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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9364-8.txt b/9364-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0115157 --- /dev/null +++ b/9364-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21971 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Life in Mexico, by Frances Calderón De La Barca + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Life in Mexico + +Author: Frances Calderón De La Barca + +Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9364] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 25, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN MEXICO *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Marvin A. Hodges +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY + +664 + +TRAVEL & TOPOGRAPHY + + + Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, + In thy most need to go by thy side. + + +FRANCES CALDERON DE LA BARCA, born in Edinburgh, 1804, the daughter of +William Inglis. After her father's death she settled in America, where she +married the Spanish diplomat, Don Angel Calderon de la Barca. She +accompanied him on his various appointments to Mexico, Washington, and +finally to Madrid, where she was created Marquesa de Calderon de la Barca +by Alfonso XII and died in 1882. + + + + +FRANCES CALDERON DE LA BARCA + + +LIFE IN MEXICO + + +INTRODUCTION BY MANUEL ROMERO DE TERREROS MARQUES DE SAN FRANCISCO + + +First published 1843 + + +INTRODUCTION + + +In the year 1843, two new books took the American public by storm: one was +Prescott's _History of the Conquest of Mexico_, and the other _Life in +Mexico_ by Madame Calderon de la Barca. William Hickling Prescott was +already known as an able historian on account of his scholarly _Reign of +Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain_ which had appeared four years before and +elicited praise from all quarters; but his new work outran the former in +that the author had succeeded in depicting one of the most stirring +episodes of history with the grandeur of an epic and the interest of a +novel. + +It was therefore natural that a book with Prescott's endorsement should be +favourably received by the general public; but _Life in Mexico_ +immediately attained wide circulation on its own merits, and was received +with unbounded enthusiasm. Soon the slight veil that pretended to hide the +author's name was drawn aside and Madame Calderon de la Barca became +famous in literary and social circles. + +Frances Erskine Inglis was born in Edinburgh in the year 1804. Her father, +William Inglis, belonged to a distinguished Scottish family, related to +the Earls of Buchan, and was a grandson of a gallant Colonel Gardiner who +fell in the battle of Prestonpans, while her mother, a Miss Stern before +her marriage, was a celebrated beauty of her time. + +Fanny, as Frances was familiarly called, was still very young when her +father found himself in financial difficulties and decided to retire with +his family to Normandy where living was supposed to be cheaper. But +William Inglis died a few years later, and his widow determined to settle +in America. In the United States Mrs. Inglis established a private school +first in Boston, later in Staten Island, and finally in Baltimore, and her +daughter was a great help, for she immediately revealed herself as an +excellent teacher. Besides, Fanny became a great friend of Ticknor, +Lowell, Longfellow, and especially of Prescott, who thought her "ever +lively and _spirituelle_." + +In 1836 a Special Diplomatic Mission from Spain arrived at Washington, and +at its head came Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, a gentleman of high +social standing and an accomplished man of letters, who, naturally enough, +soon established literary relations with William Prescott, then at work on +his _History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella_. In this connection +he became acquainted with many of Prescott's friends, the Inglis ladies +among others, and the result was that he fell in love with the +accomplished Fanny, and married her in 1838. Shortly afterwards Don Angel +was appointed Isabel II's Minister to Mexico, the first Spanish Envoy to +the young Republic that had formerly been the Kingdom of New Spain. The +newly married couple, accordingly, started on their journey to Mexico, +which was destined to be a long one, even for those days, for they left +New York on October 27th and did not reach their destination until the +26th of the following December. + +Calderon's mission to Mexico lasted somewhat more than two years, during +which time he and his wife, says Prescott, "lived much at their ease," and +"were regaled _en prince_." In spite of Don Angel's delicate diplomatic +duties and her own frequent social engagements and strenuous excursions, +Fanny Inglis Calderon found time to write almost daily letters, most of +them of considerable length, to relatives and friends. These letters +constituted the basis of the present book when they were collected and +published--with certain necessary omissions--simultaneously in London and +Boston in 1843, under the title of _Life in Mexico during a Residence of +Two Years in that Country_. The book was provided with a short but +substantial Preface by Prescott. + +That same year saw Don Angel Calderon de la Barca transferred to +Washington as Spanish Minister, a post in which he not only discharged his +diplomatic duties with much ability, but also frequented the literary +circles and even found time to translate several works into Spanish. + +In 1853 Calderon was recalled to Spain by his government and arrived at +Madrid on September 17th with his wife, who had recently become a +Catholic. A year later, he was appointed Minister of State in the Cabinet +of the Conde de San Luis, and thus became an actor in the troubled drama +of that period of Isabel II's reign. When finally the unpopularity of the +government culminated in a general rebellion, Calderon managed to escape +the unjust fury of the rabble by hiding first in the Austrian, and later +in the Danish Legation, until he was able to cross the frontier and take +refuge in France. The events that Madame Calderon had witnessed in Spain +moved her to write that entertaining book _The Attache in Madrid_, which, +pretending to be a translation from the German, appeared in New York in +1856. + +The Calderons were able to return to Spain after an absence of two years, +but in 1861 Don Angel died at San Sebastian, just when he was expecting to +move to a small villa which was being built for him nearby in picturesque +Zarauz. Hard upon this event Madame Calderon retired to a convent across +the Pyrenees, but shortly afterwards Queen Isabel asked her to come back +and take charge of the education of her eldest daughter, the Infanta +Isabel, a request which, though at first respectfully declined, was +finally accepted by her. From that time on Madame Calderon became the +constant companion of the Infanta Isabel, until the latter's marriage to +the Count of Girgenti in 1868. She then returned to the United States, but +only for a comparatively short time, for as soon as Alfonso XII came to +the throne, Madame Calderon went back to Spain and was created by him +Marquesa de Calderon de la Barca. Thenceforward she led a very quiet life +until her death, in the Royal Palace of Madrid, on February 3rd, 1882. + +Any radical change in the form of government is liable to be accompanied +by disorders, and this is even more likely to be true in a country like +Mexico, which has become famous for its frequent political troubles and +has been aptly called "a land of unrest." In the eighteen-forties the +country witnessed many plans, "pronunciamientos" and revolutions, which +could not escape the vigilant mind of Madame Calderon, who often refers to +them with a spice of delicate satire and irony which is not unkindly. +After the long period of peaceful if unexciting viceregal rule, the +government of the new republic had become the prey of political groups, +headed by men who coveted the presidency chiefly impelled by a "vaulting +ambition" which, in most cases "overleapt itself." Madame Calderon drew +faithful portraits of many of the politicians of those days, not stinting +her praise to such men of honour as Bustamante, nor hiding her sympathy +towards the much reviled Santa Anna. + +Naturally, as the wife of the Spanish Minister, she feels occasionally +bound to dwell somewhat disparagingly upon the existing state of things, +as compared with the excellences of the former viceregal regime. Thus, on +visiting the older cities and establishments, she lays stress on the great +benefits that the Mother Country had bestowed on her Colonies, an opinion +that, she states, was shared by the most distinguished persons in Mexico, +who missed the advantages of the days of yore: "I fear we live in a +Paradise Lost," she exclaims, "which will not be regained in our days!" + +But this does not mean to say that she withholds praise where praise is +due. On more than one occasion she extols the valour of a soldier, the +talent of a Minister like Cuevas, or the honesty and clearsightedness of a +politician like Gutierrez de Estrada; and when she refers to the rivalry +that arose between the different parties, she has unbounded praises for +the cadets of the Military School, for their patriotic conduct and their +loyalty to the legally established government. + +In Madame Calderon's time the Mexican upper classes were an extension, so +to speak, of the old viceregal society. Only the very young had not seen +the Spanish flag flying over the public buildings or had not been more or +less acquainted with the last viceroys. The presidential receptions of a +Bustamante or a Santa Anna in the National Palace, just as during the +short reign of Augustin I de Iturbide, were ablaze with brilliant +uniforms, glittering decorations, fine dresses, and rich jewels, while at +private parties the old family names and titles continued to be borne with +the prestige of former colonial days. + +On the other hand, the relations between lord and servant are faithfully +portrayed by Madame Calderon de la Barca. Speaking of life in a +_hacienda_, she describes how the lady of the house sat at the piano, +while the employees and servants performed the typical dances of the +country for the benefit of guests and relatives, without suggesting any +idea of equality or disrespect, more or less in the fashion of the Middle +Ages, when the lord and the lady of the manor sat at table with their +servants, though the latter remained rigorously below the salt. With +regard to the lower classes, Madame Calderon always sees the picturesque +side of things which she describes vividly and colourfully. + +It is to be regretted (particularly from a Mexican point of view) that +Fanny Inglis, or her editor, should have thought it expedient only to give +the first and last letters of the names of the more prominent persons of +whom she speaks, a system which makes it difficult for a reader of later +days to identify them, except in one or two cases. Many were the intimate +friends of the Calderons, but especially the Conde de la Cortina, a well- +known figure in society and in literary and scientific circles, the +Marques and Marquesa de Vivanco, and the "Guera Rodriguez," (the "Fair +Rodriguez"), a celebrated beauty of her time, who is said to have been +greatly admired by no less a person than Alexander von Humboldt himself! + +Naturally enough, Madame Calderon was a competent judge of her own sex and +was alert to the good qualities as well as to the foibles of the ladies of +Mexico, whose excessive fondness for diamonds and, in some cases, too +showy dresses elicit her mild criticism. + +Monastic life was one of the features of Mexico at that time. Most cities, +large and small, were full of churches, monasteries, and convents; and +Madame Calderon (who became a Catholic three years later) was not then +well acquainted with the ceremonies and liturgy of the Church, and +consequently falls into many errors on the subject; but when she describes +her visit to a convent and the ceremony of the veiling of a nun, she +writes some of her most picturesque and touching pages. + +Madame Calderon does not stint her admiration for the great buildings of +the country, both civil and religious, though her descriptions betray only +too often the influence of the romantic age in which she lived. + +Beautiful indeed as is her description of a garden in Tulancingo, she +rises to real eloquence before some of "Nature's pageants," admiring a +sunset over the Monastery of San Fernando, walking under the shade of the +centennial trees of Chapultepec, or wandering within the gigantic Caverns +of Cacahuamilpa, the recollection of which, she says, "rests upon the +mind, like a marble dream," and where an unfortunate traveller, years +before, had lost his way and met a tragic death. + +Prescott's statement that Madame Calderon's letters were not intended +originally for publication seems hardly credible; but, on the other hand, +there is no proof for the suggestion that she had the letters of Madame +D'Aulnoy in mind. Be that as it may, the fact is that just as the French +Countess has left us a living picture of Spain in the late seventeenth +century, in the same way the wife of the Spanish Minister drew a most +faithful pen-portrait of the social, political, and even economic order, +in Mexico in the early nineteenth. + +As to Madame Calderon de la Barca's personal appearance, since a portrait +of her, which is said to exist in the possession of a relative, has never +been published, the reader is free to imagine that lively lady as it may +best suit his or her individual fancy. That she was clever, well-read, and +an excellent judge of character, as well as a true lover of nature and a +keen observer of manners and customs, is evident in her letters, which +constitute by common consent a most entertaining and truly delectable +narrative, which even the lapse of more than a century has not been able +to mar. + +MANUEL ROMERO DE TERREROS, Marques de San Francisco. + + + +REFERENCES + +_History of the Conquest of Mexico with the Life of the Conqueror Hernando +Cortes, and a view of the Ancient Mexican Civilization_. New York, Harper +& Bros., 1843. + +_Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country_, by +Madame Calderon de la Barca, with a Preface by W. H. Prescott, author of +The History of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 1843. + +_The Attaché in Madrid; or, Sketches of the Court of Isabella II_, +translated from the German, New York, 1856. + +_Prescott Unpublished Letters to Gayangos in the Library of the Hispanic +Society of America_, edited with notes by Clara Louisa Penney, New York, +1927. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +GLOSSARY + + +LETTER THE FIRST + +Departure of the "Norma"--Last look of New York Bay--Fellow passengers-- +Contrary Winds--Deceitful Appearances--Sunset in Southern Latitudes--Seas +passed over by Columbus--Varied Occupations on Shipboard--Berry Islands-- +Bahama Banks--Evening in a Tropical Sea--L. E. L.--Pan of Matanzas--Morro +Castle--Bay of Havana--Arrival--Handsome House in Havana--Sights and +Sounds + + +LETTER THE SECOND + +Havana Aristocracy--Lucia di Lammermoor--La Rossi and Montresor--Brig-of- +war--Countess de V---a--Dinner at H---a's--Southerly Winds--View from the +Balcony--_Quinta_ of Count V---a--San Cristobal--Mass at San Felipe--Erard +Harp--Dinner at General M---o's--A Dessert at Havana--Queen of Spain's +Birthday--Dinner at the Yntendencia--La Pantanelli--Theatre of Tacon-- +Railroad--Cure by Lightning--Shops--Ball at the Countess F---a's Last +Visit--Souvenirs + + +LETTER THE THIRD + +Departure in the Jason--Spanish Captain and Officers--Life on board a Man- +of-War--"_Balances_"--Fishing--"_Le Petit Tambour_"--Cocoa-nuts--A +_Norte_--Spanish Proverb--Peak of Orizava--Theory and Practice--_Norte +Chocolatero_--Contrary Winds--Chain of Mountains--Goleta + + +LETTER THE FOURTH + +Distant View of Vera Cruz--Pilots--Boat from the City--Mutual Salutes-- +Approach to Vera Cruz--Crowd on the Wharf--House of Don Dionisio V---o-- +Guard of Honour--German Piano--Supper--Madonna--Aspect of the City-- +_Sopilotes_--Deliberations--General Guadalupe Victoria--Two-headed Eagle-- +Dilapidated Saint--Harp--Theatre--Doña Innocencia Martinez--Invitation +from General Santa Anna + + +LETTER THE FIFTH + +Departure from Vera Cruz--Sandhills--Oriental Scene--Manga de Clavo-- +General Santa Anna--Breakfast--Escort and Diligence--Santa Fe--Puente +Nacional--Bridge sketched by Mrs. Ward--Country in December--Don Miguel-- +First Impressions--Fruit--Plan del Rio--German Musicians--Sleeping +Captain--Approach to Jalapa--Appearance of the City--Cofre de Perote-- +Flowers--House and Rock--Last View of Jalapa--Change of Scenery--San +Miguel de los Soldados--Perote-Striking Scene before Day-break--Non- +arrival of Escort--Yankee Coachman Dispute--Departure--Company of Lancers +--Alcalde--Breakfast at La Ventilla--Pulque--Double Escort--Crosses-- +Brigand-looking Tavern-keeper--Ojo de Agua-Arrival at Puebla-Dress of the +Peasants--Christmas-eve-Inn-"_Nacimiento_" + + +LETTER THE SIXTH + +Departure from Puebla--Chirimoyas--Rio Frio--Indian Game--Black Forest-- +Valley of Mexico--Recollections of Tenochtitlan--Mexican Officer-- +Reception--Scenery--Variety of Dresses--Cheers--Storm of Rain--Entry to +Mexico--Buenavista--House by Daylight--Sights from the Windows--Visits-- +Mexican Etiquette--Countess C---a--Flowers in December--Serenade-- +Patriotic Hymn + + +LETTER THE SEVENTH + +Début in Mexico--Cathedral--Temple of the Aztecs--Congregation--Stone of +Sacrifices--Palace--Importunate Léperos--Visit to the President--Countess +C---a--Street-cries--Tortilleras--_Sartor Resartus_ + + +LETTER THE EIGHTH + +Ball in Preparation--Agreeable Family--Fine Voices--Theatre--Smoking- +Castle of Chapultepec--Viceroy Galvez--Montezuma's Cypress--Vice-Queen-- +Valley of Mexico--New Year's Day--Opening of Congress--Visits from the +Diplomatic Corps--Poblana Dress--"Función extraordinaria"--Theatre--Visit +to the Cathedral of Guadalupe--Divine Painting--Bishop--Beggars-- +Mosquitoes Eggs + + +LETTER THE NINTH + +Visits from Spaniards--Visit from the President--Disquisition--Poblana +Dress--Bernardo the Matador--Bull-fight extraordinary--Plaza de Toros-- +Fireworks--Portrait of C---n--Fancy Ball--Dress-Costume of the +Patronesses--Beauty in Mexico--Doctor's Visit--Cards of _faire part_-- +Marquesa de San Roman--Toilet in Morning Visits of Ceremony--Attempt at +Robbery--Murder of a Consul--La Gúera Rodriguez--Dr. Plan--M. de Humboldt +--Anecdote--Former Customs + + +LETTER THE TENTH + +San Fernando--House of Perez de Galvez--A Removal--Size of the Houses--Old +Monastery--View by Sunset--Evening Visits--Mexican Etiquette--A Night-- +view from the Azotea-Tacubaya--Magueys--Making of Pulque--Organos and +Nopal--Environs of Mexico--Miracle--Hacienda--View from the Countess C--- +a's House--Arzobispado--Anecdote--Comparative View of Beauty--Indians-- +Rancheritas--Mexican Cordiality--Masses for the Dead--San Agustin--Form of +Invitation--Death of a Senator--A Mistake + + +LETTER THE ELEVENTH + +Calle de Tacuba--The Leap of Alvarado--The "Noche Triste"--Sale of a +Curate's Goods--Padre Leon--Leprosy--Pictures--The Annunciation--The +Alameda--Paseo de Bucarelli--The Viga--Indians in Canoes--A Murder--A +Country Fête--Visit to the Colegia Vizcaino--The Jota Arragonesa--Old +Soldiers + + +LETTER THE TWELFTH + +The Viga during the Carnival--Variety of Equipages--The Millionaires--The +Monks--Masked Ball--An Alarming Sight--Medical Students--Dinner at the +Prussian Minister's--Rides on Horseback--Indian Love of Flowers--Santa +Anita--The Chinampas--Their Origin--Indians in Canoes--Song of "El +Palomo"--Fighting--The Great Lakes--The Drain of Huehuetoca--The Great +Market of Tlatelolco + + +LETTER THE THIRTEENTH + +Convent of San Joaquin--Mexico in the Morning--Tacuba--Carmelite Prior-- +Convent Garden--Hacienda of Los Morales--El Olivar--A _Huacamaya_-- +Humming-birds--Correspondence--Expected Consecration--Visit to the +Mineria--Botanic Garden--Arbol de las Manitas--The Museum--Equestrian +Statue--Academy of Painting and Sculpture--Disappointment + + +LETTER THE FOURTEENTH + +Palm Sunday--Holy Thursday--Variety of Costumes--San Francisco--Santa +Domingo--Santa Teresa--Nuns--Stone Bust--The Academy--Religious +Procession--Pilgrimage to the Churches--Santa Clara--Nun's Voice--Orange- +trees and Rose-bushes--The Cathedral Illuminated--Our Saviour in Chains-- +Good Friday--The Great Square towards Evening--Dresses of Men, Women, and +Children--Approach of the Host--Judas--Great Procession--_Miserere_--The +Square by Moonlight--A Lonely Walk--_Sabado de Gloria_--Ball in +Contemplation--Weekly Soirées--Embroidered Muslins--A Tertulia at Home + + +LETTER THE FIFTEENTH + +Letter from the Archbishop--Visit to the "_Encarnación_"--Reception-- +Description--The Novices--Convent Supper--Picturesque Scene--Sonata on the +Organ--Attempt at Robbery--Alarms of the Household--Visit to San Agustin-- +Anonymous Letter--The Virgin _de los Remedios_--Visit to the Chapel--The +Padre--The Image--Anecdote of the Large Pearl--A Mine + + +LETTER THE SIXTEENTH + +Mexico in May--Leave Mexico for Santiago--Coach of Charles X.--Mexican +Travelling--General Aspect of the Country--Village of Santa Clara-- +Robbers' House--Temples of the Sun and Moon--San Juan--Mexican Posada-- +School-house--Skulls--Hard Fare--Travelling Dress--Sopayuca--Military +Administrador--Santiago--Matadors and Picadors--Evenings in the Country-- +Dances--Mexican Songs--Cempoala--Plaza de Toros--Skill of the Horsemen-- +Omatusco--Accident--Tulansingo--Beautiful Garden--Mexican Dishes--Fruits-- +Horses--Games of Forfeits--Ranchera's Dress--Young Girls and their +Admirers--Verses--Knowledge of Simple Medicine--Indian Baths--Hidden +Treasures--Anecdote + + +LETTER THE SEVENTEENTH + +Arrival at Tepenacasco--Lake with Wild-ducks--Ruined Hacienda--Sunset on +the Plains--Troop of Asses--Ride by Moonlight--Leave Tepenacasco--San +Miguel--Description--Thunderstorm--Guasco--Journey to Real del Monte-- +English Road--Scenery--Village of Real--Count de Regla--Director's House-- +English Breakfast--Visit to the Mines--Mining Speculations--Grand Scenery +--Visit to Regla--The Cascade--The Storm--Loneliness--A Journey in Storm +and Darkness--Return to Tepenacasco--Journey to Sopacuya--Narrow Escape-- +Famous Bull--Return to Mexico + + +LETTER THE EIGHTEENTH + +English Ball--Dresses--Diamonds--Mineria--Arrival of the Pope's Bull-- +Consecration of the Archbishop--Foreign Ministers--Splendour of the +Cathedral--Description of the Ceremony + + +LETTER THE NINETEENTH + +Mexican Servants--Anecdotes--Remedies--An unsafe Porter--Galopinas--The +Reboso--The Sarape--Women-cooks--Foreign Servants--Characteristics of +Mexican Servants--Servants' Wages--Nun of the Santa Teresa--Motives for +Taking the Veil + + +LETTER THE TWENTIETH + +The Convent Entry--Dialogue--A Chair in Church--Arrival of the Nun--Dress +--José Maria--Crowd--Withdrawal of the Black Curtain--The Taking of the +Veil--The Sermon--A Dead Body--Another Victim--Convent of the Encarnación +--Attempt at a Hymn--Invitation--Morning Visit--The Nun and her Mother-- +Banquet--Taking Leave--Ceremony of the Veil-taking--A Beautiful Victim-- +The Last Look--Presentation to the Bishop--Reflections--Verses + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FIRST + +San Agustin--The Gambling Fête--The Beauties of the Village--The Road from +Mexico--Entry to San Agustin--The Gambling Houses--San Antonio--The +Pedregal--Last Day of the Fête--The Cockpit--The Boxes--The Cock-fight-- +Decorum--Comparisons--Dinner--Ball at Calvario--House of General Moran-- +View of the Gambling Tables--The Advocate--Ball at the Plaza de Gallos-- +Return to Mexico--Reflections--Conversation between two Ministers + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SECOND + +Countess C---a--Gutierrez Estrada--Dinner at General Moran's--Dowager +Marquesa--Fête at San Antonio--Approach of the Rainy Season--Diamonds and +Plate--Great Ball--Night Traveling--Severe Storm--Chapter of Accidents-- +Corpus Christ!--Poblana Dress--Book Club--Ball--Humming Bird--Franciscan +Friar--Missions to Old and New California--Zeal and Endurance of the +Missionaries--Present Condition--Convent Gardener + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-THIRD + +The President--Yturbide--Visit from the Archbishop--Señor Canedo--General +Almonte--Señor Cuevas--Situation of an Archbishop in Mexico--Of Señor +Posada--His Life--Mexican Charity--Wax Figures--Anecdote--Valuable +Present--Education--Comparison--Schools--Opportunities--Natural Talent-- +Annual--Compliments to the Mexican Ladies by the Editor--Families of the +Old School--Morals--Indulgence--Manners--Love of Country--Colleges + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FOURTH + +Revolution in Mexico--Gomez Farias and General Urrea--The Federalists--The +President Imprisoned--Firing--Cannon--First News--Escape--Proclamation of +the Government--Cannonading--Count C---a--Houses Deserted--Countess del +V---e--Proclamation of the Federalists--Circular of the Federalists-- +Scarcity of Provisions--Bursting of a Shell--Refugees--Dr. Plan--Young +Lady Shot--Gomez Farias--Rumours--Address of Gomez Farias--Balls and +Bullets--Visit from the ----- Minister--Arrival of Monsieur de ------- +Expected Attack--Skirmish--Appearance of the Street--San Cosme--General-- +The Count de B------ More Rumours--Suspense--Cannonading--Government +Bulletin--Plan of the Rebels Defeated--Proclamation of the President--Of +General Valencia--Maternal Affection--Fresh Reports--Families leaving the +City--Letter from Santa Anna--Bustamante's Letter when imprisoned-- +Propositions--Refusal--Taoubaya--Archbishop--Fresh Proposals--Refusal-- +Second Letter from Santa Anna--Government Bulletin--Proclamations--An +awkward Mistake--The Archbishop visits the President--Conclusion of the +Revolution--Government Newspapers--Circulars + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH + +Plan of the Federalists--Letter from Farias--Signing of Articles-- +Dispersion of the "Pronunciados"--Conditions--Orders of General Valencia-- +Of the Governor--Address of General Valencia--Departure of our Guests--The +_Cosmopolita_--State of the Palace and Streets--Bulletin of the Firing-- +Interior of Houses--Escape of Families--Conduct of the Troops--Countess +del V---e-- Santa Anna--Congress--Anecdote--Discussion in Congress--Leprosy + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH + +Visitors--Virgin de los Remedies--_Encarnación_--Fears of the Nuns--Santa +Teresa--Rainy Season--Amusing Scene--"_Está a la disposición de V._"-- +Mexican Sincerity--Texian Vessels--Fine Hair--Schoolmistress--Climate--Its +Effects--Nerves--_Tours de Force_--Anniversary--Speech--Paseo--San Angel-- +Tacubaya--Army of "The Three Guarantees"--Plan of Yguala--A Murder--Indian +Politeness--Drunkenness--Señor Canedo--Revolutions in Mexico--The Penon-- +The Baths--General ------- --Situation and View--Indian Family--Of the +Boiling Springs--Capabilities--Solitude--Chapultepec--The _Desagravios_-- +Penitence at San Francisco--Discipline of the Men--Discourse of the Monk-- +Darkness and Horrors--Salmagundi + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH + +Fête-day--Friendly Hint--Precautions--General Tranquillity--President in +San Agustin--Revisit Museum--Ancient Manuscripts--Sculpture--Bronze Bust, +etc.--Freshness after Rain--Ball at the French Minister's--Pamphlet-- +Gutierrez Estrada--His Character--Concealment--_Mexicalsingo_--Minister of +the Treasury--Archbishop's Permission--Paintings--Mexican Painters--Santa +Teresa--Description of the Interior--The Penitences--Tortures-- +Disciplines, etc.--Supper--Profane Ballads--Monasteries--San Francisco-- +Padre Prior--Soldiers and Friars + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH + +_día de Muertos_--Leave Mexico--_Herraderos_--San Cristobal--Tunas--Plaza +de Toros--Throwing the _Laso_--Accidents--Rustic Breakfast--Country Fare-- +Baked Meat--Indian Market--Buried Bull--Mountain--Solitary _Hacienda_-- +_Reyes_--Mules marked--Return--Queen of Spain's Birthday--Diplomatic +Dinner + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-NINTH + +Virgin of _Cavadonga_--Santo Domingo--Decorations and Music-- +Daguerreotype--Weekly Soirées--An Arrival--An Earthquake--Honourable Mr. +----- --Broken Furniture--_Dios_--Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe--Party to +the _Desierto_--_Itzcuintepotzotli_--Inn of _Guajimalco_--Ruined Convent-- +Its Origin--_Dejeune a la Fourchette_--Splendid Scenery--Vow to the +Virgin--Musical Mass--Tacuba--Ride with the Prior + + +LETTER THE THIRTIETH + +Christmas-day--Kalends and Mass--Amateur Performances--Solo--_Posadas_-- +Wandering of the Holy Family--_Nacimiento_--Crowded Party--French Cooks-- +Mexican Cook--State of Household--New Year's Day--Mass--Dirtiness of the +Churches, etc.--Comparisons--Private Chapels--English Club--Preparations +for Journey + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FIRST + +Leave Mexico--Cuernavaca--_Tierra Caliente_--_Atlacamulco_--Orange Groves +--Sugar-cane--Annual Produce--Will of Cortes--Description--Coffee +Plantation--Scorpions--List of Venomous Reptiles--_Aspansingo_--Doubts and +Difficulties--A Decision + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SECOND + +Leave _Atlacamulco_--Assemble by Starlight--Balmy Atmosphere--Flowers and +Trees of the Tropics--The Formidable _Barrancas_--Breakfast under the +Trees--Force of the Sun--_Meacatlan_--Hospitality--Profitable Estate-- +Leave Meacatlan--Beautiful Village--Musical Bells--Ride by Moonlight-- +Sugar Fires--Cocoyotla--Old Gentleman--Supper--Orange-trees and Cocoas-- +Delicious Water--Sugar Estates--_A Scorpion_--Set off for the Cave-- +Morning Ride--Dangerous Path + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-THIRD + +Cave of _Cacahuamilpa_--Superstition--Long-bearded Goat--Portal-- +Vestibule--Fantastic Forms--Breakfast--Pine Torches--Noble Hall-- +Stalactites and Stalagmites--Egyptian Pyramids--Double Gallery--Wonderful +Formations--Corridor--Frozen Landscape--Amphitheatre--World in Chaos-- +Skeleton--Wax Lights--Hall of Angels--Return--Distant Light--Indian +Alcalde--_Cautlamilpas_--Rancho--Return to Cocoyotla--Chapel--Meacatlan-- +Eclipse of the Moon--Benighted Travellers--Indian Village--_El Puente_-- +Return to _Atlacamulco_ + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FOURTH + +Ride by Starlight--Fear of Robbers--Tropical Wild Flowers--Stout Escort-- +_Hautepec_--Hacienda of _Cocoyoc_--A Fire--Three Thousand Orange-trees-- +Coffee Mills, etc.--Variety of Tropical Fruits--Prodigality of Nature-- +_Casasano_--Celebrated Reservoir--Ride to Santa Clara--A Philosopher--A +Scorpion--Leave Santa Clara--Dangerous _Barranca_--_Colon_--Agreeable +House--Civil _Administrador_--San Nicolas--Solitude--Franciscan Friar-- +Rainy Morning--Pink Turban--Arrival at _Atlisco_--Cypress--Department of +Puebla--Volcanoes--Doña Marina--Verses--_Popocatepetl_--Cholula--Great +Pyramid--Arrival at Puebla + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH + +Theatre--Portmanteaus--Visitors--Houses of Puebla--Fine Arts--Paseo--Don +N. Ramos Arispe--Bishop--Cotton Factories--Don Esteban Antunano--Bank of +_Avio_--United States Machinery--Accidents--Difficulties--Shipwrecks-- +Detentions--Wonderful Perseverance--"_La Constancia Mejicana_" Hospital-- +Prison--El Carmen--Paintings--Painted Floors--Angels--Cathedral--Gold and +Jewels--A Comedy--Bishop's Palace--Want of Masters + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SIXTH + +Concert--Diligence--Leave Puebla--Escort--View from the Cathedral Towers-- +Black Forest-History of the Crosses-Tales of Murder--An Alarm--Report of a +Skirmish--Rio Frio--Law Concerning Robbers--Their _Moderation_-Return to +Mexico--Carnival Ball--Improvement in Dress + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SEVENTH + +Distinguished Men--Generals Bustamante, Santa Anna, and Victoria-- +Anecdote--Señor Pedraza--Señor Gutierrez Estrada--Count Cortina--Señor +Gorostiza--Don Carlos Bustamante--"Mornings in the Alameda"--Don Andrés +Quintana Roo--Don Lucas Alaman--General Moran--General Almonte--Señor +Canedo--Señors Neri del Barrio and Casaflores--Doctor Valentin--Don +Francisco Tagle--Eight Revolutions + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-EIGHTH + +New Minister--San Angel--Profitable Pulque Estate--The Village-- +Surrounding Scenery--The Indians--The Padre--The Climate--Holy Week in the +Country--Dramatic Representations--Coyohuacan--The Pharisees--Image of the +Saviour--Music and Dresses--Procession-Catholicism amongst the Indians-- +Strange Tradition--Paul the Fifth--Contrast between a Mexican and a New +England Village--Love of Fireworks--Ferdinand the Seventh--Military Ball-- +_Drapeaux_ + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-NINTH + +Holy Thursday at Coyohuacan--Hernan Cortes--His Last Wishes--_Padres +Camilas_-Old Church--Procession--Representation of the Taking of Christ-- +Curate's Sermon under the Trees--A Religious Drama--Good Friday--Portable +Pulpit--Heat--Booths--Religious Procession--Simon the Cyrenian--Costumes-- +Curate's Sermon--Second Discourse--Sentence Pronounced by Pontius Pilate-- +Descent from the Cross--Procession of the Angels--Funeral Hymn--The +_Pesame_ to the Virgin--Sermon--"Sweet Kitty Clover"--Music in Mexico-- +Anecdote + + +LETTER THE FORTIETH + +Balloon--San Bartolo--Indian Women--A Beauty--Different Castes--Indians-- +Their Character, etc.--Those of Noble Race--Ball at the French Minister's +--_Abecilla_--Danger of Walking Unattended--Shooting Party--A Murder-- +Robbery of a Farmhouse--Discomfited Robber Captain--The "_Zambos_"-- +Letters and Visitors--Country Life in Mexico + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FIRST + +Gambling--Fête at San Agustin--Breakfast at San Antonio--Report--Cock- +fight--Ladies--Private Gambling--A _Vaca_--The _Calvario_--Bonnets-- +Dinner--Evening Ball--Mingling of Classes--Copper Tables--Dresses and +Decorations--Indian Bankers, Male and Female--Decorum--Habit--Holders of +Banks--Female Gambler--Robbery--Anecdote--Bet--_Casa de Moneda_--Leave San +Angel--Celebration--Address--Cross and Diploma--Reply--Presentation of a +Sword--Discourses and Addresses--Reflections + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SECOND + +Italian Opera--Artists, Male and Female--Prima Donna--Lucia di Lammermoor +--Some Disappointment--Second Representation--Improvement--Romeo and +Giulietta--La Ricci--La Señora Cesari--The Mint--False Coining--Repetition +of Lucia--Procession by Night--A Spanish Beauty--Discriminating Audience-- +A little _too simple_--Gold Embroidery--Santiago--Pilgrims--Old Indian +Custom--Soiree--Mexico by Moonlight--Mysterious Figure--Archbishop-- +Viceroy + + +LETTER THE FORTY-THIRD + +Revillagigedo--The False Merchant and the Lady--The Viceroy, the Unjust +Spaniard, the Indian, and the Golden Ounces--Horrible Murder--Details-- +Oath--Country Family--The Spot of Blood--The Mother Unknowingly Denounces +her Son--Arrest of the _Three_--Confession--Execution--The Viceroy +fulfils his Pledge--Paving of the Streets--Severity to the Monks--Solitary +Damsel--Box on the Ear--Pension--Morning Concert--New Minister-"Street of +the Sad Indian"--Traditions--A Farewell Audience--Inscription on a Tomb + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FOURTH + +Agitation--Storm--Revolution--Manifesto--Resembling a Game of Chess-- +Position of the Pieces--Appearance of the City--Firing--State of Parties-- +Comparisons--"_Comicios_"--The People--Congress--Santa Anna--Amnesty +Offered--Roaring of Cannon--Proclamation--Time to _Look at Home_--The Will +of the Nation--Different Feelings--Judge's House Destroyed--The Mint in +Requisition--Preparations--Cannonading--"_Los Enanos_" + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FIFTH + +Leave Mexico--Travelling Equipage--San Xavier--Fine Hacienda-- +Millionaires--Well-educated Ladies--Garden, etc.--Tlanapantla--Indian Hut +--Mrs. Ward--Doña Margarita--The _Pronunciamiento_--False Step--Santa Anna +in Puebla--Neutrality--General Paredes--President in Tlanapantla--Tired +Troops--Their March--Their Return--Curate's House--Murder--General Paredes +in the Lecheria--President in Tlanapantla--A Meeting--Return of the +President and his Troops--General Paredes and his Men--Santa Anna in +Tacubaya--A Junction--President in Mexico--_Allied Sovereigns_--Plan-- +Articles--President declares for Federalism--Resigns--Results-- +Hostilities--Capitulation--Triumphal Entry--_Te Deum_--New Ministry + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SIXTH + +Santa Monica--Solidity--Old Paintings--Anachronism--Babies and Nurses from +the Cuna--Society--Funds-Plan--Indian Nurses--Carmelite Convent--Midnight +Warning--Old Villages and Churches--Indian Bath--San Mateo--The Lecheria-- +Fertility--_Molino Viego_--Dulness--Religious Exercises--Return to Mexico +--Mexican Hotel--New Generals--Disturbances--General Bustamante-- +Inconvenience--Abuses in the Name of Liberty--Verses--Independence +celebrated + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SEVENTH + +Opera--Santa Anna and his Suite--His Appearance--_Belisario_--Solitary +"_Viva_!"--Brilliant House--Military Dictatorship--_San_ _Juan de Dios_-- +Hospital _de Jesús_--_Cuna_--Old Woman and Baby--Different Apartments-- +Acordada--Junta--Female Prisoners--Chief Crime--_Travaux Forces_-- +Children--Male Prisoners--_Forçats_--Soldiers Gambling--Chapel-- +Confessional--Insane Hospital--Frenchmen--Different Kinds of Insanity-- +Kitchen--Dinner--Insane Monk--"Black Chamber"--Soldiers--College--Santa +Anna's Leg--Projects--All Saints--Señora P---a--Leave-takings + + +LETTER THE FORTY-EIGHTH + +Leave Mexico--Diligence--Indian Padre--Brandy-drinking Female--Bad Roads-- +Beautiful View--Escort--Good Breakfast--Crosses--Robber's Head--Select +Party--Lerma--Valley of Toluca--Hacienda--Toluca--Count de B---- and Mr. +W------The Commandant--Gay Supper--Colonel Y------Day at Toluca--Journey +to _La Gabia_--Heat and Hunger--Pleasant Quarters--Princely Estate--El +Pilar--A Zorillo--A Wolf--Long Journey--Tortillas--Count de B------State +of Michoacán--Forest Scenery--_Trojes of Angangueo_--Comfort + + +LETTER THE FORTY-NINTH + +Leave _Trojes_--Beautiful Territory--Tarrascan Indians--Taximaroa-- +Distressed Condition--An Improvement--Cold Morning--Querendaro--Fine Breed +of Horses--San Bartolo--Produce--Country Proprietors--_Colear_--Ride to +Morelia--Wild Ducks--Sunset--Cathedral Bell--Cuincho--Curates Morelos, +Matamoros, and Hidalgo--Warm Baths--Handsome Girls--Starving Travellers-- +Lost Mules--Lancers--Night on a Heap of Straw--Mules Found--Tzintzontzan-- +King Calsonsi--Pascuaro--Kind Reception--Bishop--Robbers--Curu--Night in a +Barn--Mountain--Uruapa--Enchanting Scenery--Pleasant Family--Jorulla + + +LETTER THE FIFTIETH + +Indian Dresses--Saints--Music--Union of Tropical and European Vegetation-- +Old Customs--Falls of the Sararaqui--Silkworms--Indian Painting--Beautiful +Heroine--Leave Uruapa--Tziracuaratiro--Talkative Indian--Alcalde's House-- +Pascuaro--Old Church--Mosaic Work--The Lake--The Cave--Fried Fish--Rich +Indians--Convent--Cuincho--Darkness--Morelia--Alameda--Cathedral--Silver +--Waxworks--College--Wonderful Fleas + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-FIRST + +San Bartolo--Mass--Markets--Rancheros--San Andrés--Insanity--Rancho--House +of Don Carlos Heimburger--Wild Scenery--German Songs--Las Millas--Leave +taking--Storm--Rainbow--El Pilar--La Gabia--Toluca--News--Copper +_Pronunciamiento_--Return to Mexico--General Moran--Funeral Obsequies--New +Theatre--_Cock's Mass_--Santa Clara--Santa Fe Prisoners--New Year + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-SECOND + +Last Day in Mexico--Theatre--Santa Anna--French Minister's--Parting-- +Diligence--Last Look of Mexico--Fatigue--Robbers--Escort--Second +Impressions--Baths at Jalapa--Vera Cruz--Some Account of San Juan de Ulua +--Siege of 1825--Siege of 1838--General Bustamante--Theatre--Of the North +Winds + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-THIRD + +Sail in the Tyrian--Norther off Tampico--The Bar--The River Panuco--The +Pilot--The Shore--Alligator--"_Paso de Doña Cecilia_"--Tampico--Spanish +Consul's House--Society--Navigation--Banks of the Panuco--Extraordinary +Inoculation--The "_Glorieta_"--Leave Tampico--Furious Norther--Voyage-- +Arrival at Havana + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-FOURTH + +Havana--The Carnival--The Elssler--La Angosta--_Ingenio_ of Count V---a-- +General Bustamante--Lord Morpeth--Leave Havana--Voyage in the Medway--Old +Friends--Return to the United States + + + +PREFACE + + +The present work is the result of observations made during a two years' +residence in Mexico, by a lady, whose position there made her intimately +acquainted with its society, and opened to her the best sources of +information in regard to whatever could interest an enlightened foreigner. +It consists of letters written to the members of her own family, and, +_really_, not intended originally--however incredible the assertion--for +publication. Feeling a regret that such rich stores of instruction and +amusement, from which I have so much profited, myself, should be reserved +for the eyes of a few friends only, I strongly recommended that they should +be given to the world. This is now done, with a few such alterations and +omissions as were necessary in a private correspondence; and although the +work would derive more credit from the author's own name, than from +anything which I can say, yet as she declines prefixing it, I feel much +pleasure in making this statement by way of introduction to the public. + +WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. + +Boston, December 20, 1842. + + + +GLOSSARY + +OF + +SPANISH OR MEXICAN WORDS WHICH OCCUR IN THE COURSE OF THE WORK, WHICH ARE +GENERALLY EXPLAINED WHEN FIRST USED, BUT WHICH BEING REPEATED, THE READER +MIGHT FORGET AND WISH TO REFER TO. + + +_Administrador_-Agent. +_Alameda_-Public walk with trees. +_Aquador_-Water-carrier. +_Alacran_-Scorpion. +_Anquera_-Coating of stamped gilt leather, edged with little bells, which +covers the back of the horses. +_Arriero_-Muleteer. +_Arroba_-Spanish weight of twenty-five pounds. +_Azotea_-The flat roof of a house. +_Barranca_-Ravine. +_Botica_-Apothecary's shop. +_Calle_-Street. +_Cargadores_-Men who carry loads. +_Chinguirito_-Spirit made from sugar-cane. +_Chile_-Hot peppers. +_Compadre and Comadre_-Godfather and Godmother; names by which two persons +address each other, who have held the same child at the baptismal font, or +have been sponsors together at a marriage, etc. +_Canonigo_-Canon or prebendary. +_Comicos_-Actors. +_Camarista_-Lady of honour. +_día de Anos_-Birthday. +_Dulces_-Sweetmeats. +_Díario_-Daily newspapers. +_Frisones_-Large horses from the north. +_Función_-Solemnity-festival. +_Frijoles_-Brown beans. +_Galopina_-Kitchen-girl. +_Garbanzos_-Chick-peas _Cicer Arietinum_. +_Gachupin_-Name given to the Spaniards in Mejico. +_Garita_-City-gate. +_Goleta_-Schooner. +_Gentuza_-Rabble. +_Honras_-Funeral honours. +_Hacienda_-Country-place. +_Ingenio de Azucar_-Sugar plantation. +_Invalidos--Disabled soldiers. +_Jarro_--Earthen jar. +_Ladrones_--Robbers. +_Léperos_--Beggars, low persons. +_Litera_--Litter. +_Monte Pio_--Office where money is lent on security. +_Mezcal_--Brandy distilled from pulque. +_Manga_--Cloak made of cloth, with a hole in the middle for putting the +head through. +_Novios_--Betrothed persons. +_Nuestro Amo_--Our Master, used in speaking of the Host. +_Ojo de Agua_--Spring of water. +_Portales_--Covered portico supported by columns. +_Pulqueria_--Shop where pulque is sold. +_Paseo_--Public walk. +_Paso_--Pace, pacing. +_Padrino_--Godfather. +_Plaza_--Square. +_Patio_--Courtyard. +_Petate_--Matting. +_Poblana_--Woman of Puebla. +_Pronunciamiento_--A revolution in Mexico. +_Pronunciados_--Those who revolt. +_Rancho_--A farm. +_Ranchero_--Farmer. +_Rebozo_--A scarf that goes over the head. +_Reja_--Iron grate. +_Sopilote_--Species of carrion vulture. +_Sarape_--A woollen blanket more or less fine, with a hole for the head to +go through. +_Traspaso_--Conveyance, transfer. +_Tilma_--Indian cloak. +_Tierra caliente_--The hot land. +_Tertulia_--An evening party. +_Toreador_--Bull-fighter. +_Tortilla_--Species of thin cake. +_Tortillera_--Woman who bakes tortillas. +_Vaca_--Joint stock in gambling. +_Vomito_--Name given to the yellow fever. +_Venta_--Inn. + + + + +LIFE IN MEXICO + + + + +LETTER THE FIRST + + +Departure of the Norma--Last look of New York Bay--Fellow-passengers +--Contrary Winds--Deceitful Appearances--Sunset in Southern Latitudes +--Seas passed over by Columbus--Varied Occupations on Shipboard--Berry +Islands--Bahama Banks--Evening in a Tropical Sea--L. E. L.--Pan of +Matanzas--Morro Castle--Bay of Havana--Arrival--Handsome House in +Havana--Sights and Sounds. + + + +PACKET SHIP "NORMA," + +Oct. 27th, 1839. + + +This morning, at ten o'clock, we stepped on board the steamboat Hercules, +destined to convey us to our packet with its musical name. The day was +foggy and gloomy, as if refusing to be comforted, even by an occasional +smile from the sun. All prognosticated that the Norma would not sail +to-day, but "where there's a will," etc. Several of our friends accompanied +us to the wharf; the Russian Minister, the Minister of Buenos Ayres, +Mr. -----, who tried hard to look sentimental, and even brought tears into +his eyes by some curious process; Judge -----, Mr. -----, and others, from +whom we were truly sorry to part. + +The Norma was anchored in one of the most beautiful points of the bay, and +the steamboat towed us five miles, until we had passed the Narrows. The +wind was contrary, but the day began to clear up, and the sun to scatter +the watery clouds. + +Still there is nothing so sad as a retreating view. It is as if time were +visibly in motion; and as here we had to part from -----, we could only +distinguish, as through a misty veil, the beauties of the bay; the shores +covered to the water's edge with trees rich in their autumnal colouring; +the white houses on Staten Island--the whole gradually growing fainter, +till, like a dream, they faded away. + +The pilot has left us, breaking our last link with the land. We still see +the mountains of Neversink, and the lighthouse of Sandy Hook. The sun is +setting, and in a few minutes we must take our leave, probably for years, +of places long familiar to us. + +Our fellow-passengers do not appear very remarkable. There is Madame +A----, returning from being prima donna in Mexico, in a packet called after +the opera in which she was there a favourite, with her husband Señor +V---- and her child. There is M. B---- with moustaches like a bird's nest; +a pretty widow in deep affliction, at least in deep mourning; a maiden lady +going out as a governess, and every variety of Spaniard and Havanero. So +now we are alone, C---n and I, and my French femme-de-chambre, with her air +of Dowager Duchess, and moreover sea-sick. + +28th.--When I said I liked a sea life, I did not mean to be understood as +liking a merchant ship, with an airless cabin, and with every variety of +disagreeable odour. As a French woman on board, with the air of an +afflicted porpoise, and with more truth than elegance, expresses it: "Tout +devient puant, même l'eau-de-cologne." + +The wind is still contrary, and the Norma, beating up and down, makes but +little way. We have gone seventy-four miles, and of these advanced but +forty. Every one being sick to-day, the deck is nearly deserted. The most +interesting object I have discovered on board is a pretty little deaf and +dumb girl, very lively and with an intelligent face, who has been teaching +me to speak on my fingers. The infant heir of the house of ----- has shown +his good taste by passing the day in squalling. M. B----, pale, dirty, and +much resembling a brigand out of employ, has traversed the deck with uneasy +footsteps and a cigar appearing from out his moustaches, like a light in a +tangled forest, or a jack-o'-lantern in a marshy thicket. A fat Spaniard +has been discoursing upon the glories of olla podrida. _Au reste_, we are +slowly pursuing our way, and at this rate might reach Cuba in three months. + +And the stars are shining, quiet and silvery. All without is soft and +beautiful, and no doubt the Norma herself looks all in unison with the +scene, balancing herself like a lazy swan, white and graciously. So it is +without, and within, there is miserable sea-sickness, bilge-water, and all +the unavoidable disagreeables of a small packet. + +31st.--Three days have passed without anything worthy of notice having +occurred, except that we already feel the difference of temperature. The +passengers are still enduring sea-sickness in all its phases. + +This morning opened with an angry dispute between two of the gentlemen, on +the subject of Cuban lotteries, and they ended by applying to each other +epithets which, however much they might be deserved, were certainly rather +strong; but by dinner time, they were amicably engaged in concocting +together an enormous tureen of _gaspachos_, a sort of salad, composed of +bread, oil, vinegar, sliced onion and garlic--and the fattest one declares +that in warm weather, a dish of _gaspachos_, with plenty of garlic in it, +makes him feel as fresh as a rose. He must indeed be a perfect bouquet. + +The opening of morning is dramatic in our narrow cabin. About twenty voices +in Spanish, German, Italian, and broken English, strike up by degrees. From +a neighbouring state room, _Nid d'oiseau_ puts forth his head. "Stooar! a +toomlar! here is no vater!" "Comin, sir, comin." "_Caramba!_ Stooard!" +"Comin, sir, comin!" "Stuart? vasser und toel!" "Here, sir." "Amigo! how is +the wind?" (This is the waking up of el Señor Ministro, putting his head +half suffocated out of his berth.) "Oh steward! steward!" "Yes, miss," +"Come here, and look at _this_!" "I'll fix it, miss,"--etc. + +1st November.--A fair wind after a stifling night, and strong hopes of +seeing the Bahama Banks on Sunday. Most people are now gradually ascending +from the lower regions, and dragging themselves on deck with pale and +dejected countenances. Madame A---- has such a sweet-toned voice in +speaking, especially in her accents of her _bella Italia_, that it is +refreshing to listen to her. I have passed all day in reading, after a +desultory fashion, "Les Enfants d'Edouard," by Casimir Delavigne, +Washington Irving, D'Israeli's "Curiosities of Literature," etc.; and it is +rather singular that while there is a very tolerable supply of English and +French books here, I see but one or two odd volumes in Spanish, although +these packets are constantly filled with people of that nation, going and +coming. Is it that they do not care for reading, or that less attention is +paid to them than to the French or American passengers? One would think +Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon, or Moratin, better worth buying than +many commonplace novels which I find here. + +3rd.--Yesterday the wind blew soft as on a summer morning. A land-bird flew +into the ship. To-day the wind has veered round, but the weather continues +charming. The sea is covered with multitudes of small flying-fish. An +infantile water-spout appeared, and died in its birth. Mr. -----, the +consul, has been giving me an account of the agreeable society in the +Sandwich Islands! A magnificent sunset, the sight of which compensates for +all the inconveniences of the voyage. The sky was covered with black clouds +lined with silver, and surrounded by every variety of colour; deep blue, +fleecy, rose, violet, and orange. The heavens are now thickly studded with +stars, numbers shooting across the blue expanse like messengers of light, +glancing and disappearing as if extinguished. + +It is well to read the History of Columbus at sea, but especially in these +waters, where he wandered in suspense, high-wrought expectation, and firm +faith; and to watch the signs which the noble mariner observed in these +latitudes; the soft serenity of the breezes, the clear blue of the heavens, +the brilliancy and number of the stars, the sea-weeds of the gulf, which +always drift in the direction of the wind, the little land-birds that come +like harbingers of good tidings, the frequency of the shooting stars, and +the multitude of flying-fish. + +As the shades of evening close around, and the tropical sky glitters with +the light of innumerable stars, imagination transports us back to that +century which stands out in bold relief amidst other ages rolling by +comparatively undistinguished, and we see as in a vision the Discoverer of +a World, standing on the deck of his caravel, as it bounded over the +unknown and mysterious waste of waters, his vigilant eyes fixed on the +west, like a Persian intently watching the rising of his god; though his +star was to arise from whence the day-god sets. We see him bending his gaze +on the first dark line that separated the watery sea from the blue of the +heavens, striving to penetrate the gloom of night, yet waiting with patient +faith until the dawn of day should bring the long-wished for shores in +sight. + +6th.--For three days, three very long and uncomfortable days, the wind, +with surprising constancy, has continued to blow dead ahead. In ancient +days, what altars might have smoked to Aeolus! Now, except in the increased +puffing of consolatory cigar-smoke, no propitiatory offerings are made to +unseen powers. There are indeed many mourning signs amongst the passengers. +Every one has tied up his head in an angry-looking silken bandana, drawn +over his nose with a dogged air. Beards are unshaven, a black stubble +covering the lemon-coloured countenance, which occasionally bears a look of +sulky defiance, as if its owner were, like Juliet, "past hope, past cure, +past help." + +7th.--This morning the monotony of fine weather was relieved by a hearty +squall, accompanied by torrents of rain, much thunder, and forked +lightning. The ship reeled to and fro like a drunken man, and the +passengers, as usual in such cases, performed various involuntary +evolutions, cutting right angles, sliding, spinning round, and rolling +over, as if Oberon's magic horn were playing an occasional blast amidst the +roaring winds; whilst the stewards alone, like Horace's good man, walked +serene amidst the wreck of crockery and the fall of plates. Driven from our +stronghold on deck, indiscriminately crammed in below like figs in a drum; +"weltering," as Carlyle has it, "like an Egyptian pitcher of tamed vipers," +the cabin windows all shut in, we tried to take it coolly, in spite of the +suffocating heat. + +There is a child on board who is certainly possessed, not by a witty +malicious demon, a diable boiteux, but by a teasing, stupid, wicked imp, +which inspires him with the desire of tormenting everything human that +comes within his reach. Should he escape being thrown overboard, it will +show a wonderful degree of forbearance on the part of the passengers. + +8th.--The weather is perfect, but the wind inexorable; and the passengers, +with their heads tied up, look more gloomy than ever. Some sit dejected in +corners, and some quarrel with their neighbours, thus finding a +safety-valve by which their wrath may escape. + +9th.--There is no change in the wind, yet the gentlemen have all brightened +up, taken off their handkerchiefs and shaved, as if ashamed of their six +days' impatience, and making up their minds to a sea-life. This morning we +saw land; a long, low ridge of hills on the island of Eleuthera, where they +make salt, and where there are many negroes. Neither salt nor negroes +visible to the naked eye; nothing but the gray outline of the hills, +melting into the sea and sky; and having tacked about all day, we found +ourselves in the evening precisely opposite to this same island. There are +Job's comforters on board, who assure us that they have been thirty-six +days between New York and la "joya mas preciosa de la corona de Espana."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The most precious jewel in the Spanish crown, the name given +to Cuba.] + +For my part, I feel no impatience, having rather a dislike to changing my +position when tolerable, and the air is so fresh and laden with balm, that +it seems to blow over some paradise of sweets, some land of fragrant +spices. The sea also is a mirror, and I have read Marryat's "Pirate" for +the first time. + +Thus then we stand at eight o'clock, P.M.; wind ahead, and little of it, +performing a zigzag march between Eleuthera and Abaco. On deck, the pretty +widow lies in an easy chair, surrounded by her countrymen, who discourse +about sugar, molasses, chocolate, and other local topics, together with the +relative merits of Cuba as compared with the rest of the known world. +Madame A---- is studying her part of Elizabetta in the opera of Roberto +Devereux, which she is to bring out in Havana, but the creaking of the +Norma is sadly at variance with harmony. A pale German youth, in +dressing-gown and slippers, is studying Schiller. An ingenious youngster is +carefully conning a well-thumbed note, which looks like a milliner's girl's +last billet-doux. The little _possédé_ is burning brown paper within an +inch of the curtains of a state-room, while the steward is dragging it from +him. Others are gradually dropping into their berths, like ripe nuts from a +tree. Thus are we all pursuing our vocations. + +9th.--Wind dead ahead! I console myself with Cinq-Mars and Jacob Faithful. +But the weather is lovely. A young moon in her first quarter, like a queen +in her minority, glitters like a crescent on the brow of night. + +Towards evening the long wished for lighthouse of Abaco (built by the +English) showed her charitable and revolving radiance. But our ship, +Penelope-like, undoes by night what she has performed by day, and her +course is backward and crabbish. A delicious smell of violets is blowing +from the land. + +10th.--A fair wind. The good tidings communicated by the A----, _toute +rayonnante de joie_. A fair wind and a bright blue sea, cool and refreshing +breezes, the waves sparkling, and the ship going gallantly over the waters. +So far, our voyage may have been tedious, but the most determined landsman +must allow that the weather has been charming. + +Sunday at sea; and though no bells are tolling, and no hymns are chanted, +the blue sky above and the blue ocean beneath us, form one vast temple, +where, since the foundations of the earth and sea were laid, _Day unto day +uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge_. + +This morning we neared the Berry Islands, unproductive and rocky, as the +geography books would say. One of these islands belongs to a coloured man, +who bought it for fifty dollars--a cheaply-purchased sovereignty. He, his +wife and children, with their _negro slaves_! live there, and cultivate +vegetables to sell at New York, or to the different ships that pass that +way. Had the wind been favourable, they would probably have sent us out a +boat with fresh vegetables, fish, and fruit, which would have been very +acceptable. We saw, not far from the shore, the wreck of a two-masted +vessel; sad sight to those who pass over the same waters to see + + "A brave vessel, + Who had, no doubt, + some noble creatures in her, + Dashed all to pieces!" + +Who had, at least, some of God's creatures in her. Anything but that! I am +like Gonzalo, and "would fain die a dry death." + +We are now on the Bahama Banks, the water very clear and blue, with a +creamy froth, looking as if it flowed over pearls and turquoises. An +English schooner man-of-war (a _boy_-of-war in size) made all sail towards +us, doubtless hoping we were a slaver; but, on putting us to the test of +his spy-glass, the captain, we presume, perceived that the general tinge of +countenance was lemon rather than negro, and so abandoned his pursuit. + +This evening on the Banks. It would be difficult to imagine a more placid +and lovely scene. Everything perfectly calm, all sail set, and the heavens +becoming gradually sprinkled with silver stars. The sky blue, and without a +cloud, except where the sun has just set, the last crimson point sinking in +the calm sea and leaving a long retinue of rainbow-coloured clouds, deep +crimson tinged with bright silver, and melting away into gray, pale vapour. + +On goes the vessel, stately and swanlike; the water of the same turquoise +blue, covered with a light pearly froth, and so clear that we see the large +sponges at the bottom. Every minute they heave the lead. "By the mark +three." "By the mark three, less a quarter." "By the mark twain and a +half," (fifteen feet, the vessel drawing thirteen,) two feet between us and +the bottom. The sailor sings it out like the first line of a hymn in short +metre, doled out by the parish clerk. I wish Madame A---- were singing it +instead of he. "By the mark three, less a quarter." To this tune, the only +sound breaking the stillness of the night, I dropped to sleep. The captain +passed the night anxiously, now looking out for lights on the Banks, now at +the helm, or himself sounding the lead: + + "For some must watch whilst others sleep; + Thus wags the world away." + +11th.--Beautiful morning, and fair wind. About eight we left the Banks. +Just then we observed, that the sailor who sounded, having sung out five, +then six, then in a few minutes seven, suddenly found no bottom, as if we +had fallen off all at once from the brink of the Bank into an abyss. + +A fellow-captain, and passenger of our captain's, told me this morning, +that he spoke the ship which carried out Governor and Mrs. McLean to +Cape-Coast Castle--the unfortunate L.E.L. It does not seem to me at all +astonishing that the remedies which she took in England without injury, +should have proved fatal to her in that wretched climate. + +We have been accompanied all the morning by a fine large ship, going full +sail, the Orleans, Captain Sears, bound for New Orleans.... A long +semicircular line of black rocks in sight; some of a round form, one of +which is called the Death's Head; another of the shape of a turtle, and +some two or three miles long. At the extremity of one of these the English +are building a lighthouse. + +12th.--We are opposite the Pan of Matanzas, about sixty miles from Havana. +Impatience becomes general, but the breeze rocks up and down, and we gain +little. This day, like all last days on board, has been remarkably tedious, +though the country gradually becomes more interesting. There is a universal +brushing-up amongst the passengers; some shaving, some with their heads +plunged into tubs of cold water. So may have appeared Noah's ark, when the +dove did not return, and the passengers prepared for _terra firma_, after a +forty days' voyage. Our Mount Ararat was the Morro Castle, which, dark and +frowning, presented itself to our eyes, at six o'clock, P.M. + +Nothing can be more striking than the first appearance of this fortress, +starting up from the solid rock, with its towers and battlements, while +here, to remind us of our latitude, we see a few feathery cocoas growing +amidst the herbage that covers the banks near the castle. By its side, +covering a considerable extent of ground, is the fortress called the +_Cabana_, painted rose-colour, with the angles of its bastions white. + +But there is too much to look at now. I must finish my letter in Havana. + + +HAVANA, 13th November. + + +Last evening, as we entered the beautiful bay, everything struck us as +strange and picturesque. The soldiers of the garrison, the prison built by +General Tacon, the irregular houses with their fronts painted red or pale +blue, and with the cool but uninhabited look produced by the absence of +glass windows; the merchant ships and large men-of-war; vessels from every +port in the commercial world, the little boats gliding amongst them with +their snow-white sails, the negroes on the wharf--nothing European. The +heat was great, that of a July day, without any freshness in the air. + +As we approached the wharf the noise and bustle increased. The passengers +all crowded upon deck, and we had scarcely anchored, when various little +boats were seen making for the Norma. First boat brought an officer with +the salutations of the Captain-General to his Excellency, with every polite +offer of service; second boat brought the Administrator of the Yntendente +(the Count de Villa Nueva), with the same civilities; the third, the master +of the house where we now are, and whence I indite these facts; the fourth, +the Italian Opera, which rushed simultaneously into the arms of the A---i; +the fifth, prosaic custom-house officers; the sixth, a Havana count and +marquis; the seventh, the family of General M---o. Finally, we were hoisted +over the ship's side in a chair, into the government boat, and rowed to the +shore. As it was rather dark when we arrived, and we were driven to our +destination in a volante, we did not see much of the city. We could but +observe that the streets were narrow, the houses irregular, most people +black, and the volante, an amusing-looking vehicle, looking behind like a +black insect with high shoulders, and with a little black postilion on a +horse or mule, with an enormous pair of boots and a fancy uniform. + +The house in which, by the hospitality of the H---a family we are +installed, has from its windows, which front the bay, the most varied and +interesting view imaginable. As it is the first house, Spanish fashion, +which I have entered, I must describe it to you before I sleep. The house +forms a great square, and you enter the court, round which are the offices, +the rooms for the negroes, coal-house, bath-room, etc., and in the middle +of which stand the volantes. Proceed upstairs, and enter a large gallery +which runs all round the house. Pass into the _Sala_, a large cool +apartment, with marble floor and tables, and _chaise-longues_ with elastic +cushions, chairs, and arm-chairs of cane. A drapery of white muslin and +blue silk divides this from a second and smaller drawing-room, now serving +as my dressing-room, and beautifully fitted up, with Gothic toilet-table, +inlaid mahogany bureau, marble centre and side-tables, fine mirrors, cane +sofas and chairs, green and gold paper. A drapery of white muslin and rose- +coloured silk divides this from a bedroom, also fitted up with all manner +of elegances. French beds with blue silk coverlids and clear mosquito +curtains, and fine lace. A drapery divides this on one side from the +gallery; and this room opens into others which run all round the house. The +floors are marble or stucco--the roofs beams of pale blue wood placed +transversely, and the whole has an air of agreeable coolness. Everything is +handsome without being gaudy, and admirably adapted for the climate. The +sleeping apartments have no windows, and are dark and cool, while the +drawing-rooms have large windows down to the floor, with green shutters +kept closed till the evening. + +The mosquitoes have now commenced their evening song, a signal that it is +time to put out the lights. The moon is shining on the bay, and a faint +sound of military music is heard in the distance, while the sea moans with +a sad but not unpleasing monotony. To all these sounds I retire to rest. + + + + +LETTER THE SECOND + + +Havana Aristocracy--"Lucia de Lammermoor"--La Rossi and Montresor--Brig- +of-war--Countess de V---a--Dinner at H---a's--Southerly Winds--View from +the Balcony--_Quinta_ of Count V---a--San Cristobal--Mass at San Felipe-- +Erard Harp--Dinner at General M---o's--A Dessert at Havana--Queen of +Spain's Birthday--Dinner at the Yntendencia--La Pantanelli--Theatre of +Tacon--Railroad--Cure by Lightning--Shops--Ball at the Countess F---a's-- +Last Visit--Souvenirs. + +15th.--We expected hospitality and a good reception, but certainly all our +expectations have been surpassed, and the last few days have been spent in +such a round of festivity, that not a moment has been left for writing. At +home we have held a levee to all that is most distinguished in Havana. +Counts, marquesses, and generals, with stars and crosses, have poured in +and poured out ever since our arrival. I do not pretend to form any +judgment of Havana. We have seen it too much _en beau_. + +Last evening we found time to go to the theatre. The opera was "Lucia de +Lammermoor." The _prima donna_, La Rossi, has a voice of much sweetness, +sings correctly and with taste, is graceful in her movements, but sadly +deficient in strength. Still she suits the character represented, and comes +exactly up to my idea of poor Lucy, devoted and broken-hearted, physically +and morally weak. Though the story is altered, and the interest weakened, +how graceful the music is! how lovely and full of melody! The orchestra is +good, and composed of blacks and whites, like the notes of a piano, mingled +in harmonious confusion. + +The theatre is remarkably pretty and airy, and the pit struck us as being +particularly clean and respectable. All the seats are red leather +arm-chairs, and all occupied by well-dressed people. + +At the end of the first act, we went round to the Countess F---a's box, to +return a visit which she had made me in the morning. We found her extremely +agreeable and full of intelligence, also with a very decided air of +fashion. She was dressed in fawn-coloured satin, with large pearls. At the +end of the second act, Lucia was taken ill, her last aria missed out, and +her monument driven on the stage without further ceremony. Montresor, the +Ravenswood of the piece, came in, sung, and stabbed himself with immense +enthusiasm. It is a pity that his voice is deserting him, while his taste +and feeling remain. The house has altogether a French look. The boxes are +private--that is, the property of individuals, but are not shut in, which +in this climate would be suffocating. We passed out through a long file of +soldiers. The sudden transition from Yankee land to this military Spanish +negro-land is _dreamy_. + +The General de la Marina (_Anglice_, admiral of the station) called some +days ago, and informed us that there is a brig of war destined to convey us +to Vera Cruz. + +Amongst the ladies who have called on me, I find none more charming than +the Countess de V---a. Her voice is agreeable, her manners cordial and +easy, her expression beautiful from goodness, with animated eyes and fine +teeth, her dress quiet and rich. She is universally beloved here. I +received from her, nearly every morning, a bouquet of the loveliest flowers +from her quinta--roses, carnations, heliotrope, etc. The dinner at H---a's +to-day was a perfect feast. I sat between the Count de F---a and the Count +de S---- V----, a millionaire. Everything was served in French white and +gold porcelain, which looks particularly cool and pretty in this climate. +The Count de P---r was there and his brother; the latter a gentlemanly and +intelligent man, with a great taste for music, and whose daughter is a +first-rate singer and a charming person. After dinner we rose, according to +custom, and went into an adjoining room while they arranged the dessert, +consisting of every imaginable and unimaginable sweetmeat, with fruit, +ices, etc. The fruits I have not yet learned to like. They are certainly +wonderful and delicious productions of nature; but to eat eggs and custards +and butter off the trees, seems unnatural. + +The heat to-day is terrible; with a suffocating south wind blowing, and +were the houses not built as they are, would be unbearable. The dinner is +served in the gallery, which is spacious and cool. + +After dinner, Señor Don P---o H---a rose, and, addressing C---n, pronounced +a poetical impromptu, commemorating the late victory of Espartero, and +congratulating C---n on his mission to the Mexican republic. We then +adjourned to the balcony, where the air was delightful, a cool evening +breeze having suddenly sprung up. A large ship, full sail, and various +barks, passed the View From the Balcony Morro. There were negroes with bare +legs walking on the wall, carrying parcels, etc.; volantes passing by with +their black-eyed occupants, in full dress, short sleeves, and flowers in +their hair; well-dressed, martial-looking Spanish soldiers marching by, and +making tolerably free remarks on the ladies in the volantes.... We had a +visit from the Captain-General. + +In the evening we went out to see the Countess de V---a, at her pretty +quinta, a short way out of town, and walked in the garden by moonlight, +amongst flowers and fountains. The little count is already one of the +chamberlains to the Queen, and a diamond key has been sent him by Queen +Christina in token of her approbation of his father's services. These +country retreats are delightful after the narrow streets and impure air of +the city.... We saw there a good engraving of Queen Victoria, with the +Duchess of Sutherland and Lady Normanby. + +17th.--Yesterday we went to see the procession of the patron saint, San +Cristobal, from the balconies of the Yntendencia. It is a fine spacious +building, and, together with the Captain-General's palace, stands in the +Plaza de Armas, which was crowded with negroes and negresses, all dressed +in white, with white muslin and blonde mantillas, framing and showing off +their dusky physiognomies. + +Two regiments, with excellent bands of music, conducted the procession, +composed of monks and priests. San Cristobal, a large figure with thick +gold legs, surrounded by gold angels with gold wings, was carried by to the +music of "_Suoni la tromba_," to which were adapted the words of a hymn in +praise of Liberty. + +We attended mass in the morning in the church of San Felipe, and entered, +preceded, according to custom, by a little negro footman carrying a piece +of carpet. There were few people in church, but the grouping was +picturesque. The black faces of the negresses, with their white mantillas +and white satin shoes; the black silk dresses and black lace mantillas of +the Havana ladies, with their white faces and black eyes, and little +liveried negroes standing behind them; the officers, music, and +long-bearded priests--all were very effective. + +Found, on my return, an excellent Erard harp, sent me by the Marquesa de +A---s, a pretty woman and female Croesus. + +A splendid entertainment was given us to-day by General M---o. His house is +large and cool; the dinner, as usual, in the gallery; and although there +were ninety-seven guests, and as many negroes in waiting, the heat was not +oppressive. The jewels of the ladies were superb, especially the diamonds +of the M---- family; sprays, necklaces, earrings, really beautiful. The +Marquesa de A---- wore a set of emeralds the size of small eggs. She had a +pretty, graceful-looking daughter with her, with beautiful eyes. Even the +men were well sprinkled with diamonds and rubies. + +The dessert, from variety and quantity, was a real curiosity. Immense vases +and candelabras of alabaster were placed at different distances on the +table, and hundreds of porcelain dishes were filled with sweetmeats and +fruits-sweetmeats of every description, from the little meringue called +"mouthful for a queen," to the blancmanger made of supreme de volaille and +milk. + +After dinner our health was drank, and another poetical address pronounced. +The evening concluded with music and the Havana country-dances. + +20th.--Yesterday being the Queen of Spain's birthday, a dinner was given to +us at the Yntendencia. The house in size is a palace, and the apartments +innumerable. The dinner very elegant, and the dessert arranged in another +room, a curiosity as usual for profusion and variety. Her Majesty's health +was proposed by Don B---o H---a, and so well-timed, that all the guns of +the forts fired a salute, it being sunset, just as the toast was concluded, +which was drank with real enthusiasm and hearty goodwill. According to +Spanish custom, the aristocracy generally _se tutoient_, and call each +other by their Christian names; indeed, they are almost all connected by +inter-marriages. You may guess at an inferior in rank, only by their +increased respect towards him. + +We stood on the balcony in the evening. The scene was beautiful, the +temperature rather warm, yet delicious from the softness of the breeze. The +moon rose so bright that she seemed like the sun shining through a silvery +veil. Groups of figures were sauntering about in the square, under the +trees, and two bands having stationed themselves with lamps and music, +played alternately pieces from Mozart and Bellini. We regretted leaving so +delightful a scene for the theatre, where we arrived in time to hear La +Pantanelli sing an aria, dressed in helmet and Theatre of Tacon tunic, and +to see La Jota Arragonesa danced by two handsome Spanish girls in good +style. + +One evening we went to the theatre of Tacon, to the Captain-General's box. +It is certainly a splendid house, large, airy, and handsome. The play was +the "Campanero de San Pablo," which, though generally liked, appears to me +a complicated and unnatural composition, with one or two interesting +scenes. The best actor was he who represented the blind man. The chief +actress is an overgrown dame, all fat and dimples, who kept up a constant +sobbing and heaving of her chest, yet never getting rid of an eternal smirk +upon her face. A bolero, danced afterwards by two Spanish damsels in black +and silver, was very refreshing. + +23rd.--To-morrow we sail in the Jason, should the wind not prove contrary. +Visits, dinners, and parties have so occupied our time, that to write has +been next to impossible. Of the country we have, from the same reason, seen +little, and the people we are only acquainted with in full dress, which is +not the way to judge of them truly. One morning, indeed, we dedicated to +viewing the works of the Yntendente, the railroad, and the water-filterers. +He and the Countess, and a party of friends, accompanied us. + +The country through which the railroad passes is flat and rather +monotonous; nevertheless, the quantity of wild flowers, which appeared for +the most part of the convolvulus species, as we glanced past them--the +orange-trees, the clumps of palm and cocoa, the plantain with its gigantic +leaves, the fresh green coffee-plant, the fields of sugar-cane of a still +brighter green, the half-naked negroes, the low wooden huts, and, still +more, the scorching sun in the month of November,--all was new to us, and +sufficient to remind us of the leagues of ocean we had traversed, though +this is but a halt on our voyage. + +At the village where the cars stopped, we listened with much amusement to +the story of a fat, comfortable-looking individual, who was cured by +lightning in the following manner:--He was in the last stage of a decline, +when, one hot July morning, he was knocked down by a thunderbolt, a ball of +fire, which entered his side, ran all through his body, and came out at his +arm. At the place where the ball made its exit, a large ulcer was formed, +and when it dispersed he found himself in perfect health, in which he has +continued ever since! In such cases the "bottled lightning," demanded by +Mrs. Nickleby's admirer, might be a valuable remedy. + +Of course I could not leave Havana without devoting one morning to +shopping. The shops have most seducing names--Hope, Wonder, Desire, etc. +The French modistes seem to be wisely improving their time, by charging +respectable prices for their work. The shop-keepers bring their goods out +to the volante, it not being the fashion for ladies to enter the shops, +though I took the privilege of a foreigner to infringe this rule +occasionally. Silks and satins very dear--lace and muslin very reasonable, +was, upon the whole, the result of my investigation; but as it only lasted +two hours, and that my sole purchases of any consequence, were an +indispensable mantilla, and a pair of earrings, I give my opinion for the +present with due diffidence. + +I can speak with more decision on the subject of a great ball given us by +the Countess F---a, last evening, which was really superb. The whole house +was thrown open--there was a splendid supper, quantities of refreshment, +and the whole select aristocracy of Havana. Diamonds on all the women, +jewels and orders on all the men, magnificent lustres and mirrors, and a +capital band of music in the gallery. + +The Captain-General was the only individual in a plain dress. He made +himself very agreeable, in good French. About one hundred couple stood up +in each country-dance, but the rooms are so large and so judiciously +lighted, that we did not feel at all warm. Waltzes, quadrilles, and these +long Spanish dances, succeeded each other. Almost all the girls have fine +eyes and beautiful figures, but without colour, or much animation. The +finest diamonds were those of the Countess F---a, particularly her +necklace, which was _undeniable_. + +Walking through the rooms after supper, we were amused to see the negroes +and negresses helping them-selves plentifully to the sweetmeats, uncorking +and drinking fresh bottles of Champagne, and devouring everything on the +supper tables, without the slightest concern for the presence either of +their master or mistress; in fact, behaving like a multitude of spoilt +children, who are sure of meeting with indulgence, and presume upon it. + +Towards morning we were led downstairs to a large Souvenirs suite of rooms, +containing a library of several thousand volumes; where coffee, cakes, +etc., were prepared in beautiful Sevres porcelain and gold plate. We left +the house at last to the music of the national hymn of Spain, which struck +up as we past through the gallery. + +Should the north wind, the dreaded _Norte_, not blow, we sail to-morrow, +and have spent the day in receiving farewell visits. We also went to the +theatre, where every one predicts we shall not get off to-morrow. The play +was "Le Gamin de Paris," translated. After our return, I paid a very late +visit to the P---r family, who live close by us, and now, at two in the +morning, I finish my letter sleepily. Many beautiful _souvenirs_ have been +sent us, and amongst others, the Count de S---- V---- has just sent C---n a +model of the palace of Madrid, one of the most beautiful and ingenious +pieces of workmanship possible. It is carved in wood, with astonishing +accuracy and delicacy. + +My next letter will be dated on board the Jason. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRD + + +Departure in the Jason--Spanish Captain and Officers--Life on board a +Man-of-War--"_Balances_"--Fishing--"_Le Petit Tambour_"--Cocoa-nuts--A +_Norte_--Spanish Proverb--Peak of Orizava--Theory and Practice--_Norte +Chocolatero_--Contrary Winds--Chain of Mountains--Goleta. + + +JASON, 24th November. + + +This morning, at six o'clock, we breakfasted, together with Captain +Estrada, the commander of the Jason, at the _Casa H---a_; and the wind +being fair, repaired shortly after in volantes to the wharf, accompanied by +our hospitable host, and several of our acquaintances; entered the boat, +looked our last of the Palace and the Yntendencia, and of Havana itself, +where we had arrived as strangers, and which now, in fifteen days, had +begun to assume a familiar aspect, and to appear interesting in our eyes, +by the mere force of human sympathy; and were transported to the ship, +where a line of marines, drawn up to receive us, presented arms as we +entered. The morning was beautiful; little wind, but fair. We took leave of +our friends, waved our handkerchiefs to the balconies in return for signals +from scarcely-distinguishable figures, passed between the red-tinted Cabana +and the stately Morro, and were once more upon the deep, with a remembrance +behind, and a hope before us. Our _Bergantina_ is a handsome vessel, with +twenty-five guns, five officers, a doctor, chaplain, and purser, and one +hundred and fifty men. + +We find the commander very attentive, and a perfect gentleman, like almost +all of his class, and though very young in appearance, he has been +twenty-nine years in the service. + +25th.--The weather delightful, and the ship going at the rate of five knots +an hour. The accommodations in a brig not destined for passengers are of +course limited. There is a large cabin for the officers, separated by a +smaller one, belonging to the captain, which he has given up to us. + +At seven o'clock C---n rises, and at eight, a marine sentinel, transformed +into a lady's page, whom we are taking to Mexico as porter, brings us some +very delicious chocolate. He is followed by the Captain's familiar, an +unhappy-looking individual, pale, lank, and lean, with the physiognomy of a +methodist parson, and in general appearance like a weed that has grown up +in one night. He tremblingly, and with most rueful countenance, carries a +small plate of sugar-biscuits. These originals having vacated the cabin, I +proceed to dress, an operation of some difficulty, which being performed +_tant bien que mal_, I repair upstairs, armed with book and fan, and sit on +deck till ten o'clock, when the familiar's lamentable announcement of +breakfast takes us down again. The cook being French, the _comestibles_ are +decidedly good, and were the artist a little less of an oil, and more of a +water painter, I individually would prefer his style. We have every variety +of fish, meat, fowl, fruit, _dulces_, and wines. + +A very long interval has to be filled up by reading, writing, sitting, or +walking upon deck, as suits the taste of the individual, or by drinking +orangeade, or by sleeping, or by any other ingenious resource for killing +time. At five, dinner, at which no one joins us but the captain and one +officer; and after dinner on deck till bed-time, walking about, or gazing +on the sky or sea, or listening to the songs of the sailors. + +26th.--Little wind, but a day of such abominably cruel "_balances_," as +they call them, that one is tempted to find rest by jumping overboard. +Everything broken or breaking. Even the cannons disgorge their balls, which +fall out by their own weight. + +28th.--We have had two days of perfect weather though very warm; the sky +blue, without one cloud. To-day we are on the sound, and have lain to, +about noon, to let the sailors fish, thereby losing an hour or so of fair +wind, and catching a preposterous number of fish of immense size. The water +was so clear, that we could see the fish rush and seize the bait as fast as +it was thrown in. Sometimes a huge shark would bite the fish in two, so +that the poor finny creature was between Scylla and Charybdis. These fish +are called _cherne_ and _pargo_, and at dinner were pronounced good. At +length a shark, in its wholesale greediness, seized the bait, and feeling +the hook in his horrid jaw, tugged most fiercely to release himself, but in +vain. Twelve sailors hauled him in, when, with distended jaws, he seemed to +look out for the legs of the men, whereupon they rammed the butt-end of a +harpoon down his throat, which put a stop to all further proceedings on his +part. He was said to be quite young, perhaps the child of doting parents. +The juvenile monster had, however, already cut three rows of teeth. + +We are sometimes amused in the evening, when upon deck, by a little +drummer, who invariably collects all the sailors round him, and spins them +long, endless stories of his own invention, to which they listen with +intense interest. On he goes, without a moment's hesitation, inventing +everything most improbable and wonderful; of knights and giants and +beautiful princesses, and imprisoned damsels, and poor peasants becoming +great kings. He is a little ugly, active fellow, with a turned-up nose, a +merry eye, and a laughing mouth. Amongst his axioms is the following verse, +which he sings with great expression. + + Hasta los palos del monte + Tienen su destinacion + Unos nacen para santos + Y otros para hacer carbon. + +which may be translated so: + + Even the mountain-trees + Have their allotted goal, + For some are born for saints + Whilst others serve for coal. + +29th.--Beautiful day, fair wind, great heat, and more fishing. At least +thirty large fish were caught this morning, also an infant shark, a +grandchild who had wandered forth to nibble, and met an untimely grave. We +have seen several alacrans or scorpions on board, but these are said not to +be poisonous. The ship is the perfection of cleanness. No disagreeable +odour affects the olfactory nerves, in which it has a singular advantage +over all packets. This, and having it all to ourselves, and the officers +being such perfect gentlemen, and all so kind and attentive, makes our +voyage so far a mere pleasure trip. + +We had some of the Countess de V----'s cocoa-nuts, of which she sent us a +great supply, pierced this morning, each containing three tumblers of fresh +and delicious water. + +1st December.--We are now about thirty leagues from Vera Cruz, and if the +wind blows a little fresher, may reach it to-morrow. This is Sunday, but +the chaplain is too sick to say mass, and the heat is intense. + +2nd.--An unpleasant variety--a _Norte!_ I knew it was coming on, only by +the face of the first lieutenant when he looked at the barometer. His +countenance fell as many degrees as the instrument. It is very slight, but +our entry into port will be delayed, for, on the coast, these winds are +most devoutly dreaded. It has rained all day, and, notwithstanding the +rolling of the ship, we attempted a game at chess, but after having tried +two games, abandoned it in despair, a "_balance_" having, at the most +interesting period of each, overturned the board, and left the victory +undecided, somewhat after the fashion of Homer's goddess, when she +enveloped the contending armies in a cloud. + +4th.--Yesterday evening a south wind, and the Spanish proverb says truly + + "Sur duro, Norte seguro." + + "A south wind strong, The norther ere long." + +This morning the sky is covered with watery clouds, yet we can see the +Cofre de Perote and the peak of Orizava, which are thirty leagues inland! +The latter, called by the Mexicans, Citlal Tepetl, or the mountain of the +star, from the fire which used to burn on its lofty summit, rises nineteen +thousand five hundred and fifty-one feet above the level of the sea. +Covered with perpetual snows, and rising far above clouds and tempests, it +is the first mountain which the navigator discovers as he approaches these +shores. + +But the south wind continues and we are obliged to turn our back to the +coast. There is much impatience on board. A---- was taken ill, and declared +she had got the yellow fever. The doctor was sent for, who, very sick +himself, and holding by the table to keep himself from falling, told her, +without looking at her very particularly, that there was nothing the +matter, only to keep yourself "_quite quiet and still_;" and the ship +rolling at the same moment, he pitched head-foremost out of the cabin, +showing practically how much easier precept is than example. As we shall no +doubt have a norther after this, which may last three days, our promised +land is still at some distance. + +5th.--The weather is charming, but the south-west wind holds most +implacably, and the barometer has fallen five or six degrees, which, added +to other signs of the times known to navigators, causes all hands to +prepare for the dreaded enemy. + +6th.--Job never was on board a ship. A norther, not a very severe one, but +what they call a _Norte chocolatero_, that is, its shock tore a sail in +two, as I tear this sheet of paper. The most ingenious person I see is "the +master of the sails." He sews most excessively quick and well. Towards +evening the wind calmed, but the ship, tossed upon a horribly swelled sea, +became a mortal purgatory. Still the wind is lulled, though Humboldt and +others say a Norte must last forty-eight hours, and we have only had it for +twenty-four. We shall see. + +7th.--A most horrible night! My hammock, which I had foolishly preferred to +a bed, not having room to swing in, threw me furiously against the wall, +till fearing a broken head, I jumped out and lay on the floor. To-day there +is a comparative calm, a faint continuation of the Norte, which is an air +with variations. Everything now seems melancholy and monotonous. We have +been tossed about during four days in sight of Vera Cruz, and are now +further from it than before. The officers begin to look miserable; even the +cook with difficulty preserves his equilibrium. + +Sunday, 8th.--A Norte! The sky is watery, and covered with shapeless masses +of reddish clouds. This is a great day amongst all Spanish Catholics, _Le +Virgen de la Concepción_, the patroness of Spain and the Indies; but no +mass to-day; the padre sick and the Norte blowing. What a succession of +long faces--walking barometers! + +9th.--Yesterday evening the wind held out false hopes, and every one +brightened up with caution, for the wind, though faintly, blew from the +right quarter. The rain ceased, the weather cleared, and "hope, the +charmer," smiled upon us. The greater was our disappointment when the +breeze died away, when the wind veered to the north, and when once more the +most horrible rolling seized the unfortunate Jason, as if it were possessed +by a demon. Finding it impossible to lie in my hammock, I stretched myself +on the floor; where, during a night that seemed interminable, we were +tossed up and down, knocked against the furniture, and otherwise +maltreated. + +This morning there is little wind, but that little from the north, so that +the termination of our voyage appears as far off now as it did eight days +ago. The faces of all on board are calmly lugubrious. Little said. A few +Spanish shrugs interchanged with ominous significance. + +10th.--As there is only one particular wind during which it is not +dangerous to approach the coast, namely, "_la brisa_," the breeze which +usually follows the norther, we may spend our Christmas here. The weather +is beautiful, though very sultry, especially during the calms which +intervene between the _nortes_. With books one might take patience, but I +read and re-read backwards and forwards everything I possess, or can +find--reviews, magazines, a volume of Humboldt, even an odd volume of the +"Barber of Paris"--"Turkish Letters," _purporting_ to be the translation of +a continuation of the Montesquieu's "Lettres Persanes," and in which the +hero, disguised as a gardener, brings the Visier's daughter a bouquet, +which she condescendingly receives, lying in bed _a l'Espagnole!_ I am now +reduced to a very serious Spanish work on the truth of Christianity. + +This evening, to the joy of all on board, arose the long-desired breeze. +The ship went slowly and steadily on her course, at first four, then eight +knots an hour. The captain, however, looked doubtingly, and, indeed, +towards morning, the wind changed to the south, and our hopes died away. + +11th.--Contrary wind. A south, expected to be followed by a "norte seguro." +But now, at eleven, A.M., it is quite calm, and very sultry, whilst to +increase, if possible, our weariness, a long range of lofty mountains +stretches along the horizon, from Punta Delgada to the Cofre de Perote, and +on till they seem to sink in the ocean. Behind the Cofre rises Orizava, now +like a white cloud, but this morning tinged with a rosy light by the rays +of the rising sun. The sea is tranquil and the horizon clear, nevertheless +the enemy is looked for. There are a few white and feathery clouds +flickering about in the sky, and there is an uneasy swell in the waves.... +At three o'clock, out burst the norther, which, like the flaming sword, +guarding the issues of paradise, + + "Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate + With dreadful faces throng'd and fiery arms," + +seems to warn off all vessels from approaching these iron-bound shores. +Eleven days within a few hours' distance of the coast! + +16th.--Five days more passed with a continuation of contrary winds and +constant rolling. We are further from hope than we were fourteen days ago. +Captain, officers, sailors, all seem nearly disheartened. This morning they +caught the most beautiful fish I ever beheld, of the dolphin +species--the Cleopatra of the ocean, about four feet long, apparently +composed of gold, and studded with turquoises. It changed colour in dying. +There is a proverb, which the sailors are repeating to each other, not very +encouraging: + + "Este es el viage del Orinoco. + Que él que no se murio, se volvió loco." + + "This is the voyage of the Orinoco, + in which he who did not die, became crazy." + +17th.--Spoke a goleta, who came close up by our vessel, and seemed to have +a miserable set on board, amongst others, a worthy pair from Havana, who +had just come out of prison, having been accused of murdering a negro. The +wind continues contrary. I shall fold up this sea-scrawl, and write no more +till we reach Vera Cruz. + + + + +LETTER THE FOURTH + + +Distant View of Vera Cruz--Pilots--Boat from the City--Mutual +Salutes--Approach to Vera Cruz--Crowd on the Wharf--House of Dionisio +V---o--Guard of Honour--German Piano--Supper--Madonna--Aspect of the +City--_Sopilotes_--Deliberations--General Guadalupe Victoria--Two-headed +Eagle--Dilapidated Saint--Harp--Theatre--Donna Inocencia +Martinez--Invitation from General Santa Anna. + + +VERA CRUZ, 18th. + + +This morning, the sanguine hoped, and the desponding feared, for the wind, +though inclined to _la brisa_, seemed unlikely to prove sufficiently strong +to enable us to reach Vera Cruz--this being the twenty-fifth day since we +left Havana; a voyage that, with a steamer, might be performed in three +days, and with a sailing-vessel and a fair wind, is made in six or seven. +About noon, the aspect of things became more favourable. The breeze grew +stronger, and with it our hopes. + +At last appeared in view, faintly, certain spires beside the low sandy +land, which for some time we had anxiously watched, and at length we could +distinguish houses and churches, and the fort of San Juan de Ulua, of +warlike memory. By slow but sure degrees, we neared the shore, until Vera +Cruz, in all its ugliness, became visible to our much-wearied eyes. We had +brought a pilot from Havana to guide us to these dangerous coasts, but +though a native of these parts, it seemed that a lapse of years had blunted +his memory, for we had nearly run upon the rocks. A gun was therefore +fired, and another pilot came out, who at sight of the Spanish flag waxed +enthusiastic, and pointing out the castle to our ignorant friend, +exclaimed, alluding to the desperate struggle made by the Spaniards to +defend this their last stronghold at the end of the war, "_We_, although +but a handful of men, defended ourselves for years like soldiers, and now +these Frenchmen took it in three days!" and, walking about in a transport +of patriotic despair, he seemed to forget his actual duty in the tide of +remembrances which the sight of Spanish colours and a Spanish crew had +called forth. + +Anything more melancholy, _delabre_ and forlorn, than the whole appearance +of things as we drew near, cannot well be imagined. On one side, the fort, +with its black and red walls: on the other, the miserable, black-looking +city, with hordes of large black birds, called _sopilotes_, hovering over +some dead carcass, or flying heavily along in search of carrion. Still, as +the goal of our voyage, even its dreary aspect was welcome, and the very +hills of red sand by which it is surrounded, and which look like the +deserts of Arabia, appeared inviting. + +A boat full of cocked hats was now seen approaching from the city, +containing the Consul in full uniform, and other authorities. C---n having +sent for and obtained permission from the Governor, to permit the Jason, +contrary to established usages, to anchor beneath the castle, a salute of +twenty guns was fired from our ship. Being upon deck, I was nearly +suffocated with smoke and powder. A salute of the same number of cannon was +then fired from the castle, in honour of the first Spanish man-of-war that +has appeared in this port since the Revolution. + +And now we prepared, before the sun went down, to leave our watery prison; +and the captain's boat being manned, and having taken leave of the +officers, we, that is, C---n, the commander, and I, and my French maid and +her French poodle, got into it. Then came a salute of twenty guns from the +Jason in our honour, and we rode off amidst clouds of smoke. Then the fort +gave us welcome with the same number of guns, and, amidst all this +cannonading, we were landed at the wharf. + +A singular spectacle the wharf presented. A crowd, as far as the eye could +reach, of all ages and sexes of Vera Cruzians (and a very curious set they +seemed to be), were assembled to witness his Excellency's arrival. Some had +no pantaloons; and others, to make up for their neighbours' deficiencies, +had two pair--the upper slit up the side of the leg, Mexican fashion. All +had large hats, with silver or bead rolls, and every tinge of dark +complexion, from the pure Indian, upwards. Some dresses were entirely +composed of rags, clinging together by the attraction of cohesion; others +had only a few holes to let in the air. All were crowding, jostling, and +nearly throwing each other into the water, and gazing with faces of intense +curiosity. + +But a plume of coloured feathers was seen towering above the +copper-coloured crowd, and immediate passage was made for an aide-de-camp +from the Governor, General Guadalupe Victoria. He was an immensely tall +man, in a showy uniform all covered with gold, with colossal epaulets and a +towering plume of rainbow-coloured feathers. He brought to C---n the +welcome and congratulations of the General, and those Spanish offers of +service and devotion which sound agreeably, whatever be their true value. + +We now began to move through the crowd, which formed a line on either side +to let us pass, and entered the streets of Vera Cruz, which were crowded, +balconies and all, and even roofs with curious faces. The guard formed as +we passed, and struck up a march. The principal street is wide and clean, +and we reached the house of Señor V---o, a rich merchant, formerly consul, +where we are to reside, followed to the door by the whole population. We +were received with great hospitality, and found excellent rooms prepared +for us. The house is immensely large and airy, built in a square as they +all are, but with that unfurnished melancholy look, which as yet this style +of house has to me, though admirably adapted to the climate. + +A guard of honour sent by General Victoria, trotted into the courtyard, +whose attendance C---n declined with thanks, observing that his mission had +for object to terminate the coolness hitherto existing between two families +of brothers; that between members of the same family there was nothing to +fear, and all compliments were unnecessary. + +I found a German piano in the drawing-room, on which I was glad to put my +fingers after a month's abstinence. A number of gentlemen came in the +evening to visit C---n. We were received by this family with so much real +kindness, that we soon found ourselves perfectly at home. We had a +plentiful supper--fish, meat, wine, and chocolate, fruit and sweetmeats; +the cookery, Spanish _Vera-Cruzified_. A taste of the style was enough for +me, garlic and oil enveloping meat, fish, and fowl, with pimentos and +plantains, and all kinds of curious fruit, which I cannot yet endure. Bed +was not unwelcome, and most comfortable beds we had, with mosquito +curtains, and sheets and pillows all trimmed with rich lace, so universal +in Spanish houses, that it is not, as with us, a luxury. But the mosquitoes +had entered in some unguarded moment, and they and the heat were inimical +to sleep. + +19th.--I opened my eyes this morning on the painting of a very lovely +Madonna, which hung unvalued and ill-framed, in one corner of the +apartment. At eight, rose and dressed, and went to breakfast. Here, when +there are two guests whom they wish to distinguish, the gentleman is placed +at the head of the table, and _his_ lady beside him. + +To me nothing can exceed the sadness of the aspect of this city and of its +environs--mountains of moving sand, formed by the violence of the north +winds, and which, by the reflection of the sun's rays, must greatly +increase the suffocating heat of the atmosphere. The scene may resemble the +ruins of Jerusalem, though without its sublimity. The houses seemed +blackened by fire; there is not a carriage on the streets--nothing but the +men with the wide trousers slit up the side of the leg, immense hats, and +blankets, or _sarapes_, merely a closed blanket, more or less fine, with a +hole for the head to go through; and the women with _reboses_, long +coloured cotton scarfs, or pieces of ragged stuff, thrown over the head and +crossing over the left shoulder. Add to this, the sopilotes cleaning the +streets,--disgusting, but useful scavengers. These valuable birds have +black feathers, with gray heads, beaks, and feet. They fly in troops, and +at night perch upon the trees. They are not republican, nor do they appear +inclined to declare their independence, having kings, to whom it is said +they pay so much respect, that if one of the royal species arrives at the +same time with a plebeian sopilote, in sight of a dead body, the latter +humbly waits till the sovereign has devoured his share, before he ventures +to approach. + +A few ladies in black gowns and mantillas called this morning, and various +men. We find the weather sultry. In summer, with greater heat and the +addition of the _vomito_, it must be a chosen city! The principal street, +where we live, is very long and wide, and seems to have many good houses in +it. Nearly opposite is one which seems particularly well kept and handsome, +and where we saw beautiful flowers as we passed. I find it belongs to an +English merchant. + +There is much deliberation as to the mode in which we are to travel to +Mexico. Some propose a coach, others a _litera_; others advise us to take +the diligence. While in this indecision, we had a visit this morning from a +remarkable-looking character, Don Miguel S----, agent for the diligence +office in Mexico, a tall, dark, energetic-looking person. He recommends the +diligence, and offers, by accompanying us, to ensure our safety from +accidents. He appears right. The diligence goes in four days, if it does +not break down. The coach takes any time we choose over that; the _literas_ +nine or ten days, going slowly on mules with a sedan-chair motion. The +diligence has food and beds provided for it at the inns--the others +nothing. I am in favour of the diligence. + +The couple from Havana, whom we passed in the _goleta_, have very coolly +requested permission to accompany us to Mexico, "under the protection of +the _Embajador de Espana_." We should set off in select company. + +C---n called this morning on General Victoria. Found his excellency in a +large hall without furniture or ornament of any sort, without even chairs, +and altogether in a style of more than republican simplicity. He has just +returned the visit, accompanied by his colossal aide-de-camp. + +General Guadalupe Victoria is perhaps the last man in a crowd whom one +would fix upon as being the owner of the above high-sounding cognomen, +which in fact is not his original, but his assumed name, _Guadalupe_ being +adopted by him in honour of the renowned image of the virgin of that name, +and _Victoria_ with less humility to commemorate his success in battle. He +is an honest, plain, down-looking citizen, lame and tall, somewhat at a +loss for conversation, apparently amiable and good-natured, but certainly +neither courtier nor orator; a man of undeniable bravery, capable of +supporting almost incredible hardships, humane, and who has always proved +himself a sincere lover of what he considered liberty, without ever having +been actuated by ambitious or interested motives. + +It is said that his defects were indolence, want of resolution, and too +much reliance on his own knowledge. He is the only Mexican president who +finished as chief magistrate, the term prescribed by the laws. It is +alleged, in proof of his simplicity, though I think it is too absurd to be +true, that having received a despatch with the two-headed eagle on the +seal, he remarked to the astonished envoy who delivered it--"Our arms are +very much alike, only I see that his majesty's eagles have two heads. I +have heard that some of that species exist here, in _tierre caliente_, and +shall have one sent for." + +The general is not married, but appears rather desirous of entering the +united state. He strongly recommends us to avoid broken bones by going it +literas, at least as far as Jalapa. Having stumbled about for some time in +search of his cocked-hat, it was handed to him by his aide-de-camp, and he +took leave. + +We walked out in the evening to take a look of the environs, with Señor +V---o, the commander of the Jason, and several young ladies of the house. +We walked in the direction of an old church, where it is or was the custom +for young ladies desirous of being married to throw a stone at the saint, +their fortune depending upon the stone's hitting him, so that he is in a +lapidated and dilapidated condition. Such environs! the surrounding houses +black with smoke of powder or with fire--a view of bare red sandhills all +round--not a tree, or shrub, or flower, or bird, except the horrid black +sopilote, or police-officer. All looks as if the prophet Jeremiah had +passed through the city denouncing woe to the dwellers thereof. Such a +melancholy, wholly deserted-looking burial-ground as we saw! + +War and revolutions have no doubt done their work, yet I find difficulty in +believing those who speak of Vera Cruz as having been a gay and delightful +residence in former days, though even now, those who have resided here for +any length of time, even foreigners, almost invariably become attached to +it; and as for those born here, they are the truest of patriots, holding up +Vera Cruz as superior to all other parts of the world. + +The city was founded by the Viceroy, Count de Monterey, at the end of the +seventeenth century, and ought not to be confounded, as it sometimes is, +with either of the two colonies founded by the first Spaniards. Built in +front of the island of San Juan de Ulua, it has one interesting +recollection attached to it, since on the same arid shores, Cortes +disembarked more than three centuries ago. Unlike the green and fertile +coast which gladdened the eyes of Columbus, the Spanish conqueror beheld a +bleak and burning desert, whose cheerless aspect might well have deterred a +feebler mind from going further in search of the paradise that existed +behind. + +We returned to the house, and heard some ladies play upon a harp, so +called, a small, light instrument in that form, but without pedals, so +light, that they can lift it with one hand; and yet the music they bring +from it is surprising; one air after another, a little monotonously, but +with great ease and a certain execution, and with the additional merit of +being self-taught. + +I imagine that there must be a great deal of musical taste thrown away +here. There are pianos in almost every house, and one lady, who came to see +me to-day, and whose mother was English, had been extremely well taught, +and played with great taste. They attempted dancing, but having no masters, +can only learn by what they _hear_. On the balcony this evening, it was +delightful, and the moon is a universal beautifier. + +21st.--We walked about the city yesterday, and returned visits. The streets +are clean, and some few churches tolerably handsome. + +The _Comicos_ came in the morning to offer us the centre box in the +theatre, it being the benefit night of Donna Inocencia Martinez from +Madrid, a favourite of the public, and, in fact, a pretty woman and good +comic actress. The theatre is small, and, they say, generally deserted, but +last night it was crowded. The drop-scene represents the fine arts, who are +so fat, that their condition here must be flourishing. We were, however, +agreeably disappointed in the performance, which was the "Segunda Dama +Duende," nearly a translation from the "Domino Noir," and very amusing; +full of excellent _coups-de-theatre_. Donna Inocencia in her various +characters, as domino, servant-girl, abbess, etc., was very handsome, and +acted with great spirit. Moreover, she and her sister, with two Spaniards, +danced the Jota Aragonesa in perfection, so that we spent a pleasant +evening, upon the whole, within the precincts of the city of the True +Cross. + +To-morrow is the day fixed for our departure, and we shall not be sorry to +leave this place, although this house is excellent, a whole suite of rooms +given to us, and neither ceremony nor _gene_ of any sort. The weather is +certainly beautiful. The heat may be a little oppressive in the middle of +the day, but the evenings are cool and delightful. + + +Departure from Vera Cruz + + +We had a visit yesterday from the English and French consuls. M. +de ----- prophesies broken arms and dislodged teeth, if we persist in our +plan of taking the diligence,--but all things balanced, we think it +preferable to every other conveyance. General Victoria returned to see +us this morning, and was very civil and amiable, offering very cordially +every service and assistance in his power. We are to rise to-morrow at +two, being invited to breakfast with General Santa Anna, at his +country-seat Manga de Clavo, a few leagues from this. + +We have been sitting on the balcony till very late, enjoying the moonlight +and refreshing breeze from the sea, and as we rise before daybreak, our +rest will be but short. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTH + + +Departure from Vera Cruz--Sandhills--Oriental Scene--Manga de +Clavo--General Santa Anna--Breakfast--Escort and Diligence--Santa +Fe--Puente National--Bridge sketched by Mrs. Ward--Country in +December--Don Miguel--First Impressions--Fruit--Plan del Rio--German +Musicians--Sleeping Captain--Approach to Jalapa--Appearance of the +City--Cofre de Perote-Flowers--House and Rock--Last View of Jalapa--Change +of Scenery--San Miguel de los Soldados--Perote--Striking Scene before +Daybreak--Non-arrival of Escort--Yankee Coachman--Dispute--Departure +--Company of Lancers--Alcalde--Breakfast at La Ventilla--Pulque--Double +Escort--Crosses--Brigand-looking Tavern-keeper--Ojo de Agua--Arrival at +Puebla--Dress of the Peasants--Christmas-eve--Inn--"_Nacimento_." + + +JALAPA, 23rd December. + + +Yesterday morning at two o'clock we rose by candlelight, with the pleasant +prospect of leaving Vera Cruz and of seeing Santa Anna. Two boxes, called +carriages, drawn by mules, were at the door, to convey us to Magna de +Clavo. Señor V---o, C---n, the commander of the Jason, and I being encased +in them, we set off half-asleep. By the faint light, we could just +distinguish as we passed the gates, and the carriages ploughed their way +along nothing but sand--sand--as far as the eye could reach; a few leagues +of Arabian desert. + +At length we began to see symptoms of vegetation; occasional palm-trees and +flowers, and by the time we had reached a pretty Indian village, where we +stopped to change mules, the light had broke in, and we seemed to have been +transported, as if by enchantment, from a desert to a garden. It was +altogether a picturesque and striking scene; the huts composed of bamboo, +and thatched with palm-leaves, the Indian women with their long black hair +standing at the doors with their half-naked children, the mules rolling +themselves on the ground, according to their favourite fashion, snow-white +goats browsing amongst the palm-trees, and the air so soft and balmy, the +first fresh breath of morning; the dew-drops still glittering on the broad +leaves of the banana and palm, and all around so silent, cool, and still. + +The huts, though poor, were clean; no windows, but a certain subdued light +makes its way through the leafy canes. We procured some tumblers of new +milk, and having changed mules, pursued our journey, now no longer through +hills of sand, but across the country, through a wilderness of trees and +flowers, the glowing productions of tierra caliente. We arrived about five +at Manga de Clavo, after passing through leagues of natural garden, the +property of Santa Anna. + +The house is pretty, slight-looking, and kept in nice order. We were +received by an aide-de-camp in uniform, and by several officers, and +conducted to a large, cool, agreeable apartment, with little furniture, +into which shortly entered the Señora de Santa Anna, tall, thin, and, at +that early hour of the morning, dressed to receive us in clear white +muslin, with white satin shoes, and with very splendid diamond earrings, +brooch, and rings. She was very polite, and introduced her daughter +Guadalupe, a miniature of her mamma, in features and costume. + +In a little while entered General Santa Anna himself; a gentlemanly, +good-looking, quietly-dressed, rather melancholy-looking person, with one +leg, apparently somewhat of an invalid, and to us the most interesting +person in the group. He has a sallow complexion, fine dark eyes, soft and +penetrating, and an interesting expression of face. Knowing nothing of his +past history, one would have said a philosopher, living in dignified +retirement--one who had tried the world, and found that all was +vanity--one who had suffered ingratitude, and who, if he were ever +persuaded to emerge from his retreat, would only do so, Cincinnatus-like, +to benefit his country. It is strange, how frequently this expression of +philosophic-resignation, of placid sadness, is to be remarked on the +countenances of the deepest, most ambitious, and most designing men. C---n +gave him a letter from the Queen, written under the supposition of his +being still President, with which he seemed much pleased, but merely made +the innocent observation, "How very well the Queen writes!" + +It was only now and then, that the expression of his eye was startling, +especially when he spoke of his leg, which is cut off below the knee. He +speaks of it frequently, like Sir John Ramorny of his bloody hand, and when +he gives an account of his wound, and alludes to the French on that day, +his countenance assumes that air of bitterness which Ramorny's may have +exhibited when speaking of "Harry the Smith." + +Otherwise, he made himself very agreeable, spoke a great deal of the United +States, and of the persons he had known there, and in his manners was quiet +and gentlemanlike, and altogether a more polished hero than I had expected +to see. To judge from the past, he will not long remain in his present +state of inaction, besides having within him, according to Zavala, "a +principle of action for ever impelling him forward." + +_En attendant_, breakfast was announced. The Señora de Santa Anna led me +in. C---n was placed at the head of the table, I on his right, Santa Anna +opposite, the Señora on my right. The breakfast was very handsome, +consisting of innumerable Spanish dishes, meat and vegetables, fish and +fowl, fruits and sweatmeats, all served in white and gold French porcelain, +with coffee, wines, etc. After breakfast, the Señora having despatched an +officer for her cigar-case, which was gold, with a diamond latch, offered +me a cigar, which I having declined, she lighted her own, a little paper +"cigarito," and the gentlemen followed her good example. + +We then proceeded to look at the out-houses and offices; at the General's +favourite war-horse, an old white charger, probably a sincerer philosopher +than his master; at several game-cocks, kept with especial care, +cock-fighting being a favourite recreation of Santa Anna's; and at his +_litera_, which is handsome and comfortable. There are no gardens, but, as +he observed, the whole country, which for twelve leagues square belongs to +him, is a garden. The appearance of the family says little for the +healthiness of the _locale_; and indeed its beauty and fertility will not +compensate for its insalubrity. + +As we had but a few hours to spare, the General ordered round two +carriages, both very handsome, and made in the United States, one of which +conveyed him and C---n, the Señora and me. In the other were the little +girl and the officers; in which order we proceeded across the country to +the high-road, where the diligence and servants, with our guide, Don Miguel +S----, were to overtake us. The diligence not having arrived, we got down +and sat on a stone bench, in front of an Indian cottage, where we talked, +while the young lady amused herself by eating apples, and C---n and the +General remained moralizing in the carriage. + +Shortly after, and just as the sun was beginning to give us a specimen of +his power, our lumbering escort of Mexican soldiers galloped up (orders +having been given by the government that a fresh escort shall be stationed +every six leagues) and announced the approach of the diligence. We were +agreeably disappointed by the arrival of a handsome new coach, made in the +United States, drawn by ten good-looking mules, and driven by a smart +Yankee coachman. Our party consisted of ourselves, Don Miguel, the captain +of the Jason and his first lieutenant, who accompany us to Mexico. The day +was delightful, and every one apparently in good-humour. We took leave of +General Santa Anna, his lady and daughter, also of our hospitable +entertainer, Señor V---o; got into the diligence--doors shut--all +right--lash up the mules, and now for Mexico! + +Gradually, as in Dante's Commedia, after leaving Purgatory, typified by +Vera Cruz, we seemed to draw nearer to Paradise. The road is difficult, as +the approach to Paradise ought to be, and the extraordinary jolts were +sufficient to prevent us from being too much enraptured by the scenery, +which increased in beauty as we advanced. At Santa Fe and Sopilote we +changed horses, and at Tolome, one of the sites of the civil war, came to +the end of Santa Anna's twelve leagues of property. + +We arrived at Puente Nacional, formerly Puente del Rey, celebrated as the +scene of many an engagement during the Revolution, and by occupying which, +Victoria frequently prevented the passage of the Spanish troops, and that +of the convoys of silver to the port. Here we stopped a short time to +admire the beautiful bridge thrown over the river Antigua, with its stone +arches, which brought Mrs. Ward's sketch to my recollection, though it is +very long since I saw the book. We were accompanied by the commander of the +fort. It is now a peaceful-looking scene. We walked to the bridge, pulled +branches of large white flowers, admired the rapid river dashing over the +rocks, and the fine, bold scenery that surrounds it. The village is a mere +collection of huts, with some fine trees. + +It was difficult to believe, as we journeyed on, that we were now in the +midst of December. The air was soft and balmy. The heat, without being +oppressive, that of a July day in England. The road through a succession of +woody country; trees covered with every variety of blossom, and loaded with +the most delicious tropical fruits; flowers of every colour filling the air +with fragrance, and the most fantastical profusion of parasitical plants +intertwining the branches of the trees, and flinging their bright blossoms +over every bough. Palms, cocoas, oranges, lemons, succeeded one another, +and at one turn of the road, down in a lovely green valley, we caught a +glimpse of an Indian woman, with her long hair, resting under the shade of +a lofty tree--beside a running stream--an Oriental picture. Had it not been +for the dust and the jolting, nothing could have been more delightful. As +for Don Miguel, with his head out of the window, now desiring the coachman +to go more quietly, now warning us to prepare for a jolt, now pointing out +everything worth looking at, and making light of difficulties, he was the +very best conductor of a journey I ever met with. His hat of itself was a +curiosity to us; a white beaver with immense brim, lined with thick silver +tissue, with two large silver rolls and tassels round it. + +One circumstance must be observed by all who travel in Mexican territory. +There is not one human being or passing object to be seen that is not in +itself a picture, or which would not form a good subject for the pencil. +The Indian women with their plaited hair, and little children slung to +their backs, their large straw hats, and petticoats of two colours--the +long strings of arrieros with their loaded mules, and swarthy, +wild-looking faces--the chance horseman who passes with his sarape of many +colours, his high ornamented saddle, Mexican hat, silver stirrups, and +leathern boots--this is picturesque. Salvator Rosa and Hogarth might have +travelled here to advantage, hand-in-hand; Salvator for the sublime, and +Hogarth taking him up where the sublime became the ridiculous. + +At La Calera we had a distant view of the sea. Occasionally we stopped to +buy oranges fresh from the trees, pineapples, and granaditas, which are +like Brobdinagian gooseberries, the pulp enclosed in a very thick yellow or +green rind, and very refreshing. + +It was about seven in the evening, when very dusty, rather tired, but very +much enchanted with all we had seen, we arrived at Plan del Rio. Here the +diligence passengers generally stop for the night; that is, sleep a few +hours on a hard bed, and rise at midnight to go on to Jalapa. But to this +arrangement, I for one made vociferous objections, and strongly insisted +upon the propriety and feasibility of sleeping at Jalapa that night. Don +Miguel, the most obsequious of dons, declared that it should be exactly as +the Señora ordered. + +Accordingly it was agreed that we should wait for the moon, and then pursue +our journey; and meanwhile we walked out to a short distance, to see the +bridge, the river, and the wood. The bridge consists of a single large arch +thrown over the river, and communicating with a great high-road, formerly +paved, but now going to ruin. + +We returned to the inn, a long row of small rooms, built of brick and +prettily situated, not far from the water. Here we had the luxury of water +and towels, which enabled us to get rid of a certain portion of dust before +we went to supper. + +The diligence from Jalapa has just deposited at the inn, a German with his +wife and child, he bearing so decidedly the stamp of a German musician, +that we at once guessed his calling. They are from Mexico, from whence the +fine arts seem to be taking their flight, and gave a most woeful account of +the road between this and Jalapa. + +We had a very tolerable supper; soup, fish, fowls, steak, and frijoles, all +well seasoned with garlic and oil. The jolting had given me too bad a +headache to care for more than coffee. We were strongly advised to remain +the night there, but lazy people know too well what it is to rise in the +middle of the night, especially when they are much fatigued; and when the +moon rose, we packed ourselves once more into the diligence, sufficiently +refreshed to encounter new fatigues. The moon was very bright, and most of +the party prepared themselves for sleep with cigars in their mouths; not a +very easy matter, for the roads were infamous, a succession of holes and +rocks. As we were gradually ascending, the weather became cooler, and from +cool began to grow cold, forcing us to look out for cloaks and shawls. We +could now discern some change in the vegetation, or rather a mingling of +the trees of a colder climate with those of the tropics, especially the +Mexican oak, which begins to flourish here. Fortunately, at one part of the +road, the moon enabled us to see the captain of the escort lying on the +ground fast asleep, his horse standing quietly beside him, he having fallen +off while asleep, and continued his nap. The soldiers shook him up with +some difficulty. + +At _Carral falso_ we changed mules, and from the badness of the road, +continued to go slowly. + +The cold increased, and at last by the moonlight, we had a distinct view of +the Peak of Orizava, with his white nightcap on (excuse the simile, +suggested by extreme sleepiness), the very sight enough to make one shiver. + +As we approached Jalapa, the scene was picturesque. The escort had put on +their _sarapes_, and with their high helmets and feathers, went galloping +along, and dashing amongst the trees and shrubs. Orizava and the Cofre de +Perote shone white in the distance, while a delicious smell of flowers, +particularly of roses, gave token of the land through which we were +passing. + +It was nearly two in the morning when we reached Jalapa, tired to death, +and shivering with cold. Greatly we rejoiced as we rattled through its +mountainous streets, and still more when we found ourselves in a nice clean +inn, with brick floors and decent small beds, and everything prepared for +us. The sight of a fire would have been too much luxury; however, they gave +us some hot tea, and very shortly after, I at least can answer for myself, +that I was in bed, and enjoying the most delightful sleep that I have had +since I left New York. + +This morning the diligence being at our disposal we did not rise by break +of day, but on the contrary, continued to sleep till eight o'clock. I was +waited on by such a nice, civil, clean little old woman, that I should like +to carry her off with me. Meanwhile, various authorities of the town were +stationed at the door to give C---n welcome when he should appear. + +Our breakfast was delicious. Such fresh eggs, and fresh butter, and good +coffee and well-fried chickens; moreover, such good bread and peculiarly +excellent water, that we fell very much in love with Jalapa. + +After breakfast we walked out, accompanied by various gentlemen of the +place. The town consists of little more than a few steep streets, very old, +with some large and excellent houses, the best as usual belonging to +English merchants, and many to those of Vera Cruz, who come to live in or +near Jalapa, during the reign of the "_Vomito_." There are some old +churches, a very old convent of Franciscan monks, and a well-supplied +marketplace. Everywhere there are flowers--roses creeping over the old +walls, Indian girls making green garlands for the virgin and saints, +flowers in the shops, flowers at the windows, but, above all, everywhere +one of the most splendid mountain views in the world. + +The Cofre de Perote, with its dark pine forests and gigantic _chest_ (a +rock of porphyry which takes that form), and the still loftier snow-white +peak of Orizava, tower above all the others, seeming like the colossal +guardians of the land. The intervening mountains, the dark cliffs and +fertile plains, the thick woods of lofty trees clothing the hills and the +valleys; a glimpse of the distant ocean; the surrounding lanes shaded by +fruit trees: aloes, bananas, chirimoyas, mingled with the green +liquidambar, the flowering myrtle, and hundreds of plants and shrubs and +flowers of every colour and of delicious fragrance, all combine to form one +of the most varied and beautiful scenes that the eye can behold. + +Then Jalapa itself, so old and gray, and rose-becovered, with a sound of +music issuing from every open door and window, and its soft and agreeable +temperature, presents, even in a few hours, a series of agreeable +impressions not easily effaced. + +But we are now returned to our inn, for it is near noon, and the veil of +clouds, that earlier in the morning enveloped Orizava, has passed away, +leaving its white summit environed by a flood of light. I shall probably +have no opportunity of writing until we reach Puebla. + + +PUEBLA, 24th. + + +Yesterday morning we took leave of the _Jalapenos_, and once more found +ourselves _en route_. Such a view of the mountains as we ascended the steep +road! and such flowers and blossoming trees on all sides! Large scarlet +blossoms, and hanging purple and white flowers, and trees covered with +fragrant bell-shaped flowers like lilies, which the people here call the +_floripundio_, together with a profusion of double pink roses that made the +air fragrant as we passed; and here and there a church, a ruined convent, +or a white hacienda. We had the advantage of clear weather, not always to +be found at Jalapa, especially when the north wind, blowing at Vera Cruz, +covers this city and its environs with a dense fog. + +We stopped at a small village to change horses (for on leaving Jalapa, our +mules were exchanged for eight strong white horses), and here Don Miguel +made us enter a very pretty house belonging to some female friends of his, +one of whom was very handsome, with a tasteful white turban. The curiosity +of this place is a rock behind the house, covered with roses, +clove-carnations, and every variety of bright flower-tree, together with +oranges, lemons, limes, and cedrats, all growing out of the rock. The +ladies were very civil, though I dare say surprised at our admiration of +their December flowers, and gave us orangeade and cake, with large cedrats +and oranges from the trees; but above all, the most delicious bouquet of +roses and carnations; so that, together with the unknown scarlet and purple +blossoms which the captain of the escort had gathered for me, the diligence +inside looked like an arbour. + +We continued our journey, the road ascending towards the tableland, and at +one striking point of view we got out and looked back upon Jalapa, and +round upon a panorama of mountains. Gradually the vegetation changed: fine, +fresh-looking European herbage and trees succeeded the less hardy though +more brilliant trees and flowers of the tropics; the banana and chirimoya +gave place to the strong oak, and higher still, these were interspersed +with the dark green of the pine. + +At San Miguel de los Soldados we stopped to take some refreshment. The +country became gradually more bleak, and before arriving at the village of +Las Vigas, nearly all trees had disappeared but the hardy fir, which +flourishes amongst the rocks. The ground for about two leagues was covered +with lava, and great masses of black calcined rock, so that we seemed to be +passing over the crater of a volcano. This part of the country is +deservedly called the _Mal Pais_, and the occasional crosses with their +faded garlands, that gleam in these bleak, volcanic regions, give token +that it may have yet other titles to the name of "Evil Land." The roses and +carnations that I had brought from Jalapa were still unwithered, so that in +a few hours we had passed through the whole scale of vegetation. + +The road became steep and dreary, and after passing _Cruz Blanca_, +excepting occasional cornfields and sombre pine-forests, the scene had no +objects of interest sufficient to enable us to keep our eyes open. The sun +was set--it grew dusk, and by the time we reached Perote, where we were to +pass the night, most of us had fallen into an uncomfortable sleep, very +cold and quite stupefied, and too sleepy to be hungry, in spite of finding +a large supper prepared for us. + +The inn was dirty, very unlike that at Jalapa, the beds miserable, and we +were quite ready to get up by the light of an unhappy specimen of tallow +which the landlord brought to our doors at two in the morning. + +There are some scenes which can never be effaced from our memory, and such +a one was that which took place this morning at Perote at two o'clock, the +moon and the stars shining bright and cold. + +Being dressed, I went into the kitchen, where C---n, the officers of the +Jason, Don Miguel, and the Mexican captain of the last night's escort, were +assembled by the light of one melancholy sloping candle, together with a +suspicious-looking landlord, and a few sleepy Indian women with bare feet, +tangled hair, copper faces and reboses. They made us some chocolate with +goat's milk, horrid in general, and rancid in particular. + +It appeared that all parties were at a standstill, for, by some mistake in +the orders, the new escort had not arrived, and the escort of the preceding +night could go no further. Don Miguel, with his swarthy face, and great +sarape, was stalking about, rather out of humour, while the captain was +regretting, in very polite tones, with his calm, Arab-looking, impassive +face, that his escort could proceed no further. He seemed to think it +extremely probable that we should be robbed, believed, indeed had just +heard it asserted, that a party of _ladrones_ were looking out for el Señor +Ministro, regretted that he could not assist us, though quite at our +service, and recommended us to wait until the next escort should arrive. + +To this advice our conductor would by no means listen. He was piqued that +any detention should occur, and yet aware that it was unsafe to go on. He +had promised to convey us safely, and in four days, to Mexico, and it was +necessary to keep his word. Some one proposed that two of the men should +accompany the diligence upon mules, as probably a couple of these animals +might be procured. The captain observed, that though entirely at our +disposal, two men could be of no manner of use, as, in case of attack, +resistance, except with a large escort, was worse than useless. +Nevertheless it was remarked by some ingenious person, that the robbers +seeing two, might imagine that there were more behind. In short there were +various opinions. One proposed that they should go on the coach, another +that they should go _in_ it. Here I ventured to interpose, begging that +they might ride on mules or go outside, but by no means within. As usual, +it was as the Señora pleased. + +At length we all collected before the door of the inn, and a queer group we +must have made by the light of the moon, and a nice caricature, I thought +to myself, our friend Mr. G---- would have made of us, had he been there. + +The diligence with eight white horses and a Yankee coachman, originally, no +doubt, called Brown, but now answering to the mellifluous appellation of +_Bruno_; A---- with her French cap, and loaded with sundry mysterious +looking baskets; I with cloak and bonnet; C---n with Greek cap, cloak, and +cigar; the captain of the Jason also with cloak and cigar, and very cold; +the lieutenant in his navy uniform, taking it coolly; Don Miguel, with his +great sarape and silver hat--(six people belonging to five different +countries); the Mexican captain, with his pale impassive face and +moustaches, enveloped in a very handsome sarape, and surrounded by the +sleepy escort of the preceding night; dirty-looking soldiers lounging on +the ground, wrapped in their blankets; the Indian women and the host of the +inn, and a bright moon and starry sky lighting up the whole--the figures in +the foreground, and the lofty snow-clad mountains, and the dismal old town +of Perote itself, that looked gray and sulky at being disturbed so early, +with its old castle of San Carlos, and cold, sterile plains. + +Meanwhile, two soldiers with cloaks and arms had climbed up outside of the +coach. The captain remarked that they could not sit there. Bruno made some +reply, upon which the captain very coolly drew his sword, and was about to +put a very decided impediment to our journey by stabbing the coachman, when +Don Miguel, his eyes and cigar all shining angrily, rushed in between them. + +High words ensued between him and the captain, and the extreme coolness and +precision with which the latter spoke, was very amusing. It was as if he +were rehearsing a speech from a play. "I always speak frankly," said Don +Miguel, in an angry tone. "And I," said the captain, in a polite, measured +voice, "am also accustomed to speak my mind with extreme frankness. I +regret, however, that I did not at the moment perceive the Señora at the +door, otherwise," etc. + +At length the two little men, who with their arms and sarapes looked like +bundles of ammunition, and who, half asleep, had been by some zealous +person, probably by our friend Bruno, tumbled upon the diligence like +packages, were now rolled off it, and finally tumbled upon mules, and we +got into the coach. Don Miguel, with his head out of the window, and not +very easy in his mind, called up the two bundles and gave them directions +as to their line of conduct in a stage whisper, and they trotted off, +primed with valour, while we very cold and (I answer for myself) rather +frightened, proceeded on our way. The earliness of the hour was probably +our salvation, as we started two hours before the usual time, and thus +gained a march upon the gentlemen of the road. + +We were not sorry, however, when at our first halting-place, and whilst +we, were changing horses, we descried a company of lancers at full gallop, +with a very good-looking officer at their head, coming along the road; +though when first I heard the sound of horses' hoofs, clattering along, +and, by the faint light, discerned the horsemen enveloped as they were in a +cloud of dust, I felt sure that they were a party of robbers. The captain +made many apologies for the delay, and proceeded to inform us that the +alcaldes of Tepeyagualco, La Ventilla, and of some other villages, whose +names I forget, had for twenty days prepared a breakfast in expectation of +his Excellency's arrival:--whether twenty breakfasts, or the same one cold, +or _réchauffé_, we may never know. + +The captain had a very handsome horse, which he caused to _caracolear_ by +the side of the diligence, and put at my disposal with a low bow, every +time I looked at it. He discoursed with C---n of robbers and wars, and of +the different sites which these gentry most affected, and told him how his +first wife had been shot by following him in some engagement, yet how his +second wife invariably followed him also. + +Arrived at Tepeyagualco, after having passed over a succession of sterile +plains covered with scanty pasture, an alcalde advanced to meet the +diligence, and hospitably made C---n an offer of the before-mentioned +twenty days' entertainment, which he with many thanks declined. Who ate +that breakfast, is buried in the past. Whether the alcalde was glad or +sorry, did not appear. He vanished with a profusion of bows, and was +followed by a large, good-looking Indian woman, who stood behind him while +he made his discourse. Perhaps they eat together the long-prepared feast; +which was at least one of the many tributes paid to the arrival of the +first messenger of peace from the mother-country. + +At La Ventilla, however, we descended with a good appetite, and found +several authorities waiting to give C---n a welcome. Here they gave us +delicious chirimoyas, a natural custard, which we liked even upon a first +trial, also granaditas, bananas, sapotes, etc. Here also I first tasted +_pulque;_ and on a first impression it appears to me, that as nectar was +the drink in Olympus, we may fairly conjecture that Pluto cultivated the +maguey in his dominions. The taste and smell combined took me so completely +by surprise, that I am afraid my look of horror must have given mortal +offence to the worthy alcalde who considers it the most delicious beverage +in the world; and in fact, it is said, that when one gets over the first +shock, it is very agreeable. The difficulty must consist in getting over +it. + +After a tolerable breakfast, hunger making chile and garlic supportable, we +continued our route; and were informed that the robbers, having grown very +daring, and the next stage being very dangerous, our escort was to be +doubled. Since we left Perote, the country had gradually become more +dreary, and we had again got into the "_mal pais_," where nothing is to be +seen but a few fir-trees and pines, dark and stunted, black masses of lava, +and an occasional white cross to mark either where a murder has been +committed, or where a celebrated robber has been buried. Of each, Don +Miguel gave us a succinct account. Some lines of Childe Harold suit this +scene as if written for it: + + "And here and there, as up the crags you spring, + Mark many rude-carved crosses near the path: + Yet deem not these devotion's offering-- + These are memorials frail of murderous wrath; + For, wheresoe'er the shrieking victim hath + Pour'd forth his blood beneath the assassin's knife, + Some hand erects a cross of mouldering lath; + And grove and glen with thousand such are rife, + Throughout this purple land, where law secures not life." + +The whole scene was wild and grand, yet dreary and monotonous, presenting +the greatest contrast possible to our first day's journey. The only signs +of life to be met with were the long strings of arrieros with their droves +of mules, and an occasional Indian hut, with a few miserable half-naked +women and children. + +At one small, wild-looking inn, where, very cold and miserable, we stopped, +some hot wine was brought us, which was very acceptable. The tavern-keeper, +for it was no more than a spirit-shop, if not a robber, had all the +appearance of one; wild, melancholy, and with a most sinister expression of +countenance. Salvator never drew a more bandit-looking figure, as he stood +there with his blanket and slouched hat, and a knife in his belt, tall and +thin and muscular, with his sallow visage and his sad, fierce eyes. +However, he showed us the marks on his door, where a band of twenty robbers +had broken in one night, and robbed some travellers, who were sleeping +there, of a large sum of money. + +C---n asked him how the robbers treated the women when they fell into their +power. "_Las saludan_," said he, "and sometimes carry them off to the +mountains, but rarely, and chiefly when they are afraid of their giving +information against them." + +At _Ojo de Agua_, where we changed horses, we saw the accommodations which +those who travel in private coach or litera must submit to, unless they +bring their own beds along with them, and a stock of provisions besides a +common room like a barn, where all must herd together; and neither chair, +nor table, nor food to be had. It was a solitary-looking house, standing +lonely on the plain, with a few straggling sheep nibbling the brown grass +in the vicinity. A fine spring of water from which it takes its name, and +Orizaya, which seems to have travelled forward, and stands in bold outline +against the sapphire sky, were all that we saw there worthy notice. + +We changed horses at Nopaluca, Acagete and Amosoque, all small villages, +with little more than the POSADA, and a few poor houses, and all very +dirty. The country, however, improves in cultivation and fertility, though +the chief trees are the sombre pines. Still accompanied by our two escorts, +which had a very grandiloquent effect, we entered, by four o'clock, Puebla +de los Angeles, the second city to Mexico (after Guadalajara) in the +republic, where we found very fine apartments prepared for us in the inn, +and where, after a short rest and a fresh toilet, we went out to see what +we could of the city before it grew dusk, before it actually became what it +now is, CHRISTMAS-EVE! + +It certainly does require some time for the eye to become accustomed to the +style of building adopted in the Spanish colonies. There is something at +first sight exceedingly desolate-looking in these great wooden doors, like +those of immense barns, the great iron-barred windows, the ill-paved +courtyards, even the flat roofs; and then the streets, where, though this +is a fête-day, we see nothing but groups of peasants or of beggars--the +whole gives the idea of a total absence of comfort. Yet the streets of +Puebla are clean and regular, the houses large, the cathedral magnificent, +and the plaza spacious and handsome. + +The cathedral was shut, and is not to be opened till midnight mass, which I +regret the less as we must probably return here some day. + +The dress of the Poblana peasants is pretty, especially on fête-days. A +white muslin chemise, trimmed with lace round the skirt, neck, and sleeves, +which are plaited neatly; a petticoat shorter than the chemise, and divided +into two colours, the lower part made generally of a scarlet and black +stuff, a manufacture of the country, and the upper part of yellow satin, +with a satin vest of some bright colour, and covered with gold or silver, +open in front, and turned back. This vest may be worn or omitted, as suits +the taste of the wearer. It is without sleeves, but has straps; the hair +plaited in two behind, and the plaits turned up and fastened together by a +diamond ring; long earrings, and all sorts of chains and medals and +tinkling things worn round the neck. A long, broad, coloured sash, +something like an officer's belt, tied behind after going twice or thrice +round the waist, into which is stuck a silver cigar-case. A small coloured +handkerchief like a broad ribbon, crossing over the neck, is fastened in +front with a brooch, the ends trimmed with silver, and going through the +sash. Over all is thrown a reboso, not over the head, but thrown on like a +scarf; and they wear silk stockings, or more commonly no stockings, and +white satin shoes trimmed with silver. + +This is on holidays. On common occasions, the dress is the same, but the +materials are more common, at least the vest with silver is never worn; but +the chemise is still trimmed with lace, and the shoes are satin. + +Christmas-eve in Puebla! The room is filled with visitors, who have come to +congratulate C---n on his arrival, and a wonderfully handsome room it is, +to do it justice, with chairs and sofas of scarlet stuff. But I was anxious +to see _something_. As we are to leave Puebla very early, I am prohibited +from going to the midnight mass. I proposed the theatre, where there is to +be a _Nacimiento_, a representation in figures of various events connected +with the Birth of Christ; such as the Annunciation, the Holy Family, the +Arrival of the Wise Men of the East, etc. But after some deliberation, it +was agreed that this would not do; so finding that there is nothing to be +done, and tired of polite conversation, I betake myself to bed. + +Christmas-day. + +It is now about three o'clock, but I was awakened an hour ago by the sounds +of the hymns which ushered in Christmas morning; and looking from the +window, saw, by the faint light, bands of girls dressed in white, singing +in chorus through the streets. + +We have just taken chocolate, and, amidst a profusion of bows and +civilities from the landlord, are preparing to set off for Mexico. + + + + +LETTER THE SIXTH + + +Departure from Puebla--Chirimoyas--Rio Frio--Indian Game--Black +Forest--Valley of Mexico--Recollections of Tenochtitlan--Mexican +Officer--Reception--Scenery--Variety of Dresses--Cheers--Storm of +Rain--Entry to Mexico--Buenavista--House by Daylight--Sights from the +Windows--Visits--Mexican Etiquette--Countess C----a--Flowers in +December--Serenade--Patriotic Hymn. + + +Mexico, 26th December. + + +We left Puebla between four and five in the morning, as we purposely made +some delay, not wishing to reach Mexico too early; and in so doing, acted +contrary to the advice of Don Miguel, who was generally right in these +matters. The day was very fine when we set off, though rain was predicted. +Some of the gentlemen had gone to the theatre the night before, to see the +_Nacimiento_, and the audience had been composed entirely of _Gentuza_, the +common people, who were drinking brandy and smoking; so it was fortunate +that we had not shown our faces there. + +The country was now flat but fertile, and had on the whole more of a +European look than any we had yet passed through. + +At Rio Prieto, a small village, where we changed horses, I found that I had +been sitting very comfortably with my feet in a basket of chirimoyas, and +that my bordequins, white gown, and cloak, had been all drenched with the +milky juice, and then made black by the floor of the diligence. + +With no small difficulty a trunk was brought down, and another dress +procured, to the great amusement of the Indian women, who begged to know if +my gown was the _last fashion_, and said it was "_muy guapa,_" very pretty. +Here we found good hot coffee, and it being Christmas-day, every one was +cleaned and dressed for mass. + +At Rio Frio, which is about thirteen leagues from Mexico, and where there +is a pretty good posada in a valley surrounded by woods, we stopped to +dine. The inn was kept by a Bordelaise and her husband, who wish themselves +in Bordeaux twenty times a day. In front of the house some Indians were +playing at a curious and very ancient game--a sort of swing, resembling +"_El Juego de los Voladores,_" "The game of the flyers," much in vogue +amongst the ancient Mexicans. Our French hostess gave us a good dinner, +especially excellent potatoes, and jelly of various sorts, regaling us with +plenty of stories of robbers and robberies and horrid murders all the +while. On leaving Rio Frio, the road became more hilly and covered with +woods, and we shortly entered the tract known by the name of the Black +Forest, a great haunt for banditti, and a beautiful specimen of forest +scenery, a succession of lofty oaks, pines, and cedars, with wild flowers +lighting up their gloomy green. But I confess that the impatience which I +felt to see Mexico, the idea that in a few hours we should actually be +there, prevented me from enjoying the beauty of the scenery, and made the +road appear interminable. + +But at length we arrived at the heights looking down upon the great valley, +celebrated in all parts of the world, with its framework of everlasting +mountains, its snow-crowned volcanoes, great lakes, and fertile plains, +all surrounding the favoured city of Montezuma, the proudest boast of his +conqueror, once of Spain's many diadems the brightest. But the day had +overcast, nor is this the most favourable road for entering Mexico. The +innumerable spires of the distant city were faintly seen. The volcanoes +were enveloped in clouds, all but their snowy summits, which seemed like +marble domes towering into the sky. But as we strained our eyes to look +into the valley, it all appeared to me rather like a vision of the Past +than the actual breathing Present. The curtain of Time seemed to roll back, +and to discover to us the great panorama that burst upon the eye of Cortes +when he first looked down upon the table-land; the king-loving, God-fearing +conqueror, his loyalty and religion so blended after the fashion of ancient +Spain, that it were hard to say which sentiment exercised over him the +greater sway. The city of Tenochtitlan, standing in the midst of the five +great lakes, upon verdant and flower-covered islands, a western Venice, +with thousands of boats gliding swiftly along its streets, long lines of +low houses, diversified by the multitudes of pyramidal temples, the +Teocalli, or houses of God--canoes covering the mirrored lakes--the lofty +trees, the flowers, and the profusion of water now wanting to the +landscape--the whole fertile valley enclosed by its eternal hills and +snow-crowned volcanoes--what scenes of wonder and of beauty to burst upon +the eyes of these wayfaring men! + +Then the beautiful gardens surrounding the city, the profusion of flowers, +and fruit, and birds--the mild bronze-coloured Emperor himself advancing in +the midst of his Indian nobility, with rich dress and unshod feet, to +receive his unbidden and unwelcome guest--the slaves and the gold and the +rich plumes, all to be laid at the feet of "His most sacred Majesty"--what +pictures are called up by the recollection of the simple narrative of +Cortes, and how forcibly they return to the mind now, when, after a lapse +of three centuries, we behold for the first time the city of palaces raised +upon the ruins of the Indian capital. It seemed scarcely possible that we +were indeed so near the conclusion of our journey, and in the midst of so +different a scene, only two months minus two days since leaving New York +and stepping aboard the Norma. How much land and sea we had passed over +since then! How much we had seen! How many different climates, even in the +space of the last four days! + +But my thoughts which had wandered three centuries into the past, were soon +recalled to the present by the arrival of an officer in full uniform at the +head of his troop, who came out by order of the government to welcome the +bearer of the olive-branch from ancient Spain, and had been on horseback +since the day before, expecting our arrival. As it had begun to rain, the +officer, Colonel Miguel Andrade, accepted our offer of taking shelter in +the diligence. We had now a great troop galloping along with us, and had +not gone far before we perceived that in spite of the rain, and that it +already began to grow dusk, there were innumerable carriages and horsemen +forming an immense crowd, all coming out to welcome us. Shortly after the +diligence was stopped, and we were requested to get into a very splendid +carriage, all crimson and gold, with the arms of the republic, the eagle +and nopal, embroidered in gold on the roof inside, and drawn by four +handsome white horses. In the midst of this immense procession of troops, +carriages, and horsemen, we made our entry into the city of Montezuma. + +The scenery on this side of Mexico is arid and flat, and where the waters +of the Lagunas, covered with their gay canoes, once surrounded the city, +forming canals through its streets, we now see melancholy marshy lands, +little enlivened by great flights of wild duck and waterfowl. But the +bleakness of the natural scenery was concealed by the gay appearance of the +procession--the scarlet and gold uniforms, the bright-coloured sarapes, the +dresses of the gentlemen (most, I believe, Spaniards), with their handsome +horses, high Mexican saddles, gold-embroidered _anqueras_ generally of +black fur, their Mexican hats ornamented with gold, richly-furred jackets, +pantaloons with hanging silver buttons, stamped-leather boots, silver +stirrups, and graceful mangas with black or coloured velvet capes. + +At the gates of Mexico the troops halted, and three enthusiastic cheers +were given as the carriage entered. It was now nearly dusk, and the rain +was falling in torrents, yet we met more carriages full of ladies and +gentlemen, which joined the others. We found that a house, in the suburbs +at Buenavista, had been taken for us _provisoirement_ by the kindness of +the Spaniards, especially of a rich merchant who accompanied us in the +carriage, Don M---l M---z del C---o; consequently we passed all through +Mexico before reaching our destination, always in the midst of the crowd, +on account of which and of the ill-paved streets we went very slowly. +Through the rain and the darkness we got an occasional faint lamp-light +glimpse of high buildings, churches, and convents. Arrived at length in the +midst of torrents of rain, C---n got out of the carriage and returned +thanks for his reception, giving some ounces to the sergeant for the +soldiers. We then entered the house, accompanied by the Mexican officer, +and by a large party of Spaniards. + +We found the house very good, especially considering that it had been +furnished for us in eight-and-forty hours, and we also found an excellent +supper smoking on the table; after doing justice to which we took leave of +our friends, and, very tired, prepared for sleep. + +The servants and luggage arrived late. They had been left with the +diligence, under the guardianship of Don Miguel, and it appeared that the +robbers had mingled with the crowd, and followed in hopes of plunder; +insomuch that he had been obliged to procure two carriages, one for the +servants, while into another he put the luggage, mounting in front himself +to look out. Tired enough the poor man was, and drenched with rain; and we +found that much of this confusion and difficulty, which was chiefly caused +by the storm and darkness, would have been avoided had we left Puebla some +hours sooner. + +However, "All's well that ends well." I thought of Christmas in "Merrie +England," and of our family gatherings in the olden time, and as if one had +not travelled enough in the body, began travelling in the mind, away to far +different, and distant, and long gone-by scenes, fell asleep at length with +my thoughts in Scotland, and wakened in Mexico! + +By daylight we find our house very pretty, with a large garden adjoining, +full of flowers, and rosebushes in the courtyard, but being all on the +ground-floor, it is somewhat damp, and the weather, though beautiful, is so +cool in the morning, that carpets, and I sometimes think even a _soupcon_ +of fire, would not be amiss. The former we shall soon procure, but there +are neither chimneys nor grates, and I have no doubt a fire would be +disagreeable for more than an hour or so in the morning. The house stands +alone, with a large court before it, and opposite to it passes the great +stone aqueduct, a magnificent work of the Spaniards, though not more so, +probably, than those which supplied the ancient Tenochtitlan with water. +Behind it we see nothing but several old houses, with trees, so that we +seem almost in the country. To the right is one large building, with garden +and olive-ground, where the English legation formerly lived, a palace in +size, since occupied by Santa Anna, and which now belongs to Señor Perez +Galvez; a house which we shall be glad to have, if the proprietor will +consent to let it. + +But what most attracts our attention are the curious and picturesque groups +of figures which we see from the windows--men bronze-colour, with nothing +but a piece of blanket thrown round them, carrying lightly on their heads +earthen basins, precisely the colour of their own skin, so that they look +altogether like figures of terra cotta: these basins filled with sweetmeats +or white pyramids of grease (_mantequilla_); women with rebosos, short +petticoats of two colours, generally all in rags, yet with a lace border +appearing on their under garment: no stockings, and dirty white satin +shoes, rather shorter than their small brown feet; gentlemen on horseback +with their Mexican saddles and sarapes; lounging _léperos_, moving bundles +of rags, coming to the windows and begging with a most piteous but false +sounding whine, or lying under the arches and lazily inhaling the air and +the sunshine, or sitting at the door for hours basking in the sun or under +the shadow of the wall: Indian women, with their tight petticoat of dark +stuff and tangled hair, plaited with red ribbon, laying down their baskets +to rest, and meanwhile deliberately _examining_ the hair of their copper- +coloured offspring. We have enough to engage our attention for the present. + +Several visitors came early--gentlemen, both Spaniards and Mexicans. Señor +A---z, decidedly the ugliest man I ever beheld, with a hump on his back, +and a smile of most portentous hideosity, yet celebrated for his _bonnes +fortunes_; Señor de G---a, Ex-Minister of the Treasury, extremely witty and +agreeable, and with some celebrity as a dramatic writer; Count C---a, +formerly attached to the bedchamber in Spain, married to a pretty +Andalusian, and entirely Mexicanized, his heart where his interests are. He +is very gentlemanlike and distinguished-looking, with good manners, and +extremely eloquent in conversation. I hear him called "_inconsecuente_," +and capricious, but he has welcomed C---n, who knew him intimately in +Madrid, with all the warmth of ancient friendship. + +We are told that a great serenade has been for some time in contemplation, +to be given to C---n, the words, music, and performance by the young +Spaniards here. + +27th.--A day or two must elapse before I can satisfy my curiosity by going +out, while the necessary arrangements are making concerning carriage and +horses, or mules, servants, etc.; our vehicles from the United States not +having yet arrived,--nor is it difficult to foresee, even from once passing +through the streets, that only the more solid-built English carriages will +stand the wear and tear of a Mexican life, and that the comparatively +flimsy coaches which roll over the well-paved streets of New York, will not +endure for any length of time. + +Meanwhile we have constant visits, but chiefly from gentlemen and from +Spaniards, for there is one piece of etiquette, entirely Mexican, nor can I +imagine from whence derived, by which it is ordained that all new arrivals, +whatever be their rank, foreign Ministers not excepted, must in solemn +print give notice to every family of any consideration in the capital, that +they have arrived, and offer themselves and their house to their +"_disposición_;" failing in which etiquette, the newly-arrived family will +remain unnoticed and unknown. Our cards to this effect are consequently +being printed under the auspices of Count C---a. I have, however, received +the visits of some ladies who have kindly waived this ceremony in my +favour; and amongst others, from the Dowager and the young Countess of +C---a; the eldest a very distinguished woman, of great natural talent, one +of the true ladies of the old school, of whom not many specimens now remain +in Mexico; the other extremely pretty, lively, and amiable, a true +Andalusian both in beauty and wit. The old Countess was dressed in black +velvet, black blonde mantilla, diamond earrings and brooch--her daughter- +in-law also in black, with a mantilla, and she had a pretty little daughter +with her, whose eyes will certainly produce a kindling effect on the next +generation. + +They were both extremely kind and cordial; if there are many such persons +in Mexico, we shall have no reason to complain. I hope I am not seeing the +cream before the milk! + +Some Mexican visits appear to me to surpass in duration all that one can +imagine of a visit, rarely lasting less than one hour, and sometimes +extending over a greater part of the day. And gentlemen, at least, arrive +at no particular time. If you are going to breakfast, they go also--if to +dinner, the same--if you are asleep, they wait till you awaken--if out, +they call again. An indifferent sort of man, whose name I did not even +hear, arrived yesterday, a little after breakfast, sat still, and walked in +to a late dinner with us! These should not be called visits, but +visitations,--though I trust they do not often occur to that extent. An +open house and an open table for your friends, which includes every passing +acquaintance; these are merely Spanish habits of hospitality transplanted. + +Had a visit from Señor ----- and his wife, very civil and obliging people, +always agreeing with each other, and with you, and with all the world, +almost to the extent of Polonius to Hamlet. Our conversation reminded me of +that the whole time they were here. + +I have just brought from the garden a lapful of pink roses, +clove-carnations, and sweet-peas. Rosetta could not sing here-- + + "For June and December will never agree." + +The weather is lovely, the air fresh and clear, the sky one vast expanse of +bright blue, without a single cloud. Early this morning it was cool, but +now, by ten o'clock, the air is as soft and balmy as on a summer-day with +us. + +28th.--Day of the memorable serenade. After dinner some ladies paid me a +visit, amongst others the wife and daughter of the Spanish consul, Señor +M---y, who were accompanied by the sister of Count A---a. They and a few +gentlemen arrived about six o'clock, and it was said that the serenade +would not begin till twelve. It may be supposed that our conversation, +however agreeable it might be, would scarcely hold out that time. In fact, +by nine o'clock, we were all nearly overcome by sleep, and by ten I believe +we were already in a refreshing slumber, when we were awakened by the sound +of crowds assembling before the door, and of carriages arriving and +stopping. Not knowing who the occupants might be, we could not invite them +in, which seemed very inhospitable, as the night, though fine, was cold and +chilly. About eleven the Count and Countess C---a arrived, and the Señora +de G----, a remarkably handsome woman, a Spaniard, looking nearly as young +as her daughters; also the pretty daughters of the proprietress of this +house, who was a beauty, and is married to her third husband; and a lively +little talkative person, the Señora de L---n, all Spanish; and who, some on +that account, and others from their husbands having been former friends of +C---n's have not waited for the ceremony of receiving cards. Gradually, +however, several Mexican ladies, whom we had sent out to invite, came in. +Others remained in their carriages, excusing themselves on the plea of +their not being _en toilette_. We had men _à discrétion_, and the rooms +were crowded. + +About midnight arrived a troop of Mexican soldiers, carrying torches, and a +multitude of musicians, both amateur and professional, chiefly the former, +and men carrying music-stands, violins, violoncellos, French horns, etc., +together with an immense crowd, mingled with numbers of léperos, so that +the great space in front of the house as far as the aqueduct, and all +beyond and along the street as far as we could see, was covered with people +and carriages. We threw open the windows, which are on a level with the +ground, with large balconies and wide iron gratings, and the scene by the +torch-light was very curious. The Mexican troops holding lights for the +musicians, and they of various countries, Spanish, German, and Mexican; the +léperos, with their ragged blankets and wild eyes, that gleamed in the +light of the torches; the ladies within, and the crowd without, all formed +a very amusing _spectacle_. + +At length the musicians struck up in full chorus, accompanied by the whole +orchestra. The voices were very fine, and the instrumental music so good, I +could hardly believe that almost all were amateur performers. + +A hymn, which had been composed for the occasion, and of which we had +received an elegantly-bound copy in the morning, was particularly +effective. The music was composed by Señor Retes, and the words by Señor +Covo, both Spaniards. Various overtures from the last operas were played, +and at the end of what seemed to be the first act, in the midst of +deafening applause from the crowd, C---n made me return thanks from the +window in beautiful impromptu Spanish! Then came shouts of "Viva la +Espana!" "Viva Ysabel Segunda!" "Viva el Ministro de Espana!" Great and +continued cheering. Then C---n gave in return, "Viva la Republica +Mexicana!" "Viva Bustamente!" and the shouting was tremendous. At last an +Andalusian in the crowd shouted out, "Viva todo el Mundo!" (Long live +everybody), which piece of wit was followed by general laughter. + +After hot punch and cigars had been handed about out of doors, a necessary +refreshment in this cold night, the music recommenced, and the whole ended +with the national hymn of Spain, with appropriate words. A young Spanish +girl, whose voice is celebrated here, was then entreated by those within, +and beseeched by those without, to sing alone the hymn composed in honour +of C---n, which she naturally felt some hesitation in doing before such an +immense audience. However, she consented at last, and in a voice like a +clarion, accompanied by the orchestra, sung each verse alone, joined in the +chorus by the whole crowd. I give you a copy: + +Himno Patriotico que varios Espanoles, Residentes en Mexico, dedican al +Esmo. Sr. Don A---- C---- de la B----, Ministro Plenipotenciario de S. M. +C. en la República, con Motivo de su Llegada a dicha Capital. + +Música del Sr. J. N. DE RETES; Palabras del Sr. DN. JUAN COVO. + +CORO. + + Triunfamos, amigos, + Triunfamos enfin, + Y libre respir + La Patria del Cid. + + La augusta _Cristina_, + De Espana embeleso, + El mas tierno beso + Imprime á _Ysabel_: + Y "Reina," le dice, + "No ya sobre esclavos; + Sobre Iberos bravos, + Sobre un pueblo fiel." + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Donde está de Carlos + La perfida hueste? + Un rayo celeste + Polvo la tornó. + Rayo que al malvado + Hundio en el abismo-- + Rayo que al Carlismo + _Libertad_ lanzó. + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Al bravo Caudillo, + Al bueno, al valiente, + Ciñamos la frente + De mirto y laurel. + Tu diestra animosa, + Heroico guerrero, + Tu _diestra, Espartero_, + Sojuzgó al infiel. + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Veranse acatadas + Nuestras santas leyes; + Temblarán los Reyes + De España al poder. + Y el cetro de oprobrio, + Si empuna un tirano, + De su infame mano + Le harémos caer. + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Salud á _Ysabela_, + Salud á _Cristina_, + Quel el cielo destina + La patria á salvar. + Y el libre corone + La candida frente + De aquella inocente + Que juró amparar. + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Y tu, mensagero + De paz y ventura, + Oye la voz pura + De nuestra lealtad. + Oye los acentos + Que al cielo elevamos, + Oye cual gritamos, + _Patria! Libertad!_ + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + Tu el simbolo digno + Serás, C---n, + De grata reunion, + De eterna amistad, + Que ya, en ambos mundos, + La insana discordía + Trocóse en concordía + Y fraternidad. + + Triunfamos, amigos, etc. + + +TRANSLATION. + +Patriotic Hymn which various Spaniards, resident in Mexico, dedicate to his +Excellency Señor Don A---- C---- de la B----, Minister Plenipotentiary and +Envoy Extraordinary from H. C. M. to the Republic, to celebrate his arrival +in this Capital. + +The music by Señor Don J. N. De Retes; the words by Señor Don Juan Covo. + +CHORUS. + + Let us triumph, my friends, + Let us triumph at length, + And let the country of the Cid + Breathe freely again. + + The august Christina, + The ornament of Spain, + Imprinted the most tender kiss + On the cheek of Isabel. + And "Reign," she said to her, + "Not now over slaves, + But over _brave Iberians_, + Over a faithful people!" + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + Where is the perfidious + Army of Carlos? + A celestial thunderbolt + Has turned it to dust-- + A thunderbolt which plunged + The wicked one into the abyss-- + A thunderbolt which _Liberty_ + Launched against Carlism. + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + Of the brave chief, + Of the good, the valiant, + Let us gird the forehead + With myrtle and laurel. + Thy brave right hand, + Heroic warrior, + Thy right hand, _Espartero_, + Subdued the disloyal one. + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + Our holy laws + Will be acknowledged, + And kings will tremble + At the power of Spain; + And should a tyrant grasp + The sceptre of opprobrium, + From his infamous hand + We shall cause it to fall. + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + Health to _Isabella_, + Health to _Christina_, + Whom Heaven has destined + To save the country; + And may he freely crown + The white forehead + Of the innocent princess + He swore to protect. + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + And thou, messenger + Of peace and joy, + Hear the pure voice + Of our loyalty; + Hear the accents + Which we raise to Heaven; + Hear what we cry, + _Country_! _Liberty_! + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + Thou, C---n, shalt be + The worthy symbol + Of grateful reunion, + Of eternal friendship, + Which already has changed, + In both worlds, + Insane discord + Into concord and fraternity. + + Let us triumph, my friends, etc. + + +The air was rent with vivas! and bravos! as the Señorita de F---- +concluded. Her voice was beautiful, and after the first moment of +embarrassment, she sang with much spirit and enthusiasm. This was the +finale of the serenade, and then the serenaders were invited in, and were +in such numbers that the room would scarcely hold them all. More cigars, +more punch, more giving of thanks. About three o'clock the crowd began to +disperse, and at length, after those Spanish leave-takings, which are +really no joke, had ended, Captain E----, C---n, and I, all three +excessively cold and shivering, having passed the night at the open +windows, consoled ourselves with hot chocolate and punch, and went to dream +of sweet-sounding harmonies. Altogether, it was a scene which I would not +have missed for a great deal. + +The enthusiasm caused by the arrival of the first Minister from Spain seems +gradually to increase. The actors are to give him a "_función +extraordinaria_," in the theatre--the matadors a bull-fight extraordinary, +with fireworks. ... But in all this you must not suppose there is any +personal compliment. It is merely intended as a mark of good will towards +the first representative of the Spanish monarchy who brings from the +mother-country the formal acknowledgment of Mexican independence. + + + + +LETTER THE SEVENTH + + +Debut in Mexico--Cathedral--Temple of the Aztecs--Congregation--Stone of +Sacrifices--Palace--Importunate Léperos--Visit to the President--Countess +C---a--Street-cries--Tortilleras--_Sartor Resartus_. + + +I made my _début_ in Mexico by going to mass in the cathedral. We drove +through the Alameda, near which we live, and admired its noble trees, +flowers, and fountains, all sparkling in the sun. We met but few carriages +there, an occasional gentleman on horseback, and a few solitary-looking +people resting on the stone benches, also plenty of beggars, and the +_forçats_ in chains, watering the avenues. We passed through the Calle San +Francisco, the handsomest street in Mexico, both as to shops and houses +(containing, amongst others, the richly-carved but now half-ruined palace +of Yturbide), and which terminates in the great square where stand the +cathedral and the palace. The streets were crowded, it being a holiday; and +the purity of the atmosphere, with the sun pouring down upon the +bright-coloured groups, and these groups so picturesque, whether of +soldiers or monks, peasants or veiled ladies; the very irregularity of the +buildings, the number of fine churches and old convents, and everything on +so grand a scale, even though touched by the finger of time, or crushed by +the iron heel of revolution, that the attention is constantly kept alive, +and the interest excited. + +The carriage drew up in front of the cathedral, built upon the site of part +of the ruins of the great temple of the Aztecs; of that pyramidal temple, +constructed by _Ahuitzotli_, the sanctuary so celebrated by the Spaniards, +and which comprehended with all its different edifices and sanctuaries, the +ground on which the cathedral now stands, together with part of the plaza +and streets adjoining. + +We are told, that within its enclosure were five hundred dwellings, that +its hall was built of stone and lime, and ornamented with stone serpents. +We hear of its four great gates, fronting the four cardinal points of its +stone-paved court, great stone stairs, and sanctuaries dedicated to the +gods of war; of the square destined for religious dances, and the colleges +for the priests, and seminaries for the priestesses; of the horrible +temple, whose door was an enormous serpent's mouth; of the temple of +mirrors and that of shells; of the house set apart for the emperor's +prayers; of the consecrated fountains, the birds kept for sacrifice, the +gardens for the holy flowers, and of the terrible towers composed of the +skulls of the victims--strange mixture of the beautiful and the horrible! +We are told that five thousand priests chanted night and day in the Great +Temple, to the honour and in the service of the monstrous idols, who were +anointed thrice a day with the most precious perfumes; and that of these +priests the most austere were clothed in black, their long hair dyed with +ink, and their bodies anointed with the ashes of burnt scorpions and +spiders; their chiefs were the sons of kings. + +It is remarkable, by the way, that their god of war, _Mejitli_, was said to +have been born of a woman, _a Holy Virgin_, who was in the service of the +temple; and that when the priests, having knowledge of her disgrace, would +have stoned her, a voice was heard, saying, "Fear not, mother, for I shall +save thy honour and my glory," upon which the god was born, with a shield +in his left hand, an arrow in his right, a plume of green feathers on his +head, his face painted blue, and his left leg adorned with feathers! Thus +was his gigantic statue represented. + +There were gods of the Water, of the Earth, of Night, Fire, and Hell; +goddesses of Flowers and of Corn: there were oblations offered of bread and +flowers and jewels, but we are assured that from twenty to fifty thousand +human victims were sacrificed annually in Mexico alone! That these accounts +are exaggerated, even though a bishop is among the narrators, we can +scarcely doubt; but if the tenth part be truth, let the memory of Cortes be +sacred, who, with the cross, stopped the shedding of innocent blood, +founded the cathedral on the ruins of the temple which had so often +resounded with human groans, and in the place of these blood-smeared idols +enshrined the mild form of the Virgin. + +Meanwhile we entered the Christian edifice, which covers an immense space +of ground, is of the Gothic form, with two lofty ornamented towers, and is +still immensely rich in gold, silver, and jewels. A balustrade running +through it, which was brought from China, is said to be very valuable, but +seems to me more curious than beautiful. It is a composition of brass and +silver. Not a soul was in the sacred precincts this morning but miserable +_léperos_, in rags and blankets, mingled with women in ragged +_rebosos_;--at least a sprinkling of ladies with mantillas was so very +slight, that I do not think there were half a dozen in all. The floor is so +dirty that one kneels with a feeling of horror, and an inward determination +to effect as speedy a change of garments afterwards as possible. Besides, +many of my Indian neighbours were engaged in an occupation which I must +leave to your imagination; in fact, relieving their heads from the pressure +of the colonial system, or rather, eradicating and slaughtering the +colonists, who swarm there like the emigrant Irish in the United States. I +was not sorry to find myself once more in the pure air after mass; and have +since been told that, except on peculiar ocasions, and at certain hours, +few ladies perform their devotions in the cathedral. I shall learn all +these particulars in time. + +We saw, as we passed out, the Aztec Calendar,--a round stone covered with +hieroglyphics, which is still preserved and fastened on the outside of the +cathedral. We afterwards saw the Stone of Sacrifices, now in the courtyard +of the university, with a hollow in the middle, in which the victim was +laid, while six priests, dressed in red, their heads adorned with plumes of +green feathers (they must have looked like macaws), with gold and green +earrings, and blue stones in their upper lips, held him down while the +chief priest cut open his breast, threw his heart at the feet of the idol, +and afterwards put it into his mouth with a golden spoon. They then cut off +his head, to make use of it in building the tower of skulls, eat some parts +of him, and either burnt the rest, or threw it to the wild beasts who were +maintained in the palace. + +These interesting particulars occurred to us as we looked at the stone, and +we were not sorry to think that it is now more ornamental than useful. + +After leaving the cathedral, C---n fastened on his orders in the carriage, +as this day was appointed for his presentation to the President, and we +drove to the place, where I left him, and returned home. He was received +with great etiquette, a band of music playing in the court, the President +in full uniform, surrounded by all his Ministers and aides-de-camp, +standing before a throne, under a velvet dais, his feet upon a tabouret, +the whole being probably the same as was used by the viceroys. _Viva la +Republica!_ C---n made a discourse to him, and he made one in return, both +of which may be found by those who are curious in these matters, in the +_Díario_ of the 31st December.... + +Whilst I am writing a horrible lépero, with great leering eyes, is looking +at me through the windows, and performing the most extraordinary series of +groans, displaying at the same time a hand with two long fingers, probably +the other three tied in. "Señorita! Señorita! For the love of the most Holy +Virgin! For the sake of the most pure blood of Christ! By the miraculous +Conception!--" The wretch! I dare not look up, but I feel that his eyes are +fixed upon a gold watch and seals lying on the table. That is the worst of +a house on the ground floor.... There come more of them! A paralytic woman +mounted on the back of a man with a long beard. A sturdy-looking +individual, who looks as if, were it not for the iron bars, he would resort +to more effective measures, is holding up a _deformed foot,_ which I verily +believe is merely fastened back in some extraordinary way. What groans! +what rags! what a chorus of whining! This concourse is probably owing to +our having sent them some money yesterday. I try to take no notice, and +write on as if I were deaf. I must walk out of the room, without looking +behind me, and send the porter to disperse them. There are no bell-ropes in +these parts.... + +I come back again to write, hardly recovered from the start that I have +just got. I had hardly written the last words, when I heard a footstep near +me, and, looking up, lo! there was my friend with _the foot,_ standing +within a yard of me, his hand stretched out for alms! I was so frightened, +that for a moment I thought of giving him my watch, to get rid of him. +However, I glided past him with a few unintelligible words, and rushed to +call the servants; sending him some money by the first person who came. The +porter, who had not seen him pass, is now dispersing the crowd. What +vociferous exclamations! A---- has come in and drawn the curtains, and I +think they are going off. + +Yesterday evening I was taken to visit the President. The palace is an +immense building, containing, besides the apartments of the President and +his Ministers, all the chief courts of justice. It occupies one side of the +square, but is no way remarkable in its architecture. At the end of every +flight of steps that we mounted we came upon lounging soldiers, in their +yellow cloaks, and women in rebosos, standing about. We passed through a +hall filled with soldiers, into the antechamber, where we were received by +several aides-de-camp, who conducted us into a very well-furnished room, +where we sat a few minutes, till an officer came to lead us into the +reception-room, which is a handsome apartment, about a hundred feet long, +and fitted up with crimson and gold, also well lighted. General Bustamante, +now in plain clothes, gave us a very cordial reception. + +He looks like a good man, with an honest, benevolent face, frank and simple +in his manners, and not at all like a hero. His conversation was not +brilliant, indeed I do not know apropos to what, I suppose to the climate, +but it chiefly turned on _medicine_. There cannot be a greater contrast, +both in appearance and reality, than between him and Santa Anna. There is +no lurking devil in his eye. All is frank, open, and unreserved. It is +impossible to look in his face without believing him to be an honest and +well-intentioned man. An unprincipled but clever writer has said of him, +that he has no great capacity or superior genius; but that, whether from +reflection or from slowness of comprehension, he is always extremely calm +in his determinations: that, before entering into any project, he inquires +and considers deeply as to whether it be just or not; but that once +convinced that it is or appears to be so, he sustains his ground with +firmness and constancy. He adds, that it suits him better to obey than to +command; for which reason he was always so devoted a servant of the +Spaniards and of Yturbide. + +He is said to be a devoted friend, is honest to a proverb, and personally +brave, though occasionally deficient in moral energy. He is therefore an +estimable man, and one who will do his duty to the best of his ability, +though whether he has severity and energy sufficient for those evil days in +which it is his lot to govern, may be problematical. + +Having made a sufficiently long visit to his Excellency, we went to return +that of the Countess C----, who has a magnificent house, with suites of +large rooms, of which the drawing-room is particularly handsome, of immense +size, the walls beautifully painted, the subjects religious, and where I +found one of Broadwood's finest grand pianos. But although there are +cabinets inlaid with gold, fine paintings, and hundreds of rich and curious +things, our European eyes are struck with numerous inconsistencies in +dress, servants, etc., in all of which there is a want of keeping very +remarkable. Yet this house, and the one adjoining, which also belongs to +the family, are palaces in vastness, and the Countess receives me more as +if I were her daughter, than a person with whom she has been acquainted but +a few days. + +There are an extraordinary number of street-cries in Mexico, which begin at +dawn and continue till night, performed by hundreds of discordant voices, +impossible to understand at first; but Señor ----- has been giving me an +explanation of them, until I begin to have some distinct idea of their +meaning. At dawn you are awakened by the shrill and desponding cry of the +Carbonero, the coalmen, "Carbón, Señor?" which, as he pronounces it, sounds +like "Carbosiu?" Then the grease-man takes up the song, "Mantequilla! lard! +lard! at one real and a half." "Salt beef! good salt beef!" ("Cecina +buena!") interrupts the butcher in a hoarse voice. "Hay cebo-o-o-o-o-o?" +This is the prolonged and melancholy note of the woman who buys kitchen- +stuff, and stops before the door. Then passes by the _cambista,_ a sort of +Indian she-trader or exchanger, who sings out, "Tejocotes por venas de +chile?" a small fruit which she proposes exchanging for hot peppers. No +harm in that. + +A kind of ambulating pedler drowns the shrill treble of the Indian cry. He +calls aloud upon the public to buy needles, pins, thimbles, shirt-buttons, +tape, cotton-balls, small mirrors, etc. He enters the house, and is quickly +surrounded by the women, young and old, offering him the tenth part of what +he asks, and which, after much haggling, he accepts. Behind him stands the +Indian with his tempting baskets of fruit, of which he calls out all the +names, till the cook or housekeeper can resist no longer, and putting her +head over the balustrade, calls him up with his bananas, and oranges, and +granaditas, etc. + +A sharp note of interrogation is heard, indicating something that is hot, +and must be snapped up quickly before it cools. "Gorditas de horna +caliente?" "Little fat cakes from the oven, hot?" This is in a female key, +sharp and shrill. Follows the mat-seller. "Who wants mats from Puebla? mats +of five yards?" These are the most matinal cries. + +At midday the beggars begin to be particularly importunate, and their +cries, and prayers, and long recitations, form a running accompaniment to +the other noises. Then above all rises the cry of "Honey-cakes!" "Cheese +and honey?" "Requesón and good honey?" (_Requesón_ being a sort of hard +curd, sold in cheeses.) Then come the dulce-men, the sellers of sweetmeats, +of meringues, which are very good, and of all sorts of candy. "Caramelos de +esperma! bocadillo de coco!" Then the lottery-men, the messengers of +Fortune, with their shouts of "The last ticket yet unsold, for half a +real!" a tempting announcement to the lazy beggar, who finds it easier to +gamble than to work, and who may have that sum hid about his rags. + +Towards evening rises the cry of "Tortillas de cuajada?" "Curd-cakes?" or, +"Do you take nuts?" succeeded by the night-cry of "Chestnuts hot and +roasted!" and by the affectionate vendors of ducks; "Ducks, oh my soul, hot +ducks!" "Maize-cakes," etc., etc. As the night wears away, the voices die +off, to resume next morning in fresh vigour. + +Tortillas, which are the common food of the people, and which are merely +maize cakes mixed with a little lime, and of the form and size of what we +call _scones_, I find rather good when very hot and fresh-baked, but +insipid by themselves. They have been in use all through this country since +the earliest ages of its history, without any change in the manner of +baking them, excepting that, for the noble Mexicans in former days, they +used to be kneaded with various medicinal plants, supposed to render them +more wholesome. They are considered particularly palatable with _chile_, to +endure which, in the quantities in which it is eaten here, it seems to me +necessary to have a throat lined with tin. + +In unpacking some books to-day, I happened to take up "_Sartor Resartus_," +which, by a curious coincidence, opened of itself, to my great delight, at +the following passage: + +"The simplest costume," observes our Professor, "which I anywhere find +alluded to in history, is that used as regimental by Bolivar's cavalry, in +the late Columbian wars. A square blanket, twelve feet in diagonal, is +provided, (some were wont to cut off the corners, and make it circular;) in +the centre a slit is effected, eighteen inches long; through this the +mother-naked trooper introduces his head and neck; and so rides, shielded +from all weather, and in battle from many strokes (for he rolls it about +his left arm); and not only dressed, but harnessed and draperied." Here +then we find the true "Old Roman contempt of the superfluous," which seems +rather to meet the approbation of the illustrious Professor Teufelsdroch. + + + + +LETTER THE EIGHTH + + +Ball in Preparation--Agreeable Family--Fine +Voices--Theatre--Smoking--Castle of Chapultepec--Viceroy +Galvez--Montezuma's Cypress--Vice-Queen--Valley of Mexico--New Year's +Day--Opening of Congress--Visits from the Diplomatic Corps--Poblana +Dress--"Function extraordinaria"--Theatre--Visit to the Cathedral of +Guadalupe--Divine Painting--Bishop-Beggars--Mosquitoes' Eggs. + + +A great ball is to be given on the 8th of January, in the theatre, for the +benefit of the poor, which is to be under the patronage of the most +distinguished ladies of Mexico. After much deliberation amongst the +patronesses, it is decided that it shall be a _bal costumé_, and I have +some thoughts of going in the Poblana dress, which I before described to +you. As I am told that the Señora G---a wore it at a ball in London, when +her husband was Minister there, I have sent my maid to learn the +particulars from her. + +We called to-day on a family nearly related to the C---as, and who have +been already excessively kind to us; Señor A---d, who is married to a +daughter of Don Francisco Tagle, a very distinguished Mexican. We found a +very large, very handsome house, the walls and roof painted in the old +Spanish style, which, when well executed, has an admirable effect. The lady +of the house, who is only nineteen, I took a fancy to at first sight. She +is not regularly beautiful, but has lovely dark eyes and eyebrows, with +fair complexion and fair hair, and an expression of the most perfect +goodness, with very amiable manners. I was surprised by hearing her sing +several very difficult Italian songs with great expression and wonderful +facility. She has a fine contralto, which has been cultivated; but some +Spanish ballads, and little songs of the country, she sang so delightfully, +and with so much good-nature and readiness, that had it not been a first +visit, I should have begged her to continue during half the morning. Fine +voices are said to be extremely common, as is natural in a country peopled +from Spain; and the opera, while it lasted, contributed greatly to the +cultivation of musical taste. + +In the evening we went to the theatre. Such a theatre! Dark, dirty, +redolent of bad odours; the passages leading to the boxes so ill-lighted, +that one is afraid in the dark to pick one's steps through them. The acting +was nearly of a piece. The first actress, who is a favourite, and who +dresses well, and bears a high reputation for good conduct, is perfectly +wooden, and never frightened out of her proprieties in the most tragical +scenes. I am sure there is not a fold deranged in her dress when she goes +home. Besides, she has a most remarkable trick of pursing up her mouth in a +smile, and frowning at the same time with tears in her eyes, as if +personifying an April day, I should like to hear her sing + + "Said a smile to a tear." + +There was no applause, and half the boxes were empty, whilst those who were +there seemed merely to occupy them from the effect of habit, and because +this is the only evening amusement. The prompter spoke so loud, that as + + "Coming events cast their shadows before." + +every word was made known to the audience in confidence, before it came out +upon the stage officially. The whole pit smoked, the galleries smoked, the +boxes smoked, the prompter smoked, a long stream of smoke curling from his +box, giving something oracular and Delphic to his prophecies. + + "The force of _smoking_ could no further go." + +The theatre is certainly unworthy of this fine city. + +3ist.--We have spent the day in visiting the castle of Chapultepec, a short +league from Mexico, the most haunted by recollections of all the +traditionary sites of which Mexico can boast. Could these hoary cypresses +speak, what tales might they not disclose, standing there with their long +gray beards, and outstretched venerable arms, century after century: +al ready old when Montezuma was a boy, and still vigorous in the days of +Bustamante! There has the last of the Aztec emperors wandered with his +dark-eyed harem. Under the shade of these gigantic trees he has rested, +perhaps smoked his "tobacco mingled with amber," and fallen to sleep, his +dreams unhaunted by visions of the stern traveller from the far-east, whose +sails even then might be within sight of the shore. In these tanks he has +bathed. Here were his gardens, and his aviaries, and his fish-ponds. +Through these now tangled and deserted woods, he may have been carried by +his young nobles in his open litter, under a splendid dais, stepping out +upon the rich stuffs which his slaves spread before him on the green and +velvet turf. + +And from the very rock where the castle stands, he may have looked out upon +his fertile valley and great capital, with its canoe-covered lakes and +outspreading villages and temples, and gardens of flowers, no care for the +future darkening the bright vision! + +Tradition says, that now these caves and tanks and woods are haunted by the +shade of the conqueror's Indian love, the far-famed Doña Marina, but I +think she would be afraid of meeting with the wrathful spirit of the Indian +emperor. The castle itself, modern though it be, seems like a tradition! +The Viceroy Galvez, who built it, is of a bygone race! The apartments are +lonely and abandoned, the walls falling to ruin, the glass of the windows +and the carved work of the doors have been sold; and standing at this great +height, exposed to every wind that blows, it is rapidly falling to decay. +We were accompanied by Count C---a, and received by a Mexican governor, who +rarely resides there, and who very civilly conducted us everywhere. But +Chapultepec is not a _show-place_. One must go there early in the morning, +when the dew is on the grass, or in the evening, when the last rays of the +sun are gilding with rosy light the snowy summits of the volcanoes; and +dismount from your horse, or step out of your carriage and wander forth +without guide or object, or fixed time for return. + +We set off early, passing over a fine paved road, divided by a great and +solid aqueduct of nine hundred arches, one of the two great aqueducts by +which fresh water is conveyed to the city, and of which the two sources are +in the hill of Chapultepec, and in that of Santa Fe, at a much greater +distance. When we arrived, the sleepy soldiers, who were lounging before +the gates, threw them open to let the carriage enter, and we drew up in +front of the great cypress, known by the name of "Montezuma's Cypress," a +most stupendous tree--dark, solemn, and stately, its branches unmoved as +the light wind played amongst them, of most majestic height, and forty-one +feet in circumference. A second cypress standing near, and of almost equal +size, is even more graceful, and they, and all the noble trees which adorn +these speaking solitudes, are covered with a creeping plant, resembling +gray moss, hanging over every branch like long gray hair, giving them a +most venerable and druidical look. + +We wandered through the noble avenues, and rested under the trees, and +walked through the tangled shrubberies, bright with flowers and coloured +berries, and groped our way into the cave, and stood by the large clear +tank, and spent some time in the old garden; and then got again into the +carriage, that we might be dragged up the precipitous ascent on which +stands the castle, the construction of which aroused the jealousy of the +government against the young count, whose taste for the picturesque had +induced him to choose this elevated site for his summer palace. + +The interior was never finished; yet, even as it stands, it cost the +Spanish government three hundred thousand dollars. When we look at its +strong military capabilities and commanding position, fortified with +salient walls and parapets towards Mexico, and containing on its northern +side great moats and subterraneous vaults, capable of holding a vast supply +of provisions, the jealousy of the government, and their suspicions that it +was a fortress masked as a summer retreat, are accountable enough. + +The Vice-Queen Galvez, was celebrated for her beauty and goodness, and was +universally adored in Mexico. A sister of hers, who still survives, and who +paid me a visit the other day, says that her beauty chiefly consisted in +the exceeding fairness of her complexion, very few _blondes_ having then +been seen in this part of the world. + +From the terrace that runs round the castle, the view forms the most +magnificent panorama that can be imagined. The whole valley of Mexico lies +stretched out as in a map; the city itself, with its innumerable churches +and convents; the two great aqueducts which cross the plain; the avenues of +elms and poplars which lead to the city; the villages, lakes, and plains, +which surround it. To the north, the magnificent cathedral of Our Lady of +Guadalupe--to the south, the villages of San Augustin, San Angel, and +Tacubaya, which seem imbosomed in trees, and look like an immense garden. +And if in the plains below there are many uncultivated fields, and many +buildings falling to ruin, yet with its glorious enclosure of mountains, +above which tower the two mighty volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, +the Gog and Magog of the valley, off whose giant sides great volumes of +misty clouds were rolling, and with its turquoise sky for ever smiling on +the scene, the whole landscape, as viewed from this height, is one of +nearly unparalleled beauty. + +1st January, 1840.--New Year's Day! The birth of the young year is ushered +in by no remarkable signs of festivity. More ringing of bells, more +chanting of mass, gayer dresses amongst the peasants in the streets, and +more carriages passing along, and the ladies within rather more dressed +than apparently they usually are, when they do not intend to pay visits. In +passing through the Plaza this morning, our carriage suddenly drew up, and +the servants took off their hats. At the same moment, the whole population, +men, women, and children, vendors and buyers, peasant and Señora, priest +and layman, dropped on their knees, a picturesque sight. Presently a coach +came slowly along through the crowd, with the mysterious _Eye_ painted on +the panels, drawn by piebald horses, and with priests within, bearing the +divine symbols. On the balconies, in the shops, in the houses, and on the +streets, every one knelt while it passed, the little bell giving warning of +its approach. + +We were then at the door of the palace, where we went this morning to see +the opening of Congress, the two houses being included in this building. +The House of Representatives, though not large, is handsome, and in good +taste. Opposite to the presidential chair is a full-length representation +of Our Lady of Guadalupe. All round the hall, which is semicircular, are +inscribed the names of the heroes of independence, and that of the Emperor +Augustin Yturbide is placed on the right of the presidential chair, with +his sword hanging on the wall; while on the left of the chief magistrate's +seat there is a vacant space; perhaps destined for the name of another +emperor. The multitude of priests with their large shovel-hats, and the +entrance of the president in full uniform, announced by music and a +flourish of trumpets, and attended by his staff, rendered it as +anti-republican-looking an assembly as one could wish to see. The utmost +decorum and tranquillity prevailed. The president made a speech in a low +and rather monotonous tone, which in the diplomate's seat, where we were, +was scarcely audible. No ladies were in the house, myself excepted; which I +am glad I was not aware of before going, or I should perhaps have stayed +away. + +Yesterday I received visits from the gentlemen of the diplomatic corps, who +are not in great numbers here. England, Belgium, Prussia, and the United +States, are the only countries at present represented, Spain excepted. The +French Minister has not arrived yet, but is expected in a few days. I was +not sorry to hear English spoken once more, and to meet with so gentlemanly +a person as the Minister who for the last fourteen years has represented +our island in the Republic. His visit and a large packet of letters just +received from Paris and from the United States, have made me feel as if the +distance from home were diminished by one-half. + +This morning a very handsome dress was forwarded to me with the compliments +of a lady whom I do not know, the wife of General---; with a request that, +if I should go to the fancy ball as a Poblana peasant, I may wear this +costume. It is a Poblana dress, and very superb, consisting of a petticoat +of maroon-coloured merino, with gold fringe, gold bands and spangles; an +under-petticoat, embroidered and trimmed with rich lace, to come below it. +The first petticoat is trimmed with gold up the sides, which are slit open, +and tied up with coloured ribbon. With this must be worn a chemise, richly +embroidered round the neck and sleeves, and trimmed with lace; a satin +vest, open in front, and embroidered in gold; a silk sash tied behind, the +ends fringed with gold, and a small silk handkerchief which crosses the +neck, with gold fringe. I had already another dress prepared, but I think +this is the handsomer of the two. + +The actors have just called to inform C---n, that their "_función +extraordinaria_" in his honour, is to be given on the third, that a box is +prepared for us, and that the play is to be "Don John of Austria."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Translated from the French of Casimir Delavigne.] + +4th.--Having sat through five acts last evening in the theatre, we came +home very tired. The play was _awfully_ long, lasting from eight o'clock +till one in the morning. At the end of the first act, the prefect and other +dignitaries came round with much precipitation and carried off C---n to a +large box in the centre, intended for him; for, not knowing which it was, +we had gone to that of the Countess C---a. The theatre looked much more +decent than before; being lighted up, and the boxes hung with silk +draperies in honour of the occasion. The ladies also were in full dress, +and the boxes crowded, so that one could scarcely recognise the house. This +morning we drove out to see the cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe: C---n +in one carriage with Count C---a, and the Señora C---a and I in another, +driven by Señor A---d, who is a celebrated whip; the carriage open, with +handsome white horses, _frisones_, as they here call the northern horses, +whether from England or the United States, and which are much larger than +the spirited little horses of the country. As usual, we were accompanied by +four armed outriders. + +We passed through miserable suburbs, ruined, dirty, and with a commingling +of odours which I could boldly challenge those of Cologne to rival. After +leaving the town, the road is not particularly pretty, but is for the most +part a broad, straight avenue, bounded on either side by trees. + +At Guadalupe, on the hill of Tepayac, there stood, in days of yore, the +Temple of Tonantzin, the goddess of earth and of corn, a mild deity, who +rejected human victims, and was only to be propitiated by the sacrifices of +turtle-doves, swallows, pigeons, etc. She was the protectress of the +Totonoqui Indians. The spacious church, which now stands at the foot of the +mountain, is one of the richest in Mexico. Having put on veils, no bonnets +being permitted within the precincts of a church, we entered this far-famed +sanctuary, and were dazzled by the profusion of silver with which it is +ornamented. + +The divine painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, represents her in a blue +cloak covered with stars, a garment of crimson and gold, her hands clasped, +and her foot on a crescent, supported by a cherub. The painting is coarse, +and only remarkable on account of the tradition attached to it. + +We afterwards visited a small chapel, covered by a dome, built over a +boiling spring, whose waters possess miraculous qualities, and bought +crosses and medals which have touched the holy image, and pieces of white +ribbon, marked with the measure of the Virgin's hands and feet. We climbed +(albeit very warm) by a steep path to the top of the hill, where there is +another chapel, from which there is a superb view of Mexico; and beside it, +a sort of monument in the form of the sails of a ship, erected by a +grateful Spaniard, to commemorate his escape from shipwreck, which he +believed to be owing to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We then +went to the village to call on the bishop, the Ylustrisimo Señor Campos, +whom we found in his canonicals, and who seems a good little old man, but +no conjurer; although I believe he had the honour of bringing up his +cousin, Señor Posada, destined to be Archbishop of Mexico. We found him +quietly seated in a large, simply-furnished room, and apparently buried +over some huge volume, so that he was not at first aware of our entrance. + +A picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe hung on the wall, which C---n having +noticed, he observed that he could not answer for its being a very faithful +resemblance, as Our Lady did not appear often, not so often as people +supposed. Then folding his hands, and looking down, he proceeded to recount +the history of the miraculous apparition, pretty much as follows: + +In 1531, ten years and four months after the conquest of Mexico, the +fortunate Indian whose name was Juan Diego, and who was a native of +Cuatitlan, went to the suburb of Tlaltelolco to learn the Christian +doctrine which the Franciscan monks taught there. As he was passing by the +mountain of Tepeyac, the Holy Virgin suddenly appeared before him and +ordered him to go, in her name, to the bishop, the Ylustrisimo D. Fr. Juan +de Zumarraga, and to make known to him that she desired to have a place of +worship erected in her honour, on that spot. The next day the Indian passed +by the same place, when again the Holy Virgin appeared before him, and +demanded the result of his commission. Juan Diego replied, that in spite of +his endeavours, he had not been able to obtain an audience of the bishop. +"Return," said the Virgin, "and say that it is I, the Virgin Mary, the +Mother of God, who sends thee." Juan Diego obeyed the divine orders, yet +still the bishop would not give him credence, merely desiring him to bring +some sign or token of the Virgin's will. He returned with this message on +the twelfth of December, when, for the third time, he beheld the apparition +of the Virgin. She now commanded him to climb to the top of the barren rock +of Tepeyac, to gather the roses which he should find there, and to bring +them to her. The humble messenger obeyed, though well knowing that on that +spot were neither flowers nor any trace of vegetation. Nevertheless, he +found the roses, which he gathered and brought to the Virgin Mary, who, +throwing them into his _tilma_ said, "Return, show these to the bishop, and +tell him that these are the credentials of thy mission." Juan Diego set out +for the episcopal house, which stood on the ground occupied by the +hospital, now called San Juan de Dios, and when he found himself in the +presence of the prelate, he unfolded his _tilma_ to show him the roses, +when there appeared imprinted on it the miraculous image which had existed +for more than three centuries. + +When the bishop beheld it, he was seized with astonishment and awe, and +conveyed it in a solemn procession to his own oratory, and shortly after, +this splendid church was erected in honour of the patroness of New Spain. +"From all parts of the country," continued the old bishop, "people flocked +in crowds to see Our Lady of Guadalupe, and esteemed it an honour to obtain +a sight of her. What then must be _my_ happiness, who can see her most +gracious majesty every hour and every minute of the day! I would not quit +Guadalupe for any other part of the world, nor for any temptation that +could be held out to me;" and the pious man remained for a few minutes as +if wrapt in ecstasy. That he was sincere in his assertions, there could be +no doubt. As evening prayers were about to begin, we accompanied him to the +cathedral. An old woman opened the door for us as we passed out. "Have my +chocolate ready when I return," said the bishop, "Si, padrecito!" said the +old woman, dropping upon her knees, in which posture she remained for some +minutes. As we passed along the street, the sight of the reverend man had +the same effect; all fell on their knees as he passed, precisely as if the +host were carried by, or the shock of an earthquake were felt. Arrived at +the door of the cathedral, he gave us his hand, or rather his pastoral +amethyst, to kiss. + +The organ sounded fine as it pealed through the old cathedral, and the +setting sun poured his rays in through the Gothic windows with a rich and +glowing light. The church was crowded with people of the village, but +especially with _léperos_, counting their beads, and suddenly in the midst +of an "Ave María Purísima," flinging themselves and their rags in our path +with a "Por el amor de la Santísima Virgen!" and if this does not serve +their purpose, they appeal to your domestic sympathies. From men they +entreat relief "By the life of the Señorita." From women, "By the life of +the little child!" From children it is "By the life of your mother!" And a +mixture of piety and superstitious feeling makes most people, women at +least, draw out their purses. + +Count C---a has promised to send me to-morrow a box of mosquitoes' eggs, of +which tortillas are made, which are considered a great delicacy. +Considering Life in Mexico, mosquitoes as small winged _cannibals_, I was +rather shocked at the idea, but they pretend that these which are from the +Laguna, are a superior race of creatures, which do not sting. In fact the +Spanish historians mention that the Indians used to eat bread made of the +eggs which the fly called _agayacatl_ laid on the rushes of the lakes, and +which they (the Spaniards) found very palatable. + + + + +LETTER THE NINTH + + +Visits from Spaniards--Visit from the President--Disquisition--Poblana +Dress--Bernardo the Matador--Bull-fight extraordinary--Plaza de +Toros--Fireworks--Portrait of C---n--Fancy Ball--Dress--Costume of the +Patronesses--Beauty in Mexico--Doctor's Visit--Cards of _faire +part_--Marquesa de San Roman--Toilet in Morning Visits of +Ceremony--Attempt at Robbery--Murder of a Consul--La Guera +Rodriguez--Dr. Plan--M. de Humboldt--Anecdote--Former Customs. + + +5th January. + + +Yesterday (Sunday), a great day here for visiting after mass is over. We +had a concourse of Spaniards, all of whom seemed anxious to know whether or +not I intended to wear a Poblana dress at the fancy ball, and seemed +wonderfully interested about it. Two young ladies or women of Puebla, +introduced by Señor ----- came to proffer their services in giving me all +the necessary particulars, and dressed the hair of Joséfa, a little Mexican +girl, to show me how it should be arranged; mentioned several things still +wanting, and told me that every one was much pleased at the idea of my +going in a Poblana dress. I was rather surprised that _every one_ should +trouble themselves about it. About twelve o'clock the president, in full +uniform, attended by his aides-de-camp, paid me a visit, and sat about half +an hour, very amiable as usual. Shortly after came more visits, and just as +we had supposed they were all concluded, and we were going to dinner, we +were told that the secretary of state, the Ministers of war and of the +interior, and others, were in the drawing-room. And what do you think was +the purport of their visit? To adjure me by all that was most alarming, to +discard the idea of making my appearance in a Poblana dress! They assured +us that Poblanas generally were _femmes de rien_, that they wore no +stockings, and that the wife of the Spanish Minister should by no means +assume, even for one evening, such a costume. I brought in my dresses, +showed their length and their propriety, but in vain; and, in fact, as to +their being in the right, there could be no doubt, and nothing but a kind +motive could have induced them to take this trouble; so I yielded with a +good grace, and thanked the cabinet council for their timely warning, +though fearing, that in this land of procrastination, it would be difficult +to procure another dress for the fancy ball; for you must know, that our +luggage is still toiling its weary way, on the backs of mules, from Vera +Cruz to the capital. They had scarcely gone, when Señor ----- brought a +message from several of the principal ladies here, whom we do not even +know, and who had requested, that as a stranger, I should be informed of +the reasons which rendered the Poblana dress objectionable in this country, +especially on any public occasion like this ball. I was really thankful for +my escape. + +Just as I was dressing for dinner, a note was brought, marked _reservada_ +(private), the contents of which appeared to me more odd than pleasant. I +have since heard, however, that the writer, Don José Arnaiz, is an old man, +and a sort of privileged character, who interferes in everything, whether +it concerns him or not. I translate it for your benefit. + +"The dress of a Poblana is that of a woman of no character. The lady of the +Spanish Minister is a _lady_ in every sense of the word. However much she +may have compromised herself, she ought neither to go as a Poblana, nor in +any other character but her own. So says to the Señor de C---n, José +Arnaiz, who esteems him as much as possible." + +6th.--Early this morning, this being the day of the "bull-fight +extraordinary," placards were put up, as I understand, on all the corners +of the streets, announcing it, accompanied by a portrait of C---n! Count +C---a came soon after breakfast, accompanied by Bernardo, the first +matador, whom he brought to present to us. I send you the white satin note +of invitation, with its silver lace and tassels, to show you how +beautifully they can get up such things here. The matador is a handsome but +heavy-looking man, though said to be active and skilful. Tomorrow I shall +write you an account of my _first bull-fight_. + +7th.--Yesterday, towards the afternoon, there were great fears of rain, +which would have caused a postponement of the combat; however, the day +cleared up, the bulls little knowing how much their fate depended upon the +clouds. A box in the centre, with a carpet and a silver lamp, had been +prepared for us; but we went with our friends, the C---as, into their box +adjoining. The scene, to me especially, who have not seen the magnificence +of the Madrid arena, was animating and brilliant in the highest degree. +Fancy an immense amphitheatre, with four great tiers of boxes, and a range +of uncovered seats in front, the whole crowded almost to suffocation; the +boxes filled with ladies in full dress, and the seats below by +gaily-dressed and most enthusiastic spectators; two military bands of +music, playing beautiful airs from the operas; an extraordinary variety of +brilliant costumes, all lighted up by the eternally deep-blue sky; ladies +and peasants, and officers in full uniform,--and you may conceive that it +must have been altogether a varied and curious spectacle. + +About half-past six, a flourish of trumpets announced the president, who +came in uniform with his staff, and took his seat to the music of "Guerra! +Guerra! I bellici trombi." Shortly after the matadors and picadors, the +former on foot, the latter on horseback, made their entry, saluting all +around the arena, and were received with loud cheering. + +Bernardo's dress of blue and silver was very superb, and cost him five +hundred dollars. The signal was given--the gates were thrown open, and a +bull sprang into the arena; not a great, fierce-looking animal, as they are +in Spain, but a small, angry, wild-looking beast, with a troubled eye. + + "Thrice sounds the clarion; lo! the signal falls, + The den expands, and expectation mute + Gapes round the silent circle's peopled walls. + Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute, + And, wildly staring, spurns with sounding foot + The sand, nor blindly rushes on his foe; + Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit + His first attack, wide waving to and fro + His angry tail; red rolls his eye's dilated glow." + +A picture equally correct and poetical. That first _pose_ of the bull is +superb! Pasta, in her Medea, did not surpass it. Meanwhile the matadors and +the _banderilleros_ shook their coloured scarfs at him--the picadors poked +at him with their lances. He rushed at the first, and tossed up the scarfs +which they threw at him, while they sprung over the arena; galloped after +the others, striking the horses, so that along with their riders they +occasionally rolled in the dust; both, however, almost instantly recovering +their equilibrium, in which there is no time to be lost. Then the matadors +would throw fireworks, crackers adorned with streaming ribbons, which stuck +on his horns, as he tossed his head, enveloped him in a blaze of fire. +Occasionally the picador would catch hold of the bull's tail, and passing +it under his own right leg, wheel his horse round, force the bullock to +gallop backwards, and throw him on his face. + +Maddened with pain, streaming with blood, stuck full of darts, and covered +with fireworks, the unfortunate beast went galloping round and round, +plunging blindly at man and horse, and frequently trying to leap the +barrier, but driven back by the waving hats and shouting of the crowd. At +last, as he stood at bay, and nearly exhausted, the matador ran up and gave +him the mortal blow, considered a peculiar proof of skill. The bull +stopped, as if he felt that his hour were come, staggered, made a few +plunges at nothing, and fell. A finishing stroke, and the bull expired. + +The trumpets sounded, the music played. Four horses galloped in tied to a +yoke, to which the bull was fastened, and swiftly dragged out of the arena. +This last part had a fine effect, reminding one of the Roman sacrifice. In +a similar manner, eight bulls were done to death. The scene is altogether +fine, the address amusing, but the wounding and tormenting of the bull is +sickening, and as here the tips of his horns are blunted, one has more +sympathy with him than with his human adversaries. It cannot be good to +accustom a people to such bloody sights. + +Yet let me confess, that though at first I covered my face and could not +look, little by little I grew so much interested in the scene, that I could +not take my eyes off it, and I can easily understand the pleasure taken in +these barbarous diversions by those accustomed to them from childhood. + +The bull-fight having terminated amidst loud and prolonged cheering from +the crowd, a tree of fireworks, erected in the midst of the arena, was +lighted, and amidst a blaze of coloured light, appeared, first the Arms of +the Republic, the Eagle and Nopal; and above, a full-length portrait of +C---n! represented by a figure in a blue and silver uniform. Down fell the +Mexican eagle with a crash at his feet, while he remained burning brightly, +and lighted up by fireworks, in the midst of tremendous shouts and cheers. +Thus terminated this "_función extraordinaria_;" and when all was over, we +went to dine at Countess C---a's; had some music in the evening, and +afterwards returned home tolerably tired. + +10th.--The fancy ball took place last evening in the theatre, and although, +owing either to the change of climate, or to the dampness of the house, I +have been obliged to keep my room since the day of the bull-fight, and to +decline a pleasant dinner at the English Minister's, I thought it advisable +to make my appearance there. Having discarded the costume of the light- +headed Poblamanas, I adopted that of a virtuous Roman Contadina, simple +enough to be run up in one day; a white skirt, red bodice, with blue +ribbons, and lace veil put on square behind; _à propos_ to which +head-dress, it is very common amongst the Indians to wear a piece of stuff +folded square, and laid flat upon the head, in this Italian fashion; and as +it is not fastened, I cannot imagine how they trot along, without letting +it fall. + +We went to the theatre about eleven, and found the _entrée_, though crowded +with carriages, very quiet and orderly. The _coup d'oeil_ on entering was +extremely gay, and certainly very amusing. The ball, given for the benefit +of the poor, was under the patronage of the ladies C---a, G---a, Guer---a, +and others, but such was the original dirtiness and bad condition of the +theatre, that to make it decent, they had expended nearly all the proceeds. +As it was, and considering the various drawbacks, the arrangements were +very good. Handsome lustres had superseded the lanterns with their tallow +candles, the boxes were hung with bright silk draperies, and a canopy of +the same drawn up in the form of a tent, covered the whole ball-room. The +orchestra also was tolerably good. The boxes were filled with ladies, +presenting an endless succession of China crape shawls of every colour and +variety, and a monotony of diamond earrings; while in the theatre itself, +if ever a ball might be termed a fancy-ball, this was that ball. Of Swiss +peasants, Scotch peasants, and all manner of peasants, there were a goodly +assortment; as also of Turks, Highlanders, and men in plain clothes. But +being public, it was not, of course, select, and amongst many well-dressed +people, there were hundreds who, assuming no particular character, had +exerted their imagination to appear merely fanciful, and had succeeded. +One, for example, would have a scarlet satin petticoat, and over it a pink +satin robe, with scarlet ribbons to match. Another, a short blue satin +dress, beneath which appeared a handsome purple satin petticoat; the whole +trimmed with yellow bows. They looked like the signs of the zodiac. All had +diamonds and pearls; old and young, and middle-aged; including little +children, of whom there were many. + +The lady patronesses were very elegant. The Señora de Guer---a, wore a +head-dress in the form of a net, entirely composed of large pearls and +diamonds; in itself a fortune. The Señora de C---a, as Madame de la +Valliere, in black velvet and diamonds, looking pretty as usual, but the +cold of the house obliged her to muffle up in furs and boas, and so to hide +her dress. The Señora de G---a, as Mary, Queen of Scots, in black velvet +and pearls, with a splendid diamond necklace, was extremely handsome; she +wore a cap, introduced by the Albini, in the character of the Scottish +Queen, but which, though pretty in itself, is a complete deviation from the +beautiful simplicity of the real Queen-Mary cap. She certainly looked as if +she had arrived at her prime without knowing Fotheringay. + +Various ladies were introduced to me who are only waiting to receive our +cards of _faire part_ before they call. Amongst the girls, the best dresses +that I observed were the Señoritas de F---d, the one handsome, with the +figure and face of a Spanish peasant; the other much more graceful and +intelligent-looking, though with less actual beauty. However, so many of +the most fashionable people were in their boxes, that I am told this is not +a good occasion on which to judge of the beauty or style of toilet of the +Mexican women; besides which, these fancy balls being uncommon, they would +probably look better in their usual costume. Upon the whole, I saw few +striking beauties, little grace, and very little good dancing. There was +too much velvet and satin, and the dresses were too much loaded. The +diamonds, though superb, were frequently ill-set. The dresses, compared +with the actual fashion, were absurdly short, and the feet, naturally +small, were squeezed into shoes still smaller, which is destructive to +grace, whether in walking or dancing. + +I saw many superb pairs of eyes, and beautiful hands and arms, perfect +models for a sculptor, the hands especially; and very few good complexions. + +There was a young gentleman pointed out to me as being in the costume of a +Highlander! How I wished that Sir William Cumming, Macleod of Macleod, or +some veritable Highland chieftain could suddenly have appeared to +annihilate him, and show the people here what the dress really is! There +were various unfortunate children bundled up in long satin or velvet +dresses, covered with blond and jewels, and with artificial flowers in +their hair. + +The room was excessively cold, nor was the ancient odour of the theatre +entirely obliterated; nor indeed do I think that all the perfumes of Arabia +would overpower it. Having walked about, and admired all the varieties of +fancy costumes, I, being nearly frozen, went to the Countess C---a's box on +the pit tier, and enveloped myself in a cloak. They pointed out the most +distinguished persons in the boxes, amongst others the family of the E---s, +who seem very handsome, with brilliant colours and fine teeth. We remained +until three in the morning, and declined all offers of refreshment, though, +after all, a cup of hot chocolate would not have been amiss. There was +supper somewhere, but I believe attended only by gentlemen. I had the +satisfaction in passing out to see numerous ladies on their partners' arms, +and all bedizened as they were with finery, stop under the lamps, and light +their cigars,--cool and pretty. + +16th.--I have passed nearly a week in a slight fever; shivering and hot. I +was attended by a doctor of the country, who seems the most harmless +creature imaginable. Every day he felt my pulse, and gave me some little +innocent mixture. But what he especially gave me was a lesson in polite +conversation. Every day we had the following dialogue, as he rose to take +leave: + +"Madam!" (this by the bedside) "I am at your service." + +"Many thanks, sir." + +"Madam!" (this at the foot of the bed) "know me for your most humble +servant." + +"Good morning, sir." + +"Madam!" (here he stopped beside a table) "I kiss your feet." + +"Sir, I kiss your hand." + +"Madam!" (this near the door) "my poor house, and all in it, myself though +useless, all I have, is yours." + +"Many thanks, sir." + +He turns round and opens the door, again turning round as he does so. + +"Adieu, madam! your servant." + +"Adieu, sir." + +He goes out, partly reopens the door, and puts in his head--"Good morning, +madam!" + +This civility so lengthened out, as if parting were such "sweet sorrow," +between doctor and patient, seems rather misplaced. It is here considered +more polite to say Señorita than Señora, even to married women, and the +lady of the house is generally called by her servants, "La Nina," the +little girl, even though she be over eighty. This last custom is still more +common in Havana, where the old negresses, who have always lived in the +family, and are accustomed to call their young mistress by this name, never +change, whatever be her age. + +I have received a packet of letters which have done me more good than the +old doctor's visits. The captain left us yesterday, and took charge of a +box of chocolate stamped with various figures, and of some curious dulces +for you. Our cards, giving the Mexicans the tardy information of our +arrival, were sent out some days ago. I copy one, that you may have a +specimen of the style, which looks for all the world like that of a shop- +advertisement, purporting that Don ----- makes wigs, dresses hair, and so +forth, while Doña ----- washes lace, and does up fine linen. + +"Don A---- C---- de la B----, Enviado Extraordinario y Ministro +Plenipotenciario de H. M. C. cerca de la Republica Mexicana; y su Esposa, +Doña F---- E---- C---- de la B----; Participan a su Llegada a este Capital +y se afrecen á su disposición, en la Plazuela de Buenavista, No. 2."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Don A---- C---- de la B----, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister +Plenipotentiary from H. C. M.; and his Lady, Doña F---- E---- C---- de la +B----; Inform you of their arrival in this capital, and put themselves at +your disposal, in the street of Buenavista, No. 2.] + +18th.--For the last few days our rooms have been filled with visitors, and +my eyes are scarcely yet accustomed to the display of diamonds, pearls, +silks, satins, blondes, and velvets, in which the ladies have paid their +first visits of etiquette. A few of the dresses I shall record for your +benefit, not as being richer than the others, but that I happen to +recollect them best.--The Marquesa de San Roman, an old lady who has +travelled a great deal in Europe, and is very distinguished for talents and +information. She has the Grand Cross of Maria Louisa of Spain, is of a +noble Venetian family, and aunt to the Duke of Canizzaro. Her dress was a +very rich black Genoa velvet, black blonde mantilla, and a very splendid +parure of diamonds. She seems in exceedingly delicate health. She and her +contemporaries are fast fading away, the last record of the days of +Viceroyalty. In their place a new race have started up, whose manners and +appearance have little of the _vieille cour_ about them; chiefly. It is +said, wives of military men, sprung from the hotbeds of the revolutions, +ignorant and full of pretensions, as _parvenus_ who have risen by chance +and not by merit must be. I continue my list after the fashion of the Court +Journal. + +Countess de S---o. Under dress of rich violet satin, gown of black blonde, +mantilla of black blonde, diamond earrings, five or six large diamond +brooches fastening the mantilla, necklace of large pearls and diamond +sevigne. The Señora S----. Dress of white satin, gown of white blonde, +white blonde mantilla, pearls, diamonds, and white satin shoes. Madame +S---r. Black velvet dress, white blonde mantilla, pearls, diamonds, short +sleeves, and white satin shoes. The Señora de A---d. Fawn-coloured satin +dress, black blonde mantilla, diamonds, and black satin shoes. + +The Señora B---a, the wife of a General, extremely rich, and who has the +handsomest house in Mexico. Dress of purple velvet, embroidered all over +with flowers of white silk, short sleeves, and embroidered corsage; white +satin shoes and has _bas à jour_; a deep flounce of Mechlin appearing below +the velvet dress, which was short. A mantilla of black blonde, fastened by +three diamond aigrettes. Diamond earrings of extraordinary size. A diamond +necklace of immense value, and beautifully set. A necklace of pear pearls, +valued at twenty thousand dollars. A diamond sévigné. A gold chain going +three times round the neck, and touching the knees. On every finger two +diamond rings, like little watches. As no other dress was equally +magnificent, with her I conclude my description, only observing that no +Mexican lady has yet paid me her first morning visit without diamonds. They +have few opportunities for displaying their jewels, so that were it not on +the occasion of some such morning visit of etiquette, the diamonds would +lie in their cases, wasting their serene rays in darkness. + +Last night an attempt was made to break into the house, but our fine little +bull-dog Hercules, a present from Señor A---d, kept his ground so well, and +barked so furiously, that the servants were awakened, even the porter, the +soundest slumberer amongst them; and the robbers escaped without doing +further mischief than inflicting a severe wound on the poor animal's paw, +which has made him for the present quite lame. + +_A propos_ to which matters, a most cruel murder, of which I have just been +hearing the particulars, was committed not very long ago in this +neighbourhood, upon Mr. M----, the Swiss consul. He was also a +leather-merchant, and one morning having sent out his porter on some +commission, a carriage drove up to the door, and three gentlemen presented +themselves to Mr. M----, requesting to speak to him on business. He begged +them to walk in, and there entered a general in uniform, a young officer, +and a monk. Mr. M---- requested to be informed of their business, when +suddenly the general, seizing hold of him, whilst the others went to secure +the door, exclaimed, "We have not come to hear about your goods, we want +your money." The poor man, astounded at perceiving the nature of his +customers, assured them he kept but little money in the house, but +proceeded instantly to open his private drawers, and empty their contents, +amounting, in fact, to a trifle of some few hundred dollars. Finding that +he had indeed no more to give them they prepared to depart, when the _monk_ +said, "We must kill him, or he will recognise us." "No," said the officers, +"leave him and come along. There is no danger." "Go on," said the monk, "I +follow;" and, turning back, stabbed the consul to the heart. The three then +re-entered the carriage, and drove off at full speed. A few minutes +afterwards the porter returning found his master bathed in blood, and +rushing out to a neighbouring gambling-house, gave the alarm. Several +gentlemen ran to his assistance, but he died in an hour after, having given +all the particulars of the dress and appearance of his murderers, and that +of their carriage. By these tokens they were soon afterwards discovered, +and by the energy of the Governor, then Count C---a, they were arrested and +hanged upon the trees in front of our house, together with the _real_ +Mexican colonel, who had kindly lent the ruffians his carriage for the +occasion. It is seldom that crime here meets with so prompt a punishment. + +Our friend, Count C---a, when Governor of Mexico, was celebrated for his +energy in "_el persiguimiento de los ladrones_," (persecuting the robbers,) +as it is called. It is said upon one occasion his zeal carried him rather +far. Various robberies having been committed in the city, he had received a +hint from the government, that the escape of the perpetrators was +considered by them as a proof that he had grown lukewarm in the public +service. A few days afterwards, riding in the streets, he perceived a +notorious robber, who, the moment he observed himself recognised, darted +down another street with the swiftness of an arrow. The governor pursued +him on horseback; the robber made all speed towards the Square, and rushed +into the sanctuary of the cathedral. The count galloped in after him, and +dragged him from his place of refuge near the altar. This violation of the +church's sanctity was, of course, severely reprimanded, but, as the +governor remarked, they could no longer accuse him of want of zeal in the +discharge of his duty. + +He took as his porter the captain of a gang of robbers, ordering him to +stand at the door, and to seize any of his former acquaintances who might +pass, his own pardon depending on his conduct in this respect. Riding out +one day to his country place with his lady, this man accompanying them as a +servant, they were overtaken by a messenger, who desired the return of the +count to the city, upon some urgent and important business. It was already +dusk, yet the count, trusting to the honour of the robber, ordered him to +conduct his lady to the hacienda; and she alone, on horseback, with this +alarming guide, performed her journey in safety. + +Before I conclude this letter, I must tell you that I received a visit this +morning from a very remarkable character, well known here by the name of +_La Guera_ (the fair) _Rodriguez_, said to have been many years ago +celebrated by Humboldt as the most beautiful woman he had seen in the whole +course of his travels. Considering the lapse of time which has passed since +that distinguished traveller visited these parts, I was almost astonished +when her card was sent up with a request for admission, and still more so +to find that in spite of years and of the furrows which it pleases Time to +plough in the loveliest faces, La Guera retains a profusion of fair curls +without one gray hair, a set of beautiful white teeth, very fine eyes, and +great vivacity. + +Her sister, the Marquesa de Juluapa, lately dead, is said to have been also +a woman of great talent and extraordinary conversational powers; she is +another of the ancient noblesse who has dropped off. The physician who +attended her in her last illness, a Frenchman of the name of Plan, in great +repute here, has sent in a bill to her executors of ten thousand dollars, +which, although it does not excite any great astonishment, the family +refuse to pay, and there is a lawsuit in consequence. The extortions of +medical men in Mexico, especially of foreign physicians, have arrived at +such a height, that a person of moderate fortune must hesitate before +putting himself into their hands.[1] A rich old lady in delicate health, +and with no particular complaint, is a surer fund for them than a silver- +mine. + +[Footnote 1: The Mexican Government has since taken this matter into +consideration, and is making regulations which render it necessary for a +medical man to possess a certain degree of knowledge, and to have resided a +specified time in the city, before he is permitted to practise; they are +also occupied in fixing a certain sum for medical attendance.] + +I found La Guera very agreeable, and a perfect living chronicle. She is +married to her third husband, and had three daughters, all celebrated +beauties; the Countess de Regla, who died in New York, and was buried in +the cathedral there; the Marquesa de Guadalupe, also dead, and the Marquesa +de A---a, now a handsome widow. We spoke of Humboldt, and talking of +herself as of a third person, she related to me all the particulars of his +first visit, and his admiration of her; that she was then very young, +though married, and the mother of two children, and that when he came to +visit her mother, she was sitting sewing in a corner where the baron did +not perceive her; until talking very earnestly on the subject of cochineal, +he inquired if he could visit a certain district where there was a +plantation of nopals. "To be sure," said La Guera from her corner; "we can +take M. de Humboldt there;" whereupon he first perceiving her, stood +amazed, and at length exclaimed, _"Valgame Dios! who is that girl?"_ +Afterwards he was constantly with her, and more captivated, it is said, by +her wit than by her beauty, considering her a sort of western Madame de +Stael; all which leads me to suspect that the grave traveller was +considerably under the influence of her fascinations, and that neither +mines nor mountains, geography nor geology, petrified shells nor +_alpenkalkstein_, had occupied him to the exclusion of a slight _stratum_ +of flirtation. It is a comfort to think that "sometimes even the great +Humboldt nods." + +One of La Guera's stories is too original to be lost. A lady of high rank +having died in Mexico, her relatives undertook to commit her to her last +resting-place, habited according to the then prevailing fashion, in her +most magnificent dress, that which she had worn at her wedding. This dress +was a wonder of luxury, even in Mexico. It was entirely composed of the +finest lace, and the flounces were made of a species of point which cost +fifty dollars a _vara_ (the Mexican yard). Its equal was unknown. It was +also ornamented and looped up at certain intervals with bows of ribbon very +richly embroidered in gold. In this dress, the Condesa de ----- was laid in +her coffin, thousands of dear friends crowding to view her beautiful +_costume de mort_, and at length she was placed in her tomb, the key of +which was intrusted to the sacristan. + +From the tomb to the opera is a very abrupt transition; nevertheless, both +have a share in this story. A company of French dancers appeared in Mexico, +a twentieth-rate ballet, and the chief danseuse was a little French damsel, +remarkable for the shortness of her robes, her coquetry, and her +astonishing pirouettes. On the night of a favourite ballet, Mademoiselle +Pauline made her _entrée_ in a succession of pirouettes, and poising on her +toe, looked round for approbation, when a sudden thrill of horror, +accompanied by a murmur of indignation, pervaded the assembly. Mademoiselle +Pauline was equipped in the very dress in which the defunct countess had +been buried! + +Lace, point flounces, gold ribbons; impossible to mistake it. Hardly had +the curtain dropped, when the little danseuse found herself surrounded by +competent authorities, questioning her as to where and how she had obtained +her dress. She replied that she had bought it at an extravagant price from +a French _modiste_ in the city. She had rifled no tomb, but honestly paid +down golden ounces, in exchange for her lawful property. To the modiste's +went the officers of justice. She also pleaded innocent. She had bought it +of a man who had brought it to her for sale, and had paid him much more +than _à poids d'or_, as indeed it was worth. By dint of further +investigation, the man was identified, and proved to be the sacristan of +San -----. Short-sighted sacristan! He was arrested and thrown into prison, +and one benefit resulted from his cupidity, since in order to avoid +throwing temptation in the way of future sacristans, it became the custom, +after the body had lain in state for some time in magnificent robes, to +substitute a plain dress previous to placing the coffin in the vault. A +poor vanity after all. + +I was told by a lady here, that on the death of her grandchild, he was not +only enveloped in rich lace, but the diamonds of three condesas and four +marquesas were collected together and put on him, necklaces, bracelets, +rings, brooches and tiaras, to the value of several hundred thousand +dollars. The street was hung with draperies, and a band of music played, +whilst he was visited by all the titled relatives of the family in his dead +splendour, poor little baby! Yet his mother mourned for him as for all her +blighted hopes, and the last scion of a noble house. Grief shows itself in +different ways; yet one might think that when it seeks consolation in +display, it must be less profound than when it shuns it. + + + + +LETTER THE TENTH + + +San Fernando--House of Perez de Galvez--A Removal--Size of the Houses--Old +Monastery--View by Sunset--Evening Visits--Mexican Etiquette--A Night-view +from the Azotea--Tacubaya--Magueys--Making of Pulque--Organos and +Nopal--Environs of Mexico--Miracle--Hacienda--View from the Countess +C---a's House--Arzobispado--Anecdote--Comparative View of Beauty--Indians +Rancheritas--Mexican Cordiality--Masses for the Dead--San Augustin--Form of +Invitation--Death of a Senator--A Mistake. + + +SAN FERNANDO, 25th February. + +We have been engaged for some time past in the disagreeable occupations, +first of finding, then of furnishing, and lastly of entering into a new +house. We were very anxious to hire that of the Marquesa de Juluapa, which +is pretty, well situated, and has a garden; but the agent, after making us +wait for his decision more than a fortnight, informed us that he had +determined to sell it. House-rent is extremely high; nothing tolerable to +be had under two thousand five hundred dollars per annum, unfurnished. +There is also an extraordinary custom of paying a sum called _traspaso_, +sometimes to the amount of fourteen thousand dollars, taking your chance of +having the money repaid you by the next person who takes the house. We next +endeavoured to procure a house not far from our present residence,--a +palace in fact, which I mentioned to you before as having been occupied at +one time by Santa Anna, and at another by the English Legation, but the +present proprietor cannot be prevailed upon to let it. It has a beautiful +garden and olive-ground, but is not a very secure abode, except with a +guard of soldiers. We at length came to the determination of taking up our +quarters here. It is a handsome new house, built by General G----, and has +the fault of being only too large. Built in a square, like all Mexican +houses, the ground-floor, which has a stone-paved court with a fountain in +the middle, contains about twenty rooms, besides outhouses, coach-house, +stables, pigeon-house, garden-house, etc. The second storey where the +principal apartments are, the first-floor being chiefly occupied by +servants, has the same number of rooms, with coal-room, wood-room, bath- +room, and water everywhere, in the court below, in the garden, and on the +azotea, which is very spacious, and where, were the house our own, we might +build a _mirador,_ and otherwise ornament it; but to build for another is +too heroic. The great defect in all these houses is their want of finish; +the great doors that will not shut properly, and the great windows down to +the ground, which in the rainy season will certainly admit water, making +these residences appear something like a cross-breed between a palace and a +barn; the splendour of the one, the discomfort of the other. I will not +inflict upon you the details of all our petty annoyances caused by +procrastinating tradesmen. Suffice it to say, that the Mexican _manana_ +(to-morrow), if properly translated, means _never_. As to prices, I +conclude we pay for being foreigners and diplomates, and will not believe +in a first experience. However, we are settled at last, and find the air +here much purer than in the heart of the city, while the maladies and +epidemics so common there, are here almost unknown. Behind this house is a +very small garden, bounded on one side by the great wall which encloses the +orchard of the old monastery of San Fernando, within whose vast precincts +only seven or eight monks now linger. It is an immense building, old and +gray, and time-worn, with church adjoining, and spacious lands appertaining +to it. At all times it is picturesque, but by moonlight or sunset it forms +a most olden-time vision. + +At that hour, standing alone in the high-walled garden when the convent +bells are tolling, and the convent itself, with its iron-barred, Gothic +windows, and its gray-green olive-trees that look so unreal and lifeless, +is tinged by the last rays of the sun, the whole seems like a vision, or a +half-remembered sketch, or a memory of romance. + +Then the sun sets behind the snow-crowned mountains with a bright fiery +red, covering their majestic sides with a rosy glow, while great black +clouds come sailing along like the wings of night; and then is the hour for +remembering that this is Mexico, and in spite of all the evils that have +fallen over it, the memory of the romantic past hovers there still. But the +dark clouds sail on, and envelop the crimson tints yet lingering and +blushing on the lofty mountains, and like monstrous night-birds brood there +in silent watch; and gradually the whole landscape--mountains and sky, +convent and olive-trees, look gray and sad, and seem to melt away in the +dim twilight. + +Then the bright moon rises and flings her silver veil over the mountains, +and lights up the plains, glittering and quivering upon the old gray +stones, and a sound of military music is heard in the distance far and +faint. And all the bells are tolling; from old San Fernando that repeats +himself like a sexagenarian; from the towers of the cathedral, from many a +distant church and convent; and above the rumbling of carriages and the hum +of the city, are heard the notes of a hymn, now rising, now falling on the +ear, as a religious procession passes along to some neighbouring temple. +But it grows late--a carriage enters the courtyard--a visit. There is no +romance here. Men and women are the same everywhere, whether enveloped in +the graceful mantilla, or wearing _Herbault's last_, whether wrapped in +Spanish cloak, or Mexican sarape, or Scottish plaid. The manners of the +ladies here are extremely kind, but Spanish etiquette and compliments are +beyond measure tiresome. After having embraced each lady who enters, +according to the fashion, which after all seems cordial, to say the least +of it, and seated the lady of most consequence on the right side of the +sofa, a point of great importance, the following dialogue is _de rigueur_. +"How are you? Are you well?" "At your service, and you?" "Without novelty +(_sin novedad_) at your service." "I am rejoiced, and how are you, Señora?" +"At your disposal, and you?" "A thousand thanks, and the Señor?" "At your +service, without novelty," etc., etc., etc. Besides, before sitting down, +there is, "Pray be seated." "Pass first, Señorita." "No, madam, pray pass +first." "_Vaya_, well, to oblige you, without further ceremony; I dislike +compliments and etiquette." And it is a fact that there is no real +etiquette but the most perfect _laíssez aller_ in the world. All these are +mere words, tokens of good will. If it is in the morning, there is the +additional question of "How have you passed the night?" And the answer, "In +your service." Even in Mexico the weather affords a legitimate opening for +a conversation battery, but this chiefly when it rains or looks dull, +which, occasioning surprise, gives rise to observation. Besides a slight +change in the degree of heat or cold which we should not observe, they +comment upon. + +The visit over, the ladies re-embrace, the lady of the house following her +guest to the top of the staircase, and again compliments are given and +received. "Madam, you know that my house is at your disposal." "A thousand +thanks, madam. Mine is at yours, and though useless, know me for your +servant, and command me in everything that you may desire." "Adieu, I hope +you may pass a good night," etc., etc., etc. At the bottom of the first +landing-place the visitors again turn round to catch the eye of the lady of +the house, and the adieus are repeated. All this, which struck me at first, +already appears quite natural, and would scarce be worth mentioning, but as +affording a contrast to our slight and indifferent manner of receiving and +taking leave of our guests. All the ladies address each other, and are +addressed by gentlemen, by their Christian names, and those who have paid +me more than one or two visits, use the same familiar mode of address to +me. Amongst women I rather like this, but it somewhat startles my ideas of +the fitness of things to hear a young man address a married woman as María, +Antonia, Anita, etc. However, things must be taken as they are meant, and +as no familiarity is intended, none should be supposed.... + +But these visitors are gone, and into the open court the consolatory moon +is shining. All clouds have passed away, and the blue sky is so blue, as to +dazzle the eyes even in the moonlight. Each star shines out bright, golden, +and distinct, and it seems a sin to sleep and to lose so lovely a night.... +But for a true night view, mount upon the Azotea, and see all Mexico +sleeping at your feet; the whole valley and the city itself floating in +moonlight; the blue vault above gemmed with stars, and the mountains all +bathed in silver, the white volcanoes seeming to join earth and sky. Here +even Salvator's genius would fail. We must evoke the ghost of Byron. The +pencil can do nothing. Poetry alone might give a faint idea of a scene so +wondrously beautiful. + +26th.--We went yesterday with Mr. M----, his wife and daughter and a padre +to visit the archbishop's palace at Tacubaya, a pretty village about four +miles from Mexico, and a favourite ride of ours in the morning. The country +round Mexico, if not always beautiful, has the merit of being original, and +on the road to Tacubaya, which goes by Chapultepec, you pass large tracts +of country, almost entirely uncultivated, though so near the city, or +covered by the mighty maguey plant, the American agave, which will flourish +on the most arid soil, and, like a fountain in a desert place, furnishes +the poorest Indian with the beverage most grateful to his palate. It seems +to be to them what the reindeer is to the Esquimaux, fitted by nature to +supply all his wants. The maguey and its produce, _pulque_, were known to +the Indians in the most ancient times, and the primitive Aztecs may have +become as intoxicated on their favourite _octli_, as they called it, as the +modern Mexicans do on their beloved pulque. + +It is not often that we see the superb flower with its colossal stem, for +the plant that is in blossom is a useless beauty. The moment the +experienced Indian becomes aware that his maguey is about to flower, he +cuts out the heart, covers it over with the side leaves of the plant, and +all the juice which should have gone to the great stem of the flower, runs +into the empty basin thus formed, into which the Indian, thrice a day, and +during several months in succession, inserts his _acojote_ or gourd, a kind +of siphon, and applying his mouth to the other end, draws off the liquor by +suction; a curious-looking process. First it is called honey-water, and is +sweet and scentless; but easily ferments when transferred to the skins or +earthen vases where it is kept. To assist in its fermentation, however, a +little old pulque, _Madre pulque_, as it is called, which has fermented for +many days, is added to it, and in twenty-four hours after it leaves the +plant, you may imbibe it in all its perfection. It is said to be the most +wholesome drink in the world, and remarkably agreeable when one has +overcome the first shock occasioned by its rancid odour. At all events, the +maguey is a source of unfailing profit, the consumption of pulque being +enormous, so that many of the richest families in the capital owe their +fortune entirely to the produce of their magueys. When the owners do not +make the pulque themselves, they frequently sell their plants to the +Indians; and a maguey, which costs a real when first planted, will, when +ready to be cut, sell for twelve or eighteen dollars; a tolerable profit, +considering that it grows in almost any soil, requires little manure, and, +unlike the vine, no very special or periodical care. They are planted in +rows like hedges, and though the individual plant is handsome, the general +effect is monotonous. Of the fibres is made an excellent strong thread +called _pita_, of which pita they make a strong brownish paper, and might +make cloth if they pleased. + +There is, however, little improvement made by the Mexicans upon the +ingenuity of their Indian ancestors, in respect to the maguey. Upon paper +made of its fibres, the ancient Mexicans painted their hieroglyphical +figures. The strong and pointed thorns which terminate the gigantic leaves, +they used as nails and pins; and amongst the abuses, not the uses of these, +the ancient sanguinary priests were in the habit of piercing their breasts +and tearing their arms with them, in acts of expiation. Besides, there is a +very strong brandy distilled from pulque, which has the advantage of +producing intoxication in an infinitely shorter period. + +Together with the maguey, grows another immense production of nature, the +_organos_, which resembles the barrels or pipes of an organ, and being +covered with prickles, the plants growing close together, and about six +feet high, makes the strongest natural fence imaginable, besides being +covered with beautiful flowers. There is also another species of cactus, +the nopal, which bears the tuna, a most refreshing fruit, but not ripe at +this season. The plant looks like a series of flat green pin-cushions +fastened together, and stuck full of diminutive needles. + +But though the environs of Mexico are flat, though there are few trees, +little cultivation, and uninhabited haciendas, and ruined churches in all +directions, still, with its beautiful climate and ever-smiling sky, the +profusion of roses and sweet-peas in the deserted gardens, the occasional +clumps of fine trees, particularly the graceful Arbold de Peru (shinum +molle, the Peruvian pepper-tree), its bending branches loaded with bunches +of coral-coloured berries, the old orchards with their blossoming +fruit-trees, the conviction that everything necessary for the use of man +can be produced with scarcely any labour, all contributes to render the +landscape one which it is impossible to pass through with indifference. + +A magnificent ash-tree (the Mexican _fresno_), the pride of Tacubaya; which +throws out its luxuriant branches, covering a large space of ground, was +pointed out to us as having a tradition attached to it. It had nearly +withered away, when the Ylustrisimo Señor Fonti, the last of the Spanish +archbishops, gave it his solemn benediction, and prayed that its vigour +might be restored. Heaven heard his prayer; new buds instantly shot forth, +and the tree has since continued to thrive luxuriantly. + +Tacubaya is a scattered village, containing some pretty country-houses, and +some old gardens with stone fountains. The word country-house must not, +however, be understood in the English acceptation of the word. The house, +which is in fact merely used as an occasional retreat during the summer +months, is generally a large empty building, with innumerable lofty rooms, +communicating with each other, and containing the scantiest possible supply +of furniture. One room will have in it a deal table and a few chairs; you +will then pass through five or six quite empty; then you will arrive at two +or three, with green painted bedsteads and a bench; the walls bare, or +ornamented with a few old pictures of Saints and Virgins, and bare floors +ornamented with nothing. To this add a kitchen and outhouses, a garden +running to waste and overrunning with flowers, with stiff stone walks and a +fountain in the middle, an orchard and an olive-ground; such are most of +the haciendas that I have yet seen. That of the Countess C---a, which seems +to be the handsomest in Tacubaya, is remarkable for commanding from its +windows one of the most beautiful views imaginable of Mexico, the volcanoes +and Chapultepec. From her azotea there is also a splendid view of the whole +valley; and as her garden is in good order, that she has an excellent +billiard-table, a piano, but above all, a most agreeable society in her own +family, and that her house is the very centre of hospitality, one may +certainly spend many pleasant hours there, without regretting the absence +of the luxurious furniture, which, in Mexico, seems entirely confined to +the town houses. The countess herself assured us that she had twice +completely furnished the house, but as, in two revolutions, everything was +thrown out of the windows and destroyed, she was resolved in future to +confine herself to _le stricte nécessaire._ We went to see a house and +garden which has fallen, in chance succession, to a poor woman, who, not +being able to occupy her unexpected inheritance, is desirous of selling it. +The garden and grounds are a deserted wilderness of sweets. We were joined +by several monks from a neighbouring convent, and with them went to visit +the archbishop's palace. _Chemin faisant_, the padre informed us that he +was formerly a merchant, a married man, and a friend of Yturbide's. He +failed, his wife died, his friend was shot, and he joined a small community +of priests who lived retired in the convent of La Profesa, which, with its +church is one of the richest in Mexico. + +The Arzobispado is a large, handsome, but deserted building, commanding the +same fine view as from the house of the countess, and with a garden and +fine olive-ground, of which the trees were brought from Europe. The garden +was filled with large double pink roses, and bunches of the +mille-fleur-rose, which are disposed in arches, a favourite custom here, +also with a profusion of sweet-peas and jessamine, and a few orange-trees. +The gardener gave us some beautiful bouquets, and we lingered here till +sunset, admiring the view. There is no point from which Mexico is seen to +such advantage. It is even a finer prospect than that from Chapultepec, +since it embraces the castle itself, one of the most striking features in +the landscape. But just as the sun sunk behind the mountains, a sudden +change took place in the weather. The wind rose, great masses of dark +clouds came driving over the sky, and the rain fell in torrents, forcing us +to make a hasty retreat to our carriages, and having omitted to take any +precautions, and this road not being particularly safe at night, we were +probably indebted for our safe return more to "good luck than good +guidance;" or, perhaps, we owed it in part to the _padre_, for the robbers +are shy at attacking either soldiers or priests, the first from fear, and +the second from awe. + +Talking of robbers and robberies, rather a fertile theme of conversation, +Señor ----- told me the other day that, in the time of a former president, +it came to pass, that a certain gentleman went to take his leave at the +palace, previous to setting off for Vera Cruz. He was received by the +president, who was alone with his aide-de-camp, General -----, and +mentioned to him in confidence that he was about to take a considerable +sum of money with him, but that it was so well concealed in the lining of a +trunk, which he described, that even if attacked by robbers, it was +impossible they should discover it, and that therefore he did not think it +necessary to take an escort with him. The next day this confidential +gentleman left Mexico, in the diligence. Not far from the gates the coach +was attacked, and, strange to say, the robbers singled out the very trunk +which contained the money, opened it, ripped up the lining, and having +possessed themselves of the sum therein concealed, peaceably departed. It +was a singular coincidence that the captain of the robbers, though somewhat +disguised, bore a striking general resemblance to the president's aide-de- +camp! These coincidences will happen.... + +My chief occupation, lately, has consisted in returning visits; and it is +certain that, according to our views of the case, there is too wide a +distinction between the full-dress style of toilet adopted by the ladies +when they pay visits, and the undress in which they receive their visitors +at home. To this there are some, nay, many exceptions, but _en masse_ this +is the case.... + +On first arriving from the United States, where an ugly woman is a phoenix, +one cannot fail to be struck at the first glance with the general absence +of beauty in Mexico. It is only by degrees that handsome faces begin to +dawn upon us; but, however, it must be remarked that beauty without colour +is apt to be less striking and to make less impression on us at first. The +brilliant complexion and fine figure of an Englishwoman strike every one. +The beauty of expression and finely-chiselled features of a Spaniard steal +upon us like a soft moonlight, while a Frenchwoman, however plain, has so +graceful a manner of saying agreeable things, so charming a tournure, such +a piquant way of managing her eyes, and even her mouth, that we think her a +beauty after half an hour's acquaintance, and even lose our admiration for +the quiet and high-bred, but less graceful _Anglaise_. The beauty of the +women here consist in superb black eyes, very fine dark hair, a beautiful +arm and hand, and small, well-made feet. The defects are, that they are +frequently too short and too fat, that their teeth are often bad, and their +complexion not the clear olive of the Spaniards, nor the glowing brown of +the Italians, but a bilious-looking yellow. Their notion of inserting the +foot into a shoe half an inch shorter, ruins the foot, and destroys their +grace in walking, and, consequently, in every movement. This fashion is, +fortunately, beginning to fall into disuse.... It is therefore evident that +when a Mexicana is endowed with white teeth and a fine complexion, when she +has not grown too fat, and when she does not torture her small foot to make +it smaller, she must be extremely handsome.... The general carelessness of +their dress in the morning is, however, another great drawback to beauty. A +woman without stays, with uncombed hair and _reboso_, had need to be very +lovely, if she retain any attraction at all. This indolence, indeed, is +going out of fashion, especially among the younger part of the community, +owing, perhaps, to their more frequent intercourse with foreigners, though +it will probably be long before the morning at home is not considered a +privileged time and place for dishabille. Notwithstanding, I have made many +visits where I have found the whole family in a perfect state of order and +neatness, but I have observed that there the fathers, and what is more +important, the mothers, had travelled in Europe, and established a new +order of things on their return. + +Upon the whole, the handsomest women here are not Mexicans, that is, not +born in the capital, but in the provinces. From Puebla, and Jalapa and Vera +Cruz, we see many distinguished by their brilliant complexions and fine +teeth, and who are taller and more graceful than those born in the city of +Mexico; precisely as in Spain, where the handsomest women in Madrid are +said to be those born out of it. + +The common Indians, whom we see every day bringing in their fruit and +vegetables to market, are, generally speaking, very plain, with an humble, +mild expression of countenance, very gentle, and wonderfully polite in +their manners to each other; but occasionally, in the lower classes, one +sees a face and form so beautiful, that we might suppose such another was +the Indian who enchanted Cortes; with eyes and hair of extraordinary +beauty, a complexion dark but glowing, with the Indian beauty of teeth like +the driven snow, together with small feet and beautifully-shaped hands and +arms, however imbrowned by sun and toil. In these cases it is more than +probable that, however Indian in her appearance, there must have been some +intermarriages in former days between her progenitors and the descendants +of the conquerors. We also occasionally observe very handsome +_Rancheritas_, wives or daughters of the farmers, riding in front of their +farm-servants on the same horse, with the white teeth and fine figures +which are preserved by the constant exercise that country women must +perforce take, whatever be their natural indolence, while the early fading +of beauty in the higher classes, the decay of teeth, and the +over-corpulency so common amongst them, are no doubt the natural +consequences of want of exercise and of injudicious food. There is no +country in the world where so much animal food is consumed, and there is no +country in the world where so little is required. The consumers are not the +Indians, who cannot afford it, but the better classes, who generally eat +meat three times a day. This, with the quantities of chile and sweetmeats, +in a climate which every one complains of as being irritating and +inflammatory, probably produces those nervous complaints which are here so +general, and for which constant hot baths are the universal and agreeable +remedy. + +In point of amiability and warmth of manner, I have met with no women who +can possibly compete with those in Mexico, and it appears to me that women +of all other countries will appear cold and stiff by comparison. To +strangers this is an unfailing charm, and it is to be hoped that whatever +advantages they may derive from their intercourse with foreigners, they may +never lose this graceful cordiality, which forms so agreeable a contrast +with English and American frigidity. + +C---n received an invitation some time ago to attend the _honras_ of the +daughter of the Marquis of S---a; that is, the celebration of mass for the +repose of her soul. M---- was observing to-day, that if this Catholic +doctrine be firmly believed, and that the prayers of the Church are indeed +availing to shorten the sufferings of those who have gone before us; to +relieve those whom we love from thousands of years of torture, it is +astonishing how the rich do not become poor, and the poor beggars, in +furtherance of this object; and that if the idea be purely human, it showed +a wonderful knowledge of human nature, on the part of the inventor, as what +source of profit could be more sure?.... + +Certainly no expense was spared on this occasion. San Augustin, in itself a +beautiful church, was fitted up with extraordinary splendour. The walls and +pillars were covered with draperies of rich crimson velvet. Innumerable wax +candles were lighted, and an invisible band of music played during the +intervals of the deep-rolling organ. All the monks of San Augustin, with +their white hoods and sandalled feet, and carrying lighted tapers, were +ranged near the altar. All the male relatives of the family, dressed in +deep mourning, occupied the high-backed chairs placed along one side of the +church, the floor of which was covered with a carpet, on which various +veiled and mourning figures were kneeling, whom I joined. The whole +service, the chanting, the solemn music, and the prayers, were very +impressive, yet more joyous than sad, perhaps from the pervading feeling +that each note, as it rose to heaven, carried some alleviation to the +spirit of the young and beloved one for whose repose they played, and +brought her nearer to the gates of the Holy City. + +She was but twenty when she died; and our first house is close to that of +the Marquis de S---a, her father, so that we were shocked to learn that she +had expired on the night of our great serenade (we, of course, not aware of +her illness), actually to the sound of that gay music, and amidst the +shouting and clapping of hands of the multitude. When the service was over +the procession passed out, every one kissing the hand of the bishop as he +went along, and we found some difficulty in making our way through the +crowds of _léperos_, who, though not allowed to enter the church on this +occasion, were swarming at the gates. Our carriage, as we returned home, +formed one of a file of at least one hundred. + +We found on our table another invitation to a very splendid mass, which is +to be performed in San Francisco, on account of the death of a friend of +ours, a senator of a distinguished family. The style of these invitations +is as follows:--A device is engraved on the paper, such as a tomb and +cypress, and below is printed, + +"Josd María A----, José G---- de la C---a, and Basilio G----, brothers and +uncle of the Senator Don Augustin T----, who died on the twenty-eighth of +last month, request you to assist at the suffrage of the funeral honours, +which, by the desire of his wife, Doña J---- A----, will be celebrated in +the church of San Francisco on the morning of the eighth of this month of +February, 1840, at nine o'clock." + +Beside this invitation, was a piece of information of a different +description: + +"General A---- and Anna R---- beg to inform you that they have contracted +matrimony, and have the honour of offering themselves to your disposal. + +"M---- Street, No. 24. Mexico, 1840." Here, as in Spain, a lady, after her +marriage, retains[1] her maiden name; and though she adds to it that of her +husband, she is more commonly known by her own. + +[Footnote 1: 664] + +From ignorance of another Mexican custom, I made rather an awkward blunder +the other day; though I must observe, in my justification, that I had +lately been in the agonies of searching for servants, and had just filled +all the necessary departments pretty much to my satisfaction. Therefore, +when the porter of the Señora de ----- brought me the compliments of his +mistress, and that she begged to inform me that she had another servant at +my disposal (_otra criada á mi disposición_), I returned for answer, that I +was greatly obliged, but had just hired a _recamerera_ (chambermaid). At +this the man, stupid as he was, opened his great eyes with a slight +expression of wonder. Fortunately, as he was turning away, I bethought me +of inquiring of the Señora's health, and his reply, that "she and the baby +were coming on very well," brought the truth suddenly before me, that the +message was merely the etiquette used on informing the friends of the +family of the birth of a child--a conviction which induced me slightly to +alter the style of my answer. _Experientia docet!_ + + + + +LETTER THE ELEVENTH + + +Calle de Tacuba--The Leap of Alvarado--The "Noche Triste"--Sale of a +Curate's Goods--Padre Leon--Leprosy--Pictures--The Annunciation--The +Alameda--Paseo de Bucarelli--The Viga--Indians in Canoes--A Murder--A +Country Fête--Visit to the Colegio Vizcaino--The Jota Arragonesa--Old +Soldiers. + +The street in which we live forms part of the Calle de Tacuba, the ancient +Tlacopan, one of the great causeways by which ancient Mexico communicated +with the continent. The other two were Tepeyayac (now Guadalupe) and +Iztapalapan, by which last the Mexican emperor and his nobles went out to +receive Cortes on his entrance to Tenochtitlan. The ancient city was +divided into four districts, and this division is still preserved, with a +change from the Indian names to those of San Pablo, San Sebastian, San +Juan, and Santa María. The streets run in the same direction as they did in +former times. The same street frequently changes its name in each division, +and this part of the Calle de Tacuba is occasionally called the "Plazuela +del Sopilote," "San Fernando," and the "Puente de Alvarado," which is the +more classic of the three, as celebrating the valour of a hero; while a +ditch, crossed by a small bridge near this, still retains the name of "el +Salto de Alvarado," in memory of the famous leap given by the valiant +Spaniard, Pedro de Alvarado, on the memorable night called the "_noche +triste_," of the 1st of July, 1520, when the Spaniards were forced to +retreat from Mexico to the mountains of Tepeyayac. + +On that "sad night," the rain falling in torrents, the moon and the stars +refusing their light, the sky covered with thick clouds, Cortes commanded +the silent march of his troops. Sandoval, the unconquerable captain, led +his vanguard; and the stern hero, Pedro de Alvarado, brought up the rear. A +bridge of wood was carried by forty soldiers, to enable the troops to pass +the ditches or canals, which must otherwise have impeded their retreat. It +is said that in choosing the night for this march Cortes was guided by the +counsels of an astrologer. + +Be that as it may, the first canal was happily passed by means of the +portable bridge. The sentinels who guarded that point were overcome; but +the noise of the struggle attracted the attention of the vigilant priests, +who in the silence of the night were keeping watch in the temple. They blew +the holy trumpets, cried to arms, and awakened the startled inhabitants +from their slumbers. + +In a moment the Spaniards were surrounded by water and by land. At the +second canal, which they had already reached, the combat was terrible. All +was confusion, wounds, groans, and death; and the canal became so choked +with dead bodies, that the rear-guard passed over them as over a bridge. We +are told that Cortes himself swam more than once over the canal, regardless +of danger, cheering on his men, giving out his orders, every blow aimed in +the direction of his voice, yet cool and intrepid as ever, in the midst of +all the clamour and confusion and darkness. But arrived at the third canal, +Alvarado finding himself alone, and surrounded by furious enemies, against +whom it was in vain for his single arm to contend, fixed his lance in the +bottom of the canal, and leaning against it, gave one spring to the +opposite shore. + +An Aztec author, and contemporary of Cortes, says that when the Indians +beheld this marvellous leap, and that their enemy was safe, they bit the +dust (_comieron tierra_); and that the children of Alvarado, who was ever +after known as "Alvarado of the leap," proved in the course of a lawsuit +before the judges of Tezcuco, by competent witnesses, the truth of this +prowess of their father. + +In a hitherto unpublished manuscript which has come to light this year, in +an annual called the "Mosaico Mexicano," there are some curious particulars +concerning the "_noche triste_." It is said that the alarm was given by an +old woman who kept a stall; and mention is made of the extraordinary valour +of a lady called María de Estrada, who performed marvellous deeds with her +sword, and who was afterwards married to Don Pedro Sanchez Farfan. It is +also said that when the Indians beheld the leap they called out, "Truly +this man is the offspring of the sun;" and that this manner of tearing up +the ground, and eating earth by handfuls, was a common Indian mode of +expressing admiration. However, Mexico is so rich in traditions, that when +I particularize this one it is only because we live on the site where the +event took place.... + +We went a few days ago to see some effects which are for sale, belonging to +a _cura_ who died lately, having heard that he has left some good paintings +amongst them. We went in the evening, and found no one but the agent (an +individual in the Daniel Lambert style), an old woman or two, and the Padre +Leon, a Jesuit, _capellan_ of the Capuchin nuns, and whose face, besides +being handsome, looks the very personification of all that is good, and +mild, and holy. What a fine study for a painter his head would be! The old +priest who died, and who had brought over various valuables from Spain, had +a sister who was a leper, and who died in the hospital of San Lazaro. This +dreadful scourge is by no means wholly unknown here; and though it is +ordained that all who are afflicted by it shall be shut up in this +hospital, I have met two persons, and one of these in society, who have the +disease. + +For this house, which is very large, the executors ask a preposterous rent. +The goods of the defunct, which were for sale, were ranged on long tables +in a very large apartment. There were virgins and saints, surplices, +candlesticks, and snuffer-trays; boxes of all sorts and sizes; an ill-set +parure of emeralds and diamonds; several good paintings, especially one of +the Annunciation. There was the death of San José, various saints, etc., +all religious subjects, as may be supposed. Two C---n bought; one I greatly +coveted. There were also two pieces of embroidered velvet, on which were +the arms of Castile, said to have been hung on a portrait of Queen Cristina +when she entered Madrid. The agent begged C----n to buy them, asking at the +same time an impossible price therefor. + +There was moreover a large box full of relics from Jerusalem, which the +padre told me could not be sold, but that I might choose whatever I liked; +so that I returned home with various Agnus Deis, crucifixes, and rosaries. +The next day a messenger from Padre Leon brought me the painting of the +Annunciation, which I had admired so much, and which is a sketch of Bayeu, +a Valencian painter, from his own painting of the Annunciation in the royal +chapel of Aranjuez; also the embroidered velvet, begging my acceptance of +both. We have since wished to show our sense of the padre's politeness, but +he will neither accept presents, nor will he visit any one but such as in +the hour of need require his spiritual services. In the house of sickness +and by the bed of death he is ever to be found, but chiefly if it is also +the abode of poverty. In the house of the rich man he rarely visits, and +then only when his presence has been requested--when he has been called in +to administer spiritual consolation to the sick or the dying. But in the +dwelling of the lowly, in the meanest and most wretched hovels, he has +never to be sought. The guardian and friend of the poor, his charities are +equally extensive and judicious.... + +Yesterday being a fête-day, the _Paseo_ was very full of carriages, and +consequently more brilliant and amusing than usual. This Paseo is the +Mexican Prado or Hyde Park, while the _Viga_ may be reckoned the Kensington +Gardens of the metropolis, only however as succeeding to the other, for +there is no walking, which in Mexico is considered wholly unfashionable; +and though a few ladies in black gowns and mantillas do occasionally +venture forth on foot very early to shop or to attend mass, the streets are +so ill kept, the pavements so narrow, the crowd so great, and the multitude +of _léperos_ in rags and blankets so annoying, that all these +inconveniences, added to the heat of the sun in the middle of the day, form +a perfect excuse for their non-appearance in the streets of Mexico. + +In the Alameda, however, which is so pretty and shady, it is very agreeable +to walk; but though I have gone there frequently in the morning, I have met +but three ladies on foot, and of these two were foreigners. After all, +every one has feet, but ladies alone have carriages, and it may be a +mixture of aristocracy and indolence which prevents the Mexican Doñas from +profaning the soles of their feet by a contact with their mother earth. + +The Paseo called _de Bucarelli_, after a viceroy of that name, is a long +and broad avenue bounded by the trees which he planted, and where there is +a large stone fountain, whose sparkling waters look cool and pleasant, +ornamented by a gilded statue of Victory. Here, every evening, but more +especially on Sundays and fête-days, which last are nearly innumerable, may +be seen two long rows of carriages filled with ladies, crowds of gentlemen +on horseback riding down the middle between these carriages, soldiers at +intervals attending to the preservation of public order, and multitudes of +common people and _léperos_, mingled with some well-dressed gentlemen on +foot. The carriages are for the most part extremely handsome--European +coaches with fine horses and odd liveries, mingled with carriages made in +the country, some in the old Mexican fashion, heavy and covered with +gilding, or a modern imitation of an English carriage, strong, but somewhat +clumsy and ill-finished. Various hackney-coaches, drawn by mules, are seen +among the finer equipages, some very tolerable, and others of extraordinary +form and dimensions, which bear tokens of having belonged in former days to +some noble Don. + +Horses, as being more showy, are more fashionable in these public +promenades than mules; but the latter animal requires less care, and is +capable of undergoing more fatigue than the horse. Most families have both +mules and horses in their stable, and for those who visit much this is +necessary. The carriages, of which the most fashionable seems to be the +_carratela_, open at the sides, with glass windows, are filled with ladies +in full toilet, without mantillas, their heads uncovered, and, generally, +_coiffees_ with flowers or jewels; but the generality being close coaches, +afford but an indistinct view of the inmates, as they pass along saluting +each other with their fingers or fan. The whole scene, on the evening of a +fête, is exceedingly brilliant, but very monotonous. The equestrians, with +their fine horses and handsome Mexican dresses, apparently take no notice +of the ladies as they pass, rarely salute them, and never venture to enter +into conversation with them. But they are well aware to whom each carriage +belongs, and consequently when it behoves them to make their horses curvet, +and otherwise show off their horsemanship to advantage. Black eyes are upon +them, and they know it. When the carriages have made two or three turns, +they draw up at different stations in a semicircle a little off the road, +and there the inmates sit and view the passers by. Occasional streams of +smoke may be seen issuing from the carriages, but chiefly, it must be +confessed, from the most old-fashioned equipages, and from the hackney- +coaches. Smoking amongst ladies in the higher classes is going very much +out of fashion, and is rarely practised openly except by elderly, or at +least by married ladies. In a secondary class, indeed, young and old inhale +the smoke of their cigaritos without hesitation, but when a custom begins +to be considered _vulgar_, it will hardly subsist another generation. +Unfeminine as it is, I do not think it looks ungraceful to see a pretty +woman smoke. + +This Paseo commands a fine view of the mountains, but I greatly prefer the +_Viga_, which now begins to be the fashionable promenade. It is bordered by +a canal shaded by trees, which leads to the _Chinampas_, and is constantly +covered with Indians in their canoes bringing in fruit and flowers and +vegetables to the Mexican market. Early in the morning it is a pretty sight +to see them in these canoes gliding along in a perfect bower of green +branches and flowers. + +Yesterday, on returning from an evening drive there, having left C---n and +several gentlemen who had dined with us, taking coffee and smoking upon the +balcony, I found that by good fortune I had escaped being witness of a +murder which took place before our door. These gentlemen had observed, for +some time, a group of persons, male and female, of the lower class, talking +and apparently amusing themselves; sometimes laughing, and at other times +disputing and giving each other blows. Suddenly, one of the number, a man, +darted out from amongst the others, and tried to escape by clambering over +the low wall which supports the arches of the aqueduct. Instantly, and +quite coolly, another man followed him, drew his knife, and stabbed him in +the back. The man fell backwards with a groan, upon which a woman of the +party, probably the murderer's wife, drew out her knife, and stabbed the +man several times to the heart, the others, meanwhile, neither speaking nor +interfering, but looking on with folded arms, and their usual placid smile +of indifference. + +At the same time, some soldiers appeared in the distance, riding down the +street; seeing which, the man and woman who had committed the murder, +endeavoured to take shelter in our house. The porter had, fortunately, +barred the doors, and the soldiers riding up, took them both into custody. +No sensation was excited by this, which is an everyday occurrence. +Yesterday I saw a dead man lying near the _Longa_ (the Exchange) and nobody +took any notice of him. "You have been engaged in a disagreeable business," +said I to Colonel -----, who had come to pay us a visit, and was still _en +grande tenue_, having just returned from the execution of one of his own +soldiers, who had stabbed a comrade. "Yes," said he, with an air of +peculiar gaiety; "we have just been shooting a little _tambour_."... We +were invited, lately, to a "día de campo" (a day in the country), a very +common amusement here, in which, without any peculiar arrangement or +etiquette, a number of people go out to some country place in the environs, +and spend the day in dancing, breakfasting, walking about, etc. This was +given at Tacubaya by Don B---o G---a, a senator, and was amusing enough. +The music consisted of a band of guitars, from which the performers, common +men, and probably self-taught, contrived to draw wonderfully good music, +and, in the intervals of dancing, played airs from the Straniera and +Puritani. The taste for music is certainly universal, the facilities +wonderful, the science nearly at zero. + +The ladies in general wore neither diamonds nor pearls, but a sort of demi- +toilet, which would have been pretty if their dresses had been longer and +their shoes not so tight. Some wore bonnets, which are considered full +dress. The E---- family, and the young Señora de C----, were beautifully +dressed. Mexican women, when they sit, have an air of great dignity, and +the most perfect repose of feature. They are always to be seen to most +advantage on their sofas, in their carriages, or in their boxes at the +theatre. + +There were immensely long tables, covered with Mexican cookery, which I +begin to get accustomed to; and a great many toasts were given and a great +quantity of champagne drank. We danced a great deal, quadrilles, waltzes +and Spanish country-dances, walked about in the garden and orchard in the +evening, and returned to dance again to the music of the indefatigable +guitars, so that it was dusk when all the carriages set off, much about the +same time, to bear each other company.... + +The following day, the Countess C---a having been kind enough to procure an +order for permission to visit the _Colegio Vizcaino_, which I was anxious +to see, we went there with a large party. This college, founded by the +gratuitous charities of Spaniards, chiefly from the province of Biscay, is +a truly splendid institution. It is an immense building of stone, in the +form of a square, on the model, they say, of the palace of Madrid, and +possesses in the highest degree that air of solidity and magnificence which +distinguishes the Mexican edifices, and which, together with the width and +regularity of the streets, the vastness of the public squares, the total +absence of all paltry ornament, the balconies with their balustrades and +window-gratings of solid iron and bronze, render Mexico, in spite of its +insufficient police, one of the noblest-looking cities in the world. The +object of this college is to provide for the education of the children of +Spaniards, especially for the descendants of Biscayans, in Mexico; a +certain number being admitted upon application to the directors. There are +female teachers in all the necessary branches, such as reading writing, +sewing, arithmetic, etc.; but besides this, there is a part of the building +with a separate entrance, where the children of the poor, of whatever +country, are educated gratis. These spend the day there, and go home in the +evening. The others are kept upon the plan of a convent, and never leave +the institution while they belong to it; but the building is so spacious +and airy, with its great galleries, and vast court and fine fountains, +garden and spacious azotea, that the children are perfectly well off. There +are _portieres_ and sisters, pretty much as in a convent; together with an +old respectable _Rectora_; and the most perfect order and cleanliness +prevails through the whole establishment. + +We first visited the poor scholars, passing through the large halls where +they sat with their teachers, divided into classes, sewing, writing, +reading, embroidering, or casting up accounts, which last accomplishment +must, I think, be sorely against the Mexican genius. One of the teachers +made a little girl present me with a hair chain which she had just +completed. Great order and decorum prevailed. Amongst the permanent +scholars in the upper part of the institution, there are some who embroider +astonishingly well--surplices, altar-hangings, in short, all the church +vestments in gold or silk. In the room where these are kept are the +confessionals for the pupils. The priests are in a separate room, and the +penitents kneel before the grating which separates the two apartments. All +the sleeping-rooms are scrupulously neat and clean, with two green painted +beds in each, and a small parlour off it, and frequently ornamented with +flowers and birds. The girls are taught to cook and iron, and make +themselves generally useful, thus being fitted to become excellent wives to +respectable men in their own rank of life. + +We visited the chapel, which is extremely rich and handsome, incrusted with +gilding, and very large. The pupils and their teachers attend mass in the +gallery above, which looks down upon the chapel and has a grating before +it. Here they have the organ, and various shrines, saints, _nacimientos_, +etc. We were afterwards shown into a great hall devoted to a different +purpose, containing at one end a small theatre for the pupils to act plays +in. All the walls of the long galleries are covered with old paintings on +holy subjects, but many of them falling to pieces from damp or want of +care. The building seems interminable, and after wandering all through it +for several hours, and visiting everything--from the garden below where +they gave me a large bunch of roses and carnations, to the azotea above, +which looks down upon every street and church and convent in Mexico--we +were not sorry to rest on the antique, high-backed chairs of a handsome +apartment, of which the walls were hung with the portraits of the different +Spanish directors of the college in an ancient court costume. Here we found +that the directors had prepared a beautiful collation for us--fruit, ices, +cakes, custards, jellies, wines, etc., in great profusion. + +Rested and refreshed, we proceeded to visit the pupils at their different +classes. At the writing-class various specimens of that polite art were +presented to us. That of the elder girls was generally bad, probably from +their having entered the college late in life. That of the younger ones was +much more tolerable. We saw some really beautiful specimens of embroidery. +Having returned to the hall where there was a piano, some of our party +began to sing and play. The Señora G---o sang an Italian air beautifully. +She is evidently a scientific musician. The Señorita H---s played one of +Herz's most difficult _combinations_ with great execution, and a pretty +girl, who is living in a convent, having been placed there by her _novio,_ +to keep her out of harm's way till he is prepared to give her his hand, +sang a duet with another young lady, which I accompanied. Both had fine +voices, but no notion of what they were singing. My friend the Señora +C---- delighted us with some of the innumerable and amusing verses of the +_Jota Arragonesa,_ which seem to have neither end nor beginning, all gay +and all untranslatable, or at least losing their point and wit when put +into an English dress. Such as + + A poor man met with a sixpence, + And for joy he gave up the ghost. + And in the troubles of death, + Even his sixpence was lost. + + ------ + + The woman who loves two at once, + Knows what is discreet and right + Since if one of her candles goes out, + Still the other remains alight, etc.... + +It is impossible to see any building of this size kept more perfectly clean +and neat; generally the case here in all establishments which are under +petticoat government. These old Spanish institutions are certainly on a +magnificent scale, though now for the most part neglected and falling to +ruin; nor has any work of great consequence been attempted since the +independence.... + +After various alarms and rumours in our house concerning robbers, some +true, some exaggerated, and some wholly false, we have at length procured +two old Spanish soldiers of the _Invalidos,_ who have taken up their +quarters downstairs, and spend their time in cleaning their guns, making +shoes, eating and sleeping, but as yet have had no occasion to prove their +valour. Perhaps the fact of there being soldiers in the house will be +sufficient to keep off the more ordinary robbers. + + + + +LETTER THE TWELFTH + + +The Viga during the Carnival--Variety of Equipages--The Millionaires--The +Monks--Masked Ball--An Alarming Sight--Medical Students--Dinner at the +Prussian Minister's--Rides on Horseback--Indian Love of Flowers--Santa +Anita--The Chinampas--Their Origin--Indians in Canoes--Song of "El Palomo" +--Fighting--The Great Lakes--The Drain of Huehuetoca--The great Market of +Tlatelolco. + + +16th March. + + +We are now in Lent in the midst of prayer, church-going, and fasting. The +carnival was not very gay, with the exception of a few public masked balls +and very brilliant _paseos_. The Viga is one of the most beautiful +promenades imaginable, though it might easily be rendered still more so; +but even as it is, with its fine shady trees and canal, along which the +lazy canoes are constantly gliding, it would be difficult, on a fine +evening, just before sunset, especially on the evening of a fête-day, to +find anywhere a prettier or more characteristic scene. Which rank of +society shows the most taste in their mode of enjoyment, must be left to +the scientific to determine; the Indians, with their flower-garlands and +guitars, lying in their canoes, and dancing and singing after their own +fashion as they glide along the water, inhaling the balmy breezes; or the +ladies, who shut up in their close carriages, promenade along in full dress +and silence for a given space of time, acknowledging by a gentle movement +of their fan, the salutations of their fair friends from the recesses of +their coaches, and seeming to dread lest the air of heaven should visit +them too roughly; though the soft breeze, laden with balm, steals over the +sleepy water, and the last rays of the sun are gilding the branches of the +trees with a broken and flickering light.... + +Then at certain intervals of time each carriage slowly draws up beside its +neighbour (as in the other paseo); the elegant _carratela_ beside the +plebeian hackney-coach; the splendid equipage of the millionaire beside the +lumbering and antique vehicle whose fashion hath now departed. There sit +the inmates in silence, as if the business of life were over, and it was +now their part to watch the busy world from the loopholes of their retreat, +and see it rolling along whilst they take their rest. The gentlemen also +draw up their prancing steeds, though not within hail of the carriages, but +they in the fresh air and under the green trees have as much advantage over +the Señoras as the wandering friar has over the cloistered nun. + +Yet enter the Viga about five o'clock, when freshly watered, and the +soldiers have taken their stand to prevent disturbance, and two long lines +of carriages are to be seen going and returning as far as the eye can +reach, and hundreds of gay plebeians are assembled on the sidewalks with +flowers and fruit and _dulces_ for sale, and innumerable equestrians in +picturesque dresses, and with spirited horses, fill up the interval between +the carriages, and the canoes are covering the canal, the Indians singing +and dancing lazily as the boats steal along, and the whole under a blue and +cloudless sky, and in that pure clear atmosphere: and could you only shut +your eyes to the one disagreeable feature in the picture, the number of +léperos busy in the exercise of their vocation, you would believe that +Mexico must be the most flourishing, most enjoyable, and most peaceful +place in the world, and moreover the wealthiest; not a republic, certainly, +for there is no well-dressed _people_; hardly a connecting link between the +blankets and the satins, the poppies and the diamonds. As for the +carriages, many would not disgrace Hyde Park, though there are some that +would send a shiver all along Bond-street; but the very contrast is +amusing, and upon the whole, both as to horses and equipages, there is much +more to admire than to criticise.... + +There, for example, is the handsome carriage of the rich -----, who has one +of the finest houses in Mexico; his wife wears a velvet turban twisted with +large pearls, and has at this moment a cigar in her mouth. She is not +pretty, but her jewels are superb. How he made his fortune, partly by +gambling, and partly by even less honourable means, let some abler +chronicler relate. Or look at this elegant _carratela_, with its glass +sides all open, giving to view a constellation of fair ones, and drawn by +handsome gray _frisones_. These ladies are remarkable as having a more +European air than most others, brighter colours, longer and simpler +dresses, and Paris bonnets. Perhaps they have been in Europe. It is +remarkable that the horses of the gentlemen all appear peculiarly +unmanageable every time they pass this carriage. Another handsome, plain +carriage, containing the family of one of the Ministers; mother and +daughters all beautiful, with Spanish eyes and dark glowing complexions, +followed close by a hackney-coach containing women with rebosos, and little +children, with their faces and fingers all bedaubed with candy.... Some of +the coachmen and footmen wear Mexican dresses, and others have liveries.... +But here come three carriages _en suite_, all with the same crimson and +gold livery, all luxurious, and all drawn by handsome white horses. It is +the President? Certainly not; it is too ostentatious. Even royalty goes in +simpler guise, when it condescends to mingle in the amusements of its +subjects. In the first carriage appear the great man himself and his +consort, rather withdrawing from the plebeian gaze. There is here much +crimson and gold, much glass and well-stuffed cushions, much comfort and +magnificence combined. Two handsome northern steeds, white and prancing, +draw this commodious equipage. The next is a splendid coach containing the +children and servants, while in the third, equally magnificent, are the +babies and nurses. By the side of the first carriage rides an elderly +gentleman, who, were his seat firmer, might be mistaken for a _picador_. He +wears a rich Mexican dress, all covered with gold embroidery; his hat with +gold rolls is stuck jauntily on one side, contrasting oddly enough with his +uneasy expression of countenance, probably caused by the inward trepidation +of which he cannot wholly repress the outward sign while managing his high- +bred steed, and with his feet pressing his silver stirrups, cautiously +touching him with a whip which has a large diamond in the handle. + +But the chief wonder of his equipment, and that which has procured him such +a retinue of little ragged and shouting boys, is his saddle. This +extraordinary piece of furniture, which cost the owner five thousand +dollars, is entirely covered with velvet, richly embossed in massive gold; +he sometimes appears with another, inlaid with pure silver. + +His whole appearance is the most singular imaginable, and the perturbation +of spirit in which he must return when it begins to grow dusk, and he +reflects at once upon his own value, and his countrymen's taste for +appropriation, must balance the enjoyment which his vanity receives from +the admiration of the little boys in the Paseo. + +Just as these millionaires pass by, an old hackney-coach in their wake, +attracts our attention, exactly the sort of quaint old vehicle in which it +sometimes pleases Lady Morgan to introduce her heroines. In it are six +figures, closely masked, their faces covered with shawls. After many +conjectures, it is impossible to guess whether they are men or women. It +_was_ impossible, but as the carriages return, the wind suddenly blows +aside the shawls of two of the party, and discloses the gowns and hoods of +the--friars! _O tempora! O Mores!_ + +There were three masked balls at the theatre, of which we only attended +one. We went about ten o'clock to a box on the pit tier, and although a +_pronunciamento_ (a fashionable term here for a revolution) was +prognosticated, we found everything very quiet and orderly, and the ball +very gay and crowded. As we came in, and were giving our tickets, a number +of masks came springing by, shrieking out our names in their unearthly +voices. Captain G----, brother of Lord -----, came to our box; also a scion +of _La jeune France_, M. de C----, who condescendingly kept his hat on +during the whole evening. In a box directly above us were the French +legation who arrived lately. Amongst the women, the dresses were for the +most part dominoes, adopted for greater concealment, as it was not +considered very creditable to be there. + +There were also several in men's attire, chiefly French modistes, generally +a most disreputable set here, and numerous men dressed as women. There were +masked Poblanas without stockings, and with very short petticoats; knights +in armour; innumerable dresses probably borrowed from the theatre, and even +more than the usual proportion of odd figures. The music was very good, and +the dancers waltzed and _galloped_, and flew round the room like furies. +There was at least no want of animation. Hundreds of masks spoke to us, but +I discovered no one. One in a domino was particularly anxious to direct my +attention to the Poblana dress, and asked me if it would have done for me +to attend a fancy ball in such a costume. Very angry at his absurdity, I +began to explain how I should have dressed, when I recollected the folly of +explaining anything to a creature whom I did not know. C---n stepped out of +the box, to walk amongst the crowd, at which various masks showed great +signs of joy, surrounding and shaking hands with him. The boxes were filled +with ladies, and the scene was very amusing. Señor M----, whose box we +occupied, ordered in cakes and wine, and about one o'clock we left the +ball-room and returned home, one of our soldiers acting as lackey.... + +I paid a visit the other day, which merits to be recorded. It was to the +rich Señora -----, whose first visit I had not yet returned. She was at +home, and I was shown into a very large drawing-room, where, to my +surprise, I found the lamps, mirrors, etc., covered with black crape, as in +cases of mourning here. I concluded that some one of the family was dead, +and that I had made a very ill-timed first visit. However I sat down, when +my eyes were instantly attracted by _something awful_, placed directly in +front of the sofa where I sat. There were six chairs ranged together, and +on these lay stretched out a figure, apparently a dead body, about six feet +long, enveloped in black cloth, the feet alone visible, from their pushing +up the cloth. Oh, horror! Here I sat, my eyes fixed upon this mysterious +apparition, and lost in conjecture as to whose body it might be. The master +of the house? He was very tall, and being in bad health might have died +suddenly. My being received, argued nothing against this, since the first +nine days after a death, the house is invariably crowded with friends and +acquaintances, and the widow, or orphan, or childless mother must receive +the condolences of all and sundry, in the midst of her first bitter sorrow. +There seems to be no idea of grief wishing for solitude. + +Pending these reflections, I sat uneasily, feeling or fancying a heavy air +in the apartment, and wishing, most sincerely, that some living person +would enter. I thought even of slipping away, but feared to give offence, +and in fact began to grow so nervous, that when the Señora de ----- entered +at length, I started up as if I had heard a pistol. She wore a coloured +muslin gown and a blue shawl; no signs of mourning! + +After the complimentary preface, I asked particularly after her husband, +keeping a side glance on the mysterious figure. He was pretty well. Her +family? Just recovered from the smallpox, after being severely ill. "Not +dangerously?" said I, hesitatingly, thinking she might have a _tall son_, +and that she alluded to the recovery of the others. "No;" but her sister's +children had been alarmingly ill. "Not _lost_ any, I hope?"--"None." Well, +so taken up was I, that conversation flagged, and I answered and asked +questions at random, until, at last, I happened to ask the lady if she were +going to the country soon. "Not to remain. But to-morrow we are going to +convey a _Santo Cristo_ (a figure of the Crucifixion) there, which has just +been made for the chapel;" glancing towards the figure; "for which reason +this room is, as you see, hung with black." I never felt so relieved in my +life, and thought of the Mysteries of Udolpho. + +The houses being so large, and the servants not drilled to announce +visitors; besides that the entresols are frequently let to other families, +it is a matter of no small difficulty for a stranger to pioneer him or +herself into the presence of the people of the house. The mistakes that I +have made! for not being aware of this fact concerning the entresols, which +are often large and handsome, and the porter having begged me to walk up, I +generally stopped at the first landing-place, and then _walked up_ to the +first door that I saw. I did walk in one morning upon two gentlemen who +seemed marvellously startled by my visit. They looked like two medical +students, and were engaged before a table, Heaven knows how; dissecting, I +imagine. I inquired for the Señora -----, which astonished them still more, +as well it might. However, they were very civil, and rushed downstairs to +call up the carriage. After that adventure I never entered a house +unaccompanied by a footman, until I had learnt my way through it. + +We had a pleasant dinner-party a few days ago at the Prussian Minister's, +and met the C---s family there. The Condesa de C---- has been a long while +in Europe, and in the best society, and is now entirely devoted to the +education of her daughters, giving them every advantage that Mexico can +afford in the way of masters, besides having at home a Spanish governess to +assist her, an excellent woman, whom they regard as a second mother. + +Though there is very little going on in Mexico at present, I amuse myself +very well; there is so much to see, and the people are so kind and +friendly. Having got riding-horses we have been making excursions all round +the country, especially early in the morning, before the sun is high, when +the air is delightfully cool and refreshing. Sometimes we go to the Viga at +six in the morning, to see the Indians bringing in their flowers and +vegetables by the canal. The profusion of sweet-peas, double poppies, +bluebottles, stock gillyflower, and roses, I never saw equalled. Each +Indian woman in her canoe looks as if seated in a floating flower-garden. +The same love of flowers distinguishes them now as in the time of Cortes; +the same which Humboldt remarked centuries afterwards. In the evening these +Indian women, in their canoes, are constantly crowned with garlands of +roses or poppies. Those who sit in the market, selling their fruit or their +vegetables, appear as if they sat in bowers formed of fresh green branches +and coloured flowers. In the poorest village church the floor is strewed +with flowers, and before the service begins fresh nosegays are brought in +and arranged upon the altar. The baby at its christening, the bride at the +altar, the dead body in its bier, are all adorned with flowers. We are told +that in the days of Cortes a bouquet of rare flowers was the most valuable +gift presented to the ambassadors who visited the court of Montezuma, and +it presents a strange anomaly, this love of flowers having existed along +with their sanguinary worship and barbarous sacrifices. + +We went the other evening on the canal, in a large canoe with an awning, as +far as the little village of Santa Anita, and saw, for the first time, the +far-famed Chinampas, or floating gardens, which have now become fixtures, +and are covered with vegetables, intermingled with flowers, with a few poor +huts beside them, occupied by the Indians, who bring these to the city for +sale. There were cauliflowers, chili, tomatoes, cabbages, and other +vegetables, but I was certainly disappointed in their beauty. They are +however curious, on account of their origin. So far back as 1245, it is +said the wandering Aztecs or Mexicans arrived first at Chapultepec, when, +being persecuted by the princes of Taltocan, they took refuge in a group of +islands to the south of the lake of Tezcuco. Falling under the yoke of the +Tezcucan kings, they abandoned their island home and fled to Tezapan, +where, as a reward for assisting the chiefs of that country in a war +against other petty princes, they received their freedom, and established +themselves in a city to which they gave the name of Mexicalsingo, from +Mejitli, their god of war--now a collection of strong barns and poor huts. +But they did not settle there, for to obey an oracle they transported +themselves from this city to the islands east of Chapultepec to the western +side of the lake of Tezcuco. An ancient tradition had long been current +amongst them, that wherever they should behold an eagle seated upon a nopal +whose roots pierced a rock, there they should found a great city. In 1325 +they beheld this sign, and on the spot, in an island in the lake, founded +the first house of God--the Teocalli, or Great Temple of Mexico. During all +their wanderings, wherever they stopped, the Aztecs cultivated the earth, +and lived upon what nature gave them. Surrounded by enemies and in the +midst of a lake where there are few fish, necessity and industry compelled +them to form floating fields and gardens on the bosom of the waters. + +They weaved together the roots of aquatic plants, intertwined with twigs +and light branches, until they had formed a foundation sufficiently strong +to support a soil formed of the earth which they drew from the bottom of +the lake; and on it they sowed their maize, their chili, and all other +plants necessary for their support. These floating gardens were about a +foot above the water, and in the form of a long square. Afterwards, in +their natural taste for flowers, they not only cultivated the useful but +the ornamental, and these small gardens multiplying were covered with +flowers and aromatic herbs, which were used in the worship of the gods, or +were sent to ornament the palace of the emperor. The Chinampas along the +canal of the Viga are no longer floating gardens, but fixed to the mainland +in the marshy grounds lying between the two great lakes of Chalco and +Tezcuco. A small trench full of water separates each garden; and though now +in this marshy land they give but a faint idea of what they may have been +when they raised their flower-crowned heads above the clear waters of the +lake, and when the Indians, in their barks, wishing to remove their +habitations, could tow along their little islands of roses, it is still a +pretty and a pleasant scene. + +We bought numerous garlands of roses and poppies from the Indian children, +both here and at Santa Anita, a little village where we landed, and as we +returned towards evening we were amused by the singing and dancing of the +Indians. One canoe came close up to ours, and kept beside it for some time. +A man was lying lazily at the bottom of the boat tingling his guitar, and +one or two women were dancing monotonously and singing at the same time to +his music. Sundry jars of pulque and earthen dishes with tortillas and +chili and pieces of _tasajo_, long festoons of dried and salted beef, +proved that the party were not without their solid comforts, in spite of +the romantic guitar and the rose and poppy garlands with which the dancing +nymphs were crowned. Amongst others they performed the _Palomo_, the Dove, +one of their most favourite dances. The music is pretty, and I send it to +you with the words, the music from ear; the words are given me by my friend +the Señora A---d, who sings all these little Indian airs in perfection. If +we may form some judgment of a people's civilization by their ballads, none +of the Mexican songs give us a very high idea of theirs. The words are +generally a tissue of absurdities, nor are there any patriotic songs which +their new-born freedom might have called forth from so musical a people. At +least I have as yet only discovered one air of which the words bear +reference to the glorious "Grito de Dolores," and which asserts in rhyme +that on account of that memorable event, the Indian was able to get as +drunk as a Christian! The translation of the Palomo is as follows: + +"What are you doing, little dove, there in the wineshop? Waiting for my +love until Tuesday, my life. A dove in flying hurt her little wing. +If you have your dove I have my little dove too. A dove in flying all her +feathers fell off. Women pay badly; not all, but some of them. Little dove +of the barracks, you will tell the drummers when they beat the retreat to +strike up the march of my loves. Little dove, what are you doing there +leaning against that wall? Waiting for my dove till he brings me something +to eat." At the end of each verse the chorus of "Palomita, palomo, palomo." + +Yet, monotonous as it is, the air is so pretty, the women sang so softly +and sleepily, the music sounded so soothingly as we glided along the water, +that I felt in a pleasant half-dreamy state of perfect contentment, and was +sorry when, arriving at the landing-place, we had to return to a carriage +and civilized life, with nothing but the garlands of flowers to remind us +of the Chinampas. + +Unfortunately these people generally end by too frequent applications to +the jarro of pulque, or what is worse to the pure spirit known by the name +of _chingturite;_ the consequence of which is, that from music and dancing +and rose-becrowning, they proceed to quarrelling and jealousy and +drunkenness, which frequently terminates in their fighting, stabbing each +other, or throwing each other into the canal. "The end crowns the work." + +Noble as this present city of Mexico is, one cannot help thinking how much +more picturesque the ancient Tenochtitlan was, and how much more fertile +its valley must have been, on account of the great lakes. Yet even in the +time of Cortes these lakes had no great depth of water, and still further +back, in the time of the Indian Emperors, navigation had been so frequently +interrupted in seasons of drought, that an aqueduct had been constructed in +order to supply the canals with water. + +After this, the Spaniards, like all new settlers, hewed down the fine trees +in this beautiful valley, both on plain and mountain, leaving the bare soil +exposed to the vertical rays of the sun. Then their well-founded dread of +inundation caused them to construct the famous _Desague_ of Huehuetoca, the +drain or subterranean conduit or channel in the mountain for drawing off +the waters of the lakes; thus leaving marshy lands or sterile plains +covered with carbonate of soda, where formerly were silver lakes covered +with canoes. This last was a necessary evil, since the Indian emperors +themselves were sensible of its necessity and had formed great works for +draining the lakes, some remains of which works still exist in the vicinity +of the Penon. The great Desague was begun in 1607, when the Marquis of +Salinas was viceroy of Mexico; and the operations were commenced with great +pomp, the viceroy assisting in person, mass being said on a portable altar, +and fifteen hundred workmen assembled, while the marquis himself began the +excavation by giving the first stroke with a spade. From 1607 to 1830, +eight millions of dollars were expended, and yet this great work was not +brought to a conclusion. However, the limits of the two lakes of Zumpango +and San Cristobal, to the north of the valley, were thus greatly reduced, +and the lake of Tezcuco, the most beautiful of all the five, no longer +received their contributions. Thus the danger of inundations has +diminished, but water and vegetation have diminished also, and the suburbs +of the city, which were formerly covered with beautiful gardens, now +present to the eye an arid expanse of efflorescent salt. The plains near +San Lazaro especially, in their arid whiteness, seem characteristic of the +unfortunate victims of leprosy enclosed in the walls of that hospital. + +We rode out the other day by the _barrio_, or ward of Santiago, which +occupies part of the ancient Tlatelolco, which once constituted a separate +state, had kings of its own, and was conquered by a Mexican monarch, who +made a communication by bridges between it and Mexico. The great market +mentioned by Cortes was held here, and its boundaries are still pointed +out, whilst the convent chapel stands on the height where Cortes erected a +battering engine, when he was besieging the Indian Venice. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTEENTH + + +Convent of San Joaquin--Mexico in the Morning--Tacuba--Carmelite Prior-- +Convent Garden--Hacienda of Los Morales--El Olivar--A _Huacamaya_-- +Humming-birds--Correspondence--Expected Consecration--Visit to the +Mineria--Botanic Garden--Arbol de las Manilas--The Museum--Equestrian +Statue--Academy of Painting and Sculpture--Disappointment. + + +Early this morning we rode to the convent of San Joaquin, belonging to +friars of the Carmelite order, passing through Tacuba, the ancient +Tlacopan, once the capital of a small kingdom, and whose monarch, +_Tetlepanquetzaltzin_ (short and convenient name), Cortes caused to be hung +on a tree for a supposed or real conspiracy. The number of carts, the +innumerable Indians loaded like beasts of burden, their women with baskets +of vegetables in their hands and children on their backs, the long strings +of _arrieros_ with their loaded mules, the droves of cattle, the flocks of +sheep, the herds of pigs, render it a work of some difficulty to make one's +way on horseback out of the gates of Mexico at an early hour of the +morning, but it must be confessed, that the whole scene is lively and +cheerful enough to make one forget that there is such a thing as care in +the world. There is an indifferent, placid smile on every face, and the +bright blue sky smiling over them all; dogs bark, and asses bray, and the +Indian, with near a mule's load on his back, drags his hat off to salute a +bevy of his bronze-coloured countrymen, nearly equally laden with himself, +and they all show their teeth and talk their liquid Indian and pass on. + +These plains of Tacuba, once the theatre of fierce and bloody conflicts, +and where, during the siege of Mexico, Alvarado of the Leap fixed his camp, +now present a very tranquil scene. Tacuba itself is now a small village of +mud huts, with some fine old trees, a few very old ruined houses, a ruined +church, and some traces of a building which--assured us had been the palace +of their last monarch; whilst others declare it to have been the site of +the Spanish encampment. + +San Joaquin, also a poor village, contains the fine convent and immense +walled garden and orchard belonging to the rich monks of the Carmelite +order. As C---n knows the prior, he sent in our names, and I was admitted +as far as the sacristy of the convent church. The prior received us with +the utmost kindness: he is a good-looking man, extremely amiable and +well-informed, and still young. The gentlemen were admitted into the +interior of the convent, which they describe as being a very large handsome +building, clean and airy, with a fine old library, chiefly composed of +theological works; to the garden, which is immensely large, and though not +much cultivated, full of flowers; and to the great orchard, celebrated for +the profusion and excellence of its fruit. There is a mirador in the garden +which can be seen from the road, and from which there is a very extensive +view. I was very anxious for admission only to the garden, and pleaded the +_manly_ appearance of my riding-hat, which would prevent all scandal were I +seen from a distance; but the complaisance of the good prior would not go +quite so far as that, so I sat in the sacristy and conversed with a good- +natured old monk with a double chin, whilst the others wandered through the +grounds. They afterwards gave us a very nice breakfast, simple but good; +fish from the lake, different preparations of eggs, _riz-ou-lait_, coffee, +and fruit. The monks did not sit down with us, nor would they partake of +anything themselves. + +We went in the evening to see a pretty hacienda called Los Morales (the +mulberry-tree) belonging to a Spaniard, which has a nice garden with a bath +in it, and where they bestowed a quantity of beautiful flowers on us. + +The other day we set off early, together with the Belgian and French +Ministers and their families, in carriages, to visit a beautiful deserted +hacienda, called _el Olivar_, belonging to the Marquis of Santiago. The +house is perfectly bare, with nothing but the walls; but the grounds are a +wilderness of tangled flowers and blossoming trees, rose-bushes, +sweet-peas, and all manner of fragrant flowers. We passed an agreeable day, +wandering about, breakfasting on the provisions brought with us, arranging +large bouquets of flowers, and firing at a mark, which must have startled +the birds in this solitary and uncultivated retreat. We had a pleasant +family dinner at the E----'s, and passed the evening at the Baron +de -----'s. The gentlemen returned late, it being the day of a diplomatic +dinner at the English Minister's. + +The Countess del V---e has just sent me a beautiful bird with the most +gorgeous plumage of the brightest scarlet and blue. It is called a +_huacamaya_, and is of the parrot species, but three times as large, being +about two feet from the beak to the tip of the tail. It is a superb +creature but very wicked, gnawing not only its own pole, but all the doors, +and committing great havoc amongst the plants, besides trying to bite every +one who approaches it. It pronounces a few words very hoarsely and +indistinctly, and has a most harsh, disagreeable cry. In fact it presumes +upon its beauty to be as unamiable as possible. + +I prefer some beautiful little humming-birds (_chupamirtos_ as they are +called here) which have been sent me, and which I am trying to preserve +alive, but I fear the cold will kill them, for though we see them +occasionally here, hanging by their beaks upon the branches of the flowers, +like large butterflies, and shaking their brilliant little wings so rapidly +that they seem to emit sparkles of coloured light; still this is not their +home; properly speaking, they belong to the _tierra caliente_. These little +birds are of a golden green and purple, and are so tame, that whilst I am +writing I have two on my shoulder and one perched on the edge of a glass, +diving out its long tongue for sugar and water. Our live stock is +considerable: we have Guinea fowls, who always remind me of old maiden +ladies in half-mourning, and whose screaming notes match those of the +huacamaya; various little green parrots; a scarlet cardinal, one hundred +and sixty pigeons in the pigeon-house, and three fierce dogs in conspicuous +situations. + +I received a very polite letter today from the Señora de Santa Anna, and as +it was enclosed in a few lines from Santa Anna himself, I send you his +_autograph_, for I doubt much whether we have seen the last of that +illustrious personage, or whether his philosophic retirement will endure +for ever. + +I have been endeavouring lately to procure permission from Señor Posada, +who is shortly to be consecrated archbishop, to visit the convents of nuns +in Mexico. Señor C---o, secretary of state, our particular friend, has been +kind enough to interest himself in the matter, though with indifferent +hopes of success. A few days ago he sent me his correspondence with Señor +Posada, who observes that the vice-queens alone had the privilege of the +_entree_, and seems to hesitate a good deal as to the advisableness of +granting a permission which might be considered a precedent for others. +However, I think he is too amiable to resist our united entreaties. I hold +out as an argument, that C---n, being the _duplicado_ of the queen herself, +my visit is equal to that of the vice-queen, which argument has at least +amused him. His consecration is fixed for the 31st of May. + +Don Pedro Fonti, the last archbishop named in the time of the Spanish +dominion, having renounced the mitre, three illustrious churchmen were +proposed to fill the vacant place: this Don Manuel Posada, Don Antonio +Campos, and Dr. Don José María de Santiago. The first was chosen by the +Mexican government, and was afterwards proclaimed in the Roman Consistory +last December, with the approbation of Gregory XVI. They are now only +waiting for the pontifical bulls, which are daily expected from Rome; and +it is said that the ceremony, which will take place in the cathedral, will +be very magnificent. + +April 3rd.--Accompanied by the--Minister, we spent yesterday in visiting +the Mineria, the Botanic Garden, the Museum, etc., all which leave a +certain disagreeable impression on the mind, since, without having the +dignity of ruins, they are fine buildings neglected. The Mineria, or School +of Mines, the work of the famous architect and sculptor Tolsa, is a +magnificent building, a palace whose fine proportions would render it +remarkable amongst the finest edifices of any European country. All is on a +great scale, its noble rows of pillars, great staircases, large apartments +and lofty roofs, but it reminds one of a golden aviary, containing a few +common sparrows. Several rich Spaniards contributed more than six hundred +thousand dollars to its construction. We were shown through the whole of +this admirable building by the director, who occupies a very handsome house +attached to it. But however learned the professors may be,--and amongst +them is the scientific Señor del Rio, now very old, but a man of great +learning and research,--the collection of minerals, the instruments and +models, are all miserable and ill kept. + +The Botanic Garden, within the palace, is a small ill-kept enclosure, where +there still remain some rare plants of the immense collection made in the +time of the Spanish government, when great progress was made in all the +natural sciences, four hundred thousand dollars having been expended in +botanical expeditions alone. Courses of botanical lectures were then given +annually by the most learned professors, and the taste for natural history +was universal. + +El Arbol de las Manitas (the tree of the small hands) was the most curious +which we saw in the garden. The flower is of a bright scarlet, in the form +of a hand, with five fingers and a thumb; and it is said that there are +only three of these trees in the republic. The gardener is an old Italian, +who came over with one of the viceroys, and though now one hundred and ten +years old, and nearly bent double, possesses all his faculties. The garden +is pretty from the age of the trees, and luxuriance of the flowers, but +melancholy as a proof of the decay of the science in Mexico. The palace +itself, now occupied by the president, formerly belonged to Cortes, and was +ceded by his descendants to the government. In exchange they received the +ground formerly occupied by the palace of the Aztec kings, and built on it +a very splendid edifice, where the state archives are kept, and where the +_Monte Pio_ (the office where money is lent on plate, jewels, etc.) now is, +the director of which is Don Francisco Tagle, whose apartments within the +building are very elegant and spacious. + +The Museum within the University, and opposite the palace, in the plaza +called del Volador, contains many rare and valuable works, many curious +Indian antiquities, but they are ill arranged. On the walls are the +portraits of the vice-kings, beginning with Hernan Cortes. We spent a long +while here examining these antiquities; but we have seen nothing in Mexico +to equal the beauty of the colossal equestrian statue in bronze of Charles +IV, placed on a pedestal of Mexican marble, which stands in the court of +the University, but formerly adorned the middle of the square. It is a +magnificent picture of sculpture, the masterpiece of Tolosa, remarkable for +the noble simplicity and purity of its style, and was made at the expense +of an ex-viceroy, the Marquis of Branciforte. We also saw the goddess of +war lying in a corner of the court, beside the stone of sacrifices, which +we had already been shown. + +To-day we have been visiting the Academy of painting and sculpture, called +the Academy of Fine Arts, of which I unfortunately recollected having read +Humboldt's brilliant account, in my forcibly prolonged studies on board the +Jason, and that he mentions its having had the most favourable influence in +forming the national taste. He tells us that every night, in these spacious +halls, well illumined by Argand lamps, hundreds of young men were +assembled, some sketching from the plaster-casts, or from life, and others +copying designs of furniture, candelabras and other bronze ornaments; and +that here all classes, colours, and races, were mingled together; the +Indian beside the white boy, and the son of the poorest mechanic beside +that of the richest lord. Teaching was gratis, and not limited to landscape +and figures, one of the principal objects being to propagate amongst the +artists a general taste for elegance and beauty of form, and to enliven the +national industry. Plaster-casts, to the amount of forty thousand dollars, +were sent out by the King of Spain, and as they possess in the academy +various colossal statues of basalt and porphyry, with Aztec hieroglyphics, +it would have been curious, as the same learned traveller remarks, to have +collected these monuments in the courtyard of the Academy, and compared the +remains of Mexican sculpture, monuments of a semi-barbarous people, with +the graceful creations of Greece and Rome. + +Let no one visit the Academy with these recollections or anticipations in +his mind.... That the simple and noble taste which distinguishes the +Mexican buildings, their perfection in the cutting and working of their +stones, the chaste ornaments of the capitals and relievoes, are owing to +the progress they made in this very Academy is no doubt the case. The +remains of these beautiful but mutilated plaster-casts, the splendid +engravings which still exist, would alone make it probable; but the present +disorder, the abandoned state of the building, the non-existence of these +excellent classes of sculpture and painting, and, above all, the low state +of the fine arts in Mexico, at the present day, are amongst the sad proofs, +if any were wanting, of the melancholy effects produced by years of civil +war and unsettled government.... + +The Holy Week is now approaching, and already Indians are to be seen +bringing in the palm-branches and the flowers for the altars, and they are +beginning to erect booths and temporary shops, and to make every +preparation for the concourse of people who will arrive next Sunday from +all the different villages and ranchoes, far and near. + + + + +LETTER THE FOURTEENTH + + +Palm Sunday--Holy Thursday--Variety of Costumes--San Francisco--Santo +Domingo--Santa Teresa--Nuns--Stone Bust--The Academy--Religious +Procession--Pilgrimage to the Churches--Santa Clara--Nun's +Voice--Orange-trees and Rose-bushes--The Cathedral Illuminated--Our Saviour +in Chains--Good Friday--The great Square towards Evening--Dresses of Men, +Women, and Children--Approach of the Host--Judas--Great +Procession--_Miserere_--The Square by Moonlight--A Lonely Walk--_Sábado de +Gloria_--Ball in Contemplation--Weekly Soirées--Embroidered Muslins--A +Tertulia at Home. + + +21st April. + + +On the morning of Palm Sunday, I went to the Cathedral, accompanied by +Mademoiselle de -----, daughter of the ----- Minister. We found it no easy +matter to make our way through the crowd; but at last, by dint of patience +and perseverance, and changing our place very often, we contrived to arrive +very near the great altar; and there we had just taken up our position, +when a disinterested man gave us a friendly hint, that as the whole +procession, with their branches, must inevitably squeeze past the spot +where we were, we should probably be crushed or suffocated; consequently we +followed him to a more convenient station, also close to the altar and +defended by the railing, where we found ourselves tolerably well off. Two +ladies, to whom he made the same proposition, and who rejected it, we +afterwards observed in a sad condition, their mantillas nearly torn off and +the palm-branches sweeping across their eyes. In a short time, the whole +cathedral presented the appearance of a forest of palm-trees, (_à la_ +Birnam wood) moved by a gentle wind; and under each tree a half-naked +Indian, his rags clinging together with wonderful pertinacity; long, +matted, dirty black hair both in men and women, bronze faces with mild +unspeaking eyes, or all with one expression of eagerness to see the +approach of the priests. Many of them had probably travelled a long way, +and the palms were from _tierra caliente_, dried and plaited into all +manner of ingenious ways. Each palm was about seven feet high, so as far to +overshadow the head of the Indian who carried it; and whenever they are +blessed, they are carried home to adorn the walls of their huts. The +priests arrived, at length, in great pomp; and also carrying +palm-branches. For four mortal hours, we remained kneeling or sitting on +the floor, and thankful we were when it was all over, and we could make our +way once more into the fresh air. From this day, during the whole week, all +business is suspended, and but one train of thought occupies all classes, +from the highest to the lowest. The peasants flock from every quarter, +shops are shut, churches are opened; and the Divine Tragedy enacted in +Syria eighteen hundred years ago, is now celebrated in land then +undiscovered, and by the descendants of nations sunk in Paganism for +centuries after that period. But amongst the lower classes, the worship is +emphatically the worship of Her who Herself predicted, "From henceforth all +nations shall call me blessed." Before her shrines, and at all hours, +thousands are kneeling. With faces expressive of the most intense love and +devotion, and with words of the most passionate adoration, they address the +mild image of the Mother of God. To the Son their feelings seem composed of +respectful pity, of humble but more distant adoration; while to the Virgin +they appear to give all their confidence, and to look up to her as to a +kind and bountiful Queen, who, dressed in her magnificent robes and +jewelled diadem, yet mourning in all the agony of her divine sorrows, has +condescended to admit the poorest beggar to participate in her woe, whilst +in her turn she shares in the afflictions of the lowly, feels for their +privations, and grants them her all-powerful intercession. + +On Holy Thursday nothing can be more picturesque than the whole appearance +of Mexico. No carriages are permitted and the ladies, being on foot, take +the opportunity of displaying all the riches of their toilet. On this day +velvets and satins are your only wear. Diamonds and pearls walk the +streets. The mantillas are white or black blonde; the shoes white or +coloured satin. The petticoats are still rather short, but it would be hard +to hide such small feet, and such still smaller shoes. "Il faut souffrir +pour être belle," but _à quoi bon être belle?_ if no one sees it. As for +me, I _ventured_ upon a lilac silk of Palmyre's, and a black mantilla. + +The whole city was filled with picturesque figures. After the higher +Señoras were to be remarked the common women, chiefly in clear white, very +stiffly starched muslins, some very richly embroidered, and the petticoat +trimmed with lace, white satin shoes, and the dresses extremely short, +which in them looks very well. A reboso is thrown over all. Amongst these +were many handsome faces, but in a still lower and more Indian class, with +their gay-coloured petticoats, the faces were sometimes beautiful, and the +figures more upright and graceful; also they invariably walk well whilst +many of the higher classes, from tight shoes and want of custom, seem to +feel pain in putting their feet to the ground. + +But none could vie with the handsome Poblana peasants in their holiday +dresses, some so rich and magnificent, that, remembering the warning of our +Ministerial friends, I am inclined to believe them more showy than +respectable. The pure Indians, with whom the churches and the whole city is +crowded, are as ugly as can be imagined; a gentle, dirty, and +much-enduring race. Still, with their babies at their backs, going along at +their usual gentle trot, they add much to the general effect of the _coup- +d'oeil_. + +We walked to San Francisco about ten o'clock, and the body of the church +being crowded, went upstairs to a private gallery with a gilded grating, +belonging to the Countess de Santiago, and here we had the advantage of +seats, besides a fine view of the whole. This church is very splendid, and +the walls were hung with canvas paintings representing different passages +of our Saviour's life; his entry into Jerusalem, the woman of Samaria at +the well, etc., which, with the palm-trees had a cool and oriental effect. + +Before the altar, which was dazzling with jewels, was a representation of +the Lord's Supper, not in painting, but in sculptured figures as large as +life, habited in the Jewish dresses. The bishops and priests were in a +blaze of gold and jewels. They were assisted during the ceremony by the +young Count of Santiago. The music was extremely good, and the whole effect +impressive. We visited several churches in the course of the day, and +continued walking until four o'clock, when we went to dine with our friends +the A---s. After dinner one of their coachmen, a handsome Mexican, in a +superb dress, all embroidered in gold, was called upstairs to dance the +_Jarabe_ to us with a country girl. The dance is monotonous, but they +acquitted themselves to perfection. + +We then continued our pilgrimage through the city, though, as the sun +had not yet set, we reserved our chief admiration until the churches +should be illuminated. One, however, we entered at sunset, which is +worthy of remark--Santo Domingo. It looked like a little Paradise, or +a story in the Arabian Nights. All the steps up the altar were covered +with pots of beautiful flowers; orange-trees, loaded with fruit and +blossom, and rose-bushes in full bloom, glasses of coloured water, and +all kinds of fruit. Cages full of birds, singing delightfully, hung from +the wall, and really fine paintings filled up the intervals. A gay +carpet covered the floor, and in front of the altar, instead of the +usual representation of the Saviour crucified, a little infant Jesús, +beautifully done in wax, was lying amidst flowers with little angels +surrounding him. Add to this, the music of Romeo and Juliet, and you may +imagine that it was more like a scene in an opera, than anything in a +church. But certainly, as the rays of the setting sun streamed in with a +rosy light through the stained windows, throwing a glow over the whole; +birds, and flowers, and fruit, paintings and angels, it was the +prettiest and most fantastic scene I ever beheld, like something +expressly got up for the benefit of children. + +We did not kneel before each altar for more than three minutes, otherwise +we should never have had time even to enter the innumerable churches which +we visited in the course of the night. We next went to Santa Teresa la +Nueva, a handsome church, belonging to a convent of strict nuns, which was +now brilliantly illuminated; and here, as in all the churches, we made our +way through the crowd with extreme difficulty. The number of _léperos_ was +astonishing, greatly exceeding that of well-dressed people. Before each +altar was a figure, dreadful in the extreme, of the Saviour, as large as +life, dressed in purple robe and crown of thorns, seated on the steps of +the altar, the blood trickling from his wounds; each person, before leaving +the church, devoutly kneeling to kiss his hands and feet. The nuns, amongst +whom is a sister of Señor A----, sung behind the grating of the gallery +above, but were not visible. + +One of the churches we visited, that of Santa Teresa, called the _Antigua_, +stands upon the site formerly occupied by the palace of the father of the +unfortunate Montezuma. It was here that the Spaniards were quartered when +they took Montezuma prisoner, and here Cortes found and appropriated the +treasures of that family. In 1830 a bust of stone was found in the yard of +the convent, which the workmen were digging up. Don Lucas Alaman, then +Minister of Exterior Relations, offered a compensation to the nuns for the +curious piece of antiquity which they gladly gave up to the government, on +whose account he acted. It is said to be the idol goddess of the Indians, +_Centeotl_, the goddess of medicine and medicinal herbs, also known by the +name of _Temaz calteci_, or the "Grandmother of the Baths." A full account +is given of her in one of the numbers of the "Mosaico Megicano," as also of +a square stone found in the same place, beautifully carved, and covered +with hieroglyphical characters. + +In the evening, towards the hour when the great procession was expected, we +went to the balconies of the Academia, which command a fine view of the +streets by which it was to pass. Till it arrived we amused ourselves by +looking over the _beaux restes_ of former days, the collections of painting +and sculpture, the fine plaster-casts that still remain, and the great +volumes of fine engravings. It was dark when the procession made its +appearance, which rendered the effect less gaudy and more striking. The +Virgin, the Saints, the Holy Trinity, the Saviour in different passages of +his life, imprisonment and crucifixion, were carried past in succession, +represented by figures magnificently dressed, placed on lofty scaffoldings +of immense weight, supported by different bodies of men. One is carried by +the coachmen, another by the aguadores (water-carriers), a third by the +cargadores (porters), a Herculean race. + +First arrived the favourite protectress of all classes, the Virgin of +Dolores, surmounted by a velvet canopy, seated on a glittering throne, +attired in her sable robes, her brow surmounted by glittering rays, and +contracted with an expression of agony; of all representations of the +Virgin, the only one which is always lovely, however rudely carved, with +that invariably beautiful face of terrible anguish. Then followed the +Saviour bearing the cross; the Saviour crucified, the Virgin supporting the +head of her dying son; the Trinity (the Holy Spirit represented by a dove); +all the apostles, from St. Peter with the keys to Judas with the money-bag; +and a long train of saints, all brilliantly illuminated and attended by an +amazing crowd of priests, monks, and laymen. However childish and +superstitious all this may seem, I doubt whether it be not as well thus to +impress certain religious truths on the minds of a people too ignorant to +understand them by any other process. By the time the last saint and angel +had vanished, the hour was advanced, and we had still to visit the +illuminated churches. Being recommended to divest ourselves of our +ornaments before wandering forth amongst the crowd, a matter of some moment +to the Señora A----, who wore all her diamonds, we left our earrings, +brooches, etc., in charge of the person who keeps the Academia, and +recommenced our pilgrimage. + +Innumerable were the churches we visited that evening; the Cathedral, La +Ensenanza, Jesús María, Santa Clara, Santa Brigida, San Hipólito, La +Encarnación, the five churches of San Francisco, etc., etc., a list without +an end, kneeling for a short space of time before each blazing altar, for +the more churches one visits, the more meritorious is the devotion. The +cathedral was the first we entered, and its magnificence struck us with +amazement. Its gold and silver and jewels, its innumerable ornaments and +holy vessels, the rich dresses of the priests, all seemed burning in almost +intolerable brightness. The high altar was the most magnificent; the +second, with its pure white marble pillars, the most imposing. + +The crowd was immense, but we made our way slowly through it to the foot of +each altar, where the people were devoutly kissing the Saviour's hand or +the hem of his garment; or beating their breasts before the mild image of +Our Lady of Grief. Each church had vied with the other in putting forth all +its splendour of jewellery, of lights, of dresses, and of music. + +In the church of Santa Clara, attached to the convent of the same name, +small but elegant, with its pillars of white marble and gold, one voice of +angelic sweetness was singing behind the grating alone, and in the midst of +a most deathlike stillness. It sounded like the notes of a nightingale in a +cage. I could have listened for hours, but our time was limited, and we set +off anew. Fortunately the evening was delightful, and the moon shining +brightly. We visited about twenty churches in succession. In all the organ +was pealing, the blaze of light overpowering, the magnificence of jewels +and crimson velvet and silver and gold dazzling, the crowd suffocating, the +incense blinding. + +The prettiest effect in every church was caused by the orange-trees and +rose-bushes, which covered the steps of the altars, up to where the +magnificence of the altar itself blazed out; and the most picturesque +effect was produced by the different orders of monks in their gowns and +hoods, either lying on their faces or standing ranged with torches like +figures carved in stone. + +In the passage leading to most of the churches was a table, at which +several ladies of the highest rank sat collecting alms for the poor. The +fair _queteuses_ had not been very successful, and that chiefly amongst the +lower classes. The fatigue was terrible, walking for so many hours on that +bad pavement with thin satin shoes, so that at length our feet seemed to +move mechanically, and we dropped on our knees before each altar like +machines touched by a spring, and rose again with no small effort. Of all +the churches we entered that night, the cathedral was the most magnificent, +but the most beautiful and tasteful was San Francisco. The crowd there was +so dense, that we were almost carried off our feet, and were obliged, in +defiance of all rule, to take the arms of our _caballeros_. Still it was +worth the trouble of making our way through it to see such a superbly +illuminated altar. It was now eleven o'clock, and the crowd were breaking +up as the churches are shut before midnight. In one corner of the middle +aisle, near the door, was the representation of a prison from which issued +a stream of soft music, and at the window was a figure of Christ in chains, +his eyes bandaged, and a Jew on each side; the chains hanging from his +hands, and clanking as if with the motion of his arms. The rush here was +immense. Numbers of people were kneeling before the window of the prison, +and kissing the chains and beating their breasts with every appearance of +contrition and devotion. This was the night before the Crucifixion, and the +last scene of the Holy Thursday. + +We reached home hardly able to stand. I never felt more dazzled, +bewildered, and sleepy; but I was wakened by finding a packet of letters +from home, which brought back my thoughts, or rather carried them away to +very different lands. + +On Good Friday, a day of sorrow and humiliation, the scene in the morning +is very different. The great sacrifice is complete--the Immortal has died a +mortal death. The ladies all issue forth in mourning, and the churches look +sad and wan after their last night's brilliancy. The heat was intense. We +went to San Francisco, again to the Tribuna of the Countess de Santiago, to +see the Adoration and Procession of the Cross, which was very fine. + +But the most beautiful and original scene was presented towards sunset in +the great square, and it is doubtful whether any other city in the world +could present a _coup-d'oeil_ of equal brilliancy. Having been offered the +_entree_ to some apartments in the palace, we took our seats on the +balconies, which commanded a view of the whole. The Plaza itself, even on +ordinary days, is a noble square, and but for its one fault, a row of shops +called the Parian, which breaks its uniformity, would be nearly unrivalled. +Every object is interesting. The eye wanders from the cathedral to the +house of Cortes (the Monte Pio), and from thence to a range of fine +buildings with lofty arcades to the west. From our elevated situation, we +could see all the different streets that branch out from the square, +covered with gay crowds pouring in that direction to see another great +procession, which was expected to pass in front of the palace. Booths +filled with refreshments, and covered with green branches and garlands of +flowers, were to be seen in all directions, surrounded by a crowd who were +quenching their thirst with orgeat, _chia_,[1] lemonade, or pulque. The +whole square, from the cathedral to the Portales, and from the Monte Pio to +the palace, was covered with thousands and tens of thousands of figures, +all in their gayest dresses, and as the sun poured his rays down upon their +gaudy colours, they looked like armies of living tulips. Here was to be +seen a group of ladies, some with black gowns and mantillas; others, now +that their church-going duty was over, equipped in velvet or satin, with +their hair dressed,--and beautiful hair they have; some leading their +children by the hand, dressed... alas! how they were dressed! Long velvet +gowns trimmed with blonde, diamond earrings, high French caps befurbelowed +with lace and flowers, or turbans with plumes of feathers. Now and then the +head of a little thing that could hardly waddle alone, might have belonged +to an English dowager-duchess in her opera-box. Some had extraordinary +bonnets, also with flowers and feathers, and as they toddled along, top +heavy, one would have thought they were little old women, till a glimpse +was caught of their lovely little brown faces and black eyes. Now and then +a little girl, simply dressed with a short frock, and long black hair +plaited down and uncovered, would trip along, a very model of grace amongst +the small caricatures. The children here are generally beautiful, their +features only too perfect and regular for the face "to fulfil the promise +of its spring." They have little colour, with swimming black or hazel eyes, +and long lashes resting on the clear pale cheek, and a perfect mass of fine +dark hair of the straight Spanish or Indian kind plaited down behind. +[Footnote 1: A drink made of the seed of the plant of that name.] + +As a contrast to the Señoras, with their over-dressed beauties, were the +poor Indian women, trotting across the square, their black hair plaited +with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen cloth wrapped about them, and a +little mahogany baby hanging behind, its face upturned to the sky, and its +head going jerking along, somehow without its neck being dislocated. The +most resigned expression on earth is that of an Indian baby. All the groups +we had seen promenading the streets the day before were here collected by +hundreds; the women of the shopkeeper class, or it may be lower, in their +smart white embroidered gowns, with their white satin shoes, and neat feet +and ankles, and rebosos or bright shawls thrown over their heads; the +peasants and countrywomen, with their short petticoats of two colours, +generally scarlet and yellow (for they are most anti-quakerish in their +attire), thin satin shoes and lace-trimmed chemises, or bronze-coloured +damsels, all crowned with flowers, strolling along with their admirers, and +tingling their light guitars. And above all, here and there a flashing +Poblana, with a dress of real value and much taste, and often with a face +and figure of extraordinary beauty, especially the figure; large and yet +_élancée_, with a bold coquettish eye, and a beautiful little brown foot, +shown off by the white satin shoe; the petticoat of her dress frequently +fringed and embroidered in real massive gold, and a reboso either shot with +gold, or a bright-coloured China crape shawl, coquettishly thrown over her +head. We saw several whose dresses could not have cost less than five +hundred dollars. + +Add to this motley crowd, men dressed _à la Mexicaine_, with their large +ornamented hats and serapes, or embroidered jackets, sauntering along, +smoking their cigars, _léperos_ in rags, Indians in blankets, officers in +uniform, priests in their shovel hats, monks of every order; Frenchmen +exercising their wit upon the passers-by; Englishmen looking cold and +philosophical; Germans gazing through their spectacles, mild and mystical; +Spaniards seeming pretty much at home, and abstaining from remarks; and it +may be conceived that the scene at least presented variety. Sometimes the +tinkling of the bell announced the approach of _Nuestro Amo_. Instantly the +whole crowd are on their knees, crossing themselves devoutly. Two men who +were fighting below the window suddenly dropped down side by side. Disputes +were hushed, flirtations arrested, and to the busy hum of voices succeeded +a profound silence. Only the rolling of the coach-wheels and the sound of +the little bell were heard. + +No sooner had it passed than the talkers and the criers recommenced with +fresh vigour. The venders of hot chestnuts and cooling beverages plied +their trade more briskly than ever. A military band struck up an air from +Semiramis: and the noise of the innumerable _matracas_ (rattles), some of +wood and some of silver, with which every one is armed during the last days +of the holy week, broke forth again as if by magic, while again commenced +the sale of the _Judases_, fireworks in the form of that arch-traitor, +which are sold on the evening of Good Friday, and let off on Saturday +morning. Hundreds of these hideous figures were held above the crowd, by +men who carried them tied together on long poles. An ugly misshapen monster +they represent the betrayer to have been. When he sold his master for +thirty pieces of silver, did he dream that in the lapse of ages his +effigies should be held up to the execration of a Mexican mob, of an +unknown people in undiscovered countries beyond the seas?--A secret +bargain, perhaps made whisperingly in a darkened chamber with the fierce +Jewish rulers; but now shouted forth in the ears of the descendants of +Montezuma and Cortes! + +But the sound of a distant hymn rose on the air, and shortly after there +appeared, advancing towards the square, a long and pompous retinue of +mitred priests, with banners and crucifixes and gorgeous imagery, +conducting a procession in which figures representing scenes concerning the +death of our Saviour, were carried by on platforms, as they were the +preceding evening. There was the Virgin in mourning at the foot of the +cross--the Virgin in glory--and more saints and more angels--St. Michael +and the dragon, etc., etc., a glittering and innumerable train. Not a sound +was heard as the figures were carried slowly onwards in their splendid +robes, lighted by thousands of tapers, which mingled their unnatural glare +with the fading light of day. + +As the _Miserere_ was to be performed in the cathedral late in the evening, +we went there, though with small hopes of making our way through the +tremendous crowd. Having at length been admitted through a private +entrance, _per favour_, we made our way into the body of the church; but +the crowd was so intolerable, that we thought of abandoning our position, +when we were seen and recognised by some of the priests, and conducted to a +railed-off enclosure near the shrine of the Virgin, with the luxury of a +Turkey carpet. Here, separated from the crowd, we sat down in peace on the +ground. The gentlemen were accommodated with high-backed chairs, beside +some ecclesiastics; for men may sit on chairs or benches in church, but +women must kneel or sit on the ground. Why? "_Quien sabe?_" (Who knows?) is +all the satisfaction I have ever obtained on that point. + + +A Lonely Walk + + +The _music_ began with a crash that wakened me out of an agreeable slumber +into which I had gradually fallen; and such discordance of instruments and +voices, such confusion worse confounded, such inharmonious harmony, never +before deafened mortal ears. The very spheres seemed out of tune, and +rolling and crashing over each other. I could have cried _Miserere!_ with +the loudest; and in the midst of all the undrilled band was a +_music-master,_ with violin-stick uplifted, rushing desperately from one to +the other, in vain endeavouring to keep time, and frightened at the clamour +he himself had been instrumental in raising, like Phaeton intrusted with +his unmanageable coursers. The noise was so great as to be really alarming; +and the heat was severe in proportion. The calm face of the Virgin seemed +to look reproachfully down. We were thankful when, at the conclusion of +this stormy appeal for mercy, we were able to make our way into the fresh +air and soft moonlight, through the confusion and squeezing at the doors, +where it was rumoured that a soldier had killed a baby with his bayonet. A +bad place for poor little babies--decidedly. + +Outside, in the square, it was cool and agreeable. A military band was +playing airs from Norma, and the womankind were sitting on the stones of +the railing, or wandering about and finishing their day's work by a quiet +flirtation _au clair de la lune_. + +It was now eleven o'clock, and the pulquerias were thrown open for the +refreshment of the faithful, and though hitherto much order had prevailed, +it was not likely to endure much longer; notwithstanding which, we had the +imprudence to walk unattended to our own house, at San Fernando. In the +centre of the city there seemed no danger. People were still walking, and a +few still drinking at the lighted booths; but when arrived at the lower +part of the Alameda, all was still, and as we walked outside, under the +long shadows of the trees, I expected every moment to be attacked, and +wished we were anywhere, even on the silvery top of Popocatepetl! We passed +several crowded pulquerias, where some were drinking and others drunk. +Arrived at the arches, we saw from time to time a suspicious blanketed +figure half hid by the shadow of the wall. A few doors from our own +domicile was a pulque-shop filled with léperos, of whom some were standing +at the door, shrouded in their blankets. It seemed to me we should never +pass them, but we walked fast, and reached our door in safety. Here we +thundered in vain. The porter was asleep, and for nearly ten minutes we +heard voices within, male and female, ineffectually endeavouring to +persuade the heavy-headed Cerberus to relinquish his keys. It would have +been a choice moment for our friends, had any of them wished to accost us; +but either they had not observed us, or perhaps they thought that C---n +walking so late must have been armed; or perhaps, more charitable +construction, they had profited by the solemnities of the day. + +We got in at last, and I felt thankful enough for shelter and safety, and +as wearied of the day's performances as you may be in reading a description +of them. + +Next morning, Sábado de Gloria, I could not persuade myself to go as far as +the Plaza, to see the Iscariots explode. At a distance we listened to the +hissing and crackling of the fireworks, the ringing of all the bells, and +the thundering of artillery; and knew by the hum of busy voices, and the +rolling of carriages, that the Holy Week was numbered with the past.... + +We hear that it is in contemplation amongst the English here, headed by +their Minister, to give a ball in the Mineria, to celebrate the Marriage of +Queen Victoria, which will be turning these splendid halls to some account. + +I have some intention of giving a series of weekly soirées, but am assured +that they will not succeed, because hitherto such parties have failed. As a +reason, is given the extravagant notions of the ladies in point of dress, +and it is said that nothing but a ball where they can wear jewels, and a +toilet therewith consistent, will please them; that a lady of high rank who +had been in Madrid, having proposed simple tertulias and white muslin +dresses, half the men in Mexico were ruined that year by the embroidered +French and India muslins bought by their wives during this reign of +simplicity; the idea of a plain white muslin, a dress worn by any _lepera_, +never having struck them as possible. Nevertheless we can but make the +attempt. + +We propose going next week to Tulansingo, where our friends the ----- have +a country place, from thence we proceed to visit the mines of Real del +Monte. + +23rd.--On Monday we gave a Tertulia, which, notwithstanding all +predictions, went off remarkably well, and consisted of nearly all the +pleasantest people in Mexico. We had music, dancing, and cards, and at +three in the morning the German cotillon was still in full vigour. Every +one was disposed to be amused, and, moreover, the young ladies were dressed +very simply; most of them in plain white muslins. There was but a small +sprinkling of diamonds, and that chiefly among the elderly part of the +community. Still it is said that the novelty alone induced them to come, +and that weekly soirées will not succeed. We shall try. Besides which, the +Lady of the ----- Minister proposes being At Home on Wednesday evenings; +the Lady of the ----- Minister takes another evening; I, a third, and we +shall see what can be effected. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTEENTH + + +Letter from the Archbishop-Visit to the +"Encarnacian"--Reception--Description--The +Novices--Convent-supper--Picturesque Scene--Sonata on the Organ--Attempt at +Robbery--Alarms of the Household--Visit to San Agustin--Anonymous +Letter--The Virgin de los Remedios--Visit to the Chapel--The Padre--The +Image--Anecdote of the large Pearl-A Mine. + + +24th. + + +The Archbishop has not only granted me permission to visit the convents, +but permits me to take two ladies along with me, of which I have been +informed by the Minister, Señor C---o, in a very amiable note just +received, enclosing one from Señor Posada, which I translate for your +edification. + + +To His Excellency, Señor Don J. de D. C---o. + +April 24th, 1842. + +My dear Friend and Companion: + +The Abbess and Nuns of the Convent of the Encarnación are now prepared to +receive the visit of our three pilgrims, next Sunday, at half-past four in +the afternoon, and should that day not suit them, let them mention what day +will be convenient. + +Afterwards we shall arrange their visit to the Concepción, Ensenanza +Antigua, and Jesús María, which are the best, and I shall let you know, and +we shall agree upon the days and hours most suitable. I remain your +affectionate friend and Capellan, + + +MANUEL POSADA. + + +Accordingly, on Sunday afternoon, we drove to the _Encarnación_, the most +splendid and richest convent in Mexico, excepting perhaps la Concepción. If +it were in any other country, I might mention the surpassing beauty of the +evening, but as except in the rainy season, which has not yet begun, the +evenings are always beautiful, the weather leaves no room for description. +The sky always blue, the air always soft, the flowers always blossoming, +the birds always singing; Thomson never could have written his "Seasons" +here. We descended at the convent gate, were admitted by the portress, and +received by several nuns, their faces closely covered with a double crape +veil. We were then led into a spacious hall, hung with handsome lustres, +and adorned with various Virgins and Saints magnificently dressed; and here +the eldest, a very dignified old lady, lifted her veil, the others +following her example, and introduced herself as the _Madre Vicaria_; +bringing us many excuses from the old abbess, who having an inflammation in +her eyes, was confined to her cell. She and another reverend mother, and a +group of elderly dames, tall, thin, and stately, then proceeded to inform +us, that the archbishop had, in person, given orders for our reception, and +that they were prepared to show us the whole establishment. + +The dress is a long robe of very fine white casimere, a thick black crape +veil, and long rosary. The dress of the novices is the same, only that the +veil is white. For the first half-hour or so, I fancied, that along with +their politeness, was mingled a good deal of restraint, caused perhaps by +the presence of a foreigner, and especially of an Englishwoman. My +companions they knew well; the Señorita having even passed some months +there. However this may have been, the feeling seemed gradually to wear +away. Kindness or curiosity triumphed; their questions became unceasing; +and before the visit was concluded, I was addressed as "_mi vida_" (my +life), by the whole establishment. Where was I born? Where had I lived? +What convents had I seen? Which did I prefer, the convents in France, or +those in Mexico? Which were largest? Which had the best garden? etc., etc. +Fortunately, I could, with truth, give the preference to their convent, as +to spaciousness and magnificence, over any I ever saw. + +The Mexican style of building is peculiarly advantageous for recluses; the +great galleries and courts affording them a constant supply of fresh air, +while the fountains sound so cheerfully, and the garden in this climate of +perpetual spring affords them such a constant source of enjoyment all the +year round, that one pities their secluded state much less here than in any +other country. + +This convent is in fact a palace. The garden, into which they led us first, +is kept in good order, with its stone walks, stone benches, and an ever- +playing and sparkling fountain. The trees were bending with fruit, and they +pulled quantities of the most beautiful flowers for us; sweet-peas and +roses, with which all gardens here abound, carnations, jasmine, and +heliotrope. It was a pretty picture to see them wandering about, or +standing in groups in this high-walled garden, while the sun was setting +behind the hills, and the noise of the city was completely excluded, +everything breathing repose and contentment. Most of the halls in the +convent are noble rooms. We visited the whole, from the refectory to the +_botica_, and admired the extreme cleanness of everything, especially of +the immense kitchen, which seems hallowed from the approach even of a +particle of dust; this circumstance is partly accounted for by the fact +that each nun has a servant, and some have two; for this is not one of the +strictest orders. The convent is rich; each novice at her entrance pays +five thousand dollars into the common stock. There are about thirty nuns +and ten novices. + +The prevailing sin in a convent generally seems to be pride; + + "The pride that apes humility;" + +and it is perhaps nearly inseparable from the conventual state. Set apart +from the rest of the world, they, from their little world, are too apt to +look down with contempt which may be mingled with envy, or modified by +pity, but must be unsuited to a true Christian spirit. + +The novices were presented to us--poor little entrapped things! who really +believe they will be let out at the end of the year if they should grow +tired, as if they would ever be permitted to grow tired! The two eldest and +most reverend ladies are sisters, thin, tall, and stately, with high noses, +and remains of beauty. They have been in the convent since they were eight +years old (which is remarkable, as sisters are rarely allowed to profess in +the same establishment), and consider _La Encarnación_ as a small piece of +heaven upon earth. There were some handsome faces amongst them, and one +whose expression and eyes were singularly lovely, but truth to say, these +were rather exceptions to the general rule. + +Having visited the whole building, and admired one virgin's blue satin and +pearls, and another's black velvet and diamonds, sleeping holy infants, +saints, paintings, shrines, and confessionals,--having even climbed up the +Azotea, which commands a magnificent view, we came at length to a large +hall, decorated with paintings and furnished with antique high-backed +arm-chairs, where a very elegant supper, lighted up and ornamented, greeted +our astonished eyes; cakes, chocolate, ices, creams, custards, tarts, +jellies, blancmangers, orange and lemonade, and other profane dainties, +ornamented with gilt paper cut into little flags, etc. I was placed in a +chair that might have served for a pope under a holy family; the +Señora ----- and the Señorita ----- on either side. The elder nuns in +stately array, occupied the other arm-chairs, and looked like statues +carved in stone. A young girl, a sort of pensionnaire, brought in a little +harp without pedals, and while we discussed cakes and ices, sung different +ballads with a good deal of taste. The elder nuns helped us to everything, +but tasted nothing themselves. The younger nuns and the novices were +grouped upon a mat a la Turque, and a more picturesque scene altogether one +could scarcely see. + +The young novices in their white robes, white veils, and black eyes, the +severe and dignified madres with their long dresses and mournful-looking +black veils and rosaries, the veiled figures occasionally flitting along +the corridor;--ourselves in contrast, with our worldly dresses and coloured +ribbons; and the great hall lighted by one immense lamp that hung from the +ceiling--I felt transported three centuries back, and half afraid that the +whole would flit away, and prove a mere vision, a waking dream. + +A gossiping old nun, who hospitably filled my plate with everything, gave +me the enclosed flag cut in gilt paper, which, together with her custards +and jellies, looked less unreal. They asked many questions in regard to +Spanish affairs, and were not to be consoled for the defeat of Don Carlos, +which they feared would be an end of the true religion in Spain. + + +Attempt at Robbery + + +After supper we proceeded upstairs to the choir (where the nuns attend +public worship, and which looks down upon the handsome convent church) to +try the organ. I was set down to a Sonata of Mozart's, the servants blowing +the bellows. It seems to me that I made more noise than music, for the +organ is very old, perhaps as old as the convent, which dates three +centuries back. However, the nuns were pleased, and after they had sung a +hymn, we returned below. I was rather sorry to leave them, and I felt as if +I could have passed some time there very contentedly; but it was near nine +o'clock, and we were obliged to take our departure; so having been embraced +very cordially by the whole community, we left the hospitable walls of the +Encarnación. + + +28th.--Last evening we were sitting at home very quietly about ten o'clock, +C---n, Monsieur de -----, of the ----- Legation, and I, when A---- rushed +into the room all dishevelled. "Come quickly, sir! Robbers are breaking +open the kitchen-door!" A succession of feminine shrieks in the distance, +added effect to her words. C---n jumped up, ran for his pistols, gave one +to Monsieur de -----, called up the soldiers, but no robbers appeared. The +kitchen-door was indeed open, and the trembling galopina attested, that +being in the kitchen alone, dimly lighted by one small lamp, three men, all +armed, had entered, and had rushed out again on hearing her give the alarm. +We somewhat doubted her assertions, but the next morning found that the men +had in fact escaped by the Azotea, a great assistance to all Mexican +depredators. At the end of this row of houses the people ran out and fired +upon them, but without effect. The house of the old Countess of S---- F---- +had been broken into, her porter wounded, report says killed, and her plate +carried off. In the mean time our soldiers watch in the kitchen, a pair of +loaded pistols adorn the table, a double-barrelled gun stands in the +corner, and a bull-dog growls in the gallery. This little passing visit to +us was probably caused by the arrival of some large boxes from London, +especially of a very fine harp and piano, both _Erard's_, which I had the +pleasure of seeing unpacked this morning, and which, in spite of jolting +and bad roads, have arrived in perfect condition.... + +Thus far I had written, it being now the evening, and I sitting alone, when +a succession of shrieks arose, even more awful than those which alarmed us +last night. At the same time the old _galopina,_ her daughter, and a French +girl who lives here, rushed shouting along the gallery; not a word they +said comprehensible, but something concerning "a robber in black, with men +at his back, who had burst open the door." At the noise the whole household +had assembled. One ran this way, one ran that. A little French +_teinturier,_ who it appeared had been paying the maids a polite visit, +seized the loaded gun; the footman took a pistol and hid himself behind the +porter; A----, like a second Joan of Arc, appeared, with a rusty sabre; the +soldiers rushed up with their bayonets; the coachman stood aloof with +nothing; the porter led up the rear, holding a large dog by the collar; but +no robber appears; and the girls are all sobbing and crying because we +doubt their having seen one. Galopina the younger shedding tears in +torrents, swears to the man. Galopina the elder, enveloped in her reboso, +swears to any number of men; and the _recamerera_ has cried herself into a +fit between fear and indignation. + +Such is the agreeable state of things about nine o'clock this evening, for +one real attempt to enter the house, invariably gives rise to a thousand +imaginary attacks and fanciful alarms.... + +After many attempts at walking, I have very nearly abandoned it, but take a +great deal of exercise both on horseback and in the carriage; which last, +on account of the ill-paved condition of the streets, affords rather more +exercise than the former. I drove out this morning in an open carriage with +the Señorita E---- to her country-house at San Agustin, the gambling +emporium. But the famous annual fête does not take place till Whitsunday, +and the pretty country villas there are at present abandoned. We walked in +the garden till the sun became insupportable. The fragrance of the roses +and jasmine was almost overpowering. There are trees of millefleur roses; +heliotrope and honeysuckle cover every pillar, and yellow jasmine trails +over everything.... + +Found on my return an anonymous letter, begging me to "beware of my cook!" +and signed _Fernandez_. Having shown it to some gentlemen who dined here, +one thought it might be a plan of the robbers to get rid of the cook, whom +they considered in their way; another, with more probability, that it was +merely a plan of the attentive Señor Fernandez to get the cook's place for +himself. + +We went lately to pay a visit to the celebrated Virgen de los Remedies, the +_Gachupina_, the Spanish patroness, and rival of Our Lady of Guadalupe. +This Virgin was brought over by Cortes, and when he displaced the Indian +idols in the great Temple of Mexico, caused them to be broken in pieces, +and the sanctuary to be purified, he solemnly placed there a crucifix and +this image of the Virgin; then kneeling before it, gave solemn thanks to +Heaven, which had permitted him thus to adore the Most High in a place so +long profaned by the most cruel idolatries. + +It is said that this image was brought to Mexico by a soldier of Cortes's +army called Villafuerte, and that the day succeeding the terrible _Noche +Triste_, it was concealed by him in the place where it was afterwards +discovered. At all events, the image disappeared, and nothing further was +known of it until, on the top of a barren and treeless mountain, in the +heart of a large maguey, she was found by a fortunate Indian. Her +restoration was joyfully hailed by the Spaniards. A church was erected on +the spot. A priest was appointed to take charge of the miraculous image. +Her fame spread abroad. Gifts of immense value were brought to her shrine. +A treasurer was appointed to take care of her jewels; a camarista to +superintend her rich wardrobe. No rich dowager died in peace until she had +bequeathed to Our Lady of Los Remedios her largest diamond, or her richest +pearl. In seasons of drought she is brought in from her dwelling in the +mountain, and carried in procession through the streets. The viceroy +himself on foot used to lead the holy train. One of the highest rank drives +the chariot in which she is seated. In succession she visits the principal +convents, and as she is carried through the cloistered precincts, the nuns +are ranged on their knees in humble adoration. Plentiful rains immediately +follow her arrival. -----, who accompanied us, has on several occasions +filled the office of her coachman, by which means he has seen the interior +of most of the convents in Mexico. It is true that there came a time when +the famous curate Hidalgo, the prime mover of the Revolution, having taken +as his standard an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a rivalry arose +between her and the Spanish Virgin; and Hidalgo having been defeated and +forced to fly, the image of the Virgen de los Remedios was conducted to +Mexico dressed as a general, and invoked as the patroness of Spain. Later +still, the Virgin herself was denounced as a Gachupina! her general's sash +boldly torn from her by the valiant General -----, who also signed her +passport, with an order for her to leave the republic. However, she was +again restored to her honours, and still retains her treasurers, her +camarista, and sanctum sanctorum. + +Being desirous of seeing this celebrated image, we set off one fine +afternoon in a carriage of -----'s, drawn by six unbroken horses, +accompanied by him and his lady, and performed four leagues of bad road in +an incredibly short space of time. The horses themselves were in an evident +state of astonishment, for after kicking and plunging, and, as they +imagined, running away, they found themselves driven much faster than they +had the slightest intention of going: so after a little while they +acknowledged, in -----'s capital coachman, _une main de maître_. + +The mountain is barren and lonely, but the view from its summit is +beautiful, commanding the whole plain. The church is old and not very +remarkable, yet a picturesque object, as it stands in its gay solitariness, +with one or two trees beside it, of which one without leaves was entirely +covered with the most brilliant scarlet flowers. Señor ----- having been the +Virgin's coachman, the Señora ----- being the daughter of her camarista, +and C---n the Minister from the land of her predilection, we were not +astonished at the distinguished reception which we met with from the +reverend padre, the guardian of the mountain. The church within is +handsome; and above the altar is a copy of the original Virgin. After we +had remained there a little while, we were admitted into the Sanctum, where +the identical Virgin of Cortes, with a large silver maguey, occupies her +splendid shrine. The priest retired and put on his robes, and then +returning, and all kneeling before the altar, he recited the _credo_. This +over, he mounted the steps, and opening the shrine where the Virgin was +encased, knelt down and removed her in his arms. He then presented her to +each of us in succession, every one kissing the hem of her satin robe. She +was afterwards replaced with the same ceremony. + +The image is a wooden doll about a foot high, holding in its arms an infant +Jesús, both faces evidently carved with a rude penknife; two holes for the +eyes and another for the mouth. This doll was dressed in blue satin and +pearls with a crown upon her head and a quantity of hair fastened on to the +crown. No Indian idol could be much uglier. As she has been a good deal +scratched and destroyed in the lapse of ages, C---n observed that he was +astonished they had not tried to restore her a little. To this the padre +replied, that the attempt had been made by several artists, each one of +whom had sickened and died. He also mentioned as one of her miracles, that +living on a solitary mountain she had never been robbed; but I fear the +good padre is somewhat _oblivious_, as this sacrilege has happened more +than once. On one occasion a crowd of léperos being collected, and the +image carried round to be kissed, one of them, affecting intense devotion, +bit off the large pearl that adorned her dress in front, and before the +theft was discovered, he had mingled with the crowd and escaped. When +reminded of the circumstance, the padre said it was true, but that the +thief was a _Frenchman_. After taking leave of the Virgin, we visited the +padre in his own old house, attached to the church, where his only +attendant, as usual among padres, is an old woman. + +We then made our way on foot down a steep hill, stopping to admire some +noble stone arches, the remains of an aqueduct built by the Spaniards for +conveying water from one mountain to the other; and with an Indian for our +guide, visited a newly-discovered, though anciently-opened mine, said to be +of silver, and which had until lately been covered with rubbish. We groped +through it, and found vaults and excavations and a deep pit of water. C---n +got some Indians to break off pieces of stone for him, which were put into +a sack and sent home for examination. We were so tired of our walk down +this steep and mountainous path, that on our return, I mounted a horse with +a man's saddle, belonging to one of the servants, and contrived to keep on, +while it climbed up the perpendicular ascent. As this seemed rather a +selfish proceeding while the others walked, I invited the Señora ----- to +mount also in front; which she did, and the path being almost +perpendicular, my head nearly touched the ground, which certainly made the +seat not over safe or easy. However, we reached the top of the mountain in +safety, though somewhat exhausted with laughing, and were driven home with +the speed of a rail-car. + + + + +LETTER THE SIXTEENTH + + +Mexico in May--Leave Mexico for Santiago--Coach of Charles X--Mexican +Travelling--General Aspect of the Country--Village of Santa Clara-- +Robbers' House--Temples of the Sun and Moon--San Juan--Mexican Posada-- +School-house--Skulls--Hard Fare--Travelling Dress--Sopayuca--Military +Administrador--Santiago--Matadors and Picadors--Evenings in the Country- +Dances--Mexican Songs--Cempoala--Plaza de Toros--Skill of the Horsemen-- +Omatusco--Accident--Tulansingo--Beautiful Garden--Mexican Dishes--Fruits-- +Horses--Games of Forfeits--Ranchera's Dress--Young Girls and their +Admirers--Verses--Knowledge of Simple Medicine--Indian Baths--Hidden +Treasures--Anecdote. + + +SANTIAGO, May 6th. + + +Before the setting in of the rainy season, we accepted of the invitation of +our friends the -----s, to visit the different haciendas, as in a short +time the roads will become nearly impassable. The country in May is perhaps +at its highest beauty, or even a little earlier, as already the great blow +of roses is nearly over; _au reste_ there are roses all the year round, +though more in December than in July. And this, by the way, is rather a +source of disappointment to the unwary traveller. He arrives in December, +and finds the gardens full of flowers. "If this be the case in December," +says he to himself, "what will it be in May?" May comes--the roses are +over, and the chief flowers in the gardens are dahlias and marigolds, our +autumnal flowers--September, and these autumnal flowers still bloom, and +with them you have mignonette and roses, and then pinks and jasmine, and +other flowers. In fact there seems to be no particular season for anything. + +The weather at present is neither warm nor cold, but colder here than in +Mexico, and when it does not rain it is lovely. Already there has been much +rain, and the torrents are so swelled, that there was some doubt as to +whether our carriages could pass them. + +Yesterday, at five in the morning we left Mexico, in a coach once the +property of Charles X. "Sic transit," etc.; and a most luxurious +travelling-carriage is that of his ex-majesty, entirely covered with +gilding, save where the lilies of France surmount the crown, (sad emblems +of the fallen dynasty!) lined with white satin with violet-coloured +binding, the satin cushions most excellently stuffed: large, commodious, +and with a movement as soft as that of a gondola. + +A Frenchman bought it on a speculation, and brought it here for sale. In +former days, from its gilded and showy appearance, it would have brought +any price; but the taste for gaudy equipages has gone by since the +introduction of foreign, and especially of English carriages; and the +present proprietor, who bought it for its intrinsic good qualities, paid +but a moderate sum for it. In this carriage, drawn by six strong horses, +with two first-rate coachmen and several outriders well-armed, we went +along at great speed. The drivers, dressed Mexican fashion, with all their +accoutrements smart and new, looked very picturesque. Jackets and trousers +of deerskin, and jackets embroidered in green, with hanging silver buttons, +the trousers also embroidered and slit up the side of the leg, trimmed with +silver buttons, and showing an under pair of unbleached linen; these, with +the postilions' boots, and great hats with gold rolls, form a dress which +would _faire fureur_, if some adventurous Mexican would venture to display +it on the streets of London. + +We left the city by the gate of Guadalupe, and passed by the great +cathedral, our road lying over the marshy plains once covered by the waters +of Lake Tezcuco. + +To the east lay the great lake, its broad waters shining like a sheet of +molten silver, and the two great volcanoes: the rising sun forming a crown +of rays on the white brow of Popocatepetl. + +To describe once for all the general aspect of the country on this side of +the valley of Mexico, suffice it to say, that there is a universal air of +dreariness, vastiness, and desolation. The country is flat, but always +enlivened by the surrounding mountains, like an uninteresting painting in a +diamond frame; and yet it is not wholly uninteresting. It has a character +peculiar to itself, great plains of maguey, with its huts with uncultivated +patches, that have once been gardens, still filled with flowers and choked +with weeds; the huts themselves, generally of mud, yet not unfrequently of +solid stone, roofless and windowless, with traces of having been fine +buildings in former days; the complete solitude, unbroken except by the +passing Indian, certainly as much in a state of savage nature as the lower +class of Mexicans were when Cortes first traversed these plains--with the +same character, gentle and cowardly, false and cunning, as weak animals are +apt to be by nature, and indolent and improvident as men are in a fine +climate; ruins everywhere--here a viceroy's country palace serving as a +tavern, where the mules stop to rest, and the drivers to drink pulque-- +there, a whole village crumbling to pieces; roofless houses, broken down +walls and arches, an old church--the remains of a convent.... For leagues +scarcely a tree to be seen; then a clump of the graceful Arbol de Peru, or +one great cypress--long strings of mules and asses, with their drivers-- +pasture-fields with cattle--then again whole tracts of maguey, as far as +the eye can reach; no roads worthy of the name, but a passage made between +fields of maguey, bordered by crumbling-down low stone walls, causing a +jolting from which not even the easy movement of Charles X's coach can save +us. But the horses go at full gallop, accustomed to go through and over +everything. + +The first village we saw was Santa Clara, to our left, lying at the foot of +some dark hills, with its white church and flat-roofed or no-roofed houses. +There being no shade, frequently not a tree for leagues, the sun and dust +very disagreeable, and became more so as the day advanced. Here it came to +pass, that, travelling rapidly over the hot and dusty plains, the wheels of +our carriage began to smoke. No house was in sight--no water within ken. It +was a case of difficulty; when suddenly ----- recollected that not far from +thence was an old rancho, a deserted farmhouse at present occupied by +robbers; and having ordered the coachman to drive to within a few hundred +yards of this house, he sent a servant on horse- back with a _medio_ +(fourpence) to bring some water, which was treating the robbers like +honourable men. The man galloped off, and shortly returned with a can full +of water, which he carried back when the fire was extinguished. + +Meanwhile we examined, as well as we could, the external appearance of the +robbers' domicile, which was an old half-ruined house, standing alone on +the plain, with no tree near it. Several men, with guns, were walking up +and down before the house--sporting-looking characters, but rather +dirty--apparently either waiting for some expected _game_, or going in +search of it. Women with rebosos, were carrying water, and walking amongst +them. There were also a number of dogs. The well-armed men who accompanied +us, and the name of -----, so well known in these parts, that once when his +carriage was surrounded by robbers, he merely mentioned who he was, and +they retreated with many apologies for their mistake, precluded all danger +of an attack; but woe to the solitary horseman or the escorted carriage +that should pass thereby! Nor, indeed, are they always in the same mood, +for Señor -----'s houses have been frequently attacked in his absence, and +his hacienda at Santiago once stood a regular siege, the robbers being at +length repulsed by the bravery of his servants. + +We set off again _au grand galop_, drivers and outriders giving, from time +to time, the most extraordinary shrieks to encourage the horses and to +amuse themselves, wild and shrill enough to frighten any civilized +quadruped. The road grew more picturesque as we advanced, and at length our +attention was arrested by the sight of the two great pyramids, which rise +to the east of the town of San Juan Teotihuacan, which are mentioned by +Humboldt, and have excited the curiosity and attention of every succeeding +traveller. The huge masses were consecrated to the sun and moon, which, in +the time of Cortes, were there represented by two vast stone idols, covered +with gold. The conquerors made use of the gold, and broke the idols in +pieces, by order of the first bishop of Mexico. Unfortunately, our time was +too limited to give them more than a passing observation. Fragments of +obsidian, in the form of knives and of arrows, with which the priests +opened the breasts of their human victims, are still to be found there; and +numerous small idols, made of baked clay, are to be seen both there and in +the plains adjoining. The Indians rather dislike to guide travellers to +these pyramids, and their reluctance to do so has increased the popular +belief of the existence of great concealed treasures near or in them. + +The whole plain on which these great pyramids stand was formerly called +Micoatl, or the Pathway of the Dead; and the hundreds of smaller pyramids +which surround the larger ones (the Temples of the Sun and Moon) are +symmetrically disposed in wide streets, forming a great burial-plain, +composed perhaps of the dust of their ancient warriors, an Aztec or Toltec +Pere-la-Chaise, or rather a roofless Westminster Abbey. So few of the +ancient _teocallis_ now remain, and these being nearly the only traces now +existing of that extraordinary race, we regretted the more not being able +to devote some time to their examination. Fanaticism and policy induced the +Spanish conquerors to destroy these heathen temples; and when we recollect +that at the time of the Reformation in civilized England, the most splendid +Catholic edifices were made level with the ground, in compliance with the +ferocious edict of John Knox, "Ding down the nests, and the rooks will fly +off," we can have little wonder or blame to bestow upon Cortes, who, in the +excitement of the siege, gave orders for the destruction of these blood- +stained sanctuaries. In the afternoon we arrived at San Juan, a pretty +village, boasting of an inn, a school-house, an avenue of fine trees, and a +stream of clear water. It is true that the inn is a Mexican posada, bearing +as much resemblance to what is generally called an inn, as an hacienda does +to an English country-house; the school-house, a room with a mud floor and +a few dirty benches, occupied by little ragged boys and girls; but the +avenue is pretty, the grass as green as emeralds, and the water crystal. We +walked out while they changed horses, of which Señor ----- had fresh relays +of his own prepared all along the road; and entered the school-house, +attracted by the noise and the invitingly open door. The master was a poor, +ragged, pale, careworn looking young man, seemingly half-dinned with the +noise, but very earnest in his work. The children, all speaking at once, +were learning to spell out of some old bills of Congress. Several moral +sentences were written on the wall in very independent orthography. C---n +having remarked to the master that they were ill-spelt, he seemed very much +astonished, and even inclined to doubt the fact. I thought it was one of +those cases where ignorance is bliss, and fear the observation may have +cost the young man a night's rest. + +A row of grinning skulls was ranged round the wall of the churchyard, and +the sexton, who gave us admittance to the church, taking up one to show it +off, it all crumbled into dust, which filled the air like a cloud. + +At the posada they gave us rancid sheep's milk, cheese, and biscuits so +hard, that C---n asked the host if they were made in the same year with the +church; at which he seemed mightily pleased, and could not stop laughing +till we got into the carriage. + +Soon after leaving San Juan we were met by the Señora de -----, in an open +carriage, coming with her children to meet us; and though she had travelled +since sunrise from her hacienda, she appeared as if freshly dressed for an +evening party; her dress, amber-coloured crape, trimmed with white blonde, +short sleeves and _decolletee_; a set of beautiful Neapolitan strawberry- +coral, set in gold, straw-coloured satin shoes, and a little China crape +shawl, embroidered in bright flowers; her hair dressed and uncovered. + +We stopped at their hacienda of Sopayuca, an old house, standing solitary +in the midst of great fields of maguey. It has a small deserted garden +adjoining, amongst whose tangled bushes a pretty little tame deer was +playing, with its half-startled look and full wild eye. We found an +excellent breakfast prepared, and here, for the first time, I conceived the +possibility of not disliking _pulque_. We visited the large buildings where +it is kept, and found it rather refreshing, with a sweet taste and a creamy +froth upon it, and with a much less decided odour than that which is sold +in Mexico. + +This hacienda is under the charge of an administrador, to whom ----- pays a +large annual sum, and whose place is by no means a sinecure, as he lives in +perpetual danger from robbers. He is captain of a troop of soldiers, and as +his life has been spent in "persecuting robbers," he is an object of +intense hatred to that free and independent body, and has some thoughts of +removing to another part of the country, where he may be more tranquil. He +gave us a terrible account of these night attacks, of the ineffectual +protection afforded him by the government, and of the nearly insuperable +difficulties thrown in the way of any attempt to bring these men to +justice. He lately told the president that he had some thoughts of joining +the robbers himself, as they were the only persons in the republic +protected by the government. The president, however, is not to blame in +this matter. He has used every endeavour to check these abuses; and +difficulties have been thrown in his way from very unexpected sources.... + +_A propos_ to which, the ----- consul told us the other day, that some time +ago, having occasion to consult Judge ----- upon an affair of importance, +he was shown into an apartment where that functionary was engaged with some +suspicious-looking individuals, or rather who were above suspicion, their +appearance plainly indicating their calling. On the table before him lay a +number of guns, swords, pistols, and all sorts of arms. The Judge requested +Monsieur de ----- to be seated, observing that he was investigating a case +of robbery committed by these persons. The robbers were seated, smoking +very much at their ease, and the Judge was enjoying the same innocent +recreation; when his cigar becoming extinguished, one of these gentlemen +taking his from his mouth, handed it to the magistrate, who relighted his +_puro_ (cigar) at it, and returned it with a polite bow. In short, they +were completely _hand in glove_. + +In the evening we reached Santiago, where we now are, about eighteen +leagues from Mexico, a large house in a wild-looking country, standing in +solitary state, with hills behind, and rocks before it, and surrounded by +great uncultivated plains and pasture-fields. Everything is _en grande_ in +this domain. There is a handsome chapel and sacristy; a plaza de toros; +hundreds of horses and mules; and between _dependientes_ and hangers-on, we +sat down, thirty or forty people, to dinner. + +7th.--The very day of our arrival, Bernardo the Matador, with his men, +arrived from Mexico, bringing their superb dresses with them, for the +purpose of giving us a country bull-fight. As an hacienda of this kind is +an immense empty house, without furniture or books, all the amusement is to +be found either out of doors, or in large parties in the house; and the +unostentatious hospitality which exists in this and some other of the old +families, is a pleasing remnant of Spanish manners and habits, now falling +into disuse, and succeeded by more pretension to refinement, and less of +either real wealth or sociability. + +In the evening here, all assemble in a large hall; the Señora de ----- +playing the piano; while the whole party, agents, dependientes, +major-domo, coachmen, matadors, picadors, and women-servants, assemble and +perform the dances of the country; _jarabes, aforrados, enanos, palomos, +zapateros,_ etc., etc. It must not be supposed that in this apparent +mingling of ranks between masters and servants, there is the slightest want +of respect on the part of the latter; on the contrary, they seem to exert +themselves, as in duty bound, for the amusement of their master and his +guests. There is nothing republican in it; no feeling of equality; as far +as I have seen, that feeling does not exist here, except between people of +the same rank. It is more like some remains of the feudal system, where the +retainers sat at the same table with their chief, but below the salt. The +dances are monotonous, with small steps and a great deal of shuffling, but +the music is rather pretty, and some of the dancers were very graceful and +agile; and if it were not invidious to make distinctions, we _might_ +particularize Bernardo the Matador, the head coachman, and a handsome +peasant-girl, with a short scarlet and yellow petticoat, and a foot and +ankle _á la Vestris_. They were all very quiet, but seemed in a state of +intense enjoyment; and some of the men accompanied the dancers on the +guitar. + +First the player strikes up in quick time, and the dancer performs a quick +movement; then the musician accompanies the music with his voice, and the +dancer goes through some slow steps. Such is the case in the _Aforrado_ or +_Lining_, a _curious nom de tendresse_, expressive, I suppose, of something +soft and well wadded. The words are as follow: + + 1. + + Aforrado de mi vida! + Come estás, como te va? + Como has pasado la noche, + No has tenido novedad? + + 2. + + Aforrado de mi vida! + Yo te quisiera cantar, + Pero mis ojos son tiernos, + Y empazaran á llorar. + + 3. + + De Guadalajara vengo, + Lideando con un soldado, + Solo por venir a ver + A mi jarabe aforrado. + + 4. + + Y vente conmigo, + Y yo te daré + Zapatos de raso + Color de café. + +Of these poetical sublimities, a translation at once literal and metrical, +would, we think, damp the spirit of a Coleridge. + + 1. + + Lining of my life! + How are you? how do you do? + How have you passed the night? + Have you met with nothing new? + + 2. + + Lining of my life! + To you I should like to sing; + But that my eyes are weak, + And tears might begin to spring. + + 3. + + From Guadalajara fighting, + With a soldier I came on, + My well-lined _sweet syrup_! + I came to see you alone. + + 4. + + And come then with me, + And I will give thee + Such fine shoes of satin, + The colour of _tea_. + +It is _coffee_, but you will excuse the poetical licence. The music married +to this "immortal verse," I have learned by ear, and shall send you. In the +"_enanos_" (the dwarfs) the dancer _makes himself little_, every time the +chorus is sung. + + 1. + + Ah! que bonitos + Son los enanos, + Los chiquititos + Y Mejicanos. + + 2. + + Sale la linda, + Sale la fea, + Sale el enano, + Con su zalea. + + 3. + + Los enanitos + Se enojaron, + Porque a las enanas + Les pellizcaron. + + +There are many more verses, but I think you will find these quite +satisfactory, "Ah! how pretty are the dwarfs, the little ones, the +Mexicans! Out comes the pretty one, out comes the ugly one, out comes the +dwarf with his jacket of skin. The little he-dwarfs were angry, because +some one pinched the she-dwarfs." There is another called the _Toro_, of +which the words are not very interesting; and the _Zapatero_, or shoemaker, +was very well danced by a gentleman who accompanied himself, at the same +time, on the guitar. + +Yesterday morning we set off in a burning sun, over a perfect Egyptian +desert, to visit the famous arches of Cempoala, a magnificent work, which +we are told had greatly excited the admiration of Mr. Poinsett when in this +country. This aqueduct, the object of whose construction was to supply +these arid plains with water, was the work of a Spanish Franciscan friar, +and has never been entirely concluded. We travelled about six leagues, and +sat there for hours, looking up at the great stone arches, which seem like +a work of giants. + +In the afternoon we all rode to the Plaza de Toros. The evening was cool, +and our horses good, the road pretty and shady, and the plaza itself a most +picturesque enclosure, surrounded by lofty trees. Chairs were placed for us +on a raised platform; and the bright green of the trees, the flashing +dresses of the _toreadors_, the roaring of the fierce bulls, the spirited +horses, the music and the cries; the Indians shouting from the trees up +which they had climbed; all formed a scene of savage grandeur, which for a +short time at least is interesting. Bernardo was dressed in blue satin and +gold; the picadors in black and silver; the others in maroon-coloured satin +and gold; all those on foot wear knee-breeches and white silk stockings, a +little black cap with ribbons, and a plait of hair streaming down behind. +The horses were generally good, and as each new adversary appeared, seemed +to participate in the enthusiasm of their riders. One bull after another +was driven in roaring, and as here they are generally fierce, and their +horns not blunted as in Mexico, it is a much more dangerous affair. The +bulls were not killed, but were sufficiently tormented. One stuck full of +arrows and fireworks, all adorned with ribbons and coloured paper, made a +sudden spring over an immensely high wall, and dashed into the woods. I +thought afterwards of this unfortunate animal, how it must have been +wandering about all night, bellowing with pain, the concealed arrows +piercing its flesh, and looking like gay ornaments; + + "So, when the watchful shepherd, from the blind, + Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind, + Distracted with her pain, she flies the woods, + Bounds o'er the lawn, and seeks the silent floods-- + With fruitless care; for still the fatal dart + Sticks in her side, and rankles in her heart." + +If the arrows had stuck too deep, and that the bull could not rub them off +against the trees, he must have bled to death. Had he remained, his fate +would have been better, for when the animal is entirely exhausted they +throw him down with a laso, and pulling out the arrows put ointment on the +wounds. + +The skill of the men is surprising; but the most curious part of the +exhibition was when a coachman of -----'s, a strong, handsome Mexican, +mounted on the back of a fierce bull, which plunged and flung himself about +as if possessed by a legion of demons, and forced the animal to gallop +round and round the arena. The bull is first caught by the laso, and thrown +on his side, struggling furiously. The man mounts while he is still on the +ground. At the same moment the laso is withdrawn, and the bull starts up, +maddened by feeling the weight of his unusual burden. The rider must +dismount in the same way, the bull being first thrown down, otherwise he +would be gored in a moment. It is terribly dangerous, for if the man were +to lose his seat, his death is nearly certain; but these Mexicans are +superb riders. A monk, who is attached to the establishment, seems an +ardent admirer of these sports, and his presence is useful, in case of a +dangerous accident occurring, which is not unfrequent. + +The amusement was suddenly interrupted by sudden darkness, and a tremendous +storm of rain and thunder, in the midst of which we mounted our horses, and +galloped home. + + +TULANSINGO----, 8th. + + +Another bull-fight last evening! It is like pulque; one makes wry faces at +it at first, and then begins to like it. One thing we soon discovered; +which was, that the bulls, if so inclined, could leap upon our platform, as +they occasionally sprang over a wall twice as high. There was a part of the +spectacle rather too horrible. The horse of one of the picadors was gored, +his side torn up by the bull's horns, and in this state, streaming with +blood, he was forced to gallop round the circle. + +We spent one day in visiting Omatusco, an hacienda belonging to the Señora +T---a, situated in the plains of Apan, and famous for the superior +excellence of its pulque. The organas, the nopal, and great fields of +maguey, constitute the chief vegetation for many miles round. The hacienda +itself, a fine large building, stands lonely and bleak in the midst of +magueys. A fine chapel, left unfinished since her husband's death, +attracted our attention by its simple architecture and unpretending +elegance. It is nearly impossible to conceive anything more lonely than a +residence here must be; or in fact in any of the haciendas situated on +these great plains of Otumha and Apan. + +This morning we set off for Tulansingo, in four carriages-and-six, +containing the whole family, ourselves, maids, and children, padre and +nursery governess; relays being placed all along the road, which we +traversed at full gallop. But in crossing some great pasture-fields, the +drivers of two of the carriages began to race; one of the horses fell and +threw the postilion; the carriage itself was overturned, and though none of +the inmates was injured, the poor _mozo_ was terribly wounded in his head +and legs. No assistance being near, he changed places with one of the men +on horseback, and was brought on slowly. + +About three in the afternoon we arrived at Tulansingo, rather an important +city in its way, and which has been the theatre of many revolutionary +events; with various streets and shops, a handsome church; alcaldes, a +prefect, etc. There appear to be some few good houses and decent families, +and clean, small shops, and there are pretty, shady walks in the environs; +and though there are also plenty of miserable dwellings and dirty people, +it is altogether rather a civilized place. The house of -----, which stands +within a courtyard, and is the house par excellence, is very handsome, with +little furniture, but with some remnants of luxury. The dining-hall is a +noble room, with beautiful Chinese paper, opening into a garden, which is +the boast of the republic, and is indeed singularly pretty, and kept in +beautiful order, with gravel walks and fine trees, clear tanks and +sparkling fountains, and an extraordinary profusion of the most beautiful +flowers, roses especially. There is something extremely oriental in its +appearance, and the fountains are ornamented with China vases and Chinese +figures of great value. Walking along under arches formed by rose-bushes, a +small column of water spouted forth from each bush, sprinkling us all over +with its showers. But the prettiest thing in the garden is a great tank of +clear water, enclosed on three sides by a Chinese building, round which +runs a piazza with stone pillars, shaded by a drapery of white curtains. +Comfortable well-cushioned sofas are arranged along the piazza, which opens +into a large room, where one may dress after bathing. It is the prettiest +and coolest retreat possible, and entirely surrounded by trees and roses. +Here one may lie at noonday, with the sun and the world completely shut +out. They call this an English garden, than which it rather resembles the +summer retreat of a sultan. + +When we arrived, we found dinner laid for forty persons, and the table +ornamented by the taste of the gardener, with pyramids of beautiful +flowers. + +I have now formed acquaintance with many Mexican dishes; _mole_ (meat +stewed in red chile), boiled nopal, fried bananas, green chile, etc. Then +we invariably have _frijoles_ (brown beans stewed), hot tortillas--and this +being in the country, pulque is the universal beverage. In Mexico, +tortillas and pulque are considered unfashionable, though both are to be +met with occasionally, in some of the best old houses. They have here a +most delicious species of cream cheese made by the Indians, and ate with +virgin honey. I believe there is an intermixture of goats' milk in it; but +the Indian families who make it, and who have been offered large sums for +the receipt, find it more profitable to keep their secret. + +Every dinner has _puchero_ immediately following the soup; consisting of +boiled mutton, beef, bacon, fowls, garbanzos (a white bean), small gourds, +potatoes, boiled pears, greens, and any other vegetables; a piece of each +put on your plate at the same time, and accompanied by a sauce of herbs or +tomatoes. + +As for fruits, we have mameys, chirimoyas, granaditas, white and black +zapotes; the black, sweet, with a green skin and black pulp, and with black +stones in it; the white resembling it in outward appearance and form, but +with a white pulp, and the kernel, which is said to be poisonous, is very +large, round, and white. It belongs to a larger and more leafy tree than +the black zapote, and grows in cold or temperate climates; whereas the +other is a native of _tierra caliente_. Then there is the chicozapote, of +the same family, with a whitish skin, and a white or rose-tinged pulp; this +also belongs to the warm regions. The capulin, or Mexican cherry; the +mango, of which the best come from Orizaba and Cordova; the cayote, etc. Of +these I prefer the chirimoya, zapote blanco, granadita, and mango; but this +is a matter of taste. + +12th.--We have spent some days here very pleasantly; riding amongst the +hills in the neighbourhood, exploring caves, viewing waterfalls, and +climbing on foot or on horseback, wherever foot or horse could penetrate. +No habits to be worn in these parts, as I found from experience, after +being caught upon a gigantic maguey, and my gown torn in two. It is +certainly always the wisest plan to adopt the customs of the country one +lives in. A dress either of stuff, such as merino, or of muslin, as short +as it is usually worn, a reboso tied over one shoulder, and a large straw +hat, is about the most convenient costume that can be adopted. The horses +are small, but strong, spirited, and well-made; generally unshod, which +they say makes the motion more agreeable; and almost all, at least all +ladies' horses, are taught the _paso_, which I find tiresome for a +continuance, though a good paso-horse will keep up with others that gallop, +and for a longer time. + +The great amusement here in the evening is playing at _juegos de prendas_, +games with forfeits, which I recommend to all who wish to make a rapid +improvement in the Spanish tongue. Last night, being desired to name a +forfeit for the padre, I condemned him to dance the _jarabe_, of which he +performed a few steps in his long gown and girdle, with equal awkwardness +and good nature. We met to-day the prettiest little ranchera, a farmer's +wife or daughter, riding in front of a _mozo_ on the same horse, their +usual mode, dressed in a short embroidered muslin petticoat, white satin +shoes, a pearl necklace, and earrings, a reboso, and a large round straw +hat. The ladies sit their horse on a contrary side to our fashion. They +have generally adopted English saddles, but the farmers' wives frequently +sit in a sort of chair, which they find much more commodious. + +Some country ladies, who attended mass in the chapel this morning, were +dressed in very short clear white muslin gowns, very much starched, and so +disposed as to show two under-petticoats, also stiffly starched, and +trimmed with lace, their shoes coloured satin. Considered as a costume of +their own, I begin to think it rather pretty. The oldest women here or in +Mexico never wear caps; nothing but their own gray hair, sometimes cut +short, sometimes turned up with a comb, and not unusually tied behind in a +pigtail. There is no attempt to conceal the ravages of time.... + +It appears to me, that amongst the young girls here there is not that +desire to enter upon the cares of matrimony, which is to be observed in +many other countries. The opprobious epithet of "old maid" is unknown. A +girl is not the less admired because she has been ten or a dozen years in +society; the most severe remark made on her is that she is "hard to +please." No one calls her _passee_, or looks out for a new face to admire. +I have seen no courting of the young men either in mothers or daughters; no +match-making mammas, or daughters looking out for their own interests. In +fact, young people have so few opportunities of being together, that +Mexican marriages must be made in heaven; for I see no opportunity of +bringing them about upon earth! The young men when they do meet with young +ladies in society, appear devoted to and very much afraid of them. I know +but one lady in Mexico who has the reputation of having manoeuvred all her +daughters into great marriages; but she is so clever, and her daughters +were such beauties, that it can have cost her no trouble; as for +flirtation, the name is unknown, and the thing. + +I have been taking lessons in the Indian dances from Doña R---a; they are +not ungraceful, but lazy and monotonous.... + +On every door in this house there is a printed paper to the following +effect: + + "Quien á esta casa da luz? Jesús. + Quien la llena de alegria? María. + Y quien la abraza en la fé? José. + Luego bien claro se vé + Que siempre habra contrición, + Teniendo en la corazón, + A Jesús, María, y José." + + "Who gives light to this house? Jesús. + Who fills it with joy? Mary. + Who kindles faith in it? Joséph. + Then we see very clearly + That there will always be contrition, + Keeping in our hearts, + Jesús, Mary, and Joséph." + +These are written in verse, and below: "The most illustrious Bishop of +Monte-Rey, Don Fray José de Jesús María Balaunzaran, hereby ordains and +grants, along with the Bishops of Puebla, Durango, Valladolid and +Guadalajara, two hundred days of indulgence to all those who devoutly +repeat the above ejaculation, and invoke the sweet names of Mary, Jesús, +and Joséph."... The people here have certainly a poetical vein in their +composition. Everything is put into verse--sometimes doggerel, like the +above (in which _luz_ rhyming with _Jesús_, shows that the _z_ is +pronounced here like an _s_), occasionally a little better, but always in +rhyme. + +We went this evening to visit the Countess del -----, who has a house in +the village. Found her in bed, feverish, and making use of simple remedies, +such as herbs, the knowledge and use of which have descended from the +ancient Indians to the present lords of the soil. The Spanish historians +who have written upon the conquest of Mexico, all mention the knowledge +which the Mexican physicians had of herbs. It was supposed by these last, +that for every infirmity there was a remedy in the herbs of the field; and +to apply them according to the nature of the malady, was the chief science +of these primitive professors of medicine. Much which is now used in +European pharmacy is due to the research of Mexican doctors; such as +sarsaparilla, jalap, friars' rhubarb, _mechoacan_, etc.; also various +emetics, antidotes to poison, remedies against fever, and an infinite +number of plants, minerals, gums, and simple medicines. As for their +infusions, decoctions, ointments, plasters, oils, etc., Cortés himself +mentions the wonderful number of these which he saw in the Mexican market +for sale. From certain trees they distilled balsams; and drew a balsamic +liquid both from a decoction of the branches, and from the bark steeped in +water. Bleeding and bathing were their other favourite remedies. The +country-people breathed a vein with a maguey-point, and when they could not +find leeches, substituted the prickles of the American-hedgehog. + +Besides bathing in the rivers, lakes, tanks, and fountains, they used a +bath which is still to be seen in many Indian villages, and which they call +the temezcalli. It is made of unbaked bricks; its form is that of a baker's +oven, about eight feet wide and six high; the pavement rather convex, and +lower than the surface of the soil. A person can enter this bath only on +his knees. Opposite the entry is a stone or brick stove, its opening +towards the exterior of the bath, with a hole to let out the smoke. Before +the bath is prepared, the floor inside is covered with a mat, on which is +placed a jar of water, some herbs and leaves of corn. The stove is then +heated until the stones which unite it with the bath become red-hot. When +the bather enters the entry is closed, and the only opening left is a hole +at the top of the vault, which, when the smoke of the oven has passed +through, is also shut. They then pour water upon the red-hot stones, from +which a thick vapour arises, which fills the temezcalli. The bather then +throws himself on the mat, and drawing down the steam with the herbs and +maize, wets them in the tepid water of the jar, and if he has any pain, +applies them to the part affected. This having produced perspiration, the +door is opened and the well-baked patient comes out and dresses. For +fevers, for bad colds, for the bite of a poisonous animal, this is said to +be a certain cure; also for acute rheumatism. + +For the cure of wounds, the Spaniards found the Mexican remedies most +efficacious. Cortes himself was cured by one of their doctors of a severe +wound in the head, received at Otumba, through which we lately passed. For +fractures, for humours, for everything they had their remedy; sometimes +pulverizing the seeds of plants, and attributing much of their efficacy to +the superstitious ceremonies and prayers which they used while applying +them, especially those which they offered up to _Tzapotlatenan_, the +goddess of medicine. + +A great deal of this knowledge is still preserved amongst their +descendants, and considered efficacious. For every illness there is an +herb, for every accident a remedy. Baths are in constant use, although +these temezcallis are confined to the Indians. In every family there is +some knowledge of simple medicine, very necessary, in _haciendas_ +especially, where no physician can possibly be procured. + +There is a hill upon----'s property, said to contain much buried treasure. +There are many traditions here of this concealed Indian wealth, but very +little gold has been actually recovered from these mountain-tombs. Buried +gold has occasionally come to light; not by researches in the mountains, +for few are rash enough to throw away their money in search of what would +probably prove an imaginary treasure; but by accident--in the ruins of old +houses, where the proprietors had deposited it for safety in some period of +revolution; perhaps no later than at the time of the Spanish expulsion. + +Some years ago, an old and very poor woman rented a house in the environs +of Mexico, as old and wretched as herself, for four reals a week. It had an +old broken-up stone _patio_ (inner courtyard), which she used occasionally +to sweep with a little old broom. One day she observed two or three stones +in this patio larger and more carefully put together than the others, and +the little old woman, being a daughter of Eve by some collateral branch, +poked down and worked at the stones until she was able to raise them up- +when lo and behold, she discovered a can full of treasure; no less than +five thousand dollars in gold! Her delight and her fright were unbounded; +and, being a prudent old lady, she determined, in the first place, to leave +the house, and next to bring in her treasure, _poquito a poquito_ (little +by little), to a room in Mexico, keeping the old house as a sort of bank. +She did so; took a nice room, and instead of sleeping on a _petate_ (mat), +as she had hitherto done, bought herself a little bedstead, and even a +mattress; treated herself not only to chocolate, but a few bottles of good +wine! Such extraordinary luxury could not fail to create suspicion. She was +questioned by her neighbours, and at length intrusted her secret to their +keeping. History says, that notwithstanding this, she was not robbed, and +was allowed to enjoy her good fortune in peace. It is difficult to credit +such a miracle in this land of picking and stealing, but rny authority is +beyond impeachment. + +... Whilst I write on these irrelevant matters, I am warned that the +coaches are at the door, and that we are about setting off for Tepenacasco, +another hacienda of Señor---'s, a few leagues from this. + + + + +LETTER THE SEVENTEENTH + + +Arrival at Tepenacasco--Lake with Wild-duck--Ruined Hacienda--Sunset on the +Plains--Troop of Asses--Ride by Moonlight--Leave Tepenacasco--San +Miguel--Description--Thunderstorm--Guasco--Journey to Real del +Monte--English Road--Scenery--Village of Real--Count de Regla--Director's +House--English Breakfast--Visit to the Mines--The Cascade--The +Storm--Loneliness--A Journey in Storm and Darkness--Return to +Tepenacasco--Journey to Sopayuca--Narrow Escape--Famous Bull--Return to +Mexico. + + +TEPENACASCO. + + +This is a fine wild scene. The house stands entirely alone; not a tree near +it. Great mountains rise behind it, and in every other direction, as far as +the eye can reach, are vast plains, over which the wind comes whistling +fresh and free, with nothing to impede its triumphant progress. In front of +the house is a clear sheet of water, a great deep square basin for +collecting the rain. These _jagueys_, as they are called, are very common +in Mexico, where there are few rivers, and where the use of machines for +raising water is by no means general as yet. There is no garden here, but +there are a few shrubs and flowers in the inner courtyard. The house inside +is handsome, with a chapel and a patio, which is occasionally used as a +plaza de toros. The rooms are well fitted up, and the bedroom walls covered +with a pretty French paper, representing scenes of Swiss rural life. There +are great outhouses, stables for the mules and horses, and stone barns for +the wheat and barley, which, together with pulque, form the produce of this +hacienda. + +We took a long ride this morning to visit a fine lake where there are +plenty of wild-duck and turtle. The gentlemen took their guns and had +tolerable sport. The lake is very deep, so that boats have sailed on it, +and several miles in circumference, with a rivulet flowing from it. Yet +with all this water the surrounding land, not more than twenty feet higher, +is dry and sterile, and the lake is turned to no account, either from want +of means, or of hydraulic knowledge. However, C---n having made some +observation on this subject, the proprietor of the lake and of a ruined +house standing near, which is the very picture of loneliness and +desolation, remarked in reply, that from this estate to Mexico, the +distance is thirty-six leagues; that a load of wheat costs one real a +league, and moreover the _alcaba_, the duty which has to be paid at the +gates of Mexico, so that it would bring no profit if sent there; while in +the surrounding district there is not sufficient population to consume the +produce; so that these unnecessary and burdensome taxes, the thinness of +the population, and the want of proper means of transport, impede the +prosperity of the people, and check the progress of agriculture.... + +I had a beautiful horse, but half-broke, and which took fright and ran off +with me. I got great credit for keeping my seat so well, which I must +confess was more through good fortune than skill. The day was delightful, +the air exhilarating, and the blue sky perfectly cloudless as we galloped +over the plains; but at length the wind rose so high that we dismounted, +and got into the carriage. We sat by the shores of the lake, and walked +along its pebbly margin, watching the wild-duck as they skimmed over its +glassy surface, and returned home in a magnificent sunset; the glorious god +himself a blood-red globe, surrounded by blazing clouds of gold and +crimson. + +In the evening a troop of asses were driven across the plain, and led round +to the back of the house; and we were all called out in haste, and each +desired to choose one of the long-eared fraternity for our particular use. +Some had saddles and some had none, but we mounted to the number of thirty +persons, followed by a cavalcade of little ragged boys armed with sticks +and whips. My ass was an obstinate brute, whom I had mistakenly chosen for +his sleek coat and open countenance; but by dint of being lashed up, he +suddenly set off at full gallop, and distanced all the others. Such +screaming and laughing and confusion! and so much difficulty in keeping the +party together? It was nearly dark when we set off; but the moon rose, the +silver disc lighting up the hills and the plains; the wind fell, and the +night was calm and delightful. We rode about six miles to a pretty little +chapel with a cross, that gleamed amongst the trees in the moonlight, by +the side of a running stream. Here we dismounted, and sat by the brink of +the little sparkling rivulet, while the deep shadows came stealing over the +mountains, and all around was still, and cool, and silent; all but the +merry laughter of our noisy cavalcade. We returned about eleven o'clock, +few accidents having occurred. Doña R---a had fallen once. Doña M---- had +crushed her foot against her neighbour's ass. The padre was shaken to a +jelly, and the learned senator, who was of the party, declared he should +never recover from that night's jolting. To-morrow we shall set off for +Real del Monte. + +17th.-After mass in the chapel we left Tepenacasco about seven o'clock, and +travelled (I believe by a short cut) over rocks and walls, torrents and +fields of maguey, all in a heavy carriage with six horses. Arriving in +sight of walls, the mozos gallop on and tear them down. Over the mountain- +torrents or _barrancas_, they dash boldly, encouraging the horses by the +wildest shrieks. + +We stopped at San Miguel, a country-house belonging to the Count de Regla, +the former proprietor of the mines which we were about to visit; the most +picturesque and lovely place imaginable, but entirely abandoned; the house +comfortless and out of repair. We wandered through paths cut in the +beautiful woods, and by the side of a rivulet that seems to fertilize +everything through which it winds. We climbed the hills, and made our way +through the tangled luxuriance of trees and flowers, and in the midst of +hundreds of gaudy blossoms, I neglected them all upon coming to a grassy +slope covered with daisies and buttercups. We even found some hawthorn- +bushes. It might be English scenery, were it not that there is a richness +in the vegetation unknown in England. But all these beautiful solitudes are +abandoned to the deer that wander fearlessly amongst the woods, and the +birds that sing in their branches. While we were still far from the house, +a thunderstorm came on. When it rains here, the windows of heaven seem +opened, and the clouds pour down water in floods; the lightning also +appears to me peculiarly vivid, and many more accidents occur from it here +than in the north. We were drenched in five minutes, and in this plight +resumed our seats in the carriage, and set off for _Guasco_ (a village +where we were to pass the night) in the midst of the pelting storm. In an +hour or two the horses were wading up to their knees in water, and we +arrived at the pretty village of Guasco in a most comfortless condition. +There are no inns in these parts, but we were hospitably received by a +widow-lady, a friend of -----'s. + +The Señora de -----, in clear muslin and lace, with satin shoes, was worse +than I in mousseline-de-laine and brode-quins; nevertheless, I mean to +adopt the fashion of the country to-morrow, when we are to rise at four to +go on to Real del Monte, and try the effect of travelling with clear gown, +satin petticoat, and shoes ditto; because "when one is in Rome," etc. The +storm continues with such unabated violence, that we must content ourselves +with contemplating the watery landscape from the windows. + + +TEPENACASCO. + + +Rose in Guasco at tour o'clock; dressed by candle-light, took chocolate, +and set off for Real del Monte. After we had travelled a few leagues, +tolerably cold, we rejoiced when the sun rose, and dispelling the mist, +threw his cheerful light over mountain and wood. The trees looked green and +refreshing after their last night's bath; the very rocks were sparkling +with silver. The morning was perfectly brillia'nt, and every leaf and +flower was glittering with the rain-drops not yet dried. The carriage +ascended slowly the road cut through the mountains by the English company; +a fine and useful enterprise; the first broad and smooth road I have seen +as yet in the republic. Until it was made, hundreds of mules daily conveyed +the ore from the mines over a dangerous mountain-path, to the hacienda of +Regla, a distance of six or seven leagues. We overtook wagons conveying +timber to the mines of Real, nine thousand feet above the level of the sea. + +The scenery was magnificent. On one side mountains covered with oak and +pine, and carpeted by the brightest-coloured flowers; goats climbing up +the perpendicular rocks, and looking down upon us from their +vantage-ground; fresh clear rivulets, flinging themselves from rock to +rock, and here and there little Indian huts perched amongst the cliffs; on +the other, the deep valley with its bending forests and gushing river; +while far above, we caught a glimpse of Real itself, with its sloping +roofs and large church, standing in the very midst of forests and +mountains. We began to see people with fair hair and blue eyes, and one +individual, with a shock of fiery red hair and an undeniable Scotch +twang, I felt the greatest inclination to claim as a countryman. +The Indians here looked cleaner than those in or near Mexico, and +were not more than half naked. The whole country here, as well as +the mines, formerly belonged to the Count de Regla, who was so wealthy, +that when his son, the present count, was christened, the whole party +walked from his house to the church upon ingots of silver. The countess +having quarrelled with the vice-queen, sent her, in token of +reconciliation, a white satin slipper, entirely covered with large +diamonds. The count invited the King of Spain to visit his Mexican +territories, assuring him that the hoofs of his majesty's horse should +touch nothing but solid silver from Vera Cruz to the capital. This might be +a bravado; but a more certain proof of his wealth exists in the fact, that +he caused two ships of the line, of the largest size, to be constructed in +Havana at his expense, made of mahogany and cedar, and presented them to +the king. The present count was, as I already told you, married to the +beautiful daughter of the _Guerra Rodriguez._ + +We arrived at Real del Monte about nine o'clock, and drove to the +director's house, which is extremely pretty, commanding a most beautiful +and extensive view, and where we found a large fire burning in the grate-- +very agreeable, as the morning was still somewhat chill, and which had a +look of home and comfort that made it still more acceptable. We were +received with the greatest cordiality by the director, Mr. Rule, and his +lady, and invited to partake of the most delicious breakfast that I have +seen for a long while; a happy _melange_ of English and Mexican. The snow- +white table-cloth, smoking tea-urn, hot rolls, fresh eggs, coffee, tea, and +toast looked very much _a l'Anglaise,_ while there were numbers of +substantial dishes _a l'Espagnole_, and delicious fresh cream-cheeses, to +all which our party did ample justice. + +After breakfast, we went out to visit the mines, and it was curious to see +English children, clean and pretty, with their white hair and rosy cheeks, +and neat straw bonnets, mingled with the little copper-coloured Indians. We +visited all the different works; the apparatus for sawing, the turning- +lathe, foundry, etc.; but I regretted to find that we could not descend +into the mines. We went to the mouth of the shaft called the Dolores, which +has a narrow opening, and is entered by perpendicular ladders. The men go +down with conical caps on their heads, in which is stuck a lighted tallow +candle. In the great shaft, called Terreros, they descend, by means of +these ladders, to the depth of a thousand feet, there being platforms at +certain distances, on which they can rest. We were obliged to content +ourselves with seeing them go down, and with viewing and admiring all the +great works which English energy has established here; the various steam- +engines, the buildings for the separation and washing of the ore; the great +stores, workshops, offices, etc. Nearly all the workmen are British, and of +these the Scotch are preferred. Most of the miners are Indians, who work in +companies, and receive in payment the eighth part of the proceeds. The +director gave us some specimens of silver from the great heaps where they +lie, sparkling like genii's treasure. + +Although I have not descended into these mines, I might give you a +description of them by what I have heard, and fill my paper with +arithmetical figures, by which you might judge of the former and the +present produce. I might tell you how Don Lucas Alaman went to England, and +raised, as if by magic, the enthusiasm of the English; how one fortune +after another has been swallowed up in the dark, deep gulf of speculation; +how expectations have been disappointed; and how the great cause of this is +the scarcity of quicksilver, which has been paid at the rate of one hundred +and fifty dollars per quintal in real cash, when the same quantity was +given at credit by the Spanish government for fifty dollars; how heaps of +silver lie abandoned, because the expense of acquiring quicksilver renders +it wholly unprofitable to extract it; and I might repeat the opinion of +those persons by whom I have heard the subject discussed, who express their +astonishment that, such being the case, an arrangement is not made with the +country which is the almost exclusive possessor of the quicksilver-mines, +by which it might be procured at a lower rate, and this great source of +wealth not thrown away. But for all these matters I refer you to _Humboldt +and Ward_, by whom they are scientifically treated, and will not trouble +you with superficial remarks on so important a subject. In fact, I must +confess that my attention was frequently attracted from the mines, and the +engines, and the works of man, and the discussions arising therefrom, to +the stupendous natural scenery by which we were surrounded; the unexplored +forests that clothe the mountains to their very summits, the torrents that +leaped and sparkled in the sunshine, the deep ravines, the many-tinted +foliage, the bold and jutting rocks. All combine to increase our admiration +of the bounties of nature to this favoured land, to which she has given +"every herb bearing seed, and every tree that is pleasant to the sight and +good for food," while her veins are rich with precious metals; the useful +and the beautiful offered with unsparing hand. + +We were obliged to leave Real about two o'clock, having a long journey to +perform before night, as we had the intention of returning to sleep at +Tepenacasco. We took leave of our hospitable entertainers, and again +resumed our journey over these fine roads, many parts of which are blasted +from the great rocks of porphyry; and as we looked back at the picturesque +colony glistening in the sun, could hardly believe the prophecies of our +more experienced drivers, that a storm was brewing in the sky, which would +burst forth before evening. We were determined not to believe it, as it was +impossible to pass by the famous hacienda and ravine of Regla without +paying them at least a short visit. + +This stupendous work of the Mexican miners in former days, is some leagues +to the south of Real del Monte, and is said to have cost many millions of +dollars. One should view it as we did, in a thunderstorm, for it has an air +of vastness and desolation, and at the same time of grandeur, that shows +well amidst a war of the elements. Down in a steep barranca, encircled by +basaltic cliffs, it lies; a mighty pile of building, which seems as if it +might have been constructed by some philosophical giant or necromancer;--so +that one is not prepared to find there an English director and his wife, +and the unpoetic comforts of roast mutton and potatoes! + +All is on a gigantic scale: the immense vaulted store-houses for the silver +ore; the great smelting-furnaces and covered buildings where we saw the +process of amalgamation going on; the water-wheels; in short, all the +necessary machinery for the smelting and amalgamation of the metal. We +walked to see the great cascade, with its row of basaltic columns, and +found a seat on a piece of broken pillar beside the rushing river, where we +had a fine view of the lofty cliffs, covered with the wildest and most +luxuriant vegetation: vines trailing themselves over every broken shaft; +moss creeping over the huge disjointed masses of rock; and trees +overhanging the precipitous ravine. The columns look as if they might have +been the work of those who, on the plains of Shinar, began to build the +city, and the tower whose top was to reach to heaven. + +But, as we sat here, the sky suddenly became overcast; great black masses +of cloud collected over our heads, and the rumbling of thunder in the +distance gave notice of an approaching storm. We had scarcely time to get +under shelter of the director's roof, when the thunder began to echo loudly +amongst the rocks, and was speedily followed by torrents of rain. It was a +superb storm: the lightning flashed amongst the trees, the wind howled +furiously, while + + "Far along From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, + Leapt the live thunder." + +After resting and dining amidst a running accompaniment of plashing rain, +roaring wind, and deep-toned thunder, we found that it was in vain to wait +for a favourable change in the weather; and certainly, with less +experienced drivers, it would have been anything but safe to have set off +amidst the darkness of the storm, down precipitous descents and over +torrents swelled by the rain. The Count de Regla, who, attracted by the +plentiful supply of water in this ravine, conceived the idea of employing +part of his enormous fortune in the construction of these colossal works, +must have had an imagination on a large scale. The English directors, whose +wives bury themselves in such abysses, ought to feel more grateful to them +than any other husbands towards their sacrificing better halves. For the +men, occupied all day amongst their workmen and machinery, and returning +late in the evening to dine and sleep, there is no great self-immolation; +but a poor woman, living all alone, in a house fenced in by gigantic rocks; +with no other sound in her ears from morning till night but the roar of +thunder or the clang of machinery, had need for her personal comfort, to +have either a most romantic imagination, so that she may console herself +with feeling like an enchanted princess in a giant's castle, or a most +commonplace spirit, so that she may darn stockings to the sound of the +waterfall, and feel no other inconvenience from the storm, but that her +husband will require dry linen when he comes home. + +As for us, we were drenched before we reached the carriage, into which the +water was pouring, and when we set off once more amidst the rapidly- +increasing darkness, and over these precipitous roads, we thought that our +chance of reaching the proposed haven that night was very small. After much +toil to the horses, we got out of the ravines and found ourselves once more +on the great plains, where the tired animals ploughed their way over fields +and ditches and great stones, and among trees and tangled bushes; an +occasional flash of lightning our only guide. Great was our joy, when, +about eleven o'clock, a man riding on in advance shouted out that the +lights of Tepenacasco were in sight; and still more complete our +satisfaction when we drove round the tank into the courtyard of the +hacienda. We were received with great applause by the inmates, and were not +sorry to rest after a very fatiguing yet agreeable day. + + +MEXICO, 21st. + + +We left Tepenacasco the day before yesterday. Our journey was very +dangerous, in consequence of the great rains, which had swelled the +torrents; especially as we set off late, and most of it was performed by +night. In these barrancas, carriages and horsemen have been frequently +swept away and dashed in pieces over the precipices. But to make our +situation more disagreeable, we had scarcely set off, before a terrible +storm of thunder and rain again came on with more violence than the night +preceding. It grew perfectly dark, and we listened with some alarm to the +roaring torrents, over which, especially over one, not many leagues from +Sopayuca, where we were to spend the night, it was extremely doubtful +whether we could pass. The carriage was full of water, but we were too much +alarmed to be uneasy about trifles. Amidst the howling of the wind and the +pealing of thunder, no one could hear the other speak. Suddenly, by a vivid +flash of lightning, the dreaded barranca appeared in sight for a moment, +and almost before the drivers could stop them, the horses had plunged in. + +It was a moment of mortal fear such as I shall never forget. The shrieks of +the drivers to encourage the horses, the loud cries of Ave María! the +uncertainty as to whether our heavy carriage could be dragged across, the +horses struggling and splashing in the boiling torrent, and the horrible +fate that awaited us should one of them fall or falter!... The Señora +----- and I shut our eyes and held each other's hands, and certainly no one +breathed till we were safe on the other side. We were then told that we had +crossed within a few feet of a precipice over which a coach had been dashed +into fifty pieces during one of these swells, and of course every one +killed; and that if instead of horses we had travelled with mules, we must +have been lost. You may imagine that we were not sorry to reach Sopayuca; +where the people ran out to the door at the sound of carriage-wheels, and +could not believe that we had passed the barranca that night; as two or +three horsemen who had rode in that direction had turned back, and +pronounced it impassable. + +Lights and supper were soon procured, and by way of interlude a monstrous +bull, of great fame in these parts, was led up to the supper-table for our +inspection with a rope through his nose, a fierce brute, but familiarly +called "el chato" (the flatnose), from the shortness of his horns. The +lightning continued very vivid, and they told us that a woman had been +struck there some time before, while in the chapel by night. + +We rose at four o'clock the next morning and set off for Mexico. The +morning, as usual after these storms, was peculiarly fresh and beautiful; +but the sun soon grew oppressive on the great plains. About two o'clock we +entered Mexico by the Guadalupe gate. We found our house _in statu quo_, +--agreeable letters from Europe,--great preparations making for the English +ball, to assist at which we have returned sooner than we otherwise should, +and for which my _femme-de-chambre_ has just completed a dress for me, +very much to her own satisfaction. + + + + +LETTER THE EIGHTEENTH + + +English Ball--Dresses--Diamonds--Mineria--Arrival of the Pope's +Bull--Consecration of the Archbishop--Foreign Ministers--Splendour of +the Cathedral--Description of the Ceremony. + + +25th. + + +The English ball at the Mineria has passed off with great _éclat_. Nothing +could be more splendid than the general effect of this noble building, +brilliantly illuminated and filled with a well-dressed crowd. The president +and corps diplomatique were in full uniform, and the display of diamonds +was extraordinary. We ladies of the corps diplomatique tried to flatter +ourselves that we made up in elegance what we wanted in magnificence! for +in jewels no foreign ladies could attempt to compete with those of the +country. The daughter of Countess -----, just arrived from Paris, and whose +acquaintance I made for the first time, wore pale blue, with garlands of +pale pink roses, and a parure of most superb brilliants. The Señora de +A----'s head reminded me of that of the Marchioness of Londonderry, in +her opera-box. The Marquesa de Vivanco had a rivière of brilliants of +extraordinary size and beauty, and perfectly well set. Madame S---r wore a +very rich blonde dress, _garnie_ with plumes of ostrich feathers, a large +diamond fastening each plume. One lady wore a diadem which ----- said could +not be worth less than a hundred thousand dollars. Diamonds are always worn +plain or with pearls; coloured stones are considered trash, which is a +pity, as I think rubies and emeralds set in diamonds would give more +variety and splendour to their jewels. There were a profusion of large +pearls, generally of a pear shape. The finest and roundest were those worn +by the Señora B---a. There were many blonde dresses, a great fashion here. +I know no lady without one. Amongst the prettiest and most tastefully- +dressed girls were the E---s, as usual. Many dresses were overloaded, a +common fault in Mexico; and many of the dresses, though rich, were old- +fashioned; but the _coup d'oeil_ was not the less brilliant, and it was +somewhat astonishing, in such a multitude, not to see a single +objectionable person. To be sure the company were all invited. + +On entering the noble court, which was brilliantly illuminated with +coloured lamps, hung from pillar to pillar, and passing up the great +staircase, we were met at the first landing by Mr. P----, in full uniform, +and other English gentlemen, the directors of the ball, who stood there to +receive the ladies. His excellency led me upstairs to the top of the +ball-room, where chairs were placed for the president, ladies of the +_diplomaties_, cabinet Ministers, etc. The music was excellent, and dancing +was already in full force. And though there were assembled what is called +_all Mexico_, the rooms are so large, that the crowd was not disagreeable, +nor the heat oppressive. Pictures of Queen Victoria were hung in the +different large halls. The supper-tables were very handsome; and in fact +the ball altogether was worthy of its object; for Messieurs les Anglais +always do these things well when they attempt them. + +The president took me to supper. The company walked in to the music of "God +save the Queen." After we had sat a little while the president demanded +silence, and, in a short speech, proposed the health of Her Majesty Queen +Victoria, which was drank by all the company standing. After supper we +continued dancing till nearly six in the morning; and when we got into the +carriage it was broad daylight, and all the bells were ringing for mass. + +This is the best ball we have seen here, without any exception; and it is +said to have cost eleven thousand dollars. There were certainly a great +number of pretty faces at this fête, many pretty girls whom we had not seen +before, and whom the English secretaries have contrived to _unearth_. Fine +eyes are a mere _drug_--every one has them; large, dark, full orbs, with +long silken lashes. As for diamonds, no man above the rank of a _lépero_ +marries in this country without presenting his bride with at least a pair +of diamond earrings, or a pearl necklace with a diamond clasp. They are not +always a proof of wealth, though they constitute it in themselves. Their +owners may be very poor in other respects. They are considered a necessary +of life; quite as much so as shoes and stockings. + +June 2nd.--On the 15th of April, the pontifical bulls arrived from Rome, +confirming the election of the Señor Posada to the Archiepiscopal dignity; +and on Saturday last, the 31st of May, the consecration took place in the +cathedral with the greatest pomp. The presiding bishop was the Señor +Belaunzaran, the old Bishop of Linares; the two assistant bishops were the +Señor Madrid, a young, good-looking man, who having been banished from +Mexico during the revolution, took refuge in Rome, where he obtained the +favour of the Pope, who afterwards recommended him to an episcopal see in +Mexico; and the Doctor Morales, formerly Bishop of Sonora. His _padrino_ +was the President, General Bustamante, who in his capacity presented his +godson with the splendid pastoral ring, a solitary diamond of immense size. +All the diplomatic body and the cabinet went in full uniform; chairs being +placed for them on each side of the _crugia_ (the passage leading to the +altar). A dispute upon the subject of precedence arose between an +excellency of the diplomatic corps, and the secretary of state, which seems +likely to have disagreeable consequences. I had the pleasure of kneeling +beside these illustrious persons for the space of three or four hours, for +no seats were placed for the wives either of the diplomates or of the +cabinet. + +But the ceremony, though long, was very superb, the music fine, the +quantity of jewels on the dresses of the bishops and priests, and on the +holy vessels, etc., enormous. The bishops were arrayed in white velvet and +gold, and their mitres were literally covered with diamonds. The gold +candlesticks and golden basins for holy water, and golden incensories, +reminded me of the description of the ornaments of the Jewish tabernacle in +the days of Moses; of the "candlesticks of pure gold, with golden +branches;" and "the tongs and snuff-dishes of pure gold:" or of the temple +of Solomon, where the altar was of gold, and the table of gold, and the +candlesticks and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the +censors were of pure gold. The pontifical vestments destined for the +elected primate, were all prepared;--sandals, amice, surplice, girdle, +pectoral cross, stole, gown, vestment, with open sleeves (the dalmatica), +crosier, mitre, pontifical ring, etc. Magnificent chairs were prepared for +the bishops near the altar, and the president in uniform took his place +amongst them. The presiding bishop took his seat alone, with his back to +the altar, and the Señor Posada was led in by the assisting bishops, they +with their mitres, he with his priest's cap on. Arrived before the +presiding bishop, he uncovered his head, and made a profound obeisance. +These three then took their places on chairs placed in front; and the +ceremony having begun, in case you should wish to have some idea of it, I +shall endeavour to give it you, for I was so situated, that although the +cathedral was crowded to excess, I could see and hear all that passed. Let +me premise, however, that there was not one _lépero_, as they are always +excluded on such occasions. + +Posada and his assisting bishops rose, and uncovered their heads; and the +Bishop Morales turning to the presiding bishop, said, "Most reverend +father, the holy Catholic Mother Church requests you to raise this +Presbyter to the charge of the archbishopric." + +"Have you an apostolical mandate?" + +"We have." + +"Read it." + +An assistant priest then read the mandate in a loud voice; upon which they +all sat down, and the consecrator saying, "Thanks be to God!" Then the +Posada kneeling before him, took an oath, upon the Bible, which the bishop +held, concluding with these words--"So may God help me, and these his holy +gospels." Then sitting down, and resuming their mitres, the examination of +the future archbishop took place. It was very long, and at its conclusion, +Posada knelt before the presiding bishop and kissed his hand. To this +succeeded the confession, every one standing uncovered before the altar, +which was then sprinkled with incense. Then followed the mass, chanted. + +The assisting bishops then led out the Señor Posada to the chapel, where +they put on his sandals, and where he assumed the pectoral cross, amice, +surplice, etc.; and arriving at the altar read the office of the mass. He +was then conducted again before the consecrating bishop, who was seated +with his mitre, and after saluting him reverently, he sat down. Then the +bishop, addressing him said: "It is the duty of the bishop to judge, +interpret, consecrate, ordain, offer, baptize, and confirm." + +All then rose, and the bishop prayed that the newly-elected primate might +receive the grace of heaven. All the bishops and priests then prostrated +themselves while the Litanies were sung. The presiding bishop, rising took +the crosier, and prayed three times for a blessing on the Chosen One; +thrice making on him the sign of the cross; and they continued to sing the +Litanies; at the conclusion of which they all arose, took their seats and +resumed their mitres, Posada alone kneeling before the bishop. + +The Bible was then placed upon his shoulders, while he remained prostrated, +and the bishop rising up, pronounced a solemn benediction upon him, while +the hymn of "Veni Creator Spiritus," was sung in full chorus. Then the +bishop, dipping his hand in the holy chrism, anointed the primate's head, +making on it the sign of the cross, saying, "Let thy head be anointed and +consecrated with the celestial benediction, according to the pontifical +mandate." The bishop then anointed his hands, making in the same manner the +sign of the cross, and saying, "May these hands be anointed with holy oil; +and as Samuel anointed David a king and a prophet, so be thou anointed and +consecrated." This was followed by a solemn prayer. + +Then the crosier was blessed, and presented to the elected archbishop with +these words. "Receive the pastoral crosier, that thou mayest be humanely +severe in correcting vices, exercising judgment without wrath," etc. The +blessing of the ring followed with solemn prayer, and being sprinkled with +holy water, it was placed on the third finger of the right hand, the bishop +saying, "Receive the ring, which is a sign of faith; that, adorned with +incorruptible faith, thou mayest guard inviolably the spouse of God, his +Holy Church." + +The Bible being then taken off the shoulders of the prostrate prelate, was +presented to him with an injunction to receive and to preach the gospel. +Finally, the bishop bestowed on him the kiss of peace; and all the other +bishops did so in their turn. Posada then retired, and his head and hands +being washed, he soon after returned with the assistant bishops, carrying +two lighted wax tapers, which he presented to the presiding bishop, +together with two loaves and two small barrels of wine, reverently kissing +his hand. After this, the presiding bishop washed his hands and mounted the +steps of the altar, and the new primate received the sacrament. + +The mitre was then blessed and placed upon his head, with a prayer by the +bishop, that thus, with his head armed and with the staff of the gospels, +he might appear terrible to the adversaries of the True Faith. The gloves +were next consecrated and drawn on his hands, the bishop praying that his +hands might be surrounded by the purity of the new man; and that as Jacob, +when he covered his hands with goat-skins, offered agreeable meats to his +father, and received his paternal benediction, so he, in offering the Holy +Sacrament, might obtain the benediction of his Heavenly Father. The +archbishop was then seated by the consecrating bishop on his pontifical +throne, and at the same moment, the hymn "Te Deum Iaudamus" was chanted. +During the hymn, the bishops, with their jewelled mitres, rose, and passing +through the church, blessed the whole congregation, the new archbishop +still remaining near the altar, and without his mitre. When he returned to +his seat, the assistant bishops, including the consecrator, remained +standing till the hymn was concluded. The presiding bishop then advancing, +without his mitre, to the right hand of the archbishop, said, "May thy hand +be strengthened! May thy right hand be exalted! May justice and judgment be +the preparation of thy see!" Then the organ pealed forth, and they chanted +the hymn of "Gloria Patri." Long and solemn prayer followed; and then, all +uncovered, stood beside the gospels, at the altar. + +The archbishop rose, and with mitre and crosier, pronounced a solemn +blessing on all the people assembled. Then, while all knelt beside the +altar, he said--"For many years." This he repeated thrice; the second time, +in the middle of the altar, the third at the feet of the presiding bishop. +Then all rising, the archbishop bestowed on each the kiss of peace, and the +ceremony concluded. + +When everything was over, our carriage not being visible amongst the crowd +of vehicles, I returned home in that of the ----- Minister, with him and +his attaches; after which, they and C---n returned to dine with the new +archbishop in his palace. A dish of sweetmeats was sent me from his table, +which are so pretty, (probably the chef-d'oeuvre of the nuns,) that I send +them to you, to preserve as a memorial of the consecration of the first +Mexican archbishop--perhaps of the last! + + + + +LETTER THE NINETEENTH + + +Mexican Servants--Anecdotes--Remedies--An unsafe Porter--Galopinas--The +Reboso--The Sarape--Women Cooks--Foreign Servants--Characteristics of +Mexican Servants--Servants' Wages--Nun of the Santa Teresa--Motives for +taking the Veil. + + +June 3rd. + +You ask me to tell you how I find the Mexican servants. Hitherto I had +avoided the ungrateful theme, from very weariness of it. The badness of the +servants, is an unfailing source of complaint even amongst Mexicans; much +more so amongst foreigners, especially on their first arrival. We hear of +their addiction to stealing, their laziness, drunkenness, dirtiness, with a +host of other vices. That these complaints are frequently just, there can +be no doubt, but the evil might be remedied to a great extent. In the first +place servants are constantly taken without being required to bring a +recommendation from their last place; and in the next, recommendations are +constantly given, whether from indolence or mistaken kindness, to servants +who do not deserve them. A servant who has lived in a dozen different +houses, staying about a month in each, is not thought the worse of on that +account. As the love of finery is inherent in them all, even more so than +in other daughters of Eve, a girl will go to service merely to earn +sufficient to buy herself an embroidered chemise; and if, in addition to +this, she can pick up a pair of small old satin shoes, she will tell you +she is tired of working, and going home to rest, "_para descansar_." So +little is necessary, when one can contentedly live on tortillas and chile, +sleep on a mat, and dress in rags! + +A decent old woman, who came to the house to wash shortly after our arrival +in this country, and left us at the end of the month, "_para descansar_." +Soon after, she used to come with her six children, they and herself all in +rags, and beg the gardener to give her any _odds and ends_ of vegetables he +could spare. My maid asked her, why, being so poor, she had left a good +place, where she got twelve dollars a month. "Jesús!" said she, "if you +only knew the pleasure of doing nothing." + +I wished to bring up a little girl as a servant, having her taught to read, +sew, etc. A child of twelve years old, one of a large family, who subsisted +upon charity, was procured for me; and I promised her mother that she +should be taught to read, taken regularly to church, and instructed in all +kinds of work. She was rather pretty, and very intelligent, though +extremely indolent; and though she had no stockings, would consent to wear +nothing but dirty white satin shoes, too short for her foot. Once a week, +her mother, a tall, slatternly woman, with long tangled hair, and a cigar +in her mouth, used to come to visit her, accompanied by a friend, a +friend's friend, and a train of girls, her daughters. The housekeeper would +give them some dinner, after which they would all light their cigars, and, +together with the little Joséfita, sit, and howl, and bemoan themselves, +crying and lamenting her sad fate in being obliged to go out to service. +After these visits, Joséfita was fit for nothing. If desired to sew, she +would sit looking so miserable, and doing so little, that it seemed better +to allow her to leave her work alone. Then, tolerably contented, she would +sit on a mat, doing nothing, her hands folded, and her eyes fixed on +vacancy. + +According to promise, I took her several times to see her mother, but one +day being occupied, I sent her alone in the carriage, with charge to the +servants to bring her safely back. In the evening she returned, accompanied +by the whole family, all crying and howling; "For the love of the Most Holy +Virgin, Señora mia! Por la purissima Concepción!" etc., etc., etc. I asked +what had happened, and after much difficulty discovered that their horror +was occasioned by my having sent her alone in the carriage. It happened +that the Countess S---- was in the drawing room, and to her I related the +cause of the uproar. To my astonishment, she assured me that the woman was +in this instance right, and that it was very dangerous to send a girl of +twelve years of age from one street to another, in the power of the +coachman and footman. Finding from such good authority that this was the +case, I begged the woman to be contented with seeing her daughter once a +month, when, if she could not come herself, I would send her under proper +protection. She agreed; but one day having given Joséfita permission to +spend the night at her mother's, I received next morning a very dirty +note, nearly illegible, which, after calling down the protection of the +Virgin upon me, concluded-"but with much sorrow I must take my child from +the most illustrious protection of your excellency, for she needs to rest +her-self, (es preciso que descanse,) and is tired for the present of +working." The woman then returned to beg, which she considered infinitely +less degrading. + +Against this nearly universal indolence and indifference to earning money, +the heads of families have to contend; as also against thieving and +dirtiness; yet I think the remedy much easier than it appears. If on the +one hand, no one were to receive a servant into their house, without +respectable references, especially from their last place, and if their +having remained one year in the same house were considered necessary to +their being received into another, unless from some peculiar circumstances; +and if on the other hand it were considered as unjust and dangerous, as it +really is, to recommend a servant who has been guilty of stealing, as being +"_muy honrado_," very honest, some improvement might soon take place. + +A porter was recommended to us as "muy honrado;" not from his last place, +but from one before. He was a well-dressed, sad-looking individual; and at +the same time we took his wife as washerwoman, and his brother as valet to +our attache, thus having the whole family under our roof, wisely taking it +for granted that he being recommended as particularly honest, his relations +were "all honourable men." An English lady happened to call on me, and a +short time after I went to return her visit; when she informed me that the +person who had opened the door for her was a notorious thief; whom the +police had long been in search of; that she had feared sending a servant to +warn us of our danger, lest guessing the purport of her message, he might +rob the house before leaving it. We said nothing to the man that evening, +but he looked paler and more miserable than usual, probably foreseeing what +would be the result of Mrs. -----'s visit. The next morning C---n sent for +him and dismissed him, giving him a month's wages, that he might not be +tempted to steal from immediate want. His face grew perfectly livid, but he +made no remark. In half an hour he returned and begged to speak with C---n. +He confessed that the crime of which he concluded he was accused, he had in +fact committed; that he had been tempted to a gambling house, while he had +in his pocket a large sum of money belonging to his master. After losing +his own money, he tried his fortune with what was not his own; lost the +whole sum, then pawned a valuable shawl worth several hundred dollars, with +which also he had been entrusted; and having lost everything, in despair +made his escape from Mexico. He remained in concealment for some time, till +hearing that we wanted a porter, he ventured to present himself to the +housekeeper with his former certificate. He declared himself thoroughly +repentant--that this was his first, and would be his last crime--but who +can trust the good resolutions of a gambler! We were obliged to send him +away, especially as the other servants already had some suspicions +concerning him; and everything stolen in the house would in future have +been attributed to him. The gentleman who had recommended him, afterwards +confessed that he always had strong suspicions of this man's honesty, and +knew him to be so determined a gambler, that he had pawned all he +possessed, even his wife's clothes, to obtain money for that purpose. Now +as a porter in Mexico has pretty much at his disposal the property and even +the lives of the whole family, it is certainly most blameable to recommend +to that situation a man whose honesty is more than doubtful. We afterwards +procured two soldiers from the _Invalidos_, old Spaniards, to act in that +capacity, who had no other foiblesse but that of being constantly drunk. We +at length found two others, who only got tipsy alternately, so that we +considered ourselves very well off. + +We had a long series of _galopinas_, kitchen-maids, and the only one who +brought a first-rate character with her, robbed the housekeeper. The money, +however, was recovered, and was found to have been placed by the girl in +the hands of a rich and apparently respectable coachmaker. He refunded it +to the rightful owner, and the galopina was punished by a month's +imprisonment, which he should have shared with her. One of the most +disagreeable customs of the women servants, is that of wearing their long +hair hanging down at its full length, matted, uncombed, and always in the +way. I cannot imagine how the Mexican ladies, who complain of this, permit +it. Flowing hair sounds very picturesque, but when it is very dirty, and +suspended over the soup, it is not a pretty picture. + +The reboso, in itself graceful and convenient, has the disadvantage of +being the greatest cloak for all untidiness, uncombed hair and raggedness, +that ever was invented. Even in the better classes, it occasions much +indolence in the toilet, but in the common people, its effect is +overwhelming. When the reboso drops off, or is displaced by chance, we see +what they would be without it! As for the sarape, it is both convenient and +graceful, especially on horseback; but though Indian in its origin, the +custom of covering the lower part of the face with it, is taken from the +Spanish cloak; and the opportunity which both sarape and reboso afford for +concealing large knives about the person, as also for enveloping both face +and figure so as to be scarcely recognizable, is no doubt the cause of the +many murders which take place amongst the lower orders, in moments of +excitement and drunkenness. If they had not these knives at hand, their +rage would probably cool, or a fair fight would finish the matter, and if +they could not wear these knives concealed, I presume they would be +prohibited from carrying them. + +As for taking a woman-cook in Mexico, one must have strong nerves and a +good appetite to eat what she dresses, however palatable, after having seen +her. One look at her flowing locks, one glance at her reboso, _et c'est +fini_. And yet the Mexican servants have their good qualities, and are a +thousand times preferable to the foreign servants one finds in Mexico; +especially the French. Bringing them with you is a dangerous experiment. In +ten days they begin to fancy themselves ladies and gentlemen--the men have +_Don_ tacked to their name; and they either marry and set up shops, or +become unbearably insolent. A tolerable French cook may occasionally be +had, but you must pay his services their weight in gold, and wink at his +extortions and robberies. There are one or two French _restaurans_, who +will send you in a very good dinner at an extravagant price: and it is +common in foreign houses, especially amongst the English, to adopt this +plan whenever they give a large entertainment. + +The Mexican servants have some never-failing good qualities. They are the +perfection of civility-humble, obliging, excessively good-tempered, and +very easily attached to those with whom they live; and if that _rara avis_, +a good Mexican housekeeper, can be found, and that such may be met with I +from experience can testify, then the troubles of the menage rest upon her +shoulders, and accustomed as she is to the amiable weaknesses of her +_compatriotes_, she is neither surprised nor disturbed by them. + +As for wages, a good porter has from fifteen to twenty dollars per month; a +coachman from twenty to thirty--many houses keep two or even three +coachmen; one who drives from the box, one who rides postilion, and a third +for emergencies. Our friend---, who has many horses, mules, and carriages, +has four; and pays forty dollars per month to his head coachman; the others +in proportion. A French cook has about thirty dollars--a housekeeper from +twelve to fifteen; a major-domo about twenty or more; a footman six or +seven; galopine and chambermaid five or six; a gardener from twelve to +fifteen. Sewing-girls have about three reals per diem. Porter, coachmen, +and gardener, have their wives and families in the house, which would be an +annoyance, were the houses not so large. The men-servants generally are +much cleaner and better dressed than the women. + +One circumstance is remarkable; that, dirty as the women-servants are, and +notwithstanding the enormous size of Mexican houses, and Mexican families, +the houses themselves are, generally speaking, the perfection of +cleanliness. This must be due either to a good housekeeper, which is rarely +to be found, or to the care taken by the mistress of the house herself. +That private houses should have this advantage over churches and theatres, +only proves that ladies know how to manage these matters better than +gentlemen, so that one is inclined to wish _a la Martineau_, that the +Mexican police were entirely composed of old women. + +12th.--I have formed an acquaintance with a very amiable and agreeable nun +in the convent of Santa Teresa, one of the strictest orders. I have only +seen her twice, through a grating. She is a handsome woman of good family, +and it is said of a remarkably joyous disposition; fond of music and +dancing, and gay society, yet at the age of eighteen, contrary to the +wishes of all her family, she took the veil, and declares she has never +repented of it. Although I cannot see her, I can hear her voice, and talk +to her through a turning wooden screen, which has a very mysterious effect. +She gives me an account of her occupations and of the little events that +take place in her small world within; whilst I bring her news from the +world without. The common people have the greatest veneration for the holy +sisterhood, and I generally find there a number of women with baskets, and +men carrying parcels or letters; some asking their advice or assistance, +others executing their commissions, bringing them vegetables or bread, and +listening to the sound of their voice with the most eager attention. My +friend, the Madre---, has promised to dress a number of wax figures for me, +in the exact costume of all the different nuns in Mexico, beginning with +that of her own convent. + +I have now seen three nuns take the veil; and, next to a death, consider it +the saddest event that can occur in this nether sphere; yet the frequency +of these human sacrifices here is not so strange as might at first appear. +A young girl, who knows nothing of the world, who, as it too frequently +happens, has at home neither amusement nor instruction, and no society +abroad, who from childhood is under the dominion of her confessor, and who +firmly believes that by entering a convent she becomes sure of heaven; who +moreover finds there a number of companions of her own age, and of older +women who load her with praises and caresses--it is not, after all, +astonishing that she should consent to insure her salvation on such easy +terms. + +Add to this the splendour of the ceremony, of which she is the sole object; +the cynosure of all approving eyes. A girl of sixteen finds it hard to +resist all this. I am told that more girls are smitten by the ceremony, +than by anything else, and am inclined to believe it, from the remarks I +have heard made on these occasions by young girls in my vicinity. What does +she lose? A husband and children? Probably she has seen no one who has +touched her heart. Most probably she has hitherto seen no men, or at least +conversed with none but her brothers, her uncles, or her confessor. She has +perhaps also felt the troubles of a Mexican menage. The society of men! She +will still see her confessor, and she will have occasional visits from +reverend padres and right reverend bishops. + +Some of these convents are not entirely free from scandal. Amongst the +monks, there are many who are openly a disgrace to their calling, though I +firmly believe that by far the greater number lead a life of privation and +virtue. Their conduct can, to a certain extent, be judged of by the world; +but the pale nuns, devout and pure, immured in the cloister for life, +kneeling before the shrine, or chanting hymns in the silence of the night, +a veil both truly and allegorically must shade their virtues or their +failings. The nuns of the Santa Teresa and of other strict orders, who live +sparingly, profess the most severe rules, and have no servants or boarders, +enjoy a universal reputation for virtue and sanctity. They consider the +other convents worldly, and their motto is, "All or nothing; the world or +the cloister." Each abbess adds a stricter rule, a severer penance than her +predecessor, and in this they glory. My friend the Madre---frequently says +--"Were I to be born again, I should choose, above every lot in life, to be +a nun of the Santa Teresa, but of no other convent."... + +It is strange how, all the world over, mankind seems to expect from those +who assume religion as a profession a degree of superhuman perfection. +Their failings are insisted upon. Every eye is upon them to mark whatsoever +may be amiss in their conduct. Their virtues, their learning, their holy +lives--nothing will avail them, if one blot can be discovered in their +character. There must be no moral blemish in the priesthood. In the +Catholic religion, where more is professed, still more is demanded, and the +errors of one padre or one ecclesiastic seem to throw a shade over the +whole community to which they belong. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTIETH + + +The Convent Entry--Díalogue--A Chair in Church--Arrival of the +Nun--Dress--José María--Crowd--Withdrawal of the Black Curtain--The Taking +of the Veil--The Sermon--A Dead Body--Another Victim--Convent of the +Encarnación--Attempt at a Hymn--Invitation--Morning Visit--The Nun and her +Mother--Banquet--Taking Leave--Ceremony of the Veil-taking--A Beautiful +Victim--The Last Look--Presentation to the Bishop--Reflections--Verses. + + +4th June. + + +Some days ago, having received a message from _my nun_ that a girl was +about to take the veil in her convent, I went there about six o'clock, and +knowing that the church on these occasions is apt to be crowded to +suffocation, I proceeded to the _reja_, and speaking to an invisible +within, requested to know in what part of the church I could have a place. +Upon which a voice replied-- + +"Hermanita (my sister), I am rejoiced to see you. You shall have a place +beside the godmother." + +"Many thanks, Hermanita. Which way shall I go?" + +_Voice_.--"You shall go through the sacristy. José María!" + +José María, a thin, pale, lank individual, with hollow cheeks, who was +standing near like a page in waiting, sprang forward--"_Madrecita_, I am +here!" + +_Voice_.--"José María--That lady is the Señora de C---n. You will conduct +her excellency to the front of the grating, and give her a chair." + +After I had thanked the _voice_ for her kindness in attending to me on a +day when she was so much occupied with other affairs, the obsequious José +María led the way, and I followed him through the sacristy into the church, +where there were already a few kneeling figures; and thence into the +railed-off enclosure destined for the relatives of the future nun, where I +was permitted to sit down in a comfortable velvet chair. I had been there +but a little while when the aforesaid José María reappeared, picking his +steps as if he were walking upon eggs in a sick-room. He brought me a +message from the Madre---that the nun had arrived, and that the madrecita +wished to know if I should like to give her an embrace before the ceremony +began. I therefore followed my guide back into the sacristy, where the +future nun was seated beside her god-mother, and in the midst of her +friends and relations, about thirty in all. + +She was arrayed in pale blue satin, with diamonds, pearls, and a crown of +flowers. She was literally smothered in blonde and jewels; and her face was +flushed as well it might be, for she had passed the day in taking leave of +her friends at a fête they had given her, and had then, according to +custom, been paraded through the town in all her finery. And now her last +hour was at hand. When I came in she rose and embraced me with as much +cordiality as if we had known each other for years. Beside her sat the +Madrina, also in white satin and jewels; all the relations being likewise +decked out in their finest array. The nun kept laughing every now and then +in the most unnatural and hysterical manner, as I thought, apparently to +impress us with the conviction of her perfect happiness; for it is a great +point of honour amongst girls similarly situated to look as cheerful and +gay as possible; the same feeling, though in a different degree, which +induces the gallant highwayman to jest in the presence of the multitude +when the hangman's cord is within an inch of his neck, the same which makes +the gallant general whose life is forfeited, command his men to fire on +him; the same which makes the Hindoo widow mount the funeral pile without a +tear in her eye, or a sigh on her lips. If the robber were to be strangled +in a corner of his dungeon; if the general were to be put to death +privately in his own apartment; if the widow were to be burnt quietly on +her own hearth; if the nun were to be secretly smuggled in at the convent +gate like a bale of contraband goods,--we might hear another tale. This +girl was very young, but by no means pretty; on the contrary, rather +_disgraciee par la nature_; and perhaps a knowledge of her own want of +attraction may have caused the world to have few charms for her. + +But José María cut short my train of reflections, by requesting me to +return to my seat before the crowd arrived, which I did forthwith. Shortly +after, the church doors were thrown open, and a crowd burst in, every one +struggling to obtain the best seat. Musicians entered, carrying desks and +music-books, and placed themselves in two rows, on either side of the +enclosure where I was. Then the organ struck up its solemn psalmody, and +was followed by the gay music of the band. Rockets were let off outside the +church, and, at the same time, the Madrina and all the relations entered +and knelt down in front of the grating which looks into the convent, but +before which hung a dismal black curtain. I left my chair and knelt down +beside the godmother. + +Suddenly the curtain was withdrawn, and the picturesque beauty of the scene +within baffles all description. Beside the altar, which was in a blaze of +light, was a perfect mass of crimson and gold drapery; the walls, the +antique chairs, the table before which the priests sat, all hung with the +same splendid material. The bishop wore his superb mitre and robes of +crimson and gold; the attendant priests also glittering in crimson and gold +embroidery. + +In contrast to these, five-and-twenty figures, entirely robed in black from +head to foot, were ranged on each side of the room prostrate, their faces +touching the ground, and in their hands immense lighted tapers. On the +foreground was spread a purple carpet bordered round with a garland of +freshly-gathered flowers, roses and carnations and heliotrope, the only +thing that looked real and living in the whole scene; and in the middle of +this knelt the novice, still arrayed in her blue satin, white lace veil and +jewels, and also with a great lighted taper in her hand. + +The black nuns then rose and sang a hymn, every now and then falling on +their faces and touching the floor with their foreheads. The whole looked +like an incantation, or a scene in Robert le Díable. The novice was then +raised from the ground and led to the feet of the bishop, who examined her +as to her vocation, and gave her his blessing, and once more the black +curtain fell between us and them. + +In the _second act_, she was lying prostrate on the floor, disrobed of her +profane dress, and covered over with a black cloth, while the black figures +kneeling round her chanted a hymn. She was now dead to the world. The +sunbeams had faded away, as if they would not look upon the scene, and all +the light was concentrated in one great mass upon the convent group. + +Again she was raised. All the blood had rushed into her face, and her +attempt at a smile was truly painful. She then knelt before the bishop and +received the benediction, with the sign of the cross, from a white hand +with the pastoral ring. She then went round alone to embrace all the dark +phantoms as they stood motionless, and as each dark shadow clasped her in +its arms, it seemed like the dead welcoming a new arrival to the shades. + +But I forget the sermon, which was delivered by a fat priest, who elbowed +his way with some difficulty through the crowd to the grating, panting and +in a prodigious heat, and ensconced himself in a great arm-chair close +beside us. He assured her that she "had chosen the good part, which could +not be taken away from her;" that she was now one of the elect, "chosen +from amongst the wickedness and dangers of the world;"--(picked out like a +plum from a pie). He mentioned with pity and contempt those who were "yet +struggling in the great Babylon;" and compared their miserable fate with +hers, the Bride of Christ, who, after suffering a few privations here +during a short term of years, should be received at once into a kingdom of +glory. The whole discourse was well calculated to rally her fainting +spirits, if fainting they were, and to inspire us with a great disgust for +ourselves. + +When the sermon was concluded, the music again struck up--the heroine of +the day came forward, and stood before the grating to take her last look of +this wicked world. Down fell the black curtain. Up rose the relations, and +I accompanied them into the sacristy. Here they coolly lighted their +cigars, and very philosophically discoursed upon the exceeding good fortune +of the new-made nun, and on her evident delight and satisfaction with her +own situation. As we did not follow her behind the scenes, I could not give +my opinion on this point. Shortly after, one of the gentlemen civilly led +me to my carriage, and _so it was_. + +As we were returning home, some soldiers rode up and stopped the carriage, +desiring the coachman to take to the other side of the aqueduct, to avoid +the body of a man who had just been murdered within a few doors of our +house. + +In the Convent of the Incarnation, I saw another girl sacrificed in a +similar manner. She was received there without a dowry, on account of the +exceeding fineness of her voice. She little thought what a fatal gift it +would prove to her. The most cruel part of all was, that wishing to display +her fine voice to the public, they made her sing a hymn alone, on her +knees, her arms extended in the form of a cross, before all the immense +crowd; "Ancilla Christi sum," "The Bird of Christ I am." She was a good- +looking girl, fat and comely, who would probably have led a comfortable +life in the world, for which she seemed well fitted; most likely without +one touch of romance or enthusiasm in her composition; but having the +unfortunate honour of being niece to two chanoines, she was thus honourably +provided for without expense in her nineteenth year. As might be expected, +her voice faltered, and instead of singing, she seemed inclined to cry out. +Each note came slowly, heavily, trembingly; and at last she nearly fell +forward exhausted, when two of the sisters caught and supported her. + +I had almost made up my mind to see no more such scenes, which, unlike +pulque and bull-fights, I dislike more and more upon trial; when we +received an invitation, which it was not easy to refuse, but was the more +painful to accept, being acquainted, though slightly, with the victim. I +send you the printed note of invitation. + +"On Wednesday, the----of this month, at six o'clock in the evening, my +daughter, Doña María de la Conception, P---e---, will assume the habit of a +nun of the choir and the black veil in the Convent of Our Lady of the +Incarnation. I have the honour to inform you of this, entreating you to +co-operate with your presence in the solemnity of this act, a favour which +will be highly esteemed by your affectionate servant, who kisses your hand. + +"MARÍA JOSÉFA DE -----. + +"Mexico, June---, 1840." + + +Having gone out in the carriage to pay some visits, I suddenly recollected +that it was the very morning of the day in which this young girl was to +take the veil, and also that it was necessary to inquire where I was to be +placed; for as to entering the church with the crowd on one of these +occasions, it is out of the question; particularly when the girl being, as +in the present case, of distinguished family, the ceremony is expected to +be peculiarly magnificent. I accordingly called at the house, was shown +upstairs, and to my horror, found myself in the midst of a "goodlie +companie," in rich array, consisting of the relations of the family, to the +number of about a hundred persons; the bishop himself in his purple robes +and amethysts, a number of priests, the father of the young lady in his +general's uniform; she herself in purple velvet, with diamonds and pearls, +and a crown of flowers; the _corsage_ of her gown entirely covered with +little bows of ribbon of divers colours, which her friends had given her, +each adding one, like stones thrown on a cairn in memory of the departed. +She had also short sleeves and white satin shoes. + +Being very handsome, with fine black eyes, good teeth, and fresh colour, +and above all with the beauty of youth, for she is but eighteen, she was +not disfigured even by this overloaded dress. Her mother, on the contrary, +who was to act the part of Madrina, who wore a dress fac-simile, and who +was pale and sad, her eyes almost extinguished with weeping, looked like a +picture of misery in a balldress. In the adjoining room, long tables were +laid out, on which servants were placing refreshments for the fête about to +be given on this joyous occasion. I felt somewhat shocked, and inclined to +say with Paul Pry, "Hope I don't intrude." But my apologies were instantly +cut short, and I was welcomed with true Mexican hospitality; repeatedly +thanked for my kindness in coming to see the nun, and hospitably pressed to +join the family feast. I only got off upon a promise of returning at +half-past five to accompany them to the ceremony, which, in fact, I greatly +preferred to going there alone. + +I arrived at the hour appointed, and being led upstairs by the Senator Don +-----, found the morning party, with many additions, lingering over the +dessert. There was some gaiety, but evidently forced. It reminded me of a +marriage feast previous to the departure of the bride, who is about to be +separated from her family for the first time. Yet how different in fact is +this banquet, where the mother and daughter met together for the last time +on earth! + +At stated periods, indeed, the mother may hear her daughter's voice +speaking to her as from the depths of the tomb; but she may never more fold +her in her arms, never more share in her joys or in her sorrows, or nurse +her in sickness; and when her own last hour arrives, though but a few +streets divide them, she may not give her dying blessing to the child who +has been for so many years the pride of her eyes and heart. + +I have seen no country where families are so knit together as in Mexico, +where the affections are so concentrated, or where such devoted respect and +obedience are shown by the married sons and daughters to their parents. In +that respect they always remain as little children. I know many families of +which the married branches continue to live in their father's house, +forming a sort of small colony, and living in the most perfect harmony. +They cannot bear the idea of being separated, and nothing but dire +necessity ever forces them to leave their _fatherland_. To all the accounts +which travellers give them of the pleasures to be met with in the European +capitals, they turn a deaf ear. Their families are in Mexico--their +parents, and sisters, and relatives--and there is no happiness for them +elsewhere. The greater therefore is the sacrifice which those parents make, +who from religious motives devote their daughters to a conventual life. + +-----, however, was furious at the whole affair, which he said was entirely +against the mother's consent, though that of the father had been obtained; +and pointed out to me the confessor whose influence had brought it about. +The girl herself was now very pale, but evidently resolved to conceal her +agitation, and the mother seemed as if she could shed no more tears--quite +exhausted with weeping. As the hour for the ceremony drew near, the whole +party became more grave and sad, all but the priests, who were smiling and +talking together in groups. The girl was not still a moment. She kept +walking hastily through the house, taking leave of the servants, and naming +probably her last wishes about everything. She was followed by her younger +sisters, all in tears. + +But it struck six, and the priests intimated that it was time to move. She +and her mother went downstairs alone, and entered the carriage which was to +drive them through all the principal streets, to show the nun to the public +according to custom, and to let them take their last look, they of her, and +she of them. As they got in, we all crowded to the balconies to see her +take leave of her house, her aunts saying, "Yes, child, _despídete de tu +casa_, take leave of your house, for you will never see it again!" Then +came sobs from the sisters, and many of the gentlemen, ashamed of their +emotion, hastily quitted the room. I hope, for the sake of humanity, I did +not rightly interpret the look of constrained anguish which the poor girl +threw from the window of the carriage at the home of her childhood. + +They drove off, and the relations prepared to walk in procession to the +church. I walked with the Count S---o, the others followed in pairs. The +church was very brilliantly illuminated, and as we entered, the band was +playing one of _Strauss's_ waltzes! The crowd was so tremendous that we +were nearly squeezed to a jelly in getting to our places. I was carried off +my feet between two fat Señoras in mantillas and shaking diamond pendants, +exactly as if I had been packed between two moveable feather-beds. + +They gave me, however, an excellent place, quite close to the grating, +beside the Countess de S---o, that is to say, a place to kneel on. A great +bustle and much preparation seemed to be going on within the convent, and +veiled figures were flitting about, whispering, arranging, etc. Sometimes a +skinny old dame would come close to the grating, and lifting up her veil, +bestow upon the pensive public a generous view of a very haughty and very +wrinkled visage of some seventy years standing, and beckon into the church +for the major-domo of the convent (an excellent and profitable situation by +the way), or for padre this or that. Some of the holy ladies recognised and +spoke to me through the grating. + +But at the discharge of fireworks outside the church the curtain was +dropped, for this was the signal that the nun and her mother had arrived. +An opening was made in the crowd as they passed into the church, and the +girl, kneeling down, was questioned by the bishop, but I could not make out +the dialogue, which was carried on in a low voice. She then passed into the +convent by a side door, and her mother, quite exhausted and nearly in +hysterics, was supported through the crowd to a place beside us, in front +of the grating. The music struck up; the curtain was again drawn aside. The +scene was as striking here as in the convent of the Santa Teresa, but not +so lugubrious. The nuns, all ranged around, and carrying lighted tapers in +their hands, were dressed in mantles of bright blue, with a gold plate on +the left shoulder. Their faces, however, were covered with deep black +veils. The girl, kneeling in front, and also bearing a heavy lighted taper, +looked beautiful, with her dark hair and rich dress, and the long black +lashes resting on her glowing face. The churchmen near the illuminated and +magnificently-decked altar formed, as usual, a brilliant background to the +picture. The ceremony was the same as on the former occasion, but there was +no sermon. + +The most terrible thing to witness was the last, straining, anxious look +which the mother gave her daughter through the grating. She had seen her +child pressed to the arms of strangers, and welcomed to her new home. She +was no longer hers. All the sweet ties of nature had been rudely severed, +and she had been forced to consign her, in the very bloom of youth and +beauty, at the very age in which she most required a mother's care, and +when she had but just fulfilled the promise of her childhood, to a living +tomb. Still, as long as the curtain had not fallen, she could gaze upon +her, as upon one on whom, though dead, the coffin-lid is not yet closed. + +But while the new-made nun was in a blaze of light, and distinct on the +foreground, so that we could mark each varying expression of her face, the +crowd in the church, and the comparative faintness of the light, probably +made it difficult for her to distinguish her mother; for, knowing that the +end was at hand, she looked anxiously and hurriedly into the church, +without seeming able to fix her eyes on any particular object; while her +mother seemed as if her eyes were glazed, so intently were they fixed upon +her daughter. + +Suddenly, and without any preparation, down fell the black curtain like a +pall, and the sobs and tears of the family broke forth. One beautiful +little child was carried out almost in fits. Water was brought to the poor +mother; and at last, making our way with difficulty through the dense +crowd, we got into the sacristy. "I declare," said the Countess ----- to +me, wiping her eyes, "it is worse than a marriage!" I expressed my horror +at the sacrifice of a girl so young, that she could not possibly have known +her own mind. Almost all the ladies agreed with me, especially all who had +daughters, but many of the old gentlemen were of a different opinion. The +young men were decidedly of my way of thinking; but many young girls, who +were conversing together, seemed rather to envy their friend, who had +looked so pretty and graceful, and "so happy," and whose dress "suited her +so well," and to have no objection to "go, and do likewise." + +I had the honour of a presentation to the bishop, a fat and portly prelate, +with good manners, and well besuiting his priestly garments. I amused +myself, while we waited for the carriages, by looking over a pamphlet which +lay on the table, containing the ceremonial of the veil-taking. When we +rose to go, all the ladies of the highest rank devoutly kissed the bishop's +hand; and I went home, thinking by what law of God a child can thus be +dragged from the mother who bore and bred her, and immured in a cloister +for life, amongst strangers, to whom she has no tie, and towards whom she +owes no duty. That a convent may be a blessed shelter from the calamities +of life, a haven for the unprotected, a resting-place for the weary, a safe +and holy asylum, where a new family and kind friends await those whose +natural ties are broken and whose early friends are gone, I am willing to +admit; but it is not in the flower of youth that the warm heart should be +consigned to the cold cloister. Let the young take their chance of sunshine +or of storm: the calm and shady retreat is for helpless and unprotected old +age. + +-----, to whom I described one of these ceremonies, wrote some verses, +suggested by my account of them, which I send you. + + In tropic gorgeousness, the Lord of Day + To the bright chambers of the west retired, + And with the glory of his parting ray + The hundred domes of Mexico he fired, + When I, with vague and solemn awe inspired, + Entered the Incarnation's sacred fane. + The vaulted roof, the dim aisle far retired, + Echoed the deep-toned organ's holy strain, + Which through the incensed air did mournfully complain. + + The veiling curtain suddenly withdrew, + Op'ning a glorious altar to the sight, + Where crimson intermixed its regal hue + With gold and jewels that outblazed the light + Of the huge tapers near them flaming bright + From golden stands--the bishop, mitre-crowned, + Stood stately near--in order due around + The sisterhood knelt down, their brows upon the ground. + + The novice entered: to her doom she went, + Gems on her robes, and flowers upon her brow. + Virgin of tender years, poor innocent! + Pause, ere thou speak th' irrevocable vow. + What if thy heart should change, thy spirit fail? + She kneels. The black-robed sisters cease to bow. + They raise a hymn which seems a funeral wail, + While o'er the pageant falls the dark, lugubrious veil. + + Again the veil is up. On earth she lies, + With the drear mantle of the pall spread o'er. + The new-made nun, the living sacrifice, + Dead to this world of ours for evermore! + The sun his parting rays has ceased to pour, + As loth to lend his light to such a scene.... + The sisters raise her from the sacred floor, + Supporting her their holy arms between; + The mitred priest stands up with patriarchal mien. + + And speaks the benediction; all is done. + A life-in-death must her long years consume + She clasped her new-made sisters one by one. + As the black shadows their embraces gave + They seemed like spectres from their place of doom. + Stealing from out eternal night's blind cave, + To meet their comrade new, and hail her to the grave. + + The curtain fell again, the scene was o'er, + The pageant gone--its glitter and its pride, + And it would be a pageant and no more, + But for the maid miscalled the Heavenly Bride. + If I, an utter stranger, unallied + To her by slightest ties, some grief sustain, + What feels the yearning mother, from whose side + Is torn the child whom she hath reared in vain, + To share her joys no more, no more to sooth her pain! + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FIRST + + +San Agustin--The Gambling Fête--The Beauties of the Village--The Road from +Mexico--Entry to San Agustin--The Gambling Houses--San Antonio--The +Pedregal--Last Day of the Fête--The Cock-pit--The Boxes--The Cock-fight-- +Decorum--Comparisons--Dinner--Ball at Calvario--House of General Moran-- +View of the Gambling-tables--The Advocate--Ball at the Plaza de Gallos-- +Return to Mexico--Reflections--Conversation between two Ministers. + + +15th June. + + +Since my last letter we have been at San Agustin de las Cuevas, which, when +I last saw it, was a deserted village, but which during three days in the +year presents the appearance of a vast bee-hive or ant-hill. San Agustin! +At the name how many hearts throb with emotion! How many hands are +mechanically thrust into empty pockets! How many visions of long-vanished +golden ounces flit before aching eyes! What faint crowing of wounded cocks! +What tinkling of guitars and blowing of horns come upon the ear! Some, +indeed, there be, who can look round upon their well-stored hacienda and +easy-rolling carriages, and remember the day, when with threadbare coat, +and stake of three modest ounces, they first courted Fortune's favours, and +who, being then indigent, and enjoying an indifferent reputation, found +themselves, at the conclusion of a few successive San Agustins, the +fortunate proprietors of gold, and land, and houses; and, moreover, with an +unimpeachable fame; for he who can fling gold-dust in his neighbour's eyes, +prevents him from seeing too clearly. But these favourites of the blind +goddess are few and far between; and they have for the most part, with a +view to greater security, become holders or sharers of banks at San +Agustin, thus investing their fortune in a secure fund; more so decidedly, +if we may believe the newspaper reports, than in the bank of the United +States at this present writing. + +Time, in its revolutions whirling all things out of their places, has made +no change in the annual fête of San Agustin. Fashions alter. The graceful +mantilla gradually gives place to the ungraceful bonnet. The old painted +coach, moving slowly like a caravan, with Guide's Aurora painted on its +gaudy panels, is dismissed for the London-built carriage. Old customs have +passed away. The ladies no longer sit on the door-sills, eating roast duck +with their fingers, or with the aid of tortillas. Even the Chinampas have +become stationary, and have occasionally joined the continent. But the +annual fête of San Agustin is built on a more solid foundation than taste +or custom, or floating soil. It is founded upon that love of gambling, +which is said to be a passion inherent in our nature, and which is +certainly impregnated with the Mexican constitution, in man, woman, and +child. The beggars gamble at the corners of the streets or under the +arches; the little boys gamble in groups in the villages; the coachmen and +footmen gamble at the doors of the theatre while waiting for their masters. + +But while their hand is thus _kept in_ all the year round, there are three +days sacredly set apart annually, in which every accommodation is given to +those who are bent upon ruining themselves or their neighbours; whilst +every zest that society can afford, is held out to render the temptation +more alluring. As religion is called in to sanctify everything, right or +wrong; as the robber will plant a cross at the mouth of his cave, and the +pulque-shops do occasionally call themselves "Pulquerias of the Most Holy +Virgin," so this season of gambling is fixed for the fête of _Pascua_ +(Whitsunday), and the churches and the gambling-houses are thrown open +simultaneously. + +The village is in itself pretty and picturesque; and, as a stone at its +entry informs us, was built by the active Viceroy Revillagigedo, with the +product, as ----- assured us, of two lotteries. It is charmingly situated, +in the midst of handsome villas and orchards, whose high walls, overtopped +by fruit-trees, border the narrow lanes. At this season the trees are +loaded with the yellow _chabacano_ and the purple plum, already ripe; while +the pear-trees are bending under the weight of their fruit. The gardens are +full of flowers; the roses in their last bloom, covering the crowd with +their pink leaves, and jasmine and sweetpeas in profusion, making the air +fragrant. The rainy season has scarce set in, though frequent showers have +laid the dust, and refreshed the air. The country villas are filled with +all that is gayest and most distinguished in Mexico, and every house and +every room in the village has been hired for months in advance. The ladies +are in their most elegant toilets, and looking forward to a delightful +whirl of dancing, cock-fighting, gambling, dining, dressing, and driving +about. + +The high-road leading from Mexico to San Agustin is covered with vehicles +of every description; carriages, diligences, hackney-coaches, carts, and +carratelas. Those who are not fortunate enough to possess any wheeled +conveyance, come out on horse, ass, or mule; single, double, or treble, if +necessary; and many hundreds, with visions of silver before their eyes, and +a few _clacos_ (pence), hid under their rags, trudge out on foot. The +President himself, in carriage-and-six, and attended by his aides-de-camp, +sanctions by his presence the amusements of the fête. The Mexican generals +and other officers follow in his wake, and the gratifying spectacle may not +unfrequently be seen, of the president leaning from his box in the _plaza +de gallos_, and betting upon a cock, with a coatless, bootless, hatless, +and probably worthless ragamuffin in the pit. Every one, therefore, however +humble his degree, has the pleasure, while following his speculative +inclinations, of reflecting that he treads in the steps of the magnates of +the land; and, as Sam Weller would say, "Vot a consolation that must be to +his feelings!" + +At all events, nothing can be gayer than the appearance of the village, as +your carriage makes its way through the narrow lanes into the principal +plaza, amidst the assembled crowd of coaches and foot-passengers; though +the faces of the people bear evidence that pleasure alone has not brought +them to San Agustin. All round the square are the gambling-houses, where +for three nights and three days every table is occupied. At the principal +_montes_ nothing is played but gold, but as there is accommodation for all +classes, so there are silver tables in the inferior houses, while outside +are rows of tables on which are heaps of copper, covered with a rugged +awning, and surrounded by léperos and blanketed Indians, playing monta in +imitation of their betters, though on a scale more suited to their +finances. + +Having left Mexico early in the morning, we stopped to breakfast at San +Antonio, a noble hacienda, about four leagues from Mexico, belonging to the +Dowager Marquesa de Vivanco, where we breakfasted with a large party. It is +a fine solid mass of building, and as you enter the courtyard, through a +deep archway, the great outhouses, stables, and especially the granary, +look like remains of feudalism, they are on so large and magnificent a +scale. It is an immense and valuable property, producing both maize and +maguey, and the hospitality of the family, who are amongst our earliest +friends here, is upon as large a scale as everything that belongs to them. +We had a splendid breakfast, in a fine old hall, and stayed but a short +time to visit the gardens and the chapel, as we were anxious to arrive at +San Agustin in time for the cock-fight. + +It is singular, that while San Agustin is situated in the midst of the most +fertile and productive country, there should lie opposite to it, and +bounded as it were by the graceful Peruvian trees and silver poplars which +surround a small church on the other side of the high road, a great tract +of black lava, steril, bleak, and entirely destitute of vegetation, called +the _Pedregal_. This covers the country all along to San Agustin and to the +base of the mountain of Ajusco, which lies behind it, contrasting strangely +with the beautiful groves and gardens in its neighbourhood, and looking as +if it had been cursed for some crime committed there. The high-road, which +runs nearly in a direct line from the hacienda to San Agustin, is broad and +in tolerable repair; but before arriving there, it is so little attended +to, that during the rainy season it might be passed in canoes; yet this +immense formation of ferruginous larva and porphyritic rock lies +conveniently in its vicinity. A large sum, supposed to be employed in +mending the road, is collected annually at the toll, close to San Antonio. +For each carriage two dollars are asked, and for carts and animals in +proportion. The proprietor of this toll or _postazgo_ is also the owner of +the plaza de gallos, where a dollar is paid for entry, the sums produced by +which go exclusively to enrich the same individual. The government has no +advantage from it... + +The last day of the fête is considered the best, and it is most crowded on +that day, both by families from Mexico and by foreigners who go solely for +pleasure, though not unfrequently tempted to do a little business on their +own account. In fact, the temptations are great; and it must be difficult +for a young man to withstand them. + +We went to the _gallos_ about three o'clock. The plaza was crowded, and the +ladies in their boxes looked like a parterre of different-coloured flowers. +But whilst the Señoras in their boxes did honour to the fête by their +brilliant toilet, the gentlemen promenaded round the circle in jackets, +high and low being on the same _curtailed_ footing, and certainly in a +style of dress more befitting the exhibition. The president and his suite +were already there, also several of the foreign Ministers. + +Meanwhile, the cocks crowed valiantly, bets were adjusted, and even the +women entered into the spirit of the scene, taking bets with the gentlemen +_sotto voce_ in their boxes, upon such and such favourite animal. As a +small knife is fastened to the leg of each cock, the battle seldom lasted +long, one or other falling every few minutes in a pool of blood. Then there +was a clapping of hands, mingled with the loud crowing of some unfortunate +cock, who was giving himself airs previous to a combat where he was +probably destined to crow his last. It has a curious effect to European +eyes, to see young ladies of good family, looking peculiarly feminine and +gentle, sanctioning, by their presence, this savage diversion. It is no +doubt the effect of early habit, and you will say that at least it is no +worse than a bull-fight; which is certain--yet cruel as the latter is, I +find something more _en grande_, more noble, in the + + "Ungentle sport, that oft invites + The Spanish maid, and cheers the Spanish swain;" + +in the roaring of the "lord of lowing herds," the galloping of the fine +horses, the skill of the riders, the gay dresses, the music, and the agile +matador; in short, in the whole pomp and circumstances of the combat, than +when one looks quietly on to see two birds peck each other's eyes out, and +cut each other to pieces. Unlike cock-pits in other countries, attended by +blacklegs and pickpockets and gentlemanly _roues_, by far the largest +portion of the assembly in the pit was composed of the first young men in +Mexico, and for that matter, of the first old ones also. There was neither +confusion, nor noise, nor even loud talking, far less swearing, amongst the +lowest of those assembled in the ring; and it is this quiet and orderly +behaviour which throws over all these incongruities a cloak of decency and +decorum, that hides their impropriety so completely, that even foreigners +who have lived here a few years, and who were at first struck with +astonishment by these things, are now quite reconciled to them. + +As far as the company went, it might have been the House of Representatives +in Washington; the ladies in the gallery listening to the debates, and the +members in the body of the house surrounding Messrs.----- and -----, or any +other two vehement orators; applauding their biting remarks and cutting +sarcasms, and encouraging them to crow over each other. The president might +have been the speaker, and the corps diplomatique represented itself. + +We had an agreeable dinner at the E---s, and afterwards accompanied them to +the Calvario, a hill where there was a ball _al fresco_, which was rather +amusing, and then paid a visit to the family of General Moran, who has a +beautiful house and gardens in the neighbourhood. We found a large party +assembled, and amongst them the president. Afterwards, accompanied by the +----- Minister, and the ladies of our party, we went to take a view of the +gambling-tables, and opened our eyes at the heaps of gold, which changed +owners every minute. I saw C---a, a millionaire, win and lose a thousand +ounces apparently with equal indifference. A little advocate having won two +thousand five hundred ounces, wisely ordered his carriage and set off for +Mexico, with the best _fee_ he had ever received in his life. Ladies do not +generally look on at the tables, but may if they please, and especially if +they be strangers. Each gambling-room was well fitted up, and looked like a +private apartment. + +We then returned home and dressed for the ball, which was given in the +evening in the plaza de gallos. We first went upstairs to a box, but I +afterwards took the advice of M. de ----- and came down to see the dancers. +There were ladies in full dress, and gentlemen in white jackets--rather +inconsistent. The company, though perfectly quiet and well-behaved, were +not very select, and were, on that account, particularly amusing. Madame +de ----- and I walked about, and certainly laughed much more than we should +have done in a more distinguished society. + +About two in the morning we returned to Mexico, and as I this moment +receive a note from the American Minister, informing me that the packet +from Vera Cruz is about to sail, I shall send off my letters now; and +should we still be here next year, I shall then give you a more detailed +description of the fête, of the ball, both at Calvario and in the cock-pit, +and also of the "high life below stairs" gambling, at which the scenes are +_impayable_. In one respect the fashions of San Agustin are altered from +what they were a few years ago, when the Señoras used to perform five +elaborate and distinct toilets daily; the first in the morning, the second +for the cockfight, the third for the dinner, the fourth for the ball on the +hill of Calvary, and the fifth for the ball in the evening. I am told that +as they danced in the open air, on the hill, with all their diamonds and +pearls on, in the midst of an immense concourse of people, a great many +jewels were constantly lost, which the _léperos_ used afterwards to search +for, and pick up from the grass; a rich harvest. Though they still dress a +great deal, they are contented with changing their toilet twice, or at the +most, three times in the course of the day. + +Upon the whole, these three days are excessively amusing, and as all ranks +and conditions are mingled, one sees much more variety than at a ball in +the city. + +On their way home, C---n and Señor ----- discussed the effects likely to be +produced on the morals of the people by this fête. Señor -----, like nearly +all the wisest men here, persists in considering gambling an innocent +amusement, and declares, that at all events, this fête ought never to be +done away with. In his opinion, it conduces to the happiness of the people, +gives them an annual pleasure to look forward to, and by the mingling of +all ranks which then takes place, keeps up a good feeling between the +higher and lower orders. C---n asked him why, if such was the case, the +government did not at least endeavour to draw some advantage from it, after +the manner of the Count de Revillagigedo--why, as the bank, by the nature +of the game, has, besides a great capital, which swallows up all the +smaller ones, an immense profit, amounting to twenty-five per cent., they +do not make the bankers pay four or five per cent., and charge half a +dollar or more to each individual who enters to gamble; with which money +they might beautify the village, make a public _pasoe_, a good road, a +canal to Mexico, etc. + +I thought that whatever the government might feel on this subject, neither +the bankers nor the gamblers would relish the insinuation. I shall write in +a few days by the Baron de -----, Minister from -----, who leaves Mexico in +a fortnight. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SECOND + + +Countess C---a--Gutierrez Estrada--Dinner at General Moran's--Dowager +Marquesa--Fête at San Antonio--Approach of the Rainy Season--Diamonds and +Plate--Great Ball--Night Travelling--Severe Storm--Chapter of Accidents-- +Corpus Christi--Poblana Dress--Book-club--Ball--Humming-bird--Franciscan +Friar--Missions to Old and New California--Zeal and Endurance of the +Missionaries--Present Condition--Convent Gardener. + + +17th June. + + +As we dine nearly every Sunday with the Countess de la C---a at Tacubay, +where she keeps open house to all her friends, we have had the pleasure of +becoming intimately acquainted with her son-in-law, Señor Gutierrez +Estrada, who, with his amiable wife, has lately returned from Europe. + + +Fête at San Antonio + + +A great dinner was given us the other day by General Moran and his lady the +Marquesa de Vivanco, at San Agustin. We went early that we might have time +to walk about the garden, which is beautiful, and to visit an artificial +cave there, which we found lighted up with coloured lamps, and where a most +fascinating species of cold milk punch, with cakes, was served to the +company. The dinner would certainly have been superb in any country; the +family have travelled a great deal in Europe, (_per force_, the general +having been exiled for several years,) and are amongst the oldest and +richest in Mexico. The dowager marquesa has a most patriarchal family of +daughters and grand-daughters, and of the large party assembled at table, +nearly all were composed of its different members. In the evening we had a +pleasant dance under the trees. + +20th.--Being invited yesterday to a fête at San Antonio, we left Mexico +about eight o'clock, by the great causeway leading to San Agustin. The day +was peculiarly brilliant, but the rainy season is now announcing its +approach by frequent showers towards evening. We found a large party +assembled, and about twelve o'clock sat down to a most magnificent +breakfast of about sixty persons. Everything was solid silver; even the +plates. A vast capital is sunk in diamonds and plate in this country, no +good sign of the state of commerce. The ladies in general were dressed in +white embroidered muslins, over white or coloured satin, and one or two +Paris dresses shone conspicuous. There was one specimen of real Mexican +beauty; the Señora---, a face perhaps more Indian than Spanish, very dark, +with fine eyes, beautiful teeth, very long dark hair, and full of +expression. The house, which is immensely large, is furnished, or rather +unfurnished, in the style of all Mexican haciendas. After breakfast, we had +music, dancing, walking, and billiard-playing. Some boleros were very +gracefully danced by a daughter of the marquesa's, and they also showed us +some dances of the country. The fête terminated with the most beautiful +supper I almost ever saw. A great hall was lighted with coloured lamps, the +walls entirely lined with green branches, and hung with fresh garlands of +flowers most tastefully arranged. There was a great deal of gaiety and +cordiality, of magnificence without ceremony, and riches without +pretension. Although warned by various showers that a bad night would +probably set in, and although it was too likely that the hospitality within +the house would be extended to our coachmen, and even though the whole +party were strongly pressed by the marquesa to pass the night there, so +that it was with difficulty we resisted her entreaties to remain, we did, +in the face of all this, set off at twelve o'clock at night to return to +Mexico; about seven carriages together, with various gentlemen riding. +Though very dark there was no rain, and we flattered ourselves it would +keep fair till we reached the city. The Minister of the interior, who is +married to a daughter of the marquesa, C---n and I, and La Guera Rodriguez, +set off in one carriage. Some carriages had lamps, others had none. Some +had six horses; we had six mules, and an escort of dragoons. We had not +gone two miles before a thunderstorm came on; and the black clouds which +had been gathering above our heads burst forth in torrents of rain. The +wind was tremendous. All the lamps were extinguished. The horses waded up +to their knees in mud--and water. Suddenly there was a crash, followed by +loud cries. A carriage was overturned, in which were the Señora L---- and a +party of gentlemen. In the midst of this awful storm, and perhaps still +more bewildered by generous liquor, their coachman had lost his way, and +lodged them all in a ditch. The poor Señora was dreadfully bruised, her +head cut, and her wrist dislocated. In the darkness and confusion she was +extricated with difficulty, and placed in another carriage. + +Our mules stood still. As far as the noise of the storm would allow us to +hear, we made out that our coachman also had lost the road. Two dragoons +rode up to direct him. One fell, horse and all, into a deep ditch, where he +remained till the next morning. Another carriage came ploughing its way +behind us. Another exclamation in the darkness! A mule had fallen and +broken his traces, and plunged into the water. The poor animal could not be +found. Never was there such a chapter of accidents. We were the only +carriage-load which escaped entirely, owing chiefly to the sobriety of the +coachman. Very slowly and after sundry detentions, we arrived in Mexico +towards morning, very tired, but with neither broken bones nor bruises. + +18th.--Day of the Corpus Christi, in which the host is carried through the +city in great procession at which the president, in full uniform, the +archbishop, and all the Ministers, etc., assist. In former days this +ceremony took place on Holy Thursday; but finding that, on account of the +various ceremonies of the holy week, it could not be kept with due +solemnity, another day was set apart for its celebration. We went to a +window in the square, to see the procession, which was very brilliant; all +the troops out, and the streets crowded. Certainly, a stranger entering +Mexico on one of these days would be struck with surprise at its apparent +wealth. Everything connected with the church is magnificent. + +This evening the Señora A---- came after it was dark, in a Poblana dress, +which she had just bought to wear at a _Jamaica_, which they are going to +have in the country--a sort of fair, where all the girls disguise +themselves in peasants' dresses, and go about selling fruit, lemonade, +vegetables, etc., to each other--a very ancient Mexican amusement. This +dress cost her some hundred dollars. The top of the petticoat is yellow +satin; the rest, which is of scarlet cashmere, is embroidered in gold and +silver. Her hair was fastened back with a thick silver comb, and her +ornaments were very handsome, coral set in gold. Her shoes white satin, +embroidered in gold; the sleeves and body of the chemise, which is of the +finest cambric, trimmed with rich lace; and the petticoat, which comes +below the dress, shows two flounces of Valenciennes. She looks beautiful in +this dress, which will not be objected to in the country, though it might +not suit a fancy ball in Mexico. + +June 27th.--I was awakened this morning by hearing that two boxes had +arrived from New York, containing books, letters, etc.; all very +acceptable. We also received a number of old newspapers by post, for which +we had to pay eighteen dollars! Each sheet costs a real and a half--a +mistaken source of profit in a republic, where the general diffusion of +knowledge is of so much importance, for this not only applies to the +introduction of French and English, but also of Spanish newspapers. Señors +Gutierrez Estrada and Canedo used every effort to reduce this duty on +newspapers, but in vain. The post-office opposes its reduction, fearing to +be deprived of an imaginary rent--imaginary, because so few persons, +comparatively, think it worth their while to go to this expense. There is +but one daily newspaper in Mexico, "La Gazeta del Gobierno" (the government +paper), and it is filled with orders and decrees. An opposition paper, the +"Cosmopolita," is published twice a week; also a Spanish paper, the +"Hesperia;" both (especially the last) are well written. There is also the +"Mosquito," so called from its stinging sarcasms. Now and then another with +a new title appears, like a shooting star, but, from want of support, or +from some other motive, is suddenly extinguished. + +Enlightened individuals like Don Lucas Alaman and Count Cortina have +published newspapers, but not for any length of time. Count Cortina, +especially, edited a very witty and brilliant paper called the "Zurriago," +the "Scourge," and another called the "Mono," the "Ape;" and in many of his +articles he was tolerably severe upon the incorrect Spanish of his brother +editors, of which no one can be a better judge, he having been a member of +the "Academia de la Lengua," in Spain. + +The only kind of monthly review in Mexico is the "Mosaico Megicano," whose +editor has made his fortune by his own activity and exertions. Frequently +it contains more translations than original matter; but from time to time +it publishes scientific articles, said to be written by Don J. M. +Bustamante, which are very valuable, and occasionally a brilliant article +from the pen of Count Cortina. General Orbegoso, who is of Spanish origin, +is also a contributor. Sometimes, though rarely, it publishes "documentos +ineditos" (unedited documents), connected with Mexican antiquities, and +Mexican natural history and biography, which are very important; and now +and then it contains a little poetical gem, I know not whether original or +not, but exceedingly beautiful. So far as it goes, this review is one great +means of spreading know-ledge, at least amongst the better classes; but I +understand that the editor, Don Ygnacio Cumplido, a very courteous, +intelligent man, complains that it does not pay. + +There are no circulating libraries in Mexico. Books are at least double the +price that they are in Europe. There is no diffusion of useful knowledge +amongst the people; neither cheap pamphlets nor cheap magazines written for +their amusement or instruction; but this is less owing to want of attention +to their interests on the part of many good and enlightened men, than to +the unsettled state of the country; for the blight of civil war prevents +the best systems from ripening. + +Fortunately, there is an English society here, a kind of book-club, who, +with their Minister, have united in a subscription to order from England +all the new publications, and as C---n is a member of this society, we are +not so _arrieres_ in regard to the literature of the day as might be +supposed. Like all English societies, its basis is a good dinner, which +each member gives in turn, once a month, after which there is a sale of the +books that have been read, and propositions for new books are given in to +the president. It is an excellent plan, and I believe is in part adopted by +other foreigners here. But Germans of a certain class do not seem to be +sufficiently numerous for such an undertaking, and the French in Mexico, +barring some distinguished exceptions, are apt to be amongst the very worst +specimens of that people which "le plaisant pays de France" can furnish +forth. + +We went lately to a ball given by a young Englishman, which was very +pretty, and where nearly all the English were collected. Of families, there +are not more than half a dozen resident here, the members of whom form a +striking contrast in complexion to the _Mexicanas_. With very few +exceptions (and these in the case of English women married to foreigners); +they keep themselves entirely aloof from the Mexicans, live quietly in +their own houses, into which they have transplanted as much English +comfort as possible, rarely travel, and naturally find Mexico the dullest of +cities. C---n has gone to dine with the English Minister, and I am left +alone in this large room, with nothing but a humming-bird to keep me +company; the last of my half-dozen. It looks like a large blue fly, and is +perfectly tame, but will not live many days. + +I was startled by a solemn voice, saying, "Ave María Purissima!" And +looking up there stood in the doorway a "friar of orders gray," bringing +some message to C---n from the head of the convent of San Fernando, with +which monks C---n has formed a great intimacy, chiefly in consequence of +the interest which he has taken in the history of their missions to +California. + +In fact, when we hear the universal cry that is raised against these +communities for the inutility of their lives, it is but just that +exceptions should be made in favour of those orders, who, like the monks of +San Fernando, have dispersed their missionaries over some of the most +miserable parts of the globe, and who, undeterred by danger, and by the +prospect of death, have carried light to the most benighted savages. These +institutions are of a very remote date. A learned Jesuit monk, Eusebio +Kuhn, is said to have been the first who discovered that California was a +peninsula. In 1683 the Jesuits had formed establishments in old California, +and for the first time it was made known that the country which had until +then been considered an El Dorado, rich in all precious metals and +diamonds, was arid, stony, and without water or earth fit for vegetation; +that where there is a spring of water it is to be found amongst the bare +rocks, and where there is earth there is no water. A few spots were found +by these industrious men, uniting these advantages, and there they founded +their first missions. + +But the general hatred with which the Jesuits were regarded, excited +suspicion against them, and it was generally supposed that their accounts +were false, and that they were privately becoming possessed of much +treasure. A _visitador_ (surveyor) was sent to examine into the truth, and +though he could discover no traces of gold or silver, he was astonished by +the industry and zeal with which they had cultivated the barren and +treeless waste. In a few years they had built sixteen villages, and when +they were expelled, in 1767, the Dominican friars of Mexico took their +place. + +Until these missions were established, and in every part of the peninsula +which is not included in the territory of the missions, the savages were +the most degraded specimens of humanity existing. More degraded than the +beasts of the field, they lay all day upon their faces on the arid sand, +basking in the heat; they abhorred all species of clothing, and their only +religion was a secret horror that caused them to tremble at the idea of +three divinities, belonging to three different tribes, and which divinities +were themselves supposed to feel a mortal hatred, and to wage perpetual war +against each other. + +Undeterred by the miserable condition both of human and of vegetable +nature, these missionaries cultivated the ground, established colonies, +made important astronomical observations, and devoted themselves to +science, to agriculture, and to the amelioration of the condition of these +wretched savages. + +In New California, the missions were under the charge of thirty-six +Franciscan friars, under whom the most extraordinary progress in +civilization took place; since in little more than thirty years, upwards of +thirty-three thousand Indians were baptized, and eight thousand marriages +had taken place. The soil being fertile and the climate more benign than in +the other California, in eighteen missions established there, they +cultivated corn, wheat, maize, etc., and introduced vegetables and +fruit-trees from Spain; amongst these the vine and the olive, from which +excellent wine and oil were made all through that part of the country. + +Amongst the monks destined to these distant missions were those of San +Fernando. There, banished from the world, deprived of all the advantages of +civilization, they devoted themselves to the task of _taming_ the wild +Indians, introduced marriage amongst them, taught them to cultivate the +ground, together with some of the most simple arts; assisted their wants, +reproved their sins, and transplanted the beneficent doctrines of +Christianity amongst them, using no arms but the influence which religion +and kindness, united with extreme patience, had over their stubborn +natures; and making what Humboldt, in speaking of the Jesuit missions, +calls "a pacific conquest" of the country. + +Many were the hardships which these poor men endured; changed from place to +place; at one time ordered to some barren shore, where it was necessary to +recommence their labours,--at another, recalled to the capital by orders of +the prelate, in conjunction with the wishes of their brethren, among whom +there was a species of congress, called by them a _capitulo_. No increase +of rank, no reward, no praise, inspired their labours; their only +recompense was their intimate conviction of doing good to their +fellow-creatures. + +In the archives of the convent there still exist papers, proving the +hardships which these men underwent; the zeal with which they applied +themselves to the study of the languages of the country; (and when we are +informed that in the space of one hundred and eighty leagues, nineteen +different languages are spoken, it was no such easy task;) and containing +their descriptions of its physical and moral state, more or less well +written, according to their different degrees of instruction or talent. + +It frequently happened that marketable goods and even provisions had to be +sent by sea to those missionaries who lived in the most savage and +uncultivated parts of the peninsula; and a curious anecdote on this subject +was related to C---n by one of these men, who is now a gardener by +profession. It happened that some one sent to the monks, amongst other +things, a case of fine Malaga raisins; and one of the monks, whose name I +forget, sowed a number of the dried seeds. In process of time they sprouted +up, became vines, and produced fine grapes, from which the best wine in +California was made. + +When the independence was declared, and that revolutionary fury which makes +a merit of destroying every establishment, good or bad, which is the work +of the opposite party, broke forth; the Mexicans, to prove their hatred to +the mother-country, destroyed these beneficent institutions; thus +committing an error as fatal in its results as when in 1828 they expelled +so many rich proprietors, who were followed into exile by their numerous +families and by their old servants, who gave them in these times of trouble +proofs of attachment and fidelity belonging to a race now scarcely existing +here, except amongst a few of the oldest families. + +The result has been, that the frontiers, being now unprotected by the +military garrisons or _presidios_, which were established there, and +deserted by the missionaries, the Indians are no longer kept under +subjection, either by the force of arms or by the good counsels and +persuasive influence of their padres. The Mexican territory is, in +consequence, perpetually exposed to their invasions--whole families are +massacred by the savages, who exchange guns for rifles, which they already +know how to use, and these evil consequences are occasionally and +imperfectly averted at a great expense to the republic. Bustamante has +indeed been making an investigation lately as to the funds and general +condition of these establishments, with the intention of re-establishing +some similar institutions; but as yet I believe that nothing decisive has +been done in this respect.... + +Near the convent there is a beautiful garden, where we sometimes walk in +the morning, cultivated by an old monk, who, after spending a laborious +life in these distant missions, is now enjoying a contented old age among +his plants and flowers. Perhaps you are tired of my _prosing_ (caused by +the apparition of the old lay-brother), and would prefer some account of +him in verse. + + An aged monk in San Fernando dwells, + An innocent and venerable man; + His earlier days were spent within its cells. + And end obscurely as they first began. + Manhood's career in savage climes he ran, + On lonely California's Indian shore-- + Dispelling superstition's deadly ban, + Or teaching (what could patriot do more?) + Those rudiments of peace, the gardener's humble store. + + Oft have I marked him, silent and apart, + Loitering near the sunny convent-gate, + Rewarded by tranquillity of heart + For toils so worthy of the truly great; + And in my soul admired, compared his state + With that of some rude brawler, whose crude mind + Some wondrous change on earth would fain create; + Who after flatt'ring, harassing mankind, + Gains titles, riches, pomp, with shame and scorn combined. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-THIRD + + +The President--Yturbide--Visit from the Archbishop--Señor Canedo +--General Almonte--Señor Cuevas--Situation of an Archbishop in Mexico--Of +Señor Posada--His Life--Mexican Charity--Wax Figures--Anecdote--Valuable +Present--Education--Comparison--Schools--Opportunities--Natural +Talent--Annual--Compliments to the Mexican Ladies by the Editor--Families +of the Old School--Morals--Indulgence--Manners--Love of Country--Colleges. + + +5th July. + + +Yesterday morning we had a visit from the president, with two of his +officers. He was riding one of the handsomest black horses I ever saw. On +going out we stopped to look at a wax figure of Yturbide on horseback, +which he considers a good resemblance, and which was sent me as a present +some time ago. He ought to be a good judge, as he was a most devoted friend +of the unfortunate Agustin I., who, whatever were his faults, seems to have +inspired his friends with the most devoted and enthusiastic attachment. In +the prime of life, brave and active, handsome and fond of show, he had all +the qualities which render a chief popular with the multitude; "but +popularity, when not based upon great benefits, is transient; it is founded +upon a principle of egotism, because a whole people cannot have personal +sympathies." Ambition led him to desert the royal cause which he had served +for nine years; and vanity blinded him to the dangers that surrounded him +in the midst of his triumphs, even when proclaimed emperor by the united +voice of the garrison and city of Mexico--when his horses were taken from +his carriage, and when, amidst the shouts of the multitude, his coach was +dragged in triumph to the palace. His great error, according to those who +talk of him impartially, was indecision in the most critical emergencies, +and his permitting himself to be governed by circumstances, instead of +directing these circumstances as they occurred. + +I could not help thinking, as the general stood there looking at the waxen +image of his friend, what a stormy life he himself has passed; how little +real tranquillity he can ever have enjoyed, and wondering whether he will +be permitted to finish his presidential days in peace, which, according to +rumour, is doubtful. + +8th.--I had the honour of a long visit this morning from his grace the +archbishop. He came about eleven o'clock, after mass, and remained till +dinner-time, sitting out all our Sunday visitors, who are generally +numerous, as it is the only day of rest for _employés_, and especially for +the cabinet. Amongst our visitors were Señor Canedo, who is extremely +agreeable in conversation, and as an orator famed for his sarcasm and +cutting wit. He has been particularly kind and friendly to us ever since +our arrival--General Almonte, Minister of War, a handsome man and pleasant, +and an officer of great bravery--very unpopular with one party and +especially disliked by the English, but also a great friend of ours. Señor +Cuevas, Minister of the Interior, married to a daughter of the Marquesa de +Vivanco, an amiable and excellent man, who seems generally liked, and is +also most friendly to us. All these gentlemen are praised or abused +according to the party of the person who speaks of them; but I not +interferring in Mexican politics, find them amongst the most pleasant of +our acquaintances. + +However, were I to choose a situation here, it would undoubtedly be that of +Archbishop of Mexico, the most enviable in the world to those who would +enjoy a life of tranquillity, ease, and universal adoration. He is a pope +without the trouble, or a tenth part of the responsibility. He is venerated +more than the Holy Father is in enlightened Rome, and, like kings in the +good old times, can do no wrong. His salary amounts to about one hundred +thousand dollars, and a revenue might be made by the sweetmeats alone which +are sent him from all the nuns in the republic. His palace in town, his +well-cushioned carriage, well-conditioned horses, and sleek mules, seem the +very perfection of comfort. In fact, _comfort_, which is unknown amongst +the profane of Mexico, has taken refuge with the archbishop; and though +many drops of it are shed on the shaven heads of all bishops, curates, +confessors, and friars, still in his illustrious person it concentrates as +in a focus. He himself is a benevolent, good-hearted, good-natured, portly, +and jovial personage, with the most _laissez-aller_ air and expression +conceivable. He looks like one on whom the good things of this world have +fallen in a constant and benignant shower, which shower hath fallen on a +rich and fertile soil. He is generally to be seen leaning back in his +carriage, dressed in purple, with amethyst cross, and giving his +benediction to the people as he passes. He seems engaged in a pleasant +revery, and his countenance wears an air of the most placid and +_insouciant_ content. He enjoys a good dinner, good wine, and ladies' +society, but just sufficiently to make his leisure hours pass pleasantly, +without indigestion from the first, headaches from the second, or +heartaches from the third. So does his life seem to pass on like a deep +untroubled stream, on whose margin grow sweet flowers, on whose clear +waters the bending trees are reflected, but on whose placid face no lasting +impression is made. + +I have no doubt that his charities are in proportion to his large fortune; +and when I say that I have no doubt of this, it is because I firmly believe +there exists no country in the world where charities, both public and +private, are practised on so noble a scale, especially by the women under +the direction of the priests. I am inclined to believe that, generally +speaking, charity is a distinguishing attribute of a Catholic country. + +The archbishop is said to be a man of good information, and was at one time +a senator. In 1833, being comprehended in the law of banishment, caused by +the political disturbances which have never ceased to afflict this country +since the independence, he passed some time in the United States, chiefly +in New Orleans; but this, I believe, is the only cloud that has darkened +his horizon, or disturbed the tranquil current of his life. His +consecration, with its attendant fatigues, must have been to him a +wearisome overture to a pleasant drama, a hard stepping-stone to glory. As +to the rest, he is very unostentatious, and his conversation is far from +austere. On the contrary, he is one of the best-tempered and most cheerful +old men in society that it is possible to meet with.... + +I send you, by the Mexican commissioners, who are kind enough to take +charge of a box for me, the figure of a Mexican _tortillera_, by which you +may judge a little of the perfection in which the commonest _lépero_ here +works in wax. The incredible patience which enabled the ancient Mexicans to +work their statues in wood or stone with the rudest instruments, has +descended to their posterity, as well as their extraordinary and truly +Chinese talent for imitation. With a common knife and a piece of hard wood, +an uneducated man will produce a fine piece of sculpture. There is no +imagination. They do not leave the beaten track, but continue on the models +which the Spanish conquerors brought out with them, some of which, however, +were very beautiful. + +In wax, especially, their figures have been brought to great perfection. +Everything that surrounds them they can imitate, and their wax portraits +are sometimes little gems of art; but in this last branch, which belongs to +a higher order of art, there are no good workmen at present. + +_A propos_ to which, a poor artist brought some tolerable wax portraits +here for sale the other day, and, amongst others, that of a celebrated +general. C---n remarked that it was fairer than the original, as far as he +recollected. "Ah!" said the man, "but when his excellency _washes his +face_, nothing can be more exact." A valuable present was sent lately by a +gentleman here, to the Count de ----- in Spain; twelve cases, each case +containing twelve wax figures; each figure representing some Mexican trade, +or profession or employment. There were men drawing the pulque from the +maguey, Indian women selling vegetables, tortilleras, venders of ducks, +fruitmen, lard-sellers, the postman of Guachinango, loaded with parrots, +monkeys, etc.,--more of everything than of letters--the Poblana peasant, +the rancherita on horseback before her farm-servant, the gaily-dressed +ranchero, in short, a little history of Mexico in wax.... + +You ask me how Mexican women are educated. In answering you, I must put +aside a few brilliant exceptions, and speak _en masse_, the most difficult +thing in the world, for these exceptions are always rising up before me +like accusing angels, and I begin to think of individuals, when I should +keep to generalities. Generally speaking, then, the Mexican Señoras and +Señoritas write, read, and play a little, sew, and take care of their +houses and children. When I say they read, I mean they know how to read; +when I say they write, I do not mean that they can always spell; and when I +say they play, I do not assert that they have generally a knowledge of +music. If we compare their education with that of girls in England, or in +the United States, it is not a comparison, but a contrast. Compare it with +that of Spanish women, and we shall be less severe upon their _far niente_ +descendants. In the first place, the climate inclines every one to +indolence, both physically and morally. One cannot pore over a book when +the blue sky is constantly smiling in at the open windows; then, out of +doors after ten o'clock, the sun gives us due warning of our tropical +latitude, and even though the breeze is so fresh and pleasant, one has no +inclination to walk or ride far. Whatever be the cause, I am convinced that +it is impossible to take the same exercise with the mind or with the body +in this country, as in Europe or in the northern states. Then as to +schools, there are none that can deserve the name, and no governesses. +Young girls can have no emulation, for they never meet. They have no public +diversion, and no private amusement. There are a few good foreign masters, +most of whom have come to Mexico for the purpose of making their fortune, +by teaching, or marriage, or both, and whose object, naturally, is to make +the most money in the shortest possible time, that they may return home and +enjoy it. The children generally appear to have an extraordinary +disposition for music and drawing, yet there are few girls who are +proficient in either. + +When very young, they occasionally attend the schools, where boys and girls +learn to read in common, or any other accomplishment that the old women can +teach them; but at twelve they are already considered too old to attend +these promiscuous assemblages, and masters are got for drawing and music to +finish their education. I asked a lady the other day if her daughter went +to school. "Good heavens!" said she, quite shocked, "she is past eleven +years old!" It frequently happens that the least well-informed girls are +the children of the cleverest men, who, keeping to the customs of their +forefathers, are content if they confess regularly, attend church +constantly, and can embroider and sing a little. Where there are more +extended ideas, it is chiefly amongst families who have travelled in +Europe, and have seen the different education of women in foreign +countries. Of these the fathers occasionally devote a short portion of +their time to the instruction of their daughters, perhaps during their +leisure evening moments, but it may easily be supposed that this desultory +system has little real influence on the minds of the children. I do not +think there are above half-a-dozen married women, or as many girls above +fourteen, who, with the exception of the mass-book, read any one book +through in the whole course of the year. They thus greatly simplify the +system of education in the United States, where parties are frequently +divided between the advocates for solid learning and those for superficial +accomplishments; and according to whom it is difficult to amalgamate the +solid beef of science with the sweet sauce of _les beaux arts_. + +But if a Mexican girl is ignorant, she rarely shows it. They have generally +the greatest possible tact; never by any chance wandering out of their +depth, or betraying by word or sign that they are not well informed of the +subject under discussion. Though seldom graceful, they are never awkward, +and always self-possessed. They have plenty of natural talent, and where it +has been thoroughly cultivated, no women can surpass them. Of what is +called literary society, there is of course none-- + + "No bustling Botherbys have they to show 'em + That charming passage in the last new poem." + +There is a little annual lying beside me called "_Calendario de las +Señoritas Mejicanas_," of which the preface, by Galvan, the editor, is very +amusing. + +"To none," he says, "better than to Mexican ladies, can I dedicate this +mark of attention--(_obsequio_). Their graceful attractions well deserve +any trouble that may have been taken to please them. Their bodies are +graceful as the palms of the desert; their hair black as ebony, or golden +as the rays of the sun, gracefully waves over their delicate shoulders; +their glances are like the peaceful light of the moon. The Mexican ladies +are not so white as the Europeans, but their whiteness is more agreeable to +our eyes. Their words are soft, leading our hearts by gentleness, in the +same manner as in their moments of just indignation they appal and confound +us. Who can resist the magic of their song, always sweet, always gentle, +and always natural? Let us leave to foreign ladies (_las ultramarinas_) +these affected and scientific manners of singing; here nature surpasses +art, as happens in everything, notwithstanding the cavillings of the +learned. + +"And what shall I say of their souls? I shall say that in Europe the minds +are more cultivated, but in Mexico the hearts are more amiable. Here they +are not only sentimental, but tender; not only soft, but virtuous; the body +of a child is not more sensitive, (_no es mas sensible el cuerpo de un +niño_), nor a rose-bud softer. I have seen souls as beautiful as the +borders of the rainbow, and purer than the drops of dew. Their passions are +seldom tempestuous, and even then they are kindled and extinguished easily; +but generally they emit a peaceful light, like the morning star, Venus. +Modesty is painted in their eyes, and modesty is the greatest and most +irresistible fascination of their souls. In short, the Mexican ladies, by +their manifold virtues, are destined to serve as our support whilst we +travel through the sad desert of life. + +"Well do these attractions merit that we should try to please them; and in +effect a new form, new lustre, and new graces have been given to the +'Almanac of the Mexican Ladies,' whom the editor submissively entreats to +receive with benevolence this small tribute due to their enchantments and +their virtues!" + +There are in Mexico a few families of the old school, people of high rank, +but who mingle very little in society; who are little known to the +generality of foreigners, and who keep their daughters entirely at home, +that they may not be contaminated by bad example. These select few, rich +without ostentation, are certainly doing everything that is in their power +to remedy the evils occasioned by the want of proper schools, or of +competent instructresses for their daughters. Being nearly all allied by +birth, or connected by marriage, they form a sort of _clan_; and it is +sufficient to belong to one or other of these families, to be hospitably +received by all. They meet together frequently, without ceremony, and +whatever elements of good exist in Mexico, are to be found amongst them. +The fathers are generally men of talent and learning, and the mothers, +women of the highest respectability, to whose name no suspicion can be +attached. + +But, indeed, it is long before a stranger even suspects the state of morals +in this country, for whatever be the private conduct of individuals, the +most perfect decorum prevails in outward behaviour. But indolence is the +mother of vice, and not only to little children might Doctor Watts have +asserted that + + "Satan finds some mischief still, + For idle hands to do." + +They are besides extremely _leal_ to each other, and with proper _esprit de +corps_, rarely gossip to strangers concerning the errors of their +neighbours' ways;--indeed, if such a thing is hinted at, deny all knowledge +of the fact. So long as outward decency is preserved, habit has rendered +them entirely indifferent as to the _liaisons_ subsisting amongst their +particular friends; and as long as a woman attends church regularly, is a +patroness of charitable institutions, and gives no scandal by her outward +behaviour, she may do pretty much as she pleases. As for flirtations in +public, they are unknown. + +I must, however, confess that this indulgence on the part of women of +unimpeachable reputation is sometimes carried too far. We went lately to a +breakfast, at which was a young and beautiful countess, lately married, and +of very low birth. She looked very splendid, with all the ----- diamonds, +and a dress of rose-coloured satin. After breakfast we adjourned to another +room, where I admired the beauty of a little child who was playing about on +the floor, when this lady said, "Yes, she is very pretty--very like my +little girl, who is just the same age." I was rather surprised, but +concluded she had been a widow, and made the inquiry of an old French lady +who was sitting near me. "Oh, no!" said she--"she was never married before; +she alludes to the children she had before the count became acquainted with +her!" And yet the Señora de -----, the strictest woman in Mexico, was +loading her with attentions and caresses. I must say, however, that this +was a singular instance.... + +There are no women more affectionate in their manners than those of Mexico. +In fact, a foreigner, especially if he be an Englishman, and a shy man, and +accustomed to the coolness of his fair countrywomen, need only live a few +years here, and understand the language, and become accustomed to the +peculiar style of beauty, to find the Mexican Señoritas perfectly +irresistible. + +And that this is so, may be judged of by the many instances of Englishmen +married to the women of this country, who _invariably_ make them excellent +wives. But when an Englishman marries here, he ought to settle here, for it +is very rare that a _Mexicaine_ can live out of her own country. They miss +the climate--they miss that warmth of manner, that universal cordiality by +which they are surrounded here. They miss the _laissez-aller_ and absence +of all etiquette in habits, toilet, etc. They find themselves surrounded by +women so differently educated, as to be doubly strangers to them, strangers +in feeling as well as in country. A very few instances there are of girls, +married very young, taken to Europe, and introduced into good society, who +have acquired European ways of thinking, and even prefer other countries to +their own; but this is so rare, as scarcely to form an exception. They are +true patriots, and the visible horizon bounds their wishes. In England +especially, they are completely out of their element. A language nearly +impossible for them to acquire, a religion which they consider heretical, +outward coldness covering inward warmth, a perpetual war between sun and +fog, etiquette carried to excess, an insupportable stiffness and order in +the article of the toilet; rebosos unknown, _cigaritos_ considered +barbarous.... They feel like exiles from paradise, and live but in hopes of +a speedy return. + +As to the colleges for young men, although various projects of reform have +been made by enlightened men in regard to them, especially by Don Lucas +Alaman, and afterwards by Señor Gutierrez Estrada, and though to a certain +extent many of the plans were carried into effect, it is a universal source +of complaint among the most distinguished persons in Mexico, that in order +to give their sons a thorough education, it is necessary to send them +abroad. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FOURTH + + +Revolution in Mexico--Gomez Farias and General Urrea--The Federalists--The +President Imprisoned--Firing--Cannon--First News--Escape--Proclamation of +the Government--Cannonading--Count C---a--Houses deserted--Countess del +V---e--Proclamation of the Federalists--Circular of the Federalists-- +Scarcity of Provisions--Bursting of a Shell--Refugees--Dr. Plan--Young +Lady Shot--Gomez Farias--Rumours--Address of Gomez Farias--Balls and +Bullets--Visit from the ----- Minister--Arrival of Monsieur de ------- +Expected Attack--Skirmish--Appearance of the Street--San Cosme--General +-------The Count de B------More Rumours--Suspense--Cannonading--Government +Bulletin--Plan of the Rebels defeated--Proclamation of the President--Of +General Valencia--Maternal Affection--Fresh Reports--Families leaving the +City--Letter from Santa Anna--Bustamante's Letter when Imprisoned-- +Propositions--Refusal--Tacubaya--Archbishop--Fresh Proposals--Refusal-- +Second Letter from Santa Anna--Government Bulletin--Proclamations--An +awkward Mistake-The Archbishop visits the President--Conclusion of the +Revolution--Government Newspapers--Circulars. + + +July 15th. + + +Revolution in Mexico! or _Pronunciamiento_, as they call it. The storm +which has for some time been brewing, has burst forth at last. Don +Valentin Gomez Farias and the banished General Urrea have pronounced for +federalism. At two this morning, joined by the fifth battalion and the +regiment of _comercio_, they took up arms, set off for the palace, +surprised the president in his bed, and took him prisoner. Our first +information was a message, arriving on the part of the government, +desiring the attendance of our two old soldiers, who put on their old +uniforms, and set off quite pleased. Next came our friend Don M---- del C- +--o, who advised us to haul out the Spanish colours, that they might be in +readiness to fly on the balcony in case of necessity. Little by little, +more Spaniards arrived with different reports as to the state of things. +Some say that it will end in a few hours--others, that it will be a long +and bloody contest. Some are assured that it will merely terminate in a +change of ministry--others that Santa Anna will come on directly and usurp +the presidency. At all events, General Valencia, at the head of the +government troops, is about to attack the pronunciados, who are in +possession of the palace.... + +The firing has begun! People come running up the street. The Indians are +hurrying back to their villages in double-quick trot. As we are not in the +centre of the city, our position for the present is very safe, all the +cannon being directed towards the palace. All the streets near the square +are planted with cannon, and it is pretended that the revolutionary party +are giving arms to the _léperos_. The cannon are roaring now. All along the +street people are standing on the balconies, looking anxiously in the +direction of the palace, or collected in groups before the doors, and the +azoteas, which are out of the line of fire, are covered with men. They are +ringing the tocsin--things seem to be getting serious. + +Nine o'clock, P.M.--Continuation of firing without interruption. I have +spent the day standing on the balcony, looking at the smoke, and listening +to the different rumours. Gomez Farias has been proclaimed president by his +party. The streets near the square are said to be strewed with dead and +wounded. There was a terrible thunderstorm this afternoon. Mingled with the +roaring of the cannon, it sounded like a strife between heavenly and +earthly artillery. We shall not pass a very easy night, especially without +our soldiers. Unfortunately there is a bright moon, so night brings no +interruption to the firing and slaughter. + +16th.--Our first news was brought very early this morning by the wife of +one of our soldiers, who came in great despair, to tell us that both her +husband and his comrade are shot, though not killed--that they were amongst +the first who fell; and she came to entreat C---n to prevent their being +sent to the hospital. It is reported that Bustamante has escaped, and that +he fought his way, sword in hand, through the soldiers who guarded him in +his apartment. Almonte at all events is at the head of his troops. The +balls have entered many houses in the square. It must be terribly dangerous +for those who live there, and amongst others, for our friend Señor Tagle, +Director of the Monte Pio, and his family. + +They have just brought the government bulletin, which gives the following +statement of the circumstances:--"Yesterday, at midnight, Urrea, with a +handful of troops belonging to the garrison and its neighbourhood took +possession of the National Palace, surprising the guard, and Committing the +_incivility_ of imprisoning His Excellency the President, Don Anastasio +Bustamante, the commander-in-chief, the _Mayor de la Plaza_, and other +chiefs. Don Gabriel Valencia, chief of the _plana mayor_ (the staff), +General Don Antonio Mozo, and the Minister of War, Don Juan Nepomuceno +Almonte, re-united in the citadel, prepared to attack the _pronunciados_, +who, arming the lowest populace, took possession of the towers of the +cathedral, and of some of the highest edifices in the centre of the city. +Although summoned to surrender, at two in the afternoon firing began, and +continued till midnight, recommencing at five in the morning, and only +ceasing at intervals. The colonel of the sixth regiment, together with a +considerable part of his corps, who were in the barracks of the palace, +escaped and joined the government troops, who have taken the greatest part +of the positions near the square and the palace. His Excellency the +President, with a part of the troops which had _pronounced_ in the palace, +made his escape on the morning of the sixteenth, putting himself at the +head of the troops who have remained faithful to their colours, and at +night published the following proclamation:" + +"_The President of the Republic to the Mexican Nation._ + +"Fellow-Citizens:--The seduction which has spread over a very small part of +the people and garrison of this capital; the forgetfulness of honour and +duty, have caused the defection of a few soldiers, whose misconduct up to +this hour has been thrown into confusion by the valiant behaviour of the +greatest part of the chiefs, officers, and soldiers, who have intrepidly +followed the example of the valiant general-in-chief of the _plana mayor_ +of the army. _The government was not ignorant of the machinations that were +carrying on; their authors were well known to it, and it foresaw that the +gentleness and clemency which it had hitherto employed in order to disarm +them, would be corresponded to with ingratitude._ + +"This line of policy has caused the nation to remain _headless (acéfala)_ +for some hours, and public tranquillity to be disturbed; but my liberty +being restored, the dissidents, convinced of the evils which have been and +may be caused by these tumults, depend upon a reconciliation for their +security. The government will remember that they are misled men, belonging +to the great Mexican family, but not for this will it forget how much they +have forfeited their rights to respect; nor what is due to the great bulk +of the nation. Public tranquillity will be restored in a few hours; the +laws will immediately recover their energy, and the government will see +them obeyed. + +"ANASTASIO BUSTAMANTE." + +"Mexico, July 16th, 1840." + + +A roar of cannon from the Palace, which made the house shake and the +windows rattle, and caused me to throw a blot over the President's good +name, seems the answer to this proclamation. + +17th.--The state of things is very bad. Cannon planted all along the +streets, and soldiers firing indiscriminately on all who pass. Count C---a +slightly wounded, and carried to his country-house at Tacubaya. Two +Spaniards have escaped from their house, into which the balls were pouring, +and have taken refuge here. The E---- family have kept their house, which +is in the very centre of the affray, cannons planted before their door, and +all their windows already smashed. Indeed, nearly all the houses in that +quarter are abandoned. We are living here like prisoners in a fortress. The +Countess del V---e, whose father was shot in a former revolution, had just +risen this morning, when a shell entered the wall close by the side of her +bed, and burst in the mattress. + +As there are two sides to every story, listen to the proclamation of the +chief of the rebels. + +"_Señor Valentin Gomez Farias to the Mexican People._ + +"Fellow-Citizens:--We present to the civilized world two facts, which, +while they will cover with eternal glory the Federal army and the heroic +inhabitants of this capital, will hand down with execration and infamy, to +all future generations, the name of General Bustamante; this man without +faith, breaking his solemnly-pledged word, after being put at liberty by an +excess of generosity; for having promised to take immediate steps to bring +about a negotiation of peace, upon the honourable basis which was proposed +to him, he is now converted into the chief of an army, the enemy of the +Federalists; and has beheld, with a serene countenance, this beautiful +capital destroyed, a multitude of families drowned in tears, and the death +of many citizens; not only of the combatants, but of those who have taken +no part in the struggle. Amongst these must be counted an unfortunate woman +_enceinte_, who was killed as she was passing the palace gates under the +belief that a parley having come from his camp, the firing would be +suspended, as in fact it was on our side. This government, informed of the +misfortune, sent for the husband of the deceased, and ordered twenty-five +dollars to be given him; but the unfortunate man, though plunged in grief, +declared that twelve were sufficient to supply his wants. Such was the +horror inspired by the atrocious conduct of the ex-government of +Bustamante, that this sentiment covered up and suffocated all the others. + +"Another fact, of which we shall with difficulty find an example in +history, is the following. The day that the firing began, being in want of +some implements of war, it was necessary to cause an iron case to be +opened, belonging to Don Stanislaus Flores, in which he had a considerable +sum of money in different coin, besides his most valuable effects. Thus, +all that the government could do, was to make this known to the owner, +Señor Flores, in order that he might send a person of confidence to take +charge of his interests, making known what was wanting, that he might be +immediately paid. The pertinacity of the firing prevented Señor Flores from +naming a commissioner for four days, and then, although the case has been +open, and no one has taken charge of it, the commissioner has made known +officially that nothing is taken from it but the implements of war which +were sent for. Glory in yourselves, Mexicans! The most polished nation of +the earth, illustrious France, has not presented a similar fact. The +Mexicans possess heroic virtues, which will raise them above all the +nations in the world. This is the only ambition of your fellow-citizen, + +"VALENTIN GOMEZ FARIAS. + +"God, Liberty, and Federalism. + +"Mexico, July 17th, 1840." + + +Besides this, a circular has been sent to all the governors and commandants +of the different departments, from the "Palace of the Federal Provisional +Government," to this effect: + +"The Citizen José Urrea, with the greater part of the garrison of the +capital, and the whole population, pronounced early on the morning of this +day, for the re-establishment of the Federal system, adopting in the +interim the Constitution of 1824, whilst it is reformed by a Congress which +they are about to convoke to that effect; and I, having been called, in +order that at this juncture I should put myself at the head of the +government, communicate it to your Excellency, informing you at the same +time, that the object of the Citizen Urrea, instead of re-establishing the +Federal system, has been to re-unite all the Mexicans, by proclaiming +toleration of all opinions, and respect for the lives, properties, and +interests of all. + +"God, Liberty, and Federalism. + +"VALENTIN GOMEZ FARIAS." + +"National Palace of Mexico, 15th July, 1840." + + +18th.--There is a great scarcity of provisions in the centre of the city, +as the Indians, who bring in everything from the country, are stopped. We +have laid in a good stock of _comestibles_, though it is very unlikely that +any difficulties will occur in our direction. While I am writing, the +cannon are roaring almost without interruption, and the sound is anything +but agreeable, though proving the respect entertained by Farias for "the +lives, properties, and interests of all." We see the smoke, but are +entirely out of the reach of the fire. + +I had just written these words, when the Señora -----, who lives opposite, +called out to me that a shell has just fallen in her garden, and that her +husband had but time to save himself. The cannon directed against the +palace kill people in their beds, in streets entirely out of that +direction, while this ball, intended for the citadel, takes its flight to +San Cosme! Both parties seem to be _fighting the city_ instead of each +other; and this manner of firing from behind parapets, and from the tops of +houses and steeples, is decidedly safer for the soldiers than for the +inhabitants. It seems also a novel plan to keep up a continual cannonading +by night, and to rest during a great part of the day. One would think that +were the guns brought nearer the palace, the affair would be sooner over. + +Late last night, a whole family came here for protection; the +Señora ----- with -----, nurse, and baby, etc. She had remained very +quietly in her own house, in spite of broken windows, till the bullets +whizzed past her baby's bed. This morning, everything remains as it was the +first day--the president in the citadel, the rebels in the palace. The +government are trying to hold out until troops arrive from Puebla. In an +interval of firing, the---Secretary contrived to make his way here this +morning. The English Minister's house is also filled with families, it +being a little out of the line of fire. Those who live in the Square, and +in the Calle San Francisco are most exposed, and the poor shopkeepers in +the _Parian_ are in a state of great and natural trepidation. I need not +say that the shops are all shut. + +19th.--Dr. Plan, a famous French physician, was shot this morning, as he +was coming out of the palace, and his body has just been carried past our +door into the house opposite. + +The Señorita ----- having imprudently stepped out on her balcony, her house +being in a very exposed street, a pistol-ball entered her side, and passed +through her body. She is still alive, but it seems impossible that she can +recover. The Prior of San Joaquin, riding by just now, stopped below the +windows to tell us that he fears we shall not remain long here in safety, +as the pronunciados have attacked the Convent of La Concepción, at the end +of the street. + +My writing must be very desultory. Impossible to fix one's attention on +anything. We pass our time on the balconies, listening to the thunder of +the cannon, looking at the different parties of troops riding by, receiving +visitors, who, in the intervals of the firing, venture out to bring us the +last reports--wondering, speculating, fearing, hoping, and excessively +tired of the whole affair. + +Gomez Farias, the prime mover of this revolution, is a distinguished +character, one of the _notabilities_ of the country, and has always +maintained the same principles, standing up for "rapid and radical reform." +He is a native of Guadalajara, and his literary career is said to have been +brilliant. He is also said to be a man of an ardent imagination and great +energy. His name has appeared in every public event. He first aided in the +cause of Independence, then, when deputy for Zacatecas, showed much zeal in +favour of Yturbide--was afterwards a warm partisan of the federal +cause--contributed to the election of General Victoria; afterwards to that +of Pedraza--took an active part in the political changes of '33 and '34; +detests the Spaniards, and during his presidency endeavoured to abolish the +privileges of the clergy and troops--suppressed monastic +institutions--granted absolute liberty of opinion--abolished the laws +against the liberty of the press--created many literary institutions; and +whatever were his political errors, and the ruthlessness with which in the +name of liberty and reform he marched to the attainment of his object, +without respect for the most sacred things, he is generally allowed to be a +man of integrity, and even by his enemies, an enthusiast, who deceives +himself as much as others. Now in the hopes of obtaining some uncertain and +visionary good, and even while declaring his horror of civil war and +bloodshed, he has risen in rebellion against the actual government, and is +the cause of the cruel war now raging, not in the open fields or even in +the scattered suburbs, but in the very heart of a populous city. + +This morning all manner of opinions are afloat. Some believe that Santa +Anna has started from his retreat at Manga de Clavo, and will arrive +to-day--will himself swallow the disputed oyster (the presidential chair), +and give each of the combatants a shell apiece; some that a fresh supply of +troops for the government will arrive to-day, and others that the rebels +must eventually triumph. Among the reports which I trust may be classed as +doubtful, is, that General Urrea has issued a proclamation, promising + _three hours' pillage_ to all who join him. Then will be the time for +testing the virtues of all the diplomatic _drapeaux_. In the midst of all, +here comes another. + +"_Address of His Excellency, Señor Don Valentin Gomez Farias, charged +provisionally with the government of Mexico, and of the General-in-Chief of +the Federal army, to the troops under his command_." + +"Companions in arms:--No one has ever resisted a people who fight for their +liberty and who defend their sacred rights. Your heroic endeavours have +already reduced _our unjust aggressors_ almost to complete nullity. Without +infantry to cover their parapets, without artillery to fire their pieces, +without money, without credit, and without support, they already make their +last useless efforts. On our side, on the contrary, all is in abundance +_(sobra)_, men, arms, ammunition, and money, and above all, the invincible +support of opinion;--while the parties which adhere to our _pronunciamento_ +in all the cities out of the capital, and the assistance which within this +very city is given by every class of society to those who are fighting for +the rights of the people, offer guarantees which they will strictly fulfil +to all the inhabitants of the country, natives as well as foreigners. Our +enemies, in the delirium of their impotence, have had recourse to their +favourite weapon, calumny. In a communication directed to us, they have had +the audacity to accuse you of having attacked some property. Miserable +wretches! No, the soldiers of the people are not robbers; the cause of +liberty is very noble, and its defence will not be stained by a degrading +action. This is the answer given to your calumniators by your chiefs, who +are as much interested in your reputation as in their own. Soldiers of the +people! let valour, as well as all other civic virtues, shine in your +conduct, that you may never dim the renown of valiant soldiers and of good +citizens. + +"Valentin Gomez Farias." + +"José Urrea." + + +We hear that two shells have fallen into the house of Señor -----, who has +a pretty wife and a number of children, and that his azotea is occupied by +the federalist troops. Fortunately, these grenades burst in the _patio_ of +his house, and no one was injured. The chief danger to those who are not +actually engaged in this affair, is from these bullets and shells, which +come rattling into all the houses. We have messages from various people +whom we invited to come here for safety, that they would gladly accept our +offer, but are unwilling to leave their houses exposed to pillage, and do +not dare to pass through the streets. So our numbers have not increased as +yet. + +You may suppose, that although this is Sunday, there is no mass in the +churches. The Prior of San Fernando, who has just sent us round some +colossal cauliflowers and other fine vegetables from his garden, permits us +to come to his convent for safety, should anything occur here, ... I am +afraid he would lodge the women-kind in some outhouse. + +I had written thus far, when we received a visit from the Baron de -----, +----- Minister, who, living in a very exposed situation, near the palace, +requests us to receive his secretary of legation, M. de -----, who is +dangerously ill of typhus fever, as the doctors, no doubt warned by the +fate of poor Dr. Plan, fear to pass into that street which is blocked up by +troops and cannon. Some people fear a universal sacking of the city, +especially in the event of the triumph of the federalist party. The +Ministers seem to have great confidence in their _flags_--but I cannot help +thinking that a party of armed _léperos_ would be no respecters of persons +or privileges! As yet our position continues very safe. We have the Alameda +between us and the troops; the palace, the square, and the principal +streets being on the other side of the Alameda; and this street, a branch +of the great Calle de Tacuba, stretching out beyond it. I write more to +occupy my thoughts than in hopes of interesting you; for I am afraid that +you will almost be tired of this _revolutionary_ letter. As a clever +Mexican, the Marquis of -----, says--"Some years ago we gave forth cries +(_gritos_)--that was in the infancy of our independence--now we begin to +_pronounce_ (pronuncianos). Heaven knows when we shall be old enough +to speak plain, so that people may know what we mean!" + +_Sunday Evening_.--Monsieur de ----- has arrived, and is not worse. We have +unexpectedly had twelve persons to dinner to-day. The news to-night is, +that the government troops have arrived, and that a great attack will be +made by them to-morrow on the rebels in the palace, which will probably +bring matters to a conclusion. Some of our guests are sitting up, and +others lying down on the sofa without undressing. I prefer being +comfortable, so goodnight. + +20th.--We were astonished this morning at the general tranquillity, and +concluded that, instead of having attacked the rebels, the government was +holding a parley with them, but a note from the English Minister informs us +that a skirmish has taken place between the two parties at one of the gates +of the city, in which the government party has triumphed. So far the news +is good. + +Our street has a most picturesque and lively appearance this morning. It is +crowded with Indians from the country, bringing in their fruit and +vegetables for sale, and establishing a temporary market in front of the +church of San Fernando. Innumerable carriages, drawn by mules, are passing +along, packed inside and out, full of families hurrying to the country with +their children and moveables. Those who are poorer, are making their way on +foot--men and women carrying mattresses, and little children following with +baskets and bird-cages--carts are passing, loaded with chairs and tables +and beds, and all manner of old furniture, uprooted for the first time no +doubt since many years--all are taking advantage of this temporary +cessation of firing to make their escape. Our stables are full of mules and +horses sent us by our friends in the centre of the city, where all supplies +of water are cut off. Another physician, a Spaniard, has just been shot! + +Every room at San Cosme and in all the suburbs is taken. In some rooms are +numbers of people, obliged to sleep upon mats, too glad to have escaped the +danger to care for any inconvenience. A quantity of plate and money and +diamonds were sent here this morning, which we have been hiding in +different parts of the house; but they say that in cases of pillage the +plunderers always search the most _impossible_ places, pulling up the +boards, brick floors, etc., ripping up the mattresses, and so on; so I +believe there is no use in concealing anything. Near us lives a celebrated +general, on whose political opinions there seems much doubt, as he has +joined neither party, and has become invisible ever since this affair +commenced. He is a showy, handsome man, with a good deal of superficial +instruction, and exceedingly vain of his personal advantages. I am quite +sure that, having allowed him to be a fine-looking man, he would forgive me +for saying that his character is frivolous, and that his principles, both +moral and political, are governed entirely by that which best suits his own +advantage. + +The Count de B----, secretary to the French Legation, mounted his horse +last evening, and, like a true young Frenchman, set off to pay a visit to a +pretty girl of his acquaintance, passing through the most dangerous +streets, and particularly conspicuous by his singular dress, good looks, +and moustaches. He had not gone far before he was surrounded by some dozen +of _léperos_ with knives, who would, no doubt, have robbed and despatched +him, but that in tearing off his sarape they discovered his uniform, and +not being very skilled in military accoutrements, concluded him to be an +officer on the part of the government. They being on the federalist side, +hurried with their prize to the palace, where he was thrown into prison, +and obliged to remain until some of the officers came to see the prisoner, +and recognized him, much to their astonishment. + +We are now going to dine with what appetite we may, which is generally +pretty good. + +Ten o'clock, P.M.--We ventured out after dinner to take a turn in the +direction opposite the city, and met various parties of ladies, who, as +they cannot use their carriages at present, were thankful to escape from +their temporary and crowded dwellings, and were actually taking exercise on +foot; when we were encountered by people full of the intelligence that the +great attack on the palace is to be made this evening, and were advised to +hurry home. We were also assured that a party of _léperos_, headed by their +long-bearded captain, an old robber of the name of Castro, had passed the +night before our door. Before we could reach home the firing began, and we +have passed several hours in a state of great suspense, amidst the roaring +of the cannon, the shouting of the troops, the occasional cries of those +who are wounded, and, to make everything appear more lugubrious, the most +awful storm of thunder and rain I almost ever heard. The Señora de -----'s +brother is a captain in the government service, and he and his regiment +have distinguished themselves very much during these last few days; +consequently she is dreadfully uneasy to-night. + +The gentlemen seem inclined to pass the night in talking. We think of lying +down, and sleeping if we can. I hope nothing will happen in the night, for +everything seems worse in the darkness and consequent confusion. + +21st.--After passing a sleepless night, listening to the roaring of cannon, +and figuring to ourselves the devastation that must have taken place, we +find to our amusement that nothing decisive has occurred. The noise last +night was mere skirmishing, and half the cannons were fired in the air. In +the darkness there was no mark. But though the loss on either side is so +much less than might have been expected, the rebels in the palace cannot be +very comfortable, for they say that the air is infected by the number of +unburied dead bodies lying there; indeed there are many lying unburied on +the streets, which is enough to raise a fever, to add to the calamitous +state of things. + +The government bulletin of to-day expresses the regret of the supreme +magistrate at seeing his hopes of restoring peace frustrated, and publishes +the assurances of fidelity which they have received from all the +departments, especially from Puebla, Queretaro, and Vera Cruz, in spite of +the extraordinary despatches which had there been received from Farias, +desiring them to recognize Urrea as Minister of war, and Don Manuel +Crecencio Rejon as Minister of the interior; "which communications," says +the commandant of Queretaro, "produced in my soul only indignation and +contempt towards their miserable authors." + +The account of the yesterday's affair is as follows. "The _pronunciados_ in +the palace, knowing that the infantry which was to come from Puebla to the +assistance of the government, was expected to arrive yesterday, endeavoured +to surprise it near the gate of Saint Lazarus, with a column of infantry of +two hundred in number, and some cavalry; but the brave Colonel Torrejon, +with eighty dragoons, beat them completely, killing, wounding, and taking +many prisoners, and pursuing them as far as the archbishop's palace. The +supreme government, appreciating the distinguished services and brilliant +conduct of the aforesaid colonel, have given him the rank of general of +brigade." + +The president in to-day's proclamation, after declaring that "the beautiful +capital of the republic is the theatre of war," says "that nothing but +consideration for the lives and properties of the inhabitants has been able +to restrain the enthusiasm of the soldiers of the nation, and to prevent +them from putting forth their whole force to dislodge the rebels from the +different points of which they have possessed themselves." The president +adds, "that this revolt is the more inexcusable, as his administration has +always been gentle and moderate; that he has economized the public +treasure, respected the laws, and that citizens of whatever opinion had +always enjoyed perfect tranquillity under his rule--that constitutional +reforms were about being realized, as well as the hopes of forming by them +a bond of union between all Mexicans." He concludes by reproaching those +revolutionary men who thus cause the shedding of so much innocent blood. + +The commander-in-chief, General Valencia, writing perhaps under some +inspiring influence, is more figurative in his discourse. "Soldiers of +Liberty!" he exclaims; "Anarchy put out its head, and your arms drowned it +in a moment." This would have been a finer figure in the days of the great +lakes. And again he exclaims--"Mexicans! my heart feels itself wounded by +the deepest grief, and all humanity shudders in contemplating the +unsoundable chaos of evils in which the authors of this rebellion have sunk +the incautious men whom they have seduced, in order to form with their dead +bodies the bloody ladder which was to raise them to their aggrandizement! +Already the Mexican people begin to gather the bitter fruits with which +these men who blazon forth their humanity and philanthropy have always +allured them, feeding themselves on the blood of their brothers, and +striking up songs to the sad measure of sobs and weeping!" These tropes are +very striking. All is brought before us as in a picture. We see anarchy +raising his rascally head above the water (most likely adorned with a +liberty cap), and the brave soldiers instantly driving it down again. We +behold Gomez Farias and Urrea rushing up a ladder of dead bodies. And then +the Lucrezia Borgia kind of scene that follows!--alluring their victims +with bitter fruit (perhaps with sour grapes), drinking blood, and singing +horridly out of tune to a running bass of sobs! The teeth of humanity are +set on edge only by reading it. Well may his Excellency add--"I present +them to the nations of the world as an inimitable model of ferocity and +barbarity!" + +This morning General ----- sent a few lines from the citadel, where he and +the president are, in which he speaks with confidence of speedily putting +down the rebels. C---n returned many affectionate messages, accompanied by +a supply of cigars. They say that the greatest possible bravery is shown by +the boys of the Military College, who are very fine little fellows, and all +up in arms on the side of the government. A strong instance of maternal +affection and courage was shown by the Señora G---- this morning. Having +received various reports concerning her son, who belongs to this college; +first that he was wounded; then that the wound was severe; then that it was +slight--and being naturally extremely uneasy about him, she set off alone, +and on foot, at five o'clock in the morning, without mentioning her +intention to any one, carrying with her a basket of provisions; passed +across the square, and through all the streets planted with cannon, made +her way through all the troops into the citadel; had the satisfaction of +finding her son in perfect health, and returned home, just as her husband +and family had become aware of her absence. + +General Valencia is said to have a large party amongst the soldiers, who +are in favour of his being named president. It is said that he was seen +riding up and down in the lines in a most _spirited_ manner, and rather +unsteady in his saddle. Some rumours there are that Santa Anna has arrived +at Perote; but, as he travels in a litter, he cannot be here for some days, +even should this be true. There seems no particular reason to believe that +this will end soon, and we must remain shut up here as patiently as we can. +In the intervals of firing the gentlemen go out, but they will not hear of +our doing so, except sometimes for a few minutes in the evening, and then +either firing or thunder sends us back. Various people, and especially the +Countess C---a, have invited us to their country places; but, besides that +we are in the safest part of the city, and have several guests, C---n does +not think it right for him to leave Mexico. They say that house-rents will +rise hereabouts, on account of the advantages of the _locale_ in cases of +this sort. + +Amongst other announcements, the government have published, that the rebels +have demanded that the jewels, together with the service of gold and silver +belonging to the Holy Cathedral Church, shall be given up to them, and +threaten to seize the whole by force, should their demand not be acceded to +within two hours. "It is very probable that they will do so," adds the +bulletin; thus adding a new crime to all they have committed. + +It is now evening, and again they announce an attack upon the palace, but I +do not believe them, and listen to the cannon with tolerable tranquillity. +All day families continue to pass by, leaving Mexico. The poor shopkeepers +are to be pitied. Besides the total cessation of trade, one at least has +been shot, and others plundered. A truce of two hours was granted this +afternoon, to bury the dead, who were carried out of the palace. Two of our +colleagues ventured here this morning. + +22nd.--The government bulletin of this morning contains a letter from Santa +Anna, dated Mango de Clavo, 19th of July, informing the president, with +every expression of loyalty and attachment to the government, that +according to his desire he will set off this morning in the direction of +Perote, "at the head of a respectable division." Various other assurances +of fidelity from Victoria, from Galindo, etc., are inserted, with the +remark that the Mexican public will thus see the uniformity and decision of +the whole republic in favour of order, and especially will receive in the +communication of his Excellency, General Santa Anna, an equivocal proof of +this unity of sentiment, notwithstanding the assurances given by the rebels +to the people, that Santa Anna would either assist them, or would take no +part at all in the affair. It must be confessed, however, that his +Excellency is rather a dangerous umpire. + +The Governor Vieyra published a proclamation to-day, declaring "Mexico in a +state of siege." It seems to me that we knew that already! Upon the whole, +things are going on well for the government. Parties of _pronunciados_ have +been put down in various places. The wounded on both sides have been +carried to the hospital of San Andrés. A battery is now planted against the +palace, in the Calle de Plateros, where they are at least near enough to do +more execution than before. + +One circumstance worthy of notice has been published to-day. The rebels, as +you may recollect, declared that they had permitted the president to leave +the palace, on condition of his taking conciliatory measures, and that he +had agreed to favour their pretensions. Now here is Bustamante's own +letter, written in the palace, when surrounded by his enemies; a proof, if +any were wanting, of his exceeding personal bravery, and perfect coolness +in the midst of danger. There is something rather _Roman_ in these few +lines: + +"Ministers,--I protest that I find myself without liberty and without +defence, the guards of the palace having abandoned me. Under these +circumstances, let no order of mine, which is contrary to the duties of the +post I occupy, be obeyed. Since, although I am resolved to die before +failing in my obligations, it will not be difficult to falsify my +signature. Let this be made known by you to the Congress, and to those +generals and chiefs who preserve sentiments of honour and fidelity. + +"National Palace, July 15th, 1840. + +"Anastasio Bustamante." + + +The following propositions are made to the government by the rebels: + +"Article 1st. It not having been the intention of the citizen José Urrea, +and of the troops under his command, to attack in any way the person of +the president of the republic, General Anastasio Bustamante, he is replaced +in the exercise of his functions. + +"2nd. Using his faculties as president of the republic, he will cause the +firing to cease on the part of the troops opposed to the citizen Urrea; who +on his side will do the same. + +"3rd. The president shall organize a ministry deserving of public +confidence, and shall promise to re-establish the observance of the +constitution of 1824, convoking a congress immediately, for the express +purpose of reform. + +"4th. Upon these foundations, peace and order shall be re-established, and +no one shall be molested for the opinions which he has manifested, or for +the principles he may have supported, all who are in prison for political +opinions being set at liberty." + +Almonte, in the name of the president, rejected these conditions, but +offered to spare the lives of the pronunciados, in case they should +surrender within twenty-four hours. The chiefs of the opposite party +hereupon declared the door shut to all reconcilement, but requested a +suspension of hostilities, which was granted. + +A---- is going to drive me out during this suspension, in an open cab, to +call on the C---a family. The -----s have left their house, their position +having become too dangerous. Another letter from General Almonte this +morning. Nothing decisive. The streets continue blocked up with cannon, the +roofs of the houses, and churches are covered with troops, the shops remain +closed, and the streets deserted. People are paying ounces for the least +morsel of room in the suburbs, on the San Cosme side of the city. + +23rd.--Yesterday the archbishop invited the chiefs of the pronunciados to a +conference in his archiepiscopal palace, in order that he might endeavour, +in his apostolical character, to check the effusion of blood. The +conference took place, and the rebels requested a suspension of +hostilities, whilst the prelate should communicate its results to the +president, which was granted by the general-in-chief. But the +_pronunciados_ broke the truce, and endeavoured to surprise the president +and Almonte in the citadel, passing over the parapets in the _Calle de +Monterilla_. They were repulsed with slaughter, and a fierce cannonading +was kept up all night. They have now requested a parley, which is granted +them. ... + +In the midst of all, there is a communication from the Governor of Morelia, +giving an account of the routing of a band of robbers who had attacked an +hacienda. + +We went to Tacubaya, and met with no other danger but that of being +drenched wet; as a daily watering of the earth, short, but severe, now +takes place regularly. The new propositions of the _pronunciados_ are +these: + +1st. "The forces of both armies shall retire to occupy places out of the +capital. + +2nd. "Both the belligerent parties shall agree that the constitutional laws +of 1836 shall remain without force. + +3rd. "A convention shall be convoked, establishing the new constitution, +upon the basis fixed in the Constitutive Act, which will begin to be in +force directly. + +4th. "The elections of the members of the convention, will be verified +according to the laws by which the deputies of the Constituent Congress +were directed. + +5th. "His actual Excellency, the President, will form a provisional +government, he being the chief, until the foregoing articles begin to take +effect. + +6th. "No one shall be molested for political opinions manifested since the +year '21 until now: consequently the persons, employments and properties of +all who have taken part in this or in the past revolutions shall be +respected. + +7th. "That the first article may take effect, the government will +facilitate all that is necessary to both parties." + + +The government have refused these second propositions; and at the same time +made known to the Mexican world that various deserters from the opposite +party assure them, that the _pronunciados_, including the principal chiefs, +are occupied in destroying everything within the palace--that the general +archives and those of the Ministers are torn in pieces, and that the +despatches are taken to make cartouches, and so on. They end by accusing +them of being all united with the most noted robbers and public highwaymen, +such as a _Ricardo Tea_, a _Jose Polvorilla_, a _Roman Chavez_, a _Juan +Vega_, a _Rosas_, a _Garcilazo_, and others. I put down the names of these +Mexican Dick Turpins and Paul Cliffords, in case we should meet them some +_beau jour_. + +More forces have arrived from Puebla and Toluca. Santa Anna is expected to +reach Puebla to-night, and again General Valencia holds out an invitation +to repentance to the "deceived men in the palace." + + +25th.--A letter is published to-day from Santa Anna to General Victoria, +assuring him that whatever personal considerations might have detained him +in his country-seat, he accepts with pleasure the command of the division +going to Perote, and will in this, as in all things, obey the orders of the +supreme government. Firing, with short intervals, continued all yesterday, +during the night, and this morning. Two mortars are placed in front of the +old _Acordada_, in the direction of the palace, but as yet they have not +been used. There are a crowd of people examining them. + +Things remain nearly in the same position as before, except that there are +more deserters from the revolted party. A proclamation was issued by Urrea, +accusing the government of all the evils that afflict the city, and of all +the bloodshed caused by this civil war. Amongst other things, they complain +of the death of Dr. Plan, who was shot in the Calle de Seminario, and, +according to them, by the government troops. General Valencia answers this +time without figures, and with good reason, that the responsibility of +these misfortunes must be with those who have provoked the war. + +In the bulletin of to-day, the government praise their own moderation in +having taken off the duties from all provisions entering the capital, in +order that the price might not become too high, an advantage in which the +_pronunciados_ themselves participate--mention their exertions to supply +the city with water, and their permission given to the _pronunciados_ to +send their wounded to the hospital of San Andrés. They deny that the +government has any share in the evils that afflict the whole population, +their endeavour having ever been to preserve tranquillity and order; "but +when a handful of factious men have taken possession of part of the city, +no choice is left them but to besiege and combat them until they surrender, +and not to abandon the peaceful citizens to pillage and vengeance." They +declare that they might already have subdued them, and are only held back +by the fear of involving in their ruin the number of innocent persons who +occupy the circumjacent houses. The policy of this moderation seems +doubtful, but the sincerity of the president is unimpeachable. They +continue to observe upon the absurdity of this handful of men pretending to +impose laws upon the whole republic, when already the body of the nation +have given unequivocal proofs that they have no desire that the questions +relative to their political institutions should be decided by the force of +arms. + +While the _pronunciados_ declare on their side that "information of +_pronunciamentos_ everywhere" has been received by them; the government +remarks that eleven days have now elapsed, which has given full time for +all the departments to declare themselves in favour of those who call +themselves their representatives; but on the contrary, nothing has been +received but assurances of fidelity, and of support to the government +cause. I believe that the English packet will be detained till the +conclusion of this affair, but should it not be so, you need not feel any +uneasiness in regard to us. Our house is full of people, money, jewels, and +plate--our stables of horses and mules. Amongst the diamonds are those of +the Señora L----, which are very fine, and there are gold rouleaus enough +to set up a bank at San Agustin. Santa Anna seems in no hurry to arrive. +People expect him to-morrow, but perhaps he thinks the hour has not come +for him. + +26th.--The proclamation of the governor of the department of Jalisco is +published to-day, in which he observes: "The nation cannot forget that this +Urrea, who has brought so many evils upon his country, this faithful friend +of _Mr. Carlos Baudin_, and of the French squadron which invaded our +territory, for whom he procured all the fresh provisions which they +required, is the same man who now escapes from prison, to figure at the +head of a tumultuous crowd, whose first steps were marked by the capture of +his Excellency the President." Firing continues, but without any decided +result. It is a sound that one does not learn to hear with indifference. +There seems little doubt that ultimately the government will gain the day, +but the country will no doubt remain for some time in a melancholy state of +disorder. Bills are fastened to-day on the corners of the streets, +forbidding all ingress or egress through the military lines, from six in +the evening till eight in the morning. Gentlemen who live near us now +venture in towards evening, to talk politics or play at whist; but +generally, in the middle of a game, some report is brought in, which drives +them back to their houses and families with all possible haste. Señor +-----, a young Spaniard who is living with us, returning here late last +night, was challenged by the sentinels at the corner of the street, with +the usual "_Quien viva?_" to which, being in a brown study, he mechanically +replied, "_Spain!_" Fortunately, the officer on duty was a man of common +sense and humanity, and instead of firing, warned him to take better care +for the future. + +Last night the archbishop paid a visit to the president, in the convent of +San Agustin, to intercede in favour of the _pronunciados_. The mortars have +not yet played against the palace, owing, it is said, to the desire of the +general-in-chief to avoid the further effusion of blood. + +The tranquillity of the sovereign people during all this period, is +astonishing. In what other city in the world would they not have taken part +with one or other side? Shops shut, workmen out of employment, thousands of +idle people, subsisting, Heaven only knows how, yet no riot, no confusion, +apparently no impatience. Groups of people collect on the streets, or stand +talking before their doors, and speculate upon probabilities, but await the +decision of their military chiefs, as if it were a judgment from Heaven, +from which it were both useless and impious to appeal. + +27th.--"Long live the Mexican Republic! Long live the Supreme Government!" +Thus begins the government bulletin of to-day, to which I say Amen! with +all my heart, since it ushers in the news of the termination of the +revolution. And what particularly attracts my attention is, that instead of +the usual stamp, the eagle, serpent, and nopal, we have to-day, a shaggy +pony, flying as never did mortal horse before, his tail and mane in a most +violent state of excitement, his four short legs all in the air at once, +and on his back a man in a jockey-cap, furiously blowing a trumpet, from +which issues a white flag, on which is printed "News!" _in English!_ and +apparently in the act of springing over a milestone, on which is inscribed, +also in English--"_100 to New York!_" + +"We have," says the government, "the grateful satisfaction of announcing, +that the revolution of this capital has terminated happily. The rebellious +troops having offered, in the night, to lay down arms upon certain +conditions, his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, has accepted their +proposals with convenient modifications, which will be verified to-day; the +empire of laws, order, tranquillity, and all other social guarantees being +thus re-established," etc. Cuevas, Minister of the Interior, publishes a +circular addressed to the governors of the departments to the same effect, +adding, that "in consideration of the inhabitants and properties which +required the prompt termination of this disastrous revolution, the +guarantees of personal safety solicited by the rebels have been granted, +but none of their pretensions have been acceded to; the conspiracy of the +fifteenth having thus had no other effect but to make manifest the general +wish and opinion in favour of the government, laws, and legitimate +authorities." A similar circular is published by General Almonte. + +Having arrived at this satisfactory conclusion, which must be as agreeable +to you as it is to us, I shall close this long letter, merely observing, in +apology, that as Madame de Stael said, in answer to the remark, that "Women +have nothing to do with politics;"--"That may be, but when a woman's head +is about to be cut off, it is natural she should ask--_why_?" so it appears +to me, that when bullets are whizzing about our ears, and shells falling +within a few yards of us, it ought to be considered extremely natural, and +quite feminine, to inquire into the cause of such _phenomena_. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH + + +Plan of the Federalists--Letter from Farias--Signing of +Articles--Dispersion of the "Pronunciados"--Conditions--Orders of General +Valencia--Of the Governor--Address of General Valencia--Departure of our +Guests--The _Cosmopolite_--State of the Palace and Streets--Bulletin of the +Firing--Interior of Houses--Escape of Families--Conduct of the +Troops--Countess del V---e--Santa Anna--Congress--Anecdote--Discussion in +Congress--Leprosy. + + +28th July. + +To-day is published the plan which was formed by the federalists for the +"political regeneration of the republic." They observe, that it is six +years since the federal plan, adopted freely by the nation in 1824, was +replaced by a system which monopolizes all advantages in favour of a few; +that evils had now arrived at that height, in which the endeavours of a few +men, however illustrious, could have no effect in remedying them; rendering +it necessary for all Mexicans to unite in one combined and energetic force +to better their situation; that salvation can only be hoped for from the +nation itself, etc. They then proceed to lay their plan, consisting of ten +articles, before the public. + +The first restores the constitution of '24, the national interests to be +reformed by a congress, composed of four deputies from each state. By the +second, the reformed constitution is to be submitted to the legislatures of +the states for approbation. By the third, they engage to respect the +Catholic religion, the form of popular government, representative and +federal, the division of powers, political liberty of the press, the +organization of a military and naval force, and the equality of rights +between all the inhabitants of the nation. By the fourth article, a +provisional government is to be established in the capital, whose functions +are to be limited exclusively to the direction of the external relations of +the republic. By the fifth, this provisional government is to be vested in +a Mexican, reuniting the requisites for this employment, as established in +the constitution of '24. By the sixth, the republic promises to give back +the ten per cent, added to the duties of consumption, to those who have +paid it until now. By the seventh, in eight months after the triumph of the +present revolution, all interior custom-houses are to be suppressed, and +henceforth no contributions shall be imposed upon the internal circulation +of goods, whether foreign or domestic. By the eighth, they promise to +confirm all the civil and military employments of those who do not oppose +this political regeneration. By the ninth, the army is to be paid with +great punctuality. By the tenth, a general amnesty is promised to all who +have committed political errors since the Independence; and the names of +Farias and Urrea are followed by a goodly list of major-generals, colonels, +etc. + +There is also published a letter from Farias, indignantly denying the +report of the federal party's having threatened to seize the cathedral +jewels and plate; accompanied by one from the archbishop himself, not only +denying the circumstances, but expressing his satisfaction with the conduct +of the federalist party in regard to all the convents which they had +occupied, and the respect which they had shown towards all thing's +pertaining to the church. + +On the night of the twenty-sixth, the articles of capitulation were signed +on both sides; a letter from General Andrade having been received by +General Valencia, to the effect that as General Urrea had abandoned the +command of the troops and left it in his hands, he, in the name of the +other chiefs and officers, was ready to ratify the conditions stipulated +for by them on the preceding night. This was at three in the morning; and +about eight o'clock, the capitulation was announced to the _pronunciados_ +in the different positions occupied by them; and they began to disperse in +different directions, in groups of about a hundred, crying, "Vive la +Federacion!" At a quarter before two o'clock, General Manuel Andrade +marched out, with all the honours of war, to Tlanapantla, followed by the +_pronunciados_ of the palace. + +This morning, at eleven, _Te Deum_, was sung in the cathedral, there being +present, the archbishop, the president, and all the authorities. The bells, +which have preserved an ominous silence during these events, are now +ringing forth in a confusion of tongues. The palace being crippled with +balls, and in a state of utter confusion, the president and his Ministers +occupy cells in the convent of San Agustin. + +The Federalists have marched out upon the following conditions: 1st, Their +lives, persons, and employments, and properties are to be inviolably +preserved. 2nd, General Valencia engages to interpose his influence with +the government by all legal means, that they may request the chambers to +proceed to reform the constitution. 3rd, All political events, which have +occurred since the fifteenth, up to this date, are to be totally forgotten, +the forces who adhered to the plan of the fifteenth being included in this +agreement. 4th, A passport out of the republic is to be given to whatever +individual, comprehended in this agreement, may solicit it. 5th, The troops +of the _pronunciados_ are to proceed to wherever General Valencia orders +them, commanded by one of their own captains, whom he shall point out, and +who must answer for any disorders they may commit. 6th, General Valencia +and all the other generals of his army, must promise on their honour, +before the whole world, to keep this treaty, and see to its exact +accomplishment. 7th, It only applies to Mexicans. 8th, Whenever it is +ratified by the chiefs of both parties, it is to be punctually fulfilled, +hostilities being suspended until six in the morning of the twenty-seventh, +which gives time to ratify the conditions. + +The president may exclaim, "One such victory more, and I am undone!" Orders +are issued by General Valencia to the effect, that until the Federalist +troops have marched out of the city, no group passing five in number will +be permitted in the streets; that until then, there is to be no trading +through the streets; that at three o'clock the eating-houses may be thrown +open, but not the taverns till the next day; and that the police and +alcaldes of the different wards are held responsible for the accomplishment +of these orders, and may make use of armed force to preserve order. + +The governor enforces these orders with additions. People must turn in at +nine o'clock, or give an account of themselves--must give up all their +guns, carbines, etc., to the alcalde, under a heavy penalty; and none, +excepting military men, may go on horseback from five in the evening until +six in the morning, during five days. + +General Valencia makes a pathetic address to his soldiers, and foretells +that henceforth all mothers, wives, and old men, will point them out as +they pass, saying, "There go our deliverers!" and adds--"I grow proud in +speaking to you." "Inhabitants of this beautiful capital!" he says again, +"the aurora of the 15th of July was very different from that of the 27th; +_that_ prognosticated destruction, _this_ rises announcing happiness. +_Never again will you hear the crash of cannon but to celebrate the +triumphs of your country, or to solemnize your civic functions."_ May your +words be prophetic, and especially may you yourself assist in their +accomplishment. + +29th.--Our guests have left us, all but Monsieur -----, who, although +recovered, cannot yet be moved. All money, plate, and jewels in our charge, +are restored to their rightful owners; and the Spanish colours, which have +never been hoisted, return to their former obscurity. I reopen the piano, +uncover and tune the harp, and as we have been most entirely shut up during +thirteen days of heavenly weather, feel rejoiced at the prospect of getting +out again. As yet, I have not seen the state of things in the city, but the +"Cosmopolite" of to-day says--"I should wish to have the pen of Jeremiah, +to describe the desolation and calamities of this city, which has been the +mistress of the new world. In the days of mourning that have passed, we +have not been able to fix our eyes on any part of it where we have not +encountered desolation, weeping, and death. The palace has become a +_sieve_, and the southern bulwark is destroyed; that part of the _portal_ +which looks towards the _Monterilla_ is ruined; the finest buildings in the +centre have suffered a great deal; innumerable houses at great distances +from it have been also much injured by stray balls. Persons of all ages, +classes, and conditions, who interfered in nothing, have been killed, not +only in the streets, but even in their own apartments. The balls crossed +each other in every direction, and the risk has been universal. The city +has been in the dark during these days, without patrol or watch; and many +malefactors have taken advantage of this opportunity to use the murderous +poniard without risk, and with the utmost perfidy. At the break of day +horrible spectacles were seen, of groups of dogs disputing the remains of a +man, a woman, and a child." The "Cosmopolite" goes on to insist upon the +necessity of forming a new ministry and of a reform in the two houses. + +August 1st.--Have just come in from a drive through the city. The palace +and houses near it are certainly in a melancholy condition. The palace, +with its innumerable smashed windows and battered walls, looks as if it had +become stone blind in consequence of having the smallpox. Broken windows +and walls full of holes characterize all the streets in that direction, yet +there is less real damage done than might have been expected, after such a +furious firing and cannonading. + +To read the accounts published, and of the truth of which we had auricular +demonstration, one would have expected to find half the city in ruins. Here +is the sum total of the firing, as published:--"On the 15th, firing from +two o'clock till the next day. On the 16th, continual firing till one +o'clock. Suspension till four o'clock. Firing from that hour, without +intermission, till the following day. 17th, firing from morning till night. +18th, firing from before daybreak till the evening. 19th, continual firing. +Constant emigration of families these last four days. 20th, continual +firing all day. Skirmish at the gate of San Lazaro. 21st, firing continued, +though less hotly, but in the night with more vigour than ever. 22nd, day +of the Junta in the archbishop's palace. Firing began at eleven at night, +and lasted till morning. 23rd, firing till midday. Parley. 24th, formidable +firing, terrible attack, and firing till morning. 25th, firing till the +evening. 26th, firing from six in the morning till two o'clock. +Capitulation that night." + +As "every bullet has its billet," they must all have lodged somewhere. Of +course, nothing else is talked of as yet, and every one has his own +personal experiences to recount. Some houses have become nearly +uninhabitable--glass, pictures, clocks, plaster, all lying in morsels about +the floor, and air-holes in the roofs and walls, through which these winged +messengers of destruction have passed. Ladies and children escaped, in many +instances, by the azoteas, going along the street from one roof to another, +not being able to pass where the cannon was planted. The Señora -----, with +her six beautiful boys, escaped in that way to her brother's house, in the +evening, and in the very thick of the firing. I was in her drawing-room +to-day, which has a most forlorn appearance; the floor covered with heaps +of plaster, broken pictures, bullets, broken glass, etc., the windows out, +and holes in the wall that look as if they were made for the pipe of a +stove to fit into. + +The soldiers of both parties, who have occupied the roofs of the houses, +behaved with great civility; their officers, on many occasions, sending to +the family with a request that they would complain of any insolence that +might be shown by their men. But no civility could ensure the safety of the +dwellers in these houses. + +The poor nuns have been terribly frightened, and have passed these stormy +nights in prayers and hymns, which those who live near their convents say +were frequently heard at midnight, in the intervals of firing. + +I went to see the Countess de V---e, and she showed me the great hole in +the wall by her bedside, through which the shell made its _entrée_. The +fragments are still lying there, so heavy that I could not lift them. All +the windows at the head of that street are broken in pieces. The shops are +reopened, however, and people are going about their usual avocations, +pretty much as if nothing had happened; and probably the whole result of +all this confusion and destruction will be--a change of ministry. + +Santa Anna, finding that he was not wanted, has modestly retired to Manga +de Clavo, and has addressed the following letter to the Minister of War: + +"The triumph which the national arms have just obtained over the horrible +attempts at anarchy, communicated to me by your Excellency, in your note of +the 27th, is very worthy of being celebrated by every citizen who desires +the welfare of his country, always supposing that public vengeance (_la +vindicta pública_) has been satisfied; and in this case, I offer you a +thousand congratulations. This division, although filled with regret at not +having participated on this occasion in the risks of our companions in +arms, are rejoiced at so fortunate an event, and hope that energy and a +wholesome severity will now strengthen order for ever, and will begin an +era of felicity for the country. The happy event has been celebrated here, +in the fortress, and in Tepeyahualco, where the first brigade had already +arrived (and whom I have ordered to countermarch), with every demonstration +of joy. I anxiously desire to receive the details which your Excellency +offers to communicate to me, so that if the danger has entirely ceased, I +may return to my _hacienda_, and may lay down the command of those troops +which your Excellency orders me to preserve here. + +"With sentiments of the most lively joy for the cessation of the +misfortunes of the capital, I reiterate to your Excellency those of my +particular esteem. + +"God and Liberty. + +"ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA. + +"Perote, July 29, 1840." + + +The houses of Congress are again opened. The Ministers presented themselves +in the Chamber of Deputies, and a short account of the late revolution was +given by General Almonte, who, by the way, was never taken prisoner, as was +at first reported. He had gone out to ride early in the morning, when +General Urrea, with some soldiers, rode up to him and demanded his sword; +telling him that the president was arrested. For all answer, Almonte drew +his sword, and fighting his way through them, galloped to the citadel. +Urrea, riding back, passed by Almonte's house, and politely taking off his +hat, saluted the ladies of the family, hoped they were well, and remarked +on the fineness of the weather. They were not a little astonished when, a +short time after, they heard what had happened. + +Madame de C---- and her daughter were out riding when the firing began on +the morning of the revolution, and galloped home in consternation. + +7th.--A long discussion to-day in Congress on the propriety of granting +extraordinary powers to the president; also a publication of the despatches +written by Gomez Farias during the revolution. He speaks with the utmost +confidence of the success of his enterprise. In his first letter, he +observes, that General Urrea, with the greater part of the garrison and +people of the capital, have pronounced for the re-establishment of the +federal system, and have, by the most fortunate combination of +circumstances, got possession of the palace, and arrested the president. +That troops have been passing over to them all day, and that the triumph of +the federalists is so sure, he has little doubt that the following morning +will see tranquillity and federalism re-established. The different accounts +of the two parties are rather amusing. It is said that Gomez Farias is +concealed in Mexico.... + +8th.--Paid a visit to-day, where the lady of the house is a leper; though +it is supposed that all who are afflicted with this scourge are sent to the +hospital of San Lazaro.... + +We rode before breakfast this morning to the old church of _La Piedad_, +and, on our return, found a packet containing letters from London, Paris, +New York, and Madrid. The arrival of the English packet, which brings all +these _nouveautes_, is about the most interesting event that occurs here. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH + + +Visitors--Virgen de los Remedios--_Encarnación_--Fears of the Nuns--Santa +Teresa--Rainy Season--Amusing Scene--"_Esta a la Disposocicion de V._" -- +Mexican Sincerity--Texian Vessels--Fine Hair--Schoolmistress--Climate--Its +Effects--Nerves--_Tours de Force_--Anniversary--Speech--Paseo--San Angelo- +-Tacubaya--Army of "The Three Guarantees"--Plan of Yguala--A Murder-- +Indian Politeness--Drunkeness--Señor Canedo--Revolutions in Mexico--The +Penon--The Baths--General----Situation and View--Indian Family--Of the +Boiling Springs--Capabilities--Solitude--Chapultepec--The _Desagravios_-- +Penitence at San Francisco--Discipline of the Men--Discourse of the Monk-- +Darkness and Horrors--Salmagundi. + + +August 30th + + +In the political world nothing very interesting has occurred and as yet +there is no change of ministry. Yesterday morning C---n set off in a +coach-and-six for the valley of Toluca, about eighteen leagues from Mexico, +with a rich Spaniard, Señor M---r y T---n, who has a large hacienda there. + +Last Sunday morning, being the first Sunday since the revolution, we had +forty visitors--ladies and gentlemen, English, French, Spanish, and +Mexican. Such varieties of dresses and languages I have seldom seen united +in one room; and so many anecdotes connected with the _pronunciamento_ as +were related, some grave, some ludicrous, that would form a volume! The +Baron de ----- having just left this for your part of the world, you will +learn by him the last intelligence of it and of us. + +As there is a want of rain, the Virgen de los Remedios was brought into +Mexico, but as there is still a slight ripple on the face of the +lately-troubled waters, she was carried in privately--for all reunions of +people are dreaded at this juncture, I had just prepared pieces of velvet +and silk to hang on the balconies, when I found that the procession had +gone by a back street after sunset. + +I went lately to visit the nuns of the _Encarnación_, to inquire how they +stood their alarms, for their convent had been filled with soldiers, and +they had been in the very heart of the firing. I was welcomed by a figure +covered from head to foot with a double black crape veil, who expressed +great joy at _seeing_ me again, and told me she was one of the madres who +received us before. She spoke with horror of the late revolution, and of +the state of fear and trembling in which they had passed their time; +soldiers within their very walls, and their prayers interrupted by volleys +of cannon. Thanks to the intercession of the Virgin, no accident had +occurred; but she added, that had the Virgin of los Remedios been brought +in sooner, these disorders might never have taken place. + +I went from thence to the convent of Santa Teresa, where I saw no one, but +discoursed with a number of _voices_, from the shrill treble of the old +_Madre Priora_, to the full cheerful tones of my friend the Madre A----. +There is something rather awful in sending one's voice in this way into an +unknown region, and then listening for a response from the unseen dwellers +there. I have not yet been inside this convent, but now that affairs are +settled for the present, I trust that the archbishop will kindly grant his +permission to that effect. + +The rainy season is now at its height; that is, it rains severely every +evening, but in the morning it is lovely. The disagreeable part of it is, +that the roads are so bad, it is difficult to continue our rides in the +environs. Horse and rider, after one of these expeditions, appear to have +been taking a mud-bath. It is very amusing to stand at the window about +four o'clock, and see every one suddenly caught in the most tremendous +shower. In five minutes the streets become rivers; and canoes would be +rather more useful than carriages. Strong porters (_cargadores_) are in +readiness to carry well-dressed gentlemen or women who are caught in the +deluge, across the streets. Coachmen and footmen have their great-coats +prepared to draw on; and all horsemen have their sarapes strapped behind +their saddles, in which, with their shining leather hats, they can brave +the storm. Trusting to an occasional cessation of rain, which sometimes +takes place, people continue to go out in the evening, but it is downright +cruelty to coachmen and animals, unless the visit is to a house with a +_porte-cochère_, which many of the houses have--this amongst others. + +September 1st.--Had a dispute this morning with an Englishman, who +complains bitterly of Mexican insincerity. I believe the chief cause of +this complaint amongst foreigners consists in their attaching the slightest +value to the common phrase, "_Está a la disposición de V._" Everything is +placed at your disposal--house, carriage, servants, horses, mules, +etc.--the lady's earrings, the gentleman's diamond pin, the child's frock. +You admire a ring--it is perfectly at your service; a horse--ditto. Letters +are dated "from your house;" (_de la casa de V._) Some from ignorance of +the custom, and others from knavery, take advantage of these offers, which +are mere expressions of civility, much to the confusion and astonishment of +the polite _offerer_, who has no more intention of being credited, than you +have when, from common etiquette, you sign yourself the very humble servant +of the very greatest bore. It is a mere habit, and to call people who +indulge in it insincere, reminds me of the Italian mentioned somewhere by +Lady Blessington, who thought he had made a conquest of a fair +Englishwoman, though somewhat shocked by her forwardness, because, in an +indifferent note to him, she signed herself "_Truly yours_." Shall I ever +forget the crestfallen countenance of a Mexican gentleman who had just +purchased a very handsome set of London harness, when hearing it admired by +a Frenchman, he gave the customary answer, "It is quite at your disposal," +and was answered by a profusion of bows, and a ready acceptance of the +offer! the only difficulty with the Frenchman being as to whether or not he +could carry it home under his cloak, which he did. + +If all these offers of service, in which it is Mexican etiquette to +indulge, be believed in--"Remember that I am here but to serve you"--"My +house and everything in it is quite at your disposal"--"Command me in all +things;" we shall of course be disappointed by finding that, +notwithstanding these reiterated assurances, we must hire a house for +ourselves, and even servants to wait on us; but take these expressions at +what they are worth, and I believe we shall find that people here are about +as sincere as their neighbours. + +8th.--A good deal of surmise, because four Texian vessels are cruising in +the bay off Vera Cruz. There is also a good deal of political talk, but I +have no longer Madame de Stael's excuse for interfering in politics, which, +by the way, is a subject on which almost all Mexican women are well +informed; possessing practical knowledge, the best of all, like a lesson in +geography given by travelling. I fear we live in a Paradise Lost, which +will not be regained in our day.... + +My attention is attracted, while I write, by the apparition of a beautiful +girl in the opposite balcony, with hair of a golden brown hanging in masses +down to her feet. This is an uncommon colour here; but the hair of the +women is generally very long and fine. It rarely or never curls. We were +amused the other day in passing by a school of little boys and girls, kept +in a room on the first- floor of Señor -----'s house, to see the +schoolmistress, certainly not in a very elegant _dishabille_, marching up +and down with a spelling-book in her hand, her long hair hanging down, and +trailing on the floor a good half-yard behind her; while every time she +turned, she switched it round like a court-train.... + +You ask me about this climate, for -----. For one who, like her, is in +perfect health, I should think it excellent; and even an invalid has only +to travel a few hours, and he arrives at _tierra caliente_. This climate is +that of the tropics, raised some thousand feet above the level of the sea; +consequently there is an extreme purity and thinness of the atmosphere, +which generally affects the breathing at first. In some it causes an +oppression on the chest. On me, it had little effect, if any; and at all +events, the feeling goes off, after the first month or so. There is a +general tendency to nervous irritation, and to inflammatory complaints, and +during September and October, on account of the heavy rains and the drained +lakes on which part of the city is built, there is said to be a good deal +of ague. Since the time of the cholera in 1833, which committed terrible +ravages here, there has been no other epidemic. The smallpox indeed has +been very common lately, but it is owing to the carelessness of the common +people, or rather to their prejudice against having their children +vaccinated. + +The nervous complaints of the ladies are an unfailing source of profit to +the sons of Galen, for they seem to be incurable. Having no personal +experience in these evils, I speak only from what I see in others. It +appears to me that the only fault of the climate consists in its being +monotonously perfect, which is a great drawback to easy and polite +conversation. The evening deluge is but a periodical watering of the earth, +from which it rises like Venus from the sea, more lovely and refreshed than +ever. + +C---n has returned from Toluca, after an absence of eight days. Every one +is hurrying to the theatre just now, in spite of the rain, to see some +Spaniards, who are performing _tours de force_ there. + +16th.--Celebration of the Day of Independence, Anniversary of the +"_Glorioso Grito de Dolores_," of September the 16th, 1810; of the +revolution begun thirty years ago, by the curate of the village of Dolores +in the province of Gunanajuato. "It is very easy," says Zavala, it is about +the most sensible remark, "to put a country into combustion, when it +possesses the elements of discord; but the difficulties of its re- +organization are infinite." + +A speech was made by General Tornel in the Alameda. All the troops were +out--plenty of officers, monks, priests, and ladies, in full dress. We did +not go to hear the speech, but went to the E----'s house to see the +procession, which was very magnificent. The line of carriages was so deep, +that I thought we should never arrive. After all was over, we walked in the +Alameda, where temporary booths were erected, and the trees were hung with +garlands and flowers. The paseo in the evening was extremely gay; but I +cannot say that there appeared to be much enthusiasm or public spirit. They +say that the great difficulty experienced by the _Junta_, named on these +occasions for the preparation of these festivities, is to collect +sufficient funds. + +19th.--We went yesterday to San Angelo, one of the prettiest villages in +the environs of Mexico, and spent the day at the hacienda of Señor T---e, +which is in the neighbourhood. The rain has rendered the roads almost +impassible, and the country round Mexico must be more like Cortes's +description of it at this season, than at any other period. One part of the +road near the hacienda, which is entirely destroyed, the owner of the house +wished to repair; but the Indians, who claim that part of the land, will +not permit the innovation, though he offered to throw a bridge over a small +stream which passes there, at his own expense. + +24th.--We passed a pleasant day at Tacubaya, and dined with Monsieur S----, +who gave a fête in consequence of its being his wife's saint's day. + +27th.--Great fête; being the anniversary of the day on which the army +called the _trigarante_ (the three guarantees) entered Mexico with Yturbide +at their head. The famous plan of Iguala, (so called from having been first +published in that city,) was also called the plan of the three guarantees; +freedom, union, and religion, which were offered as a security to the +Spaniards, against whom so many cruelties had been exercised. We have had +ringing of bells and firing all the morning, and in the evening there is to +be a bull-fight, followed by the exhibition of the _tours de force_ of +these Spaniards, commonly called here "_los Hercules_," who have just come +to offer us a box in the Plaza. + +This plan of the Iguala was certainly the only means by which Spain could +have continued to preserve these vast and distant possessions. The treaty +of Cordova, which confirmed it, was signed in that city between the Spanish +General O'Donoju and Don Agustin Yturbide, in August 1821, and consisted of +seventeen articles. + +By the first, Mexico was to be acknowledged as a free and independent +nation, under the title of the Mexican empire. + +By the second, its government was to be a constitutional monarchy. + +By the third, Ferdinand VII, Catholic King of Spain, was called to the +throne of Mexico; and should he renounce or refuse the throne, it was +offered to his brother the Infant Don Carlos, and under the same +circumstances, to each brother in succession. + +By the fourth, the emperor was to fix his court in Mexico, which was to be +considered the capital of the empire. + +By the fifth, two commissioners named by O'Donoju were to pass over to the +Spanish court, to place the copy of the treaty and of the accompanying +exposition in his majesty's hands, to serve him as an antecedent, until the +Cortes should offer him the crown with all formality; requesting him to +inform the Infantes of the order in which they were named; interposing his +influence in order that the Emperor of Mexico should be one of his august +house, for the interest of both nations, and that the Mexicans might add +this link to the chain of friendship which united them with the Spaniards. + +By the sixth, a _Junta_ of the first men in Mexico; first by their virtues, +position, fortune, etc., was to be named, sufficient in number to ensure +success in their resolutions by the union of so much talent and +information. + +By the seventh, this Junta takes the name of the Administrative Provincial +Junta. + +By the eighth, O'Donoju was named member of this Junta. + +By the ninth, this Junta was to name a president. + +By the tenth, it was to inform the public of its installation, and of the +motives which had caused it to meet. + +By the eleventh, this assembly was to name a regency, composed of three +persons, to compose the executive power, and to govern in the name of the +monarch, until his arrival. + +By the twelfth, the Junta was then to govern conformably to the laws, in +everything which did not oppose the plan of Iguala, and till the Cortes had +formed the constitution of the state. + +By the thirteenth, the regency, as soon as they were named, were to proceed +to the convocation of the Cortes, according to the method decreed by the +provisional Junta. + +By the fourteenth, the executive power was to reside in the regency--the +legislative in the Cortes--but until the reunion of the Cortes, the +legislative power was to be exercised by the Junta. + +By the fifteenth, all persons belonging to the community, the system of +government being changed, or the country passing into the power of another +prince, were perfectly at liberty to transport themselves and their +fortunes wherever they chose, etc., etc. + +By the sixteenth, this does not hold good in regard to the military or +public _employés_ disaffected to the Mexican independence; they will leave +the empire within the term prescribed by the regency, etc., etc. + +By the seventeenth and last, as the occupation of the capital by the +peninsula troops is an obstacle to the realization of the treaty, this +difficulty must be vanquished; but as the chief of the imperial army +desires to bring this about, not by force, but by gentler means, General +O'Donoju offers to employ his authority with the troops, that they may +leave the capital without any effusion of blood, and by an honourable +treaty. This treaty was signed by Yturbide and O'Donoju. + +Had this plan of Iguala taken effect, what would have been the result in +Mexico?--what its present condition?... + +This being Sunday, and a fête-day, a man was murdered close by our door, in +a quarrel brought about probably through the influence of pulque, or rather +of _chinguirite_. If they did not so often end in deadly quarrel, there +would be nothing so amusing as to watch the Indians gradually becoming a +little intoxicated. They are at first so polite--handing the pulque-jar to +their fair companions (fair being taken in the general or _Pickwickian_ +sense of the word); always taking off their hats to each other, and if they +meet a woman, kissing her hand with an humble bow as if she were a +duchess;--but these same women are sure to be the cause of a quarrel, +and then out come these horrible knives--and then, _Adios!_ + +It is impossible to conceive anything more humble and polite than the +common country-people. Men and women stop and wish you a good day, +the men holding their hats in their hands, and all showing their white +teeth, and faces lighted up by careless good-nature. I regret to state, +however, that to-day there are a great many women quite as tipsy as the +men, returning home after the fête, and increasing the distance to their +village, by taking a zigzag direction through the streets.... + +Señor Canedo, Secretary of State, has formally announced his intention of +resigning. Certainly the situation of premier in Mexico, at this moment, is +far from enviable, and the more distinguished and clear-headed the +individual, the more plainly he perceives the impossibility of remedying +the thickly-gathering evils which crowd the political horizon. +"Revolution," says Señor de -----, "has followed revolution since the +Independence; no stable government has yet been established. Had it +been so, Mexico would have offered to our eyes a phenomenon unknown +until now in the world--that of a people, without previous preparation, +passing at once to govern themselves by democratical institutions." + +28th.--We drove out to the _Peñon_, a natural boiling fountain, where there +are baths, which are considered a universal remedy, a pool of Bethesda, but +an especial one for rheumatic complaints. The baths are a square of low +stone buildings, with a church--each building containing five or six empty +rooms, in one of which is a square bath. The idea seems to have been to +form a sort of dwelling-house for different families, as each bath has a +small kitchen attached to it. Like most _great ideas_ of Spanish days, it +is now in a state of perfect desolation, though people still flock there +for various complaints. When one goes there to bathe, it is necessary to +carry a mattress, to lie down on when you leave the bath, linen, a bottle +of cold water, of which there is not a drop in the place, and which is +particularly necessary for an invalid in case of faintness--in short +everything that you may require. A poor family live there to take charge of +the baths, and there is a small tavern where they sell spirits and pulque; +and occasionally a padre comes on Sunday to say mass in the old church. + +We were amused by meeting there with General ----- and his family, who had +brought with them a whole coachload of provisions, besides mattresses, +sheets, etc. The road to the Peñon crosses the most dreary plain +imaginable. Behind the baths are two volcanic hills; and the view of Mexico +and of the great volcanoes from this is magnificent. It is the most +solitary of buildings; not a tree to be seen in its environs; these +volcanic rocks behind--Mexico fronting it--the great lakes near it--to the +right Guadalupe--to the left San Angel, San Agustin, and the mountains +which bound the valley. The Indian family who live there are handsome +savages; and the girl who attended me at the bath spoke an extraordinary +jargon, half Spanish, half Indian, but was a fine specimen of savage good +looks. The water is extremely warm, and my curiosity to try its temperature +was very soon satisfied. + +These boiling springs are said to contain sulphate of lime, carbonic acid, +and muriate of soda, and the Indians make salt in their neighbourhood, +precisely as they did in the time of Montezuma, with the difference, as +Humboldt informs us, that then they used vessels of clay, and now they use +copper caldrons. The solitary-looking baths are ornamented with odd-looking +heads of cats or monkeys, which grin down upon you with a mixture of the +sinister and facetious rather appalling. + +The Señora de ----- insisted on my partaking of her excellent luncheon +after the bath. We could not help thinking, were these baths in the hands +of some enterprising and speculative Yankee, what a fortune he would make; +how he would build an hotel _á la_ Sarratoga, would paper the rooms, and +otherwise beautify this uncouth temple of boiling water. + +There is an indescribable feeling of solitude in all houses in the environs +of Mexico, a vastness, a desolation, such as I never before experienced in +the most lonely dwellings in other countries. It is not sad--the sky is too +bright, and nature too smiling, and the air we inhale too pure for that. It +is a sensation of being entirely out of the world, and alone with a giant +nature, surrounded by faint traditions of a bygone race; and the feeling is +not diminished, when the silence is broken by the footstep of the passing +Indian, the poor and debased descendant of that extraordinary and +mysterious people, who came, we know not whence, and whose posterity are +now "hewers of wood and drawers of water," on the soil where they once were +monarchs. + +In Chapultepec especially, near as it is to a large and populous city, the +traditions of the past come so strongly upon the mind, that one would +rather look for the apparition of a whole band of these inky-haired +adder-anointed priests of Montezuma, than expect to meet with the +benevolent-looking archbishop, who, in purple robes, occasionally walks +under the shade of the majestic cypresses. + +All Mexicans at present, men and women, are engaged in what are called the +_desagravios_, a public penance performed at this season in the churches, +during thirty-five days. The women attend church in the morning, no men +being permitted to enter, and the men in the evening, when women are not +admitted. Both rules are occasionally broken. The penitence of the men is +most severe, their sins being no doubt proportionably greater than those of +the women; though it is one of the few countries where they suffer for +this, or seem to act upon the principle, that "if all men had their +deserts, who should escape whipping?" + +To-day we attended the morning penitence at six o'clock, in the church of +San Francisco; the hardest part of which was their having to kneel for +about ten minutes with their arms extended in the form of a cross, uttering +groans; a most painful position for any length of time. It is a profane +thought, but I dare say so many hundreds of beautifully-formed arms and +hands were seldom seen extended at the same moment before. Gloves not being +worn in church, and many of the women having short sleeves, they were very +much seen. + +But the other night I was present at a much stranger scene, at the +discipline performed by the men; admission having been procured for us, by +certain means, _private but powerful_. Accordingly, when it was dark, +enveloped from head to foot in large cloaks, and without the slightest idea +of what it was, we went on foot through the streets to the church of San +Agustin. When we arrived, a small side-door apparently opened of itself, +and we entered, passing through long vaulted passages, and up steep winding +stairs, till we found ourselves in a small railed gallery, looking down +directly upon the church. The scene was curious. About one hundred and +fifty men, enveloped in cloaks and sarapes, their faces entirely concealed, +were assembled in the body of the church. A monk had just mounted the +pulpit, and the church was dimly lighted, except where he stood in bold +relief, with his gray robes and cowl thrown back, giving a full view of his +high bald forehead and expressive face. + +His discourse was a rude but very forcible and eloquent description of the +torments prepared in hell for impenitent sinners. The effect of the whole +was very solemn. It appeared like a preparation for the execution of a +multitude of condemned criminals. When the discourse was finished, they all +joined in prayer with much fervour and enthusiasm, beating their breasts +and falling upon their faces. Then the monk stood up, and in a very +distinct voice, read several passages of scripture descriptive of the +sufferings of Christ. The organ then struck up the _Miserere,_ and all of a +sudden the church was plunged in profound darkness; all but a sculptured +representation of the Crucifixion, which seemed to hang in the air +illuminated. I felt rather frightened, and would have been very glad to +leave the church, but it would have been impossible in the darkness. +Suddenly, a terrible voice in the dark cried, "My brothers! when Christ was +fastened to the pillar by the Jews, he was _scourged!_" At these words, the +bright figure disappeared, and the darkness became total. Suddenly, we +heard the sound of hundreds of scourges descending upon the bare flesh. I +cannot conceive anything more horrible. Before ten minutes had passed, the +sound became _splashing,_ from the blood that was flowing. + +I have heard of these penitences in Italian churches, and also that half of +those who go there do not really scourge themselves; but here where there +is such perfect concealment, there seems no motive for deception. +Incredible as it may seem, this awful penance continued, without +intermission, for half an hour! If they scourged _each other,_ their energy +might be less astonishing. + +We could not leave the church, but it was perfectly sickening; and had I +not been able to take hold of the Señora -----'s hand, and feel something +human beside me, I could have fancied myself transported into a +congregation of evil spirits. Now and then, but very seldom, a suppressed +groan was heard, and occasionally the voice of the monk encouraging them by +ejaculations, or by short passages from Scripture. Sometimes the organ +struck up, and the poor wretches, in a faint voice, tried to join in the +_Miserere_. The sound of the scourging is indescribable. At the end of half +an hour a little bell was rung, and the voice of the monk was heard, +calling upon them to desist; but such was their enthusiasm, that the +horrible lashing continued louder and fiercer than ever. + +In vain he entreated them not to kill themselves; and assured them that +heaven would be satisfied, and that human nature could not endure beyond a +certain point. No answer, but the loud sound of the scourges, which are +many of them of iron, with sharp points that enter the flesh. At length, as +if they were perfectly exhausted, the sound grew fainter, and little by +little ceased altogether. We then got up in the dark, and, with great +difficulty, groped our way in the pitch darkness through the galleries and +down the stairs, till we reached the door, and had the pleasure of feeling +the fresh air again. They say that the church-floor is frequently covered +with blood after one of these penances, and that a man died the other day +in consequence of his wounds. + +I then went to the house of the ----- Minister, where there was a +_reunion_, and where I found the company comfortably engaged in eating a +very famous kind of German salad, composed of herrings, smoked salmon, cold +potatoes, and apples; (salmagundi?) and drinking hot punch. After the cold, +darkness, and horrors of the church, this formed rather a contrast; and it +was some time before I could shake off the disagreeable impression left by +the _desagravios_, and join in the conversation.... + +Along with this you will receive some Mexican airs, which I have written by +ear from hearing them played, and of some of which I gave you the words in +a former letter. + + +[Illustration: MEXICAN AIRS See Letters 12th and 16th. JARAVE PALAMO.] + +[Illustration: LOS ENANOS.] + +[Illustration: PERICO.] + +[Illustration: EL AFORRADO.] + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH + + +Fête-day--Friendly Hint--Precautions--General Tranquillity--President in +San Agustin--Revisit Museum--Ancient Manuscripts--Sculpture--Bronze Bust, +etc.--Freshness after Rain--Ball at the French Minister's--Pamphlet-- +Gutierrez Estrada--His Character--Concealment--_Mexicalsingo_--Minister of +the Treasury--Archbishop's Permission--Paintings--Mexican Painters--Santa +Teresa--Description of the Interior--The Penitences--Tortures-- +Disciplines, etc.--Supper--Profane Ballads--Monasteries--San Francisco-- +_Padre Prior_--Soldiers and Friars. + + +October 3rd. + + +Yesterday being C---n's fête-day, we had a dinner and small _soirée_, and +according to custom, visits the whole day. A very agreeable guest from +Havana, Don J---- A----, arrived to spend a few weeks with us. We had +rather a pleasant party, and some good singing; but just as dancing had +begun, C----n took me aside, and showed me a little friendly note which he +had received while at dinner, from General -----, in which he informs him +that the robbers would in all probability attack our respective houses that +night; that he had taken his precautions, and advises C---n to do the same, +in the understanding that, if necessary, they should mutually assist each +other. A pleasant piece of intelligence! The thing got whispered about, and +some of the ladies looked a little blank at the information; but there +could be no risk while so many persons were collected. About one they went +away, and C---n sent for some soldiers to keep watch all night. Nothing +happened, as no doubt the robbers found out what precautions had been +taken. The intended attack had been discovered by a servant of the +general's, who heard them discussing the matter in the back-room of a +pulque-shop. + +We have been obliged to procure two old soldiers as porters, in lieu of the +two who were shot in the revolution; for though not killed, they are +entirely disabled for the present. + +Mexico appears particularly quiet just now; and whatever storms may be +preparing, no symptoms are visible to the uninitiated eye. The palace has +got in its glass eyes again, and externally is almost entirely repaired; +but it is not yet fit for the residence of the president, who still _holds +his court_ in the convent of San Agustin. I have been driving about with +our Havana friend, like an old resident, showing the beauties of Mexico to +a stranger. We have been in the Mineria, Museum, Botanical Garden, Biscay +College, etc., all of which can bear revision. + +The Museum especially, which, owing to the want of arrangement and +classification in the antiquities, and the manner in which they are crowded +together in the different rooms of the university, appears at first +undeserving of much attention, improves upon acquaintance. It is only since +the year '25 that it was established by the government, and various plans +have been since made for enriching and arranging it, and also for +transporting it to the old building of the Inquisition. But as yet nothing +essential has been carried into effect. + +It contains upwards of two hundred historical manuscripts, some in +hieroglyphical characters anterior to the conquest, and many in the +different ancient languages of the country. Of the ancient sculpture, it +possesses two colossal statues and many smaller ones, besides a variety of +busts, heads, figures of animals, masks, and instruments of music or of +war, curiously engraved, and indicating the different degrees of +civilization of the different nations to whom they belonged. A great many +of the vases of _tecal_, and of the candlesticks in clay, curiously worked, +were drawn from excavations in the Isle of Sacrifices, near Vera Cruz, from +Oajaca, etc., and from the suburbs of Mexico. There is also a collection of +very ancient medals to the number of six hundred, a bronze bust of Philip +V, and about two hundred Mexican paintings, comprehending two collections +of the portraits of the Spanish viceroys, many of the celebrated Cabrera's, +and various dresses, arms, and utensils, from both the Californias. In the +cabinet of natural history there is a good collection of minerals, and some +very fine specimens of gold and silver. But in the animal or vegetable +branch of natural history there is a great deficiency, and altogether the +museum is not worthy of a country which seems destined by nature to be the +great emporium of all natural science. + +Of course we have revisited old Chapultepec and Our Lady of Guadalupe, with +her Legend and Holy Well. In the morning we have rode to Tacubaya and the +environs, and the weather at that early hour has the most indescribable +freshness, caused by the evening rains. Everything looks bright and +sparkling. The Peruvian trees, with their bending green branches and +bunches of scarlet berries, glitter with the heavy rain-drops, and even the +hoary cypresses of Chapultepec sparkle with water in all their gigantic +branches. Little pools have become ponds, and ditches rivulets, and +frequently it is rather wading than riding, which is not so pleasant. + +24th.--Last evening we had a very pretty ball in the house of the French +Minister, where all the Paris furniture was very effective. There were as +usual plenty of diamonds, and some handsome dresses--mine white satin, with +flowers. + +25th.-The whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by Señor Gutierrez +Estrada, which has just appeared, and seems likely to cause a greater +sensation in Mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder plot in England. +Its sum and substance is the proposal of a constitutional Monarchy in +Mexico, with a foreign prince (not named) at its head, as the only remedy +for the evils by which it is afflicted. The pamphlet is written merely in a +speculative form, inculcating no sanguinary measures, or sudden revolution; +but the consequences are likely to be most disastrous to the fearless and +public-spirited author. Even those who most question his prudence in taking +this step, agree that in this, as well as in every other political action +of his life, he has acted from thorough conviction and from motives of the +purest patriotism, unalloyed by one personal feeling; indeed, entirely +throwing behind him every consideration of personal or family interest, +which even the best men allow to have some weight with them on such +occasions. + +In a political review of Mexico, written some years ago by a Mexican who +deals fearlessly, and it would seem impartially, with the characters of all +the leading men of that period, I find some remarks on Señor Gutierrez +Estrada, which you will place more faith in, as coming from a less partial +source than from persons so attached as we are to him and his family. In +speaking of the conduct of the administration, he says--"Señor Gutierrez +Estrada was one of the few who remained firm in his ideas, and above all, +true to his political engagements. This citizen is a native of the State of +Yucatan, where his family, who are distinguished in every point of view, +reside. It is unnecessary to say that Gutierrez received a thorough and +brilliant education, as it is sufficient to have conversed with him to +discover this fact; nor that he knew how to turn it to account in the +career of public service to which he devoted himself, and in which he has +remained pure and unblemished in the midst of a corrupt class. From the +first he was destined to the European legations, on account of his fluency +in speaking and writing both English and French; and he is one of the few +who have employed their time usefully in the capitals of the Old World. +Flexible by nature, honourable by education, and expeditious in business, +his services have been perfect, and above all, loyal and conscientious." He +goes on to say that, "notwithstanding the gentleness of his temper, his +political conscience is so firm and pure, that he will never yield in what +he considers his obligation, _even when it interferes with the most +intimate friendships,_ or most weighty considerations." One would think +that the writer had foreseen the present emergency. I have not yet read the +pamphlet which the friends of the author consider an equal proof of his +noble independence, bold patriotism, and vast information; being, to say +the truth, much more interested in its domestic effects than in its public +results, or even its intrinsic merits. + +26th.--Soldiers were sent to the house of the Countess de la C---a, to +arrest her son-in-law, but in compliance with the entreaties of his family, +he had gone into concealment. I found them in great affliction, but they +are so accustomed to political persecution from one party or another, +particularly the countess, that her courage has never deserted her for a +moment. He is accused in Congress--in the senate-house--a proclamation is +made by the president, anathematizing his principles--even the printer of +the pamphlet is thrown into prison. Nothing else is spoken of, and the +general irritation is so terrible, that it is to be hoped his place of +concealment is secure; otherwise the consequences may be fatal. + +_On pretend_ that many distinguished men here hold the same opinions, but +their voices, even were they to venture to raise them, could not stem the +tide of public indignation. The most offended are naturally the military +men.... In short, Señor Gutierrez, who has been passing four years abroad, +in countries where hundreds of obscure scribblers daily advocate +republicanism or any wild theory that strikes their fancy, with the most +perfect security, was probably hardly aware of the extraordinary ferment +which such a pamphlet was likely to produce at the present juncture. + +27th.--A few days before Señor A---- left us, we went up the canal in a +canoe, as far as Santa Anita, to show him all that remains of the +Chinampas. It is as pleasant a way of passing an evening as any that I know +of here. + +We drove lately to Mexicalsingo, where there is a cave in which there is a +figure of our Saviour, which they pretend has lately appeared there. + +The excitement concerning the pamphlet seems rather to increase than +diminish, but Señor Gutierrez has many devoted friends, and the place of +his retreat is secure. There is little doubt that he will be forced to fly +the country. + +29th. Señor Don Xavier Hechavarria, Minister of the Treasury, has sent in +his resignation. Being a man of large private fortune, extremely simple in +his habits, and the most amiable of men in domestic life, I believe that no +Minister has ever thrown off with more unaffected satisfaction the burden +of state affairs, or will enjoy his retreat from public life with more true +philosophy. + +I have been so much interested in the affairs of the C---a family, that I +have forgotten to tell you of my having obtained permission from the +archbishop to visit the Santa Teresa, accompanied by one young married +lady, who has a sister there. The archbishop desired that our visit should +be kept a secret; but it has _oozed_ out by some means or other, probably +through the nuns themselves, and exposed him to so much inconvenience and +such a torrent of solicitations from those ladies who, having daughters or +sisters amongst the nuns, are naturally most desirous to see them, that I +fear, notwithstanding his good nature, he will put a veto on all my future +applications. You will think I pass my time in convents, but I find no +other places half so interesting, and you know I always had a fancy that +way. + +In some of these convents there still exist, buried alive like the inmates, +various fine old paintings; amongst others, some of the Flemish school, +brought to Mexico by the monks, at the time when the Low Countries were +under Spanish dominion. Many masters also of the Mexican school, such as +Enriquez, Cabrera, etc., have enriched the cloisters with their +productions, and employed their talent on holy subjects, such as the lives +of the saints, the martyrs, and other Christian subjects. Everywhere, +especially, there are _Cabreras_, an artist somewhat in the Luca Giordano +style; the same monotony, facility, and "_fa presto Luca!_" All his +pictures are agreeable, and some strikingly beautiful. Occasionally he +copies from the old masters, but rarely. Ximenes and Enriquez are not so +common, and some of their productions are very good, and deserve to be +better known than I imagine they are in Europe. They are a branch of the +Spanish school, and afford striking proofs of the extraordinary talent of +the Mexicans for the fine arts, as well as of the facilities which the +mother-country afforded them. + +But it is in the convent of the Profesa that the finest paintings are, and +there I cannot enter! The galleries are full of paintings, the most part by +Cabrera; and C---n speaks with enthusiasm of one exceedingly beautiful +painting, in the sacristy of the chapel, said to be an original Guido, +being a representation of Christ tied to the pillar and scourged; in which +the expression of pure divinity and suffering humanity is finely blended, +and well contrasted with savage cruelty in the countenances of his +executioners. But most of these paintings are neglected, and so falling to +decay that it is pitiable to look at them. + +The Santa Teresa, however, has few ornaments. It is not nearly so large as +the _Encarnación_, and admits but twenty-one nuns. At present there are, +besides these, but three novices. Its very atmosphere seems holy, and its +scrupulous and excessive cleanness makes all profane dwellings appear dirty +by comparison. We were accompanied by a bishop, Señor Madrid, the same who +assisted at the archbishop's consecration--a good-looking man, young and +tall, and very splendidly dressed. His robes were of purple satin, covered +with fine point-lace, with a large cross of diamonds and amethysts. He also +wore a cloak of very fine purple cloth, lined with crimson velvet, crimson +stockings, and an immense amethyst ring. + +When he came in we found that the nuns had permission to put up their +veils, rarely allowed in this order in the presence of strangers. They have +a small garden and fountain, plenty of flowers, and some fruit, but all is +on a smaller scale, and sadder than in the convent of the Incarnation. The +refectory is a large room, with a long narrow table running all round it--a +plain deal table, with wooden benches; before the place of each nun, an +earthen bowl, an earthen cup with an apple in it, a wooden plate and a +wooden spoon; at the top of the table a grinning skull, to remind them that +even these indulgences they shall not long enjoy. + +In one corner of the room is a reading-desk, a sort of elevated pulpit, +where one reads aloud from some holy book, whilst the others discuss their +simple fare. They showed us a crown of thorns, which, on certain days, is +worn by one of their number, by way of penance. It is made of iron, so that +the nails entering inwards, run into the head, and make it bleed. While she +wears this on her head, a sort of wooden bit is put into her mouth, and she +lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended; and while in this +condition her food is given her, of which she eats as much as she can, +which probably is none. + +We visited the different cells, and were horror-struck at the +self-inflicted tortures. Each bed consists of a wooden plank raised in the +middle, and on days of penitence crossed by wooden bars. The pillow is +wooden, with a cross lying on it, which they hold in their hands when they +lie down. The nun lies on this penitential couch, embracing the cross, and +her feet hanging out, as the bed is made too short for her upon principle. +Round her waist she occasionally wears a band with iron points turning +inwards; on her breast a cross with nails, of which the points enter the +flesh, of the truth of which I had melancholy ocular demonstration. Then, +after having scourged herself with a whip covered with iron nails, she lies +down for a few hours on the wooden bars, and rises at four o'clock. All +these instruments of discipline, which each nun keeps in a little box +beside her bed, look as if their fitting place would be in the dungeons of +the Inquisition. They made me try their _bed and board_, which I told them +would give me a very decided taste for early rising. + +Yet they all seem as cheerful as possible, though it must be confessed that +many of them look pale and unhealthy. It is said, that when they are strong +enough to stand this mode of life, they live very long; but it frequently +happens that girls who come into this convent, are obliged to leave it from +sickness, long before the expiration of their novitiate. I met with the +girl whom I had seen take the veil, and cannot say that she looked either +well or cheerful, though she assured me, that "of course, in doing the will +of God," she was both. There was not much beauty amongst them generally, +though one or two had remains of great loveliness. My friend, the Madre +A----, is handsomer on a closer view than I had supposed her, and seems an +especial favourite with old and young. But there was one whose face must +have been strikingly beautiful. She was as pale as marble, and though still +young, seemed in very delicate health; but her eyes and eyebrows as black +as jet, the eyes so large and soft, the eyebrows two pencilled arches; and +her smiles so resigned and sweet, would have made her the loveliest model +imaginable for a Madonna. + +Again, as in the Incarnation, they had taken the trouble to prepare an +elegant supper for us. The bishop took his place in an antique velvet +chair, the Señora ----- and I were placed on each side of him. The room was +very well lighted, and there was as great a profusion of custards, jellies, +and ices, as if we had been supping at the most profane _cafe_. The nuns +did not sit down, but walked about, pressing us to eat, the bishop now and +then giving them cakes, with permission to eat them, which they received +laughing. They have the most humble and caressing manners, and really +appear to be the most amiable and excellent women in the world. They seem +to make no ostentation of virtue, but to be seriously impressed with the +conviction that they have chosen the true road to salvation; nor are there +in them any visible symptoms of that spiritual pride from which few +devotees are exempt. + +After supper a small harp was brought in, which had been sent for by the +bishop's permission. It was terribly out of tune, with half the strings +broke; but we were determined to grudge no trouble in putting it in order, +and giving these poor recluses what they considered so great a +gratification. We got it into some sort of condition at last, and when they +heard it played, they were vehement in their expressions of delight. The +Señora -----, who has a charming voice, afterwards sang to them, the bishop +being very indulgent, and permitting us to select whatever songs we chose, +so that when rather a profane canticle, "The Virgin of the Pillar" (La +Virgen del Pilar), was sung, he very kindly turned a deaf ear to it, and +seemed busily engaged in conversation with an old madre, till it was all +over. + +We were really sorry to leave them; particularly as it is next to +impossible that we shall ever see them again; and it seemed as if in a few +hours a friendship had been formed between us and these recluses, whose +sensations are so few, they must be the more lasting. The thoughts of these +poor women cost me a sad and sleepless night. They have sent me some wax +figures, dressed in the costumes of the different orders, beginning with +their own. They wear the coarsest and hardest stuff next their skin, in +itself a perpetual penance. + +In these robes they are buried; and one would think that if any human being +can ever leave this world without a feeling of regret, it must be a nun of +the Santa Teresa, when, her privations in this world ended, she lays down +her blameless life, and joins the pious sisterhood who have gone before +her; dying where she has lived, surrounded by her companions, her last +hours soothed by their prayers and tears, sure of their vigils for the +repose of her soul, and above all, sure that neither pleasure nor vanity +will ever obliterate her remembrance from their hearts. + +At matins, at vespers, at the simple board, at the nightly hymn, she will +be missed from their train. Her empty cell will recall her to their eyes; +her dust will be profaned by no stranger's footstep, and though taken away +she still seems to remain amongst them.... + +As for the monasteries, not only no woman can enter, but it is said, with +what truth I know not, that a vice-queen having insisted on the privilege +of her vice-royalty to enter, the gallery and every place which her +footsteps desecrated were unpaved. This was very Saint Senanus like, and +_peu galant_, to say the least. + +The finest convent of monks in Mexico is that of San Francisco, which from +alms alone has an immense annual rent. According to Humboldt, it was to +have been built upon the ruins of the temple of Huitzilopoclitli, the god +of war; but these ruins having been destined for the foundation of the +cathedral, this immense convent was erected where it now stands, in 1531. +The founder was an extraordinary man, a great benefactor of the Indians, +and to whom they owed many useful mechanical arts which he brought them +from Europe. His name was Fray Pedro de Gante--his calling that of a +lay-friar--and his father was the Emperor Charles V! + +Of the interior of this convent I am enabled to give you a partial +description, but whether from hearsay, in a vision, or by the use of my +natural eyes, I shall not disclose. It is built in the form of a square, +and has five churches attached to it. You enter a gate, pass through the +great, silent, and grass-grown court--up the broad staircase, and enter the +long, arched cloisters, lighted by one dim lamp, where everything seems to +breathe a religious repose.... + +The padre prior, seated alone in his cell, with a thick and richly-clasped +volume before him, a single lamp on his table, on the wall a crucifix, +plain but decent furniture, with his bald head, and pale, impressive face, +would have made a fine study for a painter. By such men, the embers of +learning and of science were nursed into a faint but steady flame, burning +through the long, gloomy night of the dark ages, unseen by profane eyes, +like the vestal fire in pagan temples.... + +A small room, opening into his little parlour, contains his bed, on which +is a mattress; for the padres do not perform such acts of self-denial and +penitence as the cloistered nuns--and I am assured that his cigars are +genuine Havana.... + +Beggars lounging in the courtyard--a group of monks talking together within +the walled enclosure.... + +Change the scene to the monastery of San Agustin, and you might fancy +yourself in the days of one of Walter Scott's romances, in the _melange_ of +soldiers and friars; for here his Excellency the President has his +temporary abode; and the torch-light gleams brightly on the swarthy faces +of the soldiers, some lying on the ground enveloped in their cloaks; others +keeping guard before the convent gate. This convent is also very large, but +not so immense as that of San Francisco. The padre prior is a good little +old man, but has not the impressive, ascetic visage of the guardian of the +other convent. His room is as simple, though not in such perfect order; and +his bed is also furnished with a comfortable mattress. An air half +military, half monkish, pervades the convent--aides-de-camp of the +president passing along the galleries, their uniforms contrasting with the +dark robe of a passing monk, returning at nightfall to his cell. + +The president had an alarm the night preceding, the prisoners in the jail +having broken out. A serious affray had been expected, and everything was +prepared for putting the person of the president in safety. The back stairs +and secret passages in these old convents lead to excellent hiding-places, +and have been put to frequent use during the revolutions. In the old Monte +Pio there is a communication with a convent of nuns, and in cases of +pillage, the jewels used to be carried by a private staircase out of Monte +Pio, and placed under the care of the nuns of Santa Brigida. + +The convent of La Profesa is also a fine and spacious building, but +excepting that it has a greater number of good paintings than the others, +when you have seen one, you have seen all, and I believe none are as large +as that founded by the illegitimate scion of the Imperial Charles, who +himself ended his days in a similar retreat. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH + + +_Día de Muertos_--Leave Mexico--_Herraderos_--San Cristobal--Tunas--Plaza +de Toros--Throwing the _Laso_--Accidents--Rustic Breakfast--Country +Fare--Baked Meat--Indian Market--Buried Bull--Mountain--Solitary +_Hacienda_--_Reyes_--Mules marked--Return--Queen of Spain's +Birthday--Diplomatic Dinner. + + +Santiago, November 3rd. + + +Yesterday, the second of November, a day which for eight centuries has been +set apart in the Catholic Church for commemorating the dead, the day +emphatically known as the "_Día de Muertos_," the churches throughout all +the Republic of Mexico present a gloomy spectacle; darkened and hung with +black cloth, while in the middle aisle is a coffin, covered also with +black, and painted with skulls and other emblems of mortality. Every one +attends church in mourning, and considering the common lot of humanity, +there is, perhaps, not one heart over the whole Catholic world, which is +not wrung that day, in calling up the memory of the departed. + +After early mass, we set off for Santiago, where we intend to spend a week, +to be present at the _Herraderos_--the marking of the bulls with a hot iron +with the initials of the proprietor's name; stamping them with the badge of +slavery--which is said to be an extraordinary scene; to which all rancheros +and Indians look forward with the greatest delight. We had a very pleasant +journey here, leaving Mexico at six in the morning, and travelling at the +usual rate, with _seven_ horses and plenty of _mozos_. Indeed, no one +attempts a journey of any length into the country, without at least six +horses or mules. + +Near Sopayuca, while they were changing horses, we went to mass, in the +picturesque church of San Cristobal. The magnificence of these places of +worship is extraordinary. Here was this country church crowded with +léperos, the officiating priests, Indians with bare feet; yet the building +large and rich, hung with black cloth, and lighted with great tapers which +threw their gloomy rays on as much of the rich gilding that encrusted the +walls, as the dark pall left visible. + +We got into the carriage a basket of that most refreshing of fruits, the +_tuna_, which grow wild in abundance all over the country. The first time I +unwarily pulled them off the trees, I got my fingers full of the +innumerable little prickles which cover the skin, and which it is very +difficult to get rid of. The Indians have great dexterity in gathering and +peeling them. There is the green and the red tuna; the last the prettiest +to look at, but not nearly so agreeable a fruit as the other. + +When we arrived at Santiago, we sat down to a dinner to the number of about +fifty persons, and in the room next to us was a party still larger, of +lower degree, for all the world has come to be present at this annual +festivity. + +6th.--The next morning we set off early to the _plaza de toros_. The day +was fresh and exhilarating. All the country people from several leagues +round were assembled, and the trees up to their very topmost branches +presented a collection of bronze faces and black eyes, belonging to the +Indians, who had taken their places there as comfortably as spectators in a +one-shilling gallery. A platform opposite ours was filled with the wives +and daughters of agents and small farmers, little _rancheras_, with short +white gowns and rebosos. There was a very tolerable band of music, perched +upon a natural orchestra. Bernardo and his men were walking and riding +about, and preparing for action. Nothing could be more picturesque than the +whole scene. + +Seven hundred bulls were driven in from the plains, bellowing loudly, so +that the air was filled with their fierce music. The universal love which +the Mexicans have for these sports, amounts to a passion. All their money +is reserved to buy new dresses for this occasion, silver rolls or gold +linings for their hats, or new deerskin pantaloons and embroidered jackets +with silver buttons. The accidents that happen are innumerable, but nothing +damps their ardour. _It beats fox-hunting._ The most striking part of the +scene is the extraordinary facility which these men show in throwing the +laso. The bulls being all driven into an enclosure--one after another, and +sometimes two or three at a time, were chosen from amongst them, and driven +into the plaza, where they were received with shouts of applause, if they +appeared fierce, and likely to afford good sport; or of irony, if they +turned to fly, which happened more than once. + +Three or four bulls are driven in. They stand for a moment, proudly +reconnoitring their opponents. The horsemen gallop up, armed only with the +laso, and with loud insulting cries of "_Ah toro_!" challenge them to the +contest. The bulls paw the ground, then plunge furiously at the horses, +frequently wounding them at the first onset. Round they go in fierce +gallop, bulls and horsemen, amidst the cries and shouts of the spectators. +The horseman throws the laso. The bull shakes his head free of the cord, +tosses his horns proudly, and gallops on. But his fate is inevitable. Down +comes the whirling rope, and encircles his thick neck. He is thrown down +struggling furiously, and repeatedly dashes his head against the ground in +rage and despair. Then, his legs being also tied, the man with the hissing +red-hot iron in the form of a letter, brands him on the side with the token +of his dependence on the lord of the soil. Some of the bulls stand this +martyrdom with Spartan heroism and do not utter a cry; but others, when the +iron enters their flesh, burst out into long bellowing roars, that seem to +echo through the whole country. They are then loosened, get upon their legs +again, and like so many branded Cains, are driven out into the country, to +make way for others. Such roaring, such shouting, such an odour of singed +hair and _biftek au naturel,_ such playing of music, and such wanton risks +as were ran by the men! + +I saw a toreador, who was always foremost in everything, attempting to drag +a bull by the horns, when the animal tossed his head, and with the jerk of +one horn, tore all the flesh off his finger to the very bone. The man +coolly tore a piece off a handkerchief, shook the blood off his finger with +a slight grimace, bound it up in a moment, and dashed away upon a new +venture. One Mexican, extraordinarily handsome, with eyes like an eagle, +and very thin and pale, is, they say, so covered from head to foot with +wounds received in different bullfights, that he cannot live long; yet this +man was the most enthusiastic of them all. His master tried to dissuade him +from joining in the sport this year; but he broke forth into such pathetic +entreaties, conjuring him "by the life of the Señorita," etc., that he +could not withhold his consent. + +After an enormous number of bulls had been caught and _labelled_, we went +to breakfast. We found a tent prepared for us, formed of bows of trees +intertwined with garlands of white moss, like that which covers the +cypresses of Chapultepec, and beautifully ornamented with red blossoms and +scarlet berries. We sat down upon heaps of white moss, softer than any +cushion. The Indians had cooked meat under the stones for us, which I found +horrible, smelling and tasting of smoke. But we had also boiled fowls, and +quantities of burning chile, hot tortillas, atole, or _atolli_, as the +Indians call it, a species of cakes made of very fine maize and water, and +sweetened with sugar or honey; _embarrado_, a favourite composition of meat +and chile, very like _mud_, as the name imports, which I have not yet made +up my mind to endure; quantities of fresh tunas, granaditas, bananas, +aguacates, and other fruits, besides pulque, _à discrétion_. + +The other people were assembled in circles under the trees, cooking fowls +and boiling eggs in a gipsy fashion, in caldrons, at little fires made with +dry branches; and the band, in its intervals of tortilla and pulque, +favoured us with occasional airs. After breakfast, we walked out amongst +the Indians, who had formed a sort of temporary market, and were selling +pulque, chia, roasted chestnuts, yards of baked meat, and every kind of +fruit. We then returned to see a great bull-fight, which was followed by +more _herraderos_--in short, spent the whole day amongst the _toros_, and +returned to dinner at six o'clock, some in coaches, some on horseback. In +the evening, all the people danced in a large hall; but at eleven o'clock I +could look on no longer, for one of these days in the hot sun is very +fatiguing. Nevertheless, at two in the morning, these men, who had gone +through such violent exercise, were still dancing jarabes. + +8th.--For several days we lived amongst bulls and Indians, the _herraderos_ +continuing, with variation of _colear_, riding the bulls, etc. Not the +slightest slackening in the eagerness of the men. Even a little boy of ten +years old mounted a young bull one day, and with great difficulty and at a +great risk succeeded in forcing him to gallop round the circle. His father +looked on, evidently frightened to death for the boy, yet too proud of his +youthful prowess to attempt to stop him. + +At night, when I shut my eyes, I see before me visions of bulls' heads. +Even when asleep I hear them roaring, or seem to listen to the shouts of +"_Ah toro!_" The last day of the _herraderos_, by way of winding up, a bull +was killed in honour of C---n, and a great flag was sent streaming from a +tree, on which flag was inscribed in large letters, "Gloria al Señor +Ministro de la Augusta Cristina!" a piece of gallantry which I rewarded +with a piece of gold. + +The animal, when dead, was given as a present to the _torcadores_; and +this bull, cut in pieces, they bury with his skin on, in a hole in the +ground previously prepared with fire in it, which is then covered over +with earth and branches. During a certain time, it remains baking in this +natural oven, and the common people consider it a great delicacy, (in +which I differ from them). + +Yesterday, we climbed to the top of a steep mountain, which cost us as much +labour as if it had been that steep path which "leads to fame." +Fortunately, it has a good deal of wood, and we had an occasional rest in +the shade. We mounted the hill on horseback as far as horses could go, but +the principal part could only be performed on foot. Most of the party +remained half way. We reached the top, swinging ourselves up by the +branches, in places where it was nearly perpendicular. We were rewarded, +first by the satisfaction one always has in making good one's intentions, +and next, by a wonderfully fine and extensive view. Our return was more +agreeable, as the weather, except in the heat of the noonday sun, is very +cold in this part of the country. The hills are covered chiefly with tunas, +low firs, and numbers of shrubs, with flowers and berries.... Met on our +return a horseman who came to announce the arrival of a guest, Señor +H----, from Puebla, who proved a pleasant addition to our society. + +15th.--We went out early this morning on horseback, and breakfasted at an +_hacienda_, five leagues distant from Santiago, belonging to the widow of +-----'s agents, a good looking, respectable woman, who, alone, in this +solitary place, brings up her eight children as she best can. This may +really be called solitude. From one year to another she never sees a human +being, except an occasional Indian. She is well off, and everything in her +house is clean and comfortable. She herself manages the farm, and educates +her children to the best of her abilities, so that she never finds time to +be dull. She expected us, and gave us breakfast (we being about twenty in +number), consisting of everything which that part of the country can +afford; and the party certainly did justice to her excellent fare. She gave +us pulque, fermented with the juice of the pineapple, which is very good. + +When the sun had gone down a little, we rode to the fine _hacienda_ of +Reyes, belonging to Señor A----, where he is making and projecting +alterations and improvements. When we left Reyes it began to rain, and we +were glad to accept the covering of _sarapes_, as we galloped over the +plains. We had a delightful ride. Towards evening the rain ceased, and the +moon rose brightly and without a cloud; but we were certainly tired enough +when we got home, having rode in all ten leagues. + +17th.--These two days have been passed in seeing the mules marked. They are +even more dangerous than the bulls, as they bite most ferociously while in +their wild state. When thrown down by the laso, they snore in the most +extraordinary manner, like so many aldermen in an apoplectic nap. + +This is, perhaps, the most useful and profitable of all Mexican animals. As +beasts of burden and for draught, they are in use over the whole republic, +and are excellent for long journeys, being capable of immense fatigue, +particularly in those arid, hilly parts of the country, where there are no +roads. Those which go in droves, can carry about five hundred pounds +weight, going at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles a day, and in this +way they can perform journeys of more than a thousand miles. For constant +use they are preferable to horses, being so much less delicate, requiring +less care, and enduring more fatigue. A good pair of carriage mules will +cost from five hundred to a thousand dollars. + +After dinner we saw some of these wild creatures, that had just been +caught, put into a carriage, each wild mule harnessed with a civilized one, +and such kicking and flinging up of heels I never witnessed. However, the +_mozos_ can manage anything, and in about half an hour, after much +alternate soothing and lashing, they trotted along with the heavy coach +after them, only rearing and plunging at decent intervals. + + +MEXICO, 12th. + + +We have passed ten days in the country, taking constant exercise, and have +been obliged to return home rather sooner than we should have wished, in +order to mark Queen Ysabel's Day with a diplomatic dinner. + +Though less is now said on the subject of the pamphlet than when we left +this, the irritation seems to continue as before. Señor Gutierrez remains +concealed, communicating only with his family and a few devoted friends; a +most disagreeable position, and one which it is impossible for him to +endure long. + +20th.--Our dinner has _gone off_ as well as could be expected. The party +were twenty-six in number, consisting of His Grace the Archbishop, their +Excellencies of the Cabinet and _Corps Diplomatique_, together with Count +Cortina, the Valencias, and Gorostizas. The gentlemen were in full +uniform--the ladies _en grande toilette_--the archbishop in his robes. We +had a band of music in the gallery, and walked in to the sound of Norma, +precedence being given to the archbishop, who took me, or rather whom I +took, as I found some difficulty in getting my arm into his robes. I +believe no blunders in etiquette were committed. The dinner lasted three +and a half mortal hours. The archbishop proposed the health of Her Majesty +the Queen, which was drank standing, the band performing God save the +queen. I was dreadfully tired (though in a very agreeable position), and +have no doubt every one else was the same, it being eleven when we returned +to the drawing-room. + +The archbishop's familiars, two priests who always accompany him, +respectable _black guards_, were already in waiting. As for him, he was as +kind and agreeable as usual, and, after coffee, took his departure to the +sound of music. + + + + +LETTER THE TWENTY-NINTH + + +Virgin of _Cavadonga_--Santo Domingo--Decorations and +Music--Daguerreotype--Weekly Soirées--An Arrival--An Earthquake--Honourable +Mr. -------Broken Furniture--_días_--Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe--Party +of the _Desierto_--_Itzcuintepotzotli_--Inn of _Guajimaclo_--Ruined +Convent--Its Origin--_Dejéuné_ à la _Fourchette_--Splendid Scenery--Vow to +the Virgin--Musical Mass--Tacuba--Ride with the Prior. + + +21ST. + + +We received a few days since an invitation to attend the sumptuous mass, +annually given by the Asturian Brotherhood, in honour of the Virgin of +Cavadonga, in the church of Santo Domingo. The invitation being printed on +blue satin, with gold lace and tassels, seems worthy of a place in a box of +wax figures, which will be sent by the next packet. + +The church was superbly decorated, and only well-dressed people were +admitted. C---n was carried off to a post of honour near the altar, and a +padre gave me a velvet chair. The music was beautiful, but too gay for a +church. There were violins and wind instruments, and several amateur +players. Some pieces from the _Cheval de Bronze_ were very well played. The +sermon, preached by Guerrero, a chanoine who has some reputation as an +orator, contained a prudent degree of praise of the Spaniards, and even of +a king, could that king be a _pelayo_. + +In the evening we dined at the Prussian Minister's--a pleasant party. + +Yesterday we went to Chapultepec, C---n and I, M. de G---t, and M. de +N----, to take views with the Daguerreotype, which C---n had the pleasure +of receiving some time ago from Boston, from our friend, Mr. Prescott. +While they were working in the sun, I, finding that the excessive heat had +the effect of cooling my enthusiasm, established myself with a book under +Montezuma's cypress, which felt very romantic. The poetry of the scene, +however, was greatly weakened by the arrival of a party of _forçats_ in +chains, who are working in the castle, which I believe there is some +intention of having transformed into a military college. They are so +insolent, that forgetting they are guarded and chained in couples, I felt +glad to see that the servants were within call. + +Our weekly _soirées_ have begun, and, so far, are very successful. There +are now three tertulias in the week at the houses of the diplomates. We +have generally music, cards, and plenty of dancing, and every one seems +pleased, the best proof of which they give by generally staying till two or +three in the morning. + +28th.--You may imagine my joy at the arrival of K---- and A---- in health +and safety at three o'clock to-day. They have had a good journey from Vera +Cruz, suffering from nothing but the cold, which they felt especially at +Perote. As they arrived on the day of a _soirée_, they did not make their +appearance, being tired. I have now an excuse for revisiting all my old +haunts, and the first week or two must pass in sight-seeing. + +3Oth.--We dined yesterday at Tacubaya; where the C---a family, particularly +the ladies of the family, are in a state of the greatest uneasiness. + +I had just written these words, when I began, to my great astonishment, to +rock up and down, chair, table, and myself. Suddenly, the room, the walls, +all began to move, and the floor to heave like the waves of the sea! At +first, I imagined that I was giddy, but almost immediately saw that it was +an earthquake. We all ran, or rather staggered as well as we could, into +the gallery, where the servants were already arranged on their knees, +praying and crossing themselves with all their might. The shock lasted +above a minute and a half, and I believe has done no injury, except in +frightening the whole population, and cracking a few old walls. All Mexico +was on its knees while it lasted, even the poor madmen in San Hepolito, +which A---- had gone to visit in company with Señor -----. I have had a +feeling of sea-sickness ever since. They expect a return of the shock in +twenty-four hours. How dreadful a severe earthquake must be! how terrible +it is to feel this heaving of the solid earth, to lose our confidence in +its security, and to be reminded that the elements of destruction which +lurk beneath our feet, are yet swifter and more powerful to destroy, than +those which are above us. + +I cannot help laughing yet at the recollection of the face of a poor little +clerk who had just entered the house with a packet of letters for C---n. He +did not kneel, but sat down upon the steps as pale as death, looking as +"creamed faced" as the messenger to Macbeth; and when the shock was over, +he was so sick, that he ran out of the house without making any remarks. +The scarlet _hucamaya_, with a loud shriek, flew from its perch, and +performed a zig-zag flight through the air, down to the troubled fountain +in the court. + +Your friend, the Honourable Mr. -----, arrived the other day, looking very +ill, having had the yellow fever at Havana very severely, a peculiar piece +of bad fortune at this season. + +All the furniture we ordered from the United States, arrived some time ago, +a mass of legs and arms. Tables, wardrobes, etc., were, I believe, all sold +for the mahogany at Vera Cruz. The mirrors also arrived _in powder_. This +must be owing to bad packing, since our most delicate things from London, +such as crystal, porcelain, etc., have arrived in excellent condition. + +December 3rd.--Have had many visits to-day, this being my _día de fiesta_. +Amongst others the president was here. This custom of keeping people's +_días_ gives one a great deal of trouble, but the omission is considered +rather a breach of politeness. + +12th.--This being the anniversary of the day of the miraculous apparition +of our Lady of Guadalupe, the cathedral and village will be crowded with +Indians from all parts of the country. A---- and Mr. B---- have driven over +there; but, from all accounts, the crowd will be so great, that we are not +tempted to accompany them. We have a _soirée_ this evening, and have had +two pleasant parties this week at the other houses. To-morrow we intend +going with a large party to the _Desierto_, where some gentlemen are to +give a breakfast. I understand that there are to be twenty-three people on +horseback, and eighteen in carriages, and our _trysting-place_ is by the +great fountain with the gilt statue, in the Paseo de Bucarelli; the hour, +half-past seven. They say the Desierto is a beautiful place, but being +seven leagues from Mexico, we shall probably all return as tired as +possible. + +15th.--The morning of our party to the Desierto was beautiful. Here one +need not fear those _contretemps_ in regard to the weather, which in +England so often render a party of pleasure painful; unless, indeed, one +chooses to select an evening in the rainy season for an expedition. We met +by the fountain at the hour appointed, some in carriages, and some on +horseback. Of the latter I formed part. The road leads along the aqueduct +by Chapultepec, and through Tacubaya, and is the high-road that goes to +Toluca. The first part, after passing Tacubaya, is steep, bleak, and +uninteresting. Plantations of maguey and occasional clumps of Peruvian +trees are the only vegetation, and Indian huts the only traces of human +life. But after a tedious ascent, the view looking back upon Mexico, with +all her churches, lakes, and mountains is truly magnificent. The road also +begins to wind through a fertile and wooded country. About noon we reached +an inn, where travellers stop who are going to Toluca, and where we halted +to collect our scattered forces. Hanging up by a hook in the entry, along +with various other dead animals, polecats, weasels, etc., was the ugliest +creature I ever beheld. It seemed a species of dog, with a hunch back, a +head like a wolf, and no neck, a perfect monster. As far as I can make out +it must be the _itzcuintepotzotli_, mentioned by some old Mexican writers. +The people had brought it up in the house, and killed it on account of its +fierceness. This inn stands in the valley of Guajimalco, and is about a +league from the Desierto. + +There is no longer any road there, but a steep and winding path through the +beautiful woods. Therefore those who had come in coaches were now obliged +to proceed on donkeys, with Indian guides. The beauty of the scenery is +indescribable. The path winds, ascending through a wilderness of trees and +flowering shrubs, bathed by a clear and rapid rivulet; and every now and +then, through the arched forest-trees, are glimpses of the snowy volcanoes +and of the distant domes and lakes of Mexico. + +The ruins of the old Carmelite convent, standing on the slope of a hill, +are surrounded by noble forests of pine, and oak, and cedar; long and lofty +forest-aisles, where the monks of former days wandered in peaceful +meditation. But they removed from this beautiful site to another, said to +be equally beautiful and wilder, also called the Desierto, but much farther +from Mexico; and this fertile region (which the knowing eye of a Yankee +would instantly discover to be full of capabilities in the way of +machinery), belongs to no one, and lies here deserted, in solitary beauty. +Some poor Indians live amongst the ruins of the old cloisters, and the wild +deer possess the undisputed sovereignty of the woods. + +It is said that a benighted traveller, who had lost his way in these +solitudes, and was miraculously saved from dying of cold, founded this rich +convent of Carmelite monks, in gratitude to Heaven for his deliverance, +bequeathing his desire, that all travellers who passed that way should +receive hospitality from the convent. Certainly no place more fitted for +devotion could have been selected than this mountain retreat; and when the +convent bell tolled at evening, calling the monks to prayer, and wakening +the echoes of the silent hills, its deep notes must have been all in unison +with the solemn scene. + +But the sight of a very magnificent _déjeuné à la fourchette_, spread under +the pine-trees, the uncorking of champagne bottles and Scotch ale, the +savoury odour of soups and fricandeaus, the bustling attendance of English +waiters, put to flight all romantic fancies. We remembered that we were +hungry, that we had ridden seven miles and had not breakfasted; and no +order of friars could have done more justice to the repast than we did.... +But the component parts of a party of pleasure must be very curiously +selected, the mosaic of the society very nicely fitted, or it will +inevitably terminate unpleasantly; and the elements of discord are more +dangerous, their effects more lasting, than even the coughs and colds and +rheumatisms produced by those watery elements, sworn foes to all picnics +and gipsy parties in our foggy island. + +About four o'clock we remounted our horses, and retraced our path through +the woods; and who could ruminate on petty disputes, or complain of +trifling accidents, or not forget any disagreeable individuals who might +have been found among our numerous party, when the splendid panorama of +Mexico burst upon us, with all its mountains, lakes, and plains, its +churches, and towers, and gardens, bathed in a flood of golden light, the +rich crimson clouds of sunset resting upon the snow of the volcanoes, while +the woods through which our horses picked their steps, over stones and +streamlets, were fragrant with blossoming shrubs and wild roses? + +When we reached the inn where the carriages had been left, we remounted our +horses, and as it was growing dusk, and the whole party had not yet +collected together, we thought it advisable for the equestrian part of the +expedition to ride forward; so leaving the carriages with their escort, we +set off for Mexico; C---n, I, A----, and a servant, at full gallop, and +hardly drew our bridles till we reached the city; tired, as you may +suppose, after our fourteen leagues' ride. + +20th.--Our yesterday evening's tertulia was very crowded; and there was a +great deal of music and dancing. These weekly _soirées_ are decidedly +successful, and the best families in Mexico unite there without etiquette, +which we were told it was impossible to bring about.... + +Perhaps it is that I am getting accustomed to the Mexican style of face, +but it appeared to me that there was a great deal of beauty assembled; and +as for fine voices, they are as common in Mexico as they are rare in +England.... + +A rich senator, Don B---- G----, made a vow to the Virgin some years ago, +that he would cause a splendid mass to be performed annually in the +cathedral, at his own expense, in honour of our Saviour's birth, on the +morning of Christmas-eve. This mass is performed entirely by amateurs, most +of the young ladies in Mexico, who have fine voices, taking a part in it. I +was _drawn in_, very unwillingly, to promise to take a trifling part on the +harp, the accompaniment to the _Incarnatus_. + +Preparations have long been going on for this solemnization, and various +rehearsals have taken place amongst the amateur singers, in the evening, +before large audiences in the Mineria. The whole thing promises well. + +24th.--C---n has gone with Señor Zurutuza (a Spanish gentleman), to +Cuernavaca, in _tierra caliente_, to spend a few days at his estate in the +neighbourhood; which at this season will be delightful. + +This morning we rode to San Joaquin, where we met the prior on horseback, +on his way to Mexico to confess the old prioress of the convent of Santa +Teresa. He turned back, and accompanied us during the rest of our ride. He +rode with us to Tacuba, round the traces of the ruins, and to the fine old +church and dismantled convent, where we dismounted, and having taken off +our riding-hats, accompanied the prior through the deserted cloisters into +the old church; and I imagine we must have looked very picturesque; I in my +riding-habit, and the sandalled friar in his white robes, kneeling side by +side, on the broken steps of the altar. He is so pleasant and +well-informed, that he is a particularly agreeable companion. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTIETH + + +Christmas-day--Kalends and Mass--Amateur +Performances--Solo--_Posadas_--Wandering of the Holy +Family--_Nacimiento_--Crowded Party--French Cooks--Mexican Cook--State of +Household--New Year's Day--Mass--Dirtiness of the Churches, +etc.--Comparisons--Private Chapels--English Club--Preparations for Journey. + + +25th. + + +CHRISTMAS-DAY! One year this evening since we made our entry into Mexico. +What a different aspect everything has assumed to us in one year! Then +every object was new, every face that of a stranger. Now we are surrounded +by familiar sights and sounds, and above all by friendly faces. But though +novelty, which has its charms and its _désagrémens_, has gone, nothing in +Mexico even appears commonplace. Everything is on so large a scale, and +everything so picturesque. Then there is so much interest attached to its +old buildings, so much to see, even though there are no _sights_ and no +show-places, unless we are to put in that class the Minera, Museum, +Cathedral, University, and Botanic Garden, usually visited by travellers, +that at whatever period we may leave it, I feel convinced we shall regret +some point of interest, that we have left unvisited.... + +Some days ago coloured cards, printed in gilt letters, were sent round, +inviting all the senator's friends to the mass, in this form:-- + +"J---e B---o G---- requests that you will honour him with your presence and +that of your family, in the solemn function of Kalends and Mass, with which +he annually makes an humble remembrance of the Birth of the Saviour, which +festivity will take place on the morning of the 24th of this month, at nine +o'clock in the Parish Church of the _Sagrario_ of the Holy Cathedral. + +"Mexico, December, 1840." + + +By nine we were all assembled in the choir; Don B---o in his uniform, dark +blue and gold, we in mantillas. The church looked very splendid, and, as +usual on these occasions, no _léperos_ were admitted, therefore the crowd +was very elegant and select. The affair went off brilliantly. Four or five +of the girls, and several of the married women, have superb voices; and not +one of all those who sang in chorus had a bad voice. The finest I almost +ever heard is that of the Señorita C----. Were she to study in Italy, I +venture to predict that she might rival Grisi. Such depth, power, +extension, and sweetness, with such richness of tone in the upper notes, +are very rarely united. She sang a solo in such tones that I thought the +people below must have been inclined to applaud. There are others whose +voices are much more cultivated, and who have infinitely more science. I +speak only of the raw material. The orchestra was really good, and led by a +first-rate musician. I was thankful when my part of the entertainment was +over, and I could give an individual attention to the others. The +celebration lasted four hours, but there was rather a long sermon. You will +shortly receive a detailed account of the whole, which is to be published +in the Mexican Annual, called "The Ladies' Guide." + +In the evening we went to the house of the Marquesa de V---o, to spend the +Christmas-eve. On this night all the relations and intimate friends of each +family assemble in the house of the _head of the clan_, a real gathering, +and in the present case to the number of fifty or sixty persons. + +This is the last night of what are called the _Posadas,_ a curious mixture +of religion and amusement, but extremely pretty. The meaning is this: At +the time when the decree went forth from Caesar Augustus, that "all the +world should be taxed," the Virgin and Joséph having come out of Galilee to +Judaea to be inscribed for the taxation, found Bethlehem so full of people, +who had arrived from all parts of the world, that they wandered about for +nine days, without finding admittance in any house or tavern, and on the +ninth day took shelter in a manger, where the Saviour was born. For eight +days this wandering of the Holy Family to the different _Posadas_ is +represented, and seems more intended for an amusement to the children than +anything serious. We went to the Marquesa's at eight o'clock, and about +nine the ceremony commenced. A lighted taper is put into the hand of each +lady, and a procession was formed, two by two, which marched all through +the house, the corridors and walls of which were all decorated with +evergreens and lamps, the whole party singing the Litanies. K----- walked +with the dowager marquesa; and a group of little children, dressed as +angels, joined the procession. They wore little robes of silver or gold +lama, plumes of white feathers, and a profusion of fine diamonds, and +pearls, in _bandeaux_, brooches, and necklaces, white gauze wings, and +white satin shoes, embroidered in gold. + +At last the procession drew up before a door, and a shower of fireworks was +sent flying over our heads, I suppose to represent the descent of the +angels; for a group of ladies appeared, dressed to represent the shepherds +who watched their flocks by night upon the plains of Bethlehem. Then +voices, supposed to be those of Mary and Joséph, struck up a hymn, in which +they begged for admittance, saying that the night was cold and dark, that +the wind blew hard, and that they prayed for a night's shelter. A chorus of +voices from within refused admittance. Again those without entreated +shelter, and at length declared that she at the door, who thus wandered in +the night, and had not where to lay her head, was the Queen of Heaven! At +this name the doors were thrown wide open, and the Holy Family entered +singing. The scene within was very pretty: a _nacimiento_. Platforms, going +all round the room, were covered with moss, on which were disposed groups +of wax figures, generally representing passages from different parts of the +New Testament, though sometimes they begin with Adam and Eve in paradise. +There was the Annunciation--the Salutation of Mary to Elizabeth--the Wise +Men of the East--the Shepherds--the Flight into Egypt. There were green +trees and fruit trees, and little fountains that cast up fairy columns of +water, and flocks of sheep, and a little cradle in which to lay the Infant +Christ. One of the angels held a waxen baby in her arms. The whole was +lighted very brilliantly, and ornamented with flowers and garlands. A padre +took the baby from the angel, and placed it in the cradle, and the posada +was completed. We then returned to the drawing-room--angels, shepherds, and +all, and danced till suppertime. The supper was a show for sweetmeats and +cakes. + +Today, with the exception of there being no service in all the churches, +Christmas is not kept in any remarkable way. We are spending this evening +alone, and very quietly. Tomorrow we have a _soirée_. I have letters from +C---n, from Cuernavaca, delighted with the beauties of _tierra caliente_, +and living amongst roses and orange trees. I hope that in January we shall +be able to go there, in case anything should occur to induce us to leave +Mexico before next winter. + +27th.--We had a very crowded party last evening, I think the best we have +had yet, a fact which I mention, because I triumph in my opinion that these +weekly parties would succeed in Mexico having proved correct. I have lately +been engaged in search of a _cook_, with as much pertinacity as Japhet in +search of his father, and with as little success as he had in his +preliminary inquiries. One, a Frenchman, I found out had been tried for +murder--another was said to be deranged--a third, who announced himself as +the greatest _artiste_ who had yet condescended to visit Mexico, demanded a +salary which he considered suitable to his abilities. I tried a female +Mexican, in spite of her flowing hair. She seemed a decent woman and +tolerable cook; and, although our French housekeeper and prime Minister had +deserted us at our utmost need, we ventured to leave the house, and to +spend the day at Tacubaya. On our return, found the whole establishment +unable to stand! Cook tipsy--soldiers ditto--galopine slightly +intoxicated--in short, the house taking care of itself--no _standing force_ +but the coachman and footman, who have been with us some time, and appear +to be excellent servants. I am, however, promised a good Mexican +housekeeper, and trust that some order will be established under her +government; also, a Chinese cook, with a _celestial_ character.... + +Letters from Spain, announcing the speedy arrival of a Secretary of +Legation and another attache. + +1st January, 1841.--A happy New Year to all! We began it by attending early +mass in San Francisco, about the cleanest church in Mexico, and most +frequented by the better classes. There you may have the good fortune to +place yourself between two well-dressed women, but you are equally likely +to find your neighbour a beggar with a blanket; besides, the floor is +nearly as dirty as that of the cathedral. This dirtiness is certainly one +of the greatest drawbacks to human felicity in this beautiful country, +degrading the noble edifices dedicated to the worship of God, destroying +the beautiful works destined for the benefit of his creatures. The streets, +the churches, the theatres, the market-place, the people, all are +contaminated by this evil. The market-place is indeed full of flowers and +green branches and garlands--but those who sell the flowers and weave the +wreaths are so dirty, that the effect of what would otherwise be the +prettiest possible picture, is completely destroyed. In the theatre there +is a series of suffocating odours, especially in the dimly-lighted +corridors, which is anything but agreeable. The custom of kneeling on the +floor in church seems fitting and devout, but there surely can be no reason +why the floor of a sacred building should not be kept scrupulously clean, +or why the lower classes should not be obliged to dress themselves with +common decency. Those who are unable to do so, though probably there are +not half a dozen people in Mexico who do not wear rags merely from +indolence, should certainly have a place set apart for them, in which case +this air of squalid poverty would no doubt disappear. On occasion of any +peculiar fête, the church is washed and beggars are excluded, and then +indeed these noble edifices seem fitting temples wherein to worship the +Most High. + +On other days, in addition to the léperos (especially in the cathedral), +the Indian women are in the habit of bringing their babies and baskets of +vegetables to church, and the babies on their part are in the habit of +screaming, as babies will when they consider themselves neglected. This may +be difficult to amend, the poor woman having come in from her village, and +perforce brought her progeny with her; but the strong, stout man in rags, +who prefers begging to working--the half-naked woman who would consider +herself degraded by doing anything to better her condition, except asking +for alms--the dogs which wander up and down during divine service,--all +these might be brought to order by proper regulations. + +Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, I have sometimes compared, in my own +mind, the appearance of a fashionable London chapel with that of a Mexican +church, on the occasion of a solemn fête, and the comparison is certainly +in favour of the latter. The one, light, airy, and gay, with its +velvet-lined pews, its fashionable preacher, the ladies a little sleepy +after the last night's opera, but dressed in the most elegant morning +toilet, and casting furtive glances at Lady -----'s bonnet and feathers, +and at Mrs. -----'s cashmere shawl or lovely ermine pelisse, and exchanging +a few fashionable nothings at the door, as the footmen let down the steps +of their gay equipages--the other, solemn, stately, and gloomy, and showing +no distinction of rank. The floor covered with kneeling figures--some +enveloped in the reboso, others in the mantilla, and all alike devout, at +least in outward seeming. No showy dress, or gay bonnet, or fashionable +mantle to cause the eye of the poor to wander with envy or admiration. +Apparently considering themselves alike in the sight of Heaven, the peasant +and the marquesa kneel side by side, with little distinction of dress; and +all appear occupied with their own devotions, without observing either +their neighbour's dress or degree of devoutness. Religious feeling may be +equally strong in the frequenters of both places of worship; but as long as +we possess senses which can be affected by external objects, the +probabilities of the most undivided devotional feeling are in favour of the +latter. The eye will wander--the thoughts will follow where it leads. In +the one case it rests on elegant forms and fashionable toilets--in the +other, it sees nothing but a mass of dark and kneeling figures, or a +representation of holy and scriptural subjects. + +However, one consequence of the exceeding dirtiness of the Mexican +churches, and the number of léperos who haunt them, as much in the way of +their calling as from devotion, is that a great part of the principal +families here, having oratorios in their houses, have engaged the services +of a padre, and have mass at home. There is a small chapel in the house of +General B---a, the handsomest house in Mexico, where there is a virgin +carved in wood, one of the most exquisite pieces of sculpture that can be +seen. The face is more than angelic--it is divine; but a divine nature, +suffering mortal anguish. + +27th.--On the first of February we hope to set off on an expedition to +_tierra caliente,_ from which C---n returned some time ago. We have, by +good fortune, procured an excellent Mexican housekeeper, under whose +auspices everything has assumed a very different aspect, and to whose care +we can intrust the house when we go. Nothing remarkable has occurred here +lately--the usual routine of riding on horseback, visiting in carriage, +walking very rarely in the Alameda, driving in the Paseo, dining at +Tacubaya, the three weekly _soirées,_ varied by a diplomatic dinner in the +house of the ----- Minister, and by the dinner of the English club who met +here yesterday--by a sale of books after dinner, in which the president of +the society fined me five dollars for keeping a stupid old poem past the +time, upon which I _moved_ that the poem should be presented to me, which +was carried _nem_. _con_. + +We have been strongly advised not to attempt this journey, and the stories +of robbers and robberies, related by credible persons, are not encouraging. +Robbers, bad roads, horrible heat, poisonous animals; many are the +difficulties prognosticated to us. The season is already rather advanced, +but it has been impossible for us to set off sooner. Our next letters will +be written either during our journey, should we find the opportunity, or +after our return. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FIRST + + +Leave Mexico--Cuernavaca--_Tierra Caliente_--_Atlacamulco_--Orange +Groves--Sugar-cane--Annual Produce--Will of Cortes--Description--Coffee +Plantation--Scorpions--List of Venemous Reptiles--_Acapansingo_--Doubts and +Difficulties--A Decision. + + +ATLACAMULCO, February 2nd. + + +A quiet day in a hospitable country-house, too sunny to go out, and nothing +else to do, are temptations sufficient to induce me to sit down and give +you an account of our proceedings during these last two days. Yesterday, +the first of February, at four in the morning, very sleepy, we set off in +the diligence which we had taken for ourselves; our sole luggage, two +portmanteaus and a carpet bag; our dresses, dark strong calico gowns, large +Panama hats, rebosos tied on like scarfs, and thick green barege veils. A +government escort of four soldiers with a corporal, renewed four times, +accompanied us as far as Cuernavaca, which is about eighteen leagues from +Mexico, and the entrance as it were to _tierra caliente_. These are +supposed sufficient to frighten away three times the number of robbers, +whose daring, however, has got to such a height, that no diligence now +arrives from Puebla without being robbed. Six robberies have happened there +in the last fortnight, and the road to Cuernavaca is said to be still more +dangerous. We took chocolate before starting, and carried with us a basket +of cold meat and wine, as there is nothing on the road that can be called +an inn. When we set off it was cool, almost cold; the astral lamps were +out, and the great solar lamp was not yet lighted. + + "But soon, like lobster boiled, the morn, + From black to red began to turn." + +By the time we had reached San Agustin, where we changed horses, the sun +had risen, enabling us to see all the horrors of the road, which, after +leaving that beautiful village with its trees and gardens, winds over the +mountain, amongst great volcanic rocks, a toilsome ascent; and passes by +the village of Ajusco, a miserable robber's nest. Yet the view, as we +looked back from this barren tract, while the sun was breaking over the +summits of the mountains, was very grand in its mixture of fertility and +wildness, in its vast extent of plains and villages with their groves and +gardens, and in its fine view of Mexico itself, white and glittering in the +distance. The mountain of Ajusco, clothed with dark forests of pine, +frowned on our right, and looked worthy of its brigand haunted reputation. +At La Guarda, a collection of miserable huts, we changed horses, and +declined some suspicious-looking frijoles in dirty saucers, which were +offered to us; a proof both that we were young travellers in this country, +and that we had not exhausted our basket of civilized provender. + +The road wound round through a succession of rocks and woods till we +reached _Cruz del Marques_--the Marquis being of course Cortes, while the +cross, it is said, was planted there by him to mark the limits of his +territory, or rather of that which the Indian Emperor had assigned him. +About two o'clock the heat became intense, and we began to see and to feel +symptoms of our approach to _tierra caliente_. + +We arrived at the Indian village of _Huichilaque_, which is rather pretty, +with cane cottages and a good many flowering trees; and from the eminence +on which it is situated, the _hot land_ is visible. + +The diligence now began galloping down the rocky and stony descent. The +country looked even more arid than before; the vegetation more dried up. +Not a tree--but here and there, at long intervals, a feathery cocoa or a +palm, and occasionally some beautiful, unknown wild flowers. But the heat, +the dust, the jolting! When at length we rattled through Cuernavaca, and +stopped before the quiet-looking inn, it was with joy that we bade adieu, +for some time at least, to all diligences, coaches, and carriages; having +to trust for the future to four-legged conveyances, which we can guide as +we please. + +Cuernavaca (_cow's horn_), the ancient Quauhnahuac, was one of the thirty +cities which Charles the Fifth gave to Cortes, and afterwards formed part +of the estates of the Duke of Monteleone, representative of the family of +Cortes, as Marquis of the Valley of Oajaca. It was celebrated by the +ancient writers for its beauty, its delightful climate, and the strength of +its situation; defended on one side by steep mountains, and on the other by +a precipitous ravine, through which ran a stream which the Spaniards +crossed by means of two great trees that had thrown their branches across +the barranca, and formed a natural bridge. It was the capital of the +Tlahuica nation, and, after the conquest, Cortes built here a splendid +palace, a church, and a convent of Franciscans, believing that he had laid +the foundation of a great city. And in fact, its delicious climate, the +abundance of the water, the minerals said to exist in the neighbourhood, +its fine trees, delicious fruits, and vicinity to the capital, all combined +to render it a flourishing city. It is, however, a place of little +importance, though so favoured by nature; and the conqueror's palace is a +half-ruined barrack, though a most picturesque object, standing on a hill, +behind which starts up the great white volcano. There are some good houses, +and the remains of the church which Cortes built, celebrated for its bold +arch; but we were too tired to walk about much, and waited most anxiously +for the arrival of horses and men from the sugar estate of Don Anselmo +Zurutuza, at Atlacamulco; where we were to pass the night. The house where +the diligence stopped was formerly remarkable for the fine garden attached +to it, and belonged to a wealthy proprietor. We sat down amongst the fruit +trees, by the side of a clear tank, and waited there till the arrival of +our horses and guides. It was nearly dusk when they came--the sun had gone +down, the evening was cool and agreeable, and after much kicking and +spurring and loading of mules and barking of dogs, we set off over hill and +dale, through pretty wild scenery, as far as we could distinguish by the +faint light, climbing hills and crossing streams for two leagues; till at +length the fierce fires, pouring from the sugar oven chimneys of +Atlacamulco, gave us notice that we were near our haven for the night. We +galloped into the courtyard, amongst dogs and negroes and Indians, and were +hospitably received by the administrador (the agent). Greatly were we +divided between sleep and hunger; but hunger gained the victory, and an +immense smoking supper received our most distinguished attention. + +This morning, after a refreshing sleep, we rose and dressed at eight +o'clock--late hours for _tierra caliente_--and then went out into the +coffee plantation and orange walk. Anything so lovely! The orange-trees +were covered with their golden fruit and fragrant blossom; the lemon-trees, +bending over, formed a natural arch, which the sun could not pierce. We +laid ourselves down on the soft grass, contrasting this day with the +preceding. The air was soft and balmy, and actually heavy with the +fragrance of the orange blossom and starry jasmine. All round the orchard +ran streams of the most delicious clear water, trickling with sweet music, +and now and then a little cardinal, like a bright red ruby, would perch on +the trees. We pulled bouquets of orange blossom, jasmines, lilies, double +red roses, and lemon leaves, and wished we could have transported them to +you, to those lands where winter is now wrapping the world in his white +winding-sheet. + +The gardener, or coffee-planter--such a gardener!--Don Juan by name, with +an immense black beard, Mexican hat, and military sash of crimson silk, +came to offer us some orangeade; and having sent to the house for sugar and +tumblers, pulled the oranges from the trees, and drew the water from a +clear tank overshadowed by blossoming branches, and cold as though it had +been iced. There certainly is no tree more beautiful than the orange, with +its golden fruit, shining green leaves and lovely white blossom with so +delicious a fragrance. We felt this morning as if Atlacamulco was an +earthly paradise. + +It belongs in fact to the Duke of Monteleone, and is let by his agent, Don +Luis Alaman, to Señor Zurutuza. Its average annual produce of silver is +about thirty thousand _arrobas_, (an arroba containing twenty-five pounds). +The sugar-cane was unknown to the ancient Mexicans, who made syrup of +honey, and also from the maguey, and sugar from the stalk of maize. The +sugar-cane was introduced by the Spaniards from the Canary Islands to Santo +Domingo, from whence it passed to Cuba and Mexico. The first sugar-canes +were planted in 1520, by Don Pedro de Atienza. The first cylinders were +constructed by Gonzalo de Velosa, and the first sugar mills built by the +Spaniards at that time were worked by hydraulic wheels and not by horses. +M. de Humboldt, who examined the will of Cortes, informs us that the +conqueror had left sugar plantations near Cuyoacan, in the valley of +Mexico, where now, owing, it is supposed, to the cutting down of the trees, +the cold is too great for sugar-cane or any other tropical production to +thrive. There are few negroes on these sugar plantations. Their numbers +have not increased since their introduction. We observed but one old negro, +said to be upwards of a hundred, who was working in the courtyard as we +passed; the generality of the workmen are Indians. + +As for the interior of these haciendas, they are all pretty much alike, so +far as we have seen; a great stone building, which is neither farm nor +country-house (according to our notions), but has a character peculiar to +itself--solid enough to stand a siege, with floors of painted brick, large +deal tables, wooden benches, painted chairs, and whitewashed walls; one or +two painted or iron bedsteads, only put up when wanted; numberless empty +rooms; kitchen and outhouses; the courtyard a great square, round which +stand the house for boiling the sugar, whose furnaces blaze day and night; +the house, with machinery for extracting the juice from the cane, the +refining rooms, the places where it is dried, etc., all on a large scale. +If the hacienda is, as here, a coffee plantation also, then there is the +great mill for separating the beans from the chaff, and sometimes also +there are buildings where they make brandy. Here there are four hundred men +employed, exclusive of boys, one hundred horses, and a number of mules. The +property is generally very extensive, containing the fields of sugar-cane, +plains for cattle, and the pretty plantations of coffee, so green and +spring-like, this one containing upwards of fifty thousand young plants, +all fresh and vigorous, besides a great deal of uncultivated ground, +abandoned to the deer and hares and quails, of which there are great +abundance. For four months in the year, _tierra caliente_ must be a +paradise, and it has the advantage over the coasts, in being quite free +from yellow fever. But the heat in summer, and the number of poisonous +insects, are great drawbacks. Of these, the _alacrans_, or scorpions, which +haunt all the houses, are amongst the worst. Their bite is poisonous, and, +to a child, deadly, which is one of the many reasons why these estates are +left entirely to the charge of an agent, and though visited occasionally by +the proprietor, rarely lived in by the family. The effects are more or less +violent in different constitutions. Some persons will remain for eight days +in convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and the stomach swelled, as if by +dropsy; others, by immediate remedies, do not suffer much. The chief cures +are brandy, taken in sufficient quantities to stupefy the patient, guyacum +and boiled silk, which last is considered most efficacious. In Durango they +are particularly numerous and venomous, so that a reward in given for so +many _head_ of scorpions to the boys there, to encourage them to destroy +them. The Señora -----, who lives there, feels no inconvenience from their +bite, but the scorpion who bites her immediately dies! It is pretended that +they prefer dark people to fair, which is to suppose them very +discriminating. Though as yet there have been few seen in the houses, I +must confess that we feel rather uneasy at night, and scrupulously examine +our beds and their environs before venturing to go to sleep. The walls +being purposely whitewashed, it is not difficult to detect them; but where +the roofs are formed of beams, they are very apt to drop through. + +There are other venomous reptiles, for whose sting there is no remedy, and +if you would like to have a list of these interesting creatures, according +to the names by which they are known in these parts, I can furnish you with +one from the best authority. These, however, are generally to be found +about outhouses, and only occasionally visit your apartments. There is the +_chicaclina_, a striped viper, of beautiful colours--the _coralillo_, a +viper of a coral colour, with a black head--the _vinagrillo_, an animal +like a large cricket. You can discover it, when in the room, by its strong +smell of vinegar. It is orange-coloured, and taps upon the person whom it +crawls over, without giving any pain, but leaving a long train of deadly +poison--I have fancied that I smelt vinegar in every room since hearing +this--the _salamanquesa_, whose bite is fatal: it is shaped like a +lizard--the _eslaboncillo_, which throws itself upon you, and if prevented +from biting you, dies of spite--the _cencoatl_, which has five feet, and +shines in the dark; so that fortunately a warning is given of the vicinity +of these animals in different ways; in some by the odour they exhale, in +some by the light they emit, and in others, like the rattlesnake, by the +sound they give out. + +Then there is a beautiful black and red spider, called the _chinclaquili_, +whose sting sends a pain through all your bones; the only cure for which is +to be shut up for several days in a room thick with smoke. There are also +the _tarantula_ and _casampulga_ spiders. Of the first, which is a +shocking-looking soft fat creature, covered with dark hair, it is said that +the horse which treads on it instantly loses its hoof--but this wants +confirmation. Of the scorpions, the small yellowish coloured ones are the +most dangerous, and it is pretended that their bite is most to be +apprehended at midday. The workmen occasionally eat them, after pulling out +the sting. The flesh of the viper is also eaten roasted, as a remedy +against eruptions of the skin. Methinks the remedy is worse than the +disease.... + +But to banish this _creeping_ subject, which seems not at all in unison +with the lovely scenes that surround us--an Eden where no serpent should +enter--we have been riding this evening to a beautiful little Indian +village called _Acapansingo_, than which I never beheld anything prettier +in its way. Some few houses there are of stone, but the generality are of +cane, and each cottage is surrounded by its fruit-trees, and by others +covered with lilac or white blossoms, and twined with creepers. The lanes +or streets of the village are cleanly swept, and shaded by the blossoming +branches that overhang them; while every now and then they are crossed by +little streams of the purest water. I think I never knew what really +delicious water was till I came here. The Indians, both men and women, +looked clean, and altogether this is the prettiest Indian village we have +yet seen. + +As we are very anxious to visit the celebrated cave of Cacauamilpa, near +the city of Cautlamilpa, and also to see as much of _tierra caliente_ as +possible, we have determined, though with regret, to leave our present +quarters at Atlacamulto to-morrow morning, at two o'clock A.M. As there are +no inns, we are furnished with letters of recommendation to the proprietors +of the chief haciendas in these parts. Formerly there was so much +hospitality here, that an annual sum (three thousand dollars it is said) +was assigned by the proprietors to their agents, for the reception of +travellers, whether rich or poor, and whether recommended or not.... + +Our plan of visiting the cave has been nearly frustrated by the arrival of +General C---s, a neighbouring proprietor, who assured us that we were going +to undertake an impossibility; that the barrancas, by which we must pass to +arrive at the cave, were impassable for women, the mountain paths being so +steep and perpendicular, that men and horses had frequently fallen +backwards in the ascent, or been plunged forward over the precipices, in +attempting to descend. We were in despair, when it was suggested that there +was another, though much longer road to the cave, by which we might ride; +and though our time is at present very precious, we were too glad to agree +to this compromise. + +C---n and A---- have returned from a shooting expedition, in which they +have not been very successful; and though I have only recounted to you the +beginning of our adventures, I must stop here, and take a few hours' rest +before we set off on our _matinal_ expedition. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SECOND + + +Leave _Atlacamulco_--Assemble by Starlight--Balmy Atmosphere--Flowers and +Trees of the Tropics--The Formidable _Barrancas_--_Breakfast under the +Trees_--Force of the Sun--_Meacatlan_--Hospitality--Profitable +Estate--Leave Meacatlan--Beautiful Village--Musical Bells--Ride by +Moonlight--Sugar Fires--Cocoyotla--_Old Gentleman_--Supper--Orange-trees +and Cocoas--Delicious Water--Sugar Estates--A Scorpion--Set off for the +Cave--Morning Ride--Dangerous Path + + +Cocoyotla, 5th. + + +On the morning of the third of February we rose about half-past two, and a +little after three, by the light of the stars and the blaze of the sugar +fires, our whole party were assembled on horseback in the courtyard. We +were about twelve in number. Don Juan, the coffee-planter, and Don Pedro, a +friend of his, were deputed by the agent to act as our guides. Four or five +well-armed _mozos_, farmservants, were our escort, together with our +Mexican boy; and we had mules to carry our luggage, which was compressed +into the smallest possible compass. The morning was perfectly enchanting, +and the air like balm, when we set off by this uncertain light; not on +roads (much to our satisfaction), but through fields, and over streams, up +hills and down into valleys, climbing among stones, the horses picking +their way like goats. I certainly never felt or imagined such an +atmosphere. The mere inhaling it was sufficient pleasure. + +When the light gradually began to dawn, so that we could discern each +other's faces, and made sure that we were not a party of shadows, for +besides the obscurity, a mixture of sleepiness and placid delight had +hitherto kept us all silent, we looked round on the landscape, as little by +little it assumed form and consistency. The fires from the hacienda were +still visible, but growing pale in the beams of morning, vanishing like +false visions from before the holy light of truth. As we rode along, we +found that the scenery on the hilly parts was generally bleak and sterile, +the grass dried up, and very little vegetation; but wherever we arrived at +a valley sheltered from the sun's rays, there we found a little rivulet +trickling through it, with water like liquid diamonds, bathing the trees +and the flowers--the loveliest blossoming trees, mingled with bananas, +oranges, and lemons, and interspersed with bright flowers, forming a +natural garden and orchard. + +One tree, with no leaves on it, is covered with white starry flowers, and +looks at a distance as if it had been covered with snow, which had melted +off the branches, leaving only occasional white tufts. Another is bending +with lilac blossoms, which hang in graceful clusters--another with flowers +like yellow balls. Then there are scarlet wild flowers, that seem as if +they were made of wax or shining coral, and quantities of white jasmine, +trailing on the grass, and throwing itself over the branches of the trees. +There is one beautiful tree, with flowers like immense white lilies, and +buds that look like shut lily blossoms in white wax. + +Leaving these beautiful and fertile lands that adorn the slopes and bases +of the hills, you mount again up the steep paths, and again you find the +grass dried up, and no vegetation but stunted nopals or miserable-looking +blue-green magueys. Yet sometimes in the most desert spot, a little +sheltered by a projecting hill, you come upon the most beautiful tree, +bending with rich blossoms, standing all alone, as if through ambition it +had deserted its lowly sisters in the valley, and stood, in its exalted +station, solitary and companionless. + +As for the names of these tropical trees, they are almost all Indian, and +it is only _botanically_ that they can be properly distinguished. There is +the _floripundio_, with white odoriferous flowers hanging like bells from +its branches, with large pointed pale-green leaves--the _yollojochitl_, +signifying flower of the heart, like white stars with yellow hearts, which +when shut have the form of one, and the fragrance of which is +delicious--the _isgujochitl_, whose flowers look like small white +musk-roses--another with a long Indian name, and which means the flower of +the raven, and is white, red, and yellow. The Indians use it to adorn their +altars, and it is very fragrant as well as beautiful. + +After six hours'good riding, our guides pointed out to us the formidable +barrancas at some distance, and expressed their opinion, that, with great +caution, our horses being very sure-footed, we might venture to pass them, +by which means we should save three leagues, and be enabled to reach an +hacienda within six leagues of the cave that night; and after some +deliberation, it was agreed that the attempt should be made. These +barrancas (the word literally means a ravine or mountain gully) are two +mountains, one behind the other, which it is necessary to cross by a narrow +path, that looks like a road for goats. We began the ascent in silence, and +some fear, one by one till the horses were nearly perpendicular. It lasted +about twenty minutes; and we then began to descend slowly, certainly not +without some danger of being thrown over our horses' heads. However, we +arrived in safety at the end of the first mountain, and this being +accomplished, drew up to rest our horses and mules beside a beautiful clear +stream, bordered by flowering trees. Here some clear-headed individual of +the party proposed that we should open our hamper, containing cold chicken, +hand eggs, sherry, etc.; observing, that it was time to be hungry. His +suggestion was agreed to without a dissenting voice, and a napkin being +spread under a shady tree, no time was lost in proving the truth of his +observation. A very ingenious contrivance for making a wine-glass, by +washing an egg-shell in the stream, is worthy of record. When we had +demolished the cold chicken, the mozos surrounded the cold meat, and after +gathering branches covered with beautiful flowers, with which we ornamented +our horses' heads and our own hats, we prepared to ascend the second +mountain. This is as steep, or nearly as steep as the first; but we were +already confident in the sure-footedness of our horses, and even able to +admire the view as we ascended single file. After much rain, this path must +of course be completely impassable. The day had now become oppressively +warm, though it was not later than eleven o'clock; and having passed the +hills, we came to a dusty high-road, which, about twelve, brought us to the +hacienda of Meacatlan, belonging to the family of Perez Palacio. We were +overtaken on the road by the eldest son of the proprietor, who cordially +invited us in, and introduced us to the ladies of his family, and to his +father, a fine, noble-looking old gentleman. As we were excessively tired, +hot, and dusty, we were very glad to spend a few hours here during the heat +of the sun; and after joining the family at breakfast, consisting of the +most extraordinary variety of excellent dishes, with a profusion of fine +fruits and curious sweetmeats (amongst which was that ethereal-looking +production, called _angel's hair, cabella de angel_), we were glad to lie +down and rest till four o'clock. + +This hacienda is very productive and valuable, and has a silver mine on it. + +There is also every variety of fine fruit, especially the largest _cedrats_ +I ever saw; which, although they have not a great deal of flavour, are very +refreshing. With all their beauty and fertility, there is something very +lonely in a residence on these estates, which are so entirely shut out of +the world; not so much for the proprietors themselves, who are occupied in +the care of their interests, but for the female part of the family. + +We left this hospitable mansion about four o'clock, rested and refreshed, +the proprietor giving K---- a horse of his, instead of her own, which was +tired. The sun was still powerful, when we and our train remounted, but the +evening had become delightfully cool, by the time that we had reached the +beautiful village of San Francisco de Tetecala, lying amongst wooded hills, +its white houses gleaming out from amidst the orange-trees, with a small +river crossed by bridges running through it. Many of the houses were +tolerably large and well built. It was a fête-day, and the musical bells +ringing merrily; the people were clean and well dressed, and were assembled +in crowds in an enclosure, looking at a bull-fight, which must be hot work +in this climate, both for man and beast. + +But when the moon rose serenely, and without a cloud, and a soft breeze, +fragrant with orange blossom, blew gently over the trees, I felt as if we +might have rode on for ever, without fatigue, and in a state of the most +perfect enjoyment. It were hard to say whether the first soft breath of +morning, or the languishing and yet more fragrant airs of evening were most +enchanting. Sometimes we passed through a village of scattered Indian huts, +with little fires of sticks lighted in their courts, glowing on the bronze +faces of the women and children; and at the sound of our horses' hoofs, a +chorus of dogs, yelping with most discordant fury, would give us loud +notice of their total disapprobation of all night travellers. Sometimes a +decided smell of boiled sugar was mingled with the fragrance of the orange +blossom and jasmine; reminding us of those happy days of yore, when the +housekeeper in all her glory, was engaged in making her annual stock of +jellies and jams. + +Once we were obliged to dismount, that our horses might make an _ugly leap_ +over a great ditch guarded by thorny bushes, and amongst trees where the +moon gave us no light. + +About ten o'clock symptoms of weariness began to break out amongst us, +spite of moonbeams and orange-buds; when down in a valley we saw the sugar +fires of _Cocoyotla_, the hacienda to which we trusted for our next place +of shelter, darting out their fierce red tongues amongst the trees. We +knocked for admittance at the great gate, and it was some time before the +people within would undo the fastenings, which they did with great caution, +and after carefully reconnoitring us; afterwards giving for excuse, that a +party of thirty robbers had passed by the night before, and that they +thought we might have been some of these _night-errants_. We sent in our +credentials to the proprietor, an old gentleman married to a young wife, +who, living on the road to the cave, is by no means pleased at his house +being turned into a posada for all and sundry, and complained bitterly of a +party of Englishmen who had passed by some time before, "and the only +_Spanish_ word they could say, was _Vater_, by which they meant _Agua_, +Caramba!" However, he was very hospitable to us, and pressed us to remain +there the following day, and rest ourselves and our horses after our +fourteen leagues march, previous to going on to the cave. + +A very good supper and a very sound sleep were refreshing, and the whole of +the next day we spent in wandering about or sitting lazily amongst the +magnificent orange-trees and cocoas of this fine hacienda. Here the +orange-trees are the loftiest we had yet seen; long ranges of noble trees, +loaded with fruit and flowers. At the back of the house is a small grove of +cocoas, and a clear running stream passing through beautiful flowers, and +refreshing everything in its course. Indeed all through _tierra caliente_, +except on the barren hills, there is a profusion of the most delicious +water, here at once a necessity and a luxury. + +These sugar estates are under high cultivation, the crops abundant, the +water always more than sufficient both for the purposes of irrigation and +for machinery, which A---- considers equal to anything he has seen in +Jamaica. They produce annually from thirty to fifty thousand _arrobas_ of +sugar. The labourers are free Indians, and are paid from two and a half to +six and a half reals per day. I believe that about one hundred and fifty +are sufficient for working on a large estate. Bountiful nature, walking on +the traces of civil war, fills up the ravages caused by sanguinary +revolutions, and these estates in the valley of Cuernavaca, which have so +frequently been theatres of bloodshed, and have so often changed +proprietors, remain in themselves as fertile and productive as ever. + +In the evening we visited the _trapiche_, as they call the sugar-works, the +sugar-boilers, warehouses, store-rooms, and engines. The heat is so intense +among these great boilers, that we could not endure it for more than a few +minutes, and pitied the men who have to spend their lives in this work. +They make _panoja_ on this estate, cakes of coarse sugar, which the common +people prefer to the refined sugar. + +Just as we were preparing to retire for the night, an animal on the wall +attracted our attention, close by K----'s bed--and, gentle reader! it was a +scorpion! We gave a simultaneous cry, which brought Señor ----- into the +room, who laughed at our fears, and killed our foe; when lo! just as our +fright had passed away, another, a yellowish-coloured, venomous-looking +creature, appeared stealing along the wall. The lady of the house came this +time, and ordered the room and the beds to be searched. No more could be +discovered, but it was difficult to sleep in peace after such an +apparition. + +At three the next morning we rose, and set off by moon and starlight for +the cave. The morning was lovely as usual, and quite cool. We passed a +great deal of barren and hilly road, till we reached some plains, where we +had a delightful gallop, and arrived early at a small rancho, or farmhouse, +where we were to procure guides for the cave. Here we added four Indians, +and the master of the house, _Benito_, to our party, which was afterwards +increased by numbers of men and boys, till we formed a perfect regiment. +This little rancho, with its small garden, was very clean and neat. The +woman of the house told us she had seen no ladies since an English +_Ministra_ had slept there two nights. We concluded that this must have +been Mrs. Ashburnham, who spent two days in exploring the cave. We +continued our ride over loose stones, and dry, rocky hills, where, were the +horses not sure-footed, and used to climb, the riders' necks would no doubt +suffer. Within about a quarter of a mile of the cave, after leaving on our +right the pretty village of Cautlamilpas, we found ourselves in a place +which I consider much more dangerous than even the barrancas near +_Meacatlan_; a narrow path, overhanging a steep precipice, and bordering a +perpendicular hill, with just room for the horses' feet, affording the +comfortable assurance that one false step would precipitate you to the +bottom. I confess to having held my breath, as one by one, and step by +step, no one looking to the right or the left, our gowns occasionally +catching on a bush, with our whole train we wound slowly down this narrow +descent. Arrived near the mouth of the cave, we dismounted, and climbed our +way among stones and gravel to the great mountain opening. But an account +of the cave itself must be reserved till our return to Atlacamulco. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-THIRD + + +Cave of _Cacahuamilpa_--Superstition--Long-bearded Goat--Portal-- +Vestibule--Fantastic Forms--Breakfast--Pine Torches--Noble Hall-- +Stalactites and Stalagmites--Egyptian Pyramids--Double Gallery--Wonderful +Formations--Corridor--Frozen Landscape--Amphitheatre--World in Chaos-- +Skeleton--Wax Lights--Hall of Angels--Return--Distant Light--Indian +Alcalde--_Cautlamilpas_--Rancho--Return to Cocoyotla--Chapel--Meacatlan-- +Eclipse of the Moon--Benighted Travellers--Indian Village--_El Puente_-- +Return to _Atlacamulco_. + + +ATLACAMULCO, 7th. + + +The cave of Cacahuamilpa, whose actual wonders equal the fabled +descriptions of the palaces of Genii, was, until lately, known to the +Indians alone, or if the Spaniards formerly knew anything about it, its +existence was forgotten amongst them. But although in former days it may +have been used as a place of worship, a superstitious fear prevented the +more modern Indians from exploring its shining recesses, for here it was +firmly believed the evil spirit had his dwelling, and in the form of a +goat, with long beard and horns, guarded the entrance of the cave. The few +who ventured there and beheld this apparition, brought back strange tales +to their credulous companions, and even the neighbourhood of the enchanted +cave was avoided, especially at nightfall. + +The chain of mountains, into whose bosom it leads, is bleak and bare, but +the ravine below is refreshed by a rapid stream, that forms small +waterfalls as it tumbles over the rocks, and is bordered by green and +flowering trees. Amongst these, is one with a smooth, satin-like bark, of a +pale golden colour, whose roots have something snakish and witch-like in +their appearance, intertwining with each other, grappling as it were with +the hard rock, and stretching out to the most extraordinary distance. + +We arrived at the entrance of the cave, a superb portal, upwards of seventy +feet high, and one hundred and fifty wide, according to the computation of +a learned traveller--the rocks which support the great arch so +symmetrically disposed as to resemble a work of art. The sun was already +high in the heavens, shining with intense brightness on the wild scenery +that surrounded us, the rocks and trees and rushing waters; a sensation of +awe came over us as we stood at the mouth of the cave, and, turning from +day to night, strained our eyes to look down a deep descent into a gigantic +vaulted hall, faintly lighted by the red embers of a fire which the Indians +had kindled near the entrance. We made our way down a declivity of, it may +be, one hundred and fifty feet, surrounded by blocks of stone and rock, and +remained lost in astonishment at finding ourselves in this gloomy +subterranean palace, surrounded by the most extraordinary, gigantic, and +mysterious forms, which it is scarcely possible to believe are the +fantastic productions of the water which constantly trickles from the roof. + +I am shocked to confess it--I would prefer passing it over--but we had +tasted nothing that morning, and we had rode for eight hours, and were +dying of hunger! Moreover we travelled with a cook, a very tolerable native +artist, but without sentiment--his heart in his stew-pan; and he, without +the least compunction, had begun his frying and broiling operations in what +seemed the very vestibule of Pharaoh's palace. Our own _mozos_ and our +Indian guides were assisting in its operations with the utmost zeal; and in +a few minutes, some sitting round the fire, and others upon broken +pyramids, we refreshed ourselves with fried chicken, bread, and hard eggs, +before proceeding farther on our exploring expedition. Unromantic as this +proceeding was, we looked, Indians and all, rather awful, with no other +light than the ruddy glare of the fire, flickering upon the strange, +gigantic forms in that vast labyrinth; and as to what we felt, our valour +and strength of mind were increased sevenfold. + +Twenty-four huge pine torches were then lighted, each man carrying one. To +K---- and me were given lighted wax candles, in case by accident any one +should go astray from his companions, and lose his way, as would too +certainly happen, in the different windings and galleries and compartments +of the cave, and be alone in the darkness! We walked on in awe and wonder, +the guides lighting up the sides of the cavern with their torches. +Unfortunately, it is indescribable; as in the fantastic forms of the +clouds, every one sees some different creation of his fancy in these +stupendous masses. It is said that the first _sala_, for travellers have +pretended to divide it into halls, and a very little imagination may do so, +is about two hundred feet long, one hundred and seventy wide, and one +hundred and fifty in height--a noble apartment. The walls are shaded with +different colours of green and orange; great sheets of stalactites hang +from the roof: and white phantoms, palm-trees, lofty pillars, pyramids, +porches, and a thousand other illusions, surround us on all sides. One +figure, concerning which all agree, is a long-haired goat, the Evil One in +that form. But some one has broken the head, perhaps to show the +powerlessness of the enchanted guardian of the cave. Some say that there +are no living animals here, but there is no doubt that there are bats; and +an exploring party, who passed the night here, not only heard the hissing +of the rattlesnake, but were startled by the apparition of a fierce +leopard, whose loud roarings were echoed amongst the vaults, and who, after +gazing at them by the light of the torches, stalked majestically back into +the darkness. + +We passed on to the second _sala_, collecting as we went fragments of the +shining stones, our awe and astonishment increasing at every step. +Sometimes we seemed to be in a subterranean Egyptian temple. The +architecture was decidedly Egyptian, and the strange forms of the animals +resembled those of the uncouth Egyptian idols; which, together with the +pyramids and obelisks, made me think, that perhaps that ancient people took +the idea of their architecture and of many of their strange shapes from +some natural cave of this description, just as nature herself suggested the +idea of the beautiful Corinthian pillar. + +Again we seemed to enter a tract of country which had been petrified. +Fountains of congealed water, trees hung with frozen moss, pillars covered +with gigantic acanthus leaves, pyramids of ninety feet high losing their +lofty heads in the darkness of the vault, and looking like works of the +pre-Adamites; yet no being but He who inhabits eternity could have created +them. This second hall, as lofty as the other, may be nearly four hundred +feet in length. + +We then passed into a sort of double gallery, separated by enormous +pyramidal formations--_stalagmites_, those which are formed by water +dropping on the earth. The ground was damp, and occasionally great drops +trickled on our heads from the vaults above. Here Gothic shrines, odd +figures; some that look like mummies, others like old men with long beards, +appall us like figures that we see in some wild dream. These are +intermingled with pyramids, obelisks, baths that seem made of the purest +alabaster, etc. A number of small round balls, petrifactions of a dead +white, lie about here, forming little hollows in the ground. Here the cave +is very wide--about two hundred feet, it is said. + +When we left this double gallery, we came to another vast corridor, +supported by lofty pillars, covered with creeping plants, but especially +with a row of the most gigantic cauliflowers, each leaf delicately +chiseled, and looking like a fitting food for the colossal dwellers of the +cavern. But to attempt anything like a regular description is out of the +question. We gave ourselves up to admiration, as our torches flashed upon +the masses of rock, the hills crowned with pyramids, the congealed torrents +that seem to belong to winter at the north pole, and the lofty Doric +columns that bring us back to the pure skies of Greece. But amongst all +these curious _accidents_ produced by water, none is more curiously +exquisite than an amphitheatre, with regular benches, surmounted by a great +organ, whose pipes, when struck, give forth a deep sound. It is really +difficult not to believe that some gigantic race once amused themselves in +these petrified solitudes, or that we have not invaded the sanctuary of +some mysterious and superhuman beings. It is said that this cavern has been +explored for four leagues, and yet that no exit has been discovered. As for +us, I do not know how far we went: our guides said a league. It seemed +impossible to think of time when we looked at these great masses, formed +drop by drop, slowly and rarely and at distant intervals falling, and +looked back upon the ages that must have elapsed since these gigantic +formations began. + +At length, on account of the loose stones, the water, and the masses of +crystal rock that we had to climb over, our guides strongly recommended us +to return. It was difficult to turn away our eyes from the great unformed +masses that now seemed to fill the cave as far as the eye could reach. It +looked like the world in chaos--nature's vast workshop, from which she drew +the materials which her hand was to reduce to form and order. We retraced +our steps slowly and lingeringly through these subterranean palaces, +feeling that one day was not nearly sufficient to explore them, yet +thankful that we had not left the country without seeing them. The skeleton +of a man was discovered here by some travellers, lying on his side, the +head nearly covered with crystallization. He had probably entered these +labyrinths alone, either from rash curiosity or to escape from pursuit; +lost his way and perished from hunger. Indeed to find the way back to the +entrance of the cave is nearly impossible, without some clue to guide the +steps amongst these winding galleries, halls, and issues and entries, and +divided corridors. + +Though there are some objects so striking that they may immediately be +recognised, such as the amphitheatre for instance, there is a monotony even +in the variety! and I can imagine the unfortunate man wandering amongst +obelisks and pyramids and alabaster baths and Grecian columns--amongst +frozen torrents that could not assuage his thirst, and trees with marble +fruit and foliage, and crystal vegetables that mocked his hunger: and pale +phantoms with long hair and figures in shrouds, that could not relieve his +distress--and then his cries for help, where the voice gives out an echo, +as if all the pale dwellers in the cave answered in mockery--and then, his +torch becoming extinguished, and he lying down exhausted and in despair +near some inhospitable marble porch, to die. + +As we went along, our guides had climbed up and placed wax candles on the +top of all the highest points, so that their pale glimmering light pointed +out the way to us on our return. The Indians begged they might be left +there "on account of the blessed souls in purgatory," which was done. As we +returned, we saw one figure we had not observed before, which looks +something like a woman mounted on an enormous goat. To one hall, on account +of its beauty, some travellers have given the name of the "Hall of Angels." +It is said that, by observation, the height of the stalagmites might +determine the age of their formation, but where is the enterprising +geologist who would shut himself up in these crystal solitudes sufficiently +long for correct observation? + +I never saw or could have imagined so beautiful an effect as that of the +daylight in the distance, entering by the mouth of the cave; such a faint +misty blue, contrasted with the fierce red light of the torches, and broken +by the pillars through which its pale rays struggled. It looked so pure and +holy, that it seemed like the light from an angel's wings at the portals of +the "_cittá dolente_." What would that poor traveller have given to have +seen its friendly rays! After climbing out and leaving the damp, cool +subterraneous air, the atmosphere felt dry and warm, as we sat down to rest +at the mouth of the cavern, surrounded by our Indian torch-bearers. Truly, +nature is no coquette. She adorns herself with greater riches in the +darkest mountain cave, than on the highest mountain top. + +We were sitting in thoughtful silence, ourselves, Indians and all, in a +circle, when we saw, stumping down the hill, in great haste, and apparently +in great wrath, an Indian alcalde, with a thick staff in his hand, at whose +approach the Indians looked awe-struck. He carried in his brown hand a +large letter, on which was written in great type; "_Al Señor dominante de +esta caravana de gente_." "To the Commander of this caravan of people!" +This missive set forth that the justice of peace of the city of Cuautla +Amilpas, begged to know by what right, by whose authority, and with what +intentions we had entered this cave, without permission from government; +and desired the "_Señor dominante_" to appear forthwith before the said +justice for contempt of his authority. The spelling of the letter was too +amusing. The Indians looked very much alarmed, and when they saw us laugh, +still more astonished. C---n wrote with a pencil in answer to the summons, +that he was the Spanish Minister, and wished good day to the alcalde, who +plodded up the hill again, very ill pleased. + +We now took leave of this prodigious subterranean palace, and again put +ourselves _en route_. Once more we wound our way round the brink of the +precipice, and this time it was more dangerous for us than before, for we +rode on the side next it, our gowns overhanging the brink, and if caught by +a branch there, might have been dragged over. Our two guides afterwards +said that if alone, they would have dismounted; but that as the ladies said +nothing, they did not like to propose it. + +Some day, no doubt, this cave will become a show-place, and measures will +be taken to render the approach to it less dangerous; but as yet, one of +its charms consists in its being unhackneyed. For, long after, its +recollection rests upon the mind, like a marble dream. But, like Niagara, +it cannot be described; perhaps even it is more difficult to give an idea +of this underground creation, than of the emperor of cataracts; for there +is nothing with which the cave can be compared. + +Meanwhile, we had rather a disagreeable ride, in all the force of the sun's +last rays, back to the rancho. No one spoke--all our thoughts were +wandering amongst marble palaces, and uncouth, gigantic, half-human forms. + +But our attention was again attracted by the sudden reappearance of our +friend, the alcalde, on the brow of the hill, looking considerably +indignant. He came with a fresh summons from the judge of Cuautla Amilpas, +which lay white and glittering in the valley below. C---n endeavoured +gravely to explain to him that the persons of ambassadors were not subject +to such laws, which was Greek and Hebrew to him of the bronze countenance. +"If it were a _Consul_ indeed, there might be something in that." At last +our guide, the ranchero, promised to call upon the judge in the evening, +and explain the matter to his satisfaction; and again our alcalde departed +upon his bootless errand--bootless in every sense, as he stalked down the +hill with his bare bronze supporters. As we passed along, a parcel of +soldiers in the village were assembled in haste, who struck up an imposing +military air, to give us some idea of their importance. + +Politically speaking, Cuautla Amilpas has been the theatre of important +events. It was there that the curate Morelos shut himself up with a troop +of insurgents, until the place being besieged by the Spaniards under +Calleja, and the party of Morelos driven to extremity for want of food, he +secretly abandoned his position, drawing off his forces in the night. + +When we arrived at the rancho, we found that a message had come from the +judge, prohibiting Don Benito from accompanying strangers to the cave in +future, which would be hard upon the old man, who makes a little money by +occasionally guiding strangers there. C---n has therefore written on the +subject to the _prefect_ of the department. + +In the cool of the evening, we had a delightful ride to Cocoyotla. The air +was soft and fragrant--the bells of the villages were ringing amongst the +trees, for every village, however poor, has at least one fine church, and +all the bells in Mexico, whether in the city or in the villages, have a +mellow and musical sound, owing, it is said, to the quantity of silver that +enters into their composition. + +It was late when we arrived at Cocoyotla, but we did not go to rest without +visiting the beautiful chapel, which we had omitted to do on our last +visit; it is very rich in gilding and ornaments, very large and in good +taste. We supped, and threw ourselves down to rest for a few hours, and set +off again at three o'clock, by the light of a full moon. Our greatest +difficulty in these hurried marches is to get our things in and out of our +portmanteaus, and to dress in time in the dark. No looking-glasses of +course--we arrange our hair by our imagination. Everything gets broken, as +you may suppose; the mules that carry our trunks cantering up and down the +hills to keep up with us, in most unequal measure. + +The moon was still high, though pale, when the sun rose, like a youthful +monarch impatient to take the reins from the hands of a mild and dying +queen. We had a delightful gallop, and soon left the fires of Cocoyotla far +behind us. After riding six leagues, we arrived at six in the morning at +the house of the Perez Palacios. We should have gone further while it was +cool; but their hospitality, added to a severe fit of toothache which had +attacked C---n, induced us to remain till four o'clock, during which time +we improved our acquaintance with the family. How strange and even +melancholy are those glimpses which travellers have of persons whom they +will probably never meet again; with whom they form an intimacy, which +owing to peculiar circumstances seems very like friendship--much nearer it +certainly, than many a long acquaintanceship which we form in great cities, +and where the parties go on _knowing each other_ from year to year, and +never exchanging more than a mere occasional and external civility. + +It was four o'clock when we left Meacatlan, and we rode hard and fast till +it grew nearly dark, for our intention was to return to our head-quarters +at Atlacamulco that night, and we had a long journey before us, especially +as it was decided that we should by no means attempt to recross the +barrancas by night, which would have been too dangerous. Besides an eclipse +of the moon was predicted, and in fact, as we were riding across the +fields, she appeared above the horizon, half in shadow, a curious and +beautiful spectacle. But we should have been thankful for her entire beams, +for after riding for hours we discovered that we had lost our way, and +worse still, that there were no hopes of our finding it. Not a hut was in +sight--darkness coming on--nothing but great plains and mountains to be +distinguished, and nothing to be heard but bulls roaring round us. We went +on, trusting to chance, and where chance would have led us it is hard to +say; but by good fortune our advanced guard stumbled over two Indians, a +man and a boy, who agreed to guide us to their own village, but nowhere +else. + +After following them a long and weary way, all going at a pretty brisk +trot, the barking of hundreds of dogs announced an Indian village, and by +the faint light we could just distinguish the cane huts snugly seated +amongst bananas and with little enclosed gardens before each. Our cavalcade +drew up before a hut, a sort of tavern or spirit-shop, where an old +half-naked hag, the _beau ideal_ of a witch, was distributing _fire-water_ +to the Indians, most of whom were already drunk. We got off our horses and +threw ourselves down on the ground too tired to care what they were doing, +and by some means a cup of bad chocolate was procured for us. We found that +we had entirely lost our way, and it was therefore agreed, that instead of +attempting to reach Atlacamulco that night, we should ride to the village +of el Puente, where our conductors knew a Spanish family of bachelor +brothers, who would be glad to _harbour_ us for the remainder of the night. +We then remounted and set off somewhat refreshed by our rest and by the bad +chocolate. + +It was late at night when we entered el Puente, after having crossed in +pitch darkness a river so deep that the horses were nearly carried off +their feet; yet they were dancing in one place, playing cards on the ground +in another, dogs were barking as usual, and candles lighted in the Indian +huts. We were very well received by the Spaniards, who gave us supper and +made us take their room, all the rest of the party sleeping upon mattresses +placed on the floor of a large empty apartment. We slept a few hours very +soundly, rose before daylight, wakened the others, who, lying on the +ground, rolled up in their sarapes, seemed to be sleeping for a wager, and +remounted our horses, not sorry at the prospect of a day's rest at +Atlacamulco. It was dark when we set off; but the sun had risen and had +lighted up the bright green fields of sugar-cane, and the beautiful +coffee-plantations that look like flowering myrtles, by the time we reached +the hacienda of Señor Neri del Barrio, whose family is amongst the most +distinguished of the old _Spanish Mexican_ stock. We stopped to take a +tumbler of milk fresh from the cow; declined an invitation to go in, as we +were anxious to finish our journey while it was cool; and after a hard ride +galloped into the courtyard of Atlacamulco, which seemed like returning +home. We spent a pleasant, idle day, lying down and reading while the sun +was high, and in the evening sauntering about under the orange trees. We +concluded with a hot bath. + +7th.--Before continuing our journey, we determined to spend one more day +here, which was fortunate, as we received a large packet of letters from +home, forwarded to this place, and we have been reading them, stretched +under the shade of a natural bower formed by orange-boughs, near a clear, +cold tank of water in the garden. To-morrow we shall set off betimes for +the hacienda of Cocoyoc, the property of Don Juan Goriva, with whom C---n +was acquainted in Mexico. After visiting that and some other of the +principal estates, we shall continue our ride to Puebla, and as we shall +pass a few days there, hope to have leisure to write again from that city. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FOURTH + + +Ride by Starlight--Fear of Robbers--Tropical Wild Flowers--Stout Escort-- +_Hautepec_--Hacienda of _Cocoyoc_--A Fire--Three Thousand Orange-trees-- +Coffee Mills, etc.--Variety of Tropical Fruits--Prodigality of Nature-- +_Casasano_--Celebrated Reservoir--Ride to Santa Clara--A Philosopher--A +Scorpion--Leave Santa Clara--Dangerous _Barranca_--_Colon_--Agreeable +House--Civil _Administrador_--San Nicolas--Solitude--Franciscan Friar-- +Rainy Morning--Pink Turban--Arrival at _Atlisco_--Cypress--Department of +Puebla--Volcanoes--Doña Marina--Verses--_Popocatepetl_--Cholula--Great +Pyramid--Arrival at Puebla. + + +On the 9th of February we took leave of Atlacamulco and the hospitable +administrador, and our party being diminished by the absence of Don Pedro, +who was obliged to go to Mexico, we set off as usual by starlight, being +warned of various _bad bits_ on the road, where the ladies at least were +advised to dismount. The country was wild and pretty, mountainous and +stony. When the light came in we separated and galloped about in all +directions. The air was cool and laden with sweetness. We came, however, to +a pretty lane, where those of our escort who were in front stopped, and +those who were behind rode up and begged us to keep close together, as for +many leagues the country was haunted by robbers. Guns and pistols being +looked to, we rode on in serried ranks, expecting every moment to hear a +bullet whizz over our heads. + +Here were the most beautiful wild flowers we have yet seen; some purple, +white, and rose-colour in one blossom; probably the flower called +_ocelojochitl_, or viper's head, others bright scarlet, others red, with +white and yellow stripes, and with an Indian name, signifying the tiger's +flower; some had rose-coloured blossoms, others were of the purest white. + +We came at last to a road over a mountain, about as bad as anything we had +yet seen. Our train of horses and mules, and men in their Mexican dresses, +looked very picturesque winding up and down these steep crags; and here +again, forgetful of robbers, each one wandered according to his own fancy, +some riding forward, and others lingering behind to pull branches of these +beautiful wild blossoms. The horses' heads were covered with flowers of +every colour, so that they looked like victims adorned for sacrifice. C---n +indulged his botanical and geological propensities, occasionally to the +great detriment of his companions, as we were anxious to arrive at some +resting-place before the sun became insupportable. As for the robbers, +these gentlemen, who always keep a sharp look-out, and rarely endanger +their precious persons without some sufficient motive, and who, moreover, +seem to have some magical power of seeing through stone walls and into +portmanteaus, were no doubt aware that our luggage would neither have +replenished their own nor their _ladies_' wardrobes, and calculated that +people who travel for pleasure are not likely to carry any great quantity +of superfluous coin. Besides this, they are much more afraid of these +honest, stout, well-armed farm servants, who are a fine race of men, than +even soldiers. + +We arrived about six o'clock at the village of Hautepec, remarkable for its +fine old church and lofty trees, especially for one magnificent +wide-spreading ash-tree in the churchyard. There were also many of those +pretty trees with the silvery bark, which always look as if the moon were +shining on them. The road began to improve, but the sun became very +oppressive about nine o'clock, when we arrived at a pretty village, which +had a large church and a _venta_ (tavern), where we stopped to refresh +ourselves with water and some very well-baked small cakes. The village was +so pretty that we had some thoughts of remaining there till the evening, +but as Don Juan assured us that one hour's good gallop would carry us to +Cocoyoc, the hacienda of Don Juan Gorivar, we determined to continue. We +had a dreadful ride in the hot sun, till we arrived at a pretty Indian +village on the estate, and shortly after entered the courtyard of the great +hacienda of Cocoyoc, where we were most hospitably welcomed by the +proprietor and his family. + +We were very tired owing to the extreme heat, and white with dust. A fresh +toilet, cold water, an hour's rest, and an excellent breakfast, did wonders +for us. Soon after our arrival, the sugar-house, or rather the cane +rubbish, took fire, and the great bell swung heavily to and fro, summoning +the workmen to assist in getting it under. It was not extinguished for some +time, and the building is so near the house, that the family were a little +alarmed. We stood on the balcony, which commands a beautiful view of +Popocatepetl, watching the blaze. After a hard battle between fire and +water, water carried the day. + +In the evening we drove to the orange grove, where three thousand lofty +trees are ranged in avenues, literally bending under the weight of their +golden fruit and snowy blossom. I never saw a more beautiful sight. Each +tree is perfect, and lofty as a forest tree. The ground under their broad +shadows is strewed with thousands of oranges, dropping in their ripeness, +and covered with the white, fragrant blossoms. The place is lovely, and +everywhere traversed by streams of the purest water. We ate a disgraceful +number of oranges, limes, guayavas, and all manner of fruits, and even +tasted the sweet beans of the coffee-plants. + +We spent the next morning in visiting the coffee-mills, the great +brandy-works, sugar-houses, etc., all which are in the highest order; and +in strolling through the orange groves, and admiring the curious and +beautiful flowers, and walking among orchards of loaded fruit-trees--the +calabash, papaw, mango, tamarind, citron--also mameys, chirimoyas, custard +apples, and all the family of the zapotes, white, black, yellow, and +_chico_; cayotes, cocoas, cacahuates, aguacates, etc., etc., etc., a list +without an end. + +Besides these are an infinity of trees covered with the brightest blossoms; +one, with large scarlet flowers, most gorgeous in their colouring, and one +whose blossoms are so like large pink silk tassels, that if hung to the +cushions of a sofa, you could not discover them to be flowers. What +prodigality of nature in these regions! With what a lavish hand she flings +beauty and luxury to her tropical children! + +In the evening we drove to Casasano, an hacienda about three leagues from +Cocoyoc, and passed by several other fine estates, amongst others, the +hacienda of Calderon. Casasano is an immense old house, very dull-looking, +the road to which lies through a fine park for cattle, dotted with great +old trees, but of which the grass is very much burnt up. Each hacienda has +a large chapel attached to it, at which all the workmen and villagers in +the environs attend mass; a padre coming from a distance on Sundays and +fête-days. Frequently there is one attached to the establishment. We went +to see the celebrated water-tank of Casasano, the largest and most +beautiful reservoir in this part of the country; the water so pure, that +though upwards of thirty feet deep, every blade of grass at the bottom is +visible. Even a pin, dropped upon the stones below, is seen shining quite +distinctly. A stone wall, level with the water, thirty feet high, encloses +it, on which I ventured to walk all round the tank, which is of an oval +form, with the assistance of our host, going one by one. A fall would be +sufficiently awkward, involving drowning on one side and breaking your neck +on the other. The water is beautiful--a perfect mirror, with long green +feathery plants at the bottom. + +The next morning we took leave of our friends at three o'clock, and set off +for Santa Clara, the hacienda of Don Eusebio Garcia. Señor Goriva made me a +present of a very good horse, and our ride that day was delightful, though +the roads led over the most terrible barrancas. For nine long leagues, we +did nothing but ford rivers and climb steep hills, those who were pretty +well mounted beating up the tired cavalry. But during the first hours of +our ride, the air was so fresh among the hills, that even when the sun was +high, we suffered little from the heat; and the beautiful and varied views +we met at every turn were full of interest. Santa Clara is a striking, +imposing mass of building, beautifully situated at the foot of three bold, +high rocks, with a remarkably handsome church attached to it. The family +were from home, and the agent was a philosopher, living upon herb-tea, +quite above the common affairs of life. It is a fine hacienda, and very +productive, but sad and solitary in the extreme, and as K---- and I walked +about in the courtyard after supper, where we had listened to frightful +stories of robbers and robberies, we felt rather uncomfortably dreary, and +anxious to change our quarters. We visited the sugar-works, which are like +all others, the chapel, which is very fine, and the shop where they sell +spirituous liquors and calicoes. The hills looked gray and solemn. The sun +sank gloomy behind them, his colour a turbid red. So much had been said +about robbers, that we were not sure how our next day's journey might +terminate. The administrador's own servant had turned out to be the captain +of a band! whom the robbers, from some mysterious motive, had murdered a +few days before. As we intended to rise before dawn, we went to bed early, +about nine o'clock, and were just in the act of extinguishing a +melancholy-looking candle, when we were startled by the sight of an alacran +on the wall. A man six feet high came at our call. He looked at the +scorpion, shook his head, and ran out. He came back in a little while with +another large man, he with a great shoe in his hand, and his friend with a +long pole. While they were both hesitating how to kill it, Don Juan came +in, and did the deed. We had a melancholy night after this, afraid of +everything, with a long unsnuffed candle illuminating the darkness of our +large and lonely chamber. The next morning, the ninth of February, before +sunrise, we took our leave, in the darkness, of Santa Clara and the +philosopher. The morning, wonderful to relate, was windy, and almost cold. +The roads were frightful, and we hailed the first gray streak that appeared +in the eastern sky, announcing the dawn, which might enable us at least to +see our perils. Fortunately it was bright daylight when we found ourselves +crossing--a barranca, so dangerous, that after following for some time the +precipitous course of the mountain path, we thought it advisable to get off +our horses, who were pawing the slippery rock, without being able to find +any rest for the soles of their feet. We had a good deal of difficulty in +getting along ourselves on foot among the loose, sharp stones, and the +horses, between sliding and stumbling, were a long while in accomplishing +the descent. After climbing up the barranca, one of them ran off along the +edge of the cliff, as if he were determined to cut the whole concern, and +we wasted some time in catching him. + +It was the afternoon when we rode through the lanes of a large Indian +village, and shortly after arrived at Colon, an hacienda belonging to Don +Antonio Orria. He was from home, but the good reception of the honest +administrador, the nice, clean, cheerful house, with its pretty painted +chairs, good beds, the excellent breakfasts and dinners, and the _good +will_ visible in the whole establishment, delighted us very much, and +decided us to pitch our tent here for a day or two. Some Spaniards, hearing +of C---n's arrival, rode over from a distance to see him, and dined with +us. There was a capital housekeeper, famous for her excellent cakes and +preserves. We had also the refreshment of a warm bath, and felt ourselves +as much at home as if we had been in our own house. + +The next morning we rode through the great sugarcane fields to the hacienda +of San Nicolas, one of the finest estates in the republic, eighteen leagues +long and five wide, belonging to Señor Zamora, in right of his wife. It is +a productive place, but a singularly dreary residence. We walked out to see +all the works, which are on a great scale, and breakfasted with the +proprietor, who was there alone. We amused ourselves by seeing the workmen +receive their weekly pay (this being Saturday), and at the mountains of +copper piled up on tables in front of the house. There is a feeling of +vastness, of solitude, and of dreariness in some of these great haciendas, +which is oppressive. Especially about noon, when everything is still, and +there is no sound except the incessant buzz of myriads of insects, I can +imagine it like what the world must have been before man was created. + +Colon, which is not so large as San Nicolas, has a greater air of life +about it; and in fact we liked it so well, that, as ----- observed, we +seemed inclined to consider it, not as a _colon_, but a _full stop_. You +must not expect more vivacious puns in _tierra caliente_. We rode back from +San Nicolas in the afternoon, accompanied by the proprietor, and had some +thoughts of going to _Matamoras_ in the evening, to see the "Barber of +Seville" performed by a strolling company in the open air, under a tree! +admittance twenty-five cents. However, we ended by remaining where we were, +and spent the evening in walking about through the village, surrounded by +barking dogs, the greatest nuisance in these places, and pulling wild +flowers, and gathering castor-oil nuts from the trees. A begging Franciscan +friar, from the convent of San Fernando, arrived for his yearly supply of +sugar which he begs from the different haciendas, for his convent, a +tribute which is never refused. + +We left our hospitable entertainer the next morning, with the addition of +sundry baskets of cake and fruit from the housekeeper. As we were setting +off, I asked the administrador if there were any barrancas on this road. +"No," said he, "but I have sent a basketful with one of the boys, as they +are very refreshing." I made no remark, concluding that I should find out +his meaning in the course of the journey, but keeping a sharp look-out on +the mysterious _mozo_, who was added to our train. When the light became +stronger, I perceived that he carried under his sarape a large basket of +fine _naranjas_ (oranges), which no doubt the honest administrador thought +I was inquiring after. It rained, when we left Colon, a thick misty +drizzle, and the difference of the temperature gave us notice that we were +passing out of _tierra caliente_. The road was so straight and +uninteresting, though the surrounding country was fertile, that a few +barrancas would really have been enlivening. + +At Colon we took leave of our conductor, Don Juan, who returned to +Atlacamulco, and got a new director of our forces, a handsome man, yclept +Don Francisco, who had been a Spanish soldier. We had an uncomfortable ride +in a high wind and hard rain, the roads good, but devoid of interest, so +that we were glad when we learnt that _Atlisco_, a town where we were to +pass the night, was not far off. Within a mile or two of the city we were +met by a tall man on horseback, with a pink turban, and a wild, swarthy +face, who looked like an Abencerrage, and who came with the compliments of +his master, a Spanish gentleman, to say that a house had been prepared for +us in the town. + +Atlisco is a large town, with a high mountain behind it, crowned by a white +chapel, a magnificent church at the base; the whole city full of fine +churches and convents, with a plaza and many good houses. The numerous +pipes, pointed all along from the roofs, have a very threatening and +warlike effect; one seems to ride up the principal street under a strong +fire. We found that Don Fernando -----, pink turban's master, not +considering his own house good enough, had, on hearing of our expected +arrival, hired another, and furnished part of it for us! This is the sort +of wholesale hospitality one meets with in this country. Our room looked +out upon an old Carmelite monastery, where C---n, having a recommendation +to the prior, paid a visit, and found one or two good paintings. Here also +we saw the famous cypress mentioned by Humboldt, which is seventy-three +feet in circumference. The next morning we set out with an escort of seven +_mozos_, headed by Don Francisco, and all well armed, for the road from +Atlisco to Puebla is the robbers' highway, _par excellence_. + +This valley of Atlisco, as indeed the whole department of Puebla, is noted +for its fertility, and its abundant crops of maguey, wheat, maize, +frijoles, garbanzos, barley, and other vegetables, as well as for the +fineness of its fruits, its chirimoyas, etc. There is a Spanish proverb +which says, + + "Si a morar en Indías feures, + Que sea doude los volcanes vieres." + +"If you go to live in the Indias, let it be within sight of the volcanoes;" +for it appears that all the lands surrounding the different volcanoes are +fertile, and enjoy a pleasant climate. The great Cordilleras of Anahuac +cross this territory, and amongst these are the Mountain of the Malinchi, +Ixtaccihuatl, Popocatepetl, and the Peak of Orizava. The Malinchi, a +corruption by the Spaniards of the Indian name Malintzin, signifying Doña +María or Marina, is supposed to be called after Cortes's Indian Egería, the +first Christian woman of the Mexican empire. + +Though given to Cortes by the Tabascan Indians, it seems clear that she was +of noble birth, and that her father was the lord of many cities. It is +pretended that she fell into a tributary situation, through the treachery +of her mother, who remarried after the death of her first husband, and who, +bestowing all her affection on the son born of this second marriage, +determined, in concert with her husband, that all their wealth should pass +to him. It happened, in furtherance of their views, that the daughter of +one of their slaves died, upon which they gave out that they had lost their +own daughter, affected to mourn for her, and, at the same time, privately +sold her, after the fashion of Joséph's brethren, to some merchants of +Gicalanco, who in their turn disposed of her to their neighbours, the +Tabascans, who presented her to Cortes. That she was beautiful and of great +talent, versed in different dialects, the devoted friend of the Spaniards, +and serving as their interpreter in their negotiations with the various +Indian tribes, there seems no doubt. She accompanied Cortes in all his +expeditions--he followed her advice; and in the whole history of the +conquest, Doña Marina (the name given to the beautiful slave at her +Christian baptism) played an important part. Her son, Martin Cortes, a +knight of the order of Santiago, was put to the torture in the time of +Philip II., on some unfounded suspicion of rebellion. It is said that when +Cortes, accompanied by Doña Marina, went to Honduras, she met her guilty +relatives, who, bathed in tears, threw themselves at her feet, fearful lest +she might avenge herself of their cruel treatment; but that she calmed +their fears, and received them with much kindness. The name of her +birthplace was Painala, a village in the province of Cuatzacualco. After +the conquest, she was married to a Spaniard, named Juan de Jaramillo. + +But I have wandered a long way from the Sierra Malinchi. The two great +volcanoes, but especially Popocatepetl, the highest mountain in New Spain, +seem to follow the traveller like his guardian spirit, wherever he goes. +Orizava, which forms a boundary between the departments of Puebla and Vera +Cruz, is said to be the most beautiful of mountains on a near approach, as +it is the most magnificent at a distance; for while its summit is crowned +with snow, its central part is girded by thick forests of cedar and pine, +and its base is adorned with woods and sloping fields covered with flocks, +and dotted with white ranchos and small scattered villages; forming the +most agreeable and varied landscape imaginable. Ixtaccihuatl means white +woman; Popocatepetl the mountain that throws out smoke. They are thus +celebrated by the poet Heredia: + + Nieve eternal corona las cabezas + De Ixtaccihuatl puríssimo, Orizava + Y Popocatepetl; sin que el invierno + Toque jamás con destructura mano + Los campos fertillísimos do ledo + Los mira el indio en purpura ligera + Yoro teñirse, reflejando el brillo + Del sol en Occidente, que sereno + En yelo eterno y perennal verdura + A torrentes versió su luz dorada, + Y vió a naturaleza conmovida + Con su dulce calor, hervir en vida. + +TRANSLATION. + + Eternal snow crowns the majestic heads + Of Orizava, Popocatepetl, + And of Ixtaccihuatl the most pure. + Never does winter with destructive hand + Lay waste the fertile fields where from afar + The Indian views them bathed in purple light + And dyed in gold, reflecting the last rays + Of the bright sun, which, sinking in the west, + Poured forth his flood of golden light, serene + Midst ice eternal, and perennial green; + And saw all nature warming into life, + Moved by the gentle radiance of his fires. + +The morning was really cold, and when we first set out, Pococatepetl was +rolled up in a mantle of clouds. The road led us very near him. The wind +was very piercing:, and K---- was mounted on a curate's pony, evidently +accustomed to short distances and easy travelling. We had been told that it +was "muy proprio para Señora," very much suited to a lady, an encomium +always passed upon the oldest, most stupid, and most obstinate quadruped +that the haciendas can boast. We overtook and passed a party of cavalry, +guarding some prisoners, whom they were conducting to Puebla. + +As the sun rose, all eyes were turned with amazement and admiration to the +great volcano. The clouds parted in the middle, and rolled off in great +volumes, like a curtain withdrawn from a high altar. The snowy top and +sides of the mountain appeared, shining in the bright sun, like a grand +dome of the purest white marble. But it cannot be described. I thought of +Sinai, of Moses on the Mount, when the glory of the Lord was passing by; of +the mountain of the Transfiguration, something too intolerably bright and +magnificent for mortal eye to look upon and live. We rode slowly, and in +speechless wonder, till the sun, which had crowned the mountain like a +glory, rose slowly from its radiant brow, and we were reminded that it was +time to ride forwards. + +We were not far from the ancient city of Cholula, lying on a great plain at +a short distance from the mountains, and glittering in the sunbeams, as if +it still were the city of predilection as in former days, when it was the +sacred city, "the Rome of Anahuac." It is still a large town, with a +spacious square and many churches, and the ruins of its great pyramid still +attest its former grandeur; but of the forty thousand houses and four +hundred churches mentioned by Cortes, there are no traces. The base of this +pyramid, which at a distance looks like a conical mountain, is said by +Humboldt to be larger than that of any discovered in the old continent, +being double that of Cheops. It is made of layers of bricks mixed with +coats of clay and contains four stories. In the midst of the principal +platform, where the Indians worshipped Quetzalcoatl, the god of the air +(according to some the patriarch Noah, and according to others the apostle +Saint Thomas! for _doctors differ_), rises a church dedicated to the Virgen +de los Remedios, surrounded by cypresses, from which there is one of the +most beautiful views in the world. From this pyramid, and it is not the +least interesting circumstance connected with it, Humboldt made many of his +valuable astronomical observations. + +The treachery of the people and priests of Cholula, who, after welcoming +Cortes and the Spaniards, formed a plan for exterminating them all, which +was discovered by Doña Marina, through the medium of a lady of the city, +was visited by him with the most signal vengeance. The slaughter was +dreadful; the streets were covered with dead bodies, and houses and temples +were burnt to the ground. This great temple was afterwards purified by his +orders, and the standard of the cross solemnly planted in the midst. +Cholula, not being on the direct road to Puebla, is little visited, and as +for us our time was now so limited, that we were obliged to content +ourselves with a mere passing observation of the pyramid, and then to hurry +forward to Puebla. + +We entered that city to the number of eighteen persons, eighteen horses, +and several mules, and passed some people near the gates who were carrying +blue-eyed angels to the chosen city, and who nearly let them drop, in +astonishment, on seeing such a cavalcade. We were very cold, and felt very +tired as we rode into the courtyard of the hotel, yet rather chagrined to +think that the remainder of our journey was now to be performed in a +diligence. Having brought my story up to civilized life, and it being late, +I conclude. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH + + +Theatre--Portmanteaus--Visitors--Houses of Puebla--Fine Arts--Paseo--Don +N. Ramos Arispe--Bishop--Cotton Factories--Don Esteban Antunano--Bank of +_Avio_--United States Machinery--Accidents--Difficulties--Shipwrecks-- +Detentions--Wonderful Perseverance--"_La Constancia Mejicana_" Hospital-- +Prison--El Carmen--Paintings--Painted Floors--Angels--Cathedral--Gold and +Jewels--A Comedy--Bishop's Palace--Want of Masters. + + +PUEBLA. + + +You will be surprised when I tell you that, notwithstanding our fatigue, we +went to the theatre the evening we arrived, and sat through a long and +tragical performance, in the box of Don A---o H---o, one of the richest +citizens of Puebla, who, hearing of our arrival, instantly came to invite +us to his house, where he assured us rooms were prepared for our reception. +But being no longer in savage parts, where it is necessary to throw +yourself on the hospitality of strangers or to sleep in the open air, we +declined his kind offer, and remained in the inn, which is very tolerable, +though we do not see it now _en beau_ as we did last year, when we were +expected there. The theatre is clean and neat, but dull, and we were much +more looked at than the actors, for few foreigners (ladies especially) +remain here for any length of time, and their appearance is somewhat of a +novelty. Our toilet occasioned us no small difficulty, now that we were +again in polished cities, for you may imagine the condition of our trunks, +which two mules had galloped with over ninety leagues of plain and +mountain, and which had been opened every night. Such torn gowns, crushed +collars, ruined pelerines! One carpet bag had burst and discharged its +contents of combs, brushes, etc., over a barranca, where some day they may +be picked up as Indian antiquities, and sent to the Museum, to be preserved +as a proof that Montezuma's wives brushed their hair. However, by dint of a +washerwoman and sundry messages to _peluqueros_ (hair-dressers), we were +enabled to _turn out_ something like Christian travellers. The first night +we could not sleep on account of the innumerable ants, attracted probably +by a small garden, with one or two orange-trees in it, into which our room +opened. + +The next morning we had a great many visitors, and though there is here a +good deal of that provincial pretension one always meets with out of a +capital, we found some pleasant people amongst them. The Señora H---o came +in a very handsome carriage, with beautiful northern horses, and took us +out to see something of the town. Its extreme cleanness after Mexico is +remarkable. In that respect it is the Philadelphia of the republic; with +wide streets, well paved; large houses of two stories, very solid and well +built; magnificent churches, plenty of water, and withal a dullness which +makes one feel as if the houses were rows of convents, and all the people, +except beggars and a few business men, shut up in performance of a vow. + +The house of Don A---o H---o is, I think, more elegantly furnished than any +in Mexico. It is of immense size, and the floors beautifully painted. One +large room is furnished with pale blue satin, another with crimson damask, +and there are fine inlaid tables, handsome mirrors, and everything in very +good taste. He and his wife are both very young--she not more than +nineteen, very delicate and pretty, and very fair; and in her dress, +neatness, and house, she reminds me of a Philadelphian, always with the +exception of her diamonds and pearls. The ladies smoke more, or at least +more openly, than in Mexico; but they have so few amusements, they deserve +more indulgence. There are eleven convents of nuns in the city, and taking +the veil is as common as being married. We dined at the Señora H---o's; +found her very amiable, and heard a young lady sing, who has a good voice, +but complains that there are no music-masters in Puebla. + +The fine arts, however, are not entirely at a standstill here; and in +architecture, sculpture, and painting, there is a good deal, comparatively +speaking, worthy of notice. There used to be a proverb amongst the +Mexicans, that "if all men had five senses, the Poblanos had seven." They +are considered very reserved in their manners--a natural consequence of +their having actually no society. Formerly, Puebla rivalled Mexico in +population and in industry. The plague, which carried off fifty thousand +persons, was followed by the pestilence of civil war, and Puebla dwindled +down to a very secondary city. But we now hear a great deal of their +cotton-factories, and of the machines, instruments, and workmen, brought +from Europe here, already giving employment to thirty thousand individuals. + +In the evening we drove to the new paseo, a public promenade, where none of +the public were to be seen, and which will be pretty when the young trees +grow. + +19th.--C---n went out early, and returned the visit of the celebrated Don +N. Ramos Arispe, now an old man, and canon of the cathedral, but formerly +deputy in the Spanish Cortes, and the most zealous supporter of the cause +of independence. It is said that he owed the great influence which he had +over men of a middling character, rather to his energetic, some say to his +domineering disposition, than to genius; that he was clear-headed, active, +dexterous, remarkable for discovering hidden springs and secret motives, +and always keeping his subordinates zealously employed in his affairs. +C---n also visited the bishop, Señor Vasques, who obtained from Rome the +acknowledgment of independence. + +We set out after breakfast with several gentlemen, who came to take us to +the cotton-factories, etc. We went first to visit the factory established +at the mill of Santo Domingo, a little way out of the city, and called "La +Constancia Mejicana" (Mexican Constancy). It was the first established in +the republic, and deserves its name from the great obstacles that were +thrown in the way of its construction, and the numerous difficulties that +had to be conquered before it came into effect. + +In 1831 a junta for the encouragement of public industry was formed, but +the obstacles thrown in the way of every proposal were so great, that the +members all abandoned it in despair, excepting only the Señor _Don Esteban +Antunano_, who was determined himself to establish a manufactory of cotton, +to give up his commercial relations, and to employ his whole fortune in +attaining this object. + +He bought the mill of Santo Domingo for one hundred and seventy-eight +thousand dollars, and began to build the edifice, employing foreign workmen +at exorbitant prices. In this he spent so much of his capital, that he was +obliged to have recourse to the Bank of _Avio_ for assistance. The bank +(_avio_ meaning pecuniary assistance, or advance of funds) was established +by Don Lucas Alaman, and intended as an encouragement to industry. But +industry is not of the nature of a hothouse plant, to be forced by +artificial means; and these grants of funds have but created monopolies, +and consequently added to the general poverty. Machinery, to the amount of +three thousand eight hundred and forty spindles, was ordered for Antunano +from the United States, and a loan granted him of one hundred and +seventy-eight thousand dollars, but of which he never received the whole. +Meanwhile his project was sneered at as absurd, impossible, ruinous; but, +firmly resolved not to abandon his enterprise, he contented himself with +living with the strictest economy, himself and his numerous family almost +suffering from want, and frequently unable to obtain credit for the +provisions necessary for their daily use. + +To hasten the arrival of the machinery, he sent an agent to the north to +superintend it, and to hire workmen; but the commercial house to which he +was recommended, and which at first gave him the sums he required, lost +their confidence in the agent, and redemanded their money, so that he was +forced to sell his clothes in order to obtain food and lodging. In July, +1833, the machinery was embarked at Philadelphia, and in August arrived at +Vera Cruz, to the care of Señor Paso y Troncoso, who never abandoned +Antunano in his adversity, and even lent him unlimited sums; but much delay +ensued, and a year elapsed before it reached Puebla. There, after it was +all set up, the ignorant foreign workmen declared that no good results +would ever be obtained; that the machines were bad, and the cotton worse. +However, by the month of January, 1833, they began to work in the factory, +to which was given the name of "Mexican Constancy." A mechanist was then +sent to the north, to procure a collection of new machinery; and, after +extraordinary delays and difficulties, he embarked with it at New York in +February, 1837. + +He was shipwrecked near Cayo-Hueso, and, with all the machinery he could +save, returned to the north in the brig Argos; but on his way there he was +shipwrecked again, and all the machinery lost! He went to Philadelphia, to +have new machines constructed, and in August re-embarked in the Delaware. +Incredible as it may seem, the Delaware was wrecked off Cayo-Alcatraces, +and for the third time the machinery was lost, the mechanist saving himself +with great difficulty! + +It seemed as if gods and men had conspired against the cotton spindles; yet +Antunano persevered. Fresh machinery was ordered; and though by another +fatality it was detained, owing to the blockade of the ports by the French +squadron, seven thousand spindles were landed, and speedily put in +operation. Others have followed the example of Señor Antunano, who has +given a decided impulse to industry in Puebla, besides a most extraordinary +example of perseverance, and a determined struggle against what men call +_bad luck,_ which persons of a feebler character sink under, while stronger +minds oppose till they conquer it. + +It was in his carriage we went, and he accompanied us all over the +building. It is beautifully situated, and at a distance has more the air of +a summer palace than of a cotton-factory. Its order and airiness are +delightful, and in the middle of the court, in front of the building, is a +large fountain of the purest water. A Scotchman, who has been there for +some time, says he has never seen anything to compare with it, and he +worked six years in the United States. Antunano is unfortunately very deaf, +and obliged to use an ear-trumpet. He seems an excellent man, and I trust +he may be ultimately successful. We came out covered with cotton, as if we +had been just unpacked, and were next taken to visit a very handsome new +prison, which they are building in the city, but whether it will ever be +finished, or not, is more doubtful. We also visited the Foundling Hospital, +a large building, where there are more children than funds. They were all +clean and respectable-looking, but very poor. Antunano presented them with +two hundred dollars, as a memorial, he said, of our visit. + +C---n then went to the convent of El Carmen, to see the paintings of the +Life of the Virgin, supposed to be original works of Murillo, particularly +the Ascension and Circumcision; but which are ill-arranged, and have +suffered greatly from neglect, many of them being torn. Indeed, in some of +them are large holes made by the boys, who insisted that the Jewish priest +was _the devil._ There is a Descent from the Cross, which is reckoned a +fine painting; and it is a pity that these works should be shut up in this +old convent, where there are about half-a-dozen old monks, and where they +serve no purpose, useful or ornamental. Were they removed to the Mexican +Museum, and arranged with care, they would at least serve as models for +those young artists who have not the means of forming their taste by +European travel. Zendejas as a painter, and Coro as a sculptor, both +natives of Puebla, are celebrated in their respective arts, but we have not +yet seen any of their works. C---n also visited the bishop, and saw his +paintings and library, which we hope to do to-morrow; and from thence went +to the college, the rector of which was _attache_ in Spain to the Minister +Santa María. + +We dined again in the house of Señor H---o. The manner in which his floors +are painted is pretty and curious. It is in imitation of carpets, and is +very rich in appearance and very cool in reality. A great many of the +floors here are painted in this way, either upon canvas with oil colours, +or upon a cement extended upon the bricks of which the floor is made, and +prepared with glue, lime, or clay, and soap. + +Señor H---o has four young and pretty sisters, all nuns in different +convents. As there are no other schools but these convents, the young girls +who are sent there become attached to the nuns, and prefer remaining with +them for ever to returning home. After dinner, accompanied by Don N. Ramos +Arispe, whom C---n formerly knew intimately in Madrid, and by various other +ecclesiastics, we visited the boast of Puebla, the cathedral, which we did +not do when we passed through the city on our arrival last year. To my +mind, I have never seen anything more noble and magnificent. It is said +that the rapid progress of the building was owing to the assistance of two +angels, who nightly descended and added to its height, so that each morning +the astonished workmen found their labour incredibly advanced. The name +given to the city, "Puebla de los Angeles," is said to be owing to this +tradition. + +It is not so large as the cathedral of Mexico, but it is more elegant, +simpler, and in better taste. Sixteen columns of exquisite marble, adorned +with silver and gold, form the _tabernacle_ (in Mexico called _el Cipres_). +This native marble, called Puebla marble, is brought from the quarries of +Totamehuacan and Tecali, at two and seven leagues from the city. The floor +of the cathedral is of marble--the great screens and high-backed chairs of +richly-carved cedar. Everything was opened to show us; the tombs where the +bishops are buried; the vault where a martyr lies, supposed to have been +miraculously preserved for centuries, the gift of a pope to a bishop of +Puebla. The figure appears to be of wax, enclosing the skeleton of the +martyr, and has the most angelic countenance I ever beheld. It is loaded +with false emeralds and diamonds. + +We were also shown the jewels, which they keep buried, in case of a +revolution. The _Custodía_, the gold stand in which they carry the Host, is +entirely encrusted with large diamonds, pearls, emeralds, amethysts, +topazes, and rubies. The chalices are equally rich. There are four sets of +jewels for the bishop. One of his crosses is of emeralds and diamonds; +another of topazes and diamonds, with great rings of the same, belonging to +each. + +In the evening we went with the M---- family, who have been very civil to +us, to the theatre, where we saw a comedy better acted and more amusing +than the tragedy which they murdered two nights before. We went early the +next morning to the bishop's palace, to see his fine library and collection +of paintings, where there were a few modern originals and many fine copies +of the old masters. We then went with the Señora H---o, to return the +visits of the ladies who had called on us. The young ladies invariably +complain that they have neither music, nor drawing, nor dancing masters. +There is evidently a great deal of musical taste among them, and, as in +every part of Mexico, town or country, there is a piano (_tal cual_) in +every house; but most of those who play are self-taught, and naturally +abandon it very soon, for want of instruction or encouragement. We are now +going to dine out, and in the evening we go to a concert in the theatre, +given by the Señora Cesari and Mr. Wallace. As we must rise at three, to +set off by the diligence, I shall write no more from this place. Our next +letters will be from Mexico. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SIXTH + + +Concert--Diligence--Leave Puebla--Escort--View from the Cathedral +Towers--Black Forest--History of the Crosses--Tales of Murder--An +Alarm--Report of a Skirmish--Rio Frío--Law concerning Robbers--Their +_Moderation_--Return to Mexico--Carnival Ball--Improvement in Dress. + + +MEXICO, 24th. + + +We went to the concert with our friends, the H---os. The music was better +than the instruments, and the Señora Cesari looked handsome, as she always +does, besides being beautifully dressed in white, with Paris wreaths. We +took leave of our friends at the door of the hotel, at one in the morning, +and lay down for two hours, in the full expectation of being robbed the +following day, a circumstance which has now grown so common, that when the +diligence from Puebla arrives in safety, it excites rather more sensation +than when it has been stopped. The governor had ordered us an escort to +Mexico, to be stationed about every six leagues, but last week the escort +itself, and even the gallant officer at its head, were suspected of being +the plunderers. Our chief hope lay in that well-known miraculous knowledge +which they possess as to the value of all travellers' luggage, which no +doubt not only makes them aware that we are mere pilgrims for pleasure, and +not fresh arrivals, laden with European commodities, but also renders them +perfectly familiar with the contents of our well-shaken portmanteaus; so +that we trusted that a sarape or two, a few rings and earrings, and one or +two shawls, would not prove sufficient to tempt them. We got into the +diligence in the dark, half asleep, having taken all the places but three, +which were engaged before we came; some sleepy soldiers on horseback, ready +to accompany us, and a loaded gun sticking out of each window. Various +beggars, who are here innumerable, already surrounded us; and it is, by the +way, a remarkable circumstance, that notwithstanding the amazing numbers of +the léperos in Puebla, the churches there are kept scrupulously clean, from +which Mexico might take a hint with advantage. + +Puebla is one of the few cities founded by the Spanish colonists, instead +of being built upon the ruins of former greatness. It was founded in the +sixteenth century, on the plains of Acajete, in a site occupied only by a +few huts belonging to the Cholula Indians. It is surrounded by productive +corn estates, and the landscape, when the light visited our eyes, was +fertile though flat. The two finest views of Puebla may be seen from the +towers of the cathedral, and from an azotea in the street of San Agustin. +The landscape is extremely varied and very extensive. + +To the north we see the mountain of Tlascala, the _Matlalcueyetl_, better +known as the Malinchi; next it the hill and temple of Guadalupe and the +mountain of the Pinar, crowned by its white church. Other churches and +convents adorn the slopes of the mountains, the Church of Loreto, the +Temple of Calvary, etc. The Malinchi is fertile, but these inferior +mountains are sterile and bare. + +To the south lie the great volcanoes, and between them we can distinguish +the difficult and steep road by which Cortes undertook his first march to +Mexico. We also see the city and pyramid of Cholula, the hill of San +Nicolas, and that of San Juan, where General Bustamante encamped in 1832, +when he went out against Santa Anna; near it the farm-houses of Posadas and +Zavaleta, one celebrated by a battle, the other by a treaty. + +To the east, but at a greater distance than the other mountains, rises the +Peak of Orizava, the Star Mountain; the side now seen, that which rises +over the table land of Mexico; its other side descends rapidly to the +burning plains of Vera Cruz, and is the first distinguishable land +discerned by those who approach these coasts. Even at this distance, its +snowy summit is seen contrasting with its fertile woods and pleasant +villages. It has, what mortals rarely possess united, a warm heart, with a +clear, cold head. + +We were awakened at a posada by their bringing us some hot coffee, and a +man with a white nightcap on, having poked his head in at the window, in +defiance of a loaded musket, I concluded he was a lépero, and sleepily told +him I had nothing for him, in the phrase of the country to importunate +beggars; "Perdone V. por Dios!" "Excuse me, for God's sake!"--but he proved +to be a gentleman, who merely came to put himself and his property at our +disposal, at that early hour of the morning. + +When we entered the black forest, and passed through the dark pine woods, +then the stories of robbers began, just as people at sea seem to take a +particular pleasure in talking of shipwrecks. Every cross had its tale of +murder, and by the way, it seems to me, that a work written with +_connaissance de cause_, and entitled "History of the Crosses," though it +might not equal the "History of the _Crusades_," would be quite as +interesting, and much more romantic, than the Newgate Calendar. The +difficulty would consist in procuring authentic information concerning +them. There were a lady and two gentlemen in the diligence, and the lady +seemed to be very much _au fait_ as to their purport and history. Under one +her own servant was buried, and she gave rather a graphic account of his +murder. He was sitting outside, on the top of the diligence. The party +within were numerous but unarmed. Suddenly a number of robbers with masks +on came shouting down upon them from amongst the pine trees. They first +took aim at the poor _mozo_, and shot him through the heart. He fell, +calling in piteous tones to a padre who was in the coach, entreating him to +stop and confess him, and groaning out a farewell to his friend the driver. +Mortal fear prevailed over charity both in priest and layman, and the +coachman, whipping up his horses, passed at full gallop over the body of +the murdered man, so that, the robbers being on foot, the remainder of the +party escaped. + +Whilst we were listening to tales of blood and murder, our escort took +leave of us, supposing that we should meet another immediately, whereas we +found that we had arrived at the most dangerous part of the road, and that +no soldiers were in sight. We certainly made up our minds to an attack this +time, and got ready our rings and watches, not to hide, but to give, for we +womenkind were clearly of opinion, that in case of an attack, it was much +better to attempt no defence, our party having only two guns amongst them. + +There was a diligence some way behind us, full of people, and belonging to +another line; driven by a Yankee coachman, so drunk that he kept his seat +with difficulty, and, in defiance of all remonstrances, persisted in +driving the coach at a gallop close by the brink of the great precipice +along which the road wound; so that the poor passengers were exposed to a +double danger. + +Suddenly our escort appeared at the top of the hill, and the officer, +riding up, excused himself to C---n for the delay, which had arisen from +their having been engaged in a skirmish with the robbers in that very +place. Two he said were taken, and he had marched them off to Puebla, where +they will probably be let off in a few days, after a form of trial. Four +had escaped, and had hid themselves amongst the trees and rocks, but could +not, according to his calculations, be very far off. However, we were quite +reassured by the arrival of the soldiers, and the sight of Rio Frío was +very reviving. We got a very tolerable dinner from the Bordelaise in the +forest-valley; and although the next part of the road is reckoned very +insecure, we had no longer any apprehension, as besides having an escort, +the fact that some of the robbers had been taken a few hours before, made +it very unlikely that they would renew their attempts that day. + +This pestilence of robbers, which infests the republic, has never been +eradicated. They are in fact the growth of civil war. Sometimes in the +guise of insurgents, taking an active part in the independence, they have +independently laid waste the country, and robbed all whom they met. As +expellers of the Spaniards, these armed bands infested the roads between +Vera Cruz and the capital, ruined all commerce, and without any particular +inquiry into political opinions, robbed and murdered in all directions. In +1824 a law was proposed in congress, which should subject all armed bands +of robbers to military judges, in order to shorten proceedings, for many of +those who had been apprehended and thrown into prison, found some +opportunity to escape, while their trial was pending, and many had been +imprisoned four or five times for the same offence, yet never brought to +justice. In this law were included both robbers by profession and those +bodies of insurgents who were merely extempore amateurs. + +But whatever measures have been taken at different times to eradicate this +evil, its causes remain, and the idle and unprincipled will always take +advantage of the disorganized state of the country, to obtain by force what +they might gain by honest labour. Count ----- says gravely, that he cannot +imagine why we complain of Mexican robbers, when the city of London is full +of organized gangs of ruffians, whom the laws cannot reach; and when +English highwaymen and housebreakers are the most celebrated in the world. +Moreover, that Mexican robbers are never unnecessarily cruel, and in fact +are very easily moved to compassion. This last assertion may, occasionally +hold good, but their cruelties to travellers are too well known to bear him +out in it as a general remark. + +As a proof of their occasional moderation, I may mention, that the ladies +of the F---a family, at the time of their emigration, were travelling from +Mexico with a _padre_, when they were met by a party of robbers or +insurgents, who stopped the coach, and commenced pillaging. Amongst other +articles of value, they seized a number of silver dishes. The padre +observed to them, that as this plate did not belong to the ladies, but was +lent them by a friend, they would be obliged to replace it, and requested +that one might be left as a pattern. The reasonable creatures instantly +returned a dish and cover! + +Another time, having completely stripped an English gentleman and his +servant, and tied them both to a tree, observing that the man appeared +particularly distressed at the loss of his master's spurs, they politely +returned and laid the spurs beside the gentleman. + +About four o'clock, though nearly blinded with dust, we once more looked +down upon the valley of Mexico, and at five, during our last change of +horses, we were met by Don M---l del C---o and the English courier Beraza, +who had ridden out to meet us, and accompanied us on their fine horses as +far as the Garita. Here we found our carriage waiting; got in and drove +through Mexico, dusty as we were, and warlike as we seemed, with guns at +the windows. In the Calle San Francisco, the carriage was stopped by +Mr. -----, Secretary to the English Legation, who invited us to a grand +masked and fancy carnival ball to be given on Monday, it being now +Saturday. On our return home, we found everything in good order. Had some +difficulty in procuring ball-dresses in time. + +On Sunday we had a number of people to dinner, by chance, it being Spanish +fashion to dine at a friend's house without invitation. This evening we go +to the ball. + +26th.--The ball was in the theatre, and very brilliant, but too many of +the first people on these occasions keep their boxes, and do not dance; yet +it was wonderfully select for so large an assembly. When we arrived, we +were led upstairs by some of the commissioners, those who had charge of the +ball, to the E----'s box, whom we found, as usual, elegantly dressed--the +married ladies of the family with diamonds, the younger ones in white crape +and gold. I had a black silk mask, but finding myself universally +recognized, saw no particular advantage in keeping it on, and promptly +discarded it. We took a few turns in the ball-room, and afterwards returned +to the box. There were some capital figures in masks, and some beautiful +ball-dresses, and though there were a number of dominoes and odd figures, I +could not help remarking the great improvement in toilet which had taken +place since the fancy ball of last year. One or two girls, especially the +Señorita M----, wore ball-dresses which could only have proceeded from the +fingers of a Parisian modiste. Madame de -----, dressed as a peasant, and +with a mask, was known everywhere by her small foot and pretty figure. But +it is impossible to look on at a ball very long, not mingling with it, +without growing tired; and not even the numerous visitors to our box could +prevent us from feeling much more sleepy than during many a moonlight ride +through the lovely lanes of _tierra caliente_. + +Next night there was a public masked ball, but we did not attend it. We +feel much the better for our journey, and only hope that some day C---n may +have leisure sufficient to enable us to take another ride through some +other part of the country. This being near Lent, we shall have no _soirées_ +for six weeks, though balls are occasionally given during that time of +fasting. The house has become very comfortable in the way of servants; our +housekeeper a treasure, the coachman and footman excellent, the cook +tolerable, the soldiers rarely tipsy more than once a week, and generally +only one at a time, the others decent--so that we have nothing to complain +of ----- has established a hen-house near the stable, and any old Indian +woman who brings her a _manojo_ (several hens tied together) is sure to be +received with open arms. + +One of our first visits on our return was to Tacubaya, where we were sorry +to find the Countess C---a very much indisposed, and her courtyard filled +with carriages, containing visitors making inquiries. I shall now send off +my letters by the packet, that you may see we are safely re-established in +Mexico. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-SEVENTH + + +Distinguished Men-Generals Bustamante, Santa Anna, and +Victoria--Anecdote--Señor Pedraza--Señor Gutierrez Estrada--Count +Cortina--Señor Gorostiza--Don Carlos Bustamante--"Mornings in the +Alameda"--Don Andrés Quintana Roo--Don Lucas Alaman--General +Moran--General Almonte--Señor Canedo--Señors Neri del Barrio and +Casaflores--Doctor Valentin--Don Francisco Tagle--Eight Revolutions. + + +27th. + + +H---- in his last letter asks what distinguished men we have in Mexico? and +with a tone of doubt as to their being very numerous. Distinguished in what +way? As generals, as statesmen, as men of literature? It seems to me that a +country where we have known Bustamante, Santa Anna, General Victoria, +Posada, Gomez Pedraza, Gutierrez Estrada, Count Cortina, Gorostiza, Don +Carlos Bustamante, Quintana Roo, General Moran, Don Lucas Alaman, General +Almonte, Señor Canedo, Don Francisco Tagle, Señor Neri del Barrio, Señor +Fagoaga, Don José Valentin, the Count de Casaflores, etc., etc., is not so +destitute of distinguished men as he supposes. The preceding are, I +confess, strung together as they occur to me, without order or regularity; +soldiers, statesmen, and literary men, some on one side of politics, some +on another, but all men of note, and men who have acted, or suffered, or +been distinguished in one way or another in the revolutions of the last +thirty-two years. And there is not one amongst those I have mentioned, who, +if he were to write merely his personal history, would not by so doing +write the history of these civil wars. The three first, as principal +figures in every revolution, are already historical; Bustamante as an +honest man and a brave soldier; Santa Anna as an acute general, active and +aspiring, whose name has a _prestige_, whether for good or for evil, that +no other possesses; General Victoria, a plain, uneducated, well-intentioned +man, brave and enduring. A passage in his life is well known, which ought +to be mentioned as an offset to the doubtful anecdote of the two-headed +eagle. When Yturbide, alone, fallen and a prisoner, was banished from +Mexico, and when General Bravo, who had the charge of conducting him to +Vera Cruz, treated him with every species of indignity, Victoria, the sworn +foe of the emperor during his prosperity, now, when orders were given him +to see Yturbide embarked, surrounded him with attentions, and loaded him +with respectful distinctions; so that Yturbide himself, moved with +gratitude, after expressing his warm esteem for the General's consistent +conduct, presented him with his watch as a memorial of his grateful +admiration. + +As for Don Manuel Gomez Pedraza, he has occupied too distinguished a place +in the political occurrences of this country, not to be generally known. An +officer in the time of the Spanish government, he was distinguished for his +severe discipline and strict moral conduct. In the time of Yturbide he was +military commandant of Huasteca, and supported the emperor, who afterwards +made him commander-general of Mexico. In 1827 he was Minister of war, +during the presidency of Victoria, and was distinguished for his +extraordinary activity, which quality was greatly wanting in that general. +In 1828 he and Guerrero were announced as candidates for the presidency, +and after a terrible political tempest, Gomez Pedraza was elected. The +fermentation that succeeded, the fury of the two parties, the +_Guerreristas_ and _Pedrazistas_, which were mingled with _Yturbidistas_, +was increased by the arrival of Santa Anna at Perote with eight hundred +men, who, having shut himself up in the fortress, declared for Guerrero, +and published a manifesto, which set forth that general as a hero, and his +rival as a hypocrite. Then came the famous revolution of the _Acordada_, +and both Pedraza and Guerrero disappeared. Pedraza left the Republic, and +after another revolution, hearing that "the constitution and laws were +re-established," returned to Vera Cruz; but was met by an order which +prohibited him from disembarking. He then set sail for New Orleans. Another +change brought him back; and at this present juncture he lives in +tranquillity, together with his lady, a person of extraordinary talent and +learning, daughter of the Lizenciado (jurisconsult) Señor Azcarate. Such +are the disturbed lives passed by the "children of the soil." + +Of Gutierrez Estrada, now far from his household gods, and languishing +under unjust persecution, I have already spoken. Count Cortina is a +gentleman and a scholar, a man of vast information, and a protector of the +fine arts. His conversation is a series of electric sparks; brilliant as an +ignis fatuus, and bewildering as a will-o'-the-wisp. I have seldom heard +such eloquence even in trifles; and he writes with as much ease as he +speaks. We have seen three clever pieces of his lately, showing his +versatile genius; one upon earthquakes, one upon the _devil_, and one upon +the holy fathers of the church!--the first in the form of a pamphlet, +addressed to a lady, giving a scientific explanation of the causes of these +phenomena, interspersed with compliments to her _beaux yeux_; the second is +a burlesque poem; and the third a grave and learned dissertation. + +Don José Eduardo Gorostiza, though a native of Vera Cruz, is the son of a +Spanish officer, and when very young went to Spain, where he was known +politically as a liberal. He was distinguished as a writer of theatrical +pieces, which have been and still are very popular; and those which he +merely translated, he had the merit of adapting to the Spanish stage, and +_Castilianizing_ in grace and wit. One of his pieces, which we saw the +other evening at the theatre--"_Con tigo, pan y cebolla_," (With thee, +bread and onions,) is delightful. Besides occupying a place in the Cabinet +of Mexico, he has been Charge d'Affaires in Holland, and Minister at the +Court of St. James. In conversation he is extremely witty and agreeable, +and he has collected some good paintings and valuable books in the course +of his European travels. + +The reputation of Don Carlos Bustamante, deputy from Oajaca, is altogether +literary. He has made many researches in Mexican antiquities; and has +published a history of the "Discovery of America," written by Padre Vega, +which was unknown before; also the "Gallery of Mexican Princes;" "Tezcoco +in the last Days of its last Kings," etc. He lately sent me his "Mornings +in the Alameda," a book intended to teach Mexican young ladies the history +of their own country. I have read but a few pages of it, but was struck +with the liberality of his remarks in regard to the Spaniards, which, +coming from such a source, are so much more valuable and worthy of credit +than any that can be made by a foreigner, that I am tempted to translate +the passage to which I allude. "The Spanish government founded colleges and +academies in the reign of the wise Charles the Third; it established that +of fine arts, which it enriched with the most beautiful statues, which you +can still see when you visit it. ("Their transportation," he says in a +note, "cost seventy thousand dollars.") He sent excellent workmen, and +imitated his predecessor Philip the Second, who sent to Mexico whatever +could not find a place in the works of the Escurial. Of his wisdom, we have +proofs in those magnificent temples which attract the attention of +travellers, such as the Cathedral of Mexico, San Agustin, Santo Domingo of +Oaxaca, and others. Spain did no more, because she could do no more, and +Spain gave to this America a constitution, which the Mexicans themselves, +who pride themselves most on their learning, are unacquainted with; and +whose analysis was formed by the learned Padre Mier, in the History of the +Revolution, which he printed in London; a constitution, in which are made +manifest the good intentions of the Austrian monarchs; and their earnest +desire to render the Indians happy; especially in the case of the great +Philip the Fourth, whose autograph law is preserved; and which I have read +with respect and emotion, prohibiting the bad treatment of the Indians. In +short, this America, if it were considered in a state of slavery under the +Spanish dominion, was at least on a level with the peninsula itself. Read +over the frightful list of taxes which oppressed the Spaniards, and compare +it with those that were imposed upon us, and you will find that theirs is +infinitely greater than ours. These truths being granted, remark the +progress which the colonies had made in sciences and arts, and this truth +which escaped from the light pen of the censor Beristain, will be +confirmed. Mexico, he says, was the sunflower of Spain. When in her +principal universities there were no learned men to fill the mathematical +chairs, Mexico could boast of Don Carlos de Siguenza y Góngora: when in +Madrid there was no one who had written a good epic poem, in Mexico the +_Bernardo_ was composed;" etc., etc. + +The next on my list is Don Andrés Quintana Roo, the best modern poet of +Mexico, a native of Yucatan, and who came to the capital when very young, +to study law. He is said to possess immense learning, and was enthusiastic +to fanaticism in the cause of independence; insomuch that he and his wife, +Doña Leona Vicario, who shared in his ardent love of liberty, braved every +danger in its cause, suffered imprisonment, escaped from the Inquisition, +from the hands of robbers, endured every privation, so that their history +would form a romance. He is now devoted to literature, and though he +occasionally launches forth some political pamphlet, he is probably weaned +of revolutions, and possesses all the calmness of a man whose first years +have been spent in excitement and troubles, and who at length finds +consolation in study alone; the well of science proving to him the waters +of Lethe, in which he drinks the oblivion of all his past sorrows. And it +is very much the case in Mexico at present, that the most distinguished men +are those who live most retired; those who have played their part on the +arena of public life, have seen the inutility of their efforts in favour of +their country, and have now retreated into the bosom of their families, +where they endeavour to forget public evils in domestic retirement and +literary occupation. + +Amongst these may be reckoned Don Lucas Alaman, who passed many years in +Europe, and in 1820 was deputy to the Spanish Cortes. Shortly after his +return he became Minister of foreign relations, which high office he has +filled during various seasons of difficulty.[1] He is a man of learning, +and has always been a protector of art and science. In conversation he is +more reserved, less brilliant, and more minute than Count Cortina, always +expressing his opinion with caution, but very ready and able to give +information on anything in this country, unconnected with politics. General +Moran, now infirm, and long since retired from public service, is +universally respected, both as a military man and a gentleman. He is +married to a daughter of the late Marquis de Vivanco, general of division, +who long held out against the independence, and when the colonial system +was dissolved, would never go further than to desire a prince of royal +birth in Mexico. General Moran has been exiled several times, and his +health has not held out against bodily and mental suffering; but he is +ending his days in a tranquil retirement in the midst of his family. Of +General Almonte and of Señor Canedo, who are figuring in public life in our +own day, I have frequently written. + +[Footnote 1: He is now, September, 1842, once more filling the same +situation under General Santa Anna.] + +Señor Neri del Barrio and the Count de Casaflores, married to sisters, +ladies of high birth, the eldest a countess in her own right, are, as well +as their families, all that is most distinguished in Mexico. Señor Fagoaga, +who is now in bad health, I know only by reputation. He is brother of the +Marquis of Apartado, and of the celebrated Don José María Fagoaga, with +whose family we have the pleasure of being very intimate. C---n says that +he is a man of great taste and a thorough gentleman, and that his house, +which is one of the handsomest in Mexico, possesses that ornament so rare +in this country--well-chosen paintings. Don José Valentin, who has figured +in the political world, and who was curate of Huamautla, is one of the +kindest and best old men I have ever met with; so severe to himself, so +indulgent to others--so simple in worldly matters, so learned in everything +else--so sincere, good, and charitable. He is a universal favourite with +young and old, being cheerful, fond of music, and of gay conversation, in +proportion as he is wise and learned in his observations, and serious in +his conversation when the occasion requires it. Doctor Valentin as an +ecclesiastic, and Padre Leon as a monk, are models. + +As for Don Francisco Tagle, he is a gentleman of the old school, and his +name figures in all the political events which have taken place since the +independence, of which he was one of the signers. He is very rich, +possessing, besides a profitable maguey estate near Mexico, enormous +property bounding Texas, and being also the keeper of the Monte Pio, +formerly the house of Cortes, a palace, in which he and his family live. He +is a man of great learning and information, and too distinguished not to +have suffered personally in political convulsions. Whether he would choose +the same path, with his present experience of a Mexican republic, he is too +wise to mention. He and his family are amongst our most intimate friends, +and with a few exceptions all those whom I have mentioned have been here +since our return, which is one of the reasons why their names occurred +first to my memory; for there are still many distinguished persons +remaining. + +Nearly all these, at least all who are married, have had the good fortune +to unite themselves with women who are either their equals or superiors, if +not in education,--in goodness, elevation of sentiment, and natural talent. +They, as well as every Mexican, whether man or woman, not under forty, have +lived under the Spanish government; have seen the revolution of Dolores of +1810, with continuations and variations by Morelos, and paralyzation in +1819; the revolution of Yturbide in 1821; the cry of Liberty (grito de +Libertad) given by those generals "benemeritos de la patria," Santa Anna +and Victoria, in 1822; the establishment of the federal system in 1824; the +horrible revolution of the Acordada, in which Mexico was pillaged, in 1828; +the adoption of the central system in 1836; and the last revolution of the +federalists in 1840. Another is predicted for next month, as if it were an +eclipse of the sun. In nineteen years three forms of government have been +tried, and two constitutions, the reform of one of which is still pending +in the Chambers. "_Dere is notink like trying!_" (as the old _perruquier_ +observed, when he set out in a little boat to catch the royal yacht, still +in sight of Scottish shores, with a new wig of his own invention, which he +had trusted to have been permitted to present to his most gracious majesty +George the Fourth!). + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-EIGHTH + + +New Minister--San Angel--Profitable Pulque Estate--The Village--Surrounding +Scenery--The Indians--The Padre--The Climate--Holy Week in the +Country--Dramatic Representations--Coyohuacan--The Pharisees--Image of the +Saviour--Music and Dresses--Procession--Catholicism amongst the +Indians--Strange Tradition--Paul the Fifth--Contrast between a Mexican and +a New England Village--Love of Fireworks--Ferdinand the Seventh--Military +Ball--_Drapeaux_. + + +SAN ANGEL, March 30th. + + +It is a long while since I last wrote, but this week has been employed in +moving into the country, and making arrangements for the sale of our +furniture, in consequence of our having received official news from Spain +of the nomination of a new envoy extraordinary and Minister plenipotentiary +to the republic of Mexico. As, on account of the yellow fever at Vera Cruz, +we shall not wish to pass through that city later than May, it is necessary +to be in readiness to start when the new Minister arrives. On Thursday last +we came out to this place, within three leagues of Mexico, where Don +Francisco Tagle has kindly lent us his unoccupied country house. As we had +an infinity of arrangements to make, much to bring out, and much to leave, +and _all Mexico_ to see, you will excuse this long silence. Our house in +town we leave to the guardianship of the housekeeper; the other servants +follow us here. + +This house is very large, and has a fine garden and orchard full of fruit, +with pretty walks all through it, and a sort of underwood of roses and +sweet peas. It is a great pulque hacienda, and, besides what is sent into +Mexico for sale, the court is constantly filled with the half-naked Indians +from the village, who come to have their _jarros_ filled with that +inspiring beverage. Then there is Doña Barbara (the guardian of the +pulque), a Spanish administrador, a number of good-looking Indian women, +and babies _à discrétion_. There is a small chapel, a piazza, with handsome +pillars going all round the interior courtyard of the house, a +billiard-table, and plenty of good rooms. In front of the house are the +maguey-fields, and the azotea commands a beautiful view of the neighbouring +villages, San Angel, Coyohuacan, Miscuaque, etc., with their woods and +gardens, as well as of the city itself, with its lakes and volcanoes. + +As C---n's affairs take him to Mexico nearly every day, we feel a little +lonely in this large house, even though perfectly comfortable; and besides +the extreme stillness and solitude, it is not considered safe for us to +walk out alone; consequently the orchard must bound our wishes. And, of +course, being prohibited from going further, we have the greatest desire to +do so! In the evening, however, when our _caballeros_ return, we frequently +walk down to the village, where the English Minister has also a house. + +San Angel is pretty in its own way, with its fields of maguey, its +scattered houses, that look like the _beaux restes_ of better days, its +market-place, parish church, church of El Carmen, with the monastery and +high-walled gardens adjoining; with its narrow lanes, Indian huts, +profusion of pink roses, little bridge and avenue, and scattered clusters +of trees; its houses for _temperamento_ (_constitution_, as they call those +where Mexican families come to reside in summer), with their grated +windows, and gardens and orchards; and then the distant view of Mexico, +with the cathedral towers, volcanoes, and lofty mountains, scattered +churches and long lines of trees; and nearer, the pretty villages of +Coyohuacan and Miscuaque; and everywhere the old church, the broken arch, +the ancient cross, with its faded flower-garlands, to commemorate a murder, +or erected as an act of piety--all is so characteristic of Mexico, that the +landscape could belong to no other part of the known world. + +There is the Indian with his blanket, extracting the pulque from the +maguey; the ranchero, with her reboso and broad-brimmed hat passing by upon +her ass; the old lépero, in rags, sitting basking in the sun upon the stone +seat in front of the door; the poor Indian woman, with matted hair and +brown baby hanging behind her, refreshing herself by drinking three +_elacos_ (halfpence) worth of pulque from a _jarrito_ (little earthen jar); +the portly and well-looking padre prior del Carden (the Carmelite friar), +sauntering up the lane at a leisurely pace, all the little ragged boys, +down to the merest urchin that can hardly lisp, dragging off their large, +well-holed hats, with a "_Buenos días, padrecito!_" (Good-morning, little +father!)--the father replying with a benevolent smile, and a slight sound +in his throat intended for a _Benedicite;_ and all that might be dull in +any other climate brightened and made light and gay by the purest +atmosphere, and bluest sky, and softest air, that ever blew or shone upon a +naughty world. + +We are now approaching the holy week once more--in Mexico a scene of +variety in the streets and of splendour in the churches; but in the country +a play, a sort of melodrama, in which the sufferings, death, and burial of +our Saviour are represented by living figures in pantomime. We have heard a +great deal of these representations, and are glad to have the opportunity +of seeing them, which we intend to do in the village of Coyohuacan, where +they are particularly curious. Besides this, our friends the A----s have a +house there for the season, and, as the city of Cortes's predilection, it +is classic ground. Meanwhile, for the last few days, the country has been +overrun with Pharisees, Nazarenes, Jews, and figures of the Saviour, +carried about in procession; all this in preparation for the holy week, a +sort of overture to the drama. + +The first evening we arrived here there was a representation of the +Pharisees searching for Christ. The Pharisees were very finely dressed, +either in scarlet stuff and gold or in green and silver, with helmets and +feathers, mounted upon horses which are taught to dance and rear to the +sound of music, so that upon the whole they looked like performers at +Astley's. They came on with music, riding up the lanes until they arrived +in front of this house, which being the principal place hereabouts, they +came to first, and where the Indian workmen and servants were all collected +to see them. They rode about for some time, as if in search of Christ, +until a full-length figure of the Saviour appeared, dressed in purple +robes, carried on a platform by four men, and guarded on all sides by +soldiers. It is singular, that after all there is nothing ridiculous in +these exhibitions; on the contrary, something rather terrible. In the first +place, the music is good, which would hardly be the case in any but a +Mexican village; the dresses are really rich, the gold all real, and the +whole has the effect of confusing the imagination into the belief of its +being a true scene. + +The next evening the same procession passed, with some additions, always +accompanied by a crowd of Indians from the villages, men, women, and +children. Bonfires were made before the door of the hacienda, which were +lighted whenever the distant music was heard approaching, and all the +figures in the procession carried lighted lamps. The Saviour was then led +up to the door, and all the crowd went up to kiss his feet. The figure +which is carried about this evening is called "Our Saviour of the Column," +and represents the Saviour tied to a pillar, bleeding, and crowned with +thorns. All this must sound very profane, but the people are so quiet, seem +so devout, and so much in earnest, that it appears much less so than you +would believe.... + +The cross was planted here in a congenial soil, and as in the Pagan East +the statues of the divinities frequently did no more than change their +names from those of heathen gods to those of Christian saints, and +image-worship apparently continued, though the mind of the Christian was +directed from the being represented to the true and only God who inhabits +eternity, so here the poor Indian still bows before visible representations +of saints and virgins, as he did in former days before the monstrous shapes +representing the unseen powers of the air, the earth, and the water; but +he, it is to be feared, lifts his thoughts no higher than the rude image +which a rude hand has carved. The mysteries of Christianity, to affect his +untutored mind, must be visibly represented to his eyes. He kneels before +the bleeding image of the Saviour who died for him, before the gracious +form of the Virgin who intercedes for him; but he believes that there are +many Virgins, of various gifts, and possessing various degrees of +miraculous power and different degrees of wealth, according to the quality +and number of the diamonds and pearls with which they are endowed--one even +who is the rival of the other--one who will bring rain when there is +drought, and one to whom it is well to pray in seasons of inundation. +Mexico owes much of its peculiar beauty to the religious or superstitious +feelings of its inhabitants. At every step we see a white cross gleaming +amongst the trees, in a solitary path, or on the top of some rugged and +barren rock--a symbol of faith in the desert place; and wherever the +footsteps of man have rested, and some three or four have gathered +together, there, while the ruined huts proclaim the poverty of the inmates, +the temple of God rises in comparative splendour. + +It is strange, yet well authenticated, and has given rise to many theories, +that the symbol of the cross was already known to the Indians before the +arrival of Cortes. In the island of Cozumel, near Yucatan, there were +several; and in Yucatan itself, there was a stone cross; and there, an +Indian, considered a prophet among his countrymen, had declared that a +nation bearing the same as a symbol, should arrive from a distant country! +More extraordinary still was a temple dedicated to the Holy Cross by the +Toltec nation in the city of Cholula. Near Tulansingo also, there is a +cross engraved on a rock, with various characters, which the Indians by +tradition attribute to the apostle Saint Thomas. In Oajaca also there +existed a cross which the Indians from time immemorial had been accustomed +to consider as a divine symbol. By order of the Bishop Cervantes, it was +placed in a sumptuous chapel in the cathedral. Information concerning its +discovery, together with a small cross cut out of its wood, was sent to +Rome to Paul the Fifth, who received it on his knees, singing the hymn, +"_Vexilla Regis prodeunt_," etc. + +If any one wishes to try the effect of strong contrast, let him come direct +from the United States to this country; but it is in the villages +especially that the contrast is most striking. Travelling in New England, +for example, we arrive at a small and flourishing village. We see four new +churches, proclaiming four different sects; religion suited to all +customers. These wooden churches or meeting-houses are all new, all painted +white, or perhaps a bright red. Hard by is a tavern with a green paling, as +clean and as new as the churches, and there are also various smart _stores_ +and neat dwelling-houses; all new, all wooden, all clean, and all +ornamented with slight Grecian pillars. The whole has a cheerful, trim, and +flourishing aspect. Houses, churches, stores, and taverns, all are of a +piece. They are suited to the present emergency, whatever that may be, +though they will never make fine ruins. Everything proclaims prosperity, +equality, consistency; the past forgotten, the present all in all, and the +future taking care of itself. No delicate attentions to posterity, who can +never pay its debts. No beggars. If a man has even a hole in his coat, he +must be lately from the Emerald Isle. + +Transport yourself in imagination from this New England village to that +of -----, it matters not which, not far from Mexico. "Look on this picture, +and on that." The Indian huts, with their half-naked inmates, and little +gardens full of flowers; the huts themselves either built of clay, or the +half-ruined _beaux restes_ of some stone building. At a little distance an +hacienda, like a deserted palace, built of solid masonry, with its inner +_patio_ surrounded by thick stone pillars, with great walls and +iron-barred windows that might stand a siege. Here a ruined arch and +cross, so solidly built, that one cannot but wonder how the stones ever +crumbled away. There, rising in the midst of old faithful-looking trees, +the church, gray and ancient, but strong as if designed for eternity; with +its saints and virgins, and martyrs and relics, its gold and silver and +precious stones, whose value would buy up all the spare lots in the New +England village; the lépero with scarce a rag to cover him, kneeling on +that marble pavement. Leave the enclosure of the church, observe the stone +wall that bounds the road for more than a mile; the fruit trees overtopping +it, high though it be, with their loaded branches. This is the convent +orchard. And that great Gothic pile of building, that stands in hoary +majesty, surmounted by the lofty mountains, whose cloud-enveloped summits, +tinged by the evening sun, rise behind it; what could so noble a building +be but the monastery, perhaps of the Carmelites, because of its exceeding +rich garden, and well-chosen site, for they, of all monks, are richest in +this world's goods. Also we may see the reverend old prior riding slowly +from under the arched gate up the village lanes, the Indians coming from +their huts to do him lowly reverence as he passes. Here, everything reminds +us of the past; of the conquering Spaniards, who seemed to build for +eternity; impressing each work with their own solid, grave, and religious +character; of the triumphs of catholicism; and of the Indians when Cortes +first startled them from their repose, and stood before them like the +fulfilment of a half-forgotten prophecy. It is the present that seems like +a dream, a pale reflection of the past. All is decaying and growing +fainter, and men seem trusting to some unknown future which they may never +see. One government has been abandoned, and there is none in its place. One +revolution follows another, yet the remedy is not found. Let them beware +lest half a century later, they be awakened from their delusion, and find +the cathedral turned into a meeting-house, and all painted white; the +_railing_ melted down; the silver transformed into dollars; the Virgin's +jewels sold to the highest bidder; the floor washed (which would do it no +harm), and round the whole, a nice new wooden paling, freshly done in +green--and all this performed by some of the artists from the _wide-awake_ +republic farther north. + +Just as I wrote these words, a shower of crackers startled me from the +profane ideas in which I was indulging, and the prancing of the horses of +Jews and Pharisees, and the crackling of bonfires, warn me that it is time +to take an evening stroll, that the sun is down, and the air refreshing. +However, as to crackers and rockets, the common people enjoy them by day as +much as by night. It is their favourite method of commemorating any event, +evil or religious. "What do you suppose the Mexicans will be doing now?" +said King Ferdinand to a Mexican who was at the Spanish court, shortly +after the final success of the Revolutionists. "Letting off rockets, your +Majesty," answered the Mexican. "Well--I wonder what they are doing now in +Mexico!" said the King in the afternoon. "_Tirando cohetes_--letting off +rockets, your Majesty." His Majesty chose to repeat the question in the +evening. "What will your countrymen be doing now?" "The same thing, your +Majesty. Still letting off rockets." + +Yesterday we drove into Mexico, to see how matters stood in our house, and +received a number of visitors in our deserted apartments. Just before we +left Mexico for this place, three very magnificent aides-de-camp brought us +an invitation from General Valencia, to attend a ball to be given by him +and other officers, in the theatre, to the president, on the occasion of +his excellency's being declared "benemerito de la patria." We did not go, +as we were setting off for the country, but C---n being requested, as were +the other Ministers, to send the colours of his nation, did so, and to-day +there is much talk in Mexico, besides a paragraph in the newspapers, +connected with these matters. It appears that the _drapeaux_ whether by +accident or design, were improperly placed, and these faults in etiquette +are not uncommon here. The English Minister having observed that his +_drapeau_ was placed in a subordinate rank, and finding that his warnings +beforehand on the subject, and his representations on seeing it were +neglected, cut it down and left the ballroom, followed by all the English +who were there. + + + + +LETTER THE THIRTY-NINTH + + +Holy Thursday at Coyohuacan--Hernan Cortes--His Last Wishes--_Padres +Camilos_--Old Church--Procession--Representation of the taking of +Christ--Curate's Sermon under the Trees--A Religious Drama--Good +Friday--Portable Pulpit--Heat--Booths--Religious Procession--Simon the +Cyrenian--Coutumes--Curate's Sermon--Second Discourse--Sentence Pronounced +by Pontius Pilate--Descent from the Cross--Procession of the +Angels--Funeral Hymn--The _Pesame_ to the Virgin--Sermon--"Sweet Kitty +Clover"--Music in Mexico--Anecdote. + + +On Holy Thursday we went early in the morning to Coyohuacan (now pronounced +Cuyacan), which is almost a continuation of the village of San Angel; but +there are more trees in it, and every house has its garden, or at least its +inner court, filled with orange-trees. Here, after the total destruction of +the ancient Tenochtitlan, Cortes took up his residence for several months. +Here he founded a convent of nuns, and in his testament he desired to be +buried in this convent, "in whatever part of the world I may finish my +days." The conqueror's last wishes in this respect were not held sacred. At +the time of the conquest, Coyohuacan, together with Tacubaya, etc., stood +upon the margin of the Lake of Tezcuco; most of the houses built within the +water upon stakes, so that the canoes entered by a low door. This was +undoubtedly the favourite retreat of Cortes, and it is now one of the +prettiest villages near Mexico. Its church is wonderfully handsome; one of +the finest village churches we have yet seen. + +One of the prettiest places in the village belongs to an order of monks +called the _Padres Camilos_. It consists of a house and garden, where the +monks go by turns to enjoy the country air. Comfortable padres! There is +one room looking into the garden, and opening into a walk bordered by rose- +bushes, which is such a place for a siesta; cool, retired, fragrant. A +hammock with a mattress on it is slung across the room, and here the good +padre may lie, with one eye opened to the roses, and the other closed in +inward meditation. However, its whole merit consists in being cleanly and +neatly kept, for it is a large, empty house, and the garden, so called, is +little more than a pasture-field, with nice gravel-walks cut through it, +bordered with fine rose-bushes, and beautified by a clear fountain. + +We went to the A----'s house, which is halfway between San Angel and +Coyohuacan; the Señora A---- driving me herself in an open carratella with +white _frisones_ (northern horses), which, compared with the spirited +little Mexican steeds, look gigantic. We went first to see the church, +which was brilliantly illuminated, and ornamented with loads of flowers and +fruit (especially oranges), and thronged with ragged _lepéros_ and +blanketed Indians. We then set off, to endeavour, if possible, to find a +place in the crowd, who had hurried off to see _el prendimiento_ (the +taking of Christ), and to hear the Curate preach an appropriate sermon in a +portable pulpit, amongst the trees. + +We made our way through the patient, bronzed and blanketed crowd, not +without sundry misgivings as to the effects of _evil communication_; and at +length reached the procession, all ranged on the grass under the trees, in +a pretty and secluded little grove; in two long rows fronting each other; +each person carrying a lamp surmounted by a plume of coloured feathers, +very ingeniously made of coloured spun glass. They were all dressed in the +costume of Pharisees, Jews, Romans, etc. The image of the Saviour was +shortly after carried through on a platform, to the sound of music, +followed by the eleven disciples, and was placed in a kind of bower amongst +the trees, supposed to give a representation of the garden of Gethsemane. A +portable pulpit, covered with shining stuff, was carried in, and placed +beneath a tree just outside of this enclosure, and soon after, the curate +arrived, and mounted into his place. A number of little ragged boys, who +had climbed up on the very topmost branches of the trees, to have a good +view, were _piked_ down with lances by the Jews, notwithstanding their +seemingly just remonstrances that they were doing no harm; but when the +Jews observed in answer to their "Que hacemos?" "What are we doing?"--"The +Señor Cura will be angry;"--they tumbled down one on the top of the other +like ripe apples, and then stood watching for the first convenient +opportunity of slipping up again. + +The curate began his sermon by an account of the sufferings and persecution +of Christ; of the causes and effects of his death; of the sinfulness of the +Jews, etc. He talked for about half an hour, and his sermon was simple +enough and adapted to his audience. He described the agony of Christ when +in the garden to which he often resorted with his disciples, and the +treachery of Judas who knew the place, and who "_having received a band of +men and officers from the chief priests and pharisees, cometh thither with +lanterns and torches and weapons_." As he went on describing the +circumstances minutely, one who represented the spy, with a horrible mask +like a pig's face, was seen looking through the trees where the Saviour was +concealed; and shortly after, Judas, his face covered with a black crape, +and followed by a band of soldiers, glided through stealthily. "Now," said +the curate, "observe what the traitor does. He hath given them a sign, +saying, '_Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he--hold him fast_.' He +goes--he approaches the sacred person of the Lord." Here Judas went forward +and embraced the Saviour. "It is done!" cried the preacher. "The horrible +act of treachery is completed. _And forth-with he came to Jesús, and said, +Hail, Master, and kissed him. But now, Jesús knowing all things that should +come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered +him, Jesús of Nazareth. Jesús saith unto them, I am he_." As the curate +said these words, they all fell prostrate on the ground. "Mark," cried he, +"the power of the Word! They came out to take him with swords and with +staves, but at the sound of the Divine Word, they acknowledge the power of +God, and fall at his feet. But it is only for a moment. Behold, now they +bind him, they buffet him, they smite him with the palms of their hands, +they lead him away to the high priest." + +All this was enacted in succession, though sometimes the curate was obliged +to repeat the same things several times before they recollected what to do. +"And already, in anticipation of the iniquitous sentence, behold what is +written." This alluded to a paper fastened upon a pole, which a man held +above the heads of the crowd, and on which was written, "Jesús of Nazareth, +King of the Jews, condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, President of Upper +Galilee." + +And now, escorted by Judas and the multitude, the Saviour was borne through +the crowd, in conclusion of the _prendimiento._ The curate wound up his +discourse by an exhortation to abstain from sin, which had been the cause +of this awful event. I regret to state that at this very moment, a man +poked his hand into A----'s pocket, who turned very sharply round, and +asked him what he wanted; "Nada, Señorito," (Nothing, sir,) said he, with +an innocent smile, showing two rows of teeth like an ivory railing, but at +the same time disappearing pretty swiftly amongst the crowd, who now all +began to move, and to follow the procession, the band striking up a +_galope._ In the evening we returned to San Angel, and visited the lighted +churches there. As it was late when we entered the _parroquia_ (parish +church), the lights were nearly all extinguished, and a few alone of the +devout were still kneeling before a figure of our Saviour in chains.... + +On Good Friday we set off early for Coyohuacan, though rather afraid of the +sun, which at present, in the middle of the day, is insupportable, and even +by ten o'clock disagreeable. The whole enclosure round the church, and to a +great distance beyond it, was covered with people, and there were even a +few carriages full of well-dressed persons, who had come from the different +neighbouring haciendas; amongst others, the family of the Marquesa de +Vivanco. The padre Yturalde, who has some reputation for eloquence, was +expected to preach three sermons at Coyohuacan that day, besides one in the +village of Mizcuaque. We found that one sermon was just concluded. By the +time we arrived the sun was pouring down his beams like molten lead. Our +carriage was open, and under every tree was a crowd, so there were small +hopes of finding shade. Women were selling fruit; and booths with ices and +_chia_ were erected all down the lane leading from the church. At last, +however, a little room was made, and seats were placed for us close to the +pulpit, and under a tree. + +The image of the Saviour was now carried forwards on a platform, with the +heavy cross appearing to weigh him down; and on the same platform was +Simon, the Cyrenian, assisting him to bear the weight. The Cyrenian was +represented by an old man, with hair white as snow, dressed in scarlet +cloth; who, in a stooping posture, and without once moving his body, was +carried about for hours in the whole force of the sun, the rays pouring +down upon his uncovered head. For a long while we had believed him to be a +wooden figure dressed up, and when he came near he greatly excited our +surprise and compassion. If he survives this day's work it will be a +miracle. I can now almost give faith to -----'s assertion, that in some of +the villages the man who represents Judas actually hangs himself, or is +hanged upon a tree! The Saviour was dressed in crimson velvet, with the +crown of thorns; and a figure of the Virgin, in deep mourning, was carried +after him by Indian women. + +The procession consisted of the same men on horseback as we had seen on +foot the preceding day; of the Spy, the Pharisees, the Jews, the Betrayer, +and the mob. Some had helmets and feathers, and armour. Some wore wreaths +of green and gold leaves. One very good-looking man, with long curls and a +gold crown, and a splendid mantle of scarlet and gold, was intended for a +Roman. By his crown he probably meant to personify the Roman Caesar. The +sermon, or rather the discourse of the padre, was very good, and appeared +to be extempore. He made an address to the Virgin, who was carried by and +led up to the pulpit, and another to the Saviour, during which time the +audience was breathlessly attentive, notwithstanding the crying of children +and the barking of dogs. It was supposed that they were now leading Christ +before the judgment-seat of Pilate, and the next scene was to be the +delivery of the sentence. + +When the curate's discourse was finished, the procession went on; the +Indian women began to sell their nuts and oranges, and the band struck up +an air in the distance, to which, when last I heard it, Ducrow's horses +were dancing! We, in a fiery sun, which made its way through our mantillas, +now proceeded to search for a convenient place from which to hear the +padre's next sermon, and to see the next scene in the sacred drama. The +padre, who was walking under the shade of a lilac silk parasol, insisted +upon resigning it to me. The Señora ----- did not seem to feel the heat at +all. At last, in order to avoid the crowd, we got up on the low azotea of a +house, beside which the pulpit was placed; but here the sun was +overwhelming. The padre's sermon was really eloquent in some passages, but +lasted nearly an hour, during which time we admired the fortitude of the +unhappy Cyrenian, who was performing a penance of no ordinary kind. The sun +darted down perpendicularly on the back of his exposed head, which he kept +bent downwards, maintaining the same posture the whole time, without +flinching or moving. Before the sermon was over we could stand the heat no +longer, and went in under cover. I felt as if my brains were melted into a +hot jelly. We emerged upon hearing that the procession was again moving +towards the pulpit, where it shortly after formed itself into two lines. In +a few moments a man with a plumed helmet, mounted on a fiery horse, +galloped furiously through the ranks, holding a paper on the point of his +lance, the sentence pronounced by Pontius Pilate. + +Arrived at the pulpit, he handed it up to the priest, who received it with +a look of horror, opened it, tried to read it, and threw it on the ground +with an air of indignation. The messenger galloped back more furiously than +he came, and his horse bolting at the end of the lines, occasioned a laugh +amongst the spectators. Then followed the parting address to the Saviour, +whose bearers now brought him up to the pulpit, followed by the mournful +figure of the Virgin. Reflections on the event concluded this act. + +We returned in the afternoon, to see the descent from the cross, which was +to be performed within the church. The church was crowded, and a black +curtain hung before the altar. The padre now recapitulated all that had +taken place, and described the Saviour's parting with his mother at the +foot of the cross, addressing the Virgin who stood in her sable robes not +far from the altar, and interrupting his sermon to pray for her +intercession with her Divine Son. I observed all the women in tears as he +described the Virgin's grief, the torments of the crucifixion, the +indignities that the Saviour had suffered. All at once he exclaimed in a +loud voice, "Draw back the veil, and let us behold him!" The curtain was +drawn, and the Saviour crucified appeared. Then the sobs of the women broke +forth. They clasped their hands, beat their breasts and groaned, while the +soldiers who stood below the cross clashed their swords, and one of them +struck the body with a lance. At the same time the Virgin bowed her head, +as if in grief. Unfortunately I was near enough to see how this was +effected, which peep behind the scenes greatly diminished the effect. + +Then the soldiers mounted a ladder near the crucifix, and took down the +body, to bear it away. As it came by the pulpit, the priest seized the +hands, and showed the marks of the nails, at the same time breaking out +into exclamations of grief. The soldiers stood below, impatiently clashing +their swords; the women sobbed violently; the procession passed on, and we +returned to the A----'s house. + +In the evening the "Procession of the Angels" took place. Figures dressed +in silk and gold, with silver wings, were carried by on platforms to the +sound of music. The body of the Saviour lay in a sort of glass hearse, +carried by men chanting a dirge, and followed by the Virgin. This +procession was really pretty, but had an odd, unnatural effect amongst the +fresh green trees, the smell of incense mingling with the fragrance of the +flowers, and the gaudy silk and gold and plumes of feathers gilded by the +soft setting sun, as they flashed along. I climbed up an old stone cross +near the church, and had a good view. Everything looked gaudy when near; +but as the procession wound along under the broken arches and through the +green lanes, and the music came fainter upon the ear, and the beating of +drums and the tolling of bells and the mournful chant were all blended into +one faint and distant harmony, the effect was beautiful. I thought of the +simple service of the Scottish kirk, and of the country-people coming out +after the sermon, with their best Sunday gowns on, and their serious, +intelligent faces, discussing the merits of their Minister's discourse; and +wondered at the contrasts in the same religion.... + +As the evening was cool and pleasant we walked through the fields to the +church of La Concepción, where the procession was to pass, and sat down on +the grass till we heard it coming. As the body was carried by, all went on +their knees. At night commenced the _pesame_, or condolence to the Virgin, +in the church. She stood on her shrine, with her head bowed down; and the +hymns and prayers were all addressed to her, while the sermon, preached by +another _cura_, was also in her honour. I plead guilty to having been too +sleepy to take in more than the general tenour of the discourse. The +musicians seemed to be playing "Sweet Kitty Clover," with variations. If +Sweet Kitty Clover is genuine Irish, as who can doubt, how did these +Indians get hold of it? Did Saint Patrick go round from the Emerald Isle by +way of Tipperary? But, if he had, would he not have killed the _alacrans_, +and _chicaclinos_, and _coralillos_, and _vinagrillos_? This requires +consideration. + +In the _Ora pro nobis_, we were struck with the fineness of the rustic +voices. But music in this country is a sixth sense. It was but a few days +before leaving Mexico, that, sitting alone at the open window, enjoying the +short twilight, I heard a sound of distant music; many voices singing in +parts, and coming gradually nearer. It sounded beautiful, and exactly in +unison with the hour and the scene. At first I concluded it to be a +religious procession; but it was not a hymn--the air was gayer. When the +voices came under the window, and rose in full cadence, I went out on the +balcony to see to whom they belonged. It was the _forçats_, returning from +their work to the Acordada! guarded by soldiers, their chains clanking in +measure to the melody, and accompanied by some miserable-looking women. + +We left the church feeling very tired and sleepy, and walked towards the +booths, where, in the midst of flowers and evergreens, they were still +selling ices, and lemonade and _chia_. We sat down to rest in the cleanest +of these leafy bowers, and then returned to Coyohuacan. There was no +drunkenness, or quarrelling, or confusion of any sort. An occasional hymn, +rising in the silence of the air, or the distant flashing of a hundred +lights, alone gave notice that the funeral procession of the Saviour had +not yet halted for the night; but there was no noise, not even mirth. +Everything was conducted with a sobriety befitting the event that was +celebrated. That some of the curate's horses were stolen that night, is +only a proof that bad men were out, and took the opportunity of his absence +from home to plunder his stables. We were told an anecdote concerning Simon +the Cyrenian, which is not bad. A man was taken up in one of the villages +as a vagrant, and desired by the justice to give an account of himself--to +explain why he was always wandering about, and had no employment. The man, +with the greatest indignation, replied, "No employment! I am _substitute +Cyrenian_ at Coyohuacan in the Holy Week!" That is to say, he was to be +substituted in the Cyrenian's place, should anything occur to prevent that +individual from representing the character. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTIETH + + +Balloon--San Bartolo--Indian Women--A Beauty--Different +Castes--Indians--Their Character, etc.--Those of Noble Race--Ball at the +French Minister's-_Abecilta_--Danger of Walking Unattended--Shooting +Party--A Murder--Robbery of a Farmhouse--Discomfited Robber Captain--The +"_Zambos_"--Letters and Visitors--Country Life in Mexico. + + +23rd April. + + +We went to Mexico yesterday to see a balloon ascend from the Plaza de +Toros, with an aëronaut and his daughter; French people, I believe. The +scene was really beautiful. The plaza was filled with well-dressed people, +and all the boxes crowded with ladies in full toilet. The president was +there with his staff, and there were two bands of music. The day was +perfectly brilliant, and the streets crowded with handsome carriages, many +of them open. The balloon swayed itself up and down in the midst of the +plaza like a living thing. Everything seemed ready for the ascent, when it +was announced that there was a hole in the balloon, and that, consequently, +there could be no ascent that day. The people bore their disappointment +very good-humouredly, although it was conjectured that the _air traveller_ +had merely proposed to himself to get their money, without the slightest +intention of performing his voyage. One amusing circumstance was, that some +penny-a-line rhymer had written an account of it in verse beforehand, +giving a most grandiloquent account of the ascent of the balloon; and when +we came out, the plaza was full of men selling these verses, which the +people were all buying and reading with roars of laughter. + +The first of May being _San Felipe_, there will be a ball at the French +Minister's, to which we shall probably go. + +25th.--We have just returned from a ride to San Bartolo, an Indian village, +four leagues from this, where we went with a large party, some on horses, +some on asses, others on mules, and one adventurous Jehu driving himself in +a four-wheeled carriage, with a pair of horses, over a road formed of ruts, +stones, holes, and rocks, where, I will venture to say, no carriage ever +made its appearance before. Even the horses and asses got along with +difficulty. In spite of large straw hats and green veils, we were burnt the +colour of red Indians. In the middle of the day we find the sun intolerable +at present, and, owing to the badness of the roads, we did not reach our +destination until twelve or one o'clock. + +San Bartolo is a small, scattered Indian village, with a church, and is +remarkable for a beautiful spring of water, that jets cold and clear from +the hard rock, as if Moses had but just smote it; for its superb tall +pine-trees; for the good looks and cleanness of the Indian women, who are +for ever washing their long hair in the innumerable clear streamlets formed +by the spring; and for a view of Mexico, which is particularly favourable, +owing to the thick, dark screen of pine wood in the foreground, and the +distinct view of the Laguna. Our dinner was carried by Indians, who had +trotted off with it at day-dawn; but who had taken the wrong road, and did +not arrive till long after us. We dined under the pine-trees by the side of +the stream, but surrounded by crowds of gaping Indians, in too close +vicinity to be agreeable. Some of the young women were remarkably handsome, +with the most beautiful teeth imaginable, laughing and talking in their +native tongue at a great rate, as they were washing in the brooks, some +their hair and others their clothes. The men looked as dirty as Indians +generally do, and by no means on a level with these handsome damsels, who +are so much superior to the common race of Indians near Mexico, that one +would think they had some intermixture of Spanish blood in their veins. A +sister of the woman who takes charge of the hacienda where we live, is one +of the most beautiful creatures I ever beheld. Large eyes, with long dark +lashes, black hair nearly touching the ground, teeth like snow, a dark but +glowing complexion, a superb figure, with fine arms and hands, and small +beautifully-formed feet. All that is best of Indian and Spanish, "of dark +and bright," seems united in her. C---n says he has seen peasant women in +Andalusia in the same style of beauty, and quite as handsome. She is only +nineteen. Such beauties as these startle one every now and then in some +remote village. She belongs, no doubt, to the mestizos--the descendants of +whites and Indians, the handsomest race in Mexico. + +You ask if the castes in Mexico are distinct. There are seven supposed to +be so. 1st, the Gachupinos, or Spaniards born in Europe; 2nd, the Creoles, +that is, whites of European family born in America; 3rd, the Mestizos; 4th, +the Mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes, of whom there are few; +5th, the Zambos, descendants of negroes and Indians, the ugliest race in +Mexico; 6th, the Indians; and 7th, the remains of the African negroes. + +Of pure Indians, Humboldt in his day calculated that there existed two +millions and a half in New Spain (without counting mestizos), and they are, +probably, very little altered from the inferior Indians, as Cortes found +them. The principal families perished at the time of the conquest. The +priests, sole depositaries of knowledge, were put to death; the manuscripts +and hieroglyphical paintings were burnt, and the remaining Indians fell +into that state of ignorance and degradation, from which they have never +emerged. The rich Indian women preferred marrying their Spanish conquerors +to allying themselves with the degraded remnant of their countrymen; poor +artisans, workmen, porters, etc., of whom Cortes speaks as filling the +streets of the great cities, and as being considered little better than +beasts of burden; nearly naked in _tierra caliente_, dressed pretty much as +they now are in the temperate parts of the country; and everywhere with +nearly the same manners, and habits, and customs, as they now have, but +especially in the more distant villages where they have little intercourse +with the other classes. Even in their religion, Christianity, as I observed +before, seems to be formed of the ruins of their mythology; and all these +festivities of the church, these fireworks, and images, and gay dresses, +harmonize completely with their childish love of show, and are, in fact, +their greatest source of delight. To buy these they save up all their +money, and when you give a penny to an Indian child, it trots off to buy +crackers, as another would to buy candy. Attempts have been made by their +curates to persuade them to omit the celebration of certain days, and to +expend less in the ceremonies of others, but the indignation and discontent +which such proposals have caused, have induced them to desist in their +endeavours. + +Under an appearance of stupid apathy they veil a great depth of cunning. +They are grave and gentle and rather sad in their appearance, when not +under the influence of pulque; but when they return to their villages in +the evening, and have taken a drop of comfort, their white teeth light up +their bronze countenances like lamps, and the girls especially make the air +ring with their laughter, which is very musical. I think it is Humboldt who +says that their smile is extremely gentle, and the expression of their eyes +very severe. As they have no beard, if it were not for a little moustache, +which they frequently wear on the upper lip, there would be scarcely any +difference between the faces of men and women. + +The Indians in and near the capital are, according to Humboldt, either the +descendants of the former labourers, or are remains of noble Indian +families, who, disdaining to intermarry with their Spanish conquerors, +preferred themselves to till the ground which their vassals formerly +cultivated for them. It is said that these Indians of noble race, though to +the vulgar eye undistinguishable from their fellows, are held in great +respect by their inferior countrymen. In Cholula, particularly, there are +still caciques with long Indian names; also in Tlascala--and though +barefoot and ragged, they are said to possess great hidden wealth. But it +is neither in or near the capital that we can see the Indians to perfection +in their original state. It is only by travelling through the provinces +that we can accomplish this; and should the lateness of the season oblige +us to remain here any time after another Minister arrives, we may probably +take a longer journey in some different direction from _tierra caliente_, +where we may see some tribes of the indigenous Mexicans. Certainly no +visible improvement has taken place in their condition since the +independence. They are quite as poor and quite as ignorant, and quite as +degraded as they were in 1808, and if they do raise a little grain of their +own, they are so hardly taxed that the privilege is as nought. + +May 2nd--We returned from Mexico this morning, having gone in to attend the +ball given at the French Minister's, on the day of Louis Philippe. It was +very pretty, and we stayed till it was very late. We met with such a +cordial reception from all our friends, whom we have not seen for a month, +that we are tempted to believe ourselves as much missed in Mexico as they +say we are. The Señora L---- and the E----s were amongst the best dressed +Mexican ladies last night; the latter in white crape and diamonds, and the +other in black blonde over rose-colour, also with diamonds. The Señora +A----, who went with us, looked very pretty in a white blonde dress, with a +small black velvet turban rolled round with large diamonds and pearls. +There were a great number of small crimson velvet turbans, and an amazing +number of black blonde dresses. There were certainly some very pretty +women. The _corps diplomatique_ went in uniform. + +7th--Abecilta, a favourite Spanish actor, died a few days ago, and, as +C---n took several boxes on the night of a play given for the benefit of +his widow, we went in to the theatre on Saturday last. We are now looking +out for another house in Mexico, for when the rainy season begins we shall +find this too far from the city for C----n, who is obliged to be there +constantly. + +We ventured to take a walk alone yesterday morning through the lanes, down +to San Angel and Coyohuacan, for which piece of imprudence we were severely +reprehended, and to-day it appears that two women had been robbed and +ill-treated on the road near here; so we are too ready to subscribe to the +renewal of our sentence of imprisonment in the house and orchard, when we +have no gentlemen with us; but it must be confessed that it takes greatly +from the charms of a country life, not to be able to walk out +fearlessly.... + +The quietness and stillness of this place is incredible. There is actually +not a sound in the air; not a sight but a ragged Indian. The garden is in +great beauty. The apricots are ripe and abundant. The roses are in full +blow; and there is a large pomegranate-tree at the gate of the orchard, +which is one mass of ponçeau blossom. It is much warmer in the middle of +the day this summer than it was last. + +We spent a pleasant day lately at a great hacienda a few leagues from this, +belonging to a Spanish millionaire, on occasion of a shooting party. We +went there to breakfast, and afterwards set off on horseback, sitting +sideways on _men's_ saddles, to see the sport. It would have been very +agreeable but for the heat. The sportsmen were not very successful;--saw a +flight of rose-coloured flamingoes, who sailed high over their heads, +unhurt; killed some very handsome birds called _trigueros_, with beautiful +yellow plumage, and some ducks. The trigueros are considered a delicacy. We +rode with the administrador all round the estate, which is very productive +and profitable. He told us that they sell in Mexico, annually, fifteen +thousand dollars' worth of corn, and ten thousand dollars' worth of milk, +sending in this produce in canoes, by the canal which passes this way. We +dismounted from our horses in a green meadow covered with daisies and +buttercups, which, from association, I prefer to the tuberoses and +pomegranate blossom, which now adorn the gardens. The Señor ----- gave us +an excellent dinner _a l'Espagnole_; after which I made an attempt to fire +at some birds which shook their tails, and flew away in the most +contemptuous manner.... + +The new Secretary of Legation, Señor T----, and the new attache, Señor +G----, have just arrived in Mexico. + +10th.--The Baron and Madame de -----, with their secretary, the Count de +B----, came out yesterday morning unexpectedly to breakfast, and spent the +day with us. + +13th.--We went out with C---n last evening, to take a walk; when a man +rushed by us in a state of great agitation, and on going further we met +some workmen, who told us that an Indian labourer had stabbed a man in the +next field, and that he had died before a padre could be procured. We heard +the cries of his wife and children, and A----, crossing the ditch that +bordered the field, went to see the man. He was a master-workman, or +director, and had found fault with one of the men for his idleness. High +words ensued, and the labourer (probably the man who had passed us) drew +his knife and stabbed him. He was lying stone dead, with his hand half cut +through in his efforts to defend himself. A---- asked an administrador, who +was standing near, what would be done to the guilty man. "Probably +nothing," said he, shrugging his shoulders; "we have no judges to punish +crime." This rencounter, as you may believe, took away from us all +inclination to pursue our rambles. + +There is a pretty farmhouse in the village, in which we took shelter the +other day from a shower of rain. The farmers are civil and respectful, a +superior kind of people, with good manners rather above their station. The +daughters are good-looking, and the house clean and neat. One of the girls +gave me an account of a nocturnal visit which the robbers paid them last +winter. She showed me the little room where she was alone and asleep, when +her mother and sister, who slept in the chamber adjoining, being wakened by +the breaking in of their door, sprang out of the window to make their +escape, and she was left in the house alone. She jumped out of bed and +bolted the door (her room had no other egress), and there she held a parley +with these night visitors, promising to unlock every drawer and closet, if +they would wait till she put on her clothes, and would do her no personal +injury. The agreement was made, and they kept their word. They cleared the +house of every article it contained, leaving nothing but the blanket in +which the girl had wrapped herself. All their clothes, household utensils, +money, everything was carried off with astonishing precision; and having +made her swear not to move till they had time to leave the village, they +paid her no further attention. The other women, who had given the alarm, +found no one inclined to move in the middle of the night against a party +whose numbers their fears had probably magnified. + +The administrador gave us an amusing account this evening of a visit which +a band of no less than thirty robbers once ventured to pay this strong and +well-defended hacienda. He was living there alone, that is, without the +family, and had just barred and bolted everything for the night, but had +not yet locked the outer gate, when looking out from his window into the +courtyard by moonlight, he saw a band of robbers ride up to the door. He +instantly took his measures, and seizing the great keys, ran up the little +stair that leads to the azotea, locking the gate by which he passed, and, +calling to the captain by name (for the robbers were headed by a noted +chieftain), requested to know what he wanted at that hour of the night. The +captain politely begged him to come downstairs and he would tell him; but +the agent, strong in the possession of his great keys, and well knowing the +solidity of the iron-barred windows, continued his parley in a high tone. +The captain rode round, examined everything with a practised eye, and found +that it would require a regular siege to make good his entry. He +threatened, entreated, observed that he would be content with a small sum +of money, but all in vain. There stood the sturdy administrador on the +housetop, and there sat the captain on his horse below, something like the +fox and the crow; but the agent with the keys was wiser than the crow and +her cheese, for no cajoling would induce him to let them out of his grasp; +and worse than all, shooting him would have done them no good. At last the +captain, finding himself entirely outwitted, took off his hat, politely +wished the agent a very good night, drew off his men and departed. + +Another time, being also alone, he was attacked in broad daylight by two +men who came under pretence of buying pulque; but having time to get hold +of a sword, he overpowered one, which frightened the other, upon which they +both began to laugh, and assured him it was mere experiment to see what he +would do--a perfect jest, which he pretended to believe, but advised them +not to try it again, as it was too good a joke to be repeated. Señor ----- +pointed out to us the other day a well-known robber captain, who was riding +on the high road with a friend. He had the worst-looking, most vulgar, and +most villainous face I ever saw; a low-lived and most unpoetic-looking +ruffian; fat and sallow. + +We saw a horribly ugly man to-day, and were told he was a _lobo_, the name +given here to the _Zambos_; who are the most frightful human beings that +can be seen. La Güera Rodriguez told us that on an estate of hers, one +woman of that race was in the habit of attending church, and that she was +so fearfully hideous, the priest had been obliged to desire her to remain +at home, because she distracted the attention of the congregation! + +We spent yesterday at the house of the ----- Minister at San Angel, where +he gave us and the ----- Minister and his family a beautiful breakfast. How +consistent everything looks in a good English house! so handsome without +being gaudy--the plate so well cleaned, the servants so well trained. + +June 8th.--We were sitting under an apple-tree the other day, trying to +tame the fiercest little deer I ever saw, who was butting and kicking with +all his might, when a large packet of letters was brought us, the reading +of which insured us an agreeable afternoon. We continue to lead a very +quiet life here, occasionally taking a short ride in the evening, and +making acquaintance with the neighbouring villages, the prettiest of which +is Tesapan, a most rural and leafy spot, where there are fine fruit trees, +plenty of water, and good-looking peasant-girls. Sometimes we go to San +Antonio to see the V---o family; occasionally to San Agustin, where they +are preparing for the great fête. We are in treaty for a house in Mexico, +having now given up all idea of passing through Vera Cruz this summer. We +are in hopes of having that of the late Marquesa de San Roman, who died +some time ago, but the delays that take place in any transaction connected +with a house in Mexico, and the difficulty of obtaining a decisive answer, +are hard trials of patience. + +We generally have a number of visitors from Mexico on Sunday, and those who +come in carriages may be considered as real friends, for they decidedly +risk their necks, not to mention their carriage-springs at a _bad bit_ on +the road, which the owners, who are Indians, will not allow any one to mend +for them, and will not mend themselves. When we reach it, we are obliged +regularly to get out of the carriage, go about a hundred yards on foot, and +then remain in much anxiety at the top of the hill, till we see whether or +not the carriage arrives unbroken, which it rarely does. A few dollars +would make it perfectly safe. + +Our chief visitors during the week are from the Carmelite convent of San +Angel. The old _padre guardian_ is about eighty. Each convent has a prior, +but the padre guardian exercises authority over all the convents of his +order as well as over his own. + +There are many excellent houses and fine gardens in San Angel, and a number +of families from Mexico are now there for the season. Tacubaya and all the +environs are beginning to be occupied, and Mexico looks warm and deserted. +But there are so few incidents in our quiet life among the magueys, that I +shall write no more till we return from San Agustin after the fête. If you +wish to hear how we pass our time, you must know that we generally rise +about six, and go out into the orchard and stroll about, or sit down with a +book in a pleasant arbour at the end of one of the walks, which is +surrounded by rose-bushes, and has a little stream of water running past +it. Nor do we ever enter the orchard unarmed with a long pole, for its +entrance is guarded by a flock of angry geese, hissing like the many-headed +Hydra that watched over the golden apples of the Hesperides. At eight we +breakfast, and by nine the sun is already powerful enough to prevent us +from leaving the house. We therefore sit down to read or write, and do +occasionally take a game at billiards. C---n generally rides to Mexico, but +if not, goes up to the azotea with a book, or writes in his study until +four o'clock, when we dine. + +After dinner we walk into the village, if we have any attendant esquire; if +not, we go to the azotea and see the sun set behind the volcanoes, or walk +in the garden till it is dark, and then sit down in the front of the house, +and look at the lights in Mexico. Then we have tea or chocolate--and the +candles are lighted--and the last Indian workman has gone off to his +village--and the house is barred in, and we sit down to read, or write or +talk, or sometimes we play billiards by lamp-light. And then indeed the +silence and the solitude make us feel as if the world were completely shut +out. I never experienced such perfect stillness. Even the barking of a dog +sounds like an event. Therefore, expect no amusing letters from this place; +for though we are very comfortable, there are no incidents to relate. The +Indians come in the morning to drink pulque, (which, by the way, I now +think excellent, and shall find it very difficult to live without!) a +little child from the village brings us some bouquets of flowers, which the +Indians have a pretty way of arranging in a pineapple or pyramidal form; +the Chinese cook, with his little slits of eyes, passes by with meat and +fruit which he has been buying at the market of San Angel; the prior +saunters in to see how we are--a chance visitor comes on horseback from +Mexico, with a long sword by his side, as if he were going to fight the +Saracens. And excepting that a padre came last Sunday and said mass to us +in the pretty little chapel of the hacienda, which saved us the trouble of +going down to the village, and, moreover, took chocolate with us +afterwards, there has been nothing to vary the usual routine of our country +life. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FIRST + + +Gambling--Fête at San Agustin--Breakfast at San Antonio--Report--Cock- +fight--Ladies--Private Gambling--A _Vaca_--The _Calvario_--Bonnets-- +Dinner--Evening Ball--Mingling of Classes--Copper Tables--Dresses and +Decorations--Indian Bankers, Male and Female--Decorum-Habit--Holders of +Banks--Female Gambler--Robbery--Anecdote--Bet--_Casa de Moneda_--Leave San +Angel--Celebration--Address--Cross and Diploma--Reply--Presentation of a +Sword--Discourses and Addresses--Reflections. + + +10th June. + + +One year since I last wrote of San Agustin! An entire year has fled swiftly +away on rushing pinions, to add its unit to the rolling century. And again, +on a bright morning in June, we set off for the hospitable San Antonio, +where we were invited to breakfast and to pass the night on the second day +of the fête. We found a very brilliant party assembled; the family with all +its branches, the Ex-Minister Cuevas, with his handsome sister-in-law, La +Guera Rodriguez, with one of her beautiful granddaughters (daughter of the +Marquis of G---e), now making her first appearance in Mexico, and various +other agreeable people. The first day of the fête, a rumour was afloat that +an attack was to be made on the banks by the federal party; that they +expected to procure the sinews of war to the extent of a million of +dollars, and then intended to raise a _grito_ in Mexico, taking advantage +of the temporary absence of the president and his officers. The plan seemed +rather feasible, and the report, true or false, was current yesterday; but +if there was any truth in it, the discovery has been made in time, for +nothing has occurred. San Agustin appeared even gayer and more crowded than +it was last year. We spent the day at the E----s, and went with them to a +box in the plaza to see the cock-fight, which I had no particular pleasure, +I must confess, in witnessing again, but went for the sake of those who had +not seen it before. The general _coup d'ceil_ was exceeding gay, and the +improvement in the dress of the ladies since last year very striking. There +were neither diamonds nor pearls among the most fashionable. The bonnets +were chiefly Parisian, as were many of the gowns. One box looked a +veritable parterre of flowers. The ladies of our party wore dresses and +bonnets as simple, fresh, and elegant as could be seen in any part of the +world. A young and titled heiress, newly arrived from her distant estates, +wore pink satin with a white hat and feathers, and we observed, that +according to the ancient San Agustin fashion, she changed her dress four or +five times a day. But the ladies may dress and may smile, and may look +their very best; they are little thought of this day, in comparison with +the one all-powerful, all-pervading object. It is even whispered that one +cause of the more than usual crowd at San Agustin this year, is that many +failures are expected in mercantile houses, and that the heads of these +houses or their agents are here on the desperate hope of retrieving their +falling fortunes. + +A good deal of play on a small scale goes on in the private houses, among +those who do not take much part in the regular gambling; but all are +interested more or less; even strangers, even ladies, even ourselves. +Occasional news is brought in, and received with deep interest of the state +of the banks, of the losses or gains of the different individuals, or of +the result of the _vacas_, (a sort of general purse into which each puts in +two or three ounces,) by different stragglers from the gambling-houses, who +have themselves only ventured a few ounces, and who prefer the society of +ladies to that of the Monte players. These are generally foreigners, and +chiefly English. + +We found the road to the _Calvario_, where, as usual, there was a ball in +the afternoon, blocked up with carriages, and the hill itself covered with +gay figures; who were dancing as well as the tremendous crowd would permit. +This was really tolerably republican. The women generally were dressed as +the better classes of Mexicans used to be, years ago, and not so many years +neither (and as many in the country, still are) in blonde dresses, with +very short petticoats, open silk stockings and white satin shoes; and such +a collection of queer bonnets has probably never been seen since the days +when _les Anglaises pour rire_ first set foot on Gallic shores. Some were +like small steeples, others resembled helmets, some were like sugar-loaves, +and most seemed to have been set on, for convenience-sake, all the way out. +Amidst these there was a good sprinkling of pretty Herbaults and Paris +dresses, but they belonged to the more fashionable classes. The scene was +amusing from its variety, but we did not remain long, as it threatened +rain. As we looked back, the crowd on the hill presented the appearance of +a bed of butterflies dancing with black ants. + +We returned to the -----'s to dinner, which was very handsome, and entirely +French. There were about twenty-eight persons at table, some of them looked +as if they had rather lost than otherwise. After dinner--music and +conversation on the events and probabilities of the day, till it was time +to dress for the ball at the Plaza. We, however, preferred going to a box, +which saves the trouble of dressing, besides being "_de mucho tono_," very +fashionable; but when we arrived, not a box was to be had, the crowd was so +great, and there were so many people of _tono_, besides ourselves, who had +preferred doing the same thing; so we were obliged to content ourselves +with retreating to a third row of benches on the floor, after persuading at +least a dozen of very good-natured women to turn out, in order to let us +in. We were afterwards joined by the ----- Minister and his wife. The ball +looked very gay, and was prodigiously crowded, and exceedingly amusing. + +There were people of all classes; _modistes_ and carpenters, shop-boys, +tailors, hatters, and hosiers, mingled with all the _haut ton_ of Mexico. +Every shop-boy considered himself entitled to dance with every lady, and no +lady considered herself as having a right to refuse him, and then to dance +with another person. The Señora de -----, a most high-bred and dignified +person, danced with a stable-boy in a jacket and without gloves, and he +appeared particularly gratified at the extraordinary opportunity thus +afforded him of holding her white gloves in his brown paws. These fellows +naturally select the first ladies as their partners, and, strange as it may +seem, there is nothing in their behaviour that the most fastidious can +complain of. They are perfectly polite, quiet, and well conducted; and what +is more remarkable, go through a quadrille as well as their neighbours. The +ball was quietness itself, until near the end, when the wind-instruments +were suddenly seized with a fit of economy, the time they were paid for +having probably expired, and stopped short in the midst of a waltz; upon +which the gentlemen waltzers shouted "_Viento! Viento!_" at the full extent +of their voices, clapping their hands, refusing to dance, and entirely +drowning the sound of some little jingling guitars, which were patiently +twanging on, until the hired sons of AEolus had to resume their labours. + +There were some pretty faces among the secondary class of small +shopkeepers; but their beauty is not striking, and takes a long time to +discover; especially _fagotees_ as they are in their overloaded dresses. +Amongst the handsomest of the higher classes, were the Señora C---s, and a +daughter of the Marquis G---e. + +On the third night of the fête, C---n and I having left the ball-room, +about ten o'clock, walked out in the direction of the copper-tables which +filled the middle of the square, and were covered with awnings. It is a +sight that, once seen, can never be forgotten. Nothing but the pencil of +Hogarth, or the pen of Boz, could do justice to the various groups there +assembled. It was a gambling _fête champetre_, conducted on the most +liberal scale. + +On each table were great mountains of copper, with an occasional sprinkling +of silver. There was a profusion of evergreens, small tin lamps dripping +with oil, and sloping tallow candles shedding grease upon the board. Little +ragged boys, acting as waiters, were busily engaged in handing round pulque +and chia in cracked tumblers. There was, moreover, an agreeable tinkling +produced from several guitars, and even the bankers condescended to amuse +their guests with soothing strains. The general dress of the company +consisted of a single blanket, gracefully disposed in folds about the +person; so as to show various glimpses of a bronze skin. To this some added +a pair of Mexican pantaloons, and some a shirt of a doubtful colour. There +were many with large hats, most of which had crowns or parts of crowns, but +all affording free entrance to the fresh air. Generally speaking, +how-ever, the head was uncovered, or covered only with its native thatching +of long, bushy, tangled black hair. + +This might be out of compliment to the ladies, of whom there were several, +and who ought in politeness to have been mentioned first. Nothing could be +simpler than their costume, consisting of a very dirty and extremely torn +chemise, with short sleeves, a shorter petticoat, and a pair of shoes, +generally of dirty satin: also a reboso, and the long hair hanging down as +Eve's golden locks may have done in Paradise. "They call this place a +Paradise," a Spanish soldier wrote to his father; "and so I think it is, it +is so full of _Adams_." + +There was neither fighting, nor swearing, nor high words. I doubt whether +there be as much decorum at Crockford's; indeed, they were scrupulously +polite to each other. At one table, the banker was an enormously fat +gentleman, one half of whose head was bound up with a dirty white +handkerchief, over which a torn piece of hat was stuck, very much to one +side. He had a most roguish eye, and a smile of inviting benignity on his +dirty countenance. In one hand he held and tingled a guitar, while he most +ingeniously swept in the copper with the other. By his side sat two +wretched-looking women, with long matted hair, their elbows on the table, +and their great eyes fixed upon the game with an expression of the most +intense anxiety. At another, the _banker_ was a pretty little Indian woman, +rather clean, comparatively speaking, and who appeared to be doing business +smartly. A man stood near her, leaning against one of the poles that +supported the awning, who attracted all our attention. He was enveloped in +a torn blanket, his head uncovered, and his feet bare, and was glaring upon +the table with his great dark, haggard-looking eyes, his brown face livid, +and his expression bordering on despair. It needed no one to tell us that +on the table was his last stake. What will such a man do but go upon the +road? + +I have heard it mentioned as a strong circumstance in favour of the Mexican +character, that there is neither noise nor disturbance in these reunions; +none of that uproar and violence that there would be in an English mob, for +example. The fact is certain, but the inference is doubtful. These people +are degraded, and accustomed to endure. They are gentle and cunning, and +their passions are not easily roused, at least to open display; but once +awakened, it is neither to uproar that these passions will be excited, nor +by fair fight that they will be assuaged. In England, a boxing-match +decides a dispute amongst the lower orders; in Mexico, a knife; and a +broken head is easier mended than a cut throat. Despair must find vent in +some way; and secret murder, or midnight robbery, are the fatal +consequences of this very calmness of countenance, which is but a mask of +Nature's own giving to her Indian offspring. + +Another reason for this tranquillity is the _habit_ of gambling, in which +they have indulged from childhood, and which has taught them that neither +high words nor violence will restore a single dollar once fairly lost; and +in point of fairness, everything is carried on with the strictest honour, +as among gamblers of high degree. + +While "high life below stairs" is thus enacting, and these people are +courting fortune in the fresh air, the gentlemanly gamblers are seated +before the green cloth-covered tables, with the gravity befitting so many +cabinet councils; but without their mystery, for doors and windows are +thrown open, and both ladies and gentlemen may pass in and out, and look on +at the game, if they please. The heaps of ounces look temptingly, and make +it appear a true El Dorado. Nor is there any lack of creature-comforts to +refresh the flagging spirits. There are supper-spread tables, covered with +savoury meats to appease their hunger, and with generous wines to gladden +their hearts; and the gentlemen who surrounded that board seemed to be +playing, instead of Monte, an excellent knife and fork. + +You must not suppose that those who hold gaming-tables are the less +considered on that account; on the contrary, as the banks generally win, +they are amongst the richest, and, consequently, the most respected men in +Mexico. These bankers are frequently Spaniards, who have found gambling the +readiest stepping-stone to fortune. Señor ----- explained to me one plan of +those who hold the banks, a sort of _hedging_, by which it is next to +impossible that they can lose. For example, one of these gentlemen proposes +to his friends to take a share in a _vaca_, each contributing a few ounces. +Having collected several hundred ounces, they go to play at _his bank_. If +they win, he receives his share, of course; and if they lose his bank wins +the whole. It is proceeding upon the principle of "Heads I win, tails you +lose." + +At the tables, few words are spoken. The heaps of gold change masters; but +the masters do not change countenance. I saw but one person who looked a +little out of humour, and he was a foreigner. The rich man adds to his +store, and the poor man becomes a beggar. He is ruined, but "_makes no +sign_." + +The ladies who have collected ounces and made purses, send their friends +and admirers to the tables to try their luck for them; and in some of the +inferior houses, the Señoras of a lower class occasionally try their +fortune for themselves. I saw one of these, who had probably lost, by no +means "taking it coolly." She looked like an overcharged thunder-cloud; but +whether she broke forth in anger or in tears, thunder or rain, we did not +stay to see. + +In short, it is an all-pervading mania, and as man is "a bundle of habits," +the most moral persons in this country (always excepting one or two ladies +who express their opinions strongly against it) see nothing in it to +condemn, and are surprised at the effect it produces on a stranger; and, +indeed, after a few years' residence here, a foreigner almost becomes +reconciled to these abuses, by the veil of decorum with which they are +covered. + +We returned to San Antonio by the brightest possible moonlight, and in +perfect safety, it being on the high-road to Mexico, and therefore guarded +by soldiers. We heard the next morning, that a nephew of General B---s, who +had ventured upon going by a cross-road to his house, at _Mizcuaque_, has +been attacked and robbed of his winnings, besides being severely wounded. +This being the natural consequence, the _morale_ to the story can excite no +surprise. The robbers who, in hopes of plunder, flocked down at the time of +the fête, like sopilotes seeking carrion, hide themselves among the barren +rocks of the _Pedregal_, and render all cross-roads insecure, except with a +very strong escort. + +An anecdote was related to us this morning, by a member of the cabinet, a +striking one amongst the innumerable instances of fortune's caprices. A +very rich Spaniard, proprietor of several haciendas, attended the fête at +San Agustin, and having won three thousand ounces, ordered the money to be +carried in sacks to his carriage, and prepared to return to Mexico along +with his wife. His carriage was just setting off, when a friend of his came +out of an adjoining house, and requested him to stay to breakfast, to which +he agreed. After breakfast, there being a monte table in the house, at +which some of his acquaintances were playing, he put down two ounces, and +lost. He continued playing and losing, until he had lost his three thousand +ounces, which were sent for and transferred to the winners. He still +continued playing with a terrible infatuation, till he had lost his whole +fortune. He went on blindly, staking one hacienda after another, and +property of all sorts, until the sun, which had risen upon him a rich and +prosperous man, set, leaving him a beggar! It is said that he bore this +extraordinary and sudden reverse with the utmost equanimity. He left a son, +whom we have seen at San Agustin, where he earns his livelihood as +_croupier_ at the gambling-tables. + +29th.--No particular occurrence has taken place since the fête; a visit +from the new Secretary of Legation and the Attache, a diplomatic dinner at +the ----- Minister's, much going and coming and writing on the subject of a +house in Mexico, a correspondence concerning the sale of our furniture, +mules, etc., etc., a good deal of interest excited by a bet between two +English gentlemen, as to whether it were possible for one of them to ride +from Mexico to San Angel in twenty minutes, which feat he performed, +starting from the gate called "_El Niño Perdido_," and reaching the old +church of San Angel within the given time; these I think are the most +remarkable circumstances that have taken place. We are now in treaty for +the furnished apartments of the director of the _Casa de Moneda_ (the +mint), a great building next the palace, from which upwards of one thousand +three hundred millions of coined gold and silver have issued since the +beginning of the sixteenth century. The house is a palace in extent and +solidity; and the residence of the director is very spacious and handsome, +besides having the great advantage of being furnished. We expect to return +to Mexico in a few days. + +CASA DE MONEDA, 6th July. + +Here we are, re-established in Mexico, for a short time at least, and not +without difficulty has it been accomplished. We left the country with some +regret, as this is the pleasantest time of the year for being there, and +everything was looking green and beautiful. We came in, ourselves, in a +loaded carriage, and in advance, fourteen asses loaded with boxes, four +Indians with ditto, and two enormous loaded carts, one drawn by four, and +another by eight mules. We were a regular _caravan_, as our friend the +alcalde called us. Imagine the days of packing and unpacking consequent +thereupon! + +On the 1st of July, the victory gained by the government over the +federalist party was celebrated with great éclat. The president was +presented with a diamond cross, valued at six thousand dollars, and General +Valencia with a splendid jewel-hilted sword of great value. "Yesterday +morning," says the newspaper of the day, "a general pealing of the bells +and the usual salutes announced to the capital that it was a day of rewards +and of universal joy. At twelve o'clock, his Excellency the President of +the Republic went to the palace, to fulfill the formality of closing the +sessions, and to receive from the hands of the President of the Chamber of +Deputies, the diploma and cross of honour mentioned in the decrees of the +second of March and second of May of this year. An immense multitude +occupied the galleries; and the President, Don J. M. María Bravo, addressed +his Excellency General Bustamante, in the following speech: + +"Citizen General, and illustrious President:--Nations never forget the +distinguished services that are done to them, nor fail to reward those +heroic actions performed for the common good. Sooner or later they show +themselves grateful, and reward as they ought their good and valiant +servants. The Mexican nation has not forgotten yours, and its congress has +ever borne in mind those which you performed for it at that happy period +when the unfortunate hero of Iguala, causing the voice of freedom to +resound to the remotest lands of the Mexican territory, gave a terrible +lesson to those who wish to subdue weak nations, with no other title than +that of strength. You were one of the first and most valiant chiefs, who, +placed by his side, assisted in this important and happy work; you it was +who showed to the tyrant in the fields of Juchi, Aztcapozalco and others, +that the sword of the Mexicans once unsheathed for liberty and justice, +fights without softening or breaking; and knows how to triumph over its +enemies, even when superior forces oppose it; you it was, in short, who +with intrepid valour co-operated in re-establishing a liberty which, torn +from the ancient children of the soil, was converted by their oppressors +into a hard and shameful tyranny. History has already consecrated her pages +to you: she will record to posterity your heroic deeds, and congress has +already busied itself in rewarding such interesting services. + +"If some Mexicans, erring in their opinions, by a fatality in this country, +have disowned them, making an attempt against your personal liberty, +notwithstanding the dignity of the first magistrate; trampling upon laws +and overturning order; they have at length been obliged to respect you; and +your valour, firmness, and decision, have made them preserve the +consideration due to an ancient chief of our independence, and to a first +magistrate who has known how to set an example of subordination to the +laws, and to give with dignity lessons of valour and of honourable conduct. + +"A diploma and a cross are the rewards which the sovereign congress has +decreed for these services and merits. Do not regard in the one the +effaceable characters in which it is written, nor be dazzled by the +brilliancy of the other. See in both a proof of your country's gratitude, +and engraving it in your soul, continue to give testimonies to your country +that she is the first object of your care; that your watchings, fatigues, +and labours are dedicated only to procure for her those benefits which may +bring about the durable and solid peace that she so much desires, and for +which you would, if necessary, sacrifice yourself on her altars. + +"Do not forget that to-day she shows herself grateful, and that this is the +day decreed by the august national representative body, to put you in +possession of the title and insignia which manifests her gratitude. I, in +the name of the congress, congratulate you on this fortunate event, and +having the honour to fulfil the desire of the sovereign power, place in +your hands this diploma of deserving reward from your country, and give you +possession of this cross." + +His Excellency having received the diploma and cross above mentioned, with +his native modesty replied thus: + +"In hearing, by the organ of the august national representation, the great +encomiums with which it favours me, putting me at the same time in +possession of these precious gifts, my soul overflows with ineffable +pleasure, and is overwhelmed with the deepest gratitude. My satisfaction +and my glory are immense. What could I have done, that thus the generous +hand of the representatives of the Mexican people should load me with +honours? Have my trifling services been able to fix the attention of the +country, on whose altars have been sacrificed so many and such illustrious +heroes of liberty? My glory would have been yet greater, had I, like them, +descended to the sepulchre, when the sun of victory brightened the +existence of this sovereign and independent nation, to the glory of the +universe. + +"The honours which I receive to-day are certainly great; but I should have +preferred them before the never sufficiently mourned catastrophe of the +immortal Yturbide. Let us throw a thick veil over so irreparable a loss. It +is true that, surviving such great misfortunes, I have been enabled to +consecrate my existence and my vigilance to the peace, order, and felicity +of this beloved country. But how difficult is the conduct of those who +govern in the midst of the conflict of civil dissensions! In these, my +conscience has chosen, and my resolution has never vacillated between +ignominy and honour. Do I, on this account, deserve the national gratitude +and munificence manifested by such distinguished rewards? I return for them +to the representatives of the nation my frankest gratitude; fixing my mind +only on the grandeur and benevolence of the sovereign power which rewards +me in the sacred name of the country. I shall preserve till death these +precious objects which render my name illustrious as a soldier and as a +supreme magistrate. They will stimulate me more and more every day to all +kinds of sacrifices, even to the giving up my life should it be necessary; +that I may not be unworthy of the favourable conception and of the +recompence with which the worthy representatives of so magnanimous a nation +have to-day honoured me. Receive, gentlemen, this frank manifestation of my +sentiments, and of my fervent vows for the felicity of the republic, with +the most sincere protestations of my eternal gratitude." + +"The liveliest emotions of satisfaction" (I still quote from the _Díario_) +"followed this expressive discourse. Joy was painted on every countenance. +The frank satisfaction which every one felt gave to this act a solemnity +which words are incapable of describing. His Excellency, accompanied by the +corporations and by a brilliant and numerous concourse, then passed to the +hall of the court-martial, to put in possession of his Excellency General +D. Gabriel Valencia the sword of honour which the august national +representation had granted him, for his loyal and valiant conduct in the +affair of July of 1840. His Excellency the President began this ceremony by +expressing his sentiments to his Excellency the _Gefe de la plana mayor_ +(head of the staff), in these terms: + +"Citizen General:--In this day, the most flattering of my life, in which +the august representatives of the nation have just put me in possession of +the rewards granted to my small services, I fulfil the law which imposes +upon me the grateful task of presenting you with the sword of honour, with +which their munificence has also chosen to remunerate yours. + +"Receive it as the distinguished reward of your loyalty, and of the valour +with which you fought at that memorable period, from the 15th to the 26th +of July, defending with bravery the constitution and supreme powers of the +Republic. I congratulate myself with you, not doubting that you will always +employ the edge of this steel in defence of the honour, of the sacred +rights, and of the laws of this country. Yes, general, of this beloved +country, to whom we owe all kinds of sacrifices; yes, of this beloved +mother, who now more than ever reclaims the fraternal union of all her +children, to conquer the internal and external enemies who oppose her +felicity and aggrandizement, let us pledge ourselves to correspond +thankfully to the generosity with which the representatives of the nation +have rewarded us, and let us march united in the same path which honour and +duty traced out for us, in that day of honourable memory for the defenders +of the laws. Eternal praise to the brave soldiers and citizens who co- +operated with us in the establishment of order!" + +To which General Valencia replied:--"That a correspondent reward should +follow an heroic action, nothing more natural; but to remunerate a service +which does not go beyond the sphere of ordinary things, such as mine in the +affair of the 15th to the 26th of July of 1840, by such a noble distinction +as the sword of honour with which your Excellency has deigned to gird me, +in the name of the National Congress, of this the magnanimity of the +sovereignty is alone capable; and so it is that I remain annihilated by a +present worthy of the ages of the Roman Senate and Republic. What did I do, +your Excellency, in those days, that any one of my countrymen would not +have done better? Nothing, sir; so that, in receiving this sword of honour, +my confusion equals my doubt as to my place in the gratitude of the +congress which has given it to me, of your Excellency who has deigned to +present it to me, and of my worthy countrymen who bestowed it that I might +wear it. + +"In this condition, your Excellency, of content and satisfaction, I can say +no more, but that I hope your Excellency will manifest to congress my +eternal gratitude; that your Excellency will receive my noble +acknowledgments, and my companions the assurance that every time I put it +on I shall remember the names of all and each of them who accompanied me on +the 15th of July of 1840, together with the pleasure that to them I owe so +great a mark of respect." + +Amongst the congratulations given to the president, the following +"congratulation from his Excellency General Valencia to his Excellency the +President, on his receiving the decoration of the cross of honour from +congress," is very remarkable. "God said, the first day of the creation of +the world, when it was in a state of chaos, _'Let there be light, and there +was light.' And God saw his work and pronounced it good!_ With how much +more reason ought the garrison of Mexico to do so every day in which, by +any action, the 15th of July 1840 is celebrated--in which, by their +strength and heroic valour, that passage of Genesis was politically +repeated in this capital. Society arose in chaos. Its president is taken. +Authorities no longer exist, and those who ought to save them are converted +into their oppressors. '_God said let there be light, and there was +light_!' The honourable troops, reunited in the citadel, in the midst of +chaos, said 'Let order be re-established--let the supreme magistrate be set +at liberty, and let things resume their proper march.' Order _was_ re- +established, your Excellency was set free, and the political body followed +the regular path, without which no society exists. So it is that those +worthy troops who thus said, thus undertook, and thus accomplished, now +also resemble the Creator of the world (_hoy tambien se asememejan al +Criador del mundo_) in his content, when satisfied with his work. + +"The cross which has been worthily placed on your Excellency's breast this +day, reflects in such a singular manner upon the hearts of the valiant men +of that period (_reflecta de un modo tan singular sobre los corazones de +los valientes de aquella época_), that their souls are expanded in +contemplating it, by the honour which results to them from it. + +"May your Excellency be happy one and a thousand times, with such a noble +and worthy decoration. Let your Excellency receive in it the sincere +congratulations of the garrison of Mexico, which figures in each stone of +this cross, like the stars in the firmament." + +"This ceremony being concluded, the two rewarded generals presented +themselves on the principal balcony of the palace, in front of which passed +the brilliant column of honour; at its head marched the commandant-general, +Don Valentin Canalizo; and the brilliancy, neatness, and elegance, which +all the corps of the garrison displayed, is above all praise. When the +regiment had passed, a sumptuous entertainment was served in one of the +halls of the Minister of War, in which elegance, good taste, and propriety, +rivalled one another; while repeated toasts showed the most sincere joy, +united with the most patriotic and fraternal sentiments. Rain having begun +to fall at about three in the afternoon, the paseo was on this account not +so crowded as might have been expected; nevertheless, the military bands +were present, and at six in the evening their Excellencies Generals +Bustamante and Valencia having presented themselves there, were received +with _vivas_ and universal joy. + +"At night the chiefs and officers of the _plana mayor_ gave a ball in the +college of the Mineria; and the theatre of New Mexico dedicated its +entertainment to his Excellency the President. Nothing disturbed the joy of +this day; one sentiment alone of union and cheerfulness overflowed in the +capital, proving to those illustrious generals the unanimous applause with +which Mexicans see their country reward the distinguished services of their +children, who are so deserving of their love and gratitude." + +Notwithstanding the ineffable joy which, according to the _Díario_, is +generally felt on this occasion, there are many who doubt the policy of +this celebration, at a time when the troops are unpaid--when the soldiers, +wounded at the last _pronunciamiento_, are refused their pensions, while +the widows and orphans of others are vainly suing for assistance. "At the +best," say those who cavil on the subject, "it was a civil war--a war +between brothers--a subject of regret and not of glory--of sadness and not +of jubilee." As for General Valencia's congratulation to the president, in +which he compares the "honourable troops" to the Supreme Being, the +re-establishment of order in Mexico to the creation of the world from +chaos, it is chiefly incomprehensible. Perhaps he is carried away by his +joy and gratitude, and personal affection for Bustamante--perhaps he has +taken a leaf from a translation of _Bombastes Furioso_. + +One thing is certain: the whole affair had a brilliant appearance; and the +handsome carriages, fine horses, gaily-dressed officers and soldiers, +together with the military music and the crowds of people collected, +produced an imposing effect. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SECOND + + +Italian Opera--Artists, Male and Female--Prima Donna--Lucia de +Lammermoor--Some Disappointment--Second Representation--Improvement--Romeo +and Giulietta--La Ricci--La Señora Cesari--The Mint--False +Coining--Repetition of Lucia--Procession by Night--A Spanish +Beauty--Discriminating Audience--A little Too Simple--Gold +Embroidery--Santiago--Pilgrims--Old Indian Custom--Soiree--Mexico by +Moonlight--Mysterious Figure--Archbishop--Viceroy. + + +13th July. + + +We little expected to be still here at the opening of the new Italian +opera, and had consequently given up our box. Señor Roca, who went to Italy +to bring out the _requisites_, has arrived at the end of a wonderfully +short period, with the singers, male and female, the new dresses, +decorations, etc.; and the first opera, Lucia de Lammermoor, was given last +week. The theatre is the former _Teatro des Gallos_, an octagonal circus, +which has been fitted up as elegantly as circumstances would permit, and as +the transition from the crowing of cocks to the soft notes of _Giulietta_ +rendered necessary. The _prima donna assoluta_ is the Signora Anaide +Castellan de Giampietro, born in Paris, bred in Milan. The _prima donna +soprano_ is the Signora de Ricci; and the second _donna_ is called +Branzanti. The first tenor is Signor Giampietro, husband to the prima +donna; and the second tenor is the Signor Alberti Bozetti. The first bass +is Signor Tomassi, and the buffo bass Signor Spontini. They have been so +much _prone_, and public expectation has been so much excited, that we +supposed it probable that the first evening at least would be a failure to +a certain extent. Besides, the Mexican audience, if not very experienced, +is decidedly musical; and they have already had a pretty good opera here, +have heard Madame Albini, la Cesari, Garcia (the father of Malibran) and +the _beux restes_ of Galli; therefore can compare. + +The first evening, the Castellan made her appearance as _Lucia_. She is +about twenty; slight and fair, with black hair, graceful, and with a very +sweet, clear, and pure young voice, also very correct. The tenor rests upon +his wife's laurels. He looks well, but little more can be said in his +praise. Tomassi has some good notes, and a fine figure. Of the others who +sang that evening there is little to be said. The theatre is extremely well +got up, the dresses are new and rich, and the decorations and scenery +remarkably good. The public, however, were disappointed. They had prepared +for wonders, and were not satisfied with a fair performance. The applauses +were few and far between. The Castellan was not called for, and the +following day a certain degree of discontent pervaded the aristocracy of +the capital. + +At the second representation of the same opera things mended. The voice of +La Castellan was appreciated. Applauses were loud and long, and at the end +of the opera she and the director were called for and received with +enthusiasm. She seems likely to become a favourite. + +Last evening we had Romeo and Giulietta, in which La Ricci and La Cesari +made their appearance, the former as Giulietta, the latter as Romeo. The +Ricci is a thin young woman, with a long, pale face, black eyes and hair, +long neck and arms, and large hands; extremely pretty, it is said, off the +stage, but very ineffective on it; but both on and off with a very +distinguished air. Her voice is extensive, but wanting cultivation, and +decidedly _pea-hennish_; besides that, she is apt to go out of tune. Her +style of dress was excessively unbecoming to her style of beauty. She wore +a tight white gown, a tight blue satin-peaked body, with long tight blue +sleeves. The public were indulgent, but it was evident that they were +disappointed. + +La Cesari, highly married, and who for the last three years has not +appeared upon the stage, came out as _Romeo_, with tunic and mantle, white +silk stockings, hat, and feathers, etc. She was very much frightened and +ill at ease, and it required all the applause with which the public greeted +the _entree_ of their former favourite to restore her to self-possession. +She looked remarkably well--tall, handsome, beautifully formed, rather +pale, with fine dark eyes, dark hair, and _moustaches_. Her acting was +greatly superior, as much so as was her beauty to any of the others. She +has more knowledge of the theatre, more science, taste, and energy, than +any of them; but her voice, a soft contralto, is out of use and feeble. The +theatre, besides, is ill-constructed for the voice, and must have a bad +effect upon the fulness and tone. On the whole, it seems doubtful whether +the opera will endure long. Were we going to remain here, I should trust +that it might be supported, for, with all its faults and drawbacks, it is +decidedly the best public exhibition in Mexico. The _coup d'oeil_ was +exceedingly pretty, as all the boxes were crowded, and the ladies were in +full dress. + +July 20th.--As we are living in the mint, the directors have called on us; +and this morning they came to invite us to descend into the lower regions +to see the silver coined. We went all over this immense establishment, a +fine picture of decayed magnificence, built about one hundred and ten years +ago by the Spaniards. Dirty, ill-kept, the machinery rude, the workmen +discontented; its fine vaulted roofs, that look like the interior of a +cathedral, together with that _grandiose_ style which distinguished the +buildings of the Spaniards in Mexico, form a strong contrast with the +occupants. + +We saw the silver bars stretched out, the dollars cut and whitened and +stamped; and in one place we saw the machines for _coining false money_, +which have been collected in such numbers that there is hardly room for +them! We saw the place where the silver and gold is tested; and the room +with the medals, amongst which are some ancient Roman, Persian, and +English, but especially Spanish, and many of the time of Charles III.; when +we were looking at which, an old gentleman exclaimed, "Would to Heaven +those days would return!" without doubt the general feeling. This old man +had been forty-four years in the Casa de Moneda, and had lived under +several viceroys. He could remember, when a boy, being sent with a +commission to the Viceroy Revillagigedo, and being very much frightened, +but soon reassured by the kind reception of the representative of majesty. +He spoke of the flourishing condition of the mint in those days, which +coined twenty-seven millions annually, and was a royal house. He said that +the viceroys used to praise them and thank them for their exertions; that +the house was then kept in the most perfect order, the principal officers +wearing a uniform, etc. + +Hereupon another old gentleman took up the theme, and improved upon it; and +told us, that, on one occasion, they had one million three hundred thousand +dollars' worth of gold in the house; and described the visit of the +vice-queen Yturriguary, who came to see it, and sat down and looked round +her in amazement at the quantity of gold she saw accumulated. This old +gentleman had been thirty years in the mint, and seemed as though he had +never been anywhere else; as if he were part and parcel in it, and had been +coined, and beat out, and clipped there. + +Hearing him, another fat man, rather unclipt-looking than otherwise, began +to bewail the state of the times, till it was a chorus universal, where all +sang in one key. One had a very large, underhanging lip, with a kind of +tragi-comic countenance, and was constantly making lugubrious puns. +Another, who seemed bred to the mint, (though by his account the mint was +not _bread_ to him,) was insatiably curious, as a man born in a mint might +be. We passed about three hours in a mixture of admiration of the past and +sorrow for the present, and were reconducted to our domicile by the poor +_employes,_ who seemed to think that a Spanish Minister was the next best +to a Spanish viceroy, or of anything they had seen for some time. + + "The Past is nothing; and at last, + The Future will but be the Past," + +says Lord Byron. Here the past is everything; and the future?--Answer it +who can. + +We were assured, while wondering at the number of machines for false +coining which had been collected, that there are twice that number now in +full force in Mexico; but that they belong to such distinguished +personages, the government is afraid to interfere with them. Besides this, +there is now no sufficient punishment for this crime, a capital offence in +the days of the Spanish government. A lady here is said to have exclaimed +with much simplicity on hearing her husband accused of false coining, "I +really wonder why they make so much noise about it. It seems to me that my +husband's copper is as good as any other!" + +24th.--We went last evening to the opera, which was a repetition of Lucia, +as it appears they cannot venture, in the face of public disapprobation, to +repeat Romeo and Giulietta at present. As we were passing through the +square, the carriage suddenly drew up, the coachman and footman uncovered +their heads, and an immense procession came passing along the cathedral, +with lights and military music. There were officers in full uniform, with +their heads uncovered, a long file of monks and priests, and a carriage +carrying the host, surrounded by hundreds of people on foot, all bearing +lighted torches. A band of military music accompanied the procession, all +which astonished us, as it was no fête-day. When, at length, being able to +pass along, we arrived at the opera, we were informed that they were +carrying the _viaticum_ to a rich acquaintance of ours, a general, who has +been indisposed for some time, and whose illness has now exhibited fatal +symptoms. + +For him, then, these great cathedral bells are tolling heavily; for him, +the torches and the pompous procession--the sandalled monks, and the +officers in military array; while two bands of music are playing at his +door and another in front of the cathedral, and in the midst of these +sounds of monkish hymn and military music, the soul is preparing to wing +its flight alone and unattended. + +But the sweet notes of Lucia drown all other from our ears, if not from our +thoughts. In a house not many hundred yards off, they Minister the host to +the dying man, while here, La Castellan, with her pretty French graces and +Italian singing, is drawing tears from our eyes for fictitious sorrows. + +The theatre was pretty well filled, though there were some empty boxes, +sights more hideous in the eyes of actors than toothless mouths. We sat +with Madame la Baronne de -----, and nearly opposite was Madame -----, +related to the "_Principe de la Paz_," a handsome woman, with a fine +Bohemian cast of face, dark in complexion, with glittering teeth, brilliant +eyes, and dark hair. La Castellan sang very well, with much clearness, +precision, and facility. She is certainly graceful and pretty, but, except +in her method, more French than Italian. Her style suits Lucia, but I doubt +her having _l'air noble_ sufficient for a Norma or a Semiramis. The bass +improves upon acquaintance, but the handsome tenor is nought. The audience +seemed to me both indulgent and discriminating. They applauded the pretty +prima donna _con furor_; they praised the bass when he deserved it, the +tenor when it was possible; but where he sang false, nothing could extort +from them a solitary _viva_. This discrimination makes their applause worth +having, and proceeds less from experience or cultivation, than from a +_musical instinct_. + +In a visit we made this morning, we were shown a piece of embroidery, +which, from its splendour and good taste, is worthy of observation, though +by no means uncommon here. We went to call on the wife of a judge, who +showed us all through their beautiful house, which looks out on the +Alameda. In one of the rooms, their daughter was engaged on a piece of +embroidery for the altar of the chapel. The ground was the very richest and +thickest white satin; the design was a garland of vine-leaves, with bunches +of grapes. The vine-leaves were beautifully embroidered in fine gold, and +the grapes were composed of amethysts. I can conceive nothing richer and +more tasteful than the general effect. The gold embroidery done in Mexico +is generally very beautiful, and there are many ladies who embroider in +great perfection. There is an amazing quantity of it used in the churches, +and in military uniforms. I have also seen beautiful gold-embroidered +ball-dresses, but they are nearly out of fashion.... We hear that +General -----, though still ill, is likely to recover. + +25th.--This being the day of Santiago, the patron saint of Spain, C---n was +invited by the padres to San Francisco to attend mass in the church there. +We were shown to the tribuna (gallery) of the Countess de Santiago, where +they gave us chairs, and put down a piece of carpet. C---n and the rest of +the legation were in the body of the church, in velvet chairs, with lighted +tapers in their hands. The saint was carried in procession, going out by +the principal door, making a tour of the streets, and returning by a side +door. The music was pretty good, especially one soprano voice. Twelve +little boys were placed on crimson velvet benches, on either side of the +altar, representing pilgrims of Galicia (of which Santiago is the capital), +handsome little fellows, belonging to respectable families, dressed in +robes of dark green or crimson, or violet-coloured velvet, with falling +lace collars, and the neck ornamented with gold and silver shells; a large +pilgrim's hat fastened on behind, and hanging down, and in their hands +staffs with gold bells. They were beautiful children, and all behaved with +becoming gravity and decorum during the ceremony, walking with much dignity +in the procession. + +After the _función_, we went out to Santiago, an old church near Mexico, +where the Indians annually come in procession on this day, and sell their +fruit, flowers, pulque, etc. All the waste ground near the church was +covered with green booths, and there was a great crowd of carriages and +horsemen, and people on foot. The troops were drawn out, escorting the +procession to the church. But though the scene was curious, as the remnant +of an old-established ceremony, and the Indians, with their booths and +flowers, and great show of fruit, were all very picturesque, the sun was so +intense, that after walking about a little while, and buying tunas and nuts +and peaches, we returned home, together with the Guera Rodriguez, who was +in the carriage with us, and giving us a lively description of what this +fête used to be in former days. Had a visit the same morning from the +Señora M----, whom I think even handsomer by daylight, than she appeared to +be at the opera; not always the case with dark beauties. + +26th.-Another representation of Vaccaj's Romeo and Giulietta, with the +second appearance of La Ricci. Music and Ricci seem considered a failure. +The Señora Cesari made the handsomest of Romeos, as usual, but was ill, and +out of spirits. The opera as a whole was coldly received; the boxes and pit +were nearly empty, and La Ricci seems unlikely to gain any favour with the +public, though it must be confessed that she looked better, was more +becomingly dressed, and both sang and acted better than the preceding +night. Yesterday we went to a _soirée_ at the ----- Minister's. Madame +Castellan and her tenor were there, and had come from a dinner given by a +rich curate to the whole _corps operatique_, from the prima donna down to +the _joueur du fagote_, and even to the tailor who makes the opera dresses, +and his wife. This rich padre, it is said, spends a great part of his +fortune in entertaining actors and singers. La Castellan (permission to +that effect having been obtained from the manager, for it is against their +agreement to perform in private houses) sang several airs to the piano, +with much expression, especially from _Robert le Díable_; and _Nina Pazza +per Amore_; but I prefer her voice in the theatre. She is not at all +beautiful, but has a charming face with a very musical expression. + +We returned home by moonlight, the most flattering medium through which +Mexico can be viewed; with its broad and silent streets, and splendid old +buildings, whose decay and abandonment are softened by the silvery light; +its ancient churches, from which the notes of the organ occasionally come +pealing forth, mingled with faint blasts of music borne on the night wind +from some distant procession; or with the soft music of a hymn from some +neighbouring convent. The white-robed monk--the veiled female--even the +ragged beggar, add to the picture; by daylight his rags are too visible. +Frequently, as the carriages roll along to the opera, or as, at a late +hour, they return from it, they are suddenly stopped by the appearance of +the mysterious coach, with its piebald mules, and the _Eye_ surrounded by +rays of light on its panels; a melancholy apparition, for it has come from +the house of mourning, probably from the bed of death. Then, by the +moonlight, the kneeling figures on the pavement seemed as if carved in +stone. The city of Mexico by moonlight--the environs of Mexico at daybreak +--these are the hours for viewing both to advantage, and for making us feel +how + + "All but the spirit of man is divine." + +In front of our house, I should say of _the Mint_, is the archbishop's +palace, and in front of this palace an object which has greatly excited our +curiosity. It is an old man, who, whether as a penance, or from some motive +which we do not know, kneels, wrapt in his serape, beside the wall of the +_Arzobispado_ from sunset till midnight, or later--for we have frequently +gone out at nine in the evening, and left him kneeling there; and on our +return at one in the morning have found him in the same position. He asks +no alms, but kneels there silent and motionless, hour after hour, as if in +the performance of some vow.... + +We made a call this evening on the archbishop in his own palace, an +enormously large building; a sort of street, like this Casa de Moneda. He +received us very cordially, and looked very comfortable without his robes +of state, in a fine cloth dressing-gown, lined with violet-coloured silk. + +August 1st.--We had a visit last evening from one of the directors of the +mint, a curious and most original genius, a Mexican, who has served nearly +thirty years in that and other capacities, and who, after speaking of the +different viceroys he had seen, proceeded to give us various anecdotes of +the Viceroy Revillagigedo, the most honoured for his justice, renowned for +his energy, and feared for his severity, of the whole dynasty. Our friend +was moved to enthusiasm by the sight of an old-fashioned but very handsome +musical clock, which stands on a table in the drawing-room, and which he +says was brought over by this viceroy, and was no doubt considered a +miracle of art in those days. + +Some of the anecdotes he told us are already generally known here, but his +manner of telling them was very interesting, and he added various +particulars which we had not heard before. Besides, the stories themselves +seem to me so curious and characteristic, that however much they lose by +being tamely written instead of _dramatized_ as they are by him, I am +tempted to give you one or two specimens. But my letter is getting beyond +all ordinary limits, and your curiosity will no doubt keep cool till the +arrival of another packet. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-THIRD + + +Revillagigedo--The False Merchant and the Lady--The Viceroy, the Unjust +Spaniard, the Indian, and the Golden Ounces--Horrible Murder--Details-- +Oath--Country Family--The Spot of Blood--The Mother unknowingly denounces +her Son--Arrest of _the Three_--Confession--Execution--The Viceroy fulfils +his Pledge--Paving of the Streets--Severity to the Monks--Solitary Damsel +--Box on the Ear--Pension--Morning Concert--New Minister--"Street of the +Sad Indian"--Traditions--A Farewell Audience--Inscription on a Tomb. + + +August 3rd. + + +A lady of fortune, owing to some combination of circumstances, found +herself in difficulties, and in immediate want of a small sum of money. Don +----- being her _compadre_, and a respectable merchant, she went to him to +state her necessities, and offered him a case of valuable jewels as +security for repayment, provided he would advance her eight hundred +dollars. He agreed, and the bargain was concluded without any written +document, the lady depositing her jewels and receiving the sum. At the end +of a few months, her temporary difficulties being ended, she went to her +_compadre's_ house to repay the money, and receive back her jewels. The man +readily received the money, but declared to his astonished _comadre_, that +as to the jewels, he had never heard of them, and that no such transaction +had taken place. The Señora, indignant at the merchant's treachery, +instantly repaired to the palace of the vice-king hoping for justice from +this Western Solomon, though unable to conceive how it could be obtained. +She was instantly received by Revillagigedo, who listened attentively to +her account of the circumstances. "Had you no witnesses?" said the count. +"None," replied she. "Did no servant pass in or out during the +transaction?" "No one." The viceroy reflected a moment. "Does your compadre +smoke?" "No, sir," said the lady, astonished at this irrelevant question, +and perhaps the more so, as the count's aversion to smoking was so well +known, that none of his smoking subjects ventured to approach him without +having taken every precaution to deaden any odour of the fragrant weed +which might lurk about their clothes or person. "Does he take snuff?" said +the viceroy. "Yes, your Excellency," said his visitor, who probably feared +that for once his Excellency's wits were wool-gathering. "That is +sufficient," said the viceroy; "retire into the adjoining chamber and _keep +quiet_--your jewels shall be restored." His Excellency then despatched a +messenger for the merchant, who immediately presented himself. + +"I have sent for you," said the viceroy, "that we may talk over some +matters in which your mercantile knowledge may be of use to the state." The +merchant was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy; while the viceroy entered +into conversation with him upon various affairs connected with his +profession. Suddenly the viceroy put his hand first in one pocket, then in +the other, with the air of a man who has mislaid something. "Ah!" said he, +"my snuff-box. Excuse me for a moment while I go to fetch it from the next +room." "Sir!" said the merchant, "permit me to have the honour of offering +my box to your Excellency." His Excellency received it as if mechanically, +holding it in his hand and talking, till pretexting some business, he went +out, and calling an officer, desired him to take that snuff-box to the +merchant's house, asking his wife as from him, by that token, to deliver to +the bearer a case of jewels which he had there. The viceroy returned to the +apartment where he had left his flattered guest, and remained in +conversation with him until the officer returned, and requesting private +speech of the viceroy, delivered to him a jewel-case which he had received +from the merchant's wife. + +Revillagigedo then returned to his fair complainant, and under pretence of +showing her some rooms in the palace, led her into one, where amongst many +objects of value, the jewel-case stood open. No sooner had she cast her +eyes upon it than she started forward in joy and amazement. The viceroy +requested her to wait there a little longer, and returned to his other +guest. "Now," said he, "before going further, I wish to hear the truth +concerning another affair in which you are interested. Are you acquainted +with the Señora de -----?" "Intimately, sir--she is my _comadre_." "Did you +lend her eight hundred dollars, at such a date?" "I did." "Did she give you +a case of jewels in pledge?" "Never," said the merchant, vehemently. "The +money was lent without any security; merely as an act of friendship, and +she has invented a story concerning some jewels, which has not the +slightest foundation." In vain the viceroy begged him to reflect, and not, +by adding falsehood to treachery, force him to take measures of severity. +The merchant with oaths persisted in his denial. The viceroy left the room +suddenly, and returned with the jewel-case in his hand; at which unexpected +apparition, the astonished merchant changed colour, and entirely lost his +presence of mind. The viceroy ordered him from his presence, with a severe +rebuke for his falsehood and treachery, and an order never again to enter +the palace. At the same time he commanded him to send him, the next +morning, eight hundred dollars with five hundred more; which he did, and +which were, by the viceroy's order, distributed amongst the hospitals. His +Excellency is said to have added a severe reprimand to the lady, for having +made a bargain without writing. + +Another story which I recollect, is as follows: A poor Indian appeared +before the viceroy, and stated that he had found in the street a bag full +of golden ounces, which had been advertised with the promise of a handsome +reward to the person who should restore them to the owner; that upon +carrying them to this Don -----, he had received the bag, counted the +ounces, extracted two, which he had seen him slip into his pocket; and had +then reproached the poor man with having stolen part of the money, had +called him a thief and a rascal, and, instead of rewarding, had driven him +from the house. With the viceroy there was no delay. Immediate action was +his plan. Detaining the Indian, he despatched an officer to desire the +attendance of Don ----- with his bag of ounces. He came, and the viceroy +desired him to relate the circumstances, his practised eye reading his +falsehood at a glance. "May it please your Excellency, I lost a bag +containing gold. The Indian, now in your Excellency's presence, brought it +to me in hopes of a reward, having first stolen part of its contents. I +drove him from the house as a thief, who, instead of recompense, deserves +punishment." + +"Stay," said the viceroy, "there is some mistake here. How many ounces were +there in the bag you lost?" "Twenty-eight." "And how many are here?" "But +twenty-six." "Count them down. I see it is as you say. The case is clear, +and we have all been mistaken. Had this Indian been a thief, he would never +have brought back the bag, and stolen merely two ounces. He would have kept +the whole. It is evident that this is not your bag but another which this +poor man has found. Sir, our interview is at an end. Continue to search for +your bag of gold; and as for you, friend, since we cannot find the true +owner, sweep up these twenty-six pieces and carry them away. They are +yours." So saying, his Excellency bowed out the discomfited cheat and the +overjoyed rustic. Mr. ----- says that this story, he thinks, is taken from +something similar in an oriental tale. However, it _may_ have occurred +twice. + +A horrible murder took place in 1789, during the vice-royaltyship of +Revillagigedo, which is remarkable in two particulars; the trifling +circumstances which led to its discovery, and the energy displayed by the +viceroy, contrasting strongly with the tardy execution of justice in our +days. There lived in Mexico at that period, in the street of _Cordovanes_, +No. 15, a rich merchant of the name of Don Joaquin Dongo. A clerk named +José Joaquin Blanco, who had formerly been in his office, having fallen +into vicious courses, and joined in companionship with two other young men, +Filipe Aldama and Baltazar Quintero gamblers and cock-fighters (with +reverence be it spoken) like himself, formed, in concert with them, a plan +for robbing his former master. + +They accordingly repaired to the house one evening when they knew that +Dongo was from home, and imitating the signal which Blanco knew the +coachman was in the habit of making to the porter when the carriage +returned at night, the doors were immediately thrown open, and the robbers +entered. The porter was their first victim. He was thrown down and stabbed. +A postman, who was waiting with letters for the return of the master of the +house, was the next, and then the cook, and so on, until eleven lay +weltering in their blood. The wretches then proceeded to pick the locks of +the different bureaux, guided by Blanco, who, in his former capacity, had +made himself _au fait_ of all the secrets of the house. They obtained +twenty-two thousand dollars in specie, and about seven thousand dollars' +worth of plate. + +Meanwhile the unfortunate master of the house returned home, and at the +accustomed signal the doors were opened by the robbers, and on the entrance +of the carriage, instantly relocked. Seeing the porter bathed in blood, and +dead bodies lying at the foot of the staircase, he comprehended at once his +desperate situation, and advancing to Aldama, who stood near the door, he +said, "My life is in your hands; but for God's sake, show some mercy, and +do not murder me in cold blood. Say what sums of money you want. Take all +that is in the house, and leave me, and I swear to keep your secret." +Aldama consented, and Dongo passed on. As he ascended the stairs, stepping +over the body of the postman, he encountered Quintero, and to him he made +the same appeal, with the same success; when Blanco, springing forward, +held his sword to Quintero's breast, and swearing a great oath, exclaimed, +"If you do not stab him, I will kill you on the spot!" Conceive, for one +moment, the situation of the unfortunate Dongo, surrounded by the murdered +and the murderers in his own house, at the dead of the night, and without a +hope of assistance! The suspense was momentary. Thus adjured, Quintero +stabbed him to the heart. + +The murderers then collected their spoil, and it being still dark, two of +them got into Dongo's carriage, the third acting as coachman, and so drove +swiftly out of the gates of the city, till, arriving at a deserted spot, +not far from a village, they turned the carriage and mules adrift, and +buried their treasure, which they transported afterwards to a house in the +Calle de la Aguila (the street of the eagle), No. 23; and went about their +avocations in the morning, as if nothing had occurred. Meanwhile, the +public consternation may be conceived, when the morning dawned upon this +bloody tragedy. As for the viceroy, he swore that the murderers should be +discovered, and hanged before his eyes, that day week. + +Immediately the most energetic measures were taken, and the gates of the +city shut, to prevent all egress. Orders were given through all the +different districts of the capital, that every guest, or visitor, or +boarder, whether in inn or lodging, or private house, should have their +names given up to the police, with an account of their condition, +occupation, motives for living in Mexico, etc. Strict cognizance was taken +in all the villages near the capital, of every person who had passed +through, or entered, or left the village within a certain space of time. +All the roads near the capital were scoured by parties of soldiers. Every +hidden place was searched by the police; every suspected house entered. The +funeral of the ill-fated Dongo and of the other victims, took place the +following day; and it was afterwards remembered that Aldama was there +amongst the foremost, remarking and commenting upon this horrible wholesale +butchery, and upon the probabilities of discovering the murderers. + +A country family from a neighbouring village, hearing of all these doings +in Mexico, and with that love of the marvellous which characterizes persons +uneducated, or unaccustomed to the world, determined to pay a visit to the +capital, and to hear at the fountain head, all these wonderful stories, +which had probably reached them under a hundred exaggerated forms. No +sooner had they entered their lodgings, than they were visited and examined +by the police, and their deposition taken down as to their motives for +visiting the capital, their place of birth, etc. As a gratuitous piece of +information, one of them mentioned, that, passing by a barber's shop +(probably with his eyes opened wide in the expectation of seeing horrible +sights), he had observed a man talking to the barber, who had a stain of +blood upon his _queue_ (hair being then worn powdered and tied behind). +Trifling as this circumstance appears to us, the viceroy ordered that the +person who mentioned it should instantly conduct the police officers to the +shop where he had observed it. The shop being found, the barber was +questioned as to what persons he had been conversing with that morning, and +mentioned about half-a-dozen; amongst others _Aldama_, who did not bear a +very good reputation. Aldama was sent for, confronted with the man who gave +the information, identified as the same, and the stain of blood being +observed, he was immediately committed to prison upon suspicion. Being +questioned as to the cause of the stain, he replied, that being at a +cock-fight, on such a day, at such an hour, the blood from one of the dying +cocks, which he held, had spirted up, and stained the collar of his shirt +and his hair. Inquiries being made at the cock-pit, this was corroborated +by several witnesses, and extraordinary as it is, it is most probable that +the _assertion was true_. + +But meanwhile, the mother of Blanco, deeply distressed at the dissolute +courses of her son, took the resolution (which proves more than anything +else Revillagigedo's goodness, and the confidence which all classes had in +him) to consult the viceroy as to the means of converting the young man to +better habits. It seems as if the hand of an avenging Providence had +conducted this unfortunate mother to take a step so fatal to her son. She +told the viceroy that she had in vain attempted to check him, that his days +and nights were spent with profligate companions in gambling-houses and in +cock-pits, and that she feared some mischief would come some day from his +fighting and swearing and drinking; that but a few days since he had come +home late, and that she had observed that his stockings were _dabbled in +blood_; that she had questioned him upon it, and that he had answered +surlily he had got it in the cock-pit. Her narration was hardly concluded, +before Blanco was arrested and placed in a separate cell of the same prison +with Aldama. Shortly after, Quintero, only as being the intimate friend and +companion of both parties, was taken up on suspicion and lodged in the same +prison; all being separately confined, and no communication permitted +between them. + +It seems as if Quintero, perhaps the least hardened of the three, was +struck with the conviction that, in the extraordinary combination of +circumstances which had led to the arrest of himself and his companions in +villany, the finger of God was too distinctly visible to permit a doubt of +ultimate discovery to rest upon his mind, for he confessed at once, and +declaring that he saw all denial was useless, gave a circumstantial account +of the whole. He begged for nine days' grace to prepare himself for death, +but the viceroy would grant but three. When Aldama confessed, he made the +avowal that he was guilty of a previous murder, when he was alcalde of a +village near Mexico, which was before the time of Revillagigedo, and for +which he had been tried and acquitted. He being alcalde, the postman of the +village was in the habit of passing by his house, giving him an account of +whatever money he had collected, etc. One evening this man stopped at +Aldama's, and told him he was intrusted with a sum of fifteen hundred +dollars to carry to a neighbouring village. At twelve o'clock he left +Aldama's house, who, taking a short cut across the fields, reached the +postman by this other direction, stabbed him, and carried back the money. +Next day, when the murder was made known, the alcalde, in his robes of +justice, visited the body, and affected to institute a strict search for +the murderer. Nevertheless he was suspected and arrested, but escaped by +bribery, and shortly after, leaving the village, came to the wider theatre +of Mexico. + +The murderers having thus made their confession, were ordered to prepare +for death. A scaffold erected between the central gate of the palace, and +that which is now the principal gate of the city guards, was hung with +black to denote that the criminals were of noble blood. An immense crowd +were assembled; and the viceroy, standing on the balcony of his palace, +witnessed the execution in the great square, the _very day week_ that the +murders were committed. + +The streets were then kept in perfect order, both as to paving and +lighting; and on one occasion, having rode all through the city, as was his +custom, to observe whether everything was in order for the holy week, he +observed that several parts of the different streets were unpaved, and out +of repair; whereupon, sending for the head of the police, he desired that +these streets should be paved and in order before the holy week, of which +it wanted but a few days. The officer declared the thing to be impossible. +The viceroy ordered it to be done, on the penalty of losing his place. +Early on the morning of Palm Sunday, he sent to know if all was in +readiness; and as the bells tolled for early mass, the last stone was laid +on the Calle San Francisco, which completed the work.... + +It is said he frequently went about _incog_., attended by one or two +aides-de-camp, by which means, like another Haroun Al Raschid, he was +enabled to discover and correct hidden abuses. By his orders, no monk could +be out of his convent after vespers. Walking one evening along the streets, +he encountered a monk in the Calle San Francisco, taking his pleasure long +after the appointed hour. The viceroy walked directly to the convent; and +on making himself known, was received by the abbot with all due respect. +"How many monks have you in your convent, father?" asked the viceroy. +"Fifty, your Excellency." "There are now only forty-nine. Call them over, +see which is the missing brother, and let his name be struck out." The list +was produced--the names called over, and only forty-five monks presented +themselves. By order of the viceroy, the five who had broken through the +rules, were never again admitted into the convent. Alas! could his +Excellency have lived in these our degenerate days, and beheld certain +monks of a certain order drinking pulque and otherwise disporting +themselves! nay, seen one, as we but just now did from the window, +strolling along the street by lamplight, with an _Yntida_ (Indian girl) +tucked under his arm!.... + +One more anecdote of the "immortal Revillagigedo," and I have done. It was +very late at night, when not far from the gate of the city called "The +lost child," (in commemoration of that period when "_the child Jesús +tarried behind in Jerusalem_," and that his parents sought for him +sorrowing,) his Excellency encountered a good-looking damsel, walking +briskly and alone, at these untimely hours; yet withal quiet and modest in +her demeanour. Wishing to try the temper of her steel (or brass) he left +his officers a little way behind; and perhaps they were not astonished.... +"Oh! by no means, certainly not!"--when they saw the grave and severe +Revillagigedo approach the fair maiden somewhat familiarly, and request +permission to accompany her in her rambles, a proposal which was +indignantly rejected. "Anda!" (Come!) said his Excellency, "give over +these airs--you, a _mugercilla_, strolling about in search of adventures." +Imagine the feelings of his Excellency, on receiving in reply a tremendous +and well-applied box on the ear! The staff rushed forward, and were +astonished to find the viceroy with a smiling countenance, watching the +retreating steps of the adventurous damsel. "What! your Excellency--such +insolence! such audacity! such--" "Come, come," said the viceroy, "she has +proved herself worthy of our favour. Let instant inquiry be made as to her +birth and parentage, and as to her reasons for being on the streets at +this hour. They must be honest ones." The result proved the viceroy +correct in his opinion. She was a poor girl, supporting a dying mother by +giving music lessons, and obliged to trudge on foot from house to house at +all hours; and amongst her scholars was the daughter of an old lady who +lived out of the gates of the city, and from whose house, being that of +her last visited pupil, she had frequently to return late at night. On +being informed of these particulars, his Excellency ordered her a pension +of three hundred dollars per annum, to be continued to the day of her +death, and it is said she is still alive, though very old. This is making +one's fortune by a _coup de main_, or by a lucky hit! + +August 6th.--This morning we had some very good music; Madame Castellan and +the tenor, and Madame Cesari having passed some hours here, together with +Madame la Baronne de ----- and a few other gentlemen and ladies. La +Castellan was very amiable, and sang beautifully, but looked pale and +fatigued. She has been very effective lately in the Somnambula. Madame +Cesari was in great beauty. + +About an hour after they had gone, the new Minister and his family made +their _entree_ into Mexico. It is now, however, too late for us to return +till the autumn, as there is a great deal of fever at Vera Cruz; nor do we +entirely give up hopes, as soon as C---n shall be at leisure, of making +another journey on horseback into the interior. There are, however, rumours +of another pronunciamiento, and should this be the case, our present +quarters next to the palace will be more distinguished than agreeable. + +I have always had a curiosity to know why the Calle del Indio Triste +(Street of the Sad Indian) was so called. We are on visiting terms with two +or three _houses_ in that street, and never pass those large black letters, +which tell the passenger that this is the street of "_The Sad Indian_," +without my imagination figuring to itself that here some tragedy connected +with the conquest must have taken place. It was therefore with great joy +that I fell upon an article in the "Mosaico Mejicano," purporting to give +an explanation of this melancholy title-page to an otherwise very tolerable +(in the way of houses) but very ill-paved street, where, amongst other +handsome edifices, is the house of a rich Spaniard (Señor R---o), +remarkable for its beautiful entrance and elegant _salons_. It appears that +there are different traditions respecting it. One, that shortly after the +conquest, a rich cacique lived there, who acted as a spy on his Indian +brethren, and informed the viceroy of all their plans and combinations +against the government; but that on one occasion, having failed to inform +his patrons of an intended mutiny, they seized this pretext for +sequestrating his property:--that afterwards, poor, abandoned and despised, +he sat down in the corner of the street, weeping his misfortune and meeting +with no pity; until at length he abstained from all food for some days, and +was found dead in the corner of the street, sitting in the same melancholy +posture; that the viceroy declared his wealth crown property, and with the +intention of striking terror into the hearts of the malcontents, caused a +stone statue to be made representing the weeping Indian; that this statue +was placed at the corner of the street, with its back to the wall, and so +remained until, the house being pulled down, the statue was sent to the +Museum, where it now is; the street retaining the name of the Sad Indian. + +But there is another tradition mentioned concerning the origin of the name, +more interesting and even more probable. It appears that the ground now +occupied by this street is the site of the Palace of Axayacatl, the father +of Montezuma, last Emperor of Mexico. In this spacious and magnificent +palace the Spaniards were received and lodged, and, according to +Torquemada, each in a separate apartment. There were a multitude of idols +in this dwelling, and though they had no separate temple, various feasts +were dedicated to them. After the conquest they were for the most part +broken and destroyed, and it was only lately that, by accident, the head of +the god of the waters, beautifully worked in serpentine marble, was +discovered there; still, one statue had been preserved, that of an Indian, +said to have been placed there by the Aztecs, as a memorial of their sorrow +at the death of Montezuma, to whom, on account of his misfortunes, they +gave the name of "_el Indio triste_." This was afterwards placed at the +corner of the new building erected there by the Spaniards, and gave its +name to the street. It is a melancholy looking statue, whomsoever it may +represent, of an Indian in a sitting posture, with a most dejected and +forlorn air and countenance. The material is basaltic stone. + +11th.--C---n has just returned from seeing the general archives, which are +all in confusion and going to ruin. Don Ygnacio Cuevas, who has the charge +of them, has written various works--the History of the Viceroys-the +Californias, etc.--which were robbed or destroyed in the last +pronunciamiento. He related the story of Revillagigedo and the jewels, only +differing from _my_ friend's narrative in that he says it was not a +jewel-case, but a diamond bracelet. He assured C---n that Mexico in Indian +means "below this," alluding to the population who, according to tradition, +are buried beneath the _Pedregal_. + +18th.--News has arrived that General Paredes _pronounced_ in Guadalajara on +the eighth of the month! Strange rumours are afloat, and it is generally +supposed that Santa Anna is or will be the prime mover of the great changes +that are predicted. By many, however, it is talked of as very trifling, as +a mere movement that will soon be put down. The plan which Paredes has +published is essentially military, but announces a congress, which renders +it very popular in the departments. It has been adopted by the departments +of Zacatecas, Durango, and Guanajvato. Meanwhile, everything continues here +as usual. We have been several times at the opera; the _paseos_ are very +crowded, and we had a musical _soirée_ the other evening, which was very +gay, but from the signs of the times, will probably be our last in Mexico. + +28th.--This morning C---n took his farewell audience of the president, and +the new Minister was received. + +3Oth.--These few last days have chiefly been spent in paying visits of +ceremony with the Señora -----. Nevertheless we spent an hour last evening +in the beautiful cemetery a little way out of the city, which is rather a +favourite haunt of ours, and is known as the "_Panteon de Santa María_." It +has a beautiful chapel attached to it, where the daily mass is said for the +dead, and a large garden filled with flowers. Young trees of different +kinds have been planted there, and the sight of the tombs themselves, in +their long and melancholy array of black coffins, with gold-lettered +inscriptions, even while it inspires the saddest ideas, has something +soothing in its effect. They are kept in perfect order, and the +inscriptions, though not always eloquent, are almost always full of +feeling, and sometimes extremely touching. There is one near the entrance, +which is pathetic in its native language, and though it loses much in the +translation, I shall transcribe it: + +"Here lie the beloved remains of Carmen and José Pimentel y Heras. The +first died the 11th of June, 1838, aged one year and eleven months; the +second on the 5th of September of 1839, in the sixteenth month of his +existence; and to their dear memory maternal love dedicates the +following:-- + +"EPITAPH. + + "Babes of my love! my Carmen and José! + Sons of your cherished father, Pimentel. + Why have you left your mother's side? for whom? + What motives have ye had to leave me thus? + But hark! I hear your voice--and breathlessly I listen. + I hear ye say--'To go to heaven! + Mother! we have left thee to see our God!' + Beloved shades! if this indeed be so, + Then let these bitter tears be turned to joy. + It is not meet that I should mourn for ye, + Since me ye have exchanged for my God. + To Him give thanks! and in your holy songs, + Pray that your parents' fate may be like yours." + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FOURTH + + +Agitation--Storm--Revolution--Manifesto--Resembling a Game of +Chess--Position of the Pieces--Appearance of the City--Firing--State of +Parties--Comparisons--"_Comicios_"--The People--Congress--Santa +Anna--Amnesty offered--Roaring of Cannon--Proclamation--Time to _look at +home_--The Will of the Nation--Different Feelings--Judge's House +destroyed--The Mint in Requisition--Preparations--Cannonading--"_Los +Enanos_." + + +31st. + + +This afternoon the clouds, gathered together in gloomy masses, announced a +thunderstorm, and at the same time a certain degree of agitation apparently +pervading the city was suddenly observable from our balconies. Shops were +shutting up; people hurrying in all directions, heads at all the windows, +and men looking out from the azoteas; but as these symptoms were +immediately followed by a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning and +splashing rain, we trusted that the cause had been very simple. But these +elements of nature are wielded by the Hand that called them forth, and can +stay them at His will, and the sun breaking forth smilingly and scattering +the clouds, made us feel that the storm had but refreshed the parched earth +and cleared the sultry atmosphere. Not so with the storm which has been +brooding in the hearts of a handful of ambitious men, and which has burst +forth at last, its bolts directed by no wise or merciful power, and by the +hands of selfish and designing and short-sighted mortals. + +The storm, though short, had not pased away, when news was brought us of a +new _revolution in Mexico_! General Valencia, he who pronounced (but two +short months ago!) the high-flown and flattering speech to the president, +on receiving the sword of honour, has now _pronounced_ in a very different +and much clearer manner. Listen to him now:-- + +"Soldiers! The despotism of the Mexican government, the innumerable evils +which the nation suffers, the unceasing remonstrances which have been made +against these evils, and which have met with no attention, have forced us +to take a step this evening, which is not one of rebellion, but is the +energetic expression of our resolution to sacrifice everything to the +common good and interest. The cause which we defend is that of all +Mexicans; of the rich as of the poor; of the soldier as of the civilian. We +want a country, a government, the felicity of our homes, and respect from +without; and we shall obtain all; let us not doubt it. The nation will be +moved by our example. The arms which our country has given us for her +defence, we shall know how to employ in restoring her honour--an honour +which the government has stained by not acknowledging the total absence of +morality and energy in the actual authorities. The army which made her +independent shall also render her powerful and free. The illustrious +General Santa Anna to-day marches to Puebla, at the head of our heroic +companions at Vera Cruz, while upon Queretaro, already united to the +valiant General Paredes, the brave General Cortazar now begins his +operations. + +"In a few days we shall see the other forces of the republic in motion, all +co-operating to the same end. The triumph is secure, my friends, and the +cause which we proclaim is so noble, that conquerors, we shall be covered +with glory; and, happen what may, we shall be honoured by our +fellow-citizens." + +In this manifesto, which is mere declamation, there is no plan. It appears +that no one particularly counted upon General Valencia, and that, whether +fearing to be left out in the events which he saw approaching, or +apprehensive of being arrested by the government, who suspected him, he has +thought it wisest to strike a blow on his own account. Pacheco, who +commanded the citadel, together with Generals Lombardini and Sales, who had +been ordered out to march with their respective regiments against the +_pronunciados_, are now in the citadel, and in a state of revolt. The two +last had but just received money for the payment of their troops on the +preceding day. + +8 o'clock.--Nothing further, but that the president has sallied forth on +horseback from San Agustin; and was received with repeated _vivas_ by the +people collected in the square. + +1st September.--This revolution is like a game at chess, in which kings, +castles, knights, and bishops, are making different moves, while the pawns +are looking on or taking no part whatever. + +To understand the state of the board, it is necessary to explain the +position of the four principal pieces--Santa Anna, Bustamante, Paredes, and +Valencia. The first move was made by Paredes, who published his plan, and +_pronounced_ on the eighth of August at Guadalajara. About the same time, +Don F---- M----, a Spanish broker, who had gone to Manga de Clavo, was sent +to Guadalajara, and had a conference with Paredes, the result of which was, +that the plan of that general was withdrawn, and it was supposed that he +and Santa Anna had formed a combination. Shortly after, the Censor of Vera +Cruz, a newspaper entirely devoted to Santa Anna, pronounced in favour of +the plan of Paredes, and Santa Anna, with a few miserable troops, and a +handful of cavalry, arrived at Perote. Here he remains for the present, +kept in check by the (government) General Torrejon. Meanwhile Paredes, with +about six hundred men, left Guadalajara and marched upon Guanajuato; and +there a blow was given to the government party by the defection of General +Cortazar, who thought fit thus to show his grateful sense of having just +received the rank of general of brigade with the insignia of this new +grade, which the president put on with his own hands. Another _check to the +president_. Once begun, defection spread rapidly, and Paredes and Cortazar +having advanced upon Queretaro, found that General Juvera, with his +garrison, had already _pronounced_ there, at the moment that they were +expected in Mexico to assist the government against Valencia. Paredes, +Cortazar, and Juvera are now united, and their forces amount to two +thousand two hundred men. + +Meanwhile General Valencia, pressed to declare _his plan_, has replied that +he awaits the announcement of the intentions of Generals Paredes and Santa +Anna; and, for his own part, only desires the dismissal of General +Bustamante. + +This, then, is the position of the three principal _pronounced_ chiefs, on +this second day of September of the year of our Lord 1841. Santa Anna in +Perote, hesitating whether to advance or retreat, and, in fact, prevented +from doing either by the vicinity of General Torrejon. Paredes in +Queretaro, with the other revolted generals. Valencia in the citadel of +Mexico with his _pronunciados_; while Bustamante, with Generals Almonte and +Canalizo, the _mark_ against which all these hostile operations are +directed, is determined, it is said, to fight to the last. + +Mexico looks as if it had got a general holiday. Shops shut up, and all +business is at a stand. The people, with the utmost apathy, are collected +in groups, talking quietly; the officers are galloping about; generals, in +a somewhat party-coloured dress, with large gray hats, striped pantaloons, +old coats, and generals' belts, fine horses, and crimson-coloured velvet +saddles. The shopkeepers in the square have been removing their goods and +money. An occasional shot is heard, and sometimes a volley, succeeded by a +dead silence. The archbishop shows his reverend face now and then upon the +opposite balcony of his palace, looks out a little while, and then retires. +The chief effect, so far, is universal idleness in man and beast,--the +soldiers and their quadrupeds excepted. + +The position of the president, however, is not so bad as at first sight it +might appear, or as it will be, if his enemies are permitted to reunite. He +has upwards of two thousand men, twelve pieces of ordnance, and, though his +infantry are few, and he has little artillery, he has good cavalry. +Valencia has twelve hundred men, twenty-six pieces of ordnance, with good +infantry, and almost all the artillery. The rebels have possessed +themselves of the Acordada, and given liberty to those who were imprisoned +for political opinions--a good loophole for the escape of criminals. + +Those who understand these matters say that the principal object of the +government should be to reduce the rebels to the citadel only, and to +occupy all the important points in its neighbourhood, San Diego, San +Hipólito, San Fernando, etc.; but as yet this has not been done, and the +_pronunciados_ are gradually extending, and taking possession of these +points.... + +3rd.--They are now keeping up a pretty brisk fire between San Agustin and +the citadel. This morning the streets were covered with coaches, filled +with families leaving the city. + +4th.--Things are becoming more complicated. The rebels now occupy San José, +Salto de Agua, the college of Vizcaynas (from which all the poor girls and +their teachers have fled), Regina, San Juan de la Penitencia, San Diego, +and San Fernando--a long line of important points. The president's line +begins at San Francisco, continuing by La Concepción; but, without a map of +the city, you will not understand the position of the two parties. However, +every turret and belfry is covered with soldiers, and the streets are +blocked up with troops and trenches. From behind these turrets and trenches +they fire at each other, scarcely a soldier falling, but numbers of +peaceful citizens; shells and bombs falling through the roofs of the +houses, and all this for "_the public good_." + +The war of July had at least a shadow of pretext; it was a war of party, +and those who wished to re-establish federalism may have acted with good +faith. Now there is neither principle, nor pretext, nor plan, nor the +shadow of reason or legality. Disloyalty, hypocrisy, and the most sordid +calculation, are all the motives that can be discovered; and those who then +affected an ardent desire for the welfare of their country have now thrown +aside their masks, and appear in their true colours; and the great mass of +the people, who, thus passive and oppressed, allow their quiet homes to be +invaded, are kept in awe neither by the force of arms, nor by the depth of +the views of the conspirators, but by a handful of soldiers, who are +themselves scarcely aware of their own wishes or intentions, but that they +desire power and distinction at any price. + +It is said that the federalists are very much elated, hoping for the +eventual triumph of their party, particularly in consequence of a +proclamation by Valencia, which appeared two days ago, and is called "the +plan of the _Comicios_," said to be written by General Tomel, who has gone +over to the citadel, and who, having a great deal of classical learning, +talks in it of the Roman _Committees_ (the _Comicios_). Since then the +revolution has taken the name of liberal, and is supported by men of name, +the Pedrazas, Belderas, Riva Palacio, and others, which is of great +importance to Valencia, and has given force and consistency to his party. +Besides this, the _pronunciados_ have the advantage of a free field from +the citadel out to Tacubaya, where it is said that certain rich bankers, +who are on their side, are constantly supplying the citadel with cartloads +of copper, which they send in from thence.... + +Meanwhile, we pass our time very quietly. In the morning we generally have +visitors very early, discussing the probabilities, and giving us the last +reports. Sometimes we venture out when there is no firing, which is much +less constant and alarming than it was last year. So far we continue to +have visitors in the evening, and Señor B---- and I have been playing duets +on the harp and piano, even though Mexico is declared "in a state of +siege." The ----- Minister, who was here this morning, does, however, +strongly recommend us to change our quarters, and to remove to Tacubaya; +which will be so troublesome, that we are inclined to delay it until it +becomes absolutely necessary.... + +5th.--We went upon the azotea this afternoon, to have a good view of the +city. There were people on almost all the balconies, as on a fête-day. A +picturesque group of friars of the order of La Merced, in their white +robes, had mounted up on the belfry of their church, and were looking out +anxiously. The palace roof next our own had soldiers on it. Everything at +that moment was still and tranquil; but the conduct of the people is our +constant source of surprise. Left entirely uncurbed, no one to direct them, +thousands out of employment, many without bread, they meddle with nothing, +do not complain, and scarcely seem to feel any interest in the result. How +easily might such a people be directed for their good! It is said that all +their _apathetic sympathies_ are in favour of Bustamante. + +Some say that Santa Anna will arrive to-day--some that the whole affair +will be settled by treaty; but neither reports nor bulletins can be +depended on, as scarcely any one speaks according to his true feelings or +belief, but according to his political party.... + +It appears that the conduct of congress in this emergency has given little +satisfaction. They affect to give a declaration of the national will, and +are as ambiguous as the Delphic Oracle; and it is said that their half- +measures, and determination not to see that public opinion is against them, +and that a thorough change can alone undermine this military revolution, +will contribute more than anything to its eventual triumph.... + +The president has made use of the extraordinary powers which have been +granted him by the _Poder Conservador_ (conservative power, a singular and +intermediate authority introduced into the Mexican constitution), to +abolish the ten per cent, on consumption, and to modify the personal +contribution, reducing it to the richer classes alone. This concession has +apparently produced no effect. It is said that the government troops +continue to desert, convinced that a revolution in which Santa Anna takes +part must triumph. Four new generals have been made by the president.... + +6th.--We went out to Tacubaya, and found it impossible to procure a room +there, far less a house. This is also the case at Guadalupe, San Joaquin, +in fact in every village near Mexico. We are in no particular danger, +unless they were to bombard the palace. There was a slight shock of an +earthquake yesterday. + +10th.--On the 7th, the president offered an amnesty to the _pronunciados_. +Whatever might have been the result, the evening concluded with a terrible +thunderstorm, mingled with the roaring of cannon, which had a most +lugubrious effect. Many people were killed on the street. We had gone out +in the morning, but met the Ex-Minister H---a, who strongly advised us to +return home directly, as balls were falling, and accidents happening all +round. + +Soon after a proclamation was issued by General Valencia, purporting that +if the president did not yield, he would bombard the palace; and that if +the powder which is kept there were to blow up, it would ruin half the +city. This induced us to look at home, for if the palace is bombarded, the +Casa de Moneda cannot escape, and if the palace is blown up, the Casa de +Moneda will most certainly keep it company. When the proclamation came out +in the morning, various were the opinions expressed in consequence. Some +believed it to be a mere threat, and others that it would take place at +eleven at night. An old supernumerary soldier who lives here (one of those +who was disabled by the last revolution) assured us that we had better +leave the house, and as we refused, on the plea of having no safer house to +go to, he walked off to the azotea, telling us he would _let us know_ when +the first bomb fell on the palace, and that then we must go perforce. In +the evening we went downstairs to the large vaulted rooms where they are +making cannon balls, and where the vaults are so thick and solid, that it +was thought we should be in safety, even if General Valencia really kept +his word. We sat up that night till twelve o'clock, listening anxiously, +but nothing happened; and now, in consequence of a deputation which has +been sent to the citadel by certain foreigners of distinction (though +unknown to the government), we are no longer afraid of any sudden assault +of this kind, as General Valencia has promised, in consideration of their +representations, not to proceed to these last extremities, unless driven to +them for his own defence. + +In listening to the different opinions which are current, it would seem +that Bustamante, Santa Anna, and Valencia are all equally unpopular; and +that the true will of the nation, which congress was afraid to express, was +first for the immediate convocation of a Constitutional Congress; and +secondly, that they should not be governed by Santa Anna, yet that +Bustamante should renounce, and a provisional president should be named.... + +Santa Anna writes, complaining that Bustamante, by assuming extraordinary +powers, commanding the army and yet continuing president, is infringing the +constitution. But as he is coming on to destroy it entirely, this is being +rather particular. It is reported that the typhus fever is in the citadel, +but there are many floating rumours which are not to be depended upon.... +There is evidently a great deal of consternation beginning to be felt +amongst the lower classes. Foreigners generally are inclined towards Santa +Anna, Mexicans to Bustamante; but all feel the present evils. The léperos +seem to swarm in greater numbers than ever, and last evening two small +shops were broken into and robbed. In vain the president publishes +manifestos that the shops may be opened; they remain carefully shut, all +commerce paralyzed, and every one, who has the means to do so, leaving the +city. + +We hear that the shells from the citadel have destroyed part of the +beautiful house belonging to Judge Pena y Penas, in front of the Alameda. + +11th.--We have just received private information from the government, that +they will shortly require this house for arms and ammunition and troops; +coupled with still more private advice to provide for our safety by leaving +it. We shall therefore gladly accept the kind invitation of the F---a +family, to remove to their hacienda of San Xavier, about three leagues from +this. We had at first declined this invitation, owing to its distance from +the city--inconvenient for us, who are only waiting for the first +opportunity to leave it; but besides that after the most diligent search in +all the surrounding villages, we cannot find a single unoccupied room, we +are very glad to spend our remaining days in Mexico with so distinguished a +family. I shall therefore write little more at present on the subject of +the revolution, which now that we have lived some time in Mexico, and have +formed friendships there, fills us with feelings entirely different from +those which the last produced; with personal sentiments of regret, private +fears, and hopes for the future, and presentiments of evil which owe more +than half their sadness to individual feelings. + +12th.--We are now in the midst of all the confusion occasioned by another +removal; surrounded by trunks and boxes and _cargadores_, and at the same +time by our friends (all those who have not taken flight yet) taking leave +of us.... + +A great cannonading took place last night, but without any important +result. The soldiers, in the day-time amuse themselves by insulting each +other from the roofs of the houses and convents. Yesterday, one of the +president's party singled out a soldier in the citadel, shot him, and then +began to dance the _Enanos_, and in the midst of a step, _he_ was shot, and +rolled over, dead.... + +We shall write again from San Xavier. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-FIFTH + + +Leave Mexico-Travelling Equipage--San Xavier--Fine +Hacienda--Millionaires--Well-educated Ladies--Garden, +etc.--Tlanapantla--Indian Hut--Mrs. Ward--Doña Margarita--The +_Pronunciamiento_--False Step--Santa Anna in Puebla--Neutrality--General +Paredes--President in Tlanapantla--Tired Troops--Their March--Their +Return--Curate's House--Murder--General Paredes in the Lecheria--President +in Tlanapantla--A Meeting--Return of the President and his Troops--General +Paredes and his Men--Santa Anna in Tacubaya--A Junction--President in +Mexico--_Allied Sovereigns_--Plan--Articles--President declares for +Federalism--Resigns--Results--Hostilities--Capitulation--Triumphal +Entry--_Te Deum_--New Ministry. + + +SAN XAVIER, 16th September. + + +After a morning of fatigue, confusion, bustle, leave-taking, etc., etc., a +coach with four mules, procured with the utmost difficulty, drove up to the +door; the coach old and crazy, the mules and harness quite consistent, and +the postilions so tipsy that they could hardly keep their seats. But we had +no time to be particular, and climbed in amidst bows and hand-shakings, and +prophecies of breaking down and of being robbed by a band of _forçats_ +headed by a Spaniard, who are said to be scouring the country; who are +_said_ to be, for just now, seeing is believing, and few reports are worth +attending to. However, we took two servants on horseback, by way of escort, +and rattled off, the coach creaking ominously, the postilions swinging from +side to side, and our worthy housekeeper, whom we had carried off from the +smoking city, screaming out her last orders to the _galopina_, concerning a +certain green parrot which she had left in the charge of that +tender-hearted damsel, who, with her _reboso_ at her eyes, surrounded by +directors of the mint, secretaries of legation, soldiers and porters, had +enough to do to take charge of herself. The city looked very sad, as we +drove through the streets; with closed shops, and barred windows, and +cannon planted, and soldiers riding about. At every village we passed, the +drivers called for brandy, tossed off a glassful, which appeared to act +like a composing draught, as they gradually recovered their equilibrium. We +were glad to arrive at San Xavier, where we received a most cordial +welcome, and to be removed, at least for a while, from sights and sounds of +destruction. A great part of the road to _Tlanapantla_, the village near +which San Xavier is situated, leads through traces of the ruins of the +ancient Tenochtitlan. + +This part of the country is extremely pretty, being a corn and not a maguey +district. Instead of the monotonous and stiff maguey, whose head never +bends to the blast, we are surrounded by fields of waving corn. There are +also plenty of trees; poplar, ash, and elm; and one flourishing specimen of +the latter species, which we see from the windows in front of the house, +was brought here by Mr. Poinsett. The hacienda, which is about three +leagues from Mexico, is a large irregular building in rather a low +situation, surrounded by dark blue hills. It belongs to the Señoras de +F---a, of the family of the Marquis de A---o; _millionaires_--being rich in +haciendas and silver-mines; very religious, very charitable, and what is +less common here, extremely learned; understanding French, English, German, +and even Latin. Their education they owe to the care of their father, one +of the most distinguished men in Mexico, who was banished twice, once for +liberal opinions, and the second time for supporting the "Plan of Iguala," +in fact for not being liberal enough. In these emigrations, his family +accompanied him, travelled over a great part of Europe, and profited by +their opportunities. They returned here when the independence was +accomplished, hoping for peace, but in vain. Constant alarms, and perpetual +revolutions have succeeded one another ever since that period. + +The hacienda has the usual _quantum_ of furniture belonging to these +country houses; and it is certainly no longer a matter of surprise to us, +that rich proprietors take little interest in embellishing them. A house +which will in all probability be converted once a year into a barrack, is +decidedly better in a state of nature, than encumbered with elegant +furniture. This house has been entirely destroyed in that way more than +once, and the last time that it was occupied by troops, was left like an +Augean stable. We have here the luxury of books. My room opens into a +beautiful chapel, covered with paintings representing saints and virgins +holding lilies, where mass is said occasionally, though the family +generally attend mass in the village church of Tlanapantla. Before the +house is a small flower-garden filled with roses and peculiarly fine +dahlias, pomegranate-trees and violets, which, though single, have a +delicious fragrance. This stretches out into an immense vegetable-garden +and orchard, terminating in a shrubbery, through which walks are cut, +impervious to the sun at noon-day. There is also a large reservoir of +water, and the garden, which covers a great space of ground, is kept in +good order. There are beautiful walks in the neighbourhood, leading to +Indian villages, old churches, and farms; and all the lanes are bordered +with fruit-trees. + +Tlanapantla, which means in Indian, _between lands_, its church having been +built by the Indians of two districts, is a small village, with an old +church, ruined remains of a convent, where the curate now lives, a few +shops, and a square where the Indians hold market (_tangis_ they call it) +on Fridays. All along the lanes are small Indian huts, with their usual mud +floor, small altar, earthen vessels, and collection of daubs on the walls; +especially of the Virgin of Guadalupe; with a few blest palm-leaves in the +corner; occupied, when the men are at work, by the Indian woman herself, +her sturdy, scantily-clothed progeny, and plenty of yelping dogs. Mrs. +Ward's sketch of the interior of an Indian hut is perfect, as all her +Mexican sketches are. When the women are also out at their work, they are +frequently tenanted by the little children alone. Taking refuge from a +shower of rain yesterday, in one of these mud huts, we found no one there +but a little bronze-coloured child, about three years old, sleeping all +alone on the floor, with the door wide open; and though we talked loud, and +walked about in the cottage, the little thing never wakened. A second +shower drove us for shelter to a farmhouse, where we entered a sort of +oratorio attached to the house; a room which is not consecrated, but has an +altar, crucifix, holy pictures, etc. The floor was strewed with flowers, +and in one corner was an old stringless violoncello, that might have formed +a pendant to the harp of Tara. + +However, the most remarkable object of the rancho is its proprietress, a +tall, noble-looking Indian, Doña Margarita by name, a mountaineer by birth, +and now a rich widow, possessing lands and flocks, though living in +apparent poverty. The bulk of her fortune she employs in educating poor +orphans. Every poor child who has no parents, finds in her a mother and +protectress; the more wretched, or sick, or deformed, the more certain of +an asylum with her. She takes them into her house, brings them up as her +own children, has them bred to some useful employment, and when they are +old enough, married. If it is a boy, she chooses him a wife from amongst +the girls of the mountains, where she was born, who she says are "less +corrupted" than the girls of the village. She has generally from twelve to +twenty on her hands, always filling up with new orphans the vacancies +caused in her small colony by death or marriage. There is nothing +picturesque about these orphans, for, as I said before, the most deformed +and helpless, and maimed and sick, are the peculiar objects of Doña +Margarita's care; nevertheless, we saw various healthy, happy-looking +girls, busied in various ways, washing and ironing, and sewing, whose very +eyes gleamed when we mentioned her name, and who spoke of her with a +respect and affection that it was pleasant to witness. Truly, this woman is +entitled to happy dreams and soft slumbers! The remainder of her fortune +she employs in the festivals and ceremonies of the church; in fireworks, in +ornaments for the altars, etc. + +9th.--Every day a messenger arrives from Mexico, bringing news of the +_pronunciamiento_, which are eagerly waited for, and read with intense +interest. It is probable, now, that affairs will soon come to a crisis. A +step has been taken by the president, which is considered very imprudent by +those who are looking on in this great game. General Torrejon, who with +nine hundred good soldiers kept Santa Anna in awe at Perote, has been sent +for to Mexico, Bustamante wishing to reunite his forces. These troops, +together with those of Codallos (the Governor of Puebla) brings up his army +to three thousand five hundred, or some say to four thousand men, all +effective, and of which nine hundred are good cavalry. Bustamante being now +at the head of the army, Hechavarria exercises the executive power, +according to the constitution, in his capacity of president of the Council +of State, (_Consejo de Estado_); the Mexicans having no vice-president. + +Santa Anna, who had until now remained in Perote with his unorganized +troops, no officers on whom he could depend, and a handful of miserable +cavalry, has moved forwards to Puebla. Arrived there, his numbers were +increased by one hundred men of the Tobacco customs, (brought him by +Señor -----, who, with a rich Spanish banker went out to meet him,) forty +horsemen seduced from the escort of Codallos, and a company of +watchmen! As yet, no movement has taken place or seems likely to take +place in his favour in Puebla. Señor Haro is named governor of that city +in the place of Codallos, who was sent for to join the president in +Mexico; and Puebla, which used to be the great theatre of revolutions, has +remained on this occasion in the most perfect neutrality, neither +declaring for one party nor the other; probably the wisest course to +pursue at this juncture. Every one is of opinion that five hundred troops +sent by Bustamante, would instantly put this mongrel army of Santa Anna's +to flight; for though he has collected about a thousand men, he has not +three hundred good soldiers.... + +On the other hand, General Paredes is marching in this direction with +General Cortazar, his orders from Santa Anna no doubt being to keep the +president in play, and to divert his attention by treaties or preliminaries +of treaties, whilst he continues to march with caution towards the capital. +The great event to be dreaded by the government is a junction of the +_pronunciado_ forces. As long as they are separate, it is in no immediate +danger; but like the bundle of rods, what can easily be broken separately, +will assume strength when joined together. I make no further excuse for +talking about politics. We talk and think of little else. + +21st.--Yesterday (Sunday) we were startled by the intelligence, that +Generals Canalizo and Noriega had arrived at the village in the middle of +the night, with a large troop, and that General Bustamante himself had made +his appearance there at five in the morning: so that the peaceful little +Tlanapantla had suddenly assumed a warlike appearance. As it lies on the +direct road to Guanajuato there could be no doubt that they were marching +to meet Paredes. C---n immediately walked down to the village to pay his +respects to the president, who was lodged at the curate's, and meanwhile +General Noriega came to the hacienda to see the ladies. C---n found the +president very much fatigued, having passed fourteen days and nights under +arms, and in constant anxiety; General Orbegoso was with him. + +After breakfast we went down to the village to see the troops, who were +resting there for a few hours. The cavalry occupied the square, the horses +standing, and the men stretched asleep on the ground, each soldier beside +his horse. The infantry occupied the churchyard. Dreadfully fatigued, they +were lying some on the grass, and others with their heads pillowed on the +old tombstones, resting as well as they could with their armour on. Before +they started, the curate said mass to them in the square. There was a good +deal of difficulty in procuring the most common food for so many hungry +men. Tortillas had been baked in haste, and all the hens in the village +were put in requisition to obtain eggs for the president and his officers. +We sat down in a porch to see them set off; a melancholy sight enough, in +spite of drums beating and trumpets sounding. An old soldier, who came up +to water his own and his master's horse, began to talk to us of what was +going on, and seemed anything but enthusiastic at the prospects of himself +and his comrades, assuring us that the army of General Paredes was double +their number. He was covered with wounds received in the war against Texas, +and expressed his firm conviction that we should see the Comanche Indians +on the streets of Mexico one of these days; at which savage tribe he +appeared to have a most devout horror; describing to a gaping audience the +manner in which he had seen a party of them devour three of their +prisoners.... + +About four o'clock the signal for departure was sounded, and they went off +amidst the cheers of the people. + +22nd.--Great curiosity was excited yesterday afternoon, when news was +brought us that Bustamante, with his generals and troops, had returned, and +had passed through the village, on their way back to Mexico! Some say that +this retrograde march is in consequence of a movement made in Mexico by +General Valencia--others that it has been caused by a message received from +General Paredes. We paid a visit in the evening to the old curate, who was +pretty much in the dark, morally and figuratively, in a very large hall, +where were assembled a number of females, and one tallow candle. Of course +all were talking politics, and especially discoursing of the visit of the +president the preceding night, and of his departure in the morning, and of +his return in the afternoon, and of the difficulty of procuring tortillas +for the men, and eggs for the officers. + +23rd.--We have received news this morning of the murder of our porter, the +Spaniard whom we had brought from Havana. He had left us, and was employed +as porter in a _fabrica_ (manufactory), where the wife and family of the +proprietor resided. Eight of General Valencia's soldiers sallied forth from +the citadel to rob this factory, and poor José, the most faithful and +honest of servants, having valiantly defended the door, was cruelly +murdered. They afterwards entered the building, robbed, and committed +dreadful outrages. They are selling printed papers through the streets +to-day, giving an account of it. The men are taken up, and it is said will +be shot by orders of the general; but we doubt this, even though a message +has arrived, requiring the attendance of the _padre_ who confesses +criminals; a Franciscan monk, who, with various of his brethren, are living +here for safety at present. + +The situation of Mexico is melancholy. + +24th.--News have arrived that General Paredes has arrived at the +_Lecheria_, an hacienda belonging to this family, about three leagues from +San Xavier: and that from thence he sent one of the servants of the farm to +Mexico, inviting the president to a personal conference. The family take +this news of their hacienda's being turned into military quarters very +philosophically; the only precaution on these occasions being to conceal +the best horses, as the _pronunciados_ help themselves, without ceremony, +to these useful quadrupeds, wherever they are to be found. + +26th.--This morning, General Bustamante and his troops arrived at +Tlanapantla, the president in a coach. Having met C---n on the road, he +stopped for a few moments and informed him that he was on his way to meet +General Paredes at the _Lecheria_, where he hoped to come to a composition +with him. We listened all day with anxiety, but hearing no firing, +concluded that some arrangement had in fact been made. In the evening we +walked out on the high-road, and met the president, the governor, and the +troops all returning. What securities Bustamante can have received, no one +can imagine, but it is certain that they have met without striking a blow. +It was nearly dusk as they passed, and the president bowed cheerfully, +while some of the officers rode up, and assured us that all was settled. + +Sunday, 27th.--Cavalry, infantry, carriages, cannon, etc., are all passing +through the village. These are the _pronunciados_, with General Paredes, +following to Mexico. Feminine curiosity induces me to stop here, and to +join the party who are going down to the village to see them pass.... + +We have just returned after a sunny walk, and an _inspection_ of the +_pronunciados_--they are too near Mexico now for me to venture to call them +_the rebels_. The infantry, it must be confessed, was in a very ragged and +rather drunken condition--the cavalry better, having _borrowed_ fresh +horses as they went along. Though certainly not _point-device_ in their +accoutrements, their good horses, high saddles, bronze faces, and +picturesque attire, had a fine effect as they passed along under the +burning sun. The sick followed on asses, and amongst them various masculine +women, with _sarapes_ or _mangas_ and large straw hats, tied down with +coloured handkerchiefs, mounted on mules or horses. The sumpter mules +followed, carrying provisions, camp-beds, etc.; and various Indian women +trotted on foot in the rear, carrying their husbands' boots and clothes. +There was certainly no beauty amongst these feminine followers of the camp, +especially amongst the mounted Amazons, who looked like very ugly men in a +semi-female disguise. The whole party are on their way to Tacubaya, to join +Santa Anna! The game is nearly up now. _Check from two knights and a +castle_--from Santa Anna and Paredes in Tacubaya, and from Valencia in the +citadel. People are flying in all directions, some from Mexico, and others +from Guadalupe and Tacubaya.... + +It appears that Santa Anna was marching from Puebla, feeling his way +towards the capital in fear and trembling. At Rio Frio a sentinel's gun +having accidentally gone off, the whole army were thrown into the most +ludicrous consternation and confusion. Near Oyotla the general's brow +cleared up, for here he was met by commissioners from the government, +Generals Orbegoso and Guyame. In a moment the quick apprehension of Santa +Anna saw that the day was his own. He gave orders to continue the march +with all speed to Tacubaya, affecting to listen to the proposals of the +commissioners, amusing them without compromising himself, and offering to +treat with them at _Mexicalsingo_. They returned without having received +any decided answer, and without, on their part, having given any assurance +that his march should not be stopped; yet he has been permitted to arrive +unmolested at Tacubaya, where Paredes has also arrived, and where he has +been joined by General Valencia; so that the three _pronunciado_ generals +are now united there to dispose of the fate of the republic.... + +The same day General Almonte had an interview with Santa Anna, who said +with a smile, when he left him, "_Es buen muchacho_ (he is a good lad)--he +may be of service to us yet." ... + +The three _allied sovereigns_ are now in the archbishop's palace at +Tacubaya, from whence they are to dictate to the president and the nation. +But they are, in fact, chiefly occupied with their respective engagements +and respective rights. Paredes wishes to fulfil his engagements with the +departments of Guanjuato, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguas Calientes, Queretaro, +etc. In his _plan_ he promised them religious toleration, permission for +foreigners to hold property, and so on--the last, in fact, being his +favourite project. Valencia, on his side, has his engagements to fulfil +with the federalists, and has proposed Señor Pedraza as an integral part of +the regeneration--one whose name will give confidence now and ever to his +party. General Santa Anna has engagements _with himself_. He has determined +to command them all, and allows them to fight amongst themselves, provided +he governs. Paredes is, in fact, furious with Valencia, accusing him of +having interfered when not wanted, and of having ruined his _plan_, by +mingling it with a revolution, with which it had no concern. He does not +reflect that Valencia was the person who gave the mortal wound to the +government. Had he not revolted, Santa Anna would not have left Perote, nor +Paredes himself passed on unmolested.... + +The conservative body has been invited to go to Tacubaya, but has refused. +The majority desire the election of Paredes, or of any one who is not Santa +Anna or Valencia; but Paredes himself, while drawing no very flattering +portrait of Santa Anna, declares that he is the only man in the republic +fit for the presidency--the only man who can make himself obeyed--in short, +the only one capable of taking those energetic measures which the safety of +the republic requires. He flatters himself that he, at the head of his +division, will always keep Santa Anna in check; as if Cortazar, who +deserted Bustamante in a moment of difficulty, could be depended on!... + +Meanwhile they are fortifying Mexico; and some suppose that Bustamante and +his generals have taken the rash determination of permitting all their +enemies to unite, in order to destroy them at one blow.... + +29th.--There being at present an armistice between the contending parties, +a document was published yesterday, fruits of the discussion of the allied +powers at Tacubaya. It is called "_las bases de Tacubaya_," and being +published in Mexico by General Almonte, many expected and hoped that a new +_pronunciamiento_ would be the consequence; but it has been quietly +received, and the federalists welcome it as containing the foundations of +federalism and popularity. There are thirteen articles, which are as +follow: + +By the first--It is the will of the nation that the supreme powers +established by the constitution of '36 have ceased, excepting the judicial, +which will be limited in its functions to matters purely judicial, +conformably to the existing laws. + +By the second--A _junta_ is to be named, composed of two deputies from each +department, elected by his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the Mexican +army, Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in order that they may be entirely +free to point out the person who is to hold the executive power +provisionally. + +By the third--This person is immediately to assume the executive power, +taking an oath in the presence of the junta to set for the welfare of the +nation. + +By the fourth--The provisional executive power shall in two months convoke +a new congress, which, with ample powers, shall engage to reconstitute the +nation, as appears most suitable to them. + +By the fifth--This congress extraordinary shall reunite in six months after +it is convened, and shall solely occupy itself in forming the constitution. + +By the sixth--The provincial executive shall answer for its acts before the +first constitutional congress. + +By the seventh--The provincial executive shall have all the powers +necessary for the organization of all the branches of the public +administration. + +By the eighth--Four Ministers shall be named, of foreign and home +relations, of public instruction and industry, of treasury, and of war and +marine. + +By the ninth--Each department is to have two trustworthy individuals to +form a council, which shall give judgment in all matters on which they may +be consulted by the executive. + +By the tenth--Till this council is named, the _junta_ will fulfil its +functions. + +By the eleventh--Till the republic is organized, the authorities in the +departments which have not opposed, and will not oppose the national will, +shall continue. + +By the twelfth--The general-in-chief and all the other generals promise to +forget all the political conduct of military men or citizens during the +present crisis. + +By the thirteenth--When three days have passed after the expiration of the +present truce, if the general-in-chief of the government does not adopt +these _bases_, their accomplishment will be proceeded with; and they +declare, in the name of the nation, that this general, and all the troops +who follow him, and all the so-called authorities which counteract this +national will, shall be held responsible for all the Mexican blood that may +be uselessly shed, and which shall be upon their heads. + +3Oth.--To the astonishment of all parties, Bustamante and his generals +_pronounced_ yesterday morning for the federal system, and _this_ morning +Bustamante has resigned the presidency. His motives seem not to be +understood, unless a circular, published by General Almonte, can throw any +light upon them. + +"Without making any commentary," he says, speaking of the document of +Tacubaya, "upon this impudent document, which proposes to the Mexican +nation a military government, and the most ominous of dictatorships in +favour of the false defender of public liberty, of the most ferocious enemy +of every government that has existed in the country, I hasten to send it to +you, that you may have it published in this state, where surely it will +excite the same indignation as in an immense majority of the inhabitants of +the capital, who, jealous of the national glory, and decided to lose +everything in order to preserve it, have spontaneously proclaimed the +re-establishment of the federal system, the whole garrison having followed +this impulse. There is no medium between liberty and tyranny; and the +government, relying on the good sense of the nation, which will not see +with indifference the slavery that is preparing for it, puts itself in the +hands of the states, resolved to sacrifice itself on the altars of the +country, or to strengthen its liberty for ever. + +"I enclose the renunciation which His Excellency Don Anastasio Bustamante +makes to the presidency," etc. + +3rd October.--Though a very democratic crowd collected, and federalism was +proclaimed in Mexico, it appears that no confidence in the government was +inspired by this last measure. Some say that had Bustamante alone declared +for the federal system, and had sent some effective cavalry to protect the +_pronunciados_ of that party all through the country, he might have +triumphed still. Be that as it may, General Canalizo pronounced for +federalism on the second of October, but this is not followed up on the +part of the Generals Bustamante and Almonte, while the vice-president, +_Hechavarria_, has retired to his house, blaming Almonte for having +published an official document without his knowledge. Everything is in a +state of perfect anarchy and confusion. The léperos are going about armed, +and no one remains in Mexico but those who are obliged to do so. It is said +that in Tacubaya great uneasiness prevailed as to the result of this new +movement, and Santa Anna offered an asylum there to the congress and +conservative body, although, by the ultimatum from Tacubaya, published on +the twenty-eighth, the constitution of '36 was concluded, and of course +these authorities were politically dead. + +I had hardly written these words when the roaring of cannon announced that +hostilities have recommenced. + +5th.--For the last few days, we have been listening to the cannon, and even +at this distance, the noise reverberating amongst the hills is tremendous. +The sound is horrible! There is something appalling, yet humbling, in these +manifestations of man's wrath and man's power, when he seems to usurp his +Maker's attributes, and to mimic his thunder. The divine spark kindled +within him, has taught him how to draw these metals from the earth's bosom; +how to combine these simple materials, so as to produce with them an effect +as terrible as the thunderbolts of heaven. His earthly passions have +prompted him so to wield these instruments of destruction, as to deface +God's image in his fellow-men. The power is so divine--the causes that +impel him to use that power are so paltry! The intellect that creates these +messengers of death is so near akin to divinity--the motives that put them +in action are so poor, so degrading even to humanity! + +On the third, there was a shower of bombs and shells from the citadel, of +which some fell into the palace, and one in our late residence, the mint. +An engagement took place in the Virga; and though Bustamante's party were +partially victorious, it is said that neither has much reason to boast of +the result. General Espinosa, an old insurgent, arrived at the village last +night, and sent to request some horses from the hacienda, which were sent +him with all convenient speed, that he might not, according to his usual +plan, come and take them. In exchange for some half-dozen farm horses in +good condition, he sent half a dozen lean, wretched-looking quadrupeds, the +bones coming through their skin, skeletons fit for dissection. + +News have just arrived to the effect that last night, at three o'clock, +Bustamante suddenly left the city, drawing off all his troops from the +turrets, and leaving General Orbegoso in the palace, with one hundred men. +It was generally reported, that he had marched into the interior, to bring +about a federal revolution; but it appears that he has arrived at +Guadalupe, and there taken up his quarters. A loud cannonading has been +kept up since ten o'clock, which keeps us all idle, looking out for the +smoke, and counting the number of discharges. + +6th.--A messenger has brought the intelligence that there had been more +noise and smoke than slaughter; the cannons being planted at such +distances, that it was impossible they could do much execution. Numerous +bulletins are distributed; some violently in favour of Bustamante and +federalism, full of abuse and dread of Santa Anna; others lauding that +general to the skies, as the saviour of his country. The _allied_ forces +being in numbers double those of Bustamante, there is little doubt of the +result. + +7th.--_A capitulation_. Santa Anna is triumphant. He made his solemn entry +into Mexico last evening, Generals Valencia and Canalizo being at the head +of the united forces. Not a solitary _viva_ was heard as they passed along +the streets; nor afterwards, during his speech in congress. _Te Deum_ was +sung this morning in the cathedral, the archbishop in person receiving the +new president. We have just returned from Mexico, where we went in search +of apartments, and with great difficulty have found rooms in the hotel of +the Calle Vegara; but we shall remain here a day or two longer. There is no +great difference in the general appearance of the city, except that the +shops are reopened, and that most of the windows are broken. Immediately +after the morning ceremony, Santa Anna returned to the archbishop's palace +at Tacubaya; which residence he prefers to the president's palace in +Mexico. His return there, after his triumphant entry into the capital, was +very much _en Rio_--a retinue of splendid coaches with fine horses, going +at full speed; the general's carriage drawn by four beautiful white +horses--(belonging to Don F---- M----; the very same that were sent to +bring us into Mexico) brilliant aides-de-camp, and an immense escort of +cavalry. Thus concludes the revolution of 1842, though not its effects. + +The new ministry, up to this date, are Señor Gomez Pedraza for Foreign and +Home Relations; Castillo, _un petit avocat_ from Guadalajara, said to be a +furious federalist and Latin scholar, for Public Instruction; General +Tornel for War and Marine; and Señor Dufoo for the Treasury. Valencia +proposed Paredes for the War Department; but he declined, saying, "No, no, +General--I understand you very well. You want to draw me from off my +division." + +Those who know Bustamante best, even those who most blame him for +indecision and want of energy, agree on one point; that the true motives of +his conduct are to be found in his constant and earnest desire to spare +human life. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SIXTH + + +Santa Monica--Solidity--Old Paintings--Anachronism-Babies and Nurses from +the _Cuna_--Society--Funds--Plan--Indian Nurses--Carmelite Convent-- +Midnight Warning--Old Villages and Churches--Indian Bath--San Mateo--The +Lecheria--Fertility--_Nolino Viejo_--Dulness--Religious Exercises--Return +to Mexico--Mexican Hotel--New Generals--Disturbances--General Bustamante-- +Inconvenience--Abuses in the name of Liberty--Verses--Independence +celebrated. + + +8th. + +The Revolution has lasted upwards of thirty-five days; and during that +time, though I have written of little else, we have been taking many rides +in the environs of this hacienda, some of which were very interesting. We +are also making the most of our last few days of Mexican country life. On +Thursday we went on horseback with a large party to visit the mill of Santa +Mónica, an immense hacienda, which tradition, I know not with what truth, +supposes to have been in former days the property of Doña Marina; a gift to +her from Cortes. At all events, at a later period it belonged to the +Augustine monks, then to a Mexican family, who lost their fortune from +neglect or extravagance. It was bought by the present proprietor for a +comparatively trifling sum, and produces him an annual rent of thirty-five +thousand dollars upon an average. The house is colossal, and not more than +one-third of it occupied. The granaries, of solid masonry, contain fourteen +thousand loads of corn--they were built about two hundred and fifty years +ago. From all the neighbouring haciendas, and even from many distant +estates, the corn is sent to this mill, and is here ground, deposited, and +sold on account of the owner, a certain portion deducted for the proprietor +of Santa Mónica. It seems strange that they should have no windmills here, +in a country colonized by Spain, where, according to _Cervantes_, they were +common enough. The house is in a commanding situation, and the views of the +mountains, especially from the upper windows, are very grand. In some of +the old, unoccupied apartments, are some good copies of old paintings, the +copies themselves of ancient date. There is the Angel announcing to +Elizabeth the birth of Saint John; a Holy Family, from Murillo; the +destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is one of the best; particularly +the figures in the foreground, of Lot and his family. Lot's wife stands in +the distance, a graceful figure just crystallized, her head turned in the +direction of the doomed city. I looked into every dark corner, in hopes of +finding some old daub representing Doña Marina, but without success. There +is the strangest contrast possible between these half-abandoned palaces, +and their actual proprietors. We had beautiful riding-horses belonging to +the hacienda, and enjoyed everything but the exceeding heat of the sun, as +we galloped home about one o'clock.... + +As a specimen of rather a remarkable anachronism, we were told that a +justice in the village of Tlanapantla, speaking the other day of General +Bustamante, said, "Poor man--he is persecuted by all parties, just as Jesús +Christ was by the _Jansenists_, the _Sadducees_, and the _Holy Fathers of +the Church_!" What a curious _olla podrida_ the poor man's brain must be! + +In the midst of the revolution, we were amused by a very peaceful +sight--all the nurses belonging to the _Cuna_, or Foundling hospital, +coming from the different villages to receive their monthly wages. Amongst +the many charitable institutions of Mexico, there appears to me (in spite +of the many prejudices existing against such institutions) none more useful +than this. These otherwise unfortunate children, the offspring of abject +poverty or guilt, are left at the gate of the establishment, where they are +received without any questions being asked; and from that moment, they are +protected and cared for, by the best and noblest families in the country. +The members of the society consist of the first persons in Mexico, male and +female. The men furnish the money; the women give their time and attention. +There is no fixed number of members, and amongst them are the ladies in +whose house we now live. The _President_ is the Dowager Marquesa de +Vivanco. When the child has been about a month in the _Cuna_, it is sent, +with an Indian nurse, to one of the villages near Mexico. If sick or feeble +it remains in the house, under the more immediate inspection of the +society. These nurses have a _fiadora_, a responsible person, who lives in +the village, and answers for their good conduct. Each nurse is paid four +dollars per month, a sufficient sum to induce any poor Indian, with a +family, to add one to her stock. Each lady of the society has a certain +number under her peculiar care, and gives their clothes, which are poor +enough, but according to the _village fashion_. The child thus put out to +nurse, is brought back to the _Cuna_ when weaned, and remains under the +charge of the society for life; but of the hundreds and tens of hundreds +that have passed through their hands, scarcely has one been left to grow up +in the _Cuna_. They are constantly adopted by respectable persons, who, +according to their inclination or abilities, bring them up either as +favoured servants, or as their own children; and the condition of a +"_huérfano_," an orphan, as a child from the hospital is always called, is +perfectly upon a level with that of the most petted child of the house. The +nurses in the _Cuna_ are paid eight dollars per month. + +Upwards of a hundred nurses and babies arrived on Sunday, taking up their +station on the grass, under the shade of a large ash-tree in the courtyard. +The nurses are invariably bronze; the babies generally dark, though there +was a sprinkling of fair English or German faces amongst them, with blue +eyes and blonde hair, apparently not the growth of Mexican land. Great +attention to cleanliness cannot be hoped for from this class, but the +babies looked healthy and contented. Each nurse had to present a paper +which had been given her for that purpose, containing her own name, the +name of the child, and that of the lady under whose particular charge she +was. Such as-"_María Josifa_-baby _Juanita de los Santos_-belonging to the +_Señora Doña Matilde F----_, given on such a day to the charge of María +Joséfa." Constantly the nurse had lost this paper, and impossible for her +to remember more than her own name; as to who gave her the baby, or when +she got it, was entirely beyond her powers of calculation. However, then +stept forward the _fiadora_ Doña Tomaso, a sensible-looking village dame, +grave and important as became her situation, and gave an account of the +nurse and the baby, which being satisfactory, the copper was swept into the +nurse's lap, and she and her baby went away contented. It was pleasant to +see the kindness of the ladies to these poor women; how they praised the +care that had been taken of the babies; admired the strong and healthy +ones, which indeed nearly all were; took an interest in those who looked +paler, or less robust; and how fond and proud the nurses were of their +charges; and how little of a hired, mercenary, _hospital_ feeling existed +among them all.... + +A judge in the village, who comes here frequently, a pleasant and +well-informed man, amused us this evening by recounting to us how he had +once formed a determination to become a monk, through sudden fear. Being +sent by government to Toluca, some years ago, to inquire into the private +political conduct of a _Yorkino_, he found that his only means of remaining +there unsuspected, and also of obtaining information, was to lodge in the +convent of the Carmelite friars. The padres accommodated him with a cell, +and assisted him very efficaciously in his researches. But the first night, +being alone in his cell, the convent large and dreary, and the wind howling +lugubriously over the plains, he was awakened at night by a deep sepulchral +voice, apparently close to his ear, tolling forth these words: + + "Hermanos, en el sepulcro acaba, + Todo lo que el mundo alaba!" + + "My brothers, all must finish in the tomb! + Of all that men extol, this is the doom." + +Exceedingly startled, he sprang up, and opened the door of his cell. A dim +lamp faintly illuminated the long vaulted galleries, and the monks, like +shadows, were gliding to midnight prayer. In the dreariness of the night, +with the solemn words sounding in his ear like a warning knell, he came to +the satisfactory conclusion that all was vanity, and to the determination +that the very next day he would retire from the world, join this holy +brotherhood, and bind himself to be a Carmelite friar for life. The day +brought counsel, the cheerful sunbeams dispelled the gloom, even within the +old convent, and his scruples of conscience melted away. + +There are old villages and old churches in this neighbourhood that would +delight an antiquary. In the churchyard of the village of San Andrés, is +the most beautiful weeping ash I ever saw. We took shelter from the sun +yesterday under its gigantic shadow, and lay there as under a green vault. +We saw to-day, near another solitary old church, one of the Indian +oven-baths, the _temescallis_, built of bricks, in which there is neither +alteration nor improvement since their first invention, heaven alone knows +in what century. + +9th.--We rode last evening to another estate belonging to this family, +called _San Mateo_, one of the prettiest places on a small scale we have +seen here. The road, or rather path, led us through fields, covered with +the greatest profusion of bright yellow sunflowers and scarlet dahlias, so +tall that they came up to our horses' ears. The house is built in the +cottage style (the first specimen of that style we have seen here), with +the piazza in front, large trees shading it, and a beautiful view from the +height on which it stands. It has rather an English than a Spanish look. No +one lives there but the agent and his wife--and a fierce dog. + +11th.--This morning we rose at five, mounted our horses, and accompanied by +Señor E----, together with the administrador and the old gardener, set off +to take our last long ride from San Xavier; for this evening we return to +Mexico. The morning was fine and fresh, the very morning for a gallop, and +the country looked beautiful. We rode first to the _Lecheria_, where +Generals Bustamante and Paredes had their last eventful conference, having +passed on our way various old churches and villages, and another hacienda +also belonging to this family, whose estates seem countless. The _Lecheria_ +is a large unoccupied house, or occupied only by the administrador and his +family. It is a fine building, and its courtyard within is filled with +flowers; but having neither garden nor trees near it, seems rather lonely; +and must have been startled to find itself the _rendezvous_ of contending +chieftains. It is surrounded by fertile and profitable fields of corn and +maize. We staid but a short time in the house, and having observed with due +respect the chamber where the generals conferred together, remounted our +horses and rode on. I have no doubt, by the way, that their meeting was the +most amicable imaginable. I never saw a country where opponent parties bear +so little real ill-will to each other. It all seems to evaporate in words. +I do not believe that there is any real bad feeling subsisting at this +moment, even between the two rival generals, Bustamante and Santa Anna. +Santa Anna usurped the presidency, partly because he wanted it, and partly +because if he had not, some one else would; but I am convinced that if they +met by chance in a drawing-room, they would give each other as cordial an +_ambrazo_ (embrace), Mexican fashion, as if nothing had happened. + +Our road led us through a beautiful track of country, all belonging to the +Lecheria, through pathways that skirted the fields, where the plough had +newly turned up the richest possible soil, and which were bordered by wild +flowers and shady trees. For miles our path lay through a thick _carpeting_ +of the most beautiful wild flowers imaginable: bright scarlet dahlias, +gaudy sunflowers, together with purple and lilac, and pale straw-coloured +blossoms, to all which the gardener gave but the general name of +_mirasoles_ (sunflower). The purple convolvulus threw its creeping branches +on the ground, or along whatever it could embrace; while all these bright +flowers, some growing to a great height, seemed, as we rode by them, to be +flaunting past us in their gay colours, like peasants in their holiday +dresses. The ground also was enamelled with a little low inquisitive +looking blossom, bright yellow, with a peeping brown eye; and the whole, +besides forming the gayest assemblage of colours and groups, gave to the +air a delicious fragrance. + +But at last we left these fertile grounds, and began to ascend the hills, +part of which afford pasture for the flocks, till, still higher up, they +become perfectly arid and stony. Here the whole landscape looks bleak and +dreary, excepting that the eye can rest upon the distant mountains, of a +beautiful blue, like a peep of the promised land from Mount Nebo. After +having rode four leagues, the latter part over this sterile ground, +affording but an insecure footing for our horses, we descried, low down in +a valley, an old sad-looking building, with a ruined mill and some trees. +This was the object of our ride; the "_molino viejo_" (old mill), another +hacienda belonging to these rich lady proprietors; and profitable on +account of the fine pasture which some of the surrounding hills afford. +Nothing could look more solitary. Magdalene might have left her desert, and +ended her days there, without materially bettering her situation. The only +sign of life is a stream that runs round a very productive small orchard in +front of the house, while on a hill behind are a few maguey plants, and on +the _mirador_, in front of the house, some creepers have been trained with +a good deal of taste. There are bleak hills in front--hills with a scanty +herbage behind it, and everywhere a stillness that makes itself felt: +while, strange circumstance in this country! there is not even a church +within a league and a half. There has been a chapel in the house, but the +gilded paintings are falling from the walls--the altar is broken, and the +floor covered with dried corn. The agent's wife, who sits here all alone, +must have time to collect her scattered thoughts, and plenty of opportunity +for reflection and self-examination. Certain it is, she gave us a very good +breakfast, which we attacked like famished pilgrims; and shortly after took +our leave. + +The heat on the shadeless hills had now become intense. It is only on such +occasions that one can fully appreciate the sufferings of _Regulus_. We +returned by the _carriage-road,_ a track between two hills, composed of +ruts and stones, and large holes. On the most barren parts of these hills, +there springs a tree which the Indians call _guisachel_; it resembles the +savine, and produces a berry of which ink is made. The road was bordered by +bushes, covered with white blossoms, very fragrant. We galloped as fast as +our horses would carry us, to escape from the sun; and passed a pretty +village on the high road, which is a fine broad causeway in good repair, +leading to Guanaxuato. We also passed _San Mateo_, and then rode over the +fields fast home, where we arrived, looking like broiled potatoes.... + +We had a conversation with ----- this morning, on the subject of the +"_ejercicios_," certain religious exercises, to which, in Mexico, men as +well as women annually devote a certain number of days, during which they +retire from the world to a religious house or convent, set apart for that +purpose, of which some receive male and other female devotees. Here they +fast and pray and receive religious instruction, and meditate upon +religious subjects during the period of their retreat. A respectable +merchant, who, in compliance with this custom, lately retired for a few +days to one of these religious establishments, wrote, on entering there, to +his head clerk, a young man to whom he was much attached, informing him +that he had a presentiment that he would not leave the convent alive, but +would die by the time his devotional exercises were completed; giving him +some good advice as to his future conduct, together with his last +instructions as to his own affairs. He ended with these words: "_hasta la +eternidad_!" until eternity! The letter produced a strong effect on the +mind of the young man; but still more, when the merchant died at the end of +a few days, as he had predicted, and was carried from the convent to his +grave. + + +MEXICO, Calle Vergara, 12th. + + +We reached Mexico last evening, and took up our quarters in an inn or hotel +kept by an English woman, and tolerably clean, though of course not very +agreeable. A number of _pronunciado_ officers are also here--amongst +others, General -----, who I hope will be obliged to go soon, that we may +have his parlour; a mysterious English couple; a wounded Colonel, an old +gentleman, a fixture in the house, etc. There is a _table d'hôte_, but I +believe no ladies dine there. Invitations to take up our quarters in +private houses have been pressed upon us with a kindness and cordiality +difficult to resist.... + +Though politics are the only topic of interest at present, I think you will +care little for having an account of the Junta of Representatives, or of +the elections, with their chiefly military members. Considering by whom the +members are chosen, and the object for which they are elected, the result +of their deliberations is, as you may suppose, pretty well known +beforehand. Military power is strengthened by every act, and all this power +is vested in the commanders-in-chief. New batches of generals are made, in +order to reward the late distinguished services of the officers, and +colonels by hundreds. Eleven generals were created in the division of +Paredes alone. Money has been given to the troops in the palace, with +orders to purchase new uniforms, which it is said will be very brilliant. +There appears, generally speaking, a good deal of half-smothered +discontent, and it is whispered that even the revolutionary bankers are +half repentant and look gloomy. The only opposition paper is "Un Periódico +Más;" one more periodical--the others are all Ministerial. + +In the south there has been some trouble with Generals Bravo and Alvarez, +who wish that part of the country to govern itself until the meeting of +congress. There was some talk of putting Valencia at the head of the troops +which are destined to march against them, but there are now negotiations +pending, and it is supposed there will be some agreement made without +coming to bloodshed. It is said that orders were sent to General Almonte to +leave the republic, and that he answered the despatch with firmness, +refusing to acknowledge the authority of Santa Anna. General Bustamante, +who is now in Guadalupe, intends to leave the scene of his disasters within +a few months. C---n paid him a visit lately, and though scarcely recovered +from his fatigues both of body and mind, he appears cheerful and resigned, +and with all the tranquillity which can be inspired only by a good +conscience, and the conviction of having _done his duty to the best of his +abilities_.... + +As for us personally, this revolution has been the most inconvenient +revolution that ever took place; doing us all manner of mischief; stopping +the sale of our furniture, throwing our affairs into confusion; +overthrowing all our plans, and probably delaying our departure until +December or January. But in these cases, every one must suffer more or +less; and meanwhile, we are surrounded by friends and by friendly +attentions. It will be impossible for us to leave Mexico without regret. It +requires nothing but a settled government to make it one of the first +countries in the world. Santa Anna has much in his power. _Reste a savoir_ +how he will use that power. Perhaps in these last years of tranquillity, +which he has spent on his estate, he may have meditated to some purpose. + +It is singular how, in trying to avoid small evils, we plunge into unknown +gulfs of misery; and how little we reflect that it might be wiser to + + "Bear those ills we have, + Than fly to others that we know not of." + +Every one has heard of the abuses that produced the first revolution in +Mexico--of the great inequality of riches, of the degradation of the +Indians, of the high prices of foreign goods, of the Inquisition, of the +ignorance of the people, the bad state of the colleges, the difficulty of +obtaining justice, the influence of the clergy, and the ignorance in which +the Mexican youth were purposely kept. Which of these evils has been +remedied? Foreign goods are cheaper, and the Inquisition _is not_; but this +last unchristian institution had surely gradually lost its power before the +days of the last viceroy?--But in the sacred name of _Liberty_, every abuse +can be tolerated. + + "O fatal name, misleader of mankind, + Phantom, too radiant and too much adored! + Deceitful Star, whose beams are bright to blind, + Although their more benignant influence poured + The light of glory on the Switzer's sword, + And hallowed Washington's immortal name. + Liberty! Thou when absent how deplored, + And when received, how wasted, till thy name + Grows tarnished; shall mankind, ne'er cease to work thee shame? + + "Not from the blood in fiercest battle shed, + Nor deeds heroical as arm can do, + Is the true strength of manly freedom bred, + Restraining tyranny and licence too, + The madness of the many and the few. + Land, whose new beauties I behold revealed, + Is this not true, and bitter as 'tis true? + The ruined fane, the desolated field, + The ruffian-haunted road, a solemn answer yield. + + "Where look the loftiest Cordilleras down + From summits hoary with eternal snow + On Montezuma's venerable town + And storied vale, and Lake of Mexico, + These thoughts the shade of melancholy throw + On all that else were fair, and gay, and grand + As nature in her glory can bestow. + For never yet, though liberal her hand, + So variously hath she adorned, enriched one land. + + "What boots it that from where the level deep + Basks in the tropic sun's o'erpow'ring light + To where yon mountains lift their wintry steep, + All climes, all seasons in one land unite? + What boots it that her buried caves are bright + With wealth untold of gold or silver ore? + While, checked by anarchy's perpetual blight, + Industry trembles 'mid her hard-earned store, + While rapine riots near in riches stained with gore? + + "O sage regenerators of mankind! + Patriots of nimble tongue and systems crude! + How many regal tyrannies combined, + So many fields of massacre have strewed + As you, and your attendant cut-throat brood? + Man works no miracles; long toil, long thought, + Joined to experience, may achieve much good, + But to create new systems out of nought, + Is fit for Him alone, the universe who wrought. + + "But what hath such an hour of such a day + To do with human crimes, or earthly gloom? + Far wiser to enjoy while yet we may, + The mock-bird's song, the orange flower's perfume, + The freshness that the sparkling fountain showers. + Let nations reach their glory or their doom, + Spring will return to dress yon orange bowers, + And flowers will still bloom on, and bards will sing of flowers." + + +21st.--In pursuance of the last-mentioned advice, we have been breakfasting +to-day at Tacubaya, with the ----- Minister and his family, and enjoying +ourselves there in Madame -----'s garden. We have also just returned from +the Marquesa de -----'s, where we had a pleasant evening, and met General +Paredes, whom I like very much; a real soldier, thin, plain, blunt, and all +hacked with wounds. + +23rd.--C---n has been dining at the ----- Minister's, where he met all the +great actors in the present drama, and had an agreeable party. We are now +thinking of making our escape from this hotel, and of taking a horseback +journey into Michoacán, which shall occupy a month or six weeks. Meantime I +am visiting, with the Señorita -----, every hospital, jail, college, and +madhouse in Mexico! + +26th.--To-day they are celebrating their independence. All the bells in all +the churches, beginning with the cathedral, are pealing--cannon +firing--rockets rushing up into the air--Santa Anna in the Alameda, +speechifying--troops galloping--little boys running--Te Deum +chanting--crowds of men and women jostling each other--the streets covered +with carriages, the balconies covered with people--the Paseo expected to be +crowded. I have escaped to a quiet room, where I am trying to find time to +make up my letters before the packet goes. I conclude this just as the +dictator, with his brilliant staff, has driven off to Tacubaya. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-SEVENTH + + +Opera--Santa Anna and his Suite--His Appearance--_Belisario_--Solitary +"_Viva!_"--Brilliant House--Military Dictatorship--_San Juan de Dios_-- +Hospital _de Jesús_--_Cuna_--Old Woman and Baby--Different Apartments-- +Acordada--Junta--Female Prisoners--Chief Crime--_Travaux Forces_-- +Children--Male Prisoners--_Forçats_--Soldier's Gambling--Chapel-- +Confessional--Insane Hospital--Frenchmen--Different Kinds of Insanity-- +Kitchen--Dinner--Insane Monk--"Black Chamber"--Soldiers--College--Santa +Anna's Leg--Projects--All Saints--Señora P---a--Leave-takings. + + +4th November. + + +A great _función_ was given in the opera in honour of his excellency. The +theatre was most brilliantly illuminated with wax lights. Two principal +boxes were thrown into one for the president and his suite, and lined with +crimson and gold, with draperies of the same. The staircase leading to the +second tier where this box was, was lighted by and _lined_ all the way up +with rows of footmen in crimson and gold livery. A crowd of gentlemen stood +waiting in the lobby for the arrival of the hero of the fête. He came at +last in regal state, carriages and outriders at full gallop; himself, staff +and suite, in splendid uniform. As he entered, Señor Roca presented him +with a libretto of the opera, bound in red and gold. We met the great man +_en face_, and he stopped, and gave us a cordial recognition. Two years +have made little change in him in appearance. He retains the same +interesting, resigned, and rather melancholy expression; the same quiet +voice, and grave but agreeable manner; and surrounded by pompous officers, +he alone looked quiet, gentlemanly, and high bred. The theatre was crowded +to suffocation; boxes, pit, and galleries. There was no applause as he +entered. One solitary voice in the pit said "Viva Santa Anna!" but it +seemed checked by a slight movement of disapprobation, scarcely amounting +to a murmur. The opera was Belisarius; considered _à propos_ to the +occasion, and was really beautifully _montée_; the dresses new and +superb--the decorations handsome. They brought in real horses, and +Belisarius entered in a triumphal chariot, drawn by white steeds; but for +this the stage is infinitely too small, and the horses plunged and pranced +so desperately, that Belisarius wisely jumped out and finished his _aria_ +on foot. The two prima donnas acted together--the wife and daughter of the +hero--both about the same age, and dressed very well. But the Castellan's +voice is not suited to the opera, and the music, beautiful as it is, was +the least effective part of the affair. The generals, in their scarlet and +gold uniforms, sat like peacocks surrounding Santa Anna, who looked modest +and retiring, and as if quite unaccustomed to the public gaze! The boxes +were very brilliant--all the diamonds taken out for the occasion. His +Excellency is by no means indifferent to beauty--_tout au contraire_; yet I +dare say his thoughts were this night of things more warlike and less fair. + +Let all this end as it may, let them give everything whatever name is most +popular, the government is now a military dictatorship. Señor ----- calls +this revolution "the apotheosis of egotism transformed into virtue;" and it +must be confessed, that in most of the actors, it has been a mere +calculation of personal interests. + +10th.--We went, some days ago, with our friends from San Xavier, to visit +the hospital of San Juan de Dios, at San Cosme. We found that, being at +present under repair, it has but two occupants, old women--who keep each +other melancholy company. The building is very spacious and handsome; +erected, of course, during Spanish dominion, and extremely clean--an +observation worthy of note, when it occurs in Mexican public buildings. +There is a large hall, divided by square pillars, with a light and cheerful +aspect, where the patients sleep; and a separate apartment for women. The +rooms are all so clean, airy, and cheerful, that one forgets it is an +hospital. In this respect, the style of building here is superior to all +others, with large airy courtyards and fountains, long galleries and +immense apartments, with every window open. There is no part of Europe +where, all the year round, invalids can enjoy such advantages; but, also, +there are few parts of Europe where the climate would permit them to do so. + +The following day we visited another hospital; that known as the _Hospital +de Jesús_--hallowed ground; for here the mortal remains of _Cortes_ were +deposited. And, though rescued from desecration by a distinguished +individual, during a popular tumult, so that they no longer repose in the +sanctuary of the chapel, there still exists, enshrined here, that over +which time and revolutions have no power--his _memory_. + +The establishment, as an hospital, is much finer, and the building +infinitely handsomer than the other. The director, a physician, led us +first into his own apartments, as the patients were dining, and afterwards +showed us through the whole establishment. The first large hall, into which +we were shown, is almost entirely occupied by soldiers, who had been +wounded during the _pronunciamiento_. One had lost an arm, another a leg, +and they looked sad and haggard enough, though they seemed perfectly well +attended to, and, I dare say, did anything but _bless_ the revolutions that +brought them to that state, and with which they had nothing to do; for your +Mexican soldier will lie down on his mat at night, a loyal man, and will +waken in the morning and find himself a _pronunciado_. Each one had a +separate room, or at least a compartment divided by curtains from the next; +and in each was a bed, a chair, and a small table; this on one side of the +long hall. The other was occupied by excellent hot and cold baths. We then +visited the women's apartment, which is on a similar plan. Amongst the +patients is an unfortunate child of eight years old, who in the +_pronunciamiento_ had been accidentally struck by a bullet, which entered +her left temple and came out below the right eye, leaving her alive. The +ball was extracted, and a portion of the brain came out at the wound. She +is left blind, or nearly so, having but a faint glimmering of light. They +say she will probably live, which seems impossible. She looks like a +galvanized corpse--yet must have been a good-looking child. Notwithstanding +the nature of her wound, her reason has not gone, and as she sat upright in +her little bed, with her head bandaged, and her fixed and sightless eyes, +she answered meekly and readily to all the questions we put to her. Poor +little thing! she was shocking to look at; one of the many innocent beings +whose lives are to be rendered sad and joyless by this revolution. The +doctor seemed very kind to her. + +A curious accident happened to Señor ----- in this last _pronunciamiento_. +He had already lost his leg in the first one; and was limping along the +street, when he was struck by a ball. He was able to reach his house, and +called to his wife, to tell her what had occurred. Her first impulse was to +call for a doctor, when he said to her very coolly, "Not this time,--a +carpenter will do better." He had been shot in his _wooden leg_! + +At the end of the women's apartment in this hospital, there is a small +chapel where mass is said to the invalids. It is only remarkable as having +over the altar an image of the _Purisima_, brought from Spain by Cortes. We +went all through the building, even to the enclosure on the azotea, where +dead bodies are dissected; and on which azotea was a quantity of wool, +taken from the mattresses of those who die in the hospital, and which is +left in the sun during a certain period before it is permitted to be used +again. The whole establishment struck us as being healthy, cleanly, and +well-conducted. We then visited the fine old church, which has but one +broad aisle with a handsome altar, and near it is the small monument, under +which the bones of the conqueror were placed. The sacristy of the church is +remarkable for its ceiling, composed of the most intricately and +beautifully carved mahogany; a work of immense labour and taste, after the +Gothic style. The divisions of the compartments are painted blue and +ornamented with gilding. In the centre of the apartment is an immense +circular table, formed of one piece of mahogany; for which large sums have +been refused. + +We went in the evening to visit the _Cuna_, which is not a fine building, +but a large, healthy, airy house. At the door, where there are a porter and +his wife, the babies are now given in. Formerly they were put in at the +_reja_, at the window of the porter's lodge; but this had to be given up, +in consequence of the tricks played by boys or idle persons, who put in +dogs, cats, or dead animals. As we were going upstairs, we heard an old +woman singing a cheerful ditty in an awfully cracked voice, and as we got a +full view of her before she could see us, we saw a clean, old body sitting, +sewing and singing, while a baby rolling on the floor in a state of perfect +ecstasy, was keeping up a sort of crowing duet with her. She seemed +delighted to see these ladies, who belong to the _Junta_, and led us into a +large hall where a score of nurses and babies were performing a symphony of +singing, hushing, crying, lullabying, and other nursery music. All along +the room were little green painted beds, and both nurses and babies looked +clean and healthy. The -----s knew every baby and nurse and directress by +name. Some of the babies were remarkably pretty, and when we had admired +them sufficiently, we were taken into the next hall, occupied by little +girls of two, three, and four years old. They were all seated on little +mats at the foot of their small green beds; a regiment of the finest and +healthiest children possible; a directress in the room sewing. At our +entrance, they all jumped up simultaneously, and surrounded us with the +noisiest expressions of delight. One told me in a confidential whisper, +that "Manuelita had thumped her own head, and had a pain in it;" but I +could not see that Manuelita seemed to be suffering any acute agonies, for +she made more noise than any of them. One little girl sidled up to me, and +said in a most insinuating voice, "_Me llevas tu?_" "Will you take me away +with you?"--for even at this early age they begin to have a glimmering idea +that those whom the ladies choose from amongst them are peculiarly +favoured. We staid some time with them, and admired their healthy, happy, +and well-fed appearance; and then proceeded to the apartment of the boys; +all little things of the same age, sitting ranged in a row like senators in +congress, and, strange to say, much quieter and graver than the female +babies; but this must have been from shyness, for before we came away, we +saw them romping in great style. The directresses seem good respectable +women, and kind to the children, who, as I mentioned before, are almost all +taken away and brought up by rich people, before they have time to know +that there is anything peculiar or unfortunate in their situation. After +this adoption, they are completely on a level with the other children of +the family--an equal portion is left them, and although their condition is +never made a secret of, they frequently marry as well as their adopted +brothers and sisters. + +Those who are opposed to this institution, are so on the plea that it +encourages and facilitates vice. That the number of children in the +hospital is a proof that much vice and much poverty do exist, there is no +doubt; that by enabling the vicious to conceal their guilt, or by relieving +the poor from their burden, it encourages either vice or idleness, is +scarcely probable. But even were it so, the certain benefits are so +immense, when laid in the balance with the possible evils, that they cannot +be put in competition. The mother who leaves her child at the _Cuna_, would +she not abandon it to a worse fate, if this institution did not exist? If +she does so to conceal her disgrace is it not seen that a woman will stop +at no cruelty, to obtain this end? as exposure of her infant, even murder? +and that, strong as maternal love is, the dread of the world's scorn has +conquered it? If poverty be the cause, surely the misery must be great +indeed, which induces the poorest beggar or the most destitute of the +Indian women (whose love for their children amounts to a passion) to part +with her child; and though it is suspected that the mother who has left her +infant at the _Cuna_, has occasionally got herself hired as a nurse, that +she may have the pleasure of bringing it up, it seems to me that no great +evil can arise, even from that. + +These orphans are thus rescued from the contamination of vice, from +poverty, perhaps from the depths of depravity; perhaps their very lives are +saved, and great sin prevented. Hundreds of innocent children are thus +placed under the care of the first and best ladies in the country, and +brought up to be worthy members of society. + +Another day we devoted to visiting a different and more painful scene--the +_Acordada_, or public jail; a great solid building, spacious, and well +ventilated. For this also there is a _Junta_, or society of ladies of the +first families, who devote themselves to teaching the female malefactors. +It is painful and almost startling to see the first ladies in Mexico +familiarly conversing with and embracing women who have been guilty of the +most atrocious crimes; especially of murdering their husbands; which is the +chief crime of the female prisoners. There are no bad faces amongst them; +and probably not one who has committed a premeditated crime. A moment of +jealousy during intoxication, violent passions without any curb, suddenly +aroused and as suddenly extinguished, have led to these frightful results. +We were first shown into a large and tolerably clean apartment, where were +the female prisoners who are kept apart as being of a more _decent family_ +than the rest. Some were lying on the floor, others working--some were well +dressed, others dirty and slovenly. Few looked sad; most appeared careless +and happy, and _none_ seemed ashamed. Amongst them were some of the +handsomest faces I have seen in Mexico. One good-looking common woman, with +a most joyous and benevolent countenance, and lame, came up to salute the +ladies. I inquired what she had done. "Murdered her husband, and buried him +under the brick floor!" Shade of Lavater! It is some comfort to hear that +their husbands were generally such brutes, they deserved little better! +Amongst others confined here is the wife, or rather the widow, of a +governor of Mexico, who made away with her husband. We did not see her, and +they say she generally keeps out of the way when strangers come. One very +pretty and coquettish little woman, with a most intellectual face, and very +superior-looking, being in fact a relation of Count -----'s, is in jail on +suspicion of having poisoned her lover. A beautiful young creature, +extremely like Mrs. -----, of Boston, was among the prisoners. I did not +hear what her crime was. We were attended by a woman who has the title of +_Presidenta_, and who, after some years of good conduct, has now the charge +of her fellow-prisoners--but she also murdered her husband! We went +upstairs, accompanied by various of these distinguished criminals, to the +room looking down upon the chapel, in which room the ladies give them +instruction in reading, and in the Christian doctrine. With the time which +they devote to these charitable offices, together with their numerous +devotional exercises, and the care which their houses and families require, +it cannot be said that the life of a Mexican Señora is an idle one; nor, in +such cases, can it be considered a useless one. + +We then descended to the lower regions, where, in a great, damp, vaulted +gallery, hundreds of unfortunate women of the lowest class, were occupied +in _travaux forces_--not indeed of a very hard description. These were +employed in baking tortillas for the prisoners. Dirty, ragged, and +miserable-looking creatures there were in these dismal vaults, which looked +like purgatory, and smelt like--Heaven knows what! But, as I have +frequently had occasion to observe in Mexico, the sense of smell is a +doubtful blessing. Another large hall near this, which the prisoners were +employed in cleaning and sweeping, has at least fresh air, opening on one +side into a court, where poor little children, the saddest sight there, +were running about--the children of the prisoners. + +Leaving the side of the building devoted to the women, we passed on to +another gallery, looking down upon an immense paved court with a fountain, +where were several hundreds of male prisoners, unfortunately collected +together without any reference to the nature of their crime; the midnight +murderer with the purloiner of a pocket-handkerchief; the branded felon +with the man guilty of some political offence; the debtor with the false +coiner; so that many a young and thoughtless individual whom a trifling +fault, the result of ignorance or of unformed principles, has brought +hither, must leave this place wholly contaminated and hardened by bad +example and vicious conversation. Here there were indeed some ferocious, +hardened-looking ruffians--but there were many mild, good-humoured faces; +and I could see neither sadness nor a trace of shame on any countenance; +indeed they all seemed much amused by seeing so many ladies. Some were +stretched full-length on the ground, doing nothing; others were making +rolls for hats, of different coloured beads, such as they wear here, or +little baskets for sale; whilst others were walking about alone, or +conversing in groups. This is the first prison I ever visited, therefore I +can compare it with no other; but the system must be wrong which makes no +distinctions between different degrees of crime. These men are the same +_forçats_ whom we daily see in chains, watering the Alameda or Paseo, or +mending the streets. Several hundreds of prisoners escaped from the +Acordada in the time of the _pronunciamiento_--probably the worst amongst +them--yet _half the city_ appears to be here now. We were shown the row of +cells for criminals whom it is necessary to keep in solitary confinement, +on account of disorderly behaviour--also the apartments of the directors. + +In passing downstairs, we came upon a group of dirty-looking soldiers, +busily engaged in playing at cards. The alcalde, who was showing us through +the jail, dispersed them all in a great rage, which I suspected was partly +assumed for our edification. We then went into the chapel, which we had +seen from above, and which is handsome and well kept. In the sacristy is a +horrid and appropriate image of _the bad thief_. We were also shown a small +room off the chapel, with a confessional, where the criminal condemned to +die spends the three days preceding his execution with a padre chosen for +that purpose. What horrid confessions, what lamentations and despair that +small dark chamber must have witnessed! There is nothing in it but an +altar, a crucifix, and a bench. I think the custom is a very humane one. + +We felt glad to leave this palace of crimes, and to return to the fresh +air. + +The following day we went to visit _San Hipólito_, the insane hospital for +men, accompanied by the director, a fine old gentleman, who has been a +great deal abroad, and who looks like a French marquis of the _ancien +regime_. I was astonished, on entering, at the sweet and solitary beauty of +the large stone courts, with orange trees and pomegranates now in full +blossom, and the large fountains of beautifully clear water. There must be +something soothing in such a scene to the senses of these most unfortunate +of God's creatures. They were sauntering about, quiet and for the most part +sad; some stretched out under the trees, and others gazing on the fountain; +all apparently very much under the control of the administrador, who was +formerly a monk, this _San Hipólito_ being a dissolved convent of that +order. The system of giving occupation to the insane is not yet introduced +here. + +On entering, we saw rather a distinguished-looking, tall and well-dressed +gentleman, whom we concluded to be a stranger who had come to see the +establishment, like ourselves. We were therefore somewhat startled when he +advanced towards us with long strides, and in an authoritative voice +shouted out, "Do you know who I am? I am the Deliverer of Guatemala!" The +_administrador_ told us he had just been taken up, was a Frenchman, and in +a state of furious excitement. He continued making a tremendous noise, and +the other madmen seemed quite ashamed of him. One unhappy-looking creature, +with a pale, melancholy face, and his arms stretched out above his head, +was embracing a pillar, and when asked what he was doing, replied that he +was "making sugar." We were led into the dining-hall, a long airy +apartment, provided with benches and tables, and from thence into a most +splendid kitchen, high, vaulted, and receiving air from above, a kitchen +that might have graced the castle of some feudal baron, and looked as if it +would most surely last as long as men shall eat and cooks endure. Monks of +San Hipólito! how many a smoking dinner, what viands steaming and savoury +must have issued from this noblest of kitchens to your refectory next door. + +The food for the present inmates, which two women were preparing, consisted +of meat and vegetables, soup and sweet things; excellent meat, and +well-dressed _frijoles_. A poor little boy, imbecile, deaf and dumb, was +seated there cross-legged, in a sort of wooden box; a pretty child, with a +fine colour, but who has been in this state from his infancy. The women +seemed very kind to him, and he had a placid, contented expression of face; +but took no notice of us when we spoke to him. Strange and unsolvable +problem, what ideas pass through the brain of that child! + +When we returned to the dining-hall, the inmates of the asylum, to the +number of ninety or a hundred, were all sitting at dinner, ranged quietly +on the benches, eating with wooden spoons out of wooden bowls. The poor +hero of Guatemala was seated at the lower end of the table, tolerably +tranquil. He started up on seeing us, and was beginning some furious +explanations, but was prevented by his neighbour, who turned round with an +air of great superiority, saying, "He's _mad!_" at which the other smiled +with an air of great contempt, and looking at us said, "He calls _me_ mad!" +The man of the pillar was eyeing his soup, with his arms as before, +extended above his head. The director desired him to eat his soup, upon +which he slowly and reluctantly brought down one arm, and ate a few +spoonfuls. "How much sugar have you made to-day?" asked the director. +"Fifty thousand kingdoms!" said the man. + +They showed us two men, of very good family, and one old gentleman who did +not come to dinner with the rest, but stood aloof, in the courtyard, with +an air of great superiority. He had a cross upon his breast, and belongs to +an old family. As we approached, he took off his hat, and spoke to us very +politely; and then turning to the director, "_Y por fín_," said he, +"_Cuando saldré?_" "When shall I leave this place?" "Very soon," said the +director. "You may get your trunks ready." He bowed and appeared satisfied, +but continued standing in the same place, his arms folded, and with the +same wistful gaze as before. The director told us that the two great causes +of madness here are love and drinking, (mental and physical intoxication); +that the insanity caused by the former is almost invariably incurable, +whereas the victims of the latter generally recover, as is natural. The +poor old gentleman with the cross owes the overthrow of his mind to the +desertion of his mistress. We saw the chapel, where a padre says mass to +these poor creatures, "the Innocents," as they are called here. They do not +enter the chapel, for fear of their creating any disturbance, but kneel +outside, in front of the iron grating, and the administrador says it is +astonishing how quiet and serious they appear during divine service. + +As we passed through the court, there was a man busily employed in hanging +up various articles of little children's clothes, as if to dry them--little +frocks and trousers; all the time speaking rapidly to himself, and stopping +every two minutes to take an immense draught of water from the fountain. +His dinner was brought out to him (for he could not be prevailed on to sit +down with the others), and he ate it in the same hurried way, dipping his +bread in the fountain, and talking all the time. The poor madman of the +_sugar-kingdoms_ returned from dinner, and resumed his usual place at the +pillar, standing with his arms above his head, and with the same melancholy +and suffering expression of face. + +The director then showed us the room where the clothes are kept; the straw +hats and coarse dresses, and the terrible straight waistcoats made of brown +linen, that look like coats with prodigiously long sleeves, and the +_Botica_ where the medicines are kept, and the secretary's room where they +preserve the mournful records of entry and death--though often of exit. All +round the court are strong stone cells, where the furious are confined. He +took us into an empty one, where a Franciscan friar had been lodged. He had +contrived to pull down part of the wall, and to make a large hole into his +neighbour's cell adjoining. Fancy one madman seeing the head of another +appear through a hole in his cell! The whole cell was covered with crosses +of every description, drawn with a piece of coal. They had been obliged to +remove him into another in the gallery above, where he had already begun a +new work of destruction. I was afterwards told by the Padre P---n, the +confessor of condemned criminals, and who is of the same order as this +insane monk, that this poor man had been a merchant, and had collected +together about forty thousand dollars, with which he was travelling to +Mexico, when he was attacked by robbers, who not only deprived him of all +he possessed, but gave him some severe wounds on the head. When somewhat +recovered, he renounced the world, and took his vows in the convent of San +Francisco. Shortly after, he became subject to attacks of insanity, and at +last became so furious, that the superior was obliged to request an order +for his admission to San Hipólito. + +The director then led us to the gallery above, where are more cells, and +the terrible "_Cuarto Negro_," the Black Chamber; a dark, round cell, about +twelve feet in circumference, with merely a slit in the wall for the +admission of air. The floor is thickly covered with straw, and the walls +are entirely covered with soft stuffed cushions. Here the most furious +madman is confined on his arrival, and whether he throws himself on the +floor, or dashes his head against the wall, he can do himself no injury. In +a few days, the silence and the darkness soothe his fury, he grows calmer, +and will eat the food that is thrust through the aperture in the wall. From +this he is removed to a common cell, with more light and air; but until he +has become tranquil, he is not admitted into the court amongst the others. + +From this horrible, though I suppose necessary den of suffering, we went to +the apartments of the administrador, which have a fine view of the city and +the volcanoes, and saw a virgin, beautifully carved in wood, and dressed in +white satin robes, embroidered with small diamonds. On the ground was a +little dog, dying, having just fallen off from the azotea, an accident +which happens to dogs here not unfrequently. We then went up to the azotea, +which looks into the garden of San Fernando and of our last house, and also +into the barracks of the soldiers, who, as ----- observed, are more +dangerous madmen than those who are confined. Some rolled up in their dirty +yellow cloaks, and others standing in their shirt-sleeves, and many without +either; they were as dirty-looking a set of military heroes as one would +wish to see. When we came downstairs again, and had gone through the court, +and were passing the last cell, each of which is only lighted by an +aperture in the thick stone wall, a pair of great black eyes glaring +through, upon a level with mine, startled me infinitely. The eyes, however, +glared upon vacancy. The face was thin and sallow, the beard long and +matted, and the cheeks sunken. What long years of suffering appeared to +have passed over that furrowed brow! I wish I had not seen it.... + +We afterwards went to the college of Bizcainos, that K---- might see it--my +third and last visit. What a palace! What courts and fountains! We went +over the whole building as before, from the azotea downwards, and from the +porter's lodge upwards. Many of the scholars, who went out during the +revolution, have not yet returned. K---- was in admiration at the +galleries, which look like long vaulted streets, and at the chapel, which +is certainly remarkably rich.... + +Having stopped in the carriage on the way home, at a shoemaker's, we saw +_Santa Anna's leg_ lying on the counter, and observed it with due respect, +as the prop of a hero. With this leg, which is fitted with a very handsome +boot, he reviews his troops next Sunday, putting his _best foot foremost;_ +for generally he merely wears an unadorned wooden leg. The shoemaker, a +Spaniard, whom I can recommend to all customers as the most impertinent +individual I ever encountered, was arguing, in a blustering manner, with a +gentleman who had brought a message from the general, desiring some +alteration in the boot: and wound up by muttering, as the messenger left +the shop, "He shall either wear it as it is, or review the troops next +Sunday without his leg!"[1] + +[Footnote 1: Boston, November, 1842.--_Apropos des bottes,_ I copy the +following paragraph from an Havana newspaper: + +"Mexico, 28th September.--Yesterday, was buried with pomp and solemnity in +the cemetery of Saint Paul, the foot which his Excellency, President Santa +Anna, lost in the action of the 5th December, 1838. It was deposited in a +monument erected for that purpose, Don Ignacio Sierra y Roso having +pronounced a funeral discourse appropriate to the subject."] + +We have ordered _mangas_ to wear in our intended journey, which is now +nearly decided on--nothing tolerable to be had under seventy or eighty +dollars. They are made of strong cloth, with a hole in the middle for +putting the head through, with black velvet capes, fringed either with silk +or gold, and are universally lined with strong calico. They are warm and +convenient for riding in the country. I have seen some richly embroidered, +which cost five hundred dollars. + +It is as I prophesied--now that we are about leaving Mexico, we fancy that +there still remain objects of interest which we have not seen. We have paid +a visit, probably a last visit, to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and certainly +never examined her cathedral with so much attention, or lingered so long +before each painting and shrine, or listened with so much interest to the +particulars of its erection, which were given us by Señor -----, whose +authority in these matters is unimpeachable. + +It appears that the present sacristy of the parochial church dates back to +1575, and was then a small chapel, where the miraculous image was kept, and +where it remained until the beginning of the next century, when a new +church was built, to which the image was solemnly transported. Even when +enclosed in the first small sanctuary, its fame must have been great, for, +by orders of the archbishop, six doweries of three hundred dollars each, to +be given to six orphans on their marriage, were annually drawn from the +alms offered at her shrine. But in 1629 Mexico suffered the terrible +inundation which destroyed so large a part of the city, and the excellent +archbishop, D. Francisco Manzo, while devoting his time and fortune to +assist the sufferers, also gave orders that the Virgin of Guadalupe should +be brought into Mexico, and placed in the cathedral there, then of very +different dimensions from the present noble building, occupying, it is +said, the space which is now covered by the principal sacristy. When the +waters retired, and the Virgin was restored to her own sanctuary, her fame +increased to a prodigious extent. Copies of the Divine Image were so +multiplied, that there is probably not an Indian hut throughout the whole +country where one does not exist. Oblations and alms increased a thousand +fold; a silver throne, weighing upwards of three hundred and fifty marks, +and beautifully wrought, chiefly at the expense of the viceroy, Count of +Salvatierra, was presented to her sanctuary, together with a glass case +(for the image), considered at that time a wonder of art. At the end of the +century a new temple, the present sanctuary, was begun; the second church +was thrown down, but not until a provisional building (the actual parish +church) was erected to receive the image. The new temple was concluded in +1709, and is said to have cost from six to eight hundred thousand dollars, +collected from _alms alone_, which were solicited in person by the +viceregal archbishop, D. Juan de Ortega y Montanez. Two private individuals +in Mexico gave, the one thirty, the other fifty thousand dollars, towards +its erection. + +The interior is of the Doric order, and has three aisles, divided by eight +pillars, upon which with the walls are placed eighteen arches, the centre +one forming the dome of the edifice. It runs from north to south, has three +great gates, one fronting Mexico, and two others at the sides. Its length +may be two hundred and fifty feet, and its width about one hundred and +thirty. In the four external angles of the church are four lofty towers, in +the midst of which rises the dome. Three altars were at first erected, and +in the middle one, destined for the image, was a sumptuous tabernacle of +silver gilt, in which were more than three thousand two hundred marks of +silver, and which cost nearly eighty thousand dollars. In the centre of +this was a piece of gold, weighing four thousand and fifty _castellanos_ +(an old Spanish coin, the fiftieth part of a mark of gold), and here the +image was placed, the linen on which it is painted guarded by a silver +plate of great value. The rest of the temple had riches corresponding. The +candlesticks, vases, railing, etc., contain nearly fourteen thousand marks +of silver, without counting the numerous holy vessels, cups and chalices +adorned with jewels. One golden lamp weighed upwards of two thousand two +hundred _castellanos_--another seven hundred and fifty silver marks. + +In 1802 some part of the walls and arches began to give way--and it was +necessary to repair them. But first, under the direction of the celebrated +sculptor Tolsa, a new altar was erected for the image. His first care was +to collect the most beautiful marbles of the country for this purpose--the +black he brought from Puebla, and the white, gray and rose-coloured from +the quarries of San José Vizarron. He also began to work at the bronze +ornaments, but from the immense sums of money necessary to its execution, +the work was delayed for nearly twenty years. Then, in 1826, it was +recommenced with fresh vigour. The image was removed meanwhile to the +neighbouring convent of the Capuchinas, and the same year the altar was +concluded, and the Virgin brought back in solemn procession, in the midst +of an innumerable multitude. This great altar, which cost from three to +four hundred thousand dollars, is a concave hexagonal, in the midst of +which rise two white marble pillars, and on each side two columns of +rose-coloured marble, of the composite order, which support the arch. +Between these are two pedestals, on which are the images of San Joaquin and +Santa Anna, and two niches, containing San José and St. John the Baptist. +Above the cornices are three other pedestals, supporting the three Saints, +Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael; and above St. Michael, in the midst of +cherubim and seraphim, is a representation of the Eternal Father. The space +between the upper part of the altar and the roof, is covered with a painted +crimson curtain, held by saints and angels. The tabernacle in the centre of +the altar, is of rose-coloured marble, in which the image is deposited, and +all the ornaments of the altar are of gilt bronze and zinc. + +Besides the collegiate and the parish church, there are at Guadalupe the +church of the Capuchin Nuns, and the churches of the Hill and the Well; all +in such close conjunction, that the whole village or city, as it calls +itself, seems altogether some religious establishment or confraternity, +belonging to these temples and churches, united in the worship of the +Virgin, and consequent upon the "Miraculous Apparition" manifested to the +chosen Indian, Juan Diego. + +I regret not having known till lately, that there exists in Mexico a +convent of _Indian Nuns:_ and that each nun, when she takes the veil, wears +a very superb Indian dress--the costume formerly worn by the _cacicas_, or +ladies of highest rank. + +I went some days ago with the Señorita F---a to visit a house for insane +women, in the _Calle de Canoa_, built in 1698, by the rich congregation of +_el Salvador_. The institution is now in great want of funds; and is by no +means to be compared with the establishment of San Hipólito. The directress +seems a good kind-hearted woman, who devoted herself to doing her duty, and +who is very gentle to her patients; using no means but those of kindness +and steadiness to subdue their violence. But what a life of fear and +suffering such a situation must be! The inmates look poor and miserable, +generally speaking, and it is difficult to shake off the melancholy +impression which they produce on the mind. We were particularly struck by +the sight of one unfortunate woman of the better class, who, with her long +hair all dishevelled, and eyes sparkling with a wild light, stood at the +open window of her cell, where for the present they are obliged to confine +her, and who poured forth the most piteous lamentations, and adjured every +one who passed, in the most pathetic terms, to restore her husband and +children to her. One girl was singing cheerfully--one or two women were +sewing, but most of them were sitting crouched on the floor, with a look of +melancholy vacancy. The poor are admitted gratis, and the richer classes +pay a moderate sum for their board.... + +To turn to a very different theme. We continue to go to the opera, +certainly the most agreeable amusement in Mexico, and generally to the +----- Minister's box, in the centre. Last evening, _Belisario_ was +repeated, but with less splendour than on its representation in honour of +Santa Anna. + +We expect to leave this on the sixteenth, going in a diligence as far as +Toluca, where a Mexican officer, Colonel Y----, has kindly promised to meet +us with mules and horses. M. le Comte de B---- and Mr. W----, secretaries +of the French and English Legations, have made arrangements for +accompanying us as far as Valadolid; with which agreeable travelling +companions we may reasonably expect a pleasant journey. + +Last Sunday was the festival of All Saints; on the evening of which day, we +walked out under the _portales_, with M. and Madame de -----, +----- Minister and his wife, to look at the illumination, and at the +numerous booths filled with _sugar skulls_, etc.; temptingly ranged in +grinning rows, to the great edification of the children. In general there +are crowds of well-dressed people on the occasion of this fête, but the +evening was cold and disagreeable, and though there were a number of +ladies, they were enveloped in shawls, and dispersed early. The old women +at their booths, with their cracked voices, kept up the constant cry of +"Skulls, _niñas_, skulls!"--but there were also animals done in sugar, of +every species, enough to form specimens for a Noah's ark. + +14th.-We leave this the day after to-morrow, and shall write from our first +halting-place; and as on our return we shall do little more than pass +through Mexico, we are _almost_ taking leave of all our friends. Were I to +tell you all the kindness and hospitality, and cordial offers of service +that we receive, and the manner in which our rooms (albeit the rooms of an +inn) are filled from morning till night, it would seem an exaggeration. One +acquaintance we have made lately, whom we like so much, that we have been +vociferously abusing the system of _faire part_ in this city, since, owing +to the mistake of a servant, we have until now been deprived of the +pleasure of knowing her. The mistake is rectified at the eleventh hour. The +lady is the Señora de G---z P---a, one of the most accomplished and +well-informed women in Mexico; and though our friendship has been short, I +trust it may be enduring. + +Two evenings since, we went with the Señora de C---s to an amateur concert; +and I question whether in any capital of Europe, so many good amateur +voices could be collected. I do not speak of the science or cultivation, +though the hostess, the Señora A----, has a perfect method. But yesterday +we spent a most agreeable evening in a delightful family reunion, at the +house of Señor N---i del B---o. It was strictly limited to the family +relations, and was, I believe, his _jour de fête_. If all Mexican society +resembled this, we should have too much regret in leaving it. The girls +handsome, well educated, and simple in their manners and tastes--the +Countess a model of virtue and dignity. Then so much true affection and +love of home amongst them all! So much wealth and yet good taste and +perfect simplicity visible in all that surrounds them! Mexico is not _lost_ +as long as such families exist, and though they mingle little in society, +the influence of their virtues and charities is widely felt. + +This morning C---n had an audience of the new president. He also paid a +visit to General Bustamante, who is still at Guadalupe, and preparing for +his departure. He will probably sail in the Jason, the man-of-war which +brought us to Vera Cruz, and it is probable that we shall leave the +republic at the same period. The Dowager Marquesa de Vivanco, who in +consequence of ill health has not left her house for months, was among our +visitors this morning. + +To-day Count C---a dined here, and brought for our inspection the splendid +sword presented by Congress to General Valencia, with its hilt of +brilliants and opals; a beautiful piece of workmanship, which does credit +to the Mexican artificers. He was particularly brilliant and eloquent in +his conversation to-day--whether his theories are right or wrong, they are +certainly _entrainant_. + +Our next letters will probably be dated from Toluca + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-EIGHTH + + +Leave Mexico--Diligence--Indian Padre--Brandy-drinking Female--Bad +Roads--Beautiful View--Escort--Good Breakfast--Crosses--Robber's +Head--Select Party--Lerma--Valley of Toluca--Hacienda--Toluca--Count de +B---- and Mr. W------ The Comandante--Gay Supper--Colonel Y------Day at +Toluca--Journey to La Gabia--Heat and Hunger--Pleasant Quarters--Princely +Estate--El Pilar--A Zorillo--A Wolf--Long Journey--Tortillas--Count de +B------State of Michoacán--Forest Scenery--_Trojes of Angangueo_--Comfort. + + +TOLUCA, 16th. + + +In vain would be a description with the hopes of bringing them before you, +of our last few days in Mexico!--of the confusion, the bustle, the visits, +the paying of bills, the packing of trunks, the sending off of heavy +luggage to Vera Cruz, and extracting the necessary articles for our +journey; especially yesterday, when we were surrounded by visitors and +_cargadores_, from half-past seven in the morning till half-past eleven at +night. Our very last visitors were the families of C---a and E---n. The new +president, _on dit_, is turning his sword into a ploughshare. Preferring a +country to a city life, nearly every Sunday he names the house in which he +desires to be _fêted_ the following week--now at the villa of +Señor ----- at Tacubaya--now at the hacienda of Señor ----- at San Agustin. +As yet the diplomatic corps do not attend these assemblies, not having been +officially received; but we hear that there is singing and dancing, and +other amusements, and that his excellency is extremely amiable and +_galant_. + +By six o'clock this morning several of our friends were assembled to +accompany us to the diligence (Señors C---o, M---e, R---s, A---e, etc.), +which, unfortunately, we had not been able to secure for ourselves; for at +this moment, the whole world is in motion, going to attend the great annual +fair of San Juan de los Lagos; which begins on the fifth of December, and +to which Toluca is the direct road. Fortunately, the diligence had broken +down the preceding evening, and it was necessary to repair it; otherwise we +should have left behind various important articles, for in the confusion of +our departure, every one had left some requisite item at the hotel;--C---n +his gun; K---- her bag; I _everything_--and more especially the book with +which I intended to beguile the weary hours between Mexico and Toluca. Our +servant-boy ran--Señor R---s mounted his horse, and most good-naturedly +galloped between the diligence office and the hotel, until, little by +little, all the missing articles were restored. We climbed into the coach, +which was so crowded that we could but just turn our heads to groan an +adieu to our friends. The coach rattled off through the streets, dashed +through the Alameda, and gradually we began to shake down, and, by a little +arrangement of cloaks and sarapes, to be less crowded. A _padre_ with a +very Indian complexion sat between K---- and me, and a horrible, long, +lean, bird-like female, with immense red goggle-eyes, coal-black teeth, +fingers like claws, a great goitre, and drinking brandy at intervals, sat +opposite to us. There were also various men buried in their sarapes. +Satisfied with a cursory inspection of our companions, I addressed myself +to _Blackwood's Magazine_, but the road which leads towards the Desierto, +and which we before passed on horseback, is dreadful, and the mules could +scarcely drag the loaded coach up the steep hills. We were thrown into +ruts, horribly jolted, and sometimes obliged to get out, which would not +have been disagreeable but for the necessity of getting in again. The day +and the country were beautiful, but impossible to enjoy either in a shut +coach. We were rather thankful when the wheels, sticking in a deep rut, we +were forced to descend, and walk forwards for some time. We had before seen +the view from these heights, but the effect never was more striking than at +this moment. The old city with her towers, lakes, and volcanoes, lay bathed +in the bright sunshine. Not a cloud was in the sky--not an exhalation rose +from the lake--not a shadow was on the mountains. All was bright and +glittering, and flooded in the morning light; while in contrast rose to the +left the dark, pine-covered crags, behind which the Desierto lies. + +At Santa Fe we changed horses, and found there an escort which had been +ordered for us by General Tornel; a necessary precaution in these +robber-haunted roads. We stopped to breakfast at _Quajimalpa_, where the +inn is kept by a Frenchman, who is said to be making a large fortune, which +he deserves for the good breakfast he had prepared for us by orders of the +Count de B---- and Mr. W----, who had preceded us early in the morning on +horseback; (enviable fate!). We had white fish from the river of Lerma, +which crosses the plains of Toluca, fresh and well dressed, and without +that taste of _mud_ which those from the Mexican Laguna occasionally have; +also hot cutlets, potatoes, coffee, etc. + +After leaving this inn, situated in a country formed of heaps of lava and +volcanic rocks, the landscape becomes more beautiful and wooded. It is, +however, dangerous, on account of the shelter which the wooded mountains +afford to the knights of the road, and to whose predilection for these wild +solitudes, the number of crosses bore witness. In a woody defile there is a +small clear space called "_Las Cruces_," where several wooden crosses point +out the site of the famous battle between the curate Hidalgo and the +Spanish General Truxillo. An object really in keeping with the wild +scenery, was the head of the celebrated robber _MalDoñado_, nailed to the +pine-tree beneath which he committed his last murder. It is now quite +black, and grins there, a warning to his comrades and an encouragement to +travellers. From the age of ten to that of fifty, he followed the +honourable profession of free-trader, when he expiated his crimes. The +padre who was in the coach with us, told us that he heard his last +confession. That grinning skull was once the head of a man, and an ugly one +too, they say; but stranger still it is to think, that that man was once a +baby, and sat on his mother's knee, and that his mother may have been +pleased to see him cut his _first tooth_. If she could but see his teeth +now! Under this very head, and as if to show their contempt for law and +justice, the robbers lately eased some travellers of their luggage. Those +who were robbed, however, were false coiners, rather a common class in +Toluca, and two of these ingenious gentlemen were in the coach with us (as +we afterwards learnt), and were returning to that city. These, with the +brandy-drinking female, composed our select little party! + +The scenery without was decidedly preferable to that within, and the +leathern sides of the vehicle being rolled up, we had a tolerable view. +What hills covered with noble pines! What beautiful pasture-fields, dotted +with clumps of trees, that looked as if disposed for effect, as in an +English park!--firs, oaks, cedars, and elms. Arrived at the town or village +of Lerma, famous for its manufacture of spurs, and standing in a marshy +country at the entrance of the valley of Toluca, all danger of the robbers +is passed, and with the danger, much of the beauty of the scenery. But we +breathed more freely on another account, for here she of the goggle-eyes +and goitre, descended with her brandy-bottle, relieving us from the +oppressive influence of the sort of _day_-mare, if there be such a thing, +which her presence had been to us. + +The valley of Toluca was now before us, its volcano towering in the +distance. The plains around looked cold and dreary, with pools of +transparent water, and swamps filled with various species of water-fowl. +The hacienda of San Nicolas, the property of Señor Mier y Teran, a +Spaniard, was the only object that we saw worthy of notice, before we +reached Toluca. This hacienda, formerly the property of the Carmelite +monks, is a valuable estate. Not a tree is to be seen here, or in the +valley, a great extent of which is included in it; but it is surrounded by +vast fields of maguey and maize; it is traversed by a fine river, and is +one of the most profitable estates in the country. The labourers here are +in general the Ottomie Indians, a poor and degraded tribe. Here we +dismissed our escort, which had been changed every six leagues, and entered +Toluca about four o'clock, passing the _Garrita_ without the troublesome +operation of searching, to which travellers in general are subject. We +found tolerable rooms in an inn; at least there were two or three wooden +chairs in each, and a deal table in one; and Mr. W---- and the Count de +B---- looking out for us. Colonel Y---- had not yet made his appearance. + +Toluca, a large and important city, lies at the foot of the mountain of San +Miguel de _Tutucuitlalpico_; and is an old, quiet, good-looking, +respectable-seeming place, about as sad and solitary as Puebla. The +streets, the square, and the churches are clean and handsome. To the south +of the city lie extensive plains covered with rich crops; and about ten +miles in the same direction is the volcano. We walked out in the afternoon +to the Alameda, passing under the _portales_; handsomer and cleaner than +those of Mexico; and sat down on a stone bench beside a fountain, a +position which commanded a beautiful view of the distant hills and of the +volcano, behind which the sun was setting in a sea of liquid flame, making +it look like a great pearl lying amongst melted rubies. The Alameda has not +been much ornamented, and is quite untenanted; but walks are cut through +the grass, and they were making hay. Everything looked quiet and +convent-like, and a fine fresh air passed over the new-mown grass, +inclining to cold, but pleasant. The volcano is scooped out into a natural +basin, containing, in the very midst of its fiery furnace, two lakes of the +purest, coldest and most transparent water. It is said that the view from +its summit, the ascent to which is very fatiguing, but has been +accomplished, is beautiful and extensive. On the largest lake travellers +have embarked in a canoe, but I believe it has never been crossed, on +account of the vulgar prejudice that it is unfathomable, and has a +whirlpool in the centre. The volcano is about fifteen thousand feet above +the level of the sea, and nine thousand above Toluca. It is not so grand as +Popocatepetl, but a _respectable_ volcano for a country town--_muy +decente_(very decent), as a man said in talking of the pyramids that adorn +the wonderful cavern of Cucuhuamilpa. + +We ordered supper at the inn, and were joined by the Comandante of Toluca, +Don M---- A----, the officer who came out to meet us when we arrived in +Mexico. I regret to state that such a distinguished party should have sat +down, six in number, to fowl and frijoles, with only three knives and two +forks between them. The provident travellers had, however, brought good +wine; and if our supper was not very elegant, it was at least very gay. +Colonel Y---- arrived about ten o'clock; but it is agreed that the animals +require one day's rest, and we shall consequently spend to-morrow at +Toluca. + +17th.--We have spent this day in arranging our route, in which we are +guided not by the most direct, but the most agreeable; in walking through +the city, which, in the time of federalism, was the capital of the state, +in climbing some of the steep roads cut through the hills, at whose base it +lies; and in admiring the churches and convents, and broad, well-paved +streets with their handsome houses, painted white and red. It is decided +that the first night of our pilgrimage, we shall request hospitality at the +hacienda of the ex-Minister Hechavarria--_La Gabia_, which is about ten +leagues of very bad road from Toluca--which is sixteen from Mexico. All +these important arrangements being made, and a sketch of our journey traced +out, we are about retiring to rest, in the agreeable prospect of not +entering any four or two wheeled vehicle, be it a cart, carriage, coach, or +diligence, till we return here. + +LA GABIA, 19th. + +To get _under weigh_ the first morning was a work of some difficulty. Mules +to be loaded, horses to be fitted with saddles; and one mule lame, and +another to be procured, and the trunks found to be too heavy, and so on. We +rose at five, dressed by candlelight, took chocolate, put on our mangas, +and then planted ourselves in the passage looking down upon the _patio_, to +watch the proceedings and preparations. Colonel A---- arrived at seven with +a trooper, to accompany us part of the way; and we set off while it was +cool, without waiting for the rest of the party. Toluca looked silent and +dignified as we passed through the streets--with its old convents and dark +hills. The road, after leaving the city, was stony and mountainous; and +having reached a small _rancho_ with an old oratorio beside it, we halted +to wait for our travelling companions. Colonel A---- amused us with an +account of his warfare against the Comanches, in which service he had been +terribly wounded. Singular contrast between these ferocious barbarians and +the mild Indians of the interior! He considers them an exceedingly +handsome, fine-looking race; whose resources, both for war and trade, are +so great, that were it not for their natural indolence, the difficulties of +checking their aggression would be formidable indeed. Colonel A---- being +obliged to return to Toluca, left us in charge of his trooper, and we +waited at the rancho for about half an hour, when our party appeared with a +long train of mules and _mozos_; the gentlemen dressed Mexican fashion as +well as their men; the best dress in the world for a long equestrian +journey. Colonel Y---- had staid behind to procure another mule, and there +being two roads, we, as generally happens in these cases, chose the worst; +which led us for leagues over a hilly country, unenlivened by tree, shrub, +bush, or flower. The sun was already high, and the day intensely hot. We +passed an occasional poor hut--a chance Indian passed us--showed his white +teeth, and, in spite of the load on his back, contrived to draw his hat off +his matted locks, and give us a mild good morrow--but for the rest, from +Dan to Beersheba, from Toluca to La Gabia, all was barren. By twelve +o'clock we might have fancied ourselves passing over the burning plains of +Mesopotamia, notwithstanding an occasional cold breeze which swept across +us for a moment, serving only to make us feel the heat with greater force. +Then barranca followed barranca. The horses climbed up one crag, and slid +down another. By two o'clock we were all starving with hunger, but nothing +was to be had. Even Nebuchadnezzar would have found himself at a nonplus. +The Count de B---- contrived to buy some graniditas and parched corn from +an Indian, which kept us quiet for a little while; and we tried to console +ourselves by listening to our arrieros, who struck up some wild songs in +chorus, as they drove the wearied mules up the burning hills. Every Indian +that we met assured us that La Gabia was "_cerquita_," quite near--"_detras +lomita_," behind the little hill; and every little hill that we passed +presented to our view another little hill, but no signs of the +much-wished-for dwelling. A more barren, treeless, and uninteresting +country than this road (on which we have unanimously revenged our-selves by +giving it the name of "the road of the three hundred barrancas") led us +through, I never beheld. However, "it's a long lane that has no turning," +as we say in Scotland; and between three and four, La Gabia was actually in +sight; a long, low building, whose entrance appeared to us the very gates +of Eden. We were all, but especially me, who had ridden with my veil up, +from a curiosity to see where my horse was going, burnt to the colour of +Pawnee Indians. + +We were most cordially welcomed by Señor Hechavarria and his +brothers-in-law, and soon refreshed by rest and an excellent dinner. +Fortunately K---- and I had no mirrors; but each gave such a flattering +description of the other's countenance, that it was quite graphic. + +This beautiful hacienda, which formerly belonged to the Count de Regla, +whose possessions must have been royal, is thirty leagues in length and +seventeen in width--containing in this great space the productions of every +climate, from the fir-clad mountains on a level with the volcano of Toluca, +to the fertile plains which produce corn and maize; and lower down, to +fields of sugar-cane and other productions of the tropics. + +We retired to rest betimes, and early this morning rode out with these +gentlemen, about five leagues through the hacienda. The morning was bright +and exhilarating, and our animals being tired, we had fresh, strong little +horses belonging to their stud, which carried us delightfully. We rode +through beautiful pine-woods and beside running water, contrasting +agreeably with our yesterday's journey; and were accompanied by three +handsome little boys, children of the family, the finest and manliest +little fellows I ever saw, who, dressed in a complete Mexican costume, like +three miniature rancheros, rode boldly and fearlessly over everything. +There was a great deal of firing at crows and at the wild duck on a +beautiful little lake, but I did not observe that any one was burdened with +too much game. We got off our horses to climb through the wooded hills and +ravines, and passed some hours lying under the pine-trees, listening to the +gurgling of the little brook, whose bright waters make music in the +solitude; and, like the soldiers at the _pronunciamiento_, but with surer +aim, pelting each other from behind the parapets of the tall trees, with +fir tops. About ten o'clock we returned to breakfast; and Colonel +Y---- having arrived, we are now preparing to continue our journey this +afternoon. + + +ANGANGUBO, 20th. + + +We left La Gabia at four o'clock, accompanied by our hospitable hosts for +some leagues, all their own princely property, through great +pasture-fields, woods of fir and oak, hills clothed with trees, and fine +clear streams. We also passed a valuable stone-quarry; and were shown a +hill belonging to the Indians, presented to them by a former proprietor. We +formed a long train, and I pitied the mistress of _El Pilar_, our next +halting-place, upon whom such a regiment was about to be unexpectedly +quartered. There were C---n, K----, and I, and a servant; the Count de +B---- and his servant; Mr. W---- and his servant; Colonel Y---- and his +men; mules, arrieros, spare mules, and led horses; and all the _mozos_ +armed, forming altogether a formidable gang. We took leave of the +Hechavarria family when it was already growing dusk, and when the moon had +risen found we had taken a great round; so that it was late at night when +we arrived at _El Pilar_, a small hacienda, situated in a wild-looking, +solitary part of the country. A servant had been sent forward to inform the +lady of the establishment of our approach, and we were most kindly +received. The house is clean and pretty, and, tired as we were, the _sala_, +boasting of an old piano, tempted us to try a waltz while they were +preparing supper. The man who waited at table, before he removed the +things, popped down upon his knees, and recited a long prayer aloud. The +gentlemen had one apartment prepared for them--we another, in which, nay, +even in the large four-posted and well-curtained bed allotted to us, Madame +Yturbide had slept when on her way to Mexico before her coronation. The +Señora M---- also showed us her picture, and spoke of her and the emperor +with great enthusiasm. + +This morning we rose by candlelight, at five o'clock, with the prospect of +a long ride, having to reach the _Trojes of Angangueo_, a mining district +(_trojes_ literally mean granaries), fourteen leagues from El Pilar. The +morning was cold and raw, with a dense fog covering the plains, so that we +could scarcely see each other's faces, and found our _mangas_ particularly +agreeable. We were riding quickly across these ugly marshy wastes, when a +curious animal crossed our path, a _zorillo_, or _epatl_, as the Indians +call it, and which Bouffon mentions under the generic name of _mouffêtes_. +It looks like a brown and white fox, with an enormous tail, which it holds +up like a great feather in the air. It is known not only for the beauty of +its skin, but for the horrible and pestilential odour with which it defends +itself when attacked, and which poisons the air for miles around. +Notwithstanding the warnings of the _mozos_ as to its peculiar mode of +defence, the gentlemen pursued it with guns and pistols, on horseback and +on foot, but fired in vain. The beast seemed bullet-proof; turning, +doubling, winding, crossing pools, hiding itself, stopping for a moment as +if it were killed, and then trotting off again with its feathery tail much +higher than its head; so that it seemed to be running backwards. The fog +favoured it very much. It was certainly wounded in the paw, and as it +stopped and seemed to hesitate, the sportsmen thought they had caught him; +but a minute afterwards away went the waving tail amongst the pools and the +marshy grass, the zorillo, no doubt, accompanying it, though we could not +see him, and fortunately without resorting to any offensive or defensive +measures. While they were chasing the zorillo, and we had rode a little way +off, that we might not be accidentally shot in the fog, an immense wolf +came looming by in the mist, with its stealthy gallop, close to our horses, +causing us to shout for the sportsmen; but our numbers frightened it; +besides which, it had but just breakfasted on a mule belonging to the +hacienda, as we were told by the son of the proprietress of El Pilar, who, +hearing all this distant firing, had ridden out to inquire into its cause, +supposing that we might have lost our way in the fog, and were firing +signals of distress. + +We continued our journey across these plains for about three leagues, when +the sun rose and scattered the mist; and after crossing a river, we entered +the woods and rode between the shadows of the trees, through lovely forest +scenery, interspersed with dells and plains and sparkling rivulets. But by +the time we left these woods, and made our way up amongst the hills, the +sun was riding high in the heavens, the pastures and green trees +disappeared, and, though the country was still fertile and the soil rich, +its beauties lay hid in the valleys below. K----'s horse received a sort of +_coup de soleil_, shivered and trembled, and would not go on; so she +mounted another, and one of the _mozos_ led hers slowly by a different road +to a village, to be watered. About one o'clock we began to wish for +breakfast, but the mules which carried the provisions had taken a different +path, and were not in sight; so that, arriving at an Indian hut close by a +running stream, we were unanimous in dismounting, and at least procuring +some _tortillas_ from the inmates. At the same time, the Count +de ----- very philanthropically hired an old discoloured-looking horse, +which was grazing peaceably outside the hut, and mounting the astonished +quadruped, who had never, in his wildest dreams, calculated upon having so +fine a chevalier on his back, galloped off in search of more solid food, +while we set the Indian women to baking _tortillas_. He returned in about +half an hour, with some bones of boiled mutton, tied up in a handkerchief! +some salt, and thick tortillas, called _gorditas_, and was received with +immense applause. Everything vanished in an incredibly short space of time, +and we resumed our journey with renewed vigour. Towards the afternoon we +entered the state of Michoacán, by a road (destined to be a highway) traced +through great pine-forests, after stopping once more to rest at _Las +Millas_, a few huts, or rather wooden cages, at the outskirts of the wood. +Nothing can be more beautiful or romantic than this road, ascending through +these noble forests, whose lofty oaks and gigantic pines clothe the +mountains to their highest summits; sometimes so high, that, as we look +upwards, the trees seem diminished to shrubs and bushes; the sun darting +his warm, golden light between the dark-green extended branches of these +distant forest pyramids, so that they seem to be basking in the very focus +of his rays. Untrodden and virgin as these forests appear, an occasional +cross, with its withered garland, gives token of life, and also of death; +and green and lonely is the grave which the traveller has found among these +Alpine solitudes, under the shadows of the dark pine, on a bed of fragrant +wild-flowers, fanned by the pure air from the mountain-tops. The flowers +which grow under the shade of the trees are beautiful and gay in their +colours. Everywhere there are blue lupins, marigolds, dahlias, and +innumerable blossoms with Indian names. Sometimes we dismounted and walked +up the steepest parts, to rest our horses and ourselves; but, as it was +impossible to go fast on these stony paths, it became entirely dark before +Angangueo was in sight; and the road, which, for a great part of the way, +is remarkably good, now led us down a perpendicular descent amongst the +trees, covered with rocks and stones, so that the horses stumbled, and one, +which afterwards proved to be blind of one eye, and not to see very clearly +with the other, fell and threw his rider, who was not hurt. It was near +eight o'clock (and we had been on horseback since six in the morning), +when, after crossing a shallow stream, we saw the fires of the furnaces of +Angangueo, a mining village, at the foot of some wild hills. We rode past +the huts, where the blazing fires were shining on the swarthy faces of the +workmen, the road skirting the valley, till we reached the house of Don +Carlos Heimbürger, a Polish gentleman at the head of the German mining +establishment. This house, the only one of any consequence at Angangueo, is +extremely pretty, with a piazza in front, looking down upon the valley, +which at night seems like the dwelling of the Cyclops, and within a very +picture of comfort. We were welcomed by the master of the house, and by +Madame B---n, a pretty and accomplished German lady, the wife of a +physician who resides there. We had already known her in Mexico, and were +glad to renew our acquaintance in this outlandish spot. One must have +travelled fourteen leagues, from morning till night, to know how +comfortable her little drawing-room appeared, with its well-cushioned red +sofas, bright lights, and vases of flowers, as we came in from the cold and +darkness, and how pretty and _extra_-civilized she looked in her black +satin gown, not to mention the excellent dinner and the large fires, for +they have chimneys in this part of the world. In a nice little bedroom, +with a cheerful fire, the second time I have seen one in two years, I +indite these particulars, and shall continue from our next place of rest. + + + + +LETTER THE FORTY-NINTH + + +Leave _Trojes_--Beautiful Territory--Tarrascan Indians--Taximaroa-- +Distressed Condition--An Improvement--Cold Morning--Querendaro--Fine Breed +of Horses--San Bartolo--Produce--Country Proprietors--_Colear_--Ride to +Morelia--Wild Ducks--Sunset--Cathedral Bell--Cuincho--Curates Morelos, +Mantamoros and Hidalgo--Warm Baths--Handsome Girls--Starving Travellers-- +Lost Mules--Lancers--Night on a Heap of Straw--Mules Found--Tzintzontzan-- +King Calsonsi--Pascuaro--Kind Reception--Bishop--Robbers--Curu--Night in a +Barn--Mountain--Uruapa--Enchanting Scenery--Pleasant Family--Jorullo. + + +VALLADOLID, 25th. + + +As the house was so agreeable, and our next day's journey short, we could +not prevail upon ourselves to leave the _Trojes_ before nine o'clock; and +even then, with the hopes of spending some time there on our return to see +the mining establishment; the mills for grinding ore, the horizontal +water-wheels, etc., etc.; and still more, the beautiful scenery in the +neighbourhood. + +That you may understand our line of march, take a map of Mexico, and you +will see that Michoacán, one of the most beautiful and fertile territories +in the world, is bounded on the north by the river Lerma, afterwards known +by the name of Rio Grande; also by the department of Guanajuato; to the +east and north-east it bounds that of Mexico, and to the west, that of +Guadalajara. It lies on the western slope of the Great Cordillera of +Anahuac. Hills, woods, and beautiful valleys diversify its surface; its +pasture-grounds are watered by numerous streams, that rare advantage under +the torrid zone, and the climate is cool and healthy. The Indians of this +department are the Terascos--the Ottomi and the Chichimeca Indians. The +first are the most civilized of the tribes, and their language the most +harmonious. We are now travelling in a north-westerly direction, towards +the capital of the state, Valladolid, or Morelia, as it has been called +since the independence, in honour of the curate Morelos, its great +supporter. + +We had a pleasant ride of nine leagues through an open pasture-country, +meeting with nothing very remarkable on our journey, but an Indian woman +seated on the ground, her Indian husband standing beside her. Both had +probably been refreshing themselves with pulque--perhaps even with its +homoeopathic extract _mezcal_; but the Indian was sober and sad, and stood +with his arms folded, and the most patient and pitying face, while his +wife, quite overcome with the strength of the potation, and unable to go +any further, looked up at him with the most imploring air, saying +repeatedly--"_Mátame, Miguel, mátame_" (Kill me, Miguel--kill me)-- +apparently considering herself quite unfit to live. + +About five o'clock we came in sight of the pretty village and old church of +_Taximaroa_; and riding up to the _mesón_, or inn, found two empty dark +rooms with mud floors--without windows, in fact without anything but their +four walls--neither bench, chair, nor table. Although we travel with our +own beds, this looked rather uninviting, especially after the pleasant +quarters we had just left; and we turned our eyes wistfully towards a +pretty small house upon a hill, with a painted portico, thinking how +agreeably situated we should be there! Colonel Y---- thereupon rode up the +hill, and presenting himself to the owner of this house, described our +forlorn prospects, and he kindly consented to permit us all to sup there, +and moreover to receive the ladies for the night. For the gentlemen he had +no room, having but one spare apartment, as one of his family was a great +invalid, and could not be moved. Accordingly, our travelling luggage was +carried up the hill; the horses and mules and servants were quartered in +the village, the gentlemen found lodging for themselves in a bachelor's +house, and we found ourselves in very agreeable quarters, on a pretty +piazza, with an extensive view, and one large room, containing a table and +some benches, at our service. Meanwhile, M. de B---- rushed through the +village, finding eggs and hens and tortillas, and then returning, he and +Mr. W---- produced the travelling stores of beef and tongue, and set about +making mustard and drawing bottles of wine, to the great wonderment and +edification of the honest proprietor. Even a clean tablecloth was produced; +a piece of furniture which he had probably never seen before, and now eyed +wistfully, doubtless taking it for a _sheet_. We had a most amusing supper, +some performing dexterously with penknives, and others using tortillas as +forks. We won the heart of the _bourgeois_ by sending a cup of tea to his +invalid, and inviting him to partake of another, which he seemed to +consider a rare and medicinal beverage. About nine o'clock the gentlemen +departed to their lodgings, and our beds were erected in the large room +where we had supped; the man assuring us that he was quite pleased to have +us under his roof, and liked our company extremely well; adding, "_Me +cuadra mucho la gente decente_" (I am very fond of decent people). + +We left Taximaroa at six o'clock, having spent rather a disturbed night, in +consequence of the hollow coughs with which the whole family seemed +afflicted, at least the poor invalid on one side of our room, and the +master of the house on the other. The morning was so cold, that every manga +and sarape was put in requisition. Our ride this day was through superb +scenery, every variety of hill and valley, water and wood, particularly the +most beautiful woods of lofty oaks, the whole with scarcely a trace of +cultivation, and for the most part entirely uninhabited. Our numbers were +augmented by Colonel Y----'s troop, who rode from Morelia to meet him. We +had a long journey, passed by the little village of _San Andrés_, and +stopped to eat _tortillas_ in a very dirty hut at Pueblo Viejo, surrounded +by the dirtiest little Indian children. Throughout the whole ride, the +trees and flowering shrubs were beautiful, and the scenery so varied, that +although we rode for eleven hours in a hot sun, we scarcely felt fatigued, +for wherever there are trees and water and fresh green grass, the eye is +rested. In this and in our last few days' journey, we saw a number of blue +birds, called by the common people _guardía-bosques_, wood guardians. About +half-past five we entered a winding road, through a natural shrubbery, +leading to _Querendaro_, the fine hacienda of Señor Pimentel, a senator. +When we arrived the family were at dinner, and we were invited to join +them, after which we went out to see the hacienda, and especially the +handsome and well-kept stables, where the proprietor has a famous breed of +horses, some of which were trotted out for our inspection--beautiful, +spirited creatures--one called "_Hilo de Oro_" (golden thread)--another, +"_Pico Blanco_" (white mouth), etc. In the inner courtyard are many +beautiful and rare flowers, and everything is kept in great order. + +At nine o'clock the following morning we left Querendaro, and rode on to +_San Bartolo_, a vast and beautiful property, belonging to Señor Don +Joaquin Gomez, of Valladolid. The family were from home, with the exception +of his son and nephew, who did the honours of the house with such cordial +and genuine hospitality, that we felt perfectly at home before the day was +over. I think the Mexican character is never seen to such advantage as in +the country, amongst these great landed proprietors of old family, who live +on their own estates, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and entirely +removed from all the party feeling and petty interests of a city life. It +is true that the life of a country gentleman here is that of a hermit, in +the total absence of all society, in the nearly unbroken solitude that +surrounds him. For leagues and leagues there is no habitation but his own; +the nearest miserable village may be distant half a day's journey, over an +almost impassable road. He is "monarch of all he surveys," a king amongst +his farm servants and Indian workmen. Nothing can exceed the independence +of his position; but to enjoy this wild country life, he must be born to +it. He must be a first-rate horseman, and addicted to all kinds of country +sport; and if he can spend the day in riding over his estate, in directing +his workmen, watching over his improvements, redressing disputes and +grievances, and can sit down in the evening in his large and lonely halls, +and philosophically bury himself in the pages of some favourite author, +then his time will probably not hang heavy on his hands. + +As for the _young master_ here, he was up with the lark--he was on the most +untractable horse in the hacienda, and away across the fields with his +followers, chasing the bulls as he went--he was fishing--he was +shooting--he was making bullets--he was leagues off at a village, seeing a +country bull-fight--he was always in a good humour, and so were all who +surrounded him--he was engaged in the dangerous amusement of _colear_ +--and by the evening it would have been a clever writer who had kept _his_ +eyes open after such a day's work. Never was there a young lad more +evidently fitted for a free life in the country. + +There was a generous, frank liberality apparent in everything in this +hacienda, that it was agreeable to witness; nothing petty or calculating. +Señor -----, lame through an accident, and therefore unable to mount his +horse, or to go far on foot, seemed singularly gentle and kind-hearted. The +house is one of the prettiest and most cheerful we have seen yet; but we +passed a great stone building on the road, which the proprietor of San +Bartolo is having constructed for one of his family, which, if it keep its +promise, will be a palace when finished. The principal produce of this +hacienda is _pimiento_, the capsicum. There is the _pimiento dulce_ and the +_pimiento picante_, the sweet fruit of the common capsicum, and the fruit +of the bird pepper capsicum. The Spaniards gave to all these peppers the +name of _chile_, which they borrowed from the Indian word _quauhchilli_, +and which, to the native Mexicans, is as necessary an ingredient of food as +salt is to us. At dinner we had the greatest variety of fine fruit, and +pulque, which is particularly good in this neighbourhood. They also make +here a quantity of excellent cheese. + +After dinner they proceeded to amuse us with the _colear_ of the bulls, of +which amusement the Mexicans throughout the whole republic are passionately +fond. They collect a herd, single out several, gallop after them on +horseback; and he who is most skilful, catches the bull by the tail, passes +it under his own right leg, turns it round the high pummel of his saddle, +and wheeling his horse round at right angles by a sudden movement, the bull +falls on his face. Even boys of ten years old joined in this sport. It is +no wonder that the Mexicans are such _centaurs_, seeming to form part and +parcel of their horses, accustomed as they are from childhood to these +dangerous pastimes. This is very dangerous, since the horses' legs +constantly get entangled with those of the falling bull, which throws both +horse and rider. Manifold are the accidents which result from it, but they +are certainly not received as warnings; and after all, such sports, where +there is nothing bloody, nor even cruel, saving the thump which the bull +gets, and the mortification which he no doubt feels, but from both of which +he soon recovers; and which are mere games of skill, trials of address--are +manly and strengthening, and help to keep up the physical superiority of +that fine race of men--the Mexican _rancheros_. + +The next day we parted from our travelling companions, the Count de +B---- and Mr. W----, who are on their way to the fair of San Juan, and are +from thence going to _Tepic_, even to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. +Unfortunately, our time is limited, and we cannot venture on so distant an +expedition; but we greatly regretted separating from such pleasant +_compagnons de voyage_. We spent the morning in walking about the hacienda, +seeing cheese made, and visiting the handsome chapel, the splendid stone +granaries, the great mills, etc. We also hope to spend some time here on +our return. By letters received this morning from Mexico, we find that +Señor Gomez Pedraza has left the ministry. + +As we had but six leagues to ride in order to reach Morelia, we did not +leave San Bartolo till four in the afternoon, and enjoyed a pretty ride +through a fertile and well-wooded country, the road good and the evening +delightful. As the sun set, millions and tens of millions of ducks, in +regular ranks and regiments, darkening the air, flew over our heads, +changing their quarters from one lake to another. Morelia is celebrated for +the purity of its atmosphere and the exceeding beauty of its sky; and this +evening upheld its reputation. Toward sunset, the whole western horizon was +covered with myriads of little lilac and gold clouds, floating in every +fantastic form over the bright blue of the heavens. The lilac deepened into +purple, blushed into rose-colour, brightened into crimson. The blue of the +sky assumed that green tint peculiar to an Italian sunset. The sun himself +appeared a globe of living flame. Gradually he sank in a blaze of gold and +crimson, while the horizon remained lighted as by the flame from a volcano. +Then his brilliant retinue of clouds, after blazing for a while in borrowed +splendour, melted gradually into every rainbow hue and tinge; from deep +crimson to rose-colour and pink and pale violet and faint blue, floating in +silvery vapour, until they all blended into one soft gray tinge, which +swept over the whole western sky. But then the full moon rose in cloudless +serenity, and at length we heard, faintly, then more distinctly, and then +in all its deep and sonorous harmony, the tolling of the cathedral bell, +which announced our vicinity to a great city. It has a singular effect, +after travelling for some days through a wild country, seeing nothing but a +solitary hacienda, or an Indian hut, to enter a fine city like Morelia, +which seems to have started up as by magic in the midst of the wilderness, +yet bearing all the traces of a venerable old age. By moonlight, it looked +like a panorama of Mexico; with a fine square, portales, cathedral, broad +streets, and good houses. We rode through the city, to the house of Colonel +Y----, where we now are; but as we intend to continue our journey to its +furthest limits without stopping, we are now, after a night's rest, +preparing to resume our ride. They are saddling the horses, strapping on +the sarapes behind the saddles, taking down and packing up our _lits de +voyage_, and loading the mules, all which is a work of time. On our return +we hope to remain here a few days, to see everything that is worthy of +notice. + + +PASCUARO. + + +Accompanied by several gentlemen of Morelia, who came early in the morning +to see C---n, we set off for the warm baths of _Cuincho_; and as we rode +along, the hill of _Las Bateas_ was pointed out to us, where, by order of +the Curate Morelos, two hundred Spaniards were murdered in cold blood, to +revenge the death of his friend, the Curate Matamoros, who was taken +prisoner and shot by orders of Yturbide. Horrible cruelty in a Christian +priest! It is singular, that the great leaders of the independence should +have been ecclesiastics; the Curate Hidalgo its prime mover, the Curates +Morelos and Matamoros the principal chiefs. Hidalgo, it is said, had no +plan, published no manifesto, declared no opinions; but rushed from city to +city at the head of his men, displaying on his colours an image of the +Virgin of Guadalupe, and inciting his troops to massacre the Spaniards. +Morelos was an Indian, uneducated, but brave and enterprising, and +considered the mildest and most merciful of these soldier priests! +Matamoros, equally brave, was better informed. Both were good generals, and +both misused the power which their position gave them over the minds of the +unenlightened populace. When Morelos became generalissimo of the +revolutionary forces, he took a step fatal to his interests, and which led +to his ultimate ruin. He formed a congress, which met at Chilpansingo, and +was composed of lawyers and clergymen; ignorant and ambitious men, who +employed themselves in publishing absurd decrees and impossible laws, in +assigning salaries to themselves, and giving each other the title of +_Excellency_. Disputes and divisions arose amongst them; and, in 1814, they +published an absurd and useless document in the village of Apatzingan, to +which they gave the name of the "Mexican Constitution." The following year, +Morelos was defeated in an engagement which took place in the environs of +Tesmelaca, taken prisoner, led to Mexico, and, after a short trial, +degraded from his ecclesiastical functions, and shot in the village of San +Cristobal Ecatepec, seven leagues from the capital. The revolutionary party +considered him as a martyr in the cause of liberty, and he is said to have +died like a true hero. The appellation of Morelia, given to the city of +Valladolid, keeps his name in remembrance, but her blood-stained mountain +is a more lasting record of his cruelty. + +A vile action is recorded of a Spaniard, whose name, which deserves to be +branded with infamy, escapes me at this moment. The soldiers of Morelos +having come in search of him, he, standing at his door, pointed out his +brother, who was in a room inside the house, as the person whom they +sought; and escaped himself, leaving his brother to be massacred in his +place. We contrasted the conduct of this miserable wretch with the noble +action of the Prince de Polignac, under similar circumstances. + +At half-past ten, after a pleasant ride of about five leagues, we arrived +at the natural hot springs of Cuincho. The place is quite wild, the scenery +very striking. The building consists of two very large baths, two very damp +rooms, and a kitchen. The baths are kept by a very infirm old man, a martyr +to intermitting fever, and two remarkably handsome girls, his daughters, +who live here completely alone, and, except in summer, when the baths are +resorted to by a number of _canonigos_ and occasional gentlemen from +Morelia, "waste their sweetness on the desert air." The house, such as it +is, lies at the foot of rocky hills, covered with shrubs, and pouring down +streams of hot water from their volcanic bosoms. All the streams that cross +your path are warm. You step by chance into a little streamlet, and find +the water of a most agreeable temperature. They put this water in earthen +jars to cool, in order to render it fit for drinking, but it never becomes +fresh and cold. It contains muriatic acid, without any trace of sulphur or +metallic salt. I think it is Humboldt who supposes that in this part of +Mexico there exists, at a great depth in the interior of the earth, a +fissure running from east to west, for one hundred and thirty-seven +leagues, through which, bursting the external crust of the porphyritic +rocks, the volcanic fire has opened itself a passage at different times, +from the coasts of the Mexican Gulf, as far as the South Sea. The famous +volcano of Jorullo is in this department, and boiling fountains are common +in various parts of it. + +We stopped here to take a bath, and found the temperature of the water +delicious, about the ordinary temperature of the human body. The baths are +rather dark, being enclosed in great stone walls, with the light coming +from a very small aperture near the roof. A bird, that looked like a wild +duck, was sailing about in the largest one, having made its entry along +with the water when it was let in. I never bathed in any water which I so +much regretted leaving. After bathing, we waited for the arrival of our +mules, which were to follow us at a gentle pace, that we might have +breakfast, and continue our journey to _Pascuaro_, a city nine leagues +farther. + +But several hours passed away, and no mules appeared; and at length we came +to the grievous conviction that the arrieros had mistaken the road, and +that we must expect neither food nor beds that night; for it was now too +late to think of reaching Pascuaro. In this extremity, the gentlemen from +Morelia, suffering for their politeness in having escorted us, the two +damsels of the bath, naiads of the boiling spring, pitying our hungry +condition, came to offer their services; one asked me if I should like "to +eat a _burro_ in the mean time?" A _burro_ being an _ass_, I was rather +startled at the proposition, and assured her that I should infinitely +prefer waiting a little longer before resorting to so desperate a measure. +"Some people call them pecadoras," (female sinners!) said her sister. Upon +this, the gentlemen came to our assistance, and burros or pecadoras were +ordered forthwith. They proved to be hot tortillas, with cheese in them, +and we found them particularly good. It grew late, but no mules arrived; +and at length the young ladies and their father rushed out desperately, +caught an old hen that was wandering amongst the hills, killed, skinned, +and put it into a pot to boil, baked some fresh tortillas, and brought us +the spoil in triumph! One penknife was produced--the boiling pan placed on +a deal table in the room off the bath, and every one, surrounding the fowl, +a tough old creature, who must have chuckled through many revolutions, we +ate by turns, and concluded with a comfortable drink of lukewarm water. + +We then tried to beguile the time by climbing amongst the hills at the back +of the house--by pushing our way through the tangled briers--by walking to +a little lake, where there were ducks and waterfowl, and close to the +margin a number of fruit trees. We returned to the baths--the mules had not +been heard of--there was no resource but patience. Our Morelian friends +left us to return home before it should grow dusk; and shortly after, an +escort of twenty-three lancers, with a captain, arrived by orders of the +governor, Don Panfilo Galiudo, to accompany us during the remainder of our +journey. They looked very picturesque, with their lances, and little +scarlet flags, and gave a very formidable aspect to the little portico in +front of the baths, where they deposited all their military +accoutrements--their saddles, guns, sarapes, etc. The captain had with him +his wife and daughter, and a baby of about two years old, which, during all +the time they were with us, was constantly carried by one of the soldiers, +with the utmost care, in front of his horse. + +Meanwhile, the moon rose, and we walked about disconsolate, in front of the +baths--fearing greatly that some accident might have overtaken our +unescorted mules and servants; that the first might be robbed--and that the +drivers might be killed. But it was as well to try to sleep if it were only +to get over the interminable night; and at length some clean straw was +procured, and spread in a corner of the damp floor. There K---- and I lay +down in our mangas. C---n procured another corner--Colonel Y---- a third, +and then and thus, we addressed ourselves seriously to repose, but in vain. +Between cold and mosquitoes and other animals, we could not close our eyes, +and were thankful to rise betimes, shake the straw off, and resume our +march. + +The road was pretty and flowery when the light came in, and we gradually +began to open our eyes, after taking leave of our fair hostesses and their +father. When I say _the road_ you do not, I trust, imagine us riding along +a dusty highway. I am happy to say that we are generally the discoverers of +our own pathways. Every man his own Columbus. Sometimes we take short cuts, +which prove to be long rounds: + + "Over hill, over dale, + Through bush, through brier;" + +through valley and over stream; and this kind of journey has something in +it so independent and amusing, that with all its fatigues and +inconveniences, we find it delightful--far preferable even to travelling in +the most commodious London-built carriage, bowling along the queen's +highway with four swift posters, at the rate of twelve miles an hour. + +Arrived at the huts, we stopped to make inquiries concerning the mules. Two +loaded mules, the peasants said, had been robbed in the night, and the men +tied to a tree on the low road leading to Pascuaro. We rode on uneasy +enough, and at another hut were told that many robbers had been out in the +night, and that amongst others, a woman had been robbed and bound hand and +foot. The road now became bleak and uninteresting, the sun furiously hot, +and we rode forward with various misgivings as to the fate of the party; +when at a cluster of huts called _el Correo_, we came up with the whole +concern. The arrieros had forgotten the name of Cuincho, and not knowing +where to go, had stopped here the previous night, knowing that, we were +bound for Pascuaro, and must pass that way. They had arrived early, and +missed the robbers. + +We stopped to breakfast at some huts called La Puerta de Chapultepec, where +we got some tortillas from a halfcaste Indian, who was in great distress, +because his wife had run off from him for the fourth time with "another +gentleman!" He vowed that though he had taken her back three times, he +never would receive her more; yet I venture to say, that when the false +fair one presents herself, she will find him placable; he is evidently in +such distress at having no woman to take care of his house. + +After leaving Chapultepec, the scenery improves, and at length we had a +beautiful view of the hills, at the foot of which lies the ancient city of +_Tzintzontsan_, close by the opposite shore of the Lake of Pascuaro; +formerly capital of the independent kingdom of Michoacán, an important +city, called at the time of Cortes, _Hurtzitzila_. It was formerly the +residence of the monarch, King _Calsonsi_, an ally of Cortes, and who, with +his Indian subjects, assisted him in his Mexican war. It is now a poor +Indian village, though it is said that some remains of the monarch's palace +still exist. _Apropos_ to which, we have several times observed, since we +entered this state, large stones lying in fields, or employed in fences, +with strange hieroglyphic characters engraved on them, some of which may be +curious and interesting. + +The view as we approach Pascuaro with its beautiful lake studded with +little islands, is very fine. The bells were tolling, and they were letting +off rockets for some Indian festival, and we met parties of the natives who +had been keeping the festival upon _pulque_ or _mezcal_ (a strong spirit) +and were stumbling along in great glee. We came up to an old church, that +looks like a bird's-nest amongst the trees, and stands at the outskirts of +the city. Here, it is said, his Majesty of Michoacán came out to meet his +Spanish ally, when he entered this territory. + +Pascuaro is a pretty little city with sloping roofs, situated on the shores +of the lake of the same name, and in front of the little Indian village of +Janicho, built on a beautiful small island in the midst of the lake. C---n +says that Pascuaro resembles a town in Catalonia. It is entirely unlike any +other Mexican city. We made a great sensation as we entered with our +lancers and mules, tired and dust-becovered as we were, and brought all the +_Pascuaranians_ to their balconies. We passed churches bearing the date of +1580! We went to the largest and best house in the town, that of Don Miguel +H---a (a friend of Colonel Y----'s). He was from home, but we were most +hospitably entertained by his wife, who received us without any unnecessary +ceremony or compliments, and made us quite at home. We walked out with her +by moonlight to see the Square and the Portales, which is a promenade in +the evening, and were followed by crowds of little boys; strangers being +rather an uncommon spectacle here. The only foreign lady, Doña ----- says, +whoever was here in her recollection, was a Frenchwoman, to whom she was +very much attached, the daughter of a physician, and whose husband was +murdered by the robbers. + +This morning, the weather being cold and rainy, and our quarters too +agreeable to leave in any violent haste, we agreed to remain until +to-morrow, and have spent a pleasant day in this fine large house, with +Doña -----, and her numerous and handsome children. We have not been able +to visit the lake, or the Indian islands on account of the weather, but we +hope to do so on our return from _Uruapa_, our next destination. Our +hostess is a most agreeable person; lively, kind-hearted, and full of +natural talent. We did not expect to meet such a person in this corner of +the world. + +The first bishop of Michoacán, Vasco de Quiroga, who died in Uruapa, was +buried in Pascuaro, and the Indians of this state still venerate his +memory. He was the father and benefactor of these Tarrascan Indians, and +went fast to rescue them from their degraded state. He not only preached +morality, but encouraged industry amongst them, by assigning to each +village its particular branch of commerce. Thus one was celebrated for its +manufacture of saddles, another for its shoes, a third for its _bateos_ +(painted trays), and so on. Every useful institution, of which some traces +still remain amongst them, is due to this excellent prelate; an example of +what one good and zealous and well-judging man can effect. + +We have been taking another stroll by moonlight, the rain having ceased; we +have lingered over a pleasant supper, and have wished Doña ----- goodnight. +Yet let me not forget, before laying down my pen, to celebrate the +excellence of the white fish from the lake! so greatly surpassing in +excellence and flavour those which we occasionally have in Mexico. These no +doubt must have constituted "_the provisions_," which according to +tradition, were carried by regular running posts, from Tzintzontzan to +Montezuma's palace in Mexico, and with such expedition, that though the +distance is about one hundred leagues, they were placed, still smoking, on +the Emperor's table! + + +URUAPA, 30th. + + +We went to mass at six o'clock; and then took leave of the Señora H---a, +who gave us a cordial invitation to spend some days with her on our return. +It was about eight o'clock when we left Pascuaro, and mounted the hills +over which our road lay, and stopped to look down on the beautiful lake, +lying like a sheet of silver in the sun, and dotted with green islands. + +Two disagreeable personages were added to our party. Early in the morning, +intelligence was brought that a celebrated robber, named _Morales_, captain +of a large band, had been seized along with one of his companions; and +permission was requested to take advantage of our large escort, in order +that they may be safely conducted to Uruapa, where they are to be shot, +being already condemned to death. The punishment of hanging is not in use +in Mexico. + +The first thing therefore that we saw, on mounting our horses, was the two +robbers, chained together by the leg, guarded by five of our lancers, and +prepared to accompany us on foot. The companion of Morales was a young, +vulgar-looking ruffian, his face livid, and himself nearly naked; but the +robber-captain himself was equal to any of Salvator's brigands, in his wild +and striking figure and countenance. He wore a dark-coloured blanket, and a +black hat, the broad leaf of which was slouched over his face, which was +the colour of death, while his eyes seemed to belong to a tiger or other +beast of prey. I never saw such a picture of fierce misery. Strange to say, +this man began life as a shepherd; but how he was induced to abandon this +pastoral occupation, we did not hear. For years he has been the scourge of +the country, robbing to an unheard of extent, (so that whatever he may have +done with them, tens of thousands of dollars have passed through his +hands,) carrying off the farmers' daughters to the mountains, and at the +head of eighty ruffians, committing the most horrible disorders. His last +crime was murdering his wife in the mountains, the night before last, under +circumstances of barbarity too shocking to relate, and it is supposed, +assisted by the wretch now with him. After committing the crime, they ran +to hide themselves in an Indian village, as the Indians, probably from +fear, never betray the robbers. However, their horror of this man was so +great, that perfect _hate_ cast out their fear, and collecting together, +they seized the ruffians, bound them, and carried them to Pascuaro, where +they were instantly tried, and condemned to be shot; the sentence to be +executed at Uruapa. + +The sight of these miserable wretches, and the idea of what their feelings +must be, occupied us, as they toiled along, each step bringing them nearer +to their place of execution; and we could not help thinking what wild +wishes must have sometimes throbbed within them, of breaking their bonds, +and dashing away from their guards--away through the dark woods, over +mountain and river, down that almost perpendicular precipice, over the +ravine, up that green and smiling hill, and into these gloomy pine woods, +in whose untrod recesses they would be secure from pursuit--and then their +despair when they felt the heavy, clanking chain on their bare feet, and +looked at the lances and guns that surrounded them, and knew that even if +they attempted to fly, could they be insane enough to try it, a dozen +bullets would stop their career for ever. Then horror and disgust at the +recollection of their savage crimes took the place of pity, and not even +-----'s suggestion, that the robber-chief might have killed his wife in a +transport of jealousy, could lessen our indignation at this last most +barbarous murder of a defenceless woman. + +But these thoughts took away half the pleasure of this most beautiful +journey, through wild woods, where for leagues and leagues we meet nothing +but the fatal _cross_; while through these woods of larches, cedars, oaks, +and pines, are bright vistas of distant pasture-fields, and of lofty +mountains, covered with forests. Impossible to conceive a greater variety +of beautiful scenery--a greater _waste_ of beauty, if one may say so--for +not even an Indian hut was to be seen, nor did we meet a single passing +human being, nor a trace of cultivation. As we came out of the woods we +heard a gun fired amongst the hills, the first token of human life that had +greeted us since we left Pascuaro. This, Señor ----- told us, was the +signal-gun usually fired by the Indians on the approach of an armed troop, +warning their brethren to hide themselves. Here the Indians rarely speak +Spanish, as those do who live in the neighbourhood of cities. Their +language is chiefly the harmonious Tarrascan. + +Towards the afternoon we came to a path which led us into a valley of the +most surpassing beauty, entirely carpeted with the loveliest blue, white, +pink, and scarlet wild flowers, and clothed with natural orchards of peach +and apricot trees in full bloom, the grass strewed with their rich +blossoms. Below ran a sparkling rivulet, its bright gushing waters leaping +over the stones and pebbles that shone in the sun like silver. Near this +are some huts called _Las Palomas_, and it was so charming a spot, that we +got off our horses, and halted for half-an-hour; and while they prepared +breakfast for us, a basket of provisions from Pascuaro having been brought +on by the provident care of Doña -----, we clambered out amongst the rocks +and luxuriant trees that dipped their leafy branches in the stream, and +pulled wild flowers that would grace any European garden. + +Having breakfasted in one of the huts, upon fowl and tortillas, on which +memorable occasion two penknives were produced (and I still wonder why we +did not bring some; knives and forks with us, unless it be that we should +never have had them cleaned), we continued our journey: and this mention of +knives leads me to remark, that all common servants in Mexico, and all +common people, eat with their fingers! Those who are rather particular, +roll up two tortillas, and use them as a knife and fork, which, I can +assure you from experience, is a great deal better than nothing, when you +have learnt how to use them. + +Our road after this, though even wilder and more picturesque, was very +fatiguing to the horses--up and down steep rocks, among forests of oak and +pine, through which we slowly wended our way; so that it was dark when we +descended a precipitous path, leading to a small Indian village, or rather +encampment, called _Curu_. It was now too late to think of reaching Uruapa, +or of venturing to climb by night the series of precipices called the +_Cuesta de Curu_, over which we should have had to pass. But such a place +as _Curu_ for Christians to pass the night in! A few miserable huts filled +with Indians, and not, so far as we could discern, even an empty shed, +where we might rest under cover. However, there was no remedy. The +_arriero_ had already unloaded his mules, and was endeavouring to find some +provender for them and the poor horses. It was quite dark, but there was a +delicious fragrance of orange-blossoms, and we groped our way up to the +trees, and pulled some branches by way of consolation. At length an old +wooden barn was discovered, and there the beds of the whole party were put +up! We even contrived to get some boiling water and to have some tea +made--an article of luxury which, as well as a teapot, we carry with us. We +sat down upon our trunks, and a piece of candle was procured and lighted, +and, after some difficulty, made to stand upright on the floor. The barn, +made of logs, let the air in on all sides, and the pigs thrust their snouts +in at every crevice, grunting harmoniously. Outside, in the midst of the +encampment, the soldiers lighted a large fire, and sat round it roasting +maize. The robbers sat amongst them, chained, with a soldier mounting guard +beside them. The fire, flashing on the livid face of Morales, who, crouched +in his blanket, looked like a tiger about to spring--the soldiers, some +warming their hands at the blaze, some lying rolled in their sarapes, and +others devouring their primitive supper--together with the Indian women +bringing them hot tortillas from the huts--the whole had a curious and +picturesque effect. As for us, we also rolled ourselves in our mangas, and +lay down in our barn, but passed a miserable night. The pigs grunted, the +mosquitoes sung, a cold air blew in from every corner, and, fortunately, we +were not until morning aware of the horrid fact, that a whole nest of +scorpions, with their tails twisted together, were reposing above our heads +in the log wall. Imagine the condition of the unfortunate slumberer on +whose devoted head they had descended _en masse_! In spite of the fragrant +orange-blossom, we set off early the next morning. + + +URUAPA. + + +On leaving the fascinating village of Curu, we began to ascend _La Cuesta_; +and travelled slowly four leagues of mountain-road, apparently +inaccessible; but the sure-footed horses, though stepping on loose and +nearly precipitous rocks, rarely stumbled. The mountain of Curu is +volcanic, a chaos of rent rocks, beetling precipices, and masses of lava +that have been disgorged from the burning crater. Yet from every crag and +crevice of the rock spring the most magnificent trees, twisted with +flowering parasites, shrubs of the brightest green, and pale delicate +flowers, whose gentle hues seem all out of place in this savage scene. +Beside the forest oak and the stern pine, the tree of the white blossoms, +the graceful _floripundio_, seems to seek for shelter and support. Creepers +that look like scarlet honeysuckles, and flowering vines of every variety +of colour, hang in bright garlands and festoons, intwining the boughs of +the trees; adorning, but not concealing the masses of bare rock and the +precipitous crag that frowns amidst all this luxury of vegetation. The +whole scene is "horribly beautiful." + +As we wound through these picturesque paths, where only one can go at a +time, our train stretched out to an immense distance, and the scarlet +streamers and lances of the soldiers looked very picturesque, appearing and +then vanishing amongst the rocks and trees. At one part, looking back to +see the effect, I caught the eye of the robber Morales, glaring with such a +frightful expression, that, forgetful of his chains, I whipped up my horse +in the greatest consternation, over stones and rocks. He and the scene were +in perfect unison. + +At length we came to the end of this extraordinary mountain-forest, and +after resting the tired horses for a little while, in a grove of pines and +yellow acacias, entered the most lovely little wood, a succession of +flowers and shrubs, and bright green grass, with vistas of fertile +cornfields bordered by fruit trees-a peaceful scene, on which the eye rests +with pleasure, after passing through these wild, volcanic regions. + +On leaving the woods, the path skirts along by the side of these fields, +and leads to the valley where Uruapa, the gem of the Indian villages, lies +in tranquil beauty. It has indeed some tolerable streets and a few good +houses; but her boast is in the Indian cottages-all so clean and snug, and +tasteful, and buried in fruit trees. + +We rode through shady lanes of trees, bending under the weight of oranges, +_chirimoyas, granaditas, platanos_, and every sort of delicious fruit. We +found that, through the kindness of Señor Ysasaga, the principal person +here, the curate's house had been prepared to receive us--an old +unfurnished house next the church, and at present unoccupied, its owner +being absent. We found the whole family extremely kind and agreeable; the +father a well-informed, pleasant old gentleman, the mother still beautiful, +though in bad health; and all the daughters pretty and unaffected. One is +married to a brother of Madame Yturbide's. They made many apologies for not +inviting us to their own house, which is under repair; but as it is but a +few steps off, we shall spend most of our time with them. It seems strange +to meet such people in this secluded spot! Yet, peaceful and solitary as it +appears, it has not escaped the rage of civil war, having been burnt down +four different times by insurgents and by Spaniards. Señor Ysasaga, who +belongs to Valladolid, has taken an active part in all these revolutions, +having been the personal friend and partisan of Hidalgo. His escapes and +adventures would fill a volume. + +I could not help taking one last look of the robbers, as we entered this +beautiful place, where Morales at least is to be shot. It seemed to me as +if they had grown perfectly deathlike. The poor wretches must be tired +enough, having come on foot all the way from Pascuaro. + +31st.--This place is so charming, we have determined to pitch our tent in +it for a few days. Our intention was to proceed twenty leagues farther, to +see the volcano of Jorullo; but as the road is described to us as being +entirely devoid of shade, and the heat almost insupportable--with various +other difficulties and drawbacks--we have been induced, though with great +regret, to abandon the undertaking, which it is as tantalizing to do, as it +is to reflect that yesterday we were but a short distance from a hill which +is but thirty leagues from the Pacific Ocean. + +In 1813, M. de Humboldt and M. Bonpland, ascended to the crater of this +burning mountain, which was formed in September 1759. Its birth was +announced by earthquakes, which put to flight all the inhabitants of the +neighbouring villages; and three months after, a terrible eruption burst +forth, which filled all the inhabitants with astonishment and terror, and +which Humboldt considers one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions +that ever took place on the surface of the globe. + +Flames issued from the earth for the space of more than a square league. +Masses of burning rock were thrown to an immense height, and through a +thick cloud of ashes, illuminated by the volcanic fire, the whitened crust +of the earth was gradually seen swelling up. The ashes even covered the +roofs of the houses at Querétaro, forty-eight leagues distance! and the +rivers of San Andrés and Cuitumba sank into the burning masses. The flames +were seen from Pascuaro; and from the hills of Agua-Zarca was beheld the +birth of this volcanic mountain, the burning offspring of an earthquake, +which bursting from the bosom of the earth, changed the whole face of the +country for a considerable distance round. + + "And now, the glee + Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain mirth, + As if they did rejoice o'er a young earthquake's birth." + +Here the earth returned the salutation, and shook, though it was with +fearful mirth, at the birth of the young volcano. + +In a letter written at the time of the event to the bishop of Michioacán by +the curate of the neighbouring village, he says, that the eruption finished +by destroying the hacienda of Jorullo, and killing the trees, which were +thrown down and buried in the sand and ashes vomited by the mountain. The +fields and roads were, he says, covered with sand, the crops destroyed, and +the flocks perishing for want of food, unable to drink the pestilential +water of the mountains. The rivulet that ran past his village was swelled +to a mighty river, that threatened to inundate it; and he adds, that the +houses, churches, and hospitals are ready to fall down from the weight of +the sand and the ashes--and that "the very people are so covered with the +sand, that they seem to have come out of some sepulchre." The great +eruptions of the volcano continued till the following year, but have +gradually become rarer, and at present have ceased. + +Having now brought our journey to its furthest limits, I shall conclude +this letter. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTIETH + + +Indian Dresses--Saints--Music--Union of Tropical and European +Vegetation--Old Customs--Falls of the Sararaqui--Silkworms--Indian +Painting--Beautiful Heroine--Leave Uruapa--Tziracuaratiro--Talkative +Indian--Alcalde's House--Pascuaro--Old Church--Mosaic Work--The Lake--The +Cave--Fried Fish--Rich Indians--Convent--Cuincho--Darkness--Morelia +--Alameda--Cathedral--Silver--Waxworks--College--Wonderful Fleas. + + +URIMPA, 31st. + + +The dress of the Indian women of Uruapa is pretty, and they are altogether +a much cleaner and better-looking race than we have yet seen. They wear +"_naguas_," a petticoat of black cotton with a narrow white and blue +stripe, made very full, and rather long; over this, a sort of short chemise +made of coarse white cotton, and embroidered in different coloured silks. +It is called the _sutunacua_--over all is a black reboso, striped with +white and blue, with a handsome silk fringe of the same colours. When they +are married, they add a white embroidered veil, and a remarkably pretty +coloured mantle the _huepilli_, which they seem to pronounce _guipil_. The +hair is divided, and falls down behind in two long plaits, fastened at the +top by a bow of ribbon and a flower. In this dress there is no alteration +from what they wore in former days; saving that the women of a higher class +wore a dress of finer cotton with more embroidery, and a loose garment over +all, resembling a priest's surplice, when the weather was cold. Among the +men, the introduction of trousers is Spanish--but they still wear the +_majtlatl_, a broad belt, with the ends tied before and behind, and the +_tilmatli_ or _tilma_ as they now call it, a sort of square short cloak, +the ends of which are tied across the breast, or over one shoulder. It is +on a coarse _tilma_ of this description that the image of the Virgin of +Guadalupe was found painted. + +Yesterday, being the festival of San Andrés, the Indians were all in full +costume and procession, and we went into the old church to see them. They +were carrying the saint in very fine robes, the women bearing coloured +flags and lighted tapers, and the men playing on violins, flutes, and +drums. All had garlands of flowers to hang on the altars; and for these +lights and ornaments, and silk and tinsel robes, they save up all their +money. They were playing a pretty air, but I doubt its being original. It +was not melancholy and monotonous, like the generality of Indian music, but +had something wild and gay in it; it was probably Spanish. The organ was +played by an Indian. After mass we went upstairs to try it, and wondered +how, with such miserable means, he had produced anything like music. In the +patio, between the curate's house and the church, are some very brilliant +large scarlet flowers, which they call here "flor del pastor," the +shepherd's flower; a beautiful kind of euphorbia; and in other places, +"flor de noche buena," the flower of Christmas eve. + +Last evening we walked out in the environs of this garden of Eden, by the +banks of the river _Marques_, amidst a most extraordinary union of tropical +and European vegetation; the hills covered with firs, and the plains with +sugar-cane. We walked amongst bananas, shaddock, chirimoyas, and orange +trees, and but a few yards higher up, bending over and almost touching +them, were groves of oak and pine. The river pursues its bright unwearied +course through this enchanting landscape, now falling in cascades, now +winding placidly at the foot of the silent hills and among the dark woods, +and in one part forming a most beautiful natural bath, by pouring its +waters into an enclosure of large, smooth, flat stones, overshadowed by +noble trees. + +A number of the old Indian customs are still kept up here, modified by the +introduction of Christian doctrines, in their marriages, feasts, burials, +and superstitious practices. They also preserve the same simplicity in +their dress, united with the same vanity and love of show in their +ornaments, which always distinguished them. The poorest Indian woman still +wears a necklace of red coral, or a dozen rows of red beads, and their +dishes are still the _gicalli_, or, as they were called by the Spaniards, +_gicaras_, made of a species of gourd, or rather a fruit resembling it, and +growing on a low tree, which fruit they cut in two, each one furnishing two +dishes; the inside is scooped out, and a durable varnish given it by means +of a mineral earth, of different bright colours, generally red. On the +outside they paint flowers, and some of them are also gilded. They are +extremely pretty, very durable and ingenious. The beautiful colours which +they employ in painting these _gicaras_ are composed not only of various +mineral productions, but of the wood, leaves, and flowers of certain +plants, of whose properties they have no despicable knowledge. Their own +dresses, manufactured by themselves of cotton, are extremely pretty, and +many of them very fine. + +December 1st.--We rode out early this morning, and passing through the +lanes bordered with fruit trees, and others covered with blossoms of +extraordinary beauty, of whose names I only know the _floripundio_, +ascended into the pine woods, fragrant and gay with wild thyme, and bright +flowers; the river falling in small cascades among the rocks. After riding +along these heights for about two leagues, we arrived at the edge of a +splendid valley of oaks. Here we were obliged to dismount, and to make our +way on foot down the longest, steepest, and most slippery of paths, winding +in rapid descent through the woods; with the prospect of being repaid for +our toil, by the sight of the celebrated Falls of the _Sararaqui_. After +having descended to the foot of the oak-covered mountain, we came to a +great enclosure of lofty rocks, prodigious natural bulwarks, through a +great cavern in which the river comes thundering and boiling into the +valley, forming the great cascade of the Sararaqui, which in the Tarrascan +language means _sieve_. It is a very fatiguing descent, but it is worth +while to make the whole journey from Mexico, to see anything so wildly +grand. The falls are from fifty to sixty feet high, and of great volume. +The rocks are covered with shrubs and flowers, with small jets of water +issuing from every crevice. One lovely flower, that looks as if it were +formed of small white and rose-coloured shells, springs out of the stones +near the water. There are rattlesnakes among the woods, and wild boars have +occasionally been seen. The Señoritas Y----, when children, two or three +years ago, wandering among these mountain-paths, saw an immense rattlesnake +coiled up, and tempted by its gaudy colours, were about to lift it, when it +suddenly wakened from its slumber, uncoiled itself, and swiftly glided up +the path before them, its rattles sounding all the way up amongst the +hills. + +We sat beside the falls for a long while, looking at the boiling, hissing, +bubbling, foaming waters, rolling down headlong with such impetuous +velocity that one could hardly believe they form part of the same placid +stream, which flows so gently between its banks, when no obstacles oppose +it; and at all the little silvery threads of water, that formed mimic +cascades among the rocks; but at length we were obliged to recommence our +toilsome march up the slippery mountain. We were accompanied by several +officers--amongst others, by the commandant of Uruapa. + +Señor ----- says that they are at present occupied here at the instigation +of a Frenchman, named _Genould_, in planting a large collection of mulberry +trees, (which prosper wonderfully well in this climate) for the propagation +of silkworms. But they have no facilities for transport, and at what market +could the silk be sold? There are a thousand improvements wanting here, +which would be more profitable than this speculation. They have sugar, +corn, maize, minerals, wood, cotton, water for machinery; every valuable +and important produce, all requiring their more immediate attention. We had +a pleasant ride home, and when we got back amongst the lanes leading to the +village, stopped every moment to admire and wonder at the rare and +beautiful blossoms on the trees; and pulled branches of flowers off them, +more delicate and lovely than the rarest exotics in an English hothouse. + +This morning, the weather was damp and rainy, but in the afternoon we took +a long walk, and visited several Indian cottages, all clean, and the walls +hung with fresh mats, the floors covered with the same; and all with their +kitchen utensils of baked earth, neatly hung on the wall, from the largest +size in use, to little dishes and _jarritos_ in miniature, which are only +placed there for ornament. We also went to purchase _gicaras_, and to see +the operation of making and painting them, which is very curious. The +flowers are not painted, but inlaid. We were fortunate in procuring a good +supply of the prettiest, which cannot be procured anywhere else. We bought +a very pretty _sutunacua,_ and a black reboso. The women were not at all +anxious to sell their dresses, as they make them with great trouble, and +preserve them with great care. + +We had a beautiful walk to the Magdalena, about a mile from the village. +Every day we discover new beauties in the environs. And one beauty we saw +on entering a small rancho, where they were painting gicaras at a table, +while a woman lay in the shaking fever in a bed adjoining, which was quite +consistent with the place. This was a lady, the proprietress of a good +estate some leagues off, who was seated on her own trunk, outside the door +of the rancho. She was a beautiful woman in her prime, the gentlemen said +_passée,_ and perhaps at eighteen she may have been more charming still; +but now she was a model for a Judith-or rather for a Joan of Arc, even +though sitting on her own luggage. She was very fair, with large black +eyes, long eyelashes, and a profusion of hair as black as jet. Her teeth +were literally dazzling--her lips like the reddest coral--her colour +glowing as the down upon a ripe peach. Her figure was tall and full, with +small, beautifully-formed hands, and fine arms. She rose as we came in, and +begged us to be seated on a bench near the door; and with the +unceremoniousness of travellers who meet in outlandish places, we entered +into conversation with her. She told us her name, and her motives for +travelling, and gave us an account of an adventure she had had with the +robbers, of which she was well fitted to be the heroine. It appears that +she was travelling with her two sons, lads of fifteen and sixteen, when +they arrived at this rancho to rest for the night; for by this time you +will understand that those who travel hereabouts must trust to chance or to +hospitality for a night's lodging. To their surprise, they found the +farmers gone, their dogs gone, and the house locked. They had no +alternative but to rest as they could, among their luggage and mules, in +the yard in front of the house. In the middle of the night they were +attacked by robbers. The boys instantly took their guns, and fired, but +without effect. Still, in the darkness, the robbers probably imagined that +there were more people and more arms, and when she, dragging a loaded +musket off one of the horses, prepared to join in the engagement, the +cowardly ruffians took flight--a good half dozen before a woman and two +boys. She was particularly indignant at the farmers, these "_malditos +rancheros_," as she called them, who she said had been bribed or frightened +into withdrawing their dogs and themselves. + +We returned home after a long walk in the dark, and in the midst of all the +howling, yelping, snarling, barking dogs, which rushed out as we went by, +from every cottage in Uruapa. + +After supper they sent for a clever Indian girl, who understands Spanish as +well as her native idiom, and who translated various Castilian words for us +into the original Tarrascan, which sounds very liquid and harmonious. +To-morrow we shall leave Uruapa and this hospitable family, whose kindness +and attention to us we never can forget. It seems incredible that we have +only known them a few days. We have, however, the hopes of seeing them +again as we pass through Valladolid, where they intend removing in a few +days. + + +PASCUARO, 4th December. + + +We left Uruapa yesterday morning at eleven o'clock, accompanied part of the +way by Señor Ysasaga and another gentleman, amongst whom was Madame +Yturbide's brother. We are now returning to Morelia, but avoided _Curu_ and +the rocks, both to save our animals, and for the sake of variety. We rode +through large tracks of land, all belonging to the Indians. The day was +agreeable and cloudy, and the road, as usual, led us through beautiful +scenery, monotonous in description, and full of variety in fact. Though +nearly uninhabited, and almost entirely uncultivated, it has pleased nature +to lavish so much beauty on this part of the country, that there is nothing +melancholy in its aspect; no feeling of dreariness in riding a whole day, +league after league, without seeing a trace of human life. These forest +paths always appear as if they must, in time, lead to some habitation; the +woods, the groves, the clumps of trees, seem as if they had been disposed, +or at least beautified by the hand of art. We cannot look on these smiling +and flowery valleys, and believe that such lovely scenes are always +untenanted--that there are no children occasionally picking up these +apricots--no village girls to pluck these bright, fragrant flowers. We +fancy that they are out in the fields, and will be there in the evening, +and that their hamlet is hid behind the slope of the next hill; and it is +only when we come to some Indian hut, or cluster of poor cabins in the +wilderness, that we are startled by the conviction that this enchanting +variety of hill and plain, wood and water, is for the most part unseen by +human eye, and untrod by human footsteps. + +We had no further adventure during this day's journey, than buying bread +and cheese from sheer hunger, at a little wooden tavern by the road-side, +whose shelves were covered with glittering rows of bottles of brandy and +_mezcal_. At some of the Indian huts also we bought various branches of +_plátanos_, that most useful of fruits, and basis of the food of the poor +inhabitants of all the tropical climates. It has been said that the banana +is not indigenous in America, and that it was brought over by a friar to +Santo Domingo. If so, its adopted country agrees with it better than its +native land; but I believe there are many traditions which go to prove that +it did already exist in this hemisphere before the sixteenth century, and +that the Spaniards did no more than increase the number of the already +indigenous species. Its nutritive qualities, and the wonderful facility +with which it is propagated, render it at once the most useful of trees, +and the greatest possible incentive to indolence. In less than one year +after it is planted the fruit may be gathered and the proprietor has but to +cut away the old stems and leave a sucker, which will produce fruit three +months after. There are different sorts of bananas, and they are used in +different ways; fresh, dried, fried, etc. The dried plantain, a great +branch of trade in Michoacán, with its black shrivelled skin and flavour of +smoked fish or ham, is exceedingly liked by the natives. It is, of all +Mexican articles of food, my peculiar aversion. + +About four o'clock we arrived at the small village of Tziracuaratiro, a +collection of Indian cottages, with little gardens, surrounded by orange +and all manner of fruit trees. As we had still one or two hours of +daylight, and this was our next halting-place, we wandered forth on foot to +explore the environs, and found a beautiful shady spot, a grassy knoll, +sheltered by the surrounding woods, where we sat down to rest and to inhale +the balmy air, fragrant with orange-blossoms. We were amused by a +sly-looking Indian, of whom C---n asked some questions, and who was +exceedingly talkative, giving us an account of his whole _ménage_, and +especially praising beyond measure his own exemplary conduct to his wife, +from which I infer that he beats her, as indeed all Indians consider it +their particular privilege to do; and an Indian woman who complained to a +padre of her husband's neglect, mentioned, as the crowning proof of his +utter abandonment of her, that he had not given her a beating for a whole +fortnight. Some one asked him if he allowed his wife to govern him. "Oh! +no," said he, "that would be the mule leading the arriero!" + +There was nothing to be seen in the village, of which it hardly deserves +the name, but a good-looking old church, which two old women were sweeping +out; but they told us they rarely had mass there, as the padre lived a long +way off. The alcalde permitted us and our escort to occupy his house, +consisting of three empty rooms with mud floors; and about seven the next +morning we were again on horseback, and again _en route_ for Pascuaro; a +pretty ride of eleven or twelve leagues. We breakfasted at the village of +_Ajuna_, in a clean hut where they gave us quantities of tortillas and +chile, baked by some very handsome _tortilleras_. A number of women were +carrying about a virgin all covered with flowers, to the sound of a little +bell. + +It was about four o'clock when we arrived at the hills near Pascuaro. Here +we dismounted from our horses, and remained till it was nearly dusk, laying +on the grass, and gazing on the lake, as the shadows of evening stole +slowly over its silver waters. Little by little the green islands became +indistinct; a gray vapour concealed the opposite shores; and like a light +breath spread gradually over the mirrored surface of the lake. Then we +remounted our horses, and rode down into Pascuaro, where we found the +Señora H---a as before, ready to receive us, and where, our mules being +disabled, we proposed remaining one or two days. + +5th.--We have been spending a quiet day in Pascuaro, and went to mass in +the old church, which is handsome and rich in gilding. At the door is +printed in large letters--"For the love of God, all good Christians are +requested not to spit in this holy place." If we might judge from the +observation of one morning, I should say that the better classes in +Pascuaro are fairer and have more colour than is general in Mexico; and if +this is so, it may be owing partly to the climate being cooler and damper, +and partly to their taking more exercise (there being no carriages here), +whereas in Mexico no family of any importance can avoid having one. + +We were very anxious to see some specimens of that mosaic-work which all +ancient writers upon Mexico have celebrated, and which was nowhere brought +to such perfection as in Pascuaro. It was made with the most beautiful and +delicate feathers, chiefly of the _picaflores_, the humming-birds, which +they called _huitzitailin_. But we are told that it is now upwards of +twenty years since the last artist in this branch lived in Pascuaro; and +though it is imitated by the nuns, the art is no longer in the state of +perfection to which it was brought in the days of Cortes. We are told that +several persons were employed in each painting, and that it was a work +requiring extraordinary patience and nicety, in the blending of the +colours, and in the arrangement of the feathers. The sketch of the figure +was first made, and the proportions being measured, each artist took charge +of one particular part of the figure or of the drapery. When each had +finished his share, all the different parts were reunited, to form the +picture. The feathers were first taken up with some soft substance with the +utmost care, and fastened with a glutinous matter upon a piece of stuff; +then, the different parts being reunited, were placed on a plate of copper, +and gently polished, till the surface became quite equal, when they +appeared like the most beautiful paintings, or, according to these writers, +more beautiful from the splendour and liveliness of the colours, the bright +golden, and blue, and crimson tints, than the paintings which they +imitated. Many were sent to Spain, and to different museums both in Europe +and Mexico; but the art is now nearly lost, nor does it belong to the +present utilitarian age. Our forefathers had more leisure than we, and +probably we have more than our descendants will have, who, for aught we +know, may, by extra high-pressure, be able to + + "Put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes." + +We, however, saw some few specimens of saints and angels, very defective in +the sketch, but beautiful in the colouring, and quite sufficient to prove +to us that there was no exaggeration in these accounts. + +7th.--We rode yesterday to the shores of the lake, where we embarked in a +long canoe, formed of the hollow trunk of a tree, and rowed by Indians, a +peculiarly ugly race, with Tartar-looking faces. The lake was very placid, +clear as one vast mirror, and covered with thousands of wild ducks, white +egrets, cranes, and herons--all those waterfowl who seem to whiten their +plumage by constant dipping in pools and marshes and lakes. On the opposite +shore, to the right, lay the city of Tzinzunzan; and on a beautiful island +in the midst of the lake the village of _Janicho_, entirely peopled by +Indians, who mingle little with the dwellers on the mainland, and have +preserved their originality more than any we have yet seen. We were +accompanied by the prefect of Pascuaro, whom the Indians fear and hate in +equal ratio, and who did seem a sort of Indian _Mr. Bumble_; and, after a +long and pleasant row, we landed at the island, where we were received by +the village alcalde, a half-caste Indian, who sported a pair of bright blue +merino pantaloons! I suppose to distinguish himself from his blanketed +brethren. The island is entirely surrounded by a natural screen of willow +and ash-trees, and the village consists of a few scattered houses, with +small cultivated patches of ground, the alcalde's house, and an old church. + +We walked, or rather climbed, all over the island, which is hilly and +rocky, and found several great stones entirely covered with the ancient +carving. Moved by curiosity, we entered various caverns where idols have +been found, and amongst others one large cave, which we had no sooner +groped our way into than I nearly fell down suffocated by the horrible and +most pestilential atmosphere. It appears that it is the sleeping-place of +all the bats in the island; and heaven forbid that I should ever again +enter a bat's bedchamber! I groped my way out again as fast as possible, +heedless of idols and all other antiquities, seized a _cigarito_ from the +hand of the astonished prefect, who was wisely smoking at the entrance, +lighted it, and inhaled the smoke, which seemed more fragrant than violets, +after that stifling and most unearthly odour. + +The chief food of these islanders, besides the gourds and other vegetables +which they cultivate, is the white fish, for which the lake is celebrated; +and while we were exploring the island, the Indians set off in their canoes +to catch some for us. These were fried at the alcalde's and we made a +breakfast upon them which would have rejoiced the heart of an epicure. + +We then went to visit the church; and, though the cottages are poor, the +church is, as usual, handsome. Amongst other curiosities there is a Virgin, +entirely covered with Indian embroidery. The organist's place is hereditary +in an Indian family, descending from father to son. The long-haired Indian +who played it for us has such a gentle expression and beardless face, that +he looks like a very young woman. Some of the Indians here are very rich, +and bury their money; and one, called Agustin Campos, who has beautified +the church, as we read on an inscription carved on a stone outside, has +thirty thousand dollars, is much respected, and has the addition of _Don_ +to his name, yet wears a coarse blanket like his fellow-men. We staid some +hours on the island, and went into some of the huts, where the women were +baking tortillas, one Indian custom, at least, which has descended to these +days without variation. They first cook the grain in water with a little +lime, and when it is soft peel off the skin; then grind it on a large block +of stone, the _metate_, or, as the Indians (who know best) call it, the +_metatl_. For the purpose of grinding it, they use a sort of stone roller, +with which it is crushed, and rolled into a bowl placed below the stone. +They then take some of this paste, and clap it between their hands till +they form it into light round cakes, which are afterwards toasted on a +smooth plate, called the _comalli_ (_comal_ they call it in Mexico), and +which ought to be eaten as hot as possible. + +On our return, we had the variety of a slight storm, which ruffled the +placid surface of the lake, and caused the rowers to exert all their +strength to bring the canoe to port before it should become more violent. + +This morning we walked all through Pascuaro, which can boast of many good +houses, a square and portales, and ended by going to visit the convent of +Santa Catarina. We saw some of the nuns, who wear white dresses, and, +instead of veils, the black Indian reboso. They were common-looking women, +and not very amiable in their manners; but we did not go further than the +outside entry. On our return we met a remarkable baby in arms, wearing an +enormous white satin turban, with a large plume of white feathers on one +side, balanced on the other by huge bunches of yellow ribbons and pink +roses. It also wore two robes, a short and a long one, both trimmed all +round with large plaitings of yellow satin ribbon. It was evidently very +much admired as it passed along. To-morrow, our mules having recovered, we +set off for Valladolid. + + +VALLADOLID, 9th. + + +About half-past seven we left Pascuaro, which, considering that we had a +long day's journey before us, was scarce early enough. We regretted very +much taking leave of the Señora H---a, who has been so kind to us, and whom +we can certainly never hope to see again. I observe that in these long +days' journeys we generally set off in silence, and sometimes ride on for +hours without exchanging a word. Towards the middle of the day we grow more +talkative, and again towards evening we relapse into quiet. I suppose it is +that in the morning we are sleepy, and towards evening begin to grow +tired--feeling sociable about nine o'clock, a.m., and not able to talk for +a longer period than eight or ten hours. It was about four in the afternoon +when we reached Cuincho, where we were welcomed by the damsels of the +baths, whose father is now still more of an invalid than before. It is a +lonely life that these poor girls lead here, nor should I think their +position a very secure one. Their poverty, however, is a safeguard to a +certain extent, and there are few robbers in this country in the style of +Morales. We were tempted to stop here and take a bath, in consequence of +which it was dark when we set off for Morelia. The horses, unable to see, +took enormous leaps over every little streamlet and ditch, so that we +seemed to be riding a steeple-chase in the dark. Our gowns caught upon the +thorny bushes, and our journey might have been traced by the tatters we +left behind us. At length we rode the wrong way, up a stony hill, which led +us to a wretched little village of about thirty huts, each having ten dogs +on an average, according to the laudable custom of the Indians. Out they +all rushed simultaneously, yelping like three hundred demons, biting the +horses' feet, and springing round us. Between this canine concert, the +kicking of the horses, the roar of a waterfall close beside us, the +shouting of people telling us to come back, and the pitch darkness, I +thought we should all have gone distracted. We did, however, make our way +out from amongst the dogs, redescended the stony hill, the horses leaping +over various streamlets that crossed their path, turned into the right +road, and entered the gates of Morelia without further adventure, between +nine and ten o'clock. + +MORELIA, 11th. We have passed the last few days very agreeably in this +beautiful city, seeing everything worthy of notice, and greatly admiring +the wide and airy streets, the fine houses, the handsome public buildings, +but especially the cathedral, the college, and the churches. It has also a +fine square, with broad piazzas occupying three of its sides, while the +cathedral bounds it to the east. There is a crowded market in the plaza, +and a fine display of fruit and vegetables. The population is said to be a +little upwards of fifteen thousand, but one would suppose it to be much +greater. Living and house-rent is so cheap here, that a family who could +barely exist upon their means in Mexico, may enjoy every luxury in +Valladolid. The climate is delightful, and there is something extremely +cheerful in the aspect of the city, in which it differs greatly from +Toluca. We received visits from various _Morelians_, amongst others from +Don Cayetano Gomez, the proprietor of San Bartolo. + +We went one evening to the alameda, a broad, straight walk, paved with flat +stones, shaded by fine trees, under which are stone benches, and bounded by +a low stone wall. Several ladies were sitting there, whom we joined, and +amongst others, a remarkably pretty _Poblana_, married into the Gomez +family. The alameda is crossed by a fine aqueduct of solid masonry, with +light and elegant arches. We drove to the _paséo_, a broad, shady road, +where we met but few carriages; and the same evening we went out on foot to +enjoy the music of a very good military band, which plays occasionally for +the amusement of the citizens. It is not to be supposed that, when Mexico +can boast of so little society, there should be much in a provincial town; +besides, this city has the pretension of being divided into _cliques_, and +there are "first people," and "second-rate people," and "families in our +set," and so on; so that some of the ladies being musicians, one set will +get up a concert, another a rival concert, and there not being a sufficient +musical society to fill two concerts, both fall to the ground. There is a +neat little theatre, but at present no company. Some of the houses are as +handsome as any in Mexico, but there is no city which has fallen off so +much since the Independence as Morelia, according to the accounts given us +by the most respectable persons. + +We had a visit from the bishop, Señor Portugal, one of the most +distinguished men here, or in fact in the whole republic of Mexico, a man +of great learning, gentle and amiable in his manners, and in his life a +model of virtue and holiness. He was in the cabinet when Santa Anna was +president, concerning which circumstance an amusing story was told us, for +the correctness of which I do not vouch, but the narrator, a respectable +citizen here, certainly believed it. Señor Portugal had gone, by +appointment, to see the president on some important business, and they had +but just begun their consultation, when Santa Anna rose and left the room. +The Minister waited--the president did not return. The time passed on, and +still the Minister continued expecting him, until at length he inquired of +an aide-de-camp in waiting, if he could inform him how soon the president +might be expected back. "I hardly know," said the officer, "for his +excellency has gone to visit _Cola de plata_" (silver tail). "And who may +_Cola de plata_ be?" said the Minister. "A favourite cock of his +excellency's, wounded this morning in a fight which he won, and to whose +care he is now personally attending!" The bishop soon after sent in his +resignation. + +Accompanied by several of our friends, including one of the canons of the +cathedral, we visited that splendid building the second day of our arrival. +It is still wonderfully rich, notwithstanding that silver to the amount of +thirty-two thousand marks has been taken from it during the civil wars. The +high altar is dazzling with gold and silver; the railing which leads from +it to the choir is of pure silver, with pillars of the same metal; the two +pulpits, with their stairs, are also covered with silver; and the general +ornaments, though numerous and rich, are disposed with good taste, are kept +in order, and have nothing tawdry or loaded in their general effect. The +choir itself is extremely beautiful; so also is the carved screen before +the organ, the doors of the first being of solid silver, and those of the +other of richly-carved wood. There is also an immense silver font, and +superb lamps of silver. We particularly admired some fine paintings, +chiefly by Cabrera, and especially a Madonna and child, in which there is +that most divine expression in the face of the Virgin, the blending of +maternal love with awe for the divinity of the child. Four of these +paintings, it is said, were sent here by a Spanish king, as far back as +Philip II. These four are colossal in size, and are finely painted, but +little cared for or appreciated, and placed in a bad light. + +We were shown two saints, sent from Rome, loaded with false jewels, but +carefully preserved in their respective shrines. All the holy vessels and +priests' dresses and jewels were taken out for our inspection. The +sacramental _custodía_ cost thirty-two thousand dollars, and the richest of +the dresses eight thousand. There is a lamb made of one pearl, the fleece +and head of silver; the pearl of great size and value. + +We toiled up through winding staircases to the belfry; and it required the +beautiful and extensive landscape spread out before us, to compensate us +for this most fatiguing ascent. The bells are of copper, and very sonorous. +The _canonigo_ pointed out to us all the different sites which had been the +scenes of bloody battles during the revolutionary war. The facilities for +obtaining provisions, and the mountainous character of the country, are +amongst the causes that have rendered this province the theatre of civil +war. The padre afterwards took us into a large apartment, a sort of office, +hung round with the portraits of all the bishops of Michoacán; one bearing +so striking a resemblance to our friend, Don Francisco Tagle, that we were +not surprised to find that it was in fact the portrait of one of his +family, who had occupied the episcopal see of Michoacán; and below it were +the Tagle arms, referring to some traditionary exploit of their ancestors. +They represent a knight killing a serpent; and the motto is--"Tagle que la +serpiente mato y con la Princesa caso" (Tagle who killed the serpent, and +married the Princess). + +The same evening, we visited a lady who possesses a most singular and +curious collection of works in wax; and more extraordinary still, they are +all her own workmanship. Every fruit and every vegetable production is +represented by her with a fidelity, which makes it impossible to +distinguish between her imitations and the works of nature. Plates with +bread, radishes, and fish; dishes of fowls, and chile, and eggs; baskets +full of the most delicious-looking fruit; lettuces, beans, carrots, +tomatoes, etc.; all are copied with the most extraordinary exactness. But +her figures show much greater talent. There are groups for which an amateur +might offer any price, could she be prevailed upon to offer these +masterpieces for sale. There is a Poblana peasant on horseback before a +ranchero, looking back at him with the most coquettish expression; her +dress perfection, from the straw hat that half shades her features, to the +beautiful little ankle and foot in the white satin shoe, the short +embroidered petticoat, and the reboso thrown over one shoulder; a handsome +Indian, selling pulque and brandy in her little shop, with every variety of +liquor temptingly displayed in rows of shining bottles, to her customers; +the grouping and colouring perfect, and the whole interior arrangement of +the shop, imitated with the most perfect exactness. There is also a horrid +representation, frightfully correct, of a dead body in a state of +corruption, which it makes one sick to look at, and which it is +inconceivable that any one can have had pleasure in executing. In short, +there is scarcely anything in nature upon which her talent has not +exercised itself. + +Yesterday we visited the _Seminario_, or college, a fine spacious old +building, kept in good repair. The rector conducted us over the whole +establishment. There is a small well chosen library, containing all the +most classic works in Spanish, German, French, and English; and a larger +library, containing Greek and Latin authors, theological works, etc., a +large hall, with chemical and other scientific apparatus, and a small +chapel where there is a beautiful piece of sculpture in wood: the _San +Pedro_, by a young man, a native of Valladolid, so exquisitely wrought, +that one cannot but regret that such a genius should be buried here, should +not at least have the advantage of some years' study in Italy, where he +might become a second Canova. + +One must visit these distant cities, and see these great establishments, to +be fully aware of all that the Spaniards bestowed upon their colonies, and +also to be convinced of the regret for former times which is felt amongst +the most distinguished men of the republic; in fact, by all who are old +enough to compare what has been with what is. + +I ought not to omit, in talking of the natural productions of Valladolid, +to mention that it is famous for _fleas_. We had been alarmed by the +miraculous stories related to us of these vivacious animals, and were +rejoiced to find ourselves in a house, from which, by dint of extreme care, +they are banished. But in the inns and inferior houses they are said to be +a perfect pestilence, sometimes literally walking away with a piece of +matting upon the floor, and covering the walls in myriads. The nuns, it is +said, are or were in the habit of harnessing them to little carriages, and +of showing them off by other ingenious devices. + +We rode out in the evening to meet our friends from Uruapa, who were +expected to arrive yesterday; I upon a very formidable and handsome +cavalry-horse, rather above his work, which some expected to run away, and +others to throw me off, and which might have done both, but being a noble +creature did neither. We did not meet our friends, who, having been delayed +on the road, only arrived this evening. We have therefore decided to remain +here till to-morrow afternoon, when we shall continue our journey homewards +by San Bartolo. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-FIRST + + +San Bartolo--Mass--Market--Rancheros--San Andrés--Insanity--Rancho--House +of Don Carlos Heimburger--Wild Scenery--German Songs--Las Millas--Leave- +taking--Storm--Rainbow--El Pilar--La Gabia--Toluca--News--Copper +_Pronunciamiento_----Return to Mexico--General Moran--Funeral Obsequies-- +New Theatre--_Cock's Mass_--Santa Clara--Santa Fe Prisoners--New Year. + + +ANGANGUEO, 14th. + + +After taking leave of all our hospitable friends in Morelia, we set off in +the afternoon, and had a delightful ride to San Bartolo. Fortunately the +following day (Sunday) was that of the Virgin of Guadalupe, one of the +greatest festivals here; so that we had an opportunity of seeing all the +people from the different villages, who arrived in the courtyard by +daybreak, and held a market in front of the hacienda. Various were the +articles for sale, and picturesque the dresses of the sellers. From cakes, +chile, atole, and ground-nuts, to rebosos and bead rosaries, nothing was +omitted. In one part of the market the sturdy rancheros were drinking +pulque and devouring hot cakes; in another, little boys were bargaining for +nuts and bananas; countrywomen were offering low prices for smart rebosos; +an Indian woman was recommending a comb, with every term of endearment, to +a young country-girl, who seemed perfectly ignorant of its use, assuring +her customer that it was an instrument for unravelling the hair, and making +it beautiful and shining, and enforcing her argument by combing through +some of the girl's tangled locks. + +Before breakfast we went to mass in the large chapel of the hacienda. We +and the family went to the choir; and the body of the chapel was filled +with rancheros and their wives. It is impossible to see anywhere a finer +race of men than these rancheros--tall, strong, and well made, with their +embroidered shirts, coarse sarapes, and dark blue pantaloons embroidered in +gold. After mass, the marketing recommenced, and the rebosos had a brisk +sale. A number were bought by the men for their wives, or _novias_, at +home; which reminds me of a story of -----'s of a poor Indian woman in +their village, who desired her husband to buy a _petticoat_ for her in +Mexico, where he was going to sell his vegetables. She particularly +impressed upon him that she wished it to be the _colour of the sky_, which +at sunrise, when he was setting off, was of a flaming red. He returned in +the evening, bringing, to her great indignation, a petticoat of a dusky +gray, which happened to be the colour of the sky when he made his purchase. + +In the evening we rode through the fields, the servants and the young +master of the house amusing themselves as they went, by the chasing and +_colear_ of the bulls. They have one small, ugly, yellow-coloured bull, +which they call tame, and which the _mozos_ ride familiarly. They persuaded +me to try this novel species of riding, a man holding the animal's head +with a rope; but I thought that it tossed its horns in a most uncomfortable +and alarming manner, and very soon slipped off. We stopped during our ride, +at a house where the proprietors make a small fortune by the produce of +their numerous beehives; and walked along the banks of a fine clear river, +winding through beautiful and verdant groves. + +The next morning by six o'clock we were again on horseback, and took leave +of San Bartolo. We rode by _Yndaparapeo_, a considerable village, with +sloping shingle roofs; and about ten reached Querendaro, breakfasted with +Señor Pimentel, and then continued our journey towards San Andrés, where we +were to pass the night. We had a horse with us which occasionally fell down +on the road, shivering all over, groaning, and apparently dying; but which +had twice recovered from these fits. But this day, having stopped beside a +running stream to water our horses, the unfortunate beast fell again, and +when we had remounted, and were riding forward, a servant galloped after +us, to tell us that the horse was dead at last; so we left him to his +lonely grave by the river's side. Great, therefore, was our amazement, +when, some time after, we perceived him trotting along the road at a great +rate, in pursuit of his party, apparently quite recovered. + +We passed the night at San Andrés, a poor _venta_, but clean, consisting of +three empty rooms, a spirit-shop, and a kitchen. Our escort slept in the +piazza, rolled in their sarapes. Our beds were stuck up in the empty rooms, +and we got some supper upon fowl and tortillas. We were interested by the +melancholy air of a poor woman, who sat aloof on the piazza, uncared for, +and noticing no one. We spoke to her, and found that she was insane, +wandering from village to village, and subsisting on charity. She seemed +gentle and harmless, but the very picture of misery, and quite alone in the +world, having lost all her family. But "God tempers the wind to the shorn +lamb." We saw her again in the morning before we set off, and saw her get +some breakfast in the kitchen. The poor people of the _venta_ seemed kind +to her. They who dwell in comfortable houses, surrounded by troops of +friends, and who repine at their lot, would do well to compare it with that +of such a being. + +This morning we left San Andrés, and have had a pleasant ride, in spite of +a hard-trotting horse, which fell to my lot. Impossible to conceive more +beautiful scenery than that which we passed through to-day. Some of the +hills have a singular formation, each large hill appearing composed of a +variety of smaller ones, of a pyramidal shape. We rode through Taximaroa +without stopping, and breakfasted at a rancho, where the whole family were +exceedingly handsome. The ranchero himself was a model for a fine-looking +farmer, hospitable and well-bred; knowing his place, yet without any +servility. The rancherita, who was engaged in the kitchen, was so handsome, +that we made every possible excuse for going to look at her. + +About four o'clock we once more crossed the hills and came down upon the +plains by which we left Angangueo; and passed over a river as red as blood, +that looked as if hostile armies had been engaged in fierce combat by its +banks, and their bodies rolled in the tide. This ensanguined hue is, +however, caused, not by warlike steel, but by peaceful copper; not peaceful +in its effects, by the way, at this moment, for the whole country, more or +less, is in commotion on the subject of copper coin. + +You must know, that some few years ago, the value of copper was suddenly +reduced by law to one half, causing a great loss to all, but much distress +to the poor. The intrinsic value of the copper, however, bore so little +relation to the value given to it, that it was a very productive business +to counterfeit it, of which many unprincipled individuals availed +themselves to such an extent, that it had almost become an openly exercised +branch of industry all through the republic. When Santa Anna became +provisional president, he ordered that all the copper coin, whose currency +was now reduced to six or eight per cent. below par, should be given in to +certain deposits which he named, promising to repay it in genuine coin of +real value. But this naturally caused a still greater depreciation, +bringing it down as low as sixty per cent.; and still greater discontent, +the people having little faith in the promise, and, in fact, the payment +could not be made at the appointed time, because there were not sufficient +coining machines; and as the few new cents that did circulate, were said +not to contain their real value, the distress became greater than ever. The +merchants refused to receive copper, and there was no silver or small +change. In the mean time, in many of the large haciendas, the proprietors +have given checks to the workmen, with which they have been able to buy +what they required at the shops, which are attached to these haciendas. + +The amount of the copper in circulation cannot be calculated, for it is +almost all counterfeit. It is supposed, however, to be at least from eight +to nine millions of dollars. You may easily imagine the fortunes that will +be made (and as they say are being made) by those of the government party, +who are buying up for sixty, what will be paid them by favour of the +government at the rate of a hundred. + +We rode up the hills that lead to the house of Don Carlos Heimbürger, and +were again hospitably received by him and his German friends. Nothing can +have a finer effect than the view from the piazza of his house in the +evening, looking down upon the valley. The piazza itself has a screen of +green creepers, which have the effect of a curtain of a theatre half drawn +up. Behind the house rises a dark frowning hill, in the form of a pyramid. +In front is the deep ravine, with the huts of the workmen, and while the +moon throws her quivering beams over the landscape, the metallic fires of +livid blue light up the valley. There is something wild and diabolic in the +scene; and as the wind howls round the valley with a dismal sound, it seems +as if one were looking on at some unholy, magical incantation; so that it +is pleasant to return after a while to the comfortable rooms and cheerful +fires within, which have so homely and domestic an air. We hope to spend +to-morrow here, and the following day to go on to Toluca, from whence I +shall continue my letter. + +TOLUCA, 19th. + +The next day we visited the works, which are like all others, excepting +that here they do not use quicksilver to extract the silver from the lead, +but do so by the process of oxidation, by the means of a reverberatory +furnace. The people generally have an unhealthy appearance, as nearly all +have who are engaged in these works--the air being loaded with particles of +metal. After visiting the mills and the sheds where the process of +oxidation is carried on, and admiring the metallic riches of these +mountains, we left the hot and poisoned atmosphere, and walked up the +mountains clothed with a hardy vegetation--with every noble tree and +flowering shrub--and pursued our course till we came to a fine waterfall, +which plunges from a great height over the gigantic rocks. + +The scenery here is rude and wild. The great rocks are covered with hardy +trees--the pine, the cedar, the oak, and the flowering laurel. The river, +after dashing down in this noble cascade, runs brawling amongst the +forest-clothed hills, till it reaches the plains, and flows on placidly. We +spent an agreeable day, wandering amongst the mountains; and when we +returned sat on the piazza, to watch the moon as her broad disk rose over +the valley, and the fierce blue lights that made her mild fires grow pale. + +All Germans are musical, and the gentlemen in this house did not belie the +national reputation. After dinner, a bright fire blazing, doors and windows +shutting out the cold air that whistled along the hills, they struck up in +chorus some of the finest national airs, particularly the Hymn to the +Rhine--so that it seemed an illusion that we were in this wild, mining +district, inhabited only by the poorest Indians; and we were transported +thousands of miles off, across the broad Atlantic, even to the land where + + "The castled crag of Drachenfels + Frowns o'er the broad and winding Rhine." + +We also amused ourselves by examining Madame B----'s Album; and if those +milk-and-water volumes, belonging to young ladies, where young gentlemen +write prettinesses, be called Albums, some other name should be found for a +book where some of the most distinguished artists in Germany have left +proofs of their talent, and where there is not one page which does not +contain something striking and original. Nothing pleased me so much as the +fanciful illustration of the beautiful legend of _Lorelei_, which Madame +B---- read to us with great feeling. We became too comfortable here for +hardy equestrian travellers, and had we staid much longer should have begun +to complain of tough fowls, beds in barns, and other inconveniences, which +we had hitherto laughed at; but we tore ourselves away from our Capua, and +on the morning of the sixteenth set off for _El Pilar_. + +Don Carlos Heimburger, M. and Madame B----, etc., accompanied us for seven +leagues, all through the woods. We had a delightful ride, the day was cool +and cloudy, and we were besides, constantly shaded by the noble forest +trees. But we had not reached Las Millas before the sky was overcast, the +clouds became black and gloomy, and at length broke out in rain. We +galloped fast, for the day, besides being rainy, was cold; and in the +afternoon reached Las Millas. Here we breakfasted in the little portico, +which we preferred to the interior of the cottage, chiefly upon tortillas +and boiled _tejocotes_, a fruit which grows in great abundance, and +resembles a small apple. Here again were two Indian girls of admirable +beauty, _dans leur genre_, baking tortillas. We were now obliged to part +from our kind German friends, and to ride across the plains. But had not +gone more than halfway, when the clouds burst forth in torrents, pouring +their fury on our devoted heads, so that in five minutes we were all +drenched as if we had fallen into a river. We took shelter for a little +while under a solitary spreading tree, but the storm increased in violence, +and it was advisable to gallop forwards, in order to arrive at El Pilar +before it became dark. Suddenly, the most beautiful rainbow I ever beheld +smiled out from amongst the watery clouds. It formed a complete and +well-defined arch of the most brilliant colours in the heavens, reflected +by another on the plains, which, uniting with it, blended its fainter hues +with the light of the heavenly bow. + +We arrived at El Pilar tired and drenched, and greatly in need of the +hospitable reception which was given to us by its mistress. + +The following morning we set off early for _La Gabia_, feeling some regret +that our journey was drawing to a close. Some of us, who rode in front, +found ourselves surrounded by several suspicious-looking, well-armed men on +horseback, who, under pretence of asking some questions, rode very close to +us, and then stopped and faced round on their horses--but there was no +danger, our escort being at a short distance, and when they observed its +approach, they bestowed no further attention upon us. Don Xavier +Hechavarria had returned to Mexico, but we were cordially welcomed by his +brother-in-law, Don Manuel Gorospe, and so kindly pressed to remain some +days, that nothing but our limited time would have induced us to set off +next morning for Toluca. Here we arrived last night, having performed our +journey by a different and more agreeable road than that of the "three +hundred barrancas." We entered Toluca by moonlight, and found that +respectable city all in commotion on the subject of copper; presenting a +very different aspect from the quiet and conventual air of repose which +distinguished it little more than a month ago. Yesterday Colonel Y----, who +has accompanied us during all this journey, left us, to return to +Michoacán, having thus brought us back in safety to the point from which we +started. + +We are spending a very tiresome day in the inn, which, however, is a more +decent place, and belongs to a better line of coaches than the other. We +have been enlivened by several visits, amongst others, from the commandant, +and from an aide-de-camp of General Valencia's. For the first time since we +left it, we have news from Mexico. Santa Anna, _dit-on_, is now Dictator or +King, in all but the name; affecting more than royal pomp, yet endeavouring +by his affability to render himself popular. Above all, he has made known +his determination of not seizing an inch of ground belonging to the clergy; +which seizure of church property was the favourite idea of Paredes and the +_progresistas_. This resolution he has not printed, probably in order not +to disgust that party, but his personal declaration to the archbishop and +the padres of the Profesa, and in a letter to the bishop of Puebla, is, +that he will not only leave their property untouched, but that, were he out +of power, he would draw his sword in their defence--for that, good or bad, +he is a sincere Catholic. This has done much to re-establish him in the +good opinion of the clergy, and it is said that in every convent in Mexico, +monks and nuns are now wearying Heaven with prayers in his behalf. In +short, the conquerors and the conquered, those of the Progress, and those +of the Dictatorship, seem all, barring a few noble exceptions, actuated by +one motive; personal interest. + +Count C---a is restored to the command of his battalion _del Comercio_, +which has been re-established (it having deserted to the federalists in the +last revolution). It appears that the president's favourite plan is to have +thirty thousand men under arms; and there is little doubt that he will +bring this about. Sixteen new generals have been created; and General +Tornel is made a General of Division. The Señora V---a has given a ball, at +which she and other ladies appeared with trains, rehearsing, as it would +seem, before the court drawing-rooms. I was told, and by good authority, +that the present sent by Santa Anna to the lady of the commander-in-chief +on her birth-day, was a box containing three general's belts, with a +request that she would bestow them on those whom she considered most +deserving of them; and that the lady herself buckled the sashes on her +favoured knights, in her own boudoir. Thus was valour rewarded by the hand +of beauty; and + + "Thus should desert in arms be crowned." + +Meanwhile the master of the house presents himself with a disturbed and +gloomy countenance, and doubts much whether we can have any dinner to-day, +because no one will sell anything, either for copper or silver; moreover +hints darkly that they expect a _copper pronuniciamiento_ to-morrow; and +observes that the shops are shut up. + +Since we could get no dinner, we went out to take a walk; and methinks the +Tolucanos have a fierce and agitated aspect. We attempted to go to mass +this morning, but there was a congregation of léperos, who filled not only +the church, but the whole enclosure and the street beyond, so that we could +not even approach the church door. Unfortunately we cannot get a diligence +until the 21st. + +They have brought us at last, I will not say dinner--but something to eat. + +20th.--This morning, the firing of squibs, the beating of drums, the +shouting and confusion on the streets, announced that the ragamuffin +population of Toluca had turned out; and going to the balcony, I very +nearly received the salutation of + + "A sky-Rocket in my eye." + +Orders have been given out by the alcalde, that copper shall be received in +payment by the merchants, some of whom have declared they will only receive +silver. A large mob has collected before the alcalde's door, with shouts of +"Viva la plata! Muerta al cobre!" (Long live silver! Death to copper!) +--apostrophizing these useful metals, as if they were two generals. + +The merchants have issued a declaration, that during three days only, they +will sell their goods for copper (of course at an immense advantage to +themselves). The Indians and the poorer classes are now rushing to the +shops, and buying goods, receiving in return for their copper about half +its value. If Santa Anna keeps his word, the _patriotism_ of the merchants +will be rewarded. + +C---n has just had a visit from one of the merchants, who wishes his +conduct to be represented in a proper light in Mexico. + +MEXICO, 22nd. + +With much joy we stepped into the diligence early yesterday morning, +accompanied by the commandant of Toluca, and retraced our road to Mexico; +for though Toluca is a fine city, with clean, airy houses, wide, +well-paved streets, and picturesque in its situation, there is something +sad and deserted in its appearance, an air of stagnation that weighs upon +the spirits; and the specimens we have seen of its lower orders are not +inviting. We had rather an agreeable journey, as the day was cool, and we +had the diligence to ourselves. We breakfasted again at Cuajimalpa, took +leave of the interesting _itzcuin tepotzotli_, still hanging from its +hook--and again ascended the eminence from which Mexico suddenly bursts +upon the view, and after a short absence, with all the charms of novelty. +Before we arrived at Tacubaya, we were met by a carriage containing Señor +A---- and his lady, who insisted on our leaving the diligence; and carried +us off to their own house, where we now are. On the second of January we +expect to take our final departure from the "great city of the lake." + +December 28th.--Another old year about to chime in! Another Christmas past +away! But during these last few days it has been all in vain to attempt +finishing my letter, between making arrangements for our journey, receiving +and returning visits, going to the opera, and seeing and revisiting all +that we had left unseen or wished to see again before leaving this. People +seem determined that we shall regret them, and load us with kindness and +attentions, the more flattering, that now at least they are entirely +personal, and cannot proceed from any interested motive. We have reason to +think them both steady and sincere in their friendship. + +General Moran has died, universally regretted. He has been embalmed +according to the system of _Ganal_, and his funeral was performed with +extraordinary magnificence, the troops out, the foreign Ministers and the +cabinet following on foot, the former in full uniform, and a great train of +carriages reaching along the whole Calle San Francisco, from the church to +the square. The body, dressed in a general's uniform, was carried upon a +splendid bier, and was so perfectly embalmed, that he seemed not dead, nor +even asleep, but lying in an attitude of repose. The expense of this +operation will probably prevent its ever becoming very common; and +certainly there are but few cases where it can be advisable to adopt it. An +_embalmed dynasty_ might be a curious sight. To trace the features of a +royal line, from Charlemagne to Charles X.--from Alfred to William IV., +would be a strange study. Mary of Scotland and Elizabeth, lying in the +repose of death, yet looking as they lived and hated centuries back, might +be a curious piece of antiquity. A Hernan Cortes--a Washington--a Columbus +--a Napoleon; men, whose memory for good or for evil, will survive time and +change--it would be a strange and wondrous thing, if we could look on their +features as they were in life. But it is to be trusted that this method of +successfully wrestling with the earth for what it claims as its due, will +not generally prevail; or, at the end of a few centuries, the embalmed +population would scarce leave room for their living and breathing +descendants: nor is it an agreeable idea that one might, in a lapse of +ages, grace the study of an antiquary, or be preserved amongst the +curiosities of a museum. I would stuff birds and beasts, and preserve them +in cabinets, but not the remains of immortal man. _Dust unto dust_; and the +eye of faith turned from the perishing remains to the spirit which has gone +to the God who gave it. + +The _función_ performed in the general's honour, within the church, was as +magnificent as ecclesiastic and military splendour could render it. We were +in the gallery above. The bier, placed on a lofty scaffolding, covered with +black velvet and lighted with wax tapers, was placed near the altar. The +music was solemn and impressive. Every respect has been shown to the +deceased general, by Santa Anna's orders. Excepting the _corps +diplomatique_ and the officers, all within the church were in deep +mourning.... + +The chief difficulty we have in arranging our affairs here, consists in the +perfect impossibility of persuading any tradesman to keep his word. They +name the day, the hour, the minute, at which they are to be with you, or at +which certain goods are to be sent to you. They are affronted if you doubt +their punctuality, and the probability is, you never hear of them or their +goods again. If they are not exact for their own interest, they will not be +so for yours; and although we have had frequent proofs of this +carelessness, we are particularly annoyed by it now that we are within a +few days of our departure. During our residence here we have had little to +do with shops and shopkeepers, having found it more convenient and +economical to send to Paris or even to the United States for all articles +of dress. Now, though everything must still be comparatively dear, the _bad +times_ have caused a great reduction in prices; and dear as all goods are, +they would be still dearer, were it not for the quantity that is smuggled +into the republic. There are an amazing number of French shopkeepers; +French tailors, hatters, shoemakers, apothecaries, etc.; but especially +French modistes and perruquiers. The charges of the former are exorbitant, +the latter are little employed except by gentlemen. There are also many +Spanish shops, some German, and a few English; but I think the French +preponderate. + +We went some time ago to see the _Monte Pio_, which is under the auspices +of Señor Tagle; and it is melancholy enough to see the profusion of fine +diamonds and pearls that are displayed in these large halls. After a +certain time has elapsed without their being redeemed, the pledged articles +are sold; gold and silver, in whatever form, by the weight, but jewels for +their intrinsic value. There is a sale once a week. We were shown privately +the jewels of the Virgen de los Remedios; which are very superb. + +There is a small theatre lately established, called the Theatre of _New +Mexico_, where there is a Spanish company, the same whom we saw two years +ago in Vera Cruz. They are drawing away various persons from the principal +theatre. Their object seems to be to make people laugh, and they succeed. +On Christmas-eve we went there to see the _gracioso_ (harlequin) in a +woman's dress, dance _Tripili_, an old Spanish dance, accompanied with +singing. They introduced some appropriate lines concerning the late +troubles about the _copper_, which were received with great applause. Just +as they were concluding the Tripili, a young gentleman in the pit, I do not +know whether Mexican or Spanish, rose, and waving his hand after the manner +of a man about to make an address, and requesting attention, kindly +favoured the audience with some verses of his own, which were received with +great good-nature; the actors bowing to him, and the pit applauding him. It +seemed to me a curious piece of philanthropy on his part. + +At midnight we went to the church of Santa Clara, to attend what is called +the _Misa del Gallo_, the Cock's Mass; which is private,--only respectable +persons being admitted by a private entrance; for midnight mass in Mexico +takes place with shut doors, as all nightly reunions are dreaded. Santa +Clara being attached to the convent of that name, we remained after mass to +see the white-robed sisters receive the sacrament from the hands of a +priest, by the small side-door that opens from the convent to the church. +The church was lighted, but the convent was in darkness; and looking in +through the grating, we could only distinguish the outline of their +kneeling figures, enveloped in their white drapery and black veils. I do +not think there were a dozen persons in the church besides ourselves. + +A good deal of interest has been excited here lately about the Texian +prisoners taken in the Santa Fe expedition, the first detachment of whom +have arrived, after a march of nearly two thousand miles, and are now +lodged in the convent of Santiago, about two miles from the centre of the +city. As their situation is represented to be very miserable, and as it is +said that they have been stripped of their hats, shoes, and coats; some of +the Mexican families, and amongst others, that of Don Francisco Tagle, +regardless of political enmity, have subscribed to send them a supply of +linen and other necessary articles, which they carried out there +themselves. Being invited to accompany them to Santiago, I did so; and we +found the common men occupying the courtyard, and the officers the large +hall of the convent. So far they have been treated as prisoners of war +generally are; but it is said to be the intention of Santa Anna to have +them put in chains, and sent out to sweep the streets, with the miserable +prisoners of the Acordada. Colonel C----, who was presented to me, seemed +to treat the whole affair very lightly, as the fortune of war; and had +evidently no idea that any such fate was in store for them; seeming rather +amused by the dress of the monks, whom he now saw for the first time. In +the Mexicans generally, there seems very little if any vindictive feeling +against them; on the contrary, a good deal of interest in their favour, +mingled with some curiosity to see them. The common men appeared more +impatient and more out of spirits than the officers. We shall probably know +nothing more of their fate, before leaving Mexico. + +We had some intention of paying a last visit to the Museum before we went; +and Don José María Bustamante, a friend of ours, professor of botany, and +considered a man of learning, was prepared to receive us; but we were +prevented from going. I must, however, find time to answer your question as +to the population. The Mexican republic is supposed to contain upwards of +seven millions of inhabitants; the capital, two hundred thousand. Their +number cannot be exactly fixed, as there has been no general census for +some time; a labour in which a commission, with Count Cortina at its head, +has been employed for some time past, and the result of which will be +published shortly. All other questions must be replied to _de vive voix_. + +I must now conclude my last letter written from this place; for we are +surrounded by visitors, day and night; and, to say the truth, feel that it +is only the prospect of returning to our family, which can counterbalance +the unfeigned regret we feel at leaving our friends in Mexico. My next +letter will most probably be dated from Vera Cruz. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-SECOND + + +Last Day in Mexico--Theatre--Santa Anna--French +Minister's--Parting--Diligence--Last Look of +Mexico--Fatigue--Robbers--Escort--Second Impressions--Baths at +Jalapa--Vera Cruz--Some Account of San Juan de Ulua--Siege of 1825--Siege +of 1838--General Bustamante--Theatre--Of the North Winds. + + +VERA CRUZ, 6th January, 1842. + + +Having concluded our arrangements for leaving Mexico on the 2nd of January, +we determined, as the diligence started long before daybreak, not to +attempt taking any rest that night. We went out early, and took leave of +the Dowager Marquésa de Vivanco, who was confined to the house by illness, +and whose kindness to us has been unremitting ever since our arrival. It is +a sad thing to take leave of a person of her age, and in her delicate state +of health, whom there is scarcely a possibility of our ever seeing again. +Some days before we parted also from one of our oldest friends here, the +Countess C---a. The last day, besides the Spaniards who have been our +constant friends and visitors ever since we came here, we had melancholy +visits of adieu from Señor Gomez Padraza and his lady, from the families of +Echavarri, of Fagoaga, Cortina, Escandon, Casaflores, and many whose names +are unknown to you. Amongst others was the Güera Rodriguez. About eight +o'clock, accompanied even to the door of the carriage by a number of ladies +who were with us to the last, and amongst these were P---a C---a and L---z +E---n, we broke short all these sad partings, and, with the A---s and the +family of the French Minister, set off for the theatre of New Mexico. I can +imagine your surprise at such a _finale,_ but it was the only means left us +of finishing a painful scene, and of beguiling the weary hours yet +remaining before the diligence started, for it was in vain to think of rest +or sleep that night. The theatre was very crowded, the play an amusing +piece of _diablerie_, called the "_Pata de Cabra_" (the goat's foot), badly +got up, of course, as its effect depends upon scenery and machinery. I +believe it was very entertaining, but I cannot say we felt inclined to +enter into the spirit of it. The family of General V---a were there, and, +this being the day of a great diplomatic dinner given by Santa Anna, +various officers and diplomates came in late and in full dress. I was +informed by one of the company, that six colonels stood the whole time of +dinner behind his Excellency's chair! I wonder what French officer would do +as much for Louis Philippe! _Vogue la galere!_ From the theatre, which +concluded about one, we drove to the house of the ----- Minister, where we +spent a very grave half-hour, and then returned home with a very splendid +_brioche_, of generous proportions, which Madame la Baronne de ----- had +kindly prepared for our journey. + +Arrived at the A----'s, we sat down to supper, and never was there a sadder +meal than this, when for the last time we sat at the hospitable board of +these our earliest and latest Mexican friends. We were thankful when it was +all over and we had taken leave, and when, accompanied to the inn by Señor +A---d and other gentlemen, we found ourselves fairly lodged in the +diligence, on a dark and rather cold morning, sad, sleepy, and shivering. +All Mexico was asleep when we drove out of the gates. The very houses +seemed sunk in slumber. So terminated our last _Mexican New Year's Day_. + +When we reached the eminence, from which is the last view of the valley, +the first dawn of day was just breaking over the distant city; the white +summits of the volcanoes were still enveloped in mist, and the lake was +veiled by low clouds of vapour, that rose slowly from its surface. And this +was our last glimpse of Mexico! + +The diligence is now on a new and most fatiguing plan of travelling night +and day, after leaving Puebla; so that, starting from Mexico at four +o'clock on the morning of the 2nd of January, it arrives in Vera Cruz early +on the morning of the 5th, saving a few hours, and nearly killing the +travellers. The government had granted us escorts for the whole journey, +now more than ever necessary. It was five in the afternoon when we reached +Puebla, and we set off again by dawn the next morning. + +We had just left the gates, and our escort, which had rode forward, was +concealed by some rising ground, when, by the faint light, we perceived +some half-dozen mounted cavaliers making stealthily up to us across the +fields. Their approach was first discerned by a Spanish lady who was with +us, and who was travelling with strings of pearl and valuable diamonds +concealed about her person, which made her peculiarly sharp-sighted on the +occasion. "_Ladrones!_" said she, and every one repeated "_Ladrones!_" in +different intonations. They rode across the fields, came up pretty close to +the diligence, and reconnoitred us. I was too sleepy to be frightened, and +reconnoitred them in return with only one eye open. The coachman whipped up +his horses, the escort came in sight, and the gentlemen struck into the +fields again. The whole passed in a minute or two. The soldiers of the +escort came riding back to the diligence; and the captain, galloping up to +the window, gave himself great credit for having "frightened away the +robbers." + +We arrived at Perote when it was nearly dusk, supped, and started again at +eleven o'clock at night. We passed a horrible night in the diligence, and +were thankful when daybreak showed us the beautiful environs of Jalapa. It +is singular that on a second impression, returning by this road, the houses +appear handsomer than they did before, and nature less beautiful. I +conclude that this is to be accounted for simply from the circumstance of +the eye having become accustomed both to the works of nature and of man, +which characterize this country. The houses, which at first appeared +gloomy, large, and comfortless, habit has reconciled us to, and experience +has taught us that they are precisely suited to this climate of perpetual +spring. The landscape, with its eternal flowers and verdure, no longer +astonishes and bewilders us, as when we first arrived from a country where, +at that season, all nature lies buried in snow. Besides, in our last +journey through Michoacán, we have passed among scenes even more striking +and beautiful than these. Then the dresses, which at first appeared so +romantic; the high, Moorish-looking-saddle, the gold-embroidered manga, the +large hat, shading the swarthy faces of the men, the coloured petticoat and +reboso, and long black hair of the women, though still picturesque, have no +longer the charm of novelty, and do not attract our attention. The winter +also has been unusually severe for Mexico, and some slight frosts have +caused the flowers of this natural garden to fade; and, besides all this, +we were tired and sleepy and jolted, and knew that we had but an hour or +two to remain, and had another day and night of purgatory in prospect.... + +Still, as we passed along the shady lanes, amongst the dark chirimoyas, the +green-leaved bananas, and all the variety of beautiful trees, intwined with +their graceful creepers, we were forced to confess that winter has little +power over these fertile regions, and that in spite of the leveller, +_Habit_, such a landscape can never be passed through with indifference. + +Arrived at Jalapa, we refreshed ourselves with the luxury of a bath, having +to pass through half the city before we reached the bathing establishment, +from which there is the most beautiful view of wood, water, and mountain +that it is possible to behold. The baths are the property of a lady who has +a cotton factory and a good house in the city, and fortunate she is in +possessing a sufficient portion of worldly goods; since, as she informed +us, she is the mother of twenty children! She herself, in appearance, was +little more than thirty. We then returned to breakfast, and shortly after +left Jalapa. + +I will not inflict upon you a second description of the same journey; of +Plan del Rio, with its clear river and little inn--of Puerto del Rey, with +its solid majestic bridge thrown over the deep ravine, through which rushes +the impetuous river Antigua--or of how we were jolted over the road leading +to Paso de Oveja, etc. Suffice it to say, that we passed a night, which +between suffocating heat, horrible jolting, and extreme fatigue, was nearly +intolerable. Stopping to change horses at Santa Fe, we saw, by the light of +the torches which they brought to the door, that we were once more among +bamboo-huts and palm trees. Towards morning we heard the welcome sound of +the waves, giving us joyful token that our journey was drawing to a close; +yet when we entered Vera Cruz and got out of the diligence, we felt like +prisoners who have been so long confined in a dungeon, they are incapable +of enjoying their liberty, we were so thoroughly worn out and exhausted. +How different from the agreeable kind of fatigue which we used to feel +after a long day's journey on horseback! + +Breakfast, and a fresh toilet had, however, their due influence. We were in +an hotel, and had hardly breakfasted when our friend, Don Dionisio Velasco, +with some other gentlemen, arrived, and kindly reproaching us for +preferring an inn to his house, carried us and our luggage off to his fine +airy dwelling, where we now are, and where a good night's rest has made us +forget all our fatigues. + +As we must remain here for one or two days, we shall have time to see a +little more of the city; and already, upon a second survey, sad and +dilapidated as it now appears, I can more readily imagine what it must have +been in former days, before it was visited by the scourge of civil war. The +experience of two Mexican revolutions, makes it more easy for us to +conceive the extent to which this unfortunate city must have suffered in +the struggle made by the Spaniards, to preserve the castle, their last +bulwark in this hemisphere. San Juan de Ulua, in spite of the miserable +condition in which it now is, remains a lasting memorial of the great works +which, almost immediately after their arrival on these shores, were +undertaken by the Spanish conquerors. + +In 1682, sixty-one years after they had set foot on Aztec soil, they began +this fortress, in order to confirm their power. The centre of the space +which it occupies is a small island, where the Spaniard, Juan de Grijalva +arrived, one year before Cortes reached the Mexican continent. Having found +the remains of two human victims there, they asked the natives why they +sacrificed men to their idols, and receiving for answer that it was by +orders of the kings of _Acolhua_, the Spaniards gave the island the name of +Ulua, by a natural corruption of that word. + +It is pretended that the fortress cost four millions; and though this +immense sum is no doubt an exaggeration, the expense must have been very +great, when we consider that its foundations are below the water, and that +for nearly three centuries it has resisted all the force of the stormy +waves that continually beat against it. Many improvements and additions are +gradually made to the castle; and, in the time of the viceroys, a +first-rate engineer paid it an annual visit, to ascertain its condition, +and to consider its best mode of defence, in case of an attack. In 1806, +however, Vera Cruz was sacked by the English corsair, Nicholas Agramont, +incited by one Lorencillo, who had been condemned to death for murder in +Vera Cruz, and had escaped to Jamaica. Seven millions of dollars were +carried off, besides three hundred persons of both sexes, whom the pirates +abandoned on the Island of Sacrificios, when they re-embarked. + +In 1771 the viceroy, then the Marquis de la Croix, remitted a million and a +half of dollars to the governor, in order that he might put the castle in a +state of defence; and the strong bulwarks which still remain, attest the +labour that has been bestowed upon it. The outer polygon, which looks +towards Vera Cruz, is three hundred yards in extent; to the north it is +defended by another of two hundred yards; whilst a low battery is situated +as a rear-guard in the bastion of Santiago; and on the opposite front is +the battery of San Miguel. The whole fortress is composed of a stone which +abounds in the neighbouring island, a species of coral, excellent for +building, _piedra mucara_. + +In 1822 no stronghold of Spanish power remained but this castle, whose +garrison was frequently reinforced by troops from Havana. Vera Cruz itself +was then inhabited by wealthy and influential Spaniards. Santa Anna then +commanded in the province, under the orders of Echavarri, the captain- +general, and with instructions from Yturbide, relative to the taking of the +castle. The commandant was the Spanish General Don José Davila. It was not, +however, till the following year, when Lemaur succeeded Davila in the +command of the citadel, that hostilities were begun by bombarding Vera +Cruz. + +Men, women, and children then abandoned the city. The merchants went to +Alvarado, twelve leagues off, whilst those who were driven from their +houses by a shower of balls, sought a miserable asylum amongst the burning +plains and miserable huts in the environs. Some made their way to Jalapa, +thirty leagues off; others to Cordova and Orizava, equally distant. With +some interruptions, hostilities lasted two years, during which there was +nearly a constant firing from the city to the castle, and from the castle +to the city. + +The object of General Barragan, now commander-in-chief, was to cut off all +communication between the garrison of the castle and the coasts, and to +reduce them to live solely upon salt provisions, fatal in this warm and +unhealthy country. In 1824 the garrison, diminished to a mere handful, was +replaced by five hundred men from the peninsula; and very soon these +soldiers, shut up on the barren rocks, surrounded by water, and exposed to +the dangers of the climate, without provisions and without assistance, were +reduced to the most miserable condition. The next year, Don José Copinger +succeeded Lemaur, and continued hostilities with fresh vigour. + +This brave general, with his valiant troops, surrounded by the sick and the +dying, provisions growing scarcer every day, and those that remained +corrupt and unfit to eat, yet resolved to do his duty, and hold out to the +last. No assistance arrived from Spain. A Mexican fleet was stationed off +the Island of Sacrificios and other points, to attack any squadron that +might come from thence; while the north winds blew with violence, keeping +back all ships that might approach the coasts. "Gods and men," says a +furious republican (Zavala), "the Spaniards had to contend with; having +against them, hunger, sickness, the fire and balls of the enemies, a +furious sea covered with reefs, a burning atmosphere, and above all, being +totally ignorant as to whether they should receive any assistance." + +The Minister of the treasury, Esteva, then came from Mexico, and proposed a +capitulation; and the Spanish general agreed that should no assistance +arrive within a certain time, he would give up the fortress; evacuating it +with his whole garrison, and with the suitable honours. The Spanish +succours arrived a few days before the term was expired, but the commander +of the squadron, seeing the superiority in point of numbers of the Mexican +fleet, judged it prudent to return to Havana to augment his forces. But it +was too late. On the fifteenth of September, the brave General Copinger, +with the few troops that remained to him, marched out of the fortress, +terminating the final struggle against the progress of revolution, but +upholding to the last the character for constancy and valour which +distinguished the sons of ancient Spain. + +Of its last assault by the French squadron in 1838, there is no need to say +anything. Every newspaper, as you will remember, gave an account of the +capitulation of what the French gazettes called "San Juan de Ulua, the St. +Jean d'Acre of the new world, which our mariners saluted as the Queen of +the Seas, _vierge sans tache_," etc. + +6th.--We have just had a visit from General Bustamante, who, with his +aide-de-camp, a son of General Calderon (formerly governor of Jalapa), +intends shortly to sail in the Jason for Havana. We have also had a visit +from the commander of that vessel, Captain Puente, who succeeded our friend +Captain E---a; and who has been kindly endeavouring to make arrangements +for taking us also, not having before been aware of our intentions of +leaving Vera Cruz at this period. But although we should have much pleasure +in returning by the vessel that brought us, we fear that, without putting +the officers to great inconvenience, it will be impossible for them to +accommodate so many, for we know the _carte du pays_. + +It is therefore probable that we shall go by the English packet, which +sails on the eighth, but unfortunately goes round by Tampico, not very +agreeable at this season. + +We went to mass this morning, which was said to be particularly crowded in +consequence of the general desire to catch a glimpse of the +ex-president.... + +I find, personally, one important change in taste if not in opinion. Vera +Cruz cookery, which two years ago I thought detestable, now appears to me +delicious! What excellent fish! and what incomparable _frijoles!_ Well, +this is a trifle; but after all, in trifles as in matters of moment, how +necessary for a traveller to compare his judgments at different periods, +and to correct them! First impressions are of great importance, if given +only as such; but if laid down as decided opinions, how apt they are to be +erroneous! It is like judging of individuals by their physiognomy and +manners, without having had time to study their character. We all do so +more or less, but how frequently we find ourselves deceived! + +7th.--We went to the theatre last evening. In the boxes there were only a +lady and gentleman, besides our party. The pit, however, was full; but +there are no good actors at present. We have been walking about to-day, +notwithstanding the heat, purchasing some necessary articles from French +modistes and French perfumers, most of whom, having got over the fever, are +now very well satisfied to remain here and make their fortune. We +afterwards walked down to the Mole, and saw the pleasantest sight that has +met our eyes since we left Mexico--the sea covered with ships. It was +refreshing to look again on the dark blue waves, after so long an absence +from them. Commodore -----, of Mexico, who was present, pointed out the +Jason, and the Tyrian, Captain Griffin, lying out in the harbour, and +strongly recommended us to go in the latter, as did the English consul, +with proper patriotism. We have requested him to take our berths, when he +goes to visit the captain on board this evening.... + +No sooner has this been done beyond recall, than we find that comfortable +arrangements have been made for taking us in the Jason, which goes direct +to Havana. It is now too late, so we can only regret our precipitation. +There is another beautiful Spanish vessel just arrived, the _Liberal_, +Captain Rubalcava, who, with Captain Puente, of the Jason, has been to see +us this evening. If the wind holds fair, the packet sails to-morrow; but +the experienced predict a norther. + +The symptoms of this terrible wind, which blows in the Mexican Gulf, from +the autumnal to the vernal equinox, are known not only to the sailors, but +to all those who have lived some time in this city. The variation in the +barometer is the surest sign. A land breeze from the north-west first blows +gently, then varies to the north-east, then changes to the south. The heat +is then suffocating and the summits of all the great mountains appear +cloudless and distinct against the deep blue sky, while round their base +flows a veil of semi-transparent vapour. + +Suddenly the tempest bursts forth; and all are instantaneously relieved-all +but the poor mariners! The air becomes refreshed-clouds of dust come +sweeping along the streets, driving away, as it were, the pestilential +atmosphere. Then there is no fever in Vera Cruz. + +All communication is cut off between the castle and the city, and between +the city and all foreign shipping. Sometimes the norther lasts three or +four days, sometimes even twelve. If it turns to a southerly breeze, the +tempest generally returns; if it changes to the east or north-east, the +breeze generally lasts three or four days, and the ships in the port take +advantage of the intervals to escape, and gain the high seas. These gales +are particularly dreaded off the coasts of Tampico. + +8th.--We sail in a few hours, the _norte_ not having made its appearance, +so that we expect to get clear of the coast before it begins. The Jason +sails in a day or two, unless prevented by the gale. We only knew this +morning that it was necessary to provide mattresses and sheets, etc., for +our berths on board the packet. Fortunately, all these articles are found +ready made in this seaport town. We have just received a packet of letters, +particularly acceptable as bringing us news of home before our departure. I +have also received two agreeable _compagnons de voyage_ in the shape of +books; Stephen's "Central America," and Washington Irving's "Life of +Margaret Davison," opportunely sent me by Mr. Prescott.... + +Our next letters will be written either at sea, or from Tampico. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-THIRD + + +Sail in the Tyrian--Norther off Tampico--The Bar--The River Panuco--The +Pilot--The Shore--Alligator--"_Paso de Doña Cecilia_"--Tampico--Spanish +Consul's House--Society--Navigation--Banks of the Panuco--Extraordinary +Inoculation--The "_Glorieta_"--Leave Tampico--Furious Norther--Voyage-- +Arrival at Havana. + + +ON BOARD H. B. M. PACKET TYRIAN, 15th. + + +On the 8th, having taken leave of the family of our friend, Señor Velasco, +and of General Bustamante, whom we hope to see again in Havana, we went out +in a little boat, accompanied as far as the packet by several gentlemen, +and in a short time were standing on deck, looking our last at Vera Cruz +and its sandbanks, and sopilotes, and frowning castle, as the shores +gradually receded from our view, while the Tyrian was making the best of +her time to get clear of reefs and rocks, before the arrival of the +norther. We regretted to find, that instead of being one of the new line of +English packets, the Tyrian was the last of the old line; small, ancient, +and incommodious, and destined to be paid off on her return to England. +Captain Griffin, the commander, who looks like an excellent, gentlemanly +man, is in wretched health, and in a state of acute suffering. There were +no passengers but ourselves, and a young Mexican, guiltless of any +acquaintance with salt water, up to this date. + +The very next morning out burst the norther, and with loud howling swept +over the ocean, which rose and tossed to meet the coming storm. Surely no +wind ever had a voice so wildly mournful. How the good ship rolled, and +groaned, and creaked, and strained her old timber joints! What rocking, +thumping, falling, banging of heads at the low entry of the cabin! Water +falling into berths, people rolling out of them. What fierce music at +night, as the wind, like a funeral dirge, swept over the ocean, the rain +falling in torrents, and the sky covered with one dark, lugubrious pall! +And how lonely our ship seemed on the world of waters! + +But the next day, the storm waxed fiercer still, and the night was worse +than the day. The waves that dashed over the deck made their way into the +cabin. At one time, we thought the ship had struck, and even the captain +believed that a mast had fallen. It was only a huge wave that broke over +the deck with a sound like thunder, drowning the wretched hens and ducks, +who little thought, when they left their comfortable English poultry-yard, +they were destined to be drowned off Tampico--and drenching the men. Our +little lamp, after swinging to and fro for some time went out, and left the +cabin in darkness. Impossible to sleep of course, and for the _first time_ +at sea, I confess to having felt afraid. Each time that the ship rolled +upon her side on the slope of a huge billow, it seemed impossible that she +could ever right again, or that she could avoid receiving the whole +contents of the next great watery mountain that came roaring on. + +On the morning of the eleventh there was still no abatement of the storm. +All was dark and dreary. The norther continued to blow with unrelenting +fierceness, and the ship to rock and roll amongst a tumult of foaming +billows. The nights in this pitch darkness seemed interminable. The berths +being constantly filled with water, we dragged our mattresses on the floor, +and lay there wishing for the dawn. But the dawn brought no relief. The +wind howled on like a fierce wild beast roaring for its prey. I had made my +way every day upstairs, and by dint of holding on, and with a chair tied +with strong ropes, had contrived to sit on deck. But this day I retreated +under cover behind the helmsman, when, lo! a large wave burst over the +ship, found me out in my retreat, and nearly throwing down several stout +sailors in its way, gave me the most complete salt-water bath I have had +since I left New York. All that night we were tossed about in storm and +darkness. + +On the thirteenth the wailing of the norther grew fainter, and towards +night died away. On the fourteenth it veered round, and the coast of +Tamaulipis appeared in sight faintly. + +This morning opened with a slight norther; nevertheless they have hung out +the packet flag and cast anchor, in expectation of the pilot boat. +Meanwhile, all is at a stand-still, _morally_ speaking, for we are rolling +so that it is scarce possible to write comprehensibly. We see the +sad-looking shores of Tampico, long, low, and sandy, though to the south +stretching out into gloomy, faintly-seen woods. We can distinguish the +distant yellow sand and the white surf breaking furiously over the bar. The +day is gloomy but not cold. A slight rain accompanies the light north wind. +Sea-gulls are flying in circles round the ship and skimming the surface of +the waves. The master looks impatient and anxious, and prognosticates +another week of northers. Vessels, they say, have been detained here thirty +days, and some even three months! No notice is taken of our signal--a sign +that the bar is impassable. + +16th.--The ship has rolled and pitched all night, and to-day we remain in +the same predicament. + + +TAMPICO, 18th. + + +Yesterday morning the wind was much lighter, and a pilot-boat came out +early, in which the captain set off with his despatches; and we being +assured that we might cross the ominous bar in safety, hired a boat for +forty dollars, with ten sailors and a pilot, too glad at the prospect of +touching the solid earth even for one day. Having got into this boat, and +being rowed out to the bar, we found that there the sea was very high, even +though the day was calm. The numerous wrecks that have taken place here +have given this bar a decidedly bad reputation. Great precaution is +necessary in crossing it, constant sounding, and calm weather. It is formed +by a line of sandhills under the water, whose northern point crosses that +to the southward, and across which there is a passage, whose position +varies with the shifting sands, so that the pilots are chiefly guided by +the surf. + +Perched upon a sandbank was a regiment of enormous white pelicans of +thoughtful and sage-like physiognomy, ranged in a row, as if to watch how +we passed the bar. Over many a drowning crew they have screamed their wild +sea dirge, and flapped their great white wings. But we crossed in safety, +and in a few minutes more the sea and the bar were behind us, and we were +rowing up the wide and placid river Panuco--an agreeable change. We stopped +at the house of the _commandant_, a large, tall individual, who marched out +and addressed us in English, and proved to be a native of the United +States. + +We stopped at a collection of huts, to let our sailors breakfast, where +there is the house of a celebrated character, Don Leonardo Mata, a colossal +old pilot, but who was from home at present. We amused ourselves by +wandering along the beach of the river and making a collection of beautiful +shells, which we left at the old pilot's house, to be kept there till our +return. A sort of garden, attached to the house, is appropriately +ornamented with the figure-head and anchor from a wreck. We got into our +boat again and glided along the shores, on one side low and marshy, with +great trees lying in the water; on the other also low, but thickly wooded +and with valuable timber, such as logwood and ebony, together with cedars, +India-rubber trees, limes, lemons, etc. On the bare trunk of a great tree, +half-buried in the water, sat an amiable-looking alligator, its jaws +distended in a sweet, unconscious grin, as if it were catching flies, and +not deigning to notice us, though we passed close to it. A canoe with an +Indian woman in it, was paddling about at a very little distance. All these +beautiful woods to the right contain a host of venomous reptiles, +particularly the rattlesnake. Cranes and herons were fluttering across the +surface of the river, and the sportsmen brave the danger of the reptiles, +for the sake of shooting these and the beautiful rose-coloured spoonbills +and pheasants that abound there. + +The approach from Tampico is very pretty, and about two miles from it on +the wooded shore, in a little verdant clearing, is a beautiful +_ranchito_--a small farmhouse, white and clean, with a pretty piazza. In +this farm they keep cows and sell milk, and it looks the very picture of +rural comfort, which always comes with double charm when one has been +accustomed to the sight of the foaming surges and the discomforts of a +tempest-tossed ship. The sailors called it "El Paso" (the pass) "de Doña +Cecilia;" which sounded delightfully romantic. The proprietress, this Doña +Cecilia, who lives in such peaceful solitude, surrounded by mangroves, with +no other drawbacks to her felicity but snakes and alligators, haunted my +imagination. I trusted she was young, and lovely, and heart-broken; a +pensive lay nun who had retreated from the vanities and deceits of the +world to this secluded spot, where she lived like a heroine upon the +produce of her flocks, with some "neat-handed Phillis," to milk the cows +and churn the butter, while she sat rapt in contemplation of the stars +above or the snakes below. It was not until after our arrival at Tampico +that I had the mortification to discover that the interesting creature, the +charming recluse, is seventy-eight, and has just buried her seventh +husband! I accept the account doubtingly, and henceforth shall endeavour to +picture her to my mind as an ancient enchantress, dwelling amongst +serpents, and making her venomous charms of + + "Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting. + Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing." + +As you approach Tampico, the first houses that meet the eye, have the +effect of a number of coloured band-boxes; some blue, some white, which a +party of tired milliners have laid down amongst the rushes. On leaving the +boat, and walking through the town, though there are some solid stone +dwellings, I could have fancied myself in a New England village. Neat +"shingle palaces," with piazzas and pillars; nothing Spanish, and upon the +whole, an air of cleanness and cheerfulness astonishing to me who have +fancied Tampico an earthly purgatory. We afterwards heard that these houses +were actually made in the United States and sent out here. There are some +good-looking _stores_; and though there is certainly little uniformity in +the architecture of the houses, yet considering the city was built only +sixteen years ago, I consider it a slandered place. In 1825 there were but +a few Indian huts here, and any little commerce there was, concentrated +itself in _Pueblo Viejo,_ which stands on the shores of a lake some miles +off. We were taken to the house of a Spanish consul, a fine, airy, stone +building with a gay view from the windows;--the very first house that was +built in the place. + +Its owner, Don Juan de la Lastra, Spanish vice-consul, is not here himself, +but we were kindly received by Don Josd de Comez Mira, the consul. In the +evening all the principal Spaniards in the place came to see C---n; and +having arrived here yesterday morning as perfect strangers, without the +probability of finding any one whom we knew, we find ourselves surrounded +by the most unexpected and gratifying attentions. As to what is called +society, there is literally none in Tampico. Those who live here, have come +in the hope of making their fortune; and the few married men who are +amongst them have been unwilling to expose their wives to the unhealthy +climate, the plague of mosquitoes and _xins-xins,_ the intermittent fevers, +which are more to be dreaded here than the yellow fever, and the nearly +total deprivation of respectable female society. The men, at least the +Spaniards, unite in a sort of club, and amuse their leisure evenings with +cards and billiards; but the absence of ladies' society must always make it +dull. Riding and shooting in the neighbourhood are their out-of-door +amusements, and there is excellent sport along the river, which may be +enjoyed when the heat is not too intense. + +Our captain, who has paid us a visit this evening, with several Englishmen, +expects to get off to-morrow. We staid at home in the morning on account of +the heat, and wrote letters, but in the afternoon we made the most of our +time, walking about the city, in which there is not much to see. There are +many comfortable-looking large houses, generally built according to the +customs of the country whereof the proprietor is a native. Were it not for +the bar, which is a terrible obstacle, not only from the danger in crossing +it, but the detention that it causes, vessels having been stopped outside +for months, Tampico would become a most flourishing port. Besides that the +depth of water can permit vessels of burden to anchor near the town, there +is an interior navigation up the country, for upwards of forty leagues. + +The banks of the river are described as being very beautiful, which we can +easily believe from what we have already seen; but for its beauties after +passing Tampico; its wooded shores dotted with white ranchos, its large +cattle farms, and its picturesque old Indian town of Panuco, we must trust +to hearsay. The country in the vicinity is described as being a wilderness +of rare trees, matted together with graceful and flowering creepers, the +wild haunts of birds of bright and beautiful plumage; but our ardour to +visit these tangled shrubberies was damped by the accounts of myriads of +_xins-xins_ and _garrapatos;_ little insects that bury themselves in the +skin, producing irritation and fever; of the swarming mosquitoes,--the +horrid caimans that bask on the shore; and worse than all, the venomous +snakes that glide amongst the rank vegetation. Parrots and butterflies and +fragrant flowers will not compensate for these. + +We have just been hearing a curious circumstance connected with poisonous +reptiles, which I have learned for the first time. Here, and all along the +coast, the people are in the habit of inoculating themselves with the +poison of the rattlesnake, which renders them safe from the bite of all +venomous animals. The person to be inoculated is pricked with the tooth of +a serpent, on the tongue, in both arms and on various parts of the body; +and the venom introduced into the wounds. An eruption comes out, which +lasts a few days. Ever after, these persons can handle the most venomous +snakes with impunity; can make them come by calling them, have great +pleasure in fondling them; and the bite of these persons is poisonous! You +will not believe this; but we have the testimony of seven or eight +respectable merchants to the fact. A gentleman who breakfasted here this +morning, says that he has been vainly endeavouring to make up his mind to +submit to the operation, as he is very much exposed where he lives, and is +obliged to travel a great deal on the coast; that when he goes on these +expeditions, he is always accompanied by his servant, an inoculated negro, +who has the power of curing him, should he be bit, by sucking the poison +from the wound. He also saw this negro cure the bite given by an inoculated +Indian boy to a white boy with whom he was fighting, and who was the +stronger of the two. The stories of the eastern jugglers, and their power +over these reptiles, may perhaps be accounted for in this way. I cannot say +that I should like to have so much _snaky_ nature transferred into my +composition, nor to live amongst people whose bite is venomous.... + +We have just returned from a moonlight walk to the Glorieta, a public +promenade which they are making here, where there are some stone benches +for the promenaders, close to which some public-spirited individuals had +dragged the carcase of a horse, which obliged us to retrace our steps with +all convenient speed. + +As for provisions in this place, if we may judge by the specimens we have +seen in this house, they are both good and abundant. We had especially fine +fish, and a variety of vegetables. To-morrow, alas! we return to our +packet, much refreshed, however, by two pleasant days on shore, and +consoling ourselves for our prolonged voyage by the reflection, that had we +gone direct to Havana, we should not have seen Tampico; and, as La +Fontaine's travelling pigeon says, + + "Quiconque ne voit guere + N'a guere a dire aussi. + Mon voyage depeint + Vous sera d'un plaisir extreme. + + Je dirai: j'étais là; telle chose m'avint: + Vous y croirez être vous-même."[1] + + [Footnote 1: He who sees little, little can he say; + And when my travels I describe some day, + And say, "That chanced to me--there I have been"-- + The pleasure you will feel will be so great, + You will believe, while hearing me relate, + That all these wonders you yourself have seen.] + +Once more on board our floating prison. A _norte_ is expected this evening, +but at least it will now be in our favour, and will drive us towards +Havana. Our Spanish friends concluded their cordial and disinterested +kindness, by setting off with us by daybreak this morning, in a large boat +with Spanish colours unfurled, crossing the bar with us, coming on board, +and running no small risk in recrossing it, with every prospect of a +norther before their eyes. We stopped at the house of the "_Marine +Monster_," Don Leonardo Mata, before crossing the bar, took up our shells, +and had the felicity of making his acquaintance. He is a colossal old man, +almost gigantic in height, and a Falstaff in breadth--gruff in his manners, +yet with a certain clumsy good-nature about him. He performs the office of +pilot with so much exclusiveness, charging such high prices, governing the +men with so iron a sway, and arranging everything so entirely according to +his own fancy, that he is a complete sovereign in his own small way--the +_tyrant of Tampico_. He has in his weather-beaten face such a mixture of +bluffness and slyness, with his gigantic person, and abrupt, half-savage +manners, that, altogether, I conceive him to be a character who might have +been worthy the attention of Walter Scott, had he chanced to encounter him. +Old and repulsive as he is, he has lately married a pretty young girl--a +subject on which he does not brook raillery. One amiable trait the old +tyrant has in his character--his affection for his old mother, who is +upwards of ninety, and who resides at Mahon, and to whom he is constant in +his attentions. At one time he was in the habit of sending her small sums +of money; but as they were frequently lost, he sent her five hundred +dollars at once by a safe conveyance. The old woman, he said, was so +frightened by seeing such a quantity of money in her hut, that she could +not sleep, and at length entrusted it to a _friend_, who carried it off +altogether. Since then he has assigned her fifteen dollars a month, upon +which the old woman lives in what she considers great luxury. + +We took leave of our friends an hour or two ago, but do not expect to set +sail till the afternoon, as they are discharging the quicksilver which our +vessel brought, and loading the silver which we carry away. Three young +Englishmen came on board this morning, to see the packet, and are making a +disagreeable visit, being perfectly overwhelmed by sea-sickness. + +2Oth.--Last night arose a furious norther. To-day it continues; but as it +is driving us towards our desired haven, and away from these dangerous +coasts, we need not complain. As usual on these occasions, I find myself +alone on the deck, never suffering from the universal prostrator of +landsmen. By way of variety, I have been sitting in the cabin, holding on +to the leg of a table, and trying to read Stephens, with as much attention +as circumstances will permit. All further attempts at _writing_ must be +delayed! + +3Oth.--On the 21st the norther continued with unabated violence, the wild +wind and the boiling waves struggling on the agitated bosom of the ocean, +great billows swelling up one after the other, and threatening to engulf +us; the ship labouring and creaking as if all its timbers were parting +asunder, and the captain in such a state of intense suffering, that we were +in great apprehension for his life. Horrible days, and yet more horrible +nights! But they were succeeded by fine weather, and at length we had the +consolation of seeing the moon, smiling placidly down upon us, like a +harbinger of peace. On the evening of the twenty-sixth the full moon rose +with a troubled countenance, her disk obscured by angry clouds. She shook +them off, but still looked turbid and superb. A gloomy cloud, black as +night, still stretched over her like a pall, thickly veiling, yet not +entirely obscuring her light, and soon after she appeared, riding serenely +in the high heavens, mildly triumphant. Of all who sing the praises of the +moon, who should love her blessed beams from his inmost heart like the +seaman? Then the angry clouds dispersed;--the north wind blew freshly, but +not fiercely, as if even his blustering fury were partly soothed by the +influence of her placid light;--the studding-sails were set, and the Tyrian +bounded on her course eight knots an hour. + +The next day the wind died away, and then blew lightly from the opposite +quarter. We were about two hundred and fifty miles from Havana, but were +then driven in the direction of Yucatan. The two following days we had +contrary wind, but charming weather. We studied the chart, and read, and +walked on deck, and played at drafts, and sat in the moonlight. The sea was +covered with flying fish, and the "Portuguese men of war," as the sailors +call the independent little nautilus, sailed contemptuously past us in +their fairy barks, as if they had been little steamers. A man fell +overboard, but the weather being calm, was saved immediately. We have been +tacking about and making our way slowly towards Havana, in a zigzag line. +Yesterday evening the moon rose in the form of a large heart, of a red gold +colour. This morning, about four o'clock, a fine fresh breeze sprung up +from the north-east, and we are going on our course at a great rate, with +some hopes of anchoring below the Morro this evening. To-day being Sunday, +we had prayers on deck, which the weather had not before permitted;--the +sailors all clean and attentive, as English sailors are. Last night they +sang "Rule Britannia," with great enthusiasm. + +HAVANA, 31st. + +Last evening we once more saw the beautiful bay of Havana, once more passed +the Morro, and our arrival was no sooner known, than the captain-general, +Don Geromino Valdés, sent his falua to bring us to the city, and even +wished us to go to his palace; but Don B---o H---a, who gave us so +hospitable a reception on our first visit, came on board, and kindly +insisted on taking us to his house, where we found everything as elegant +and comfortable as before, and from whence I now write these few lines. + +In the midst of our pleasure at being once more on dry land, surrounded by +our former friends, and at receiving letters from home, we were shocked and +distressed to hear of the unexpected death of our friend, the Señora de +Gutierrez Estrada, who had followed her husband to Havana in his exile. +What a blow to him, to her mother, to all her friends!... + +I shall send off this letter by the first opportunity, that you may know of +our safe arrival. + + + + +LETTER THE FIFTY-FOURTH + + +Havana--The Carnival--The Elssler--La Angosta--Ingenio of Count +V---a--General Bustamante--Lord Morpeth--Leave Havana--Voyage in the +Medway--Old Friends-Return to the United States. + + +HAVANA, February 27th. + + +It has been very agreeable for us to return here as private individuals, +and to receive the same attentions as when we came in a public situation, +but now with more real friendliness. Having arrived at the time of the +carnival, we have been in the midst of masked balls, which are curious to +see for once; of operas, dinners, and every species of gaiety. But +returning so soon, I shall enter into no details. The weather is beautiful, +and this house, situated on the bay, receives every sea-breeze as it blows. +The Elssler is still attracting immense and enthusiastic crowds; and is now +dancing at the theatre of Tacon, where she is seen to much more advantage +than in the other. We have been breakfasting in the luxurious _Quintets_ in +the neighbourhood, driving in the Paseo every evening in an open volante, +attending the opera; in short, leading so gay a life, that a little rest in +the country will be agreeable;--and we have accepted with pleasure the +invitation of Count and Countess F----a, to spend some time at _La +Angosta,_ one of his country places; a sugar and coffee estate. General +Bustamante arrived in the Jason, a few days after us, they having sailed +later. They had been very anxious concerning the fate of the Tyrian, in +these northern gales off Tampico. We have received letters from our Mexican +friends, and learn, with great sorrow, the death of the Dowager Marquesa de +Vivanco, and of the Señora H----a of Pascuaro--also the _murder_ of a +Spanish physician, with whom we were intimately acquainted,--at his distant +hacienda. + + +LA ANGOSTA, 13th March. + + +We have spent a most agreeable fortnight at La Angosta, and have also +visited the Count and Countess V---a, in their plantation near this. +General Bustamante was here for a day or two. Lord Morpeth also passed a +few days with us; so that altogether we have had a pleasant party. We have +been delighted with the elegant hospitality, without ostentation or +etiquette, which we have met with here. But we shall now return so soon, +that I shall reserve all particulars till we meet. + + +ON BOARD THE STEAM-SHIP MEDWAY, April 28th. + + +With a warning of only three hours, we came on board this splendid steamer, +eight days ago, after taking a hurried leave of our kind friends, at least +of all those who are now in Havana; for the Count and Countess de F---a, +and the Count and Countess de V---a are still in the country. Don B---o +H---a and his family accompanied us to the ship in the government _falua_. +General Bustamante, with his young aide-de-camp, together with Señor de +Gutierrez Estrada, and various other gentlemen, hearing of our sudden +departure, came out in boats to take leave of us. Alas! those +leave-takings. + +We had the agreeable surprise of finding that we were acquainted with all +our fellow-passengers. There are our particular friends the E---s, the +padre F---n, and Mr. G---s, all from Mexico; M. D---s de M---s, who was +attached to the French legation in Mexico, and is now returning from a +mission to California; Mr. and Miss ----- of Boston, etc. We came on board +on the evening of the twentieth, but did not leave the harbour till the +morning of the twenty-first. The day was beautiful, and as we passed out, +we could distinguish the waving of many handkerchiefs from the balconies. +In this floating palace, with large airy berths, a beautiful cabin, an +agreeable society, books, a band of music, ices, etc.; not to mention that +important point, an excellent and good-hearted captain, we have passed our +time as pleasantly as if we were in the most splendid hotel. + +On the twenty-third we went out in a little boat, in the middle of the +night, to Nassau, in New Providence, to buy some of those beautiful +specimens of shell-flowers, for which that place is celebrated. We set off +again at three in the morning of the twenty-fourth, on which day, being +Sunday, we had prayers on board. The weather was beautiful, and even with +contrary wind, the Medway went _steaming_ on her course at the rate of nine +knots an hour. + +On the twenty-fifth we lay off Savannah. A pilot came on board, and we went +up the river in a boat to the city, where we passed an agreeable day, and +in the evening returned to the ship. Crowds of people from Savannah went +out to see the steamer. The next day we cast anchor off Charleston, and +again a pilot came on board; but the day was stormy and gloomy, and only +two of the passengers went on shore. We have now had several days of bad +weather; wind and rain; and one night a storm of thunder and lightning; yet +down in the cabin there is scarce any motion, and we have been sitting +reading and writing as quietly as if we were in our own rooms. After two +years and a half of spring and summer, we feel the cool very much. + +29th.--We are now passing the Narrows. Once more the green shores of Staten +Island appear in sight. We left them two years and six months ago; just as +winter was preparing to throw his white shroud over the dolphin hues of the +dying autumn; the weather gloomy and tearful. Now the shores are covered +with the vegetation of spring, and the grass is as green as emeralds. I +shall write no more, for we must arrive to-day; and I shall be the bearer +of my own despatches. + +The day is bright and beautiful. The band is playing its gayest airs. A +little boat is coming from the Quarantine. In a few minutes more we shall +be _at home!_ + +THE END + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Life in Mexico, by Frances Calderón De La Barca + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN MEXICO *** + +This file should be named 9364-8.txt or 9364-8.zip + +Produced by Charles Franks, Marvin A. 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