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ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
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OUTING ADVENTURE LIBRARY 
 
 ADVENTURES IN 
 MEXICO 
 
 By GEORGE FREDERICK ^RUXTON 
 
 Author of *ln the Old West'' 
 
 From Vera Cruz to Chihuahua in 
 the Days of the Mexican War 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 HORACE KEPHART 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 MCMXV 
 
F/Z'3 
 
 Copyright, 1915, by 
 OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 ii^ 
 
 FEB ! i9IC 
 
 Ji.A4 18654 
 
 'H-t ,/ . 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The first volume of this Library of Adventure 
 was a description of trapper life in " The Old 
 West " by George Frederick Ruxton. The author 
 of that remarkable book made the second of his 
 three visits to America in 1846-4*7, this time land- 
 ing at Vera Cruz, and travelling on horseback 
 from the city of Mexico northward to Santa Fe, 
 about 2,000 miles as the trail bore. He then 
 pushed on to the Rocky Mountains, where he lived 
 the life of a free hunter until it was time to return 
 to England, which he did by way of St. Louis and 
 New York. In the spring of 1848 he published 
 a narrative of his adventures that was pronounced 
 by the most exacting of London critics " one of 
 the most fascinating volumes which of late years 
 has issued from the press." 
 
 Ruxton arrived at Vera Cruz in August, 1846, 
 and proceeded by way of Jalapa to the city of 
 Mexico. From a mysterious allusion that he 
 makes in his preface to the circumstances under 
 which he determined to traverse the war-torn re- 
 public, and from the cordiality with which he was 
 received by Mexican officials — at times they even 
 
6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 furnished him a military escort — one may guess 
 that he had a mission of more consequence than 
 merely to satisfy a thirst for adventure; but, if 
 so, its object has never been revealed. 
 
 After staying in the capital a few days, Ruxton 
 set forth on a long horseback journey to the north- 
 ward. Mexico was a particularly dangerous 
 country to explore. Its highways were infested 
 with robbers almost to the portals of the capital. 
 The northern region was overrun by hostile In- 
 dians. To make matters worse, Mexico was en- 
 gaged in war with the United States, and every 
 English-speaking person coming into the country 
 was taken for '' a Texan, a Yankee, a jackass," 
 to be treated accordingly. More than once Rux- 
 ton's own life was put in peril by his being mis- 
 took for one of those malditos Americanos, 
 
 The route at first followed the mountains, as 
 the rainy season had set in covering the plains with 
 water; but soon it was found practicable to de- 
 scend into the charming champaign of the Rio 
 Lerma. Passing along the edge of the upheaved 
 volcanic region of Jorullo, Ruxton arrived at 
 Queretaro without any incident more exciting 
 than his " standing off " a band of highwaymen. 
 Through the plains of Silao to Zacatecas, and by 
 way of Fresnillo, he reached Durango, the Ultima 
 Thule of " civilized " Mexico. 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 Finding nobody else who dared accompany him 
 into the wild, Indian-haunted country beyond 
 Durango, he had to put up with a known ruffian 
 as his Sancho Panza. Scarcely had they made 
 a good start before this worthy tried to assas- 
 sinate his employer that he might make off with the 
 animals and outfit. Ruxton, instead of being dis- 
 mayed at this unauspicious beginning of their ac- 
 quaintanceship, thrust a pistol in the fellow's face, 
 disarmed him, flogged him into submission, and 
 then made him proceed to carry out his contract 
 as guide and servant. All the way to Chihuahua 
 the days were full of anxieties, and the nights gave 
 constant practice in the art of " sleeping with one 
 eye open." 
 
 Having passed through this desolate and sav- 
 age land, which to Europeans was known only as 
 a blank spot on the map, the adventurer reached 
 Chihuahua in November, none the worse for hard- 
 ships of the trail, but rather stimulated to go on 
 and finish the task he had set himself to perform. 
 
 At Chihuahua we leave him, for the present ; for, 
 although still a long way from the United States 
 boundary line, he now began to encounter Ameri- 
 cans, and the narrative assumes another aspect. 
 How he continued his perilous jornadas, and what 
 adventures befel him as a mighty hunter in the 
 Far West, will be told in the next volume of this 
 
8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Library, under title of " Wild Life in the Rocky 
 Mountains." 
 
 Our author belonged to that picked company of 
 born explorers who not only know how to observe 
 but how to fare in wild regions and to endure. 
 Nothing came amiss : he was equally at home in 
 mansion or hovel, or bedded on the bare earth of 
 a cold and wind-swept plain. He was, too, a citi- 
 zen of the world, with a happy aptitude for as- 
 similating with any company that chance might 
 offer. Tactful but dauntless, he could go any- 
 where — alone if need be — and " get through." 
 Nothing escaped his shrewd powers of observa- 
 tion, to which were joined a knack of vivid descrip- 
 tion and a hearty sense of humor that enliven 
 every situation in which he was thrown. There 
 was a hard vein in him, however, like that which 
 showed in nearly all our old frontiersmen (we wish 
 he had not kicked the crippled lepero, or expressed 
 regret at not having killed the unsuspecting 
 Comanche chief), but that very hardness was often 
 priceless amid the dangers and difficulties that be- 
 set his path. 
 
 Ruxton wrote without prejudice, except where 
 Spanish priests were concerned, yet his picture 
 of average Mexican character is a sombre one. 
 His reflections on the character and institutions 
 of Mexico are peculiarly apposite to events of the 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 present-day. Up to the time of his visit this un- 
 happy country had suffered two hundred and 
 thirty-seven revolutions ! It reminds one of what 
 is related by the Spanish poet Quevedo, who, so 
 he says, having descended into hell on a tour of 
 inspection, asked to see the place appropriated 
 to kings. He was shown a small apartment ten- 
 anted by only a few wretched spirits. On his re- 
 marking that there did not appear to be many of 
 them, the attendant demon indignantly replied, 
 " Fool ! these are all that ever reigned.*' 
 
 In the present edition of Ruxton's book, trans- 
 lations of Spanish words and phrases have been 
 added where they did not occur in the original, 
 and the Spanish, if not anglicised, has been itali- 
 cised throughout, instead of being printed some- 
 times in italics but oftener in Roman characters, 
 as in the English edition. The text is given in 
 full, with no changes but the necessary corrections, 
 and the elision of a few paragraphs, that add noth- 
 ing to the interest of the work. 
 
 HOEACE KePHART. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 Some apology, I am aware, is necessary for of- 
 fering so meagre an account of Mexico as that 
 which is set before the reader in the following 
 pages. In justice to myself, however, I may state 
 that all the notes and memoranda of the country 
 I passed through, as well as several valuable and 
 interesting documents and MSS. connected with 
 the history of Northern Mexico and its Indian 
 tribes, which I had collected, were unfortunately 
 destroyed (with the exception of my rough note- 
 book) in passing the Pawnee Fork of the river Ar- 
 kansas, as I have mentioned in the body of this 
 narrative ;* and this loss has left me no alternative 
 but to give a brief outline of my journey, which, 
 bare as it may be, I prefer to lay before the reader 
 in its present shape, rather than draw at hazard 
 from the treacherous note-book of memory, or the 
 less reliable source of a fertile imagination. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to explain the cause of 
 my visiting Mexico at such an unsettled period; 
 
 * See Chapter XIV of the next volume of this series, 
 "Wild Life in the Rocky Mountains." (^Ed.) 
 
 n 
 
1^ AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 and I fear that circumstances will prevent my 
 gratifying the curiosity of the reader, should he 
 feel any on that point. 
 
 This little work is merely what its title professes 
 it to be, " The Rough Notes of a Journey through 
 Mexico, and a Winter spent amongst the wild 
 scenes and wilder characters of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains," and has no higher aim than to give an idea 
 of the difficulties and hardships a traveller may an- 
 ticipate, should he venture to pass through it and 
 mix with its semi-barbarous and uncouth people, 
 and to draw a faint picture of the lives of those 
 hardy pioneers of civilization whose lot is cast 
 upon the boundless prairies and rugged mountains 
 of the Far West. 
 
 With a solitary exception I have avoided touch- 
 ing upon American subjects; not only because 
 much abler pens than mine have done that country 
 and people more or less justice or injustice, and I 
 wish to attempt to describe nothing that other 
 English travellers have written upon before, and 
 to give a rough sketch of a very rough journey 
 through comparatively new ground — but, more 
 than all, for the reason that I have, on this and 
 previous visits to the United States, met with such 
 genuine kindness and unbounded hospitality from 
 all classes of the American people, both the richest 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 
 
 and the poorest, that I have not the heart to say; 
 one harsh word of them or theirs, even if I could 
 or would. 
 
 Faults the Americans have — and who have not ? 
 But they are, I maintain, failings of the head and 
 not the heart, which nowhere beats warmer, or in 
 a more genuine spirit of kindness and affection, 
 than in the bosom of a citizen of the United States. 
 
 Would that I could say as much of the sister 
 people. From south to north I traversed the 
 whole of the Republic of Mexico, a distance of 
 nearly two thousand miles, and was thrown 
 amongst the people of every rank, class, and sta- 
 tion ; and I regret to have to say that I cannot re- 
 member to have observed one single commendable 
 trait in the character of the Mexican; always ex- 
 cepting from this sweeping clause the women of the 
 country, who, for kindness of heart and many 
 sterling qualities, are an ornament to their sex, 
 and to any nation. 
 
 If the Mexican possess one single virtue, as I 
 hope he does, he must keep it so closely hidden in 
 some secret fold of his sarape as to have escaped 
 my humble sight, although I travelled through his 
 country with eyes wide open, and for conviction 
 ripe and ready. I trust, for his sake, that he will 
 speedily withdraw from the bushel the solitary 
 
U AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 light of his concealed virtue, lest before long it be 
 absorbed in the more potent flame which the Anglo- 
 Saxon seems just now disposed to shed over be- 
 nighted Mexico. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEB 
 
 I Southampton to Barbadoes 
 
 II The Ever-faithful Isle 
 
 III First Glimpse of Mexico 
 
 IV The Patriotic Tinman 
 V Gentlemen of the Road 
 
 VI As CoRTEZ Saw It . 
 
 VII High Life and Low 
 
 VIII Hitting the Trail . 
 
 IX The Land of Pulque 
 
 X Mules and Marauders 
 
 XI In the Mining Country 
 
 XII Trials of the Boad , 
 
 XIII When the Indians Come 
 
 XIV The Unchanging Mexican 
 
 XV The Edge of Civilization 
 
 XVI A Thirsty Land 
 
 XVII The Lost Americans . 
 
 XVIII King of the Mine . 
 
 XIX The Barbarians of the North 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 17 
 
 . 26 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 44< 
 
 . 54 
 
 . 69 
 
 . 81 
 
 . 99 
 
 . lis 
 
 . 127 
 
 . 142 
 
 . 166 
 
 . 177 
 
 . 188 
 
 . 201 
 
 . 217 
 
 . 235 
 
 . 258 
 
 . 278 
 
ADVENTURES IN 
 MEXICO 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 
 
 ON the 2nd of July [1846], at 1 p.m., the 
 royal mail-packet steamed out of South- 
 hampton Water. For three hours we 
 had been in the usual state of confusion attending 
 the sailing of a packet on a long voyage. Being 
 the first on board, and having no friends with long 
 faces and handkerchiefs to their eyes to distract 
 my attention, I had leisure to look about me, and 
 survey the different passengers as they came on 
 board, in every stage of delight and despair. 
 Some there were who possibly had set their feet 
 for the last time on their native shore, and had in 
 perspective a tropical futurity, with sugar-hogs- 
 heads, cocoa-nuts, and vomitc * in the distance. 
 
 *The black vomit of yellow fever; here denoting the 
 fever itself. {Ed.) 
 
 17 
 
18 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Others again were homeward bound, delighted to 
 turn their backs on the suicidal mists of the isle 
 of vapors, and revelling in anticipated enjoyment 
 of the fiery paradise beyond the sea. Red and 
 swollen eyes, however, were in a decided majority; 
 and as the steam hissed and snorted, so did faces 
 become more elongated, and the corners of mouths 
 take a downward angle. 
 
 At length the ominous bell gave notice that the 
 moment of parting had arrived. Fathers and 
 mothers, brothers and sisters, and lovers with quiv- 
 ering lip, for the last time embraced; the tender 
 cast off her hawser, and the huge steamer was 
 speeding on her way. And now solitary figures 
 with swollen eyes leaned over the taffrail, gazing 
 intently towards the land, and at the little speck 
 dancing on the waves, which was bearing so 
 quickly away loved objects, seen by many of them 
 for the last time. 
 
 Our passengers comprised a motley group: 
 Creoles of the West India islands and the main, 
 Spaniards of Havana, French of Martinique and 
 Gaudaloupe, Danes of St. Thomas, Dutch of 
 Cura9oa, Portuguese of Madeira, Jamaica Jews, 
 merchants of Costa Rica, military officers, and 
 emigrating Yorkshire farmers, were amongst the 
 various items of the human freight. 
 
 However, forty-eight hours' shaking together 
 
SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 19 
 
 amalgamated the mass ; and when that number of 
 hours and a southerly course had carried us into 
 a smooth sea and heavenly climate, all sorrows 
 were for the time forgotten. A Jamaica Jew had 
 taken up a position on the cabin skylight, where, 
 with a pack of cards and a pile of gold before him, 
 he every day, and all day long, officiated as 
 dueno of a monte-table; a little Rabbi, throwing 
 aside his sacerdotal cares, and shining in glossy 
 black, superintending the receipts and disburse- 
 ments of the bank. The provideur, who by the 
 way was the life of the ship, was already chalk- 
 ing on the deck a marine billiard-table ; and under 
 his direction and tuition, English and French, 
 Spaniards and Dutch, were soon engaged in mo- 
 mentous matches, on which depended many a bot- 
 tle of iced champagne. 
 
 These amusements, combined with a vast deal 
 of eating, drinking, and smoking, fortunately pre- 
 served us in good humor for six days; when, just 
 as shovel-board had lost its charms, champagne 
 its flavor, and the monte Israelite his customers, 
 the welcome cry of " Land ho ! " at midnight on 
 the 12th, turned out all hands on deck ; and there, 
 looming in the misty distance on our starboard 
 bow, lay Puerto Santo, part and parcel of " soft " 
 Madeira. 
 
 When I rose the next morning we were standing 
 
20 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 into Funchal Roads, and shortly after came to 
 anchor within three-quarters of a mile of the shore 
 and opposite the town of Funchal. At this dis- 
 tance the island, rising to a great elevation from 
 the water's edge, with the town, washed by the At- 
 lantic, at its base, and innumerable white houses, 
 with here and there a convent's spires, dotted up 
 the sides, resembles a scene of a gigantic pano- 
 rama, with every object so clearly displayed to the 
 eye, and fore and back ground of deep-blue sky 
 and azure sea. 
 
 On landing in one of the country boats, as soon 
 as the keel had touched the beach, a cavalcade of 
 horsemen, mounted on handsome active ponies, 
 charged to the very water's edge, and, nearly tram- 
 pling us in their furious onslaught, reined up sud- 
 denly, bringing their steeds on their haunches. 
 Our first thought was instant flight; but, finding 
 their object was pacific, we learned that this Arab- 
 like proceeding was for the purpose of displaying 
 the merits of their cattle, and to tempt us to en- 
 gage in an equestrian expedition up the mountain. 
 Selecting three promising-looking animals, and 
 preceded by their funnel-capped proprietors as 
 guides, we proceeded to the town. 
 
 Funchal in no degree differs from any sea or 
 river side town in Portugal. The Funchalese are 
 Portuguese in form and feature; the women, if 
 
SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 21 
 
 possible, more ordinary, and the beggars more im- 
 portunate and persevering. The beach is covered 
 with plank sleds, to which are yoked most comical 
 little oxen no larger than donkeys. In these sleds 
 the hogsheads of wine are conveyed to the boats, 
 as they are better adapted to the rough shingle 
 than wheeled conveyances. To a stranger the 
 trade of the town appears to be monopolised by 
 vendors of straw hats and canary-birds. These 
 articles of merchandise are thrust into one's face 
 at every step. Sombreros are pounded upon your 
 head; showers of canaries and goldfinches, with 
 strings attached to their legs, are fired like rockets 
 into your face ; and the roar of the salesmen deaf- 
 ens the ear. 
 
 Ascending the precipitous Truas [roads], we 
 soon reach the suburbs, our guides holding on by 
 the tails of the horses to facilitate their ascent. 
 Still mounting, we pass where vines are trellised 
 over the road; sweet-smelling geraniums, helio- 
 trope, and fuchsias overhang the garden-walls on 
 each side; whilst, in the beautiful little gardens 
 which everywhere meet the ej^e, the graceful ba- 
 nana, the orange-tree and waving maize, the tropi- 
 cal aloe and homely oak, form the most pleasing 
 contrasts and enchant the sight. Winding still up 
 the mountain-side, the interminable stone-paved 
 suburb is passed; but even whilst toiling over the 
 
2^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 uneven slippery pavement, and sitting in an almost 
 vertical saddle, hanging on to the mane like grim 
 death, it is impossible to whisper an imprecation, 
 everything around is so soft and pleasing; and, 
 malgre lui, one (even if he be an Englishman) has 
 not the heart to growl or complain. 
 
 Here the vivid colorings of a tropical scene 
 blend in harmony with the sober tints of a more 
 temperate landscape. By the orange and leaf- 
 spreading banana grow the oak and apple; the 
 cactus and the daisy bloom together ; the luscious 
 pine and humble potato yield their fruit ; and, side 
 by side with the golden-colored canary, the robin 
 redbreast warbles his sweet and weU-known song. 
 
 The sides of the mountain are clothed with vines, 
 and numerous streamlets trickle along the road- 
 side, cooling the air with their refreshing mur- 
 murs; whilst a mountain torrent here and there 
 forces its impetuous way. The paths which wind 
 along the mountain overhang precipices lined with 
 foliage, and water everywhere glitters through the 
 verdure and relieves the eye. In the valleys are 
 seen delicious nooks, green and cool, shadowed by 
 the lofty rocks, with picturesque cottages and 
 smiling gardens, and scenes of such quiet beauty 
 as one never tires to gaze upon. Turning in your 
 saddle, you see the town of Funchal at your feet, 
 reflected in the smooth and glittering sea. The 
 
SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 23 
 
 vessels In the roads appear no larger than fishing- 
 boats; and the huge steamer, lying lazily at her 
 anchor, will be the victim of a malediction, that it 
 is so soon to bear you away from this sweet island. 
 
 The sun too is not the fireball of the tropics, or 
 even the heat-engendering luminary we have left 
 behind us, but shines faintly bright through a dim 
 soft mist ; and while sweet-smelling flowers dispense 
 their odors around, and the notes of song-birds 
 are heard on every side, the air breathes soft and 
 soothingly. . . . 
 
 On leaving Madeira we had thirteen days of 
 most monotonous steaming, during which a most 
 universal ennui prevailed on board, relieved occa- 
 sionally by the outbreakings of some wooer of the 
 fickle goddess, whose winnings or losings had been 
 more than usually great, and consequently occa- 
 sioned a greater or less amount of self-gratulation 
 or excitement. When every mortal means of 
 amusement was supposed to have been exhausted, 
 it was providentially discovered that the Rabbi 
 was in the habit of slaying with his own hand, 
 and according to the strict letter of the Mosaic 
 law, the ducks, fowls, and sheep which he desired 
 to devour. 
 
 The day after the discovery the butcher was 
 seen to approach the Rabbi with some mysterious 
 communication, who immediately tucked up his 
 
24 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 sleeves, took a knife which was handed to him by 
 the butcher, and accompanied that functionary to 
 the hen-coops. 
 
 In an instant the quarter-deck was deserted; 
 every passenger stealthily took up a position 
 where he could witness the mysterious catastrophe. 
 The Rabbi, with upturned wristbands, carefully 
 kneaded the breasts of several fowls which were 
 offered to his knife by the butcher, and at length, 
 selecting one whose condition was undeniable, cast- 
 ing up his eyes and invoking Moses to give him the 
 requisite nerve, he administered the mystic stab, 
 and instantly retreated. As a reward for the 
 excitement he had caused, I noticed that at dinner 
 that day the Rabbi received most friendly offers 
 of ham and roast pork. 
 
 On the thirteenth morning after leaving Ma- 
 deira the low regular outline of Barbadoes was 
 visible on the horizon. This island exhibits less 
 tropical scenery than any other in the West In- 
 dies, being less mountainous, and the plains and 
 hills cultivated in every part, and consequently 
 the bush is cleared off to make way for agricul- 
 tural improvements. It is not, however, the less 
 beautiful on this account; and everywhere the 
 snug-looking houses of the planters, with mills and 
 sugar-houses, and all the appliances of thriving 
 plantations, were seen as we hugged the shore. 
 
SOUTHAMPTON TO BARBADOES 25 
 
 On landing I found myself, very fortunately 
 and unexpectedly, amongst many old friends, 
 whose hospitality I enjoyed during my stay at the 
 island. . . . 
 
 I found nothing striking in Barbadoes but the 
 sun, which is a perpetual furnace, and the pep- 
 per-pot — a dish to the mysteries of which I was 
 initiated here for the first time. It is a delicious 
 compound of flesh, fish, and fowl, pique with all 
 the hot peppers and condiments the island pro- 
 duces, and mystified in a rich black sauce. The 
 flavor of this wonderful dish is impossible to de- 
 scribe. Imagine a mass of cockroaches stewed 
 in pitch, and a faint idea may be had of the ap- 
 pearance and smell of the savory compound. 
 
 Of Bridgetown, the capital, the less said the 
 better. It is infested with a most rascally and im- 
 pudent race of negroes, who almost resort to vio- 
 lence to wrench unwilling pistareens from the 
 stranger's pocket. Just before my arrival half the 
 town had most providentially been destroyed by 
 fire, so that, if rebuilt, hopes are entertained of a 
 more respectable-looking place being erected. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 
 
 THE next island touched at was Grenada, 
 one of the most picturesque of the An- 
 tilles. The little harbor is completely 
 land-locked, and, as it were, scooped out of the side 
 of the mountain, which rises from the water's edge. 
 An old green fort, perched upon a crag, com- 
 mands the anchorage, and the little town, inter- 
 spersed with palm-trees and aloes, appears to be 
 crawling up the mountain. Here we remained but 
 a few hours, and steered thence to San Domingo, 
 one of the largest of the group. Coasting along, 
 it presented a bold imposing outline of rugged 
 mountains covered with forests, and but little ap- 
 pearance of cultivation. Staying but a few hours 
 at Jacmel, to receive and deliver mails, we soon 
 came in sight of Jamaica, with its fine bold scenery 
 of mountain and valley; and threading the in- 
 tricate and dangerous reefs, and passing the forts 
 and batteries of Port Royal, we anchored about 
 noon off Kingston, the chief town of the island. 
 
 Here we left the greater part of our fellow-pas- 
 26 
 
THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE m 
 
 sengers, including the card-playing Jew and the 
 Rabbi. The former left the steamer minus several 
 hundred pounds by his monte speculation, the 
 greater part of which had been won by two boys 
 from Birmingham, who were on their way to Ha- 
 vana to set up a cooperage. Elated with their (to 
 them) enormous gains, they, in honor of the occa- 
 sion, sacrificed too freely to the rosy god, the con- 
 sequence of which was that in a few weeks both 
 were carried off by the relentless vomito. 
 
 A couple of days spent amongst the killbucra * 
 and sopilotes * of Uppark rendered my regret at 
 leaving Jamaica anything but poignant ; and tak- 
 ing leave of the dusty dirty town of Kingston, 
 with its ruinous houses and miserable population, 
 in a few days we were coasting along the south 
 side of Cuba, passing Cape Antonio and the Isle 
 of Pines, once famous, or rather infamous, as the 
 resort of pirates, who infested these seas until 
 within a few years, and still the rendezvous of 
 equally nefarious slavers. 
 
 La Havana — the Haven — is one of the finest 
 harbors in the world, and capable of holding a 
 thousand vessels. It is completely land-locked, 
 and the entrance so narrow that vessels must pass 
 within musket-shot of the " Morro," whose frown- 
 
 *A yellow flower, which is said to be more abundant 
 during sickly seasons. The sopilote is the turkey-buzzard. 
 
^8 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ing batteries look down on the very decks. Be- 
 sides the Morro, the formidable batteries of the 
 Principe and La Cabana show their teeth on each 
 side, and numerous detached works crown every 
 eminence. 
 
 The Spaniards may well be jealous of Cuba, 
 which, with their usual fanfaron (just, however, in 
 this case), they style " La joya mas hrillante en la 
 corona de Espana, the most brilliant jewel in the 
 crown of Spain." This, the last of their once 
 magnificent dependencies, they may well guard with 
 watchful eye; for not only do the colonists most 
 cordially detest the mother country, and only wait 
 an opportunity to throw off the yoke, but already 
 an unscrupulous and powerful neighbor " of the 
 north " casts a longing eye towards this rich and 
 beautiful island. 
 
 The cruel dissensions and bloody revolutions 
 which have so long convulsed unfortunate Spain 
 have seldom extended their influences to this re- 
 mote colony. Cuba, content in her riches and 
 prosperity, has looked calmly on, indifferent to 
 the throes which have agonized the maternal frame. 
 Her boastful sobriquet, " Siempre fiel isla de Cuba 
 — the ever-faithful island of Cuba " — has thus 
 been cheaply earned, and passively retained by the 
 ironical Havaneros, who will assuredly one day 
 pluck out from the Spanish crown this " fine 
 
THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 29 
 
 jewel," or suffer it to be transferred to a for- 
 eign bonnet. 
 
 The harbor has been so often described that it 
 is needless to dilate upon its beauties. In one 
 corner is a rank mangrove swamp which exhales 
 a fatal miasma, and which, wafted by the land- 
 breeze over the town and shipping, is one great 
 cause of the deplorable mortality which occurs 
 here in the sickly season. Havana is quite a Span- 
 ish town, and reminded me of Cadiz more than any 
 other. It is, however, cleaner and better regu- 
 lated, with a very efficient police. The streets 
 are narrow, as they ought to be in hot countries, 
 and towards the evening thronged with volantes, 
 a light spider-like carriage peculiar to Cuba, 
 freighted with black-eyed beauties on their way to 
 the paseo, shopping, or to Dominica's, the cele- 
 brated neveria or ice-shop, where they very prop- 
 erly pull up " a refrescar un tantito — to cool the 
 courage " — before " showing " on the excitable 
 paseo. 
 
 From seven to ten the Paseo Tacon is thronged, 
 and a stranger had better pause before he runs 
 the gauntlet of such batteries of eyes and fans as 
 he never before, in his northern philosophy, 
 thought or dreamed of. The ladies dress in white, 
 with their beautiful hair unsacrificed by bonnet, 
 and, if ornamented, by a simple white or red rose, 
 
30 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 a la moda Andalu^a, However perfect may be 
 their figures, you see them not. One's gaze is con- 
 centrated in their large lustrous eyes, which, when 
 you get within their reach, swallow you up as the 
 sun swallows a comet when he is rash enough to 
 approach too near, throwing you out again, a 
 bumt~up cinder, to be resuscitated and reburned 
 by the next eyes which pass. The Havaneras cer- 
 tainly surpass the Spaniards in the beauty of their 
 eyes, if that be possible. 
 
 With their eyes and ahanicos (fans) the Ha- 
 vaneras have no need of tongues ; which, however, 
 they can use on emergencies. Whereas every 
 pretty woman can in some degree " make the eyes 
 speak," no other than a Spanish beauty can use 
 a fan. This is to them the idioma de amor — the 
 language of love. Assisted by the eye it is elo- 
 quence itself, and in the hands of a coquette, like 
 a gun in the hands of a careless boy, is a most 
 dangerous weapon. To see this language spoken 
 in perfection, visit the theatre Tacon, which by the 
 way is the prettiest theatre in the world. Here, 
 between the acts, nothing is heard but the click- 
 ing of fans, whilst cross fires of lightning-glances 
 pierce one through and through. The front of 
 the boxes in the Tacon is of light open work, 
 through which the light dresses of the ladies are 
 seen, and which has a very pretty effect. Unlike 
 
THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 31 
 
 the boxes of our opera, which invidiously conceal 
 all but the beauties " above the zone," here the 
 whole figure, simply draped in white is fully dis- 
 played. Foreigners say that an Englishwoman 
 should never be seen but in an opera-box ; and the 
 Spaniards affirm that, whereas an " Englishwoman 
 should be seen at the window, and a Frenchwoman 
 promenading, the gods have vouchsafed that a 
 Spaniard may be looked at everywhere :" " La 
 Ynglesa en la ventana, la Francesca paseandose, 
 la Espanola, por onde se quiere." 
 
 Three miles from Havana is El Cerro, where the 
 wealthy merchants have their country seats, and 
 resort with their families during the sickly season. 
 The fronts of these houses are completely open, 
 save by light bars, so that at night, when lighted 
 up, the whole interior is perfectly displayed. 
 Night is the fashionable time for visiting; and 
 through this open birdcage-work may be seen a 
 formal row of males in front of the ladies, for here, 
 in this excitable climate, it is deemed imprudent 
 to bring into actual contact such substances as 
 flint and steel, or fire and tow. 
 
 After four days' stay in Havana, I again em- 
 barked on board the steamer, and in such a storm 
 of thunder and rain as I shall never forget. I en- 
 gaged a shore-boat manned by two mulattos, and 
 before we could reach the steamer the hurricane 
 
32 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 broke upon us. The lightning appeared actually 
 to rain down, the flashes being incessant, whilst the 
 r'ain descended with such violence as nearly to fill 
 and swamp the boat. The boatmen swore and 
 cursed, and crouched under the thwarts ; the sail 
 and mast were blown clean away; and for more 
 than an hour we were unable to face the storm. 
 At length, taking advantage of a lull, we managed 
 to reach the vessel, and after a vexatious delay of 
 several hours got under weigh. 
 
 On passing the Morro, we were hailed and or- 
 dered to bring to, whilst, at the same moment, a 
 boat, with a corporal and three men, put off from 
 the castle, and boarded us. We had on board a 
 great number of passengers on their way to 
 Mexico, and many were probably leaving Cuba 
 without the necessary passport, so that, on the 
 arrival of the boat, many olive-colored gentlemen 
 with moustaches dived suddenly below, being seized 
 with a sudden desire to explore the hold and other 
 cavernous portions of the ship. However, in a few 
 minutes all the passengers were mustered on deck 
 by the captain, and their names called. As one 
 unlucky Spaniard answered to his name, the cor- 
 poral stepped up to him, laying his finger on his 
 shoulder, with " En el nomhre del gohernador — 
 in the name of the governor." " A su disposicion, 
 amigo — at your service, friend " — answered the 
 
THE EVER-FAITHFUL ISLE 33 
 
 captured one, and, quietly lighting his cigar, de- 
 scended into the guard-boat with his trunk, en 
 route to the dungeons of the Morro. " Vwa! " 
 exclaimed the Spaniards : " maldito sea el despota 
 — curse the despot " ; and, breathing freely, re- 
 lighted their puros, and indulged in a little abuse 
 of their colonial government. 
 
 The day after our departure from Havana we 
 overtook a small steamer under the British flag, 
 which was pronounced to be the Arab, having on 
 board the ex-President of Mexico, General Santa 
 Anna. As she signalled to speak, we bore down 
 upon her, and, running alongside, her captain 
 hailed to know if we would take on board four 
 passengers ; which was declined, our skipper not 
 wishing to compromise himself with the American 
 blockading squadron at Vera Cruz, by carrying 
 Mexican officers. We had a good view of Santa 
 Anna, and his pretty young wife, who, on hearing 
 our decision, stamped her little foot on the deck, 
 and turned poutingly to some of her suite. It 
 seemed that the Arab had disabled her machinery, 
 and was making such slow progress that Santa 
 Anna was desirous of continuing the trip in the 
 Medway. He was provided with a passport from 
 the government of the United States to enable him 
 to pass the blockade; which very questionable 
 policy on the part of that government it is difficult 
 
34 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 to understand; since they were well aware that 
 Santa Anna was bitterly hostile to them, whatever 
 assurances he may have made to the contrary; 
 and at the same time was perhaps the only man 
 whom the Mexican army would suffer to lead them 
 against the American troops. 
 
 On the fifth morning after leaving Havana, at 
 6 A. M., we made the land, and were soon after 
 boarded by one of the American blockading squad- 
 ron — the corvette St. Mary's, It was expected 
 that Santa Anna was on board, and the officer said 
 that instructions had been received to permit him 
 to enter Vera Cruz. 
 
 At 7 we passed the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, 
 and anchored off the city of the True Cross, or, 
 as it is often and most aptly called " ha Cmdad de 
 los Muertos " — The City of the Dead. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 
 
 VIRA CRUZ derives its name from the 
 first city built on this continent by 
 Cortes, in 1519-20. La vUla rica de la 
 Vera Cruz — the rich city of the True Cross — 
 was situated a few miles to the north-east of the 
 present city, and was built by the conquistador as 
 a garrison on which to fall back, in case his expedi- 
 tion into the interior proved a failure. 
 
 From the sea the coast on each side the town 
 presents a dismal view of sandhills, which appear 
 almost to swallow up the walls. The town, how- 
 ever, sparkling in the sun, with its white houses 
 and numerous church-spires, has rather a pictur- 
 esque appearance ; but every obj ect, whether on 
 sea or land, glows unnaturally in the lurid atmos- 
 phere. It is painful to look into the sea, where 
 shoals of bright-colored fish are swimming; and 
 equally painful to turn the eyes to the shore, where 
 the sun, refracted by the sand, actually scorches 
 the sight, as well as pains it by the quivering 
 
 glare which ever attends refracted light, 
 
 35 
 
S6 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 The city is well planned, surrounded by an 
 adobe wall, with wide streets crossing each other at 
 right angles. There are also several large and 
 handsome buildings fast mouldering to decay. 
 One hundred years ago a flourishing commercial 
 city, like everything in Spanish America, it has 
 suffered from the baneful effects of a corrupt, im- 
 potent government. Now, with a scanty popu- 
 lation, and under the control of a military despot- 
 ism, its wealth and influence have passed away. 
 The aspect of the interior of the town is dreary 
 and desolate beyond description. Grass grows 
 in the streets and squares ; the churches and pub- 
 lic buildings are falling to ruins : scarcely a human 
 being is to be met, and the few seen are sallow and 
 lank, and skulk through the streets as if fearing 
 to encounter, at every comer, the personification 
 of the dread vomit o, which at this season (August) 
 is carrying off a tithe of the population. Every- 
 where stalks the sopilote (turkey-buzzard), sole 
 tenant of the streets, feeding on the garbage and 
 carrion which abound in every corner. 
 
 The few foreign merchants who reside there, 
 remove their families to Jalapa in the season of 
 the vomito, and all who have a few dollars in their 
 pockets betake themselves to the temperate re- 
 gions. The very natives and negroes are a cadav- 
 erous stunted race; and the dogs, which contend 
 
FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 37 
 
 in the streets with the sopilotes for carrion, are the 
 most miserable of the genus cur. Just before my 
 window one of these curs lay expiring in the middle 
 of the street. As the wretched animal quivered 
 in the last gasp, a sopilote flew down from the 
 church-spire, and, perching on the body, com- 
 menced its feast. It was soon joined by several 
 others, and in five minutes the carcass was de- 
 voured. These disgusting birds are, however, 
 useful scavengers, and, performing the duty of 
 the lazy Mexicans, are therefore protected by 
 law. 
 
 The town still presents numerous souvenirs of 
 the bombardment by the warlike De Joinville in 
 1839. The church-towers are riddled with shot, 
 and the destructive effects of shells still visible in 
 the heaps of ruins which have been left untouched. 
 Since my visit it has also felt the force of American 
 ire, and withstood a fierce bombardment for several 
 days, with what object it is impossible to divine, 
 since a couple of thousand men might have at any 
 time taken it by assault. The castle was not at- 
 tacked, and was concluded in the capitulation with- 
 out being asked for — cosa de Mexico.^ The 
 town was attacked by the American troops under 
 General Scott within ten months after my visit. 
 It suffered a bombardment, as is well known, of 
 
 * In the Mexican way. {Ed.) 
 
38 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 several days, an unnecessary act of cruelty in my 
 opinion, since, to my knowledge, there were no de- 
 fences round the city which could not have been 
 carried, including the city itself, by a couple of 
 battalions of Missouri volunteers. I certainly left 
 Vera Cruz under the impression that it was not a 
 fortified place, with the exception of the paltry 
 wall I have mentioned, which, if my memory serves 
 me, was not even loopholed for musketry. How- 
 ever, temporary defences might have been thrown 
 up in the interval between my visit and the Ameri- 
 can attack ; still I cannot but think that the bom- 
 bardment was cruel and unnecessary. The castle 
 could have been carried by a frigate's boarders, 
 having but seven hundred naked Indians to defend 
 it.* 
 
 At the moment of my arrival there was no little 
 excitement in Vera Cruz. The siempre heroica — • 
 always heroical city and castle — had pronounced 
 for the immortal saviour of his country, as they 
 
 * Three or four months after Ruxton's visit, and six or 
 seven months before Scott's attack, the city, according to 
 the Mexican minister of war, was garrisoned by a force 
 of 3,360 men, with 144 pieces of artillery; and at San Juan 
 de Ulloa there were 1,030 men and 135 mounted guns. 
 Before the Americans arrived the city was surrounded by 
 bastions terminating in two forts, and the garrison was 
 reinforced. General Scott captured some 5,000 prisoners 
 and 400 pieces of ordnance. (Ed.) 
 
FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 39 
 
 styled Santa Anna ; forgetting, in their zeal, that 
 twelve months before they had kicked out the same 
 worthy, heaping every opprobrious epithet and 
 abuse that Mexican facultad de lengua could de- 
 vise. Moreover, the hero was hourly expected, and 
 great preparations were on hand for his recep- 
 tion. 
 
 With this object the crack regiment of the 
 Mexican army, el onze — the 11th — which hap- 
 pened to be in garrison at the time cut most pro- 
 digious capers in the great plaza several times 
 a-day, disciplinando — drilling for the occasion. 
 Nothing can, by any possibility, be conceived more 
 unlike a soldier than a Mexican militar. The 
 regular army is composed entirely of Indians — 
 miserable-looking pigmies, whose grenadiers are 
 five feet high. Vera Cruz, being a show place, and 
 jealous of its glory, generally contrives to put 
 decent clothing, by subscription, on the regiment 
 detailed to garrison the town ; otherwise clothing is 
 not considered indispensable to the Mexican sol- 
 dier. The muskets of the infantry are (that is, if 
 they have any) condemned Tower muskets, turned 
 out of the British service years before. I have 
 seen them carrying firelocks without locks, and 
 others with locks without hammers, the lighted end 
 of a cigar being used as a match to ignite the 
 
40 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 powder in the pan. Discipline they have none. 
 Courage a Mexican does not possess ; but still they 
 have that brutish indifference to death, which 
 could be turned to account if they were well led, 
 and officered by men of courage and spirit. 
 
 Before delivering my letters I went to a fonda 
 or inn kept by a Frenchman, but in Mexico-Span- 
 ish style. Here I first made acquaintance with 
 the frijole, a small black bean, which is the main 
 food of the lower classes over the whole of Mexico, 
 and is a standing dish on every table, both of the 
 rich and poor. The cuisine, being Spanish, was 
 the best in the world, the wine good, and abundance 
 of ice from Orizaba. Amongst the company at the 
 fonda was a party of Spanish padres, a capellan of 
 a Mexican regiment, and a Capuchin friar. . . . 
 
 The next day I accompanied this clerical party 
 to the castle of San Juan de UUoa, which we were 
 allowed to inspect in every part. I thought it 
 showed very little caution, for I might have been 
 an American for all they knew to the contrary. 
 The fortress is constructed with considerable skill, 
 but is in very bad repair. It is said to mount 350 
 pieces of artillery, many of heavy calibre, but is 
 deficient in mortars. The garrison did not amount 
 to more than 700 men, although they were in 
 hourly expectation of an attack by the American 
 squadron; and such a miserable set of naked ob- 
 
FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 41 
 
 jects as they were could scarcely be got together 
 in any other part of the world. 
 
 Our party was ciceroned by an aide-de-camp of 
 the governor, who took us into every hole and 
 corner of the works. The soldiers' barracks were 
 dens unfit for hogs, without air or ventilation, and 
 crowded to suffocation. 
 
 In one of the batteries were some fine 98- 
 pounders, all English manufacture, but badly 
 mounted, and some beautiful Spanish brass guns. 
 Not the slightest discipline was apparent in the 
 garrison, and scarcely a sentinel was on the look- 
 out, although the American squadron was in sight 
 of the castle, and an attack was hourly threatened. 
 On the side facing the island of Sacrificios the de- 
 fences were very weak; indeed, I saw no obstruc- 
 tion of sufficient magnitude to prevent half a dozen 
 boats' crews making a dash in the dark at the 
 water-batteries, where at this time were neither 
 guns nor men, nor one sentry whose post would 
 command this exposed spot; thence to cross the 
 ditch, which had but two or three feet of water 
 in it, blow open the gate of the fortress with a bag 
 of powder, and no organised resistance could be 
 dreaded when once in the castle. 
 
 I pointed this out to one of the officers of the 
 garrison. He answered, " No hay cuidado, no hay 
 cuidado! somos muy valientes, — Never fear, never 
 
4a ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 fear ! we are very brave here." " Si quieren los 
 Americanos, qwe vengan — If the Americans like 
 to try, let them come." 
 
 As we returned at night to Vera Cruz, a dull 
 yellowish haze hung over the town. I asked the 
 " patron " of the boat what it was. Taking his 
 cigar from his mouth, he answered quite seriously, 
 " Senor, es el "oomito — it's the fever." 
 
 There is a very good market at Vera Cruz : the 
 fish department is well worth a visit. At sunrise 
 the Indian fishermen bring in their basket-loads, 
 which they pile on the ground; and the beautiful 
 and varied tints of the fish, which exhibit all the 
 colors of the rainbow, as well as the fish them- 
 selves, of all shapes and sizes, form a very pleasing 
 sight. Two hours after sunrise the fish are all 
 sold or removed : indeed, if not immediately cooked 
 they will putrify in a few hours. 
 
 The vegetable-market is well supplied, and ex- 
 hibits a great variety of tropical fruits. The In- 
 dians of the tierra caliente *' are neither pictur- 
 esque in dress nor comely in appearance. They 
 are short in stature, with thick clumsy limbs, broad 
 faces without any expression, and a lazy sullen 
 look of insouciance. They are, however, a harm- 
 less, inoffensive people, and possess many good 
 traits of character and disposition. In the mar- 
 
 * Hot coast lands. {Ed.) 
 
FIRST GLIMPSE OF MEXICO 43 
 
 ket devoted to flesh and fowl, parrots form a 
 staple commodity. They are brought in in great 
 numbers by the Indians, who lay great store on a 
 talking-bird, " un papagaya que habla." Pec- 
 caries, deer, and huge snakes I also saw exposed 
 for sale. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE PATRIOTIC TINMAlf 
 
 ON the 16th of August the castle, with a 
 salvo of artillery, announced the ap- 
 proach of the steamer having on board 
 the illustrious ex-President — General Santa 
 Anna. At 9 p. m. el Onze marched down to the 
 wharf with colors flying and band playing. Here 
 they marched and countermarched for two hours 
 before a position was satisfactorily taken up. An 
 officer of rank, followed by a most seedy aide-de- 
 camp, both mounted on wretched animals, and 
 dressed in scarlet uniforms of extraordinary cut, 
 caracolled with becoming gravity before the 
 adiiana or customhouse. A most discordant band 
 screamed national airs, and a crowd of boys 
 squibbed and crackered on the wharf, supplied 
 with fireworks at the expense of the heroic city. 
 By dint of cuffing, el Onze was formed in two lines 
 facing inwards, extending from the wharf to the 
 palacio, where apartments had been provided for 
 the General. Santa Anna landed under a salute 
 
 from the castle, and walked, notwithstanding his 
 
 44 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 45 
 
 game leg, preceded by his little wife, who leaned 
 on the arm of an officer, through the lane of 
 troops, who saluted individually and when they 
 pleased, some squibbing off their firelocks, and 
 others, not knowing what to do, did nothing. 
 
 Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is a hale- 
 looking man between fifty and sixty, with an Old 
 Bailey countenance and a very well built wooden 
 leg. The Senora, a pretty girl of seventeen, 
 pouted at the cool reception, for not one mfvu was 
 heard; and her mother, a fat, vulgar old dame, 
 was rather unceremoniously congeed from the pro- 
 cession, which she took in high dudgeon. The 
 General was dressed in full uniform, and looked 
 anything but pleased at the absence of everything 
 like applause, which he doubtless expected would 
 have greeted them. His countenance completely 
 betrays his character: indeed, I never saw a 
 physiognomy in which the evil passions, which he 
 notoriously possesses, were more strongly marked. 
 Oily duplicity, treachery, avarice, and sensuality 
 are depicted in every feature, and his well-known 
 character bears out the truth of the impress his 
 vices have stamped upon his face. In person he is 
 portly, and not devoid of a certain well-bred bear- 
 ing which wins for him golden opinions from the 
 surface-seeing fair sex, to whom he ever pays the 
 most courtly attention. 
 
46 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 If half the anecdotes are true which I have heard 
 narrated by his most intimate friends, any office 
 or appointment in his gift can always be obtained 
 on application of a female interceder ; and on such 
 an occasion he first saw his present wife, then a 
 girl of fifteen, whom her mother brought to the 
 amorous President, to win the bestowal upon her 
 of a pension for former services, and Santa Anna 
 became so enamoured of the artless beauty, that 
 he soon after signified his gracious intention of 
 honoring her with his august hand. . . . 
 
 Aug. 17.— We had an emeute amongst the Vera- 
 Cruzanos. As I was passing through the great 
 plaza, a large crowd was assembled before the 
 Casa de Ayuntamiento, or town-hall. Accosting 
 a negro, who, leaning against a pillar, was calmly 
 smoking his paper cigar, a quiet spectator of the 
 affair, I inquired the cause of the riotous proceed- 
 ing. " No es mucho, caballero; un pronuncia- 
 miento, no mas,^' he answered — " nothing, sir, 
 nothing, only a revolution." On further inquiry, 
 however, I learned that the cause of the mob as- 
 sembling before the ayuntamiento was, that the 
 people of Vera Cruz willed that one of that body 
 should, as their representative, proceed to the 
 palace to lay before Santa Anna a statement of 
 certain grievances which they required should be 
 removed. Not one relished the idea of bearding 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 4T 
 
 the lion in his den, although supposed at this mo- 
 ment to be on his good behavior ; but one Sousa, a 
 native of Vera Cruz, and by trade a tinman, 
 stepped forth from the crowd and declared himself 
 ready to speak on the part of the people. 
 
 They had previously clamored for Santa Anna 
 to show himself in the balcony of the palace, but 
 he had excused himself on the plea of being unable 
 to stand on account of his bad leg, and said he 
 was ready at any time to receive and confer with 
 one of their body. Sousa, the volunteer, at once 
 proceeded to the palace, and without ceremony en- 
 tered the General's room, where Santa Anna was 
 sitting surrounded by a large staff of general of- 
 ficers, priests, &c. Advancing boldly to his chair, 
 he exclaimed, " Mi General, for more than twenty 
 years you have endeavored to ruin our country. 
 Twice have you been exiled for your misdeeds: 
 beware that this time you think of us, and not of 
 yourself only ! " 
 
 At this bold language Santa Anna's friends ex- 
 pressed their displeasure by hissing and stamping 
 on the floor; but Sousa, turning to them with a 
 look of contempt, continued : " These, General, are 
 your enemies and ours ; ?/ mas, son traidores - — 
 and more than this, they are traitors. They seek 
 alone to attain their ends, and care not whether 
 they sacrifice you and their country. They will 
 
48 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 be the first to turn against you. Fara nosotros, 
 Vera-Cru^anos qui somos — for us, who are of 
 Vera Cruz — -what we require is this: remove the 
 soldiers ; we do not want to be ruled by armed sav- 
 ages. Give us arms, and we will defend our town 
 and our houses, but we want no soldiers." 
 
 Santa Anna, taken aback, remained silent. 
 
 " Answer me. General," cried out the sturdy 
 tinman : " I represent the people of Vera Cruz, 
 who brought you back, and will be answered." 
 
 " To-morrow," meekly replied the dreaded ty- 
 rant, " I will give orders that the troops be re- 
 moved, and you shall be supplied with one thousand 
 stand of arms." " Estd hueno, mi General — • it is 
 well. General " — answered Sousa, and returned to 
 the mob, who, on learning of the result of the con- 
 ference, filled the air with vvvas, 
 
 " Valgame en DiosI " exclaimed my friend the 
 negro ; " que Jiombre tan osado es este! — what 
 pluck this man must have to open his lips to the 
 Presidente 1 " 
 
 The next morning Santa Anna left Vera Cruz 
 for his hacienda — Manga del Clavo — first caus- 
 ing a manifiesto to be published, declaring his views 
 and opinions with regard to the present critical 
 state of aifairs. This paper was very ably writ- 
 ten by Rincon, and exhibited no little cleverness 
 of composition, inasmuch as great tact was re- 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 49 
 
 quired, owing to the numerous tergiversations of 
 Santa Anna, to steer clear of such subjects as 
 would compromise his present declaration in favor 
 of federalism, to which he has hitherto been strenu- 
 ously opposed. In it he declares his determina- 
 tion to prosecute to the last the war with the 
 United States, and his willingness to sacrifice his 
 life and fortune in defence of his country; depre- 
 cates the notion of foreign intervention, and scouts 
 at the idea of the " monarchial question " being 
 introduced into any political discussion. In con- 
 clusion, he earnestly besought his countrymen to 
 arm against the common foe. 
 
 Two or three days after my arrival in Vera 
 Cruz, suspicious rumors of vomito reached my ears, 
 and caused me to pack up my traps ; and having 
 determined to ride to Jalapa, instead of travelling 
 by the lumbering diligencia [stage coach], my 
 hospitable entertainers, on learning my intention, 
 immediately made arrangements for a supply of 
 cavalry, and placed me under the charge of a con- 
 fidential servant of the house, who was to pilot me 
 to Jalapa. 
 
 About 4 P.M. on the 19th of August, Castillo 
 made his appearance, with a couple of horses 
 equipped in Mexican style, himself attired in a 
 correct road costume — black glazed sombrero 
 with large brim and steeple crown, ornamented 
 
50 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 with a band of silver cord and silver knob on the 
 side; blue jacket with rows of silver buttons, and 
 fancifully braided; calzoneras or pantaloons of 
 velveteen, very loose, and open from the hip-bone 
 to the bottom of the leg, the outside ornamented 
 with filagree buttons ; under these overalls, the 
 calzoncillas or loose drawers of white linen ; boots 
 of untanned leather, with enormous spurs, buckled 
 over the instep by a wide embroidered strap, and 
 with rowels three inches and a half in diameter; 
 a crimson silk sash round his waist, small open 
 waistcoat exhibiting a snow-white shirt, a puro in 
 his mouth, and a quarta or whip hanging by a 
 thong from his wrist. Such was Castillo, not for- 
 getting, however, that in person he was comely 
 to look upon, and, living in an English house, was 
 no libel upon his excellent cuisine, carrying a most 
 satisfactory corporation and a fat good-humored 
 face. 
 
 A common way of traveling in the tierra caliente 
 is by littera, a litter carried between two mules, in 
 which the traveller luxuriously reclines at full 
 length, sheltered from the rain and sun by curtains 
 which enclose the body, and smokes or reads at his 
 pleasure. In one of these, about to return empty 
 to Jalapa, I despatched my baggage, consigning a 
 change of linen to Castillo's alforjas or saddle- 
 bags. At 4 P.M. we trotted out of Vera Cruz, 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 51 
 
 and, crossing the sandy plain outside the town, 
 pulled up at an Indian hut where Castillo informed 
 me it was necessary to imbibe a stirrup-cup, which 
 was accordingly presented by an Indian Hebe, who 
 gave us a " buen mage " in exchange for the 
 clacos * we paid for the mezcal. The road here 
 left the sandy shore, and turned inland, through a 
 country rank with tropical vegetation, with here 
 and there an Indian hut — a roof of palm-leaves 
 supported on bamboo poles, and open to the wind 
 — peeping out of the dense foliage. 
 
 We presently came to a part of the road cut 
 up and flooded by the heavy rains which towards 
 sunset poured mercilessly upon us, but not before 
 Castillo had thrust his head through the slit in his 
 sarape, and, with shoulders protected by his broad- 
 brimmed sombrero, defied the descending waters. 
 Not so my unlucky self, who, green as yet in the 
 mysteries of Mexican travelling, had not provided 
 against aqueous casualties, and in a few seconds 
 my unfortunate Panama was flapping miserably 
 about my ears, and my clothes as drenched as 
 water could make them. However, there was no 
 remedy, and on we floundered, through pools of 
 mud and water full of ducks and snipe and white 
 herons; the road becoming worse and worse, and 
 the rain coming down with undeniable vigor. Just 
 
 * Pieces of one-eighth of a dollar. {Ed.) 
 
52 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 before sunset we overtook the rear-guard of the 
 valiant Eleventh, which that day had marched from 
 Vera Cruz en route to the seat of war, for the 
 purpose, as one of the officers informed me, " dar 
 un golpe a los Norte Americanos — to strike a 
 blow at the North Americans." 
 
 The marching costume of these heroes, I 
 thought, was peculiarly well adapted to the climate 
 and season — a shako on the head, whilst coat, 
 shirt, and pantaloons hung suspended in a bundle 
 from the end of the firelock carried over the shoul- 
 der, and their cuerpos * required no other cov- 
 ering than the coatings of mud with which they 
 were caked from head to foot, singing, however, 
 merrily as they marched. 
 
 Night now came on, and pitchy dark, and the 
 road was almost impassable from the immense herds 
 of cattle which literall3^ blocked it up. The 
 ganado f all belonged to Santa Anna, whose es- 
 tate extends for fifty miles along the road, and 
 bore the well-known brand of A. L. S. A. — alstty 
 or forward, as the Mexicans read it, which are the 
 initials of the General Antonio Lopez de Santa 
 Anna. Finding it utterly impossible to proceed, 
 we stopped at the first Indian hut we came to, 
 
 * Cuerpos — bodies. 
 
 i[^ Ganado mayor — cattle; ganado menor — sheep and 
 pigs. 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TINMAN 53 
 
 where we secured our animals in a shed, and, in 
 company with the rear-guard of the Onze, who 
 arrived shortly after, made ourselves uncomfor- 
 table for the night. 
 
 The next morning, before daylight, we were in 
 our saddles, the rain still descending in torrents. 
 ** No hay remedio — there's no help for it " — said 
 Castillo ; " we had better push on : " and on we 
 splashed. " Hi esta muy huen conac — very good 
 brandy up there " — he remarked, after we had 
 ridden a few miles ; and, dashing the spurs into his 
 beast, darted up a hill to a house, and called for 
 a tumbler of brandy and milk, which was not un- 
 palatable after our wet ride. . . . 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 
 
 THE weather clearing, we resumed our 
 journey, and halted to breakfast at 
 Puente Nacional, once del Rey. 
 
 The bridge, built of stone, spans a picturesque 
 torrent, now swollen and muddy with the rains. 
 The village is small and dirty, with a tolerable inn, 
 where the diligencia stops. Here we were regaled 
 with frijoles [corn pancakes] and chile Colorado 
 [a dish highly seasoned with red pepper], and 
 waited upon by a very pretty Indian girl. 
 
 The scenery is wild and desolate ; the vegetation, 
 although most luxuriant, looks rank and poisonous, 
 and the vapors, which rise from the reeking under- 
 growth, bear all kinds of malaria over the country. 
 Few villages are met with, and these consist of 
 wretched hovels of unbumt brick (adobe), or huts 
 of bamboo and palm-leaf. Each has its little patch 
 of garden, where the plantain, maize, and chile 
 are grown. Strings of the latter invariably hang 
 on every house, and with it, fresh or dried, the 
 
 people season every dish. The land appears good, 
 
 54 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 55 
 
 but, where everything grows spontaneously, the 
 lazy Indian only cares to cultivate sufficient for 
 the subsistence of his family. The soil is well 
 adapted for the growth of cotton, sugar, and 
 tobacco. I asked a farmer why he did not pay 
 more attention to the cultivation of his land. 
 " Quien sabe,'^ was his answer ; " con maiz y chile, 
 no falta nada — who wants more than corn and 
 chile, vayaf " 
 
 " These men are brutes," put in Castillo ; " ni 
 mda sahen — they don't know even what it is to 
 live;" just then a hiftek a la Ynglesa in the 
 kitchen of la casa in Vera Cruz occurring to his 
 mind's eye. 
 
 When we turned out after breakfast we found 
 the heavy rolling clouds clearing off, and the sun 
 shining brightly from a patch of deep blue. 
 
 " Ya viene huen tiempo [we shall have good 
 weather]," prophesied our host, as he held my stir- 
 rup ; and for once he was a true prophet, for we 
 had six or eight hours' magnificent weather, during 
 which the sun dried our clothes, and baked the 
 mud upon them, and we were enabled to keep our 
 cigars alight, which, in the morning was an im- 
 possibility. The road was wretched, although it 
 has been called by an ingenious traveller " a mon- 
 ument of human industry ; " a monument of human 
 ignorance and idleness would be the better term. 
 
56 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 On each side the scenery was the same — a sea of 
 burning green. Now, however, the woods were 
 alive with birds of gaudy plumage: cardinals, and 
 catbirds, and parrots, with noisy chatter, hopped 
 from tree to tree; every now and then, the Mex- 
 ican pheasant — chachalaca — a large noble bird, 
 flew across the road; and chupamirtos (humming- 
 birds) darted to and fro. The pools were black 
 with ducks, cranes, and bitterns ; the air alive with 
 bugs and beetles ; and in the evening cocuyos (fire- 
 bugs) illuminated the scene. Mosquitos were 
 everywhere, and probed with poisonous proboscis 
 every inch of unprotected skin. 
 
 At sunset we reached El Plan del Rio, a miser- 
 able venta [hostelry], which we found crowded 
 with cavalry soldiers and their horses, so that we 
 had great trouble in finding room for our own ani- 
 mals. This hostelry belonged to the genus meson, 
 a variety of the inn species to be found only in 
 Mexico. It was, however, a paradise compared 
 to the mesones north of the city of Mexico ; and I 
 remember that I often looked back upon this one, 
 which' Castillo and I voted the most absolutely mis- 
 erable of inns, as a sort of Clarendon or Mivart's. 
 Round the corral, or yard, where were mangers 
 for horses and mules, were several filthily dirty 
 rooms, without windows or furniture. These were 
 the guests' chambers. Mine host and his family 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 57 
 
 had separate accommodations for themselves of 
 course ; and into this part of the mansion Castillo 
 managed to introduce himself and me, and to pro- 
 cure some supper. 
 
 The chambermaid — who, unlocking the door of 
 the room apportioned to us, told us to beware of 
 the mala gente (the bad people) who were about 
 — was a dried-up old man, with a long grizzled 
 beard and matted hair, which fell, guiltless of comb 
 or brush, on his shoulders. He was perfectly hor- 
 rified at our uncomplimentary remarks concerning 
 the cleanliness of the apartment, about the floor 
 of which troops of fleas were caracolling, while 
 flat odoriferous bugs were sticking in patches to 
 the walls. My request for some water for the pur- 
 pose of washing almost knocked him down with the 
 heinousness of the demand; but when he had 
 brought a little earthenware saucer, holding about 
 a tablespoonful, and I asked for a towel, he stared 
 at me open-mouthed without answering, and then 
 burst out into an immoderate fit of laughter. 
 " Ay que homhre, Ave Maria Purissima, que loco 
 es este! — Oh, what a man, what a madman is this ! 
 Serinlleta, panuela, toalla, que demonio quiere? — 
 towel, napkin, handkerchief — what the devil does 
 he want ? " — repeating the different terms I used 
 to explain that I wanted a towel. 
 
 ** Ha, ha, ha! es medio-tonto, es medio-tonto — 
 
58 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 a half-witted fellow, I see. Que demonio! quiere 
 agua, quiere toalla! — what the d — ^1! he wants 
 water, towels, everything. Adios! " 
 
 El Plan del Rio is situated in a circular valley 
 or basin, surrounded by lofty hills, which are cov- 
 ered with trees. An old fort crowns the summit 
 of a ridge on the left of the road, whence a beauti- 
 ful view is had of the valley, which is the exact 
 figure of a cup. We were now constantly ascend- 
 ing, and, leaving behind us the tierra caliente [hot 
 zone], were approaching the more grateful climate 
 of the tierra templada, or temperate region. At 
 Los Dos Rios we had a good view of the Peak of 
 Orizaba, with its cap of perpetual snow ; and, still 
 ascending, the scenery became more varied, the air 
 cooler, and the country better cultivated; oaks 
 began to show themselves, and the vegetation be- 
 came less rank and more beautiful. Presently, 
 cresting a hill, before us lay beautiful Jalapa, em- 
 bosomed in mountains and veiled by cloud and mist. 
 
 Jalapa, the population of which is nearly 17,- 
 000, is situated at the foot of Macultepec, at an 
 elevation of 4335 feet above the level of the sea. 
 Unfortunately this elevation is about that which 
 the strata of clouds reach, when, suspended over 
 the ocean, they come in contact with the ridge of 
 the Cordillera, and this renders the atmosphere ex- 
 ceedingly humid and disagreeable, particularly in 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 59 
 
 north-easterly winds. In summer, however, the 
 mists disappear, the sun shines brightly, and the 
 sky is clear and serene. At this time the climate 
 is perfectly heavenly; the extremes of heat and 
 cold are never experienced, and an even genial tem- 
 perature prevails, highly conducive to health and 
 comfort. Fever is here unknown; the dreaded 
 *Domito never makes its appearance on the table- 
 land ; and, in spite of the humid climate, sickness is 
 comparatively rare and seldom fatal. The aver- 
 age temperature is 60° to Qt^° in summer. 
 
 There are seasons, however, when Jalapa pre- 
 sents a direct contrast to such a picture. Heavy 
 dense clouds envelop, as in a shroud, the entire 
 landscape; a floating mist hangs over the town; 
 and the rolling vapors, which pour through the 
 valley, cause a perpetual cMpi-chipi, as this driz- 
 zling rain is termed. The sun is then for days 
 obscured, and the Jalapeno, muffled in his sarape, 
 smokes his cigarro, and mutters, " Ave Maria 
 Purissima, que venga el sol! — O for a peep at the 
 sun, Holy Virgin ! " 
 
 On a bright sunny day the scenery round Jalapa 
 is not to be surpassed: mountains bound the hori- 
 zon, except on one side, where a distant view of the 
 sea adds to the beauty of the scene. Orizaba, with 
 its snow-capped peak, appears so close that one 
 imagines it is within reach ; and rich and evergreen 
 
60 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 forests clothe the surrounding hills. In the fore- 
 ground are beautiful gardens, with fruits of every 
 clime — the banana and fig, the orange, cherry, 
 and apple. The town is irregularly built, but pic- 
 turesque ; the houses are in the style of Old Spain, 
 with windows to the ground, and barred, in which 
 sit the Jalapenas, with their beautifully fair com- 
 plexions and eyes of fire. 
 
 " Las Jalapenas son muy halaguenas " is a say- 
 ing common in Mexico ; and bewitching they are, 
 even with their cigaritos, which make a good foil 
 to a pretty mouth. Here is still preserved some 
 of the sangre azul, the blue blood of Old Castile. 
 Many of the Jalapa women are dazzlingly fair, 
 whilst others are dark as a Malaguefia. In the 
 fonda [hotel] Vera Cruzana, where I put up, and 
 advise all travellers to do the same, were two 
 daughters of mine host — one as fair as Jenny 
 Lind, the other dark as Jephtha's daughter, and 
 both very pretty. Although the proverb says 
 " Vent era hermosa^ mal para la holsa — a pretty 
 hostess gives no change " — here it is an exception ; 
 and my friend Don Juan will take good care of 
 man and beast, and charge reasonably. 
 
 Near Jalapa are two or three cotton-factories, 
 which I believe pay well. They are under the man- 
 agement of English and Americans. The girls 
 employed in the works are all Indians or Mestizas, 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 61 
 
 healthy and good-looking. They are very apt 
 in learning their work, and soon comprehend the 
 various uses of the machinery. In the town there 
 is but little to see. The church is said to have 
 been founded by Cortez, and there is also a Fran- 
 ciscan convent. However, a stranger is amply in- 
 terested in walking about the streets and market, 
 where he will see much that is strange and new. 
 The vicinity of Jalapa, although poorly cultivated, 
 produces maize, wheat, grapes, jalap (from which 
 plant it takes its name) ; and a little lower down 
 the Cordillera grow the vanilla, the bean which is 
 so highly esteemed for its aromatic flavor, and 
 fruits of the temperate and torrid zones. 
 
 On inquiry as to the modes of travelling from 
 Jalapa to the city of Mexico, I found that the 
 journey in the diligencia to the capital was to be 
 preferred to any other at this season, on account 
 of the rains ; although by the former there was 
 almost a certainty of being robbed or attacked. 
 So much a matter of course is this disagreeable 
 proceeding, that the Mexicans invariably calculate 
 a certain sum for the expenses of the road, includ- 
 ing the usual fee for los cahalleros del camino 
 [knights of the road]. All baggage is sent by the 
 arrieros or muleteers, by which means it is ensured 
 from all danger, although a long time on the road. 
 The usual charge is twelve dollars a carga, or 
 
62 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 mule-load of 200 lbs., from Vera Cruz to the 
 capital, being from ten to twenty days on the road. 
 The Mexicans never dream of resisting the rob- 
 bers, and a coach-load of nine is often stopped and 
 plundered by one man. The ladrones [thieves], 
 however, often catch a Tartar if a party of for- 
 eigners should happen to be in the coach ; and but 
 the other day, two Englishmen, one an officer of 
 the Guards, the other a resident in Zacatecas, be- 
 ing in a coach which was stopped by nine robbers 
 near Puebla, on being ordered to alight and hoca- 
 haxo — throw themselves on their noses — replied 
 to the request by shooting a couple of them, and, 
 quietly resuming their seats, proceeded on their 
 journey. 
 
 During my stay two English naval officers ar- 
 rived in the diligencia from Mexico. As they 
 stepped out, bristling with arms, the Mexican by- 
 standers ejaculated, " Valgame Dios! What men 
 these English are! Esos son hombres! — These 
 are men ! " The last week the coach was robbed 
 three times, and a poor Gachupin, mistaken for an 
 Englishman, was nearly killed, the robbers having 
 vowed vengeance against the palefaces for the 
 slaughter of their two comrades at Puebla; and a 
 few months before, two robbers crav/led upon the 
 coach during the night, and, putting a pistol 
 through the leathern panels, shot an unfortunate 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 63 
 
 passenger in the head, who, they had been in- 
 formed, carried arms, and was determined to resist. 
 There is not a travelling Mexican who cannot nar- 
 rate to you his experiences on " the road ; " and 
 scarcely a foreigner in the country, more particu- 
 larly English and Americans, who has not come to 
 blows with the ladrones at some period or other 
 of his life. 
 
 Such being the satisfactory state of affairs, be- 
 fore starting on this dangerous expedition, and 
 particularly as I carried all my baggage with me 
 (being too old a soldier ever to part with that), 
 assisted by mine host Don Juan, I had a minute in- 
 spection of arms and ammunition, all of which 
 were put in perfect order. One fine morning, 
 therefore, I took my seat in the diligencia, with a 
 formidable battery of a double-barrel rifle, a ditto 
 carbine, two brace of pistols, and a blunderbuss. 
 Blank were the faces of my four fellow-passengers 
 when I entered thus equipped. They protested, 
 they besought — every one's life would be sacri- 
 ficed were one of the party to resist. " Senores,^^ 
 I said, " here are arms for you all : better for you 
 to fight than be killed like rats." No, they washed 
 their hands of it — would have nothing to do with 
 gun or pistol, " Vaya: no es el costumbre — it is 
 not the custom," they said. 
 
 From Jalapa the road constantly ascends, and 
 
64> ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 we are now leaving the tierra templada, the region 
 of oaks and liquid amber, for the still more elevated 
 regions of the tierra fria — called cold, however, 
 merely by comparison, for the temperature is equal 
 to that of Italy, and the lowest range of the ther- 
 mometer is 62°. The whole table-land of Mexico 
 belongs to this division. The scenery here becomes 
 mountainous and grand; and on the right of the 
 road is a magnificent cascade, which tumbles from 
 the side of a mountain to the depth of several 
 hundred feet. The villages are few, and fifteen or 
 twenty miles apart, and the population scanty and 
 miserable. No signs of cultivation appear, but 
 little patches of maize and chile, in the midst of 
 which is an Indian hut of reeds and flags. 
 
 In the evening we passed through a fine plain 
 in which stands the town and castle of Perote, and 
 near which is the celebrated mountain of basaltic 
 porphyry, which, from the singular figure of a 
 rock on its summit, is called " El Coffre," the 
 chest. The castle of Perote is the " Tower " of 
 Mexico. In it are confined the unlucky chiefs 
 whom revolutions and counter-revolutions have 
 turned upon their backs. The late President 
 Paredes was at this time confined within its walls ; 
 and would have, in a day or two, the pleasure of 
 seeing Santa Anna (who himself has been a resi- 
 dent here) pass in state to resume the reins of 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 65 
 
 government. However, in this country, over- 
 turned presidents, et hoc genus omne, are always 
 well treated, since it is the common fate of them 
 all to be set up and knocked down like ten-pins, 
 and therefore they have a fellow-feeling for each 
 other in their adversity. 
 
 In Perote the houses present to the street a 
 blank wall of stone without windows, and one large 
 portal, which leads to the 'patio-corral, or yard, 
 round which are the rooms. This shows the want 
 of security, where every man's house is indeed his 
 castle. From Perote the dangerous road com- 
 mences, and it is necessary, as the conductor in- 
 formed me, tener mucho cuidado — to keep a sharp 
 look-out. 
 
 We left Perote at four in the morning; conse- 
 quently it was quite dark ; and, as morning dawned, 
 the first objects that met our view were the nu- 
 merous little crosses on the roadside, many of them 
 making the places where unfortunate travellers 
 had been murdered. These crosses, however, have 
 not always so bloody a signification, being placed 
 in the road oftentimes to mark the spot where a 
 coffin has been set down on its way to the burial- 
 ground, in order that the bearers may rest them- 
 selves, or be changed for others. Every now and 
 then our driver looked into the window to give no- 
 tice that we were drawing near a dangerous spot. 
 
66 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 saying, " Ahora mal pimto, muy mal punto — now 
 we are in a very bad place ; look to your arms." 
 
 The country appeared rich and fertile, but, as 
 usual, was wretchedly cultivated ; and the same mis- 
 erable population of Indians everywhere. Now 
 and then a Mexican proper would gallop past, 
 armed to the teeth, when our conductor invariably 
 demanded, " Que novedad hay? — is there any- 
 thing new ? " — always having reference to the do- 
 ings of the ladrones, " No hay nada — there is 
 nothing stirring " — was generally the answer ; 
 which could seldom be relied on, as there is hardly 
 a ranchero who is not in league with the robbers, 
 and our informant was most likely one of them on 
 the look-out. 
 
 At eleven we stopped to breakfast, and were 
 joined by a stout wench of La Puebla, with a nut- 
 brown face and teeth as white as snow. She in- 
 formed us that there were muy mala gente on the 
 road — very bad people — who had robbed the 
 party with which she was travelling but the day be- 
 fore ; and, being miiy sin vergiienza — shameless 
 rascals — had behaved very rudely to the ladies 
 of the party. Our buxom companion was dressed 
 in true Poblana style. Her long black hair was 
 combed over her ears, from which descended huge 
 silver earrings ; the red enagua, or short petticoat, 
 fringed with yellow, and fastened round her waist 
 
GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD 67 
 
 with a silk band ; from her shoulders to the waist 
 a chemisette was her only covering, if we except the 
 gray reboso drawn over her head and neck ; and on 
 her small naked foot was a tiny shoe with silver 
 buckle. 
 
 However, we reached Puebla safe and sound, and 
 drove into the yard of the Fonda de las Diligencias, 
 where the coach and its contents were minutely in- 
 spected by a robber-spy, who, after he had counted 
 the passengers and their arms, immediately 
 mounted his horse and galloped away. This is 
 done every day, and in the teeth of the authorities, 
 who wink at the cool proceeding. 
 
 In a country where justice is not to be had — • 
 where injustice is to be bought — where the law 
 exists but in name, and is despicable and powerless, 
 it is not to be wondered at that such outrages are 
 quietly submitted to by a demoralized people, who 
 prefer any other means of procuring a living than 
 by honest work ; and who are ready to resort to the 
 most violent means to gratify their insatiable pas- 
 sion for gambling, which is at the bottom of this 
 national evil. It is a positive fact that men of all 
 ranks and stations scruple not to resort to the 
 road to relieve their temporary embarrassments, 
 the result of gambling; and numerous instances 
 might be brought forward where such parties have 
 been detected, and in some cases executed for thus 
 
68 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 offending against the laws. One I may mention 
 — that of Colonel Yanes, aide-de-camp to Santa 
 Anna, who was garrotted for the robbery and 
 murder of the Swiss consul in Mexico a few years 
 since. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 AS CORTEZ SAW IT 
 
 PUEBLA, the capital of the intendancy of 
 that name, is one of the finest cities in 
 Mexico. Its streets are wide and regu- 
 lar, and the houses and public buildings are sub- 
 stantially built and in good taste. The popu- 
 lation, which is estimated at between 80,000 and 
 100,000, is the most vicious and demoralized in 
 the republic. It was founded by the Spaniards 
 in 1531 on the site of a small village of Cholula 
 Indians, and, from its position and the fertility 
 of the surrounding country, was unsurpassed by 
 any other city in the Spanish Mexican dominions. 
 The province is rich in the remains of Mexican 
 antiquities. The fortifications of Tlaxcallan and 
 the pyramids of Cholula are worthy of a visit, 
 and the noble cypress of Atlixo (the ahahuete, 
 cupressus disticha, Lin.) is 76 feet in circumfer- 
 ence, and, according to Humboldt, the " oldest 
 vegetable monument " in the world. 
 
 At the posada at Puebla I was introduced to the 
 most enormous woman I have ever seen, but unit- 
 
 09 
 
70 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ing with this awful magnitude the most perfect 
 symmetry of form and feature. Her manners were 
 perfectly lady-like, and she seemed in no degree 
 disconcerted by her unusual size. I sat next her 
 at supper, and in conversation she very abruptly 
 alluded to her appearance, but with the most per- 
 fect good humor. " Would you believe, cabal- 
 lero," she said to me, " that there is in this very 
 Puebla a girl actually fatter than I am? " 
 *' Many as fat, senorita," I answered, " but " 
 (perpetrating a preposterously far-fetched com- 
 pliment) " few so fair." " Ah, senor, you are 
 laughing at me," she said : " ya lo se bien que soy 
 vaca, pero hay otra mas gorda que yo — I know 
 well that I am a cow, but, thank God, there is one 
 other in the world fatter than I am." 
 
 I shuddered to see her shovelling huge masses 
 of meat into her really pretty mouth, and thought 
 of what the consequences would be in a few years' 
 time, when her fine figure would subside into a 
 mountain of flesh. 
 
 We left Puebla early in the morning, and, as day 
 broke, a scene of surpassing beauty burst upon 
 us. The sun rising behind the mountains cov- 
 ered the sky with a cold silvery light, against which 
 the peaks stood out in bold relief, whilst the bases 
 were still veiled in gloom. The snow-clad peak 
 of Orizaba, the lofty Popocatepetl (the hill that 
 
AS CORTEZ SAW IT 71 
 
 smokes) and Iztaccihuatl (the white woman) lifted 
 their heads now bright with the morning sun. 
 The beautiful plain of Cuitlaxcoapan, covered 
 with golden corn and green waving maize, stretched 
 away to the mountains which rise in a gradual un- 
 dulating line, from which in the distance shot out 
 isolated peaks and cones, all clear and well de- 
 fined. 
 
 Passing through a beautiful country, we reached 
 Rio-Frio, a small plain in the midst of the moun- 
 tains, and muy mal punto for the robbers, as the 
 road winds through a pine-forest, into which they 
 can escape in case of repulse. The road is lined 
 with crosses, which here are veritable monuments 
 of murders perpetrated on travellers. Here too 
 we took an escort, and, when we had passed the 
 piftol, the corporal rode up to the windows, say- 
 ing, " Ya se retira la escolta, — the escort is about 
 to retire " ; in other words. Please remember the 
 guard. Each passenger presented him with the 
 customary dos reales (two dollars), and the gal- 
 lant escort rode off quite contented. Here too, 
 all the worst puntos being passed, my companions 
 drew long breaths ; muttered " Ave Maria Puris- 
 sima — gracias a Dios ya no hay cuidado; " and 
 lit their cigars. We soon after crested the ridge 
 of the mountain, and, descending a winding road, 
 turned an abrupt hill, and, just as I was settling 
 
72 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 myself in the corner for a good sleep, my arm was 
 seized convulsively by my opposite neighbor, who, 
 with half his body out of the window, vociferated : 
 " Hi esta, hi esta, mire, por Dios, mire! — Look 
 out, for God's sake! there it is." Thinking a 
 ladrone was in sight, I seized my gun, but my 
 friend, seeing my mistake, drew in his head, say- 
 ing, " No, no, Mejico, Mejico, la cuidad! (No, 
 no, the city of Mexico !)." 
 
 To stop the coach and jump on the box was the 
 work of a moment; and, looking down from the 
 same spot where probably Cortez stood 300 years 
 ago, before me lay the city and valley of Mexico, 
 bathed by the soft flooding light of the setting 
 sun. 
 
 He must be insensible indeed, a clod of clay, who 
 does not feel the blood thrill in his veins at the 
 first sight of this beautiful scene. What must 
 have been the feelings of Cortez, when with his 
 handful of followers he looked down upon the 
 smiling prospect at his feet, the land of promise 
 which was to repay them for all the toil and dan- 
 gers they had encountered! 
 
 The first impression which struck me on seeing 
 the valley of Mexico was the perfect, almost un- 
 natural, tranquillity of the scene. The valley, 
 which is about sixty miles long by forty in breadth, 
 
AS CORTEZ SAW IT 73 
 
 is on all sides enclosed by mountains, the most 
 elevated of which are on the southern side ; in the 
 distance are the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
 Iztaccihuatl, and numerous peaks of different ele- 
 vation. The lakes of Tezcuco and Chalco glit- 
 ter in the sun like burnished silver, or, shaded by 
 the vapors which often rise from them, lie cold and 
 tranquil on the plain. The distant view of the 
 city, with its white buildings and numerous 
 churches, its regular streets and shaded paseos 
 [walks], greatly augments the beauty of the scene, 
 over which floats a solemn, delightful tranquillity. 
 On entering the town, one is struck with the 
 regularity of the streets, the chaste architecture of 
 the buildings, the miserable appearance of the 
 population, the downcast look of the men, the ab- 
 sence of ostentatious display of wealth, and the 
 prevalence of filth which everywhere meet the eye. 
 On every side the passenger is importuned for 
 charity. Disgusting lepers whine for clacos 
 \_tlacos, pieces of one-eighth of a dollar] : maimed 
 and mutilated wretches, mounted on the backs of 
 porters, thrust out their distorted limbs and ex- 
 pose their sores, urging their human steeds to in- 
 crease her pace as their victim increases his to 
 avoid them. Rows of cripples are brought into 
 the streets the first thing in the morning, and 
 
74j adventures in MEXICO 
 
 deposited against a wall, whence their infernal 
 whine is heard the livelong day. Cries such as 
 these everywhere salute the ear : — 
 
 " Jesws Maria Pwrissima; una corta caridad, car 
 hallero, en el nomhre de la santissima madre de 
 Dios: una corta caridad, y Dios lo pagara a usted 
 — In the name of Jesus the son of the most pure 
 Mary, bestow a little charity, my lord; for the 
 sake of the most holy mother of God, bestow a 
 trifle, and God will repay you." 
 
 Mexico is the head-quarters of dirt. The 
 streets are dirty, the houses are dirty, the men 
 are dirty and the women dirtier, and everything 
 you eat and drink is dirty. 
 
 This love of dirt only refers to the Mexicans 
 proper, since the Gachupines,* and all foreigners 
 in the city, and those Mexicans who have been 
 abroad, keep themselves aloof and clean. The 
 streets are filled with leperos [rag-tag and bob- 
 tail] and officers in uniform (pleasing themselves 
 as to the style), with priests, and fat and filthy 
 Capuchinos friars and monks. 
 
 Observe every countenance; with hardly an ex- 
 ception a physiognomist will detect the expression 
 
 * The Gachupin is the term of contempt which was be- 
 stowed upon the Spaniards in the War of Independence, 
 and is now invariably used by the lower classes to distin- 
 guish a Spaniard from a Mexican. 
 
AS CORTEZ SAW IT 75 
 
 of vice, and crime, and conscious guilt in each. 
 No one looks you in the face, but all slouch past 
 with downcast eyes and hang-dog look, intent upon 
 thoughts that will not bear the light. The shops 
 are poor and ill supplied, the markets filthy in 
 the extreme. Let no one with fastidious stomach 
 look into the tortillerias, the shops where pastry is 
 made. 
 
 The stranger in Mexico is perpetually annoyed 
 by the religious processions which perambulate 
 the streets at all hours. A coach, with an eye 
 painted on the panels, and drawn by six mules, 
 conveys the host to the houses of dying Catholics 
 who are rich enough to pay for the privilege: be- 
 fore this equipage a bell tinkles, which warns the 
 orthodox to fall on their knees; and woe to the 
 unfortunate who neglects this ceremony, either 
 from ignorance or design. On one occasion, be- 
 ing suddenly surprised by the approach of one 
 of these processions, I had but just time to doff 
 my hat and run behind a corner of a building, when 
 I was spied by a fat priest, who, shouldering an 
 image, brought up the rear of the procession. As 
 he was at the head of a vast crowd who were just 
 rising from their knees, he thought it a good op- 
 portunity of venting an anathema against a vile 
 heretico. Turning first to the crowd, as much as 
 to say, " Just see what a dressing I am going to 
 
76 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 give this fellow," he, with a most severe frown, ad- 
 dressed me : — 
 
 " Man," said he, " do you refuse to kneel to your 
 God?" "No, mi padre" I answered, " pero al 
 imagen de madera " — but to an image of wood. 
 
 " Yaya^^ muttered the padre ; " lo te pagara el 
 demonio — ■ the devil will pay thee " — and marched 
 away. 
 
 The cathedral is a fine large building of in- 
 congruous architecture. The interior is rich in 
 silver and gold candlesticks and ornaments of the 
 precious metals. It is far inferior to the churches 
 of Catholic Europe. I visited it during a grand 
 funcion, when it was crammed with leperos and 
 Indians, the odor from whose water-avoiding skins 
 drove me quickly into the open air. I vainly 
 searched for a Murillo, which is said to hang, un- 
 noticed and unhonored, in some dark comer of 
 the church. After a fruitless search of more than 
 two hours, I gave it up, right glad to think that 
 no production of that great master existed where 
 it would not be appreciated. It is said the quan- 
 tity of gold and silver plate and ornaments of 
 precious stones possessed by this church are worth 
 several millions sterling. They are, however, care- 
 fully hidden, lest they should excite the cupidity of 
 some unscrupulous president; but the gold and 
 silver, etc., actually displayed, would be well 
 
AS CORTEZ SAW IT 77 
 
 wortli the attention of a sacking party of Ameri- 
 can volunteers, should the city of the Aztecs be 
 rash enough to stand an assault. 
 
 The interior is dark and gloomy, with the usual 
 amount of tinsel and tawdry. The view, from 
 the top, of the city and valley of Mexico, is very 
 fine; although the old woman who keeps the key 
 of the tower declares that the " msta mas her- 
 mosa — the most beautiful view " — is into the 
 square, where nothing is to be seen but a stand of 
 hack corratelas, and the scaffolding round Santa 
 Anna's statue, which has just been dragged from 
 its corner, and re-erected. 
 
 There is little or nothing in the shape of sight- 
 seeing in Mexico. The national museum is worth 
 a visit, as it contains a good collection of Mexican 
 antiquities, of a light and trivial character, how- 
 ever. I have seen no Aztecan remains which im- 
 pressed me with the most distant idea that the 
 ancient Mexicans possessed any of the arts of 
 civilization, or were further advanced than many 
 other nations of ingenious savages, who work in 
 stones and feathers. In the working of stones 
 they were certainly clever, and the wonder is, 
 with the rude instruments they possessed, how they 
 could fashion into any shape the brittle materials 
 they made use of. Some masks of the human face, 
 cut out of obsidian, are really well executed, as 
 
78 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 are also several figures of beasts, insects, and rep- 
 tiles, in amethyst, agate, porphyry, serpentine, 
 etc. In the court-yard of the museum is a 
 colossal equestrian statue of Charles the Fourth of 
 Spain. This used to ornament the great square, 
 where Humboldt assisted in its erection in 1803; 
 but after the War of Independence, when kings 
 went out of fashion in Mexico, it was removed to 
 its present site. As a whole it is a work of merit, 
 and the conception good ; but possesses many glar- 
 ing faults. The legs of the rider and hind quar- 
 ters of the horse are out of all proportion ; never- 
 theless the animal is a correct study of a Mexican 
 horse. The drapery is good, and the attitude of 
 the horse gives a good idea of a trotting charger. 
 
 One of the lions here is the collection of paint- 
 ings by old (?) masters, belonging to the Conde 
 de Cortina. They are now removed to the 
 Count's casa de campo, or country seat, at Tacu- 
 baya, and enjoy the reputation of being the 
 choicest gallery on the continent of America. 
 Amongst them are two reputed Murillos, and some 
 others attributed to the first masters. 
 
 I gladly availed myself of an opportunity to 
 inspect the collection, which, I regret to say, 
 greatly disappointed me. One of the paintings 
 attributed to Murillo, although of considerable 
 merit, does not possess one iota of the style pecul- 
 
AS CORTEZ SAW IT 79 
 
 iar to that great master; the other is manifestly 
 spurious. Of the remainder I need only say that 
 they have been collected at great expense, but I 
 fear with little judgment. The Conde de Cortina, 
 the head of an old Spanish family, has expended 
 large sums of money in making this collection, 
 but it is to be regretted that the agents to whom 
 he intrusted the purchase of paintings have, either 
 through ignorance or imposition, squandered away 
 such large sums as would, if judiciously spent, 
 have been sufficient to have purchased many of the 
 finest pictures in Europe. 
 
 Tacubaya is the Richmond of Mexico : villas and 
 country residences abound, where the aristocracy 
 resort during the hot months. The road passes 
 the great aqueduct which supplies the city with 
 water from a spring in Chapultepec. It is not 
 strongly built, and the arches exhibit many cracks 
 and fissures occasioned by the earthquakes. At 
 this season the valley was partly inundated, and 
 the road almost impassable to carriages. 
 
 By this road Cortez retreated from the city on 
 the memorable " noche triste" the sorrowful night. 
 The fatal causeway, the passage of which was so 
 destructive to the Spaniards, was probably on 
 nearly the same site as the present road, but the 
 latter since that period has entirely changed its 
 character. On returning from Tacubaya, I visited 
 
80 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 the hill of Chapultepec, celebrated as being the 
 site of Montezuma's palace, on which, towards the 
 end of the seventeenth century, the viceroy Galvez 
 erected a huge castle, the remains of which are 
 now occupied by the military school. 
 
 Far more interesting than the apocryphal tra- 
 dition of the Indians' palace, the viceroy's castle, 
 or the existing eyesore, is the magnificent grove of 
 cypress, which outlives all the puny structures of 
 man, and, still in the prime of strength and beauty, 
 looks with contempt on the ruined structures of 
 generation after generation which have passed 
 away. 
 
 One of these noble trees is upwards of seventeen 
 yards in girth, and the most picturesque, and at 
 the same time most nobly proportioned tree, it is 
 possible to conceive. It rises into the sky a per- 
 fect pyramid of foliage, and from its sweeping 
 branches hang pendulous, graceful festoons of a 
 mossy parasite. There are many others of equal 
 height and beauty, but this one, which I believe 
 is called Montezuma's cypress, stands more iso- 
 lated, and is therefore conspicuouslj^ grand. 
 From the summit of the hill, to which a path winds 
 through a labyrinth of shrubs, a fine view of the 
 valley and city of Mexico is obtained, and of the 
 surrounding mountains and volcanic peaks. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 HIGH LIFE AND LOW 
 
 THE " Paseo " is the Hyde Park of Mexico. 
 Here resort, about four in the afternoon, 
 all the gay and fashionable of the city. 
 Coaches, built in the days of our great-grand- 
 fathers, rumble along on their ponderous leathern 
 springs, drawn by teams of sleek and handsome 
 mules. Out of the quaint windows peep the lus- 
 trous eyes of the senoritas, dressed in simple white. 
 The modem European carriages of the foreign 
 ministers dash past; amongst them, conspicuous 
 for correctness of turn-out, the " Clarence " of her 
 Britannic Majesty's representative, with his lady 
 dressed a la Mexicana, and drawn by a pair of 
 superb mules. Caballeros curvet on their cahallas 
 de paseo — park hacks — with saddles and bridles 
 worth a Jew's ransom, and all dressed para la sUla 
 — for the saddle — eschewing everything in the 
 shape of " tail " to their coats ; for on horseback 
 the correct thing is the chaqweta, an embroidered 
 
 jacket, alive with buttons and bullion. The som- 
 
 81 
 
8^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 hrero Mexicano, and pantaloons open from the 
 knee and garnished with silver buttons, and silver 
 spurs of enormous size and weight, complete their 
 costume. The horse appointments are still more 
 costly. The saddle, the pommel and cantle of 
 which are of solid silver, is embossed with the same 
 metal in every part; the stirrups, covered by a 
 flap of ornamented leather, and the massive bit, 
 are of silver, and frequently partly of gold; and 
 the reins, and every other portion of the equip- 
 ment, are in similar style. After a turn or two in 
 the broad drive, the carriages range up side by 
 side along the road, whence their fair inmates ad- 
 mire the passing dandies as they curvet past on 
 their well-trained steeds. To the eye of an Eng- 
 lishmlan nothing is more ridiculous than a Mexi- 
 can's seat on horseback: the form of the saddle 
 compels him to sit bolt upright, or rather over- 
 hanging the pommel, whilst the stirrups, placed 
 behind the girth, draw his legs far behind the cen- 
 tre of gravity, his toes just touching the pon- 
 derous stirrup. Every moment you expect him to 
 fall with his nose between the horse's ears, but the 
 high cantle and pommel hold him as in a vise, 
 and render his being spilt anything but an easy 
 matter. 
 
 The Paseo itself is a very poor affair, and made 
 still more so by two ridiculous fountains, which 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 83 
 
 rival in meanness the equally absurd squirts in 
 our Trafalgar Square. 
 
 The private houses in Mexico are well built and 
 commodious. The exteriors of many are chastely 
 and most beautifully decorated, and the rooms are 
 lofty and well proportioned. The entrance is by a 
 large gateway (sometimes double, the exterior one 
 being of open iron-work) into the patio or court- 
 yard, round which are the stables, coach-houses, 
 and servants' offices. The visitor has frequently 
 to thread his way through horses and mules, frisk- 
 ing under the hands of grooms, mozos de caballo. 
 The dwelling-rooms are on the first and upper 
 stories. 
 
 The hotels are few and wretchedly bad. The 
 best is " La Gran Sociedad," under the same roof 
 with the theatre " Nacional," now rechristened " of 
 Santa Anna." This is the grand theatre, and is 
 rather a good house, with a company of Spanish 
 comedians. There is also a smaller one, devoted 
 to light comedy and vaudeville. The performers 
 are generally from the Havana, and occasionally 
 a " star " arrives from Old Spain. 
 
 The streets of Mexico at night present a very 
 animated appearance. In the leading thorough- 
 fares the tortilleras display their tempting viands, 
 illuminated by the blaze from a hrazero, which 
 serves to keep the tortillas and chile Colorado in a 
 
84j adventures IN MEXICO 
 
 proper state of heat. To these stalls resort the 
 arrieros [muleteers] and loafers of every descrip- 
 tion, tempted by the shrill invitations of the pre- 
 siding fair ones to taste their wares. Urchins, 
 with blazing links, run before the lumbering 
 coaches proceeding to the theatres. Cargadores 
 — porters — stand at the corners of the flooded 
 streets, to bear across the thin-booted passenger 
 on their backs. The cries of the pordioseros, as 
 the beggars are called from their constant use 
 of " por Dios" redouble as the night advances. 
 The mounted ones urge their two-legged steeds 
 to cut off the crowd thronging towards the 
 theatres, mingling their supplications for alms 
 with objurgations on their lazy hacks. 
 
 " Una limosnita, caballerito, por (to the car- 
 gador) Malraya! piernas de piedra, anda — and- 
 a-a — a small trifle, my little lord, for the sake 
 of — (aside to the unfortunate porter, in a stage 
 whisper) Thunder and fury, thou stony-legged 
 one ! get on for the love of mercy : he is going to 
 give me a claco. Ar-he — ar-r-he." 
 
 Red-petticoated poblanas,* reboso-wrapped, dis- 
 play their little feet and well-turned ankles as 
 they cross the gutters; and, cigar in mouth, they 
 wend their way to the fandangos of the Barrio de 
 Santa Anna. From every pulque-shop is heard 
 
 * The poblana is the manola of Mexico. 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 85 
 
 the twanging of guitars, and the quivering notes 
 of the cantadores, who excite the guests to re- 
 newed potations by their songs in praise of the 
 grateful liquor. The popular chorus of one of 
 these is : — 
 
 " Sabe que es 'pulque? 
 
 Licor divino-o! 
 Lo beben los angeles 
 
 En el sereno-o." 
 
 Know ye what pulque is? 
 
 Liquor divine! 
 Angels in heaven 
 
 Prefer it to wine. 
 
 Those philosophical strangers who wish to see 
 " life in Mexico " must be careful what they are 
 about, and keep their eyes skinned, as they say in 
 Missouri. Here there are no detective police from 
 which to select a guide for the back slums — no 
 Sergeant Shackel to initiate one into the mysteries 
 of St. Giles's and the Seven Dials. One must de- 
 pend upon his own nerve and bowie-knife, his pres- 
 ence of mind and Colt's revolver: but, armed even 
 with all these precautions, it is a dangerous experi- 
 ment, and much better to be left alone. Provided, 
 however, that one speaks the language tolerably 
 well, is judicious in the distribution of his dollars, 
 and steers clear of committing any act of gal- 
 lantry by which he may provoke the jealousy and 
 
86 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 cuchillo [knife] of the susceptible Mejicano, the 
 expedition may be undertaken without much dan- 
 ger, and a satisfactory moral drawn therefrom. 
 
 One night, equipped from head to foot " al 
 paisano " (in the mode of the country), and accom- 
 panied by one Jose Maria Canales, a worthy ras- 
 cal, who in every capacity, from a colonel of 
 dragoons to a horse-boy, had perambulated the re- 
 public from Yucatan to the valley of Taos, and 
 had inhabited apartments in the palace of the 
 viceroys as well as in the Acordada, and nearly 
 every intermediate grade of habitation, I sallied 
 out for the very purpose of perpetrating such an 
 expedition as I have attempted to dissuade others 
 from undertaking. 
 
 Our first visit was to the classic neighborhood of 
 the Acordada, a prison which contains as unique 
 a collection of malefactors as the most civilized 
 cities of Europe could produce. On the same 
 principle as that professed by the philosopher, 
 who, during a naval battle, put his head into a hole 
 through which a cannon-shot had just passed, as 
 the most secure place in the ship, so do the rogues 
 and rascals, the pickpockets, murderers, burglars, 
 highwaymen, coiners, et hoc genus omne, choose to 
 reside under the very nose of the gallows. 
 
 My companion, who was perfectly at home in 
 this locality, recommended that we should first visit 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 87 
 
 a celebrated pulqueria, where he would introduce 
 me to a caballero — a gentleman — who knew 
 everything that was going on, and would inform 
 us what amusements were on foot on that par- 
 ticular night. Arrived at the pulque-shop, we 
 found it a small filthy den, crowded with men and 
 women of the lowest class, swilling the popular 
 liquor, and talking unintelligible slang. My 
 cicerone led me through the crowd, directly up to 
 a man who, with his head through a species of sack 
 without sleeves, and sans chemise, was serving out 
 the pulque to his numerous customers. I was in- 
 troduced as " un forasterOy un caballero Yngles — 
 a stranger — an English gentleman," his particu- 
 lar friend. Mine host politely offered his hand, 
 assured me that his house and all in it was mine 
 from that hour, poured us out two large green 
 tumblers of pulque, and requested us to be seated. 
 It was soon known that a foreigner was in the 
 room. In spite of my dress and common sarape, 
 I was soon singled out. Cries of " Estrangero, 
 Tejano, Yanque, hurro/' saluted me; I was a 
 Texan, a Yankee, and consequently burro — a 
 jackass. The crowd surrounded me, women 
 pushed through the throng, a 'ver el burro — to 
 look at the jackass; and threats of summary chas- 
 tisement and ejection were muttered. Seeing that 
 affairs began to look cloudy, I rose, and, placing 
 
88 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 my hand on my heart, assured the caballeros y las 
 senoritas that they labored under a slight error: 
 that, although my face was white, I was no Texan, 
 neither was I Yankee or a jackass, but " Yngles, 
 muy amigo a la republica — an Englishman, hav- 
 ing the welfare of the republic much at heart " ; 
 and that my affection for them, and hatred of their 
 enemies, was something too excessive to express: 
 that to prove this, my only hope was that they 
 would do me the kindness to discuss at their leisure 
 half an arroba of pulque, which I begged then and 
 there to pay for, and present to them in token of 
 my sincere friendship. 
 
 The tables were instantly turned: I was saluted 
 with cries of " Vwa el Yngles! Que meueren los 
 Yanques! Vwan nosotros y 'pulque! — Hurrah 
 for the Englishman ! Death to the Yankees ! 
 Long live ourselves and pulque ! " The dirty 
 wretches thronged round to shake my hand, and 
 semi-drunken poblanas lavished their embraces on 
 " el guero" I must here explain that, in Mexico, 
 people with fair hair and complexions are called 
 guero, gu^ra; and, from the caprice of human na- 
 ture, the guero is always a favorite of the fair sex : 
 the same as, in our country, the olive-colored 
 foreigners with black hair and beards are thought 
 " such loves " by our fair countrywomen. The 
 guerOy however, shares this favoritism with the 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 89 
 
 genuine unadulterated negro, who is also greatly 
 admired by the Mejicanas, 
 
 After leaving the pulqueria, we visited, without 
 suspicion, the dens where these people congregate 
 for the night — filthy cellars, where men, women, 
 and children were sleeping, rolled in sarapes, or in 
 groups, playing at cards, furiously smoking, quar- 
 relling, and fighting. In one we were attracted to 
 the corner of a room, whence issued the low sobs 
 of a woman, and, drawing near the spot as well as 
 the almost total darkness would admit, I saw a 
 man, pale and ghastly, stretched on a sarape, with 
 the blood streaming from a wound in the right 
 breast, which a half-naked woman was trying in 
 vain to quench. He had just been stabbed by a 
 lepero with whom he had been playing at cards and 
 quarrelled, and who was coolly sitting within a 
 yard of the wounded man, continuing his game 
 with another, the knife lying before him covered 
 with blood. 
 
 The wound was evidently mortal; but no one 
 present paid the slightest attention to the dying 
 man, excepting the woman, who, true to her nature, 
 was endeavoring to relieve him. 
 
 After seeing everything horrible in this region 
 of crime, we took an opposite direction, and, cross- 
 ing the city, entered the suburb called the Barrio 
 de Santa Anna, 
 
90 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 This quarter is inhabited by a more respectable 
 class of villains. The ladrones a cahallo — 
 knights of the road — - make this their rendezvous, 
 and bring here the mules and horses they have 
 stolen. It is also much frequented by the ar- 
 rieros, a class of men who may be trusted with un- 
 told gold in the way of trade, but who are, when 
 not ^^ en atajo" (employed), as unscrupulous as 
 their neighbors. They are a merry set and the 
 best of companions on the road ; make a great deal 
 of money, but, from their devotion to pulque and 
 the fair sex, are always poor. " Gastar dinero 
 como arriero — to spend money like an arriero " 
 — is a common saying. 
 
 In a meson [inn] much frequented by these men 
 we found a fandango of the first order in progress. 
 An atajo having arrived from Durango, the ar- 
 rieros belonging to it were celebrating their safe 
 arrival by entertaining their friends with a hayle; 
 and into this my friend, who was " one of them," 
 introduced me as an amigo particular — a particu- 
 lar friend. 
 
 The entertainment was al-fresco, no room in the 
 meson being large enough to hold the company; 
 consequently the dancing took place in the corral, 
 and under the portales, where sat the musicians, 
 three guitars and a tambourine, and where also 
 was good store of pulque and mezcal. 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 91 
 
 The women, in their dress and appearance, re- 
 minded me of the manolas of Madrid. Some wore 
 very picturesque dresses, and all had massive orna- 
 ments in gold and silver. The majority, however, 
 had on the usual poblana enaugua, a red or yellow 
 kind of petticoat, fringed or embroidered, over the 
 simple chemisette, which, loose and unconfined, ex- 
 cept at their waists, displayed most prodigally 
 their charms. Stockings are never worn by this 
 class, but they are invariably very particular in 
 their chaussure, a well-fitting shoe, showing off 
 their small well- formed feet and ankles. 
 
 The men were all dressed in elaborate Mexican 
 finery, and in the costumes of the different prov- 
 inces of which they were natives. 
 
 The dances resembled, in a slight degree, the 
 fandango and arabe of Spain, but were more 
 clumsy, and the pantomimic action less energetic 
 and striking. Some of the dances were descrip- 
 tive of the different trades and professions. El 
 Zapatero^ the shoe-maker; el Sastroncito, the little 
 tailor; el Espadero, the swordsman, &c., were 
 amongst those in the greatest demand ; the guitar- 
 players keeping time and accompanying them- 
 selves with their voices in descriptive songs. 
 
 The fandango had progressed very peacefully, 
 and good humor had prevailed until the last hour, 
 when, just as the dancers were winding up the 
 
92 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 evening by renewed exertions in the concluding 
 dance, the musicians, inspired by pulque, were 
 twanging with vigor their relaxed catgut, and a 
 general chorus was being roared out by the romp- 
 ing votaries of Terpsichore, above the din and 
 clamor a piercing shriek was heard from a cor- 
 ner of the corral, where was congregated a knot 
 of men and women, who chose to devote themselves 
 to the rosy god for the remainder of the evening, 
 rather than the exertions of the dance. The ball 
 was abruptly brought to a conclusion, every one 
 hastening to the quarter whence the shriek pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Two men with drawn knives in their hands were 
 struggling in the arms of several women, who 
 strove to prevent their encounter — one of the 
 women having received an ugly wound in the at- 
 tempt, which had caused the shriek of pain which 
 had alarmed the dancers. 
 
 " Qiie es eso? — What is this? " — asked a tall 
 powerful Durangueno, elbowing his way through 
 the crowd. " Que quieren esos gallos? — What do 
 those gamecocks want? A pelear? — To fight, 
 eh? Vamos, a ver los toros! — Come, let us see 
 the fun ! " — he shouted. In an instant a ring was 
 formed ; men and women standing at a respectable 
 distance, out of reach of the knives. Two men 
 held the combatants, who, with sarapes rolled 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 93 
 
 round their arms, passion darting out of their 
 fiery eyes, looked like two bulldogs ready for the 
 fray. 
 
 At a signal they were loosed at each other, and, 
 with a shout, rushed on with uplifted knives. It 
 was short work with them, for at the first blow 
 the tendons of the right arm of one of them were 
 severed, and his weapon fell to the ground ; and as 
 his antagonist was about to plunge his knife into 
 the body of his disarmed foe, the bystanders 
 rushed in and prevented it, at the same moment 
 that the patrulla (the patrol) entered the corral 
 with bayonets drawn, and sauve-qui-peut was the 
 word; a visit to the Acordada being the certain 
 penalty of being concerned in a brawl where knives 
 have been used, if taken by the guard. For my- 
 self, with a couple of soldiers at my heels, I flew 
 out of the gate, and never stopped until I found 
 myself safe under the sheets, just as daybreak was 
 tinging the top of the cathedral. 
 
 Society in Mexico, although good, is not much 
 sought after by the foreign residents, who have 
 that resource amongst themselves; neither do the 
 Mexicans themselves care to mix with those out of 
 their own circle. The Mexican ladies are totally 
 uneducated, and in the presence of foreigners, 
 conscious of their inferiority, are usually shy and 
 reserved. This of course refers only to general 
 
94 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 society. In their own houses, and amongst them- 
 selves, they are vivacious, unaffectedly pleasing in 
 their manners and conversation; and in all classes 
 is evinced a warmth of heart and sympathy which 
 wins for the women of Mexico the respect and 
 esteem of all strangers. As for their personal at- 
 tractions, I will say, that, although not dis- 
 tinguished for beauty, I never once remember to 
 have seen a really ugly woman. Their brilliant 
 eyes make up for any deficiency of feature, and 
 their figures, uninjured by frightful stays, are full 
 and voluptuous. Now and then, moreover, one 
 does meet with a perfectly beautiful creature ; and 
 when a Mexican woman does combine such perfec- 
 tion she is " some pumpkins," as the Missourians 
 say when they wish to express something super- 
 lative in the female line. 
 
 For everything connected with the manners and 
 mantua-making of Mexico, the reader is recom- 
 mended to consult Madame Calderon de la Barca, 
 who, making allowances for the coulewr de rose 
 with which she tints all her pictures, is a lively 
 painter of men, manners, and millinery. 
 
 Great preparations were in progress for the 
 proper reception of the great Santa Anna, who was 
 daily expected to arrive in the city from the En- 
 cerro, his country-house, and where, under the pre- 
 tence that his leg (a never-failing resource) was 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 95 
 
 in such a state of inflammation that he was unable 
 to travel, he had been very wisely waiting the 
 course of events, until such time as the popular 
 feeling should manifest itself in his favor. His 
 statue, which, on the occasion of his being kicked 
 out of Mexico a year before, had been consigned 
 to a corner, was now restored to light, and in 
 course of erection in the plaza. Painters were 
 busy at the corners of the streets printing his name 
 and erasing the new one, which at his last exit 
 had been substituted for the numerous Calles de 
 Santa Anna. 
 
 The Teatro Nacional was once more the Teatro 
 de Santa Anna. Triumphal arches were erected in 
 every direction, with inscriptions laudatory of his 
 achievements. One, erected on the spot where 
 they, twelve months before, shut the gates on him, 
 throwing his renowned leg after him, hailed him in 
 enormous letters as "El benemerito de su patria: 
 el immortal Salvador de la republica: el heroe de 
 Tamaalipas — the hero of Tamaalipas : the immor- 
 tal saviour of the republic: the man who deserved 
 well of his country : the hero of a hundred fights." 
 At night a crowd — hired by the friends of Santa 
 Anna — perambulated the streets carrying torches 
 and long stalks of maize, crying, " Viva Santa 
 Anna y Mejico: meuren los estrangeros — death 
 to the foreigners," &c. 
 
96 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 After I had been a few days in Mexico I made 
 preparations for my j oumey to the north. In my 
 search for horses and mules I paid a visit to the 
 horse-dealing establishment of one Smith, a Yan- 
 kee, and quite a character, who is making a for- 
 tune in the trade of horseflesh. His stables were 
 filled with nags of all sorts and sizes, and amongst 
 them were some of General Taylor's troop-horses, 
 belonging to a detachment of dragoons which was 
 captured by the Mexicans on the Rio Grande. 
 Smith, who is a hearty John-BuU-looking man, 
 has the reputation with the Mexicans of being mwy 
 picaro — up to snuff — as what horse-jockey is 
 not? but he has all the custom of the city, and is 
 of course a great authority on all subjects con- 
 nected with horseflesh. A deputation had just 
 waited upon him to persuade him to officiate as 
 Jehu to a carriage and four which was to be de- 
 spatched some ten miles out of the city to bring in 
 Santa Anna. Five hundred dollars was, I believe, 
 the sum offered, which the independent Smith re- 
 fused, as it was a sine qtid non that he should at- 
 tire himself in a General's uniform, as he called 
 it, but in plain terms, what was nothing more or less 
 than a chasseur's livery. 
 
 I selected and purchased two horses from his 
 stud, and better animals never felt a saddle: one 
 I rode upwards of 3000 miles, and brought it to 
 
HIGH LIFE AND LOW 97 
 
 the end of the j ourney without flinching ; the other, 
 a little blood-horse from the tierra calientey with 
 a coat as fine as silk, I was obliged to part with 
 before entering the intemperate climate of New 
 Mexico, where the cold would have quickly killed 
 it. For mules I visited the Barrio de Santa Anna, 
 the head-quarters of the arriero, where I soon pro- 
 vided myself with those useful animals. 
 
 The greatest difficulty was to procure servants, 
 who were unwilling to undertake a j ourney of such 
 a length, New Mexico being here quite a terra inr 
 cognita, and associated with ideas of wild beasts 
 and wilder Indians, and horrors of all sorts. I at 
 length hired a mozo [servant] to proceed with me 
 as far as Durango, 550 miles from Mexico, and 
 considered the Ultima Thule of civilization. He 
 was a tall shambling Mexican, from Puebla: his 
 name, as usual, Jesus Maria. His certificate of 
 character announced him to be " muy homhre de 
 hien — very respectable, faithful, and a good road- 
 servant." His wages were one dollar a-day and 
 his food — " iin peso diario y la comida " — or 
 nearly SOI, a-year of sterling money. 
 
 I was so fortunate as to become acquainted with 
 a young Spaniard who was about to start for the 
 mines of Guadaloupe y Calvo ; and as our road as 
 far as Durango was the same, we agreed to travel 
 in company, which was as agreeable on the score 
 
98 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of companionship, as it was advantageous in point 
 of security against the attacks of robbers, who, in 
 large bands, infest this road. 
 
 We had, however, anything but a pleasant pros- 
 pect before us, as the rainy season was at its 
 height; the valley of Mexico was inundated, and 
 the roads almost impassable. In the city of 
 Mexico an inundation was dreaded. The streets 
 were many of them covered with water, and the 
 black mud was oozing out from between the stones 
 of the pavement in every direction, showing the 
 boggy nature of the foundation on which the city 
 is built. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 HITTING THE TRAIL 
 
 N the 14th of September, just as a salvo 
 of artillery announced the entrance of 
 Santa Anna into the city, our cavalcade, 
 consisting of upwards of twenty horses and mules, 
 packed and loose, sallied out of the north gate, and 
 entered a large common outside the city ; and then, 
 once out of the streets, where they were easily 
 managed, each loose horse and mule, throwing up 
 its head with a grunt of pleasure at seeing the 
 open country, betook itself to independent expedi- 
 tions in search of grass. The mozos rushed fran- 
 tically here and there to collect the scattered 
 atajo [outfit]. The pack-mules threw up their 
 hind legs and refused to listen to reason. A big 
 beast of a mule, that was carrying my heaviest 
 packs, lay down and rolled, disarranged the apa- 
 rejo or pack-saddle, and oif tumbled the baggage 
 into the mud ; — my rifle-case disappeared in a 
 deep pool, into which my mozo dived head first 
 to rescue it. By this time the other mules had 
 
 most of them got rid of their packs and were 
 
 99 
 
100 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 quietly grazing, but were at length caught and 
 repacked, brought to some degree of order, and 
 we resumed our journey — my mozo meeting with 
 an accident which was near proving serious ; on 
 attempting to remount his horse it plunged and 
 threw him upon his head, and for several minutes, 
 stunned by the fall, he was perfectly insensible. 
 The same horse played me the same trick some 
 days after. 
 
 With mules, the first day's start is invariably a 
 scene of the greatest confusion. The animals are 
 wild, the pack-saddles have always something 
 wanting, and the mozos half drunk and helpless. 
 In a few days, however, everything is ship-shape; 
 the mules become as docile as dogs, are packed 
 well and quickly, and proceed along the road in 
 regular order. 
 
 After proceeding a few miles we found the coun- 
 try entirely covered with water, and the road al- 
 most impassable. Six miles from the city we met 
 some cars floating in the road, and the carriers 
 were swimming the cargoes — cases of cebo 
 (grease or lard) — to a dry spot. A little far- 
 ther on a carratela [coach], full of ladies, was 
 stuck hard and fast in the mud ; the mules grazing 
 on the road-side, iand the men away seeking as- 
 sistance. A troop of donkeys carrying charcoal to 
 the city presented the most absurd spectacle. The 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 101 
 
 poor patient animals were literally buried in the 
 mud to their very necks, and unable to move a limb. 
 There they remained, the very picture of patience, 
 whilst the arrieros removed their packs and laid 
 them on the mud. Our animals, being strong and 
 fresh, got safely through, after a hard struggle, 
 and by dint of the most incessant vociferations on 
 the part of our mozos, and with the assistance of a 
 score of invoked saints. 
 
 About dusk we reached Guatitlan, a small town 
 fifteen miles from Mexico, and put up in the meson, 
 the corral of which was belly-deep in black mud, 
 and round which were half a dozen rooms filthily 
 dirty and destitute of furniture. We procured 
 for supper a pipkin of rice-soup and tomatos and a 
 dish of frijoles; after which, drenched to the skin 
 and sleepy, I rolled myself in my wet sarape, and 
 rushed into the arms, not of Somnus, but of hun- 
 dreds of thousands of fleas and bugs and mos- 
 quitos, whose merciless attacks continued till two 
 o'clock in the morning, when, swallowing a cup of 
 chocolate, we were in our saddles and on our jour- 
 ney. 
 
 Sept. 15th. — To avoid the water-covered plains 
 we took the mountain-road, passing through a 
 tract of country covered with lava and scoria, 
 with wild and picturesque scenery. At the little 
 village of Tapage we halted to breakfast, for which 
 
102 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 purpose, as there was no meson or public-house of 
 any description, we took by storm a little mud- 
 built house, where an old Indian woman was mak- 
 ing tortillas at the door. Our mozos laid the vil- 
 lage under contribution, and soon returned with a 
 hatful of eggs, which our Indian hostess, with the 
 aid of chile Colorado and garlic, converted into a 
 palatable dish. 
 
 On crossing the bridge over an arroyo [water- 
 course] outside the village my attention was drawn 
 to the figure of an Indian who was kneeling before 
 a little cage built in the parapet of the bridge. 
 Looking through the bars, I was surprised to 
 see two exceedingly clever heads of Joseph 
 and Mary in a framed painting. They were exe- 
 cuted, the Indian informed me, by an art- 
 ist who passed through Tapage a short time be- 
 fore. 
 
 The country here is very beautiful, but poorly 
 cultivated, and the population squalid and miser- 
 able in the extreme. About noon we arrived at 
 the hacienda [farmstead] of Cananas, in which is 
 a meson of the usual description. I enjoyed a 
 bath in the ice-cold waters of a fierce mountain- 
 stream, which dashes through a wild dell clothed 
 with beautiful shrubs. As I was lying on the 
 ground enjoying a cigar after my bath, a number 
 of Indians approached, and examined me with the 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 103 
 
 greatest curiosity. Many of them had never be- 
 fore seen a foreigner, and, as they stood staring 
 round me, muttered, " Valgame en Dios; Ave 
 Maria Purissimal que giiero, guero, y habla como 
 nosostrosi — How white, how white is this man, 
 and yet speaks as we do ! " 
 
 The day was beautiful; and as we had finished 
 our day's journey of thirty-five miles by one 
 o'clock, the afternoon was devoted to cleaning 
 mules and horses and arranging aparejos. Our 
 supper consisted of rice, chile, and frijoles, after 
 which I rolled myself like a mummy in my sarape, 
 and, spite of entomological attacks, was asleep 
 in an instant, and stood the assaults of mosquito, 
 bug, and flea, until the mesonero (inn-keeper) 
 roused me at three o'clock with a cup of chocolate, 
 which is the only obtainable breakfast in all the 
 mesones on the road. 
 
 16th. — We picked our way up a mountain in 
 the dark, through a perfect sea of rocks and 
 stones, and on the summit came suddenly upon the 
 bivouac of a large party of arrieros, who were 
 lying snoring in their sarapes round a roaring fire, 
 their mules grazing round them. I got off my 
 horse to light a cigar at their fire, when one of 
 them, starting up and seeing a stranger, shouted 
 " Ladrones! " which quickly roused the rest, who 
 seized their escopetos [muskets] and shouted 
 
104 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 "Where, where?" Seeing their mistake, they 
 rubbed their eyes, and asked the news — the nove- 
 dades — which I found with them related to the 
 state of the roads, and not revolutions, counter- 
 revolutions, and the like, with which, true philoso- 
 phers, they never trouble their heads. In the first 
 part of this day's journey the country was moun- 
 tainous, and covered with dwarf-oak and ilex. 
 We then entered upon a tract of open undulating 
 downs dotted with thickets, but with no signs of 
 habitation. Every eight or ten miles we passed 
 a miserable Indian village with its patch of maize, 
 but the country is entirely uncultivated with this 
 exception, and not a soul is met on the road. The 
 downs here resemble the rolling prairie of the far 
 West, are covered with excellent grass, and are ca- 
 pable of supporting immense herds of cattle. The 
 plains are singularly destitute of trees, which the 
 Mexicans say were destroyed by the Spanish con- 
 querors, but with what object it is impossible to 
 understand, for the want of fuel is a great draw- 
 back to the settlement of this portion of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 At 9, p. M. we arrived at the end of our day's 
 journey, thirty-five miles, halting at the Hacienda 
 del Rio Sarco — the farm of the muddy brook. 
 We found here a detachment of cavalry on their 
 way to the seat of war, and three staff-officers re- 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 105 
 
 quested permission to join our party the next day 
 as a security against robbers. The meson was 
 better than usual, being the stopping-place of the 
 diligencia to Fresnillo ; but of beds we had taken a 
 long leave ; at least I had — for my companion, 
 more luxurious, carried a camp-bedstead, which 
 was the load of two mules. 
 
 I do not think I have fully described a meson, 
 which, as it is a characteristic discomfort of Mexi- 
 can travelling, deserves a sketch. 
 
 The meson is everywhere the same in form; a 
 large corral, or yard, entered by a huge gateway, 
 is surrounded by some half-dozen square rooms 
 without windows or furniture. In one corner is 
 generally a stone platform raised about three feet 
 from the floor of clay. This is the bed. A little 
 deal table is sometimes furnished if demanded. In 
 one corner of the corral is the cocina, the kitchen, 
 so called — lucus a non lucendo — from the fact 
 that nothing is cooked there ; and in an outer yard 
 is the caballeriza, the stable, with a well in the 
 centre. The mules are unpacked and the baggage 
 secured in one of the rooms destined for the mas- 
 ters, while the aparejos and saddles, &c., are placed 
 in another occupied by the servants. On entering, 
 the mozo shouts for the mesonero, the landlord, 
 who makes his appearance, armed with the key of 
 the granary, where corn and straw are kept. He 
 
106 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 condescends to serve out the straw and barley, or 
 maize, as the case may be, all of which is duly 
 weighed. The mules and horses are consigned to 
 the stable and fed, after which the mozos forage 
 for themselves and masters. The following con- 
 versation then takes place with the landlord : — 
 
 Mozo. — '' Amigo, que hay a comer? — What is 
 there to eat? " 
 
 Mesonero. — " Ah, senor, aqui no hay nada — 
 Ah, my lord, there is nothing here." 
 
 Mozo. — " Valgame Dios, que pais es este! — 
 Heaven defend me, what a country have we come 
 to!" 
 
 Mesonero. — ^" Si, senor, es muy povre — It's 
 true, my lord, it's a very poor country." 
 
 Mozo. — " Pero que vamos hacerf Estan muri- 
 endo de hamhre los cahalleros — But what are we 
 to do ? The gentlemen are dying of hunger." 
 
 Mesonero. — " Si, sus mercedes lo gustan, hay 
 polio, hay frijoles, hay chile Colorado, hay tortil- 
 las — Well, if their worships like it, they can have 
 a fowl and frijoles, and red peppers and tortillas." 
 
 Mozo. — " Esta hueno, amigo! — Capital, my 
 friend ! and let there be enough for us too " ; and 
 then " Quien sabe " how much corn the horses eat ! 
 Eh, my friend (winking his eye) : " Vaya, que 
 vengan — Go to, let them be prepared." — Exit 
 Mesonero. 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 107 
 
 In due course several pipkins make their ap- 
 pearance, containing the polio, the frijoles, the 
 chile Colorado, and a pile of tortillas: knives, 
 spoons, and forks are not known in a meson. 
 
 In the morning, before daylight, the mesonero 
 makes his appearance with the little cups of coffee, 
 and hiscochos (a sweet cake), and presents the bill. 
 
 11th. — Leave Rio Sarco — the Mexican offi- 
 cers in company. These worthies amused us 
 vastly by their accounts of what they were going 
 to do. General Ampudia, they said, was merely 
 waiting for the Americans to advance, when he in- 
 tended to entrap them, leap upon and annihilate 
 them at once; that hitherto he had had but raw 
 troops, rancheros and the like, but, when the regu- 
 lar cavalry reach him, then, a Dios! he would act.* 
 
 The country, like that through which we passed 
 yesterday, was undulating, with fine downs and ex- 
 cellent pasture. The villages, consisting of a few 
 huts built of adobes, were few and far between. 
 Before the doors of several were placed small stools 
 spread with a white cloth, a sign that there the 
 hungry traveller might break his fast ; and at one 
 of these mesas puestas we made it a custom every 
 morning to halt, and discuss the usual fare of eggs, 
 
 * Ampudia was appointed commander-in-chief after the 
 recall of Santa Anna from banishment, in July, 1846. 
 {Ed.) 
 
108 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 frijoles, and chile. On a large level plain covered 
 with cattle, and better cultivated than is generally 
 the case, stands the Hacienda de la Soledad (of 
 solitude), well named, since it stands alone in the 
 vast plain, the only object which breaks the 
 monotony of the view for many miles. The plain 
 is surrounded by mountains, and the road passes 
 over a stony sierra, thickly covered with the yel- 
 low-flowered nopalo, a gigantic species of cactus. 
 As we were slowly traversing the rocky sierra, 
 we descried, a few hundred yards ahead of us, a 
 band of seven horsemen drawn up across the road. 
 One of my companion's servants, who had been 
 many years a smuggler on this road, instantly rec- 
 ognised them as a well-known band of robbers: 
 we therefore, as their object was plain, collected 
 our mulada [pack-train of mules] into a compact 
 body, and, distributing our party of six, half on 
 each side, we unslung our carbines, threw the flaps 
 off our holsters, and steadily advanced, the Span- 
 iard and myself in front, with our pieces cocked 
 and ready for service. The robbers, however, saw 
 at a glance that two of us were foreigners, for 
 whom and their arms they have a great respect, 
 and, wheeling quickly on one side of the road, they 
 hitched their ready lassos on the horns of their 
 saddles, and, remaining in line, allowed us to pass, 
 saluting us with " Adios, caballeros, buen mage I — 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 109 
 
 a pleasant journey to you " — the leader inquiring 
 of one of the mozos, as he passed, whether the 
 diligencia was on the road and had many pas- 
 sengers ? 
 
 They were all superbly mounted, and well armed 
 with carbine, sword, and pistols; and each had a 
 lasso hanging on the horn of his high-peaked sad- 
 dle. " Adios, amigos" we said, as we passed 
 them, " 2/ huena fortuna — and good luck this fine 
 morning." 
 
 Crossing the sierra, we descended into a level 
 and beautiful champaign, through which meandered 
 a rushing stream, the Rio Lerma. The soil seemed 
 everywhere to be rich and fruitful, but no signs of 
 cultivation appeared until we approached the San 
 Juan del Rio, a town of considerable size, and here 
 the milpas, the maize-fields, looked green and beau- 
 tiful. The town, when seen from the sierra, as we 
 descended into the plain, looked exceedingly Span- 
 ish and picturesque. Indeed, in crossing these 
 vast and uncultivated tracts, anything in the 
 shape of human abode is grateful to the eye ; and 
 even the adobe hut of the Indian, with its mesa 
 puesta, is a refreshing oasis in these desert soli- 
 tudes. 
 
 San Juan del Rio is very beautifully situated, 
 and surrounded by fine gardens, which are cele- 
 brated for grapes and chirimoyas. It is difficult 
 
110 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 to arrive at anything like a correct estimate of 
 the population of a Mexican town, unless by com- 
 paring the size with that of another, the number 
 of whose inhabitants is known ; and it is almost im- 
 possible to obtain anything like correct informa- 
 tion on any statistical point from a Mexican, who, 
 for the glory of his town or province, will in- 
 variably give an absurdly exaggerated statement. 
 Thus, on asking in San Juan of a respectable mer- 
 chant what was the number of its inhabitants, he 
 gravely answered, " Mas que ochenta mil — more 
 than eighty thousand ; " and on another occasion, 
 on asking the same question of a rico [rich man] 
 of Taos, a valley of some twelve thousand inhabi- 
 tants, he answered without hesitation, " two mil- 
 lions." 
 
 At a rough guess I should estimate the popula- 
 tion of San Juan del Rio at eight or ten thousand. 
 
 The houses are generally of one story, and built 
 of stone, whitewashed, with barred windows,* the 
 same as in old Spain, looking into the streets. No 
 particular trade appears to be carried on in the 
 town, if we except begging, which here, as every- 
 where else in the country, is in a most flourishing 
 condition. 
 
 We arrived at San Juan about noon, although 
 our day's journey was thirty-five miles; but our 
 
 *Th)e rejas of the Moorish houses of Andalusia. 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL 111 
 
 animals were getting more tractable, and travelled 
 with less disorder, and consequently performed the 
 journey quicker, and with less fatigue. 
 
 18th, — The road to-day was better than usual, 
 although we passed through a broken country, 
 diversified by mountain, rugged sierras, and fertile 
 plains. Our practice was to start before daylight 
 in the morning, by which means we avoided trav- 
 elling in the very hot part of the day, stopping to 
 breakfast wherever a " mesa puesta " presented it- 
 self ; our animals, in the meanwhile, travelling on, 
 performing the whole day's journey without stop- 
 ping, and which, I believe, is the best plan ; for a 
 halt of a few minutes does not rest the animals, 
 and the removal of packsaddles from the heated 
 beasts often produces troublesome wounds. 
 
 The district in which we were now travelling is 
 situated on the verge of the volcanic region of 
 JoruUo, where, in 1759, occurred one of the most 
 extraordinary phenomena which has ever been ob- 
 served. A large tract which had long ago been 
 subjected to volcanic action, but for many cen- 
 turies had been undisturbed, was suddenly the 
 scene of most violent subterraneous commotion. 
 
 A succession of earthquakes continued for the 
 space of two months, to the great consternation 
 of the inhabitants, at the end of which time they 
 subsided for a few days, but suddenly recommenced 
 
11£ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 with frightful subterranean noises and continued 
 shocks. The frightened Indians fled to the neigh- 
 boring mountains, whence they beheld, with horror 
 and alarm, flames issuing from the plain, which 
 heaved and tossed like a raging sea, rocks and 
 stones being hurled high in air ; and suddenly the 
 surface of the plain was seen gradually to rise in 
 the shape of a dome, throwing out at the same time 
 numerous small cones and masses, which rose to 
 an elevation of 1200 and 1400 feet above the 
 original level of the plain. 
 
 This is the first of a series of volcanic districts 
 which stretch from the valley of Mexico along the 
 whole of the table-land, at irregular distances from 
 each other. 
 
 This morning a village presented itself to us, 
 just as we had given up all hopes of meeting a 
 breakfast, and a promising-looking whitewashed 
 house augured well for our hungry stomachs. 
 Unfortunately some arrieros had been before us, 
 and all we could muster was a guisado [stew] of 
 well-picked bones and some chile'd frijoles. 
 
 Descending from the sierra, we entered a mag- 
 nificent plain enclosed by mountains, and arrived 
 at Queretaro at two in the afternoon, distant from 
 San Juan del Rio forty miles, it being the first 
 town of size or note we had yet seen since leaving 
 Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE I/AND OF PULQUE 
 
 OUERETARO, the chief city of the de- 
 partment of that name, is well built, and 
 contains many handsome churches and 
 other buildings. Its population is over forty 
 thousand, twelve thousand of whom are Indians. 
 It is surrounded by beautiful gardens and or- 
 chards, which produce a great quantity of fruit 
 for the market of the capital. It has several 
 cloth- factories, which employ a considerable num- 
 ber of Indians, but are not in a very flourishing 
 state. An aqueduct of stone conveys water to the 
 city from some springs in the neighborhood. Its 
 chief trade is in the manufacture of cigars of the 
 tobacco of the country. 
 
 The tobacco, as in France and Spain, is a gov- 
 ernment monopoly. The privilege of cultivating 
 the plant is limited to a small extent of country in 
 the departments of Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Oajaca ; 
 but lately, on account of its isolated position, and 
 the great distance from the capital, with its conse- 
 quent difficulty of transport, the territory of New 
 
 113 
 
114j adventures in MEXICO 
 
 Mexico is privileged to grow tobacco for its own 
 consumption. The tobacco grown in the above 
 districts is purchased by the government at a 
 stated price, and its manufacture is committed to 
 individuals in different departments. This monop- 
 oly, together with that of salt and gunpowder, 
 has always been a source of annoyance to the gov- 
 ernment, and ill feeling on the part of the people. 
 The revenue produced by the tobacco monopoly 
 does not amount to more than half a million of 
 dollars, owing to the pickings and stealings carried 
 on in this as well as every other government de- 
 partment. If properly managed, it would be the 
 source of a considerable and certain revenue. As 
 it is, little or nothing finds its way into the treas- 
 ury after the expenses of the concern are paid. — 
 {Cosa de Mejico.)* 
 
 The cigars of Queretaro are of a peculiar shape, 
 about three inches long, and square at both ends. 
 To one accustomed to the tobacco of Havana the 
 pungent flavor of the Queretaro cigars is at first 
 disagreeable, but in a short time the taste acquired 
 for this peculiar raciness renders all other tobacco 
 insipid and tasteless. Excellent pulque is made 
 here. A beverage called colinche, expressed 
 from the juice of the tuna (fruit of the prickly 
 
 * The Mexican way. (Ed.) 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 115 
 
 pear), I tasted for the first time. It is of a blood- 
 red color, but of sharp and pleasant flavor. 
 
 As we were now in the land par excellence of 
 pulque, a short description of this truly national 
 liquor and its manufacture will not be out of 
 place. The maguey, American aloe — Agave 
 Americana — is cultivated over an extent of coun- 
 try embracing 50,000 square miles. In the city of 
 Mexico alone the consumption of pulque amounts 
 to the enormous quantity of eleven millions of gal- 
 lons per annum, and a considerable revenue from 
 its sale is derived by government. The plant at- 
 tains maturity in a period varying from eight to 
 fourteen years, when it flowers ; and it is during 
 the stage of inflorescence only that the saccharine 
 juice is extracted. The central stem which en- 
 closes the incipient flower is then cut off near the 
 bottom, and a cavity or basin is discovered, over 
 which the surrounding leaves are drawn close and 
 tied. Into this reservoir the juice distils, which 
 otherwise would have risen to nourish and support 
 the flower. It is removed three or four times dur- 
 ing the twenty-four hours, yielding a quantity of 
 liquor varying from a quart to a gallon and a 
 half. 
 
 The juice is extracted by means of a siphon 
 made of a species of gourd called acojote, one end 
 
116 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of which is placed in the liquor, the other in the 
 mouth of a person, who bj suction draws up the 
 fluid into the pipe and deposits it in the bowls 
 he has with him for the purpose. It is then placed 
 in earthen j ars, and a little old pulque — madre 
 de pulque — is added, when it soon ferments, and 
 is immediately ready for use. The fermentation 
 occupies two or three days, and when it ceases 
 the pulque is in fine order. . . . 
 
 To return to Queretaro. As we entered the 
 town by the garita, we saw in a desague, or small 
 canal, which ran by the side of and in the very 
 street, a bevy of women and girls " in the garb of 
 Eve," and in open day, tumbling and splashing in 
 the v/ater, enjoying themselves like ducks in a pud- 
 dle. They were in no degree disconcerted by the 
 gaze of the passengers who walked at the edge of 
 the canal, but laughed and joked in perfect inno- 
 cence, and unconsciousness of perpetrating an im- 
 propriety. The passers-by appeared to take it as 
 a matter of course, but we strangers, struck v/ith 
 the singularity of the scene, involuntarily reined 
 in our horses at the edgQ of the water and allowed 
 them to drink, during which we were attacked by 
 the swarthy naiads with laughing and splashing, 
 and shouts of "Ay que sin vergiienzas! — what 
 shameless rogues! Echa-les, muchachas! — at 
 them, girls ; splash the rascals ! "~ and into our 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 117 
 
 faces came showers of water, until, drenched to 
 the skin, we were glad to beat a retreat. 
 
 We found the town full of troops en route to 
 San Luis Potosi, and had great difficulty in finding 
 a corral for our animals: ourselves we were fain 
 to stow away in a loft above the corral, where, 
 amongst soldiers and arrieros, we passed a flea 
 and bug ridden night. 
 
 There was nothing eatable in the house, and we 
 sallied out to the stall of a tortillera in the market- 
 place, where we took a standing supper of frijoles 
 and chile as usual. On presenting a silver dollar 
 in payment, I received eight cakes of soap in 
 change — current coin of Queretaro.* 
 
 " Valgame Dios! " I exclaimed as the saponace- 
 ous medium was piled into my sombrero. 
 
 " Virgen Purissima! Ave Maria! " returned the 
 unmoved tortillera ; " y javon el mas blando — 
 and the softest of soap too " — she added, as I 
 eyed the curious currency. " Vaya." 
 
 I had intended to remain a day or two in 
 Queretaro,f but the town was so crowded with 
 
 * " Can it be," asked the A thenceum, in quoting this inci- 
 dent, " can it be on a principle analogous to those of our 
 own statutes against * clipping and coining,' that the in- 
 tegrity of the cake of soap is so religiously respected 
 throughout these wild and hot districts?" {Ed.) 
 
 f Distance from San Juan del Rio to Queretaro, forty 
 miles. 
 
118 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 soldiers of the " liberating army," and the accom- 
 modation for man and beast at the mesones was so 
 execrable, that I determined to proceed at once. 
 
 The next morning, the 19th, our lazy mozos, 
 having indulged too freely in pulque the night be- 
 fore, did not make their appearance until 5 a.m. : 
 we therefore made a late start, and were still 
 further delayed by our animals, accustomed to 
 start in the dark, taking it into their heads to ex- 
 plore the town, and persisting in turning down 
 every street but the right one. 
 
 Between Queretaro and Celaya the geological 
 features of the country undergo a change, lime- 
 stone taking the place of the primary and volcanic 
 rocks over which we had till now been passing. 
 We appeared also to be gradually, but perceptibly, 
 descending from the high table-lands, and the 
 climate became warmer and more tropical. The 
 plains are exceedingly beautiful, teeming with fer- 
 tility, and better cultivated. The gardens and 
 maize-patches of the small Indian villages are en- 
 closed with hedges, or rather walls, of organo, a 
 species of single, square-stemmed cactus, which 
 grows to the height of forty and fifty feet. It 
 is called organo on account of its resemblance to 
 the pipes of an organ. Planted close together, 
 the walls of organo are impervious to pigs and 
 poultry, and form admirable corrals to the In- 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 119 
 
 dian huts. Here the houses are built of un- 
 cemented limestones, piled loosely one on the 
 other, and are sometimes roofed with talc. The 
 road was flooded and impassable, and we were 
 obliged to wade for many miles through a lagime 
 [lake], which was very distressing to the animals. 
 The mules frequently sank so deep into the mud 
 that we were obliged to unload the packs before 
 they could extricate themselves. 
 
 During the day we passed through El Paseo, 
 a comical little place in the midst of the mud, and 
 surrounded by plantations of magueys. The 
 houses were all without windows, and the inhabit- 
 ants, mostly Indians, appeared to have no other 
 occupation than making pulque and drinking it. 
 At a house where the usual sign of a maguey-leaf 
 hung at the door, I had a most delicious draught 
 of pulque, fresh from the plant, sparkling and 
 effervescent as champagne, and fifty times more 
 grateful. Magueyes and nopalos * now lined the 
 road, the latter loaded with fruit. The Indians 
 gather it with long sticks with a fork at one end, 
 in which they secure the tuna.f Near every vil- 
 lage, and sometimes at great distances, are seen 
 women and girls under a tree, with enormous piles 
 
 * On a prickly pear I observed a growth of mistletoe 
 (? orchis) with a superb crimson flower, 
 f Fruit of the prickly pear. 
 
120 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of this refreshing fruit prepared for the mouth 
 by the removal of the prickles. I have seen our 
 mozos attack a pyramid of tunas three feet high, 
 and demolish it before I smoked out a cigar. The 
 fruit is full of juice, and is said to be very whole- 
 some and nourishing. I invariably carried a knife 
 and fork in my holsters, and, travelling along, 
 without stopping would make a thrust with my 
 fork at some tempting tuna which overhung the 
 road, and thus quench my thirst in the absence of 
 pulque. The colinche made from the juice of the 
 tuna is also very agreeable. 
 
 We entered Celaya by a handsome bridge over 
 the Lerma. Inscribed on a stone let into the 
 parapet is a notice to travellers, that the good 
 people of Celaya erected this bridge " por el hene- 
 fcio de los viageros — for the benefit of the way- 
 farer," — which fact they take care shall not be 
 forgotten. Like all Mexican towns, Celaya is 
 full of churches and leperos, and a conspicuous 
 object is the large collecturia, a building where the 
 tithes of com and fruits belonging to the Church 
 are kept. In most villages the collecturia stands 
 side by side with the iglesia, and is invariably the 
 larger building of the two. 
 
 The Carmelite church is an imposing structure 
 of mixed architecture, with Corinthian and Ionic 
 columns. The interior is sombre and gloomy, but 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 121 
 
 enriched with a great quantity of gold and silver 
 ornaments. 
 
 The trade of the town consists in the manu- 
 facture of saddles, bridles, and articles of leather 
 required for the road. Population about 7000. 
 Grain of all kinds is most prolific and abundant in 
 the plains of Celaya, and horses and mules are bred 
 in considerable numbers. The distance from 
 Queretaro is thirty-seven miles. 
 
 Wth. — Leaving Celaya, we passed over a wild 
 and but partially cultivated country, leaving 
 Salamanca on the left. Hares of very large size, 
 and tame as dogs, abound on these plains, and 
 our march to-day was enlivened by an incessant 
 popping of carbines and rifles. In one patch of 
 mezquit, a thorny shrub very common on the 
 plains, I counted seventy hares in a little glade 
 not one hundred yards square, and they were 
 jumping out of the grass at every step of our 
 animals. We breakfasted at a little Indian vil- 
 lage called La Xuage, in the comical-looking 
 church of which a grand funcion was in progress, 
 and whilst our meal was in preparation we strolled 
 to the iglesia to see what was going on. 
 
 The priest, equipped in full uniform, was en- 
 gaged before the altar praying with open book, 
 and at particular passages gave a signal with his 
 hand behind his back, when half a score of In- 
 
122 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 dian boys outside immediately exploded a number 
 of squibs and firewheels, and a bevy of adult In^ 
 dians fired off their rusty escopetas, tbe congre- 
 gation shouting vociferously. At the time when 
 one of the salvos should have taken place, and a 
 huge trahuco [blunderbuss] fired off, which was 
 fastened for safety to the door of the church, the 
 padre rushed out in the middle of his discourse and 
 clapped a match to the bunghole, giving a most 
 severe look at the neglectful bombardier, and, 
 banging off the blunderbuss, returned book in 
 hand to the altar, where he resumed his discourse. 
 The farther we advanced from Mexico the more 
 curious became the provincials in examing " los 
 estrangeros " and their equipments. Our hostess 
 in La Xuage, after she had served the eggs and 
 frijoles, rushed to all her female acquaintance 
 with the news that two strangers were in her house, 
 and " por Dios " that they should come and see 
 the guero. As a "gilero^' I was an object of 
 particular attention. I was examined from head 
 to foot, and the hostess took upon herself to show 
 me off as a jockey would a horse. My hair was 
 exposed to their wonder and admiration; and 
 " mire," added my exhibitor, taking me by the 
 moustache, " mire sus bigotes, son giieros tam^ 
 bien " — and do look here, if his bigotes are not 
 giieros too, " Valgame Dios J " 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 123 
 
 Nothing excited the curiosity and admiration of 
 the men so much as the sight of my arms. My 
 double rifle, and servant's double-barrelled short 
 carbine and pistols, were handled, and almost wor- 
 shipped. " Armas tan bonitas " [arms so good] 
 they had never seen. With such weapons, they all 
 agreed, neither Indian nor Texan, nor el demonio 
 [the devil] himself, was to be feared. One old 
 Indian, who told me he had served against all the 
 enemies of the republic, was incredulous when they 
 told him that the guns were double. Half blind, 
 he thrust his fingers into the muzzles, and, as- 
 sured of the fact, muttered, " Ave Maria! dos- 
 tiros, dos-tirosf Valgame Dios! dos-tiros, dos- 
 tiros; dos-tiros, dos-balas. Jesus Maria! dos-ti- 
 ros! " — all which exclamations hinged upon the 
 extraordinary fact of a gun possessing two barrels 
 and two balls. 
 
 After a long journey of nearly fifty miles 
 through an uninteresting country, we arrived at 
 the solitary rancho of Temascateo, standing alone 
 in a large uninhabited plain, which bears the repu- 
 tation of being infested with robbers, and " :nui/ 
 mala gente " from the towns of Celaya, Salamanca, 
 and Silao. 
 
 Mine host of Temascateo was the beau-ideal of 
 a ventero.* Fat and pulque lined , his heavy 
 
 * Keeper of a small way^side inn. {Ed.) 
 
124 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 head, with large fishy eyes, almost sank into his 
 body, his neck, albeit of stout proportion, being 
 inadequate to support its enormous burden. Con- 
 cealed from his sight behind the sensible horizon 
 of a capacious paunch, a pair of short and 
 elephantine legs shook beneath their load. The 
 stolid heavy look of this mountain of meat was in- 
 expressible. Sitting outside the house in a chair, 
 with a paper cigar in his mouth, he directed the 
 issue of the fodder; his wife, a bustling, busy 
 dame, almost as unwieldy as her spouse, doing 
 the talking part of the business. The only words 
 which appeared able to force their way through 
 his adipose larjmx were " Si, sen-or; No, sen-or,^' 
 from the bottom of his stomach. After supper I 
 paid the worthy couple a visit, and, presenting 
 mine host with a real Havana, it threw him into 
 such a state of excitement and delight that I ex- 
 pected to see him either burst, or subside in an 
 apoplectic fit. 
 
 " Dios mio, Dios mio!" he grunted; *' a puro 
 all the way from Havana ! " turning it in his hands 
 and kissing it with affection. His wife was called 
 to see it. Was there ever such a beauty of a 
 puro? He had not smoked one such for thirty 
 years. Asking me all the news of the war, he re- 
 marked that los Tejanos, as the Americans are 
 called here, were very bad Indians and cannibals ; 
 
THE LAND OF PULQUE 125 
 
 that it was horrible to think of such people taking 
 the country. Much better, he said, if the English, 
 who, he had heard, were a very strong and rich 
 nation, with " muy poco desorden en su gobierno, 
 — very little disorder in its government " — were 
 to take it ; and as England was " poco mas alia de 
 Mejico — only a little the other side of Mexico ; " 
 in fact, a neighbor — it would not be so bad. 
 
 A room in the rancho, as is often the case, was 
 fitted up as a little chapel, with a figure of San 
 Miguel, " imagen WAiy hermosa y bien pintada — 
 a very beautiful and well-painted image," they 
 told me ; and as this happened to be a " dia de 
 fiesta" or feast-day, a funcion was to be held at 
 nine o'clock in honor of the saint, to which I was 
 duly invited, but declined on the plea of fatigue 
 and sleepiness. 
 
 I was roused at midnight by our host, who came 
 to inform me that a band of robbers had just left 
 the house, where they had stopped for a dram, and, 
 after inquiring about my party, had proceeded on 
 the road to Silao. He said he knew them to be 
 muy mala gente, and warned me to be on my 
 guard, even that very night, and in the house, 
 " as who knows," he said, " but they may return 
 and murder us all? " However, I was too sleepy 
 to watch, and, merely putting another pair of 
 pistols within my blanket, I was soon in the land 
 
126 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of dreams, where not even a ladrone disturbed me. 
 The next morning one of my mules was found to 
 be so ill that she was unable to carry her pack; 
 and another, belonging to my friend the Spaniard, 
 had given out entirely, and was lying in the corral 
 unable to rise. Her shoes were taken off, and 
 she was left in the hands of the mesonero. My 
 sick mule (she had a bad fistula in the shoulder, 
 which broke out the day after I left Mexico) was 
 relieved by one which I hired at the rancho to 
 carry the pack as far as Silao, where I intended 
 to purchase two or three more. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 MULES AND MARAUDERS 
 
 TWENTY-FIRST.— We left the rancho 
 late, as we had only twenty-four miles 
 to travel; and moreover we wished to 
 have our little affair with the robbers (which was 
 expected) in broad daylight, and, passing through 
 a fertile but uncultivated plain, reached Silao in 
 the middle of the day. 
 
 In Silao I spent the greater part of the day in 
 hunting up and down the town for mules ; and, al- 
 though hundreds were brought to me, there was 
 scarcely one that was not more or less wounded 
 by pack-saddles. It is no uncommon thing to see 
 mules so lacerated by the chafings of the aparejos, 
 that the rib-bones are plainly discernible, and in 
 this state the poor animal is worked without in- 
 termission. With proper care an animal m.ay per- 
 form the longest journeys under a pack without 
 injury. Although the Mexicans are from child- 
 hood conversant with the management of mules, 
 it is astonishing what palpable errors they com- 
 mit in the care of their beasts. The consequences 
 
 127 
 
128 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of their system were very manifest in our journey 
 to Durango. My companion allowed his mozos 
 to treat his animals according to their system, 
 whereas mine were subject to an entirely different 
 one, from which I never permitted the servants to 
 deviate. 
 
 On coming in after a journey of forty miles, 
 performed for the most part under a burning sun, 
 my companion's animals were immediately stripped 
 of their saddles, and frequently of large portions 
 of their skin at the same time: they were then in- 
 stantly taken to water, and permitted to fill them- 
 selves at discretion. Mine, on the other hand, 
 remained with loosened girths until they were 
 nearly cool, and were allowed to drink but little 
 at first, although on the road they drank when 
 water presented itself. Before reaching Durango 
 the advantages of the two systems were apparent. 
 The Spaniard lost three mules which died on the 
 road, and all his remaining horses and mules were 
 actually putrefying with sores. My animals ar- 
 rived at Durango fat and strong, and without a 
 scratch, and performed the journey to Santa Fe 
 in New Mexico, a distance of nearly two thousand 
 miles by the road I took, in fifty-six days, and 
 with ease and comfort. 
 
 After rejecting a hundred at least which were 
 brought for my inspection, I purchased a troiwo 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 129 
 
 — a pair — of Californian mules, than which no 
 better ever carried saddle or aparejo. This pair, 
 with the two horses I brought with me from 
 Mexico, were the most perfectly enduring animals 
 I ever travelled with. No day was too long, no 
 work too hard, no food too coarse for them. One 
 of the mules, which, from her docility and good 
 temper, I promoted to be my hunting-mule, was 
 a short, stumpy animal, with a very large head 
 and long flapping ears. Many a deer and antelope 
 I killed off her back; and, when hunting, I had 
 only to dismount and throw down the lariat on 
 the ground, and she would remain motionless for 
 hours until I returned. These mules became so 
 attached to my horse Panchito, that it was nearly 
 impossible to separate them; and they would fol- 
 low me like dogs when mounted on his back. 
 They both crossed the grand prairies with me to 
 the Missouri; and when compelled to part them 
 from poor Panchito, I thought their hearts would 
 have broken. 
 
 In the meson of Silao we were literally besieged 
 by representatives from every shop in the town, 
 who poured upon us, offering their wares for sale, 
 and every imaginable article required for " the 
 road." This is the custom in all the towns, and 
 shows the scarcity of regular custom. No sooner 
 does a stranger enter a meson than to it flock 
 
130 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 venders of saddles, bridles, bits, spurs, whips, al- 
 forjas, sarapes for yourself, rebosos for your 
 ladye-love, sashes, sombreros, boots, silks, and vel- 
 vets (cotton), and goods of every kind that the 
 town affords. Besides these, Indian women and 
 girls arrive with baskets of fruit — oranges, 
 lemons, grapes, chirimoyas, batatas, platanos, 
 plantains, camotes, granaditas, mamayes, tunas, 
 pears, apples, and fruit of every description. 
 Pulque and colinche sellers are not wanting, all 
 extolling their goods and pressing them on the un- 
 fortunate traveller at the same moment, while 
 leperos whine and pray for alms, and lavanderas 
 for your clothes to wash, the whole uniting in 
 such a Babel-like din as outbeggars description. 
 Rid yourself of these, and gangs of a more respect- 
 able class throng the door for the express pur- 
 pose of staring; and this is a most ill-bred char- 
 acteristic of Mexican manners, and one of the 
 greatest of the many annoyances which beset a 
 traveller. 
 
 Silao is notorious for its population of thieves 
 and robbers, who, it is the boast of the place, are 
 unequalled in audacity as well as dexterity. I 
 saw a striking instance of this. A man entered 
 the corral of the meson, and unblushingly offered 
 for sale a pair of wax candles which he had just 
 stolen from a church, boasting of the deed to his 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 131 
 
 worthy companions, who quite approved the feat. 
 
 Silao is on the borders of the departments of 
 Guanaxuato and Jalisco, and contains about 5000 
 inhabitants. The plains in the vicinity produce 
 abundantly wheat, maize, frijoles, barley, &c., and 
 the soil is admirably adapted for the growth of 
 cotton, tobacco, and cochineal. 
 
 We were now perceptibly, but very gradually, 
 decreasing our elevation, and the increased tem- 
 perature was daily becoming more manifest. 
 Jalisco, which we were now entering, belongs to 
 the tierra caliente, where all tropical productions 
 might be cultivated, but are not. It is on the 
 western declivity of the Cordillera of Anahuac, 
 which may be said to connect the Andes of South 
 and Central America with the great chain of the 
 Rocky Mountains. Jalisco has equal if not 
 greater advantages, in point of soil, climate, and 
 communication with the coast, than any other sec- 
 tion of Mexico. The table-land on the western 
 ridge of the Cordillera is exceedingly fertile and 
 enjoys a temperate climate. Here are situated 
 the populous towns of Silao, Leon, Lagos, and 
 Aguas Calientes, in the midst of a most productive 
 champaign. The central portion, of a less eleva- 
 tion and consequently more tropical temperature, 
 which produces cotton, cochineal, and vanilla, as 
 well as every variety of cereal produce, contains 
 
132 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 a population for the most part engaged in mines 
 and manufactures. This port has a communica- 
 tion with the Pacific coast by means of the Rio de 
 Santiago or Tololotlan, which flows from the great 
 lake of Chapala, and on which the important city 
 of Guadalaxara is situated, with a population of 
 23,000 or 25,000. The regions near the coast are 
 teeming with fertility, and covered with magnifi- 
 cent forests ; but unfortunately the vomito here 
 holds its dreaded sway, and the climate is fatal to 
 strangers, and indeed to the inhabitants them- 
 selves. 
 
 22nd. — From Silao to La Villa de Leon the eye 
 looks in vain for signs of cultivation. On these 
 vast plains day after day we meet no other travel- 
 lers than the arrieros with their atajos of mules 
 from Durango, Zacatecas, and Fresnillo. These 
 picturesque cavalcades we always hailed with 
 pleasure, as they were generally the bearers of 
 news, novedades, from Durango, of Indian attacks 
 and of bands of robbers they had met on the road, 
 which intelligence always put us on the qui mve, 
 and made our mozos look very blue. Leon is own 
 brother to Silao, and rivals that town in its celeb- 
 rity as being prolific in robbers and assassins. 
 Grain of every kind is here very abundant and of 
 excellent quality. 
 
 I had a little affair at Leon which was near 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 133 
 
 proving disagreeable to me, and I have no doubt 
 was anything but pleasant to one of the parties 
 concerned. I had been strolling about nine o'clock 
 in the evening through the plaza, which at that 
 time presents a lively scene, the stalls of the 
 market-people being lighted by fires which are 
 made for that purpose in the square, and which 
 throw their flickering light on the picturesque 
 dresses of the peasantry who attend the market 
 as buyers or sellers, and the still more lively garb 
 of the idle loungers who, wrapped in showy sarapes 
 and cigarros in mouth, loaf at that hour along 
 the streets. Returning from the plaza through a 
 dark narrow street, I was detected as a stranger 
 by a knot of idle rascals standing at the door of a 
 pulque-shop, who immediately saluted me with 
 cries of " Texano^ Texano, que meura, — let's kill 
 him, the Yankee dog." Wishing to avoid a ren- 
 contre with such odds, and with no other means of 
 defence than a bowie-knife, I thought on this oc- 
 casion that discretion would be much the better 
 part of valor, so I turned off into another dark 
 street, but was instantly pursued by the crowd, 
 who followed yelling at my heels. Luckily an 
 opportune and dark doorway offered me a shelter, 
 and I crouched in it as my pursuers passed with 
 loud cries and knives in hand. The instant that 
 they all, as I imagined, had passed me, I emerged 
 
134 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 from mj hiding-place, and ran almost into the 
 very arms of three who were bringing up the rear, 
 ** Hi esta, hi estal " they shouted, baring their 
 knives and rushing at me. " Maten le, maten lei 
 — here he is, here he is : kill him, kill the jackass." 
 The darkness was in my favor. As the foremost 
 one rushed at me with uplifted blade I stepped 
 quickly to one side, and at the same moment thrust 
 at him with my knife. He stumbled forward on 
 his knees with a cry of " Dios! me ha mat ado — he 
 has killed me " — and fell on his face. One of 
 the remaining two ran to his assistance, the other 
 made towards me ; but, finding that I was inclined 
 to compare notes with him and waited his attack, 
 he slackened his pace and declined the encounter. 
 I returned to the meson, and, without telling the 
 Spaniard what had occurred, gave directions for 
 the animals to be ready at midnight, and shortly 
 after we were in the saddle and on our road. 
 
 23rcZ. — From Leon the road ascends a sierra, 
 from the top of which is a magnificent view of the 
 plains of Silao. The mule-path by which we de- 
 scended is rough and dangerous, and we had to 
 wait on the summit of the sierra until day dawned 
 before we could with safety undertake the descent. 
 The whole country exhibits traces of a volcanic 
 origin ; pumice and lava strew the ground, and the 
 sierras are broken into tabular masses of a singu- 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 135 
 
 lar regularity of outline. One isolated mountain 
 rises abruptly from the plain, and resembles the 
 Table-mountain of the Cape of Good Hope in 
 the general form and regularity of its summit. 
 This tabular form is a characteristic feature in the 
 landscape of these volcanic regions: it is called 
 mesa, table, by the Mexicans. Lagos lies at the 
 foot of another sierra, with a lake in the distance, 
 and seen from this elevation the prospect is very 
 beautiful. Far from any habitation, we came 
 upon an old woman sitting under a rock by the 
 roadside, with numerous ollas simmering in the 
 ashes of a fire, containing frijoles and chile, and 
 here we stopped for our usual breakfast. 
 
 It was a ^^ dia de fiesta [holiday]," and when 
 we entered Lagos we found the population in great 
 excitement, as on the morrow a " funcion de toros" 
 a bull-fight, was to take place, and the " feria," 
 annual fair, commenced that very night. 
 
 The rancheros with their wives and daughters 
 were pouring into the town from far and near, 
 and we had met on the road many families on their 
 way to the fair, forming a very picturesque caval- 
 cade. First the ranchero himself, the pater fami- 
 lias, in glossy sombrero with its gold or silver 
 rolls, calzoneras glittering with many buttons, and 
 snow-white drawers of Turkish dimensions, 
 mounted on a showy horse gaily caparisoned, and 
 
136 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 bearing on its croup the smiling, smirking dame 
 in span-new reboso and red or yellow enagua. 
 Next a horse-load or two of muchachitas [girls], 
 their brown faces peeping from the reboso, show- 
 ing their black eyes and white teeth, as, shining 
 with anticipated delight of the morrow's festivities, 
 and in a state of perfect happiness and enj oyment, 
 they return their acknowledgments to the compli- 
 ments of the passing cabcdleros. These, in all the 
 glory of Mexican dandyism, armed with scopeta 
 [gun] and machete (sword), and the ever-ready 
 lasso hanging from the saddle-bow, escorted the 
 party, caracolling along on their prancing steeds. 
 
 The diques — streams which run through the 
 streets — were full of women and girls undergoing 
 preparatory ablution, and dressing their long 
 black hair with various unguents at the side of 
 the water. Pedlers were passing from house to 
 house offering for sale gaudy ornaments to the 
 women, earrings of gold and silver and colored 
 glass, beads of coral and shell from California, 
 amulets and love-charms from the capital, indul- 
 gences for peccadilloes committed on the morrow, 
 and suitable for the occasion, the which were in 
 great demand. 
 
 In the plaza were numerous gambling-booths, 
 where banks of gold, silver, and copper suited the 
 pockets of every class. Here resorted the wealthy; 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 137 
 
 haclendado with his rouleaus of onzas, the ranch- 
 ero with his silver pesos, and the lepero with his 
 copper clacos. In one of a middle class, where 
 pesetas were the lowest stake, were congregated a 
 mixture of all classes. The table covered with 
 green cloth displayed tempting lines of gold and 
 silver, surrounded by eager faces. Six women at 
 one end of the room were singing national songs, 
 and occasionally a winner threw them a silver 
 coin, or a loser, for good luck, chucked a peseta 
 over his shoulder to the same destination. Some 
 of the airs were very pretty, although the words 
 were generally pure nonsense. A song which de- 
 scribed the courtship of a Mexican beauty by a 
 soldier of Guadalaxara was repeatedly encored. 
 Its chorus was the concluding words of the in- 
 dignant beauty to the presumptuous suitor, and 
 his meek reply : — 
 
 " Soy Mejicarm 
 
 De este pais, 
 YOj un soldado 
 
 8oy infeliz." 
 
 "A Mexican girl 
 Of this country am I. 
 
 And I a poor soldier, — 
 Woe is me!" 
 
 In conclusion, after the aspiring muchacha had run 
 through a long list of the sacrifices she would make 
 if she listened to the suit of the poor soldier, the 
 
138 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 lover draws a glowing picture of the delights of a 
 barrack life, the constant change of scene, and 
 its advantages over the monotonous existence of a 
 rancheria. He offers her rebosos of Puebla and 
 enaguas of Potosi, the most retired corner in the 
 quartel, and assures her that all his " bona robas " 
 shall be discarded for her sake. This part put 
 me in mind of the beautiful ballad of Zorilla, in 
 which the Moorish knight woos the Christian lady 
 with glowing descriptions of the presents he would 
 make her, of his castle in Grenada, with its beau- 
 tiful gardens, &c. : — 
 
 " Y si mi Sultana eres, 
 
 Que desiertos mis salones, 
 Esta mi harem sin mAigereSj 
 
 Mis oidos sin canciones. 
 Yo te dare terciopelos, 
 
 Y pei^fumes orientales. 
 De Grecia te traere velos, 
 
 De Cachemira chales. 
 
 Y te dare blancas plumas 
 Para que adornes tu f rente, 
 
 Mas blancas que las espumas 
 De nuestro mar del oriente, 
 
 Y perlas para el cabello; 
 
 Y banos para el calor; 
 Collares para el cuello, 
 
 For tus labios: Amor." 
 
 and describes his brown fortress in the plains of 
 Xenil, which will be queen amongst a thousand 
 when it encloses the beautiful Christian: — 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 139 
 
 " Que sera reina entre 7ml, 
 Cuavdo encierre tu belleza." 
 
 But with the Mexican muchacha, as with the 
 Christian lady, the rebosos of Puebla, the enaguas 
 of Potosi, or even the retired corner in the bar- 
 rack-room, have as little eifect as the velvets and 
 perfumes of the East, the veils brought from 
 Greece, the Cashmere shawls, and the grey fortress 
 in Grenada, had with the fair lady, who valued 
 more her towers of Leon than the Moor's 
 Grenada : — 
 
 "Que mis torres de Leon 
 Valen mas que tu Orejiada" 
 
 "My Leon towers I doubly prize. 
 Than all the plains of thy Grenada." 
 
 ^Uh,— We left Lagos for La Villa de la En- 
 camacion (forty miles), through a barren and un- 
 interesting country, destitute of trees, and the veg- 
 etation sparse and burned up. The road was up 
 and down sierras the whole day, scattered with 
 nopalo and prickly pear ; the heat tremendous, and 
 the sun's rays, reflected from the rocky sierra, 
 fiery and scorching. We crossed a river which 
 washes the walls of the town, by a ford on the 
 right of a ruined bridge, destroyed during the 
 War of Independence, and never rebuilt. This 
 town was the first I saw in which all the houses 
 
140 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 were of adobes (sunburnt bricks). It exactly re- 
 sembled the sketch of Timbuctoo as given in Rene 
 Caille's book, and its appearance, as might be ex- 
 pected, was miserable in the extreme. As we 
 passed the quaint-looking church, with its bells 
 swung high in air, the organ was playing a crash- 
 ing polka — a funcion at the time being in prog- 
 ress inside, and groups of leperos kneeling in the 
 enclosed space in front. 
 
 Amongst the beggars, who as usual attended 
 our levee on arrival, was a lepero without even the 
 rudiments of legs, who dragged himself along the 
 ground on his stomach like a serpent, and had a 
 breastplate of leather for the purpose of protect- 
 ing his body from the rough stones over which he 
 crawled. This disgusting wretch took up his posi- 
 tion in the corral, and, as it cost him no little 
 labor to crawl thus far, seemed determined to 
 sicken us out of a coin. The night was so hot 
 and close that I placed my blanket in the halcon 
 which ran round the rooms, which in this meson 
 were above the stables, and ascended by wooden 
 steps. Being very tired, I had turned, in early, 
 and was in a pleasant doze, when I imagined I 
 heard a dog which belonged to my companion, 
 and which had on leathern shoes to protect its 
 feet, scraping or scratching near me. Thinking 
 the animal, which was a great favorite, wanted to 
 
MULES AND MARAUDERS 141 
 
 lie down on my blanket, I called to it to come and 
 lie down, saying, " Ven aca, povrecitOy ven aca — 
 Come here, poor fellow, come here." I immedi- 
 ately felt something at my side, and, lazily opening 
 my eyes, what was my intense horror and disgust 
 at seeing the legless lepero crawling on my bed! 
 Human nature could not stand it. " Maldito! " 
 I roared out, " afuera — get out ! " and, gather- 
 ing up my leg, kicked him from me. I did not 
 recover from my disgust until I saw the wretch 
 crawling across the corral and out of the gate. 
 He had come to beg or steal; and, of course im- 
 agining from my words that I was charitably in- 
 viting him to share my blanket, was thus uncere- 
 moniously ejected from the balcony. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN THE MINING COUNTRY 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH.— To Aguas Calientes, 
 a very pretty town, with some handsome 
 buildings. We met a gypsying or pic- 
 nic party on the road, mounted on borricos 
 [asses], with a mule packed with comestibles. A 
 bevy of very pretty girls brought up the rear, un- 
 der the escort of half-a-dozen exquisites of the 
 town, got up in the latest fashion of the capital. 
 Their monopoly of such a fair troop was not to 
 be borne, and with tolerable impudence we stopped 
 the party. The dandies, from our sunburnt and 
 road-stained appearance and bristling arms, at 
 once set us down as robbers, and without more ado 
 turned their donkeys and retreated, leaving us 
 masters of the field and the fair. With them our 
 peace was soon made, and we received a pressing 
 invitation to join the party, which, however, we 
 were fain to decline, as our horses were sorely 
 tired. They laughed heartily at the panic of 
 their gallant escort, who were huddled together at 
 
 a little distance, not knowing whether to advance 
 142 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 143 
 
 or retreat. I sent my mozo to them to say that 
 the ladies required their presence; and we rode 
 on to the town, where we found our mulada ar- 
 rived and waiting our approach. 
 
 In Aguas Calientes I was accosted by a negro, 
 a runaway slave from the United States. He in- 
 foiTned me he was cook at the house where the 
 diligencia stopped, and that if I chose he would 
 prepare a dinner for us, — roast-beef, &c., and all 
 the " fixings " of an American feed. I gladly made 
 the bargain, and proceeded to the house at the 
 time appointed, but found the rascal had never 
 been there, and dinner there was none. 
 
 In the plaza is a column erected to some patriot 
 or another, which is pointed out to the stranger as 
 being muy flno. The pedestal is surmounted by 
 geese with long claws like an eagle's, and hairy 
 heads of dogs stick out of the sides. The most 
 absurd thing I ever saw. 
 
 ^5th. — To the hacienda of La Punta, in a large 
 plain where are several other plantations, and two 
 rancherias celebrated as being the abode of a band 
 of robbers called picos largos — longbills. In 
 this day's journey of forty miles one of the horses 
 died from fatigue and heat, and two others were 
 scarcely able to finish the day's journey. 
 
 26th. — To Zacatecas, through wild unculti- 
 vated plains and sierras. On the road we passed 
 
144! ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 some abandoned copper-mines, where an old In- 
 dian was picking for stray pieces of ore, of which 
 a dream had promised the discovery. 
 
 Zacatecas, a populous city of between 30,000 
 and 40,000 inhabitants, is in the midst of one of 
 the most valuable mining districts in Mexico. 
 The country round it is wild and barren, but the 
 rugged sierras teem with the precious metals. 
 Near the town are several lakes or lagunes, which 
 abound in muriate and carbonate of soda. The 
 town itself is mean and badly built, the streets 
 narrow and dirty, and the population bear a very 
 bad character; which indeed is the case in all the 
 mining-towns in the country, which is but natural 
 from the very nature of their employment.* 
 
 From this point the noxiedades poured upon us 
 daily: "Los Indios! los Indios!** was the theme 
 of every conversation. Thus early (it was a very 
 early Indian season this year and the last) they 
 had made their appearance in the immediate vicin- 
 ity of Durango, killing the paisanos [country- 
 men], and laying waste the haciendas and ranchos ; 
 and it was supposed they would penetrate even 
 farther into the interior. What a cosa de Mejico 
 is this fact ! Five hundred savages depopulating 
 a soi-disant civilised country, and with impunity! 
 
 9!7th. — The road from Zacatecas to Fresnillo 
 * From Hacienda de la Punta to Zacatecas, fifty miles. 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 145 
 
 lies through a wild uncultivated country without 
 inhabitants. We met a conduct a from the mines 
 of Fresnillo, bearing bars of silver to the mint at 
 Zacatecas. The wagon in which it was carried 
 was drawn by six mules galloping at their utmost 
 speed. Eight or ten men, with muskets between 
 their knees, sat in the wagon, facing outwards, and 
 as many more galloped alongside, armed to the 
 teeth. Bands of robbers, three or four hundred 
 strong, have been known to attack conductas from 
 the mines, even when escorted by soldiers, engag- 
 ing them in a regular stand-up fight. 
 
 Fresnillo is a paltry dirty town, with the neigh- 
 boring sierra honeycombed with mines, which are 
 rich and yield considerable profits. A share which 
 the government had in these mines yielded an an- 
 nual revenue of nearly half a million of dollars ; 
 but that short-sighted vampire, which sucks the 
 blood of poor Mexico, eager to possess all the 
 golden eggs at once, sold its interest for less than 
 one year's income. Cosa de Mejico, here as every- 
 where ! 
 
 We were here very kindly invited to take up 
 our abode, during our stay, in the hacienda of the 
 mines ; the administrador of which is an American, 
 and the officers mostly Spaniards. Enjoying their 
 hospitality, we spent two or three days very pleas- 
 antly, and were initiated into all the mysteries of 
 
146 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 mining. The process of extracting the metal 
 from the ore is curious in the extreme, but its de- 
 scription would require more science than I possess, 
 and more space than I am able to afford. Two 
 thousand mules are at daily work in the hacienda 
 de beneficios, and 2500 men are employed in the 
 mines. From this an idea may be formed of the 
 magnitude of the works. The main shaft is 1200 
 feet in depth, and a huge engine is constantly em- 
 ployed removing water from the mines. This vast 
 mass of machinery appeared to take care of itself, 
 for I saw neither engineers nor others in the engine- 
 house. There are many Cornishmen employed in 
 the mines, who drink and fight considerably, but 
 withal find time to perform double as much work 
 as the Mexicans. The patio or yard of the 
 hacienda de beneficios, where the porphyritic crush- 
 ing-miUs are at work, contains 32,000 square 
 yards. In undergoing one process, the crushed 
 ore, mixed with copper and salt, is made into 
 enormous mud puddings, and trodden out by mules, 
 which are back deep in the paste ; indeed, the whole 
 process of the beneficio, a purely chemical one, is 
 most curious and worthy of attention. 
 
 The miners are a most dissolute and vicious 
 class of men, and frequently give great trouble to 
 the officers of the hacienda. But for the firmness 
 and presence of mind of the administrador, the 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 147 
 
 ^American gentleman before alluded to, the miners 
 on more than one occasion would probably have 
 sacked the hacienda. 
 
 The Cornishmen, however, can always be relied 
 on, their only fault being the love of fighting and 
 whisky; and a depot of arms is kept in the haci- 
 enda ready for any emergency. 
 
 On a bare rock, which is entirely destitute of 
 soil, the miners have formed a most beautiful and 
 productive garden, the soil with which it is made 
 having been conveyed to the spot on the backs 
 of mules and donkeys; it is now luxuriant and 
 thriving, although, I believe, but two years old, 
 and is full of fruit-bearing trees of every descrip- 
 tion. In the centre is a fountain and ornamental 
 summer-house, and, curiously enough, this garden 
 is the resort of flocks of humming-birds, which are 
 rarely found on the neighboring plains. 
 
 On the road between Zacatecas and Fresnillo, as 
 I was jogging gently on, a Mexican mounted on a 
 handsome horse dashed up and reined in suddenly, 
 doffing his sombrero and saluting me with a 
 " Buenos dias, cabaUero.^' He had ridden from 
 Zacatecas for the purpose of trading with me for 
 my sword, which he said he had heard of in that 
 town as being something mui/ fino. Riding up to 
 my left side, and saying, " Con sii licencia, cabal- 
 lero — by your leave, my lord " — he drew the 
 
148 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 sword from its scabbard, and, flourishing it over 
 his head, executed a neat demivolte to one side, 
 and performed some most complicated manoeuvres. 
 At first I thought it not unlikely that my friend 
 might take it into his head to make oif with the 
 sword, as his fresh and powerful animal could 
 easily have distanced my poor tired steed, so I 
 just slipped the cover from the lock of my car- 
 bine, to be ready in case of need. But the Mexi- 
 can, after concluding his exercise, and having tried 
 the temper of the blade on a nepalo, rode up and 
 returned the sword to its scabbard with a low 
 bow, offering me at the same time his horse in ex- 
 change for it, and, when that was of no avail, an- 
 other and another ; horses, he assured me, " de la 
 mejor sangre — of the best blood of the country," 
 and of great speed and strength. 
 
 On the 30th we left Eresnillo, having a journey 
 of fifty-five miles before us to Zaina. The country 
 is desolate and totally uncultivated, excepting 
 here and there where a solitary hacienda or rancho 
 is seen; these are all fortified, for we were now 
 entering the districts which are annually laid 
 waste by the Comanches. The haciendas are all 
 surrounded by walls, and flanked with towers loop- 
 holed for musketry. A man is always stationed 
 on an eminence in the vicinity, mounted on a fleet 
 horse, on the look-out for Indians; and on their 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 149 
 
 approach a signal is given, and the peones, the 
 laborers employed in the milpas, run with their 
 families to the hacienda, and the gates are then 
 closed and preparations made for defence. 
 
 This morning I gave my horse Panchito a run, 
 suelto, amongst the mules and loose animals, 
 mounting Bayou Lobo, the tierra caliente horse 
 which gave my mozo so severe a fall the day we left 
 the capital. I had dismounted to tighten the 
 girths a short time after leaving Fresnillo, and be- 
 fore daylight, when, on remounting, the animal as 
 usual set oif full gallop, and, being almost im- 
 prisoned in my sarape, which confined my arms and 
 legs, in endeavoring to throw my right leg over the 
 saddle I pitched over on the other side and fell 
 upon the top of my head, at the same moment that 
 the horse kicked out and struck with great force on 
 my left ear. I lay in the road several hours per- 
 fectly insensible ; my servant imagined I was dead, 
 and, dragging me on one side, rode on to overtake 
 the Spaniard. However, showing signs of life, 
 they placed me again in the saddle, and I rode on 
 for several hours in a state of unconsciousness. 
 My jaw was knocked on one side, and when I re- 
 covered I had hard work to pull it into its former 
 position : for days, however, I was unable to open 
 it further than to admit a fork or a spoon; and 
 as I had to ride forty-five miles the same day that 
 
150 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 I met with the accident, and under a burning sun, 
 I thought myself fortunate in not being disabled 
 altogether. 
 
 Zaina is a very pretty little town surrounded 
 with beautiful gardens. It is an isolated spot, and 
 has little or no communication with other tov/ns. 
 
 Oct, 1st. — To Sombrerete, distance thirty-four 
 miles. The country became wilder, with less fer- 
 tile soil, and entirely depopulated, as much from 
 fear of Indians as from its natural unproductive- 
 ness. Sombrerete was once a mining-place of some 
 importance, and the Casa de la Diputacion de Mm- 
 eriay a large handsome building, is conspicuous 
 in the town. The sierra is still worked, but the 
 veins are not productive. The veta negra de Som- 
 brerete, the famous black vein of Sombrerete, 
 yielded the greatest bonanzas * of any mine on 
 the continent of America. It is now exhausted. 
 
 2nd, — We left the usual road, and struck across 
 the country to the Hacienda de San Nicolas, as I 
 was desirous of passing through the tract of coun- 
 try known as the Mai Pais, a most interesting 
 volcanic region, a perfect terra incognita even to 
 Mexicans ; and as to travellers, such rarce aves are 
 as little known in these parts as in Timbuctoo. 
 
 *When a rich vein or lode is struck in a mine yielding 
 a large quantity of ore, such a fortunate event is termed 
 " bonanza." 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 151 
 
 We journeyed through a perfect wilderness of 
 sierra, and chapparal thickly covered with nopalos 
 and mezquite, which now became the characteristic 
 tree. The high rank grass was up to our horses' 
 bellies, and, matted with the bushes of mezquite 
 and prickly pear, was difficult to make our way 
 through. Hares and rabbits and javali, a species 
 of wild hog, abounded, with quail and partridge, 
 and many varieties of pigeons and doves. We 
 passed on our left hand a curiously formed ridge, 
 and a pyramidal hill which stood isolated in the 
 plain, such as the ancient Mexicans made use of 
 as pedestals for their temples, and which have 
 been ingeniously described as artificial structures 
 by writers on Mexican antiquities. This day's 
 journey was long and fatiguing, as we had to 
 make our way for the most part across a trackless 
 country, striking a mule-path only within about 
 fifteen miles of the hacienda. Our animals were 
 completely exhausted when we reached it, having 
 performed nearly sixty miles during the day. 
 
 The Hacienda de San Nicolas is one of those 
 enormous estates which abound in every part of 
 Mexico, and which sometimes contain sixty and 
 eighty square miles of land. Of course not a hun- 
 dredth part is under cultivation ; but on some, im- 
 mense herds of horses, mules, and cattle roam al- 
 most wild, or rather did roam, for the Indians have 
 
152 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 carried oif incredible numbers. The hacienda it- 
 self is generally surrounded by the huts of the 
 peones. The laborers who are employed on the 
 plantation exist in a kind of serfdom to the owners, 
 and their collection of adobe hovels forms almost 
 a town of itself. The haciendados live in almost 
 feudal state, having their hundreds of retainers, 
 and their houses fortified to repel the attacks of 
 Indians or other enemies. 
 
 On riding up to the gate of the hacienda we sur- 
 prised two of the senoritas in dishabille, smoking 
 their cigarros of ho j a — corn-shucks — on a stone 
 bench in front of the house ; they instantly ran off 
 like startled hares, so unexpected was the ap- 
 parition of strange caballeros with a retinue of 
 mozos, and, banging to the gate, reconnoitred us 
 through the chinks. Nothing would induce them 
 to reappear, so we withdrew, and sent one of the 
 mozos on the forlorn hope of procuring admit- 
 tance. With him they parleyed through the gate, 
 and informed us, through him, that, as their padre 
 was from home, they were unable to receive us 
 within the castle, but that a stable was a la dis^ 
 posicion de los caballeros, and a quarto [small 
 house], used sometimes as a hen-house, and at 
 others as a calf-pen, should be cleaned for their 
 reception. With this we were fain to be content, 
 and, as there was ample provision for our tired 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 153 
 
 beasts, and a good corral, had no reason to com- 
 plain, as sleeping in the air was no hardship in this 
 climate. 
 
 Presently, with the compliments of the ladies, 
 an excellent supper made its appearance, comr 
 prising a guisado of hare, frijoles, eggs, &c., and 
 a delicious salad prepared by the fair hands of the 
 sefioritas, and their regrets at the same time that 
 the absence of their senor prevented them from 
 having the pleasure of affording better accommo- 
 dation. 
 
 Srd. — Our road lay through the Mai Pais — 
 the evil land (as volcanic regions are called by the 
 Mexicans), which has the appearance of having 
 been, at a comparatively recent period, the theatre 
 of volcanic convulsions of an extraordinary na- 
 ture. The convexity of the disturbed region en- 
 ables one to judge of the extent of the convulsion, 
 which reaches from the central crater to a distance 
 of twelve or fourteen miles. 
 
 The valley between two ridges or sierras is com- 
 pletely filled up to nearly a level with the sierra 
 itself; it is therefore impossible to judge of the 
 height of the tract of ground raised by the vol- 
 cano. The crater is about five or six hundred 
 yards in circumference, and filled with a species 
 of dwarf oak, mezquite, and cocoa trees, which 
 grow out of the crevices of the lava. In it is a 
 
154^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 small stagnant lake, the water of which is green 
 and brackish ; huge blocks of lava and scoria sur- 
 round the lake, which is fringed with rank shrubs 
 and cactus. It is a dismal, lonely spot, and the 
 ground rumbles under the tread of the passing 
 horse. A large crane stood with upraised leg on 
 a rock in the pool, and a javali (wild pig) was 
 wallowing near it in the mud. Not a breath of 
 air ruffled the inky surface of the lake, which lay 
 as undisturbed as a sheet of glass, save where here 
 and there a huge water-snake glided across with 
 uplifted head, or a duck swam slowly out from the 
 shadow of the shrub-covered margin, followed by 
 its downy progeny. 
 
 I led my horse down to the edge of the water, 
 but he refused to drink the slimy liquid, in which 
 frogs, efts, and reptiles of every kind were darting 
 and diving. Many new and curious water-plants 
 floated near the margin, and one, lotus-leaved, with 
 small delicate tendrils, formed a kind of net-work 
 on the water, with a superb crimson flower, which 
 exhibited a beautiful contrast with the inky black- 
 ness of the pool. The Mexicans, as they passed 
 this spot, crossed themselves reverently, and mut- 
 tered an Ave Maria; for in the lonely regions of 
 the Mai Pais, the superstitious Indian believes 
 that demons and gnomes, and spirits of evil pur- 
 poses have their dwelling-places, whence they not 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 155 
 
 unfrequently pounce upon the solitary traveller, 
 and bear him into the cavernous bowels of the 
 earth. The arched roof of the prison-house re- 
 sounding to the tread of their horses as they 
 pass the dreaded spot, they mutter rapidly their 
 prayers, and handle their amulets and charms to 
 keep off the treacherous bogies who invisibly beset 
 the path. 
 
 The surrounding country is curiously disturbed, 
 and the flow of the molten lava can easily be 
 traced, with its undulations, even retaining the 
 exact form of the ripple as it flowed down from 
 the crater. Hollow cones appear at intervals 
 like gigantic petrified bubbles, and extend far into 
 the plain. Some of these, in shape like an inverted 
 cup, are rent, and present large fissures, while 
 others are broken in two, one half only remaining, 
 which exhibit the thickness of the shell of basaltic 
 lava to be only from one to three feet. 
 
 We arrived at the rancho of La Punta in the 
 afternoon, in time to witness the truly national 
 sport of the colea de toros — in English, bull- 
 tailing — for which some two or three hundred 
 rancheros were assembled from the neighboring 
 plantations. 
 
 This rancho, in the fall of last year, was visited 
 by the Comanches, who killed several of the un- 
 fortunate peones, whom they caught in the road 
 
156 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 and at work in the milpas, and carried off all the 
 stock belonging to the farm. On the spot where 
 the rancheros were killed and scalped, crosses are 
 erected, and the little piles of stones, which almost 
 bury them, testify to the numerous Ave Marias 
 and Pater Nosters which their friends have uttered 
 when passing, in prayer for their souls in pur- 
 gatory, and for each prayer have deposited at the 
 foot of the cross the customary stone. 
 
 Without warning, the Indians one day sud- 
 denly appeared on the sierra, and swooped down 
 upon the rancho. The men immediately fled and 
 concealed themselves, leaving the women and chil- 
 dren to their fate. Those who were not carried 
 away were violated, and some pierced with arrows 
 and lances and left for dead. The ranchero's wife 
 described to me the whole scene, and bitterly ac- 
 cused the men of cowardice in not defending the 
 place. This woman, with two grown daughters 
 and several smaller children, fled from the rancho 
 before the Indians approached, and concealed 
 themselves under a wooden bridge which crossed a 
 stream near at hand. Here they remained for 
 some hours, half dead with terror : presently some 
 Indians approached their place of concealment: a 
 young chief stood on the bridge and spoke some 
 words to the others. All this time he had his 
 piercing eyes bent upon their hiding-place, and 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 157 
 
 had no doubt discovered them, but concealed his 
 satisfaction under an appearance of indifference. 
 He played with his victims. In broken Spanish 
 they heard him express his hope " that he would 
 be able to discover where the women were con- 
 cealed — that he wanted a Mexican wife and some 
 scalps." Suddenly he jumped from the bridge 
 and thrust his lance under it with a savage whoop ; 
 the blade pierced the woman's arm and she shrieked 
 with pain. One by one they were drawn from 
 their retreat. 
 
 " Dios de mi alma! — what a moment was this ! " 
 said the poor creature. Her children were sur- 
 rounded by the savages, brandishing their toma- 
 hawks, and she thought their last hour was come. 
 But they all escaped with life, and returned to 
 find their house plundered, and the corpses of 
 friends and relations strewing the ground. 
 
 " A2/ de mi! — what a day was this ! Y los hom- 
 hres" she continued, " qui no son homhres? — And 
 the men — who are not men — where were they.'* 
 Escondidos como los ratones — hidden in holes 
 like the rats. Mire! " she said, suddenly, and with 
 great excitement : " look at these two hundred men, 
 well mounted and armed, who are now so brave 
 and fierce, running after the poor bulls ; if twenty 
 Indians were to make their appearance, where 
 would they be? Vai/a, vaya! " she exclaimed; 
 
158 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 " son cohrades " — they are cowards all of them. 
 
 The daughter, who sat at her mother's feet dur- 
 ing the recital, as the scenes of that day were re- 
 called to her memory, buried her face in her 
 mother's lap, and wept with excitement. 
 
 To return to the toros. In a large corral, at 
 one end of which was a little building, erected for 
 the accommodation of the lady spectators, were 
 enclosed upwards of a hundred bulls. Round the 
 corral were the horsemen, all dressed in the pic- 
 turesque Mexican costume, examining the animals 
 as they were driven to and fro in the enclosure, 
 in order to make them wild for the sport — alzar 
 el corage. The ranchero himself, and his sons, 
 were riding amongst them, armed with long lances, 
 separating from the herd, and driving into another 
 enclosure, the most active bulls. When all was 
 ready, the bars were withdrawn from the entrance 
 of the corral, and a bull driven out, who, seeing the 
 wide level plain before him, dashed off at the top 
 of his speed. With a shout, the horsemen pur- 
 sued the flying animal, who, hearing the uproar 
 behind him, redoubled his speed. Each urges his 
 horse to the utmost, and strives to take the lead 
 and be the first to reach the bull. In such a 
 crowd, of course, first-rate horsemanship is re- 
 quired to avoid accidents and secure a safe lead. 
 For some minutes the troop ran on in a compact 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 159 
 
 mass — a sheet could have covered the lot. En- 
 veloped in a cloud of dust, nothing could be seen 
 but the bull, some hundred yards ahead, and the 
 rolling cloud. Presently, with a shout, a horse- 
 man emerged from the front rank ; the women cried 
 " mval " as, passing close to the stage, he was rec- 
 ognised to be the son of the ranchera, a boy 
 twelve years of age, sitting his horse like a bird, 
 and swaying from side to side as the bull doubled, 
 and the cloud of dust concealed the animal from 
 his view. " Viva Pepito! 'viva! " shouted his 
 mother, as she waved her reboso, to encourage the 
 boy ; and the little fellow struck his spurs into his 
 horse, and doubled down to his work manfully. 
 But now two others are running neck and neck 
 with him, and the race for the lead, and the first 
 throw, is most exciting. The men shout, the 
 women wave their rebosos, and cry out their 
 names : " Alza — Bernardo — por mi amor, Jiuin 
 Maria — Viva Pepitito! " they scream in intense 
 excitement. The boy at length loses the lead to a 
 tall fine-looking Mexican, mounted on a fleet and 
 powerful roan stallion, who gradually, but surely, 
 forges ahead. 
 
 At this moment the sharp eyes of little Pepe 
 observed the bull to turn at an angle from his for- 
 mer course, which movement was hidden by the 
 dust from the leading horseman. In an instant 
 
160 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 the boy took advantage of it, and, wheeling his 
 horse at a right angle from his original course, 
 cut off the bull. Shouts and vivas rent the air at 
 sight of this skilful manoeuvre, and the boy, urg- 
 ing his horse with whip and spur, ranged up to the 
 left quarter of the bull, bending down to seize the 
 tail, and secure it under his right leg, for the pur- 
 pose of throwing the animal to the ground. But 
 here Pepe's strength failed him in a feat which re- 
 quires great power of muscle, and in endeavoring 
 to perform it he was jerked out of his saddle, and 
 fell violently to the ground, stunned and senseless. 
 At least a dozen horsemen were now striving hard 
 for the post of honor, but the roan distanced them 
 all, and its rider, stronger than Pepe, dashed up 
 to the bull, threw his right leg over the tail, which 
 he had seized in his right hand, and, wheeling his 
 horse suddenly outwards, upset the bull in the 
 midst of his career, and the huge animal rolled over 
 and over in the dust, bellowing with pain and 
 fright. 
 
 This exciting but dangerous sport exhibits the 
 perfect horsemanship of the Mexicans to great ad- 
 vantage. Their firm yet graceful seat excels 
 everything I have seen in the shape of riding, and 
 the perfect command which they have over their 
 horses renders them almost a part of the animals 
 they ride. Their seat is quite different from the 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 161 
 
 " park-riding " of Mexico. The sport of colea 
 lasts as long as a bull remains in the corral, so 
 that at the conclusion, as may be imagined, the 
 horses are perfectly exhausted. 
 
 Another equestrian game is el gallo — the cock. 
 In this cruel sport, an unfortunate rooster is tied 
 by the legs to a tree, or to a picket driven in the 
 ground, with its head or neck well greased. The 
 horsemen, starting together, strive to be the first 
 to reach the bird, and, seizing it by the neck, to 
 burst the thongs which secure it, and ride oif with 
 the prize. The well-greased neck generally slips 
 through the fingers of the first who lay hold of it ; 
 but, as soon as one is in possession, he rides off, 
 pursued by the rest, whose object is to rescue the 
 fowl. Of course in the contest which ensues the 
 poor bird is torn to pieces ; the scraps of the body 
 being presented by the fortunate possessors as a 
 gage d'amour to their mistresses. 
 
 The people in the rancho were so poor in 
 comestibles, that we supped that night on beans 
 and bread, and made our beds afterwards outside 
 the door, where all night long continued such a 
 clatter of women's tongues, such grunting of pigs, 
 barking of curs, braying of borricos, &c., that I 
 was unable to sleep until near morning, when, be- 
 fore daylight, we were again in our saddles. 
 
 Oct, 4ith, — At daybreak we came to a river. 
 
162 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 which, in the absence of a ferry, we swam with 
 all our animals, both packed and loose. We 
 passed through a flat country, entirely inundated, 
 and alive with geese and gruyas. The latter bird, 
 of the crane species, is a characteristic feature in 
 the landscape of this part of Mexico. The corn- 
 fields are visited by large flocks, and, as they fly 
 high in the air, their peculiar melancholy note is 
 constantly heard, both in the day and night, boom- 
 ing over the plains. 
 
 DuRANGO, the metropolis of northern Mexico, 
 is situated near the root of the Sierra Madre, at 
 the north-western corner of a large plain, poorly 
 cultivated and sparsely inhabited. It is a pic- 
 turesque city, with two or three large churches 
 and some government buildings " fair to the eye 
 but foul within," with a population of 18,000, 
 17,000 of whom are rogues and rascals. Like all 
 other Mexican cities, it is extremely dirty in the 
 exterior, but the houses are clean and tidy within, 
 always excepting government buildings. It is 
 celebrated for its scorpions and bad pulque, and 
 the enormous mass of malleable iron which rises 
 isolated in the plain, about three miles from the 
 town. This rock is supposed to be an aerolite, as 
 its composition and physical character are iden- 
 tical with certain aerolites which fell in 1751 in 
 some part of Hungary, and analogous to the gen- 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 163 
 
 eral character of others of the same nature, of 
 which the aerolitic origin is equally certain and 
 authenticated. It contains 75 per cent, of pure 
 iron, according to the analysis of a Mexican chem- 
 ist; and some specimens, which Humboldt pro- 
 cured, were analysed by the celebrated Klaproth, 
 with, I believe, the same result. 
 
 Durango is distant hord the city of Mexico 500 
 miles in a due course, or as the bird flies, but by the 
 road must be upwards of 650 ; my reckoning makes 
 it 665 — many miles, I have no doubt, too much or 
 too little. Its elevation, according to Humboldt, 
 is 6845 feet above the level of the sea, while that 
 of Mexico is 7470, and La Villa de Leon 6027 
 feet; thus showing that the table-land of Mexico 
 does not decline so suddenly as is imagined. In- 
 deed, excepting in the plains of Salamanca and 
 Silao, there is no perceptible difference in the tem- 
 perature, and I believe, in reality, but little of ele- 
 vation, in the vast region between the capital and 
 Chihuahua. 
 
 Snow falls here occasionally, and the mercury is 
 sometimes seen below the freezing point. For the 
 greater part of the year, however, the heat is ex- 
 cessive, when a low intermittent fever is prevalent, 
 but rarely fatal. 
 
 Durango is the seat of a bishopric, and the 
 worthy prelate lately undertook a journey to 
 
164 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Santa Fe, in New Mexico, which progress created 
 a furore amongst the devout; and the good old 
 man was glad to return with any hem to his gar- 
 ment, so great was the respect paid to him. That 
 he escaped the Apaches and Comanches is at- 
 tributed to a miracle: the unfaithful assign the 
 glory to his numerous escort. — Quien sdbef 
 
 The City of Scorpions (as it is called) was in 
 dread and expectation of an Indian invasion dur- 
 ing my stay. Some five hundred Comanches were 
 known to be in the vicinity towards the north- 
 east; so, after a fanfarron of several days, and 
 high mass in the church for the repose of those 
 who were going to be killed, &c., the troops and 
 valientes of the city, with beating drums and fly- 
 ing colors, marched out to the south-west^ and hap- 
 pened to miss " los barbaros,'* However, it saved 
 them a sound drubbing, and the country the 
 valientes who would have been killed; so the 
 fatality was not much regretted, at least by the 
 military, and the people of this time are accus- 
 tomed to these " chances." — Cosas de Mejico. 
 
 There is an English merchant in Durango, and 
 one or two Germans and Americans. Their hos- 
 pitality is unbounded. There is also a mint, the 
 administrador of which is a German gentleman, 
 who has likewise established a cotton-factory near 
 the city, which is a profitable concern : y de mas — 
 
IN THE MINING COUNTRY 165 
 
 (and moreover) — las Durangilenas son miiy Jiala- 
 gilenas — (the ladies of Durango are very pretty). 
 I stayed in the house of the widow of a Gachu- 
 pin, whose motherly kindness to me, and excellent 
 cooking taught her by her defunct sposo, is one 
 of the most pleasurable memories I bear with me 
 from Mexico, where a bastard and miserable imi- 
 tation of the inimitable Spanish cuisine exists in 
 all its deformity. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 TRIALS OP THE ROAD 
 
 TRAVELLING in Mexico may be divided 
 into two heads, viz. en grande (or en 
 prince, as they say in France), or in the 
 style of the homhre de jaqueta, which, however, 
 although considered infra dig, in Spain, is, as far 
 as the garment is concerned, the only correct cos- 
 tume for the road in Mexico. The wealthy 
 haciendado of the tierra caliente rolls along in his 
 carretela drawn by half a dozen mules, his lady in 
 more luxurious littera, while the gentlemen and 
 solteros of the family — the bachelors — prance 
 at the sides of the litter, mounted on their Puebla 
 hacks, and arrayed in all the glory of buttons 
 and embroidery. 
 
 If the object be to see the country, and become 
 acquainted with the people and their manners and 
 customs, the traveller should, in the first place, 
 leave in charge of the steward of the royal majl 
 steam-ship, at Vera Cruz or Tampico, his English 
 reserve and prejudice in the pocket of his tweed 
 
 shooting-jacket; all of which, together with his 
 166 
 
TRIALS OF THE ROAD 167 
 
 Lincoln and Bennet and cockney notions, he must 
 at once discard before leaving the steamer. Then, 
 having donned a broad-brimmed Panama and white 
 linen roundabout, he may forthwith deliver his let- 
 ter to his consignee, and make up his mind to the 
 enjoyment of unbounded hospitality for as long as 
 he pleases; and the longer, the better pleased his 
 entertainers: for here, it may be remarked, 
 amongst the foreigners, the most genuine hospi- 
 tality makes the stranger immediately at home, 
 even in the city of the dreaded 'vomito. 
 
 Here, if he has the good fortune to possess, at 
 the bottom of an introductory letter, the talis- 
 manic " open sesame " of Messrs. Coutts and Co., 
 he will find that he has fallen on his legs indeed; 
 
 and at the casa of los senores M and M 
 
 he will be put in the way of equipping himself for 
 any mode of travelling, whether jpor diligencia, by 
 dilly; a cahallo, on horseback; or by lazy littera: 
 in which last luxurious conveyance he can travel 
 to Jalapa, and smoke and dream away his time, 
 through the most picturesque scenery of the tierra 
 caliente, which, of course, through the pendent 
 curtains, he cannot get a glimpse of. 
 
 If, too, Castillo, that prince of mozos, should 
 happen, at the time of his departure, to have an 
 inclination to visit his soft-eyed Jalapena, he may 
 be as lucky as I was in securing his ciceroneship 
 
168 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 as far as the " Citj of the Mist " ; whence to the 
 capital the coach is the safest and surest mode of 
 transit. 
 
 From Mexico to the north, a large escort is 
 necessary to protect the traveller from the exac- 
 tions of los cahalleros del camino — the highway- 
 men; and if the journey is continued still farther 
 towards the pole, a respectable force is absolutely 
 indispensable, if he wish to arrive at his journey's 
 end with the hair on the top of his head; for my 
 passage, sm novedad,^ through that turbulous 
 country is to be attributed alone to extraordinary 
 good fortune, and so sharp a look-out as to render 
 the journey anything but a mere pleasure-trip. 
 Indeed, the traveller in any part of Mexico must 
 ever bear in mind the wholesome Yankee saying, 
 " Keep your primin' dry, and your eye skinned." 
 It is not even saying too much to advise those who 
 have never served an apprenticeship of hard 
 knocks, and who would find no little difficulty in 
 adopting their fastidious cuerpos (bodies) to the 
 rough-and-tumble life they must necessarily lead, 
 to confine their rambles to the well-steamered 
 Rhine, or within the radius of the Messageries 
 Royales and Lafitte's. 
 
 It must be some time after the termination of 
 the present war before the country will be fit to 
 
 * In this case, without fatal accident, {Ed.) 
 
TRIALS OF THE ROAD 169 
 
 travel over; for woe to the luckless wight whose 
 turnip complexion and hair of the carrot's hue pro- 
 claim him to be of Anglo-Saxon race, should he 
 fall into the hands of a marauding party of dis- 
 banded soldiers ! and the present bitter feeling of 
 hostility to foreigners must pass away before it 
 will be safe to show one's nose outside the gates of 
 the larger cities. 
 
 The usual mode of travelling long distances, by 
 even the wealthiest of the male class, is invariably 
 on horse or mule back, several sumpter-mules be- 
 ing packed with the catre (bedstead), alforjas 
 (saddle-bags), cantin (a portable canteen), bed, 
 blankets, provisions, &c. ; whilst half a dozen serv- 
 ants — - mozos — well mounted and armed, escort 
 their lords and masters. The usual pay of these 
 is one dollar a-day each, four shillings and a frac- 
 tion of our money, with board wages of two rials 
 — dos riales diarios por la comida — for which 
 they always stipulate, saying that not even a 
 lepero could live for less, a rial being equivalent 
 to about sixpence. One of these is appointed 
 captain, and to him is intrusted the payment of 
 the road expenses, out of which, if he be " homhre 
 de bien," i.e, an approved rascal, he manages to 
 pouch another daily dollar, as perquisite for the 
 confidence which he is supposed not to abuse. 
 
 This rascal, or major-domo, if allowed to rob 
 
170 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 his master quietly and genteelly, is worthy of every 
 trust, and will take especial care that his privilege 
 is not trespassed upon by others ; therefore, says 
 the proverb-loving Mexican, " Mas vale un ladron 
 que viente picaros, — give me one honest robber be- 
 fore twenty rogues ;" a distinction finely drawn 
 upon the meaning of the terms. 
 
 " Que comedor de maiz es aquel macho! valgame 
 Dios, que cahe mas que tres olmudas! What a 
 corn-eater is that little mule," said my mozo to 
 me one day ; " Heaven save me, but he holds three 
 almudas (about six pecks) at a bout! He is the 
 one to eat. Every day he eats the same. Oh! 
 what a macho is that ! " 
 
 Every traveller has his macho, who eats treble 
 allowance, or rather who eats one ration, while the 
 price of the two imaginary ones finds its way into 
 the pocket of the mozo. 
 
 The captain is also invariably in league with the 
 mesonero of the hostelry where you put up for the 
 night; and his recommendations of extra feeds 
 rouse you, rolled in sarape, as, hat in hand, he 
 stands at the door of the quarto, with mine host 
 looking over his shoulder, saying, — 
 
 " Valgame, Don Jorge, que tengan mucha ham- 
 bre las bestias! ya se acabo la cena: quiere su 
 merced que les echo mas maizf — God save me, 
 
TRIALS OF THE ROAD 171 
 
 Mr. George, what hungry bellies the animals have 
 to-night ! — they have already gobbled up their 
 suppers : will your worship please that I give them 
 some more corn? Manana tenemos Jornada mwy 
 largita, es preciso que comen hien — To-morrow 
 we have a long little journey before us, and they 
 had better eat plenty to-night." 
 
 " Vaya! maldito" cries the tormented amo; 
 " que comen mil fanegas si pueden! — Go to the 
 devil, and let them eat a thousand sacks if they 
 can ! " — and, covering his head with his sarape, 
 soon snores, while his trustworthy mozo puts the 
 price of two almudas in his pocket, and mine host 
 the third for his share of the transaction. 
 
 Thus it may be supposed that here the old adage 
 is carried out which says that " con el ojo del amo 
 se engorda el huey — with the master's eye the 
 steer is fattened ; " and the traveller who loves to 
 see his well-worked animals in good case, and dis- 
 likes to draw his pursestrings every three or four 
 days to pay for another and another fresh horse 
 or mule, had better follow my practice, which was 
 to put a puro in my mouth, take up a position on 
 the manger, and watch that every measure was well 
 filled, and eaten, before I paid attention to the 
 wants of my own proper carcass, taking care to 
 give but half the complement of corn at first, re- 
 
172 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 serving the remainder for night, and in the interval 
 seeing that all the beasts were led to water for the 
 second time. 
 
 Heaven help the wight who trusts a Mexican! 
 The following is the bill presented to me by my 
 mozo the first and only time I ever trusted him 
 with the ojffice of paymaster; and beneath is the 
 amended or taxed bill, or rather the account of the 
 night's expenditure as wrung from the unwilling 
 mesonero after I had accused my worthy steward 
 of peculation, and threatened summary chastise- 
 ment. The copy is verbatim : — 
 
 "Pago Jos4 Maria En el meson De la santisma vergen 
 de guadalaxara Dos dias de comida Para El 4 reales dos 
 Fane gas de mais cuatro Pesos yotras dos 4 pesos entrada 
 de nueve Bestial dos Por una tres Reales tres comidas 
 por mi cabayero dos Pesos por mi cabayero otra 3 Riales 
 tres riales otra otra tres por mi cabayero cinco quartios 
 pulque por mi cabayero paja nueve riales un medio por 
 pulque otro mismo quarto tres dias 6 riales quarto un 
 dia 2 Riales otro 2 otro 2. 
 
 todo dies y ocTio Pesos, 
 cinco Hales." 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 "Joseph the son of Maria paid in the meson of the 
 holiest virgin of Guadalaxara two days' board for himself 
 4 reals two fanegas of corn four Dollars and another 4 
 dollars entrance of nine Beasts two for one three Rials 
 three dinners for my lord two dollars for my lord an- 
 other three Rials 3 rials for another for my lord five 
 
TRIALS OF THE ROAD 173 
 
 quarts of pulque for my Lord straw nine rials a medio for 
 pulque another Rial room three days 6 rials room one day 
 2 Rials other 2 other 2 Total eighteen Dollars 
 
 five rials. 18p. 5r." 
 
 AMENDED BILL. 
 
 $ r. 
 Servant's board for two days . . . . . ..04 
 
 1% fanegas of corn 13 
 
 My Lordship's chocolate and dinners for two days 1 
 
 Pulque 3 
 
 Straw for animals 4 
 
 Hire of room 4 
 
 Servant's ditto 4 
 
 4 5 
 
 Showing a difference of fourteen dollars on a bill 
 of four, or eighteen shillings instead of '3Z. 19>s. 6d, 
 So much for the honesty of " un hombre de bien "/ 
 Either from ignorance of their duties or care- 
 lessness, Mexican officials seldom trouble the trav- 
 eller with demanding his passport. It is as well, 
 however, to adhere to the law, and invariably to 
 present it in the larger towns, where it may be 
 presumed the Alcalde can decipher the name and 
 rubrica of the ministro de las relaciones interiores. 
 From the fact of so many English mining com- 
 panies being dispersed throughout the country, 
 whose wealth and respectable way of doing busi- 
 ness are so apparent to the Mexicans, an English- 
 man is pretty sure to receive attention from the 
 
174 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 authorities wherever he goes, and a British pass- 
 port is a sure and certain safeguard from the in- 
 solence and rapacity of Jacks-in-office, who have 
 a wholesome dread of the far-reaching power of 
 the " lion and unicorn " which head those vouch- 
 safing documents. A carta de seguridad — let- 
 ter of security — is also indispensable, by which 
 the traveller's transit through the territory of the 
 republic is sanctioned for the space of one year, 
 at the termination of which period it has^ to be 
 renewed, on presentation to the governor of the 
 state in which he may happen to be. With cus- 
 tom-house regulations there is no inconvenience, a 
 mere form being gone through of opening one 
 package in entering the capitals of the different 
 states, and an opportunely applied dollar will in- 
 variably smooth over any difficulty with regard tO' 
 foreign tobacco. Sic, or any of the creature-com- 
 forts in the shape of cognac or comestible luxuries, 
 which the traveller will do well to carry with him. 
 
 There is one axiom to be never lost sight of in 
 journeying through Mexico. Carry everything 
 with you that you can possibly require on the 
 road, the only limit being the length of your purse, 
 on which will depend your means of conveyance. 
 An European stomach should hardly trust to the 
 country cuisine. 
 
 In Northern Mexico and California a custom 
 
TRIALS OF THE ROAD 175 
 
 exists with both sexes of choosing a particular 
 friend, seldom a relation, to whom the person at- 
 taches himself in a bond of strict friendship, con- 
 fiding to his or her care all his hopes and fears, 
 secrets, &c., and seldom severing the tie, which gen- 
 erally binds them together as long as life lasts. 
 The compadre and commadre — literally god- 
 father, and godmother — are consulted on every 
 occasion, when advice on the important subject 
 of love is required, and a nice sense of honor re- 
 strains them from all betrayal of trust and con- 
 fidence. They are likewise inseparable compan- 
 ions, and their purses and property are ever at 
 each other's service. Ask a man to lend you his 
 horse; if not mounted on it himself, the chances 
 are that he answers, " Lo tiene mi compadre — 
 my godfather has it." It must be confessed, how- 
 ever, that many peccadilloes are fathered on the 
 compadre and commadre. To vouch for the cor- 
 rectness of some story a New Mexican is telling 
 you, he adds, " Pues^ si no cree su merced, pregunta 
 a mi compadre — well, since your worship does not 
 believe it, only ask my godfather." 
 
 " Me dixo mi commadre — my godmother told 
 me so " — says a girl to guarantee a bit of scan- 
 dal. Thus compadres and commadres become a 
 species of Mexican Mrs. Harris, who is appealed 
 to on every occasion, and whose imaginary sa- 
 
176 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 gacity, profound wisdom, and personal beauty are 
 on every occasion held up to the admiration of the 
 credulous stranger. 
 
 I mention this, here, because it very often hap- 
 pens that when, on hiring a servant, credentials 
 or reference as to his character are demanded of 
 him, he immediately requests you to apply to his 
 compadre, who of course swears that his friend 
 is everything that is good and honest : ''Muy buen 
 mozoy y homhre de hien," 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WHEN THE INDIANS COME 
 
 SOME of the tales which were narrated to 
 me of the bloody deeds of the Comanches 
 were so affecting and tragical, that they 
 would form admirable themes for the composition 
 of a romance. I may mention one, which was 
 of very recent occurrence, and particularly in- 
 terested me, as I passed the very spot where the 
 tragical catastrophe occurred. I give the out- 
 lines of the tale as it was told to me ; and any one 
 in want of materials to work up an exciting melo- 
 drama may help themselves to it con mucJia fra/rir 
 queza. 
 
 In a rancho situated in the valley of the Rio 
 Florido, and nearly half-way between the cities 
 of Durango and Chihuahua, lived a family of 
 hardy vaqueros, or cattle-herders, the head of 
 which was a sturdy old sexagenarian, known as 
 El Coxo (the Game Leg). He rejoiced in a 
 " quiver well filled with arrows," since eight fine 
 strapping sons hailed him padre ; than any one of 
 whom not a ranchero in the tierra afuera could 
 
 177 
 
178 ABVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 more dexterously colear * a bull, or at the game of 
 gallo tear from its stake the unhappy fowl, and 
 bear it safe from the pursuit of competitors, but 
 piecemeal, to the feet of his admiring lady-love. 
 
 Of these eight mozos, he who bore away the 
 palm of rancheral superiority, but still in a very 
 slight degree, was the third son, and the hand- 
 somest (no little praise, where each and all laid 
 claim to the title of huen mozo y guapo — good 
 and strong servant), by name Escamilla, a proper 
 lad of twenty, five feet ten out of his zapatos 
 [shoes], straight as an organo, and lithesome as a 
 reed. He was, moreover, more polished than the 
 others, having been schooled at Queretaro, a city, 
 in the estimation of the people of the tierra afuera, 
 second only to Mejico itself. 
 
 With his city breeding, he had of course im- 
 bibed a taste for dress, and quite dazzled the eyes 
 of the neighboring rancheras when, on his return 
 to his paternal home, he made his first appearance 
 at a grand funcion de toros in all the elaborate 
 finery of a Queretaro dandy. In his first passage 
 of arms he greatly distinguished himself, having 
 thrown three bulls by the tail with consummate 
 adroitness, and won enthusiastic " vivas " from the 
 
 * To take a bull by the tail and, wliile running, overturn 
 him. {Ed.) 
 
WHEN THE INDIANS COME 179 
 
 muchachas, who graced with their presence the ex- 
 citing sport. 
 
 Close at the heels of Escamilla, and almost rival- 
 ling him in good looks and dexterity, came Juan 
 Maria, his next and elder brother, who, indeed in 
 the eyes of the more practical vaqueros, far sur- 
 passed his brother in manliness of appearance, and 
 equalled him in horsemanship, wanting alone that 
 " brilliancy of execution " which the other had ac- 
 quired in the inner provinces, and in practice 
 against the wilder and more active bulls of the 
 tierra caliente. 
 
 Now Juan Maria, hitherto the first at el gallo 
 and bull-tailing, had always laid the trophies of 
 the sport at the feet of one Ysabel Mora, called, 
 from the hacienda where she resided, Ysabel de la 
 Cadena, a pretty black-eyed girl of sixteen, the 
 toast of the valleys of Nazos and Rio Florido, and 
 celebrated even by the cant adores [minstrels] at 
 the last fair of el Valle de San Bartolomo as " la 
 moza mas guapa de la tierra afuera " [the fairest 
 wench in the countryside]. It so happened that 
 the last year, Ysabel had made her first appearance 
 at a public funcion; and at this gallo she was 
 wooed, and in a measure won, by the presentation 
 of the remains of the gallant rooster at the hands 
 of Juan Maria; who, his offering being well re- 
 
180 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ceived, from that moment looked upon the pretty 
 Ysabel as his corteja, or sweetheart; and she, 
 nothing loth at having the properest lad of the 
 valley at her feet, permitted his attentions, and 
 apparently returned his love. 
 
 To make, however, a long story short, the dandy 
 Escamilla, who, too fine to work, had more time 
 on his hands for courting, dishonorably sup- 
 planted his brother in the affections of Ysabel; 
 and as Juan Maria, too frank and noble-hearted 
 to force his suit, at once gave way to his more 
 favored brother, the affair was concluded between 
 the girl and Escamilla, and a day named for the 
 marriage ceremony, which was to take place at the 
 hacienda of the bride, where, in honor of the occa- 
 sion, a grand funcion de toros was to be held, at 
 which all the neighbors (the nearest of whom was 
 forty miles distant) were to be present, including, 
 of course, the stalwart sons of El Coxo, the 
 brothers of the bridegroom. 
 
 Two or three days before the one appointed for 
 the marriage, the father with his eight sons made 
 their appearance, their gallant figures, as mounted 
 on stout Californian horses they entered the 
 hacienda, exacting a buzz of admiration from the 
 collected rancheros. 
 
 The next day El Coxo, with all his sons except- 
 ing Escamilla, attended the master of the hacienda 
 
WHEN THE INDIANS COME 181 
 
 into the plains, for the purpose of driving in the 
 bulls which were required for the morrow's sport, 
 while the other rancheros remained to complete 
 a large corral which was destined to secure them ; 
 El Coxo and his sons being selected for the more 
 arduous work of driving in the bulls, since they were 
 the most expert and best-mounted horsemen of the 
 whole neighborhood. 
 
 It was towards the close of the day, and the sun 
 was fast sinking behind the rugged crest of the 
 " Bolson," tinging the serrated ridge of that iso- 
 lated mountain-chain with a golden flood of light, 
 while the mesquite-covered plain beneath lay cold 
 and grey under the deep shadow of the sierra. 
 The shrill pipe of the quail was heard, as it called 
 together the bevy for the night ; hares lim.ped out 
 of the thick cover and sought their feeding- 
 grounds ; overhead the melancholy cry of the 
 gruyas sounded feebly in the aerial distance of 
 their flight; the lowing of cattle resounded from 
 the banks of the arroyo, where the herdsmen were 
 driving them to water ; the peones, or laborers of 
 the farm, were quitting the milpas, and already 
 seeking their homes, where, at the doors, the 
 women with naked arms were pounding the tor- 
 tillas on the stone metate, in preparation for the 
 evening meal ; and the universal quiet, and the soft 
 and subdued beams of the sinking sun, which shed 
 
183 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 a chastened light over the whole landscape, pro- 
 claimed that the day was drawing to a close, and 
 that man and beast were seeking the well-earned 
 rest after their daily toil. 
 
 The two lovers were sauntering along, careless 
 of the beauty of the scene and hour, and conscious 
 of nothing save their own enraptured thoughts, 
 and the aerial castles, which probably both were 
 building, of future happiness and love. 
 
 As they strolled onward, a little cloud of dust 
 arose from the chapparal in front of them ; and in 
 the distance, but seemingly in another direction, 
 they heard the shouts of the returning cowherds, 
 and the thundering tread of the bulls they were 
 driving to the corral. In advance of these was 
 seen one horseman, trotting quickly on towards the 
 hacienda. 
 
 Nevertheless the cloud of dust before them rolled 
 rapidly onwards, and presently several horsemen 
 emerged from it, galloping towards them in the 
 road. 
 
 " Here come the bullfighters," exclaimed the 
 girl, withdrawing her waist from the encircling 
 arm of Escamilla ; " let us return." 
 
 " Perhaps they are my brothers," answered he ; 
 and continued, " Yes, they are eight : look." 
 
 But what saw the poor girl, as, with eyes almost 
 starting from her head, and motionless with sud- 
 
WHEN THE INDIANS COME 183 
 
 den fear, she directed her gaze at the approaching 
 horsemen, who now, turning a bend in the chap- 
 paral, were within a few hundred yards of them! 
 
 Escamilla followed the direction of the gaze, and 
 one look congealed the trembling coward. A band 
 of Indians were upon them. Naked to the waist, 
 and painted horribly for war, with brandished 
 spears they rushed on. Heedless of the helpless 
 maid, and leaving her to her fate, the coward 
 turned and fled, shouting as he ran the dreaded 
 signal of " Los barbaros! los barbaros! " 
 
 A horseman met him — it was Juan Maria, who, 
 having lassoed a little antelope on the plains, had 
 ridden in advance of his brothers to present it to 
 the false but unfortunate Ysabel. The exclama- 
 tions of the frightened Escamilla, and one glance 
 down the road, showed him the peril of the poor 
 girl. Throwing down the animal he was carefully 
 carrying in his arms, he dashed the spurs furiously 
 into the sides of his horse, and rushed like the wind 
 to the rescue. But already the savages were upon 
 her, with a whoop of bloodthirsty joy. She, cov- 
 ering her face with her hands, shrieked to her old 
 lover to save her : — " Salva me, Juan Maria, por 
 Dios, salva me! " At that moment the lance of 
 the foremost Indian pierced her heart, and in an- 
 other her reeking scalp was brandished exultingly 
 aloft by the murderous savage. 
 
184i ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Shortlived, however, was his triumph: the clat- 
 ter of a galloping horse thundered over the ground, 
 and caused him to turn his head. Almost bound- 
 ing through the air, and in a cloud of dust, with 
 ready lasso swinging round his head, Juan Maria 
 flew, alas! too late, to the rescue of the unhappy 
 maiden. Straight upon the foremost Indian he 
 charged, regardless of the flight of arrows with 
 which he was received. The savage, terrified at the 
 wild and fierce look of his antagonist, turned to 
 fly ; but the open coil of the lasso whirled from the 
 expert hand of the Mexican, and the noose fell over 
 the Indian's head, and, as the thrower passed in 
 his horse's stride, dragged him heavily to the 
 ground. 
 
 But Juan Maria had fearful odds to contend 
 against, and was unarmed, save by a small machete, 
 or rusty sword. But with this he attacked the 
 nearest Indian, and, succeeding in bringing him 
 within reach of his arm, clove his head by a sturdy 
 stroke, and the savage dropped dead from his 
 horse. The others, keeping at a distance, assailed 
 him with arrows, and already he was pierced with 
 many bleeding wounds. Still the gallant fellow 
 fought bravely against the odds, and was encour- 
 aged by the shouts of his father and brothers, who 
 were galloping, with loud cries, to the rescue. At 
 that moment an arrow, discharged at but a few 
 
WHEN THE INDIANS COME 185 
 
 paces' distance, buried itself to the feathers in his 
 breast, and the brothers reached the spot but in 
 time to see Juan Maria fall from his horse, and his 
 bloody scalp borne away in triumph by a naked 
 savage. 
 
 The Indians at that moment were reinforced by 
 a body of some thirty or forty others, and a fierce 
 combat ensued between them and Coxo and his 
 sons, who fought with desperate courage to avenge 
 the murder of Juan Maria and the poor Ysabel. 
 Half a dozen of the Comanches bit the dust, and 
 two of the Mexicans lay bleeding on the ground; 
 but the rancheros, coming up from the hacienda 
 in force, compelled the Indians to retreat, and, as 
 night was coming on, they were not pursued. On 
 the ground lay the still quivering body of the girl, 
 and the two Indians near her who were killed by 
 Juan Maria. One of them had his neck broken 
 and his brains dashed out by being dragged over 
 the sharp stones by the horse of the latter, the 
 lasso being fast to the high pommel of the saddle. 
 This Indian still held the long raven scalp-lock 
 of the girl in his hand. Juan Maria was quite 
 dead, and pierced with upwards of twenty bleeding 
 wounds ; two of his brothers were lying dangerously 
 wounded; and six Indians, besides the two killed 
 by Juan Maria, fell by the avenging arms of El 
 Coxo and his sons. The bodies of Ysabel and 
 
186 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Juan Maria were borne by the rancheros to the 
 hacienda, and both were buried the next day side 
 by side, at the very hour when the marriage was 
 to have been performed. Escamilla, ashamed of 
 his base cowardice, disappeared, and was not seen 
 for some days, when he returned to his father's 
 rancho, packed up his things, and returned to 
 Queretaro, where he married shortly after. 
 
 Just twelve months after the above tragical 
 event occurred, I passed the spot. About three 
 hundred yards from the gate of the hacienda were 
 erected, side by side, two wooden crosses, roughly 
 hewn out of a log of pine. On one, a rudely-cut 
 inscription, in Mexico-Castilian, invites the passer- 
 by to bestow 
 
 " Un Ave Maria y un Pater Noster 
 
 For el alma de Ysabel Mora, 
 Qui a los manos de los barbaros cayo muerta, 
 
 El dia 11 de Octubre, el ano 1845, 
 En la flor de su juventud y hermosura." 
 
 " One Ave Maria and a Pater Noster for the repose of 
 the soul of Ysabel Mora, who fell by the hands of the bar- 
 barians on the 11th of October of the year 1845, and in 
 the flower of her youth and beauty." 
 
 On the other — 
 
 "Aqui yace Juan Maria Orteza, 
 
 Vecino de , 
 
 Matado por los barbaros, el dia 11 de Octubre, 
 
 del ano 1845. 
 0ra ppr el, Cristiano, por Dios." 
 
WHEN THE INDIANS COME 187 
 
 "Here lies Juan Maria Orteza, native of , killed by 
 
 the barbarians on the 11th of October, 1845. 
 "Christian, for the sake of God, pray for his soul." 
 
 The goodly piles of stones, to which I added 
 my offering, at the feet of both crosses, testify 
 that the invocation has not been neglected, and 
 that many an Ave Maria and Pater Noster has 
 been breathed, to release from purgatory the souls 
 of Ysabel and Juan Maria, 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 
 
 THE city of Durango * may be considered 
 as the Ultima Thule of the civilised por- 
 tion of Mexico. Beyond it, to the north 
 and north-west, stretch away the vast uncultivated 
 and unpeopled plains of Chihuahua, the Bolson de 
 Mapimi, and the arid deserts of the Gila. In the 
 oases of these, wild and hostile tribes of Indians 
 have their dwelling-places, from which they con- 
 tinually descend upon the border settlements and 
 haciendas, sweeping off the herds of horses and 
 mules, and barbarously killing the unarmed peas- 
 antry. This warfare — if warfare it can be 
 called, where the aggression and bloodshed are on 
 one side only, and passive endurance on the other 
 — has existed from immemorial time ; and the won- 
 der is that the country has not long since been 
 abandoned by the persecuted inhabitants, who at 
 all seasons are subject to their attacks. 
 
 * The city was founded in 1559, by Velasco el Primero, 
 Viceroy of New Spain, previous to which it was a presidio, 
 or fortified post, to protect the frontier from the incursions 
 of the Indians (Chichimees). 
 
 188 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 189 
 
 The Apaches, whose country borders upon the 
 department of Durango, are untiring and inces- 
 sant in their hostility against the whites ; and, be- 
 ing near neighbors, are enabled to act with great 
 rapidity against the haciendas and ranchos on 
 the frontier. They are a treacherous and cow- 
 ardly race of Indians, and seldom attack even 
 the Mexican save by treachery and ambuscade. 
 When they have carried off a number of horses 
 and mules sufficient for their present wants, 
 they send a deputation to the governors of Dur- 
 ango and Chihuahua to express their anxiety for 
 peace. This is invariably granted them, and then 
 en paz they resort to the frontier villages, and 
 even the capital of the department, for the pur- 
 pose of trade and amusement. The animals they 
 have stolen in Durango and Chihuahua they find a 
 ready market for in New Mexico and Sonora ; and 
 this traffic is most unblushingly carried on, and 
 countenanced by the authorities of the respective 
 states. 
 
 But the most formidable enemy, and most feared 
 and dreaded by the inhabitants of Durango and 
 Chihuahua, are the warlike Comanches, who, from 
 their distant prairie country beyond the Del Norte 
 and Rio Pecos, at certain seasons of the year, and 
 annually, undertake regularly organised expedi- 
 tions into these states, and frequently far into the 
 
190 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 interior (as last year to the vicinity of Sombre- 
 rete), for the purpose of procuring animals and 
 slaves, carrying oiF the young boys and girls, and 
 massacring the adults in the most wholesale and 
 barbarous manner. 
 
 So regular are these expeditions, that in the 
 Comanche calendar the month of September is 
 known as the Mexico moon, as the other months 
 are designated the buffalo moon, the young bear 
 moon, the corn moon, &c. They generally invade 
 the country in three different divisions, of from 
 two to five hundred warriors in each. One, the 
 most southern, passes the Rio Grande between the 
 old presidios of San Juan and the mouth of the 
 Pecos, and harries the fertile plains and wealthy 
 haciendas of El Valle de San Bartolomo, the Rio 
 Florido, San Jose del Parral, and the Rio Nasas. 
 Every year their incursions extend farther into 
 the interior, as the frontier haciendas become de- 
 populated by their ravages, and the villages de- 
 serted and laid waste. For days together, in the 
 Bolson de Mapimi, I traversed a country com- 
 pletely deserted on this account, passing through 
 ruined villages untrodden for years by the foot of 
 man. 
 
 The central division enters between the Presidio 
 del Norte and Monclova, where they j oin the party 
 coming in from the north, and, passing the moun- 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 191 
 
 tains of Mapimi and traversing a desert country 
 destitute of water, where they suffer the greatest 
 privations, ravage the valleys of Mapimi, Guajo- 
 quilla, and Chihuahua, and even the haciendas at 
 the foot of the Sierra Madre. It appears incredi- 
 ble that no steps are taken to protect the country 
 from this invasion, which does not take the in- 
 habitants on a sudden or unawares, but at certain 
 and regular seasons and from known points. 
 Troops are certainly employed nominally to check 
 the Indians, but very rarely attack them, although 
 the Comanches give every opportunity ; and, thor- 
 oughly despising them, meet them on the open 
 field, and with equal numbers almost invariably 
 defeat the regular troops. The people themselves 
 are unable to offer any resistance, however well 
 inclined they may be to do so, as it has always 
 been the policy of the government to keep them un- 
 armed; and, being unacquainted with the use of 
 weapons, when placed in their hands, they have no 
 confidence, and offer but a feeble resistance. So 
 perfectly aware of this fact are the Comanches, 
 that they never hesitate to attack superior num- 
 bers. When in small parties the Mexicans never 
 resist, even if armed, but fall upon their knees and 
 cry for mercy. Sometimes, however, goaded by 
 the murder of their families and friends, the 
 rancheros collect together, and, armed with bows 
 
192 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 and arrows and slings and stones, go out to meet 
 the Indians (as occurred when I was passing), 
 and are slaughtered like sheep. 
 
 In the fall of last year, 1845, and at the present 
 moment, 1846, the Indians have been more 
 audacious than ever was known in previous years. 
 It may be, that in the present instance they are 
 rendered more daring by the knowledge of the war 
 between the United States and Mexico, and the 
 supposition that the troops would consequently be 
 withdrawn from the scene of their operations. 
 They are now (September) overrunning the whole 
 department of Durango and Chihuahua, have cut 
 off all communication, and defeated in two pitched 
 battles the regular troops sent against them. Up- 
 wards of ten thousand head of horses and mules 
 have already been carried off, and scarcely has a 
 hacienda or rancho on the frontier been unvisited, 
 and everywhere the people have been killed or cap- 
 tured. The roads are impassable, all traffic is 
 stopped, the ranches barricaded, and the inhabit- 
 ants afraid to venture out of their doors. The 
 posts and expresses travel at night, avoiding the 
 roads, and intelligence is brought in daily of 
 massacres and harryings. 
 
 My servants refused to proceed farther; nor 
 would money induce a Durangueno to risk his 
 scalp. Every one predicted certain destruction if 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 193 
 
 I ventured to cross the plains to Chihuahua, as 
 the road lay in the very midst of the scenes of the 
 Indian ravages. My hostess, with tears in her 
 eyes, implored me not to attempt the j ourney ; but 
 my mind was made up to proceed, and alone, if I 
 could not induce a mozo to accompany me. I 
 had resolved to reach New Mexico by a certain 
 time, and in travelling through a dangerous coun- 
 try laid it down as a principle not to be deterred 
 by risks, but to " go ahead," and trust to fortune 
 and a sharp look-out. 
 
 I had made preparations for my departure, and 
 had given up any hope of procuring a mozo, when, 
 at the eleventh hour, one presented himself, in the 
 person of one of the most rascally-looking natives 
 that ever stuck knife into his master. Asking him 
 what induced him to run the risk of accompanying 
 me, he answered that, being " muy pobre " [very 
 poor] and unable to procure a living (the road was 
 shut to him), and hearing that " su merced " — my 
 worship — had offered high wages, he had deter- 
 mined to volunteer ; being, moreover, as he assured 
 me, " muy valient e y aficionado a mane jar las 
 armas — very valiant and accustomed to the use 
 of arms." The end of it was that I engaged him, 
 although the man bore a notoriously bad charac- 
 ter, and was more than suspected of being a ladron 
 of the worst description. But it was Hobson's 
 
194 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 choice at the time, and I did not hesitate to take 
 him, trusting to myself to take care that he did 
 not play me false. I was, however, a little shaken 
 when the same evening a man accosted me as I was 
 walking in the streets with an English, gentleman, 
 a resident in Durango, and informed me that my 
 new mozo was at that moment in a pulque-shop, 
 where, after imbibing more than was good for him, 
 he had confided to a friend, and in the hearing of 
 the man who now gave the information, his inten- 
 tion to ease me of my goods and chattels and ani- 
 mals, premising that, as he had heard from my 
 late servants that I intrusted my mozo with arms 
 and generally rode in advance, it would be an easy 
 matter some fine morning to administer wn pistol- 
 etazo en la espalda — a pistol-ball in my back — 
 and make off with the property to Chihuahua or 
 Sonora, where he would have no difficulty in dis- 
 posing of the plunder. However, I paid no atten- 
 tion to this story, thinking that, if true, it was 
 merely a drunken boast. 
 
 As Durango may be called the limit of Mexico 
 proper and its soi-disant civilization, it may not 
 be out of place to take a hasty glance at the gen- 
 eral features of the country, the social and moral 
 condition of the people, and the impressions con- 
 veyed to my mind in my journey through it. 
 
 There are many causes, physical and moral, 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 195 
 
 which prevent Mexico from progressing in pros- 
 perity and civilization. Although possessing a 
 vast territory, which embraces all the varieties of 
 climate of the temperate and torrid zones, with a 
 rich and prolific soil capable of yielding every 
 natural production of the known world, yet these 
 natural advantages are counter-balanced by ob- 
 stacles, which prevent their being as profitable to 
 the inhabitants as might naturally be expected, 
 and in a great measure render them negative and 
 of no avail. 
 
 A glance at the physical geography of Mexico 
 will show that the extensive and fertile table-lands 
 of the central region are isolated, and, as it were, 
 cut off from communication with the coast, by 
 their position on the ridge of the Cordilleras, and 
 the insurmountable obstacles to a practicable traf- 
 fic presented by the escarpments of the terraces, 
 the steps, as it were, from the elevated table-lands 
 to the maritime districts, and the tropical regions 
 of the interior. The country is also destitute of 
 navigable rivers, and possesses but two of even 
 moderate size — the Rio Grande del Norte, which 
 runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rio Grande, 
 or Colorado of the West, which falls into the Pacific 
 Ocean. Its eastern coast is swept at certain sea- 
 sons by fearful tempests, and presents not one 
 sheltering harbor or secure roadstead. The trop- 
 
196 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ical region, subject to fatal malaria, is almost ex- 
 cluded to the settlement of the white population, 
 and consequently its natural riches are almost en- 
 tirely neglected and unappropriated. Moreover, 
 when we look at the component parts of the pop- 
 ulation of this vast country, we are at no loss to 
 account for the existing evils — the total absence 
 of government, and the universal demoralization 
 and want of energy, moral and physical, which is 
 ever3rwhere apparent. 
 
 The entire population is about eight millions, 
 of which three-fifths are Indians, or of Indian 
 origin, and Indios Bravos, or barbarous tribes; 
 the remainder of Spanish descent. This popula- 
 tion is scattered over an area of 1,31^,850 square 
 miles, in departments widely separated, and having 
 various and distinct interests, the intercommunica- 
 tion insecure, and a large proportion in remote 
 regions, beyond the care or thought of an impo- 
 tent government. 
 
 The vast table-land which stretches along the 
 ridge of the Cordillera of Anahuac, although pos- 
 sessing tracts of great fertility, is not, in itself, 
 the rich and productive region it is generally rep- 
 resented to be. The want of fuel and water must 
 always prevent its being otherwise than thinly in- 
 habited, and these great drawbacks to the popula- 
 tion and cultivation of these districts would ap- 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 197 
 
 pear to be insurmountable. I believe the capabili- 
 ties of the whole country to be much overrated, al- 
 though its mineral wealth alone must always render 
 it of great importance ; but it is a question whether 
 the possession of mineral wealth conduces to the 
 wellbeing of a country. The working of mines of 
 the precious metal in Mexico, however, has cer- 
 tainly caused many spots to be cultivated and in- 
 habited, which would otherwise have been left 
 sterile and unproductive, and has been the means 
 of giving employment to the Indians, and in some 
 degree has partially civilized them, where other- 
 wise they would have remained in their original 
 state of barbarism and ignorance. 
 
 The Mexicans, as a people, rank decidedly low 
 in the scale of humanity. They are deficient in 
 moral as well as physical organization : by the lat- 
 ter I do not mean to assert that they are wanting 
 in corporeal qualities, although certainly inferior 
 to most races in bodily strength ; but there is a de- 
 ficiency in that respect which is invariably found 
 attendant upon a low state of moral or intellectual 
 organization. They are treacherous, cunning, in- 
 dolent, and without energy, and cowardly by na- 
 ture. Inherent, instinctive cowardice is rarely met 
 with in any race of men, yet I affirm that in this 
 instance it certainly exists, and is most conspicu- 
 ous ; they possess at the same time that amount of 
 
198 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 brutish indiiference to death which can be turned 
 to good account in soldiers, and I believe, if prop- 
 erly led, that the Mexicans would on this account 
 behave tolerably well in the field, but not more 
 than tolerably. 
 
 It is a matter of little astonishment to me that 
 the country is in the state it is. It can never pro- 
 gress or become civilized until its present popula- 
 tion is supplanted by a more energetic one. The 
 present would-be republican form of government 
 is not adapted to such a population as exists in 
 Mexico, as is plainly evident in the effects of the 
 constantly recurring revolutions. Until a people 
 can appreciate the great principles of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty, the advantages of free institutions 
 are thrown away upon them. A long minority has 
 to be passed through before this can be effected; 
 and in this instance, before the requisite fitness can 
 be attained, the country will probably have passed 
 from the hands of its present owners to a more 
 able and energetic race. 
 
 On the subject of government I will not touch: 
 I maintain that the Mexicans are incapable of self- 
 government, and will always be so until regener- 
 ated. The separation from Spain has been the 
 ruin of the country, which, by the by, is quite 
 ready to revert to its former owners ; and the pre- 
 vailing feeling over the whole country inclines to 
 
THE UNCHANGING MEXICAN 199 
 
 the re-establishment of a monarchical system. 
 The miserable anarchy which has existed since its 
 separation, has sufficiently and bitterly proved to 
 the people the inadequacy of the present one ; and 
 the wonder is, that, with the large aristocratic 
 party which so greatly preponderates in Mexico 
 (the army and the church), this much-to-be-de- 
 sired event has not been brought about. 
 
 The cause of the two hundred and thirty -seven 
 revolutions which, since the declaration of its in- 
 dependence, have that number of times turned the 
 country upside down, has been individual ambi- 
 tion and lust of power. The intellectual power is 
 in the hands of a few, and by this minority all the 
 revolutions are effected. The army once gained 
 over (which, by the aid of bribes and the priest- 
 hood, is an easy matter), the wished-for consum- 
 mation is at once brought about. It thus happens 
 that, instead of a free republican form of govern- 
 ment, the country is ruled by a most perfect mili- 
 tary despotism. 
 
 The population is divided into but two classes 
 — ■ the high and the low : there is no intermediate 
 rank to connect the two extremes, and conse- 
 quently the hiatus between them is deep and 
 strongly marked. The relation subsisting be- 
 tween the peasantry and the wealthy haciendados, 
 or landowners, is a species of serfdom, little better 
 
200 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 than slavery itself. Money, In advance of wages, 
 is generally lent to the peon or laborer, who is by 
 law bound to serve the lender, if required, until 
 such time as the debt is repaid; and as care is 
 taken that this shall never happen, the debtor re- 
 mains a bondsman to the day of his death. 
 
 Law or justice hardly exists in name even, and 
 the ignorant peasantry, under the priestly thral- 
 dom which holds them in physical as well as moral 
 bondage, have neither the energy nor courage to 
 stand up for the amelioration of their condition, 
 or the enjoyment of that liberty, which it is the 
 theoretical boast of republican governments their 
 system so largely deals in, but which, in reality, is 
 a practical falsehood and delusion. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 
 
 ON the 10th I left Durango for Chihuahua 
 and New Mexico, taking with me the 
 mozo I have before mentioned as bear- 
 ing anything but a good character. The first 
 day's march led through a wild uncultivated coun- 
 try, with large plains of excellent pasture, but not 
 a symptom of cultivation. We stopped at night 
 at the hacienda of El Chorro, a little hamlet of 
 adobe huts surrounding the casa grande of the 
 plantation. As we arrived, the rancheros were 
 driving in an immense cavalcade or herd of horses 
 from the pastures, to be secured during the night 
 in the corrals and near the hacienda, por las nove- 
 dades que hay — on account of the novelties (». e. 
 Indians) which are abroad — as the proprietor 
 informed me. The vicinity of the hacienda 
 abounds in salitrose springs and deposits of muri- 
 ate of soda, to which the horses and mules were 
 constantly breaking away, and drinking the water, 
 and licking the earth with the greatest avidity. 
 Distance from Durango twenty-eight miles. 
 
 Ylth, — r To the rancho of Los Sauces — the 
 201 
 
202 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 willows. The plains to-day were covered with 
 cattle, and horses and mules. In the morning I 
 was riding slowly ahead of my ca^allada, passing 
 at the time through a lonely mesquite-grove, when 
 the sudden report of a fire-arm, and the whistling 
 of a bullet past my head at rather unpleasantly 
 close quarters, caused me to turn sharply round, 
 when I saw my amiable mozo with a pistol in his 
 hand, some fifteen yards behind me, looking very 
 guilty and foolish. To whip a pistol out of my 
 holsters and ride up to him was the work of an 
 instant ; and I was on the point of blowing out his 
 brains, when his terrified and absurdly guilty- 
 looking face turned my ire into an immoderate 
 fit of laughter. 
 
 " Amigo,'' I said to him, " do you call this being 
 skilled in the use of arms, to miss my head at fif- 
 teen yards ? " 
 
 " Ah cahallerol in the name of all the saints I 
 did not fire at you, but at a duck which was fly- 
 ing over the road. No lo cree sii merced — your 
 worship cannot believe I would do such a thing." 
 Now it so happened, that the pistols, which I had 
 given him to carry, were secured in a pair of 
 holsters tightly buckled and strapped round his 
 waist. It was a difficult matter to unbuckle them 
 at any time ; and as to his having had time to get 
 one out to fire at a duck flying over the road, it 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 203 
 
 was impossible, even if such an idea had occurred 
 to him. I was certain that the duck was a fable, 
 invented when he had missed me, and, in order to 
 save my ammunition, and my head from another 
 sportsmanlike display, I halted and took from 
 him everything in the shape of offensive weapon, 
 not excepting his knife ; and wound up a sermon, 
 which I deemed it necessary to give him, by ad- 
 ministering a couple of dozen, well laid on with the 
 buckle-end of my surcingle, at the same time giving 
 him to understand, that if, hereafter, I had reason 
 to suspect that he had even dreamed of another 
 attempt upon my life, I would pistol him without 
 a moment's hesitation. — Distance from El Chorro 
 thirty-six miles. 
 
 l^th. — To the rancho of Yerbaniz, through the 
 same uncultivated plains, surrounded by sierras, 
 and passing by a ridge from one into another, each 
 being as like the other as twins. For a thousand 
 miles the aspect of these plains never varied, and 
 the sketch of the plain of Los Sauces would an- 
 swer for the plain of El Paso, and every intermedi- 
 ate one between Durango and New Mexico. At 
 daybreak this morning I descried three figures, 
 evidently armed and mounted men, descending a 
 ridge and advancing towards me. As in this coun- 
 try to meet a living soul on the road is perhaps 
 to meet an enemy thirsting for your property or 
 
a04^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 your life, I stopped my animals, and, uncovering 
 my rifle, rode on to reconnoitre. The strangers 
 also halted on seeing me, and, again moving on 
 when they saw me alone, we advanced, cautiously 
 and prepared, towards each other. As they drew 
 near I at once saw by the heavy rifle which each 
 carried across his saddle-bow that they were from 
 New Mexico, and that one was a white man. He 
 proved to be a German named Spiers, who was on 
 his way to the fair of San Juan with a caravan 
 of nearly forty wagons loaded with merchandise 
 from the United States. He had left the frontier 
 of Missouri in May, crossing the grand prairies 
 to Santa Fe, and, learning that his American 
 teamsters would not be permitted to enter 
 Durango, he had ridden on in advance to obtain 
 permission for their admittance. His wagons had 
 been nearly six months on the road, travelling the 
 whole time, and were now a few miles behind them. 
 He gave a dismal account of the state of the coun- 
 try through which I was about to pass. The 
 Comanches were everywhere, and two days before 
 had killed two of his men ; and not a soul ventured 
 out of his house in that part of the country. He 
 likewise said it was impossible that I could reach 
 Chihuahua alone, and urged me strongly to re- 
 turn. The runaway Governor of New Mexico, 
 General Armijo, was travelling in company with 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 205 
 
 his caravan, on his way to Mexico, to give an ac- 
 count of his shameful cowardice in surrendering 
 Santa Fe to the Americans without a show of re- 
 sistance. 
 
 A little farther on I saw the long line of wagons, 
 like ships at sea, crossing a plain before me. 
 They were all drawn by teams of eight fine mules, 
 and under the charge and escort of some thirty 
 strapping young Missourians, each with a long 
 heavy rifle across his saddle. I stopped and had 
 a long chat with Armijo, who, a mountain of fat, 
 rolled out of his American Dearborn, and inquired 
 the price of cotton goods in Durango, he having 
 some seven wagon-loads with him, and also what 
 they said, in Mexico, of the doings in Santa Fe, 
 alluding to its capture by the Americans without 
 any resistance. I told him that there was but one 
 opinion respecting it expressed all over the coun- 
 try — that General Armi j o and the New Mexicans 
 were a pack of arrant cowards ; to which he an- 
 swered, " Adios ! They don't know that I had but 
 75 men to fight 3000. What could I do?"* 
 
 * The facts are that an American expedition, called the 
 " Army of the West," under Col. Stephen W. Kearney, was 
 sent, in April, 1846, to invade New Mexico, Chihuahua, and 
 California. The entire command numbered 1,558, with 16 
 pieces of artillery. On its approach to Santa Fe, the Mex- 
 ican commander. Gen. Manuel Armijo, incontinently fled. 
 {Ed.) 
 
£06 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Twenty-one of the teamsters belonging to this 
 caravan had left it a few days previously, with the 
 intention of returning to the United States by 
 the way of Texas. What became of them will be 
 presently narrated. 
 
 After leaving the caravan I saw a herd of 
 herendos (antelope) in the plain, but was unable 
 to get within shot, the ground being destitute of 
 cover, and the animals very wild. We were now 
 in the country of large game, deer and antelope 
 being abundant in the plains, and bears occasion- 
 ally met with in the sierras. 
 
 This night I encamped near a rancho, being re- 
 fused admittance into the building, and picketed 
 my animals around the camp. I had also a dis- 
 agreement with an arriero, whom I had hired at 
 Los Sauces, with his mule, to carry one of my 
 packs, one of the mules being lame. He had 
 agreed, for a certain sum, to travel with me two 
 jornadas or days' journeys. In Mexican travel- 
 ling there are two distinct jornadas - — one of 
 at a jo, or the usual distance performed by ar- 
 rieros; the other de cahallo, or journey performed 
 on horseback, or with light packs. To prevent all 
 misunderstanding, I had explicitly agreed with 
 him for two of my own jornadas, or days' travel, 
 of twelve leagues, or thirty-five miles, each day; 
 but when he heard that the Indians were so near at 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 207 
 
 hand, he wanted to give up his contract, and 
 claimed the full pay of two jornadas for the dis- 
 tance he had already come, which was thirty-six 
 miles, affirming that it was two regular days' jour- 
 neys of atajo. This I refused to pay him, offer- 
 ing the half of the stipulated sum, as he had per- 
 formed but one day's journey. Blustering and 
 threatening, off he went to the alcalde, for in all 
 ranchos the head man is chief magistrate, who 
 sent me a peremptory order to pay the demand 
 in full ; to which I sent back an answer more ener- 
 getic than polite, together with the sum I had 
 originally offered, saying at the same time that 
 if it was not accepted I would not pay a farthing. 
 Presently I saw the alcalde, attended by a posse, 
 sally from the gate of the rancho and approach 
 my camp, where I was very busily engaged in 
 cleaning my arms. No sooner was the worthy 
 near enough to observe my employment, than he 
 wheeled off suddenly and returned to the rancho, 
 and I saw no more of him or the arriero. 
 
 The ranchos and haciendas in Durango and 
 Chihuahua are all enclosed by a high wall, flanked 
 at the corners by circular bastions loopholed for 
 musketry. The entrance is by a large gate, which 
 is closed at night ; and on the azotea, or flat roof 
 of the building, a sentry is constantly posted day 
 and night. Round the corral are the dwellings 
 
g08 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of the peones; the casa grande, or proprietor's 
 house, being generally at one end, and occupying 
 one or more sides of the square. In this instance 
 I was refused admittance into the enclosure — for 
 what reason I do not know — and obliged to en- 
 camp about two hundred yards from it, having to 
 pay for two or three logs of wood, with which I 
 made a fire. The rancheria, however, bears a very 
 bad character, as I afterwards learned; and this 
 night I had as much to dread from them and my 
 rascally mozo as from the sudden attack of the 
 Indians. My blanket was a little arsenal, as I 
 had not only my own, but my servant's arms, to 
 take care of. That worthy begged hard for a 
 pistol or gun, saying that, if the Indians came, he 
 would be killed like a dog. I told him to go into 
 the rancho amongst his countrymen, which I be- 
 lieve he did, for I saw or heard nothing more of 
 him during the night. 
 
 ISth. — To La Noria Perdizenia, forty miles ; 
 the country getting more wild and desolate, and 
 entirely destitute of water. Not a sign of habita- 
 tion, or a human being on the road. We passed a 
 gap between two sierras, called El Passage — the 
 passage — which is wild and picturesque, the 
 plains covered with mesquite, and a species of 
 palm, called palma. We were approaching the 
 village of La Perdizenia a little before sunset, 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 209 
 
 through a broken country, with hills and bluffs 
 rising on each side of the road, when suddenly, 
 as I was riding in advance, I saw on one of these, 
 which was some 500 or 600 yards from the road, 
 a party of Indians, on horseback and on foot. I 
 instantly stopped, and without saying a word, or 
 pointing out the cause to the mozo, dismounted, 
 and, catching the wildest mule, immediately tied 
 her legs together with a riata, and covered the eyes 
 of all with their tapojos or blinders. I then 
 pointed with my finger to the hill, saying, " Mire, 
 los Indios — [see, the Indians]." 
 
 " Av^e Maria Purissima! estamos perdidos — 
 we are lost ! " — exclaimed the Mexican, and made 
 towards his horse, from which he had also dis- 
 mounted ; but this I prevented, telling him that he 
 had to fight, and not run. Half dead with fright, 
 he threw himself on his knees, beseeching all the 
 saints in the calendar to save him, and vowing 
 offerings of all kinds if his life were spared. By 
 this time the Indians, perceiving that there were 
 but two of us, commenced descending the hill, leav- 
 ing one or two of the party on the top as videttes. 
 Seeing a fight seemed inevitable, I stuck my clean- 
 ing-rod into the ground as a rest for my rifle; 
 and, placing my carbine and pistols at my side, 
 sat down to my work, intending to open upon 
 them with my rifle as soon as they came within 
 
210 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 reach. However, this they did not seem inclined 
 to do, but, striking their shields, and brandishing 
 their bows, shouted to me to give up my animals 
 and pass on. I kept my position for some time, 
 but, finding they were not inclined to attack me, 
 and not wishing to remain there when night was 
 coming on, I unloosed the mules, and sent them 
 forward with the mozo, remaining in rear myself 
 to cover their retreat. Once in his saddle, invok- 
 ing " todos los santosy" oif he galloped toward the 
 village, driving the mules pell-mell before him ; nor 
 did he stop until he was in the midst of the plaza, 
 narrating to shrieking women, and all the popula- 
 tion of the village, his miraculous escape. 
 
 The reason of the Indians not charging upon us 
 was that they saw a party of Mexicans on their 
 way to the village, from a mine in the sierra, who 
 were concealed from our view, and thought, no 
 doubt, that we might be able to defend ourselves* 
 until the noise of the firing would bring them to 
 our assistance. 
 
 When I arrived at La Noria I rode into the 
 square, and found the inhabitants in the greatest 
 alarm and dismay. They had been expecting the 
 Indians for some days, as they had already com- 
 mitted several atrocities in the neighboring 
 ranchos. The women were weeping and flying 
 about in every direction, hiding their children and 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 211 
 
 valuables, barricading the houses, and putting 
 what few arms they could collect in the hands of 
 the reluctant men. As I rode through the village 
 seeking a corral for my animals, a woman ran out 
 of a house and begged me to enter, offering her 
 stable, and corn, and straw for the beasts, and the 
 best her house afforded for myself. I gladly ac- 
 cepted her hospitality, and followed her into a neat 
 clean little house, with a corral full of fig-trees 
 and grape-vines, and a large yard with a pond of 
 water in the centre, and a stack of hoja at one 
 end, promising well for the comfort of the tired 
 animals. 
 
 " Ah ! " she exclaimed on my entering ; " gracios 
 a Dios, I have some one to protect the lone widow 
 and her fatherless children. If the savages come 
 now, I don't care, since we have good arms in the 
 house, and those qui sahen manejarlos — who 
 know how to use them." 
 
 After supper I visited the alcalde, and advised 
 him to take some measures to oppose the Indians 
 in case they attacked the place, as I had no doubt 
 that the party which I had seen was but the ad- 
 vanced guard of a large body. 
 
 " Ah, caballero" he answered, " que podemos 
 hacer? — what can we do.^^ We have no arms, 
 and our people have no courage to use them if we 
 had; but, thank God! the barbaros are ignorant 
 
gl2 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of this, and will not attack the town; for how do 
 they know but what we have escopetas in every 
 window? These savages are very ignorant." 
 
 The next morning I resumed my journey, much 
 to the surprise of the people of La Noria, who 
 looked upon us as lost; and, crossing the Nasas 
 beyond the hacienda of El Cone jo (the rabbit), 
 intended to go on some leagues farther, when I met 
 some wagons belonging to a Frenchman of Chi- 
 huahua, and, as he was brimful of novedades, I 
 returned and camped with them near the hacienda, 
 to hear the news. The Comanches, he said, were 
 in great force beyond the village of El Gallo, and 
 were killing and slaying in every direction. They 
 had, a few days before, attacked a company of 
 bullfighters under a Gachupin named Bernardo, 
 on their way to the fair of El Valle de San Barto- 
 lomo, killing seven of them and wounding all the 
 others. They had also had a fight with the troops 
 at the Bio Florido, killing seventeen and wounding 
 many more. 
 
 On the 16th I reached El Gallo (the cock), where 
 the Indians three days before had killed two men 
 belonging to Spiers' caravan, within a hundred 
 yards of the village. The road from El Conejo 
 for forty miles passes through a most dismal coun- 
 try, and was crossed several times by the Indian 
 trail. I had now to keep a sharp look-out, as 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 213 
 
 there was no doubt that they were in the neigh- 
 borhood, and presently I had ocular proof of their 
 recent presence. We were passing through a 
 chaparral of mesquite, where the road passes near 
 a point of rocks, on which were seated hundreds 
 of sopilotes. About a dozen of these birds flew 
 up from the side of the road, and, turning my 
 horse to the spot, I found they had been collected 
 on the dead body of a Mexican, partly stripped, 
 and the breast displaying several ghastly wounds. 
 The head had been scalped, and a broken arrow 
 still remained buried in the face, or rather what 
 remained of it, for the eyes and part of the brain 
 had been already picked out by the sopilotes, and 
 a great part of the body devoured. Life did not 
 appear to have been extinct many hours; prob- 
 ably he had been killed the night before, as the 
 birds had but that morning discovered the body. 
 We had no means of digging a grave, and there- 
 fore were obliged to leave it as we found it ; and as 
 soon as I had left the spot the sopilotes recom- 
 menced their revolting feast. 
 
 I stayed at El Gallo in the house of a farmer 
 who had lost three sons by the Indians within a 
 few years. Two of their widows, young and hand- 
 some, were in the house. He himself had been 
 severely wounded by the Indians on several occa- 
 sions. Their corn was now ready for cutting, 
 
214 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 but they were afraid to venture outside the village, 
 and procured enough for their daily consumption 
 by collecting together all the villagers and pro- 
 ceeding to the fields in a body to bring in a supply. 
 I remained here for two days, as one of my mules 
 was seriously lame, during which time my chief 
 occupation was sitting with the family, shelling 
 corn, and platicando (chatting). In the evening 
 a guitar was brought, and a fandango got up for 
 my especial amusement. Some of the dances of 
 the country people are not without grace, and with 
 tolerable pantomimic action; but the greatest 
 charms are the extempore songs which accompany 
 the music, and, being chanted to a low broken 
 measure, are at the same time novel and pleasing 
 to the ear. 
 
 In a rancho the time is occupied in the follow- 
 ing way. At daybreak the females of the family 
 rise and prepare the chocolate or atole, which is 
 eaten the first thing in the morning. Breakfast is 
 usually taken about nine o'clock, consisting of 
 meat prepared with chile Colorado, frijoles, and 
 tortillas: dinner and supper, at midday and sun- 
 set, are likewise substantial meals. The gourd or 
 pumpkin (calabaza) is much used in this part of 
 Mexico, and is an excellent and wholesome vege- 
 table. Between the meals the men employ them- 
 selves in the milpas, or attending to the animals; 
 
THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION 215 
 
 the women busy themselves about the house, mak- 
 ing clothes, &c. &c., as with us; but severe labor 
 is unknown to either men or women. 
 
 While here I assisted in the erection of two 
 wooden crosses on the spot where Spiers' men were 
 killed by the Comanches three days before. They 
 had remained behind the caravan to bring some 
 bread that was baking for the party, when just 
 outside the town they were set upon by the In- 
 dians and killed. 
 
 In Durango and the neighboring state of Chi- 
 huahua, the rancherias are supplied with such 
 simple goods as they require by small traders, 
 resident in the capitals of these states, who trade 
 from one village to another with two or three 
 wagons, which, when their goods are sold, they 
 freight with supplies for the cities or the mines. 
 These traders are all foreigners — French, Ger- 
 mans, English, and Americans; and their adven- 
 tures and hairbreadth escapes, while passing 
 through the country overrun by Indians, are often 
 most singular and exciting. Their arrivals in the 
 villages are always welcome, as then the muchachas 
 make their purchases of rebosos and gay enaguas, 
 and the " majos " [boasters] their sarapes and 
 sashes. 
 
 The night before my departure from El GaUo, 
 I was sitting in the corral platicando, while all the 
 
216 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 family were busy as usual corn-shelling, when a 
 loud voice was heard, a cracking of whips, and 
 cries of " wo-ha, wo-ha-a, wo-o-h-ha 1 " 
 
 " Estrangeros! " exclaimed one of the girls. 
 
 " Los Tejanos! " exclaimed another. 
 
 "Los carros" (the wagons), said Don Jose, 
 and I threw my sarape over my shoulder, and, 
 proceeding to the open space in the centre of the 
 village, dignified by the name of plaza, found four 
 wagons just arrived, and the teamsters unhitching 
 the mules. They proved to be the caravan of 
 one Davy Workman, an Englishman by birth, but 
 long resident in, and a citizen of, the United 
 States ; a tall, hard-featured man, and most deter- 
 mined in look, as he was known to be in character 
 — un homhre miiy bien conocido, as my patron in- 
 formed me. By this arrival more no'vedades were 
 brought, and los Indios! los Indios! were on every- 
 body's tongue. 
 
 Senor Angel, my mozo, here openly rebelled, and 
 refused to proceed farther ; but a promise of a few 
 extra dollars at length induced him to agree to 
 accompany me as far as Mapimi, sixty-five miles 
 from El Gallo, and situated on what is called the 
 frontier. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A THIRSTY LAND 
 
 FROM El Gallo to Mapimi a mule-track 
 leads the traveller through a most wild 
 and broken country, perfectly deserted; 
 rugged sierras rising from the mesquite-covered 
 plains, which are sterile and entirely destitute of 
 water. A little out of the direct route is the Ha- 
 cienda de la Cadena, a solitary plantation stand- 
 ing in a dismal plain, the scene of constantly re- 
 curring Indian attacks; for an arroyo or water- 
 course which runs through it, and in which that 
 necessary element is found at intervals in deep 
 holes, is resorted to by the Indians, when on their 
 way to the haciendas of the interior. 
 
 I had resolved to pass through this part of the 
 country, although far out of the beaten track, in 
 order to visit El Real de Mapimi, a little town, 
 near a sierra which is said to be very rich in ore ; 
 and also for the purpose of travelling through a 
 tract of country laid waste by the Comanches, and 
 but little known, and which is designated, par ex- 
 cellencey *' los desiertos de la frontera — the deserts 
 
 217 
 
£18 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 of the frontier ; " not so much from its sterility, 
 as on account of its having been abandoned by its 
 inhabitants, from the fear of the perpetual Indian 
 attacks, as it lay in their direct route to the in- 
 terior. 
 
 As sixty-five miles was rather a long j oumey for 
 one day, I resolved to start late, and proceed some 
 twenty or thirty miles and then encamp, although 
 it would be necessary to remain that night without 
 water. Leaving El Gallo about midday, I stopped 
 at some cattle-wells a short distance from the vil- 
 lage to water the animals the last thing, and fill 
 my own huages (a canteen made out of a gourd), 
 The mules and horses, however, which unfortu- 
 nately did not anticipate a scarcity at the end of 
 their day's journey, refused to drink, and we con- 
 tinued our journey under a hot and burning sun. 
 
 The ranchero's family here took leave of me 
 with tears, and prayers to all the saints for my 
 safe journey. The old grandmother, after bless- 
 ing me, told me that she had, by dint of I don't 
 know how many Ave Marias, interested the patron 
 saint of the family in my behalf, one San Ysidro 
 of Guadalaxara, who, she was assured, would take 
 me under his especial keeping. She likewise hung 
 round my neck a copper coin with a miraculous 
 hole in it, which would preserve me from the ar- 
 rows of the Comanches, and the still more dan- 
 
A THIRSTY LAND 219 
 
 gerous weapons of " el enimigo del mum,do [the 
 enemy of the world]," who, she said, was ever 
 " cazando " (hunting) after the souls of heretics. 
 
 The plains were still covered with mesquite, and 
 a species of palm which grows to the height of 
 five or six feet, a bunch of long narrow leaves 
 issuing from the top of the stem, which is fre- 
 quently as thick as a man's body. From a dis- 
 tance it is exactly like an Indian with a head-dress 
 of feathers, and Angel was continually calling my 
 attention to these vegetable savages. Between the 
 plains an elevated ridge presents itself, generally 
 a spur from the sierras which run parallel to them 
 on the eastern and western flanks, and this forma- 
 tion is everywhere the same. Where the ground 
 is covered with mesquite-thickets or chaparrals, a 
 high but coarse grass is found; but on the bluffs 
 is an excellent species, known in Mexico as 
 gramma, and on the prairies as a variety of the 
 buffalo-grass, on which cattle and horses thrive 
 and fatten equally as well as on grain. 
 
 As I was riding close to a bunch of mesquite the 
 whiz of a rattlesnake's tail caused my horse to 
 spring on one side and tremble with affright. I 
 dismounted, and, drawing the wiping-stick from 
 my rifle, approached the reptile to kill it. The 
 snake, as thick as my wrist, and about three feet 
 long, was curled up, with its flat vicious-looking 
 
220 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 head and neck erected, and its tail rattling vio- 
 lently. A blow on the head soon destroyed it, 
 but, as I was remounting, my rifle slipped out of 
 my hand, and crack went the stock. A thong of 
 buckskin however soon made it as secure as ever. 
 
 After travelling about twenty-five miles I 
 selected a camping-ground, and, unloading the 
 mules, made a kind of breastwork of the packs and 
 saddles, behind which to retreat in case of an In- 
 dian attack, which was more than probable, as we 
 had discovered plenty of recent signs in the plains. 
 It was about sunset when we had completed our 
 little fort, and, spreading a petate, or mat, the 
 animals were soon at their suppers of corn, which 
 I had brought for the purpose. They had all 
 their cabrestas or ropes round their necks, and 
 trailing on the ground, in order that they might 
 be easily caught and tied when they had finished 
 their corn; and, giving the mozo strict orders to 
 this effect, I rolled myself in my blanket and was 
 soon asleep, as I intended to be on the watch my- 
 self from midnight, to prevent surprise. 
 
 In about two or three hours I awoke, and, jump- 
 ing up, found Angel asleep, and that all the ani- 
 mals had disappeared. It was pitchy dark, and 
 not a trace of them could be distinguished. After 
 an hour's ineffectual search I returned to camp, 
 and waited until daybreak, when it would be light 
 
A THIRSTY LAND ^1 
 
 enough to track the animals. This there was no 
 difficulty in doing, and I at once found that, after 
 hunting for some time for water, they had taken 
 the track back to El Gallo, whither I had no doubt 
 they had returned for water. It was certainly a 
 great relief to me to find that they had not been 
 taken by the Indians, which at first I thought 
 was the case ; but their course was perfectly plain 
 where they had trodden down the high grass, wet 
 with dew, in their search for water. Not finding 
 it, they had returned at once, and in a direct 
 course, to our yesterday's trail, and made off to- 
 wards El Gallo, without stopping to eat, or even 
 pick the tempting gramma on their way. The 
 only fear now was, that a wandering party of 
 Indians should fall in with them on the road, when 
 they would not only seize the animals, but dis- 
 cover our present retreat by following their trail. 
 When I returned to camp I immediately de- 
 spatched Angel to El Gallo, ordering him to come 
 back instantly, without delaying a moment, when 
 he had found the beasts, remaining myself to take 
 charge of the camp and baggage. On examining 
 a pair of saddle-bags which my kind hostess at 
 El Gallo had filled with tortillas, quesos, etc., I 
 found that Mr. Angel had, either during the night, 
 or when I was hunting for the missing animals, 
 discussed all its contents, not leaving as much as 
 
no, ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 a crumb ; and as the fresh morning air had given 
 me a sharp appetite, I took my rifle and skmg 
 a double-barrel carbine on my back, placed a pair 
 of pistols in my belt, and, thus armed, started off 
 to the sierra to kill an antelope and broil a collop 
 for breakfast. 
 
 Whilst hunting I crossed the sierra, which was 
 rocky and very precipitous, and from the top 
 looked down into a neighboring plain, where I 
 fancied I could discern an arroyo with running 
 water. Half suffocated at the time with thirst, 
 I immediately descended, although the place was 
 six or seven miles out in the plain, and thought 
 of nothing but assuaging my thirst. I had nearly 
 completed the descent when a band of antelope 
 passed me, and stopped to feed in a little plateau 
 near which ran a canon or hollow, which would 
 enable me to approach them within shot. Do\\ti 
 the canon I accordingly crept, carefully concealing 
 myself in the long grass and bushes, and occa- 
 sionally raising my head to judge the distance. 
 In this manner I had approached, as I thought, to 
 within rifle-shot, and, creeping between two rocks 
 at the edge of the hollow, I raised my head to 
 reconnoitre, and met a sight which caused me to 
 drop it again behind the cover, like a turtle draw- 
 ing into its shell. 
 
 About two hundred yards from the canon, and 
 
A THIRSTY LAND 
 
 hardly twice that distance from the spot where I 
 lay concealed, were riding quietly along, in In- 
 dian file, eleven Comanches, painted and armed for 
 war. Each had a lance and bow and arrows, and 
 the chief, who was in advance, had a rifle, in a 
 gaily ornamented case of buckskin, hanging at his 
 side. They were naked to the waist, their buffalo 
 robes being thrown off their shoulders and lying 
 on their hips, and across the saddle, which was a 
 mere pad of buffalo-skin. They were making to- 
 wards the canon, which I imagined they would 
 cross by a deer-path near where I stood. 
 
 I certainly thought my time was come, but was 
 undecided whether to fire upon them as soon as 
 they were near enough, or trust to the chance of 
 their passing me undiscovered. Although the 
 odds were great, I certainly had the advantage, 
 being in an excellent position, and having six shots 
 in readiness, even if they charged, when they could 
 only attack me one at a time. I took in at once 
 the advantages of my position, and determined, if 
 they showed an intention of crossing the canon by 
 the deer-path, to attack them, but not otherwise. 
 
 As they approached, laughing and talking, I 
 raised my rifle, and, resting it in the fork of a 
 bush which completely hid me, I covered the chief, 
 his brawny breast actually shining (oily as it was) 
 at the end of my sight. His life, and probably 
 
2^4 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 mine, hung on a thread. Once he turned his horse, 
 when he arrived at the deer-track which crossed 
 the canon, and, thinking that they were about to 
 approach by that path, my finger even pressed the 
 trigger; but an Indian behind him said a few 
 words, and pointed along the plain, when he re- 
 sumed his former course and passed on. I cer- 
 tainly breathed more freely, although (such is hu- 
 man nature) no sooner had they turned off than 
 I regretted not having fired. If not unnecessary, 
 it would not have been a rash act, for in my posi- 
 tion, and armed as I was, I was more than a match 
 for the whole party. 
 
 However, antelope and water went unscathed, 
 and as soon as the Indians were out of sight I 
 again crossed the sierra, and reached the camp 
 about two hours before sunset, where, to my dis- 
 appointment, the animals had not yet arrived, and 
 no signs of their approach were visible on the 
 plain. I determined, if they did not make their 
 appearance by sundown, to return at once to El 
 Gallo, as I suspected my mozo might commit some 
 foul play, and perhaps abscond with the horses 
 and mules. 
 
 Sun went down, but no Angel ; and darkness set 
 in and found me, almost dead with thirst, on my 
 way to El Gallo. It was with no little difficulty 
 I could make my way, now stumbling over rocks, 
 
A THIRSTY LAND 
 
 and now impaling myself on the sharp prickles of 
 the palma or nopalo. Several times I was in the 
 act of attacking one of the former, so ridiculously 
 like feathered Indians did they appear in the dim 
 starlight. However, all was hushed and dark — 
 not even a skulking Comanche would risk his neck 
 on such a night : now and then an owl would hoot 
 overhead, and the mournful and long-continued 
 howl of the coyote swept across the plain, or a 
 snake rattled as it heard my approaching foot- 
 step. When the clouds swept away, and allowed 
 the stars to emit their feeble light, the palms 
 waved in the night air, and raised their nodding 
 heads against the sky, the cry of the coyote be- 
 came louder, as it was now enabled to pursue its 
 prey, cocuyas flitted amongst the grass like winged 
 sparks of fire, and deer or antelope bounded across 
 my path. 
 
 The trail indeed was in many parts invisible, 
 and I had to trust to points of rocks and ridges, 
 and trees which I remembered to have passed the 
 day before, to point out my course. Once, choked 
 with thirst, and utterly exhausted — for I had 
 been travelling since sunrise without food or 
 water — I sank down on the damp ground and 
 slept for a couple of hours, and when I awoke the 
 stars were obscured by heavy clouds, and the dark- 
 ness prevented me distinguishing an object even a 
 
226 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 few feet distant. I had lost my bearings, and was 
 completely confused, not knowing which course to 
 follow. Trusting to instinct, I took what I con- 
 sidered the proper direction, and shortly after, 
 when it again became light enough to see, I re- 
 gained the path and pushed rapidly on. At 
 length the welcome lowing of cattle satisfied me 
 that I was near the wells where I had stopped the 
 previous day. I soon arrived at the spot, and, 
 lowering the goatskin bucket, buried my head in 
 the cold water, and drank a delicious draught. 
 
 At about three in the morning, just as the first 
 dawn was appearing, I knocked at the door of the 
 rancho, and the first voice I heard was that of 
 my mozo, asking; lazily, " Quien llama? — who 
 calls?" 
 
 Every one was soon up, and congratulating me 
 upon being still alive; for when Angel had told 
 them of the loss of the animals, and that I was 
 remaining alone, they gave me up for lost, as the 
 spot where we had encamped was a notorious stop- 
 ping-place of the Indians when en route for the 
 haciendas. I was so fortunate as to find all the 
 animals safe; they were quietly feeding near the 
 cattle-wells when the mozo arrived there. He 
 made some lame excuse for not returning, but I 
 have no doubt his intention had been to make off 
 with them, which, if I had not suspected something 
 
A THIRSTY LAND 22T 
 
 of the sort, and followed him, he would probably 
 have effected. 
 
 At daylight I mounted a mule bare-backed, and 
 Angel another; and, leading the remainder, we 
 rode back to the camp, whence we immediately 
 started for Mapimi. 
 
 As a punishment for his carelessness and medi- 
 tated treachery, I obliged the mozo to ride bare- 
 backed the whole distance of nearly sixty miles, 
 and at a round trot. This feat of equitation, 
 which on the straight and razor-like back of an ill- 
 conditioned mule is anything but an easy or com- 
 fortable process, elicited from Angel, during his 
 ride, a series of the most pathetic laments on his 
 miserable fate in serving so merciless a master, ac- 
 companied by supplications to be allowed to 
 mount the horse which carried his saddle and ran 
 loose. But I was obdurate. He was the un- 
 doubted cause, by not having watched the animals, 
 as was his duty, of the delay and loss of time I 
 had suffered, and therefore, as a warning, and as 
 a matter of justice, I administered this salutary 
 dose of " Lynch law," which I have no doubt he 
 remembers to the present moment. 
 
 About midday we reached the Hacienda de la 
 Cadena, first passing a vidette stationed on a 
 neighboring hill, on the lookout for the Indians. 
 The hacienda itself was closed, and men were 
 
228 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ready on the azoteas [flat roofs] with guns and 
 bows and arrows, when the approach of strangers 
 was announced by signal from the rancher o on the 
 hill. Just outside the gates were erected several 
 crosses, with their little piles of stones, on which 
 were roughly-cut inscriptions ; they were all to 
 the memory of those who had been killed on the 
 spot by Indians. 
 
 We stayed at La Cadena merely to water our 
 beasts, the people shouting from the housetop, 
 and asking if we were mad, to travel alone. 
 Angel, to whom I had again intrusted a carbine, 
 answered by striking his hand on the butt of his 
 piece, and vociferating, " Mir en ustedes: somos 
 'valientes, que import an los carajos Comanches. 
 Que vengan, y yo los matare. — Look here : we are 
 brave men, and don't care a straw for the rascally 
 Comanches. Only let them come, and I will kill 
 them myself." And the muchachas waved their 
 rebosos, and saluted the valiente, shouting, 
 ^' Adios, huen mozo! mate a los harharos! — God 
 keep you, brave lad ! kill the savages." At w^hich 
 Angel waved his gun, in a state of great excite- 
 ment and present valor, which cooled amazingly 
 when we were out of sight of the hacienda and 
 amongst the dreary chaparrals. 
 
 It was ten at night when we reached Mapimi ; 
 and, losing the track, we got bewildered in the 
 
A THIRSTY LAND ^29 
 
 darkness, and wandered into a marsh outside the 
 town, the lights of which were apparently quite 
 close at hand: but all our shouting and cries for 
 assistance and a guide were in vain, and caused 
 the inhabitants to barricade their doors, as they 
 thought the Indians were upon them; which panic 
 was probably increased, when at last, guessing at 
 the cause, and almost losing my temper, I gave a 
 succession of most correct war-whoops as I floun- 
 dered through the mud, and fired a volley at the 
 same moment. When, therefore, I at length ex- 
 tricated myself and entered the town, not a living 
 soul was visible, and the lights all extinguished; 
 so, groping my way to the plaza, at one side of 
 which trickled a little stream, I unpacked my mules 
 and encamped, sending the mozo with a costal 
 [sack] for a supply of corn for the animals, with 
 which he presently returned, reporting at the same 
 time that the people were half dead with terror. 
 The mules and horses properly cared for, I rolled 
 myself in my blanket in the middle of the street, 
 and went supperless to sleep, after a ride of sixty- 
 five miles. 
 
 El Ileal de Mapimi is situated on a plain at the 
 foot of a mountain called, from its supposed re- 
 semblance to a purse, the Bolson de Mapimi. The 
 sierras, which surround the plain, teem with the 
 precious metals; but for some reason, probably 
 
230 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 from its situation near the frontier, and its ex- 
 posure to Indian attacks, they have never been 
 properly worked. The mine near the town, and 
 the hacienda de beneficios, belong to an inhabitant 
 of Mapimi, who, without capital or machinery, 
 derives a considerable income even from the primi- 
 tive method employed in working the mine, which 
 produces gold, silver, lead, and sulphur from the 
 same sierra. My impression is, that the mines of 
 Mapimi, if properly worked, would be the most 
 productive in the country ; and the transportation 
 of machinery, by way of the Rio Grande and Mon- 
 clova, would be practicable, and attended with 
 comparatively little expense. 
 
 The town itself is merely a collection of adobe 
 houses, and, with the exception of a cotton-fac- 
 tory,* the superintendent of which is an English- 
 man, possesses no trade of any description. The 
 population, of between two and three thousand, 
 live in constant dread of the Indians, who lately 
 entered the town and carried off the mulada be- 
 longing to the hacienda de heneficios out of the 
 very corrals. The surrounding country is sterile 
 and uninhabited; the villages and ranchos have 
 
 * In the gardens of the factory at Mapimi I noticed sev- 
 eral tea-plants, which thrive in this climate and soil, and 
 the leaves of which, I was informed, are of very tolerable 
 flavor. 
 
A THIRSTY LAND 231 
 
 been deserted, and the fields laid waste by the sav- 
 ages. Between Mapimi and Chihuahua is a large 
 unpeopled tract of country called the travesia: 
 it once possessed several thriving villages and 
 ranchos, now deserted and in ruins, where the 
 Indians resort during their incursions, and leave 
 their tired animals to be recruited in the pastures 
 which have sprung up on the once cultivated fields, 
 removing them on their return. A road from 
 Mapimi, now disused for years and overgrown 
 with grass, leads to Chihuahua through these de- 
 serted villages, and I determined to follow it, in 
 spite of the bad character assigned to it by the 
 Mexicans on account of its being so much fre- 
 quented by the Comanches. 
 
 Here I gave my mozo. Angel, his conge, and 
 picked up, much to my astonishment, a little Irish- 
 man, who had been eighteen years in Mexico, dur- 
 ing which time he had passed over nearly the whole 
 republic, excepting New Mexico. He had lost 
 all traces of his Milesian descent, being in char- 
 acter, manners, and appearance a perfect Mexican, 
 and had almost forgotten his own language. In- 
 dians moreover had no terrors for him, and he at 
 once agreed to accompany me to Chihuahua, even 
 by way of the travesia, " for," said he, " the In- 
 dian isn't born who will take my scalp." 
 
 During my stay in Mapimi I encamped in the 
 
232 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 middle of the plaza, much to the gratification of 
 the pelados * of the town, who constantly sur- 
 rounded me, pilfering everything which lay ex- 
 posed. My reason for preferring the open air, 
 even of a street, was the absence of vermin, which 
 in the houses actually devour the full-blooded 
 Europeo. The evening before our departure a 
 deputation waited upon me to dissuade me from 
 attempting to cross to Chihuahua. The alcalde 
 even went as far as to say that my new mozo, who 
 was a Mexican citizen, should not be allowed to 
 leave the town ; but this I at once overcame by ex- 
 hibiting my formidable-looking passports and car- 
 tas de securidad, or letters of security. They 
 asked how I could expect to escape the Indians.'' 
 I pointed to my rifle. " Valgame en Dios! " was 
 the rejoinder; " que loco es este Yngles! — What 
 a madman this Englishman is ! " 
 
 One event occurred in Mapimi which annoyed 
 me excessively. The night of my arrival, my ani- 
 mals, I fear, were rather scantily supplied with 
 corn; and, to revenge the slight, the mules ate 
 the tail of my beautiful Panchito to the very dock 
 — a tail which I had tied, and combed, and tended 
 with the greatest care and affection. In the 
 
 * Pelade, literally skinless, meaning, in Mexico, the 
 ragged, coatless vagabonds who loaf about the towns and 
 villages. 
 
A THIRSTY LAND ^33 
 
 morning I hardly recognised the animal; his once 
 ornamental appendage looked as if it had been 
 gnawed by rats, and his whole appearance was dis- 
 figured. I got a pair of shears, and clipped and 
 cut, but only made matters worse, and was fain 
 to desist after an hour's attempt. The tails of 
 the mules were at the end of my journey picked 
 like a bone, for, whenever their supper was poor, 
 they immediately fell to work on each other's tails. 
 
 A perfect levee was held round my camp, which, 
 being in the open square, of course was exposed 
 enough. In this obtrusion, and the pertinacity 
 with which they maintain it, the Mexicans are in- 
 finitely more annoying than the Indians them- 
 selves. Wrapped in their sarapes, they used to 
 surround my fire, even when I was eating my 
 meals, staring at my every action, and without 
 saying a word. A pelado would remain thus mo- 
 tionless for two or three hours, when he would 
 retire for the purpose of eating his dinner, re- 
 turning after it, and taking up the same position. 
 No hints were strong enough, and no rebuffs had 
 any effect in abating the nuisance : but, frequently 
 losing all temper and patience, I rattled out at 
 them in pretty hearty abuse. Then they would 
 move off, muttering, " Que sin verguenza! — What 
 a shameless, unmannered fellow is this ! " 
 
 When eating, I found that the most efficacious 
 
234 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 way of getting rid of them was by making use of 
 the " invitation " which Spaniards invariably prof- 
 fer to strangers of any class before commencing 
 a meal: " Ustedes gustan? " [have you eaten?] I 
 would ask; and, strangely enough, nothing seemed 
 to insult them more than this. Without the usual 
 answer of " Mil gracias; huen provecho tenga 
 usted — a thousand thanks ; may your worship 
 have a good appetite," they invariably slunk 
 away. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE LOST AMERICANS 
 
 ON the 23rd I left Mapimi, the whole popu- 
 lation, I do believe, turning out to see 
 me put my head in the lion's mouth. 
 For thirty-six miles we travelled through an arid 
 chaparral; when, towards sunset, we entered into 
 a more open plain, where we saw the ruined houses 
 of Jarral Grande. The houses had been built 
 round a large open space covered with grass, each 
 one standing in a garden. At the entrance of the 
 village, and scattered along the road, was a perfect 
 forest of crosses, many of them thrown down or 
 mutilated by the Indians. The houses were most 
 of them tumbling to pieces, but some were still 
 entire. The gardens, overrun with a wilderness 
 of weeds, still contained flowers, and melon-vines 
 crept from the enclosures out into the green. In 
 one house that I entered a hare was sitting on the 
 threshold, and some leverets were inside; and on 
 the flat azotea of another sat a large cat. The 
 walls, too, of the ruined houses were covered with 
 creepers, which hung from the broken roofs and 
 
 about the floors. 
 
 235 
 
236 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 I entered another house, which, from its size 
 and appearance, had evidently been the abode of 
 the priest or chief personage of the village. The 
 remains of a recent fire were scattered about the 
 floor, on which were strewed several Indian xuages 
 or drinking-gourds, an arrow, and a human scalp. 
 The Indians had very lately visited the village, 
 and some of them had doubtless taken up their 
 abode in this house, and perhaps, departing before 
 daylight, had left these articles behind them. 
 
 There were several cats about the ruins ; and, 
 as I entered, four or five enormous ones jumped 
 oif a wall where they lay basking in the sun, and 
 concealed themselves in the tangled weeds. 
 
 The sun set beauteously on this lonely scene. 
 In the distance, the ragged outline of the sierra 
 was golden with its declining rays, which shed a 
 soft light on the ruins of the village; and every- 
 thing looked so calm and beautiful, that it was 
 difficult to call to mind that this was once the scene 
 of horrid barbarities. 
 
 We took the animals down to the arroyo near 
 the village, and, rifle in hand, watched them as 
 they drank. In the sand at the edge of the stream 
 were numerous marks of horses' feet and mocca- 
 sin tracks fresh and recent. The Indians had 
 been there that morning, and might very probably 
 return, so it behooved us to be on the watch. We 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS 237 
 
 therefore picketed the mules and horses in the 
 open space in the middle of the village, while we 
 ourselves retreated to the shelter and shadow of a 
 house within pistol-shot, whence we could com- 
 mand all the approaches to the green without be- 
 ing ourselves seen; one standing sentry while the 
 other slept. In the night a number of perfectly 
 wild cattle entered the village, and nearly caused 
 our animals to stampede. One fat young heifer 
 approached to within a few feet of where I was 
 lying watching under a wall, and very nearly 
 tempted me to a shot. Little rest we had that 
 night; and long before daylight, that being the 
 hour when Indians make their attacks, we were up 
 and on the alert. 
 
 We were in our saddles before sunrise, and with 
 great difficulty made our way in the dark through 
 the thick chaparral. On approaching a stream 
 called Arroyo de los Indios, or Indian River, I had 
 been warned to be on the look-out as that stream 
 was a favorite stopping-place of the Indians. We 
 crossed near where a broad and freshly-used In- 
 dian trail entered it, and halted some distance up 
 the stream from the ford. There were deep holes 
 of the clearest and coldest water in the arroyo, 
 and I enjoyed a most delicious bath. My animals 
 were picketed, and fared badly, the grass being 
 coarse and sparsely scattered amongst the bushes. 
 
SS8 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 We had another night of watchfulness, or rather 
 half a night, for shortly after midnight we again 
 packed the mules and started. This I did on 
 account of the greater security of travelling at 
 night, and in order to reach Jarral Chiquito, if 
 possible, before sunrise, when, if Indians had been 
 encamped there, as was more than probable, we 
 might escape before we were observed. The dis- 
 tance from Jarral Grande to Arroyo de los Indios 
 was forty miles, and from that river to Jarral 
 Chiquito, or Little Jarral, the same. The latter 
 place was also a noted stopping-place of the In- 
 dians, and my servant had made up his mind that 
 there we should have some work. To do him jus- 
 tice, however, he was nothing loth, and behaved re- 
 markably well all through this dangerous journey. 
 The sun rose magnificently behind us just before 
 we reached Jarral; and, turning in my saddle, I 
 saw Harry looking hard at it with shaded eyes. 
 
 " What's the matter? " I sang out. 
 
 " Look, sir — look at the sun rise," he an- 
 swered : " perhaps we may never have another 
 chance, Don Jorge. I never saw it look so beau- 
 tiful before." 
 
 The plains here abounded in deer, and a bird 
 of the pheasant species called " faisan," and cor- 
 rupted into " paisano " by the lower classes. 
 
 We reached Jarral Chiquito shortly after sun- 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS S39 
 
 rise, and I rode on to reconnoitre. No Indians 
 were there, but plenty of " sign." The village 
 was situated on a hill, near a small spring of sali- 
 tose water, round which grows a clump of cotton- 
 wood, a species of poplar (alamo). The village 
 had been entirely burned by the Indians, with the 
 exception of one house which was still standing, 
 the roof of which they had torn off, and from the 
 upper walls had shot down with arrows all the in- 
 mates. Inside were the skeleton of a dog and sev- 
 eral human bones. A dreary stillness reigned over 
 the whole place, unbroken by any sound, save the 
 croaking of a bullfrog in the spring, round which 
 we encamped for a few hours. At noon we again 
 started, and travelled on till nearly dark, when we 
 encamped in the middle of a bare plain, without 
 water for the animals, or wood with which to make 
 a fire. The grass, also, was thin, and the poor 
 beasts fared badly, after a journey of more than 
 sixty miles within twenty-four hours. In the 
 night I saw a fire some distance from us, but ap- 
 parently on the same plain. It was doubtless an 
 encampment of a large party of Indians who 
 passed Guajoquilla the very day of my arrival 
 there. 
 
 On the 26th at daybreak we were packed and 
 off, and, after a journey of forty miles, to our 
 great satisfaction we struck the settlements of 
 
240 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Guajoquilla. Before entering the town we crossed 
 a large milpa, where the people were busy cutting 
 and carrying the maize. My sudden appearance 
 put them to flight, and men, women, and children 
 rushed like rabbits to the cover of the maize-canes. 
 They mistook me for an Indian, as I was dressed 
 in a hunting-shirt and fringed leggings ; and as the 
 Comanches had passed that very morning, killing 
 some of the laborers in the field, they were justified 
 in their alarm. 
 
 Guajoquilla * is a pretty, quaint little town, 
 with its white-washed adobe houses, and looking 
 clean and neat. The arrival of strangers, and in 
 such an extraordinary garb, and moreover evi- 
 dently from the travesia and Mapimi, created no 
 little sensation. The people flocked round me, in- 
 quiring the novedades, and how I had escaped the 
 Indians. Hundreds of houses were placed at my 
 disposal, but, as few of them contained stables 
 or corrals, I rode into a street near the plaza, and, 
 seeing a respectable old dame sitting at a large 
 gate which led to a corral, I invited myself to take 
 up my abode with her, which, with a thousand pro- 
 testations, she instantly agreed to. 
 
 I had hardly dismounted when a tall gaunt fig- 
 ure elbowed its way through the admiring crowd, 
 
 * Cotton is cultivated here, and tlirives exceedingly well, 
 as also in the valley of the Nazas. 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS ^41 
 
 and, seizing my hand, exclaimed, " Thank God, 
 here's a countryman at last ! " and burst into 
 tears. Regarding him with astonishment, I per- 
 ceived at once that he was an American, and, by 
 his dress of well-worn homespun, evidently a Mis- 
 sourian, and one of the teamsters who accompany 
 the Santa Fe caravans from the United States. 
 He quickly told me his story. He was one of the 
 twenty-one Americans who, as I have before men- 
 tioned, left Mr. Spiers' caravan some thirty or 
 forty days before, intending to proceed across the 
 country to the United States, by way of Texas. 
 They had purchased horses and mules at the 
 hacienda of La Sarca; and, without a guide, and 
 knowing nothing of the nature of the country they 
 had to traverse, had entered a tract between the 
 Bolson of Mapimi and the sierras of El Diablo, 
 which is entirely destitute of game and water. 
 Here their animals had nearly all died ; and them- 
 selves, separating in small parties, had vainly 
 searched for water, remaining for eight days with 
 no other sustenance than the blood of mules, and 
 reduced to the most revolting extremities to as- 
 suage their burning thirst. The man before me and 
 another had found their way to a hole of water af- 
 ter several days' travel, near which some pastores 
 (shepherds) were tending a large flock of sheep, 
 and these men had brought them into Guaj oquilla. 
 
24^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 According to his account, the others must long ere 
 this have perished, for when he left them they were 
 prostrate on the ground, unable to rise, and pray- 
 ing for death. In the hope of recovering some of 
 their effects, his companion, after recruiting his 
 strength, had started back to the spot with some 
 Mexicans, but, meeting a party of Comanches, 
 they had returned without reaching the place. 
 
 The next day, however, some vaqueros entered 
 the town bearing six or seven Americans behind 
 their saddles, and towards the evening two more 
 were brought in, making eleven in all v/ho had ar- 
 rived. Such miserable, emaciated creatures it has 
 never been my lot to see. With long hair and 
 beards, and thin cadaverous faces, with the cheek- 
 bones projecting almost through the skin, and 
 their mouths cracked with the drought, they dis- 
 mounted before my door, weak and scarcely able 
 to stand; most of them had entirely lost their 
 voices, and some were giddy and light-headed with 
 the sufferings they had endured. From their ac- 
 count I had no doubt that ten of their party were 
 perishing in the sierra, or most probably had 
 already expired; for they were entirely exhausted 
 when the last of those who had arrived left the 
 spot where they had been lying. 
 
 After ordering my servant to make a large 
 quantity of strong soup for the poor* fellows, and 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS MS 
 
 providing for their immediate wants, I proceeded 
 to the alcalde of the place, and told him the story. 
 He at once agreed with me that some steps must 
 be taken to rescue the sufferers if still alive, but he 
 doubted if the people in the town would undertake 
 the expedition, as it was known that the Indians 
 were in the sierras, and in fact in every part, 
 and it was a perfect miracle how the men had 
 reached the town in safety. He also promised me 
 that the men should not be confined, but allowed 
 to go at large on parole, until he had communi- 
 cated with the governor of Chihuahua, and that a 
 large room should be provided for them, where 
 they would be at perfect liberty. 
 
 One of these men, a lean and lank Kentuckian, 
 who, rawboned at any time, was now a perfect 
 skeleton, came up to me, and in a whisper, for his 
 voice was lost for a time, requested to consult me 
 on an important matter. The appearance of the 
 poor fellow was comical in the extreme. His long 
 black hair was combed over his face and forehead, 
 and hung down his back and over his shoulders; 
 and his features, with cheek-bones almost protrud- 
 ing from the skin, wore an indescribably serio- 
 comic expression. He was, in fact, what his ap- 
 pearance indicated, a " Puritan," and his words 
 drawled out of his throat like fathoms of cable, 
 or the sermon of a Methodist preacher. 
 
244^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 " Stranger," he said to me, " you have been 
 about the world, I guess, and are likely to know. 
 What," he asked, putting his face close to mine, 
 " might be the worth in your country of a camlet 
 cloak? I never see sech a cloak as that ar one 
 in no parts," he continued, looking up into the 
 sky as if the spectre of the camlet cloak was there. 
 " I've worn that ar cloak more nor ten 3^ear, lined 
 right away through with the best kind of bleachin'. 
 Stranger," he continued, " it's a bad fix them poor 
 boys is in, away out thar in them darned dried-up 
 hills, and it jest doubles me up to think on it. 
 Now, I want to know what's the worth of such a 
 fixin' as that ar camlet cloak? " I answered that 
 I could not possibly tell, knowing nothing about 
 such matters. " Well, stranger, all I are got to 
 say is this, — thar ain't sech another cloak as that 
 between this and Louisville, anyhow you can fix it, 
 and I want to know if the gov'ner here will send 
 out to them hills to bring in that ar camlet cloak. 
 It lays jest whar we left them poor boys," I told 
 him that, although I did not think the " gov- 
 ernor " would exactly send out a detachment in 
 search of his cloak, yet I had no doubt but that 
 some steps would be taken to rescue the unfor- 
 tunate men who were left in the sierras, and that if 
 I went myself I would endeavor to recover it for 
 him. This calmed him considerably, and, taking 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS ^45 
 
 me by the arm, he said solemnly, " Stranger, I'll 
 thank you for that ; " and, turning away, I heard 
 him soliloquizing — " Sech a cloak as that ar ain't 
 nowhere between this and Louisville." 
 
 The owner of the lost garment volunteered to 
 accompany me in search of the missing men, for 
 whose recovery he said he would give all he had, 
 even the " camlet cloak ; " and I found him the 
 best man of the party. During the journey he 
 rode by my side, the whole subject of his discourse 
 being the merits of the wonderful garment. As 
 we drew near the spot where he had left it, his ex- 
 citement became intense. He speculated as to how 
 it was lying — was it folded up ? — had the rain 
 injured it? &c. ; and at last (he had been riding 
 for some time with his head bent forward, and his 
 eyes almost starting from his head), he darted sud- 
 denly on, jumped from his horse, and seized upon 
 something lying on the ground. Holding up to 
 my view an old tattered benjamin, with a catskin 
 collar, and its original blue stained to a hundred 
 different hues, he exultingly exclaimed, — " Stran- 
 ger, h'yar's the darned old cloak: hurraw for my 
 old camlet cloak ! — but darn it, whar's them poor 
 boys?" 
 
 Determined to go myself in search of the Ameri- 
 cans, I beat up for volunteers, and soon got four 
 or five rancheros, who were mounted and armed by 
 
246 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 the prefect, to agree to accompany me. Eight of 
 the Americans were also sufficiently recovered the 
 next day to be of the party; and about noon we 
 started, sixteen in number, well armed and 
 mounted. The alcalde, before we left, informed 
 the Americans that, although prisoners, he did 
 not hesitate to allow them to proceed under my 
 command, as I had made myself answerable for 
 their return. 
 
 Taking an easterly course, we crossed a sierra, 
 and entered upon a broken country dotted with 
 groves of mesquite and palms, and intersected by 
 numerous ravines and canons. About ten at 
 night we halted for an hour to allow our horses 
 to feed on the damp grass, as there was no water, 
 and afterwards continued our journey at as rapid 
 a rate as the nature of the country would admit. 
 All night we passed through a wild and perfectly 
 desert tract, crossing rough sierras and deep ra- 
 vines. A large and recent Indian trail crossed 
 the country from north to south, which my Mexi- 
 can guide said was the main road of the Comanches 
 into the interior. At sunrise we reached a little 
 hole of water, and a few feet beyond it lay the 
 body of a mule which two of the Americans had 
 killed for its blood, not knowing that water was 
 within a few feet of them. No sooner had they 
 gorged themselves with the hot blood than they 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS 247 
 
 discovered the pool, but were ^ sickened with their 
 previous draught as to be unable to drink. Here 
 we allowed our animals to fill themselves, and im- 
 mediately rode on without resting. The country 
 became still more broken, and deer were very plen- 
 tiful. I tumbled over one splendid buck, as he 
 jumped out of a canon through which we were 
 passing, but we were in too great a hurry to stop 
 to take any of the meat. 
 
 Towards evening, after travelling rapidly all 
 the day, we approached the spot where the Ameri- 
 cans had left their companions, and I caused the 
 party to separate and spread out, to look for 
 tracks of men or horses. Shortly after one of 
 them stopped and called me to his side. He had 
 discovered the body of a horse which they had left 
 alive when they had last seen their companions. 
 Its swollen tongue and body showed that the poor 
 animal had died from excessive thirst, and was a 
 bad omen of our finding the men alive. A few 
 yards farther on lay another, which had died from 
 the same cause. Presently we reached the spot, 
 and found guns, and blankets, and ammunition, 
 but no signs of the lost men. The ground, hard 
 and rocky, afforded no clue to the course they had 
 followed, but it was evident that they must have 
 taken an opposite course to that from which we 
 had just come, or we must have seen their tracks 
 
248 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 in the plains. The horses had been dead at least 
 three days, and had evidently been turned loose 
 to shift for themselves, as they were without ropes. 
 No doubt remained in my mind as to the men's fate. 
 The sierra, with the exception of the hole where 
 we watered our animals, was destitute of water, 
 and in the direction we imagined them to have 
 taken, the country was still more arid, where, if 
 they escaped a miserable death from starvation, 
 they would in all probability encounter an equally 
 certain one at the hands of the Indians. 
 
 I learned afterwards, from a Mexican woman 
 who had been carried a prisoner through this very 
 sierra by the Comanches, and afterwards pur- 
 chased from them by an Indian trader, that, in 
 passing through this desert tract, the Indians are 
 four days and nights without water for their ani- 
 mals, hundreds of which perish on the road. 
 
 After an ineffectual search we were obliged to 
 turn back, as our animals had been nearly thirty 
 hours without eating, and were almost exhausted; 
 and here there was no grass or herbage of any 
 description. Our guide now recommended that 
 we should strike a new course, and, instead of re- 
 turning by the way we came, should cross the 
 sierra by a gap known as the Puerta del Jabali — - 
 the gate of the wild boar; and by this route we 
 might that night reach an old deserted rancho, 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS 2i9 
 
 where was good grass, and water for the tired 
 animals. Striking off to the gap, we passed a 
 wide canon, full of high grass, and literally swarm- 
 ing with deer. As all our provisions were ex- 
 hausted, I rode ahead and killed a fine doe, which 
 one of the Mexicans threw over his saddle. It was 
 not till late in the night that we reached the old 
 rancho ; and at the spring we found several In- 
 dian horses, with their backs still wet from the 
 saddle, drinking, while others were feeding around. 
 From the sign I knew that the Indians had been 
 about since sundown, that they had probably left 
 their tired animals here, and would return in the 
 morning, or perhaps during the night. It was 
 necessary therefore to be watchful. 
 
 The alamos round the spring of water were 
 black with ravens and crows which were roosting 
 in the branches, and one of the Americans thought- 
 lessly discharged his rifle at them, which set all 
 the Indian horses scampering off, and greatly an- 
 noyed me, as I had intended to have secured them. 
 It might also have had the effect of bringing the 
 Indians upon us, if they were in the neighbor- 
 hood, as probably they were. I remained alerto 
 aU night, having two Mexicans on sentry at the 
 same time. The Americans lay snoring round a 
 huge fire, and, as they were very tired, I did not 
 require them to stand guard. As I was going my 
 
250 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 rounds I saw a figure crawling on the ground be- 
 tween me and the ruined walls of a house some two 
 hundred yards distant. Assured that it could be 
 no other than an Indian, I threw myself on the 
 ground, and " approached " it, as the hunters say, 
 cautiously and without noise. The figure was also 
 " approaching " me, and we gradually drew near 
 each other ; and I then perceived what I imagined to 
 be an Indian in the very act of drawing his bow 
 upon me. My rifle was instantly at my shoulder, 
 and in another moment would have discharged its 
 contents, when the figure rose on its legs and cried 
 out, *' No tire, no tire, por dios; soy amigo — 
 don't fire ; I'm a friend ; " — and I saw, sure 
 enough, that it was one of the Mexicans, but, 
 dressed in a brown sarape, and with his long black 
 hair and dark face, and armed with bow and arrow, 
 he might easily be mistaken for an Indian. 
 
 About four in the afternoon next day we rode 
 into Guajoquilla, and, before I had dismounted, 
 Don Augustin Garcia, the prefect, followed by a 
 crowd, accosted me : — 
 
 " Que novedadesf " he asked. " Nothing," I 
 answered. 
 
 " Fues aqui tiene us ted mucJias — well, here we 
 have plenty of bad news for you. The robbers 
 have broken into your room, and stolen all your 
 baggage." 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS £51 
 
 " Pues," I answered, " si no hay remedio — if 
 it can't be helped, it can't." 
 
 Mj servant now made his appearance, with a 
 face as white as a sheet; I had given him strict 
 orders, when I started, on no account to leave the 
 house until my return. The night before, how- 
 ever, he had been induced by the robbers to go to 
 a fandango, where they locked him in a room for 
 several hours with a party of men and women 
 drinking and dancing. When he returned to the 
 house he found the door of my room, which was 
 entered from the street, open, and, thinking that I 
 had returned, he went into the house, and, awaken- 
 ing the women, asked them when I had come back. 
 They told him that I was not yet returned, and 
 he replied, " He must be, for his door was wide 
 open." 
 
 At this out jumped the patrona from her bed: 
 " Ladronas! ladronas! " she cried out, instantly 
 guessing what had happened. Striking a light, 
 the whole household entered my room, and found 
 it stripped of everything. The robbers had actu- 
 ally carried off the matting of my packsaddles ; 
 trunks and saddles, guns, pistols, sword, and all 
 were gone ; and in one of the packs were some three 
 thousand dollars, so they had made a good night's 
 work of it. My servant was in despair; his first 
 idea was to run, for I would kill him, he said, as 
 
25^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 soon as I arrived. The old patrona did not lose 
 her presence of mind; she rushed to her sala, and 
 snatched from the wall a little image of El Nino de 
 Atocha, a juvenile saint of extraordinary virtue. 
 Seizing my distracted mozo by the shoulders? she 
 forced him on his knees, and, surrounded by all the 
 women of the family, vowed to the uplifted saint 
 three masses, the cook on her part a penance, and 
 my servant a mass likewise, if the stolen goods 
 were recovered, besides scores of Pater Nosters, 
 dozens of Ave Marias, &c., 8zc, Having done this, 
 as she told me when giving a history of the affair, 
 her heart became calm ; the blessed child of Atocha 
 had never deserted her, a lone widow, with only a 
 huellada of two hundred cattle to depend upon, 
 and her husband killed by the harharos; and she 
 felt assured that by the saint's means the things 
 would be recovered. " The scandal, she said, 
 " the * infamia ' of the robbery taking place in her 
 house ! " and a stranger too to be plundered, " lejos 
 de su patria y sus amigos; ay que lastima, que in- 
 famia! — far from his country and his friends ; 
 what an atrocity ! " 
 
 The prefect, Don Augustin, was soon on the 
 scent; one man was already suspected, who had 
 been seen in front of the house late on the night of 
 the robbery, and, passing by frequently, had at- 
 tracted the attention of my patrona. My mozo, 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS 253 
 
 pistol in hand, went to the house of this man and 
 collared him, and when I arrived had already 
 lodged him in the calahoza. Two others were 
 shortly after taken on suspicion of being accom- 
 plices. 
 
 " No hay cuidado — there is no fear," said Don 
 Augustin ; " we'll get everything back ; I have put 
 them to the torture, and they have already con- 
 fessed to the robbery." 
 
 My servant, who witnessed the operation, said 
 it was beautiful to see the prefect screwing a con- 
 fession out of them. Their necks and feet were 
 placed in two different holes, which by means of a 
 screw, were brought together until every muscle 
 of the body and limbs was in a frightful state of 
 tension, and the bones almost dislocated. At 
 length they divulged where one trunk was con- 
 cealed, and then another, and after two or three 
 faintings, one article after another was brought 
 to light. In the intervals the prefect rushed to 
 me, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. 
 
 " No hay cuidado, no hay cuidado; we'll have 
 everything out of them. They have just now 
 fainted off, but when they recover they shall be 
 popped in again." 
 
 At last everything was recovered but a small 
 dirk-knife with a mother-of-pearl handle, which 
 defied screwing, and I begged Don Augustin not 
 
254f ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 to trouble himself about it, as everything else was 
 safe. But " No" he said, " No hay cuidado, no 
 hay cuidado; we'll have everything out of them; 
 strangers must not be robbed with impunity in my 
 prefecture." However, it took another violent 
 screw, and the poor wretch, with eyes starting out 
 of his head, cried out at last to stop, and pulled 
 out of his pocket the missing knife, which he had 
 doubtless determined to keep, on the principle of 
 having " something for his money." 
 
 The chief delinquent was the priest's nephew, 
 and most of the stolen property was concealed in 
 the reverend gentleman's garden. To do him jus- 
 tice, however, the padre was very active in his at- 
 tempts to recover my property, and stood by his 
 nephew, when under the process of the screw, to 
 exhort him to confession, or administer extreme 
 unction if it was necessary. 
 
 When everything had been brought back, my 
 good old patrona rushed to me with El Santo 
 Nino de Atocha, which she begged of me to kiss, 
 at the same time hanging it in my room to pro- 
 tect it from another spoliation. That evening I 
 was sitting at the door, enjoying a chat with the 
 senoritas de la casa, and a cigarro, when I saw a 
 figure, or rather the trunk, of a woman, moving 
 along on what appeared to be the stumps of legs, 
 enveloped in a cloud of dust, as she slowly crept 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS 255 
 
 along the road. She passed three or four times, 
 going and returning upwards of a hundred yards, 
 and earnestly praying the while. " For Dios,'' I 
 asked of one of the girls — " for God's sake, what's 
 this?" 
 
 " Es Dolores, la concinera it's Dolores, the 
 
 cook — performing penance," was the answer ; 
 and her vow instantly recurred to me. The poor 
 old body had vowed to walk so many hundred 
 yards on her knees in the public streets, repeat- 
 ing at the same time a certain number of Ave 
 Marias, if the credit of the family was restored by 
 the discovery of the thief and the recovery of my 
 property. 
 
 I had a large pot of soup kept always on the 
 fire, to which the half-starved Americans had ac- 
 cess whenever they felt inclined, and, as I was sit- 
 ting at the door, several of them passed into the 
 house, brushing by the muchachas without the 
 usual " con su licencia" much to the indignation 
 of the ladies. 
 
 It is a general impression amongst the lower 
 classes in Mexico that the Americans are half 
 savages, and perfectly uncivilized. The specimens 
 they see in Northern Mexico are certainly not re- 
 markably polished in manners or appearance, be- 
 ing generally rough backwoodsmen from Missouri. 
 They go by the name of "burros," — jackasses; 
 
^56 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 and have the reputation of being infidels who wor- 
 ship the devil, &c. I was trying to explain to 
 my female friends that the Americans were a very 
 civilized people, and a great portion of them of 
 the same religion as their own, but they scouted 
 the idea ; the priests had told them the contrary, 
 and now they saw with their own eyes that they 
 were burros. 
 
 " Ni saludan las mugeres! " indignantly ex- 
 claimed a dark beauty, as a conclusive argument 
 — " they do not even salute the women when they 
 pass" — as, just at that moment, a Missourian, 
 six feet high in his moccasins, stepped over her 
 head as she sat on the sill of the gate. 
 
 " Ni saludan las mugeres,'* she repeated ; " you 
 see it yourself. Ah, no, por Dios, son burros, y 
 muy sin vergilenzas — they are jackasses, and en- 
 tirely without shame. Valgame Dios, que hombres 
 tan fierosi — what wild men they are ! " 
 
 In the northern part of Mexico beds are un- 
 known in the ranchos, and even in the houses of 
 respectable people. A species of mattress is 
 spread upon the floor at night, on which the sheets 
 and mantas are laid, and in the daytime is rolled 
 up against the wall, and, neatly folded and cov- 
 ered with a gay manta, forms a settee or sofa. 
 Chairs are not used, and at meals the dishes are 
 placed on. the ground, and the guests sit round in 
 
THE LOST AMERICANS £57 
 
 Indian fashion, and dip their tortillas into the 
 dish. A triangular piece of tortilla is converted 
 into a spoon, and soup even is eaten in this way. 
 Spoons are seldom met with even in the houses of 
 the ricos, the use of the tortilla being universal. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 KING OF THE MINE 
 
 ON the 3rd of November I left Guajo- 
 quilla, under the escort of ten thousand 
 blessings heaped upon me by my kind- 
 hearted hostess and her family, and under the 
 especial protection of the " holy infant of 
 Atocha." We left after dark, as, on account of 
 the novedades, it was deemed not only prudent, 
 but indispensable to safety, to travel in the night. 
 About two in the morning I was riding along 
 muffled in my sarape, for it was piercingly cold, and 
 half asleep at the time, when I descried ahead 
 of me several camp-fires a little off the road. I 
 at once set them down as Indians, as they had 
 been seen the previous day between Guajoquilla 
 and La Remada, and instantly stopped the cav- 
 allada. Dismounting, I took my rifle, and ap- 
 proached to reconnoitre, creeping up to within a 
 few yards of the fire, where lay snoring a picket 
 of soldiers, while a large body lay bivouacked 
 around. I now remembered that a detachment 
 
 was out, under the command of one Colonel 
 
 258 
 
KING OF THE MINE 259 
 
 Amendares, a noted matador de Indios, for the 
 purpose of surprising a body of Indians which 
 had passed the Conchos, and would probably re- 
 turn by this route. Their anxiety to surprise 
 the Indians was evident by the position they had 
 chosen for their ambuscade, being bivouacked in 
 the very middle of the Indian road, and under a 
 high ridge of hills, over which the Indians had to 
 pass, and from whence they could not fail to dis- 
 cover their position. When I regained my horse, 
 and passed close to their fires, I saluted them with 
 a war-whoop which threw the whole camp into a 
 ferment. 
 
 A little after sunrise we reached the rancho of 
 La Remada, where was a detachment of troops 
 to protect the people from the Indians; and we 
 halted here, to feed the animals, for two or three 
 hours, after which we resumed our journey to 
 Santa Rosalia. Just before entering the town I 
 killed an antelope in the road. The animal ran 
 to within a hundred yards of my horse, when it 
 stopped and looked at me, giving me time to knock 
 it over from my saddle. 
 
 Santa Rosalia is a little dirty place, and has 
 been selected by the Governor of Chihuahua as a 
 point to be defended against the anticipated ad- 
 vance of the Americans. With this object they 
 were busily engaged throwing up walls and para- 
 
260 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 pets, and cutting ditches ; but all their work could 
 not convert it into a tenable position. 
 
 I put up in the house of an American who has 
 a little " dry-goods " store in the town, and in 
 the middle of the night was called up by a vio- 
 lent knocking at the gate. As the mob had been 
 talking of revenging themselves for the defeat 
 sustained by the Mexican troops at Monterey the 
 other day, by sacking the two unfortunate little 
 stores belonging to Americans, my host thought 
 his time was come, but, resolving to die game, 
 came to me to assist in defending the house. We 
 therefore carried all the arms into the store, and 
 placed them on the counter, which served as a 
 parapet for our bodies. The door of the shop 
 opened into the street, and behind ifc we could hear 
 the clanking of swords and other warlike noises. 
 Presently a loud knock, and a voice exclaimed 
 " Abra la puerta.^' 
 
 '' Quien esf 1 asked — Who is it? No an- 
 swer ; but " Abra la puerta! — open the door " — 
 repeated. However, finding that we paid no at- 
 tention to the request, another summons was tried, 
 with the addition of " En el nombre del General 
 — in the name of the General — who has sent me, 
 his ayudante, to speak with the master of this 
 house." With this " open sesame " we unbarred 
 the door to the General's aide-de-camp, a ferocious- 
 
KING OF THE MINE 261 
 
 looking individual with enormous moustache and 
 clattering sabre. 
 
 " Where," he asked, in an authoritative voice, 
 " is this American spy who entered the town to- 
 day and concealed himself in this house? " No 
 answer. Question repeated with like effect. The 
 moustached hero grinned with rage, and turned to 
 his followers, saying, " You see this ; " and then, 
 turning to us, said, " It is the General's order that 
 every foreigner in this house immediately attend 
 at his quarters, where you will answer for har- 
 boring a spy," turning to the master of the house. 
 
 We speedily donned our clothes, and appeared 
 at the house of the General, who was sitting in 
 a room waiting our arrival. Without waiting 
 for any explanation, I immediately presented my 
 credentials, saying, " Hi tiene us ted, mi General, 
 mis pasapuertas y carta de securidad," which, to 
 the dissatisfaction of the ayudante, after glanc- 
 ing at, he returned with a low bow, and many 
 apologies for disturbing me at so late an hour. 
 
 It happened to be the feast of Las Animas, 
 when money is collected by the priests for the 
 purpose of praying souls out of purgatory, which 
 on this day is done by wholesale. If money is 
 not to be had, the collectors, usually children, 
 with little boxes which have holes in which the 
 coin is dropped, receive corn or beans; the con- 
 
^62 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 tribution of my landlord being a couple of tallow 
 candles, which no doubt were efficacious in get- 
 ting some unhappy soul out of several years' 
 pawn, and perhaps were useful in greasing the way, 
 as the donor remarked, to the exit of some ortho- 
 dox pelado. 
 
 Leaving Santa Rosalia on the 5th, we pro- 
 ceeded to Los Saucillos, a small Indian village, the 
 population of which is entirely employed in min- 
 ing on their own account. It is situated on the 
 Conchos, here a broad but shallow stream, which 
 runs into the Del Norte above the presidio of 
 that name: this village is thirty -six miles from 
 Santa Rosalia. The gambucinos, or independent 
 miners, are a class sui generis. Their gains de- 
 pend entirely upon the bonanza, or the chance 
 of striking a rich vein, which, with their system of 
 grubbing and pickaxing at random, is a rare 
 event. Still they work on year after year, with 
 the golden vision of a bonanza ever before their 
 eyes, which will at once raise them to compara- 
 tive wealth ; and, stimulated by the hope, abandon 
 all other labor for the speculative toil of mining. 
 Thus, in these petty reales* a scarcity of pro- 
 visions, and even of the necessaries of life, is 
 very apparent. The gambucinos are glad to sell 
 
 * Mines were, and are still called reales — royal — being, 
 jn the time of the Spaniards, the property of the crowo. 
 
KING OF THE MINE ^63 
 
 their pieces of ore, and even pure metal, for coin 
 considerably less than their value; and the trav- 
 eller is frequently offered little lumps of silver, 
 and even gold, in exchange for money or articles 
 of clothing. 
 
 In this village there was a large empty haci- 
 enda de beneficios, full of scoriae and dross, which 
 covered the floor in heaps, with tumble-down fur- 
 naces and mouldering apparatus long disused. 
 Here I took up my abode, with the permission of 
 an old Indian, who, perfectly naked save for a 
 small piece of leather round his loins, was super- 
 intending some smelting process in a furnace in 
 one corner of the building. There was abundance 
 of room for myself and animals, who ate their 
 com out of the washing-troughs, and my supper 
 was cooked on a little fire of charcoal made on 
 the ground, the old Indian joining me in the re- 
 past, and telling me long stories of the former 
 riches of the mine, and the hundred times that he 
 had been on the point of securing bonanzas. 
 
 He was, he told me, the most scientific man in 
 the place, knew the probable value of a lode at 
 first sight, and was mu7/ aficionado a los hene- 
 ficios — very expert in the process of extracting 
 metal from ore. There had been a time when he 
 made his two and three dollars a day, and ore was 
 plentiful; but now the sierras were full of mala 
 
264 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 gente — demons and bad spirits — who snatched 
 out of their fingers all the metal. He knew a 
 mountain, where one had only to strike his pick- 
 axe and grub up virgin silver at every blow; 
 but it was presided over by a demonio^ whose 
 heart was hard as granite, and who changed the 
 silver into lead when a gambucino made his ap- 
 pearance. Other sierras there were, he said, muy 
 lejos — very far off — where he had been with 
 his father when a boy, and procured much silver; 
 but, shortly after, the Indians made their appear- 
 ance in that country and killed all they found at 
 work, and they had never been revisited. Tierra 
 muy rica, y llena de plat a — a very rich country it 
 was, and full of silver. 
 
 He had, he told me, in his youth worked in 
 the mine of Sombrerete, and had earned many a 
 dollar in the bonanzas of the celebrated Veta 
 Negra, the black vein (a lode of metal which 
 yielded an extraordinary quantity of silver). He 
 stayed at Sombrerete until this lode was worked 
 out, and the cause of its failure he narrated to 
 me in the following wonderful story, which he re- 
 lated with the utmost gravity and most perfect 
 seriousness. His gesticulations, and the solemn 
 asseverations of the truth of the story with which 
 he frequently interrupted it, greatly amused me; 
 and perhaps no more appropriate locale for the 
 
KING OF THE MINE 265 
 
 narration of such a tale could be found, than the 
 spot in which we then were sitting. In the large 
 vaulted building, with its earthen walls covered 
 with mould, and deep recesses, into which the 
 blaze from the fire scarcely penetrated, the old 
 Indian sat cowering over the fire, his sharp, at- 
 tenuated features lit up with animation as he nar- 
 rated his story, stopping occasionally to puff from 
 his mouth and nose a cloud of tobacco-smoke, and 
 drawing round his naked figure a tattered blanket, 
 as a cold blast of wind rushed through chinks in 
 the dilapidated wall. In nearly these words he 
 repeated 
 
 The Legend of the Black Vein op Sombrerete 
 ("La Veta Negra de Sombrerete "). 
 
 ** Ojala por los dias de orof — oh for the days 
 of gold " — sighed the old gambucino : " pero ya 
 se acaho todo eso — but that is all over now ; ni 
 oro, ni plata hay — neither gold nor silver is to 
 be had now-a-days for picking or digging. Fe- 
 dazitos, no mas — little bits one grubs up here 
 and there; pero se acabo la veta negra — but 
 the black vein, the black vein; onde estaf — where 
 is it? Worked out long ago. 
 
 " I was no older than your worship in those 
 days, and my back was strong. Valgame madre 
 santissimal but I could pack the ore nimbly in 
 
^66 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 the mine and up the shaft. Ay, and then all 
 worked with a will, for it was all bonanza: day 
 after day, month after month, year after year, 
 there we were at the same old vein; and the more 
 we cut into it the richer it grew. Ay que plat a! 
 Oh what silver came out of that old vein ! bianco, 
 rico, pesado — white, rich, and heavy it was — 
 all silver, all silver. Five hundred pesos fuertes 
 I made in one week. Que hermosita era aquella 
 vet a negraf — what a beautiful little vein was that 
 black one! 
 
 " But your worship yawns, and my poor old 
 head turns round when it thinks of that time. 
 Pues, seftor. All the miners (for there were no 
 gambucinos then) were making dollars as fast as 
 they could, but the more they got the more they 
 wanted, although not one of the laziest but had 
 more than he ever before had dreamed of possess- 
 ing. However, they were not satisfied, and all com- 
 plained because they did not strike a richer vein 
 than the old veta negra — as if that were possible ! 
 
 " The most dissatisfied of all the miners was 
 a little deformed man called Pepito, who did noth- 
 ing but swear at and curse his bad luck, although 
 he had made enough money to last three of his lives ; 
 and the miserly style in which he lived was the by- 
 word of everybody. 
 
 " However, whether it was from a bitterness of 
 
KING OF THE MINE 267 
 
 spirit caused by his deformity, or from genuine 
 badness of heart, Pepito was continually grum- 
 bling at the old vein, calling it by every oppro- 
 brious epithet which he could summon to the end 
 of his tongue, and which was enough to break the 
 heart of any vein, even of iron. 
 
 " One night — it was the fiesta of San Lorenzo 
 — all the miners were away in the town, for they 
 had agreed to give themselves a holiday ; but Pe- 
 pito took his basket and pick, and declared his 
 intention of remaining to work : ' for,' said he, 
 ' what time have I for holiday, when, with all my 
 work, work, work, I only get enough out of that 
 stony old vein to keep me in frijolitos, without 
 a taste of pulque, since — quwn sahe? — how long 
 ago ? Maldita sea la veta, digo yo — curse such 
 a vein, say I ! ' 
 
 " Valgame Dios! — this to the black vein, the 
 black vein of Sombrerete ! " apostrophized the old 
 gambucino. 
 
 " Now your worship knows, of course (but 
 quien sahef for foreigners are great fools), that 
 every mine has its metal-king, its mina-padre, to 
 whom all the ore belongs. He is, your worship 
 knows, not a man, nor a women, but a spirit — 
 and a very good one, if he is not crossed or an- 
 noyed; and when the miners curse or quarrel at 
 their work, he often cuts off the vein, or changes 
 
268 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 it to heavy lead or iron; but when they worlc 
 well and hard, and bring him a good stock of 
 cigarros, or leave him in the gallery, when they 
 quit the mine, a little bottle of pulque or mezcal, 
 then he often sends bonanzas, and plenty of rich 
 ore. 
 
 " Well, every one said, when they heard Pepito's 
 determination to remain alone in the mine, and 
 after he had so foully abused the celebrated veta 
 negra, ' Valgame! if Pepito doesn't get a visit 
 from padre-mina to-night, it's because he has bor- 
 rowed holy water or a rosarioncito from Father 
 Jose, the cura of Sombrerete.' 
 
 " We were all going to work again at midnight, 
 but the mezcal was so good that none stirred 
 from the pulqueria long after that hour. I, how- 
 ever, shouldered my pick and trudged up the hill 
 to the shaft, first waking up the watchman, who 
 lay snoring at the gate of the hacienda, wrapped 
 in his sarape. I took him with me to the mouth 
 of the shaft, that he might lower me down in the 
 basket; and down I went. When I got to the 
 bottom I called to Pepito, for, knowing he was 
 working there, I had not brought a lantern, but 
 heard nothing save the echo of my own voice, 
 sounding hollow and loud, as it vibrated through 
 the passages and galleries of the mine. Think- 
 ing he might be asleep, I groped my way to where 
 
KING OF THE MINE 269 
 
 we had been working the great lode in the morn- 
 ing, thinking to find him in that direction, and 
 hallooing as I crept, but still no answer ; and when 
 I shouted ' Pepito, Pepito, onde est a? ' — where 
 are you? — the echo cried jeeringly, * Onde estaf ' 
 " At length I began to get frightened. Mines, 
 everybody knows, are full of devils, and gnomes, 
 and bad spirits of every kind; and here was I, 
 at midnight, alone, and touching the * black vein ' 
 which had been so abused. I did not like to call 
 again to Pepito, for the echo frightened me, and 
 I felt assured that the answer was made by some 
 unearthly voice, and came direct from the lode of 
 the veta negra, that we were working. I crept 
 back to the bottom of the shaft, and, looking up 
 to the top, where the sky showed no bigger than 
 a tortilla, with one bright star looking straight 
 down, I shouted for the watchman to lower the 
 basket and draw me up; but, holy mother! my 
 voice seemed to knock itself to pieces on the sides 
 of the shaft as it struggled up, and when it reached 
 the top must have been a whisper. I sat down 
 and fairly cried, when a loud shout of laughter 
 rattled along the galleries, and broke as it were 
 up the shaft; I trembled like quicksilver, and 
 heavy drops of perspiration dropped from my 
 forehead to the ground. There was another shout 
 of laughter, and a voice cried out — 
 
270 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 *' * Come here, Mattias, come here.' 
 
 '' ' Where, most wonderful senor ? ' I asked, 
 thinking it as well to be respectful. 
 
 " ' Here, here to the black vein, the old leaden, 
 useless vein,' cried the voice, mockingly; and I 
 thought with horror of the abuse it had that day 
 received. 
 
 " Half dead with fear, I crept along the gallery, 
 and turning an abrupt angle, came upon the lode 
 we had been working. Ave Maria purissima! 
 what a sight met my eyes ! The gallery seemed 
 a mass of fire, yet there was no blaze and no 
 heat. The rock which contained the vein of ore, 
 and the ore itself, were like solid fire; and yet it 
 wasn't fire, for there was no heat, as I said, but 
 a glare so bright that one could see away into 
 the rock, which seemed to extend miles and miles ; 
 and every grain of quartz, and even the smallest 
 particle of sand, of which it was composed, was 
 blazing with light, and shone separately like a 
 million diamonds knocked in one; and yet the eye 
 saw miles into the bowels of the earth, and every 
 grain of sand was thus lit up. But if the stone, 
 and the grit, and the sand were thus fiery bright, 
 and the eye scorched to look upon it, what words 
 can describe the glitter of the vein, now of spark- 
 ling silver, and white, as it were, with flame, but 
 over which a blaclt; blush now and then shot, and 
 
KING OF THE MINE 271 
 
 instantaneously disappeared? It wanted not this, 
 however, to tell me that I was looking at the end- 
 less V'eta negra, the scorned, abused black vein, 
 which throbbed, miles and miles away into the 
 earth, with virgin silver, enough to supply the 
 world for worlds to come. 
 
 " * Ha, ha, ha ! ' roared the voice ; ' the old 
 leaden, useless vein. Where's the man that can 
 eat all this silver's worth of frijolitos? Bring 
 him here, bring him here.' And forthwith a thou- 
 sand little sparkling figures jumped out of the 
 scintillating rock, and, springing to the ground, 
 ringing like new-coined pesos, they seized upon the 
 body of Pepito, which I had not till now observed, 
 who lay, blue with fear, in a comer of the gallery, 
 and, lifting him on their shoulders, brought him 
 in front of the silver vein. The brightness of the 
 metal scorched his eyes, which still could not, even 
 in his fear, resist feasting on the richness of the 
 glittering lode. 
 
 " ' Bonanza, una bonanza! ' shouted the enrap- 
 tured miner, forgetting his situation, and the pres- 
 ence he was in, for the figure (if figure it can be 
 called, which was like a mist of silver fire) of the 
 padre-mina — the mine-king — was now seen sit- 
 ting in state on the top of the vein. 
 
 " ' Bonanza ! ' shouted the same voice deri- 
 sively ; * bonanza, from an old leaden, useless vein! ' 
 
212 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 repeating the terms which Pepito had used in abus- 
 ing it. ' Where's the man can eat this silver's 
 worth of f rij olitos ? ' 
 
 " * What does he deserve who has thus slighted 
 the silver king? ' * Turn him to lead, lead, lead! ' 
 answered the voice. ' Away with him then.' 
 
 " The thousand sparkling silverines seized the 
 struggling miner. ' Not lead, not lead,' he 
 shouted ; ' anything but lead ! ' But they held 
 him fast by the legs, and bore him opposite the 
 lode. 
 
 " The rock sparkled up into a thousand times 
 more brilliant corruscations than before, and for 
 an instant I thought my eyes would have ' burned ' 
 with looking at the silver vein, so heavenly bright 
 it shone. An instant after a void remained in 
 the rock; a horrid black void. The vein had dis- 
 appeared, but the rock itself was still as bright 
 as ever, all but the black opening which yawned 
 from out the brightness ; and opposite this stood 
 the thousand silverines, bearing the body of the 
 luckless gambucino. 
 
 " ' Uno, dos, TRESy^ shouted the mine-king ; 
 and at the word ' tres ' — with a hop, skip, and 
 a jump — right into the gaping hollow sprang the 
 thousand silverines, with the luckless miner on their 
 shoulders, whose body, the instant that his heels 
 
KING OF THE MINE 27S 
 
 disappeared into the opening, with these very eyes 
 I saw turned to lead. 
 
 " Santa Maria ! then all became dark, and I fell 
 senseless to the ground. 
 
 " When I recovered a little, I thought to my- 
 self, now will come my turn; but, hoping to con- 
 ciliate the angry mine-king, I sought, in the breast 
 of my shirt, for a bottle of mezcal, which I re- 
 membered I had brought with me. There was the 
 bottle, but without a single drop of liquor. This 
 puzzled me; but when I called to mind the fiery 
 spectacle I had just witnessed, I felt no doubt but 
 that the liquor had been dried up in the bottle by 
 the great heat. 
 
 " However, I was not molested, and in a short 
 time the miners returned to their work, and, find- 
 ing me pale and trembling, called me tonto, 
 horacho — drunk and mad. We proceeded to the 
 lode and grubbed away, but all we succeeded in 
 picking out were a few lumps of poor lead-ore; 
 and from that day not a dollar's worth of silver 
 was ever drawn from the famous * black vein of 
 Sombrerete.' " 
 
 On the 6th we made a short day's journey to 
 San Pablo, a little town on a confluent of the 
 Conchos, in the midst of a marshy plain. Arrived 
 
274 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 in the plaza, I had despatched my servant in 
 search of a corral, and was myself taking care of 
 the animals, when a caballero came out of a house 
 in the square, and very politel}^ invited me to take 
 up my quarters with him for the night, and place 
 the mulada in his stables. This offer I gladly 
 accepted, and was presently shown into a large 
 comfortable room, and, moreover, invited to din- 
 ner with my entertainer and his friends. The 
 dinner was served on a table — an unusual lux- 
 ury; but knife, fork, or spoon, there was none. 
 Before commencing, at a signal from his master, 
 the mozo in attendance said a long grace, at the 
 conclusion of which every one crossed himself de- 
 voutly and fell to. One large tumbler of water 
 was placed in the centre of the table, but the cus- 
 tom is not to drink until the meal is finished; so 
 that, if a stranger lays hold of the glass during 
 dinner, he is instantly stopped by the host, who 
 tells him ** que viene otra cosa,^' that something 
 else is coming. 
 
 The next morning I was in the act of making 
 a very long entry in my note-book, to the effect 
 that at last I had met with hospitality in Mex- 
 ico, when the mozo presented himself with a bill 
 of yesterday's entertainment: seis reoles por la 
 comida — dinner, six reals — and out came the leaf 
 of my memorandum-book, al instante. 
 
KING OF THE MINE 275 
 
 In Guajoquilla I had been tempted to pur- 
 chase a very beautiful " entero,'* an alazan, or 
 blood chestnut stallion, with long flowing tail and 
 mane, and a perfect specimen of a Mexican ca- 
 hallo de paseo; the most showy and spirited, and 
 at the same time most perfectly good-tempered 
 animal I ever mounted, and so well trained, that 
 I frequently fired at game, resting the rifle on its 
 back, without its moving a muscle. It had trav- 
 elled, without shoes, and over a flinty road, from 
 Guajoquilla, and had become so sore-footed that 
 I feared I should be compelled to leave it behind 
 me ; but hearing that there was an American black- 
 smith in San Pablo, I paid him a visit for the 
 purpose of getting him to shoe the alazan; but 
 unluckily he had no shoes by him, nor the where- 
 withal to make a set. Strange to say, that al- 
 though at this time the horse was so lame that I 
 feared he had foundered altogether, before reach- 
 ing Chihuahua, and over a very hard road, his 
 feet entirely recovered their soundness, and the 
 next day he travelled without the slightest diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 On the 7th, leaving San Pablo, I met a caravan 
 of wagons from Chihuahua, with a number of of- 
 ficers and families, who were leaving that city from 
 fear of the Americans, who were reported to be 
 on their way to attack it. Amongst the party 
 
^76 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 was the celebrated Andalusian matador Bernardo, 
 who with his troop of bullfighters had been lately 
 attacked by the Indians, and nearly all of them 
 killed — himself escaping after a desperate sword- 
 fight and many severe wounds. We passed the 
 Canada, a deep ravine, through which runs a 
 small stream, and where are the ruins of an In- 
 dian fort. It is dreaded by travellers, as here the 
 Indians attack them from behind rocks, without 
 exposure to themselves. In the Canada we met 
 a couple of priests, with several pupils, on their 
 way to Durango college: they were all well 
 mounted and armed. Shortly after passing the 
 deserted rancho of Bachimba, we met a General 
 with his escort, " making himself scarce " from* 
 Chihuahua; and as they were in the act of en- 
 camping, and not wishing to remain in the neigh- 
 borhood of the pilfering soldados, I rode on, al- 
 though it was then sunset, and encamped several 
 miles beyond, where unluckily the stream was dry, 
 and no water procurable. 
 
 The next morning, at sunrise, we started for 
 Chihuahua, crossing a plain abounding with ante- 
 lope, and reached that city about two o'clock. 
 The first appearance of the town from a neigh- 
 boring hill is extremely picturesque, its white 
 houses, church-spires, and the surrounding gar- 
 dens affording a pleasing contrast to the barren 
 
KING OF THE MINE 277 
 
 plain which surrounds it. I was most hospitably 
 received by an English family resident in the 
 town, who had the exclusive management of the 
 mint and the numerous mines in the neighborhood. 
 In this remote and but semi-civilized city, I was 
 surprised to find that they had surrounded them- 
 selves with all the comforts, and many of the lux- 
 uries, of an English home ; and the kindness I here 
 experienced almost spoiled me for the hardships 
 and privations I met with in my subsequent jour- 
 ney. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE BARBARIANS OF THE NOETH 
 
 CHIHUAHUA, the capital city of the 
 state or department of that name, was 
 built towards the close of the seventeenth 
 century; and therefore cannot boast of such an- 
 tiquity even as the more remote city of Santa 
 Fe. Its population is between eight and ten thou- 
 sand permanent inhabitants; although it is the 
 resort of many strangers from New Mexico, Cali- 
 fornia, and Sonora. The cathedral, which is con- 
 sidered by the American traders one of the finest 
 structures in the world, is a large building in no 
 style of architecture, but with rather a handsome 
 fa9ade, embellished with statues of the twelve 
 apostles. 
 
 Opposite the principal entrance, over the por- 
 tals which form one side of the square, were 
 dangling the grim scalps of one hundred and sev- 
 enty Apaches, who had lately been most treacher- 
 ously and inhumanly butchered by the Indian 
 hunters in the pay of the state. The scalps of 
 men, women, and children were brought into the 
 278 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 279 
 
 town in procession, and hung as trophies, in this 
 conspicuous situation, of Mexican valor and hu- 
 manity ! 
 
 The unfinished convent of San Francisco, com- 
 menced by the Jesuits prior to their expulsion 
 from the country, is also a conspicuous mass of 
 masonry and bad taste. It is celebrated as hav- 
 ing been the place of confinement of the patriot 
 Hidalgo, the Mexican Hampden, who was exe- 
 cuted in a yard behind the building in 1811. A 
 monument to his memory has been erected in the 
 Plaza de Armas, a pyramid of stone, with an 
 inscription eulogistic of that one honest Mexi- 
 can. 
 
 The town also boasts a Casa de Moneda, or 
 mint, under the management of an English gen- 
 tleman, where silver, gold, and copper are coined, 
 and an aduana, or customhouse. An aqueduct 
 conveys water to the city from the neighboring 
 stream, the work of the former Spanish govern- 
 ment : it is small, and badly constructed. 
 
 The shops are filled with goods of the most 
 paltry description, brought mostly from the 
 United States by way of Santa Fe. The cotton 
 goods called " domestics " in the United States 
 are, however, of good quality, and in great de- 
 mand. Traders arriving in Chihuahua either sell 
 their goods in bulk to resident merchants, or, open- 
 
280 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 ing a store, retail them on their own account ; but 
 the latter method occasions great delay and in- 
 convenience, the payments being made in copper 
 and small coins, which it is difficult to exchange for 
 gold, and are not current out of the state. 
 
 The trade between the United States and Santa 
 Fe and Chihuahua presents a curious feature in 
 international commerce. The capital embarked 
 in it must exceed a million of dollars, which, how- 
 ever, is subject to great risks, not only on ac- 
 count of the dangers to be apprehended in passing 
 the vast prairies, both from Indian attacks and 
 the loss of animals by the severity of the climate, 
 but from the uncertainty of the laws in force in 
 the remote departments of Mexico with regard 
 to the admission of goods and the duties exacted 
 on them. 
 
 It appears that in the " port " of Santa Fe 
 the ordinary derechos de arancel, or customs du- 
 ties, have been laid aside, and a new tariff sub- 
 stituted, by the late Governor Armijo, who, in- 
 stead of levying the usual ad valorem duties on 
 goods imported from the United States, estab- 
 lished the system of exacting duties on " wagon- 
 loads," without reference to the nature of the 
 goods contained in them, each wagon paying 500 
 dollars, whether large or small. The injustice of 
 such an impost was apparent, since the merchant, 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 281 
 
 who carried an assortment of rich and valuable 
 goods into the interior of the country for the fair 
 of San Juan and the markets of the capital and 
 larger cities, paid the same duty as the petty 
 trader on his wagon-load of trumpery for the 
 Santa F'e market. 
 
 Moreover, the revenue of the customs must have 
 suffered in an equal ratio, for the traders, to 
 avoid the duties, crowded two or more ordinary 
 wagon-loads into one huge one, and thus saved 
 the duties on two wagons. Notwithstanding this, 
 however, the system still prevails, much to the 
 dissatisfaction of those who, in the former state of 
 things, could, by the skilful application of a bribe, 
 pass any amount of goods at almost nominal ex- 
 pense. 
 
 The state of Chihuahua produces gold, silver, 
 copper, iron, saltpetre, &c. ; indeed, it is productive 
 in mineral wealth alone, for the soil is thin and 
 poor, and there is everywhere a great scarcity of 
 water. It is, moreover, infested with hostile In- 
 dians, who ravage the whole country, and prevent 
 many of its most valuable mines from being 
 worked. These Indians are the Apaches, who in- 
 habit the ridges and plains of the Cordillera, the 
 Sierra Madre on the west, and the tracts between 
 the Conchos and Del Norte on the east, while scat- 
 tered tribes roam over all parts of the state, com- 
 
282 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 mitting devastations on the ranches and haciendas, 
 and depopulating the remote villages. 
 
 For the purpose of carrying on a war against 
 the daring savages a species of company was 
 formed by the Chihuahuenos, with a capital raised 
 by subscription. This company, under the aus- 
 pices of the government, offered a bounty of 50 
 dollars a scalp, as an inducement to people to un- 
 dertake a war of extermination against the 
 Apaches. One Don Santiago Kirker, an Irish- 
 man, long resident in Mexico, and for many years 
 a trapper and Indian trader in the far West, whose 
 exploits in Indian killing would fill a volume, was 
 placed at the head of a band of some hundred and 
 fifty men, including several Shawanee and Dela- 
 ware Indians, and sent en campana against the 
 Apaches. The fruits of the campaign were the 
 trophies I saw dangling in front of the cathedral. 
 
 In the month of August, the Apaches being then 
 " en paz " with the state, entered, unarmed, the 
 village of Galeana, for the purpose of trading. 
 This band, which consisted of a hundred and 
 seventy, including women and children, was under 
 the command of a celebrated chief, and had no 
 doubt committed many atrocities on the Mexicans ; 
 but at this time they had signified their desire 
 for peace to the government of Chihuahua, and 
 were now trading in good faith, and under pro- 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 283 
 
 tection of the faith of treaty. News of their ar- 
 rival having been sent to Kirker, he immediately 
 forwarded several kegs of spirits, with which they 
 were to be regaled, and detained in the village until 
 he could arrive with his band. On a certain day, 
 about ten in the morning, the Indians being at the 
 time drinking, dancing, and amusing themselves, 
 and unarmed, Kirker sent forward a messenger to 
 say that at such an hour he would be there. 
 
 The Mexicans, when they saw him approach 
 with his party, suddenly seized their arms and set 
 upon the unfortunate Indians, who, without even 
 their knives, attempted no resistance, but, throw- 
 ing themselves on the ground when they saw Kir- 
 ker's men surrounding them, submitted to their 
 fate. The infuriated Mexicans spared neither age 
 nor sex; with fiendish shouts they massacred their 
 unresisting victims, glutting their long pent-up 
 revenge of many years of persecution. . . . 
 
 A hundred and sixty men, women, and children 
 were slaughtered, and, with the scalps carried on 
 poles, Kirker's party entered Chihuahua — in pro- 
 cession, headed by the Governor and priests, with 
 bands of music escorting them in triumph to the 
 town. 
 
 Nor is this a solitary instance of similar bar- 
 barity, for on two previous occasions parties of 
 American traders and trappers perpetrated most 
 
284^ ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 treacherous atrocities on tribes of the same nation 
 on the river Gila. The Indians on their part equal 
 their more civilized enemies in barbarity ; and such 
 is the war of extermination carried on between the 
 Mexicans and Apaches. 
 
 But to return to Chihuahua. The state, which 
 comprises an area of 107,584 square miles, con- 
 tains only 180,000 inhabitants (and this is prob- 
 ably an exaggerated estimate), or not two inhabi- 
 tants to the square mile. Of this vast territory 
 not twenty square miles are under cultivation, and 
 at least three-fifths is utterly sterile and unpro- 
 ductive. The city of Chihuahua is distant from 
 Mexico, in a direct line, 1^50 miles, and from the 
 nearest seaport, Guaymas, in the Gulf of Cali- 
 fornia, over an almost impracticable country, 600 
 miles. Thus its isolated position and compara- 
 tive worthlessness to Mexico are apparent. 
 
 Chihuahua is a paradise for sportsmen. In the 
 sierras and mountains are found two species of 
 bears — the common black or American bear, and 
 the grizzly bear of the Rocky Mountains. The 
 last are the most numerous, and are abundant in 
 the sierras in the neighborhood of Chihuahua. 
 The carnero cimarron — the big-horn or Rocky 
 Mountain sheep — is also common on the Cor- 
 dillera. Elk, black-tailed deer, cola-prieta (a 
 large species of the fallow deer), the common red 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 285 
 
 deer of America, and antelope, abound on all the 
 plains and sierras. Of smaller game, peccaries 
 (javali), also called cojamete, hares, and rabbits 
 are everywhere numerous ; and beavers are still 
 found in the Gila, the Pecos, the Del Norte, and 
 their tributary streams. Of birds — the faisan, 
 commonly called paisano, a species of pheasant: 
 the quail, or rather a bird between a quail and a 
 partridge, is abundant; while every variety of 
 snipe and plover is found on the plains, not for- 
 getting the grwya, of the crane kind, whose meat 
 is excellent. There are also two varieties of wolf 
 — the white, or mountain wolf ; and the coyote, or 
 small wolf of the plains, whose long-continued and 
 melancholy howl is an invariable adjunct to a 
 Mexican night encampment. 
 
 But, perhaps, in all departments of natural his- 
 tory the entomologist would find the plains of Chi- 
 huahua most prolific in specimens. I have counted 
 seventy-five varieties of grasshoppers and locusts, 
 some of enormous size, and most brilliant and fan- 
 tastic colors. 
 
 There is also an insect peculiar to this part of 
 Mexico — at least I have not met with it except- 
 ing on the plains of Durango and Chihuahua, 
 neither have I met with more than one traveller 
 who has observed it, although it is most curious 
 and worthy of attention. This insect is from four 
 
^86 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 to six inches in length, and has four long and slen- 
 der legs. The body appears to the naked eye to 
 be nothing more than a blade of grass, without the 
 slightest muscular action or appearance of vital- 
 ity, excepting in the antennae, which are two in 
 number, and about half an inch in length. They 
 move very slowly on their long legs, and resemble 
 a blade of grass being carried by ants. I saw 
 them several times before examining them minutely, 
 thinking that they were in fact bits of grass. I 
 heard of no other name for them than the local 
 one of zacateros, from zacate (grass); and the 
 Mexicans assert that, if horses or mules swallow 
 these insects, they invariably die.* 
 
 Of bugs and beetles there is endless variety — 
 including the cocuyo or lantern-bug, and the ta- 
 rantula. 
 
 Of reptiles those most frequently met with are 
 the rattlesnake and copper-head, both of which 
 are poisonous. The scorpion is common all over 
 the republic, and its sting is sometimes fatal to 
 children or persons of inflammable temperament. 
 The chameleon abounds in the plains, a grotesque, 
 but harmless and inoffensive animal. It always 
 
 * Since writing the above, I find that this insect is no- 
 ticed in Clavigero, who calls it, on the authority of Her- 
 nandez, quauhmecatl, a Mexican name: therefore it is prob- 
 able that it is also found in Southern Mexico. 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 287 
 
 assimilates its color to that of the soil where it 
 is found. The chameleon is the *' horned frog " 
 of the prairies of America. 
 
 The characteristic shrub on the plains of Chi- 
 huahua is the mesquite — a species of acacia, which 
 grows to the height of ten or twelve feet. The 
 seeds, contained in a small pod, resemble those of 
 the laburnum, and are used by the Apaches to 
 make a kind of bread or cake, which is sweet and 
 pleasant to the taste. The wood is exceedingly 
 hard and heavy.* This constantly recurring and 
 ugly shrub becomes quite an eyesore to the trav- 
 eller passing the mesquite-covered plains, as it is 
 the only thing in the shape of a tree seen for hun- 
 dreds of miles, excepting here and there a solitary 
 alamo or willow, which overhangs a spring, and 
 which invariably gives a name to the rancho or 
 hacienda which may generally be found in the vi- 
 cinity of water. Thus day after day I passed the 
 ranchos of El Sauz, Los Sauzes, Los Sauzillos — 
 the willow, the willows, the little willows — or El 
 Alamos, Los Alamitos — the poplar, the little 
 poplars. The last is the only timber found on 
 the streams in Northern Mexico, and on the Del 
 Norte and the Arkansas it grows to a great size. 
 
 Chihuahua at this time was in a state of con- 
 
 * From the mesquite exudes a resin resembling gum 
 Arabic. 
 
288 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 siderable ferment, on account of the anticipated 
 advance of the Americans upon the city from New- 
 Mexico. That department had been occupied by 
 them without opposition, Governor Armijo and his 
 three thousand heroes scattering before the bar- 
 barians of the north, as they please to call the 
 Americans, without firing a shot. A body of 
 troops had now advanced to the borders of the de- 
 partment, and were known to be encamped on the 
 Rio del Norte, at the entrance of the " Jornada 
 del Muerto " — the deadman's journey — a tract 
 of desert, without wood or water, which extends 
 nearly one hundred miles across a bend of the 
 river; and a journey across which is dreaded by 
 the Mexicans, not only on account of these natural 
 difficulties, but from the fact of its being the haunt 
 of numerous bands of Apaches, who swoop down 
 from the sierras upon travellers, who, with their 
 exhausted animals, have but little chance of es- 
 cape. 
 
 In the rear of the American troops was the long- 
 expected caravana of upwards of two hundred 
 wagons, destined for Chihuahua and the fair of 
 San Juan, These, entering Santa Fe with the 
 troops, had of course paid no duty in that port of 
 entry, and it was a great obj ect with the Governor 
 of Chihuahua that they should proceed to that 
 city and pay the usual duties to him, which other- 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 289 
 
 wise would have been payable to the customhouse 
 of Santa Fe. The government being entirely 
 without funds, and anxious to raise and equip a 
 body of troops to oppose the advance of the 
 Americans, the arrival of the caravan would have 
 been most opportune, since, at the usual rate of 
 duties, viz. 500 dollars for each wagon, the amount 
 to be received by the government would exceed 
 100,000 dollars. 
 
 However, the merchants, particularly the Ameri- 
 cans, were reluctant to trust their property to the 
 chances of Mexican honor, not knowing how they 
 might be treated under the present circumstances 
 of war : and having neglected to profit by the per- 
 mission of General Kearney, who then commanded 
 the United States troops, to proceed to their desti- 
 nation; now, that that officer had advanced to 
 California, and the command had devolved on an- 
 other, they were ordered to remain in the rear of the 
 troops, and not to advance excepting under their 
 escort. The commanding officer deemed it im- 
 prudent to allow such an amount of the sinews of 
 war to be placed in the hands of the enemy, to be 
 used against the Americans. That this was very 
 proper under the circumstances there could be no 
 gainsaying, but at the same time there was a very 
 large amount of property belonging to English 
 merchants and others of neutral nations, who were 
 
S90 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 suffering enormous losses by the detention of their 
 goods; and as no official notification had been 
 given of the blockade of the frontier town of 
 Santa Fe, this prohibition to proceed was consid- 
 ered unjust and arbitrary. My opinion, however, 
 is, that the officer in command of the United States 
 troops was perfectly justified in the course he 
 pursued, knowing well the uses to which the money 
 thus obtained would have been applied. 
 
 In order to keep the enemy in ignorance of the 
 state of affairs in Chihuahua, no one had been per- 
 mitted to leave the state for some months ; and 
 when it was known that I had received a carte 
 blanche from Don Angel Trias, the Governor, to 
 proceed where I pleased, I was from this circum- 
 stance invested with all kinds of official dignities 
 by the population. As it was known that I was 
 the bearer of sundry despatches from the Gover- 
 nor to the Americans, I was immediately voted to 
 be commissionado on the part of the Mexican gov- 
 ernment to treat for peace, or I was un coronet 
 Yngles, bound to Oregon to settle the difference 
 respecting that disputed territory. The mysteri- 
 ous fact of an Englishman travelling through the 
 country at such a time, and being permitted to 
 proceed " al norte,^^ which permission their most 
 influential citizens had been unable to obtain, was 
 sufficient to put the curious on the qui-vive; and 
 
THE BARBARIANS OF THE NORTH 291 
 
 when on the morning of my departure an escort 
 of soldiers was seen drawn up at my door, I was 
 immediately promoted to be " somebody." 
 
 This escort — save the mark ! — consisted of 
 two or three dragoons of the regiment of Vera 
 Cruz, which had been several years in Santa Fe, 
 but had run away with the Governor on the ap- 
 proach of the Americans, and were now stationed 
 at Chihuahua. Their horses — wretched, half- 
 starved animals — were borrowed for the occa- 
 sion ; and the men, refusing to march without some 
 provision for the road, were advanced their 
 " sueldo " by a patriotic merchant of the town, 
 who gave each a handful of copper coins, which 
 they carefully tied up in the corners of their 
 sarapes. Their dress was original and uniform 
 (in rags). One had on a dirty broad-brimmed 
 straw hat, another a handkerchief tied round his 
 head. One had a portion of a jacket, another 
 was in his shirt-sleeves, with overalls, open to the 
 winds, reaching a little below the knees. All were 
 bootless and unspurred. One had a rusty swDrd 
 and lance, another a gun without a hammer, the 
 third a bow and arrows. Although the nights 
 were piercingly cold, they had but one wretched, 
 tattered sarape of the commonest kind between 
 them, and no rations of any description. 
 
 These were regulars of the regiment of Vera 
 
^92 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO 
 
 Cruz. I may as well here mention that, two or 
 three months after, Colonel Doniphan, with 900 
 volunteers, marched through the state of Chi- 
 huahua, defeating on one occasion 3000 Mexicans 
 with great slaughter, and taking the city itself, 
 without losing one man in the campaign. 
 
 At Sacramento the Mexicans entrenched them- 
 selves behind formidable breastworks, having ten 
 or twelve pieces of artiUery in battery, and num- 
 bering at least '3000. Will it be believed that 
 these miserable creatures were driven from their 
 position, and slaughtered like sheep, by 900 raw 
 backwoodsmen, who did not lose one single man 
 in the encounter? * 
 
 * So reported at the time. The Mexicans in fact lost 
 some three hundred killed, about the same number wounded, 
 and forty were taken prisoners. Colonel Doniphan had one 
 man killed and d^t wounded, several of them mortally. 
 {Ed.) 
 
 THE END 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY^NEW YORK 
 
 OUTING 
 ADVENTUR E 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Edited by Horace Kephart 
 
 Here are brought together for the first 
 time the great stories of adventure of aU ages 
 and countries. These are the personal records 
 of the men who climbed the mountains, pene- 
 trated the jungles, explored the seas and crossed the desert; 
 who knew th© chances and took them, and lived to write their 
 own tales of hardship, endurance and achievement. The series will 
 consist of an indeterminate number of volumes — for the stories are 
 myriad. The whole will be edited by Horace Kephart. Each 
 volume answers the test of these questions : Is it true ? Is it inter- 
 esting? The entire series is uniform in style and binding. Among 
 the titles now ready or in preparation are those described on the 
 following pages. Price $1.00 each, net. Postage 10 cents extra. 
 
 IN THE OLD WEST, by George Frederick 
 Ruxton. The men who blazed the trail across the Rockies to 
 the Pacific were independent trappers and hunters in the days before 
 the Mexican war. They left no records of their adventures and 
 most of them linger now only as shadowy names. But a young 
 Englishman lived among them for a time, saw life from their point 
 of view, trapped with them and fought with them against the Indians. 
 That was George Frederick Ruxton. His story is our only complete 
 picture of the Old West in the days of the real pioneers, of Kit 
 Carson, Jim Bridger, Bill Williams, the Sublettes, and all the rest 
 of that glorious company of the forgotten who opened the West. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NEW YORK 
 
 CASTAWAYS AND CRUSOES. Since the beginning 
 of navigation men have faced the dangers of shipwreck and starva- 
 tion. Scattered through the annals of the sea are the stories of 
 those to whom disaster came and the personal records of the 
 way they met it. Some of them are given in this volume, narratives 
 of men who lived by their hands among savages on forlorn 
 coasts, or drifted helpless in open boats. They range from the 
 South Seas to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, from Patagonia to Cuba. 
 They are echoes from the days when the best that could be hoped 
 by the man who went to sea was hardship and man's-sized work. 
 
 CAPTIVES AMONG THE INDIANS. First of all is 
 
 the story of Captain James Smith, who was captured by the Bela- 
 wares at the time of Braddock's defeat, was adopted into the tribe, 
 and for four years lived as an Indian, hunting with them, studying 
 their habits, and learning their point of view. Then there is the 
 story of Father Bressani who felt the tortures of the Iroquois, of 
 Mary Rowlandson who was among the human spoils of King 
 Philip's war, and of Mercy Harbison who suffered in the red flood 
 that followed St. Clair's defeat. All are personal records made by 
 the actors themselves in those days when the Indian was constantly 
 at our forefather's doors. 
 
 FIRST THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON, 
 by Major John Wesley Powell. Major Powell was an officer in 
 the Union Army who lost an arm at Shiloh. In spite of this, years 
 after the war he organized an expedition which explored the Grand 
 Canyon of the Colorado in boats — the first to make this journey. His 
 story has been lost for years in the oblivion of a scientific report. 
 It is here rescued and presented as a record of one of the great 
 personal exploring feats, fitted to rank with the exploits of Pike, 
 Lewis and Clark, and Mackenzie. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY-NEW YORK 
 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO, by George Frederick 
 
 Ruxton. This volume describes Ruxton's second visit to America, 
 but this time he landed at Vera Cruz, from where he went to Mexico 
 City and thence north to the American border. Mexico was then at 
 war with the United States, bandits roamed over the country right up 
 to the gates of the capital, and Indians infested the northern part. 
 Still he made the jotfmey of 2,000 miles, often alone, experiencing 
 many exciting adventures. 
 
 WILD LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, by 
 George Frederick Ruxton. A continuation of Ruxton's 
 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO, from Chihuahua north. In the course 
 of his journey he had to pass through treeless deserts, where ho 
 suffered much from lack of water; spent the winter in the Rocky 
 Mountains and finally crossed the United States boundary. 
 
 THE GOLD HUNTER, by J. D. Borthwick. 
 
 He was an English artist who joined the rush of treasurer seekers 
 to California in 1851. It is a Uvely description of the voyage via 
 Panama, of San Francisco from its days of the bowie-knife and top- 
 boots to its development into an orderly community, of life (and death) 
 in "the diggings" and of the motley gathering of all nationalities in 
 town and camp, their toil, sports, virtues, crimes and shifting fortunes. 
 The book covers the period from 1851-1856. 
 
OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY— NBW YORK . 
 ADRIFT IN THE ARCTIC ICE-PACK, by Dr, 
 
 Elisha Kent Kane. Dr. Kane was connected with one of the 
 numerous relief expeditions which went north in the middle of the 
 last century, sailing from New York early in the spring of 1849. 
 They found themselves caught in the ice of Lancaster Sound early 
 in the fall and spent the entire winter driving to and fro across the 
 Sound frozen fast in the ice-pack. Dr. Kane's narrative gives the 
 most vivid and accurate account that has ever appeared of ship life 
 during an arctic winter. He contributes many important observa- 
 tions as to ice and weather conditions. His picture of the equip- 
 ment and provisions makes rather strange reading in the light of 
 our modern development for exploration purposes. 
 
 THE LION HUNTER, by Ronalyn Gordon- 
 Cumming. The author was an Englishman who was among the 
 first of the now numerous tribe of sportsmen writers. Going out to 
 South Africa in the early half of the last century he found a hunting 
 field as yet untouched; antelope roamed the plains like cattle on a 
 western range and lions were almost as numerous as coyotes in the 
 old cattle days. In the course of his wanderings with the handful 
 of natives, he penetrated the far interior of Africa and finally 
 encountered Livingston. His account of his experiences with 
 dangerous game armed only with the old-fashioned muzzle-loaded 
 rifles makes the exploits of modem sportsmen seem almost puny 
 in their safety. 
 
 HOBART PASHA, by Augustus Charles Hobart- 
 Hampden. Recollections of one of the most remarkable men of 
 the 19th century. He served in the English Navy from 1835-1863, 
 after which he engaged in blockade running in the interest of the 
 Confederacy, in the prosecution of which he had many close shaves 
 but was never caught. He then entered the Turkish navy, built it 
 up and fought against the Russians. The whole book is filled with 
 thrilling adventures and narrow escapes. 
 
 LIFE AMONG THE APACHES, by John C. Cremony. 
 
 He was interpreter of the United States Boundary Commission and 
 served against the Indians as Major of a Califomia regiment 
 during the Civil War. His personal encounters with the Apaches 
 were of the most desperate nature. 
 
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