Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil http://archive.org/details/knockaboutclubinOOstep THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB. By C. A. STEPHENS, AUTHOR OF " THE YOUNG MOOSE-HUNTERS," " CAMPING OUT," ETC. NOW PUBLISHED. KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE WOODS. KNOCKABOUT CLUB ALONGSHORE. KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. — ♦ — TO BE FOLLOWED BY KNOCKABOUT CLUB m the EVERGLADES. A MEMORY OF MEXICO. THE Knockabout Club In the Tropics. THE ADVENTURES OF A PARTY OF YOUNG MEN IN NEW MEXICO, MEXICO, AND CENTRAL AMERICA. BY C. A. STEPHENS, AUTHOR OF "THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB ALONGSHORE," "THE YOUNG MOOSE-HUNTERS," "CAMPING OUT," ETC. FULLY ILLUSTRATED. BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT, 301-305 Washington Street. 1884 Copyright, 1883, By Estes and Lauriat. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE When, Why, and Where n I. In New Mexico .......... 20 II. El Paso . 72 III. Christmas Tide in New Orleans 88 IV. In La Habana ......... 96 V. A Primitive Milk-cart 108 VI. Carnival 128 VII. On Board the "City of Merida" 144 VIII. Harbor of Vera Cruz ........ 152 IX. About the City ......... 164 X. Overland Party . . . . . . . . .181 XI. In Quest of Coal Mines 189 XII. Santa Semana 202 XIII. Another Synod , . 214 XIV POPOCATAPETL 23 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE A Memory of Mexico . . Frontispiece "Well, Gentlemen" (Parlor Car scene) 13 The Peaks of Los Vegas .... 23 A Ground Sweat 24 Santa Fe 25 On the Line of the Railroad . . 26 A Native 27 Ancient Mexican Vase .... 28 Pueblo Interior 29 A Mexican Cart 32 Pioneer Life 33 Pueblo of Taos 36 A New Mexican Hacienda ... 39 Bats Going out ....... 50 Right Hand Half of a Pipe of Peace, 55 Going up the Table-Lands ... 59 Along the Bluff 63 Scene in New Mexico .... 67 " Shades, pe careful vare you shoots ! " 69 A Desert 78 Chihuahua 81 An Interior 84 Getting a Start 86 New Orleans 89 Mouth of the Mississippi River . 92 Jacksonville, Florida 93 St. Augustine 95 PAGE Havana 97 Avenues of Palms 101 Moses' Siesta 105 Cut of Fountain 109. Milk Cart in Havana 113; Scene in Cuba 117 Horses Bathing 119. Attempted Assassination . . . . 121 In Every Land .123 John Chinaman 124 Chinese at his Devotions . . . . 125 Relics of Columbus 126 Gathering Palms 129 Killing the Snake 133 A Tragic Incident 138 In the Wind and Water .... 142 Sea Eagles Fighting 147 Vera Cruz 149 View in Tierra Caliente . . . . 153 Beggar 155 Table-Land of Mexico . . . . 156 Hen-Coop 159 Calendar Stone 160 The Canal — Ruins of covered way to the Inquisition — San Cosme Aqueduct, City of Mexico . . 162 Popocatapetl 165 Virgin of Guadaloupe 167 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Cathedral, Mexico 168 A Dangerous Adventure . . . . 171 Queretaro from the Hill of Bells . 173 Maximilian — Carlotta .... 178 Death of Maximilian 180 Indian Hut 182 Church at Santiago 183 Young Ocelots 187 The Herd of Mountain Sheep . . 190 Silver Mine 191 Prospecting 193 In Mexico 195 Silver Country 198 Street Scene in Mexico .... 203 A Native Lady 205 Canal of La Viga, City of Mexico . 206 Scene during Santa Semana . . 207 PAGE Spanish Beggar in Mexico . . . 208 Spanish Grandee on His Way to the Fight 209 The Matador 212 Chapultepec 213 Castle of Chapultepec .... 217 Pyramid of Cholula 218 Ruins in Mexico 221 Mexican War God, Huitzelopochtli, 223 Aztec Writing 224 Aztec Idol 225 Aztec Numbers 226 Mexican Priests of the Past . . 229 General Porfirio Diaz 230 Game of the Fliers 232 An Ancient Aztec Teocelli . . . 234 Montezuma 236 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. WHEN, WHY, AND WHERE. •IME: Nov. 19th, the season following the cruise of the "Knockabout Club Alongshore," to Greenland in June, and its return to Boston in September. Place: Drawing-room car Las Cruces, Santa Fe Railroad, en route for the city of Mexico via Santa Fe, El Paso, and Chihuahua. The idea of combining study and travel in place of a mere book education, was first broached and put in practice by the Camping-Out Club in 1872. YBAR - Later, the Steamship College Association attempted it Q^rO on a grander scale. The present Knockabout Club has Qua nfl been acting on the same idea now for two seasons past, as recorded in the two preceding volumes of this series of travels. The main points of the scheme will be readily appre- hended from the following record of the proceedings of the club immediately on meeting for the trip, at La Junta, Colorado. For since some members of our fraternity hail from California and some from Massachusetts, this obscure little junction on the plains was the most con- eav. venient place of rendezvous for the tour of Mexico. From this point to El Paso, the exclusive use of the car had J3een secured by the party for seven days, if desired, it being our intention to see whatever was of interest in New Mexico first, and in Old Mexico later. MIDNIGHT. I2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. On this trip our hearts were gladdened by the presence of that former promoter and pioneer of the Steamship College idea, Mr. G. W. Burleigh, whom some of our readers may remember as "Wash." It was he who — by common acclamation — made the informal opening speech as soon as we were comfortably " fixed " in the Las Cruces. " Well, gentlemen," said he, " here we are, and every man of you — if I know myself and can read your faces, knows "what he is here for. It is to prove to the American public that our plan of getting an education is the correct one — prove it by ourselves as an illustra- tion of it. That ma)' not sound modest, if our scribe records it in his book, but it is business, nevertheless. So man}' theories are broached to the public every year that we cannot expect people to hail them all with transports of joy. It is only the theories that are proved to be corj-ect which command attention. All great ideas, too, must have time to take root and grow in the public mind. It was so with rail- ways; it was so with the telegraph; and it will be so with our new plan of education. Its utility and its superiority will have to be demonstrated before our people will accept it. Thus far the idea has had to push its own way to public notice. Ten years ago four boys (Raed, Wade, Wash, and Kit) set off afoot and alone to the Maine woods, studying and making notes on natural history, botany, and geology as they travelled. At night they camped out and cooked their own food. At the end of their tour they came back hale, hearty, and with the feeling that they had taken in a good deal; that they had learned more than if they had been in a college for the same time. Out of this experience, in time, grew the project for a steamship college, — a "college" that should combine travel and stud)' in the most world-wide sense. They worked at this idea and tried to raise the necessary million of dollars to fit out a steamship. But the time was unfortunately chosen. The commercial panic of 1873-74 paralyzed everything. The enterprise came to a standstill; and the Woodruff 5 H W z W w 1-1 H w C3 J WHEN, WHY, AND WHERE. ^ expedition, — an imitation of the Steamship College plan, — which meant well, but was badly managed, gave the public an erroneous impression of our undertaking, which by no means helped it forward. "But a great idea will not die. You, gentlemen, took it up, and are, in a practical and common-sense way, putting it to test, and giving the public the net results of your experience. No better plan could have been chosen. You are doing wisely. Slowly but surely you will win public opinion to this mode of educating boys; and the boys of the next generation will thank you for it. The age of dull, dreary text-books is passing; a better method of teaching is coming in. You, gentlemen, are its pioneers. " I know your plans and methods for this tour of Mexico, I think, but I shall be glad to hear them stated clearly." In response, our Club president, Mr. Dearborn (whom former readers may remember as " Harold "), said: — " Our plans are very simple. We have no constitution or by-laws. We are merely to keep our eyes open as we go, see all we can and make a note of all worth remembering, or which bids fair to be of any use to us in after-life. As we journey, different members of the Club will stop at different places for a few hours, or a day, in order that the whole ground may be covered and as many objects of interest seen as possible. Every evening, or every second or third evening, as most convenient, we are to confer and compare notes. Each one will then tell what he has seen and noted, so that mutually we may each get the benefit of what the whole Club has observed. K Out of all this the scribe is to select what he deems the most inter- esting, which is to be published in book-form for the express purpose of interesting other young men and boys in our mode of education. " As I have said, we have no fixed rules. In fact, I have stated about all there is to state by way of a curriculum. Briefly, it is to travel abroad, see everything worth seeing and take it in, so that it can always be of use." i6 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. " One thing more," Brett remarked. " It is a matter of secondar}' importance, perhaps; but it is one that has been several times sug- gested and Each one is advised to have at hand some really good book, some standard history, scientific work, or novel of the better class, to read at odd hours. This in addition to newspapers CYfN.V. and maga- ^'^W^V'iMr zines, which ^K^^:^t$J3 every one • *^ y ^iV4i$&$ reads, of course, and which really form one of the best helps to education that the times afford." WHEN, WHY, AND WHERE. J 7 " It has sometimes been talked, too," remarked Davis, (Moses O.) " that different members of the Club should direct their attention specially in different lines of observation. For example, Brother Stein has sometimes looked after the mineralogy and geology of a country, having a taste, personally, for those things. On the other hand, Forney, who has had the advantages of a West Point course of study, attends to the military matters and looks up the forts and soldiers. For a like reason, Mr. Garland, whose previous studies have been of a theological nature, makes a specialty of the churches, reli- gion, and morals of the people. While Karzy attends to the pictures, statuary, and art matters generally; also makes pictures for the pub- lished account of the tour, and intends taking photographic views, if I rightly construe the purport of that little portable camera which adorns his hips at odd hours. In this way a profitable division of labor, or rather of eyesight, is proportioned off; and the results thus far have been, to speak conventionally, of a highly satisfactory char- acter. In other words, it works well." **■ Yes, it works well in Moses' opinion," Karzy observed. " For in the way he has divided the labor of eyesight, you will observe that he has taken no share to himself. That suits Moses." " If I have arrogated no part of this responsibility to myself it is from my modesty, I am sure," insisted Moses. " Besides, I have a share and a heavy one; I have the whole Club to lookout for. I have to labor with railway conductors and intimidate sleepy car-porters and hotel-clerks. I have to get bargains in cars, and, generally speaking, stand between the great, hard-fisted world and my more ethereally minded fellow-clubsmen. Why, I hired this car for seventy dollars when our worthy president was just going to pay a hundred and ten. I got c circus rates ' for the whole Club, when our friend, the scribe, was just on the point of paying regular fare. Same thing at the hotels, too. Do you call that no share, my boy? Why, my dear fellow, if you. were to let these Western railroads and hotels have their !§ THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. own sweet will with us we should reach the far-famed city of the Montezumas only to enter a third-class poor-house, if they have them. Without arrogance, as I said, I deem myself the financial backstay of the whole Club. It is my business to see that nobody beats us, and, well, to beat the other side as much as is consistent with the dignity of the Club. I've got a gauge on that. It is my sphere to level all obstacles which get in our way. In fact, to use a railroad term, I'm the cow-catcher of this party; and I don't spare myself. For instance, at Denver, where I obtained ! circus rates' at the hotel there for the party, the clerk had the impudence to ask me if I were the clown. Now, in all fairness, I judged that to be a joke and a too personal one to let him get away with and still command his highest respect, which I was bound to have, of course. I took time. I looked him all over, his diamond pin and all; then I reached over slowly and putting my hand confidentially on his shoulder, drew him over toward me, with an amount of physical power which I think our friend Stein here would have estimated at three hundred foot-pounds. I fairly raised him on to the register and whispered in his ear, "Yes, marm, I'm just that, and if you are not satisfied about me, I will give you (here I put about three hundred foot-pounds more) a perfectly satisfactory guar- antee.' "*Allright! all right!' said he. That's all right! ' and I eased him back. You see how I have to work." "Yes," said Harold, "Moses is all he claims to be, ay, more. He is more than the backstay he is the backbone, and a big one. But there is another matter. When we first began our series of trips and tours, we were nicknamed the Knockabout Club by outsiders, who only partially comprehended our motives for travel. That name stuck to us and we adopted it. But there are certain members who objected to the name, as sounding too rough-and-tumble, and as calculated to give the public an erroneous idea of our scheme of self-education. One member wishes the Club to be rechristened as The Athenian WHEN, WHY, AND WHERE. r 9 Club, because, he says, we are like the ancient Athenians, in that we are on the lookout constantly to hear or find out some new thing." "I suggest in all seriousness, gentlemen, that we be called the Athenian Club," said Karzy. " I like that name far better." Some discussion followed. Several other names were suggested. But the majority did not believe it worth the while to change the name. This sentiment was fairly well expressed by Moses O., who said: — " Let folks call us what they like. If we are all right, fair, square, and honorable, and put our idea through, we shall make any name they choose to call us respectable. We are no dilettantes, anyhow. The Knockabout Club is a good enough name for us. It's like a stiff brown paper cover; it will wear well and won't show dirt. A nicer one, with ferns and lilies on it, might get soiled." So the matter of the Club name was tabled for the present. CHAPTER I. IN NEW MEXICO. ADOBE PEOPLE. EL PASO. THE CLUB IN SYNOD. A CROUND SWEAT. A CHINESE FUNERAL. SANTE FE. OLD SPANISH MINING. — TURQUOIS. KARZY'S STORY OF TURLEY's MILL. IN A KANSAS PARLOR. A DROLL MINE. MILLIONS OF THEM ? INDIANS, BOYS, AND BATS. A BEE STORY. BEARS. A SORELY TROUBLED DUTCHMAN. ROM La Junta, five hours across the plains, and through the outlying spurs of the Rockies, brought us to the long tunnel (700 meters), where the railway pierces the " divide " and crosses the boundary between Colorado and New Mexico. Immediately we reached the flourishing new town of Raton (the word means mouse), situated in the midst of char- acteristic New-Mexican scenery: plains bounded all around by tall, saw-tooth peaks, now clad in snow. Snow, indeed, was seen lying to the &j///um;M B S^==3i depth of three and four inches on the ground beside the track. This was on the 19th of November. It must be borne in mind that New Mexico lies at an elevation of from five thousand to seven thousand feet above sea- level. The Americans here are either miners and stock-raisers, or rail- way employees. There is, moreover, a kind of groicnd population of mongrel Mexicans who live in adobe huts, at scattered ranches and in old mission hamlets. The external characteristics of these AT EL PASO. 21 indigines are squalor, stagnancy, and perennial small-pox. Once seen is seen enough. Of all the animal species which old Mother Earth has from time to time produced, the genus "Greaser" is about the dullest and most hopeless. The larger New-Mexican towns — Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Albu- querque, Socorro — are at present in a curious state of transition from " Greaser " lethargy to West-American push and rush. Whether the "Greaser" can be waked up into a citizen is the standing problem in these parts just now. There are bets on it even. No one can quite say as yet. He looks very tired, very sleepy. It is, in truth, a tired race. Karzy and Mr. Garland stopped off at Raton — to explore. Moses, Harold, "Wash," and the scribe left the car at Las Vegas and went up to the hot-springs, distant six miles. These hot sulphur springs are becoming within the last two years a notable resort for invalids. But our party went merely to see the place and get a good dinner at its really fine hotel. A good dinner and a comfortable hotel are not yet so common in New Mexico as to be objects of indiffer- ence. Stein, Brett, and Forney continued on to Santa Fe and Albu- querque; and it was not till the twenty-fourth of the month, five days after, that we all met again, at El Paso, on the frontier. El Paso, situated as it is at the gateway of travel and trade into Mex- ico, will no doubt be one of the leading cities of the Southwest in the not distant future. But it is located in a terribly dreary region, a desert, which stretches east and west from Middle Texas to Fort Yuma. Little or no rain, a pitiless summer sun, and dust blizzards, so dense that a man may get lost in his own door-yard, are the climatic features. As the car was still at our service, we thought it as well to lodge in it and have our food brought from a restaurant. It was on the car, therefore, that we had our first dinner together, and then proceeded to compare notes and tell what each had seen and heard in New Mexico. 22 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. Harold, acting as chairman for the time, opened the " synod " by asking Moses O. what he knew; /"^ "What do you know to-day, Moses?" was his question. / \ .X\ .\ ^stiSgl rffl i ' ver)' prop-g,~5*^^^g erly object-^p-^:"^^^^'^ ed. Well,'"' ^^ then, what have you seen?" "I've seen a man take a. ground sweat" replied Moses. K K ground sweat 1 That sounds serious," Brett said. A GROUND SWEAT. 23 "Not very serious; on the contrary, it was rather laughable," said Moses; whereupon he discoursed to us as follows on the subject: — A GROUND SWEAT. Now and then we hear of a sick person who, seized by some instinctive impulse, has had himself buried to the chin in the ground ; and either from the corrective properties resident in the bosom of Mother Earth, or from the ener- getic action of his faith, a cure has followed on the whim. The earth, meaning the fresh, clean ground, is undoubtedly surcharged with electric and vital forces, since all forms of life are seen to rise from its surface. At Las Vegas we witnessed a more practical and systematic appli- cation of the ground-cure idea. Here at the foot of the mountains, on the south banks of the Rio Gallinas, are numerous hot sulphur springs, where from time immemorial the Mexican people had been wont to bathe for various diseases. An extensive bath- house has been erected within the past year, into which the hot water from the various springs, to the num- ber of eighteen or twenty, is brought, and the accommodations greatly en- larged for taking both tub and vapor baths, for the purification of diseased organisms. The earth below the springs through which the mineral waters trickled down to the river has been found to be very strongly impreg- nated with these chemical elements, which the water brings up from deep in the earth. Of late, the idea of giv- ing invalids a "ground sweat," so to speak, in this chemically strong earth, has entered the minds of physicians, and been put in practice, with good results, it is alleged. THE PEAKS OF LAS VEGAS. 2 4 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. On the day of our visit the bath-house, or rather the bath-shed, presented a truly singular spectacle. Four long, deep bath-troughs of deal planks were here set in a row. Each was filled to the brim with black mud of the consistency of thick treacle, and of a temperature of from ninety-eight to one hundred and six degrees. At the hour when we entered the shed each of the troughs had at one end what looked to be a human head set on a little brown rubber pillow. And they were heads ! Immediately they began to smile, then to talk. Nor were they dissevered heads. The bodies to which they belonged were simply down in the black mud out of sight. The heat can be increased to as hot as the person can bear. A strong odor of sulphur emanates I I from the mud ; and on the whole the association of ideas and odors was hardly pleasant, and had a purgatorial suggestion. Yet for persons in limbo the bathers A GROUND SWEAT. seemed quite merry ; they talked, joked, laughed. Often they remain in the mud for an hour or more, and come out in a somewhat parboiled condition, but much regenerated physically, as they seemed to think. The superintendent told us of several apparently wonderful cures ; and if ever any of you are so unfortunate as to be troubled with ailments of an obscure nature, I should be inclined to advise a ground sweat. " We will think of it," said Harold. SANTE FE. 25 " Santa Fe is really a rather interesting old town," said Stein. " It is the second oldest town in the United States, I believe, if not the first. Before the building of railroads west of the Mississippi it was the headquarters and point of departure for all the wagon-trains, which then carried on the trade of the north Territories. In fact, our route down into New Mexico was along the old * Santa Fe Trail,' or wagon- road. "The Spaniards came up here from their then newly con- quered vice-royalty of Mexico, as early as the middle of the sixteenth century. The Indian popula- tion — of which the present Zunis and Pueblos are the feeble de- scendants — then numbered hundreds of thousands. " The Spaniards set them all to work in the mines, getting out silver; and there is little doubt that the conquerors secured millions of dollars worth of this metal. These early miners knew nothing of the high explosives; they transported their ores on the backs of mules and men, hundreds of miles, to be smelted in the most primitive man- ner, yet wealth flowed into the lap of Spain in such profusion as to as- SANTE FE. 26 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB TN THE TROPICS. tonish all Christendom. At present, one miner can do as much work in a day as a score could have done two centuries ago in the same time. " I visited an old turquoise mine near Santa Fe, where vast num- ON THE LINE OF THE RAILROAD. bers of these then precious gems were worked out. This old mine is in what the Indians called Mount Chalchuitl, which is the native name for turquoise. "The rocks which form Mount Chalchuitl are distinguished from those of the surrounding and associated ranges by their white color and decomposed appearance, closely resembling tuff and kaolin, and living evidence to the observer, familiar with such phenomena, of ex- tensive and profound alteration; due probably to the escape through THE TURQUOISE MINES. -1 them at this point of heated vapor of water, and perhaps of other vapors and gases, by the action of which the original crystalline struc- ture of the mass has been completely decomposed or metamorphosed, with the production of new chemical com- pounds. Among these the turquoise is the most conspicuous and important. In this yel- lowish-white and kao- lin-like tufaceous rock the turquoise is found in thin veinlets or little balls of concentrations called f nuggets,' cov- ered with a crust of nearly white tuff, which within consists gener- ally as seen on a cross fracture of the less valued varieties of this gem, but occasionally afford fine sky-blue stones of higher value for ornamental pur- poses. Blue-green stains are seen in every direction among the decomposed rocks; but the turquoise in masses of any commercial value is extremely rare, and many tons of the rock may be broken without finding a single stone which a jeweller, or virtuoso, would A NATIVE. value as a gem. " One is deeply impressed, on inspecting this locality, with the enormous amount of labor which in ancient times has been expended 28 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. here. The waste of debris excavated in the former workings cover an era of at least twenty acres. On the slopes and sides of the great piles of rubbish are growing large cedars and pines, the age of which — judging from their size and slowness of growth in this very dry region — must be reckoned by centuries. It is well known that in 1680 a large section of the mountain suddenly fell in from the under- mining of the mass \)y the Indian miners, killing a considerable num- ber; and it was this accident which caused the great rebellion of the Pueblos and the expulsion of the Spaniards in that year, two cen- turies since. " The irregular openings in the mountain called r wonder-caves ' are the works of the old miners. It was this sharp slope of the mountain which fell. In these chambers, which have some ex- tent of ramification, are found abundantly the fragments of ancient pottery, with a few entire vessels, some of them of curious workmanship, orna- mented in the style of color so familiar in the Mexican pottery. Associated with these were numerous stone hammers, some to be held in the hand and others swung as sledges, fashioned with wedge-shaped edges and a groove for a handle. A hammer weighing over twenty pounds was found, to which the wyth was still attached, with its oak handle — the same scrub oak which is found growing abundantly on the hillsides — now quite well pre- served after at least two centuries of entombment in this perfectly dry rock. "The stone used for these hammers is hard, tough hornblende. ANCIENT MEXICAN VASE. D O O « Id D a. o w H z THE TURQUOISE MINES. 31 With these rude tools and without iron or steel, using fire in place of explosives, these patient old workers managed to break down and remove the incredible masses of these tufaceous rocks which form the mounds already described. " That considerable quantities of the turquoise were obtained can hardly be questioned. We know that the ancient Mexicans attached great value to this ornamental stone, as the Indians do to this day. "The familiar tale of the gift of the large and costly turquoise by Montezuma to Cortez for the Spanish crown, as narrated by Clavigero in his history of Mexico, is evidence of its high estimation. " It is not known that any other locality in America has furnished turquoise in any considerable quantity; the only other place being that Columbus district in Nevada discovered by Mr. J. E. Clayton, and is not yet worked. " Chemically turquoise is a hydrous aluminum phosphate. Its blue color is due to a variable quantity of copper oxide, derived from asso- ciated rocks. It is found that the Cerrillos turquoise contains 3.81 per cent, of this metal, formula phosphoric acid 32.26, alumina 47.0, water 20.5." " For your incidents and those facts which you have taken pains to make exact and scientific, we are greatly obliged, Stein," said Harold. "And now Karzy, what have you seen or heard, of interest?" "I don't know that it will at all interest you; but I have heard and written out, at some length, the story of a New-Mexican pioneer who seems to have been a rather remarkable man, and whose fate was a sad one. But as I said, I fear you will find it but tiresome." "Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating," observed Moses. " Go ahead with your little story. Anything historic should be of some value. " Whereupon Karzy read an account of — 32 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. THE STORMING OF TURLEY'S MILL. The stirring and often sanguinary annals of New Mexico, in her earlier days, contain nothing more thrilling, nor more apt to inspire pity and indignation, than the fate of one of her first American settlers, named Turley. Turley settled in the Territory as early as 1837. He made his home not very far from Santa Fe, on a small river known as the Arroyo Hondo ; and here, A MEXICAN CART. within a few years, he had by far the most flourishing rancho in the whole Taos district. Herds of cattle, goats and sheep fed on the slopes of the Sierra. Innumer- able hogs swarmed in his corrals ; while broad, enclosed fields produced great crops of corn and wheat. With true Yankee enterprise, Turley built a heavy dam on the Hondo, which gave him water-power for a large grist-mill, the only one in that section. In so remote a country everything had to be home-made, and Turley seems to have been a man of boundless ingenuity. He contrived looms and spinning-wheels as STREET SCENE IN TAOS. STREET SCENE IN TAOS. ,e well as mill-stones. In fact, his rancho contained within its corrals all the in- dustries of a town. All the things necessary to comfortable civilized life were made there, and made in profusion. His wife was a Mexican ; and the Americans in his employ had, many of them, also married Mexican wives. Rosy children, uniting the fair com- plexions of the Anglo-Saxon with the darker tint of their Mexican mothers, played along the Hondo, making its banks echo to their juvenile merriment. Many Mexicans and Pueblo Indians worked for Turley, and were always so well fed and well paid, that a contest often arose among them for a chance to hire at the grand rancho del Americano. Turley is still further mentioned as being one of the most jolly, good- natured fellows in existence ; one of those big-hearted men who endear them- selves to all about them, — hearty, bluff, manly souls, yet with the tender hearts of women. His kindness and generosity were unlimited. No hungry Mexican or Co- manche Indian (even when at war) was ever turned away from Turley's. He fed all- alike, and treated every man who came to him, whether savage or civilized, as a brother. If a wanderer could but make his way to Arroyo Hondo he was sure of welcome and aid. Such was Turley when the political difficulties between Texas and Mexico, which finally terminated in the Mexican war, broke out. All the American settlers of New Mexico were in jeopardy as to their lives and property. Turley, however, took no precautions, believing that the service he had rendered the people would be a sufficient safeguard, and deeming himself, indeed, a citizen of the country. One morning in December, that year, a man named Otterbees, in Turley's employ, who had been sent to Santa Fe a few days before, suddenly made his appearance at the gate of the corral, and in great alarm announced that the Mexicans and Pueblo Indians had risen and massacred Governor Bent and all the other Americans in the place. " And they are on their way here this very moment ! " concluded Otterbees. " Fly for your lives ! " "Fly ! " exclaimed Turley, contemptuously. " I'm a citizen of New Mexico. I've lived by its laws, and treated every man in it as if he were my own brother. They won't hurt me." " You don't know them ' Greasers' yet ! " cried Otterbees. "But you soon will ! " he added, and spurring his horse galloped off. But Turley would not believe in the danger ; or if danger there were, he was resolved to stand by his property. 36 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. There were at that time nine Americans at the mill, — pioneers and hunters, — all dead shots. They closed the gates of the corral and prepared their arms. None too quickly ! For within less than two hours an uproar of wild shouts was heard, and immediately several hundred Mexicans and Indians made their appearance in the road, armed with guns, lances, bows and arrows. Among them were several Mexican officers. Advancing to the gate, they shouted for Turley, who at once stepped forth and asked what was wanted. "Give up the rancho and all the Americans in it," said an interpreter. " Your own life shall be spared, but every other American in Taos dies to-day." PUEBLO OF TAOS. " My own life ! " shouted Turley in great anger. " Do you think I would give up my countrymen to have their throats cut?" Never! Do your worst ; I'll fight you with my last breath ! " Then was seen the full extent of Mexican ingratitude. " Maten los Tcja?ios! Maten los burros ! — Kill the Texans ! Kill the jackasses !" was the cry. The mill and other enclosed buildings lay at the foot of a gradual slope of the TURLETS MILL. 37 Sierra, which was covered with cedar scrub. In front, about twenty five yards below the corral, ran the Hondo. The banks were steep and broken. In the rear was some garden ground, enclosed by lower fences. In this plat a wicket gate opened from the main corral. The crowd of Indians and Mexicans surrounded the place on all sides, and keeping in cover of the cedar and broken ground opened a brisk fire of bullets and arrows whenever any one within the corral showed himself. But the defenders, meantime, were not idle. If an Indian or a Mexican ex- posed himself in the scrub there whistled a ball from an unerring rifle, and within the first hour numbers of the attacking party were shot down. The windows of the mill and still-house were blocked with wheat in bags, leaving only loop-holes through which to fire. The stock of ammunition, however, was not large, there being but about sixty shots for each man. The afternoon passed in this way and darkness set in. All night the nine Americans stood at their posts, watching every manoeuvre of their enemies with grim determination. Firing went on by spells whenever one party caught sight of the other. Fresh props were set at the gates, and every window and door was barricaded still more strongly. Turley was everywhere, and his constant word was, " Cheer up, men ! We may beat 'em off yet ! " In the morning it was found that the Mexicans had effected a lodgment in the horse-sheds, which stood a little apart from the other buildings, but one end of which adjoined the side of the mill. Protected by the shed, they were striv- ing to break a hole through the wall of the mill. But the great strength and thickness of the adobes and logs of which it was composed resisted their efforts Completely. At length, finding their position in the shed of no use to them, they seemed anxious to get out of it. To get out, now that it was light, however, they were obliged to cross an open space of a few yards, to gain cover of an angle of the corral fence. Two or three darted across unhurt. Then, the attention of the defenders being called to their ruse, a man named Albert covered the spot with his rifle ; and the next one who started to run across was shot on the instant, and fell dead in the centre of the open space. It chanced to be a Pueblo chief, and immediately one of his followers dashed out and attempted to drag the body away. Again Albert's rifle poured forth its deadly contents on the instant, and the Indian, struck to the heart, fell upon the body of his expiring chief. Nothing daunted, however, another rushed out, and still another ; but both fell, mortally wounded, under the unerring aim of the pioneers. After a pause of a few moments, three Indians darted out together, and 3S THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. seizing their chief by the arms and head, had lifted the body off the ground, when three puffs of smoke blew from the barricaded windows of the mill, fol- lowed by the loud cracks of as many rifles. The three daring Pueblos leaped wildly into the air, and fell upon the ghastly heap which already encumbered the little open plat. Up to this time the defenders had suffered no loss. As if maddened bv this exhibition of marksmanship, both Indians and Mexicans raised a yell, and rush- ing forth from their coverts, ran up close to the mill, all firing at once. Eight or nine of them were shot ; but two of the Americans were mortally wounded at the same instant. One died in a few minutes ; but the other, who was shot through the lower part of the body, suffered great agony. They bore him into the still-house and laid in a large bin of wheat, that being the softest couch to be found. All day he lay there, moaning piteously ; for the remaining seven did not dare to leave their posts to attend him. About midday the attack was renewed more fiercely than before, the Indians having grown furious from so many baffled attempts, and the loss of so many of their warriors. The little garrison withstood it bravely, never wasting a shot, but firing coolly and only when a fair mark was presented to their certain aim. Not more than ten shots now remained to them, however ; and to add to the danger of their situation the Indians succeeded in firing the roof of the mill with blazing arrows. It flamed up fiercely and bade fair to involve the whole rancho in destruction. But at this juncture Turley hoisted the gates of the sluice, letting water into the basement, and with the aid of buckets they partially extinguished the fire. Coals and blazing brands fell about them, however ; and fire was constantly breaking out from this cause in the lower part of the mill, which was only put out by vigorous efforts. While thus employed the assailants battered a gap in the corral, and in their blind fury shot and speared the hogs and cattle, which had been shut up since the day before. A few volleys drove them back again ; but these reduced the ammunition of the Americans to three or four rounds. A successful defence through another night being now hopeless, they held council, and agreed that as soon as darkness fell, each man should attempt to cut his way out as best he could and take to the Sierra as a last chance. Acting on this plan, Albert and another man, just at dusk, dashed out at the wicket-gate that opened into the garden, firing their rifles full in the faces of the Mexicans. In the confusion Albert threw himself under the log fence, among high weeds. While lying there unobserved he saw his comrade shot down but a few steps off. < Z a u < S < w s TURLEY' S MILL. , x Crouching motionless under the fence till the darkness had deepened, Albert was able to creep unnoticed into the cedar scrub, and thus he gained the Sierra. Two days later he reached the American settlement on the Greenhorn, nearly dead with thirst and fatigue. Turley himself made his way out through the sluice of the mill, and keeping under water all but his head, went some distance up the Hondo. The next morning, as he was following a trail some miles to the northward, he met a mounted Mexican whom he had often befriended, named Lorando. This man bad but recently spent a fortnight at the mill on a visit to Turley. Thinking he might confide in the Mexican, Turley told what had occurred. " You see what a strait I'm in, Lorando," said he. " Let me have your horse. Here is my gold watch. I'll swap with you." With a perfidy worthy of Judas, Lorando professed friendship, but refused to give Turley the horse, on the plea that he might be found out by so doing. But he told Turley to hide during the day at a deserted rancho near by, and that the following night he would come to him with food and a mule. This Turley was induced to do, for he supposed that he had bound Lorando to him by so many benefits that he could not find it in his heart to doubt him. Lorando rode straight to the mill, which the Mexicans were now plundering, and informed them of Turley's whereabouts. As soon as night came thirty of the inhuman wretches, with Lorando at their head, rode to the place where Turley was concealed. Stationing the gang about the yard, Lorando went to the door and called to the American. On the unfortunate man's coming out, they fired on him and he fell, stricken with a score of balls. Thus perished Turley, — a man worthy of a better fate. Of the four other brave defenders of the mill, only two escaped, and they, too, almost by a miracle, later in the evening, and made their way northward. " Well told, Karzy, but just a little too long," said Harold. " So I was afraid," replied Karzy penitently. " Now, Mr. Presi- dent, as a specimen of proper brevity, please give us one of your experience. Make it just as short as — it ought to be." " The sarcasm is deserved, Karzy," said Harold good humoredly. "And it is all the sharper that I have been so indolent as to see but little worth telling. In fact, the most interesting thing I have seen since starting on this trip was in a lady's parlor up in Kansas." a 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. "In a lady's parlor!" exclaimed Moses. "That sounds romantic. But I fear it is only a repetition of some of those experiences which brother Harold had while on our bycicle tour down East." " No, brother Moses, quite another thing, I assure you. Listen, please. It is of interest as being one of the beginnings of a great future industry. As I came through Kansas, I left the railway at Lawrence and took a buggy ride down into the country, to look up a cousin of mine who has located in that quarter. On my way I got lost and had to beg a dinner at a farm-house away out on one of those boundless expanses which they call a county. There was but a single lad}' — I mean one lady — at the house. She entertained me very kindly, however, and after dinner and some current conversation, asked me if I would not like to take a look into her parlor. I thought that was sort of funny, but of course I said * yes ' and f delighted I'm sure.' K She opened the door, and, expecting to see the usually monoto- nous stuffed furniture, the bric-a-brac, the cabinet organ, the stereop- ticon, the photograph album, and the autograph album, for which I was already inwardly conning an appropriate sentiment from Tenny- son, I locked in. " Now if there is one thing more than another in which American ladies show an utter lack of originality it is in their parlors. All are after one model. If ever anywhere you find one differing from the standard, it is from the shape of the house or some other circumstance over which the lady herself had no control, and which you are sure to find her lamenting from a full heart. "Judge of my surprise, then, to see three long tables covered with fresh green leaves, which somehow seemed all in motion! Even the window seats and the chairs were laden with green leaves and sprays, and as to the floor, it was covered with bare twigs. To my look of abject astonishment the lady laughed merrily. 5 How do you like my furniture?' she said. Q W OS o H en W Pi o CQ hi P A KANSAS PARLOR. ,r "Something still more odd — for a parlor — had arrested my atten- tion. It was a great green worm, somewhat like a maple-worm. It lay among the green leaves and was feeding on them. There were scores, hundreds, thousands of these great worms! " ' What are these, madam ? ' I asked. "'My silkworms,' she said. "'And this foliage?' 'Mulberry leaves from these hedges round my garden. I bring in bushels of them every day. See the bare stems on the floor! ' " I began to comprehend. ' Yes,' continued the lad)', ' I started two years ago. George — that's my husband — laughed at me at first. He works hard; but unless it is a better year than last, I shall clear more off my cocoons than he will oft" his farm corn. I get seventy cents a pound for the cocoons. What 's the good of a parlor shut up from one week's end to another!' she exclaimed. 'I have little time to sit in one. So I've decorated mine with mulberry leaves I and I have my attic and spare chamber. all full of worms too. It is really pretty work to feed them.' "'Well, this is, indeed, a new departure,' I said, — 'an original idea? ' r 'No, I got it from the Mennonites, those Russian refugees who came to Kansas eight or ten years ago. They brought silk culture here, and imported the mulberry shrubs from Southern Russia. Their women reel the silk off the cocoon, but that takes a great deal of skill and practice. I prefer to sell my cocoons to the factory folks.' " Surely, I thought, here is a hint for many a lady with a meagre family purse and a shut-up parlor. For the business requires little or no capital for starting." " And now, Mr. Burleigh, what adventures have you met with of late?" 4 6 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. "No adventures,*' said Wash. "I met an old schoolmate, how- ever, at Las Vegas." " Well, that was pleasant, no doubt." "' Yes, it does seem good to meet an old chum. John Coombs and I were at the same school, as boys, and were at one time room-mates. I ran plump against him at the Plaza Hotel, but had not seen him for six years. He is located in Texas. " I'm working a mine over there,' he said. ' A mine! ' I replied. "Gold or silver?' " ' Neither/ " " What, — copper ? ' I asked. "'No.' "'Oh, coal, then.' "'Wrong again; and it isn't iron, nor quicksilver, nor tin, nor plumbago," said he. "Some metaphorical mine, I suppose; some bonanza in stocks, some horse ranch, some ostrich farm,' I said. '"No, no; a real bona-fide mine. I'm getting out five tons of ore every day. Good ore, too; runs fifty dollars to the ton." "Of course I grew curious, hearing that. A fellow cannot travel here in New Mexico and Colorado without getting a touch of the mining fever. You know how it is yourself. This mining malaria is in the air out here. But not another word about his mine could I get out of John. 'Come over to see me,' said he. ' It 's worth your while, really.' That was all he would say; he was only there for a few hours. "I kept thinking about it all that evening; and next morning I looked up the trains and found that I could get round in three days. So I sent John a telegram and set oft" into Texas; there 's where I've been. " At D (the station where John had told me to get off" if I came) I found him waiting for me with a wagon and two mules, and a ride of ten or twelve miles across the rolling prairie up into the Llnno estacado brought us tn his place. It was dark by the time MINING IN THE SOUTHWEST. A DROLL MINE. 49 we arrived; but I saw what looked to be a derrick and windlass for hoisting- ore out of a shaft, also two or three sheds full of barrels and boxes. "John was keeping bachelor's hall, with a Chinaman to cook for him, in a small board cottage near by. We had a very nice dinner and talked of old times at school till nine or ten o'clock. By that time, feeling pretty sleepy, I was ready to turn in. As yet John had said nothing of his mine. I concluded that he was keeping it all till the next day. My bunk was a comfortable one; and I slept soundly till about five o'clock the next morning, when I was awakened by a singular roaring noise. At first I thought that it was the wind — that a ' norther' had swept down upon us. But it sounded too steady for the wind. I lay and listened to it for some moments. "John was up, moving about at the further end of the room. At length I called to him. 'Whatever is that noise?' I said. 'Is the chimney afire ? ' " Oh, no,' said he. ' That's my mine. It is sticking in now. At night from five to seven it blows off. From daybreak till after sun- rise it sucks in.' " ' You must have a queer kind of engine,' I remarked. "'Oh, it's not the engine at all. It's the mine.' " ' Look here, John, have n't you given me taffy enough about this mine?' I observed. " ' No taffy at all,' protested my friend. ' Come out and see it suck in.' " I hastily dressed and followed him forth. The moment we opened the door and stepped out, the roaring noise was increased tenfold. It was still dark. The stars shone ; the morning star had risen golden bright; while over the post oaks, off to the west, a segment of pale old moon hung like a whitish feather. But that noise! the whole air seemed to whirr to it, — to flutter deafeningly as when a train stops and the engine is very hot after a long run ; you know what a 5° THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. strange detonating sort of noise the steam will make. This made me think of it. And all out to the left of the windlass frame there seemed to be a dense black cloud, which I took to be smoke, rising to the very zenith! "John led the way out past the shed, for a hundred metres or more, till we came to the edge of a chasm, or canon, in the limestone ' strata, several hundred feet wide and of unknown depth. Down into this chasm, at our very feet, the vast, black cloud, roaring, whizzing, was descending — not rising — rushing downward like water into the vor- tex of a tunnel, with a maelstrom- like force and velocity which was absolutely terrific! It gave me the same feeling, the same sense of power, as when 5 r ears ago I first stood at BATS GOING OUT. the foot of Niagara and looked up at the plunging torrents of green water. BATS. r I K r For heaven's sake, John, what is this thing? ' I shouted. " c Why, bats! — bats! Don't you see them! All down under here is a bat-cave — acres and acres of it. This cave is my mine. It's sucking in, now. The bats are going to roost. It's the guano, bat-guano, that I'm getting out. The floor of the cave is bedded with it. In some places it is ten feet deep, solid guano, and there 's acres and acres of it. I've never half explored the cave yet.' " c And these are all bats!' I exclaimed. "'All bats. There are millions of them. They go out of the cave at nightfall in just such a stream, to catch flies, gnats, mosquitoes, what not in the way of insects, worms, and grubs, and come back at daybreak, as you see. Always just so, except in case of a heavy storm, and two or three weeks of the coldest winter weather, when they seem to hibernate and hang dormant from the roof of the cave.' K It had grown a little lighter, and I saw now that the roaring, whir- ring cloud was indeed composed of bats. Above the noise of their wings I could now distinguish a multitudinous, mournful squeaking. There were thousands, yes, millions of them; and the velocity with which they shot down into the chasm from high up in the sky was absolutely appalling. " How they managed to turn at the bottom of the chasm and dart laterally into the mouth of their cavern, I cannot understand. To look up into the cloud was like looking up into a dense, driving snow- storm. Overhead the air was full of them; and they came down each with a sharp zerp-zerfil It was wonderful, gentlemen, — about the most wonderful thing I ever witnessed. And that torrent of bats con- tinued to whizz down like that for more than two hours steadily! " It was only at sunrise that the cloud thinned off; and even then detached and scattered bands of them kept coming at intervals, till half past seven or eight o'clock. " After breakfast we put on some old oilcloth suits, and taking each a lantern, went down by a circuitous path into the chasm, and came 5 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. along to the mouth of the cave — a large, irregular orifice eight or ten feet in height, by thirty or forty in width, opening back into darkness, over great black bowlders. Numbers of bats were still flitting: about; but it was not till we had scrambled into the cave fifty or sixty feet that we began to see them hanging in patches to the rocks overhead. The squealing was here incessant; and on thrusting up a lantern, hundreds of them would go flapping and scurrying along. Each bat hung to the roof by his claws, head downward. The further we went back into the cave, the denser grew the patches of bats, till at length the rocks above were seen to be covered with one continuous coat of them, often two or three thick; and in places they hung in festoons. " Meantime the dropping of their ordure was incessant and sounded like rain. I saw, too, that the bottom of the cavern was alive with beetles and grubs, which seemed to be pulverizing the guano, which glistened in the light as if full of bits of mica. My friend said that this appearance was owing to the undigested wings of the insects upon which the bats feed. The entire place had a very strong odor of ammonia, with which the guano is powerfully impregnated — hence its value as a fertilizer. For it is for shipment as a fertilizer for worn-out soils that my friend is getting out the guano. At present there is a good market for it. w Counting four hundred bats to the square }'ard — a low estimate — we reckoned that there were twenty millions of bats in those parts of the cave which we explored that day! " No doubt that the bats have made this and scores of other similar caves which are known to exist in this section their habitat for ages. The great deposits of guano would seem to indicate as much. " 'Do they breed here? ' I asked. " For answer, John held up his lantern to a little cranny in the pitted, rough limestone roof; and I saw, back in a little hole, a most curious sight, — a female bat suckling four little pinkish-colored young, seemingly but a few days old. For as you know, the bat is a kind of winged mouse and brings forth its young as do mice. THE MINE. r, " Every crack and hole is alive with just such pigmy families," my friend said. I remained till night, and saw the innumerable troop depart on their nocturnal hunt after insects. Shortly after five o'clock they be- gan to issue forth, in little squads at first, but soon with the same torrent-like rush with which I had beheld them come in at dawn; with this difference, however, in the morning they had seemed to return from a great height and to drop, or rather shoot down, to the mouth of their cave. But at eventide they rise out of the chasm and move off in a solid column close to the surface of the prairie. As far as I could see, they kept in this dense array; and my friend tells me that on several occasions when out in the country he has met this dusky column, moving swiftly on, yet still keeping together, at a dis- tance of seven or eight miles from the cave. How many billions of flies, gnats, and mosquitoes they snap up during a night I may safely leave to your conjecture, gentlemen. To me it was one of the most striking and interesting phases of animal life which I have ever witnessed; and I hope some naturalist will ere long make the habits of one of these innumerable bat-swarms a matter of careful study. " Oddly enough," said Mr. Garland, " I have heard a bat story, with which there was connected an Indian adventure. A young man, named Gillespie, up at Raton, told it. As to the bats, I thought the story an exaggeration at first; but after what Mr. Burleigh has himself seen, I see no reason to doubt it. This man, Gillespie, said that not very long after his parents moved into Texas (they came from New Jersey in 1872, I think he stated) he and his brother had a very narrow escape from some Indians. But I will try, if I can, to give the story in his words: — My folks (he said) had located in the northern part of Kinney County, very near, if not over, the line in " the Bexar territory," as it is called, on a branch of the Nueces River. Further south the branch is dry toward the latter 54 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. part of summer for miles and miles ; but there are springs of good sweet water up here, which have not failed as yet. My father had prospected these springs while out with a land-locating party the previous year ; and, liking the place pretty well, he drove up a hundred and thirty head of cattle that fall, built a house during the winter, and moved in the following spring. There is a good growth of mesquite, post-oak, and a few walnut trees about the spring heads. Our first house was built of mesquite logs, and the cattle- pens were set with mesquite and oak posts. The timber is all in the valley, or canon, as it is called, of the branch ; the valley, or bottom, varying from half a mile to a mile in width. Bluffs, and, in some places, cliffs, a hundred feet and more, wall in the bottom on both sides. Back of the bluffs is the high plains land. Through the spring and early part of summer the cattle are pastured up here, where the feed is then fresh. But later in the season, when the droughts set in, and through the winter, we depend on the bottom down in the canon, along the branch, for feed and shelter for the stock from the northers. One afternoon, near the last of June, — we had moved here in April, — my younger brother, Morris, thirteen years old, and I set off up the branch, taking each a tin bucket to gather cherries and " drool plums." The plums are nearly as large as pomegranates, and when they grow in fertile spots are quite well- flavored. From two or three miles up the branch there is a considerable stretch along the bottom where fires had run ten or twelve years before. Wild-cherry, briars, and plums had now got in here ; some of the finest wild cherries I have ever seen, almost as large as cultivated cherries, in fact, very dark red, and not at all bitter or puckery. The canon up there was narrower than down where the springs were ; and from where we were getting the cherries it was not more than ten or fifteen rods to the foot of the crumbling sandstone crags which on that side enclosed the little interval. Flocks of pigeons, and sometimes wild turkeys, came into the bottom at this time of year, and I had brought a shot-gun belonging to my Uncle Sidney. I could not find the cap-box, and so had only the charge in the gun, which was but a small single-barrelled piece. We had gathered one bucket full of the drool plums, and had the other nearly filled with cherries, when we were not a little astonished at hearing the plaintive " blart " of a calf a little way off up the canon; at least, it sounded exactly like that, yet all the cattle, as we supposed, were four or five miles below and on the prairie. GOING TO THE TABLE LANDS. A SURPRISE. 57 " It 's one of our little bossies strayed away from the old cow ! " exclaimed Mot ; and upon that we left our cherries and started to find the calf. We went some little distance calling, "Boss! boss! co-boss!" But the bush clumps and great clusters of dagger-grass were so thick there that it was difficult to see ahead much. At length Mot went out close to the crags, while I kept along by the branch through tall raspberry briars. We had not been separated long, however, when I heard the same plaintive " baa-a-a-a! " again, out near where Mot was, as I thought. Upon this I turned to go to him, but had hardly taken ten steps when I heard him give a loud screech ! Then another and another, as if frantic with fright. I cocked my shot-gun and ran to help him, for I thought most likely he was frightened by a "rattler." In a moment he came plump against me round a great bunch of cactuses, running swiftly and pale as death. Before he could speak an old Indian in a calico shirt, with a long rope halter in his hand, came in sight in full chase after him. That was the kind of calf we had heard blart ! The shot-gun was all cocked, and without a second's thought I fired at the Indian. The turkey-shot, no doubt, hit him, for he stopped short and dropped his rope. Just then another Indian, a young fellow, not full grown, came in sight from behind a clump of bushes. He had a gun. Other redskins setup a yell not far off when they heard me fire. The instant I had fired I turned and ran after Mot, and threw the shot-gun into some briar bushes. We struck into an old cattle-path, through the thickets along the foot of the crags, and ran for dear life for eighty or a hundred rods, when, to our dismay, we heard the Indians racing past us through the cherry trees off a few rods to our right. They had outrun and gone past us. With this we turned and ran back the other way, dreadfully scared and out of breath, and coming presently to a dark hole under the overhanging rocks clambered into it — to hide. In our flurry and fright we did not at first think of our tracks along the moist ground at the foot of the crags. Then it came into my mind that the Indians would see them and certainly find us ; and I did not dare to leave our hiding- place for fear they might already have returned in search of us. The hole into which we had crept was six or eight feet broad, but so low we had been obliged to bend to enter it. On first getting in amongst the damp, mossy rocks, we could not see anything it was so dark ; but after being in 5§ THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. trfere a few minutes, I began dimly to discern that the aperture led back further, over and among other rocks. So we clambered back — as our eyes became accustomed to the gloom, forty or fifty feet, where the air was very chilly and damp. We could stand up here, and as we groped back still further, came where we could not touch the rocks overhead. We were in a cave. Our feet on the rocks raised strange echoes ; even our whisperings were mysteriously repeated about us. I thought, too, that I heard a curious hissing and faint squeaks like mice. " O-o-gh, — something soft flapped in my face! " Mot cried out ; but ere we had time to think much of these things we heard the Indians outside. First a whoop which had a strange, far-off sound, then a darkening of the light at the mouth of the cave, and a scraping noise on the outer rocks, as if some of them were crawling in. They had found our hiding-place. For some minutes we heard them talking. Then the hole darkened again. There was another scraping noise, and soon one of the savages came in sight, crawling over the great bowlders in the low opening of the cavern, with his gun in his hand. I felt sure he could not see us ; but we moved slowly away and groped along for a number of yards. Coming to where there were some loose stones under foot, I took a good large one in each hand and stood still. The Indian came crawling in, reaching up his hands this side and that, till he came where the passage was broader and higher. Here he stood upright, and thrusting out his gun to feel his way, came forward, step by step. I stood still till he had come within thirty feet of me, and then I threw at him with all my might one of my big stones. It hit him full in the chest, fairly knocking him off his feet on the slippery rocks. His gun flew out of his hand, and went clattering on the bowlders ; and the way that redskin scrabbled up and went out over the rocks, and along that hole, was far from slow, I promise you ! I let my other stone fly after him. When he had got nearly out, he gave a yell, and the others outside yelled. We did not see or hear anything more of them for some minutes, and hoped they had concluded not to attempt to enter the cave again ; but they were not so easily thrown off. Before a long time had passed we saw one of them crawl- ing into the mouth of the cave, with a torch in one hand and a gun in the other. Behind him came another redskin. Mot crept in back of the great bowlder against which we stood, and I got more stones to throw ; but with their torches the Indians would soon have hunted us out, had it not been for a most singular thing which suddenly occurred. ^*o\CU w z w o en y o Pi E-i IN THE CAVE. gj No sooner were the two Indians fairly in the cave with their torches than there came a rumble like low thunder ; then such a prodigious squeaking and hissing that, along with a whirring noise, we were quite deafened by it. In an instant the whole cavern was full of fluttering wings, which flapped in our faces and fairly took away our breath. I fought with both hands for a moment or two, then curled down beside a rock. Once or twice above the sharp squeaking and rumbling I thought I heard the Indians yell. Their torches were put out, and I could not see them. How they got out I'm sure I don't know ; for I do not think I could have stood up and kept my feet. There was a perfect tornado of bats. And for nearly two hours that same stunning, fluttering, and strange squeak- ing noise continued without a moment's cessation. We lay as close as we could to the rocks, to keep out of the way of the excited creatures. It was a bat-cave, similar to those since discovered in Uvalde and Bandera Counties. Probably it was the torches which startled the bats. I have no doubt there were a million bats in that cave. It is their home by day. After long time — hours.it seemed to us — the place cleared of them some- what, and the awful rumble gradually ceased. As evening approached the innumerable army had gone forth for the night. My brother and I crept out near the mouth of the cave. It was dark ; yet we did not dare to venture forth, for we were afraid the Indians might still be near. Bats, in little flights, went fluttering out past us — belated stragglers which had overslept. At length I heard father and Uncle Sidney shouting for us at a distance; and after looking cautiously out of the cave and listening for some minutes, we ventured to crawl forth and run to them. They had not seen the Indians, but had found our cherry-pails. Next day we recovered the shot-gun, and Uncle Sidney found the Indian's rifle in the cave. It had a solid silver clamp on the breech worth nearly fifteen dollars. The bats, no doubt, saved us our scalps that time. Often since I have been near the cave at sunset, to watch " the squeakers " come out of it. A gun fired into the mouth of the cavern will, at that time of day, cause them to come out. One has abundant need to get out of the way when they start. A stream of them, the full size of the hole, packed close together, will pour out for two hours steadily. There seems no end of them. For anything we know the cave extends a great distance under-ground. The bats roost there, clinging to its sides and roof. 6 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. " New Mexico and this West Texas country is indeed a remarkable land,'' said Brett. "Those are wonderful facts about the bats; but as it happens I can match your bat story with a bee story, which, how- ever, ends in a bear story. But never mind that part. I think I can safely vouch for the truth of my account; for I was sure I saw strict veracity gleaming in the eye of my informant, whose name, by the way, is Cantwell. But rest assured there is no cant to his narrative."" Four of us (he said) — my ranch partner, Alfred Dinsmore, and myself, with a young German house-carpenter, named Wert Auspach, and a colored boy, called " Grant," — had set out that day for a load of honey. A load of honey will sound oddly, perhaps ; but that is the way we get it here. Wild honey, rich stores of it, is laid up by the native bees. The settlers often have resort to a " bee-tree " when their stock of sugar and molasses runs low. The honey is drained from the comb and put away in jars, and the wax makes excellent candles. Twelve or thirteen miles up north of our location, in the canon of Lipan Creek (headquarters of Wichita River), there is a "bee's nest" which has sup- plied us and the families of three other stockmen for the last four years. This enormous bee-hive is in the cliff, on the north side of the canon, front- ing south. The entrance to it is up some forty feet above the creek-bed, where there is a horizontal crack eight or ten inches wide, running along the face of the precipice for four or five hundred feet. This crack opens back into recesses in the shattered crags behind ; and here the bees, colony on colony, have their nests and have laid up honey for many years. By going round and operating from the top of the cliff we have at odd times dislodged considerable portions of the rock with blasts of gunpowder and crow- bars — sufficient to secure many hogsheads of comb. Still deeper down in great pits and holes there seems to be avast deposit of old, thick, black candied honey, which has been drained from the tiers of comb above year after year. Lower down the face of the cliff the honey, especially on very hot days, weeps and oozes out at little cracks and seams of the fissured sandstone — so much so that the creek-bank is there completely honey-soaked, and the water for a mile or two below will at times be perceptibly sweetened. Much of this escap- ing honey the bees themselves carry back up the face of the cliff. On a pleasant June day the canon, and high above it, the air will be darkened by the in-coming and out-going clouds of bees, millions on millions of them, o u >< w w z w A NORTHER. 65 along the whole length of the crevice.' The ordinary drowsy hum of a hive is here intensified to a deep, solemn roar, distinctly audible for a mile below. To go honey-gathering there on a summer's day might be a perilous busi- ness. We have always made our raids on the nest during the cold weather, generally on some chilly day toward Christmas, when the bees are lying torpid and a winter silence has fallen upon this whole vast apiary. It was one of the last days of November ; and when we started that morn- ing the weather was quite warm, almost "muggy," with a thin bluish fog rising from the prairie, which had lately been burned over and lay coal-black under foot. But we had not gone more than eight or ten miles when a "norther" came down on us in full blast. The first we saw of it was a sudden whirling of the fog over the tops of the mesquites out to our left. Then came a puff of cold air, as damp and chilling as when in summer one steps into a cellar. A minute later this premonitory whiff was followed by a second puff, a per- fect gust, which sent our hats whirling, and upset the half-hogshead off the spring-board. The norther was upon us ! That is the way these freezing gales always come here; sometimes they don't even give one time to get on a great coat and mittens. How cold they are, and how they cut through a body ! In half an hour the mercury will fall forty and fifty degrees. Often rain, sleet, and sometimes snow come with it. No one tries to do anything during a norther here. You cannot even get a blacksmith to shoe your horse while a norther is blowing, and it often blows three days at a bout. The folks "den up" and keep a great fire going. You will not see a person stirring out anywhere, — no old settler at least, in the village. When the norther struck us, we set out to go back home ; but as the canon was now no great distance ahead, we drove on and got into that at a place about two miles below the great "bee's nest." The cliffs here broke the force of the gale, and selecting a place where a big rick of drift stuff had been lodged against the rocks by floods, we built a roaring fire and made a shed, partly of the half-hogsheads and spring-boards, and partly of drift-wood and brush. Here we made ourselves comfortable, gave the mules their corn, and had no thoughts of going up on the prairie for honey or any- thing else while the gale held. The crag on the side against which we had our fire was sixty or seventy feet high, but, as I have mentioned above, was here all along much fissured and 66 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. cracked, showing crevices and crannies where the broken strata had worked apart, often three and four feet in width. The drift-rick, which served us for wood-pile, burned well, — the blaze mounting half way up the cliff, and casting a warm glow back into our shed. Here, throughout the rest of the day and evening, while the gusts howled across the cailon from out over the prairie to north'ard, we lay at our ease and told stories, going sound asleep at last, wrapped up in our buffalo skins. Some hours must have passed ; for our big fire had burned down low, when I was roused by a scratching, raking noise on the rocks in front of our shed. Before I was as yet half awake something — it was so dark I could not tell what, but some heavy animal, I felt sure — came down the rocks and fell partly into the open front of our shed, and right on Auspach's (the German) extended feet and ankles. With that Wert jumped to get up and gave a shout, and we all arose, fumbling for our guns. But before Anse or I or any of us had gained our legs, down came the shed, the half-hogsheads we had brought for our honey, our tilted-up spring-board wagon, brush, and all. Who had the most to do with knocking it down I am sure I don't know. It was a free scrabble. One of the half-hogsheads tipped over in such a way as to completely shut Grant, the colored boy, under it all but his shanks ; and as the fore-wheels of the spring-board lay partly across the bottom of the hogshead, he was caught fast. The noise he made was as nothing compared with the racket the German was making ; for the other half-bogshead had partly fallen over him, and he was kicking at an unknown wild beast whose growls mixed with his shouts. " Arnse, vere bees you ? " we heard him calling out in reproachful tones. The moment we had extricated ourselves from the brush and stakes, Dins- more and I sprang to our feet and tried to take in the situation. It was too dark to see much. The brush was snapping and the half-hogs- head bobbing up and clown ; and just then the savage, growling head of some animal was thrust repeatedly out betwixt the spokes of one of the hind wheels of the capsized spring-board. Anse, who had seized upon the camp-axe, let it drive at the growler's head. His first stroke knocked two spokes out of the wheel. At its next plunge the animal came head and shoulders through the gap ; but I had secured one of the guns, and at this juncture, by good luck, shot it dead. Almost with the report Wert, who had been making frantic efforts to get out through the brush on the back side, scrambled to his feet, shout- ing, — a H Z D O u z o D O A STRANGE VISITOR. 6 9 "Shades, pe careful vare you shoots! Whole dozen tem puckshots go puzz py my ear ! " "It 's a bear," said Alf, peeping between the spokes of the wheel ; but before we had time to haul out the carcass, or even get Grant from under the hogshead tub, another bear came sliding down the rocks with a scratch and a grow], and fell sprawling into the ashes and still glowing embers of the fire. A perfect smother of ashes and coals flew up. It must have been a warm lighting for the old chap's feet. He whirled round with a low yelp, and leaped out over some logs at the lower end of our shed. I just had time to cock my left barrel and fire as his hind legs disappeared down over the logs. We heard him give a growl when the shot "SHARLES, PE CAREFUL VARE YOU SHOOTS!" y THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. struck him, but had no time to look for him or even see where he went to, for Wert had set up a great outcry. " Queek, Arnse ! queek, Sharles, mit yours goon ! In der holler up ze rock ! Dou you hears him yow ? Anoder one 's coming down ! " Surely enough, there was another looking out of a great fissure, up twenty- five or thirty feet, growling and making as if to descend. I could plainly see its head, and a moment after it turned to come down tail-first. " Zhoust you hark, poys! " exclaimed Wert. " Only hear dem sing!" If there had been a whole menagerie shut up back amongst those rocks it could hardly have made more music, — growling, whining, roaring, and yowl- ing ! " There 's an awful big den in there ! and it 's biling over full of 'em ! " Every minute or two a head would pop out in sight from the crevice. The firing and the noise had stirred them up. It looked as if the animals had climbed up to this den over the heap of driftwood which our fire had burned up. The smoke and fire flaming up to the mouth of the hole had kept them in during the first part of the night ; or else they had all been comfortably asleep in there, passing the norther. But now they evidently all wanted to come out — hungry, perhaps. During the forenoon we got logs and stuff from the drift-ricks lower down, which we set up in such a way that we could climb to the entrance of the den. All being quiet there now, Alf climbed up — to reconnoitre the brutes. There was a pretty large fissure which opened back between and over great detached masses of rock for eighteen or twenty feet. In back of these, lower down, there seemed to be a big, black hole, evidently a considerable cavern. I now climbed up, and together we peeped and peeked about for some time. When we looked down into the dark hole there would be low"growling. Three or four hours were spent. We found that it was no use trying to shoot them in the dark. There was a cave back in there as large as a hall — a great irregular cavity, emitting a very strong bearish stench. In the afternoon we assailed them on a new tack. Wert and Grant split up a lot of wood which, with their assistance, we carried up our log ladder, half a cord of it at least, and then pitched it into the cavern. A brand was then fetched up, and we soon had a bonfire going which lighted up the whole inside of the den. From where we stood up in the fissure the bears could now be seen crouching behind the black bowlders and in the far corners of the cave, snarling uneasily at the fire. I counted five, and Alf soon made out two more. A STRANGE VISITOR. 7 1 To shoot game thus cornered up maybe deemed an unsportsmanlike method of hunting; but my friend and myself were troubled by no such scruples. An hour later we hauled seven bears — dead ones — out of that cave, which, added to those already secured, made ten carcasses. They were, with but one exception, remarkably fat bears, too. Their flesh had a noticeably sweet taste, which we attributed to their getting so much honey hereabouts. CHAPTER II. EL PASO. "BROKE UP ON TIME." A " SOLIMETER." MEXICAN CUSTOM- HOUSE CHARGES. APACHE ATROCITIES. IN A DESERT. AN IMMENSE STOCK FARM. MEXICAN POST-OFFICES. CHIHUAHUA. THE HOTEL. A MOONLIGHT PROMENADE. AN AWKWARD RENCONTRE. TWO ROUTES INTO MEXICO. A DISCUSSION. DIVISION OF THE PARTY. OFF FOR THE CITY OF MEXICO BY DILIGENCE. N the morning of the 26th we bade adieu to our comfortable quarters in the Las Cruces, which had come to seem quite like home to us, and, getting into a 'bus, were driven from the Santa Fe depot across the ford of the Rio Grande to the pretty new station of the recently finished line of El Ferro- carril Central Mexicano, which at the date of our visit had begun running its trains from El Paso down to Chihuahua, the capital of the Mexican State of the same name, a distance of two hundred and twenty-five miles south. By mistake we did not get oft" till near train time, and the Mexican custom-house officer on the south bank of the river delayed us still further while he inspected our travelling-bags. Then we had the narrow streets of the Mexican town of El Paso to wind through. "Driver, what time is it now? " Moses called out. The driver, a typical New Mexican, shook his head gloomily. "We 're 'all broke upon time here," he said. "All broke up. 'What kind of time do you want, sir?" 72 RATHER MIXED. 73 "What kind have you got?" "All kinds. Thar 's local time. That varies somewhat, 'cording to gents' watches, you know, but I calls it (looking) 7.50 A.M. But the Santa Fe folks here run their trains on Jefferson City time. It ought to be 8.48 by them, I expect. But perhaps as yer goin' by the Cen- tral you wants their time. That's City o' Mexico time, 'bout 8.20, say. But lots o' gents wants Chicago time an' keeps ter that. By that 'tis now 'bout 8.54, mebbe. But ask most any of these western- through gents on the Southern Pacific and they'd say 6.50 a.m.; for they haint changed their watches, an' gives you San Francisco time. 'Though 'bout's many more mought say 9.50 for they 're just in from the East and have New York time. We figo-ers it as snug 's we can on 'em an' trys ter fit 'em out. But gents gets left every day on it, an' there's no end o' swarin'. We're all broke up. I dunno what we '11 do on it yet — onless the buys goes an' gets watches that keeps all the kinds o' time ter wunst. For let a gent get a little flurried an' he 's dead sure to go an' add the diffrunce o' time on the wrong end. " But mornin's at the hotel is when we has the wust rows, callin' gents for the trains. They leaves word at the office ter be called at five, or half-past, or mebbe six. We goes ter knockin' fur 'em as near 's we can figger it, fur their trains. But like 's any way they all comes down madder 'n hens. Some 's an hour too airly an' some 's got left an' has ter lay round all day cussin about it. I dunno what we'll do. Thar's no gauge yet." "What you want here, driver," said Stein, "is a solimeter.' 1 '' " I expect so," said the man, confidently. " Ken ye give us the name of the kempany that makes 'em ? " "I am sorry to say I cannot," said Stein, "for the reason that they are not yet made. It remains for some enterprising American to make them — and make his fortune at the same time. What we need is a watch that — something as a compass always points to the pole — shall always indicate solar time according to the position of the sun 74 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. in the sky, or rather according to the relative position of the sun and any given place on the earth. Noon with such a watch would always be when the sun had reached its highest point in the heavens; and midnight when it stood at the opposite point beneath the earth. No matter how far such a watch was carried, east or west, it would always indicate correct local time by the sun. Once such watches were universally adopted, the whole problem of varying time would be solved." The driver gazed suspiciously at Stein, but seeing no wild rolling of his eyes began to lash the horses. Moses laughed. "You've unsettled his peace of mind," said he. " But that read)' is an idea, Stein," Brett remarked. " If it were n't quite so universally big I think something might be done with it. What did you call it, — that new ideal watch, I mean?" "Oh, I called it a solimeter — sun measurer," said Stein, laughing. "I expect to be carrying one some twenty years hence." Meantime Ave were going on at a great pace, but soon pulled up. " Central Mexican station, gents," the driver shouted. "Just in time to slip aboard. Fifty cents all round, please." Some of our shrewd Americans who — now that Mexico is being opened up by railroads — are planning to ship in goods and sell them at a handsome profit, may be taken aback when they come to pay duties at the frontier. Mexican duties are enormous. On many articles they are as high as one hundred per cent of the value of the goods; and the Mexican officials rate the value to suit themselves. We saw an example of this at the station that morning. An enter- prising fellow-countrywoman of our own, hailing from Chicago, but a very decent sort of person, nevertheless, and very comely, too, was on her way to Chihuahua to open an American boarding-house. Among other articles she had three stoves, not very large ones; and those Mexican officers charged her seventy-five dollars duties on those three stoves! ft&rj!*^ Tlfr^v^ * Ji &- - tion was by several of the party, but atfirstvig- getting a start. finally adopted as being the or ou sly best plan under the cir- oppbsed cumstances. The diligencia leaves Chihuahua at nine in the evening; and as it was already late, little time remained. We took dinner together; and there was a general inspection of carbines, revolvers, and other acces- THE START. 8 7 sories of stage-coaching through a rough country, by our four com- rades who had chosen the interior route; and then ieave-taking. The diligencia was at the plaza at eight o'clock. It took the people in charge of it an hour to hitch up the horses and mules, and get ready for a start. They first put two horses on the pole; then, after ten or fifteen minutes, they put three mules abreast ahead of the span. Finally, they hitched four more horses abreast, as leaders — nine in all. The diligencia itself differed not in appearance from a battered stage-coach in the United States. Meanwhile our four comrades procured their tickets, and took their stations on top of the coach. " We will meet you in the City of Mexico," was the mutual promise on both sides. At last the word to go was given, ^Hoopla! Holal Hooi-eyl" Whips cracked; the bystanders yelled; but the horses, or else the mules, balked; and the whole team got in a snarl. The driver shouted and lashed the beasts. The bystanders, too, fifty or sixty in number, took a hand and stoned the horses on both sides. The dili- gencia described a circle over the cobble-stones. At last they straight- ened out and went off like a shot, — " hip, liola," out of town into the moonlit night. And that was the last we saw of those fellows for many a day. The remainder of the party, including the scribe, went back to El Paso, and thence to New Orleans in three days, by rail. CHAPTER III. CHRISTMAS-TIDE IN NEW ORLEANS. HORNS AND POWDER-BURNING. PASSPORTS FOR HAVANA. OFF FOR CUBA. THE EADS JETTIES. CEDAR KEYS AND KEY WEST. THE FLORIDA SHIP-CANAL. O a Northerner New Orleans seems to be the most un-American city in the country. Its quaintly-roofed and balconied houses, with their tall, green-roofed cisterns for rain-water; its orange gardens; its droll little milk-carts, and its cemeteries with their streets and squares of house-shaped marble tombs, placed high and dry above the black, water-soaked ground, — all these and a hundred other outre features com- bine to give the Crescent City a character of its own, and to declare the dissimilar ancestry of its people. But the oddest feature, as perhaps some of our younger readers will think, is the manner in which the boys and girls of New Orleans celebrate Christmas; for with them Christ- mas is much like the Fourth of July in other parts of the country. They celebrate it with horns, rockets, torpedoes, and, in short, all the powder-burning with which the national birthday is commonly ushered in in the Northern States. The custom of burning so much powder — the symbol of war and destruction — upon the day on which Christ was born strikes one, at first, as singularly mal apropos. But young America is not apt to stickle on points of poetic harmony; and after all, it is the spirit 88 IIP',;: »l7 r I ■ I. • m> < w « o IN NEW ORLEANS. O! more than the mere method of a celebration which counts. The spirit (if it can in any way be estimated by the noise made) is certainly present in full power. This year (1882) Christmas Day and the two previous days were one continual explosion of fireworks, one con- stant conclamation of fish-horns, bugles, fifes, and every other wind instrument. Processions of a hundred, even three and four hundred boys and men, all provided with horns of all lengths and degrees of raucity, paraded the streets and squares, harping in loud, if not solemn, choir. The girls, too, and even the young ladies, were seen sporting gayly-ornamented horns. Men of fifty, with beards quite gray, joined in the general clangor. Dissonance with all its ear- splitting horrors reigned. Neither by day nor night did the fanfarade cease. Terrific at first, one soon grew accustomed to it; and when once the spirit of the jollification had taken possession of one's mind, the hubbub attuned itself to something like harmony. For it was plain to see that the children enjoyed it immensely. New Orleans, too, it must be remembered, has from its dissimilar associations never entered much into the spirit of our Fourth of July celebrations; and doubtless the young people of every city must have at least one day to blow horns and make a noise. On going to take tickets for Havana by the steamer Morgan we were told that it would be impossible to proceed thither without -passports. The Spanish authorities in Cuba rigidly insist that all foreigners, Americans in particular, shall present documents from their government certifying to their names and general good character. In Mexico, on the contrary, no passports are required. The system may be a good one; but the motive on the part of the Spanish officials is no doubt a purely selfish one. The tourist is charged a fee of four dollars for viseing his passport, to enter the port of Havana, and the same when he leaves the island. Our party of five paid a tax of forty dollars for the privilege of 9 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. treading the streets of their dirty city. It proved a great bother, too; for neither Karzy, Moses, nor Mr. Garland were provided with pass- ports from our government at the time, and to get them from Wash- ington would have required at least two weeks' time. In this MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. dilemma we hit on the expedient of getting papers which answered as passports from the mayor of New Orleans, who is empowered to issue such when the parties are fully identified before him. A blank is provided, which the applicant fills out, as to the place and date of his birth, his height, complexion, and general tout ensemble. This he DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. 93 must solemnly swear to before a notary public, — even to the length of his nose and the size of his mouth ! We had a jolly time getting out these documents, and nearly frightened Karzy into abandoning the voyage by assuring him that he had sworn to a nose an inch too short! — that the inquisitive Dons would at once detect the fraud and shut him up in El Morol The voyage down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico gave us an opportunity to see the celebrated Eads jetties at the mouth of the JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. great river, where, by narrowing the channel, by means of dikes of stone and wicker, the depth of water on the " bar " has been increased from fifteen to twenty-six feet. Much has been said and written as to the success of these jetties. At present there can be no doubt that they have accomplished what was claimed for them in advance. Steamers of twenty-five feet draught can now enter and leave the port of New Orleans. The steamers for Havana touch both at Cedar Keys and Key West, Florida. At the latter place we passed New Year's Day a a THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. amidst a profusion of flowers and all tropic fruits. From the former point we made a flying visit to Jacksonville, and saw something of the proposed route of the new ship-canal designed to connect the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic coast of Florida. So much has been said and printed of the proposed Panama canal through the isthmus between North and South America, that our people have well-nigh forgotten this great enterprise, nearer home, — one which will prove of scarcely less benefit to the commerce of the country. Forgotten, we say — for this Florida canal is no new project. Nearly fifty years since the justly celebrated Commodore Maury earn- estly advocated the building of a canal across Florida; and several Presidents, noticeably Presidents Pierce and Grant, in their messages strongly advised the building of such a canal by the government. But it is the misfortune of all proposed public enterprises in this country, whether useful or not, to be indiscriminately and bitterly opposed by the party not in power, so that even needed enterprises are not undertaken. A glance at the map of Florida will show the importance of such a canal to our domestic commerce, which is yearly increasing from Texas. And it will be a surprise to most persons to know that, according to the estimate of the New York Board of Trade, the amount of traffic which annually passes round the southern point of Florida into the Gulf of Mexico is three times that which passes through the famous Sue? canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Nor is there any doubt that shippers and ship-owners will gladly patronize the new canal. It will save, for vessels sailing for the mouth of the Mississippi and the Texas coast, fully eight hundred miles of navigation, and that too of the most dangerous navigation in the world. The loss of property by wrecks along the Florida coast and about its southern keys has been estimated at five million dollars FLORIDA. 95 annually, averaging thus for twenty-five years. It is reckoned that the canal will lower insurance rates two per cent on all consign- ST. AUGUSTINE. ments and shipping passing through it, and effect a more than corre- sponding reduction in freights. The estimated cost of digging the canal is twenty millions. A company representing this amount, and more if necessary, has been recently organized in New York, and work will probably begin dur- ing the present year. The line of the proposed canal extends from near Jacksonville, on the St. Johns River, directly across the State, to a point near the mouth of the Suwanee. The distance is about sixty miles. CHAPTER IV. TN LA HABANA. GETTING ASHORE. RAG MONEY. LA CASA DE CORREOS. ODOR DEL PAIS. SPANISH ARCHITECTURE. CUBAN OXEN. — LOTTERY TICK- ETS. MOSES' TROUBLES. STREET THIEVES. OUR LODGINGS. ABOUT TOWN. HE passage across the Gulf Stream from Key- West to Havana is apt to be a rough one, though short. Karzy and the "theolog " were both a little "unhappy" during the evening, — at least, they evinced no appetite for supper. In the morning we waked to find the steamer tying-to off the entrance of the harbor of Havana, waiting for daylight before running in. In the early light we had pleasant glimpses of an old pinkish gray castle {El Jl/oro), perched high on a crag and a tall light tower. Further out to the risdit twinkled the pale gaslights of the city suburbs. Karzy expressed the opinion that the place had "a mediaeval look;" but thus far his ideas of mediaeval objects have been drawn from books merely. As soon as it was fairly light we steamed in past the Moro, enter- ing a narrow cleft in the rough coralline coast, lined along with batteries. It is a tortuous entrance betwixt ugly reefs, but opens into a handsome, though small bay, encircled by green hills on one side and the city on the other. But, though in harbor, we were not ashore. The steamer does not come to a pier, but drops her anchor out in the bay, there to wait the 96 HAVANA. IN CUBA. 99 pleasm-e of the Spanish authorities. Two or three boats with rowers and officers in the uniform of the Aduana (Custom-House) soon put off, however, and with them numerous watermen in their boats, with couriers from the hotels, who, alter the manner of their genus, raise a loud competitive clamor. The watermen pull you ashore to the Custom-House, where you may wait an hour for your trunks to be inspected and your passport certified ere taking a coach for a hotel or your lodgings; if to a hotel you are there charged a fee of two dollars oro (gold) for " passport," which in this case means getting you ashore; and here it may be well to state that the terms of all the good hotels here are four dollars per day, gold, or about twice that sum in the depreciated paper money of Cuba. But it is a comfort to know that a " greenback " is worth here a little more than even Spanish gold. Naturally one of the first places we went to was the post-office. It is down at the quay next to the Aduana, — a dingy, nondescript stone structure, over one of the portals to which are the words Casa de Correos (the House of Mails). The interior arrangements of this establishment are such as to defy alike description and the compre- hension of a stranger. To any one needing to visit it, allow us to suggest the employment of an intelligent interpreter in advance; he and every other resource will be needed before you can get a letter out of the concern. Take along your passport, too, and as many of your personal friends as can be secured for the trip. Better still, never go there at all, but by well-written or printed directions, certifi- cates, etc, contrive to have your letters sent to your hotel, or lodg- ings. But feel no surprise if you receive no letters, much less news- papers ; and enjoin your friends at home to feel no alarm if they get no letters from you while in Cuba. If a mail-steamer is to leave on Thursday, post your letters for it Tuesday. This is a manana country. All letters received here not directed to street and number, instead IOO THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. of being put in an alphabetically arranged stand, are piled into a big drawer or box, to the number of twelve or fifteen thousand. Look- ;ng for one is a long business ; and how carefully the indolent clerks examine the box may be conjectured. If your letters from home have on them a three-cent stamp only, you are charged twenty cents in currency, extra, on taking them. If a letter-carrier brings them he may charge more. Apparently the letter-carriers make what they can in such cases. People who shriek ""corruption!" at home should see how public business is done in Cuba, under the present regime. "'The bars are all down " here now. If you want anything done you must pay for it, and drive as good a bargain as you can. As in Mexico, so here, one of the first things that impresses the American tourist, is the "odor of the country." It is everywhere, and in some spots it is awful! The old town, or that part formerly enclosed within the city walls, is a dirty place, with streets scarcely twenty feet wide, and sidewalks eighteen inches. Indeed, there is but one decent street in the city, — the Prado. And yet, despite these faults, Havana is a rather pretty city-. At first view, it seemed to us a very white town, in contrast with the red brickwork of Northern cities. Everywhere the edifices and shops are white or perhaps light- pink, straw color, or light blue; and these colors are much heightened by the scorching brightness of the sun. It is well to have a pair of blue spectacles. Then, from noting the color of the buildings, the eye comes to notice the marked difference in the style of architecture. Few edifices, public or private, are more than two stories in height; yet they look spacious, almost palatial. The most are built of stone or marble, very few brick, with walls which in the United States would be deemed immensely thick. The infrequency T of fires and the very small losses thereby are easily understood, — there is little or no woodwork; and when we consider the terrific losses by fire at home, the idea suggests itself that this may be the better style of architecture. AVENUE OF PALMS. A BEAUTIFUL CITY. io ^ In the narrow streets, one meets cart after cart, piled high with bales of tobacco leaf, drawn by oxen. Much of the trucking is done by these patient creatures, which draw by a heavy yoke made fast to the massive tongue of the cart and bound to the foreheads of the poor brutes which thus push the load with their heads, instead of their shoulders, as in the United States. Each ox has a ring, or at least a hole, through his nostril, to which are attached strong rope reins; with these the driver on his cart directs their movements, not omitting the use of a long goad, armed with a sharp spike. Moses feelingly remarks that if the doctrine of transmigration be true, he sincerely hopes that he may not become an ox in Cuba — or a little coach- horse, either. About the first person we ran against on stepping forth from the hotel after breakfast was a man who had sundry slips of paper in his fingers, and who saluted us with a dreary cry of, — " Veinte cinco mil pesos manana /" " Que dices? " (What do you say), demanded Karzy. The fellow rattled off a long string of hazy Spanish, amidst which we caught on the word loteria. Havana is the paradise of lotteries, — lotteries every -week. The venders of tickets bore you at every turn and corner. " Manana por la manana ciento mil pesos I '" Sit down on the settees in front of the hotel or at the " Place of Arms," and an endless procession of these persistent vagabonds, each with his doleful cry, will file past you and thrust the abominable little dog-eared billets in your face: " Cinquenta mil pesos, seizor!" Moses had resort to his Spanish phrase-book, and extracted from it the words Sega derec/io, the nearest approximation to rr git!" which the Spanish language could furnish him. This he fired off continually at the loteria venders with an energy which often quite paralyzed them. But the Spanish does not half express what struggles for utterance in Moses' bosom, particularly when a whole drove of beggars gets 104 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. after him with their distracting whine of, w Pobrecito ! Pobre ! pobre!" "It's against the law to stamp on them," he sighed. "If only the rascals knew God's own language I could make them scatter. But when I say c Clear out! ' they come the snugger." By God's own language Moses means English — such as they speak in Indiana. At breakfast, at the hotel, Moses called out imperatively for beef- steak. " Con mucho gusto, sehor " (With much pleasure), said the waiter. "No, no!" exclaimed Moses, "not with mucho gusto. I want potatoes with it! " % * Si seiior, papas" (potatoes), responded the waiter. "Neither papas, nor grandpapas!" shouted Moses, "potatoes, I say!" But the climax of our Hoosier comrade's mishaps came the fourth day of our stay in Havana, after we had taken lodgings in the house of an old Spanish captain, on the Prado, where by good luck we succeeded in establishing ourselves quite comfortably. In Havana, and throughout Spanish America, the windows of the houses are protected on the outside by strong iron gratings, so that the robberv of a room through the window would seem a by no means easy matter to accomplish. Yet the street thieves here as elsewhere have proved fully equal to the obstacle. Coming- i n tired and warm from a ride through the narrow streets, Moses threw open the inner shutters of his window, then sat down, and tipping back on his chair in American fashion with his head to the wall, presently fell in a drowse. His little siesta did not last for more than fifteen minutes, he thinks; but on awaking he immediately perceived that he had met with losses. His boots, which he had pulled off and set by his side, had disap- peared, likewise his sun umbrella. His travelling-bag, too, which THE FATAL SIESTA. I(K was set closed and locked on a little table near by, stood gaping open; and from it his collar-box, cuff-box, handkerchief-box, night-shirt, and several pairs of hose, along with numerous other articles, were missing also. MOSES' SIESTA. As he had barred the folding-doors of his room before sitting down, and as the inner bar still remained in place, the very visible IO <5 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. and extensive theft took the guise of presdigitry, difficult to explain. For the one window was guarded as usual with a grating, through which it would be impossible for an outsider to do more than thrust in his hand; and all the missing articles had lain fully two yards back from the window. The room was on the ground floor, how- ever, and the window opened upon a little side-street not much fre- quented. In great wrath, our comrade called in the mozo (house-servant), and summoned our host, to whom he explained by excited gestures and some few random Spanish words, the evil state of things. Very gravely, and with that politeness that always characterizes your Spanish host, the old senor proceeded by signs to express his regrets and explain it all. Gauc/io, ladi'on, gauchito, largo baston, engauchar, gatada, — words which, well illustrated by signs and movements, portrayed to our indignant friend, that the picaroz (street rogues) have little hooks on long sticks with which they reach in betwixt the iron bars and successfully plunder a room, drawing out the articles one by one, and even turning the keys of trunks and wardrobes. In fact, these rogues, — often little black boys, — if unmolested, will in a few min- utes completely despoil a room; and from some current stories which we heard of their skill I fancy that our comrade was rather fortunate in not having his coat unbuttoned and his pocket-book hooked ! hooked, indeed ! It is a mistake for tourists at Havana, or in any other country which they really wish to see or learn anything of, to remain at the hotels. First-class hotels are so cosmopolitan in character, and so much alike the world over, that life in one, for more than a day or two, grows inexpressibly dreary. We were fortunate enough to obtain lodgings in a private family, where we had cool rooms, decent beds, — decent for Cuba, — and a very good table. In Cuba one must not look for a colchon (mattress) on his bed. We were told in EXPERIENCES. ! Q j advance that we should find no good beef. As a matter of fact, we found the beef excellent; nor was the mantequilla (butter) so bad as it had been pictured; it was not " gilt-edged," but fairly good. In addition to our other comforts, we had, in our old Spanish captain, a most enjoyable host, who spent hours trying to teach us his language — and all, as some may like to know, for twelve dollars per week. From this haven of comfort, which very soon came to seem like home, we "went forth daily, to see the city, making excursions to Matanzas, Vedado Guines, and many other points, visiting the neighboring ingenios (sugar-plantations), the suburban villa and gardens of the Captain-General, and the grim old fortress across the bay. CHAPTER V. A PRIMITIVE MILK-CART. KARZY's TOOTHACHE. HE GOES IN SEARCH OF A DENTISTA. DENTIST'S FEES IN HAVANA. THE HORSE BATHS. HARBOR SHARKS.- AN INCIDENT "UN TIBURON." WAYSIDE "JOHNS." THE GRAVE OF COLON. MILK, called for by many names in many lands, is an article of food everywhere sold, and various indeed are the kinds of milk-carts in which it is peddled out. The express-wagon with its load of tin cans, so familiar an object in our Northern cities, is a sufficiently business-like contrivance to suit the most utilitarian ideas. In New Orleans, the milk-cart is a more pictu- resque vehicle, being a quaint little two-wheeled gig with a pair of urn-like cans, often ornamented with a fancy cap in brass, in front. Each can has a spigot and a measure chained to it, and both do not contain more than seven or eight gallons. Behind the cans is the milkman's little seat, protected from the hot sun-rays by a slight cover; a very quaint old-time rig of those bizarre creole days which Mr. Cable has done so much to render interesting. In Mexico, your milkman comes around and rides in at your front door with his cans bagged up in coarse cloth and slung across the back of a sorry little burro (donkey), while he sits triumphantly perched on a pad betwixt them, lazily crying out, " Lec/ie, leche fresca I " p. 1 08 HAVANA. THE MILK-CART. I I I In the streets of Havana, the backs of the donkeys, mules, and little horses also serve as milk-carts, save where the milkman makes a still shorter cut at business, and drives the vacas (cows) them- selves round to the doors, where he milks the universal fluid into your own quart dish, to suit your pleasure. This method has at least the advantage of relieving him of the temptation to water his milk. We commend it to all those dispensers of lacteal aliment in our North- ern cities who feel themselves aggrieved by unjust suspicions; it is a method that admits of no aspersions. MILK-CART. At our house in Havana there used to come, every morning, a large vaca, — looking very much like one of the largest Jerseys, though of Cuban breed, — bringing her own milk in an odd-shaped can hanging on one side of her back, balanced on the other side by a 112 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. roll of sweet cane stalks, — this latter provision looking much like a luncheon for the trip. Behind her toddled her little calf, with his nose securely trussed up to prevent his injudicious inroads upon the stock in trade. And still further behind came a young negro, whose humble cry of " Leche, leche, veinte coitavos el vasof" was at first our only key to this business. The idea of a ccrt^ going about peddling her own milk, was so amusing to Karzy that he used to get up ever)- morning at seven o'clock to look out and laugh at the spectacle. "It is like these lazy fellows! " he would exclaim. "I would not be surprised to see that poor cow come along bringing the veal of her calf to-morrow ! " Veinte centavos (twenty cents) for a glass of milk! The Spanish captain with whom we lodged was obliged to pay eighty cents paper (about forty-three cents gold) a quart for the milk which he offered us as a luxury (and no wonder) for our coffee. Some American milkmen might do well to settle in the suburbs of Havana; or, per- haps ere long, some enterprising fellow in the North may send milk here by steamer in sealed cans packed in ice. There ought to be a fortune in that venture. Havana, too, should be a good city for some of our numerous young American dentists to settle in. We judge so,- — at least from an experience of Karzy's, which he had best be permitted to tell in his own way, as follows: — " A few Aveeks ago, while at Havana, it was my misfoitune to be overtaken by that old, old malady, toothache, or, in the language of the country, dolor de muelas. "And it was very much dolor, indeed! " But the tooth was a good and a serviceable one, or, at least, had been so. I disliked to part with it. Three days we strove together. One grieves to part from old friends, even when their behavior has of late become outrageous; for we cling to the good there was formerly in them. AT THE DENTIST'S. XI c "But the case grew hopeless. Forbearance ceased utterly to be a virtue, — rather a disgrace. I arose very early, — early for Havana, nine o'clock, — and sallied desperately forth to find a dentist, ahora, instantly. " Near the Hotel Pasaje (pronounced pah-sah'-hee) I discovered DENTISTA CIRJURIA-DENTAL. which dolor de muelas enabled me to translate as dentist and dental surgery. Entering beneath a high-arched portal, and climbing a lofty stairway, I found myself in a spacious anteroom, with brilliantly stained windows, where sat two black mustachioed seizors, who received me with grave politeness. One was in uniform, and wore a sword; but this, in Havana, is not unusual. At least every second man you meet is in uniform, and many of them carry not only a sword, but a revol- ver and a musket with a sabre bayonet, and would no doubt carry a cannon, but for the weight. Soldiers, everywhere soldiers. Todos soldados! Since the Cuban rebellion, Spain keeps a garrison of at least thirty thousand in Havana alone. I was asked to sit down to wait my turn, as I succeeded in com- prehending : a young seiiorita was ahead of me as a candidate for the operation of estraccion de una muela, — three muelas, in fact. I waited ten minutes, perhaps, encouraged and strengthened in my pur- pose by the terrific screams of the seiiorita upon whom estraccion was in progress, in the room beyond. "At length the seizors of the anteroom rose and ushered me into the salon de estraccio?i, where I found the operator, an alert young gentleman of twenty-three or four, who said, ' I spik Ingles; I was catorce year in Nueva York.' n 6 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. :r Thus encouraged, I said, ' I wish to have a tooth extracted. It is the extreme back tooth of the lower jaw, upon the left side.' " But this was not the kind of c Inglis ' which the operator f spik,' evidently, and we made no apparent progress with each other, until I opened my mouth, and with my finger carefully indicated (for I wanted no mistakes made) the exact tooth which I wished to part com- pany with. My new friend then got to work, and performed his pain- ful offices without loss of time and in good style, so far as I observed. "'And now the fee?' I said, rising. * J^ue flrecio? ' " 5 Cinco pesos, — fife tollar,' was the reply. :r This is about two dollars seventy cents in gold for a single estraccion, and I am told that some dentistas here charge four dol- lars, gold, for the same brief service." Throughout the city, the horses, particularly the poor little horses which run up and down all da)' long, drawing the hundreds of street- coaches, have a hot and hard lot; but every morning the most of them are permitted to enjoy a luxury unknown to Northern horses, — a bath in the sea. Down at the end of the Prado, the chief avenue for driving and walking, where this fine broad avenue opens out upon the entrance to the harbor, there is a favorable place for these horse-baths; and here, from seven to ten o'clock in the morning, long files of horses — the halter of each tied to the tail of the next in advance, and the fore- most ridden by a negro cochero — may be seen trooping into the cool water. It is a picturesque sight, and a very picturesque place, to stand by the parapet, just beyond the great Presidio. Directly across the narrow entrance to the port (no more than two hundred metres in breadth) tower the yellow and white walls of El Moro and the lighthouse. Out past it the shining waters of the gulf brighten and glow in the morning sunshine. Back to the right opens the fine haven full of shipping, long black and red steamers (vapores), and one or two fine ironclad rams moored to red buoys ; a won- A TROPICAL SCENE. HORSES BATHING. II 9 derfully good harbor, rent by nature into the solid ledges of this rocky coast. The horses love the bath. It is the one bit of luxury in all their hard lives. They are allowed to remain in the water fifteen minutes or more. Some will be seen to lie down in it, regardless of their noses. Others stand with raised heads, the wavelets just break- ing over their backs. Fine spans belonging to the Spanish magnates i3^0 HORSES BATHING. are led in and groomed in the water for a long time, the black cocliero talking lovingly to them all the while. Some very handsome horses from the United States are sold here to the wealthy classes. In the handsome marble house of a grandee you will see three or four tall, sleek, splendidly-lodged horses and several fine carriages on the first floor, while the family live up stairs. The native horses and mules are all sorry little animals of very I2o THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. ■ poor paces. They seem loath to come out of the cool water to begin their day of toil; but standing in the water, their enjoyment is a pleasant thing to see. We went morning after morning to watch them, and at length we witnessed a far livelier scene there. The harbor of Havana, from time immemorial, has been infested by sharks, some of them of very large size. These have never been molested, since the)' act as scavengers for refuse meat and other unsavory matters which might otherwise contaminate the basin. Nevertheless, it might be a serious matter to tumble overboard from a boat, if some of these white-bellied gentiy chance to be cruising near by. An incident is told of an American captain of a bark, who chanced to be in port some years ago, when Havana was a more lawless place than at present. The captain, a New Englander, had concluded his business on shore late one afternoon, and going down to the qua) 7 , stepped into a waterman's boat and bade the man take him off to his vessel', which lay out in the harbor. He had, as the result of his trading in port, a heavy bag of silver dollars, which he placed by his side in the stern of the boat. It was getting dusk, and when they were about half way off to the bark, the boatman, a dark-visaged, brawny fellow, quietly unshipped his oars, and drawing a loner gleaming: sheath-knife from a belt beneath his open shirt, sprang upon the American to murder him. The captain was unarmed, but seeing the man's movement, he jumped up from his seat, and at the same time gave so convulsive a jerk at the pintle, or handle of the rudder, that it came off in his hand, and he thus most unexpectedly found himself in possession of a stick a yard long and as thick as his arm. The would-be-assassin raised his knife to strike, but ere his arm could descend, the pintle-stick descended on his skull with such force as to tumble him at full length backwards in the bottom of his boat. But as he showed signs of getting up, the captain seized him by the legs and threw him over- THE SHARK. 121 board, thinking he could best make terms with so murderous a rascal outside the boat. His body had hardly struck the water, however, when our American saw, to his horror, a huge shark rise close along- J- - ^ ~~~~ . — — "z—A — — ~r~~ • jsH J5E3 ~--JH ATTEMPTED ASSASINATION. side. Slowly turning up ten or twelve feet of white belly in the twi- light, the tiburon paid his respects to the -picarro waterman, whom he took in charge without comments or trouble of police. Occasionally a shark, poising further out in the channel, will make a sudden rush at the horses or at the cocheros in the waters. Upon the morning above alluded to there arose a sudden cry of,- " Un tiburon! Un tiburon I " And out where a long file of horses were moving slowly, up to their backs, we saw one kicking, plunging, squealing. The animal fell and went under. In an instant the whole troop was in disorder, all making frantic plunges toward the shore. I22 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. In a minute the whole place was astir. From all sides came run- ning watermen, soldiers, police, slaves, cocheros, — everybody! And such a babel of shouts arose as even to drown the tremendous squeals of the poor horse as his head struggled up to the surface. Boats put out, the watermen whooping and striking the water heavily with the flat of their long oars. And either alarmed by the noise, or because he had found the horse's legs a less palatable morsel than he had anticipated, the tiburon let go his hold and made off. The horse was drawn out and led limping off to the stables, both its hind legs much lacerated. Formerly, the Chinese were the most stay-at-home people in the world. They kept exclusively within their own land, and neither went abroad themselves nor would allow foreigners to come to them. This had been the national spirit for centuries. But within the last half century, still more within the last ten years, a very marked and a very singular change has occurred in this ancient habit of life. The Chinese are now the greatest emigrants in the world. Even the globe-tramping Irishman is distanced at length. Travel where you will, whether to the icy mountain fastnesses of British Columbia, or the mangrove swamps of Honduras; to the West Indies, Brazil, or some unpronounceable city of Cossacks, the odds are, that the first hour of your arrival will be rendered homelike by a glimpse of "John's" tunic, serious simple face, and laced up pig-tail, moving soberly up a street, or round a corner. And everywhere, in all tongues, the same cry is raised against him: " He works all the time, gets all he can for it, spends nothing, and departing leaves nothing behind him, — not even his bones." Such economy is not popular. The -world seems to prefer the Irishman, — who works as little as he can, spends all he gets, begs, tramps, and leaves his body to be buried in situ, at the expense of the town. JOHN CHINAMAN. At heart, we find poor brother "John " much like all the rest of us. We smile at his ever-serious phiz and his carefully-treasured up pig-tail. But this pig-tail he is compelled by law to keep; and which of us who had mortgaged his father and mother (a mortgage which, if foreclosed, would assign them to slavery) to get money to go into a distant land, there to brave all the uncertainties and hardships of a life of toil among foreigners, — which of us, I repeat, under such hard lines, would not look serious? Should we not be apt to be diligent, saving, and inclined to keep what we could? Of all the foreign lands into which "John" wanders, seeking for either fame or fortune, the most luckless place in all the world, per- haps, at present is Cuba. For while in most lands times are now fairly good, here a blight has fallen. Times are dull, inexpressibly dull, and all the "Johns " here are stranded, — stuck fast. The poor fel- lows cannot even scrape together enough of the depreciated paper to get away on. It is of no use, either, for a Chinaman to go home unless he has earned money; so here they are, as forlorn and as utterly " broke " a class of beings as can well be pictured. The habitual seriousness of their faces has here taken on a shade of gloom not seen in other cities. But they never loaf; even IN EVERY LAND. 124 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. when there is nothing to do, they go steadily and soberly up and down with an empty laundry basket. Here you will see one selling a few bits of dusty candy. Presently one calls at the house with two or three Chinese pictures in cheap frames, for which he asks unheard-of prices, or perhaps he has a few odd Chinese articles which it is easy to see are, or were, his private personal property. It has come to that with the poor boy. A few find work at breaking stone for the street in the Prado. JOHN CHINAMAN. But I cannot hear that they ever beg, though beggars are as com- mon as dogs. They do not readily learn Spanish. Most of them know a little English, and brighten at the sound of an English word, as if it calls to mind better times in the States. To one breaking stone in the hot sun with a heavy hammer Moses saidj " How do, John? You go to California?" The rare smile that lit up his sad face was a sight, indeed! But it soon faded out. " No got money," he replied, and shook his head. How far off and how utterly hopeless must his Chinese home and all the dear objects there look to this poor world-waif! COLUMBUS. 125 And in that Chinese home what hopes may be hanging on this unpromising castaway! Indeed, but for certain prejudices which we can hardly rise superior to, we should find the most genuine tragedies of the age in the homely affairs of these wayside "Johns." An American is so accustomed to think of Columbus as the grand discoverer of the New World — his world — that for a moment he feels like resenting the exclusive claim of this not over-clean and badly-governed city of Havana to the guardian- ship of his ashes. It seems odd to hear him spoken of as Colon, and find his grave in a Catholic church here. Colum- bus — or Cristobal Colon, as we must call him in Cuba — died in Santo Domingo, or Hayti; but his remains were subsequently re- moved to the Cathedral in Havana, where, beneath a pillar within the altar, they now repose. Properly proud are the Havanese Spanish of their great fellow-countryman by adoption, whose last resting-place is with them. Beneath a rather doubtful bust of the great discoverer, a marble tablet, set in the pillar, is inscribed with the following characteristically Spanish epitaph in the old-time dialect of Castile: — " O, restos y ymagen del grande Colon! Mil siglos durad guardado en la uma y en la remembranza de nueslra nation?'' "O remains and likeness of great Columbus! Let a thousand CHINESE AT HIS DEVOTIONS. 126 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. centuries hold thee guarded sacredly in thy urn and in the memory of our nation." More correct to life, it is said, is the statue of Columbus in the ■patio of the captain-general's palace, a few squares away. Here his RELICS OF COLUMBUS. hand points to a globe (that globe which he was persecuted for believing to be round and not flat!) and a chart. The head and face are those of a man forty-five or fifty years of age; and the countenance RELICS OF COLUMBUS, I2 y indicates a certain pathetic faith and purpose, half buried and struggling beneath tides on tides of trouble. One cannot for a moment look upon that face and believe that the life of this man was a happy one — rather that he suffered from first to last; from the day he first set forth to raise funds for his ridiculed expedition to that last hour in Santo Domingo, when his noble life expired beneath ingratitude and malice. Such a face is a silent and lasting reproach to the age which it looked upon. CHAPTER VI. CARNIVAL. A FIRE IN HAVANA. ABOUT CUBA. MATANZAS. CUEVA DE BELLAMAR. AT AN INGENIO. CAPTURING A MAJA. THE CUBAN WAR. A TRAGIC INCIDENT. IN AN OLD MOLASSES HOGSHEAD. E chanced to be in Havana during the carnival season, and witnessed the ludicrous turnouts and processions at the Prado on the three consecutive Sabbaths preceding Lent; but these carnival crazes have been so often depicted that the reader's good humor need not be taxed with the details of these mas- querades. On the night of the 30th of January we were witnesses of the great fire on the Prado, Y'T where a hundred and twenty firemen were disabled. Fires are of rare occurrence in Havana. This one origi- nated in an American livery stable, — a tinder-box, as usual, — and was thence communicated to some extensive lumber-yards. In a Northern city such a "blaze" would be thought of no great consequence; but here it created a scene of terror and distress not easily imagined; and the bomber os (firemen), of feeble physique, and unused to such exertion, dropped down by the dozen. For a week little else than the fire and the "heroic " firemen were talked of throughout the city. Previous to this, however, we had visited Guines and Matanzas, and at the latter city were present at the grand ball which concluded the International Exposition held there. 12S CUBAN SCENERY. 129 Of other Cuban towns and of Cuban scenery in general there is little need to make mention. Journeying in Cuba is a tiresome busi- ness at best, whether by rail or on horseback, unless, in the latter case, it is made during a few hours of the early morn- ing, before the scorching heats of midday. The railway cars are all what we term at home sec- ond-class cars, with bad springs and hard seats. The windows are neces- sarily all open, and the dust, smoke, and heat are unusually troublesome. The cave of Bella- mar, near Matanzas, is, perhaps, the most won- derful natural curiosity of Cuba. And even after one has seen the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky and the great bat-caves of Texas, he will still find Bellamar worth a visit. It is situated two miles out of Matanzas — just a good early morning walk for an American, after coffee. Like nearly all the remarkable caverns of the world, this cueva is in a limestone foundation — a part of that odd, dome-shaped range which years ago our Northern skippers, voyaging to Cuba after molasses and rum, named the "Bread of Matanzas" (£1 Pau de Matanzas), because, seen from the sea, it resembles a row of bread-loaves. GATHERING PALMS. I ? THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. The way to it lies beside the bay, then up a steep hill, with tine scenery on both sides; and the entrance to the cave is in the midst of a small clearing, on a perfectly flat limestone plateau. They tell us that it was accidently discovered by a former owner who was breaking out stone for his lime-kiln. On a sudden the rock sank away beneath his blows, and he found, to his amazement, that he had a tremendous hole on his hands. After a time he ventured down into it, and was astonished still more to find how large it was, and what beautiful stalactites hung from the roofs of the many "rooms" and passages. These, as in the great limestone caverns of the United States, are formed by the infiltration of the water through the strata of lime rock above. Many of these beautiful glistening marble icicles are not less than thirty feet in length. They stand singly and in groups, often fantastically twined together, some semi-transparent, some of a pinkish hue, others dead white. Further on great areas of the roof sparkle with densely-packed spikelets, bright as glass. Wonderful is the variety and beauty of the different mazes of this dark labyrinth, — a beauty which the torches of the guide but dimly reveal. Stein took the liberty of suggesting to the proprietor that an elec- tric light would produce beautiful effects; but some American had already sold him a gasoline apparatus, which he had used for a time and taken out, because the smoke from it was ruining the stalactites, and he did not take kindly to the hint. The various rooms and passages have been named, as in Mammoth Cave. We find the " Catedral? the « Rotunda," the " Devil's Mouth," the " Bct7io de la Ame?'icafia" — "Bath of the American Lady," — so called because one of our fellow-countrywomen who visited the cave was so fascinated by the beauty of the room and the crystal purity of the pools of water on one side, beneath the stalactites, that she insisted on being left in it to take a bath. IN THE CAVE. jgj Perchance she fancied that the fable of the fountain of youth might be true after all, and that this pool was the place of magic waters. Then we come to the " Indian Woman's Path" and the " Hall of the Twelve Apostles," the "Grotto of the Monkey," and the K Senora's Boudoir," where we see, in pure white stone, the form of a lady. These subterranean salons have been explored to a distance of a mile and a half from the entrance. The present owner has provided very comfortable and safe facilities for seeing the cave; and the price — one dollar — is by no means unreasonable. Not so reasonable, however, are the charges of Matanzas cocheros for driving a visitor out to the cave; and we would respectfully hint to all tourists of an economical turn of mind, to imitate our example, and make the trip on foot between the hours of half past six and nine in the morning. While stopping over night at an ingenio (sugar-mill) near Matan- zas, we were awakened early in the morning by an uproarious outcry in a neighboring pig. hovel, where were ten or twelve little porkers, not yet a month old; and immediately we heard the negroes shouting, — " Jkfaj'a, Afaj'a!" (pronounced mah-hali). " It is a great snake, — a pig-snake ! " exclaimed the young engineer with whom we were stopping, and who had been engaged for some weeks at the ingenio putting in afornalla, or furnace, for consum- ing the green begasse of the sugar-cane for fuel. " Come out, and we will see some fun! " We threw on coats, hats, and boots, and hastening forth saw ten or a dozen negroes gathering round the pig hovel, some with machetes (cane-cutters), some with fornalla pokers, while others were bring- ing several of those large, long lines, such as the teamsters here pass through holes in the nostrils of the poor draught oxen to rein and guide them by. The squeals had ceased, but the maja was still in the pig hovel; so, at least, we judged from the stealthy movements of the negroes, !32 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. who were carefully pressing the gate together and stopping up several gaps in the palings with bits of board and thick banana stalks. Then a great jabbering in their nigeon Spanish followed, — probably as to the best method of getting out the serpent. Seeing that they had hit on a plan, we stood and watched their motions. Two stal- wart mulattoes took one of the long ropes and made an open noose at the middle of it. Another openeu the gate of the hovel a little way, guarding the crack, however, with a piece of board. The two with the noose then fixed it with forked sticks in front of the crack of the gate, the bottom of it resting on the ground and cov- ered with dust; the noose was, perhaps, a foot in diameter as it hung. Their rope trap being at length placed to suit them, the two mulat- toes took each an end of the rope, and standing opposite each other, forty feet apart, perhaps, signified to the others that they were ready. The negro who was holding the board before the crack at the gate then cautiously slipped it away, and retired with speed, when car- rambal all the others stationed with pokers and poles at the back of the hovel raised a simultaneous " Holal " and beat upon the sides and eaves of the shed, making a frightful racket. At the first note of the clamor, the maja — a great, dark, ash- colored snake — glided out through the noose at the crack of the gate- having a pig well down in his gullet. At sight of him a yell rose, and the two mulattoes at the ends of the line jerked backward with all their force, drawing the noose tightly and catching the maja around the body at a point three or four feet back of his head. Six or eight others ran to help them pull the harder; and then the fun began in earnest! The snake first spit out his pig; then began such a struggle for liberty as at once enlisted our full sympathies for him. "Here is a Cuban patriot," exclaimed Stein, "with a rope round his neck, doing battle with ten Spaniards! " CATCHING A SNAKE. 133 At his first muscular bounce the maja landed himself a dozen feet clear of the gate, disclosing his entire length, — which was certainly not less than fourteen feet, and the reader can judge of the reptile's strength from the fact that in his bounds to and fro he pulled the negroes violently back and forth with the rope. His long tail cut the air like a cart- whip; and our friend, the engineer, assured us that a stroke of his tail across a man's stomach would be as fatal as a musket-shot. With every spring the reptile expelled its breath with a shrill sound, and its black eyes grew livid with rage. KILLING THE SNAKE. The struggle con- tinued for eight or ten minutes; and though the negroes had no great diffi- culty in holding the rope straight, and thus keeping the maja at a distance from their legs, yet the entire party were carried over nearly an acre of ground in the melee, knocking down a whole plat of tall bananas on the side of the quint a. But numbers prevailed (as they did here in 1878). The tightly- drawn noose, backed by vigorous blows from pokers and poles, quelled 1?a THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. the lithe maja at length; and half an hour later two negroes were busily engaged stripping off its skin, to be tanned for shoe leather. Our engineer friend told us that he once saw one of these large majas chase a horse which had accidentally angered it by stumbling into its hole. The snake, darting out, struck the horse with its tail so heavy a blow that the animal uttered a loud squeal, and ran away; but the enraged maja, whirling rapidly along, — first from its head, then from its tail, — not only kept pace with the horse, but lashed it so furi- ously that my friend thinks the horse would have been killed, had it not run into a shed, where several negroes came to its relief. This incident may call to mind some of the wonderful accounts which we occasionally hear of the strength and swiftness of large black snakes in the United States. While in Cuba we heard a great deal of the late war there, or " the great insurrection," as the Spaniards term it, which raged in the east- ern districts for eight years prior to 1878, and which reduced large and previously prosperous sections of the island to the condition of a desert. Mr. A , one of Stein's acquaintances at Havana — an Ameri- can who fought in the patriot arm}' throughout the long, bitter, and hopeless struggle for Cuban independence — told him many incidents of the war, two of which he has written out, and contributes them to our book. A TRAGIC INCIDENT. Sitting on a block of limestone which the workmen with their double-faced axes had just squared down for the new market-house, I saw a hideous object, yet in human shape ; so hideous that I shrink from describing it, and must search for softening words, lest I shock the reader. It was the form of a negro, shrivelled and clad in two rags which held the place of drawers and shirt. Where should have been the eyes were two deep sightless pits, frightfully livid and broken, like what my boyish fancy used to portray in the forehead of Poly- phemus after that Ulysses had bored out the gigantic eye. THE BEGGAR. j^e Ears it had none ; — and what a strange, almost terrific aspect the human head has without the ears ! Instead were two blood-red scars where they had been cut away. The face, the exposed breast, and the arms were literally seamed and scored with deep lines, the paths of gaping sabre wounds. Involuntarily I closed my eyes to pass ; I had heard of beggars who in the interest of their trade with human sympathy had mutilated themselves. But my Cuban friend laid a hand upon my arm, and with a gesture almost pathetic, I thought, said to me softly, " Put a little money in his hand and say cheerfully, Buenas tardes, Florencio /" and he set the example himself, — a rather lavish one, for I saw that he slipped a paper dollar into the terrible hand of the sightless anatomy. I felt a little surprised. Ordinarily my friend paid little attention to beg- gars ; for here in Havana beggars of all degrees of human decrepitude and malformation are as plenty as are buzzards. Presently, as we went out into the Prado, he said, " That poor wretch was not a professional beggar, like the most of them. He is a hero, — as true, faithful a fellow as ever breathed, and worthy of all any one can give him. You saw how he was chopped to pieces. The Spaniards did that because he would n't turn trai- tor to us in the war. It is one of our Cuban tragedies. Tragedies were plenty herefrom 1870 to 1877; that struggle which the world calls the Cuban insur- rection. No history of our war has ever been written, and none save some of those who fought it through to the last bitter hour of defeat and prison bars know what we suffered here. Cuba, which so ardently desired to be a free state, like the other fair lands of the New World, lies conquered ; her business ruined, her plantations a wreck, her money a mass of dirty depreciated paper rags that the very beggars turn up their noses at, and everywhere troops, troops, soldiers, soldiers, which we are taxed to the earth to support, — to hold us in submission. Bitter, indeed, is the fate of that country which tries to be free and fails. Had we succeeded in 1870, as we nearly did, how different would be the condition of Cuba to-day ! The world would now call us patriots and illustrious instead of conquered rebels ! " That poor negro was a slave on one of the sugar-plantations out near Porto Principe. The place is a wreck now, a desert ; but in 1870 it was a fine estate, where one of my personal friends — whose name I must withhold — had recently put in machinery for crushing cane and boiling molasses, to the value of a hun- dred thousand pesos (dollars). But he was an ardent patriot, and loved Cuba and her freedom better than his business. By every means, personally and by the aid of his fortune, he worked for the public liberty, both in Havana and in New York, to secure our recognition as belligerents and to enlist volunteers in the 136 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. North to fight the Spanish in the field. In consequence of his exertions he was soon a marked man — marked by the government for execution when caught. This was as late as 1874, after the Cubans had emancipated their slaves as a war measure, and hoped that they would fight with them against the common enemy. As might have been foreseen, however, the most of them went their ways, car- ing very little for Cuban independence, and in some cases even taking up arms against us. One of my friend's blacks, however (this same Florencio), did not leave the ingenio, but remained looking after the property during his former master's many absences, and attending to his comforts when at intervals he re- turned for a few days. It chanced that my friend had been on a secret mission to Havana, where he was kept concealed in the house of a compatriot for a number of days — enter- ing and leaving the city by night along dark alleys, and journeying across the country by routes which were known to him from boyhood, but with which the enemy's guardias were unfamiliar. This, indeed, was but one of many such trips in behalf of our lost cause ; and such was his knowledge of the country that hitherto he had been able to make them without discovery. But on this occasion some spy or some traitor had given the Spanish the clue and put the soldiers on his track. He had been at the ingenio no more than an hour when Florencio, who had gone out to the qninta to gather a bunch of plantanos (bananas), came hurriedly back into the engine-house of the ingenio, which my friend, in the general wreck of his household goods, occupied as a sleeping-room and hiding-place : " Por amor de cielo, maestro ! " he exclaimed, " Los So/dados ! " " For the love of Heaven, master, the soldiers are here ! " Stepping to the window, my friend saw that Florencio's warning was but too true. A troop of cavalry was riding furiously up to the ingenio, deploying as they came on to throw a cordon of men round the mill. To escape by flight was impossible, and he well knew what capture meant ; yet my friend's coolness did not forsake him. " Close the shutters," he said to the negro ; "and bar the door, but open it when they summon you. Say that I have gone. They will not hurt you, I think." The furnace of the engine-room was one of those broad-mouthed fomallas for consuming the green begasse of the sugar-cane as fuel. Into this fire-box my friend crept, and, regardless of soot and dust, made his way up the inside of the narrow brick flue to a kind of widened jog, or jamb in the brick work, where he was able to stand out of sight, even to one looking up the flue from inside SPANISH CRUELTY. !,* the fire-box. Florencio had closed the furnace door behind him on the instant. Scarcely had he gained his perch on the jamb when, without waiting to knock, or order the door opened, the soldiers staved it in with the tongue of an old cane cart which lay in the yard ; and then confusedly (for the iron and brick of the fornalla muffled the sounds) my friend heard himself peremptorily in- quired for as a cursed traidor (traitor) by the captain of the troop. Florencio replied that his master had been there, but had gone. " P erro negro ! " (black dog), shouted the officer, "Tell me where he is in- stantly, or I will have you flayed alive ! " Florencio answered merely that he had nothing to tell ; that his master had gone. The soldiers then searched the engine-house and all the other buildings of the mill. They even looked into the fire-box of the fornalla, and stirred up the heaps of cinders at the bottom of it. Following this, my friend again heard the officer order Florencio to tell where his master had gone ; but the faithful fellow persistently replied that he had nothing further to tell. Presently the soldiers took him out into the yard and bound him to a palm trunk. Repeatedly then, for the space of an hour, which seemed an age to my endangered friend, he heard them threatening Florencio at intervals. Several times, too, he thought that he heard the poor fellow cry out ; and he had no doubt that they were beating him, or pricking him with their swords. But he had little idea that they were inflicting upon him the horrible tortures which the event showed, else — as he has often declared to me with tears in his eyes — he would have come out and surrendered rather than have allowed it. And that the negro should have endured such agony without shrieking is one of the strongest proofs of his fidelity and his nerve. They literally cut the flesh from his bones. Not a patch of his skin remained which was not gashed with their sabres. One by one they cut off every toe, and as a crowning act of torture, they dug out the poor faithful slave's eyes, and cutting off his ears, crammed them into his mouth ! Such cruelties are almost too horrible to be believed ; and no doubt can exist that the wretches who had the heart to perpetrate such horrors upon a fellow- being were the true descendants of the inquisitors who, three centuries ago, made the Christian religion the excuse for outrages upon humanity, such as the world to that time, through ages of savagery and heathenism, had never dreamed of. I3« THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. In the name of humanity, I ask the enlightened world, how long should this fair island of Cuba remain in the clutches of such men ? After a time the troop rode away ; and my friend presumed that they had taken Florencio with them ; for he heard nothing of him. A TRAGIC INCIDENT. After it had grown dark, he ventured to creep down from out the fortialla, when he found his poor servant in a swoon, still hanging by the rope to the palm trunk. Life was not extinct, however, and toward morning the poor creature revived and faintly spoke his master's name. A CURIOUS EXPERIENCE. T og My friend says that those few words from him were the saddest, most reproachful, yet the sweetest music he ever heard. He nursed him there for two months, and afterwards hired a negro to wait upon him constantly. Eighteen months later my friend fell in one of our hopeless battles, and Florencio at length found his way to Havana. You can understand why it is that I never pass the poor fellow by. In the name of Cuba's lost liberty, I always give him something ; and I would divide my last dollar with him rather than see him suffer further. IN AN OLD MOLASSES HOGSHEAD. It was a hot night even for Cuba, and April nights in this tropic island are not commonly suggestive of icebergs. This was in 1873, during the very worst and bloodiest times of the Cuban insurrection, "when war to the knife and no prisoners" had begun in dire earnest on both sides. For the government troops were accustomed to shoot down a " patriot " at sight, armed or unarmed ; and on our side the volunteers were not slow to sanguinary reprisals upon any of the hated Spanish soldados who showed their heads in the interior about Porto Principe. Those were the times when Cuban planters were destroying their own plan- tations, slaughtering their cattle rather than let the government troops find food or a resting-place in the eastern districts; when the wells and springs were choked with dead carcasses, so that not a drop of good water should solace the enemy on his marches against us ; when even the women watched all day in the tops of the ceiba trees to give us notice of the approach of the invaders, — women who, in their devotion to the cause of this fair island's liberty, were not less self-sacrificing than those of Carthage. Alas, that such devotion should have been in vain ! But not in vain forever ; Cuba will be free, — the patriotic fire and fervor in the hearts of her sons and daughters is not extinguished. Covered now, but hot and quick, it smoulders ready to break into flame when the favorable hour shall strike. For three months our little company of forty-six men, under Captain Green, had been living as best we could in the monte to the southeast of Porto Principe ; often in want of food, but ready to fight any detachment the Spanish General might send against us. That afternoon we had come out to Tunas, and there, just at nightfall, a negro from Porto Principe informed us that the enemy had lAo THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. taken the town, and had by a rue-de-guerra succeeded in surrounding a company of " patriots " at an ingenio, or sugar-mill, where they were defending them- selves desperately. But such rumors were everywhere rife then. The negroes were constantly spreading exciting news, and some of these latter were paid spies of the Spanish, who sought thus to draw us into ambuscades, and once or twice, in the case of our less cautious officers, had succeeded. Nevertheless, the news made a flurry among the men, particularly the Cubanos, who were very mobile-tempered. There were eight of us Americans in the company, five of whom had served in the Civil War ; and upon us our capitan, being an American himself, naturally relied. "Most likely it 's a lie, perhaps a trick," he said to us ; "still we cannot tell ; and I wish one of you boys would go down there and see what 's up ! " The distance was twelve leguas, no pleasant trip hot and bootless. But Warren Robertson (afterwards killed at the solado) and myself stepped forward together. "Thanks," said Captain Green. "I don't like to choose between you; snap up a real /" We did so, and my choice of the head came up. A decent horse and a negro guide were found for me in the hamlet ; for though I had been across the country two or three times already I knew little of the various roads and devious estradas which it might be necessary to take, particularly by night. When it had grown dark, not till then, I set off, keeping the black boy, who was mounted on a large mule, a little in advance, giving him plainly to under- stand that any attempt on his part to desert or play me a trick would surely draw a shot from my Winchester. These blacks were many of them great ras- cals ; but they knew the country like a book, and it was when the enemy began to employ them as scouts that the greatest mischief was done us. The night was hot, damp, and dark, — so dark that I could but faintly make out the ghostly white trunks of the palms which everywhere stud the half- cleared lands. The only sounds, save here and there the barking of dogs, were the chirrupings of the frogs, and now and then the screeches of parrots where a maja was trying to catch them. Once or twice we passed closely upon groups of negroes — picaros — out on their forays. By four o'clock we had arrived among the quintas which skirt the town, and here I hitched up the animals, and then went on foot with the negro to the hut of a black man whom he knew, and who I surmised could tell the news, if there CRACK! CRACK! 1 . 1 were any. Cautiously rousing out the black gardener, I elicited from him the intelligence that four batallons of the enemy's infantry and a company of cavalry had entered the town the previous day, but that there had been no fight. Even as he was telling me this the morning bugles of the different batallons began to sound up at the plaza. The fellow evidently told the truth. If there had been a battle at that small town, he would have been sure to know it. Moreover, if treacherous, he seemed friendly, and gave us oranges and bread freely. This being the state of affairs, I determined to retrace my steps and get away from the town a good bit before the sun had risen. We set off accordingly, and had ridden for an hour, perhaps, along the road we had come, — but very leisurely, for our animals were much fatigued, — when directly ahead I heard a loud " Hola ! " and saw a squad of Spanish cavalry running upon us at a furious gallop. The negro with whom I had conversed had probably gone on the instant of my departure and betrayed me in hope of a reward. The black boy with me cried out in abject terror, and slipping off his mule took to the gnava hedge ; and not caring for a hand-to-hand conflict with eight or ten troopers, I wheeled through a gap in the hedge, on the other side, and rode for life through a field of young cane, keeping to cover of a row of palms. Crack, crack, and whiz, whiz, whiz, went a half-dozen carbine shots past me. The rascals were hard after me, and my poor horse was already well used up. Beyond the cane was a belt of low orange trees, and through these I came plump down upon the bank of one of those deep, sluggish Cuban creeks, half choked with high, rank grass. There was no time for looking out a ford. I put my horse at it, and with the first spring he landed me in the middle of the stream, over his back in mud and water, and there stuck fast. I slid over his head and struggled to the further bank, wet to my skin and plastered with black mud. On that side were also orange trees ; through them I ran, the water streaming off me, — stimulated by the crack of a carbine from behind, where a trooper had caught a glimpse of me. The orange orchard was perhaps two hundred meters in width, and from it I emerged at full run upon a deserted ingenio, where beneath the long storage shed my eye fell on thirty or forty hogsheads of molasses ranged in a row, on their sides, upon a platform against the back wall. In such stress for life a person will sometimes have strangely quick, vivid thoughts. When a boy, far up North in my New England home, I had worked for three or four winters at making " shook," as we called it ; that is, riving and I 4 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. shaving red-oak staves for molasses hogsheads, which our Northern schooners, sailing to the West Indies after molasses, took thither with them, bound up in bundles, just as we made them in the woods. In that moment of fear and desperation, no one can tell what a homelike feeling came to me from the sight of those oaken hogsheads. Two or three others, empty, one with one head out, lay about on the platform ; and as my eye fell upon it a sudden thought — like a whispered word— flashed in my mind! 'T would be a bold trick. Dared I risk it ! Once, years ago, when a boy playing at hide- and-seek in the old barn at home, I had hit on that same ruse to delude my play-fellows and suc- ceeded completely. I would risk it. All this passed through my mind, probably. in a single second of time. As quickly did I act — rolling two y of the full hogsheads ^ at one end of the row back a little from the others, and introducing -^ into the gap in the row the empty hogshead, with the open end turned next to the wall. For- tunately for my trick, this hogs- head had the remaining outer head painted red, like the others in the row. To toss my carbine into the well at the end of the shed, and slip my body down beside the wall, was but the work of another moment ; and then by two or three vigorous pulls and hitches I contrived to work the cask (with myself in it) so far back that the open head could not readily be detected, even by one passing close to the row. My hogshead thus resembled the others so closely as not to be distinguished from them, unless it were moved. Thus ensconced I drew my revolver, and waited the outcome of the adven- IN THE MUD AND WATER. IN THE MOLASSES HOGSHEAD. j,, ture. A minute had not yet elapsed since I came out to the ingenio, yet I was none too soon. Scarcely had I got quiet in my hogshead when, with loud "kolas ! " and shouts of, — " Carramba ! " " Perro Americano!" four or five of the troopers who had managed to get their horses through the creek came galloping up to the mill, followed by the others on foot — all wet and swearing as only such troopers can ! Through a tiny crack in the head of my cask I could catch glimpses of them. They had tracked me to the shed ; and now I shuddered to see that they had detected my wet foot-prints on the platform itself. Surely they must find me now. Setting my teeth and grasping the butt of my pistol, I deter- mined to sell my life at a good price ; six of them should die with me, I vowed. Shouting and cursing, they rushed along past the row of hogsheads, follow- ing my last tracks to the well. This they examined closely, and even threw down six or eight heavy stones, thinking, I presume, that I might be ducking under the water. Then they ca'me back past the row of hogsheads, fuming and execrating me in stiffest phrase. One of them ran along on the top of the hogsheads, then came slowly back, actually standing for several seconds upon the very cask in which I lay coiled ! Then they all hurried away to search the engine-house and other buildings of the ingenio. For fully half an hour I heard them rummaging and shouting. Twice their officer came back to the well ; and the last time he had two of the men pitch down more and heavier stones, — seeming to be of the opinion that I must be down there. At length they went on, to search further, no doubt. I kept close in my tub for an hour or two ; then unable to bear the cramped position longer, I crept cautiously out and hid in the engine-house, and here I remained all day. When it was fairly dark I sallied forth, and getting a stick, climbed down into the well by the rod and pipe of the windmill pump, hoping to recover my carbine. But the rascals had buried it too deep beneath the stones which they had thrown down. I could not get it up, and, much to my chagrin, was obliged to leave it there. Next I went out to the creek, thinking that if my horse was anywhere about I would again impress him into my service. But some one else had taken him, or he had gone away by himself. I was obliged to make my way back to Tunas on foot, minus my Winchester, — a serious loss at that time. CHAPTER VII. ON BOARD THE "CITY OF MERIDA. TROPIC HEATS. A "NORTHER." ON THE GULF IN A TEMPEST. SOME FEARS AND MUCH DISCOMFORT. MOSES RESIGNED. ORIZABA IN SIGHT. VERA CRUZ. ^ the morning of the 18th of February the staunch old steamship " City of Merida" was lying off Frontera, in the Bay of Campeche. Like nearly all the gulf ports of Mexico, Fron- tera has no harbor, and all vessels coming here (including the New York, Havana, and .Mexican mail steamers) anchor eight or ten miles off the shore, and trans-ship their cargoes into " lighters," which come out for it. It is a tedious process, and an entire day may be consumed unloading a few tons of freight. The day was a hot one even for the Bay of Campeche, enclosed about by the tierra caliente. Not a breath of wind stirred the shining surface of the green sea; and under the awning of the after- deck it seemed as if our heads would burst from the sultry oppress- iveness of the almost vertical sun-rays. We sighed for a breeze; just a breath, ever so little, would have been an unspeakable relief. Twelve, one, two o'clock came. It was too hot to eat, well-nigh too hot to breathe. How the crew contrived to work, hoisting out freight, was a matter of astonishment. The very creak of the tackle- 144 A "NORTHER." X ac blocks was painful, and the ship's bells gave one a headache. Some of the Indians in the lighters lay asleep in the half shadow of the listless sails, and our fellow-traveller, Moses O , tried to sleep in the shade of a deck-boat. Stein tried to read " Prescott's Conquest of Mexico," and Karzy essayed to fan himself with a " Seaside," which he had long ago given up trying to read. Presently we became aware of a sudden and unusual stir aboard; the captain was seen to go hastily forward, the engineer to come rather quickly from his room. Then the second officer was heard ordering off the lighters; anon black smoke rolled up from the twin funnels. " Something must be the matter with the barometer," remarked the old English passenger. " A 'norther,' I reckon," observed the mahogany dealer. " Well, a ' norther ' would n't go so bad," said Moses, rolling out from the barren lee of his boat. "Ah, the very name of it sounds sort of cool and refreshing," panted Karzy. « Still the sun poured, — mucho calor ! But twenty or thirty minutes later a dark, rough line was espied moving down across the glass-bright water far to the northward, and on the horizon in that quarter a single amber cloud had risen. "There comes the breeze! " was the cry, and all got up and stood looking pantingly toward it. The ruffled line of water bore down upon us, and, gentle as a zephyr at first, it flapped our heated awnings, — ah, how gratefully ! But the captain seemed to distrust it; the awnings were at once hauled off and stowed away. Everything, in fact, was lashed fast and made snug. Immediately the anchor was raised, and the old ship moved off under a full head of steam, not toward Vera Cruz, where she was due next morning, but to the northward, directly up into the Gulf. 146 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. Within an hour we all began to feel that it was getting fresh, — cold, in fact. Overcoats and thick caps came out; by sunset the ocean was really stormy and rough, and in the north and west a vast blue- black bank of clouds had risen, across which, in the twilight, played gleaming lines of lightening. Toward it, heading into the rising wind, the old steamer ploughed and plunged under full pressure of her screws. The supper-table, hitherto so jolly a gathering-place, was strangely deserted to-night, the most of our friends appearing to have personal cares in their state-rooms. By nine o'clock the sensation of heavy weather, not unattended with danger, had crept over all. The ship was rolling and pitching violently, and the wind, the "norther," how it howled and whistled! Ere long waves began to break over the bulwarks, and random douches of water to dash in at the state-room windows. Then came a fearful lurch, followed by a terriffic crash of crockery and glasses in the pantry, and a general upset of trunks and chairs, amidst the tumble and rumble of which there rose a wail of anguish, from all the afflicted. The "fun" had begun. To cross, or to stand, in the saloon was now a perilous business. Each got to his berth, and kept in it as best he could. Above the dismal creaking and snapping of the cabin woodwork could be heard, now and then, a groan of " Oh my ! " from the indisposed. The few ladies on board were sad sufferers; even the old stewardess, whom we discovered with her head down on one of the tables and her arm wound round a post. The gale increased with the advancing night. To one clinging to the sides of his berth, the mad plunging of the vessel grew, indeed, alarming; occasionally, too, a shock from a sea caused her entire frame to vibrate as if she had struck a reef. No one could keep still enough for sleep, neither in his berth, nor on the floor. Within the ROUGH WEATHER. 147 state-rooms water-pitchers, wash-bowls, glasses, soap-dishes, life- preservers, and travelling-bags tumbled and bounded about in a truly perilous manner. Everything breakable was soon reduced to a homogeneous mass of debris, which flew from one side to the other with each semi-somersault of the ship. Every state-room had its own horrible discord of noises, and these were supplemented by fre- quent grand crashes in the pantry, where whole piles of plates and stands of glasses broke loose at once. With such sounds, added to the roar of the tempest, the ponderous dashing of the sea, the cracking of the ship, and the ominous " flutter " of her screws as they " raced " in the air when the waves threw them out of water, the night was filled. Clinging for dear life to posts and door-handles, we made calls of condolence on each other, but many were the bruises received. Moses was much " under the weather," and only entreated to be left alone where he lay, half buried in coats and broken crockery, on the floor of his room. " But what if we have to take to the boats ? " Karzy said to him. " What if the ship were to sink?" "Let her go," muttered Moses. About four o'clock a rumor spread that a part of the cargo in the hold, consisting of large sections of drain-pipe for Vera Cruz, had shifted and was plunging from side to side. This story for a time SEA-EAGLES FIGHTING. 148 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. produced something of a panic, for the vessel listed a good deal. It proved to be an exaggerated alarm, however; on the whole, the old steamer was behaving well, and her officers, though anxious, were calm and fairly confident that she would weather it. Day dawning soon after, we all felt less solicitous. There is some- thing reassuring in morning light, even though, as in our case, it revealed a wild sky and a grand, almost teriffically stormy ocean. Some of the waves were, indeed, enormous; and with every plunge of the ship a wall of water seemed to rise at her bowsprit, and fall from ten to twenty feet in depth upon her bows and forward deck. Then as she rose nobly again to climb the next " mountain " the ball on her flagstaff at the stern would descend level with the billows in her wake. With a liberal use of lines we made good our position on deck, and enjoyed — such of us as were not too sick — some remarkably grand ocean scenery. The steward and his waiters essayed to get breakfast, and also dinner, in due course, and ludicrous enough were some of the tab- leaux which here and there a lone effort to take coffee or steak furnished, particularly the erratic efforts of three waiters to capture a large ball of butter, which, despite them all, succeeded in making six flying trips across the saloon. Still the " norther " blew; but the second night seemed not so bad as the first, — perhaps because we had grown a little used to it, and all the loose crockery was already broken. Moses, too, was better, having, as he stated it, thrown up everything except his patronymic, and had hard work several times to keep hold of that. On the second morning there was sensibly less wind, though the sea seemed as rough as ever. "How long may we reasonably expect this thing to last?" Stein inquired of Captain Rettig at breakfast, or our attempt at the same. JtJ '^' Wk ts^sisft#r .- fill- VERA CRUZ. VERA CRUZ. I ej "Well, the longest 'norther' I ever knew lasted but tiventy-o?ie days," was the encouraging response of that veteran sailor. These long " northers," indeed, which sweep down through Texas from far up in the wintry heart of the North American continent, are the bane of navigation in the Gulf. But this proved not to be one of the long ones. On the third morning we waked to find that the wind had lulled. By ten o'clock the sun came out and the sky soon cleared. The lofty white peak of Orizaba was then espied far down in the southwest. By three o'clock the steamer had run in under lee of the sheltering' island of Sacri- ficios, and an hour later took up her pilot and steamed into her anchorage beneath the old fortress of San Juan de Ulloa. We then saw that several vessels had gone ashore in the roadstead, and so rough was the water in the port that it was not till the next day that either the mails or the passengers could be landed. It seemed good, indeed, to stand on the firm bosom of Mother Earth once more, though the "motion" still lingered in our head or legs, and it was at least forty-eight hours ere any one of us could fairly walk " straight." CHAPTER VIII. THE HARBOR OF VERA CRUZ. A FONDA.- — OFF FOR THE CITY OF MEXICO. GRAND SCENERY. " MUCHO POLVO." MEXICO AT EIGHT P.M. " TRES PESO " ROOMS. COLD WEATHER. A DISMAL SUPPER. " FOR LA MANANA." A MORNING WALK IN MEXICO. MOSES IN TROUBLE AGAIN. AFE through the " norther," we spent a very pleasant day in Vera Cruz, the sea-port of Mexico, on the wind-swept and sun- burnt sand-dunes of the tierra caliente. Despite its evil reputation for yellow fever and other malignant diseases, we found Vera Cruz a very neat, clean little town — in fact, it looks as if it had been made to order somewhere else, and brought here all in one piece. Its har- bor, too, is, or will have to be, a made-to-order job; when complete it will cost about $20,000,000. An American has the contract; the stakes for it are driven out in the windy roadstead. We crossed over to the old stone castle of San Juan de Ulloa, and thoroughly enjoyed a ramble through its many- storied towers, casemates, and "bomb-proofs." Formerly it was deemed the strongest of Spanish America; now it is used mainly as a state prison. The balance of the afternoon was spent at the handsome rooms 152 ON SHORE. 153 and fine library of the Mercantile Club; and at eight o'clock we went, according to custom here, to take our tickets over-night, and have our baggage weighed for the railway to the City of Mexico. At four o'clock next morning the waiters at the Veracruzano were hammering at our doors. For, although the train does not leave for the City of Mexico till six, it is a way they have here of giving you two hours to get to the station in. The allowance of time seemed all the more liberal from the fact that they give you no break- fast, not even coffee, before starting out. From our American train- ing, we were but ten minutes dress- ing, and had con- sequently an hour and fifty minutes to walk to the station, a distance of two blocks. It is one of the peculiarities of Vera Cruz that you need not take a carriage to go to VIEW IN TIERRA CALIENTE. any point in it. A good walker can go clean around the city in ten minutes, and have time left over for a little quiet stroll in the desert outside. Fortunately, we were able to get coffee at a little fonda near the station, — a piece of good luck which aided, perhaps, by the Mexican coffee, stimulated our artist comrade, Karzy, into perpetrating a most atrocious pun, to wit, — that he was fonder of that fonda than any other fond her whom he had ever met. Coming at such an early hour of the day, before breakfast, too, it nearly crushed the whole party. Our fellow-tourist from Indiana, " Moses O.," was but barely i54 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. able to stagger across the street to the station; the divinity student seemed also much affected. The line of railway from Vera Cruz up to the City of Mexico is owned by an English company, and all the first-class cars are in com- partments, on the English plan, with side-doors. We went down the platform at five minutes before train time to take our places, but the compartment doors were still locked. When asked to unlock them, the porter, guard, and other functionaries stood stolid and unmovable. What the hitch was we could not conjecture; we "were very "green." Stein and the divinity student grew hot about it. The)' went in search of the station agent, but got very little satisfaction from him, I believe. It was half an hour before the doors were finally opened; the fact "was (at least we were subsequently informed so) that the fellows were waiting to be " feed." One even had the impudence to assert that he had lost his key, and to simulate a search for it alongside the car. When the truth dawned upon us, Moses rubbed his hands. "Well, well, if this isn't the richest thing yet!" said he. "Modest, are n't they? Why did n't they tell us what they wanted? " Owing to delay collecting " fees," — at least there was no other visible cause, — the train got out half an hour late, but it was rather fortunate for us; for by this time it had become light, and almost the first object that gladdened our eyes after getting out of the city was the magnificent milk-white cone of Orizaba towering high above everything else, up in the northeast. " Ah! don't she rise gloriously?" Karzy cried out. :! Why she 's half way up the sky." Orizaba from the coast is, indeed, one of the world's grand sights, — so surprisingly lofty, so stately, and so ethereally pure in tint; a vision of beauty which morning or evening never would bring satiety nor aught save the purest pleasure. Speaking of this ride from Vera Cruz up to the City of Mexico, Mr. Ober has very aptly described it as " a journey through three TORTILLAS. J.55 zones in one day." And so it is. For the first nundred kilometers across the tierra caliente, you journey in the tropics. This heated region is like avast hot-house, — a wilderness of rank, green verdure. An odor of vanilla fills the air; everywhere are palms and bananas, and the grass huts of the Indians, in groups, or standing out alone in the deep shade, complete the picture of tropic semi-civilized life. But, meantime, the train has entered the first dark-green range of hills, and steadily winds its way up to higher ground. Here, trees of the temperate zone begin to be seen in forests; the shrubbery is overrun with morning-glories. There are coffee planta- tions, and the orange grows wild. Cordova is reached, said to be a populous city, but, like all Mexican cities, much out of sight. Crowds of cotton-clad, swarthy people, Indians, come about the cars at the stations, laden with baskets of fruit, — oranges, bananas, granaditas, and cus- tard apples, and trays oi tortillas, smoking hot; and quaint little brown girls in long gowns and black rebosos half shading their faces, look up at the car windows and cry out in their soft voices, " Senor, qtriere comprar frutaf " There are numerous beggars, too, whose low whine, " Por BEGGAR. nina, niiia" or "Por San Jose" — "For Saint Joseph's sake give us a ^clacker,'" — is a less agreeable feature. The government wishes to suppress beggary, and respectfully advises tourists not to give alms. But ere long this zone is left behind, and pine-clad mountains begin to tower on either hand. We are toiling up heavy grades and skirt- ing vast ravines; a powerful double-headed engine, a " Fairlie," has been hooked to the train; it seems to raise us by main strength. Within a distance of forty kilometers we ascend four thousand feet — i56 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. to the verge of eternal snow; and still Orizaba, the beautiful, nearer now, rears its white-tourmaline crown, lofty and stately as ever; yet already our morning ride has taken us to an altitude of eight thousand feet above the sea. The scenery as seen by a traveller from the car window grows terrific; and nervous persons are apt to become per- sonally unhappy. The track winds about chasms whose depths grow blue with mists. A single rail holds the car from these depths, and the consequences of a flaw in the steel assume gigantic proportions. Presently a town is seen three thousand feet below, but so close beneath the window that the car might tumble into it, should the flaw suddenly develop itself; but this is not, for the time, a pleasant sub- ject of conversation. Moses was observed to shut his eyes at this point, and Karzy declares that he saw his lips move. It seemed good to enter a tunnel, — a tunnel appeared so much safer. In fact, we ran through nineteen tunnels, if the divinity student counted correctly. At about three in the afternoon, ffs the scene changed rather suddenly. A f/ sensation of "down grade " began to be felt. We had emerged f r o m amidst the colossal scenery of the Cordilleras upon the dry plateau, or great table-land of Mexico. This is the corn and wheat country, but at this season of the 3'ear (February) it wears a painfully sere and arid aspect. The scenery is now that of a great plain, with barren, rugged peaks rising out of it at intervals. Numerous pillars of dust, some a thousand feet in height, are seen slowly moving across the extensive TABLE-LAND OF MEXICO. MEXICO. J 57 plowed tracts. The train, too, running now at a rapid rate, whirled up a perfect "smother" of dust, which entered the car in choking clouds. All our handkerchiefs were speedily converted into respira- tors, which afforded, however, but slight relief. This is the disagree- able portion of the trip, and following the fresh air and fine scenery of the forenoon it makes the day end rather miserably; for with a dust-hurricane so dense one could scarcely draw breath, we had little enthusiasm left for the tall peak of Malinche, or the great volcanoes Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, which were announced in sight at sunset. "They will have to wait," said Moses, and wrapping his head in a linen coat he peacefully relapsed into slumber; and, in fact, there was but one man awake in our c&mpartment when the train rolled into the fine stone station of the capital at eight o'clock. ''Mexico!" "And here we are," yawned Karzy, rousing up and shivering, for it was cold; the air gave us a peculiarly raw, thin sensation. Mexico is seven thousand five hundred feet above the sea-level, surrounded, too, by snow-clad mountains. Getting out with our luggage, we found ourselves in the midst of a dense crowd of people wearing tremendous hats, and wrapped up to their noses in what looked to be horse-blankets; they all seemed to be very cold. At length two coaches were secured, and embarking in them, we were driven to the Hotel Iturbide, named after one of Mexico's two emperors of brief tenure. Mexico, indeed, has a bad climate for emperors. Several electric lights cheered up the darkness of the streets, and gave us glimpses of the great green park of the Alameda, as we drove along. Another lighted up the front of the hotel, which we perceived to be a palatial stone structure, adorned with gargoyles and other carvings. But within the great open patio had a very cheerless and cold aspect; it had begun to rain, too, and we found the preprietario wrapped up to his nose in a muffler. He did not look amiable either. The scribe mustered all his Spanish, and 158 TH E KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. addressed him with, " Tiene listed cuartos por cinco? " (Have you rooms for five?) " Si" said listed, doubtfully, then held up three fingers and added, " Tres pesos" (three dollars). Tres -pesos por cinco ? " queried Stein. " No, tres pesos por unoP "Well, what of it?" cried Moses, greatly offended at this prema- ture broaching of the terms on the part of our host. "Who asked you the price? Let us see your rooms." At length we were established in three rooms up what seemed ten or twelve flights of stairs. After a struggle, water was pro- cured; but no soap nor matches could be had in the hotel, and the only light was a single candle. There was no fire in the rooms, and there could be none, for there are neither stoves nor grates in Mexico. Finally, we got washed, and, having wiped ourselves on the coun- terpane of a bed, went down to dinner, as we supposed. It then transpired that there was no table in the hotel, and that the tres pesos was lodging, merely. A restaurant was pointed out to us; and, sally- ing forth in the rain, we were at length supplied with soup, tea, and pan (bread in flinty billets). We sat and shivered, as we ate, with our overcoats on, then went back to our wretchedly cold, tres-pesos rooms, and turned in, — as thoroughly disgusted with Mexico as is possible for a party to be. However, we felt better and more hopeful in the morning, though Karzy and Stein complained of sleeping cold, and as soon as it was fairly day started out to get breakfast and see the town. It had rained all night; the sky was lowering and black, and the streets were well covered with sticky, black mud. There was, morever, a horrible odor abroad, which we at first conjectured to be that of the national beverage, pulque, but which we learned to be from the city gas, which is manufactured in part from wood. It upset Karzy's stomach completely. "I never can eat a mouthful in this hole," he groaned. NEW EXPERIENCES. J 59 The street was full of cotton-dressed, barefooted Indians carrying every conceivable sort of burden, some of them running, and almost the first rod out of the hotel we had a collision with a man with a four-story hen-coop on his back, the bottom story full of eggs, and the others alive with chickens and turkeys. The fellow came trotting plump into us, and the stone flags being slippery (I do not think any- body shoved him), down he went, coop and all, and a general crash of eggs and flutter of chickens followed. The man got up from under the wreck, muttering, and very yellow ; and his fellows, gathering in a crowd about us, cried out, " Disgracia ! " and " Malo I Malo I " Stein gave him a silver -peso, which at once caused his face to brighten; and we got away without further disturbance, but had not gone a block when another collision occurred between Moses and two Indians carrying a Mexican gentleman in a chair. " Why, these are the most get- under-foot-people I ever saw," cried Moses. "A man cannot walk here." But it turned out that we were the get-under-foot party ourselves ; we were trying to pass people by turning hen-coop. to the right; in Mexico one must turn to the left, and this is a matter worth attending to when you meet an Indian porter with a load of green beef on his back, approaching at a run. Despite the mud and the lowering sky, our first impressions of the city were rather favorable. Somebody has said that " Mexican houses are all jails " in appearance, being in the Spanish style of architec- ture, with barred windows and enclosed stone-paved patios. In the i6o THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. City of Mexico the houses and churches are all stone-built, and often very prettily ornamented. The streets are broad, and cross at right- angles. Looking down a street anywhere, you can always see the mountains "which wall in the valley. On this first morning of our visit, these were all snow-clad. It was an unusually cold week, we were told, even for winter, the two great volcanoes being commonly the only snow-mountains in sight. We went first to the Alameda, a CALENDAR-STONE. pleasant though rather poorly-kept park, looking like an old forest, then to the Plaza, the grand central public square of the city, where are the government palace and the great cathedral of Mexico. This latter is probably on the whole the finest church in the Western hemisphere. This statement may be challenged, being a broad one, but we think so. In the outer wall, near the southwest corner, is set the famous calendar-stone of the Aztecs, which Stein has made the cus- THE MUSEUM. I g I tomary effort to interpret. Many other Aztec relics are to be seen in the Museum, which no tourist should neglect to visit. By this time nosotros tenemos hambre; or, in other words, we were hungry. Even Karzy's nose, diverted by the flowers in the parterres about the cathedral from the sour odors in the streets, had ceased to torture him. A fellow-countryman with whom we fell in directed us to a better restaurant, — the Concordia. Resorting thither, we were served with excellent coffee, toast, and beefsteak. But, oh! the butter! — the mantequilla. It was simply maiiteca (lard). Karzy tasted it unsuspiciously; then his but half-quieted stomach took alarm afresh. " Oh, for a pound of good, gilt-edged Yankee oleomargarine," he sighed. Even Moses was observed sedulously scraping the stuff off his beefsteak. "What 's the matter, Moses? " Stein called across to him. "Oh, nothing much," he replied. "Only when I eat lard for but- ter I like to personally know my hog." Numerous lines of horse-cars, or tranvias, lead out along the cause- ways from the city to all the suburbs and points of interest. Most of these run first, second, and third-class cars. Entering a car marked Santa Anita, we went out to what is termed the old Paseo, near the canal, by which the Indians fetch all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and fodder into the city in canoes and barges. One barge in particular here attracted the attention of our comrade, Moses. It was loaded with what looked to be "round hogs"; and they were the roundest hogs imaginable. Just the heads and bristles had been removed; the car- casses had not been opened apparently, and the legs stuck up stiff as pokers. Now, Moses is a judge of pork, having been reared in a section of the country where fat pigs abound. "By Jove! " quoth he; "Hold on! Only look at those shotes, will yon? Why, those are the fattest pigs I ever saw in my days! They look as if their hides would burst! Wonder what breed the}' can be? I must find out. We want just that kind of hog in Indiana. Never saw such hard, \6z THE KNOCKABOUT &LUB TV THE TROPICS wumumfc Ca.tfal. solid-looking pork, never! Ex- cuse me a mo- ment, gentlemen, I wish to look at those pigs closely." Moses carries a cane with what Karzy calls a "toasting-fork" in it. Some would call it a sword- cane; you can pull out a long, slim rapier attached to the handle, which is supposed to be a weapon of defence. Moses first gave one of the hogs a punch with the fer- ule of his cane. Then, wishing to test the quality of the pork, I pre- sume, he drew out the " toasting- fork " and gave the carcass a smart thrust with it, when, presto! there squirted up from the punc- ture into his very face, and all over his checked ulster, a singu- lar milky liquor! Moses jumped back and spit. The " hog " rapidly collapsed, and the Indians, who had been observing us, came for- ward, seemingly aggrieved and jabbering about it. Other Indians,, not owners, gath- ered round, and a horse-laugh rose, in which we all ClTX of Mex\co PULQC/E. l63 joined, perforce — except Moses. He gave us one reproachful look; then he looked at the hog again, and seemed on the point of col- lapsing himself. But just at that moment his eye chancing to fall on a public coach which was passing, he made a sudden break, and captured it. Turning at the door, he shied a silver peso among the Indians, then disappeared inside. " Pronto ! Pronto!" we heard him urging the driver; and away they went at a rapid pace. "He will leave the country!" exclaimed Stein. "Chase him! Catch him!" We ran after him a little way, then got another coach, and pursued him in that. But he got to the Hotel Iturbide, and had taken refuge in his room when we arrived. The door was locked. It did no good to knock; we could not raise him. "He's paralyzed," Karzy said. Though we went regularly to knock and call him every hour, nothing was heard from him till evening. He had gone to bed. Thus ended our first day in Mexico. Those "hogs" were hog-skins full of pulque, — the national lager beer. CHAPTER IX. ABOUT THE CITY. AN EARTHQUAKE. THE NEW RAILROADS. NORTHWARD OVER THE CENTRAL. MEXICAN SCENERY. THE GRAND TAHOE. TALK WITH AN ENGINEER. LASSOING A LOCOMOTIVE. QUERETARO. THE LAST HOURS OF MAXIMILIAN. LA SIERRE DE LAS COMPANAS. SOME INCIDENTS OF THE EXECUTION. v OR a good view of Mexico City and the famous valley, one should climb the south tower of the cathedral at the Plaza. You go up a little flight of stone steps to the door of the tower, and pull at the end of a rope which hangs invitingly out. Presently the door opens, as if of its own accord, for you will see no one inside it; but far up the winding stone stair you will find an Indian woman waiting your ascent. To her you pay toll, — un real, twelve cents. There are thirty bells in this one tower, three or four of them of enormous proportions. It is advisable to go up at a time when these religious monitors are not addressing themselves to the population. The view is a fine one. The city with its environment of green oroves, and still greener maguey plantations, lies at your feet. To the northeast shines the great Lake Tezcoco. East, west, and north rise the strong mountain-walls of the valley; and in the south tower into the clouds the great white guardian volcanoes, Ixtaccihuatl and Popoctapaetl. 164 ABOUT THE CITY. 167 Another fine view maybe had by ascending — as we did — one of the mountains back of the suburban village of Guadaloupe. Guadaloupe itself is well worth a visit. Many tourists go there to admire the solid silver railing round the altar in the old church, and to taste the santa agna (holy water) of the spring in the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadaloupe. The water gushes up copiously from somewhere beneath the chapel. It is very yellow, and tastes a little like soda water; and it is good for anything that chances to ail you. There is a copper pot to drink it from, and a little box to put your money in. You take off your hat when you enter. Here, according to the faith of the country, Santa Maria, the virgin, has appeared three times. You cannot well doubt it, for the last time she left her image impressed on the coarse serape of a poor Indian. We saw the serape. She must certainly have come in forcible contact with it; for there is her impress, or image, as plain as day, driven right into the serape. And yet some heedless Americans whom we saw had the temerity to make light of it; some persons are constitutionally with- out faith. The serape is framed in gold. The view from the mountain is very good. Down to the east lies the great lake, said to be five feet higher than the plain on which the city stands. When Cortez and his band of filibusters first invaded the country and entered the Aztec capital the lake, or lakes, came up into the very streets. Much of the business was then done in boats, on canals. Since the Spaniards conquered the Indians and rebuilt VIRGIN' OF GUADALOUPE. i68 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. the city, the lakes have been greatly reduced, partly by the gran ta/we, or drain, and partly by embankments. Probably, too, there is less rain and greater evaporation than formerly, owing to the burn- ing and clearing off of the forests. But the entire plain rests in water. They have only to dig down two or three feet anywhere, when water appears in the hole. CATHEDRAL, MEXICO. Last season (1S82) there was an earthquake — a pretty serious affair — which shook the city badly, and cracked many houses. An American lad} - , who was walking in the Alameda at the time, tells us that the earth shook so violently that it was with difficulty that she kept her footing; and that looking down the long promenade, she distinctly saw the ground rolling' toward her in waves. This phe- nomenon is accounted for by the presence of so much water in the plain. QUERETARO. I 6o The first ten days of our visit were rendered miserable by cold rain in the city and snow on the mountains every day. Four Indians froze to death in the streets one night; it was an unusually severe time. Everybody suffered, for this is ajire/ess country; there is not a grate nor a stove to be had for cash or affection. When we sat down we were compelled to put on great-coats and gloves. Mean- time we changed our memorable tres-pesos quarters at the Iturbide for three rooms in a house on the Alameda; very comfortable rooms, and fairly well-furnished, for Mexico, at the rate of seventy-five dol- lars per month. I mention the fact for the purpose of showing the average rate of rents in the capital at the present time. Formerly such rooms could have been hired for thirty or forty dollars. But the new railroads, and the sudden rush of Americans into the country, have set everything "booming." Real estate is held at fabulous prices. The city was full of sharp-looking Americans — " schemers." We met them everywhere, some worthy men, and some — well, it would not afflict us if we were never to meet them again. It is to be feared that the Mexicans will form a none-too-good opinion of us from some of our -paisanas, who are scouring the country on the lookout for " chances." On the 8th of March we left the city and went to Queretaro, two hundred and sixty kilometers to the northward by the new line of the Mexican Central railway, 'which at present writing is running its trains to Lagos, and is being rapidly finished up to Aguas Calientes. Within two years the Boston company building it, hope to connect this south- ern division of their line with the northern division at present built to Chihuahua. Railway connection with the United States will then be complete. Still another narrow gauge line, the National, is surveyed and partially built to Laredo, Texas, by way of Monterey. Then there is a proposed Mexican Southern, in fact, six or eight other pro- posed lines; so that if all these enterprises prosper Mexico will not long lack railroads. Judging from the appearances along the line of L * THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. southern division of the Central there will be business enough; its cars were thronged with passengers, particularly the second and third . class; long, heavy freight trains were passed on the sidings, and great piles of freight lay about the stations. Our young people visiting Mexico will surely be disappointed in the looks and general appearance of the country ; because travellers and writers have been accustomed to speak of it as a land where all fruits, grasses, and trees grow with tropical luxuriance. Travelling north along the Central we saw no luxuriance whatever, but rather sterile, stonv, rust-brown patches of plain amidst equally stony, naked hills and mountains. What wood there is looks to be stunted scrub, worthless for anything save poor fuel. Large tracts are covered with prickly-pear, which here grows to an ugly shrub six or eight feet in height. We were even reduced to the extremity of admiring its yellow blossoms. At rare intervals narrow green belts and plats, like oases in a desert, are passed alongside of lakes and rivers. These are produced by irrigation. Many of the cultivated fields are so coated with small stones that even a New England farmer would give them up in despair. Amidst these you will see Indians plowing with a forked stick — a tree which chances to have the necessaiy crotch. This is still the plow of Mexico, the plow of three thousand years ago; and for a forked stick it does its work remarkably well; I doubt if an American mould-board plow would work at all amongst the stones. Still further north the land is not all as bad; there are some fine areas of good soil; but the air of aridity and desolation remains. It is the aspect and scenery of the great Rocky Mountain chain, the general features of which are the same from Patagonia to Alaska. Some states of Mexico, like Michoacan, and some districts along the coast, are different; but it is a mistake to picture Mexico as in any sense a luxuriant country. As compared with the United States east ot the Mississippi, it is a sterile and a desolate country. THE PEOPLE. 171 And the people, the common people, — well, they are Indians, the descendants of the Aztecs and other tribes whom the Spanish subjugated. On these stony tracts the)' live in little stone huts; on clayey tracts they live in adobe or mud huts, and in the tierra cali- ente they live in grass and palm huts, — al- ways in huts, often in an utterly meagre, dirty condition. What railroads and other modern improvements will do for them re- mains to be demon- strated. The country pro- prietors live at ranchos on their haciendas, or large farms, in more or less comfort; it is rare that one sees a really pretty or pic- turesque place. Throughout Mexico the hamlets and small cities all look alike. There is the church, or churches, the stiff whitish blocks of stone A dangerous adventure. 172 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. houses, the "plaza," and the belt of trees* at a distance of a mile it would be difficult to distinguish one from another. At a distance of forty or fifty kilometers from the City of Mexico, the train entered and ran along the side of a very singular canon. It looked strangely, as if excavated by human labor, yet seemed far too long, too deep, too vast. " What can this gorge be ? " Karzy exclaimed. "This? Why this must be the gran tahoe" said Stein. It was, indeed, that stupendous tunnel, or drain, devised and dug by the Conquerors to protect the valley of Mexico against possible 'inun- dation. For the lakes of the city valley, having no outlet save from evaporation, were liable to rise on some exceptionally wet season and drown out the city. For three or four miles a niche has been dug along the side of the tahoe for the railway. Looking out of the car window, you see the water foaming along the bed of the drain a hun- dred or a hundred and fifty feet beneath. From earliest time it has been a place fatal to human life. Sixty thousand Indians are said to have lost their lives here when the tahoe was dug. Originally the drain was a tunnel, and five thousand perished at a single cave-in of the superincumbent ledges and earth. A car-load of Americans may be the next victims. Our comrade, Stein, has conversed with the engineer of the road, who asserts that the road-bed here rests on tepi- caddy, and is as " firm as a rock." Engineers ought to understand their business, and generally do; and time may demonstrate the ada- mantine character of tepicaddy. Journeying on, a diversion was suddenly created by so vigorous an application of the air-brakes, that we were all nearly driven out of our seats. The train came to an abrupt halt. Getting out, it was found that we had run over a Mexican on horseback. The horse was killed, but the man had landed on his feet unhurt. These people will persist, despite all warning, in riding their horses on the line. In this case the fellow was riding toward the train; the track was a straight line, and he must have seen the locomotive two miles away. IS A m •i HP!' if f I m-w mjJM ■ mm 1%, \W It frsJiSIBSSl T- wiKwik « ; a -J ►J S O s o CURIOUS JUSTICE jjc Was he trying to commit suicide, or what?" Moses asked the neer. " Suicide! no! he 's too big a blessed fool for that! " exclaimed the man of valves and levers, who was greatly disgusted. " He thought he'd have time enough to get off, or he thought I'd stop; or, perhaps, the blessed lunkhead was asleep on his horse." " Well, he got w*aked up that time," said Karzy. " Yes, and he '11 go now and try to make the company pay for his horse," said the engineer. "And if I'd happened to kill him they would' have had me in jail six months for it. That's the kind of folks they are here." Meantime the Mexican stood looking stolidly at his expiring horse, with now and then a sullen glance at the locomotive. Several persons spoke to him, but he made no reply. "In my mind's eye," said Moses, " I see that chap putting a little pile of stones on the track some dark night." "Yes, they do that," said the engineer, a Massachusetts man. " They did it a good deal when we first began to run here last season. I 'd often see a heap of stones on the rail ahead. At first I used to stop and pick 'em off; I got sick of that and paid no attention to them. The cow-catcher or the wheels will always knock 'em a-going. The blessed rascals are too lazy to put on big ones. When they found I paid no attention, they stopped it." What this man said about being put in jail, had he chanced to kill the Mexican on horseback, was by no means idle talk. Later in the day we conversed with another engineer who had been in jail two months, I think he said, for killing a "rural" who had tried to lasso the locomotive. These " rurals " are a kind of mounted police for the back country; wild fellows, but pretty good soldiers. This one had probably taken too much pulque. Seeing a train coming, he dashed out from behind some bushes, and flung his lasso at the funnel of the engine. It missed the funnel, but caught on the whistle. The 176 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. other end of the lasso was tied fast to the saddle as usual; and these lassos are inordinately strong lines of braided green hide. It held, and in an instant Mr. " Rural " and his horse were swung up against the side of the tender with a tremendous thump, which killed both. Wherein the engineer was blamable was not easy to see, yet he was arrested and put in jail, pending a long-winded examination of the affair. Six miles below Queretaro the line passes through a perfect little paradise of a valley, — a leafy green garden, along a small river with high, rocky, barren mountains on each side. Amidst the trees there is a considerable city, half-hidden; and soon we passed three or four cotton factories. This is the seat of Sehor Rubio's attempt to manu- facture cottons in Mexico. As yet it is an experiment, but bids fair to be moderately successful. The power for the factories is in part from steam and in part from a very singular and copious spring, which gushes from the mountain-side in volume of about a cubic meter 01 water per second. Passing beneath a lofty aqueduct, we were soon at Queretaro, thought by many to be the prettiest city in Mexico. It is situated in the midst of a rather dreary landscape, but is a cleanly, well-built town, with pretty churches and shady plazas. We were very decently lodged here for Mexico, at the new hotel, Ferro-Carril (Railroad House), where we found a jolly landlord, who really exerted himself (a most unusual thing in this country) to make us comfortable. It was here in Queretaro that the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian made his last stand against the patriot army under Juarez. The town still bears marks of the final bombardment. Deserted by the French, who had placed him on the throne of Mexico by force of arms, the poor fellow had still a great many warm friends, endeared to him per- sonally as well as from hope of political advancement. And in Mira- raon, Mexia, and Mendez he had three able and devoted officers, — all Mexicans. Mendez was shot as soon as taken, by order of the DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN. I 77 patriot general. They stood him up against the wall of the square next the railway station, and shot him in the back for a traitor to his country. He resisted to the last, and kept whirling round and crying, " Shoot mc in the breast! I am no traitor! " Miramon and Mexia were imprisoned for some months along with Maximilian in the old convent here, and finally executed with him in 1867. The people here speak of Maximilian as a good-hearted and kindly man, but weak in character. They say that the patriot leaders did not really wish to shed his blood, and that he might have escaped his hard fate had he been willing to go out of the country privately. Sehor Rubio paid seven thousand dollars out of his private purse to a com- pany of soldiers to take him down to the coast, and put him aboard some vessel. Finally, on the night before the execution, everything was " fixed " with the guards and their officers for his escape, and a priest sent to him to acquaint him with the fact. " But what of Miramon and Mexia?" he asked the messenger. " Oh, they will be shot for a certainty," was the reply. " Go back," he said. " I will accept no terms which do not include them." The truth seems to have been that Maximilian did not at first realize his personal danger, having too much faith, perhaps, in "that divinity that doth hedge about a king," and that finally he acted from an exalted sense of honor. When he received intelligence that the French army had been ordered home from Mexico, he is said to have stamped on the floor and to have exclaimed, " They leave me no choice betwixt death and disgrace! " The United States acted well and with dignity in this affair, and its action has done much to heal the breach between the two repub- lics occasioned by the war of 1844. The French invasion of Mexico was an outrage upon both republics. It was made at a time when the United States was powerless to resist it on account of the civil war. 178 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. Immediately after that war was finished our government, through Sec- retary Seward, despatched a note to the French Emperor, giving him in plain terms six months to withdraw his forces from Mexico. The Napoleonic fox did not need a second invitation, and his unfortunate all}-, the Austrian Grand Duke, was abandoned to the tender mercies of the Mexicans. As speedily as possible the various French garri- sons were withdrawn from the different states and cities, and concen- trated at the City of Mexico. From this point they sallied forth one fine morning, with banners flying and drums beating, to march down to the coast at Vera Cruz. The Mexicans stood at their doors and MAXIMILIAN. CARLOTTA. hooted them out of town. During the period of occupation they had ransacked Mexico thoroughly from Tehuantepec to Chihuahua, and taught the Mexicans more tricks than they had learned before in a hundred years. " We were bad enough before they came," the Mexi- cans naively say; "but the French have taught us new deviltries." Left with " no choice betwixt disgrace and death," Maximilian seems to have deliberately chosen the latter, despite the efforts of his friends and the entreaties of his heroic wife. Mr. Seward is known to have recommended that his life be spared. Juarez replied, "A great and powerful nation like the United States can afford to be merciful; Mexico is too poor and weak." DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN. 179 The place of execution is a dreary little hill, sparsely covered with thorn scrub and prickly-pear, and strewn with rusty-brown stones. The}' call it the Sierra de las companias, the hill of the bells; it is not quite a mile out of Queretaro. The three doomed men were taken from the convent out to this desolate spot in three of the public coaches. A priest accompanied Maximilian. The spectators tell some rather pathetic incidents of the morning. The priest became so affected that he fainted. Taking a little bottle of smelling-salts from his pocket Maximilian kindly assisted to revive him. From some cause the door of his coach stuck fast; he stepped lightly out through the panel, having lowered the glass drop. The entire patriot army was drawn up on and around the hill, and a wall of adobes had been laid up behind where the unfortunate men were to stand to receive the bullets of the firing party. It was arranged that Maximilian should stand in the centre, and the wall had been built a little higher there, he being the tallest of the three. But when they got out, Maxi- milian said to Miramon, "You shall have the post of honor, general; you shall stand at the centre and I at your left." And half playfully, half lovingly, he placed Miramon in the middle. The officer in command of the firing party interposed and said, "It cannot be so, sehor." " Surely so trifling a request as this need not be refused," Maximi- lian said, gently. One of the Mexican generals, sitting on his horse a few paces away, moved his hand in token of assent, and it was so arranged. When they had taken their places, Maximilian made a few quiet, unaffected remarks. It was the lot of men of his station in life, he said, to either live for the good of the people or be martyrs; that he had wished well to Mexico, and that he earnestly hoped that his blood would be the last blood shed in civil dissensions. A few doubloons still remained in his purse. He handed it to the officers, and asked them to distribute them to the soldiers of the firing [8o THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. party — " to the poor fellows who have this last disagreeable duty to perform for me." He then placed a handkerchief over his beard that it might not be burned by the powder, for the squad had been ordered to stand very close, within six or eight feet. This was his last act before receiving the fatal discharge. All three met their fate bravely and decently, DEATH OF MAXIMILIAN and they suffered badly. The first fire was not fatal, and had to be repeated. The adobe wall has crumbled awa)'; but pits for three black crosses have been excavated on the spot where they stood. Karzy and Stein brought away each a bit of stone from the pits. CHAPTER X. THE OVERLAND PARTY. THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THE BRIGANDS. " PEACE POLICY." I T may be time to return to the other members of our part)', who, it will be remembered, left Chihuahua overland for the City of Mexico at the time of our trip to the former city in the previous November. They proceeded by diligence to Durango, San Luis Potosi, and Aguas Calientes, the pres- ent northern terminus of the southern division of the Central railroad. But they made many detours to various towns in the Cor- dilleras, on either side of the main route southward. Both Brett and Forney were much interested in the subject of Mexican mines. AVash and Harold, on the other hand, found greater pleasure in looking up the agricultural products of the country. On the main stage route from Chihuahua southward they were not molested bj- brigands. The present firm government of Mexico, with its strong corps of " rurals," has well-nigh extermi- nated those old-time pests of the traveller. There is very little danger now on any of the main roads. Upon some of the more remote routes a "hold-up " is occasionally reported; but the "rurals" are quite certain to ferret out the robbers. When caught the bandits are usually executed on the spot, — a process of justice which, com- pared with some of the long-winded and uncertain trials of highway- men in our own West, has its advantages. On one road only did our four friends have any trouble. This was in the sierras between Cumuripa and Oposura. They had been cau- 181 iS: THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. tioned in advance at the hotel in the former place; and, as they were to return by the same route, they left all their valuables and took no money with them, save barely enough to defray expenses. Brett had eleven little American gold dollars. These he put in the lining of his boot. Harold put a five- dollar piece upon a corn on his great toe, and did it up with a bit of cotton rag. Forney, not to be beaten, put a five- dollar piece up in his left arm-pit with a piece of court- pi a s t e r over it. Wash did not believe they would be mo- lested, and carried his money in his pocket, as usual. They were the only passengers in the dili- gence, with the exception of a } - oung Mexican officer named Rivera, who spoke some Eng- lish, and whom they found a very intelligent and pleasant fellow-traveller. According to custom, the diligence left Cumuripa at nine in the evening. Naturally, as the)' rode out of town, the conversation turned on the chance of a " hold-up " on the road. The young Mexican, Captain Rivera, was inclined to treat the matter very coolly; and in case they were attacked he advised us not to run the risk of resisting, but let the brigands take what they liked. Some of the party were sure to get killed if they tried to beat them oft", he said. For the brig- ands were generally a party of twelve or fifteen, and before stopping INDIAN HUT. o < H «! m H < X u K D a u "excuse me, gentlemen: 185 the diligence they were all stationed, and stood read}* to shoot at a signal from their leader, who commonly came forward alone. His views so far wrought on three of our friends that the) - took the cartridges from their revolvers, and decided to adopt a peace policy. Forney, on the other hand, declared that he would fill the first brig- and who showed his head " with more holes than a pepper-box," and placed his pistol, a large Colt's six-shooter, convenient for carrying out his threat, in his outside coat-pocket. They journeyed on. There was a bright moon, but it was a tire- some and rather dusty ride, amidst scenery characteristic of the Mexi- can Cordilleras; rust-brown hills, covered with prickly-pear cactuses, eight and ten feet high, a few straggling mesquite thickets, and at intervals a scanty creek with a fringe ot green souse brush. Near the creeks were commonly a few Indian huts; otherwise the country was an uninhabited desert. The dews and the chill at length drove all five of our travellers inside the coach, and as the night drew on the)* all fell asleep. From I know not what dreams of silver-mining the}* were at length suddenly roused by a shout of "' Alto! " followed by an abrupt pulling up of the diligence, — so abrupt, in tact, that they were all pitched out of their seats, and left clawing about among the straps and supports. And before they could half regain their seats or take in the situation, a horseman, whose silver-bangled legs shone in the raoon- , light, pulled open the door of the stage, and in accents which admitted of no delay, but withal very politely, requested them to get out. ^Dispense me, senors" (Excuse me, gentlemen), " but you will be so good as to descend." Good as his word, Forney made a grab for his pistol-, but, strange to say, could not find it. First in one pocket, then in the other, he dived his hand. It was gone. Fortunately the darkness inside the dili- gence prevented the caballero at the door from perceiving his motions, else very likely worse would have resulted. r 86 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. The Mexican officer at once got out. Wash, Brett, Harold, and, finally, Forney followed him, and all stood in a row in the road. In the semi-darkness they saw eight or ten horsemen sitting in the shadow of some tamarind trees. Four heavily-sombreroed fellows in jackets, with guns, stood on either side of them. Two others came forward. ".57/ dinero y reloj, seizor" (Your money and watch, sir), the leader of the gang said to each in turn. K IVo tengo mitcho" replied Captain Rivera, laughing. " Tres pesos (three dollars) no mas. No tengo mi reloj este tiemfio." Wash handed over his pocketbook, which, however, contained but eighteen dollars. Brett alone had taken a watch, — a cheap "Waltham." This he gave up. But the net result was so unsatisfactory to the brigand leader that he ordered his two aids to search the part}'. This they did pretty thoroughly, and also searched the diligence, but found nothing of the concealed gold. The pistols they did not seem to care for, or else were too considerate to take. In no very good humor the robber captain bade them resume their places in the stage; yet he did not fail to give them "Buenos noc/ies"" and "Adios"''' at parting. Once inside the diligence, and on their way again — and by this time fully waked up — our friends were much inclined to laugh over the adventure; though Forney wondered greatly what could have become of his revolver. A diligent search on the floor of the coach was made. But the weapon appeared to have " dropped out." They had proceeded no more than three legieas, however, when the diligence was. again halted, and they found themselves in the clutches of another band. It appears that two parties of the robbers had planned to rob the stage that night, — rival bands, it seemed. A second time our friends alighted to be searched. Captain INTERESTING ENCOUNTER. 187 Rivera remarked jocosely to the leader that he was behindhand, — that some of his fellows had already plucked the stage. This bit of information seemed to fill the second party with rage and despite. They cursed and swore roundly. For a few moments our friends were in jeopardy, fearing that they would be murdered on the spot. But a few words of judicious banter from the young Mexican officer served to mollify them somewhat. One o\ the gang approached Wash, and said, " Una sehora YOUNG OCELOTS. quiere su -pannelo, senor" (A lady would like your handkerchief), pointing to a striped silken one which our comrade had tied about his neck. Wash at once presented it to him. Another said to Brett, "A mi me gustan sus zapaterso, senar" (Your shoes please me). It was not safe to act reluctant, and our friend saw his eleven gold dollars go alongf with the shoes. 1 88 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. After this manner our four fellow-countrymen were speedily reduced to shirt, pantaloons, and stockings. Nor did the Mexican officer fare any better at their hands. The driver of the diligence took no part in the business, either for or against the brigands. Very likely he may have been acting in col- lusion with them. The night had been a chilly one at best, and now our travellers had to snuggle close to one another to keep warm. They arrived at Oposura in a rather forlorn condition, so far as appearance went. As they were getting down at the hotel, Capitan Rivera quietly drew forth Forney's revolver from under his seat, and presented it to him with man)' apologies, and sincerely begged his pardon for what seemed a trick. " I saw, senor," said he, "that you were in earnest about shooting. But it would have been a great mistake, and it might have s;ot us all killed. I am going to turn out the 'rurals,' and instead of those ras- cally brigands shooting us, I hope to have the great pleasure of hav- ing them all shot by to-morrow evening." Such are some of the phases of life in a back-country State of Mexico. CHAPTER XI. BRETT AND FORNEY GO IN QUEST OF COAL MINES, AND HAVE A SINGULAR ADVEN- TURE WITH A MEXICAN COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. IS&u^ MAN who can discover a coal mine in Mexico will assuredly make a fortune, the size of which will be limited only by the size and quality of the mine. More than anything else Mex- ico needs coal. There are silver mines enough, and, judging from present appearances, there will soon be railways enough. But both silver mines and railroads need coal, — need it imperatively; and thus far no one has discovered coal in quantities or of quality worth digging. The railways are now burning the wood of the mesquite scrub, or pine brought from the higher slopes of the Cordilleras — stripping the country of what scanty forests still remain on its arid and sunburnt surfaces. It seems a pity ! Mexico suffers from lack of forests and the moisture which they draw and retain. The entire plateau is parched by drouth. In the time of the Aztec empire, three hundred and seventy years ago, the country was clad with grand old woods, even to the mountain-tops. Irrigation was not then needed; now nothing can be raised without it. The reason of this change is that the Spanish conquerors ignorantly felled and burned off the forests, that their "New Spain" might resemble Old Spain, it is said. 189 190 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. Geologists and mineralogists do not speak encouragingly of the prospects of finding coal measures in Mexico. But these gentlemen have made so many mistakes in their estimates of the mineral wealth of various countries that no one need feel certain that Mexico may not have an ample coal supply safely packed away beneath the strata of some or all of her States. Two acquaintances of the writer — •amateur geologists and mining engi- neers — have of late been peering about certain portions of the great plateau in the hope of finding in- dications of the much-needed ''black diamonds" of industry; and on one of their prospecting I trips in the State of Durango, they had an experience which Wf ^•itfB^ff'-:-- ■'■ --% %-■ *u? throws a peculiar light on the ~ ~^c: sag- v ° character of some of our " neigh- bors " in the sister republic to south- ward. At a place up among the mountains, on what from all appearances seemed to be nobody's land, so craggy and well-nigh inaccessible was the locality, they discovered, not coal, but a very promising fissure vein of silver ore, which they determined to r ~ locate," or *%m THE HERD OF MOUNTAIN-SHEEP. MINING. I g l "denounce," as the phrase is in Mexico, under the very liberal min- ing law of the country. A mining claim may be made, regardless of any prior ownership of the land by any one; and by the payment of a very small annual fee it remains the property of the discoverer. SILVER MINE. For stakes to indicate the bearings and for fuel for their camp-fire that afternoon, they had the two Mexican boys who carried their lug- gage, etc., fell two small ash trees, which stood in the ravine below their "lead." These were crooked, gnarled little sapplings, not more I9 2 THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. than four or five inches in diameter, of no value; there were a score others just like them along the ravine where they made their camp for the night. Just at sunset an Indian laborer passed down the ravine carrying a large jarra of zasamoras (blackberries) on his head. Mr. Forney, one of the two Americans, spoke to him, and asked him to sell some of the zasamoras. The man stood at a distance, and would not reply or come to their fire: after observing: them for some moments he went on. His manner gave them some uneasiness, and one or the other of them kept awake to watch lest the fellow might return after dark with a party to rcb them. The night passed without incident, how- ever; but as they were taking coffee next morning they saw a large party coming up the ravine, picking their way, on horseback. It was headed by a well-mounted Mexican in short black jacket, silver- trimmed pantaloons, and a richly-ornamented sombrero. Behind him came ten or twelve cotton-clad peons (Indian laborers), all armed with carbines and pistols or knives. " Well, well," exclaimed Forney, " here comes a whole Mexican army. We are taken, I guess." Mr. Brett, the other American, stepped forward to meet them, and said in Spanish: " Buenos dios, sehorf " (What can we do for you?) Instead of returning the salutation, as most Mexicans will very politely, whatever their errand, the man pointed angrily to the stumps and brush of the two ashes, and began a long, loud tirade which the peons chorused with confirmatory grunts. Our two countrymen knew enough Spanish to understand some portion of what the Mexi- can was saying; and they readily recognized the words arboles (trees), corta (cut), and danos (damages). It was plain that their handsomely gotten up and early visitant felt aggrieved, and was demanding damages for the two little ash trees. The two Americans could hardly keep from laughing. Such a cav- alcade and such a fuss about so trifling a thing! They were willing enough to pay for the wood. PROSPECTING. 1 93 " Esta bien" said Brett, with difficulty retaining a grave face (All right). K £htanto?" (How much?) But their faces lengthened without effort when they heard the man's PROSPECTING. demand. To their amazement he exclaimed, pompously, " Dps cien- tos pesos I '" (two hundred dollars). They could not believe it. *^ - 1