Springs.--Chihuahua.--A Peculiar City.--
+      Cathedral.--Expensive Bells.--Aqueduct.--Alameda.--Hidalgo's
+      Prison and his Fate.--Eulalia.--A Large State.--A Grand Avenue
+      of Trees.--Local Artists.--Grotesque Signs.--Influence of
+      Proximity to the United States.--Native Villages.--Dangerous
+      Sand-Spouts.--Reflections on Approaching the Frontier.--
+      Pleasant Pictures photographed upon the Memory.--Juarez, the
+      Border Town of Mexico.--City of El Paso, Texas.--Railroad
+      Interests.--Crossing the Rio Grande.--Greeted by the Stars
+      and Stripes                                                      343
+
+
+
+
+AZTEC LAND.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish Historians.--
+    Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances.--Products of the
+    Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races.--Early Civilization.--
+    Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money.--Aztec Religious Sacrifices.
+    --A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican Independence.--European Civilization
+    introduced by Cortez.--Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival
+    of Mexican Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native
+    Writer's Statement.--Divorce of Church and State.
+
+
+Bordering upon the United States on the extreme southwest, for a
+distance of more than two thousand miles, is a republic which represents
+a civilization possibly as old as that of Egypt; a land, notwithstanding
+its proximity to us, of which the average American knows less than he
+does of France or Italy, but which rivals them in natural
+picturesqueness, and nearly equals them in historic interest.
+
+It is a country which is much misunderstood and almost wholly
+misrepresented. It may be called the land of tradition and romance,
+whose true story is most poetic and sanguinary. Such is Mexico, with her
+twenty-seven independent states, a federal district in which is situated
+the national capital, and the territory of Lower California,--a
+widespread country, containing in all a population of between ten and
+eleven millions. As in the instance of this Union, each state controls
+its internal affairs so far as it can do so without conflicting with the
+laws of the national government, which are explicitly defined. The
+nature of the constitution, adopted in 1857 by the combined states, is
+that of a republic pure and simple, thoroughly democratic in its
+provisions. The national power resides in the people, from whom emanates
+all public authority. The glowing pen of Prescott has rendered us all
+familiar with the romantic side of Mexican history, but legitimate
+knowledge of her primitive story is, unfortunately, of the most
+fragmentary character. Our information concerning the early inhabitants
+comes almost solely through the writings of irresponsible monks and
+priests who could neither see nor represent anything relative to an
+idolatrous people save in accordance with the special interests of their
+own church; or from Spanish historians who had never set foot upon the
+territory of which they wrote, and who consequently repeated with
+heightened color the legends, traditions, and exaggerations of others.
+"The general opinion may be expressed," says Janvier, in his "Mexican
+Guide," "in regard to the writings concerning this period that, as a
+rule, a most gorgeous superstructure of fancy has been raised upon a
+very meagre foundation of fact. As romance, information of this highly
+imaginative sort is entertaining, but it is not edifying." One would be
+glad to get at the other side of the Aztec story, which, we suspect,
+would place the chivalric invaders in a very different light from that
+of their own boastful records, and also enable us to form a more just
+and truthful opinion of the aborigines themselves. That their numbers,
+religious sacrifices, and barbaric excesses are generally overdrawn is
+perfectly manifest. Every fair-minded student of history frankly admits
+this. It was necessary for Cortez and his followers to paint the
+character of the Aztecs in darkest hues to palliate and excuse, in a
+measure, their own wholesale rapine and murder. It was the elder Dumas
+who said, "Truth is liable to be left-handed in history." As Cortez was
+a champion of the Roman Catholic Church, that institution did not
+hesitate to represent his achievements so as to redound to its own
+glory. "Posterity is too often deceived by the vague hyperboles of poets
+and rhetoricians," says Macaulay, "who mistake the splendor of a court
+for the happiness of a people." No one can forget the magnificence of
+Montezuma's household as represented by the chroniclers, and as
+magnified by time and distance.
+
+Let us consider for a moment the geographical situation of this great
+southland, which is separated from us only by a comparatively
+insignificant stream of water.
+
+The present republic of Mexico is bounded on the north by the United
+States, from which it is separated in part by the narrow Rio Grande; on
+the south by Guatemala, Balize, and the Pacific Ocean; on the east by
+the Gulf of Mexico; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean, extending as
+far north as the Bay of San Diego, California. Of its nearly six
+thousand miles of coast line, sixteen hundred are on the Gulf of Mexico
+and forty-two hundred miles are on the Pacific. The topographical aspect
+of the country has been not inappropriately likened to an inverted
+cornucopia. Its greatest length from northwest to southeast is almost
+exactly two thousand miles, and its greatest width, which is at the
+twenty-sixth degree of north latitude, is seven hundred and fifty miles.
+The minimum width is at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where it contracts
+to a hundred and fifty miles. The area of the entire republic is
+probably a little less than eight hundred thousand square miles.
+Trustworthy statistics relating to Mexico are not attainable. Even
+official reports are scarcely better than estimates. Carlos Butterfield,
+accredited statistician, makes the area of the republic about
+thirty-three thousand square miles less than the figures we have given.
+He also calculates that the density of the population is some ten or
+eleven to the square mile. Other authorities, however, give the area
+much nearer to our own figures. A detailed survey which would enable us
+to get at a satisfactory aggregate has never been made, so that a
+careful estimate is all we have to depend upon.
+
+The climate of the country is divided by common acceptation into three
+zones, each of which is well defined: it being hot in the _tierra
+caliente_, or hot lands, of the coast; temperate in the _tierra
+templada_, or region between three thousand and six thousand feet above
+the level of the sea; and cold in the _tierra fria_, or region at an
+elevation exceeding six thousand feet. In the first named the extreme
+heat is 100 deg. Fahr.; in the last the extreme of cold is 20 deg. above zero.
+In the national capital the mercury ranges between 65 deg. and 75 deg. Fahr.
+throughout the year. In fact, every climate known to the traveler may be
+met with between Vera Cruz and the capital of the republic. In the
+neighborhood of Orizaba one finds sugar-cane and Indian corn, tobacco
+and palm-trees, bananas and peaches, growing side by side.
+
+Let us state in brief, for general information, the main products of
+these three geographical divisions. In the hot region we find cotton,
+vanilla, hemp, pepper, cocoa, oranges, bananas, indigo, rice, and
+various other tropical fruits. In the temperate region, tobacco, coffee,
+sugar, maize, the brown bean, peas, and most of the favorite northern
+fruits. Here extreme heat and frost are alike unknown. In the cold
+region, all of the hardy vegetables, such as potatoes, beets, carrots,
+and the cereals, wheat growing at as high an elevation as eighty-five
+hundred feet, while two crops annually are grown in various sections of
+the _tierra templada_. Tobacco is indigenous in Mexico, and derives its
+name from Tabaco in Yucatan. Indian corn and brown beans, two of the
+principal sources of the food consumed by the natives, are grown in all
+the states of the republic.
+
+Mexico is situated in the same degree of latitude in the Western
+Hemisphere that Egypt occupies in the Eastern, the Tropic of Cancer
+dividing both countries in the centre. There is a striking resemblance
+between them, also, in many other respects, such as architecture,
+vegetation, domestic utensils, mode of cultivating the land, ancient
+pyramids, and idols, while both afford abundant tokens of a history
+antedating all accredited record. Toltec and Aztec antiquities bear a
+remarkable resemblance to the old Egyptian remains to be found in the
+museums of Europe and America. Speaking of these evidences of a former
+and unknown race still to be found in southern Mexico, especially in
+Yucatan, Wilson the historian says: "In their solidity they strikingly
+remind us of the best productions of Egyptian art. Nor are they less
+venerable in appearance than those which excite our admiration in the
+valley of the Nile. Their points of resemblance, too, are so numerous,
+they carry to the beholder a conviction that the architects on this side
+of the ocean were familiar with the models on the other." Doubtless the
+volcanic soil of Mexico conceals vast remains of the far past, even as
+Pompeii was covered and continued unsuspected for centuries, until
+accident led to its being gradually exhumed. Whole cities are known to
+have disappeared in various parts of Mexico, leaving no more evidence of
+their existence than may be found in a few broken columns or some
+half-disintegrated stones. Of this mutability we shall have ample
+evidence as we progress on our route through the several states. When in
+various parts of the country we see the native laborers irrigating the
+land in the style which prevailed thousands of years ago on the banks of
+the Nile, and behold the dark-hued women slightly clothed in a white
+cotton fabric with faces half-concealed, while they bear water jars upon
+their heads, we seem to breathe the very atmosphere of Asia. The rapid
+introduction of railroads and the modern facilities for travel are fast
+rendering us as familiar with the characteristics of this land of the
+Montezumas as we have long been with that of the Pharaohs; and though it
+has not the halo of Biblical story to recommend it to us, yet Mexico is
+not lacking in numberless legends, poetic associations, and the charm of
+a tragic history quite as picturesque and absorbing as that of any
+portion of the East. Many intelligent students of history believe that
+the first inhabitants of this continent probably came from Asia by way
+of Behring Strait or the Aleutian Islands, which may at some period in
+past ages have extended across the north Pacific Ocean; the outermost
+island of this group (Attoo), it will be remembered, is at this time but
+four hundred miles from the Asiatic coast, whence it is believed to have
+been originally peopled.
+
+Relative to the early peopling of our continent, Bancroft says: "It is
+shown pretty conclusively that the American people and the American
+civilization, if not indigenous to the New World, were introduced from
+the Old at _a period long preceding any to which we are carried, by the
+traditional or monumental annals of either continent_. We have found no
+evidence of any populating or civilizing migration across the ocean from
+east to west, north or south, within historic times. Nothing approaching
+identity has been discovered between any two nations separated by the
+Atlantic or Pacific. No positive record appears even of communication
+between America and the Old World,--intentionally by commercial, exploring,
+or warlike expeditions, or accidentally by shipwreck,--previous to the
+voyages of the Northmen in the tenth century; yet that such communication
+did take place, in many instances and at different periods, is extremely
+probable."
+
+The emigrants of whom we have spoken are supposed to have been nomadic,
+to have first built cities in the north,--that is, the present United
+States; it is not improbable that they were the mound-builders of Ohio
+and the Mississippi valleys, and that they afterward migrated southward
+into Mexico. These pioneers were called Toltecs, and were settled south
+of the Rio Grande a thousand years ago, more or less, their capital
+being what is known to-day as the city of Tula, forty miles northwest of
+the present capital of Mexico, where many antique and curious remains
+still interest the traveler. The names of the nine Toltec kings who
+ruled up to A. D. 1097 are well ascertained. It was the fourth
+king, if we may believe the chroniclers, who built the city of
+Teotihuacan, that is, "the habitation of the gods," the only visible
+remains of which are the two earth pyramids of the sun and the moon. Of
+these we shall have occasion to treat more at length in a future
+chapter. In speaking of the most ancient remains at Tula and elsewhere
+in Mexico, Wilson pronounces them to be clearly Egyptian. It is made
+plain by authentic writers upon the subject that this people enjoyed a
+large degree of civilization; the ruins of temples supposed to have
+been built by them in various parts of the country, especially in
+Yucatan, also prove this. Humboldt says that in 648 A. D. the
+Toltecs had a solar year more perfect than that of the Greeks and
+Romans. Other-writers tell us that they were a worthy people, averse to
+war, allied to virtue, to cleanliness, and good manners, detesting
+falsehood and treachery. They introduced the cultivation of maize and
+cotton, constructed extensive irrigating ditches, built roads, and were
+a progressive race. "But where is the country," asks Humboldt, "from
+which the Toltecs and Mexicans issued?" They were well housed, and even
+elegantly clothed, maintained public schools, and commemorated passing
+events by elaborate sculpture and by picture-writing. So complete was
+their system of hieroglyphics that they wrote upon religion, history,
+geography, and the arts. These records were nearly all destroyed by the
+malicious and bigoted iniquity of a Spanish priest named Zumarrage, who
+made it his business to seek for and burn all tokens, great and small,
+which related to the history of this extremely interesting people. A few
+of these curious records, in the form of pictorial writing, yet remain
+in Mexico, principally in the National Museum at the capital, and some
+have found their way across the ocean to adorn the shelves of European
+libraries. One of these documents, still extant, represents the country
+as having first been settled by a race who came out of a great cave and
+traveled over the realm on the backs of turtles, founding cities and
+towns wherever they went. This will show that the traditions of the
+aborigines are so fabulous as scarcely to deserve mention. Touching the
+vandal act of the Catholic priest Zumarrage, Prescott says: "We
+contemplate with indignation the cruelties inflicted by the early
+conquerors. But indignation is qualified with contempt when we see them
+thus ruthlessly trampling out the sparks of knowledge, the common boon
+and property of all mankind. We may well doubt which has the strongest
+claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished." We know that the
+early inhabitants reared palaces, temples, and pyramids, that they
+constructed a grand system of aqueducts for irrigating purposes, and for
+the liberal promotion of agriculture, being in many respects in advance
+of the Mexicans of to-day in the cultivation of the soil, as well as in
+some productions of art.
+
+This people, after several centuries of occupation, seem to have been
+driven away, probably to South America, by the arrival of another race
+called Aztecs or Mexicans, about the year 1325,--some writers say much
+earlier,--who finally, under the emperors known as the Montezumas,
+brought the country to a lofty height of barbaric and extravagant
+splendor, though they were largely, if not almost entirely, indebted to
+the discoveries and genius of their intelligent predecessors. The early
+faith of the Toltecs, it is claimed, was the adoration of the sun, moon,
+and stars. They offered to their representative gods flowers, fruits,
+and the life-blood of small animals. The sacrifice of human beings was
+later engrafted on their simple faith by other tribes.
+
+History tells us that these aboriginal races did not possess stamped
+coin. They had certain signs of the value of different articles, which
+took the place of money. One of these, for example, is said to have been
+cacao beans counted into lots of eight thousand, or in sacks of
+twenty-four thousand each. To exchange for articles of daily necessity
+they used pieces of cotton cloth. Expensive objects were paid for in
+grains of gold dust, which were carried in quills. For the cheapest
+articles, copper pieces cut like the letter T were used. After the
+conquest, the earliest mint was established in Mexico, in 1538, by Don
+Antonio de Mendoza, who was the first viceroy.
+
+When Cortez came from--in the light of history we should say, ran away
+from--Cuba to conquer and possess Mexico, in 1519, a hundred years
+before the Pilgrims lauded on the shore of Massachusetts Bay, he
+encountered a people who had reached, comparatively speaking, a high
+degree of civilization, though weighted by an idolatrous worship which
+was most terrible in its wild and reckless practice of human sacrifice,
+as represented by Spanish authorities. Their imposing sculptures,
+curious arms, picture records, and rich, fanciful garments, filled the
+invaders with surprise and whetted their gross avariciousness. There was
+much that was strange and startling in their mythology, and even their
+idol worship and sacrificial rites bore evidence of sincerity.
+Altogether, this western empire presented a strange and fascinating
+spectacle to the eyes of the invaders, who flattered themselves that
+they would be doing God service by subjugating these idolaters, and
+substituting their own religion for that of the natives. At the time
+when the Spaniards arrived in the country, Montezuma II. was on the
+throne, one of the most extravagant of voluptuaries. According to the
+accounts of the early Spanish chroniclers, the ornaments worn by him
+must have been equal in elegance and value to the crown-jewels of any
+imperial family of Europe. Asiatic pomp and luxury could not go to
+greater extremes than these writers attribute to the Aztec court and its
+emperor. Cortez eagerly and unscrupulously possessed himself of these
+royal gems, and kept them concealed upon his person until his return to
+Spain. They are represented to have been worth "a nation's ransom," but
+were lost in the sea, where Cortez had thrown himself in a critical
+emergency. The broad amphitheatre, in the midst of which the capital of
+Anahuac--"by the waters"--was built, still remains; but the picturesque
+lake which beautified it, traversed by causeways and covered with
+floating gardens laden with trees and flowers, has disappeared. Though
+the conquered natives, roused at last to a spirit of madness by the
+unequaled cruelty and extortion of the victors, rose in a body and
+expelled them from their capital, still the ruthless valor of Cortez and
+his followers, aided by artful alliance with disaffected native tribes,
+together with the superiority of the Spanish weapons, finally proved too
+much for the reigning power, and, after a brave and protracted struggle,
+the star of the Aztec dynasty set in blood.
+
+Montezuma died a miserable death in the hands of Cortez; while
+Guatemozin, the last of the Aztec emperors, was ignominiously treated,
+tortured, and afterwards hanged by the Spanish conqueror.
+
+Three hundred years of Spanish rule, extortion, rapacity, fraud, and
+bitter oppression followed,--a period of struggle for supremacy on the
+part of the Roman Catholic Church, during which it relentlessly crushed
+every vestige of opposition by means of that hideous monster, the
+Inquisition. During these three centuries, the same selfish policy
+actuated the home government towards Mexico as was exercised towards
+Cuba, namely, to extort from the country and its people the largest
+possible revenue for the Spanish treasury. Finally came the successful
+revolution which separated the country from continental Spain and
+achieved the independence of the nation.
+
+We must not, however, blind ourselves to facts. Hateful as the Spanish
+rule in Mexico appears to us, we must admit that Cortez introduced
+European civilization, such as it was, into the country, and it has
+virtually continued until the present day. We see that under his rule
+great cities sprang into life, magnificent buildings were erected,
+national roads, viaducts, bridges, and aqueducts were built, on so grand
+a scale as to still challenge our admiration. Silver and gold were
+extracted from the mines, and together with ornamental woods, precious
+stones, dyes and drugs were shipped in unlimited quantities to Spain,
+whereby her already richly endowed treasury became full to repletion.
+True, it was a period of false gods, of high living, and of vice; might
+made right; morality had not the same signification then as it has in
+our time. The conventionalities of one century become the vices of the
+next. Virtue and vice must, in a certain degree, be construed in
+relation to latitude and longitude. That which is sacred in Samoa to-day
+may be considered impious in Boston.
+
+Cortez's expedition, which landed at Vera Cruz, April 21, 1519, was not
+the first to discover the continent in this neighborhood; he had been
+preceded nearly two years by a rich merchant of Cuba, who fitted out a
+couple of small vessels on his own account, mainly for the purpose of
+trading, and being also in search of that great lure, gold, which it was
+supposed existed in large quantities among the native tribes of the
+mainland. This adventurer, Francisco Hernandez de Cordova, landed near
+the present Cape Catoche, April 8, 1517, having brought with him only
+about one hundred men. As to the final result of that enterprise we are
+not informed, except that his landing was opposed by the natives, and a
+battle was fought in which fifteen or twenty Indians were killed and a
+number of Spaniards were wounded.
+
+The fighting instinct of the people of Mexico was never exercised to
+better purpose than during the period between 1810 and 1821, in the
+gallant and successful war with the home government to establish their
+freedom. On the 15th day of September, 1810, a solemn declaration of
+independence was made, and for eleven years, under various patriotic
+leaders, such as Hidalgo--their Washington--and the truly great Morelos,
+the trying fortunes of a relentless war were experienced, until August
+24, 1821, when Spain was forced to give up the contest and retire
+humiliated from the field. Not, however, until so late as 1838 did she
+formally recognize the Mexican republic.
+
+It is natural to pause for a moment in this connection, and contrast the
+past with the present status of Spain, a country which conquered,
+possessed, and misruled Mexico for so long a period. In the sixteenth
+century she threatened to become the mistress of the world. In art she
+held the foremost position. Murillo, Velasquez, and Ribiera were her
+honored sons; in literature she was represented by Cervantes, Lope de
+Vega, and Calderon; while of discoverers and conquerors she sent forth
+Columbus, Cortez, and Pizarro. The banners of Castile and Aragon floated
+alike on the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. Her warriors were
+adventurous and brave; her soldiers inherited the gallantry of the
+followers of Charles V. She was the court of Europe, the acknowledged
+leader of chivalry. How rapid has been her decadence! As in the
+plenitude of her power she was ambitious, cruel, and perfidious, so has
+the measure which she meted to others been in turn accorded to herself.
+To-day there are none so humble as to do her honor.
+
+As years progressed, interstate struggles impoverished the land and
+decimated the number of its ruling spirits. To recall a list of the
+names of patriot leaders who laid down their lives during this half
+century and more of civil wars makes one shudder for man's inhumanity to
+man. Little progress was made. The Romish Church held its parasitic
+clutch upon state and people, impoverishing and degrading both, until
+the burden became too great to bear; and, in 1857, the Laws of Reform
+were enacted and the constitution amended, causing the church to
+disgorge its millions of ill-gotten wealth, and also depriving it of its
+power for further national injury.
+
+A brief but decisive war with the United States ended in the humble
+submission of Mexico, causing her to lose a large portion of her
+territory, amounting to more than one half its number of square miles.
+Probably very few of the readers of these pages could answer correctly,
+if they were asked what was the real cause of this war between the
+United States and Mexico. Let us briefly state the facts, since we shall
+incidentally refer more than once to the matter. In 1835, Texas, then a
+part of Mexico, rebelled against that government, and succeeded not only
+in achieving her independence, but also in being recognized as a
+distinct power by several of the nations of Europe, including England
+and France, as well as this country. After a lapse of nine or ten years,
+at the earnest solicitation of the inhabitants, Texas was admitted to
+the American Union. The Mexican government expressed great
+dissatisfaction at this, and sent troops to camp all along the Rio
+Grande, which compelled the President to order a division of our array
+there to protect the national interests. The Mexican troops crossed over
+their border and attacked our soldiers on Texan soil, killing sixteen
+Americans and capturing many prisoners. This was on April 24, 1846, and
+precipitated hostilities at once. After the battles of Palo Alto, May
+8th, and Resaca de la Palma, May 9th, both fought on Texan soil, and
+both defeats for the Mexicans, General Taylor crossed with his forces
+into Mexico and occupied Matamoras. The subsequent battles on Taylor's
+and Scott's lines resulted in a series of hard-won victories for our
+troops in every instance; until, finally, the flag of the United States
+floated triumphantly over the city of Mexico. It was not this country,
+but Mexico, which was the aggressor, and it was her foolhardiness and
+outrageous insult which brought about the war. There is not a power in
+Europe which would not have done precisely as this country did when thus
+attacked. The author knows very well that it is the fashion to berate
+our government for the punishment it inflicted upon the aggressive
+Mexicans, but we are not among those who believe that when nations or
+individuals are smitten upon one cheek they should turn the other for a
+like treatment. Mexico got what she deserved, that is, a thorough
+drubbing, and lost one half of her territorial possessions in return for
+a long series of aggressions.
+
+Though thus geographically curtailed, she is still of mammoth
+proportions, exceeding in size Austria and Germany with Sweden, Norway,
+and the Netherlands combined; or, to make a more familiar comparison,
+Mexico is sixteen times larger than the State of New York, stretching
+through seventeen degrees of latitude and thirty degrees of longitude.
+Finally, there came the ridiculous and abortive attempt of Napoleon the
+Little to make a foreigner--Archduke Maximilian of Austria--Emperor of
+Mexico, in which Quixotic purpose he was at first abetted by England and
+Spain. After a bloody and fruitless struggle, backed by all the subtle
+influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the French withdrew from the
+country in utter disgrace, while the royal interloper, deceived,
+deserted, and cheated by the weak, scheming mountebank on the French
+throne, was condemned to death by a Mexican court martial, and with two
+of his most notable and trusted generals was shot at Queretaro.
+Ill-advised as was the attempt to establish an empire on American soil,
+and although it resulted in such a bitter failure, involving the death
+of its principal actors, and terrible waste of human life, it must be
+admitted by every candid observer that Mexico made great material
+advance during the brief period of Maximilian's bastard government. The
+national capital was especially beautified, and it exhibits to-day the
+advantages of many grand improvements instituted and completed by
+Maximilian and "poor" Carlotta, his devoted wife, and daughter of
+Leopold I., king of the Belgians. The Mexicans will long remember that
+they owe their magnificent boulevard, the Paseo de la Reforma, to
+Maximilian, and their charmingly arranged Plaza Mayor to the refined and
+womanly taste of Carlotta.
+
+At last it would seem as though the energies of this much distracted
+country, so long the victim of the priesthood, professional brigandage,
+and civil and foreign wars, have become diverted into channels of
+productive industry, developing resources of wealth and stability which
+have heretofore been unrecognized. A country facing upon two oceans, and
+having seven or eight railroad lines intersecting it in various
+directions, cannot remain _in statu quo_; it must take its place more or
+less promptly in the grand line of nations, all of whom are moving
+forward under the influence of the progressive ideas of the nineteenth
+century. It is only since 1876 that Mexico has enjoyed anything like a
+stable government; and as her constitution is modeled upon our own, let
+us sincerely hope for the best results. General Porfirio Diaz, President
+of the republic, is a man whose official and private life commands the
+respect of the entire people. That his administration has given the
+country a grand impetus, has largely restored its credit, and insured a
+continuance of peace, seems to be an undisputed fact. His principal
+purpose is plainly to modernize Mexico. The twelve years from 1876, when
+he became president, until 1889, when his third term commenced, has
+proved to be the progressive age of the republic. He is of native birth,
+and rose from the ranks of the masses. The only opposition to his
+government is that of the church party, led by the Archbishop of Mexico,
+and supported by that great army of non-producers, the useless priests,
+who fatten upon the poor and superstitious populace. At present this
+party has no political power or influence, but is working at all times,
+in secret, silently awaiting an opportunity to sacrifice anything or
+everything to the sole interests of the Roman Catholic Church. "The
+political struggle in Mexico," says United States Commissioner William
+Eleroy Curtis, "since the independence of the republic, has been and
+will continue to be between antiquated, bigoted, and despotic Romanism,
+allied with the ancient aristocracy, under whose encouragement
+Maximilian came, on the one hand, and the spirit of intellectual,
+industrial, commercial, and social progress on the other."
+
+Here, as in European countries, where this form of faith prevails, it is
+the women mostly--we might almost say solely, in Mexico--who give their
+attendance upon the ceremonies of the church. The male population are
+seldom seen within its walls, though yielding a sort of tacit
+acquiescence to the faith. We are speaking of large communities in the
+cities and among the more intelligent classes. The peons of the rural
+districts, the ignorant masses who do not think for themselves, but who
+are yet full of superstitious fears, are easily impressed by church
+paraphernalia, gorgeous trappings, and gilded images. This class, men
+and women, are completely under the guidance of the priesthood.
+"Although the clergy still exercise a powerful influence among the
+common people," says Commissioner Curtis, "whose superstitious ignorance
+has not yet been reached by the free schools and compulsory education
+law, in politics they are powerless." It was in 1857 that Mexico
+formally divorced the church and state by an amendment to her
+constitution, thereby granting unrestricted freedom of conscience and
+religious worship to all persons, sects, and churches. Several
+denominations in the United States avail themselves of this privilege,
+and in some of the cities Protestant churches have been established
+where regular weekly services are held. "With the overthrow of
+Montezuma's empire in 1520," says that distinguished native Mexican
+writer, Riveray Rio, "began the rule of the Spaniard, which lasted just
+three hundred years. During this time, Rome and Spain, priest and king,
+held this land and people as a joint possession. The greedy hand was
+ever reached out to seize alike the product of the mine and soil. The
+people were enslaved for the aggrandizement and power of a foreign
+church and state. It was then that the Church of Rome fostered such a
+vast army of friars, priests, and nuns, acquired those vast landed
+estates, and erected such an incredible number of stone churches, great
+convents, inquisitorial buildings, Jesuit colleges, and gathered such
+vast stores of gold and silver. All this time the poor people were being
+reduced to the utmost poverty, and every right and opportunity for
+personal and civil advancement was taken from them. They were left to
+grope on in intellectual darkness. They could have no commerce with
+foreign nations. If they made any advance in national wealth, it was
+drained away for royal and ecclesiastical tribute. Superstition reigned
+under the false teachings of a corrupt priesthood, while the frightful
+Inquisition, by its cruel machinery, coerced the people to an abjectness
+that has scarcely had a parallel in human history. Under such a
+dispensation of evil rule, Mexico became of less and less importance
+among the family of nations."
+
+This brief summary brings us to the peaceful and comparatively
+prosperous condition of the republic to-day, and prepares the canvas
+upon which to sketch the proposed pen pictures of this interesting
+country, with which we are so intimately connected, both politically and
+geographically.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Remarkably Fertile Soil.--Valuable Native Woods.--Mexican Flora.--Coffee
+    and Tobacco.--Mineral Products.--Silver Mines.--Sugar Lands.--
+    Manufactories.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--Water Power.--Coal
+    Measures.--Railroads.--Historic Locality.--Social Characteristics.--
+    People divided into Castes.--Peonage.--Radical Progress.--Education
+    and the Priesthood.--A Threshing Machine.--Social Etiquette.--
+    Political Organization of the Government.--Mexico the Synonym of
+    Barbarism.--Production and Business Handicapped by an Excessive
+    Tariff.
+
+Mexico is remarkable for the fertility and peculiar productiveness of
+her soil, both of a vegetable and mineral character, though the former
+is very largely dependent upon irrigation, and almost everywhere suffers
+for want of intelligent treatment. As a striking proof of the fertility
+of the soil, an able writer upon the subject tells us, among other
+statistical facts, that while wheat cultivated in France and some other
+countries averages but six grains for one planted, Mexican soil gives an
+average product of twenty-two times the amount of seed which is sown.
+Humboldt was surprised at this when it was reported to him, and took
+pains to verify the fact, finding the statement to be absolutely
+correct. Being situated partly in the tropics and partly in the
+temperate zone, its vegetable products partake of both regions, and are
+varied in the extreme. In the hot lands are dense forests of rosewood,
+mahogany, and ebony, together with dyewoods of great commercial value,
+while in the temperate and cooler districts the oak and pine are
+reasonably abundant. It must be admitted, however, that those districts
+situated near populous neighborhoods have been nearly denuded of their
+growth during centuries of waste and destruction by the conquering
+Spaniards. From this scarcity of commercial wood arises the absence of
+framed houses, and the universal use of stone and clay, or adobe, for
+building purposes. There is valuable wood enough in certain districts,
+which is still being wasted. The sleepers of the Monterey and Mexican
+Gulf railway are nearly all of ebony. Attention having been called to
+the fact, orders have been issued to save this wood for shipment to our
+Northern furniture manufacturers. Iron ties and sleepers are being
+substituted on the trunk lines of the railways as fast as the wooden
+ones decay, being found so much more durable. Those used on the Vera
+Cruz line are imported from England; on the Mexican Central, from the
+United States. There is a low, scrubby growth of wood on the table-lands
+and mountain sides, which is converted by the peons into charcoal and
+transported on the backs of the burros (jackasses) long distances for
+economical use in the cities and villages. All the delicious fruits of
+the West Indies are abundantly produced in the southern section, and all
+the substantial favorites of our Northern and Western States thrive
+luxuriantly in her middle and northern divisions. Some of the cultivated
+berries are remarkably developed; the strawberry, for instance, thrives
+beyond all precedent in central Mexico, and while larger, it is no less
+delicately flavored than our own choice varieties. The flora throughout
+Mexico is exceedingly rich and varied, botanists having recognized over
+ten thousand families of plants indigenous to the soil. It appeared to
+the writer, however, that while the color of the flowers was intensified
+above that of our Northern States, their fragrance was not so well
+defined. Even the soft green mosses threw out a star-like blossom of
+tiny proportions, which seemed almost as full of expression as human
+eyes, while they emitted a subdued fragrance. The best-grown coffee of
+the country is in our estimation equal to the best grades of Mocha or
+Java, while the tobacco produced in several of the states compares
+favorably with the much-lauded brands of Cuba. The most fertile regions
+of Mexico lie on the east and west, where the districts decline abruptly
+from the great plateau, or table-land, towards the coast.
+
+The Monterey and Mexican Gulf railway has lately opened access to most
+excellent land, suitable for sugar plantations, equal to the best in
+Louisiana devoted to this purpose, and which can be bought for a mere
+song, as the saying is. These lands are better adapted to sugar raising
+than those of the State just named, because frost is here unknown. In
+the opening of these tropical districts by railroad, connected with our
+Southern system, we have offered us the opportunity to secure all the
+products which we now get from Cuba. These staples are equal in quality,
+and can be landed at our principal commercial centres at a much less
+cost than is paid for shipments from that island. Such is the arbitrary
+rule of Spain in Cuba, and the miserable political condition of her
+people, that all business transacted in her ports is handicapped by
+regulations calculated to drive commerce away from her shores. The fact
+should also be recalled that while Mexico produces every article which
+we import from Cuba, she has over five times the population to consume
+our manufactures and products, rendering her commercial intercourse with
+us just so much more important. At present, or rather heretofore, she
+has sought to exchange her native products almost wholly with Europe,
+through the port of Vera Cruz; but on account of the excellent
+facilities afforded by the Mexican Central Railroad the volume of trade
+has already begun to set towards the United States. While upon the
+subject it may be mentioned incidentally that the way business of this
+railroad has exceeded all calculations, and yet it is but partially
+developed, the rolling stock being quite inadequate to the demand for
+freight transportation.
+
+In minerals it would seem as though the list of products was unequaled.
+At present the silver mines are undoubtedly the greatest source of
+wealth to the country, though under proper conditions the agricultural
+capacity of the land would doubtless exceed all other interests in
+pecuniary value, as indeed is the case in most other gold and silver
+producing countries. The principal mineral products of Mexico are iron,
+tin, cinnabar, silver, gold, alum, sulphur, and lead. In the state of
+Durango, large masses of the best magnetic iron ore are found, which at
+some future day will supply the material for a great and useful
+industry. Other iron mines exist, and some have been utilized to a
+limited extent. Coal is found in abundance, notably in the states of
+Oaxaca, Sonora, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. These coal measures are
+particularly valuable in a country many parts of which are treeless and
+without economical fuel. The total coinage of silver ore in the mints of
+Mexico to this date, we were intelligently informed, amount to the
+enormous aggregate of three thousand millions of dollars, to which may
+be added, in arriving at the total product of the mines, the amount
+exported in bars and the total value consumed in manufactures. This last
+item amounts to a much larger figure than one who has not given the
+subject careful thought would be prepared to admit.
+
+Mexico can hardly be spoken of as a manufacturing country, in the usual
+acceptation of the term, though the Spaniards found that cotton cloth
+had been made here long before their advent. It is also a fact that such
+domestic goods as the masses of her population absolutely require she
+produces within her own limits by native industry, such as cotton cloth,
+blankets, woollen cloth, cotton shawls, leather goods, saddlery, boots,
+shoes, hats, and other articles of personal wear. There are over twenty
+large woollen mills in the country, several for the production of
+carpeting, and many cotton mills, the product of the latter being almost
+wholly the unbleached article, which is universally worn by the masses.
+The cotton mills are many of them large, and worthy of special
+commendation for the healthful and beneficent system adopted in them, as
+well as for the excellence of their output. The number of factories of
+all sorts in the country is estimated at about one hundred. There is
+nearly enough sugar produced on the plantations to satisfy the home
+demand, an industry which might be indefinitely extended. Climate, soil,
+and the rate of wages all favor such an idea. The Sandwich Islands,
+which have been so largely resorted to for the establishment of sugar
+plantations, cannot show one half the advantages which lie unimproved on
+the new lines of the Mexican railways. If a capitalist were considering
+the purpose of establishing a large sugar plantation, the fact of cheap
+and easy transportation to market being here close at hand should alone
+settle the question as between the islands referred to and this
+locality. Hardware and cutlery, of excellent quality and in large
+quantities, are manufactured. The paper, household furniture, pottery,
+crockery, and even glass generally in use, are of home production, which
+will give the reader an idea of the present native resources of the
+country, developed not by fortuitous aid, but under the most depressing
+circumstances.
+
+It will be remembered that Cortez, soon after he landed in Mexico, sent
+to Charles V. specimens of native cotton fabrics, so that probably
+cotton was not only grown but manufactured here as early as in any other
+country. The historians tell us that the Aztecs made as large and as
+delicate webs as those of Holland. Besides working in textile fabrics,
+this ancient people wrought metals, hewed stone, and manufactured
+pottery of delicate forms and artistic finish. The misfortune of one
+country is the gain of another. The paucity of fuel wherewith to obtain
+steam power, and the lack of rivers capable of giving water power, must
+always prevent Mexico from being a competing country, as to
+manufactures, with the United States, where these essentials abound. She
+has, however, only to turn her attention to the export of fruits, and
+other products which are indigenous to her sunny land, to acquire ample
+means wherewith to purchase from this country whatever she may desire in
+the line of luxuries or necessities.
+
+That a portion of Mexico is utterly sterile and unavailable is just as
+much a fact as that we have such regions in the western part of the
+United States. There are large sections here which suffer from annual
+droughts, but which might be redeemed by irrigation, the facilities for
+which in most cases are near enough at hand, only requiring to be
+properly engineered. It is not correct to paint everything of rose-color
+in the republic; it has its serious drawbacks, like all other lands
+under the sun. The want of water is the prevailing trouble, but, like
+Australia, this country has enough of the precious liquid if properly
+conserved and adapted. The Rio Grande produces more water in a
+twelvemonth than the great Murray River of Australia, which is flooded
+at certain seasons and is a "dry run" at others. As we have intimated,
+the absence of available wood and coal will prevent the growth of
+manufactures in Mexico, at least, until the coal deposits are opened up
+by railroads. The coal measures are not yet fully surveyed, or
+developed, but sufficient has been shown to demonstrate their great
+extent and valuable qualities. When these coal deposits shall be brought
+by means of railroads, already projected or in course of construction,
+within the reach of the business centres, and deliverable to consumers
+at reasonable prices, a great impetus to manufactures will be realized
+through this article of prime necessity. A company has lately been
+formed in England to explore and develop these coal fields, for which
+purpose a liberal concession has been obtained from the Mexican
+government. This is only one more evidence of the fact that foreign
+capital and foreign enterprise are flowing towards the country. It will
+be observed also that these new companies are mostly English; some are
+German; but there are comparatively few Americans engaged in these
+enterprises. We have seen it in print that Mexico was fast becoming
+Americanized, but this is a mistake; there are many more Europeans than
+Americans in Mexico, as we use the word Americans, that is, people of
+the United States.
+
+Where water power is to be obtained, it is improved to the utmost, as at
+Queretaro, where a small river is made to turn the largest overshot
+wheel which has ever been constructed, furnishing power in the famous
+Hercules Cotton Factory of that city, which gives regular employment to
+many hundred native men and women.
+
+An improved and stable system of government and increased railroad
+facilities are doing wonders for our neighbors across the Rio Grande.
+The iron horse and steel rail are great promoters of civilization. It
+would be impossible to overestimate the importance of this branch of
+progress in the interests of both Mexico and the United States, by which
+means we are constantly becoming more and more intimately united. The
+Mexican Central Railroad has lately completed its connection with
+Tampico on the Gulf by a branch road running almost due east from its
+main trunk, starting near or at Aguas Calientes; another, running about
+due west towards the port of San Blas on the Pacific, has already been
+completed as far as Guadalajara, starting from the main trunk at
+Irapuato. The former city being the present terminus of the road, is
+considered the second in importance in Mexico. When the narrow space
+still remaining is opened by rail, the continent will be crossed by
+railway trains between the Atlantic and Pacific at a narrow and most
+available point. The increase of way passengers and freight upon this
+road during the past two years is a source of surprise and of
+gratification to the company. The rolling stock is being monthly
+increased, having proved to be inadequate to the business.
+
+The Tampico branch of this road passes through scenery which experienced
+travelers pronounce to be equal in grandeur to any on this continent.
+Indeed, had the appalling engineering difficulties to be encountered
+been fully realized before the road was begun, it is doubtful if it
+would have been built. The cost has slightly exceeded ten million
+dollars. That which seemed easy enough, as designed upon paper, proved
+to be a herculean task in the consummation. It was a portion of the
+original plan, when the Mexican Central Railroad was surveyed, to build
+this branch, and six years after the completion of the main trunk the
+Tampico road was duly opened. The distance from this harbor on the Gulf
+of Mexico to Aguas Calientes is a trifle over four hundred miles. With
+the improvements already under way, it will be rendered the best seaport
+on the Gulf, infinitely superior, especially in point of safe anchorage,
+to the open roadstead of Vera Cruz. Every ton of freight is now landed
+at the latter port by lighters, and must continue to be so from the
+nature of the coast; while in a couple of years at farthest Tampico will
+have a most excellent harbor, perfectly sheltered, where the largest
+steamships can lie at the wharf and discharge their cargoes. We are
+sorry to say that San Blas, on the Pacific side, does not promise to
+make so desirable a port. It is even suggested that Mazatalan, further
+north, should be made the terminus of this branch road. American
+enterprise and progressive ideas are peacefully but surely
+revolutionizing a country where all previous change has been
+accomplished by the sword, and all advance has been from scaffold to
+scaffold. It would seem as though political convulsions formed one of
+the conditions of national progress. In our own instance, through what
+seas of blood had we to wade in abolishing that long standing curse of
+this land, negro slavery. The Czar of Russia freed the millions of
+serfs in his empire by a bold and manly ukase; but the nobility, who
+counted their wealth by the number of human beings whom they held in
+thralldom, have not yet forgiven the Czar for doing so. Revenge for that
+philanthropic act is still the motive of the conspiracies which
+occasionally come to the surface in that country. "Every age has its
+problem," says Heinrich Heine, "by solving which humanity is helped
+forward."
+
+The federal capital of Mexico is in the centre of a country of
+surpassing richness and beauty, but from the day of its foundation,
+between seven and eight hundred years ago, it has been the theatre of
+constant revolutions and bitter warfare, where hecatombs of human beings
+have been sacrificed upon idolatrous altars, where a foreign religion
+has been established at the spear's point, through torture by fire and
+the rack, and where rivers of blood have been ruthlessly spilled in
+battle, sometimes in repelling a foreign foe, but only too often in
+still more cruel civil wars. Some idea of the chronic political
+upheavals of the country may be had from the brief statement that there
+have been fifty-four presidents, one regency, and one emperor in the
+last sixty-two years, and nearly every change of government has been
+effected by violence. Between 1821 and 1868, the form of government was
+changed ten times.
+
+Politeness and courtesy are as a rule characteristics of the intelligent
+and middle classes of the people of Mexico, and are also observable in
+intercourse with the humbler ranks of the masses. They have heretofore
+looked upon Americans as being hardly more than semi-civilized. Those
+with whom they have been most brought in contact have been reckless and
+adventurous frontiersmen, drovers, Texans, cow boys, often individuals
+who have left their homes in the Northern or Middle States with the
+stigma of crime upon them. The inference they have drawn from contact
+with such representatives of our population has been but natural. If
+Mexicans travel abroad, they generally do so in Europe, sailing from
+Vera Cruz, and they know comparatively little of us socially. It is
+equally true that we have been in the habit of regarding the Mexicans in
+much the same light. This mutual feeling is born of ignorance, and the
+nearer relation into which the two countries are now brought by means of
+the excellent system of railroads is rapidly dispelling the
+misconception on both sides of the Rio Grande. The masses, especially
+the peons, are far more illiterate than in this country, and are easily
+led by the higher intelligence of the few; nor have the Mexicans yet
+shown much real progress in the purpose of promoting general education,
+though incipient steps have been taken in that direction in most of
+their cities, affording substantial proof of the progressive tendencies
+of the nation. We heard in the city of Mexico of free night schools
+being organized, designed for the improvement of adults.
+
+A division of the populace into castes rules here almost as imperiously
+as it does in India, and it will require generations of close contact
+with a more cultured and democratic people before these servile ideas
+can be obliterated. Though we hear little or nothing said about this
+matter, yet to an observant eye it has daily and hourly demonstration.
+The native Indians of Mexico are of a different race from their
+employers. Originally conquered and enslaved by the Spaniards, though
+they have since been emancipated by law, they are still kept in a quasi
+condition of peonage by superior wit and finesse. The proprietor of a
+large hacienda, who owns land, say ten miles square, manages, by
+advancing money to them, to keep the neighboring people in his debt.
+They are compelled by necessity to purchase their domestic articles of
+consumption from the nearest available supply, which is the storehouse
+of the hacienda. Here they must pay the price which is demanded, let it
+be never so unreasonable. This arrangement is all against the peon, and
+all in favor of the employer. The lesser party to such a system is
+pretty sure to be cheated right and left, especially as the estate is
+nearly always administered by an agent and not by the owner himself.
+There are some notable exceptions to this, but these only prove the
+rule. So long as the employes owe the proprietor money, they are bound
+by law to remain in his service. Wages are so low--say from twenty-five
+to thirty-five cents per day--that were the natives of a thrifty,
+ambitious, and provident disposition, which is by no means the case,
+they could not save a dollar towards their pecuniary emancipation. The
+laboring classes seem to have no idea of economy or of providing for the
+morrow. Food, coarse food, and amusement for the present hour, that is
+all they desire, and is all about which they seriously concern
+themselves. The next score of years, while they will probably do much
+for the country as regards commercial and intellectual improvement, will
+prove fatal in a degree to the picturesqueness which now renders Mexico
+so attractive. Radical progress in one direction must needs be
+destructive in another, and while some of the allurements of her strong
+individuality will disappear, her moral and physical status will be
+greatly improved. Her ragged, half-naked people will don proper attire,
+sacrificing the gaudy colors which now make every out-door scene
+kaleidoscopic; a modern grain thresher will take the place of weary
+animals plodding in a circle, treading out the grain; half-clad women at
+the fountains will disappear, and iron pipes will convey water for
+domestic use to the place of consumption. The awkward branch of crooked
+wood now used to turn the soil will be replaced by the modern plough,
+and reaping machines will relieve the weary backs of men, women, and
+children, who slowly grub beneath a burning sun through the broad grain
+fields. Irrigating streams will be made to flow by their own
+gravitation, while the wooden bucket and well-sweep will become idle and
+useless. Still, we are not among those who see only a bright side for
+the future of the republic, nor do we believe so confidently as some
+writers in her great natural resources. They are abundant, but not so
+very exceptional as enthusiasts would have us believe. Aside from the
+production of silver, which all must admit to be inexhaustible, she has
+very little to boast of. It is doubtful if any other equal area in the
+world possesses larger deposits of the precious metals, or has already
+yielded to man more bountifully of them. We have seen it asserted by
+careful and experienced writers, that one half of all the silver now in
+use among the nations originally came from Mexico. Her real and
+permanent progress is inevitable; but it will be very gradual, coming
+not through her rich mines of gold and silver, but by the growth of her
+agricultural and manufacturing interests; and if in a score of years she
+can assume a position of respect and importance in the line of nations,
+it is all that can reasonably be expected. If Mexico can but advance in
+progressive ideas as rapidly during the next ten years as she has done
+during the decade just past, the period we have named will be
+abbreviated, and her condition will amount to a moral revolution.
+
+Our sister republic has yet to accomplish two special and important
+objects: first, the suppression of the secret and malign influence of
+the Roman Catholic priesthood; and, secondly, the promotion of education
+among the masses. Since the separation of church and state, in 1857,
+education has made slow but steady advances. Most of the states have
+adopted the system of compulsory education, penalties being affixed to
+non-compliance with the law, and rewards decreed for those who
+voluntarily observe the same. Though shorn of so large a degree of its
+temporal powers, the church is still secretly active in its machinations
+for evil. The vast army of non-producing, indolent priests is active in
+one direction, namely, that for the suppression of all intelligent
+progress, and the complete subjugation of the common people through
+superstition and ignorance. A realization of the condition of affairs
+may be had from the following circumstance related to us by a
+responsible American resident. It must be remembered that the wheat,
+which in some well-irrigated districts is the principal product, is
+threshed by means of piling it up on the hard clay soil, and driving
+goats, sheep, and burros over it. These animals trudge round and round,
+with weary limbs, knee deep in the straw, for hours together, urged
+forward by whips in the hands of men and boys, and thus the grain is
+separated from the stalks. Of course the product threshed out in this
+manner is contaminated with animal filth of all sorts. An enterprising
+American witnessed this primitive process not long since, and on
+returning to his northern home resolved to take back with him to Mexico
+a modern threshing machine; and being more desirous to introduce it for
+the benefit of the people than to make any money out of the operation,
+he offered the machine at cost price. A native farmer was induced to put
+one on trial, when it was at once found that it not only took the place
+of a dozen men and boys, but also of twice that number of animals. This
+was not all; the machine performed the work in less than one quarter of
+the time required to do the same amount of work by the old method,
+besides rendering the grain in a perfectly clear condition. This would
+seem to be entirely satisfactory, and was so until it got to the ears of
+the priests. They came upon the ground to see the machine work, and
+were amazed. This would not answer, according to their ideas; from their
+standpoint it was a dangerous innovation. What might it not lead to!
+They therefore declared that the devil was in the machine, and
+absolutely forbade the peons to work with it! Their threats and warnings
+frightened their ignorant, servile parishioners out of their wits. The
+machine was accordingly shipped north of the Rio Grande, whence it came,
+to prevent the natives from destroying it, and cattle still tread out
+the grain, which they render dirty and unfit for food, except in the
+most populous centres, where modern machinery is being gradually
+introduced.
+
+"The clogging influence of the Romish Church," says Hon. John H. Rice,
+"upon civilization and progress are seen in its opposition to the
+education and elevation of the common people; in its intolerant warfare
+against freedom of conscience, and all other forms of religious worship,
+frequently displayed in persecutions, and sometimes in personal
+injuries; and in its stolid opposition to the onward march of
+development and improvement, unless directed to its own advantage."
+
+The stranger who comes to Mexico with the expectation of enjoying his
+visit must bring with him a liberal and tolerant spirit. He must be
+prepared to encounter a marked difference of race, of social and
+business life, together with the absence of many of such domestic
+comforts as habit has rendered almost necessities. The exercise of a
+little philosophy will reconcile him to the exigencies of the case, and
+render endurable here what would be inadmissible at home. A coarse,
+ill-cooked dinner, untidy service, and an unappeased appetite must be
+compensated by active interest in grand and peculiar scenery; a hard bed
+and a sleepless night, by the intelligent enjoyment of famous places
+clothed with historic interest; foul smells and rank odors, by the
+charming study of a unique people, extraordinarily interesting in their
+wretched squalor and nakedness. Though the stranger is brought but
+little in contact therewith, owing to the briefness of his visit to the
+country, quite enough is casually seen and experienced to show that
+there is no lack of culture and refinement, no absence of warmth of
+heart and gracious hospitality, among the more favored classes of
+Mexico, both in the northern and southern sections of the country.
+Underneath the exaggerated expressions so common to Spanish etiquette,
+there is yet a real cordiality which the discriminating visitor will not
+fail to recognize. If, on a first introduction and visit, he is told
+that the house and all it contains is his own, and that the proprietor
+is entirely at his service, he will neither take this literally nor as a
+burlesque, but will receive the assurance for what it really signifies,
+that is, as conveying a spirit of cordiality. These expressions are as
+purely conventional as though the host asked simply and pleasantly after
+his guest's health, and mean no more.
+
+If progress is and has been slow in Mexico, it must be remembered that
+every advance has been consummated under most discouraging
+circumstances, and yet that the charitable, educational, artistic, and
+technological institutions already firmly established, are quietly
+revolutionizing the people through the most peaceful but effective
+agencies.
+
+As to government organization, the several states are represented in
+congress by two senators each, with one representative to the lower
+house from each section comprising a population of forty thousand. The
+federal district is under the exclusive jurisdiction of congress. The
+division of power as accorded to the several states is almost precisely
+like that of our own government. The federal authority is administered
+by a president, aided by six cabinet ministers at the head of the
+several departments of state, such as the minister of foreign affairs,
+of the treasury, secretary of war, and so on. Thus it will be seen that
+the republic of Mexico has adopted our own constitution as her model
+throughout.
+
+As long as heavy and almost prohibitory duties exist in Mexico, and are
+exacted on nearly everything except the production of the precious
+metals, the development of her other resources must be circumscribed.
+With a rich soil and plenty of cheap labor, she ought to be able to
+export many staples which would command our markets, especially as
+regards coffee, cotton, and wool. If the custom-houses on each side of
+the boundary between this country and Mexico could be abolished, both
+would reap an immense pecuniary benefit, while the sister republic would
+realize an impetus in every desirable respect which nothing else could
+so quickly bring about. Wealth and population would rapidly flow into
+this southern land, whose agriculture would thrive as it has never yet
+done, and its manufactories would double in number as well as in
+pecuniary gain. It requires no argument to show that our neighbors could
+not be thus largely benefited without our own country also reaping an
+equivalent advantage.
+
+The very name of Mexico has been for years the synonym of barbarism; but
+the traveled and reading public have gradually come to realize that it
+is a country embracing many large and populous cities, where the
+amenities of modern civilization abound, where elegance and culture are
+freely manifested, and where great wealth has been accumulated in the
+pursuit of legitimate business by the leading citizens. The national
+capital will ere-long contain a population of half a million, while the
+many new and costly edifices now erecting in the immediate environs are
+of a spacious and elegant character, adapted, of course, to the climate,
+but yet combining many European and American elements of advanced
+domestic architecture.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The Route to Mexico.--Via the Mammoth Cave.--Across the Rio Grande.--A
+    Large River.--Piedras Negras.--Characteristic Scene.--A Barren
+    Prairie Land.--Castano, a Native Village.--Adobe Cabins.--Indian
+    Irrigation.--Sparsely Populated Country.--Interior Haciendas.--
+    Immigration.--City of Saltillo.--Battle of Buena Vista.--City of
+    Monterey.--The Cacti and Yucca-Palm.--Capture by General Taylor.--
+    Mexican Central Railroad.--Jack-Rabbits.--A Dreary Region.--The
+    Mesquite Bushes.--Lonely Graves.
+
+
+Although it is of Mexico exclusively that we propose to treat in these
+pages, still the reader may naturally feel some interest to know the
+route by which the Rio Grande was reached, and thus follow our course
+somewhat consecutively from Boston through the Middle and Southern
+States to the borders of the sister republic. The road which was chosen
+took us first westward, through the Hoosac Tunnel, to Niagara Falls,--a
+view of which one cannot too often enjoy; thence southward via Detroit
+to Cincinnati, Ohio. The next point of special interest was Louisville,
+Ky. That great national marvel, the Mammoth Cave, was visited, which,
+next to Niagara, the wonderland of the Yellowstone Park, and the grand
+scenic beauty of the Yosemite Valley, is the greatest curiosity of this
+country. The vast interior, with its domes, abysses, grottoes, rivers,
+and cataracts profitably entertain the visitor for hours. It is said
+that one might travel a hundred miles underground if all of the
+turnings were followed to their terminations. Echo River alone may be
+traversed for three quarters of a mile by boat in a straight course.
+Much might be written about the cave, but our objective point is Mexico.
+
+Resuming our journey, and keeping still southward, Nashville, Tenn.,
+Montgomery, Ala., Mobile, and New Orleans were reached respectively, and
+on schedule time. The Crescent City is the greatest cotton mart in the
+world, and is situated about a hundred miles from the Gulf of Mexico,
+within a great bend of the Mississippi River, and hence its title of the
+"Crescent City." It has over a quarter of a million of inhabitants. Its
+peculiar situation makes it liable to floods each recurring spring.
+Following what is known as the "Sunset Route" westward, we passed
+through Texas by way of Houston, Galveston, and San Antonio.
+
+A few hours were devoted to the latter place, in order to see the famous
+Alamo, the old fort which, in 1836, the Texans so gallantly defended
+while fighting for their independence. There were less than one hundred
+and fifty men in the Alamo when it was besieged by four thousand Mexican
+troops under Santa Anna. The Mexicans had artillery, the Texans had
+none. They were summoned to surrender, but knowing what Mexican "mercy"
+meant, they refused, and resolved to defend themselves to the very end.
+The siege lasted for thirteen days, during which Santa Anna's soldiers
+threw over two hundred shells into the Alamo, injuring no one. In the
+mean time, the Texan sharpshooters picked off a great number of the
+Mexicans. No shots were thrown away. If a gun was fired from the Alamo,
+one of the besiegers was sure to fall. Santa Anna made several assaults,
+but was driven back each time with great loss, until, it is represented,
+he become frenzied by his want of success. At last, on the 6th of May, a
+final and successful assault was made. When the fort was captured, every
+Texan fell, fighting to the last. To be exact, there were just one
+hundred and forty-four men inside the fort at the beginning of the
+siege, and this handful of men either killed or wounded about one half
+of the besieging force. It is said that over fifteen hundred Mexicans
+were killed! This was about seven weeks before the battle of San
+Jacinto, on which occasion General Houston captured, with a much
+inferior force, the entire Mexican army, including Santa Anna himself,
+who was running away in the disguise of a common infantry soldier. It
+was with difficulty that his life was saved from the just fury of the
+Texan soldiers. This decisive battle ended the war, and made Texas
+independent of Mexico. It was a large slice to cut off the territory of
+Mexico, as it would make, so far as size goes, over thirty States as
+large as Massachusetts. It contains at this writing about two million
+inhabitants, and the value of its taxable property is nearly or quite
+eight hundred millions of dollars.
+
+Finally we reached Eagle Pass, which is the American town on the north
+bank of the Rio Grande, Piedras Negras being its Mexican neighbor on the
+other side of the shallow river. Previous to the opening of the Mexican
+Central Railroad, which was completed March 8, 1884, nine tenths of the
+travelers who visited the country entered it from the south, at the port
+of Vera Cruz, journeying northward to the city of Mexico by way of
+Orizaba and Puebla, and returning by the same route; but the completion
+and perfection of the railroad system between the north and the south
+has changed this. Since 1888, when the International Branch Railroad was
+opened, the favorite plan is to cross the border from the north, say at
+Eagle Pass; and on the homeward route, after visiting the central and
+southern portions of the republic, to recross the dividing river at Paso
+del Norte. This was the route followed by the author, the Rio Grande
+being crossed at the international bridge, and Mexican territory entered
+at the town of Piedras Negras in the State of Coahuila, a thriving place
+of some four thousand inhabitants.
+
+One pauses thoughtfully for a moment to contrast the present means of
+crossing the dividing river with the primitive rope ferry which answered
+the purpose here not long since. A little flutter of anticipation also
+moves us when it is realized that the territory of another country is
+reached, that we are actually on a foreign soil, where a strange tongue
+is spoken, where a new emblem floats from the flagstaffs, and where
+another race possesses the land. The Rio Grande, which we cross at this
+point, is not a navigable stream; in fact, river navigation is
+practically unknown in Mexico, though some of the watercourses are of
+considerable size. The Rio Grande has a total length of fifteen hundred
+miles, rising in Colorado and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. In the
+rainy season, and when the snow melts in the mountains, the Rio Grande
+is flooded to its full capacity, often overflowing its banks in marshy
+regions. The first bridge built by the railway company at this point was
+of wood, which was swept away like chaff by the next flood of the river.
+The present substantial iron structure bids fair to last for many years.
+The river, such as it is, belongs to the two nations, the boundary
+agreed upon being the middle of the stream.
+
+As we drew up at the railroad station, a lazy, listless, bareheaded,
+dark-skinned crowd of men, women, and children welcomed us with staring
+eyes to Mexican soil. The first idea which strikes one is that soap and
+fine-tooth combs are not yet in use on the south side of the Rio Grande.
+
+Piedras Negras boasts a spacious stone hotel, two stories in height,
+which is quite American in appearance. The town is spread over so broad
+an area as to have the effect of being sparsely peopled, but it is
+thrifty in aspect and growing rapidly. From the manner in which scores
+of men wrapped in scarlet blankets and mounted on little wiry Mexican
+horses dashed hither and thither, one would think some startling event
+was to transpire; but this was not the case--all was peaceful and quiet
+in Piedras Negras.
+
+The section of country through which the route first takes us is perhaps
+one of the least interesting and most unproductive in the republic, with
+an occasional mud hut here and there, and a few half-naked peons. What a
+dreary region it is! What emptiness! How bare the serrated mountains,
+how inhospitable the scenery, how brown, baked, and dusty! At the
+International Bridge we are about seven hundred feet above the sea. Here
+we take the International Railway, and from this point to Jaral, a
+distance of two hundred and fifty miles almost due south, the cars are
+constantly climbing an up-grade until the great Mexican plateau is
+finally reached. It should be remembered, however, that this vast
+table-land, covering nearly three quarters of the republic, is by no
+means level, but is interspersed with hills, valleys, gulches, canyons,
+and mountains of the loftiest character, in many places duplicating our
+Rocky Mountain scenery both in height and grandeur.
+
+A stop of a few hours was made at the quaint little adobe-built
+town--cabins formed of sun-dried bricks--known by the name of Castano,
+situated on the trunk line of the Mexican Central road, near the city of
+Monclova, which is a considerable mining centre. This small native
+village is the first typical object of the sort which greets the
+traveler who enters the country from the north. It lies in a nearly
+level valley between the two spurs of the Sierra Madre, where beautiful
+green fields delight the eye, where fruit trees are in gorgeous bloom,
+and where wild flowers add a charm in the very midst of cheerless, arid
+surroundings. This inviting and thrifty aspect is produced entirely by
+the hoe in the hands of the simple, industrious natives, with no other
+aid than that of water. The peons are most efficient though unconscious
+engineers, diverting a supply of water from the distant mountain
+streams with marvelous ingenuity and success. No practical operator,
+with every modern appliance and the most delicate instruments, could
+strike more correct levels than do these natives with the eye and the
+hoe alone. Upon entering one of the adobe cabins at the ever-open
+door,--there are no windows,--we found the flat roof to be slightly
+slanted to throw off the rain, having four or five wooden beams upon
+which a few boards and rough sticks were nailed. On the top of these a
+foot or more of earth is deposited. This primitive covering Nature
+enamels with moss and dainty wild flowers. But this represents the
+better class of cabin, the majority having only a thatched covering
+supported by small branches of trees trimmed for the purpose, over which
+are placed dried banana and maguey leaves. Some of the floors had stone
+tiles, but most of them consisted of the uncovered earth. These last
+must be wretchedly unwholesome in the brief rainy season. Swarthy,
+unclad children were as numerous and active as young chickens. In more
+than one of the cabins, dark-hued native women, wearing only a cotton
+cloth wound around the lower part of their bodies from the middle, and a
+short cotton waist over the shoulders without sleeves, knelt upon the
+ground kneading tortillas between a flat, inclined stone and a long,
+narrow one, just as their ancestors had done for centuries. Indeed, all
+through Mexico one is surprised to see how little change has probably
+taken place in the features of the people, their manner of living, their
+dress and customs, since the days of the Montezumas. The traveler is
+struck with the strong resemblance of Castano to an Egyptian village.
+One sees its counterpart almost anywhere between Cairo and the first
+cataract on the Nile. Clouds of black, long-tailed jackdaws flew over
+our heads and settled abruptly here and there. Goats and donkeys dispute
+the dusty roadway with the curious stranger, while women, with babies
+hanging upon their backs, half concealed their dark-brown faces in red
+or light blue rebosas, and peered at us with eyes of wonderful blackness
+and fire. The rebosa, the universal garment of the common class of women
+in Mexico, is utilized as a carry-all for baby or bundles. It is worn
+over the head and shoulders in the daytime, when not otherwise in use,
+and at night is the one blanket or covering while the owner is asleep.
+The donkey, or burro, as it is called, is to be seen everywhere in this
+country. Poor, overburdened, beaten, patient animal! How so small a
+creature can possibly carry such heavy loads is a constant puzzle. When
+its full strength would seem to be taxed, the lazy owner often adds his
+own weight by bestriding the animal, sitting far back upon its hips.
+Before the coming of the Spaniards there were no beasts of burden in
+Mexico; everything that required transportation was moved by human
+muscles. It was not until the eighteenth century that the jackass was
+introduced; cattle, sheep, horses, and hogs long preceded them.
+
+Rain falls at Castano only for three weeks, or so, during the year,
+about the early part of May; the dust is consequently very deep and
+fills the air at the slightest atmospheric movement. The general view
+is broken now and again by the Spanish bayonet tree, ten or twelve feet
+in height, and by broad clusters of grotesque cactus plants, which
+thrive so wonderfully in spite of drought, hanging like vines along the
+base of the adobe cabins and creeping up their low sides, the leaves
+edged here and there by a dainty ruffle of scentless yellow flowers.
+Beside a very lowly mud cabin was a tall oleander, branches and leaves
+hidden in gorgeous bloom, imparting a cheerful, joyous aspect even amid
+all this squalor and poverty. Close at hand upon the adobe wall hung a
+willow cage imprisoning a tropical bird of gaudy plumage; but the
+feathered beauty did not seem to have any spare notes with which to
+greet us. From another cabin came the pleasant sound of a guitar,
+accompanied by a human voice. So this people love birds, flowers, and
+music. The half-effaced image of God must be still upon their hearts!
+The little town has four or five broad, unpaved streets, and is as
+primitive as nature herself in all its domestic surroundings.
+
+Except on the immediate line of the railways, one may travel thirty or
+forty miles in almost any part of Mexico without seeing a
+dwelling-house. The people live mostly in towns and cities, and are very
+little dispersed over the country, that is, compared with our own land.
+Occasional haciendas or large farmhouses, built of adobe and stone, are
+seen; but isolated dwellings are not common. On these estates there is
+usually less farming or raising of cereals carried on than there is of
+stock raising, which seems to pay better. Large droves of cattle are
+seen grazing, sheep, burros, and mules roam at large, and all seem to be
+getting food from most unpromising land, such as produces in its normal
+condition cactus only. It is the true climate and soil for this species
+of vegetation, of which there are hundreds of varieties, flat, ribbed,
+and cylindrical. No matter how dry and arid the region, the cacti
+thrive, and are themselves full of moisture. Even these haciendas,
+rectangular structures forming the headquarters of large landed estates,
+are semi-fortifications, capable of a stout defense against roving
+banditti, who have long been the dread and curse of the country and are
+not yet obliterated. These structures are sometimes surrounded by a
+moat, the angles being protected by turrets pierced for musketry. As in
+continental Spain, the population live mostly in villages for mutual
+protection, being compelled to walk long distances to work in the fields
+at seed time and harvest. The owners of the large haciendas, we were
+told, seldom live upon them. Like the landlords of Ireland, they are a
+body of absentees, mostly wealthy men who make their homes with their
+families in the city of Mexico, some even living in Europe, entrusting
+the management of their large estates to well-paid superintendents.
+There are not a few Americans thus employed by Mexican owners, who are
+prompt to recognize good executive ability in such a position, and value
+their estates only for the amount of income they can realize from them.
+A hacienda ten or fifteen miles square is not considered extraordinary
+as to size, and there are many twice as large. The proprietorship of
+these haciendas dates back to the old Spanish times when Mexico was
+under the viceroys. Little can be hoped for as to improvement in the
+condition of the poor peons of the country, until these immense estates
+are broken up and divided into small available farms, which may be owned
+and operated by them for their sole benefit. No lesson is more clearly
+or forcibly taught us by the light of experience than that the ownership
+of the soil by its cultivator is the only way to insure successful and
+profitable agriculture. There is nothing to induce emigration to Mexico
+now. Foreigners prefer to seek a country where they can purchase the
+land cheaply, and, when they have improved it, be certain that their
+title is good and secure. At present there is virtually no immigration
+at all into the republic, though the climate in many places is perhaps
+the most desirable known to man. The Mexican government not long since
+made an effort to encourage immigration, offering a bonus of fifty
+dollars a head for _bona fide_ immigrants, and even partial support
+until occupation was secured. Many Italians availed themselves of this
+offer; but it was found that the criminal class was too largely
+represented in the ranks of these immigrants, and other abuses became so
+manifest that the government abandoned the purpose.
+
+In passing through the country, one wearies of the long reaches of
+brown, arid soil which would seem to be beyond the redeeming power even
+of irrigation. Occasionally the scene is varied by a few yucca palms
+dotting the prairies at long intervals. Now and again a small herd of
+antelope dashed away from our neighborhood, and an occasional flock of
+wild turkeys were flushed from the low-growing bushes. These were
+exciting moments for one member of our party, who is a keen sportsman.
+At long distances from each other small groups of the pear-cactus, full
+of deep yellow bloom, lighted up the barren waste. Here and there a
+simple wooden cross indicated a grave, the burial place of some lone
+traveler who had been murdered and robbed by banditti, and over whose
+body a Christian hand had reared this unpretentious emblem. As we got
+further and further southward, the graceful pepper tree, with myriads of
+red fruit, began to appear, and afterwards became a prominent feature of
+the scenery.
+
+Saltillo, which lies some seventy miles to the eastward of Jaral, is now
+the capital of the State of Coahuila. Before the separation of Texas
+from Mexico it was the capital of that State. It is situated five
+thousand feet above the sea level, on the northeastern edge of the
+table-land already spoken of, and has a population of about eighteen
+thousand. The table-land, as it is termed, declines more or less
+abruptly on the east towards the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west towards
+the Pacific Ocean. Saltillo is a manufacturing town, built almost wholly
+of sun-dried bricks, and is noted for the production of rebosas and
+serapes. The people living south of this region and on the lower lands
+make of Saltillo a summer resort. It is humorously said that people
+never die here; they grow old, dry up, and disappear. The place is
+certainly very healthy. It is over three hundred years old, and looks as
+though it had existed in prehistoric times. It has, like all Mexican
+cities, its alameda, its bull ring, and its plaza, the latter
+particularly well-cared for, beautiful in flowers and charming shade
+trees, together with well-trimmed shrubbery. The Calle Real is the
+principal thoroughfare, over which the traveler will find his way to the
+famous battlefield of Buena Vista (pronounced Wana Veesta), about eight
+miles from the city proper. This was one of the fiercest battles ever
+fought on Mexican soil. General Taylor had only forty-five hundred men
+of all arms, while Santa Anna's army numbered twenty-two thousand! The
+Americans had the most advantageous position, but were at times
+overwhelmed by numbers. Notwithstanding this, at the end of the second
+day, February 23, 1847, the American flag waved in triumph over the
+field, and the Mexicans were utterly routed. It was of this hard-fought
+battle that Santa Anna said: "We whipped the Americans half a dozen
+times, and once completely surrounded them; but they would not stay
+whipped." The battle of Buena Vista was fought at a great altitude,
+nearly as high above the level of the sea as the summit of Mount
+Washington in New England.
+
+The baths of San Lorenzo, a league from the city, are worth visiting,
+being cleanly and enjoyable.
+
+About seventy-five miles to the eastward of Saltillo, and eight hundred
+miles, more or less, from the national capital, on the line of the
+Mexican International Railroad, which crosses the Rio Grande at Laredo,
+is the city of Monterey,--"King Mountain,"--capital of the State of
+Nuevo Leon. It is eighteen hundred feet above the sea and contains
+nearly twenty thousand inhabitants. It was founded three hundred years
+ago, and its history is especially blended with that of the Roman
+Catholic Church during the intervening period. Here one finds quite a
+large American colony; but still the place is essentially Mexican in its
+manners and customs. The city stands upon very uneven ground, in the
+middle of an extensive plain, with grand mountains rising to view in the
+distance on all sides. The Rio de Santa Catarina flows through the town.
+In coming hither from Saltillo we descend thirty-five hundred feet, or
+about an average of fifty feet to the mile. It is considered to be a
+healthy locality, and invalids from the Northern States of this country
+have often resorted to Monterey in winter; but the public accommodations
+are so poor that one should hesitate about sending an invalid there who
+must necessarily leave most of the ordinary domestic comforts behind.
+Mexican hotels may answer for people in vigorous health who have robust
+stomachs, but not for one in delicate health. In no other part of the
+country is there a greater variety of the cactus family to be seen,
+illustrating its prominent peculiarity, namely, that it seems to grow
+best in the poorest soil. Several of the varieties have within their
+flowers a mass of edible substance, which the natives gather and bring
+to market daily. The flowers of the cactus are of various colors, white
+and yellow being the prevailing hues.
+
+There is a very highly prized and remarkable water supply afforded the
+citizens by an inexhaustible spring, situated in the heart of the town,
+known as the Ojo de Agua. The cathedral is interesting, though it is not
+nearly so old as the Church of San Francisco. It was converted into a
+powder magazine during the war with this country. When General Taylor
+attacked the city, its remarkably thick walls alone saved it from being
+blown up, as it was repeatedly struck by shot and shell. Monterey is a
+finer and better built city than Saltillo. No stranger should fail to
+visit the curious Campo Santo, a burial place lying to the northwest of
+the city, and reached by the way of the alameda, which latter
+thoroughfare is hardly worthy of the name. The few notable buildings in
+the city are the municipal palace, the state government edifice, and the
+episcopal palace near the cathedral. All are situated about the Plaza
+Mayor, or Plaza de Zaragoza as it is called by the people here. A
+graceful fountain with spouting dolphins occupies the centre,
+supplemented by two lesser fountains, all very appropriate and artistic.
+Of the two confiscated convents, one is occupied for a jail, the other
+as a hospital. It will be remembered that General Taylor, with less than
+seven thousand men, took the city by storm in 1846, after three days of
+hard fighting, it being gallantly defended by ten thousand Mexicans
+under command of General Ampudia. General Worth, who on two occasions
+led desperate storming parties, was pronounced the hero of the
+occasion. General Grant, then only a lieutenant of infantry,
+distinguished himself in the taking of what was known as the Bishop's
+Palace, but which was in fact a citadel. The Americans carried the
+citadel by assault, and, planting their guns in position upon its wall,
+commanded the city, which was forced to surrender. The fighting lasted
+four days. The Americans lost in killed one hundred and twenty-six, and
+had three hundred and sixty-three wounded. The Mexicans lost five
+hundred killed, but the number of wounded was not made public. In
+recognition of the gallant defense made by the Mexicans, Taylor allowed
+them to retain their arms and equipments, and when they evacuated the
+city to salute their own colors.
+
+Resuming our course westward by the way of Jaral, and having arrived at
+Torreon Junction, a distance of about three hundred and eighty miles
+from the International Bridge, connection is made with the grand trunk
+line of the Mexican Central Railroad, which will take us direct to the
+national capital. This important road extends from Juarez (formerly Paso
+del Norte), on the Rio Grande, to the city of Mexico, a distance of over
+twelve hundred miles. It is a standard-gauge road, well built and well
+equipped,--the growth, in fact, of American enterprise, and really
+nothing more or less than an extension of the Santa Fe Railroad system.
+Track-laying began upon this road from both ends of the line in
+September, 1880, that is, from the city of Mexico and from the Rio
+Grande at Juarez, and upon the completion of the bridge at La
+Encarnation, the north and south tracks met, March 8, 1884. The line was
+formally opened on April 10 following.
+
+From this point southward, towards the mountain city of Zacatecas, we
+pass through a most uninviting country, where the mesquite bush and the
+cactus mostly prevail, a region so bereft of moisture as to seem like
+the desert of Sahara. Here again the cactus is seen in great abundance.
+As we have intimated, there are several hundred varieties known to
+botanists, most of which can be identified on Mexican soil, this being
+their native climate. No matter how dry the season, they are always
+juicy. It is said that when cattle can get no water to drink, they will
+break down the cacti with their horns and chew the thick leaves and
+stalks to quench their thirst. The variety of shapes assumed by this
+peculiar growth almost exceeds belief; some seen in Mexico assumed the
+form of trees from forty to fifty feet in height, while others,
+vinelike, run along the ground bearing leaves as round as cannon balls.
+Another variety, closely hugging the earth, twists about like a
+vegetable serpent. The great marvel relating to this plant has been, how
+it could keep alive and remain full of sap and moisture when other
+neighboring vegetation was killed by drought. But this is easily
+explained. It is protected by a thick epidermis which prevents
+evaporation, so that the store of moisture which it absorbs during the
+wet season is retained within its circulation. One sort of the cactus
+known as the _cereus grandiflorus_ blooms only in the night; the frail
+flower it bears dies at the coming of morning. The cochineal insect of
+Mexico and Central America is solely nurtured by the native growth of
+cacti. The yucca palm, fifteen to twenty feet in height, with its large
+milk-white cluster of blossoms, resembling huge crocuses, dotted the
+expanse here and there. Occasional flocks of sheep were seen striving to
+gain a sufficiency of food from the unwilling soil, while tended by a
+shepherd clothed in brilliant colored rags, accompanied by a dog. Now
+and then scores of jack-rabbits put in an appearance among the
+low-growing mesquite bushes and the thick-leaved cactus. These little
+animals are called jack-rabbits because their tall, straight ears
+resemble those of the burros or jackasses. The mesquite bushes, so often
+seen on the Mexican plains, belong to the acacia family. They yield a
+sweet edible pulp, used to some extent as food by the poorer classes of
+natives and by the jack-rabbits. The burros eat the small, tender twigs.
+Indeed, they will apparently eat anything but stones. We have seen them
+munching plain straw with infinite relish, in which it seemed impossible
+there could be any nutrition whatever. This is a far-reaching, dreary
+region, almost uninhabitable for human beings, and where water is
+unattainable three-quarters of the year. The broad prairie extends on
+either side of the railroad as far as the eye can reach, ending at the
+foothills of the Sierra Madre--"Mother Mountains." Here and there, as
+already instanced, the burial place of some murdered individual is
+indicated by a cross, before which the pious peon breathes a prayer and
+adds a stone to the pile, so that finally quite a mound is raised to
+mark the murdered man's grave. Towards the twilight hour, while we
+rejoice that our lot has not been cast in such a dreary place, more than
+one hawk is seen to swoop from its lofty course and fly away with a
+young rabbit which it will eventually drop and thus kill before it
+begins to devour the carcase. Thus animals, like human beings,
+constantly prey upon each other. So prolific are these rabbits that they
+will soon prove to be as great a nuisance as they are in New Zealand,
+unless some active means are taken to prevent their increase. The wonder
+is that the half-starved natives do not make a business of trapping and
+eating them; but the poor, ignorant peons seem to be actually devoid of
+all ingenuity or enterprise outside of their beaten track.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Zacatecas.--Sand-Spouts.--Fertile Lands.--A Silver Mining Region.--Alpine
+    Scenery.--Table-Land of Mexico.--An Aged Miner.--Zacatecas Cathedral.
+   --Church and People.--A Mountain Climb.--Ownership of the Mines.--
+   --Want of Drainage.--A Battlefield.--Civil War.--Local Market.--
+    Peculiar Scenes.--Native Beauties.--City Tramway Experience.--Town of
+    Guadalupe.--Organized Beggars.--A Noble and Successful Institution.
+   --Market of Guadalupe.--Attractive Senoritas.--Private Gardens.
+
+
+The first place of special interest on the line of the Mexican Central
+Railroad after leaving Torreon is Zacatecas, the largest town between
+the Rio Grande and the city of Mexico, being nearly eight hundred miles
+south of the river and four hundred and forty north of the capital. Its
+name is derived from the Indian tribe who inhabited this region long
+before the coming of the Spaniards. Between Torreon and this city, for a
+distance of some three hundred miles, as we have described, the country
+is lonely, prairie-like, and almost uninhabited, forming a broad plain
+over a hundred miles wide, with ranges of the Sierra Madre on either
+side. On these dry and sterile plains sand-spouts are frequently seen;
+indeed, half a dozen were counted at the same time from the car windows.
+These are created just as water-spouts are formed on the ocean, and to
+encounter one is almost equally serious. One must visit either Egypt or
+Mexico to witness this singular phenomenon. As Zacatecas is approached,
+large flocks of sheep and herds of mules and horses are grouped in the
+fields, overlooked by picturesquely draped horsemen. The cultivation of
+the land and its apparent fertility improve, and many one-handled
+ploughs, consisting of a crooked stick, sometimes shod with iron, are
+being used. The marvel is that anything satisfactory can be accomplished
+with such an awkward instrument, and yet these fields in some instances
+show grand results.
+
+We expressed surprise to an intelligent citizen at seeing long lines of
+burros laden with freight beside the railroad, and going in the same
+direction, remarking to him that the railway ought to be able to compete
+with the jackasses. "You must take into consideration," said our
+informant, "that a man who owns a score of these cheap animals can
+himself drive them all to market or any given point. His time he counts
+as nothing; his burros feed beside the way, and their sustenance costs
+him nothing. Wages average throughout the country something less than
+thirty cents per day, and the cost of living among the peons is
+proportionately low. A railway is an expensive system to support, and
+must charge accordingly; consequently the burros, as a means of
+transportation for a certain class of goods, are quite able to compete
+with the locomotive and the rail." Of course, as other avenues for
+remunerative employment are opened to the common people, this antiquated
+style of transportation will gradually go out of use, and the locomotive
+will take the goods which are now carried by these patient and
+economical animals.
+
+Zacatecas is the capital of the state of the same name, and has a
+population of nearly fifty thousand. This is one of the oldest and most
+productive silver mining regions in Mexico. The town seems actually to
+be built on a huge vein of silver, which has been penetrated in scores
+of places. Eight or ten miles below the city the cars begin to climb
+laboriously a grade of one hundred and seventy-five feet to the mile,
+presenting some of the most abrupt curves we have ever seen in a railway
+track. Here we are in the midst of Rocky Mountain scenery. One can
+easily imagine himself on the Northern or Canadian Pacific road, among
+their giant peaks, hazardous roadbeds, and narrow defiles. The huge
+engine pants and trembles like an animal, in its struggle to drag the
+long train up the incline and around the sharp bends, until finally the
+summit is reached. To mount this remarkable grade a double engine has
+been specially built, having two sets of driving wheels; but it is often
+necessary to stop for a few moments to generate sufficient steam to
+overcome the resistance of the steep grade.
+
+Here we are on the great table-land of the country, about eight thousand
+feet above the level of the sea, in a narrow valley surrounded by groups
+of hills all teeming with the precious ore. These rich mines of
+Zacatecas have been worked with little intermission for over three
+hundred years, and are considered to be inexhaustible. "There is a
+native laborer," said an intelligent superintendent to us, "who is over
+seventy years old," pointing out a hale and hearty Indian. "He entered
+the mines at about ten years of age, so he has seen sixty years of
+mining life, and he may be good for ten years more." These men
+constantly climb the steep ladders, bearing heavy loads of ore upon
+their backs, for which hard labor they are paid about thirty-five or
+forty cents a day. The most productive districts, as relates to mineral
+products, especially of silver, lie in the northern part of the
+republic, but metalliferous deposits are found in every state of the
+confederation.
+
+There are a number of important edifices in the city, among which is the
+municipal palace, the cathedral, and the mint. The courtyard of the
+first-named forms a lovely picture, with its garden of fragrant flowers,
+tropical trees, and delicate columns supporting a veranda half hidden
+with creeping vines. Both the interior and exterior of the cathedral are
+extremely interesting and worthy of careful study, though one cannot but
+remember how much of the wages of the poor populace has been cunningly
+diverted from their family support to supply this useless ornamentation.
+For this object indulgences are sold to the rich, and the poor peons are
+made to believe their future salvation depends upon their liberal
+contributions to support empty forms and extravagance. In his "Through
+the Heart of Mexico," lately published, Rev. J. N. McCarty, D. D., says:
+"If ever any people on earth were stripped of their clothing and starved
+to array the priesthood in rich and gaudy apparel, and to furnish them
+the fat of the land, these poor Mexicans are the people. Where the
+churches are the richest and most numerous, as a rule the people are the
+poorest. Their earnings have gone to the church, leaving them only rags,
+huts, and the cheapest and coarsest of food."
+
+An ancient stone aqueduct supplies the town with excellent water, but it
+is distributed to consumers by men who make a regular business of this
+service, and who form picturesque objects with their large earthen jars
+strapped across their foreheads, one behind and one in front to balance
+each other. We are struck with the aspect of barrenness caused by the
+absence of vegetation. The nature of the soil is such as not to afford
+sustenance to trees, or even sufficient for the hardy cactus. The
+grounds are honeycombed in all directions with mines; silver is king.
+
+Mines in Mexico are individual property, and do not, as we have seen
+stated, belong to the government, unless they are abandoned, when they
+revert to the state, and are very promptly sold for the benefit of the
+public treasury. In order to keep good the title, a mine must be
+absolutely worked during four months of the year. If this rule is in any
+way evaded, the government confiscates the property and at once offers
+it for sale, so that those on the lookout for such chances often obtain
+a good title at a merely nominal price. But there are mines and mines in
+this country, as in our western districts; some will pay to work and
+some will not. As a rule it depends as much upon the management of such
+a property as upon the richness of the native ore, whether it yields a
+profitable return for the money invested in the enterprise.
+
+In climbing to the level of the city from the plain below, the railroad
+sometimes doubles upon itself horseshoe fashion, like a huge serpent
+gathering its body in coils for a forward spring, winding about the
+hills and among the mines, affording here and there glimpses of grand
+and attractive scenery embracing the fertile plains of Fresnillo, and in
+the blue distance the main range of the Sierra Madre. The color of these
+distant mountain ranges changes constantly, varying with the morning,
+noon, and twilight hues, producing effects which one does not weary of
+quietly watching by the hour together.
+
+Vegetables, charcoal, fruit, and market produce generally are brought
+into the town from various distances on the backs of the natives. These
+Indians will tire the best horse in the distance they can cover in the
+same length of time, while carrying a hundred pounds and more upon their
+backs. Mules and donkeys are also much in use, but the lower classes of
+both sexes universally carry heavy burdens upon their backs from early
+youth. Some of the Indian women are seen bearing loads of pottery or
+jars of water upon their shoulders with seeming ease, under which an
+ordinary Irish laborer would stagger. Comparatively few wheeled vehicles
+are in use, and these are of the rudest character, the wheel being
+composed of three pieces of timber, so secured together as to form a
+circle, but having no spokes or tire, very like the ancient African and
+Egyptian models. To such a vehicle a couple of oxen are attached by a
+wooden bar reaching across their frontlets and lashed to the roots of
+the horns by leather thongs. The skins of animals, such as goats, sheep,
+and swine, are universally employed for transporting and storing
+liquids, precisely as in Egypt thousands of years ago. The daily supply
+of pulque is brought to market on the natives' backs in pig-skins, the
+four legs protruding from the body in a ludicrous manner when the skin
+is full of liquid. Everything in and about the city is quaint, though
+the telephone, electric lights, and street tramways all speak of modern
+civilization. The insufficient water supply is the cause of much
+inconvenience, not to say suffering, and partly accounts for the untidy
+condition of the place and the prevalence of offensive smells. The
+latter are so disgusting as to be almost unbearable by a stranger. No
+wonder that typhoid fever and kindred diseases prevail, and that the
+death rate exceeds, as we were told is the case, that of any other
+district in the republic.
+
+There is an article of pottery manufactured in this vicinity, of a deep
+red color, hard-baked and glazed inside and out, having rude but
+effective ornamentation. Almost every large town in Mexico has one or
+more pottery manufactories, each district producing ware which is so
+individualized in the shape and finish as to distinctly mark its origin,
+so that experts can tell exactly whence each specimen has been brought.
+The manufacture of pottery is most frequently carried on by individuals,
+each Indian with his primitive tools turning out work from his mud
+cabin sometimes fit to grace the choicest and most refined homes. The
+accuracy of eye and hand gained by long practice produces marvelous
+results.
+
+Overlooking the city, on a mountain ridge known as the Buefa, is a quaint
+and curious church, Los Remedios. From this point one obtains a very
+comprehensive view of the entire valley and the surrounding rugged
+hills. One of the most bloody battles of the civil wars was fought on
+the Buefa in 1871, between a revolutionary force under General Trevino
+and the Juarez army, which resulted in the defeat of the revolutionists.
+"Both sides fought with unprecedented frenzy," said a resident to us.
+"From those steep rocks," he continued, pointing to the abrupt
+declivities, "absolutely ran streams of blood, while dead bodies rolled
+down into the gulch below by hundreds." We ventured to ask what this
+quarrel between, fellow countrymen was about that caused such a loss of
+life and induced such a display of enthusiastic devotion. "That is a
+question," he replied, "which the rank and file of either army could not
+have answered, though of course the leaders had their personal schemes
+to subserve,--schemes of self-aggrandizement." It was Lamartine who said
+significantly, "Civil wars leave nothing but tombs."
+
+It is the custom for a stranger to descend one or more of the silver
+mines; indeed, it may be said to be the one thing to do at Zacatecas,
+but for which only the most awkward means imaginable are supplied, such
+as ladders formed of a single long, notched pole, quite possible for an
+acrobat or performer on the trapeze. It is up and down these hazardous
+poles that the Indian miners, in night and day gangs, climb, while
+carrying heavy canvas bags of ore weighing nearly or quite two hundred
+pounds each. The writer is free to acknowledge that he did not improve
+the opportunity to explore the bowels of the earth at Zacatecas, having
+performed his full share of this sort of thing in other parts of the
+world.
+
+Zacatecas has its plaza; all Spanish and Mexican towns have one.
+Probably, in laying out a town, the originators first select this
+important centre, and then all other avenues, streets, and edifices are
+made to conform to this location. In the middle of this plaza is a large
+stone fountain, about which groups of native women are constantly busy
+dipping water and filling their earthen jars, while hard by other women,
+squatting on their haunches, offer oranges, pineapples, figs, and
+bananas for sale. How these Mexican markets swarm with people and glow
+with color, backed by moss-grown walls and ruined archways! Long burro
+trains block the roadway, and others are seen winding down the zigzag
+paths of the overhanging declivities. Close at hand within these low
+adobe hovels, pulque is being retailed at a penny a tumbler. It is the
+lager-beer of the country. Poverty, great poverty, stares us in the
+face. No people could be more miserably housed, living and sleeping as
+they do upon the bare ground, and owning only the few pitiful rags that
+hang about their bodies. At the doors of these mud cabins women are seen
+making tortillas with their rude stone implements. These little flat
+cakes are bread and meat to them. Now and again one observes forms and
+faces among the young native women that an artist would travel far to
+study; but although some few are thus extremely handsome, the majority
+are very homely, ill-formed, and negligent of person. The best looking
+among the peons lose their comeliness after a few years, owing to hard
+labor, childbirth, and deprivations. Few women retain their good looks
+after twenty-five years or until they are thirty. Another fact was
+remarked, that these Indian men and women never laugh. The writer was
+not able to detect even a smile upon the faces of the lower grade of
+natives; a ceaseless melancholy seems to surround them at all times, by
+no means in accordance with the gay colors which they so much affect. In
+contrast to the hovels of the populace, one sees occasionally a small
+garden inclosed with a high adobe wall, belonging to some rich mine
+owner, in which the tall pomegranate, full of scarlet bloom, or a
+stately pepper tree, dominates a score of others of semi-tropical
+growth.
+
+One practice was observed at Zacatecas which recalled far-away Hong
+Kong, China. This was the prosecution of various trades in the open air.
+Thus the shoemaker was at work outside of his dwelling; the tailor, the
+barber, and the tinker adopted the same practice, quite possible even in
+the month of March in a land of such intense brightness and sunshine. We
+wandered hither and thither, charmed by the novelty and strangeness of
+everything; not an object to remind one of home, but only of the far
+East. The swarthy natives with sandaled feet, the high colors worn by
+the common people, the burnous-like serape, the sober unemotional
+manners of the peons, the nut-brown women with brilliant eyes and
+half-covered faces, the attractive fruits, the sharp cries of the
+venders, the Egyptian-shaped pottery,--surely this might be Damascus or
+Cairo.
+
+An excursion by tramway was made to the neighboring town of Guadalupe,
+six or eight miles away, nearly the entire distance being a sharp down
+grade, over which the cars pass at top speed by their own gravitation;
+no animals are attached. So steep is the descent that it may be compared
+to a Canadian toboggan slide. It requires six mules to draw each car
+back again, the animals being harnessed three abreast like the horses in
+the Paris and Neapolitan omnibuses. Though this tramway is now admitted
+to be an indispensable adjunct to the business of the place, when it was
+first resolved upon by some of the residents more enterprising than
+their neighbors, it was considered to be a serious innovation, open to
+great objections, the local priesthood bitterly opposing it. Even the
+moneyed mine owners and others who instituted the project had no fixed
+idea how to operate a tramway of this sort, and an American overseer was
+from the beginning and is to-day in charge. The cars were ordered from
+Philadelphia, and while they were building, the steel rails, which came
+from Liverpool by way of Vera Cruz, were laid down from one end of the
+route to the other. Finally, when the cars arrived from the United
+States, it was found that they would not run on the track, the fact
+being that the rails had been laid on a gauge three inches narrower than
+the cars were designed for. What was to be done? The Mexicans at first
+proposed to rebuild the cars,--make the bodies narrower, and cut off the
+axle-trees to fit the gauge of the rails. In their hopeless ignorance
+this was the only way they could see out of the difficulty. The present
+superintendent, a practical American engineer, was at the time in
+Zacatecas, and took in the position of affairs at a glance, offering for
+five hundred dollars to show the owners how to get out of the trouble
+without changing an article upon the cars. The money was paid, and with
+twenty men and some suitable tools the American took up a few rods of
+the track, made a proper gauge for the rest, and had the cars running
+over the short distance in one day. It was the old story of Columbus and
+the egg, easy enough when one knew how to do it. The managers of the
+road promptly put the American in charge, and he has filled the position
+ever since.
+
+Guadalupe is an interesting town of some six thousand inhabitants, not
+counting the myriads of dogs, which do much abound in every part of
+Mexico. As a rule these are miserable, mangy-looking, half-starved
+creatures, with thin bodies and prominent ribs. The poorer the people,
+the more dogs they keep, a rule which applies not only here, but
+everywhere, especially among semi-barbarous races. The people seem to be
+very kind to pet animals,--though they do abuse the burros,--cats
+especially being of a plump, handsome species, quite at home, always
+sleeping lazily in the sunshine. If they do purr in Spanish, it is so
+very like the genuine English article that its purport is quite
+unmistakable. The persistency of the beggars here attracted attention,
+and on inquiry about the matter, a resident American informed us that
+these beggars were actually organized by the priests, to whom they
+report daily, and with whom they share their proceeds, thus enriching
+the plethoric coffers of the church. This seems almost incredible; but
+it is true. The decencies of life are often ignored, and the open
+streets present disgusting scenes. Men and women lie down and sleep
+wherever fatigue overcomes them, upon the hard stones or in the dirt.
+The town is generally barren of vegetation, though a few dreary cactus
+trees manage to sustain themselves in the rocky soil, with here and
+there a yucca palm.
+
+There is a famous orphan asylum in Guadalupe which is designed to
+accommodate a thousand inmates at a time, and there is also a
+well-endowed college. The former of these, the Orfanatorio de Guadalupe,
+is one of the most important charitable institutions in the republic.
+The old church of red sandstone, with its somewhat remarkable carvings,
+as exhibited upon the facade, has two graceful towers and is elaborately
+finished within. The church contains a half dozen oil paintings by
+Antonio de Torres, which bear the date 1720. The finest of these is that
+of "The Last Supper." The very elegant interior of the chapel of the
+Purisima was not completed until so late as 1886, and is justly
+considered the finest modern church structure in Mexico. As one passes
+out into the surrounding squalor and obtrusive poverty, it is impossible
+not to moralize as to the costly, theatrical, and ostentatious road
+which seems to lead to the Roman Catholic heaven.
+
+The little market-place of Guadalupe presents a scene like a country
+fair, with its booths for the sale of fruits, pottery, vegetables,
+flowers, bright-hued serapes and rebosas, all combining to form a
+conglomerate of color which, mingled with the moving figures of the
+mahogany-hued Indian women, is by no means devoid of picturesqueness.
+One must step carefully not to tread upon the little mounds and clusters
+of fruits and vegetables spread upon the ground for sale. The careless,
+happy laugh of a light-hearted group of senoritas rang musically upon
+the ear as we watched the market scene. Their uncovered, purple-black
+hair glistened in the warm sunlight, while their roguish glances, from
+"soul-deep eyes of darkest night," were like sparks of electricity. Was
+it their normal mood, or did the presence of a curious stranger, himself
+on the _qui vive_ to see everything, move them to just a bit of
+coquetry?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A Mexican Watering Place.--Delightful Climate.--Aguas Calientes.--Young
+    Senoritas.--Local City Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches.--A Mummified
+    Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot Springs.--Bathing in
+    Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities."--Delicious Fruits.--Market
+    Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A
+    Beautiful Plaza.--Local Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--
+    The City of Silao.--Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.
+    --Fierce Sand Storm.
+
+
+Aguas Calientes (hot waters) is the capital of a small state of the same
+name, and is a very strongly individualized city, containing something
+less than twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The town is handsomely laid
+out with great regularity, having a number of fine stone buildings,
+luxuriant gardens, and beautiful public squares. It is situated
+seventy-five miles south of Zacatecas, on the trunk line of the Mexican
+Central Railroad. This route brings us down to the plain through rugged
+steeps and sharp grades, near to the famous salt and soda lakes, where
+the Rio Brazos Santiago is crossed. Though we say that Aguas Calientes
+is on a plain, yet the town is over six thousand feet above sea level,
+and is well situated for business growth in a fertile region where three
+main thoroughfares already centre. It is just three hundred and
+sixty-four miles northwest of the city of Mexico. The Plaza des Armas,
+with its fine monumental column and its refreshing fountain, as well as
+several other public gardens of the city, are worthy of special mention
+for their striking floral beauty, their display of graceful palms and
+various other tropical trees. It seemed as though it must be perpetual
+spring here, and that every tree and bush was in bloom. The Mexican
+flora cannot be surpassed for depth of rich coloring. Sweet peas,
+camellias, poppies, and pansies abound, while oleanders grow to the
+height of elm trees, and are covered with a profusion of scarlet and
+white flowers. The day was very soft, sunny, and genial, when we
+wandered over the ancient place; all the treetops lay asleep, and there
+was scarcely a breath of air stirring. Every sight and every sound had
+the charm of novelty. Groups of young senoritas strolled leisurely about
+the town; their classic profiles, large gazelle-like eyes, rosy lips,
+delicate hands and feet, together with their shapely forms, indicated
+their mingled Spanish and Indian origin. The many sonorous bells of the
+churches kept up a continuous peal at special morning and evening hours.
+In spite of the half-incongruous notes of these different metallic
+voices floating together on the atmosphere, there was a sense of harmony
+in the aggregate of sound, which recalled the more musical chimes one
+hears on the shores of the Mediterranean. Mexican churches are not
+supplied with chimes, though each steeple has at least a half dozen, and
+often as many as a score, of costly bells.
+
+Here and there the town shows unmistakable tokens of age, which is but
+reasonable, as it was founded in 1520. The variety of colors used upon
+the facades of the low adobe houses produces a pleasing effect. The love
+of the Aztec race for warm, bright colors is seen everywhere. The Garden
+of San Marcos, one of many open public squares, forms a wilderness of
+foliage and flowers, where the oleanders are thirty feet in height,
+shading lilies, roses, and pansies, with a low-growing species of
+mignonette as fragrant as violets, our admiration for which was shared
+by a score of glittering humming-birds. Here too the jasmine, with its
+tiny variegated flowers, flourished by the side of hydrangeas full of
+snow-flake bloom, while orange blossoms made the air heavy with their
+odorous breath. Close to this garden is the bull ring, opposite to which
+gangs of convicts are seen sweeping the streets under the supervision of
+a military guard. Though these men are unchained, they make no attempt
+to escape, as the guards under such circumstances have a habit of
+promptly shooting a prisoner dead upon the spot; no one takes the
+trouble to inquire into the summary proceeding, and it would do no good
+if he did. There is no sickly sentimentality expended upon highwaymen,
+garroters, or murderers in Mexico. If a man commits a crime, he is made
+to pay the penalty for it, no matter what his position may be. There is
+no pardoning out of prison here, so that the criminal may have a second
+chance to outrage the rights of the community. If a trusted individual
+steals the property of widows and orphans and runs away, he must stay
+away, for if he comes back he will surely be shot. All things
+considered, we believe this certainty of punishment is the restraining
+force with many men of weak principles. Since the order to shoot all
+highwaymen as soon as taken was promulgated, brigandage has almost
+entirely disappeared in Mexico, though up to that time it was of daily
+occurrence in some parts of the country.
+
+There are several churches in Aguas Calientes which are well worth
+visiting, some of which contain fine old paintings, though they are
+mostly hung in a very poor light. There is an unmistakable atmosphere of
+antiquity within these walls, "mellowed by scutcheoned panes in
+cloisters old." The church facing the Plaza Mayor has a remarkable bell,
+celebrated for its fine tones; and when this sounded for vespers,
+Millet's Angelus was instantly recalled, the poor peons, no matter how
+engaged, piously uncovering their heads and bowing with folded hands
+while their lips moved in prayer. We were told of the great cost of this
+bell, which is said to contain half a ton of silver; but this is
+doubtless an exaggerated story framed to tickle a stranger's ear, since
+if over a certain moderate percentage of silver is employed in the
+casting, the true melody of the bell is destroyed. A queer object is
+shown the visitor for a trifling fee, in the crypt of the church of San
+Diego, being the remains of a mummified or desiccated monk, sitting
+among a mass of skulls, rib and thigh bones, once belonging to human
+beings. The moral of this exhibition seemed a little too far-fetched to
+be interesting, and our small party hastened away with a sense of
+disgust.
+
+The hot springs from which the state and city take their name are
+situated a couple of miles east of the town, at the end of a delightful
+alameda. A small canal borders this roadway, which is liberally supplied
+with water from the thermal springs, and scores of the populace may be
+seen washing clothing on its edge at nearly any hour of the day, as well
+as bathing therein, men and women together, with a decided heedlessness
+of the conventionalities. The Maoris of New Zealand could not show more
+utter disregard for a state of nudity than was exhibited by one group of
+natives whom we saw. The admirable climate, the hot springs, the
+beautiful gardens, vineyards, and abundant fruits, render this place
+thoroughly attractive, notwithstanding that so large a portion consists
+of adobe houses of only one story in height. These are often made
+inviting by their neat surroundings and by being frescoed in bright
+colors inside and out. One or two native birds in gayest colors usually
+hang beside the open doors, in a home-made cage of dried rushes, singing
+as gayly as those confined in more costly and gilded prisons. Just
+opposite the public baths was one of these domesticated pets of the
+mocking-bird species, who was remarkably accomplished. He was never
+silent, but was constantly and successfully struggling to imitate every
+peculiar sound which he heard. He broke down, however, ignominiously in
+his attempts with the tramway fish-horns. They were too much for him.
+This bird was of soft ash color, with a long, graceful set of
+tail-feathers, and kept himself in most presentable order,
+notwithstanding his narrow quarters in a home-made cage. It was in vain
+that we tried to purchase the creature. Either the Indian woman had not
+the right to sell him, or she prized the bird too highly to part with
+him at any price. As we came away from the low adobe cabin, the bird was
+mewing in imitation of another domestic pet which belonged to the same
+woman.
+
+Comparatively few humble dwellings have glass in the windows, but nearly
+all have these openings barred with iron in more or less ornamental
+styles. There are a few central situations where two-story houses
+prevail. Besides the churches, there are the governor's palace, the casa
+municipal, and the stores and dwelling-houses which surround the Plaza
+Mayor, the latter having open arcades, or _portales_, beneath the first
+story. People come from various parts of Mexico to enjoy the baths of
+Aguas Calientes, and one sees many strangers about the town. The place
+has, in fact, been the resort of people from various sections of the
+country from time immemorial, on account of the presumed advantages to
+be derived from the hot springs. Mineral waters, hot and cold, abound on
+the table-land of Mexico.
+
+It is said that by digging almost anywhere in this neighborhood, one can
+exhume pottery and other articles concerning whose manufacture there is
+a profound mystery, the shapes and style of finish being quite different
+from what is now produced. These articles are reputed to antedate the
+Toltec period, though the natives, finding that the antique shapes are
+most popular with European and American tourists, imitate them very
+closely. When "antiquities" are offered to one in a foreign country, he
+should be very wary in purchasing, as the artificial manufacture of them
+is fully up to the demand. The writer once saw an article sold at Cairo
+as an antique for ten pounds sterling which was afterwards proved, by an
+unmistakable mark, to have been made in Birmingham, England. So Aztec
+and Toltec remains are produced to any extent in the city of Mexico; and
+the enterprising English manufacturer, we were told, has even invaded
+Yucatan with his "antique" wares.
+
+Fruit is abundant, cheap, and delicious in the market-place of Aguas
+Calientes. Fifty oranges were offered to us for a quarter of a dollar,
+or two for a penny. Sunday is the principal market-day, when the country
+people for miles around bring in fruit, vegetables, flowers, pottery,
+and home-woven articles for sale. Men and women, sitting on the ground,
+patiently wait for hours to make trifling sales, the profit on which
+cannot exceed a few pennies, and often the poor creatures sell little or
+nothing. The principal market is a permanent building, occupying a whole
+block, or square. The area about which it is built is open in the
+centre; that is, without covering. Here a motley group displayed
+baskets, fruits, flowers, candies, pulque, boots, shoes, and sandals.
+White onions mingled with red tomatoes and pineapples formed the apex to
+a pyramid of oranges, bananas, lemons, pomegranates, all arranged so as
+to present attractive colors and forms, being often decked with flowers.
+Green sugar-cane, cut in available lengths, was rapidly consumed by
+young Mexico, and gay young girls indulged in dulces (sweets). Hundreds
+of patient donkeys, without harness of any sort, or even a rope about
+their necks, stood demurely awaiting their hour of service. Beggars are
+plenty, but few persons were seen really intoxicated, notwithstanding
+that pulque is cheap and muscal very potent. Red, blue, brown, and
+striped rebosas flitted before the eyes, worn by the restless crowd,
+while occasionally one saw a lady of the upper class, attended by her
+maid in gaudy colors, herself clad in the dark, conventional Spanish
+style, her black hair, covered with a lace veil of the same hue, held in
+place by a square-topped shell comb.
+
+The public bathhouse, near the railroad depot, is remarkable for
+spaciousness and for the excellence of the general arrangements. It is
+built of a conglomerate of cobble-stones, bricks, and mortar, and might
+be a bit out of the environs of Rome. In the central open area of these
+baths is a choice garden full of blooming flowers and tropical trees.
+Oleanders, fleurs-de-lis, flowering geraniums, peach blossoms, scarlet
+poppies mingling with white, beside beds of pansies and violets,
+delighted the eye and filled the air with perfume. The surroundings and
+conveniences were more Oriental than Mexican, inviting the stranger to
+bathe by the extraordinary facilities offered to him, and captivating
+the senses by beauty and fragrance. There is a spacious swimming-bath
+within the walls, beside the single bathrooms, in both of which the
+water is kept at a delightful temperature. The luxury of these baths,
+after a long, dusty ride over Mexican roads, can hardly be imagined by
+those who have not enjoyed it. In the vicinity of the Plaza Mayor,
+ice-cream was hawked and sold by itinerant venders. We were told of a
+mysterious method of producing ice, which is employed here during the
+night, by means of putting water in the hollowed stalk of the maguey or
+agave plant, but we do not clearly understand the process. The volatile
+oil of the century plant is said to evaporate so rapidly as to freeze
+the water deposited in it. At any rate, the natives have some process by
+which they produce ice in this tropical clime; but whether it is by aid
+of the maguey plant, from which comes the pulque, or by some other
+means, we cannot say authoritatively. In the cities and on the Texan
+border, ice is largely manufactured by chemical process aided by
+machinery, a means of supply well known in all countries where natural
+ice is not formed by continued low temperature.
+
+San Luis Potosi is situated about one hundred miles to the eastward of
+Aguas Calientes, on the branch road connecting the main trunk of the
+Mexican Central with Tampico on the Gulf. It is the capital of the State
+of San Luis Potosi, and has, according to estimate, over forty thousand
+inhabitants. The city contains many fine buildings, the most notable
+among them being the state capitol, the business exchange, the state
+museum, the mint, and the public library. This last-named contains
+between seventy and eighty thousand volumes. There is here a larger
+proportion of two-story buildings than is seen in either Saltillo or
+Monterey. There are also a college, a hospital, and a theatre. It has
+several plazas and many churches. The cathedral is quite modern, having
+been erected within the last forty years; it faces the Plaza Mayor,
+where there is a bronze statue of the patriot Hidalgo. We are here fully
+six thousand feet above the sea level, in a wholesome locality, which,
+it is claimed, possesses the most equable climate in Mexico, the
+temperature never reaching freezing-point, and rarely being
+uncomfortably warm. There are several fine old churches in San Luis
+Potosi, containing some admirable oil paintings by Vallejo, Tresguerras,
+and others of less fame. The city is three hundred and sixty miles north
+of the national capital, and is destined, with the opening of the
+railroad to Tampico, which has so recently taken place, to grow rapidly.
+Its tramway, or horse-car, service is particularly well managed, and
+facilitates all sorts of transportation in and about the city. In the
+Sierra near at hand are the famous silver mines known as Cerro del
+Potosi, which are so rich in the deposit of argentiferous ore that it is
+named after the mines of Potosi in Peru. There are valuable salt mines
+existing in this State of San Luis Potosi, at Penon Blanco. The city has
+always been noted as a military centre, and a large number of the
+regular army are stationed here. When Santa Anna returned from exile, at
+the beginning of the war with this country, in 1846, it was here that he
+concentrated his forces. When defeated by General Taylor at Buena Vista,
+he marched back to San Luis Potosi with the remnant of his thoroughly
+demoralized army, where he again established his headquarters. On the
+Sabbath, as in other Mexican cities, the grand market of the week takes
+place, when cock-fighting, marketing, praying, and bull-fighting are
+strangely mixed.
+
+About a hundred miles south of Aguas Calientes we reach the important
+manufacturing city of Leon, State of Guanajuato, a thrifty, enterprising
+capital, containing over ninety thousand inhabitants. It is considered
+the third largest and most important city of the republic. We have now
+come eight hundred and thirty miles since leaving the International
+Bridge, by which we entered Mexican territory at Pedras Negras, and find
+ourselves in the midst of a fertile, well-watered plain, intersected by
+the small river Turbio, two hundred and sixty miles northwest of the
+city of Mexico. Rich grazing fields are spread broadcast, many of which
+exhibit the deep, beautiful green of the alfalfa, or Mexican clover,
+which is fed in a fresh-cut condition to favored cattle, but not to
+burros, poor creatures! They feed themselves on what they can pick up by
+the roadside, on the refuse vegetables thrown away in the city markets,
+on straw; in short, on almost anything. There is a theory that they will
+live on empty fruit tins, broken glass bottles, and sardine boxes; but
+we are not prepared to indorse that. The fields and small domestic
+gardens hereabouts are often hedged by tall, pole-like cacti of the
+species called the organ cactus, from its peculiar resemblance to the
+pipes of an organ. This forms a prevailing picture in the wild landscape
+of southern Mexico. Leon is nearly six thousand feet above the sea.
+
+As the railroad depot is a mile from the city proper,--a characteristic
+of transportation facilities which applies to all Mexican capitals,--we
+reach the plaza of Leon by tramway. The place has all the usual
+belongings of a Spanish town, though it contains no buildings of special
+interest. The plaza, the market-place, and the cathedral are each worthy
+of note. The first-named has a large, refreshing fountain in its centre,
+whose music cheers the senses when oppressed by tropical heat. The plaza
+is also shaded by thick clusters of ornamental trees. There was a grand
+annual fair held here before the days of railroads in Mexico, which was
+an occasion attracting people from all the commercial centres of the
+country. While talking to a local merchant he said to us: "Certain
+circumscribed interests were at first unfavorably affected by the
+establishment of the railroad, and people grumbled accordingly; but we
+have come to see that after all it is for the universal good to have
+this prompt means of transportation. It was the same," he continued, "as
+regards the tramway; but we could not do without that convenience now."
+
+On one side of the plaza is the governor's palace, a long, plain,
+two-story building of composite material,--stone, sun-dried bricks, and
+mortar, colored white. On the other three sides is a line of two-story
+buildings, beneath which is a continuous block of _portales_, or arches,
+crowded with shops and booths; the first story of these houses being
+thus devoted to trade, the second to dwellings. The general effect of
+this large business square, with the deep greenery of the plaza in the
+centre, is extremely attractive. Strolling about it in the intense
+sunshine are many beggars and grandees; women in bright-colored rebosas;
+others in rags which do not half cover their nakedness; fair senoritas
+with tall, red-heeled boots pointed at the toes, and poor girls with
+bare limbs and feet; cripples and athletes; beauty and deformity;
+plethoric priests and cadaverous peons. Now a horseman in theatrical
+costume, sword and pistol by his side, and huge silver spurs on his
+heels, seated on a small but beautifully formed Andalusian horse, passes
+swiftly by, and now a score of charcoal-laden donkeys, driven by an
+Indian larger than the animal he bestrides. All the men who can afford
+it wear broad-brimmed sombreros richly ornamented with gold and silver
+braid; the poorest, though otherwise but half clad, and with bare limbs,
+have a substitute for the sombrero in straw or some cheap material. The
+broader the brim and the taller the crown, the more they are admired. It
+is a busy, ever-shifting scene presented by the Plaza Mayor of Leon,
+such as one may look upon only south of the Rio Grande.
+
+The paseo is a remarkably fine, tree-embowered avenue, a sort of
+miniature Champs Elysees, flanked by well-cultivated fields and gardens,
+forming the beginning of the road which leads to Silao. Besides the
+Plaza Mayor and the paseo, there are a dozen minor plazas (plazuelas) in
+Leon, all more or less attractive. On the road leading to Lagos, not far
+from the city, there are hot mineral springs much esteemed and much used
+for bathing. One can go anywhere in and about Leon by tramway as easily
+as in Boston or New York. The specialty of the city is its various
+manufactories of leather goods, but particularly saddles, boots, and
+shoes, together with leather sandals, such as are worn by the common
+people who do not go barefooted,--though the fact is nine tenths of them
+do go barefooted. Another special product of Leon is blue and striped
+rebosas, so universally worn by the women of the humbler class.
+
+It is a peculiarity in Mexico that a certain branch of manufacture is
+confined in a great measure to one place, other business localities
+respecting this partial monopoly by devoting themselves to other
+productions. Thus the industry of Leon is developed in tanning leather,
+and the making of boots, shoes, saddlery, and rebosas; Salamanca is
+noted for its buckskin garments and gloves; Irapuato is devoted to
+raising strawberries, and supplies half the republic with this delicious
+fruit; Queretaro is famous for the opals it ships from its unique mines;
+Lerdo enriches itself by the cotton which it sends to market; Celaya, in
+the valley of the Laja, is known all over Mexico for the production of
+fine dulces (sweets, or confectionery) made from milk and sugar; from
+Puebla come the elegant and profitable onyx ornaments so much prized at
+home and abroad; Aguas Calientes is famous as an agricultural centre,
+supplying the markets of the country with corn and beans; from Orizaba
+and Cordova come coffee, sugar, and delicious tropical fruits; Chihuahua
+raises horses and cattle for the home market and for exportation;
+Guadalajara is unrivaled for the production of pottery and crockery
+ware, Zacatecas and Guanajuato for the mining of silver; and so the list
+might be extended, showing the native resources of the country and the
+concentration of special industries.
+
+Many of the dwellings--most of them, indeed--are but one story in
+height, in the city proper, though often constructed of stone; but in
+the suburbs they are altogether of one story and built of adobe. Some of
+the hedges are both striking and effective, consisting of the
+prickly-pear cactus, which presents an impenetrable barrier to man or
+beast. The natives prepare a dish of green salad from the tender leaves
+of the cactus, as we do from dandelions and lettuce, which satisfies a
+certain appetite, and no doubt contains considerable nourishment. There
+are several quite ancient churches, a cathedral, and two theatres in
+Leon. Of the latter, that which attracted us most might have passed for
+a floral conservatory. It was a stone edifice, with a broad vestibule
+full of flowers, having a fountain in the centre and a dome covered with
+glass. The cathedral, under the ascribed patronage of "Our Lady of
+Light," makes up for its shortcomings in the architecture of its lower
+portions by a fine dome and two lofty towers, these last of quite modern
+construction, having been completed so late as 1878. The oldest church
+in the city is La Soledad, which dates back three hundred and fifty
+years. Two others, San Juan de Dios and San Felipe Neri, are of more
+than passing interest to the traveler.
+
+It was observed, in nearly all the dwellings which were entered, that
+the women as well as the men were engaged with hand-looms, weaving
+rebosas or serapes. In many instances children were thus employed, of
+such tender age that it was surprising to see the excellence of the work
+which they produced. These humble interiors present notable pictures of
+respectability, industry, and thrift. In the market-place, flowers,
+mostly beautiful roses of white and red varieties, were sold by the
+score for a five-cent piece, and lovely bouquets, containing artistic
+combinations of color and great variety of species, were offered for ten
+cents each. The plains in the environs of Leon are beautified by some
+magnificent groves of trees, and exhibit great fertility of soil.
+
+After passing through miles of dreary territory which produced little
+save an abnormal growth of cacti of several species, exhibiting great
+variety in shape and the color of its blossoms, which were sometimes
+white, but oftener red or yellow, twenty miles southeast of Leon and two
+hundred and thirty-eight north of the national capital, we reach the
+small city of Silao, in the State of Guanajuato, which has a population
+of about fifteen thousand. This is an agricultural district, six
+thousand feet above the level of the sea, where irrigation is absolutely
+necessary, and where it is freely applied, but by hand power, the water
+being raised from the ditches by means of buckets. Under this treatment
+the soil is so fertile as to yield two crops of wheat and maize
+annually, besides an abundance of other staples. The eyes of the
+traveler are delighted, on approaching Silao, by the view of
+far-reaching fields of waving grain, giving full promise of a rich
+harvest near at hand. We were told that these fields were flooded twice
+during the growing of a crop: first, early in January, when the young
+plants are two or three inches high, and again soon after the first of
+March, just before the ear is about to develop itself. Sometimes, as is
+done in Egypt, the fields are inundated before sowing. Some of the
+richest soil for wheat-growing in all Mexico lies between San Juan del
+Rio and Leon. The idea of a rotation of crops, the advantages of which
+the intelligent American farmer so well understands, does not seem yet
+to have dawned upon the Mexican cultivator of the soil. He goes on year
+after year extracting the same chemicals from the earth, without using
+fertilizers at all, and planting the same seed in the same fields. By no
+happy accident does he substitute corn for oats, or wheat for either. He
+never thinks of giving his grain field a breathing spell by planting it
+with potatoes or any other root crop, and substituting a different style
+of cultivation. In and about the town are some large and admirably
+managed gardens of fruits and flowers. One was hardly prepared, before
+coming hither, to accord to the Spanish character so much of
+appreciation and such delicacy of taste as are revealed through the
+almost universal cultivation of flowers in Mexico, wherever
+circumstances will admit of it. Silao is just fifteen miles from
+Guanajuato, the capital of the state, with which it is connected by
+railway.
+
+The rainfall is comparatively very slight on the entire Mexican
+plateau, limited, in fact, to two or three months in the year, which
+renders irrigation a universal necessity to insure success in farming;
+but the means employed for the purpose, as we have seen, are singularly
+primitive. The same objection that limited intelligence evinces
+everywhere to the introduction of labor-saving machinery is exhibited
+here in Mexico. When the author was at the Lakes of Killarney, a few
+years since, and saw the hotel employees cutting grass upon the broad
+lawn with a sickle or reaping-hook, he suggested to the landlord that an
+American lawn-mower should be used, whereby one man could do the job
+quicker and in better shape than twenty men could do by this primitive
+mode. "If I were to introduce an American lawn-mower on to this place,"
+said the landlord, "the laborers would burn my house down at once!" So
+when the air-brakes were introduced on the National Railroad in Mexico,
+thus not only adding unquestionably to the safety of the cars, but
+decreasing the necessity for so many train hands, the laborers cut and
+destroyed the brakes. Through persistent determination on the part of
+the officers of the road, the air-brake is now in use by the Mexican
+Central corporation, from the Rio Grande to the capital; but the
+National line between the capital and Vera Cruz is not able to make use
+of this greater safeguard and economical air-brake, because a lot of
+stupid, ignorant brakemen object!
+
+Silao is of little commercial importance, but it has the over-abundance
+of churches always to be found in Spanish towns of its size, none of
+which, in this instance, are any way remarkable. But the place is
+picturesque and interesting; one would not like to have missed it. The
+church of Santiago has a tall, graceful, and slender spire, sure to
+attract an observant eye, recalling the pinnacle of St. Peter and St.
+Paul in the capital of Russia. We have said Silao is of little
+commercial importance, but there are six or eight flour-mills, which
+seem to be the nucleus about which the principal business interests
+centre. The place was founded more than three centuries ago, and
+impresses one with an atmosphere of crumbling antiquity which somehow is
+pretty sure to challenge respect. "Time consecrates," says Schiller,
+"and what is gray with age becomes religion."
+
+Seeing a number of Indian men and women relieving themselves from heavy
+burdens brought into the market, we were surprised to note the weight
+which these trained natives could carry. On inquiry it was found that
+some of them had come over mountainous roads a distance of twenty miles
+and more, each bearing upon his or her back a weight in produce of
+various sorts which must have been near to a hundred and fifty pounds.
+As profit on all their chickens, eggs, vegetables, pottery, and fruit,
+they could hardly average more than a dollar to each individual. How
+simple and circumscribed must be the necessities of a people who can
+sustain themselves upon such earnings! When on the road, these Indians
+have a peculiarly rapid gait, a sort of dog-trot, so to speak, which
+they will keep up for hours at a time while carrying their heavy
+burdens. Though they all speak Spanish, yet each tribe or section of
+country seems to have a dialect of its own, which is used exclusively
+among its people. Scientists tell us that the various languages and
+dialects spoken by the Indian race of Mexico in the several parts of the
+republic number over one hundred; there are sixty which are known to
+have become extinct.
+
+In contradistinction to the theories of many careful observers,
+scientists have pointed to the fact that in all of these native tongues
+not one word can be found which gives indication of Asiatic origin.
+
+While at Silao a Mexican sand-spout, a visitant which is very liable to
+appear on the open plains during the dry season, struck in our immediate
+vicinity, followed by a fierce dust-storm, which lasted for about an
+hour, darkening the atmosphere to a night-hue for miles around, and
+covering every exposed article or person with a thick layer of fine
+sand. It was necessary promptly to close all doors and windows. Indeed,
+a person could more easily face a furious hail-storm, than one of these
+dry gales; men and animals alike sought shelter from its blinding
+fierceness. So men, horses, and camels, composing the caravans which
+cross the desert of Sahara, when struck by a sand-storm, are obliged to
+throw themselves flat upon the ground, and there remain until it has
+exhausted its fury. The condition of the soil at Silao may be easily
+imagined when it is remembered that rain had not fallen here for seven
+months. It was late in March, but the rainy season does not begin until
+about the last of May. In this region people do not speak of summer and
+winter, but of the dry and the rainy seasons, the former being reckoned
+from November to May, and the latter from June to October. It should not
+be understood that it rains constantly in the wet season. The rain falls
+generally in pleasant showers, afternoons and nights, leaving the
+mornings and forenoons bright, clear, and comfortable. It is really the
+pleasantest season of the year on the Mexican plateau.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Guanajuato.--An Ex-President.--Richest Silver Mine in Mexico.--Reducing
+    the Ores.--Plenty of Silver.--Open Sewers.--A Venal Priesthood.--A
+    Big Prison.--The Catholic Church.--Getting Rid of a Prisoner.--The
+    Frog-Rock.--Idolaters.--A Strawberry Festival at Irapuato.--
+    Salamanca.--City of Queretaro.--A Fine Old Capital.--Maximilian and
+    His Fate.--A Charming Plaza.--Mammoth Cotton Factory.--The Maguey
+    Plant.--Pulque and Other Stimulants.--Beautiful Opals.--Honey Water.
+    --Ancient Tula.--A Freak of Tropical Weather.
+
+The quaint old city of Guanajuato, capital of the state bearing the same
+name,--pronounced Wan-a-wato,--is situated nearly a thousand feet higher
+than Silao, two hundred and fifty miles north of the city of Mexico, and
+fifteen miles from the main trunk of the Mexican Central Railroad, with
+which it is connected by a branch road. It contains between fifty and
+sixty thousand inhabitants, and has been a successful mining centre for
+over three hundred years. Manuel Gonzales, ex-president of Mexico, is
+the governor of the state. This man was the Tweed of Mexico, and one of
+the most venal officials ever trusted by the people. He succeeded, on
+retiring from the presidency, in taking with him of his ill-gotten
+wealth several millions of dollars. The astonishing corruption that
+reigned under his fostering care was notorious. In enriching himself
+and his ring of adherents, he brought the treasury of the country to the
+very verge of bankruptcy. It may be mentioned that this State of
+Guanajuato is the most densely populated in the Mexican republic. It has
+an area of a trifle over twelve thousand square miles, or it is about
+the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut united. The town is reached
+through the suburb of Marfil, along the precipitous sides of whose
+mountain road large adobe and stone mills are constructed, resembling
+feudal castles; while beside the roadbed, broken by sharp acclivities,
+the small, muddy, vile-smelling river Guanajuato flows sluggishly along,
+bearing silver tailings away from the mills above, and wasting at least
+twenty-five per cent, of the precious metal contained in the badly
+manipulated ore. Here and there in the river's bed--the stream being
+low--scores of natives were seen washing the earth which had been
+deposited from the mines, working knee-deep in the mud, and striving to
+make at least day wages, which is here represented by forty cents.
+Others were producing sun-dried brick out of the clayey substance, after
+it had been rewashed by the independent miners. This river becomes a
+torrent in the rainy season, and owing to its situation the town is
+liable to dangerous inundations, one of which occurred so late as 1885,
+causing great loss of life and property. Creeping slowly upward over the
+rough road, an abrupt corner of the gulch was finally turned, and we
+suddenly found ourself in the centre of the active little city, so
+compactly built that business seemed to be overflowing its proper
+limits and utterly blocking the narrow streets. The provision and fruit
+market was trespassing on every available passageway. Curbstone and
+sidewalk were unhesitatingly monopolized by the market people with their
+wares spread out for sale. In Guanajuato is found the richest vein of
+silver-bearing ore in the country, known as the _Veta Madre_, and though
+the most primitive modes of mining and milling have always been and
+still are pursued here, over eight hundred million dollars in the
+argentiferous metal have been realized from this immediate vicinity
+since official record has been kept of the amount; and with all this
+Mexico is still poor!
+
+The ore has now to be raised from a depth of fifteen hundred feet and
+more. There are between fifty and sixty crushing mills in operation at
+this writing, reducing the silver-bearing quartz. Two of the mills are
+operated by Europeans, who use steam power to some extent, but the
+scarcity of fuel is a serious objection to the employment of steam. We
+saw scores of mules treading the liquid, muddy mass for amalgamating
+purposes, driven about in a circle by men who waded knee-deep while
+following the weary animals. As these huge vats contain quicksilver,
+vitriol, and other poisonous ingredients, the lives of men and animals
+thus occupied are of brief duration. The mules live about four years,
+and the men rarely twice as long if they continue in the business. This
+result is well known to be inevitable, and yet there are plenty of men
+who eagerly seek the employment.
+
+Without going into detail we may describe the process of obtaining the
+silver from the rocky mass in a few words. The ore is first crushed, and
+by adding water is made into a thin paste. Many tons of this are placed
+in a huge vat, at least a hundred feet square, and into it are thrown,
+in certain quantities, sulphate of copper, common salt, and quicksilver.
+Driving the animals through this mass, ten hours a day for three or four
+days, causes the various ingredients to become thoroughly mingled. The
+quicksilver finally gets hold of and concentrates the coveted metal. The
+quicksilver is afterwards extracted and reserved for continued use,
+performing the same function over and over again. There is, of course, a
+large percentage of quicksilver lost in the operation, and its
+employment in such quantities forms one of the heavy expenses of
+milling.
+
+The mills are semi-fortresses, having often been compelled to resist the
+attacks of banditti, who have ever been ready to organize a descent upon
+any place where portable treasure is accumulated. We were told, on good
+authority, that every ton of raw material handled here yields on an
+average thirty-three dollars. This figure our informant qualified by the
+remark that it was the average under ordinary circumstances. Sometimes
+the miners strike what is called a bonanza, and for a while ore is
+raised from the bowels of the earth which will produce five times this
+amount to the ton; but after a short time the yield will return to its
+normal condition. Occasionally, but this is rare, nuggets of pure or
+nearly pure silver are found weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds
+each. The process of milling here is slow, tedious, and wasteful. The
+scientific knowledge brought to bear upon the business in the United
+States is not heeded in Mexico, and yet these people obtain remarkably
+favorable results. The fact is, the precious metal is so very abundant,
+and the profits so satisfactory, that the managers and owners grow
+careless, having little incentive to spur them on to adopt more
+economical and productive methods. An intelligent overseer of a mine at
+Guanajuato said to us in reply to a question relating to the usual
+process of milling in Mexico: "We get probably sixty per cent. of the
+silver contained in the raw ore which we handle, and that is about all
+we can expect." On being asked if the men whom we saw working in the
+open bed of the river, far below the mills, did not obtain good results,
+the superintendent replied, "They succeed best in getting part of the
+quicksilver which has been carried away in the process, which they sell
+to us again." These men, we observed, worked mostly with shovels and
+earthen pans, or with their hands and a flat, shingle-like piece of
+wood.
+
+Guanajuato is built on the sides of a deep, broad gorge, surrounded by
+rolling hills, the ravine, the mouth of which commences at Marfil, being
+terraced on either side to make room for adobe dwellings. Here and there
+a patch of green is to be seen, a graceful pepper tree, an orange, or
+stately cypress relieving the cheerless, arid scene. The narrow,
+irregular streets are roughly paved; but the clouds of dust which one
+encounters in the dry season are almost suffocating. Now and then a few
+potted flowers in front of a low cabin, a bird cage with its chirping
+occupant, a noisy parrot on an exposed perch, a dozing cat before the
+door, all afford glimpses of domesticity; but, on the whole, this mining
+town, rich in native silver, gave us in its humbler portions the
+impression of being mostly composed of people half clothed and seemingly
+but half fed.
+
+The city has an alameda and a plaza. The latter, in the centre of the
+town, is decorated with bright-colored flowers, tall palm trees, and has
+a music pagoda in its centre. This plaza has an elevation of over six
+thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea. What a queer old
+city it is, with its steep, narrow, twisted streets! It might be a bit
+abstracted from Moorish Tangier, or from the narrow thoroughfares of
+Granada, close by the banks of the turbulent Darro.
+
+The occupation of three fourths of the people is naturally connected
+with the mines, and it may be said to be an industrious community. The
+pulque shops are many, far too many; but there was no intoxication
+noticed on the streets. The open sewers render the death rate unusually
+high in Guanajuato, where typhoid fever and pneumonia were particularly
+prevalent during our visit. Indeed, the place is notoriously unhealthy.
+There are many excellent oil paintings hung in the churches and chapels,
+representing, of course, scriptural subjects, including one of the
+much-abused St. Sebastian. There are two or three primary and advanced
+schools supported by the municipality; but these, we were told, were
+bitterly opposed by the priests. We speak often and earnestly concerning
+the malign influence of the priesthood, because no one can travel in
+Mexico without having the fact constantly forced upon him, at every
+turn, that its members and their church are, and have been for nearly
+four centuries, the visible curse of the country. The most interesting
+of the many churches is the Compania, which has a choice group of bells
+in its cupola, and an unusually excellent collection of paintings, among
+them a series illustrating the life of the Virgin, by an unknown artist,
+besides two fine canvases by Cabrera. But one grows fastidious in
+visiting so many of these churches as he approaches the capital, and
+becomes satisfied with examining the cathedral in each new city. The
+whole country is strewn with these costly and comparatively useless
+temples, many of which are gradually crumbling to dust, and nearly all
+of which are dirty beyond description. Immediately after the Spanish
+conquest a rage possessed the victors to build churches, without regard
+to the necessary population for their support, perhaps hoping thereby to
+propitiate heaven for their rapaciousness and outrageous oppression of
+the native race. The criminal extortion exercised by the priesthood and
+their followers forms a dark blot upon the escutcheon of both the church
+and the state. O Christianity, as Madame Roland said of Liberty, "what
+atrocities have been committed in thy name!"
+
+Charles Lempriere, D. C. L., an able writer upon Mexico, says: "The
+Mexican church, as a church, fills no mission of virtue, no mission of
+morality, no mission of mercy, no mission of charity. Virtue cannot
+exist in its pestiferous atmosphere. The cause of morality does not come
+within its practice. It knows no mercy, and no emotion of charity ever
+nerves the stony heart of the priesthood, which, with an avarice that
+knows no limit, filches the last penny from the diseased and dying
+beggar, plunders the widow and orphans of their substance as well as
+their virtue, and casts such a horoscope of horrors around the deathbed
+of the dying millionaire, that the poor, superstitious wretch is glad to
+purchase a chance for the safety of his soul in making the church the
+heir of his treasures."
+
+Many of the better class of houses in the upper portion of Guanajuato,
+some of which are extremely attractive, are built from a peculiar
+sandstone quarried in the neighborhood, which is of many colors, giving
+the fronts an odd, but not unpleasant appearance. The balconies of these
+dwellings are rendered lovely by a great variety of creeping vines and
+flowers in blossom. Among these the honeysuckle prevailed, often shading
+pleasant family groups, and forming tableaux in strong contrast with the
+more humble and populous portions of the town. In this part of the city,
+where the gorge widens, a large reservoir has been constructed which
+gets its supply of water from the mountain streams, and affords the
+necessary article in the dry season. Along either side of these
+reservoirs, for there is a succession of them, are situated the
+pleasantest residences. These are so charmingly adapted to the locality,
+and depart so far from the conventional Mexican style, as to cause one
+to think some American or English architect had been exercising his
+skill and taste in the neighborhood. They recalled some of the lovely
+villas one sees near Sorrento and along the shores of the Bay of Amalfi,
+in southern Italy.
+
+The spacious and ancient structure known as the Alhondiga de Granaditas,
+situated on elevated ground, dominates the whole city. It was erected a
+century and more ago, and designed for a commercial exchange, but it has
+since been greatly altered, and served as a fortification in the civil
+wars. It is to-day occupied for the purposes of a prison, where convicts
+are judiciously taught various mechanical trades. The view from the
+summit of this rude old building takes in the town, the long, narrow
+gulch, the gray and rugged hills which reach upward towards the deep
+blue sky, dotted here and there by the yellow dome of some ancient
+church, and an occasional cypress or graceful palm striving to redeem
+the surrounding barrenness. In the prison yard, where the convicts seem
+to be permitted to roam at their own pleasure, hens, chickens, and
+turkeys were seen dodging in and out among the feet of the prisoners,
+with whom they were apparently on the best of terms.
+
+One could not but think that a large number of these prisoners were
+probably better off as to creature comforts than when at liberty and
+following their own behests. They eat, sleep, and work together at light
+occupations, and no attempt is made to keep them from communicating
+with each other. They have good air, light, and better food on the
+average than they have been accustomed to when providing for themselves,
+and they are allowed to keep a part of their own earnings. They are
+permitted good bathing facilities, and to play checkers or any other
+small games during their off hours, as they term the portions of the day
+in which discipline requires no regular service of them. We became
+interested in the case of an intelligent American who was held as a
+prisoner here. He had been confined for nearly two years without a
+trial, for which he was earnestly begging. The charge against him was
+that he had been connected with some Mexicans in the robbery of a
+railroad train, but of which he declared himself entirely innocent.
+Whether innocent or guilty, he was entitled to a fair trial. Our party
+took the matter in hand, supplied the man with proper pecuniary means,
+interested our local consul in his behalf, and brought the matter to the
+attention of the American minister to Mexico, finally obtaining
+assurance that justice should be obtained for the prisoner.
+
+Though these places of confinement are conducted with apparent
+looseness, still the escape of an inmate rarely takes place unless it is
+connived at by the officials. The bullet is very swift in Mexico, as
+already instanced, and a man who attempts to escape from legal restraint
+is instantly shot without the least hesitation on the part of the guard,
+no matter for what he may be confined, even though held only for a
+witness. In well-authenticated cases, where it was considered desirable
+to get rid of an inmate without the form of a trial, which perhaps
+might compromise some favored individual, opportunity was afforded the
+prisoner to escape; the temptation was too strong, he could not resist
+it; but scarcely had he broken the bounds before the fatal lead laid him
+low in death. The place was pointed out to us on these prison walls
+where the head of the Indian patriot Hidalgo was exposed upon a spear
+point by the Spanish governor of the place, until it crumbled to dust by
+the action of the elements.
+
+Quite a pretentious theatre of stone is in course of erection just
+opposite the little Plaza de Mejia Mora. The dozen large stone pillars
+of the facade were already in place, and there are other evidences that
+when finished it will be a spacious and elegant structure. We say when
+finished, but that will not be this year, or next, probably; building,
+like everything else in this country, is slow of progress. The
+significant Spanish word _manana_ is on everybody's lips, and expresses
+a ruling principle, nothing being done to-day which can possibly be put
+off until to-morrow.
+
+The somewhat singular name of the city is from _guanashuato_, an Indian
+word in the Tarrascan tongue, which signifies "hill of the frogs," a
+name given to the place by the aborigines because of a huge rocky mound
+which resembles a frog, and forms a prominent object in the immediate
+environs. With their idolatrous instinct the early natives made this
+peculiar rock an object of worship, and, it is said, offered human
+sacrifices at its base. No doubt these tribes were sincere, and
+positive in proportion to their ignorance,--the idol is but the type of
+the worshiper's intelligence. In visiting the Temple of Hanan, at
+Canton, we find to-day, a number of "sacred" hogs wallowing in dirt. The
+Parsee still worships fire; the uneducated Japanese bows before snakes
+and foxes; the Hindoo deifies cows and monkeys. Why should we wonder,
+then, that the Toltecs worshiped idols a thousand years ago?
+
+While looking upon the strange stone images, large and small, in the
+museum of the national capital, which the ancient people who possessed
+this land erected and worshiped, one cannot avoid forming a very low
+estimate of such a race. Their deities were not only hideous, but were
+made in the crudest possible manner, without one correct line of anatomy
+or physiognomy, and represented utterly impossible beings in equally
+impossible attitudes. They are, however, of growing interest, and
+invaluable as mementoes of a vanished race.
+
+After returning to Silao, we resume our journey southward on the main
+line of the Mexican Central Railroad, crossing the State of Guanajuato
+through a fertile and well-cultivated region, in strong contrast to much
+of the country left behind. At Irapuato, an unimportant, dingy,
+dilapidated little town, nineteen miles from Silao, is the junction of
+the trunk line and a branch road to Guadalajara, which city we shall
+visit on our return trip northward. Irapuato is pleasantly remembered by
+all travelers in Mexico, being noted for the fact that fresh ripe
+strawberries are sold on the railway trains by the inhabitants every day
+in the year. Strangers never pass this point without enjoying a
+strawberry picnic, as it may be called, every one purchasing more or
+less. Even the train-hands would rebel were they not permitted to tarry
+long enough to enjoy the one luxury of the place. The delicious berries
+are supplied by native men and women with wild-looking, swarthy faces,
+who hand them to the travelers in neat, plain baskets which hold nearly
+two quarts each. Basket and strawberries together are sold for
+twenty-five cents. The top layer of the fruit is carefully selected, and
+most tempting to look upon, the berries being shrewdly "deaconed,"--a
+fact of which the purchaser becomes aware when he has consumed the first
+portion. However, all are eatable and most grateful to the taste. Human
+nature is very much the same in trade, whether exhibited in Faneuil Hall
+Market, Boston, or at Irapuato in Mexico. The deaconing process is not
+unknown in Massachusetts. Nice, marketable strawberries could be
+forwarded from Irapuato to Chicago and all intermediate cities, so as to
+be sold in our markets in good condition every day in the year, by means
+of the present complete railway connections. The industry of producing
+them would be stimulated by an organized effort to its best performance,
+and all concerned would be benefited.
+
+About a dozen miles beyond the junction, we arrive at Salamanca, a small
+but thriving city. Here, in the Church of San Augustin, are some
+elaborate wooden altars of such beautiful workmanship as to have a
+national reputation. These carvings are by native workmen, and evince
+an artistic taste and facility which one would hardly expect to find
+among a people so uncultured as the laboring class of Mexico. There is
+genius enough lying dormant in the country; it only lacks development.
+The principal industry of the town is the manufacture of buckskin
+garments and gloves. Twenty miles further southward is the thriving city
+of Celaya, in the charming valley of the Laja, with about twenty
+thousand population. The town is situated nearly two miles from the
+river, in the State of Guanajuato, and contains extensive cotton and
+woolen mills, with the usual abundance of Roman Catholic churches. There
+are quite a number of buildings in Celaya, both public and private,
+which evince notable architectural beauty. These were erected after the
+design of a local Michael Angelo,--a native architect, sculptor, and
+painter named Tresguerras. Finally we arrive at Queretaro (pronounced
+Ka-ret-a-ro), the capital of the state of the same name, situated a
+little over one hundred and fifty miles northwest of the city of Mexico,
+and having a population of about fifty thousand. This is generally
+admitted to be the most attractive city, in its general effect upon the
+stranger, of any in the republic outside of the valley of Mexico, though
+we unhesitatingly place Puebla before it. It was here, in 1848, that the
+Mexican Congress ratified the treaty of peace with the United States.
+Perhaps some of the readers of these pages will remember with what
+distinguished honors Mr. Seward was received in this city during his
+visit to Mexico in 1869.
+
+Queretaro was founded by the Aztecs about four hundred years ago, and
+was captured by the Spaniards in 1531. It contains numerous fine stone
+buildings, mostly of a religious character, and has some very spacious
+public squares. A grand stone aqueduct over five miles long brings a
+bountiful supply of good water from the neighboring mountains. The
+lofty, substantial masonry of the aqueduct reminds one of similar works
+which cross the Campagna at Rome, and those in the environs of Cairo.
+This work must have been originally a tremendous undertaking, many of
+the arches, where ravines and natural undulations are crossed, being
+nearly a hundred feet in height. The cost of the aqueduct is said to
+have been borne by a single individual, to whose memory the citizens
+have erected a statue on one of the plazas. The water-supply thus
+brought into the town feeds a dozen or more large, bright, crystal
+fountains in different sections, around which picturesque groups of
+water-carriers of both sexes are constantly seen filling their jars for
+domestic uses. To an American eye there is a sort of Rip-Van-Winkle look
+about the grass-grown streets of Queretaro. We are here some six
+thousand feet above the sea, but the place enjoys a most equable and
+temperate climate. It was in the suburbs of this city that Maximilian
+and his two trusted generals, Mejia and Miramon, the latter ex-president
+of the republic, were shot by order of a Mexican court-martial,
+notwithstanding the appeal for mercy in their behalf by more than one
+European power, in which the United States government also joined. The
+Princess Salm-Salm rode across country on horseback a distance of over
+one hundred miles, to implore Juarez to spare the life of Maximilian;
+but it was in vain. Juarez was obliged to look at the matter in a
+political light, whatever his own inclination towards clemency may have
+been, and therefore refused to annul the sentence of death. Putting all
+sentimentality aside, it seems to the author that Maximilian justly
+merited the fate which he so systematically provoked. The measure which
+he meted to others was in turn accorded to himself. He issued a decree
+that every officer taken in arms against his self-assumed authority
+should be promptly shot without trial. This is considered admissible in
+the case of professed highwaymen and banditti, but such an order issued
+against a large body of organized natives who sincerely believed
+themselves fighting for national liberty was unprecedented and uncalled
+for. This order was enforced in the instance of some noted patriot
+leaders. The Mexican generals Arteaga and Salazar, with Villagomez and
+Felix Diaz, who were ignorant of the existence of any such order or
+determination, were all shot at Uruapam, October 21, 1865. When
+Maximilian was himself taken prisoner, the like summary punishment
+became his just award. In the state legislative palace of Queretaro we
+were shown the table on which the death sentence was signed by the
+members of the court-martial, the coffin in which Maximilian's body was
+brought from the place of execution, and a fine oil painting
+representing the late would-be emperor.
+
+All strangers who visit the city are taken out to the grounds where the
+execution took place. One naturally regards the spot with considerable
+interest. It is marked by three rude stones within an iron-railed
+inclosure, each stone bearing the name of one of the victims, in the
+order in which they stood before the firing party on the Cerro de los
+Campanas, two miles from the city proper. It seemed serene and peaceful
+enough as we looked upon the locality, surrounded by highly cultivated
+fields, dotted here and there by sheep and cattle quietly grazing in the
+calm, genial sunshine.
+
+The whole of the Archduke's Mexican purpose and career was a great and
+absurd political blunder. Personally he was a pure and honest man,
+though a very weak one. He never possessed mental power equal to that of
+his wife, who won from the Mexicans unbounded and deserved praise by her
+devotion to her husband and to the public good. Carlotta freely expended
+her private fortune for the relief of the poor of the national capital,
+and in the founding of a much needed and grand free hospital for women.
+When Maximilian received notice that Napoleon III. was about to desert
+him and his cause, he was absolutely discouraged, and would have
+resigned at once and returned to Europe; but his courageous wife
+dissuaded him. She started the very next day for Vera Cruz, on her way
+to induce the French emperor to keep his word and hold sacred the treaty
+of Miramar. In vain did she plead with Napoleon, being only insulted for
+her trouble; nor was she received much better by the Pope, Pius IX.
+Disappointment met her everywhere. The physical and mental strain
+proved too much for Carlotta. Brain fever ensued, and upon her partial
+recovery it was found that she was bereft of reason. More than twenty
+years have passed since the faithful wife was thus stricken, nor has
+reason yet dawned upon her benighted brain.
+
+After three years of ceaseless struggle, Maximilian had grown
+desperately weary, in a vain effort to reconcile the various political
+factions of the country, so that to one in his condition of broken
+health and disappointment, death must have been a relief from mental and
+physical suffering. His body rests at last in the burial place of the
+Hapsburgs, thousands of miles from the spot where he fell, while those
+of Mejia and Miramon lie in the Campo Santo of San Fernando in the city
+of Mexico. The broad view from this "Hill of the Bells" is very
+beautiful, and it lives vividly in the memory, taking in the green
+valley in every direction, spread with fields of undulating grain ready
+for the reapers, ornamented with umbrageous trees, the city with its
+mass of towers, domes, and stone dwellings forming the background. A
+score of ancient churches, convents, and chapels may be counted from the
+hill-top. The alameda lies on one side of the town, consisting of some
+fifty or sixty acres nearly square, about which a broad driveway is
+arranged, the whole charmingly laid out, with greensward and noble shade
+trees. The Church of the Cross is on slightly elevated ground, and forms
+a conspicuous architectural feature in the general view. It was in this
+structure that Maximilian made his headquarters, which he partially
+fortified, and where, after a protracted siege, he was betrayed into the
+hands of his enemies; from this place he marched to execution on the
+19th of June, 1867.
+
+The Plaza Mayor of Queretaro is a beauty and a joy forever, with its
+musical fountain uttering ceaseless and refreshing notes, its tropical
+verdure, its tufted palms and flowering shrubs, its fruitful banana
+trees, pomegranates, and fragrant roses. Here Maximilian was accustomed
+to pass an hour daily, and here, we were told, he took his evening
+recreation, his favorite seat being upon the curbstone of the capacious
+fountain. The besiegers discovered the fact, directing shot and shell
+accordingly at this special point, and though the emperor was unharmed
+by the missiles, a monumental statue situated within a few feet of him
+was shattered to pieces. In the sunny afternoons the pretty senoritas
+come to the plaza with their heads and necks lightly shrouded in Spanish
+veils, and otherwise clothed in diaphanous garments, short enough to
+show their shapely ankles in white hose, and their small feet in
+high-heeled, pointed slippers. He must be indeed calloused who can
+withstand, unmoved, the battery of their witching eyes.
+
+There is a large cotton factory about two miles from the city, known as
+"The Hercules Mills," having over twenty thousand spindles, and nearly a
+thousand looms. The machinery was imported from this country. A colossal
+marble statue of Hercules is seen presiding over one of the large
+fountains, in the midst of ornamental trees and flowers. This statue
+cost fourteen thousand dollars before it left Italy. The mill gives
+employment to some twelve or fourteen hundred natives, mostly women and
+girls. One of the young sons of the house of Rubio, the family name of
+those who own this property, went to England years ago, and learned the
+trade of cotton spinning. This industry as now carried on was
+established by him, and is still conducted by the same manager, Don
+Cayetano Rubio. The excellent system of the establishment would do
+credit to a Lowell or Lawrence factory; indeed, almost any similar
+establishment might take a favorable lesson from this at Queretaro. The
+immediate surroundings form a well-arranged and fragrant flower garden,
+ornamented with fountains and statuary, with fruit trees, where the
+employees are all welcome, and the sweet fragrance of which they can
+enjoy even during the working hours. Wages, to be sure, are
+insignificant, being only about forty cents a day for each competent
+operative, and the hours are long, twelve out of each twenty-four being
+devoted to work; but as wages go in Mexico this is considered to be a
+fair rate, with which all are content. We were told that a portion of
+the cotton used in the mill comes from Vera Cruz, that is, the short
+staple; the long comes mostly from the Pacific coast; while fully half
+of the raw material is imported from the United States. The fibre of the
+Mexican cotton is longer, and not so soft as the American product; but
+the cotton raised in some parts of the republic has this remarkable
+property, that for several consecutive seasons the plant continues to
+bear profitable crops, while in our Southern States the soil must not
+only be fertilized, but the seed must also be renewed annually. The
+cotton plant is indigenous to Mexico, and is more prolific in its yield
+than it is with our Southern planters. It is the same with cotton as
+with wool; though quite able to do so, Mexico does not at present grow
+enough of either staple to supply her own mills, or produce enough of
+the manufactured article to furnish the home market. Both water and
+steam power are employed as motors in the Hercules Mill. The overshot
+wheel used in the former connection is a monster in size, being
+forty-six feet in diameter. Such has heretofore been the disturbed
+condition of the country that it has been found necessary to organize
+and maintain a regular company of soldiers, with ample barracks inside
+the walls, to defend the property of the mill; and it has three times
+repulsed formidable attacks made upon the well-fortified walls and gates
+which surround it.
+
+Catholic churches and priests form, as usual in all Spanish towns, a
+prominent feature of the neighborhood; and we are sorry to say that
+beggars are very importuning and numerous. It is the same in Spain and
+in Italy as it is in Mexico,--where the priests abound, beggars do much
+more abound.
+
+In the environs of Queretaro one sees immense plantations devoted to the
+growth of the maguey plant, from which the national beverage is
+manufactured. Pulque is to the Mexican what claret is to the Frenchman,
+or beer to the German, being simply the fermented juice of the aloe. It
+is said that it was first discovered here, though its advent is
+attributed to many other towns in Mexico; but it is certain that either
+the process of manufacture here is superior to that of most other
+localities, or the plant grown here possesses peculiar properties, as it
+commands the market. When we consider the matter, it is surprising to
+recall the number of uses to which the maguey plant is put. Paper is
+made from the fibre of the leaves, as well as twine and rope; its thorns
+answer for native pins and needles; the roots are used by the Indians in
+place of soap; the young sprouts are eaten after being slightly roasted;
+while in the dried form the leaves are used both for fuel and for
+thatching the native cabins. The maguey plant has been called the
+miracle of nature, on account of the large number of articles which are
+made from it and the variety of uses to which it is adapted. It may be
+added that of all these properties of the agave the early Toltecs were
+fully aware, and improved them for their own benefit. We have measured
+specimens of the well developed plant, the leaves of which were eight
+feet in length, a foot in width, and eight inches in thickness. When the
+maguey is about seven or eight years old it is at its best for the
+production of the desired liquor, and is tapped for the milk-like sap,
+of which it yields from two quarts to a gallon daily for three or four
+months. This natural liquor is then called _agua miel_, or honey water,
+but when it has gone through the process of fermentation it becomes
+_pulque_. If the plant is left to itself, at about ten years of age
+there springs up from the centre of the leaves a tall stem, twelve or
+fifteen feet in height, which bears upon its apex clusters of rich
+yellow flowers, and then the whole withers and dies,--it never blooms
+but once. The maguey plant constituted the real vineyards of the Aztecs,
+as well as the tribes preceding them, its product being the drink of the
+people of the country long before the days of the Montezumas. At this
+writing, over eighty thousand gallons of pulque are consumed daily in
+the national capital. It is to be regretted, as we have seen it
+announced, that an American company propose to go into the business of
+pulque making by the use of improved facilities, claiming that it can be
+produced by the use of this machinery at one half the present cost, the
+plants being also made to yield more copiously. Of course it will be
+adulterated, every intoxicant is, except pulque as at present made from
+the maguey by the Indians.
+
+The Mexicans have two other forms of spirituous liquors, namely
+_mescal_, which is also prepared from another species of the maguey, by
+pressing the leaves in a mill, the juice thus extracted being distilled;
+and _aguardiente_, or rum, made from sugar-cane juice. Both of these are
+powerful intoxicants. A very valuable and harmless article is thus
+sacrificed to make a liquid poison. So in our Middle and Western States
+we pervert both barley and rye from their legitimate purposes, and turn
+them into whiskey,--liquefied ruin.
+
+Wherever we go among civilized or savage races, in islands or upon
+continents, in the frigid North or the melting South, we find man
+resorting to some stimulant other than natural food and drink. It is an
+instinctive craving, apparently, exhibited and satisfied as surely in
+the wilds of Africa, or the South Sea Islands, as by the opium-eating
+Chinese, or the brandy-drinking Anglo-Saxons. Every people have sought
+some article with which to stimulate the human system. Oftenest this is
+a fermented liquor; but various articles have been found to serve the
+purpose. The Aztecs, and the Toltecs before them, had the fermented
+juice of the maguey plant. The Chinese get their spirituous drink from
+rice. People living under the equator distill the saccharine product of
+the sugar-cane for aguardiente. The German combines his malt and hops to
+produce beer. The Frenchman depends upon the juice of the grape in
+various forms, from light claret to fierce Bordeaux brandy. The Puritans
+of Massachusetts distilled New England rum from molasses. The faithful
+Mohammedan, who drinks neither wine nor spirits, makes up for his
+abstinence by free indulgence in coffee. In the islands of the Indian
+Ocean the natives stimulate themselves by chewing the betel nut; and in
+the Malacca Straits Settlements, Penang, Singapore, and other islands,
+the people obtain their spirit from the fermented sap of the toddy-palm.
+In Japan the natives get mildly stimulated by immoderate drinking of tea
+many times each day; and all of the civilized and barbaric world is
+addicted, more or less, to the use of tobacco.
+
+One of the staple commodities produced here is that classic, beautiful,
+and precious gem, the opal. It is found imbedded in a certain kind of
+rock, in the neighboring mountains, sometimes in cubes, but oftener in
+very irregular forms. It will be remembered that Nonius, who possessed a
+large and brilliant specimen of the opal, preferred exile to
+surrendering it to Marc Antony. Whether he was opal-mad or not, it is
+clear that persons who visit this place are very apt to become
+monomaniacs upon the subject of this beautiful gem. Our party expended
+considerable sums for these precious stones, cut and uncut, during the
+brief period of our visit. The choicest of these specimens is the true
+fire-opal, which in brilliancy and iridescence excels all others. Nearly
+every person one meets in Queretaro seems to have more or less of these
+lovely stones to sell; nine tenths of them are of a very cheap quality,
+really fine ones, being the exception, are valued accordingly. The
+pretty flower-girl, who first offers you her more fragrant wares,
+presently becomes confidential, and, drawing nearer, brings out from
+some mysterious fold of her dress half a dozen sparkling stones which
+she is anxious to dispose of. Even the water carrier, with his huge red
+earthen jar strapped to his head and back, if he sees a favorable
+opportunity, will importune the stranger regarding these fiery little
+stones. These irresponsible itinerants have some ingenious way of
+filling up the cracks in an opal successfully for the time being; but,
+after a few days, the defect will again appear.
+
+The finest specimens of the opal come from Hungary. They are harder in
+texture than those found in other parts of the world. Those brought from
+Australia are nearly equal in hardness and brilliancy, while, so far as
+our own experience goes, the Mexican often excel either in variety of
+color and brilliancy; but it is not quite so hard as those from the
+other two sources. This quality of hardness is one criterion of value in
+precious stones, the diamond coming first, the ruby following it, and so
+on. The author has seen an opal in Pesth weighing fourteen carats, for
+which five thousand dollars were refused. They can be purchased at
+Queretaro at from ten dollars to ten hundred; for the latter price a
+really splendid gem may be had, emitting a grand display of prismatic
+tints, and all aglow with fire. The natives, notwithstanding the seeming
+abundance of the stones, hold very tenaciously to the valuation which
+they first place upon them. Of course, really choice specimens are
+always rare, and quickly disposed of. While the ancients considered the
+opal a harbinger of good fortune to the possessor, it has been deemed in
+our day to be exactly the reverse; and many lovers of the gem have
+denied themselves the pleasure of wearing it from a secret superstition
+as to its unlucky attributes. This fancy has been gradually dispelled,
+and fashion now indorses the opal as being both beautiful and desirable.
+
+Mexico also produces many other precious stones, among which are the
+ruby, amethyst, topaz, garnet, pearl, agate, turquoise, and chalcedony,
+besides onyx and many sorts of choice marbles.
+
+On our route to the national capital we pass through a number of small
+cities and towns, while we ascend and descend many varying grades.
+Native women, here and there, bring _agua miel_, or fresh pulque, to us,
+of which the passengers partake freely. It is a pleasant beverage when
+first drawn from the plant, very much like new cider, and has no
+intoxicating effect until fermentation takes place. As we progress
+southward, occasional wayside shrines with a cross and a picture of the
+Virgin are seen, before which a native woman is sometimes kneeling, but
+never a man. Among other interesting places we come to Tula, which was
+the capital city of the Toltecs more than twelve centuries ago. The
+cathedral was erected by the invaders in 1553. The baptismal font in the
+church is a piece of Toltec work. There is to be seen the yellow,
+crumbling walls of a crude Spanish chapel, even older than the
+cathedral, now fast returning to its native dust. There are other
+extremely interesting ruins here, notably a portion of a prehistoric
+column, and the lower half of a very large statue situated in the plaza.
+Mr. Ruskin said in his pedantic way that he could not be induced to
+travel in America because there were no ruins. There _are_ ruins here
+and in Yucatan which antedate by centuries anything of recorded history
+relating to the British Isles. Across the Tula River and up the Cerro
+del Tesoro are some other ancient ruins which have greatly interested
+antiquarians, embracing carved stones and what must once have been part
+of a group of dwellings, built of stone laid in mud and covered with
+cement. The valley shows a rich array of foliage and flowers, forming
+bits of delightful scenery. There are some fifteen hundred inhabitants
+in Tula; but it must once have been a large city; indeed, the name
+indicates that, meaning "the place of many people." The locality of the
+ancient capital is now mostly overgrown and hidden from sight. We are
+fifty miles from the city of Mexico at Tula, and about seven hundred
+feet below it. The records of the Spanish conquest tell us that the
+natives of this ancient capital were among the first, as a whole
+community, to embrace the Christian religion; and it seems that its
+people ever remained stanch allies of Cortez in extending his conquests.
+
+Here we experienced one of those freaks of tropical weather, a furious
+summer hail-storm. The thermometer had ranged about 80 deg. in the early
+day, when suddenly heavy clouds seemed to gather from several points of
+the sky at the same time. The thermometer dropped quickly some 30 deg.. It
+was a couple of hours past noon when the clouds began to empty their
+contents upon the earth; down came the hailstones like buckshot, only
+twice as large, covering as with a white sheet the parched ground, which
+had not been wet by a drop of rain for months. This unusual storm
+prevailed for nearly an hour before it exhausted its angry force.
+"Exceptional?" repeated the station-master on the line of the Mexican
+Central Railroad, in reply to a query as to the weather. "I have been
+here ten years, and this is the first time I have seen snow or hail at
+any season. I should rather say it was exceptional." By and by, after
+stampeding all the exposed cattle, and driving everybody to the nearest
+shelter and keeping them there, the inky clouds dispersed almost as
+suddenly as they had gathered, and the thermometer gradually crept back
+to a figure nearly as high as at noon. The fury of the storm was
+followed by a sunset of rarest loveliness, eliciting ejaculations of
+delight at the varied and vivid combinations of prismatic colors. One
+does not soon forget such a scene as was presented at the close of this
+day. The sun set in a blaze of orange and scarlet, seen across the long
+level of the cactus-covered prairie, while soft twilight shadows
+gathered about the crumbling, vine-screened walls of the old Spanish
+church in the environs of Tula. Soon the stars came into view, one by
+one, while the moon rode high and serene among the lesser lights of the
+still blue sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+City of Mexico.--Private Dwellings.--Thieves.--Old Mexico.--Climate.
+    --Tramways.--The Plaza Mayor.--City Streets.--The Grand Paseo.--
+    Public Statues.--Scenes upon the Paseo.--The Paseo de la Viga.--
+    Out-of-door Concerts.--A Mexican Caballero.--Lottery Ticket Venders.
+    --High Noon.--Mexican Soldiers.--Musicians.--Criminals as Soldiers.
+    --The Grand Cathedral.--The Ancient Aztec Temple.--Magnificent View
+    from the Towers of the Cathedral.--Cost of the Edifice.--Valley of
+    Anahuac.
+
+
+As Paris is said to be France, so is the national capital of this
+country equally representative, it being indisputable that the main
+business and the social interests of the country all centre here. The
+city derives its name from the Aztec war-god Mexitli, and is a large and
+handsome metropolis, containing considerably over three hundred thousand
+inhabitants, who embrace a large diversity of nationalities. In 1519,
+when Cortez first saw it, the city is represented to have been nine
+miles in circumference, and to have contained half a million of
+inhabitants,--a statement which, we doubt not, is greatly exaggerated,
+as were nearly all of his representations and those of his followers.
+This capital originally bore the name of Tenochtitlan, and was
+completely destroyed by the invaders, who established a new city upon
+the same site. Cortez officially announced, three or four years
+afterwards, that the population was thirty thousand. "For a century,"
+says Charles Lempriere, an able writer on Mexico, "the city continued to
+increase in numbers, wealth, and power, so that when Captain John Smith
+and his followers were looking for gold mines in Virginia and the
+Pilgrims were planting corn in Massachusetts, an empire had been founded
+and built up on the same continent by the Spaniards, and the most
+stupendous system of plunder the world ever saw was then and there in
+vigorous operation."
+
+The streets of the city as we see them to-day are generally broad and
+straight, lined with two-story houses, and there are also several
+elegant boulevards and spacious avenues. The better class of houses are
+built of stone, covered with stucco, the windows opening upon cosy
+little balconies handsomely ornamented and shaded by linen awnings,
+often in high colors. The interior construction of the dwellings follows
+the usual Spanish style, as seen on the continent of Europe, in the
+island of Cuba, and elsewhere, often displaying touches of exquisite
+Moorish effect, whose highest expression one sees in the Alhambra at
+Granada. Here and there there are seen horseshoe arches supported at the
+abutments by light and graceful columns, inclosing marble-paved courts.
+The open areas about which the houses are built often present most
+pleasing effects by a display of fountains, flowers, and statuary
+tastefully arranged. On the main thoroughfare leading from the Plaza
+Mayor to the alameda are several grand private residences, having the
+most beautiful courts, or patios, as they are called, that the
+imagination can conceive, lovely with tropical trees and flowers in
+vivid colors, and rendered musical by the singing of caged birds. Upon
+these areas, which are open to the sky, the inner doors and windows of
+the dwellings open, the second story being furnished with a walk and
+balustrade running round the patio. Heavy, nail-studded doors shut off
+this domestic area from the street at night. It is not safe to leave
+anything outside the house after dark that a man can lift. It is sure to
+be stolen, if so exposed. The lower classes all over the country are
+inveterate thieves. The bolts that fastened the ties to the rails of the
+National Railway were stolen nightly by the people, until they were
+finally riveted on. But then there are thieves everywhere; we chain our
+out-door mats to iron fastenings in Boston, Chicago, and New York, and
+dealers in "improved burglar alarms" do a thriving business in all our
+Northern cities.
+
+The houses in this capital are very substantially built, the walls being
+composed of stuccoed bricks of great thickness. Fires are of rare
+occurrence, and, indeed, it would be nearly impossible to burn up one of
+these dwellings. If a fire does occur, it is almost always confined not
+only to the building in which it originates, but even to the room where
+it first makes its appearance. The roofs are nearly all flat and without
+chimneys; there is no provision made for producing artificial heat in
+the dwelling-houses. This is quite endurable even to foreigners in a
+climate where the temperature seldom falls below 60 deg. Fahr., and averages
+the year round nearly ten degrees higher. It is always warm in the
+middle of the day, and cool only early in the mornings and at night.
+The climate may be said to be temperate and the atmosphere is extremely
+dry. Travelers are liable to suffer considerably from thirst, and the
+lips are prone to chap, owing to this extreme and peculiar dryness. The
+warmest months of the year are April and May. It was somewhat of a
+surprise to the author to learn that the death-rate of the city of
+Mexico averages nearly double that of Boston. As to elevation, it is
+over seven thousand feet higher than the city of Washington, D. C., or
+more than a thousand feet higher than the summit of Mount Washington, N.
+H.
+
+Regarding the fine residences on San Francisco Street, there is a
+peculiarity observable as to their location. This is almost wholly a
+business street, and therefore to select it for an elegant home seems
+incongruous. The choicest residence we can remember on this thoroughfare
+stands between a large railroad-ticket office and a showy cigar store.
+This house has a most striking facade finished in Moorish style with
+enameled tiles, and is on the opposite side of the street from the
+Iturbide Hotel.
+
+Numerous large squares, beside the grand plaza and the spacious alameda,
+ornament the capital. Several of the main thoroughfares enter and depart
+from the Plaza Mayor, as in the city of Madrid, where the Puerto del
+Sol--"Gate of the Sun"--forms a centre from which radiate so many of the
+principal streets. Some are broad, some are narrow, but all are paved,
+cleanly, and straight. The street-car system is excellent. If any fault
+is to be found with the management, it is with the rapid manner in which
+the mules attached to the cars are driven through the highways amid a
+crowded population; and yet, we were told, accidents rarely if ever
+happen. They are generally run double, having a first and second class
+car, both of which are seemingly well filled at all hours of the day.
+Funerals are conducted by turning one of the street cars, made for the
+purpose, into a catafalque, or hearse, another being reserved for the
+pall-bearers and mourners. Sometimes one sees a long string of these
+cars occupied for this purpose gliding into the suburbs where the
+grave-yards are located. The use of cow-horns by the driver to warn the
+people who obstruct the way appeared to be a little primitive, to say
+the least of it, in a city so large as this capital. It seems very
+effective, however. The fact that all of the tramway cars start from and
+return to the Plaza Mayor in front of the cathedral makes it easy for a
+stranger to find his way to any desired point of the city or its
+environs, and safely to return to the starting point when he desires to
+do so. The Plaza Mayor in every Mexican city is not only the central
+park, but also the central idea. There could no more be a full-fledged
+Spanish city without a plaza than a cathedral without a bishop.
+
+Statistics show that there are nearly, or quite, five hundred miles of
+streets in the Mexican capital. These, intersecting each other at right
+angles, are so strangely alike as to be not a little puzzling to the
+uninitiated. It is also somewhat awkward at first to find one continuous
+avenue bearing many names, each block being individualized by a fresh
+appellation. This subdivision of the large avenues, we were told, is
+gradually to be discarded. The admirable boulevard called the Paseo de
+la Reforma, leads out of the city to the castle of Chapultepec, and is
+over two miles in length, with a uniform width of two hundred feet,
+forming the fashionable afternoon drive and promenade of the town. It
+has double avenues of shade trees to the right and left, with stone
+sidewalks and convenient seats for those who desire them. On either side
+of this grand boulevard are seen an occasional chateau with handsome
+gardens. At certain intervals the avenue widens into a _glorieta_, or
+circle, four hundred feet in diameter. The first of these contains
+Cordier's Columbus, one of the most admirable and artistic modern
+statues which we remember to have seen, though there appeared to be some
+confusion in the extraordinary amount of detail which is crowded upon
+the base. Other appropriate monuments ornament the several circles,
+including an equestrian statue of Charles IV. of colossal size; thirty
+tons of metal was used in the casting, and, if not the largest, it is
+the second largest that has ever been cast. Still another represents
+Guatemozin, the last of the Indian emperors. It is a little singular
+that Montezuma II. is not remembered in this connection, he whose life
+was so intimately interwoven with the history of the Aztec race in the
+time of Cortez. Humboldt is said to have declared that the statue of
+Charles IV. had but one superior, namely, that of Marcus Aurelius. There
+are six of these _glorietas_, which beautify the long line of
+perspective ending in the elevated palace-castle of Chapultepec, with
+its snow-white, picturesque walls clearly defined against the blue sky.
+When Maximilian planned and completed this charming driveway, he named
+it the Boulevarde Emperiale; but on the establishment of the republic
+the more appropriate title which it now bears was adopted. Some people
+persist in calling it the Empress's Drive, in honor of Carlotta.
+
+One never wearies of sitting upon the well-arranged benches of the paseo
+in the afternoon, and watching the motley throng of people driving,
+riding on horseback, or promenading: the ladies with piercing black eyes
+and glossy dark hair shrouded by lace mantillas; the dashing equestrians
+exhibiting all the gay paraphernalia of a Mexican horseman; stately
+vehicles drawn by two snow-white mules; tally-ho coaches conveying merry
+parties of American or English people; youthful aristocrats bestriding
+Lilliputian horses, followed by liveried servants; while here and there
+a mounted policeman in fancy uniform moves slowly by. In the line of
+pedestrians are well-dressed gentlemen in black broadcloth suits,
+wearing silk hats and sporting button-hole bouquets, mingled with whom
+are a more common class of the people in picturesque national costumes.
+The women of the middle class add gayety of color by their red and blue
+rebosas, sometimes partly covering the head, at others thrown carelessly
+over the shoulders, or tied across the chest securing an infant to the
+back. The general effect of the constantly moving throng is
+kaleidoscopic, while the mingled groupings are delightfully
+entertaining. Nothing more peculiar and striking in its line is to be
+seen this side of the Maidan, Calcutta. Here, as in that Asiatic Champs
+Elysees, now and again one sees a light American trotting wagon or a
+heavy-wheeled English dog cart, with a dude at the reins and a liveried
+flunky behind holding a flaring bouquet!
+
+The carriages go out towards Chapultepec on one side and return on the
+other, during the popular hours for driving, leaving the central portion
+of the roadway exclusively for equestrians. Every man who can afford it
+owns a saddle horse in this city, and the men are universally good
+riders. The horses are broken to a certain easy gait called the _passo_,
+a sort of half run, very easy for the rider, scarcely moving him in the
+seat. These horses average about fifteen hands in height, and are taught
+to stop, or turn back, at the least touch of the bit. They are both fast
+and enduring, with plenty of spirit, and yet are perfectly tractable.
+The enormous spurs worn by the riders, with rowels an inch long, are
+more for show than for use. Mexican or Spanish ladies are hardly ever
+seen on horseback, though both English and American ladies are often met
+in the saddle, dashing gallantly through the throng upon the paseo at
+the fashionable hour. Something of oriental exclusiveness and privacy is
+observed by Mexican ladies of the upper class, who drive on the paseo
+even in close carriages, not in open barouches, like those of European
+cities. In shopping excursions they do not enter the stores; but the
+goods are brought to the door of the vehicle, in which they retain
+their seat while examining the articles which are offered. It is a
+Sunday scene which we are describing; but it is all the gayer for that
+reason. The pulque shops drive a lucrative business; the billiard
+saloons are all open. Children ride hither and thither in little fancy
+carriages drawn by goats; donkeys covered with glittering ornaments are
+ridden by small boys, and led by their owners; clouds of highly-colored
+toy balloons float in the air, tied to the wrists of itinerant venders;
+gambling stands do much abound; while candy-sellers, with long white
+aprons and snow-white paper caps, offer candy and preserved fruits on
+all sides. The class of women whom we meet as pedestrians are quite
+Parisian in the free use of rouge for lips and cheeks, not forgetting
+indigo-blue with which to shade about their dreamy-looking eyes. Ladies
+belonging to the aristocratic class are rarely, if ever, seen walking in
+the streets. They only drive in the paseo. For a couple of hours in the
+closing part of the day, the paseo is a bright, giddy, alluring scene. A
+military band performs on Sundays, adding life and spirit to the
+surroundings. The wholesome influence of these out-of-door concerts upon
+the masses of the people is doubtless fully realized by the government.
+A love of music is natural to all classes here. Groups of half-clothed
+men and women, bareheaded and barefooted, always take places modestly in
+some corner and quietly listen during the performance of the bands,
+never speaking while the music lasts. To such these out-door concerts
+are a real boon. To the higher classes they are simply an addition to a
+long list of other pleasures. Another boulevard, known as the Paseo de
+la Viga, runs along the banks of the canal of the same name, and leads
+out to the Lake Xachimilco; but, since the new paseo was completed this
+has ceased to be the favorite resort for driving. It is situated in the
+southern suburb of the city, and seems to be rather deserted, though as
+we view it there passes a typical horseman, a description of whom shall
+be literal.
+
+The horse is of Arabian descent. His sire must have been imported from
+continental Spain, and being crossed upon native stock has produced a
+medium-sized, high-spirited, handsome animal, with a broad chest
+expanded by the air of this altitude, the nostrils being widespread, the
+ears small, and the eyes full of intelligence. The horse's saddle,
+bridle, and trappings are gorgeous with silver ornaments, without the
+least regard to usefulness, twenty-four inches square of leather
+fancifully worked and shaped being attached to each stirrup. His rider
+appears in a short leather jacket, bedizened with silver buttons, tight
+pantaloons of the same material, also heavy with silver buttons, being
+partially opened at the side and flaring at the bottom. He does not wear
+a waistcoat, but has a mountain of frills on the linen bosom of his
+shirt, set off by a red scarf tied about the waist. The spurs upon his
+heels are of silver, weighing at least half a pound each, while the
+rowels are an inch long. On his head is a sombrero of yellow or brown
+felt, the brim of which is twelve to fifteen inches broad, and the crown
+measuring the same in height. The sombrero is covered with gilt cord
+formed into a sort of rope where it makes the band. The wearer's
+monogram, in gold or silver letters from two to four inches long, on the
+side of the crown, completes the whole. Every article is of the finest
+material, and therein, principally, he differs from a Western cowboy or
+a dandified Buffalo Bill.
+
+During the period of Lent, owing to some caprice of fashion, the Paseo
+de la Viga becomes the popular afternoon resort for vehicles and
+equestrians.
+
+While we are making these notes, sitting upon the curbstone of a
+fountain of the paseo, we are personally reminded that the lottery
+ticket vender is ubiquitous. Sometimes it is a man who importunes you to
+purchase, sometimes a young girl, and at others even a child of eleven
+or twelve years belonging to either sex. The pretty girl of course finds
+the most customers, offering to "kiss the ticket for good luck," and on
+the sly, perhaps the purchaser also. This must be a Spanish idea, as it
+is practiced both in Madrid and Cuba. The Mexican government realizes
+fully a million dollars per annum from the licenses granted to protect
+this gross swindle upon the public. It is a regular thing for prominent
+business houses to make their monthly purchases of these lottery
+tickets; rich and poor, prince and beggar, alike invest, differing only
+in the amount; while most strangers, smothering their conscientious
+scruples, purchase a ticket, thus adding their mite to the general
+folly. We were told in Havana that one satisfaction in buying tickets in
+the national lottery there was, that like the Louisiana Lottery it was
+honestly conducted. Our incredulity upon the subject was laughed to
+scorn, but since then the Havana Lottery has been detected in a series
+of the most barefaced swindlings that can be imagined. As to that of
+Louisiana, we never for a moment have believed in there being anything
+"honest" about it. A concern which can afford to offer the State
+government of Louisiana over a million dollars per annum for the
+privilege of running a gambling institution there, must carry on a more
+reckless swindling game upon the public at large than its worst enemies
+have suspected.
+
+Just at high noon, on our return from the Paseo de la Viga, the Plaza
+Mayor was reached on the great square fronting the cathedral, where a
+simultaneous movement was observed among the people who filled the large
+area. As the cathedral and church bells throughout the city chimed the
+hour of twelve, every Mexican in sight uncovered his head and bowed
+devoutly. It was difficult to analyze this spirit of reverence, for
+which no one could assign any satisfactory reason except that it was the
+custom.
+
+The swarthy soldiers of the republic are often seen paraded opposite the
+plaza, and though they are sure to recall the French Zouaves, yet they
+lack their admirable discipline and perfection of company movements.
+Indeed, to speak plainly, the author has never seen a more slatternly,
+knock-kneed, uncouth body of soldiers than the rank and file of the
+Mexican army. The white gaiters of the French Zouaves moving all
+together have a fine effect when a body of them are marching through a
+Parisian boulevard; but the Mexican soldiers have neither stockings nor
+gaiters, besides which they do not pretend to keep step at all when
+marching. They move at will, while the bottoms of their feet only are
+covered with the crudest sort of sandals, laced about the ankles with
+leather thongs. Every soldier in the Mexican service is his own
+shoemaker. An intelligent officer, in reply to a question regarding the
+sandal for army use, said: "They are far more comfortable for a soldier
+on the march than any shoe that can be made. They are cool, cheap, and
+do not irritate the feet. They can be renewed anywhere in this country,
+and a sandal that will fit one man will do for any other in the
+regiment. In a warm climate nothing is so suitable for the feet of a
+soldier." It is well known that so painful will close shoes often become
+to the foot soldier, that he will take them off and throw them away in
+despair when making a forced march, preferring to walk barefooted rather
+than endure the suffering caused by swollen feet and tight shoes, which
+cannot occur when the sandal is used. The feet have always perfect
+freedom in them, and the sole and toes are protected. Neither men nor
+women of the common class wear stockings, and in fact nine out of ten of
+the population of the country go barefooted all the year round.
+
+It puzzles a stranger to see a good military band--and they are
+excellent musicians here--play upon their instruments in perfect
+harmony, and at the same time march out of step or cadence with the
+music. It would seem almost impossible for one possessing a true musical
+ear to perform such a trick. With any European or American band, both
+feet and instruments would get out of accord constantly, or fall into it
+naturally. Like the king's guard in Hawaii, the troops here parade in
+white linen or cotton uniforms, stout and unbleached, with a plenty of
+silvered buttons, the cap being white and of the same material as the
+rest of the simple costume. At times they appear in a plain uniform of
+dark blue, but this is on special occasions only, as it is considered to
+be full dress. The officers are nearly all graduates of the military
+school at Chapultepec, where the best of foreign teachers are employed
+in the various departments, so that in future it is confidently expected
+that the army will be found in a more efficient condition than ever
+before. The common soldiers, we were told, are composed of rather
+questionable material. A large percentage of them are criminals released
+from prison on condition of their enlisting and serving for a certain
+length of time in the ranks of the regular army. On the caps of those
+serving out a term of imprisonment in this manner are certain marks
+indicating the same, as well as showing the length of the prescribed
+service. Punishment is ever prompt in this country, and despotic methods
+prevail. Any one attempting to evade his term of service, or breaking
+army regulations, is very apt to have his business settled by a bullet
+at once, without even the form of a trial. The department of the cavalry
+seemed to a casual observer to be much more efficient than that of the
+infantry. The fact is, the average Mexican is an admirable horseman,
+and appears better in that capacity than in any other. The national or
+standing army numbers about forty-five thousand of all arms, besides
+which each state has a regular militia force, but of a poorly organized
+character, in most instances, as we were informed, being neither
+uniformed, nor drilled at regular periods. President Diaz is opposed to
+the employment of criminals, such as we have described, thinking with
+good reason that it has a tendency to bring disrepute upon the service.
+This would seem to be such an unquestionable fact as to admit of no
+argument.
+
+As, in the case of the first Spanish invasion, Cortez with his handful
+of followers could not have conquered and possessed Mexico but for the
+dissensions existing among the several native tribes, so, as regards the
+French invasion and attempt to seat Maximilian on the throne of a new
+American empire, these invaders could not have met with even the partial
+success which they achieved had the Mexican people presented an unbroken
+front in opposition. The American invasion was also more or less
+favorably affected by partisan divisions among the Mexicans. The present
+organization of the army is upon a basis so national, and is governed by
+a spirit so faithful to the whole union of the states, that in case of
+another war Mexico could put a large and effective army into the field.
+In other words, she is better prepared to-day than ever before to
+successfully maintain her national integrity by force of arms.
+
+The famous cathedral of Mexico, with its tall twin towers and graceful
+dome, is built of unhewn stone, and fronts upon the Plaza Mayor, forming
+the main architectural feature of the city. Ninety years did not suffice
+to complete it, and several millions of dollars were expended in the
+original construction. Among the sixty churches of the capital it is
+preeminent for its vast proportions and elaborate architectural finish.
+The edifice stands upon the spot, or very near it, which, was once
+occupied by the great Aztec temple dedicated to the war god of the
+nation, which the Spaniards promptly destroyed after subjugating the
+natives and taking full possession of the place. The first church on
+this site after the destruction of the idolatrous temple was founded by
+Charles V. His successor ordered it to be pulled down, and the present
+edifice erected in its place. We are told that the great Aztec temple
+was surrounded by walls having four gates fronting the four cardinal
+points, and that within the enclosure were five hundred dwellings
+accommodating the priests and priestesses, and others who were devoted
+to religious dances and devotional ceremonies connected with the worship
+and service of the idols. Five thousand priests chanted night and day
+before the altars. Consecrated fountains and gardens of holy flowers
+were there, mingling barbaric fanaticism with natural beauty. In
+describing these matters the old priests and monks gave free scope to
+their imaginations.
+
+The ancient temple was pyramidal, the summit being about one hundred and
+fifty feet above the ground, and accessible by numerous broad stone
+steps. On the platform at the top, according to Spanish authorities,
+human sacrifices took place not only daily but hourly; wars were made
+with neighboring tribes to supply victims for the altar, and when there
+was a revolt among the native tribes, it was subdued by the strong arm,
+while the offending district was compelled to supply a certain number of
+their people to die on the sacrificial stone. It is represented that the
+number of lives thus disposed of was reckoned by tens of thousands.
+David A. Wells, in his able and comprehensive work entitled, "A Study of
+Mexico," says of these Spanish chroniclers that their representations
+are the merest romance, no more worthy of credence than the stories of
+"Sindbad the Sailor," though from this source alone Prescott drew the
+data for his popular "Conquest of Mexico." One of these chroniclers, who
+gives his name as Bernal Diaz, not only repeats these stories of the
+multitudinous sacrifice of human beings at the rate of thousands
+monthly, but charges the Cholulans with "fattening men and women to use
+for food, keeping them in pens as animals are fatted!" Wilson pronounces
+this to be intolerable nonsense, and though Diaz pretends to have been
+one of Cortez's soldiers, always with him throughout his remarkable
+invasion, Wilson proves clearly that he was never in the country at all.
+His obvious and constant blunders as to geography and other matters
+would alone convict him of being a pretender and not a true witness.
+Besides which, he contradicts both himself and Cortez's account in many
+important particulars. We believe, with Wilson, that this name of
+Bernal Diaz is a pure fabrication, gotten up as a priestly scheme to
+further their own purposes, and cover up the insufferable wickedness of
+the Roman Church in Mexico, as well as to screen the bloodthirsty career
+of its agent Cortez. Las Casas declared all these Spanish histories of
+the conquest to be wicked and false. He wrote a history himself, from
+personal observation, but as it would have exposed the falsehoods and
+schemes of the priestly chroniclers, it was promptly suppressed by the
+all-powerful Inquisition.
+
+In destroying and leveling the great sacrificial mound which formed the
+pyramid supporting the Aztec temple, together with the debris of the
+dismantled dwellings and temples generally belonging to the native race,
+the Spanish conquerers must have found ample material wherewith to fill
+up the many canals and small lakes which made of this ancient Aztec
+capital another Venice. Every vestige of aboriginal architecture has
+disappeared from the surface of the city. Three hundred and sixty odd
+years have served to turn the probably frail dwellings of the people
+completely to dust. So, also, have the earliest structures of the
+Spaniards disappeared. There are few of their churches which have not
+been rebuilt. The causeways which connected the ancient city with the
+mainland are still considerably higher than the general level of the
+plain, and are thus distinctly marked, besides being bordered with
+venerable umbrageous trees, tall and graceful, producing a fine effect,
+particularly when seen from a distance, forming divisional lines in the
+broad and varied landscape.
+
+The facade of the present grand cathedral, at each side of which rises a
+massive tower crowned by a bell-shaped dome, is divided by buttresses
+into three parts, and though there is some confusion of orders, Doric
+and Ionic prevailing, still as a whole the front is majestic and
+imposing. The towers are each over two hundred feet in height, and are
+also of mingled orders. In the western tower is the great bell,
+_nineteen feet_ high, named Santa Maria de Guadalupe. We know of nothing
+of the sort exceeding it in size and weight except the great Russian
+bell to be seen in the square of the Kremlin at Moscow. The
+basso-relievos, statues, friezes, and capitals of the facade of the
+great edifice are of white marble, which time has rendered harmonious
+with the gray stone. Though millions of dollars have been lavishly
+expended upon the interior,--the cost of the bare walls was over two
+millions,--it will strike an artistic eye as incongruous. Like the grand
+and costly interiors of the churches at Toledo, Burgos, and Cordova, in
+Spain, the general effect is seriously marred by placing the choir in
+the middle of the nave. It is like breaking midway some otherwise grand
+perspective. The cathedral is over four hundred feet in length and two
+hundred in width. Quadruple pillars, each thirty-five feet in
+circumference, support its roof, which is a hundred and seventy-five
+feet from the floor. The high altar--there are six altars in all--was
+once the richest in the world, and though the church has been many times
+plundered, it still retains much of its magnificence. The solid gold
+candlesticks, heavier than a single pair of arms could lift, the statue
+of the Assumption, which was also composed of solid gold, inlaid with
+diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones, valued at a million
+dollars, besides many other equally extravagant and nearly as costly
+objects, have from time to time disappeared. But with all of its losses,
+this cathedral is doubtless decorated in a more costly manner than any
+other in America. The railing of the choir is a remarkable affair,
+manufactured in China at great cost, and weighs nearly thirty tons. It
+is said to be composed of silver, gold, and copper, containing so much
+gold that an offer has been made to take it down and replace it with one
+of solid silver in exchange. The original cost of this railing is stated
+to have been one million and a half dollars! (Spanish authority.) There
+are a dozen or more side chapels, inclosed in bronze gates, in one of
+which the Mexican Emperor Iturbide is buried, though he was condemned
+and executed as a traitor. Two invaluable oil paintings hang upon the
+walls, a genuine Murillo and an original Michael Angelo. A dim light
+pervades the interior of the cathedral, tempered by the flare of tall
+candles, but it lacks the beautiful effect of stained glass windows. The
+imagination, however, is very active, and easily summons from the dim
+past ghostly shadows, while an overpowering sense of height and silence
+prevails.
+
+Here Maximilian and Carlotta were crowned, in 1864, emperor and empress,
+with great ceremony, little dreaming how briefly their imperial honors
+would remain to them.
+
+In contemplating this grand architectural development, as well as the
+hundreds of other similar structures, erected at such enormous
+expenditures of money and labor, one cannot but be exercised by mingled
+emotions. We are apt to recall how much of absolute misery was entailed
+upon the down-trodden natives, who were compelled to work for barely
+sufficient food to sustain life. The control of the priesthood was
+absolute; they levied taxes upon everything and everybody. They were
+amenable to no civil laws, and recognized none but those of the church.
+The extent to which they carried their extortion is almost beyond
+belief, and the amount of wealth which they accumulated is nearly
+incredible. At the time of the reform, the clergy absolutely owned three
+fourths of the entire property of the country.
+
+The view from the towers of the cathedral,--in which there are between
+forty and fifty costly bells, each dedicated to some saint or
+martyr,--is so remarkable that not even the most casual visitor to the
+capital should miss it. It presents such a picture as promptly
+photographs itself on the brain, never to be obliterated. It was from
+this locality, on the summit of the Aztec temple which stood here four
+hundred years ago, that Montezuma pointed out to Cortez the beauties of
+his capital and its fairy-like environs, so soon to be destroyed by the
+hands of the ruthless invader. At our feet lies the tree-dotted plaza,
+with its central pleasure-garden and its fine architectural
+surroundings, including the long, white facade of the national palace,
+while the entire city is spread out before us with its myriad domes,
+spires, thoroughfares, and causeways. There are typical scenes and
+groups everywhere formed by the eddies of busy life. Long lines of
+heavy-laden burros thread the streets, the natives assume the size of
+huge insects crawling about in bright colors, the blooming trees are
+like button-hole bouquets, and dashing horsemen move about like animated
+marionettes. Not far away looms against the blue sky the tall castle of
+Chapultepec, while the clustered towers of Guadalupe, the Mecca of all
+pious Mexicans, comes still nearer to the vision. The many outlying
+villages upon the plateau, each with its central spire, recall the
+lovely plains of Granada. The distant fields of maguey, the verdant
+patches of alfalfa, luxuriant meadows, groups of grazing cattle, and the
+two arched stone aqueducts are all prominent features presenting
+themselves to the eye, together with the gardens and villas of Tacubaya
+and San Angel. As we gaze at the unequaled panorama, which Humboldt
+pronounced to be the most beautiful the eye ever rested upon, the
+thought forced itself upon us that with all its scenic beauty, this
+valley and plain of Anahuac has for centuries been cursed with crime and
+barbarism. The whole scene is inclosed by a grand circle of mountains,
+just far enough away to clothe them in charming purple. The rarefied
+atmosphere adds distinctness and brilliancy of coloring to everything.
+Two of these sky-reaching elevations are of world-wide reputation,
+namely, Mount Popocatepetl ("the smoking mountain"), and Mount
+Ixtaccihuatl ("the white woman"). The former presents so perfect a
+conical form, while the summit is rounded into a dome of dazzling
+whiteness, that it seems to far exceed the height of eighteen thousand
+feet which is accorded to it; and though it does not rise abruptly from
+sea level to its giddy height, like Mount Tacoma in the State of
+Washington, still in shape it much resembles that noble elevation.
+
+Cortez in 1520 and Scott in 1847 led their conquering hosts over the
+elevated pass which nature had formed between these mountains. The two
+summits are connected by a well-wooded ridge, itself some three thousand
+feet in height, looking from a distance like a deep valley between the
+grand mountains. While regarding the interesting scene, it was natural
+to compare the loftiest elevation before us with that of the Valley of
+Chamounix. Mont Blanc is a little less than sixteen thousand feet at its
+summit above the sea. Popocatepetl is a little less than eighteen
+thousand, but the latter rises from the plateau of Mexico, which is over
+seven thousand feet above the sea, while Mont Blanc at the base, is only
+thirty-five hundred feet above the ocean. Thus about two thousand feet
+more of elevation is visible to the eye in the Swiss mountain than the
+Mexican monarch shows above the plain.
+
+In the rear of the cathedral, and adjoining it, is an interesting chapel
+known as the Capilla de las Animas, "Chapel of the Souls." It is really
+a part of the cathedral, though arranged quite separate from it, facing
+upon the Calle de las Escalerillas. We find no record of its origin,
+though it is said to have been built in 1748 to replace a similar
+edifice which was destroyed by fire. The branch of business to which
+this chapel is devoted, as we were told upon the spot, was to pray to
+the good God to release souls from purgatory! One Concha, a priest who
+carried on this lucrative farce until he was eighty-seven years old,
+died so long ago as 1755, having, as the church record shows,
+"celebrated" over forty-five thousand masses in his time; the amount of
+cash received for the same is not set down. As the priests do nothing on
+credit, officiating at marriages or funerals, selling indulgences or
+performing masses for cash only, this good man must have realized for
+his services, in the aggregate, at the very lowest reasonable estimate,
+about one million dollars. Undoubtedly high rates were sometimes paid to
+get a very "hard case" out of purgatory. Sinners who dreaded a future
+state of punishment, as a just reward for their evil deeds on earth,
+were accustomed to leave Father Concha a good round sum of money, to
+pray them out of the uncomfortable quarters to which they expected to be
+consigned after departing from this life. Like a certain shrewd
+Irishman, they "accepted" purgatory, fearing they might go further and
+fare worse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+An Extinct Volcano.--Mexican Mountains.--The Public Institutions of
+    the Capital.--The Government Palace.--The Museum.--Maximilian's
+    State Carriage.--A Peculiar Plant.--The Academy of Fine Arts.--
+    Choice Paintings.--Art School.--Picture Writing.--Native Artists.
+    --Exquisite Pottery.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--A Special
+    Aztec Art.--The Sacrificial Stone.--Spanish Historical Authorities.
+    --Public Library.--The Plaza.--Flower Market.--A Morning Visit.--
+    Public Market.--Concealed Weapons.
+
+
+The crater of Popocatepetl--being an extinct volcano--is now a valuable
+sulphur mine. To obtain this product, it is necessary to descend into
+the crater by means of a rope, one of great length being required for
+the purpose; and when a certain quantity is secured, it is packed in
+mats before being hoisted to the mouth of the crater. The Indians tie
+these packages together; then, making a cushion of their serapes, they
+slide down the mountain as far as the snow extends, dragging the mats
+after them. On the north side of the volcano, near the limit of tree
+growth, the sulphur is distilled in iron retorts, and is then ready for
+the market. The crater's mouth is huge in dimensions, being half a mile
+in diameter, and the amount of native sulphur deposited there is
+enormous,--practically inexhaustible. This profitable sulphur mine is
+owned, or was, a few months since, by General Ochoa, a resident of the
+capital. It is said that when Cortez had expended his supply of
+gunpowder, he resorted to the crater of Popocatepetl for sulphur to make
+a fresh supply, and that the natives had never ascended the mountain
+until the Spaniards showed them the way. Earthquakes are not uncommon,
+even to-day, near the base of this monarch mountain; but no eruption has
+taken place since 1692. Earthquakes have always been more or less common
+in Mexico, but never very serious in the capital; otherwise, with its
+insecure foundations, it must have suffered seriously. Smoke is reported
+to have been seen bursting forth from the crater of Popocatepetl several
+times at long intervals, but no positive volcanic action has taken place
+since the date named. Its actual height is given by the best authorities
+as being but about two hundred feet less than eighteen thousand.
+
+One is apt to speculate mentally, while gazing upon it, as to the
+possibility of this sleeping volcano one day awaking to destructive
+action. That it still lives is clearly seen by the smoke and sulphurous
+breath which it exhales, and the occasional significant earthquakes
+which occur about its widespread base. There are seventeen or eighteen
+mountains in the republic which rise more than ten thousand feet above
+the level of the sea, four of which are over fifteen thousand feet in
+height, Popocatepetl being the loftiest of them all. Parties ascend on
+horseback to the snow line, and from thence the distance to the summit
+is accomplished on foot. Some adventurous people make the descent into
+the crater by means of the bucket and windlass used by the
+sulphur-gatherers, but the most inquisitive can see all that they desire
+from the northerly edge of the cone. The expeditions for the ascent are
+made up at Amecameca. The time necessarily occupied is about three days,
+and the cost is twenty-five dollars for each person. It is a very
+exhausting excursion, and few persons undertake it.
+
+The city of Mexico is famous for its large numbers of scientific,
+literary, and charitable institutions, its many schools, primary and
+advanced, and its several well-appointed hospitals. The national palace
+covers the whole eastern side of the Plaza Mayor, having a frontage of
+nearly seven hundred feet, and occupies the site of the royal residence
+of the Montezumas, if we may credit tradition. The present edifice was
+erected in 1693, in place of one which Cortez and the Spanish viceroys
+had occupied until it was destroyed by fire in 1692. Though the palace
+is only two stories in height, yet the central tower over the main
+entrance and the finish on each side of it give it all necessary
+prominence. It contains the President's suite of rooms, and those
+devoted to the various departments of the state officials. The hall of
+ambassadors, a very long, narrow apartment, is interesting on account of
+its life-size portraits of Mexican rulers from the period of
+independence, a majority of whom either endured exile or public
+execution! At the extreme end of this hall is a very good full-length
+portrait of our Washington. Here, also, is a pretentious battle-piece by
+a native artist, representing the battle of Puebla, when the French
+were so completely defeated. The picture is entitled "Cinco de Mayo,"
+the date of the conflict. It is not a fine specimen of art, but it is
+certainly a very effective picture. This battle of the 5th of May was
+another Waterloo for the French. An apartment known as Maximilian's room
+is shown to the visitor, situated in the corner of the palace, having
+two windows at right angles and thus commanding a view in two
+directions, one window overlooking the plaza, the other the business
+streets leading to the market. A room called the hall of Iturbide is
+hung in rich crimson damask, displaying the eagle and serpent, which
+form the arms of Mexico. The edifice contains also the General
+Post-office and the National Museum. In the armory of the palace there
+was pointed out to us the stand of arms with which the Archduke
+Maximilian and his two faithful officers were shot at Queretaro. In the
+grounds which form the patio of the palace, a small botanical garden is
+maintained, containing many exotics, choice trees and plants, besides a
+collection of those indigenous to the country. The curiosities in the
+department of antiquity of the museum are of intense interest. In an
+historical point of view they are invaluable. A great amount of money
+and intelligent labor has been expended upon the collection with highly
+satisfactory results. It is of engaging interest to the merest museum
+frequenter, but to the archaeologist it is valuable beyond expression.
+Here are also deposited the extensive solid silver table-service
+imported for his own use by Maximilian, and also the ridiculously gilded
+and bedizened state carriage brought hither from Europe, built after
+the English style of the seventeenth century. The body of the vehicle is
+painted red, the wheels are gilded, and the interior is lined with white
+silk brocade, heavily trimmed with silver and gold thread. It surpasses
+in elegance and cost any royal vehicle to be seen in Europe, not
+excepting the magnificent carriages in the royal stables of Vienna and
+St. Petersburg. Among the personal relics seen in the museum is the coat
+of mail worn by Cortez during his battles from Vera Cruz to the capital,
+also the silk banner which was borne in all his fights. This small flag
+bears a remarkably lovely face of the Madonna, which must have been the
+work of a master hand. The shield of Montezuma is also exhibited, with
+many arms, jewels, and picture writings, these last relating to historic
+matters, both Toltec and Aztec. The great sacrificial stone of the
+aborigines, placed on the ground floor of the museum, is, in all its
+detail, a study to occupy one for days. It is of basalt, elaborately
+chiseled, measuring nine feet in diameter and three feet in height. On
+this stone the lives of thousands of human beings, we are told, were
+offered up annually. The municipal palace is on the south side of the
+plaza, nearly opposite to which is a block of buildings resting upon
+arcades like those of the Rue Rivoli in Paris. Let us not forget to
+mention that in the garden of the national palace the visitor is shown a
+remarkable floral curiosity called the hand-tree, covered with bright
+scarlet flowers, almost exactly in the shape of the human hand. This is
+the _Cheirostemon platanifolium_ of the botanists, an extremely rare
+plant, three specimens of which only are known to exist in Mexico.
+
+In the rear of the national palace is the Academy of Fine Arts,
+generally spoken of as the Academy of San Carlos,--named in honor of
+Carlos III. of Spain,--which contains three or four well-filled
+apartments of paintings, with one and, in some instances, two pictures
+each of such masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Velasquez, Titian, Van Dyck,
+Rubens, Perugino, and others. There is also a large hall of sculpture
+attached, which presents casts of many well-known and classic originals.
+This department, however, does not compare well with the rest of the
+institution. The art gallery will be sure to greatly interest the
+stranger, as being the foundation of an institution evidently destined
+in time to reach a high degree of excellence. Besides possessing several
+priceless examples by the old masters, there are many admirable
+pictures, the result of native talent, which are remarkable for their
+conception and execution. Two large canvases by Jose Maria Velasco,
+representing the Valley of Mexico, form fine and striking landscapes
+which few modern painters can equal. These two paintings were exhibited
+at the Philadelphia Exposition, and won high encomiums. In our
+estimation, the gem of the galleries is, unquestionably, the large
+canvas by Felix Parra, a native artist. It is entitled "Las Casas
+protecting the Aztecs from slaughter by the Spaniards." This young
+artist, not yet much over thirty years of age, has given us in this
+picture an original conception most perfectly carried out, which has
+already made him famous. It was painted before Parra had ever seen any
+other country except Mexico, but it won for him the first prize at the
+Academy of Rome. The original painting was exhibited at the New Orleans
+Exposition not long since, eliciting the highest praise from art
+critics. It is worthy of being placed in the Louvre or the Uffizi. One
+canvas, entitled "The Dead Monk," attracted us as being singularly
+effective. The scene represents several monks, with tapers in their
+hands, surrounding the dead body of a brother of their order. The dim
+light illumines the scared faces of the group, as it falls upon the
+calm, white features of the dead. The masterly handling of color in this
+picture has rarely been excelled.
+
+The Academy of San Carlos contains an art school free to the youth of
+the city, and is subsidized by government to the amount of thirty-five
+thousand dollars per annum. As we passed through the galleries, a large
+class of intelligent-looking boys, whose age might have ranged from
+twelve to fifteen years, were busily engaged with their pencils and
+drawing-paper in copying models placed before them, under the
+supervision of a competent instructor. It was pleasant to see the
+democratic character of this assemblage of pupils. All classes were
+represented. The school is as free to the son of a peon as to him with
+the richest of parents. Prizes are given for meritorious work by the
+students; one annual prize is especially sought for, namely, an
+allowance of six hundred dollars a year for six years, to enable the
+recipient to study art abroad. The institution is in a reasonably
+flourishing condition, but it lacks the stimulus of an appreciative
+community to foster its growth and to incite emulation among its pupils.
+Strangers visit, admire, and applaud, but native residents exhibit
+little or no enthusiasm for this nucleus of the fine arts in the
+national capital. The encouragement offered to artists in any line in
+Mexico is extremely small. There can hardly be said to be any home
+demand for their products. There is one other canvas, seen in the
+galleries, which comes back to memory, and of which it is a pleasure to
+speak in commendation. The artist's name has escaped us, but the
+admirable and effective picture represented "Columbus contemplating the
+Sea."
+
+Art should certainly be at home in Mexico, where it has found expression
+in various forms for hundreds of years. What were the picture-writings
+of the aborigines but early examples of art? There are numerous
+specimens of Aztec paintings illustrative of the early history of
+Mexico, which were produced long before the arrival of the conquering
+Spaniards. Some of these on deerskin, and some on a sort of parchment,
+or papyrus, which the Toltecs and Aztecs made from the leaves of the
+maguey plant, may be seen in European museums. They show that the arts
+of metal casting and the manufacture of cotton and of jewelry were
+derived from the Toltecs by the Aztecs. There are plenty of examples to
+be seen showing that these aborigines were admirable workers in silver
+and gold. So eager was Cortez to send large sums of gold to his
+sovereign, and thus to win royal forgiveness and countenance as regarded
+his gross insubordination in stealing away from Cuba, and in boldly
+taking upon himself all the prerogatives of a viceroy, that he not only
+extorted every ounce of gold dust he could possibly obtain from the
+natives of the conquered provinces, but he melted many of their
+beautiful and precious ornaments into more available shape for his
+purpose. Some of these he transmitted to Spain, where, in course of
+time, they also shared the same fate. The aggregate sum thus sent by him
+to Spain, as given in the records of the period, was so large as to
+provoke our incredulity. Were specimens of those golden ornaments, the
+product of Toltec and Aztec art, now extant, they would be worth fifty
+times their weight in gold, and form tangible links of history
+connecting the present with the far past. This native art has been
+handed down from generation to generation; and there is nothing of the
+sort made in the world superior to Mexican silver filigree work, which
+recalls the lace-like texture of similar ornaments manufactured at
+Genoa. Again, illustrative of this natural instinct for art in the
+aborigines, let us not forget to speak of the colored straw pictures
+produced by the Indian women, representing natural scenery and prominent
+buildings, done with wonderful fidelity, even in the matter of
+perspective. Statuettes or wax figures are also made by them,
+representing the native laboring classes and street scenes to the very
+life. This is a sort of specialty in Naples; but we have never seen one
+of these small Italian figures superior to those which one can buy in
+the stores on San Francisco Street in Mexico, all of which are the work
+of untaught native Indians. While we are writing these lines, there
+stands upon our library table a specimen of Mexican pottery which we
+brought from Guadalajara. It is of an antique pattern, made by hand in
+an Indian mud cabin, beautifully decorated and glazed, combining colors
+which mingle in perfect harmony. This is not an organized industry here.
+Each family produces its own ware for sale; and no two pieces can be
+exactly similar. No people, unless possessed of a high degree of
+artistic instinct and appreciation, could produce pottery, either in
+shape or finish, such as the traveler sees at Guadalajara.
+
+We are told that the ancient Aztecs excelled in one branch of art above
+all others; namely, in the production of scenes and various
+ornamentations in feather work, the effect of which is similar to
+Florentine mosaic. The gorgeous plumage of the humming-bird and of
+parrots was especially devoted to this object. The feathers, glued upon
+a cotton web, were made into dresses for the wealthy to wear on festal
+occasions. The gradations and brilliancy of these feather pictures are
+said to have been marvelous. There is preserved in the museum at the
+national capital a vestment of this character, said to have been worn by
+Montezuma II. Antonio de Solis, royal historiographer, speaks of "a
+quantity of plumes and other curiosities made from feathers," by the
+Aztecs, "whose beauty and natural variety of colors, found on the native
+birds of the country, were placed and combined with wonderful art,
+distributing the several colors and shadowing the light with the dark so
+exactly, that, without making use of artificial colors or of the pencil,
+they could draw pictures, and would undertake to imitate nature." One is
+constantly importuned, in the patio of the Iturbide Hotel, to purchase
+figures and small landscapes newly made of these brilliant feathers,
+offered at a very moderate price. Indeed, their production forms quite
+an industry among a certain class of Indians. So it seems that this art
+has been inherited; there being no present market for such elaborate
+examples as used to be produced, the fine artistic ability of centuries
+past is neither demanded, nor does it exist. According to one Spanish
+authority (Clavigero), so abundant were sculptured images that the
+foundation of the cathedral on the Plaza Mayor is entirely composed of
+them! Another writer of the same nationality (Gama) says that a new
+cellar cannot be dug in the capital without turning up some of the
+mouldering relics of barbaric art. As cellars cannot be dug at all on
+account of the mere crust of earth existing above the water, this
+veracious historian could not have written from personal knowledge, or
+have visited the country. It is these irresponsible writers who have
+made "history" to suit their own purposes. Father Torquemada surpasses
+Baron Munchausen when he tells us that, at the dedication of a certain
+aboriginal temple, a procession of persons two miles long, numbering
+seventy-two thousand, perished on the sacrificial stone, which is now
+exhibited in the National Museum of Mexico. This stone, by the way, is
+to our mind clearly Toltec, not Aztec. Examination shows it to be
+identical with the stone relics of Tula, the original capital of the
+Toltecs. The same may be said of the "Calendar Stone," placed in the
+outer walls of the cathedral.
+
+The National Conservatory of Music, dating from January 25, 1553, is
+near at hand; so also is the National Library, where the admirable
+collection of books numbers nearly two hundred thousand. The confiscated
+convent of Saint Augustine serves as an appropriate building for this
+library of choice books. We say of choice books, not only because they
+are many of them unique, but because all books are choice, being sources
+from which the careful student and historian can cull true history and
+philosophy. He does not accept each and all of the statements which are
+here presented, but from the collated mass culls the truthful
+deductions. These books very largely and very naturally relate to
+religious subjects, as they are mostly made up from the confiscated
+convent libraries heretofore existing in Mexico. Valuable modern and
+secular books have been added to these collections from time to time.
+Our attention was called to a volume bearing the date of 1472, and to
+one still older which was printed in two colors. There is here an atlas
+of England which was printed in Amsterdam in 1659, with steel plates,
+and in colors which are as bright and fresh as though just from the
+press. A Spanish and Mexican dictionary, printed in Mexico in 1571,
+showed how early the printing-press followed the period of the
+conquest. A book of autographs bearing the names of Cortez's notable
+soldiers was interesting. This, we understood, was one of the
+much-coveted prizes which has been sought by foreign collectors. The
+manuscripts are of great antiquity and interest. One was in the form of
+a large volume, done with the pen in old English letters; another, very
+highly prized, is of painted pictures, which purports to be original
+dispatches from Montezuma to his allies, and which was captured by
+Cortez. This last is on a roll of prepared deerskin. The richly-carved
+front of the library is a profound study in itself, and is the work of a
+native artist. The fence which incloses the edifice is ornamented with
+marble busts of famous scientists, orators, and authors, while beautiful
+flowers grace the small plot in front, the whole made refreshingly cool
+by the playing of a small fountain. This library contains books in all
+languages, and bearing dates of four hundred years since. Some of these
+books are almost priceless in value, very old, and believed to be
+unique. We were told that an agent of the British Museum, who came
+thousands of miles for the purpose, had offered a fabulous price for
+some half a dozen volumes on the shelves of the National Library of
+Mexico; but he offered the princely sum in vain,--a fact which speaks
+well for those in authority. The library has no systematic arrangement
+and no catalogue.
+
+The Plaza Mayor must be fully a thousand feet square. It was laid out
+and beautified under the personal direction of the youthful, handsome,
+and would-be empress, Carlotta, who exhibited exquisite taste in such
+matters, and hesitated at no cost to carry out her imperial will, freely
+expending from her private fortune for the purpose. In the centre of the
+plaza is the Zacalo, so called, screened with groups of orange-trees,
+choice shrubbery, and flowers. Here there is a music stand and fountain,
+where frequent out-of-door concerts are given by military bands,
+especially in the evenings. At the western side of the square, under the
+shadow of the cathedral, is the flower market, rendering the whole
+neighborhood fragrant in the early mornings with the perfume it exhales,
+while it delights the eye with hillocks of bright color. This market is
+in an iron pavilion covered in part with glass, the lovely goods
+presided over by nut-brown women and pretty Indian girls. Barbaric as
+the Aztecs were, they had a true love and tenderness for flowers, using
+them freely in their religious rites, a taste which three hundred years
+and more of oppression, together with foreign and civil wars, has not
+served to extinguish. The most abundant specimens of the floral kingdom
+one meets with here are red and white roses, very finely developed,
+pinks of all colors, violets, mignonette, heliotrope, scarlet and white
+poppies, pansies, and forget-me-nots. Such flowers were artistically
+mingled in large bouquets, with a delicate backing of maiden-hair fern,
+and sold for fifteen cents each. There is no fixed tariff of prices,
+strangers naturally paying much more than the residents, and the sum
+first demanded being usually double what will be finally received,--a
+manner of trade which is by no means confined to the Spanish-speaking
+races. It must be remembered that although, these are cultivated
+flowers, still they bloom out-of-doors all the year round. The women
+venders emulate their lovely wares in the colors they assume in their
+costumes. The dahlia, we are told, first came from the valley of Mexico.
+The universal love of flowers finds expression in the houses, not only
+of the rich, but in those of the very humble poor, all over the town and
+the environs.
+
+It was interesting to note the special class of customers drawn in the
+early morning to this flower pagoda. These were the true lovers of
+Flora, bent upon securing their favorites while damp with dewy
+sweetness. There was the very humble but appreciative purchaser, who
+invested only a few centavos, but took away a choice collection of
+bright colors and of mingled fragrance. Here was an ardent lover, all
+eagerness, who would write his words of devotion to his idol in the
+alphabet of angels. Now and then an American tourist was seen to carry
+away an armful of bouquets to bestow with impartial hand among his lady
+friends. Looking on at the suggestive scene is a scantily-clad Indian
+girl, with a curious hungry expression upon her face. Is it flowers or
+food that she craves? She shall have both. How rich the color of her
+cheek; how eloquent the expression of her dark eyes; how grateful her
+hesitating smile, as she receives from the stranger a piece of silver
+and a cluster of flowers!
+
+On the open space in front of the cathedral a sort of daily fair is
+held, where a most incongruous trade is carried on amid great
+confusion; but there are no more male and female slaves offered for sale
+here, as in the days of the Spanish victors. Slavery existed both under
+Aztec and Spanish rule; but it was abolished, as an institution, soon
+after the establishment of Mexican independence. The match boys,
+lottery-ticket venders, fruit men, ice-cream hawkers, cigar and
+cigarette dealers, and candy women (each with a baby tied to her back),
+rend the air with their harsh and varied cries, while the stranger is
+quickly discovered, and importuned to the verge of endurance. We were
+told that this army of hawkers and peddlers were allowed just in the
+shadow of the church by special permit, a percentage of the benefit
+derived from the sales accruing to the priests, who carry on their
+profession inside the walls of the grand and beautiful edifice, where a
+less noisy, but quite as commercial a performance is going on all the
+while, "indulgences" being bartered and sold to moneyed sinners nearly
+every hour of the day.
+
+The principal market-place has always been near the plaza, at its
+southwest end, a single block away; but a new and more spacious one is
+in course of erection at this writing, progress being made in the usual
+_manana_ style. Sunday morning is the great market day of the week, the
+same as in all Mexican cities, when there is here a confusion of tongues
+that would silence the hubbub of the Paris Bourse. How a legitimate
+business can be accomplished under such circumstances is a marvel. Each
+line of trade has its special location, but confusion reigns supreme.
+
+In passing through the Calle de San Francisco, we were struck with the
+difference of temperature between the sunny and the shady sides of the
+street. It must have been fully ten degrees. One becomes uncomfortably
+warm while walking in the sunshine, but upon crossing into the shade he
+is quickly chilled by the frostiness of the still, dry atmosphere and a
+realizing sense of dampness beneath his feet. "Only dogs and Americans
+walk on the sunny side," say the Mexicans. To this we can only answer by
+commending the discretion of both men and beasts. In the early evening,
+as soon as the sun sets, the natives begin to wrap up their throats and
+faces, even in midsummer. Yet they seem to avoid the sun while it shines
+in the middle of the day.
+
+In New Zealand and Alaska, when two natives meet each other and desire
+to express pleasure at the circumstance, they rub their noses together.
+In Mexico, if two gentlemen meet upon the street or elsewhere after a
+considerable absence, they embrace cordially and pat each other on the
+back in the most demonstrative manner, just as two parties fall on each
+other's neck in a stage embrace. To a cool looker-on this seemed rather
+a waste of the raw material, taking place between two individuals of the
+same sex. In Japan, two persons on meeting in public begin bowing their
+bodies until the forehead nearly touches the ground, repeating this
+movement a score of times. In China, two gentlemen who meet greet each
+other by shaking their own left hand in their right. In Norway and
+Sweden, the greeting is made by taking off and replacing the hat half a
+dozen times; the greater number of times, the more cordial is the
+greeting considered; but in Mexico it is nothing more nor less than an
+embrace with both arms.
+
+The carrying of concealed weapons is prohibited by law in the United
+States and some other countries, but in Mexico a statute is not
+permitted to be simply a dead letter. While we were at the Iturbide, the
+police of the capital were vigorously enforcing a new law, which forbids
+the carrying of any sort of deadly weapon except in open sight. The
+common people were being searched for knives, of which, when found, they
+were instantly deprived, so that at one of the police stations there was
+a pile of these articles six feet high and four wide. They were in all
+manner of shapes, short and long, sharp and dull, daggerlike or
+otherwise, but all worn for the purpose either of assault or defense.
+They came from the possession of the humble natives, who could not plead
+that they kept them for domestic uses or for eating purposes, since they
+use neither knife nor fork in that process. We were told that this
+wholesale seizure had been going on for a month or more, the police
+stopping any person whom they chose in order to search them in the
+street. Such a thing as resistance is not thought of by a peon; he knows
+that it is of no sort of use, and will be the cause of sending him to
+prison immediately. Quarrels at low drinking places are no longer
+followed by the use of knives. It was the frequency of these assaults
+which filled the hospitals with victims and caused the passage of a law
+which meets the exigencies of the case. The fine for carrying concealed
+weapons is heavy, besides involving the penalty of imprisonment. A
+certain class of persons coming from out of the city are permitted to
+carry revolvers, but they must be in a belt and in full sight. Probably
+no municipal law was ever more thoroughly enforced than this of
+disarming the common class of this city.
+
+The tramway facilities are so complete in the city of Mexico that one
+has very little occasion to employ hackney coaches. Sometimes, however,
+these will be found, if not absolutely necessary, yet a great
+convenience. The legal charges are very moderate, and may well be so,
+for the entire turnout is usually of a most broken-down character,--poor
+horses, or mules, a stupid driver, and a dirty interior, with such a
+variety of offensive smells as to cause one to enter into an analysis to
+decide which predominates. One dollar an hour is the average charge made
+for these vehicles, the driver expecting, as in similar cases in Paris,
+Berlin, or elsewhere, a trifle as a _pourboire_ at the end of the
+service for which he is engaged. Where these ruinous structures which
+pass for public carriages originally came from is a conundrum; but there
+can be no possible doubt as to their antiquity. Mexican fleas, like
+those of Naples and continental Spain, are both omnivorous and
+carnivorous, and these vehicles are apt to be itinerant asylums for this
+pest of the low latitudes. There are three grades of hackney coaches in
+the capital, those comparatively decent, another class one degree less
+desirable, and a third into which one will get when compelled to do so,
+not otherwise. Each of these grades is designated by a small metal sign
+in the shape of a flag, of a certain color, and the charges are
+graduated accordingly. As to the drivers, they are not such outright
+swindlers as those of their tribe in New York, nor by any means so tidy
+and intelligent as those of Boston.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A City of Vistas.--Want of Proper Drainage.--Unfortunate Site.--Insecure
+    Foundations.--A Boom in Building Lots.--Pleasant Suburbs.--Night
+    Watchmen.--The Iturbide Hotel.--A Would-be Emperor.--Domestic
+    Arrangements.--A New Hotel wanted.--Places of Public Entertainment.
+    --The Bull Ring.--Repulsive Performance.--Monte de Piedad.--An
+    English Syndicate purchase it.--The Alameda.--The Inquisition.--
+    Festal Days.--Pulque Shops.--The Church Party.--Gilded Bar-Rooms.
+    --Mexican Marriages.--Mothers and Infants.--A Family Group.
+
+
+Mexico is a city of vistas. One looks down the long perspective of a
+thoroughfare north, south, east, or west, and at the end he sees the
+purple mountains, some far away, some quite near to view, some
+apparently three miles off, some sixty; but the air is so transparent
+that even the most distant objects seem to be very near at hand. Beneath
+the plain which immediately surrounds the city is a dry marsh which was
+a broad lake in Cortez's day,--indeed, it is a lake still, four or five
+feet below the surface of the ground, containing the accumulated
+drainage of centuries. The site of the national capital was formerly an
+island, only a trifle above the level of Lake Texcoco; hence there are
+no cellars possible beneath the dwelling-houses of the populace. Herein
+lies the secret of the want of drainage, and of the unpleasant and
+unwholesome odors which are constantly saluting the senses and
+challenging the remarks of strangers. Were it not for the absence of
+atmospheric moisture in this high altitude, where perishable articles of
+food dry up and do not spoil by mould or putrefaction, the capital would
+be swept by pestilence annually, being underlaid by a soil reeking with
+pollution. As it is, typhoid fever prevails, and the average duration of
+life in the city is recorded at a fraction over twenty-six years! Lung
+and malarial diseases hold a very prominent place among the given causes
+of mortality. Owing to the proximity of the mountains, the rains
+sometimes assume the character of floods. A resident friend of the
+author's told him that he had seen the surrounding streets and the Plaza
+Mayor covered with two feet of water, extending a quarter of a mile up
+San Francisco Street after a sharp summer shower, which did not continue
+much more than an hour. Of course this gradually subsides; but the
+inconvenience of such an episode in a busy city, not to speak of its
+unwholesomeness, is a serious matter. The wonder is that Cortez, after
+destroying the Aztec capital, should have rebuilt it on so undesirable a
+site, while there was plenty of higher and more inviting ground close at
+hand. To this blunder is owing the unhealthfulness of a city which might
+have been rendered one of the most salubrious dwelling-places on the
+continent, if placed on any of the neighboring elevated lands, with
+their possibilities for pure air, their location above fogs, and their
+being so entirely out of the range of devastating storms. Peter the
+Great had good and sufficient reason for building his capital at such
+enormous expense upon marshy ground beside the Neva, but one can see no
+good reason for Cortez's choice of a site for this capital. History
+gives us an account of seven disastrous floods which have occurred in
+this city since 1521, all of which were accompanied with serious loss of
+life, as well as great destruction of property. If a broad channel could
+be opened so as to reach the Tula River, some forty miles away, adequate
+drainage might be obtained for the capital. This is too stupendous an
+undertaking, however, for Mexican capital or enterprise. Perhaps a
+foreign company will some day accomplish it; but whether such a scheme
+would be a safe one, _quien sabe_? It is possible that in attempting to
+procure perfect drainage, even a worse condition of affairs might be
+brought about. The city, it will be understood, rests upon a body of
+water supported by an intervening stratum of earth and accumulated
+debris. If this buried lake were to be drained, that is, absolutely
+removed, would not a collapse of some sort necessarily take place? What
+would support the present frail foundations of the city buildings, which
+seem to be now sustained by hydraulic pressure? Even as it is, no heavy
+structure can be found in the limits of the capital which is not more or
+less out of plumb, in emulation of the leaning tower of Pisa. The thick
+walls of the Iturbide Hotel are so full of cracks and crevices, caused
+by the settling here and there of its insecure foundation, as to cause
+anxiety and constant remark among its guests. There is another
+consideration worthy of mention. It is said by persons whose
+intelligence makes their opinion worthy of consideration, that during
+the severe earthquake which took place here in 1882, the nearness of the
+water to the surface of the earth prevented the city from the
+destruction which was imminent. This certainly may have been a correct
+deduction.
+
+As the city is in the lowest part of the valley, and all the lakes
+except that of Texcoco are above its level, there is no positive safety
+from inundation at any hour. The lake just named is said to be only
+about two feet below the level of the city plaza. As the valley is
+entirely closed by a wall of mountains, there is no natural outlet for
+these extensive waters. Lake Zumpango, with a surface ten miles square,
+is twenty-nine feet higher than the average level of the city of Mexico.
+Such drainage as is contemplated must tap and carry away these lakes
+also, to obviate the danger of their flooding the capital on any
+extraordinary emergency, else it will be of little avail.
+
+At this writing there is quite a "boom" in land in the neighboring
+suburbs of San Angel and Tacubaya, which present most desirable building
+localities, and are free from the prominent objections of the capital
+itself. The latter suburb already contains nearly ten thousand
+inhabitants. It is situated on a hillside, sloping towards the
+northwest. In its present form the town is quite modern, but from the
+earliest times there has been a village here. After the great inundation
+of 1629, the project of making this the site of the capital was
+seriously considered. There is already a small alameda and a miniature
+plaza in Tacubaya. San Angel is a couple of miles further away from the
+city, and is also built on a hillside, amid orchards and gardens. The
+deserted and ancient Carmelite monastery is a feature of this place.
+Both Tacubaya and San Angel can be reached almost any hour of the day
+from Mexico by tramway, the cars starting from the Plaza Mayor. It was
+noticed that considerable building for domestic purposes was going on in
+both of these places, but principally at Tacubaya, and it is thought the
+citizens of Mexico are "hedging," as it were, by providing themselves
+with pleasant and healthful homes in anticipation of some sort of
+collapse which must sooner or later befall the business portions of the
+capital. There is universal complaint regarding the high price of rents
+in the city for respectable residences, quite a percentage having been
+added to the rates heretofore charged each succeeding year. Drainage is
+more and more seriously thought of by cutting an outlet of some sort, as
+we have suggested, and what result may follow remains to be seen. That
+there is a steady growth of population and business here is perfectly
+obvious, stimulated by closer business connections with the United
+States, which are being constantly added to. People who look in advance
+see that ten years hence the two suburban towns will practically be part
+and parcel of the city proper. The new buildings now erecting in
+Tacubaya are observed to be of stone, and built to last. Wooden
+structures are almost unknown. Iron is used for many purposes, taking
+the place of wooden beams, as in this country. We were assured by
+intelligent persons that all skilled mechanics were busy, such as
+masons, iron-workers, plasterers, and carpenters. It is surprising to
+the writer that more has not been said relative to the extraordinary
+growth and prosperity of the national capital of Mexico. The most
+prominent agent in bringing all this about is undoubtedly the Mexican
+Central Railroad.
+
+One easily becomes acquainted with the topography of the city, each
+point of the compass leading directly to the mountains, while the town
+itself forms a perfect level. The chief business street leads from the
+railroad depot to the Plaza Mayor. The most fashionable shopping street
+is that known as the Street of the Silversmiths. It is of good width,
+and nearly a mile long. Calle de San Francisco is another of the main
+business thoroughfares. As a rule, the many sacred titles given to the
+streets come from the names of churches or convents which stood or still
+stand in them. Thus the Street of the Holy Ghost contains the church so
+designated. Several of the most important avenues, beside the Plaza
+Mayor and the alameda, are lighted by electricity, other portions of the
+city proper by gas, and the outlying districts by oil-fed lanterns. One
+peculiar object, always observable in the city at night, is the bright
+lantern of the policeman of the immediate beat, placed in the middle of
+the junction of the streets, with the man himself standing beside it,
+ready to answer any legitimate call for his services. The police system
+of the capital is certainly excellent, and in the two weeks which we
+passed there no such affair as a street brawl of any sort was seen,
+though we visited all parts of the town, and at all hours of the day and
+night. There are few of our own cities where the public peace is so
+thoroughly preserved, or with so little demonstration, as is the case in
+the capital of Mexico.
+
+Our hotel, the Iturbide,--pronounced Eater-beady,--situated on the Calle
+de San Francisco, and called after the emperor of the same name (Don
+Agustin de Iturbide), is probably the best, as it is the largest in the
+city; but this is faint praise. Hotel-keeping is one of the arts which,
+at its best, has not yet been introduced into this country. Iturbide's
+aspiration led him to assume the imperial crown, in consequence of which
+he fell. After reigning for a twelvemonth, he was banished from Mexico
+on parole never to return. This parole he broke, landing from Europe at
+Vera Cruz in 1824. He was seized, thrown into prison, and was shot by
+orders of the government, as a traitor, July 19 of the same year. The
+old flint muskets used for the purpose hang beside the modern arms, in
+the national armory, with which was performed a like sentence upon
+Maximilian. Thus the two men who essayed the role of emperor of Mexico
+ended their career. The Iturbide is spacious and well situated, being
+within a few rods of the Plaza Mayor, and having once served as the
+palace of the emperor whose name it bears. It is entered, like the
+Palace Hotel of San Francisco, and the Grand Hotel of Paris, by an
+archway leading into a spacious area or court, on whose four sides rises
+the elaborate structure. Upon this patio the several stories open, each
+with a line of balcony. This broad area, open to the sky, is paved with
+marble, and has spacious stairways of the same material. The windows are
+of the French, pattern and open down to the floor, so that the occupant
+of each room steps out upon the balcony by passing through them. The
+windows are the same on the public street side. The house is fairly well
+furnished so far as comfort is concerned, and the beds--well, they might
+possibly be worse,--domestic comfort is not the strong point in the
+Iturbide, where cleanliness is also one of the lost arts. All the
+chambermaids here, as in Japan, are men, and very good servants they
+are, according to their light and the material which is furnished to
+them. The fact that three fourths of them bear the name of Jesus is, it
+must be admitted, a little confusing when it is desired to summon any
+particular one. In the selection of a sleeping apartment the visitor
+should be sure, if it is possible, to obtain one facing east or south,
+thus securing an abundance of sunshine. Rooms situated otherwise, in
+this climate particularly, are liable to be damp and even dangerous to
+health, especially in a city which rests upon the surface, as it were,
+of a hidden lake. Such facts may seem to be trifles to the casual
+reader, but experience will soon teach him their real importance.
+
+The broad, three-story front of the Iturbide Hotel is quite imposing,
+and exhibits some very elaborate native carving in stone. We were told
+that it was once occupied by a very rich and eccentric mine owner for
+the accommodation of himself and family, embracing half a dozen wives
+and over sixty children! quite after the style of a Turkish harem or the
+establishment of a Utah magnate. A capacious and well-appointed hotel on
+the American plan is something which this city greatly needs. It would
+be welcomed and well-patronized by the native citizens, and all foreign
+travelers would gladly seek its accommodations. It seems that a large
+Mexican hotel designed to cost some two million dollars is already under
+consideration by an incorporated company of wealthy natives; but this
+will not, we believe, fill the requirements of the present time. The
+Mexicans do not know how to keep a hotel, and any money expended in the
+proposed plan, we suspect, will be next to thrown away. Government has
+lent its aid to the purpose of establishing a new hotel on a grand
+scale, by passing an act exempting from import duties all furniture and
+goods intended for use in the house, to the amount of fifteen per cent,
+on the entire capital invested in the enterprise of building and
+properly equipping the establishment. This exemption from custom-house
+taxes will prove a saving of considerably over two hundred thousand
+dollars to the hotel company. Now, if this purpose is consummated and
+the owners will put the whole in charge of an experienced American,
+something satisfactory may come from it. The best hotels in the world
+are kept by Americans,--this not in the spirit of boasting,--and next to
+them in this line of business come the Swiss, who have copied us very
+closely. The English follow, but rank only third in the line of
+progress, while the Mexicans are simply nowhere. The Iturbide has no
+ladies' or gentlemen's parlor, that is to say, it has no public
+reception-room worthy of the name. The conventionalities here do not
+absolutely demand such an arrangement, though it would be appreciated;
+nor can one obtain any artificial heat in his apartment, however much it
+may be required. There are no fireplaces or chimneys in the house, while
+the other domestic accommodations are of the most primitive character.
+As to food, the Iturbide is kept on the European plan, and one can order
+according to his fancy. The service, however, is anything but neat or
+clean. The meal-hours are divided as in France and continental Europe
+generally: coffee and bread upon first rising, breakfast at noon, and
+dinner at six o'clock in the evening. The proprietor has lately put into
+service a very good steam elevator, which was at first deemed to be a
+serious innovation. We heard of some rather ludicrous experiences which
+occurred during the first few days of its use; but the people were very
+soon reconciled to the comfort it afforded, and put aside their
+prejudices. Even this elevator is so restricted in its running hours as
+not to afford the guests the accommodation it should supply. As some one
+has wittily said of the ballet-girl's costume, it begins too late and
+leaves off too early.
+
+The ice used in the city of Mexico comes from the top of the neighboring
+range of mountains, but it is rarely seen except in bar-rooms, the
+retail price being ten cents a pound. In order to obtain a cool
+temperature for their drinking water, the people keep it in porous
+earthen jars made by the native Indians. Rapid evaporation from the
+outside of the vessels renders the water highly refreshing, indeed, cool
+enough, the dry atmosphere is so very active an absorbent. The ice is
+brought to the nearest railway station wrapped in straw, on the backs of
+the peons, and is thus transported daily, no large quantity being kept
+on hand.
+
+Opening from the main patio of the Iturbide Hotel upon the level of the
+street is a large billiard-saloon and bar-room combined. As our bedroom
+was on the first chamber floor, and opened upon this patio, with a
+little balcony and a long French window, we had the benefit nightly, as
+well as daily, of all the ceaseless noises which usually emanate from
+such a place. Billiard balls kept up their peculiar music until the wee
+small hours of the morning, and all day on the Sabbath. The Mexicans,
+like the Cubans, do not drink deep, but they drink often; and though it
+is seldom that a respectably dressed person is seen intoxicated, either
+on the streets or elsewhere, still the active bartenders of the Iturbide
+drinking-saloon did not quit their posts until nearly broad daylight in
+the morning. So our sleep in that palace hotel was achieved to the
+accompaniment of clinking billiard-balls, the clatter of
+drinking-glasses, the shaking up of iced mixtures, and the sharp voices
+of disputants at the card-tables. However, a thoroughly tired person can
+sleep under almost any circumstances; and after many hours each day
+devoted to sight-seeing, the writer did not spend much time in
+moralizing over the doings in the spacious apartment beneath him.
+
+Regarding places of public entertainment, the city contains several
+theatres and a permanent circus, but only one of the theatres seemed to
+be patronized by the best people; namely, the Teatro Nacional, built so
+late as 1844, and having seating capacity for three thousand persons.
+The commencement exercises of the military school of Chapultepec are
+given annually in this house. Here, at least one good opera company is
+engaged for a brief season annually; indeed, there is some kind of
+opera, French, Spanish, or Italian, nearly all the year round. Smoking
+of cigarettes between the acts is freely indulged in by the audience;
+and though the ladies do not smoke in public, at least not generally,
+they are known to be free users of the weed at home. Three other
+theatres, the Coliseo Viejo, the Arbeu, and the Hidalgo, are respectably
+good; there are three or four others, minor establishments, all open on
+Sundays, but they are to be avoided.
+
+There is a spacious bull-ring at the northern end of the paseo, on the
+left of the roadway as we drive towards Chapultepec, where exhibitions
+are given to crowded assemblies every Sunday and on festal days. Of all
+the public sports the bull-fight is the most cruel, being without one
+redeeming feature to excuse its indulgence, while its evil moral effect
+upon the people at large is clearly manifest. There is certainly a close
+affinity between the Spanish language and the Latin, as well as a strong
+resemblance between the old Roman masses and the modern Spanish people.
+In the olden days the Roman populace cried, _Panem et circenses_ (bread
+and circuses); so to-day the Spanish people shout, _Pan y toros_ (bread
+and bulls). The bull-fight is a national institution here, as it is in
+continental Spain and in Cuba, and is strongly indicative of the
+character of the people. While we were in the country a bull-fight
+performance was given on a Sunday in one of the large cities, as a
+"benefit" towards paying for a new altar-rail to be placed in one of the
+Romish churches. Only among a semi-barbarous people and in a Roman
+Catholic country would such horrible cruelty be tolerated, and
+especially as a Sabbath performance. This is the day when these shameful
+exhibitions always take place, at Madrid as well as in Mexico, it being
+also the most popular and fashionable evening of the week for theatrical
+entertainments.
+
+Some of our party attended one of these exhibitions in the city of
+Mexico; but they very promptly and emphatically declared that nothing
+could induce them again to witness anything of the sort, pronouncing it
+to be only a repulsive butchery. The author had seen both in Spain and
+in Cuba quite as much as he desired of this wretched national game, and
+therefore he did not visit it on the occasion referred to above. A
+distinguished citizen of the national capital, General H----, told us
+that the better class of ladies did not now attend the bull-fights in
+Mexico, though there are plenty of women who do so regularly. "I have
+four grown-up daughters, one of whom is married," said he, "but neither
+they nor their mother ever witnessed this debasing exhibition. Be
+assured," he continued, "that the cultured class of our community do not
+sympathize with these relics of barbarism." This is a sentiment which we
+are gratified to record, more especially as at Madrid, the headquarters
+of the cruel game, it has not only the full sanction of the public
+officials and of the _elite_ of the Spanish capital, but the patronage
+of royalty itself. The central box of the bull-ring in that city is
+reserved for the court, and there are no empty seats during the
+performance. A law was passed a few years since forbidding bull-fights
+to take place in the Federal District of Mexico; but this law has been
+repealed in accordance with the clamorous demand of a large majority of
+the people; besides which the law was virtually inoperative, as these
+exhibitions were held all the same, only they were removed to a few rods
+beyond the boundary of the prohibited territory. The thought comes over
+us that, after all, the bull-fight is but one degree worse than the
+shameful prize-fights of professional bruisers in England and America.
+
+One of the most admirable and practical charities established in the
+Mexican capital is known as the Monte de Piedad, which is simply a
+national pawn-shop. The title signifies, "The Mountain of Mercy." It was
+originally founded more than a century since by Count Regla, the owner
+of the famous silver mine of Real del Monte, who gave the sum of three
+hundred thousand dollars for the purpose, in order that the poor and
+needy of the population of this city might obtain advances of money on
+personal property at a low and reasonable rate of interest. Any article
+deposited for this purpose is valued by two disinterested persons, and
+about three fourths of its intrinsic worth is promptly advanced. If the
+owner ceases to pay the interest on the loan, the article in pawn is
+kept six months longer, when it is exposed for sale at a marked price.
+After six months more have expired, if the article is not disposed of,
+it is sold at public auction, and all that is realized above the sum
+which was advanced, together with the interest, is placed to the
+original owner's credit. This sum, if not called for within a given
+time, reverts to the bank. The capital of the institution has more than
+doubled since its organization, but the amount of good which it has been
+the means of accomplishing cannot be estimated. Its first effect was to
+break up all the private pawn-brokers' establishments which charged
+usurious interest for money, its own rates being placed at a low figure,
+intended barely to meet necessary expenses. These exceedingly low rates
+have always been scrupulously maintained. The average annual loans on
+pledges amount to a million dollars, distributed among about fifty
+thousand applicants. The establishment is also a sort of safe deposit.
+All the goods in its vaults have not been pawned. As the place is a sort
+of fortress in its way, many valuables are here stored for safe-keeping.
+One dollar is the smallest sum that is loaned, and ten thousand dollars
+is the largest. The loans will average from two to three hundred daily.
+It appears that one third of the merchandise deposited is never
+redeemed. Among other articles of this class is the diamond snuff-box
+which was presented to Santa Anna when he was Dictator, and which cost
+twenty-five thousand dollars. Tourists often call in at the Monte de
+Piedad, looking for bargains in bricabrac, and sometimes real prizes are
+secured at very reasonable cost. A gentleman showed the writer an old,
+illuminated book, of a religious character, entirely illustrated by the
+hand of some patriot recluse, which was marked five dollars, and upon
+which probably four dollars had been loaned to the party who deposited
+it. The time for its redemption had long since expired, and our friend
+gladly paid the sum asked for it. He said he should take it to the Astor
+Library, New York, where he felt confident of receiving his own price
+for it, namely, one hundred dollars: "Then," said he, "I will give the
+money to some worthy charity in my native city." The volume had
+undoubtedly been stolen, and pawned by the thief. Possession is
+considered to be _bona fide_ evidence of ownership, and unless
+circumstances are very suspicious, money is nearly always advanced to
+the applicant on his or her deposit.
+
+Speaking of old books, there are three or four second-hand bookstalls
+and stores under the arcades running along one side of the plaza, where
+rare and ancient tomes are sold. Volumes, of the value of which the
+venders seem to have no idea, are gladly parted with for trifling sums.
+Civil wars and the changes of government have never interfered with the
+operations of the Monte de Piedad. All parties have respected it and its
+belongings, with one exception--during the presidency of Gonzales in
+1884, when its capital was somewhat impaired and its usefulness
+circumscribed by a levy of the government in its desperation to sustain
+the national credit in connection with its foreign loans. A curious
+collection of personal property is of course to be seen here, including
+domestic furniture, diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones, swords,
+pistols, guns, saddles, canes, watches, clothing, and so on. The large
+building used for the purpose of carrying on the business stands upon
+the site once occupied by the private palace which formed the home of
+Cortez for so many years, a short distance west of the great cathedral.
+This institution has lately been sold to an English syndicate for the
+sum of one million dollars. The new owners have a cash capital of
+twenty-five millions, and will resume the banking department, which was
+suspended in 1884, and carry on the pawnbroking business as heretofore.
+
+The alameda, a name usually applied to large Spanish parks, is a
+parallelogram of about thirty or forty acres in extent, situated between
+the two streets of San Francisco and San Cosme, abounding in eucalyptus
+trees, poplars, evergreens, orange and lemon trees, together with
+blooming flowers and refreshing fountains. In olden times this
+alameda--this forest-garden in the heart of the city--was inclosed by a
+wall pierced with several gates, which were only opened to certain
+classes and on certain occasions; but these grounds, greatly enlarged
+and beautified, are now open on all sides to the public, easily
+accessible from the surrounding thoroughfares. We were told that the
+name comes from the fact that the park was originally planted with
+_alamos_, or poplars. One cannot forget, while standing upon the spot
+and recalling the early days of the Spanish rule, that it was on a
+portion of these grounds that the hateful Inquisition burned its
+victims, because they would not subscribe to the Roman Catholic faith.
+According to their own records, forty-eight unbelievers were here burned
+at the stake at one time. We do not think that the Aztec idolaters ever
+exceeded in wickedness or cruelty this fiendish act.
+
+The alameda has a number of open circles with fountains in the centre,
+about which stone benches are placed as seats. These spaces are much
+frequented by children as playgrounds. An interesting aviary ornaments
+one of the roomy areas, filled with a variety of native and exotic
+birds, which attract crowds of curious observers. The inexhaustible
+spring at Chapultepec supplies these fountains, besides many others in
+various parts of the city, from whence water-carriers distribute the
+article for domestic use. The alameda is the largest public garden in
+the capital, of which there are twelve in all, and is the daily resort
+of the corpulent priest for exercise; of the ambitious student for
+thought and study; of the nursery maid with her youthful charge; and of
+wooing lovers and coquettish senoritas, accompanied by their staid
+chaperones. On Sunday forenoons a military band gives an out-of-door
+concert in the central music stand, on which occasion all grades of the
+populace come hither, rich and poor alike, the half-fed peon in his
+nakedness and the well-clad citizen. All classes have a passion for
+music. The cathedral empties itself, as it were, into the alameda just
+after morning mass. This, be it remembered, is the forenoon. The closing
+hours of the day are devoted to driving and promenading in the adjoining
+Paseo de la Reforma. On the evenings of festal days, the central
+pavilion, where the band is placed, as well as other parts of the
+alameda, are illuminated with Chinese lanterns and electric lights
+disposed among the trees and about the fountains, so that the artificial
+lamps rival the light of day. On these gala occasions two or three
+additional bands of musicians are placed at different points to assist
+in the entertainment. The fountains play streams of liquid silver; the
+military bands discourse stirring music; the people, full of merriment,
+indulge in dulces, fruits, ice-cream, and confectionery, crowding every
+available space in the fairy-like grounds, and Mexico is happy.
+
+There is no noisy demonstration on these occasions. The multitude, we
+must frankly acknowledge, are better behaved than any such assemblage
+usually is in Boston or New York. All seem to be quiet, contented, and
+enjoying themselves placidly. It should be mentioned, in this
+connection, that all pulque shops in the capital are promptly closed at
+six o'clock P. M. throughout the year. This is imperative and
+without exception; consequently, no evening disturbance is to be
+anticipated from that source. It was found that there are over two
+thousand _pulquerias_ in the capital. The effect of this special
+stimulant, however, is not to make those who indulge freely in it
+pugnacious or noisy. It acts more like a powerful narcotic, and puts
+those who are overcome with it to sleep, having, in fact, many of the
+properties of opium. The gilded bar-rooms where the upper classes seek
+refreshment, who, by the way, seem rarely to abuse the privilege, are
+permitted to remain open until midnight, but into them the common people
+have not the wherewithal to procure entrance. A tumbler of pulque which
+costs them a penny they indulge in, but drinks at fifteen or twenty
+cents each, and in small portions at that, are quite beyond their means.
+A somewhat peculiar effect of pulque drinking was also mentioned to us.
+The people who partake of it freely have an aversion to other
+stimulants, and prefer it to any and all others without regard to cost.
+The beer-drinking German is often similarly affected as regards his
+special tipple. Chemical test shows pulque to contain just about the
+same percentage of alcohol as common beer; say, five or six per cent.
+
+Besides witnessing the foul deeds of the Inquisition when the priesthood
+publicly burned and otherwise tortured unbelievers, the alameda has
+frequently been the scene of fierce struggles, gorgeous church
+spectacles, and many revolutionary parades. Here scores of treasonable
+acts have been concocted, and daring robberies committed in the
+troublous times not long past. To-day it is peaceable enough; so quiet
+in the summer afternoons, here in the very heart of the busy city, that
+the drone of the busy humming-birds among the flowers comes soothingly
+upon the ear of the wakeful dreamer. Quiet now, but awaiting the next
+upheaval, for such, we are sorry to say, is pretty sure to come, sooner
+or later; the Roman Catholic Church party is not dead, but sleepeth. A
+strong, costly, and united effort on its part, stimulated from Rome, to
+once more gain control of the government of Mexico, has been
+successfully defeated without an open outbreak since the second term of
+President Diaz commenced. The success of the church party would simply
+throw Mexico back half a century in her march of improvement towards a
+higher state of civilization. It would check all educational progress,
+all commercial advance, and smother both political and religious
+freedom.
+
+The number of infant children, strapped or tied to their mothers' backs,
+that one sees in the streets of the capital, and indeed all through the
+country, is something marvelous. The fecundity of the peons is beyond
+all calculation. Eight women out of ten, belonging to the humbler
+classes, are sure to be thus encumbered. Marriages take place here at as
+early an age as in Cuba or South America, namely, at twelve years. Few
+young girls among the common people remain unmarried after fourteen
+years of age, or rather there are few of them that do not bear children
+as early as that. Marriage among the poor is a ceremony not always
+considered necessary, and, indeed, as a rule, they are too poor to pay
+the priest the price he charges for performing the ceremony. Speaking
+of marriage, this relationship among people of position and property is
+assumed under somewhat peculiar circumstances in Mexico. First, a civil
+marriage takes place, which makes all children born to the contracting
+parties legitimate. After this civil rite is duly complied with, perhaps
+a day and perhaps ten intervening, the usual church ceremony is
+performed, and then the bride and bridegroom join each other to enjoy
+their honeymoon, but until the latter ceremony is consummated, the
+couple are as much separated as at any time of their lives. Why this
+delay in consummation takes place is by no means clear to an outsider.
+
+One not infrequently sees a mother carrying two infants at a time
+wrapped in her rebosa, and tied across her chest; only ten months of age
+separating the little creatures. Besides these infants the mother
+carries her burden of vegetables, fruit, baskets, or pottery, to dispose
+of in the market near the plaza. Like Japanese and Chinese babies, these
+little ones seldom, if ever, cry, but submit patiently and with apparent
+indifference to what seems to be a very trying position, as well as to
+almost total neglect. These children were never in a bed since they were
+born. They probably sleep at night upon a straw mat spread upon the
+earthen floor, and we much doubt if they are ever washed. Sometimes the
+father is seen carrying the baby, but this is very rare; the women take
+the laboring oar almost always here, as among our Indian tribes, the
+people of the East, and the South Sea Islanders. This is a
+characteristic applicable not alone to the national capital, but
+observable again and again all over the republic. Though so very poor,
+and doubtless often suffering from hunger, the half naked people are not
+infrequently seen with a cigarette between the lips. Drunkenness is
+seldom seen, notwithstanding that pulque is cheap and potent, and it is
+very rarely the case, as already intimated, that any quarreling is
+witnessed among the people. They are quiet and orderly, as a rule, yet
+most of them are homeless and hopeless.
+
+Though begging is chronic with the Spanish race everywhere, and
+notoriously prevalent in continental Spain, persistent in Havana and
+Matanzas, and nearly universal throughout the Mexican republic, still,
+in the national capital it is far less obtrusive than elsewhere, because
+the police are instructed to suppress it. So, also, begging is
+prohibited by law in Paris, London, and Boston, but how constantly the
+law is disregarded we all know. Sad is the condition of things which, as
+Thackeray expresses it, gives the purple and fine linen to one set of
+men, and to the other rags for garments and dogs for comforters.
+
+It is not uncommon to see a family group, mother, father, and one or two
+children, huddled close together in a street corner, where they have
+passed the night, sleeping in a half upright position, while leaning
+against an adobe wall. In an early morning walk towards the Paseo de la
+Viga, we saw just such a scene, with the addition of a mongrel dog,
+which had so bestowed himself as to give the shelter of his body as well
+as its natural warmth to a couple of small children. One thing the
+reader may be assured of, to wit: the whole family, including the dog,
+had a hearty and nourishing breakfast that morning at least.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+Benito Juarez's Grandest Monument--Hotel del Jardin.--General Jose
+    Morelos.--Mexican Ex-Convents.--City Restaurants.--Lady Smokers.
+    --Domestic Courtyards.--A Beautiful Bird.--The Grand Cathedral
+    Interior.--A Devout Lottery Ticket Vender.--Porcelain-Ornamented
+    Houses.--Rogues in Church.--Expensive Justice.--Cemetery of San
+    Fernando.--Juarez's Monument.--Coffins to Let.--American and
+    English Cemetery.--A Doleful Street and Trade.
+
+
+There exists a much grander monument to the memory of Benito Juarez than
+the fine marble group over his last resting-place in the cemetery of San
+Fernando, namely, the noble School of Arts and Trades founded by him.
+Poor native girls are here afforded excellent advantages for acquiring a
+knowledge of various arts, while they are both clothed and fed free of
+cost to themselves. The pupils are taught type-setting, book-binding,
+drawing, music, embroidery, and the like. There is a store attached to
+the institution in which the articles produced by the inmates are placed
+for sale at a moderate price. We were told that their industry went a
+long way towards rendering the institution self-supporting, and so
+admirably is the work of embroidery executed here that the orders for
+goods are in advance of the supply. Nearly four hundred girls are at all
+times reaping the advantage of this school, which is a grand and
+practical form of charity worthy of emulation. Individual instances of
+notable success crowning the career of graduates from this institution
+were related to us, some of which were of touching interest, and many
+quite romantic, showing that genius knows no sex, and that opportunity
+alone is often all that is required to develop possibilities frequently
+lying dormant about us.
+
+The College of Medicine, near the Plazuela of San Domingo, occupies the
+old palace of the Inquisition, whose last victim in Mexico, General Jose
+Morelos, was executed in December, 1815. For two hundred and fifty
+years, since 1571, this institution of the church fattened upon the
+blood of martyrs. We do not wonder at the futile efforts of the Romish
+church of the nineteenth century to ignore, deny, and cover up these
+iniquities; but their awful significance is burned too deeply into the
+pages of history to be obliterated.
+
+While engaged upon a voyage of discovery accompanied by a friend who has
+long resided in the city of Mexico, we chanced upon the Hotel del
+Jardin, a cheerful, sunny hostelry, occupying a building which was once
+a famous convent, leading our companion to remark that "the shameful
+record of wickedness, licentiousness, and cruelty, practiced in these
+Mexican institutions before their suppression, could it be made public,
+would astonish the world." The present Hotel del Jardin nearly surrounds
+a garden full of tropical verdure, and seemed very inviting. Determining
+to test its cuisine, dinner was ordered, the presiding genius being
+given _carte blanche_ to do his best; but, heaven save the mark!--all
+we have to add is, don't try the experiment of dining at the place
+referred to. The best and most usual way for transient visitors to this
+city is to take rooms in comfortable quarters, and to eat their meals at
+some of the fairly good restaurants in the neighborhood of the plaza. Of
+course, one cannot expect New York or Boston fare, nor do we come to
+Mexico for what we can obtain in the way of food and drink.
+
+Among the groups observed sitting on the little balconies of the
+dwelling-houses, matrons are seen smoking their cigarettes as openly as
+do their husbands. Senoritas do the same on the sly. No place is exempt
+from the pungent fumes of tobacco. Pipes seem to be very seldom resorted
+to, and the chewing of tobacco, we are glad to say, is not indulged in
+at all,--a disgusting use of the weed almost solely confined to North
+America and ships' forecastles. Smoking, after all, did not seem to be
+so universal and incessant as we have seen it in some other countries.
+Perhaps this arises, in a measure, from want of means to pay for the
+article among the general population, since they are only half clothed
+in wretched rags, being mostly bareheaded and barefooted also. The lower
+class of Mexico could give the lazzaroni of Naples "points," and then
+outdo them vastly in squalor and nakedness. The idle, indolent, and
+thriftless outnumber all other classes in the republic, one reason for
+which is found in the fact common to all tropical countries, that the
+climate is such that the poor can safely sleep out of doors and without
+shelter, with nearly as much comfort as those who have an humble
+covering in the shape of four adobe walls and a thatched roof. As a
+rule, these common people, men and women, are ugly in form and feature,
+except that they have superb black eyes and pearl-white teeth. Physical
+hardships do not tend to develop comeliness.
+
+Strong contrasts meet the eye,--naturally to be expected in a community
+which is slowly becoming revolutionized from a state of semi-barbarism,
+as it were, to the broader civilization of its neighbors. This
+transition is very obvious as regards the dress of the populace. Silk
+stove-pipe hats and Derbys are crowding hard upon the cumbersome
+sombrero; the dainty Parisian bonnet is replacing the black lace
+mantilla; broadcloth is found to be more acceptable clothing than
+leather jackets and pantaloons; close-fitting calico and merino goods
+are driving out the rebosas, while woolen garments render the serapes
+needless. This, of course, is a city view. Small country communities
+still adhere to the simpler and cheaper national costume of the past,
+and will probably continue to do so for years to come.
+
+In strolling about the better part of the city, one sees through the
+broad, arched entrances to the courtyards of the finest private
+residences in Mexico, upon the first or street floor, the stable, the
+kitchen, and the coach house, with hostlers grooming the animals, or
+washing the harnesses and vehicles, while the family live directly over
+all these arrangements, up one flight of broad stone steps. This is a
+Spanish custom, which is observable in Havana and continental Spain, as
+well as in all the cities of Mexico. Other patios, whose occupants do
+not keep private vehicles, adorn these areas with charming plants, small
+tropical trees, blooming flowers, statuary, and fountains. Here and
+there hang cages containing bright-colored singing birds, parrots, and
+paroquets, not forgetting to mention the clear, shrill-voiced
+mocking-bird, which is a universal favorite. The Mexican macaw is pretty
+sure to be represented by a fine member of his species in these
+ornamental patios. He is a gaudy, noisy fellow. The head, breast, and
+back are of a deep red, the wings yellow, blue, and green. The tail is
+composed of a dozen feathers, six of which are stout, short, and
+tapering, while the rest are fourteen inches in length. He passes his
+time in screaming, and scrambling about with the aid of his claws and
+hooked beak combined, going as far as the tiny chain which is attached
+to one foot and fastened to the perch will permit. His favorite attitude
+seems to be hanging head downward from his perch like an acrobat, often
+remaining thus a distressingly long time, until one would fain coax him
+into a normal position with some favorite tidbit of cake, sugar, or
+fruit.
+
+Officials and merchants often combine their dwellings and places of
+business, so that here and there a patio will exhibit various samples of
+merchandise, or the sign of a government official over a room devoted to
+office purposes. How people able to do otherwise are willing to sleep,
+eat, and live over a stable certainly seems, to us, very strange. At
+night these patios are guarded by closing large metal--studded doors, a
+concierge always sleeping near at hand either to admit any of the family
+or to resist the entrance of any unauthorized persons, very much after
+the practice which is common in France and the cities of Northern
+Europe.
+
+We used the expression "while strolling about the better part of the
+city," etc.; but let us not convey a wrong impression thereby, for there
+are no exclusively aristocratic streets or quarters in the city of
+Mexico. The houses of both the upper and lower classes are mingled,
+scattered here and there, often adjoining each other. Some few of the
+better class of houses, like the domes of some of the churches, are
+faced with porcelain tiles, giving the effect of mosaic; but this has a
+tawdry appearance, and is exceptional in the national capital. At Puebla
+it is much more common, that city being the headquarters of
+tile-manufacturing.
+
+No matter how many times one may visit the grand cathedral, each fresh
+view impresses him with some new feature and also with its vastness. As
+to the harmony of its architectural effect, that element does not enter
+into the consideration, for there is really no harmony about it.
+Everything is vague, so to speak, irregular, and a certain appearance of
+incompleteness is apparent. There is at all times a considerable number
+of women, and occasionally members of the other sex, to be seen bending
+before the several chapels; deformed mendicants and professional beggars
+mingle with the kneeling crowd. Rags flutter beside the most costly
+laces; youth kneels with crabbed old age; rich and poor meet upon the
+same level before the sacred altar. Priests by the half dozen, in
+scarlet, blue, gilt, and yellow striped robes officiate hourly before
+tall candles which flicker dimly in the daylight, while boys dressed in
+long white gowns swing censers of burning incense. The gaudy trappings
+have the usual theatrical effect, and no doubt serve, together with the
+deep peals of the organ, the dim light of the interior, the monotone of
+the priest's voice, in an unknown tongue, profoundly to impress the poor
+and ignorant masses. The largest number of devotees, nearly all of whom,
+as intimated, are women, were seen kneeling before the small chapel
+where rest the remains of Iturbide, first emperor of Mexico, whose tomb
+bears the simple legend: "The Liberator." None more appropriate could
+have been devised, for through him virtually was Mexican independence
+won, though his erratic career finally ended so tragically.
+
+Just outside of the main entrance of the cathedral, a middle-aged woman
+was seen importuning the passers, and especially strangers, to purchase
+lottery tickets, her voice being nearly drowned by the loud tongue of
+the great bell in the western tower. Presently she thrust her budget of
+tickets into her bosom and entered the cathedral, where she knelt before
+one of the side altars, repeating incessantly the sign of the cross
+while she whispered a formula of devotion. A moment later she was to be
+seen offering her lottery tickets on the open plaza, no doubt believing
+that her business success in their sale would be promoted by her
+attendance before the altar. How groveling must be the ignorance which
+can be thus blinded!
+
+It may not be generally known that these lotteries are operated, to a
+considerable extent, by the church, and form one of its never-failing
+sources of income, proving more profitable even than the sale of
+indulgences, though the latter is _all_ profit, whereas there is some
+trifling expense attendant upon getting up a lottery scheme. A few
+prizes must be distributed in order to make the cheat more plausible. As
+to the validity of indulgences, one cannot actually test that matter on
+this side of Lethe.
+
+As will be seen, all classes of rogues are represented among the
+apparently devout worshipers. On the occasion of our second visit to the
+cathedral, a gentleman who had his pockets picked by an expert kneeling
+devotee hastened for a policeman, and soon returning, pointed out the
+culprit, who was promptly arrested; but, much to the disgust of the
+complainant, he also was compelled to go with the officer and prisoner
+to the police headquarters, where we heard that he recovered his stolen
+property, though it cost him three quarters of a day's attendance at
+some sort of police court, and about half the amount of the sum which
+the rogue had abstracted.
+
+All observant strangers visit the cemetery of San Fernando, which
+adjoins the church of the same name. This is the Mount Auburn or Pere la
+Chaise of Mexico, in a very humble sense, however. Here rest the ashes
+of those most illustrious in the history of the country. One is
+particularly interested in the tomb and monument of the greatest
+statesman Mexico has known, her Indian President, Benito Juarez,
+pronounced Hoo-arez. The design of this elaborate tomb is a little
+confusing at first, but the general effect is certainly very fine and
+impressive. The group consists of two figures, life size, wrought in the
+purest of white marble, showing the late president lying at full length
+in his shroud, with his head supported by a mourning female figure
+representing Mexico. The name of the sculptor is Manuel Islas, who has
+embodied great nobility and touching pathos in the expression of the
+combined whole. The base of the monument, as we stood before it, was
+half hidden by freshly contributed wreaths of flowers. A small Grecian
+temple surrounded by columns incloses this commemorative group, to which
+the traveler will be very sure to pay a second visit before leaving the
+capital. Many of the monuments in this city of the dead are of the
+beautiful native onyx, which has a very grand effect when cut in heavy
+slabs. The grounds are circumscribed in extent and overcrowded. No name,
+we believe, is held in higher esteem by the general public than that of
+Benito Juarez, who died July 18, 1872, after being elected to fill the
+presidential chair for a third term.
+
+Juarez was a Zapotec Indian, a hill tribe which had never been fully
+under Spanish control. He was thoroughly educated, and followed the law
+as a profession. Being fully alive to its character, he always opposed
+the machinations of the Catholic Church. His dream and ambition was to
+establish a Mexican republic, and the present constitution, which bears
+date of 1857, was virtually his gift to the people. He has been very
+properly called the prophet and architect of the republic.
+
+In the cemetery of San Fernando were also seen the tombs of Mejia and
+Miramon, the two generals who, together with Maximilian, were shot at
+Queretaro. Here also are the tombs of Guerrero, Zaragoza, Comonfort, and
+others of note in Mexican history. The cemetery as a whole is very
+poorly arranged and quite unworthy of such a capital. The bodies of most
+persons buried here are placed in coffins which are deposited in the
+walls, and even graves are built upon the surface of the ground, because
+of the fact that at a few feet below one comes to the great swamp or
+lake which underlies all this part of the valley. There is another
+Mexican cemetery worthy of mention, which is beautifully laid out and
+arranged. It is that of Dolores, on the hillside southwest of Tacubaya,
+just beyond Chapultepec. In the American cemetery are buried some four
+hundred of our countrymen, soldiers, who died here in 1847. The English
+and American cemeteries lie together. The poor people of the city, when
+a death occurs in the family, hire a coffin of the dealers for the
+purpose of carrying their dead to the burial-place, after which it is
+returned to the owner, to be again leased for a similar object by some
+other party. The dead bodies of this class are buried in the open earth,
+a trench only being dug in the ground. Suitable wood is so scarce and so
+valuable in the capital that coffins are very expensive. Those designed
+for young children are seen exposed for sale decorated in the most
+fantastic manner. One narrow street near the general market and close to
+the plaza is almost wholly appropriated, on the street floor, to
+coffin-makers' shops. We counted eleven of these doleful establishments
+within as many rods of each other. The coffins designed for adults are
+universally colored jet black; but those for children are elaborately
+ornamented with scroll work of white upon a black ground. One of these
+last is hung up as a sign at the entrance of each shop devoted to this
+business. When a funeral cortege appears on the street, be it never so
+humble, every one faces the same with uncovered head until it has
+passed. An episode of this melancholy character is recalled which
+occurred on San Francisco Street one morning. A very humble peon was
+seen bearing his child's coffin upon his back, followed by the mother,
+grandmother, and two children, with downcast eyes, five persons in all
+forming the sad procession, if it may be so called. It was observed that
+the gayly-dressed and elegantly mounted caballero promptly backed his
+horse to the curbstone and raised his sombrero while the mourners moved
+by, that other peons bowed their bare heads, and that every hat, either
+silk or straw, was respectfully doffed along the street, as the solemn
+little cortege wound its way to the last resting-place of humanity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+The Shrine of Guadalupe.--Priestly Miracles.--A Remarkable Spring.--The
+    Chapels about the Hill.--A Singular Votive Offering.--Church of
+    Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.--Costly Decorations.--A Campo Santo.--
+    Tomb of Santa Anna.--Strange Contrasts.--Guadalupe-Hidalgo.--The
+    Twelve Shrines on the Causeway.--The Viga Canal.--The Floating
+    Islands.--Indian Gamblers.--Vegetable Market.--Flower Girls.--The
+    "Noche-Triste" Tree.--Ridiculous Signs.--Queer Titles.--Floral
+    Festival.
+
+
+Guadalupe, the sacred Mecca of the Roman Catholics of Mexico, is reached
+by a tramway of about two or three miles in length, running in a
+northeasterly direction from the city. It appears that in the Aztec
+period there was here a native shrine dedicated to some mythological
+god, and as the foolish legend runs, a miracle caused this spot to be
+changed to a Christian shrine. The story is told with great unction by
+"true believers," but to a calm, unbiased mind it is too utterly
+ridiculous for repetition. These church miracles were simply chronic
+during the Spanish rule. "The religion of Mexico," says Wilson, "is a
+religion of priestly miracles, and when the ordinary rules of evidence
+are applied to them, they and the religion that rests upon them fall
+together." Guadalupe forms a rough, irregular elevation some hundred
+feet or more above the level of the surrounding plain. Beside the rude
+stairway leading to the top of the hill, there is built a stone column,
+in the shape of a ship's mast with the square sails set upon it. This is
+said to have been a votive offering by some sailors who were threatened
+with shipwreck at Vera Cruz. When in dire distress, the party referred
+to vowed that if the Virgin of Guadalupe would save the lives of the
+crew, they would bring the ship's mast to her shrine and set it up
+there, as a perpetual memento of her protecting power. The mariners were
+saved and kept their vow, bringing the mast upon their shoulders all the
+way from Vera Cruz. Here they set it up and built around it a covering
+of stone, and thus it stands to this day. It is between thirty and forty
+feet high, and about twelve feet wide at the base, tapering upwards--a
+most unsightly and incongruous monument. On the summit of the hill there
+is a small chapel known as the Capilla del Cerrito, and two or three
+near its base, one of which has a large dome covered with enameled
+tiles. This is known as the Capilla del Pocito, and supports in its
+cupola some of the harshest and most ear-piercing bells which we have
+ever chanced to hear. This chapel covers a somewhat remarkable spring,
+which is abundant and never failing in its supply, for whose waters
+great and miraculous power is claimed. It manifestly contains a large
+impregnation of iron, and is no doubt a good tonic, beyond which its
+virtues are of course mythical. It is held by the surrounding populace
+to be an infallible remedy in the instance of unfruitful women, and is
+the constant resort of that class from far and near. These chapels at
+Guadalupe are decorated in the crudest and most inartistic manner,
+entirely unworthy of such belief as is professed in the sacredness of
+the place, or of the virtues attributed by the priests to them as a
+religious shrine. Money enough has been wasted, but there seems to be an
+utter lack of good taste.
+
+Over two million dollars had been expended on the church of Nuestra
+Senora de Guadalupe, which stands at the foot of the hill, in supplying
+the usual inventory of jewels, gold and silver plate, and other
+extravagant church belongings. The church just named is built of brick
+and stone combined, with four towers about a central dome, and is also
+known as the cathedral of Guadalupe. The solid silver railing extending
+from the choir to the high altar is three feet in height. Owing to its
+presumed sacredness, this church, unlike the cathedral of the city near
+at hand, has never been despoiled. Its interior is very rich in
+ornamentation, among the most effective portions of which we remember
+its fine onyx columns supporting lofty arches of Moorish architecture.
+The costly elegance displayed in this cathedral is exactly suited to a
+faith in which there is so little worship and so much form and ceremony.
+
+On coming out of this elaborate edifice, half dazed by its expensive and
+gaudy trappings, we step at once into an atmosphere of abject poverty
+and want. The surroundings of the chapels and cathedral of Guadalupe are
+in strong contrast with the interiors. This is undoubtedly the dirtiest
+and most neglected suburb of the capital, where low pulque shops and a
+half-naked population of beggars stare one in the face at every turn.
+What sort of Christian faith is that which can hoard jewels of fabulous
+value, with costly plate of gold and silver, in the sacristy of its
+temple, while the poor, crippled, naked people starve on the outside of
+its gilded walls? "Ah!" says Shelley, "what a divine religion might be
+found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of
+faith!"
+
+The grand view to be obtained from the summit of the hill of Guadalupe
+amply repays the visitor for climbing the rude steps and rough roadway,
+notwithstanding the terribly offensive odors arising from the dirty
+condition of the neglected surroundings. It embraces the city in the
+middle foreground, a glimpse of Chapultepec and the two grand mountains
+in the distance, together with the surrounding plains dotted with low
+adobe villages. The long white roads of the causeways, lined with
+verdant trees, divide the spacious plain by artistic lines of beauty,
+while between them green fields of alfalfa, and yellow, ripening maize
+give delightful bits of light and shade. On the back of the hill, behind
+the chapel crowning the summit, is a small cemetery full to repletion of
+tombs dedicated to famous persons. Great prices, we were told, are paid
+for interments in this sacred spot. Among the most interesting tombs was
+that of Santa Anna, the hero of more defeats than any notable soldier
+whom we can recall. He is remembered as a traitor by the average Mexican
+(just as Bazaine is regarded by the French), although he was five times
+President and four times military Dictator of Mexico. It will be
+remembered that this eccentric and notorious soldier of fortune was
+banished to the West Indies, whence he wrote a congratulatory letter to
+the intruder Maximilian, and sought to take command under him. His
+proffered aid was coolly declined, whereupon he offered his services to
+Juarez, who was fighting against Maximilian, but was repulsed with equal
+promptness. In a rage at this treatment, he fitted out an expedition
+against both parties, landed in Mexico, was taken prisoner, and in
+consideration of the services once rendered his country his life was
+spared; but he was again banished, to finish his days in poverty and in
+a foreign land. His wooden leg, captured during our war with Mexico, is
+in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. The town which surrounds
+the immediate locality of these shrines of Guadalupe has a population of
+about three thousand, and is particularly memorable as being the place
+where the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, February 2, 1848,
+between the United States and Mexico. The name of Guadalupe was combined
+with that of Hidalgo, the Washington of Mexico as he is called, who in
+1810 raised the cry of independence against the Spanish yoke, and though
+he was captured and shot, after eleven years of hard fighting, the goal
+of independence was reached by those who survived him. He is reported to
+have said just before his execution: "I die, but the seeds of liberty
+will be watered by my blood. The cause does not die. That still lives
+and will surely triumph."
+
+Churches bearing the name of Guadalupe are to be found all over the
+country, the Virgin of Guadalupe being the adopted patron saint of
+Mexico. Along the main road or causeway leading from the capital to the
+hill of Guadalupe,--now given up to the use of the Vera Cruz
+Railway,--one sees tall stone shrines which were erected long ago,
+before which deluded pilgrims and penitents knelt on their way thither.
+These were intended to commemorate the twelve places at which the
+Saviour fell down on his journey while bearing the cross to Calvary. It
+was called the road of humiliation and prayer, over which devotees crept
+on their hands and knees, seeking expiation for their sins, instigated
+by priestly suggestions and superstitious fears. Over this causeway,
+Maximilian, actuated by his fanatical religious devotion, and by a
+desire to impress the popular mind, walked barefooted from the city
+walls to the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe! The hold of the priests
+on the Mexican people to-day is confined almost entirely to the peons
+and humble laborers. It is a common saying that when a peon earns two
+dollars he gives one dollar and forty-five cents to the priest, spends
+fifty cents for pulque, and supports his family on the remaining five
+cents. Among the educated classes the men are beginning to refuse to
+permit their wives and daughters to attend the confessional, the most
+subtle and portentous agency for evil that was ever invented, which has
+contaminated more innocence and destroyed more domestic happiness than
+any other known cause.
+
+The tramway which runs out to the Viga Canal takes one a couple of miles
+into an extremely interesting region, exhibiting many novel phases of
+native life. The thoroughfare runs beside the canal for a considerable
+distance, the banks of which are shaded here and there by drooping
+willows and rows of tall Lombardy poplars. How old the canal is, no one
+can say; it certainly antedates the period of the Conquest. The
+straw-thatched, Indian, African-looking town of Santa Anita is a
+curiosity in itself, surrounded by the floating islands, which we are
+soberly told did really float centuries ago. "Here they beheld," says
+Prescott, "those fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occasionally by
+trees of considerable size, rising and falling with the gentle
+undulations of the billows." One does not like to play the _role_ of an
+iconoclast, but probably these islands were always pretty much as they
+are to-day. The "floating" idea is a poetical license, and was born in
+the imaginative brain of the Spanish writers. Had Prescott ever seen
+them, he would doubtless have come to the same conclusion. "Hanging"
+gardens do not necessarily depend from anything, "floating" islands need
+not necessarily float. They really have the appearance of buoyancy
+to-day, and hence the figure of speech which has been universally
+applied to them. "I have not seen any floating gardens," says R. A.
+Wilson, author of "Mexico and its Religion," "nor, on diligent inquiry,
+have I been able to find a man, woman, or child that ever has seen them,
+nor do I believe that such a thing as a floating garden ever existed at
+Mexico." They are now anchored to the bottom fast enough, that is
+certain, being separated from each other and the main land by little
+narrow canals. The soil of which they are constituted is kept always
+moist by natural irrigation, and is wonderfully fertile in producing
+flowers, fruits, and mammoth vegetables. Seed-time and harvest are
+perennial on these peculiar islands. Men are always ready with a rude
+sort of boat, which the most poetic imagination cannot dignify into a
+gondola, but which is so called. These floats are about fifteen feet
+long, four wide, flat bottomed, with low sides, and have no covering.
+The boatmen row, or rather pole, the boats through the little canals,
+giving the passengers a view of the low, rank vegetation on the islands,
+some of which present a pleasing floral picture, rather curious, but not
+very interesting. On Sundays and festal days the middle and lower
+classes of the capital come hither in large numbers to amuse themselves
+with the tall swings, the merry-go-rounds, and the scowlike boats, to
+eat dulces at the booths, and to drink inordinate quantities of pulque
+at the many stands at which it is dispensed at popular prices. The
+pungent liquor permeates the surrounding atmosphere with its sour and
+offensive odor. Here one sees numerous groups busy at that besetting sin
+of the Indians, gambling. It is practiced on all occasions and in all
+places, the prevailing means being "the wheel of fortune." An itinerant
+bearing one of these instruments strapped about his shoulders stops here
+and there, soon gathering a crowd of the curious about him. The
+lottery-ticket vender drowns all other cries in his noisy search after
+customers, reaping a large harvest, especially on Sundays, in this
+popular resort. The old stone church of Santa Anita is a crumbling mass
+of Moorish architecture, with a fine tower, the whole sadly out of
+repair, yet plainly speaking of past grandeur.
+
+On the way to these islands by the Paseo de la Viga, we pass through an
+out-door vegetable market, which is remarkable for the size of some of
+the specimens offered for sale; radishes were displayed which were as
+large as beets, also plethoric turnips, overgrown potatoes, ambitious
+carrots, and broad spread heads of lettuce as big as a Mexican sombrero.
+There were many sorts of greens for making salads, of which the average
+Mexican is very fond, besides flowers mingled with tempting fruits, such
+as oranges, lemons, melons, and pineapples. The latter, we suspect, must
+have come from as far south as Cordova. Young Indian girls, with
+garlands of various-colored poppies about their necks, like the natives
+of Hawaii, offered us for a trifle tiny bouquets made of rosebuds,
+pansies, violets, tube-roses, and scarlet geraniums, all grown close at
+hand on these misnamed floating islands. One low, thatched adobe cabin,
+between the roadway and the canals, in Santa Anita, was covered with a
+mammoth blooming vine, known here as the _copa de oro_. Its great yellow
+flowers were indeed like cups of gold, inviting our attention above all
+the other floral emblems for which the little Indian village is famous.
+Great quantities come daily from this suburb to supply the city demand,
+and especially on the occasion of the floral festivals, which have their
+headquarters in the plaza and the alameda, as elsewhere described.
+
+There is much to be seen and enjoyed in these brief excursions by
+tramway into the environs of the city. One should not forget to take the
+cars which start from the west side of the Plaza Mayor, and which pass
+through the Riviera de San Cosme out to the village of Popotla, where
+the famous "Noche-triste" tree is to be seen. It is situated about three
+miles from the plaza. Cortez is said to have sat down under its branches
+and wept over his misfortunes when he was obliged to retreat from the
+capital, on the night of July 1, 1520, still known as the "Dismal
+Night." Whether this story be true or otherwise, it matters very little.
+Suffice it that this big gnarled tree is held sacred and historic by the
+citizens, and is always visited by strangers who come to the capital. It
+is of the cedar family, and its dilapidated condition, together with the
+size of the trunk, shows its great antiquity. At present it measures ten
+feet in diameter at the base, with a height exceeding forty feet.
+Although broken and decayed in many of its parts, it is sufficiently
+alive to bear foliage. The gray, drooping moss hangs from its decaying
+branches, like a mourner's veil shrouding face and neck, emblematic of
+the tears which the daring adventurer is said to have wept in its
+shadow. An iron railing protects the tree from careless usage and from
+the knives of ruthless relic hunters. A party of so-called ladies and
+gentlemen--we are sorry to say they were Americans--broke off some of
+the twigs of the tree, in 1885, to bring away with them. For this
+vandalism they were promptly arrested, and very properly fined by a
+Mexican court. Close by this interesting tree of the "Dismal Night"
+stands the ancient church of San Esteban.
+
+The practice prevails in the cities of Mexico that one sees in Cuba and
+in continental Spain, as regards the signs which traders place over
+their doors. The individual's name is never given, but the merchant
+adopts some fancy one to designate his place of business. Seeing the
+title "El Congreso Americana," "The American Congress," we were a little
+disconcerted, on investigation, to find that it was the sign of a large
+and popular bar-room. Near by was another sign reading thus: "El
+Diablo," that is, "The Devil." This was over a pulque shop, which seemed
+to be appropriately designated. Farther on towards the alameda was "El
+Sueno de Amor," signifying "The Dream of Love." This was over a shop
+devoted to the sale of serapes and other dry goods. On the Calle de San
+Bernardo, over one of the entrances where dry goods were sold, was seen,
+in large gold letters, "La Perla," "The Pearl." Again near the plaza we
+read, "La Dos Republics," meaning "The Two Republics." This was a hat
+store, with gorgeous sombreros displayed for sale. "El Recreo," "The
+Retreat," was a billiard hall and bar-room combined, while not far away
+"El Opalo," "The Opal," designated a store where dulces were sold. "La
+Bomba," "The Bomb," was the sign over a saddle and harness shop. "El
+Amor Cantivo," "Captive Love," was the motto of a dry goods store. "La
+Coquetta," "The Coquette," was the title of a cigar shop.
+
+These stores are almost all conducted by French or German owners, with
+now and then a Jew of uncertain nationality; few are kept by Spaniards,
+and none by Americans, or citizens of the United States. American
+enterprise seeks expression here in a larger field. Where a trunk line
+of railroad a thousand miles or more is demanded, as in the instance of
+the Mexican Central, they are sure to be found at the front, with
+capital, executive ability, and the energy which commands success. The
+surveys for the Mexican railroads demanding the very best ability were
+made by Americans, the locomotive drivers are nearly all Americans, and
+more than half the conductors upon the regular railway trains are
+Americans. The infusion of American spirit among the Mexican people is
+perhaps slow, but it is none the less sure and steady.
+
+Each sort of business has its distinctive emblem. The butcher always
+hangs out a crimson banner. In some portions of the town there are
+painted caricatures on the fronts of certain places to designate their
+special business. For instance, in front of a pulque shop is found a
+laughable figure of a man with a ponderous stomach, drinking his
+favorite tipple. At another, which is the popular drinking resort of the
+bull-fighters, is represented a scene where a picadore is being tossed
+high in air from the horns of an infuriated bull, and so on. The names
+of some of the streets of the capital show how the Roman Catholic Church
+has tried to impress itself upon the attention of the populace even in
+the titles of large thoroughfares. Thus we have the Crown of Thorns
+Street, the Holy Ghost Bridge, Mother of Sorrows Street, Blood of
+Christ Street, Holy Ghost Street, Street of the Sacred Heart, and the
+like. Protestants of influence have protested against this use of names,
+and changes therein have been seriously considered by the local
+government. As previously explained, some of these streets have been so
+named because there were churches bearing these titles situated in them.
+
+Friday, the 28th of March, the day of Viernes de Dolores, was a floral
+festal occasion in and about the city of Mexico. The origin of this
+observance we did not exactly understand, except that it is an old
+Indian custom, which is carefully honored by all classes, and a very
+beautiful one it most certainly is. For several days previous to that
+devoted to the exhibition, preparations were made for it by the erection
+of frames, tents, canvas roofing, and the like, in the centre of the
+alameda and over its approaches. At sunrise on the day designated, the
+people resorted in crowds to the broad and beautiful paths, roadways,
+and circles of the delightful old park, to find pyramids of flowers
+elegantly arranged about the fountains, while the passageways were lined
+by flower dealers from the country with beautiful and fragrant bouquets,
+for sale at prices and in shapes to suit all comers. Nothing but a true
+love of flowers could suggest such attractive combinations. Into some of
+the bouquets strawberries with long stems were introduced, in order to
+obtain a certain effect of color; in others was seen a handsome red
+berry in clusters, like the fruit of the mountain ash. We had observed
+the preparations, and were on the spot at the first peep of the day. The
+Indians came down the Paseo de la Reforma in the gray light of the dawn,
+and stopped beside the entrance to the alameda, men and women laden with
+fragrance and bloom from all parts of the valley of Mexico within a
+radius of forty miles from the city. One lot of burros, numbering a
+score and more, formed a singularly picturesque and novel group. The
+animals, except their heads and long ears, were absolutely hidden
+beneath masses of radiant color. Groups of women sitting upon the ground
+were busy making up bouquets, which were most artistically combined.
+These natives love bright colors, and have an instinctive eye for
+graceful combinations.
+
+Of course the variety of flowers was infinite. We remember, among them,
+red and white roses, pansies, violets, heliotropes, sweet peas,
+gardenias, camelias, both calla and tiger lilies, honeysuckles,
+forget-me-nots, verbenas, pinks in a variety of colors, larkspur,
+jasmine, petunias, morning glories, tulips, scarlet geraniums, and
+others. Three military bands placed in central positions added spirit
+and interest to the suggestive occasion. The harmony of the music
+blended with the perfume of the flowers, completing the charm of such a
+scene of floral extravagance as we have never before witnessed. Our
+florists might get many bright, new ideas as to the arrangements of
+bouquets from these Mexicans.
+
+None of the populace seemed to be too poor to purchase freely of the
+flowers, all decking their persons with them. As fast as the bouquets
+were disposed of, their places were filled with a fresh supply, the
+source being, apparently, inexhaustible. Young and old, rich and poor,
+thronged to the flower-embowered alameda on this occasion, and there was
+no seeming diminution of demand or of supply up to high noon, when we
+left the still enthusiastic and merry crowd. In the afternoon, no matter
+in what part of the town we were, the same floral enthusiasm and spirit
+possessed the populace. Balcony, doorway, carriage windows, and market
+baskets, married women and youthful senoritas, boys and girls, cripples
+and beggars, all indulged in floral decoration and display. It appeared
+that several carloads of flowers came from far-away Jalapa to supply the
+demand in the national capital made upon the kingdom of Flora for this
+flower festival.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Castle of Chapultepec.--"Hill of the Grasshopper."--Montezuma's Retreat.
+    --Palace of the Aztec Kings.--West Point of Mexico.--Battles of
+    Molino del Rey and Churubusco.--The Mexican White House.--High above
+    Sea Level.--Village of Tacubaya.--Antique Carvings.--Ancient Toluca.
+    --The Maguey.--Fine Scenery.--Cima.--Snowy Peaks.--Leon d'Oro.--The
+    Bull-Ring and Cockpit.--A Literary Institution.--The Coral Tree.--
+    Ancient Pyramids.--Pachuca.--Silver Product of the Mines.--A Cornish
+    Colony.--Native Cabins.--Indian Endurance.
+
+
+One of the pleasantest excursions in the environs of the capital is in a
+southwesterly direction to the castle of Chapultepec, a name which
+signifies the "Hill of the Grasshopper." It is situated at the end of
+the long Paseo de la Reforma, the grandest avenue in the country,
+running straight away two miles and more between statuary and ornamental
+trees to this historic and attractive locality. About Chapultepec are
+gathered more of the grand memories of the country than on any other
+spot south of the Rio Grande. Here it was intended to establish the most
+grand and sumptuous court of the nineteenth century, over which
+Maximilian and Carlotta were to preside as emperor and empress. Their
+ambition was limitless; but how brief was their day-dream! The fortress
+occupies a very commanding position, standing upon a rocky upheaval some
+two hundred feet above the surrounding plain, thus rising abruptly out
+of the marshy swamp. It is encircled by a beautiful park composed mostly
+of old cypress-trees, many of which are draped in gray Spanish moss, as
+soft and suggestive an adornment as that of the moss-rose. We ascend the
+hill to the castle by a deeply-shaded road, formed by a wood so dense
+that the sun scarcely penetrates its darkness. On the side of this
+tree-embowered road, about halfway to the summit, one is shown a natural
+cave, before the mouth of which is a huge iron gate. Herein, it is said,
+the Aztec kings deposited their treasures. Here, also, Cortez is
+believed to have placed his stolen wealth, under guard of his most
+trusted followers, which was afterward transported to Spain. One
+immemorial cypress was pointed out to us in the grove of Chapultepec,
+said to have been a favorite resort of Montezuma I., who often enjoyed
+its cooling shade. This tree measures about fifty feet in circumference.
+We were assured, by good local authority, that some of these trees date
+back to more than twice ten hundred years. If there is any truth in the
+concentric ring theory, this is easily proved. The best-informed persons
+upon this subject have little doubt that these trees are the remains of
+a primeval forest which surrounded the burial-place of the Incas. There
+is plenty of evidence to show that when Cortez first penetrated the
+country and reached this high plain of Anahuac, it was covered with a
+noble forest of oaks, cedars, cypresses, and other trees. To one who has
+not seen the giant trees of Australia and the grand conifers of the
+Yosemite Valley, these mammoths must be indeed a revelation,--trees that
+may have been growing before the advent of Christ upon earth. Here and
+there a few modern elms and pines have been planted in the Chapultepec
+grove; and though they are of respectable or average size, they look
+like pigmies beside these gigantic trees. During all the wars and
+battles which have taken place around and above them, these grand old
+monarchs have remained undisturbed, flourishing quietly amid the
+fiercest strife of the elements and the bitter contentions of men.
+
+According to Spanish history, here stood of old the palace of the Aztec
+kings; and it seems to have ever been the favorite abiding place of the
+Mexican rulers, from the time of Montezuma I. to President Diaz, being a
+fortress, a palace, and a charming garden combined, overlooking the
+grandest valley on the continent. On Sundays the _elite_ of the city
+come here to enjoy the delightful drive, as well as the shady park which
+leads to the summit of the hill, welcomed by the fragrance of flowers,
+and charmed by the rippling of cooling fountains. At the base of the
+elevation on which the castle stands, at its eastern foot, bursts forth
+the abundant spring from which the city is in part supplied with water.
+Here begins the San Cosme aqueduct, a huge, arched structure of heavy
+masonry, which adds picturesqueness to the scenery. Maximilian, upon
+taking up his abode here, caused a number of beautiful avenues to be
+constructed in various directions, suitable for drives, in addition to
+the grand paseo leading to the city, which also owes its construction
+to his taste and liberality. The drives about the castle are shaded by
+tall, thickly-set trees of various sorts, planted within the last twenty
+years.
+
+Chapultepec is now improved in part for a military school, the "West
+Point" of Mexico, accommodating a little over three hundred cadets, who,
+coming from the best families of the country, here serve a seven years'
+apprenticeship in acquiring a sound education and a thorough knowledge
+of the art of war. The course of studies, it is understood, is very
+comprehensive, and to graduate here is esteemed a high honor from an
+educational point of view. Several of the professors who are attached to
+the institution came from the best European schools. We were shown
+through the dormitories of the cadets and other domestic offices, where
+everything was in admirable order, but it was a disappointment to see
+the lackadaisical manner of these young gentlemen on parade, quite in
+consonance with the undisciplined character of the rank and file of the
+army. The pretense of discipline was a mere subterfuge, and would simply
+disgust a West Pointer or a European soldier. These cadets were somehow
+very diminutive in stature, and their presence was anything but manly.
+
+This is justly regarded as classic ground in the ancient and modern
+history of the country. It will be remembered that the steep acclivity,
+though bravely defended, was stormed and captured by a mere handful of
+Americans under General Pillow during the war of 1847. In the rear of
+the hill, to the southward, less than two miles away, is the field
+where the battle of Molino del Rey--"the King's Mill"--was fought, and
+not far away that of Churubusco, both contests won by the Americans, who
+were under the command of General Scott. Lieutenant Grant, afterwards
+General Grant and President of the United States, was one of the first
+to enter the fortified position at the taking of Chapultepec. Grant, in
+his memoirs, pays General Scott due honor as a soldier and a strategist,
+but expresses the opinion that both the battles of Chapultepec and
+Molino del Rey were needless, as the two positions could have been
+turned.
+
+Any civilian can realize the mistake which Scott made. The possession of
+the mill at that juncture was of no consequence. Chapultepec was of
+course to be carried, and when our troops were in possession of that
+fortified height the position at the mill was untenable. A fierce and
+unnecessary, though victorious battle on our part was here fought,
+wherein the Americans suffered considerable loss, principally from a
+masked battery, which was manned by volunteers from the city workshops.
+Near to Molino del Rey the Mexicans have erected a monument
+commemorating their own valor and defeat, when close to a city of nearly
+three hundred thousand inhabitants their redoubtable army was beaten and
+driven from the field by about ten thousand Americans. The Mexicans did
+not and do not lack for courage, but they required proper leaders which
+they had not, and a unity of purpose in which they were equally
+deficient.
+
+As intimated, a portion of the spacious castle forms the residence of
+the chief of the republic, being thus the "White House," as it is
+termed, of Mexico, in which are many spacious halls and galleries, all
+of which are handsomely decorated, the outside being surrounded by wide
+marble terraces and paved courts. Here Maximilian expended half a
+million dollars in gaudy ornamentations and radical alterations to suit
+his lavish desires. The interior decorations were copies from Pompeii.
+For the brief period which he was permitted to occupy the castle, it was
+famous for a succession of _fetes_, receptions, dinners, and dances. No
+European court could surpass the lavish elegance and dissipation which
+was indulged in by Maximilian and his very sweet but ambitious wife
+Carlotta. Her personal popularity and influence was fully equal to that
+of her husband, while her tenacity of purpose and strength of will far
+excelled that of the vacillating and conceited emperor.
+
+The view from the lofty ramparts is perhaps the finest in the entire
+valley of Mexico, which is in form an elevated plain about thirty by
+forty miles in extent, its altitude being a little less than eight
+thousand feet above the sea. This view embraces the national capital,
+with its countless spires, domes, and public buildings, the magnificent
+avenues of trees leading to the city, its widespread environs, the
+looming churches of Guadalupe, the village-dotted plain stretching away
+in all directions, the distant lakes glowing beneath the sun's rays, and
+having for a background at the eastward two of the loftiest,
+glacier-crowned mountains on the continent, bold and beautiful in
+outline, tranquil and immovable in their grandeur. The steady glow of
+the warm sunlight gilded cross and pinnacle, as we gazed on this picture
+through the softening haze of approaching twilight,--a view which we
+have hardly, if ever, seen surpassed.
+
+In ascending the many steps which lead to the battlements of
+Chapultepec, one of our party, a Boston lady, fairly gasped for breath,
+declaring that some serious illness threatened her; but when she was
+quietly informed that she was about forty times as high above the sea as
+the vane on Park Street Church in her native city, she realized what it
+was that caused a temporary difficulty in breathing; it was the
+extremely rarefied atmosphere, to which she was not accustomed. At such
+an elevation, in the latitude of Boston, the temperature would be almost
+arctic; but it is to be remembered that this high table-land of the
+valley of Mexico is under the Tropic of Cancer, and therefore enjoys
+almost a perpetual spring, though it is extremely dry. The atmosphere
+is, in fact, so devoid of moisture that food or fresh meat will dry up,
+but will not mould or spoil, however long it may be kept.
+
+On the left of Chapultepec lies the attractive suburban village of
+Tacubaya, already referred to, where the wealthy citizens of the capital
+have summer residences, some of which are really so elegant as to have a
+national reputation. These are thrown open to strangers on certain days,
+to exhibit their accumulation of rare and beautiful objects of art, and
+the luxuries of domestic life.
+
+As we left Chapultepec by a narrow road winding through the remnant of a
+once vast forest, attention was called to the ancient inscriptions upon
+the rocks at the eastern base of the hill near the roadside. They are in
+half relief; and, so far as we could decipher them, they seemed to be
+Toltec rather than Aztec. They are engraven on the natural rock, and are
+of a character quite unintelligible to the present generation. For years
+these were hidden by the dense undergrowth, being on the edge of the
+plain, near the spot where the Americans clambered up the steep
+acclivity when they stormed the castle. The shrubbery has now been
+cleared away so as to render them distinctly visible.
+
+Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico, is easily reached by a
+narrow gauge railway, being less than fifty miles from the national
+capital. It is a well-built and thriving town, containing about
+twenty-five thousand inhabitants, more or less, and situated at an
+elevation of about eight thousand and six hundred feet above the sea.
+The municipal buildings and state capitol, all modern, are thought to be
+the finest in the republic. They face upon a delightful plaza, the
+almost universal arrangement in these cities. Beyond the valley of
+Toluca, which is larger than that of Mexico, are others as broad and as
+fertile, all of which are watered by the Rio Lerma. The trip hither from
+the national capital leads us through some of the grandest scenery in
+the country, as well as taking us over some of the most abrupt ascents
+in Mexico. The districts through which the road passes nearest to the
+city are mostly given up to the cultivation of the pulque-producing
+maguey. These plantations are of great extent, being arranged with
+mathematical precision, the plants placed ten feet apart in each
+direction, in fields of twenty or thirty acres. The very sight of them
+sets one to moralizing. Like the beautiful but treacherous poppy fields
+which dazzle one in India, they are only too thrifty, too fruitful, too
+ready to yield up their heart's blood for the pleasure, delusion, and
+ruin of the people. We are all familiar with the broad, long,
+bayonet-like leaf of this plant, which is to be seen in most of our
+conservatories, known to us by the name of the century plant, and to
+botanists as the _Agave Americana_. It rarely blooms except in tropical
+climates. Indeed, it is best known with us at the north as the century
+plant, a popular fallacy having become attached to it, that it blooms
+but once in a hundred years. Hence the name which it bears in New
+England. When the juice is first extracted it is sweet like new cider,
+and is as harmless; it is believed to possess special curative
+properties for some chronic ills that flesh is heir to, but fermentation
+sets in soon after it is separated from the plant, and the alcoholic
+principle is promptly developed. We were told at the city of Mexico that
+the government treasury realizes a thousand dollars each day as a tax
+upon the pulque which is brought into the capital from various parts of
+the country, and that the railway companies receive an equal sum for the
+freight.
+
+There are two kinds of maguey: the cultivated plant from which comes
+pulque, and one which grows wild in the desert parts of the country.
+From the latter is distilled a coarse liquor which is highly
+intoxicating, called mescal. This is a digression. Let us speak of our
+journey to Toluca. If this very interesting city did not possess any
+special attraction in itself, the unsurpassed scenery to be enjoyed on
+the route thither would amply repay the traveler for the brief journey.
+At about twenty miles from the city of Mexico, it is found that we have
+risen to an elevation of eleven hundred feet above it, from which point
+delightful views present themselves, embracing the entire valley, its
+various thrifty crops distinguishable by their many hues; here, yellow,
+ripening grain; there, the blue-green maguey plant; and yonder, wide
+patches of dark, nutritious alfalfa; together with irrigating streams
+sparkling in the sunshine, enlivened here and there by groups of grazing
+cattle. Now an adobe hamlet comes into view, the low whitewashed cabins
+clustering about a gray old stone church. Creeping up the mountain paths
+are long lines of toiling burros, laden from hoofs to ears with
+ponderous packs, and on the dusty road are straggling natives, men and
+women, bearing heavy loads of produce, of wood, pottery, and fruit, to
+the nearest market; while not far away a ploughman, driving three mules
+abreast, turns the rich black soil with his one-pronged, one-handled
+plough. Villages and plantations are passed in rapid succession, where
+scores of square, tower-like corn cribs, raised upon four standards, are
+seen adjoining the low, picturesque farmhouses.
+
+At Dos Rios (Two Rivers), half-clad, gypsy-looking women and young,
+nut-brown girls besiege the passengers to partake of fresh pulque, which
+they serve in small earthen mugs. Two stout engines are required to draw
+us over the steep grade. The highest point reached is at Cima (The
+Summit) twenty-four miles from the city of Mexico, and ten thousand feet
+above the level of the sea. This is the most elevated station in the
+country, seriously affecting the respiration of many of our party.
+Indeed, any considerable exertion puts one quite out of breath at such
+an altitude. The conductor of the train was an American, who had been
+engaged upon this route for a year and more; but he assured the author
+that he was as seriously affected by the great elevation as when he
+first took the position. It was observed, however, that the natives did
+not seem to experience any such discomfort.
+
+From Cima we descend the western slope of the ridge by a series of
+grand, abrupt curves through the valley of San Lazar, after having thus
+crossed the range of mountains known as Las Cruces. The white-headed
+peak of the Nevada de Toluca, over fifteen thousand feet in height,--the
+fourth highest peak in Mexico,--is long in sight from the car windows,
+first on one side of the route and then on the other, while we pass over
+the twists and turns of the track to the music of rippling waters
+escorting us to the plains below. Mountain climbers tell us that from
+the apex of this now sleeping volcano the Pacific Ocean, one hundred and
+sixty miles away, can be seen. It is also said that with a powerful
+field-glass the Gulf of Mexico can be discerned from the same position,
+at a much longer distance. Baron von Humboldt tells us that he ascended
+this peak in September, 1803, and that the actual summit is scarcely ten
+feet wide. It occupied this indefatigable scientist two days to make the
+ascent from Toluca and return.
+
+But let us tell the patient reader about Toluca itself. The streets are
+spacious, well-paved, and cleanly. A tramway takes us from the depot
+through the Calle de la Independencia, on which thoroughfare there is a
+statue of Hidalgo, which by its awkward pose and twisted limbs suggests
+the idea of a person under the influence of pulque. At the hotel Leon
+d'Oro, an excellent and well-served dinner was enjoyed, and it is spoken
+of here because such an experience is a _rara avis_ in the republic of
+Mexico. Among the numberless churches, a curious one will long be
+remembered, namely, the Santa Vera Cruz, the facade of which very much
+resembles that of a dime museum, having a lot of grotesquely-colored
+figures of saints standing guard.
+
+Toluca, notwithstanding its appearance of newness, is really one of the
+oldest settlements in the country, dating from the year 1533. Activity
+and growth are manifest on all sides. There is a spacious alameda in the
+environs, but it is not kept in very good condition. The town has two
+capacious theatres, and a large bull-ring, which is infamously noted for
+its many fatal encounters. The bull-ring and the cockpit are two special
+blots upon this otherwise attractive place,--attractive, we mean, as
+compared with most Mexican towns. Cock-fighting is the favorite resort
+of the amusement seekers, and in its way is made extremely cruel. One of
+the two birds pitted against each other must die in the ring. This and
+the hateful bull-fight were introduced by the Spanish invaders of Mexico
+centuries ago, and are still only too popular all over the land. In the
+cities one frequently meets a native with a game-cock under each arm,
+and at some of the inland railroad stations they are tied in long rows,
+each by its leg, and out of reach of the others, so that purchasers can
+make their selection. It must be a very small town in Mexico which does
+not contain one or more cockpits, not only as a Sunday resort for
+amusement, but also as a medium for the inveterate gambling propensities
+of the native people.
+
+Here, also, there is the usual profusion of Roman Catholic churches, but
+there is nothing remarkable about them. A couple of miles west of the
+city is the church of Nuestra Senora de Tecajic, in which is exhibited a
+"miraculous" image which is held in great veneration by the credulous
+Indians. It is a picture painted on coarse cotton cloth, and
+representing the assumption of the Virgin. This is an ancient shrine,
+and has been in existence over two hundred years.
+
+Near Toluca is an extinct volcano, the crater of which forms a large
+lake of unknown depth, the water being as cold as ice.
+
+The city supported several notable convents previous to the confiscation
+of the church properties, which are now utilized for schools,
+hospitals, and public offices. One educational establishment, the
+Instituto Literario, is perhaps the widest known institution of learning
+in Mexico, and has educated most of the distinguished men of the
+country. It may be called the Harvard College of the republic. The
+edifice devoted to the purpose is a very spacious one, and besides its
+various other departments, it contains a fine library and a museum of
+natural history, together with a well-arranged gymnasium.
+
+Toluca has the best and largest general market which we saw in Mexico.
+It is all under cover, and each article has its appropriate place of
+sale, meats, fruits, vegetables, fish, flowers, pottery, baskets, shoes,
+and sandals. It was a general market day when we chanced to be upon the
+spot, and the throng of country people who had come in to the city to
+dispose of their wares could not have numbered less than a couple of
+thousand. Such a mingling of colors, of cries, of commodities! The whole
+populace of the place seemed to be in the streets.
+
+We chanced to see in the patio of a private dwelling-house at Toluca a
+specimen of that little tropical gem, the coral-tree, a curious and
+lovely freak of vegetation, its small but graceful stem, six or seven
+feet in height, being topped above the pendent, palm-shaped foliage with
+a prominent bit of vegetable coral of deepest red, precisely in the form
+of the Mediterranean sea-growth from which it takes its name. A pure
+white campanile with its inverted hanging flowers, like metallic bells,
+which it so much resembles, stood beside the coral-tree.
+
+An excursion of about thirty miles on the Mexican and Vera Cruz Railroad
+took us in sight of the two remarkable pyramids erected to the gods
+Tonateuh, the sun, and Meztli, the moon, situated near the present
+village of San Juan Teotihuacan. With the exception of the pyramid at
+Cholula, these are doubtless the most ancient prehistoric remains on the
+soil of Mexico. That dedicated to the moon has been so far penetrated as
+to discover a long gallery with a couple of wells situated very nearly
+in the middle of the mound. The entrance to this is on the southern
+side, at about two thirds of the elevation. What the purpose of these
+pits could have been, no one can say. There are still some remains on
+the pyramid dedicated to the sun which indicate that a temple once
+occupied the spot, which is said to have been destroyed by the Spaniards
+nearly four hundred years ago. Excavations show that the neighboring
+ground is full of ancient tombs. The pyramid dedicated to the sun-god is
+a little larger than the other, being about two hundred feet high and
+seven hundred feet in length at the base, with a nearly corresponding
+width.
+
+Speaking of Teotihuacan, Bancroft says: "Here kings and priests were
+elected, ordained, and buried. Hither flocked pilgrims from every
+direction to consult the oracles, to worship in the temples of the sun
+and moon, and to place sacrificial offerings on the altars of their
+deities. The sacred city was ruled by the long-haired priests of the
+sun, famous for their austerity and their wisdom. Through the hands of
+these priests, as the Spanish writers tell us, yearly offerings were
+made of the first fruits of the fields; and each year at harvest-time, a
+solemn festival was celebrated, not unattended by human sacrifice." In
+the neighborhood of these huge mounds there are traces of a large and
+substantially built city having once existed. It is believed to have
+been twenty miles in circumference. Obsidian knives, arrowheads, stone
+pestles, and broken plaster trowels are often found just below the
+surface of the soil. A large number of smaller pyramids stand at various
+distances about the two principal ones which we have named. These do not
+exceed twenty-five or thirty feet in height, and are thought to have
+been dedicated to the stars, and also to have served as sepulchres for
+illustrious men. We have mounds of a similar character and size to these
+secondary ones in the Western and Middle States of the Union.
+
+After passing through several small cities and towns, by taking a branch
+road, the city of Pachuca is reached, at eighty-five miles from the city
+of Mexico. It is interesting especially as being a great mining centre
+which has been worked long and successfully. It was in this place that
+the process of amalgamation was discovered, and a means whereby the
+crude ores as dug from the mines are most readily made to yield up the
+precious metal which they contain. It will be remembered in this
+connection that for more than two centuries Mexico has furnished the
+world with its principal supply of silver, and that she probably
+exports to-day about two million dollars worth of the precious metal
+each month. The production of gold is only incidental, as it were, while
+the output of silver might be doubled. The ore of this district is
+almost wholly composed of blackish silver sulphides. Mr. Frederick A.
+Ober, who has written much and well upon Mexico and her resources, tells
+us that the sum total coined by all the mints in the country, so far as
+known, was, up to 1884, over three billions of dollars, while the
+present annual product is greater than the amount furnished by all the
+mines of Europe.
+
+Pachuca is the capital of the State of Hidalgo, lying on a plain at an
+altitude of eight thousand feet and more, environed by purple hills, and
+is one of the oldest mining districts in the republic, having been
+worked long before the Spanish conquest. It has a population of about
+twenty thousand, nearly half of whom are Indian miners. The surrounding
+hills are scarred all over with the opening of mines. In all, there are
+between eighty and a hundred of them grouped near together at Pachuca.
+The streets are very irregular and narrow, the houses being mostly one
+story in height, and built of stone. The place is said to be healthy as
+a residence, though in a sanitary sense it is far from cleanly. A muddy
+river makes its way through the town, the dwellings rising terrace upon
+terrace on either side. The market-place is little more than a mound of
+dirt; cleanliness is totally neglected, and everything seems to be
+sacrificed to the one purpose of obtaining silver, which is the one
+occupation. The wages of the miners are too often gambled away or
+wasted in liquor. There are both English and American miners at work
+with fair pecuniary success; and this is almost the only locality where
+foreign miners have been introduced. Government supports a school here
+for teaching practical mining, established in an imposing structure
+which was once a convent.
+
+Quite a colony of Cornish miners emigrated to this place a few years
+since, many of whom have acquired considerable means and have become
+influential citizens. Here and in the immediate district, including Real
+del Monte to the northwest, El Chico to the north, and Santa Rosa to the
+west, there are nearly three hundred silver mines, all more or less
+valuable. The most famous is named the Trinidad, which has yielded forty
+million dollars to its owners in a period of ten years! Real del Monte
+stands at an elevation of a little over nine thousand feet above the
+sea. The country which surrounds this district is extremely interesting
+in point of scenery. It was here that an English mining company came to
+grief pecuniarily, under the name of the Real del Monte Mining Company.
+At the organization of the enterprise, its shares were a hundred pounds
+sterling each; but they sold in one year in the London market for
+sixteen hundred pounds a share! The management was of a very reckless
+and extravagant character. Economy is certainly more necessary in
+conducting a silver mine than in nearly any other business. After a few
+years, it was found that sixteen million dollars worth of silver had
+been mined and realized upon, while the expenses had amounted to twenty
+million dollars,--a deficit of four million dollars in a brief period.
+The property was then sold to a Mexican company for a merely nominal
+sum, and is now regularly worked at a handsome percentage of profit upon
+the final cost. Much of the modern machinery was promptly discarded, and
+the new managers returned to the old methods of milling the ore. The
+Indians who bring in the supplies from the vicinity for this mining town
+are typical of the race all over the country. At their homes, far away
+from the city, they live in mud cabins, under a thatched roof, with the
+earth for a floor. One room serves for every purpose, and is often
+shared with pigs and poultry. These Indians do not eat meat once a
+month, nay, scarcely once a year. Some wild fruits are added to their
+humble fare, which consists almost wholly of tortillas, or cake made
+from maize and half baked over charcoal. A rush mat serves them for a
+bed, a serape as an overcoat by day and a blanket at night. The men wear
+a coarse, unbleached cotton shirt and cotton drawers reaching to the
+knees, leaving legs and feet bare. The women wear a loose cotton chemise
+and a colored skirt wrapped about the loins, the legs, feet, and arms
+being bare. They supply the town with poultry, charcoal, eggs, pottery,
+mats, baskets, and a few vegetables, often trotting thirty miles over
+hills and plains with a load of one hundred and twenty pounds or more on
+their backs, in order to reach the market, where a dollar, or perhaps
+two, is all they can hope to get for the two or three days' journey.
+
+An Indian will cheerfully spend four days in the mountains to burn a
+small quantity of charcoal, load it upon his back, and take it
+twenty-five miles to market, where it will sell for half a dollar or
+seventy-five cents. When he gets home, he has earned from ten to fifteen
+cents a day, and traveled fifty or sixty miles on foot to do it! If the
+poor native lives anywhere within the influence of a Catholic priest,
+the probability is that the priest will get half of this pittance. There
+is a local saying here that "Into the open doors of the Roman Catholic
+Church goes all the small change of Mexico." This is a sad story, but it
+is a true one; and it represents the actual condition of a large class
+of the country people known as Indians. The condition of our own Western
+tribes of aborigines is, in comparison, one of luxury. And yet these
+Mexicans, as a rule, are temperate and industrious. The women, though
+doomed to a life of toil and hardship, are not made slaves, nor beaten
+by fathers or husbands, as is too often the case among our Western
+tribes.
+
+We are speaking of the Aztecs pure and simple, such as have kept their
+tribal language, habits, and customs. They form nearly two thirds of the
+populace of the republic, and, as a body, are ignorant to the last
+degree, complete slaves to superstition of all sorts. The idolatrous
+instinct inherited from their Indian ancestors finds satisfaction in
+bowing before the hosts of saints, virgins, pictures, and images
+generally, which the Catholic Church presents for their adoration; while
+their simplicity and ignorance permit them to be dazed and overawed, if
+not converted, by a faith which presents itself in such theatrical form
+as to captivate both their eyes and ears. "This people have changed
+their ceremonies, but not their religious dogmas," says Humboldt,
+significantly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Puebla, the Sacred City.--General Forey.--Battle-Ground.--View of the
+    City.--Priestly Miracles.--The Cathedral.--Snow-Crowned Mountains.
+    --A Cleanly Capital.--The Plaza Mayor.--A Typical Picture.--The Old
+    Seller of Rosaries.--Mexican Ladies.--Palm Sunday.--Church Gala Day.
+    --Education.--Confiscation of Church Property.--A Curious Arch.--A
+    Doll Image.--Use of Glazed Tiles.--Onyx a Staple Production.--Fine
+    Work of Native Indian Women.--State of Puebla full of Rich Resources.
+    --A Dynamite Bomb.--The Key of the Capital.
+
+
+Our next objective point is Puebla, situated seventy-five miles, more or
+less, southeast of the city of Mexico. It is the capital of the state of
+the same name, and in a military point of view is the key to the
+national capital. It has often changed hands with the fortunes of war,
+both civil and foreign, which have so long distracted this land of the
+sun. One of the most desperate fights which took place between the
+Mexicans and the French forces occurred here, the event being celebrated
+by the people of the republic annually as a national festival. Puebla
+cost the intruders a three months' siege and the loss of many lives in
+their ranks before it yielded. General Forey, the commander of the
+besieging force, increased as far as possible the difficulties of the
+conflict, in order to send, with the customary French bombast, brilliant
+bulletins to Paris, and thus bind a victor's wreath about his own brow,
+and enable him to obtain a much-coveted marshalship. In this he was
+successful, as he was promoted to that dignity upon his return to
+France. The fact was that an ordinary fighting column of American or
+English troops would have taken the place in twenty-four hours, the
+defense being totally inadequate, and the Mexican soldiers comparatively
+insignificant. The defenders of the place were raw and undisciplined,
+and composed of the worst possible material. Many of them were peons who
+had been impressed at the point of the bayonet; others were taken from
+the prisons and put at once into the ranks. As we have already stated,
+this is a common practice in Mexico.
+
+In the environs of the town is what is called the hill of Guadalupe,
+famous in the annals of Mexican history, this being the principal
+battle-ground of the 5th of May. The Mexican forces were four thousand
+strong, defended by earthworks improvised by cutting down the walls of
+the church of Guadalupe. The French troops were six thousand strong. The
+defenders were under command of General Zaragoza; the French, under
+General de Lorencez, who attacked the fort with great dash and vigor.
+The Mexicans repulsed them with heavy loss to the attacking party. It
+was not a very important battle, but its moral effect upon the Mexicans
+was excellent. They realized that they were comparatively raw troops,
+and that their enemies were trained soldiers of the much-lauded French
+army. Though it was only a gallant repulse, it was heralded all over the
+country as being a great victory, and probably had as much effect upon
+the popular mind as though it had been. It gave them courage to continue
+their warfare against the invaders with increased determination. Five
+years later, the position was reversed, when General Porfirio Diaz--now
+President--took Puebla by storm and made prisoners of its French
+defenders. Between the occurrence of these battles the fortifications on
+the hill of Guadalupe had been erected. The view from the fort is one of
+extraordinary interest, taking in three snow-capped mountains, and
+affording a comprehensive panorama of the city with its myriad domes and
+fine public buildings, the tree-decked Plaza Mayor, the alameda, the
+stone bridge over the Aloyac, while over the Cerro de San Juan is seen
+the church of Los Remedios, which crowns the great earth-pyramid of
+Cholula. To the south of the city lies the interesting suburb of Jonaco,
+and to the north, on the hill of the Loreto, stands the fort of the
+Cinco de Mayo.
+
+Puebla contains between eighty and ninety thousand inhabitants, and is
+rated as the fourth city of the republic in point of population and
+general importance. It certainly rivals the larger cities in the
+character of its principal buildings, which are mostly constructed of
+granite, as well as in some other respects. Among the citizens it bears
+the fanciful name of La Puebla de los Angeles (The City of the Angels).
+One might reasonably think this was on account of its beautiful
+situation and salubrious climate; the veracious chroniclers tell us it
+was because the walls of the grand cathedral were erected amid the songs
+of angels. What would any Roman Catholic institution be in Mexico
+without its mystery and miracles? In this instance, the legend runs to
+the effect that the angels built as much each night upon the walls of
+the church while it was erecting as the terrestrial workmen did each
+day. It is of basaltic material, supported by massive buttresses, and as
+a whole is surpassingly grand. High up over the central doorway of the
+main front is placed in carved stone the insignia of the order of the
+Golden Fleece. The interior is as effective and elegant as that of any
+church we can recall, having some fine old bronzes and valuable
+paintings, the latter well worthy of special attention, and embracing
+some thirty examples. The woodwork upon the grand altar shows an
+artistic excellence which is rarely excelled. The two organs are
+encased, also, in richly carved wood, exhibiting figures of angels
+blowing trumpets. The interior adornments, as a whole, are undoubtedly
+the finest of any church or cathedral in Mexico. A majority of writers
+consider that the cathedral of the national capital is the grandest
+church on the continent of America, but with this we cannot agree; to
+our mind, the cathedral of Puebla, all things considered, is its
+superior.
+
+Puebla might be appropriately called the city of churches, for, at a
+short distance, the countless domes and steeples looming above the flat
+tops of the houses are the main feature. We believe that it has as many
+edifices occupied for religions purposes as the city of Mexico. The twin
+towers of its stately cathedral are especially conspicuous and
+beautiful. The town was founded three hundred and sixty years ago, and
+retains, apparently, more of its ancient Spanish character than most of
+its sister cities. From any favorably situated spot in the town, for
+instance from the hill of Guadalupe, one beholds rising in the
+southwest, twenty-five miles away, the snowy crown of the world-renowned
+Popocatepetl, the view of this mountain being much superior to that had
+at the national capital, while the two hardly less famous mountains of
+Orizaba and Iztaccihuatl are also in sight, though at farther distances.
+The rarefied atmosphere makes all these elevations clear to the view
+with almost telescopic power.
+
+The nights here are a revelation of calmness and beauty. The stars are
+much brighter than they appear to us in the dense atmosphere we inhabit.
+The North Star and the Southern Cross are both visible, though only a
+portion of the Dipper is to be seen. Within the points of the Southern
+Cross there is a brilliant cluster of stars, which are not apparent to
+the naked eye, but which are made visible by the use of the telescope,
+shining like a group of gems in a choice necklace. How glorious is the
+sky on such nights as we experienced at Puebla, so full of repose; no
+force can disturb its eternal peacefulness! Below, all about us, rages a
+nervous activity; every one is stricken with the fever of living; but we
+raise our eyes to that broad, blue, star-spangled expanse, and behold
+only the calm, adorable majesty of heaven.
+
+There are extensive manufactories in Puebla, especially in cotton goods,
+leather, soap, hats, matches, and earthenware; indeed, it has been
+called the Lowell of Mexico. It is also destined to become eventually a
+considerable railroad centre, having already established connections
+with the capital, Vera Cruz, and other important points. There are six
+railroad depots in the city, each representing a more or less important
+railway line.
+
+The stranger is agreeably struck with the appearance of Puebla at first
+sight, and is confirmed in this impression as he becomes better
+acquainted with its mild and healthful climate, tempered by being more
+than seven thousand feet above the sea level, its wide, cleanly streets,
+running exactly east and west, north and south, its beautiful,
+flower-decked Plaza Mayor, its fine public squares, the interesting
+Moorish _portales_ nearly surrounding the plaza, its gray old churches,
+and its neat stores and houses, having their various-colored fronts
+ornamented by iron balconies. The ever-present contrast between wealth
+and poverty, so striking in most of the Mexican cities, did not seem so
+prominent here. The people were certainly better clothed, and looked
+more cleanly and respectable. We saw very few beggars in the streets.
+The lame and the blind must have been taken care of by the municipal
+authorities, for none were to be seen in public. The city is clean in
+all its visible belongings. There are no offensive smells, such as greet
+one in the badly-drained capital of the republic. The thoroughfares teem
+with a bright, cheerful population, often barefooted and in rags, to be
+sure, but still smiling and good natured. True, we first saw the town
+under favorable auspices, it being Palm Sunday, and those who had them
+probably donned holiday costumes. The Plaza Mayor was radiant with the
+brilliant colors of the rebosas and serapes, agreeably relieved by the
+black lace mantillas of the more select senoras and senoritas. Many of
+these wore marvelously high heels, not infrequently having only Eve's
+stockings inside of their gayly-ornamented boots! The Indian women who
+had come to town to see the church ceremonials formed an unconscious but
+interesting portion of the holiday show in their sky-blue or red
+rebosas, and the variegated skirt wound about waists and hips, leaving
+the brown limbs and bare feet exposed. They were gathered all about the
+square, awaiting their opportunity; and as half a hundred came pouring
+down the broad steps, others hastened to take their places inside the
+church.
+
+The cathedral already alluded to forms one whole side of the Plaza
+Mayor. It is not quite so large as that of the city of Mexico, though it
+has the effect of being so. Like that, it stands upon a raised platform,
+built of dark porphyritic stone, the surface being five or six feet
+above the level of the plaza. The principal front is in the Doric style;
+but the two tall side towers are Ionic. The two domes, covered with the
+glittering native tiles, throw back the sunlight with a dazzling mottled
+effect. The chapels of the interior are perhaps a little tawdry with
+their profuse gilding, and the main altar is dazzling with gold, having
+cost, it is stated, over a hundred thousand dollars. The pulpit is
+especially curious, and was carved by a native artist from onyx, which
+came from a neighboring quarry. The floor is of marble, while that of
+the more pretentious edifice at the city of Mexico is of wood, a token
+indicative of more important matters wherein the Puebla cathedral is
+superior in finish. The main roof, with its castellated cornice and many
+pinnacles, its broken outlines, and crumbling, gray old stone sides, is
+wonderfully picturesque.
+
+Not many years ago there hung from the lofty ceiling a famous and most
+beautiful golden lamp of exquisite workmanship, the intrinsic value of
+which is said to have been over one hundred thousand dollars. During the
+civil war it was ruthlessly broken up and coined into doubloons to aid
+General Miramon to keep the field while representing the church party.
+The bells attached to the cathedral are of the most costly character and
+of superior excellence. These are eighteen in number, the largest of
+which weighs about ten tons. One is at a loss to understand why so many
+and so expensive bells are required, since they are not arranged as
+chimes, and have no apparent connection with each other.
+
+A typical picture is recalled which presented itself as we entered for
+the first time the broad portal of the cathedral, where an old,
+wrinkled, bare-limbed woman, poor and decrepit, sat upon the stones at
+the entrance of the church offering rosaries for sale. She did not
+speak, but held up a cross with its attachments, accompanied by a look
+so cadaverous, so weak and pitiful, that she got the silver she desired
+and kept her beads. The poor creature, so aged, emaciated, and ragged,
+had somehow a strangely significant look about her, suggestive of having
+known better days. It was a festal occasion, and many bright-eyed
+senoritas, casting stolen glances about them while accompanied by their
+duennas, were passing into the church. What a contrast of youth and age,
+between these fair young creatures so richly clad, so fresh and full of
+life, and the faded, hopeless vender of rosaries resting her weary limbs
+on the flinty portal!
+
+The Mexican ladies have none of the languor of their continental
+sisters, but are overflowing with vivacity and spirit. We remember these
+buds of humanity at the church door; they seemed to be "spoiling" for a
+chance flirtation, looking out from deep black eyes full of roguishness.
+Within the dimly-lighted church the smell of burning incense, the sharp
+tinkling of the bell before the distant altar, the responsive kneeling
+and bowing of the worshipers, the dull murmur of the officiating priest,
+the deep, solemn tones of the great organ,--all combined to impress
+themselves upon the memory, if not to challenge an unbeliever's
+devotion.
+
+At midday, on the occasion of our second visit, the priests were clad in
+the gayest colors, the robes of some being red, some blue, others white,
+and all more or less wrought with gold and silver ornamentation. The
+attendants and the priests who were not officiating carried tall palm
+branches. The marble floor of the nave was covered with kneeling
+devotees, among whom every class of the populace was represented; rags
+and satins were side by side, bare feet and silken hose were next to
+each other. Indians, Spaniards, and foreign visitors mingled
+indiscriminately; there were few men, but many women. The choir was
+singing to an organ accompaniment, while the military band was playing
+in the plaza close at hand, opposite the open church doors, causing
+rather an incongruous mingling of sounds, and yet with the remarkable
+surroundings it did not strike the ear as inharmonious. Here and there,
+along the side of the church, a woman was seen kneeling, with her lips
+close to the little grating of the confessional. Now and again the
+closely wrapped figure of a man was observed making its way among the
+crowd, with a dark and sinister expression upon his face betraying his
+lawless character. He was here prompted by no devotional impulse, but to
+watch and mark some intended victim. As we came out of the cathedral,
+long lines of natives were seen, men, women, and children, sitting on
+the edge of the sidewalks, or squatting near the low garden wall of the
+church, eating tortillas, while an earthen jar of pulque was
+occasionally passed among them, all drinking from the same vessel.
+Another group close by these had a lighted cigarette which they were
+handing from one to another, men and women alike, each taking a long
+whiff, which was swallowed to be slowly emitted at the nostrils. It was
+a gala day, a church festival, of which there are something less than
+three hundred and sixty-five in the year. These idlers had nothing to do
+and plenty of time to do it in. Puebla has always been most loyal to
+the Catholic Church, even when directly under the evil influence of the
+Inquisition. It is visited to-day by thousands of Roman Catholics from
+various parts of the country at periods when church ceremonials are in
+progress, because they are more elaborately carried out here than in any
+other city of the republic. Indeed, the place is generally known and
+spoken of by Mexicans as "The Sacred City."
+
+It seemed on inquiry and from casual observation that more attention was
+given to the cause of education here than in some other districts we had
+visited, colleges and schools being maintained by the state as well as
+by the municipality, however much opposed by the priestly hierarchy. The
+fact is, that education is the true panacea for the ills of this people,
+and it is the only one. It is the poor man's capital. Freedom can exist
+only where popular education is fostered. The soldier and the priest
+have been too long abroad in Mexico. When the schoolteacher's turn shall
+come, then let tyranny and bigotry beware. The primer, not the bayonet,
+should be relied upon to uphold the liberty of a nation. Thirty or forty
+years ago illiteracy was the rule in Mexico; but each year sees a larger
+and larger percentage of the population able to read and write. This
+evidence of real progress is not confined to any locality, but is
+widespread among both those of Spanish descent and the half-castes. The
+situation of the peons is still one of entire mental darkness.
+
+The episcopal palace, near the cathedral, is a picturesque edifice, with
+its red roof tiles faced with white. So late as 1869, the city
+contained a dozen nunneries and nine or ten monasteries; but these
+institutions are happily of the past, the buildings which they once
+occupied having been occupied for various business purposes, as
+hospitals, public schools, and libraries. When the confiscation of the
+enormous wealth of the church was decreed and carried out by the
+government some twenty years since, that organization actually held a
+mortgage on two thirds of the real property of the entire country. The
+priesthood was completely despoiled of even their churches, which they
+now occupy only on sufferance, the legal fee in the same being vested in
+the government. To emphasize this fact one sees the national flag waving
+on special occasions over the cathedrals as well as other government
+properties. Their other real estate has been sold and appropriated to
+various uses, as we have shown. The indefatigable priesthood are and
+have ever since been steadily at work accumulating from the poor,
+overtaxed, and superstitious people money which we were told was hoarded
+and so disposed of as not to be again liable to seizure under any
+circumstances. It is the boast of the church party that their
+confiscated millions shall all be gathered into their coffers again.
+They may possibly get back the gold, but their lost power will never be
+regained. Intelligence is becoming too broadcast in Mexico, and even the
+common people begin to think for themselves.
+
+In the church of San Francisco, erected in 1667, there was pointed out
+to us an arch, supporting one of the galleries, so flat that no one
+believed it would stand even until the church was dedicated. So
+pertinaciously was the architect badgered and criticised at the time of
+its construction, that he finally lost faith in his own design, and fled
+in despair before the threatening arch was tested. It was therefore left
+for the monks to remove the supporting framework at the proper time.
+This they ingeniously did without any danger to themselves, by setting
+the woodwork on fire and letting the supporting beams slowly burn away!
+To the wonder of all, when they had been thus removed, the arch stood
+firmly in its place, and there it stands to-day, sound and apparently
+safe, after being in use for two hundred years, and having passed
+through the severe test of more than one slight earthquake. In this
+church, which, after the cathedral, is the most interesting in Puebla,
+we were shown by an old, gray-haired priest the little doll representing
+the Virgin Mother which Cortez brought with him from Spain to Cuba, and
+thence to Vera Cruz, carrying it through all of his campaigns with
+apparent religious veneration. It is astonishing to see the reverence
+with which this toy is regarded. Adjoining the church is a reconstructed
+convent which is now used as a military hospital, and before which
+lounged an awkward squad of soldiers belonging to the regular army.
+There are several very old churches in the city, on whose eaves and
+cornices small trees and tropical bushes, which have planted themselves
+in these exposed places, have grown to considerable size, surrounded by
+deep-green moss, shaded by the rounded domes and lofty towers.
+
+A feature of the town which is sure to attract the attention of a
+stranger is the fanciful manner in which the people adapt richly colored
+and highly ornamented glazed tiles for both internal and external
+decoration of public and private buildings. The effect of this was
+certainly incongruous, not to say tawdry. There are eight or ten tile
+factories in Puebla, and one glass manufactory. Some of the work turned
+out in both these lines is really very artistic and attractive. Large
+quantities are regularly shipped to various parts of the country. In
+several shops collections of onyx ornaments are to be seen, besides
+handsome baskets and mats of colored straw, all of which are of native
+workmanship. Onyx may be said to be the rage of Puebla. We remember an
+attractive store solely devoted to the sale of this stone, where the
+large and most artistic display formed a veritable museum. Here members
+of our party expended considerable sums of money in the purchase of
+pretty mementoes to take home with them as souvenirs of Puebla de los
+Angeles. Onyx articles are shipped from here in considerable quantities
+to London and Paris, where there are agencies for their sale. The
+quarries whence these fine specimens come are fifty miles away from the
+city, near Mount El Pizarro.
+
+The State of Puebla is remarkable for producing a fine quality of wheat,
+and also for its heavy yield of other cereals. One may look in vain
+elsewhere for better apples, pears, peaches, and plums than are offered
+in the public market of this attractive town, all of which are grown in
+its immediate vicinity. Articles of embroidery were offered at one of
+the open stands in the market-place fully equal to the Fayal product so
+well known in Boston. The very low price demanded for fine linen
+handkerchiefs and napkins, representing days of patient labor on each,
+showed how cheaply these native women estimate their time. They will
+follow the most intricate design which may be given to them as a
+pattern, reproducing it with Chinese fidelity, and with as much apparent
+ease as though it were their own conception. It seemed to us, as we
+examined this delicate product, that art needlework could hardly go
+further as to perfection of detail. This work is not that of dainty
+fingers and delicate hands, educated and taught embroidery in some
+convent school, but the outcome of very humble adobe cabins, and the
+instinctive artistic taste of hands accustomed to the severe drudgery of
+a semi-barbarous life. It was found that the sales-people, when they
+first receive these goods from the natives, are obliged to wash and
+bleach them thoroughly, they are so begrimed, but they know very well
+how beautifully the work will prove to be executed, and gladly purchase
+it even in this soiled condition.
+
+For so restricted a territory, Puebla contains a great aggregate of
+valuable resources,--a rich and extensive coal-mine near by on the ranch
+of Santa Barbara, inexhaustible stone-quarries on the hill of Guadalupe,
+abundant deposits of kaolin close at hand for the manufacture of
+porcelain ware, a sufficient supply of material for making lime to last
+a hundred years, an iron mine within eight or ten miles which employs a
+large foundry, running night and day; while the neighboring foothills
+are covered with an almost inexhaustible supply of good merchantable
+wood. Certainly, no city in Mexico is better situated as to natural
+resources. The state is so located as to embrace a great variety of
+climate. In the north it produces wheat, corn, and other cereals, also
+affording grazing ground to immense herds of domestic animals, while in
+the south it yields liberal crops of cotton, tobacco, sugar, rice, and a
+great variety of fruits, together with many rich and beautiful cabinet
+and dye woods. Truly, this is a record which few localities can equal in
+any zone.
+
+We have said that Puebla is the key to the national capital. This is
+proven by the fact that the chief events in its history have been the
+battles fought for its possession. A few of those which most readily
+occur to the memory are its capture by Iturbide, August 2, 1821; its
+occupation by Scott, May 25, 1847; its successful defense against the
+French, May 5, 1862; its capture by the French, May 17, 1863; and its
+capture _from_ the French, April 2, 1867, by General Diaz, now President
+of the republic.
+
+We were told that the thieving populace of Puebla had so provoked the
+agent of the company who own the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz, by
+abstracting everything they could lay their hands on, whether available
+for any purpose of their own or not, that he finally resolved to set a
+trap which should teach them a severe lesson. A small dynamite bomb with
+its brass screw at the vent was left exposed in the yard at night. One
+of the prowling, thieving peons climbed the wall and attempted to
+abstract the cap,--not because he was in want of a brass cap to a
+dynamite bomb; he would have stolen a railroad spike or an iron tie all
+the same. He hadn't fooled with this instrument more than sixty seconds
+before it was discharged in his hands with a report like a cannon. The
+consequence was, that not enough of that would-be thief could be found
+to give the body Christian burial! It was observed thereafter that peons
+didn't feel sufficient interest in the company's affairs to climb the
+wall which incloses the depot, and meddle with the articles of railroad
+property lying about the yard. This was a pretty severe dose of
+medicine, but it wrought a radical cure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Ancient Cholula.--A Grand Antiquity.--The Cheops of Mexico.--Traditions
+    relating to the Pyramid.--The Toltecs.--Cholula of To-Day.--
+    Comprehensive View.--A Modern Tower of Babel.--Multiplicity of Ruins.
+    --Cortez's Exaggerations.--Sacrifices of Human Beings.--The Hateful
+    Inquisition.--A Wholesale Murderous Scheme.--Unreliable Historians.
+    --Spanish Falsification.--Interesting Churches.--Off the Track.--
+    Personal Relics of Cortez.--Torturing a Victim.--Aztec Antiquities.
+    --Tlaxcala.--Church of San Francisco.--Peon Dwellings.--Cortez and
+    the Tlaxcalans.
+
+
+In leaving Puebla for Cholula, which lies at a distance of only a couple
+of leagues to the westward, we first pass on the left the fine
+architectural group formed by the church of San Javior and Guadalupe,
+with its attractive cluster of domes, spires, and pinnacles. Our course
+lies through broad maguey fields and across the Atoyac River, a shallow
+stream most of the year; but at times it becomes a rushing torrent. The
+country hereabouts is under excellent cultivation, though the awkward
+plough introduced by the Spaniards centuries ago still does service
+here. Almost as soon as the city disappears from view, there looms in
+the distance the grand pyramid of Cholula, crowned by a lofty modern
+chapel, its dome of enameled and parti-colored tiles glistening in the
+warm sunshine. Far beyond the pyramid the volcanoes are seen in their
+lonely grandeur. Cholula lies upon a perfectly level plain, broken only
+by the great artificial mound called the pyramid, situated on the
+eastern outskirt of the present city. The town, Spanish history tells
+us, once contained over two hundred thousand inhabitants; but to-day
+there are less than nine thousand, while of its four hundred reputed
+temples, scarcely a trace now remains.
+
+When Cortez made his advent here he found Cholula to be the sacred city
+of the Aztecs, where their main body of high priests and their most
+venerated temples were located. Is it possible that these mud-built
+cabins represent a city once so grand and so populous? Can it be that
+these half-clad, half-fed peons whom we see about us, exhibiting only a
+benighted intelligence, represent Aztecs and Toltecs who are supposed to
+have possessed a liberal share of art and culture; a people, whose
+astronomers were able to determine for themselves the apparent motion of
+the sun and the length of the solar year: who had the art of polishing
+the hardest of precious stones; who cast choice and perfect figures of
+silver and gold in one piece; and who made delicate filigree ornaments
+without solder? These are achievements belonging to quite a high state
+of civilization. The cabins consist mostly of one room, in which lives a
+whole family, with the bare earth for a floor, the open door often
+affording the only light which reaches the interior. There are some
+better dwellings here, to be sure; but all are adobe, and this brief
+description is applicable to nine tenths of the people and their rude
+dwellings.
+
+Cholula has one grand antiquity, which even the ruthless finger of Time
+has made little impression upon, being the remains of one of those
+remarkable earth-pyramids which was probably built by the Toltecs;
+though how they could erect a mountain without beasts of burden is an
+endless puzzle. The rains, winds, and storms of ages have opened
+crevices in the sides of the artificial hill; but these have only served
+to show what labor it must have cost to build the structure in stout
+layers of sun-dried brick, so substantially that it has lasted thus
+intact for many centuries. It is not at all unreasonable to fix the date
+of its completion at a thousand years ago. This peculiar elevation rises
+a little over two hundred feet above the plain, and measures about a
+thousand feet square at the base, forming one of the most interesting
+relics in all Mexico; though its height is less than half that of Cheops
+in Egypt, its base is twice as large, covering about as many acres as
+Boston Common. In its composition it strongly resembles the pyramids of
+Upper Egypt. On its summit is a level space one hundred and sixty feet
+square, the view from which is one of vast breadth and beauty, embracing
+the entire valley of Puebla. The four sides of the huge mound face the
+cardinal points, the whole being composed of alternate strata of adobe
+bricks and clay. The sides are mostly overgrown with trees and shrubs;
+but a winding road, well paved with stones laid in broad, deep steps,
+leads to the top. The constant wear of centuries has thrown the original
+shape somewhat out of harmony with the supposed idea; but there is
+quite enough extant to establish the original design. One corner has
+been excavated to a considerable extent to make room for the railway, an
+exposure which has served a double purpose, since it has proven the
+whole elevation to be artificial, constructed in layers, and not a
+natural hill, as some casual observers have declared it to be. The
+material of which the pyramid is composed is earth, sun-dried bricks,
+limestone, and lava. It is thought by some that besides having the apex
+crowned originally with a temple of worship, the sides were covered by
+adobe houses from base to near the summit, accommodating a large
+population. That there were once terraces and steps here which would
+carry out such an idea is very clear from the portions which have been
+laid bare by excavation.
+
+The mounds of our Western and Southwestern States are almost the
+counterpart of this grand elevation at Cholula, so far as the idea goes,
+except that they are mere pigmies in comparison. The fact is worth
+recalling that the same species of domestic implements of stone which
+are found from time to time deeply buried in portions of the United
+States are also exhumed here. So in the museum of the capital one sees
+stone hatchets, pestles, mortars, and arrowheads of the same shapes that
+we have been accustomed to find beneath the soil of our Northern States.
+
+The most casual observer will be satisfied that this pyramid dates long
+before the time of the Spanish conquest, and that it was not built by
+the race of Indians whom Cortez found in possession. It may represent a
+race who existed even prior to the Toltecs, to whom the Aztecs were
+indebted for all their arts and refinements, and upon which it is
+doubted if they much improved. No one can possibly say how many
+centuries are looking down upon us from this colossal ruin. We are told
+of one tradition, recorded by a Jesuit priest named Torquemada, which
+ascribes the origin of this pyramid to a period contemporary with that
+of the Tower of Babel, in the land of Shinar. The tradition also speaks
+of a great deluge, and says that this artificial mound was originally
+designed to reach the clouds; but the gods were angered by the attempt,
+and dispersed the workmen with lightning, after it had got to its
+present height. With mountains close at hand, so much loftier than any
+human agency could achieve, it is a mystery what motive could have
+actuated a people to rear this colossal mound except it was for the
+foundation of a temple. The pretended legend of aboriginal origin is no
+doubt a pure fabrication, like nine tenths of the priestly records
+relating to Mexico.
+
+The ancient builders erected a shrine and sacrificial stone on the
+summit of the pyramid. This idolatrous temple was promptly destroyed by
+Cortez, and the place where it stood is now occupied by a Roman Catholic
+chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Remedios. The present edifice is of
+quite modern construction, replacing the original chapel erected by the
+Spaniards, which was destroyed by fire. It struck us as being more than
+usually tawdry in it equipment. Its cupola is decidedly out of
+proportion to the small body of the structure. There are traditions
+among the natives here, as is usually the case in relation to all
+antique remains, telling of interior galleries and chambers of great
+extent; but no confidence is placed in such rumors. The excavation
+already referred to laid bare a tomb containing two skeletons, with a
+couple of idols in basalt, also a small collection of aboriginal
+pottery. The sepulchre was square, with stone walls supported by cypress
+beams. The discovery of these two skeletons in one corner and at the
+base of the pyramid does not indicate that it was reared for the purpose
+of a tomb. It would require the discovery of such a burial near the
+centre of the immense mound to indicate such a design.
+
+The hoary-headed monarch, Popocatepetl, looms in the distance, proudly
+dominating the scene, with Puebla and the hill of Cinco de Mayo on the
+right. The exceeding transparency of the atmosphere brings these distant
+objects seemingly close to the observer, as though he was looking at
+them through a telescope.
+
+The small city of Cholula is spread out at the base of the pyramid, and
+beyond it are wide, fertile fields of grain and alfalfa, with gardens of
+semi-tropical fruits. One large orchard seemed to be a very garden of
+Hesperides, yellow with golden oranges and sweet with fragrant blossoms.
+The pyramid originally stood near the centre of the town, the streets
+radiating from it; but the dwellings which once lined these
+thoroughfares have long since crumbled into dust, leaving standing only
+the useless stone churches, of which there are forty dotting the plain
+here and there, built without regard to any adjacent population. Two
+lesser pyramids are visible near the main elevation. Farther away, small
+villages, each with its church tower, add interest to the scene, while
+the mellow notes of distant bells mingle and float upon the air. The
+multiplicity of these churches shows how dense must have been the
+population in the time of Cortez, as it was the practice of the invading
+Spaniards to compel the natives not only to demolish their own temples,
+but to build a Christian church in place of each one thus destroyed. A
+number of the churches are abandoned and are gradually going to decay.
+"Why," said a practical individual of our party, "it's all churches and
+no town." The site of the ancient city is very evident from the lines of
+its regular streets stretching away in all directions.
+
+"I assure your majesty," wrote Cortez from Cholula to his sovereign in
+Spain, "that I have counted from a mosque or temple four hundred mosques
+and as many towers, all of which were mosques in this city." We have
+here an example of this adventurer's style of exaggeration and
+hyperbole. If we take three hundred and sixty from the four hundred
+"mosques" which he pretends to have seen, there will be forty left,
+which is probably about the truth. Cortez not only uses oriental words
+to express himself, but is exercised by a truly oriental extravagance in
+his stories. There are no "mosques" in Mexico, nor were the native
+temples anything like such structures. There are sufficient remains of
+Aztec temples left to show that they were plain in construction, of
+pyramidal form, without towers, and that their altars were erected on
+the summits in the open air, surrounded by broad platforms.
+
+This pyramid was dedicated to the benevolent god Quetzalcoatl, "the
+great, good, and fair god of the Aztecs." Yet, it seemed to have been
+considered necessary to sacrifice human life to his godship in a most
+sanguinary manner, as was the practice at the great temple of the
+capital. We are told that twelve thousand lives were laid at the feet of
+Quetzalcoatl in a single year! If this is true (which we very much
+doubt), one would say that the advent of Cortez with all his cruelty was
+a blessing that came none too soon. No matter how low the type of
+Christianity which replaced the murderous devotion of these idolaters,
+any change, it would seem, must have been for the better. The frightful
+barbarity of the Aztecs is apparently shown by the records of Spanish
+priests concerning the sacrificial stone, now preserved in the museum at
+the national capital, upon which the victims were bound, their hearts
+cut out and laid reverentially thereon, while their bodies were cast
+down the declivity of the pyramid to the exultant multitude below, who
+cooked and ate them at religious banquets. Even the hateful Inquisition
+was an improvement upon this ghastly cannibalism covered up by a cloak
+of religious rites.
+
+It was Southey who expressed the opinion in poetic lines that heaven
+made blind zeal and bloody avarice its ministers of vengeance against
+the Aztec idolaters. Still, the Aztec remains and is the governing race
+in Mexico, while the Spaniards as a distinct people have virtually
+disappeared.
+
+But we must take the record of these events with a degree of caution.
+That fable and history have been indiscriminately mingled by the Spanish
+authors is plain enough from the fact that ridiculous miracles are
+constantly recorded by them as having actually occurred, which were the
+pure invention of the priesthood, designed to influence and awe the
+ignorant native race. This reduces us to the unfortunate condition of
+being obliged to doubt what may have been historically true. The
+Inquisition exercised a censorship over everything designed for
+publication, and unless it subserved the interest of that fiendish
+institution, it was made to do so, or it was suppressed. These facts
+caused Prescott to say: "In short, the elements of truth and falsehood
+became so blended that history was converted into romance, and romance
+received the credit due to history." The confusion of fact and fiction
+in the writings of Spanish historians, as they are called, is so grave
+and obvious as simply to disgust the honest seeker after truth. This is
+the case not only as relating to Mexico, but the past story of Spain
+both at home and abroad. "What is history," says the first Napoleon,
+"but a fable agreed upon?"
+
+The horrid pictures of human sacrifice as represented by the Spanish
+chroniclers, also by the letters and despatches of Cortez, we do not
+credit, though undoubtedly they had some foundation in truth. It is the
+characteristic of all these records to persistently distort facts so as
+to further the purposes of the writers, and as to correctness where
+figures are concerned, they are scarcely ever to be relied upon. Though
+forced to admit this want of veracity, Prescott has relied almost
+entirely upon these sources for the material of his popular work. No
+person can calmly survey the field to-day, compare the statements of the
+various authors, and visit the country itself, without seeing clearly
+how much of absurd exaggeration and monstrous fiction has been foisted
+upon the reading public relative to this period of the conquest of
+Mexico.
+
+"These chroniclers," says Bancroft, "were swayed like other writers of
+their time, and all other times, by the spirit of the age, and by
+various religious, political, and personal prejudices."
+
+"I lay little stress upon Spanish testimonies," says Adair, "for time
+and ocular proof have convinced us of the labored falsehood of almost
+all their historical narrations."
+
+At the advent of the Spaniards, Cholula was doubtless the commercial
+centre of the plain; Puebla, the now large and thriving capital of the
+state, was then a mere hamlet in comparison. It was also the Mecca of
+the Aztecs, who came from far and near to bow down before Quetzalcoatl.
+The grand public square or plaza is still extant where Cortez
+perpetrated his most outrageous act of butchery, killing, it is said,
+three thousand Cholulans who had assembled unarmed and in good faith, in
+compliance with his request. Everything in and about this spacious area
+seems strangely silent and dilapidated, as though stricken by decay. The
+present interest and attraction of the place exists almost solely in
+the pyramid and the tragic legends of its vanished people. A few ancient
+trees ornament the neglected plaza, about which a score of weary burros
+were seen cropping the scanty herbage which springs up naturally here
+and there. The spot is said to exhibit some life on market-days, but it
+was lonely and deserted when we looked upon it, while the dry earth
+seemed on fire under the intense heat of the sun. It was difficult,
+while looking upon this gloomy area, to realize that the place was once
+conspicuous for its trade and manufactures, for its wealth and splendor.
+The social and official life of Cholula is reported at one time to have
+even rivaled the court of Montezuma. Here religious processions,
+sacrifices, and festivals were of continual occurrence, and no other
+city had so great a concourse of priests and so incessant a round of
+ceremonies.
+
+The church known as the Royal Chapel, and also as the Church of the
+Seven Naves, situated at the northeast corner of the plaza, was of
+considerable interest. The last named was closed, undergoing radical
+repairs; but our curiosity was aroused, and a small fee soon opened a
+side door through which entrance was effected. The repairs going on will
+greatly change its original appearance. One could not but regret to see
+its ancient and delicate Moorish frescoes ruthlessly obliterated, the
+colors and designing of which so completely harmonized with the
+architecture and with the dim light which struggled in through the deep,
+small, mullioned windows. This chapel, with its sixty-four supporting
+columns, forcibly recalled the peculiar interior of the cathedral
+mosque at Cordova in Spain, which, indeed, must have suggested to Cortez
+so close though diminutive a copy, for it was built by his special
+orders and after his specified plans.
+
+It is said that the early dwellers in this region excelled in various
+mechanical arts, especially in the working of metals and the manufacture
+of cotton and agave cloth, to which may be added a delicate kind of
+pottery, rivaling anything of the sort belonging to that period.
+Examples of this pottery are often exhumed in the neighborhood, and as
+we suspect are quite as often manufactured to order, for the present
+generation of Aztecs is not only very shrewd and cunning, but also very
+able in imitating all given models in earthenware. This sort of work
+forms a remunerative industry at the present time in Cholula. As we pass
+the open doors and windows of the dwelling-houses, cotton goods are
+weaving on hand looms by members of the families. Another local industry
+was observed here, namely, the manufacture of fireworks of a toy
+character, which we were told were shipped to all parts of the country.
+
+The engine which had drawn our train from Puebla hither, after doing so,
+managed to get derailed, and a Mexican crowd spent hours in an
+ineffectual attempt to get the iron horse once more upon the track. As
+the day drew to its close our party was prepared to return to Puebla;
+but there was the engine stubbornly fixed upon the sleepers of the
+track, and the wheels partially buried in the ground. Mexican ingenuity
+was not equal to the emergency, so Yankee genius stepped forward. One
+of our party conversant with such matters took charge, and by a few
+judicious directions and appliances improvised upon the spot, he soon
+had the heavy engine once more in its proper position, and we started
+back to Puebla amid the cheers of the Mexicans at Yankee skill and
+energy, which seemed to them equal to any exigency.
+
+A branch railway takes us from Puebla to Santa Ana, from whence ancient
+Tlaxcala is reached by tramway. It is the capital of the state bearing
+the same name, and has some four or five thousand inhabitants; it is
+credited with having had over fifty thousand three centuries ago. Had it
+not been that civil discord reigned at the time of the advent of Cortez
+here, he could never have conquered Montezuma; but the Tlaxcalans were
+induced by cunning diplomacy to join the Spaniards, and their united
+forces accomplished that which neither could have done single-handed.
+One is struck by the diminutive size of the native men and women at
+Tlaxcala. The latter are especially, short in stature, the never absent
+baby lashed to their backs making the mothers look still shorter.
+
+This place is remarkable for the accumulation of Aztec and Spanish
+antiquities. The municipal palace, situated on the east side of the
+plaza, contains four remarkable oil paintings bearing the date of the
+conquest. Here also is preserved the war-worn banner of Spain, which was
+carried by Cortez from the time of his first landing at Vera Cruz
+throughout all his triumphant career. The material is rich, being of
+heavy silk brocade, the color a light maroon, not badly faded
+considering its age. Large sums of money have been offered for this
+ancient and interesting banner, the object being to take it back to
+Spain, from whence it came nearly four hundred years ago; but the
+Tlaxcalans refuse to part with it at any price. Despite the lapse of so
+many years and its having passed through so many vicissitudes, the flag
+is nearly perfect at this writing. It is eight or nine feet long and six
+broad, cut in swallow-tail fashion. The iron spearhead bears the
+monogram of the sovereigns of Spain, and the original staff, now broken,
+is still preserved with the flag. Here one is also shown the arms of
+Tlaxcala illuminated on parchment and bearing the signature of Charles
+V., together with the standard presented to the local chiefs by Cortez;
+the robes which they wore when baptized, and a collection of idols which
+have been unearthed from time to time in this immediate neighborhood,
+are also shown in the municipal palace. In the corridor stands the great
+treasure chest, with departments for silver and gold. This was locked
+with four different keys, one being held by each of four officers who
+were unitedly responsible for the treasures, the chest thus requiring
+the presence of the four when there was occasion to open it.
+
+There are many personal relics of Cortez shown to the visitors at the
+municipal palace; but the intelligent observer, aided by the light of
+history, finds it difficult to accord much admiration to this man. He is
+represented to have been handsome, commanding in person, brave, but far
+from reckless, and to have possessed strong magnetic power over his
+associates and those whom he desired to influence. He was eloquent and
+persuasive, exercising an irresistible control over the half savage
+people whom he came to conquer. Another secret of his influence with the
+authorities at home, in Spain, was his never-failing fidelity to the
+legitimate sovereign, and the shrewd despatch of rich presents and much
+gold to his royal master. We know him to have been ambitious, cruel,
+heartless, avaricious, and false. He deserted his faithful wife in
+Spain, a second in Cuba (whom tradition accuses him of murdering), and
+was shamefully unfaithful to the devoted Marina, mother of his
+acknowledged son, she who was his native interpreter, and who more than
+once saved his life from immediate peril, finally guiding his footsteps
+to a victorious consummation of his most ambitious designs. Cortez owed
+more of his success to her than to his scanty battalions. If nothing
+else would serve to stamp his name with lasting infamy, the infernal
+torture which he inflicted upon the ill-fated Guatemozin, for the
+purpose of extorting information as to the hiding-place of the imperial
+treasures, should do so. The true record of the life of Cortez reads
+more like romance than like the truth. This is not perhaps the place to
+refer to his private life, which history admits to have been perfidious.
+Landing on the continent with a band scarcely more than half the number
+of a modern regiment, he prepared to traverse an unknown country
+thronged with savage tribes, with whose character, habits, and means of
+defense he was wholly unacquainted. We know that this romantic adventure
+was finally crowned with success, though meeting with various checks and
+stained with bloody episodes, that prove how the threads of courage and
+ferocity are inseparably blended in the woof and warp of Spanish
+character.
+
+Just above the town, on the hillside, is the ancient convent of San
+Francisco, which contains over one hundred paintings more than two
+centuries old. The old church of San Francisco, close at hand, dates
+from a period, three hundred and seventy years ago, when Mexican history
+often fades into fable. The approach is over a paved way, and through a
+road bordered by a double row of old trees, which form a gothic
+perspective of greenery. The convent now serves in part for the purpose
+of a military barrack, before which stand a few small cannon so
+diminutive as to have the appearance of toys. A few soldiers lounged
+lazily about, and some were asleep upon a bench. Probably they were
+doing guard duty after the Mexican style. On the hillside above the
+church of San Francisco is a modern church, and beyond it a Campo Santo.
+
+This gray old church, the oldest in Mexico, is certainly very
+interesting in its belongings, carrying us in imagination far into the
+dim past. "The earliest and longest have still the mastery over us,"
+says George Eliot. This was the first church erected by the Spaniards in
+Mexico, and was in constant use by Cortez, who, notwithstanding his
+heartless cruelty, his unscrupulous and murderous deeds, his gross
+selfishness, faithlessness, and ambition, was still a devout Catholic,
+never omitting the most minute observances of church ceremonies, and
+always accompanying his most questionable deeds with the cant phrases of
+religion. The roof of the church of San Francisco is a curiosity in
+itself, being upheld by elaborately carved cedar beams, which were
+imported from Spain. In a side chapel is preserved the original pulpit
+from which the Christian religion according to the tenets of the Church
+of Rome was first preached in the New World, and also the stone font in
+which the native Tlaxcalan chiefs were baptized. The defacing finger of
+Time is visible on all perishable articles. One or two of the mediaeval
+paintings were scarcely more than tattered, drooping canvas, presenting
+here and there a shadowy human figure or a clouded emblem. We were shown
+a series of religions vestments, said to have been worn by the first
+officiating priests in this ancient church; but we instantly realized
+that they could not be so old, for such articles would long ago have
+become too frail to hold together, whereas these were exposed upon an
+open table, and were freely handled by any one who chose to do so. They
+were of a light, thin texture, silk and satin, and elaborately trimmed
+with gold and silver lace.
+
+One is shocked on observing the roughly carved figures of bleeding
+saints and martyrs, with crucifixion scenes and mangled bodies,
+suspended from the walls of the church. "The repulsive and ghostly
+images, paintings, and mechanical contrivances, common in the small
+towns and villages, are mostly banished from the capital and other large
+cities," says Hon. John H. Rice, in "Mexico, Our Neighbor," "in
+obedience to the demands of a more decent civilization. They are used,
+however, where most practicable (representing the crucifixion and
+diverse rites and ceremonies of the church), to hold in awe and
+superstitious thralldom the weak and untutored minds of the degenerated
+children of the republic; and so to extort from them the last dregs of
+their poverty-stricken purses."
+
+The prevailing style of this Tlaxcalan church, as well as that of the
+churches generally which we visited throughout the country, is of the
+Spanish Renaissance. Puebla, Guadalajara, and the city of Mexico contain
+cathedrals which will compare favorably even with those of continental
+Spain, where the most elaborate and costly religious edifices in the
+world are to be seen to-day. The plans of all these churches came
+originally from Spain, and builders from thence superintended their
+erection. The parish church of Tlaxcala, situated on a street leading
+from the plaza, has a curious facade of stucco, brick, and blue glazed
+tiles. In this edifice was seen an interesting picture representing the
+baptism of the Tlaxcalan chiefs already referred to. This was an event
+which was of local importance, perhaps, at the time, but which is
+without a shadow of interest to-day, though it is duly emphasized and
+repeated by the guides. The dome of the church was destroyed by an
+earthquake so late as 1864. Near this church are the ruins of a chapel,
+the facade of which is still standing, and on which are displayed the
+royal arms of Spain.
+
+Regarding the dwellings of the poorer classes of this region, as well as
+of the country generally, they are of the most miserable character,
+wanting in nearly all the requirements of health and comfort. They
+consist of adobe-built cabins, wherein the people live, eat, and sleep
+upon the bare ground, without light or ventilation, except that which
+comes in through the open door, and where drainage of any sort is not
+even thought of. Mud cabins on the bogs of Ireland are not poorer places
+to live in. In the warmer regions, the common people live in mere huts
+of cane, consisting of a few poles covered with dry plantain leaves,
+palms, or cornstalks, made into a thatch by braiding and twining them
+together. A mat woven of dried husks and laid upon the ground forms the
+only bed. Neither chairs, tables, nor benches are seen in these
+cabins,--they are unknown luxuries. In the more tropical regions of the
+country, the cabins have no sides, the thatched roof coming down to near
+the ground, thus forming only a screen from the rain during the season
+of the year when it falls. A sort of instinct causes the common people
+of the tropics to seek some sort of shelter from the stars when they
+sleep; but half the Indian population of Mexico do not see the inside
+even of an adobe cabin from one year's end to another. The universal
+food depended upon to support life, besides the wild fruits, is the
+preparation of corn called tortillas, and a few vegetable roots. The
+grain is pulverized by hand between two stones, made into a paste or
+dough, and eaten half baked in thin cakes. We are, of course, speaking
+of the poor Indian people, but they form probably two thirds of the
+population, especially in the rural districts. These natives make their
+own fermented liquor. On the coast it is what they call palm wine, and
+rum from sugar-cane; on the table-land, it is pulque, from the maguey
+plant,--their delight and their curse. After the maguey has yielded its
+sap to the last quart, and begins to wilt, there appears in the stalk a
+nest of white caterpillars, which the Indians consider to be a great
+luxury, and which they eat with avidity, besides which the roots of the
+exhausted plant are boiled and eaten, possessing considerable nutritive
+properties. The native people of New Zealand exhibit a similar appetite.
+When the trunks of the tall kauri trees, which have been uprooted by
+storms, have lain so long upon the moist ground that they begin to
+decay, a large worm breeds in the decomposing wood; these, when arrived
+at maturity, are eagerly grubbed for and devoured by the Maoris. Our
+ideas of what constitutes proper food for human beings are governed by
+very arbitrary rules. The Chinese consume dogs, cats, and rats; the
+Japanese and Africans are fond of monkey flesh; the Parisians often eat
+horse-meat from choice; while some of the South Sea Islanders have still
+an appetite for human flesh. The London gourmand revels in snails, and
+the New Yorker demands frogs upon his bill of fare. Is the New Zealander
+so very exceptional in his fancy for wood-worms? Green goose and broiled
+chicken are among the delicacies of our table, and yet there is
+scarcely any sort of foul garbage which they will not consume as food.
+Why is their flesh considered more delicate than any other?
+
+The better dwellings of Tlaxcala are nearly all adobe houses, standing
+in a rough, hilly region on the eastern slope of the mountains which
+inclose the valley. It is difficult to conjecture what possible industry
+keeps the place alive, for, though interesting to the thoughtful
+traveler and the scientist, it has no visible business activity beyond
+the exhibition of the antiquities to which we have referred, but seems
+to smoulder in a sort of moss-grown, picturesque decay. The seats of the
+old, half-forgotten, and neglected plaza were occupied by groups of idle
+natives, who regarded us with a dull, sleepy interest. A few laden
+burros passed through the streets bearing charcoal, wood, or bags of
+grain, and others with high panniers of straw lashed in compact form.
+They carried their noses close to the ground, picking up any edible
+object--banana skins, orange peel, bits of garbage, and similar scraps.
+This small creature which carries such enormous loads seems to eat
+anything, no matter how little nutriment it contains, and, strange to
+say, keeps in good flesh. The single candy shop under the arches beside
+the plaza did a lively business with our party while we remained, its
+members having suddenly developed a marvelous appetite for dulces.
+Bright-eyed boys and girls, with a paucity of clothing and any amount of
+good looks, met us at each turn with hands extended, and a cry of
+"Centavo, centavo!"
+
+It was to Tlaxcala that Cortez and his small band of followers retreated
+when the natives of the valley of Mexico rose and in desperation drove
+him from their midst. Here, after some months devoted to recuperation
+and being joined by reinforcements from Cuba, he prepared to lay siege
+once more to the Aztec capital. Part of this preparation consisted in
+building a number of small, flat-bottomed boats in pieces, so that they
+could be transported over a mountainous district, and put together on
+the shore of Lake Texcoco, thus enabling him to complete the investment
+of the water-begirt city. It sounds ludicrous in our times to read of
+the force with which the invading Spaniards laid siege to a nation's
+capital. His "army" consisted of forty cavalrymen, eighty arquebusiers
+and cross-bowmen, and four hundred and fifty foot-soldiers, armed with
+swords and lances, to which is to be added a train of nine small cannon,
+about the size of those which are carried by our racing yachts of to-day
+for the purpose of firing salutes. Of course he had a crowd of
+Tlaxcalans with him, the number of which is variously stated, but who
+could not be of much actual use. More than one of these veracious
+Spanish historians states the number to have been one hundred and twenty
+thousand! So large a body of men would have been a hindrance, not a
+help, in the undertaking. Cortez neither had nor could he command a
+commissariat suitable for such an army, and it must be remembered that
+the siege lasted for months. "Whoever has had occasion to consult the
+ancient chronicles of Spain," says Prescott, "in relation to its wars
+with the infidels, whether Arab or American, will place little
+confidence in numbers." We all know how a French imperial bulletin can
+lie, but Spanish records are gigantic falsifications in comparison. This
+siege lasted for over six months, and finally, on August 13, 1521,
+Cortez entered the city in triumph, hoping to enrich himself with
+immense spoils; but nearly all valuables, including those of the royal
+treasury, had been cast into the lake and thus permanently lost, rather
+than permit the avaricious Spaniards to possess them. Cortez's final
+success of this invasion caused it to be called a "holy war," under the
+patronage of the church! Had he failed, he would have been stigmatized
+as a filibuster.
+
+A brief visit was paid to the palace once occupied by Cortez, and now
+the residence of the highest city official. It has been so modernized
+that nothing was found especially interesting within the walls. The hot
+sun of midday made the shade of the ancient trees on the plaza
+particularly grateful, and the play of the fountain was at least
+suggestive of coolness. Sitting on one of the long stone benches, we
+mused as to the scenes which must have taken place upon this spot nearly
+four hundred years ago, and watched the tri-colored flags of Mexico
+floating gayly over the two palaces. In the mean time, the swarthy,
+half-clad natives, regarded curiously and in silence the pale-faced
+visitors to their quaint old town, until, by-and-by, we started on our
+return to Puebla by tramway, stopping now and then to gather some
+tempting wild flowers, or to purchase a bit of native pottery, which
+was so like old Egyptian patterns that it would not have looked out of
+place in Cairo or Alexandria.
+
+Occasionally, in this section and eastward, towards Vera Cruz, as we
+stop at a railway station, a squad of rural police, sometimes mounted,
+sometimes on foot, draw up in line and salute the train. They are
+usually clad in buff leather uniforms, with a red sash about their
+waists, but sometimes are dressed in homespun, light gray woolen cloth,
+covered with many buttons. They remind one of the Canadian mounted
+police, who guard the frontier; a body of men designed to keep the
+Indians in awe, and to perform semi-military and police duty. It is a
+fact that most of these men were formerly banditti, who find that
+occupation under the government pays them much better, and that it is
+also safer, since the present energetic officials are in the habit of
+shooting highwaymen at sight, without regard to judge or jury.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Down into the Hot Lands.--Wonderful Mountain Scenery.--Parasitic Vines.
+    --Luscious Fruits.--Orchids.--Orizaba.--State of Vera Cruz.--The
+    Kodak.--Churches.--A Native Artist.--Schools.--Climate.--Crystal Peak
+    of Orizaba.--Grand Waterfall.--The American Flag.--Disappointed
+    Climbers.--A Night Surprise.--The French Invasion.--The Plaza.--
+    Indian Characteristics.--Early Morning Sights.--Maximilian in
+    Council.--Difficult Engineering.--Wild Flowers.--A Cascade.--Cordova.
+    --The Banana.--Coffee Plantations.--Fertile Soil.--Market Scenes.
+
+After returning to Puebla from Tlaxcala, we take the cars which will
+convey us eastward from the elevated table-land towards the tropical
+region of the coast. The steep descent begins just below Boca del Monte
+(Mouth of the Mountain), where the height above the Gulf of Mexico is
+about eight thousand feet, and the distance from Vera Cruz a trifle over
+one hundred miles. Here also is the dividing line between the states of
+Puebla and Vera Cruz. The winding, twisting road built along the rugged
+mountain-side is a marvelous triumph of the science of engineering,
+presenting obstacles which were at first deemed almost impossible to be
+overcome, now crossing deep gulches by spider-web trestles, and now
+diving into and out of long, dark tunnels, all the while descending a
+grade so steep as to be absolutely startling. The author remembers
+nothing more remarkable of the same character, unless it may be
+portions of the zigzag railway of the Blue Mountains in Australia, and
+some grades among the foothills of the Himalayan range in India. This
+road leading from Vera Cruz to the national capital, a distance of two
+hundred and sixty miles, ascends seven thousand six hundred feet. The
+scenery all the while is so grand and beautiful as to cause the most
+timid traveler to forget his nervousness. We were reminded by an officer
+of the road of the fact, remarkable if it is true, that no fatal
+accident had ever occurred upon the line. The geological formation of
+this region is on a most gigantic scale, the rocks of basalt and granite
+rising in fantastic shapes, forming ravines and pinnacles unparalleled
+for grandeur. Presently we come in full view of the beautiful valley of
+La Joya (The Gem), revealing its lovely gardens, beautifully wooded
+slopes, and yellow fields of ripening grain. By-and-by the lovely vale
+and pretty village of Maltrata is seen, with its saffron-colored domes
+and towers, its red-tiled, moss-enameled roofs, its flower-bordered
+lanes, and its squares of cultivated fields. These greet the eye far,
+far down the dizzy depths, two thousand feet, on our right, while on the
+left the mountains rise abruptly hundreds of feet towards the sky. The
+mingled rock and soil is here screened by lovely ferns and a perfect
+exposition of morning glories, fabulous in size and dazzling in colors.
+No artificial display could equal this handiwork of nature, this
+exhibition of "April's loveliest coronets." Now and again large trees
+are seen on the line of the road withering in the cruel coils of a
+parasitic vine, which winds itself about the trunk like a two-inch
+hawser, and slowly strangles the stout, columnar tree. Finally the
+original trunk will die and fall to the ground, leaving the once small
+vine to grow and fatten upon its decay until it shall rival in size the
+trunk it has displaced. This is a sight common in tropical regions, and
+often observed in the forests of New Zealand, where the author has seen
+trees two and three feet in diameter yielding their lives to the fatal
+embrace of these parasites.
+
+We descend rapidly; down, down, rushes the train, impelled by its own
+impetus, approaching the town first on one side, then on the other,
+until we stop at a huge elevated tank, rivaling the famous tun of
+Heidelberg in size, to water the thirsty engine. Here, and at most of
+the stations along the route, boys and girls offer the travelers
+tropical fruits in great variety at merely nominal prices, including
+large, yellow pineapples, zapotas, mameys, pomegranates, citrons, limes,
+oranges, and the like. Large, ripe oranges are sold two for a penny. One
+timid, half-clad, pretty young girl of native blood held up to us
+diffidently a bunch of white, fragrant orange blossoms which were
+eagerly secured and enjoyed, the child could not know how much. Other
+Indians brought roses and various orchids, splendidly developed, which
+they sold for a _real_ (twelve cents) each, with the roots bound up in
+broad green leaves. Doyle or Galvin would charge ten dollars apiece for
+such in Boston. Some of them had marvellous scarlet centres, eccentric
+in shape but very beautiful. As to color, there were blue, green,
+scarlet, yellow, and purple specimens among them.
+
+Still winding in and out among the mountains, our ears frequently
+greeted by the music of tumbling waters, we finally arrive at Orizaba,
+in the State of Vera Cruz. The capital of this state was formerly
+Jalapa, but it is now Orizaba, which is named after the grand old
+mountain whose base is about twenty-five miles away. The State of Vera
+Cruz contains something over half a million of inhabitants. Few places
+in Mexico have a more fascinating site, or are surrounded by more lovely
+scenery. We are here eighty miles from Vera Cruz, and one hundred and
+eighty from the city of Mexico. Orizaba, having a little over twenty
+thousand inhabitants, is in many respects the quaintest, as it is one of
+the oldest, cities in the country. Most of the dwellings are but one
+story in height, built with broad, overhanging eaves, and are composed
+of rubble-stone, mortar, sun-dried brick, and a variety of other
+material; but not including wood. The low, iron-grated windows, so
+universal in Spanish towns, are not wanting here, through the bars of
+which, dark-eyed senoritas and laughing children watch us as we pass,
+often exhibiting pleasant family groups which were photographed as
+swiftly and as surely on the brain as a No. 2 Kodak instrument would
+depict them. Some of our party, by the way, were very expert with their
+Kodaks, and brought away with them illustrated records of their extended
+journey which, for interest, would put these pen-and-ink sketches to
+utter shame.
+
+The pitched roofs of the low houses of Orizaba are covered with big red
+tiles, which afford a sort of ventilation, as well as serving to throw
+off the heat of the burning sun, while the dry earth seems to absorb it,
+radiating a glimmer of heated air, like the sand dunes of Suez. It is
+singular that everything should be so oriental in appearance, while it
+would be puzzling to say exactly wherein lies the resemblance.
+
+That there are numerous churches here goes without saying, and we may
+add that two or three of them are quite imposing, while all are
+suggestive, with a few crippled beggars standing like sentries at their
+doors. An Indian artist, Gabriel Barranco, has contributed oil-paintings
+of considerable merit to nearly all the churches in his native town. He
+is still alive, or was so a couple of months since, and is a most
+interesting conversationalist, though he is blind and decrepit. This
+locality seems particularly liable to earthquakes in a mild form. The
+largest church here has had its steeple overthrown three times, and the
+towers on several others have been made to lean by the same agency, so
+that they are considerably out of plumb. No earthquake, however, is
+likely to make much headway against the low dwellings, which cling to
+the ground like one's shoe to his foot. It is pleasant to mention that
+several good schools have been established at Orizaba, supported by the
+local government. These, we are told on good authority, are in a
+flourishing condition in spite of all opposition from the church party.
+There are four schools for boys and three exclusively for girls.
+Bigotry may make a bold show, but it cannot prosper where a system of
+free schools prevails.
+
+A river runs through the city, lending a little life to the sleepy old
+place, and affording ample water power for six or eight mills which
+manufacture sugar, cotton, and flour. The situation is about midway
+between Vera Cruz and Puebla, on one of the two principal routes from
+the former port to the city of Mexico. The surrounding valley is quite
+fertile, and is mostly devoted to the raising of coffee, sugar, and
+tobacco. The climate is said to be very fine all the year round, the
+average temperature being 74 deg. Fahr. in summer and rarely falling below
+60 deg. at any season, though it seemed to us, who had just come from the
+higher table-land, to be about 90 deg.. The scenery is that of Switzerland,
+the temperature that of southern Italy. It affords an agreeable medium
+between the heat of the lower country towards the Gulf and the almost
+too rarefied atmosphere of the high table-lands of Mexico. "In the
+course of a few hours," says Prescott, "the traveler may experience
+every gradation of climate, embracing torrid heat and glacial cold, and
+pass through different zones of vegetation, including wheat and the
+sugar-cane, the ash and the palm, apples, olives, and guavas."
+
+In this vicinity one sees the orange, lemon, banana, and almond growing
+at their best, while the coffee, sugar, and tobacco plantations rival
+those of Cuba, both in extent and in the character of their products.
+While Spanish rulers were still masters here, and when all manner of
+arbitrary restrictions were put upon trade, the cultivation of tobacco
+was confined by law to the districts about Cordova and Orizaba. There is
+no such handicapping of rural industry now enforced, and sugar and
+tobacco, which are always sure of a ready market where transportation is
+to be had, are engaging more and more of the attention of planters. It
+was found that the best of sugar-cane land, that is, best suited for a
+sugar plantation, could be had here for from thirty to forty dollars per
+acre; superior for the purpose to that which is held at one thousand
+dollars per acre in Louisiana. Though cotton is grown in about half the
+states of Mexico, the states of Vera Cruz and Durango are the most
+prolific in this crop. The plant thrives on the table-land up to an
+elevation of about five thousand feet above the level of the Gulf, and
+according to Mexican statistics the average product is about two
+thousand pounds to the acre, which is double the average quantity
+produced in the cotton-growing States of this Union. The modes of
+cultivation are very crude and imperfect, especially at any distance
+from the large and populous centres, but the amazing fertility of the
+soil insures good and remunerative returns to the farmer or planter even
+under these unfavorable circumstances. Water is the great, we may say
+the only, fertilizer--none other is ever used, and irrigating facilities
+are excellent. The city is elevated more than four thousand feet above
+Vera Cruz, but is also as much below the altitude of the national
+capital. As to the climate, one is prepared to agree with its
+inhabitants, who declare it to be "perfection." The city is
+overshadowed, as it were, by the crystal peak of Orizaba, though it is
+some miles away, rising to nearly eighteen thousand feet above the sea.
+It is probably the second loftiest mountain in North America south of
+the Territory of Alaska, and exceeds the highest point in Europe.
+Violent eruptions took place from its crater in 1545 and 1546.
+
+About two miles east of Orizaba, near the hamlet of Jalapilla, is a fine
+waterfall, known as the Cascade Rincon Grande; this body of water makes
+a daring plunge of fifty feet over precipitous rocks, amid a glorious
+growth of tropical vegetation. From here parties are made up to ascend
+Orizaba (Mountain of the Star). It has stopped business as a volcano
+since the last date named, and is the highest mountain in Mexico with
+the exception of Popocatepetl. Until about forty years ago, the summit
+was considered to be inaccessible to human feet, but a party of
+energetic Americans planted our national flag on the summit at that
+time, the tattered remains of which were found to be still there in
+1851, by Alexander Doignon, an adventurous Frenchman. We were told by a
+resident of the city of the experience of an English party, who came up
+from Vera Cruz not long since on their way to the city of Mexico, and
+who made a stop at Orizaba, intending to ascend the famous mountain.
+There is said to be no very great difficulty to overcome in climbing to
+the top if one has experience in such work and is at the same time
+strong and well, but the party referred to had just arrived from the
+level of the sea. The summit of Orizaba is, as we have stated,
+considerably over seventeen thousand feet above the port of Vera Cruz.
+This party of confident climbers had to give it up after reaching what
+is known as the timber line, simply for want of the necessary breathing
+power. One's lungs must become in a degree accustomed to the rarefied
+atmosphere of the table-land before attempting to ascend to such a
+height. Guides, blankets, and two days' provisions should be taken by
+any party designing to climb Orizaba. One must seek a favorable point in
+the limits of the town to see this elevation to advantage, because of
+the close intervening hills. On the west side of the town is an
+elevation known as El Borrego, where five thousand Mexicans were
+completely routed by a single company of Zouaves during the
+ill-conceived French invasion. To be sure, this was a night surprise,
+wherein the French appeared among the sleeping Mexicans and cut them
+down as fast as they opened their eyes, until the whole camp took to
+flight. The importance of military discipline was never more clearly
+demonstrated. Probably the average of the Mexican soldiers were of
+nearly as good material as the French, but the former were little better
+than a mob, each man for himself. Even to-day, it is observed, in the
+few military exhibitions given in public, that the rank and file are
+lackadaisical, indifferent, undrilled, evincing a want of nearly every
+element of discipline, while their officers lounge along the
+avenues,--they do not _march_,--presenting an appearance as far from
+true military bearing as the greatest clown in the ranks.
+
+It will be remembered that Orizaba was for a considerable time the
+headquarters of General Bazaine's army, and it was here that the French
+general finally, in 1866, bade good-by to the ill-fated Maximilian,
+whose cause he deserted by order of his royal master, Napoleon the
+Little. Stories are told by the residents of the outrages committed by
+the French soldiers, who were permitted unlimited license by their
+commander. "The whole army," said an aged citizen to us, "was a body of
+cutthroats. They stole everything they could carry away, besides which,
+cruel and aimless murder was their daily diversion."
+
+The small plaza is a delightful resort, a wilderness of green with an
+ornamental fountain in the middle, about which are stone seats among
+flowering shrubs, orange and other fruit trees. Indeed, the entire
+surroundings of Orizaba are gardenlike in fertility and bloom. The
+vegetation, owing to the humidity of the atmosphere rising from the
+Gulf, is always intensely green. Huge butterflies flitted in clouds
+about the plaza, many-colored, sunshine-loving creatures, with
+widespread, yellow wings shot with purple bars, and bearing strongly
+contrasting dots of inky-black and lily-white. A tall cluster of the
+glorious tulipan, quite by itself, looked like a tree on fire, so
+glowing was its scarlet bloom.
+
+The streets of the town are in tolerably good condition, paved with lava
+once vomited from the neighboring mountain, now so quiet. The gutters
+are in the middle of the thoroughfares, and the sidewalks are only a few
+inches in width. Carts or wheeled vehicles of any sort are very little
+used, freight being carried almost wholly on the backs of burros and
+Indians. All vegetables, charcoal, wood, and country produce come into
+town on the backs of sturdy, copper-colored natives, men and women, and
+it is really astonishing to see what loads they will carry for long
+distances over the mountain roads at the rate of five or six miles an
+hour. Humboldt, in his description of these Indians, tells us that they
+enjoy one great physical advantage which is undoubtedly owing to the
+simplicity in which their ancestors lived for thousands of years. He
+referred to the fact that they are subject to hardly any deformity. A
+hunchbacked Indian is not to be seen, and it is very rare to meet a
+maimed or a lame one. Their hair does not grow gray like that of white
+men, nor do their faces grow wrinkled as they become old. The absence of
+deformity is also supposed to be owing to their general mode of life,
+simple food, living in the open air, and temperate habits. Their
+ivory-white teeth contrast strongly with their black hair and bronzed
+features. The country people rarely indulge in pulque, never unless when
+they come to town, and they have too little money to throw it away in
+the purchase of much of even that cheap liquor. It is said that its
+injurious effects upon the system are very trifling compared to those of
+American whiskey. It seems to be little more than a powerful narcotic to
+those who drink of it freely. The strong distilled liquor made from the
+roots of the maguey plant is quite another article, and is more like
+Scotch whiskey in effect.
+
+If you rise from your couch early enough in the morning, you will see
+many Indian men and women coming in to market from the country, all
+bending under the weight of provisions, pottery, or some other home
+product. You will see the women (industrious creatures) knitting or
+netting as they jog along. And near them long trains of burros laden
+with grain, alfalfa, straw, or wood. You will see some dark-eyed,
+coquettish girls with inviting bouquets for sale; also here and there a
+pretty senora or senorita, with a dark lace veil thrown over her jet
+black hair, hastening to early mass; but, above all, behold the glorious
+sun encircling the frosty brow of Orizaba with a halo of gold and silver
+which sparkles like diamonds in the clear, crisp morning atmosphere. How
+full of vivid pictures is the memory of these early morning hours in
+Mexico!
+
+In a small village known as Jalapilla, situated about a couple of miles
+south of the city, is the spot where Maximilian resided for a brief
+period after the French army had deserted him. Here he held the famous
+council as to whether he should abdicate the Mexican throne or not. He
+was more than half inclined to do it. It was really the only
+common-sense course which was left open to him. Had he done so, he might
+have been living to-day. Vera Cruz was close at hand and easily reached,
+a French steamship lay off San Juan d'Ulloa ready to take him across the
+sea, but there were three causes working against his abdication. First,
+his own pride; second, the pressure of the church party; and, last but
+not least, the confident counsels of Carlotta. These influences
+prevailed, and decided him to remain. He thus challenged the inevitable
+fate which ended his career at Queretaro. That two generals who were on
+his personal staff believed in his star and were wedded to his service
+under all circumstances, was fully proven in the fact that they made no
+attempt to escape, but calmly and devotedly died by his side when the
+crisis finally came.
+
+The railroad station at Orizaba adjoined a neat inclosure, which is a
+small floral paradise, exhibiting very clearly a woman's taste in the
+arrangement and cultivation. Roses white and red, lilies tall and
+pearl-colored, the scarlet hibiscus, tube-roses, orange-trees,
+coffee-trees full of berries, all are to be seen here, with a few
+bananas waving their long, broad green leaves, like pennons, over the
+undergrowth, and showing their one pendulous blossom as large as a
+pineapple.
+
+The descent from the high elevation of Orizaba is continued, the route
+leading through groves of bananas, maize and sugar plantations, and
+creeping down the steep sides of a terrific gorge over a thousand feet
+deep, where the purple shadows look like shrouded phantoms hastening out
+of sight. This abyss is crossed by means of extraordinary engineering
+skill, much of the roadway along the nearly perpendicular side of the
+ravine having been hewn out of the solid rock. To accomplish this it was
+necessary at first to suspend workmen by ropes over the brow of the
+cliffs, lowering them down until they were opposite the point to be
+operated upon, and, after making fast the ropes which held them, leave
+them there to work for hours with hammer and chisel. There was one piece
+of roadbed, not more than ten rods in length, where the track seemed to
+run on a narrow shelf barely wide enough for the cars to pass, which is
+said to have required seven years to render available. We can well
+conceive it to have been so, for the whole road from Vera Cruz to Mexico
+was about five times seven years in building. The view is at times such
+as to incline the experienced traveler to hold his breath, if not to
+close his eyes, in a tremor of excitement. In the steepest part of the
+route the descent is at the rate of one hundred thirty-three and one
+third feet to the mile! Were a wheel to break, an iron nut to give way,
+or the trusted brakes fail to operate, what a frightful catastrophe
+would instantly follow!
+
+Between Orizaba and Cordova, a few rods off the line of the railway to
+the left as we go from the former to the latter place, is a dark,
+cavernous passage cut through the hillside a hundred feet or more,
+leading to the view of a waterfall of great beauty and of considerable
+size. It is closely framed on all sides by dark green foliage, tall and
+graceful trees partially overhanging it. Dainty orchids and beautiful
+ferns hang upon the damp rocks and the brown tree-trunks. Here the cars
+stop for a brief period, to enable us to delight our eyes and ears by
+the sight and sound of the riotous waters. A waterfall or cascade in
+this climate is enhanced in importance for many reasons; the very sight
+of rushing, foaming water has a cooling and refreshing effect when the
+thermometer is at 90 deg. Fahr. The rank, tropical verdure, the depth of
+the sombre gorge, the tumultuous, sparkling waters, the cool, welcome
+shade, and the ceaseless anthem of the falls make the charming spot a
+scene long to be remembered. One would have liked to linger there for
+hours. Finally, after having passed over a distance of nearly twenty
+miles, we cross the bridge of Metlac, built over a river of the same
+name, and arrive in sight of Cordova, whose domes and towers are just
+far enough away to clothe them in a soft, inviting, amber hue.
+
+Cordova is situated in the fertile valley of the Rio Seco, and in the
+midst of a sugar and coffee producing district about seventy miles west
+of Vera Cruz, nearly upon the direct line between the Gulf and the city
+of Mexico. To be exact, it is sixty-six miles from the former city and
+two hundred from the latter. Speaking of coffee, the region wherein it
+thrives and is remuneratively productive is very large in Mexico. It
+grows down to the coast and far up into the table-lands, but it does
+best in an altitude of from one to three thousand feet above the level
+of the sea. In this region, as we have already indicated, a berry is
+produced which we consider equal to the product of any land. Under
+proper conditions the republic could furnish the whole of this country
+with the raw material wherewith to produce the favorite beverage,
+enormous as is the consumption. The bananas of this region were found to
+be especially luscious and appetizing. In growth this is a beautiful,
+thrifty, and productive annual, forming a large portion of the food
+supply of the humbler classes, and a favorite dessert at the tables of
+the rich. From the centre of its large, broad, palm-like leaves, which
+gather at the top of the thick stalk, twelve or fifteen inches in
+diameter, when it has reached a height of about ten feet, there springs
+forth a large purple bud, eight or nine inches long, shaped like a huge
+acorn, but a little more pointed. This cone hangs suspended from a
+strong stem upon which a leaf unfolds, displaying a cluster of young
+fruit. As soon as these have become fairly set, this sheltering leaf
+drops off and another unfolds, exposing its little brood of young fruit,
+and the process goes on until eight or ten rings of small bananas are
+started, forming bunches, when ready to pick, of from seventy-five to a
+hundred of the finger-like product. After bearing, the stalk and top
+die, but it sprouts up again from the roots, once more to go through the
+liberal process of producing a crop of luscious fruit. It is said that
+the banana is more productive and requires less care or cultivation than
+any other food-producing growth in the tropics or elsewhere.
+
+Neither Florida nor Cuba can furnish finer oranges than are grown in
+vast quantities in the region round about Cordova. Peddlers offer them
+by the basketful to passing travelers, ripe and delicious, two for a
+penny; also, mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and other tropical fruits, at
+equally low prices. Great quantities are shipped to other cities by
+rail, and passengers carry away hundreds in baskets daily. Coffee and
+sugar are, however, the staple products. Among the neighboring planters,
+as we were told, are a few enterprising Americans, who have lately
+introduced more modern facilities than have been in use heretofore for
+planting, cultivating, packing, and the like. A coffee plantation is one
+of the most pleasing tropical sights the eye can rest upon, where
+twenty-five or thirty acres of level soil are planted thickly with the
+deep green shrub, divided into straight lines, which obtains the needed
+shade from graceful palms, interspersed with bananas, orange and mango
+trees. Coffee will not thrive without partial protection from the ardor
+of the sun in the low latitudes, and therefore a certain number of shade
+and fruit trees are introduced among the low-growing plants. The shrub
+is kept trimmed down to a certain height, thus throwing all the vigor of
+the roots into the formation of berries upon the branches which are not
+disturbed. So prolific is the low-growing tree thus treated that the
+small branches bend nearly to the ground under the weight of the
+ripening berries. Conceive of such an arrangement when the whole is in
+flower, the milk-white blossoms of the coffee so abundant as to seem as
+though a cloud of snow had fallen there and left the rest of the
+vegetation in full verdure, while the air is as heavy with perfume as in
+an orange grove.
+
+The soil between here and Orizaba is considered to be of the richest and
+most fertile in all Mexico. Plantations devoted to the raising of
+cinchona have proved quite profitable. Four times each year may the
+sower reap his harvest amid perpetual summer. We saw some fine groves of
+the plantain, the trees twelve feet high and the leaves six feet long
+by two in width. This, together with the banana, forms the chief feature
+as regards the low-growing foliage in all the tropical regions about the
+Gulf of Mexico, gracefully fanning the undergrowth with broad-spread
+leaves, and affording the needed shade. The stem of the plantain
+gradually decays, like the banana, when the fruit has ripened, after
+which the young shoots spring up from the roots once more to produce the
+abundant and nourishing food. It does not seem to have any special
+season, but is constantly in bloom and bearing. The accumulation of
+sugar and starch in the fruit makes it a most valuable source of food in
+the tropics, while the product from a small area of land is enormous
+when compared with that of cultivated grains and fruits generally.
+
+The cacao, the source from whence our chocolate comes, was originally
+found in Mexico, where its seeds once formed the money, or circulating
+medium, of the aboriginal tribes. It grows here in abundance and to
+great perfection.
+
+Cordova has between six and eight thousand inhabitants. It is nearly
+three thousand feet above sea level, and is rarely troubled with yellow
+fever; but ague is common. The streets are very regular and are all
+paved. On one side of the plaza is the cathedral, a grand edifice with a
+gaudily-finished interior. The central plaza, though small, is
+exquisitely kept, full of flowers, and vivid with the large scarlet
+tulipan. The ground is well-filled with fruit-trees and palms,
+interspersed with smooth paths, and furnished with ornamental iron
+seats. On the outside of the plaza is the market, where rows of
+country-women sit on their haunches in true Asiatic fashion, beside
+their articles for sale. This class of women here affect high colors in
+their rude costumes, wearing a profusion of cheap coral and silver
+ornaments, besides a peculiar headdress, more Neapolitan than Mexican.
+It is quite the thing in speaking of Cordova to remember that it was
+here, in 1821, that the treaty was signed between Iturbide and O'Donoju,
+which officially recognized the independence of Mexico. The vicinity of
+the town abounds in antique remains. An organized party was engaged in
+exhuming old pottery and other domestic utensils at the time of our
+visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+The City of Vera Cruz.--Defective Harbor.--The Dreaded and also Welcome
+    Norther.--San Juan d'Ulloa.--Landing of Cortez.--His Expedition
+    Piratical.--View of the City from the Sea.--Cortez's Destruction of
+    his Ships.--Anecdote of Charles V.--A Sickly Capital.--Street Scenes.
+    --Trade.--The Mantilla.--Plaza de la Constitucion.--Typical
+    Characters.--Brilliant Fireflies.--Well-To-Do Beggars.--Principal
+    Edifices.--The Campo Santo.--City Dwelling-Houses.--The Dark-Plumed
+    Buzzards.--A City Fountain.--A Varied History.--Medillin.--State of
+    Vera Cruz.
+
+Vera Cruz, which is at present the principal seaport of the republic,
+and which has heretofore been considered as the gateway of Mexico, is
+without a harbor worthy of the name, being situated on an open roadstead
+and affording no safe anchorage among its shoals, coral reefs, and surf.
+It is not safe, in fact, for vessels to moor within half a mile of the
+shore. A cluster of dangerous, merciless-looking reefs, together with
+the island of San Juan d'Ulloa, form a slight protection from the open
+Gulf. A sea-wall shelters the street facing upon the water, and there is
+a serviceable mole where boats land from the shipping when a "norther"
+is not blowing; but when that prevails no one attempts to land from
+vessels in the roadstead. No wonder that underwriters charge double to
+insure vessels bound to so inhospitable a shore. Even in ordinary
+weather a surf-drenching has sometimes to be endured in landing at the
+mole. This is a serious objection to the port where every ton of freight
+must be transferred between ship and shore by lighters. Nevertheless,
+this difficulty might be easily overcome by the construction of a
+substantial breakwater, such as has lately been successfully built at
+Colombo, Ceylon, or that which has robbed the roadstead of Madras,
+India, of its former terrors. To be sure, such a plan requires
+enterprise and the liberal expenditure of money. Unless the citizens
+open their purses and pay for the needed improvement, which would
+promptly turn their exposed shore into a safe harbor, they will have to
+submit to seeing the present commerce of the port diverted to Tampico,
+where suitable engineering is about to secure an excellent harbor.
+Improvements are of slow growth in this country. The railway between
+this city and the national capital was over thirty years in building,
+and cost fully forty million dollars.
+
+The captain of a freighting steamer sailing out of New York told the
+writer that he had more than once been obliged, at certain seasons of
+the year, to sail from Vera Cruz carrying back to his port of departure
+a portion of his cargo, as there was no time while the ship remained
+here that he dared to risk the landing of valuable goods liable to be
+spoiled by exposure to a high-running sea.
+
+When a norther comes on to blow at Vera Cruz, all the vessels remaining
+near the city let go an extra anchor and batten down the hatches; or,
+wiser still, they let go their ground tackle and hasten to make an
+offing. The natives promptly haul their light boats well on shore; the
+citizens securely close their doors and windows; while the sky becomes
+darkened by clouds of sand driven by fierce gusts of wind. It is a fact
+that passengers have been obliged to remain for a whole week upon a
+European steamer, unable to land during a protracted norther. These
+storms are terrific in violence. It is not a straight out-and-out gale,
+an honest tempest, such as one sometimes meets at sea, and with which an
+experienced mariner knows how to cope. A norther is an erratic
+succession of furious squalls with whirlwinds of sand, the wind blowing
+from several points at the same time. When a norther blows, work is
+suspended in the city, and the streets are deserted until the fury of
+the blast has subsided. This wind, however, like most other serious
+annoyances in life, has its bright side. Very true is the saying: "It's
+an ill wind that blows nobody good." The norther drives away that fatal
+enemy of the city, the yellow fever; and when it fairly sets in to blow,
+that surely ends the disease for the season; its germs are swept away as
+if by magic. The insect plague is only second to that of the vomito as
+regards the danger and discomfort to be encountered in this "City of the
+True Cross." But even mosquitoes succumb to the northers. The muslin
+bars which surround the beds of the Hotel Diligencia, fronting the
+plaza, are effectual, so that one can generally sleep during the two or
+three nights that he is likely to stay in the city. A longer sojourn is
+simply inviting disease, besides which there is no possible attraction
+to keep one here any longer.
+
+The only good harbor in the Gulf of Mexico within a hundred miles of
+this point is that of Anton Lizardo, about fifteen miles to the
+southward of Vera Cruz, which, in fact, should have been made the
+commercial port. This position is now, doubtless to be filled by
+Tampico, in connection with the Mexican Central Railroad branch running
+from the main trunk of that road to the Gulf, by way of San Luis Potosi.
+We heard of another element operating very seriously against the
+interests of Vera Cruz. It seems that the sand of the Gulf shore, moved
+by various currents, is gradually depositing itself in the shallow
+roadstead in such quantities as to seriously imperil navigation. It is
+admitted that should this continue for a few years it would close the
+port to commerce. The railroad management are already talking of
+extending the line southward to Anton Lizardo.
+
+On an island, less than one mile off the shore of Vera Cruz, stands the
+grim old fortress of San Juan d'Ulloa, a most conspicuous object with
+its blackened and crumbling walls. It has often been declared to be
+impregnable, and yet, curious to say, it has never been attacked by a
+foe without being compelled to surrender. Here Cortez landed on Mexican
+soil, April 21, 1519. He disembarked on a Friday, a day which the Romish
+church has set apart for the adoration of the cross; he therefore called
+the place Vera Cruz (The True Cross). The mere handful of followers
+which he brought with him to conquer and possess a nation consisted of
+four hundred and fifteen men at arms, sixteen horses, and seven cannon!
+These last were mere howitzers. Was ever a more daring and reckless
+scheme conceived of? Fully realizing the peculiar nature of the venture,
+and fearing that when his followers should awaken to the extravagant
+folly of the invasion, they would mutiny, forcibly seize the ships which
+had brought them, and return in them to Cuba, he deliberately destroyed
+all the galleys save one, and thus cut off the means of retreat. This
+was quite in accordance with the desperate nature of the enterprise and
+the reckless spirit of its leader, who had boldly taken upon himself
+unauthorized responsibility. In bringing about the destruction of his
+vessels, Cortez resorted to a subterfuge so as to deceive the people
+about him. He did not "burn" his ships, as has been so commonly
+reported, but ordered a marine survey upon them, employing an officer
+who had his secret instructions, and when the report was made public it
+was to the effect that the galleys were unseaworthy, leaky, and not fit
+or safe for service. A certain sea worm had reduced the hulls to mere
+shells! So the stores and armament were carried on shore, and the
+vessels sunk or wrecked. "His followers murmured at the loss of the
+ships," says Chevalier, "but were quieted by Cortez, who promised them
+salvation in the next world and fortunes in this." This is one version
+of the famous episode which has come down to us, and which we believe to
+be the true one. It is certainly the most in accordance with all the
+known facts in the case.
+
+There are important circumstances connected with this often repeated
+episode which are not always considered in forming an estimate of the
+whole affair. The departure of the expedition from Cuba was nothing less
+than open rebellion on the part of Cortez. Had it eventuated in failure,
+its leader would have been pronounced a pirate and filibuster. It was
+Talleyrand who declared that nothing succeeds so well as success. Thus
+it is that history makes of the fortunate adventurer a hero, never
+pausing to consider the means by which his success was attained. "Cortez
+and his companions," says Chevalier, "had incurred the necessity of
+signalizing themselves by some great exploit. They had committed a fault
+which the laws of all states treated as crime, and one that the leaders
+must expiate on the gibbet and their followers at the galleys, unless
+atoned for by brilliant deeds. Their departure from Cuba was an act of
+flagrant rebellion." In his great haste to get away from Cuba he
+embarked in nine small vessels, the largest not over one hundred tons
+and some were even undecked boats. Velasquez, the governor of the island
+of Cuba, had for some time previously contemplated sending an expedition
+to Mexico, and having got it about ready for departure, he was
+over-persuaded to give Cortez the command; but after due consideration,
+repenting of his decision, he took steps to replace him by a more
+trusted officer. Cortez learned of this, and hastily got as many of the
+people together who had enlisted for the purpose as he could, and
+putting the munitions on board, sailed without taking leave! He had
+already been once pardoned out of prison by Velasquez, where he was
+confined for gross insubordination, and for the baseness of his private
+life, which, though he was thirty-four years of age, exhibited all the
+faults of earliest manhood. R. A. Wilson pronounces the expedition to
+have been "purely piratical, whose leader could have no hope of royal
+pardon but in complete success." Cortez knew that it would not answer
+for him to return to Cuba, therefore he unhesitatingly destroyed the
+means by which even his comrades could do so. These facts rob the act
+which has been so lauded by historians of all heroism. Depend upon it,
+all our heroes have feet of clay. He had just made a rough campaign with
+the natives of Tabasco, in Yucatan, where he learned that farther up the
+Gulf, where he finally landed, there was "a people who had much gold."
+That was what he sought. It was not God but gold that drew him onward
+from Vera Cruz to Montezuma's capital. He was not seeking to
+christianize the natives; that was a plausible subterfuge. His aim was
+to enrich himself with native spoils and to acquire empire, nor did he
+pause until he had consummated the ruin of a kingdom and his own
+aggrandizement.
+
+The traveler should not fail to take a boat across the bay to the
+castle, and there visit the dark and dismal dungeons built below the
+surrounding waters of the Gulf, like those in the castle of Chillon
+beneath the surface of the lake of Geneva. One may obtain an admirable
+view of the city and its neighborhood from the cupola of the lofty
+lighthouse, which is of the first class, and rises grandly to ninety
+feet above the sea. The fortress is now only partially manned, being
+used mostly as a place of confinement for political prisoners. As this
+island was the first landing-place of the Spaniards, so it was their
+last foothold in Mexico. There is a familiar anecdote, which is always
+retailed by the guides to the strangers whom they initiate into the
+mysteries of the fortress upon which Cortez is said to have expended
+uselessly many millions of dollars. Charles V., being asked for more
+funds wherewith to add to the defenses of San Juan d'Ulloa, called for a
+spyglass, and, seeking a window, pointed it to the west, seeming to gaze
+through the glass long and earnestly. When he was asked what he was
+looking for, he replied: "San Juan d'Ulloa. I have spent so much money
+upon the structure that it seems to me I ought to see it standing on the
+western horizon."
+
+The low-lying town--nearly eight thousand feet below the city of
+Mexico--is, perhaps, one of the most unhealthy spots on this continent,
+where the yellow fever, or _vomito_ as it is called, prevails for six or
+seven months of the year, claiming myriads of victims annually, while a
+malarial scourge, known as the stranger's fever, lingers about the place
+more or less fatally all the year round, according to the number of
+persons who are liable to be attacked. The yellow fever, which makes its
+appearance in May, is generally at its worst in August and September, at
+which periods it is apt to creep upwards towards the higher lands as far
+as Jalapa and Orizaba, though it has never been known to exist to any
+great extent in either of these places. The dangerous miasma which
+prevails seems to be quite harmless to the natives of the locality, or
+at least they are rarely attacked by it. When a person has once
+contracted yellow fever and recovered from it, as a rule he is presumed
+to be exempt from a second attack, but this is not a rule without an
+exception. In summer the streets of Vera Cruz are deserted except by the
+buzzards and the stray dogs. These quarrel with each other for scraps of
+food. The latter by no means always get the best of it. Even the
+Mexicans at such times call the place _Una ciudad de los muertos_ (a
+city of the dead).
+
+A large share of the business of Vera Cruz is carried on by French or
+German residents who have become acclimated, or by those born here of
+parents belonging to those nationalities. Many of the merchants of the
+city keep up a permanent residence at Jalapa for sanitary reasons. It is
+singular that the climate of this port on the Gulf side of the peninsula
+should be so fatal to human life, while the Pacific side, in the same
+latitude and quite near at hand, is perfectly salubrious. When the
+French army landed here in 1863-64, the ranks were decimated by the
+epidemic, and the graveyard where the bodies of between three and four
+thousand French victims lie buried near the city has been named by their
+countrymen, with grim humor, "Le Jardin d'Acclimatation"!
+
+On viewing the town from the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, one is struck
+by the oriental aspect which it presents. Everything is seen through a
+lurid atmosphere. The glare of sunshine reflected by the porcelain
+domes and the intense blue of the sky are Egyptian. Groups of mottled
+church towers surmounted by glittering crosses; square, flat-roofed
+houses; rough fortifications; a long reach of hot sandy plain on either
+side relieved by a few palm-trees; and scattered groups of low-growing
+cactus,--these make up the picture of the flat, miasmatic shore. There
+are no suburbs; the dreary, monotonous sand creeps close up to the city.
+But if the near foreground thus exhibits a certain repulsive nakedness,
+there looms grandly on the far-away horizon the Sierra Madre range of
+mountains, the culminating point of which is the bold, aspiring peak of
+Orizaba. It must be clear weather, however, to enable the visitor to see
+this remarkable elevation, with its hoary crown, to reach whose base
+twenty-seven leagues must be traversed.
+
+The long, straight, narrow streets are laid out with great uniformity, a
+characteristic of all Mexican cities, and cross each other at right
+angles, the monotony being broken by green blinds opening on to the
+little balconies which are shaded by awnings. The streets have a sort of
+sun-baked hue, though the principal thoroughfares show a fair degree of
+life and activity considering that the population is so largely made up
+of Mexicans. The area covered by the city cannot much exceed sixty
+acres, the town being built in a very compact manner, a bird's-eye view
+of which makes it resemble the outspread human hand. The port has seen
+its most prosperous days, if we may judge by present appearances. The
+aggregate of the imports and exports amounted to about thirty million
+dollars annually before the completion of the railroads to the national
+capital and thence to El Paso, but, as was anticipated, this new
+facility for transportation has diverted a large portion of this amount
+northward through the United States. The streets of Vera Cruz are still
+crowded in business hours with mule carts, porters, half-naked
+water-carriers, Indians, and a few negroes, military officers, and
+active civilians. Speaking of negroes, there are a less number in all
+Mexico than in any one State of this Union. In the plaza pretty
+flower-girls with tempting bouquets mingle with fruit venders,
+lottery-ticket sellers, and dashing young Mexican dudes, wearing broad
+sombreros heavy with cords of silver braid. Occasionally there passes
+some dignified senora, whose head and shoulders are covered with a black
+lace mantilla, imparting infinite grace to her handsome figure. How
+vastly superior is that soft, drooping veil to the tall hats and absurd
+bonnets of northern civilization! Broad contrasts present themselves on
+all hands, in groups of men, women, and children, half clad in rags,
+perhaps, but gay with brilliant colors, sharing the way with some
+sober-clad Europeans, or rollicking, half tipsy seamen on shore-leave
+from the shipping at anchor in the roadstead.
+
+The Plaza de la Constitucion is small in extent, about two hundred feet
+square, but it is very attractive. It is skillfully arranged, having a
+handsome bronze fountain in its centre, the gift of Carlotta, the
+unfortunate, energetic wife of Maximilian. In the evening the place is
+rendered brilliant by a system of electric lights. The flower plots and
+marble walks are ornamented with many lovely tropical flowers, cocoanut
+palms, and fragrant roses nodding languidly in the hot summer atmosphere
+under a sky intensely blue, and nine tenths of the time perfectly
+cloudless. The Australian gum-tree and the Chinese laurel were
+conspicuous among other exotic varieties. As the twilight approaches, it
+is amusing to watch the _habitues_, consisting of both sexes, especially
+in shady corners where there is obviously much love-making on the sly,
+but not the legitimate article of the Romeo and Juliet sort which has
+already been described. Here and there strolls a dude,--a Mexican dude,
+with his dark face shaded by his sombrero, his tight trousers flaring at
+the bottom and profusely ornamented at the side with silver buttons. He
+is jostled by a fellow-countryman, who gathers his serape across his
+left shoulder and breast so adroitly as to partially conceal his shabby
+attire, while he puffs his cigarette with assumed nonchalance,
+exchanging a careless word in the mean time with the gypsy-like woman
+who offers bananas and zapotas for sale. Dainty senoritas trip across
+the way in red-heeled slippers of Cinderella-like proportions, while
+noisy, laughing, happy children, girls and boys, romp with pet dogs,
+trundle ribbon-decked hoops, or spin gaudy humming tops. Flaring posters
+catch the eye, heralding the cruel bull-fight or a performance at the
+theatre. On Sundays a military band performs here forenoons and
+evenings. Under the starlight you may look not only among the low
+growing foliage to see the fireflies, which float there like clouds of
+phosphorescence, but now and again one will glow, diamond-like, in the
+black hair of the fair senoritas, where they are ingeniously fastened to
+produce this effect. It is strictly a Spanish idea, which the author has
+often seen in Havana. So brilliant are these tropical fireflies that
+with three or four placed under an inverted wineglass one can see to
+read fine printed matter in the nighttime. It is the common people
+mostly who use these insects as evening ornaments on their persons,
+though sometimes the most refined ladies wear them. The firefly has a
+hook-like integument on its body by which it is easily fastened to the
+hair or dress without any harm to itself. It seems as though nature had
+anticipated this peculiar use of the "lightning-bug," and so provided
+the necessary means for the purpose. The country people bring them to
+market in little wicker baskets or cages, and it is curious to see with
+what avidity they will consume sugar. As you gaze with interest at the
+picture of tropical life, you are quietly asked for a few pennies by a
+man so well dressed, and apparently so well to do, that it seems more
+like a joke than like real begging. Just so the author has been accosted
+in the streets of Granada, in continental Spain, with a request for a
+trifling sum of money, by well-dressed people. Comparatively few beggars
+importune one in the large cities of Mexico, being deterred by the
+watchful police; but in the environs of any large settlement the
+poverty-stricken people are sure to descend upon the stranger like an
+army with banners.
+
+The architecture of Vera Cruz is of the old Spanish style, with a dash
+of Moorish flavor in it, recalling Tangier and other cities of Morocco.
+The governor's palace is a building of some pretension, two stories in
+height, with a veranda on each, and a tall square tower at one end of
+the edifice. Having visited the plaza, the alameda, with its fine array
+of cocoa-palms, the municipal palace, the custom-house, the public
+library, and the large church fronting the plaza, one has about
+exhausted the main features of interest. This latter structure is an
+imposing building, but it will in no respect compare with the cathedrals
+of the other cities which we have described. There are a fair number of
+public schools in the town, two well-endowed hospitals, public baths,
+and a few other institutions worthy of a progressive people. A
+thoroughfare, called the Street of Christ, leads out to the Campo Santo,
+half a mile away. This burial-place is an area surrounded by high walls,
+built very thick of rubble-stones and adobe, in which the tombs are made
+to receive the bodies instead of placing them in the ground. This
+neglected city of the dead has been taken in hand by Nature herself, and
+wild flowers are seen amid the sombre and dreary surroundings, rivaling
+in beauty and fragrance many cultivated favorites.
+
+The city houses are built of coral limestone, stuccoed. The roofs, when
+pitched, are covered with tiles of a dull red color, but they are nearly
+all flat. The interior arrangements are like those elsewhere described.
+Each house of the better class has its square inner court, or patio,
+round which the dwelling is constructed, and this is ornamented more or
+less prettily, according to the owner's taste, potted plants always
+forming a prominent feature, together with an array of caged singing
+birds. The long windows are guarded by significant iron bars, like the
+dwelling-houses throughout this country and in Havana. Sometimes on the
+better class of houses this iron work is rendered quite ornamental. The
+narrow streets are kept scrupulously clean, and are paved with
+cobble-stones which we were told were brought by ships from the coast of
+New England, and have a gutter running down the middle. There is an
+abundance of active, keen-eyed scavengers waddling about, always on the
+alert to pick up and devour domestic refuse or garbage of any sort which
+is found in the streets. These are the dark-plumed, funereal-looking
+buzzard, or vulture, a bird which is protected by law, and depended on
+to act in the capacity we have described. They are two feet and over in
+length of body, and measure six feet from tip to tip of the wings, or
+about the size of a large Rhode Island turkey. Employing these birds for
+the removal of refuse is a remedy almost as bad as the disease, since
+the habits of the huge, ungainly, ill-omened creatures are extremely
+disgusting. Clouds of them roost upon the eaves of the houses, the
+church belfries, and all exposed balconies, and would invade the patios
+of the dwellings were they not vigorously driven away and thus taught
+better manners. The cathedral facade on the plaza is sometimes black
+with them, the rays of the bright tropical sun being reflected from
+their glossy feathers as from a mirror. It seems there is one mystery
+which appertains to these unpleasant birds; namely, as to their breeding
+places. No one knows where they go to build their nests and to raise
+their young. The imaginative stranger is perhaps inclined to regard them
+as tokens of danger to the newcomer. All things considered, many a
+northern city has a less efficient street-cleaning department.
+
+For a striking picture of strong local color, we commend the stranger to
+watch for a short half-hour the picturesque old fountain at the head of
+the Calle Centrale. Here he will find at almost any time of the day
+scores of weary burros slaking their thirst; busy water-carriers filling
+their red earthen jars; the street gamin wetting his thirsty lips; the
+itinerant fruit peddler seeking for customers; the gay caballero pausing
+to water the handsome animal he bestrides; while the tramway mules seek
+their share of the refreshing liquid. Dark-hued women are coming and
+going with earthen jars poised upon their heads, wonderfully like their
+Eastern sisters at the fountains of oriental Cairo. Here are men with
+curiously trimmed fighting birds in their arms, wending their way to the
+cruel cockpit. On the edge of the sidewalk close at hand, women are
+cooking dough-cakes of corn-meal over charcoal in tiny earthen
+braziers,--the universal tortillas. A sand-covered muleteer, just
+arrived, is testing their quality while his burros are drinking at the
+fountain.
+
+Though Vera Cruz has suffered more than any other capital with which we
+are acquainted from bombardments, change of rulers, ravages of
+buccaneers, hurricanes, fevers, and other plagues, yet it is still a
+prosperous city, always spoken of with a certain degree of pride by the
+people of the republic as Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, that is, "the rich
+city of the true cross." A brief glance at its past history shows us
+that, in 1568, it was in the hands of pirates, and that it was again
+sacked by buccaneers in 1683, having been in the interim, during the
+year 1618, swept by a devastating conflagration which nearly obliterated
+the place. In 1822-23, it was bombarded by the Spaniards, who still held
+the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. In 1838, it was attacked by a French
+fleet, and in 1847, was cannonaded and captured by the American forces.
+In 1856, it was nearly destroyed by a hurricane. In 1859, civil war
+decimated the fortress and the town. The French and Imperialists took
+and held it from 1861 until 1867, when the cause of national
+independence triumphed. Since this latter date Vera Cruz has enjoyed a
+period of quiet and a large share of commercial prosperity.
+
+About ten or twelve miles southward from the city is the little town of
+Medillin, a sort of popular watering-place, the Saratoga of this
+neighborhood. It is made up of a few decent houses of brick and wood,
+and many very poor ones, having plenty of drinking, dancing, and
+gambling saloons. The trip thither is most enjoyable to a stranger, for
+the glimpse it gives him of the tropical character and the rank
+fertility of this region. On the way one passes through a floral
+paradise, where flowers of every hue and teeming with fragrance line the
+way. Almond-trees, yielding grateful shade, and the _Ponciana regia_,
+blazing with gorgeous flowers, are in strong contrast to each other. The
+productive breadfruit-tree and the grapefruit with its yellow product
+abound. Here one sees the scarlet hibiscus beside the _galan de noche_
+(garland of night), which grows like a young palm to nearly ten feet in
+height, throwing out from the centre of its tufted top a group of brown
+blossoms daintily tipped with white, the mass of bloom shaped like a
+rich cluster of ripe grapes. Truly, the trees and flowers to be seen on
+the way to Medillin are a revelation.
+
+The State of Vera Cruz borders the Gulf for a distance of five hundred
+miles, averaging in width about seventy-five miles. No other section of
+the country is so remarkable for its extreme temperature and for the
+fertility of the soil. The variety of its productions is simply
+marvelous. The intense heat is tempered by the northers, which usually
+occur about the first of December, and from time to time until the first
+of April, during which period any part of the state is comparatively
+healthy. A list of the native products would surprise one. Among them we
+find tobacco, coffee, sugar, cotton, wheat, barley, vanilla, pineapples,
+oranges, lemons, bananas, pomegranates, peaches, plums, apricots,
+tamarinds, watermelons, citrons, pears, and many other fruits and
+vegetables. The natives push a stick into the ground, drop in a kernel
+or two of corn, cover them with the soil by a mere brush of their feet,
+and ninety days after they pluck the ripe ears. There is no other labor,
+no fertilizer is used, nor is there any occasion for consulting the
+season, for the seed will ripen and yield its fruit each month of the
+year, if planted at suitable intervals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Jalapa.--A Health Resort.--Birds, Flowers, and Fruits.--Cerro Gordo.--
+    Cathedral.--Earthquakes.--Local Characteristics.--Vanilla.--Ancient
+    Ruins.--Tortillas.--Blondes in a City of Brunettes.--Curiosities of
+    Mexican Courtship.--Caged Singing Birds.--Banditti Outwitted.--
+    Socialistic Indians.--Traces of a Lost City.--Guadalajara.--On the
+    Mexican Plateau.--A Progressive Capital.--Fine Modern Buildings.--
+    The Cathedral.--Native Artists.--A Noble Institution.--Amusements.
+    --San Pedro.--Evening in the Plaza.--A Ludicrous Carnival.--Judas
+    Day.
+
+
+Jalapa, signifying "the place of water and land,"--pronounced
+Halapa,--is situated about sixty miles north-northwest of Vera Cruz, and
+is considered to be the sanitarium of the latter city, whither many of
+the families who are able to do so resort during the sickly season. Not
+a few of the prosperous merchants maintain dwellings in both cities. Its
+situation insures salubrity, as it is more than four thousand feet
+higher than the seacoast. The yellow fever may terrorize the lowlands
+and blockade the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, as it surely does at
+certain seasons of the year, from Yucatan to Vera Cruz, but the
+atmosphere of the highlands, commencing at Jalapa on the north and
+Orizaba on the south, is, as a rule, full of life-invigorating
+properties. We do not mean to say that these places are absolutely free
+from yellow fever and miasmatic illness, but they are so far superior
+to Vera Cruz in this respect as to be considered health-resorts for the
+people on the shores of the Gulf. The route to Jalapa from the coast
+passes through the old national road by the way of Cerro Gordo. The
+hamlet bearing this name, where General Scott outflanked and defeated
+Santa Anna, April 18, 1847, consists of a few mud cabins in a
+tumble-down condition. It has become a memorable spot, but save its
+historical association is possessed of no attractions. It is not a
+populous district: there are few haciendas met with, and fewer hamlets,
+but the scenery is very grand, and the vegetation is characterized by
+all the luxuriance of the tropics. Birds and flowers abound, and wild
+fruits are so plenty that they ripen and decay undisturbed by the hands
+of the natives. Nature is over-bountiful, over-prolific. There is no
+sere and yellow leaf here--fruits and flowers are perennial. If a leaf
+falls, another springs into life on the vacant stem. If fruit is
+plucked, a blossom quickly appears and another cluster ripens.
+
+Of birds distinguished for beauty of plumage and sweetness of song there
+are, according to Clavigero, between fifty and sixty different species.
+Of those suitable for food there are over seventy sorts in the republic,
+according to the same authority. The rage for brilliant-colored feathers
+with which to decorate the bonnets of fashionable ladies in American
+cities has led to great destruction among tropical birds of both Mexico
+and South America. Here they have also been always in demand for the
+purpose of producing what is termed feather pictures, as elsewhere
+described in these pages.
+
+The road is very tortuous, winding up long hills and down steep gulches,
+with here and there a rude, significant wooden cross, held in place by a
+little mound of stones, raised above the burial-place of some murdered
+man. This, it seems, is a conscientious service always rendered in
+Mexico by any one who is the first to discover such a body. Each native
+who afterwards passes the spot adds a small store to the pile, and
+kneeling, utters a brief prayer in behalf of the dead man's soul.
+
+Jalapa has a permanent population of some fourteen thousand, which is
+considerably increased at certain seasons of the year. It contains a
+large, well-appointed cathedral, with a number of other Catholic
+churches. Cortez and his followers covered the land with cathedrals and
+demi-cathedrals, but the disestablishment of the church and the general
+confiscation of ecclesiastical property has rendered it impossible to
+sustain them all, together with the crowds of officiating priests. The
+consequence is that here, as elsewhere in the republic, many are
+crumbling into decay, and when an erratic earthquake, which is no
+respecter of sacred buildings, tumbles over some high-reaching dome or
+tower, or twists a facade out of plumb, it is left to remain in that
+condition, and soon becomes a partial ruin. We saw several thus
+dilapidated in different sections of the country. Jalapa enjoys a
+commanding situation at the base of the Cofre de Perote, on undulating
+ground on the slope of the so-called hill of Macuiltepec; many of the
+streets are therefore very steep, and the scenery, which is really
+beautiful, is quite Alpine in character.
+
+The low stone houses are perched on the hillsides, and the streets are
+irregular. This neighborhood is said to produce the prettiest women and
+the loveliest flowers to be found in all Mexico, and it is certain that
+in its gardens may be gathered the fruits and flowers of every zone.
+Among other special products of this vicinity is the aromatic vanilla
+plant, which is indigenous here and grows in wild abundance in the
+forests, proving a great source of income to the industrious native
+gatherers. The plant requires only shade and moisture. The peculiar soil
+and climate do the rest. The harvest is gathered in March and April. The
+flowers of the vanilla are of a greenish yellow, touched here and there
+with white. It has a climbing stalk. The pods grow in pairs and are
+about as large round as one's little finger, and six inches long, though
+they vary, and the longer they are the greater is considered their
+value. These are green at first, gradually turning to yellow, and then
+to brown, as they become fully ripe. They are carefully dried in the
+sun, being touched during the process with palm oil, which gives them a
+soft, glossy effect when they reach the consumers' hands. Chocolate
+perfumed with vanilla was a Mexican dish which Montezuma placed before
+Cortez. The quantity shipped from Jalapa is very considerable in the
+aggregate, and proves an important source of revenue. We are told that
+the vanilla was successfully cultivated here by the Totonacs, ancient
+dwellers in this region, the aromatic product being highly appreciated
+by the Sybaritic Montezuma and the Aztec nobles generally, and
+commanding even in those days a liberal price. Humboldt speaks of "the
+vanilla, whose odoriferous fruit is used as a perfume, growing in the
+ever-green forests of Papantla." Here also are found ruins left by some
+forgotten race who must have reached to a certain degree of high
+civilization, judging by these interesting remains. Of this land, lying
+far to the south of the Aztec territory, and of its people, even
+tradition has nothing to reveal to us. But its ruins are presumed to be
+contemporary with those better known in Yucatan, which they resemble in
+many important particulars. One other notable plant grows wild
+hereabouts, less pleasing to the senses, but well known as an important
+drug in our medical practice, namely, jalap, which takes its name from
+the locality, or the place is named after the plant.
+
+The atmosphere of Jalapa is always humid, and the city is often
+overshadowed by clouds which come up from the Gulf of Mexico, heavy with
+moisture to be precipitated in the form of rain. A sort of "drizzling"
+prevails most of the time, like that which one encounters at Bergen, in
+Norway, or at Sitka, Alaska. In the former place it is said to rain
+eight days in the week.
+
+The old convent of San Francisco, vast in extent and once equally so in
+influence, is an object of considerable interest, situated in the centre
+of the town. It is believed to have been erected by Cortez, and was once
+occupied by a powerful community of Franciscans. This was also the
+birthplace of General Santa Anna, the most notorious of Mexico's
+soldiers of fortune, and whose now neglected hacienda is pointed out to
+the visitor. In his checkered career Santa Anna was constantly falling
+from position, but this was only the prelude to his rising again and to
+a greater elevation, from which he was sure to be ignominiously hurled.
+
+Here the author had a first taste of the universal tortilla, which is to
+the people of Mexico what macaroni is to the lazzaroni of Naples, or
+bread to a New Englander. It is made from Indian corn, as already
+intimated, not ground in a mill to the condition of meal, but after
+being soaked in the kernel and softened by potash, it is rolled between
+two stones, and water being added a paste or dough is formed, which is
+manipulated between the palms of the hands to a thin flat cake and baked
+over a charcoal fire in an earthen brazier. It is very palatable and
+nutritious to a hungry person. Those who can afford to do so often mix
+some appetizing ingredient with the simple cakes, such as sweets,
+peppers, or chopped meats. The scores of Indian women who come to market
+to offer their grain, baskets, fruits, vegetables, and flowers for sale,
+are wrapped in rebosas of various colors, but are barefooted,
+bareheaded, and with no covering on their arms or legs, forming striking
+and characteristic groups.
+
+Though the natives go about during the day only half clad, both men and
+women exposing a large portion of the bare body to the atmosphere, it
+was observed that as soon as the evening shadows fell, both sexes
+protected their necks and shoulders with wraps; the men winding their
+woolen serapes even over the lower part of their faces, and the women
+covering theirs with the universal rebosa. The change of temperature
+soon after sunset and in the early mornings, as compared with the rest
+of the day, is very decided throughout Mexico. Foreigners who observe
+these native precautions and follow them avoid taking colds, while
+others, more heedless, are liable to pay the penalty.
+
+One peculiarity was observed at Jalapa. While most of the Mexican women
+are quite dark-hued, especially those from the rural districts and of
+mixed blood, that is of Indian and Spanish descent, yet a large number
+of those one meets in Jalapa are decided blondes, having light hair with
+blue eyes, and possessing as blooming complexions as the orchids which
+so much abound in this district.
+
+There is a rage for caged singing birds in the better class of houses, a
+perfect flood of melody floating out of open windows and patios. The
+birds are brilliant both in plumage and in song, a combination not
+always found in the low latitudes. As a rule, south of the equator, the
+gaudily-plumed birds please the eye, and the plain ones delight the ear.
+The Mexican parrots are the most voluble to be found this side of
+southern Africa. It seems that there are conventional rules relating to
+bird-fancying here; the middle and lower classes make pets of the parrot
+tribe, while the more pretentious people prefer mocking-birds,
+canaries, and the favorite little clarin. Boys walk about the streets of
+the national capital with a species of small paroquet for sale, trained
+to run all over the owner's arms, neck, and fingers, showing no
+inclination to seek liberty by flight. A lady stopping at the Iturbide
+purchased a bird of many colors, marvelous to look at, which she had
+been assured by the itinerant vender would sing gloriously as soon as it
+became acquainted with its new home. It was sufficiently curious,
+however, because of its remarkably brilliant and queerly disposed
+colors. After petting it for a few days the new mistress gave the bird a
+warm bath, out of which the little fellow came all of one hue, namely a
+dark ash color. The deceitful bird merchant had ingeniously painted him
+from the crown of his head to the very tip of his tail feathers!
+
+Like all these Spanish cities, the windows of the dwellings are secured
+by a screen of iron bars, and many fronts where the house is of two
+stories in height have also delightful little balconies, answering a
+Romeo and Juliet purpose, all courtship being conducted here in a
+surreptitious manner. A Mexican never goes about a courtship whereby he
+hopes to win a wife in an open, straightforward manner. On the contrary,
+he forms cunning schemes for meeting his fair inamorata, and employs
+ingenious subterfuges to gain a stolen interview. He tells his passion
+not in words, but with profound sighs and significant glances, as he
+passes her flower-decked balcony, while she, although perfectly
+understanding his pantomime, assumes the most profound innocence and
+even indifference. This fires the suitor's ardor; he bows sadly when
+passing her balcony, with his right hand pressed vehemently upon his
+left breast, where a youthful lover's heart is popularly supposed to be
+located. Finally, after a good deal of pretentious pantomime, the fair
+senorita appears to realize the purport of all this wooing, and seems
+gradually to yield to his silent yet expressive importunities. There is
+also a language of the fan, of flowers, of the fingers, all of which are
+pressed into the service of the amorous couple. We were shown a small
+pocket manual printed in Spanish and sold in the stores and upon the
+streets, containing a printed code of the significance of certain
+flowers, a "dumb alphabet" for the fingers, and the meaning of the
+several motions of the ever-ready fan which, like a gaudy butterfly,
+flits before the face of beauty. There is the rapid flirt which
+signifies scorn, another motion is the graceful wave of confidence, an
+abrupt closing of the fan indicates vexation, and the striking of it
+into the palm of the hand expresses anger. The gradual opening of its
+folds intimates reluctant forgiveness, and so on. In short, the fan can
+be more eloquent than words, if in the hands of a Mexican senorita,
+stimulated by the watchful eyes and the adoration of an ardent Romeo.
+But this is only preliminary. All parents are presumed to be implacably
+and absolutely opposed to all lovers' wishes, and great diplomacy is
+consequently required. This ludicrous game often continues for a
+twelvemonth before anything is consummated. The charm of the whole
+affair with these people consists in its secrecy and difficulties either
+real or assumed. Lydia Languish cared nothing for Beverly when all
+obstacles to their union vanished; opposition is the spice of love.
+
+A pleasant story is told of the attractiveness of Jalapa. It seems that
+an old traveler came here to pass a day, but was so fascinated with the
+beauty of the place and its surroundings, the fragrance of its flowers,
+the beauty of its women, and the salubrity of the climate, that he never
+left it to the day of his death. Every nook and corner has its charming
+bit of verdure, its plot of flowers, its broad green banana leaves
+overhanging some low, white wall, or a tall palm with its plume-like top
+overshadowing a dainty balcony. One often hears Jalapa spoken of among
+the Mexicans as a bit of heaven dropped on earth.
+
+The great shame and disgrace of Mexico has been the prevalence of
+brigandage in the several states of the republic, and even in the
+immediate environs of the national capital. All the efforts of the
+government for years have proved ineffectual to suppress this
+lawlessness until very lately, when, for reasons not very clear to a
+stranger, it has seemed gradually to subside. Brigandage has not only
+been a crying shame to the country, but has paralyzed business, kept
+visitors away from Mexico, and caused her to lose her national credit
+both in Europe and America. People will not invest money in great
+enterprises in regions where the persons of their agents are not safe,
+and where robbery and kidnapping are every-day occurrences. An
+intelligent native attempted to convince the author that these
+highwaymen were not composed of native Indians, half-breeds, or
+Spaniards, but that they were mostly made up from Italians and other
+Europeans who had been induced to leave their own country for their
+country's good. Our credulity was not, however, equal to this solution.
+Brigandage was long chronic here, and the brigands were Mexicans.
+
+When the French army was here, it is said that General Bazaine had
+occasion to be in the city at an opportune moment. Having heard by some
+chance that the brigands had been very troublesome hereabouts, and also
+that they would probably stop the next mail coach on its way to Vera
+Cruz, he resolved to give these outlaws a lesson which they would not
+soon forget. When the expected coach arrived, and while the mules were
+replaced by fresh ones, the general ordered the passengers, some of whom
+were ladies, to remain in the hotel, while he put ten of his most daring
+Zouaves inside the coach to fill their places. These men were specially
+instructed, and half of them were disguised as women, the others having
+their uniforms covered from sight. The driver was sworn to secrecy under
+a threat of being shot if he disobeyed orders, and was directed to go on
+his way as usual. By-and-by, when the coach had arrived at a certain
+point, the driver suddenly drew up his horses, for he saw a row of
+muskets in the hands of a dozen men ranged across the road, pointing at
+him, and heard the usual order to stop. A moment later the leader of
+these men came to the door of the coach, where he saw, apparently, a
+lady, and in a peremptory voice ordered the passengers to get out upon
+the roadway. The door being thrown open, the pseudo woman who sat next
+to it was aided to descend to the ground by the leader of the brigands
+on one side and his lieutenant on the other. At the instant this
+individual alighted, two simultaneous pistol-shots were heard. The
+passenger standing between the two robbers had pressed the triggers of
+two pistols, held one in his right and one in left hand, quite
+unobserved. The leading brigand together with his lieutenant fell dead
+upon the road. In the mean time the opposite door of the coach had been
+quickly opened, whence the other nine Zouaves, trained athletes, sprang
+like cats to the ground, each one selecting his foe among the robbers,
+who, on their part, were taken so completely by surprise that they fired
+their muskets at random, while the Zouaves with their keen sword
+bayonets literally chopped them to pieces. There were fourteen of these
+gentlemen of the road, only one of whom escaped alive, and he was so
+severely wounded that he bled to death in a native hut among the hills.
+There was no more brigandage, as the reader may well imagine, in the
+vicinity where the French troops were stationed.
+
+A small and rather peculiar party of Indians was observed here, some
+special occasion having lured them from their agricultural hamlet. They
+were not attached to any hacienda, but lived in a primitive manner,
+illustrating a communistic idea, a practice, it appears, which is not
+uncommon among this class in some parts of the country. Their cabins
+are of adobe. Indeed, wooden buildings are almost unknown, wood being
+seldom used, even in the cities, for inside finish. These Indians
+cultivate the land in common, and when the crop is gathered, it is
+divided after recognized laws of their own. Irrigation is the sole means
+of fertilizing, and it seems to be all the soil requires. They plough
+with oxen, using a crooked stick, which method, several times alluded
+to, is not so very surprising when we remember that the Egyptian fellah
+uses a similar instrument to-day, and irrigates the soil by means of
+buckets worked by hand. The women of the group of whom we are speaking
+were bareheaded, and wore their long, straight, black hair in braids
+hanging down over their naked shoulders, their arms being bare, and also
+their legs to the knee. A loose cotton tunic and short petticoat formed
+their dress. The men wore straw hats with tall crowns, their broad brims
+throwing their swarthy faces into deep shadow. Unbleached cotton shirts
+and drawers of the same reaching to the knees completed the costume.
+Some wore leather sandals, but most were barefooted. There were a few
+children among them, all slung to the mothers' backs, and quite naked.
+
+Between the lofty peak of Orizaba and the Cofre de Perote, there exists
+many traces of a very numerous native population, who must have occupied
+the country long previous to the advent of the Spanish conquerors. Not
+even tradition tells us anything about this locality, which is
+abundantly supplied with water, is fertile to an extraordinary degree,
+and possesses a healthy climate. That extensive and intelligent
+cultivation of the soil was carried on here at some period of the past
+is clearly shown by numberless remains. The fact that oak trees four
+feet in diameter are found growing over the stone foundations of ruined
+dwellings proves that many centuries have passed since the population
+disappeared. The remains of the dwellings are all of stone laid without
+mortar, arranged in streets, or in groups. A series of pyramids of stone
+are also found here, the largest of which is over fifty feet in height,
+and the smallest not over ten or twelve feet, the last seeming to have
+been designed for tombs. Several of these have been opened and found to
+contain skeletons and elaborately ornamented burial urns. The locality
+referred to is the eastern slope of the sierra towards the coast between
+Orizaba and Jalapa.
+
+Our next objective point is the city of Mexico, to reach which from
+Jalapa we return to Vera Cruz, though not necessarily, taking the
+railway from the port through Orizaba and Puebla. As we have been over
+this route with the reader, let us pass on to places which we have not
+yet spoken of. At the national capital we once more take passage on the
+Mexican Central Railway north-northwest to Guadalajara, the capital of
+the State of Jalisco. This growing and prosperous city is reached by a
+branch road from Irapuato, being that which is designed ultimately to
+reach the Pacific at San Blas. One hundred and sixty miles of this
+branch road is completed. Guadalajara is three hundred and eighty miles
+from the city of Mexico, situated in a pleasant valley six thousand
+feet above the sea, with a population of one hundred thousand, stating
+it in round numbers. It will be remembered that we are now on what is
+called the Mexican plateau. The Indian name of the valley is Alemaxac.
+As to temperature, we found that the annual mean was 70 deg. Fahr., but our
+thermometer gave us 90 deg. Fahr. nearly all the time during our stay, and
+even at midnight it did not fall below 82 deg.. A small river, San Juan de
+Dios, runs through the town about its middle, in a charmingly crooked
+fashion. In coming hither we pass through the valley of the Rio Lerma,
+one of the best developed regions as regards agriculture in the entire
+republic. The route takes us through some populous towns and many
+interesting villages, also near to the famous Lake Chapala, the largest
+body of water in Mexico, sixty miles long and over fifteen in width.
+
+Guadalajara is one of the most progressive cities in the country, and is
+the second in point of population, supporting an admirable school system
+worthy of all commendation. It has numerous public squares, besides the
+Plaza Mayor and a fine alameda. The plaza is about three hundred feet
+long and of nearly the same width, one side occupied by the cathedral,
+another by the state buildings, and on the two remaining sides is a line
+of arches in which are some of the most attractive stores of the town. A
+large number of the public buildings are of modern construction,
+including the governor's palace, the municipal palace, the mint, and
+other edifices, all fronting, as usual, on the Plaza Mayor. The only
+Academy of Fine Arts in the country, outside of the city of Mexico, is
+to be found here, and it is in a highly flourishing condition, a large
+local interest being pledged to its support. It is somewhat difficult to
+decide in one's own mind which of the two cities, Puebla or Guadalajara,
+should rank next to the city of Mexico in wealth, general interest, and
+commercial importance. Both are progressive capitals, remarkably so for
+this country.
+
+The grand cathedral was finished in 1618, having a noble facade, a
+graceful dome, and two lofty towers partly covered with enameled tiles.
+The front is richly carved, and ornamented by fluted pillars. The
+interior of the dome is as finely frescoed as the famous church of
+Burgos, in Spain, or that of the church of St. John, in the island of
+Malta. Of this latter church it strongly reminded us. The great altar is
+finished in white and gold. A narrow gallery of gilded metal runs around
+the entire building on a level with the capitals of the pillars which
+support the roof. It seems that during religious services here a few
+years ago, two of the organists were struck by lightning while playing
+and instantly killed. The towers of the cathedral show some evidence of
+having been disturbed by an earthquake, which occurred in 1818. There
+are thirty churches in all in Guadalajara, and, like the other public
+buildings, they are unusually fine.
+
+This is quite an ancient city, having been founded in 1541.
+Manufacturing is carried on to a considerable extent; among the articles
+produced are fine pottery, cotton cloth, silk, rebosas, musical
+instruments, and leather goods. The native Indian race hereabouts, and,
+indeed, in places further south, are great adepts, as already explained,
+in the manufacture of antiquities. We saw here some remarkably fine
+examples of pottery, designed and finished by native artists who had
+never enjoyed an hour's instruction. It was the result of an inborn
+artistic taste. The lace-like drawn-work produced by the Indian women
+from fine linen rivals the best work of the kind which comes from South
+America, where the natives have long been famous for fine work in this
+special line.
+
+The Hospicio San Miguel de Belen is a very comprehensive and
+well-conducted establishment, containing a hospital proper, with male
+and female wards, a lunatic asylum, and a primary school. Other
+evidences of keeping pace with the times were seen in the presence of
+the telephone, electric lights, and a good system of tramways. The
+environs of the city are justly famous for many beautiful gardens and a
+grand paseo shaded by noble trees, mostly elms, with broad, spreading
+limbs and of great age. The Campo Santo is not unlike that at Vera Cruz,
+the bodies being deposited in niches built in the thick walls about the
+grounds. Some of the monumental tombs are of a very impressive and
+beautiful character.
+
+Another remarkable and very interesting institution of this city is the
+Hospicio de Guadalajara, situated on the eastern side of the small
+stream which flows through the town. It is approached by a wide,
+handsome avenue lined with orange-trees. The edifice covers eight
+acres, being constructed about numerous open areas which are utilized as
+gardens, devoted to raising flowers and fruits, each also ornamented by
+a cheerful fountain. There are over twenty of these courts within the
+grounds, from which broad, high corridors open, which traverse the
+several departments of the institution. Mangoes, oranges, and bananas
+thrive on the trees in these patios, and such an abundance of red and
+white roses, in such mammoth sizes, we have rarely seen. The sister who
+acted as our guide through the spacious edifice insisted upon plucking
+them freely and presenting them to the ladies of the party. There is a
+spacious and fine chapel within the group of buildings, as capacious as
+an ordinary church. Its lofty dome is beautifully frescoed, and many
+fine oil paintings adorn the walls. Hundreds of children, ranging from
+babyhood to twelve years, were seen in the various departments, where
+everything was scrupulously neat and clean. This admirable Hospicio is
+used as an asylum for foundlings, a home for the blind, and also for the
+deaf and dumb, besides which there is here provided a home for the
+infirm who are unable to support themselves. This very worthy
+institution presents an imposing appearance, with its lofty dome and
+pillared portico facing the broad, tree-lined avenue which leads up to
+its spacious doors.
+
+There is a bull-ring and two theatres here. The favorite promenade is
+the paseo, which runs for over a mile within the city proper,
+terminating at the alameda. Gambling, next to the bull-fight, is the
+average Mexican's delight, and just outside the thoroughfare of the
+alameda all sorts of games of chance prevail. As government legalizes
+the lottery-ticket business, it opens the door for much gambling. Ten
+per cent, of the gross receipts of all lottery enterprises goes into the
+national treasury. Even blind men were seen selling lottery tickets, and
+when it was suggested that they were liable to be cheated by
+unscrupulous purchasers, the reply was that such an act would surely
+bring ill luck, and no ticket bought under such circumstances could
+possibly draw a prize! This was repeated to us as being the sentiment
+governing the throng of humble purchasers. The Mexicans of the lower
+class are very superstitious, and will often pay a young and innocent
+child a trifle to select a ticket for them, believing that good luck may
+thus be secured.
+
+A short trip by tramway will take the traveler to the suburb of San
+Pedro, where the native Indians produce a species of pottery which is
+both curious and artistic, each one working independently in his adobe
+cabin. One often detects an article which genius alone could originate
+and produce. The work is done solely by hand, the workmen employing only
+the most primitive methods. Some of the vases and jars are identical
+with those one finds in Egypt, finely glazed, and enameled in colors
+which are burned in by the maker. These wares are so well appreciated by
+strangers that the peons realize good prices for their skill; and
+travelers take home with them mementoes worthy of being placed in the
+best collections of pottery.
+
+On the evening of Good Friday the spacious plaza of Guadalajara was
+thronged with the citizens, men and women, peons as well as the better
+classes, the former scrupulously keeping within certain limits, while
+the ladies and gentlemen promenaded upon the broad path encircling the
+plaza, beneath the shade of orange-trees and amid a rose-scented
+atmosphere. The moon was near its full, but the electric lamps rivaled
+its serene brilliancy, and the stars were outshone. When the hands on
+the illumined clock over the governor's palace pointed to half-past
+eight, the military band, placed in the central pagoda, with soldierly
+promptness struck up a grand and elaborate anthem. The thirty performers
+were skillful musicians, and the effect was admirable. They were all
+swarthy natives, descendants of the Aztecs, but fully able to compete
+with the average French, German, or American musicians. The throng
+passed and repassed each other on the gayly lighted paths, or seated
+themselves in a broad circle about the plaza. Merry children, nicely
+dressed, romped hither and thither, now and again coming up pleasantly
+to greet the strangers, and making the most of the few words of English
+at their command, while the big fountain kept up its delightfully-cooling
+notes, heard in the intervals of the music. There were thousands of
+natives and foreigners promenading hither and thither about the great
+square and in the plaza, forming a gay and impressive scene until nearly
+midnight. There is a holiday gayety about life in this southern clime
+which is quite infectious.
+
+The fascination of the scene; the delights of a land of perpetual
+sunshine; the charming surface aspect of everything; the rank, luxuriant
+vegetation; the perfume of flowers mingling with the delightful music
+that floated upon the air in such an hour as we have described,--all
+these did not blind the moral sense, though for the moment the physical
+powers were led captive. One pauses to review the aimless lives of these
+indolent but beautiful women, and the useless career of the men who form
+the upper class. It is natural to contrast the lives of such with that
+of the abject poor, the half-starved, half-naked masses who hung about
+the outer lines of the assembled throng on the plaza; men and women
+living a mere animal existence, and yet who represented such grand and
+noble possibilities. Ah! the puzzle of it all! Who can solve the riddle?
+Lazarus and Dives jostle each other not alone in Guadalajara, but all
+over the world.
+
+In this city, on the Saturday following Good Friday, occurred what is
+here termed "Judas Iscariot Day," when the concentrated vengeance of the
+Christian world is supposed to be visited upon the vile betrayer of his
+Master. The whole object of the occasion is to heap contumely, derision,
+and dishonor upon the name of Judas. Extensive preparations are made a
+week or more before the special day. The town presented an appearance
+similar to the Fourth of July in the United States. The streets were
+full of temporary booths, and all the inhabitants were out of doors.
+Figures twelve or fifteen inches long, made of paper, rags, or other
+combustible material, in various colors, representing Judas, and stuffed
+with firecrackers and powder, were sold to men and boys, to be fired at
+the proper time. Some of these figures were of life size, containing
+rockets and blue lights. Judas was represented with folded hands, arms
+akimbo, with legs in a running posture, and, in short, in every
+conceivable attitude. Some of the larger figures bore mottoes about
+their necks in Spanish, such as "I am a scion of the Devil;" another, "I
+am about to die for my treachery;" and a third, "I have no friends, and
+deserve none," "Let me give up the ghost," etc. Hundreds of these toy
+figures were tied to a rope, and hung across the thoroughfares at the
+height of the second story, reaching from one balcony to another. Small
+pyramids were raised for them and of them in the open squares. People
+carried hoops of Judases elevated on the top of a long pole. Some men
+had a single large figure with the conventional Judas face dressed in
+harlequin colors. Everybody on the streets had at least one toy Judas,
+and some had a dozen.
+
+Finally, at ten o'clock on the forenoon of Judas day, the great bell of
+the cathedral sounds, a score of other church bells follow suit, and the
+matches are applied to the fuses with which each emblematic figure is
+supplied. Young Mexico is almost crazed. Old Mexico approves and
+participates. Everybody is elated to the highest point. Sidewalks and
+balconies are crowded with both sexes. Senoras and senoritas are
+hilarious, and little children clap their hands. The noise of the bells
+is great, that of firecrackers, rockets, and fuses is greater, and the
+shouts of the excited multitude who swarm about the Plaza Mayor is the
+greatest of all. People become mentally intoxicated with intense
+excitement. The large Judases in exploding go to pieces, first losing
+one arm, then a leg, followed by another arm, until at last the body
+bursts into fragments, at which one universal shout rends the air. The
+small Judases keep up their snapping and explosions for an hour or more.
+At last Judas is utterly demolished, literally done for. Then the bells
+cease ringing, and the overwrought people gradually subside. The whole
+is a queer, strange piece of ludicrous mockery, ending as a good-natured
+annual frolic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Santa Rosalia.--Mineral Springs.--Chihuahua.--A Peculiar City.--Cathedral.
+    --Expensive Bells.--Aqueduct.--Alameda.--Hidalgo's Prison and his
+    Fate.--Eulalia.--A Large State.--A Grand Avenue of Trees.--Local
+    Artists.--Grotesque Signs.--Influence of Proximity to the United
+    States.--Native Villages.--Dangerous Sand-Spouts.--Reflections on
+    Approaching the Frontier.--Pleasant Pictures photographed upon the
+    Memory.--Juarez, the Border Town of Mexico.--City of El Paso, Texas.
+    --Railroad Interests.--Crossing the Rio Grande.--Greeted by the Stars
+    and Stripes.
+
+
+Santa Rosalia is a quiet, quaint old place, with six or seven thousand
+inhabitants; but, being on the direct line of the Mexican Central
+Railroad, it is sure to rapidly increase in numbers and in material
+prosperity. Though it is now scarcely more than a country village, still
+it has its plaza and its alameda, in the former of which a military band
+performs two evenings in each week. A couple of small but most valuable
+rivers, the Rio Conchos and the Rio Florido, flank the town and afford
+excellent means for irrigation, which are improved to the utmost, the
+effects of which are clearly visible to the most casual observer, in the
+delightful verdure and the promise of teeming crops. The place has a
+most equable climate, for which reason many northern invalids suffering
+from pulmonary troubles have come hither annually. A few miles west of
+Santa Rosalia are mineral springs believed to possess great curative
+properties, especially in diseases of a rheumatic type. There are yet no
+comfortable accommodations for invalids, but we were told that it was
+contemplated to build a moderate cost hotel at this point. The ruins of
+the fort captured by the American army on its way to join General Taylor
+are seen near Santa Rosalia.
+
+Still pursuing our northward course, bearing a little westerly, over an
+immense desert tract so devoid of water that the railway train is
+obliged to transport large cisterns on freight cars to supply the
+necessary article for the use of its locomotive, we finally reach
+Chihuahua,--pronounced Chee-waw-waw,--capital of the state of the same
+name. One would think this immediate region must be well watered, as we
+cross several rivers while in the state. Among them the Florido, at
+Jimenez; the Concho, just north of Santa Rosalia; the San Pedro, at
+Ortiz, and the Chubisca, near to the city of Chihuahua. This name is
+aboriginal, and signifies "The place where things are made." It was
+founded in 1539, and lies upon a wide, open plain at the base of the
+Sierra Madre, whose undulating heights are exquisitely outlined in
+various hues against the sky, and beneath whose surfaces are hidden rich
+veins of iron, copper, and silver. The valley extends towards the north
+as far as the eye can reach. It is looking southward that we see the
+disordered ranks of the mountain range. When we first came upon the
+town, it rested beneath a cloudless sky, bathed in a flood of warm,
+bright sunlight. We were told that these are the prevailing conditions
+for seven months of the year. This is on the main line of the Mexican
+Central Railroad, a thousand miles, more or less, north of the city of
+Mexico, and has a population of about eighteen or twenty thousand; but,
+like most of the Mexican cities, it once contained a much larger number
+of inhabitants than it can boast of to-day. It will be remembered that
+the American forces, in the year 1847, advanced upon and took possession
+of the city after the battle of Sacramento, which occurred February 28
+of that year. This was the force commanded by Colonel Doniphan, and from
+here it made the celebrated march southward, forming a junction with the
+division of General Taylor.
+
+The city presents a pleasing and thrifty aspect, though most of the
+houses are but one story in height and constructed of adobe, with low,
+flat roofs, very much like an Egyptian town,--a comparison which is
+constantly occurring to us in Mexico. The patios of the better class of
+houses are ornamented with flowering plants, and pets of all sorts,
+especially birds, are numerous, the favorite species being the
+mocking-bird. One patio we noticed full to repletion of tame pigeons,
+blue, black, white, and mottled fantails. The state and government
+buildings, the mint with its low, square tower, and a few other edifices
+are large and handsome structures. In the tower of the mint the patriot
+Hidalgo was confined, with three of his comrades, previous to their
+execution. They were shot here July 31, 1811. In the Plaza de Armas
+there stands a fine monument to the memory of Hidalgo. The cathedral,
+the shell of which cost over eight hundred thousand dollars, stands on
+one side of the plaza, an area ornamented as usual with beautiful trees
+and flowers, together with a large fountain in the centre, about which
+are winding paths, and benches whereon to enjoy the shade. This is a
+delightful resort in the evening, when the music-loving populace are
+regaled with the admirable performance of a Mexican military band three
+or four times a week. The cathedral is of the Moorish and Gothic orders
+combined, and it has considerable architectural merit, bearing upon its
+rather crudely ornamented front thirteen statues, representing San
+Francisco and the twelve apostles. The interior was found to contain
+some interesting and valuable oil-paintings, though we saw them in an
+extremely bad light. The towers of this cathedral are remarkable for a
+costly collection of bells, and the interior of the church for a series
+of magnificent carvings. One of these bells is pointed out to the
+visitor as having been broken by a cannon-ball during the bombardment of
+the town by the French in 1866. The other sides of the plaza are
+bordered by the state buildings and the best stores of the town.
+
+The gray, crumbling line of an arched stone aqueduct, built long ago to
+supply the town with water, forms a picturesque feature of the environs.
+There is an admirably kept alameda for public enjoyment, divided by four
+rows of ancient cottonwood-trees, some of which are five feet in
+diameter. The Rio Chubisca flows through the city. Crops are raised
+solely by liberal irrigation; water is the one thing most needed on
+this high, flat land. Some of the finest grapes in Mexico are raised in
+great abundance here, and are shipped both to the south and across the
+border into our own country. A very large share of the republic, with
+its volcanic soil, is admirably adapted to this industry. Fifteen miles
+from Chihuahua are the rich silver mines of Eulalia. The road thither is
+a rough one, but many persons enjoy the excursion, over what at first
+sight seems to be a plain of lava, though as there is no volcano
+visible, one is a little at fault in divining from whence it came. We
+were told finally that it was slag from the workings of the mines at
+Eulalia, and that more modern processes of disintegration and
+amalgamation might extract good pay in silver from these "tailings," now
+spread broadcast for many miles on the surface of the plain. Santa
+Eulalia is a rude hamlet lying among the mountains, with a very humble
+mining population and a small stone church. There are over two hundred
+mines in and about these hills, all of which have been worked more or
+less successfully.
+
+This state, by the way, is the largest in the republic, being about the
+size of New York and Pennsylvania combined. To be exact, the state is
+four hundred and thirty miles long from north to south, and three
+hundred, thirty-seven miles wide, It is famous for its many sheep and
+cattle ranches, affording, as it does, great advantages for
+stock-raising. Large herds are driven over the borders into our own
+country every season, and sold to American herdsmen, to be driven still
+further north and fattened for the eastern and northern markets. There
+is a quaint, oriental aspect about the adobe-built town which would
+prove very attractive to an artist's eye. One tree-embowered roadway
+attracted our attention, which so strikingly resembled the Beacon Street
+Mall in Boston as to call forth remarks to that effect from more than
+one of our party. It is known as the Calle de Guadalupe. The deep shadow
+of the long gothic arch, formed by the entwined branches, was exquisite
+in effect. In the busy portion of the town, groups of Indians, wrapped
+in bright-colored blankets, added variety to the scene.
+
+Wood carvings and wax figures from the hands of intelligent native
+artists,--for artists they are--come so near to one's ideas of
+perfection as to be a surprise. This artistic genius was also observed
+among the humbler classes further south, and is by no means confined to
+the neighborhood of Chihuahua. After a few moments of watchful
+observation of even a stranger, some of these Indians will retire, and
+in an almost incredibly brief space of time will return with an
+excellent likeness of the individual whom they design to represent, not
+merely as regards his ordinary physique, but in facial expression.
+Practice has made them quite perfect in this impromptu modeling.
+Chihuahua, if we may credit the historians, as well as judge by the
+remains, once had a population of two hundred thousand.
+
+A singular and most disagreeable custom was observed here which prevails
+in some other Mexican cities: that of placing fantastic signs, painted
+in gigantic size, on the outside of shops. These are grotesque
+representations of the business carried on within. It would seem as
+though the object was to ridicule the proprietor's occupation by the
+vulgarity of these signs. Be this as it may, the inevitable half dozen
+pulque drinkers lean upon the counter all the while, absorbing the
+liquid which brings insensibility. As they drop off one by one, their
+places are taken by others, who are promptly supplied by the plethoric
+bar-tender. In the plaza peons were offering for sale a very small
+species of dog indigenous to this district, tiny creatures, peculiarly
+marked and evidently stunted by some artificial means. However, some of
+our party were captivated, and became purchasers of the delicate little
+tremulous creatures. Considerable building was observed to be in
+progress here, not structures of adobe, but fine stone edifices, of an
+attractive and modern style of architecture, three stories in height.
+One of these was designed for a hotel, and would be an ornament to any
+city.
+
+Though Chihuahua is two hundred and twenty-five miles south of the Rio
+Grande, still it shows many signs of its proximity to this country. Such
+buildings as we have just referred to would not be thought of in middle
+or southern Mexico. American fashions in many things are obvious; a
+large portion of the population speak English; the faces of the common
+people evince more intelligence; and the masses are better clothed than
+they are a little further south. We found that free schools were
+established and other matters of higher civilization were in progress.
+Many of the customs prevailing north of the national boundary line have
+been adopted here. The universal burro of Mexico begins to disappear,
+and strong, shapely mules and large horses take his place. Beggars are
+few and far between.
+
+There is very little of interest to engage the traveler's attention on
+the route of the Mexican Central Railroad between Chihuahua and Juarez,
+formerly known as Paso del Norte. The country is quite sterile, varied
+by occasional long, tedious reaches of cactus and mesquite bushes, or a
+few cottonwood-trees wherever a water-course is found. The mesquite
+grows to the height of ten or twelve feet. The seeds are contained in a
+small pod, and are used by the natives to make a sort of bread which is
+sweet to the taste. The wood is extremely hard and heavy. At long
+distances apart a native village comes into view, composed of low,
+square, adobe cabins. The treeless character of this section of country
+is not without a depressing influence, while the want of water is only
+too manifest everywhere. Sometimes one sees for hours a fairly good
+grazing country, and, where water is available, some cereals are raised.
+Corn, wheat, and barley occasionally form broad expanses of delightful
+green. Still, only the most primitive means of agriculture are in use,
+reminding the observer of the unfulfilled possibilities of the really
+capable soil. Where these fertile districts are seen, the results are
+brought about by the same irrigating ditches that the aborigines used
+more than three hundred years ago. The touch of moisture is like the
+enchanter's wand. In California, water is conveyed thirty, forty, and
+even fifty miles, by means of ditch and flume; here the sources of
+supply are not usually half the first-named distance away. Grapes are
+grown, as at Chihuahua, in great abundance, the soil seeming to be
+particularly adapted to their cultivation. Many tons of the big purple
+fruit are regularly converted into wines of different brands, said to be
+fully equal to the product of California.
+
+As the sea has its water-spouts, so the land has its sand-spouts,
+whereby the whirlwinds, forming on and sweeping over the barren plains,
+gather up the soil and rush circling along with it for miles, sustaining
+the mass in the air, two hundred feet or more in height. This phenomenon
+was often observed while traveling on the Mexican plateau. Sometimes, as
+has already been said, half a dozen were seen at a time. Between
+Chihuahua and Juarez they were again observed. The course of these dusty
+pillars of sand was generally towards the foothills of the high ranges.
+The moment any large obstacle is encountered, as is the case with a
+water-spout at sea, they are at once broken and disappear. Any ordinary
+cabin or other frail building which is struck by a sand-spout is pretty
+sure to be demolished. This might not always follow, as they move with
+different degrees of force, some being vastly more powerful than others.
+Trees are not infrequently broken and destroyed by them. We were told
+that horses and cattle exposed upon the plain were sometimes taken up in
+the suction of air caused by their progress, carried a hundred rods or
+more, and then dropped to the ground lifeless. Other stories were heard
+of the erratic performances of sand-spouts on the Mexican plateau, but
+they were of a nature requiring too much credulity for us to repeat them
+in these pages.
+
+As one approaches the frontier, a feeling of regret steals over the
+traveler that he is hourly leaving behind him a country in which so much
+delight has been briefly experienced. That discomforts have been
+encountered is very true,--withering heat, dust, fatigue, and
+indifferent food, but these quickly fade into mere shadows. Not the
+pains, but the pleasures, of such a journey remain indelibly fixed in
+the memory. No cunningly painted canvas is so retentive as the active
+brain. While we roll over the broad cactus plains, closing the eyes in
+thought, a panorama moves before us, depicting vivid tableaux from our
+two months' experience in Aztec Land. We listen in imagination at the
+sunset hour to distant vesper bells, floating softly over the hills, and
+see the bowed heads and folded hands of the peons. Once more we gaze
+delighted upon lovely valleys, dark shadowy gorges, far-reaching plains
+of cacti and yucca palms, bordered by lofty, snow-tipped mountains; we
+see again the exuberant fruitfulness of the tropics, and the loveliness
+of the floral kingdom in this land of the sun; once more we stroll
+through the dimly lighted aisles of grand cathedrals, listening to the
+solemn chant of human voices, and the organ's deep reverberating tones;
+or view again the suggestive ruins of a vanished race. Groups of the
+native population in many colors, long lines of heavily-laden burros,
+dashing caballeros and lovely senoritas, pass in turn before the mind's
+eye. Now a grand comprehensive scene comes before us, a view from the
+battlements of Chapultepec, from the hill of Guadalupe, or the Pyramid
+of Cholula, and, above all, that presented from the towers of the superb
+cathedral of Mexico. This is not an enchanting dream, but the exquisite
+photography of memory, a store of glowing pictures for future mental
+enjoyment. It is such experiences and memories which render us never
+less alone than when alone.
+
+Juarez is the northern end of the great railway line, the border town
+between Mexico and the United States, where we cross the Rio Grande to
+enter the city of El Paso, Texas, a town which promises in due course to
+become a grand commercial centre. At the present time the most
+remunerative business of the thrifty but ugly looking place, seems to be
+that of smuggling, which is carried on with a large degree of enterprise
+by the people of both nationalities. This arises from the excessive
+duties put on both the necessities and luxuries of life by the Mexican
+tariff. Juarez is an old settlement, dating from 1585, and is situated
+three thousand eight hundred feet above the sea. It is subject to great
+extremes of heat and cold, the thermometer showing 105 deg. Fahr. at times
+in July, and 5 deg. below zero in January. Snow falls here occasionally to
+the depth of two feet, while the Rio Grande freezes hard enough to bear
+heavily laden mule wagons. It is difficult for the place to cast off its
+former name, El Paso del Norte (Passage of the North), so called
+because of the ford on the river and the pass which nature here
+constructed between the mountains. The town extends along the west bank
+of the river some three miles, and back from it about one mile. The Rio
+Grande water is passable for drinking purposes, and good for general
+use, though it is somewhat impregnated with alkali.
+
+Juarez possesses many fine old trees and much attractive verdure. It has
+numerous modern and handsome edifices, and the place is sure eventually
+to be a large distributing railway centre. The Southern Pacific
+Company's line, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Mexican Central,
+and the Texas Pacific railways all diverge from this point. There is an
+ancient stone church here which will be sure to interest the stranger,
+dark and gloomy within, but full of votive contributions and quaint
+belongings, recalling the chapel of Notre Dame de la Garde on the hill
+which overlooks Marseilles, where the Mediterranean seamen have
+deposited so many marine toys, images, and curiosities.
+
+At Juarez the narrow, shallow Rio Grande, with its bare quicksands, was
+once more crossed, and the Texas city of El Paso, shadeless and
+verdureless, was reached. Its population is what would be expected in a
+frontier town of this region, while an air of crudeness permeates
+everything. As the vestibule train which had been our home for the past
+two months crossed the iron bridge, and as we came once more on to the
+soil of our own country, the American flag on the custom-house station
+was dipped three times in acknowledgment of our hearty cheers, and to
+welcome the party on its successful return from a long, but delightful
+journey through the states of the Mexican republic.
+
+
+
+
+_BOOKS BY MATURIN M. BALLOU._
+
+
+AZTEC LAND. A New Book. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+This fresh book of travel, while extremely interesting as regards the
+present aspect of Mexico, also tells some homely truths about the
+exaggerations of the Spanish chroniclers.
+
+
+THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+A charming book of travel, full of information concerning our great
+northwestern territory. Few persons are aware of the extent and richness
+of Alaska.--_Boston Budget._
+
+
+DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+It is a book of books on foreign travel, and deserves to be in the hands
+of all subsequent writers as combining just the qualities to give the
+greater information and zest.--_Boston Commonwealth._
+
+
+DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+Full of information concerning the Bahama Islands, the Caribbean Sea,
+and the island of Cuba. Of the finest and most extensive culture, Mr.
+Ballou is the ideal traveler.--_Boston Traveller._
+
+
+DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA. Crown 8vo,
+$1.50.
+
+The author has the tact to travel without an object; he strolls. He sees
+things accidentally; you feel that you might have seen the same things,
+under the same circumstances. He never lectures; rarely theorizes. It is
+as useful to read him as it is enjoyable to travel with him.--_Journal
+of Education_ (Boston).
+
+
+UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA. Crown
+8vo, $1.50.
+
+Few persons have traveled so extensively, and no one more profitably,
+both to himself and the public, than Mr. Ballou.--EDWIN P.
+WHIPPLE.
+
+
+
+
+_EDITED BY MR. BALLOU._
+
+
+A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopaedia of Quotations from Ancient and
+Modern Authors. 8vo, full gilt, $3.50; half calf or half morocco, $6.00.
+
+The most complete and exhaustive volume of the kind with which we are
+acquainted. The literature of all times has contributed to it, and the
+range of reading necessary to its compilation is the widest.--_Hartford
+Courant._
+
+
+NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. A Literary Mosaic. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+Full of delicious bits from nearly every writer of any celebrity,
+English, American, French, or German, early and modern, it is a
+fascinating medley. When one takes up the book it is difficult to lay it
+down, for one is led on from one brilliant or striking thought to
+another, in a way that is quite absorbing.--_Portland Transcript._
+
+
+PEARLS OF THOUGHT. Choice Sentences from the Wisest Authors. 16mo, full
+gilt, $1.25; half morocco, $2.50.
+
+The first noticeable thing about "Pearls of Thought" is that the
+"pearls" are offered in a jewel-box of printing and binding. The
+selections have the merit of being short and sparkling. Authors ancient
+and modern, and of all nations, are represented.--_New York Tribune._
+
+
+EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Crown 8vo, $3.50; half calf or half morocco,
+$6.00.
+
+A remarkable compilation of brilliant and wise sayings from more than a
+thousand various sources, embracing all the notable authors, classic and
+modern, who have enriched the pages of history and literature. It might
+be termed a whole library in one volume.--_Boston Beacon._
+
+
+GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
+
+Mr. Ballou displays a broad and thorough knowledge of men of genius in
+all ages, and the comprehensive index makes the volume invaluable as a
+book of reference, while--a rare thing in reference books--it is
+thoroughly interesting for consecutive reading.--_The Journalist_ (New
+York).
+
+*** _For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price
+by the Publishers_,
+
+  _HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,
+  4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York._
+
+
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                              |
+    |                                                  |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the     |
+    | original document have been preserved.           |
+    |                                                  |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:      |
+    |                                                  |
+    | Page   8  Teotihuachan changed to Teotihuacan    |
+    | Page  54  Cohahuila changed to Coahuila          |
+    | Page  58  guage changed to gauge                 |
+    | Page 107  manana changed to manana               |
+    | Page 180  earthern changed to earthen            |
+    | Page 188  differents changed to different        |
+    | Page 205  cabalero changed to caballero          |
+    | Page 296  word "is" added after "In growth this" |
+    | Page 322  Cope changed to Cofre                  |
+    | Page 322  Peroto changed to Perote               |
+    | Page 335  Gaudalajara changed to Guadalajara     |
+    +--------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Aztec Land, by Maturin M. Ballou
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