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26 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
T HIS book is not sent forth to fill a long-felt want; nor does the author hope to convince all his readers to his way of looking at the social and religious problems of Mexico. As a teacher of modern languages, the author went to Mexico solely for the purpose of mastering the language, but the remembrance of that enjoyable stay allured him like a bird of passage when the spring has come, and so he returned to study the people. If what he has written will help any one to better understand our ne
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CHAPTER I. THE SAN JUAN VALLEY.
CHAPTER I. THE SAN JUAN VALLEY.
D ID it ever occur to the American reader that there lives a people numbering twelve millions, who know not the comforts of the fire-place, nor the discomforts of soot and chimney-swallows? And yet there lives just such a people at our very doors; just across the Rio Grande, in that strange land of romance and fiction, where the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries go hand-in-hand and never unite; where the variation in temperature is less than at any other place on the globe; where an ancient rac
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CHAPTER II. SALTILLO AND THE PLATEAU.
CHAPTER II. SALTILLO AND THE PLATEAU.
F ROM Monterey to Saltillo is sixty-seven miles as the crow flies, 5,300 feet in elevation as the barometer creeps, and fifty rise to the mile as the train runs. Up, up we go with two powerful engines to the train, and the ever-present query, “If the train should break in two, where would I land?” This is no idle question either, and to reduce possibilities, the Pullmans follow the baggage, the first-class cars next, and the second and third-class last. This is very necessary in steep grades and
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CHAPTER III. SAN LUIS POTOSI.
CHAPTER III. SAN LUIS POTOSI.
A ND no more satisfactory city can be visited than San Luis, situated in the crater of a fertile valley, while its suburbs extend to the rich silver mines of the mountains which give it name. The mines have been worked over three hundred years, but the city is only two hundred years old. The mines were discovered to the Spaniards by a pious monk, who named them Potosi, because of the resemblance to the mines of Peru. Three million dollars annually, are mined. A very unusual thing for Mexico, the
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CHAPTER IV. THE BILL OF FARE.
CHAPTER IV. THE BILL OF FARE.
I F Cicero was right in his De Senectute that old age can be enjoyed only by those who in youth preserve their vigor, then the blessings of Nirvanah are the rightful inheritance of Mexico, and she will never lose that inheritance if bustle and hurry will forfeit it. The hotels are run to suit the guests. When you arrive, you register, and when you next enter the corridor, you see upon the large blackboard your name, room, title, residence, destination, past history and future prospects and whate
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CHAPTER V. IN THE VALLEY OF THE LAJA.
CHAPTER V. IN THE VALLEY OF THE LAJA.
B EYOND San Luis we come to Villa Reyes with the immense Hacienda of Jaral, which at one time controlled 20,000 peon laborers, and during the Revolution of 1810, furnished a full regiment of cavalry to the Viceroy to fight the patriots. Beyond is the town of Dolores Hidalgo, “The Sorrowful Hidalgo,” where was born Hidalgo, the George Washington of Mexican Independence. Sept. 15, 1810, he set the watchfires burning which dimmed not till Spanish misrule was ended in 1820. Still nearby, is the city
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CHAPTER VI. THE VALE OF ANAHUAC.
CHAPTER VI. THE VALE OF ANAHUAC.
T HE time is four hundred years ago; the place, the present site of the City of Mexico. In its stead was Tenochtitlan. In this beautiful valley were four kingdoms, three aristocratic republics, a number of minor states and the independent monarchy of Yucatan. Of the four kingdoms in the valley, the Aztec or Mexican was chief, and dictated terms to the other three—Colhuacan, Tlascopan and Michoacan. The three republics were Tlaxcala, Cholula and Huexotzinco, the ancient enemies of the Aztecs, and
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CHAPTER VII. THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER VII. THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.
W HERE stood the ancient pyramid and temple to the war-god in Tenochtitlan, today stands the great Cathedral facing the Plaza Mayor in the City of Mexico. Where stood Montezuma’s palace is now the National Palace; where was Montezuma’s treasure-house are now the Post-office and National Museum, with Montezuma’s shield, the sacrificial stone from the ancient temple, and a thousand gods and idols inscribed in the ancient Aztec and Toltec languages. Chapultepec, which was used as Montezuma’s summer
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TRANSLATED.
TRANSLATED.
“The Mexican people rejoice in worshiping Thee, Holy Mother, under this miraculous image, and in looking to Thee for protection may that people through Thee, flourish in happiness, and ever, under Thy auspices, grow stronger in the faith of Christ.” The four angels of the baldachin between the arches are occupied with allegorical bronze statues of the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Underneath the High Altar is a crypt, the vaulted iron roof of which is capabl
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CHAPTER IX. PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
CHAPTER IX. PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
W HERE once stood the Palace of Montezuma, now stands the national Palace. It occupies the entire eastern side of the Plaza Mayor, with a frontage of 675 feet, and was built in 1692. It is open to the public all day long. On the ground floor of the plaza front are the barracks. On the second are the President’s chambers and those occupied by the Spanish Viceroys and the Austrian usurper, Maximilian. At the extreme front is the Ambassadors’ Hall, so long that the President at one end in his chair
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BULL-FIGHTING.
BULL-FIGHTING.
The Aztec in his palmy day offered human sacrifice. He daily made war upon his neighbors to secure the victims, and washing his hands in gore has been his profession for six hundred years; this is why bull-fighting with its fascination and danger and death is to him so dear. Every Sunday afternoon and every feast-day is given up to this bloody pastime and everybody goes. The foreigner goes once, sometimes twice, but rarely three times, but he never forgets what he sees. Four dead bulls, three de
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CHAPTER XI. LA VIGA CANAL.
CHAPTER XI. LA VIGA CANAL.
O N the side-walk adjacent to the western entrance to the cathedral is an iron and glass Kiosk. This is Mexico’s flower market. Every morning in the year from daybreak until eight o’clock, the sidewalk and the adjoining street is one mass of fragrance and color. Every flower you know and as many as you do not know are spread in the greatest profusion possible, which fact suggests an inexhaustible supply-house somewhere. Here are roses, jassamines, pansies, violets, heliotropes, sweetpeas, garden
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CHAPTER XII. THE SUBURBS.
CHAPTER XII. THE SUBURBS.
T HERE are twenty suburban towns around the capital that can be visited by horse-cars, or as the natives say, “tram-vias.” They are Atzcapotzalco, Tacuba, Tacubaya, Jamaica, Santa Anita, Chapultepec, Molino Del Rey, Churubusco, San Angel, Castaneda, Tlalpam, Cepoyacan, Popotla, San Joaquin, Contreras, Azteca, Nueva Tenochtitlan, Guadalupe, Tlaxpano, Tlalnepantla and Mixcoac. You will notice that most of them bear Aztec and not Spanish names, which means that they are older than the Conquest, and
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CHAPTER XIII. WITHIN THE GATES.
CHAPTER XIII. WITHIN THE GATES.
T HE city contains nearly six hundred miles of streets well-paved but not supplied with shade trees. In nomenclature they area puzzle. The principal street is San Francisco; the first block of it is called first San Francisco; the second block, second San Francisco, etc., and often a street changes its name every now and then, and the names include everything: La Nina Perdita, or Lost Child Street, Crown of Thorns Street, Holy Ghost Street, Mother of Sorrows Street, Blood of Christ Street, Jesus
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CHAPTER XIV. THE TRAIL OF THE TANGLE-FOOT.
CHAPTER XIV. THE TRAIL OF THE TANGLE-FOOT.
O N the plains of Tlaxcala, Apam and Puebla, in the rich lava beds, and on the desert which is so poor one can hardly raise a disturbance on it, are millions of acres of land devoted to the culture of the maguey and the preparation of one of the vilest drinks known to man. The century plant, the agave, the aloe and the maguey are one and the same. It is called century plant, because outside of the tropics it might live a hundred years and never bloom, like our Louisiana sugar-cane; but here in M
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CHAPTER XV. THE CITY OF THE ANGELS.
CHAPTER XV. THE CITY OF THE ANGELS.
L A PUEBLA DE LOS ANGELOS is the authorized version of the sacred city, but “Puebla” serves for all ordinary uses. This city is seventy-five miles southeast of the capital. It is not on account of its transcendent beauty or rare virtue that it is called the City of the Angels, but from its wonderful history, woven into mystic legends by the zealous priests. And for the story: “Once upon a time,” as all good stories should begin, the Indians saw angels hovering over the place when it was an India
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CHAPTER XVI. THE PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.
CHAPTER XVI. THE PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.
Eight miles from Puebla in the midst of the vale of Atoyac stands the sphinx of Cholula, a pyramid covering forty-four acres of ground, whose base is one thousand four hundred and twenty-three feet and whose altitude is one hundred and seventy-seven feet, with a truncated apex two hundred feet square. This was once crowned by a temple, but now by a church called Nuestro Señora de los Remedios. The City of Cholula was the sacred city of the Aztecs, but the pyramid antedates their tradition. When
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CHAPTER XVII. LAS TIERRAS CALIENTAS.
CHAPTER XVII. LAS TIERRAS CALIENTAS.
T O the “Hot Lands,” we leave Puebla by the Inter-Oceanic railroad and make the wild ride to the city of Vera Cruz. The first part of the journey is across the mesa of burning sand and bare rocks. Soon after leaving the city we pass the mount of Malinche, which supplies the city with water. Malinche is the name given to Cortez soon after he reached Mexico, For miles and miles not a tree graces the landscape. Now and then a brilliant cluster of morning glories appear, but they are shrubs and not
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CHAPTER XVIII. GUADALAJARA IN THE VALE OF LERMA.
CHAPTER XVIII. GUADALAJARA IN THE VALE OF LERMA.
G UADALAJARA, which is reached by the Mexican Central R. R. from Irapuata, was built in 1541 and in importance ranks next to the city of Mexico. It is the capital of Jalisco, situated near the River Lerma, which here changes its name to Santiago, in the midst of a plain hemmed in on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth side is the Canon of Santiago and the jumping-off place to the Pacific Ocean. Being the only city of importance near the Pacific and never having had a railroad till 1888,
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CHAPTER XIX. THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
CHAPTER XIX. THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
E NTERING Mexico from El Paso on the Mexican Central R. R., we traverse the plateau that is continuous from Santa Fe to the City of Mexico; and dreary enough, too, is the journey, with a perpetual landscape of mesquite brush, cactus and chaparral. The first place of interest is Chihuahua, two hundred and twenty-four miles from the Rio Grande, with its famous silver mines of Santa Eulalia. The city laid a tax of twenty-five cents on every pound of silver taken from the mine, and with its share of
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CHAPTER XX. DIVES AND LAZARUS.
CHAPTER XX. DIVES AND LAZARUS.
T HERE is probably no other country where the gulf between the rich and poor is so wide. Six thousand people own all the land in Mexico, and eleven million people have to live upon terms made directly or indirectly by those six thousand. The same six thousand are also the governing class, and make all laws to favor their own interest. For instance, all the land of the rich is exempt from taxation, and this compels the poor laborer to pay the tax for the support of the government. It is hard for
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CHAPTER XXI. POLITICAL ECONOMY.
CHAPTER XXI. POLITICAL ECONOMY.
L IFE is extremely hard in Mexico. The absence of fuel and water places her industries at a great disadvantage, and to foster her crude industries she is compelled to put a prohibitory tariff on imports, which falls heavily upon the consumer. A reciprocity treaty with the United States would solve the problem, but who ever heard of the American Congress agreeing upon subjects of great importance. When I first went to Mexico each state collected its own custom duties independent of the national g
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CHAPTER XXII. PREHISTORIC RUINS.
CHAPTER XXII. PREHISTORIC RUINS.
W HAT strange people first entered this land? Who built these stupendous monuments? Whence did they come and whither did they go? And what characters are these engraved on walls which no man can read? And what catastrophe removed from the continent every single inhabitant of a gifted race? And why do we strive so hard to lift the veil which for so long has guarded these strange portals? Every man who has looked upon these speechless but eloquent landmarks of these vanished races feels a burning
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CHAPTER XXIII. AZTEC COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.
CHAPTER XXIII. AZTEC COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.
F ROM the foregoing chapter we see that the ancient Aztec civilization had nothing in common with the red Indian. Buildings, customs and religion linked him to a higher civilization, or else prove that he possessed the germs of self-evolution, enabled him to cope with the great unknown, and single-handed to civilize himself. The latter process will be hard to believe, the former will be hard to prove; but for argument we will take a hasty glance at other nations whose history corresponds most cl
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CHAPTER XXIV. THE LOST ATLANTIS.
CHAPTER XXIV. THE LOST ATLANTIS.
“T HE Story of Atlantis,” recorded by Plato in his Timaeus, as communicated to Solon by the Egyptian priests, has, in the light of modern geography, been generally regarded as a myth, but within a few years has been revived, and there are not wanting investigators of profound learning who regard it as authentic. The following is the translation from the Greek of Plato: “Among the great deeds of Athens, of which the recollection is preserved in our books, there is one which should be placed above
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CHAPTER XXV CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER XXV CONCLUSION.
T HE existence of the Continent of Atlantis is an hypothesis, but so was the existence of Lemuria, and there are scientists today of international repute who firmly believe that a continent once existed in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and India, and the proof is not wanting. On the island of Madagascar are found thirty-three species of monkeys called Lemurs, which are not found in Africa, nor in any other part of the globe except Ceylon, India, and the Malay Archipelago. Because these Lem
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