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San Antonio Falls, Cuernavaca 
 
Ct)e motin Co«Da? Secies 
 THE 
 
 COMING MEXICO 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH KING GOODRICH 
 
 Sometime Professor in the Imperial 
 Government College, Kyoto 
 
 WITH 32 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 CHICAGO 
 A. C. McCLURG & CO. 
 
 1913 
 
(j ^v 
 
 COPYRIGHT, I913 
 BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS 
 
 PUBLISHED, MARCH, I913 
 
 Copyright in England 
 All rights reserved 
 
 THE 'PLIMPTON* PRESS 
 
 [ W D • O] 
 NORWOOD-MASS'U'S-A 
 
 ©Ci.A332755 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE title of this book will probably suggest to the 
 reader that I intend to venture into the dangerous 
 domain of prophecy, and presume to give my opinion as to 
 what may be the political future of Mexico. Such, how- 
 ever, is not my intention; for had there been any tempta- 
 tion to do so, the experience of others who have yielded 
 would effectually deter me. One author, who wrote less 
 than ten years ago, expressed the conviction that no pro- 
 longed revolution was likely to occur; but even if it did, 
 the good that President Diaz had accomplished could not 
 thereby be undone. 
 
 Because Mexico had enjoyed peace for a generation imder 
 the dictatorship, practically, of that strong man, it was as- 
 sumed the other leaders had lost the tendency to seize the 
 power when an opportunity seemed to be given; and the 
 masses had become so convinced that in tranquillity alone 
 lay their true course, as to make it impossible for ambitious 
 leaders, quarreUing amongst themselves, to draw about them 
 the armed forces required to carry out their schemes. In 
 fact, there was no probability of occasion arising to give 
 excuse for civil strife. 
 
 Should the people depart from the path of peace which 
 Diaz had blazed so clearly for them, it was contended that 
 the United States would intervene and possibly annex 
 Mexico; for the large interests of American and European 
 investors, as well as the safety of foreign residents gener- 
 ally, would make it necessary to do something of the sort. 
 
 V 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 The patriotic Mexicans were depicted as being so vigorously 
 opposed to such forcible destruction of their national 
 integrity, that they would bury the hatchet and continue 
 quietly and firmly to support the estabHshed government 
 which was President Diaz's legacy to his country. 
 
 Another writer, whose opinion was expressed with even 
 greater confidence and within less than five years from the 
 time of penning these words, declares that Mexico owes prac- 
 tically everything to the long sustained government of Por- 
 firio Diaz: "its reorganisation as a Nation; its rehabilitation 
 as a Power among the countries of the earth; and a force 
 hereafter to be reckoned with. " The indebtedness cannot 
 be denied; but that the lesson has been taken seriously to 
 heart cannot be afiirmed. 
 
 Yet, again, the conviction has been confidently expressed 
 that Mexico no longer needs a defender, and is not now in 
 any way dependent upon the architect, that is Diaz, who 
 laid broad the foundation for this Mexico of the Twentieth 
 Century, and himself commenced a superstructure which is 
 to be enduring. It was said that if Diaz must pass away, 
 his guiding hand may be dispensed with, and that without 
 fear of untoward consequences. The Mexicans, leaders and 
 people alike, had come so thoroughly to appreciate and love 
 the blessings which abiding peace conferred, that it was 
 impossible for them to permit of a relapse into the chaos 
 of a quarter of a century or so ago. 
 
 But that which was pronounced improbable, or impossible 
 even, has come about, and for more than a year there has 
 been in the northern part of the Republic of Mexico a con- 
 dition of turmoil and revolution which has caused the United 
 States Government grave anxiety, and compelled it to 
 expend large sums of money in safeguarding the frontier. 
 The property of foreigners has been jeopardised, sometimes 
 
PREFACE Vll 
 
 destroyed; their lives have been in danger and some of 
 them have actually been murdered. 
 
 This state of affairs must cause a writer to hesitate long 
 before venturing to express another opinion as to the sub- 
 stantiabiHty of Mexico's Government and the permanency of 
 the conditions which President Diaz left when he was driven 
 from his country in 191 1. That these conditions should 
 be, is something that everyone who has faith in the possi- 
 bihties that are spread before a peaceful, progressive Mexico, 
 must regret deeply. 
 
 My first visit to Mexico was made in 1866. That was 
 the time of the lumbering old diligencia, and I saw some of 
 these on the road between Manzanillo and CoUma. They 
 are even now to be seen, I am told, in some of the moun- 
 tain regions. There were quite a number of my fellow- 
 passengers by the steamer from Panama who were going to 
 Colima by these stage-coaches. No man who could sit a 
 horse ever entrusted himseK to those joint-wrenching vehi- 
 cles; and the traveUing I have done in Mexico, when there 
 was no railway, has been in the saddle. 
 
 There was not a Une of railway in the RepubHc at that 
 time which merited the title; for even the Vera Cruz-Mexico 
 line was not built; and Mexico was as sleepy, improgressive 
 a country as one could find. It was not altogether peaceful; 
 because there was war with foreign invaders, as the patriotic 
 Mexicans called the French, and there was jealousy between 
 native leaders. Progress could hardly be said to have begun. 
 
 Later, from the north, I made my way down into the 
 country from the American frontier; that, too, was done in 
 the saddle, and it was before the new life had begun to stir. 
 Since then it has been my privilege to see much of the more 
 recent development and to meet many men, not only Mex- 
 icans but investors and bona fide promoters from various 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 countries who are lending themselves to the development of 
 Mexico's magnificent natural resources. 
 
 The opportunities for actual, personal investigation have 
 not been so exhaustive as I could wish; yet the not incon- 
 siderable knowledge gained has given a certain ability to 
 sift the evidence of others. The combination of personal 
 knowledge and adaptation justifies the expression of great 
 confidence in The Coming Mexico. 
 
 J. K. Goodrich 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Ancient Mexico ......... i 
 
 II. Physical Mexico 15 
 
 III. Prehistoric Mexico 27 
 
 IV. The Coming of the Spaniards .... 40 
 V. Independence 55 
 
 VI. Mexico of To-day : The Republic ... 67 
 
 VII. The Peoples of Mexico 78 
 
 VIII. Some of Mexico's Great Men .... 93 
 IX. The United States of Mexico .... 107 
 X. Mexico for the Arch^ologist, the Anti- 
 quarian, THE Collector of Curios . . 122 
 XI. Mexico for the Tourist and the Sports- 
 man 138 
 
 XII. The Wealth of Mexico 157 
 
 XIII. Industrial and Municipal Development 178 
 
 XIV. Mountaineering in Mexico 188 
 
 XV. Foreign Relations 197 
 
 XVI. American Influence : Political and Per- 
 sonal 207 
 
 XVII. The Past One Hundred Years . . . . 217 
 XVIII. A Glance at Mexico's Neighbours : The 
 
 Central American Republics . . . 227 
 
 ix 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XIX. Some Mexican Resorts, Spas, Paradises . 238 
 
 XX. Mexico's Seaports, historically considered 248 
 
 XXI. Conclusion 257 
 
 Bibliography 265 
 
 Index 271 
 
V 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 San Antonio Falls, Cuernavaca Frontispiece '^ 
 
 Courtyard of the Federal Palace, Queretaro . . Facing page 4^' 
 
 Talaya Temple, Palenque 8 "^ 
 
 A Hot Country Washing Place 16 * 
 
 A Maguey Plant (M) 24 
 
 Restored Stairway and Entrance, Mitla 32' 
 
 The Aztec Victory Stone, Cuernavaca .... . . 42" 
 
 View of Texcoco and Lake from a Hill, Tetzcotzingo . . 50^ 
 
 A Typical Silver Mill (M) 60 
 
 A Mule Pack Train, Isthmus of Tehuantepec 68 ' 
 
 The Million Dollar Theatre in Guanajuato (M) .... 76 
 
 A Group of Toreadores 86 
 
 El Mercado, a typical modern market-house (M) . . . 96" 
 
 The Lake in Borda Garden, Cuernavaca 1044- 
 
 Hall of the Monoliths, Mitla 126 - 
 
 A Comer of the Ruins, Mitla 130 ^ 
 
 A Village near the Ruins of Xochicalco, near Cuernavaca 134 
 
 Lake Minatitlan, Vera Cruz 140^ 
 
 The Great Drain, Valley of Mexico 148' 
 
 Hacienda de Jalisco, belonging to a Mining Company, 
 where coffee, sugar cane and tropical fruits are 
 
 grown (M) 156" 
 
 A Balcony and Courtyard 164.^ 
 
 El Jardin, Plaza in front of the Theatre in Guanajuato (M) 174 
 
Xll THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Flower Festival on La Viga Canal, Mexico City .... 182 * 
 The Landing at Tzintzunzan, Lake Patzcuaro . . . .192^ 
 
 The Isthmus of Tehuan tepee 202*- 
 
 An Isthmus Sugar Mill 2i2t'' 
 
 A Water-Cooler Peddler 220 ' 
 
 A Canoe Landing, Lake Patzcuaro 230^ 
 
 A Typical Balcony 238'^ 
 
 The Burning of Judas Iscariot's Effigy, Mexico City . . 248' 
 
 Manzanillo Harbour 258 
 
 Unloading Grain 260 1'' 
 
 Note. — The illustrations marked (M) are reproductions of photographs 
 procured through the kindness of Mr. Harold T. Mapes, Guanajuato, Mexico; 
 the others are reproduced by permission of Mr. C. B. Waite, photographer, 
 Mexico City. 
 
THE COMING MEXICO 
 
THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 ANCIENT MEXICO 
 
 THE main purpose of this book is, of course, to 
 consider the Mexico that we know to-day and, 
 perhaps, to speculate upon what may be the future 
 fate of the RepubHc. But before giving our attention 
 strictly to the twenty-seven individual states, the one 
 federal district (the congener of our District of Colum- 
 bia), and the three territories that make up the country 
 known officially as The United States of Mexico, it will 
 be interesting to consider how the present Republic has 
 developed. 
 
 Indeed, we cannot properly understand the Mexico 
 of to-day, unless we know something of the interesting 
 peoples who inhabited all that portion of the continent 
 of North America, which may roughly be defined as 
 embracing these states of our Union, Texas, New 
 Mexico, Arizona, California, and Utah, together with 
 portions of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, 
 and stretching down quite to the Isthmus of Panama, 
 including, of course, the long, narrow peninsula of 
 Lower Cahfornia, although that is not yet of much 
 economic importance. 
 
 Not forgetting or overlooking what we owe to Hum- 
 boldt, it is toPrescott, The Conquest of Mexico, wt turn'for 
 practically all that we have of even approximately precise 
 
2 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 information and for pretty much all justifiable specula- 
 tion upon doubtful points in the past. We supplement 
 Prescott with Viscount Kingsborough's monumental 
 work, The Antiquities of Mexico, for wider knowledge 
 of the civiHsation and culture of the advanced peoples 
 who were in possession of the land when the Spaniards 
 came. So, too, for those who must have been Uving in 
 the central and northern parts of Old or Greater Mexico, 
 certainly. It is more than Hkely those people had ex- 
 tended their sway far down into the southern parts of 
 the present Mexico, as well as into some, at least, of the 
 other Central American RepubHcs which have developed 
 and grown up within the past century. 
 
 The name, Mexico, was given by the Spaniards to the 
 whole region occupied by numerous tribes who called 
 themselves collectively Mexica (the plural form of the 
 singular, Mexicatl) or Aztecs. It should be noted that, 
 strictly, when transliterating Aztec words, the letter x 
 (or j) ought to be given the vocaHc value of the EngHsh 
 sound sh. Therefore, Mexitli and Mexico would, prop- 
 erly, be pronounced Meshitli and Meshico. But they 
 do not appear ever to have been so rendered by the 
 Spaniards, who naturally gave to the x the ordinary 
 Spanish sound, something similar to the modern German 
 c^.* It is impossible to express the softer Spanish sound 
 of that letter x with any letters of our alphabet; for it 
 is not precisely the German ch. One must learn to imitate 
 the sound as it falls from a Mexican's or Spaniard's lips. 
 
 If we cannot all grow quite so enthusiastic over 
 Mexico's ancient history as to say, with some writers, 
 that it is fascinating, no one, hardly, who has given 
 it something more than a passing thought, can be so 
 lethargic as not to agree with us when we say it is exceed- 
 
 * See A. J. Lamoureaux's article, Mexico, in Enc. Brit., nth ed. 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO 3 
 
 ingly interesting. To be able to stand on spots that are 
 simply overflowing with historic interest, must always 
 appeal to those who are ordinarily indifferent or lacking 
 in sentiment. 
 
 The student of the history of Mexico may still visit 
 many spots connected with its earliest days. There is, 
 in the very heart of the present City of Mexico, the 
 place where stood the great temple of the Aztec gods. 
 Hard by is the site of Montezuma's palace. That Aztec 
 war-chief, or ^'emperor" of Mexico, was known to his 
 own people as Xocoyotzin (ho-ko-yot-zen, the h strongly 
 aspirated). In and around the palace many Spaniards 
 were ruthlessly slaughtered by the incensed natives on 
 La Noche Triste ("The Sorrowful Night") when the 
 European invaders were compelled to flee from the city. 
 After reading what history tells us of the manners and 
 methods of the Spanish conquerors, can we truly say that 
 those Mexicans were without provocation for the ven- 
 geance which they wreaked? 
 
 Not very far away from the centre of the city, guides 
 still point out what they declare is the very tree beneath 
 which Cortes threw himself down to weep over the 
 untoward defeat of La Noche Triste. Then, jumping 
 over the intervening years of about three centuries, the 
 events connected with the War for Mexican Indepen- 
 dence, 181 1 to 182 1, when Spanish influence came to an 
 end, appeal strongly to the historian and student of 
 pohtical institutions. So, likewise, do the many internal 
 troubles which followed that successful attempt to throw 
 off the Spanish yoke, but before anything approaching 
 a settled form of domestic, independent repubHcan 
 government was estabHshed. After considering these 
 matters, the thought naturally reverts to the wars of 
 invasion: our own in 1846-7, and that of the French 
 
4 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 in 1862, leading up to the episode of ''emperor" Maxi- 
 milian, 1864 to 1867. There are, besides, many other 
 events of more or less importance during the centuries 
 of Mexico's recorded history, some of which will be con- 
 sidered later. 
 
 The historian to-day has great difficulty in keeping 
 his wrath from forcible explosion, when he thinks of 
 what we might know of Mexico's early history, had not 
 the bigotry and ignorance of Spanish priests and soldiers 
 caused the wanton, senseless destruction of native records 
 
 — in monument or manuscript. Had all of these which 
 were found been carefully preserved, they could, in all 
 probability, throw a flood of hght upon the development 
 
 — it is, perhaps, too much to say origin — of a civilisa- 
 tion that compelled even the Spaniards to respect it. 
 There is no possibility of comparison between what these 
 last mentioned adventurers met in Mexico and that 
 which the English and French pioneers found in the more 
 northern and eastern parts of the same continent. 
 
 We owe very much to the sociological and linguistic 
 investigations of the Roman Catholic missionaries in 
 many parts of the world; but we must, speaking candidly 
 yet as charitably as possible, also hold them responsible 
 for mad destruction of ''heathen" records and material 
 that would be of inestimable value to the ethnologist. 
 Mexico is one of the worst examples of the irremediably 
 bad effects of unwise religious zeal. The destruction 
 wrought by those first European visitors who, honestly 
 no doubt, thought they were doing a sacred duty, was 
 never compensated for by the efforts of others. 
 
 After the Conquest, a few Spanish chroniclers tried to 
 collect oral traditions. Some of the natives who had 
 learnt Spanish professed to write a history of their 
 country, based upon those same traditions and the Httle 
 
Courtyard of the Federal Palace, Queretaro 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO 5 
 
 that survived of records. The combined efforts of these 
 two classes of chroniclers produced a considerable amount 
 of material which Prescott digested and used in writing 
 his '' Conquest of Mexico." Mr. Hubert Howe Bancroft 
 has found this material helpful in writing his "History of 
 the Pacific States"; a series that includes Mexico and 
 Central America in its scope. Bancroft had the great 
 advantage of having secured, by purchase, the remark- 
 able collection of E. G. Squier and a large part of that 
 of Maximilian. That the material supplied by the 
 earliest Spanish chroniclers and native historians is a 
 blending of a very few facts and a great deal of fiction, 
 need not be affirmed. 
 
 Mexican civilisation is known to be one of great 
 antiquity. It was, too, of a high order even when the 
 Spaniards first came in touch with it; although there 
 are irrefutable evidences that it had then been lowered 
 from the higher plane it had attained in previous times. 
 But of the earhest inhabitants of that country, prac- 
 tically nothing is known. The ruins which are scattered 
 all over the land indicate conclusively, both by their 
 size and by their character, that the work of those who 
 precede by ages the Aztecs of Spanish days, was of an 
 order which connotes high civilisation. The unsolvable 
 mystery which surrounds the prehistoric builders of 
 those monuments is, even now, increased by the discov- 
 ery, from time to time, of strange relics. 
 
 The jade ornaments which almost certainly came from 
 China; the stone idols and statues that bear a marked 
 and perplexing resemblance to Eg3^tian productions 
 of times long, long past; the structures which seem to 
 follow with singular, inexplicable fidelity the ancient 
 architecture of the Nile Valley pyramids; the temples 
 and palaces that are certainly allied architecturally to 
 
6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 the similar edifices of Japan and continental Asia: all 
 these point almost irrefutably to Asiatic influences. 
 This conviction is further emphasised by the prevalence 
 at this day among the Indians of Mexico, of some cus- 
 toms which are assumed to have had their origin in the 
 extreme east of Asia. These resemblances go so far 
 that they almost seem to connect the religion of those 
 earliest historic and prehistoric peoples of Central 
 America with that of China and Japan. This resem- 
 blance, in various matters, between dwellers upon the 
 western and the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, at 
 least south of the present boundary of the United 
 States, must be something more than accidental. 
 Possibly further consideration of this interesting subject 
 in other volumes of this Series may engage our 
 attention hereafter. 
 
 But this resemblance may be, after all, a reflex action. 
 Many ethnologists are disposed to agree with Count 
 de Gobineau's theory that North America was the 
 original home of the Yellow race of mankind. These 
 people made their way by the Aleutian Islands or they 
 easily crossed Behring Sea into Asia and drove back the 
 few aborigines, in times so remote that even Chinese 
 chronology does not reach them. 
 
 The physical structure of the earth and the Pacific 
 Ocean's currents have, we know, made it a comparatively 
 easy matter for people from Eastern Asia to reach North 
 America. It is entirely justifiable speculation on the 
 ethnologist's part to assume that some of those expedi- 
 tions were deliberately made: it is a matter of historic 
 fact that many were made unintentionally by crews of 
 vessels that had been driven off the coast of Japan, or 
 even China, by stress of weather. If we know this 
 much to have happened in the fifteenth century, we are 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO 7 
 
 entirely justified in assuming that it occurred in the 
 centuries prior thereto; and why may we not carry our 
 speculation further and argue that people did go from 
 East to West across the narrow waters of the Northern 
 Pacific, as well as from West to East where it is wider? 
 
 The resemblances in customs, religion, physical appear- 
 ance, and even language that have been noted in historic 
 times, between peoples of the western strip of the 
 American hemisphere, and some of those of Eastern Asia, 
 may be purely accidental; but we can hardly believe it. 
 Yet which is the older, which is the parent and which the 
 offspring, it is beyond our power to say. 
 
 Certainly no one now disputes the claim of antiquarians 
 — based, of course, mainly upon native tradition — 
 that the whole of greater Mexico was inhabited by a 
 succession of highly cultured races who displayed ex- 
 ceptional ability in rearing great temples and ornate 
 palaces, of which the ruins yet remain. The name 
 given by native tradition to the greater Mexico of 
 antiquity was Anahuac. It could never have been the 
 name of a great Indian empire, although some writers 
 make that statement; for there is no reason, legendary 
 or concrete, to suppose that the loosely allied tribes of 
 Indians ever had any form of government approaching 
 imperial organisation. On the other hand, we do not 
 feel called upon to admit the correctness of the declara- 
 tion made by some other authors that this name, Anahuac, 
 was never applied to the whole of what we know as 
 Mexico. 
 
 The Toltecs were no doubt the most advanced in every 
 way of all those Mexican peoples ; but whence they came 
 is unknown. Prescott assigns the date of their arrival 
 in Mexico to the seventh century of our era; but some 
 authorities contend that they were in possession of the 
 
8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 land quite twenty centuries B.C. They are credited in 
 legend with having built a great city which they called 
 Tula, "and an attempt has been made to identify this 
 prehistoric city with a little village of adobe huts and 
 magnificent ruins not far from the capital. This is but 
 one of many instances in which Toltec names of towns 
 and districts still survive." * 
 
 There are ancient legends which tell us that Quetzal- 
 coatl, a mysterious messiah, styled The Fair God, made 
 his appearance at Tula. This myth is another remark- 
 able instance of the prominence given in such folklore 
 tales to a white ancestor, redeemer, or conqueror. The 
 Aztecs were not black, to be sure; they were, as their 
 descendants are, copper-coloured, or yellow. Yet they 
 described Quetzalcoatl as "a white man with a long, 
 flowing beard, who taught the Toltecs the arts of civilisa- 
 tion, agriculture, and war; then sailed away to the 
 West, to his own country. After his departure he was 
 deified by the Toltecs, who represented him in their 
 sculptures as a winged serpent. He had promised to 
 return after many years, and this pledge was handed 
 down from generation to generation." f 
 
 In one important respect, and it marks their superi- 
 ority, the Toltecs seem to have differed widely from the 
 Aztecs of later times. They did not offer up human 
 beings as sacrifice upon the altars of their temples. 
 Fruits and flowers were their only oblation. It is mani- 
 fest that these Toltecs were well advanced in culture 
 and even refinement. They were peaceful and tem- 
 perate, and their religion appears to have been a form of 
 Nature-worship. 
 
 A seeming resemblance to the social system of certain 
 
 * " Mexico," W. E. Carson. 
 
 t Cf. Prescott, H. H. Bancroft, et als. 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO 9 
 
 peoples of Asia is to be noted in that there were distinct 
 castes among the Toltecs; priests, warriors, merchants, 
 agriculturalists. The order of precedence varies notice- 
 ably from the Asiatic prototype, if we admit Asiatic 
 influence, in that the farmers appear at the bottom of 
 the scale and soldiers are second in prominence. 
 
 Another curious point of resemblance to Asia is to be 
 noted in the fact that the Toltecs appear to have used 
 two forms of their picture-writing; one for superiors, 
 the other for inferiors. Remembering that the Chinese 
 ideograph (the medium for written communication used 
 in China and Japan) is based upon the imitative picture, 
 the Toltec method corresponds somewhat to the classical 
 and popular forms of language still employed in China 
 and Japan. In both of those countries the ordinary 
 spoken language, that used when addressing those who 
 are considered inferior, either in the social scale or in 
 education, may be expressed in a simpKfied form of 
 writing. 
 
 It is not now possible to determine with precision the 
 full extent of territory over which the Toltecs exercised 
 dominion. That it was greater, to the north certainly, 
 than the present Republic of Mexico, hardly admits 
 of doubt. It would seem, also, to be a justifiable assump- 
 tion that they considered themselves the rulers of the 
 indefinite regions far to the north; whence, after a con- 
 siderable time, there came tribes of fierce people who 
 made war upon the Toltecs. Later came other hordes, 
 but of people who were rather more civilised than those 
 last mentioned. 
 
 All of these intruders appear to have been ethnically 
 related to the Toltecs, for they must have used the same 
 language, and they quickly adapted themselves to their 
 new environment. Here, again, we may note another 
 
lO THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 curious point of resemblance between Mexico and Asia. 
 As the Toltecs gave way before the later invaders and 
 went southward seeking fresh homes, the newcomers 
 adapted themselves to the culture they found. So, 
 too, as the Chinese advanced from the west of Asia,* 
 whatever they found that appeared good in their eyes 
 they adopted, and they assimilated the strangers whom 
 they conquered. 
 
 The Tezcucans, one of those invading hordes, made 
 considerable progress in civilisation. Another com- 
 pany, the Tarascans, whose descendants are seen in the 
 State of Michoacan, were one of nine tribes who seem to 
 have reached Mexico by crossing a narrow arm of the 
 sea on wooden rafts or hurdles. This suggests the Gulf 
 of California. Most of these tribes developed some 
 system of picture-writing resembling, although rather 
 superior to, that of the North American Indians. There 
 is, in the City of Mexico, one of these picture-writings 
 which depicts the migration of the Tarascans. This is 
 reproduced in several works, and is really quite graphic. 
 
 It was when the latest and probably the most impor- 
 tant of these later invaders appeared in Mexico that the 
 name Aztec crystallised into permanent form. It is 
 suggested that these people came from the northern part 
 of CaHfornia. Their legends declare that an oracle 
 commanded them to build a city on a site that would be 
 indicated by an eagle perched on a cactus or prickly 
 pear, and grasping a snake in its talons. 
 
 Moving southward, and always on the watch for that 
 miraculous sign, they came to the lake in the Valley of 
 Mexico, where now stands the capital, and here they 
 saw a golden eagle resting on a prickly pear and holding 
 the snake in his claws. Their high priest, Tenoch, a 
 * See " The Coining China." 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO II 
 
 reminder of the Israelites' Moses, commanded them to 
 obey the sign. They settled on the shore of the lake, 
 built a temple, and founded a city to which they gave 
 the name Tenochtitlan ("the place of the cactus"), in 
 honour of their high priest and to commemorate the sign. 
 But inasmuch as the priest's name is interpreted as mean- 
 ing "the stone cactus," we are led to suspect that this 
 is rather "reasoning backward! " 
 
 The city was founded and grew into a great place, and 
 the legend of the eagle, the serpent, and the prickly pear 
 is religiously preserved in the coat-of-arms of Mexico, 
 and appears as well on the coins and the flag. The 
 name Tenochtitlan was replaced by Mexico, in honour 
 of Mexitli, the Aztec God of War, and this soon came to 
 denote the whole country. The appearance of that 
 ancient city could not have been very dissimilar to that 
 of Venice. The earliest constructed sections were, no 
 doubt, on the mainland; but off the shore of the lake 
 were a number of islands. On these were additions to 
 the city, and numerous canals traversing the entire 
 place in all directions carried out the resemblance to the 
 Queen of the Adriatic quite strikingly. 
 
 The great temple to the gods stood on a pyramid over 
 one hundred feet high and it was reached by one hundred 
 and fourteen stone steps each wide enough for thirty 
 horsemen to march abreast. It is hardly necessary to 
 state that this description is taken from Spanish authori- 
 ties; the mention of "horsemen" shows this clearly, 
 because the Aztecs knew nothing about using horses 
 until after the Spaniards came. This huge pyramid and 
 the great temple are described by the Spanish chroniclers 
 in such a way as to make the likeness to Egyptian struc- 
 tures of a similar kind most conspicuous. 
 
 The allusion which has just been made to the Aztec 
 
12 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 pantheon, Teocalli, calls for brief mention of their 
 religion: this we adapt and condense from Prescott. 
 
 It is plain that the Aztecs placed at the head of their 
 pantheon One Supreme Being who was the Ruler of the 
 whole Universe. This statement is supported, if not 
 entirely confirmed, by the allusions made to him in 
 their prayers; for in these are expressions equivalent to 
 our *'the God in whom we live and move and have our 
 being," "omnipresent," ''who knoweth all the thoughts 
 of man and who bestoweth all good gifts," "without 
 whom man is as the grass of the field," "the invisible, 
 incorporeal, one God, of absolute perfection and purity," 
 "in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, 
 until these calamities be overpast." 
 
 Yet it was with the Aztecs as it is with many other 
 peoples who have attained to just about the same plane 
 in their religion. It was impossible for them to conceive 
 of just One God, notwithstanding that they assigned to 
 the head of all their gods such attributes as are denoted 
 by their ascriptions. Their tendency towards Nature- 
 worship, although it never developed into a complete 
 and consistent Nature- worship, compelled them to 
 assign to a number of lesser deities the provinces of 
 ruHng the elements, of directing the changes of seasons, 
 of determining the occupations of man, and a host 
 of other functions in the division of divine super- 
 vision. There were, accordingly, thirteen principal 
 deities and several hundred subordinates. It is probably 
 true that even the Aztec priests themselves could not 
 have made an exhaustive list of all the minor deities. 
 
 At the head was Huitzilopochtli, the terrible Mexican 
 Mars, "the mythic leader and chief deity of the Aztecs, 
 dominant tribe of the Nahua nation." * He has already 
 
 * H. H. Bancroft. 
 
ANCIENT MEXICO I3 
 
 been mentioned by his alternative name, Mexitli. His 
 temples were the most stately of the public edifices, 
 and their altars reeked with the blood of human beings. 
 "It was not merely for conquest and tribute that the 
 fierce Mexicans ravaged the neighbour-lands, but they 
 had a stronger motive than either in the desire to obtain 
 multitudes of prisoners whose hearts were to be torn 
 out by the sacrificing priests to propitiate a pantheon 
 of gods who well personified their bloodthirsty wor- 
 shippers." * When the great temple of Tenochtitlan 
 (Mexico City) was completed, twenty thousand victims 
 were sacrificed during the four days of the dedicatory 
 services. 
 
 The Aztecs present a singular contradiction in their 
 character. It would seem that they must have been 
 naturally of bloodthirsty disposition, for they incurred 
 the ill-will of their neighbours wherever they went; 
 and their treachery sometimes brought upon them 
 condign punishment. Yet in spite of all this, Prescott 
 found himself able to say that it seems as though some 
 portion of their religion "had emanated from a compara- 
 tively refined people open to gentle influences, while 
 the rest breathes a spirit of unmitigated ferocity. It 
 naturally suggests the idea of two sources, and authorises 
 the belief that the Aztecs had inherited from their 
 predecessors a mild faith on which was afterwards en- 
 grafted their own mythology." 
 
 It must not be imderstood that we attribute to the 
 Aztecs an inherent culture and civilisation which im- 
 pressed favourably the Europeans, when first these latter 
 met the Mexicans. On the contrary, there is no reason 
 to believe that the Aztecs were naturally anything but 
 a fierce, migratory people when they arrived in Mexico. 
 * Edward Burnett Tylor. 
 
14 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 But their wisdom in adopting the arts and civilisation 
 of the Toltecs and other tribes, whom they supplanted, 
 bore fruit, until the domains over which the first Mon- 
 tezuma exercised absolute lordship were probably some- 
 thing like one hundred and eighty thousand square 
 miles in extent. This area is but a small fraction of the 
 millions of square miles which were included in the 
 Greater Mexico of later times. 
 
 We reluctantly leave the consideration of the ancient 
 land of Mexico with this very brief study. Doubtless 
 every one of our readers will know that very few of the 
 most interesting topics have been discussed; but our 
 purpose was to give merely a suggestion of what the 
 Spaniards found when they appeared. The Azteca 
 were, after all, only the last of nine ethnically related 
 hordes who swept down into Mexico from the north, the 
 Toltecs, the Chichimecs, the Xochimilca, the Chalca, 
 the Tepaneca, the Acolhua, the Tlahuica, the Tlascalteca, 
 the Azteca. It was, therefore, a composite civilisation 
 which the Europeans found. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PHYSICAL MEXICO 
 
 THE shape of Mexico has been well likened to a 
 great cornucopia, a Horn of Plenty. Its mouth 
 opens towards the United States, and some may see 
 in this fact a portentous sign of even greater pouring 
 out than has ever yet been of Mexico's wealth into the 
 coffers of already rich Americans. 
 
 The extreme northwest point of the Republic is 32° 
 42' North latitude, where the boimdary between Cali- 
 fornia and Lower California reaches the shore of the 
 Pacific Ocean. The southernmost point is 14° 30' 42" 
 North latitude at the mouth (right-hand bank) of the 
 Suchiate River, on the Pacific coast; that river form- 
 ing a part of the boundary between Mexico and the 
 republic of Guatemala. "The boundary line with 
 Guatemala, for a long time in dispute, was fixed by the 
 treaties of 1882 and 1895. It is an arbitrary line and 
 follows only two natural lines of demarcation — the 
 Suchiate River from the Pacific coast to its source, and 
 the Chixoy and Usumacinta rivers from near the six- 
 teenth parallel to a point on the latter 25 kilometres 
 south of Tenosique (Tabasco). Between these rivers 
 the boimdary line is determined by the peaks of Tacana, 
 Buenavista, and Ixbul, and from the Usumacinta east- 
 ward, it follows two parallels of latitude, one on the point 
 of departure from that river, and the other the longer, 
 on that of 17° 49' [N.] to the British Honduras frontier. 
 The boimdary with British Honduras was determined 
 
l6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 by a treaty of 1893 and is formed in great part by the 
 Hondo River down to the head of Chetumal Bay, and 
 thence through that bay to the Boca Bacalar Chica — 
 the channel separating Tucatan from Ambergris Cay." 
 
 ''The northern boundary line was fixed by the Guada- 
 lupe-Hidalgo treaty of 1848, and the Gadsden treaty of 
 1853. It follows the Rio Grande del Norte from its 
 mouth northwestward to latitude 31° 47' North, thence 
 on that parallel West one himdred miles, thence South 
 to latitude 31° 20' N., thence due West to the iiith 
 meridian, thence in a straight line (nearly W.N.W.) 
 to a point on the Colorado River twenty miles below the 
 mouth of the Gila River, thence northward to the mouth 
 of the Gila, and thence, nearly due west, along the old 
 line between Upper and Lower California, to a point 
 on the Pacific coast one marine league [three geographi- 
 cal miles of 6,082.66 feet] south of the southernmost point 
 of San Diego Bay; this line has a total length of 18 10 
 miles, of which the Rio Grande comprises 1136 and the 
 land route 674 miles." * 
 
 The small end of the Mexican cornucopia curves 
 towards the southeast and then nearly north, terminat- 
 ing with the States of Campeche and Yucatan. The 
 concave curve of the horn of plenty, on the Gulf of 
 Mexico, is not broken by any important indentations 
 throughout its entire length of about 1400 miles. Be- 
 yond Cape Catoche, the extreme northeast point of 
 Yucatan, the Mexican coast borders for some 325 miles 
 on the Caribbean Sea. 
 
 The convex curve of the cornucopia is not quite so 
 regular as is the east coast. Including the deep, narrow 
 indentation of the Gulf of California, the coast line on 
 Pacific waters is nearly 5000 miles. 
 * Enc. Brit. 
 
PHYSICAL MEXICO 17 
 
 From northwest to southeast is the direction of Mex- 
 ico's greatest length, approximately 1900 miles: its 
 greatest width, across the northern section, is about 
 750 miles. At the Isthmus of Tehu^iS'tepec, where the 
 country is narrowest, the width is not quite 140 miles. 
 The extent of the Republic is now given, from official 
 figures, as 1,962,899 square kilometres, 759,907 square 
 miles.* Other statisticians make it as great as 769,290 
 square miles. For comparison, it may be stated that 
 the total area of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 
 California is 659,740 square miles. The long, narrow 
 peninsula of Lower California is parallel to the main- 
 land and extends from the boundary of the State of 
 California (U.S.A.) southward, terminating with Cape 
 San Lucas, latitude 22° 53' N., longitude 109° 55' 
 W., a distance of nearly 760 miles. 
 
 The main physical features of Mexico are the great 
 central plateau, enclosed by chains of well-defined 
 mountains on the east and west; a belt of lower land; 
 the fringes of lowlands along both coasts; a detached 
 mountainous section in the southeast belonging, phys- 
 ically, to the Central American Plateau; and the low, 
 sandy plain of the Peninsula of Yucatan. The islands 
 belonging to the Republic are almost a negligible 
 quantity. 
 
 The mountain ranges which define the great central 
 plateau of Mexico are called Sierra Madre Oriental, on 
 the east, and Sierra Madre Occidental, on the west. It 
 is rather interesting, philologically, to note the fondness 
 of the Mexicans, as inheritors of the Spanish tongue, for 
 the use of the word Sierra (literally, "a saw," feminine) 
 when naming a mountain range. The names of these 
 two principal chains, then, convey the idea of "The 
 * H. H. Bancroft. 
 
l8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Eastern Mother Range of Mountains" and "The West- 
 ern Mother Range of Mountains." Their fecundity in 
 sending forth children and their maternal watchfulness 
 are both present in the thought of a loyal citizen of the 
 protected plateau. 
 
 The southern boundary of the plateau may be said 
 to be the Cordillera de Anahuac, that crosses the coun- 
 try a short distance south of the capital, Mexico City; 
 but this range is not at all sharply defined, particularly 
 when looked at from the plateau itself. Indeed, there 
 is no true Cordillera, "range of moim tains" in cross 
 section, in any part of Mexico. The names here used 
 are rather euphemisms and are, in fact, scarcely known 
 to any but the scholarly Mexicans. The ordinary 
 natives, especially the Indians who live on or near the 
 mountains, have a great many different names for the 
 various sections; these are known locally only. There 
 are a goodly number of peaks in certain parts of the 
 Republic which attain great height: some of these will 
 form the subject for discussion in another chapter. 
 
 The peculiar orographical structure of Mexico, a 
 wide central plateau with a mean altitude of 8000 feet 
 in the extreme south and sloping gently downward 
 to the north and the basin of the great stream, Rio 
 Grande del Norte, hemmed in by fairly lofty mountain 
 ranges that present formidable barriers on the east and 
 west, effectually prevents the development of rivers of 
 any appreciable size. The influence of these moimtain 
 obstacles — which also serve to desiccate the moisture- 
 laden air from the sea on either side — is increased by 
 meteorological conditions; for the rainfall throughout 
 the plateau is very light, and the forests are very scant, 
 save on the sides of some of the loftier mountains. 
 
 There are, consequently, no rivers of any importance 
 
PHYSICAL MEXICO I9 
 
 whatever. There is but one which has a length 
 greater than 500 miles; and "river navigation" is a 
 term which may almost be ignored when considering 
 Mexico's economic development. The Rio Grande 
 del Norte, or Rio Bravo del Norte (the Rye-o Grand 
 of too many Americans) is essentially an American 
 stream. It rises in the United States and has no Mexi- 
 can tributaries worthy of notice. 
 
 The peninsula of Yucatan has no rivers at all. In 
 the territory of Lower California, the insignificant 
 streams in the northern part of the peninsula are not 
 entitled to be dignified by the name of "river." The 
 absence of rivers is due to the restricted area and to 
 the character of the soil, which absorbs moisture as does a 
 sponge. The longest river of Mexico is the Rio Grande 
 de Santiago. It rises in the State of Mexico, and is 
 called Lerma until it flows into Lake Chapala; after 
 that it receives the more pretentious name as far as its 
 mouth in the Territory of Tepic on the Pacific. The 
 " Great River of Santiago " is, after all, only 540 miles 
 long. 
 
 There are, however, some rivers which deserve passing 
 consideration because of their wildness and scenery: 
 the Santiago is one, the Rio de las Balsas, or Mescala 
 (State of Tlaxcala), Rio Yaqui (Chihuahua and Sonora), 
 Rio Grijalva (Chiapas and Tabasco) are some others. 
 When we say that navigation is a term which may 
 practically be ignored in discussing Mexican rivers, it 
 must be understood that the stricture is used in rather 
 a precise sense. There are some rivers emptying 
 into the Gulf of Mexico that may be navigated by 
 small cargo boats. The Grijalva is useful in this way 
 for something like 90 miles, and the Usumacinta, 
 270 miles; both in the State of Tabasco. 
 
20 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 There are a great many biggish ponds in Mexico; 
 but not many lakes and, with the exception of Lake 
 Chapala, none of them is of great size. Most of the 
 lakes are foimd in landlocked depressions; and of these 
 the best known are those in the Valley of Mexico — 
 Texcoco, Chalco, Xochimilco, Zumpango, Xaltocan, and 
 San Cristobal. These are almost certainly the remains 
 of what was once a truly great lake which filled the 
 entire valley. They receive some surface drainage, but 
 nevertheless are slowly yet surely drying up. The 
 careful and thorough student of Mexico's physical geog- 
 raphy will be much interested in studying the inland 
 lakes of that country in their relation to material 
 development. 
 
 The coast lakes, tide-water lagoons, are very numer- 
 ous along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and some of them 
 are of considerable size, Madre, for example, being 130 
 miles long. They are mostly navigable, in a way, in 
 spite of their general shoalness, and even now are of 
 service commercially. When the plan, only proposed 
 at present yet already receiving some tangible recogni- 
 tion, for connecting and improving the channel along 
 the northern coast of Vera Cruz and that of Tamaulipas 
 is carried out, there will be a most useful and safe inland 
 water route for some himdreds of miles. ''The north 
 coast of Yucatan is remarkable for the extensive banks 
 built up by the Gulf current for five to seven miles from 
 the shore-line. Inside the present sandy coast is a 
 peculiar tide-water channel called the Rio Lagartes, 
 which follows almost the whole northern shore, with 
 occasional openings or hocas connecting with the open 
 sea. It is apparently of the same character as the 
 lagoons of Tamaulipas." On the Pacific coast, there are 
 quite a number of lagoons; but they are usually shoal, 
 
PHYSICAL MEXICO 21 
 
 nearly always little more than marshes, and of no serv- 
 ice commercially. The Pacific coast of the Republic 
 excels the Gulf of Mexico coast in possessing some really 
 admirable harbours. Discussion of these, however, will 
 be reserved for the chapter on Mexico's Seaports. 
 
 Its physiography is, perhaps, one of the country's 
 most interesting features. The people of Mexico them- 
 selves say that their land is made up of three distinct 
 regions. These may roughly be likened to concentric 
 circles: the outer one is a fringe of lowlands along the 
 coast on both sides. This region is called tierras calientes, 
 *'hot lands,'' and it is, generally speaking, a sandy zone 
 along the shore, although in places it stretches well back. 
 It is a tide-water plain broken by inland channels and 
 lagoons. 
 
 Las tierras calientes have always born a bad reputation 
 from a sanitary point of view. This was once justly 
 deserved; but conditions have been much improved 
 by the efforts of scientists, who have succeeded in con- 
 trolling the ravages of yellow fever to a great degree. 
 Sections that were formerly considered absolutely fatal 
 to the white man are now not any more dangerous than 
 any other similar tropical or sub- tropical region; pro- 
 vided always that reasonable care is taken as to diet 
 and that exposure to the sun is avoided. Vera Cruz, 
 which was stamped as malignant at all seasons but a 
 few years ago, has been so cleansed and regenerated that 
 it is now a popular winter resort and is not especially 
 shunned at any time. 
 
 It is impossible, within the limits of space here avail- 
 able, to give a description of the marvellous variety and 
 magnificence of the flora in Mexico's tierras calientes. 
 There is no remarkably preponderating species, as one 
 often finds in temperate regions. There is a confused 
 
22 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 mass of great trees, many of them overrun by enormous 
 creepers, or covered with parasitic plants, orchids, and 
 vines, all struggling together to reach upward to the 
 sunlight that cannot possibly penetrate to their roots 
 or the surface of the ground. 
 
 Mr. Lamoiu-eaux's statement:* ''This struggle for 
 existence has emphatically changed the habits of some 
 plants, turning the palm and the cactus into climbers, 
 and some normal species into epiphytes," is entirely 
 confirmed by the observation of the present writer. It 
 cannot be necessary to speak here at length of the lus- 
 cious tropical and sub-tropical fruits of this region — 
 oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, limes, pomegranates, agua- 
 cates, guanabanas, and a variety of fruity nuts. Some 
 of these are merely names to most readers; and it is 
 safe to say that no one, who has not eaten even the 
 familiar ones when plucked ripe and mature, can have 
 any idea of what the delicacy of these tropical fruits 
 really is. With forests yielding mahogany and numerous 
 other valuable woods (and Mexican mahogany, rose- 
 wood, etc., bear a deserved reputation for excellence), 
 with a prolific soil and a wonderful climate, making it 
 possible, in some cases, to raise three crops in one year, 
 these hot lands must have a marvellous future. 
 
 The line of demarcation between the flora of the 
 tierras calientes and that of the tierras templadas, ''the 
 temperate lands," in most of its area a sub-tropical 
 zone, cannot be drawn sharply. There are many other 
 useful woods and plants in the hot lands; some of the 
 latter are of great value to the pharmacist. This low- 
 land region varies in width from a narrow strip along 
 the foreshore up to forty miles. There are several 
 places on the Pacific coast where the mountain spurs 
 
 * Opus cit. 
 
PHYSICAL MEXICO 23 
 
 extend quite down to the ocean. This is especially true 
 in the States of Guerrero and Oaxaca, as we shall see 
 when Mexico's Seaports are considered in a later chapter. 
 In the southern part of the State of Vera Cruz, in Ta- 
 basco, Campeche, and Yucatan, these low shorelands 
 extend farther into the interior than anywhere else. 
 In the gravelly lands along the foot of the encircling hills, 
 especially in the higher parts of this talus, the soil is 
 remarkbly fertile and the vegetation exceptionally 
 luxuriant. 
 
 The hot zone is generally considered to reach from sea- 
 level along both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific 
 coasts, up to an elevation of something over 3000 feet. 
 It then gives place to the tierras templadas, which is 
 commonly reckoned to extend onward and upward 
 to an elevation of approximately 6000 feet. It is 
 considered to include the greater portions of the 
 following named states: Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San 
 Luis Potosi, nearly one-half of Tamaulipas, a small 
 part of Vera Cruz, nearly the whole of Chiapas and 
 Oaxaca, most of Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Sonora, 
 as well as small portions of the inland states Puebla, 
 Mexico, Morelos, and Michoacan. 
 
 A glance at the map will show that this belt intervenes 
 between the hot lands and tierras frias, ''the cold lands'' 
 of the great central plateau. The mean annual tem- 
 perature of the region is about 75° F., and in it are most 
 of the popular spas and health resorts, some of which 
 will be discussed hereafter. Naturally, the flora of this 
 belt is such as characterises regions bordering a colder 
 zone on one side and a hotter one on the other. Oaks 
 are common everywhere. 
 
 "In southern Mexico the pine is found at even lower 
 elevations where the tropical growth has been 
 
24 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 destroyed by cultivation and fire. The lower slopes of 
 the sierras, especially those of southern Mexico, are well 
 forested and include an immense number of species. 
 The most common families on the eastern slopes, where 
 the precipitation is heavy, are the magnolias, crotons, 
 mimosas, acacias, myrtles, oaks, plane-trees, and bam- 
 boos. Palms are common. The chestnut abounds in 
 many places. The cacti are almost as numerous as on 
 the open plateau. On the southern slopes of the Ajusco 
 and other sierras considerable forests of the ahuehuete 
 (Taxodium distichum) are to be found. The higuerilla, 
 or castor-oil plant, is widely distributed throughout the 
 plateau and the open plains of the lower zones. In 
 some locaKties the characteristic types of the two cli- 
 matic extremes, the palm and the pine, are to be found 
 growing side by side." But while there may be plenty 
 of bamboos, the Mexican has a great deal to learn from 
 the Asiatic before he even begins to get from that plant 
 a tithe of the benefit it is capable of conferring. In 
 Japan and China especially — and almost equally 
 throughout the whole of the Far East — the bamboo 
 is invaluable. It supplies food, it furnishes articles of 
 raiment: between these extremes, it is difficult to think 
 of a use to which the bamboo is not put. There is no 
 reason why the Mexican should not make it equally 
 serviceable. 
 
 Above the temperate circle, rises the tierrasfrias (^Hhe 
 cold lands") which range from about 5600 feet above 
 sea-level to an altitude of 8200 feet. This section in- 
 cludes all the higher portions of Mexico's plateau, and 
 it may be said to correspond very closely to those tem- 
 perate regions of the United States, the Middle West 
 for example, and central section, where killing frosts 
 rarely occur. Yet even in those parts of this tierra 
 
PHYSICAL MEXICO 25 
 
 Jria that actually attain a lofty altitude, the heat of the 
 sun imparts an almost sub-tropical character to the 
 country. 
 
 Higher than the tierras frias, which as a matter of 
 actual fact are not "cold lands" in the precise meaning 
 we should attach to the expression, there are various 
 sections where a colder climate, corresponding to that 
 of the upper temperate zone, is encountered. Here 
 cereals thrive and stock-raising and forest industries 
 are profitably prosecuted. Again, still higher, there 
 are a few almost isolated peaks, Colima, on the west, 
 Orizaba, near the east coast, Iztaccihuatl and Popoca- 
 tapetl, about the middle, are some of these, which 
 tower away up into the realm of annual or perpetual 
 snow and ice. A number of these peaks will claim our 
 attention when we speak, in a later chapter, of the temp- 
 tation to go mountaineering in Mexico. 
 
 The general appearance of Mexico's great central 
 plateau, north of the Cordillera de Anahuac, which is 
 a weakly defined transverse range, is that of a dusty, 
 treeless plain. It may be true, orographically, that 
 the Cordillera de Anahuac culminates in the great 
 Popocatapetl (17,782 feet) and Iztaccihuatl (16,705 feet); 
 but as a physical boundary of the plateau, few Mexi- 
 cans think of any such connection. 
 
 There is very Kttle natural vegetation throughout 
 the entire extent of the plateau: ragged yucca trees 
 (not utterly useless industrially and ornamentally), 
 many species of agave and cactus, scrubby mesquite 
 bushes, sage-brush, and occasional clumps of coarse 
 grass are the normal features. The short rainy season, 
 which, however, not infrequently fails altogether, quickly 
 changes the appearance of the plateau. New grass 
 promptly appears, and wheat and maize are planted and 
 
26 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 in due time harvested. The agaves of this great plain 
 are known in the south chiefly by the magueys, from 
 which the national beverages, pulque and mescal^ of the 
 middle and lower classes are prepared. Of this indus- 
 try, since it pertains to the manners and customs of the 
 people, more will be said in another place. 
 
 In central and southern Mexico, the mountain sides 
 are fairly well timbered up to a height of 13,500 feet, 
 and juniper bushes persist for some himdreds of feet 
 higher. There are plenty of evergreen as well as decid- 
 uous oaks in these mountain forests. 
 
 To avoid possible repetition, discussion of Mexican 
 geology is deferred imtil we come to consider the mining 
 industry. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 PREHISTORIC MEXICO 
 
 THE aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico are pre- 
 historic beyond hope of illumination. While 
 there is no evidence that they were as attractive as the 
 immediate predecessors of the Aztecs, still there are 
 indications that they were distinctly in advance of the 
 Indians who dwelt in the prairies of what is now the 
 United States. When, however, we reach the time of 
 even the first Nahua bands, there appear forthwith 
 indications of a somewhat highly organised government. 
 
 Evidently each band of those migrating Nahuas 
 possessed itself of a part of the great central valley of 
 Mexico; but not always was the occupation a peaceful 
 one, even among related tribes of invaders. While 
 each ruler in the separate divisions appears to have 
 been absolute in his own coimtry, in time of war or when 
 the general interests called for concerted action — 
 against the indigenes, it is to be assumed — they seem 
 to have acted together as a confederacy. The powers 
 of the units were apparently divided in some such a way 
 as this : two-fifths each to Mexico and Tezcuco, and one- 
 fifth to Tlacopan. In these same proportions were 
 divided the spoils of war, slaves and material, and 
 allotted the conquered lands. It was, no doubt, this 
 confederation which misled some of the earliest Euro- 
 pean observers to assume that there was a great Aztec 
 empire. 
 
 It is surely a mistake to speak of "Aztec civilisation," 
 
28 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 if we give to the last comers of the Nahuatlacatl stock, 
 — those whom we have designated the Azteca, — entire 
 credit for what Europeans found in the way of advance- 
 ment and culture, when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico 
 early in the sixteenth century. As a matter of fact, had 
 the true Aztecs been permitted to work their way accord- 
 ing to their nature, it is more than doubtful if they would 
 ever have achieved the ''armies, official administration, 
 courts of justice, high agriculture, and mechanical arts, 
 and, what struck the white men especially, stone build- 
 ings whose architecture and sculpture were often of 
 dimensions and elaborateness to astonish the builders 
 and sculptors of Europe." We shall see presently how 
 entirely dependent the Aztecs were upon some of their 
 ethnically allied predecessors in the land. 
 
 If we follow other ethnologists by adopting the term 
 Nahua for the whole series of these immigrants from 
 the northwest, it should be borne in mind that, etymo- 
 logically, there is no warrant for connecting this word 
 with the somewhat similar word Anahuac, that has 
 been already used. The former does not appear to have 
 had any descriptive or geographical meaning, and 
 merely denoted the various bands of people who spoke 
 (with dialects, possibly) a common language. The 
 latter means "the country by the water," and was, 
 apparently, first used to designate the lofty plateau of 
 central Mexico, almost encircled by mountains. This 
 name was given because of the many salt ponds and lakes 
 which were found there. That it came to have a wider 
 application is doubtless a fact. 
 
 We know that there are records bearing dates which 
 have been sufficiently identified as to bring them within 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of our era. Ed- 
 ward Burnett Tylor, writing of Mexico's Ancient His- 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 29 
 
 tory,* says: "The native history of Mexico and Central 
 America is entitled to more respect than the mere recol- 
 lections of savage tribes. The Mexican pictures so far 
 [closely] approached writing proper as to set down 
 legibly the names of persons and places and the dates of 
 events, and at least helped the professional historians to 
 remember the traditions repeated orally from generation 
 to generation. Thus actual documents of native Aztec 
 history, or copies of them, are still open to the study of 
 scholars, while after the conquest interpretations of these 
 were drawn up in writing by Spanish-educated Mexicans, 
 and histories founded on them with the aid of traditional 
 memory were written by Ixtilxochitl and Tezozomoc. 
 In Central America the rows of complex hieroglyphs 
 to be seen sculptured on the ruined temples probably 
 served a similar purpose. The documents written by 
 natives in later times thus more or less represent real 
 records of the past, but the task of separating myth 
 from history is of the utmost difficulty." There are, 
 besides these admitted records, some traditions of 
 national events which are recognised by historians as 
 having some substantial value, because they are reason- 
 ably verified by names of places, tribes, and persons. 
 
 Before going further, note must be taken of the slight 
 contradiction that seems to be made by two writers who 
 prepared different sections of the article on Mexico for 
 the Encyclopaedia Britannica.f One apparently gives 
 his support to the theory that the Toltecs were an 
 aboriginal race who occupied the country included in 
 the present States of Vera Cruz and Tabasco, whence 
 they extended their dominions westward into the pla- 
 teau, perhaps beyond the present capital. The other 
 
 * See Enc. Brit. 
 
 t See Vol. XVIII, eleventh edition, p. 322 (d) and p. 331 (b). 
 
30 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 writer treats the Toltecs as having been the earliest 
 comers of the Nahua stock, and describes them as hav- 
 ing arrived in Mexico, from their northern home, in the 
 sixth century. Which writer is correct, there is no way 
 to determine, nor does it really matter very much. 
 But our own inclination is to subscribe to the latter 
 theory. 
 
 The Toltecs laid the foundation of the culture of the 
 Nahua nations. They introduced Indian corn and 
 cotton into Mexico, and if we cannot now identify their 
 traditional place of origin, Huehuetlapallan, which they 
 are said to have left foiurteen hundred years ago, there 
 are numerous evidences of the existence of the nation. 
 
 The little we know of the localities in which Indian 
 corn (maize) and cotton (in America) are truly indige- 
 nous, and the association of these useful plants with the 
 Toltecs, lend some colour to the first of the theories, 
 which speculatively determine the original habitat of 
 these people, that have just been mentioned. But 
 their acquaintance with these plants may have been 
 formed after the Toltecs were driven farther south than 
 Mexico proper by other groups of Nahuas who came from 
 the north later than themselves. The "introduction" 
 would then have taken place after some of them were 
 recalled to central Mexico. 
 
 The name Toltecatl, signifying '' an inhabitant of Tol- 
 lan, the land of reeds," has been, by some authorities, 
 identified geographically as a "site in the present Tulan 
 or Tula, north of the valley of Anahuac, where a Toltec 
 kingdom of some extent seems to have had its centre." 
 
 The name of Quetzalcoatl has already been mentioned; 
 but we must now speak more about him because of the 
 influence for good that is accredited to him. If he was 
 not strictly a founder or a teacher of religion, he was 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 3I 
 
 certainly a saintly ruler and a great civiliser, so that 
 there was reason for the Toltecs deifying him, and for 
 that reverence continuing on into the times of those 
 who supplanted the Toltecs. 
 
 Quetzalcoatl is described as having come from Tullan 
 or from Yucatan, although the legends differ very much 
 upon this point. He is alleged to have dwelt among 
 the Toltecs for twenty years, "teaching men to follow 
 his austere and virtuous life; to hate all violence and 
 war; to sacrifice no man or beast on the altars, but to 
 give mild offerings of bread and flowers and perfumes; 
 and to do penance by the votaries drawing blood with 
 thorns from their own bodies." It must be noted how 
 inseparable from the Nahuatlacatl idea of reHgion was 
 the necessity for making blood flow. 
 
 Quetzalcoatl is credited with having taught his follow- 
 ers the art of recording events by means of picture- 
 writing, and to have invented a calendar. That the 
 Aztec celebration in 1195 a.d., of "tying up the bundle 
 of years " in order to wind up one cycle and begin a new 
 one, is directly connected with Quetzalcoatl's calendar, 
 is something which is probably more than idle legend. 
 The name of this festival, the most solemn in the Mexi- 
 can annals, was xiuhmolpilli, or "year-binding." Their 
 cycle was one of fifty- two years. They believed, as did 
 the Hindus, that this world had already been destroyed 
 three or four times, and that this catastrophe would 
 happen again at the end of a cycle. 
 
 The Aztec calendar and their system of notation are 
 interesting and merit a few moments' consideration. 
 But first, in order to make clear what comes a little later, 
 we must mention the Asiatic system of marking time. 
 The sexagenary cycle, the Chinese assert, was contrived 
 during the reign of Emperor Hwang-ti, 2637 B.C. He 
 
32 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 was a primeval monarch and is credited with having 
 been the inventor of writing. This cycle was used in 
 China, as well as in all tributary or dependent coun- 
 tries, such as Tibet, MongoHa, Manchuria, Korea, etc. 
 This apparent Hmitation is not intended to exclude the 
 fact that other peoples used the sixty-year cycle. Just 
 when this calendar was introduced into Japan is not 
 known precisely; but probably it reached that country 
 with the first Chinese books and the art of writing, 
 somewhere about 284 a.d. In Japan it was discarded 
 in 1873, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. In 
 China its discontinuance began with the first day of 
 January, 191 2, although all the other associated peoples 
 have not yet agreed to the innovation; nor have the 
 Chinese themselves done so en masse. 
 
 The cycle was formed by combining two separate 
 sets of characters: one derived from the five elements, 
 wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, each of which was 
 again divided into "elder brother" and '^ younger 
 brother." A separate character being given to each 
 division, there was evolved a series of "ten celestial 
 stems." The second principal series was derived from 
 the twelve palaces, "the twelve terrestrial branches," 
 varying from 23° to 38° in length, into which the zodiac, 
 "the yellow road," was divided; these were given the 
 names of the twelve branches or the animals represent- 
 ing them, namely, rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, 
 horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and bear. 
 
 The Ten Celestial Stems were combined with the 
 Twelve Terrestrial Branches, so as to form groups of 
 double characters. Had, let us say, "wood-elder- 
 brother" been prefixed to "rat," then "wood-younger- 
 brother" to "rat," and so on through the series regularly, 
 a cycle of 120 (10 x 12) combinations would have been 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 33 
 
 achieved very simply. But inasmuch as each series is 
 supposed to be progressing, there is no regularity, and 
 even those who were brought up in association with this 
 system have the utmost difficulty in determining a date 
 in the past. 
 
 Turning now to the Aztec calendar, which, although 
 based upon the cycle of fifty-two years, is not absolutely 
 dissimilar to the Chinese sexagenary cycle, we find that 
 the Mexican calendar depended on the combination of 
 nimabers with picture-signs, of which latter the principal 
 were the rabbit, reed, flint, house. A very little atten- 
 tive study will make the similarity quite conspicuous. 
 
 "This method is highly artificial, and the re-appear- 
 ance of its principle in the Mexican and Central Ameri- 
 can calendar is suggestive of importation from Asia. 
 Humboldt also discussed the Mexican doctrine of four 
 ages of the world belonging to water, earth, air, and 
 fire, and ending respectively by deluge, earthquake, 
 tempest, and conflagration. The resemblance of this 
 to some versions of the Hindu doctrine of the four ages 
 or yuga is hardly to be accoimted for except on the 
 hypothesis that the Mexican theology contains ideas 
 learnt from Asiatics." [E. B. Tylor.] 
 
 In counting, the Aztecs reckoned by scores, their 
 numbers following the vigesimal system of notation. 
 Up to one score the numbers were indicated by dots or 
 small circles without special order. A score was indi- 
 cated by a flag, and after that the groups were in multi- 
 ples of twenty. A score of scores, 400, was shown by a 
 feather; a score of scores of scores, 8000, by a money- 
 pouch. But these symbols might be abbreviated in 
 combinations and shown in halves or even quarters, 
 "so that 534 might be shown by one feather, one-quarter 
 of a feather, one flag, one-half of a flag, and four dots.'' 
 
34 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Mexican legends tell that it was the wise and good 
 teacher, Quetzalcoatl, who showed the Toltecs how to 
 accomplish the artistic work of the smiths who wrought 
 the precious metals. But here, it must be noted that 
 among the later Nahua peoples, the Aztecs especially, 
 the word toUecatl came to signify an artist or a skilled 
 craftsman. 
 
 The Toltec people were nearly wiped out of existence 
 in the eleventh century by a succession of droughts and 
 the consequent famine and pestilence. A very few of 
 the survivors remained in the valley of Anahuac, be- 
 cause almost the whole nation went south, into the 
 present Yucatan and Guatemala, in which countries 
 their name was long continued in local records. When, 
 much later, the Aztecs had estabhshed their supremacy 
 in Mexico and were in need of clever artists and artisans, 
 they sent south for them. 
 
 Accepting or rejecting, as may be, the theory that 
 the ancient Mexicans believed in a supreme deity, there 
 were certain of their gods who stood out conspicuously 
 as endowed with attributes not credited to the com- 
 moner members of the pantheon, e.g., Tloquenahuaque, 
 *'he who is all in himself," or Ipainemoan, "he by whom 
 we live," who had no image, and who was propitiated 
 with incense and flowers, not by bloody human or 
 animal sacrifices. 
 
 There was, too, a rival deity, Tlacatecolotl, an evil 
 god, a mysterious being not easily reconciled with ideas 
 conforming to native development. But all of these 
 were too spiritual, too metaphysical, to be readily com- 
 prehended by the common people, who demanded some- 
 thing which their intelligence could grasp; and that, of 
 course, meant something which could be presented to 
 their sense of sight as an idol. 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 35 
 
 By the masses, then, Tezcatlipoca was exalted to the 
 highest place in the pantheon. When the festival in 
 honour of all the gods was held, his '' footsteps were 
 expected to appear in the flour strown to receive this 
 sign of their coming. He was plainly an ancient 
 deity of the race, for attributes of many kinds were 
 crowded together in him, and he was prayed to in in- 
 terminable formulas for help in war, for health and 
 fortune, to deliver the nation from a wicked king, or to 
 give pardon and strength to the penitent who had con- 
 fessed his sins and been purified by washing." 
 
 Between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, there had 
 long been rivalry and one of the most entertaining 
 Aztec myths tells how these two played a famous game 
 of ball, upon the result of which hung prestige. Al- 
 though Quetzalcoatl is said to have won, or, at any rate, 
 to have been in a fair way to win, he was very tired, and 
 then the tricky Tezcatlipoca, assuming the disguise of 
 a white-headed, decrepit old sorcerer, persuaded his 
 rival to drink the magic pulque. This wrought the good 
 deity's utter discomfiture. Half-crazed by the strange, 
 potent, and mischievous Kquor, he roamed away from 
 the plains of Anahuac until he reached the seacoast. 
 Then he boarded a small vessel and sailed away; but 
 did he arrive at the Gulf of Mexico or the shores of the 
 Pacific? It does not matter, and there are equally 
 emphatic and plausible tales to support both sides. 
 
 If confirmation were needed to support the state- 
 ment that the Mexicans were Nature-worshippers (in 
 part, at least, if not so entirely as, let us say, the Japa- 
 nese), it would be found in the dignity ascribed to Tona- 
 tiuh and Metzli, the personifications of the Sun and the 
 Moon. The interested visitor to the great central pla- 
 teau of Mexico may even yet see the huge pyramids 
 
36 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 built of sun-dried bricks at Teotihuacan. The seemingly 
 crude and unstable material has stood the stress of the 
 weather remarkably, and the pyramids stand "with 
 their sides oriented to the four quarters, an evidence of 
 the importance of their worship." 
 
 There are a great many legends dealing with Huit- 
 zilopochth, or Mexitli, the Aztec god of war. One tells 
 of his supernatural conception in the ancient ToUan land. 
 Another represents him as having been a puissant war- 
 rior who was deified after his death. Without comment- 
 ing upon the rather suspicious famiHarity of that first 
 tale, we may say that the second makes the Mexican 
 Mars singularly Hke the Japanese congener, Hachiman. 
 This latter was born to Empress Jingo, who reigned 
 201 to 269 A.D. This empress was the consort of Em- 
 peror Chuai; and while her existence cannot be posi- 
 tively denied, yet anything which purports to be Japanese 
 history at that early date is always open to suspicion. 
 
 It is not actually claimed that the son was miracu- 
 lously conceived, but it is solemnly declared in Japanese 
 annals that his mother delayed his birth for three years, 
 after his conception, by the virtue of a magic stone 
 which she always carried in the fold of her broad girdle. 
 During that long pregnancy Jingo was leading her 
 troops, Amazon-like, because of the sudden demise of 
 the emperor, in an invasion of Korea. Upon her return, 
 she removed the magic stone and forthwith was delivered 
 of a son; and when the mother died, this remarkable 
 offspring succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ojin, 
 reigning from 270 to 310 a.d. 
 
 There are no remarkable warlike exploits recounted 
 of this monarch and doubtless his apotheosis was in- 
 tended as a compliment to his still more remarkable 
 mother, for it never could have occurred to the 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 37 
 
 Japanese to make Jingo their Minerva. Some students 
 of Japanese history and legend consider that Ojin's 
 deification was due to the fact that the powerful and 
 warUke Minamoto family made him their patron saint. 
 
 But the parallel between the Mexican Huitzilopochtli 
 and the Japanese Hachiman does not continue into the 
 worship offered these respective deities. To the credit 
 of the Japanese be it said that there never were any 
 human beings sacrificed on Hachiman' s altars, as in 
 ancient Mexico the wretched captives were bent back- 
 ward over the war-god's green stone sacrificial block so 
 *' that the priest might more easily slash open the breast 
 with his obsidian knife, tear out the heart and hold it 
 up before the god, while the captor and his friends were 
 waiting below for the carcase to be tumbled down the 
 steps for them to carry home to be cooked for the feast 
 of victory." 
 
 In art Hachiman is represented as rather a fierce 
 creature, bristling with the primitive weapons of his 
 time, and he is popular with the boys, but he is not made 
 to appear remarkably repulsive. Whereas Huitzilo- 
 pochtH's ''idol remains in Mexico, a huge block of 
 basalt on which is sculptured on one side his hideous 
 personage, adorned with the humming-bird feathers 
 on the left hand, which signify his name; while the 
 not less frightful war-goddess Teoyaomiqui, or 'divine- 
 war-death,' occupies the other side." 
 
 Were we able entirely to dissociate Spanish influence 
 from the record of Nahua ritual and prayer which has 
 been handed down to us by both European and native 
 chroniclers, we should be more disposed than we are to 
 credit the prehistoric Mexicans with a good deal of 
 religious fervour and not a Kttle pathos. But when we 
 find an allusion to sheep — in a sense denoted by the 
 
38 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 phrase "all we like sheep have gone astray" — it tends 
 to cast discredit upon the whole of this literature; for 
 the sheep was unknown to the natives of Mexico until 
 the Europeans made them acquainted with it. 
 
 At the great annual festival of Tezcatlipoca, who has 
 already been mentioned, the handsomest and noblest 
 captive of the year was made to impersonate the god. 
 He wore a magnificent, embroidered mantle, was crowned 
 with feathers and flowers, and attended by a retinue 
 suitable for a king. Four damsels were given to him 
 as wives during the last month of his life, and these were 
 treated as goddesses. ''On the last day wives and 
 pages escorted him to the little temple of Tlacochcalco, 
 where he mounted the stairs, breaking an earthenware 
 flute against each step; this was a symbolic farewell 
 to the joys of the world, for as he reached the top he 
 was seized by the priests, his heart torn out and held 
 up to the sun, his head spitted on the tzompantli (the 
 place where skulls of victims by tens of thousands were 
 skewered on cross-sticks or built into towers), and his 
 body eaten as sacred food, the people drawing from his 
 fate the moral lesson that riches and pleasure may turn 
 into poverty and sorrow." 
 
 All of these Aztec ceremonies were attended by the 
 less revolting pleasures of the ordinary festival. There 
 were numerous grotesque dances by maskers, sham 
 fights, and all manner of children's games. But the 
 typical religious function was simply a horrible butchery 
 followed by a cannibal feast. Some of the fights ar- 
 ranged for the gratification of the spectators were far 
 from being a "sham" for one of the contestants. A 
 captive was given a wooden sword and then compelled 
 to fight with a well-equipped, armoured gladiator. 
 
 After we have granted cheerfully that there was good 
 
PREHISTORIC MEXICO 39 
 
 reason for the Spaniards' amazement at the degree and 
 character of the culture and civilisation which they 
 found on their arrival in Mexico, we must not overlook 
 the fact that certainly some of the awful, bloodthirsty 
 disposition which ruled the natives still survived. Only 
 a mere suggestion of what the religious orgies were in 
 the Mexico of ancient days has been attempted here. 
 Readers of works that give greater details than we can, 
 will be convinced that this is true; and whatever may 
 have been the faults of the Spaniards, it must be ad- 
 mitted that to have done even a little to put a stop to 
 such butchery of human beings is something which 
 deserves praise. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 
 
 IT can hardly be necessary to state that this chapter 
 will be, in the main, a compilation from Prescott's 
 great work, "The Conquest of Mexico." After this we 
 must pass into the period of at least semi-independence, 
 which the native Mexicans and the goodly number of 
 dissatisfied Europeans achieved after they had thrown 
 off the Spanish rule. The rigid, yet never dull, history of 
 Prescott is relieved somewhat by the lightness that such 
 a writer as Lew Wallace injects into his remarkable 
 novel" The Fair God." 
 
 As has already been stated, when Quetzalcoatl, after 
 incurring the displeasure of a superior deity, or when 
 he was discomfited by Tezcatlipoca, left Tenochtitlan 
 (now Mexico City), and went to the coast, he is alleged 
 to have declared he would return, and if he did not 
 wreak his vengeance upon the people for their lack of 
 allegiance to himself, he would certainly assume the 
 government of the entire land. 
 
 Little by little, however, the loyalty of the Aztecs 
 towards Quetzalcoatl seems to have waned imtil, in the 
 sixteenth century, his great temple that stood near the 
 Tlateloco, the large market-place in the western part of 
 the capital, was well-nigh deserted. This spot will 
 always be infamous, for it was probably here, although 
 writers are not in full accord, some saying the deed was 
 done in the plaza of Tezcuco, that the first archbishop 
 of Mexico, Don Juan de Zumarraga, collected the pic- 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 41 
 
 ture-writings from every quarter, especially from Tez- 
 cuco, which was the most cultivated city of Anahuac 
 and the great depository of the national archives. 
 Zumarraga caused these priceless records to be piled up 
 in a mountain heap, as it is called by the Spanish writers 
 themselves, and then burned them. This act of vandal- 
 ism was perpetuated simply because, not being at once 
 intelligible to the conquerors, the strange, unknown 
 characters excited suspicion. They were looked upon 
 as magic scrolls; and were regarded in the same Hght 
 with the idols and temples, as the symbols of a pestilent 
 superstition, which must be exterminated.* Prescott 
 adds that Zumarraga's ''greater countryman, Arch- 
 bishop Ximenes, had celebrated a similar auto-da-fe of 
 Arabic manuscripts, in Granada, some twenty years 
 before. Never did fanaticism achieve two more signal 
 triumphs, than by the annihilation of so many curious 
 monuments of human ingenuity and learning." 
 
 Montezuma II. had caused another and a greater 
 temple to be erected, wherein he had installed a new 
 image for the people to worship; and, as Wallace says, 
 "as if a king could better make a good custom, the people 
 abandoned the old ones to desuetude." In that old, 
 deserted temple, in the month of March, 15 19, dwelt an 
 aged, feeble, white-haired, white-bearded old priest, a 
 pah a to whom Wallace gives the name of Mualox.f 
 
 The only permanent residents of Quetzalcoatl's temple, 
 save a few slaves, were Mualox and a yoimg girl, a mere 
 child, whom with her mother the paha had bought in 
 the slave-market of Tenochtitlan, when Tecetl, for that 
 
 * See " Conquest of Mexico," Book I, chap. IV. 
 
 t If I seem to accept too much of fiction, it must be remembered that 
 practically all the essentials of Wallace's "The Fair God" were con- 
 firmed by Spanish investigators. J. K. G. 
 
42 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 was the girl's name, was a baby at her mother's breast. 
 The mother is supposed to have died very soon, and 
 Mualox had kept the child absolutely withdrawn from 
 the world and all human companions except himself. 
 She was immured, so to speak, in marvellous apart- 
 ments, deep down in the bowels of the earth, that 
 stretched out far under the waters of the lake. 
 
 Yet by his skill, which bordered closely upon magic, 
 even in such a seemingly impossible place, Mualox 
 had surrounded Tecetl with gardens, so that young 
 plants and trees, flowers and fruits were famihar to her 
 all the time, while birds charmed with their songs or 
 gratified her eyes with their beauty. 
 
 The old paha is described as exercising potent hyp- 
 notic influence over the girl, and one day in that memor- 
 able spring of the year 15 19, she tells him that she sees 
 strange things Hke huge white-winged birds coming over 
 great waters towards Anahuac. On these marvellous 
 birds there were even stranger beings who looked like 
 Mualox himself, yet were dazzHng in their splendour. 
 They had fair faces and brown hair. Mualox is con- 
 vinced that at last the legend of Quetzalcoatl's return is 
 to be transformed into reality, and his god is coming to 
 punish the Aztecs for their neglect in the past and their 
 disloyalty in the present. This conviction he attempts 
 to impart to Montezuma, who is, however, somewhat 
 sceptical although manifestly perturbed by the prophecy. 
 
 Cortes' squadron reached the mouth of the Tabasco 
 River on March 12, 15 19, and within less than two days 
 fleet runners brought the information to the capital. 
 Thus was Mualox's prophecy confirmed and Monte- 
 zuma's perturbation increased. This coming of the 
 Spaniards was not the first information concerning 
 Europeans that reached the ears of the people of Ana- 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 43 
 
 huac and Central America. It is reasonably certain 
 that very soon after the year 15 14 the Aztecs had heard 
 of Francisco Hernandez de Cordova's expedition to 
 Nicaragua; and in 1518 they certainly had some inter- 
 course with the company of Juan de Grijalva, who left 
 Santiago de Cuba on April 8, 15 18, discovered Mexico, 
 obtained a good deal of gold by trading with the Indians, 
 and learned considerable about the rich Aztec kingdom 
 in the interior. Of these visits by Europeans, Wallace 
 makes Montezuma to say, ''as you know, strangers have 
 twice before been upon our coasts in such canoes, and 
 with such arms ; and in both instances they sought gold, 
 and getting it they departed." 
 
 But Montezuma's expression of confidence, as he 
 spoke to his coimsellors, was not sincere, and it is mani- 
 fest that, from the very first confirmation by his official 
 messengers of the priests' prophecies, he felt that these 
 newcomers were Children of the Sun, though probably 
 not really gods, even if the prowess of the Spaniards, 
 whom many of the natives, priests and laymen, thought 
 invincible, caused them to be considered "white gods." 
 With these feelings animating the ruler, most of his ad- 
 visers, and many of his generals, it is almost superfluous 
 to add that Cortes' conquest was assured before it had 
 been well begun. 
 
 On the tenth of February, 15 19, Cortes' Httle squadron 
 got under way from Havana (we omit all account of the 
 various personal and official discouragements that had 
 been thrown across his path prior to that date) and 
 sailed for Cabo San Antonio, the extreme western point 
 of the island of Cuba, which had been appointed as the 
 place of rendezvous. When all arrived, there were 
 eleven vessels. Cortes' flagship was the largest and it 
 was but one hundred tons burden. The next three in 
 
44 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 size were from seventy to eighty tons; and the rest were 
 small caravels or open brigantines, but the latter were 
 not the kind of seaworthy vessel which satisfies the 
 present definition of the word. The chief pilot, or 
 navigator, was Antonio de Alaminos, a veteran and 
 competent officer who had acted as pilot to Columbus 
 in his fourth and last voyage (when the great discoverer 
 first actually saw the mainland which he beheved until 
 his death was the continent of Asia), and to Cordova and 
 Grijalva in their expeditions which have been mentioned. 
 
 When Cortes mustered his forces, he found he had 
 one hundred and ten seamen, five hundred and fifty- 
 three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and 
 thirteen arquebusiers.* There were, besides, two hun- 
 dred Indian supernumeraries and a few native women 
 for servants. His armament comprised ten heavy guns, 
 and four fighter pieces called falconets, and he had a 
 goodly supply of ammunition. Authorities differ as to 
 this complement; some give the number of soldiers as 
 only four hundred, others say six hundred. Prescott 
 adopts ''the estimates of Bernal Diaz, who, in his long 
 service, seems to have become intimately acquainted 
 with every one of his comrades, their persons, and 
 private history." 
 
 There were, besides the human beings, sixteen horses 
 in the expedition, and while this seems an almost ludi- 
 crously insignificant number for such an enterprise, it 
 must be remembered that these animals were not easily 
 procured in that part of the world early in the sixteenth 
 century. It was exceedingly difficult and most incon- 
 venient to carry them across the ocean in the small 
 vessels of those days, and therefore they were almost 
 incredibly dear in the West Indies. The sixteen in 
 
 * See Cent. Diet, definition of harquebuse. 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 45 
 
 Cortes' expedition are alleged to have cost from four 
 hundred to five hundred pesos de oro each, and that 
 would be the equivalent of about two thousand dollars 
 apiece to-day. ^'But Cortes rightfully estimated the 
 importance of cavalry, however small in number, both 
 for their actual service in the field, and for striking 
 terror into the natives. With so paltry a force did he 
 enter on a Conquest which even his stout heart must 
 have shrimk from attempting with such means, had he 
 foreseen half its real difficulties." 
 
 A severe storm the first night after leaving Cabo San 
 Antonio scattered the fleet, dismasted or seriously 
 damaged several of the vessels, and drove them all much 
 south of their purposed destination, the promontory of 
 Yucatan. They came together again at the island of 
 Cozumel. Cortes' flagship, which had lingered behind 
 to convoy a disabled vessel, was the last to arrive. 
 
 If the fact that Cortes was well informed about inter- 
 nal conditions in Anahuac is not conclusively demon- 
 strated, it is strongly indicated by his actions. Upon 
 his ability to take advantage of those disorders to gain 
 for himself needed alKes, he depended very much for the 
 success of his enterprise. The Spaniards contended that 
 they had the right to appropriate all lands of the ''hea- 
 then savages" and annex them to the dominions of their 
 ruler.* This imputation of savagery has always been 
 vehemently, and properly, resented by the Mexican 
 (native) historians. 
 
 Looking back over nearly four hundred years, we find 
 it difficult morally to justify the Conquest of Mexico, 
 and yet we must, in fairness, give to the conquerors 
 what Httle credit is their due. Cortes showed a measure 
 of wisdom and poficy at the first encounter with the 
 
 * See the famous Papal Bulls. 
 
46 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 natives. When he reached Cozumel, he learnt that one 
 of his captains, Pedro de Alvarado, had entered the 
 temples and stripped them of their ornaments and all 
 things of value. Alvarado's violent conduct had so 
 terrified the simple people that they fled into the in- 
 terior of the island. 
 
 Cortes was exceedingly angry, for the act of his sub- 
 ordinate was so contrary to the course he had determined 
 upon. He reprimanded the captain pubhcly, made a 
 careful explanation to the prisoners whom Alvarado had 
 seized, gave them many presents, and sent them to ex- 
 plain matters to their friends. This humane poHcy 
 succeeded; the natives returned and amicable relations 
 were established. 
 
 On the fourth of March, 15 19, Cortes sailed from 
 Cozumel, doubled Cape Catoche, the extreme point of 
 Yucatan, and reached Tabasco River, where he first met 
 with serious and hostile opposition; but the Spaniards 
 were successful because of their arms. After capturing 
 the town of Tabasco, he formally took possession for 
 the crown of Castile. He was much perturbed, how- 
 ever, by the desertion of his interpreter, Melchorejo, 
 who had been until now his only means of communicat- 
 ing with the natives. 
 
 Cortes returned to his fleet and sailed to San Juan de 
 Ulua (an island off the coast opposite Vera Cruz). Here 
 Dona Marina enters the story. She was a Mexican, of 
 good birth, spoke the Tabascan language and could carry 
 on a conversation with Jeronimo de Aguilar, who, in 
 turn, rendered it into Spanish. This Aguilar, a native 
 of Ecija, in old Spain, had been regularly educated for 
 the Church. He was sent to the colony of Darien, and 
 on a voyage from that place back towards Hispaniola 
 (that is Haiti) in 1511, had been wrecked on the coast of 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 47 
 
 Yucatan. He was preserved from the sacrifice by the 
 cannibal natives, which was the fate of all his companions, 
 and escaped into the interior. There he had been pro- 
 tected by a chief and attained a position of rank and 
 importance. Eventually he was permitted to leave his 
 native master, and he reached Cozumel just in time to 
 meet Cortes' fleet. His services to the Captain- General 
 were invaluable. 
 
 Cortes, we know, appreciating at their full value the 
 services Dona Marina could render, first made her his 
 interpreter, then his secretary, and at last, won by her 
 personal charms, took her to be his mistress. "She had a 
 son by him, Don Martin Cortes, comendador of the Mih- 
 tary Order of St. James, less distinguished by his birth 
 than his unmerited persecutions." Cortes was known to 
 the Aztecs by Marina's alternative name, MaHnche. 
 
 On April 21, 15 19, Good Friday, Cortes landed on the 
 mainland, with all his forces, on the very spot where 
 now stands the city of Vera Cruz. He established him- 
 self here with somewhat of permanency; and much to 
 his surprise, yet altogether to his gratification, he re- 
 ceived great assistance from the natives, who flocked 
 to the place in crowds to see the wonderful strangers. 
 Teuhtlile, the governor of the province, came to meet 
 Cortes on Easter Day. On this occasion, the Spanish 
 leader rather failed in his usual poKcy by preferring a 
 somewhat imperious demand that he be given an inter- 
 view with the "emperor," Montezuma. Teuhtlile's 
 anger at this presumption was subsequently placated in 
 a measure, and he presented the gifts he had brought for 
 the Spanish general. He consented to receive those in- 
 tended for Montezuma, to forward them to the capital, 
 and to make known Cortes' request for an audience. 
 
 The Aztec governor was accompanied by an artist 
 
48 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 who made sketches of the Spaniards, in order that 
 Montezuma might gain through his eyes a better idea of 
 what the strangers were Hke, than was possible from any 
 verbal description. It is rather interesting to note here 
 that a native artist, probably the same one, gave the 
 Spaniards a portrait of one of the native military officers, 
 who bore such a striking resemblance to the Captain- 
 General that he was dubbed '^The Mexican Cortes." 
 
 Montezuma, as soon as he learned of Cortes' arrival 
 upon the coast of his domains, called a meeting of his 
 counsellors to ask their opinions as to the attitude to be 
 assumed towards the strangers. The officials differed 
 widely in the advice given, and the king determined upon 
 a half-way course. He sent magnificent gifts to the 
 Spaniards; he gave command that they should be 
 physically well cared for; but he forbade them to come 
 to his capital. The gifts merely stimulated the cupidity 
 of the Spaniards; the forbiddance met with derision. 
 
 Dissatisfaction had broken out in the Spanish camp; 
 but Cortes cleverly allayed this by ordering his entire 
 force to prepare to return to Cuba, as if he were going to 
 abandon his enterprise. As he expected, the men de- 
 murred and insisted upon planting a colony. Cortes 
 received the demand with the embarrassed manner of one 
 by whom it was altogether unexpected. After a little 
 affectation of delay, he consented to build a new city, 
 Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, *'The Rich Town of the True 
 Cross." He even went so far in his farce as to resign 
 his office of Captain-General, ^' which indeed," he said, 
 "had necessarily expired, since the authority of the 
 governor was now^ superseded by that of the magistracy 
 of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz." The council, of course, 
 made him Captain- General and Chief Justice of the 
 colony, and the Conquest was actively prosecuted. 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 49 
 
 Having now reached the time when the coming of the 
 Spaniards may be looked upon as an estabHshed fact, 
 we must pass rapidly over the march to Cempoalla, in 
 which city began the negotiations that brought the 
 native alHes upon whom Cortes had counted. From 
 Cempoalla the Spaniards went to Chiahuitztla. Here a 
 rather disagreeable acquaintance was made with some 
 Aztec lords who had been sent by Montezuma to re- 
 ceive tribute. But Cortes played a trick upon the 
 kindly Cempoallan chief and citizens; although his arti- 
 fice in first persuading the governor to seize the Aztecs, 
 and then in effecting their release, has not wanted its 
 panegyrist among the native historians. It certainly 
 had all the effect intended on the trembling Montezuma. 
 The Totonacs were enrolled under the protection of 
 Spain. 
 
 The Spaniards' audacity in inducing the Cempoallans 
 to imprison the royal tribute collectors filled the whole 
 city of Tenochtitlan with indignation; but when those 
 officials arrived in person and reported how courteously 
 Cortes had treated them, Montezuma's anger was dissi- 
 pated. Although the site of this city, Cempoalla, is not 
 now to be identified positively, it was no doubt close 
 to the coast and back of the new city. Villa Rica de Vera 
 Cruz. 
 
 Cortes now determined upon a most daring experi- 
 ment, which was to destroy his fleet without letting his 
 army know what he was doing. This was for the pur- 
 pose of depriving the Spaniards of means of easy return 
 to Cuba and their friends. He assumed that this 
 ''cutting away of bridges" would make them even more 
 vigorous than they had been in their determination to 
 conquer Mexico. An inkling of what he was about to 
 do having come to the soldiers, Cortes was too politic 
 
50 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 not to seem to take the men into his confidence, and by 
 his harangue, in which he assumed a tone of persuasion 
 rather than of authority, he represented how much 
 greater his own risk was than that of any other member 
 of the expedition. 
 
 He reported that a survey had shown conclusively 
 that all the vessels, with one possible exception, were 
 absolutely unseaworthy because of rot and worms, and 
 he wound up thus: ^'As for me, I have chosen my part. 
 I will remain here while there is one to bear me com- 
 pany. If there be any so craven as to shrink from shar- 
 ing the dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go 
 home, in God's name. There is still one vessel left. 
 Let them take that and return to Cuba. They can tell 
 there how they have deserted their commander and their 
 comrades, and patiently wait till we return loaded with 
 the spoils of the Aztecs." Cortes was entirely success- 
 ful; and now the universal cry was ^'To Mexico!" 
 
 The Spaniards then cHmbed to the Tableland. They 
 marched into the territory of the Tlascalans, who had 
 for years maintained at least a semblance of independ- 
 ence from the Tenochtitlans, and who had secured as 
 alHes the wild and warlike Othomis. After many des- 
 perate and bloody engagements, in number sufficient to 
 dignify the episode with the title of war, the Tlascalans 
 were so far overcome as to cease to offer resistance to the 
 forward march of the Spaniards. 
 
 News of this victory for "the men of destiny" having 
 been brought to Montezuma, he sent an embassy to 
 Cortes, who, after some futile fencing in diplomacy, 
 offered to pay tribute in their master's name to the Cas- 
 tilian sovereign, provided the Spaniards would give up 
 their plan of marching to Tenochtitlan. As Prescott 
 well says, this was a grave error; for it displayed the 
 
COMING or THE SPANIARDS 51 
 
 rich casket with one hand, which Montezuma was un- 
 able to defend with the other. Cortes' reply was just 
 what was to have been expected; and he concluded the 
 message he sent by the ambassadors by saying that 
 while he could not make adequate return for the Aztec 
 monarch's munificence, ^'he trusted to repay him at 
 some future day, with good works. ^^ 
 
 The Spaniards took possession of the city of Tlascala, 
 where a somewhat lengthy stay was made. In part this 
 was devoted to recuperation and festivities; in part to 
 the propaganda of the Christian faith, although Father 
 Olmeda, the leading prelate, deprecated all forced con- 
 versions. Another embassy from Montezuma arrived; 
 this time inviting the Spaniards to his capital and ask- 
 ing them to take the route by way of Cholula. This 
 suggestion the Tlascalans disapproved strongly, rightly 
 suspecting treachery, and their arguments had much 
 weight with Cortes, yet he decided to march to Cholula. 
 He entered that city at the head of his army, attended 
 by no other Indians than those from Cempoalla, and a 
 handful of Tlascalans to take charge of the baggage. 
 
 Promptly after establishing themselves in Cholula, 
 signs of a conspiracy were detected, the full details of 
 which Dona Marina secured, by her artfulness and dis- 
 simulation, from the wife of a powerful Cholulan chief. 
 The result was a fearful massacre of the inhabitants, 
 something that has left a dark stain on the memory of 
 the Conquerors. Its moral effect was tremendous and 
 Prescott's reflections on the slaughter are to be com- 
 mended. Montezuma's effort to relieve himself from all 
 responsibility for the Cholulan conspiracy was the basest 
 pusillanimity and it effectually sealed his fate. 
 
 Quiet having been restored at Cholula, the Spaniards 
 marched towards Tenochtitlan. On the way, in order to 
 
52 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 show the natives the Europeans' contempt for their su- 
 perstitions, the great volcano of Popocatapetl, a for- 
 bidden spot, was ascended by one of Cortes' captains. 
 It was rather a difficult undertaking, but having been 
 accomplished without dire results, it tended to enhance 
 the Aztecs' respect for these doughty strangers, while it 
 somewhat shook their confidence in the power of their 
 own gods. 
 
 The admiration of the Spaniards for the beautiful 
 scenery of the great valley of Central Mexico and the 
 ^'Venice of the Aztecs," was speedily affected by the 
 dubious sensations produced by the evidences of a 
 civilisation and progress so greatly superior to any- 
 thing they had yet encountered. The timid ones 
 shrank from a contest so unequal and demanded, as 
 they had done on previous occasions, to be led back 
 to Vera Cruz. Cortes had no such feeHngs. His 
 avarice was sharpened by the display of these most 
 tempting spoils, and by argument, entreaty, and threat 
 he compelled the army to advance. 
 
 Poor vacillating Montezuma was now a prey to the 
 most dismal apprehensions. In despair, he shut him- 
 self up in his palace, refused food, and sought rehef in 
 prayers and sacrifice. We may be very sure that re- 
 morse for seeming neglect in propitiating Quetzalcoatl 
 had potent influence upon his oblations. 
 
 His counsellors were divided in opinion. Some advo- 
 cated courteous reception of the strangers as ambassa- 
 dors of a puissant foreign prince. Others, among whom 
 was Cuitlahua, Montezuma's brother, urged armed re- 
 sistance. But the king found it impossible to rally his 
 spirits for this struggle; he exclaimed: ''Of what avail 
 is resistance, when the gods have declared themselves 
 against us! Yet I mourn most for the old and the in- 
 
COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 53 
 
 firm, the women and the children, too feeble to fight or 
 to fly. For myself and the brave men around me, we 
 must bare our breasts to the storm, and meet it as best 
 we may!" 
 
 The Spaniards advanced to the town of Amaquemaca; 
 then to Ajatzinco, where they were requested to await 
 the arrival of the lord of Tezcuco, who would come, as 
 the representative of Montezuma, to bid the strangers 
 welcome to his capital. Resuming their march, the in- 
 vaders passed along the southern border of Lake Chalco, 
 and then, leaving the mainland, they came to the great 
 causeway which, for four or five miles, separated Lake 
 Chalco from Lake Xochicalco to the west. It was a 
 soHd structure of stone blocks laid with Hme. It was 
 wide enough for eight horsemen to ride abreast, and it 
 amazed the Spaniards as being one of the most remark- 
 able works they had seen in the country. 
 
 Midway of the causeway, the invading army halted 
 at the town of Cuitlahuac for refreshment, and then 
 went along the narrow neck of land dividing the waters 
 of Chalco from Lake Tezcucan. Then they entered 
 Iztapalapan, the royal residence town governed by 
 Cuitlahua. He, attended by the lords of neighbouring 
 cities, gave welcome to Cortes, who took up his quarters 
 for the night. 
 
 On the 8th of November, 15 19, the actual entry into 
 the city of Tenochtitlan was made. A mile and a half 
 from the capital, at Fort Xoloc, memorable in later days 
 as the position occupied by Cortes in the famous siege 
 of Mexico, the Spaniards halted to meet several hundred 
 Aztec chiefs, who came to announce the approach of 
 Montezuma, and to welcome the strangers to the capital. 
 
 When the monarch's personal train had reached a 
 convenient place, it halted and Montezuma descended 
 
54 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 from his palanquin. He then came forward, leaning on 
 the arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan. 
 Cortes dismounted, threw his reins to a page, and, sur- 
 rounded by a few of his captains, advanced to meet 
 Montezuma. After exchange of civilities, in which the 
 Spaniard was on the point of profaning the sacred per- 
 son of the Aztec monarch by embracing him, but was 
 restrained by the attendant lords, Montezuma appointed 
 his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their quarters in 
 the capital. Re-entering his palanquin, the king was 
 borne off amidst prostrate, silent crowds, in the same 
 state in which he had arrived. There was something in 
 the deportment of the Aztec populace on such occasions, 
 which reminds us strangely of the behaviour of the Jap- 
 anese in former times. The Spaniards quickly followed 
 Montezuma's train; and with colours flying and the 
 military band playing, they soon made their entrance 
 into the southern section of Tenochtitlan. 
 
 This does not complete the Conquest of Mexico; for 
 the seemingly friendly reception soon was followed by 
 conditions that were filled with danger to the Spaniards. 
 Yet the record is too interesting to be condensed into 
 the available space, and it is too long to be inserted in 
 full. Each may read for himself of the signs of rebellion, 
 of the imprisonment of Montezuma, of his being forced 
 to swear allegiance to Spain, of the discontent among 
 the Aztecs, of the troubles amongst the Spaniards, of 
 their expulsion from Tenochtitlan and the horrors of La 
 Noche Triste, of their return with reinforcements, and all 
 the other fateful events until the submission of rulers 
 and people of Mexico to Spain's dominion in 1522. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 MEXICAN historians are agreed in saying that 
 the Spanish rule in their country lasted exactly 
 three centuries, from 1521 to 1821. The first date may 
 not be accepted by all, although one year is of small 
 moment; and the second is historical, for, by the treaty 
 of Aquala, Mexico was declared independent on the 23rd 
 of August, 182 1, although Agustin de Iturbide was not 
 proclaimed emperor until May 18th, 1822, and crowned 
 July 2ist of that year, after Spain had declined to let 
 one of the Spanish Bourbon princes accept the honour. 
 
 During all these three hundred years, there were three 
 great, privileged classes who ruled Mexico with iron 
 hands. The common people of native descent, as well 
 as most of those of mixed blood, were not considered in 
 any way to have rights of self-government or social 
 privileges of any kind. The true natives were simply 
 the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, whose 
 labour produced the wealth which filled the pockets of 
 the rulers or overflowed into the royal coffers at Madrid. 
 
 In those three privileged classes, precedence was given 
 to the clergy, as was an almost invariable rule at that 
 period throughout Spanish dominions. These clergy, 
 by using mental and spiritual pressure, had obtained 
 bequests from persons who were at the point of death; 
 and by these and various other devices had accumulated 
 enormous estates. They owned, directly or by means of 
 mortgages so drawn as to make it impossible ever to 
 
56 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 extinguish them, more than two-thirds of all real prop- 
 erty. Naturally, too, the Church had secured control 
 of practically all the lucrative financial business. 
 
 It was not through their great wealth alone that the 
 clergy held their tremendous power, although that was 
 quite sufficiently potent; but they added much to their 
 influence, both for good and evil, because of their edu- 
 cation. Although, as a matter of fact, the majority of 
 the priests — even those rather well up in rank — really 
 had but little book-learning, they knew a great deal more 
 than did the other classes, and the majority of the com- 
 mon people (we might say the whole of them) were 
 purposely kept in a shocking state of ignorance. 
 
 The prelates were so powerful during the whole of the 
 Spanish rule that they did not hesitate to defy the civil 
 authorities. A viceroy once attempted to assert his 
 authority over the archbishop of Mexico City, who had 
 defiantly opposed him in his official and lawful acts. 
 The viceroy issued an order of arrest, intending to send 
 the archbishop a civil prisoner to Spain. The arrest was 
 duly made, but when it became known that the high- 
 rank Church dignitary was being taken to Vera Cruz for 
 exile, a violent uproar broke out in the capital: the 
 archbishop was speedily brought back and reinstated in 
 office, while the viceroy was compelled to leave the 
 country. 
 
 The Spanish Colonial Government in Mexico was an 
 auto- theocratic one ; the civil administration (represent- 
 ing the aristocrats) and the ecclesiastical administration 
 being as closely united as possible, with preponder- 
 ance of power always with the clergy. Of the 
 sixty-two viceroys who ruled Mexico during the three 
 hundred years of the Spanish power, ten, or more than 
 seventeen per centum, were also archbishops of Mexico 
 
INDEPENDENCE 57 
 
 City, the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in the colony. 
 In fact, the archbishop of the capital was ex-qfficio vice- 
 roy; because, whenever the civil governor died, or was 
 recalled from Madrid and left the colony before his 
 successor arrived, the archbishop almost invariably 
 assumed the duties of the civil office. 
 
 The second of the privileged classes were the Spaniards 
 by birth. These formed a kind of aristocracy extremely 
 exclusive, and a few of them held titles of Spanish nobihty. 
 As they were the only class who held offices of trust, re- 
 sponsibiHty, dignity (outside the Church), or emolument, 
 they completely monopolised the profitable business 
 (often being the representatives of ecclesiastical pro- 
 prietors), and they were the wealthy lay class. These 
 "pure Spaniards," as they deHghted to call themselves, 
 were so ridiculously jealous of "native" Mexicans, that 
 even the children born in Mexico to Spaniards by a 
 Mexican mother were not considered to be their equals. 
 
 These half-castes were called (rather loosely, we now 
 think) Creoles. They were deemed to have no legal or 
 social rights whatever, and were not permitted to fill 
 any pubHc ofiice or to hold any position of importance. 
 Very few Spanish women went to Mexico in the days of 
 Spanish rule. The Castilian men generally went there 
 while yet quite young. They grew up in the colony, 
 and married Mexican women, occasionally pure-blooded 
 Indians, the daughters of influential caciques, although, 
 as a rule, they took for wives the daughters of Span- 
 iards by Mexican wives. From these marriages came 
 the Creoles, now the important class of native-born 
 Mexicans. 
 
 The third of those former privileged classes was the 
 army. The Spanish army was then comparatively 
 small; the burden of provincial patrol, checking local 
 
58 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 insurrection, and similar duties, being put upon the 
 caciques and their followers. Yet this little Spanish 
 army was a very important social element in the colony. 
 Native-born Mexicans, even the Creoles, held none but 
 subordinate positions, and rarely were such promoted to 
 the rank of commissioned officer; for the pure Hidalgos 
 resented this intrusion upon their exclusiveness. 
 
 All conditions carefully considered, it was but natural 
 for these three privileged classes to be enthusiastic sup- 
 porters of Spanish rule. Under it alone they existed or 
 could exist, because to it they owed their wealth and in- 
 fluence. A change would, therefore, seriously endanger 
 their power, if it did not absolutely destroy it. Although 
 the higher clergy were, of course, absolutely loyal to Spain 
 and staunch supporters of Spanish rule, there were some 
 Mexican-born priests in the lower ranks of the clergy, 
 for the Church was practically the only career open to 
 natives. These latter had, naturally, some feelings of 
 patriotism, and could foresee the benefits that might 
 accrue from that change for which they longed. 
 
 During Spain's long rule in Mexico, there is not much 
 to be said that redoimds to her credit. The colony was 
 vigorously exploited for the benefit of the Mother 
 Country. Its wealth was drained as much as possible 
 to line the pockets of the resident Spaniards or to re- 
 plenish the perpetually leaking treasure-chests of the 
 Home Government. Had but a tithe of the immense 
 sums that poured into Spain from her various over-seas 
 possessions been withheld from the rapacity of Court 
 favourites and all manner of leeches, that coimtry would 
 be to-day the richest in the world, instead of being what 
 it perhaps is: the poorest! 
 
 Yet it is surprising to find some of the Mexican his- 
 torians condoning Spain's selfishness and greed. These 
 
INDEPENDENCE 59 
 
 say, and of course it is true even if it is not the whole 
 truth, that Spain gave to Mexico all she had: her re- 
 ligion, her language, her laws, her civilisation, her genius. 
 They add that all of this was not for the exclusive bene- 
 fit of her subjects of Spanish blood. The Madrid Gov- 
 ernment evinced a certain kindly feeling towards the 
 natives, and the conquered race shared the advantages 
 that the conqueror brought; the result being the pro- 
 duction of many Mexicans of note, lawyers, priests, 
 scientists, Hterati. But the administrators of what the 
 Madrid Government designed to confer, were not often 
 conspicuous for their altruism. The most generous of 
 non-Spanish students cannot wonder that the patience 
 of the conquered Mexicans eventually ceased to be a 
 virtue. 
 
 Bearing in mind the general character of the Nahua 
 peoples, whether fierce and treacherous Aztecs or war- 
 like and hardy Othomis, it is surprising that the attitude 
 of the really brave masses should have been one of sub- 
 mission to the cruel foreign masters, instead of active 
 resistance to ills to which they had never been normally 
 accustomed. Yet they submitted for the three hundred 
 years from the death of Guatemozin, the last of the 
 Aztec rulers, in 1521, to the year 182 1, when the last 
 Spanish viceroy, Don Juan O'Donoju, surrendered the 
 capital and left Mexico in the hands of her own people. 
 
 Professor A. H. Keane was quite correct in saying that 
 Mexico was looked upon by the Spanish Government 
 merely as a vast metalliferous region, to be jealously 
 guarded against foreign intrusion and worked exclusively 
 for the benefit of the crown. The natives were evan- 
 gelised chiefly for the purpose of being employed as 
 slaves above or below the surface of the ground, and 
 therefore the system of repartimientos, or distribution of 
 
6o THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 the natives on plantations or in mines, was introduced 
 from the West Indies. The system was fatal in Cuba 
 and Haiti; but climatic conditions and greater vitality 
 prevented such fatality in Mexico. In the latter coun- 
 try the contact and partial fusion of a lower and a higher 
 culture worked for the benefit of the lower, and from 
 that fusion grew the spirit which asserted itself in 1810; 
 and it produced some individuals who displayed remark- 
 able qualities as organisers of opposition to Spanish 
 rule, and as leaders of their fellow-countrymen in assert- 
 ing their rights. 
 
 Americans must not decline all responsibility for the 
 revolt of the Spanish colonies on this continent; because 
 imquestionably the example which was set in 1776 was 
 not overlooked by our southern neighbours. Even 
 Spain herself was not entirely without furnishing a 
 precedent, for there the people had rebelled against the 
 Government that Napoleon had established in 1808, 
 under his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, notwithstanding 
 that it had the sanction of King Ferdinand VII., who 
 had abdicated in favour of the French Emperor. 
 
 With all these reasons and causes operating, it was 
 simply in the nature of events that the long smouldering 
 fires of discontent shoiild break out in open conflagra- 
 tion, and most of the Spanish-American colonies pro- 
 claimed their independence in 18 10. In Mexico, this 
 was done on September 16, 1810, at Dolores, an Indian 
 village in the State of Guanajuato, northwest of Mexico 
 City, by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the venerable curate 
 of the place. With the priest there co-operated Cap- 
 tains Allende, Aldama, and Abasolo, three subordinate 
 officers of the Mexican militia, born in the country. 
 
 It was simply the uprising of a mob, and yet — had 
 the priest-leader listened to the advice of his professional 
 
INDEPENDENCE 6l 
 
 associates, — he might have been successful. But, de- 
 termined upon following out his own plan, he marched 
 against the City of Mexico, and although he was once 
 successful in battle, he was finally defeated. He was 
 captured on May 21, 181 1, and shot on the 31st of the 
 following July. 
 
 Hidalgo was followed in revolt against the Spanish 
 authorities, by another priest, a full-blooded Indian, 
 Jose Maria Morelos, who possessed the traits of a great 
 warrior. Without going into details of partial successes 
 and repeated defeat until the end at Texmalaca, Novem- 
 ber 5, 1815, and his execution on December 22nd of that 
 year, we content ourselves with saying that Morelos 
 organised a regular government and convened a con- 
 gress, which met at Chilpancingo, September 14, 18 12. 
 It was the first congress the Mexicans ever had and it 
 declared independence on November 6th. Hidalgo had 
 issued a decree aboKshing slavery and Morelos' congress 
 confirmed the abolition. 
 
 It will be noticed that these two champions of inde- 
 pendence were clerics; and it may be inferred from that 
 fact that the clergy was to some extent, at least, in sym- 
 pathy with this movement. But this was by no means 
 true. "The opposition of the clergy to independence 
 from Spain, and the alarm with which they viewed the 
 movement in that direction, were so great that its 
 leaders were excommimicated by all the bishops of the 
 country the moment the insurrection broke out. The 
 Inquisition commenced proceedings against them, and 
 several members of the higher clergy took up arms 
 against the cause of independence. The bishop of 
 Oaxaca, forgetting the teachings of the founder of his 
 rehgion, organised his clergy into a regiment to fight 
 against the insurgents; but the martial prelate had no 
 
62 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 occasion to come into conflict with them, for he fled 
 from the city, when Morelos approached it in 1812." * 
 
 Bravo, Mina, Guerrero, and Victoria continued the 
 agitation for independence with much success, until 
 Agustin de Iturbide (afterwards Agustin I., Emperor) 
 appeared on the scene. This occurred about the time 
 of serious changes in Europe, 1820, which greatly facili- 
 tated the movement towards independence. Viceroy 
 O'Donoju accepted Iturbide's and others' "Plan de 
 Iguala" and signed, at Cordoba, State of Vera Cruz, 
 August 24, 182 1, a treaty with Iturbide by which he 
 recognised on behalf of the Spanish Government, the 
 independence of Mexico, on condition that an empire 
 be estabHshed in the country, calling to the throne a 
 member of the Spanish family, under a thoroughly 
 Roman CathoHc regime, and forbidding the exercise of 
 any other religion. 
 
 This Plan de Iguala seemed to be such a happy com- 
 promise between the revolutionists and the govern- 
 ment, that all the commanding officers of the Spanish 
 army accepted the "platform" and independence was 
 accompKshed almost without striking a blow. 
 
 It was not to be expected that this perpetuating of 
 Spanish rule, under what was nothing more than the 
 palpable euphemism of an independent monarchy, and 
 the continued burden of a Roman CathoHc hierarchy, 
 would satisfy the zealous nationalists. In December, 
 1822, Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana headed a re- 
 bellion against Iturbide. The latter was defeated, cap- 
 tured, and banished, but he foolishly returned to Mexico 
 on July 14, 1824, when he was promptly sentenced to 
 death and was shot on the 19th of that same month. 
 
 * " Mexico and the United States." Matias Romero, Vol. I, Part II, 
 Philosophy of the Mexican Revolutions. 
 
INDEPENDENCE 63 
 
 After Iturbide's downfall, a republican form of govern- 
 ment seemed to be inevitable. A National Congress to 
 organise the country was convoked and met on Novem- 
 ber 7, 1823. On January 21, 1824, it issued the primary 
 bases of a Federal Constitution, and on October 4th of 
 that year the final Constitution was adopted and promul- 
 gated. 
 
 But this does not end the story of Mexico's internal 
 political troubles. Authorities differ widely as to the 
 number and character, as well as the territorial extent, 
 of these disturbances. One says that as many as three 
 hundred successful or abortive revolutions are recorded 
 during the brief yet stormy hfe of Mexico's national 
 independence. Another declares that between 182 1 and 
 1868 the form of government was changed ten times, 
 Federal RepubKc and Central RepubHc alternating at 
 short intervals, and a Dictatorship intervening during 
 1853 to 1855. Over fifty persons are declared to have 
 succeeded one another in those forty-seven years, as 
 presidents, dictators, or emperors. Both emperors were 
 condemned to be shot: Iturbide in 1824, Maximilian in 
 1867. According to some historians, at least three hun- 
 dred pronunciamientos were issued. Don Romero gives 
 forty-seven groups of persons or individuals who exer- 
 cised ruling power between 182 1 and 1884, inclusive. 
 The last date brings us to the presidency of General 
 Porfirio Diaz (although he promptly assumed the author- 
 ity of a dictator). But with his exit, a year ago, recurred 
 the normal state of confusion. 
 
 It seems better to refer here to French intervention in 
 Mexico and the Maximilian episode, than to defer it to a 
 later chapter wherein the events of the last one hundred 
 years are to be discussed. In 1861 the party controlled 
 by the prelates attempted to foment a fresh insurrection, 
 
64 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 directed especially against the execution of the reform 
 laws which contemplated sequestration of all Church 
 property, the destruction of the clergy's poHtical power, 
 the complete separation of Church and State, the reduc- 
 tion of feast days from something like eighty or ninety 
 in the year (besides Sundays), to two or three, the wearing 
 of distinctive garb by all clerics and other religious 
 orders, etc. 
 
 But it soon became evident that the Liberals had 
 grown too strong for the Church party to overcome it 
 with the means controlled at home. Ambassadors were, 
 therefore, sent to Europe and intrigues carried on at 
 some of the Courts to secure foreign intervention in 
 Mexico. 
 
 Just at that time the Civil War broke out in the United 
 States and this played into the hands of the Mexican 
 Conservatives, for it increased their chances of gaining 
 European intervention. The Emperor of France was 
 apparently quite convinced that the Southern Confeder- 
 acy would be successful in its effort to disrupt the Union. 
 This much accompHshed, he believed there would be 
 little more heard of the Monroe Doctrine, and he con- 
 sidered the time opportune for gaining a foothold in 
 Mexico. In this way he thought he could effectually 
 promote the permanent division of the United States of 
 America. 
 
 There was, besides, in the mind of Napoleon III., a 
 wild scheme of establishing a French empire in America 
 that should reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 Exerting his influence with Powers that were then 
 inimical to the Northern Government, he succeeded in 
 forming an alliance between France, Great Britain, and 
 Spain, by a treaty signed in London on October i, 1861. 
 
 Maximilian was persuaded to go to Mexico and be 
 
INDEPENDENCE 65 
 
 crowned Emperor; but Great Britain and Spain with- 
 drew from the alliance before the war actually began. 
 The first French army, under General Lorencez, was 
 defeated at Puebla on May 5, 1862; but, after being 
 considerably reinforced, it occupied both Puebla and 
 Mexico City in 1863, and seemingly French intervention 
 was established. 
 
 In 1865 when the Southern Confederacy had collapsed, 
 Louis Napoleon at once reaHsed that he could no longer 
 continue the occupation of Mexico. The Mexicans 
 could probably have driven out the French, but it would 
 have taken at least a year or two of hard and expensive 
 fighting; and it was undoubtedly the moral support of 
 the United States which stimulated the departure of the 
 French. 
 
 Maximilian knew perfectly well that he could not 
 remain in Mexico after the French left and he prepared 
 to depart as soon as he heard of the French Govern- 
 ment's determination to withdraw. He was satisfied 
 that his wife's effort to obtain in Europe a revocation of 
 the order for withdrawal was fruitless. Unfortunately, 
 he was a visionary person, without much force of char- 
 acter, and certainly he was not equal to the occasion. 
 
 He listened to the blandishments of the leaders of the 
 Church party, and returned to Mexico City in October, 
 1866, from Orizaba, which city he had reached on his 
 way to Vera Cruz to embark on the Novara, the same 
 Austrian warship that had brought him to Mexico in 
 1864. In February, 1867, he went to Queretaro, where 
 he was captured, tried for high treason, condemned, 
 and shot on the 19th of the following June. 
 
 "The fate of Maximilian was indeed a very sad one, 
 but when it is considered that on October 2, 1866, a few 
 months only before his execution, he had issued a 
 
66 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 decree ordering all Mexicans fighting for the independ- 
 ence of their country to be shot without any trial or 
 other formality, and that had he Hved he would have 
 been a permanent centre of conspiracies of the monar- 
 chical party to overthrow the RepubHc of Mexico and 
 restore the empire, it will be seen that his death might be 
 considered as a poHtical necessity. Besides, Maxi- 
 mihan's pardon would not have been considered in 
 Europe as an act of generosity on the part of Mexico, 
 but as a proof of weakness, and thus it might have en- 
 couraged the repetition of the experiment which ended 
 his Hfe, and it was thought necessary to give a lesson 
 which would serve the purpose of discouraging, and thus 
 preventing, all such experiments in the future. The 
 sadness of the tragedy was considerably increased by the 
 unhappy fate of his wife. It has been intimated some- 
 times that I had an important share in MaximiHan's 
 execution, but I had nothing whatever to do with it." * 
 
 * Romero, op. cit. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MEXICO OF TO-DAY: THE REPUBLIC 
 
 HOW shall one undertake successfully to give an 
 intelligent account of what Mexico is to-day, 
 socially, politically, industrially? It is too great a snarl 
 for awkward fingers to untangle; and too dark a pros- 
 pect for any but an inspired prophet's eyes to penetrate. 
 We must be contented with giving a brief statement of 
 what are facts and the present ideals of the Mexican 
 people in the matter of government; while we may per- 
 haps venture a guess as to what their ambition is. As 
 to whither those ideals and ambitions may lead, we 
 defer consideration until our closing chapter. 
 
 We are to discuss, of course, that small remaining por- 
 tion, known now as Mexico, of the great Spanish posses- 
 sions in the New World, which at one time extended 
 from the Isthmus of Panama away up to Vancouver 
 Island, or the Straits of San Juan de Fuca; and from the 
 shores of the Pacific to Atlantic waters, in the South, and 
 in the North almost indefinitely towards the East. 
 
 How far into the main part of the North American 
 continent, the realm of New Spain extended according 
 to the claim of the Spanish rulers, it is impossible to 
 determine. It hardly need be said that in view of what 
 the notorious Bull of Pope Alexander VI. granted the 
 Spaniards, they resented all intrusion of other Europeans 
 into the Americas: Portugal's possible rights in Brazil 
 excepted. 
 
 The Portuguese had been for a long time pushing their 
 
68 THECOMINGMEXICO 
 
 discoveries down the west coast of Africa and had at 
 last rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The Treaty of 
 Lisbon, 1479, had secured that west coast to the Portu- 
 guese; but it permitted the Spaniards to annex the 
 Canary Islands. The Spaniards soon after that date 
 sailed yet farther westward and an entirely new prob- 
 lem was created by Columbus' discovery of the West 
 Indies in 1492. 
 
 With a view to dispel difficulties which might arise 
 from conflicting interests, a Bull was obtained from 
 Alexander VI. in 1493 which granted to Spain all dis- 
 coveries west of an imaginary line drawn one hundred 
 leagues west of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands; 
 and to Portugal all east of that line. Inasmuch as the 
 rotundity of the earth was then beginning to be gen- 
 erally accepted by astronomers, navigators and others, 
 the absurdity of this arrogant concession ought to have 
 been noticeable. 
 
 The terms of this preposterous grant were modified 
 by a treaty between the parties in interest, signed at 
 Tordesillas in 1494, which fixed the boundary line 370 
 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This change 
 it was that gave Portugal at least a pretext for her 
 claim to discoverer's rights in Brazil. 
 
 A glance at the pages of European history of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will make it quite 
 clear why England and France, upon both religious and 
 poHtical grounds, did not obey the mandate of the Pope 
 and respect Spain's monopoly. A Httle further reading 
 will probably satisfy the investigator that France and 
 Spain both had plenty of troubles of their own, which 
 kept them from getting into more over the question as 
 to how far, one way or the other, the territorial claims 
 of the two overlapped in the Mississippi Valley. 
 
MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 69 
 
 Mexico has ceded to the United States, at different 
 times, 930,590 square miles of territory, which is more 
 than one-half of the territory over which she exercised 
 jurisdiction, when that term had come to have a con- 
 crete meaning as applied to the Colony of Nueva Espana 
 and, later, the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. 
 
 Mexico did not recognise the independence of Texas, 
 xmtil the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty was signed on Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1848, at the end of the "Mexican War," and as 
 a result thereof. That state, with the present Coahuila, 
 had formed one of the largest provinces of Old Mexico. 
 With parts or the whole of Colorado, Kansas, New 
 Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, 
 and Wyoming, subsequently cut off from it, that State 
 had seceded from Mexico in 1836, and the Republic of 
 Texas had been annexed to the United States in 1845. 
 It was this act which caused the Mexican War. 
 
 The division of Mexico into twenty-seven states, 
 three territories, and one Federal District (the same as 
 the District of Columbia in the United States), is a 
 purely arbitrary one, for those divisions have not grown 
 up and developed as have our own cognate political 
 divisions. Under Spanish rule the country was divided 
 into several provinces. In doing this, the Spaniards 
 tried to pay attention to ethnographic distinctions, 
 striving to define the provincial borders in accordance 
 with the different nationaHties of the aboriginal inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 Each province, therefore, meant a large extent of 
 territory. When independence was recognised by Spain 
 and the world generally, and the Federal Government 
 was established, each province was made a state, except 
 the territories of Tepic and Lower CaKfornia. Since 
 then some of the largest states have been subdivided 
 
70 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 into two or even three smaller ones; and one new terri- 
 tory has been created. 
 
 Even if the original Spanish idea of dividing the coun- 
 try according to ethnological lines may seem somewhat 
 fanciful, yet an inspection of the Carta Etnogrdfica de 
 Mexico, which is given in Don Antonio Garcia Cubas' 
 interesting Kttle monograph, "The Republic of Mexico 
 in 1876," will show that less than forty years ago, there 
 were recognised some fairly sharply drawn ethnological 
 Hues of demarcation. Observations of students and 
 travellers since 1876 — and the writer claims to be 
 both — confirm the opinion that the native Mexicans 
 are still disposed to be somewhat clannish. Yet they 
 are developing a fondness for travel and change of resi- 
 dence which almost exceed those of natives of Africa; 
 and it is hkely that distinctive ethnological lines will 
 disappear more and more rapidly as facilities for travel 
 are increased with the extension of railways. 
 
 Since Mexico accomplished her independence in 1821, 
 there have been two Federal Constitutions, both mod- 
 elled after the Constitution of the United States of 
 America; two Central Constitutions, which organised 
 the country into a Centralised Republic; and the two 
 ephemeral empires that have been mentioned. The 
 country is now organised, under the Constitution of 
 February 5, 1857, — with its several amendments, — 
 into a Federal Republic. Politically the organisation is 
 almost identical with that of the United States of 
 America. The fimctions of the Federal Government 
 are divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative, 
 and Judicial. 
 
 The Executive is the President chosen by the electors 
 properly elected by the people. He holds ofhce for 
 four years and there is no constitutional provision for- 
 
MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 71 
 
 bidding his re-election. He has a Cabinet of seven mem- 
 bers: Secretary of Foreign Affairs (State), of the Interior, 
 of Justice and Public Instruction, of Communica- 
 tions (Postmaster General) and Public Works, of the 
 Treasury, of War and Navy, and of Fomento, which 
 means, concisely, Public Improvements, and combines 
 the functions of many of the bureaus of the Department 
 of the Interior in the United States of America, such as 
 the General Land Office, Patent Office, Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs, etc., in addition to Colonisation. 
 
 No Vice-President of the Republic is elected, but an 
 amendment to the Constitution, promulgated April 24, 
 1896, provides that in case of the permanent or tempo- 
 rary disability of the President, not caused by resigna- 
 tion or absence from the country on leave, the Secretary 
 of Foreign Affairs, and after him the Secretary of the 
 Interior, shall discharge the President's duties until 
 Congress elects a President pro tempore. In case of 
 resignation, Congress, when the resignation is accepted, 
 elects a President pro tempore, and in case of leave of 
 absence, the President recommends to Congress the 
 person to fill his office terriporarily; this recommenda- 
 tion is usually acted upon. 
 
 The National Legislature (corresponding to the United 
 States Congress) is composed of a Senate and a House of 
 Representatives. The Senators are elected for four 
 years, one-half of their number being renewed every 
 two years. The Representatives are elected for two 
 years. The suffrage is given to all males who are of 
 lawful age, twenty-one years, the customary disquali- 
 fications of imbeciles, felons, and others being recog- 
 nised. One Representative is elected for every forty 
 thousand inhabitants, and two Senators from each 
 State. 
 
72 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 The Federal Judiciary is composed of a Supreme 
 Court, consisting of eleven Judges, four substitutes, one 
 Attorney- General (who, it will have been noticed, is not 
 a Cabinet Officer), and one Fiscal (who may be more 
 closely described as a SoHci tor- General). All these are 
 elected by the people and serve for a term of six years. 
 There are, besides, three Circuit and thirty-two District 
 Courts. 
 
 The Mexican States are nominally independent in the 
 administration of their domestic affairs, and their gov- 
 ernments are modelled upon that of the Central Govern- 
 ment: the Governor, the Legislature, the State Judici- 
 ary. We have said that the State Government is 
 *' nominally independent," and this is true. Although 
 Mexico adopted the federal system rather to follow the 
 example of the United States of America, than because 
 it was especially well suited to local conditions, that 
 system has not worked so easily or so satisfactorily in the 
 former as it does in the latter. The tendency in Mexico 
 has been rather towards centralisation and the increas- 
 ing of the powers given by the Constitution to the 
 President and his Cabinet. It is not necessary, in this 
 place, to speak of usurpation of power by the Federal 
 Executive. 
 
 The fact will have been noted that in Mexico the 
 duties of two Cabinet officers, as they are usually found 
 in all Constitutional Governments, and Monarchical, 
 too, where the sovereign calls to his aid advisers, are 
 united in one. We mean War and Navy. This is 
 easily explained. During the civil wars, and for some 
 time thereafter, the Mexican standing army was quite 
 large. The Liberals strove for the reduction of the 
 army; the Church party favoured a large one, because 
 the officers, at least, took sides with the Church. Gen- 
 
MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 73 
 
 eral Diaz moved actively for the reduction of the army; 
 and now the regular army, in peace, is actually very 
 small, although every Mexican capable of carrying 
 arms is liable to be called upon to perform military ser- 
 vice from his twentieth to his fiftieth year. 
 
 The Mexican navy is, as yet, an almost negligible 
 quantity, although the Government has ambitions 
 which will probably be reahsed before long. In the 
 circumstances, therefore, it is easily seen that one 
 Cabinet ofiicer can readily and efficiently discharge the 
 duties of the head of the combined branches of the mili- 
 tary service. 
 
 When we remember the almost constant state of tur- 
 moil which existed in Mexico from the time when her 
 independence was recognised in 182 1 until the firm hand 
 of General Porfirio Diaz took the helm, it is really sur- 
 prising that so much has been accompHshed as has been 
 done in the matter of general education. A resume of 
 its evolution will be found interesting. 
 
 In 1529, the Spanish clerics opened the College of San 
 Juan de Letran (Lateran), in the City of Mexico, as the 
 capital was thenceforth called because the strangers 
 found the native name, Tenochtitlan, too long and too 
 difficult to pronounce. It will be noted, on reading the 
 following pages, that the Spaniards changed a number of 
 place-names for just those same reasons, and always, we 
 think, causing a loss of pleasing sound. 
 
 This first college, San Juan de Letran, was established 
 for the purpose of giving an education to the sons of 
 Spaniards, and secondary education to Indians who dis- 
 played special evidence of ability to assimilate European 
 book-learning. The first class of students were, of 
 course, nearly all half-castes, because it was the rule in 
 New Spain — as in all Spanish colonies — for fathers, 
 
74 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 who could afford to do so, to send their children home to 
 be educated. Still, although the number of students 
 may not have been very great, this institution was a 
 good and commendable beginning; and patriotic Mexi- 
 cans declare with pride that ninety years before the 
 landing of the Pilgrims in New England, New Spain had 
 its *' Harvard." 
 
 In 1535, the first Spanish viceroy (from 1521 to 1535 
 the colony was administered by governors, till 1528, or 
 by council, 1528 to 1535), Antonio de Mendoza, asked 
 permission of his royal master to found a university in 
 Mexico. Because of his knowledge that the Spanish 
 rulers were kindly disposed towards all such movements, 
 the viceroy assumed the responsibility of permitting 
 competent priests to open at once some classes in higher 
 learning. This fact has been advanced as an argument 
 to controvert the statement that Spain has always been 
 the enemy of education and popular enlightenment. As 
 an argument, we give it full weight; but the pages of 
 history still support the contention that in broad educa- 
 tion Spain has not been conspicuous in her effort to 
 uplift the masses. This was certainly true of Mexico 
 before her independence. 
 
 Remembering the tediously slow galleons of the six- 
 teenth century, and the appalling amount of "red-tape" 
 that had to be unwound before a matter so important 
 could pass up through the proper ministry and the 
 King's Council to His Majesty, and then back again, it is 
 not surprising that permission to open the university 
 was not actually received in Mexico City and acted 
 upon until 1553. Yet, again, the good Mexican declares 
 that his country had a university eighty-three years be- 
 fore Harvard College was opened. This most impor- 
 tant step was taken, officially, by Luis de Velasco, the 
 
MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 75 
 
 second viceroy, a progressive and enlightened official, 
 who did much to further the material advance of New 
 Spain. 
 
 In 1573, the Roman Catholic clergy opened two more 
 schools in the City of Mexico, San Gregorio and San 
 Ildefonso (see La Granja). The latter is still in exist- 
 ence, but it has passed into the control of secular 
 teachers and it is modernised into the national prepara- 
 tory school. It is really an important educational in- 
 stitution, and to its graduates is to be credited much of 
 the material progress of their country. 
 
 Before the end of the sixteenth century, two more col- 
 leges and a divinity school had been founded, so that in 
 the first sixty-five years of Spain's control in Mexico, 
 seven institutions giving higher learning (as then under- 
 stood) had been started. "No wonder that Mexico's 
 capital became known as the Athens of the new world, 
 producing men of great learning, such as Don Juan Ruiz 
 de Alarcon and such notably erudite women as Juana 
 Inez de Cruz. The extensive Hbrary of Americana, be- 
 longing to Don Jose de Agreda, of that city [Mexico], 
 containing over 4000 books, many of them invaluable, 
 attests the literary, antiquarian, scientific and artistic 
 activity of the Spaniards who planted there in a 
 short space of time so much of learning and such 
 vast institutions dedicated to the instruction in all the 
 higher branches of knowledge." * 
 
 Following the precedent long established in Europe, 
 the University of Mexico for some time restricted its 
 instruction to the arts, mathematics, and Latin. It was 
 not until 1578 that a chair of medicine was added; but, 
 even so, it was the first in the New World. In 1599, a 
 second professorship in medicine was added; in 1661, 
 
 * Romero, op. cit. 
 
^6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 anatomy and surgery were introduced, and dissection 
 authorised. At first the viceroys appointed the profes- 
 sors; but later these gained their appointments through 
 competitive examinations. In 1768 a Royal College for 
 Surgeons was established in the City of Mexico, and this 
 was well equipped in all departments. 
 
 In 1833 the Liberal party instituted a general re- 
 vision of the educational institutions. A general Board 
 of Education was created; the University was closed 
 because it was suspected of having too strong a bias 
 towards Conservatism. A School of Medical Science 
 was founded, with ten professors giving a complete and 
 up-to-date course. One of the almost perennial revolu- 
 tions in the very next year brought about the closing of 
 this school, but caused the University to be re-opened, 
 and its officials made such a favourable report about the 
 School, that it, too, was re-estabUshed. 
 
 The incessant revolutions, with their attendant 
 changes of government, have made the course of higher 
 education in Mexico anything but smooth. Still, it has 
 progressed. The College of Mining and Engineering 
 ranks with the best. The Technical Schools are admi- 
 rable. The National Library, in the old Church of San 
 Agustin, Mexico City, has well on towards half a million 
 volumes, and many rare documents. When the differ- 
 ent convents were suppressed at the disestablishment of 
 the Roman CathoHc Church, in 1864, all the books and 
 manuscripts were gathered together, so that this library 
 possesses a very large number of such treasures. The 
 National Museum is deservedly famous throughout the 
 world; "and so on through a Hst that would rival that 
 of any other coimtry." 
 
 In 1824, Humboldt said: "No city of the New Conti- 
 nent, not excepting those of the United States, presents 
 
MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 77 
 
 scientific establishments so great and solid as those of 
 the capital of Mexico." 
 
 In general primary education outside of the Federal 
 District and some few of the larger cities, a good deal 
 remains to be done, especially in the matter of giving 
 this rudimentary education to the Indians. But even 
 so, ^'in the matter of general education, Mexico now 
 stands upon a plane as high as, if not higher than, any 
 of the Spanish-American RepubHcs, out-ranking even 
 Chili and the Argentine Republic, both of which greatly 
 surpassed her in former years." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TEE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 
 
 PERHAPS the most interesting subject that the 
 Republic of Mexico even yet affords the student, is 
 that of its ethnology: this of course will naturally include 
 some careful attention to the languages spoken, because 
 Spanish is by no means the only speech that one hears 
 in the country from the lips of those whom the visitor 
 properly looks upon as natives. 
 
 Within the broad definition of the Races of Mankind, 
 there are now found in Mexico representatives of two 
 great divisions, Caucasian and North American Indian; 
 but it should be borne in mind that comparatively few 
 of the latter quite conform to our ideal when we think 
 of the Indians who inhabited the northern parts of the 
 continent, the United States and Canada. As a rule, 
 the Mexican is decidedly the superior. 
 
 There are a few negroes, and since the railway develop- 
 ment of the past few years, with the popularising of 
 sleeping-cars, reclining-chair-cars, dining-cars, and the 
 consequent autocratic porter, their number must be 
 increasing. But even now it is hardly worth while to 
 speak of them seriously; few of them are looked upon 
 as permanent residents. Somewhat the same thing may 
 be said of Asiatics. There are a great many Chinese 
 and Japanese in Mexico; they are, strictly speaking, 
 residents, but it is not be to supposed that they purpose 
 identifying themselves with the country and assuming 
 all the responsibilities of citizenship. 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 79 
 
 The representatives of mixed races (Mexican-Euro- 
 pean) are numerically great; but whether increasing or 
 decreasing is not easily determined until the methods of 
 taking the census are made more precise than they have 
 yet been. A few years ago it was estimated that the 
 proportion of population was about thus: Europeans 
 and those of pure European Kneage (practically all 
 Spaniards), 19 per centum; native Indians 43 per cen- 
 tum; mixed blood 38 per centum. 
 
 When Spanish students first gave attention to this 
 subject of Mexican ethnology, they classified the In- 
 dians into fourteen families, a few of which are yet 
 represented in the United States of America. There 
 were considered to be thirty-three principal tribes, but 
 some of these have since become extinct. On looking 
 over a list of tribal names, it is not difficult to segregate 
 those which represent direct descendants of the Nahua 
 invaders; while other names, such as Apache, Yaqui, 
 Comanche, connect the Mexicans directly with some of 
 the important Indian tribes of the Southwestern United 
 States. 
 
 The similarity between the Mexican Indians and the 
 Malayo-MongoHan races — the Japanese branch espe- 
 cially — has already been noted; and here it is sufficient 
 to add that some of the Mexican writers claim this 
 similarity gives substantial foundation to the opinion 
 that the earliest inhabitants of Mexico originally came 
 from Asia, or vice versa. In the Evening Bulletin, San 
 Francisco, Cal., for June 7, 1897, there was an in- 
 teresting article which was pertinent to this subject. It 
 was based upon the report of Mr. F. W. Christian of the 
 Polynesian Society, who claimed to have discovered (or 
 should we not say "verified," for the fact has been for a 
 long time more than suspected?) evidences that a large 
 
8o THECOMINGMEXICO 
 
 trade between China and Central America, by way of 
 the Caroline Islands and eastern groups of Pol3niesia, 
 was carried on long before the beginning of the Christian 
 era. 
 
 A somewhat apocryphal incident is referred to in the 
 article. It was alleged that in the year 1897 ^ rock in- 
 scription had been discovered in the mountains of Mag- 
 dalene district, State of Sonora. It was in Chinese 
 ideographs, and one Sen Yup, said to have been a well 
 educated Chinese, sojourning at Guaymas, made an 
 examination of the inscription, which he found to be 
 somewhat indistinct. He made a copy and translated 
 enough to show that the characters were probably cut 
 at least two thousand years ago. Had there really been 
 anything of importance in this story, it would certainly 
 have received greater attention from ethnologists than 
 it has. It may be said here that very few Chinese 
 literati can read ideographs of twenty centuries ago, and 
 inasmuch as Mr, Sen was probably a merchant, it is 
 almost incredible that he possessed such erudition. 
 
 But the statement that intercourse between China 
 and America was carried on so long ago, need not neces- 
 sarily be discredited or cause great amazement. The 
 writer has shown in ''The Coming China" that long be- 
 fore the Chinese made the acquaintance of Europeans in 
 the early centuries of the Christian era, the people of 
 the southern ports of the Chinese empire were very ven- 
 turesome navigators and extended their voyages to 
 remote regions. 
 
 In those days, it should be understood, the Chinese 
 emperor exercised dominion over a goodly portion of 
 the Malay peninsula. A chart of the Pacific Ocean 
 currents indicates that even a Chinese junk might have 
 made its way from an extreme eastern island of Poly- 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 8l 
 
 nesia to the American coast. But all this is purely spec- 
 ulative; and the fact that there are no authentic 
 accounts of such adventure in any Chinese records, 
 militates heavily against the probability of both the 
 inscription and the intercourse across southern seas. 
 
 The accidental resemblance even in both sound and 
 meaning of words used by peoples of entirely different 
 races, inhabiting widely separated regions of the earth, 
 are — as all philologists aver — an extremely dangerous 
 foundation upon which to build a theory of ethnic rela- 
 tionship. The writer enjoyed, for two years, most inti- 
 mate and friendly intercourse with Mr. G. Tateno, then 
 governor of Osaka, Japan, and later Japanese Minister 
 at Washington. Mr. Tateno visited Mexico, and heard 
 several native words that are used in Japan, and which 
 have the same meaning in both countries. From this 
 he argued linguistic affinity. But the writer has heard 
 words used by natives of Equatorial Africa that have 
 the same sound and meaning as Japanese words, and he 
 would be loath to assert that there is ethnological con- 
 nection between those two peoples, even in the remotest 
 degree. 
 
 The Mexican Indians still maintain a remarkable 
 tribal exclusiveness. They continue to be strongly 
 endogamous, and this fact of intermarriage in small 
 tribes is contributing to their physical decay. It also 
 o*perates to defer, at least for some time to come, the 
 complete and greatly to be desired assimilation of the 
 whole Mexican population. Of race or colour prejudice 
 there is practically none at all in the country. The only 
 vaHd reason for there being so few negroes in Mexico 
 as there are, is altogether a physical one and the negro 
 himself is the only factor. He cannot compete, either 
 physically or economically, with the native who accepts 
 
82 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 a wage that the negro scorns, and upon which in all 
 probability he would starve; but in every other way 
 the negro in Mexico is granted an equality which aston- 
 ishes most Americans. It is possible that some women 
 of pure Indian blood would think they lost caste by 
 marrying a negro, but even this is not to be too readily 
 taken for granted. 
 
 Mr. Carson tells us that several years ago, an Amer- 
 ican Company took two thousand negroes to Mexico to 
 work on a plantation. The men were paid good wages, 
 were well fed, comfortably housed, and carefully looked 
 after. At first they were very industrious and did more 
 work than the peons. But before very long they became 
 lazy; many of them married Indian women (so it seems 
 the aversion and caste prejudice are not absolute), 
 refused to work and became mere loafers, similar to the 
 lowest type of ''Squaw-man" amongst the Indians of 
 the western states in America. They were discharged, 
 soon became destitute, and the upshot was that the 
 Mexican Government compelled the Company to de- 
 port them. 
 
 The Mexican Indians are, as a rule, a hard-working, 
 sober, enduring race, and when educated, they often 
 develop into distinguished men, as will be shown in the 
 next chapter. When, by education and association, 
 they have thrown off the possibly objectionable traits 
 which may be said to attach to the native in his original 
 environment, the Indians are accepted in marriage by 
 the highest-rank famiHes of pure Spanish blood. Al- 
 though ex-President Diaz is not a pure-blooded Indian, 
 yet he is of mixed Indian and Spanish descent, his mater- 
 nal grandmother having been a member of the Mix- 
 teca tribe, and both her parents pure Indians. Mr. 
 Diaz's second wife, justly famous for her beauty, educa- 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 83 
 
 tion (received in the United States), and charm of man- 
 ner, is of pure Castilian stock and of high rank. 
 
 Charles Dudley Warner * drew an amusing picture of 
 the relation of colour to sex in the stages of civilisation, 
 and points his moral with a reference to Mexico. It 
 is a fact that male birds are conspicuous for gay plu- 
 mage; the hens being dressed in sober colours. This 
 rule is also assumed to hold good among savages and 
 barbarians in the human family. The men, when they 
 dress at all, and do not use pigments as a substitute 
 for garments, wear bright colours and more conspicu- 
 ous ornaments than do the women. This is a general 
 rule, but it is not invariable. As civilisation advances, 
 we admit that the rule is reversed: the men assume 
 plain raiment, while the women vie in splendour with 
 the tropical birds of the mascuHne gender. 
 
 If this test were a reliable one and applied to Mexico, 
 the conclusion would be inevitable that the people of 
 that repubHc have not yet attained a lofty civilisation. 
 The women of the lower classes are uniformly sober in 
 apparel, and commonly wear a rebosa, a shawl or man- 
 tilla, which is generally made of some thin woollen or 
 cotton fabric, and always faded to a dirty blue tint. 
 This is drawn over the head and the scanty gown is 
 usually brown or pale blue. 
 
 "It is the men who are resplendent, even the poorest 
 and the beggars. The tall, conical hats give to all of 
 them an operatic distinction; the lower integuments 
 may be white (originally) as also the shirt and the jacket; 
 or the man may have marvellous trowsers, slit up the 
 sides and flapping about so as to show his drawers, or 
 sometimes, in the better class, fastened down with silver 
 buttons; but every man of them slings over his left 
 
 * Harper's Magazine, June, 1896. 
 
84 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 shoulder or wraps about him, drawing it about his 
 mouth on the least chill in the air, a brilliantly coloured 
 sarape, or blanket, frequently of bright red. Even if 
 he appears in white cotton, he is apt to wear a red 
 scarf round his waist; and if he is of a higher grade, 
 he has the taste of a New York alderman for a cravat. 
 This variety and intensity of colour in the dress of 
 the men gives great animation and picturesqueness to 
 any crowd in the street, and lights up all the dusty 
 highways." 
 
 The stranger, on arriving in Mexico and disembark- 
 ing from his steamer — probably at Vera Cruz or Tam- 
 pico, or after passing out through the railway station, 
 will make his first acquaintance with the people through 
 the cargadores, porters, who pounce upon his luggage to 
 carry it, first to the nearby Custom House, and then 
 to his hotel. The yellow skin, and black, beady, fur- 
 tive eyes indicate the Indian unmistakably. These 
 porters are clad most scantily, scarcely decently, in dirty 
 white cotton, usually only a shirt and a pair of ragged 
 trowsers rolled up to the knees; although a very few 
 have a loose jacket of the same material. Stockings and 
 shoes they never wear, but some have rough, straw san- 
 dals tied to their feet. 
 
 These cargadores are a survival from Aztec times, for 
 those people used no beasts of burden, and the ances- 
 tors of these fellows were enslaved and compelled to do 
 all the menial work of the country, even to transport- 
 ing all the impedimenta of the army when on the march. 
 They do not look very strong, yet by training and 
 through inheritance they have developed a wonderful 
 capacity. Two of them will carry a full-sized square 
 piano with seeming ease, and a specially good car- 
 gadore will pack one hundred and fifty poimds over 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 85 
 
 the rough mountain trails, covering more miles in a 
 day than a mule can, and keep it up longer than the 
 beast. 
 
 They use the forehead strap, the breast strap, the 
 shoulder strap, sometimes only one, at other times a 
 combination of two, or even all three; and they steady 
 themselves with a long, stout staff. In large places, 
 these porters are licensed by the municipal government, 
 and show a brass plate bearing a number. It is surpris- 
 ing how reliable, obliging, and honest these men are; 
 possibly it may be that they have a wholesome dread of 
 the police and punishment for misbehaviour. 
 
 If the traveller arrives in winter and there happens 
 to be a "norther" blowing, he will see all the natives 
 shivering with cold, although to the visitor from the 
 ice and snow of the north, the chill may be scarcely 
 noticeable. Then, the cargadore will wrap himself in 
 his bit of red blanket, the sarape, usually of bright red 
 colour with black stripes at each end. Sometimes, he 
 cuts a slit in the middle of the sarape through which he 
 passes his head and the blanket falls in front and at 
 the back Hke a cloak. 
 
 These peons, for they are the descendants of the 
 slaves of former Spanish and Aztec times, will always 
 find some way to get a huge, steeple-crowned straw hat, 
 sombrero, the brim of which may be quite two feet wide. 
 They often use the sombrero as a basket, and the visitor 
 who goes to market at any right time in the morning (as 
 he certainly will do, if he wishes to see one of the most 
 interesting sights in Mexican life) will frequently see a 
 porter buy fish or vegetables and carry the whole lot 
 off in his hat. 
 
 Mexicans of means will often wear a sombrero made 
 of the finest felt that is a quarter of an inch thick. 
 
86 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 These are absolutely impervious to water and retain 
 their shape and softness most marvellously. They are 
 frequently decorated with heavy gold or silver lace, and 
 in country towns the wealth of a man is commonly gauged 
 by the size and style of his headgear and the character 
 of its decorations. Some of the finest of these sombreros 
 cost more than a hundred dollars, gold; and even to-day 
 are not infrequently to be seen worn with a costume that 
 is otherwise conventionally European. 
 
 The Mexican ''swell" in town sometimes affects a 
 most striking riding costume. His trowsers are skin- 
 tight from hip to calf, and ornamented along the outer 
 seam with as many small, metal buttons (silver, if he 
 can afford them) as can be sewed on. His rufEed shirt 
 will be a thing of beauty, and over it he wears a short 
 bolero jacket, also laced and decorated with innumerable 
 bright buttons. Riding-boots he eschews, in order 
 that his slashed trowsers may fall well down over his 
 shoes. Huge spurs are, of course, in evidence, and the 
 costume is completed with a hundred dollar felt som- 
 brero. The whole effect is picturesque to the verge of 
 opera-bouffe standard. 
 
 Thus got up and mounted on a "fiery" steed, saddled, 
 bridled, caparisoned and ornamented strictly to har- 
 monise with the rider's elegance, the cavalier ambles 
 off down the street for a block or so. Then he draws 
 rein beneath the window or balcony of some fair acquain- 
 tance. The senora or senorita at once orders her servant 
 to offer the caballero a lemonade or refresco to revive him 
 after his great exertion! 
 
 Nearly all travellers in Mexico agree that the Indians 
 seem to be very melancholy. If there is anything in 
 heredity, and if those natives keep alive any of the tra- 
 ditions of their race or tribe (which they certainly do), 
 
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 JO 
 
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 •fl 
 
 H 
 
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 JO 
 
 n 
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 S3 
 W 
 to 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 87 
 
 this is not surprising; for with all the legislation and all 
 the pretence of material and social advance, the native 
 Indians have received but inadequate return for what 
 has been taken from them. 
 
 In cities and towns wherein this class preponderates, 
 although the streets may be crowded, as they always 
 are on feast-days or Saturday afternoon and early even- 
 ing, the Indians move along silently, for they are either 
 barefooted or shod with noiseless sandals. The sound 
 of laughter or animated conversation is rarely heard. 
 These people look about them with real or affected indif- 
 ference, make their petty purchases, and go their way. 
 There is none of the noise and skylarking which one 
 expects in an American or European crowd of Saturday 
 night shoppers. 
 
 Even the children, and there are plenty of them, 
 steal along silently behind their parents. The boys 
 dress just like their fathers — the same dirty white 
 suits, the same straw sombrero, the same sarape. The 
 girls are simply diminutive women; with gown and 
 rebosa just like their mothers. In this similarity of cos- 
 tume between parents and children, there is a Hkeness 
 between Holland and Mexico. 
 
 There are times, however, when the Mexican dis- 
 plays animation enough to satisfy the most exacting. 
 He has taken to bull-fighting and cock-fighting with 
 veritable Castilian avidity and will wager his last cen- 
 tavo on his favourite. His excitement at the critical 
 moment of defeat or victory rouses him to the highest 
 pitch of intensity. Then, too, the charms of a railway 
 journey rouse him from the usual apathy. It does 
 not require that the journey shall be undertaken for 
 any definite purpose; it is sufficient that he is in the train, 
 going somewhere, and by and by is coming back. To 
 
88 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 give himself this pleasure, he will deprive his wife and 
 children of bread and let them be turned out of their 
 hovel, just because the money to pay the rent is taken 
 to buy a railway ticket. 
 
 When we pass from the Indians to the classes of mixed 
 blood, with whom the manners and customs of the Span- 
 iards had asserted themselves and have been preserved; 
 and then when we go on to consider the upper classes, 
 the true Spaniards, perhaps, or Europeans or Ameri- 
 cans who have taken up such permanent residence as 
 to be counted as part of the social world, there is little 
 to differentiate the people of Mexico from those of any 
 other country, with the exceptions that have already 
 been alluded to rather jocosely. Costume is now 
 European; social functions are similar within the con- 
 ventions that are required by the strict keeping the 
 youth of the two sexes apart. These conventions can 
 hardly be said to relax at the stiff, formal balls at 
 which young ladies and young men do sometimes waltz 
 together. 
 
 In certain sections of Mexico City, "new parts" they 
 are called, and in a very few other cities, there are some 
 really handsome residences, and those which have been 
 built for Americans or Englishmen are now equipped 
 with modern conveniences in the way of bathrooms, 
 furnaces or hot-water heating plants, and oftener com- 
 fortable open fireplaces which throw out just the needed 
 artificial heat to overcome the chill at night or the 
 penetrating cold of a "norther." 
 
 But as a rule, the best of Mexico's palatial residences 
 are dreary places. Very few of them show an attractive 
 exterior and most of them are set down in most incongru- 
 ous surroundings. The interior is often architecturally 
 beautiful, and the decorations, furniture, and bric-a- 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 89 
 
 brae will often make the stranger come perilously near 
 breaking the tenth commandment. Only, when he looks 
 about for a warm corner, or expects the ordinary sani- 
 tary conveniences, he will be bitterly disappointed. 
 Yet, after all, perhaps Mexico is not much worse than 
 other Latin countries. 
 
 Residences are rarely over two storeys in height. 
 The ground floor windows are protected by strong iron 
 bars let into the stone casement, and are closed with 
 iron or solid wooden shutters. There are gratings to 
 the upper windows, and cynical observers of Mexican 
 ways are prone to declare that bars and gratings are by 
 no means exclusively to keep out burglars; being in- 
 tended quite as much to keep in the daughters of the 
 house ! 
 
 This recalls to mind the hacer el oso (we should prob- 
 ably express this in picturesque slang as "doing the 
 bear act")? and it is such an amusingly typical aspect 
 of life in Mexico, that we quote Mr. Carson's account 
 of it. "Under the system of seclusion of which she is 
 the victim, the Mexican girl has but two things in life 
 to occupy her, love and religion. The classical Spanish 
 picture of the maiden at the barred window or leaning, 
 Juliet-like, from a balcony, while her sweetheart thrums 
 music to her on his mandolin or guitar, is reproduced 
 every evening in Mexico. Courtship is a delightfully 
 difficult pursuit. A young man will, by chance, meet a 
 girl in the street or on the plaza. Her languishing black 
 eyes will haunt him and, having followed her home, he 
 must content himself for days and weeks with watching 
 the house. He has reached the stage which is known as 
 Hacer el oso (to play the bear), a phrase in comic allusion 
 to his lovesick pacing up and down under the adored 
 one's window as a bear walks backwards and forwards 
 
90 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 in his cage hour after hour. Now comes the girFs turn. 
 Safe behind her curtain, or in the darkness of her bal- 
 cony, she can make her coquettish Httle mind up whether 
 he is quite the kind of bear she wants. If he is, she finds 
 a dozen ways of encouraging him; a smile, a wave of 
 the hand, a suspicion of the blowing of a kiss are enough 
 to make the bear happy. When she goes to mass or 
 walks in the plaza, the faithful bear foUov/s her, and 
 although they cannot exchange a word, they can find 
 happiness in looks." 
 
 It is not an easy matter for a stranger to gain the right 
 to come and go freely in a Mexican home. Yet when 
 once confidence has been established and friendship 
 gained, the absolute cordiality is unusually attractive; 
 for the Mexican throws quite as much sincerity into his, 
 ^'my house, and everything in it, is yours," as does the 
 Castilian, and perhaps more. 
 
 Yet, after all is said, to anyone accustomed to the 
 freedom of New York, or London, or even Paris (within 
 proper limits, of course), society in the City of Mexico 
 seems very dull; while in the other towns it is simply 
 impossible. Dances, musicales, and other social enter- 
 tainments are rare, although the exceptions are often 
 conspicuous by their very charm. 
 
 The men are slowly coming to imitate the rest of the 
 world with a semblance, at least, of athletics, but such 
 fearful physical exertion as golf and tennis are still re- 
 pulsive to the fashionable women of Mexico. With both 
 sexes, the chief amusement, or recreation, of the upper 
 class is a drive late in the afternoon along a course that 
 is almost a fixed quantity: perhaps to the Chapul tepee 
 Club, near the castle which is famous, where the cos- 
 mopolitan inhabitants of the capital gather on a fine 
 Sunday afternoon. Here one sees almost as many car- 
 
THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO QI 
 
 riages as in the Riverside Drive, ''The Row," or the 
 Bois de Boulogne; and if one sits at a table outside, to 
 drink a glass of the excellent Mexican beer, he will hear 
 almost every European language spoken. 
 
 The popular carriages are barouches, landaus, and 
 Victorias, quite up-to-date in fashion, and are drawn by 
 excellent Spanish- Arabian horses. The liveries are 
 correct English style, although some of the ultra-con- 
 servative famines cling to the native costume of tight 
 trowsers decorated along the seams with silver, gold, or 
 gilt buttons, short bolero coat richly braided, and an 
 enormous sombrero. The occupants of these carriages 
 are the ladies and the old men. The younger men drive 
 English dog-carts, or ride in ''The Row," alongside the 
 carriage drive. Of course the motor-car is growing in 
 favour at Mexico City quite as rapidly as in any other 
 part of the world. 
 
 Naturally, the Mexican towns follow the Spanish 
 system, and were originally built roimd a public square, 
 the plaza. As the place grew, other plazas — often 
 called alamedas — were laid out in each new quarter. 
 There will almost surely be found a church facing each 
 plaza, and on the main one is the cathedral, if a diocesan 
 city. Here, too, the lower storeys of the mimicipal 
 buildings, and all the others that surround the plaza, 
 will be extended over the sidewalks as arcades, called 
 portales, in front of some shops and cafes which are the 
 great gathering places, where the men partake of liquid 
 refreshment. 
 
 The plaza is the town's breathing-place, and in smaller 
 places the public market is held there. On Sundays and 
 feast-days, a band plays in the plaza. In the larger 
 towns this will be a military or garrison band; in smaller 
 places, the municipal or police band. The music is 
 
92 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 always excellent both in character and in execution. 
 Even the Indians have a natural fondness for music, 
 and appear to enjoy classical compositions quite as 
 much as "rag-time." Something more will be said of 
 the markets in a later chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME OF MEXICO'S GREAT MEN 
 
 WE shall probably go back quite far enough to 
 satisfy our readers, if we begin this record with 
 Nexahualcoyotl, an early king of the Acolhuans, or 
 Tezcucans, a nation belonging to the same great family 
 as the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (Mexico). The Tezcucans 
 were, man for man, fully the peers of the Tenochtitlans 
 in warlike prowess; and they certainly surpassed them in 
 culture and refinement. 
 
 The Acolhuans are credited with having entered the 
 valley of Anahuac (from the northwest) somewhere 
 about the end of the twelfth century of our era. They 
 built their capital city on the eastern shore of the lake, 
 opposite Tenochtitlan, and gave it the name of Tezcuco, 
 by which they themselves were subsequently known, as 
 well as the lake. 
 
 They spread thence over the northern part of the 
 country until their career was checked by the invasion of 
 another kindred race, the Tepanecs, who, after a des- 
 perate struggle, succeeded in taking the city, slew the 
 ruler as well as thousands of his people, and completely 
 subjugated the kingdom. Nexahualcoyotl, heir to the 
 throne, was then but fifteen years old. He saw his 
 father butchered before his eyes, while he himself was 
 concealed among the branches of a tree which overhung 
 the spot. 
 
 We have not space to follow in detail the vicissitudes 
 of this yoimg prince's fortunes for the next few years. 
 
94 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 But his character is indicated by the loyalty of his 
 people in giving him shelter, and in assisting him to 
 avoid the fierce hatred of Maxtla, the son of the Tepanec 
 usurper, to whom, on his father's death, had been 
 bequeathed the Tezcucan territory with all the rest of 
 the domains. 
 
 It is told that at one time Nexahualcoyotl was just 
 able to cross the crest of a hill, with pursuers close behind, 
 when he saw a girl cutting some plants. He told her 
 who he was and asked her to cover him with the stalks. 
 This she did, and when the pursuers came up, they asked 
 if she had seen the fugitive. She said she had, and 
 pointing down a path added: ''He went that way." 
 
 Large rewards were offered for the prince's capture 
 or proof of his death; but he had no fear that any of 
 his loyal subjects would betray him. He once asked a 
 young peasant, who did not know him: ''Would you 
 seize and deliver up Prince Nexahualcoyotl, if he came 
 your way?" "I would not!" was the emphatic reply. 
 "What, not for the hand of a beautiful lady who would 
 bring you a rich dowry?" The peasant's reply was a 
 sneering laugh, accompanied by a shake of the head. 
 
 But the oppression and brutality of Maxtla disgusted 
 nobles and peasants alike. A plan was secretly made 
 for a general uprising; and on the appointed day, the 
 prince found himself at the head of a force sufficiently 
 strong to face his adversaries. He routed them, returned 
 to his capital as the rightful claimant of the throne, and 
 was crowned in the palace of his fathers. Ere long a 
 league was made between Tenochtitlan, Tezcuco, and 
 Tlacapan. It was the fact of this league which doubt- 
 less led the Spaniards to think that it was an Aztec 
 "empire" which they were conquering. 
 
 Nexahualcoyotl's first royal act was to proclaim a 
 
SOME OF MEXICOS GREAT MEN 95 
 
 general amnesty, asserting, "that a monarch may pun- 
 ish, but revenge is unworthy of him." His organisa- 
 tion of the State was truly remarkable, and we must 
 agree with Prescott that he evolved a political institu- 
 tion which was '^ certainly not to have been expected 
 among the aborigines of America." The reign of this 
 wise, humane, and politic sovereign may well be called 
 the Golden Age of Tezcuco. 
 
 It is from the history written by a descendant in a 
 direct line from the kings of Tezcuco, that we get prac- 
 tically all the information we possess of events in Mexico 
 during the three or four centuries just preceding the 
 Spanish conquest. Fernando de Alva Ixtilxochitl, it 
 seems to us, is entitled to a place in the ranks of 
 Mexico's great men. His line of descent was from the 
 principal wife or queen of King NezahualatilH, the heir 
 to Nexahualcoyotl's crown, and his only offspring by 
 the queen. 
 
 After Nexahualcoyotl had succeeded in re-establish- 
 ing himself, it is to be assumed that he conformed to 
 the customs of the country and had, in addition to his 
 royal consort, a plurality of wives, or, at any rate, numer- 
 ous concubines. As a consequence, in a few generations 
 the royal posterity became so numerous that, as was 
 inevitable, the cadet branches were reduced to such 
 poverty as to be compelled to earn a bare subsistence 
 in any way they could; often by the most humble 
 occupations. 
 
 Ixtilxochitl was able to do better for himself than most 
 of his relatives and connections, for he maintained a 
 respectable position. "He filled the office of inter- 
 preter to the viceroy, to which he was recommended by 
 his acquaintance with the ancient hieroglyphics and his 
 knowledge of the Mexican and Spanish languages. His 
 
96 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 birth gave him access to persons of the highest rank in 
 his own nation, some of whom occupied important civil 
 posts under the new government, and were thus enabled 
 to make large collections of Indian manuscripts, which 
 were liberally opened to him. He had an extensive 
 library of his own, also, and with these means diligently 
 pursued the study of the Tezcucan antiquities. He 
 deciphered the hieroglyphics, made himself master of 
 the songs and traditions, and fortified his narrative by 
 the oral testimony of some very aged persons, who had 
 themselves been acquainted with the Conquerors. From 
 such authentic sources he composed various works in 
 the Castilian on the primitive history of the Toltec and 
 the Tezcucan races, continuing it down to the subver- 
 sion of the empire by Cortes." * This historian, who 
 wrote in the early part of the seventeenth century, must 
 not be confounded with a chief of the same name, whose 
 claim to the Tezcucan throne was supported by Cortes. 
 
 It is perfectly safe to say that when the name Monte- 
 zuma t is read or heard, everyone thinks of the Aztec 
 monarch who ruled the Tenochtitlan dominions, and led 
 the Aztec league, at the time when the Spaniards entered 
 upon their Conquest. He was, however, Montezuma 
 II., a nephew of his immediate predecessor, Ahuit- 
 zotl, and a grandson of Montezuma I., who reigned 
 from 1436 to 1464. The identity of the two is denoted 
 in Mexican legends by calling the first Ilhuicanina, and 
 the second Xocoyotzin. 
 
 Following a custom which had crystallised into unwrit- 
 ten law, of electing the monarch, Montezuma II. was 
 
 * Prescott. 
 
 1 1 find that this name is transliterated by very precise Spanish- 
 American writers, Montecutzoma; but it is also written in a variety of 
 other ways. J. K. G. 
 
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 r 
 
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 ^ 
 
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 W'~^' ' 
 
 m 
 
 N| 
 
 
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 g 
 
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 > 
 
 
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SOME OF MEXICOS GREAT MEN 97 
 
 chosen in preference to his brothers, because of his supe- 
 rior qualifications, both as a soldier and as a priest. As 
 was often the case in ancient Egypt, this combination 
 of martial and ecclesiastical offices was not at all uncom- 
 mon in Anahuac. When Montezuma's election was 
 announced to him, he was found sweeping down the 
 steps of the great temple of the national war-god, Huit- 
 zilopochtli. He received the ''committee of notifica- 
 tion" with all the modesty of a modern ruler, diplomat, 
 or statesman, and listened attentively to the address 
 made by his relative and later to be martial colleague, 
 Nezahualpilli, king of Tezcuco. The speech may be 
 read in the works of either Torquemada or Bustamente, 
 and it may be taken as a model to-day. Unfortunately, 
 Montezuma's reply has not come down to us as precisely 
 as has the address. 
 
 Of the times between 1502, when Montezuma as- 
 cended the throne, and 15 19, when the Spaniards crossed 
 his pathway, it is imnecessary to say more here than 
 that he displayed all the energy and enterprise that had 
 been expected of him. Before being ceremoniously 
 crowned, he subdued a rebellion in a neighbouring 
 province and brought to Tenochtitlan a large number of 
 unfortunate captives who were sacrificed at the time of 
 his coronation. Some of his hereditary enemies, Tlas- 
 calan nobles, came to the Aztec capital in disguise, to 
 witness the ceremonies. They were detected and 
 reported to Montezuma ; but he refused to punish them, 
 and instead of having them offered as a sacrifice to the 
 gods, gave them courteous entertainment and permitted 
 them to go unharmed. 
 
 Besides conducting the almost constant wars of the 
 earlier years of his reign, Montezuma gave careful at- 
 tention to the internal development of his kingdom. 
 
98 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 He imitated those European monarchs who chose to wan- 
 der about the streets of their capitals in disguise, in 
 order to see for themselves what was going on. Yet the 
 luxurious state in which he lived seems to have been 
 befitting such an absolute monarch, and in most ways 
 his apparent splendour was pleasing to his subjects. 
 
 Nevertheless, his name, which meant 'Hhe sad or 
 severe man," was altogether appropriate and descriptive 
 of his character. Perhaps, for he was intensely super- 
 stitious, this was due to premonition of the impending 
 doom that was even then gathering and which was 
 to be consummated by the hands of the strange white 
 gods. 
 
 It is reasonably certain that had Montezuma pursued 
 towards the Spaniards, in the later years of his reign, 
 the same methods that had marked his treatment of his 
 domestic enemies in the earlier years, there would doubt- 
 less have been a different story to tell of the Conquest 
 of Mexico. With the confirmation of the Spaniards* 
 landing came the vacillation which ruined Montezuma 
 and turned some of his best warriors into implacable 
 enemies. The end of his career is pathetic, no matter 
 in what spirit it may be read. 
 
 In 15 10, nine years before the Spaniards first entered 
 the city of Tenochtitlan, and only eight years after 
 Montezuma ascended the throne, there were ominous 
 portents of impending disaster. The waters of Lake 
 Tezcuco, without any apparent meteorological cause, 
 overflowed and poured through the streets of the cap- 
 ital, sweeping away many buildings. The next year, 
 one of the towers of the great temple that Montezuma 
 had built (the act itself was supposed to be displeasing 
 to Quetzalcoatl, ^'The Fair God") burst into flames 
 without any apparent cause, and burnt in spite of all 
 
SOME OF Mexico's great men 99 
 
 efforts to extinguish the fire. Then came three comets, 
 and after them a mysterious light in the east, that ex- 
 tended upwards from its broad base on the horizon, to 
 a tapering point near the zenith. There were, too, 
 constant and pitiful wailings, like the sound of human 
 voices, that filled the air. All these were to Monte- 
 zuma, confirmation of his fear that the downfall of his 
 kingdom was soon to come. In a footnote, Prescott 
 says he omits from his text the most astounding miracle 
 of all; although legal attestations of its truth were 
 furnished the Court of Rome. This was the resurrec- 
 tion of Montezuma's sister, Papantzin, four days after 
 her burial. She came back from the spirit land to 
 warn her brother of the approaching overwhelming 
 of his power by the white strangers from beyond the 
 eastern sea. 
 
 One should read in full Prescott 's account of Monte- 
 zuma's last days; when he was a prisoner of state, even 
 if he did insist upon telling his people that he was not 
 such; that the Spaniards were his guests and as such 
 must be treated with respect. It was in the interest 
 of peace, perhaps, that he was so abject and pusillani- 
 mous. In the hour of his death, he repulsed Father 
 Olmedo, who besought him to kiss the crucifix, declar- 
 ing: "I have but a few moments to live, and will not at 
 this hour desert the faith of my fathers." He com- 
 mended his children to Cortes' care and died June 30, 
 1520, of a wound inflicted by one of his own subjects, 
 when he showed himself to a mob, in revolt against 
 the Spaniards, and whom Montezuma thought to 
 placate by his appearance. Cortes faithfully carried 
 out the king's trust. The daughters were baptised, 
 married to Spaniards of rank, and given handsome 
 dowries by the government. If a man, to be called 
 
lOO THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 "great," must be consistently and continuously so from 
 youth throughout his whole life, Montezuma was not 
 ''great.'' 
 
 Legend says that Montezuma's own nephew was 
 the chief, whose act of defiance towards the monarch 
 incited the mob to attack the temple, where the Span- 
 iards were domiciled. The king was held there as a 
 prisoner, and the mob hurled their weapons and stones 
 (it was one of the latter which inflicted the mortal 
 wound), when he appeared and tried to quiet and dis- 
 perse them. 
 
 We make every reasonable allowance for the tendency 
 towards diffusiveness and repetition among people of 
 such civilisation as the Aztecs. We must also consider 
 that a prayer offered by one of their priests could not 
 have gained much in grace and fervour on being put 
 into Spanish. We must then admit that it suffered yet 
 more in being translated from Spanish into EngHsh. 
 But with all this, we are compelled to say that the 
 prayer of the Aztec teoteuctli, high priest, when he com- 
 mended Cuitlahuatl's soul to the care of the highest 
 god, and besought His guidance in the choice of his 
 successor, leaves little room for improvement by our 
 own liturgists. 
 
 Montezuma was succeeded by his brother, Cuitla- 
 huatl, who reigned but four months and then died sud- 
 denly of smallpox (this disease was one of the ''blessings" 
 introduced by the Spaniards). It was a brief, but glori- 
 ous reign, for it had witnessed the overthrow of the 
 Spaniards and their expulsion from Mexico. The chiefs, 
 who constituted an electoral college, were convened and 
 chose Guatemozin (or Quauhtematzin, or Cuauhtemoc). 
 He had married his cousin, the beautiful Tecuichpo, 
 Montezuma's daughter. The description of him, as 
 
SOME OF Mexico's great men ioi 
 
 being handsome, bold, skilled in handling weapons, 
 unexcelled in his knowledge of military art, and having 
 remarkable literary taste, which Wallace gives in his 
 novel, is entirely borne out by the statements of native 
 historians and contemporaneous Spaniards. 
 
 His hatred of the Spaniards was of that intensely 
 religious kind which is absolutely implacable. He pre- 
 pared to drive the last one of them out of his country, 
 and he put a price on their heads. When the Con- 
 querors returned to renew the siege of Mexico City, on 
 their way they frequently found the arms and accoutre- 
 ments of their unfortunate fellow-countrymen displayed 
 in the temples of the cities and towns which they re-con- 
 quered as the actual Conquest of Mexico was made 
 final and complete. 
 
 We know that Guatemozin's efforts were imavailing, 
 despite his skill and bravery; but as the last Aztec ruler, 
 he certainly played well the part of a great man, and he 
 is entitled to be mentioned here. He would not sur- 
 render, and he refused to parley with Cortes, even after 
 the prowess of the reinforced Spaniards had demon- 
 strated the futility of further resistance His final 
 battle was a furious and bloody one, but at last he was 
 captured, after an unsuccessful effort to escape across 
 Lake Tezcuco, at the end of that battle in which the 
 native allies of the Spaniards gave full vent to their 
 passion for blood. 
 
 For himself, Guatemozin asked no consideration; but 
 he pleaded, and successfully, for his wife and his immedi- 
 ate followers. When Captain Garci Holguin, who had 
 made the capture, asked the king to put an end to the 
 combat and slaughter, by commanding the others to 
 surrender, the defeated and crushed monarch said: 
 "It is not necessary. They will fight no longer, when 
 
I02 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 they know that their ruler is taken 1" It was true; the 
 end of the Aztec kingdom had come. 
 
 Later, Guatemozin and his colleague, the lord of 
 Tacuba, were tortured by the Spaniards in an effort to 
 compel them to indicate the place where treasure of 
 fabulous amount was supposed to be hidden; but not 
 a word could be extorted. Cortes did at last intervene 
 to stop this brutahty; but it was too late to wipe out 
 a stain upon his memory for having been, if but for a 
 few minutes, a party to such outrageous treatment of 
 his royal prisoner. 
 
 Cortes' allusion to Guatemozin as a "rebel," when 
 the Spanish commander reported to his royal master, 
 causes a feeling of contemptuous indignation. A little 
 later, Guatemozin was suspected of being privy to a 
 conspiracy to massacre the Spaniards. Both he and the 
 lord of Tacuba declared their innocence, but Cortes 
 did not believe them, and they were hanged. Pres- 
 cott says: "Among all the names of barbarian princes, 
 there are few entitled to a higher place on the roll of fame 
 than that of Guatemozin. He was young, and his pub- 
 lic career was not long; but it was glorious." 
 
 So much has been written already in these pages of 
 Cortes that it seems scarcely necessary to add anything 
 about him as the Conqueror of Mexico; but as a 
 great individual man, whose name is so intimately asso- 
 ciated with that country, it is well to say a few words. 
 Hernando (Hernan, or Fernando) Cortes was born in 
 1485 at Medellin, a town in the southeast corner of the 
 old province of Estremadura, which corresponded to 
 the modern ones of Badajoz and Caceres on the Portu- 
 guese frontier. Bernal Diaz, the most eminent histo- 
 rian of the Conquest, declares that Cortes was born in 
 the same year as that "infernal beast, the false heretic 
 
SOME OF Mexico's great men 103 
 
 Martin Luther, by way of compensation, no doubt, 
 since the labours of the one to pull down the True Faith 
 were counterbalanced by those of the other to maintain 
 and extend it." This statement, which would make 
 Cortes to have been born two years before he almost 
 certainly was, is rather undue zeal than calm history. 
 
 The house in which Cortes was born stood until 1809, 
 when it was almost destroyed by the French, only a 
 few fragments of the wall remaining. Many travellers 
 from all lands had obtained the privilege of sleeping in 
 this famous dwelling; most of them doing so because 
 of zeal for the Romish faith; others from historians' 
 enthusiasm, or the mere idle desire of tourists to *'do 
 the correct thing I" 
 
 Hernando received some education at Salamanca, but 
 he never was very fond of his books. At the age of nine- 
 teen, in 1504, he sailed for the New World, in a vessel 
 commanded by Alonso Quentaro, and after many adven- 
 tures, none of them to the credit of that captain, Cortes 
 reached Hispaniola (Haiti). He was kindly received by 
 Governor Ovando's secretary, in the absence of that 
 official, and when the governor returned, Cortes received 
 a grant of land, with a repartimiento of Indians, and was 
 appointed notary public of Agua. 
 
 He varied the monotony of "a peasant's life" as tiller 
 of the soil, by accompanying Diego Velasquez when he 
 went to suppress some revolts of the natives. In 1511 
 Cortes attended Velasquez in the conquest of Cuba. 
 On this island he had some escapades not altogether 
 creditable; and he was, besides, suspected of more 
 serious misdemeanours which led to his being im- 
 prisoned. He escaped, however, and sought sanct- 
 uary in a neighbouring church. But venturing outside 
 the sacred walls, he was seized by Juan Escudero, 
 
I04 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 whom he afterwards had the satisfaction of hanging in 
 New Spain. 
 
 He was sent in irons to Hispaniola, but again escaped 
 and returned to Cuba, where he married Catalina 
 Xuarez. Through the influence of her family and other 
 causes, a reconciliation with Governor Velasquez was 
 effected. This eventually led to Cortes' appointment to 
 command the armada sent to take advantage of the 
 wonderful discoveries of Grijalva in Central America. 
 That this was not brought about without friction spring- 
 ing from envy, need hardly be asserted. 
 
 After defeating, capturing, and executing Guatemozin, 
 Cortes rebuilt the City of Mexico and established order 
 throughout his immediate domain. Eventually his 
 wife joined him, but she died later; and after some 
 years, on his return to Spain, he married Dona Juana 
 de Zuniga. It will interest at least the fair readers of 
 these pages, to be told that, "one of his presents to his 
 youthful bride excited the admiration and envy of the 
 fairer part of the Court. This was five emeralds, of 
 wonderful size and brilliancy. These jewels had been 
 cut by the Aztecs into the shapes of flowers, fishes, and 
 into other fanciful forms, with an exquisite style of 
 workmanship which enhanced their original value. 
 They were, not improbably, part of the treasure of the 
 unfortimate Montezuma, and, being easily portable, 
 may have escaped the general wreck of the noche triste.^^ 
 
 Although honours were conferred upon Cortes, al- 
 though he was ennobled and given the title of Marquis 
 of Oaxaca, and granted immense estates in Mexico, yet 
 like many another of his contemporaries, the last years 
 of his Hfe were not entirely happy, because of the jeal- 
 ousy which his successes developed in the minds of small 
 men. He was extremely popular with the masses: 
 
SOME OF Mexico's great men 105 
 
 indeed, the attentions these would have shown him 
 compelled him to leave the city of Seville and retire to 
 the neighbouring village of Castilleja de la Cuesta, where 
 he died December 2, 1547, in the sixty- third year of his 
 age. 
 
 Bernardino de Sahagun, Juan de Torquemada, and 
 Francisco Xavier Clavigero, all ecclesiastics, were not 
 *' great" in the sense of being famous and successful 
 mihtary leaders or eminent statesmen. Yet their names 
 should be mentioned because of their labours in the 
 field of historical research. We are greatly indebted 
 to them. The first is declared by Fresco tt to be our 
 most important authority whenever the Aztec religion 
 is concerned; and the account which Fresco tt gives of 
 Sahagun's method in preparing his ''Universal History," 
 and of the influence which that work exerted upon his 
 bigoted co-religionists, is almost as fascinating as a 
 romance. The work is partly accessible to students; 
 but what we have lacks much valuable material that 
 was doubtless in the original, and which was probably 
 destroyed by fanatical hands. 
 
 Torquemada, although he drew largely upon Sahagun, 
 is nevertheless declared by Frescott to be one of the 
 best guides in tracing the stream of historic truth up 
 to the fountain-head. The Abbe Clavigero was avowedly 
 an apologetist. One of his objects in writmg his " Storia 
 antica del Mexico," was to vindicate his countrymen from 
 what he beheved to be the misrepresentations of Robert- 
 son, Raynal, and De Fau. Clavigero was born at Vera 
 Cruz, in 1731, and on the expulsion of his order, the 
 Jesuits, from Mexico in 1767, went to Bologna, Italy, 
 where he died in 1787. Sahagun was born in Spain, 
 1499; lived in Mexico from 1529 and died there in 1590. 
 Torquemada was born in Spain in 1545, went to Mexico 
 
Io6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 when quite young, and died there in 1617. The three 
 were, therefore, closely identified with the colony at 
 important periods. 
 
 If the long line of governors and viceroys, from Cor- 
 tes, 152 1, to Juan O'Donojti, 182 1, is passed without 
 further notice here, it is not altogether because none of 
 them deserved to be called "great," but because of the 
 limitations of space. We pass on to a time when a con- 
 sideration of Mexico's great men embraces those who 
 were actually Mexican born. 
 
 Of Herrera, Morelos, Iturbide, and several other 
 heroes of Mexican independence, we should like to say 
 more than we have, but we must refer the reader to other 
 writers who have discussed them fully. From their 
 time until very recent years the list of Mexico's great 
 men is not large, and the names are not conspicuous 
 for remarkable traits. That of Antonio Lopez de Santa 
 Ana is familiar, yet it hardly satisfies our ideal of true 
 greatness. 
 
 On the 15th of December, 1830, there was born in 
 the city of Oaxaca, one Porfirio Diaz. He came of 
 humble but good family. His father was a respectable 
 innkeeper. In his veins flows a small strain of Mixteco 
 Indian blood, of which he is very proud. He contem- 
 plated a literary career, but in 1854, when the Ajutla 
 Revolution broke out, he joined the forces opposed to 
 Santa Ana, and has since followed a military and polit- 
 ical career. It is rash to say that he will never again 
 re-appear prominently in Mexico, even if he is eighty- 
 two years of age. 
 
 Of all those who are, perhaps, making Mexican history 
 now, the time is not ripe to say who are and who are 
 not "great." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 
 
 ON the 6th of February, 1778, an event occurred 
 at Paris, which was destined to have great effect 
 upon Spain. It was the signing of a treaty of alliance 
 between the French Government and the provisional 
 Government of the United States of America. France 
 recognised the independence of the thirteen British col- 
 onies and promised to render them material assistance 
 in their war with the mother-country. The United 
 States covenanted not to make peace with Great Britain 
 until the latter had recognised the independence of those 
 colonies. In April, 1779, Spain joined this alliance by 
 signing a treaty with France; but she did not explicitly 
 recognise the independence of those British colonies by 
 direct, official, diplomatic negotiation with the United 
 States of America. 
 
 This triple alliance (if we may presume to call it such) 
 had a double effect upon the British Government. First, 
 ParHament saw that it would be wise to try to conciliate 
 the yoimg United States of America, and two Acts were 
 passed: one of them repealed the notorious ''Tea Act" 
 and that which had abrogated the charter of Massachu- 
 setts Colony; and it went on to declare that ParKament 
 would not contend for the right to levy taxes on the 
 thirteen British colonies in America. The second Act 
 provided for the sending of commissioners to America 
 to treat with those colonies for peace. The second 
 immediate effect of that treaty of alliance — France, the 
 
Io8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 United States, Spain — was that Great Britain declared 
 war on France, March 13, 1778. 
 
 In 1783, then, France and England were at war when 
 the American commissioners appointed to negotiate at 
 Paris with British commissioners for a treaty of peace, 
 had reason to suspect that France and Spain were both 
 disposed to check the further growth of the United States 
 of America. This was to have been accomplished by 
 defining the western boundary of the new nation at 
 the crest of the Alleghany Mountains. 
 
 For this reason the American commissioners dispensed 
 with the further friendly offices of Comte de Vergennes, 
 the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and carried on 
 their negotiations with the British commissioners direct 
 and privately. A provisional treaty was agreed to on 
 the 30th of November, 1782; but this was not to be 
 declared operative until after peace between Great 
 Britain and France had been settled. As this latter 
 condition was achieved by the treaty of Versailles, 
 September 3, 1783, that provisional treaty between the 
 United States and Great Britain was made the formal 
 one, was signed without change in its fundamental 
 conditions on the same day, and subsequently ratified 
 by both governments. 
 
 The enormous territorial claims of the French in North 
 America, were declared to extend to the river Rio Grande 
 del Norte and across the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf 
 of California, in utter disregard of Spain's pretensions 
 by right of discovery confirmed by a Papal Bull. In 
 the northwest, for various cogent reasons, there was no 
 definitive line between what France claimed to be hers, 
 and the Hudson's Bay Company's possessions.* 
 
 * Cf. George Bancroft, History of the " United States of America," 
 Part III, chap. XIV; Vol. II, p. 224. 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 109 
 
 In the north, the territory stretched away to an unde- 
 termined distance. On the east, Spanish and French 
 claims were assumed to be demarked by a line midway 
 between Pensacola (Florida) and Mobile (Alabama), 
 projected northward until the watershed of the Alleghany 
 Mountains determined the French and English frontier. 
 
 By the terms of the treaty of Paris, 1763, France 
 ceded to Great Britain all the territory she claimed in 
 North America east of the Mississippi River, except New 
 Orleans and two small islands off Newfoundland, which 
 she kept for fishing stations with certain fishing rights. 
 New Orleans and everything west of the Mississippi, 
 which territory she called Louisiana, were given up to 
 Spain. 
 
 In 1 80 1 this Louisiana was receded to France by a 
 secret treaty which Napoleon, then First Consul, had 
 secured from Spain. In 1803, Louisiana was purchased 
 by the United States for a sum equivalent to $15,000,000. 
 This much space has been given to a somewhat collat- 
 eral subject, in order to make clear just why Spain was 
 a party, in 1783, to a scheme which might have oper- 
 ated to check for a time the westward growth of the 
 United States; although it is inconceivable, in the light 
 of actual history, that that country could have been held 
 to a line along the summit of the Alleghanies. 
 
 Naturally, the recognition of the independence of the 
 United States of America produced a profound impres- 
 sion throughout all Spanish possessions in the Western 
 Hemisphere. For a moment, we are considering that 
 impression as it appeared in other regions than Mexico, 
 already contemplating independence. It led the dis- 
 contented colonists to assume that, if the thirteen col- 
 onies which had previously yielded allegiance to Great 
 Britain, could throw off their connection with the 
 
no THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 mother-country and establish themselves as an inde- 
 pendent nation, they too might do the same thing. 
 
 In the circumstances, the promptness with which 
 Spain had acted (even if coerced by her stronger ally, 
 France), in the case wherein British colonies were con- 
 cerned, established for herself and her American col- 
 onies an awkward precedent. It convinced the native 
 Americans of Spanish-America that any European col- 
 ony in America had the right, recognised by Spain in 
 that case of the British colonies, to sever its connection 
 with the home government, not only for political rea- 
 sons, but for economic ones as well: the latter, as was 
 later demonstrated, quite as cogent reasons for action 
 looking towards absolute independence as the former. 
 
 "It was this consideration that caused Count de 
 Aranda, a very able statesman, to advise Charles III., 
 immediately upon the recognition of the United States 
 by Spain, to establish among the Spanish colonies in 
 America three great empires — one in ;Mexico, an- 
 other in Peru, and a third on the Spanish Main, which 
 should embrace New Granada, Venezuela, etc., each to 
 be ruled by a member of the Spanish royal family. He 
 proposed that the King should assume the title of 
 Emperor, that the new sovereigns should intermarry 
 into the Spanish royal family, and that each of them 
 should pay an annual tribute into the Spanish treasury. 
 Although this scheme might have proved difhcult of 
 realisation, and might in the process of its execution 
 have had to undergo radical changes, the final result 
 would have certainly been less disastrous to Spain than 
 the complete emancipation of her American colonies." * 
 
 * Romero, op. cit. I have followed the authorised translation, for 
 it expresses fairly well the author's meaning; but I am not at all satisfied 
 with it. J. K. G. 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO III 
 
 Personally we are disposed to concur in the views of 
 some eminent authorities who think that the French 
 Revolution was in a measure a result of the successful 
 effort of the British colonies in North America to secure 
 their independence. Henry Thomas Buckle is one 
 of those who hold this opinion.* But whether this is 
 true or not, the French Revolution of the close of the 
 eighteenth century, occurring so soon after the Ameri- 
 can War of Independence, 1775-1783, which gave a 
 tremendous shock to the prevailing ideas of monarchical 
 statesmen, must have exerted profound influence upon 
 the minds of those natives of Spanish-America who had 
 been able to acquire the education necessary to keep 
 themselves informed as to the affairs of the world. The 
 theory of the divine right of kings had been jarred to its 
 very base, and the idea that the common people had 
 some natural, inherent, and inalienable rights had been 
 forced upon the rulers with such insistence that they 
 could no longer ignore it. 
 
 These lessons were accepted in Spain with as poor a 
 grace as in any part of the world, but they were the 
 final blow to the principles upon which the rule of Span- 
 ish monarchy in America was based. The Spanish 
 kings and their advisers never looked upon the Amer- 
 ican colonies, or any other of the over-seas possessions, 
 as constituting part of a great empire. They were 
 the private property of the monarch; to be exploited for 
 his personal benefit, and no thought was taken of the 
 lower orders, provided the revenues were kept up. If 
 these fell short, drastic measures were promptly resorted 
 to to show these slaves that they were derelict in their 
 very first duty. This statement, when circumstances 
 
 '*See "History of Civilisation in England." New York ed., 1895, 
 pp. 666-8. 
 
112 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 are fully considered, does not altogether contradict a 
 previous one that the Spanish Government gave what it 
 could to Mexico. 
 
 Although that Government, by an imaccountable 
 inconsistency, permitted municipal government in the 
 Spanish colonies, it seems never to have grasped the idea 
 that in doing so it was laying the foundation of demo- 
 cratic institutions which were finally to prevail to the 
 total overthrow of autocracy. 
 
 One of the strangest inconsistencies of the Spanish 
 Government, was the wondrous and invidious distinc- 
 tion made between Spaniards born in Spain and Span- 
 iards born in the American colonies. Even when the 
 latter were the offspring of parents who were both pure 
 Castilians, they were considered an inferior race and 
 held to be almost as completely serfs or peons as were 
 the children of native Indians. 
 
 In economic affairs, the Spanish Government far 
 outstripped all other European nations in the policy 
 adopted towards its American colonies. The disposi- 
 tion of European nations having possessions in the 
 Western Hemisphere, was to treat them as absolute 
 monopolies. But Spain went so far in this policy as to 
 prohibit her colonies from raising or manufacturing any 
 article grown or manufactured in the homeland. As a 
 specific illustration of this unfair attitude, we may cite 
 the law which forbade Mexicans (Spaniards and natives 
 alike) to plant grapevines and olive-trees, lest the wine 
 and oil which might be produced should hinder the Gov- 
 ernment's monopoly sale of these articles imported from 
 Spain. So rigidly was this law enforced that in seasons 
 when disaster prohibited the export from Spain, wine and 
 oil presses were destroyed whenever discovered in Mexico, 
 and their output thrown away, while the proprietors 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II3 
 
 were severely punished. A number of other parallel 
 cases might be mentioned. 
 
 To carry out this monopolistic policy, nothing but 
 natural products (in the raw state) and treasure (bul- 
 lion or specie) was permitted to be sent out of the col- 
 onies. Seville was designated as the one port from 
 which vessels might sail for the colonies. In Mexico, 
 Vera Cruz on the Atlantic, and Acapulco on the Pacific, 
 were the only ports of entry. Trade between the vari- 
 ous colonies was forbidden. Between Spain and Mexico 
 merchant vessels were allowed to sail but once or twice 
 a year, in either direction, and then only when convoyed 
 by a man-of-war, not so much for protection as to pre- 
 vent evasion of the strict law. 
 
 Sufficient has been said to indicate clearly that the 
 people of Mexico had good reason to wish to throw off 
 the Spanish yoke; although much more might be 
 written. Apparently, when the time came to make 
 this effort, the Mexicans determined to rely upon them- 
 selves and to do their work at home. There does not 
 seem to have been any secret society or political centre 
 in Eiu-ope, appealing to the sympathies of people who 
 would be likely to favour Mexico's aspirations. 
 
 Sefior Romero is of the opinion that the dissensions 
 of the Spanish royal family at Aranjuez, in 1808, contrib- 
 uted more than any other immediate cause to hasten 
 the independence of the Spanish-American colonies. 
 This disgraceful family quarrel and subservience to 
 Napoleon, culminated in the Treaty of Bayonne, which 
 transferred to the French Emperor all the rights and 
 titles of Charles IV. to the throne of Spain and the 
 Indies, including the American colonies. 
 
 The Spanish people, however, strenuously resisted 
 the French invasion and established Juntas (a form of 
 
114 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 popular assembly approximating a congress) in the 
 mother-country and in the colonies, to rule in the name of 
 of Ferdinand VII. Through the Juntas^ the people of 
 the colonies secured a semblance of control over their 
 own affairs, and began to realise that they could take 
 care of themselves, and Mexico soon profited by this 
 experience. 
 
 In most of the Spanish-American colonies, it was 
 assumed that the appearance of independence had for 
 its reason, organisation to repel a probable invasion by 
 a French army, and to assist the mother-country in her 
 efforts to resist further aggression by Napoleon. This 
 was not the case in Mexico, however. Jose de Iturri- 
 garay, viceroy from 1803 to 1808, by an error of judg- 
 ment aroused the suspicions of the conservatives, who 
 thought he contemplated declaring the independence 
 of Mexico. They therefore deposed him, sent him back 
 to Spain, and appointed his successor. 
 
 This object lesson was not thrown away upon the 
 native Mexicans, who at once lost all respect for the 
 representative of the Spanish king, and they argued, 
 quite logically, that force, when successful, was justi- 
 fiable and could be made to accomplish greater things 
 for themselves than the mere change of a royal viceroy. 
 At once there began a series of military revolutions that 
 spread over a term of some sixty years. "The popular 
 movement in all the other colonies drifted finally into a 
 proclamation of independence, while in Mexico inde- 
 pendence was proclaimed outright and without any 
 semblance of submission to the Spanish crown; the cry 
 of Hidalgo, the originator of Mexican independence, 
 being, *Long live independence! Down with the 
 Spaniards!'"* 
 
 * Romero. 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II5 
 
 In Mexico, as in all the other Spanish-American col- 
 onies, the war for independence began in 18 10, and it 
 is considered to have ended on September 27, 182 1, when 
 Iturbide entered the capital with his victorious army, 
 although the war had practically ended when the Span- 
 ish viceroy O'Donoju signed with Iturbide, at the city 
 of Cordoba, on August 24, 182 1, a treaty in which he 
 recognised on behalf of the Spanish Government the 
 independence of Mexico. It is a remarkable and de- 
 plorable fact that nearly all the leaders of the Spanish- 
 American movement for independence were shot, either 
 by the Spaniards or by their own people on account of 
 domestic dissension. The list of those martyrs is long, 
 and it teaches a sad lesson of strange inconsistency. 
 
 Independence having been achieved, the Republic's 
 administration set itself vigorously to work to arrange 
 the internal affairs of the country to conform to the new 
 order. 
 
 The Western Hemisphere is divided into two conti- 
 nents by the Isthmus of Panama, which is only some 
 thirty-six miles in width in a straight line at the narrow- 
 est place between tide- water in the Atlantic and in the 
 Pacific. On this Hne the highest point, the apex of 
 Culebra peak, is but about 290 feet above sea-level. 
 But inasmuch as the equator is considerably to the 
 south of the isthmus, a goodly slice of almost the broad- 
 est part of the South American continent lies in the 
 northern hemisphere. The most southern point of the 
 Republic of Panama is just a little above seven degrees 
 north of the equator. 
 
 That part of the Western Hemisphere which we call 
 North America is, again, naturally divided at the Isth- 
 mus of Tehuantepec into two very imequal sections: 
 that is to say, Central America from the Isthmus of Pan- 
 
Il6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 ama to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; and North America 
 proper from Tehuantepec to the North Pole, perhaps. 
 Mexico, then, is in both Central America and North 
 America. The State of Chiapas and a part of Oaxaca, 
 on the Pacific; the whole of the States of Yucatan, 
 Campeche, and Tabasco, with a portion of Vera Cruz 
 on the Gulf of Mexico, are geographically in Central 
 America. We may say that one-third of geographical 
 Central America is in the Republic of Mexico. The 
 peculiar sensitiveness of some Spanish-Americans makes 
 it rather risky to discuss such questions as these per- 
 centages. By doing so in an entirely unofficial manner 
 before a social club in New York City some years ago, 
 when he was Mexico's diplomatic representative at 
 Washington, Sefior Romero aroused the panicky sus- 
 picions of certain of his colleagues, diplomatic repre- 
 sentatives of Central American Republics. These 
 seemed to be convinced that such discussion and the 
 comparisons adduced, argued that Mexico had most evil 
 designs upon the autonomy of their respective States. 
 
 Our purpose is merely to show what an extensive 
 geographical range Mexico has. From this to a consid- 
 eration of physical variety is an easy and natural 
 progress. The broken surface of the country made 
 travelling in former times very difficult, nor is Mexico 
 yet so completely opened up by highroads and railways 
 as to be readily accessible in all parts. Hence the 
 country was not well known, but a generation or two 
 ago, even to the Mexicans themselves. 
 
 To travel for any considerable distance away from a 
 few well-beaten tracks, it was necessary to make constant 
 use of poor roads that were nothing more than mule 
 trails which traversed regions where there were no 
 comfortable inns. There was always great risk of attack 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO I17 
 
 by highwaymen, because of the disturbed condition of 
 the country, following revolutions and counter-revolu- 
 tions that made more than one-half the population 
 outlaws as to some party of poHticians or ojfficials, 
 momentarily in power. 
 
 From this chaos, it will readily be understood, the 
 evolution of the United States of Mexico was a very 
 difficult matter. It was not until General Diaz organ- 
 ised his rurales that even a semblance of order and a 
 suggestion of protection for life and property in the 
 rural districts were established in the days of less than 
 half a century ago. 
 
 These mounted police were (and are, in times when 
 conditions are not such as have existed for nearly a 
 year now *) an excellent body of intelligent men. One 
 of the best evidences of the good work they accomplished 
 is found in the fact that the outlaws and highwaymen 
 had such a dread of them that the mere cry of ''Rurales" 
 would scatter the gangs of desperadoes; because an as- 
 tonishing degree of Hcense to ''shoot first and try after- 
 wards " was given these effective constables. 
 
 From 1880 until 191 1, presidential elections in Mex- 
 ico were an empty form. Constitutional provision 
 having been made for the case, Porfirio Diaz was re- 
 elected time and again by a ballot that was a mere farce. 
 He so far assumed the power of a dictator as to appoint 
 his own Cabinet, the other important members of the 
 administration, and even the governors of the inde- 
 pendent States. All this was a perversion of the prin- 
 ciples of that popular representation upon which the 
 Republic is supposed to be based. 
 
 That Diaz was a blessing to his country cannot be 
 denied, but whether his downfall was due to the fact 
 
 * The summer of 191 2. 
 
Il8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 that he had survived his usefulness, or that national 
 and inevitable opposition had grown too strong, remains 
 to be proved. There never was a time when all Mexi- 
 cans loved him; but the fear which took the place of 
 love with many of his fellow-countrymen, aided him in 
 governing Mexico with that iron hand which centuries 
 of history have seemed to demonstrate is the only one 
 to rule the country. 
 
 If the rule of a dictator is the very antithesis of a 
 republican form of government, no one acquainted 
 with conditions in Mexico thirty odd years ago and who 
 knows what they were when Diaz was dethroned, will 
 hesitate for a moment in saying that it was his rule which 
 made Mexico what it ought to be to-day. He under- 
 stood as no other publicist ever had done, how essential 
 to Mexico's substantial progress was foreign capital. 
 He set himself to the task of making the laws such as 
 should induce foreign investors to avail themselves of 
 good opportunities; and he tried to secure physical pro- 
 tection. Naturally, some of his fellow-citizens were 
 loud in their declarations that his efforts were partial, 
 and discriminated against Mexicans, but we think that 
 in no important case has this charge been substantiated. 
 
 Diaz suppressed crime with an iron hand, even if the 
 means to accomplish that desirable end were sometimes 
 harsh to the verge of brutality. A strike occurred in 
 the cotton-mills district of the State of Orizaba. The 
 strikers were so foolish as to display the red flag of the 
 anarchists; they destroyed considerable property, and 
 killed some workmen who refused to join the strike. 
 Diaz promptly ordered a regiment or two of regular 
 troops into the district; these arrested a number of the 
 strike leaders and put a stop to the outbreak. One day, 
 over two hundred of the rioters were in prison; the next 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II9 
 
 day they had disappeared. It was useless to ask ques- 
 tions about them, but the fact had a most salutary effect 
 throughout the whole country. 
 
 Here and there Indians break out and "go on the 
 war-path," although they do not indulge in precisely 
 the same scalping performance that Americans asso- 
 ciate with that phrase. The rurales appear, seize the 
 ringleaders and shoot them on the spot, without the 
 formality of even a ''drum-head court-martial." That 
 is the end of the disturbance in this particular spot. 
 It is a rough way to treat people; but it seems to be the 
 only manner of handling such Mexican problems until 
 education has become so general and so efficient as to 
 change the complexion of the whole body politic. 
 
 With such tremendous difficulties facing those who 
 attempted to organise the United States of Mexico, 
 and considering that the people themselves were the 
 greatest difficulty of all, it is not necessary to state that 
 the task of getting the whole machinery of government 
 into good running order was one that would have taxed 
 the ability of the wisest statesman in the world; and a 
 century ago there were not any of this order in Mexico; 
 that there have been since, is doubtful. The result was 
 precisely what any careful student of governments and 
 political institutions would have predicted. This state- 
 ment must not be taken by sensitive Mexicans to mean 
 that we share in the almost universal opinion that they 
 are constitutionally disposed to fight, and do so with- 
 out any plausible reason or serious cause. 
 
 There is a certain philosophy in the civil wars of Mex- 
 ico: wars that pretty well fill up the three periods into 
 which native historians divide them. That is to say, 
 the wars of independence, from 18 10 to 1821; the revo- 
 lutionary period from 1821 to 1855; the civil wars due 
 
I20 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 to conflicting views of leaders as to essentials for domes- 
 tic reform, from 1856 quite to the present day. The 
 second period includes the foreign war with the United 
 States of America; and the third the important semi- 
 foreign war due to MaximiKan's effort. 
 
 Some of the important episodes of these three epochs 
 have been sufficiently discussed; but there are a few 
 which demand a moment's attention here, because of 
 the tremendous influence they exerted upon the people. 
 From the very beginning of the Spanish invasion, the 
 clergy, who were always numerically strong in all the 
 expeditions, gave themselves heart and soul to the con- 
 version of the natives to the Roman Catholic faith. 
 After the complete subjugation of the Aztec monarchy, 
 this process was, more than before, supported by the 
 full power of the Government. Whether it was success- 
 ful in obtaining really sincere conversions, does not need 
 to be decided here. Apparently the Indians did gen- 
 erally embrace Christiam'ty, and certainly the power 
 of the Roman Catholic Church became something 
 astonishing. 
 
 During the terrible struggle of the third period, called 
 by Mexicans ''the war of reform," Benito Juarez, presi- 
 dent, either ad interim or constitutional from 1857 ^^ ^^^ 
 day of his death, July 18, 1872, issued certain laws that 
 were intended to destroy the pofltical power of the 
 Romish clergy. Church property was seized and sold at a 
 nominal price to the occupants previously holding under 
 lease from the Church. The Church was debarred from 
 holding real estate, in order to prevent accumulation in 
 the future. In itself, this was sufficient provocation for 
 interminable struggles, and to that act may surely be 
 charged practically all the confusion that has almost torn 
 to pieces the Mexican RepubHc at so many times since. 
 
UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 121 
 
 It would be too optimistic to say that the causes 
 which brought about the civil wars in Mexico no longer 
 exist. The contradiction of that statement, made 
 by an eminent Mexican diplomatist more than a decade 
 ago, has been demonstrated to us during the last year. 
 They do exist and will continue to so do until Mexico's 
 fifteen milHons of people have been taught to realise 
 their responsibihty to the State and their duty to one 
 another. 
 
 As a nation, in the term of years, Mexico is but a very 
 young country, much younger, in fact, than her northern 
 neighbour and, in a sense, her prototype, and to measure 
 her development by the standard which may properly 
 be appKed to older or more stable States, is manifestly 
 unreasonable. Optimists thought that even when Diaz's 
 guiding hand was withdrawn, peace and order would 
 continue to prevail. They were mistaken; yet that 
 remark does not of necessity mean that order will not 
 come out of the existing chaos. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 MEXICO FOR THE ARCHMOLOGIST, THE ANTIQUA- 
 RIAN, THE COLLECTOR OF CURIOS 
 
 PERHAPS we make an unnecessarily fine distinc- 
 tion when we suggest separate discussions of 
 Mexican archaeology and antiquities; for an archaeologist 
 must find it difficult to determine much about the long- 
 ago civilisation of that country from an examination of 
 what remains of architectural monuments and other 
 objects that manifestly are of great antiquity. 
 
 The antiquarian in Mexico will still find much to 
 reward his search for that which possesses interest rather 
 as curiosities than for their inherent or archaeological 
 importance. The modern collector of curios, with which 
 to embellish his own home, or to lend them to a museum 
 in order that many may derive benefit, will still find that 
 the Mexican field has not been exhausted by any means. 
 
 Since the most interesting archaeological remains in 
 Mexico are those connected with the Mayas, it is well, 
 at first, to say a Httle of what is known of those people. 
 The Maya-Quiche family constitute a well-marked lin- 
 guistic group of American Indians, and representatives 
 are still to be found in southern and southeastern 
 Mexico, as well as in other parts of Central America. 
 
 When the Spaniards first came, the stock was divided 
 into a number of tribes. They had well-built cities, 
 dressed stone being extensively used in their architecture. 
 Their hieroglyphics or pictographic records were some- 
 times painted on prepared bark, at others they were cut 
 
ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 123 
 
 in more permanent stone. A few of these records have 
 been translated, but most of the original pictographs 
 have defied the efforts of scientists to decipher them 
 satisfactorily. No Mexican ''Rosetta Stone" has yet 
 enabled us to read back, consecutively and connectedly, 
 the records and to determine the conditions of civiHsa- 
 tion in ancient times in America, as we can do in Egypt. 
 
 It is doubtless true that the Maya races were once 
 united and that in Yucatan they were ruled by a single 
 king who Hved at Mayapan, the ruins of which are yet 
 to be traced, twenty miles south of Merida, the present 
 capital of Yucatan. Ethnic connection between the 
 Mayas and the interesting Toltecs is claimed by com- 
 petent investigators, and this subject has been already 
 alluded to in these pages. 
 
 Scattered over the central and southern portions of 
 Mexico there are some of the most ancient ruins of 
 America which compare in their remarkable features 
 with those in any other part of the world. The northern 
 districts are rather surprisingly deficient in these re- 
 mains. There are many surmises as to the time when 
 the buildings, whose ruins alone now remain, were built 
 and about the people who erected them. Some con- 
 tend that they are relics of the "lost tribes of Israel," 
 and others maintain stoutly that their antiquity is 
 such as to show clearly that the civilisation of all the 
 Asiatic peoples went forth from Central America. As 
 to age or builders, our knowledge can never be positive. 
 
 The most important of those archaeological remains 
 are those of Uximal and Chichen Itza in the State of 
 Yucatan, Comalcalco in Tabasco, Palenque in Chiapas, 
 Teotihuacan and Cholula in Puebla and Tlaxcala, and 
 Nitla and Monte Alban in Oaxaca. A glance at the map 
 will show that all these States of Mexico, with the pos- 
 
124 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 sible exceptions of Puebla and Tlaxcala, are within the 
 territory assigned to the Mayas: some of the places 
 themselves are not indicated because they are too 
 insignificant. 
 
 About twenty-five miles northeast of Mexico City, 
 and easily reached by rail, are the remains of an ancient 
 city, scattered over an area of something like a mile or 
 two square. This is called Teotihuacan (we have already 
 just alluded to it). These ruins are the most remark- 
 able in the country. To the north of some absolute 
 ruins that are now nothing more than rubbish, there 
 stands a truncated pyramid whose four sides were care- 
 fully built to face the cardinal points of the compass. 
 This structure is called the Pyramid of the Moon. 
 About half a mile south of it is another, the Pyramid of 
 the Sun, similar in form and built with equal precision 
 as to its faces. Its height is 223 feet and its base lines 
 from east to west measure 735 feet; the north and south 
 lines being somewhat less. Connecting the two pyra- 
 mids, evidently for some specific purpose related to re- 
 ligious services, or possibly royal processions, is a broad, 
 straight street, known as Micoatl, ''The Road of the 
 Dead," which starts from the circular plaza imme- 
 diately south of the Pyramid of the Moon and leads to 
 the Pyramid of the Sun. It is continued on a short 
 distance south of the latter to a deep, water-worn ravine. 
 On both sides of this avenue there are parallel terraces. 
 
 In age, these great pyramids are assumed to antedate, 
 by a long period of time, the civilisation that the Span- 
 iards found when first they arrived. As examples of 
 what was accompHshed by prehistoric builders and work- 
 men, they easily rival the similar works which we know 
 to have stood in the Nile Valley for over four thousand 
 years. As is the case with these latter, it is now im- 
 
ARCHiEO LO GIST AND COLLECTOR 125 
 
 possible to determine precisely what mechanical appa- 
 ratus the builders used to cut the immense blocks of 
 volcanic rock of which these pyramids are built, or how 
 they raised them into place. We are told that the 
 ancient Mexicans knew Httle (if anything) about the 
 use of metals, and that their cutting tools were fashioned 
 from chips or flakes of obsidian. This fact increases 
 our wonder when we contemplate works of this charac- 
 ter and magnitude. 
 
 There are other mound-like remains scattered over 
 the wide plain. One of these mounds of broken lava 
 and clay laid in cement and faced with mortar or stucco, 
 highly poHshed, and painted red and white, was opened 
 by Desire Charnay* who found what he called a 
 ''palace," having two large halls and a number of small 
 rooms. "In 1886 Sefior Don Leopoldo Batres made 
 an excavation in one of the mounds, and foimd two 
 polychrome frescoes painted on the wall of the building 
 which was laid bare. The question is naturally asked, 
 how these monuments come to be covered? Was it by 
 an earthquake or by the hands of the builders them- 
 selves? Seiior Batres inclines to the latter view, as 
 he found the roofs of the houses perfectly preserved, 
 while the interior of the rooms was in every case filled 
 with stones neatly fitted into the spaces, and joined 
 with a clayish cement to form a compact mass. His 
 conclusion as to the pyramids is, that they are two 
 great Mexican temples erected to two old Mexican 
 divinities." t 
 
 Prescott states that the monuments of San Juan 
 Teotihuacan, with the exception of the temple at Cholula, 
 
 * See "Ancient Cities of the New World," being an account of travels 
 in Mexico and Central America from 1857 to 1882. 
 t Romero. 
 
126 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 are probably the most ancient ruins in Mexico. Accord- 
 ing to Aztec traditions, those people found them when 
 they arrived in the country. Teotihuacan (i.e., the habi- 
 tation of the gods) was then a large city, a rival of Tula, 
 the great Toltec capital; it is now a miserable little 
 village. 
 
 The two principal p3nramids were dedicated to Tona- 
 tiuh, the Sun, and Metzli, the Moon. The former, much 
 the larger, is 682 feet long at the base, and 180 feet high. 
 As the great pyramid of Cheops, Egypt, is 728 feet at 
 the base and 448 feet high, the Mexican does not suffer 
 much from comparison. The Teotihuacan pyramids 
 were divided into four storeys, of which three are now 
 discernible, while vestiges of the intermediate gradations 
 are nearly effaced. "In fact, time has dealt so roughly 
 with them, and the materials have been so much dis- 
 placed by the treacherous vegetation of the tropics, 
 mufHing up with its flowery mantle the ruin which it 
 causes, that it is not easy to discern at once the pyra- 
 midal form of the structures." 
 
 One visitor declares that it is necessary to look at the 
 ruins from a particular viewpoint and with some little 
 faith, in order to detect the pyramidal form at all; while 
 another was quite as positive that the general figure of 
 the square is as perfect as the great pyramid of Egypt. 
 
 An opening was found in the smaller pyramid, leading 
 to a narrow gallery and terminating in two pits or wells 
 that may have been tombs. "That these monuments 
 were dedicated to religious uses, there is no doubt, and 
 it would be only conformable to the practice of antiquity 
 in the Eastern continent that they should have served 
 as tombs as well as temples." On the top of the Pyra- 
 mid of the Moon there are remains of stone walls, in- 
 dicating the existence, in times long past, of a building 
 
ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 127 
 
 of considerable size and strength: there are no such 
 relics on the top of the Sun pyramid. Legend has it 
 that in the temple on the latter pyramid, there was a 
 huge statue of the Sun-god. Over the breast was a 
 plate of gold and silver, which reflected the first rays of 
 the rising sims. Ixtilxochitl, early in the seventeenth 
 century, and Boturini, in the eighteenth century, both 
 say they saw remains of this statue; but it had dis- 
 appeared entirely in 1757. 
 
 North of the Pyramid of the Moon, there is an enor- 
 mous monolith. It represents a woman with a peculiar 
 head-dress and a necklace of four strings of beads. It 
 may interest archaeologists to try to determine if this 
 was the idol formerly worshipped in the temple which 
 surmounted the pyramid. The ploughshare still turns 
 up, in the fields around these Teotihuacan ruins, many 
 miniature heads made of clay; they never have more 
 than the neck attached to the head, and in this respect 
 they differ from idols and the ornamentation of vases 
 and kindred articles. 
 
 The great pyramid of Cholula, connected with an 
 attempt of the Aztecs to exterminate the Spaniards 
 while making their first march to Tenochtitlan, is eight 
 miles from the city of Puebla. This place, which owes 
 its existence to a miracle, was originally called Puebla 
 de los Angeles ("the City of the Angels"). How much 
 we lose of romance by our habit of abbreviation for the 
 sake of economising breath! 
 
 Puebla is one hundred and twenty-nine miles by rail 
 from Mexico City, in a direction a little south of east, 
 and it is the capital of the large state of the same name. 
 Cholula is west of the city, and the mound that is all 
 that remains of the pyramid, covers some twenty acres. 
 It is now about one hundred and seventy feet high. 
 
128 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 The pyramid, restored, has been often described and 
 represented in pictures. Humboldt gives a full account 
 of it, and Prescott leads us to suppose that it was sur- 
 mounted by a temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. 
 
 It was manifestly an artificial structure built of sun- 
 dried brick, in two sections, the first seventy-one feet 
 high, the second sixty-six feet. The base was originally 
 one thousand feet square; but the material has become 
 so badly weathered, and the whole mound is so covered 
 with trees and shrubbery, that it now looks like a low, 
 natural hill. The fact that obsidian knives and arrow- 
 heads have been found, leads one to think that the 
 priests abandoned the gentle service which Quetzalcoatl 
 taught, and reverted to the bloody human sacrifices of 
 the Aztec cult. 
 
 Uxmal is near the city of Merida, the capital of the 
 State of Yucatan. The ruins here, as well as those at 
 Chichen Itza in the same state, are credited to the 
 Mayas. So, too, are those in the little village of Palen- 
 que, in the State of Chiapas. These latter were unknown 
 to the Spaniards until about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century; and it is evident that the place, as a religious 
 centre, had been abandoned before the Conquest. A 
 remarkable stone, covered with hieroglyphics and known 
 as the Palenque Tablet, was made the subject of an 
 interesting archaeological monograph, written by Dr. 
 Charles Rau, then curator of antiquities in the National 
 Museum, Washington, U.S.A., but the hieroglyphics 
 have never been satisfactorily interpreted.* 
 
 There are some very interesting ruins near the Indian 
 town of Mitla, about twenty miles east of Oaxaca, the 
 capital city of the State of the same name. These are 
 the remains of temples supposed to have been built by 
 
 * See Smithsonian Institution publications. 
 
ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 129 
 
 the Zapotec Indians, ancestors of the present inhabit- 
 ants who still speak the Zapotec dialect, as well as 
 Spanish. The Spanish priest, Burgo, who accompanied 
 the Conquerors, gave the first description of these ruins; 
 but we refer the reader to Vivien Cory's work* for the 
 full account, which is too long to be inserted here. The 
 stones used in building these edifices are of astonishing 
 size. Many small clay images, similar to those found 
 at Teotihuacan, have been discovered here, and suggest 
 a connection. Some show the peculiar MongoHan eyes, 
 with the upper lid drawn down, giving the so-called 
 slant; others seem to suggest the Ethiopian; and many 
 are of very different race types from anything which 
 the native Mexicans could have known within historic 
 times. 
 
 What has been said gives a suggestion merely of what 
 there is in Mexico to interest the archaeologist. Even 
 the places which have been mentioned have not yet been 
 worked out, and there are many others that are almost 
 virgin. It may be stated that the Mexican Government 
 is very liberal in granting permission to carry on archaeo- 
 logical research; wisely asserting its prior right to any 
 unusually good ''finds." It is itself giving much atten- 
 tion to the preservation and restoration of ancient 
 buildings. Unfortimately, in Mexico as elsewhere, these 
 precautionary measures were not taken imtil after a 
 great deal of valuable material had been used for base 
 purposes, and beautiful old structures wantonly de- 
 stroyed that the materials might be used in building 
 something ''modern," either residential or industrial. 
 
 The stranger antiquarian in Mexico will, almost as a 
 matter of course, begin his investigations with a visit 
 to the National Museum. This occupies a wing of the 
 
 * See Bibliography. 
 
130 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 National Palace, intended as the official residence of the 
 President. Diaz did not live in this pretentious edi- 
 fice; he made his home in a much smaller house facing 
 a street leading off from the Central Plaza around which 
 are the Palace and other public buildings. What the 
 President of the United States of Mexico will do when 
 the present troubles are ended and the Government 
 settles down in peace, it is impossible to say; but know- 
 ing the fondness of the average Mexican for pomp and 
 ceremony, it is very likely that Diaz's modesty will not 
 be emulated. 
 
 In the National Museum there is a really fine collec- 
 tion of antiquities; a few of the Aztec picture-writings 
 that were saved from the bigoted, fanatical destruction 
 wrought by Zumarraga; there are interesting specimens 
 of the weapons and shields used by the Aztecs and the 
 older Toltecs, as well as utensils devoted to more peace- 
 ful purposes. Of jewels, ornaments, idols, and a thou- 
 sand other relics of antiquity, the number is great and 
 the material for study most abundant. 
 
 The collection of portraits of men who have been 
 famous in Mexico's history since the Conquest, is in- 
 teresting but hardly to be considered an antiquarian 
 prize. The exhibit of weapons and armour used by the 
 Conquerors, comes in the same category, as does that of 
 costumes which display a certain chronological develop- 
 ment. 
 
 The great Stone of Sacrifice, which stood in the 
 Temple of the Sun — but a short distance from the site 
 of the Museum — is installed near the entrance. It is 
 a rough disk, covered with intricate carving; along the 
 rim is a series which show the priests dragging the un- 
 fortunate victims to be sacrificed as an offering to the 
 Sun-god. The fierce battle waged by the handful of 
 
ARCHiEOLO GI ST AND COLLECTOR 131 
 
 Spaniards around this horrible stone, against a great 
 host of Aztec warriors and priests, when the temple was 
 sacked and burnt, emphasises the tremendous task 
 the Spaniards undertook. When the Conquest was 
 accomplished, the Spanish priests buried the stone and 
 it was not discovered until 1791, when some excavations 
 for sanitary purposes were being made for the cathedral 
 erected on this very spot. 
 
 It is not inappropriate that an image of Huitzilo- 
 pochtli, the god of War, stands nearj the Sacrificial 
 Stone. This is an upright block of stone: the deity 
 is shown with snake teeth and a fringe of serpents' 
 heads falling over the breast like a horrid ornament. 
 The lower part of the stone projects Hke a shelf, and 
 it is supposed that the still pulsating heart of the 
 human sacrifice was thrown here, after the priest had 
 torn it from the victim on the Stone of Sacrifice. 
 
 The Aztec Calendar Stone is another object of great 
 antiquarian interest. This is in the same gallery as 
 that in which the last two objects are installed. The 
 consensus of opinion agrees as to the purpose of this 
 elaborate work; yet the many efforts to decipher thor- 
 oughly the carvings have not been exhaustively com- 
 plete. This statement is made with all appreciation of 
 Mr. W. W. Blake's remarkably interesting explanation. 
 The Calendar Stone also was buried in the Plaza, and 
 re-discovered, with the Stone of Sacrifice, in 1790. 
 Mexican antiquarians say that both these huge blocks 
 were taken from the Coyoacan quarries, at a date which 
 corresponds to our year 1478 a.d. The task, for men 
 without any mechanical appliances to lessen their burden, 
 must have been a stupendous one. It is said that when 
 the stones were in place, more than seven hundred cap- 
 tives were sacrificed at the celebration. 
 
132 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Having satisfied himself with a study of what the 
 capital affords, and its ethnology, its old churches, with 
 other buildings and their associations which will detain 
 him for some time, the antiquarian will find in the States 
 of Central and Southern Mexico plenty of material that 
 has not yet been described or edited. The study of 
 customs which survive — in fact or by traces — 
 amongst some of the remoter tribes of Indians in the 
 mountains, still requires prosecution before they dis- 
 appear altogether. There are, too, games and pastimes 
 of which our knowledge is not yet completely satisfac- 
 tory. The subject of old-time burial customs has not 
 been exhausted. Is the marked likeness, which some 
 of the Aztec idols in all parts of Mexico bear to certain 
 Egyptian figures, nothing more than an accident? 
 Having asked the question, we must confess our inability 
 to suggest how a scientist is to move in attempting to 
 answer it. 
 
 The Church of San Francisco, at Tlaxcala, the oldest 
 in America, its foundation having been laid in 152 1, is 
 an interesting spot for the antiquarian to visit, even if 
 its history has been pretty well written. There are, 
 too, many other churches which will attract him. In 
 this connection, it is proper to mention the painting by 
 Murillo, ^'The Assumption." This is in the sacristy of 
 the cathedral at Guadalajara, capital of the State bear- 
 ing the same name. It is said that an offer of $75,000 
 has been refused for this authentic picture. In 1864, 
 when French troops captured the city, they tried to get 
 possession of this picture as a trophy to hang on the 
 wall of the Louvre gallery; but it was hidden away 
 successfully by the priests in charge, although they were 
 promised $25,000 to divulge its hiding place. 
 
 But another and even more interesting object of fine 
 
ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 133 
 
 art antiquity, is the picture of the ^'Entombment of 
 Christ," painted by Titian and of undisputed authen- 
 ticity. It is in the old church at Tzintzuntzan, on the 
 shore of Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, and was pre- 
 sented to the Convent of San Francisco by Philip II., 
 King of Spain 1556-98. The old church is almost in 
 ruins, yet the Indians are not willing to have it repaired 
 or reconstructed, and they worship their picture as if it 
 were endowed with miraculous power. It is said that 
 an Archbishop of Mexico once offered $50,000 for the 
 painting, but this was indignantly refused. Francis 
 Hopkinson Smith, the engineer-artist-author, in his "A 
 White Umbrella in Mexico," gives an entertaining and 
 exciting account of his experience when making a sketch 
 of the picture. He succeeded through a clever ruse; 
 but his effort nearly had a tragic ending, his life being 
 for a moment in peril just because he had dared to 
 lay his hand on the canvas. 
 
 Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough, gave a good 
 part of his life to the study of Mexican antiquities. We 
 have the result of his labours in nine, and a portion of a 
 tenth, foHo volumes with wonderful illustrations. In- 
 cidentally, it may be stated that he is one of those who 
 have attempted to prove that it was to Mexico the 
 ''lost tribes of Israel" went. It may be added that his 
 reproductions of Aztec pictographs show that while 
 those people often group their numeral dots or tiny 
 circles in multiples of five, there is no fixed rule in this 
 numeration. 
 
 But even the monumental work of this investigator 
 has not exhausted the subject of the "Antiquities of 
 Mexico." There are few antiquarians, it is certain, 
 who have the means at their disposal to carry on research 
 as Kingsborough did. Yet this fact need not deter 
 
134 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 others from prosecuting further work in what is still 
 an unexhausted quarry. 
 
 The average visitor to Mexico, who does not go with 
 some fixed plan for industrial or commercial exploitation 
 to which he will give his whole time and undivided atten- 
 tion, will find it a most seductive place in which to pick 
 up "curios." Besides the occasional antiquity that will 
 appeal to such a collector because of beauty, novelty, 
 association, or age, there are innumerable things of more 
 modern make which are most tempting. 
 
 It often adds something to the sentimental value of a 
 '^find" in ceramics, if the collector sees the article 
 "turned" before his very eyes on a potter's wheel. 
 This gratification may be had at various places in 
 Mexico : for example, at San Antone, in the Cuernavaca 
 district of the State of Morelos. The natives make the 
 famous red Cuernavaca ware, and while their methods 
 may be primitive, yet they produce vessels of such grace- 
 ful shapes that they might have come from Greece or 
 Rome. They do this work on an old-fashioned potter's 
 wheel, turned by the hand frequently, and their other 
 accessories are a bit of broken glass with which the sur- 
 face is finally smoothed, and a horsehair to cut off the 
 top sharply and to detach the finished article from the 
 wheel. 
 
 Attractive pottery is also produced in many other 
 parts of Mexico. Guadalajara is one: here the potters 
 make, in addition to useful articles, most fascinating 
 little figures which represent the different phases of 
 Mexican life. Aguas Calientes is another place, and 
 these two are among the most famous and accessible. 
 A few dollars will secure a "collection." 
 
 The writer has often wondered why greater use is not 
 made of the Mexican "water-cooler," or something 
 
ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 135 
 
 similar thereto, now that the hygienic prejudice against 
 ice-water is growing. This is, usually, a round, deep, 
 broad jar suspended in a netting. It is made of slightly 
 porous clay, so that the little water which oozes through 
 may be evaporated. When hung in the air, this evapo- 
 ration, even on the hottest day, lowers the temperature 
 of the water inside the jar until it is entirely palatable. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to dilate here upon the attrac- 
 tive articles wrought in gold or silver that are to be 
 bought in Mexico, because so many of them have been 
 brought away and shown to envious friends or exhibited 
 in museums. Yet the supply will never be exhausted, 
 and the skilful workmen are constantly bringing forth 
 something new, or reproductions of the attractive old. 
 
 It is possible that in the State of Guerrero, the visitor 
 may come into possession of one of the beautiful pre- 
 historic objects made of gold, an idol, perhaps, or an 
 amulet, or simply something for personal adornment. 
 There are so many ruined buildings in this state which 
 have not been exhaustively explored, that there are 
 possibiHties of getting some little treasure which shows 
 how wonderfully skilful were the workmen who are 
 declared to have been old hands at their craft long, long 
 before the Aztecs came into the country. 
 
 To write of Mexico without any reference to the 
 beautiful precious stone resembling petrified woods, 
 that has been given the name "Mexican Onyx," would 
 be a strange omission. The material is much used in 
 churches, pubhc buildings, and residences for interior 
 decoration, as well as table- tops, etc., just as it has been 
 in the United States of America. Smaller pieces, cut 
 into readily portable articles of all sorts and kinds, may 
 be procured in the City of Puebla, perhaps more satis- 
 factorily than in any other place. 
 
136 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 We fear the feminine curio-hunter will not thank us 
 for saying that the famous drawnwork in Hnen is prac- 
 tically a thing of the past. The native women of Aguas 
 CaHentes, who formerly did this, now find more re- 
 munerative employment in factories or at other work. 
 But the genuine Mexican drawnwork deservedly held a 
 lofty place in the estimation of all lovers of the beautiful. 
 One costume which was made in the town of Aguas 
 CaHentes and intended for exhibition ''took nine years 
 to complete, three hundred expert needlewomen being 
 employed on it." It had no seams, was of exquisite 
 design, and was valued at two thousand dollars. 
 
 But truth compels us to say that nearly all of the 
 ''real" Mexican drawnwork, now procurable by visitors, 
 is "made in Germany," only it is not so labeled, and 
 it is sold to tourists as the work of native needlewomen, 
 made from domestic materials. The stranger must be 
 most careful when buying a showy sarape, so effective 
 for draperies, because most of those offered for sale are 
 made in Germany. 
 
 It is most improbable that a visitor can now even see 
 one of the Aztec blankets, woven from the fibre of a 
 certain species of cactus, called ixtle and of which the 
 famous tilma in the shrine of Guadalupe is made. If 
 great good fortune should enable the stranger to secure 
 one of these blankets, the opportunity had better be 
 promptly seized. 
 
 The reference to the Guadalupe tilma recalls the legend 
 connected with it. In 1591 the Virgin Mary appeared 
 miraculously to an Indian on the hill of Guadalupe, and 
 bade him tell the bishop to build on that spot a church 
 in her honour. Twice this happened, with certain varia- 
 tions, and the bishop remained incredulous. The third 
 time, however, the Virgin told the Indian to gather some 
 
ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 137 
 
 miraculous flowers that had sprung up on the previously 
 barren hillside and carry them to the bishop. The man 
 obeyed and wrapped the flowers carefully in his tilma, 
 blanket. When he opened the iilma before the bishop 
 and delivered the message that third time, the flowers 
 had disappeared, but on the tilma was a beautifully 
 painted picture of the Virgin. The church was built on 
 the spot indicated, and the marvelous picture installed 
 in a tabernacle of gold, silver, and plate glass. It is a 
 fable, of course, and yet no one has ever been able to 
 say just how the picture was done or what pigments 
 were used. That the picture is an antique is imdis- 
 puted, and the colouring is still remarkably fresh. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 MEXICO FOR THE TOURIST AND THE SPORTSMAN 
 
 SWITZERLAND seems to be the criterion by which 
 the natural and artificial features of all other coun- 
 tries are measured, when we discuss their attractiveness 
 for tourists. We speak of "The Switzerland of America," 
 even if the consensus of opinion has not yet determined 
 just where it is; of ''The Switzerland of Africa," amongst 
 those mighty moimtains in the eastern part of that con- 
 tinent, so close to the equator; of "The Switzerland of 
 India," Kashmir and "The Hills"; or of "The Switzer- 
 land of Siberia," in Transbaikalia. 
 
 This is not alone because of Switzerland's physical 
 features, although the charm of these is frankly admitted; 
 but largely because the Swiss Government has displayed 
 such great wisdom in making the coimtry attractive 
 in artificial ways. The proprietors of hotels, and of 
 summer and winter resorts, have co-operated with State 
 and Cantonal officials in this matter. 
 
 Switzerland, however, in the sense of being a "happy 
 hunting-groimd " for tourist and health-seeker, is rather 
 a designation than a strict geographical term of defini- 
 tion; because the Austrian Tyrol, as well as the Italian 
 side of the Alps and the Lake Region, must be taken as 
 parts of that comprehensive Switzerland for which we 
 are disposed to contend. This region, then, is so located 
 as to be able to draw upon the thickly populated lower 
 countries on all sides for its patronage; and means of 
 getting into its every nook and comer are now so ample 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I39 
 
 that the patronage is generous and remunerative. Yet 
 even so, every succeeding year is marked by some new, 
 often stupendous, plan for increasing these faciHties of 
 access and lodging. 
 
 Besides, as has been intimated, the purses of all classes 
 of patrons are considered in arranging the scale of 
 charges. It is possible for people of very moderate 
 means to enjoy all the benefits of this health-restoring, 
 health-giving region; while for those who deHberately 
 choose to be extravagant in their demand for luxuries, 
 rarely necessary, hotels are provided with accessories 
 sufficient to satisfy the demands of the most reckless 
 spendthrift. This is probably not due to any inherent 
 altruism on the part of those landlords and proprietors, 
 but is rather due to respect for laws, rules, and regula- 
 tions that are strictly enforced. 
 
 There are, however, many other regions on this globe 
 which would be quite as popular, were they only as 
 accessible and as well equipped for the purposes of 
 recuperation and recreation as is Switzerland. There 
 will come a time when distances have so shrunk that the 
 Himalayas will offer to the tourist many opportunities 
 equal to those of Switzerland, both physical and personal. 
 *' Bleak '^ Siberia, too, possesses wonderful possibiHties. 
 Of North America, it is hazardous to speak with any 
 semblance of prophecy; because, while there are the 
 natural features in plenty, the Government — whether 
 American or British — has not yet evinced any dis- 
 position to curb the rapacity of proprietors, who will 
 not see that it is to their own interest to cater to the 
 pecuniary possibiHties of all classes of visitors. 
 
 Mexico is one of the countries which possess great 
 possibiHties for the tourist; and anyone who knows the 
 land may be pardoned if he displays much enthusiasm 
 
I40 THECOMINGMEXICO 
 
 when discussing it in this aspect. It is really a Wonder- 
 land, because, let the visitor approach it from whatever 
 direction he will, there is nothing in the first contact 
 which holds a hint of the possibilities of the interior. 
 The journey by train from the north, involves the cross- 
 ing of Texas, or New Mexico, or Arizona, and no sane 
 person can truthfully say that this trip is scenically 
 attractive, however instructive, novel, and economically 
 interesting it may be. 
 
 All the American railways which connect at the 
 frontier with Mexican lines, traverse level sections that 
 are not attractive to the tourists, and the eastern lines 
 traverse similar country for some distance after Mexico 
 has been entered. Only in the extreme northwest, in 
 the State of Sonora, does the railway quickly plunge into 
 a mountainous region, after crossing the boundary, and 
 cHmb upwards to altitudes that are refreshing, and into 
 a region of physical variety. The eastern Hues that 
 converge at the city of Monterey, State of Nuevo Leon, 
 are not very long in the level valley, and these, too, 
 bring an agreeable scenic change fairly promptly. 
 
 But the central line, along the great interior Valley 
 of Mexico, is very slow in climbing up to an elevation 
 which brings relief from the sameness and bleakness of 
 the lower plains. We are now writing of Mexico as a 
 winter resort, because it is as such that most tourists 
 think of it; the attractions in summer will be discussed 
 a little later, when it will be admitted, we think, that 
 Mexico may in time rival Switzerland at both seasons. 
 
 The winter visitor who approaches Mexico from the 
 sea, is likely to receive a first impression that is even 
 less favourable than is the one which has just been 
 mentioned. This statement is, however, not strictly 
 applicable to the west coast, because Acapulco and 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I4I 
 
 Manzanillo have picturesque surroundings. On the east 
 coast, there are for the present, certainly, and probably 
 for some time to come, but two ports of entry for the 
 foreign tourist. Vera Cruz and Tampico. Of the former, 
 it may be said that there is Httle change to be noted by 
 the approaching stranger from the deck of his steamer, 
 from the description given by Mr. Carson: "A long Hne 
 of fiat, sandy coast with many sandbars stretching 
 seawards over which the surf was breaking. The land, 
 covered with scrubby bushes and here and there a melan- 
 choly group of cocoanut palms, lay forlorn and desolate 
 under a dark sky." The harbour and the town have 
 been greatly improved since that was written, a few years 
 ago. 
 
 The incoming tourist at either of these points should 
 prepare to be disappointed when he lands. For so many 
 of the days, when the few steamers from foreign ports 
 are due at either Vera Cruz or Tampico, are marked by 
 the horrid *' Northers." These are the fierce winds 
 which sweep along the coast in winter (although their 
 influence is felt far inland). They seem to have had 
 their beginning in the far-away north polar regions, and 
 to have lost Kttle of their icy-cold character while cross- 
 ing the intervening "States." Certain it is that they 
 play havoc with navigation and coast property, are 
 depressing to the stranger, and seem to freeze the 
 natives to the very marrow. But perhaps this seemingly 
 unfortunate first impression upon the tourist is, after all, 
 a wise dispensation to make the change, which speedily 
 comes after landing and getting, literally, up into the 
 interior, all the more attractive. 
 
 Tampico, the other Gulf of Mexico seaport, is a dif- 
 ferent looking place from other Mexican cities. One 
 noticeable variation is seen in the roofs of the buildings ; 
 
142 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 many of these are pitched and gabled, instead of being 
 flat as is the typical one. Tampico has a population 
 rapidly approaching the quarter of a milHon mark, and 
 it has already outstripped Vera Cruz as a port of entry 
 for merchandise from the United States, Europe, and the 
 West Indies. Hundreds of cargo steamers enter and 
 clear each month, and the docks are fitted to receive the 
 largest ocean-going craft. A good idea of the impor- 
 tance which the Mexican Government attaches to this 
 place, may be had from the fact that a sum of over three 
 milHon dollars was spent in building the Custom House 
 and a pier at which five large steamers can be worked 
 at the same time. 
 
 The town is at the mouth of the Panuco River, which 
 is joined, a little above Tampico, by the Tameso. Along 
 these streams, small cargo boats may pass for a long 
 distance into the interior, and inasmuch as the scenery is 
 very attractive, being characteristically tropical, a trip 
 on one of these boats is not a bad experiment for a lei- 
 surely tourist to make. The actual harbour is some 
 distance below the city proper, at the suburb of La 
 Barra, where there is excellent surf -bathing. 
 
 Whether he goes to Mexico by land or sea, the tourist 
 will make his first human acquaintance with Customs 
 officials; and, of course, when the American tourist 
 returns to his own coimtry, he will have a similar experi- 
 ence with the United States officials — the same in 
 kind, but vastly different in degree. It is still a disgrace 
 and a stultification of the pretences of the great United 
 States of America, that this ordeal of passing through 
 the Customs inspection should be such a humiHating 
 one. Why, because the heavy import duties have 
 tempted some to try evasion, should all be assumed to 
 be attempting a like fraud? The comparison brings 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I43 
 
 forth the same unpleasant picture, and puts the United 
 States in the same invidious position, no matter what 
 other country is chosen to make it. Even Russia, where 
 the actual inspection is Hkely to be as strict as in America, 
 does not treat every person as if he were a convicted 
 smuggler. Mexico certainly does not. A respectable 
 looking, well-behaved tourist is assumed not to be 
 attempting to defraud the government of a few cents in 
 duty, and the examination of luggage, although thorough, 
 is done with some consideration for the stranger. There 
 is none of the ''Step lively! Unlock this trunk in a 
 hurry !'^ 
 
 We shall take it for granted that the tourist has 
 arrived at Vera Cruz, and elected to stay overnight, 
 before taking a train on the wonderful Mexican Railway 
 by way of Orizaba (the true Aztec name being Ahauiali- 
 zapan, "joy in the waters") for the capital. He will, 
 unless he is so fortunate as to have a friend living in 
 Vera Cruz who insists upon "putting him up," go to a 
 hotel. This will prove a novel experience; but novelty 
 is precisely what our typical tourist is seeking. There 
 is not quite so great a difference between the absolutely 
 "first-class" Mexican hotel and the hopelessly poor one, 
 as there is between the best and the poorest of the 
 estabHshments we call "hotels" in America or Europe, 
 The differences in minor details may be ignored, because 
 in essentials all the hotels of Mexico are pretty much 
 alike. 
 
 In some of the larger cities, the capital particularly, 
 hotels have been expressly built for the purpose of pro- 
 viding semi-modern accommodations; but not yet has 
 it seemed desirable to the proprietors, not to say essen- 
 tial, to equip them with a satisfactory heating-plant, or 
 stoves, or fireplaces; consequently, there are days in 
 
144 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 winter when the tourist is anything but comfortable, 
 and many nights when the visitor is absolutely forced 
 to go to bed '^ with the chickens " just to get warm. 
 
 It is not at all surprising that the Mexican hotels are 
 arranged in much the same way as their Spanish proto- 
 type, although it may be said that the former are gen- 
 erally cleaner and neater than the latter, if the testimony 
 of travellers in both countries may be depended upon. 
 Even when, as is frequently the case in the smaller 
 towns, the hotel is merely a residence somewhat altered 
 to adapt it to the requirements of the new use, or a con- 
 vent transformed, there is Httle variation in exterior or 
 interior. The front wall is right on the sidewalk (the 
 arcade is an innovation), the lower windows small and 
 strongly barred; the upper ones larger (not infrequently 
 projecting in quite a Moorish fashion) and either barred 
 or filled with lighter framework and fitted with jalousies. 
 
 In the middle of the facade is a large entrance, closed, 
 at times, by a grille gate. This opens into the patio, 
 courtyard, in the centre of which there is a fountain 
 surrounded by palms, flowering bushes, etc., in wooden 
 or earthenware pots. In a good many hotels, the 
 "office" gives onto the entrance, and here the visitors' 
 carriage stops that the "fare" may arrange for his room. 
 When this has been satisfactorily accomplished, the 
 luggage is handed over to the porter, the carriage circles 
 the fountain in the patio and drives away. 
 
 The different floors of the hotel all have a broad bal- 
 cony around the patio and from that the rooms are 
 entered. Rooms are sometimes arranged en suite, the 
 sleeping-room on the patio side, and through it one passes 
 to the sitting-room, which looks out upon the street or 
 whatever may be "next door" on either side or at the 
 rear of the hotel. A stone staircase passes up from 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I45 
 
 floor to floor at one side of the patio. There is a com- 
 forting sense of security against fire in the stone or con- 
 crete floors, the stone stairway, and the almost entire 
 absence of woodwork in the construction of these build- 
 ings; and yet — when the stranger thinks of Mexico's 
 earthquake history — that "comfort" is a little shaken. 
 But destructive earthquakes, involving loss of life, are 
 not so frequent as to deter a would-be tourist. 
 
 For each floor (we are speaking of the small hotel) 
 there is a mozo — a man, and very often he is quite old, 
 too — who is the Mexican equivalent of the *'Boy" in 
 Asia and elsewhere. He is chambermaid, boots, hall- 
 porter, bell-boy, and messenger, and in all the large 
 hotels of the principal cities, this mozo has picked up 
 enough English to be extremely useful to the newcomer 
 who dares not yet trust his own Spanish. 
 
 As a rule there are restaurants connected with the 
 better class hotels in the cities; but not so in the pro- 
 vincial hotels. Mention of restaurants brings up the 
 subject of eating, which is,^ perhaps, the most unsatisfac- 
 tory phase of life for the tourist in Mexico: the only 
 unsatisfactory one, in fact. 
 
 The writer's experience, beginning in 1866 and renewed 
 at intervals since, is confirmed by the statement of nearly 
 all who have told about food for the "gringo" (stranger, 
 American especially) in Mexico. When one of the most 
 enthusiastic pro-Mexico writers of recent years, Percy 
 F. Martin,* says that the alimentary entertainment 
 given at the Chapultepec Cafe is the very best, for 
 Americans and Europeans, to be had in the whole coun- 
 try, and yet is compelled to modify his enthusiasm with 
 the statement that although the cuisine is undoubtedly 
 good, it is not sufficiently varied, one realises that this 
 * See Bibliography. 
 
146 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 problem of catering to the palates of the strangers has 
 not yet received from Mexicans the attention one would 
 expect. 
 
 Fish and fruit are abundant and may be had at many 
 cafes and restaurants, the former well-cooked and all 
 nicely served, but soups, joints, and the vegetables 
 that the Anglo-Saxon likes are very dilB&cult to get; 
 while entremets and pastry which conforms to his stand- 
 ard are next to impossible. It may be that the tourist 
 will come to Hke the chili-con-carne (chili peppers with 
 minced or sHced meat), tamales, another dish of chopped 
 meat, highly seasoned with chilis and black pepper, 
 wrapped in a corn-husk and boiled quickly, or in a 
 tortilla, the Mexican bread, which is made from Indian 
 corn, whose kernels have been first soaked in lime-water 
 to remove the skin and to soften them, then ground in 
 a stone metate (a kind of mortar board) with a stone 
 roller to a paste which is shaped by the hands into flat 
 cakes and baked quickly on an iron pan over a hot, 
 charcoal fire; or the isnnous frijoles, black beans boiled, 
 then fried in lard and served reeking with grease; or 
 some of the other native dishes; but it is not likely. 
 Of course, chocolate, as it is served in Mexico, appeals to 
 many strangers; but the coffee does not; it is too strong 
 and the beans are roasted too long, giving it a bitter 
 flavour to which few strangers ever become accustomed. 
 
 There is not space to discuss more fully the subject 
 of hotels and restaurants. Every tourist repeats what 
 every other has said before him, that in every one of the 
 principal cities of Mexico, there is a fortune awaiting 
 the man who builds a modern hotel with all the up-to- 
 date conveniences, baths, elevators, cafe, restaurant, 
 etc., and furnishes it throughout for travellers from 
 abroad. But everyone who goes into the subject care- 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I47 
 
 fully, at once finds that there are — for the foreign 
 investor certainly — insuperable obstacles. There are 
 legal difhculties; it is impossible to get a site because 
 land values are prohibitive — this is especially true of 
 Mexico City; and the Customs laws would make it 
 impossible to bring in the necessary equipment from 
 abroad; while domestic means of supply are yet totally 
 inadequate to furnish such an hotel. Furthermore, 
 even were these obstacles not insuperable, and such an 
 estabUshment as has been suggested built and furnished, 
 it would be impossible to get a staff of competent and 
 reHable servants to run it. The mozo is all very well 
 in his place; but chambermaids and, above all, dining- 
 room and cafe waiters are still too far in the dim future 
 to permit of a modern hotel venture being a success. 
 
 In the City of Mexico itself, something has been done 
 in the way of improvement over the former state of 
 affairs. This is, however, due to the wisdom of certain 
 native investors who were able to secure sites that were 
 impossible for foreigners. Yet even this effort is but a 
 partial success, after all. Monsieur Ritz, whose name is 
 a synonym for all that is advanced and successful in 
 hotel management, has said that a modern hotel in 
 Mexico City cannot be a success, because of the domestic 
 servant problem, and if success is impossible in the 
 capital, it is most certainly not possible in any other 
 city. 
 
 But if the prospect is somewhat discouraging for hotel 
 comfort, shall that altogether deter the tourist from 
 visiting Mexico ? By no means. If there is not at his 
 service just what he is accustomed to in his homeland, 
 it does not necessarily follow that he cannot get along 
 at all, or even that he must be wretchedly uncomfortable. 
 There is so much to charm and interest in so many other 
 
148 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 ways that the drawback which the hotel problem seems 
 to create is soon forgotten. 
 
 There was a time, not long ago, when the imsatisfac- 
 tory sanitary condition of the City of Mexico made it 
 an undesirable place for invahds; but this has already 
 been improved and the good work is progressing so 
 rapidly and so thoroughly that the stigma will, we feel 
 sure, soon be effaced. However, we are not writing for 
 the invahd alone; yet we may say here that the mildness 
 and evenness of the cHmate generally is favourable to 
 the alleviation of certain diseases, pulmonary ones 
 especially, and if these cHmatic advantages were well 
 known, the central, lofty plateau of Mexico would be 
 considered one of the best sanitariums for those who are 
 troubled with lung complaints, piilmonary tuberculosis 
 particularly. 
 
 Should the invalid require a warmer climate than the 
 high, open plateau, it may be found in some of the valleys 
 in the tierras templadas, the temperate zone, Cuernavaca, 
 Iguala, Tasco, or Cuantla, for example. The fact of 
 the mild and even climate throughout the year is likely 
 to attract visitors, winter and summer, both those on 
 pleasure bent and those who are seeking to restore 
 shattered health or prolong a feeble life. 
 
 The southern end of the Valley of Mexico is one of the 
 most attractive places in the world. Lofty mountains 
 on three sides make it almost an amphitheatre; and it 
 is virtually at the foot of two peaks, Popocatapetl and 
 Iztaccihuatl, which compare favourably in altitude with 
 the highest mountains of the world. The air is rare and 
 the atmosphere remarkably clear; the former quality 
 will doubtless make itself known promptly to the visitor 
 in a certain difficulty in breathing and a sKght dizziness 
 for a day or two, but they soon pass away without leav- 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I49 
 
 ing any ill effect whatever. The sky is wonderfully blue, 
 noticeably so just after the rain that falls at rare inter- 
 vals, and then the valley is really a centre of magnificent 
 scenery. The view from Chapultepec Hill, three miles 
 southwest of the City of Mexico, and about one hundred 
 and fifty feet higher than the Plaza, is one of the finest 
 in the world. It takes in the grand boulevard, Paseo de 
 la Reforma, about the only good thing that Maximilian 
 did for his "empire," for it was he who planned it. The 
 view includes the whole city, then sweeping to the west 
 covers the valley, which possesses every attribute of 
 scenic beauty. 
 
 We cannot say that Senor Romero was altogether 
 too enthusiastic when he declared: "I have seen the 
 Bosphorus, Constantinople, the Bay of Naples, and other 
 spots in the world which are considered to be most 
 remarkable for their natural beauty, but I think the view 
 of the Valley of Mexico from Chapultepec can be advan- 
 tageously compared with any of them, if it does not 
 excel them all." 
 
 There were six lakes in the Valley of Mexico until 
 recent times: probable conditions in prehistoric times 
 have been mentioned elsewhere. These lakes were 
 Chalco, Xochimilco, Texcoco, Xaltocan, San Cristobal, 
 and Zupango; the first two fresh water, the others salt. 
 They had no natural outlet, and this fact operated seri- 
 ously against a proper sewerage system for the City of 
 Mexico. We use the past tense in mentioning these 
 lakes, because it is more than probable that by the time 
 this little book is in the hands of readers, two of them, 
 Chalco and what is left of Xochimilco, will be drained, 
 as a part of the great scheme for improving the city's 
 sanitary condition, and, at the same time, a large area 
 of land, suited to the requirements of the fruiterer and 
 
150 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 market gardener, will have been added to the material 
 wealth of the Federal District. 
 
 If the scenery along their line of march was so grand 
 as to compel the admiration of the band of freebooters 
 — for, after all is said in praise of their valour, that is 
 precisely what Cortes and his Conquerors were — it will 
 surely appeal to the tourist who is seeking just such 
 natural beauty. Such a traveller will have an opportunity 
 of seeing most of that which impressed the Conquerors, 
 if he takes a journey by train on the Mexican Railway 
 from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. 
 
 This railway was the first Hne of length and importance 
 ever completed in the Republic. The very first in the 
 country, connecting the capital with the city of Guada- 
 lupe, three miles, was finished in 1854. This was really 
 the first section of the Vera Cruz line, of which another 
 section was constructed from the seaport to Tejeria, 
 twelve miles, about the same time. During the Maxi- 
 milian invasion, the French extended this section to 
 Paso del Macho, about thirty-five miles farther, at the 
 foot of the mountains, in order to carry the troops 
 quickly out of the dangerous yellow-fever zone. When 
 the MaximiHan episode had collapsed, an English firm 
 of capitalists took up the work of finishing the section 
 over the mountains, and linking together the two por- 
 tions already in operation. With them was associated 
 Thomas Braniff , an American to whom is generally given 
 the credit for the wonderful construction, and who sub- 
 sequently managed the fine. 
 
 This railway is only four hundred and twenty-four 
 kilometres (two hundred and sixty-three miles) long, 
 yet at one point it attains an altitude of over ten thou- 
 sand feet above sea-level. It is unnecessary to say that 
 some of the gradients are extraordinarily steep and the 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN 151 
 
 curves are sometimes very sharp. In places the line 
 runs along terraces cut into the solid rock of the moun- 
 tain side, and the look down into the abyss is something 
 trying to weak nerves. The construction was a stu- 
 pendous undertaking and the cost over thirty-five million 
 dollars; yet the railway has been, from the first, a most 
 profitable investment. We think the Mexican Govern- 
 ment has purchased a controlling interest as a matter of 
 national policy; but it has not interfered at all in the 
 management, any more than it has in the other railways 
 that have been built with foreign capital. 
 
 With the City of Mexico for his principal centre for 
 attack, and, let us say,Hermosillo, Chihuahua, Monterey, 
 San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Puebla, Cuernavaca, 
 Salina Cruz, and perhaps a score or more, as subordinate 
 bases from which to work, the tourist will find that he 
 needs a good long holiday in Mexico, if he wishes even 
 to get a superficial glance at what the Republic has to 
 offer that is more than simply interesting. If he has 
 gone by rail all the distance from the United States to 
 the capital, it will be a great pity not to make his way 
 to one, at least, of the Gulf of Mexico ports. Vera Cruz 
 or Tampico; and equally a cause for later regret if he 
 does not journey to and past Lake Chapala to the in- 
 teresting old city of Colima, and thence to the attractive 
 harbour of Manzanillo, of which we shall say more in a 
 later chapter. 
 
 Since, too, the trip by rail to the Isthmus of Tehuan te- 
 pee can now be so easily and comfortably made, if he 
 does not fancy the coast- voyage from Manzanillo, via 
 Acapulco and Puerto Angeles to Salina Cruz, the visitor 
 to Mexico will always regret it if he does not give him- 
 self the gratification of seeing that place, where the 
 Republic separates the waters of the Altantic from those 
 
152 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 of the Pacific by only one hundred and twenty-five 
 miles, in a straight Kne. The fine artificial harbours at 
 Puerto Mexico, formerly called Coatzacoalcos, on the 
 Atlantic, and Salina Cruz, on the Pacific, with the con- 
 necting railway, afford one of the most convincing proofs 
 of Mexico's determination to win an important place 
 among the commercial and industrial nations of the 
 world. 
 
 Nor is it ill-chosen to recommend the visitor to go on a 
 little farther to Palenque, in the State of Chiapas; and 
 certainly it will be well worth his while, either in going 
 to the Isthmus or in returning thence, to visit the city 
 of Oaxaca. Not only has it great personal and historic 
 interest, Juarez and Diaz both being born there, but the 
 mines, of which more will be said in the following 
 chapter, and the prehistoric remains about the place, 
 are exceedingly interesting, not only to the specialist, 
 miner, or archaeologist, but to the traveller who takes a 
 general interest in all things which go to make up the 
 social and industrial welfare of a nation. 
 
 We are extremely diffident, in closing this lengthy dis- 
 cussion of Mexico as an attractive country for the tourist, 
 at suggesting that the intending visitor refrain, if possible, 
 from joining a large "personally-conducted party." It 
 is not alone the writer's observation, but it is practically 
 that of all who have discussed the subject, that these 
 rarely bring the satisfaction which comes to the individual 
 or the small party of intimate friends. It is certain that 
 the Mexicans have derived a great deal of amusement 
 from the large ''parties" of tourists who behave them- 
 selves as if Mexico, country and people aHke, were a 
 "show," to see which they had paid the full price of 
 admission and had, therefore, secured the right by pur- 
 chase to comment and criticise and at their own pleasure. 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN 1 53 
 
 In normal conditions of peace and order, the Mexicans 
 give a warm welcome to visitors of every kind; but they 
 are sensitive ; and this writer has observed that ''parties " 
 of tourists are too prone to ignore that sensitiveness. 
 
 We do not believe that the true sportsman, for whom 
 we wish to write just a Uttle, will admit that he includes 
 the bull-fight in his category of sports; and yet it is 
 probably true that every man visitor to Mexico, as well 
 as an astonishing number of women tourists, will go to 
 see this show. In every town of size, there is a plaza de 
 tor OS, "bull-ring"; and in the capital there were three, 
 only a few years since. 
 
 President Diaz and his wife both condemned this 
 brutal amusement, and would never attend a fight. 
 But, powerful as Diaz was in almost every way, he 
 could not make the Mexicans give up the bull-fight. 
 Indeed, the Mexicans are even more cruel and blood- 
 thirsty in this respect than are the Spaniards; for they 
 never seem satisfied unless several horses have been 
 killed, and if a toreador has been injured the audience 
 evinces an appreciation which waxes into enthusiasm 
 should a bull-fighter be killed. However, it is only fair 
 to say that these extreme cases are carefully guarded 
 against. In a few words, a bull-fight is "sport" that 
 should be beneath the contempt of humanitarians, even 
 if the Mexican do like it and the small boys of that 
 country play at it as EngHsh lads play cricket and Ameri- 
 can yoimgsters take to baseball. Personally, we put 
 cock-fighting, Hkewise astonishingly popular with cer- 
 tain classes in Mexico, in the same category with bull- 
 fighting. 
 
 But of legitimate sport there is an abundance to be 
 had all over Mexico; and it is doubtless true that it will 
 not be long before "sportsmen from all parts of the world 
 
154 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 will regard an annual visit to Mexico of as much im- 
 portance as bear-hunting in the Rockies, wild-game 
 shooting in Africa, or tiger-shooting in India." Since 
 every sport, in the sense of going out to kill something, 
 has become specialised, it is well to enumerate three 
 phases: bird-shooting, fish-catching with rod and Hne, 
 and big-game hunting. 
 
 With the possible exception of some almost inaccessible 
 regions of the Dominion of Canada, there is no section 
 of North America where so many wild-fowl congregate 
 as in Mexico's inland waters, during the winter. To 
 enumerate all of them would be a task for the ornithol- 
 ogist. On Lake Chapala, State of Jalisco, hundreds of 
 thousands of ducks are shot (and snared) every year 
 without, as yet, any noticeable diminution of their 
 numbers or disturbing their confidence. Then there 
 are here, or in other places, geese, swan, pelican, snipe, 
 curlew by the milHons. 
 
 Of dry-land game-birds, there are any number of 
 kinds and any quantity. The ''Bob- White," or Ameri- 
 can quail, the blue Mexican quail, the valley quail of 
 California, the Massena partridge, the prairie-hen, 
 doves, wild pigeons, wild turkey, snipe, plover, and 
 many others are also abimdant. Near the capital, along 
 the shore of Lake Xochimilco, the President of the 
 Republic had a game preserve; there was some of the 
 finest snipe-shooting in the world to be had here. If 
 this preserve is not already a thing of the past, it must 
 soon become such if the plan for reclamation is carried 
 out. 
 
 We have not space to discuss exhaustively the oppor- 
 tunities which Mexico offers to fishermen; they are too 
 numerous for that. We shall, in imagination, return 
 to Tampico and consider the tarpon-fishing there. In 
 
TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I55 
 
 spite of the fact that a large sum of money has been 
 spent in advertising Florida's claims, the best tarpon- 
 fishing in the world is to be had at the mouth of the 
 Panuco River, Tampico. It is a most exhilarating and 
 exciting sport, which would be called terrifically hard 
 work were it not sport, and the one thing to regret about 
 it is that the meat of the tarpon is flavourless and rarely 
 eaten. Tarpon have been caught at Tampico measur- 
 ing over seven feet in length and weighing more than 
 two hundred pounds. To take such a fish with a rod 
 is something that calls for muscle and skill in the fisher- 
 man, and it is not surprising that the sportsman is 
 usually satisfied with landing one in a day. The sport 
 is not without an element of danger, for unless properly 
 gaffed, the tarpon revives and plays the mischief with 
 the canoe and its crew, and its jaws can inflict a nasty 
 wound. There are, besides the tarpon, a number of 
 other, smaller sea-fish which afford a measure of sport. 
 For those who care to kill sharks, there are plenty of 
 places where this may be done. The outer waters of 
 Manzanillo Bay, on the west coast, is but one of these. 
 
 The physical conformation of Mexico naturally for- 
 bids of much sport in brook and river fishing; but some 
 of the lakes have some fish that give a measure of sport. 
 The government has tried to stock Lake Chapala, and 
 other fresh- water lakes and streams with trout, bass, 
 perch, and other game fish. There will probably be 
 some sport for the fly-fisherman; but the effort of the 
 government is badly hampered by the Indians who, in 
 spite of game-laws and fish-wardens, will persist in using 
 nets, so that the fish have a poor chance to breed. 
 
 Mexico offers the *' big-game" sportsman plenty of 
 opportunities to kill something. All through the western 
 section of the country, as far south as Tepic, from the 
 
156 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 American frontier, there are grizzly, cinnamon, and 
 brown bears, and all over the Republic there are moun- 
 tain Hons, cougar, and the accounts given by many who 
 have had encounters with this animal should satisfy 
 the demands of the most exacting sportsman. He will 
 find that the strength, cunning, and endurance of the 
 cougar will cut out plenty of work for him; while the 
 personal danger adds zest to sport. There are, also, 
 plenty of deer, antelope, peccary, coyotes, badgers, and 
 smaller animals. Some sportsmen have tried to popu- 
 larise coursing, and with a measure of success. In fact, 
 the big-game hunter is likely to complain of embarras 
 des richessesi 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 
 
 ALTHOUGH the geology of Mexico has not even 
 yet been thoroughly studied, it is remarkable 
 how liberal Nature seems to have been in distributing 
 rocks that bear precious metals, such as silver, silver 
 glance, copper, and gold, as well as the useful quick- 
 silver, and the yet more useful but more prosaic iron. 
 Coal, too, both anthracite and bituminous, exist in 
 abundance, but these deposits have not yet been satis- 
 factorily developed. This fact, however, is owing to 
 the insuihcient railway facilities for getting the coal to 
 the consumers, industrial and domestic. This defect 
 will so soon be overcome, that we may properly say 
 Mexico is adequately supplied with mineral fuel for 
 all her manufactories, as well as for railways and house 
 heating. 
 
 Mexico, no doubt, well deserved the appellation, "the 
 treasure house of the world," which Humboldt gave her; 
 but the treasure, until a comparatively recent date, was 
 considered to be almost entirely in the silver mines. 
 This statement is made by Mr. Percy F. Martin, 
 F.R.G.S.* ''What we do know, more or less accurately, 
 is that, while an abundance of gold, silver, and copper 
 was certainly mined in a primitive manner by the ancient 
 Toltecs and their successors the Aztecs, it was only in 
 the year 1522 that a definite discovery of silver was 
 made in Mexico." 
 
 * "Mexico of the Twentieth Century," Vol. II, p. 276. 
 
158 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 This is surprising and requires some further explana- 
 tion. The evidence is incontestable that the natives of 
 Mexico, at the time of the Spaniards' invasion and con- 
 quest, had enormous quantities of precious metals, 
 whether their methods of extracting and refining were 
 crude or not. At first, the Mexicans were almost lavish 
 in giving these treasures to the strangers ; and that very 
 generosity excited the cupidity of the Spaniards, which 
 soon disgusted the Aztecs. The latter, when they dis- 
 covered what it was that the former sought, gold, gold, 
 gold, hid their accumulations as well as they could and 
 concealed the sources of supply. So effective was that 
 concealment that to this day the mines from which the 
 Aztecs obtained their wealth of the precious metals 
 have never been re-discovered. 
 
 To say that the year 1522 was the date when a definite 
 discovery of silver was made in Mexico, and, by impu- 
 tation, the first discovery, is anything but accurate. 
 The enormous treasures which Montezuma gave Cortes, 
 or that were seized by the Spaniards, the idols, images, 
 ornaments of gold and silver found in various parts of 
 the Repubhc, some of which have been already alluded 
 to in these pages, seem to show conclusively that gold 
 and silver had been definitely discovered, hundreds, per- 
 haps thousands of years before a Spaniard at a place 
 called Taxco, in the State of Guerrero, made that dis- 
 covery in 1522, and ''sent a sample of his treasure to 
 the Spanish King, with many pious and loyal good 
 wishes." 
 
 We know, of course, that notwithstanding the im- 
 perfect methods of mining and the wasteful processes 
 of reduction and refining, which were followed from the 
 early part of the sixteenth century until well into the 
 nineteenth, and the absolute impossibihty of keeping 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO I59 
 
 the deep levels of the mines freed from water, the output 
 of silver has been enormous ever since prehistoric times. 
 The richest of these deposits of the precious metals are 
 in the Sierra Madre Occidental, extending from Sonora 
 in the extreme northwest, right away down to Oaxaca, 
 say something Hke sixteen hundred miles in distance, 
 where the mountains are "filled with gold and silver/' 
 Even so, it is a conservative statement that scarcely 
 more than one-tenth of the mining resources of Mexico 
 is known. 
 
 The most famous group of mines, historically, is that 
 in the districts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Catone 
 in the States of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and San Luis 
 Potosi respectively. These districts, covering an area 
 of some thirteen thousand square miles, are practically 
 within the tropics, for the northern boundary is only 
 24° 30' N. of the equator. The Veta Madre lode of 
 Guanajuato alone produced $252,000,000 between 1556 
 and 1803. 
 
 When Humboldt visited Mexico, just at the opening 
 of the nineteenth century, he was told of two famous 
 mines in Guanajuato, "Conde de Valenciana" and 
 "Marques de Rayas." These two alone were producing 
 nearly five milHon ounces of silver annually. Bearing 
 in mind the ridiculously primitive, wasteful methods 
 even then followed in extracting the ore and in refining 
 the silver, it is wonderful that something over one hun- 
 dred ounces to the ton (2240 lbs.) were obtained. These 
 remarkable mines were subsequently so badly flooded 
 that, apparently, no serious attempt was made to work 
 them. Their names do not appear, and the famous 
 present day mines of the district are quite different 
 pftoperties, although probably some of them draw from 
 the same lode. 
 
l6o THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Apropos of this reflection upon the former methods 
 followed in extracting precious metals, it is interesting 
 to know, what probably was unknown to prospectors, 
 seeking anxiously for the chance to "make their million," 
 that some of the streets of Guadalajara, in the district 
 famous for its archaeological treasures and antiquities 
 of gold, are actually paved with gold. "A few years 
 ago, when the asphalt company repaved the city streets, 
 the asphaltum was mixed with tailings from the old 
 Spanish and Mexican reduction works in the Etztlan 
 district of JaHsco. After the paving had been done, 
 the company's manager, out of curiosity, had a number 
 of assays made of the old tailings. To his surprise, 
 these assays revealed the fact that the tailings contained 
 about fifteen dollars worth of gold and silver in each 
 ton. About four hundred tons of tailings were used in 
 paving, so the net amoimt of gold and silver laid in the 
 streets represented over $6000." * 
 
 If the State of Aguas Cahentes, which means, literally, 
 "hot waters" and is a most apposite name, because of 
 the many thermal springs, is one of the smallest political 
 divisions, it is of some importance in the industrial 
 wealth of Mexico. There are woollen mills and one of 
 the largest smelting-plants in the world, reducing silver 
 and copper. In the town of Aguas Calientes, the Mexican 
 Central Railway has its shops, wherein over two thou- 
 sand workmen are employed. The foreign population of 
 the state is exceptionally large and harmonious in its 
 intercourse among the foreign members as well as with 
 the Mexicans. The district is an important trade- 
 centre. Of the "drawnwork," once such an important 
 local industry, we have already written. 
 
 Campeche, although physically fair to look upon, is a 
 
 * Carson, op. ciL 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO l6l 
 
 deadly place for the white man, just because of its cool 
 and shady forests, its luxuriant savannahs, verdant 
 lagoons, and beautiful lakes; for therein lurk the malaria, 
 the poisonous vapours, and the venomous reptiles. Its 
 woods are valuable, and so is its salt. Scientific effort 
 will, doubtless, overcome the dangers, and such agricul- 
 tural pursuits as the cultivation of rice, sugar-cane, 
 cotton, and tobacco, for all of which the soil is well 
 adapted, will prove profitable. There are, too, promis- 
 ing mineral deposits that may be exploited, when sani- 
 tary conditions permit of intelligent supervision. 
 
 The State of Chiapas is a highly favoured section. 
 Most of the district is within the tropics, yet its physical 
 structure is such that a great variety in climate exists, 
 so that recuperation from the effect of torrid heat may 
 easily be secured. The soil is fertile and the agricultural 
 possibilities of the state are great. As yet, however, 
 capital has not sought investment in great amount. 
 The petroleum industry and copper mining have at- 
 tracted some foreign investors, with satisfactory results. 
 Chiapas' archaeological treasures have been barely 
 hinted at on a previous page. 
 
 The great State of Chihuahua, a broad, undulating 
 tableland, in most parts thousands of feet above sea- 
 level, is not especially attractive to the stranger seeking 
 beautiful scenery. While perhaps agriculture has not 
 markedly decreased, yet mining has so greatly devel- 
 oped as to take precedence, until the ratio of mining 
 values to those of farming is as four to one. The rail- 
 way development in this state is already considerable 
 and constantly increasing. 
 
 Coahuila, one of the largest states and topographically 
 the most eccentric in shape, has been developed as a 
 source of mineral wealth within a very short time. 
 
l62 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 It borders the United States of America, and its immense 
 deposits of silver-bearing ores, its coalfields, as well as 
 its copper, iron, and gold, have come to be established 
 fact. InteUigence in developing these properties and 
 systematic method in working, have resulted in an out- 
 put of some three million dollars annually, and demon- 
 strated that more can be done. But this immense state 
 has other sources of wealth in the great, fertile plains 
 that offer opportunities for stock-raising. Cattle, horses, 
 and mules are reared here in great numbers and fetch 
 good prices. The growth of cotton, too, has so greatly 
 expanded in recent years, that the importation of the 
 raw material has noticeably decreased. 
 
 CoHma, next to the very smallest of the United States 
 of Mexico, has not yet ''found itself." It is out of the 
 way, and its mineral wealth, for it must almost surely 
 possess such, has not yet attracted the foreign capitaKst. 
 Colima holds forth allurements to the tourist because 
 of its grand scenery, unexcelled, and in few places 
 rivalled, in all the world. But the visitor must be 
 cautious, for the cHmate is somewhat treacherous. The 
 Colima coffee-bean is reckoned the best grown in 
 Mexico; but it is not very popular in the United States 
 of America. 
 
 Durango is attractive in many ways, because such a 
 variety of climate may be had for the asking, and the 
 scenery is superb. The fact that the state's first aesthetic 
 fame is due to its flowers indicates that agriculture 
 was its chief resource; but inasmuch as foreign capital, 
 American chiefly, has found remunerative investment 
 in mines, it cannot be long until here, too, the order 
 must be reversed and precedence given to mining. 
 When railway facilities are sufficiently provided, and 
 construction was going on rapidly until the existing 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 163 
 
 political troubles put a temporary stop to it, doubtless 
 the timber wealth of Durango will add greatly to her 
 export trade. Stock-raising must be given an important 
 place. 
 
 The wealth of the Federal District of Mexico lies 
 more in industrial Knes than in natural resources, and 
 these will be considered in the next chapter. Whatever 
 there is of natural resources may be mentioned in 
 connection with the State of Mexico, of which the 
 Federal District is a small part. 
 
 While mining is an important industry in the State 
 of Guanajuato, it is far from being the only asset of this 
 prosperous district. Its trade is estimated at nearly 
 one hundred million dollars in value, — of which one- 
 third is in minerals — sent to the capital or abroad. 
 The railway development is quite on a parallel with 
 that of the other parts of the Republic, and the people 
 are so enterprising that demands for extension are 
 constant. 
 
 To Guerrero must be assigned the unenviable dis- 
 tinction of being one of the least progressive states of 
 the Republic. The mountain structure is such as to 
 offer a serious obstacle to railway construction, and 
 there is, as yet, inadequate connection of this kind with 
 the railway systems of the interior. Some branch lines 
 have been built down into the northern sections of this 
 great state, but it will probably be a long time before 
 the intervening sierra is pierced to give connection with 
 the coast. The harbour of Acapulco is, naturally, the 
 finest in Mexico; but the volume of business done 
 through the Custom House there still shows such pitiful 
 figures as to indicate the backwardness of this state. 
 There are mineral deposits in Guerrero, and time will 
 ere long bring about their development. The opals of 
 
164 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Guerrero, especially those from the San Nicholas del Oro 
 and Huitzuco mines, are known the world over. '' There 
 are two classes of opals, the common and the fine, the 
 former having a milky^white colour, with a tendency to 
 yellow more or less marked, while the fine opal presents 
 many beautiful variations in colour, ranging from a 
 topaz-yellow to a pale-red, with vivid flashes of red and 
 green. At Huitzuco, where quicksilver is also worked, 
 the opal is found in traquite rock, and the quahty is of 
 dark blue-grey, almost a black, from which red and 
 green colourings flash with the varying Hght." * 
 
 All the world knows the great value of the mining 
 industry in the State of Hidalgo; yet farming is of but 
 Httle less importance. Cereals thrive and there are 
 besides plantations of coffee, sugar-cane, cotton, and 
 tobacco. The state has everywhere an air of prosperity 
 that is pleasing to the visitor and must be most gratify- 
 ing to the resident and investor. Hidalgo is only 8920 
 square miles in area, yet its wealth, in many lines, is 
 enormous and susceptible of even yet greater develop- 
 ment. The capital, Pachuca, has been famous as a 
 centre of the mining industry since prehistoric times. 
 It is a quaint and interesting old place, and in the eyes of 
 visitors from other lands, is conspicuous among Mexican 
 towns for the fact that there are houses with chimneys; 
 but inasmuch as the winter is very cold, these facilities 
 for getting artificial heat are recognised as being abso- 
 lutely necessary. 
 
 Jalisco, possessing lands that are exceptionally well 
 suited to the growing of almost everything in the vege- 
 table kingdom, is one of the leading states for the agri- 
 culturalist, and the local government lends commendable 
 (if it has to be added rather exceptional) assistance in 
 
 * Martin, op. cit. 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 165 
 
 promoting this industry. Cattle-raising is another 
 profitable occupation, the value of which already runs 
 up to something Hke seven or eight million dollars 
 annually. There are indications of petroleum which 
 seem to offer opportunity to the development that must 
 soon come. The Indians knew how to make one good 
 use of this natural oil: they mixed it with resin and 
 daubed it over their canoes to make them watertight. 
 They are alleged to have called the mixture chicle de 
 pato, a name not very intelligible, but which probably 
 meant something like ''duck-skin," as shedding water. 
 Many valuable minerals and others that are merely 
 useful, are found in this state: some of them are gold, 
 silver, copper, iron, lead, and cinnabar. Americans are 
 the principal promoters and the output of all the mines 
 is valued at about a million and a half dollars a year. 
 Ahualulco, Hostotipaquilla, Navidad, Tula (where there 
 are immense beds of iron ore) are district names well 
 known to investors whose interests lie in that particular 
 direction. 
 
 The claims of the State of Mexico (Federal capital, 
 Mexico City, State capital, Toluca) are mainly scenic 
 and climatic. Toluca is midway between las tierras 
 calientas and las tierras frias. It has the advantages 
 of both "hot" and "cold," and is remarkably free from 
 the drawbacks of both. This state is one of the most 
 prosperous in the RepubKc. The soil is wonderfully 
 fertile and it is cultivated in a thorough and skilful way 
 that recalls the incisiveness of the very best European 
 market-gardeners and small farmers. Outside of the 
 cities and towns, there is not a great deal to attract 
 the foreign capitalist or promoter. But municipal 
 improvements still present attractive opportunities. 
 
 Michoacan de Ocampo is one of the richest and most 
 
l66 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 beautiful states of Mexico. Within its borders Kes one- 
 sixth of Lake Chapala, and when the enthusiastic Mexi- 
 can calls his country ''The Switzerland of America," 
 it is safe to say he is thinking of Michoacan. The 
 remainder of Lake Chapala hes in Jalisco. Michoacan 
 is rich in fauna and flora. Its substantial wealth Hes 
 mainly in agricultural products and stock-raising. The 
 value of the total trade is probably thirty-five million 
 dollars annually: this includes the output of mines, 
 one of which, La Esperanza, is exceptionally rich in 
 sulphide ores. The mining districts of this state are 
 classed among the principal ones of Mexico. 
 
 Morelos is a great sugar-producing country, but 
 because of the necessity for irrigation, a condition which 
 does not exist in all the sugar districts, the cane must 
 be replanted every two years. Excellent oranges are 
 now grown here and the state seems to give promise of 
 great development as a fruit-growing centre. While 
 it would be incautious to say that Morelos has no 
 mineral wealth, it is true, we think, that no great develop- 
 ments in this line have been reported from the state. It is 
 a great sanitarium and Cuernavaca is a popular resort. 
 
 Nuevo Leon is given rank in importance with the State 
 of Mexico. This claim is based upon industrial and com- 
 mercial development, and these owe their incentive prin- 
 cipally to the effort of American enterprise. The 
 opportunities have not yet been exhausted and the 
 rapid progress that has been made in mining during 
 recent years gives promise of still further gain in wealth. 
 Iron and coal deposits have been described as "inexhaust- 
 ible," but the proper exploitation of these cannot be said 
 to have yet been begun. Much attention has been given 
 to silver and silver-bearing lead ores, although copper, 
 lead, sulphur, and marble are mined in quantities and 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 167 
 
 of satisfactory quality. No profitable gold deposits 
 have as yet been found. 
 
 To discuss the State of Oaxaca exhaustively, would 
 demand an entire volume much larger than this book. 
 As a factor in Mexico's wealth, Oaxaca's main features 
 are agriculture and petroleum, with stock-raising as a 
 third one to be reckoned with seriously. It is certainly 
 a most prosperous district, and capital from all parts 
 of the world has found profitable investment there. 
 The theory has been advanced that there are two great 
 streams of petroleum, one flowing down the west coast, 
 beneath the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the other 
 along the Atlantic coast, under the Sierra Madre Ori- 
 ental; both sending forth small jets here and there. 
 These two main streams come together at or just south 
 of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and certainly there are 
 abundant surface indications of petroleum in that region, 
 which give a colour of plausibility to the theory. The 
 capital city, Oaxaca, stands over five thousand feet 
 above the sea and, in spite of the fact that it is well 
 down towards the fifteenth parallel of north latitude, 
 there is always a mild, healthful temperature. In the 
 immediate neighbourhood, easily accessible by rail or 
 fairly good roads, are some of the best producing mines 
 of gold, silver, copper, or lead, the precious metals 
 being always associated with the baser ones. 
 
 Puebla is one of the best populated states of the 
 RepubKc: it is also one of the most productive. The 
 scenery is beautiful and the inhabitants are noted for 
 their contentment and forehandedness. The leading 
 industry is agriculture; cereals, sugar-cane, coffee, the 
 vanilla-bean, and fruits of many kinds are among the 
 chief products. There is a most pleasing air of well- 
 being to be noted as one travels through the district. 
 
l68 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Of late years remarkable progress has been made in the 
 cotton industry; fabrics, plain and figured, are turned 
 out in large quantities and of excellent quahty. There 
 are, too, mines of gold, silver, and copper, as well as 
 great quarries of marble. The quarrying and cutting 
 of onyx has now come to be an established industry, 
 although dealers in the United States of America, who 
 would be, probably, the largest customers, complain 
 that it is difficult to get the material delivered according 
 to sample. This, however, does not seem to worry the 
 miners very much, for they find themselves fully occu- 
 pied in supplying the domestic demand. The city of 
 Puebla, capital of the state, is a most interesting place, 
 both scenically and historically. 
 
 Queretaro is another of the well-populated states. 
 It is divided, naturally, into two sections, a northern 
 one that is very moimtainous, and a central-southern 
 one that is fairly level, with alternating plains and 
 valleys. The climate is, therefore, variable according 
 to the altitude, yet in no part is it specially trying. 
 The soil is fertile and hence agriculture is profitably 
 followed. The wheat grown here is considered the best 
 in the whole Republic. The tables of mineral produc- 
 tion show this region to be exceptionally well supplied, 
 the list including silver, galena, copper, iron, lead, 
 cinnabar, coal. Many valuable stones, such as opals 
 and garnets, are found in quantities. The mountainous 
 character of this state makes mining very difficult, and 
 that difficulty is aggravated by the insufficient railway 
 facilities; but this is being rapidly overcome. We 
 should not leave this interesting state without referring 
 again to the fact that it was here Maximilian made his 
 last fight, was captured and shot, a few miles from the 
 state capital, Queretaro City. 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO l6g 
 
 The state, to which the Spaniards gave the name of 
 San Luis Potosi, was famous for its output of silver long 
 before the Europeans arrived in America. The name 
 was chosen in honour of Saint Louis, and Potosi was 
 added because the mineral wealth recalled that of the 
 celebrated ''Potosi" district in Peru. The geographical 
 position of the state is favourable in every way, and it 
 is surrounded by distinguished neighbours. The number 
 of prosperous haciendas, landed estates, farms, or 
 ranches, indicate one of the most attractive sources of 
 wealth, because there are great possibilities for the 
 fruit-grower, the coffee-grower, the market-gardener, 
 and the stock-breeder. Mining, however, is still the 
 industry upon which the fame of this great state rests. 
 Since 1893, the development of this business along 
 modern Knes, making use of scientific methods and 
 machinery, has been remarkable. The railway facilities 
 are already ample and these are being yet further ex- 
 panded. With the connection to the Gulf of Mexico, 
 at Tampico, and with that to all other trimk-lines, the 
 state has the whole world at its doors. 
 
 The State of Sinaloa is exceptionally fortunate, 
 among the divisions of the RepubHc, in having one of 
 the few really good harbours that indent the coast. 
 From Mazatlan there are Hues of railway connecting 
 the port with the trunk-line systems of the interior. 
 It may be added that American capitaKsts are building 
 a coast line southward from the State of Sonora. When 
 this is open for traffic, and the many contemplated 
 feeders running up into the hills and moimtains are 
 constructed, the enormous resources of this great State 
 of Sinaloa will have railway connection with the United 
 States of America by a direct line. The development of 
 Mazatlan must follow, as a matter of course. It is yet 
 
170 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 impossible to give much precise information as to Sin- 
 aloa's wealth, because of lack of facilities for exploration 
 and development, but that wealth must be enormous. 
 We know that there are vast regions, susceptible of culti- 
 vation, that have scarcely been touched, and here there 
 must be wonderful possibilities for the farmer, lumber- 
 man, viticulturalist, and stockman; but the alien settler 
 should pay careful heed to the warnings which have been 
 given as to legal aspects of his position. As for the 
 mineral wealth of the district, what little is known and 
 what may be safely assumed by the mineralogist, justify 
 the assumption that this industry must be a source of 
 enormous revenue and it offers attractive opportunities 
 for investors. The State of Sinaloa will probably be- 
 come, in the near future, a most important factor when 
 the statistician discusses Mexico's wealth. 
 
 In the State of Sonora, the port of Guaymas has 
 hitherto ranked as an important shipping point; but 
 it is likely to be supplanted by Manzanillo and Acapulco 
 when trans-Pacific trade comes to be developed, because 
 it is so far up the Gulf of California. The coastwise 
 trade will probably be supplied by the north and south 
 railway to extend from the American frontier southward, 
 eventually to the southern boundary of Mexico. Yet 
 scenically Guaymas is a most attractive spot. Sonora 
 is, next to Chihuahua, the largest state in the Republic. 
 The development here, due mainly to American enter- 
 prise, both in railways and in industries, has been rapid 
 in this century. Much of the soil is useless for cultiva- 
 tion, but in the sections where it is fertile, cereals, 
 tobacco, cotton, sugar-cane, and fruits are profitable, 
 although most of these crops are dependent upon arti- 
 ficial irrigation, and this is somewhat difficult to obtain. 
 On January i , 19 1 2 , a local ordinance, forbidding foreigners 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 171 
 
 to own or work mining properties, ceased to be opera- 
 tive, and this fact has given a great stimulus to the 
 locating and developing of mines. It should be stated 
 that the revoked law was not passed with the intention 
 of debarring strangers from profitable investments, but 
 for the reason that the authorities felt themselves unable 
 to restrain the depredations of the Yaqui Indians, whose 
 indiscriminate assaults so frequently led to international 
 complications. The mineral wealth of the State is 
 enormous, including gold, silver, lead, copper, antimony, 
 cinnabar, iron, graphite, coal. Mr. Charles Pettinos, 
 an authority on the subject, states that Sonora graphite 
 is the best in the world, excelling that of Siberia or 
 Japan in quality, in the ease with which it is mined, and 
 the smoothness in working. The railway facilities have 
 been entirely inadequate and badly managed, but owing 
 to the pressure of competition, either real or threatened, 
 these conditions are being improved rapidly so that the 
 future of the state is very bright and the attractions 
 for investors are great. The reflection upon former 
 railway facilities is an adverse comment upon American 
 methods and perhaps had better not be enlarged upon 
 here. It will have been noticed by the general reader 
 how little Sonora and its people have had to do with 
 the recent political troubles in Mexico. 
 
 Very little has been done in the way of developing 
 the resources of the State of Tabasco. Although having 
 a considerable stretch of coast-line, there are no bays or 
 harbours, yet vessels may secure safe anchorage in the 
 river-mouths. At present, the wealth of the state is 
 almost wholly agricultural, the soil being exceptionally 
 fertile. '' The fauna and flora of Tabasco are practically 
 endless in variety, and every species of both, found in 
 every other part of the Republic as well as in most 
 
172 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 tropical countries, can be met with here." * It is con- 
 tended by some observers that mining will eventually 
 supplant agriculture as a source of wealth. So far as 
 is now well known, the miners are restricted to deposits 
 of coal and cinnabar, while there are some petroleum 
 fields. The exploitation of all these has not yet pro- 
 gressed sufficiently to permit of very precise statement. 
 Yet it is safe to say that Tabasco possesses possibiHties 
 as a producer of wealth. The climate is rather a 
 deterrent to the alien investor. 
 
 TamauHpas is, next to Yucatan which exceeds it in 
 size by a few thousand square miles only, the largest 
 of the states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, but it 
 is even now very sparsely populated. Some improve- 
 ment in this respect has taken place during the past five 
 years. Hitherto the few people have been mostly 
 settled in or near the port of Tampico and the capital, 
 Victoria City. It is an attractive state, naturally, for 
 it has good soil, abundant timber, navigable rivers, and 
 minerals. The scenery is hardly surpassed by that of 
 any other part of the Republic. The principal products 
 are cereals, beans, sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, cotton, 
 and maguey, all of which might be raised in greatly 
 increased quantities. The fruit-grower can hardly find 
 a more desirable place in which to locate. Stock- 
 raising is another industry which holds forth attractions. 
 There are, too, opportunities remaining for the promoter 
 of railways and waterways, the Mexican Government 
 being ready to grant concessions to bona fide enterprises 
 contemplating the construction of these needed means 
 of communication. We hardly look to a country so far 
 south, or rather so near the equator, as Mexico for 
 importance in the meat-packing trade, yet this industry 
 
 * Martin, op. cit. 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 173 
 
 is rapidly assuming considerable proportions in Tamau- 
 lipas, and it is susceptible of much expansion. Several 
 hundred thousand hogs are now butchered annually 
 and hams and bacon are sent abroad. The state is 
 immensely well-off in minerals, gold, silver, copper, as 
 well as salt, marble, asphalt, and others; and since large 
 sums of foreign capital have been invested within the 
 past five or six years, the development has been great 
 and the returns handsome. 
 
 Tlaxcala, *'the land of bread," is the smallest state 
 in the Republic, being only 1595 square miles in area, 
 yet it has a population of considerably over one hundred 
 to the square mile, and in this respect it is next to the 
 Federal District, which shows the maximum density, 
 more than a thousand to the square mile. The history 
 of the Tlaxcalteca Republic, which maintained its inde- 
 pendence of the Aztec rulers for a long time, would be 
 exceedingly interesting, were it possible to write it fully 
 and correctly. There has been no alteration in the area 
 or boimdaries during that history, but the capital has 
 been changed. The altitude is something like 6500 
 feet above sea-level. A part of the state is on the 
 eastern slopes of Popocatapetl, and this peak and its 
 companion, Iztaccihuatl, are visible from all parts of 
 the state. The climate is excellent, and all the condi- 
 tions are favourable for residence. Some minerals 
 have been foimd, gold, silver, lead, cinnabar, and a 
 little coal; but mining is of small importance. Agri- 
 culture is the chief resource, and the fertile valleys give 
 every requisite for it. Tlaxcala is especially noted for 
 the maguey plant, from the sap of which pulque is made. 
 Some manufactures, such as cotton-weaving and paper- 
 making (from the maguey fibre) have been prosecuted 
 very successfully, and the state is most prosperous, 
 
174 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 yet the field has been so well occupied that there is not 
 much opportunity left for the foreign capitaHst, save 
 in concessions for urban improvements and rapid transit 
 faciHties. 
 
 The State of Vera Cruz ranks second in the output of 
 sugar and molasses, Morelos being first and Puebla 
 third. Although this state has lost some of its former 
 prestige, because of development of other parts of the 
 Republic, rather than from shrinkage of its own re- 
 sources, it is still one of the most important districts. 
 Long and narrow in shape, it is much below a number of 
 other states in size, yet in population it is well to the 
 fore. Agriculture is followed successfully. There are 
 nearly one thousand plantations growing cereals, to- 
 bacco, coffee, cotton, timber, sugar-cane, fruit, and a 
 number given up to stock-raising; precedence being taken 
 by the last mentioned. The great Huatusco Potosina 
 is in Vera Cruz. This is "a great cattle-raising region, 
 consisting of a succession of rich valleys separated from 
 one another by verdure-covered terraces or hills, in- 
 creasing in height as they recede to the westward. 
 This slope, with its numerous smaller valleys, receives 
 the moisture of the breezes from the Gulf in the form of 
 rain during the summer months, and in dew during those 
 of autumn and winter, rendering them practically free 
 from frost, drought, or excessive heat. Stockmen 
 declare that this natural pasturage land is as fine as any 
 in the world, and pasturage may be depended on all the 
 year round, especially the South American and African 
 grasses. Para and Guinea, developing and flourishing 
 remarkably well here." If mining seems to be of little 
 importance in Vera Cruz, it is not because there are no 
 minerals, but because capital has found sufficiently 
 attractive opportunity for investment in other lines. 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 175 
 
 Gold, silver, lead, iron, cinnabar, copper, coal, petro- 
 leum, and asphalt are sufficiently plentiful to invite 
 exploitation, but the small number of mining claims 
 registered tells the story. There are, besides, marble, 
 opals, agates, lapis-lazuli, and amethysts to be found in 
 plenty. The many industries of the state have already 
 induced large investments of foreign capital, yet there 
 are many opportunities to do more. The large volume 
 of import and export trade at the port of Vera Cruz 
 contributes much to the prosperity of the state. 
 
 Because of the check which hemp cultivation in the 
 Philippine Islands has received, from various causes, 
 since the Spanish- American War, the wide plains of 
 the great peninsula of Yucatan, formerly reckoned to 
 be of little economic value, have sprung into world- 
 wide fame because of the production of the henequen 
 plant. The fibre is used in the manufacture of carpets, 
 rugs, twine, rope, and sacking. Yucatan, from being 
 a very poor state, has become one of the richest in the 
 Mexican Republic, because of this henequen industry. 
 Other agricultural resources of the district include 
 sugar-cane, tobacco, and chicle-gum. The last men- 
 tioned article finds an enormous market in the United 
 States of America, where it is used in the manufacture 
 of the abominable chewing-gums, the consumption of 
 which bids fair to hasten the arrival of that time, by 
 scientists foretold, when the North American repre- 
 sentatives of the Caucasian race shall be toothless and 
 without digestive organs! Merida, the capital of 
 Yucatan, is said to be one of the most agreeable resi- 
 dential cities in the Republic, notwithstanding its 
 geographical situation and its apparently uninviting 
 surroundings. This is largely due to the fact that, 
 owing to alien influences, it is a very up-to-date town 
 
176 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 and has a good climate all the year round. American 
 investors are the most numerous, but European capital 
 has sought and found remunerative employment; yet 
 the possibilities are by no means exhausted. Many 
 commercial and industrial opportunities are still waiting 
 exploitation. 
 
 The rather central situation of the State of Zacatecas 
 has contributed much to the prominence which this 
 district has achieved. The silver mines, although still 
 worked in a small way as compared with what they 
 were long ago, have given precedence to copper, now 
 the most important mineral. Cattle-raising is another 
 profitable and growing industry. The mines and the 
 stock ranches are the state's principal assets, for agri- 
 culture is carried on with difficulty, because of the un- 
 favourable physical conformation of the land. The 
 firm, yet progressive, character of the local government 
 gives exceptional assurance to foreign investors, and 
 must attract promoters of industrial enterprises, town 
 improvements, and the like. 
 
 Of Lower California, one of the three territories of 
 the Republic, the little that is known does not justify 
 sa3dng much of the district as a contributor to Mexico's 
 wealth. That which has been actually demonstrated 
 is very little: pearl-fisheries, in a small way; archil, a 
 kind of Spanish moss used by dyers to secure a rich 
 purple colour, and by chemists in the preparation of 
 litmus paper; henequen, and some hemp. The possi- 
 bilities in the matter of minerals are purely speculative; 
 yet there is ground for belief that the peninsula is well 
 supplied with gold, silver, copper, lead, coal, gypsum, 
 and many precious or valuable stones. Two causes 
 operate to deter investors: the first is the scarcity of 
 fresh water; and the second is the inadequate means of 
 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 177 
 
 communication. With these overcome, there is probably 
 a future for bleak, sterile, uninviting Lower California; 
 and both may be conquered. 
 
 Quintana-Roo is a territory recently created from a 
 part of Yucatan; its political and municipal organisation 
 dating from 1904 only. It is not even yet developed 
 sufficiently to admit of conjecture, and possibly that 
 development may mean the complete extermination of 
 the remaining Maya Indians, who have resisted all 
 efforts to civilise and control them. The Central Govern- 
 ment is offering attractive inducements to settlers who 
 shall work the timber, the agricultural lands, and the 
 other resources. Of the mines, there is nothing to say. 
 
 Tepic, the third territory, is quite important as an 
 agricultural district. The soil is rich; cereals, cotton, 
 tobacco, sugar-cane, coffee, beans, and rice yield large 
 returns. Coffee-growing is the most profitable. The 
 mineral wealth of the district has not been determined 
 fully, but gold, silver, and copper are being extracted 
 profitably at several places. With railway faciHties 
 supplied, and these are near at hand, this little territory 
 may soon expand sufficiently to merit promotion to the 
 dignity of statehood. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 INDUSTRIAL AND MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 IT means but little to say that the first railway 
 in Mexico, of length sufficient to entitle it to be 
 seriously considered, was finished in 1873, and that 
 there are now so-and-so many thousand miles in 
 active operation. It was a long time after that wonder- 
 ful fine from the sea, at Vera Cruz, via Orizaba to 
 the capital was opened for traffic before there came a 
 re-commencement of activity in railway building. Had 
 it not been for the wisdom, progressiveness, and liberality 
 of the Mexican statesmen, in making this work attract- 
 ive to foreign capitalists, very few of those thousands 
 of miles of railways would have been added. For 
 while Mexico has always been enormously rich in 
 potential wealth, it requires large sums of available 
 cash to convert wealth buried in the richest mines into 
 circulating medium of mint value. Mexicans were 
 without the ready cash; but fortunately for them the 
 accumulations in American coffers were drawn out by 
 attractive promises faithfully kept. 
 
 There is now scarcely a state of Mexici that has not 
 at least a suggestion of railway facilities and some of 
 them are quite well supplied. As yet, however, there 
 are but two great trunk-Hnes north and south in the 
 Republic, the Mexican Central, from the Rio Grande 
 River at El Paso (Texas) — Ciudad Juarez (Chihuahua) 
 to Mexico City. South of the capital, lines have been 
 pushed onward for some distance; but in this central 
 
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 179 
 
 system there is still a gap between the northern railways 
 and those in the southern states. Not that it is impossi- 
 ble to go by rail from the capital to the Isthmus of 
 Tehuantepec, but to do this necessitates a very round- 
 about journey and, for the ordinary traveller, sundry 
 changes. 
 
 The system from the American frontier down through 
 the Gulf States, already connected with the central 
 system by tranverse lines across Coahuila, is being 
 steadily pushed forward, and by the time this book is 
 printed this eastern Hne will be an accomplished fact. 
 Another trunk-line, north and south, is projected down 
 through the Pacific states. These three systems will 
 all eventually be carried down to the Isthmus of Tehuan- 
 tepec and there converge. This is something which is 
 already brought down from the realm of the visionary 
 and improbable into the list of those things which, 
 humanly speaking, shall be in due course of time. 
 
 The great Pan-American Railway is to be accom- 
 plished before many years. This means that there is to 
 be a line (possibly several) in Mexico down to the 
 borders of Guatemala. Thence this trunk-line will be 
 built through Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa 
 Rica, Panama, and on in South America, until con- 
 nection is made with lines already in operation there, 
 or to be constructed soon. 
 
 It will not be long until one can take a train at any of 
 the large cities of the United States or Canada, for Chili, 
 Peru, Argentina, Brazil, or any important place in South 
 America, in fact. Mexico has taken the lead in granting 
 concessions for railways, and has relieved the builders 
 from all onerous burden of taxation. A few words may 
 very well be inserted here about the terms the Govern- 
 ment offered the Mexican Central Railway Company, 
 
l8o THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Limited. They included $15,200 (gold) per mile sub- 
 sidy; right to import all construction, operating, and 
 repair material free of duty for fifteen years from Feb- 
 ruary 25, 1880; exemption from taxation for fifty years 
 from completion of line, and sundry other minor priv- 
 ileges. 
 
 The same favours, excepting the subsidy, have been 
 granted other companies, with the result that a score 
 of years have brought development in railways far 
 beyond the wildest dream of enthusiasts a few years 
 ago. The physical difhculties in the way of trans- 
 continental railway construction are great; yet there 
 is not a cross-section of the country that engineers 
 would now admit to be impossible, provided only that 
 the through trafhc, or the local patronage, holds forth 
 promise of a reasonable return on the investment. 
 Several lines could be cited to support this statement, 
 but we mention only one, the Kansas City, Mexico 
 and Orient, which starts from the frontier at Presidio 
 del Norte, pierces the Sierra Madre Occidental, and 
 reaches the Gulf of California at Port Stilwell. 
 
 When we think of the weeks that it took in the six- 
 teenth century for the Spaniards to carry merchandise 
 from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, on the backs of peons, or 
 in ox-carts, which were the only available vehicle, and 
 now contemplate the day or two that will be required 
 when the railway to connect these ports, rapidly being 
 constructed, is completed, the haste of this world's 
 people becomes singularly marked. 
 
 It must not be assumed that these few paragraphs 
 are intended to give a S3mopsis of the Mexican railways. 
 Full information, up to recent dates, may be had in a 
 number of books which deal with the subject fairly 
 exhaustively. Mr. Percy F. Martin's, frequently alluded 
 
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT l8l 
 
 to, is a good one up to its date, 1907. Our purpose is 
 merely to give a suggestion of the development which 
 has taken place in Mexico in this particular line. 
 
 In 1906 the Mexican Government purchased a ma- 
 jority of the shares of the Mexican Railway, thus 
 acquiring control of the system. It had previously 
 owned the Mexican National, the Vera Cruz and 
 Pacific, and a controlling interest in the Tehuantepec 
 National. It therefore practically controls all the 
 railways in the Republic. But, as has already been 
 stated, and now to quote Mr. Jose Y. Limantour, Min- 
 ister of Finance in President Diaz's Cabinet in 1903: 
 "The Government by acquiring a controlling share in 
 the directorates of the various railway corporations 
 would be able to constitute a system which, by reason of 
 its great extent and the importance of the regions 
 traversed, would enable it to exercise over the railway 
 corporations an influence which would be equally bene- 
 ficial to all, obviating ruinous competition and directing 
 traffic into its narrow and cheapest channel, securing for 
 the population the benefit of a considerable share of 
 the economies realised, and protecting in an equitable 
 manner the capital invested in railways and in all 
 other forms of public wealth.'' 
 
 As a rule, to which the writer knows no exception 
 save certain special or private trains, there are three 
 classes of carriages in all Mexican railway trains. For 
 all, the fares are comparatively cheap, for the third 
 class rather less than one cent a mile on the average. 
 The accommodations are good, all things considered. 
 The third-class carriages are always overcrowded, and 
 the hard wooden benches are not inviting. The patrons 
 of this class, Indians as a rule, are not always the most 
 desirable of travelHng companions; they smoke in- 
 
l82 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 cessantly — but so do nearly all Mexicans of both 
 sexes — only the Indians' cigarettes are rolled in any 
 kind of old paper or corn-husk, of the worst of tobacco. 
 The most serious objection, however, is the constant 
 drinking of pulque or mescal, either from bottles carried 
 along in their luggage, or bought at the stations. 
 Mexicans of all classes are permitted to take with them 
 into the train an enormous amount of hand luggage, 
 which they pile up on the seats, and late-comers often 
 have to call in the assistance of a station-master or 
 train conductor before they can get a place, even 
 though there may be plenty not occupied by passengers. 
 
 On trains running a long distance, or overnight, the 
 sleeping-car fare, comparable with the. same in the 
 United States, is to be added to the ordinary first-class 
 ticket fare. Some lines have reclining-chair cars for 
 first-class passengers, free of charge, on others a small 
 fee is demanded for this luxury. Travellers should 
 remember that at the Mexican railway station dining- 
 rooms no discrimination is made between the patrons 
 of the several ''classes." It is a case of ''first come, 
 first served." It is well, therefore, to have one's own 
 little company and get in early, or, if alone, to wait 
 until those in the first rush have found their seats, and 
 then pick one's neighbours. 
 
 To one who first visited Mexico forty odd years ago, 
 the transformation in the physical appearance of the 
 cities, and in the ways of the citizens, is really more 
 astonishing than is the fact that the traveller now rushes 
 from town to town in a railway carriage, instead of 
 journeying along rough, muddy, or dusty roads in a 
 diligencia, the great, lumbering, old-fashioned stage- 
 coach. These vehicles are still met with occasionally 
 when one is going to some mining town or hill resort 
 
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 183 
 
 not accessible by railway. They are truly t3^ical of 
 old-time, conservative Mexico, and are used simply 
 because the ancestors of the present generation em- 
 ployed them. They are, just themselves, a heavy 
 load for the four or six mules (rarely horses) , and when 
 loaded with passengers, luggage, and some merchandise, 
 it is impossible to make good time along the wretched 
 roads where they are used. A Hght, American coach, 
 of the type often called a *' mud-wagon," would be 
 much better suited to the needs of the case, but such 
 an innovation would be rejected because no es costum- 
 hre, ''it is not the custom." The old-fashioned, high, 
 swinging coach is very picturesque, and may be well- 
 suited to smooth roads in a fairly level country, but its 
 day in Mexico is speedily passing. 
 
 In former times buildings of more than two storeys 
 in height were not seen. It was not then necessary to 
 differentiate residences and business houses, because 
 the merchant or tradesman had his residence in the 
 upper storey, over his office, store, or shop. Ware- 
 houses or storehouses, if they were detached buildings,* 
 conformed to the rule for two-storeyed structures. The 
 cathedral or the churches towered above all the other 
 buildings, but they were the only buildings higher than 
 two storeys. 
 
 There were, too, no suburbs, and the diligence, or 
 the more frequent traveller on horseback, passed 
 abruptly from the open coimtry and the wretched 
 coimtry road to the even more wretched city streets, 
 which were either as Nature made them or paved with 
 round cobblestones that made driving a joint-racking 
 experience. The streets were flanked by houses closely 
 built together on either side. The absence of suburbs 
 was not an accidental or unnatural condition. If at- 
 
184 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 tacks by Indians were not seriously feared, there was 
 danger of a visit from some band of marauders, so that 
 it was wise to be close to one's neighbours for protection 
 and concerted action. Near the centre of the town, or 
 in the quarters favoured by the great landowners, who 
 approximated the nobility of other lands, and the inde- 
 pendently wealthy, the houses were large in area and 
 grand in their appointments. They were often sur- 
 rounded by large and beautiful gardens, enclosed by 
 high walls topped with broken glass or something 
 equivalent, to make scaling a difhcult and dangerous 
 undertaking. 
 
 In the matter of suburbs, a marked change has taken 
 place all over Mexico as a consequence of the feeling 
 of security which improved pohce protection has brought. 
 Especially around the capital is this noticeable. There 
 are indications of true suburban life in the small resi- 
 dential towns clustered about Mexico City, as well as 
 other large towns, which are quickly reached by tram- 
 lines or steam railways; while the true city suburbs 
 are spread out as they never were in earlier days. But 
 it must be admitted that these modern suburbs rarely 
 add to the attractiveness of the approach to the city. 
 
 Then, when the traveller reaches the heart of the 
 city, business buildings of many storeys tower into the 
 air. These are for the exclusive use of merchants in 
 the ground floors and for ofhces in the upper ones that 
 are reached by elevators, or ''lifts" according to whether 
 the American or English terminology is affected, although 
 the Spanish ascensor more closely approximates the 
 French word. As for the streets, the capital now 
 presents an appearance comparable with the best any- 
 where in the world; while even the provincial cities 
 and smaller towns are being paved with concrete or 
 
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 185 
 
 asphalt. Tram-lines traverse the cities in all directions. 
 They are generally electric, although a few mule-power 
 cars are still to be seen, even in the capital. 
 
 Another thing which convinces the traveller, who 
 now returns to Mexico after an absence of ten or twenty 
 years, that the land and the people have waked up 
 from their former lethargy, is the general appearance of 
 the cities, most of the larger towns, and some of the 
 smaller places. Formerly the diligencia deposited its 
 load at an inn facing or near to the Plaza, or the prin- 
 cipal one if the city was large enough to be divided into 
 sections, each having its own Plaza. 
 
 Then, if occasion arose to go to some other part, 
 sufficiently distant to necessitate driving, the vehicle 
 that passed for a hackney cab was another relic of 
 antiquity. One cannot say overmuch in praise of the 
 coches, cabs, of the present day, for they, too, are hardly 
 consistent with up-to-date Mexico. In the capital, 
 the taxi-cab is coming to be seen; but usually the 
 public carriages are the first-class and second-class mule 
 coches, distinguished by blue or red flags, and by a 
 variation of fare. 
 V As a rule, however, the stranger is spared the necessity 
 of taking a cab, because the electric tram-car service 
 is adequate almost everywhere. In a very few towns 
 there are still to be seen little old-fashioned "horse- 
 trams" (mules, of course!), and such have not absolutely 
 disappeared from the streets of Mexico City itself. 
 Quite frequently, too, the railway station, for physical 
 or economic reasons that are usually sufficient, is so 
 far from the Plaza, that these mule-trams must be 
 taken to get into town. 
 
 Although some progressive, but inexperienced, Mexi- 
 cans undertook to build and operate a tram-car service 
 
l86 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 in 1856, it was not a success, financially or in any other 
 way. The year 1890 may really be taken as the begin- 
 ning of this improvement in urban transportation facil- 
 ities. Since then, a very large sum of foreign capital 
 has found investment in this industry, and inasmuch as 
 the management is in the control of investors who are 
 admirably supported by the municipal governments 
 wherever they may be, the investment is yielding 
 respectable returns. 
 
 The cars are, as a rule, of the combination order, a 
 small compartment at one end for ''second-class'^ 
 passengers, very familiar in the United States, although 
 there that compartment is for smokers and, sometimes, 
 baggage; and not at all uncommon in Europe. Stran- 
 gers, ladies especially, will wish that there was a *'no 
 smoking" order enforced in the body of the car; but 
 again we should be met with the statement wo es cos- 
 tumbre. The seats are generally covered with finely 
 woven rattan or some similar material. 
 
 One type of street-car will certainly attract the at- 
 tention of the visitor to the capital (and to the other 
 cities where it is used). It is the ''funeral" car^and its 
 ''trailers" carrying the mourners to the cemetery; for 
 hearses drawn by horses and carriages in long procession 
 passing at a snail's pace through the streets are rarely 
 seen. The first mentioned is a short, open platform car 
 with a roof supported by staunchions. It is just long 
 enough to carry the cofhn, resting on low stands and 
 covered with the pall, with space at either end for the 
 motorman. When in service, the car is suitably 
 draped, and as it passes through the streets, all pedes- 
 trians (and others, too) uncover respectfully — devout 
 people crossing themselves and murmuring a prayer for 
 the repose of the departed one's soul. This tram-car 
 
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 187 
 
 funeral cortege does not receive the right of way: there- 
 fore much time is saved. In this matter, Mexico 
 furnishes an example which other countries might well 
 follow. There was a time, not very long ago, when 
 professional mourners were conspicuous in funeral 
 processions; but they are no longer seen. The motor- 
 man and other railway attendants wear an appropriate 
 mourning uniform. 
 
 The great improvement which has taken place in the 
 water supply for Mexican cities, and which is still pro- 
 gressing, owes everything nearly to the investments of 
 foreign capitalists; and it is pleasing to know that these 
 investments are yielding satisfactory returns. Sufficient 
 has been said in other chapters to indicate that Mexico's 
 advance in industries, agriculture, and commerce is 
 quite comparable with that in other directions. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 
 
 IT must be evident to all who have read what has 
 been said already of the orography of Mexico, and 
 who will then look at a map, that the mountains of the 
 RepubHc offer seductive possibihties for those who like 
 to chmb. But because some of the highest peaks do 
 not come into full view until after the visitor has reached 
 the great central plateau, they seem to be not so high as 
 they really are, for already an altitude of several thou- 
 sand feet above sea-level has been attained. Mexico 
 City itself is about 7400 feet above the sea. 
 
 The following hst gives the names and locations of 
 several mountains that are over 10,000 feet high. The 
 Hst may not be exhaustive and the figures may not 
 be precise, while the latter may differ from the estimates 
 or statements of others. Yet the list is sufficiently 
 complete and the altitudes accurate enough to satisfy 
 our present purpose. 
 
 Name 
 Pico de Quinceo 
 Zempoaltepec or Zemoaltepec 
 Tancitaro 
 Zapotlan 
 
 Colima, the active volcano 
 Malinche 
 Cofre de Perote 
 
 Ajusco Mexico or Federal District 13,628 
 
 Colima or Nevade de Colima Colima and Jalisco 14,363 
 
 Toluca on Xinantecatl Mexico iS,iS6 
 
 Ixtaccihuatl, "White Woman" Mexico and Puebla 16,705 
 
 Popocatapetl," Smoking Momitain " Mexico 17,782 
 
 Orizaba Vera Cruz and Puebla 18,314 
 
 
 Height in Feet 
 
 Location 
 
 Above Sea-Level 
 
 Michoacan 
 
 10,905 
 
 Oaxaca 
 
 11,141 
 
 Michoacan 
 
 12,467 
 
 Jalisco 
 
 12,743 
 
 Jalisco 
 
 12,750 
 
 Puebla 
 
 13,000 
 
 Vera Cruz 
 
 13,415 
 
MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 189 
 
 The account which Prescott gives of the ascent of 
 Mount Popocatapetl by Diego Ordaz, one of Cortes' 
 captains, accompanied by nine other Spaniards and 
 several Tlascalans, is still about as interesting as any 
 we have, and it has probably been the incentive to 
 mountain cHmbing in Mexico for the pleasure of con- 
 quering the mighty peaks. Ordaz's success shook, if 
 it did not entirely dispel, the superstition of the Indians 
 and Aztecs that the mountain was the abode of 
 mighty spirits who would not tolerate the presence of 
 human beings, and would surely cause the immediate 
 death of all who dared to trespass upon their sacred 
 preserves. 
 
 The ascent of "Popo," for the breath-saving economist 
 of time does not use the polysyllabic, rather awkward 
 full name, is a difficult and tiring expedition. It is, 
 too, by no means devoid of that element of danger 
 which adds a desired spice to Alpine work. A part of 
 the journey is now accomplished with whatever of speed 
 and comfort a Mexican railway train affords. The 
 tourist can entrain at the capital in the afternoon and 
 reach the foot of the mountain (the expression being 
 used relatively, for the station is about 9000 feet 
 above tide-water) before night falls. 
 
 Here a comfortable hotel will be found, and the 
 necessary arrangements may be made for the absolutely 
 indispensable guides, required almost as much for the 
 physical and personal assistance they render their 
 patron as in showing him the safe way; and strangers 
 are advised to take the guides assigned to them and 
 not to rely on their own ability to choose. The actual 
 ascent, to the summit and back to the hotel, is made in 
 two days. The first is passed in going along a fair road, 
 through pine forests and across ranches, with charming 
 
190 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 scenery and magnificent views of '' the Smoking Moun- 
 tain" and his wife, "the White Woman." 
 
 A night is passed at the ranch-house of Tlamacas, the 
 tourist's blankets being spread on straw mats and him- 
 self getting what comfort he can from a wooden block 
 for a pillow. As it is always cold, a wood fire is kept 
 burning all the time and clouds of smoke fill the room, 
 because there is no chimney. The consequent dis- 
 comfort and actual pain may be imagined. At four 
 o'clock in the morning in summer, or five in winter, the 
 real climb to the summit is begun, and after an hour or 
 two the mules are given up. The trail crosses beds of 
 gravel and scoriae, which slip beneath the feet, making 
 progress difficult, slow, and discouraging. 
 
 At a place called Cruces, the stranger is called 
 upon to decide positively whether he will go on or turn 
 back, this being the last chance to retreat, because 
 the guides refuse to abandon the party after that. It 
 is a steady hard pull right away to the top, and 
 very soon after leaving Cruces the snow is encountered, 
 for, being well within the tropics, the snow-line is 
 very high. 
 
 The last pinch, of two hundred feet, is absolutely 
 heart-breaking; but there is no choice now and one 
 must go on, for to stand there and wait for the rest of 
 the party (to sit down is impossible) would probably 
 mean freezing to death. The rim of the crater, the 
 apex, is usually reached about noon, and from that 
 elevation the view is indescribable if the air is clear, as 
 it is almost sure to be, especially in winter. The crater 
 is an enormous pit, about 2000 feet across, and 
 visitors may descend it quite a distance, 50 feet or so, 
 although there is not much to reward one for risking 
 suffocation from the sulphurous fumes; because ''Popo/' 
 
MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO I9I 
 
 although not an active volcano, is by no means a "dead" 
 mountain. 
 
 The return to the hotel at the railway station is made 
 in about four hours, and most visitors are glad to put 
 in two nights and one day resting. Upon payment of a 
 reasonable sum, which used to be twenty-five pesos, a 
 peso being the Mexican dollar, equivalent to fifty cents 
 American, the tourist can make all financial arrangements 
 for the trip before leaving Mexico City. He will thus 
 secure a return railway ticket, hotel accommodations, 
 mules, guide, lodging at the rest-house, food for the two 
 days of the actual ascent and return, blankets, and 
 everything he needs. "Tips" along the road and at the 
 hotel have not yet been raised to an absurd scale, but 
 the tendency of the average American tourist to senseless 
 extravagance in this matter will doubtless assert itself 
 here, as it has done in every other corner of the 
 world. 
 
 A concession has been granted a company to work 
 the immense deposits of sulphur in the crater of Popo- 
 catapetl, and some of the preliminaries have been 
 attended to. If this scheme should be carried into 
 active operation, there will probably be some sort of a 
 mountain railway constructed. Such a thing would, 
 of course, make the ascent much easier for the tourist; 
 but it would rob the trip of much of its romantic at- 
 tractiveness; and those who are enthusiastic about 
 Alpine scrambling will deprecate the commerciaKsing 
 of Mexico's most attractive peak. 
 
 There is a pretty legend told about Popocatapetl, " the 
 Smoking Mountain," and Ixtaccihuatl, ''the Woman 
 in White." Once they were living giants, husband and 
 wife, but they did something which displeased the great 
 gods and as pimishment they were transformed into 
 
192 
 
 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 mountains, yet not at once deprived of life. However, 
 the woman died because of the severe punishment, and 
 the shape of her body, it is said, may be traced in the 
 contour of the mountain's crest and side. When the 
 mountain is covered with white down below the line of 
 perpetual snow, the resemblance can readily be imagined. 
 
 The man giant was condemned to everlasting life in 
 his changed shape, and he must always gaze on the 
 lifeless form of his beloved spouse. His grief is dreadful, 
 and often he breaks forth in great sobs that shake his 
 whole body, causing the earthquakes. Is the fact that 
 formerly he would shed tears of fire (the lava streams) 
 but has ceased to do this, a sign that his grief has become 
 assuaged, that he no longer mourns for his beloved? 
 The ascent of Ixtaccihuatl is such a comparatively easy 
 task that few people have had much to say about it. 
 Certainly, the same consideration for the climber is not 
 shown at her base as is found in the hotel at "Popo 
 Park." All writers seem to be agreed that the finest 
 view of this wonderful pair of moimtains is that which 
 is had from the top of Chapultepec Hill, that suburb 
 of Mexico City where stands the summer residence of 
 the Republic's President. 
 
 From that same hill of Chapultepec, there is seen off 
 to the northwest, and not very far away, the snow- 
 capped Xinantecatl, called also the volcano of Toluca. 
 Within historic times it has been known to break forth 
 in violent, destructive eruption, but it now seems to be 
 so completely extinct that in the crater there are two 
 small lakes of fresh water, so pure as to be drinkable. 
 The fact speaks for the absence of sulphur in quantity 
 and indicates the improbability of revived activity. 
 
 As the traveller goes southward from the capital, 
 with the intention of leaving the Valley of Anahuac, 
 
MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 193 
 
 he finds himself climbing up the Ajusco range of moun- 
 tains which forms the southern boundary of the valley. 
 Its highest peak is nearly 14,000 feet high. This, how- 
 ever, does not mean quite so much as it seems, 
 for the reason that the railway crosses the summit of 
 the range at an altitude of something like 10,000 
 feet. The rugged peak, to which the distinctive name 
 of Mount Ajusca is given, is easily reached from the 
 railway, and below its top a wonderful panorama is 
 spread before the beholder. Aside from the fact that 
 there are many great mountain peaks in sight, on a 
 clear day, there is ''a sea of rolling hills and ancient 
 lava-flows miles in length, with here and there small 
 lakes and Indian villages dotted over the valley, almost 
 hidden between the mountains, the grayness of the 
 scene brightened by emerald patches of sugar-cane." 
 
 The vigorous Alpine climber may include Ajusca in 
 the itinerary from the capital which takes in Ixtacci- 
 huatl and Popocatapetl, or he may go on to the popular 
 hill-resort of Cuernavaca and make that place the 
 starting-point for a special expedition to Ajusca. 
 
 If the visitor who is fond of mountaineering arrives 
 by steamer at Vera Cruz, his heart will throb with 
 anticipation as he looks upon mighty Orizaba, probably 
 the highest mountain in North America, with the possi- 
 ble exception of Mount McKinley. If, again, he is so 
 fortunate as to approach the coast on a clear night, 
 when the moon is quite or nearly full, the splendour of 
 the scene will cause even a greater thrill of excitement. 
 For Orizaba possesses a great advantage over the other 
 famous Mexican mountains in that its full height asserts 
 itself without being at all impaired by the fact that it is 
 seen from a point which is already many thousand 
 feet up from the sea, as is the case with those which 
 
194 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 have just been mentioned. When it can be seen from 
 the sea, this mountain's 18,314 feet stand out grandly. 
 
 Whether the tourist arrives in Mexico by sea or land, 
 he will surely visit the town of Orizaba, on account of 
 its interesting historical associations and the charming 
 scenery in its immediate or proximate vicinity. He 
 can, then, make the place his point of departure for the 
 ascent of Mount Orizaba, and he can secure the services 
 of competent guides, as well as provide himself with all 
 things needed for the trip. Or he may go on to the 
 small railway station of Esperanza, itself over 8000 feet 
 above sea-level, whence he can proceed on muleback to 
 the village of Chalchicamula. From that point a trail 
 leads to the actual foot of the mountain (this, too, a 
 mule can negotiate), and then the climb begins. It is a 
 difficult task to get to the top and one's limgs must be 
 in good condition; but it is not especially dangerous if 
 one is an experienced alpiner, and one heeds carefully 
 what the guides tell him. It is hardly necessary to add 
 that the ascent takes the cKmber from the sub-tropical 
 climate of the base, up through every climatic and 
 botanic change to the absolutely polar conditions of the 
 perpetually snow-capped summit. So far as we know, 
 there is no rest-house along the trail, and this means at 
 least one night in the open; but the guides or porters 
 will carry along a supply of fuel to provide for this stop. 
 
 If the reader will glance at the map, he will scarcely 
 need to be told that the City of Puebla is an attractive 
 place for him, provided he has a liking for scaKng lofty 
 mountains. The full name of the town is, or ought to 
 be, Puebla de los Angeles, ''The City of the Angels." 
 With one of the bands of early Spaniards there came a 
 priest who had a dream in which he saw two angels 
 marking off, with rod and chain, the streets of a city. 
 
MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO I95 
 
 It was. in a lovely, well-watered valley near great moun- 
 tains crowned with perennial snow. He sought the 
 place, and when he came to this plain he recognized 
 it instantly. Telling his miraculous dream and identi- 
 fying the site, he readily persuaded the Spaniards to 
 build a town here. 
 
 Most of the mountains which have been already 
 alluded to may readily be reached from Puebla, while 
 there are a number of others that offer temptations 
 which it will be hard for the enthusiast to resist; but 
 there remains only one that we care to mention. Its 
 name is given in various ways, Malinche, or Malintzi, 
 or Malintzin, but all doubtless represent the Aztec 
 attempt to pronoimce Marina, the name given to 
 Cortes' exceedingly useful secretary and interpreter, 
 with whom his relations speedily became more than 
 platonic. The statement that her original name was 
 Malina is too suspicious. The mountain is not far east 
 of Puebla City, and in the afternoon, when the setting 
 sun strikes its snow-capped summit, over 12,000 feet 
 above sea-level, the sight is most attractive. 
 
 There seems to be some confusion as to the mountain, 
 Colima. This is due to the fact that there are two 
 peaks which are separated by a considerable distance 
 although they may be said to be one very large mountain. 
 The lower is the only really active volcano in the Repub- 
 lic, while the higher seems to have been throughout all 
 historic times, and is now, an extinct cone. The volcano 
 has been in active and destructive eruption so recently 
 that there is great danger in attempting to ascend it. 
 The outbursts have been so terrific, without adequate 
 preliminary symptoms or warnings giving time to escape, 
 that a party attempting to reach the top is in peril all 
 the while. The ascent of the higher peak is not difficult, 
 
196 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 nor is it very dangerous, provided always that some 
 experience is combined with caution. The reward is 
 great, because the view is wide and comprehensive, 
 especially notable for the gorgeous sunset effects. Peo- 
 ple who have been favoured with clear weather find 
 it difficult to describe the sunset scene from the top of 
 Colima in language which does not carry with it the 
 risk of seeming to be extravagant; and yet, when condi- 
 tions are favourable, it is impossible to overpraise the 
 marvellous sight. The chances of getting this reward 
 are greatly on the side of the tourist who climbs to the 
 top. Inasmuch as the double mountain is some twenty- 
 five miles from the city of Colima and there are not 
 satisfactory provisions made for the accommodation of 
 visitors (unless these have been very recently installed), 
 the trip is rather a hard one, aside from the actual 
 climb. 
 
 Only a mere hint of Mexico's possibilities for those 
 who like to climb mountains has been given here, and 
 it will be noted that the many peaks of respectable 
 altitude in the southern part of the country have not 
 been described. There is hardly a state of the Republic 
 which will not be found to offer some inducement; and 
 if the work is deemed insufficiently difficult and danger- 
 ous to arouse the enthusiasm of a hardy conqueror of 
 mountains, there will always be the reward of panorama 
 and outlook to repay the effort to get to the top. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 FOREIGN RELATIONS 
 
 WE purpose making this chapter rather broader 
 in scope than the words of the title are usually 
 taken to mean; that is, in this particular case, Mexico's 
 official relations with the Governments of other nations; 
 because we intend to include in it something of Mexicans' 
 relations at home with peoples from other lands, and 
 the influence exerted both ways by that association. 
 The diplomatic and kindred intercourse which the 
 Republic has had with European states has already 
 been sufficiently discussed, while that with the United 
 States of America will be briefly considered in later 
 chapters. 
 
 That the patriotic Mexicans were heartily in sympathy 
 with the effort of the other Spanish colonies in America 
 (both Central and Southern) to achieve independence, 
 goes without saying: as, too, does the fact that what- 
 ever moral or material assistance they could render 
 to their Central and South American friends was given 
 cheerfully. It was, in the very nature of the case, 
 mainly moral support, because at the time of the gen- 
 eral revolution and secession of the Spanish-American 
 colonies, Mexico was too poor to do more than finance 
 her own enterprise in these lines. 
 
 The people of what is now called narrowly Central 
 America (for it has been shown that a very wide strip 
 of Mexico itself is in geographical Central America), 
 remained under the Spanish Government for a very 
 
198 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 short time after Mexico had asserted her independence. 
 This was doubtless because they had not sufficient 
 confidence in their miHtary or financial ability to 
 engage successfully in the war with Spain which the 
 assertion of independence would assuredly provoke. It 
 is understood, of course, that Mexico assumed she was 
 acting for the whole of New Spain: that is, what was 
 left of it northward from the Isthmus of Panama. But 
 when the Mexicans demonstrated their ability to beard 
 the Spaniards, those Central American states pro- 
 claimed their absolute independence, seceding from 
 Mexico in 1823. 
 
 An important difference must be noted in the charac- 
 ter of the movement for independence in Mexico (includ- 
 ing now the present Central American Republics), and 
 that which inspired the South American colonists. In 
 Mexico, the upper classes may not have had the same 
 opportunity to read broadening books that were for- 
 bidden by the Inquisition, which the, same classes in 
 South America had or made for themselves with inev- 
 itable results. Possibly the former were not so well 
 educated as the latter; they were certainly more under 
 the domination of the Romish clergy, and that did not 
 make for general information. Or it may be that the 
 Mexican upper classes derived greater personal advan- 
 tages from Spanish rule than did their fellows in South 
 America. 
 
 But at any rate, it is true that in Mexico these classes 
 sided with the Spanish king and raised the most decided 
 objection to the cause of independence. Whereas in 
 South America, it was just these classes who became 
 imbued with the spirit of independence and who finally 
 became the leaders in the movement to achieve it. In 
 Mexico, the leaders were poor priests who had sprung 
 
FOREIGN RELATIONS 199 
 
 from the despised natives; their support came from the 
 masses. In South America, the lower classes, because 
 of their ignorance and prejudice, generally favoured the 
 existing condition of things, and at first opposed 
 independence. 
 
 But the point in which Mexico (that is, inclusive 
 of all Central America) differed most from the other 
 Spanish-American colonies, was the attitude which the 
 leaders in the movement for independence assumed 
 towards the Indians. In South America, a number of 
 Indian insurrections took place and always it was the 
 intention of the natives, had they been successful, to 
 revert to the old form of government and drive out the 
 Spanish or Creole rulers. This really amounted to at- 
 tempting a war of races, and its first effect was to deprive 
 themselves of all assistance from the Creoles. 
 
 When, therefore, it came to a war for independence 
 in South America, the Indians, remembering the indif- 
 ference displayed towards their own effort, remained 
 passive, so that the movement was headed and carried 
 out almost exclusively by the Creoles. On the other 
 hand, there never was, in Mexico, an Indian insurrec- 
 tion with the avowed intention of re-estabhshing the 
 Aztec domination, and the Indians, on the contrary, 
 assisted the Creoles in the war for independence. Indeed, 
 the Indians were the main rehance of the insurrection- 
 ists, not only for the rank and file of the armies that suc- 
 cessfully accomplished Mexican independence, but for 
 most of the competent leaders. 
 
 We should not leave the subject without noting the 
 wide difference between the attitude of the Roman Cath- 
 olic clergy in Mexico and that of their co-religionists 
 in South American Spanish colonies. In the former 
 they were the implacable opponents of every act tending 
 
200 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 towards independence; while in South America, the 
 priests gave assistance to the insurrectionists and were 
 even accused by loyal Spanish officials of fomenting 
 rebellion. This difference of attitude gave a curious 
 aspect to the relations between Mexico and her sister 
 colonies.* 
 
 While the history of Mexico's internal affairs shows an 
 almost unbroken record of armed disturbance, revolu- 
 tion, and counter-revolution, from 182 1 to 1876, it is 
 curious, and yet pleasing, to note that her intercourse 
 with her neighbours in Central America was nearly 
 always in the direction of peace. The date of 182 1 
 marks the independence of the country and the throwing 
 off of the Spanish yoke, but it also introduced a condition 
 of domestic turbulence which lasted until Porfirio Diaz 
 became President, and was able to check the disorder. 
 
 As a matter of fact, however, there was very little 
 diplomatic intercourse between Mexico and the other 
 states of Central America during those years. At inter- 
 vals of the period from 1888 to 1895, there was serious 
 friction between the officials and citizens of the two 
 republics, along the border between Mexico and Guate- 
 mala, concerning the exact boundary between the two 
 countries. Matters reached such an acute stage, that 
 in 1893 both sides made preparations for war. But 
 Guatemala, reaHsing that Mexico was much the stronger 
 in armed force, and better prepared, financially, to carry 
 on a war, yielded the points at issue and a treaty, signed 
 on the ist of April, 1895, settled the matter amicably 
 and, it is to be assumed, permanently. 
 
 Although perhaps not precisely pertinent, it may be 
 well to note here, that in 1895, when trouble over the 
 Venezuelan boundary was impending between the 
 * CJ. Romero, "Genesis of Mexican Independence." 
 
FOREIGN RELATIONS 20I 
 
 United States of America and Great Britain, threaten- 
 ing to bring about war, Mexico urged firm adherence 
 to the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The Govern- 
 ment formally announced its opinion that the financial 
 and military burdens of maintaining those principles 
 should not be thrown upon the shoulders of the United 
 States alone; but that, should necessity arise for sup- 
 porting them with armed force, all American powers 
 should participate. Personally, we are of the opinion 
 that it was the sanity of the statesmen in the two great 
 English-speaking nations which brought this matter to 
 sensible adjustment; yet it is not impossible that the 
 prospect (even if remote) of a great American alliance 
 opposed to her may have exerted some influence upon 
 Great Britain. 
 
 In 1 90 1, the first Pan-American Congress was con- 
 vened in the City of Mexico. This was not precisely the 
 first of these assemblages, for in October, 1889, there 
 had been such a meeting in Washington, U.S.A., at 
 which all the American states were represented. Mex- 
 ico has always been represented at the meetings of this 
 Congress, as she was at the important one held at Rio 
 de Janeiro, in 1906, and has taken an active and intelli- 
 gent part in the proceedings. 
 
 If these gatherings have not been productive of much 
 serious benefit to the countries participating and the 
 world at large (although that is mainly a question for 
 individual opinion to decide), they have certainly 
 demonstrated the imperative necessity for the use of 
 one medium of communication. Either English or 
 Spanish should be the one and the only language per- 
 mitted. Inasmuch as the United States now has so 
 much to do with Spanish-speaking peoples, it seems 
 manifestly proper that Spanish should be the official 
 
202 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 language of the Pan-American Congress. But whether 
 English or Spanish, it ought to be made an inflexible 
 rule that delegates should have fluency of speech in that 
 which is agreed upon. 
 
 In 1907, there was, for a time, some danger of war 
 between Mexico and Guatemala, because an ex-president 
 of the latter country had been murdered in Mexico by 
 one of his compatriots, and a request for extradition 
 failed to accomplish anything; but the affair was 
 smoothed over without recourse to arms. In that 
 same year, Mexico displayed her desire to maintain 
 general peace by inducing the Central American Repub- 
 lics to stop a war. It is to be regretted that her efforts 
 in the same direction with other parallel cases, have not 
 been equally successful. 
 
 That one of Mexico's foreign entanglements soon 
 after establishing her independence, received the cog- 
 nomen of ''The Pastry War," must excite a smile of 
 amusement, although the trouble threatened, for a time, 
 to bring about serious results. Two rival Masonic 
 factions, called locally Escoceses (because they gave 
 allegiance to the Scottish Rite), and including in its mem- 
 bers Monarchists and Centralists; and Yorkinos (be- 
 cause they received their ritual from New York City), 
 whoiwere Liberals, had gone from a squabble over rit- 
 ual to armed conflict about politics. During the con- 
 fusion, several foreign shops in the capital were pillaged; 
 one of them being that of a French baker, whose claim 
 for indemnity, as is always the case in such episodes, 
 was wildly extravagant. This gave a basis for some 
 still more exorbitant demands by the French Govern- 
 ment, ten years later, and the war with France, called 
 "The Pastry War." The claims led also to a grave 
 scandal in which Mexican statesmen, French diplomats, 
 
FOREIGN RELATIONS 203 
 
 and European merchants were involved. Claims that 
 had been improperly expanded until they represented 
 the sum of $750,000 were paid with bonds amounting in 
 value to $15,000,000. 
 
 In 1829, a Spanish naval and mihtary expedition was 
 sent to reconquer Mexico, but it was successfully met at 
 Tampico by General Santa Ana, and the would-be 
 conquerors retired discomfited. This episode was due 
 to the fact that a Mexican squadron, commanded by an 
 American naval officer, David Porter, the ranking 
 officer in the Mexican navy from 1826 to 1829, had made 
 attacks, that were unpleasantly Hke piracy, upon Span- 
 ish ships off the coast of Cuba. It is hardly necessary 
 to state that this David Porter was not the Admiral 
 David Dixon Porter of Civil War fame, although he was 
 his father. 
 
 On the 25th of May, 1908, there was established at 
 Cartago, a pleasantly located hill town in Costa Rica, 
 even if it has a disagreeable fame for frequent earth- 
 quakes, the permanent Central American Court of 
 Arbitration, provided for by the terms of treaties which 
 had been signed at Washington, D.C., in December of 
 the preceding year. Mexico took an active part in 
 accomplishing this Court, which ought to be an ex- 
 tremely useful and important factor in preserving peace 
 among the Republics of Central America. She has 
 always evinced her wilhngness and even anxiety to co-op- 
 erate with the United States in bringing about the results 
 contemplated by this act of establishing the Court. 
 That the success of neither the United States nor Mexico 
 has been absolute, in no way reflects upon the good 
 intentions of either, for, apparently, no human power 
 can restrain the Central American RepubKcs from 
 domestic poHtical broils, and revolutions, or from fight- 
 
204 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 ing with one another, on the pettiest pretext. Unfor- 
 tunately, Mexico, too, has not been able to conduct her- 
 self so as to be entirely free from this charge. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1909, President Taft and 
 President Diaz exchanged friendly calls at El Paso, 
 Texas; the head of the younger, smaller Republic con- 
 senting to leave his domain in order to meet and to do 
 honour to the chief magistrate of his country's great 
 prototype. It was a graceful act, thoroughly consist- 
 ent with the peaceful aspirations of Porfirio Diaz. That 
 he should, within a comparatively short time, be an exile 
 from his own Republic, is a saddening comment upon 
 the stability of Mexican poHtical institutions. 
 
 If this sketch of Mexico's relations with some other 
 parts of the world is brief and fragmentary, it at least 
 shows that it has been, and is, the wish of such astute 
 statesmen as Diaz to maintain peaceful relations when- 
 ever this can be done without loss of national dignity or 
 honour. 
 
 Before closing this part of the present chapter, it is 
 well to comment briefly upon the disappointment usu- 
 ally expressed by Mexican historians at the delay on 
 the part of the nations of Europe, outside the direct or 
 indirect influence of the Holy AlKance, in recognising 
 the independence of Mexico. For the delay, the Mexi- 
 cans, not unnaturally, hold the United States of America 
 mainly responsible; and yet it was scarcely possible for 
 the United States to be prompter than she was in this 
 recognition. The belHgerent rights of the Mexicans, 
 as well as those of the peoples of all the other Spanish- 
 American colonies, had been promptly admitted, thus 
 permitting of assistance in material ways. But full 
 recognition of independence by the United States would 
 have connoted a state of affairs which did not actually 
 
FOREIGN RELATIONS 205 
 
 exist until at least two years after 1821; and anything 
 resembKng precipitancy in such an important matter 
 might well have been construed by Spain as an unfriendly 
 act towards a Government with which Washington was 
 at peace. That Great Britain, especially, had grave 
 doubts as to the stability of the Republic of Mexico, 
 should not surprise the careful student, and ought not 
 to aggrieve Mexicans. 
 
 In considering the reciprocal influence of Mexicans 
 and strangers in the country itself, as being a factor in 
 foreign relations, we must be pardoned if there appears 
 a tendency towards the jocose in what is written. For 
 when one stops to think of how few of the thousands 
 of visitors, who go to Mexico every year, take the trouble 
 to learn the Spanish language, so that they may be able 
 to converse freely with the people, it is astonishing that 
 so few serious contretemps have taken place as are re- 
 corded. Doubtless there have been plenty of awkward 
 or amusing misimderstandings that never did and never 
 will get into print. 
 
 Since by far the majority of strangers in Mexico are 
 Americans,* let us begin with them, and get over the 
 disagreeable first. It is a curious fact that the strong- 
 est point of resemblance between the American and his 
 British cousin, is his inabihty or unwillingness to adapt 
 himself to strange conditions and to accept what the 
 people of a coimtry that happens to be new to him, 
 insist upon as the right way to do a thing, regardless of 
 the stranger's prejudice. We refer to an amusing con- 
 firmation of this statement apropos Mexico, in Mr. 
 John C. Van Dyke's book.f 
 
 * Excluding Spaniards, Central and South Americans, Chinese and 
 Japanese, there were, a few years ago, over 17,000 Americans out of a 
 total of some 25,000. t See bibliography. 
 
2o6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 In Mexico all English-speaking strangers are assumed 
 to be and are called Americanos; just as in France the 
 Americans, unless they establish their identity by some 
 peculiar intonation or locution, are les Anglais. This 
 puts a burden of responsibihty upon the American which 
 should be more carefully borne than it is, in order that 
 the influence may make for good. The Americanisa- 
 tion of Mexico is progressing very rapidly, and with 
 this comes a broadening use of the EngHsh language. 
 As this is so, the newly arrived American should be care- 
 ful not to use the word "Greaser" in speaking of the 
 people. It is opprobrious, hurts the feelings of the sen- 
 sitive Mexicans, and never fails to bring trouble to the 
 user. 
 
 There is little doubt that the intercourse between 
 Americans and Mexicans has been the prime cause of 
 the material advance of the Republic; it is doubtful if 
 it has done much to benefit Mexico socially or morally. 
 On the other hand, the gentleness and courtesy of the 
 Mexicans has often exerted a most beneficent influence 
 upon the stranger. The two taken together give a clue 
 to that phase of Mexico's relations with foreigners to 
 which we wished to direct attention. If the one can 
 be improved the result is sure to be for the good of the 
 whole world. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 AMERICAN INFLUENCE: POLITICAL AND 
 PERSONAL 
 
 A RECENT estimate of the amount of Amer- 
 ican capital already invested in Mexico, made 
 by Mr. Marion Letcher, the American Consul at Pro- 
 greso, State of Yucatan, put the sum at a total of over 
 one thousand million dollars, or, as some would say, 
 more than a billion. It is not intended to question 
 Mr. Letcher's estimate, or to impugn his information; 
 only, it would have been more satisfactory had the 
 statement come from the capital of Mexico, where the 
 statistician would have opportunity to verify by refer- 
 ence to official records. In Mexico City there are not 
 only the State archives, but many of the great enter- 
 prises have their head offices there. These latter are, 
 by the laws of the land, compelled to give some informa- 
 tion to the Government, and, within reason, those re- 
 turns are accessible to responsible investigators. 
 
 It is safe to say that the sum mentioned represents 
 the big investments only, the railways, mines, and mill- 
 ing properties, reduction works, and the various enter- 
 prises allied with the mining industry, banks, stock 
 ranches, great agricultural estates, municipal improve- 
 ments, large industries, and all such things that present 
 themselves conspicuously to the eyes of the visitor, or 
 that appeal to the statistician with special force. 
 
 But there are thousands and thousands more of Amer- 
 ican dollars invested in Mexico by all kinds of people 
 
2o8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 whose individual capital is such a small matter as not 
 to attract much attention. For everywhere in the land 
 there are evidences of these smaller investments indicat- 
 ing the presence of Americans as residents, more or 
 less permanent. Each one stands for a certain sum of 
 capital invested. It may be only a few hundred dol- 
 lars in the individual case, but the aggregate amounts 
 to a very large sum. In the capital, for example, there 
 are American lawyers, doctors, dentists, merchants, 
 shopkeepers, and all sorts of representatives of small 
 capital. The same thing, local conditions being con- 
 sidered, may be said of every town of any size in the 
 Republic. 
 
 One thing that seems to justify the presumption that 
 these small matters have been left out of Mr. Letcher's 
 tables, is the fact that he estimates the sum invested 
 in railways to be $645,000,000, leaving only $355,000,000 
 to represent the other big properties, and it would not 
 be difficult to name mines and kindred enterprises, 
 ranches, etc., that would aggregate this simi in their 
 capitals invested. 
 
 When Ulysses S. Grant was in Mexico, on active ser- 
 vice during the Mexican War, he declared himself greatly 
 impressed with the attractive possibilities for develop- 
 ment in mining, stock-raising, and agriculture in the 
 widest and most varied aspects. He saw, too, that 
 with development along those lines must, of necessity, 
 come co-ordinate improvement of facilities for trans- 
 portation, circulation, urban and suburban faciHties of 
 all kinds, and industries of every sort, He is quoted, 
 by many writers on Mexico, as having said, when he 
 made another visit to that country after he had been 
 President of the United States, that he thought it 
 quite possible that as much as $500,000,000 might 
 
AMERICAN INFLUENCE 209 
 
 be safely and profitably invested; but he himself 
 was rather startled at the size of the fund he had been 
 reported as naming. At present there is already invested 
 in railways alone, a good deal more than the sum Gen- 
 eral Grant mentioned for all enterprises, and the end is 
 not yet. 
 
 If the assurances of the Mexican Government are 
 verified that the existing state of revolution and confu- 
 sion is to be stopped speedily and without American 
 intervention; and if, then, the demands are not exorbi- 
 tant for indemnity, by investors whose property, in the 
 States of the Republic where the greatest damage has 
 been done, has been destroyed or impaired, there are 
 opportimities yet awaiting the investor in this section 
 which will absorb very many more milHons of American 
 or European capital. 
 
 It may be out of place to offer a suggestion; but 
 the opportunity to do so here is not easily resisted. It 
 is to be hoped that when peace is restored in Mexico, 
 and the Government on Chapultepec Hill is again rec- 
 ognised as supreme, the demands for reparation will 
 be reasonable and equitable. An attempt to wring from 
 the Mexican Treasury excessive compensation for Hves 
 lost, mental stress, property destroyed or impaired, or 
 temporary loss of revenue, will almost surely incite 
 general opposition and bring about a state of affairs 
 much worse than anything which has been known for 
 the past year or more; because it will be united in its 
 opposition to all foreigners, and will not discriminate. 
 
 From all pertinent information that is available, it 
 is pleasing to assume that the whole of that enormous 
 sum of $645,000,000, which Consul Letcher asserts is 
 invested in railways, is paying from fair to handsome 
 returns. Precise statistics of passenger and freight 
 
2IO THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 traffic, on what may be called ''public lines," are not 
 accessible for the last year or so; but previous to 1909 
 the patronage which the travelKng public bestowed was 
 quite sufficient to ensure satisfactory dividends, and 
 there is no reason whatever to suppose that there has 
 been any diminution. 
 
 It is more than likely that the great sum, which 
 Consul Letcher names as representing American invest- 
 ments in Mexico, includes a considerable sum of 
 Canadian money; for it is no secret that officials of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway have large interests in Mexican 
 railways, ranches, industries. That particular Canadian 
 line is now so well equipped that the working staff is 
 competent to look after the maintenance, betterment, 
 and expansion. Some of the largest and wealthiest 
 shareholders, and their friends, have therefore turned 
 their attention to other fields than Canada. Mexico 
 has held out the most alluring inducements and, barring 
 such accidents as have recently happened, their invest- 
 ments are safe. It certainly looks to a careful observer 
 as if a great many British capitaHsts are entrusting 
 funds to Canadians, and that these have decided that 
 Mexico is a more promising place than is the Dominion 
 itself. Due consideration is given to enterprises in 
 Canada Hke the Canadian Northern, Grand Trunk 
 extension, and others; all of which are absorbing large 
 amounts of British funds. 
 
 But if there have been a billion dollars of United 
 States and Canadian capital suppHed to promote Mex- 
 ican enterprises of all sorts and kinds, the total of for- 
 eign investments must be much greater than even that 
 immense sum. We know that British, French, and 
 German capitalists also have made considerable invest- 
 ments, beginning with the Mexican Railway, the original 
 
AMERICAN INFLUENCE 211 
 
 line (but now very much expanded) from Vera Cruz 
 to Mexico City; including the Tehuan tepee Railway 
 and its harbour auxiliaries on both oceans, besides many 
 other valuable and profitable concessions. 
 
 Enough has been said of the moral and political influ- 
 ence exerted upon the Mexicans by the successful effort 
 of the thirteen British colonies in eastern-central North 
 America to achieve their independence; and of the 
 close attention given to the methods followed by the 
 young United States of America to adjust the Govern- 
 ment of the new nation to the strange conditions which 
 confronted it. It is sufficient to add here that these 
 are subjects which seem never to lose their attraction 
 for the yo\mg men of Mexico who aspire to be of some 
 use to their country. Our interest is now with more 
 modern affairs of the Republic itself. 
 
 It demands that a needle shall have a normally sharp 
 point, if it is to be put down on the map of Mexico with- 
 out touching some American investment, or the sphere 
 of influence of that investment. American interests 
 are found everywhere. After the colossal enterprises 
 that have already been referred to, we pass on down to 
 the signboards in the city streets. They are often the 
 American sign itself, in plain English without any 
 attempt at translation: "Waltham Watches," ''The 
 American Watch Company," "American Tailor," 
 "Cream of Wheat," "New York Life Insurance Com- 
 pany"; or, for the convenience of possible customers 
 who are not yet up-to-date and refuse to heed any- 
 thing but the Spanish language, it wiU be La Maquina 
 Singer J literally, "The Machine Singer," and every- 
 body knows that is the Singer Sewing Machine; or La 
 Maquina Escrihir Underwood, which, Kterally, is **the 
 machine to write Underwood," and it is hardly neces- 
 
212 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 sary to say that means "The Underwood Typewriter," 
 and there are hundreds of others. 
 
 American doctors and dentists are popular in the 
 Republic of Mexico; for here will be seen a modest door- 
 plate inscribed "Dr. A., American Physician," or there 
 a somewhat more pretentious one, for such the etiquette 
 of the profession permits, "Dr. X., American Dentist." 
 "English spoken here" now meets the visitor's eye far 
 more frequently in Mexico, and not alone in the capital 
 by any means, than it does in any part of the conti- 
 nent of Europe. The doubtless well-intentioned at- 
 tempt to make such signs more precise and inviting by 
 phrasing them "American spoken here," was very 
 promptly and properly discouraged by resident Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 The stores or shops belonging to and run by Amer- 
 icans rarely go to the trouble of making themselves known 
 through the medium of the vernacular, except in news- 
 paper advertisements. But "The United States Gro- 
 cery Company" or the "American-Mexican Canning 
 Company" asserts itself in just those English words. 
 Imitation being the sincerest flattery, it is not surprising 
 that many purely Spanish or Mexican shops, spurred 
 on to unusual and unnatural activity by the successful 
 rivalry of their American competitors, now translate 
 into Spanish the seductive "Bargain Day," or "25% 
 Reduction This Week," or " Cut Prices in All Lines This 
 Week." These are displayed conspicuously and some- 
 times the too literal translation produces amusing and 
 bewildering jargon. 
 
 There is not naturally much "hustle" in the pure 
 Castilian blood; nor is it conspicuous in the Mexican 
 Creole. Strange as it must sound, there is more like- 
 lihood of a pure-blooded Indian, when he gets the chance, 
 
AMERICAN INFLUENCE 213 
 
 displaying that characteristic of ''hustle,'' which is 
 claimed to be so typical of the advanced American in 
 all parts of the world; only the Indian does not often 
 get the chance. But the hustling American must watch 
 himself closely in Mexico. It is astonishing how quickly 
 the Spanish spirit of hasta la manana, "until to-morrow," 
 gets into the Yankee blood even, when the whole atmos- 
 phere is surcharged with the quality that seems to com- 
 pel people "never to do to-day what can be put off till 
 the morrow." 
 
 Mexico still needs capital to continue the good work 
 of developing her natural resources, and the example 
 of American influence in doing that work in the best 
 way. That capital may be in small amounts as well 
 as in large ones. When the development has progressed, 
 it cannot but be that immigrants will arrive in the 
 country in large numbers. Conditions will be favour- 
 able, when certain necessary changes have been brought 
 about, for those who have a small amoimt of cash capi- 
 tal and a large fund of that which is even better, a com- 
 bination of muscle, industry, and determination. To 
 make known properly the possibiKties of the coXmtry 
 for intending immigrants of that class, something must 
 be done to check the " schemers." 
 
 These are men who profess to have secured mining, 
 agricultural, or industrial rights which they are wilKng 
 to share with others who will supply cash capital. No 
 real capitalists are caught by such sharpers, because 
 they have their own rehable experts to make a crucial 
 examination of any enterprise before they put money 
 into it. But many a man, and woman, too, has been 
 robbed of his or her httle all by fictitious advertisements 
 of wonderful Mexican "schemes." The United States 
 Ck>vernment has exerted itself to protect such trusting, 
 
214 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 ignorant people from swindlers, and there are now sev- 
 eral of the latter in prison as just punishment. The 
 Mexican Government needs better, that is more reli- 
 able, advertising mediums and well-informed, truthful 
 press-agents to tell strangers the plain truth about the 
 Republic's opportunities. 
 
 So far as going from the United States into Mexico is 
 concerned, it is, on the whole, better for the farmer or 
 artisan to stay where he is, rather than to take the 
 responsibility of change entirely upon himself. The 
 conditions of life in the country districts of Mexico, 
 where such a settler is likely to find the best opportunity 
 for making a success, are very primitive as compared 
 with what is to be found in the ordinary regions of the 
 same general character at home. 
 
 In addition to the differences between the people, and 
 those of language and education, there are many pecul- 
 iar embarrassments for the stranger in the rural dis- 
 tricts of Mexico. If he goes to a district where there 
 are Indians only, no Creoles or Spaniards, there are still 
 other and special drawbacks. If the settler goes to the 
 ''hot lands," which are the most fertile and in every 
 way yield the best returns for labour expended, the 
 climate is a severe trial. There, too, the insects and 
 reptiles make life a burden; and the diseases which are 
 not yet absolutely controlled are a deterrent. Labour, 
 because it is practically impossible for the northern immi- 
 grant to do his own field-work, is another serious diffi- 
 culty. While it is cheap and abundant, of its kind — 
 and even the Mexicans themselves have little to say in 
 praise of this subject — in the upper, temperate zones, 
 it is scarce, and quite uncontrollable in the fertile and 
 prolific hot lands. 
 
 Another serious drawback for the agricultural or 
 
AMERICAN INFLUENCE 215 
 
 stock-raising immigrant is the matter of securing land. 
 A large portion of the public domain has already been 
 sold or conceded. The surveys of both the public 
 lands that remain undisposed of as well as of private 
 estates, have not been made satisfactorily, so that land 
 cannot easily be bought in small lots; while to lease 
 is too risky. The owners of large estates, as a rule, 
 adhere to the old custom of deahng with them as great 
 haciendas, and they are unwilHng to divide them into 
 small plots for sale. The Indians, who still hold large 
 tracts in various parts of the country, can rarely be 
 induced to sell at all; and they do not cultivate their 
 holdings in a manner which contributes towards Mex- 
 ico's best development. 
 
 United States Consular Reports indicate that coffee 
 planting may be made a very profitable industry in Mex- 
 ico, and that it is an industry in which those who have 
 not a very large sum of ready money may engage suc- 
 cessfully. It requires, however, that the would-be 
 planter shall have sufficient capital to secure the land, 
 to prepare and plant, and then Uve for the three or four 
 years that must be passed before the trees yield berries 
 enough to provide a living. This enterprise seems to 
 be beyond the attainment of the immigrant with only 
 small means. Most people appear to think that coffee 
 is best grown in Mexico's hot lands, where the trees re- 
 quire to be shaded; but competent authorities declare 
 that a plantation in that zone costs more to start and to 
 maintain, and also yields less profit than one in the 
 temperate zone, just below the frost line. 
 
 The fact of American influence in Mexico has been 
 demonstrated, certainly in so far as the great enter- 
 prises are concerned; and it has been shown that such 
 influence is considerable and is growing in some of the 
 
2l6 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 smaller affairs of life. To complete the Americanisa- 
 tion of the country in a way which shall not tend to 
 political disturbance, nor arouse the jealousy of the 
 loyal Mexicans, this influence may be spread widely by 
 quiet precept and practice. Industry, as the ordinary 
 Anglo-Saxon interprets the word, is not popular with 
 Spaniard, Mexican Creole, or Indian; and the physical 
 inertia, which this statement impKes, must be over- 
 come if Mexico is to be the nation that such men as 
 Porfirio Diaz have in mind. 
 
 This change may be wrought in two ways: by radical 
 and prompt supplanting of old methods and manners 
 with something new and strenuous; or by the gradual 
 infiltration of example. It seems to us that the latter 
 is so much preferable as to leave the former without 
 reason for being. It is from the United States that this 
 example can best come; and good Mexicans themselves 
 display no resentment when American influence is thus 
 exerted. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 
 
 JUST one hundred and one years ago, 1812, the Span- 
 ish Cortes (cortes, literally '' courts," the national 
 assembly or legislature of that country) adopted a con- 
 stitution which contemplated many important reforms. 
 The most radical of these were: freedom of the press, 
 suppression of the Inquisition, closing of the monas- 
 teries and convents, expulsion of the Jesuits, and the 
 cutting off of all privileges belonging exclusively to army 
 officers and the nobility. Above all in importance, 
 however, was the clause which provided that the people 
 were to be invested with the power of self-government. 
 
 This happy state of affairs did not continue for long; 
 too soon another revolution broke out and Ferdinand 
 VII. was again, in 18 14, seated on the throne as firm a 
 believer as ever in ^'The right divine of kings to govern 
 wrong." * He overturned all the Cortes had done for 
 the people, revived the Inquisition, and caused a civil 
 war that lasted six years. In 1820, the people once more 
 regained their power and compelled the king to swear 
 to support the constitution. This promise was no sooner 
 made than it was broken, and Spain was as much of 
 a despotism as ever. 
 
 The people of Mexico, some Spaniards, most Creoles, 
 
 and aU educated Indians, were watching Spain most 
 
 intently at this time. They were, too, following closely 
 
 developments in the United States of America; from 
 
 ♦Pope, "The Dunciad," Book IV., line 188. 
 
2l8 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 which they received tremendous inspiration. The Mex- 
 ican Creoles especially were dissatisfied with conditions 
 in their coxintry; but it was with persons rather than 
 with principles. They asked that natives, particularly 
 native-born sons of pure Spanish parents, should have 
 an equal share with foreigners in the management of 
 colonial affairs. This reasonable request was vehemently 
 opposed by the gachupines. 
 
 This curious word has an interesting etymology. 
 When the Indians first saw the mounted Spaniards, 
 they looked upon them as divine creatures and called 
 them gatzopins, an epithet equivalent to our centaur. 
 This word was subsequently corrupted into gachupines, 
 and applied to the Spanish officials who always went 
 about mounted on horses. These gachupines were con- 
 sidered aliens, and such they truly were. All the hon- 
 ours and emoluments of Church and State were reserved 
 for this privileged class; every law was intended to con- 
 fer benefit upon them. 
 
 While the true foreigners, the Spaniards born in 
 Castile, and the semi-foreigners, the Creoles, were thus 
 quarreling among themselves over questions of rank, 
 privilege, and precedence, they little realised that they 
 were living over a social volcano that was about to 
 burst forth. 
 
 Little by little the burden of servitude laid upon the 
 shoulders of the Indians, had been increased until it 
 became unendurable; but a champion was coming. 
 On the 8th of May, 1753, there was born, somewhere 
 in the State of Guanajuato, an Indian boy, afterwards 
 known (and now revered) as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. 
 He received as good an education as was then given to 
 any native, studied for the Church, took orders, and 
 eventually became curate of the little village of Dolores. 
 
THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 219 
 
 In 1808, the Spanish ofl&cials were amazed and startled 
 when they discovered that a plot had been formed among 
 the Indians to secure the independence of Mexico, and 
 to gain for themselves a place in the management of the 
 State's a^ffairs to which they justly beheved themselves 
 entitled. In September, 18 10, Hidalgo placed himself, 
 or was placed, at the head of the movement, and he 
 proclaimed a general revolution against the Spanish 
 administration. He was not successful, we know, but 
 he gave his Hfe as a martyr for the cause he had espoused. 
 After his forces had sustained a severe defeat at the 
 hands of the Spaniards, he was trying to get across the 
 border into the United States, hoping to secure shelter 
 there until his plans could be matured and his followers 
 re-organised. But such was the dread of the prelates 
 and the Inquisition among some of the Indians, that he 
 was betrayed and captured, deposed from the priest- 
 hood, excommunicated, and shot at Chihuahua, July 
 30, 18 1 1 . The bell of his Httle parish church was brought 
 to Mexico City in 1896 and hung over the main entrance 
 to the Palace. On the night of the 15th of September, 
 each year, it is rung with great ceremony by the Presi- 
 dent, and the Plaza in front of the Palace is filled with 
 an immense crowd. 
 
 But the cause for which Hidalgo died did not fail; 
 others took up the task, although success came eventu- 
 ally rather through diplomatic compromise than martial 
 victory. It was Iturbide's cleverness and his ^'plan 
 of Iguala," which brought about Mexican independence. 
 Peace did not at once spread her white wings over all 
 Mexico, Iturbide made himself almost as obnoxious 
 to the people as had the Spanish viceroys and the other 
 gachupines. As emperor Agustin I. he became a ver- 
 itable autocrat; he surrounded himself with a new 
 
220 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 order of nobility, drawn from the Creoles and Indians, 
 who were as high and mighty and wore as gorgeous 
 regaha as ever did the Spaniards. Ere long he won from 
 the northern provinces the title of "The Usurper Itur- 
 bide," and such pressure was brought to bear that in 
 March, 1823, only ten months after he had been crowned 
 emperor, he abdicated to the old Congress. With strange, 
 yet perhaps commendable generosity. Congress over- 
 looked much that he had done, and was content to exile 
 him on a pension of twenty thousand dollars a year. 
 It has already been told how he was unable to remain 
 abroad, but tried to return to Mexico and was shot. 
 
 In 1824, Mexico, for the first time, decided to become 
 a Repubhc, and was formally recognised as such by 
 Spain. Independence had been recognised by the 
 United States in 1822, and gradually the other great 
 powers followed suit. The constitution which the 
 National Congress, representing the whole country, 
 adopted was patterned after that of the United States. 
 Yet the legislators showed themselves singularly igno- 
 rant of one of the first principles of true repubhcan Kb- 
 erty. All religions except the Roman Catholic faith 
 were prohibited; the property of the clergy was put 
 beyond the reach of the secular laws, and — most mar- 
 vellous of all — no one but a gachupin was permitted 
 to hold any of the high offices in the Church. It is need- 
 less to say that these subversions of repubhcan liberty 
 speedily gave rise to yet further disturbance and revo- 
 lution. 
 
 The final act of expeUing the Spaniards officially was 
 the hauling down of the Spanish flag over the Castle of 
 San Juan de Ulua (or UUoa) in the harbour of Vera Cruz, 
 on November 19, 1825. When the Spanish officer 
 handed over the keys of the fortress to the representa- 
 
A Water Cooler Peddler 
 
THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 221 
 
 tive of the Mexican Government, the receiver was Gen- 
 eral Barrancas, the husband of a Hneal descendant of 
 the Aztec monarch, Montezuma II. The irony of 
 Fate! 
 
 If Mexico was then recognised as a member of the 
 family of nations, it would not be correct to say that in 
 1824 she entered upon a career of peaceful development 
 and prosperity. The superficial reader will quite nat- 
 urally assume that the almost constant conflicts which 
 shook the RepubKc until the second election of Presi- 
 dent Porfirio Diaz, in 1884, were those between rival 
 generals struggKng to gain, first, command of all the 
 RepubKc's armed forces; and, second, control of the 
 Central Government. But in reality there were persist- 
 ent quarrels, often bloody ones, between the privileged 
 class, the clergy with whom were usually associated 
 the greater part of the army, and the mass of the 
 Creoles with a few civilised Indians. Later the great 
 contesting parties resolved themselves into Centrahsts, 
 identical with the army, the Church, and supporters of 
 these, and FederaKsts who struggled for republican insti- 
 tutions and local self-government. 
 
 Mexico's condition of almost incessant domestic 
 turmoil from 1824 to 1846 has already been commented 
 upon. These internal broils were the result of disputed 
 elections, and when we consider the status of the coun- 
 try, as to civiKsation and education, it is not surprising 
 that the abuse of the franchise was often flagrant. 
 Doubtless the common charge of bribery and corrup- 
 tion had too good a foundation in fact. It seems hardly 
 necessary to attempt a careful and complete discussion 
 of the innumerable outbreaks, and we pass on to 1846. 
 
 Then, Mexico was face to face with the United States 
 over Texas. Concisely stated, the events which led 
 
222 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 up to this iinhappy state of affairs, which had their 
 initiative in the land grant to Stephen Austin, in 1820, 
 and the settlement from the United States, may be 
 given thus: the Mexican Government, when the Repub- 
 Hc was established, prohibited slavery by its first con- 
 stitution; but in the extreme northern part of the 
 country, that is to say Texas, this prohibition had 
 been ignored, especially in the matter of African slaves. 
 
 But the growing public sentiment against all class 
 distinctions led to the re-enactment, in 1825, of an old 
 law prohibiting the importation and sale of slaves. In 
 1827, Texas and Coahuila, then governed locally by a 
 joint Legislature, passed a similar law, and, besides, 
 freedom was given children born of slave parents in those 
 States after that date. In 1829, every slave in the 
 entire Republic was declared free. 
 
 This opposition to slavery did not at all please the 
 American colonists in Texas, whose greatest ambition 
 was to make that territory a ''slave state." The 
 avowed purpose of the Texans to separate from the 
 Mexican Republic, led the Central Government to for- 
 bid further immigration from the northern United States. 
 This was in 1830 and it promptly brought about border 
 war, the separation of Texas from Coahuila, and at last to 
 the declaration of Texas' independence, which was rec- 
 ognised by France, Great Britain, and the United States. 
 It is hardly necessary to say that the promptness with 
 which the recognition was enacted, is adversely crit- 
 icised by many authorities on international law and 
 equity. 
 
 Fifty of the fifty-seven signers of Texas' Declaration 
 of Independence, had been citizens of the United States 
 and men who were pledged to extend the area of slavery. 
 One of the earliest acts of the Congress of the "Lone 
 
THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 223 
 
 Star" Republic, was to pass a law declaring slavery 
 perpetual. The secession of Texas led at once to war 
 between the two republics, in which Mexico lost more 
 territory, and in which a condition of lawlessness was 
 revealed which was truly shocking. 
 
 The annexation of Texas by the United States, in 
 1845, brought about war between the United States and 
 Mexico, the Mexican War, of which General Ulysses S. 
 Grant, then a Heutenant in the regular army, has said 
 that it was the most unholy and unjust war ever waged 
 by a strong nation against a weaker one. From that 
 v/ar, Mexico emerged defeated, sadly impoverished, 
 and checked in her effort towards development. 
 
 The post-Mexican-war period was the time when the 
 great struggle between State and Church occurred, in 
 which the people, led by Benito Juarez, were victors. 
 
 On the 5th of February, 1857, ^ ^^^ Constitution was 
 adopted in which provision was made for the separa- 
 tion of State and Church, for complete toleration of 
 all religions, and other kindred matters. Immediately 
 Congress passed a law confiscating Church property, 
 closing the monasteries and convents, and restricting 
 the privileges of the Church. War at once ensued be- 
 tween the Clerical and the Liberal parties. This was 
 bad enough, but one of the indirect results was the 
 appearance of bandits in all parts of the country, whose 
 depredations included attacks upon foreigners and their 
 property. Many persons were killed, and we have 
 already mentioned one of the episodes as giving provo- 
 cation for the ^'Pastry War." 
 
 The suspension of payment of interest on the National 
 bonds, gave excuse for European intervention. Then 
 followed the Maximilian attempt to estabhsh an empire, 
 which resulted disastrously in every way, for not only 
 
224 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 was there great, and needless, loss of life and destruc< 
 tion of property, but the whole influence was bad and 
 destructive of material progress. The conclusion of 
 this unhappy episode showed Juarez in power and ere 
 long something like order coming to Mexico. 
 
 Benito Juarez died in 1872. If students differ much 
 in their opinions of this man, some condemning his 
 harshness towards Maximilian, others his attacks upon 
 the Roman Catholic Church; while yet more justify 
 him in all these matters, it must be remembered that the 
 Archduke was supported by the Romish clergy, and that 
 the terrible state of affairs in Mexico half a century ago, 
 was due to the acts of the Roman Catholics, then in 
 control of the Government. 
 
 After Juarez's death came the inevitable revolution. 
 It was a short affair and not noticeably disastrous, and 
 in 1876 General Porfirio Diaz became President. With 
 the exception of the term, 1880 to 1884, of President 
 General Manuel Gonzalez, Diaz served continuously 
 until 191 1. There had been a provision in the Consti- 
 tution of 1857 which forbade a President succeeding 
 himself, yet not declaring him ineligible to re-election. 
 An amendment was passed abrogating this provision 
 especially that Diaz might continue in ofhce. How 
 much his personal influence was responsible for this, 
 or whether he did or did not act the dictator to keep 
 himself in power, is quite immaterial. Peace and pros- 
 perity at home, honour and credit abroad were ample 
 justification. Of events since Porfirio Diaz was com- 
 pelled to leave his country surreptitiously, it is mani- 
 festly unwise to speak, since they are not yet history and 
 surmise may be left to the concluding chapter. 
 
 The material development of Mexico from 1824 to 
 1878 was really insignificant; in the circumstances it 
 
THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 22$ 
 
 could not possibly have been great. In the latter year 
 President Diaz succeeded in convincing his fellow- 
 countrymen that it was absolutely necessary to provide 
 the land with railway and telegraphic facilities; and then 
 began the really active development of Mexico. In 
 1910 there were 15,350 miles of railway in operation, of 
 which the Government owned or controlled more than 
 one-half. In 19 10 there were over 25,000 miles of tel- 
 egraph lines, nearly all belonging to the Government. 
 Wireless telegraphy stations have also been equipped, 
 in addition to the land lines and the many submarine 
 cables. 
 
 Of Mexico's direct interest in overseas commerce, 
 there is nothing to say. The Mexicans are not sailors 
 and they are content to leave this department entirely 
 in the hands of the maritime nations whose steamers 
 come and go at the ports of Mexico in immense numbers. 
 To what has been said or suggested it should be added 
 that Mexico, which had been considered a non-manufac- 
 turing country, has responded surprisingly to President 
 Diaz's effort to develop production in this line, making 
 use of raw materials which are supplied by nature. 
 
 The progress made in education has been great in the 
 last quarter of a century. Unfortunately reliable statis- 
 tics up to date are not available; but there is evidence 
 to show that the number of public schools is over ten 
 thousand, and the attendance well on towards a mil- 
 Hon pupils. Since religious toleration has come again 
 to recognise that the Roman CathoKcs even have some 
 rights, there are many parochial schools under charge 
 of priests or nims. There are, besides, many private, 
 religious, and association schools giving education to 
 something like a quarter of a million pupils. Higher, 
 technical, and special education is admirably cared for. 
 
226 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 The Republic of Mexico is not yet one hundred years 
 old. Indeed, we may almost say that the age of that 
 Republic should be computed from the centennial year 
 of the United States of America, for the chaos that was 
 supreme before then absolutely prohibited growth. If, 
 then, modern Mexico began in 1876, and modern Japan 
 in 1872, is there any reason for a patriotic Mexican blush- 
 ing when the development of his country is compared 
 with that of Japan? 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 A GLANCE AT MEXICO'S NEIGHBOURS: THE 
 CENTRAL AMERICAN REPUBLICS 
 
 ANYONE who visits Mexico ''on pleasure bent" 
 will surely feel disposed to avail himself of the 
 opportunity to see something of that republic's south- 
 ern neighbours. 
 
 From 1808 to 18 14, Spain was so busily engaged at 
 home, in her struggle to maintain her independence 
 against France, that it was difficult to give needed atten- 
 tion to the defence of her American colonies. The 
 Spanish King was held in captivity by Napoleon Bona- 
 parte, and prospects were gloomy. Little attention 
 was given, in the matters of reinforcements and money, 
 to the royalists who were striving to maintain their 
 King's authority in America. 
 
 In 1 8 14, however, England having rendered assist- 
 ance, the French were driven from Spain and Napoleon 
 was overcome. Then, Ferdinand VII. was restored to 
 his throne and immediately he directed his attention 
 to his American dominions. It was fortunate for Mexico 
 and the Central American colonies of New Granada, 
 that this attention was given to South America, for had 
 the eighteen expeditions, embracing in the aggregate 
 some 45,000 men, and representing an outlay of about 
 $75,000,000, been sent against New Spain and New 
 Granada, there might be a different story to tell. 
 
 We usually think of Central America as embracing 
 the following six political units, — the independent 
 Republics, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, 
 
228 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Costa Rica, and Panama. But we here also include the 
 British Crown Colony of British Honduras. 
 
 Central America is not a very large section of the 
 earth's surface, even when we consider it as a whole; for 
 the total area is only some 208,500 square miles, not five 
 times the size of the State of Pennsylvania, and much 
 smaller than Texas. On the Pacific side, the coast line 
 is fairly regular in sweep, with many indentations, some 
 of them being quite deep; but a great curve is made 
 towards the north in Panama Bay. On the Caribbean 
 Sea, the fundamental coast fine is smooth, although there 
 are many lagoons and salt-water lakes breaking into the 
 shore. But this side of Central America shows some 
 remarkable serpentine curves. The greatest width, in 
 a line east and west, is along the 15 th parallel of north 
 latitude, from Cape Gracias a Dios, in Honduras, to 
 the boundary between Guatemala and the Mexican 
 State of Chiapas, a Httle west of the 92° of west longitude, 
 Greenwich; this is a distance of about 1000 miles. 
 But at right angles to the axis of the country, the 
 longest line is from Cape Gracias a Dios to Coseguina 
 Point in the Department of Chinandega, Nicaragua, 
 about 340 miles. 
 
 Until 1903, Central America was considered, geo- 
 graphically, to stop at the southern boundary of Costa 
 Rica. Since the RepubHc of Panama was cut off from 
 the northern part of Colombia, this, too, has been deemed 
 to be a part of Central America. This more modern 
 definition ''does not command the universal assent of 
 geographers, because it fails to include the whole region 
 up to the natural frontier on the northwest, i.e., the 
 Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico." 
 
 The Cordilleras extend from end to end of Central 
 America, but their continuity is broken by certain 
 
MEXICO S NEIGHBOURS 229 
 
 depressions, the most important one being the basin of 
 Lake Nicaragua. The mountains do not conform 
 strictly in characteristics either to the bold Sierras 
 Madres of Mexico or the sharp Andes of South America; 
 yet some peaks rise to a height of over 13,000 feet. 
 It is, however, a little surprising to find so many tracts 
 on a geological and orographical map of this region 
 marked ^'Geological information incomplete," as we 
 do; this is explained by the absence of incentive for 
 scientific investigation. The strict geologist assumes 
 that Central America is not a continuation of either 
 great continent, ''but constitutes a third element which 
 is wedged, as it were, between the other two." 
 
 The climate of Central America is extremely variable, 
 as could not be otherwise when we consider the physical 
 conformation and the proximity of two oceans to every 
 part thereof. Another effective cause of this varia- 
 tion is the sudden change of altitude found in many 
 places. Here, as in Mexico, the inhabitants speak of 
 three zones : tierras calientes, tropical, from the seashore 
 up to about 1500 feet; tierras templadas, temperate, 
 1500 to 5000 feet; Siud tierras frias, cold, above 5000 
 feet; with different cKmatic conditions in each. But 
 the isotherms are exceedingly erratic, and it is notice- 
 able that, physical and other conditions being seemingly 
 equal, the heat is greater along the Pacific than on the 
 Atlantic versant. 
 
 Being entirely within the tropics, and not very remote 
 from the equator, there is no sharp distinction of sea- 
 sons, as we think of them in the temperate zone, the 
 northern especially. The division of the year is con- 
 sidered to be a matter of rainfall ; there being a dry sea- 
 son and a rainy season, without marked difference of 
 temperature, and both varying, in the same latitude, 
 
230 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 according to altitude and situation. There are frequent, 
 most violent thunderstorms and many ''cloudbursts," 
 the latter being, of course, terribly destructive. When 
 a height of 7000 feet and upwards has been reached, 
 it is not uncommon to have frost at night; but snow is 
 rarely seen, even on the loftiest mountains. 
 
 The fauna and flora are both wonderful; the latter 
 especially. The orchids and huge flowering thistles of 
 parts of Central America have given great satisfaction 
 to botanists and their possibilities have not yet been 
 exhausted, because, as with geology, there are tracts 
 which must be marked "Botanical information incom- 
 plete." In Guatemala, there is a remarkable plant to 
 which the Spaniards gave the name of flor de fiehre, 
 ''fever flower," because it seemed to give forth such a 
 violent heat just at the moment of fertilisation. The 
 plants that furnish fruits or berries of service, or mate- 
 rials for use in industries, are numerous. 
 
 It is impossible to get precise and late information as 
 to the population of Central America; but the most 
 recent available statistics indicate that the number of 
 inhabitants is close to frve millions. This estimate, 
 however, includes a very large number of Indians who 
 are entirely uncivilised. It is a remarkable fact that, 
 although these people are ethnically allied to the Indians 
 of Mexico, they have never evinced anything approxi- 
 mating the capacity of their northern kinsmen to 
 assimilate modern culture. This is one of the most 
 extraordinary cases of human relapse, for it is certain 
 that some of the tribes who are now characterised by 
 almost complete savagery, had attained a fairly high 
 level of culture before the Spanish Conquest. These 
 adverse criticisms do not apply to all the Central 
 American Indians. 
 
231 
 
 Throughout the whole of the six RepubKcs, such a 
 preponderance of mixed Spanish and Indian blood exists, 
 that save in remote districts few people of the pure 
 strain on either side are now to be found. The Canal 
 Zone and the government centres of British Honduras 
 are, of course, not included in this statement. Costa 
 Rica is the marked exception to this apparent rule; 
 because in this Republic the whites are numerous. Ac- 
 cording to an estimate made on December 31, 1909, the 
 population of Costa Rica was 368,780, and there were 
 only about 3500 aborigines; of the rest something Hke 
 twenty per cent, were considered ''white." 
 
 On his fourth voyage, in 1502, Columbus discovered 
 this part of the American hemisphere, and the portion 
 now known as Costa Rica was conquered by the Span- 
 iards in 1 5 13. In the third decade of the sixteenth 
 century, Hernando Cortes completed the conquest of 
 Central America. Panama formed a part of the distinct 
 Spanish colony of ''New Granada." Excluding Brit- 
 ish Honduras, Central America continued to be a sep- 
 arate Spanish Captain- Generalcy until 182 1. It was 
 organised into five departments or provinces corre- 
 sponding to the modern RepubHcs. 
 
 From 182 1 until March 21, 1847, Guatemala was a 
 unit of the Confederation of Central America. It then 
 established itself as an independent Republic, and is 
 now governed under the Constitution which was adopted 
 in 1879, but modified in 1885, 1887, 1889, 1903. Speak- 
 ing somewhat loosely, this Constitution is modelled 
 after that of the United States of America. The Presi- 
 dent is chosen by popular election, the suffrage being 
 universal, and he is theoretically ineligible for the term 
 immediately following that for which he was elected. 
 It is needless to say here that this prohibition has been 
 
232 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 as much honoured in the breach as in the observance. 
 Representatives to the National Assembly (Congress) 
 are elected for four years; one for every 20,000 inhabi- 
 tants. Inasmuch as the total population was estimated 
 to be only 1,992,000 at the end of 1910, this legislative 
 body consists of only 100 members. Yet comparison 
 with other States similarly governed, indicates that 
 it is too large. It certainly is usually most unman- 
 ageable. The President is assisted in his administration 
 by a Council of State; some of its thirteen members 
 being elected by the National Assembly, while others 
 are appointed by the President himself. 
 
 Education is free and compulsory; yet, by the very 
 nature of the case, the school attendance is not great, 
 being some 50,000 pupils in 1300 schools. Adherents of 
 all religious creeds have entire freedom in the matter 
 of worship; although Roman Catholicism so preponder- 
 ates that the Protestant faiths are sparsely represented. 
 
 Railway facilities are meagre. The two oceans are 
 linked together, from San Tomas on the Bay of Hon- 
 duras, Atlantic, to San Jose on the Pacific; and connec- 
 tion is, or will be very soon, had with the Mexican system 
 at the frontier. Fairly good harbours exist on both 
 coasts, and the volume of traflfic indicates that Guate- 
 mala is rich in natural resources; but the utter in- 
 stability of the Government, the continual political 
 disturbances, and the frequent economic crises, have 
 greatly retarded development. 
 
 The climate, as is to be expected, is distinctly bad in 
 the lowlands of the coast, yet temperate and salubrious 
 in the highlands, where most of the inhabitants Hve. 
 There are several mountains, some of them active vol- 
 canoes, which may attract the climber; several rise to 
 heights closely approximating 14,000 feet above sea- 
 
Mexico's neighbours 233 
 
 level. Their ascent will combine labour and danger 
 enough to satisfy the most exacting. 
 
 One of the most interesting topics which Guatemala 
 offers the student is that of languages. In 1885, Otto 
 Stoll * estimated the number of spoken languages to 
 be eighteen, although east of the meridian of Lake Ama- 
 titlan the native speech has almost entirely disappeared 
 and been replaced by Spanish. The etymology of the 
 Republic's name is rather interesting: it is '' probably 
 of Aztec origin, and is said by some authorities to mean, 
 in its native form Quauhtematlan, 'Land of the Eagle,' 
 or 'Land of the Forest'; others, writing it U-ha-tez- 
 ma-la, connect it with the volcano of Agua (i.e. 'water'), 
 and interpret it as 'mountain vomiting water.'" The 
 conical Volcan de Agua, twenty-five miles southwest 
 of the present city of Guatemala, is 12,197 feet high. 
 It discharges boiling water, and in 1541 this destroyed 
 the old city of Guatemala. 
 
 The Government of Salvador is so similar to that of 
 Guatemala, as to make it hardly necessary to repeat 
 here. While nominally provision is made for free and 
 compulsory education, adequate schools and teachers 
 are not supplied because of financial and economic diffi- 
 culties. The population of this small republic, only 
 7225 square miles in area, is large as compared with that 
 of the other states of Central America, being 154 to the 
 square mile. Agriculture is the only real industry, but 
 even this is not prosecuted very seriously. Mining and 
 cotton growing are slowly developing; yet progress 
 cannot be seriously considered until something Hke stabil- 
 ity in government and land tenure is assured. 
 
 Railway development is small; but the plans for the 
 great Pan-American Trunk line will, when carried out, 
 * " Die Maya-Sprachen der Pokom-Gruppe." 
 
234 
 
 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 bring improvement in this respect. Briefly, save for 
 some novel phases of Ufe, a Httle scenery, and the peren- 
 nial satisfaction of expanding one's horizon, this Repub- 
 Kc offers little to attract the ordinary tourist. 
 
 Honduras is, probably, the most poorly developed and 
 least progressive of the Central American republics. 
 What has been said of Guatemala and Salvador as to 
 government, applies here in general terms, and the dif- 
 ferences are immaterial. Cape Honduras has the hon- 
 our of being the place where Christopher Columbus 
 first landed in 1502, on the continent of America, and here 
 he took possession in the names of Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bella, King and Queen of Spain. It is not this scene, 
 however, which is familiar to all of us as ''The Landing 
 of Columbus." 
 
 There are many interesting relics of an old civilisa- 
 tion which existed long before the advent of Europeans. 
 To these archaeologists have given attention and been 
 satisfactorily rewarded. It is to be regretted that the 
 Spaniards were so iconoclastic; because had these left 
 iminjured what they found, the efforts of later comers 
 would have been productive of so much greater results 
 in ethnology. 
 
 Nicaragua has compelled the Government of the 
 United States to give to this Republic more attention 
 than would be required had quiet been a characteristic 
 feature of the people and their rulers. Even while 
 this is being written, we read of the necessity for sending 
 American ships to Bluefields, on the Caribbean coast, 
 and to the Pacific ports of the Republic, in order that 
 American Hves and property may be protected from the 
 hands of those who are engaged in another political 
 turmoil. This has been the record of Nicaragua's his- 
 tory, almost continuously since 182 1; one revolution 
 
MEXICO'S NEIGHBOURS 235 
 
 succeeding another, and varied occasionally by a war 
 with a neighbour. 
 
 But aside from this, in the few months of quiet which 
 sometimes intervene, there is probably more in this State 
 to attract the stranger than all the others of Central 
 America, except Panama. Nicaragua, when abnormal 
 conditions of peace exist, is now administered under 
 a very modern Constitution; one that was adopted 
 on March 30, 1905. It provides for universal suffrage; 
 for a Congress of but one branch, whose members serve 
 six years; and for a President Vv^ho is elected, by popu- 
 lar ballot, for six years and is, nominally, ineligible for 
 immediate re-election. 
 
 The remarkably varied character of the country, 
 gives great diversity of climate and conditions of life. 
 The coast regions and the great lacustrine depressions 
 of the interior are dangerous to the imacclimatised 
 stranger; but the high uplands are healthy. Although, 
 as yet, sparsely populated, Nicaragua is improving 
 rapidly in this respect. 
 
 Nominally, Costa Rica's government is that which 
 was provided for by the Constitution adopted in 1870: 
 this, however, did not become operative until 1882. 
 The single House of the National Legislature is composed 
 of members chosen by electoral colleges, elected by a 
 limited suffrage of self-supporting citizens, in the vari- 
 ous departments. There is one member of this House 
 of Representatives for every 8000 inhabitants. The 
 President is similarly elected for a term of four years. 
 
 The Republic has immense agricultural possibilities: 
 *^ almost anything can be grown in Costa Rica." The 
 principal products at present are, however, coffee and 
 bananas. Railways are very few. One line connects 
 Limon, on the Caribbean Sea, with Puntarenas, on the 
 
236 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Pacific. As compared with her sister republics, Costa 
 Rica enjoys a fairly good reputation for quiet and for 
 few revolutions. But it has been quite beyond the capac- 
 ity of local financiers, even when assisted by competent 
 and interested Europeans, to keep the finances in a 
 satisfactory condition. Repeatedly the Republic has 
 *'gone into bankruptcy," refused to pay interest on bor- 
 rowed money, and repudiated bonds. It is now in pretty 
 much this condition, and foreign creditors are working 
 assiduously to save themselves. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to discuss here the Republic 
 of Panama at any length. It was created by sHcing off 
 the department of Panama from the South American 
 Republic of Colombia. This was done, as all the world 
 knows, because the United States insisted upon it. The 
 *' Canal Zone," a strip five miles wide on each side of 
 the Canal route, was granted, leased, in perpetuity to 
 the United States on November 18, 1903. Other con- 
 cessions have been made, and doubtless whatever else 
 the United States wishes will be granted. 
 
 Nominally the cities of Panama and Colon, at the 
 western and eastern ends of the Canal respectively, 
 remain under the authority of the Republic; but com- 
 plete jurisdiction is granted the United States in both 
 cities and their harbours in all that relates to sanitation 
 and quarantine. 
 
 The administration of the Republic of Panama is 
 precisely what might be expected in the circumstances. 
 The government is a highly centralised repubhc. All 
 male citizens over twenty-one years of age have the 
 right to vote, with the usual mental and criminal excep- 
 tions. The President is elected by direct, popular 
 vote for four years and may not succeed himself. The 
 National Assembly, a single chamber, is composed of 
 
MEXICOS NEIGHBOURS 237 
 
 deputies — one for each 10,000 inhabitants (or fraction 
 over 5000) — elected for four years. This Assembly 
 elects three designados, the first of whom succeeds the 
 President in the event of his death or removal for cause. 
 There is no Vice-President. 
 
 Panama is not a poverty-stricken repubHc. There is 
 considerable cattle-raising. Several companies, with 
 foreign capital, have been established in the Bayano 
 Valley. They are interested in bananas, cocoanuts, 
 vegetable ivory, rubber, and cacao. Lumber and cabi- 
 net woods are exported. Gold is mined in paying quan- 
 tity. Fruit of every tropical variety is plentiful. 
 
 We dismiss British Honduras with the remark that 
 no one, save those who have financial interests in lumber, 
 is likely to visit this region. Cabinet woods of many 
 kinds, dye-woods, and building lumber make up the sum 
 total of the colony's industries. The natives are expert 
 woodsmen, but good for absolutely nothing else; and it 
 is declared that there are but ninety square miles under 
 cultivation in the whole 7562 square miles of the coun- 
 try. The poHtical history is very interesting. 
 
 The subject of the Nicaragua railway and canal has 
 purposely been passed by, because there is so much 
 literature at the disposal of those who seek information. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 SOME MEXICAN RESORTS, SPAS, PARADISES 
 
 IT would be impossible to condense into one short 
 chapter a full account of all Mexico's attractive 
 spots, even were one person possessed of the knowledge 
 needed to qualify for doing so. The volcanic nature of 
 the country makes it only natural to expect to find 
 hot springs in many places, and there is hardly a State 
 which does not possess at least one, the waters having 
 more or less mineral and therapeutic qualities. 
 
 The new attractiveness of Vera Cruz as a winter 
 resort has already been commented upon, and the claims 
 of Orizaba at all seasons have been mentioned. The 
 latter city is a haven for the Mexican residents from all 
 directions: the coast people flee to it in summer to escape 
 from the heat, insect pests, and malaria of the tierras 
 calientes; and in winter the balmy climate lures those 
 from the higher altitudes of the bleak plateau. At 
 all times of the year there are likely to be foimd in Ori- 
 zaba visitors from all quarters of the globe, and when 
 the modernisation of the town has progressed so far as 
 to provide hotel accommodations of the kind the travel- 
 ling sybarite demands, the crowd is sure to increase in 
 size. Much more might be said of these two places, 
 but we pass on to a few others that have not already 
 engaged our attention. 
 
 The capital itself is not devoid of attractiveness of 
 the kind which entitles it to a place in this chapter. If 
 one may accept at their full face value the words of 
 praise bestowed upon the City of Mexico by artists, it 
 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 239 
 
 is a place for an artist's lengthy sojourn, because there 
 are still so many delightful nooks and corners which 
 demand that they shall be reproduced on canvas. Then 
 the life, both animate and still, appeals strongly to the 
 wielder of the brush and the mixer of colours. 
 
 The suburbs of the city, Chapultepec, Cherubusco, 
 where is the '' Country Club,'' and many other places 
 within easy reach, have every quality that pleases the 
 tourist. The "Country Club" was started by some 
 Americans, and it is yet looked upon as rather an Ameri- 
 can institution; but it has grown rapidly and become 
 widely popular with all, natives and foreigners alike, pro- 
 vided only that they speak English. The views from 
 the drive at the back of the Club House are thought by 
 some observers almost to rival those from Chapidtepec 
 Hill. 
 
 Mexico City has almost unlimited club facilities for 
 residents, and privileges, with some exceptions, are 
 liberally given to strangers. We pass by the Jockey 
 Club, the most exclusive of all and to which very few 
 foreigners are admitted, because it does not satisfy our 
 ideal of a club. It was founded originally for gambling, 
 and it "went the pace" so briskly that President Diaz 
 pretty nearly suppressed it. It now owns a race-course 
 and spring and autumn meets are held under its auspices; 
 but it is said to be not attractive in the true club way. 
 Americans have their own "down town" club, and 
 Britons have their "British Club." Germans, as is so 
 generally the case the world over, have the finest men's 
 club in the country, and they occasionally offer attract- 
 ive musical or histrionic entertainment for others than 
 "mere men." Spaniards, that is, those who pride them- 
 selves upon being pure CastiKans, have several clubs of 
 their own; one of these almost equals the Jockey in 
 
240 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 membership and exclusiveness. Frenchmen have their 
 own; Chinese theirs, Japanese theirs, and there are, in 
 fact, clubs galore. 
 
 No visitor to Mexico City — if his arrival is not 
 already too late — will fail to make his way in some 
 fashion, preferably by saddle, on a horse or a mule as 
 the gods elect, to the floating gardens of Xochimilco. 
 There is just a little of poetic license in the term "float- 
 ing garden," and yet when the flowers are in bloom, 
 especially the big poppies, there is much that is pic- 
 turesque about the place. The reclamation plan which 
 has already been mentioned may cause the final dis- 
 appearance of these floating gardens; and even now 
 there is little about them to correspond with the descrip- 
 tion of the fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occa- 
 sionally by trees of considerable size, rising and falling 
 with the gentle undulation of the billows, the chinampas 
 that Prescott described. 
 
 Should the stranger's arrival in the capital be at the 
 time when a '* norther" is blqwing, which will cause the 
 total disappearance of the bright blue sky and bring a 
 chill that finds its way to the very marrow (for there 
 will be no fire to sit by and warm himself), he will be 
 told to go to Cuernavaca, where there are orange groves 
 and flowers, where it is always warm and yet never too 
 hot, and where there is the finest climate in the world. 
 
 That sounds like an exaggeration, but it has a very 
 substantial foundation of truth, and not one of those 
 who have visited Cuernavaca, and told us about the 
 place, has contradicted this praise. The journey of 
 seventy-four miles is itself something attractive; the 
 scenery is pleasing, and in places grand, and the histor- 
 ical associations are of the kind to take a firm grip upon 
 the traveller. 
 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 241 
 
 In some parts of its course, the Mexican Central Rail- 
 way, by which one travels, follows the old trail along 
 which the Spaniards passed from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, 
 by way of Mexico City, or vice versa. The trains of 
 pack-mules that one sees to-day making their way up 
 or down or into the mountains are very different from 
 the huge, lumbering ox-carts of early Spanish days, yet 
 they are a reminder of what used to be. 
 
 The Indians named the town towards which, in imagi- 
 nation, we are now journeying, Cuauhnahuac, "Near 
 the trees." The Spaniards shortened this a little to 
 Cuemavaca, "Cow's horn." In pleasing sound there 
 was little loss, in ease of pronunciation there was a 
 decided gain, and we shall do well not to pay atten- 
 tion to the meanings. Both names were appropriate; 
 the first because of the many trees in and near the 
 town; the second because the rocky barranca running 
 through the place is sufficiently conspicuous to suggest 
 the Spanish appellation. The Ajusca range cuts off 
 the "northers" from Cuernavaca and allows it to bask 
 in the warmth of the southern breezes, to whose mois- 
 ture so much of the luxuriant vegetation is due. 
 
 The daily market will certainly lure the visitor to see 
 the piles of fruit or the bright pottery; and the great 
 masses of flowers everywhere will charm all strangers. 
 A week may be pleasantly and profitably passed at 
 Cuernavaca, for there is not only that which brings the 
 revivifying dolce far niente that a lazy, tired, rundown 
 visitor needs, but for the energetic there is much of 
 historic interest. 
 
 Cortes once owned, and often visited, the hacienda of 
 Allamulco, near by, and it is still in the possession of 
 his descendants, although these are now Italian noble- 
 men. Maximilian and Empress Carlotta often came to 
 
242 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 their country place, Olindo, close to Cuernavaca. Prob- 
 ably the tourist will choose to pay the fee of twenty-five 
 centaws, that is, the equivalent of i2| cents American, 
 which is demanded for the privilege of entering the es- 
 tate that formerly belonged to Jose de la Borda, a French 
 Canadian. He tramped into Mexico, ''without a 
 penny," but became at one time the country's greatest 
 silver king. He took fifty million dollars and more 
 from his mines and ''blew it in" with the prodigality of 
 his kind. The estate and what is left of the mansion 
 are about fifty miles from Cuernavaca, and the trip 
 there and back can be made comfortably in a day. 
 Cuernavaca is becoming Americanised rapidly, and 
 during the "season," from February until April, it is 
 so crowded that much of its quaint charm has been 
 rubbed off. 
 
 If the demands of the capital for electricity, to be used 
 in every way the current is employed, including street 
 railways, fighting, bell-ringing, etc., has brought about 
 the obfiteration of the beautiful waterfall which plunged 
 down a thousand feet in the deep gorge of Necaxa, 
 even that spirit of utiHtarianism has not been potent 
 enough to rob the valley of all its charms. Perhaps 
 the place ought not to be included here, because it is 
 not exactly a resort for the public generally. Yet the 
 duly accredited visitor has so fittle difficulty in getting 
 an "open sesame," through his embassy or legation, 
 that it is mentioned. The rather rough trip which the 
 visit entails is more than compensated by the scenery 
 and the experience. 
 
 It is not surprising that there are many thermal springs 
 in Mexico, when we bear in mind the geological forma- 
 tion. If there are not very many active volcanoes, 
 there is such manifest evidence of volcanic influence 
 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 243 
 
 that it would be strange if there were not a goodly num- 
 ber of hot springs giving a little vent to the influence 
 of hidden fires. 
 
 We select the State of Aguas Calientes for considera- 
 tion, simply because of convenience and the embarrass- 
 ment which superabundance of material creates. The 
 name means "Hot Waters," and it is apposite. The 
 little town of Aguas Calientes, the State capital, is 8000 
 feet above the sea, in the great central plateau, and has 
 a deHghtful climate. It is about 150 miles north of the 
 capital, on the main line of the Mexican Central Rail- 
 way. The traveller who demands a measure of luxury 
 will find his wishes catered to in the equipment of some 
 of the trains, and he can make the journey quite comfort- 
 ably. There are several good hotels in the place, and as 
 they are likely to be well filled at all seasons, because 
 visitors flock to Aguas Calientes from all parts of Mex- 
 ico, it is well to make reservations beforehand. 
 
 While natural springs of cold, warm, or hot water are 
 found in all parts of the State, the principal hot ones 
 are those of its capital. All the famous springs have 
 names, the specially important ones being known as San 
 Nicolas de la Cantera, Ojo Caliente, Ojo Calientillo, and 
 Colomo. It is rather interesting to note the meaning 
 of these names. That of the first suggests the good gift 
 of restored health which its water is to bestow, and the 
 association with the munificent St. Nicholas is not in- 
 ept. As the Spaniards call a spring an "Eye of Water," 
 the "hot," caliente, or the "warm," calientillo, connected 
 with ojo, denotes the temperature of the water which 
 flows from two of those springs. The waters range 
 from 86*^ to 105° F. in temperature, and they are con- 
 sidered to be very efficacious in cases of rheumatism and 
 kindred ailments. 
 
244 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 The proprietors of the bath-houses have a curious 
 custom of giving the name of one of Christ's twelve 
 apostles to their establishments. Over the door will 
 be placed an image of the saint chosen as the patron, 
 and by his side a tablet on which are figures to show the 
 temperature of the water. The overflow of hot water 
 runs through the streets in broad ditches, and here the 
 lavenderas, laundresses, gather to wash their clothes. 
 
 There are several phases of Hfe at Aguas Calientes 
 which recall similar conditions in the towns and villages 
 of Japan where there are also hot or medicinal springs. 
 In both countries, Mexico and Japan, bathing in public 
 is now prohibited, as is promiscuous bathing of the sexes 
 in public bath-houses. But in primitive conditions 
 not long ago in Japan, and probably not so very remote 
 in Mexico, all things were pure to the pure, and the 
 simple people saw no impropriety in making free use 
 of the good things the generous gods were kind enough 
 to give them. Civilisation is responsible for some 
 queer changes! 
 
 If the visitor wishes to see Aguas Calientes in gala 
 time, he should arrange his visit so as to include the fes- 
 tival of Saint John the Baptist, June 24th. Then the 
 place is crowded with people from all parts of the Repub- 
 lic, mostly Indians, peasants, and others of the lower 
 classes: this fact should be borne in mind when going 
 out into the thronged streets. 
 
 Every man, woman, and child takes a bath on that 
 day, and perhaps it is the first one since the last anni- 
 versary of Saint John I For most of these people per- 
 mission is given to make use of the free bathing-places 
 which the municipality provides. They make appli- 
 cation by families and groups and are told off in squads 
 under the charge of the police or soldiers detailed for the 
 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 245 
 
 purpose of seeing that the rules of decency and order 
 are respected. It is a noisy time, but is said to be not 
 riotous. 
 
 The town of Aguas Calientes is also en fete at one other 
 time of the year. It begins on April 25th, the festival 
 of Saint Mark, and lasts for ten days. This, however 
 is an occasion of quite a different character from that 
 of Saint John the Baptist's day. It is a time of merri- 
 ment and gambhng rather than of personal lustration. 
 The Mexican Government has, certainly since the effort 
 was first seriously made by President Diaz, set its face 
 against general gambling. But for these ten days in 
 April and May each year, at Aguas Calientes, the pro- 
 hibition is withdrawn, and the town, in this respect, 
 is ^'wide open." Perhaps the wise rulers know their 
 people well and believe that the safety-valve must be 
 allowed to ^'blow off" occasionally, or the risk of disas- 
 trous explosion will be altogether too great. At any 
 rate games of chance and gambling devices of all kinds 
 are permitted, and a good many very respectable people, 
 and clerks of all grades, and servants, and hosts of 
 other folks, take a holiday to be passed at Mexico's 
 temporary Monte Carlo. The gambling saloons do a 
 continuous trade, morning, noon, and night; and they, 
 certainly, must prosper, for when the time for jollifica- 
 tion and gambling is ended, the whole mass of visitors 
 make their way home as best they can, for the ready 
 money is sure to be all gone; and unless forethought has 
 provided for a return railway ticket, it is a case of beg, 
 borrow, steal, or tramp. 
 
 Two, at least, of Mexico's watering-places have pre- 
 empted the title of "The Mexican Carlsbad" to set 
 forth the measure of their charms, Tehuacan, in the 
 State of Puebla, and Cuantla, on the southern slope of 
 
246 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Popocatapetl, in the State of Morelos. To the first, the 
 Mexican who has "a touch of Hver" or kindred ailments 
 betakes himself; and this spa, with two or three min- 
 eral springs, is said to be efficacious in diseases of the 
 kidneys, dissolving calculus, etc. 
 
 But there is a fly in the ointment, and while it may be 
 all quite true that Tehuacan's mineral waters possess 
 remarkable curative powers, the visitor will have to put 
 up with some hardships that might easily be smoothed 
 away. To quote one who speaks from actual experi- 
 ence: *'With a really good, up-to-date hotel, Tehuacan, 
 with its mineral springs, its fine cHmate, and its beauti- 
 ful scenery, would become a resort well worth visiting, 
 and one where many classes of visitors could regain 
 health and strength. Under present conditions, how- 
 ever, there are too many hardships to be endured to make 
 it attractive to people accustomed to comfortable living." 
 
 The town itself is more than ordinarily attractive. 
 It has pretty plazas and wide streets with rows of trees 
 along their centre. Some of the residences are true 
 old-fashioned Spanish mansions, with curiously curled 
 iron brackets in the front wall, from which lamps were 
 suspended. What was a quiet, sleepy old place, has 
 been transformed into a health resort since the railway 
 made it accessible. 
 
 If Cuantla is something of a disappointment as a san- 
 itarium, it is a very attractive winter resort. It stands 
 about 5000 feet above the sea; has a splendid climate, 
 the mean average temperature being 70° F., and in some 
 respects is said to rival Cuernavaca. It is a quaint, 
 old-fashioned place, and boasts of having the oldest 
 railway station in the world; the building used for that 
 purpose was erected in 1657, ^^^ it was until quite 
 recently the Church of San Diego. 
 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 247 
 
 The Valley of Toluca, balmy, mild, delicious, is de- 
 clared to be one of Mexico's Paradises, which the artist 
 and the lover of Nature in her most sublime moments, 
 find irresistible. Tamasopo is another, ''a gem among 
 the many beauty spots of Mexico." It is on the scenic 
 line of the Central Railway, between Tampico and San 
 Luis Potosi. ''One passes a succession of majestic 
 canons, the grandeur of which it would be difficult to 
 depict, let alone exaggerate." 
 
 Lake Chapala and its environs is the last of Mexico's 
 Paradises that we shall mention, simply because of the 
 limitations of space. How many of our readers knew 
 that there is such a lake? Yet it is ten times as large 
 as all the lakes of Northern Italy, and there are islands 
 larger than the entire surface of Loch Lomond. It is 
 almost a hundred miles long and it is thirty-three miles 
 wide. It covers fourteen hundred square miles. Lake 
 Superior is 370 miles long and its area is 32,000 square 
 miles. Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo are also lakes of con- 
 siderable size near Chapala, and all of them are 6,000 
 feet or more above sea-level. They only await develop- 
 ment and advertising to become popular resorts. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 MEXICO'S SEAPORTS, HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS died without know- 
 ing what lay beyond the new continent he 
 had found; although he reaHsed that the New World 
 was not the Asia he had set out to discover. Vasco 
 Nunez de Balboa, on the 29th of September, 15 13, 
 was the first European to look westward over the ocean 
 of whose existence Columbus was certain, but which 
 he had so long vainly tried to reach. 
 
 Ferdinand Magellan (his true name, for he was a 
 Portuguese, was Fernao de Magalhaes), after perils 
 and mishaps that would have dismayed all but such 
 intrepid souls as his, sailed through the straits between 
 the mainland of South America and the group of Tierra 
 del Fuego, into the sea to which he gave the name of 
 Mar Pacifico. That was on the 27th of November, 
 1520. Pursuing his exploration out into the Pacific 
 and confident that he was now to fulfil his promise to 
 the King of Spain to find a way of reaching the Moluc- 
 cas by sailing westward from Europe, Magellan, on the 
 12th of March, 1521, discovered some islands to which 
 he gave the name of St. Lazarus. This was the same 
 year in which Cortes effected the Conquest of Mexico. 
 
 Thus was brought about the overlapping of Spanish 
 and Portuguese claims, under the famous Papal Bull, 
 to which allusion has been already made, and the Con- 
 vention of Tordesilhas; but with this subject we have 
 no further interest at present. Magellan lost his life 
 
Mexico's seaports 
 
 249 
 
 on the island of Mactan, off the coast of Cebu; yet 
 his comrades completed their voyage of circumnavi- 
 gation and on their arrival in Spain reported the new 
 possessions to their sovereign who reahsed that Magel- 
 lan's prophecy was correct. But before occasion arose 
 to make sure of this road to the Moluccas, another had 
 been gained by way of Mexico. 
 
 It was speedily determined to establish commimica- 
 tion with the St. Lazarus Islands through New Spain, 
 and in 1542 or 1543 Rui Lopez de Villalobos sailed from 
 Navidad (the present State of Jalisco) with five galleons 
 and 370 men to take formal possession of the islands. 
 He quarrelled with the Portuguese already in that part 
 of the world, as was inevitable, and he accompHshed 
 nothing, although he did suggest the present name of 
 the archipelago, PhiKppines, by giving the name of 
 FiKpino to the island of Samar. 
 
 In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpe founded the Span- 
 ish settlement of San Miguel at the town of Cebu, which 
 afterwards became La Villa de Santissimo Nombre de 
 Jesus, because of an image of our Saviour that was 
 found there, miraculously, Legazpe and his men de- 
 clared, but which had doubtless been accidentally left 
 by some of Magellan's party. 
 
 Later, Legazpe founded a new city and established 
 the capital of the colony at Manila, and in a letter which 
 he wrote in 1567, the name Islas FiHpinas appeared 
 for the first time. It requires a stretch of the imagina- 
 tion to picture the Spaniards, about the middle of the 
 sixteenth century, fitting out at Navidad an expedition 
 to cross the Pacific Ocean. This harbour was soon 
 abandoned for the better one, Acapulco, a Httle farther 
 south. This latter port, in the State of Guerrero, was 
 at that time, as it is to-day, the best natural harbour 
 
250 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 on the Pacific coast and, indeed, in the whole Repub- 
 lic. It is completely landlocked, yet so easy of entrance 
 that a pilot is scarcely necessary, and the rocky shores 
 are so bold, with deep water close to them, that the 
 largest steamers can lie close in. 
 
 The writer recalls his own experience at this place 
 in May, 1866. It was during the struggle between the 
 RepubHcan forces and the French and Imperialists imder 
 Maximihan. The former were in possession of the 
 town; but the latter occupied the heights which towered 
 close about the place. The steamer had entered just 
 as the dusk of evening gave way to the intense darkness 
 of a moonless night. Yet not a light was to be seen in 
 any part of the town, because the besiegers were ready 
 to shoot at any light in the hope of hitting somebody. 
 At intervals, along the top of the surrounding moun- 
 tains, the watch-fires of the Imperialists could be seen. 
 
 Cargo was discharged into lighters at the side of the 
 steamer opposite the town, and some was received at 
 the same place. The work was done by what Httle illu- 
 mination was given by the ship's inside lights, oil-lamps 
 and lanterns. The French troops would not have dared 
 to fire upon a neutral ship; but the stevedores had no 
 idea of what neutrality meant, and they would run no 
 risk. 
 
 Communication with the shore was supposed to be 
 forbidden; that is, passengers, save the very few who 
 were booked for Acapulco, were not permitted openly 
 to land. Yet after the evening dinner the freight clerk 
 asked the writer if he would care to take the chance of 
 being shot at by going ashore for an hour or so to get a 
 cup of Mexican chocolate. The spice of danger was 
 tempting and the invitation was accepted. By a rope 
 ladder hung from the taffrail, four of us clambered down 
 
SEAPORTS 251 
 
 into a shore boat and were pulled ashore noiselessly with 
 muffled oars. 
 
 Landing at the end of a dilapidated stone quay, each 
 one was taken between two men and led over the rough 
 rocks to a street. After a little we reached the door- 
 way of a house and entered the patio, courtyard, which 
 was thickly and closely covered with straw mats and 
 tarpaulins. In one of the rooms openiQg onto the patio, 
 the small windows of which were closely screened, we 
 were served with chocolate and some sort of light cake. 
 After that came the cigarettes, and then we were guided 
 back to the boat and so returned to the ship, which 
 steamed out within an hour after we were on board. 
 No doubt the way in which it was obtained gave a spe- 
 cial relish to it, yet the taste of that thick, creamy 
 chocolate, in which a spoon would almost stand alone, 
 hngers to this day. 
 
 During the centuries of Spanish sovereignty in Mex- 
 ico, each year a galleon (until the modern ship was 
 evolved) sailed from Acapulco for Manila, and another 
 returned laden with the treasures and luxuries of the 
 Far East. The arrival of the vessel from the Philip- 
 pines was the signal for calling together merchants 
 from all parts of Mexico, who came to purchase what- 
 ever of the cargo the officials were willing or permitted 
 to sell. The greater part, it is needless to say, was 
 taken in ox-carts, accompanied by a heavy military 
 escort, to Mexico City and thence sent on to Vera 
 Cruz, to be re-shipped in another galleon and forwarded 
 to Seville or Cadiz. 
 ^^ When Mexico declared its independence and the sep- 
 aration between the colony and the mother-country 
 was completed, the vessels from the Philippine Islands 
 no longer crossed the Pacific, but made their way to 
 
252 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Europe around the Cape of Good Hope. This entailed 
 disaster to Acapulco, and the place was almost depopu- 
 lated; but when the rush to the gold fields of California 
 began, it was made a port of call for steamers between 
 the Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, or San Juan del 
 Sur (Nicaragua), and San Francisco. This somewhat 
 revived the town, and a measure of prosperity has con- 
 tinued ever since. Acapulco is even now the most 
 important harbour on the west coast, and when it is 
 connected by rail with the entire system of the country 
 will probably develop yet more. The accomplishing 
 of this connection involves engineering difficulties even 
 exceeding those encountered in completing the line 
 from Vera Cruz to Mexico City; for the railway has to 
 pierce the very heart of the Sierra Madre Occidental 
 where there is no such thing as a pass. 
 
 The most formidable rival that Acapulco harbour 
 has is that of Manzanillo, State of Colima. In natural 
 advantages this port cannot be compared with Acapulco. 
 It is not well sheltered from north and northwest winds 
 and it is shallow. It is, however, easy of access by rail- 
 way from the interior, and the Mexican Central several 
 years ago built a line of one hundred and fifty miles 
 or so to this place. The Government has expended 
 $20,000,000 (gold) in constructing the artificial port, 
 jetties, etc. This undertaking was greatly hampered 
 by sanitary conditions, and an immense amount of pre- 
 liminary work was done in drainage of stagnant waters 
 and general sanitation before the actual task of harbour 
 improvement could be touched. The hinterland of 
 Manzanillo is so rich in minerals — gold, silver, copper, 
 lead — has such agricultural and grazing possibilities, 
 and will soon be furnishing so much coffee as cargo for 
 San Francisco, that the future prosperity is reasonably 
 
SEAPORTS 253 
 
 assured. Manzanillo is, too, the seaport for Colima, the 
 State capital, and the Lake Chapala region, and this is a 
 factor in passenger traffic which is of importance. 
 
 The few remaining harbours on the west coast which 
 merit even passing attention have no historic interest, 
 being all included in the modern development of Mex- 
 ico, and they are of purely utiKtarian value. Salina 
 Cruz, the western terminus of the Tehuantepec Rail- 
 way, was naturally an open roadstead terrifically buf- 
 feted by the restless, heavy surf of the Pacific, without 
 any inherent features of a good port. Yet engineering 
 science, supplied with ample financial means, has con- 
 structed a double harbour by building immense break- 
 waters. The inner of these harbours actually covers 
 the site of the former town of SaHna Cruz, and skele- 
 ton wharves of steel permit steamers to moor along- 
 side. The depth of water is not yet sufficient to allow 
 of deep-draught ocean steamers entering this inner har- 
 bour; but the plans for dredging, when carried out, 
 may remedy this defect. The new town of Salina Cruz 
 is not an attractive place of residence. The cHmate is 
 trying and all the conditions of Uf e more or less irritating. 
 
 Puerto Angeles is simply a small harbour at which 
 coasting steamers call. If this place, or the neighbour- 
 ing Escondido Bay, ever attains any importance it will 
 be as the seaport of the large, prosperous, and wide- 
 awake city of Oaxaca, the capital of the State in which 
 both are located. 
 
 San Bias, in Sinaloa, and Guaymas, in Sonora, both 
 have good harbours and they will doubtless come to 
 be important ports of entry as general development 
 progresses. They will be benefited by the north and 
 south semi-coastal railway which the Southern Pacific 
 Company is building down into Mexico. Guaymas has 
 
254 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 been a port of considerable importance from the earliest 
 days of steamship traffic along the western coast of the 
 Americas. It is the natural port of entry for the 
 flourishing city of Hermosillo, the capital of the State 
 of Sonora, and its hinterland is capable of immense 
 development in every way, including mining, agriculture, 
 and stock-raising. 
 
 Mazatlan is a name familiar to all on the Pacific 
 coast of the United States who have had anything to 
 do with Mexico during the past half century, for it has 
 been the main entrepot of the famous mining States, 
 Sinaloa, Durango, and Zacatecas. The harbour is a 
 good one and with existing, as well as with contemplated, 
 railway connections, there is a promise of a great future 
 for this port. For a time the Mexican Government 
 contemplated centering at Mazatlan the energy which 
 was afterwards transferred to Manzanillo, and proposed 
 constructing a great artificial harbour with ample docks 
 and other equipment. 
 
 Topolobampo, or — as it is proposed to re-christen 
 the place — Port Stilwell, is the Pacific coast terminus 
 of the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway. This 
 is a great international line in which American and 
 European capital is invested; it received munificent 
 concessions but no subsidy from the Mexican Govern- 
 ment. Topolobampo is said to remind the visitor very 
 much of the far-famed and beautiful Bay of Rio de 
 Janeiro. ''Here are to be seen almost the same curi- 
 ously-formed sugar-loaf mountains, the same land- 
 locked harbour, dotted with verdure-clad islets with 
 their waving palm-plumes, and, of course, the same 
 beautiful atmospheric conditions. Rio is considerably 
 larger, deeper, and wider than Topolobampo, but in 
 general appearance, as I have said, it closely resembles 
 
Mexico's seaports 255 
 
 it.''* But with all its scenic attractiveness and natural 
 advantages, Port Stilwell, as an ocean trafl&c emporium, 
 has some drawbacks because of being so far up the Gulf 
 of California as it is. Mazatlan has nearly a day's 
 steaming the advantage over it; and Manzanillo and 
 Acapulco are both directly accessible from the open sea 
 without going much farther. The railway, of which 
 Port Stilwell is the deep-water terminus, serves an enor- 
 mously rich country, however, and this fact must have 
 an important bearing on the future of the place. 
 
 We next turn to the harbours on the east coast. Until 
 less than a decade ago, Coatzocoalcos was an unknown 
 little Indian fishing-village; to-day, under the new name 
 of Puerto Mexico, and as the eastern terminus of the 
 Tehuantepec Railway, it is not only well known through- 
 out the industrial and shipping world, but it stands 
 forth (with its complement, Sahna Cruz) as a symbol 
 of Mexico's determination to advance. An enormous 
 sum of money has been expended in constructing an arti- 
 ficial harbour in which steamers of very deep draught 
 may He alongside wharves. 
 
 Progreso, the seaport of Merida, capital of Yucatan, 
 is of importance as being the shipping port for the great 
 henequen t industry, and the reasonable certainty of in- 
 crease in that business gives substantial promise that 
 the Httle town will live up to its name. The harbour, 
 however, is not an ideal one. While Campeche, Che- 
 tumal, Frontera, Alvarado, Nautla, Champoton, Isla 
 Aguada, Puerto Morelos, Tuxpan, and possibly a few 
 others, may all be considered as Gulf ports, not one of 
 them is of sufficient importance to deserve more than 
 naming; and the same may be said of some places on 
 the west coast which may seem to have been overlooked. 
 
 * P. F. Martin, op. cit. Cf. W. E. Carson, op. cit. 
 t Fibre of the Mexican agave; sisal hemp. 
 
256 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Of Vera Cruz and Tampico a suggestion has been 
 given. As between the two, the former is more valuable 
 to the Government of Mexico because the imports there 
 are of a more valuable kind, if less in quantity, paying 
 higher duties than do the coals and metals which con- 
 stitute the bulk of Tampico's imports. Although Vera 
 Cruz has been made a very good artificial harbour, at 
 the expenditure of a great deal of money, it yet has the 
 disadvantages which its situation entails. At Tampico, 
 on the other hand, the work of the stevedores can be car- 
 ried on practically the whole year round. A ''norther" 
 may interfere at Tampico; at Vera Cruz it effectu- 
 ally puts a stop to all work, and ships dare not attempt 
 to enter or leave. Vessels may be detained a day or 
 two by low water at Tampico bar; this, however, rarely 
 happens and it is comparatively nothing by the side of 
 the total suspension which often occurs at Vera Cruz. 
 The expense of handling cargo at Tampico is barely 
 two-thirds of what it is at Vera Cruz. 
 
 It will thus be seen that Mexico, for all her long coast 
 line on two oceans, has but one truly natural harbour, 
 Acapulco. Here only can the shipping business be 
 prosecuted without great expense in harbour construc- 
 tion or improvement. But climatic conditions at Aca- 
 pulco are not so favourable as they are elsewhere. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 WHEN the United States of America j&rst de- 
 parted from her traditions of resting content 
 with the territory between the Canadian and Mexican 
 frontiers and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
 by purchasing from Russia the latter 's possessions in 
 North America, she began a process of expansion upon 
 which many statesmen and publicists looked with dis- 
 favour. This is not the place to comment upon the fact 
 that the purchase was in the nature of an appreciation 
 for favours granted at a critical moment, or that the 
 purchase has developed into a valuable property. 
 
 It is true this expansion did not take the United States 
 off the continent of North America; but Alaska is not 
 geographically connected in any way with the United 
 States proper, and the acquisition seemed to be a depar- 
 ture from what the people had come to consider an es- 
 tablished precedent. Their energies were, until 1867, 
 supposed to be restricted to the development of the real 
 United States of that date, and expansion meant merely 
 the natural growth of western territories into States, 
 without stretching out beyond the boundary between 
 themselves and the Canadians on the north, and the 
 Mexicans on the south. In this view of conditions, the 
 Louisiana Purchase had not been stultification. 
 
 This policy of non-foreign expansion prevailed until 
 almost the end of the nineteenth century, when the 
 Hawaiian Islands were annexed, again in the face of 
 violent opposition. There speedily came, then, yet fur- 
 
258 THECOMINGMEXICO 
 
 ther over-seas expansion in the acquisition of the Phil- 
 ippine Archipelago, Guam, Porto Rico, and Tutuila 
 (Samoa). Within a few years past it has seemed wise 
 to the American Government to secure possession of 
 the Panama Canal Zone, even if this action has not been 
 imiversally approved by the people. That qualifica- 
 tion, however, may be applied to every one of the terri- 
 torial accessions beyond the narrowly defined United 
 States of America. 
 
 The restrictions of tradition having been once over- 
 come in 1898, by going across the sea to expand the 
 dominions, gradually the American people are being 
 trained to look upon expansion as manifest destiny; and 
 probably it would be an easier matter to persuade them 
 now to approve of the annexation of Mexico than it 
 could have been a quarter of a century ago. 
 
 So far as diplomacy and world politics bear upon the 
 subject, the writer decKnes to express an opinion about 
 the wisdom of taking over the Panama Canal Zone. 
 Economically there seemed to be no alternative. Grant- 
 ing cheerfully that the Panama Canal had to be built, 
 for the rush of the present time demands some such 
 additional facility for naval and mercantile marine 
 communication between the West and the East, it is 
 manifest that no other power than the United States 
 could be permitted to undertake the financing and 
 construction of the canal, as well as its control and 
 maintenance after it is once built. 
 
 The United States of Colombia was not financially, 
 physically, or technically able to build the Canal. Nor 
 could the United States of America safely agree to 
 finance the undertaking and leave the control in the 
 hands of a Spanish-American Republic. Experience 
 had taught, and the events of each day are confirming, 
 
CONCLUSION 259 
 
 the lesson that the instability of these Republics would 
 make such a risk altogether too hazardous. The Canal 
 had to be an American investment purely and the valu- 
 able property had to be safeguarded. 
 
 It has come to pass, then, that there is a strip of the 
 United States domain, only ten miles wide and some forty 
 miles long, representing an investment of hundreds of 
 millions of dollars. This valuable strip, whose impor- 
 tance is not measured alone by the standard of money, 
 is separated from the bulk of the country by the United 
 States of Mexico and the Central American Republics. 
 To this detached piece of property the United States 
 has access, in common with all maritime nations, by sea; 
 and this communication is hampered in her case by 
 precisely the same obstacles as those which pertain to 
 any other naval and maritime power; that is to say, 
 the perils and dangers of the deep at all times, and the 
 presence of a powerful enemy to prevent access in the 
 event of war, when the Canal would be of the greatest 
 service in the matter of communication, and most need- 
 ing the care and protection of the owner who has every- 
 thing to lose in the event of absolute capture or partial 
 damage. 
 
 Of the doubtful stability of the Mexican Government 
 a hint has been given; and this is a subject which must 
 be handled very delicately, for otherwise a needless 
 woimd might be inflicted upon properly sensitive people. 
 Of the positive weakness of the Central American Repub- 
 lics it is hardly necessary to speak. American inter- 
 vention has gone to an extreme which should be resented 
 by any self-respecting government; but it was impera- 
 tively necessary to protect the lives and property of 
 Americans in Nicaragua from a mob of *' revolutionists." 
 And what may happen in the future no man can tell. 
 
26o THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Between Nicaragua and Panama lies the RepubKc of 
 Costa Rica, reasonably quiet and peaceful in normal 
 conditions, yet always in such an impecunious state as 
 to be exceedingly unsatisfactory as a buffer state. The 
 record of past events teaches us that the citizens of this 
 country have not shown entire lack of capacity for inter- 
 nal disturbances, even though we can truthfully say that 
 these have been of less frequent occurrence in Costa 
 Rica than in any of her sister RepubHcs. Yet the Gov- 
 ernment has been compelled to maintain an army en- 
 tirely beyond its means, simply to guard against political 
 and personal possibilities. Should the foreign creditors 
 push their claims, it is by no means impossible that 
 this would be the signal for a revolt that might easily 
 be dangerous to the Republic of Panama and the Canal 
 Zone. 
 
 It seems to be highly desirable that the United States 
 shall have access by land to the costly and strategically 
 as well as commercially valuable Panama Canal; yet 
 how this may be secured is a problem which is doubtless 
 giving American Government officials and army and navy 
 officers much anxiety. So far as Mexico is concerned, 
 when peace in that Republic is absolutely restored and 
 the Government again firmly established in permanent 
 rule of the whole country, a treaty of alliance might 
 accomplish all that is needed; provided this treaty 
 could be drawn in terms which admitted of the trans- 
 portation of troops and munitions of war from the 
 frontier across Mexico, without giving offence to the 
 citizens. But no such treaty with any of the Central 
 American Republics would be worth much more than 
 the paper on which it was written. 
 
 Without presuming to prophesy what may be done 
 or how it might be accomplished, we can hardly refrain 
 
 I 
 
1 ^' '-.. ""-^ 
 
CONCLUSION 261 
 
 from saying that it seems as if some measure must be 
 taken, either of annexation or protection, to secure per- 
 manent right for the United States to get southward 
 by land from the Mexican border all the way to the 
 Panama Canal Zone. There are many people in various 
 parts of the world — and they are not all Americans 
 or Britons — who consider the control of the whole 
 North American continent by the two Enghsh-speaking 
 peoples "a, consummation devoutly to be wished." 
 
 But if it is hazardous to write of what may be polit- 
 ically in store for The Coming Mexico, there is no cogent 
 reason for refraining from speculation as to the material 
 progress of that country. Consideration for the feel- 
 ings of the people of the Republic compels us to wish 
 that they may be permitted to work out their own social 
 and poHtical development. The only assistance from 
 outside that should be sought is the needed capital and 
 the desirable supervision by competent technologists 
 over the great industrial enterprises which have already 
 been established and which will be expanded and 
 increased in scope by enterprise in fields that have not 
 yet been exploited. 
 
 It will have been noted by careful readers of newspaper 
 accounts of events in Mexico during the time since 
 President Diaz was compelled to relinquish control 
 that there has been no apparent disposition to discon- 
 tinue the governmental concessions for railways, mining, 
 industries, etc. Nor has there been any evidence of a 
 tendency to curtail the privileges heretofore granted. 
 It is unfortunately true that some of the properties in 
 which foreigners are interested, have been injured; but 
 that was always the act of a mob, and such acts do 
 not militate against the good faith of the Central 
 Government. 
 
262 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 There is no good reason to believe that other for- 
 eigners who are prepared to give satisfactory proof of 
 ability and integrity will be refused concessions upon 
 application and in just the same favourable terms as 
 heretofore. 
 
 The first Spaniards, when they described Mexico and 
 its wealth, scarcely mentioned silver, but dwelt enthu- 
 siastically upon the enormous quantity of gold and the 
 little value which the Aztecs seemed to put upon this 
 precious metal. We are told that Montezuma gave 
 Cortes presents of gold, in dust, bullion, utensils, and 
 ornaments, that were valued by the Spaniards at over 
 seven million pesos de oro. In terms of the purchasing 
 power of money, that would easily represent thirty 
 million gold dollars to-day. 
 
 A great deal of gold has undoubtedly been taken out 
 of Mexican placers and mines, usually in combination 
 with other metals; but no true gold mines have been 
 re-discovered since the arrival of the Spaniards, that 
 could possibly have yielded gold in the quantity which 
 Aztec lavishness indicates. 
 
 It is said by some of the Mexicans (that is, by Span- 
 iards and a few Creoles) that the Indians know where 
 true gold-bearing ores exist in enormous quantities; 
 but they continue superstitiously to preserve the secret 
 of the locality of these possible mines. Education and 
 civilisation might overcome this superstition and help 
 the foreign miners to get at these natural stores, without 
 going to the expenditure of large sums in prospecting. 
 There must be somewhere in Mexico richer gold-bearing 
 veins than any that have yet been exploited; and sys- 
 tematic search for these will continue to tempt investors 
 until success rewards their efforts. 
 
 One of the fabled gold mines is said to be in the land 
 
CONCLUSION 263 
 
 of the Tlapacoyan Indians (probably in the present State 
 of Oaxaca), who paid tribute to the Spaniards with nug- 
 gets of almost pure gold. The foreigners tried to induce 
 the natives to tell whence the gold came, but the informa- 
 tion was refused. At last a Spanish priest, who had 
 learnt their language, and who had, by his kindness and 
 ministrations, ingratiated himself with these Indians, 
 was taken to the place. The guides, however, insisted 
 that the padre must be bHndfolded and he consented; 
 but he fastened a bag of corn to his belt and hid this 
 under his cloak. Then as his mule walked along, at 
 every few steps he dropped a kernel to ^' blaze his trail.'' 
 
 When the company finally stopped and the blind 
 was taken from his eyes, the priest was dumbfounded 
 at the quantity of rock he saw about him, all filled with 
 veins of pure gold. While he was rejoicing at his own 
 cleverness in making the discovery, and speculating upon 
 the joy his report would cause the Viceroy, an Indian 
 came to him and said: *' Father, you dropped your corn 
 as you came along; but I have picked it up for you and 
 here it is, every grain. Please give me your blessing." 
 It may be assimied that the priest complied; but his 
 chagrin when he reaHsed that his artifice had been 
 detected and defeated, must be left to the imagination. 
 There can be no good reason why Mexico should not 
 advance from the fifth place in the list of gold-producing 
 countries to the first. 
 
 There are yet many opportunities for strangers to 
 invest capital profitably in Mexico; but it should be 
 noted that the success of all kinds of enterprises has not 
 inured to the benefit of the foreigner exclusively. There 
 is to be found an increasing number of native capitaUsts 
 who are themselves watching for chances to invest their 
 accumulations. Some evidence of this is seen in the 
 
264 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 fact that the Government has acquired a controlling 
 interest in the railway system; for not all of the bonds 
 issued for this purpose are held by foreigners. There 
 are banks and many financial enterprises in the hands of 
 Mexicans, and in many other ways a certain prosperity 
 in some classes is evident. All this augurs well for the 
 domestic character of future progress. It will doubtless 
 be a long time before the foreign capitalists are wholly 
 supplanted, yet there are not wanting indications that 
 such a time is coming. Only, after all is said, it is 
 upon peace and stabiUty that The Coming Mexico 
 depends. 
 
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 Discovery to the Close of the Seventeenth Century. 1854. 
 Flandrau, Charles Macomb. Viva Mexico! 1909. 
 FoLSOM, George. Despatches of Hernando Cor tez. Tr. 1843. 
 Forstmann. Mexico. [Dresden Codex.] 1892. 
 Gadow, Hans Frederich. Through Southern Mexico. 1908. 
 Gage, Thomas. Compendio de la historia de Guatemala. Tr. 1857. 
 George, Isaac. Heroes and Incidents of the Mexican War. 1903. 
 GiLLPATRiCK, Owen Wallace. The Man who Likes Mexico. 
 
 1911. 
 GoDAY, Jose Francisco. Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico. 191 1 . 
 Hale, Albert Barlow. Practical Guide to Latin-America. 1909. 
 Hall, Alfred Bates, and Chester, Clarence L. Panama and 
 
 the Canal. 191 1. 
 Hall, Susan. Story of Mexico. 1894. 
 Handbooks of Central-American Republics. Bur. of Amer. 
 
 Republics. 
 Holmes. Archceological Studies among the Ancient Mexicans. 
 
 1893. 
 Humboldt, Alexander von. Essai politique sur la royaume de la 
 Nouvelle Espagne. Tr. 2 v. 181 1, 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 
 
 Iglehart, Mrs. Frances (Chambers) Gooch. Face to Face with 
 
 the Mexicans. 1887. 
 Irving, Washington. Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. 
 
 Several eds. 1828. 
 Janvier, Thomas Allibone. Legends of the City of Mexico. 
 
 1911. 
 Jay, William. Causes and Consequences of the Mexican War. 
 Johnson, Hannah More. About Mexico, Past and Present. 
 
 1887. 
 Kemper, J. Maximilian in Mexico. Tr. 1911. 
 KiNGSBOROUGH, LoRD. Antiquities of Mexico. 10 v. Facsimiles 
 
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 Kirkham, Stanton Davis. Mexican Travels. 1909. 
 Lindsay, C. H. A. F. Panama and the Canal To-day. 1910. 
 Lombard, T. R. The New Honduras. 1897. 
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 MacNutt, Francis Augustus. Fernando Cortes and the Con- 
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 Maler. In Memoirs of Peabody Museum, Vol. ii. 1902. 
 Mansfield, E. D. The Mexican War. 1849. 
 Martin, Percy Falcke. Mexico of the Twentieth Century. 2 v. 
 
 1908. 
 Maudsley, a. C. In Godman and Salvine's Biologia Centrali- 
 
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 Maudsley, A. C. and A. P. A Glimpse at Guatemala, and 
 
 Some Notes on the Ancient Monuments of Central America. 
 
 1887. 
 Mayer, Brantz. Mexico as it Was and as it Is. 1847. 
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 NiEDERLEiN, GusTAVO. The Republic of Guatemala. 1898. 
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 Norman, B. M. Rambles in Yucatan. 1843. 
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268 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
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 1905. 
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 1908. 
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 1898. 
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 1892. 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 
 
 Wallace, Gen. Lew. The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: 
 
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INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico, 
 
 27 
 Acapulco, 249; formerly only 
 Pacific coast port of entry, 113 
 Accidental linguistic resemblance, 
 
 81 
 Acolhua, 14; Acolhuans, 93 
 Aguas Calientes, 134; baths, 243; 
 
 festivals, 244 
 Aguas Calientes, State, wealth, 160 
 Aguilhar, J. de, Cortes' interpreter, 
 
 46 
 Ajusco, mountain, 193 
 Alliance, U. S. A., France, and 
 
 Spain, 107 
 Amazement of officials at Indian 
 
 revolt, 219 
 America, ancient communication 
 
 with Asia, 6 
 American, capital needed in Mex- 
 ico, 207; doctors and dentists, 
 212; goods on sale, 211; invest- 
 ments, 207 
 Americanisation of Mexico, 216 
 Americans and revolt of Spanish- 
 American colonies, 60 
 Americans in Mexico, 205 
 Anahuac-Nahua, difference, 28 
 Ancient inhabitants of Mexico, 
 
 their culture, 7 
 Ancient, records, destruction of, 4; 
 
 remains, 123, 125 
 Antiquarian in Mexico, 122 
 Antiquarian investigation, 129 
 "Antiquities of Mexico, The," 
 Kingsborough's, 2, 133 
 
 Aranda, suggests three Spanish em- 
 pires in America, no 
 
 Archaeological specimens, 5 
 
 Archaeologist in Mexico, 122 
 
 Asia, ancient communication with 
 America, 6 
 
 "Assumption, The," Murillo's pic- 
 ture, 132 
 
 Attitude of revolutionary leaders 
 towards Indians, 199 
 
 Aztec, artist, 48; blankets, 136; 
 calendar, 31, 33; calendar stone, 
 131; character, 13; civilisation, 
 27, 28; fading loyalty to Quet- 
 zalcoatl, 40; festivals, 38; god 
 of war, 36; numeration, 33; 
 records of 13th century, 28; 
 religion, 120; the name, 10; 
 transliteration of words, 2 
 
 Azteca, 14 
 
 Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, 248 
 
 Bancroft, H. H., 5 
 
 Batres, L., 125 
 
 Big game, 155 
 
 Boundaries of Mexico, 15 
 
 Bravo continues agitation for in- 
 dependence, 62 
 
 British Government, effect upon, 
 of alliance, U. S. A,, France, 
 and Spain, 107 
 
 British Honduras, 237 
 
 Buckle, H. T., Ill 
 
 Buildings, 183 
 
 Bull-fights, 87, 153 
 
274 
 
 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Cabinet, Ministry, 71 
 
 Cabo San Antonio, Cuba, 45 
 
 Cabs, 185 
 
 Calendar, comparison of Asian and 
 Aztec, 32 
 
 Campeche, State, wealth, 160 
 
 Canadian investments in Mexico, 
 210 
 
 Capital, need of, 213 
 
 Cargadores, porters, 84 
 
 Carriages, 91 
 
 Carson, W. E., 141 
 
 Castes, Toltec, 9 
 
 Central America, 225; climate, 
 229; communication with Asia, 
 6; fauna and flora, 230; popu- 
 lation, 231 
 
 Central American Court of Arbi- 
 tration, 203 
 
 Central Mexico, 52 
 
 Ceramics, 134 
 
 Chalca, 14 
 
 Chalco, Lake, 20 
 
 Chapala, Lake, 20, 247 
 
 Chapultepec Club, 90 
 
 Character, of Aztec civilisation, 
 28; of movement for indepen- 
 dence, 198; of original prov- 
 inces, 69 
 
 Charnay, Desire, 125 
 
 Chiapas, State, wealth, 161 
 
 Chichen Itza, ruins, 125 
 
 Chichimecs, 14 
 
 Chihuahua, State, wealth, 161 
 
 China, communication with Cen- 
 tral America, 6 
 
 Chinese calendar, 32 
 
 Chinese rock inscription at Mag- 
 dalene, Sonora, 80 
 
 Cholula, great pyramid, 127 
 
 Christian, F. W., 79 
 
 Civilisation, Mexican, 5 
 
 Claims of France in North Amer- 
 ica, 108 
 
 Classes in railway trains, 181 
 
 Classification of Indian family- 
 groups, 79 
 
 Clavigero, F. X., historian, 105 
 
 Clergy, their temporal power, 56 
 
 Climate of Central America, 229 
 
 Coahuila, State, wealth, 161 
 
 Cock-fights, 87 
 
 Coffee-planting, 215 
 
 Colima, mountain, 196; State, 
 wealth, 162 
 
 College of San Juan de Letran, 73 
 
 Columbus, C, 231, 248; discovery 
 of America, 68 
 
 Communication, Central America 
 and Asia, 6 
 
 Conquest of Mexico, not justifi- 
 able, 45 
 
 "Conquest of Mexico, The," 
 Prescott, I, 40 
 
 Conversion of natives, 120 
 
 Cordillera de Anahuac, 18 
 
 Cordova's expedition to Nicara- 
 gua, 43 
 
 Cortes, Hernando, 102, 231; fleet 
 and armament, 43; reaches 
 Tabasco River, 42 ; San Juan de 
 Ulua, 46; lands, 47; founds 
 Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, 48; to 
 Cempoalla, to Chiahuitzlta, 49; 
 plays trick on Cempoallans, 49; 
 destroys fleet, 49; speech to 
 followers, 50; to Cholula, 51; 
 Tlascala, 51; Amaquemac, 53; 
 Tenochtitlan; enters Mexico 
 City, 54; completes conquest, 54 
 
 Costa Rica, 235 
 
 Cotton, 30 
 
 "Creole," inaccurately used, 57 
 
 Cuantla, "spa," 245 
 
 Cuemavaca, 134; daily market, 
 241; resort, 240 
 
 Cuitlahuatl, king of Aztecs, 100 
 
 Culture of ancient Mexicans, 7 
 
 Curricula of colleges and schools, 
 75 
 
INDEX 
 
 275 
 
 Delay in recognising Mexican in- 
 dependence, 204 
 Derivation of name, "Mexico," 2 
 Destruction of ancient records, 4 
 Development of the Republic, i 
 Diaz, Porfirio, 106, 214; his rule, 
 
 118 
 Difi&culty in organising United 
 
 States of Mexico, 119 
 Diligencia, 182 
 Dissension in Spain's royal family, 
 
 113 
 Divisions, political, of Mexico, 69 
 *''Dravm-work," 136 
 Durango, State, wealth, 162 
 
 Education, 225; revolutions inter- 
 fered with, 76 
 
 Effect of example of U. S. A., 109 
 
 Effect on Great Britain of alliance, 
 U. S. A., France, and Spain, 107 
 
 Enc. Brit., discrepancy regarding 
 Toltecs, 29 
 
 England disregards Spain's claims 
 in America, 68 
 
 "Entombment of Christ," Titian's 
 picture, 133 
 
 Ethnological lines in political di- 
 visions, 70 
 
 Ethnological material, 132 
 
 Ethnology of Mexico, 78 
 
 European investments in Mexico, 
 210 
 
 Expansion of U. S. A., 257 
 
 Expulsion of Spaniards, 220 
 
 Fair God — • Quetzalcoatl, 8 
 "Fair God, The," WaUace's book, 
 
 40 
 False independence unsatisfactory, 
 
 62 
 Famous mines, 159 
 Federal District, wealth, 163 
 Federal Judiciary, 72 
 Ferdinand VIL, 217 
 
 First regular government, 61 
 Flora in tierras calientes, 22 
 Food, 146 
 Former communication, America 
 
 and Asia, 6 
 Former extent, of Mexico, i; of 
 
 Spanish America, 67 
 France cedes possessions in North 
 
 America to Great Britain, 109 
 France disregards Spain's claims 
 
 in America, 68 
 French claims in North America, 
 
 108 
 "Funeral" tramcars, 186 
 
 Gachupines, 218 
 
 Game, 155 
 
 Gobineau, theory of Yellow Race, 
 
 6 
 Gold mines, 263 
 Golden Age of Tezcuco, 95 
 Government purchase of railways, 
 
 181 
 Grant, U. S., on investments in 
 
 Mexico, 208, 223 
 Great temple, Tenochtitlan, 11 
 Grijalva River, 19 
 Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, 69 
 Guadalupe tilma. legend of, 136 
 Guanajuato, State, wealth, 163 
 Guatemala, 231; quarrel with 
 
 Mexico, 200 
 Guatemozin, last Aztec ruler, 100 
 Guaymas, 253 
 Guerrero, continues agitation for 
 
 independence, 62 
 Guerrero, State, wealth, 163 
 Gulf of Mexico ports, 255 
 
 Hacer el oso, 89 
 
 Hachiman, Japanese god of war, 36 
 Half-castes, 57 
 Henequen, 175 
 
 Hidalgo y Costilla, M., his revolt, 
 60; his execution, 61, 218 
 
THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 276 
 
 Hidalgo, State, wealth, 164 
 
 Hieroglyphics, 122 
 
 Historians, Ixtilxochitl and Tezo- 
 zomoc, 29 
 
 Historic places in Mexico City, 3 
 
 Honduras, 234 
 
 Horses in Cort6s' expedition, 44 
 
 Hotels, 143 
 
 Huitzilopochtli, Mexican Mars, 12; 
 his image, 131 
 
 Humanity of Toltecs, 8 
 
 Humboldt's comment on educa- 
 tion, 77 
 
 "Hustle," 212 
 
 Immigrants, 214 
 
 Inconsiderateness of Spanish Gov- 
 ernment, 112 
 
 Indebtedness of ethnologists to R. 
 C. missionaries, 4 
 
 Independence of Spanish- American 
 colonies, reason for, 114 
 
 Indian com, maize, 30 
 
 Indians, assistance rendered by, 
 in revolution, 99; characteris- 
 tics, 82; children, 87; fond of 
 music, 92; love railway travel, 
 87; melancholy, 86 
 
 Intercourse, China and America, 
 80; Mexicans and strangers, 197 
 
 Internal, affairs, 200; disturb- 
 ances, 63 
 
 Ipainemon, deity, 34 
 
 Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 151 
 
 Iturbide, A. de, 55; execution, 62, 
 219 
 
 Ixtaccihuatl, mountain, 192 
 
 Ixtilxochitl, historian, 29, 95 
 
 Ixtle, fibre, 136 
 
 Jalisco, State, wealth, 165 
 Japan, communication with Cen- 
 tral America, 6 
 Japanese, calendar, 32; god of war, 
 Hachiman, 36 
 
 Jingo, Japanese empress, 37 
 Juarez, B., 223 
 Juntas, 114 
 
 Keane, Prof. A. H., 59 
 Kingsborough, Viscount, "The 
 Antiquities of Mexico," 2, 133 
 
 Lagoons, 20 
 
 Lakes, 20 
 
 Lamoureaux, A. J., 2 
 
 "La Noche Triste," 3 
 
 Legazpe, M. L. de, 249 
 
 Letcher, M., U. S. consul at Pro- 
 
 greso, 207 
 Louisiana Purchase, 109 
 Lower California, wealth, 176 
 
 Madrid Government's attitude 
 
 towards Mexico, 59 
 Magellan, F., 248 
 Maize, Indian corn, 30 
 Malinche, mountain, 145 
 Manzanillo, 252 
 Marina, Dona, 47 
 Martin, P. F., 145, 157 
 Masons, 202 
 Massacre at Cholula, 51 
 Material development of Mexico, 
 
 224 
 Maxtla, king of Tepanecs, 93 
 Maya-Quiche family of Indians, 
 
 126 
 Mazatlan, 254 
 Meeting, Cortes and Montezuma, 
 
 S3 
 
 Mendoza, A. de, foimds Univer- 
 sity, Mexico City, 74 
 
 Metzli, "Moon-goddess," 126 
 
 Mexica, 2 
 
 Mexican, civilisation, 5; custom- 
 house, 142; homes, 90; Indians, 
 melancholy, 86, superior to 
 northern, 78, their tribal exclu- 
 siveness, 81; liveries, 91; Ma- 
 
INDEX 
 
 277 
 
 sons, 202; men taking to ath- 
 letics, 90; onyx, 13s; Railway, 
 The, 150; Republic, 67; scenery 
 148; States, independent vinits, 
 72; "Swell," 86; towns, plaza 
 and alameda, 91; "water- 
 cooler," 135 
 
 Mexicans, Natvire- worshippers, 35; 
 their clannishness, 70 
 
 Mexico, aboriginal inhabitants, 27; 
 a member of family of nations, 
 221; Americanisation of, 216; 
 a young nation, 121; "A Won- 
 derland," 140; boimdaries, 15; 
 central plain, 23; cessions to U. 
 S. A., 69; culture and ancient 
 inhabitants, 7; derivation of 
 name, 2 ; difl&culty in organising 
 U. S. of, 119; exploited for 
 Spain's benefit, 58; former ex- 
 tent, i; geographical range, 116; 
 governments since 182 1, 90; in 
 1866, vii; in Nahua confederacy, 
 27; insignia, 11; internal af- 
 fairs, 200; material develop- 
 ment, 224; moimtains, 188; 
 philosophy in civil wars, 119; 
 physical features, 17, 21; shape, 
 15; wealth in minerals, 263 
 
 Mexico and Central American 
 Republics, 198 
 
 Mexico and Monroe Doctrine, 201 
 
 Mexico and the United States of 
 America, 221 
 
 Mexico City, historic places in, 3, 
 238 
 
 Mexico, State, wealth, 165 
 
 Mexitli, 2, 13 
 
 Michoacan, State, wealth, 165 
 
 Micoatl, "Road of the Dead," 124 
 
 Military revolutions in Mexico, 
 114 
 
 Mina, continues agitation for in- 
 dependence, 62 
 
 Mining methods, ancient, 158 
 
 Mitla, ruins, 128 
 
 Mixed races in Mexico, 79; their 
 
 characteristics, 88 
 Modem oflEice buildings, 184 
 Montezuma, 3, 41; attempt to 
 evade responsibility for Cholula 
 treachery, 51; council divided, 
 52; his dismay and vacillation, 
 51; his reign before and after 
 Spanish invasion, 97; last days, 
 99; meeting with Cortes, 53; 
 opinion of Spaniards, 53; sends 
 gifts to Cortes, 48 
 "Moon-goddess," 126 
 Mountain ranges, 17 
 Morelos, J. M., his revolt, 61 
 Morelos, State, wealth, 166 
 Mozo, "beU-boy," 145 
 Mualox, priest in Quetzalcoatl's 
 
 temple, 41 
 Murillo's picture of "The Assump- 
 tion," 132 
 
 Nahua-Anahuac, difference, 28 
 
 Nahua confederacy, units in, 27 
 
 Nahua culture founded by Toltecs, 
 30 
 
 Nahua nation, 12; ritual and 
 prayer, 37 
 
 Nahuas, 27 
 
 Nahuatlacatl stock, 28 
 
 National, Congress, 63; Legisla- 
 ture, 71 
 
 National Museimti, 129 
 
 Native, Christian, clergy, favour 
 independence, 61 
 
 Necaxa, scenery, 242 
 
 Necessity for foreign capital, 225 
 
 Negroes in Mexico, 78 
 
 New Granada, 231 
 
 Nexahualcoyotl, king of Acolhuans, 
 
 93 
 Nicaragua, 231 
 
 North America, divisions, 115 
 "Northers," 141; effect of, 85 
 
278 
 
 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Nuevo Leon, State, wealth, 166 
 Numeration, Aztec, 33 
 
 Oaxaca, State, wealth, 167 
 Objectionable features of railway 
 
 travel, 182 
 O'Donojtj, J., last Spanish viceroy, 
 
 59, 116 
 Office buildings, modern, 184 
 Olindo, Maximilian's country place, 
 
 242 
 Ominous portents, 98 
 Orizaba, town, 143; mountain, 
 
 193 
 Orographical structure, 18 
 Othomis, their submission, 59 
 Outbreak in Spanish-American 
 
 colonies, 60 
 
 Pacific coast of Mexico, 21 
 Pacific ocean, discovery of, 248 
 Palenque, Chiapas, 152; tablet, 128 
 Panama, 286; canal, 258; Canal 
 
 Zone, 258 
 Panama Canal, access to, 259 
 Pan-American, Congress, 201; 
 
 Railway, 179 
 Paris, Treaties, 1778, 107; 1783, 
 
 108 
 "Pastry War," 202 
 Peace, U. S. A. and Great Britain, 
 
 1783, 108 
 Peons, 85 
 
 Philippine Islands, 249 
 Philosophy of Mexican civil wars, 
 
 119 
 Physical features of Mexico, 17 
 Physiography of Mexico, 21 
 Picture-writing, Toltec, 9 
 "Plan de Iguala," 62, 209 
 "Playing the bear," 89 
 Political divisions of Mexico, 69 
 Pope Alexander VL, his Bull, 67 
 Popocatapetl, 52; ascent, 189; 
 
 legend, 191 
 
 Port Stilwell or Topolobampo, 254 
 
 Porter, David, 203 
 
 Porters, cargadores, 84 
 
 Pottery, modern, 134 
 
 Precious metals, 157 
 
 Prescott, W. H., "The Conquest 
 
 of Mexico," I, 40 
 Presidential elections, a form, 117 
 President of the Republic, 70 
 Privileged classes, 53; support 
 
 Spanish rule, 58 
 Progreso, port of, 255 
 Progress, from 1821 to 1884, 73; of 
 
 education, 75 
 Puebla, Cholula, 127 
 Puebla, State, wealth, 167 
 Puerto Mexico, 255 
 
 Queretaro, State, wealth, 168 
 Quetzalcoatl, "The Fair God," 
 8; waning influence, 31; legend, 
 
 34 
 Quintana-roo, territory, wealth, 
 177 
 
 Race or colour prejudice, none, 81 
 
 Railway restaurants, 182 
 
 Railways, 178; government pur- 
 chase of, 181 
 
 Repartimientos, 59 
 
 Republic, development of, i ; first; 
 220 
 
 Residences, 88 
 
 Restaurants, 145 
 
 Revision of educational institu- 
 tions, 76 
 
 Revolt of Indians, 218 
 
 Revolutions interfered with educa- 
 tional progress, 76 
 
 Rio de Janeiro, Port Stilwell com- 
 pared to, 254 
 
 Rio Grande del Norte, 19 
 
 Rio Grande de Santiago, 19 
 
 Rivalry between Quetzalcoatl and 
 Tezcatlipoca, 35 
 
INDEX 
 
 279 
 
 Rivers, not important, 19; scenery 
 along, 19 
 
 "Road of the Dead," Micoatl, 124 
 
 R. C. clergy and independence, 
 199 
 
 R. C. missionaries, ethnologists in- 
 debted to, 4 
 
 Romero, M., 125 
 
 Rurales, 117 
 
 Sahagun, B. de, historian, 105 
 St. Lazarus Islands, Philippines, 
 
 249 
 Salina Cruz, 253 
 Salvador, 233 
 San Bias, 253 
 San Cristobal, Lake, 21 
 San Francisco, Tlaxcala, Church, 
 
 131 
 San Gregorio, theological school, 
 
 75 
 San Ildefonso, theological school, 
 
 75 
 
 San Juan de Ulua, surrender at, 
 
 220 
 San Luis Potosi, State, wealth, 169 
 Santa Ana's rebellion, 62 
 Sarape, 85 
 
 Saturday markets, 87 
 Scenery along Mexican rivers, 19 
 "Schemers," 213 
 School of Medical Science, 76 
 Secession of Texas, 69 
 Seville, only port, 113 
 Shape of Mexico, 15 
 Sierra Madre, Occidental and 
 
 Oriental, 17 
 Similarity, Mexican Indians and 
 
 Malayo-Mongolians, 79 
 Sinaloa, State, wealth, 169 
 Slavery in Coahuila and Texas, 212 
 Sleeping-cars, 182 
 Smith, F. H., 133 
 Society in Mexican cities, 90 
 Sombrero, 85 
 
 Sonora, State, wealth, 170 
 "Sorrowful Night, The," 3 
 Spain, forms alliance with France 
 and U. S. A., 107; her neglect of 
 American colonies, 227 
 Spaniards, credit due, 39; march 
 to Tableland, 50; reach Tenoch- 
 titlan, Mexico City, 53 
 Spanish, aristocracy, 57; army 
 ofi&cers, 57; chroniclers, 4; 
 clergy oppose independence, 61; 
 Cortes, action in 1812, 217; 
 empires in America suggested, 
 no; expedition of 1829, 203; 
 Government's inconsistencies in 
 America, 112; opinion of Ameri- 
 can colonies, in; rule, duration 
 
 of, 55 
 Sport, 154; sportsman, 153 
 Squier, E. G., 5 
 Stone of Sacrifice, 130 
 Subsidies to railways, 180 
 Suburbs, general, 183; of Mexico 
 
 City, 239 
 "Sun-god," 126 
 Surveys of land, 215 
 
 Tabasco, State, wealth, 171 
 Tacuba, lord of, 102 
 Taft, Pres., and Pres. Diaz, 204 
 Tamasopo, resort, 247 
 Tamaulipas, State, wealth, 172 
 Tampico, 141, 256 
 Tarascans, 10 
 Tarpon fishing, 155 
 Tecetl's vision, 42 
 Tehuacan, "spa," 245 
 Tehuantepec, Isthmus, 151 
 Tenoch, 11 
 
 Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, 11 
 Teotihuacan, ruins, 124 
 Tepaneca, 14 
 
 Tepic, territory, wealth, 177 
 Teuhtile, governor of Vera Cruz 
 district, 47 
 
28o 
 
 THE COMING MEXICO 
 
 Texas, 221; annexed by U. S. A., 
 220; slavery in, 222 
 
 Texcoco, Lake, 20 
 
 Tezcatlipoca, deity, 35; annual 
 feast, 38 
 
 Tezcucans, 10 
 
 Tezcuco, confederacy of, 27 
 
 Tezozomoc, historian, 29 
 
 Theological schools, 75 
 
 Thermal springs, 242 
 
 Tierras calientes, "hot lands," 21; 
 flora, 22 
 
 Tierras frias, "cold lands," 24 
 
 Tierras templadas, "temperate 
 lands," 23, 24 
 
 Tilma, blanket, 137 
 
 Timber, 26 
 
 Titian's picture of "The Entomb- 
 ment of Christ," 133 
 
 Tlacatecolatl, deity, 34 
 
 Tlacopan, confederacy of, 27 
 
 Tlahuica, 14 
 
 Tlapacoyan, Indians, their gold- 
 mines, 263 
 
 Tlascalteca, 14 
 
 Tlaxacla, State, wealth, 173 
 
 Tlaxcala, church at, 132 
 
 Tloquenahuaque, deity, 34 
 
 Toltecatl, significance of, 30 
 
 Toltecs, 7, 9, 14; castes, 9; dis- 
 crepancy about in Enc. Brit., 29; 
 foimders of Nahua culture, 30; 
 history, 8; picture writing, 9 
 
 Toluca, resort, 247 
 
 Tonatiuh, Sun-god, 126 
 
 Topolobampo or Port Stilwell, like 
 Rio de Janeiro, 254 
 
 Torquemada, J. de, historian, 105 
 
 Transliteration of Aztec words, 2 
 
 Treaty of Peace, 1778, 107; 1783, 
 108 
 
 Tula, 7 
 
 Tylor, E. B., on calendars, 33 
 Tzintzuntzan, church at, 133 
 
 Units of Nahua confederacy, 27 
 Usumacinta River, 19 
 Uxmal, ruins, 128 
 
 Valley of Mexico, 149 
 
 "Venice of the Aztecs," Mexico 
 
 City, 52 
 Vera Cruz, 256; as a winter resort, 
 
 238; formerly only port of entry 
 
 on Gulf of Mexico, 113 
 Vera Cruz, State, wealth, 174 
 Vera Cruz, Villa Rica de, founding 
 
 of, 48 
 Victoria, continues agitation for 
 
 independence, 62 
 Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, founding 
 
 of, 48 
 
 Wallace, Lew, "The Fair God," 40 
 War and Navy Departments com- 
 bined, 72 
 Warner, C. D., comments on colour 
 
 test, 83 
 "Water-cooler," Mexican, 135 
 Western Hemisphere, divisions of, 
 
 115 
 Winter visitors, 140 
 
 Xaltocan, Lake, 20 
 Xochimilca, 14 
 Xochimilco, Lake, 20 
 Xocoyotzin, Montezuma, 3 
 
 Yucatan, 19 
 
 Yucatan, State, wealth, 176 
 
 Zacatecas, State, wealth, 176 
 Zumarraga's destruction of picture 
 
 writings, 41 
 Zumpango, Lake, 20 
 
MAR 11 1913