I:! c c^-^ '^-A_ 

 
 'i C cu^ ^\_
 
 MEXICO: 
 
 COUNTEY, HISTOET, AND 
 PEOPLE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; 
 
 Instituted 1799. 
 
 DEPOSITORIES, 56, PATERNOSTKR ROW, 65, BT. PAUL'S CHURCHTARB, 
 AND 1G4, PrCCADIU.T ; AND SOLD BY THE B00KSELLKR8. 
 
 1863.
 
 LONtON : 
 
 PRINTED BT WABREN HALL »ND CO., 
 
 CAMDEN ROAD. N.W.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 There is very much in Central America to claim 
 our attention, and excite our interest. First, jDcrhaps, 
 in importance may he placed its commanding geogra- 
 phical position. The rapid extension of commercial 
 cuter])rise, the opening vip of China and Japan to 
 European intercourse, and the discovery of the gold- 
 fields of California, Australia, and British Columhia, 
 corahine to make the Isthmus of Panama, with the 
 adjacent territories, a great highway for commerce, 
 the value of which it would he difficult to exaggerate. 
 The communications between Europe and the eastern 
 sliores of America on the one hand, and the densely- 
 peopled empires, and rapidlj'-growing settlements of 
 the Pacific on the other, must be carried on either 
 across some part of Central America, or by the tedious 
 and perilous circumnavigation of Cape Horn, or the 
 Cape of Good Hope."^' Hitherto the anarchy which 
 
 * For reasons upon whkli we need not enter here, the Sue/, route is IcCt 
 out of account as being, probably, visionary and impracticable. 
 
 
 03992
 
 IV PEEFACE. 
 
 has prevailed in these Central American Eepubhcs has 
 prevented the full development of the immense facili- 
 ties afforded by the Panama route. But even in spite 
 of the political and social confusion which have proved 
 so disastrous, that route is rapidly rising in importance ; 
 and the whole civilised world is too deeply interested 
 in securing a safe and speedy communication betweer 
 the Atlantic and Pacific to allow such obstructions 
 to block up the way much longer. It was the dream 
 of Columbus, when he set sail for America, that he 
 should discover a new and easy passage to the far-off 
 regions of the East. The establishment of order in 
 Mexico, and the adjacent republics, will fulfil that 
 dream, and make the Isthmus of Panama the gateway 
 of the Pacific. 
 
 But Mexico has other claims besides that afforded 
 by its commanding geographical position. Its ex- 
 traordinary geological conformation, and the strange 
 convulsions and upheavings of its mountain-chains, 
 continuing down to the present day, rivet the atten- 
 tion of the geologist. The student of natural history 
 reads with wonder of the richness, strangeness, and 
 variety of its fauna and flora. The antiquarian seeks 
 to penetrate the mystery which hangs over the Cyclo-
 
 PBEFACE. V 
 
 pean ruins which encumber the soil — the sole relics 
 of Aztec or Toltec civilisation, or which, perchance, 
 bear witness to the existence of yet earlier races, of 
 which the very names are forgotten. The merchant, 
 too, thinks of Mexico not only as his future highway 
 to regions which lie beyond, but anticipates the time 
 when the mineral wealth of its mountain ranges, and 
 the exuberant fertility of its sunny plains, and well- 
 watered valleys, shall be laid under tribute to increase 
 tlie wealth of the world. 
 
 Nor can the Christian think of those vast regions, 
 now " sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," 
 without a sad and mournful interest. We claim them 
 as forming part of the domains of the world's true 
 King, and long for the time when Satan, who now 
 reigns there with a scarcely questioned supremacy, 
 shall be dethroned and cast out. Nor shall our hopes 
 be vain. The mighty I'abrics of imposture and super- 
 stition, which so long have dominated over that un- 
 happy land, shall be demolished, and the kingdom of 
 righteousness and peace shall be established on their 
 riuins. The traveller in the depths of Mexican forests 
 comes ever and aaion to ruined temples, where the 
 hdeous idol has fallen from its shrine, the blood-
 
 VI PSEFACS. 
 
 stained altar is overthrown, and the massive walls, 
 which once witnessed the foul and murderous orgies 
 of Aztec worship, are rent asunder by some mighty 
 and irresistible agency. What is the power which 
 has triumphed over edifices, the colossal grandeur 
 of which might vie with those of Ancient Egypt r 
 It has not been by the throes of the earthquake, or 
 the fires of the volcano, or the more destructive 
 assaults of man, that the ruin has been wrought. A 
 tiny seed borne by the passing breeze, or dropped by 
 some wandering bird has fallen into a crevice of the 
 Titanic masonry ; there it has germinated, and by its 
 living, expansive force has torn to fragments the 
 edifice which seemed to set at defiance the ravages 
 of time. So shaU " the seed of the word " fall upon 
 these strongholds of sin, and in its living might and 
 energy shall overthrow them. 
 
 It is to a condensed and popular description of this 
 country that the following pages are devoted. It is 
 hoped that the brief account here given of its history, 
 its scenery, its natural productions, and its social con- 
 dition will be found to contain much interesting and 
 valuable information.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 PREFACE iii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE COUNTRY 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY 28 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQtTEST .... 59 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISH VICEROYS . . . 110 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MEXICO FROJI THE REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT TIME 143 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO 189
 
 via COI^TENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER Yir. 
 
 MINES, COMMEKCE AND CIVIL CONDITION . . 216 
 
 CHAPTER Vlir. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO .... 240 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NATURAL PKODirCTIONS OF MEXICO. . . . 284
 
 • •* y
 
 r 'J 
 
 "^
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The Gulf Stream — Boundaries, Natural and Political — Physical 
 Geography — Table-Lands — Volcanoes — Geology • - General 
 Scenery — Eivers - Sea Board — Climate — Dry and Rainy Sea- 
 sons — Descriptive Sketch of the States— Las Chiapas, Tabasco, 
 Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico — The Capital 
 — Guerrero — Mechoacan— Jorullo— Colima, Jalisco, Sinaloa, 
 Sonora, Queretaro, Guanaxuato, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, 
 New Leon, Cohahuila, Durango, Chihuahua, Lower California. 
 
 The voyager across the Atlantic Ocean as he looks 
 down upon its troubled waters, with their ceaseless 
 ebb and flow, might readily imagine that they tossed 
 their foaming crests without any definite direction, as 
 they are driven hither and thither by the capricious 
 impulses of the winds. But really the mass is moved 
 onward by a mighty and uniform influence, and travels 
 over thousands of miles in the same direction. There 
 are rivers in the ocean, the courses of which are almost 
 as regular and as well defined as those which flow 
 through the land. Strange as this statement may 
 seem, it is not the less true, having been ascertained 
 by patient and accurate inquiry. Drift-wood is found 
 to float uniformly in certain given directions, and 
 bottles thrown out from vessels, for this purpose, 
 in difierents parts of the ocean, are almost invari- 
 ably picked up or cast ashore in the line of these 
 marine rivers. Two of these ocean currents, flowing 
 
 B
 
 2 Mfixrco. 
 
 in a westerly direction from the coast of Africa, meet 
 in the Caribbean Sea, and are turned northward by the 
 American Continent, where they form the Gulf Stream.* 
 This stream, as it flows out from its torrid bed, sweeps 
 past the coasts of Newfoundland, and is then turned 
 eastward toward our own shores. Its waters still re- 
 tain much of the heat they had received in the tropical 
 regions whence they flow, and this confers upon us the 
 blessings of a warm and genial climate. Every westerly 
 wind that blows to us bears with it a portion of this 
 heat to temper our winters' cold. But for this strange? 
 3'et most merciful provision, our climate would be as 
 inclement as that of Labrador, which lies nearly in 
 the same latitude with the British Isles. How won- 
 drous is the wisdom thus displayed in the arrangement 
 of the earth, and all that is therein ! He who calleth 
 for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out 
 upon the earth, has so guided them that they rule 
 the climate of a people thousands of miles from the 
 place whence they flov/ ! 
 
 It is of Mexico, the land which forms the cradle 
 of this mighty ocean- stream, and which determines its 
 course, that we are to speak in the following pages. 
 The Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans wash its eastern 
 and western shores. It rises between them as a vast 
 table-land, bounded on the north by California, New 
 Mexico and Texas, on the east by the Gulf of Mexico 
 and the Caribbean Sea, on the south-cast by British 
 Honduras and Guatemala, on the west and south-west 
 by the Pacific Ocean. From the want of accurate 
 
 • It has been conjectured that the turcc of current, as it sweeps round 
 I'rom west to east on the shores of Central America, lias, in the course 
 of ages, hollowed out the Gulf of Mexico, leaving the hard and rocky 
 fragments, which have resisted its power, to form the Islands of the West 
 Indies.
 
 THE COUNTRY. 3 
 
 surveys its area is somcwliat uncei'tain, but it may be 
 rouglily stated at 830.000 English square miles, though 
 some estimates make it much more extensive. 
 
 Few countries have so often removed their borders 
 as Mexico. When Cortez landed at San Juan, and 
 conquered the country for Charles V., his master's 
 claims to territorial authority v/ere only limited by his 
 power to enforce them. All North America was sup- 
 posed to be the property of the pope, and to be given 
 by him to the Spanish king. The title deeds of the 
 Romish bishop were never subjected to a legal inquiry. 
 They were the consequence of his claim to universal 
 empire. Wherever the swords of Castille prevailed, 
 there was a sufficient title for Charles. Cortez won 
 for him Mexico, so called from the Aztec god of war. 
 Alvarado added Guatemala to his possessions. The 
 Jesuits and their monkish brethren acquired California 
 and New Mexico for his successors. There were no 
 defined boundaries in those days, save where the waves 
 shut in the continent. 
 
 The physical geography of the country is very 
 extraordinary. Perhaps no other region of the globe 
 presents such varieties of surface or climate within 
 the same extent of territor\^ Along the coast there 
 lies a narrow fringe of lowland. Advancing into the 
 interior, the ground rises rapidly, sometimes mountain 
 ranges stretch precipitously like a mighty wall for 
 leagues, sometimes the ascent is more gradual and 
 slopes upward at a scarcely perceptible angle. But 
 whatever may be the gradient the ascent is continuous 
 till an elevation of from 5,000 to 7,500 feet above the 
 level of the sea is attained. The traveller having 
 reached this altitude comes to vast plateaux of table- 
 land which extend lor many hundreds of miles. These
 
 4 MEXICO. 
 
 broad sweeps of level plains on the tops of the moun- 
 tain chains occupy almost the entire area of Mexico, 
 and form the platform from which the volcanic and 
 other mountains rise into the region of perpetual snow. 
 
 These table-lands rise to different heights, and enjoy 
 a varied climate. Their surface is much broken up 
 by lesser mountain ranges, but the plateau of Ana- 
 huac, in which the city of Mexico stands, stretches 
 away in an almost unbroken level for 1,000 miles 
 together ; a distance as gi'eat as from the North 
 of Scotland to the Straits of Gibraltar. This plain 
 is widest at the latitude of the capital where it 
 spreads out to 360 miles in breadth. Its eastern 
 or Atlantic side is 7,500 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and it gradually decreases to a height of about 
 4,000 feet as it approaches the shore of the Pacific. 
 Of course so enormous a space does not literally 
 present an unbroken surface ; but this is actually 
 the case for many leagues together, and carriages ma}' 
 roll down from Mexico to Santa Fe, a distance of 
 fifteen hundred miles, without any serious interruption 
 of the gradual decline. The mountains which enclose 
 the plain of Anahuac on the eastern side are called the 
 Sierra Madre. They are broken up by the ridges of 
 the Sierra Altamira, and the group that contains the 
 silver mines of Fresnillo and Zacatecas. In some 
 places they rise to the height of 17,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 In describing the mountains of Mexico, we must 
 not omit to notice its volcanoes. There is a remark- 
 able line of these about IG miles south of the capital. 
 In regular order their tapering cones rise one after 
 another, the most eastern, called Tuxtla, being in the 
 95th degree of west longitude : then comes the snowy
 
 THE COUNTUY. 5 
 
 peak of Orizaba, followed by Popocateptl, wbieh is 
 2,000 f'jet bigher than tbe loftiest of our European 
 mountains, whilst Iztaccihuatl and Toluca bear away to 
 tlie east. These mightier monarchs are connected by a 
 chain of smaller attendant volcanoes, and stand like huge 
 sentinels to guard the city and plain of Mexico. A rival 
 to these ancient mountains, however, very unexpectedly 
 appeai-ed. On the night of September 29, 1759, after a 
 succession of violent earthquakes, there suddenly sprung 
 from the eartli a new cone, which has been named 
 JoruUo. This giant youngster rose in one night to 
 tlie height of 1,600 feet. Like it in solitary grandeur, 
 but nearer to the Pacific, towers the peak of Colima, 
 the last of the volcanic series. 
 
 These volcanoes contribute some of its most striking 
 features to Mexican scenery. The eye wanders for 
 miles over slopes of marvellous beauty, bathed in a 
 light the brilliancy of which we in these northern 
 climes can scarcely conceive. The transparency of the 
 atmosphere enables the eye to penetrate to an almost 
 incredible distance. The horizon is bounded by hills 
 that are gradually lost in shadow. In the midst of 
 such scenes, the regular and snow-clad forms of the 
 volcanoes break upon the eye with astonishing effect. 
 The purity of their untrodden snows, the dark masses 
 of scoria and lava, or the deep fringes of pine trees 
 that skirt their bases, and by night the fiery vapour 
 emitted from their summits combine to form a picture 
 of surpassing loveliness. The native Mexicans deemed 
 volcanoes to be the abodes of the departed spirits of 
 wicked rulers — the fable, repeated in another ibrm, of 
 the Titans sent to suffer under ^tna — and saw in the 
 convulsions of an eruption the evidence of their fiery 
 agonies. The Christian sees in them onlv one of the
 
 6 MEXICO. 
 
 many wonders of God, who, " by His strength, setteth 
 fast the mountains, being girded with power." 
 
 The geological formation of Mexico is peculiar. 
 The surface of the Cordilleras presents masses of 
 porphyry, greenstone, amygdaloid, basalt, obsidian, 
 and other similar rocks, overlying the granite which 
 forms the foundation of the geological system through- 
 out the country. As the land declines to the Pacific 
 Ocean, the vipper strata are wanting, and the port 
 of Acapulco is a natural excavation in granitic rocks, 
 which here rise to the surface. The granite crops 
 out at intervals as we ascend from the western coast 
 to the table-land, and appears for the last time through 
 the porpliyry between Zumpango and Zopilote- The 
 great central plateau of Anahuac, between the 14th 
 and 21st degrees of latitude, is an enormous mass of 
 porphyritic rocks, which differ from those of Europe 
 by the constant presence of hornblend, and by the 
 absence of quartz. The primary and secondary strata 
 occur in the same order as in the eastern hemisphere, 
 but hitherto neither rock-salt nor coal has been dis- 
 covered in any quantity in the table-land of Mexico. 
 The porphyry in some places assumes fantastic shapes, 
 which bear a resemblance to ruined walls and towers. 
 The most remarkable of these is tlie Colfre de Perote, 
 whose summit presents the appearance of a gigantic 
 sarcophagus, surmounted by a pyramid at one end ; 
 others again, as the mountains of Jacal and Oj'amel, 
 terminate in basaltic columns, crowned with forests. 
 In some regions, the surface of the land is rent by 
 deep fissures, termed barrancas, which occasionally 
 furnish serious obstacles to the formation of roads. 
 It is amongst the rucks of porphyry that tlie veins of 
 gold and silver are found, from whence such immense 
 supplies of those ])recious metals have been drawn.
 
 THE COUNTRY. 7 
 
 Tlie country is singularly deficient in large rivers ; 
 the mountains border so closely on the sea that the 
 streams which pour down their sides are little more 
 than torrents, and the table-land is so encircled by 
 mountains that its waters arc gathered into lakes. 
 The Itio Grande del Norte, which forms the northern 
 boundary of the country, is the most important river. 
 It takes its rise amidst the mountains of New Mexico, 
 and, after a course of 1,800 miles, runs into the Gulf 
 of Mexico at the 20th degree of north latitude, the 
 northern point of Taniaulipas. The Santander, the 
 Tampico, and the Panuco or Moctezuma, all flow 
 through the same state to the eastern coast, and, in 
 the state of Tabasco, the rivers Tabasco and Usum- 
 asinta contribute their united waters to the same sea. 
 
 Still less noticeable are the rivers which empty 
 themselves into the Pacific Ocean. The E,io Balsas 
 in Mechoacan, the Santiago in Jalisco, the Del Fuerte 
 in Sinaloa, and the Yagui in Sonora, are the principal 
 drains by which the western states are relieved of 
 their supei'fluous waters. 
 
 But if the rivers of Mexico are inferior in size and 
 capabilities for navigation, they are unsurpassed for 
 the beauty of their scenery, and the prodigal luxu- 
 riance of their banks. Their special features are due 
 to tiie peculiar character of the soil and the tropical 
 lieat of the country through which they pass. At 
 times the streams collecting their waters in some 
 concealed basin break through a rent in the hills of 
 porphyry which hang with precipitous sides over the 
 deep gorges through which the current flows. In 
 other spots, the quiet tide rolls on languidly through 
 forests, which seem to spring out from its bosom ; 
 bamboos bending gracefully before the breeze ; tall
 
 8 MEXICO, 
 
 cabbage palms, their crown the food and their straight 
 trunks the canoe of the wild Indian ; the banana, laden 
 with its useful fruit : these, and many others, grow 
 spontaneously by thousands on its banks ; whilst the 
 most characteristic feature of the scene is furnished by 
 the parasitical plants which wave in bright festoons 
 from the branches of the trees. The foliage thus 
 blended forms a wall of living green, whence long 
 tendrils dip into the water, as if to drink and carry 
 life to those that bear them. 
 
 The lakes with which Mexico abounds, are merely 
 the remains of immense basins of water which once 
 covered a large portion of the plain of the Cordilleras. 
 Lake Chapala, in Jalisco, has an area of 1,300 square 
 miles, double the size of the lake of Constance. The 
 lakes Pascuaro, in Mechoacan ; Cayman and Parras, in 
 Cbhahuila, are also considerable. The valley of Mexico 
 contains five lakes, of which further mention will 
 presently be made. 
 
 The commercial importance of the sea-board of any 
 country can hardly be exaggerated, and in this respect 
 Mexico labours under considerable disadvantages. 
 The mighty influence which has uplifted the Cordil- 
 leras has been fatal to the mercantile prosperity of 
 the Pacific shore. Acapidco, by far the finest natural 
 liarbour on the western coast, is now almost deserted, 
 although at one time very prosperous. Nor is the 
 Atlantic coast much more highly favoured. Long 
 lagunes and shallows extend for leagues together on 
 the eastern shore of Mexico, whilst violent winds 
 sweep over the gulf and render navigation perilous 
 during their continuance. 
 
 To the configuration of the country are due its 
 extraordinary inequalities of climate, as, in consequence
 
 THE COTJNTET. 9 
 
 of its lu'ight above the level of the sea, a large portion 
 of the country which lies within the tropics enjoys 
 a cool and temperate atmosphere. The whole country 
 may be divided into three zones : — The cold lands, 
 (ierran frias, comprehend those table-lands which are 
 elevated more than 7,200 feet above the sea, yet even 
 here the thermometer rarely falls to freezing point, 
 except on the mountain tops, and the mean temperatm'e 
 is 62 ** Fahrenheit. The temperate region, tier r as temp- 
 ladas, lies on the slope of the Cordilleras, at a height 
 of from -i.OOO to 5,000 feet, and enjoys a perjDetual 
 spring. Most European fruits flourish in this genial 
 climate, and the frequent presence of fogs from the 
 sea appears but to quicken the beauty and strength of 
 its vegetable productions. The tierras calientes, or 
 torrid district, includes the low lands on either coast, 
 and all the ground which is less than 2,000 feet above 
 the sea. There all the products of the tropics are to 
 be met with in great luxuriance, and their I'ank growth 
 in the hot damp atmosphere begets the terrible vomito 
 (yellow fever), which desolates the coast. An English 
 traveller, on a visit to Vera Cruz, remarked a dull 
 yellowish haze that hung over the town, and asked a 
 boatman what it was. " Senor," he answered, quite 
 seriously, " it is the fever." From the virulence of 
 this disease, Vera Cruz has been aptly named, " the 
 city of death." 
 
 The climate of the district lying north of the 
 capital, the Provincias Internas, is marked by much 
 greater variation of temperature, the winters being 
 cold, and the summers oppressively hot. This region 
 suffers exceedingly from want of water ; there are but 
 few natural springs, and the rains flow away through 
 the vast fissures with which the volcanic rcijions
 
 10 MEXICO. 
 
 abound. The improvidence of the Spaniards has 
 aggravated these physical disadvantages, inasmuch as 
 they have levelled vast forests to provide timber for the 
 mines, without taking the trouble to supply their place 
 by young plantations. In this way tracts of country 
 once fertile have been rendered desolate and barren. 
 
 The year in Mexico is commonly divided into the dry 
 and the rainy seasons ; the former lasting from October 
 to May, the latter extending over the remaining four 
 months. The clouds begin to gather on the coast of 
 Vera Cruz, and there the first showers descend fifteen 
 or twenty days before the weather breaks on the 
 central table-land. A'^iolent storms generally accom- 
 pany the earliest rains. Fierce gusts sweep along the 
 shoi'e. Wherever moisture abounds in Mexico, there 
 is found side by side great unhealthiness and extra- 
 ordinary fertility of the soil. Still, with the exception 
 of a few sea-ports and deep valleys, Mexico must be 
 considered as a healthy country. Even in the region 
 of the vomito, the natives and strangers, acclimatized 
 by several years' residence, rarely fall victims to this 
 deadly malady. 
 
 After this general outline of its physical geography 
 we must describe the political divisions of the countiy ; 
 we shall then be better able to trace its history and 
 the condition of its inhabitants. The territory of 
 Mexico is divided into states, which we shall group 
 together according to their geographical positions. The 
 eastern states comprise Las Chiapas, Tabasco, Vera Cruz, 
 and Tamaulipas. The fii'st two and the last of these 
 hardly call for any remarks. Chiapas is almost wholly 
 unexplored. It lies upon the northern incline of 
 the Cordilleras, and among the fertile vallej's enclosed 
 within the spurs of that great mountain chain. Its
 
 THE COUNTRY. 11 
 
 area is, however, almost unknown, and its fertility has 
 never yet been fairly tested. In Tabasco the haciendas, 
 or farms, are more numerous. Large forests of oaks, 
 cedars, mahogany and iron-wood ; crops of coffee, 
 cocoa, peijper, sugar, and tobacco ; woods rich in game, 
 and rivers teeming with fish, might suffice to support 
 a dense population. IJut it contains no more than 
 70,000 inhabitarits, and those chiefly native Indians. 
 Tamaulipas is separated from Tabasco by Vera Cruz. 
 Stretching along the sea coast, with a mild and healthy 
 climate, a soil well watered and fertile, and with the 
 attraction of magnificent scenery in the broken ground 
 that fills tip most of its superfices, this state, which is 
 almost as large as England, can only boast a popula- 
 tion of 110,000 souls. 
 
 Vera Cruz is worth}^ of a more extended notice. It 
 includes within its limits the ports of Vera Cruz and 
 Tampico, as well as the beautiful district of Jalapa. 
 Vera Cruz is the most important port of IMexico, and 
 through it there passes by far the greatest portion of 
 its foreign trade. Yet its harbour is shallow and 
 exposed, it is swept from October to April by dangerous 
 winds, called " nortes," and during their continuance all 
 communication between the shipping and the town is 
 at an end ; this is the case even with vessels moored 
 inmiediately under the castle walls or secured to the 
 shore. The air is filled with sand, the sky is dark 
 with clouds, and the wliole coast line is one unbroken 
 sheet of foam. Moreover, the pedestrian at such 
 times can scarcely keep his feet in the streets of 
 the city. Vera Cruz itself is a desolate and dreary 
 looking place, and is so unhealthy during the season 
 of the vomito, from May to November, that the 
 merchants and their families retire to Jalapa. On
 
 12 MEXICO. 
 
 this latter district the God of nature has hestowed 
 liis gifts with unsparing bounty. The chmate is genial 
 and salubrious ; the grain, the trees, the fruits, the 
 flowers of both the temperate and tropical regions are 
 disseminated in rich profusion. The beauty and 
 fragrance of a thousand flowers, the rich foliage of 
 trees of every tint, and the waving corn or green pas- 
 tures, combine to form a picture of surpassing splen- 
 dour. This district maintains 405,587 animals, but 
 only 270,000 human beings.* 
 
 The western and central states are Oaxaca, Puebla, 
 Mexico, Mechoacan, Jalisco, Colima, Sinaloa, Sonora, 
 Guerrero, and Lower California. 
 
 The beautiful state of Oaxaca lies on the shores of 
 the Pacific Ocean, and covers an area of more than 
 5,000 square leagues, with a population of 700,000 
 persons. Blessed with a salubrious climate and a fertile 
 soil, it would be hard to find a more agreeable place of 
 residence, if the efforts of man had but turned to good 
 account the manifold gifts of God. Between the 
 ridge of the Cordilleras that skirt the Pacific and a 
 range that runs through the middle of the country, 
 there lies embossomed the fruitful valley from which 
 Cortez took his title of Marquis del Valle de Oaxaca. 
 At the period of the revolution, the family estates 
 extended over 49 villages, containing a population of 
 17,700 souls. Huge haciendas, vast farms and sugar 
 
 * The following' list may serve to illustrate the variety of the products 
 of Jalapa: — Tobacco, coffee, sugar, cotton, corn, barley, wheat, jalap, 
 sarsaparilla, vanilla, mamies, papayas, pine-apples, oranfjes, citrons, lemons, 
 pomef^aniites, zapotcs, bananas, chirimoyas, tunas, pears, water-melons, 
 pearlies, apricots, guavas, grapes : mahogany, ebony, cedar, o.ik, dragon- 
 blood, tamarinds, palms, dye-wood, and a thousand other plants, trees, 
 shtubs, corrals, and parasites, spring almost spontaneously from the soil 
 and render the necessary labour of man insignificant. — Maykh, vol. II., 
 pp. 135 -6.
 
 THE COrXTRT. 
 
 13 
 
 mills, arc scattered over its surface. Notliing but the 
 fatal wars which have desolated it could arrest the 
 prosperity of so highly favoured a region. 
 
 The same encomium may he passed upon the ratural 
 advantages of Puehla, which lies to the north of Oaxaca. 
 It contains an area of 2,700 square leagues, and a 
 ])opulation of about 700,000 souls. The country is 
 beautiful and fertile, being broken up by mountains, 
 amidst which there lie valleys of extraordinary pro- 
 ductiveness. Cotton, rice, coffee, sugar, Indian corn, 
 wheat, barley, maguey, and other plants are cultivated. 
 Nearly three-fourths of the soil belongs to the church 
 and to hospitals : and the wealth of the clergy con- 
 trasts very sadl}^ with the miserable condition of the 
 lower classes. 
 
 When Gage visited Mexico, in 1625, Puehla was 
 already a flourishing town, celebrated for its manufac- 
 tures. Cloth, felt, and glass, were among its most noted 
 ])roductions ; but the earl}' efforts of the Mexicans in 
 this direction were discountenanced by Spain. The 
 city is now the Manchester of Mexico, and amidst 
 the numerous churches with which it is adorned, and 
 the convents which vie with one another in elegance 
 and comfort, there rise the dreary prison-looking build- 
 ings in which the cotton manufacture is carried on. 
 Two articles of dress are in special demand ; the reboso 
 and the serape. The first is a long shawl worn by 
 the women. The second a blanket, with a hole in the 
 centre for the head and falling in folds down from 
 the shoulders. Everybody wears them — the smart 
 cavalier riding in the park at Mexico, as well as the 
 lepero in its filthy courts. They vary in cost from 
 twenty-five to five hundred dollars. Nearly one-third 
 of the whole native manufactures are made in Puehla.
 
 14 MEXICO. 
 
 Cholula, a flourishing city at tlie period of the 
 Spanish conquest, is situated in this state. Close to 
 the town is the great pyramid, an extraordinary struc- 
 ture, perhaps the oldest and most remarkable ruin 
 in Mexico. This huge monument is nine miles from 
 Puebla, and appears to have been built in four ter- 
 races, traces of which may still be distinguished. 
 Upon the summit once stood the temple of Quetzal- 
 coatl, the site of which is now occupied by the chapel 
 of Our Lady de los Remedios. The present appearance 
 is that of a tree-grown hill about 200 feet in height, 
 with a base of more than 1,000 feet. " Cholula in 
 the days of Cortez, contained 40,000 householders, 
 and the whole plain was studded with populous vil- 
 lages. The plain is now com])ariitively a desert, and 
 two or three thousand miserable leperos build their 
 mud huts, and practice their thievish propensities upon 
 the site of the holy city."* 
 
 The metropolitan state, lying to the west of La 
 Puebla, is the most populous division of the Eepublic, 
 and contains nearly a million of inhabitants, scattered 
 over an area of 19,535 square miles. Its most striking 
 physical feature is the great valley of Mexico, in the 
 midst of which the capital is situated, and which is 
 shut in by ii-regular mountains, those to the north and 
 north-east embracing the silver mines of lieal del 
 Monte. The valley itself is extraordinarily fertile ; its 
 general figure is an oval of about 200 miles in cir- 
 cumference, over which the eye ranges from the sum- 
 mit of any of the mountains by which it is enclosed. 
 
 The most interesting feature of the valley of Mexico 
 IE tlie vast system of drainage, by which the capital 
 
 • Mayku, vol. II., p. 230.
 
 THE COUXTRr. 15 
 
 is protected against the inundations of the lake of 
 Tezcuco, which, during the first two centuries after the 
 conquest, repeatedly threatened it with destruction. 
 The valley of Mexico serves as a receptacle for all the 
 waters that pour down from the mountains which 
 surround it on every side, and which have only one 
 natural outlet, the river Arrago. Tiiis stream is in- 
 sutfieient to carry them off, and they consequently 
 spread into fine lakes, two of which, Chaleo and 
 Xochimilco, lie to the south of the capital, Tezcuco 
 which immediately adjoins it, and San Christoval 
 and Zumpango to the noi-th. The level of the waters 
 of Tezcuco is not much more than a foot below 
 the site of the capital ; when therefore the lakes of 
 San Chi-istoval and Zumpango, which are at a greater 
 elevation, are swollen by an unusually rainy season, 
 they burst their barriers, and pouring into the lake 
 of Tezcuco cause it to rise in turn and inundate the 
 streets of the city. Various occurrences of this kind, 
 attended of course with much disaster, forced the 
 government to adopt measures that might avert the 
 danger. 
 
 Immense works were found to be necessary. A vast 
 desagiie, or canal, was cut to carry off the waters of 
 the lake of Zumpango. This artificial drain is 12 miles 
 in length, 300 feet in breadth, and 150 I'eet in depth, 
 and for upwards of a 1,000 yards is pierced through 
 the solid rock. It directs the waters of the lake in 
 a north-eastern direction, right through the mountain 
 barrier which shuts them in, and empties them into 
 the river Tula, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. 
 This stupendous work is said to have been accom- 
 plished in eleven months. The workmen were some 
 thousands of the natives, who were compelled to com-
 
 IG MEXICO. 
 
 plete it at the sacrifice of a vast amount of human 
 life. By thip contrivance the capital is secure against 
 inundations from the northern lakes ; but no such 
 precautions have been taken against the swelling of 
 the lakes of Chalco and Xochimilco, by Vv-hich it may 
 at any time be overwhelmed. 
 
 It is hard to picture a fairer scene than that pre- 
 sented by the Mexican capital, lying as it does near to 
 the waters of the Tezcucan lake, in the heart of this 
 fertile valley. On whichever side you turn, there rise 
 the serrated ridges of the Cordilleras, encompas- 
 sing the city with a gigantic iizure belt. The streets 
 run in long and unbroken straight lines, bisecting 
 one another at right angles ; and in the clear atmo- 
 sphere of the table-land the varied colour of the houses 
 is beautifully toned down by the back ground of purple 
 hills. To the south, the two volcanoes which over- 
 top the other peaks of the sierra, raise their majestic 
 summits covered with eternal snow, which in the light 
 of the evening sun put on a pale purple tint, here and 
 there flecked with delicate ruby. At the foot of the 
 mountains are two sparkling lakes, where the wild 
 swans sport in large flocks, disturbing the calm surface 
 which at other times reflects the floating clouds. 
 Dusty roads intersect the verdant pastures like gold 
 stripes on a green ground. A tree, peculiar to these 
 regions, somewhat like the weeping willow, bends its 
 long interlaced branches, loaded with odoriferous leaves 
 and red berries, and a solitary palm-tree rises here and 
 there above chimps of olives with their pale-green 
 foliage. 
 
 In the city itself the stranger will commonly first 
 direct his steps to the Plaza Mayor or Great Square. 
 On its north side the cathedral towers majestically
 
 THE COUNTRY. 17 
 
 aloft, standing on the alleged site of the tcocalli of 
 Mexitli, tlie Aztec god of war. The east side of the 
 square is entirely occupied by the president's palace, 
 a huge and cumbrous pile without any architectural 
 pretension. The building is quadrangular, with four 
 interior courts and has room enough for all the public 
 offices, the senate house, the two chambers of deputies, 
 the mint, two barracks, two prisons and a botanic 
 garden. Two immense markets fill up the remaining 
 sides of the square, into which there constantly pours 
 a flood of human beings belonging to every grade of 
 Mexican society. 
 
 Save the school of mines and the academy of arts, 
 chui'ches and convents are the only public buildings 
 in the capital, in addition to those in the Plaza 
 Mayor. Some of the churches are magnificent. But 
 the pleasing impression which Mexico produces upon 
 strangers seems to be due more to the purity of the 
 atmosphere, the variety of costumes that throng the 
 streets, and the luxuriant flowers and fruits that are 
 carried to its markets, than to any architectural effects. 
 There is a charming public park, the Alameda, whither 
 the upper classes of the city resort on horseback or in 
 carnages, and several promenades or public walks, the 
 most beautiful of which, the Paseo de la Viga, skirts 
 the lake Chalco canal. Hundreds of canoes, too, of 
 various sizes, filled with native Indians, may be seen 
 passing along the canals in every direction. On the 
 borders of the lake are a number of chmampas, or 
 floating gardens, as they are termed. These are arti- 
 ficial islands, some of them GO yards long and four or 
 five wide, on which the choicest fruits and flowers 
 are cultivated for tlie markets of the capital. 
 
 With great natural advantages, Mexico has made 
 
 c
 
 18 MEXICO. 
 
 but little progress — social, commercial, or political. 
 Science, education, and the arts are sadly neglected. 
 It numbers about 170,000 inhabitants, and shows only 
 a very slight increase since the days of tlie conquest, 
 while the population in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the capital has declined very materially, Indeed, 
 so much is this the case that few of the cities of Mexico 
 require any special description. Tezcuco, Tumba, and 
 other cities on the lakes, have now degenerated into 
 petty villages. Tacubaya, the residence of the Ai'ch- 
 bishop and San Augustin, the seat of the great festival 
 to which all Mexico resorts, alone call for a passing 
 mention in our rapid sketch of this state. 
 
 To the south of the districts of Mexico and La 
 Puebla lies the state of Guerrero. This state was 
 created by the constitution of 1847, and is composed 
 of certain districts which formerly belonged to Mexico, 
 Puebla, and Mechoacan. It contains 270,000 inhabi- 
 tants and an area of 32,000 square miles. 
 
 The state of Mechoacan, lying to the north-west of 
 Mexico, on the western slope of the Cordilleras, pre- 
 sents one feature of extraordinary interest (to which a 
 passing allusion has been already made), in the volcanic 
 cone of Joridlo. The appearance of this mountain is 
 without parallel in the annals of the world's physical 
 histoiy. Humboldt, who on all such questions is our 
 great authority, gives the following narrative of this 
 extraordinary event : — " Geology gives us no example 
 of the formation, from the centre of a thousand burning 
 cones, of a mountain of scoriae and ashes, 1,G95 feet 
 in height, comparing it only with the level of the 
 adjoining plains, in the interior of a continent, thirty- 
 six leagues distant from the coast, and more than 
 forty-two leagues from every other active volcano.
 
 THE COUXTRV. 19 
 
 " Till the middle of the last century, fields, covered 
 mth sugar-cane and indigo, occupied the extent of 
 ground between the two brooks called Cuitimba and 
 San Pedro. They were bounded by basaltic mountains, 
 the structure of which seems to indicate that all this 
 country, at a very remote period, had been already 
 several times convulsed by volcanoes. These fields, 
 watered by artificial means, belonged to the farm of 
 JJon Pedro di Jorullo, and were among the most fertile 
 in the country. 
 
 •'In the month of June, 1759, hollow soands of the 
 most alarming nature were heard, accompanied by 
 frequent earthquakes, which succeeded each other for 
 irom fifty to sixty days, to the great consternation of 
 the inhabitants of the farm. From the beginning of 
 September everything seemed to announce the complete 
 re-establishment of tranquillity, when, in the night of 
 the 28th and 29th, the horrible subterraneous noises 
 recommenced. The affrighted Indians fled to the 
 mountains of Aguasarco. A tract of ground from three 
 to four square miles in extent rose up in the shape of a 
 bladder. The bounds of this convulsion may still be 
 distinguished by the fractured strata. 
 
 " Those who witnessed this great catastrophe from 
 the top of Aguasarco, assert that the flames were seen 
 to issue forth for an extent of more than half a square 
 league, tliat fragments of burning rocks were thrown 
 to prodigious heights, and that through a thick cloud 
 of ashes, illumined by volcanic fire, the softened surface 
 of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. 
 The rivers of Cuitimba and San Pedro precipitated 
 themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposi- 
 tion of the water contributed to invigorate the flamer,, 
 which were visible at the city of Pascuaro. Eruptions
 
 20 MEXICO. 
 
 of mud, and especially of strata of clay, enveloping 
 balls of decomposed basalt in concentrical layers, 
 appear to indicate that subterraneous water had no 
 small share in producing this extraordinary revolution. 
 Thousands of small cones, from six to ten feet in height, 
 called by the natives ovens (hornitos), issued forth 
 from the plain. Although, according to the testimony 
 of the Indians, the heat of these volcanic ovens has 
 suffered a great diminution during the last fifteen 
 years, I have seen the thermometer rise to 212° on 
 being plunged into fissures which exhale an aqueous 
 vapour. Each small cone is a chimney, from which a 
 thick vapour ascends to the height of from twenty -two 
 to thirty-two feet. 
 
 "In the midst of the ovens six large masses, elevated 
 from 300 to 1,600 feet each above the level of the 
 old plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most elevated 
 of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is con- 
 tinually burning, and has thrown up from its north side 
 an immense quantity of scorified and basaltic lavas, 
 containing fi-agments of primitive rocks. These great 
 eruptions of the central volcano continued till the 
 month of February, 1760. In the following j^ears, 
 they became gradually less frequent. 
 
 "The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the 
 new volcano, abandoned at first all the villages situated 
 within seven or eight leagues distance of the plain of 
 Jorullo. They became gradually, however, accustomed 
 to this terrific spectacle; and having returned to their 
 cottages, they advanced towards the mountains of 
 Aguasarco and Santa Ines, to wonder at the streams of 
 fire discharged from an infinity of small volcanic 
 apertures of various sizes. Tlie roofs of the houses at 
 Queretaro, at a distance of more than forty-eight
 
 THE COFNTRY. 21 
 
 leagues in a straight, line from the scene of the ex- 
 plosion, were at that time covered with ashes. 
 
 " 4Ithough the suhterraneous fires now appear far 
 from violent, and the jdain and the great volcano begin 
 to be covered with vegetation, we nevertheless fonnd 
 the ambient air heated to such a degree, by the action 
 of the ovens, that the thermometer at a great distance 
 above the ground, and in the shade, rose to 109" of Fah- 
 renheit. This fact proves that there is no exaggeration 
 in the accounts of several Indians, who affirm that for 
 many years, after the first eniption, the plains of 
 Jorullo, even at a great distance from the ground 
 which had been thrown up, were uninhabitable from 
 their excessive heat. 
 
 " The traveller is still shown, near the Carro de 
 Santa Ines, the rivers of Cuitimba and San Pedro, 
 whose limpid streams formerly watered the sugar cane 
 plantations. These streams disappeared on the night 
 of September 29, 1759 ; but, at a distance of 6,500 feet 
 farther west, in the tract which was the theatre of the 
 convulsion, two rivers are now seen bursting through 
 the argillaceous vault of the ovens."* 
 
 Since Humboldt's visit, the ovens have almost en- 
 tirel}'' subsided ; very few of them any longer emit a 
 vapour or indicate a higher temperature than the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere. Soon luxuriant crops of sugar- 
 cane and indigo will again cover the whole region 
 which was the scene of so amazing a convulsion. 
 
 Morelia, the capital of the state of Mechoacan, con- 
 tains about 25.000 inhabitants, and consists chiefly of 
 one long street — broad, and well paved. The great 
 square has broad piazzas on three of its sides, the 
 ibui'th being exclusively occupied by the cathedral. 
 
 ♦ NouvcUe Espagne, p. 2-i3.
 
 22 MEXICO. 
 
 Its centre is the site of a crowded market, where tljo 
 dealers display their goods, according to the custom 
 common throughout Mexico, under the shade of um- 
 brellas made of matting. The houses have flat roofs, 
 and long projecting waterspouts which occasionally 
 deluge the unwary traveller. 
 
 Colima, with a capital and volcano of the same name, 
 lies on tlie Pacific, to the north of Mechoacan, em- 
 brachig an area of 3,000 square miles, and a population 
 of nearly 62,000 souls. The climate is warm, but not 
 unhealthy ; the vegetation is luxuriant : cotton, sugar, 
 tobacco, and cocoa are its chief productions ; and rich 
 iron ore has been recently discovered. 
 
 Jalisco stretches on the Pacific shore to the north of 
 Colima, along the western slope of the Cordilleras, and 
 is in parts much broken up by mountain ranges, com- 
 posed of rugged hills interspersed with fertile valleys. 
 It has an area of 48,590 square miles, and a population 
 of 774,000 souls. The city of Guadalaxara, its capital, 
 stands on a wide plain at the distance of 450 miles 
 from Mexico. The town is well built, its streets 
 running at right angles to one another, the houses are 
 good, and the roads well paved. It boasts no less than 
 fourteen squares, twelve public fountains, and a number 
 of churches and convents. The Alameda is prettily laid 
 out, and the shops within the Portales de Commercio 
 are unusually well supplied with goods. Altogether 
 Guadalaxara is one of the most floui'ishing places in 
 Mexico. The condition and capacity of Jalisco has 
 been pithily stated by Mr. Kuxton — " It is a land 
 where all tropical productions mi(jht be cultivated, aud 
 are not.'" 
 
 The two states of Sinaloa and Sonora rise one above 
 the otlici" to the northern boundary of the coimtry ;
 
 THE COUNTUT. 23 
 
 they have a united area of 157.000 square miles, and 
 not much more than 200,000 inhabitants. Parts of the 
 coast are ahuost uninhabitable, through excessive heat, 
 and Uirge districts in the interior are arid and barren, 
 but much fertile land remains uncultivated, and it would 
 be hard to tell what agricultural wealth might not be 
 derived from these regions in the hands of an industrious 
 and intelligxjnt population. Through a part of the 
 country there flow some considerable rivers, the Mayo, 
 the Yagui, and others; and wherever irrigation is prac- 
 tised considerable crops have been raised. Kieh mineral 
 products also abound ; and should these resources ever 
 be fully developed, they will doubtless greatly enhance 
 the value of these now almost desert regions. 
 
 We must now turn to the central provinces, which 
 are eight in number. The most southern of these is 
 the small state of Queretaro, to the north-west of 
 Mexico. Its chief city is a place of some trade, with 
 neai'ly 50,000 inhabitants, and contains many hand- 
 some ecclesiastical buildings, especially the convent of 
 Santa Clara, which is itself a miniature town, laid out 
 in streets and squares. There are cloth manufactories 
 here, but in a rather depressed condition. The most 
 flourishing branch oi commerce is the manufacture 
 and sale of cigars. 
 
 Between Queretaro and the adjoining state of Gua- 
 naxuato, the geological features of the country undergo 
 a change, limestone taking the place of primary and 
 volcanic rocks. The climate is warmer and more tro- 
 pical. The plains are exceedingly beautiful, w^ell cul- 
 tivated, and teeming with fertility. " The gardens 
 and maize patches of the small Indian villages are 
 enclosed with hedges, or rather walls of organo, a 
 species of single, square-stemmed cactus, which grows
 
 24 MEXICO. 
 
 to the height of from 40 to 50 feet. It is called organo 
 on account of its resemblance to the pipes of an organ. 
 Planted close together the walls of organo are im- 
 pervious to pigs and poultry, and form admirable 
 enclosm-es to the Indian huts. Here the houses are 
 built of uncemented limestones, piled loosely on one 
 another, and are sometimes roofed with talc." * 
 
 The town of Guanaxuato owes its existence to the 
 Veta Madre, or Mother Vein of Silver, close to which 
 it is built. This prolific seam has yielded 225,935,736 
 dollars since the year 17GG. The city contains 50,000 
 inhabitants, and is very irregularly built ; its houses 
 and streets being distributed according to the vacancies 
 left by the surrounding mountains, and interspersed 
 with works for the reduction of the ores. It presents? 
 also, those striking contrasts with which Mexico 
 abounds. Some of its mansions and churches are 
 magnificent, but the entrance to the town is along 
 the bed of a torrent, which flows impetuously in the 
 rainy season, and causes numerous accidents, but which 
 it has never been attempted to improve. 
 
 San Luis Potosi lies to the west of Tamaulipas, 
 and north of Mexico ; it covers an area of 29,000 
 square miles. This state enjo^'s a variable climate, 
 mild on the table-lands, warm and unhealthy on the 
 eastern slopes. There are manufactures of wool and 
 cotton fabrics, glass, leather, pottery and hardware ; 
 but its prosperity is mainly dependent on the mines of 
 Catorce. The soil is fertile, and abundant produce 
 might be raised in the haciendas, but there is no 
 market for it. Three hundred pounds of maize will not 
 always find purchasers at the price of a single dollar. 
 
 Nothing can be more dreary than the region in which 
 
 • Uuxton, p. 71.
 
 THE COUXTRT. 
 
 25 
 
 Catorce is situate. A few narrow mules' paths, or the bed 
 of a torrent, alone break the monotonous dark colour 
 of the Cordillera : not a tree, not a blade of grass, is 
 to be seen, although fifty years ago it was covered with 
 waving forests. As you approach it i'rom below, the 
 town is entirely hidden by a brow of the mountain, 
 and it takes more than an hour's good riding from the 
 bottom to come within sight of it. Then a cui-ious 
 scene is presented : the place lies in a hollow, the 
 houses following the course of the Veta Madre ; the 
 ground is cut up by ravines, which wind about so 
 intricatel}' that many of the houses have one story on 
 one side of a ravine, and two or three on the other. 
 
 West of San Luis Potosi is the state of Zacatecas ; 
 area, -30,000 square miles ; population, 356,000. Al- 
 most the whole of this state is occupied by the spurs 
 of the Cordilleras, so that it possesses no rivers, and 
 almost all irrigation is carried on by the aid of tanks 
 and reservoirs. The capital of the same name contains 
 a population of nearly 40,000, and the whole region 
 abounds in silver mines, amongst which those of Fres- 
 nillo and Sombrerete were once in high repute. The 
 people bear a very indifferent character, and the state 
 is rendered extremely insecure by the Indians. 
 
 " Fresnillo is a paltry, dirty town, with the neigh- 
 bouring sierra honeycombed with mines, which are rich, 
 and yield considerable profits. A share which the 
 government had in their mines gave an annual profit 
 of nearly half a million of dollars ; but that short- 
 sighted vampyre, which sucks the blood of poor Mexico, 
 eager to j^ossess all the golden eggs at once, sold its 
 interest for less than one year's income." * 
 
 The state of Nuevo Leon rcquii'cs but a brief passing 
 
 • Ruiton, p. 87.
 
 26 MEXICO. 
 
 notice. It was colonized by the Viceroy Monterey, 
 after whom its chief city is named. The grazing of 
 cattle is the chief occupation of the people. There 
 are no manufactures, and hardly any mines, although 
 lead and silver are said to be abundant. 
 
 The large states of Cohahuila, Durango, and Chihua- 
 hua, occupy all the northern territory of Mexico. 
 Cohahuila lies to the west of Nuevo Leon, and Durango 
 still further in the same direction. Chihuahua to the 
 north of the latter. Their united area extends over 
 upwards of 200,000 square miles, but cannot boast of 
 more than some 385,000 inhabitants. They possess 
 natural advantages of the most varied character. A 
 cool and healthy climate, a fertile soil, and vast mineral 
 resources, might havebeen expected to temptanumerous 
 body of colonists ; but these inducements are rendered 
 powerless through the horrible insecurity of the 
 country. 
 
 The city of Durango is the ultima Thide of 
 Mexican civilization, and Chihuahua merely a sort 
 of advanced out-post in the desert land. Beyond the 
 former town lie vast unpeopled and uncultivated plains, 
 in which tribes of fierce Indians, the Apaches and 
 Camanches, have their dwelling places, i'rom which 
 they sweep down upon the farms and settlements of 
 the Mexicans, di-ivinsf off their herds, murderine: the 
 unarmed males, and carrrying the women and children 
 into slavery. Every hacienda has its mournful story 
 of such acts of bloodshed and pillage, and travellers 
 express their astonit^hment that the whole country has 
 not long since been abandoned. Yet a bod}' of resolute 
 colonists of the Anglo-Saxon race would speedily 
 ensure security and peace throughout the land. 
 
 It only remains that we should notice the territory
 
 THE COUNTRY. 27 
 
 of Lower California, a long peninsular strip of land, 
 bounded on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, and on 
 the west by the Pacific. The district is about 700 
 miles in length, and varies from 30 to 100 miles in 
 breadth. The country is generally barren, dreary and 
 desert. Throughout its surface there runs a chain of 
 irregular rocks, in which valuable ores of gold, silver, 
 copper and lead are known to exist, but have hardly 
 been disturbed. The pearl tishery in the Gulf of 
 Mexico, formerly so valuable, has dwindled into insigni- 
 ficance. The shores are irregular and sandy, but 
 the port of Magdalena affords a safe and commodious 
 anchorage, and is much resorted to by whalers dm-ing 
 the winter season. 
 
 With this rapid glance of the country itself, we 
 shall now proceed to treat of the history and character 
 of its inhabitants.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 EAELT HISTORY. 
 
 Obscurity of Early Annals — The Toltecs — Cliichemecs — Acol- 
 huans — Xolotl the Wise — His Burial — Tezcucan Civilization 
 — Komantic Adventures of Nezaluialooyotl — Tezcucan 
 Fidelity — Nezahualcoyotl King — His wisdom, poetry, splen- 
 dour — His liuuiility, justice, and kindness to his subjects — 
 He falls into sin — Reluctantly induced to allow human 
 sacrifices — His Death — Nezahualpilli — The Tlascalans — 
 Eniigrfition to Tlascala — The Aztecs — Origin of Mexico — 
 Aztec Government — Laws — Tenure of Land — Taxes — Posts 
 — Army — Literature — Picture-writing — Calendar — Agricul- 
 ture — Arts — Domestic Life and Manners — Montezuma's 
 Mode of Life — Superstition — Human Sacrifices — The True 
 Atonement. 
 
 The ori2;in of a savage nation is almost always 
 hopelessly obscm-e. The people themselves in their 
 infancy are commonly ignorant of the arts by which 
 to preserve any record of their history, and at the 
 same time are generally indifferent to all remembrance 
 of the past. Then, as time rolls on, the memory of 
 some gallant warrior or some just ruler is carefully 
 cherished, and all the benefits they long for or enjoy 
 are attributed by the nation to this favourite ancestor. 
 Thus truth and fiction become intermingled, until it is 
 impossible in after years to assign to each their proper 
 place : and a few facts alone stand out clearly in the 
 midst of a suiTOundinsr mass of fable.
 
 EAELT HISTOET. 29 
 
 The early history of the Mexican nation is no excep- 
 tion to this general principle. The inhabitants of the 
 country, when the Spaniards reached it, were evidently 
 composed of many separate races, and a variety of 
 reasons were assigned to account for their origin and 
 intermixture. It would be quite useless to record the 
 uncouth names given by chroniclers to the original 
 population of the great table-land. The Toltecs are 
 the most ancient people of whom we have any coherent 
 account. They are said to have migrated from the 
 north about the middle of the seventh century, and 
 to have built a city called Tula, about 50 miles east 
 of the capital of Mexico. A curious law prevailed 
 among them, that each of theii' kings should reign 
 for 52 3^ears and no more. If the monarch died within 
 this period, the government was continued by a regency 
 in his name ; if he survived it, he was obliged to 
 abdicate his throne. For four centuries the Toltecs 
 increased in numbers and influence : they spread over 
 the country and built many cities, but suddenly in the 
 very height of their prosperity, they were almost 
 annihilated by a terrible pestilence, succeeded by a 
 drought which swept away nearly the whole nation. 
 The miserable remnant abandoned Tula about 1051, a.d. 
 
 Although the Toltecs were lost as a nation, they, 
 appear to have been the real founders of Mexican 
 civilization. They were acquainted with agricultm-e 
 and the art of working in metals ; they invented the 
 intricate calendar used by the Aztecs ; they exscuted 
 many useful mechanical arts ; above all they raised 
 buildings of such importance that, "their name passed 
 intoasynonyme for architecture." * A peculiar interest 
 attaches to tliis early race, which has left behind it 
 
 * Prescott's Mexico, vol. I. p. 9.
 
 30 MEXICO. 
 
 such deep traces, whilst the people itself has passed 
 away. 
 
 Different tribes, probably akin to the Toltecs, suc- 
 ceeded to their deserted lands. Of these the Chiche- 
 mecs were the most considerable. They were a 
 barbarous and migratory horde, amounting in number 
 to some thousands, who wandered about from place to 
 place under the rule of a chief named Xolotl. Their 
 persons were almost entirely naked, and their only 
 object of worship was the sun. Establishing them- 
 selves in the valley of Mexico, they intermarried with 
 the inhabitants, and learned from tliem to cultivate 
 cotton and to build permanent dwellings. At the 
 news of their prosperity seven other tribes set out to 
 join them. Though called by different names, taken 
 from the localities in which they settled, they were all 
 allied to one another, all spoke the same language, and 
 all had the same habits of life. They arrived at 
 intervals, and being gladly welcomed by Xolotl and 
 the Chichemecs they formed a number of independent 
 states. Xochimilco, Chalco, Colhuacan, Tlascala, and 
 Mexico, were the names of their towns ; whilst the 
 whole people were called Nahuatlacs (dwellers by the 
 waters), for aU their early settlements were near the 
 lake of Tezcuco. 
 
 Another nation, the Acolhuans, now appear upon 
 the scene. Their origin is unknown, though it is pro- 
 bable they came from the north. Under the guidance 
 of three j'oung chieftains, beautiful of countenance 
 and persuasive of speech, they advanced across the 
 plateau of Anahuac until they reached the territory 
 of the Chichemecs. Xolotl received them with open 
 arms, bestowed his two daughters on two of the chief- 
 tains, and found a fair maiden of Chalco for the third.
 
 EAKLT nrSTORT. 31 
 
 Their subjects iniitated the example of the royal house, 
 and the united peoples pursued with success the arts 
 of peace. Some wai'like spirits that could not endure 
 so regular a life left them to join the Otomies, a bar- 
 barous tribe on the northern boundarv. which main- 
 tains to this day its ancient enmity to civilization. 
 The remainder, under the fourth king after Xolotl, 
 built the city of Tezcuco, and held it until the period 
 immediately preceding the Spanish conquest. 
 
 Great was the lamentation of his subjects at the 
 death of the wise Xolotl. They looked on him as the 
 founder of their prosperity, they cherished the memory 
 of his courage, his energy, and his justice. At his 
 burial the royal corpse, covered with cui'iously wrought 
 figures in gold and silver, was placed upon a couch 
 made of aromatic substances : there it rested five days, 
 until the nobles could arrive who were invited to the 
 funeral ; it was then solemnly burned, according to 
 the custom of the Chichemecs. The ashes were collected 
 into a vast urn of stone, which was exposed for forty 
 days in one of the halls of the palace, and each day 
 the nobles came to mourn the father of their country 
 and to pay him the tribute of their tears. It was 
 afterwards borne in grand procession to the place of 
 royal sepulchre, and stored up within one of the pyra- 
 midal structures which arc so common throughout 
 Mexico, where it was consigned to the guardianship of 
 the god of death. The account of this burial bears 
 witness both to the advanced state of civilization of 
 the people, and to the conviction that has so firm a 
 hold upon the mind of man, namely, that there is a 
 life beyond the grave. It is the priceless blessing of 
 the Gospel that it at once confirms and satisfies this 
 conviction, in revealing to us the Saviour who said,
 
 32 MEXICO. 
 
 ''I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth 
 on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." 
 
 Under the care of Xolotl's successors, Tezcuco be- 
 came the Athens of Anahuac. It was the seat of its 
 poetry and art, the chosen home of its learned men. 
 The dominion of the Tezcucans spread over the sur- 
 rounding country, hut a sad reverse was in store for 
 them. About the year 1418, a.d., they were invaded 
 by the Tepanecs ; a terrible struggle ensued, the city 
 was taken, the king slain, and Nezahualcoyotl, * his 
 heir, after seeing his father murdered before his eyes, 
 only escaped by concealing himself in the branches of 
 a tree. The subsequent history of this prince is full 
 of romantic interest. He fell into the enemy's hands, 
 and was confined in a dungeon ; but an old servant of 
 his father's succeeded in effecting the young king's 
 escape, though his own life was the penalty of his 
 loyalty. At length the royal family of Mexico inter- 
 ceded for the fugitive prince, and he was permitted 
 to return to Tezcuco, and even to inhabit the regal 
 palace. Eight years were spent in unmolested study, 
 but the death of the Tepanec usurper, and the jealousy 
 of his son, Maxtla, were the source of new troubles. 
 Nezahualcoyotl hastened to pay his homage, but 
 Maxtla tpurned his offering of flowers, and showed 
 such manifest disfavour that the Tezcucan prince hur- 
 ried back to his home. Baffled in a scheme to assas- 
 sinate him at a banquet, Maxtla next had recourse to 
 open violence ; but his intended victim courteously 
 received his soldiers, and whilst they were refreshing 
 themselves at his invitation, he effected his escape by 
 a subterranean passage, and found an asylum in the 
 cottage of one of his subjects. 
 
 * i.e., the hungry fox.
 
 E.VKLy UISTOllT. 33 
 
 For some time, the proscribed prince led a wretclied 
 wandering life. A pi'ice was set upon his head, and 
 the strictest search was instituted to discover him. 
 Hunted from place to place — at one time concealed in 
 the dense forests that fringed the territory of Tlascala, 
 at another hidden in the cot of some humble Tezcucan — 
 XezahualcoyotI owed his preservation to the love and 
 fidelity of his people. Once he took refuge within a 
 large drum, around which a party of soldiers were 
 dancing ; on another occasion, when hard pressed, a 
 maiden covered him with the stalks of chian she was 
 reaping in the open field, and then pointed his pursuers 
 to a false direction as that which he had selected. 
 A large grant of land, and a bride of noble birth, were 
 offered to any one who should capture him, dead or 
 alive : but no bribe could tempt the poorest Tezcucan 
 to betray their king. At length, the oppression of the 
 Tepanecs became intolerable. The neighbouring states 
 lent their aid to throw off the yoke, and after a bloody 
 engagement, the Tezcucan prince recovered his rightful 
 dominion. The territory of the Tepanecs was laid 
 waste, and reserved as the great slave market of Ana- 
 huac: and a formal league, offensive and defensive, was 
 arranged between Tezcuco, Mexico, and Tlacopan. 
 
 Kestored to the thi'one of his fathers, Nezahual- 
 coyotl reigned with wisdom and magnificence. He 
 established councils of his wisest nobles to regulate the 
 finances of his kingdom, and to decide all questions of 
 war and justice. From the ordinary tribunals of the 
 country an appeal lay to the supreme courts, and there 
 was none of the delay so much complained of in our 
 modern coui-ts, as every four months a report was 
 forw-arded of all cases. Learning was encouraged and 
 schools were established, whilst a rigid censorship was 
 
 D
 
 84 MEXICO. 
 
 maintained over the productions of authors. On stated 
 days, historical compositions and poems were recited, 
 as at the Olympic games. The monarch himself turned 
 poet, and some of his poems are still extant. They 
 bi'eathe the spirit of one who has di'ank the cup of 
 pleasure, and is half tempted to cry, with Solomon, 
 "all is vanity!" But knowing no better alternative, 
 he returns to it again, saying, " let us eat and drink, 
 for to-morrow we die." 
 
 Here is a specimen of his muse. " Banish care ; if 
 there are bounds to pleasure, the saddest life must also 
 have an end. Then weave the chaplet of flowers, and 
 sing thy songs in praise of the all-powerful God, for 
 the glory of this world soon fadeth away. Eejoice in 
 the green freshness of thy spring, for the day will 
 come when thou shalt sigh for these joys in vain ; 
 when the sceptre shall pass from thy hands, thy 
 servants shall wander desolate in thy courts, thy sons 
 and the sons of thv nobles shall drink the dregrs of 
 distress, and all the pomp of thy victories and 
 triumphs shall live only in their recollection. Yet 
 the remembrance of the just sliall not pass away from 
 the nations, and the good thou hast done shall ever 
 be held in honour. The goods of this life, its glories 
 and its riches, are but lent to us, its substance is 
 but an illusory shadow, and the things of to-day, 
 shall change on the coming of the morrow."* How 
 mournful is the chord thus struck by the Indian king 
 in the height of his prosperity. How different from 
 the firm faith of the apostle in the midst of his suffer- 
 ings, " our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
 
 • Prescott, vol. I. p. 14S. It ought to be added that these reports of 
 early M exican civilization have been suspected of exaggeration-
 
 EARLY IIISTOET. 35 
 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weiyht 
 of glory !" 
 
 It was no moan share of the world's wealth which 
 had fallen to Nezahualeoyotl. The royal palace rose 
 in the midst of the capital, extending for nearly three 
 (luarters of a mile in length, by more than half a mile 
 in depth. It comprised two vast courts, the outer 
 one served as the market-place of the city, whilst the 
 inner one contained halls for the despatch of public 
 business, for the reception and entertainment of foreign 
 embassies, and for the retreat of men of science and 
 learning. Here, too, were gathered the literature and 
 archives of the past, and authors assembled to pursue 
 their studies, or to recite their compositions. Hard 
 ])y were the royal apartments, and the saloons of 
 the king's numerous concubines : their walls bright 
 with alabaster or gorgeous with hangings of feather 
 work. These rooms opened into gardens laid out with 
 much intricacy and beauty, dotted with fountains and 
 baths of clear water, and enlivened by the varied 
 plumage of tropical birds : whilst animals and birds 
 that could not be brought there alive, were skilfully 
 modelled in gold and silver. Upwards of 400,000,000 
 of pounds of maize, nearly 300,000,000 of pounds of 
 cocoa, 8,000 turkeys, 1,300 baskets of salt, with 
 game, vegetables, and condiments innumerable, were 
 yearly supplied for the royal table. Nor is it at all 
 incredible that the pile contained three hundi'cd apart- 
 ments, some of them fifty yards square, when we i-ead 
 the accounts of the vast ruins that still attest the 
 magnificence of the palace, or when we recall to mind 
 that its remains have {'urnished the materials for all 
 the churches and other buildings since erected at 
 Tezcuco by the Spaniards.
 
 36 MEXICO. 
 
 In the midst of so much pomp and splendour 
 Nezahualcoyotl, formerly the proscribed fugitive, ruled 
 supreme. Once in each four months, pei'haps much 
 oftener, his mind reverted to his former fortunes ; for 
 then the whole court, dressed in robes of the coarsest 
 linen, were assembled to hear an address on the Tezcucan 
 code of morality and on the uncertainty of human 
 things. The preacher boldly rebuked any one vpho had 
 been guilty of notorious crime, not even excepting 
 the monarch himself ; and it is said that the audience 
 were often moved to tears. But beneath all this 
 magnificence of the court there must have been abject 
 terror in the minds of the people, as the smallest 
 offence was punished with death : in one instance, 
 indeed, this severity was relaxed, as will be seen from 
 the following anecdote : 
 
 The king was fond of stripping off the robes of 
 state and mixing in disguise with his people. One 
 day he fell in with a boy gathering sticks for fuel. 
 " Why do you not go into the woods and get as many 
 as you want ?" asked the monarch. " Because the 
 wood belongs to the king, and it is death to be caught 
 trespassing there." " What sort of a man is your 
 king ?" replied the questioner. " A very hard man, 
 who denies the people what God gave them," was the 
 answer. The king pressed the boy to disregard so 
 harsh a law, but the lad stoutly refused, and at last 
 turned upon him with the accusation that he wished 
 to betray him. Nezahualcoyotl went home, and send- 
 ing for the boy and his parents, dismissed tbem with 
 a liberal joresent, and relaxed the severity of his forest 
 laws. 
 
 Another anecdote is far less favourable to the 
 monarch's character. On a visit to an aged noble.
 
 EARLY niSTOET. 37 
 
 the latter, out of compliment to his sovereign, bade 
 liis young and beautii'ul wife wait on them at the 
 banquet. The king conceived a violent passion for 
 her ; but, dissembling his ieclings, he returned home, 
 and then adopted the stratagem of David against 
 Uriah. He ordered the nobleman to take tlie field 
 against the enemy, and commanded two of his atten- 
 dants to lead him into the thickest of the fight. The 
 old man saw through the design, and foretold its issue. 
 Alter a decent interval, and with every effort to avoid 
 suspicion, the widow was then summoned to court, 
 and became the legitimate wife of the monarch. 
 
 Our space forbids us to linger over the life of Xeza- 
 hualcoyotl, but one more circumstance must be recorded 
 ere we pass on. The marriage which had been so 
 iniquitously contrived was not blessed with offspring, 
 and the monarch in his diificulty consulted the priests. 
 They made answer that the gods withheld the boon 
 because they were not honoured by human sacrifices, 
 and that nothing else would avail. To such oll'erings 
 the king had been always most averse ; for the simple 
 religious rites of the Tezcucans were not marked by 
 the blood we shall presently find so freely shed by the 
 Aztecs. At length he reluctantly consented. The 
 sacrifices were offered, but the Queen was yet childless. 
 lie then withdrew to his rural palace, where he remained 
 for forty days, fasting at fixed intervals and making no 
 other off"erings than sweet incense and aromatic herbs. 
 At length his desire was accomplished. In his joy he 
 raised a huge pyramid, surmounted by a lofty tower, 
 wliich he dedicated to " the unknown God, the Cause 
 of causes." No image was to be allowed to be reared 
 in his temple, and no blood to stain his altars. 
 
 From this time the monarch lived niuch in retire-
 
 38 MEXICO. 
 
 ment, dwelling' upon the shadow}'' speculations as to 
 human nature and its destiny, which are all that man, 
 unaided b}^ the Bible, can grasp. He coidd say " Let 
 us aspire to that heaven where all is eternal, and corrup- 
 tion cannot come ;" but he knew not how to reach it 
 through faith in Him who came down from heaven to 
 raise his people thither. He died full of years and 
 honours, commending his infant son to his most trusty 
 councillors, and maintaining in the agonies of death 
 an unbroken spirit of endurance, which was only 
 melted on bidding farewell to those most dear to him. 
 When the}"^ had said their adieus, the brave old man 
 ordered that no one else should be admitted to his 
 presence, and died in the solitary dignity which was 
 supposed to become his station. 
 
 Nezahualpilli (the prince for whom one has fasted), 
 was but eight years old at the time of his father's 
 death. When he grew up, he in many respects re- 
 sembled his father, but his character was cast in a 
 sterner i\iould. With greater self-restraint, he had 
 less compassion for the erring. When his favourite 
 son was detected in a criminal intrigue, the king 
 caused the youth to be tried by the ordinary tri- 
 bunal, and allowed tlie sentence of death passed by 
 it to be put into execution. This event embittered 
 the monarch's heart, and he spent some time in seclu- 
 sion, mourning in solitude over h's sorrow. Perhaps 
 it was to drown the memory of this grief that he 
 afterwards abandoned himself to a life of luxurious 
 ease. At any rate his early vigour and wai-like spirit 
 were lost, and the Mexican Montezuma, his rival, 
 encroached upon the Tezcucan territoi-ies and assumed 
 the title of supremacy which the Tezcucan monarch 
 had hitherto borne. Under the pressiu'e of these
 
 EARLY ITISTOKT. 
 
 39 
 
 calamities, Nczahualpilli sickened and died in the year 
 1515, and when the Spaniards arrived, a few years later, 
 they found the empire in the power of Montezuma. 
 
 Thiscahi lias been mentioned as one of the Nahuatlac 
 cities built among the Chichemecs, on the borders of 
 the lake of Tezcuco. For some unex[)lained reason the 
 Tlasealans incvirred the enmity of the neighbouring 
 states, who combined against them, and a bloody battle 
 ensued, in which the Tlasealans were victorious. They 
 determined, however, to leave a country which was 
 encircled on all sides by their foes, and selected the 
 region between the sierra of Tlascala and the mountains 
 that shut in the valley of Mexico. Here they found a 
 district strongh' fortified by nature, abounding in fertile 
 valleys running up into the hills, and sweeping down- 
 wards towards the east, in which direction alone an 
 open plain, some six miles in width, seemed to invite 
 the attacks of their enemies. They raised a strong 
 wall across the mouth of this valley, and entrusted 
 its custody to a body of the Otomies, a wild race who 
 made common cause with them. 
 
 Entrenched in such a territory, the Tlasealans passed 
 a free and simple life. The name of their country 
 (Tlascala, meaning " the land of bread,") signified 
 the abundance with which the}'- were blessed. Their 
 state was divided into four republics, united into a 
 federation, but each of which was ruled by its own 
 aristocracy. The people were divided into an order of 
 hereditary nobility and a mass of plebeians. Trained 
 from their childhood to endurance and other habits 
 which might make them» good soldiers, the Tlasealans 
 enjoyed a high reputation for bravery in war, and for 
 wisdom and honour in peace. Amongst other evidences 
 of civilization, the Spaniards found an order of knight-
 
 40 MEXICO. 
 
 hood existing among them, entrance to which was 
 much coveted by the young Tlascalan nobles. 
 
 The Tlascalans seem to have incurred the enmity of 
 their neighbours very soon after their settlement in their 
 new country. The adjoining state of Cholula was the 
 first to attack them ; but met with such a repulse as 
 deterred the Cholulans from repeating the attempt. 
 At a later period, when the empire of Montezuma was 
 extended over the whole surrounding country, he was 
 especially indignant that his power should be defied by 
 so small a state, in the very heart of his territory. 
 His rage was yet more inflamed when a force he sent 
 against them was defeated, and his son, who com- 
 manded the expedition, was slain. Immense prepara- 
 tions were then made to subjugate the Tlascalans, 
 but the hardy mountaineers dashed down the sides of 
 their native hills, or inveigled their enemies into the 
 narrow passes ; and, although unceasing hostilities were 
 carried on for some years, and their country was so 
 completely blockaded that for more than half a century 
 they had neither cotton, cocoa, nor salt, yet the little 
 republic still remained unsubdued. These efforts 
 naturally engendered that bitter hatred of Montezuma 
 and his Aztec subjects which Cortez turned to his 
 own advantage in the conquest of the country. 
 
 The Aztecs were the most important of all the 
 Mexican races when the Spaniards arrived in the 
 country. Descending from the north, at the close of 
 the twelfth century of our era, they wandered for 
 upwards of a hundred years and endured incredible 
 hardships : nor was it until the year 1325 that they 
 founded the city of Mexico. As they halted on the 
 south-western side of the principal lake (so runs the 
 legend), they beheld a royal eagle of vast size perched
 
 EAKLY niSTOKT. 41 
 
 upon the stem of a prickly pear, his broad wings spread 
 out to the sun, and a serpent in his talons. Its 
 aj^pearance was regarded as an auspicious omen, and 
 on this spot they accoi-dingly commenced their city, 
 which they themselves called Tenochtitlan, but which 
 is better known as Mexico, from Mexitli, the Aztec 
 god of war. 
 
 At its origin Mexico was a miserable village of huts, 
 built upon piles thrust into the lake, and its inha- 
 bitants hved mainly by fishing. By what means they 
 gradually advanced we are unable to record. They 
 allied themselves with the people of Tezcuco and 
 Tlacopan, and the three states flourished during the 
 season of security which their combined strength 
 secured. The prosperity of the Aztecs reached its 
 height under Montezuma. Through his diplomatic 
 skill and courage the allied peoples of Tezcuco and 
 Tlacopan were I'educed to tributaries. Far and wide 
 was the monarch's power extended, until across the 
 valley of Mexico and over the mountains to the coasts 
 of the Gulf his supremacy was universally acknow- 
 ledged, with the single exception of the Tlascalans ; and 
 when Cortez landed he found the whole country under 
 the rule of this powerful king. 
 
 The Aztec government was despotic. The monarch 
 was elected to his office by the four chief nobles, whose 
 choice was confined to the royal family. After him 
 came the great caciques or chieftains, the heads of the 
 native tribes. There was an order of hereditary 
 nobility, a large sacerdotal class, and then a mass of 
 plebeians and slaves. These members made up the 
 body of the Aztec people. The great chieftains pos- 
 sessed immense territories, and their power and wealth 
 made them so formidable to the emperor, that he in-
 
 42 MEXICO. 
 
 sisted on their presence in the capital during^ a part of 
 each year, and required hostages for their good 
 behaviour in their absence. Of the priesthood we shall 
 speak more particularly when we advert to the religion 
 of the Aztecs. Slavery existed, though in a very 
 modified form. Slaves could hold property, could not 
 be required to render more than a certain amount of 
 service, and their lives were protected by law. Inter- 
 marriages between slaves and their masters were not 
 uncommon, and no one could be born to slavery ; even 
 the children of slaves being free from their birth. 
 
 The laws of the country were enacted by the 
 emperor, but their administration was confided to 
 judges, who held their office for life, and could not be 
 removed by the monarch except on conviction of injus- 
 tice. Death was the penalty of almost all offences : 
 adultery, theft, drunkenness in young persons, removal 
 of a neighbour's boundary, or peculation in acting as 
 the guardian of an orphan, were all capital crimes. 
 There was no appeal from the judge to the sovereign, 
 and with the contempt for human life so frightfully 
 evinced in their sacrifices, execution followed imme- 
 diately upon the sentence. The same punishment 
 awaited any judge who received a bribe, and was even 
 inflicted upon one who had heard causes in his own 
 house instead of the public courts. 
 
 The tenure of land was somewhat singular. Each 
 tribe possessed its own lands, and these were divided 
 amongst its members by officers appointed for that 
 purpose. If a family became extinct, or removed to 
 another region, the lands it had held could not be 
 alienated by sale, but reverted to the common stock of 
 the tribe, and were again distributed. Thei"e were vast 
 crown lands, which were cultivated for the benefit of
 
 EAELT HISTORY. 43 
 
 the royal treasury ; and a part of the agricultural 
 produce of the whole country was assigned for the 
 support of the immense household wliich was gathered 
 around the person of the monarch. Besides this 
 tribute, particular taxes were imposed upon certain 
 districts, which had to supply materials or artificers 
 for building, or to furnish provisions and fuel. 
 
 These exactions might seem trifling in most primi- 
 tive countries, but the valley of Mexico was thickly po- 
 pulated, and tlie inhabitants were often hard pressed to 
 feed the court of Montezuma. But the revenue officers 
 did not confine their demands to these requirements, 
 there were heavy taxes upon all the manufactures of 
 the country. Here is a list compiled from the 
 Mexican records which will amuse those who are 
 curious in such matters — the items were those fur- 
 nished by different cities for the imperial use. 
 
 " Twenty chests of ground chocolate, 40 pieces of 
 armour of a particular device ; 2,400 loads of large 
 mantles of twisted cloth ; 800 loads of small mantles 
 or rich wearing apparel ; 5 pieces of armour of rich 
 feathers ; GO pieces of armour of common feathers ; a 
 chest of beans ; a chest of chian ; a chest of maize ; 
 8,000 reams of paper ; 2.000 loaves of very white salt, 
 for the consumption only of the lords of Mexico ; 
 8,000 lumps of unrefined copal ; 400 small baskets of 
 refined copal ; 100 copper axes ; 80 loads of red 
 chocolate ; 800 sccicaras, out of which they drank 
 chocolate ; a little vessel of small turquoise stones ; 
 4 chests full of maize ; 4,000 loads of lime ; tiles of 
 gold, of the size of an oyster and as thick as the 
 finger ; 40 bags of cochineal ; 20 bags of gold-dust, 
 of the finest quality ; a diadem of gold of a specified 
 pattern ; 20 lips jewels of clear amber, ornamented
 
 44 MEXICO. 
 
 with gold ; 200 loads of chocolate ; 100 pots or jars of 
 liquid amber ; 8,000 haudfuls of rich scarlet feathers ; 
 40 tigers' skins ; 1,600 bundles of cotton, &c., &c." * 
 Such a catalogue, although without any pretension to 
 be an accurate and exhaustive account of the revenues 
 paid in this form, may serve as a guide to the splen- 
 dour of the Aztec monarch. Just before the arrival 
 of the Spaniards, some of these imposts became so 
 burdensome as to create much dissatisfaction among 
 the subjects of Montezuma. Thus the way was largely 
 opened for the conquest of the country. 
 
 In an extensive empire, which is the fruit of con- 
 quest and is held by force, it is necessary to have a 
 system of communication between the capital and the 
 most distant regions, that any attempt at insurrection 
 may be promptly met and crushed. Such a line of 
 posts was established in Mexico. Couriers were trained 
 from childhood to run at great speed from city to 
 city. By this means Montezuma was immediately 
 acquainted with the entrance of the fleet of Cortez 
 into the harbour of St. Juan de Ulua. The same 
 agency ministered to the luxury of the palace. Fish 
 caught in the Gulf of Mexico, two hundred miles 
 distant, was served up in twenty-four hours upon the 
 royal table. 
 
 The arm}'- of the Aztecs was carefully organized. 
 Each district provided its assigned number of men, 
 under the command of their native chieftains. The 
 companies were massed in divisions eight thousand 
 strong, the whole army being usually led b}" the 
 king in person. Much of the agency now common 
 in Europe was employed to animate and strengthen the 
 troops. Orders of military knighthood were esta- 
 
 • Preseott's Mexico, vol. I. p. ."j:'.
 
 EARLY niSTOUT. 45 
 
 blishcd. The right of wearing armorial devices was 
 only to be won by some gallant deed. Strict disci- 
 pline was maintained. And the standard of the 
 empire was the rallying point of its defenders. The 
 host made a brave show as it marched forth with the 
 gold and silver cuirasses of the chieftains, or their 
 brilliant mantles of feather work. The Spaniards 
 were excited to admiration by the light skirmishing 
 and combined movements of the Mexican host. United 
 action must, however, have been greatly interfered 
 with by their anxiety to take prisoners in battle. To 
 secure a pi'isoner for the sacrifice, not to slay him on 
 the field, was their first object. No amount of ransom 
 could purchase the freedom of a captive. 
 
 Nor were the Mexicans altogether ignorant of the 
 politer walks of literature. They invented a species 
 of picture-writing, and thus past history was trans- 
 mitted by a method far more reliable than oral tradi- 
 tion. Their system, of course, lacked the accuracy of 
 letters, and it needed special instruction in the secret 
 meaning of the symbols to enable any one to inter- 
 pret their manuscripts. Many things were expressed 
 by rude representations ; where this was impossible 
 emblems were used. Thus a tongue, denoted speaking ; 
 a foot-print, travelling ; a man sitting on the ground, 
 an earthquake ; and so on. * The priests had also a 
 peculiar system of sacred hieroglyphics, in which their 
 religious mysteries were preserved and recoi'ded. 
 
 This picture-writing was of a very primitive cha- 
 racter, very inferior to the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 
 The colours of the figures also conveyed some further 
 information as to the meaning of the writing. They 
 had a much more simple method of representing nuin- 
 
 • Prescott, vol. I. p. 79.
 
 46 MEXICO. 
 
 bers. The first twenty numbers were expressed by as 
 many clots ; certain combinations of which were em- 
 ployed to represent higher figures. Their writings 
 were delineated on cloth, or skins, or more commonly 
 on a kind of paper manufactured from the leaves of 
 the Mexican aloe. This latter formed a beautiful 
 soft material, and was often painted in brilliant 
 colours, amongst which the red of the cochineal 
 (first obtained from Mexico) was conspicuous. The 
 manuscripts were either done up into rolls or shut 
 up in the shape of folding-screens, and divided into 
 volumes of moderate size. 
 
 But there is no more striking proof of the high 
 state of Aztec civilization than the elaboration of their 
 calendar. The year was divided into eighteen months 
 of twenty days. Each month was divided into four 
 weeks of five days, and on the fifth day a market was 
 held for the sale of goods. As this plan only embraced 
 360, out of the 365 days of the solar year, they added 
 five days which belonged to no month, and were 
 esteemed as of ill omen. On the yearly recurrence of 
 these days, the Mexicans broke their household images, 
 destroyed their domestic utensils, rent their clothes, 
 and waited in much apprehension for the dawn of 
 new year's morning, when fresh things were brought 
 out, amidst general rejoicings, to replace those which 
 had been destroyed. 
 
 A still more remarkable proof of the accuracy of 
 their observation is afforded by the fact that they 
 intercalated twenty-five days every 104 years, or 
 rather twelve days and a half every cycle of fifty- 
 two 3'-ears. Thus they corrected the error which 
 would have gradually crept into their computation 
 from the absence of a day corresponding to the 29th
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 47 
 
 of February, or leap year, with ourselves. The cycle 
 of fifty-two years was divided into four periods of 
 thirteen years each, and by a very ingenious system 
 of hierog-lyphics, comprising only four symbols, but so 
 arranged that the same s3-mbol did not express the 
 same year in any one of the four periods, they repre- 
 sented with ease every year in the cj'cle. These careful 
 schemes indicate an acuteness and accuracy of thought 
 which are most astonishing in a half barbarous people. 
 
 Agriculture was pursued with much success, and the 
 large numbers of the population gave considerable 
 importance to this branch of industry. We shall 
 speak elsewhere of the natural products of Mexico, 
 with which the grateful soil made abundant return for 
 the care bestowed on its cultivation. Maize, the aloe, 
 and the banana, were the most important crops. Large 
 public granaries stored up the surplus produce, and 
 provided a remedy against years of scarcity, which 
 proved so disastrous under Spanish rule. 
 
 Mexico is pre-eminently the land of flowei's, and 
 the natives fostered them with much care. They 
 trained tliem about their huts, wove them into gar- 
 lands, or strewed them as a thick carpet on their feast 
 days ; and as their canoes shot across the lake of 
 Tezcuco to the capital, the coarsest freight was beauti- 
 fied with a plentiful covering of blossoms. 
 
 The Mexicans were clever workmen in the precious 
 metals. Considering how much silver was afterwards 
 found in the country, it seems strange that we hear so 
 little of it at the period of the conquest ; probably the 
 attention of the Sj)aniards was engrossed by the gold 
 of which Montezuma had such vast store. Figures, 
 in imitation of birds and animals, beautifully wrought, 
 some with alternate feathers of gold and silver, ex-
 
 48 MEXICO. 
 
 torted the marked approval of Cortez. They were 
 ignorant of the use of iron, but had a kind of bronze 
 composed of tin and copper, of which they made their 
 tools. They used also obsidian for knives and axes. 
 It is marvellous how they managed with such imple- 
 ments, and without any beasts of burden to transport 
 huge masses of stone to the capital, or even to cut 
 them from the quarry. The celebrated calendar stone 
 was a block of dark porphjny, weighing some fifty 
 tons, and this had been brought a distance of many 
 leagues across lakes and over bridges. There were 
 guilds or companies of trades, and the dignity of labour 
 was comprehended by the Aztecs. " Apply thyself, 
 my son," said an aged chief, "to agriculture, or to 
 feather-work, or some other honourable calhng ; thus 
 did your ancestors before 3'ou, else how would they 
 have provided for themselves and their families ? 
 Never was it heard that nobility alone was able to 
 maintain its possessors." * The merchants seem fre- 
 quently to have travelled in caravans, like the company 
 of Ishmaelites to whom Joseph was sold, and like them 
 too, they held slave-dealing to be an honourable pur- 
 suit. On their journeys they were often employed as 
 ambassadors, and some of their number were always 
 near the person of the Aztec monarch. 
 
 Let us try to get a glimpse of the Mexicans at home. 
 The estimation in which woman is held is a very 
 decisive test of the condition of a people. Amongst 
 the North American Indians women are slaves, and 
 perform all the severe labour, war or hunting being the 
 only pursuit of tlie men. With the civilized Hindoos 
 they held no higher place. But amongst the Mexicans 
 the gentler sex was treated with almost European 
 
 • Prcseott, vol. I. p. 124
 
 EABLT niSTORT. 49 
 
 courtesy and kindness. The most elaborate politeness 
 (a marked feature in tlie natives to this day,) was 
 observed, and visits of etiquette were paid on all the 
 more important occasions of daily life. Banquets 
 were given to which friends were summoned, and all 
 the luxury of precious metals and elaborate cookery 
 was employed to render them agreeable. Game in 
 abundance smoked upon the board ; pastry and fruits 
 were served up ; chocolate, beaten up into a thick paste, 
 was handed round and eaten cold. The old people 
 drank pulque (too much of it sometimes), whilst the 
 young folks danced before them. They smoked tobacco, 
 and sometimes swallowed its fumes ; they even took 
 snuff, so that many of our own bad habits could find 
 a parallel in Mexican nat've customs. To all this 
 refinement there was often a horribly revolting 
 adjunct ; the flesh of a slave, very carefully prepared, 
 was eaten upon great occasions. 
 
 The children were taken from home at an early age 
 and educated |)y the priests, the girls under teachers of 
 their own sex. They were treated with much severity, 
 and early experienced the truth that there is no royal 
 road to knowledge. Theii* education finished, they 
 returned home and met with a kindness much in 
 contrast with their school days, and which must have 
 'endeared the parents' roof to them. When a daughter 
 was married she was addressed by her parents on her 
 duty as a wife. She was told to be simple and modest 
 in manner, to be obedient to her husband, to be cleanly 
 in her person. The latter duty appears unhappily to 
 be no longer recognised in Mexico. 
 
 Bernal Diaz, who accompanied Cortez, has given 
 us the following account of Montezuma's mode of life. 
 " His cooks had upwards of thirty different ways 
 
 £
 
 50 MEXICO. 
 
 of cooking meats, and they had earthen vessels so 
 contrived as to keep them constantly hot. For the 
 table of Montezuma himself above three hundi-ed 
 dishes were dressed, and for his guards above one 
 thousand. Before dinner, Montezuma would sometimes 
 go out and inspect the preparations, and his officers 
 would point out to him which were the best, and 
 explain of what birds and flesh they were composed, 
 and of these he would eat. But this was more for 
 amusement than anything else. 
 
 " It is said that at times the flesh of young children 
 was dressed for him ; but the ordinary meats were 
 domestic fowls, pheasants, geese, partridges, quails, 
 venison, Indian hogs, pigeons, hares, and rabbits, with 
 many other animals and birds peculiar to the country. 
 At his meals, in cold weather, a number of torches, of 
 the bark of a tree which makes no smoke and has an 
 aromatic smell, were lighted, and that they should 
 not throw too much heat, screens, ornamented with 
 gold and painted with figm'es of idols, were placed 
 before them. 
 
 " Montezuma was seated on a low throne, or chair, 
 at a table proportioned to the height of his seat. The 
 table was covered with white cloths and napkins, and 
 four beautiful women presented him with water for his 
 hands in vessels with plates under them to catch the 
 water. They also presented him with towels. 
 
 " Then two other women brought small cakes of 
 bread ; and when the king began to eat, a large screen 
 of wood was placed before him, so that during that 
 period people should not behold him. The women 
 having retired to a little distance, four ancient lords 
 stood by the throne, to whom Montezuma from time 
 to time addressed questions, and, as a mark of peculiar
 
 EAELT niSTOET. 51 
 
 favour, gave to each of them a phvte of that which he 
 was eating. I was tohl that these old lords, who were 
 his near relations, were also councillors and judges. 
 The plates which Montezuma presented to them they 
 received with high respect, eating what w^as on them 
 without taking their eyes off the ground. He was 
 served in earthenware of Cholula, red and black. 
 While the king was at the table, none of his guards in 
 the vicinity of his apartment dared for their lives to 
 make any noise. Fruit of all kinds produced in the 
 country was laid before him ; he ate very little, but 
 from time to time a liquor, prepared from cocoa and of 
 a stimulative quality, was presented to him in golden 
 cups. 
 
 "At different intervals dm*ing the dinner, there 
 entered certain Indians, humpbacked, very deformed 
 and ugly, who played tricks of buffoonery, and others 
 who were jesters. There was also a company of singers 
 and dancers, who afforded Montezuma much entertain- 
 ment. To these he ordered the vases of chocolate to 
 be distributed. The four female attendants then took 
 away the cloths, and again with much respect presented 
 him with water to wash his hands, during which time 
 Montezuma conferred with the four old noblemen 
 formerly mentioned, after which they took their leave 
 with many ceremonies. 
 
 " One thing I forgot to mention in its place, and 
 that is, during the time Montezuma was at dinner, 
 two very beautiful women were busily employed 
 making small cakes, with eggs and other things mixed 
 therein. These were delicately wbite, and, when made, 
 were presented to him on plates covered with napkins. 
 Also another kind of bread was brought to him in 
 long loaves, and plates of cakes resembling wafers,
 
 52 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 "After he had dined, they presented to him three 
 little canes, highly ornamented, containing liquid 
 amber mixed with a herb which they call tobacco; 
 and when he had sufficiently viewed and heard the 
 singers, dancers, and buffoons, he took a little of the 
 smoke of one of these canes, and then laid hunself 
 down to sleep." 
 
 We have thus far noticed the favourable features of 
 Aztec civilization, and it is difficult to determine with 
 accm*acy, how far they extended amongst the mass of 
 the population, or whether they were mainly confined 
 to the higher orders. Nor can we discriminate 
 between the actual condition of Mexican society and 
 the bright or dark medium through which it has been 
 regarded by the chroniclers, to whom we are indebted 
 for information concerning it. This much at any rate 
 is certain. A high standard of material comfort and 
 elegance had been reached by the Aztecs. Many 
 branches of art were successfully pursued, and their 
 social condition was not altogether deficient in those 
 humanizing influences which exert a beneficial power 
 over the mind of man. But side by side with these 
 there were sterner elements which gave quite an 
 opposite character to the public ceremonies of the 
 Mexicans. These were connected with their religious 
 ceremonies, with some account of which we shall 
 conclude this notice of the early history of the country. 
 
 The religious system of the Aztecs combined two 
 strangely diverse elements. The one breathed a gentle 
 spirit, the other was stern and cruel. It would seem 
 that the people had once been possessed of a milder 
 faith, upon which the sanguinary rites were afterwards 
 engrafted which the Spaniards found to be prevalent 
 on their arrival.
 
 EARLY niSTOUT. 53 
 
 The Aztecs had certain expressions which spoke of 
 a supreme Creator, the Lord of the Universe. They 
 spoke of him as "the god by whom we Hve, that 
 knoweth all thoughts and giveth all gifts, without 
 whom man is as nothing, and under whose wings he 
 finds repose and a sure defence." This confession was, 
 however, merely speculative, and did not lead to any 
 practical result. Their creed embraced thirteen prin- 
 cipal, and more than two hundred inferior deities. 
 
 The most pleasing of these was Quetzalcoatl, the 
 god of the air, the benignant deity of Aztec mythology. 
 In an early age, according to their legends, he had 
 come to reside amongst men. He had taught them 
 the arts of agricultm-e, maimfacture, and government. 
 He had blessed their fields with abundant produce. 
 In short he had inaugurated a golden age. Did the 
 superior gods envy man the blessings which he con- 
 ferred ? We know not, but at any rate they drove him 
 from Mexico. On his departure he promised to return 
 and renew the season of pi'osperity. This tradition 
 was cherished by the people, and when the Spaniards 
 landed on their shores the}' believed that the appointed 
 era was come. The image of the god represented a 
 man tall of stature, with a fair skin, dark hair, and a 
 flowing beard. 
 
 Huitzilopotchli, the god of war, was a terrible 
 contrast to Quetzalcoatl. He rejoiced in the blood 
 of human sacrifices, and captives taken in the field 
 were offered as victims on his altars. His temples, 
 like those of the other Aztec deities, were large mounds 
 of earth, pyramidal in shape, and cased with brick or 
 stone. They were divided into terraces, access to 
 which was gained by flights of steps. All the cere- 
 monial of worship was performed in the open air.
 
 54, 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 Long lines of procession were formed. After mounting 
 the first flight of steps they womid round the terrace 
 to tlie second flight, then round tlie second terrace, 
 and so on to the flat summit. Here stood the altars 
 on which the sacrifices were immolated, beneath the 
 vault of heaven. Two tall towers contained the 
 images of the deity to whom the teocalli or temple was 
 dedicated. 
 
 There was a numerous sacerdotal order, headed by 
 two high priests, who ranked next in dignity to the 
 emperor. They were allowed to marry, but dimng 
 the period of their ministrations tliey lived apart from 
 their families in a kind of monastery. Like the 
 priests of Baal, they practised great austerities, and 
 cut themselves with knives and lancets. They were 
 intrusted with the education of the Aztec youth. 
 Thrice each day, and once at night, they were sum- 
 moned to prayers. 
 
 Many rites were observed which have their counter- 
 part in the Eomish creed. Confession was practised, 
 its secrets were held inviolable, and absolution gave a 
 legal acquittal in case of arrest. The same offence, 
 liowever, was not forgiven twice ; and confession 
 was therefore often put off till death drew near, a 
 proceeding which may find a parallel in Eomish 
 practice. Children were baptized with water. Pen- 
 ance was exacted and performed. HumiHt}', morality, 
 and charity to the poor, were enjoined. Yet the 
 priests, who inculcated these maxims, purchased the 
 children of their poorer countrymen to offer them in 
 sacrifice to their gods. 
 
 Human sacrifices are said to have been adopted 
 about two centuries before the conquest. They were 
 intended to enforce with greater solemnity the lessons
 
 EAELT niSTOET. 55 
 
 of life, or the nature of the gods. We select a shigle 
 example. A year before the feast of Tezcatlepoca, 
 " the soul of the world," a captive of great personal 
 beauty was selected for the sacrifice. For twelve 
 months he was treated with regal magnificence. The 
 most abject homage, the most splendid di-ess, the most 
 gorgeous banquets, the most beauteous concubines 
 were 2)rovided for him : and he was worshipped as a 
 god. The fatal day came. He was led away to the 
 temple, was bidden to thi'ow away his garlands, as he 
 mounted to its summit, and on reaching the altar was 
 quickly despatched by the priests. His heart was 
 plucked out, and the warm and quivering body was 
 hurled down the sides of the teocalli to be torn in 
 pieces and devoured by the multitude below. In this 
 horrible tragedy the Aztecs read the drama of human 
 life : fair in its outset and gloomy at its close. 
 
 As the empire advanced, human sacrifice prevailed 
 more largely. Thousands of victims perished at the 
 shrines. The temples were multiplied, and the capital 
 was lighted up at night with the undying flames upon 
 600 altars. How terrible the system finally became 
 may be estimated from two facts. In one temple 
 alone, the Spaniards counted the skulls of one hundred 
 and thirty-six thousand victims. The lowest compu- 
 tation estimates that twenty thousand human beings 
 were annually sacrificed. 
 
 How may we solve the strange enigma which such 
 a creed as that of Mexico presents ? How can we 
 reconcile these startling contradictions — the existence 
 of so horrible a practice of cannibalism and human 
 slaughter, side by side with the exalted maxims we 
 liave quoted ? We know no other answer to this 
 inquiry than that which is supplied to us by the
 
 56 MEXICO. 
 
 Inspired Word of Grod. The corruption of human 
 nature since Adam's fall explains the evil ; the purity 
 in which man was first created, some feehle and power- 
 less relies of which still survive, accounts for the 
 better elements in the character of mankind. Deeply 
 underlying all this horrible human bloodshed, lay 
 the consciousness that man was alienated from God, 
 and needed through some means of suffering and 
 sacrifice to be reconciled to him. In his blindness 
 the poor Aztec sought by such a mode of worship to 
 appease the Deity whom he felt he had offended, and 
 of whose wrath he was afraid. If St. Paul had stood 
 within the Aztec capital he might have seized upon 
 these witnesses for the gospel which he preached, and 
 have declared at once the true character of man's sin, 
 and the only remedy by which that sin can be removed. 
 As we dwell upon such a history as this of Mexico 
 before its conquest by Hernando Cortez, it seems to 
 afford us an almost startlino^ insio-ht into human 
 nature. In the depth of degradation to which the 
 nation sank despite all the civilization it could boast 
 of, what a strong confirmation there is of the deceit- 
 fulness of sin, and of the desperate wickedness of the 
 heart of fallen man. In the utter inability of all their 
 noblest maxims to exert any powerful or practical 
 influence upon the life and conduct of the people, what 
 an illustration is afforded us of man's need of some aid 
 from without, which may enable him not only to 
 perceive and know what he ought to do, but may also 
 give him grace and power faithfully to fulfil it. And 
 even in the horrible sacrifice of so many thousands of 
 their fellow creatures, what an evidence is vouchsafed 
 us of the almost universal conviction of mankind, that 
 " without sheddirg of blood there can be no remission
 
 EAELT HISTOllT. 57 
 
 of sin." Whilst sucli thoughts are suggested to us 
 by the narrative we have been reading, they sui'ely 
 ought to lead us to self-examination, that we may 
 " make our own calling and election sure." We live in 
 a country blessed with the light of gospel truth, as 
 well as highly favoured with an advanced civilization ; 
 but no merely outward influence which these may have 
 exerted on our minds and our lives, will avail us in the 
 day of judgment. We must be changed in heart, we 
 must be born again, must be converted and receive a new 
 nature ; only those who in Christ Jesus have become 
 new creatures, with changed tastes, habits, and affec- 
 tions, can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Reader 
 — have you experienced such a change ? Ai'e you a 
 possessor, are you at least a searcher for the aid from 
 without, of which we have spoken, even of the guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit which God has promised to give 
 to them that seek it in prayer ? In the consciousness 
 of your weakness, are you asking to be " strengthened 
 with might by his Spirit in your inner man " ? In 
 the consciousness of your sinfulness, are you asking to 
 be cleansed from all guilt by the application of Christ's 
 redeeming blood ? These are the precious, the inesti- 
 mable blessings, which are offei'ed to us freely in the 
 gospel, and they alone can satisfy all the yearnings of 
 our hearts on earth, or make us meet to be partakers 
 of eternal happiness in heaven.
 
 58 MEXICO. 
 
 NOTE TO CHAPTER II. 
 
 The following versified specimen of Nezaliualcoyotl's poetry is 
 taken from the appendix to Prescott's " Conquest of Me>aco." 
 The entire poem is too long for insertiou, and its burden is the 
 same throughout. * 
 
 When sorrows shall my truth attest, 
 And this thy tlirone decline, 
 The birds of thy ancestral nest. 
 
 The princes of thy line, 
 The mighty of thy race, shall seo 
 The bitter ills of poverty : 
 And then shall memory recall 
 Thy envied greatness, and on aU 
 
 Thy brilliant triumphs dwell ; 
 And as they think on bygone years, 
 Compared with present shame, their tears 
 
 Shall to an ocean swell. 
 
 Then Xezahuak'oyotl, now, 
 
 In what thou hast, delight 
 And wreathe around thy regal brow 
 
 Life's garden blossoms bright; 
 List to my Ijtc and to my lay. 
 Which aim to please thee, and obey 
 The pleasures, which our lives present. 
 Earth's sceptres, and its wealth, are lent. 
 
 Our shadows fleeting by ; 
 Appearance colours all our bliss ; 
 A truth so great, that now to this 
 
 One question, make reply. 
 
 What has become of Cihuapan 
 
 Quantzintecomtzin brave. 
 And Conahuatzin, mighty man ? 
 
 Where are they ? In the grave ! 
 Their names remain, but they are fled. 
 For ever numbered with the dead ; 
 Would that those now in friendship bound. 
 We whom Love's thread encircles round. 
 
 Death's cruel edge, might see. 
 Since good on earth is insecure. 
 And all things must a change endure 
 
 In dark futurity. 
 
 t The poet is supposed to be addressing the monarcQ.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SXOEY OF TUE COXQUEST. 
 
 Spain in the IGth Century— Discovery of Cuba— Hernando 
 Cortez — His eurly history— Sails to San Domingo— Dis- 
 covery of Yucatan— Cortez appointed by Velasquez over the 
 Expedition to Mexico — Suspicions of Velasquez — ^Vrma- 
 ment sets sail — Character of Cortez Cozumel reached— 
 Aguilar — Yucatan— Conversion of the Tabascans — Landing 
 at Vera Cruz — Embassy from Montezuma — Negotiations — 
 Refusal of Montezuma — Determination to proceed — Dissen- 
 sions in the Camp— A Colony formed — Cortez re-appointed 
 Leader — Cunning Policy of Cortez— March to Cempoalla — 
 Beautiful Scenery — Joy of the Spaniards — Civilization of 
 the Indians — Character of Spanish Religion — Preaching at 
 Cempoalla— Further Dissensions— March to TIascala — Fierce 
 Battles — Enter TIascala — Embassy from Montezuma — Cortez 
 goes to Cholula — Conspiracy against the Spaniards — Massacre 
 at Cholula — Reflections — March to Mexico — First View of 
 the Capital— Montezuma's Fears — Hospitable Reception — 
 Imprisonment and Unworthy Treatment of jMontezuma — 
 Fresh Troops arrive from Velasquez — Narvaez Conquered — 
 Insurrection of the Mexicans — Death of Montezuma — 
 Perilous Position of Cortez — The Sad Night — Retreat from 
 Mexico — Tactics of Cortez— Towns on the Lake of Tezcuco 
 — Siege and Fall of Iztapalapan — A New Fleet built — 
 Battle of Xaltocan— Launch of the Fleet — Naval Battle-- 
 Sufferings of the Spaniards — Jlexico Invested — Rash Assault 
 — Losses cf the Spaniards — Aztec Obstinacy- Horrors of 
 the Siege— Mexico taken — Capture of GuatemozLu — Reflec- 
 tions on the Conquest — False and True Greatness. 
 
 Tkere were few countries that could vie with 
 Spain in the early pai-t of the IGth century. Its
 
 60 MEXICO. 
 
 different divisions had been united under one govern- 
 ment by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon vs^ith 
 Isabella of Castille, from whom the country descended 
 entire into the hands of Charles V. The states thus 
 combined retained their own representative bodies, 
 and so large a measure of freedom as to occasion much 
 disgust to their haughty sovereign. The people were 
 a bold and manly race, possessed of considerable energy 
 of character, the fruit of many years contest with the 
 Moors for the freedom of their native land ; and now 
 that there was peace at home, they were looking 
 eagerly abroad for new scenes of fame and wealth, 
 either on the fields of Italy, or in the yet unknown 
 country aci'oss the sea which had just been revealed to 
 them by Columbus. 
 
 Before the period of which we are about to treat, 
 the West India Islands were already known, and 
 among them Cuba and Hispaniola had been made the 
 seats of Spanish settlements. From these islands 
 several expeditions had set out to explore the new 
 country. Vasco Nunez, of Balboa, had landed at 
 Darien, and had there met with a civilization sujDcrior 
 to anything that had been seen upon the islands. The 
 western point of Cuba approaches so nearly to Yucatan, 
 that we are quite prepared to learn that this portion 
 of the mainland was soon visited : this was done by 
 Hernandez, of Cordova, in 1517. The following year, 
 Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, despatched a fleet 
 under the command of G-rijalva, which, after sighting 
 Cozumel, entered the river of Tabasco that falls into 
 the Gulf of Mexico. On this occasion, the name 
 of New Spain was first applied to the surrounding 
 country. Grijalva was severely blamed on his return 
 for having made no settlement in the new territory ;
 
 THE STORT OF I'HE COXQrEST. 61 
 
 a circumstance which should be remembered in the 
 coiu-se of the following narrative. Before his arrival, 
 Velasquez had fitted out a larger armament with a 
 view to prosecute further researches, and over this he 
 placed Hernando Cortez, the future conqueror of 
 Mexico. 
 
 Hernando Cortez was born at Medellin, in Estre- 
 madura, a.d., 1485. He came of a poor but noble 
 family. His continued sickness in infancy, his idle 
 habits at school, and profligacy at the University of 
 Salamanca, were a source of constant anxiety to his 
 parents : and when the youth came home from Sala- 
 manca, wearied with law and a poor student's life, his 
 irregularities broke in upon the order and destroyed 
 the peace of his father's hearth. To such a lad the 
 only refuge was a soldier's career, and adopting this, 
 Cortez, being then only sixteen years old, determined 
 to sail with Ovando, who had just been appointed 
 governor of Hispaniola. But in pursuing some in- 
 trigue he fell from the wall of a court-yard, and the 
 fever which followed detained him in bed whilst the 
 expedition started. He next proposed to join the 
 Italian arm}', and went to Valencia with that object ; 
 but here he again fell ill and passed a year in poverty 
 and sickness. This discipline seems for a time to have 
 steadied his wild recklessness ; for, before finally setting 
 out for the Indies, he went home to receive his parents' 
 blessing. The vessel that bore him reached St. Domingo 
 after a stormy voyage, which, as well as Cortez's be- 
 haviour in the hour of peril, was an emblem of his 
 future career. 
 
 Ovando, tlie governor of Hispaniola, was absent 
 when Cortez arrived at St. Domingo. But his secre- 
 tary assured the young adventui-er that he would, no
 
 62 iiExico. 
 
 doubt, obtain a liberal grant of land on which to 
 settle. " I came to get gold," was tlie reply, '' not to 
 tiU the soil like a peasant." The handsome lad oi 
 seventeen, however, soon ingratiated himself into the 
 governor's favoui- and received substantial tokens of 
 his regard ; and when Diego Velasquez was despatched 
 to subdue the Island of Cuba, Cortez accompanied him 
 as one of his secretaries. 
 
 At Cuba, we find Cortez mvolved in trouble from his 
 old habits of profligacy and intrigue. He had some 
 dispute with Velasquez, who requii-ed him to marry a 
 certain Catalina Xuarez, to whom Cortez is said to 
 have pledged himself, although he was now unwilling 
 to fulfil his promise. The accounts of his subsequent 
 conduct are not very clear. For some time he was in 
 bitter hostility to Velasquez, and stories are told of 
 his behaviour that well accord with his audacity and 
 libertine habits. At length he was reconciled to the 
 governor, and after his marriage with Catalina, their 
 friendship was confirmed by his appointment to be 
 alcalde of Santiago, the new Cuban capital. As, accord- 
 ing'to one of his biographers, he threw great diligence 
 into everything he did, Cortez now became aprosj)erous 
 man, was master of a valuable estate, and with a 
 number of Indians who were assigned to him, he 
 worked gold mines and amassed a considerable sum of 
 money. " Grod, who alone knows at what cost of 
 Indians' lives it was obtained," says Las Casas, " wiU 
 take account of it." 
 
 When matters were in this state, Alvarado returned 
 to Cuba with the account of Grijalva's discovery of 
 Yucatan. The news caused great excitement throughout 
 the island. It told that there was a vast continent 
 peopled by races far more civiHzed than any that had
 
 THE STOUT OF THE CONQUEST. G3 
 
 hitherto been met with. It held out a prospect of 
 obtaining wealth far more speedily than even by the 
 reckless employment of slaves in Cubg,. There was, 
 too, all the inducement which adventure offers to the 
 explorers of an unknown country : and to these 
 motives yet higher considerations were added. It was 
 reported that some Spaniards, the remnant of a former 
 disastrous expedition, were still living in Yucatan. 
 Velasquez accordingly determined to fit out another 
 fleet, and he selected Cortez to command it, as has 
 been already stated. 
 
 The appointment of Cortez is said to have been due 
 to the good offices of Amador de Lares, the royal 
 treasurer in the island, and of Andres de Duero, the 
 secretary of Velasquez ; but there were many persons 
 about the court who were incensed at having been 
 passed over, and they did not fail to urge every kind of 
 objection against sending Cortez on so important a 
 mission. They reminded the jealous governor of his 
 former quarrel with the new commander, and they 
 employed Cervantes, the jester of Velasquez, to give 
 utterance to their enmity. One day, when Velas- 
 quez and Cortez went to the sea-side to see how 
 the preparation of the fleet was progressing, Cervantes 
 cried out, " Diego ! look what you are about ; we shall 
 have to go and hunt after Cortez." Andres de Duero 
 answered angrily, " Be quiet, and do not play the 
 rascal an}' more ; we know well that these malicious 
 things, which pretend to be jests, do not come from 
 you." But the jester went on saying, " Here's to the 
 health of my friend, Diego, and his lucky captain, 
 Cortez ! and I vow that I shall go with Cortez myself 
 to these rich la .ids, that I may not see you, friend
 
 04 MEXICO. 
 
 Diego, crying at the bad bargain you liave just' 
 made." * 
 
 It is certain that tliese insinuations had some effect 
 jn the mind of Velasquez, and Cortez found it neces- 
 sary to hasten forward the outfit of his small fleet. 
 He embarked his whole available fortune, and incurred 
 large debts for this purpose. The prospect which now 
 opened before him aroused all the energy of his 
 character, and his own zeal seemed to be communi- 
 cated to those who were to share in the expedition. 
 It is not very easy to decide between the conflicting 
 statements that have reached us of the circumstances 
 of his departure. According to one account, he 
 weighed anchor by night, without going to bid Velas- 
 quez farewell. It is more probable that the suspicion 
 of Velasquez was as yet concealed, and that Cortez 
 parted from him with all the semblance of cordiality. 
 Yet so sudden was the leaving, that Cortez seized upon 
 the cattle which were to supply Santiago with meat, 
 and paid the butcher with a gold chain which he wore 
 around his own neck. The parting from wives and 
 children was hurried and tearful, and then, on the 
 18th of November, 1518, the fleet set sail. The 
 banner of Cortez waved in the breeze, displaying a 
 coloured cross on a black ground, and around the border 
 were the words in Latin " Let us follow the cross and 
 we shall conquer." 
 
 The armament was composed of six vessels, contain- 
 ing five hundred and fifty Spaniards, about three 
 hundred Indians, and a few negroes, twelve or fifteen 
 horses, and ten guns. Their leader was now in the 
 vigour of manhood, and it may be well to give some 
 sketch of his character at the outset of his career. 
 
 * Helps, vol. II. p. 250.
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQIEST, 05 
 
 He was in many respects the model of a Spanish hei'O. 
 Bold and courageous almost to rashness, his fine person 
 well set off by his liandsome dress and manly bearing, 
 full of zeal and higli expectation, and well acquainted 
 with all those arts that win over and captivate the 
 hearts of followers, no man could have been more 
 likely to bring his undertaking to a successful issue. 
 "But in its truest and highest sense there was but little 
 nobility in his aim and purpose. To amass wealth 
 and fame is not a noble object : and thirst for gold was 
 probably the prevailing passion in his own breast, as 
 well as in those of his companions. There was the 
 same profligacy of morals, and the same unscrupulous 
 use of anv means to gain his end, which had marked 
 his early life. He was not wantonly cruel, but innocent 
 blood was to be poured out like water, and thousands 
 of lives were to be sacrificed, that he might establish 
 liis empire over the Mexicans. And all this was to be 
 done in the name and under the sign of the Prince of 
 peace, whose pure truth was not to be taught the 
 people, but a dark supei'stition was to be set up in place 
 of the sanguinary worship then established in Mexico. 
 As the fleet coasted along Cuba, Cortez carried off 
 ))rovisions from the king's stores at Macaca, and plun- 
 dered a vessel that came in his way. On his arrival at 
 Trinidad, he found an order from Velasquez to supersede 
 him in his command. But it was now too late. Cortez 
 had gained tlie affections of his little army, and refused 
 to give up his office. Indeed, lie was too far committed, 
 and the order of Velasquez was most unreasonable. 
 Cortez wrote him a letter with fair words, complaining 
 of his unjust suspicions, and promising devotion to his 
 interests ; but he added that, on the next morning, 
 February 10th, 1510, he should sail for Cozumel. 
 Success alone could now justify his dai-ing disobedience. 
 
 F
 
 66 MEXICO. 
 
 A terrible storm fell upon the fleet, and the ship of 
 Cortez, which stayed to convo}^ a disabled vessel, was 
 the last to reach Cozumel The natives, who had 
 so gladly welcomed Grijalva, now lied to the interior of 
 the island : for before Cortez arrived one of the captains 
 had plundered their temples and tei-rified the simple 
 inhabitants. Confidence was, however, soon restored ; 
 but all inquiries for the Spaniards, said to be in the 
 island, were fruitless. One duty, however, was not to 
 he neglected ere they sailed away. The islanders were 
 harangued by Father Olmedo on the sin of idolatry 
 and the excellence of the Spanish faith : and when 
 they showed no disposition to change their creed, their 
 idols were overthrovv-n by the soldiers amidst the lamen- 
 tations of the natives. But when the senseless images 
 did not avenge themselves, as their worshippers had 
 foretold, hy destroying these impious foes with light- 
 ning, they consented, outwardly at least, to adopt the 
 i'aith of the new comers. 
 
 Having secured a good store of provisions, Cortez, 
 early in March, resumed his voyage ; but one of the 
 ships sprung a leak, and they were compelled to return 
 to Cozumel. Soon after, a canoe, ferried by several 
 Indians, arrived from the opposite shores of Yucatan, 
 and one of the men asked, in broken Castilian, whether 
 he was among Christians. This man was Geronimo de 
 Aguilar, who had been one of a body sent from Darien 
 to Spain some eight years before, but had been wrecked 
 on the shores of Yucatan. He had been kindly 
 ti-eated by the cacique or chieftain into whose hands 
 he had fallen, but was overwhelmed with joy at 
 meeting with his fellow-countrymen. It would be 
 difficult to exaggerate the advantages which Cortez 
 derived from his discovery. His long residence among
 
 THE STORY OF THE COXQUEST. 07 
 
 the people had made him familiar with their language, 
 and he acted as interpreter during the expedition. 
 The Spaniards so felt his value that they attrihuted to 
 a miracle the accident wliich resulted in Aguilar's 
 arrival amongst them. We may at least discern in it 
 the working of God's mysterious providence, who had 
 determined to open Mexico to the Spaniards at this 
 time, and was thus carrying out his purpose according 
 to the counsel of his own will. 
 
 Leaving Cozumel, and passing hy the coast of 
 Yucatan, the little armament entered the mouth of the 
 liio de Tabasco or Grijalva. The shore was lined with 
 dense woods and deep groves of mangrove trees, and 
 among these the Indians might he discovered prepared 
 to oppose their landing. A short struggle ensued, but 
 the superior strength of the Spaniards prevailed, and 
 they established themselves upon the land. This first 
 •'ngagement was followed by a more severe conflict. 
 The Tabascans were assembled in great numbers. 
 " "When we let off the guns," says an eye-witness, '' the 
 Indians uttered loud cries and whistling sounds, and 
 threw dust and straw into the air that we should not 
 see the damage we were doing them." But all their 
 tactics were of no avail. The Spanish cavalry had 
 been sent round to attack them in the rear, and when 
 they rode into the battle the Tabascans, who had never 
 before seen mounted warriors, were panic-stricken and 
 lied. The slaughter in this battle is variously esti- 
 mated at from one thousand to thirty thousand men. 
 •^ And this," says Las Casas, " was the first preaching 
 of the gospel by Cortez in New Spain ! " 
 
 The defeat of the Tabascans was followed by the 
 submission of the whole people ; their principal caciques 
 came to Cortez with various ofl'erings of peace, and.
 
 68 MEXICO. 
 
 among the rest, twenty female slaves. One of these, 
 afterwards named Donna Marina, was of essential service 
 to her new master. She was the daughter of a cacique 
 of Painala, in the Mexican province of Coutzacualco. 
 Her father having died while she was quite young, her 
 mother had married again, and she desired to give to 
 her son by this second husband the inheritance which 
 belonged to Donna Marina. She accordingly had the 
 child sent away by night, and pretended to her own 
 people that she was dead. Marina passed into the 
 hands of the Tabascans, and from them to the Spa- 
 niards. Cortez first had her instructed in the Roman 
 Catholic religion, and after her baptism made her his 
 mistress, v/ith that perversion of the relation of faith 
 and practice which may be traced throughout the 
 whole story of the conquest. Marina's knowledge of 
 the Mexican language proved invaluable to Cortez, 
 whilst her own fidelity to him was worthy of a more 
 sacred relation, and her constant sympathy and kind- 
 ness to her fellow-countrymen in their nnsfortunes won 
 for her their lasting gratitude and love. 
 
 The same scene of outward conversion that had taken 
 place at Cozumel was repeated at Tabasca. The feast 
 of Palm Sunday was kept with a solemn procession to 
 the temple. The image of the idol was taken down and 
 that of the Virgin Mary, with the infant Saviour, in- 
 stalled in its place. Mass was celebrated, and the 
 soldiers joined in singing the chant : then, with the 
 palm branches in their hands, they marched on board 
 their ships, and sailed for the golden shores of Mexico. 
 On the Thursday following, they cast anchor at the 
 Island of San Juan de Ulua, that faces the port of 
 Vera Cruz. 
 
 Scarcely had the ships come to their moorings, when
 
 TITE STOET OF THE CdNQIJEST. G9 
 
 two canoes started from the mainland, and made direct 
 lor the admiral's vessel. A friendly intercourse was 
 established, Donna Marina acting as interpreter, and 
 such trifles as the Spaniards had brought with them 
 for barter were exchanged for the gold trinkets and 
 ornaments of the natives. Cortez having ascertained 
 that their country' produced gold in abundance, landed 
 liis forces and artillery the following day — it was 
 (iood Friday, April 21, 1519. The simple people 
 aided him in t'lese labours, and brought mats and 
 cotton carpets to protect the new comers against the 
 scorching rays of the sun. 
 
 Two days aferwards, Teuhtlile, the governor of the 
 district, arrived at the tent of Cortez, to inquire in the 
 name of Montezuma, the Mexican emperor, why the 
 Spaniards had visited these shores. Cortez received 
 him with all the pomp he could assume ; and informed 
 him that he had been sent by the emperor Charles, 
 to hold communication Avith the Aztec sovereign, and 
 demanded to be admitted to his presence. This 
 request was received with evident astonishment and 
 displeasure. " You have been but two days in the 
 country," said Teuhtlile, " and you expect to see the 
 (Mnperor ! " As Cortez, however, insisted on this point, 
 the governor promised to communicate with his master. 
 The presents were then brought in which had been 
 sent by the Mexican court ; they comprised fine 
 cottons, mantles made of curiously wrought feather- 
 work, and a wicker-basket full of golden ornaments. 
 The cupidity of the Spaniards was awakened at the 
 sight of these treasures. When Teuhtlile requested 
 that a shining helmet, worn by one of the soldiers, 
 un"ght be sent to the emperor, because it was like that 
 on the idol of Quetzalcoatl, in Mexico, Cortez assented
 
 70 MEXICO. 
 
 on condition that it was returned filled witli gold dust. 
 "When lie gave as a reason for this request, that he 
 wanted to compare the gold of Mexico with that of 
 his own country, and further added, that the Spaniards 
 suftered from a heai't complaint for wliich gold was a 
 cure, we may imagine that the native ambassador saw 
 through his excuses, and recognised the greed by which 
 they were prompted. 
 
 During these negotiations, the Spaniards observed 
 that a Mexican was making a picture of the new 
 comers to be sent to Montezuma. Cortez was alive 
 to the impression which would be produced by this 
 representation on the emperor's mind. He accord- 
 ingly ordered a review of his forces upon the beach. 
 The Mexicans were unacquainted with the use of 
 horses, and were filled vv^ith astonishment at the 
 charge of cavalry ; but when the artillery was dis- 
 charged, the flash, the thunder, and the crash of 
 the balls through the branches, well nigh over- 
 whelmed them with consternation. The eft'ect would 
 be by no means weakened in its transmission to the 
 court, and Cortez wa^ persuaded of this as the embassy 
 withdrew to wait for i'urther instructions from their 
 master. 
 
 The reply of Montezuma was unfavourable to the 
 demand of Cortez. He refused to admit the Spaniards 
 to his presence, but this denial was softened by the 
 rich presents which his ambassadors bore. These 
 comprised armour embossed and plated with gold, 
 collars and other ornaments of the same metal, and 
 adorned with pearls and precious stones, robes wrought 
 in beautiful feather work, wagon-loads of fine linens, 
 models cast in gold and silver of birds and beasts, of 
 exquisite workmanship. The helmet was not forgotten,
 
 THE STOKY OF THE CONQUEST. 71 
 
 but was returned duly illled with gold dust ; and to 
 crown all, there were two circles of gold and silver 
 '"as large as the wheel of a chariot," and lichly carved. 
 The terms in wliich the Aztec monarch declined a 
 visit from the Spaniards were couched in expressions 
 which referred to the difficulty of the journey, and 
 concluded with a request that they would return to 
 their own land. 
 
 But the proofs tluis afforded of the wealth of 
 ^Mexico were the strongest inducement to the Spa- 
 niards to remain and make themselves masters of the 
 country ; their surprise and satisfaction were un- 
 bounded at the sight of treasures so far beyond their 
 expectations, and all the feelings which urge adven- 
 turers to enterprise were aroused in their bosoms. 
 To such liberality Cortoz made but a sorry return, 
 and he haughtily declared that he would not accept 
 the emperor's refusal of an interview. So peremptory 
 was his language that the ambassadors sent once 
 more to learn the will of Montezuma. The Aztec 
 ])rince gave the same reply as before, and although 
 the message was accompanied by rich presents, the 
 ^lexicans retired immediately after their deliverj^ and 
 none ajipeared the next morning to supply them with 
 provisions. The place on which they had encamped 
 was a region of burning sands, bordered by pestilent 
 marshes. They suffered much inconvenience on such 
 a spot, and had already lost thirty of their num- 
 ber. Whilst awaiting the return of the Mexican 
 ambassadors, Cortez dismissed Francisco de Montejo ■ 
 to seek for a better position, and as he reported 
 that he had been able to discover but one situation 
 which was fairly sheltered, the Spaniards at once 
 repaired thither.
 
 But with this change of circumstances there sprung 
 up a division in the Spanish camp. The rich presents, 
 which testified to the wealth, were also evidences of 
 the power of the Mexican emperor, and the more 
 timid began to reflect upon the madness of attempt- 
 ing to oppose him with their present scanty forces. 
 Their murmurs were swelled by the adherents of 
 Velasquez, wdio were unwilling that Cortez should 
 reap the glory and the profit to be derived from such 
 a conquest. These discontents were aggravated by 
 the evils they were sufl^ering from the excessive heat, 
 from the clouds of venomous insects, and the other 
 discomforts of that burning climate. '" It was high 
 time," they said, " to return home and to report what 
 they had learned to Velasquez : efforts could then be 
 made to collect such a force as might cope successfully 
 with Montezuma." The partisans of Cortez were not 
 idle in this emergency. They urged that everything 
 so far had gone on prosperously; that doubtless, in 
 their new locality, the Mexicans would again begin to 
 trade with them ; that to sail now would be to lose 
 all the advantages of their past toils, and to relinquish 
 the prize at the moment it was placed v/ithin their 
 grasp. They ought to establish a colony, with their 
 leader at its head, and to take warning by the dis- 
 grace into which Grijalva had fallen from not having 
 adopted such a course. At length, the contest became 
 so violent that the party of Velasquez openly called 
 on Cortez to lead them home, declaring that, although 
 the others might stay, they were determined to return 
 to Cuba, and demanding that the order lor departure 
 should be given. 
 
 Among the soldiers engaged in the expedition was 
 Bernal Diaz, who was in the confidence of the
 
 THE STOKY OF TUE CONQUEST, 73 
 
 leading supporters of Cortez. This man lias left 
 an account from wliich we get an insight into 
 the intrigues of the camp. We learn fi'ora it that 
 a plan had been matured ibr forming a colony in the 
 name of the emperor Charles Y., and sliaking off" by 
 this proceeding the authority of Velasquez. The 
 consternation of its promoters may be readily ima- 
 gined when Cortez assented to the demand of their 
 opponents, and issued an order that all should be in 
 readiness to embark for their return. They stirred 
 up the common soldiers, who came with loud cries 
 of discontent, and forced their way to the general's 
 presence. An assembly was held, in which Cortez 
 craftily dwelt upon the richness of the prize, whilst 
 he professed his readiness to relinquish it ; and then, 
 with feigned reluctance, allowed himself to be per- 
 suaded to adopt the course which he most ardently 
 desired. In order to give to these proceedings a sem- 
 blance of legality, he desired that a requisition in 
 WTiting should be presented to him, enjoining him 
 to change the object of the expedition from that of 
 trade to forming a settlement. Armed with such 
 authority, he declared himself willing to obey their 
 wishes. 
 
 A curious scene followed ; but one in full accordance 
 with the entire tenor of Cortez's behaviour during 
 this campaign. In completing his revolt against the 
 authority of Velasquez, Cortez observed a careful 
 outward respect to legal forms. The arrangements 
 for the new city were matured, and the nnme of the 
 Rich Town of the True Cross (Villa Ilica del Vera 
 Cruz) was given to it. Its principal officers, alcaldes, 
 regidors, and other functionaries, were then nominated 
 by Cortez, the most important parts being filled by
 
 74 irtxico. 
 
 his tirmcst friends. Before them Cortez now appeared 
 and resigned his office of captain-general, which lie 
 had received from Velasquez ; and was then re- 
 appointed by the council to tlie same dignity in the 
 emperor's name. By this ingenious device the whole 
 purpose of the expedition was clianged, and Cortez 
 was invested with powers that could only be taken 
 from him by the Spanish sovereign. A stranger 
 instance j'ou will hardly find of men paying an out- 
 ward homage to law whilst they were outraging its 
 plainest commands. Yet it is not uncommon to 
 attempt thus to satisfy the conscience, even whilst 
 the will guides us to open disobedience. 
 
 There were some who remonstrated loudly against 
 these proceedings, but Cortez was not slow to exert 
 his new powers. He put tlie most active of them in 
 irons, and despatched the remainder to seek for pro- 
 visions. Meanwhile, every engine was employed to 
 gain over the refractory ; and when gold and promises 
 had been liberally bestowed ; v/hen immediate want 
 was removed by the return of the foragers with abun- 
 dant supplies ; and wlien, in addition, idleness, that most 
 fruitful source of discontent in a camp was dispelled by 
 the order to march for Cempoalla, and new fields and 
 new hopes opened before them, the whole body acceded to 
 the new arrangements. "Wliilst there can be no question 
 as to the morality of Cortez's conduct on tliis occasion, 
 there can be as little doubt of the boldness which 
 could meditate on the conquest of Mexico with forces 
 not only so small but so disunited, or of the wondrous 
 tact with which he soothed their animosity and at last 
 won them over to himself. 
 
 Before matters had been thus arranged, some Indians 
 had arrived at the Spanish camp, and were brought
 
 THE STORY OF TUE CONQUICST. 75 
 
 before Cortez. They were natives of Ceinpoalla, the 
 capital of the Totonacs, and were sent b}'- the prinee of 
 that tribe to invite Cortez to pay him a visit. Their 
 account of the treatment they had experienced from 
 Montezuma, by wliom they had been recently subdued, 
 gave Cortez an insight into the jealousies by which the 
 INIexican empire was weakened, and he at once divined 
 the probable advantage of allying himself with the dis- 
 contented states. He now, therefore, gladly directed 
 tlie march to Cempoalla. 
 
 The spirits of the little army rose as they drew near 
 to the city of their new Iriends. The sandy i)lains on 
 which they had encamped, and on whose dreary wastes 
 they had suffered so much, were exchanged for a green 
 and fertile country. These rugged warriors were, 
 perhaps, little moved by the glimpses of the blue 
 Atlantic or the snow-clad peak of Orizaba, but they 
 could not be indiff'erent to the superb and profuse 
 vegetation of that tropical shore — to its groves of 
 tall waving palms — to the thick underwood of aloes, 
 interwoven with roses and honeysuckle — or to the 
 festoons of graceful parasites that swung fi-om branch 
 to branch. Strange birds, of bright plumage ; swarms 
 of butterflies, with their delicacy of painted wing ; and 
 graceful creatures of the deer tribe, glancing through 
 the woods, combined to form a scene of beauty wliich 
 was enhanced by tlie memory of their recent privations. 
 No wonder Ihat tliey were extravagant in their praises 
 of a scene wliich has enraptured every beholder, and 
 termed it a "terrestial paradise;" or that, with a far 
 depeer appreciation of its beauty, their thoughts flew 
 back across the ocean to the scenes that were most dear 
 to their hearts, as they fondly compared it to the 
 choicest spots in their own fatherland.
 
 7(5 MExrco. 
 
 A hearty welcome awaited tliem at Cempoalla. The 
 love of flowers, which had survived their freedom, was 
 already a characteristic of the natives, and they held 
 out bunches of roses to the soldiers, and crow^ied their 
 general and his charger with garlands. As they drew^ 
 near to the town the whole population advanced to 
 meet them, the men adorned with short mantles, the 
 women clad in flowing robes that reached the ankles. 
 The cacique received them at the entrance of his 
 dwelling, whilst commodious quarters and abundant 
 provisions testified to their good will. 
 
 What an unexampled opportunity was thus afforded 
 if the Spanish had come to this distant region with 
 tlie true message of the gospel of peace ! If, taking 
 advantage of their friendship, Cortez had declared to 
 the Cempoallans that the God, " who sent them rain 
 from heaven and fruitful seasons," had given a yet far 
 more striking token of his love in sending his own Son 
 to die for sinners ; and if the lives and conduct of the 
 Spaniards had been accordant with their doctrine, and 
 they had shown their sense of God's love to themselves 
 by the love which they displayed to others, what an 
 unexampled opportunity — what a field for loving laboiir 
 lay before them ! Cortez, indeed, told the cacique, at 
 an early interview, that he came to bring the knowledge 
 of the true God, and to abolish their bloody and cruel 
 rites ; but the behaviour of the Spaniards was little 
 calculated to recommend their teaching. With some 
 words of truth upon their lips, and that truth sadly 
 marred by Romish error and superstition, there was 
 little of the influence of truth in their hearts. 
 
 From the cacique of Cempoalla, Cortez learned the 
 condition of the Mexican empire, the hatred of the 
 subject nations to their masters, and the cruelty and
 
 THE STOUT OF TUT COXQLEST. 77 
 
 luxury of jMontezuma ; he learned also the great dread 
 with which the Aztec sovereign was regarded. His 
 armies were like the whirlwind, and slavery or sacrifice 
 were the inevitable results of disobedience to his com- 
 mands. This dread was called forth into action by the 
 arrival of the Aztec nobles to collect the tribute from 
 the people of Cempoalla. These officers deeply re- 
 sented the hospitality shown to the Spaniards, and 
 demanded twenty young men and maidens for sacrifice 
 in expiation of their fault. 
 
 Cortez alfected the strongest indignation on hearing 
 of this demand. He bade the cacique instantly to 
 seize upon and bind the Aztec nobles. When this was 
 done, he repaired to them privately, and procured the 
 release of two of their number, enjoining them to in- 
 form their sovereign of his generous return for the 
 unkind treatment he had experienced. He subsequently 
 required that the other Aztec chieftains should be placed 
 in his hands, and then allowed them to join their com- 
 panions. Such was the return of Cortez for the 
 generosity of the Cempoallans. He thus continued 
 to embroil them with the Aztec emperor, and to secure 
 lor himself the good will of Montezuma. 
 
 The Spaniards now proceeded to Chiahuitzlan, and 
 a site was selected, between the two places, for his 
 new city of Vera Cruz. The walls were marked out, 
 ])ublic buildings designed, and, with the aid of their 
 Indian allies, a town soon rose. Every man shared in 
 the work — the general equally with the meanest 
 soldier. The place was to serve as a retreat in the hour 
 of reverse, whilst its harbour would give shelter to the 
 vessels of any fresh comers. 
 
 The scene which had been enacted at Cozumel was 
 now to be repeated at Cempoalla. In vain Cortez had
 
 78 MEXICO. 
 
 urged upon the Totonacs the sin of their idolatry: thcj 
 had rephed, that their gods were good enough for them. 
 When argument tlius failed, he had recourse to 
 violence. But the Totonacs were not disposed tamely 
 to submit to such daring sacrilege : they eagerly 
 assembled for the defence of their deities, and a battle 
 seemed inevitable. Cortez, liowever, seized their chief- 
 tain, and declared that the first blow struck should 
 be the signal for his death. The idols were over- 
 thrown, and the image of the Vii'gin and her Son 
 installed in their places. Human sacrifices were for- 
 bidden, and the garments of the priests changed from 
 black to white. Beyond this but little was altered, 
 and the same priests were left in charge of the altars 
 of the mass who had been wont to offer sacrifice to 
 their heathen gods. 
 
 After this event, the Cempoallans were solemnly 
 received as vassals of the king of Spain. It is 
 amusing to observe the gravity with which this 
 handful of men disposed of kingdoms, and claimed 
 supremacy in the name of their sovereign over a vast 
 and powerful empire. It is certain that Cortez had 
 fully determined by this time to conquer Mexico, for 
 in an account which he sent to Charles V. of his dis- 
 covery, he declared he would take Montezuma dead or 
 alive, unless he agreed to become a vassal of the 
 Spanish crown. He now carried out a daring stroke 
 of policy to further his plans. Conspiracy had again 
 been detected in the camp, and he determined at once 
 to crush it for ever, and to bind all his forces together 
 by the bonds of necessity. The party of Velasquez 
 wanted to sail away for further reinforcements, and 
 to monopolize for their own side the advantages of 
 their discovery : if departure were rendered impossible,
 
 THE STORV OF TUE CONQUEST. 70 
 
 they must all stand by one another, when surrounded 
 by common Ibes in a foreign land. Cortez. therefore, 
 determined to destroy his fleet. The stoutest hearts 
 among" the soldiers quailed when the order to sink 
 the ships was given. They were now left, a handful 
 amongst millions, escape was impossible, destruction 
 imminent. Loud reproaches were raised against the 
 leader who had thus brought them to perish in a 
 strange country. Cortez stood unmoved, he calmly 
 dilated upon the ever-welcomo topic — the treasures of 
 Mexico, which should soon be theirs. One vessel still 
 remained, let those that quailed take that and sail 
 away. They could wait at Cuba till their comrades, 
 whom they had deserted, returned with the spoils of 
 the Aztec empire. With a general impulse their 
 tonfidence revived : " To Mexico ! to Mexico !" was the 
 universal cry. 
 
 Escalante, a trusty friend of Cortez, was left in com- 
 mand at Vera Cruz, and the army set out, on the 16th 
 of August, 1519, upon its march to Mexico. Upwards 
 of a thousand Indian warriors accompanied them, and 
 as many porters were provided by the Totonacs to 
 carry the baggage and drag the guns. Their course 
 was directed towards the little state of Tlascala, whose 
 enmity to the Aztecs has been already noticed. Cortez 
 was alive to the advantages of securing their alliance, 
 and sent an embassy asking pei"mission to pass through 
 their country', as they journe^-ed to humble the pride 
 of jMontezuma. He received an unfavouiable reph'. 
 The council of the chiefs had deliberated long, but at 
 length the deeply-rooted suspicion of all strangers and 
 intruders upon their teri'itor}^ prevailed. By some 
 sti'ange oversight the Tlascalans left their rampart 
 undefended ; but, about four leagues further on, they
 
 80 MEXICO. 
 
 assembled in dense masses, and offered a stern resist- 
 ance to the Spaniards. A series of most desperate 
 battles ensued, and, although the Europeans were 
 victorious in every engagement, tlieir position was 
 becoming most critical ; several of their number had 
 been slain, all the horses were wounded, and the spirit 
 of the foe seemed as defiant as ever. But discourage- 
 ment was beginning to creep over the Tlascalan war- 
 riors ; the pale faces of the foe, the horses, which were 
 animals now first seen by them, and the thunder and 
 flash of the artillery mingling destruction with terror, 
 filled their minds with superstitious dread : and when 
 a niglit attack, which had been devised as an extra- 
 ordinary effort, was unsuccessful ; when a number of 
 spies sent to the Spanish camp under the pretext of 
 a truce had been detected and dismissed with the 
 loss of their hands ; and when, after each victor}', the 
 politic Cortez ofiei'cd terms of peace and friendship, the 
 brave fellows at length consented to come to terms. 
 They received the Spaniards with a lo.alty and 
 cordiality befitting the courage they had dlsplaj'^ed ; 
 and Cortez, in whose camp complaints were again 
 rife, and who had not a single unwounded soldier, was 
 only too glad to find so serious an obstacle effectually 
 removed. 
 
 At Tlascala another embassy arrived from Monte- 
 zuma, accompanied, as before, by rich presents. The 
 emperor besought Cortez not to ally himself with the 
 Tlascalans, but to proceed at once to Mexico by the city 
 of Cholula, wliither orders had been sent for his enter- 
 tainment. Cholula was the ancient seat of the Aztec 
 religion, and its people were noted for their perfidy and 
 superstition. Tlie Tlascalans, now thoroughl}' united to 
 the Spaniards by their common enmity to Montezuma,
 
 TUE STOUT OF THE CONQUEST. 81 
 
 and by intermarriages which had been solemnized be- 
 tween them, warned Cortez that some treachery was 
 intended. Agreeing with this estimate, the Spanish 
 general yet determined to march to Cholula. 
 
 The whole army accordingh'^ set out, accompanied 
 by a body of the Tlascalans, 0,000 in number. Their 
 path lay across one of those vast plains which are so 
 striking a feature in [Mexican scenery, and on all sides 
 they saw evidences of the fertility of the soil, as well 
 as of the industry and intelligence of its inhabitants. 
 Large plantations of aloe and Aztec pepper, fields of 
 tall waving Indian corn, broad sweeps covered with 
 the rich flowering cactus and olive, rose on either 
 hand. The country, now so bare of trees, was then 
 shaded by deep woods ; whilst natural and artificial 
 streams of water supplied the moisture which its cul- 
 tivation required. 
 
 On the banks of a stream hard by the city, Cortez 
 halted his army for the night, and there received the 
 Cholulan chiefs who came to meet and bid him wel- 
 come. At their own request he left the Tlascalans en- 
 camped on this spot, * until he should march forward 
 to Mexico. Accompanied by only a few native servants 
 the Spaniards entered Cholula. The entire population 
 turned out to gaze upon the pale faced strangers. 
 In no city, save the capital, had luxury reached such 
 a pitch as at Cholula ; the width of the streets, the 
 size and comfort of the houses, the long white boiu-- 
 nouses in which many were clad, the garlands of 
 flowers and waving censors of incense, made up a 
 scene that could not fail to inflame the excited feel- 
 ings of the new comers. With what awe must thev 
 
 • The Tlascalans, being enemies to the Mexican nation, were not allowed 
 to enter. 
 
 O
 
 82 MEXICO. 
 
 have gazed upon the numerous temples in which tha 
 bloody rites of Aztec worship were performed ; more 
 especially as they drew near to the teocalli of Quetzal- 
 coatl, whose summit had been visible for miles as they 
 approached the city. This extraordinary edifice, to 
 which reference has already been made,* was piled up to 
 a height of 170 feet, in the form of a pyramid, composed 
 of lour terraces rising one above another. Some idea 
 of its size may be gathered from the statement of 
 Humboldt, that its base covered forty-four acres, and 
 the platform on its summit was an acre in extent. On 
 this was erected the temple of the deity, from whose 
 altars there arose the smoke and flame in which his 
 human victims v/ere consumed. So terrible was the 
 influence of their superstitions that six thousand human 
 beings ai*e said to have been annually sacriflced on the 
 altars of Cholula. 
 
 For some days the Spaniards met with all kindness 
 at the hands of the people of Cholula. They were 
 quartered in one of the vast temples, an ample supply 
 of provisions was furnished, and nothing seemed want- 
 ing to testify their friendship. On a sudden all was 
 changed, and Cortez discovered that, at the direction 
 of Montezuma, a plot had been formed for their de- 
 struction. They were to be assailed as they marched 
 out of the city, and every preparation had been made to 
 ensure the success of the attack. Streets had been 
 barricaded, and pits dug, filled with stakes, to hamper 
 the movements of the cavalry. But Cortez maintained 
 liis firmness under dangers before which the stoutest 
 heart miglit have quailed. Having obtained full in- 
 formation of the plot, and of Montezuma's complicity 
 in it, he sent for the ambassadors of the Aztec em- 
 
 • See pag-e li
 
 THE STOUY OF THE COJ«'QUEST. 83 
 
 peror and reproached their master for his duphcity. 
 With his wonted cunning he affected, after an interval, 
 to beheve their assurances that Montezuma had no 
 share in the design, and then telling them that he 
 would indict signal punishment on the Cholulans, ho 
 dismissed them under a strong guard. To the Cholulan 
 (thiefs he only intimated that he would leave the city 
 on the following morning, and they readily acquiesced 
 in a proposal which seemed to further their own 
 designs. 
 
 After a night of no small anxiety, the Cholulan 
 caciques appeared at daybreak with a band of porters 
 far more numerous than Cortez had requested them 
 to provide. The Spaniards were all ready, drawn up 
 in martial array. The caciques were seized and sternly 
 accused of the conspiracy, which they were too much 
 confounded to deny. Then, at a given signal, the 
 Spaniards rushed forth and fired upon the unarmed 
 masses. Panic struck, and taken by surprise, the 
 miserable creatures were slaughtered like sheep ; and 
 soon, in their rear, rose the shrill cry of their old 
 enemies the Tlascalans, who had marched into the 
 city at the summons of Cortez. A frightful scene of 
 massacre ensued, and its horrors were increased as 
 lire was set to some of the temples and houses, and 
 the flames spread rapidly along the wooden buildings. 
 The great temple was stormed foot by foot, and not 
 one Cholulan upon it survived the conflict. In abject 
 terror, the caciques at length persuaded Cortez to put 
 a stop to the plunder and carnage. 
 
 It is customary for those who have described such 
 scenes to otfer some reflections upon them. Too often 
 these remarks are nothing more than a counterba- 
 lancing of opposing motives of worldly policy, or a state-
 
 84 MEXICO. 
 
 merit of some pleas by which the guilt of such actions 
 may be extenuated. Yet to those who are accustomed 
 to weigh all human actions in the balances of truth, 
 there is only one decision possible upon the character 
 of such a massacre. It is to no purpose to allege that 
 like scenes have been elsewhere enacted, and that the 
 annals of European warfare present us with spectacles 
 of equal horror ; for this only proves wliat terrible 
 calamities are ever treading on the heels of war, and 
 how weighty a burden of responsibility must rest on 
 those by whom war is proclaimed. In the Case before 
 us, there is much less room for any hesitation. The 
 conspiracj^ to destroy the Spaniards had been contrived 
 at the bidding of a powerful master, and Cortez pre- 
 tended to excuse the author whilst he took vengeance 
 on the instruments whom Montezuma had employed. 
 Even if his special circumstances had made some 
 punishment appear inevitable, it had been enough to 
 inflict it upon those of the chiefs who might be proved 
 to have been the most active agents in the plot. There 
 is nothing to excuse, hardly anything to palliate, the 
 course actually adopted. Thousands of men were 
 massacred, and a fair city laid in ruins, because their 
 master justly distrusted the intentions of the Spaniards. 
 This transaction is a foul blot on the fame of the con- 
 querors of Mexico, and must for ever sully the glory 
 which his admirers claim for their hero. 
 
 The interval of repose which followed the massacre 
 was deemed a fitting season to set forth the tenets of 
 the Spanish creed, although it could hardly be supposed 
 that their practice was likely to commend their faith 
 to the Cholulans. The great teocalli was purified and 
 a huge crucifix ei'ected on its summit, whilst an image 
 of the Virgin (de los Eemedios), was given by Cortez
 
 THE STOKY OF THE CONQUEST. 85 
 
 himself to adorn tlic temple. It was truly the hlind 
 leading the blind. Other embassies had arrived from 
 Montezuma, loaded, as before, with rich presents, and 
 furnished with speeious reasons why the Spaniards 
 should abstain from pressing on to Mexico. Cortez 
 accepted the gifts, and politely evaded compliance with 
 the expressed wishes of the giver. After a rest of some 
 days, the little band resumed its march to the capital. 
 The Oempoallans were afraid to venture into the coun- 
 try of their powijrful foes, and were permitted to return 
 home. With them Cortez despatched Escalaute to act 
 as his lieutenant at Vera Cruz. 
 
 The distance from Cholula to Mexico is about sixty 
 leagues, and the road crosses the lofty ridge which 
 divides the table-land of Mexico from that of the 
 Puebla. As they mounted the sides of the sierra their 
 march became excessively toilsome ; cold blasts of wind 
 swept down from the snow-clad sides of Popocatepetl. 
 It had been dangerous to bivouac in such a region had 
 not a large walled inclosure, intended for the use of 
 travellers, afforded them the protectit)n which, as 
 children of the South, they required against the cold. 
 But when, on a sudden turn in the path, the whole 
 valley of Mexico lay stretched at their feet, all the 
 toils of the ascent were forgotten in the beauty of the 
 scene. Wondrous as is still the face of nature in that 
 broad plateau, it then possessed features of beauty which 
 have long since disa])peared. Vast groves of luxuriant 
 trees clothed with their rich foliage many parts that 
 now are bleak and bare ; cities, teeming with a nume- 
 rous population, were dotted over the landscape ; and 
 the fields, which furnished a harvest for their sui)port, 
 carpeted the soil with their varied crops. The great 
 lake on which Mexico then stood spread its waters
 
 86 MEXICO. 
 
 over a wi'le surface, and many a rood of salt, barren 
 marsh, now marks the space which it formerly occu- 
 pied.* All the wealth of the Aztec empire was lavished 
 upon this region, whose climate and fertility repaid 
 with abundant gratitude the care bestowed on its cul- 
 tivation. And as the eyes of the Spaniards ranged 
 over the prospect, and they were able in the clear, dry 
 atmosphere, to embrace a wide range of vision, until 
 the view melted in the purple of the distant hills, 
 overcome with its beauty they exclaimed, with cries of 
 rapture, " It is the promised land ! " 
 
 The news of their approach inspired vague but 
 well-grounded apprehensions in the mind of Monte- 
 zuma. All his entreaties had been unavailing, and as 
 the Spaniards pressed on to his capital he had a 
 mournful presentiment that the empire was about to 
 fade from his grasp. Yet he aroused himself to meet 
 the new comers with all the outward signs of cordiality, 
 and concealed his fears beneath a smile of welcome. 
 What must have been the thoughts that crowded into 
 the minds of the Spaniards as they gazed upon the 
 evidences of power and wealth by which they were 
 surrounded ! They had learned indeed that many of 
 the emperor's subjects were ill-affected towards him, 
 but how could so small a band as they cope with the 
 resources of so powerful a sovereign ? Did no mis- 
 givings suggest themselves as the Spaniards marched 
 along the causeway through the lake, and as they 
 crossed over the drawbridge to enter Mexico ? Thev 
 were placing themselves by their own act in the power 
 of Montezuma, and retreat would be almost impossible. 
 It was not the time, however, to parley with such fears. 
 
 ♦ From the gradual dryiii? up of the lake the city of Mexico is no longer 
 an island, but stands upon its banks.
 
 TITE STOUT OF THE CONQUEST. 87 
 
 The major part would yield to the enjoyment of the 
 present, without much thought about the luture. 
 
 The scenes which followed are without a parallel in 
 the history of nations. The Spaniards were courteously 
 welcomed, loaded with presents, located in convenient 
 quarters, and their every want supplied. There seemed 
 to be no limit to the kindness and generosity of Mon- 
 tezuma, yet, in the midst of such treatment from him, 
 Cortez suddenly determined to seize the emperor's 
 person and to compel him to reside in the Spanish 
 camp. The excuse alleged for so harsh a course was 
 an attack made by Quauhpopoca, one of the Aztec 
 nobles, upon Vera Cruz ; and although Montezuma 
 otiered to send for the offender that he might be 
 jmnished, it was in A'ain that he pleaded to retain his 
 liberty. The unhappj'' prince was so overcome by his 
 fears that he forbade his subjects to attempt his re- 
 lease : and Cortez even had the cruelty to place him 
 in irons when Quauhpopoca declared that he had acted 
 under Montezuma's orders. This last insult pierced 
 the heart of the Aztec sovereign. He declined to 
 return to his palace when Cortez — we know not with 
 how much sincerity — ofTei'ed him his liberty. Not 
 long after, he avowed himself a vassal of the king of 
 Spain, and, with his nobles, took the oath of allegiance 
 to Charles V. 
 
 The frightful punishment of Quauhpopoca, who was 
 burned alive, and the placing fetters upon his master, 
 extort some words of condemnation from one of the 
 most ardent admirei^s of Cortez. " It was," he says, 
 '■ a politic proceeding to which few men would have 
 been equal who had a touch of humanity in their 
 nature." * Bernal Diaz, an actor in these scenes, after 
 
 • Prcscott,vol. II. p. 152.
 
 88 MEXICO. 
 
 an interval of fifty years, thus recorded liis reflections 
 upon them. " Now that I am an old man, I often 
 entertain myself with calling to mind the heroic deeds 
 of early days, till they are as fresh as the events of 
 yesterday. I think of the seizure of the Indian mo- 
 narch, his continement in irons, and the execution of 
 his officers, till all these things seem actually passing 
 before me. And as I ponder on our exploits, I feel 
 that it was not of ourselves that we performed them, 
 but that it was the providence of God that guided us. 
 Here is much food for meditation ! " 
 
 It was plainly impossible that matters should long 
 continue in so anomalous a position. A crisis was 
 brought about in an unexpected manner by the arrival 
 of a fresh body of Spaniards. They had been sent by 
 Velasquez, the governor of Cuba ; and Narvaez, their 
 leader, had express orders to arrest Cortez, and claim 
 the profits of his discoveries for Velasquez. To sup- 
 port his attempt he had brought some 900 Europeans, 
 with 80 horses, and about a 1,000 Indians. The con- 
 dition of Cortez was indeed perilous. The Mexicans 
 were inflamed against him. Montezuma had been 
 alienated by his unworthy treatment, and had reason 
 to question the truth of his representations when he 
 learned that the new comers were opposed to him. The 
 force of Narvaez far exceeded his own in numbers, and 
 it was doubtful whether even the Tlascalans would 
 stand firm when they saw the odds to which he was 
 opposed. But the spirit of Cortez ever rose before 
 danger. Leaving Alvarado in charge of Mexico and 
 its captive monarch, he selected the trustiest of his 
 comrades, attacked and conquered Narvaez, in a night 
 assault, and with his usual address so improved the 
 victory, that he speedily returned to the capital with
 
 TUE STOKY OF THE CONQUEST. 89 
 
 the whole body of Spaniards that had hitely arrived 
 united to serve under his banner. 
 
 His presence was sorely needed at Mexico. Before 
 his dejiarture to meet Narvaez, his religious zeal had 
 galled the proud Aztecs to the quick, for he had seized 
 their principal temj^le ibr the celebration of Christian 
 worship. All the prejudices of the people had beeu 
 outraged by this proceeding, but they maintained a 
 sullen attitude of submission. Now, however, news 
 reached him that the Mexicans were in arms against 
 him. They had burned the vessels he had built upon 
 the lake, had besieged the Spanish quarters, and killed 
 many of its defenders. In short, Cortez was implored 
 to return if he would preserve the survivors. 
 
 This was a heavy blow to Cortez after his recent 
 success. He hurried back to find the city almost 
 deserted, and every sign of disaffection amongst the 
 few that still lingered within its walls. The violence of 
 Alvarado was the cause of this hostility. On the occa- 
 sion of the festival of their war god, he had rushed in 
 upon tlie unarmed worshippers and had committed a 
 fearful massacre among them. This insane cruelty 
 stung to the quick the pride of the Mexicans ; they 
 rose en manse with one long cry for vengeance on so per- 
 fidious an act. On they came by thousands, pressing 
 forward heedless of the numbers that fell belbre the 
 fire of their foes, and when the fury of the fir&t assault 
 was spent, they hemmed in the Spanish quarters on all 
 sides, withdrew all supplies of provisions, and waited 
 until they should be starved into submission. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs when Cortez reached 
 Mexico. Bitterly repenting his selection of Alvarado 
 to govern in his absence, he had the littleness to vent 
 his spleen upon the captive monarch who sent to him
 
 90 ItEXICO. 
 
 to request an interview. In all haste he despatched a 
 messenger to summou aid from Vera Cruz, but it was 
 too late. The man soon returned, sorely wounded, and 
 announcing that the whole people were in arms. On 
 they came in a surging tide, wave rising above wave, 
 their banners flying, and their ranks marshalled under 
 the most noted of tlieir chieftains. As they apjjroached 
 in dense masses, the hre of the Spanish artillery made 
 terrible havoc in their ranks, but they pressed fonvard 
 undaunted, and tried to storm or batter down the wall 
 behind which the Europeans were protected. Their 
 flaming arrows soon set fire to the wooden buildings, 
 whilst a cloud of missiles, hurled from powerful arms, 
 inflicted much damage upon the foe. 
 
 Night brought some respite from the fatigue of the 
 conflict, but next day it was resumed with unabated 
 vigour. All the slaughter inflicted by the Spaniards 
 failed to daunt the spirit of the enemy. It was in 
 vain that they opened a murderous fire upon the 
 thronging crowd, the places of the slain were instantly 
 filled up by new comers. In vain did Cortez, and the 
 most famous of his comrades, sally forth to charge them 
 sword in hand : worn out with the labours of cutting 
 down the enemy, they were fain to retreat after per- 
 forming useless prodigies of valour. With bitter taunts 
 the Aztecs pressed upon them as they withdrew behind 
 their ramparts. " The fires of the sacrifice are waiting 
 for you. No matter though a thousand of us should 
 fall to one of your number, not one of you shall escape 
 alive." Such words fell ominously on the superstitious 
 ears of men wearied with fighting and sorely depressed 
 in heart. 
 
 The battle was renewed next day ; and now Cortez 
 strove to bring the enemy to temis. He induced
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQUEST. 01 
 
 Jklontezuma to address the people, and persuade theia 
 to desist, but the magic spell of his despotism was dis- 
 solved. The Aztecs reviled him as a traitor, and a 
 shower of missiles fell around him. He was borne away 
 by the Spaniards badly wounded, and their stern 
 hearts must have been touched by the miseries of the 
 unhappy monarch. This last indignity thoroughly 
 crushed his wounded spirit. He refused all the kind- 
 ness with which the Spaniards strove to comfort him ; 
 tore off the bandages with which they stanched his 
 wounds ; and nursed his proud sorrow in unbroken 
 silence, until he felt his end approaching : then, sum- 
 moning Cortez to his bedside, he solemnly intrusted 
 his children to his care, " as the most precious jewels 
 he could leave iiim, and expired in the arms of some 
 of his own nobles, who still remained faithful in their 
 attendance on his person." It was the 30th of June, 
 1520. 
 
 So died the mightiest monarch of the new world. 
 The Spaniards found amongst the millions of the west- 
 ern hemisphere none like in power and wealth unto 
 Montezuma ' For more than seventeen years he had 
 ruled over his wide dominions, successful in war, 
 and wise in counsel, until, by his own people, he 
 was regarded as more than a mortal man. The re- 
 sources of the country, far and wide, were drained to 
 minister to his wants. All that the earth produced 
 of food or richfes was assigned to him, but he fell in 
 the fulness of his pride and luxury ; he died dishonoured 
 by his subjects, a captive in the hands of strangers. 
 No wonder that he remained a heathen, and rejected 
 all the entreaties of Father Olmedo ; he had suilered 
 too much cruelty and deceit from the Spaniards to 
 have any confidence in the faith which they professed.
 
 Q2 MEXICO. 
 
 Yet there was that within him which, vmder the Holy 
 Spirit's influence, would have gladly welcomed the 
 message of a dying Saviour's love. We learn that in his 
 last moments he declared that he bore the Spaniards 
 no ill-will for the evils they had brought upon him. 
 Surely such a mind, Divinely taught, would have prized 
 highly the forgiveness which the gospel proclaims. 
 His mournful end enforces and may serve to point the 
 Scripture truth, " that none of us liveth unto himself." 
 The selflshness of Montezuma's rule alienated the 
 affections of his subjects, and so aided the march of 
 the Spaniards to the capital. So true is it, even in 
 worldly matters, that love is politic as well as right, 
 and that if one member of a state sufl'er, all the mem- 
 bers, however exalted, suffer with it. 
 
 The position of Cortez was now desperate. His 
 overtures for peace were rejected, the fury of the 
 enemy was unabated, and he learned that the bridges 
 in the line of his retreat were broken down. It was 
 determined to steal out on the night of the 1st of July, 
 and by the aid of a portable bridge, which had been 
 secretly constructed, to effect if possible their retreat 
 to Tlascala. Arrangements were made for the con- 
 veyance of a cei'tain portion of the treasure, and the 
 rest was abandoned to the soldiers, many of whom fell 
 victims in the night to the cupidity which led them to 
 overload themselves with gold. With anxious hearts, 
 we may well believe, they waited for the evening. 
 
 The night seemed to favour their retreat ; it was 
 dark, and drizzling. The foe had retired to their 
 quarters, and the Spaniards gained the causeway (which 
 connected the island on which Mexico stood with the 
 mainland) almost unobserved. This causeway was 
 crossed by three openings in the line of the Spaniards'
 
 THE STOUT OF THE CONQUEST. 98 
 
 inarch, and the bridges over these had been broken 
 down by the Aztecs. Just as the causeway was 
 reached they were discovered. No sooner was an alarm 
 sounded than the priests took up the cry, and from the 
 summits of their temples roused the whole city to 
 arms. Cortez pushed on with all speed, but it was no 
 easy thing to march the whole army over the bridge. 
 Ere the last of their number had crossed the first 
 opening, an ominous sound arose, and the waters on 
 either side flashed beneath the strokes of a thousand 
 oars, as the boats of the Mexicans bore them to the 
 attack. The first opening, however, was passed in 
 safety ; Magarino, at the head of his engineers, 
 advanced to raise the portable bridge and bear it for- 
 ward to the second opening, but it stuck fast. The 
 heavy weight that had been borne over it had fixed 
 it firmly in the earth, and all efforts to move it were 
 ineffectual. As this terrible news spread, a cry of de- 
 spair arose from the Spanish force. Assailed in front, 
 cut off in the rear, and attacked on both sides by 
 numbers which increased every moment, tlieir destruc- 
 tion seemed inevitable. Their wily foes rained thick 
 clouds of darts on them, and rushing suddenly up the 
 sides of the causeway grappled with them, hand to 
 hand, and both fell together into the lake ; the 
 ^lexican was quickly picked up by his friends, whilst 
 the European was as quickly despatched. On they 
 struggled, however, and presently the second openino- 
 was almost choked up with baggage, treasure, and dead 
 bodies, mingled in dire confusion. Over this at lenrfth 
 they scrambled, the enemy still hanging on their rear 
 as they pressed forward until they readied the third 
 and last opening in the causeway. 
 
 Here a fearful scene of confusion ensued. The
 
 94 MEXICO. 
 
 mounted cavaliers swam across, the infantry clung to 
 the tails of tlieir horses, or tried to find a place in 
 which they might ford the stream. Many were 
 drowned in the attempt, especially such as were over 
 laden with gold. At length, the van and the centre 
 got over, when word was brought that the rear-guard 
 was overpowered, and, unless strengthened, would be 
 entirely destroyed. With unhesitating gallantry the 
 cavaliers dashed once more into the river to relieve 
 their comrades ; after a terrible struggle a straggling 
 remnant effected a passage. Alvarado, unhorsed and 
 hemmed in on all sides, hesitated for an instant at the 
 opening, then placing his spear on the mass of ruin 
 that choked the place he cleared it at a bound. The 
 spot has ever since borne the name of Alvarado's Leap. 
 
 The Mexicans abstained from further pursuit, and 
 Cortez was able to draw off" his forces. They were 
 sadly thinned. Little more than a third of the Spa- 
 niards, and a fourth of their allies, survived. The horses 
 were reduced to twenty-three. All the artillery, all 
 the treasure, all the baggage was lost. Hardly a 
 musket remained. As he reviewed his shattered army, 
 Cortez was unable to restrain his tears, so terrible was 
 the disaster of the " Sad Night," as it has ever since 
 been termed in Spanish annals. 
 
 The most determined spirit might have found abun- 
 dant reasons for abandoning the attempt to conquer 
 the country under the circumstances in which Cortez 
 was now placed. His forces were thoroughly disor- 
 ganized, and those of them who had come with 
 Narvaez, began to utter loud complaints of the hard- 
 ships they were enduring. It was doubtful how the 
 Tlascalans would receive them, and when, shortly after- 
 wards, a Mexican embassy arrived at Tlascala, a party
 
 THE STOKT OF THE CONQUEST. ' 05 
 
 iu the city openly desired to malce common cause with 
 Mexico for the expulsion of tlie strangers. Their 
 leader, too, had yet to learn how his conduct would be 
 regarded at the court of Spain, and he must have 
 reflected witli bitterness on the loss of treasure which 
 might have smoothed over many difficulties. But he 
 was undaunted. He set himself to restore the confi- 
 dence of his army. He trained it in a series of expedi- 
 tions against the alhes of Mexico. He gained complete 
 control over the chieftains of Tlascala, and won the 
 admiration of these fierce warriors by leading them 
 to victories in which they took vengeance on their 
 hated foes, and enriched themselves with plunder. He 
 won over to his side two successive detachments sent 
 by Velasquez, and permitted some discontented spirits 
 to sail back to Cuba, thus doubly strengthening his 
 arm3% He prepared for building a fleet of brigantines 
 with wdiich the sie2:e of Mexico mio-ht be resumed. 
 In such labours the six remaining months of 1520 
 were consumed. When the ships were sufficiently 
 advanced, he chose Tezcuco as the head-quartez's of 
 tlio operations which he purposed to conduct against 
 the capital. On the last day of the year, he marched 
 into that city at the head of 600 Spaniards, well 
 equipped, including forty mounted knights and nine 
 cannons. Besides these, he had a force of Indian auxi- 
 liaries estimated at 100,000 in number. 
 
 The wide plain in which Mexico stands was then the 
 seat of a vast and thriving population. Upwards of 
 forty large towns, besides villages innumerable, were 
 counted on its surface. Many of these towns had been, 
 in former days, the capital of a tribe, whose chieftains 
 still resided in them, and they consequcMilly retained 
 considerable social importance, although all political
 
 96 MEXICO. 
 
 power had been grasped by the Aztec emperor. The 
 capital, as we have ah'eady seen, stood on an island in 
 the Tezcucan lake. The water of the lake itself was 
 brackish, but a conduit, constructed with a double 
 line of pipes, conveyed a plentiful and pure supply 
 to the city. Three causeways, or dikes, built of stone, 
 furnished the means of access from the city to the 
 mainland, and it was the passage of one of these that 
 had cost the Spaniards so dear on the " Sad Night " 
 of their retreat. There were other smaller lakes 
 scattered over the Mexican valley, with flourishing 
 towns upon their borders. Their sites were occasion- 
 ally protected by embankments from the incursion 
 of the neighbouring waters, as the lakes thus restrained 
 were on a higher level than the towns which stood upon 
 their banks. These facts must be borne in mind by 
 the reader as he follows the account of the siege. 
 
 Nearly opposite to Mexico, across the waters of the 
 lake, but at the distance of half a league from its 
 shore, rose Tezcuco, the head-quarters of the Spanish 
 army. It had long been the rival of the capital, 
 whose pre-eminence it still regarded with distaste. Its 
 chief, Ixtlilxochitl, espoused the side of Cortez with a 
 constancy that never wavered, even when the success 
 of the Spaniards seemed most doubtful. This impor- 
 tant acquisition gave Cortez a base of operations 
 which was absolutely essential for the fulfilment of 
 his plans. 
 
 It was plainly hopeless to attempt the reduction of 
 the capital whilst it could draw resources and supplies 
 from all the neighbouring towns. Cortez, therefore, 
 determined to proceed against these first, in rapid 
 succession, with the hope that their fall would induce 
 the Mexicans to come to terms, and so spare him the
 
 TKE STORY OF THE CONQUEST. 97 
 
 difficulties of a siege and the destruction of the city. 
 With this purpose he first inarched against Iztapa- 
 hipan, a city lying to the south of Tezcuco, and 
 bordering closely upon the Tezcucan lake, whose 
 waters were kept back by a strong sea wall. Here 
 were the palace and beautiful gardens of the last 
 Mexican emperor. It had a population of some 
 50,000 souls. A strong force was drawn up to 
 oppose the Spaniards, but the fury of their onset 
 carried all before them, and they rushed into the 
 place after the fugitives, without regarding some 
 canoes full of men, who were quietly and busily at 
 work upon the mole or sea wall. A terrible massacre 
 followed in the city, which was given up to pillage, 
 fire and sword. No quarter was granted by the ruth- 
 less Tlascalans, and the Aztecs fought with all the 
 energy of despair. Suddenly there rose a dull mur- 
 muring sound of rushing water, and the dread news 
 was spread that the Indians had broken down the 
 mole. Hastily was the retreat sounded. They were 
 glad to flounder through the water as lightly burdened 
 as possible, and to reach the mainland. All the 
 plunder was lost, all the powder spoiled. Wearied and 
 disheartened they returned to Tezcuco, the enemy 
 still hovering on their rear. The Aztecs might be 
 conquered, but they were in spirit unsubdued. 
 
 The attack upon Iztapalapan was followed by one of 
 the most striking events of the war. W^ord was brought 
 to Cortez from Tlascala, that the brigantines which he 
 had ordered to be built were now completed, and he 
 accordingly despatched Sandoval with 200 Europeans 
 ■ to escort them to Tezcuco. The vessels had been 
 constructed and tried upon the lake Zahuapan. They 
 were now to be taken to pieces and earned with the 
 
 H
 
 98 MEXICO. 
 
 " anchors, ii'on-work, sails and cordage," on the backs 
 of porters all the way to Tezcuco. In this manner, 
 thirteen vessels of war were transported nearly twenhj 
 leagues across the mountains. The line of bearers, 
 extending upwards of six miles in length, was pro- 
 tected by Sandoval's little arm\% and some 20,000 
 Tlascalans. The enemy, although they hung upon 
 their march, did not venture to attack them ; and the 
 boldness of the conception which designed so extra- 
 ordinary a manoeuvre was only equalled by the success 
 with which it was performed. 
 
 It was still necessary to dig a canal through which 
 the brigantines might pass from Tezcuco into the lake. 
 Leaving this work to be performed by the allies, Cortez 
 turned his army northwards, and attacked the town of 
 Xaltocan, the modei'n San Christobal. Its fall was 
 followed by that of other cities (with most unpro- 
 nounceable names), until, bending round the northern 
 boundary of the lake, Cortez once more entered Tacuba. 
 This town stood near the commencement of one of 
 the causeways that led across the lake to Mexico. 
 Along this the Spaniards now advanced, and it once 
 more became the scene of an obstinate conflict. After 
 each day's contest, Cortez offered the enemy terms of 
 peace, but they were invariably rejected. His victories, 
 indeed, seemed to bring him little fruit. The towns 
 that were sacked furnished but little treasure. The 
 gold had been buried or removed. It was plain that 
 undying hostility had been awakened, and that he must 
 strain every nerve to conquer or die. 
 
 For the present, then, Cortez returned to Tezcuco, 
 where new cares summoned him in a diH'erent direction. 
 The people of Chalco, a large town to the south cf the 
 ca.pital, had been gained over to embrace the Spanish
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQUEST. 99 
 
 cause. They were now sorely pressed by the Aztecs, and 
 their defection might be followed by that of other aUies. 
 To Chalco accordingly Cortez repaired. Not content 
 with driving the Mexicans from that region, he crossed 
 into the rugged districts of the Sierra, took the towns 
 of Cuernavaca and Xochimilco, from which latter 
 l)lace ho marched to Tacuba, entering it from the 
 south, as he had formerl}^ done from the north. He 
 had thus completed the circuit of the lake, and every- 
 where had victory attended his arms. 
 
 Yet an incident at Xochimilco had almost ended his 
 career. The Spanish forces were advancing on one of 
 those causeways, built through the waters of a lake, 
 which were so commonly the approaches to an Aztec 
 town. On their route they were, as usual, assailed on 
 both flanks by the Indians, who waded into the water, 
 or fought from their canoes. On this narrow path, 
 near the entrance to the city, Cortez and a small body 
 of followers were suddenly overwhelmed. He himself 
 fell from his horse, and immediately received a severe 
 blow on the head. He was being dragged off by the 
 enemy, when a TIascalan warrior sprung upon the 
 assailants, and being supported by Coi-tez's servants, 
 rescued him from the grasp of the foe. A few days 
 after this event, Guatemozin, the Mexican emperor, 
 arrived at Xochimilco, and falling hastily upon some 
 Spaniards who were bent on plunder, he took four of 
 them alive. After offering them in sacrifice to the 
 Aztec god of war, "their legs and arms were cut off 
 and sent round to the different cities, with the assur- 
 ance, that this should be the fate of the enemies of 
 Mexico." * 
 
 The capital was not yet completel}' invested by the 
 
 • Prescott, vol. III. p. 56.
 
 100 MEXICO. 
 
 Spaniards, and as they marched from Xochimilco to 
 Tacuba, they beheld the lake teeming with canoes, 
 laden with the produce they were bearing to the 
 markets. Some were piled up high with merchandise, 
 others bore vegetables or the fruits of the country, 
 others were crowded with the levies that had been 
 called to the defence of the empire. So animated a 
 sight surprised the Europeans who had lately joined 
 the army, and they were enraptured at the beauty and 
 activity of the scene ; but the brow of Cbrtez darkened 
 as he gazed across the water to the city that lay upon 
 its breast, and he confessed that he was mourning, 
 not for his own past losses, but at the thought of the 
 misery that impended over that fair capital, and of 
 the labours that were in store for his own followers. 
 Such thoughts rise in all men's bosoms, and it is 
 almost. impossible so to steel the heart, that no such 
 musings shall be able, at any point, to pierce its har- 
 ness. But surely the responsibility of the misery 
 which Cortez then deplored must be at his own door. 
 He had voluntarily sought out and assailed the Aztec 
 empire. If the lust of conquest had now involved 
 him in a wretched necessity whence there seemed to 
 be no escape, it does but forcibly illustrate how im- 
 possible it is for men to forsee the evils that will result 
 from a first step in the path of sin. 
 
 From Tacuba the Spaniards passed on to Tezcuco ; 
 arrived here, they found the brigantines equipped and 
 launched, and the canal finished. At this auspicious 
 moment Cortez detected a conspiracy aimed at his 
 life amongst his own soldiery. There were many dis- 
 contented spirits in the army, and, as there was no 
 opportunity for desertion, a plot was formed to assassi- 
 nate Cortez and the principal oflicers, and then to seize
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQUEST. 101 
 
 apon the ships and sail home. It was revealed to the 
 general on the day before it was to have been perpe- 
 trated. Villafana, the leader, was apprehended, and 
 the papers in his possession proved that some personal 
 friends of Cortez were implicated in the design. With 
 a ready discernment, Cortez at once destroyed the 
 paper, and had Villafaiia immediately executed. It 
 would not do at such a juncture to allow any breath 
 of suspicion to weaken the confidence of his men. 
 
 They were again to be diverted from brooding over 
 their wrongs by active service. Twelve of the bri- 
 gantines were manned (one having proved unservice- 
 able), and sailed into the lake. A fresh muster of the 
 allies was ordered, as .man^^ had returned home to 
 liouse their plunder. Early in May the whole force 
 was under ai-ms, and the siege of Mexico was formally 
 commenced. Sandoval was sent with a division to the 
 south ; Alvarado and Olid by the north to Tacuba. 
 They were to push on from thence to Chapoltepec and 
 destroy the aqueduct by which the city was supplied, 
 Cortez set sail with his flotilla to strike a decisive blow, 
 if possible, upon the lake. 
 
 Ifi the first engagement on the water, the Aztecs 
 were completely vanquished, and Cortez then sailed to 
 Zoloe, an important station on the causeway from 
 Cojohuacan. Alvarado occupied that which led to 
 Tacuba, and Sandoval the third causeway to the north. 
 Thus the blockade of the capital was complete. 
 
 The fiery cavaliers were, however, too impatient to 
 await the effects of famine, and constant assaults were 
 made upon the city on all sides. As the Spaniards 
 advanced along the causeways they were supported on 
 either flank by the brigantines, whose fire swept across 
 the path of the enemy. Still the Aztecs retreated in
 
 102 MEXICO. 
 
 good order, and fiercely disputed the passage at every 
 breach in the path. When the Spaniards reached 
 the city, a fierce conflict arose at each one of the 
 numerous canals by which many of the streets were 
 intersected. Much delay, too, was caused by the 
 Europeans being obliged to fill up each breach "over 
 which they passed in order to secure the line of their 
 retreat. Several days were spent in such conflicts, but 
 every night the Mexicans pulled away the materials 
 with which the breaches had been filled up, so that the 
 work had to be begun all over again. This mode 
 of warfare greatly dispirited the Spaniards. They 
 had also to endure considerable hardships in the camp, 
 where but few of them had any shelter against the 
 cold of the nights. Poor old Bernal Diaz waxes quite 
 eloquent in his recital of their sufierings. 
 
 Under these circumstances many of the ofiicers 
 urged Cortez to make a general assault upon the city, 
 in conjunction with Alvarado and Sandoval. The 
 general yielded against his better judgment, and gave 
 instructions for the combined attack. Strict directions 
 were given that in every case the breaches should be 
 filled up, so as to allow the army to retire in good order. 
 
 Alderete, the royal treasurer, commanded the van of 
 the division under Cortez. ' The Spanish forces ad- 
 vanced simultaneously, and the Aztecs, as usual, fell 
 back before them. Drawn on by his ardour in the 
 pursuit, Alderete hastily followed up the flying enemy, 
 and rushed across a canal twelve feet in width without 
 stopping to fill up the chasm. Suddenly, at the blast 
 of Guatemozin's horn, the Aztecs turned upon their 
 pursuers, and the shock threw them into disorder. 
 Then ensued a terrible scene of confusion, the enemy 
 showering darts upon them from the flat roofs of the
 
 THE STOET OF THE COXQUEST. 103 
 
 houses as they tried to escape, and the retreating 
 Spaniards crowding on the narrow path, till they 
 thrust one another into the stream that girt its sides. 
 Cortez, warned of their danger, hurried forward to 
 the spot, and, standing at the edge of the canal, 
 strove to save his men from drowning. He was 
 quickly recognised by the Aztecs. With loud shouts, 
 six of their number rushed upon him and endeavoured 
 to drag him away captive. A desperate struggle raged 
 around his person, but at length the superior strength 
 and weapons of the Spaniards gained the master^-. 
 Sorely wounded, he was mounted on a horse and led 
 away by a Spaniard, who remarked, that his life was too 
 valuable to be thrown away there ; it was not before 
 many of his comrades had been slain in his defence, 
 and others had been carried into more dreadful 
 captivity. 
 
 The assault had been everywhere a failm-e. Besides 
 the killed and wounded, sixt3^-two Spaniards were 
 captured, as well as two cannons and seven horses. 
 A scene followed which filled the Spaniards with dis- 
 may. They were encamped so near the city, that in 
 the clear atmosphere of the table-land they could dis- 
 tinguish what was going forward in the lofty temples. 
 Day by day after this disaster, they beheld a solemn 
 procession winding round the lofty pyramidal temple of 
 the god of war. In the midst of the long file marched 
 some of the white-faced strangers, ready decked out 
 for the sacrifice. They were urged along by blows 
 until they mounted to the summit, where the victims 
 one by one were seized, stripped, and laid upon the 
 sacrificial stone. Then, in the sight of their countrymen, 
 the priest struck the prisoner with the sharp stone razor, 
 thrust his hand into the wound and plucked out the
 
 104f . MEXICO. 
 
 palpitating heart, which he placed upon a golden altar. 
 The body was then hurled down from the pyramid, 
 and seized on to be devoured by the crowd. These 
 scenes were repeated daily, until all the captives had 
 been slaughtered; and at each sacrifice the Aztecs 
 shouted in defiance, that so should all the enemies of 
 their country be consumed. 
 
 Not only were the Spaniards disheartened by such 
 horrors, but the confidence of their Indian allies was 
 sorely shaken. In the sacrifice of so many Europeans, 
 their superstitious fears saw the vengeance of their idols 
 against the strangers who had dared to violate their 
 shrines. The taunts, too, of the Mexicans, fell with 
 an ominous sound upon their ears. " Go on in the 
 work of destruction," they cried, as the Indians 
 levelled the outskirts of the capital, " go on pulling 
 down, you will soon have to build again. If we con- 
 quer, we shall make you build for us ; if the Spaniards 
 gain the day, you will have to build for them." The 
 Spanish avarice and thirst for gold afforded many a 
 bitter sarcasm, as they vowed, that if defeated, their 
 treasures should not enrich their foes. " We will hide 
 it where you shall never find it." 
 
 Yet the evil day of doom was but postponed by the 
 victory of the Aztecs. Cortez now determined to pro- 
 ceed more cautiously, and to abandon all thought of 
 preserving the city. Each breach in the causeway 
 was to be so solidly filled up that it could not be 
 re-opened. Each quarter that was gained was to be 
 levelled to the ground, and the materials cast into the 
 lake or the canals. With this ruthlessness of purpose, 
 the Spaniards worked on steadily, and day by day 
 the unhappy Mexicans saw a further portion of their 
 capital destroyed, and themselves hemmed in within a
 
 TUE STORY OF THE COIS'QUEST. 105 
 
 more contracted space. Soon, too, the horrors of 
 famine were added to the other sufferings of the 
 besieged. In their extremity they devoured the most 
 loathsome articles as food. The supply of Iresh water 
 was cut off, and they were compelled to drink the 
 brackish water of the lake. Crowded together as they 
 were into a narrow space, with such polluted food and 
 drink, pestilence soon followed in the track of famine, 
 and, with terrible rapidity, seized on their exhausted 
 frames. They sickened and died in such numbers 
 tliat the survivors no longer sufficed to bury the dead. 
 Their corpses polluted the atmosphere of the city, and 
 aggravated the suff'erings of its unhappy people. 
 
 The cup of horrors was now filled to overflowing, 
 but their spirit was invincible, they would rather die 
 than yield. In their terrible extremity, the last feel- 
 ings of tenderness were quenched, and mothers 
 devoured their own children to satisfy the wolfish 
 pangs of hunger. Gaunt and haggard creatures 
 staggered through the deserted streets. As the 
 Spaniards, day by day, made fierce assaults upon the 
 city, the famine-stricken wretches gazed on them with 
 frenzied eyes, or rained on them showers of missiles that 
 fell powerless from their enfeebled arms. They perished 
 by thousands in sullen obstinacy beneath the swords 
 of their opponents. " Despatch us, do your worst ; " 
 was their only answer to all entreaties to surrender, 
 and the savage Tlascalans, taking them at their word, 
 slaughtered men, women, and children with undiscrimi- 
 nating violence. We may readily believe that the dead 
 bodies strewed the streets so thickly that the con- 
 querors marched over them to commit further devasta- 
 tion, since we are assured that on a single day no less 
 than forty thousand perished.
 
 lOG MEXICO. 
 
 The siege had lasted more than three months, when, 
 on the 15th of August, 1521, Cortez, lor the last time, 
 led his troops against Mexico. Soon a cry arose that 
 the emperor had escaped ; the canoes that darted from 
 the city were surrounded, and in one of these Guate- 
 mozhi was discovered and brought before the general. 
 He bore himself proudly in the hour of his fall, " I 
 have done my best, now do with me what you will. 
 You had better take my life at once." Cortez as- 
 sured him of his protection and of honourable treat- 
 ment ; but he broke his word, and permitted him to be 
 tortured in the hope that he would say where the 
 treasures had been concealed. For the moment, how- 
 ever, he was kindly dealt with, and at his request the 
 miserable remnant of the Mexicans were allowed to 
 march out of the city and leave its ruins to the foe. 
 
 Thus ended this memorable siege, after a struggle 
 unsurpassed in the annals of the world, for the indo- 
 mitable spirit with which it was sustained. The con- 
 querors might well exult at this termination of their 
 tolls, but they had little reason to rejoice in its imme- 
 diate fruits. True to their declared purpose, the Aztecs 
 had made away with all the treasures of Montezuma, 
 and but a scanty portion fell to each man's share after all 
 the privations of the long campaign. The city itself 
 was one disordered mass of ruins, and immediate steps 
 were necessary for its purification, or the consequences 
 might be fatal to the visitors. Cortez gave directions 
 for these works, and determined ultimately to build 
 his new capital on the site of the old one. As years 
 rolled by it was adorned with many beautiful and 
 spacious buildings ; but the special memorials of the 
 Aztec civilization — the palaces, garden, and menageries 
 — the pride of Mexico, were lost for ever.
 
 THE STORY OF THE CONQUEST. 107 
 
 We wonder with what feelings Cortcz thought upon 
 his handiwork as he gazed upon the ruined city. 
 Barely a year since, and it had welcomed him with 
 hospitable cordiality within its walls. His own letters 
 had borne testimony to the activity and prosperity of 
 its people, to the marks of intelligence and civilization 
 which rose on every side. These fruits of long and 
 laborious years had all been blighted by his ambition, 
 and he had made this return for the presents of Mon- 
 tezuma, and for the acclamations which had greeted 
 his first entrance within its walls. With no enviable 
 emotion must he have turned away. Had he known 
 them, the words which the British chieftain applied to 
 the Romans might have seemed applicable to himself, 
 " They make a desert, and then call it peace." 
 
 The conquest of Mexico was completed with the fall 
 of the capital, and, although some time elapsed before 
 the more distant tribes were actually subjugated, the 
 Spaniards were virtually masters of the country from 
 the moment that they marched into the deserted town. 
 
 In the sketch that we have given of the varied 
 steps through which this end was attained, our aim has 
 been to indicate the many difficulties, in spite of 
 which Cortez consummated his triumph. It is only 
 by taking them into consideration that we can 
 adequately conceive the magnitude of the enterprise, 
 or the true greatness of the man who would persevere 
 in the face of such accumulated obstacles. The power 
 and resources of Mexico might have sufficed to deter 
 any man from attempting to subdue it, unless he had 
 been assured that the whole effiarts of the Spanish 
 government would be put forth in his support. Instead 
 of having any such ground of confidence, Cortez 
 entered the country with a mere handful of followers,
 
 108 MEXICO. 
 
 many of whom were disaffected towards him, and 
 regarded his success with no friendly feelings. That 
 he won over to his side many such opponents is as 
 great a proof of his ability as is a victory over the 
 enemy in open field. Still this source of anxiety was 
 never entirely removed, he had to suffer some of his 
 forces to depart, and the conspiracy against his life, 
 during the final siege, showed a wide-spread feeling of 
 dissatisfaction amongst those that remained. His 
 Indian allies were a care no less harassing ; they were 
 easily aroused, and only restrained with difficulty. Yet 
 he managed them with such address that they stood 
 by him in the hour of his need, shed their blood fi-eely 
 n his defence, and toiled under his orders when the 
 conquest was secured. Besides all this, until the final 
 struggle was passed he knew not how his conduct was 
 regarded at the court of Spain ; and his cares must 
 have been terribly augumented by the consciousness 
 that nothing, save victory, could excuse his insubordi- 
 nation : that defeat would inevitably be followed by 
 disgrace. In no tragedy had man ever been portrayed 
 as fighting against circumstances that seemed more 
 hopelessly invincible. 
 
 It is here then that we must recognise the true 
 greatness of the conqueror of Mexico, in the iron will 
 and purpose that proposed to themselves a single end, 
 and steadily followed it in defiance of all obstacles; 
 in the bold courage that never blenched before dangers, 
 let them come from whence they might ; in the tena- 
 city with which he grasped a definite design, and 
 followed it out to its full completion. The lust of 
 conquest, the carnage, the cruelty, the cunning, that 
 marked his course — all these have found advocates, 
 but in truth they admit of no defence. They are so
 
 THE STOUT OF THE CONQUEST. 109 
 
 many foul stains upon one whom the world has 
 honoured because of his success. Their true character 
 is not altered by the difficulties of the position of 
 Cortez. It is the glory of righteousness that it has 
 abided by the right in spite of all temptations ; it 
 must be the shame of wrong that in like circumstances 
 it has failed. 
 
 We repeat that the greatness of Cortez consists m 
 his singleness of purpose, and yet how his glory pales 
 here beside that of the humblest Christian martyr, 
 who, placing before himself God's glory as the one 
 thing needful, has pm-sued that object at any sacrifice, 
 even that of life itself. Singleness of purpose once 
 attained, it is the end which ennobles it and gives it 
 its true character. To conquer a vast region is not in 
 itself a noble object, however stamped with the applause 
 of men. To glorify God in seeking his truth for our- 
 selves, or to make it known to others, is a far nobler 
 aim than to tread, however gallantly, through the 
 blood of thousands to such honours as those which 
 were conferred on Cortez.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISH TICEROTS. 
 
 The new city — Subsequent career of Cortez — Jlendoza, viceroy 
 — Revolt of the Indians — Tlieir sufferings — Sandoval, vice- 
 roy — Slavery of the Indians confirmed — Insurrections — Pesti- 
 lence — Vclasco, viceroy — Favours the abolition of slavery 
 — Complaints of the colonists — Conspiracy against the 
 family of Cortez — Occasion of its outbreak — Execution of 
 the Alvarados — Peralta, viceroy— Intrigues against him — 
 Munoz sent out as visitador — Pestilence in Mexico — 
 Internal quiet — Velasco II., viceroy— The fowl tax — 
 Repartimientos — Embankment and drainage of the lake 
 of Tezcuco — Gelves, viceroy — His avarice — Outbreak in 
 the capital — Strange scenes — Auto-da-fe at Mexico — English 
 privateers — Count Revilla-Gigedo — Prosperity under his 
 viceroyalty — Heavy taxation — Injustice to the natives — 
 Famine — Avarice of the viceroy — New silver mines dis- 
 covered — Galvez, visitador — Expulsion of the Jesuits — 
 Indian indolence — Florez, viceroy — Incursions of the 
 Apaches — Revilla-Gigedo II., viceroy — Anecdotes of his 
 administration — Branciforte, viceroy — Discontent of the 
 people — The beginning of the end. 
 
 Four years had not elapsed since the destruction 
 of Mexico when a new city rose upon the ruins of the 
 Aztec capital. The plans for the new town were laid 
 out on a scale of great magnificence. Churches and 
 palaces were erected in its spacious streets and squares, 
 which were carried out in straight lines, so that the 
 eye ran through them to rest upon the dark back 
 ground of the surrounding mountains. A vast popu-
 
 MEXICO r>'I)ER SPANISH VICEROYS. Ill 
 
 larion was quickly gathered, and soon 2,000 Spanish 
 families were settled in it, and moi*e than 30,000 
 natives occupied the Indian quarter. All the activity 
 of a thriving population was aroused within its walls, 
 and the terrible desolation of the past was half for- 
 gotten in present prosperity. 
 
 The character of Cortez, too, appears in a more 
 favourable light after the conclusion of the siege. 
 Despite the opposition of Velasquez and Foiiseca he 
 was confirmed in his authorit}'' by a royal ordinance, 
 dated October 15, 1522, and before its arrival Cortez 
 was actively employed in consolidating his conquest. 
 He showed such practical sagacity in his designs for 
 the improvement of the country as raises him to the 
 rank of a statesman, far above the level of a mere 
 ruthless destroyer. Within three years several im- 
 portant expeditions to explore the country had been 
 fitted out, and a territory of some 1,200 miles on the 
 coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific had been reduced 
 under the yoke of Spain. 
 
 We have not space to relate the adventures which 
 befel Cortez in Honduras, nor those of Alvarado in 
 Guatemala. It is the old story of Spanish adventure 
 in the new world. Hair-breadth escapes were incurred 
 and prodigies of valour performed by the Eui-opeans, 
 whose gallantry was, however, too, often sullied with 
 ci'uelty, and Alvarado es])ecially earned the detestation 
 of the natives by his ruthless conduct. Strangely in- 
 termingled with such conduct, and with the avarice 
 that characterized the first colonists, is the anxiety 
 everywhere expressed and I'elt by them for the con- 
 version of the Indians, and which gave to these expe- 
 ditions the spirit of the crusades. The Popish tenets 
 were generally accepted with all the semblance of
 
 112 MEXICO. 
 
 outward compliance, whilst the Indians remained 
 io^norant of the creed they had adopted, or still com- 
 bined with it the secret worship of their former deities. 
 
 Although Cortez had been confirmed in his govern- 
 ment, his adversaries still continued to heap up charges 
 against him, and at length Charles ordered him to 
 return to Spain that he might clear himself from all 
 accusations. He met with every mark of attention 
 and favour when he reached Toledo, in 1529. He was 
 made Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, and large 
 estates were conferred upon him, but he was not per- 
 mitted again to resume his government. Perhaps he 
 had become too powerful as a subject. At any rate, 
 on his return to Mexico, he was forbidden to approach 
 within thirty leagues of the capital, and after spending 
 immense sums in projects for further colonization and 
 exploration, which were never repaid by the government, 
 he returned and died in his native land at Castilleja 
 de la Cuesta. near Seville, on the 2nd ©f December, 1547. 
 
 When Cortez had been summoned to Europe, the 
 government was intrusted to Nunez de Guzman, with 
 whom two officers, termed oidores, were associated ; but, 
 as the importance of the colony began to be more 
 fully appreciated by the Spanish court, it was deter- 
 mined to send out a nobleman of high position and 
 ability, with ample powers as viceroy ; and in this form 
 the country continued to be ruled as long as it remained 
 an appanage of the Spanish crown. 
 
 Don Antonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy, arrived 
 at Mexico in 1535. There were abundant sources of 
 employment awaiting him. He began by reducing the 
 clergy to order, suspending those whose lives were a 
 scandal to their calHng, and urging them to greater 
 zeal in the conversion of the natives. The condition
 
 MEXICO UNDEU SPANISH YICEROTS. 113 
 
 of the latter was the subject of much anxiety to the 
 viceroy and the home government, and a code of laws 
 was drawn up by the Council of the Indies to provide 
 for their welfare. Unhappily the interests of the colo- 
 nists were so opposed to those of the Indians that the 
 authorities often found it impossible to enforce their 
 enactments. But every credit should be given to the 
 government for their zeal and their good intentions. 
 
 The viceroyalty of Mendoza was distinguished by 
 the establishment of a roj^al mint at Mexico for coining 
 money, and by the issue of the first book that had 
 been printed in the country. The prejudices of the 
 natives, however, greatly lessened the advantages which 
 might have been derived from the former of these 
 improvements. A large issue of copper coinage, valued 
 by Torquemada at 200,000 dollars, was made, but it 
 was so unpopular that severe laws were passed to insist 
 apon its reception. Suddenly the whole of it disap- 
 peared. The Mexicans had thrown it into the lake. 
 A small silver coinage was attempted in 1541, but it 
 met no better success. Large quantities of it were 
 collected and melted into bars ; another portion shared 
 the fate of the copper money. 
 
 The year 1542 was marked by a revolt of the In- 
 dians of Jalisco. The cause was traced to the oppres- 
 sion of the system of repartimientos, under which a 
 number of natives were assigned to a European colonist, 
 and were compelled to work on his farm or to labour 
 in the mines. The clement viceroy was touched with 
 the sufferings of the natives, and he entreated them 
 to lay down their arms, but their experience of past 
 wrongs made them reckless of danger. " We are lords 
 of these lands," they answered, " and we wish to die 
 in their defence." In the various actions which ensued 
 
 I
 
 114 MEXICO. 
 
 such decisive victories were gained by the Spaniards, 
 that the natives were fain to submit. They obtained 
 very easy terms from Mendoza, who forbore from exact- 
 ing vengeance for this violation of his authority. 
 
 The attention of the emperor was called by these 
 insurrections to the condition of his American subjects. 
 A council was summoned to look into the matter and 
 legislate upon it, with due regard to the necessity of 
 the colonists and the rights of the Indians. They 
 ordained that, "there were to be no slaves made in the 
 future wars of these countries ; the S3"stem of repar- 
 timientos was to be abandoned ; and the Indians were 
 not, as a class, to be solely devoted to ignoble pur- 
 suits." The widest publicity was given to these 
 humane intentions in Spain ; * and officers were ap- 
 pointed to visit the colonies and see that the injunctions 
 were carefully carried out. 
 
 Francisco de Sandoval, who was despatched on this 
 mission to Mexico, reached St. Juan de Ulua in 1544. 
 His arrival was the signal for the most strenuous efforts 
 on the part of the colonists to prevent the publication 
 of the decrees. On this issue hung the fate of the 
 native population, and Sandoval declared his firm in- 
 tention to maintain the emperor's commands, and in 
 this course he was promptly seconded by Mendoza. 
 The rage of the planters was unbounded. Their 
 wealth was dependent upon their retaining the Indians 
 in slavery ; and at length their opposition grew so 
 formidable that Mendoza allowed them to send a 
 body of delegates to Spain, who might lay their 
 representations before the emperor. Meanwhile San- 
 doval persisted in enforcing obedience to the decrees, 
 and he removed several officers from their posts who 
 
 ♦ Mayer's Mexico, voL I., p. 143.
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISH YICEEOYS. 115 
 
 were convicted of cruelty' to the Indians intrusted to 
 them. 
 
 The whole history of Mexico would have assumed 
 another complexion had the emperor remained firm on 
 behalf of his Indian subjects. No engine was left un- 
 tried by the proprietors to effect their purpose. " Money, 
 influence, falsehood, and intrigue, were freely used to 
 sustain the S3'stem of masked slavery among the sub- 
 jugated natives; and at last a royal cedulawixs procured 
 commanding the revocation of the humane decrees, 
 and ordering the division of the royal domain among 
 the conqueror.-^. The Indians, of course, followed the 
 fate of the soil ; and thus, by chicanery and influence, 
 the gentle efforts of the better portion of Spanish 
 society were rendered entirely nugatory. The news of 
 this decree spread joy among the Mexican landed pro- 
 prietors. The chains of slavery were rivetted upon 
 the natives. The principle of compulsory labour was 
 established for ever, and even to this day the Indian of 
 Mexico remains the bondsman he was doomed to be- 
 come in the 16th century." * 
 
 From this time may be dated the undying hostility 
 between the Indians and their Spanish conquerors, 
 which still rages, and whose fruits may be traced in 
 every portion of Mexican history, down to the con- 
 flicts which are being waged whilst we pen these lines. 
 
 It was not to be expected that the natives woidd be 
 conciliated by such a policy ; and, although Mendoza's 
 authority was ever exerted to ameliorate the condition 
 of the Indians, they continued to be iUtreated by the 
 planters, whose estates were scattered at wide intervals 
 through the country, and who were almost uncontrolled 
 by the authorities at the capital. The discontent of the 
 
 * Mayer's Mexico, vol. I., p. 14-1.
 
 IIG MEXICO. 
 
 conquered people manifested itself in numerous insur- 
 rections which broke out during Mendoza's viceroyalty, 
 and the sufferings of the natives were further aggra- 
 vated by a pestilence which desolated the country'' in 
 the year 1546, and is said to have swept off five-sixths 
 of the whole population. The disconnected efforts of 
 the Indians were, however, powerless against the 
 superior strength of their masters. The numbers of 
 the Europeans were constantly increasing, as grants of 
 land were given to poor and deserving Spaniards, 
 and the limits of the territory which they colonized 
 were being constantly extended. Happy were those 
 among the natives whose country was subdued by the 
 preaching of the religious orders and not by the sword. 
 Such was the fortune of the province of Vera Paz, 
 whose name was given it to betoken that it had been 
 converted to Christianity by the eloquence of the 
 Dominicans, and not by the fiery zeal of the Spanish 
 soldiery. 
 
 It was during the viceroyalty of Mendoza that Peru 
 was added to the Spanish dominions by Pizarro ; and, 
 as the new colony required a governor of ability and 
 discretion for its re-organization after the inevitable 
 disorder of the conquest, Mendoza was transferred 
 thither in 1550. His successor, Velasco, was sent out 
 with instructions to endeavour to better the condition 
 of the natives, and the stiniggle between the viceroy 
 and the planters was renewed : the latter urged that 
 the colony would be ruined if the system of forced 
 labour was abandoned ; that the fields would be un- 
 tilled, and the necessary supplies for the colony would 
 fail ; more than all, that the royal revenues would be 
 sacrificed. But Yelasco was unmoved by these re- 
 presentations. He declared his determination "to
 
 MEXICO TJXDER SPANISH VICEROYS. 117 
 
 relieve the Indians from tlie personal labours, tributes, 
 and severe service in the mines with which the}'' had 
 been burdened. Their liberty he asserted to be of 
 more importance than all the mines in the world ; and 
 the revenues they yielded to the Spanish crown 
 not to be of such a character that all divine and 
 human laws should be sacrificed to obtain them." * 
 
 It was nobly and truthfully spoken, but it raised a 
 host of enemies against Velasco, and the accession of 
 Philip II., on the abdication of Charles V., aflPorded an 
 opportunity for undermining his power. Hitherto the 
 viceroy had possessed unlimited authority. The jealous 
 disposition of Pliilip was worked upon successfully, and 
 he was persuaded to send out a decree that in future 
 the viceroy should do nothing without the previous 
 sanction of the Audiencia. It was not alleged that 
 Velasco had misused his powers, but the conflicting 
 statements sent home puzzled the government, and 
 they sent out Valderrama as visitador of New Spain, 
 to inquire into and correct abuses. How cruelly 
 Valderrama exercised his functions may be understood 
 from the title he acquired of " Molester of the Indians," 
 and a powerful restraint upon him was removed by 
 Velasco's sudden death. He had been ordered to 
 undertake an expedition to the Philippine islands, and 
 was organizing his forces when his health suddenl}-- 
 failed him. He died July 31, 1564. His memory 
 was embalmed in the affections of the natives, whose 
 cause he had maintained, and the remembrance of his 
 loving symj)athy for the oppressed stiU sheds its pm-e 
 and sentle lii^ht around his tomb. 
 
 At the death of Velasco the government was ad- 
 ministered by the Audiencia, until his successor should 
 
 • Mayer's Mexico, vol. I., p. 119.
 
 118 MEXICO. 
 
 arrive in Mexico, and the interval was marked by a 
 tragedy which excited the deepest interest on account 
 of the character and station of tlie parties concerned. 
 
 Among the noblemen then resident at Mexico, none 
 was more conspicuous for wealth and popularity than 
 the Marquis del Valle, the son of Hernando Cortez. 
 How he managed to incur the hatred or jealousy ol. 
 the Audiencia is not told us, but it is certain that they 
 regarded him with aversion, and were eager to contrive 
 his ruin. Some colour seemed to be given to their sus- 
 picions by the liberality and magnificence of the marquis 
 on the occasion of the baptism of his twin daughters. 
 The ceremonial was marked with unusual splendour. 
 From the palace of the marquis to the cathedral a 
 covered way was prepared, under an awning of rich 
 cloths, and a salute of artillery announced to the 
 assembled multitude tlie precise moment when the 
 infants entered and left the church. A grand tourna- 
 ment, and a sumptuous banquet, spread in the streets, 
 and to which all were welcomed, were maliciously 
 construed as further evidence of a treasonable design 
 to win over the affections of the populace. 
 
 On the evening of the baptism a grand entertain- 
 ment, in honour of the event, was given by Don Alonso 
 de Avila Alvarado, who, with his brother Gronzalez, was 
 the intimate friend of the Marquis del Valle ; and at 
 this party a masque was pei'formed, representing the 
 first meeting between Cortez and Montezuma. Alonso 
 pla3'ed the part of the Mexican emperor, and as he 
 placed a crown of laurel on the heads of the marquis 
 and his wife, he exclaimed, " How well these crowns 
 befit your noble brows ! " On so trifling a foundation 
 the Audiencia built up their accusation of treason 
 against the first subject of New Spain.
 
 MEXICO UKDEE SPANISH TICEEOTS. 119 
 
 The subsequent proceedings of the Audiencia are 
 almost incredible. They pretended to have received 
 information that a conspiracy was formed against the 
 government, which was to take effect on the anniversary 
 of the fall of Mexico. Armed bands v/ere to be col- 
 lected, under pretence of joining in the procession, and, 
 at a given signal, Don Martin Cortez, the son of 
 Marina, and half brother of the marquis, was to rush 
 out and slay the Audiencia, and proclaim del Valle 
 monarch of Xew Spain. The marquis was accordingly 
 summoned by the Audiencia, under the pretext that a 
 despatch had been received from Spain, with orders 
 that it should be read in his presence. On arriving at 
 the council chamber, without a thought of what was 
 impending, he found himself surrounded by soldiers, 
 and was taken prisoner on a charge of treason. He 
 yielded, seeing that resistance was hopeless, and at the 
 same time the two Alvarados, and the kinsmen of 
 Cortez, were arrested, and their papers seized, in hopes 
 that they might afford some evidence against them. 
 Alonso's portfolio was found to be full of love letters, 
 but did not contain one trace of treason. But their 
 guilt had been predetermined by the Audiencia. In 
 spite of the entreaties of the public bodies, and almost 
 all the leading nobles in the city, the gallant Alonso, 
 and his brother, were condemned and beheaded on the 
 7th of August, 156G. We are assured that the mar- 
 quis only escaped from sharing the same fate by the 
 arrival of Gaston de Peralta, the new viceroy. 
 
 Peralta soon discovered the iniquity of the proceeding, 
 and having dismissed those members of the Audiencia 
 who had been concerned in it, he penned a despatch to 
 Philip II. giving a full account of the transaction. 
 This despatch the suspended functionaries managed to
 
 120 MEXICO. 
 
 keep back by bribing the -viceroy's messenger; at the 
 same time they sent out to Spain the most unfounded 
 charges against the viceroy, accusing him of being 
 remiss in his investigation of the conspiracy, and even 
 of having provided an army of 30,000 men to support 
 the marquis in his revolt. They confirmed their state- 
 ments by a batch of depositions, one of which was to 
 the effect that the witness had actually seen the forces 
 adverted to. The sole basis of this tissue of falsehoods 
 being a picture, containing a multitude of figures, 
 which the viceroy had caused to be painted on a wall 
 of his official residence. 
 
 The court of Spain was sadly confused on the receipt 
 of these letters. It could not believe in the treason 
 of Peralta, and waited for his reply ; but when this was 
 again intercepted it construed his silence into an 
 admission of his guilt, and accordingly sent out a 
 commission under Muiioz to take possession of the 
 government and inquire into the matter. Peralta was 
 thunderstruck at the arrival of Muiioz, and his own 
 deposition from power, but he quietly yielded up his 
 power and waited until his innocence should be estab- 
 lished. Muiioz, on the other hand, abused his office 
 frightfully. The prisons of Mexico were filled to 
 overflowing, and so terribly did he signalize himself 
 by his cruelty and reactions that a imiversal cry was 
 raised for his recall. The same fleet bore back to 
 Spain both Muiioz and Pei-alta, and at length the 
 whole truth came out. In vain Muiioz tried to 
 palliate his conduct. " I sent you to govern, not 
 to destroy," was the answer of the king to his ex- 
 planations. That same night Muiioz was found dead 
 in bis chamber. The Marquis del Valle had left 
 Mexico for Spain, and, after a delay of seven years,
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPAXISH TICEROTS. 121 
 
 diu'ing which his property was wasted by the crown 
 officials, he also was acquitted and his lands restored. 
 
 Such an episode illustrates the dark state of society 
 in Mexico, and we may well believe that the next 
 viceroy, Alasanza, found it necessary to quiet the fears 
 and distrust which were then widely prevalent. Yet a 
 subauquent act of the home government could liardly 
 be calculated to reassure the Mexicans. Religious 
 disputes were raging in the capital, and needed a gentle 
 hand to soothe them ; but at this period Philip II, 
 determined to establish the inquisition in Mexico, and 
 sent out a grand inquisitor to organize the office. 
 About the same period, 1572, the first Jesuit college 
 was established in the city. 
 
 In 1576, Mexico was visited by a terrible pestilence, 
 which carried off a vast number of the people. Its 
 symptoms were violent pain's in the head, succeeded by 
 burning fever of so exhaustive a character that none 
 were known to survive the seventh day of seizure. 
 Nearly two millions are said to have pex'ished. In 
 the two 3'ears following, Alasanza endeavoured to 
 lessen the miseries of the natives who had probably 
 been the chief sufferers from the plague. He re- 
 mitted the annual tribute, and gave directions for 
 their more lenient treatment. It was in working 
 the mines that they suffered most severely. " Their 
 toil was incessant. Their task-masters gave them no 
 respite in the bowels of the earth, for they wrought as 
 if they designed to scrape every vein and artery of the 
 colony's soil. Silver and labour were calculated with 
 exactness, and no limit to the Indian's industry was 
 prescribed, save that which was imposed by his capacity 
 for work and his powers of endurance. The viceroy 
 introduced a milder system, as far as he was able, among
 
 122 MEXICO. 
 
 the leading miners of the colony. He insisted upon 
 permitting the Indians regular repose, and he forbade 
 their entire confinement within the mines, but com- 
 manded that they should be allowed time to breathe 
 the fresh air on the sm-face of the earth, and suffered 
 to attend to their domestic labours, or to toil on public 
 works, for a competent recompense."* The terms in 
 which the viceroy's orders are expressed enable us 
 to conceive what the miserable condition of these poor 
 creatures must have been. 
 
 Several years passed away without any incident of 
 moment. Alasanza was removed to Peru, and suc- 
 ceeded by other viceroys in somewhat quick succession. 
 Internally the country was agitated by religious dis- 
 putes and the misconduct of officials. Beyond its coasts 
 the terrible Drake hovered, hiding in the bays of 
 California, and pouncing suddenly on the rich galleons 
 that bore away the tribute, or came freighted with the 
 precious products of foreign lands. Vast sums, however, 
 reached the court of Spain : 3,300,000 coined ducats 
 in silver, and 1,100 marks in gold, in 1585, and a still 
 larger treasure in 1587, helped to Uquidate the ex- 
 penses incurred by Philip II. in his European wars. 
 But, in 1594, the king's necessities induced him to 
 resoi't to the system of forced loans, which were de- 
 manded of his American as well as of his European 
 subjects. 
 
 Velasco, the son of the second viceroy, held at this 
 period the government of New Spain. He undertook, 
 with great reluctance, the task of increasing by four 
 reals the capitation tax upon the Indians ; and being 
 anxious at once to alleviate the burden and to encourage 
 them in rearing poultry, he agreed to receive three 
 
 Mayer's Me-xioo, vol. I., p. 162.
 
 MEXICO TJKDEE SPANISH TICEEOTS. 123 
 
 reals and one fowl, then valued at a real, in lieu of full 
 money payment. The indolent and improvident natives 
 allowed the time to slip by without providing them- 
 selves with any poultry, and they at last had to buy 
 the required bird instead of selling it. The price of 
 fowls rose in consequence to three reals ; the tax- 
 gatherers took advantage of the opportunity to press 
 for the tax, and to make a market of their poultry, 
 and so the unfortunate Indians were mulct in three 
 times the amount through this scheme, which was 
 devised in their behalf. An attempt to settle some of 
 the wandering tribes in fixed abodes was not much 
 more successful. The first Otomi who was compelled 
 to live in a house killed his own wife and children, and 
 then hung himself. For the present the Otomies were 
 permitted to indulge their vagabond propensities. 
 
 Acehedo, count of Monterey, the successor of 
 Velasco, abolished the fowl tax, and made most 
 strenuous efforts to get rid of the system of reparti- 
 mientos. The great hindrance to the enfranchisement 
 of the natives lay in theu* natux-al indisposition to 
 labour. It was impossible to raise the royal revenue save 
 by a system of forced labour. It was equally impractic- 
 able to guard against the abuses to which that system 
 was liable. It was a dilemma between idleness and 
 tyranny. Plans were tried by which it was hoped 
 that natives might be obliged to perform a fair amount 
 of labour, and yet should be ensured the payment of 
 their wages. Every Sunday they were to assemble in 
 the market-place and enter into contracts for daily 
 service ; the viceroy in person attended on these 
 occasions, and strove in his immediate neighbourhood 
 to see the system fairly carried out. But a body of 
 middle men came in. They hired large gangs on
 
 124 MEXICO. 
 
 moderate terms, and then sub-let them at a profit. 
 The Indians found themselves worse treated than 
 under the old S3^stem, and we are told that they 
 themselves begged that it might be restored. They 
 were quite incapable of the effort of seeking for 
 labour, and Monterey learned, like his predecessors, 
 that it is impossible to help those who will not help 
 themselves. 
 
 In 1607, Velasco was appointed viceroy for the 
 second time. His administi'ation was signalized by 
 the attempt to save Mexico from the inundations of 
 the neighbouring lakes, and it was under his direction 
 that the sj^stem of di'ainage was commenced which we 
 have described in the opening chapter. The only other 
 incident of his rule that calls for notice was a revolt 
 of the negro slaves in 1609. They assembled in large 
 numbers in the mountains near Cordova, and a regular 
 force had to be sent against them. The viceroy pro- 
 bably pitied the insurgents, for their treatment by their 
 masters was intolerable. Yet, after several skirmishes, 
 they were fain to submit and craved pardon, '• because 
 they had not rebelled against the king." An amnesty 
 was immediately accorded them, and permission to 
 settle in the town of San Lorenzo. It was stipulated 
 that they should not afford an asjdum to other slaves 
 who might run away from the plantations. 
 
 Garcia Guerra, the next viceroy, died from the effect 
 of an accident ere his term was expired, and the Au- 
 diencia succeeded to the government until the new 
 ruler should arrive. It had generally been the fate of 
 this body to distinguish its government by some act 
 of atrocity, and it did not fail on this occasion to 
 maintain its reputation. Hardly had they entered on 
 their office, when the news spread abroad that the
 
 MEXICO UNDEE SPANISH TICEEOTS. 125 
 
 negroes were again in arms. The people were panic- 
 struck. A terrible noise was heard by night in the 
 streets of the capital, and the terrified citizens thought 
 that the savages were upon them, and that they should 
 be murdered in their beds. Inquiry proved that the 
 alarm was due to the arrival in the darkness of a large 
 drove of hogs. Yet, to excuse the public fright and 
 their own credulity, the Audiencia had twenty-nine 
 male and four female negroes put to death. " Their 
 withered and fetid bodies were left to hang upon the 
 gallows, tainting the air, and shocking the eyes of 
 every passer-by, until the neighbourhood could no 
 longer bear the stench, and imperiously demanded their 
 removal." 
 
 Four years aftei-wards, the insuiTection broke out in 
 earnest in the state of Durango. It was the native 
 Indians who now rose, under the leadership of a chief- 
 tain who called himself the " Son of the Sun, and God 
 of Heaven and Earth." A terrible and indiscriminate 
 massacre ensued of every European who came within 
 their reach : neither sex, nor age, availed for protection. 
 The churches were broken into, and many were mur- 
 dered as they sought the sanctuary of the altars. 
 Even the priests were not spared. At length, after 
 three months of war and negotiation, peace was re- 
 stored. It was gained more through the influence of 
 the Jesuits than the arms of the soldiers. 
 
 A curious insight into the internal condition of 
 Mexico is afforded us by the narrative of Father Gao-e, 
 an EngUsh friar, who visited the country in 1625. 
 Gage was at this period a Dominican monk, but no 
 sooner was his English birth knovATi at the court of 
 Spain than strict orders were given to prevent his 
 visiting the colony of Mexico. The worthy friar, how-
 
 126 MEXICO. 
 
 ever, concealed himself in a cask on board the galleoP 
 in which he was to sail, and did not emerge from his 
 hiding-place until the vessel was some distance on her 
 voyage. He subsequently renounced the creed of Rome, 
 and after a series of adventures reached England, and was 
 made chaplain to Fairfax. His book, now very scarce, 
 abounds in quaint details, minutely describing the 
 scenes which he had witnessed. 
 
 Gage gives us a lively pictui'e of the sufferings of 
 the Indians. Many were swept from their homes to 
 the mines, and there perished under the severity of the 
 labour imposed upon them. Forced service commonly 
 prevailed. Travellers were entitled to demand without 
 payment food for themselves and their mules, as well as 
 porters to carry on their baggage. The amount due 
 for these things was to be entered in a public ledger, 
 and payment was not made for it by the government 
 until the end of the year. So heavj^ were the burdens 
 which the natives were required to carry, that when 
 the strap which supported it was removed from the 
 forehead, the skin not unfrequently came off with it. 
 To all such incidental ills were added the existence of 
 slavery throughout the land. 
 
 Each large proprietor might demand a number of 
 workmen to till the ground or perform other menial 
 offices. Every Sunday the native chief was obliged to 
 bring a body of his followers to the market-place, and 
 they were then assigned to the different proprietors. 
 Only a certain number could legally be allotted each 
 week ; but as the officer who arranged the matter was 
 paid by a tax of so much a head on each Indian, 
 he was hardly likely to be restrained by such a regu- 
 lation. The poor creatures were torn from their homes, 
 and even then were commonly robbed of the payment
 
 MEXICO r>'I>EK SPATTISU YICEKOTS. 127 
 
 whicli the law allowed them, under the pretext that it 
 was due for the provisions with which they were 
 furnished. At harvest time they were glad even to 
 pay their masters for permission to return home, after 
 half the week was spent, that they might get in their 
 crops. 
 
 The patient endurance of the country people was not, 
 however, tamely imitated by the city population. The 
 ^Marquis Gelves was viceroy when Gage arrived at 
 Mexico. His character was stained by insatiable 
 avarice, and he determined to buy up all the corn in 
 the country and then re-sell it at a great profit. Ho 
 employed an agent, named Mesia, to pua-chase corn at 
 the price fixed by the government for years of famine. 
 It was soon discovered that there were no stores of food 
 save in the viceroy's granaries. A panic quickly 
 followed, and prices rose enormously. In vain the 
 people demanded grain at 14 reals, the famine price as 
 fixed by law. Gelves answered, that it was not a year 
 of scarcity, and refused to interfere, 
 
 De la Serna, the archbishop, was nciw appealed to 
 by the people. He promptly excommunicated Mesia. 
 The latter disregarded his anathema, and raised the 
 price of corn still higher. De la Serna then put 
 the whole country under an interdict. The churches 
 were all closed. The mills all silent. The priests 
 went from house to house bewailing the affliction of 
 the peojile. Still Mesia held out, supported by the 
 viceroy. 
 
 At length the outcry became universal, and Mesia 
 had to take refuge in the viceregal palace. In vain 
 Gelves ordered that the interdict should be disregarded. 
 In vain he ordered De la Serna to revoke his censures. 
 The archbishop replied by excommunicating the vice-
 
 128 MEXICO. 
 
 roy himself. Gelves sent an officer to seize him. The 
 prelate retired to the church of Guadalupe and awaited 
 the arrival of the viceroy's minion at the altar ; his 
 iTiitre on his head, his crosier in one hand, and the 
 sacrament in the other. He was dragged from the 
 sanctuary, and sent as a prisoner to Spain. 
 
 At length, however, the passions of the people were 
 roused to an ungovernable pitch. All Mexico rose in 
 insurrection. The viceroy had to fly, and found refuge 
 in a Franciscan cloister. The granaries were then 
 opened, and peace once more restored ; Gelves was 
 recalled, but made " master of the horse " to the 
 Spanish monarch. The noble-hearted De la Serna was 
 degraded to the petty bishopric of Tamora, in Castile. 
 Thirty years passed, during which little save palatial 
 intrigues followed this disgraceful episode. 
 
 There were strange scenes occasionally at the vice- 
 regal palace when a new governor was appointed to rule 
 over the colony. When Munoz was suddenly displaced 
 from office he had to borrow from some citizens the 
 money with which to hire a carriage to Vera Cruz. 
 So, too, when in 1590 the viceroy Zuuiga was supplanted 
 by the bishop of Tlascala, the prelate seized all the 
 property of his predecessor, and even withheld his mfe's 
 linen. On other occasions, the royal rescript appointing 
 a new viceroy was kept secret until a fitting moment 
 arrived for its disclosure, and the man who deemed 
 himself the master of the country was awoke out of his 
 sleep to learn that his powers had been transferred to 
 another : this was the case with the Duke of Escalona, 
 whose reign terminated in 1042. At the same time all his 
 property was sequestrated and his jewels were sent to the 
 treasury. Those viceroys who had been falsely accused 
 generally succeeded in obtaining an aquittal, but the
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISU YICEROYS. 129 
 
 fact of their being subject to such treatment at all is a 
 striking feature of tlie manners of the time. 
 
 There was little of interest in the history of the 
 colony until the year 1659, when a grand auto-da-fe 
 took pUice at Mexico, at which fifty human beings were 
 burned alive. The Inquisition had been established by 
 Philip 11. in the mother country, and in this event 
 we have some of the fruits of its labours. The horrid 
 spectacle was witnessed by a dense mass of people, and 
 the viceroy, in person, presided over the proceeding. 
 Meanwhile the colony was extending its territories and 
 growing in wealth and splendour. Various expeditions 
 were fitted out to California and New Mexico. In 
 many of the wildest border regions the civilisation of 
 the natives was undertaken by the Jesuits, who carried 
 out their task with a zeal and self-denial that were 
 worthy of a purer creed. They settled amidst the 
 savage tribes, ruled over them with an absolute 
 authority, and derived no inconsiderable revenue from 
 the tribute which their subjects paid to them. 
 
 During a considerable period, the weakness of the 
 colonial government contrasted strangely with its in- 
 ternal growth and prosperity. Jamaica was captured 
 by the English in 1656, and serious apprehensions 
 were entertained for the safety of the Spanish ports. 
 Nor were the internal frontiers of the country more se- 
 cure. In 1680, a creneral risings of the Indians in New 
 Mexico took place. They besieged Santa Fe, its capital, 
 so closely that no one dared to show himself beyond 
 the walls, and the beleaguered inhabitants only escaped 
 by stealing in the night through the lines of the enemy. 
 The city was levelled to the ground, and all hold over 
 the natives was for the present lost. The sea was 
 swept by the British privateers long after peace had 
 
 K
 
 130 MEXICO. 
 
 been proclaimed between the courts of London and 
 Madrid. Still the internal resources of the country 
 were developed. Crowds of emigrants landed on its 
 f-hores, and the working of the mines resulted in a 
 harvest of wealth hitherto unparalleled. 
 
 None of its rulers contributed more to this result 
 than the Count Eevilla-Grigedo, the first viceroy of 
 his name, who held office from 1746 to 1755. The 
 mining disti'icts now were extraordinarily prolific, and 
 no year of his government yielded less than 11,000,000 
 of dollars ; the whole sum that passed through the 
 national mint during his term being 114,231,000 dol- 
 lars of the precious metals. The population of the 
 capital amounted to 50,000 families, composed of 
 Spaniards, European and Creole ; 40,000 Mestitzos, Mu- 
 lattoes and Negroes ; and 8,000 Indians who inhabited 
 the suburbs. This population consumed annually at 
 least 2,000,000 arobas of flour, about 160,000 fanegas 
 of corn, 300,000 sheep, 15^500 beeves, and about 25,000 
 swine. In this estimate the consumption of many 
 religious establishments is not included, as they were 
 privately supplied from their estates, nor can we count 
 the numerous and valuable presents which were sent 
 by residents of the country to their friends in the 
 capital. The taxes of the city of Mexico, accounted 
 for by the council, amounted to 333,333 dollars, whilst 
 those of the whole viceroyalty reached 718,375 dollars. 
 The income from pulque alone — the favourite drink of 
 the masses — was 172,000 dollars, and their imposts 
 swelled the gross income to the sum already indicated. 
 It would be hai'd to say what corresponding benefit 
 the country received in return for such exactions. 
 
 Of the taxes thus raised a very unfair proportion 
 was exacted from the Indians, when their poverty and
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISH YICEROYS. 131 
 
 personal service are considered. The alcaldes, by whora 
 the Indians were ruled in their respective districts, 
 were made responsible for payment, and had to give 
 security for it before entering upon their office. A 
 census was t;dven of the natives in each district, and 
 three reals each were collected from them three times 
 a year, two natives being always assessed together, so 
 that each might be liable for the whole sum. The 
 whole year's tax, of eighteen reals for the two, was thus 
 divided — eight were assigned for tribute, four for the 
 royal service, four and a half as commutation for corn 
 to the royal granary, half a real for the royal hospital, 
 in which" the natives were tended when ill, and the 
 remaining real was divided between a fund for the cost 
 of their law suits, and one for the erection of cathedrals. * 
 In 1749 and 1750, famine prevailed through all 
 the country, save the metropolitan district of Mexico. 
 The sufferings of the people were also aggravated by 
 shocks of earthquake, which destroyed many of their 
 villages, at a great cost of human life. So severe was 
 the scarcity in the second year, that a fanega of 
 corn was sold for twenty-live dollars in the region of 
 Zacatecas, and the town population poured out into the 
 forests that they might live upon the berries and roots 
 which were to be found in them. The discovery of the 
 silver vein of Bolanos, whose richness caused the mer- 
 chants to bring to it large quantities of corn, afforded 
 a considerable supply of work, and much alleviated the 
 misery which would otherwise have been undergone. 
 The government ol Count Eevilla-Gigedo was able and 
 successful, and the Court of Spain had every reason to 
 be satisfied with the amount of tribute he exported 
 thither ; but his own character has not escaped the 
 
 Mayer, vol. I. p. 230.
 
 132 MEXICO, 
 
 gravest imputations. It is asserted that he entered 
 into every imaginable speculation ; that he thought 
 no commercial scheme beneath his notice which 
 promised a large profit ; that tables were spread 
 in the vice-regal palace at which the courtiers might 
 gamble, that their lord might profit by the loss of their 
 doubloons. Yet such was his influence, that he was 
 treated with respect notwithstanding such traits. So 
 fearless was his bearing, that on the occasion of an 
 outbreak he rode alone into the city, and awed the 
 mob into subjection by his stern demeanour. 
 
 The discovery of the Bolanos mine, and the suc- 
 cessful woi'king of the veins at Zacafcecas. excited the 
 wildest expectations of wealth amongst the Mexicans 
 at this period. Crowds of persons flocked to the 
 mines with the hope of attaining rapidly to fortune, 
 without the tedium of long and patient toil. A 
 feverish spirit of restlessness seized many who were 
 already deriving large profits, and on the announcement 
 of fresh veins in New Leon, the miners of Zacatecas 
 and Guanajuato flocked thither. Vast works were 
 commenced, and a large outlay undergone, when the 
 ores suddenly failed. In some quarters, penniless ad- 
 venturers were raised to immense wealth. In others, 
 those who had started with a competency found them- 
 selves reduced to heggary. Indeed, the whole history 
 of the colony abounds in such violent oscillations 
 of prosperity and adversity, of health and pestilence. 
 In 17G3, the small-pox broke out in the capital, and 
 carried off 10,000 persons. On a former occasion 
 it had raged so terribly that hardly an inhabitant 
 could be found who was not marked by its ravages. 
 Hardly had this pest subsided when a new form of 
 disease appeared, which caused a continuous bleeding
 
 MEXICO UNDEU SPANISH VICEROTS. 133 
 
 from the nose that commonly proved fatal. From 
 the capital it spread to the country districts, where 
 thousands perished without attendance, medicine, or 
 care. 
 
 The administration of the Marquis of Criullas, from 
 1761 to 1766, excited much discontent at home and in 
 the colony. Don Jose Galvez was accordingly sent 
 out with powei's as visitador, and under his ahle and 
 searching rule the disorders were speedily remedied. 
 Galvez was a man of extraordinary vigour, and of an 
 industry that shrunk from no amount of labour. He 
 soon dismissed some of the crown servants from their 
 ofHces, and by his firmness successfully carried out his 
 scheme for raising a revenue upon tobacco, an article of 
 universal consumption with the Mexicans, the growth 
 and manufacture of which had been hitherto unfettered. 
 No small outcry arose at this proceeding. But Galvez 
 would not be intimidated. He allowed the colonists to 
 grow tobacco as they pleased, but all was to be sold at 
 a fixed price to the revenue officers, and they disposed of 
 it at a small advance, to be made into cigars. 
 
 Galvez was continued in his office after Criullas had 
 been recalled, and his successor, De Croix, appointed ; 
 for the Spanish court had decided on a step which 
 would need all his powers for its successful execu- 
 tion. A growing jealousy of the Jesuits had been 
 springing up in Europe. In 1761, they had been ex- 
 pelled from France, and in 1766, they met with a like 
 fiite in Spain, and it was arranged that the brethren in 
 Mexico should share the fortune of their order. Their 
 influence in New Spain was immense. Thc}^ had de- 
 voted themselves to acquiring power over the Indians, 
 whom they ruled with a united civil and ecclesiastical 
 authority. Their learning, their polished manners,
 
 131 MEXICO. 
 
 their untiring patience, had won for them com- 
 plete mastery over the natives ; and they had so 
 exercised their superiority that their subjects were 
 kept in a complete state of pupilage and childhood. 
 They made no effort to excite the Indians to self- 
 exertion, and the natural apathy of the people induced 
 a too ready acquiescence in a subordinate position. 
 Zealous and self-denying as was the conduct of the 
 Jesuits, their rule could only enervate and enslave. 
 
 So great, however, was the attachment of their flocks, 
 that the court felt no small apprehension in carrying out 
 its purpose. The distance between the various stations 
 tvas accurately estimated, and messengers were dis- 
 patched in such a manner that the order to leave the 
 country might reach them all on the same day, and 
 so prevent any combined effort at resistance. On the 
 appointed morning, troops occupied the streets that 
 led to the chief colleges of the order ; their halls were 
 closed, their establishments dissolved, and they them- 
 selves were marched under an escort from Mexico to Vei'a 
 Cruz. It was the 2Sth of June. They were followed 
 through their journey to the coast by the tears of the 
 people, but Galvez sternly repressed any expression of 
 opinion as to their treatment. " It was not for the 
 people," he said, authoritatively, '' to say anything for 
 or against the roj^al order ; it was a matter only for the 
 conscience of the king ! " 
 
 In our rapid sketch of Mexican affairs we have not 
 been able to advert to the influence of European 
 politics upon its condition. This influence had become 
 more marked since the accession of the Bourbon line 
 to the throne of Spain, in 1701, from which period 
 her fortunes were long closely linked with those of 
 France. Consequently, the news of peace between
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPAKISn TICEEOTS. 135 
 
 France and England was always received with pleasui-e 
 at Mexico, as war left her coasts exposed to the ravages 
 of English privateers. It was with considerable dis- 
 satisfaction, therefore, that the people learned that the 
 home country had, in 1779, openly taken the side of the 
 revolted American States against the government of 
 George III. The Spaniard little dreamed he was 
 helping to raise a spirit which should eventually deprive 
 him of all his transatlantic colonies. 
 
 Some glimpses may occasionally be obtained of the 
 inner state of Mexico at this epoch. With the im- 
 mense increase of wealth derived from the mines, and 
 which had doubled the revenue under Itevilla-Gigedo, 
 luxury and magnificence were seen in the capital. New 
 buildings rose, a school of arts was formed, and the 
 Mint, one of the fairest edifices in the capital, was 
 raised. With these advantages came some desire to 
 learn a little of the early history of the country, and 
 archbishop Lorenzano, in 1760, published a meagre 
 collection of Mexican antiquities. The learning of the 
 country had been sadly lowered b}^ the expulsion of 
 the Jesuits, and so great was the suspicion of the 
 rulers of the press, that special leave was necessary 
 before types could be imj^orted for printing. Violent 
 jealousy prevailed between the religious orders, and 
 their quarrels often called for the interference of the 
 viceroy ; but they grew in wealth and power, and 
 immense gifts were constantly bequeathed to them. 
 The mingled superstition and ignorance of the people 
 were strikingly displayed in 1779, when the small-pox 
 again broke out within the capital. The sick were 
 carried to the churches and laid before the images of 
 the saints, in expectation of miraculous cures. The 
 healthy hurried to the same objects of veneration,
 
 136 MEXICO. 
 
 trusting througli their good offices to be preserved; 
 and this indiscriminate intermixture aggravated in- 
 calculably the numbers seized by the disease. 
 
 The improvident and apathetic character of the 
 natives is seen in the terrible eflPects which followed 
 upon a single year of scarcity. The fruitfulness of many 
 crops in Mexico surpasses anything of which we have 
 experience in Europe. A little extra toil and labour 
 might have secured such a reserve as should amply 
 have provided for all probable contingencies. But no 
 sooner did a single crop of maize fail than multitudes 
 fell victims. Such was the case in 1785, when Bernardo 
 de Galvez was viceroy. This ruler strained every 
 nerve to succour the starving population. Large sums 
 were subscribed to encourage agriculture, and many of 
 the natives were employed on public works, the most 
 prominent of which was the palace of Chapoltepec. 
 The viceroy's humanity did not secure him from 
 suspicions with regard to his object in raising this pile. 
 It was remarked that he courted popularity, and 
 especially aimed at securing the affections of the army. 
 All such thoughts were cut short by his sudden death 
 in November, 1786. 
 
 " At the period of the viceroj^'s decease his wife was 
 pregnant, and it is stated in the chronicles of the day 
 — as a singular illustration of Spanish habits — that 
 the daughter of which she was delivered in the follow- 
 ing month of December, received the names of Maria 
 ile Guadalupe Bernarda Isabel Felipa de Jesus Juano 
 Napomucena Felicitas, to which was added, at the 
 period of the lady's confirmation, the additional one 
 of Fernanda. The Ayuntamiento of Mexico, in order 
 to show its appreciation of the viceroy's memory, 
 offered to become godfather of the infiint ; and the
 
 MEXICO UNDEE SPANISH TICEEOTS. 137 
 
 ceremony of baptism was performed with all the 
 splendour of the (Roman) Catholic church, in presence 
 of the court and of a portion of the army." * 
 
 Don Manuel Flores was viceroy of New Spain from 
 17S7 to 1789, and turned his attention principally to 
 the reduction of the Indians upon the northern frontier. 
 The fertile lands around Chihuahua, and in New Leon 
 and Texas, had attracted thither a large number of 
 colonists, but neither their lives nor property were 
 secure from the attacks of the native tribes. In vain 
 were garrisons placed in the towns. The Apaches only 
 shifted for awhile to some distant quarters, and then 
 returning suddenly, when confidence had been restored, 
 swept across the country, leaving everywhere death 
 and desolation in their track. In vain were armies 
 marched into the field; the Indians dispersed into 
 the forests, whither none could follow them. As 
 fruitless were the treaties arranged with them. They 
 were only observed until an opportunity for plunder 
 occurred, which always proved irresistible to the 
 native mind. Flores accordingly proposed a war of 
 extermination. He wrote to the Court of Spain that 
 he would give " no quarter, time, or mercy." This 
 ruthless purpose was carried into execution, and for a 
 brief respite the frontiers enjoyed a degree of peace. 
 
 Flores was succeeded by the Count Revilla-Gigedo, 
 the second of that name who held the office of viceroy. 
 He was a son of the former governor, and avoiding his 
 father's faults, he gained for himself the brightest 
 name amongst the rulers of Mexico. Nothing escaped 
 his active superintendence, and no obstacles daunted 
 his stern and prompt will. He repressed assassination, 
 the signal vice of Mexico, improved the roads and 
 
 • JIaycr, vol. I. p. 256.
 
 138 MEXICO. 
 
 police, encouraged literature and science ; in short, 
 showed all the elements of an enlightened statesman. 
 His keen glance discerned the value of" the Californias, 
 and he urgently pressed \ipon the Spanish court the 
 need of ibrtilying so valuable a possession. Amongst 
 other plans by which he might become acquainted 
 with the real wants of the people, he placed a letter- 
 box in a hall of the palace, into which all persons might 
 throw their complaints; and of this box he always kept 
 the key himself. 
 
 Two or three anecdotes may serve to illustrate the 
 character and rule of Revilla-Gigedo II. He was in the 
 habit of making nightly visits to the streets of the city 
 to assure himself that his regulations were strictly carried 
 out. Woe betide the unlucky officer whose failure in 
 any item of duty was detected. He was summoned 
 instantly to the spot, no matter what the hour of the 
 night. " I await him here," was the customary expres- 
 sion of the viceroy, and it ensured a prompt attendance. 
 
 One evening, whilst walking through the city 
 about sunset, he came upon a miserable street 
 which terminated in a cul-de-sac. The houses which 
 formed it were of the most wretched description. 
 " Why," asked the viceroy, " is there no thoroughfare 
 in this direction ? and why are such hovels allowed to 
 exist ? " No one could tell. It had always been so, 
 and it was nobody's business to interfere or remedy the 
 evil. " Send the Corregidoi* instantly to me. I await 
 him here." Soon that functionary arrived in breath- 
 less haste. He was ordered to open a broad and straight 
 avenue right through the quarter to the city barrier ; 
 and it was to be ready the next morning, that the 
 viceroy might di-ive through it on his way to mass. If 
 not done, the corregidor should lose his office. Witli 
 this pleasant assurance the great man marched away.
 
 MEXICO UNDEU SPANISH TICEROTS. 139 
 
 All night long the corregidor and his myrmidons 
 worked at their task, A body of leperos were en- 
 listed in the service, and for a small bribe the in- 
 habitants assisted to destroy their own dwellings. By 
 the light of a hundred torches pick-axe and crowbar were 
 gleaming, and under their heavy strokes house after 
 house was levelled and removed. Exactly at sunrise 
 the viceroy's carriage reached the place, but the work 
 was already done. Jolting over the fragments that 
 strewed the path, and along the unpaved road, it yet 
 was able to pass through the new street into the 
 suburbs. The name of the Calle de Revilla-Gigedo 
 still attests the truth of the story. 
 
 The power of the viceroy was absolute, and Revilla- 
 Gigedo II. occasionally exercised it in the punishment of 
 misdemeanors which are not usually amenable to law. 
 Among the Creole nobles then resident in Mexico 
 was a certain marquis endowed with immense wealth 
 and two beautiful daughters. He had no other 
 children, and it was hard to say whether he was caused 
 most anxiety by his money or his heiresses. The elder, 
 who bore her father's title, had fair golden hair and 
 blue eyes, a very unusual style of beauty in Mexico. 
 The younger was dark, with eyes like a gazelle, and 
 hair black as the raven's plumage. Both were alike in 
 one respect. They refused all offers of marriage. The 
 marquis desired to see them well settled in life, and 
 was quite worn out in persuading them to know their 
 own minds. 
 
 One night the marquis was aroused from his sleep 
 and summoned to the viceregal palace. AVhat could 
 he be wanted for at that unusual hour ? He hur- 
 ried to the viceroy's presence. '" Marquis," said his 
 excellency, " my superintendent of police complains to
 
 140 MEXICO. 
 
 me that you did not take proper care to secure the 
 doors of your mansion last evening." " Indeed, I assure 
 your excellency that my steward locked both the great 
 gate and the outer door last night." '" But you have 
 a postern opening into the street, and you were only 
 saved by the watchfulness of my police from being 
 robbed of your most valuable treasures — which I now 
 restore to you." At these words a door suddenly 
 opened, and there were the two daughters of the mar- 
 quis, dressed in travelling costume, and locked in one 
 another's arms. " And here are the thieves," he added ; 
 and in an opposite apartment were seen two of the 
 most dissipated yoimg men about the court. 
 
 The truth now flashed upon the mind of the father. 
 " You see, mai-quis," said the viceroy, " that but for 
 my police, you would have had the honour of being 
 father-in-law to two of the greatest scamps in my vice- 
 royalty. Look what a dilemma your carelessness has 
 brought me into, my dear sir ! I am obliged to wound 
 the feelings of two of the most lovely ladies in my 
 com't to save them from the machmations of scoundrels 
 unworthy of their charms, and I fear they will never 
 forgive me ! Farewell, marquis, take my advice and 
 brick up your postern. Calderon was a wise man, and 
 he tells us that a house with two doors is hard to keep. 
 As for these young scapegraces, they sail in the next 
 galleon for Manilla, where they can exercise their 
 fascinating powers on the maidens of the Philippines.'' 
 Transportation was rather a stern punishment for at- 
 tempting to marry a fair and wealthy maiden. 
 
 This illustrious ruler was followed by Branciforte, 
 who stands in unenviable contrast with his prede- 
 cessor. Branciforte commenced a career of the most 
 unprincipled extortion. Offices of high importance
 
 MEXICO UNDER SPANISH VICEItOYS. Ill 
 
 were openly sold; and as Spain was then at war with 
 France, the viceroy thought it a good opportunity to 
 confiscate tlie property of any Frenchmen that could 
 be found in Mexico. The country was then so closed 
 against foreigners that but few Avere discovered, yet 
 what he could do in this waj" he did with unsparing 
 avarice. The court was at once a scene of profligacy 
 and of corrujttion. When at last the public dissatisfac- 
 tion reached a height which imperatively called for recog- 
 nition, Branciforte left the country loaded with the 
 curses of the people, and carrying with him 5,000,000 
 dollars which he had plundered from them. Yet he 
 was a favourite at court, and the king sent him (appro- 
 priately enough we think) the Order of the Golden 
 Fleece. With all his profligacy he affected great 
 reverence for the Virgin of Guadalupe, and paid her 
 many visits, but no money. He desired to satisfy his 
 conscience with the cheapest form of indulgence. 
 
 Three viceroys presided over New Spain during the 
 ten years that intervened between the rule of Branci- 
 forte and the end of the viceregency. The internal 
 prosperity of the country and its resources were 
 still great, but various murmurings were ominous 
 of the revolt now so near at hand. Azunza, who 
 came after Branciforte, was personally pojiular, but 
 the government of Spain, under the handling of Godoy, 
 was ill-disposed to him, and he was removed to make 
 way for Bei-enguer de Marquina, who had purchased 
 the appointment. Two years elapsed, and, in 1S03, 
 Iturrigaray was sent to take the post. His term of 
 office was signalized by the arrival of Humboldt in the 
 colony, who received every assistance in his great work 
 upon the state of Mexico, a work in which its resources 
 and capabilities first became known to the outer world.
 
 142 MEXICO. 
 
 At this period a \oyal feeling was prevalent in Mexico, 
 and wlien, in 180G, the intelligence of the destruction 
 of the comhined fleets was received, the Mexicans 
 gave 30,000 dollars for the widows of the fallen. But 
 the patience of the country was sorel^y tried by demands 
 for taxes to maintain the European war, and when 
 Ferdinand VII. was displaced by Napoleon, aU fur- 
 ther hold over the- country was virtually at an end. 
 Through what struggles its independence was finally 
 acknowledged will form the subject of our next 
 chapter.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MEXICO FEOJI THE REYOLUTION TO THE PRESENT 
 TIME. 
 
 Loj-alty of Mexico to Ferdinand VII. — Discoiitont of the Creoles 
 — Pride of the Spaniards — Hidalg^o's conspiracy — Its early 
 success — Spiritual weapons employed against it — Hesitation 
 of Hidalgo — Cruelty and success of Callcja — Hidalgo's capture 
 and execution — Uneonciliatory ipolicy of Calleja — Junta of 
 Chilpanzingo — -Insurrection under Morelos — Renewed excesses 
 — Siege of Cuautla — Xoble behaviour of Bravo — Retreat of 
 Morelos — Calleja viceroy — Death of Morelos and suppression 
 of the rebellion — Romantic adventures of Victoria — Apodaca 
 viceroy — Insurrection under Mina — Apodaca determines to 
 suppress the constitution— Employs Iturbide — Defection of 
 Itui'bide — Plan of Iguala — O'Donoju viceroy — Acknowledges 
 the independence of Mexico — Iturbide emperor — The new 
 constitution — Revolt of Santa Anna — Iturbide in exile — 
 His return, capture, and execution — His character — State of 
 ])olitical parties — Federalists and centralists — Victoria presi- 
 dent — The rival lodges — Pedi-aga president — Pronunciamento 
 of Mexico — Guerrero president — Second revolt of Santa Anna 
 — Bustamente president — Last efforts of Spain — Alanian 
 prime minister — Internal prosperity — Third revolt of Santa 
 Anna — His early history — military exploits — Clever strata- 
 gems — Outwits the Spanish general — Santa Anna president 
 — War in Texas — Santa Anna a prisoner — Second presidency 
 of Bustamente —French siege of Vera Cruz — Second presi- 
 dency of Santa Anna— American war — Herrera president — 
 Third presidency of Santa Anna — Comonfort president. 
 
 When Spain was overrun b}'' the armies of France, 
 the autlioi-ity of the Spanish government in Mexico
 
 144 MEXICO, 
 
 was at an end. This was not, however, the imme- 
 diate result of the intelHgence that Ferdinand had 
 been removed to make way for Joseph Bonaparte. 
 At first, indeed, the Mexicans were inspired with a 
 zealous lo3-alty to their transatlantic sovereign. All 
 classes vied with one another in offering contribu- 
 tions for his aid, and in a few months seven millions 
 were freely subscribed to support their king, their 
 country, and their creed. But this loyal fit was 
 of short duration. The prestige of the Spanish 
 power was broken by the victories of the French. 
 The distance between Spain and Mexico was too 
 great to maintain enthusiasm in the cause of a 
 prince whose ancestors had but small claim upon 
 the sympathies of the Mexicans, and who seemed to 
 be indissolubly wedded to misfortune. The bitter 
 memory of years of opj)ression, insolence, and misrule, 
 was refreshed by the prospect of deliverance ; and 
 gradually, without any suitable preparation in the 
 habits of the people, and without fixed principles of 
 action to guide its leaders, the nation suddenly found 
 itself freed from the leading strings on which it had 
 relied, without having acquired the strength needed for 
 self support. Accordingly, from the period of the war 
 of independence to the present time, Mexico has been 
 the sport of various factions, each of which has grasped 
 at power, but has been unable to retain it ; each of 
 which has constantly plunged the nation into war for 
 its own selfish purposes, and ruled it, when victorious, 
 for its own aggrandizement. No sadder spectacle can 
 be found tlian that presented by this country, enriched 
 with the precious metals and a luxuriant fertility, yet 
 torn asunder by intestine strife, its credit destroyed, 
 its industry paralyzed, its very vitals wasted, until its
 
 MEXICO FEOM TUE EETOLUTION. 145 
 
 condition became so desperate as to call for some 
 high-handed interference to put a stop to scenes which 
 are a disgrace to the civilized world. 
 
 The first symptom of discontent was shown hj 
 the Creoles. This class was proud of the European 
 blood which flowed in their veins. Many of them 
 could trace their descent from the conquerors, and 
 in intelligence and wealth they were quite equal to 
 the Spaniards. The latter, however, excluded them 
 with the utmost jealousy from all share in the govern- 
 ment, monopolized all the offices in church and state, 
 and treated all claims of the Creoles to participate in 
 these dignities with supreme contempt. They would not 
 even recognise them as fellow-subjects with themselves 
 of Ferdinand, but asserted that the Spaniards were 
 masters in Mexico over all the other classes. The 
 municipality of Mexico was insolently informed that it 
 had no authority except over the leperos ; and Bataller, 
 one of the iiTiperial commissioners, used frequently to 
 say that "Avhilst a Manchego mule or a Castilian cobbler 
 remained in the peninsula, he had a right to govern 
 the Americas." 
 
 Such expressions are generally felt to be more in- 
 tolerable than the material evils of despotic government. 
 They pass easily from mouth to mouth, and create an 
 ii'ritation which misdeeds often fail to awaken. The 
 time, too, was iU chosen for such an assertion of 
 authority, and the sudden outbreak of a wide-spread 
 insm'rection proved on how rotten a foundation Spanish 
 power in Mexico was based. 
 
 A single spark set the whole country in a blaze. 
 A conspiracy had been formed in 1810 against the 
 Spaniards, and one of the band being at the point 
 of death, sent for his confessor, and revealed the 
 
 L
 
 1-lG MEXICO. 
 
 names of those who had joined it ; among them was 
 Miguel Hidalgo, curate of Dolores, in the province of 
 Gruanaxuato. Hoping to crush the plot in the bud, 
 the viceroy, Venegas, sent orders to arrest Hidalgo ; 
 but the priest received timely warning of his danger, 
 and having won over AUende, captain of the forces in 
 the neighbouring town of San Miguel, he boldly 
 declared against the Spaniards. On every side the 
 Indians thronged to the standard of Hidalgo. Down 
 they came from their mountain chalets, swelling the 
 force as it marched from San Miguel to Zalaga. A 
 war of races seemed imminent, and the deadly hatred, 
 engendered by centuries of oppression, burst forth in 
 burning desire for revenge. As the mass swept along, 
 every European was sacrificed, and the same fate befell 
 the Creoles who hesitated to join them. Some of the 
 latter had shai'ed in the original conspiracy, but drew 
 back in dismay from making common cause with so 
 ferocious a mob. But their first advance was irresisti- 
 ble until some 20,000 undisciplined and half-armed 
 savages reached Guanaxuato, shouting death to the 
 Gapuchinos.* 
 
 Hidalgo called upon the town to surrender, and 
 offered them favourable terms : but in vain. His horde 
 threw themselves upon the place, carried it by storm, 
 and commenced an indiscriminate massacre of its inha- 
 bitants. To no purpose were all his efibrts to stay 
 the slaughter or the plunder. For tliree days the 
 work of destruction went on, until through very 
 weariness the rebels held their hand. 
 
 It was plain that every effort must be made to crush 
 the rebels. The insurrection was no longer imder the 
 guidance of the Creoles, but had passed into the hands 
 
 • A term of contempt applied to the Europeans.
 
 MEXICO FROM THi: EEVOLUTION. 147 
 
 of the Indians, and Mexico was threatened with all 
 the horrors of a servile war. The viceroy despatched 
 an army against them, under Truxillo, and strove to 
 enlist the artillery of the church on the same side. 
 From all the pulpits the pi-iests were hidden to de- 
 nounce the revolution as directed against the church 
 and the Catholic religion. The archbishop excom- 
 municated the whole rebel army. Truxillo attacked 
 them at Las Cruces, and boasted that he had fought 
 with the obstinacy of Leonidas, and had fired on those 
 who came from Hidalgo with a flag of truce. But 
 the arras of church and state combined were unavailing. 
 Truxillo lost the whole of his artillery, and was com- 
 pelled to retire to the capital. 
 
 The rebel host pressed on towards Mexico, and con- 
 sternation prevailed throughout the city. It was 
 utterly undefended, and a panic spread amongst its 
 inhabitants, in which the viceroy is said to have shared. 
 Once more he called in the aid of superstition. The 
 image of the Virgin de los Remedies was carried in 
 state to the cathedral, and thither went the viceroy 
 with all ceremony. Dressed in full uniform, he ap- 
 proached the image, and imploring it to take the 
 government in its own hands, laid his staff of ofiice 
 at its feet. He quickly resumed it, however, and pro- 
 ceeded to give instructions for the defence of the capital. 
 To so credulous a people as the Mexicans, it might 
 well seem that the preservation of the capital was due 
 to the Virgin de los Remedios. Certain it is that 
 Hidalgo marched to within five leagues of the city, 
 and then paused in unaccountable distrust of his 
 powers. Perhaps he shrunk from renewing the horrors 
 of Guanaxuato in the beautiful town of Mexico. 
 Perhaps, as some accounts assure us, he was misled
 
 148 MEXICO. 
 
 by feigned deserters, who informed him that the place 
 was prepared to stand a siege. At any rate, he 
 hesitated, and in his situation hesitation was fatal. 
 After halting for some days in sight of Mexico, he 
 withdrew his forces. 
 
 An army was sent in pursuit of him, under Don 
 Felix Maria Calleja, consisting of about ten thousand 
 disciplined troops, well furnished with artillery. The 
 hostile forces met at Aculco, and a desperate conflict 
 ensued. The Indians, as at Las Cruces, fought with 
 the most reckless bravery. Dashing up to the mouths 
 of the guns, they thrust their straw hats into the 
 muzzles, and fell upon the ranks of their opponents with 
 clubs and spears. It was a renewal of the old strife, 
 and they fought almost as in the days of Cortez. 
 but now, as then, discipline and military skill prevailed 
 over numbers and unregulated courage. Hidalgo lost 
 ten thousand men, of whom five thousand were put to 
 the sword. The rebels fell back upon Guanaxuato, 
 closely followed by Calleja. 
 
 The tide of fortune had now turned, and Hidalgo 
 was again compelled to retreat. All the horrors which 
 Guanaxuato had so recently experienced were renewed by 
 the victorious Spaniards. The details of Calleja's cruelty 
 are too horrible for us to sully our pages by recording. 
 This man was a pitiless monster. The inhabitants of 
 Guanaxuato, men, women, and children, were driven 
 into the great square of the town and deliberately 
 butchered. The great fountain flowed with human 
 blood. Fourteen thousand perished in this way, and 
 Calleja boasted in his despatches that by cutting all 
 their throats he had saved the expense of powder and 
 shot. 
 
 Such excesses on either side naturally produced
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLTJTIOK. 149 
 
 reprisals, and the circle of crime went on \sddemng in 
 its course. Hidalgo retired upon Guadalaxara, where 
 be massacred 700 or 800 Eui'opeans. To the Indian's 
 recollection of past inj nines there was now added 
 the vindictiveness of despair ; whilst the victorious 
 Spaniards could urge no like plea. Again Calleja won 
 the day at the bridge of Calderon, and his triumph 
 was distinguished by the same massacres as before. 
 Determined to stamp out the last embers of opposition, 
 he issued orders " to exterminate the inhabitants of 
 every town or village that showed sj'mptoms of ad- 
 herence to the rebels." 
 
 Hidalgo's force was now completely broken. He 
 could still muster large numbers, but the}'- were un- 
 armed, and wanted all the munitions of war. He 
 determined to leave Rayon in command at Saltillo, aiid 
 with part of the plunder of Guanaxuato to sail to the 
 United States and purchase what he required. At 
 this j unctui'e he was betrayed by Elizondo, one of his 
 associates, and, after being degraded from the priest- 
 hood, was shot at Chihuahua, on the 27th of July, 
 1811. The regency at Cadiz rewarded Calleja with 
 the title of count, and appointed him to succeed 
 Venegas as vicerov of Mexico. 
 
 The death of Hidalgo closes the first scene in the 
 story of the Mexican revolution. The enmity between 
 the Indians and the Spaniards was too deeply seated 
 to be suppressed, save after years of peaceful govern- 
 ment, and by the long use of i-emedial measures. The 
 Creoles, too, although the instinct of self-preservation 
 had induced them to make common cause with the 
 Spaniards, were determined to shake off tlie yoke which 
 galled them. The whole country was broken up into fac- 
 tions, and a guerilla war was maintained throughout the
 
 150 MEXICO. 
 
 northern and inland provinces. The only way in which 
 a peaceful solution could be reached would have been by 
 yielding something" to the necessities of the times ; and 
 had Calleja been prepared to admit the Creoles to an 
 equality with the Europeans, Mexico might have been 
 saved to the Spanish Bourbons. 
 
 The new viceroy, however, was very far from enter- 
 taining any such intentions, and Rayon and the other 
 leaders of Hidalgo's party seeing the necessity for 
 united action, " assembled a junta, or central govern- 
 ment, composed of five members, chosen by a large 
 body of the most respectable landed proprietors in the 
 neighbourhood of Zitacuaro." * This body held liberal 
 opinions, but declared its willingness to acknowledge 
 Ferdinand as king provided that he would come to 
 New Spain and reign there in person. A still more 
 important council was assembled shortly afterwards, 
 under the name of the Congress of Chilpanzingo. They 
 issued a manifesto in which they stated their demands 
 to the viceroy, intimating that should they be rejected 
 they were determined to appeal to arms. 
 
 The manifesto of the Congress of Cliilpanzingo was 
 couched in moderate terms. After dwelling upon the 
 misery to which the country had been subjected 
 through fifteen months of civil war, and asserting that 
 a sovereign who was in captivity could exercise no 
 authority by his officers over Mexico, they declared 
 that the rights of Mexico were as indefeasible as tliose 
 of Spain, that the two countries were in all respects 
 equal, and that the one needed a representative assem- 
 bly as much as the other. They offered, in conclusion, 
 " that if the Europeans would consent to give up the 
 offices they held, and allow a general congress to be 
 
 * Mayer, vol. I. p. 287.
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLUTION. 151 
 
 assembled, their persons and property should be reli- 
 giously respected, their salaries paid, and the same 
 privileges granted to them as to native Mexicans." 
 Ferdinand was to be acknowledged as the legitimate 
 sovereign, and every effort made to aid him in his 
 Euiopean wars. 
 
 T'.iese terms were contemptuously rejected, and the 
 manifesto burned in the capital by the common hang- 
 man. Meanwhile the national cause was gaining 
 strength, and a new leader appeared in the person 
 oi' Morelos, who had held a commission under Hidalgo, 
 and like him was a country curate. Matamoros, 
 another priest, the two Bravos, Galeana and Gua- 
 dalupe Victoria, were also leaders on the same side. 
 The stieam of rebellion again flowed down from the 
 nortli towards the capital. 
 
 Calleja, who was not yet installed as viceroy, was 
 sent agdnst them. At his approach the junta fled 
 from Ziticuaro, and the Spanish general razed its walls 
 to the giound, burned all the dwellings except the con- 
 vents and churches, and put numbers of its inhabitants 
 to the svord. After this feat, he made a triumphal 
 entrance into Mexico, and on the 14th of January, 
 1812, set out once moi-e to attack Morelos, at Cuautla 
 de Anilpas. 
 
 All the old scenes of atrocity and bloodshed were 
 renev\ed by the royalists. Officers fell under the dis- 
 pleasure of their chief, unless they shared his sanguinary 
 disposition. On one occasion, forty of the insui-gents 
 were eaptured unarmed in a wood. The royalist cap- 
 tain scared their lives and persuaded them to enlist in 
 his SQ-vice. Calleja was indignant when he heard of 
 this hamanit}', and when, some days afterwards, eight 
 of thorn deserted, he ordered the remaining thirty-two
 
 152 MEXICO. 
 
 to be taken out and shot. To his honour the officer 
 refused to obey this mandate, and the whole number, 
 except four, effected their escape. Such an incident 
 may serve to mark the spirit in which the struggle 
 was carried on, and to account for the undiminished 
 hatred with which Europeans are still held in the 
 wilder regions of the country. 
 
 Morelos was shut up by Calleja in Cuautla, and 
 stood a siege for two months and a half. He was 
 greatly hampered in his command by the interference 
 of the junta. His military talents were considera- 
 ble, but he was not allowed to use them to the best 
 advantage. He hoped, however, to prolong tlie siege 
 until the rainy season should compel the enemy to 
 retire. Calleja, on the other hand, hoped to starve 
 him out before the heat set in, and cut off" every way 
 of access to supplies. Famine soon began to be felt. 
 They had bread, but animal food fetched exorbitant 
 prices.* A cat sold for six dollai's, and a ra; for one. 
 The post at length became untenable. JTot ven- 
 turing to risk a general engagement, Morelos led out 
 his forces by night, and succeeded in making Ms escape, 
 although his whole army had to pass between the bat- 
 teries of the enemy. Only seventeen men wa-e lost in 
 this manoeuvre, but amongst them was Don Leonardo 
 Bravo, one of the most gallant of the republican chief- 
 tains, who fell into the enemy's hands. 
 
 Bravo's son was commanding a force of the insurj^ents, 
 and had just taken the town of Palmar by storm, when 
 the news reached him that his father was a prfeoner. 
 He immediately offered the viceroy, Venegas, t^ give 
 
 * Tlie wandering' of a bullock between the lines of the enemjand the 
 walls of the town was the cause of an engagement, in which nearlj all the 
 troops on both sides eventually took part.
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLUTION". 153 
 
 up three hundred prisoners, captured at Palmar, in ex- 
 change for Don Leonardo. His offer was rejected, and 
 his father sent to immediate execution. The brave 
 young soklier at once ordered all his prisoners to be 
 released, lest in the passion of his grief he should be 
 tempted to exact a terrible revenge. 
 
 So stealthily had Morelos conducted his retreat that 
 for some hours Calleja did not venture to enter the 
 streets of Cuautla. He could not wreak his disappoint- 
 ment on the rebel army, but he could, and did, upon 
 the innocent inhabitants. So pitiless was he in his 
 cruelty, that years after, officers, who were present, 
 spoke with horror of the scenes they witnessed ; nor 
 were the sufferings of the country confined to the 
 immediate theatre of the war. Everywhere robbery 
 and assassination prevailed ; commerce was entirely 
 destroyed; banditti infested all the public roads, and no 
 person's life or property was secm-e. The mines were 
 deserted. Most of the miners had joined the opposing 
 forces, and the few that remained gained a scant sub- 
 sistence by picking over the refuse of the ores. Agri- 
 culture was neglected, and corn of every species rose 
 to famine prices. Disease followed on the heels of 
 want, and all the vials of God's wrath seemed to be 
 poured out upon the wretched Mexicans. Painful is 
 it to think that the liberty born amidst such throes 
 should have proved so doubtful a boon to its possessors. 
 
 The retreat of ]\Iorelos was but the avenue to fresh 
 triumphs. He marched into Tehuacan, he captured 
 Orizaba, he stormed Oaxaca. In these exploits he 
 amassed large sums for the public chest, whilst his 
 followers were gratified with full pay, and abundance 
 of plunder. In the taking of Oaxaca, Guadalupe Vic- 
 toria gained special notoriety. The town was siir-
 
 154 MEXICO. 
 
 rounded by a moat, to be crossed only by a drawbridge, 
 wliich was raised at their approach. Tliere were no 
 boats at hand, and entrance seemed impossible, when 
 Victoria leaped into the moat, swam across, and landing 
 in the face of the enemy, cut the ropes that held the 
 bridge, which at once fell, and the insurgents marched 
 over it into the town. These events occupied the years 
 1812 and 1813, in which latter the Congress of Chil- 
 panzingo (of which we have spoken by anticipation) 
 sent forth its manifesto. 
 
 From 1813 to 1810 Calleja governed Mexico as 
 viceroy, and during this period the star of Morelos 
 gradually declined. Morelos was anxious to effect the 
 entire subjugation of the province of Valladolid, that he 
 might have a secure base of operations, and a place of 
 refuge in the season of adversity. He accordingly 
 entered it with a considerable army, and Calleja de- 
 spatched Llanos and Iturbide, who was at this time a 
 royalist, to oppose him. We have not space to record 
 all the evolutions of the struggle that ensued, nor are 
 they of sufficient interest to call for their insertion. 
 One by one the insurgent chieftains fell into the power 
 of the enemy, and death was the inevitable penalty 
 under such a man as Calleja, who was never known to 
 spare. Matamoros, a greater soldier than Morelos, 
 was the first victim. Every effort was made to save 
 him, but in vain. The insurgents threatened a terrible 
 revenge if his life were not conceded, and they exe- 
 cuted it in the slaughter of all their prisoners. 
 
 These reverses had dispirited the liberal party, but a 
 fresh accession of strength seemed to be springhig up 
 in La Puebla, and Morelos marched thither to foster 
 its growth. His army was assailed in a mountain 
 pass by General Concha, and sending forward Bravo
 
 MEXICO TEOM THE EEVOLUTION. 155 
 
 to escort the congress to a place of safety he determined 
 to keep the royalists at bay as long as possible, and 
 then to sell his life as dearly as he could. " My life," 
 he said, " is of little consequence provided the congress 
 be savetl : my race was run when I saw an independent 
 government established." 
 
 The little band of Morelos held their position with 
 much bravery, and the ground on which they stood 
 was thickly strewed with the corpses of the foe. None 
 was more terrible in this death struggle than Morelos 
 himself; and it was not until he was left almost alone 
 that the royalists succeeded in making him a prisoner. 
 The soldiers treated him with a cruelty and indignity 
 from which his gallant bearing should have saved him. 
 He was stripped, loaded with chains, and carried, with 
 many blows, to Tesmalaca. By General Concha he was 
 more kindly entertained, but he knew that his doom 
 was certain. On the 22nd of December, 1S15, he was 
 removed from the capital to the hospital of San Christo- 
 bal, and after dining with Concha was marclied out to 
 execution. After thanking his captor warmly for his 
 kindness, he walked with a firm step to tlie rear of the 
 building, and with his own hands bound a handkerchief 
 over his eyes. Kneeling down he pra3'ed, saying, " If 
 I have done well. Lord, thou knowest it. If ill, to 
 thy infinite mercy I commend my soul." After these 
 words he himself gave the signal to the soldiers who 
 were drawn up to despatch him. 
 
 Among the victims wlio fell in the struggle for in- 
 dependence none have left a brighter reputation than 
 Morelos. He had acquired at once the aSections of 
 the people and the confidence of his fellow-officers, and 
 the cause languished so much after his death as to 
 show how greatly it had been indebted to his energy and
 
 156 MEXICO. 
 
 influence. General Teran dissolved the congress whicli 
 Bravo had safely escorted to Tehuacan ; Bravo himself 
 was obliged to flee. His comrades were dispersed 
 through the provinces. Victoria hovered about in the 
 neighbourhood of Vera Cruz, and eluded all the efforts 
 of the government to seize him. 
 
 The fidelity of the Indians to Victoria is one of the 
 few pleasing incidents, in this intestine war. Every 
 inducement was held out to seduce him from the popu- 
 lar side. Rank and rewards were offered in return for 
 his compliance. When all such attempts proved vain, 
 a large force was sent to crush him. His band was 
 dispersed, and a price set upon his head : but none 
 were base enough to betray him. For thirty months 
 he wandered amongst the recesses of the moimtains, 
 enduring incredible hardships. His food was the roots 
 of trees, or the wild fruits of the forest, or even the 
 bones of dead animals, which he found in caverns. 
 His dress was worn away till nothing but a tattered 
 cotton wrapper was left him. In this condition he 
 was found by two Indians after the revolution of 1821, 
 and he was welcomed as one risen from the dead ; for 
 the viceroy had been assured that he had perished? 
 and that his body had been recognised. This account 
 had been published by authority in the official Gazette. 
 
 The story of his discovery is no less remarkable. 
 When abandoned by his forces, in 1818, he was asked 
 by two trusty Indians where they should look for him 
 if better days should ever come, and in reply he pointed 
 out a certain mountain on which they, perhaps, might 
 one day find his bones. The Indians treasured up this 
 hint, and when Iturbide declared himself, in 1821, they 
 set out in quest of him. For six whole weeks they 
 sought him, maintaining themselves principally by the
 
 MEXICO FROM THE REVOLUTION. 157 
 
 chase, but at length their bread was exhausted, and they 
 were about to return, when one of them in crossing a 
 ravine, which Victoria frequented, discovered the foot- 
 print of one who evidently had been accustomed to wear 
 shoes (this always gives a difference of shape to the 
 foot), and was, therefore, of European descent. Two 
 days the Indian waited on the spot, and then, as pro- 
 visions were failing him, he hung upon a tree all the 
 little maize cakes he had in his wallet, and set out 
 for his native village for more. He hoped that Victoria 
 would see the tortillas, and would understand that 
 some friend was in search of him. 
 
 " This plan succeeded. Victoria on crossing the ra- 
 vine, two days afterwards, perceived the maize cakes, 
 which the birds had fortunately not devoured. He had 
 then been four whole days without eating, and upwards 
 of two 3'ears v/ithout tasting bread ; and he said himself 
 that he devoured the tortillas before the cravings of 
 his appetite would allow him to reflect upon the singu- 
 larity of finding them on this solitary spot, where he 
 had never before seen any trace of a human being. He 
 was at a loss to determine whether they had been left 
 there by friend or foe : but, feeling sure that whoever 
 left them intended to return, he concealed himself near 
 the place. Within a short time the Indian returned : 
 Victoria instantly recognised him, and abruptly started 
 from his concealment in order to welcome his faithful 
 follower. But the man, terrified at seeing a phantom 
 covered with hair, emaciated, and clothed only with 
 an old cotton wrapper, advancing upon him sword in 
 hand, took to flight ; and it was only on hearing himself 
 repeatedly called by name that he recovered his com- 
 posure sufficiently to recognise his old genei'al." * 
 
 * Fay. Robinson's Mexico and her Military Chieftains.
 
 158 MEXICO. 
 
 We must resume the thread of our narrative. In 
 1816, Callejawas replaced as viceroy by Apodaca. The 
 new governor was more prudent than his predecessor. 
 He proclaimed a general amnesty to all who laid down 
 their arms, and this induced numbers to come in. 
 He left no means untried to crush those who refused 
 to yield. The constitution sanctioned by the Sj^anish 
 Cortes was now in operation, and it guaranteed the 
 people some degree of liberty. From these various 
 causes the revolution slumbered for a time. The 
 general quiet, however, was disturbed for a season by 
 the expedition of Mina. 
 
 Xavier Mina was a native of Spain, who had made 
 himself a name in his native land. When the armies 
 of Napoleon invaded the Peninsula, Mina organized a 
 system of guerilla warfare, and although the French 
 were masters of the open field he hung upon their 
 rear, cut off their stragglers, plundered their convoys, 
 and intercepted their despatches. With such success 
 did he carry on his enterprise, that he was named 
 Commandant General of Navarre, when his career 
 was suddenly brought to a conclusion. He was taken 
 prisoner, and did not obtain his release till 1814. 
 
 The arbitrary conduct of Ferdinand, when restored 
 to the Spanish throne, quickly alienated from him the 
 liberal party. Mina was implicated in a plot to restore 
 the power of the Cortes, and obliged to escape. After 
 passing some time in England, he crossed over to 
 America, that he might aid the cause of the liberals in 
 Mexico ; and landed on the 15th of April, 1817, at 
 Soto la Marina, with only about 350 men, chiefly North 
 Americans, fifty of whom deserted him soon after his 
 arrival. 
 
 Mina was not discouraged by the small number of
 
 MEXICO PEOir TUE EETOLUTION. 159 
 
 his band. In his early experience of guerilla warfare, 
 he had learned how much may be eff'ected by a few 
 faithful followers, and he hoped to join the other 
 popular leaders, and again to raise the mass of the 
 Indian population. Leaving a third of his force at 
 Soto la Marina, he boldly dashed into the heart of the 
 country, and defeating several bodies of the enemy 
 established himself at Sombrero. 
 
 The accounts which have been published by Mina's 
 partisans reveal to us the causes of his ultimate failure. 
 Prom the first moment his success was viewed with 
 jealousy by Torres, who was then the most powerful of 
 the patriot chieftains. His Spanish birth naturally oc- 
 casioned suspicions amongst the ignorant and prejudiced 
 people, and these were strengthened by his assault 
 upon the hacienda of the Marquis of Jaral. This 
 nobleman was extremely wealthy, and had uniformly 
 espoused the roj^alist side, but as he was a Creole the 
 plunder of his estate seems to have aroused the 
 sympatliy of the Mexicans. At any rate Mina failed 
 to gain the confidence of the people, and without this 
 he could not hope for eventual success. 
 
 News of the destruction of his force at Soto la 
 Marina soon came to qualify Mina's satisfaction at his 
 own exploits, yet their defeat was itself a triumph. 
 Two thousand Spanish troops, under Grcneral Arredondo, 
 were kept at bay by this band of one hundred men, 
 and having been repeatedly repulsed, were glad to 
 offer tliem honourable terms. Having got them into 
 his power in tliis way, all the conditions of the capi- 
 tulation were violated by Apodaca. Some of the 
 unfortunate prisoners were confined in the most 
 unhealthy cities of Mexico, wliile others were de- 
 spatched across the sea in chains to rot in the dungeons 
 of Ceuta and Cadiz.
 
 160 MEXICO, 
 
 Undismayed by the tidings of such disasters, Mina 
 next made an assault upon Leon but was signally 
 repulsed. He retreated to Sombrero, which was speedily 
 invaded by the Spaniards under Linan. As he was 
 unsupported by Torres, his numbers were unequal to 
 the struggle, and Sombrero was soon found to be 
 untenable. He cut his way through the enemies lines, 
 but only fifty of his men survived the conflict. No 
 quarter was shown by the ruthless Linan, who not 
 only cut down all the insurgents in the field, but had 
 the sick, who had been left in hospital, dragged from 
 their beds and shot in the square of Sombrero. Mina 
 threw himself into the fort of Los Remedios, and 
 thence made an unsuccessful attempt on Guanaxuato. 
 In flying from this place he was betrayed, taken 
 prisoner, and shot by order of Apodaca, on the 
 11th of November, 1817. Although only in his 
 twenty-eighth year, he had gained a reputation in 
 both hemispheres. 
 
 The viceroy, Apodaca, fondly hop?d that the re- 
 bellion was now at an end He was utterly unac- 
 quainted with the feelings of the people, and the 
 deep-seated evils which made the Spanish yoke into- 
 lerable. In his fancied security he desired to emulate 
 the despotic conduct of his European master, and he 
 looked about for a fitting agent to carry out his 
 scheme of doing away with the constitution. His own 
 authority was hampered by its existence, and the 
 exercise of the right of election seemed to keep alive 
 the popular yearning after liberty. Meanwhile, he 
 wrote to Madrid that Mexico was firmly secure to the 
 throne of Spain, and that they need not send out 
 another soldier to his aid. 
 
 Yet at this w )ment the embers were smouldering
 
 MEXICO FROM THE R£YOLUTIO>'. 161 
 
 beneath his feet. The insurrection was exhausted, not 
 subdued. Many of those who had fought on the popular 
 side entered the royal army after the proclamation of 
 the amnesty, and spread liberal opinions amongst their 
 new comrades. Despite the cruelties of which their 
 friends had been the victims, the insurgents laid aside 
 their enmity, and strove by every variety of seduction to 
 win over their opponents. This state of affairs was well 
 known to the generals, although Apodaca was unac- 
 quainted with it, and he gave it an unexpected op- 
 portunity for development when he selected Colonel 
 Iturbide as his instrument to overtm*n the constitution. 
 
 A Creole by bij-th, Iturbide was well qualified to 
 conciliate his countrymen, whilst from the brilliancy 
 of his military achievements, he was more likely 
 than any other to secure the devotion of the army. 
 Moreover, he had commenced his career with an 
 endeavour to throw off the Spanish rule ; but in con- 
 sequence of a serious disagreement, all communication 
 between him and the insurgents was broken off, and 
 he turned his hand against them. The severe blows 
 which he inflicted on their cause in the battles of 
 Valladolid and Puruaran seemed to render it impossible 
 that the rebels and he could ever again act in concert. 
 In addition to all this. Iturbide had won the esteem 
 of the clergy, by professing " to expiate the excesses 
 of his former life by a rigid course of penance and 
 mortification." 
 
 To all appearance, therefore, a better choice could 
 not have been made. Handsome in person, capti- 
 vating in address, gallant in action, fertile in resources, 
 Iturbide possessed exactly that combination of qualities 
 which were requisite to carry out the viceroy's schemes. 
 Hence, doubtless, it was that Apodaca intrusted hira 
 
 M
 
 162 MEXICO. 
 
 with the command of a body of ti'oops on the western 
 coast, at the head of which he was authorized to 
 "proclaim the re-establishment of the absolute au- 
 thority of the king." 
 
 But the viceroy was completely outwitted. When 
 Iturbide reached his command, he had very different 
 plans in contemplation. He fully understood the 
 position of affairs, and during the season of leisure, 
 which three years quiet had afforded, he had convinced 
 himself that the popular side must eventually prevail. 
 Had this thought nothing to do with his ostentatious 
 penance for his past misdeeds ? we may well believe it 
 had. He saw that if the Creoles would make common 
 cause with the Indians, the yoke of Spain might 
 be shaken off; and he employed all his talents in the 
 contrivance of a plan which might unite the two 
 parties against the Europeans. 
 
 The principal provisions of a declaration which he 
 issued were drawn up to eff'ect this object. It abolished 
 all distinctions of caste, so that all subjects were to be 
 united without distinction ; declared the independence 
 of the Mexican nation, and the establishment of the 
 Koman Catholic religion. From these three articles 
 it was termed the declaration of the "Three Gua- 
 rantees." The government was to be a constitutional 
 monarchy. The crown was to be offered to Ferdinand 
 VII., and on his refusal, to either of the Infantas, and 
 might, if necessary, be then conferred on a member of 
 any reigning family. A junta, composed of leading men 
 of all parties, was to act as a provisional government^ 
 under the presidency of the viceroy, until a congress 
 could be summoned. In the meantime all persons 
 who gave in their adhesion were to be confirmed in 
 i/lieir posts. An army was to be enrolled for the defence
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLUTION. 103 
 
 of the " Three Guarantees," and the despotic power 
 hitherto wielded by mihtary commandants was to be 
 destroyed. This proclamation was called the Plan of 
 Iguala, from the little town whence it was issued. It 
 appeared on the 24th of February, 1821. 
 
 Iturbide's army consisted of eight hundred men, 
 who swore to support him in his enterprise. The 
 Plan of Iguala, however, was not popular. The in- 
 surgent leaders did not at once join him. The Indians 
 held back, and some of his own men deserted. 
 AVith promptitude the revolution might have been 
 crushed in the bud ; but the viceroy's heart failed 
 him ; he was stunned by the defection of Iturbide, 
 and neglected preparations for defence. The royalist 
 party in disgust at his vacillation deposed him, and 
 put Novella, an artillery officer, at the helm of govern- 
 ment. These proceedings caused divisions to spring 
 up, in consequence of which Iturbide was enabled to 
 strengthen his position. He carried off a treasure of a 
 million dollars on its way to the coast, he won over 
 Guerrero, the chief of the old insurgents, and through 
 him all the friends and veterans of Morelos. Victoria 
 and others, who, as yet, knew not Itm'bide's ultimate 
 designs, combined with him to secure the independence 
 of their country, and the revolution assumed a for- 
 midable aspect. 
 
 The army was in fuU march upon Mexico when 
 news arrived that a new viceroy, O'Donoju, had just 
 landed at San Juan de Ulua. Iturbide allowed him to 
 advance to Cordova, and then proposed to him the 
 Plan of Iguala as the only condition on which the 
 throne of Mexico would be preserved to Spain, or the 
 safety of the Spaniards in the country be secui'cd. A 
 treaty was drawn up, accepting these terms. Indeed,
 
 16-1 MEXICO. 
 
 the viceroy had no other alternative, and the inde- 
 pendence of Mexico dates from the 24th of August, 
 1821 — the daj on which it was signed. It is useless 
 to inquire what authority O'Donojix had for such a 
 step. The revolution was accomplished. The army 
 entered Mexico in peace on the 27th of September, 
 and a provisional regency of five, with Iturbide for 
 president, immediately assumed the direction of affairs. 
 A junta, composed of thirty-six persons, was ap- 
 pointed to contrive a scheme for electing a congress, 
 and Iturbide was created generalissimo and lord high 
 admiral, with a yearly stipend of one hundred and 
 twenty-thousand dollars. 
 
 In drawing up the constitution there was a struggle 
 for the mastery between the republicans and mon- 
 archists. The republicans gained the day. Iturbide 
 desired to have two chambers, but it was resolved to 
 have but one, and the Congress, thus constituted, 
 met February 24, 1822. Each member swore to 
 maintain the Plan of Iguala, but their real objects 
 were soon manifest. There were three parties. The 
 Bourbonists, who adhered to the sovereignty of Spain ; 
 the Republicans, who comprised all the old insurgent 
 leaders ; and the partisans of Iturbide, who desired his 
 elevation to the throne. When the treaty of Coi'dova 
 reached Spain, it was at once rejected by the Cortes, 
 and with it fell the Bourbon party in Mexico. The 
 struggle now lay between the other two. Violent 
 recriminations and personalities disgraced the pro- 
 ceedings of the congi-ess. All the discontents and 
 animosities that have since ruined Mexico appeared in 
 full activity; there was no self restraint, no moderation, 
 no indication of capacity for self-government. At 
 length, on the 18th of May, 1822, the army and the
 
 MEXICO FEOM TUE EEYOLDTION. 1G5 
 
 mob proclaimed Iturbide emperor, who after a brief 
 show of resistance, accepted the crown. 
 
 Augustine I., such was the new emperor's title, 
 swore to be faithful to the constitution, and the 
 congress sanctioned his coronation. He reigned but 
 ten months. No sooner had he seized upon tbe 
 throne than Guerrero, Bravo, and Victoria, retii'edto the 
 country, and began to organize their old followers 
 against him. Nor were his acts likely to gain him 
 fre!;h adherents. He was intoxicated by success. He 
 demanded a veto on all the articles of the constitution ; 
 he squandered the public treasure, and, in violation of 
 his own scheme, proposed military tribunals similar to 
 those which the plan of Iguala had destroyed. When 
 this proposition was rejected by the congress, he 
 arrested fom-teen of the deputies, and thus made the 
 breacli irreparable between himself and the represen- 
 tative assembly. Finally, on the 30th of October, 
 he dissolved the congress, and appointed a junta of 
 forty-five persons, selected by himself, in its room. 
 
 These proceedings naturally occasioned much dis- 
 content, and Iturbide in his turn became a victim to 
 treachery very similar to that which he had himself 
 employed against Apodaca. Among the most trusted 
 of his friends was General Santa Anna, the governor 
 of Yera Ci-uz, but on some suspicions of his fidelity 
 Itm-bide decided to remove him. Being apprized of 
 this intention, Santa Anna assembled his forces, 
 harangued them on the misconduct of the emperor, 
 and urged them to join him in proclaiming a i-ejHiblic. 
 No sooner said than done. G uadalupe A'ictoria, whose 
 name was a tower of strength, descended from his 
 mountain hiding-place to join him. General Echavari, 
 who was sent against him by Iturbide, and who more
 
 166 MEXICO. 
 
 than once defeated him, was won over to his side. 
 And, on the 1st of February, the Act of Casa-Mata, 
 arranged by the three generals and estabhshing a 
 republic, was promulgated. 
 
 The power of Iturbide dwindled away as rapidly 
 as it had grown. The whole country was soon 
 in arms against him. Guerrero, Bravo, and the other 
 generals declared for the Act of Casa-Mata. Why 
 the emperor yielded without a blow is not very clear. 
 His personal courage was undoubted, but all confidence 
 was undermined by constant defections from his ranks. 
 He placed his abdication in the hands of the congress, 
 and it was at length accepted. He was furnished with 
 a vessel in which to sail for Leghorn, and assigned a 
 yearly pension of twenty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 It may be well to follow Iturbide to the close of his 
 career, before proceeding with our narrative of Mexican 
 affairs. Rather more than a year after his departure 
 from the country, on the 14th of July, 1821, a British 
 vessel touched at Santander, and the following day 
 two gentlemen, calling themselves Poles, Count Charles 
 Beneski and a friend, landed at Soto la Marina, and 
 visited La G-arza, the commandant of the district. 
 They begged permission to travel into the interior, 
 and it was conceded ; but the suspicions of La 
 Garza were excited, and as soon as the count's friend 
 was stripped of his disguise he proved to be Iturbide. 
 The unhappy man had been invited by some of his 
 partisans to retm-n, and ignorant of the law which 
 condemned him to death if he should venture to set 
 foot in Mexico, he had complied. The state legislature 
 was then sitting, and they immediately gave orders 
 for his execution. No respite for appeal to the congress 
 was allowed him. He was led out on the evening of 
 the 19th, and fell pierced by four bullets.
 
 MEXICO FROM TUE REVOLUTION. 167 
 
 There is scarce! }' one of the actors in the war of 
 independence concerning whom it is so difficult to 
 speak as of Iturbide. With all his faults, he yet 
 displayed such talents for government that in after 
 years the people regretted his fall. Some consideration, 
 too, was due to the successful leader who had effectually 
 emancipated them from the yoke of Spain, and whose 
 errors had some further palliative in the numerous 
 dangers by which he was surrounded. So winning 
 was his address, that a few days before his death he 
 gained over all the escort that conducted him from 
 Soto la Marina to the seat of the congress, and his 
 hurried execution proves how much his foes di'eaded 
 the popularity of his name. A strange spectacle 
 followed his judicial murder. His body was followed 
 to the grave by the congress which had ordered him 
 to be shot, and the man who had been executed as a 
 traitor to his country was mom*ned by the government 
 as a public benefactor. 
 
 When Iturbide left Mexico the chief power was 
 lodged .in the hands of Victoria, Bravo, and Negrete, 
 and the old congress was hastily re-assembled until 
 another could be chosen. The new congress sanctioned 
 the Federal Constitution in October, 1824, which, with 
 some short intervals of suspension, has since remained 
 in force. From the very first, however, it was plain 
 that the country lacked the necessary elements for so 
 liberal a form of government. The state included only 
 two large classes ; the wealthy landed proprietors and 
 miners on the one hand, and the miserably im- 
 poverished Indians on the other. Wealth and rags 
 stood out alone in sad contrast, and there was no 
 middle class to bind the two together. Yet some 
 elements of order were not wanting. The chui-ch,
 
 168 MEXICO. 
 
 the Creole aristocracy, and the army, were all conser- 
 vative in feeling. Unhappily they were split u]) by 
 internal divisions, and the weaker party appealed to 
 the Indians for support. 
 
 These evils were exaggerated by other incidents. 
 The upper class was almost as ignorant as its Indian 
 fellow-subjects. The clergy were possessed of vast 
 influence, which they strove to maintain by keeping 
 the mass of the nation in a state of ignorance and 
 superstition ; and these elements they worked upon 
 successfully in their own support when any attempt 
 was made upon their vast possessions. The Bible was 
 an unknown book in Mexico, and none could gather 
 from its pages how men ought to govern themselves. 
 There were wanting, consequently, all those indirect 
 ameliorating influences which a knowledge of God's 
 word invariably exercises amongst a people who re- 
 verence its teaching. All the fierce and unbridled 
 tempers of the tropics were left without the check 
 either of Divine authority or of a well-regulated 
 public opinion. Amongst the many crimes for which 
 popery is responsible, this is one of the most deadly, 
 that, in depriving men of the key of knowledge, it 
 leaves them slaves either to some despotism or to 
 their own unfettered evil passions. 
 
 All these evils soon appeared in the history of 
 Mexico. Nominally there were two contending parties, 
 the Federalists, who favoured a constitution somewhat 
 on the model of the United States, in which, besides a 
 federal congress, each department should have its own 
 representative body and should enjoy a large measure 
 of self-government ; and the Centralists, who desired 
 that the whole country should be under the guidance 
 of a general congress, the executive being wielded by
 
 MEXICO FROM THE EETOLUTIOX. 169 
 
 military governors, under the direction of the j^resident. 
 In reality, however, the only principle which guided 
 either side was their own selfish polic}'. The leaders 
 advocated whichever scheme appeared at the moment 
 most popular; and the clergy made common cause with 
 either side alternately, in order to secure its own 
 imuicnse possessions from spoliation. 
 
 The general congress met early in 1825. Guadalupe 
 Victoria was declared president, and Nicholas Bravo 
 vice-president of the republic, which was established 
 ou a federal basis. It started with some strange notions 
 of freedom. The Roman Catholic religion was declared 
 to be for ever the creed of the country, and the exercise 
 of all other religions was prohibited. Yet, at the same 
 time, a loan was contracted in Great Britain. Great 
 exertions were made to secm-e the aid of British 
 capital in working the mines, and the Protestant 
 countries of England and the United States w-ere the 
 iirst to acknowledge the independence of Mexico. 
 
 New elements of discord were soon at work. 
 Victoria and Bravo were enemies, and openly endea- 
 voured to thwart one anothei*. Each of them was a 
 brave leader in the field, but an incompetent statesman 
 in the council chamber. Instead of soothing old ani- 
 mosities, and striving to unite all citizens together 
 in a common bond of patriotism, the most prominent 
 chieftains only fanned the fury of the respective 
 factions. There were no- past memories to which the 
 country could look back to guide its future. There 
 was no great statesman, not even any great political 
 question, around which either side could muster its 
 forces. Military distinction was the only ground of 
 jiopulanty, and this reduced all questions to the mere 
 personal antagonism of the generals.
 
 170 MEXICO. 
 
 The rival factions sought to strengthen themselves 
 by means of the masonic lodges. The secret organi- 
 zation of freemasonry was well suited to their schemes. 
 The Scotch lodge was the head quarters of the Cen- 
 tralists, under Bravo, Pedraza, and Montagno. The 
 York lodge, that of the Federalists, led by Victoria, 
 Santa Anna, Zavala, and Bustamente. The latter was 
 the more liberal party, and the most numerous ; but 
 it was opposed by the clergy, the wealthy landowners, 
 and miners, and many of the highest officers in the 
 army. Tlie Scotch pai-ty were the first to violate the 
 peace of the republic. At the close of 1827, Mon- 
 tagno effected the first pronunciamiento, as these risings 
 are termed. The vice-president. Bravo, joined him. 
 Guerrero was sent against them, and succeeded in 
 arresting their progress, for they dispersed at his ap- 
 proach. In this state of confusion the presidency of 
 Victoria came to its close. 
 
 At the election for a new president, Pedraza, the 
 Scotch candidate, defeated Guerrero by a majority of 
 two. The defeated side showed no more moderation 
 than their opponents ; but they were restrained 
 from coming immediately to blows by the danger 
 which menaced the republic. Spain had fitted out an 
 expedition in Cuba to recover her lost colony, and all 
 parties were united by the sense of a common danger. 
 No sooner was this source of fear removed than all 
 the old leaven began to work. In the autumn of 1828, 
 Santa Anna, at Vera Cruz, raised the standard of 
 rebellion, and in December he was supported by a 
 p7-onunciamiento in the capital. The Spaniards were 
 everywhere assailed by the mob, the houses of the 
 Scotch partisans were plundered, the president, 
 Pedi'aza, was obliged to fly; and, on the 1st of January
 
 IIEXICO TEOM THE RETOHITION. 171 
 
 1829, Guerrero and Bustamente were declared re- 
 spectively the president and vice-president of the 
 federal republic. 
 
 The administration of Guerrero was marked by a 
 decree worthy of all honour. In commemoration of 
 the anniversary of independence, slavery was abolished 
 throughout the Mexican territories. All slaves were 
 at once set free, and their owners were to be indemni- 
 fied by the treasury for any loss they had incurred. 
 But the payment was only to be made when the 
 condition of the public funds would admit. This is 
 the single act of Guerrero's government that calls for 
 notice. He only held office two years. Bustamente, 
 his former friend, declared against him on some pretext, 
 and Santa Anna, who was sent to oppose the vice- 
 president, changed sides and fraternized with him. 
 Guerrero had committed the capital error of accepting 
 the presidency, and Bustamente determined to snatch 
 it from his hands. He had further the misfortune to 
 be popular, and this steeled the hearts of his opponents 
 against him. They had the meanness to pay a bribe 
 for his betraj'^al, the audacity to put him on his trial 
 for bearing arms against the government of which 
 he was the rightful head, and the cruelty to execute 
 him on this monstrous charge. 
 
 During the period of these internal conflicts, a, 
 Spanish force landed on the coast. It was the last 
 expedition which Spain sent to recover her lost colony. 
 Disease so weakened the troops that they fell an 
 easy prey to Santa Anna, whose fame was much in- 
 creased by this triumph ; and shortly afterwards the 
 garrison of San Juan de Ulua capitulated. It has 
 been remarked by writers of the national history that 
 General Miguel Barragan, to whom the castle was
 
 172 MEXICO. 
 
 surrendered, was married to the daughter of the last 
 direct descendant of Juan Andrade, the husband of 
 Montezuma's daughter; so that the husband of a lady 
 sprung from the unfortunate emperor of the Aztecs, 
 received the keys of the last stronghold held upon the 
 American continent by the countrymen of Cortez. 
 
 Bustamente's tenure of power was beneficial to 
 Mexico. It was only astonishing that he should have 
 consented to accept it under such questionable circum- 
 stances. For his previous career had been marked by 
 many good qualities. Originally a physician in a country 
 town, he had joined the Spanish army at the outbreak 
 of Hidalgo's insuiTection ; he was then about thirty 
 years of age. Almost the first act recorded of him 
 is in pleasing contrast to the horrors of the war : he had 
 the heads of Hidalgo and his comrades, which had 
 been fastened to stakes, taken down and restored to 
 their friends for decent burial. At length he became 
 too disgusted with the cruelties of the Spanish leaders 
 to co-operate with them any longer, and he went over 
 to the liberal side. In the varied fortunes of Iturbide 
 he had been always his faithful adherent. How he 
 was induced to ally himself with Santa Anna against 
 the government of Guerrero is more than we can 
 explain. His decision once taken, he carried it 
 out promptly. Remembering the scenes that had 
 disgraced the streets of the capital wheij Iturbide 
 assumed the government, he determined to prevent 
 their repetition, and marched on Mexico with a small 
 force. The city was then in the hands of Guerrero's 
 partisans. They had possession of the causeway by 
 which it is approached, and with a little vigour almost 
 every house would afford a separate basis of resistance. 
 The mode in which all these advantages were lost
 
 MEXICO FROM THE EEYOLTTTIOX. 173 
 
 affords a striking illustration of Mexican indolence. 
 In the dead of the night Bustamente and his men 
 arrived at the city gate, which was guarded by a 
 sentinel of Guerrero's army. " Who goes there ?" was 
 his challenge. " Friends," was the reply. " Of what 
 nation?" "Soldiers of Mexico." Without further 
 inquiiy they were suffered to pass, and in the morning 
 the palace was in their hands, and the city quietly 
 submitted. Such was the man to whom the govern- 
 ment was now intrusted. 
 
 During the three years of Bustamente's rule 
 Mexico enjoyed peace and prosperity, to which she had 
 been long a stranger. The mainspring of the govern- 
 ment was Don Lucas Alaman, who had been foreign 
 minister under Iturbide. Under his administration 
 various disorders were corrected. Smuggling, which 
 had been practised to an unlimited extent, and with 
 the connivance of the customs' officials, was repressed, 
 to the great advantage of the revenue. The brigands, 
 who then as now infested the highways, were either 
 executed or terrified into good behaviour, and Alaman 
 declared that he would not relax his efforts until he 
 could leave his cloak in the open street at night with 
 perfect confidence that it would be found imtouched 
 in the morning. These vigorous measures restored 
 public confidence, and commerce again began to flow 
 through its customary channels. Many of the mines 
 were conceded to English companies, and Alaman 
 showed every disposition of friendship towards our 
 countrymen. A portion of the surplus revenue was 
 assigned to the " Banco de Avio," which was established 
 to promote arts and manufactures ; from this fund 
 advances were made at low rates to manufacturers, or 
 machinery was purchased to be used without payment
 
 174 MEXICO. 
 
 of any rent for it by those who were wilHng to establish 
 new factories. 
 
 To such praiseworthy efforts to promote material 
 prosperity Alaman added a terrible and unrelenting 
 pertinacity in crushing his political opponents. His 
 enemies indeed represent him as a monster, utterly 
 regardless of the laws of God or man, by whom all the 
 crimes of Ceesar Borgia would be committed without 
 scruple. Certain it is that from his bureau in Mexico 
 Don Alaman kept a watchful eye upon his foes. His 
 arm was always ready to strike, even when the prey 
 seemed quite beyond his grasp ; and when once he had 
 clutched his victim he was not the man to spare. 
 
 In the south, Guerrero was still in arms after Busta- 
 mente had seized upon the capital and the presidency. 
 In vain Alaman strove to crush him. Surrounded by 
 a band of faithful followers, and protected by the 
 climate against a hostile force, Guerrero bade defiance 
 to his efforts. There arrived, at this period, at the port 
 of Acalpulco, a Genoese vessel, whose captain, Picaluga, 
 insinuated himself into the confidence of Guerrero. 
 One day the ex-president went almost imattended to 
 breakfast with his friend. He was a little fond of wine, 
 and partook freely of some that was placed before him. 
 The meal finished, he went on deck to find that the 
 vessel had weighed anchor, and himself a prisoner. He 
 was tried at Oaxaca and shot, as has already been nar- 
 rated. When Alaman was obliged to fly from Mexico, 
 an order was found in his own handwi'iting to Picaluga 
 for 50,000 dollars as the price, of this treason. The 
 Genoese blotted out the name of Picaluga from the 
 roll of their citizens. 
 
 It was not likely that such changes as those intro- 
 duced by Alaman could fail to earn him a good deal of
 
 MEXICO FROM THE EEVOLUTION. 175 
 
 enmity. Smuggling and highway robbery have always 
 been the most popular of crimes amongst a half-civilized 
 people. It is considered rather meritoi'ious than other- 
 wise to cheat the revenue officers ; and no doubt amongst 
 the thieves who infested the pubho roads of Mexico 
 there were pre-eminent rascals who gained celebrity like 
 that of Robin Hood and Richard Turpin. The taxes, 
 too, were collected with a most unpleasant regularity, . 
 and the price of goods the owners of which had been 
 obliged to pay duty Avas sure to be dearer than that of 
 those which had been smuggled. These grievances might 
 have been tolerated in anotlier country, but the Mexicans 
 had not been trained to submission. It soon was mur- 
 mured that Bustamente w^as a tyrant and ought to be 
 removed. A project of the government to make the 
 wealth of the church contribute to the necessities of 
 the state filled the cup of Alaman's iniquity to over- 
 flowing. Santa Anna took advantage of the cry thus 
 given him ; he came forward not only as the champion 
 of the Catholic religion but also to assert the rights 
 of Pedraza, and in December, 1832, Bustamente re- 
 signed his ofiice, and Pedraza returned to serve out the 
 remaining three months of his unexpired administration. 
 The history of Mexico for some years from this 
 period is almost identical with the individual fortimes 
 of Santa Anna, and no small portion of the per- 
 plexity and confusion in which it is involved is due to 
 the strange combinations, contradictory policy, and 
 varying line of action adopted by him. Accounts dia- 
 metrically opposed to one another are given of him 
 • by the difierent parties in Mexico, and it is not easy to 
 unravel the truth amidst the conflicting statements of 
 contemporary writers. We must then conflne ourselves 
 to the principal facts of his career.
 
 176 MESICO. 
 
 Santa Anna was tlie son of a Creole who possessed 
 large estates on the road that leads from Vera Cruz 
 to Jalapa, and resided at the hacienda of Mango de 
 Claro. At a very eaidy age he commanded a body of 
 insurgent troops, with which he seized upon the town 
 of Vera Cruz, and declared for Iturhide. His' large 
 possessions in this district naturally disposed the 
 Indians to gather round him, and the rancheros, 
 or Mexican farmers, formed a body of unrivalled 
 irregular cavalry. Gifted with a fine commanding 
 person, with attractive address, and a great command 
 of language, Santa Anna was just the man to win 
 popular admiration, and to carry himself with such 
 tact as to manage all parties in the confused state of 
 Mexican politics. 
 
 A grave act of insubordination soon brought him 
 under the displeasiu'e of Iturhide, and he was sum- 
 moned to explain his conduct at Mexico. He went 
 thither boldly self-reliant, but to his chagrin he was 
 deprived of his command. For the moment he seemed 
 to submit, but suddenly he appeared at Vera Cruz, 
 where he denoixnced Iturhide as a tyrant, and raised 
 his followers against him. He was not more obedient 
 to the congress which subsequently assumed the direc- 
 tion of affairs ; and the year 1828 saw him again in 
 arms. 
 
 The incidents of the war which followed could hardly 
 have occurred in any other country. In vain did the 
 congress send out superior forces to reduce him to 
 obedience. The hardy rancheros in Santa Anna's train 
 had been bred and born in the terra caliente, the fever 
 district of Vera Cruz. Seasoned as they were, fatigue 
 and want seemed powerless to hurt them : whereas 
 the vomito decimated the ranks of their opponents, or
 
 MEXICO FROM THE EETOLUTION. 177 
 
 the heat struck them down upon the march. Still 
 there were limits to a resistance to superior numbers 
 even under such favoui-able circumstances. He Avas 
 obliged to retreat and throw himself into the town of 
 Camino de Oaxaca. Driven here from house to house, 
 and from street to street, he at last took refuge with 
 his men in the convent of San Domingo. 
 
 He well knew the people with whom he had to deal. 
 The enemy would have massacred him and all his men 
 without a scruple, but they would not injure the walls 
 of a sacred building. Santa Anna, therefore, calmlj- 
 lay down for his siesta, and when the firing was re- 
 newed, his men, secui'e behind stone walls, discharged 
 their muskets with terrible destruction amongst the 
 foe. All next day the strife continued on these unequal 
 terms, the besieged party keeping close within their 
 walls ; but at night they dashed out from the gates 
 and drove off a large herd of oxen into the courtyard 
 of the convent. 
 
 Not far from the building which Santa Anna held 
 was another convent crowned with lofty towers. No 
 sooner had his men returned from their successful 
 foray on the enemy's cattle than the gates of the con- 
 vent were thrown wide open as for some religious pro- 
 cession. The enemy not questioning that Santa Anna 
 was contented with the success he had already gained, 
 awaited reverentially the coming of the monks, when, 
 instead of a procession of priests, out rode at full galop 
 a troop of rancheros and seized upon the second con- 
 vent. The enemy by this manceuvre being placed 
 between two fires was compelled to change his position. 
 
 It was not long before another stratagem convinced 
 the loyal troops that they had to deal with no ordinary 
 foe. " Is it possible," said the governor-general to his 
 
 N
 
 178 MEXICO. 
 
 aid-de-camp one morning, " that the long beards can 
 have joined Santa Anna ? Instead of soldiers I think I 
 can see monks in the belfry." Soon after, the bells began 
 to toll for service, as though the monks were going to 
 pray for the deliverance of their house ; and presently 
 the cowls and hoods of the brethren were to be seen 
 upon the roof. The general at once ordered his troops 
 to advance and occupy the buildings, but when they 
 drew near the monks suddenly let fall their robes, be- 
 neath which there shone out brilliant unifoi-ms, and a 
 deadly fire from both convents was poured upon the 
 assailants with murderous effect before they could 
 regain their quarters. 
 
 From his hazardous position Santa Anna was re- 
 lieved by the revolution which deposed Pedraza. 
 We have already seen the part he took in that 
 movement. In the following year, 1829, he added to 
 his former reputation by the masterly manner in 
 which he checked the invasion of the Spaniards. 
 G-eneral Barradas, at the head of four thousand 
 men, had landed at Tampico to make one last effort 
 for the subjugation of the country. Santa Anna, 
 then minister of wai", was at his post in Mexico, 
 but he managed to elude the Spaniards, and to place 
 himself at the head of a small force, with which he 
 advanced upon Tampico. In the absence of Bar- 
 radas, he attacked the place, which yielded after a 
 struggle of four hours' duration. He had hardly 
 entered it, when Barradas re-appeai*ed with three 
 thousand men. Retreat was impossible. A river lay 
 between Santa Anna and the town, which he could 
 only cross in the face of the enemy. Once more he 
 had recourse to stratagem. He deluded Barradas into 
 the belief that he had with him an overwhelming force,
 
 MEXICO FROM THE REVOLUTION. 179 
 
 and accordingly the Spaniard agreed to come to terms. 
 Santa Anna meanwhile crossed the river unopposed, as 
 had been agreed on, and Barradas did not learn how 
 he had been duped until it was too late. Every night 
 the Mexicans attacked the Spaniards, who were thus 
 kept at a distance until reinforcements arrived. Bar- 
 radas was eventually glad to lay down his arms and 
 sail back to the Havanna. Thus ended the last Spanish 
 effort to reconquer the country. 
 
 By these exploits the name of Santa Anna became 
 famous through the country, and when Pedraza's second 
 term of office had expired, he was elected president. * 
 He still professed to hold with the federal party, and 
 was on the best terms with Gomez Farias, the vice-presi- 
 dent, and a leader on the same side. The congress 
 too, of 1834, was federal in character, but church 
 matters again gave the signal for discord. A bill was 
 brought into congress directed against the episcopal 
 estates, and the clergy, in alarm, at once threw them- 
 selves into the arms of the Centralists. Bribery was 
 largely resorted to in order to gain over opponents, 
 and the president himself is said to have been thus 
 induced to yield. At any rate, on the 13th of May, 
 1834, he dissolved the congress, in violation of the 
 constitution, and immediately appealed to the people 
 to maintain order and peace, which he represented as 
 threatened by that body. Certain laws against the 
 church were to be repealed, certain persons sent into 
 banishment, and the whole constitution was to be re- 
 modelled. Until a new congress could be summoned 
 for these purj^oses, Santa Anna was to have absolute 
 authoiity. This revolution was called the pronuncia- 
 rniento of Cuernavaca. 
 
 ♦ On the 15th of May, 1833.
 
 180 MEXICO. 
 
 This new congress met in 1835, and the Plan of 
 Toluca was the basis on which it reformed the con- 
 stitution. The federal system was abolished, the 
 state governments were annihilated, their legislatures 
 dissolved, and all the states united under one govern- 
 ment, whole and indivisible. Thus was formed the 
 Constitution of Mexico, which has produced (says Mr. 
 Robinson) all its later troubles, and is pronounced 
 to be probably the worst that ever existed. Its 
 features are these : A president elected for eight 
 years ; a house of deputies and a senate, the latter 
 selected in the most complicated manner by electors 
 thrice removed from the people ; and a supreme court. 
 It also embraces what is termed the supreme con- 
 servative power, with a veto on everything, composed 
 of live members, and in the words of the organic law, 
 "responsible to God and public opinion alone !" * 
 
 Violent opposition arose to this scheme immediately 
 it was propounded, and a large part of the country 
 took to arms. Yucatan broke off its connection with 
 Mexico. Puebla, Jalisco, and Oaxaca all declared 
 against it, and a serious insurrection broke out in 
 Zacatecas and Texas. Santa Anna, however, did not 
 bend before the storm. He despatched General Cos 
 to reduce the Texans to submission. He went in 
 person to Zacatecas, and gained the day, after a san- 
 guinary struggle. The old elements of hatred once 
 more broke loose on this occasion, and the track of the 
 president was stained by the savage cruelty committed 
 in the town of Zacatecas, and by the like misconduct 
 of his troops throughout the province. 
 
 Having reduced this part of the country to obedience, 
 
 * Mexico and her military chieftains, p. 1G5.
 
 MEXICO FEOM TUE EEVOLUTION. ISl 
 
 Santa Anna set out with the flower of his troops 
 to reconquer Texas. He was probably not unwilling 
 to leave to others the unpopular task of getting 
 the new constitution into working order, and he 
 hoped to gather fresh military laui'els. Texas stood 
 on a somewhat different footing from the other 
 Mexican states. The country had been oxiginally 
 colonized by a citizen of the United States, in 1819 ; 
 conjointly with Cohahuila, it had formed one of the 
 states of the federal republic, and in 1824 a general 
 colonization law had especially invited foreigners to 
 settle within its boundaries. A change of policy, 
 however, had taken place, and the jealousy of Mexico 
 had been excited by the number of settlers who came 
 from the United States. Their neighbours were ac- 
 cused of a design to rob them of one of their most 
 fertile regions, and, in 1830, an enactment passed the 
 congress that no further immigration into the states 
 should be allowed. To enforce its observance, a 
 chain of forts was established in the country, and the 
 people were thus brought under martial control. 
 
 The Texans were not disposed quietly to brook this 
 interference with their liberty. They took up arms 
 against the garrisons, and succeeded in expelling some 
 of them from their posts. It was whilst the irritation 
 thus produced was rankling in their breasts that they 
 heard of the pronimciainiento of Cuernavaca and the 
 overthrow of the constitution. They resolved to stand 
 by their federal rights. The opening scenes of the 
 war only served to inflame both parties, and so led to 
 the final loss of Texas, and eventually to the conflict 
 with the United States. The I\[exican forces wei'e at 
 first victorious. The state legislature was dispersed by 
 General Cos. Several small towns were taken, and iu
 
 182 MEXICO. 
 
 violation of the terms on which they had surrendered 
 a number of Tanning's volunteers were butchered 
 in cold blood by Santa Anna's orders. But these 
 successes were soon checked by the battle of San 
 Jacinto, in which the Mexicans were beaten, and Santa 
 Anna himself was taken prisoner. " Sir," he said, 
 addressing G-eneral Houston, on yielding up his sword, 
 " yours is no common destiny ; you have captured the 
 Napoleon of the west." 
 
 The Americans were so enraged at the slaughter of 
 their countrymen, that many of them urged Houston 
 to send his prisoner to immediate execution. A council 
 was held to deliberate upon his fate, and a somewhat 
 improbable story has been circulated that his life was 
 spared owing to the suggestion that Mexico would be 
 more benefited than injured by his destruction. At 
 an}- rate the side of mercy prevailed, and he was sent 
 a prisoner to Washington. He was subsequently 
 allowed to return to Mexico, on the understanding that 
 he would use all his influence to secure the recognition 
 of the independence of Texas. 
 
 Bustamente was elected president for the second 
 time in January, 1837, under the new central constitu- 
 tion. He assumed the government at a season of much 
 difiiculty. The treasury was empty. The pa}^ of the 
 army was in arrear. The treaty concluded by Santa 
 Anna with the United States was unpopular and 
 the French government were pressing for some claims 
 I'or injuries alleged to ■ have been inflicted on their 
 subjects. Bustamente was poor, and had not en- 
 riched himself by his former tenure of power ; yet, to 
 allay the impatience of the troops he advanced ten 
 thousand dollars from his own funds. He promptly 
 recognised the treaty with the government at Wash-
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLUTIOK. 183 
 
 ington, and concluded another with Spain, by which the 
 independence of Mexico was admitted. Such acts 
 ought to have won him the affections, or at least the 
 peaceable obedience, of the people. But the same 
 inextinguishable spirit of disorder was still ripe 
 throughout the country. In 1838, the Federalists 
 once more rose in arms with Mexia at their head. 
 Santa Anna, who had been living in privacy since 
 his return from Washington, asked and obtained 
 the command of the army sent against them. The 
 opposing forces met near Puebla. The Federalists were 
 conquered. Mexia was taken prisoner, and ordered to 
 execution, with only an hour's respite, on the field of 
 battle. " Santa Anna is quite right," was his reply when 
 his sentence was made known to him, " I would not 
 have given him half the time if I had gained the day." 
 
 Hardly had the danger from this source been over- 
 come, wdien a more serious difficulty pressed upon the 
 government. The French fleet, under Admiral Baudin, 
 appeai-ed at Vera Cruz in the winter of 1838, with 
 demands for satisfaction, Avhich they were prepared to 
 enforce. The sum of 500,000,000 dollars was claimed 
 as an indemnity for the past. The right of carrying 
 on retail trade, and of exemption from certain imposts, 
 were insisted on for the future. The unhappy 
 Mexicans could not afford either to admit or to reject 
 the claim. The fort of Vera Cruz was captured, and 
 the city unsuccessfully assaulted. The failure of this 
 last attempt, combined with the arrival of the British 
 fleet to induce the French to lessen their demands, 
 through the good offices of Mr. Pakenham, the English 
 envoy, caused the belligerents to come to terms. 
 
 The successes of the French contributed greatly to 
 the unpopularity of Bustamente. The Mexicans, as
 
 184 MEXICO. 
 
 haughty as they are incapable, always attribute 
 their misfortunes to the government, and take no 
 share of the blame upon themselves. Commxerce had 
 been crippled by the blockade of Vera Cruz, by the 
 war in Texas, and by the expenditure which was thus 
 incurred. Still further taxation was now inevitable, 
 in order to pay the French indemnity. The discon- 
 tent thus caused reached its climax in 18iO, when 
 Generals Urrea and Farias declared against the 
 president. 
 
 Some curious scenes followed, strikingly illustrative 
 of Mexican politics. Farias' pronunciamiento was 
 made on the 15th of July. His party rushed to the 
 palace and seized upon Bustamente. He, however, 
 conti'ived to escape the next morning, on which he 
 published a proclamation complaining of the incivility 
 to which he had been subjected in being made a pri- 
 soner. A series of declarations and counter-declarations 
 appeared, each side zealously following up the other on 
 paper. Meanwhile Mexico was devastated. There 
 was a want of common necessaries in the capital, and 
 many lives of peaceful citizens were sacrificed in the 
 irregular firing of either party. 
 
 Urrea and Farias had relied on the aid of Santa 
 Anna, but this wily politician declared for Bustamente, 
 Nor had the president been lacking to himself in the 
 most critical moment of the insurrection. After his 
 escape he had recovered possession of the national 
 palace, and was besieged in it by the insurgents. A 
 breach had been effected in its walls, and his staff 
 requested him to escape, but he refused. At this 
 moment the rebels rushed into the room, crying " Death 
 to Bustamente." He calmly stepped forward, threw 
 off his cloak, and stood facing them undaunted. His
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EETOLUTIOX, 185 
 
 boldness made them quail before hiin, and they retired 
 without a hand being lifted against him. 
 
 During these internal troubles the Texans had been 
 asserting their distinct nationality, and in 18-14! they 
 commenced negotiations to enter the American union. 
 This proposal roused all the national pride of Mexico. 
 In vain the president, Herrera, strove to bring about 
 a friendly arrangement with the United States. At 
 the end of 1845, he was obliged to resign in favour of 
 General Parades, and war against Texas was declared. 
 
 It was really war ^vith the United States, whose 
 forces were everywhere victorious. Matamoros was 
 occupied by General Taylor on the 18th of May, 
 1846. Monterey, the key of the northern provinces, 
 fell some four months later. Taylor then advanced, 
 with only 5,000 men, to San Luis Potosi, where 
 Santa Anna, now president once more, met him at 
 the head of 20,000 Mexicans. This fine force was 
 shattered in repeated efforts to force the strong position 
 of the Americans in the gorge of Angostura. Mean- 
 while Calilbrnia had been seized upon by Fremont, 
 and New Mexico by Kearney. 
 
 A still heavier blow was impending over the state. 
 General Scott sailed at the head of a force aimed 
 against the capital. At Jalapa, and at six other 
 points in his march from Vera Cruz, the passage was 
 disputed, and some fierce fighting took place. But 
 nothing could arrest the progress of the United States 
 army, which finally entered the capital on the 13th 
 of September, 1847. This reverse compelled the 
 Mexicans to yield to the terms insisted on by the 
 United States. The independence of Texas was 
 finally conceded, and with it California and New 
 Mexico were added to the American union.
 
 186 MEXICO. 
 
 This disastrous termination of the war was for the 
 time fatal to the popularity of Santa Anna, and he 
 retired to Jamaica. It Avere quite hopeless for us to 
 attempt to follow the constant changes that have 
 since occurred. Every two or three years at most 
 some new revolution has broken out, and this has 
 frequently happened at much shorter intervals. Santa 
 Anna fled in 1848. He was recalled in 1852, with a 
 centralist constitution, and declared perpetual dictator 
 in 1853. The very next year, a fresh pronunciamienta 
 was made by General Alvarez. Santa Anna fled once 
 more in 1855, and Alvarez was made provisional 
 president. He resigned at the end of the same year, 
 and General Comonfort succeeded him in 1856, who 
 was welcomed by an outbreak within the first three 
 months of his administration. 
 
 The names which have been prominent in the most 
 recent disturbances are those of Juarez and Miramon. 
 The former heads the liberal, and the latter the church 
 party in the state. 
 
 Such has been the unsatisfactory issue of republican 
 government in Mexico. Half a century has elapsed 
 since the standard of independence was raised by 
 Hidalgo, in the year 1810, and the condition of 
 the country gradually deteriorated, until it reached 
 a pitch which demanded the intervention of the 
 European powers. In these fifty j'^ears no less than 
 twenty-seven fundamental systems of law, or separate 
 constitutions, have been enacted, and fifty-eight presi- 
 dents have held the supreme power ; but not one man 
 amongst them has possessed the combined probity and 
 vigour required to control and regenerate the Mexicans. 
 Gradually all the bonds have been loosed, by which 
 men of the same nation are united to one another,
 
 MEXICO FEOM THE EEVOLTJTIOK. 187 
 
 and universal anarchy has prevailed. The example of 
 disobedience and disorder has commonly been set by 
 those who, knowing the responsibihties of authority, 
 ought to have been the most careful to yield to its 
 requirements. The first necessary quality for com- 
 mand is to know how to obey, and there has been 
 hardly a single occupant of the president's chair in 
 Mexico who has been possessed of this essential quali- 
 fication for his oflfice ; whilst the priesthood have 
 fomented every outbreak which they hoped would help 
 to prop up their failing influence, and to secure their 
 property from bearing its due share of the burdens of 
 the state. 
 
 This selfish policy has deservedly failed. An ex- 
 clusive regard to their own interests, and an utter 
 unconcern for the general wehare, have resulted in the 
 ruin of those who have adopted so base a line of 
 conduct. Every party has in turn seized upon the 
 government by unlawful violence, and every party 
 has found itself obliged to succumb to the same 
 weapons which it has employed against its adver- 
 saries. The clergy, in their avarice, have over- 
 reached themselves. In the period of the greatest 
 peril of their country, and when the nation was 
 threatened with extinction ; when the capital was 
 held by the army of the United States, and their 
 neighboui's were demanding the annexation of theii" 
 territory, the clergy refused to pay one farthing from 
 their large revenues to defend their altars, their 
 country, and their flocks. In the troubles that have 
 since ensued their property has been involved in the 
 general ruin. They have lost all the wealth which 
 they grasped so greedily ; a large portion of which 
 they would most probably have retained had they been 
 more erenerous in the hour of their countrv's need.
 
 188 MEXICO. 
 
 The whole history of the country may serve to 
 illustrate a truth which it were well that some of our 
 European rulers should ponder — a truth of universal 
 application for all states and through all time. It 
 is this. The welfare of every class in a community 
 is inseparably bound up with the well-being of all the 
 other classes ; so that if one member suffer all the 
 other members suffer with it. Spain endeavoured to 
 rule Mexico by an exclusively selfish policy. Asa con- 
 sequence, she not only seriously crippled a territory 
 which would have repaid a hundredfold any generous 
 treatment, but inflicted injuries upon herself which 
 gradually undermined her strength, and reduced her 
 from the most powerful to the least influential of the 
 European states. Since the declaration of inde- 
 pendence each party in Mexico has similarly pursued 
 an exclusively selfish policy. The result has been that 
 this highly favoured land has become a byword to all 
 the nations of the earth.
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 THJi KELIOION AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF 
 MEXICO. 
 
 Importance of the subject — Distressing features — Zeal of the 
 conquerors — Influence of the priesthood — Ecclesiastical 
 establishment in Mexico — Decline of church power and 
 wealth — Churches and convents — Taking the veil — Irregular 
 lives of the monks^The confessional — Tithes — Extortionate 
 fees — Payments of miners to the clergy — Funerals of rich 
 and poor, and the dissipation that accompanies them — Re- 
 ligious processions — Holy week in Mexico — Village festival 
 — Superstition of the people — Our Lady of Guadalupe — The 
 Virgin de Los Remedies — Sterner scenes of superstition — 
 Public penances — The order of Santa Theresa — No prospect 
 of tolerance — Privileges and responsibility of Protestants. 
 
 It would not have been unreasonable to expect that 
 the first topic of inquiry with all professing Christians, 
 when endeavouring to learn something about a foreign 
 nation, would be their religious condition. If we 
 take the history of the whole universe since man's 
 creation, we find it separated into two great divisions 
 by the coming of Jesus Christ. In his life we have 
 the great central fact of the world's history, and the 
 Bible teaches us that this fact has an interest of the 
 deepest importance for all our fellow men. In Him 
 the free salvation of God is offered to all that will 
 believe ; in his person and character the mind of God 
 to sinners lias been declared ; and to the message of 
 his truth, when faithfully uttered, is promised the
 
 190 MEXICO. 
 
 accompanying influence of the Holy Spirit, so that it 
 shall effectually work in the hearts of its hearers, and 
 be productive of great results. And all this has been 
 abundantly confirmed b}^ the experience of the past. 
 Although the progress of the gospel has been slow in 
 certain cases, and missionary efforts have seemed for a 
 time to fail, yet in every nation it has been found 
 that the message of the Prince of peace is adapted 
 to all the wants of the human heart, and brings the 
 only true relief to a spirit burdened with the sense of 
 sin. Everywhere there have been some who have 
 believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. This of itself, one 
 would have thought, should have aroused the attention 
 of thoughtful men. Surely there must be something 
 well worth knowing in that gospel which suits alike 
 the civilized European and the savage dweller in the 
 most barbarous lands. The true Christian understands 
 the cause of such an influence, for as heart answers 
 unto heart, he knows that the truth which is so in- 
 expressibly dear to his own soul is equally fitted to 
 cheer the heart of the wild Indian, who has learned to 
 trust in Christ and be at peace. We wonder, therefore, 
 that these resu.lts have not awakened more careful 
 attention. The truth is the carnal mind is enmity 
 against Grod and avoids instinctively such inquiries. 
 
 There is a further reason why the religious condition 
 of a people should engage the notice of aU men of 
 observation, and it is this : that the inward reception 
 of the gospel in the heart always has its effect upon the 
 outward behaviour. Godliness hath the promise of 
 the life that now is as well as of that which is to 
 corne. All experience proves it. Wherever the Bible 
 is known and valued, there will be seen an industrious 
 and thriving people. No conditions of climate or in-
 
 EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 191 
 
 fluence of race will explain away this result. In 
 Switzerland adjoining cantons bear the marks of their 
 creed as plainly upon the surface of their fields as in the 
 interior of their churches. In our own land wherever 
 the power of truth is brought to bear upon the long- 
 neglected masses, an improvement in the habits of 
 daily life invariably is the handmaid of an acceptance 
 of the gospel. As a broad principle it may be affirmed 
 that many a land with every natural advantage, but 
 where God's word is withheld, is declining and falling 
 into decaj^ whilst when the Bible is introduced the 
 wilderness begins to flourish and to blossom as the rose. 
 The religious condition of Mexico will not, alas, 
 present us with many pleasing features. A withering 
 blight seems to have fallen upon the land, and in 
 no respect has its influence been more deadly than 
 in the power which a false creed has obtained over 
 the minds of a people, who yet seem strangers to those 
 practical virtues which that creed recommends. It 
 may seem a harsh judgment to pass upon a whole 
 people, but the Mexicans (with some slight exceptions 
 that shall presently be noted), seem to have grasped 
 all the superstitious usages of popery with the firmest 
 tenacity, whilst they neglect those remnants of truth 
 which are still retained in the Romish religion. You 
 will find in Mexico no more obedient, nay abject, 
 devotee than the lepero, who will kneel humbly to the 
 host as it is carried by, and immediately afterwards 
 plunge his dagger into the heart of a foe. Amongst 
 the native Indians the shaven crown of the priest will 
 meet with a respect which no sense of right or wrong 
 could ensure for any moral or religious precept. It is 
 true that since these countries shook ofl" the yoke of 
 Spain, there has arisen in each state a party who have
 
 192 MEXICO. 
 
 desired to free themselves from thraldom to the priest- 
 hood : but even now the vast mass of the population 
 is still a prey to the superstitious tei'rors and convic- 
 tions by which their fathers were held in bondage. 
 
 In the early history of the Spanish occupation, we 
 find a constant anxiety displayed by the home govern- 
 ment for the conversion of the natives to the faith of 
 Christianity. In theory at least, it was supposed that 
 the pope had a right to confer dominions beyond the 
 Atlantic upon European princes, on condition that 
 they should bring over the idolaters to the Catholic 
 church. Indeed, there seems to have been a genuine 
 desire on the part of those in power to carry out this 
 purpose, but their eflForts and many of their edicts 
 were hindered and disregarded by the sturdy cavaliers 
 whose broad swords had won them dominion in the 
 field. We find constant complaints from the good 
 fathers who accompanied them, that the regulations 
 of the Spanish court, on behalf of the conquei-ed 
 peoples, were constantly violated. Very frequent were 
 the appeals made to the Spanish council by the priests 
 on behalf of the natives of the New World, who were 
 treated with much cruelty by the conquerors. It was, 
 doubtless, owing to their kindness, and to the ready 
 way in which they accommodated their teaching, so as 
 to include many heathen superstitions, that the Indians 
 first acquired that reverence for the priesthood which 
 has continued to the present day. 
 
 From the period of the conquest ample provision 
 was made for the ecclesiastical establishment in Mexico 
 and New Spain. Friar Gage gives us some insight 
 into the wealth of the church when he visited the 
 country ; and this was increased in subsequent years 
 as the mines became more productive, and as wealthy
 
 RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 193 
 
 individuals were induced to make large gifts to tho 
 religious orders. Humboldt estimated the clergy of 
 Mexico at from 10.000 to 13,000. The secular clergy 
 numbered about 5,000 parish priests; whilst the monks 
 of all orders, with their lay brethren, might amount to 
 8,000 more, of whom 2,500 were to be found in the 
 convents of the capital alone. The church was go- 
 verned by an archbishop and eight bishops, and the 
 tithes destined to the support of the clergy amounted 
 to 1.835.382 dollars in the six principal bishoprics, no 
 return being obtained from the other three. But, 
 besides this average annual income, the church pos- 
 sessed a large accumulated capital, " derived partly 
 from bequests and partly from surplus income, the 
 whole of which was supposed, in 1805, to amount to 
 44,000,000 dollars." This sum was lent out on mort- 
 gage at a moderate rate of interest. Besides these 
 sources of income the ecclesiastics held land whose full 
 value did not exceed three millions of dollars. 
 
 The possession of such immense wealth by the 
 clergy was one of the causes which contributed to the 
 success of the revolution. It is easy to understand 
 that the chief prizes in the church were eagerly sought 
 after by Spaniards, whilst the vast mass of the priests, 
 on whom fell the labour of ministering to the people, 
 were of Creole and mixed origin. Hence arose a bitter 
 distinction of caste; all the wealthier offices being 
 filled by Spaniards, who were commonly sent from 
 Europe, and returned thither after amassing a fortune, 
 while those who bore the burden and heat of the day 
 were left to toil on in ill-requited poverty. In many 
 dioceses where the revenues of the bishop amounted to 
 100,000 or 120,000 dollars, there were parish priests 
 who vegetated upon a pittance of 100 or 120 dollars 
 

 
 194! MEXICO. 
 
 in the year. No class threw themselves more earnestly 
 into the revolutionary struggle than the great body of 
 the Creole clergy. 
 
 We have no accurate statistics from which to 
 describe the condition of the Eomish church in Mexico 
 at the present day. In 1826, the property of the 
 church had been reduced by one half, partly under the 
 administration of the Spanish government, and partly 
 owing to the necessities and the confusion that arose 
 during the revolution. The members of the clergy 
 at the same period had diminished in a like degree 
 to 5,595. 
 
 In endeavouring to estimate the influence which 
 their creed still exercises over the minds of the people, 
 we must not be misled by the facts which have just 
 been narrated. With the enjoyment of political liberty 
 it may be that many of the Mexicans have thrown off 
 the abject obedience which they once paid to the 
 priesthood, but this freedom has not been accom- 
 panied by any inquiry after a better system. The 
 Bible is still, as of old, excluded from the country, 
 and in the constant revolutions, with all their at- 
 tendant miseries that have desolated the land, there 
 has been but little opportunity for acquiring a know- 
 ledge of that gospel which is so sorely needed in such 
 seasons of distress. As for the great mass of the 
 population, they are accurately described by one of 
 their own priests as " very good Catholics, but very 
 bad Christians." 
 
 The churches of Mexico and of the principal towns 
 throughout New Spain testify to the former wealth and 
 power of the priesthood. In every part of the country 
 large buildings were erected, and in the vicinity of 
 mines now uo longer worked, as well as dispersed in
 
 EELIGIOTJS COKDITION OF MEXICO. ] 05 
 
 every region of Central America, the ruins of immense 
 edifices stand as the mournful witnesses of past pros- 
 perity and present decay. Very striking is the effect 
 of many of these dismantled churches which meet the 
 eye of the traveller in the most deserted spots ; the 
 sole remaining monuments of busy towns whose very 
 names have been almost forgotten. These churches are 
 almost all of one type, being built in a debased style of 
 classic architecture ; and as they stand on some summit 
 with their roofless walls and bare windows, they 
 present a more picturesque appearance than they did 
 at the period of their greatest completeness. 
 
 It is in vain that we search through New Spain for the 
 elegant and noble proportions of our English churches 
 and cathedrals. There are none of the slender, tapering 
 spires and massive towers that adorn our home land- 
 scape ; indeed such buildings would be out of place 
 in a land so subject to earthquakes. The principal 
 towns have each their cathedral, which is generally, 
 as at Mexico, the headquarters of dirt, the floor com- 
 monly presenting a horrible spectacle, whilst beggars, 
 filthy and diseased, and Indian market women, with 
 screaming children, disturb the services and add to the 
 discomfort of the place. At certain festivals, the floor 
 of the churches is washed, and beggars are excluded. 
 On these occasions well dressed persons venture to 
 attend, otherwise it is but rarely that ladies inter- 
 mingle with the crowd, although at times they do 
 kneel on the foul floor, and then hurry home to change 
 their dress as quickly as possible. So universal is this 
 prevalence of dirt in the churches that most families 
 of any position have an oratory, and employ a padre 
 to perform the service for them in their own houses. 
 In strange contrast with this filth are the tawdry
 
 196 MEXICO. 
 
 ornaments b}'' which many of the churches d,re over- 
 loaded, and the massive silver plate displayed upon the 
 altar. Many of the more celebrated shrines in Mexico 
 possessed at one time almost fabulous wealth in plate 
 and precious stones, the cathedral of the capital, for 
 instance, having such property worth several millions 
 sterling. A part of these valuables has disappeared 
 during the revolutionary period, but enough remains 
 to make a strong impression upon the mind of a 
 traveller, and to suggest at first sight ideas of magnifi- 
 cence which a fuller acquaintance with the churches 
 speedily dispels. 
 
 Convents and monasteries are plentiful throughout 
 every part of America that has been subject to Spanish 
 dominion. Many of these are still richly endowed, 
 and present an air of substantial comfort as well as 
 considerable pretension to architectural beauty. In 
 these will be found tolerable cleanliness, large and 
 well furnished apartments, and gardens brilliant with 
 every variety of flowers. We should indeed have been 
 surprised if such establishments had not flourished 
 amongst the Mexicans, whose natural indolence seems 
 specially to adapt them to the ease of a monastic life. 
 
 Great are the preparations in wealthy families when 
 a daughter of the house takes- the veil. A large 
 company of friends assemble, and the ceremony is 
 preceded by a grand banquet, such as would come 
 after a wedding Vvath ourselves. The future nun is 
 dressed in the most splendid array, and every appear- 
 ance of satisfaction is maintained, although hearts 
 may be aching at the prospect of the separation that 
 is at hand, and at the severance of ties that can never 
 be renewed. To our mind there are iew things more 
 horrible than tliis violent bursting of family bonds,
 
 EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 197 
 
 ordained of God for our comfort in a sinful world, and 
 this solemn devotion to a life apart from the woild in 
 which God has placed us. The religious ceremony of 
 taking the veil is like that observed in the Roman 
 Catholic countries of Europe. There is all the pomp 
 of church music, the priests are dressed in their most 
 gorgeous vestments, the altar blazes with lamps, and is 
 adorned with gold and silver plate, and rich hangings of 
 crimson and gold : amidst it all, between the long rows 
 of nuns in their dark robes, kneels the novice, attired in 
 her bridal dress of satin and lace and jewels. The 
 curtain falls before the grating which shuts out the 
 spectators from the choir in which the ceremony is 
 being carried on, and when it is raised agaiji the bridal 
 dress is gone, and the maiden is seen lying jirostrate, 
 covered with a black cloth, and a solemn chant sounds 
 like the last funeral dirge over one who is henceforth 
 dead to the world. She is embraced on rising by all 
 the nuns, is allowed to take one last look through the 
 grating at the world beyond it, and then once more 
 the curtain falls. 
 
 This is one of the few occasions on which sermons 
 are preached in Mexico — the subject being naturally 
 suggested by the event which the congregation is come 
 to witness. In most extravagant terms the novice is 
 l)raised for "having chosen the good part which shall 
 not be taken from her," and all the Scriptural phrases 
 which are applicable to those only who through the 
 influence of the Hol^^ Ghost have obtained a saving 
 laith in Chi-ist, are commonly applied to all who 
 embrace a monastic life. It is painful to think how 
 many a ])oor girl is firmly persuaded that by becoming 
 a nun she is making sure of her salvation, and thus 
 the voice of conscience is stifled, and any conviction of
 
 198 MEXICO. 
 
 her own sinfulness is disregarded, whilst some are 
 awakened, when it is too late, to the painful conscious- 
 ness that thej retain an unchanged heart beneath 
 their new habit, and then despair of any hope from 
 that gospel which they identify with the promises that 
 have proved so delusive. 
 
 All travellers agree in testifying to the irregular 
 lives of many of the monks. They are to be seen in 
 the most disreputable places, at cock-fights and gam- 
 bling tables, mixing in all the debauchery of the 
 towns. Nor does such a manner of living destroy 
 their authority. The Mexicans do not appear to esti- 
 mate popery according to the behaviour of its clergy. 
 The most worthless lepero, who has been stabbed in a 
 drunken quarrel, or has been dangerously wounded at 
 a bull fight, will confess with all solemnity to a priest 
 who has been assisting at either of these pastimes, and 
 will eagerly seek for absolution at his hands. 
 
 Were we able to penetrate the secrecy of the con- 
 fessional, we should probably learn yet more startling 
 facts concerning the religious condition of the Mexi- 
 cans ; but our readers will be able to form a fair 
 judgment on this subject from what we have related 
 elsewhere. It is no exaggeration to say that the false 
 sentiments current amongst the people have caused the 
 consciences of many to be so seared, that the violation 
 of some superstitious rite is held to be a more serious 
 crime than assassination : and a dying man will pass 
 lightly over the murders he has committed, but will 
 express remorse at the memory of some act of ir- 
 reverence to the church or the relics of the saints. Nor 
 will the priest to whom the confession is made, attempt 
 to correct an estimate which he commonly shares with 
 the penitent. It would be very unfair not to add that
 
 EELIQIOUS CONDITION OP MEXICO. 199 
 
 there are other priests whose lives adorn the church to 
 which they belong, and who, although the upholders 
 of a false creed, spend their days in visiting the sick 
 and the poor, whilst their own habits are moral and 
 self-denying. 
 
 The lower orders are now, in many instances, 
 alienated from the priesthood, owing to the exactions 
 to which they have been subjected. It is a fundamental 
 tenet of the Romish church that the grace which is 
 supposed to be received from sacraments can only be 
 imparted through the hands of the priest ; and ad- 
 vantage is taken of this tenet to gratify the cupidity 
 of the clergy. Most exorbitant fees are demanded for 
 marriage and baptism, whilst those payable at burials 
 and masses are equally oppressive. " For instance, in 
 states where the daily wages of the labourer do not 
 exceed two reals, and where a cottage can be built for 
 four dollars, its unfortunate inhabitants are forced to 
 pay twenty-two dollars for their marriage fees, a sum 
 which exceeds half their yearly earnings, in a country 
 where feast and fast days exceed the number of days 
 on which labour is permitted. The consequences are 
 such as might naturally be expected. Immorality 
 becomes rife, almost universal, under such a system." 
 
 The same system prevails with respect to baptisms 
 and burials. In the mining districts every miner pays 
 weekly half a real to the church, and an agent of the 
 priest always attends when the wages are paid to receive 
 his share of them. The only return which the miner 
 enjoj's for this weekly dole is the right of having a 
 mass performed over his body after death, and even 
 this he loses if his weekly payments are at any time 
 discontinued. Some idea of the exorbitance of the 
 demand may be gathered from the fact that in teu
 
 200 MEXICO. 
 
 years six pounds ten shillings would be extorted for 
 the honour of a funeral. 
 
 Ceremonies that are strange, and often exceedingly 
 repulsive, follow upon the occasion of death in a house- 
 hold. It is customary for the dead body to lie in state, 
 dressed in rich satin adorned with lace and ribbons, 
 whilst all the jewellery belonging to the deceased is col- 
 lected to add to the display. We even read of instances 
 in which the diamonds of several families were borrowed 
 to augment the splendour of the scene. Every ac- 
 quaintance of the household is invited to visit the corpse 
 ere it is borne to the grave. It was formerly the habit 
 to bury the dead in his rich costume, but a plain dress 
 is now substituted before the coffin is placed in the 
 vault. To our mind there is something specially hor- 
 rible in thus surrounding a dead body with all the 
 vanity of this life, after the immortal soul has been 
 summoned to the realities of the future world. 
 
 Very different scenes are to be witnessed in the 
 dwellings of the lower orders. There the hospitality 
 commonly exercised at this time degenerates into 
 revelry and debauchery. In the same room with the 
 corpse will be gathered a number of persons half or 
 wholly intoxicated, quarrelling over a gambling table, 
 as the piles of copper coin pass from hand to hand. 
 In the midst of such orgies, protracted beyond the 
 hour of midnight, the whole party will pause for a few 
 minutes as the clock strikes twelve — the hour of the 
 souls in purgatory. Amusements are suspended, and 
 every one kneels to go through a fixed form of prayer. 
 This over, all return again to their interrupted dissipa- 
 tion ; and if there seem for a moment to be a some- 
 what subdued manner in the guests, it is quickly lost 
 in the uproar and excitement which follow.
 
 EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 201 
 
 Witli that strange adherence to the letter of Chris- 
 tianity, whose spirit they so little understand, a Mex- 
 ican parent will profess satisfaction at the loss of a child 
 who has been called away from earth " before he was 
 old enough to displease the God of heaven." Visitors 
 are then expected to offer their congratulations, and 
 the poor mother tries to hide beneath a forced smile 
 the grief with which she inwardly mourns her bereave- 
 ment. We would not question that the spirit of a 
 darling child is accepted through the death of our 
 Saviour, and those who have learned to realize the love 
 of God in Christ, may be glad that their children 
 dying early have escaped the many sorrows of a sinful 
 world. But it is most unnatural not to grieve for the 
 loss of those whom every tie of affection makes most 
 dear to us, and tears will and should flow freely, even 
 while the heart acquiesces and rejoices in the Divine 
 will. 
 
 When the body is borne to the church there follows 
 all the pageantry with which the Romish system loves 
 to feed the eye and inflame the feelings of its devotees. 
 If the family be wealthy, the whole building will be 
 hung with bhick, priests in robes of white and black 
 velvet embroidered with silver minister before the 
 altar, and the thrilling tones of some solemn mass add 
 to the effect of the ceremony. On a lofty bier in the 
 centre of the church the coffin is placed, long I'ows of 
 tall candles lining either side, whilst incense burners or 
 massive lamps of silver shed their perfume and their 
 flame. A full band of music, a long procession of monks 
 bearing lighted tapers, and figures veiled and clothed 
 in deep mourning, all lend a solemnity to the scene ; 
 and ail this while the soul has gone to its account. Oh 
 to have at such an hour the only needful garment,
 
 202 MEXICO. 
 
 the robe of Christ's righteousness to cover human 
 guilt, and the only music that can fall j 03' fully upon the 
 ear, even the glad welcome of " well done, good and 
 faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 The streets of Mexico, and indeed of all the towns 
 of New Spain, are constantly visited by religious 
 processions. On fete days there are to be seen long 
 lines of priests, and banners emblazoned with the 
 emblems of the saints : and almost every > religious 
 service serves as an opportunity for some such display. 
 Whenever a dying Catholic desires to receive the 
 sacrament, there appears a coach with an eye painted 
 on the panels and drawn by six mules, and within it 
 are seated the priests bearing the host. As the 
 carriage moves forward a bell is sounded incessantly 
 to give warning of its approach, and all instantly 
 fall upon their knees : buyers and sellers in the 
 streets, and ladies sitting out upon the balconies of 
 private houses all kneel alike, and to refuse compliance 
 would expose you to the fury of the mob. The 
 Protestants commonly turn aside out of the way, and 
 even then do not always escape the angry comments 
 of priests and people. 
 
 During the whole week preceding Easter Sunday all 
 Mexico is engrossed in religious ceremonial. From 
 every quarter crowds of country people throng the 
 city, booths are erected in the squares, garlands and 
 tapestry hang from the balconies, shops are shut 
 and business suspended ; whilst all the churches are 
 adorned with the greatest splendour. On Palm 
 Sunday the cathedral is the great centre of attraction, 
 and multitudes resort thither to see the ceremony of 
 blessing the palm trees. When all is ready there 
 appears a long hue of Indians, each bearing a palm
 
 EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 203 
 
 tree at least seven feet high. Some of them have 
 travelled many a weary mile beai-ing their strange 
 burden, which of com'se has lost all vitality by the 
 way and is now carried witli its leaves curiously 
 plaited together : on they come sweeping through the 
 crowd until they reach the place where the priests are 
 assembled who are to bless the trees, and these are 
 afterwards taken home as treasures highly prized to 
 adorn their huts. It is curious to mai'lc in every land 
 what toil and pains men will undergo to obtain some 
 fancied blessing, a striking mark that the sense of sin 
 is no unreal thing even where men are strangers to the 
 blood of Christ, by which alone sin's guilt can be 
 removed. 
 
 The occupation of the Mexicans at this season is to 
 hurry daily from church to church, kneeling a few 
 minutes before some altar in each and then passing 
 on to another, or else to assemble in some friend's 
 house which commands a good view of the various 
 processions. The scenes which the interior of the 
 churches present are very strange to English notions. 
 Large images of the Virgin Mary, dressed in magnificent 
 robes of silk and embroidered with lace and jewels, are 
 conspicuous in almost every edifice ; in the chapels of 
 the saints there are similar figures ; whilst the high 
 altar is variously adorned according to the taste oi 
 the parish priest and his assistants. In some a large 
 wax figure of the Saviour is surrounded by other 
 figures to represent some occurrence in the life of 
 Christ- in another, perhaps, the infant Jesus is repre- 
 sented as lying in the manger at Bethlehem. Large 
 ilovvering shrubs of exquisite beauty, roses in full 
 bloom, orange trees laden with fruit and blossom, 
 and immense vases of cut flowers adorn the altar.
 
 204 MEXICO. 
 
 Pictures borrowed from convents or private houses line 
 the walls, on which are also hung cages of singing 
 birds, — add to this the strains of music, the brilliancy 
 of a tropical sun, shining through stained glass 
 windows, or at night the blaze of a thousand tapers, 
 and the mingled perfume of incense and flowers, and 
 you may understand how powerfully the Romish 
 church acts upon the feelings of an excitable people. 
 The aim of all this pomp is to produce a vivid 
 impression on the senses, and to effect this no pains is 
 spared. Hence many of the scenes are such as would 
 be revolting in our eyes. Ghastly pictures or models of 
 our Lord's sufferings, with the blood trickling from his 
 wounds, are not uncommon. To be painfully affected 
 at such a scene, to believe all that the church teaches, 
 and to leave everything else to the care of his confessor, 
 is to be a model of Chi'istianity under such a system. 
 
 Each day in the week has its special programme, but 
 that of Thursday is looked forward to with the most 
 eager expectation. ISTo carriages are permitted, and 
 the ladies walk through the streets in all the magnifi- 
 cence of velvet and jewellery — diamonds flash amidst 
 a crowd which includes ragged Indians and Poblana 
 peasants in their picturesque costume — little children 
 absurdly overladen with finery contrast strangely with 
 the miserable and dirty urchins that trot by the sides 
 or are tied on the backs of their Indian mothers. It 
 is not till evening that the grand procession begins. 
 Large figures of the Saviour in the different incidents 
 of the passion, images of the Trinity, and all the 
 apostles, " from St. Peter with the keys to Judas with 
 the money bag," and more than all the "Virgin of 
 Sorrows," as she is termed, enthroned in state, and 
 covered by a canopy of velvet, form the principal
 
 RELIGIOUS CONDITIOK OF MEXICO. 205 
 
 features of the train, whilst a long cavalcade of priests, 
 monks, and laymen, bearing torches and tapers, light 
 up the procession as it passes by. Such a scene is 
 varied by the mourning attire in which every one is 
 dressed on the following day. Saturday is mainly 
 devoted to the purchase and explosion of " Judases," 
 as firework images meant to imitate the betrayer are 
 called ; and Easter day is ushered in with the sound of 
 booming cannon to celebrate the triumph over death 
 of Him who then burst its gates and opened the 
 kingdom of heaven to all believers. 
 
 The other great festivals of the Romish church 
 afford a like opportunity for a kind of religious drama. 
 At Christmas it is customary to give performances in 
 private houses, in which all the scenes of Bethlehem 
 are enacted. Persons di-essed as the Virgin and Joseph 
 appear on a stage representing a cold, dark night, and 
 demand admittance to the inn. From within are heard 
 voices which refuse to let them enter, until the Virgin 
 declares that she is Queen of Heaven, when the doors 
 are thrown open. We cannot transfer to our pages a 
 full account of all the details so childishly enacted. 
 Priests take part in the performance, ladies dressed 
 as shepherds, and children with wings to imitate the 
 angels are not wanting. It is concluded by a priest 
 taking a wax figure of the infant Saviour and placing 
 it in a cradle. Then the whole party in the same 
 dresses, " angels, shepherds and all," pass into another 
 room and dance till supper time. After all this we are 
 hardly surprised to learn that they mark Christmas da\ 
 in Mexico by having no service in the churches. 
 
 The priests find in the poor natives very docile 
 disciples ; but they are often strangely at fault in thei*. 
 peribrmance of the elaborate ceremonial of poperj
 
 206 MEXICO, 
 
 Mr. Ruxton strolled into the village church at La 
 Xuage to see what was going on. " The priest, equipped 
 in full canonicals, was engaged before the altar praying 
 with an open book, and at particular passages gave a 
 signal with his hand behind his back, when half a score 
 of Indian boys outside immediately exploded a number 
 of squibs and fire-wheels, and a bevy of adult Indians 
 fired off" their rusty ' escopetas,' the congregation 
 shouting vociferously. At the time when one of the 
 salvos should have taken place and a huge trabuco fired 
 off, which was fastened for safety to the door of the 
 church, the padre rushed out in the middle of his dis- 
 course and clapped a match to the bunghole, giving a 
 most severe look at the neglectful bombardier, and 
 banging off the blunderbuss, returned book in hand 
 to the altar, where he resumed his discourse." 
 
 Throughout Mexico the population is exclusively 
 Roman Catholic, and very ignorant and bigoted 
 disciples they are. In the principal towns every 
 house has its figure of the Virgin or some tutelary 
 saint ; whilst billets of paper, on which short prayers 
 are written, may be seen upon the doors. The 
 system of selling masses for the dead is extensively 
 carried out in Mexico. An American traveller in the 
 country, Mr. Waddy Thompson, relates that one day 
 his washerwoman begged him to lend her two dollars. 
 " What do you want them for?" he asked. "Because 
 to-day there is a special mass to be said, which relieves 
 the souls in purgatory from ten thousand years of 
 torment, and I want to secure its benefits for my 
 mother."" "Do you really believe this?" he asked 
 again. "Why, yes," she replied, "is it not true?" 
 with a countenance of as much surprise as if he had 
 denied that the sun was shining.
 
 RELIGIOUS CO:^DITION OF MEXICO. 207 
 
 What can be the religious condition of those who, 
 instead of looking for pardon of sin only through the 
 blood of Jesus Christ, are persuaded that it may be 
 obtained by the grant of an indulgence. Be it re- 
 niembci-cd that an indulgence is defined to be a remission 
 of the punishment due for sins, and then imagine the 
 blasphemy of the following notice which was pasted 
 up in the church of our Lady of Guadalupe on the 
 occasion of her festival : — 
 
 " The faithful are reminded that the most illustrious 
 bishops of Puebla and Tarazora have granted an in- 
 dulgence of eighty days for every quarter of an hour 
 during which the images are exposed, and five hundred 
 days for each Ave Maria which is recited before either 
 of them. Lastly, the most excellent Fr. Jose Maria 
 de Jesus Belaumzawn, for himself and for the most 
 illustrious the present bishops of Puebla, Mechoaean, 
 Jalisco, and Durango, has granted an indulgence of 
 two hundred days for every word of the appointed 
 prayers to our most exalted lady, for every step taken 
 in her house, for every reverence performed, and for 
 every word of the mass which may be uttered by the 
 priest or the hearers ; as many more days of indulgence 
 are granted for every quarter of an hour in which these 
 images are exposed on the balconies, windows, or doors, 
 for public adoration." 
 
 Other instances may illustrate the power of super- 
 stition throughout these regions. In Mexico there 
 are two rival claimants for popular favour, the 
 "Virgin de los Remedios" and "Our Lady of Gua- 
 dalupe." The latter is, perhaps, the most patronized 
 at the present time, since she has been adopted as 
 patroness by the republican party ; and to her inter- 
 cession almost every favourable event is conmionly
 
 208 MEilCO. 
 
 attributed. The cathedral of our Lady of Guadalupe 
 stands on a hill at some distance from Mexico. Some 
 four years after the conquest, so runs the story, the 
 Virgin appeared to an Indian, named Diego, and 
 directed him to go to the bishop, and say that 
 she desired to have a shrine erected to her upon this 
 spot. Diego's first attempt to see the bishop failed, 
 and the Virgin then appeared a second time and gave 
 him more peremptory orders ; but the bishop refused 
 to believe Diego's report unless he brought with him 
 some token from the Virgin herself. Once more the 
 holy mother appeared, and on learning the bishop's 
 reply, she bade Diego go to the summit of the hill and 
 gather her some roses. Off went the Indian much 
 wondering that he should be sent to a barren rock for 
 roses, but although there was no other sign of vegeta- 
 tion near, he found the rose blossoms, and brought 
 them back with him. Tlie Virgin took the flowers, 
 and throwing them into his tilina, told him to show 
 them to the bishop, and inform him that these were the 
 credentials of his mission. Arrived at the palace, he 
 opened his tilma, Vvhen, behold, there was discovered 
 upon it the picture of our Lady, to which miraculous 
 powers have ever since been ascribed. 
 
 The portrait so strangely procured is a coarse daub 
 representing the Virgin in a blue cloak spangled with 
 stars, and a garment beneath it of crimson and gold, 
 and to this paltry piece of painting the people betake 
 themselves in the liour of their trouble. If the state 
 is torn by intestine strife, as when the Mexicans re- 
 volted against the yoke of Spain, if some unlooked 
 for domestic calamity threatens to desolate the home 
 of a Mexican family, or if far away from the mountain 
 on which her temple stands the storm-tossed sailor is
 
 IIELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 209 
 
 terrified at the immediate presence of death, in all such 
 cases the mind is turned not to the love of the Father 
 who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, nor yet 
 to the sympathy of the Saviour who, having ascended 
 in our nature to God's right hand, still pities men's 
 infirmities and answers men's prayers, but the Mexican, 
 ignorant of these resources, betakes himself for succour 
 to the intercession of our Lady of Guadalupe. 
 
 Equally absurd and foohsh is the legend of the 
 Virgin de los Eemedios. The image was brought over 
 by Cortez, and placed by him in the great idol temple 
 in Mexico ; but on the " night of sorrows," it disap- 
 peared, and was subsequently discovered in the heart of 
 a large maguey tree on the top of a barren treeless hill. 
 The figure so strangely preserved, and recovered under 
 circumstances that sound somewhat contradictory to 
 Protestant ears, is a hideous wooden doll about a 
 foot long, with rude holes for the eyes and mouth — 
 " no Indian idol could be much uglier " — and holds in 
 its arms a smaller doll of similar workmanship. When 
 drought prevails for any length of time in JMexico, it 
 is customary to bring this figure into the city, and carry 
 it in solemn procession through the streets. In the 
 days of Spanish rule, the vicero}^ used to march on foot 
 before it, whilst the image itself was borne in a splendid 
 coach driven by a nobleman of the highest rank, and 
 in this fashion a visit was paid to each of the principal 
 convents in the city. It is still stoutly asserted that 
 plentiful rains invariably follow the performance of 
 this ceremony. 
 
 Dunng the period of the revolution, the Virgin de 
 los Remedios was selected as patroness of the Spanish 
 party, and was conducted into the capital with much 
 ceremony, dressed in the uniform of a general officer.
 
 210 MEXICO. 
 
 Her assistance, however, proved unavailing. The 
 Spaniards were beaten, their general was taken prisoner ; 
 her sash was torn from her, and her passport signed 
 with an order that she should leave the republic. 
 This last disgrace was spared her, and the Mexicans 
 still pray for rain to the miserable image that could 
 not protect itself against the fury of its foes. • A lady, 
 who was astonished at the ugliness of the image, asked 
 the attendant priests how it was that no attempt had 
 been made to improve its appearance, when she was 
 gravely informed that several artists had begun the 
 work, but each one had immediately sickened and died. 
 So the frightful wooden thing remains in all its primi- 
 tive ugliness, dressed out in satin and pearls, and 
 encased in a large silver maguey. 
 
 The favourite saint in some districts seems to be 
 Santa Lucia. When it is deemed desirable to stir up 
 an extra amount of religious enthusiasm, the image of 
 Santa Lucia is carried round to the different villages 
 and country towns, and her arrival is the occasion of 
 general rejoicing. She takes up her abode in the hut 
 of some poor Indian, and thither resort all the peasants 
 of the neighbourhood. Santa Lucia is the patroness 
 of matrimony, and is firmly believed to grant any 
 desired lover to the prayers of her devotees. Such a 
 power would be secretly invoked in most places, but 
 here there is no such bashfulness ; and as young men 
 and maidens assemble in great numbers at her festi- 
 vals, which afford an opportunity for much gaiety and 
 for a large intermixture of people with one another, 
 there can be no doubt that the fete of Santa Lucia 
 does often conduce very materially to establish her 
 reputation . 
 
 it may be well now to turn to some of the sterner
 
 RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 211 
 
 scenes of superstition that are witnessed in New Spain. 
 The manifold errors with which popery has encumbered 
 the truths of the gospel, has not been able at all times 
 to soothe men's consciences or to satisfy that inner 
 longing after reconciliation with God which rises in 
 a heart burdened with the conviction of sin. It is one 
 of the deepest wrongs which Romanism has inflicted 
 upon mankind, that instead of pointing the penitent 
 sinner to the cross and bringing him into immediate 
 and personal intercourse with the Son of Man, it 
 thrusts the priesthood between the sinner and the 
 Saviour, and would quiet the conscience by undertaking 
 all its responsibilities, thus reducing the mind to a 
 mere machine under the guidance of an ordained 
 director. As might be expected in every country, 
 there are stronger minds that cannot submit to such 
 leading strings, who feel witb overpowering force of 
 conviction that as their sin is essentially personal and 
 individual, so its guilt must be removed by some per- 
 sonal act, and cannot be committed to the agency of 
 any human deputy. Taught this truth by long ex- 
 perience, Ilomanism has adroitly availed herself of it 
 to turn such conviction into a channel in which priestly 
 influence may be maintained, whilst the heart is lulled 
 by its own voluntary sufferings into the quiet of 
 a false security. Man's natural disposition is always 
 prone to seek for peace with God through its own 
 action rather than through the blood of a crucified 
 Redeemer, and this propensity has found abundant 
 exercise in the bodily mortification so highly extolled 
 by the Romish church. 
 
 In the autumn a season of public penance is pro- 
 claimed, and is accompanied by strange ceremonies. 
 The two sexes go to church separately ; the women at
 
 212 MEXICO. 
 
 early morning, tlie men at night. In the morning 
 service the women kneel for about ten minutes with 
 their arms stretched out in the form of a cross. But 
 when the men's turn comes a far more painful dis- 
 cipline is undei'gone. The congregation, which is 
 rarely very numerous, first listen to a sermon from 
 some preaching friar, the burden of which is generally 
 an elaborate description of the pains of purgatory 
 and the torments of hell. This over, a penitential 
 chant follows, and suddenly every light in the church 
 is extinguished, save where a carved picture of the 
 crucifixion hangs illuminated with the blaze of many 
 lamps reflected upon it Then a voice cries out 
 through the cliurch, "My brothers, when Christ was 
 fastened to the pillar by the Jews he was scourged." 
 At thes'e words the bright figure disappears in total 
 darkness, and directly after the sound of lashes may 
 be heard falling upon the bare backs of the assembled 
 penitents. Hoirible scenes occasionally ensue, as the 
 excited devotees, each belabouring himself with an iron 
 scourge, work themselves up to a frightful energy, 
 excited as they are by religious enthusiasm and by the 
 gloomy scene by which they are surrounded. Blood 
 flows freely until the preacher, remounting his pulpit, 
 calls upon them to de.sist, assuring them that God's 
 anger is satisfied, and that no further suffering is 
 required. But it not seldom happens that the priest 
 is unable to control the excitement which he has 
 awakened, and there have been cases in which death 
 has followed upon these self-inflicted torments. 
 
 llepulsive as is this ceremony, we deem it inferior in 
 horror to the discipline of the most severe conventual 
 establishments. The order of Santa Theresa is perhaps 
 the strictest in New Spain. Sad and silent is the life
 
 EELTOIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 213 
 
 passed by tlie poor women, who, by enrolling thorn- 
 selves in this community, hope to gain a higher place 
 in the favour of the Almighty. A bare board lor a 
 couch, and this crossed by bars on the days of special 
 penance, a log of wood for a pillow, a girdle studded 
 with iron nails to tear the flesh, and a cross with 
 similar nails pressed against the bosom — such is the 
 daily mortification of the nuns of Santa Theresa. On 
 particular occasions a crown of thorns is worn by one 
 of their number, who lies prostrate on her face and 
 submits to other tortures. It is sickening to read of such 
 terrible discipline, especially as we remember it is borne 
 in His name who came to alleviate and cure bodily as 
 well as mental suffering. Day after day goes wearily b\', 
 and the feeble strength of many a sister declines under 
 the severit}' of the rule ; but in the fevered state of 
 mind engendered by so unnatural a regimen, she longs 
 for further torments, and seems to rise above all earthly 
 things in the suffering to which she subjects her weak, 
 mortal frame. Oh for some voice to calm the fluttering 
 spirit of such an one, and to tell the welcome truth 
 of that surpassing love which embraces every repentant 
 sinner, — to point to the Good Shepherd who, far from 
 exacting such cruel self-infliction, gathers the lambs in 
 his arms and carries them in his bosom. 
 
 The sketches we have given may serve to convey 
 some idea of the religious condition of New Spain. In 
 the republic of Mexico the various political changes 
 have produced very little alteration of feeling in re- 
 ligious questions. In the revolution which severed the 
 country from European domination, the great mass of 
 Creole priests took so active a part on the liberal side, 
 that tlieir authorit}' was not weakened by the success 
 of the moment, and they have used it to instil into
 
 214 MEXICO. 
 
 their people the same principles of intolerance which 
 everywhere accompany the Komisli system. There is 
 consequently, at the present day, no more generous 
 feeling towards Protestants in Mexico than in the most 
 bigoted period of Spanish rule, nor are there any indi- 
 cations that may lead us to anticipate the dawn of a 
 better state of things. Amongst the upper classes 
 ignorance or superstition is only varied by indifference 
 to all religious questions; amongst the lower, fanaticism 
 widely prevails, and the cry of heresy will arouse them 
 to the bitterest hostility towards those against whom 
 it has been raised. We mourn over the sad prospects 
 of a country possessed of every natural advantage, but 
 in the dark horizon of whose religious condition there 
 breaks forth no single ray of light. Yet above the 
 policy of rulers and the ignorance of nations, the Lord 
 God omnipotent reigneth, and in his own time and 
 way He may be pleased to reveal his truth to this now 
 benighted land. 
 
 To those who know and love the truth nothing can 
 be more painful than to dwell upon the results of such 
 dense darkness as now covers the whole territory of 
 Mexico. It would be difficult to find any country which 
 is acquainted with any portion of (Christianity wherein 
 so few hopeful signs can be discerned. The prospect 
 for the future seems little better than the retrospect of 
 the past, and only one sadder condition can be ima- 
 gined : it is that of those who in more highly favoured 
 lands neglect the salvation which is freely offered them. 
 More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of 
 judgment than for Chorazin arid Bethsaida — such were 
 the words of Him whose truth remains unchanged 
 through the course of time. If to possess the light of 
 truth be our blessed privilege, to take heed that we are
 
 EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF MEXICO. 215 
 
 walking in the light is no less our bounden duty. The 
 fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ; the love 
 of Christ is its sum and substance. But to possess, and 
 not to have loved, the truth is the saddest condition of 
 all for the heart of sinful man.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, AND CITIL CONDITION. 
 
 Importance of the silver mines — Scenery of the mining districts 
 — Romantic history — Production in former years — Mining 
 under the viceroys — Hiutlrances — Strange discoveries — For- 
 tunes of the Counts of Valenciana and Reghx — Career of 
 Laborde— Prospects of the silver mines — Commerce of 
 Mexico — Restrictions under Spanish rule — Absurd legisla- 
 tion and its cost to the Mexicans — Smuggling — Imposts 
 upon internal trade — Upon papal bulls — Changes consequent 
 upon the revolution — Depressed condition of native manu- 
 factures — Civil condition — Courts of law — Prisons — Popula- 
 tion—Absence of national feeling — Peonage — The peasantry 
 —National character. 
 
 The silver mines of Mexico are proverbial for their 
 richness. Long before the Spanish occupation of the 
 countiy great quantities of the precious metals had 
 been extracted, and after the conquest the amount 
 obtained was enormously increased. From 1690 to 
 1803 the value of the produce is estimated at upwards 
 of £284,000,000 sterling. Yet the mines have never 
 yet been worked with such scientific knowledge or 
 mechanical appliances as to test their actual capacity. 
 
 The richest lode of silver in the world, that near 
 Guanaxuato, lies within the stony bosom of the Veta 
 Madre, on the ridge of the Cordillera. Fertile plains 
 and well cultivated fields alternate wdth the rugged 
 porphyi-itic rocks whence the silver is drawn. In the 
 rainy seasons torrents sweep down the mountains side,
 
 MINES, COMMEECE, AKD CITIL CONDITION. 217 
 
 bearing a thick detritus to enrich the valleys. In 
 dry weather the clear liquid sky stretches like a deep 
 blue ocean over waving crops of corn and trees of 
 varied foliage. " The Peruvian tree, the gum tree, 
 the golden flowered Imisache, amidst whose blossoms 
 scarlet-plumed parrots scream, shade and peri'ume the 
 roads." * Such is the treasure-house in which lie hid 
 the wealthiest resources of this wealthy land. 
 
 In other mining districts, such as that of Catorce, 
 the veins of ore are found in rugged and barren 
 mountains. Far and near there is no sign of verdure, 
 save a few stunted shrubs ; no road, save a badly 
 marked track sprinkled with rocks, over which the 
 horses are constantly stumbling ; no variety to the 
 unbroken barrenness, save where a straggling patch of 
 sand is covered with thin brushwood. Once and again 
 the scene is chequered by some ravine of startling 
 beauty where a stream fertilizes the soil : then there 
 spring up pepper trees and roses, and clustering vines. 
 Here, too, cypresses raise their lofty heads with a 
 thousand garlands of parasites waving from their 
 branches. 
 
 Many a romantic story might be told of the strange 
 adventures which have befallen those who sought for 
 veins of silver. No fairy tale ever surpassed in its 
 wild extravagance the sudden transitions of fortune 
 in those mountains. Some solitary traveller or a few 
 labouring men would light upon a lode of the precious 
 ore, and then, however remote the spot, large towns 
 would spring up and huge churches rise upon the 
 mountain side. Vast wealth in many instances was 
 rapidly amassed, and then squandered as rapidly in the 
 pursuit of further gain. At one time the generous 
 
 " Vagabond Life in Mexico," p. 236.
 
 218 MEXICO. 
 
 soil would yield enormous profits, at another would 
 greedily swallow up all without making a return. 
 What a history of wild excitement, brol^en hearts and 
 fortunes, and brains turned alike by prosperity or ad- 
 versity too great to bear, the full narrative of the 
 Mexican silver mines would comprise ! That narrative 
 will never now he written. The materials of which 
 it should have been composed have been lost beyond 
 recall. 
 
 In an early age it is not easy to gain accurate 
 statistics, and it is not till a comparatively recent 
 period that we are able to compute the enormous 
 amount of silver that was annually obtained from the 
 mines. The most trustworthy authorities assure us 
 that, for fifteen years preceding 1810, the registered 
 coinings averaged nearly 23,000,000 dollars annually, 
 whilst the uncoined produce must have reached at 
 least a million more. From 1810 to 1825, a period 
 of revolution and commercial disturbance, the annual 
 produce of the mines fell to 11,000,000 dollars, but 
 some idea of the immense importance of this source 
 of wealth may be gathered from the statement that 
 this last return of 11,000,000, raised during the 
 worst times, is more than double the highest average 
 produce of any other Spanish colony at the period of 
 its greatest prospei'ity. 
 
 The silver obtained in such vast quantities was the 
 great staple of foreign trade in Mexico, and was ex- 
 changed by her with the mother country for European 
 products and manufactures. From 1790 to 1810, 
 about 22,000,000 dollars were exported annually to 
 Spain, and the influence of the mines was hardly less 
 important upon the internal trade. Large towns, as 
 already noted, sprang up in the vicinity of the mines,
 
 MIKES, COMMERCE, AND CIYIL CONDITION. 219 
 
 and called much labour into activity to supply their 
 wants. Agriculture received an impulse in distant 
 regions, as the immediate neighbourhood Avas rarely 
 capable of maintaining the miners. Luxury with all 
 its minute requirements followed upon the heels of 
 wealth, whilst thousands of mules were needed to 
 work the mines, to di-ain the shafts, to pulverize the 
 ores, and to carry the silver to the mint. Thus the 
 prosperity of the whole community became largely 
 involved in the successful production of the precious 
 metals, and wide-spread was the ruin that ensued 
 upon the insecurity engendered by the revolutions. 
 This fact may explain the sudden collapse which has 
 befallen a country the most opulent in the world in 
 mineral treasures. A variety of circumstances, to be 
 presently adverted to, have combined to check for the 
 pi'esent any adequate realization of the advantages 
 which may yet be derived from the same source. 
 
 It would be quite impossible for us to enter upon a 
 history of the mines at a remote period. Soon after 
 the conquest the only object of Spanish colonists was 
 to amass a fortune as quickly as possible, and then 
 return with it to Spain. The custom was at first to 
 grant to individuals a mine and a number of Indians 
 to work it. As the mineral wealth of Mexico became 
 more fully understood a much wiser system was adopted. 
 In theory all njines were the property of the sove- 
 reign, but any person might obtain permission to work 
 a vein which he had discovered and " denounced," as 
 it was termed, to the authorities. The only condition 
 with which he was fettered was one to secure that the 
 mine should be worked effectually. Exclusive possession 
 of a cei'tain number of yards was given to the dis- 
 coverer, and it was only withdrawn upon its being proved
 
 220 MEXICO. 
 
 that he had not attempted to extract the ore within 
 the time appointed by the royal ordinance. Indeed all 
 the government superintendence seems to have been 
 carried on with good faith, impartialit}', and modera- 
 tion. There were heavy dues to pay, amounting to a 
 tax of 1(3-1 per cent., but there was full scope for indi- 
 vidual exertion, and every encouragement was offered 
 to make it successful, a part of the tax being devoted 
 to Avio-s, or advances made to needy persons in order to 
 assist them in carrying out their operations. 
 
 The peculiar location of the veins of silver in Mexico 
 gave a special character to mining adventures in that 
 country. Many of these lay close to the surface, and 
 since they did not require that any large outlay should 
 be incurred in preliminary works, the ores were dug 
 out by men v;ho were glad at once to sell them for 
 ready money. They were accordingly purchased by a 
 class of middle men at the mouth of the mine, who 
 reduced them and extracted the silver. These Res- 
 catadors again sold the bars of silver to the merchant 
 at a I'ate far below the price at the mint. By the 
 system of Avios above mentioned, and by this facility 
 of immediately disposing of the ores, an impetus was 
 given to mining operations which is quite unparalleled. 
 The great hindrance to the success of the plan arose 
 from tlie fact that there was onl}'' one mint at which 
 the silver could be coined. The expanse and risk of 
 its conveyance thitlier had to be undertaken by the 
 merchants, and considerably reduced the miner's 
 profits. 
 
 Other drawbacks there were of less importance, but 
 which still were felt at times. The gunpowder used in 
 blasting the rocks, and the quicksilver employed in 
 amalgamating tlie silver, were both government mono-
 
 MINES, COMMEECE, A>'D CIVIL COXDITIOX. 221 
 
 polies ; and, although they were supphed at a fiiir 
 ])rice, yet in times of scarcity the wealthier miners 
 commonly influenced the governor to give them a 
 supply in preference to their poorer brethren. But 
 these evils, tolerable in times of security, became in- 
 surmountable during the revolution. The expense of 
 escorts for the silver from the mine to the mint, and 
 the exactions of the officers who commanded them, 
 quickly reduced the value of the ore to the miner so 
 nmch, that it no longer repaid the cost of raising it, 
 until first the poorer veins and then even some of the 
 richest were entirely abandoned to the gambusinos, as 
 the class is called, who gain a precarious livelihood by 
 picking over the refuse ores. It was not until the 
 introduction of foreign capital, in 1825, that works on 
 an extensive scale were resumed. 
 
 A few examples may serve to illustrate the extra- 
 ordinary results that were attained in the silver mines 
 of Mexico. At the Veta de la Biscaina, in the district 
 of Real del Monte, Bustainente and Tereros began a 
 level to drain the works, which was not completed 
 until 1762. The former died before the works had 
 been finished, but Tereros, afterwards Count de Regla, 
 obtained a nett profit of £1,041,750 in the first twelve 
 3'ears. Besides two ships of war which he presented 
 to Charles HI., one of them of 120 guns, he lent 
 £208,350 to the Spanish court, which was never 
 repaid. The expenses of the works at Regla amounted 
 to £416,700, yet he left immense estates to his 
 children, as well as a huge sum in ready money. 
 
 The fortune of Obregon, Count of Valenciana, was 
 yet more astounding. Arriving in Mexico, in 1760, 
 at an early age, he began to work the Valenciana vein, 
 in Guanaxuato, a spot then believed to be destitute of
 
 222 MEXICO. 
 
 precious ores. The young adventurer had no capital, 
 but friends were induced to make some small advances, 
 and with these he continued his operations. For six 
 years he toiled on, during which his expenses con- 
 siderably exceeded his profits, but nothing could 
 induce him to abandon his enterprise. In 1767, he 
 persuaded a petty merchant at Eayas, named Otero, 
 to join him, and in the year following success began to 
 crown his labours. As the shaft grew deeper the 
 richer portions of the vein were reached, and for forty 
 years, from 1771, the Valenciana never yielded less to 
 the proprietors than from £80,000 to £121,000 per 
 annum. And there have been years so productive 
 that the nett protlt has amounted to £250,000 
 sterling. 
 
 M. Obregon (says Humboldt*) preserved in the 
 midst of immense wealth the same simplicity of man- 
 ners, and the same frankness of character, for which 
 he was distinguished pi'svious to his success. When 
 he began to work the vein of Guanaxuato, above the 
 ravine of San Xavier, goats were feeding on the very 
 hill which ten j'cars afterwards was covered with a 
 town of seven or eight thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The career of Laborde presents still more astonishing 
 fluctuations. He was a French miner who came t > 
 Mexico in great poverty, and for some years pursued 
 his occupation with but indifferent success. Suddenly, 
 in the year 1743, he acquired immense wealth from 
 the mines of La Canada, in the district of Tasco. 
 Superstition and avarice seem to have contended for 
 possession of his heart, and at length divided it 
 between them. He built a chui'ch at Tasco, which 
 cost £87,507 sterling ; yet he compelled his daughter 
 
 * Essai Politique.
 
 MIKES, COMMERCE, AND CIVIL CONDITION. 223 
 
 to enter a convent that he miglit leave all his fortune 
 to an only son. Fortune, however, deserted him, and 
 stripped him of the treasures she had conferred. 
 He was reduced to the lowest poverty in working the 
 very same vein whence all his wealth had been derived, 
 and from whence he had drawn annually from 130,000 
 to 200,000 lbs. troy of silver. 
 
 In his distress he was permitted by the archbishop 
 to sell a golden circlet, enriched with diamonds, which 
 he had presented to the church at Tasco. It fetched 
 some £22,000, and with this sum he withdrew to 
 Zacatecas, and began to clear out the famous mine 
 of Quebradillas, which had long been left unworked. 
 In this attempt he again lost almost all his property, 
 and seemed once more to be threatened with beggary. 
 
 He set to work, however, with the scanty rem- 
 nant of his fortune, and lighted upon the vein of 
 La Esperanza. Wealth again poured in upon him, 
 and at his death he had amassed £125,000. The son, 
 ibr whom he had disinherited his daughter, eventually 
 retired into a monastery, and Laborde's hopes of 
 founding a great name and family were blighted. A 
 more striking instance we shall hardly find of the 
 vanity of this world's treasures. 
 
 Most baneful is the influence produced upon the 
 mining population by these fluctuations. The great 
 mass of the working miners refuse regular wages, how- 
 ever high, and insist upon a share in the profits of the 
 enterprise. They pass accordingly from abundance to 
 the extremity of poverty, and their lives give evidence 
 of the recklessness produced by such alternations. 
 When labour becomes a mere gambling speculation 
 we may expect that the passion for hazard, thus 
 whetted, will extend to their amusements. A month's
 
 224 MEXICO. 
 
 hard toil sometimes scarcely produces enough to live 
 upon, and then again a day's success recompenses all 
 his past privations. The gold thus suddenly acquired 
 is scattered with a lavish hand, and the miner goes 
 back again to work only when his last penny has been 
 lost at play. The same spirit spreads contagiously 
 amongst the other inhabitants of a mining district. 
 '' ' Will Don B. pay me ? ' asks one man of business in 
 confidence of another. 'Yes, I think he will ; he won 
 5,000 peros yesterday,' is the kind of reply."* 
 
 We can only just allude to the future prospects of 
 the silver mines of Mexico, — a subject of no small 
 interest to many of our fellow countrymen. No 
 general decision can be arrived at on this point, which 
 would not admit of very numerous exceptions. Mines 
 that have proved most prolific in former years have 
 yet failed to return a profit under the superior manage- 
 ment of British agents. The enormous expense of 
 conveying machinery to the mines, the absence of any 
 adequate supply of fuel for steam engines, and the 
 obstinacy with which the Mexican labourers are 
 wedded to their old method of working, at times 
 present insuperable obstacles. We regret to add that, 
 in many instances, the Cornish men who were sent out 
 have proved more unmanageable than the natives, and 
 by their misconduct have enhanced the prevailing in- 
 tolerance of foreigners. At the same time there can 
 be no question that there are immense stores of silver 
 yet unextracted. Eich veins abound which have 
 scarcely been touched, and there seem to be almost 
 inexhaustible resources which only ;.wait happier days 
 for their development. 
 
 The system of trade enforced under the viceroys was 
 
 Froebel, 378.
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, AND CIVIL CONDITION. 225 
 
 of the most oppressive character. All commercial 
 intercourse was interdicted with any other than the 
 mother country. "All imports and exports were con- 
 veyed in Spanish ships, nor was any vessel permitted 
 to sail for Vera Cruz or Porto Bello, her only two 
 authorized American ports, except fi'om Seville, until 
 the year 1720, when the trade was removed to Cadiz 
 as a more convenient outlet. By the peace of Utrecht, 
 in 1713-, Great Britain with the asiento, or contract 
 for the supply of slaves, obtained a direct share in the 
 American trade, by virtue of a permission to send a 
 vessel of 500 tons annually to the fair at Porto Bello. 
 This privilege ceased with the partial hostilities in 
 1737. But in 1739, on the restoration of peace, 
 licences were granted to vessels, called register ships, 
 which were chartered during the intervals between the 
 usual periods for the departure of the galleons. This 
 was followed, in 1774, by the removal of the interdict 
 upon the intercourse of the colonies with each other ; 
 and this again, in 1778, under what is termed a decree 
 of free trade, by which seven of the princi^^al ports of 
 the peninsula were allowed to carry on a direct inter- 
 course with some of the colonies. Up to the period 
 when these modifications were made the colonists were 
 forbidden to trade either with foreigners or with 
 each other's states under any pretext whatever. The 
 penalty of disobedience and detection was death." * 
 
 The object of such restrictions was to retain the 
 whole carrying trade in the hands of the Spaniards. 
 A still further effort was made to secure an exclusive 
 market to Spanish manufactures. The cultivation or 
 manufacture of articles that could be procured or made 
 in Spain was forbidden in Mexico. It was illegal to 
 
 • Mayer, vol. I. p. 131. 
 
 Q
 
 226 MEXICO. 
 
 erect factories or to cultivate the vine or the ohve. 
 Even some kinds of provisions which could have been 
 more easily obtained at home the Mexicans were com- 
 pelled to send for aci'oss the ocean. 
 
 The amount of wasteful expenditure thus occasioned 
 is almost incredible. Through the great influx of 
 the precious metals into the peninsula the people grew 
 idle, and the Spanish manufactories gradually declined. 
 The Spaniards were then obliged to go to other 
 countries for goods to supply their colonies, and this 
 became a source of fresh exactions. It was reckoned 
 that the cost of British goods was raised a hundred per 
 cent, through their having to be brought first to Cadiz 
 and shipped from that port. They had to pay duties on 
 entei'ing and fi'esh duties when they were embarked 
 for the New World ; whilst the merchants who en- 
 joyed the exclusive trade to Mexico could exact any 
 price they pleased to put on their commodities. 
 
 The effects of such a system may be easily under- 
 stood. " The merchants took advantage of the wants 
 of the colonists, and were at one time sparing of their 
 supplies, that the price might be enhanced, and at 
 another they sent goods of inferior quality at a price 
 much above their value, because it was known they 
 must be purchased. It was a standing practice to 
 send out European commodities in such scanty measure 
 as to quicken the competition of purchasers and com- 
 mand an exorbitant profit. In the most flourishing 
 period of the trade from Seville the whole amount of 
 shipping employed was less than 28,000 tons, and 
 many of the vessels made no more than annual 
 voyages. A motive on the part of the crown for 
 limiting the supplies was, that the same amount of 
 revenue could be more easily levied, and collected with
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, AND CITIL CONDITION. 227 
 
 more certainty and despatch on a small than on a large 
 amount of goods." * 
 
 Such a system offered irresistible temptations to 
 smuggling. We accordingly find that an illicit trade 
 was so largel}^ carried on, that at least three-fourths 
 of all commerce was contraband. English, French, 
 Portuguese, and Dutch, all strove to steal away some 
 share of the profits which the Spaniards were so eager 
 to monopolize. The risk was great in consequence of 
 the distance to be traversed and the naval power of 
 Spain at that period. The expense, too, was enormous, 
 as heavy bribes had to be given to the Spanish custom- 
 house officials. From these causes smuggled goods 
 were not much cheaper than others in Mexico ; but the 
 colonists had the benefit of a larger supply. At length 
 the evil became so flagrant that a royal company 
 v/as formed with extraordinary privileges, to drive the 
 smugglers from the market by underselling them. 
 The project failed, and the company itself was at last 
 detected in caiT^ang on, with the Dutch at Curacoa, 
 the very practices which it was pledged to suppress. 
 
 To the evils caused by this absurdly restrictive 
 system others were added by the insecurity of the 
 seas. English privateers lurked in the bays and un- 
 frequented inlets of the New World, and dashed out 
 upon any straggling and unsuspecting galleon. The 
 name of Drake was terrible to the Spaniards, from the 
 audacity and success with which he had plundered 
 their vessels in the reign of Elizabeth. His successors 
 were scarcely inferior in courage and daring. Whilst 
 the mother country suffered from these losses to some 
 extent, their chief weight fell upon the colony. 
 
 The home trade of Mexico was fettered by similar 
 
 • North American Review, vol. XIX. p. 177.
 
 228 MEXICO. 
 
 enactments. Royal duties, taxes and tithes, were 
 exacted on every imaginable pretext. Nothing escaped 
 the clutches of the revenue. Every kind of merchan- 
 dise was subject to a fresh impost every time that 
 it changed hands, and merchants and tradesmen 
 were obliged to give in, on oath, a record of their 
 transactions. A few eggs, a jar of oil, a handful of 
 vegetables, were all included under the alcabala, as 
 well as the sale of large estates and mines. Nothing 
 could be more burdensome than these minute and 
 petty exactions. Their tendency was to demoralize 
 the people into a nation of cheats and perjurers. 
 
 In addition to the alcabala, there were transit 
 duties through the country, under which it has been 
 alleged that European articles were sometimes taxed 
 thirty times before thej' reached the consumer. The 
 king had his royal fifth of all the gold and silver, and 
 monopolies of all tobacco, gunpowdei", salt, and quick- 
 silver. Offices, both civil and religious, were openly 
 sold, and the prices paid for them were of course 
 exacted from the people, in addition to the legal 
 salaries. Every agreement had to be drawn upon 
 stamped paper, some of which cost six dollars a sheet, 
 and formed an engine for considerable extortion in the 
 complicated system of Spanish legislation. Besides 
 these sources of revenue, a poll tax of five dollars was 
 imposed on every native. But the most extraordinary 
 imposition in the whole catalogue of Spanish taxes 
 was that laid upon papal hulls. 
 
 " These bulls were issued every two years, sent over 
 to America from Spain, and sold by the priests under 
 the direction of a commissary appointed to superintend 
 this branch of the revenue. They were of four kinds : 
 — 1st. The bull for the living, or Bula de Cruzada, so
 
 MIKES, COMilEECE, AND CITIL COTfDITIOX. 229 
 
 called because it has some traditionary connection with 
 the bulls of the crusades. It was deemed essential for 
 every person to possess this bull, and its virtues were 
 innumerable. Whoever purchased it might be absolved 
 from all crimes, except heresy, by any priest ; and 
 of heresy he could hardly be suspected with this 
 shield to protect him. On fast days he might eat any 
 thing but meat, and on other days he was exempted 
 from man}' of the rigorous injunctions of the church. 
 Two of these bulls, if they had bee7i paid for, commu- 
 nicated double the benefits of one. 2nd. The bull for 
 eating milk and eggs daring Lent. This was intended 
 only for ecclesiastics, and persons not holding the first, 
 which entitled the possessor to all the advantages of 
 both. 3rd. The hull of the dead, Bula de Defuntos, 
 which was indispensable to rescue departed souls from 
 purgatory. It was bought by the relations of a de- 
 ceased person, as soon as possible after death : and 
 poor people were thrown into agonies of grief and 
 lamentation if they were not able to purchase this 
 passport for the spirit of a relative suffering the mise- 
 ries of purgatory. 4th. The hull of composition, which 
 released persons who had stolen goods from the obli- 
 gation to restore them to the owner. One slight 
 condition, it is true, was attached to this bull, which 
 was, that the pei'son when stealing had not been moved 
 thereto by any forethought of the virtue of a bull to 
 make the property his own, and his conscience white. 
 Bating this small condition, the bull converted all 
 stolen goods into the true and lawful property of the 
 thief. It had the power, moreover, to coiTect the 
 moral offences of false weights and measures, tricks 
 and fraud in trade, and in short all those little obli- 
 quities of principle and conduct to which swindlers
 
 230 MEXICO. 
 
 resort to rob honest people of their possessions. * It 
 assures to the purchaser,' says Depons, ' the absolute 
 property in whatever he may have obtained by modes 
 that ought to have conducted him to the gallows.' 
 The price of these bulls depended on the amount of 
 goods stolen : bvit it is just to add, that only fifty of 
 them could be taken by the same person in a year." * 
 
 The commerce of Mexico has not expanded so much 
 as might have been anticipated since the declaration 
 of independence. The restrictions which we have 
 been describing were removed, indeed some of them 
 had been modified by their Spanish rulers. The trade 
 of the country was opened to the civilized world, and 
 the relations of Mexico with Grreat Britain in her 
 mining operations naturally attracted some British 
 manufactures to this market. Factories were also 
 established in tlie country and several branches of 
 trade were carried on successfully, especially the manu- 
 facture of cigars, hats, glass, and earthenwai-e. 
 
 The country offered unusual advantages for such 
 efforts. Manual labour was cheap, the workmen sub- 
 missive and skilful at imitation, the country productive 
 of abundant raw materials. Cotton could be raised within 
 its territory. Wool might have been supplied almost 
 indefinitely. The silkworm could have been reared 
 with extraordinary facility. These resources in almost 
 any other region would have called forth and rewarded 
 the energies of a manufacturing population. But the 
 Mexicans are utterly devoid of enterprise, and strangers 
 cannot be induced to settle in a land where property 
 and life are insecure. So great is the suspicion en- 
 tertained of foreigners, that success would be sure to 
 be attended by the aversion of the people, and would 
 
 * North American Review, vol. XIX. pp. 186-7.
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, ANB CIVIL CONDITION. 231 
 
 probably be followed by pillage in the first popular 
 tumult. And so Mexico only possesses a few coarse 
 manufactures, and imports foreign fabrics in exchange 
 for her precious metals. 
 
 The few factories that are in existence are most 
 miserably mismanaged. The interior is more like a 
 prison than the workshop of honest and industrious 
 men. The workmen are treated with extreme severity 
 and subjected to corporal punishment. The truck 
 system, found to be so injurious in England, prevails 
 universally: and tobacco, spirits and food, are furnished 
 by the employer at exorbitant prices. No wonder 
 that the operatives only comprise the most ignorant 
 and worthless portion of the population. Their handi- 
 work is wretched. Leather, paper, cutlery, are all of the 
 worst description, and it is not long since thei'e was only 
 one watchmaker in all Mexico. There is the most obsti- 
 nate prejudice against any improvement, and the com- 
 monest mechanical appliances are almost unknown. We 
 should have thought that their native indolence would 
 have induced the Mexicans to avail themselves of mo- 
 dern inventions designed to save labour, but they will 
 have nothing to do with them. M. Chevalier tells us 
 that even the wheelbarrow is not to be found in 
 Mexico. When some merchants had imi)orted two 
 wheelbarrows to aid in conveying goods from the 
 custom-house the men refused to use them. 
 
 The commerce of Mexico labours under some natural 
 disadvantages in consequence of the rapid ascent from 
 the sea coast to the interioi*, but an efficient govern- 
 ment and an industrious people would quickly have 
 overcome these obstacles. Indeed, the Spaniards main- 
 tained some admirable roads, but during the various 
 revolutionary outbreaks these have been considerably
 
 232 MEXICO. 
 
 damaged, and are not yet repaired. This is the case 
 even on the highway between Vera Cruz and the 
 capital. The state of things is much worse in the 
 interior and northern provinces. It was ahuost im- 
 possible to convey to the mines the machinery sent out 
 to work them under the English companies. In many 
 instances paths had to be cut through forests, or shelv- 
 ing planes dug to the beds of the rivers, down which 
 the wagons were let gently on one side, and then 
 dragged up on the other by the united force of the 
 whole party. In the dry atmosphere of the table-land 
 the woodwork of the stoutest carriage wheels snaps 
 upon the slightest strain, and the lazy drivers would at 
 times purposely direct a wagon over some rough place 
 in order to produce such an accident. As neither 
 wheelwrights nor forges ai-e to be met with for leagues 
 in the interior, the whole caravan would then be de- 
 tained, perhaps some days, until the fracture was 
 repaired. 
 
 At present, then, Mexico presents the spectacle of a 
 country on which the greatest natural gifts have been 
 lavished in vain. Although almost three centuries 
 and a half have rolled away since the final subjugation 
 of the country, it is a question v/hether the land has 
 progressed in any one item of material civilization. 
 
 The civil condition of the people is equally unsatis- 
 factory. The Mexican law courts have retained all 
 the procrastinating habits of the old Spanish tribunals. 
 The laws of the country are at present in a most com- 
 plicated and disorderly condition. Decisions of the 
 most contradictory character have been pronounced, 
 and the legal wi'iters make the darkness yet more 
 oppressive by their lengthy and unmeaning com- 
 mentaries. The uncertainties, delays, and expenses of
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, AND CIVIL CONDITION. 233 
 
 a Mexican law suit are proverbial, and have given rise 
 to the maxim, that " a bad compromise is better than a 
 good law suit." 
 
 Nor are the glorious uncertainties of the law the 
 only hindrance to justice in Mexico. Bribery is often 
 resorted to. Witnesses are either bought off or in- 
 timidated, and the judges themselves are accused of 
 corruption. When such means fail perjur}' is commonly 
 employed, and an accusation is rebutted by the foulest 
 falsehood. So flagrant are these evils that in many 
 instances notorious criminals are allowed to go un- 
 punished. Rank and position often avail to protect 
 those who have disgraced such advantages. In 1839, 
 a colonel in the army, who was also one of the presi- 
 dent's aid-de-camps, was convicted of being the chief of 
 a band of robbers, who infested the high roads and the 
 capital at the very time that their master was living 
 in the palace. In this instance the attorney-general 
 resisted the threats and bribes of the friends of the 
 criminal, and justice took its course : but the prosecutor 
 died shortly afterwards, and it was believed that he had 
 perished through foul means. 
 
 The prisons of Mexico are on a level with its law 
 courts. A strong military guard presents the appear- 
 ance of unusual precautions fi'om without, but within 
 all is clamour and disorder. "Passing through several 
 iron and wood-barred gates you enter a lofty corridor 
 running round a quadrangular courtyard, in the centre 
 of which is a fountain of troubled water. The whole 
 of this area is filled with human beings — the great 
 congress of Mexican crime. Some are stripped and 
 bathing in the fountain ; some are fighting in one 
 corner ; some are making baskets in another. In one 
 place a crowd is gathered around a witty story-teller,
 
 234 MEXICO. 
 
 relating the adventures of his rascally life. In another 
 a group is engaged in weaving with a hand-loom. 
 Robbers, murderers, thieves, felons of every desci'iption, 
 and vagabonds of every grade and aspect, are crammed 
 within this dismal courtyard, and, almost free from 
 discipline or moral restraint, form a most splendid 
 school of misdemeanor and villany." * 
 
 The population of the country, in 1850, was esti- 
 mated at seven millions and a half. Nearly four 
 millions and a half were Indians, about 1,100,000 whites, 
 6,600 negroes, and 2,100,000 Mestizos or mixed races. 
 The three original races are the European whites, 
 Mexican Indians, and negroes, and from their inter- 
 mixture in different degrees, no less than twenty-two 
 different castes are specified, besides the produce of 
 other unions which have no specific name. The children 
 of a white father are called Mulattos if the mother 
 be a negress ; Mestizos if she be an Indian ; and 
 Creoles if she be a Mestiza. These are the most im- 
 portant distinctions. 
 
 The maintenance of these distinct classes has been 
 a leading cause in the misfortunes of the country. 
 There is no amalgamation between the three great 
 races. There is no such thing as national feeling in 
 Mexico. This state of things is mainly due to the 
 period of Spanish government, when the Europeans 
 strove to monopolize the wealth of the country, and in 
 the insecurity which has since prevailed in Mexico 
 there has been no arrival of strangers who might 
 gradually fill up the intervals by which the classes are 
 now separated. At the present day, whites, Creoles, 
 and Indians are as widely alienated from one another 
 as when the independence of the country was pro- 
 
 » Mayer, vol. II. pp. 150-1.
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, AND CITIL CONDITION. 235 
 
 claimed. Ominous murmurs have been heard fi-om 
 time to time, uttered by the Indians, that they would 
 soon expel the Creoles (as the Creoles had driven out 
 the Europeans), and assume their rightful mastery of 
 the country. 
 
 We have already noticed that slavery is abolished 
 by law in Mexico, yet it exists in fact through the 
 system of peonage, as it is termed, by which a debtor 
 becomes the slave of his creditor. The recklessness of 
 the Indians is often purposely encouraged by their 
 masters, that they may be thus reduced to actual 
 slavery under an altered name. The actual working of 
 the system will be fully understood through the follow- 
 ing illustrations, selected from M. Froebel's narrative. 
 
 M. Froebel accompanied a friend, named Don 
 Guillei-mo, from Chihuahua to Temosachic in search 
 of a fraudulent debtor. Don G. had been accustomed 
 to give the debtor's fatlier credit for a few hundred 
 dollars, and at his death the son brought a letter 
 ai)parently written by his dying parent, asking him 
 to accord the young man a like indulgence. Don 
 Guillermo willingly granted the request, and goods 
 amounting to a lew hundred dollars were delivered. 
 " Three years elapsed, no payment was made, and 
 nothing was heard of the young man ; and now his 
 creditor appears suddenly in Temosachic. ' Where 
 does Natividad Andrada live ? ' asked Don G. of the 
 first person as we rode into the village. ' There is 
 his mother's house,' was the answer. We rode on 
 to the open door, at which a respectable old woman 
 appeared. 'Is Natividad at home?' ' No, sir.' 'Is 
 he in the neighbourhood ? ' ' He is in the village.' 
 ' Let him be called. I must speak with him.' In 
 two minutes he came. He was a young man of more
 
 236 MEXICO. 
 
 than middle height, well formed, and with good regular 
 features, on which an irregular life now began to show 
 its traces. ' Natividad,' said Don G., ' as you have 
 not come to me I have been obliged to come to you. 
 Why have I never seen you again in Chihuahua ? ' 
 'I was unable to pay, your honour.' 'Can you pay 
 now ? ' ' No, I am poor, I have nothing.' ' Do you 
 know how much you owe me ? ' ' Not exactly.' 
 ' Three hundred dollars.' ' It is so, since your honour 
 says so.' ' Cannot you pay me at least a portion of 
 it ? ' 'I have nothing.' ' Then you must come 
 with me and work for me.' ' I am ready. I believe 
 your honour's demand is just.' ' Then get ready, I 
 cannot wait.' ' I am ready, I wear all that I possess.' 
 This consisted of an old straw hat, a coarse cotton 
 shirt, wide unbleached cotton trousers, sandals, and a 
 gay-coloured ragged woollen blanket, with which the 
 poorest man gracefully covers his rags. 
 
 " During this conversation, which deeply affected the 
 fate of several persons, we had not got off our horses, 
 and the old woman had not spoken a word. She now 
 burst into teai's, and turning to Don G., said, ' Your 
 honour claims your right ; but how miserable am I in 
 my old age ! He is my only child. But I have long 
 seen that he would not be the comfort of my declining 
 years : he has not followed his father's example. But 
 vrill not the gentlemen dismount and enter my poor 
 house ? ' she added, with the politeness which the 
 lowest of the Spanish race never forget. ' Yes,' said 
 Don Gr., as we entered the small clay hovel, ' your 
 husband was a worthy man. How has his son fallen 
 into so miserable a position ? ' ' Ah, sir, he has 
 gambled away everything.' ' I should have given 
 him no credit but for the letter of his father. How
 
 MINES, commeuce, and civil condition. 237 
 
 could he recommend a son whose bad character he 
 must have known ? ' ' Ah, sir, my husband never 
 wrote that letter ; my boy forged it at the instigation 
 of his bad companions.' ' Then it is right that you 
 should be punished,' said Don G. to the young man, 
 ' and you, seiiora, must comfort yourself.' ' As the 
 lad now is, he can never give your honour any help.' 
 ' I will take charge of him. I will teach l\im to work 
 and to live like a respectable man ; and the time may 
 come when he will return to you an estimable cha- 
 racter. You \vill go with me to Texas,' he then added. 
 ' Wherever your honour pleases.' After a short stay, 
 during which the old woman regaled us with tortillas 
 and frijoles and Natividad took leave of a young 
 woman and kissed a child, we left the place and set 
 out on our return. 
 
 " It deserves special notice that this transaction, 
 which did not occupy half an hour, was settled without 
 the interference of any public authority. 
 
 " A similar proceeding with regard to another debtor 
 of Don G.'s took place at the Villa de la Concepsion. 
 The second man was just as willing to follow his cre- 
 ditor as a peon, although he looked upon his fate 
 rather ditferentl}'. ' What do you sigh for man ? ' he 
 said to his comj^anion in misfortune. ' Regret is of 
 no use. Begin a new life. Does not Don Gr., a dis- 
 tinguished cavalier, open the door of the world to you ? 
 What have you known of the world as 3'et ? Nothing. 
 Now you will get acquainted with it. You will see 
 the United States. You will be a man ! You will 
 pay your debtor, and when, after an absence of some 
 years, you go back to your native place, your mother 
 may be dead, but your children will have grown big, 
 and who knows but their father may become alcalde of 
 Temosachic ? '
 
 238 MEXICO. 
 
 " When we remounted to leave Temosaehic, it was 
 extremely painful to me to see that Natividad was 
 obliged to follow us on foot, and in a quick trot to 
 keep up with our horses. But I could make no altera- 
 tion, and would only watch with surprise how, like 
 a faithful dog, he trotted on, now before and now 
 behind us, and again at our side. Vargas, the other 
 debtor, joined him at the Villa, and though at first 
 his speed was insufficient, he soon taught his legs to 
 move when he saw he must either keep up with our 
 carriage or run the risk of being scalped by some 
 wandering Apaches. This treatment of the two men 
 was assuredly cruel, but it is not thought so in Mexico. 
 An extraordinary rapidity and endurance in running is 
 common to all Mexicans of the lower class." 
 
 This long extract gives us an insight into some of 
 the most characteristic features of the Mexicans. The 
 recklessness with which the debt was incurred and its 
 proceeds spent in gambling, despite the debtor's know- 
 ledge that he was liable to be reduced to slavery, and 
 the calm, stolid indifference with which he yielded to so 
 terrible a penalty are common elements in the popular 
 character. An Englishman would naturally be disposed 
 to question whether such a servant would not cause 
 more trouble to his master than he was worth ; but 
 M. Froebel states that he subsequently travelled over 
 some thousands of miles with these two men, and 
 that they were both distinguished by their perfect 
 goodwill, their untiring activity, and irreproachable 
 honesty. In these instances, however, there may have 
 been some incentive to good conduct in the expectation 
 of regaining their freedom. The commoner result 
 of the system of peonage is that the creditor de- 
 signedly involves his debtor to an amount that he can
 
 MINES, COMMERCE, ASH CIVIL CONDITION. 239 
 
 never repay, and then retains him as liis bondsman 
 for life. Slavery in fact, tliough not in name, prevails 
 throughout the country districts. The peasantry are 
 in serfdom to the great landowners, and there is little 
 reason for the latter to dread that they will ever be 
 called to account for their treatment of the natives. 
 
 The most painful contrasts of wealth atid absolute 
 indigence is another marked feature of Mexican society* 
 and, save a few shopkeepers in the larger towns, there 
 is no intermediate class to connect the high and low 
 together. 
 
 The national character has been necessarily much 
 modified by such a state of things. The Mexicans 
 rank low in the scale of humanity. One who has 
 travelled much amongst them * describes the people 
 as " treacherous, cunning, indolent, without energy, and 
 cowardly by nature. Inherent instinctive cowardice," 
 he adds, " is rarely met with in any race of men, yet 
 I affirm that in this instance it certainly exists, and is 
 most conspicuous." They have a brutish indifference 
 to death, and a capacity for the endurance of excessive 
 fatigue, qualities which would render them stubborn 
 soldiers in the hands of a good general, but even then 
 they could not be expected to behave more than 
 tolerably well. The national character will, however, 
 be more clearly reflected in the minute details of 
 social life which will form the subject of the next 
 chapter. 
 
 • Mr. Boxton.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 
 
 Mexican houses — Quarter of the leperos — Callers — Visits and 
 visitations — Ceremonious politeness — Mode of salutation — 
 "Quite at your disposal" — A doctor's farewell — Indian 
 etiquette — Servants — Their indolence and untidiness — 
 Strange dress of children — Education — Beading — No news- 
 papers — Street cries in Mexico — Mexican market scene — 
 Indian costumes — The fashionable world — Evening pro- 
 menade — The leperos, then- indolence, rags, etc., — Frequency 
 of assassination— The head quarters of dirt — Amusements — 
 Dancing and singing — Country towns — Home life in a 
 hacienda — BuU marking — Bull tailing — El Gallo — Duels and 
 bloodshed — Amusements a true test of character — Travelling 
 — Mule caravan — Slight delays — A desert journey — Perils 
 and dehghts of the way— Insecurity of the roads — "News by 
 the way — a Mexican stage coach— Mud — Mexican inns and 
 their landlords — A half-witted traveller — Visitors at a vehta 
 — Crosses on the road side — Jealousy of the government — 
 Ignorance and intolerance — -The only remedy. 
 
 How shall we attempt to describe every-daj life 
 in Mexico ? Which shall we begin with among the 
 many items that make up the common existence of the 
 multitude ? This is one of the hardest portions of 
 our undertaking. Foreigners for the most part see 
 little of the true home life of the people with whom 
 they sojourn, and those who write for their fellow 
 co'intrymen do not think it worth while to give details 
 with which every one is familiar.
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 21J 
 
 Houses, large and desolate looking, entered by huge 
 wooden doors, such as in England would serve for 
 immense barns, and leading into a courtyard which is 
 rarely well paved ; windows pierced in walls of great 
 thickness, and made still more prison-like by being 
 strongly barred with iron ; the whole structure seldav 
 exceeding one story in height, and witli a flat roo'^ 
 that is used as a promenade and for a variety of othei 
 purposes — such are the private dwellings that compose 
 the long wide streets of a Mexican town. The capital 
 itself, however, presents a more varied appearance. It 
 is best seen by climbing one of the church towers, 
 from whence you obtain a view of singular beauty. 
 The flat roofs of the houses and many of the court- 
 yards are filled with flowers, so that the whole space 
 seems to be thickly carpeted with their blossoms, 
 amongst which rise numerous spires, "churches with 
 domes of yellow and blue tiling, houses with walls 
 stained of various colours, and balconies hung with a 
 kind of striped cotton, which gives them a trim and 
 jaunty appearance." 
 
 In many districts of the city a nearer inspection 
 greatly qualifies the effect of this bird's-eye view, and 
 the suburbs are the undisturbed abode of a great mass 
 of leperos and robbers, who daily commit every kind 
 of outrage without any active interfei'ence from the 
 police. Whole streets, narrow, dirty, and unpaved ; 
 the blackened houses, full of rents and cracks in all 
 directions ; swarms of swarthy and ill-visaged fellows, 
 their faces disfigured by many a scar, and clad in dirty 
 cotton rags or a torn woollen blanket ; women dressed 
 in tatters, and children without any dress at all, are 
 features which compose a painful picture. In this 
 region crime and superstition go hand in hand. " In 
 
 B
 
 242 MEXICO. 
 
 passing through these haunts of cut-throats, the terror 
 of the police, the judge mutters a praj'er, the alcade 
 crosses himself, the corchete (baililf) and the regidor 
 shuffle humbly along with downcast eye and humble 
 look, and the honest man shudders ; but the monk stalks 
 along with lofty brow and serene face, and the creak 
 of his sandals is more respected thei"e than the click of 
 the celador's sabre ; sometimes even, like tame tigers 
 who recognise their masters, the bandits emerge from 
 their lurking-places and come and kiss his hand." * 
 
 The better class of houses in the capital are well 
 built and commodious. Great pains is often bestowed 
 upon the exterior decorations, and, instead of clumsy 
 wooden doors, an elegant iron gateway leads into the 
 open courtyard, around which are the stables and 
 servants' offices, the family apartments being generally 
 ranged on the first and second floors. Woe to the un- 
 fortunate stranger who is persuaded to take a dwelling 
 with sitting rooms on the ground floor. All day lono" 
 he will be beset by beggars suffering from every disease 
 to which flesh is heir. He can scarcely look up 
 without seeing some hideous lepero displaying a maimed 
 or diseased limb, asking alms 'for the love of the most 
 holy Virgin," while a long list of imprecations and 
 petitions follow. If ever so small a dole be given a 
 whole crowd of mendicants will assemble : the rash 
 donor may think himself fortunate if one of the 
 party does not slip inside the gate and steal unper- 
 ceived into the room itself. But at tlie windows there 
 will be a perfect levee of helpless creatures carried 
 on the backs of others : on they come, slioals of them, 
 you must draw the curtains and beat a retreat. 
 
 It is not the custom in Mexico to wait for callers, 
 
 • Vagabond Life in Mexico.
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 243 
 
 if you desire to mix in society. Cards are sent round 
 
 containing the announcement tliat Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 inform you of their arrival in this city, and put them- 
 selves at your disposal in the street of . Tlien 
 
 come visits of etiquette paid in all the splendour of 
 evening costume. We select the following description 
 of morning callers, given by Madame Calderon : — 
 " Seiiora B — . Dress of purple velvet, embroidered 
 all over with flowers of white silk, short sleeves, 
 and embroidered corsage : white satin shoes and has 
 d jour; a deep flounce of Mechlin appearing beluw 
 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 sevigne. A gold chain going 
 three times round the neck and touching the knees. 
 On every finger two diamond rings, like little watches. 
 — 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." 
 
 Callers in Mexico are not got rid of so easily as in 
 countries in which time is esteemed of value. The 
 old Spanish politeness and hospitality, combined with 
 modern Spanish indolence, make these morning visits 
 at times no small burden. They rarely last less than 
 an hour, and sometimes extend over the whole day. 
 Gentlemen visitors look in at all hours, join in any 
 meal which may occur in its course, walk out with you 
 and retui'u home, perhaps to spend the evening, not-
 
 244 MEXICO, 
 
 withstanding the ohvious inconvenience that such habits 
 must at times entail. At the same time the genuine 
 hospitahty which can endure such a system must not 
 be overlooked. All agree in testifying to the open- 
 handed liberality with which friends are welcomed to 
 a Mexican table. 
 
 Another remnant of Spanish manners is the ceremo- 
 nious formality with which compliments are passed, 
 and which is pronounced to be " beyond measure tire- 
 some." When a lady calls she is warmly embraced by 
 the mistress of the house, and led to a seat, the person 
 of most consequence being carefully placed on the 
 right side of the sofa : and in strict correctness the 
 following dialogue ensues : " How are you ? Are you 
 well?" "At your service, and you?" "Without 
 novelty, at your service." " I am rejoiced, and how 
 are you, senora?" "At your disposal, and you?" 
 " A thousand thanks, and the seuor ?" " At your ser- 
 vice without novelty." This interesting exchange may 
 be kept up with slight variations to any extent, and 
 may he applied to otlier members of the family. Before 
 taking a seat there will be another contest of polite- 
 ness. " Pray be seated." " Nay, you pass first, seiio- 
 rita." " No, madam, pray go first." " Well, to oblige 
 you, without further ceremony. I dislike etiquette 
 and compliments." If it be in the morning j'ou should 
 add — " How have you passed the night ? " with the 
 usual reply — " In your service." The visit over, both 
 parties again open fii'e. The lady accompanies her 
 friend to the top of the stairs, another embrace follows, 
 and — " 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 you may desire."
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 215 
 
 "Adieu, I hope you may pass a good night." "When 
 the first hinding-place is reached the visitor turns 
 round and goes through a mitigated repetition of the 
 adieus. We suppose that the hostess returns to her 
 drawing-room with a feeling of relief, but custom soon 
 reconciles us to the strangest modes. 
 
 It is the fashion that all ladies, married and single 
 alike, should be addressed by their Christian names by 
 both male and female acquaintances. Married ladies 
 add their husband's name to their own maiden one, 
 and are more commonly known by the latter. The 
 invitation to a funeral mass is sent in a printed form, 
 stating that certain relatives of the deceased, who are 
 named, request you to assist at the suffrage of the 
 funeral honovirs. Time and place are then given. Mar- 
 riages are announced by a printed note which tells that 
 Senor A. and Anna B. beg to inform you that they 
 have contracted matrimony, and have the honour of 
 offering themselves to your disposal. Englishmen in 
 Mexico often complain of the insincerity of this ex- 
 pression, which is a mere habit, and Mexicans are 
 equally indignant that they have been occasionally 
 taken at their word by foreigners, who have carried off 
 some article which had been placed " at their disposal." 
 
 Madame Calderon mentions an absurd mistake she 
 made through ignorance of another Mexican custom. 
 She had been inquiring for servants on her arrival, 
 and had just succeeded in completing her arrangements, 
 when the porter of a lady came with the seiiora's com- 
 pliments, and she had anofher servant at Madame Calde- 
 ron' s disposal. The answc returned was that Madame 
 C. was much obliged, but she h.id 'ust hired a chamber- 
 maid. The porter opened his eyes m astorishment at 
 this reply, and said nothing, but on inquiry after hia
 
 246 MEXICO. 
 
 mistress' health he gave answer that she and the hahy 
 were coining on very well. Then only was it under- 
 stood that this was the established mode of informing 
 fi'iends of the birth of a child. 
 
 This elaborate etiquette appears especially burden- 
 some in a sick room. Imagine your physician as he 
 rises to take his leave. " Madam, (this by the bed- 
 side,) 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 stops 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, included, all I have is yours." " Many thanks, 
 sir." He turns round and opens the door, again turn- 
 ing round as he does so. " Adieu, madam, your ser- 
 vant." "Adieu, sir." He goes out, partly re-opens 
 the door, and puts in his head — " Good morning, 
 madam." 
 
 Such ceremony is not confined to the higher classes. 
 Indians when they meet take off their l;ats to one 
 another, and humbly kiss the hand of any female 
 friend. A drinking bout, which will end in quarrelling 
 and frequently in assassination, is commenced with the 
 same regard to etiquette. Even the poorest persons 
 you meet bow, and wish you " good day," holding their 
 hats in their hands till you have passed. It is thought 
 more polite to say seiiorita than seiiora, even to mar- 
 ried women, and servants always call t'leir mistress La 
 Niaa, the little girl, whatever her age. 
 
 The Mexican ladies are loud in their complaints 
 about their servants, who seem to be especially cen- 
 surable for dirt and idleness ; but their mistresses 
 generally neglect the precaution of requiring a character
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 2t7 
 
 from the place where tliey were last in service, and it 
 is not thought a reproach to have lived in a dozen 
 families, staying no longer than a month or two in 
 each. This negligence leads, at times, to very serious 
 results, as the worst characters become servants that 
 they may more easily carry out schemes of robbery on 
 an extensive scale. At the root of the idleness of 
 servants is the general indolence engendered by the 
 warmth of the climate and the cheapness of provisions. 
 An old woman, with six children, was hired to wash at 
 twelve dollars a month, but at the end of the tirst 
 month resigned her post, and soon after used to come 
 with all her family to beg. When asked why she 
 left her place, she answered, "Seiiorita, if you only 
 knew the pleasure of doing nothing ! " Their love of 
 finery is the only stimulant to exertion, but when a 
 girl has earned enough to buy an embroidered garment 
 and a second-hand pair of satin shoes, she will throw up 
 her place and go home to display her wardrobe. 
 
 Madame Calderon endeavoured to train up a young 
 girl, twelve years old, as a good servant. The child 
 was taken from her family, who lived bj' begging, and 
 her instruction in reading and sewing commenced. 
 Once a week she was visited by her motlier, a tall, 
 slatternly woman, with long matted hair, and a cigar in 
 her mouth, accompanied by several friends and a tribe 
 of children. The whole party would get some dinner 
 from the housekeeper, and then, all lighting their cigars, 
 would sit and howl in chorus over the unhappy fate of 
 Josefita in having to go to service. After these visits 
 it is needless to sa}' that Josefita was fit for nothing, 
 and used to sit on a mat in the most listless idleness. 
 One d:iy she went to see her mother at home, and, 
 instead of returning, a very dirty note was despatched
 
 248 MEXICO. 
 
 saying, "she needed to rest herself." Very many of 
 their class deem begging much less degrading than 
 service. 
 
 One very disagreeable custom of the women-servants 
 is that of wearing their hair long, uncombed, and 
 always in the way. But, in this respect, they often 
 only follow the example set by their mistress. This 
 habit makes the thought of a female cook exceedingly 
 repulsive. Yet these women have their good qualities: 
 they keep the house clean, though not their own per- 
 sons, and are the perfection of civility, humble and 
 good-natured to excess. Jn large families their super- 
 intendence devolves on a housekeeper, and the family 
 comfort is almost entirely in her hands. In the 
 roomy dwellings of Mexico a number of men-servants, 
 coachmen, footmen, gardeners, and porters, with wives 
 and children, all find shelter and swell the number of 
 inmates. 
 
 The relation of parents and children is one of the 
 pleasing features of Mexican life. In no country are 
 more devoted obedience and respect shown by sons and 
 daughters, even when they are married. In many 
 instances the married children continue to live in the 
 father's house, and unite in perfect harmony. There 
 is very little general society, and such families become 
 all in all to one another, refusing all invitations to 
 travel abroad, and knowing no happiness save where 
 parents and relatives are to be found. There is too 
 much reason to believe that conjugal fidelity is far less 
 strictly observed, and much time is misspent in intrigue 
 and its attendant crimes. 
 
 We do not get many glimpses of the children be- 
 longing to the upper classes. Occasionally they may 
 be seen accompanying their parents to some religious
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 249 
 
 ceremony, and are frequently as much over-dressed as 
 the lady whose costume was described above. " Long 
 velvet gowns trimmed with blonde, diamond ear-rings, 
 high French caps, befurbelowed with lace and flowers, 
 or turbans with plumes of feathers. Now and then the 
 head-dress of a little thing that could hardly waddle 
 alone might have belonged to an English dowager 
 duchess. Some had extraordinary bonnets, also with 
 feathers and flowers, 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 e^'es." When plainly and 
 becomingly dressed, with their long black hair un- 
 covered and falling down in plaits, the children are 
 remarkably pretty ; and their regular features have a 
 childish beauty which fails, from lack of expression, to 
 be as striking when they grow older. Their com- 
 plexions are pale and their eyes black or hazel — indeed, 
 beautiful eyes are a drug at Mexico, but good com- 
 plexions much rarer than diamonds. 
 
 Education is at the lowest level in Mexico. Little 
 boys and girls are sometimes sent to a day school held 
 in a large room. The mistress marches up and down 
 in a very inelegant undress, her long hair trailing on 
 the ground behind her back, brought round with a 
 good switch every time she turns. The little ones 
 gather from the lesson as much as they can, or as 
 much as they please, and no more. Sometimes the 
 father gives an occasional lesson to his children, but 
 very little permanent good is effected on such a plan. 
 Nominally the young ladies can all read and write, and 
 manage a little music and sewing, but the greater 
 number are very delicient even in these rudimentary 
 accomplishments, and very few know how to spell.
 
 250 MEXICO. 
 
 They seem to have no inclination to learn ; the climate 
 disposes them to be idle, and since other girls know no 
 more, they are content. They leave off all lessons at 
 an early age. One lady, on being asked if her daughter 
 went to school, replied, quite shocked, "Oh dear! 
 No ! she is past eleven years old." After this age 
 there are very few that read a book through from one 
 year's end to another. 
 
 Notwithstanding an ignorance of those modes of 
 occupation which are now common in almost every 
 English cottage, the Mexican lady can yet contrive 
 to make her society agreeable. They are never 
 awkward, often graceful, always self-possessed, and 
 have the French art of conversation on trifles. Yet 
 this elaborate idleness is the source of much evil 
 amongst them. A lax system of morality is traceable 
 to this as one of its causes, that the mind having no 
 other subject of thought dwells much on its own 
 evil inclinations. The freedom of association with 
 their own circle of friends and their fidelity to one 
 another help both to cause and to conceal many 
 breaches of duty. And under a cover of outward de- 
 corum, even stricter than that which is observed 
 elsewhere, an amount of licentiousness prevails on 
 which it is most painful to dwell. 
 
 There are certain institutions both in Mexico and 
 Central America which are dignified witl) the name of 
 colleges, and are intended for the instruction of boys. 
 But, with hardly an exception, they are most in- 
 adequately supplied with masters, and a really good 
 education can only be had by sending bovs abroad. 
 Of course under these circumstances the general 
 ignorance is at once melancholy and profound. Nor 
 are there any of those other elements which, amongst
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 251 
 
 ourselves, so greatly enliven the intelligence of all 
 classes. Though a republic in form, tliere is no po- 
 litical freedom. So miserable is the condition of party 
 strife that men grow weary of struggles which are rife 
 with blood and plunder, but which are not conducted 
 in behalf of any known political principle. " What is 
 the news?" in Mexico means nothing more than, 
 has any one been recently robbed or murdered ? 
 There are no newspapers in our sense of the word ; a 
 few pamphlets, filled with vehement personalities and 
 gross abuse, are all that the press throws off. Of 
 literary society there is none. Although there are 
 good shops in Mexico (if they have not been ruined 
 b}'- recent and repeated revolutions), yet commerce is 
 in too primitive a condition and communication is too 
 insecure to afford material for a price-current or a 
 " city article." There is neither a harvest of original 
 thought nor a supply of reliable facts ; so men live on 
 in the same routine of daily existence without concern 
 about the outer world. 
 
 Whilst mental life thus stagnates, the city is all 
 alive with the activity of animal existence. An extra- 
 ordinar}'' number of cries begin at dawn and continue 
 till night, uttered by hundreds of discordant voices. 
 You are aroused from sleep by the shrill cry of 
 " Carbon, senor ? " pronounced " Cavbosin," inviting 
 you to get up and })urchase coals. Then comes the 
 grease man, "Mantequilla lard ! Lard ! at one real and 
 a half! " This somewhat unctuous dainty for a hot 
 climate is followed by the equally alluring cry of 
 " Good salt beef ! " annoimced by the butcher. The 
 woman who buys " kitchen stuff " breaks into the 
 chorus with "Hay cebo-o-o-o-o-o !" and stops to chatter 
 with your cook, who is next assailed with " Tejocotes
 
 252 MEXICO. 
 
 por Yenas de chile!" by a female who would barter 
 her small fruit for pods of hot pepper. 
 
 We must let Madame Calderon portray the rest of 
 the tribe in her own words : " A kind of ambulating 
 pedlar drowns the shrill treble of the Indian cry. He 
 calls aloud upon the public to buy needles, pins, 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, until 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 h.ot 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 ! ' 
 
 " At mid-day 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 ! ' ' Requeson and good honey ! ' 
 (Ilequeson 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 espei-ma ! bocadillo de coco ! ' 
 Then the lottery men, the messengers of fortune, with 
 ' 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.
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 253 
 
 " Towards evening rises the cry of ' Tortillas de 
 cuajada,' ' Curd cakes,' or ' Do you take nuts ? ' suc- 
 ceeded by the night cry of ' Chesnuts, hot and roasted ! ' 
 and by the affectionate venders of ducks, ' Ducks, O 
 my soul, hot ducks ! ' As the night wears away the 
 voices die oiY, to resume next morning in fresh vigour." 
 
 Perhaps the streets of no city in the world present 
 so diversified a picture as those of Mexico. Every 
 variety of costume, civil and religious, Indian and 
 European, of the city and the country, is intermingled 
 in the crowd. At early morning the lake of Chalco is 
 covered with hundreds of light canoes, in which the 
 Indians are bringing their goods to the markets of the 
 city. The light craft is pushed along over the water 
 by an Indian woman, very slightly dressed, with her 
 long black hair (very different from that of the negro) 
 trailing down her back, on which a little infant is often 
 tied. Piles of fruit of every description, loads of meat, 
 poultry and wild ducks in extraordinary profusion, 
 Indian corn cut in the straw as forage for mules, and 
 other commodities weigh down the frail bark to the 
 water's edge. A quantity of flowers is, in most instances, 
 thrown lightly over the cargo, and adds to the beauty 
 of the scene as the boats glide by in the morning sun. 
 If there be a man on board he rarely performs any 
 more active service than singing some Indian ditty to 
 the music of the banjo or guitar. 
 
 We follow them to the market, and a most animated 
 scene is presented to the eye. Indian women in chemises 
 of white and blue striped cotton, men clad some in 
 nothing but a pair of drawers, others in their sarapes 
 — a kind of blanket with merely a hole in the centre 
 for the head, and dyed of bright and varied colours. 
 Bronze coloured fellows, with only a cloth around their
 
 251 MEXICO. 
 
 loins, carrying basins on their heads which match the 
 hue of their own skins. There comes the water-carrier 
 bending beneath the heavy load contained iu the large 
 earthen chochocol on his back, the wliole weight of 
 which hangs on the broad leathern strap across his 
 forehead. There come others with the various dain+ies 
 we have spoken of in describing the street cries. At 
 intervals women with short petticoats, which, though 
 commonly in rags, are sure to be fringed with a border 
 of lace, and their unstockinged feet thrust into dirty- 
 white satin shoes, invite you to purchase a glass of 
 atolli — a drink made of maize and tinged with some 
 bright colour. Up trots a spirited little Mexican horse, 
 on which sits the rancherita, the farmer's wile of 
 Mexico, riding before her husband, whose arm encircles 
 her waist. They are followed by the postman from 
 some country town, laden with parcels, parrots, monkeys, 
 — with everything conceivable except letters. 
 
 If it be Vifete day, the Indian population will appear 
 in all their most gaudy finery, their long hair, rarely 
 disturbed by the comb, now adorned with a wreath of 
 {lowers. Among them all the prettiest costume is that 
 of the Pueblana peasant. "A white muslin chemise 
 trimmed with lace around the skirt, neck, and sleeves, 
 which are neatly plaited ; a petticoat shorter than the 
 chemise and divided into two colours, tlie lower part 
 made generally of a scarlet and black stuff— a manu- 
 facture of the country — and the upper part of yellow 
 satin, with a satin vest of some bright colour, and 
 covered witli gold or silver, open in front and turned 
 back. The hair plaited in two braids behind, and the 
 plaits turned up and fastened together l>y a diamond 
 rinjT; lonj; ear-rinrjs, and all sorts of chains and medals 
 and tinkling things worn round the neck, A long,
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 255 
 
 broarl, coloured sash, something like an ollicer's bolt, 
 tied behind after going twice or thrice round the waist, 
 into wliic'h is thrust a silver cigar case. A small 
 coloured handkerchief, with a broad ribbon, crossing 
 over the neck, is fastened in front with a brooch, the 
 ends trimmed with silver, and going through the sash." 
 Such, according to a female authority, is the holiday 
 dress of the maidens of the Puebla. 
 
 About four o'clock in the afternoon all the fashion- 
 ables resort to the Alameda and the Paseo. which form 
 the Hyde Park of the city. Here again is a striking 
 intermixture of the ga3'est colours and of objects that 
 seem most strangely associated to European minds. 
 Amidst elegant carriages of modern design are mingled 
 lumbering old-fashioned coaches, swung on huge 
 leathern springs and built several generations ago. 
 All carriages, indeed, must be stoutly constructed to 
 bear the jolting of Mexican pavement, but many 
 accounts would lead us to suppose that the complete 
 disappearance of the heavy vehicles used by our fore- 
 fathers is due to their having been bought up for the 
 Mexican market. Horsemen prance among the crowd, 
 dressed in tightly fitting jackets, " all alive with button 
 and bullion," like an exaggerated English postillion. 
 To match their saddles, bits and spurs, you must pay a 
 visit to the horse armoury of the Tower. Tlie saddle 
 is much the same shape as that adopted by James I., 
 with a high pommel and cantle, which are frequently 
 of solid silver, the stirrups, the long spurs, and the 
 clumsy bit, all of the same costly material. Over 
 the horse's back is stretched an anquera, or cover- 
 ing of stamped and gilded leather, or of black fur 
 adorned with gold. Every variety of gaudy colour, 
 uniforms of scarlet and gold, large Mexican hats with
 
 256 MEXICO. 
 
 gold ornaments, and stamped leather boots, complete 
 tlie cavalier's equipment. The seat in the saddle is a 
 wretched one to English eyes, its form compelling the 
 rider to lean with his body forward and legs thrown 
 back, with tlie toes only just touching the stirrups, 
 which hang behind the girths : yet the Mexicans are 
 admirable horsemen and manage their steeds with 
 much grace and ease. 
 
 At evening the streets are all alive again. The 
 bright fires shine out from the braziers that keep hot 
 the tortillas and ragouts sold in the open air. Boys 
 run- with blazing torches before the carriages on their 
 way to the theatre ; officers press their way to the 
 cafe or the gaming tables ; whilst in the Merchants' 
 Arcades a gossipping crowd collects to discuss past or 
 future revolutions. Occasionally you will see an inci- 
 dent that reminds you of modern Spain, as some maiden 
 hurries to the shop of the professional letter writer 
 and eagerly whispers the message which she cannot 
 pen for herself into the evangelist's ear. On a sudden 
 the evening bell, the Angelus, sounds and all is still 
 until its last peal is uttered : then every one hurries 
 home save the lepero, who, until morning light, is 
 master of the streets. 
 
 No descrijition of Mexico would be at all complete 
 that failed to give an account of the lepero. This 
 name is applied to a large class that swarms in the 
 streets of the city. They are everything by turns 
 and nothing long. Always in rags, swarming with 
 vermin, breakfasting on a sunbeam, and closing the 
 day with a cigar for supper, the lepero is the 
 strangest item of Mexican society. He will always 
 beg of you. Early each morning a long line of 
 maimed and diseased creatm'es are carried out and
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 257 
 
 ranged along the street wall and fill the air with 
 their whining. He will only work if the labour be 
 short and the pay immediate : he will always drink 
 and gamble and steal when he can ; he is the ready 
 instrument for any crime, and his dagger is equally 
 prompt to avenge another man's quarrel or his own. 
 It is hard to conceive a more fearful type of the cor- 
 ruption of our human nature. To ourselves the wild 
 ifavage, in his unbridled lust and cruelty, is a less 
 repulsive object than this heartless denizen of a so 
 called civilized community. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the condition of the 
 leperos without being suspected of exaggeration. This 
 great mass of vagabonds lead a life of infamy and 
 crime utterly uncontrolled by any law. At times, when 
 their excesses become intolerable, they are suddenly 
 repressed with but little regard to the forms of justice; 
 but in most cases it is quite useless to apply to the 
 police, who are either their accomplices or fear the 
 vengeance of their associates. In 1S45, an address 
 was presented to the municipality about certain thieves 
 who exercised their calling in mid-day — the complaint 
 being not so much of the crime itself as of the time 
 chosen for its performance. Assassination is terribly 
 common and causes but little remark. It is fearful 
 to think of the low estimate at which human life is 
 held ; a dying lepero will confess a murder with less 
 compunction than the neglect of some superstitious 
 observance. The prevalent immorality, and the pas- 
 sionate jealousy of the Mexicans, most frequently 
 prompt them thus to avenge any fancied wrong, and 
 an assassin is easily hired for a few dollars. Earely is 
 tliere a drinking bout in the pulque-shops which does 
 not end in a combat with daggers ; and in the majoritj" 
 
 s
 
 253 MEXICO. 
 
 of cases the bystanders will calmly look on whilst one 
 of the combatants is slain, without interfering to save 
 him. It is quite sickening to dwell on this topic. 
 There are only two ways by which men can be 
 governed : they must either be held in control by a 
 strong established authority, or they must learn, 
 through the influence of the gospel, to govern them- 
 selves. In Mexico political freedom has relaxed the 
 bonds of a despotic rule, and the people being without 
 the leaven of truth have fallen into a state of anarchy 
 even more intolerable. 
 
 Perhaps a single illustration may serve to convey an 
 impression of the state of things. Madame Calderon 
 mentions that one evening a number of gentlemen 
 were chatting on the balcony of their house, when 
 they observed a movement amongst the people below. 
 A small knot of persons had been laughing and talking 
 together, with occasional disputes and blows. Suddenly 
 a man darted out of the crowd and tried to climb a 
 neighbouring wall, but whilst doing so he was pursued 
 and stabbed in the back. As he fell, the wife of his 
 murderer rushed up and plunged her knife several 
 times into his heart, and then calmly wiped it and 
 restored it t-o its sheath : the bystanders smiling all 
 the while. Some soldiers coming up at the moment, 
 the assassins were captured red-handed. But this lady, 
 who viewed Mexico in the most favourable light, adds, 
 " No sensation was excited by this, which is an every 
 day occurrence." 
 
 It detracts greatly, too, from the poetry with which 
 our fancy would surround the picturesque street-life of 
 Mexico, to learn that the city is " the headquarters of 
 dirt." Men, women and children, revel in undisturbed 
 unoleanliness. The graceful reboso, thrown over the
 
 SOCIAL CONDITIOX OF MEXICO. 259 
 
 head and falling in folds down the shoulders, is a comely 
 covering to the untidy long hair of the women, and 
 encourages the neglect which it so well conceals. 
 Indolence, the prevalent vice of the country, causes 
 even the wealthier class to receive morning callers in 
 most offensive dishabille ; this they deem a privilege 
 which they are loth to surrender ; and improvement 
 in this re«pect has been greatly retarded by repeated 
 convulsions that have overturned society and ruined so 
 many. Indeed, the wealth of which we have spoken is 
 rapidly vanishing, and the massive silver ornaments 
 are passing through the mint to supply their once 
 wealthy owners with the commonest necessaries of 
 daily life. 
 
 Smoking is one of the most prevalent habits of 
 Mexico, and no doubt contributes to enhance the 
 natural indolence of the people. Men, women and 
 children, all indulge in the pernicious practice, but of 
 late years it has been discontinued by ladies in public. 
 Their presence is not, however, any check to its en- 
 joyment by the male portion of the population, and 
 places of general assembly are enveloped in a cloud. 
 In the theatre every division is ^vreathed in smoke, 
 not excepting the box of the prompter. 
 
 The Spaniards have imported their buU-fights into 
 Mexico, and they are among the principal amusements 
 of the people. All the rabble of leperos and all the 
 fashion of the city assemble to the sight, which is 
 only worthy the brutality of the former. It is quite 
 unnecessary to give any description of the well known 
 conflict, which has been surrounded with a halo of 
 poetry that has had the etfect of falsely concealing its 
 repulsive features, but except the personal bravery of 
 the matadors, it does not present a single redeeming
 
 260 MEXICO. 
 
 quality. It has not even the recommendation so 
 necessar}'' to Enghsh ideas of fair play to the goaded 
 animal : however high his courage he is doomed when 
 he enters the ring, and heing hemmed in is attacked 
 by a succession of foes until he falls a victim to their 
 strokes. 
 
 There are few truer indications of the condition of 
 a people than the character of their amusements, and 
 those of the Mexican populace are not calculated to 
 win our good opinion. Besides the bull-fight, gam- 
 bling and cock-fighting are favourite recreations. Not 
 far from Mexico is the village of San Augustin de las 
 Cueras, and for the three days of its fete all the city 
 resorts thither and abandons itself to these sports. 
 Mingled in strange confusion the noble and the lepero 
 throng the cock-pits. The president of the state is 
 not ashamed to lend his example to the support of the 
 proceedings or to stake his money with the dirtiest of 
 the crowd ; and even well dressed women sanction, by 
 their presence, the cruel sport. At evening the 
 gaming tables are surrounded by an excited mob, 
 fortunes are made and lost, and all the debauchery 
 and despair attendant upon such events ensue. Who 
 would work when a turn of luck may produce more 
 profit than months of labour ? It is but fair to 
 add that the fete is conducted with much outward 
 decorum. 
 
 Dancing and singing are favourite amusements with 
 the Indians. The dance is graceful but monotonous, 
 and the songs reach the same level of common sense 
 as the negro melodies which have been so popular at 
 home. One would have thought that all sentiment 
 must be choked in addressing a fair one as " My well 
 lined sweet syrup ; " but Mexican tenderness survives
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 2G1 
 
 the shock. The most popular of their dances is called 
 the Palomo, (the Dove,) and it is accompanied by its 
 appropriate song ; a translation of which lies before us, 
 but it is really too absurd for insertion. 
 
 There arc but lew distinctive features in the country 
 towns of Mexico ; the houses are constructed on the 
 same plan as those described above, but even in the 
 capitals of the smaller states they rarely present 
 any items of comfort. In the neighbourhood of the 
 silver mines immense churches and the palaces of 
 former pi'oprietors testify to the wealth once produced 
 by the mines ; but they are now abandoned to decay. 
 On the northern i'rontier of Mexico progress is checked 
 by the insecurity of the country, for so bitter is the 
 hostility of the Indians that none dare venture beyond 
 the walls of the frontier towns unarmed. All com- 
 mercial transactions with the United States and the 
 southern provinces are carried on by traders bristling 
 to the teeth with weapons, and the flocks that are 
 turned out to pasture are watched by shepherds with 
 loaded guns, and even at times have been seen feeding 
 under the shelter of artillery. 
 
 From an early period after the conquest large tracts 
 in Mexico were assigned to the Spaniards, and these 
 immense estates, termed haciendas, are distributed over 
 the country. Many of these are leagues in extent and 
 include large plantations of sugar, indigo, and maize, 
 and vast pasture grounds through which cattle roam 
 by thousands. To the better class of haciendas 
 there are attached large and roomy dwellings, with all 
 the necessary buildings for the manufacture of the 
 •farm produce : the whole enclosed by a strong wail 
 and shut in by gates strongly barred at night to keep 
 out the Indians. In the days of Mexican prosperity,
 
 262 MEXICO. 
 
 under the viceroys, these country houses were favourite 
 places of resort. Open house was kept in the true 
 Spanish style of hospitality. The tables groaned beneath 
 the abundance of dishes which were placed upon them. 
 The dishes were then carried round, and a portion of 
 everything placed on the plate of each guest, who 
 consumed it with spoon and fork, table knives being 
 far from common. Pyramids of beautiful flowers 
 adorned the feast, and pulque and ardent spirits were 
 supplied with a too liberal hand. 
 
 In strange contrast with the activity of the early 
 settlers, a blight of almost inconceivable indolence and 
 indifference seems to have fallen on most of the country 
 proprietors. Their forefathers used to cut down the 
 trees on their land that the Indians might not idle 
 away their time beneath the shade, but the present 
 generation abandon themselves to the most listless 
 apathy. You may visit a large and splendid estate, on 
 which the proprietor resides, and find it totally aban- 
 doned to the feeding of cattle ; without the shghtest 
 agricultural improvement, not even a plantation of 
 plantains and bananas. In country places bread is 
 unknown, the inhabitants subsisting on tortillas, with 
 oranges and the fruit of coyol palm. M. Froebel 
 visited a, hacienda where " the host had several thousand 
 cows on the savannas around his habitation, but he 
 had neither milk nor butter. He ordered a cow to be 
 killed the day after our arrival; but as meat will 
 scarcely remain fresh a day in that climate, especially 
 during the rainy season, the eatable parts of the 
 animal were cut into slices to be dried in the air 
 during the intervals between the showers that fell 
 throughout the day. The vultures carried away the 
 best part of it before our eyes, and what remained and
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 263 
 
 was brought to us for dinner the next two or three 
 days was of a haut gout, rather too strong for our 
 taste. We tried to supply our table by shooting game, 
 but the cook always ate the breast and left us the 
 bones ; and as we were guests of the house we could 
 not complain of this impudence, which seems to be 
 the general fashion." 
 
 You arrive at a hacienda on your day's journey and 
 inquire for the master of the house ; there he lies half 
 asleep in a hammock that swings under a neighbouring 
 tree. He rises to receive your letters of introduction 
 (if 3''ou have any) clad in nothing but a loose white 
 shirt that hardly comes down to his knees. The 
 women are at work among the corn or baking tortillas 
 in the kitchen : at either occupation they have the 
 same garb, a loose petticoat that extends from the 
 waist to the knees ; all other garments are supplied 
 by a necklace with a large cross hanging from it. 
 Children run about without a vestige of clothing, and 
 if a frock be thrown over them on account of a 
 stranger's presence, in a few minutes they are to be 
 seen wearing it folded on their heads or under their 
 arms. These are not the manners of poor Indian 
 serfs, but of the dons, the country gentlemen and 
 their families. 
 
 Evening comes and all the household, guests and 
 servants, gather together in the piazza. Most likely 
 the skin of an ox is brought in, and all sit down to 
 shell the corn that is thrown upon it, and when the 
 process is over some pigs will be introduced to pick up 
 the grains that have fallen as the corn was cleared 
 away. If your host be in a hospitable and cheerful 
 mood a supply of pulque will stimulate the party to 
 tell stories in turn.
 
 264 MEXICO. 
 
 After supper all retire to bed. If only a passing 
 stranger you must be content with an ox-hide swung 
 with strings from a frame in the wall of the open 
 piazza. Should there be several occupants of the 
 apartment the ropes will have to be left loose in order 
 to accommodate the number, and your bed will form a 
 deep sack in which you will find yourself curiously 
 doubled up, your heels as high as your head, and 
 your body sinking down in the middle. If you are 
 treated as an intimate friend you will fare yet more 
 strangely. The bed room will be hung round with 
 hammocks occupied by the host and different members 
 of the household, who, as they retire to rest, will light 
 their cigars and smoke till they fall asleep. Frequently 
 during the night you will be aroused by the clicking 
 of flint and steel, as one or another of your associates 
 strikes a light to while away the hours of darkness or 
 lull himself to sleep by the cigar, his constant com- 
 panion by night and day, at home or abroad, in sorrow 
 or in joy. 
 
 With the need for breakfast the work of the women 
 begins. Eternal tortillas serve for every meal through- 
 out the day ; they are the bread of Spanish America. 
 At one end of the kitchen stands a griddle, resting 
 on three stones, with a fire burning beneath. The 
 woman goes to a large earthen jar, containing Indian 
 corn steeped in lime-water to remove the husk, and 
 taking a handful works it between a stone plate and 
 stone roller into a thick paste. When sufficiently 
 bruised it is patted flat with the hands and placed 
 on the griddle to bake ; when done enough the tor- 
 tilla is made. The same operation is repeated for 
 every meal. It must be something like living on hot 
 coarse biscuit.
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 2G5 
 
 Oue ot the most stirring events at a hacienda is the 
 occasion of the Herraderos or bull marking. The 
 thousands of cattle which roam over a large estate are 
 driven down to the plaza de toros to be branded with 
 the initials of the owner's name. From far and wide 
 neighbours and Indians assemble to the spectacle, and 
 occupy every spot that commands a good view of the 
 scene, whilst a platform is commonly erected for the 
 master of the hacienda and his friends. If it be in 
 the neiglibourhood of some large town the most 
 celebrated matadors are invited, and a band of music 
 is commonly added. All come in their smartest 
 costume, and it is regarded as quite a gala day. The 
 scene is a most exciting one. The men who are 
 to be employed in marking the bulls ride about in 
 all the display of deerskin pantaloons, embroidered 
 jackets, and silver buttons. A thousand bulls rend the 
 air with their loud bellowings. They are driven into 
 an enclosure, and from thence, some three or four at a 
 time, are sent on into the plaza de toros : then the 
 struggle begins. Tliey stand for a moment eyeing 
 their opponents : some paw the ground and dash 
 fiercely at the horsemen, often wounding them at the 
 first onset ; others turn and fly panic-stricken, but all 
 at last share the same fate. The horseman throws his 
 lasso round the bull's thick, shaggy neck, brings him 
 to ground with a jerk ; other herdsmen tie the creature's 
 legs, and a man with a hot iron brands the letters on his 
 liide. Some take the burning with stoical indiff'crence, 
 others dash their heads against the ground with help- 
 less rage, and then, on being released, rush off like mad 
 things to rejoin the herd. 
 
 The boldness of the actors in these scenes contrasts 
 strongly with the general cowardice of the Mexican
 
 266 MEXICO. 
 
 character. They receive most severe wounds, yet, un- 
 less disabled from riding, fearlessly start off on a new 
 venture, whilst those who are quite unable to cope 
 with the bulls from their wounds or their youth often 
 beg for permission to share in the sport. Much of this 
 is doubtless due to the excitement of the spectacle, and 
 to the fact that so many are looking on to smile 
 approval on the most daring. The Herraderos is a 
 time of general holiday, and feasting and dancing add 
 to its fatigues, which last for several days in succession. 
 As if the branding did not exhaust their thirst for 
 adventure, a bull-fight is commonly added to the 
 catalogue of amusements. 
 
 There is another kind of sport called colea de toros, 
 or bull tailing, to which the country farmers are much 
 addicted. A number of animals are collected into a large 
 corral, around which assemble the horsemen exciting 
 and maddening them with cries and blows. When all 
 is ready, one is driven out, and dashes at full speed 
 along the open plain, with all the horsemen in pursuit, 
 the sport being to seize the bull by the tail and throw 
 him down. As the poor goaded creature hears the 
 uproar behind, he redoubles his speed, and as he varies 
 his course it requires a first-rate seat to avoid an acci- 
 dent in the crowd of horsemen. As they tear along in 
 a cloud of dust the bull alone is visible some yards 
 ahead, and when one of the horsemen takes a decided 
 lead, the women shout their vivas and wave their 
 rebosos. At last some one, swifter and stronger than 
 the rest, seizes the bull by the tail, and, wheeling his 
 horse with a sudden plunge on one side, upsets the 
 huge animal, and leaves him rolling and bellowing with 
 fright and pain. Cruel as is this sport, it exhibits the 
 splendid riding of the Mexicans, which is very different
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 267 
 
 from the stiff and stilted fashion of park-riding in the 
 capital. To pursue a bull at full gallop, wheeling 
 with every change of his career, and then suddenly 
 to stop without previously relaxing your speed, in 
 order to la}"- hold of his tail and jerk him over, re- 
 quires a strength and a seat in the saddle of no com- 
 mon excellence. 
 
 Another country amusement is yet more cruel, and 
 has no redeeming features, — it is called El Gallo. 
 A cock, whose neck has been well greased, is tied 
 alive to a tree, and the horsemen race up to it and 
 try to pluck it so as to break the string. But when 
 one has secured it he is followed by the rest, who 
 endeavour to wrest it from him, and the bird is pulled 
 to pieces in the struggle. The mangled limbs are 
 presented by the horsemen as love tokens to the ladies 
 This leads us to speak of the most revolting charac- 
 teristic of Mexican amusements, the duels and bloodshed 
 by which they are commonly accompanied. Such brutal 
 sports as those above described have an inevitable 
 tendency to dull the better feelings of the heart. 
 The deceitfulness of sin, and the subtlety of Satan, are 
 nowhere perhaps more strikingly manifested than in 
 the depraved tastes which are excited under the name 
 of pleasure. All sense of right and wrong becomes 
 perverted when men miscall vengeance by the name of 
 honour, and when the sight of a combat with swords 
 is deemed the fittest spectacle for women, who are 
 ready to reward with their smiles the successful com- 
 batant. At a village fete in New Spain a small platform 
 is generally erected upon which the maidens alone 
 dance with great dexterity and grace. Dressed in all 
 their finery they whirl rapidly round without spilling 
 a drop from a glass of water placed upon their heads.
 
 268 MEXICO. 
 
 At sucli seasons the aspirant to a young girl's affections 
 will spring forward and present her with his hat, which 
 she receives without ceasing to dance ; and should any 
 rival be disposed to press his claims he will make a 
 similar offering, the etiquette of the country prescribing 
 that the maiden should show no outward signs of pre- 
 ference, but accept any such mark of politeness. The 
 rivalry of the two suitors is commonly settled by an 
 appeal to arms, and the poor girl has frequently to 
 watch the combat in which the man she loves is van- 
 quished, perhaps killed, and has then to hand the 
 guerdon of victory to the conqueror. Such habits 
 harden the hearts of any people, and render the country 
 folk of Central America a strange mixture of cowardice 
 and ferocity. 
 
 It is in their pleasures as much as in their serious 
 occupations that the real character of a people may be 
 discerned. In our own country the true bent of a 
 man's taste and feelings is not to be gathered so truly 
 from the labour by which his livelihood is gained as 
 from the pursuits to which he resorts in his leisure 
 moments. The first is often dictated by necessity, the 
 latter arises from his own free choice. What shall we 
 then think of the national character in which such 
 amusements are rife as those we have been describing : 
 where no kind of excitement is so welcome as that 
 which involves the shedding of human blood, and 
 where in the idle moments of pastime, and inflamed 
 by wine and a false code of honour, men engage in 
 deadly strife on the slightest cause. 
 
 Of course in such a state of things family feuds are 
 being constantly aroused. Injuries received in fair 
 fight are avenged by stealthy assassination, and the 
 prevailing habit of wearing arms combined with the
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 2G9 
 
 fiery tempers of those hot regions have their tendency 
 to multiply deeds of blood. As justice so rarely 
 intervenes that no one thinks of applying to her for 
 aid in such matters, it becomes a point of honour that 
 the nearest of kin to the slain should avenge his 
 murder. Until this has been done he can take part 
 in no fray, lest be should fall without having fulfilled 
 his duty to his kinsman ; and at a village festival men 
 have been heard to lament their hard fate that they 
 were restrained by such ties from taking their part in 
 some sanguinary quarrel. Of course the avenger 
 becomes in turn obnoxious to the wrath of his victim's 
 family, and so the circle of crime and hatred goes on 
 widening and extending its baneful influence. Painful 
 as it is to dwell upon such a picture, it is well that by 
 thus learning the facts that are passing in other lands 
 we should see in them a confirmation of the truths 
 revealed to us in the Bible. The heart of man is 
 '■ deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," 
 and only by the knowledge of salvation brought 
 liorae to it by the Holy Ghost, is that heart con- 
 verted and sanctified, and the evil truly remedied. 
 Civilisation and good laws may restrain the passions 
 and check outward violence, but beneath this restraint 
 the evil lurks and will burst out terribly at times. 
 The grace of God can cleanse the thought.s and 
 constrain men to live not unto themselves but unto 
 Him who died for them and rose again. 
 
 All accounts present us with strange pictures of 
 travelling in Mexico. On the northern border a con- 
 siderable trade was lately carried on between the 
 American States and the town of Chihuahua. Large 
 caravans of wagons, 'each dragged by five pairs of 
 mules, and accompanied by a large body of muleteers,
 
 270 MEXICO. 
 
 wagon drivers and others, traverse the vast unpeopled 
 plains that separate Missouri from the Mexican city. 
 The route over which they pass has no well formed 
 roads, no places of accommodation for travellers, and 
 no bazaars from which anything needful can be ob- 
 tained ; so that provision for the whole party, supplies 
 of clothing and every kind of article which may be 
 required b}^ the way, even to spare wheels and axle- 
 trees, has to be added to the merchandise, and swells 
 the bulk of the caravan. Where the path is firm, and 
 lack of water or any other cause renders it necessary to 
 press forward, from seventy to eighty miles can be 
 traversed in twenty-four hours, but where the mud 
 is deep the journey becomes painfully tedious. M. 
 Froebel mentions that on one occasion it occupied a 
 fortnight to get twenty-six wagons over a distance of 
 twelve English miles. 
 
 A curious scene is presented at the frontier town 
 from which the caravan starts on its journey across 
 the prairies. A number of men are lounging about 
 waiting for employment, like seamen on shore. Hun- 
 dreds of mules are driven up in herds, and when the 
 required number has been selected they are turned 
 into an enclosure formed by the wagons, which are 
 tied together by ropes at the wheels, one space only 
 being left open for the entrance. Men are stationed 
 with long whips to prevent the mules from creeping 
 under or leaping over the ropes. When all ai-e in the 
 corral, as the enclosure is termed, the muleteers pro- 
 ceed to harness their cattle, most of them being per- 
 fectly wild things that have never been broken : and a 
 famous struggle begins. 
 
 " The reader may picture to himself two or three hun- 
 dred wild mules with ten or fifteen men among them,
 
 SOCIAL COKDITION OF MEXICO. 271 
 
 each endeavouring to fling the lasso over the heads of 
 the animals one after another, to force the hit into their 
 mouths, and to lead each to its place before the wagon 
 to which it is to be harnessed. In a caravan of twenty 
 to thirty wagons this first attempt occupies the 
 greater part of the day, leaving no time to get the 
 wagons in motion. The mules well know the lasso, 
 and strive to escape it if possible. They crowd together 
 closely, first on one side and then on the other of the 
 corral, their heads turned to the centre, and hidden as 
 much as possible : others thrust their heads under the 
 wagons or between the wheels to prevent the lasso 
 reaching their necks ; while again others are more 
 cunning : they stand stock still as if they were actually 
 holding their necks patiently for the noose, but the 
 expression of their eye fixedly watching the man with 
 the lasso betrays their cunning. The man now whirls 
 the cord in serpentine coils round and round over his 
 head ; the noose flies hissing with the precision of an 
 arrow to its mark, whilst the animal stands as if rooted 
 to the spot, but by making a small side motion of its 
 head the lasso misses. 
 
 All these stratagems are, however, useless. Whilst 
 the drove rush from side to side of the corral, one 
 mule after another feels the lasso twisted round its 
 neck. Then it tears away rapidly after its companions, 
 dragging with it the man who holds the cord. A 
 second and a third now come to his aid. The hard 
 breathing of the half-strangled mules is heard amidst 
 all the uproar and confusion of the scene. At leno-th 
 the men succeed in drawing the end of the cord be- 
 tween the spokes of a wheel, and the animal is gra- 
 dually brought nearer and nearer to this point. As 
 soon as it is close to the wheel, the cord is drawn round
 
 272 iiExico. 
 
 its body, and again put between the spokes 9,0 that the 
 whole body is now brought into a noose. Thereupon the 
 men endeavour to force the bit between its teeth, and 
 just as they seera to have accompUshed this, the animal 
 in despair makes a last effort ; it throws itself upon 
 the ground, frees its legs from the cord by rolling over, 
 jumps up, and with the noose still tightly drawn round 
 its neck disappears in the thickest of the drove. The 
 chase now begins anew until the animal has a second 
 noose around its neck : half-strangled it is flung on the 
 ground and mastered by forcible means, until the bit is 
 in its mouth and the cord with a second noose fixed 
 round its nostril. Upon this it is let out of the corral, 
 and now begins the attempt to attach and harness it to 
 the wagon ; and considering that in this manner ten 
 mules are put to every carriage, and that this operation 
 goes on at the same time in different parts of the corral, 
 the reader may form an idea of the confusion of the 
 whole scene. When trying to harness them, the animals 
 entangle themselves in the harness, fling themselves or 
 the ground and trample upon and kick one another. 
 Sometimes they break loose and run off with part of 
 the harness, when the Mexicans follow in pursuit 
 mounted on the swiftest horses in the caravan. The 
 mule, with the draught chains clattering at his heels, 
 gallops madly on until the noose is again round its 
 neck, when it is brought in and harnessed anew." 
 
 We have not space to quote at its full length M.. 
 Froebel's amusing description of the desert journey. 
 When all is ready to start a fresh scene of confusion 
 follows. Some of the mules refuse to stir, others pull 
 in different directions from their companions in the 
 same team, others again tear madly along dragging 
 the wagons with such speed over the rough path as
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 273 
 
 th;eatens to knock them to pieces. Broken harness 
 lias then to he mentled, and many other vexatious 
 delays occur. Alter a day or two things settle into 
 their i)laces, and the journey becomes so monotonous 
 that any excitement would he gladly welcomed. 
 
 The caravans are subjected to many perils on their 
 march. Throughout the whole district the native In- 
 dian tribes are hostile to Mexicans and Americans alike, 
 and a constant watch has to be maintained or the traders 
 would fall a prey to these cunning foes. When it is 
 plain that the numbers and vigilance of the travellers 
 make it dangerous to attack them openl}^, the Indians 
 follow them stealthily, carry off everything they can lay 
 their hands on, and try to drive away the mules when 
 unharnessed at the close of the day. To prevent the 
 loss of their mules advantage is taken by the drivers of 
 the well-known fondness which the mule has for the 
 horse. Every caravan is accompanied by a mare with 
 a bell round her neck, called the bell mare, or the 
 mother mare, and the whole drove of mules follow her 
 closely. At night the bell mare is carefully tethered 
 near to the corral, and it is in vain that the Indians 
 endeavour to entice the mules from her ; but if they 
 succeed in carrying off the mare herself, they get pos- 
 session of the whole drove. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hardships endured by the way, 
 the necessity for keeping watch in turn through the 
 night, and the necessary absence of most of the ad- 
 vantages of social life, there seems to be a peculiar 
 charm in these expeditions. The discomfort, of course, 
 is greatly augmented in bad weather. A blanket 
 spread on the ground, wnth a saddle for a pillow, is not 
 a pleasant couch. If you seek refuge under the 
 wagons you probably find yourself lying in a puddle: 
 
 T
 
 27-1 MEXICO. 
 
 whilst the odour of the skins that are stretched over 
 the wagons makes a bed inside them far less tolerable. 
 But in fine weather, the sense of independence, the 
 waving vegetation stretching for leagues all round, 
 the clear dry air, all exert their influence over the 
 mind. And as the caravan winds along its path, 
 marked often by a tall line of sunflowers, the traveller 
 anticipates with regret a return to the restraints of 
 social and civilized life. 
 
 In almost all parts of Mexico alike travelling is 
 rendered dangerous from the insecurity of the roads. 
 The ancient hostility between the native Indians and 
 the Europeans or their descendants, seems to have 
 been aggravated rather than allayed by the lapse of 
 years ; and the disorganized condition of the country 
 since the period of the revolution has further tended 
 to increase the evil. Even between Vera Cruz and the 
 capital the public diligences could not travel unaccom- 
 panied by an escort of soldiers, and their presence 
 often adds but little to the confidence of the passengers, 
 as they would generally be the first to fly from banditti 
 if they wei'e not acting in concert with them. Robbers 
 armed to the teeth have long infested all the highways, 
 and so great is the cowardice of the Mexicans that a 
 single highwayman has been known to plunder a whole 
 party of men well provided with weapons. The country 
 has been now for many years at war either with the 
 Americans on its northern frontier, or torn asunder 
 by civil conflict ; and the dissolute soldiery frequently 
 take to the road, and thus supply themselves with 
 booty, their pay being often much in arrears. 
 
 It would be difficult to exaggerate the result of this 
 state of things. The common question put by any 
 one you may meet on the road is, "Que novedad hay?"
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 275 
 
 (F-j there anything new?) always having reference to 
 the doings of the rohhers. All along the journey from 
 the coast to Mexico the road is marked by wooden 
 crosses, each of which denotes the place where some 
 unfortunate traveller has been murdered. With the 
 nervous excitement so commonly seen in timid people, 
 the conversation in the diligence is usually enlivened 
 by minute particulars of some deed of more than ordi- 
 nary cnielty, or the driver will every now and then 
 put in his head to inform the passengers that they are 
 approaching a speciall}' dangerous spot. — " Now we are 
 in a very bad place : look to your arms." 
 
 The Mexicans very rarely think of resisting, and 
 the passengers have been known to protest in a body 
 when a stranger joined them fully prepared for defence. 
 "One fine morning," says Mr. Ruxton, "I took my seat 
 in the diligencia with a formidable battery of a double- 
 barrelled rifle, a ditto carbine, two brace of pistols, and 
 a blunderbuss. Blank were the faces of my four fellow 
 passengers when I entered thus equipped. They pro- 
 tested, they besought; every one's life would be sacrificed 
 were one of the party to resist. 'Gentlemen,' I said, 
 'here are arms for you all ; better for you to fight than 
 to be killed like a rat.' No ; they washed their hands 
 of it ; would have nothing to do with gun or pistol. 
 'Vaya; no es el costumbre' (it is not the custom)." 
 As may be supposed the robbers occasionally catch a 
 Tartar. They stopped the diligence with two English 
 naval officers inside, and ordered the passengers to get 
 out and fall on their faces ; a couple of shots through 
 the head was so satisfying a reply that the diligence 
 proceeded without further molestation. 
 
 The dansfcrs from the Indians by no means exhaust 
 the discomforts of travelling in Mexico. In the re-
 
 276 MEXICO. 
 
 moter districts the roads are rendered almost impassable 
 in bad weather, and every kind of misery is experienced 
 in striving to force one's vi^ay through a muddy path 
 where the mules stick fast beneath their burden. The 
 annals of our army in the Crimean campaign, and the 
 accounts which have reached us of Australian adventure, 
 will have made the minds of most of our readers familiar 
 with the distress which may be thus occasioned. To 
 traverse a muddy road, through a thick forest, where 
 the roots of trees project above the ground across the 
 path ; to be rolled over by the mule striking against 
 such an obstacle, with the double chance of being 
 brained against a tree or buried in the mud ; or to be 
 under your mule with the consciousness that he is kick- 
 ing furiously in his efforts to rise again, are not pleasant 
 incidents in a day's journey. Besides, on the narrow 
 mountain tracks, which in many places are the only 
 roads, it is not uncommon to meet, and be stopped by, a 
 long line of mules, and should any accident befiiU one 
 of the drove, all those behind must wait until matters 
 have been set straight again. Add to this that when, 
 after so miserable a day, the resting-place has at last 
 been reached, it is by no means unusual to find that all 
 forethought for the evening meal has been exercised 
 in vain, and that in the transit the supplies have 
 become mixed in confusion, and are quite spoiled. 
 Even after a long march it is impossible to drink 
 tea which has become mixed with oil, or eat bread 
 and meat which are plentifully sprinkled with gun- 
 powder. 
 
 The inns are quite in keeping with the roads. The 
 building generally surrounds a covirtyard appropriated 
 to the horses and mules, and contains a number of 
 rooms filthily dirty and without windows or fui'ni-
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 'All 
 
 ture. The court^-ard itself, save in the dry season, is 
 deep in mud ; and the house is utterly unprovided 
 with any refreshment for travellers. In more remote 
 ])laces the venta or meson, as the inn is teniied, is 
 often entirely deserted, and travellers on arriving have 
 to tear down the hoarding with which the entrance 
 to the courtyard has been blocked up to prevent ani- 
 mals from straying into it. 
 
 The notion that it is his business and his interest to 
 be civil and obliging never seems to enter into the 
 head of the keeper of a venta. On entering you shout 
 for the landlord, who appears with the key of the 
 granary, and serves out the fodder required for the 
 mules : the traveller is shown into a room with a 
 clay floor, a raised platform of stone in one corner for 
 a bed, and perhaps, as a special luxury, a small deal 
 table. The luggage from the mule's back is put down 
 in your room, and the saddles and harness in that of 
 your muleteer. In answer to demands for meat, eggs, 
 chocolate, or any other ordinary article of food, you will 
 probably be told, " We have none." You may very 
 likely forage through the whole village with little better 
 success. Tortillas and frijoles will probably alone re- 
 ward 3'our exertions. 
 
 In a meson at which the diligence stops you may, 
 perhaps, fare a little better. The conversation with 
 the landlord may take some such form as this. Tra- 
 veller.—" What' is there to eat ?" Landlord.—" Ah ! 
 my lord, there is nothing here." Traveller. — " Good- 
 ness ! what a country have we come to." Landlord 
 — " It is true, my lord, it is a very poor country." 
 Traveller. — " But what are we to do, we are dying 
 with hunger ? " Landlord. — " Well, if your worships 
 like it, they can have a fowl and frijoles, red peppers
 
 278 MEXICO. 
 
 and tortillas." * This is a fortunate issue ; but you 
 must not venture to ask for too much. An Enghsh- 
 man had the audacity to ask for some water to wash 
 in, and was accommodated with a small quantity in an 
 earthenware saucer : but when he requested a towel, 
 and endeavoui'ed to explain his wishes by using several 
 Spanish words, the indignation of the host could no 
 longer be restrained. " Oh, what a madman is this, 
 — towel, napkin, handkerchief — what on earth does he 
 want ? Yes, I see the fellow is half-witted, he wants 
 water, towels, everything." On reading the different 
 stories told of Mexican landlords we are tempted to 
 ask what is their business. It is not their business, 
 they say, to supply provisions, nor to furnish you with 
 the means of making yourself comfortable ; nor to give 
 any information as to other travellers, or the state of 
 the road ; nor, in short, to do anything which a guest is 
 likely to want. We should like to hear their duties 
 defined by themselves. 
 
 It is expected that any traveller who may arrive 
 shall be able to eat poached eggs and beans, without 
 the aid of plate, knife, fork, or spoon. The eggs are 
 taken up on a tortilla, and the beans fished out of the 
 dish by the aid of the same instrument. Chocolate is 
 served in a small hickory cup with a rounded bottom, so 
 that like an q^^ it cannot stand on the table, and you 
 must wind your pocket handkerchief into folds and set 
 the cup in it as a support. 
 
 There is another discomfort attending upon a so- 
 journ at the venta of a country town. No sooner is 
 the arrival of a stranger noised abroad, than the coiu't- 
 yard swarms with persons from every shop in the place 
 who come to press their wares upon him. Every kind 
 
 ♦ Eiiston, p. 63,
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 279 
 
 of article for home use or for the road, which the place 
 contains ; saddles, bridles, clothing, fruit in every va- 
 riety, pulque and colinche, are all pressed upon you by 
 the traders who clamour for your custom. Beggars 
 in great number and washerwomen generally swell the 
 throng. When these have taken themselves off, a more 
 respectable body will gather round the door simply to 
 stare at the traveller : indeed this inquisitive curiosity 
 in the Mexicans is most annoying. They will even 
 enter the room, (if they think you are disposed to suffer 
 them.) and pry closely into the baggage, or hang around 
 you to peer over what you are doing. 
 
 It is not difficult to convey a generally accurate 
 conception of the country towns of Mexico. Almost 
 without exception the}' bear the marks of decline, and 
 are inhabited by a population evidently inferior to that 
 which they once contained. Few of these towns are 
 without many deserted houses, and large buildings now 
 unoccupied speak of a prosperity which has passed 
 away. In many instances this is due to the failure of 
 the mines ; in others it is the result of civil war or of 
 earthquakes ; whilst in others again the insecurity of 
 the country has induced all to depai-t, save those whom 
 necessity obliged to remain. The unrivalled salubrity 
 of Chilmahua, and its favourable situation for trade, 
 have not been able to counterbalance the effect of these 
 baneful influences. The natural fertility of the country 
 fails to keep down the price of the very simplest pro- 
 visions. There are but few producers, and customers 
 are scarcer still. 
 
 We have already alluded to the insecurity of the 
 country in speaking of the dangers of travelling, but it is 
 not easy to estimate it truly without incurring a suspi- 
 cion of exaggeration. In the various mining and cattle
 
 280 MEXICO. 
 
 stations scattered ovei" the country, at a disiance from 
 any town, the inhabitants pass the life of those who are 
 liolding the territory against a foe. There is hardly a 
 homestead which has not its mournful story of sudden 
 raids of the Indians in which soiTie of the family have 
 been carried off or slain. Sometimes children are stolen 
 and brought up by the natives, so that they have 
 acquired a love for Indian life, and when recovered by 
 their friends have been unable to conform to the habits 
 of civilized life, and have escaped to rejoin the Indian 
 tribe. Smoking ruins, haciendas once flourishing now 
 deserted, occasionally a whole family swept away — 
 such are the miseries with which the traveller meets 
 on his journey. As an instance of the height to which 
 the evil has risen, it may be mentioned that at Chihua- 
 hua, the great emporium of trade with the United 
 Statesfit is not safe to take a short walk, even by day, 
 beyond the walls unarmed, and that flocks driven out to 
 pasture are guarded with artillery : whilst so precarious 
 is the life of the shepherds, " that merchants refuse to 
 give the most respectable of them credit, because they 
 may at any moment be murdered by the Indians." 
 
 The government, which is powerless to repress these 
 evils, is yet too suspicious of its own subjects to 
 allow them to associate together for mutual defence. 
 Attempts to recover property which had been carried 
 off by soldiers have been reprimanded as meddling 
 with the province of the military powers. Any of the 
 Anglo-Saxon races would demand of their rulers that 
 they should afford them adequate protection, or else 
 would organize a committee for their own safety, as 
 has been done in cases of emergency in California and 
 Australia. But the Spanish American races seem 
 totally devoid of any such energy of character.
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 281 
 
 We must, however, bring this sketcli of the social 
 condition of Mexico to a close. It is imi)ossible to 
 conclude it without a painful feeling of disappointment 
 that a country possessed of such natural advantages, 
 and with all the material elements of prosperity, should 
 yet remain in so sad a plight. To what are we to 
 attribute such a result ? Why have not the cultivation 
 of her fertile fields, and the working of her rich mines, 
 ensui'ed to Mexico the same benefits which our own 
 island home has derived from its agricultural and com- 
 mercial activity ? What is it that can have paralyzed 
 the vvell being of a people on whom with so lavish 
 kindness the gifts of God are strewn ? Is there any 
 explanation possible of so terrible an issue ? It is not 
 answer enough to attribute the result to the indolence 
 and apatliy of the Mexicans ; we must search deeper 
 still for the causes of that indolence and apathy.- 
 
 We believe tliat it admits of a truthful explanation. 
 The misery of Mexico is due to the intolerance of the 
 Romish priesthood, which has kept the people in gross 
 ignorance and withheld from them the word of life. 
 Fearful of any intellectual moveriient, lest it should 
 A^eaken their influence over the popular mind, the 
 Mexican clergy have allowed their flocks to grow up 
 in a state almost as barbarous as that of their Aztec fore- 
 fathers. A blind and superstitious adherence to the 
 ceremonies of the Romish church, united in many 
 instances with a secret adhesion to their pagan idols, 
 has been accepted as the most desirable frame of mind 
 for the native community ; and if the Creoles have had 
 a larger share of mere creature comforts they have 
 remained at neai-ly the same intellectual level. With- 
 out any ennobling or self-denying thoiight, without 
 any of the stimulus either to sacrifice of self or to
 
 282 MEXICO. 
 
 exertion of mind, which a knowledge of the Bible is 
 calculated to produce, without any conception of those 
 higher objects for which man was placed upon the 
 earth, no wonder if the Mexicans have sunk to so 
 degraded a condition. Mere material prosperity has 
 never ennobled a nation, nor has intellectual activity 
 and acuteness, without the influence of divine truth, — 
 of this India and China are conspicuous examples. 
 But of all the nations of the earth, perhaps Mexico 
 stands out as the most striking illustration of the 
 powerlessness of mere physical advantages to enrich a 
 country where virtue and religion are unknown. 
 
 But whilst we ponder over so mournful a picture, 
 should we not also be led to meditate on our own 
 responsibility in the possession of an open Bible and 
 a pure creed ? Who hath made us to differ ? and what 
 have we that we have not received ? If this precious 
 privilege be ours we must one da}'' answer for the 
 manner in which we have used it. As we look back 
 to the time when the Bible was first made known 
 through the land, we may say, " the Lord hath done 
 great things for us, whereof we are glad :" but when we 
 look into our own hearts, can we praise God that we 
 have found pardon and peace through the blood of 
 his Son ? All the superior benefits we enjoy as Eng- 
 lishmen are as nothing compared with those treasures 
 which Jesus purchased for us with his own blood, and 
 which he is ever ready to bestow on all that seek 
 them at his hand. We have a highly elaborated con- 
 dition of society, we have much active practical 
 benevolence, we have a polished intercourse with our 
 fellow countrymen, and countless elements of civili- 
 sation, all which tend to make our earthly life more 
 pleasant and to alleviate many of its ills ; but there is 
 
 1
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION OF MEXICO. 283 
 
 danger that amidst such outward improvement we 
 should forget that the heart of'man remains unchanged, 
 and that it needs as really and as thoroughly to be 
 converted by the Holy Spirit as does the heart of the 
 most uncivilized and uncouth savage. In spite of 
 the many distinctions between different nations of the 
 earth, all men are divided into two great classes, the 
 saved and the lost. May it be ours, as we have 
 the means, not to rest satisfied until we have received 
 the grace by which we are made " heirs of God, and 
 joint heirs witii Christ."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TTATUBAL PEODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 
 
 Beauty of Mexican scenery — Banana — Its productiveness — Its 
 preparation and use — Cassava — Maize — Maguey — Pulque 
 — Its preparation — Cliocolate — Friar Gage's account of its 
 preparation — Plantations of cocoa — Fruits — Tunas — Pine- 
 apples — Columnar cacti — Coyol palm — Flowers — Orcliids — 
 Bird-beaked oncidium — Fourcroya longKva — Cocliineal — 
 Its cultivation — Locusts — Their destructiveness — Arab 
 account of them — Tortoises — Turtles and their eggs — Alliga- 
 tors — Aboma — Golden -tree snake — Ehinophryue — Axolotl — 
 Buffaloes — Their herds and hunting — Prairie marmot — Their 
 villages and associates — Jaguar — Cougar — Prong-horned 
 antelope — Virginian opossum — Racoon- — Black vultures — 
 Their greed and fierceness — Owlets — Quails — Maternal in- 
 stinct — Parrots : chocollitos— Mocking bird- — Curious efiiects 
 of its song — Humming-birds : Flame-bearer ; Sabre-wing ; 
 Ruby-throat — The God of nature — Conclusion. 
 
 It would require many volumes fully to describe the 
 natural productions of Mexico, as tliey comprise the 
 choicest gifts conferred on almost every region of the 
 globe. In no country has the munificent hand of the 
 Creator dispersed more lavishly everything that is 
 pleasant to the eye and good for food. Mexico itself 
 is the land of flowers, of stately trees and waving palms 
 and ferns, of clustering vines and blooming cacti. Its 
 shores are laden with the rich vegetation of the tropics ; 
 its table-lands, at certain elevations, are smiling in an 
 atmosphere of eternal spring, that nourishes alike
 
 NATURAL PKODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 285 
 
 many of the fruits of the temperate and tropical zones, 
 and its wide-spreading plains are clothed with forests 
 of oak and pine or carpeted with fields of corn and 
 maize. Wlien the country was first discovered by the 
 Spaniards they found all the choicest productions of 
 the western hemisphere gathered within its boundaries ; 
 and since their entrance the kindly soil has welcomed 
 the introduction of almost every European species 
 which ministers to the wants of man. It is hai'dly an 
 exaggeration to say that in Mexico the most useful 
 and delicious natural productions of the entire globe 
 may now be gathered. 
 
 The beauty of Mexican scenery is wonderfully diver- 
 sified by this variety of vegetation. On the banks of 
 rivers and in every shaded spot beneath the tropical 
 zone a dense mass of foliage meets the eye —it is a sea 
 of intense green. Groves of plantain and cocoa-nut 
 trees, alternate with feathery palms and columnar cacti. 
 Beautiful parasites, such as the vanilla, wave in festoons 
 from the tallest trees and dip their long tendrils down 
 into the water as if to drink and carry life to the 
 trunks that bear them. Huge aloes and prickly pears 
 present an almost impenetrable wall. Magnificent 
 orchids jut out abruptly from the branches of living 
 trees or fasten upon the dead trunks that lie scattered 
 in the forests. "Whilst the maguey, the tall bending 
 reeds of the sugar cane, and a multitude of other plants, 
 with their fruits and flowers, diversify the landscape. 
 The woods resound with the loud chatter of birds of 
 gaudy plumage: cardinals, catbirds, macaws, and parrots, 
 flit from tree to tree, or swing upon the boughs. Beautiful 
 little humming birds dart to and fro, or hang poised 
 on murmuring wings at the mouth of some favourite 
 flower. Monkeys with noisy chatter and sudden shrieks
 
 286 MEXICO. 
 
 chase one another in the branches, or sit demurel}'" 
 watching the passing traveller. Every pool swarms 
 with water-fowl — ducks, cranes and bitterns. The 
 very air seems alive with insects, and at eventide 
 clouds of fire-flies glitter in the twilight. There is, 
 we must admit, a reverse to so fair a picture. Poi- 
 sonous serpents lurk amidst the long grasses of the 
 forest. Swarms of mosquitoes attack every inch of 
 unprotected skin and irritate the unhappy sufferer 
 almost to madness. And, worse than all, amidst the 
 luxuriant vegetation the deadly malaria takes its rise, 
 whose virulence is so terrible that it decimates the 
 population and has given to Vera Cruz the ill-omened 
 title of " City of the Dead." 
 
 From the description we have already given of the 
 character of the Mexicans, our readers will be prepared 
 to learn that full advantage is not taken of these great 
 natural blessings. Jalisco probably enjoys the best 
 situation in point of soil, climate, and communication 
 with the coast, but it is described by Mr. Ruxton as a 
 district "where all tx'opical productions wi^V/A^ be cul- 
 tivated and are not." Yet the list of fruits which 
 are offered for sale in its markets is sufficiently tempt- 
 ing. It comprises oranges, lemons, grapes, chirimoyas, 
 bananas, platanos, plantains, camotes, granaditas, ma- 
 mayes, tunas, pears, and apples. Cotton, cochineal, and 
 vanilla, as well as every variety of cereal can be raised • 
 yet most of these species are abandoned to the spon- 
 taneous production of nature, and little or no labour is 
 bestowed upon them. To gather such fruits as grow 
 of themselves, to cultivate very imperfectly a small 
 patch of maize or plantains, and to starve when this 
 • ill-tended crop fails him, is the habit of the Mexican 
 Indian. How largely his indolence has been fostered
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 287 
 
 by the fertility of his native soil will be seen as we 
 proceed to speak of some individual products. 
 
 Foremost amongst the plants which are used for 
 food in Mexico we must place the banana and the 
 plantain. They are as much the staple food of the 
 native population as rice is in India and China. 
 Humboldt questions whether any other kind of plant 
 upon the earth's surface produces so considerable an 
 amount of nourishment as the banana. It is propa- 
 gated by suckers ; and eight or nine months after the 
 sucker is planted the banana begins to come to matu- 
 rity. The fruit may be gathered in the tenth or 
 eleventh month. When the stem is cut after gathering 
 the fruit, there is generally found among the numerous 
 shoots a scion which has already attained two-thirds 
 of the height of the parent tree, and which beai's fruit 
 tliree months later. So that in a plantation of bananas, 
 it is only necessary to cut down the stems of the ripe 
 fruit, and to dig once or twice a-year about the roots 
 in order to obtain an excellent crop. In the course of 
 a year a plot of ground of a thousand square yards will 
 produce four thousand pounds weight of bananas • 
 whereas it would only have yielded about thirty pounds 
 of corn, or ninety pounds of potatoes. Or as corn 
 contains more nutriment than the banana, the com- 
 parative productiveness of the two crops will be more 
 truly estimated from the fact that a piece of ground 
 which, if planted with corn would support two persons, 
 will maintain fifty if planted with bananas. Nothing 
 astonishes Euro])eans more than the extreme smallness 
 of the extent of cultivated land about huts which con- 
 tain a numerous family of natives. 
 
 The fruit of the banana is consumed in a variety of 
 forms. It is sometimes roasted, sometimes eaten raw.
 
 288 MEXICO. 
 
 It is also dried, like figs, in the sun. In this latter 
 form it is very popular with the natives, but Europeans 
 find it hard and indigestible. A sort of farina is also 
 made from it by cutting the green fruit into slices and 
 drying it in the sun, and when it has thus become 
 friable it is reduced to a powder. So productive a 
 plant has had a tendency to encourage indolent habits. 
 In a climate where very little clothing is required, 
 where the heat contributes to enervate the frame, and 
 where nature demands but little sustenance beyond 
 that supplied by vegetable products, the ordinary 
 stimulants to exertion are wanting. With his little 
 plot of ground and his rude hut, the Indian of Mexico 
 was perfectly content, and the Spanish government, 
 which desired to carry off the profits of his increased 
 energy, Avas frequently urged to arouse the people to 
 further exertions by the destruction of the banana 
 plantations. In many districts of Mexico one man 
 without any fatiguing labour could support an entire 
 family by working two days only in the week. 
 
 The same district in which the banana is cultivated 
 produces the jatropha or cassava, from the root of 
 which manioc or tapioca is obtained. There ai'e two 
 species of cassava, the sweet and the bitter. The juice 
 of the latter is poisonous until it has been boiled, when 
 it may be used with impunity. The cultivation of 
 manioc requires more care than that of the banana, 
 and implies a higher degree of civilisation among the 
 people who make use of it. Humboldt remarks that 
 a New Zealander would not have had the patience to 
 wait for so tardy a crop. 
 
 It is amusing to read Friar Gage's account of the 
 cassava: — "It hath," he writes, "near forty kinds of 
 leaves, which serve for many uses. For when they
 
 TfATURAL PEODUCTIOSS OF MEXICO. 289 
 
 be tender they make of them conserves, paper, flax, 
 mantles, mats, shoes, girdles, and cordage. On these 
 leaves grow certain prickles, so strong and sharp that 
 they use them instead of saws. From the root of this 
 tree cometh a juice like unto syrup, which being sodden 
 will become sugar. You may also make of it wine and 
 vinegar. The Indians oiten become drunk with it. 
 The rind roasted healeth hurts and sores, and from the 
 top boughs issueth a gum which is an excellent anti- 
 dote against poison." 
 
 Superior in importance, at least in Mexico, to any of 
 the plants just described is the culture of maize or 
 Indian corn. At the period of the Spanish conquest 
 this plant was cultivated from the south of Chili as far 
 north as Pennsylvania, and it is still so widely sown 
 throughout Spanish America that when the crop fails 
 a general famine is the result. The maize is too well 
 known in Europe to require any elaborate descrip- 
 tion ; but its fruitfulness in Mexico far surpasses 
 that at which it arrives in the old world. Most of 
 the domestic animals in Mexico are fed upon Indian 
 corn. Fowls, dogs, and mules, all suffer alike when 
 there is a scarcity, and the most terrible results 
 have ensued on its failure in such districts as 
 Guanaxuato, where, at one time, more than 14-,000 
 mules were employed in working the silver mines. 
 No plant varies so much as does the maize in the 
 return which it yields to the husbandman. In some 
 oases it produces fortyfold, in others it rises to 
 three hundred. In warm and damp regions two and 
 even three crops may be raised in a year ; the indolent 
 Mexican, however, is generally content with one. 
 jNIaize is served up to table in a great variety of shapes. 
 The grain is boiled in water or parched, and the flour 
 
 u
 
 290 MEXICO. 
 
 is made into a nutritious bread, termed tortillas, or em- 
 ployed in the manul'actui-e of a kind of gruel, sweetened 
 with honey or sugar, and called "atolli," of which no 
 less than sixteen varieties are to be met with in the 
 recipe books of Mexican housewives. 
 
 The principal injury to the maize crop in Mexico is 
 inflicted by the langosta — a species of locust, which at 
 times descends upon the corn fields in such a swarm 
 that the widest breadth of land which has been sown is 
 entirely stripped in the course of a few hours. The 
 langosta makes a periodical visitation to many districts, 
 but does not generally alight upon the fields which are 
 planted high up upon the mountain sides, and by sowing 
 his seed above the range usually taken by the destroy- 
 ing insect the Indian frequently contrives to escape his 
 ravages. 
 
 Any enumeration of the commoner articles of food 
 would be very incomplete which failed to make mention 
 of pulque — the national liquor of Mexico. "The 
 maguey (American aloe), Agava Americana,'''' says Mr. 
 Kuxton, "is cultivated over an extent of country em- 
 bracing fifty thousand squai'e miles. In the city of 
 Mexico, alone, the consumption of pulque amounts to 
 the enormous quantity of eleven millions of gallons 
 per annum, and a considerable revenue is derived by 
 the government from its sale. The plant attains 
 maturity in a period varying from eight to foui-teen 
 years, when it flowers ; and it is during the stage of 
 inflorescence only that the saccharine juice is extracted. 
 The central stem, which encloses the incipient flower, 
 is then cut ofl^ near the bottom, and a cavity or basin 
 is discovered, over which the surrounding leaves are 
 drawn close and tied. Into this reservoir the juice 
 distils, which otherwise would have risen to support
 
 NATUIIAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 291 
 
 and nourish the flower. It is removed three or four 
 times during the twenty-four hours, yielding a quantity 
 of Hquor varying- from a quart to a gallon and a half. 
 
 " The juice is extracted hy means of a syphon made 
 of a species of gourd, called acojote, one end of which is 
 placed in the liquor, the other in the mouth of a person 
 who, by suction, draws up the fluid into the pipe and 
 deposits it in the bowls he has with him for the 
 purpose. It is then placed in earthen jars, and a little 
 old pulque, called the madre do pulque (mother of 
 pulque), is added, when it soon ferments, and is im- 
 mediatel}' ready for use. The fermentation occupies 
 two or three days, and when it ceases the pulque is in 
 fine order. Old pulque has a slightly' unpleasant odour, 
 which heathens have likened to the smell of putrid 
 meat ; but when fresh it is brisk and sparkling, and 
 the most cooling, refre.shing, and delicious drink that 
 ever was invented for thirst}^ mortal." 
 
 No less characteristic is the consumption of choco- 
 late in Mexico. Old Gage waxes quite eloquent as he 
 describes the virtues of this article of food and the 
 various methods in which it was served up two centuries 
 ago : — "The tree which doth bear the cacao is so deli- 
 cate, and the earth where it doth grow is so extreme hot, 
 that to keep the tree from being consumed by the sun 
 they first plant other trees, which they call madrcs del 
 cacao (mothers of the cacao), and when they are grown 
 up to a good height, fit to shade the cacao trees, then 
 they plant the cacaotals. The fruit doth not grow 
 naked : but many of them are in one great husk, and 
 therein besides every grain is closed up in a white 
 juicy skin, which the women also love to suck off from 
 the cacao, finding it cool, and in tlie mouth dissolving 
 into water. There are two sorts of cacao, the one is
 
 292 MEXICO. 
 
 common, which is of a dark colom*, incHning towards 
 red, being round and peaked otf at the ends. The 
 other is broader, and bigger, and flatter : this is white 
 and is more dr^ang ; and this especially more than the 
 other causeth watchfulness and driveth away sleep, and, 
 therefore, is not so useful as the ordinary. 
 
 "As for the rest of the materials which make up this 
 chocolatical confection there is notable variety. For 
 some put into it black pepper, which is not well ap- 
 proved of by the physicians, because it is so hot and 
 dry ; but commonly, instead of this, they put into it 
 long red pepper, called chile, which, though it be hot 
 in the mouth is yet cool and moit^t in its operation. 
 It is further compounded with white sugar, cinnamon, 
 clove, aniseed, almonds, hazel nuts, orange-flower 
 water, some musk, and as much of achiotte (whatever 
 that may be) as will make it look the colour of a red 
 brick. But how much of each of these may be applied 
 to such a quantity of cacao the several dispositions of 
 men's bodies must be their rule. The ordinary receipt 
 ©f Antonio Colmenero was this : — To every hundred 
 jacaos two pods of chile, one handful of aniseed 
 and orejuales, and two of the flowers called bainilla 
 (vanilla r) six roses of alexandora, beat to powder, two 
 drachms of cinnamon, of almonds and hazel nv.ts of 
 each one dozen, of white sugar half a pound, of achiotte 
 enough to give it the colour." 
 
 After this elaborate description of a dainty then 
 unknown in England, Friar Gage enters upon the 
 medicinal qualities of some of the above-named in- 
 gredients, and descends to particulars which we cannot 
 transfer to these pages. Nor will the greater fasti- 
 diousness of modern taste cause our readers the loss oi 
 much valuable knowledge ; for the worthy friar accounts
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 293 
 
 for tlie effects produced by the intermixture of hot and 
 cold materials in a way that seems hardly intelligible 
 to himself, and which sounds to us like arrant nonsense. 
 '"Now for the making and compounding of this drink 
 I shall set down here the method. The cacao and other 
 ingredients, having first been all of them dried, must 
 be beaten in a mortar of stone. When it is well 
 beaten or incorporated, then with a spoon is taken up 
 some of the paste, which wiU be almost liquid, and is 
 made into tablets ; or without a spoon put into boxes, 
 and when it is cold it will be hard." Then follow 
 further learned discussions on some particles of the 
 chocolate which "do pinguefie and make fat," when it 
 is boiled in water, and which fat is removed. But the 
 strangest paragraph to our modern notions is one in 
 which Gage suggests that we should trade with the 
 Spaniards for it, '"not slighting it so much as we and 
 the Hollanders have often done upon the Indian seas ; 
 of whom I have heard the Spaniards say, that when 
 we have taken a good prize, a ship laden with cacao, 
 in anger and wrath we have hurled overboard this good 
 commodity, not regarding the worth of it." 
 
 The tree which produces the cacao nut is known to 
 botanists by the generic name of theobroma, a Greek 
 word which signifies "food for a god." It seldom 
 rises to a greater height than twenty feet, and has 
 large, oblong and pointed leaves, not unlike those of 
 the hickory. The flowers are small and of a pale red 
 colour, and as these fall off large pods are gradually 
 formed, measuring from four to five inches in length, 
 and turning to a reddisli colour as they ripen. Some of 
 the pods will contain as many as fifty nuts. Besides 
 the plantains mentioned in Gage's description as the 
 mothers of the cacao, it is customary to plant au
 
 294 MEXICO. 
 
 erytheina, or coral tree, by the side of each cacao tree, 
 and as the erjtheina grows very rapidly, it after a time 
 affords all the requisite protection from the sun's rays, 
 and the plantain is then cut down. "The coral tree 
 attains to a height of sixty feet, and at the end of 
 March or the beginning of April throws out a multi- 
 tude of flowers of a bright crimson colour. At this 
 season an extensive plain covered with cacao plantations 
 is a magnificent object. Viewed from a height the 
 far-stretching forests of erytheina present the appear- 
 ance of being clothed in flames." 
 
 Mr. Squier, to whose pages we are indebted for some 
 of these particulars with respect to the cacao tree, 
 furnishes us with fui-ther information as to its com- 
 mercial importance. Before the conquest the nuts 
 were not only extensively used as food, but were also 
 employed as money ; and, at the present day, they 
 are found necessary as a medium of exchange for small 
 purchases in all the principal towns of Central America. 
 Two hundred nuts are estimated as equivalent to a 
 dollar. 
 
 " The cacao tree is so delicate and so sensitive to ex- 
 posure that gi'eat care is requisite to preserve it during 
 the earlier years of its growth. It commences to bear 
 in seven or eight years, and continues productive for 
 from thirty to fifty years. Capital and time are 
 therefore requisite to start an estate, but once estab- 
 lished it is easily enlarged by annual additions. One 
 man it is calculated is able to take care of a thousand 
 trees and harvest their crop. As a consequence cacao 
 estates are more valuable than those of sugar, cotton, 
 indigo, or cochineal. A good plantation, with fair 
 attention, will yield an annual average product of 
 twenty ounces of nuts per tree, which, for one thousand
 
 NATUKAL PHODUCTIOJJS OF MEXICO. 295 
 
 trees, equals twelve hundred pounds. At the usual 
 market price this would give three hundred dollars per 
 annum for each thousand trees and each labourer. An 
 e;itate is valued at a dollar per tree." * 
 
 In speaking of the plants used for food we must not 
 omit to mention the various kinds of beans, which, 
 under the general name of frijoles, are universally 
 employed at the tables of the Mexicans. You can 
 hardly sit down to a meal in Mexico, wbatever may be 
 its character, without having /yyWes and tortillas placed 
 before you. 
 
 Let us turn for a moment to the fruits, the number 
 of which is almost endless. Limes, lemons, oranges, 
 apples, pears, grapes, citrons, tamarinds, tunas or 
 prickly pears, guavas, pines, mangoes, chirimoyas, 
 granaditas, mamays, papayas, zapotes, apricots, jocotes, 
 and many others, are all to be met with in the different 
 parts of Mexico. One of the most widely spread is 
 the tuna, or prickly pear, and around almost every 
 village, and sometimes for a considerable distance 
 aloiig the road side, there are orchards of this fruit, 
 and women pile up large quantities under the trees 
 vvitli the prickles removed ready for eating. The 
 (juantity of tunas which a Mexican muleteer will 
 consume is something astounding, a pile of the fruit 
 disappearing with incredible rapidity under their 
 attacks. The fruit is full of juice, very nourishing 
 and wholesome, and particularly grateful alter a hot 
 and dusty journey across the table-land. As the 
 traveller rides along he can frequently pluck a deli- 
 cious tunli hanging over his path, and thus refresh 
 himself without stopping. Gage tell us that in his 
 day the Spaniards used to jest with strangers by 
 
 * Squicr's Central America.
 
 296 MEXICO. 
 
 taking half-a-dozen prickles of the tuna and rubbing 
 them in a napkin, " wherewith a man wiping his 
 mouth to drink, those little prickles stick in his lips, so 
 that they seem to sew them up together, and make 
 him for a while to falter in his speech, till with much 
 rubbing and washing they come off." 
 
 Pine apples are common enough in Mexico, and are 
 made into a very delicious preserve. The raw fruit is 
 not so popular, as from its very cold aad juicy nature 
 it is thought to be productive of diarrhcea. To correct 
 any such injm-ious tendency the Mexican housewives 
 cut the pine apple into slices and soak it for half-an- 
 hour in salt and water. The slices are then placed in 
 fresh water, and so served up for desert. 
 
 Besides the vegetable products already mentioned 
 there are certain trees and shrubs which contribute to 
 give its special character to Mexican scenery, and 
 which, thei'efore, must not be passed over in silence. 
 One of the most striking of these is the columnar 
 cactus, or organo, (so called from its resemblance to 
 the pipes of an organ,) which is used as a hedge to 
 enclose the gardens and fields of the Indian villages. 
 The hedge of organo may be called a living vegetable 
 wall, and its only fault is that it requires attention or 
 it will grow too high : as the columns frequently reach 
 to fifteen or twenty feet. A fence of this cactus is 
 formed with very little trouble. Old plants are split 
 up into stumps of a certain length, and these are 
 planted side by side, care being taken not to put them 
 upside down. Instead of remaining a fence of dead 
 timber the plants soon strike root and form a living 
 iiedge, through which pigs and poultry cannot force 
 their way. 
 
 Another very beautiful feature in the forest of
 
 NATUBAL PKODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 297 
 
 Mexico is the cocoyol or eoyol palm, whose leaves, 
 varying from fifteen to twenty feet in length, bend 
 like gigantic plumes almost to the earth in curves of 
 exquisite grace. " This palm produces a flower nearly 
 a yard in length, golden in colour, which bursts from 
 a pod of richest brown, and is followed by a cluster of 
 nuts, each of the size of a grape shot, from sixty to a 
 hundred in number. The shell is thick, hard, black, 
 and capable of being finely carved and polished. It is 
 frequently worked into rings and other ornaments by 
 the Indians. The kernel resembles wax, but is harder, 
 and rich in oil. It is extracted by crushing the nuts 
 and placing them in vases of water, whence it is 
 skimmed as it rises to the surface." 
 
 Frequent reference has been made in the former part 
 of this volume to the flowers with which Mexico 
 abounds, and which were so largely used by the 
 Mexicans before the Spanish conquest. In strange 
 contrast with the terrible human sacrifices offered by 
 the Aztecs were the garlands worn by the ofliciating 
 priests, and with which their trembling victims were 
 not unfrequently decorated. The native Indians still 
 retain the same passionate fondness for flowers. The 
 laziest of them will cultivate a few bright blossoms 
 around his hut, or, at least, will select a site for his 
 dwelling where flowers spring up abundantly from the 
 soil. We cannot then omit a passing notice of the 
 strange and beautiful tribe of orchids, which gives a 
 special character to much of the tropical vegetation 
 of Mexico, as well as to a large part of the more 
 temperate regions of the table-land. 
 
 We have lately become familiar with many of the 
 orchids in this country, and their strange habits, their 
 unusual forms, often at once grotesque and beautifid,
 
 298 MEXICO. 
 
 their extreme brilliancy of colour, and the great rarity 
 uf many of the choicer specimens, invest them with a 
 peculiar interest. Every one novv-a-days pays a visit 
 to some of the large flower shows held in town and 
 country, and there beholds some of this noble family 
 of plants, strangely perched upon some fragment of 
 bark or some branch of a tree, and setting all our 
 pi'econceived notions at defiance by thrusting out its 
 ilowers in the direction in which any other plant would 
 strike its roots. Although the orchids are often termed 
 parasites, yet the epithet is not correctly to be applied 
 to them, since they do not draw their sustenance from 
 the trees on which they grow. You may cut off the 
 branch on which a large orchid has established itself 
 and the flower will continue to flourish in entire indif- 
 ference as to whether its supporter lives or dies. 
 
 We wish it were possible for us to convey by our 
 description any adequate idea of the beauty of these 
 flowers. At one time, growing upon the branch of a 
 living tree, at another, springing from the bark of 
 some prostrate giant, they everywhere meet the eye 
 of the traveller through the forests of Mexico. From 
 a knot of bulbous roots there sprout long graceful 
 leaves, often exceeding two feet in length, amidst which 
 bloom the most gorgeous flowers ; now rising on an 
 upright stem, as in the family of the epidendra, and 
 now again bending gracefully downwards, as in the 
 long and straggling garlands of the oncidia. 
 
 In no quarter of the woi-ld do the orchids assume 
 such grotesque and marvellous shapes as in Mexico. 
 There is a strange fellow, culled the Oncidium Ornu 
 thorliyncum, or bird-beaked oncidium, which resembles 
 a swan : the flower itself forming the body, and its 
 stalk the arched, graceful neck of the bird. This ex-
 
 NATl'EAL mODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 299 
 
 quisite orcliid is found in Mechoiican, and throws out 
 groups of beautiful pink flowers of the shape we 
 have mentioned, flowing down from the plant on fine 
 thin stems. It is diflicult to conceive a more elegant 
 plant. The blossoms have the scent of fresh hay. 
 
 Ill complete contrast with the bird-beaked oncidium 
 is the Ciirtovlnlum bictonienae, which has a long spear- 
 like stem adorned with purple or rose-coloured blooms. 
 A very strange and magnificent plant was found in 
 a dark ravine near Jalapa. From the bottom of its 
 bulbs issue flower-stems from one to two feet in length, 
 (its leaves often exceed this size,) and out of these 
 sprout globose j'ellovv flowers. This is named Bar- 
 ker's Peristeria. Amongst the more striking exam- 
 ples of the Mexican orchids we may also name the 
 Epidendrnm Auranliacum, with its erect masses of 
 golden orange blossoms; the Lcdia Autumnale,vi\i\c}a. has 
 large, handsome, and fragrant flowers, and is commonly 
 known as " the Flower of the Saints" in Mexico ; and 
 last, but not least curious, the Mor Pardina, so called 
 from its strange likeness to a leopard. 
 
 Among the more exceptional vegetable productions 
 of the country is one found upon INIount Tanga, in 
 Oaxaca, the Fourcroya Longmva. It is a species of 
 gigantic yacca, and belongs to the family of ama- 
 ryllidaeea. Its stem rifses fifty feet in height, and above 
 this its flower-spike springs up some forty feet more, 
 the entire length of wliich is clothed with flowers in as 
 close array as the fox-gloves that abound in our English 
 woods and hedges. 
 
 The transition is easy from plants to insects, as a 
 very close relation exists between the vegetable world 
 and two of the most important insects of Mexico. The 
 first of these is the cochineal {coccus cacti) one of the
 
 300 MEXICO. 
 
 most valuable products of the country. When the 
 Spaniards arrived they found the dye obtained from 
 the cochineal already in use among the people, and as 
 an indigenous product of the country it demands a full 
 description at our hands. 
 
 The cochineal reaches its perfection onl}^ when fed 
 upon certain varieties of the cactus, the nopal of the 
 ancient Mexicans. This insect is chiefly cultivated in 
 Oaxaca, where some of the plantations contain fifty or 
 sixty thousand nopals, planted in lines, and all kept 
 down to a level height of four feet, that the insects 
 may be more readily gathered from them. 
 
 " The cultivators prefer the more prickly varieties of 
 the plant as affording protection to the cochineal from 
 other insects ; to prevent which from depositing their 
 eggs in the flower or fruit both are carefully cut off. The 
 greatest quantity, however, of cochineal employed in 
 commerce is produced in small nopaleries belonging to 
 Indians of extreme poverty, called nopaleros. They 
 plant their nopaleries in cleared ground, on the slopes 
 of mountains or ravines, two or three leagues distant 
 from their villages ; and when properly cleaned, the 
 plants are in a condition to maintain the cochineal in 
 the third year. As a stock the proprietor, in April or 
 May, purchases branches or joints of the tuna de 
 castilla, laden with small cochineal insects recently 
 hatched. These branches, which may be bought in 
 the market of Oaxaca for about half-a-crown the 
 hundred, are kept for twenty days in the interior of 
 their huts, and then exposed to the open air under a 
 shed, where, from their succulency, they continue to 
 live for many months. In August and September the 
 mother cocliineal insects, now big with voung, are 
 placed in nests made of a species of tillandsia, called
 
 NATURAL PHODrCTI 3>'S OF MEXICO. 301 
 
 taxtlo, -vvhicli are distributed upon the nopals. In 
 about four months the first gathering, yielding twelve 
 for one, may be made, which in the course of the year 
 is succeeded by two more profitable harvests. In 
 colder climates the seeding (semilla) as it is termed, 
 is not placed upon the nopals until October or even 
 December, when it is necessary to shelter the young 
 insects by covering the nopals with nish mats, and 
 the harvests are proportionably later and unproductive. 
 In the immediate vicinity of the town of Oaxaca the 
 nopaleros feed their cochineal insects in the plains 
 from October to April, and at the beginning of the 
 remaining months, during which it rains in the plains, 
 transport them to their plantations of nopals in the 
 neighbouring mountains, where the weather is more 
 favourable."* 
 
 The greatest attention is necessary when the 
 insects first begin to deposit their young upon the 
 nopals. The nests or boxes in which the mother 
 insects have been placed are pinned to the leaves 
 of the cactus, and in a few hours, if the weather be 
 favourable, the leaf will be covered with the young 
 insects. The nest must then be removed to another 
 leaf and so on until the whole plantation is swarming 
 witli the little creatures. Care must also be taken that 
 too many of the young ones do not fasten upon a 
 single leaf, as in that case they will not come to 
 perfection owing to lack of sufficient nourishment, 
 and the crop will be much deteriorated in value. The 
 seeding cannot be performed successfully during a high 
 wind, and should an unexpected shower come on, or 
 even a heavy dew, it will wash the young from the 
 leaves and destroy an entire crop in a few minutes, 
 
 • Kirby and Spen ;e'8 Entomology.
 
 302 MEXICO. 
 
 The most valualile cochineal in the market consists of 
 the dead bodies of the mother insects, gathered after 
 they have done breeding, this is known in the trade 
 as " black cochineal ; " the " silver cochineal " is com- 
 posed of the 3'ounger insects. 
 
 " If the 3'oung escapes injury during the first ten 
 days after it attaches itself to tlie leaf of the nopal it 
 has a fair chance of reaching perfection. At the end 
 of about twenty days it undergoes its first muda, 
 or transformation, and about a month thereafter its 
 second change, with each change slightly shifting its 
 position on the leaf. At the period of the first muda 
 the male and female insects are about the same 
 number, but fifteen daj^s before the second change the 
 male grub passes into a chrysalis, with a downy 
 covering. He next spins a fine thread, and letting go 
 his hold on the leaf hangs therefrom for fifteen days 
 more. He then breaks his shell and emerges in the 
 form of a very small fly. As soon as the impregnation 
 is eS"ected he drops from the leaf and dies. The in- 
 sects remaining are all females, which reach maturity 
 in about ninety daj's, and then commence to breed. 
 It is left upon the leaf long enough to produce a 
 sufficient quantity of j^oung insects for the second crop, 
 which attach themselves to the same leaves and repeat 
 the changes already described." * 
 
 The insect is liable to injury during the operation 
 of gathering it from the leaf, and it is commonly 
 brushed off with a squirrel's tail or just touched with 
 a pointed piece of cane. For hours together the 
 patient Indian women sit beside the same plant, and 
 were not their labour so very cheaply procured it is 
 questionable whether any crop could be raised which 
 
 * Squier.
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 303 
 
 sliould give a profit on tlie cost of its production. 
 The insects when collected are killed by throwing 
 them into hoiling water or placing them in the ovens 
 of vapour baths. 
 
 "Whilst the cochineal is so great a. source of profit 
 to the Mexican, nothing can be more destructive 
 than the locust of which we have already spoken. 
 Some conception may be formed of the myriads in 
 which this terrible insect at times appears froni the 
 statement of Mr. Squier, that he once rode through 
 a column of locusts which was fully ten miles in 
 width. When present in such masses tliey darken 
 the air as they swarm together in clouds, and in 
 their passage they destroy every green thing before 
 them. A whole forest will become brown with the 
 multitudes that settle upon the trees, and appear as 
 though it had been seared with fire, and the air will 
 be filled with them as thickly as with the falling 
 flakes in a snow storm. 
 
 "Their course," writes Mr. Squier, "is always from 
 south to north. They make their first appeai'ance as 
 saltoneft of diminutive size, with red bodies and wingless, 
 when they swarm over the ground like ants. At this 
 time vast numbers of them are killed by the natives, 
 who dig long trenches two or three feet deep and 
 drive the saltones into them. Unable to leap out, the 
 trench soon becomes half filled with the young insects, 
 when the earth is shovelled back and they are thus 
 buried and destroyed. They are often driven in this 
 way into the rivers and drowned. Various expedients 
 are resorted to by the owners of plantations to prevent 
 passing columns from alighting. Sulphur is burned in 
 the fields, guns are fired, drums beaten, and every 
 mode of making a noise put in requisition for the
 
 304 MEXICO. 
 
 purpose. In this mode detached plantations are often 
 saved ; but when the columns once alight no device 
 can avail to rescue them from speedy desolation. In a 
 single hour the largest maize fields are stripped of their 
 leaves, and only the stems are left to indicate that 
 they once existed." 
 
 The plains of Mexico are not the only region of the 
 world which is liable to the incursions of tlie locust ; 
 their deadly invasions are equally dreaded by the 
 inhabitants of every country which they are wont to 
 visit. So terrible does this insect, which resembles a 
 grasshopper in form, appear in the ej'es of the Arabs, 
 that they assert that it has the head of a horse, the 
 eyes of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the chest of 
 a lion, the belly of a scorpion, the neck of a bull, the 
 wings of an eagle, the thighs of a camel, the legs of an 
 ostrich, and the tail of a serpent. This long list of 
 members is intended, we presume, metaphoiically to 
 delineate the invincible nature of the plague which 
 they occasion. The same thought is expressed more 
 pithily in the fabled address of the locust to Mahomet. 
 " We are the army of the great God ; we produce 
 ninetj'-nine eggs ; if the hundred were com])leted we 
 should consume the whole earth, and all that is in it." 
 
 The other insect plagues of Mexico are the same as 
 those which trouble everj^where the inhabitants of 
 tropical regions. Mosquitoes swarm in the neighbour- 
 hood of every piece of water ; horrible little fleas, 
 called chigoe/i, bury themselves beneath the skin and 
 produce painful ulcers if they be not speedily extracted; 
 and bugs swarm in all the cabins of the natives, as 
 well as in the inns to which the traveller betakes 
 himself. 
 
 There is no lack of reptiles in Mexico, and foremost
 
 NATUEAL TRODUCTIONS OF 'MEXICO. 305 
 
 In importance amon>^st tliem are the family of tor- 
 toises and turtles. The delicacy of the flesh of turtle 
 was unknown in England two centuries ago, and we 
 doubt not that the aldermen of that neriod envied the 
 experience of Father Gage as they read his description 
 of so novel a dainty. "We fed," he writes, "for the 
 first week almost upon nothing but tortoise, which 
 seemed likewise to us, that had never before seen it, 
 one of the sea monsters, the shell being so hard as to 
 bear any cart wheel, and in some above two yards broad. 
 When first they were opened we were amazed to see 
 the number of eggs that were in them, — a thousand 
 being the least that we judged to be in some of them. 
 Our Spaniards made with them an excellent broth, 
 with all kinds of spices. The meat seemed rather 
 flesh than sea-fish, which being corned with salt, and 
 hung up two or three days in the air. tasted like veal. 
 Thus our hens, our sheep, our powdered beef, and 
 gammons of bacon, were some days slighted, while 
 with greedy stomachs we fell hard to our sea-veal." 
 
 In the different regions of tropical America a great 
 variety of tortoises are found. The whole tribe is remark- 
 able for its tenacity of life. The most severe wounds 
 are frequently endured, and the turtle, when let go, 
 seems to walk off" as calmly as if it were uninjured. 
 In the instance of the snapping turtle cases have been 
 recorded in which, when the head was sevei'ed from 
 the body, the mouth violently closed upon a stick 
 which was inserted in its jaws ; and the heart when 
 taken out was still throbbing, contracting, and ex- 
 panding, and continued beating until noon of the 
 Ibllowing day. 
 
 The habits of these creatures have been carefully 
 watched and accurately described by Audubon, from 
 
 X
 
 30G MEXICO. 
 
 whose account we borrow the following vivid poi'tiait 
 of the turtle's behaviour when laying her eggs. 
 
 • " On nearing the shore, and mostly on fine calm 
 moonlight nights, the turtle raises her head above the 
 water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from 
 the beach, looks around and attentively examines the 
 objects on shore. Should she observe nothing likely 
 to disturb her intended operations, she emits a loud 
 hissing sound, by which such of her enemies as are 
 unaccustomed to it are startled and apt to remove to 
 another place, although unseen by her. 
 
 " Should she hear any more noise, or perceive any 
 indication of danger, she instantly sinks and goes off 
 to a distance ; but should everything be quiet, she 
 advances slowly towards the beach, crawls over it, her 
 head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when 
 she has reached a place fitted for her purpose she 
 gazes all around in silence. Finding all well, she 
 proceeds to form a hole in the sand, which she effects 
 by removing it from under her body with her hind 
 flappers, scooping it out with so much dexterity that 
 the sides seldom, if ever, fall in. The sand is raised 
 alternately with each flapper, as with a ladle, imtil it 
 has accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself 
 with her head and fore-part on the ground, she with a 
 spring from each flapper sends the sand around her, 
 scattering it to the distance of several feet. 
 
 " In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of 
 eighteen inches, or sometimes more than two feet. 
 This labour I have seen performed in the short space 
 of nine minutes. The eggs ai-e then deposited one by 
 one in regular layers to the number of one hundred and 
 fifty, or sometimes nearly two hundred. The whole 
 time spent in this operation may be about twenty
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIOKS OF MEXICO. 307 
 
 minutes. Slie now scrapes the loose sand back over 
 the eggs, and so levels and smooths the surface that 
 few persons on seeing the spot would imagine that 
 anything had been done to it. This accomplished to 
 her mind, she retreats to the water with all possible 
 despatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat 
 of the sand. 
 
 " When a turtle, a loggerhead for exam])le, is in the 
 act of depositing her eggs she will not move, although 
 one should go up to her, or even seat himself on her 
 back : but the moment it is finished off she starts, nor 
 would it be possible for one, unless he were as strong 
 as Hercules, to turn her over and secure her." 
 
 Despite all these precautions, however, the turtles 
 are watched at the period of egg-laying, and immense 
 quantities of the eggs are dug up and consumed for 
 a variety of purposes. They form a very delicious 
 food, and even the eggs of those species whose flesh is 
 disagreeable are excellent in flavour. Great numbers 
 are broken up into large vessels, that the oil which 
 they contain may be extracted from them. Indeed 
 from its cradle in the sand to the last day of its 
 existence the turtle is exposed to the assaults of 
 innumerable foes. 
 
 The rivers of Mexico abound in crocodiles and 
 alligators, whose huge forms may olten be seen lying 
 like logs upon the surface of the water. Few objects 
 in nature are more strangely- repulsive than is the 
 appearance of these creatures as they bask in the hot 
 sand, or crawl over one another with an awkward, laz}"" 
 gait. The alligator will rarely assail a man unless 
 attacked, but when once his fury is aroused nothing 
 can quench it as long as a spark of life remains. 
 Possessing the same tenacity of life with which so
 
 308 MEXICO. 
 
 many reptiles are endued, a combat with an enraged 
 alligator is a fearful spectacle. Every part of the 
 creature's body may be pierced with wounds before the 
 life can be driven out of it, and all the while the 
 alligator writhes and struggles, snapping its huge jaws 
 with a violence that would crunch a bone in two. Hap- 
 pily for its assailants the reptile cannot move its head 
 with much facility ; but let them beware of coming 
 within reach of its tremendous tail, which it lashes from 
 side to side. It can strike a blow with it that would 
 fell an ox. It should be added that the alligator would 
 rather avoid such mortal combat, and only acts in this 
 fashion when no way of escape is left open to it. 
 At night the alligator bellows so loudly as to drown 
 the roar of the wild animals in the forests that skirt 
 the rivers' banks. 
 
 A number of lizards, some of them very beautiful, 
 are met with in Mexico; but the different species have 
 not been delineated with scientific accuracy, nor could 
 we undertake in these pages to present a complete list 
 of the different individuals. We must pass over the 
 tynanas, the scorpions, and other unpleasant looking 
 creatures, and can only notice one or two specimens of 
 the snake tribe before we proceed to the animals and 
 birds. 
 
 The most celebrated of the snakes of Mexico is the 
 ringed boa, or aboma, which in ancient times was 
 worshipped by the Mexicans, and was propitiated with 
 human sacrifices. In colour this creature is generally of 
 " a rich chocolate-brown, with five dark streaks on the 
 top and sides of the head, a series of large and rather 
 dark rings along the back, and two rows of dark spots 
 on the sides." The mode in which this serpent destroys 
 its prey is not by twisting itself in spiral folds around
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 309 
 
 its victim, but by winding itself, fold over fold, on the 
 same part of the body so as to increase its power of 
 crushing at a single point, and thus to squeeze its prey 
 to death. A violent blow on the tail or chopping it 
 oiF is the best mode of disabling the monster. 
 
 It is not difficult to conceive the sviperstitious 
 terror witli which this powerful snake was regarded 
 by the Mexicans. They had abundant and painful 
 experience of its deadly power, and they might readily 
 be persuaded that some mighty spirit dwelt within 
 its beautiful but terrible form. The Aztec priests 
 were accustomed to charm the abomas, and would 
 handle them with impunity, and even permit them 
 to wind around their bodies ; whilst the w'ondering 
 natives looked on with astonishment and reverence 
 at men who possessed such supernatural powers. 
 
 An exquisite member of the family of snakes is the 
 golden tree snake {Bryiophis Acuminata). "It is a 
 most lovely species, and of a singular length, looking 
 more like the thong of a gig whip than a living 
 reptile. It lives in trees, and its colours are won- 
 derfully soft and delicate. The general tint is grej'', 
 tinged with yellow, and having a golden reflection in 
 certain lights, and being decidedly irridescent in others. 
 Tlie body is profusely covered with minute dottings 
 of black."* 
 
 There are many quite harmless individuals of the 
 snake tribe in Mexico, which the natives treat as pets 
 and cherish in their huts. In return for such kindness 
 these rejjtiles keep the dwellings clear from rats and 
 other destructive A'ermin. 
 
 There are two ver}' singidar species of Ijatrachia, 
 or frogs, found in Mexico. The first of these iss known 
 
 • Wood's Natural History.
 
 310 MEXICO. 
 
 as the rhinophryne, (Rhinophri/nus Dorsalis,) and is a 
 slate-gra}' coloured frog with a row of yellow spots 
 down the back and scattered on its sides. Its legs are 
 much thicker than in the ordinary frog, and the feet 
 are half-webbed. But the chief peculiarity is in the 
 head, which is rounded and merged into the body, and 
 if cut off could hardly be recognised as belonging to a 
 frosr at all. The other creature is the Axolutl, whose 
 history and character has furnished abundant occasion 
 of discussion to naturalists. It is supposed to be the 
 tadpole of some large batrachan, but its change into 
 its adult form has not yet been recorded. The axolotl 
 is met with in the lakes near the capital, and is fre- 
 (juently served up to table. 
 
 The most important of Mexican, and indeed of 
 Nortli American, quadrupeds is the buffalo. These 
 roam by thousands over the open country, and wander 
 in herds almost as large about the wide domains of a 
 hacienda. They are commonly gregarious, but at times 
 a male will separate from the rest and live apart with 
 the chosen object of his affections. When a large 
 immber are gathered together their bellowing may be 
 heard, on a calm day, at a distance of at least ten miles. 
 Tremendous battles occasionally take place amongst 
 them. On such occasions they paw the ground in a 
 cii'cle, som.etimes ten feet in diameter, lash themselves 
 into a terrible fury, and then rush at one another full 
 tilt with a violence which might almost crack a skull of 
 iron. Strange to say such encounters have never been 
 known to end fatally — the hump so greatly strengthens 
 the spine, and the shaggy hair about the head to some 
 degree weakens the force of the blow. When a large 
 herd is crossing a river the calves will get upon the 
 backs of the old folks and so be ferried over.
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIOXS OF MEXICO. 311 
 
 As the caravans cross the prairies that lie between 
 Mexico and the United States they come upon buffaloes 
 in incredible numbers. Sometimes for several days in 
 succession they journey incessantly through them, and 
 on taking the teams to water in the evening it is 
 difficult to prevent their becoming intermingled with 
 them. All night long their bellowing is heard around 
 the camp, accompanied by the howling of innumerable 
 wolves, which always follow close upon their heels, and 
 pounce upon any calves that may lall out of the ranks 
 or upon any sick or aged bulls. M. Froebel mentions 
 that on one occasion the herds formed a close line at 
 least eight miles in length, and he estimates that this 
 herd, which surrounded his party for a week while 
 travelling, must have consisted of millions of animals 
 " Further on," he adds, " after passing through this 
 herd, we found the grass of the prairie cropped closely 
 off, to the great inconvenience of our draught animals. 
 The buffaloes had journeyed along, grazing as they 
 went, and for hundreds of miles further south the 
 carcasses of these beasts lay scattered on the plain in 
 such abundance that not a spot was free from the 
 traces of their bones. 
 
 '• During our journey through the buffalo herd we 
 were of course never in want of flesh meat. In half- 
 an-hour or less an animal could be procured. During 
 the greatest abundance the flesh of cows and of young 
 calves was alone deemed good enough, and of many 
 slain animals we ate only the tongues and the marrow 
 bones. The liver also of young animals is delicious, 
 and the marrow from the leg bones is one of the 
 greatest delicacies. If the reader desire a characteristic 
 picture of good living in the prairie, let him imagine a 
 troop of travellers seated round a Are of buflalo dung.
 
 312 MEXICO. 
 
 upon which a buffalo marrow bone is being roasted. 
 When it is believed to be suiSciently done, the bone is 
 split open with a hatchet and the marrow is taken out 
 in a lump. In contrast to these delicacies of the 
 wilderness must be placed the flesh of an old bull, 
 which is almost uneatable and obstinately resists all 
 attempts to convert it into anything more digestible 
 than a hank of cord. 
 
 " Buffalo hunting was pursued on a small scale by 
 our party. If meat was wanted a man rode forth into 
 the midst of the herd with a six-barrelled revolver. 
 The great mass of buffaloes is divided into herds, and 
 these again into bands, each under the guidance of a 
 single bull. The connection of the whole mass is never 
 quite broken up, though the single bands rove about 
 always following their leader independently in a 
 straight line. The hunter selects one of the animals 
 from a troop and pursues it. Now this part of the 
 herd is set in commotion. All the different troops 
 near immediately begin running in all directions over 
 the plain, always following their leader in a straight 
 line, and leaving their beaten tracks only when com- 
 pelled to do so. The issue of the chase depends on 
 the horse and the skill of the rider. The horse is kept 
 on the left side of the buffalo, and the huntsman ap- 
 proaches the animal before firing so near as almost to 
 touch its shoulder with his pistol. None but a very 
 unskilful huntsman ever expends his six charges with- 
 out bringinsc down the a'nimal. I have never seen 
 resistance on the part of the buffalo, nor any combined 
 defence of an attacked troop. I also observed that 
 the whole herd never took any other notice of an 
 enemy in the midst of them than that the nearest 
 bands moved aside."
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 313 
 
 The district in which the bufi'alo is found is also 
 inhabited by a sociable little creature, the prairie 
 marmot, or prairie dog, as it is commonly, but very 
 incornctly, termed. Nothing can be more barren 
 than the sites which these creatures select for their 
 dwellings. They choose a bare spot with a clayey soil 
 beneath a hard surface, and on this they raise innu- 
 merable little cones, each with a mouth, the crater of 
 a small volcano, that forms the entrance to the mar- 
 mot's abode. These mounds are generally clustered 
 together into what is called a prairie dog village, and 
 they extend in some places over many square miles. 
 They destroy every vestige of vegetation about them, 
 and in consequence the draught cattle of caravans are 
 subjected to serious inconvenience from want of fodder. 
 
 The sociable propensities of the prairie mai'inot are 
 not satisfied b}^ this association with his own species, 
 but he shares his dwelling with others. Poverty makes 
 strange bedfellows ; but probably no more curious com- 
 bination was ever effected than that which is witnessed 
 in a marmot village, whose other inhabitants are rattle- 
 snakes and owls. M. Froebel admits that he had 
 always deemed the notion to be fabulous until he saw 
 it with his own eyes ; and he assures us that it is inva- 
 riably the case — the three friends are always associated 
 together. 
 
 '• On approaching a marmot village, the real builders 
 of the dwellings are seen everywhere popping their 
 heads curiously but cautiously out of their holes, or 
 sitting upon mounds of earth near the opening, and 
 those who are away from the burrows immediately run 
 home. Suddenly a whistling call is heard, and the 
 animals have all at once disap})eare(l ; at the same time 
 little owlets, grey-brown, sprinkled with yellowish
 
 314 MEXICO. 
 
 white, with soft noiseless plumage, are seen flutteririg 
 about from one hole to another. Many fly in to their 
 four-footed companions, wliilst others alight at the 
 entrance and sit with a demure look as if keeping 
 watch over the dwellings. The little bird, whose body 
 is not larger than a turtle-dove's, can see perfectly well 
 in broad daylight. It was not till afterwards that I 
 convinced myself of the presence of the third fellow- 
 tenant, nor do I know for a fact whether the rattle- 
 snake is as regular an inhabitant of these marmot 
 holes as the owl. I have frequently seen rattlesnakes 
 basking in the sun before these entrances, and coming- 
 out of or going into the holes. The manner in which 
 the snake rewards the hospitality shown to it interested 
 me particularly : it takes upon itself the task of freeing 
 its kind host from a too numerous progeny. Whether 
 it does the same for the owlets, or whether these turn 
 their special attention to the young rattlesnakes, I am 
 unable to say." 
 
 The jaguar is the fiercest of all American animals. 
 Equally beautiful and ferocious : his skin is much 
 prized by huntsmen, but it needs no small caution in 
 attacking him, as he does not hesitate when pi-ovoked 
 or when excited l)y hunger to fly at a man. The 
 cougar, the ocelot, and the American black bear, are all 
 much inferior to him in strength and courage, indeed 
 he is equal in fierceness to the dreaded tiger of Bengal. 
 This creature abounds in the tangled forests of Mexico 
 and Central America, and emerging from thence he 
 will assail the cattle or wild horses of the ranchero 
 with the coolest audacity. 
 
 The great American naturalist, Mr. Audubon, gives 
 some interesting particulars relating to the jaguar. 
 His practice is to lui'k near the watering places fre-
 
 NATURAL PKOBUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 315 
 
 quented by cattle, "When lying in wait at such a spot, 
 this savage beast exhibits gi-eat patience and perse- 
 verance, remainuig for liours crouched down, witli head 
 depressed and still as death, liut when some luckless 
 animal approaches, its eyes seem to dilate, its hair 
 bristles up, its tail is gently waved backwards and 
 forwards, and all its powerful limbs appear to quiver 
 with excitement. The unsuspecting creature draws 
 near to the dangerous spot ; suddenly, with a tremen- 
 dous leap, the jaguar pounces on him and fastens upon 
 his neck with his terrible teeth, whilst his formidable 
 claws are struck deep into his back and flanks. The 
 poor victim writhes and plunges with pain and fright, 
 and makes violent elibrts to shake off' his foe, but in a 
 few minutes he is unable longer to struggle and yields 
 with a last despairing cry to his fate. The jaguar 
 begins to devour him while yet alive, and growls and 
 roars over his prey until his hunger is appeased. When 
 he has finished his meal, he sometimes covers the re- 
 mains of the carcass with sticks, grass, weeds or earth, 
 if not disturbed, so as to conceal it from other preda- 
 ceous animals and vultures, until he is ready for 
 another banquet. On one occasion a small pai't}" of 
 rangers came across one while feeding on a mustang 
 or wild hoi'se. The animal was surrounded by eight 
 or ten hungry wolves, which dared not interfere or 
 approach too near 'the presence.' The rangers gave 
 chase to the jaguar, on which the wolves set up a 
 cry like a pack of hounds and joined in the hunt, 
 which ended bclbre tliey had gone many yards, the 
 jaguar being shot down as he ran, upon wliich the 
 wolves went back to the carcass of the horse and 
 finished it. 
 
 " The jaguar has been known to follow a man for it,
 
 316 MEXICO. 
 
 long time. Coloriel Hays, whilst alone on a scouting 
 expedition, was followed by one of these animals for a 
 considerable distance. The colonel, who was aware 
 that his footsteps were scented by the animal, having 
 observed him on his trail a little in his rear, had pro- 
 ceeded a good way and thought that the jaguar had 
 left, when, having entered a thicker part of the wood, 
 he heard a stick crack, and being in an Indian country 
 whirled round expecting to ftice a Wakoe Indian ; but 
 instead of a red-skin he saw the jaguar, about half 
 crouched, looking right in his eye, and gently waving 
 his tail. The colonel, although he wished not to dis- 
 charge his gun, being in the neighbourhood of Indians 
 who might hear the report, now thought it high time 
 to shoot, so he fired and killed him." * 
 
 The cougar or puma is also abundant in the more 
 savage regions of the country. This creature is com- 
 monly called the lion by the inhabitants of Spanish 
 America ; but in courage and ferocity it is very inferior 
 to the African king of the forest. It is only when 
 greatly pressed by hunger that it ventures to meet the 
 face of man. The cougar and the tiger cat, or ocelot, 
 are among the most graceful of the wild animals of 
 North America. 
 
 Mexico possesses two species of the deer tribe. The 
 prong-horned antelope is a stately and elegant creature, 
 which wanders in large herds over the Sierra Nevada. 
 Occasionally, when they perceive the huntsman or 
 passing traveller, they will pause in their rapid course, 
 and gaze at him, with their beautiful heads raised 
 proudly erect and their bright large eyes turned full 
 upon him. Then, suddenly seized with the conviction 
 that he is no friend of theirs, they will dash off" like 
 
 Audubon's Quadrupeds of North Aniorioa.
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 317 
 
 lightning and are lost in the distance. Sometimes the 
 huntsman takes advantage of their curiosity, and by 
 waving his handkerchief, himself remaining quite still, 
 will draw the inquisitive creatures within the range of 
 his rifle, and then send a bullet through the fattest 
 before it has time to fly. Another stratagem is occa- 
 sionally employed by the Indians. They throw them- 
 selves on their backs and kick up their heels in the air 
 with a piece of rag tied to them, when the wondering 
 creatures come up to see what so strange a sight can 
 mean and receive an arrow in their flanks by way of 
 explanation. 
 
 The prong-horned antelope roams in large herds of 
 a thousand or more together. Travellers who strike 
 upon their trail frequently mistake it for that of a 
 flock of sheep, and indulge in visions of mutton for the 
 following day, which are of course doomed to disap- 
 pointment. These vast herds are occasionally seized 
 by an unaccountable panic. The idea seems to lay 
 hold of them that they are in a dangerous position, 
 and oif they scamper, not unfrequentiy in their head- 
 long fright rushing into the very peril they hoped to 
 avoid. On such occasions they have been known to 
 tear down from their inaccessible retreats amongst the 
 mountains into the midst of a caravan that was tra- 
 versing the valley. 
 
 The Virginian or common American deer is also an 
 inhabitant of Mexico, abounding throughout the 
 northern districts. Its dappled coat reminds one of 
 the English fallow deer. Tlie Indians frequently trap 
 the does by imitating the bleat of the fawns, or they 
 light a large (ire by night and its blaze attracts them. 
 Large numbers fall a prey to these two simple devices 
 
 Few animals excited more astonishment on its first
 
 318 MEXICO. 
 
 discovery than the Virginian opossum, which is also a 
 denizen of Mexico. The strange niarsupialia of the 
 Australian continent were still unknown, and hardly 
 any other creature could he compared with this incon- 
 gruous animal, which, with the head and ears of a pig, 
 was found sometimes hanc^ins^ on the limb of a tree 
 and occasionally swinging like a nionke}' by the tail. 
 Around that prehensile appendage a dozen sharp- 
 nosed, sleek-headed young, entwine their own tails and 
 sit upon the mother's back. 
 
 " The astonished traveller approaches this extraor- 
 dinary compound of an animal and touches it cau- 
 tiously with his stick. Instantly it seems to be struck 
 with some mortal disease : its eyes close, it falls to the 
 ground, ceases to move, and appears to be dead ! He 
 turns it on its back and perceives on its stomach a 
 strange, apparently artificial, opening. He puts his 
 fingers into the extraordinary pocket, and lo ! another 
 brood of a dozen or more young, scarcely larger than a 
 pea, are hanging in clusters on the teats. In pulling 
 the creature about, in great amazement, he suddenly 
 receives a gripe on the hand — the twinkling of the half- 
 closed eye, and the breathing of the creature evince 
 that it is not dead, and he adds a new term to the 
 vocabulary of his language that of 'playing 'possum.'" 
 
 The opossum walks along with a slow, heavy gait. 
 When pursued it does not greatly increase its speed, 
 but takes refuge in a tree, and only as a last resource 
 feigns to be dead. The cunning ci'eature is endowed 
 with an extraordinary number and variety of teeth 
 which enable it to consume every kind of food. 
 Nothing seems to come amiss to it in the way of 
 provision : corn, fruit, birds' eggs, insects, young 
 rabbits, and mice, all find their way into its maw.
 
 >'.VTCKAL PRODT CTIONS OF MEXICO. 319 
 
 This very heterogeneous diet is assimilated into most 
 agreeable flesh ; and the fondness of the negroes for 
 hunting " de 'possum" is stimulated by the hope of a 
 savoury dish not unlike roast pork. 
 
 Equally well-known to the slaves on the cotton 
 })lantations is another Mexican animal, the racoon. 
 This creature seems to unite something of the bear 
 with the nature of the squirrel, and on account of the 
 formation of its feet it was placed by Linnseus in the 
 ursine family. It has a stout body, a round head 
 with a long tapering nose, bald and movable snout, 
 ears wide, low, and erect, and a long tail marked with 
 alternate bars of black and brown hair. A number of 
 these tails sewn together side by side form the hearth- 
 rus:3 and mats now so much used in Ens^land. The 
 racoon is a frequent pet in Mexico, as it is easily tamed, 
 and causes much amusement by its cunning and pretty 
 ways. 
 
 Like the opossum, the racoon is omnivorous, and a 
 great epicure he is withal. Birds' eggs he deems a 
 special delicacy, but he is yet more fond of the eggs 
 of the soft-shelled turtle. His bright eye stealthily 
 watches the mother as she seeks out some retired spot 
 in which to deposit them, and no amount of sand 
 heaped over them can save them from his claws. In 
 confinement the fellow will eat sugar, honey, chesnuts, 
 fish, poultry, in short, almost anything, and he be- 
 comes almost frantic when the first two are placed 
 just beyond his reach. No one on the farm knows 
 better where to find the ripest Indian coi"n, or selects 
 with better judgment the very choicest samples. In 
 the early harvest season he commits sad havoc on the 
 crops, and he, therefore, finds a deadly foe in the 
 plant'jr. Ho is also an admirable fisherman: and there
 
 320 MEXICO. 
 
 is a Mexican variety which is called, from its diet, the 
 crab-eating racoon. At low water this creature visits 
 the banks or shore, and drags out oysters and shell-fish 
 from their dwellings and devours them. It is said 
 that occasionally a sturdy bivalve closes on the paw 
 of the racoon, and holds him fast, and he thus falls a 
 victim to the returning tide. 
 
 The racoon loves to hide in a hollow tree lying in a 
 well-shaded swamp. Sometimes he drives out other 
 creatures from their nests and appropriates the dwell- 
 ing as his own. It is a favourite habit with him to 
 roll anything that is offered him under his fore paws. 
 If a mug be given to one, he will place one paw 
 inside it and try to make the other on the outside 
 join its fellow. He is much fiercer than the opossum 
 when hunted down. The one submits without a 
 struggle to his fate, the other fights fiercely with the 
 dogs. His greatest enemy is man. The negroes 
 hunt them with their dogs, sell their skins to the 
 hatter, and put the body into the pot to furnish a 
 delicious meal. 
 
 We must notice some of the more remarkable birds 
 of Mexico. Of these a great variety might be named : 
 the lakes of the American continent abound with water 
 birds of the duck tribe and many varieties of waders ; 
 the woods are resonant not only with the song of 
 warblers but with the harsh notes of thousands of 
 parrots, macaws, and toucans, whose brilliant plumage 
 hardly compensates, in the estimation of the human 
 inhabitants, for the lack of melody in their notes ; 
 humming birds dart through the air, or hang poised 
 at the mouth of the flowers with their murmuring 
 wings ; and fierce birds of prey, with greedy gullets 
 and strong wing, wheel across the broad plains or
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 321 
 
 perform the office of scavengers in the streets of the 
 city. 
 
 To begin with the latter. Every stranger on ar- 
 riving at Vera Cruz remarks the number of black 
 vultures — zopilotes as they are called by the people. 
 Thej'^ are like large carrion crows, and have black 
 feathers, with gray heads, beaks, and feet. Their 
 appearance is far from agreeable as they congre- 
 gate upon the roofs or fly down to feed upon any 
 carrion that may be lying in the road ; but they are 
 useful and are consequently protected by law. These 
 birds afford a curious instance of how long a common 
 error once promulgated will be maintained without an 
 appeal to facts. They were reported to have almost 
 incredible powers of smell, and were thought to be 
 guided by this sense to their prey. From some cause 
 Audubon was induced to question this statement, and 
 he contrived a number of experiments for the pm-pose 
 of testing its truth. Having procured the skin of a 
 horse, he had it carefully stuffed with clean straw 
 and placed in a conspicuous position. A number of 
 zopilotes at once attacked it, and although they of 
 course failed to find any palatable morsel, yet they 
 hovered about it for some time as being loth to leave 
 so likely-looking a prey. The same birds passed by a 
 dead hog, which had been slightly covered over with 
 bushes, although the putrid body emitted a poisonous 
 odour. These and other experiments eventually proved 
 that it is by his piercing keenness of sight and not by 
 his sense of smell that the black vulture is guided. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the rapacity of a flock of these 
 vultures. Tliey fly in troops, wheeling in circles and 
 interlacing the flight of one another, so that twenty of 
 them will cover an area of two miles. Nothing escapes 
 
 T
 
 322 MEXICO. 
 
 their vision. When prey is seen, down swoops the 
 fbi'tunate observer, and by his rapid flight attracts his 
 nearest companion, who follows him, and then in suc- 
 cession come the whole pack. If the object discovered 
 be a buffalo, lately dead, or some creature whose hide 
 is too tough for their beaks, they hover around it, 
 taking occasional tugs at some more tender spot 
 until they obtain an entrance to the carcass. Then 
 follows a scene of most disgusting voracity ; they 
 fall to work like famished cannibals, quarrelling among 
 themselves, driving the weakest from a share in the 
 boot}^ tearing the flesh from one another's bills, 
 wrestling, snorting to clear their nostrils, hissing at a 
 furious rate, gorging themselves until they are quite 
 stupified, or until the bones are cleared. 
 
 Occasionally after such a feast the gluttonous bird 
 is unable to rise from the ground : but he is not 
 therefore an easy prey. A farmer once ran up to one 
 in this condition and seized it in his arms, when the 
 filthy creature disgorged over him such a torrent of 
 filth that he speedily relinquished his hold. Such is 
 the strength of wing of these birds that when hungry 
 they will swoop down upon and carry off" lambs but 
 newly born. After a feast they may be seen basking 
 in the trees, spreading out their wings to the breeze 
 to air or cool themselves. Repulsive as they are, these 
 birds are of immense value in so hot a climate and 
 with so indolent a people, as the carrion which they 
 consume would speedily breed pestilential fevers under 
 that burning sun. 
 
 No bird is commoner in the fields of Mexico and the 
 Southern liepublics than the quail and the Mexican 
 partridge. They are worthy of a passing notice for 
 their peculiar fidehty to their young. When the brood
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 323 
 
 is hatched, the mother leads them forth in search of 
 food, guiding them by her cry, and at times gathering 
 them beneath her wings like a hen. But should a 
 stranger suddenly approach, the parent bird utters a 
 peculiar note of warning as a signal for her little ones 
 to disperse, and then exerts all her artifices to attract 
 and concentrate attention upon herself. Throwing 
 herself in the path, she pretends to be wounded, flut- 
 tering along and beating the ground as if with an 
 injured wing, until she has succeeded in misleading the 
 pursuer to a distance that may secure the safety of 
 her progeny, when she disappears to gather them once 
 more around her. Not seldom her own life is the 
 forfeit of her affection. It is impossible to read of 
 this loving maternal instinct without being reminded 
 of Him who would have so sheltered Jerusalem, and of 
 whose people it is said, " He shall cover thee with his 
 feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust : his 
 truth shall be thy shield and buckler." 
 
 Amongst the individuals of the parrot tribe there 
 is a small green species called " chocoUitos," which are 
 great favourites with the inhabitants. They soon 
 ])ecome very tame and will assemble round the dinner 
 table, which in fine weather is commonly placed in the 
 open air, receiving any sweets offered them and con- 
 tending for the largest pieces. " They are in general 
 of an amiable disposition," says M. Frocbel. " This 
 temperament was shown in a touching manner by a 
 sad catastrophe that carried away one of the little 
 creatures. Being forsaken by his mate, when he 
 understood the Avhole extent of his misfortune, and 
 after he had made the last unsuccessful attempt to 
 l)ring back his faithless companion, the unhappy crea- 
 ture, heartbroken by his wrongs, took his lonely seat
 
 324 MEXICO. 
 
 on the perch on which he had passed happier nights 
 closely pressed to the side of his partner, refused to 
 eat and drink, and one morning was found dead on 
 the floor below." 
 
 M. Froebel relates a curious story of the fate that 
 befell some others of the chocoUitos. A tame deer was 
 kept in the court-yard, and at dinner time was occa- 
 sionally furnished with pieces of meat. In this way it 
 is supposed he acquired a taste for animal food ; for one 
 day he was seen to seize one of the little birds, and 
 before rescue was possible he devoured it alive. From 
 this time forward the deer turned savage, feeding on 
 parrots, ducks and chickens, until he had to be de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 Of the songsters of this vast region none can rival 
 the mocking bird either in beauty of melody or variety 
 of note. Its plumage is tame compared with many 
 of the denizens of the tropics, but its elegance and 
 lithesomeness betoken the intelligence that belongs to 
 this extraordinary bird. It would be difficult to find 
 a winged creature with so diversified a domicile as the 
 mocking bird. Though naturally shy he will build 
 his nest near to human dwellings, in a cedar or 
 holly bush, in a solitary thorn, or in a dense wood. 
 Berries and a variety of winged insects aff'ord him 
 food. Every neighbour who lives near his home 
 supplies him with a lesson for imitation. By day and 
 night equally he trills his song, and when he is sur- 
 rounded by a whole chorus of songsters his voice rises 
 higher and higher above them all, until they are 
 subdued to a jealous silence ; and then, as though 
 proud of his victory, the little bird will take his station 
 on the top of a low thorn, and pour forth his sounding 
 medley with redoubled energy.
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OK MEXICO. 325 
 
 The mocking' bird may be reared in conllnement, 
 and is fed on Indian corn, finely chopped meat, with 
 fruit and berries. If he seems dull or indisposed a few 
 spiders thrown to him are found to remove the 
 symptoms of disease. Unlike the nightingale he loses 
 little of his energy in a domesticated state. " When 
 he commences his career of song," says Wilson, '" it is 
 impossible to stand by uninterested. He whistles for 
 the dog ; CsBsar stp.rts up, wags his tail, and runs to 
 meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt chicken ; 
 and the hen hurries about with hanging wing and 
 bristled feathers, to protect its injured brood. The 
 barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the creak- 
 ing of a passing wheel-barrow, follow with great 
 truth and rajiidity. He repeats the tune taught him 
 by his master, though of considerable length, fully and 
 faithfully. He runs over the quiverings of the canarj^, 
 and the clear whistlings of the Virginia nightingale 
 or red-bird, with such superior execution and effect, 
 that the mortified songsters feel their own inferiority, 
 and become altogether silent ; while he seems to 
 triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions. 
 In short there seems hardly any limit to his imitative 
 powers." 
 
 It may be supposed that curious results sometimes 
 follow on the exercise of these peculiar talents. The 
 woodlark fancies that it hears the cry of its mate, and 
 rushes wildly about to find her : the smaller birds dive 
 in terror into the thicket to avoid an imaginary bald 
 eagle, whose scream they hear close to them : and the 
 sportsman sets oif ardently in the pursuit of game 
 which is perhaps not wdthin miles of him, deceived by 
 the imitation of its crj\ Nothing can be more in- 
 conjjruous than the occasional effect of this bird's
 
 326 MEXICO. 
 
 excessive fondness for variety. The beautiful song of 
 the thrush is suddenly interspersed with the crowing 
 of cocks or screaming of swallows, and then instead 
 of returning to the original melody diverges to the 
 plaintive notes of the robin, or the shrill reiteration of 
 the whip-poor-will. 
 
 Love for his young renders the mocking bird full of 
 courage. '' Neither cat, dog, animal nor man, can ap- 
 proach the nest without being attacked." No sooner 
 does a cat make its appearance than it is assailed 
 until it beats a retreat. But its special enmity is 
 reserved for the black snake, the most insidious foe of 
 its young : on perceiving its approach the bird darts at 
 it, aiming with its beak at the snake's head, which is 
 the most vulnerable part, and despite all the reptile's 
 pretended powers of fascination it rarely escapes without 
 being killed, unless it is very large, and even then 
 it is generally glad to escape from the fury of this 
 noble bird. 
 
 The ravines, termed " barrancas," which are common 
 in the volcanic regions abound in owls, a family of king- 
 fishers remarkable for the brilliancy of their plumage, 
 and a very beautiful creature called, from its haunts, the 
 guarda-barranca, it is of a light greenish-blue, with 
 two long feathers in its tail ; several specimens of this 
 bird are to be seen at the British Museum. There is 
 also no want of large game. Cassowaries of difterent 
 kinds, as big as a small turkey, and very delicate for 
 the table, are to be met with in abundance. Froebel 
 shot a small kind of eagle, " or rather harpy, carrying 
 one of the large green parrots, called lora, in its claws. 
 It was a bird of the pi'oudest appearance, of the most 
 ferocious valour, and of an incredible tenacity of life. 
 With the exception of the long feathers of the wing
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 327 
 
 and tail, which were of a dark bluish-grey, the whole 
 bird was of the jmrest white. Its head was large and 
 broad like that of an owl, with long feathers in the 
 neck, which gave the bird a most savage aspect. Its 
 eyes were very large, with yellow iris ; and the indo- 
 mitable courage in their expression only died away 
 with the extinction of life." 
 
 But the pride of all the winged inhabitants of 
 Mexico and Central America are the humming-birds. 
 The broad savannas, the fields, the orchards, the gar- 
 dens, and the deepest recesses of the forest are all 
 enlivened by the presence of these beauteous little 
 creatures, of whom more than forty varieties have been 
 discovered in this portion of the continent. Even the 
 mountainous districts in which the veins of metal are 
 worked are not without some members of this family, 
 (jfould remarks, that where the precious ores abound 
 the humming-bii-ds are unusually brilliant and glitter- 
 ing. Of their lustrous colour it is impossible to give any 
 adequate description, they must be seen to be appre- 
 ciated, and even the beautifully preserved specimens that 
 have been exhibited in this country convey but a faint 
 impression of their dazzling appearance, as they sparkle 
 beneath the I'ays of a tropical sun. Many of their 
 names have been suggested by their resemblance to the 
 brightest and gaudiest things of earth. The flame- 
 bearers, the caciques, the tyrian-tail, the coquettes, the 
 sabre-wings, the satellites, blue-breast, purple-throat, 
 ruby-throat, star-throat, the azure-crowns, the garnet, 
 the sparkling-tail, and the violet-ear, are titles which 
 indicate the varied characteristics of these extraordi- 
 nary birds. There is a peculiar metallic lustre on their 
 feathers, the colours of which, in many instances, are 
 blended together in strong contrast, so that the living
 
 328 MEXICO. 
 
 creature in motion seems to be powdered with the 
 dust of precious stones. But we must proceed to 
 speak of one or two individuals more particularly. 
 
 There is the rufous flame-bearer {Selasphorous Rufus), 
 a bird of exquisite beauty with a gorgeous ruff gleam- 
 ing like a magic carbuncle. With all the energy of 
 joyous life it darts from flower to flower, poising itself 
 in the air as it extracts the drop of honey, or carries 
 off a minute insect from the petals. Like all its I'ace, 
 this flame-bearer is very quarrelsome. When the 
 female is sitting should any one approach its nest it 
 will dart out angrily, burning like a coal of brilliant 
 fire, and uttering a most peculiar reverberating bleat. 
 So sharp is the cry that the stranger will search on 
 the ground for its author, never dreaming that it pro- 
 ceeds from the little bird : which will mount high 
 into the air, and then descend rapidly with more noise 
 than it would seem possible that so small a creature 
 could produce. 
 
 Another strictly Mexican species is D. Latter's 
 sabre-wing, notable for the superb dark-blue markings 
 on its back. It is the boldest of the humming-birds, 
 and will drive away every bird that ventures to enter 
 its territory. All day long it may be seen near to one 
 favourite shrub, sucking the blossoms one by one, (the 
 Mexicans call it Suce-jieurs-royaV), and never leaving 
 the same tree, which it permits no one else to ap- 
 ])roach. It is only seen during two months in the 
 year, when it frequents the forests of Jalapa. 
 
 The vicinity of Vei-a Paz is haunted by the Princess 
 Helena's Coquette, which exhibits, perhaps, a more 
 extraordinary combination than can be found in 
 any other species. Picture to yourself a fairy elf 
 with wide spread wings, a broad crest of green, its
 
 KATTTRAL PIIODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 329 
 
 throat surrounded by a frill of darker feathers, and 
 these again guarded by a collar, rufous gold in colour, 
 and pointed with sharp spikes, behind which spreads 
 out a tail of a golden orange hue ; its beak pointed 
 like a needle, and three long, black feathers as fine 
 as hair springing from and hanging down on each 
 side of its head ; a most comical creature, as beautiful 
 as strange. 
 
 We will conclude our notice of the humming-birds 
 with an extract from Audubon on the rubv-throat, 
 (Trochilus Coluhris), which admirably describes the 
 mode of breeding and general habits of the whole family. 
 " No sooner has the returning sun again intntduced 
 the vernal season, and caused millions of plants to ex- 
 pand their leaves and blossoms to his genial beams, 
 than the little humming-bird is seen advancing on 
 fairy wings, carefull}' visiting every open flower-cup, 
 and, like a curious florist, removing from each the inju- 
 rious insects which would otherwise ere long cause 
 their beauteous petals to droop and decay. Poised in 
 the air, it is observed peeping cautiously and with 
 sparkling eye into their innermost recesses, while the 
 ethereal motion of its pinions, so rapid and so light, 
 appear to fan and cool the flower without injuring its 
 fi-agile texture, and produce a delightful murmm-ing 
 sound well adapted for lulling the insects to repose. 
 This then is the moment for the humming-bird to 
 secure them. Its long delicate bill enters the cup of the 
 flower, and the protruded double-tubed tongue, deli- 
 cately sensitive, and imbued with a glutinous saliva, 
 touches each insect in succession, and draws it from 
 its lurking-place to be instantly swallowed. All this 
 is done in a moment, and the bird as it leaves the flower 
 sips so small a portion of its liquid honey that the
 
 330 MEXICO. 
 
 theft, we may suppose, is looked on with grateful 
 feeling by the flower, which is thus kindly relieved 
 from tlie attacks of her destroyers. 
 
 '■ I wish it were in my power to impart to you, kind 
 reader, the pleasures which I have felt whilst watching 
 the movements and viewing the manifestation of feel- 
 ings displayed by a single pair of these most favourite 
 little creatures, when engaged in the demonstration of 
 their love to each other : how the male swells his 
 plumage and throat, and dancing on the wing whirls 
 round the delicate female : how quickly he dives 
 towards a flower and returns with a loaded bill, which 
 he offers to her, to whom alone he feels desirous of 
 being united : how full of ecstasy he seems to be when 
 his caresses are kindly received : how his little wings 
 fan her as they fan the flowers, and he transfers to her 
 bill the insect and the honey which he has procured 
 with a view to please her : how after their union the 
 courage and care of the male are redoubled : how he 
 even dares to attack the tyrant flycatcher, hurries the 
 blue-bird and the martin to their boxes, and how on 
 sounding pinions he returns joyously to the side of his 
 lovely mate. Reader, all these proofs of his sincerity, 
 fidelity, and courage, with which the male assures his 
 mate of the care he will take of her while sitting on 
 the nest may be seen, but cannot be portrayed. 
 
 "Where," adds Audubon, "is the person who, on 
 seeing this lovely creature moving on humming wing- 
 lets through the air, suspended as if by magic in it, 
 flitting from one flower to another with motions as 
 graceful, as they are light and airy, pursuing its course 
 over our extensive continent, and yielding new delights 
 wherever it is seen ; — where is the person, I ask of you, 
 kind reader, who on observing this glittaring fragment
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MEXICO. 331 
 
 of the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and instantly 
 turn liis mind with reverence toward the Almighty 
 Creator, the wonders of whose hand we at every step 
 discover, and of whose sublime conceptions we every- 
 where observe the manifestations in his admirable 
 system of creation r " 
 
 As we read of these most striking natural produc- 
 tions of Mexico, we may join with the psalmist and 
 exclaim, " Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in 
 wisdom hast thou made them all ; the earth is full 
 of thy riches," Each living creature, down to the 
 meanest, is found to fulfil its own designed part in the 
 economy of God, and those who, like the zopilote, 
 are most repulsive to our notions have yet a value 
 and use in their appointed offices. 
 
 " These are thy glorious works. Parent of good. 
 Almighty, thine this universal frame. 
 Thus woncli-ous fair ; thyself how wondrous then ! 
 Unspeakable, who sitt'st above these heavens 
 To us invisible, or dimly seen 
 In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare 
 Tliy goodness lieyond thought and power divine." 
 
 As the poet hints, this is the right use of the 
 study of nature, that it should lead us to seek after 
 the God who made it. We ought to "rise from nature 
 up to nature's God." Sun, moon, and stars, in their 
 courses, and nature in its order, teach that there is a 
 God; but the Bible alone teaches that there is a 
 Mediator between God and men, a Saviour through 
 whom all that believe are justified. As we read the 
 accounts of his works, we may learn that God is wise 
 and good ; but as we feel our own sinfulness, we must 
 go to the Scriptures and learn that he is Love. Nature
 
 332 MEXICO. 
 
 tells us that there is a God, but it does not bring us 
 near to him, it does not enlighten us as to the mode 
 in which we may find acceptance with him. Most 
 perilous is it to be content with the knowledge of God 
 revealed in his works without studying the revelation 
 he has given us in his word. There only we learn that 
 he has appointed a way by which we may be reconciled 
 to him, and that his surpassing love has devised a 
 salvation such as man's heart could never have con- 
 ceived. Oh let it be our concern that this free salvation 
 be made our own, and that we are safe in an unreserved 
 reliance on his promise — " Him that cometh to me I 
 will in no wise cast out." Yielding to this gracious 
 invitation we may look beyond the grave for a world 
 whose glories "eye hath seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heai't of man the things which 
 God hath prejjared for them that love him."
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aboma, the, 308. 
 
 Acapulco, port of, 6, 8. 
 
 Acehedo, 123. 
 
 Acojote, 291. 
 
 Acolhuans, the, 30. 
 
 Agava Americana, 290. 
 
 Aguilar, Geronimo de, 66. 
 
 Alaman, Don Lucas, 173. 
 
 Alameda, the, 17, 255. 
 
 Alasanza, 121. 
 
 Alcabala, the, 228. 
 
 Alderete, 102. 
 
 Allende, 146. 
 
 Alligators, 307, et seq. 
 
 Alvarado, 3 ; left in charge of 
 Mexico, 88 ; violence of, its 
 results, 89; 101. 
 
 Alvarado, Alonzo, 118, et seq. 
 
 Alvarado, Gonzales, 118, etseq. 
 
 " Alvarado's Leap," 94. 
 
 Alvarez, Gen., 186. 
 
 American aloe, 290. 
 
 American deer, 317. 
 
 Amusements, 259, c^ seq.; coun- 
 try, 265, et seq. 
 
 Anahuac, plateau, 4. 
 
 Andrade, Juan, 172. 
 
 Angostura, Gorge of, 185. 
 Antelope, the prong-horned, 
 
 316, et seq. 
 Apaches, the, 26, 137. 
 Apodaca, 158 ; designs of, 161. 
 Arredondo, 159. 
 Athens of Anahuac, 32. 
 Audiencia, the, 117, etseq. 
 Audubon, quoted, 305, et seq. ; 
 314, etseq.; 321, ?,2%etseq. 
 Augustine 1., 165. 
 Avios, 220. 
 Axolotl, the, 310. 
 Ayuntamiento, the, 136. 
 Aztecs, the, 40, et seq.; govern- 
 
 ment and laws, 41, et seq. ; 
 taxes, 43; means of com- 
 munication, army, 44; lite- 
 rature, picture-writing, 45 ; 
 religious system, 52, et seq. ; 
 rise against the Spaniartls, 
 80, et seq. ; defeated, 101, 
 et seq.; victory of, 103 ; siege 
 and capture of their city, 
 104, et seq. (See Mexico). 
 Azunza, 141. 
 
 Banana, the, 287. 
 
 Banco de Avio, the, 173. 
 
 Barker's Peristeria, 299. 
 
 Barradas, Gen., 178. 
 
 Barragan, Gen. Miguel, 171. 
 
 Barrancas, 326. 
 
 Bataller, 145. 
 
 Batrachia, the, 309, et seq. 
 
 Baudin, Admiral, 183. 
 
 Beggars, 242, 256. 
 
 Berenguer de Marquina, 141. 
 
 Birdbeaked oncidium, 298. 
 
 Birds, 320. 
 
 Birth of a child, mode of in- 
 forming of, 245. 
 
 Boa, the ringed, 308. 
 
 Bolanos miiie,discovery of,131. 
 
 Bonaparte, Joseph, 144. 
 
 Branciforte, 140. 
 
 Bravo, Don Leonardo, death 
 
 of, 153. 
 Bravo, flight of, 156, 165; 
 
 vice-president, 169. 
 Bravos, the two, 151. 
 Brigantines, thirteen, transport 
 of, across tlie mountains, 97. 
 Buffalo, the, 310, et seq. 
 Bula de Cruzada, 228. 
 Bula de Defuntos, 229. 
 Dull-fi-hts, 259.
 
 334 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bull-marking, 265. 
 
 Bulls, papal, taxes on, 228. 
 
 Bustamente, 170 ; administra- 
 tion of, 172; resigns office, 
 175 ; re-elected president, 
 182 ; unpopular, 184, 221. 
 
 Cacao, the, 291, et seq. 
 
 Cactus, the, 296. 
 
 Calderon, bridge of, 149 ; 
 
 Calder on, M adam e, quoted, 243, 
 et seq. ; 252, 258. 
 
 Cahforuia, Lower, 27, 185. 
 
 Calleja, his cruelty, 148, 151. . 
 
 Callers, 243. 
 
 Canianches, 26. 
 
 Camino de Oaxaca, 177. 
 
 Caravans, 270. 
 
 Casa-Mata, act of, 166. 
 
 Cassava, the, 288. 
 
 Cassowary, the, 326. 
 
 Catalina Xuarez, 62. 
 
 Catorce, mines of, 24, 217. 
 
 Cayman, lake, 8. 
 
 Cempoalla, the march to, 75. 
 
 Cempoallans, the, 85. 
 
 Centralists, the, 168, 170. 
 
 Cervantes, 63. 
 
 Chalco, lake, 17 ; town, 30, 99. 
 
 Chapala, lake, 8. 
 
 Chapoltepec, 101. 
 
 Chevalier, M., 231. 
 
 Chiahuitzlan, 77. 
 
 Chiapas, state of, 10. 
 
 Chicheniecs, the, 30. 
 
 Chihuahua, 26, 137 ; its salu- 
 brity, 279. 
 
 Chilpanzingo, congress of, 1 50, 
 153. 
 
 Chinampas, 17. 
 
 Chocolate, 291. 
 
 ChocoUitos, the, 323, et seq. 
 
 Cholula, city of, 14 ; march to, 
 81 ; massacre of, 83. 
 
 Cholulans, their repulse, 40, 82. 
 
 Churches, 194; interior of, 203. 
 
 Clergy, the Romish, 192. 
 Coccus caoti, 299. 
 
 Cochineal, the, 299, et seq. 
 
 Cock, the, (el Gallo,) 267. 
 
 (Jock-fights, 2G0. 
 
 Cocoyol, the, 297. 
 
 CofFre de Perote, the, 6. 
 
 Cohahuila, lake, 8 ; state of, 26. 
 
 Colea de toros, 266. 
 
 Colhuacan, 30. 
 
 Colima, 5, 22. 
 
 Commerce, restrictive system 
 of, 224, et seq. ; result of 
 their removal, 230. 
 
 Comonfort, Gen., 186. 
 
 Concepsion, Villa de, 237. 
 
 Concha, Gen., 154. 
 
 Convents and monasteries, 196. 
 
 Coquette, Princess Helena's, 
 328. 
 
 Coral tree, the, 294. 
 
 Cordilleras, the, 6, 16, 216. 
 
 Cordova, treaty of, 164. 
 
 Cortez, 3 ; derivation of his 
 title. Marquis del Valle de 
 Oaxaca, 12 ; his early his- 
 tory, 61 ; dispute with Ve- 
 lasquez, reconcilement, and 
 advancement, 62, et seq. ; 
 character, 64, et seq. ; daring 
 disobedience, 65 ; voyage of 
 discovery, 66, et seq. ; insists 
 on seeing Montezuma, 69 ; 
 contests of his adherents 
 with those of Velasquez, 72 ; 
 revolt against the authority 
 of Velasquez, 73 ; his double 
 dealing, 77 ; daring stroke 
 of policy, 78, et seq. ; treat- 
 ment of Montezuma, 87, 
 et seq. ; defeats Narvaez, 88 ; 
 his disastrous retreat, 92, et 
 seq.; proceeds against neigh- 
 bouring towns, 96, et seq. 
 narrow escape of, 99, 103 
 detects a conspiracy, 100 
 estimate of, 108 ; recall, etc., 
 and death, 112. 
 
 Cortez, Don Martin, 119. 
 
 Cos, Gen., 180.
 
 IlfDEX. 
 
 335 
 
 Costumes, 253, et seq. 
 Couf-ar, the, :UG. 
 Country si)oi-ts, 2G5, et seq. 
 Country towns, 279. 
 Coyol pahn, the, 297. 
 Cozuniel, 1)5, et seq. 
 Cries, street. 251. 
 Criullas, Marquis of, 133. 
 Creoles, the, 145, 234. 
 Crocodiles, 307. 
 Cuauthi do Aniilpas, 151. 
 Cuernavaea, 99. 
 Cuitimba, river of, 19, 21. 
 Customs of Society, 242, et seq. 
 Cyrtochilum Bictoniense, 299. 
 
 Dancing and singing, 260. 
 De Croix, 133. 
 De la Serna, 127. 
 Deer, the, 317. 
 Del Fuerte, 7. 
 
 Diaz.Bernal, quoted, 49, 87, 102. 
 Diego and the Virgin, 208. 
 Drake, 122. 
 
 Dryiophis Acuminata, 309. 
 Duero, Andres de, 63. 
 Durango, city of, 26 ; insurrec- 
 tion in state of, 125. 
 
 ECHAVART, 165. 
 
 Education, 249. 
 
 El Gallo, or the Cock, 267. 
 
 Elizondo, 149. 
 
 Epidendrum Aurantiacum, 299. 
 
 Erytheina, 294. 
 
 Escalante, 79, 85. 
 
 Escalona, Duke of, 128. 
 
 Etiquette, 244, et seq. 
 
 European politics, influence of, 
 
 on Mexican affairs, 134. 
 Every day life in Mexico, 240. 
 
 Fanning's volunteers, 182. 
 Farias, Gomez, 179 ; his pro- 
 
 nnnciamicnto, 184. 
 Farmers, J 80. 
 
 Federal Constitution, the, 167. 
 Federalists, the, 168, 170, 183. 
 Ferdinand VII., 142. 
 
 Festivalsofthe Romish Church, 
 205. 
 
 Fete day, a, 254. 
 
 Flamebearer, the, 328. 
 
 Floating gardens, 17. 
 I Flores, Don Manuel, 137. 
 ' " Flower of the Saints," 299. 
 
 Flowers, 297, et seq. 
 
 Fonseca, opposition of. 111. 
 
 Foitrcroi/a Lonyceva, 2t)9. 
 
 Fremont, 185. 
 
 French, the, and Mexico, 183. 
 
 FresniUo, 4, 25. 
 
 Frijoles, 295. 
 
 Froebel, M., quoted, 235, 262, 
 311, 313, 323, et seq., 326. 
 
 Frogs, the, 309, et seq. 
 
 Fruits, 295, et seq. 
 
 Gage, Friar, quoted, 13, 125, 
 192; acconnt of the cassava, 
 288 ; on the virtues of cho- 
 colate, 291, etseq. ; 295, 305. 
 
 Galeana, 151. 
 
 Galvez, Don Jose, 133; Ber- 
 nardo de, daughter of, 136. 
 
 Gapuchinos, 146. 
 
 Garcia Guerra, 124. 
 
 Gelves, Marquis, 127. 
 
 Gigedo, Count Ilevilla, 130, 
 et seq. 
 
 Gigedo II., 137; character and 
 rule of, 138., et seq. 
 
 Golden tree snake, 309. 
 
 Gould, quoted, 327. 
 
 Grijalva, 60, 62. 
 
 Guadalupe, cathedral of our 
 Lady of, 208. 
 
 Guadalaxura^ 22, 149 , 
 
 Guanaxuato, 24, 146, 160, 221 
 289. 
 
 Guateniozin, 99. 
 
 Gulf stream, the, 2. 
 
 Guarantees, the three, 162, 
 et seq. 
 
 Guarda- Barranca, the, 326. 
 
 Guerrero, 163, 165; admiuh- 
 tration, 171, 174.
 
 336 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Guillermo, Don, 235. 
 Guzman, Nunez de, 112. 
 
 Haciendas, 261, et seq. 
 Hays, Colonel, 316. 
 Helps, quoted, 64. 
 Herraderos, 265. 
 Herrera, President, 185. 
 Hidalgo, Miguel, a leader of 
 
 the insurrection, 146, etseq.; 
 
 death of, 149. 
 Houses, 241, et seq. 
 Houston, Gen., 182. 
 Huit.-^ilopotelili, the god, 53. 
 Humboldt, quoted, 18, 141; 
 
 his estimate of the clergy of 
 
 Mexico, 193, 222, 287, ti seq. 
 Humming bii-ds, the, 327. 
 
 Igttala, plan of, 163, et seq. 
 
 Indian corn, cultivation of, and 
 uses, 289, et seq. 
 
 Indiana, undying hostility of, 
 to the Spaniards, 115, 149 ; 
 number in Mexico, 234 ; 
 dangers from, to travellers, 
 274. 
 
 Inns, 276. 
 
 Insects, 299. 
 
 Insecurity of the country, 280. 
 
 Iturbide, 154; character, &c., 
 of, 161, 167; plans of, 162, 
 etseq.; president, 164 ; pro- 
 claimed emperor, 165 ; close 
 of his career, 166. 
 
 Iturrigaray, 141. 
 
 Ixtlilxochitl, 96. 
 
 Iztaccihuatl, 5. 
 
 Iztapalapan, 97. 
 
 Jacal, the mountain, 6. 
 
 Jaguar, the, ZlA; etseq. 
 
 Jalapa, its products, 12, 185. 
 
 Jalisco, 22 ; Indians of, revolt, 
 113, ISO ; its natural pro- 
 ductions, 286. 
 
 Jamaica captured, 129. 
 
 Jaral, Marquis of, 159. 
 
 Jatropha, the, 285. 
 Jesuits, the, 133. 
 JoruUo, its origin alluded to, 5; 
 described by Humboldt, 18. 
 Juarez, 186. 
 
 Kearney, Gen., 185. 
 
 Kirby and Spence, quoted, 300. 
 
 Laboede, career of, 222. 
 La Canada, mines of, 222. 
 La Esperanza, vein of, 223. 
 La Garza, 166. 
 La Xuage, church of, 206. 
 Lcelia Autumnale, 299. 
 Langosta, the, 290, 303. 
 Lares, Amador de, 63. 
 Las Casas, quoted, 62, 67- 
 Las Cruces, 147. 
 Latter's D., sabre wing, 328. 
 Law Courts, 232, et seq. 
 Leonidas, 147. 
 
 Leperos, the, 191 ; quarter of, 
 241, et seq. ; described, 256. 
 Lina, 160. 
 Lizards, 308. 
 Llanos, 154. 
 Locust, the, 290, 303. 
 Lorenzano, Archbishop, 135. 
 Los Remedios, first of, 160. 
 
 Madre de pulque, 291. 
 Madres del cacao, 291. 
 Magarino, 93. 
 Magdalena, port of, 27. 
 Maguey, the, 290, et seq. 
 Maize, cultivation and uses of, 
 
 289. 
 Manchester of Mexico, 13. 
 Mango de Claro, hacienda of, 
 
 176. 
 Manioc, 288. 
 Marina, Donna, 68. 
 Market, 253. 
 
 Matrimony, patroness, 210. 
 IMarmot, the, 313. 
 Mayer, quoted, 12, 14, 114, 
 
 117, 136, 150, 234.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 33/ 
 
 Matamoros, 151, lol. 
 
 Jlatanioros, 185. 
 
 Maxtla, 32. 
 
 ]\Ia.yo, the, 23. 
 
 Mechoacaii, 18, 299. 
 
 IMeiuloza, 112 ; made governor 
 of Peru, 116. 
 
 Mesia, 127. 
 
 JNIeson, a, 277. 
 
 INIestizos, the, 234. 
 
 Mexia, 183. 
 
 Mexico, and the Mexicans — 
 physical j;eo<i;ra])hy, 1, et 
 seq. ; political divisions, 10, 
 et seq. ; state and valley, 
 14; the capital, 10; central 
 provinces, 23; history and 
 character of its inhabitants, 
 28, e( seq. ; at its origin, 41 ; 
 agricultnrc and working in 
 jirccious metals, 47 ; mer- 
 chants ; domestic and social 
 life, 48 ; religious system, 
 52, et seq. ; its conquerors 
 and concjuest, 59, et seq. ; 
 siege of the city, 101; 
 under Spanish viceroys, 110, 
 el seq. ; insurrection in, 128 ; 
 auto-da-fe in, 129 ; develop- 
 ment of its resources, 130 ; 
 famine, 131 ; increase of 
 luxury and magnificence in 
 the capital, 135 ; impro- 
 vidence of the people, 136 ; 
 intestine strife, 115, et seq. ; 
 its constitution, how formed, 
 180 ; the people haughty 
 and incapahle, 18 1. ; war 
 against Texas, 185 ; and 
 America, 185 ; the unsatis- 
 fiictory issue of rej)ublican 
 government in, 186; reli- 
 gion, etc., 189, et seq. ; the 
 clergy, 192 ; the churches, 
 194 ; convents and monas- 
 teries, 196; want of enter- 
 prize on the part of the 
 people, 230; civil condition. 
 
 232 ; population, and classes, 
 234 ; characteristic features 
 of, 235, et seq. ; social con- 
 dition, 240, et seq. ; domes- 
 tic life, 247, et seq. ; educa- 
 tion, 2J9; streets and street 
 cries, 251, et seq. ; habits and 
 amusements, 259, et seq. ; 
 disorganized state of the 
 country, and its effects, 274, 
 et seq. ; misery of, due to 
 Komish priesthood, 281 ; its 
 natural productions, 284, 
 et seq. 
 
 Mexitli, teocalli of, 17, 41. 
 
 Mina, Xavier, expedition of, 
 158, et seq. ; death of, 160. 
 
 Mines, their produce in early 
 ages, 218 ; mining adven- 
 tures, 220, et seq. J future 
 prospects, 224. 
 
 Mint,establishedatMexico,113. 
 
 Miramon, 186. 
 
 Mocking bird, the, 324, et seq. 
 
 Moctezuma, the, 7. 
 
 Montagno, 170. 
 
 Montejo, VI. 
 
 Monterey, viceroy, 26 ; Count 
 of, 123 ; 185. 
 
 Montezuma, 38, 40; mode of 
 life described, 49, et seq. ; 
 embassy of, to Cortez, 69, 80, 
 et seq. ; his reply to the de- 
 mand of Cortez, 70, et seq ; 
 plot of, 82; fall of, 87, et 
 seq. ; death of, 91. 
 
 Mor I'ardina, 299. 
 
 Morelia, 21. 
 
 jMorelos, 151, et seq, 
 
 Muuoz, 120, et seq. 
 
 N.^niTATLACS, 30. 
 
 Narvacz, 88, 94. 
 
 Negrete, 167. 
 
 New Leon. (See Nneco.) 
 
 New Mexico, 185. 
 
 New Spain, 60, 122. 
 
 Nrzahualcoyotl, his romantic
 
 338 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 h\stovj,S2, cl seq. ; specimen 
 of his muse, 34 ; his wealth, 
 35; his character, 36, et seq. ; 
 specimen of poetry, 58. 
 
 Nezahualpilli, birth of, 38; 
 death, 39. 
 
 Nopal, the, 300. 
 
 Nuevo Leon, 25 ; mine of, 132, 
 137, 160. 
 
 Nunez, Vasco, 60. 
 
 Oaxaca, 12, 180, 299. 
 
 Obregon, 221. 
 
 Ocelot, the, 316. 
 
 O'Donoju, 163. 
 
 Olid, 101. 
 
 Olmedo, Father, 91. 
 
 OncidmmOrnit/iorhi/ncum,298. 
 
 Opossum, the Virginian, 318. 
 
 Orchids, the, 298. 
 
 Organo, the, 296. 
 
 Orizaba, peak of, 5, 153. 
 
 Otero, 222. 
 
 Otomies, the, 31, 123. 
 
 Our Lady de los Remedies, 14, 
 
 147, 207 ; legend of, 209. 
 Our Lady of Guadalupe, 207- 
 Ovando, 61. 
 Owlets, 313. 
 Oaxaca, 153. 
 Oyamel, the, 6. 
 
 Palmar, 152. 
 
 Palomo, the, 261. 
 
 Panuco, the, 7. 
 
 Papal Bulls, taxes on, 228. 
 
 Paredes, Gen., 185. 
 
 Parents and children, relation 
 
 of, 248, 
 Parras, lake, 8. 
 Parrot tribe, 323. 
 Partridge, the, 322. 
 Pascuaro, lake, 8. 
 Paseo, 17, 255. 
 Pedraza, 170, 175. 
 Penance, piiblic, 211. 
 Peonage, 235. 
 Peralta, Gaston de, 119. 
 
 Peru, 116. 
 
 Pestilence, terrible, 121. 
 
 Philip XL, il7. 
 
 Picaluga, 174. 
 
 Pine apples, 296. 
 
 Pizarro, 116. 
 
 Plaza de toros, 265. 
 
 Plaza mayor, the, 17. 
 
 Popocateptl, 5. 
 
 Population, 234'. 
 
 Prairie dog, 313, et seq. 
 
 Prescott, quoted, 29, 34, 44, 
 
 et seq., 58, 87, 99. 
 Prickly pear, 295 
 Princess Helena's Coquette, 
 
 328. 
 Prisons, 233. 
 
 Processions, religious, 202. 
 Provincias internas, 9. 
 Puebla, natural advantages of 
 
 the state, 13, 180. 
 Pueblana peasant, costume of 
 
 the, 254. 
 Pulque, 290. 
 Puma, the, 316. 
 Pyramid of Cholula, 14, 82. 
 
 QlTADETTPEDS, 310, et seq. 
 Quail, the, 322. 
 Quauhpopoca, 87. 
 Quebradillas, mine of, 223. 
 Queretaro, 20, 23. 
 Quetzalcoatl, temple of, 14, 
 82 ; the god, 53. 
 
 Racoon, the, 319, ei seq. 
 
 Rancheros, 176. 
 
 Rayon, 119. 
 
 Regla, Count de, 221. 
 
 Remedios, Virgin de Ins, 11, 
 
 147, 207 ; legend of, 209. 
 Repartimientos, 113, 123. 
 Reptiles, 304, ei seq. 
 Rescatadors, 220. 
 Rhinophryne, the, 310 
 Rhinophrtfnus Dorsnlis, 310. 
 Rio Balsas, 7. 
 Rio Grande del Norte, 7.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 339 
 
 Robbers, 27 (-, et seq. 
 
 Kobinson, quoted, 157, 180. 
 
 Koiniinisni.the creed of Mexico, 
 168; as it is in Mexico, li)l, 
 et seq.; festivals, 205 ; into- 
 lerance of the priesthood,281. 
 
 Ruby -throat, the, 329. 
 
 Rufous rtamebearer, 328. 
 
 Ruxton, ([uotod, 22,24, et seq., 
 206, 239, 275, 278, 286. 
 
 Sabre-wing, 328. 
 
 Sacrifices, human, 51, et seq. 
 
 " Sad night," the, 9i. 
 
 Saltillo, 119. 
 
 San Augustin de las Cucoas, 
 260. 
 
 San Christobal, 15, 98, 155. 
 
 San Domingo, convent of, 177. 
 
 Sandoval, 97, 101, 111. 
 
 San Juan de Ulua, 111; garri- 
 son of, 171. 
 
 San Luis Potosi, 24, 185. 
 
 Sau Pedro, 19, 21. 
 
 San Lorenzo, 121. 
 
 San Jacinto, battle, 182. 
 
 San Xavier, ravine of, 222. 
 
 Santander, the, 7. 
 
 Santa Anna, 165, 170, 175; 
 principal facts of his career, 
 178, et seq. ; elected presi- 
 sident, 179 : capture of, 182 ; 
 declaresforBuitamente, 184; 
 meets Gen. T lylor, 185 ; de- 
 cline of his popularity, 186. 
 
 Santa Clara, convent, 23. 
 
 Santa Fe, fall of, 129. 
 
 Santa Ines, 21. 
 
 Santa Lucia, 210. 
 
 Santa Theresa, order of, 212. 
 
 Santiago, the, 7. 
 
 Scavengers of the streets, 320. 
 
 Scenery, its beauty and diver- 
 sity, 285, et seq. 
 
 Scott Gen., 185. 
 
 Sf/asphorou.i litiftis, 328 
 
 Servants, 216. 
 
 Sierra Altamira, 4. 
 
 Sierra Madre, 4. 
 
 Silver mines, 216, et seq. ; pro- 
 duce in early agc^s, 218; ex- 
 traordinary results of, 221 ; 
 future prospects of, 224. 
 
 Sinaloa, state of, 22. 
 
 Smoking, 259. 
 
 Sombrerete, 25. 
 
 Sombrero, 159. 
 
 Sonera, state, 22. 
 
 Soto la Manna, 158, 167- 
 
 Spaniards, conquest of Mexico 
 by the, 59, et seq. ; rule by 
 viceroys, 110, et seq. 
 
 Squier, quoted, 294, et seq., 
 302, et seq. 
 
 Street cries, 251. 
 
 Streets of Mexico, 253, 256. 
 
 Suce-Jieurs-roi/al, 328. 
 
 Tabasco, 7, 10 ; Rio de, 67. 
 Tabascans, the, defeat of and 
 
 submission, 67, et seq. 
 Tacubava, 18. 
 Tacuba^ 98. 
 Tamaulipas, 7> 11. 
 Tamora, 128. 
 Tampico, 7, 11, 178. 
 Tanga, mount, 299. 
 Tapioca, 288. 
 Tasco, 222. 
 Taylor, Gen., 185. 
 Tehuacan, 153. 
 Tenochtitlan, 41. 
 Tepanecs, the, 32. 
 Teran, Gen., 156. 
 Tereros, 22 1 . 
 Teuhtlile, 69. 
 Texas, 137, 180, et seq. ; seek 
 
 to enter American Union, 
 
 185. 
 Tezcatlepoca, feast of, 55. 
 Tezcuco, lake, J 5, 96; city, 
 
 18, 31, 98. 
 Theohroma, 293. 
 I Thompson, Waddy, 206. 
 
 Tiger cat, the, 316. 
 [ TlascaJa, 30, (meaning of the
 
 340 
 
 rjDEi 
 
 name,) 39; bishop of, 128. 
 
 Tlascalans, the, 39 ; united to 
 the Spaniards, 80, 91', ei seq. 
 
 Toltecs, the, 29. 
 
 Toluca, 5 ; plan of, ISO. 
 
 Torquemada, 113. 
 
 Torres, 159. 
 
 Tortillas, how made, 264, 295. 
 
 Tortoises, 305, ei seq. 
 
 Totonaes, the, defend their 
 deities, 78. 
 
 Towns, the, 261, et seq., 279, 
 et seq.' 
 
 Trade, 224, et seq. [See Com- 
 merce). 
 
 Travelling, 270, et seq. ; dis- 
 comforts of, 273, et seq. 
 
 Trochilus Colubris, 329. 
 
 Truck system, 231. 
 
 TruxUlo, 1 17. 
 
 Tula, the, 15; city, 29. 
 
 Tumba, 18. 
 
 Tuna, the, 295. 
 
 Turtle, the, 305, et seq. 
 
 Tuxtla, 4. 
 
 United States and Mexico, 
 
 185. 
 Urrea, Gen., 184. 
 Usumasinta, the, 7. 
 Utrecht, peace of, 225. 
 
 " Vagabond Life in Mexico," 
 quoted, 217, 212. 
 
 Valderrama, 1 17. 
 
 Valenciana, Count of, 221. 
 
 Valenciana vein, 22 1 . 
 
 Valladolid, 151. 
 
 Valle, Marquis del, 118; ac- 
 quitted, 120. 
 
 Velasco, 1 1 G ; death of, 1 1 7. 
 
 Velasco, governor of New 
 Spain, 122. 
 
 Velasquez, 60, et seq. ; contest 
 between his adherents and 
 
 those -of Cortez, 72; sends 
 troops to arrest Cortez, 88 ; 
 opposition of, 1 1 1 . ' 
 
 Venegas, 146, 152. 
 
 Venta, 278. 
 
 "N^era Cruz, 9 ; state and port 
 of, 11; the city founded, 73, 
 77 ; capture of the fort, 1 83. 
 
 Vera Paz, 116, 328. 
 
 Veta de la Biscaina, 221. 
 
 VetaMadre, 21, 216. 
 
 Victoria, Guadalupe, 151, 153 ; 
 fidelity of the Indians, 15^, 
 et serf., 163, 165; declared 
 president, 169. 
 
 Villafana, 101. 
 
 Virginia deer, the, 317- 
 
 Virginian opossum, 318, e;" seq. 
 
 Volcanoes, 4. 
 
 Vultures, 321, et seq. 
 
 Wheelbaeeow not to he 
 found in Mexico, 231. 
 
 Wilson, quoted, 325. 
 
 Wood's " Natural History,"' 
 quoted, 309. 
 
 Xaltocan, fall of, 98. 
 Xochimilco, 16, 30, 99. 
 Xolotl, 30 ; his death and bu- 
 rial, 31. 
 Xuarez, Catalina, 62. 
 
 Yagtji, the, 7, 23. 
 Yucatan, discovery of, 62, el 
 seq., 180. 
 
 Zacatecas, 25, 1 SO, 223. 
 Zahuapan, lake, 97. 
 Zavala, l70. 
 Zitacuaro, 150. 
 Zoloc, 101. 
 
 Zopilote, the, 321, et seq. 
 Zumpango, 15. 
 Zuuiga, 128. 
 
 Warren Hall & Co., Steam Printers, Camden Kuad, N. W.
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 OF THB 
 
 EELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
 ARCTIC DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE. 
 ILoyal 18mo. With a Map. 3s. 6d., cloth boards. 
 
 BRAZIL : its History, Natural Productions, Habits 
 and customs of the Natives, &c. ilap and numerous 
 Engravings. Fcp. 8vo., 4s., cloth boards. 
 
 OUR HOME ISLANDS. By the Rev. Thomas 
 ■ MiLNEE, M.A., F.R.G.S. Royal 18mo. Each 2s. 6d., 
 cloth boards. 
 
 I. — Theik Natural FEATraES. 
 II. — Their Productive Ixdustky. 
 III.— Their Public Works. 
 Each Volume is complete in itself. 
 
 INDIA: an Historical Sketch. By the Rev. George 
 Trevor, M.A., Canon of York, late Chaplain of the 
 Madras Establishment. With a Map. Royal 18mo,, 
 3s., cloth boards. 
 
 INDIA : its Natives and Missions. By the Rev. 
 G. Trevor, M.A. Cloth boards, 3s. 
 
 THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. The Sultans, the Ter- 
 ritory, and the People. Royal 18mo. With a Maj). 
 2s. 6d., cloth boards. 
 
 JAPAN OPENED. Compiled chiefly from the Nar- 
 rative of the American Expedition to Japan. Engrav- 
 ings. Royal 18mo. 3s., cloth boards. 
 
 RUSSIA, ANCIENT AND MODERN. By the 
 
 Rev. George Trevor, M. A., Canon of York ; Author 
 of " India," &c. Royal ISmo. With Two Maps, 4s., 
 cloth boards. 
 
 THE SPANISH PENINSULA. A Sketch of its 
 Past History, Present Condition, and Future Prospects. 
 Royal ISmo. With Maps, 3s., cloth boards.
 
 EDUCATIONAL AyHnKS. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND ; from the Inva- 
 sions of Julius Cassar to the Year 1852. By Thomas 
 MiLNER, A.M., F.R.G.S. I'imo. With Two Maps. 
 5s., cloth hoards. 
 
 THE ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. By 
 J. C. CuKTis, B.A. Is., limp cloth. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF GREECE: from the Earliest 
 Times to a.d. 1833. By Professor Stowell, D.D. 
 12mo. With a Map. 2s. 6d., cloth boards. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF ROME: from the Earliest 
 Times to the Fall of the Em])ire. By Thomas Milner, 
 A.M., F.il.G.S. 12mo. With Three Ma^js. 3s,, cloth 
 boards. 
 
 A UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY, in Four Parts: 
 Historical, Mathematical, Physical, and Political. By 
 Thomas Milner, A.M., F.K.G.S. Illustrated by Ten 
 Coloured Maps. 12mo. 5s., cloth boards. 
 
 THE BIBLE HANDBOOK: an Introduction to 
 the Study of Sacred Scripture. By Joseph Angus, 
 D.D , Member of the Royal Asiatic Society. 12mo. 
 edition. Witli a Map. 5s., cloth boards ; 7s. half-bound. 
 8vo. Edition, with Engravings. 10s., cloth boards. 
 
 PALEY'S HOR^ PAULINA. With Notes and a 
 Supplementary Treatise, entitled HOR-3^] APOSTO- 
 LIC^. By the Rev. T. R. Birks, A.M. With a Map. 
 I2mo. 3s., cloth boards. 
 
 PALEY'S EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 With Introduction, Notes, and Supplement. By the 
 Rev. T. R. BiRKS, A.M. 12mo. 3s., cloth boards. 
 
 THE ANALOGY OF RELIGION to the Constitu- 
 tion and Course of Nature. Also Fifteen Sermons. 
 By Joseph Butler, LL.D. With a Life of the Author, 
 a copious Analysis, Notes, and Indexes. By Joseph 
 Angus, D.D. 3s. 6d., cloth boards. 
 
 THE ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE. By 
 Francis Watland, D.D., late President of Brown 
 University, With Notes and Analysis. By Joseph 
 Angus, D.D. Author of "The Bible Handbook," &c. 
 12mo. 3s., cloth.
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF 
 
 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. Accordincr to the 
 Authorized Version : arraiif^ed in Parallelisms. With 
 a Preface and Explanatory Notes. 3s., extra cloth 
 boards ; 3s. 6d. with curtain flaps to cover edges. 
 
 MEMOIR OF AN INDIAN CHAPLAIN, the Rev. 
 CuAiu.Es CiiuiiCH, M.A., of the Madras Establishment 
 of the East India Company. By the Rev. James Iloucn, 
 A.M. Fcap. 8vo., 2s., cloth boards. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND LABOURS of the 
 llev. Samuel Maksden, of Paramatta, and of his early 
 connexion wiih the Mission to New Zealand and Tahiti. 
 Edited by the llev. J. B. Maksdex, M.A. Portrait, 
 lloyal 18mo. 3s., cloth boards; 3s. 6d. cloth boards, 
 gilt edges. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN CHAPLET : a Wreath of Prose, 
 Poetry, and Art. Fcap. 8vo. Eight beautiful Coloured 
 Engravings. Elegantly bound, gilt edges, 4s. 
 
 THE CORONAL : or, Prose, Poetry, and Art. A 
 Book for all Seasons, at Home and Abroad. AVith Eight 
 beautiful Engravings in Oil Colours. Fcap. Svo. 4s., 
 elegantly bound, gilt edges. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN WREATH OF PROSE, 
 POETRY, and ART. With Eight Coloured Engravings. 
 Fcap. Svo. 4s., extra boards, gilt edges. 
 
 FLOWERS FROM MANY LANDS. A Christian 
 Companion for Hours of Recreation. In Prose and 
 Verse. With superior Engravings of Flowers in Oil 
 Colours. 4s., elegantly boi/jd. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN GARLAND. A Companion for 
 Leisure Hours. Coloured Engravings. Fcap. Svo. 4s., 
 extra boards, gilt. 
 
 THE RO.SE BUD. A Christian Gift to the Young. 
 Fine Wood and Coloured Engravings. Royal IGmo. 
 4s., extra boards, gilt edges. 
 
 THE ROCK OF AGES : or. Scripture Testimony to 
 the Eternal Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost. By Edavakd H. Bickekstetii, 
 M.A., Incumbent of Christ Church, Ilampstead. A 
 New and Revised Edition. 4s., ckth boards.
 
 000 054 229 
 
 4ivii\S& S0NS>