Aztec Land by Maturin Murray Ballou (best summer books TXT) 📕

PREFACE.

Having resolved to visit Mexico, the question first to be considered was how to do so in the most advantageous manner. Repairing to the office of Messrs. Raymond & Whitcomb, in Boston, after a brief consultation with those experienced organizers of travel, the author handed the firm a check for the cost of a round trip to Mexico and back. On the following day he took his seat in a Pullman parlor car in Boston, to occupy the same section until his return from an excursion of ten thousand miles. A select party of ladies and gentlemen came together at the same time in the Fitchburg railroad station, most of whom were strangers to each other, but who were united by the same purpose. The traveler lives, eats, and sleeps in the vestibule train, while _en route_, in which he first embarks, until his return to the starting-point, a dining-car, with reading and writing rooms, also forming a part of the train. All care regarding the routes to be followed, as to hotel accommodations while stopping in large cities, side excursions, and the providing of domestic necessities, are dismissed from his mind. He luxuriates in the pleasure of seeing a strange and beautiful land, without a thought as to the _modus operandi_, or the means by which detail is conquered. In short, he dons Fortunatus's cap, and permits events to develop themselves to his intense delight. Such was the author's experience on the occasion concerning which these wayside views of Mexico were written. It was a holiday journey, but it is hoped that a description of it may impart to the general reader a portion of the pleasure and useful information which the author realized from an excursion into Aztec Land, full of novel and uninterrupted enjoyment.

M. M. B.


CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.


Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish Historians.--Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances. --Products of the Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races. --Early Civilization.--Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money. --Aztec Religious Sacrifices.--A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican Independence.--European Civilization introduced by Cortez.-- Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival of Mexican Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native Writer's Statement.--Divorce of Church and State


CHAPTER II.


Remarkably Fertile Soil.--Valuable Native Woods.--Mexican Flora.-- Coffee and Tobacco.--Mineral Products.--Silver Mines.--Sugar Lands.--Manufactories.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--Water Power.--Coal Measures.--Railroads.--Historic Locality.--Social Characteristics.--People divided into Castes.--Peonage.-- Radical Progress.--Education and the Priesthood.--A Threshing Machine.--Social Etiquette.--Political Organization of the Government.--Mexico the Synonym of Barbarism.--Production and Business Handicapped by an Excessive Tariff


CHAPTER III.


he Route to Mexico.--Via the Mammoth Cave.--Across the Rio Grande.--A Large River.--Piedras Negras.--Characteristic Scene. --A Barren Prairie Land.--Castano, a Native Village.--Adobe Cabins.--Indian Irrigation.--Sparsely Populated Country.-- Interior Haciendas.--Immigration.--City of Saltillo.--Battle of Buena Vista.--City of Monterey.--The Cacti and Yucca-Palm. --Capture by General Taylor.--Mexican Central Railroad.-- Jack-Rabbits.--A Dreary Region.--The Mesquite Bushes.--Lonely Graves


CHAPTER IV.


Zacatecas.--Sand-Spouts.--Fertile Lands.--A Silver Mining Region. --Alpine Scenery.--Table-Land of Mexico.--An Aged Miner.-- Zacatecas Cathedral.--Church and People.--A Mountain Climb.-- Ownership of the Mines.--Want of Drainage.--A Battlefield.-- Civil War.--Local Market.--Peculiar Scenes.--Native Beauties. --City Tramway Experience.--Town of Guadalupe.--Organized Beggars.--A Noble and Successful Institution.--Market of Guadalupe.--Attractive Senoritas.--Private Gardens


CHAPTER V.


A Mexican Watering Place.--Delightful Climate.--Aguas Calientes. --Young Senoritas.--Local City Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches. --A Mummified Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot Springs.--Bathing in Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities." --Delicious Fruits.--Market Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A Beautiful Plaza.--Local Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--The City of Silao. --Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.--Fierce Sand Storm


CHAPTER VI.


Guanajuato.--An Ex-President.--Richest Silver Mine in Mexico.-- Reducing the Ores.--Plenty of Silver.--Open Sewers.--A Venal Priesthood.--A Big Prison.--The Catholic Church.--Getting Rid of a Prisoner.--The Frog-Rock.--Idolaters.--A Strawberry Festival at Irapuato.--Salamanca.--City of Queretaro.--A Fine Old Capital.--Maximilian and His Fate.--A Charming Plaza.-- Mammoth Cotton Factory.--The Maguey Plant.--Pulque and Other Stimulants.--Beautiful Opals.--Honey Water.--Ancient Tula.-- A Freak of Tropical Weather


CHAPTER VII.


City of Mexico.--Private Dwellings.--Thieves.--Old Mexico.-- Climate.--Tramways.--The Plaza Mayor.--City Streets.--The Grand Paseo.--Public Statues.--Scenes upon the Paseo.--The Paseo de la Viga.--Out-of-door Concerts.--A Mexican Caballero. --Lottery Ticket Venders.--High Noon.--Mexican Soldiers.-- Musicians.--Criminals as Soldiers.--The Grand Cathedral.--The Ancient Aztec Temple.--Magnificent View from the Towers of the Cathedral.--Cost of the Edifice.--Valley of Anahuac


CHAPTER VIII.


An Extinct Volcano.--Mexican Mountains.--The Public Institutions of the Capital.--The Government Palace.--The Museum.-- Maximilian's State Carriage.--A Peculiar Plant.--The Academy of Fine Arts.--Choice Paintings.--Art School.--Picture Writing.--Native Artists.--Exquisite Pottery.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--A Special Aztec Art.--The Sacrificial Stone.--Spanish Historical Authorities.--Public Library.--The Plaza.--Flower Market.--A Morning Visit.--Public Market.-- Concealed Weapons



CHAPTER IX.


A City of Vistas.--Want of Proper Drainage.--Unfortunate Site.-- Insecure Foundations.--A Boom in Building Lots.--Pleasant Suburbs.--Night Watchmen.--The Iturbide Hotel--A Would-be Emperor.--Domestic Arrangements.--A New Hotel wanted.-- Places of Public Entertainment.--The Bull Ring.--Repulsive Performance.--Monte de Piedad.--An English Syndicate purchase it.--The Alameda.--The Inquisition.--Festal Days.--Pulque Shops.--The Church Party.--Gilded Bar-Rooms.--Mexican Marriages.--Mothers and Infants.--A Family Group


CHAPTER X.


Benito Juarez's Grandest Monument.--Hotel del Jardin.--General Jose Morelos.--Mexican Ex-Convents.--City Restaurants.--Lady Smokers.--Domestic Courtyards.--A Beautiful Bird.--The Grand Cathedral Interior.--A Devout Lottery Ticket Vender.-- Porcelain-Ornamented Houses.--Rogues in Church.--Expensive Justice.--Cemetery of San Fernando.--Juarez's Monument.-- Coffins to Let.--American and English Cemetery.--A Doleful Street and Trade



CHAPTER XI.


The Shrine of Guadalupe.--Priestly Miracles.--A Remarkable Spring.--The Chapels about the Hill.--A Singular Votive Offering.--Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.--Costly Decorations.--A Campo Santo.--Tomb of Santa Anna.--Strange Contrasts.--Guadalupe-Hidalgo.--The Twelve Shrines on the Causeway.--The Viga Canal.--The Floating Islands.--Indian Gamblers.--Vegetable Market.--Flower Girls.--The "Noche- Triste" Tree.--Ridiculous Signs.--Queer Titles.--Floral Festival


CHAPTER XII.


Castle of Chapultepec.--"Hill of the Grasshopper."--Montezuma's Retreat.--Palace of the Aztec Kings.--West Point of Mexico. --Battles of Molino del Rey and Churubusco.--The Mexican White House.--High above Sea Level.--Village of Tacubaya.--Antique Carvings.--Ancient Toluca.--The Maguey.--Fine Scenery.--Cima. --Snowy Peaks.--Leon d'Oro.--The Bull-Ring and Cockpit.--A Literary Institution.--The Coral Tree.--Ancient Pyramids.-- Pachuca.--Silver Product of the Mines.--A Cornish Colony.-- Native Cabins.--Indian Endurance



CHAPTER XIII.


Puebla, the Sacred City.--General Forey.--Battle-Ground.--View of the City.--Priestly Miracles.--The Cathedral.--Snow-Crowned Mountains.--A Cleanly Capital.--The Plaza Mayor.--A Typical Picture.--The Old Seller of Rosaries.--Mexican Ladies.--Palm Sunday.--Church Gala Day.--Education--Confiscation of Church Property.--A Curious Arch.--A Doll Image.--Use of Glazed Tiles.--Onyx a Staple Production.--Fine Work of Native Indian Women.--State of Puebla full of Rich Resources.--A Dynamite Bomb.--The Key of the Capital


CHAPTER XIV.


Ancient Cholula.--A Grand Antiquity.--The Cheops of Mexico.-- Traditions relating to the Pyramid.--The Toltecs.--Cholula of To-Day.--Comprehensive View.--A Modern Tower of Babel.-- Multiplicity of Ruins.--Cortez's Exaggerations.--Sacrifices of Human Beings.--The Hateful Inquisition.--A Wholesale Murderous Scheme.--Unreliable Historians.--Spanish Falsification.-- Interesting Churches.--Off the Track.--Personal Relics of Cortez.--Torturing a Victim.--Aztec Antiquities.--Tlaxcala.-- Church of San Francisco.--Peon Dwellings.--Cortez and the Tlaxcalans


CHAPTER XV.


Down into the Hot Lands.--Wonderful Mountain Scenery.--Parasitic Vines.--Luscious Fruits.--Orchids.--Orizaba.--State of Vera Cruz.--The Kodak.--Churches.--A Native Artist.--Schools.-- Climate.--Crystal Peak of Orizaba.--Grand Waterfall.--The American Flag.--Disappointed Climbers.--A Night Surprise.-- The French Invasion.--The Plaza.--Indian Characteristics.-- Early Morning Sights.--Maximilian in Council.--Difficult Engineering.--Wild Flowers.--A Cascade.--Cordova.--The Banana. --Coffee Plantations.--Fertile Soil.--Market Scenes


CHAPTER XVI.


The City of Vera Cruz.--Defective Harbor.--The Dreaded and also Welcome Norther.--San Juan d'Ulloa.--Landing of Cortez.--His Expedition Piratical.--View of the City from the Sea.-- Cortez's Destruction of his Ships.--Anecdote of Charles V.--A Sickly Capital.--Street Scenes.--Trade.--The Mantilla.--Plaza de la Constitucion.--Typical Characters.--Brilliant Fireflies. --Well-To-Do Beggars.--Principal Edifices.--The Campo Santo. --City Dwelling-Houses.--The Dark-Plumed Buzzards.--A City Fountain.--A Varied History.--Medillin.--State of Vera Cruz


CHAPTER XVII.


Jalapa.--A Health Resort.--Birds, Flowers, and Fruits.--Cerro Gordo.--Cathedral.--Earthquakes.--Local Characteristics.-- Vanilla.--Ancient Ruins.--Tortillas.--Blondes in a City of Brunettes.--Curiosities of Mexican Courtship.--Caged Singing Birds.--Banditti Outwitted.--Socialistic Indians.--Traces of a Lost City.--Guadalajara.--On the Mexican Plateau.--A Progressive Capital.--Fine Modern Buildings.--The Cathedral. --Native Artists.--A Noble Institution.--Amusements.--San Pedro.--Evening in the Plaza.--A Ludicrous Carnival.--Judas Day


CHAPTER XVIII.


Santa Rosalia.--Mineral Springs.--Chihuahua.--A Peculiar City.-- Cathedral.--Expensive Bells.--Aqueduct.--Alameda.--Hidalgo's Prison and his Fate.--Eulalia.--A Large State.--A Grand Avenue of Trees.--Local Artists.--Grotesque Signs.--Influence of Proximity to the United States.--Native Villages.--Dangerous Sand-Spouts.--Reflections on Approaching the Frontier.-- Pleasant Pictures photographed upon the Memory.--Juarez, the Border Town of Mexico.--City of El Paso, Texas.--Railroad Interests.--Crossing the Rio Grande.--Greeted by the Stars and Stripes



AZTEC LAND.


CHAPTER I.


Locality and Political Divisions of Aztec Land.--Spanish Historians.-- Boundaries.--Climate.--Egyptian Resemblances.--Products of the Country.--Antiquities.--Origin of Races.--Early Civilization.-- Pictorial Writings.--Aboriginal Money.--Aztec Religious Sacrifices. --A Voluptuous Court.--Mexican Independence.--European Civilization introduced by Cortez.--Civil Wars.--The Maximilian Fiasco.--Revival of Mexican Progress.--A Country facing on Two Oceans.--A Native Writer's Statement.--Divorce of Church and State.


Bordering upon the United States on the extreme southwest, for a distance of more than two thousand miles, is a republic which represents a civilization possibly as old as that of Egypt; a land, notwithstanding its proximity to us, of which the average American knows less than he does of France or Italy, but which rivals them in natural picturesqueness, and nearly equals them in historic interest.

It is a country which is much misunderstood and almost wholly misrepresented. It may be called the land of tradition and romance, whose true story is most poetic and sanguinary. Such is Mexico, with her twenty-seven independent states, a federal district in which is situated the national capital, and the territory of Lower California,--a widespread country, containing in all a population of between ten and eleven millions. As in the instance of this Union, each state controls its internal affairs so far as it can do so without conflicting with the laws of the national government, which are explicitly defined. The nature of the constitution, adopted in 1857 by the combined states, is that of a republic pure and simple, thoroughly democratic in its provisions. The national power resides in the people, from whom emanates all public authority. The glowing pen of Prescott has rendered us all familiar with the romantic side of Mexican history, but legitimate knowledge of her primitive story is, unfortunately, of the most fragmentary character. Our information concerning the early inhabitants comes almost solely through the writings of irresponsible monks and priests who could neither see nor represent anything relative to an idolatrous people save in accordance with the special interests of their own church; or from Spanish historians who had never set foot upon the territory of which they wrote, and who consequently repeated with heightened color the legends, traditions, and exaggerations of others. "The general opinion may be expressed," says Janvier, in his "Mexican Guide," "in regard to the writings concerning this period that, as a rule, a most gorgeous superstructure of fancy has been raised upon a very meagre foundation of fact. As romance, information of this highly imaginative sort is entertaining, but it is not edifying." One would be glad to get at the other side of the Aztec story, which, we suspect, would place the chivalric invaders in a very different light from that of their own boastful records, and also enable us to form a more just and truthful opinion of the aborigines themselves. That their numbers, religious sacrifices, and barbaric excesses are generally overdrawn is perfectly manifest. Every fair-minded student of history frankly admits this. It was necessary for Cortez and his followers to paint the character of the Aztecs in darkest hues to palliate and excuse, in a measure, their own wholesale rapine and murder. It was the elder Dumas who said, "Truth is liable to be left-handed in history." As Cortez was a champion of the Roman Catholic Church, that institution did not hesitate to represent his achievements so as to redound to its own glory. "Posterity is too often deceived by the vague hyperboles of poets and rhetoricians," says Macaulay, "who mistake the splendor of a court for the happiness of a people." No one can forget the magnificence of Montezuma's household as represented by the chroniclers, and as magnified by time and distance.

Let us consider for a moment the geographical situation of this great southland, which is separated from us only by a comparatively insignificant stream of water.

The present republic of Mexico is bounded on the north by the United States, from which it is separated in part by the narrow Rio Grande; on the south by