SECTION III.
I PASSED the whole of the Summer and Autumn of 1824 in England, but in December I received orders to prepare immediately for my return to Mexico, where I had the honour of being entrusted, subsequently, in conjunction with Mr. Morier, with the negotiation of the Treaty, which it was the intention of His Majesty's Government to conclude with New Spain, in common with the other South American States.
On the 8th of January, 1825, I left London, and on the 18th, after being detained some days at Devonport by contrary winds, we embarked on board His Majesty's ship Egeria, commanded by Captain Roberts, and commenced, for the second time, a voyage, which a few years will, I suppose, render so ordinary a transaction that it will be little more thought of than the passage from Dover to Calais. Our party was an uncomfortably large one, considering the size of the vessel, as, in addition to Mrs. Ward, Mr. Ball, and Dr. Wilson, who, with myself, formed the Mexican passengers, there were Colonel Campbell and two other gentlemen belonging to the Mission in Columbia, whom the Egeria was directed to land at Carthagena, on their way to Bŏgŏtā. It was only by dint of great good humour, and kindness on the part of Captain Roberts, and a spirit of mutual accommodation amongst all the other members of the party, that we were enabled to stow ourselves away at all, and when we got into the warmer latitudes, we suffered not a little from the effects of being so crowded.
We had some very bad weather on first sailing, but left it behind us, with the Bay of Biscay, and reached Madeira on the eighth morning after our departure from Devonport. There we remained only twenty-four hours. From Funchal we had a run of twenty-one days to Barbadoes, where there is little novelty, or beauty to describe; for although the grove of Cocoa-nuts on the beach is rather picturesque, the effect is destroyed, on approaching the town, by the intermixture of the very worst style of English houses, with the productions of a climate, to which they are particularly ill adapted. Nothing can be more uncomfortable, on a sultry day, than the small boarded rooms, sash windows, and narrow passages, into which an abode of this kind is divided; yet both at Gibraltar, and in the West Indies, we seem to have preferred this system of wholesale architectural transplantation to the adoption of the corridors and verandas of our French and Spanish neighbours. In the country residences of the Planters, more taste is shown, and a better idea of comfort entertained; but in the town, there is nothing but the black population, and a glowing sky, to denote that one is separated from England by 37 degrees of latitude, and some thousand miles of sea.
Five days' sail carried us from Barbadoes to Carthagena, the hottest, dullest, dryest, and most dreary place that I have almost ever seen. Yet, it is said not to be unhealthy, and, though much frequented by Foreigners, there have hitherto been but few instances of the Vomito, so prevalent at Veracruz. The disorder which proved so fatal to the Scylla, in 1826, (she lost at Carthagena her captain, two-thirds of the officers, and almost all the crew,) is supposed to have originated on board, as it has been ascertained that there was no sickness in the town at the time. This exemption from disease is probably owing to the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, as compared with the Mexican coast. When we were at Carthagena, it was said not to have rained for two whole years, and the marshes in the vicinity of the town were nearly dry. Colonel Campbell took leave of us here to commence his voyage up the Magdalena. From his description of the heat, the privations, and the annoyances from insects of all kinds, which must be endured during the six weeks' confinement on board one of the long river-boats, in which the voyage to Honda is performed, before you commence the ascent to Bŏgŏtā, it seems evident that a new æra in Diplomacy must be dated from the opening of our communications with the New World. It was, hitherto, thought rather an easy, luxurious sort of métier; but a Diplomatist in America requires stamina as well as head, and must have a talent for undergoing a good deal of very rough work, as well as for managing a delicate negotiation. Colonel Campbell was blessed with a frame of iron, and performed, for the second time, in perfect safety, what many would have found an arduous task; but one of the gentlemen who accompanied him, (Mr. Wood,) has since died a victim to the climate, on a journey to Qūitŏ, from Gūāyăquīl, at which place he resided as Consul for about a year.
From Carthagena we made no land until we saw the Island of Pines, (off the coast of Cuba,) Captain Roberts having kept to the Southward of the Pedro shoals in order to avoid Port Royal. Few ships sailing under Admiralty Orders like coming too near to an Admiral's Flag, particularly on a rich and unhealthy station, where there is a possibility of being detained, and a certainty of being obliged to pay tithes upon whatever freight may be procured for Europe. On the 5th of March we made Cape San Antonio, from which point there are two modes of steering for Veracruz. The first is to run up as high as 24 North latitude, by which means all the shoals and rocks that we are yet acquainted with, between the Island of Cuba and the Mainland, are left to the Southward; and the second, to keep within the shoals, and close along shore, passing between the Bank of Sisal and the town, with the coast of Yŭcătān constantly in view, from about 88 to near 91 of West longitude. In steering the first course, it requires a slant of wind from the North to reach Veracruz, and this it would be in vain to look for between the months of May and October; but at all other times, in as far as a landsman may presume to give an opinion upon such a subject, I should think it by far the safest line to take, on account of the extreme shallowness of the water near the coast of Yucatan, and the very inaccurate manner in which the reefs between Campeche and Veracruz are laid down. On the 6th of March, (in West longitude 88,) we had soundings in 2¾ fathoms, and on the night of the 8th, we were very near terminating our voyage at some distance from the place of our original destination. We had lost sight of land for upwards of twenty-four hours, and were running down, in the direction of Veracruz, with a beautiful breeze of about eight knots, when one of the leadsmen, whom Captain Roberts had taken the precaution of keeping in the chains, with orders to continue soundings every quarter of an hour, suddenly obtained soundings in eight fathoms; the next cast of the lead gave seven fathoms; the third six; and although all hands were turned up to put the ship about, it she had not obeyed the helm instantly, we should none of us, in all probability, ever have seen land again. There was a good deal of sea running, and the Egeria was an old vessel, so that if she had struck, she must have gone to pieces. It has been since ascertained that there is only one fathom of water upon the centre of this dangerous shoal, with which the Spaniards themselves were long unacquainted. I was told at Veracruz that its discovery was supposed to account for the disappearance of a number of small vessels engaged in the Campeche Trade, which had been lost, without any thing being ever heard of them afterwards. It lies in Latitude 19.35, Longitude 92.32, Las Arcas, (as laid down in our charts,) bearing North 36.15, East 40 miles.
On the 11th of March we reached Veracruz without any farther interruption. The news of the projected Treaty had been received two days before, by the Jamaica Mail, and nothing, certainly, could exceed the enthusiasm excited in every part of the country by the intelligence of a resolution on the part of His Majesty's Government, which was naturally regarded as the definitive recognition of Mexican Independence. From Veracruz to the Capital, but one feeling was displayed; and in every village through which we passed, we received proofs of its sincerity; for the wishes of the Government were seconded by the inhabitants, who vied with each other in loading us with marks of attention and kindness.
From the moment that we approached the shores of Veracruz, an astonishing difference became visible in the state and appearance of every thing around us. The Castle was, indeed, still held by a Spanish garrison, and the harbour closed, in consequence, to Foreign vessels, but the firing had long ceased, the siege being converted into a blockade, in which a number of Mexican schooners and gun-boats were employed, while the Castle was occasionally supplied with fresh provisions by the Spanish flotilla from the Havana. The Island of Sacrificios, where we again anchored, and which I had left, a year before, a barren and desolate spot, upon which Sir John Phillimore used to turn out the bullocks bought for his ship's company, had been converted into a regular fortification, under which the Mexican gunboats sought protection on the approach of the Spanish fleet. Mŏcāmbŏ too had assumed a formidable appearance. In both places the Independent flag was flying, and at the anchorage ground there were more merchant vessels of different countries assembled, than had entered the Ports of Mexico in the whole year of 1823. On the morning of our landing, nothing could be prettier than this scene, the ships being all dressed in their colours, and the batteries from the shore and the Island answering; each other with alternate guns, as we rowed in to the pier-head, where we were received by the Governor of Veracruz, General Rincon, and all his Staff. General Victoria had been summoned from this post some months before, in order to assume the more arduous situation of President.
A small portion of the population of the town had returned to it since the cessation of hostilities with the Castle, but its appearance was still melancholy and desolate; very few of the houses of the more wealthy inhabitants being as yet occupied.
The weather began to be sultry, but the town was healthy, which was a fortunate circumstance for us, as we were forced to remain there two whole days, before we could get our baggage disembarked, and complete our preparations for commencing our journey to the Capital.
I had taken every precaution, however, to have things made up into proper sizes for carriage by mules, before we left England; and by this means, as we had no large chests to cut up, and their contents to distribute into two or three others, (which was the case, in more than one instance, on our first voyage,) we were enabled to get into marching order in less time than could have been expected from the largeness of the party, and the quantity of baggage which the prospect of a long residence had rendered necessary. Mrs. Ward performed the journey in a litter, a description of which the accompanying sketch will render unnecessary.
It is by no means an uncomfortable conveyance in a wild country, particularly where riding, or the violent motion of a carriage over roads intersected by gullies, and covered with fragments of rock, must have proved dangerous; as in Mrs. Ward's case, who was at that time so near her first confinement, that she was hardly expected to reach the capital in safety. All the rest of the party rode. At the Mănăntĭāl, we were met by an officer, whom General Bărrăgān, the Governor of the State of Veracruz, had sent to receive us, with a whole cargo of wine, porter, and refreshments of every kind. At Puente del Rey, where we slept the first night, we found a most abundant supper in waiting, and lodgings prepared for us in the only brick house in the place, which had been built since my first visit. At Plan del Rio similar attentions were shown; and at Jălāpă, where we were most luxuriously lodged in the house of Madame Santa Ana, we were welcomed by General Bărrăgān himself, and his very pleasing wife, with a kindness and hospitality such as I have seldom seen equalled.
We remained one day at Jălāpă, in order to be present at a dinner given by General Bărrăgān, at which we met all the Authorities, both civil and military, and almost every person of respectability, in or near the town. Most of those present had already called upon us in the course of the morning, during the whole of which the house in which we lodged had been literally crowded with visitors. Nothing could be more pleasing to an Englishman than the feelings evinced upon this occasion. Toasts were given, and verses recited in commemoration of the connexion about to be established between the two countries; and although many of the golden visions which were then entertained, have not yet been realised, enough has been gained by Mexico, and by England, to demonstrate the advantages which both may derive from this connexion, in proportion as each becomes better acquainted with the wants and capabilities of the other.
The scene altogether was one of general—of national excitement; and I shall always look back to it with pleasure, as one most gratifying to me, because most honourable to my country.
On the 18th we left Jalapa, still the guests of the State of Veracruz, to whose hospitality we were indebted for excellent lodgings both at Lăs Vīgăs, and at Tĕpĕyăgūālcŏ, with which we were provided by orders of the Governor. At Nŏpălūcă, where we slept on the 20th, we found that similar precautions had been taken by the authorities of Lă Pūēblă, in whose territories we then were; and when we reached the Capital of that State, on the 21st, after a most excellent dinner, which we found waiting for us on the road at Ămŏzōqŭe, we were lodged by the Governor, Don José Maria Căldĕrōn, in his own house, where, notwithstanding the largeness of our party, he insisted upon accommodating us all.
Lă Pūēblă was formerly a town inferior only to the Capital in extent and population. It contains at present about 50,000 inhabitants, and is an important place, as being the seat both of the richest Bishoprick in the country, and of the most extensive manufactures of cotton, earthenware, and wool. The streets, like those of Mexico, are rectangular, spacious, and airy. The houses low, but roomy, and the apartments mostly paved with porcelain, and adorned with Fresco paintings on the stuccoed walls. The country around is rich, but naked, being totally devoid of trees, with the exception of the Pīnāl, a pine forest, (as the name implies,) which extends from within a league and a half of Nŏpălūcă, to about five leagues from the gates of La Puebla, where cultivation re-commences. The whole distance is about twelve leagues. The road through the Pĭnāl is extremely bad, and dangerous in unsettled times, the forest being the favourite haunt of banditti, who sometimes assemble there in considerable numbers for a coup de main; but our escort was too strong for us to feel any apprehensions of an attack.
We remained during the whole of the 22nd at La Puebla, as the Governor, whose hospitality and friendly disposition towards every Englishman of respectability who visits the town, I have ever found the same, would not hear of our passing a shorter time with him, than we had done at Jălāpă with General Bărrăgān. The delay afforded us an opportunity of seeing the Cathedral, a magnificent building, in the construction of which the Angels themselves are said to have taken a very active part. It is regarded by the Indians, and by a large proportion of the female Spanish population, as a well authenticated fact, that during the time that the walls of the edifice were constructing, two messengers from heaven descended every night, and added to their height exactly as much as had been raised, by the united efforts of the labourers, during the day. With such assistance the work advanced at a prodigious rate, and was brought to a conclusion in a much shorter space of time than could have been effected by human exertions alone. It is in grateful commemoration of this event that the name of the town, "La Puebla de los Angeles," was assumed; and as all the details of it are recorded with singular care in the convents, which have since been built upon this favoured spot, there is little danger of their not being handed down to posterity, in all the purity in which they are now preserved.
But whether of divine or human origin, the Cathedral is a very fine building, and the riches of the interior are worthy of a country that has produced, during the last two centuries, nearly two-thirds of the whole of the silver raised annually in the world. The lofty candlesticks, the balustrade, the lamps, and all the ornaments of the principal altar, are of massive silver; and the effect produced by such magnificence, in conjunction with the beauty of the columns of native marble by which the roof is supported, is very striking. We were not, however, allowed to admire them long in peace, for, notwithstanding the presence of Madame Căldĕrōn, and two or three aides-de-camp of the Governor, the curiosity excited by the first appearance of an English woman was so ungovernable, that the great market-place, through which the carriage had passed, transferred in a moment by far the largest portion of its inmates to the Cathedral, where the crowd soon became so great, that, although no incivility was intended, it was quite impossible for us to remain. La Puebla contained, at that time, a Lazzaroni population nearly as numerous as that of the Capital; a naked and offensive race, whom you cannot approach without pollution, or even behold without disgust. I do not know any thing in nature more hideous than an old Indian woman, with all the deformities of her person displayed, as they usually are, by a dress which hardly covers a tenth part of her body; and in La Puebla, in consequence of the numerous convents in which alms were distributed, these objects were particularly numerous. We were too happy to escape by a different door from that by which we had entered, and to take refuge in the carriage.
We left La Puebla on the 22d of March, and slept at Săn Mărtīn, taking the road through Chŏlūlă to that place, in order to obtain a better view of the old Mexican Tĕŏcālli, or Pyramid, of which Humboldt's work contains so detailed a description. The base of this Pyramid comprises a square of about 1773 feet; the height is 54 metres, or 177 feet. It is truncated, and, on the spacious platform in which it terminates, the Conquerors have erected a Chapel, as if to mark the substitution of another creed, and another race, for the nation by whose united exertions this stupendous monument must have been raised. The whole mass is formed of alternate layers of unburnt bricks and clay, and is now overgrown with thick shrubs, amongst which clouds of Tortolas, (a small wood pigeon,) are found. Its structure is said by Baron Humboldt to present a curious analogy with that of the Temple of Belus at Babylon, and of the Pyramids of Egypt.
Its object was undoubtedly religious, but as its construction is ascribed to the Toltecs, a nation which preceded the Aztecs in their emigration towards the South, the exact nature of the rites to which it was dedicated can only be conjectured. It may have served for the performance of human sacrifices in the sight of the assembled tribe; or as a place of defence in the event of an unexpected attack:—perhaps the two objects were combined, for, in the siege of Mexico, the most obstinate resistance was made in the vicinity of the great temple, (which resembled in form, though not in size, the Teocallis of Chŏlūlă and Tĕŏtĭhuăcān,) from the summit of which the priests are said to have encouraged the warriors by whom the great staircase and platform were defended.
The view from the Pyramid of Chŏlūlă, embraces the three great Volcanoes, and the Mălīnchĕ, with a finely cultivated country covering the intervening space. The town of Chŏlūlă lies immediately below the platform, reduced, like the rival State of Tlăscălă, which is separated from it by the Mălīnchĕ, to a mere shadow of its former greatness; but still indicating, by the size of its Plaza, the extent of ground which the city formerly covered. The fertility of the plain around is very great, as from the vicinity of the two great mountains Pŏpŏcătēpĕtl, and Īztăccihuătl, a constant supply of water for irrigation can be obtained: it abounds in Haciendas de Trigo, (Corn estates,) many of which, in good years, are said to produce Wheat in the proportion of eighty to one to the seed. This fertility terminates a little beyond Săn Mărtīn, where the passage of the mountains, that separate La Puebla from Mexico, commences.
Cortes, on his march towards Mexico, opened a road for his army between the two mountains, but this has long been abandoned, and the line of communication now passes to the East of Īstăccihuătl, where, though the ground is very rugged, and in one part, (the Bărrāncă de Jūānĕs,) attains the height of 10,486 feet, carriages are nevertheless able to pass. From San Martin, which is seven leagues from La Puebla by the direct road, to the Venta de Tĕsmĕlūcŏs, (about three leagues,) the ascent is very gentle, amounting only to 557 feet: but in the next four leagues, which extend to Rio Frio, and the Bărrāncă de Jūānĕs, there is a difference of 2,219 feet.
From the summit of the Barranca to the Valley of Tĕnōchtĭtlān, or Mexico, there is a gradual descent, which becomes almost imperceptible on reaching the Venta de Chălcŏ, where Humboldt found the elevation to be exactly the same as that of San Martin on the opposite side of the range, viz. 7,711 feet.
Nothing can be finer than the first view of the Valley of Mexico as it bursts upon you from a little above the Venta de Cōrdŏvă, with all its lakes, rocks, villages, and Haciendas, scattered around the Capital in one vast basin. It is impossible not to be struck with so magnificent a scene. We had been detained too long in crossing the mountains, to attempt to reach Mexico on the evening of the 24th, and we accordingly took up our quarters for the night at the Hacienda de la Buena Vista, which, unlike many other Haciendas with names of equal promise, we found fully deserving of its appellation, from the beauty of its situation. It is just far enough within the range of mountains to render their outline distinctly visible, while it is sufficiently elevated above the valley to give the eye a very extensive range. All the best rooms of the house were, as usual, placed at our disposal; so that up to the last moment of our journey there was no diminution of those attentions, of which we had been the object from its commencement. In recording them I cannot be suspected of vanity, for they were not shown to me as an individual, but were intended to mark the feelings which the Mexicans, in general, entertain towards the country which I had the honour of representing; and most sincerely do I hope that those feelings may long remain unchanged.
On the morning of the 25th of March, we reached the Capital. We were met about two leagues from the gates by a number of English residents, not one of whom, with the exception of Mr. Ruperti, was established in the country at the time of my first visit, and their presence was alone sufficient to indicate the improvements which I was called upon, at almost every step, to remark. Not a house was unoccupied, and the busy activity of the streets formed an agreeable contrast to their melancholy aspect in January 1824.
Indeed, from the moment that I landed, I had been struck with the progress which, in one year, the country had made. There was everywhere an appearance of more settled habits, more subordination amongst the military, and more respect for the civil authorities; while the long files of mules which we continually passed on their way from the Coast to the Capital, afforded evident proofs of an increase of activity in trade. In the town of Mexico it was already difficult to procure a tolerable house, without paying a Traspaso,[1] the amount of which competition had rendered enormous. In good situations I have known eight, ten, twelve, and even twenty thousand dollars paid, in order to obtain possession of nothing but bare walls and windows, with the probability of being obliged to lay out half as much more in order to make the house secure and habitable. In 1823, one fifth part of the sum would have been sufficient.
The distance from Riŏ Frīŏ to the Venta de Cordova is five leagues; from thence to the Capital eight. The Hacienda of Buena Vista lies about half a league out of the direct road. The whole distance from La Puebla to Mexico may be taken at 27 leagues, or 70 English miles. By sleeping at Rio Frio, the journey may be divided into two fatiguing days; but without a change of mules at the Venta de Cordova it is not easy to accomplish it. On horseback, the time employed depends entirely upon the number of relays.
In January 1826, on Mr. Morier's return from England with the second Treaty, circumstances occurred which made me particularly desirous to see him before his arrival in the Capital; and in order to accomplish this with the least possible loss of time, I stationed my own horses at proper distances upon the road. The first was placed at Īstăpălūcă, the second at Rio Frio, and the third at San Martin, while a fourth carried me the seven leagues from San Cosme to Īstăpălūcă. I left the gates of Mexico at half past seven o'clock, and reached General Calderon's house in La Puebla at a quarter past three, having accomplished the journey, without difficulty, in eight hours and a quarter, although, from the nature of the ground, it was not supposed that the distance could be performed in so short a time. I remained at La Puebla three days, Mr. Morier's arrival there having been unexpectedly delayed, and returned on the fourth to Mexico, in rather less time than before, being not quite eight hours upon the road.
During my short stay at La Puebla in 1826, I had an opportunity of observing the improvements which General Calderon's exertions had effected in the appearance of the population. The State Congress had been induced by him to pass a law, by which every Lepero found naked or begging in the streets was condemned to labour at the works, which were undertaken by the Government for the improvement of the town, for the term of one month, at the end of which he was set at liberty, and provided with a decent dress, with the offer of employment if he chose to work, and the certainty of a double penalty if he relapsed into his former habits.
This law, which was most rigorously enforced at first, produced a wonderful effect; and, as it was accompanied by the introduction of an excellent night police, it soon freed La Puebla from the swarms of vagrants, by which it had been previously infested; and substituted order and decency for the disgusting licence, which prevailed amongst the lower classes at the period of my first and second visits.
I was present at the meeting of the State Legislature of La Puebla, which, though on a small scale, was conducted with all the formality that accompanies the opening of the Sessions of the General Congress in the Capital. In both, a general exposé of the state of affairs is made; and this in the States, may be considered as the first step towards a regular system of statistics; for the Governor's report embraces all the details of the new territorial division, and enumerates the Towns, Pueblos, and Ranchos, comprehended in the territory, with an estimate of their population and resources. I was much pleased with the eagerness with which many questions of local importance were discussed at General Calderon's table, where I met most of the members of Congress on the day that the sessions were opened. They were chiefly landed proprietors; not, perhaps, of very refined education, (for, under the guardianship of Spain, there were few Mexicans to whom that advantage was not denied,) but of much simplicity of manners, and possessing a practical knowledge of the evils, by the removal of which their own interests could be best promoted.
The most important question that has yet come before the Legislature of La Puebla, has been the claims of the Church for the arrears of interest due on money lent on mortgage, to the landed proprietors of the State, before the Revolution, which they have been prevented from paying by the general ruin of their estates during the civil war. From the great influence of the Church in La Puebla, and the determination which it at first evinced to insist upon the full extent of its dues, the discussion was attended with considerable difficulty; nor would it have been found easy to reconcile such opposite interests, had not the apprehension of an appeal to the Supreme Congress, on the part of the landholders, induced the clergy to consent to a composition, by which something is sacrificed by both parties, and thus the common loss pretty equally borne by each. The necessity of such a concession on the part of the clergy, in a town where the great revenues of the Cathedral Chapter, and the personal influence of the Bishop unite in maintaining their power over the minds of the lower orders, may be regarded as no slight proof of the progress which Mexico has made towards emancipation from that thraldom, in which the Inquisition, and the splendour of the ecclesiastical establishments, combined to hold the country. Don Antonio Perez, the present Bishop of La Puebla, possesses all the qualities best calculated to render him the prop and support, in his own Diocese, of that system, of which he is now almost the sole representative in New Spain. With the most polished manners, and the most dignified address, he has considerable oratorical powers; and he adds to these merits that of dispensing with great liberality the large revenues of his See. He is a Creole too, (the first ever raised by the Court of Madrid to the episcopal dignity;) and all these advantages have given him an influence, such as no Spaniard could have hoped to exercise. In whatever country his lot had been cast, he must have been a distinguished man, for he possesses that power of accommodating himself to circumstances, which is, perhaps, the surest road to preferment, when accompanied by sufficient penetration to seize the happy moment for a change. In Spain he was an active member of the Cortes of Cadiz; and yet, on the King's return in 1814, his name was at the head of the Persas, or party, which petitioned his Majesty for the immediate dissolution of that assembly. Raised in 1815 to the Bishopric of La Puebla, he addressed, upon his arrival, a Pastoral to the people of his Diocese, exhorting them to beware of the dangerous and heretical tendency of the Spanish Constitution; and yet, on the second Proclamation of that Constitution, in 1820, he contrived to conciliate, in a second Pastoral, all that he had then said of its defects, with the panegyric which it became expedient to pronounce upon its advantages.
I know few better models of political ingenuity than this curious paper, which Bustamante has given, at length, in his Cuadro Historico. It was headed by the text—"There is a time to speak, and there is a time to be silent," (Eccl. iii. v. 7,) and it must be admitted that in a country still involved in a great political struggle, where caution was consequently necessary in the choice of a subject, and much tact required in the mode of treating it, a happier selection could not easily have been made.
The State of La Puebla is divided into twenty-five Partidos, or districts, containing, in all, according to a Census taken after the great Epidemy in 1825, a population of 584,358 souls; or 681,751, if one sixth be added to the registered amount for unavoidable errors in the returns.
The names of all the Partidos, the situation of which is at all correctly ascertained, will be found in the map.
The principal are Atlixco, which has a population of 31,657 inhabitants, and is celebrated both for its Corn lands, and for the famous Ăhŭahuētē, or Cypress, (Cupressus disticha,) which stands near the town. It is of the same kind as those of Chapultepec, but much exceeds them in size, being seventy-three feet in girth. The district of Guāūchīnāngŏ has 26,086 inhabitants; Ŏmētĕpēc, 25,151; Lă Pūēblă, 34,756; Tĕpĕācă, 43,713; Tĕhŭacān de las Grănādăs, 43,248; Hāpă, 38,383; and Zăcătlān, 47,129. All produce in great abundance the fruits either of Tierra Caliente, (for the territory of the State extends beyond the Western ridge of the Sierra Madre, down to the shores of the Pacific,) or those common to the rest of the Table-land. Thus cotton, rice, coffee, sugar, and a little cochineal, (near the confines of Oaxaca,) are grown in common with wheat, barley, maize, chile, and frijoles, as well as the fruits of almost every climate. With these the market of La Puebla is supplied in the greatest abundance; but agriculture is, in general, in a very depressed state, there being no mines to create a home market. The exportation of wheat, however, to Veracruz and Oaxaca, is stated in the Governor's report to be considerable, and is likely to increase. The Revenue of the State, in the whole year ending January 1826, was 633,025 Dollars, and the expences, (including all the Government charges, both legislative and executive, as well as the contingent due to the Federation, which has been paid with great punctuality,) 629,070 Dollars; so that a balance of 4,555 Dollars was left in favour of the State, at the end of the first twelve months, in which the experiment of self-government had been tried.
The capital can hardly expect, under the present system of free intercourse with Europe, to regain its former importance, which depended, principally, upon the native manufactures of wool and cotton.
Its population, before the Revolution, amounted to 67,000: it is now much reduced, although not nearly so low as the Census of 1825 appears to indicate. La Puebla being still supposed to contain from forty-five to fifty thousand inhabitants. A large portion of these will, probably, be compelled to have recourse to agricultural labours for support, and as there is a complaint of a want of hands amongst the landed proprietors, the general interests of the State will gain by the suppression of a branch of industry in the towns, which could only be supported by a system of taxation upon all the rest; the produce of the looms of La Puebla, during the best times, being infinitely dearer than the European manufactures, by which they are replaced, even under the pressure of the enormous duties, which, by the old Tariff, were exacted upon them.
With the exception of my journey to La Puebla, I was unable, during the first twelvemonth after my return from England, to make a single excursion to any distance from the Capital, although there were many places in its vicinity which, from their importance, either as mining districts, or as the seats of the most valuable agricultural produce of the country, I was anxious to visit. In February, 1826, however, I commenced a series of Journeys, which I continued, at intervals, during the whole remainder of my residence in Mexico, and in the course of which I visited in person all the most interesting portions of the Republic, South of Durango. I cannot but hope therefore, that it may be in my power to lay before my readers, some information respecting the general character and resources of New Spain; and although I feel that a journal, devoid as mine is of any extraordinary incidents, and consisting merely of a recapitulation of the every-day difficulties of a traveller's life in passing through a wild country, can possess but few attractions, yet as I know no other mode of conveying an equally good idea of the peculiarities which I wish to describe, I shall adopt this form in the narration upon which I am about to enter; subdividing my journeys into Sections, in order to render more distinct my account of the most interesting districts.
Before I commence, however, upon this plan, it may be as well to mention a few particulars respecting the country in the vicinity of the Capital, and to give my route from thence to the valleys of Cūērnăvācă and Cūāūtlă Ămīlpăs, in which are situated the great Sugar Estates, an account of which is given, in part, in the Third Section of the First Book.
The most interesting object in the valley of Mexico is the vast system of drainage, by which the Capital is protected against the periodical inundations of the lake of Tĕzcūcŏ, which, during the two first centuries after the conquest, threatened it repeatedly with destruction. Of this system the third Book of Baron Humboldt's Essai Politique contains a description, given with all the accuracy which distinguishes the works of that scientific traveller, upon every point to which his personal observations extended; and to this I must refer my readers for details, many of which will be found to possess the highest interest. I shall only attempt here to mention a few of the leading facts, in order not to leave entirely unnoticed a subject so worthy in every sense of attention. The valley of Tenochtitlan, or Mexico, forms a vast basin, which, although it is situated at an elevation of about 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, serves as a receptacle for the humidity, which filtres from every part of the lofty ridge of porphyritic mountains by which it is surrounded.
Not a single stream issues from the valley, with the exception of the Arroyo of Tĕquīsqŭiăc, but it receives the waters of the rivers Păpălōtlă, Tĕzcūcŏ, Tĕŏtĭhuăcān, Guădălūpĕ, Păchūcă, and Gūāūtĭtlān, by the accumulation of which the four great lakes of Chalco, (and Xochimiko,) Tezcuco, San Crĭstōbăl, and Zŭmpāngŏ, are formed. These lakes rise by stages as they approach the Northern extremity of the valley, the waters of the lake of Tezcuco being, in their ordinary state, four Mexican varas and eight inches lower than the waters of the lake of San Cristoval, which again are six varas lower than the waters of the lake of Zumpango, which forms the Northernmost link of this dangerous chain.
The level of the great square (Plaza Mayor) of Mexico, is exactly one vara, one foot, and one inch above that of the lake of Tezcuco, and is consequently nine varas and five inches lower than that of the lake of Zumpango; a disproportion, the effects of which have been the more severely felt because the lake Of Zŭmpāngŏ receives the tributary streams of the river of Gūāūtĭtlān, the volume of which is more considerable than that of all the other rivers, which enter the valley, combined.
In the inundations to which this peculiarity in the formation of the valley of Mexico has given rise, a similar succession of events has always been observed. The lake of Zŭmpāngŏ, swollen by the rapid increase of the river Guautitlan during the rainy season, forms a junction with that of San Cristobal, and the waters of the two combined burst the dikes which separate them from the lake of Tezcuco. The waters of this last again, raised suddenly more than a vara above their usual level, and prevented from extending themselves to the East and South-east by the rapid rise of the ground in that direction, rush back towards the Capital, and fill the streets which approach nearest to their own level. This was the case in 1553, 1580, 1604, and 1607, in each of which years the Capital was laid entirely under water, and the dikes, (Albaradones,) which had been constructed for its protection, destroyed. The rapid succession of these misfortunes at length compelled the Government to turn its attention to some other mode of averting the danger; and in 1607 an engineer called Enrique Martinez, was commissioned by the Marquis of Salinas, who was then Viceroy, to attempt the drainage of the lake of Zumpango by the stupendous canal now known under the name of the "Desague de Huĕhuĕtōcă.
The plan of Martinez appears to have embraced two distinct objects, the first of which extended to the lakes of Tezcuco and San Cristoval, while the second was confined to the lake of Zumpango, the superfluous waters of which were to be carried into the valley of Tula, by a subterraneous canal, into which the river Guautitlan was likewise to be compelled to flow.
The second of these projects only was approved of by the Government; and the line of the canal having been traced by Martinez between the Cerro (mountain) of Sincōqŭe and the hill of Nŏchistōngŏ, to the North-north-west of Huĕhuĕtōcă, where the mountains that surround the valley are less elevated than in any other spot, the great subterraneous gallery of Nŏchistōngŏ was commenced on the 28th November, 1607. Fifteen thousand Indians were employed upon this work, and as a number of airshafts (lumbreras) were sunk, in order to enable them to work upon several different points at once, in eleven months a tunnel (Socabon) of 6,600 metres[2] in length, three metres five in breadth, and four metres two in height, was concluded.
From the Northern extremity of this Socabon, (La boca de San Gregorio,) an open cut of 8,600 metres conducted the waters to the Salto (fall) of the river Tula, where, quitting the valley of Mexico, they precipitate themselves into that of Tula, from a natural terrace of twenty Mexican varas in height, and take their course towards the Bar of Tampico, where they enter the Mexican Gulph. An enterprize of such magnitude, concluded with such extraordinary expedition, could hardly be free from defects; and Martinez soon discovered that the unbaked mud bricks, (Tĕpĕtātĕ,) of which the interior of the Socabon was composed, were unable to resist the action of the water, which, being confined within narrow limits, was at times impelled through the tunnel with irresistible violence. A facing of wood proved equally ineffectual, and masonry was at last resorted to; but even this, although successful for a time, did not answer permanently the purpose for which it was intended, because the engineer, instead of an elliptical arch, constructed nothing but a sort of vault, the sides of which rested upon a foundation of no solidity. The consequence was, that the walls were gradually undermined by the water, and that the vault itself, in many parts, fell in.
This accident rendered the Government indifferent to the fate of the gallery, which was neglected, and finally abandoned in the year 1623, when a Dutch engineer, by name Adrian Boot, induced the Viceroy to resume the old system of dykes and embankments, and to give orders for closing the Socabon of Nochistongo. A sudden rise in the lake of Tezcuco caused these orders to be revoked, and Martinez was again allowed to proceed with his works, which he continued until the 20th June, 1629, when an event took place, the real causes of which have never been ascertained.
The rainy season having set in with unusual violence, Martinez, either desirous to convince the inhabitants of the Capital of the utility of his gallery, or fearful, (as he himself stated,) that the fruits of his labour would be destroyed by the entrance of too great a volume of water, closed the mouth of the Socabon, without having communicated to any one his intention to do so. The effect was instantaneous; and in one night the whole town of Mexico was laid under water, with the exception of the Plaza Mayor, and one of the suburbs. In all the other streets the water rose upwards of three feet, and during five years, (from 1629 to 1634,) canoes formed the only medium of communication between them. The foundations of many of the principal houses were destroyed; trade was paralized; the lower classes reduced to the lowest state of misery; and orders were actually given by the Court of Madrid to abandon the town, and to build a new Capital in the elevated plains between Tăcŭbă and Tăcŭbāya, to which the waters of the lakes, even before the conquest, had never been known to extend.
The necessity of this measure was obviated by a succession of earthquakes in the dry year of 1634, when the surface of the valley was cracked and rent in various directions, and the waters gradually disappeared; a miracle for which due credit should be given to the Virgin of Guadalupe, by whose powerful intercession it is said to have been effected.
Martinez, who had been thrown into confinement in 1629, was released upon the termination of the evils which his imprudence was said to have occasioned; and again placed by a new Viceroy, (the Marquis of Ceralvo,) at the head of the works, by which similar visitations were to be averted in future. Under his superintendence the great dike, or Calzada of San Crĭstōbăl was constructed, by which the lake of that name is divided from that of Tĕzcūcŏ. This gigantic work, which consists of two distinct masses, the first one league, and the second 1,500 varas in length, is ten varas in width, (or thickness) throughout, and from three and a half to four varas in height. It is composed entirely of stone, with buttresses of solid masonry on both sides, and three sluices, by which, in any emergency, a communication between the lakes can be effected, and regulated at the same time. The whole was concluded, like the gallery of Nŏchistōngŏ, in eleven months, although as many years would now be required for such an undertaking. But in those days the sacrifice of life, (and particularly of Indian life,) in public works, was not regarded. Many thousands of the natives perished before the Dĕsāgŭe was completed; and to their loss, as well as to the hardships endured by the survivors, may be ascribed the horror with which the name of Huĕhuĕtōcă is still pronounced by their descendants.
It is not my intention to follow the progress of the canal of Huĕhuĕtōcă through all the various changes which occurred in the plans pursued with respect to it from 1637, when the direction of the works was again taken from Martinez, and confided to the Monks of the Order of San Francisco, until 1767, when, under the Viceroyalty of the Marquis de Croix, the Consulado, or corporate body of merchants of Mexico, engaged to complete this great national undertaking. The necessity of converting the Socabon of Martinez into an open cut, (Tajo abierto) had long been felt, it having been found impossible to prevent the Socabon from being continually choked up by the sand and rubbish deposited by the water on its passage; but as the work was only prosecuted with vigour, when the danger of an inundation became imminent, and was almost suspended in the dry years, 2,310 Mexican varas of the northern part of the Gallery remained untouched, after the expiration of one hundred and thirty years, when the Consulado was entrusted with the completion of the arduous task. As the old line of the gallery was to be preserved, it became necessary to give the cut, which was to be sunk perpendicularly upon it, an enormous width at the top, in order to prevent the sides from falling in; and in the more elevated parts, between the mountain of Sȳncōqŭe and the hill of Nŏchistōngŏ, for the space of 2,624 feet, the width across varies from 278 to 360 feet, while the perpendicular depth is from 147 to 196 feet. The whole length of the cut, from the sluice called the Vertideros to the Salto of the river Tula, is 67,537 feet, or 24,530 Mexican varas. The highest point of the hill of Nŏchistōngŏ, is that called Boveda Real, and it would be difficult when looking down from it upon the stream below, and following with the eye the vast opening through which it seeks an issue, to conceive that the whole is indeed the work of man, did not the mounds on either side, as yet but imperfectly covered with vegetation, and the regular outline of the terraces, denote both the recency of its completion, and the impossibility of attributing it to any natural convulsion.
The Obra del Consulado, as the open cutting is called, was concluded in the year 1789. It cost nearly a million of dollars; and the whole expence of the drainage, from 1607 to the beginning of the present century, including the various projects commenced, and abandoned when only partially executed, the dikes connected with the Desague, and the two canals, which communicate with the lakes of San Crĭstōvăl and Zŭmpāngŏ, is estimated at 6,247,670 dollars, or 1,249,534l. sterling. It is supposed that one-third of this sum would have proved sufficient to cover all the expences, had Martinez been furnished, in the first instance, with the means of executing his project upon the scale which he had judged necessary; for it is in the reduced dimensions of the gallery of Nŏchistōngŏ, which was never equal to the volume of the water, to which, at particular seasons, it afforded an outlet, that all the subsequent expenditure has originated.
The works are now in a very bad state, having been entirely neglected during the Revolution. In a report drawn up by Don Jose Maria Moro, in October 1823, the necessity of immediate repairs is forcibly demonstrated; but as the last few years have been remarkably dry, it is probable that the old Spanish system of procrastination will be adhered to, and that nothing will be done until the dread of an inundation compels the Government to turn its attention to the subject. A few thousand dollars would suffice to clear the Tajo of the accumulations of earth and rocks, by which the passage of the water is at present obstructed; but as these, if suffered to remain, form a sort of dam, in the vicinity of which the water accumulates until it hollows out a basin, or reservoir, by undermining the banks on each side, the consequences will, in a few years, become very serious, and may probably render the whole work useless, at the moment when its services are most indispensable.
If in an effective state, the canal of Nŏchistōngŏ is regarded as fully sufficient to ensure the Capital against any risk of inundation from the North; but to the South, as Humboldt very justly observes, no precautions have been taken; not because there is no danger of a similar visitation, but because that danger has not so frequently occurred. The level of the lakes of Chălcŏ, and Xŏchĭmĭlcŏ, which are distinguished by the peculiarity of their water being sweet, instead of brackish, like that of the other three lakes, is higher by one vara and eleven inches than that of the Plaza Mayor of the Capital, and, consequently, exceeds by two varas and two feet the mean level of the waters of the lake of Tezcuco. A junction between these two lakes would, therefore, be productive of exactly the same effects, as that of the Central and Northern lakes; against which so many precautions have been thought necessary. In the great inundation, which took place before the Conquest, the history of which has been preserved by the Aztec historians, the case actually occurred, and the water rose, in the streets of Mexico, to five and six metres above its ordinary level, although not one drop of water from the Northern lakes entered that of Tezcuco. At that time, it is stated that the water issued in torrents from the sides of the mountains, and that in it were found fishes peculiar to the Tierra Caliente, and unknown, either before or since, upon the Table-land. It is not probable that a similar phenomena should be of frequent recurrence; but causes much less extraordinary in their effect, would be sufficient to endanger the town. Should the snows of Pŏpŏcătēpĕtl, for instance, be melted by a violent eruption,[3] (an event by no means improbable, since that volcano has been very recently ascertained to be in a state of activity,) an immediate inundation from the lakes of Chălcŏ and Xŏchĭmĭlcŏ would take place; nor is there any channel, through which their waters could now find an issue. In the rainy years of 1768, and 1764, Mexico was in the greatest danger, and formed an island for several months: in 1772 it would have been reduced to a similar state, had not a water-spout, (una manga de agua,) which traversed the valley, fortunately burst near the Northern, instead of the Southern extremity, where its effect was diminished by the vicinity of the Canal of Huĕhuĕtōcă. The Viceroy Don José Iturrigaray, was induced, by these repeated warnings to resume the project of a canal, so traced as to effect a communication between the Northern extremity of the lake of Tĕzcūcŏ and the tunnel of Nŏchistōngŏ, the length of which, from the Calzada of San Cristobal to the sluice of Los Vertideros, would be about 34,888 yards, or 37,978 Mexican Varas.
This idea was originally suggested by Martinez, but rejected by the Government on account of the expence, which consists not so much in the length of the canal, as in the necessity of deepening the whole of the cut of Nochistongo, from Los Vertideros to a little beyond the Boveda Real, (a space of 12,280 Varas,) in order to bring it to a level with the waters of the lake of Tezcuco. Notwithstanding this circumstance, the undertaking was commenced in 1805, but was suspended upon the imprisonment of Iturrigaray in 1808, and entirely lost sight of during the civil war. In the present state of the country, it is improbable that it will be resumed, for some years at least, during which time the Mexicans must entrust their protection to the Virgin of Guădălūpĕ, to whose kind attentions they are already so much indebted.
I visited Huĕhuĕtōcă in February 1826. The village is in a wretched state, and affords no sort of accommodation; but this we were fortunate enough to find at the Hacienda of Xālpă, which is situated about a mile from the bridge, at which the great Northern road of Tierra adentro crosses the canal of Nŏchistōngŏ. The distance from Mexico to Huĕhuĕtōcă is eleven leagues; the road passes through the little towns of Tăcŭbă, or Guădălūpĕ, (according to the gate by which you leave the Capital,) Tănĕpāntlă, and Gūāūtĭtlān; the last of which, from the number of wooden columns by which a succession of porticoes in the front of the houses is supported, has, at a distance, quite a Grecian look.
The morning after our arrival at Xālpă, we rode along the whole course of the desague to the Hacienda del Sălto, (a distance of nearly four leagues,) below which, at the bottom of a very abrupt natural terrace, the valley of Tula commences. The situation of this Hacienda is very wild and romantic; but, after surveying the gigantic works described in the preceding pages, one cannot repress a feeling of disappointment on seeing the comparative insignificance of the waterfall, (el Salto,) in which they terminate. The height is (as I have already stated) about twenty varas,[4] or forty-three English feet; but the volume of water, which, during the rainy season, is considerable, was, when we saw it, reduced to a little tiny stream, that seemed to thread its way with difficulty through the masses of rock by which the passage was obstructed.
From Jalpa we returned to Mexico by an entirely new route, which led us through the Indian village of Sicāltĕpēc, along the borders of the Lake of Zŭmpāngŏ, to the town of that name, and from thence, across the mountains, to Săn Jūān dĕ Tĕŏtĭhuăcān, where we passed the night. On the following morning we visited the pyramids, which lie about two miles from the Pueblo, and afterwards rested for nearly an hour in an avenue of cypresses terminated by a large church. One of these cypresses is of singular beauty: we thought it but little inferior to those of Chăpōltĕpēc.
I can add nothing to the description of the pyramids given by Humboldt, whose work contains infinitely more than is known respecting them by the natives at the present day. The first, (Tonatiuh Ytzaqual,) the House of the Sun, has a base of 682 feet in length; its height is 180 feet. The second, (Metzli Itzaqual,) the House of the Moon, is thirty-six feet lower than the other, and its base is much smaller. Both are truncated, like the pyramid of Chŏlūlă, and are of Toltec origin: they are composed of stones, and clay intermixed, and, although, the form of the exterior is now almost lost amidst the quantity of aloes, cactuses, and thorny brushwood, by which it is covered, there are parts where the steps, or terraces, which rose gradually to the summit, can be still distinctly traced.
A group, or (as Humboldt calls it) a system of little pyramids, symmetrically arranged, extends for some distance around the Houses of the Sun and Moon; and amongst them are found continually knives and arrow heads of obsidian, which denote how much the place must have been frequented by the priests and warriors of the tribe. I am not aware that the interior of any of these pyramids has been examined, although from their Aztec name, Micoatl, (the Plain of Death,) it is probable that they were used as burying-places, either for the chiefs, or the victims sacrificed in their religious rites.
From Tĕŏtĭhuăcān we proceeded to Tĕzcūcŏ, a town formerly the residence of a tributary Indian prince, but now almost in ruins. Traces of its former importance are, however, still evident in the remains of fortifications, which must have been formidable to enemies armed only with arrows and slings.
There is a curious bridge, too, near the town, of a date anterior to the Conquest, although it is in a perfect state of preservation at the present day. From the Hacienda of Chăpĭngŏ, about a league beyond Tĕzcūcŏ, where we were most hospitably received by the Marquis of Vibanco, to whom it belongs, we visited both this bridge, which is thrown over the river of Tezcuco, and the pretended bath of Montezuma, of which Mr. Bullock's book contains so singular an account. What it may have been, it is not easy to determine, but I think it may safely be pronounced never to have been used as a bath, from the smallness of the size, and the extreme inconvenience of the position, to which the Imperial bather must necessarily have been confined during his ablutions. It seems more probable that it may have served to receive the waters of a spring, since dried up, as its depth is considerable, while the edge on one side is formed into a spout.
Chapingo is one of the finest specimens of Mexican Haciendas. The house was built by the Jesuits, to whom the estate originally belonged, and purchased of the Government, on the dissolution of the Society of Jesus, by the ancestor of the present Marchioness of Vĭbāncŏ, out of the proceeds of the Mine of Bărrāncŏ, at Bŏlāñŏs. The lands about it are exceedingly rich, as an abundant supply of water for irrigation is drawn from a reservoir, into which a number of little streams from the neighbouring mountains are conducted. The vicinity of the Capital ensures a ready market, and this gives so great a value to the crops, that the income derived from the estate seldom falls short of 60,000 dollars, (12,000l.) per annum. The Trōgĕs, or buildings erected to receive the grain, are very magnificently constructed; they are high, airy, and paved with large flat stones, varying in length from seventy to ninety feet. The accompanying drawing; will convey an idea of the style of building, which is, however, much superior to that of the generality of country houses in New Spain, and must not be taken as a criterion for others. Chăpĭngo lies about nine leagues from Mexico, and nearly as far from San Juan de Tĕŏtĭhuăcān. The road to this last place runs between the lake of Tĕzcūcŏ and the range of hills which form the Eastern boundary of the valley: that to the Capital passes near the Southern extremity of the lake, and joins the great La Puebla road about four leagues from the gates of the town. We returned to Mexico by this route after an absence of six days, during which time we had made the tour of the whole valley, with the exception of the portion lying between Chalco and Săn Aŭgŭstīn de las Cūēvăs, which I visited subsequently on my way to and from Cuĕrnăvācă and Cūāūtlă.
As the season was advancing, and the heat increasing daily in the Tierra Caliente, I resolved not to defer my expedition to that place, and commenced my journey within a very few days after returning from Chăpĭngŏ. The distance from Mexico to Cuĕrnăvācă does not exceed twenty leagues, (fifty miles,) but it is difficult to perform it in a single day on account of the passage of the mountains to the South of the valley, both the ascent and descent being exceedingly rocky and precipitous; I therefore left the Capital on the evening of the 25th of February, and slept at the village of San Agustin de las Cuevas, about four leagues off, where I was again indebted for lodgings to the hospitality of the Marquis of Vibanco. San Agustin was formerly the favourite residence of the nobility and great merchants of the Capital, whose houses and gardens formed, by degrees, a village, the appearance of which, in 1803, Humboldt describes as singularly beautiful. It was abandoned during the Revolution, being exposed to the attacks of Insurgent parties from the mountains, and is now only frequented during the great fair, which is held there annually, in the month of May. The object of this fair being merely amusement, it is attended by every creature in Mexico that can save, beg, or borrow a dollar for the occasion. The houses at San Agustin are taken many months beforehand, and from three to five hundred dollars rent is frequently paid for the three days. Amongst the ladies it is the etiquette to change their dresses four or five times in the course of the day; once, for the early promenade before breakfast; again for the cockpit, which opens at ten o'clock; a third time for dinner; a fourth for the Calvario, where a circle is usually formed for dancing; and a fifth for the public ball, which commences at eight o'clock, and lasts till twelve. Immense sums of money are won and lost, in the course of the day, by the men, both in betting upon their cocks, and at the Monte tables, one of which is to be found in almost every house. There are silver Montes for the lower classes, but at all the respectable tables nothing but gold is seen, and no smaller stake than a doubloon, (an onza, about 3l. 4s. English money,) allowed. The bank at these varies from 1,500 to 3,000 doubloons. Fifty or sixty of these, (about 200l.) are an ordinary stake upon the turn of a card; but I have seen as many as six hundred and twenty risked and won. There is no limit whatever to the stake, and unfair play is out of the question, but the chances are so much in favour of the table, that few persons continue winners for any length of time.
During the whole fair the streets and squares of San Agustin are filled, by day and by night, with crowds of people, who sleep à la belle étoile, or take shelter under the carriages, with which the Plaza is crowded. Provisions of all kinds are to be found in booths erected for the occasion; horses and mules are picketed in every direction round the town; temporary huts are raised with boughs and mats, and as a profusion of flowers is used in all these structures, nothing can be more variegated than the appearance of this motley scene. In the evening, the cockpit is carpeted, and lighted up with chandeliers; cushions are placed upon the benches, looking-glasses suspended from the wooden pillars, and, as the roof, which is of shingles, is concealed, in part, by a quantity of green boughs, the whole forms a pretty, circular ball-room, in which all the élite, and all the refuse, of Mexican society may be seen assembled at the same time. The lower classes, however, are excluded from the centre of the house, into which no one improperly dressed is admitted, and forced to take their seats upon the higher tiers of benches. Here they exercise the usual privilege of the one-shilling gallery, by applauding most vociferously the performances of any lady, whose style of dancing happens to please them, and by calling occasionally for the Jărāvĕ, the Pĕtĭnēră, or other dances of the country, with an exhibition of which they are not unfrequently gratified.
On the 26th of February I left Săn Aŭgŭstīn at a very early hour. The ascent commences almost immediately, and is rendered doubly toilsome by the Ărenāl, a bed of deep blue sand, that extends over a space of about two leagues, and exhausts both the horses and mules, by the treacherous nature of the footing which it affords them. The road passes by the Village of Ăjūscŏ, and the Venta del Guārdă, from whence it winds its way through a succession of rocks, and pine-woods, to the Cruz del Mărqūes, a point about 2,360 feet above the level of the Capital. Here the descent to Cuĕrnăvācă begins and continues uninterruptedly for nearly four leagues to the Pueblo of Jŭchĭlāc, where the first indications of an approach to the Tierra Caliente appear. These increase rapidly in the direction of Cuĕrnăvācă, until, in the plains immediately below the town, the climate and the productions of the Coast replace, at once, those of the Table-land.
The transition is the more sudden, because, on the Pacific side, the Valleys are sheltered from the North winds, which have so extraordinary an effect upon the vegetation upon the Eastern slope of the Cordillera. Thus Cuĕrnăvācă, although 1,093 feet higher than Jălāpă, possesses all the characteristics of the country about Plan del Rio, or Puente del Rey. The inhabitants have the same dark tint; the sky the same glowing aspect; and although the vomito is unknown, in the rainy season agues prevail, of so violent a nature, as almost to partake of the character of the typhus, and to be hardly less injurious in their effects upon the constitution.
The town of Cuernavaca lies 2,040 feet lower than Mexico, and 4,400 feet below the Cruz del Mărqūes, which is the highest point of the intervening ridge. It is a place of no great importance in itself, and only derives interest from the richness of the surrounding district. During the two days which I passed there, I visited two of the great Haciendas de Azucar, (Sugar Estates,) mentioned in the first Book, San Găbrĭĕl and Ātlăcŏmūlcŏ, the first of which belongs to the family of Yērmŏ, the second to that of the Duke of Monteleone, the present representative of the house of Cortez. I found in both the same exuberant fertility of soil, the same abundance of water for irrigation, and the same inattention to comfort or cleanliness, in the vicinity of the house, which, in the valleys of Cūāūtlă and Cuĕrnăvācă, seldom denotes by its appearance the value of the estate. The average produce of San Găbrĭĕl is calculated at forty thousand Arrobas of sugar (each of 25lbs.); that of Ātlăcŏmūlcŏ does not exceed thirty thousand; in addition to which, however, there is a Coffee plantation containing about fifty thousand young plants, which appeared to be in a very thriving state. The distance of these Haciendas from Cuernavaca varies from two to three leagues. The heat, which I found very oppressive after ten o'clock, prevented me from extending my excursions farther, although the beauty of the country, and the abundance of game, (particularly hares and quails,) would have induced me, at any other time, to prolong my stay.
The valley of Cuĕrnăvācă is separated from that of Cūāūtlă by a ridge of elevated ground, commencing a little beyond Ātlăcŏmūlcŏ, and extending about four leagues to the South-east, where it terminates in two singular hills, called Las Tĕtīllăs. From these you descend at once to a lower terrace, which begins at the foot of the ridge, with the village of Yaŭtĕpĕc, one of the most beautiful spots that I recollect having ever seen. The riches of the inhabitants consist in the groves of orange-trees, by which their houses are surrounded, and from which both the Capital, and the town of La Puebla, are supplied with this fruit. One of the numerous streams that descend from the Table-land, runs through the Pueblo, dispensing fertility on every side; a little garden is attached to each cottage; and the brilliant whiteness of these dwellings contrasts, in a very pleasing manner, with the dark green of the orange-trees behind, broken at intervals by the bright hue of the fruit. Yaŭtĕpĕc is about five leagues from Cuernavaca, and four from Cŏcŏyōc, a Hacienda belonging to Don Antonio Vĕlāscŏ, the father-in-law of General Tĕrān, who had the goodness to allow me to take up my residence there for a few days, as the most convenient spot for visiting both the town of Cūāūtlă, and the neighbouring estates, for most of which I had letters from General Bravo, and other friends. With the exception of about one league of solid rock, upon which our horses could with difficulty keep their footing, the whole road from Yaŭtĕpĕc lay through a richly cultivated country, watered by a hundred rivulets, and studded with Haciendas, the most considerable of which, (Săn Cārlŏs,) we visited on our way. Nothing could be finer than the scenery; and the vigorous growth of the canes, though planted much more closely than is usual in the West Indian Islands, attested the richness of the soil, which, without the aid of manure, seldom fails to yield a most abundant crop. Dr. Wilson, a friend by whom I was accompanied upon this occasion, and who, from a long residence in Jamaica, was better qualified than myself to judge of the relative capabilities of the two countries, was much struck with this circumstance, and pointed it out to me as well worthy of attention.
Notwithstanding the heat, by commencing our excursions at a very early hour, we contrived to visit, during the two days that we passed at Cŏcŏyōc, both the town of Cūāūtlă Āmīlpăs, (which I was curious to see from its connexion with the history of the Revolution, and the exploits of Mŏrēlŏs,) and the Haciendas of Pāntĭtlān, Căsăsăno, Săntă Inēs, Căldĕrōn, and Cohăhūistlă. This was sufficient to give us a very good idea of the mode in which the great sugar plantations of Mexico are conducted, as well as of their extent; but upon both these subjects, all the most essential details will be found in the Third Section of the First Book, and a reference to this will render it superfluous for me to enter here into any farther particulars.
The population of the Valley bears evident traces of a recent mixture of African blood. The colour of the skin is darker, and the lank hair, peculiar to the aborigines, is exchanged for curly, or woolly locks. The men are a fine athletic race, but wild, both in their appearance and habits; they delight in glaring colours, as well as in the noisy music of the negroes, and form, when heated with liquor, and dancing after the labours of the day, a striking contrast to the meek and submissive demeanour of the Indians on the Table-land.
Cūāūtlă Āmīlpăs, which is four leagues from Cŏcŏyōc, and thirteen from Cuĕrnăvācă, has recovered entirely from the ravages of the first years of the Civil War. The Indian suburb is exceedingly pretty, but the town itself, from the lowness of the houses, which are mostly of Tĕpĕtātĕ, and the breadth of the streets, seems very little calculated to resist the attack of a regular force. The defence made there by Morelos, with a few hundred men, against the whole Viceregal array, commanded by Căllējă in person, is hardly a greater proof of determination on his part, than of the want of courage on that of his adversaries.
On the 4th of March, I quitted Cŏcŏyōc; not without regret, for although the house is bad, nothing can be more striking than the view of Pŏpŏcătēpĕtl from the balcony, where we used to sit, and enjoy the evening breeze, after the fatigue of our morning's ride. A coffee plantation, too, intersected by walks of orange trees, and kept in the nicest order, is always a beautiful object; and to an eye accustomed to the stunted vegetation of the Table-land, the foliage even of the more ordinary trees, in which the Tierra Caliente abounds, must always be a relief.
The ascent towards the Capital commences very abruptly. On the outskirts of the Valley of Cūāūtlă, are two little Ranches, near which most of the bananas are grown with which the Mexican market is supplied. The change from the cane huts of these Indians, buried amongst the leaves of the Platano Arton, to the Pine forests, that occupy the region immediately above, is extremely sudden. Through these you labour on for about eight leagues, in the course of which two or three uninteresting Pueblos are passed, when you commence a very gradual descent into the valley of Mexico, which we entered to the South of the town of Chalco, where we passed the night. It would not have been impossible to reach the Capital the same evening, as the distance did not exceed nine leagues; but our horses had been feasting upon the green tops of the sugar cane during their visit to Tierra Caliente, and were so weakened by this heating food, that they were quite exhausted before we reached Chălcŏ, although that town is not more than eleven leagues from Cŏcŏyōc. We were therefore compelled to give them a night of repose and hard food, after which we reached Mexico at an early hour on the following morning. (March 5.)
- ↑ A Traspaso is a fine paid by the tenant, for which he is to receive a compensation on giving up the house, not from the proprietor, but from the person who succeeds himself.
- ↑ The Metre is equal to 39,371 English inches.
- ↑ Humboldt proves the possibility of such an event, by stating, that when at Guyaquil, on the coast of the Province of Quito, in 1802, he himself saw the cone of the mountain of Cotopaxi, (superior in height to Popocatepetl) so thoroughly heated in a single night as to be entirely divested of its enormous coating of snow, (son énorme calotte de neige).
- ↑ The Mexican Vara is equal to 2 feet 2 inches 0.46 lines English.