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diff --git a/29747.txt b/29747.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a5d326 --- /dev/null +++ b/29747.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9368 @@ +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. 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