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ON THE MEXICAN HIGHLANDS With a Passing Glimpse of Cuba
ON THE MEXICAN HIGHLANDS With a Passing Glimpse of Cuba
BY WILLIAM SEYMOUR EDWARDS Author of “In To The Yukon,” “Through Scandinavia to Moscow,” etc. CINCINNATI PRESS OF JENNINGS AND GRAHAM Copyright, 1906, by William Seymour Edwards THE SIX COMRADES OF CAMP FLAP-JACK—1881 To Julius H. Seymour, Otto Ulrich von Schrader, Edmund Seymour, and Rudolph Matz, Companions, Comrades, and Fellow-Travellers of “CAMP FLAP-JACK” These pages are affectionately dedicated....
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FOREWORD
FOREWORD
These pages contain the impressions of a casual traveller—a few letters written to my friends. Upon the temperate Highlands of Mexico, a mile and more above the sea, I was astonished and delighted at the salubrity of climate, the fertility of soil, the luxuriance of tree and plant, the splendor and beauty of the cities, the intelligence and progressiveness of the people, the orderliness and beneficence of the governmental rule. In Cuba I caught the newborn sentiment for liberty and order, and at
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I Flying Impressions Between Charleston-Kanawha and New Orleans
I Flying Impressions Between Charleston-Kanawha and New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana, November 15th. When the New York and Cincinnati Flyer (the “F. F. V. Limited”) came into Charleston yesterday, it was an hour late and quite a crowd was waiting to get aboard. Going with me as far as Kenova were D, H, and eight or ten of “the boys.” They all carried Winchesters and were bound on a trip to the mountains of Mingo and McDowell, on the Kentucky line, to capture a moonshine still which was reported to be doing a fine business selling to the mines. D wanted me
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II The Life and Color of New Orleans
II The Life and Color of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana, November 16th. After a well-served dinner in the spacious dining-room of the hotel, where palms and orange trees yellow with ripened fruit and exhaling the fragrance of living growth were set about in great pots, I lighted my cigar and strolled out upon narrow St. Charles street. Following the tide of travel I soon found myself upon that chief artery of the city’s life,—boulevard, avenue and business thoroughfare all in one—stately Canal street. It was crowded with a slow
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III Southwestward to the Border
III Southwestward to the Border
(Written on the train and mailed at Laredo, Texas.) November 16th. The journey from New Orleans was somewhat tedious, but yet so crowded with new sights that the time passed quite too quickly for me even to glance at the copy of Lew Wallace’s Fair God , which I had bought in New Orleans for reading on the way. At 9:45 A. M. I left the Hotel St. Charles and took the ’bus for the Southern Pacific Station, which is a shabby, weatherworn wooden building down by the water side, in the French quarter
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IV On to Mexico City
IV On to Mexico City
Mexico City, Mexico, November 18th. He llegado en esta ciudad, hoy, cerca las ocho de la mañana! The moment we crossed the Rio Grande we changed instantly from American twentieth century civilization to mediæval Latin-Indian. The Mexican town of Nuevo Laredo, the buildings, the women, the men, the boys, the donkeys, all were different. I felt as though I had waked up in another world. As we approached the station of the Mexican city, I noticed an old man riding upon his donkey. His saddle was fa
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V First Impressions of Mexico City
V First Impressions of Mexico City
Hotel Iturbide, November 20th. When I awoke this morning, the bare stone walls of my chamber, the stone-paved floor, the thin morning air drifting in through the wide-open casements, all combined to give me that sensation of nipping chilliness, which may perhaps only be met in altitudes as high as these. I am a mile and a quarter in the air above the city of Charleston-Kanawha, a mile and half above the city of New York. By the time I had made my hasty toilet, my fingers were numb with the cold.
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VI Vivid Characteristics of Mexican Life
VI Vivid Characteristics of Mexican Life
Hotel Iturbide, Mexico, November 22d. This limpid atmosphere, this vivifying sun,—how they redden the blood and exhilarate the spirit! This is a sunshine which never brings the sweat. But yet, however hot the sun may be, it is cold in the shadow, and at this I am perpetually surprised. The custom of the hotels in this Latin land is to let rooms upon the “European” plan, leaving the guest free to dine in the separate café of the hotel itself, or to take his meals wherever he may choose among the
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VII A Mexican Bullfight
VII A Mexican Bullfight
Mexico City, Sunday, November 24th. A feeling first of disgust and then of anger came over me this afternoon. I was sitting right between two pretty Spanish women, young and comely. One of them as she came in was greeted by the name Hermosa Paracita (beautiful little parrot), by eight or ten sprucely dressed young Spaniards just back of me. The spectators with ten thousand vociferous throats had just been cheering a picador . He had done a valiant deed. He had ridden his blindfolded horse around
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VIII From Pullman Car to Mule-back
VIII From Pullman Car to Mule-back
Michoacan, Mexico, November 25th. After the bullfight we had difficulty in finding a cocha to take us to the railway station. In fact, we could not get one. We were compelled to depend upon cargadores , who carried our trunks and bags upon their backs, while we jostled along the crowded sidewalks. And here, I might remark, that there is no such thing as a right-of-way for the footfarer on either street or sidewalk. You turn to the right or left, just as it may be most convenient and so does your
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IX A Journey Over Lofty Tablelands
IX A Journey Over Lofty Tablelands
Ario, Michoacan, Mexico, November 26th. As we wound higher and higher toward the summit of the hills, the town nestled below us half-hidden among umbrageous trees, and groves of orange and apricot and fig, while stretching beyond it, toward the northeast, lay the light green expanse of lovely Lake Patzcuaro. The panorama before me as I turned in my saddle to gaze upon it, presented a vista of wood and water, of fertile, cultivated, well populated country, delighting the eye on every hand. We wer
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X A Provincial Despot and His Residence
X A Provincial Despot and His Residence
Cuyaco, Michoacan, Mexico, November 28th. Day before yesterday, I wrote to you from the curious and most ancient town of Ario, but did not tell you all I might, for lack of time. The city stands upon the verge of the highlands, the Tierra Fria . When the Spaniards founded it, several centuries ago, they placed it, with strategic judgment, at that point which would enable it to command the several trails which here descend to the lowland hot country and lead on to the Pacific. They placed it on a
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XI Inguran Mines—Five Thousand Six Hundred Feet Below Ario
XI Inguran Mines—Five Thousand Six Hundred Feet Below Ario
Inguran Mines, November 29th. From Santa Clara to Ario we had descended one thousand two hundred feet in thirty miles. Now we were again going down. Each mile the country grew more tropical. A fine, rich, rolling land it was, a soil black and fertile; guavas, bananas, coffee, and other like trees began to be common along the road; long lines of monstrous century-plants (maguey), supplying an unfailing source of pulque , bordered the roadway on either hand, serving as impenetrable hedges. The cam
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XII Antique Methods of Mining
XII Antique Methods of Mining
Mina la Noria, Michoacan, Mexico, December 4th. We left the mines of Inguran early Saturday morning. We were up at four-thirty, and by five-thirty had packed and breakfasted, desayuno , and almuerzo combined. The traveling Mexican eats early and, while he may take a midday snack, it rarely rises to the dignity of the comida , and when the day’s journey is over, like the two morning meals, the comida and cena , are united into one. Our breakfast consisted of fried chicken and rice—rice so delicat
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XIII Some Tropical Financial Morality
XIII Some Tropical Financial Morality
Churumuco, Mina el Puerto, On the Rio de las Balsas, December 6th. We were up before the day, our horses and mules having been fed with grain a little after midnight. Thus the food is digested before the journey of the day is begun. It was dazzling starlight with a gleaming streak of white moon. Our two pack beasts had been loaded, we had breakfasted and were in the saddles a little after four. A keen wind which cut like a knife-edge blew steadily down from the highlands behind us. I had kept on
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XIV Wayside Incidents in the Land of Heat
XIV Wayside Incidents in the Land of Heat
Mina Noria to Patzcuaro, December 8th-10th. Later in the day we were ascending the San Pedro valley toward the Hacienda Cuyaco. It was just growing dusk when we heard the music of violins. We came upon an Indian habitation of two buildings connected by a wide, thatched veranda. Here, upon the veranda, several dark-faced youths were playing a slow-timed Spanish fandango, and twenty or more young girls, arranged in rows of fours, were taking steps to the music, swaying their bodies and shaking sma
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XV Morelia—The Capital of the State of Michoacan—Her Streets—Her Parks—Her Churches—Her Music
XV Morelia—The Capital of the State of Michoacan—Her Streets—Her Parks—Her Churches—Her Music
Morelia, State of Michoacan, Mexico, December 12th. The Congress of the great State of Michoacan, as big a state as ten West Virginias, with a population of six hundred and fifty thousand, is in session at the State capital, Morelia. It meets three times a week in the Palace. A learned member of the bar and a member of Congress, escorted me to the dignified body, and formally introduced me as “ Señor Licénciado Eduardos, del Estado de ‘Quest Verhinia,’ de los Estados Unidos del Norte. ” All the
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XVI Morelia and Toluca—The Markets—The Colleges—The Schools—The Ancient and the Modern Spirit
XVI Morelia and Toluca—The Markets—The Colleges—The Schools—The Ancient and the Modern Spirit
Toluca, Estado de Mexico, Mexico, December 14th. Yesterday afternoon at four o’clock I left Morelia by the National Railroad and reached here at three o’clock in the morning. Tio continued on to Mexico City, but I stopped over to spend the day with my friend, El Padre, the missionary, who has been one of our party to the Tierra Caliente . From my hotel Jardin, in Morelia, I rode down to the station in a most ancient little car pulled by a single mule; the electric tramway has not yet arrived at
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XVII Cuernavaca—The County Seat of Montezuma, of Cortez and Spanish Viceroys, of Maximilian—A Pleasant Watering Place of Modern Mexico
XVII Cuernavaca—The County Seat of Montezuma, of Cortez and Spanish Viceroys, of Maximilian—A Pleasant Watering Place of Modern Mexico
Hotel Iturbide, Mexico City, December 17th. This is my last night in Mexico City. I shall leave here to-morrow, Wednesday, at 9.30 P. M., by the Mexican Railway for Vera Cruz. I will reach there in time for breakfast, board the Ward Line’s steamer, Monterey , and sail about noon for Havana, via Progresso, Yucatan. I delayed my departure until the evening, in order that I might visit Cuernavaca and have a glimpse of that famous watering place and the rich valley wherein it lies—where Montezuma an
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XVIII The Journey by Night from Mexico City—Over the Mountains to the Sea Coast—The Ancient City of Vera Cruz
XVIII The Journey by Night from Mexico City—Over the Mountains to the Sea Coast—The Ancient City of Vera Cruz
Vera Cruz, Mexico, December 19th. Last night was to be my final one in Mexico, and as a troupe of Spanish actors was billed at one of the larger theaters, I went to see the play. There are a number of playhouses in the city, and paternal government is laying the foundation for an opera-house which, it is announced, will be one of the most “magnifico” in the world. The theater we attended was one of the largest, and the actors, Spaniards from Barcelona, were filling a season’s engagement. In purc
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XIX Voyaging Across the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Yucatan from Vera Cruz to Progresso and Havana
XIX Voyaging Across the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Yucatan from Vera Cruz to Progresso and Havana
Steamship Monterey, at Sea, December 21st-24th. It was late in the day when we set sail from Vera Cruz. The shoreland faded; the grove of cocoanut palms in the Alameda with their feathery tops waving in the evening breeze, were the last green things I saw. As the sun sank suddenly behind the great volcano, the western horizon was filled with golden and scarlet and purple coloring, and Orizaba’s summit was flooded with roseate splendor. The stars burst out, the moon crept up from the dark waters.
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XX The City of “Habana”—Incidents of a Day’s Sojourn in the Cuban Capital
XX The City of “Habana”—Incidents of a Day’s Sojourn in the Cuban Capital
Habana, Cuba, December 5th. “Habana,” says the Cuban and Spanish mouth, and the b is so gently uttered that you cannot tell it from a v . Yesterday morning, Tuesday, we cast anchor beneath the ramparts of the great fortress of La Cabaña (Cabanya) in the wide landlocked bay; many other ships swung to their moorings in the quiet waters, among these the battleship Massachusetts and two cruisers, Kentucky and Kearsarge , of the navy of the United States. The harbor of Habana, you will remember, is a
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XXI Cuba—The Fortress of La Cabaña
XXI Cuba—The Fortress of La Cabaña
Havana, December 2nd. The candle end Captain MacIrvine held in his hand had burned so low that his fingers were scorching. My last match was burned up. We should have to grope our way out. Just at that moment a dim flicker of a distant light gleamed far down the low, narrow tunnelway. It came nearer, it grew larger; a man was there,—a soldier—yes, a Cuban officer, a lieutenant of infantry. With him were two ladies; one older than he, whose face, sweet, but oh, so sad! was furrowed with deep line
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XXII Cuba—Her Fertile Sugar Lands—Matanzas by the Sea
XXII Cuba—Her Fertile Sugar Lands—Matanzas by the Sea
Havana, Cuba, December 27th. A cup of chocolate, a roll, a pat of guava paste, such was my desayuno , my breakfast. Señor G——, Superintendent of Civic Training in the Schools of Cuba, had also had his morning coffee, and was awaiting me at the broad portal of the hotel. We call a cocha , bade the cochero drive us to the ferry on the bay, and were soon rattling through Havana’s narrow, rough-paved streets. It was early, not yet six o’clock. But the people of the tropics rise betimes and the busy
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XXIII Cuba—The Tobacco Lands of Guanajay—The Town and Bay of Mariel
XXIII Cuba—The Tobacco Lands of Guanajay—The Town and Bay of Mariel
Guanajay, Cuba, December 28th. It was dark. Through the wide-open window of my chamber crept the soft morning air of the tropics. Some one was shaking my door and crying, “ Hay las seis, Hay las seis. ” It was six o’clock. I was to leave on the seven o’clock train for Guanajay, and the fertile tobacco plantations of Pinar del Rio. In the spacious, airy dining room, I was the first guest at desayuno . The railways of Cuba and the railway coaches are yet of the antiquated sort. Our car must have b
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XXIV Steamer Mascot
XXIV Steamer Mascot
Steamer Olivette , between Havana and Key West, December 31st. One learns to rise early in these tropical lands. The midday siesta here affords the rest which we are wont to claim for the early morning hours. I have readily acquired the habit. To lie abed is become a burden. I stir abroad betimes as do all others. And I am sleepy also toward midday, and quite inclined to take a nap when the heat is most intense. I recall that two years ago when coming home from France, the only stateroom I could
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