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1901

A VISIT TO MEXICO,
BY
THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS,
YUCATAN AND UNITED STATES,
WITH
©bscrbattons ana ^tobenturts on tfje SHajj,

Wm. PAEISH ROBERTSON.
AUTHOR OF "LETTERS ON PARAGUAY," ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

SUBSCRIBER'S COPY-

LONDON :
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1853.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY T. WEKTHEIMEK AND CO.,
CIKCUS PLACE, FINS.BUB.ir CIKCUS.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.

PART III.

THE CITY OF MEXICO.

Letter XXIV. The City of Mexico .

1

XXV. Public and Political .

15

XXVI. Retrospective

27

XXVH. Diary of a Month

36

XXVIII. Diary of a Month concluded

47

XXIX. Mexican Politics

66

XXX. La Semana Santa . . "-i

^. . 77

XXXI. Politics ....

96

XXXII. Life in the City of Mexico

107

XXXin. Politics ....

131

XXXIV. Mexican Gossip

140

PART IV.
REAL DEL MONTE.
Letteb XXXV. Real del Monte
XXXVI. Real del Monte continued
XXXVlI. Mining Statistics
XXXVIII. Mining Statics concluded
XXXLX. Sanchez — Velasco — Sumate
XL. The Hacienda de Regla
XLI. Mr. Buchan's Report of Real del Monte
XTJT. The Mines of Fresnillo .

155166 181192
204 217
233258

11
PART V.
REVIEW OF MEXICO.
Letter XL1TL The City and the Desert . . . 269
XLTV. City Sights and Country Quarters . 286
XLV. Micellaneous Notices and Remarks . 296
XL VI. Public Works — Colegio de las Biscaynas 309
XLVEL The Paseos and Environs of Mexioo . 332
XL V ILL Chapultepec — Tisapan — Magdelena . 341
XLLX. De Omnibus Rebus . . . 355
PART VI.
MEXICO TO ENGLAND.

Letter L. Departure from the City of Mexico
LI. Nopaluca to Orizava
LII. Orizava to Vera Cruz
LIU. My Mission to Mexico
LrV. The United States and Canada
LV. The Macdougals and Macleods

381 3S9 403414
424462.

PART III.

THE CITY OF MEXICO.

A VISIT TO MEXICO.

LETTER XXIV.

THE CITY OP MEXICO.

Mexico, 8th March, 1849.
That happiness and misery, joy and sorrow,
pleasure and pain, are equally divided — equally
mixed up for all men, is a theory which few are
inclined to dispute. But I recollect my worthy
and philosophical friend, Dr. F — , amused us one
day on hoard ship, hy treating the question under
the less popular principle of moral compensation.
In an ingenious dissertation which he gave us, he
VOL. n. B

A THE CITY OF MEXICO.
maintained that a general law of compensation
was established by our Creator ; and that, in fact,
the moral world was a " world of compensation."
Every evil which a man suffered was (either known
or unknown to himself) balanced by an exactly
corresponding piece of good, and vice versa. It
was on this principle, as experience, when properly
analysed, demonstrated, that weal and woe were
meted out to man — and meted out, too, in a
measure, more exact than any he used in his own
scrupulous dealings.
"Now, for instance," said the doctor, "take
my deafness. I consider it the great and leading
misfortune of my life. But, I assure you, I have
here examined the ' compensations ' well, and I
find that, on the whole, I have no reason to com
plain. Neither do I complain ; or, if I find myself
giving way to low spirits, on account of my great
deafness, I rouse myself into cheerfulness, by
recalling to my mind that, philosophically, morally,
and religiously, I am wrong. I remember that
the law of compensations has neutralised the deaf
ness." This argumentum ad hominem came very
happily to sustain the doctor's theory ; for, with a
shade of melancholy with which he was now and

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 3
then overcast, he was of a happy and playful
disposition. Pushing a little farther, my friend, the doctor's
speculations on the compensating principle, in
which I am a thorough believer, I have sometimes
thought that it existed between the irrational and
the rational animal — between the brute and hu
man creation.
Man governs the brute, and to that extent he is
apparently the happier of the two. But man is
contented with none of his own pleasures: the
brute is contented with all that instinct enables
it to reach ; so here lies a compensating power.
The animal works and eats, and day by day is
, satisfied, careless of the future. Man's present
happiness is often embittered by his fear of coining
evils, and thus he is dissatisfied with what he
actually enjoys. Were you ever in the position of
not looking forward to a day which you hoped
would bring you happiness, or which you feared had
misery in store for you? /never was, nor do Ibelieve
was ever any one in this world. So man is, in
some sort, a discontented animal. And then, when
that to which he looks forward, as likely to make
him more happy than he is, arrives, of a certainty

4 THE CITY OF MEXICO.
he finds himself disappointed, or discovers that he
has something else in view, vastly more important,
the accomplishment of which he eagerly anticipates.
So he takes a new start, once more to hope — and
once more to be undeceived ; once more to agree
with the poet, that " man never is, but always to
be blest." He has but one sure refuge. " Blessed
is the man that expecteth nothing, for verily he
shall not be disappointed."
All this, you may say peevishly, is very trite ;
not a doubt of it, my dear Sir ; but then it suited
my purpose to bore you with these truisms, be
cause they were my stepping-stones to what I
have to wind up with, viz., that having for years
looked forward to the pleasure of visiting the city
of Mexico, I am so far disappointed with it ; and
that accordingly I am now anxiously looking
forward to the pleasure of returning to England.*
The diligencia carried us through a gateway
into the great entrance to a large hotel ; where
in a moment, all was bustle and confusion. I was
about to let Mr. Mackintosh know of our arrival,
* A travelled soldier once told me that only two things he had
seen, exceeded his expectations, to wit: St. Peter's at Rome
and the Simplon line of road."

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 5
when he himself entered the patio, and we were
introduced to him by Mr. Zurutuza, the great
Empresario or proprietor of the diligencias, who had
received us on our arrival. Mr. M — had been
long looking out for H — and myself, and had no
difficulty in recognising us. So, after shaking
hands, he handed us into his carriage, in waiting,
and the lively mules moved off at a brisk trot.
We drove into the patio of a handsome house,
over the grand entrance of which were Her
Majesty's arms; Mr. Mackintosh being British
Consul. Mrs. M — , who is a Mexican lady, kindly
welcomed us, and then left us to rest ourselves till
the dinner hour.
Thus on Saturday afternoon, the 24th of Feb
ruary, we concluded our erratic journey from
London to Mexico : wrecked, as we did not expect
to be, at sea; not waylaid and robbed, as we did
expect to be, by land ; but happily reaching our
destination at last, in safety, for which, God be
praised ! H — underwent the voyage uncommonly
well, thereby diminishing the regret I could not
help sometimes feeling, that I had acquiesced at
all in her desire to accompany me. I little thought
when I did give way, that she was to resume her

O THE CITY OF MEXICO.
character as a traveller, under such buffetings as
she received.
Next morning (Sunday), we rose late, but much
refreshed. I found that we had arrived at an
inopportune juncture, owing to the dangerous
illness of the sister of Mrs. Mackintosh; but
both she and Mr. Mackintosh said all they could
to remove our uneasiness in thus unwittingly
breaking in upon a domestic affliction.
In the afternoon, the carriage was ordered, and
Mrs. Mackintosh begged us to take a drive, which
we did, to the Paseo de las Vigas, of which I
shall speak by and by.
To day I was introduced by Mr. Mackintosh to
Mr. Doyle, Her Majesty's Charge d' Affairs, who told
me he would arrange for my being received at
court on the Tuesday; very kindly assuring me,
he would take care that the loss of my credentials
should not debar me from at once commencing
negociations. My first act on landing at Cam-
peachy, had been to write to the Committee of
Spanish American bondholders to lose no time
in replacing their part of the papers I had lost at
the shipwreck.
On Monday, the 26th, Mrs. Mackintosh's sister

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 7
died; an occasion on which, according to the usages
of the country, a house remains "en duelo" in
mourning, for nine days ; and during which, the
lady of the house is bound by the same usages to
stay at home, to receive "visitas de pesame" — con
dolence visits — from her friends.
My introduction to the minister of foreign
affairs having been deferred to Thursday, the 1st
of March, Mr. Doyle then called at two o'clock, and
drove me to " the palace." It is a quadrangular pile
of building, occupying, with its spacious courts, a
double block or square, equal I think, to six
acres and a half of ground. Its principal front,
which has a handsome and regular appearance,
forms one side of the Plaza.
This once viceregal palace is so capacious, that
it contains under its own roof, not simply a
noble residence for the President, but nearly the
whole of the public offices of the State ; for here
we have, in splendid suites of rooms, those of the
Foreign, Home and Financial Ministries, and the
Treasury; together with the Mint, Courts of Justice,
Senate-house, Chambers of Deputies, and many
others, even including a large barrack for the
guards.

8 THE CITY OF MEXICO.
We drove in by the great gate of the principal
court ; and there leaving Mr. Doyle's carriage, we
ascended an immensely wide staircase, leading by
easy steps to the different salons of the Members
of State. We were ushered into the suite com
posing the Foreign Office, where His Excellency
Don Luis G-onzaga de Cuevas, and His Excellency
(all the Mexican ministers have this title) Don
Manuel Pifia y Cuevas, the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs and Finance, were ready to receive me, in
the capacity of Commissioner of the Foreign
Bondholders of the State.
Mr. Doyle introduced me in a suitable manner,
by pointing out the importance of the business
which had brought me to Mexico, and by kindly
recommending me to the personal consideration
of the Ministers. I then addressed them at some
length, and each of them answered me in cour
teous terms. I replied in the same; and good
faith, confidence and friendship, were mutually
professed. Some general conversation ensued,
principally about my unfortunate voyage, and the
sufferings of the " nina." The Foreign Secretary,
who, ex officio, is Prime Minister, went so far as
to give me an invitation to visit him at his private

THE CITY OF MEXICO.

residence ; while the Minister of Finance proposed
of himself to open business with Mr. Mackintosh
and me this week. In short, all is couleur de rose
so far; and it is not for me to anticipate, at
present, that the affairs of the bondholders may
hereafter assume some hue not quite so bright.
Friday, the 2nd, we spent in looking into Mr.
Mackintosh's well selected Ubrary, and particularly
into works on Mexico, and many illustrations of
it, of an interesting kind.
On Saturday, the 3rd, I had the pleasure of
dining with Mr. Doyle, and of making the acquain
tance of some of the principal English residents, as
well as of Mr. Thornton, Attache of the Legation.
I much admired Mr. Doyle's house — a handsome
and commodious building, fitted up with great
taste; while the hospitabty of Her Majesty's repre
sentative, was inexcellentkeeping with his residence.
On Sunday the 4th, we had a visit from one of
our fellow-sufferers in the shipwreck, Mr. D — ;
and we readily agreed to make the acquaintance,
by and by, of the relatives with whom he lived.
During these days of mourning, it did not seem
proper to be going about, although in this respect,
our host and hostess were most kind ; and accord-
is 5

10 THE CITY OF MEXICO.
ingly to day, they again insisted on our taking
the carriage and having our drive to the Paseo de
las Vigas ; which, as one of the most remarkable
features of this place, I must, as I have said,
describe to you anon.
On Sunday morning, the archbishop of Mexico
having died of dyspepsia, his interment, with
due pomp, was announced to take place at the
Cathedral the following day. We missed the
procession from the archiepiscopal palace, close to
the cathedral ; but I had previously taken H — to
see His Grace lying in state.
Now you must read Madame C — de la B — 's
book in order to have before you a lively picture of
the leperos, the lazzaroni of Mexico — a disgusting
race ! Yet in the cathedral, which was crowded
to excess, we found that three-fourths of the
people assembled were these very leperos. It was
a feast for the eyes and the olfactory nerves after
such a fashion, as- to render a description, I can
assure you, "more honoured in the breach than
the observance". So I hastened through the
double rank and de-file of these worthies as fast as
I could. The cathedral was hung with black;
and in front of the great altar, placed on a cata-

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 11
falque, in form of a square cenotaph, lay the body
of the prelate dressed in full pontificals, gloves
and jewelled rings, yet withal, not to me, an
agreeable, nor yet an edifying sight. The people
about me seemed to think otherwise, and " degus-
tibus," etc. The body was deposited in a vault,
after the procession. So on Sunday the good
old archbishop was alive ; created a fuss and a
bustle in Mexico on Monday morning by reason
of his funeral ; was buried at two, p.m., that day ;
and by four, p.m., he was as much forgotten as if
he had never lived. The affairs of the world are
proverbially transitory; but transcendantly so
are the affairs of Mexico. Suppose an archbishop
of Canterbury were taken ill, continued ill, died
and was buried. The event would be, at any rate,
a nine days' wonder. What newspaper para
graphs ! What enquiries, bulletins, biographies,
eulogiums and clerical speculations ! Whereas,
here the honest archbishop dies, empachado,* with
out previous notice on Sunday is buried on
* I give the word as generally applied to the archbishop's
illness here. In English and Spanish dictionaries it is trans
lated " timid, bashful, surfeited." The bishop was neither timid
(in the sense here meant), nor bashful. He died "'Atrito" —
labouring under an indigestion.

12 THE CITY OF MEXICO.
Monday, and forgotten on Tuesday. Surely we
may, with our poet, here say, " Out ! out ! brief
candle!" From the cathedral, I drove H — to the " Casa
de Mineria:" considered the finest building in
Mexico in point of size and architecture. It was
designed by the celebrated Spanish architect
and sculptor Tolsa. The nearest resemblance we
have to it, in style of architecture, is the new facade
to our public offices inParliament Street. But the
Casa de Mineria forms a much nobler public
building than any of our own ; and perhaps it may
vie with any other in Europe. It is vexatious, how
ever, that from some defect in the foundation,
the building has partially settled down, and
thrown much of it out of the perpendicular.
It not only mars the aspect of this palace, but
endangers its duration. In 1827, Mr. Ward
thought a few years would complete its destruc
tion ; but it still seems to remain firm, a species
of leaning tower of Pisa.
From the Casa de Mineria we took a leisurely
survey of the finest surrounding streets. A mas
sive, but rude grandeur is the distinctive character
of the palace-like houses of this splendid city,

TIIE CITY OF MEXICO. 13
The architecture is plain ; but where you find a
reasonable number of these palaces in good repair,
their very simplicity of design, combined with
magnitude, is imposing. Of the best houses the
ground floor, surrounding two or three spacious
courts, is used for counting-houses, warehouses,
or other business purposes (where the establish
ment is mercantile), as well as for domestic offices
of every kind — kitchens, store-rooms, coach
houses, stabling, servants' rooms, etc. ; and where
no business is carried on, these domestic offices
still take up the ground floor.
We next went to the Pasco nucvo, or the Paseo
de Bucarclli, the celebrated viceroy of that name.*
Double rows of trees form the avenue a mile in
length, with fountains and statuary both of a
secondary class, here and there. Tt is the evening
resort of the fashionables in their carriages, and
on horseback, with a sprinkling of pedestrians.
On the 5th, I addressed a note to the Minister
of Finance, saying that 1 should now be happy if
he would fix a day for our first interview. I im-
* If you look into our second volumo of "Lottcrs on Para
guay," you will find under the head of " Expulsion of the
Jesuits," that this s:ime Buearclli carried the expulsion into
offect, being thon viceroy of Buonos Ayres.

14 THE CITY OF MEXICO.
mediately received a polite answer, fixing Thursday
for a conference. On that day, accordingly,
accompanied by Mr. Mackintosh, as agent of the
English bondholders, I waited on Don Manuel Pifla
y Cuevas. The interview convinced me that the
Minister really and truly felt anxious to be the
medium of re-establishing the credit of Mexico in
England ;' so that if he continue in office, I enter
tain good hopes of a pleasant termination to my
mission. After a long sitting, we adjourned to
Saturday the 10th.

15

LETTER XXV *

PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.

Mexico, 15th, March, 1849.
During the stay which, for a few months, Ie
propose making in this city, it is my intention
to give you, from time to time, such information
as I can obtain and depend upon, of the political
affairs of the country, and which may appear to
me to be useful towards enabling your readers to
form some tolerably clear conception of the actual
state of Mexico. I have been but a short time in
the capital ; but I have already had an opportunity
of conversing with many individuals, on whose
judgment I can rely, and of whose practical
acquaintance with the material interests, and poli
tical bearings and tendencies, of the country I am
well assured.
* This letter (here slightly altered) was published in The
Times.

16 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
The war with the United States ended by
depriving Mexico of a large portion of her terri
torial possessions ; although, if not again uncere
moniously stripped of provinces, equal in extent
to some kingdoms, enough is still left to form,
progressively, the elements of one of the most
important nations with which England, in the
now altered state of European affairs, can possibly
be connected. How deep is the interest of Great
Britain in advancing the general prosperity, in
raising the political character, and, above all, in
upholding the prosperity of Mexico, based on the
integral position of its present territory, I wish to
show to you, and to all dispassionate and clear
headed Englishmen.
The treaty of peace concluded in Guadalupe
Hidalgo, on the 2nd of February last year, left
this country split into a variety of parties. Don
Manuel de la Pefia, who ratified the treaty, was only
President, ad interim, of the Mexican Republic ; and
he immediately made room for the executive,
constitutionally formed, which now governs the
country. At its head is His Excellency General
Jose Joaquin de Herrera, who was elected Pre
sident, for the constitutional term of four years.

PUBLIC AXD POLITICAL. 1/
General Herrera' s government professes to be
of conservative principles ; yet not indisposed to
encourage progressive improvement; at the same
time, it seems to be strongly suspected of secretly
leaning to the United States. The opposing
leading parties are, on the one side, that of the
extreme liberals, or puros, as they are called ; on
the other, the monarchists, or tories, and strong
religionists. But, apart from these, many in
fluential people openly favour the influence and
eventual domination of their northern conquerors
— a mongrel Yankee party. Again, some respect
able politicians desire to uphold a counteracting
English policy, which unfortunately, however, is
not greatly encouraged. A large number take
the general view, that a foreign intervention of
some kind is desirable, to prevent a total disrup
tion of the elements of government, if confided
exclusively to Mexican counsels : the puros are
averse to foreign interference ; while, finally,
many are still partisans of General Santa Anna,
and favourable to the aspirations of that ambitious
chief. But in the midst of these contending views
and pretensions of declared politicians and their

18 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
partisans, there is, in the country at large, I think
happily, for the present, great apathy in regard to
pohtics of every kind. " Pronunciamientos" produce
no excitement; they are neither favoured nor
opposed; and by this vis inertia of the public
mind, not by the inherent strength of the govern
ing or any party, the country remains tranquil.
Thus, the men now in power, although attacked
on all sides, do not seem to be in any immediate
danger of falling, through the efforts of the rival
parties which surround them.
The President takes little or no part in the
political movements of the country. All state
business, he seems rightly to consider, devolves on
his ministers, who are responsible dejure, although
anything, I fancy, but assailable de facto. The
four principal ministers are : —
Don Luis G. Cuevas, Foreign Affairs, and head
of the Cabinet.
General M. Arista, Minister of War.
Don Manuel Pifia y Cuevas, Minister of Finance.
Don J. M. Jimenez, Minister of Justice.
These cabinet ministers receive an annual salary
of $6,000, or £1,200 each.
The legislature of the nation is constituted by

PUBLIC AND POLITICAL. 19
two chambers, one of senators, the other of
deputies: the first are sixty-three in number, and
receive from the treasury £700 a year each ; the
number of the second amounts to one hundred
and forty, with £600 annually to each ; all coun
try members having a " viatico " or allowance for
travelling expences to and from the scene of their
labours. Some ill-natured persons have raised
the question as to whether the country has "value
received" from these two hundred and three
gentlemen, for the £150,000 which, in all, the
two chambers annually receive from the state.
At present the executive and legislative powers
are outwardly anything but d' accord in their views.
The ministers are constantly abused, in set terms,
by the chambers; and the legislators as constantly
receive their quid pro quo from ministers. Yet
when a division is called, be the matter what it
may, it is almost invariably in favour of the
ministry. In fact many complaints are made
openly, that the chambers do not act a very wise
part : that they lose time, obstruct public business,
or do nothing; that they shew little practical
wisdom, and accomplish still less practical good,
by their, too often, aimless, although laborious

20 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
and interminable projects and discussions. In
saying this, I merely give the opinions which I
hear, as I have been too short a time in Mexico
to form any very correct one myself.
As in all other countries, here pre-eminently
the public purse is the great object of attraction,
and the great cause of political ferment. You
will not be surprised to hear me say, that I have
already come to the conclusion that Senor Pifia y
Cuevas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, does not
always sleep on a bed of roses. Mexico is one of
the most undeniable examples, that the facility of
recovering taxes is by no means always on a par
with the urgency and extent of the claims on the
public treasury.
What I must say strikes every foreigner with
utter amazement on his first acquaintance with
Mexico, is, that seeing at every step he takes in
this magnificent country, indubitable proofs of
riches and resources in perennial abundance;
wealth in every shape, mineral, cereal, pastoral ;
the earth teeming, in fact, with every country's
product which man can use, exchange, and turn
to his profit : that, seeing all this, he learns that
the same country is utterly beggared and bankrupt

PUBLIC AND POLITICAL. 21
in public men, and public credit ; and, as a natural
consequence, that its public means, either dammed
up or turned into wrong channels, are quite in
adequate to meet the demands of the national
expenditure. As if this state of affairs were not sufficiently
anomalous, the stranger, on landing in Mexico,
is still farther stupified by a concurrent testimony,
generally confirmed quickly by personal experi
ence, that in a nation, having apparently all the
elements of power, — fine cities and noble estates
throughout the country, with mineral establish
ments which far surpass anything of the kind in
any other part of the world ; that in this Mexico,
possessing seven or eight millions of inhabitants,
he dare not pass from one province to another,
without something like a certainty of being waylaid
and robbed on all the public roads, and even in
many of the public streets of the cities into which
he enters.
A friendly and impartial examination of the
real circumstances of a country, offering to the
view so much of interest and so much of ano
maly, cannot fail to be interesting to every
philosophic mind; and, most of all, such an

22 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
enquiry ought to arouse the attention of every
reflective Mexican, who can lay claim to one
particle of patriotic feeling, or who can wince
under a glow of shame burning on his brow,
when reminded, that instead of advancing, as it
ought, Mexico is every day so sinking in the scale
of nations, as to give rise, on the part of her
best friends, to many reasonable forebodings that
her days are numbered as an independent nation.
The Ministers of State, Messrs. Cuevas, Arista,
Pina y Cuevas, and Jimenez, have just published
their respective reports, read to the " Camaras
del Congreso General," on their assembling at the
commencement of the year ; and these elaborate
reports, when analysed, may aid considerably in
an examination of the foreign and domestic policy,
the fiscal resources and obligations, the military
and the judicial position of Mexico, as it at pre
sent exists — at least in so far as the ministers have
thought it right to open up their views to the public.
But we must not be content to judge of the state
of the country merely by reports of ministers, who
have always much more to withdraw from public
scrutiny, than to lay bare to the vulgar gaze of
the million. We must become acquainted with

PUBLIC AXD POLITICAL. 23
the hidden motives of action, the passions, objects,
affections, feelings and principles of public men,
if we would dive into the arcana of their policy ;
and in regard to Mexico, this, by degrees, I may,
perhaps, have the opportunity of doing. We must
also carefully examine, in treating of the prospects
and ultimate fate of this country, the political views,
aims and interests of the allies most closely con
nected with it ; and this also I hope, as I advance,
to compass. Meantime it may be frankly said,
for it is notorious to all the world, that the two
powerful nations more immediately interested in
the fate and fortunes of Mexico, are Great Britain
and the United States of America.
At present, the matters which principally engross
the public attention here, are the pecuniary em
barrassments of the Government ; the progressive
apphcation of the indemnity money, in course of
payment by the United States; the project of a
bank founded on the application of that fund, as
the capital of such bank ; and the urgent claim for
payment of arrears and dividends, which the British
bond-holders are making through their agents.
The indemnification money (given for L'pper
California and New Mexico), was fifteen millions

24 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
of dollars, payable in five equal yearly instalments,
with interest, which raises the total amount to
$16,800,000. Of this gross sum Mexico has
received — DOLLARS.
The first instalment, amounting to . 3,000,000
Congress here lately authorised an ap
propriation from the second instal
ment of  800,000
It is now about to sanction a farther
appropriation, the whole of which
may be considered as spent . . . 1,500,000

In all . . . . 5,300,000
leaving the Mexican Government, between this
and the end of 1852, yet to dispose of eleven
millions and a half of dollars.
The bank project (if likely to be carried into
effect), ways and means, and foreign and domestic
debt of Mexico, I shall progressively examine,
and then proceed to discuss the foreign and home
policy of the country.
Every part of the United States of Mexico is
at present tranquil. One or two pronunciamientos
have lately been made in favour of Santa Ana ;
but, having been treated with much indifference,
they have proved quite abortive. The press, how-

PUBLIC AND POLITICAL. !25
ever, discusses with great heat the question of
General Santa Ana's being permitted, or not per
mitted, to return to Mexico. No law having as
yet been passed to expatriate him, and a recent
attempt having been made to make one, it is de
nounced as highly unconstitutional. The fact is,
Santa Ana himself knows that this is not a right
time for his rc-appcarance on the political stage ;
and it is therefore thought unlikely that he will,
for the present, interfere with the actual order of
affairs. Kl Ilustrisimo Seuor Don Juan Manuel Yri-
zarri, who, as Vicar Capitular, administered the
.archbishopric of Mexico, died a fortnight ago, and
has been replaced by Don Jose Maria Barricnto.
I may just remark here, as a proof of the amount
of religious bigotry still existing in Mexico, that
toleration having been spoken of by some liberal
members in Congress, petitions from all quarters
of the interior against it have been presented to
that body.
All the mining districts continue to yield in
•rreat abundance, anil the material riches of the
country rapidly advance. Mercantile business
is also brisk and good, and imports have been
VOL. II. o

26 PUBLIC AND POLITICAL.
rather large. No Conducta having come in from
Guanajuato, none has gone down to Vera Cruz for
the present packet. The Exchange value of a
dollar here for bills on England is 44^^. ; but as a
reduction of the export duty on silver is on the
tapis, no considerable amount of bills on London
can be negotiated, so that the rate is almost
nominal. As the February packet had not arrived, three
days ago, at Vera Cruz, we are under the persua
sion that the line has been deranged by the loss
of the Forth, and that our Mexican correspondence
has been forwarded from Havana by a sailing
vessel. By way of the United States, we long ago
received London dates to the 26th of January.

LETTER XXVP.

RETROSPECTIVE .

Mexico, 6th March, 1S51.
" My last letters from Vera Cruz,* as well as
those from my father, informed you that we
should start two days afterwards, which we did.
By this packet you will see such long details
of our doings, from Vera Cruz to 'the city,'
that I shall give you my account of them as
shortly as I can.
'•' The ball, to which we went at Vera Cruz, was
really very pleasant and amusing. There were some
pretty girls, and almost all were nicely dressed.
Part of the printed announcement of the ball was,
that ' quadrilles, waltzes, and country dances will
be danced alternately ; and those young ladies
who may wish to dance the polka, shall be satisfied
to their hearts' desire.' So. you may perceive,
* Net inserted here. [H— now writes].

28 RETROSPECTIVE.
they have only just got to the polka, and that as
yet the deux temps is to them a mystery.
" We left Vera Cruz, then, on the 18th and
arrived here on the 2 tth. The first part of the
road is so bad, that the breaking down of the
diligencia is a common occurrence ; and as for the
bones of the unhappy passengers, they suffer,
I hear, considerably. We avoided the possible
fractures, by going as far as Jalapa in a litrra, a
slow-and-surc style of travelling, quite new to us.
" We started in the evening, the heat being too
great during the day to allow of travelling with
ease, either to man or beast, and we arrived at our
first stage at three a.m. next day, very tired and
cramped, having had but little room for a change
of position in the litera. These conveyances are
something between a palanquin and a sedan-
chair, just large enough to admit of two persons
reclining (not at full length) herring fashion ; so
that it is very easy for the feet of the one
traveller to come into disagreeable contact with the
head of the other, and frequent collisions of this
sort took place between us. There are pillows at
each end, a canvass roof, and curtains of the same
material all around.

RETROSPECTIVE. 29
" Of Puente and its fine bridge, you will hear
from the journalist. We started again in the
afternoon, arriving at five next morning at Jalapa,
a place of which we had heard much, being cele
brated for its beautiful scenery and fine climate.
Here we rested two days, enjoying ourselves much,
and seeing something of the country. All sorts of
lovely flowers and shrubs were blooming in
the greatest profusion, yet the temperature was
dehghtfully cool, and it rained a good deal. I
thought the weather even cold in the evenings.
" We proceeded on our journey in the diligencia.
Some of the passengers were armed, and all
seemed to think it next to impossible that we
should reach the city without an encounter with
the ladrones, who generally hghten the ddigence of
luggage, and passengers of dollars, once or twice
a week !
" We thought that we only required this to make
our chapter of accidents complete; but although
we were entertained all the way with anecdotes of
these ' cavalleros,'we were not favoured with a visit
from them, which, on the whole, most of us seemed
not to regret.
" Mr. M — received us in the diligencia office.

30 RETROSPECTIVE.
on our arrival here, and took us at once to his
house. Both Mr. and Mrs. M — received us
most kindly, although we could scarcely consider
ourselves otherwise than as intruders, from the
dangerous illness of Mrs. M — 's sister, who re
quired at the time her exclusive attention.
" The houses here inhabited by the upper classes
are very handsome, and for the most part magni
ficent in size. They are almost all alike, and in
describing one, you may almost say I describe
them all. This is one of the best — very nicely
fitted up and very large. The suites of rooms are
of fine dimensions, with lofty ceilings. The ground
floor is devoted to business and offices, etc. ; then
you mount a very wide staircase, and enter a
square, as it were, with a wide corridor running
along two sides, from which, and from the
windows on the other side, you look down upon
the patio below. You enter the different rooms
from the corridor, which is adorned with fine
shrubs, plants, runners, and flowers. All the
rooms are fitted up in the European style, and
much more like what we see at home than I
had expected.
" We arrived, as I have said on the 24th, and

RETROSPECTIVE. 31
next day we took a drive to Las Vigas— during
Lent, the fashionable drive and ride. It was very
full, and amused us greatly, as it does every
stranger on first seeing it. There were two rows
of carriages, and many equestrians ; and, indeed,
we had to stop very often from the number of
conveyances which obstructed our way. There
were some few very handsome equipages; but
speaking generally of Mexican carriages, they have
something incongruous. Either the harness is bad,
or the servants are queerly dressed, or the mules
look small and miserable — for mules are much
more used than horses — and this alone takes away
much from the good effect. I have never seen an
open carriage — at least for ladies. As the fair sex
here consider it not respectable to walk in the
streets or gardens (except very early in the
morning), a carriage is indispensable to respecta
bility ; and many families, who have nothing else
to correspond, drive about behind their pair of
mules, for a one animal carriage is almost un
known. " But to return to this drive, or Mexican Hyde
Park. It certainly is most amusing, for the
variety of costumes, especially of the equestrians,

32 RETROSPECTIVE.
and of odd figures, seemed to me to be endless.
Then the ladies are in evening toilette, which
looks strange in the daylight. Again, running
parallel with the road, there is the canal which it
would indeed require a stretch of imagination to
fancy the Serpentine. You see it covered as you
drive along, with canoes full of 'darkies,' who play
a sort of banjo and lyre, or small harp, and sing
their strange monotonous songs — and foot it — on
any part of the foot but the ' light fantastic toe '
— their grave and absurd-looking dances — whilst
they are all evidently enjoying life, dressed out in
their gayest, and crowned with wreaths of flowers
of the brightest hue. I shall be quite sorry when
Lent is over, for then ' el paseo de las Vigas ' is
no more resorted to, but is replaced by the Paseo
Nuevo, which is just a straight road, lined by
trees, its great beauty consisting in the view of the
snowy mountains, of unpronounceable names.
" Ladies must not, as I say, walk out after early
morning (which you may suppose does not suit
me), when they may be supposed going to and
returning from mass. During the day, however
short the distance, or fine the weather, you must
go in your carriage. I hear the rides are very

RETROSPECTIVE. 33
pretty, and I want exercise, for I only at present
have a drive in the afternoon to the Paseo. So I
have been longing for my habit, which has come
up to-day with our heavy luggage.
" From what I have seen of Mexico, I think I
shall enjoy my visit to the city very much, though
I do not think I should like it as a residence.
There is hardly any English society; and till I
know Spanish better, of course I cannot enjoy the
native. Several English ladies have left lately,
and at present there are but three besides myself.
" From different causes, we have been living
very quietly since our ai'rival here. In the first
place, Mrs. M. lost her only sister the day after our
arrival ; in the second, we are in Lent ; and in
the third, we have had but scanty wardrobes till
to-day. " We have, however, been twice to the theatre,
which is a very handsome one indeed. It has not
been built many years, is in excellent taste, and
the form of it very good. Mr. M.'s box is one of
the best, close to the stage, large, with a retiring
room. During Lent, dramatic performances are
not allowed, so they have got up an operatic com
pany (Mexican), which, although not such as we
c 5

34 RETROSPECTIVE.
should listen to in England, pleases me, as yet,
more than the plays. The first night we went
they gave the Somnambula, with the Italian text,
of course. I certainly did not admire the Elviro,
who could neither boast of voice nor good looks.
The Amina was much better, although the ' Ah !
non giunge' was too much for her. The or
chestra was terrible; while the best part of the
performance was the chorus, which was small,
but the voices were fair, and they sang in good
time and tune. The second night, we saw 'Lucia,'
in which all got on better; and, altogether, it
amuses me very much. But stay, I am omitting
my principal point — the audience, or ' concur-
rencia.' The ladies are, in general, nice-looking,
and a good many very pretty; and almost all
dressed in good taste."

35

LETTER XXVII.

DIARY OF A MONTH.

Mexico, 10th April, 1849.
Following up my plan of giving you something by
every packet, till I get to England once more, I
resume the thread of my story from the departure
of our last mails.
We have now resided here six weeks, and, as a
natural consequence, I now know something more
of the City of Mexico than I did at the close of
my last letter ; and I shall accordingly go on in
my journalising way, and desultory mode of
observation. On the 9th of March we began to look for the
packet — for its arrival is the event of the month —
and we seemed to have been an age without letters
from England. Ah ! how few are there, man or
woman, born on English ground, who do not,
on quitting home for a foreign country, leave
behind the greater part of his or her affections

36 DIARY OF A MONTH.
and pleasurable associations ! And how do we
long accordingly for those periodical arrivals,
which are to delude us into a momentary belief
that we are placed in contact with all those who
have principally occupied our thoughts and feelings
in the interval ! " Letters from home ! " " The
packet letters ! " None but those who have been
abroad know all the magic influence on the heart
of these short but significant exclamations.
No packet, however, came in on the 9th ; and
instead of reading letters we made the acquaint
ance of Mrs. and Miss C — , wife and daughter of
a highly respectable old English gentleman, in
business here, and with whom I had previously
become acquainted. Miss C — is lively, clever,
thoroughly at home with the Spanish language,
and well acquainted with Mexican character. H er
acquaintance is a great acquisition to H — .
Saturday, the 10th, no packet; and therefore
we feel unable to settle down to prepare letters for
its return, although we ought to do so, Beraza
being now under official orders for a start on the
15th. The 13th is the usual day, but February
makes the difference on this occasion.
Mr. M. and I again waited on the Minister of

DIARY OF A MONTH. 37
Finance, and after transacting business, and satis
factorily forwarding the object of my mission,
towards which we remained nearly two hours with
his Excellency, we agreed to meet once more before
the packet sailed, to settle as to the official com
munications which it was to take forward.
Sunday, the 11th; a case of "hope deferred."
Still no packet, and therefore a continuance of
that ansia — that longing desire for letters kept up.
We had several visits to-day, among them Dr.
M'C — (our medical man) — a truly pleasant, in
telligent, and amusing countryman of my own,
and Don Jose Martinez del Rio, one of our old
London acquaintances — an agreeable friend, and a
leading man here.
Monday, the 12th. Still no packet ; and we
begin to fancy that the loss of the Forth has so
deranged the route, as to prevent the packet of
this month from coming to Vera Cruz at all. I
had my promised meeting with Mr. Pina y Cuevas
to-day, towards arranging for the packet. All
satisfactory ; and the continuance of that gentle
man in office seems all that is wanting to give
the best effect and happiest termination to my
mission.

38 DIARY OF A MONTH.
Tuesday, 13th, we were engaged all day writing.
But still no packet letters, and all are agreed that
if they are not with us by the 14th, they may be
given up.
Wednesday, 14th. No packet ! In such a
case as this, every new day of disappointment
adds its quota to the accumulated heap of im
patience already resting on the mind. Vires
acquirit eundo. But the mail for England was
advertised at the lonja (Exchange), to be made up
at eight, a.m., the following day; and our Charge
d'affaires assured us he could not possibly detain
his courier. So all were obliged to go on in good
earnest with their correspondence. From Don
Manuel Piiia y Cuevas I received an excellent
letter for transmission to London.
Thursday, 15th, to our joy and surprise, our
famous courier, Beraza "the desired" arrived
with the mails; and Mr. Doyle could not do
otherwise than allow our tired, though unflinching
friend, twenty-four hours' rest. So another day
was given us. We got budgets of letters, keeping
us busier than ever all this day. At ten at night, I
received another letter from Seiior Piiia y Cuevas,
announcing an unexpected and unasked-for remit-

DIARY OF A MONTH. 39
tance of ten thousand pounds for the bond- holders,
which was really pleasant. I did not finish my
correspondence till eight, a.m., Friday morning;
and Beraza was finishing the packing of his
mail towards starting, when I gave him some
tolerable packets, as my contribution to the
general correspondence.
We rested on Friday ; and our luggage which
we had left at Vera Cruz, arriving the same day,
we spent Saturday, the 17th, in unpacking,
arranging, and finishing in a desultory way, a very
busy week.
For two or- three Sundays we had been talking
of a drive to the village of Tacubaya, the cele
brated and fashionable resort of the elite of
Mexico; and to-day, Sunday, the 18th, it was
determined we should proceed to that place.
Accordingly at eleven o'clock, behold the coche de
Campo, the country carriage drawn out ; the hand
some and sturdy mules harnessed, the postillion
mounted, the footman in the rumble, Mrs. M — ,
H — and I inside; and Mr. M — , a la Mexicana,
on his handsome iron grey, with his groom behind
him in the costume of the country, and also on a
fine spirited horse, in which form and state we
dashed off for Tacubaya.

40 DIARY OF A MONTH.
We went out by the Paseo nuevo, the road lying,
as far as Chapultepec, along one of the two im
mense aqueducts which supply the city of Mexico
with water. They are characterised by that so-
hdity which I have told you, is the great feature
of all Spanish architecture; but like all their
works, also, they are in any thing but good repair.
Of Chapultepec I shall speak when I come to tell
you of a visit ex profeso to it. From this point
we went on about a mile and a half, principally
through plantations of the Maguey, and over a
brown, uninteresting part of the Mexican plain.
The hilly country commences at Tacubaya, and
the village is prettily situated in the lap of an
ascending ground, the villas with which it is dot
ted, commanding generally a beautiful view of the
plain, the city, Chapultepec, and the neighbouring
mountains. Tacubaya itself looks best at a dis
tance. Among the whitewashed houses and
villas, glittering in the sun, trees (all evergreens)
are thickly interspersed, relieving the glare, and
contrasting happily with the monotonous brown
levels which he below. But when you enter the
village, the deep sandy roads, the dirty people,
and the many mean and untidy habitations, with

DIARY OF A MONTH. 41
every here and there a ruinous one, offend the
eye of an Englishman, accustomed to the pretty
villages of his own country.
We kept ascending through the village, and,
arriving at about the highest point, we got to the
Rancho de los Remedios; a quaint name given
by Mr. Mackintosh to his "casa de campo" at
Tacubaya. He held for several years there a large
house (belonging to the Marquis de Guadalupe),
and passed a considerable part of the year in it.
Being obliged, however, to give up the Marquis's
house, Mr. Mackintosh, in order to remedy his
wants, built his rancho or cottage, and called it "el
Rancho de los Remedios," this latter name being
at the same time one of the titles of the Virgin
Mary, "Nuestra Senora de los Remedios," en
shrined in her chapel, not far from Tacubaya.
El Rancho de los Remedios is a gem ; that is,
if one could divest one's mind of the dissatisfied
feeling which arises on finding that a country
house has no more grounds about it than a lawn
and flower garden, which Mr. M. jokingly says
"may be covered by a table-cloth." But this
granted, the Remedios is a beautiful multum in
parvo. For the house itself, nothing could be

42 DIARY OF A MONTH.
better or prettier. It is of two floors, with two
small projecting wings. From the one to the
other, on both floors, run wide, spacious, handsome
corridors, adorned with a profusion of well-filled
flower-pots, and with vases holding scented shrubs
and luxuriant creepers. The front windows and
balconies overlook the city, the valley, Chapultepec,
and a grand amphitheatre of mountains. These
corridors, particularly the upper one, constitute a
remarkably nice promenade; and a little boudoir
simply but elegantly furnished, which forms one
wing, opens, like the drawing-rooms, on the
higher corridor, making this part 'of the estabhsh-
ment complete. The lower corridor is also orna
mented with flowers and shrubs; so that, how
ever limited the space, there was everything you
could desire to find in a cottage ornee.
On Monday, the 19th, we called on Mrs. and
Miss C — , who may be called the female repre
sentatives of England in Mexico — for Mrs. J — , our
only other countrywoman at present, lives constantly
at Tacubaya. Then we went to see our pleasant
fellow passengers, Dr. D — and his Chihuahua
wife, residing with their friend, Mr. A — . They
were greatly pleased to talk over with us all

DIARY OF A MONTH. 43
the perils and incidents of our passage from
England. At dinner, this day, we had two visitors — new
arrivals. One was Mr. F — , whom I knew well
by report, and who came as representative of
Messrs. Baring Brothers, and Co., to assist in car
rying into effect their negotiation for the payment
of the present instalment of the indemnity money,
through Messrs. Manning and Mackintosh. The
other is Mr. E. B — , who accompanies Mr. F — ,
mtending to enter by-and-bye on a wide field of
travel. For the evening (19th) H — and I had an
engagement, which we could not decline, to a
small tertulia, at the house of the licentiate and
judge of the district, el Senor Inclan, to whom
we were to be introduced by La Sefiorita Robles,
the young, amiable, and lively sister of Com
mandant Robles, of Vera Cruz, and of whom I have
spoken so highly. Dona Carmelita called for us, and
we went together in her carriage to the Inclans.
We were received by them in the most cordial
manner, and found them to be people " according
to one's own heart;" so much so, that we did not
get home till two in the morning.

44 DIARY OF A MONTH.
On Wednesday, the 21st, great was my surprise
to see Mr. C — , from Liverpool, walk into the
library, where I sat writing this diary. He was
one of the last persons I saw in England, and so
far was he then from thinking of visiting Mexico,
that he offered me letters of introduction to
Mr. and Mrs. J — here, of the same mercantile
house as himself. But such is the present age of
travel ! Last century, the fashion was to make
one's will before undertaking, with fear and
trembling of his household, a journey of a few
hundred miles. In these fast times, we pack up a
portmanteau in the morning, say " au revoir " in
the evening, and take our departure to another
hemisphere — to go and to return in a shorter time
than was occupied by our forefathers between
London and Edinburgh.
On the 21st, we made the acquaintance of Don
Juan L — , a decided notability. He is, at present
(although, I understand, on the point of resigning),
Impresario, or lessee of the Grand National
Theatre. He is a native of Spain, of good
family, and held a high office in this country
under the Spanish regime. He is decorated with
a Spanish order of knighthood, and he is generally

DIARY OF A MONTH. 45
called by his English friends, " Sir J—." His
house is one of the most fashionable ; his daughters
and niece are leading belles of the haut ton. Lastly,
" Sir J — " is a " corredor de numero," or sworn-
broker, and he frequents the lonja in the afternoon,
mixing mostly with the leading English subscribers.
He keeps a handsome equipage, gives an excellent
dinner, and his tertulias* are quite the thing. By
some misunderstanding (I suppose) ; some intricacy
of Mexican etiquette, on our arrival — which I have
not been able to fathom — we have not got into
visiting terms with Sir J— 's amiable and distin
guished family.
We had more or less our usual routine up to
the 28th, when, having previously made the
acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. J — , an English
familv, as I think I have mentioned, they gave us
a quiet and therefore a pleasant family dinner, en
livened by Mr. C — , my friend from Liverpool, and
Mr. Morphy, equally a Mexican and Englishman,
lively, intelligent, and finally, one of the Murphy's
of the celebrated colony of Cadiz, of which I
have spoken in my 15th letter, Vol. I., page 236.
* For terttdia, we have no English synonym. The French
have soirie.

46 DIARY OF A MONTH.
We dined at half-past three. In the evening the
ladies went to the Paseo ; Mrs. J — 's turn-out
being one of the best. Altogether, we passed a
delightful evening, and got home just in time to
go over the same pleasant ground with our own
party; which, at half-past nine had adjourned to
coffee in the drawing room.

47

LETTER XXVIII.
DIARY' OF A MONTH CONCLUDED.
Mexico, 10M April, 1851.
Saturday-, the 31st, was a day of diplomatic cour
tesies. Our Charge d'affaires accompanied us to
the Fi'ench Legation, there to be introduced to
the Minister and his lady. Our party was made
up of Mr. and Mrs. M — , H — , Messrs. F —
and B — , and myself, led by Mr. Doyle. The
Legation occupies one of the handsomest houses
in Mexico, in a fashionable street, with the odd
name of " Calle de Don Juan Manuel."
M. Levasseur speaks little Spanish as yet ; but
he is refined and piquant in his own language.
Madame is a German lady ; lively, clever, intel
lectual, and accomplished, speaks five or six
languages fluently, and has some knowledge of

48 DIARY OF A MONTH.
Greek and Latin. She was tres aimable with us ;
and we all received invitations to the first of her
soirees, for Monday the 9th of April.
I am writing a second letter on the politics
of Mexico by the packet; so on that point I
will only say that my respected friend and
coadjutor, Don Manuel Piiia y Cuevas, Minister
of Finance when I arrived, having resigned, he
determined to give a soiree, dedicated " a la
Nina Henriqueta," not only as a proof of his
personal regard, but as a demonstration of his
sympathies with me in my public capacity. He
invited us by a very kind note, and we went
accordingly on Saturday, the 31st (March).
Messrs. M — , F — , and B — were dining with
Sir J. L — ; but they joined us later in the
evening. Mr. Piria y Cuevas may not be called of the
highest grade of the haut ton ; but I can only say,
we found at his party a great many agreeable
people, including his relative, Cuevas, Prime
Minister, many senators, members of the Camara
de Diputados, and others. The most marked at
tention was paid to H— all night, and the utmost
solicitude was shewn to amuse us both. We had

DIARY OF A MONTH. 49
an excellent concert, one of the principal per
formers being la Sefiorita Cossio, prima donna at
the Grand Theatre. After her first song, she was
led to a scat next to my own. I did not then
know who she was, for she had not performed in
cither of the two operas 1 had seen, and I had
not heard her name in the salon. I turned round
to her, and making a bow, said, " I perceive,
Sefiorita, that better music is to be heard in the
drawing-rooms of Mexico than in the Grand
Theatre." " En favor que V. me hace." — "You arc com
plimentary," answered the young lady, smiling.
" My dear sir,'' said a gentleman who stood by,
" you are addressing la Sefiorita Cossio, of whose
name you surely cannot be ignorant."
I explained how it was, and during the evening
1 enjoyed a good deal of the sprightly conversation
of the amiable prima donna. Let me state, to her
great honour, the origin of her singing in public.
Her father was a highly respectable gentleman,
moving in the best circles. By some misfortune
he lost his property, died, and left his widow and
family unprovided for. Miss Cossio hesitated not
to avail herself of her great musical talents. She
VOL. n. D

50 DIARY OF A MONTH.
made a successful debut, maintains her mother, with
whom she lives, and herself comfortably, and is
universally respected. I talked also to Madame
Cossio, who doats on her daughter, and listens to
her praise with an honest maternal pride.
After the concert, refreshments of every kind
were served; dancing and conversation ensued,
and highly pleased with our entertainment, we re
tired at a very late hour. I must not omit to
mention, that the finest girl present was the young
and elegant Miss Cortina, daughter of the Conde
and Madame Cortina, so often mentioned by their
friend, Madame C — de la B — .
On the 1st of April, I went with a party to visit
the little town of Guadalupe, chiefly celebrated
for its church, the sanctuary of " Nuestra Seiiora '
de Guadalupe," the patroness saint of Mexico.
The road to Guadalupe, after you emerge from
the dirty suburbs, goes along a fine causeway,
lined with trees, and is about three miles from the
centre of the City of Mexico. The church was
not built to meet the wants "of a town popula
tion ;" but the town has grown out of the celebrity
of our Lady's church. It is built at the foot of
a hill called Tepayac, on the summit of which

DIARY OF A MONTH. 51
once stood the temple of Tonantzin. How this
Indian place of worship fell into decay I need not
particularise ; but how the Virgin's sanctuary arose
and flourished close by, must claim our passing
notice, for it sprang from a miracle.
Madame V — dcla B — had the celebrated tradi
tion related to her by the old bishop at Guadalupe,
and lie seems to have taken the merit of the account
to himself; but the rogue had stolen it from a
printed sermon of the Cardinal di Lorcnzano,
Archbishop of Mexico, preached in 1760. The
curtailed particulars arc these.
Upwards of three centimes ago, and ten years
after the conquest, the Virgin Mary appeared to
an Indian called Juan Diego, as he passed the
mountain of Tepayac, desiring him to go to the
bishop, and to order him to come and worship her
on that spot. Diego, not being admitted to the
bishop, returned and told the Virgin so. He was
ordered to return with the message of " Mary,
the Mother of God." So he did; saw the bishop,
who refused any credence to the miracle, unless
verified by a token. Whereupon Diego saw the
Virgin for the third time, when she desired him
to ascend the rugged mountain, and thence bring

52 DIARY OF A MONTH.
her roses. Desert as he knew the place to be,
Juan Diego joyfully mounted the rocky eminence,
found and cut the roses, and throwing them into
his tilma, or apron, brought them to Mary.
She sent him with them as " the token " to the
bishop. The apron unfolded, and the roses drawn
forth, " lo! there appeared on the rude garment that
blessed picture of the Virgin, which now, after -cen
turies, still exists, without having suffered the
slightest injury ! " Such is the miracle, as related
by the archbishop ; but we have not his authority
for what is averred by others, namely, that not
only the apron, but every leaf of every rose
plucked by Juan Diego, bore the impress of the
Virgin, now known as of Guadalupe.
Be that as it may, you will readily suppose that
no time was lost in rearing a church to our Lady
of Guadalupe on Tepeyac ; and so successfully did
the shrine bring wealth to the church, that a
second and more magnificent one — that now
standing— replaced the first: while "Nuestra Sefiora
de Guadalupe " has, indeed, become a household
word over the length and breadth of Mexico.
The church itself has nothing to boast of in its
architectural claims, but its interior decorations

DIARY OF A MONTH. 53
are sumptuous in the extreme. " The altar at the
north end," says Mr. Brantz Mayer, "and the
canopy and pillars around it, are of the finest
marbles. Above it, in a frame of solid gold,
covered with a crystal plate, is the figure of the
Virgin, painted on the Indian's tilma, as repre
sented in the preceding cut. On each side of the
image, within the frame, and extending its whole
length, are strips of gold literally crusted with
emeralds, diamonds, and pearls. At the feet of
the figure there are again large clusters of the
same costly gems. From each side of the frame
issues a circle of golden rays; while above it, as
if floating in the air, hangs the figure of a dove,
of solid silver, as large as a goose."
When we went into the church, I found that
thorough repairs were going forward, painting and
gilding the dome, roofs, walls and recesses, in the
richest manner. Votaries and visitors were en
tering and leaving, while at a table sat a woman
before a complete ribbon stall ! All sorts of de
vices were stamped on these ribbons, illustrative
of the history of the tutelary saint. Then in a
corner was a male attendant with medals for sale.
I bought one for four rials, with about one rial's

54 DIARY OF A MONTH.
worth of silver in it, the rest copper. It is oblong,
under an inch and a half in length ; has on one
side the Virgin of Guadalupe, with "N. S.D.
Guadalupe de Mexico. A. 1805," as the surround
ing inscription. On the obverse side is, "Non
fecit taliter omni nationi." With this medal
I received a small printed paper (in which I now
keep the medal), which is worth transcribing and
translating. It runs thus: —
" Nuestro Santisimo Padre, el Senor Pio VI., por
su breve de 13 de Abril de 1785, concedio indul-
gencia plenaria para la hora de la muerte, a, todas
las personas que trajeren consigo una de las me-
dallas de nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, que
se expenden, benditas en su santuario." Which
being translated, says : —
" Our most Holy Father, the sovereign Pope
Pius VI., by his brief of the 13th of April, 1785,
has conceded plenary indulgence, in the hour of
death, to all those who shall then have upon them,
ONE OF THE MEDALS OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE,
which, ready blest, are sold in her sanctuary."
I must mention two or three other particulars
about the village of Guadalupe, and then leave it.
A couple of hundred yards from our Lady's

DIARY OF A MONTH. 55
church is a holy spring-well, the filthiest puddle
imaginable, under a dome, or small chapel; and
the Indians being persuaded that the water is
blessed by the Guadalupe herself, they flock to it
daily and hourly in hundreds often, and not un
frequently by thousands. They bless themselves
in it — they duck themselves in it; the women,
with their miserable little children buclded on
their backs, bend over the sacred and very dirty
fluid, and get at it in any way they can. Finally,
hundreds come with cans and rude vessels, and
carry the water away, not only from the fount,
but from the gutters which run from it.
A strange, rough, broken, but wide flight of
steps, cut out in the rock, leads you from the
dome to the top of Tepcyac, where stands another
chapel. Thence wc had a splendid view of Mexico,
the plain, and the mountains.
Then midway, on this ascent, stands a singular
mass of brick-work, rising up in the form of a
ship's sail, rudely shaped, the votive offering of a
tempest-tossed Spanish skipper, who, in a violent
storm, prayed to our Lady of Guadalupe, was
heard, and saved. When he got safely to port, he
hastened to prostrate himself at her shrine, and

56 DIARY OF A MONTH.
raised, in the brick sail, the palpable manifesta
tion of his faith and gratitude.
From Monday the 2nd, to Saturday the 7th, I
was entirely occupied with official duties and
correspondence. Many a hot walk had I across
the great Plaza, to the palace ; and I do believe I
shall at last go away with a more accurate re
collection of the facade of the Cathedral, the
Portales and the bazaars of the Plaza, the courts
of the palace, and its wide but tiresome staircases,
than any traveller who has visited the city of
Mexico. For Sunday the 8th, we had accepted of an
invitation from Mr. and Mrs. J — , to spend the
day at Tacubaya, and afterwards to dine with
them in town.
Having by this time, with the assistance of Mr.
T. M — , bought myself a handsome and fiery
little Mexican steed, for which I paid sixty dollars,
or £12, I set off on him with Messrs. J — and
C — , at eight o'clock a.m., leaving H — to come
out with Mrs. J — in the carriage, Miss C — being
also one of the party. They took the usual road,
whereas we went round by the Garita, one of the
great outlets of Mexico, and which leads on to

DIARY 01' A MONTH. 57
one of the linest of the avenues* because the
longest, which give so much beauty to the out-
skirls of the city. Turning oil' to the right from
this splendid ride and drive, about half way, we
entered ou an Hacienda, which led us across to
Tacubaya, whence we obtained a beautiful view of
the village reposing in the lap of the hills, which
gradually rise amphitheatrieally behind.
Mr. .1 — , having purchased a piece of land, lying
at the entrance of the village, and which he had
bought very cheap, determined to convert it into
un I'higlish villa and pleasure groimds; and, as
often happens, the size of the house, as originally
planned, increased under tlie improvements which
architects generally suggest, after the plan and
estimate arc agreed upon. He that as it may,
Mr. J — has displayed indisputably good taste in
the formation of his tine residence. The house is
quadrangular, each side presenting a handsome
front; it 1ms two floors, the rooms ou which are
all large and lofty ; the staircases, rooms, and
balconies arc spacious and elegant ; and the archi
tecture of the whole is good. The pleasure-grounds,
* Tho evovnencement oi' it, however, is most noisomely trying
to tho eJlketory nerves.

58 DIARY OF A MONTH.
to the extent of four or five acres, prettily laid
out, a la Inglesa, are as yet rather bare, from the
want of full-grown trees ; but every year lessens
this defect. The rapidly-growing ash, and other
trees, are fast producing shady walks.
One of the prettiest things belonging to this
handsome country-house, is the porter's lodge, in
which we spent the day. The mansion itself not
being yet furnished, Mrs. J — has had the lodge
fitted up for temporary use ; and it forms a pretty
specimen of an English cottage transplanted to the
valley of Mexico.
Tacubaya has been called the Richmond of
Mexico ; and if a river like the Thames floweft
past the former, the comparison might hold good,
physically and fashionably. As it is, Tacubaya
does appear to be to Mexico what Richmond is to
London — the resort of rich families to their hand
some villas, during the " season." And from the
higher parts of Tacubaya, as from Richmond Hill,
the view obtained might vie for beauty with that
of the finest summer retreat possessed by any
capital in the world.
We returned in the cool of the evening ; dined,
according to promise, with Mr. and Mrs. J — , and,

DIARY OF A MONTH. 59
being joined by Dr. M — , we spent the remainder
of the evening agreeably. The doctor is cer-
taiidy an estimable member of the English society
here; and when perfectly at his case with asso
ciates whom he values — for in him the spark
which lies hi the flint requires to be struck out
by the steel — he is amusing, intellectual, and
humorous. Monday, the 9th (Easter Monday), was a day
so important to the Mexican ladies, that we heard
of it four and twenty hours after we landed at
Vera Cruz, just two months before. '• You
will have an opportunity," said Mi-. D — to H — ,
" of seeing all the beauty of Mexico at the ball
of the French embassy ; it is to be given on
Easter Monday." In point of fact, if I were to
transfer to my paper all that has, during these
two months, been said, in the higher circles, of
Madame de Levasseurs coming ball, I should have
to give you three- fourths of the fashionable con
versation of that momentous interval.
" How are we to dress?" that was the puzzling
point. Madame had begged all her friends to go
"plainly attired."
"Will Mrs. A—," said Mrs. B— , " obev the

60 DIARY OF A MONTH.
mandate? And if she does not, won't it be
because she desires to outshine me?"
Now it was rumoured that all were to go in
court dresses, resplendent with diamonds, pearls,
and other precious stones : anon, it was reported
that all those who went so, would be ridiculed,
pooh-poohed, and laughed at.
After all, as if by common consent, the Mexican
belles hit on the juste milieu ; they were all ele
gantly, and not over dressed. Madame collected
an assemblage overflowing with the elite of the
Mexican metropohs. The only plainly, perhaps
quaintly dressed lady in the splendid saloon of the
French Minister, was our clever and accomplished
hostess herself.
There were a great many fine women, and some
very beautiful girls present. The lady did the
honours with grace, kindness, and intelligence,
talking alternately with all in their own language —
Spanish, French, German, Italian, and English.
The thing " went " a merveille, with one most ex
traordinary exception, and that was the music. If
I indulge in a little raillery on this score, Madame
cannot take it amiss, for it was certainly no fault of
hers. She laughed at it very much herself. She

DIARY OF A MONTH. 61
could not make a band — she must take what was
made to her hand in Mexico. And what a band !
With a recollection of Strauss' s, of Weippert's,
and of Jullien's, the Mexican band was something
to tickle the fancy of the humourist.
Figure to yourself, in the recess of one of the
windows, level with the floor, and in no way
separated from the company, eight or ten " un
shaven, unshorn," half lame, blind tatter-de-
malion music-scrapers, pouring forth tinklings
and sounds which would have driven Julhen stark
staring mad in two minutes ! And then calling
themselves the fashionable quadrille band of the
court of Mexico ! Instead of grand piano, a sort
of hurdy-gurdy ! instead of violin and violoncello,
thumb -thrummed old guitars ! a shrieking fife,
for the melodious flute ! and Heaven knows what
other sorts of incongruous instruments of Mexican
origin, to make up for the want of flageolet, oboe
and bassoon !
Every thing else was perfect : so think to Euro
pean eyes and ears how singular the effect of these
musicians, and of their music must have been.
The charivari of a rustic wedding in England,
transferred to Almacks' !

62 DIARY OF A MONTH.
But so it is in Mexico ; you have often to remark
one incongruity or another; there is a want of
right keeping in all its parts ; and in some cases
there is such a jumble of grandeur and meanness,
of luxury and discomfort, of exterior show defective
in its detail, of an attempt often at everything,
and of an incompleteness in such attempts, that
an Englishman is first struck with a grand idea
of the tout ensemble, and then amused when
he begins to examine the details. In England,
the head of a family advancing in wealth and
station, begins by " making things comfortable at
home"; gets a better house, better furnished;
puts smarter furniture into it ; increases the num
ber of his servants ; improves his cuisine; indulges
in better wines, and more of them ; sees his friends
oftener ; and at last, sets up his carriage. Here,
by high and low, the one thing considered indis
pensable is — the carriage. The higher and richer
classes, in virtue of their rank and means have
their splendid equipages, a large proportion got up
in first-rate style : but many families, far removed
from the upper and even middle circles ; living in
mean and dirty houses; unheedful of domestic com
forts; scarcely (sometimes) a whole chair to sit

DIARY OF A MONTH. 63
upon ; pinched for a coarse and scrimp dinner ; put
in short to their daily shifts to hve — such a family
must nevertheless keep their carriage. It may be
an old-fashioned, dirty, broken-down, rumbling
concern, built in the year one ; it may be dragged
by two wretched mules in tattered harness ; it may
boast for coachman of a half-clad Mexican, in his
shirt sleeves, and broad-brimmed glazed hat ; but
still it is the coche ; and moreover, another Mexican,
a grade or two beyond the lepero may hang on be
hind, and pass as the lacquey of the family carriage.
Perhaps I ought to suppress some of these
unpalatable particulars of unwholesome habits in
Mexico ; but I have Shakespeare's authority for
what I do; "nothing extenuate, nor set down
aught in malice."
We had an opportunity, as I have said, of seeing
at Madame de Levasseur's all the beauty of the
highest class here; and certainly, if not general,
there were at any rate, very many specimens of
fine and pretty women in the room. I incline to
think, at the same time, that the middle class,
being much more numerous, boasts in its ranks
of a greater aggregate of female beauty, than we
find among the exclusives.

64 DIARY OF A MONTH.
But like Spanish and Spanish -American women
generally, they are here, in all ranks, kind in
their feehngs, unaffected and prepossessing in
their manners ; and in their dress and deportment
in public, almost invariably shewing good taste,
and native grace.
Let me here remark, that while many foreign
ers, particularly Englishmen, agree in praising
women in Spanish-America, they are inclined to
speak in a disparaging tone of the men. I think
it unfair and unjust ; and I think I could shew
that personal vanity has too much to do with
the relative estimate made. You must know a
people thoroughly, and judge impartially, if you
would, avoid pronouncing a rash opinion emana
ting probably, from self-sufficiency; and a long
experience has led me to the belief that the
Spanish-Americans of the higher classes, are of
an unaffected and affable nature, of much good
breeding and urbanity, and of a great kindliness
of feehng in their social intercourse, as well among
themselves as with foreigners.
The ball was kept up with much spirit till two
in the morning. I very much enjoyed the scene ;
for I there met and conversed with most of the

DIARY OF A MONTH. 65
leading public men; and both pleasing and amusing
I found them. I got into one little coterie, in the
course of the evening, the members of which, made
me laugh heartily with their witty sallies ; and
while thus engaged, another friend came up to me,
and said aloud, "Do you know, Mr. Robertson,
that you have got around you four ex-ministers,
and a grave senator? " They all gave a droll look
at each other, and became more jocose than
ever. Madame de L — announced, to the satisfaction
of the assembled guests, her succeeding soirees
for the first Saturday of every month, inviting all
then present to favour her with their "concur-

66

LETTER XXIX.*

MEXICAN POLITICS.

Mexico, 12th April, 1851.
In judging of the character of Mexico and the
Mexicans, we ought never for a moment to lose
sight of their origin, nor of the religious, moral
and political elements which they possessed, as a
people, when they asserted their right to govern
themselves as an independent nation.
The fact that Mexico was the spoilt child of
Spain, the mother country, will go far to explain
the miseries and misfortunes to which the ex-
colony has been subjected, since it commenced to
govern its own house. The colonial policy of
Spain consisted a great deal too much in degrading
the status of the Creole; in encouraging his religious
superstition; in restricting him to scholastic
studies; without qualifying him to wield political
* See Note to Letter XXV.

MEXICAN POLITICS. 67
power ; in deadening his aspirations to fulfil the
duties of public life ; in emasculating his under
standing; in tacitly conniving at his immoral
pursuits, and in passively leading him to sink into
vicious and degrading habits. All this was ac
complished by a wickedly selfish policy on the
part of the Spanish government, not of the Spanish
people : and it was then cruelly alleged that the ab
sence of all the requisite qualities towards enabling
the Creole to take a part in the management of
the state, was ample reason for his being carefully
excluded from any share in the government of his
own country.
In this system, the Spanish government was
more or less fatally successful throughout its widely
extended colonies, and most pre-eminently so in
Mexico. Under the rule of the mother country, the
Mexican Creoles were sunk into an abject super
stition ; were left to mean and frivolous pursuits ;
were unchecked in a career of immorality, and
were constrained to breathe an atmosphere so
impure, that many of the better tendencies of the
mind withered away under its influence ; so much
so, that the Mexicans generally scouted the idea of
making any positive sacrifice whatever to those

68 MEXICAN POLITICS.
higher principles of our nature, which establish,
both in our behef and our regard, a standard of
public virtue. The public weal was a beau ideal
to talk of — a metaphysical proposition to write
about — and no more : public life was public selfish
ness, without any due moral restraint to keep it
within bounds.
It was clear, therefore, that Mexico required a
positive regeneration to be able to take her place
among the nations; and it is painful to be obliged
to confess at once, that if regeneration of public men
has set in at all, the flow of the tide is as yet
scarcely perceptible. Hence the deplorably low
point at which the country stands; hence the
territorial aggressions and spoliations to which she
has been compelled ignominously to submit ; hence
the dilapidation of her pubhc treasury ; the venality
of many of her public servants ; her unpaid and
accumulating debts; her universal misgovernment;
her external as well as her border feebleness; in
short, almost the approaching dissolution, if active
remedies be not applied, of her social and political
existence. Many pithy illustrations could I give you of my
melancholy reading of Mexican misrule, were that

MEXICAN POLITICS. 69
necessary. But unhappily that misrule is too
notorious ; and it is neither my wish, nor is it
within my province invidiously to pick out in
dividual example, much less to wound individual
feelings. My ardent desire is to rouse the atten
tion — to alarm the pride of all Mexicans who
wish to preserve their name : to make them open
their eyes to the fact that they are fast sinking as
a nation ; and to tell them, that if they do not
rouse themselves from their lethargy — if they
make not a steady and serious effort at regenera
tion — their days, as an independent nation, are
numbered — that they will ere long be talked of,
and thought of, as one of the things that were.
I need not point out to you, but it may be well
to record for the benefit of the Mexicans, with the
authority of a leading journalist,* that there are
two or three ways in which a nation may rise.
First. By a rational education of the people,
teaching and inculcating right principles; strug
gling for the advancement of morality; encou
raging true religion, by exploding the vain and
worn-out forms of an antiquated superstition ;
and finally, by proclaiming to all classes, that
* The Times.

70 MEXICAN POLITICS.
individual vice can only lead to national degrada
tion. Secondly. By adopting liberal pubhc mea
sures ; by repressing pubhc abuses ; by encouraging
patriotic pubhc men ; by reducing the pubhc ex
penditure to the pubhc income; by rigorously
denouncing pubhc delinquents, and as rigorously
punishing public crimes. Thirdly. By adopting
a cosmopolitan policy, giving every encouragement
to foreigners to trade with Mexico, and to settle
in it, mixing their interests with those of the
Mexican people, through a steady and well-regu
lated system of immigration, and through the
introduction of foreign capital. Fourthly. By
entering into the strictest alliance and the closest
friendship with those nations whose interests are
involved, to a greater or less extent, in the pros
perity and nationality of Mexico.
I have already said, that the great power to
which Mexico ought to look as her natural ally,
is England. It is with England that Mexico ought
to put forward every effort to draw closer and
closer together the links of international friend
ship. I speak not as an Englishman — I speak as
the friend of Mexico. The latter ought to appeal,
in every possible way, to the sympathies, and

MEXICAN POLITICS. 71
engage in every form the interests of the former,
towards leading her to uphold the power, nation
ality, and integrity of Mexico. In point of fact,
no nation is already so deeply interested in doing
so as England, both in a political and mercantile
point of view. Mexico is of high importance to
Great Britain, and from no nation on the globe
could the former draw greater and more material
advantages, if she chose to seek them, than from
England. She has no annexation views ; and
Mexico ought to seek her as a barrier, to oppose, on
the part of others, this detestable and hypocritical
mode of national robbery. This is truly an im
portant, if it be not the whole, question for Mexico
at present; while it ought assuredly not to be
viewed with indifference by us pohtically, when all
the bearings of the case are taken into account ;
and, indeed, I am so well satisfied of the import
ance of which independent Mexico is to England,
that I shall more particularly enquire, in my next,
into what ought to be the pohcy of the two coun
tries in regard to each other. I am much mistaken
if that enquiry do not strengthen the conviction,
among those in England conversant with the
subject, that the one nation ought to vie with the

72 MEXICAN POLITICS.
other in hastening to cement the closest pohtical
union. I have been looking into some of the ministerial
reports to Congress, mentioned in my last. They
contain many melancholy proofs of the present
disjointed state of affairs here. The ministers,
Gonzaga de Cuevas, of the Home and Foreign
departments, and Piiia y Cuevas, of the Financial,
seem to have made up their minds, on the opening
of Congress, to lay open, with an unflinching
hand, the deeply-seated wounds of the common
wealth, as far as their parts (of course the most
important) of the administration went ; and they
clearly shew how dangerous are the diseases of
the body politic of Mexico. But I applaud their
spirit, in looking fairly in the face the evils
against which the nation has to combat. It is
the surest way to cure those evils ; and I therefore
hope that, since the pubhcation of these remark
able reports of the ministers, the Mexicans have
been seriously pondering over the present aspect
of their affairs.
The principal political event which has taken
place here since I addressed you by the last packet,
is the retirement of Seiior Piiia y Cuevas from the

MEXICAN POLITICS. 73
ministry of Finance, and the nomination, in his
stead, of Don Francisco Arrangoiz. This gen
tleman is said to have very high and honourable
principles, but that his talents he more in diplo
macy than in finance. To make up for this, he is
said to have much energy of character, and good
general abilities. The task he has in hand is no
easy one ; and we have yet to judge how far he
will accomplish it. In the meantime, the retirement
of Sefior Piiia y Cuevas is generally regretted ; and
it is certain that in him the foreign creditors of
Mexico have lost an able and consistent advocate. It
is to be hoped that Seiior Arrangoiz will faithfully
carry out the policy initiated by his predecessor.
I send you a paper of the 10th, the leading article
of which is calculated to do much good here. I
also send you Seiior Piha y Cuevas's expose, of his
financial course, including a justification of his
measures, and winding up with the insertion of a
letter from "the Mexican Commissioner," ap
plauding the same, as far as they affected the
foreign creditors represented by him.
The three miUions of dollars of indemnification
money due next month, are now pretty well spent ;
but I beheve some part of what has not yet been
VOL. II. E

74 MEXICAN POLITICS.
appropriated, will be apphed to the payment of
over-due dividends on Mexican foreign bonds.
The Congress, whose ordinary session closes on
the 15th, has voted ''extraordinary sittings" for
thirty days more, and it will therefore be finally
prorogued on the 15th of May. I am afraid they
will not have that of which they stand in so much
need — a member of the Senate to sum up the
labours of the session, after the fashion of Lord
Lyndhurst in the House of Lords. I was saying
so to a humorous and somewhat satirical Mexican
friend, himself a deputy, and he quietly remarked,
that the summing up here was indeed a very
simple task, and might be thus fulfilled by the
" speaker" : — ¦
" Sefiores — Hemos ocupado muestras sillas por
tantos dias — hemos recibido tantos Duros — El
Erario ya no puede mas. Levantemos pues la
sesion." — "We have occupied our seats for so many
days — we have received so many hard dollars — the
treasury is now empty. Let us therefore adjourn."
There are still a good many straggling parties
of North Americans passing through this for Cali
fornia. They go in parties of tens, twenties and
thirties ; their long lank bodies on little Mexican

MEXICAN POLITICS. 75
horses, their rifles across the pummel of their
saddles, and their wide-awakes on their heads.
They always seem to me to say to themselves,
as they go out of the city : " Good by to you,
Mexico, for the present.'' In California, the rains
have interrupted the golden harvest, but the work
will recommence towards the end of May. Mean
time, the accoimts we receive represent the state
of the Gold-seeking Society to be greatly disor
ganised. Here public tranquillity is no farther interrupted,
than in so far as on the great highways unhappy
diligeuee passengers are concerned. They continue,
as usual, every now and then to be waylaid and
robbed with impunity. Hitherto these robbers
have called themselves " Cavalleros," and they
have generally been civil gentlemen of the road.
But a French friend of mine was, the other day,
not only robbed, but maltreated ; and one person
was so much bruised and wounded, as to be unable
to come on to the capital. The robbers allege
that they pursue this new system in self-defence,
seeing that some of the public authorities had
commenced shooting their comrades, when taken
and convicted as highwaynien !

76 MEXICAN POLITICS.
On the north, the Indians are giving trouble
to the government on a larger scale ; but we are
promised a quick termination of this internal
source of annoyance and complaint. I have little
doubt, that, as in the case of Yucatan, the Indians
are goaded on to commit excesses by ill usage.
They are also excited to rise by lawless hordes of
desperate villains, and convicted felons, who rove
about in those distant quarters beyond reach of
the feeble arm of Mexican law or government.
Before I conclude this letter, I think it proper
to bring under your notice a fact, which, however,
only constitutes part of a system very disgraceful to
the English name, and which is naturally retorted
upon us here, when we hold forth upon the smug
gling system of Mexico. Her Majesty's ship of
war, " Calypso," has recently left the West Coast
of Mexico with about two millions and a half of
dollars, from which the English Bondholders (for
the duty is specially made over to them), ought to
have derived a sum of about 150,000 dollars ; and
I have been informed, that as yet all the duty
collected from this enormous shipment of specie,
amounts to 113 dollars !

77

LETTER XXX.

' LA SEMANA SANTA.'

Mexico, 13th April, 1851.
On Saturday, the 7th, the Semana Santa, or
" Passion Week," came to a close ; and although,
after all that has been said about it, and so well
said, I am unwilling to give you any very detailed
account of this momentous part of the year in all
Catholic countries, and especially in Mexico, yet
I must not pass it over wholly without notice.
Jueves Santo, " Holy Thursday," is remarkable
in one point of view ; it is impossible to say whe
ther it is most markedly the day of the year of the
highest or of the lowest classes. The former pour
into and occupy the streets and the churches
during the whole day and night — the ladies all
dressed out in the most gorgeous manner; and
they are jostled and confounded, without doors

78
and within, by hordes of Leperos, by Indians, all
squalid as usual, and by the poorer class of
natives, got up, as well as they are able, for the
occasion. The ostensible business in hand is to rezar las
siete estaciones; that is, to repeat their Credos and
Ave Marias in seven churches at least — in as
many more as the devotee chooses.
Again the churches vie in grandeur with the
rich and fashionable class of the community. All
the altars, niches, naves, and pillars of the leading
places of worship are decked out with every con
ceivable sort of ornament; and albeit the tout
ensemble, when viewed as such, has a splendid,
grand and novel appearance, yet, when viewed in
detail, it is, as in other things, Mexico all over —
full of incongruities and contradictions. I sup
pose the serious is got up for the higher, and the
comic for the lower classes.
But walk with me, and you will have a hasty
glance of all the principal objects which met my
view during the last three days of Passion Week
and conclusion of Lent. The scenes, as I have
said, have been so fully described by others who
have gone before me, that, not to tire with

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 79
amplified repetitions, I shall bring into the com
pass of not many pages what, if it were novel,
might be extended with advantage to two or three
goodly chapters.
On Holy Thursday the streets are cleared of
vehicles of all kinds, as well as of horses and
every beast of burden, by ten o'clock in the
morning. At that hour I sallied forth, and found
the streets gradually filling with pedestrians. In
half an hour more, all the main lines were swarm
ing with every class and every age of the Mexican
population. The church-bells had all ceased to
ring ; the monotonous noise of innumerable small
rattles, made of wood and bone for the vulgar,
and of silver with pretty devices and ornaments
for the genteel, formed the only sounds that mixed
with the hum of the dense crowds which paraded
the streets.
The class of pedestrians which first and most
powerfully attracted my attention, was that of the
children — from the baby carried in the arms of the
poor Indian mother, up to the young aristocrat of
from six or seven to twelve years of age. Many of
these latter looked, to all intents and purposes,
like little angels. They were mostly dressed, if

80 " LA SEMANA SANTA."
somewhat for theatrical effect, quite splendidly, in
the richest materials and finest colours. Many of
the children, too, were really beautiful, and almost
all well-looking. Descending gradually in the
scale of rank, still the children were gaily dressed,
according to their class. As that went lower, the
dresses became more and more gaudy, but, for all
that, striking in the effect. In the processions,
Indian children were decked out as angels, ac
cording to the ideas of those who dressed them,
the little heads being enveloped either in flaming
pullicate handkerchiefs, garlands, circlets, or
other adornments. The infants of the poorest
Indians appeared as the usual appendage to their
mothers' backs.
The ladies of haut ton displayed a profusion of
splendid jewellery — were clad in velvets, satins, bro
cades, adorned with embroidery, lace, and the richest
ornaments, the colours all decided, yet all in good
taste. Never saw I so many elegant, sumptuous,
and beautiful women parading the streets before.
And according to their means and station, the whole
of the females of the better and well-to-do classes
showed themselves off to the best and in their best ;
while the males also, of corresponding grades, were

81
in their holiday suits. The commoner female class
was dressed mostly in pure white, with more or
less of embroidery — while satin shoes and the
rebozo were, of course, the indispensable adjuncts
of all. There were many country costumes to be
seen, male and female ; and they greatly added to
the picturesque effect of the whole. Of Indians,
male and female, there were crowds ; for rehgious
ceremonies are more dearly prized by them than
by any other class. They, too, put forward what
finery they could, although that was little ; and, as
usual, innumerable babies were slung at the backs
of the bending and diminutive mothers.
Lastly, that large and never-missing class — the
Leperos — just the same Leperos to-day as every
day of the year — dirty tatterdemalions, with their
dirty blankets or torn serapes thrown about them
— were spread about in every direction. A day
of supreme delight, for them — and of profit, too
— particularly in their never-ceasing vocation of
pocket-handkerchief abstraction.
I moved with the crowd into the cathedral. It
was fitted up and adorned for the occasion in the
most elaborate, and, to a new-comer, in the most
novel and incongruous manner. The various
e 5

82 " LA SEMANA SANTA."
lateral altars exhibited new saints, resplendently
dressed; and the steps of the great altar itself
were covered with a diversity of ornaments. Long
rows of oranges, laid on tinsel ; little vases with
flowers, real and artificial; shrubs, candelabra;
small decanters, with coloured water, cum multis

The cathedral was crowded. In the centre
indiscriminately knelt all the females, gentle and
simple. In the corridors, aisles between and
against the pillars, sat, stood, or leant the men.
A stream of in-comers and out-goers moved slowly
and painfully round and round. The leperos were
in great force, and every now and -then I came
upon one of them or on an Indian, standing beside,
and almost touching some magnificently-dressed
woman, who was sitting by a pillar. No distinction
here — no fashionable pews, with a livery servant,
loaded with elegant prayer-books, to go before and
clear the way for Master and Missus, and the
young ladies.
There were a great many " elegantes" — dandies,
admiring the younger beauties as they knelt at
prayer ; and I fear there were not a few furtive
glances from the Letanias to the lobbies — from the

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 83
Prayer-book to the pillars — from the saints in
print, to the sinners in presence.
The rehgious ceremonials performed by a vast
number of the clergy, covered with their gorgeous
garments and dazzling decorations, aided further
by the solemnity of subdued music from organ and
well-trained voices, were very impressive.
From the Cathedral, I re-entered the square,
and now observed that a great many booths had
been erected, at all the corners of the square, and
other places. They took the appearance of ar
bours, from the green leaves and flowers with
which their fronts and counters were adorned ;
and it was pleasing to> observe that no intoxicating,
but only refreshing beverages were sold. All was
sobriety and good humour.
I proceeded from the Plaza along the Caile
San Francisco, and went into the great Church of
that name, which was crowded to excess. The
street, one of the best of the city, was, of course,
filled with " Concurrentes," composed of all the
classes I have mentioned. San Francisco is of
great extent, and is divided into seven distinct
chapels. They were fitted up with a more sober
sort of magnificence than the Cathedral. " Before

84 " LA SEMANA SANTA."
the altar," says Madame C. de la B— , speaking of
her visit to San Francisco on Holy Thursday —
" Before the altar, which was dazzling with jewels,
was a representation of the Lord's Supper, not in
painting, but in sculptured figures, as large as life,
habited in the Jewish dresses. The bishops and
priests were in a blaze of jewels. The music was
extremely good, and the whole effect impressive."
The principal Church is very fine, and canvas
paintings representing Scriptural subjects adorned
the walls.
This Church is, par excellence, the stand of the
Mexican fashionables, who line the entrance and
court, viewing the fair devotees as they enter and
depart, in pursuance of the day's religious obser
vances. On my return homewards, I entered La
Profesa, the really fashionable, and most elegant
of the Churches, in a modern sense of the word.
It was fitted up a peu pres, in the same half
gorgeous, half gaudy style as the rest, without
presenting, perhaps, so many objects calculated for
the ad captandum vulgus, as some of the others
did. In the evening I visited, among many others,
the Cathedral, the Churches of Santa Clara,

" LA SEMANA SANTA." 85
St. Domingo, and St. Agustin, three more of the
principal places of worship in Mexico,
The first is a comparatively small Church, but
more chaste in its general character and outline
than any of the others. It belongs to the Santa
Clara nuns, who, from a gallery behind a grating,
and consequently unseen, assist in pubhc worship.
They sing very nicely. The crowd here was very
great, and the number of leperos present was
surprising; the more observable, perhaps, from
the fact, that the evening having turned out rainy,
the higher classes did not by any means muster so
strongly as in the morning.
Saint Domingo, and Saint Agustin (convent
Churches) were in a blaze of illumination, and in
both, the crowd of the middle and lower classes
and leperos, was, owing to the damp and rainy
weather, almost suffocating. The Churches them
selves were decked out with a theatrical splendour
which really astonished me. But as, after reading
Madame C. — de la B.'s description of these
Churches, I could scarcely avoid plagiary, let
me, as a minor offence, avail myself, by quotation,
of what she says of Santo Domingo.
" It looked like a little paradise, or a story in

LA SEMANA SANTA. '

the Arabian Nights. All the steps up the altar
were covered with pots of beautiful flowers;
orange-trees loaded with beautiful blossom, and
rose-bushes in full bloom, glasses of coloured
water, and all kinds of fruit. Cages full of birds,
singing dehghtfully, hung from the wall — [these
birds were wanting when I paid my visit] — and
really fine (qa.fine?) paintings filled up the intervals.
A gay carpet covered the floor, and in front of the
altar, instead of the usual representation of our
Saviour crucified, a little infant Jesus, beautifully
done in wax, was lying amidst flowers, with little
angels surrounding him. Add to this the music
of Romeo and Juliet [I had the music of a still
more modern composition] and you may ima
gine it was more hke a scene in an opera, than
anything in a church. It was the prettiest and
most fantastic scene I ever beheld, like something
expressly got up for the benefit of children."
The church of Saint Agustin had a much more
sombre, grave, befitting, and rehgious look than
any of the others. It was accordingly not so much
frequented. Massive draperies deadened the illu
mination of the grave old-fashioned church, and
threw a chiaro-oscuro about it. The figures of

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 87
those who visited it seemed rather to flit about
than to press upon each other; and the leper o
appeared to cast a furtive glance over the scene,
and then to retire.
In Spanish America, perhaps more than in any
other Cathohc country, the great object of the
administrators of the Church seems to be to
render palpable to the senses of the multitude,
through the medium of a simulacrum, however
rude, not only every character and incident of the
New Testament, but the tradition of many of those
who have their appointed places, as saints, in the
Roman Catholic calendar. In all the churches,
accordingly, you have our Saviour and the Virgin
Mary under every possible representation, par
ticularly of suffering. Madame C. de la B —
says, " Before each altar was a figure, dreadful in
the extreme, of the Saviour, as large as life,
dressed in a purple robe and crown of thorns,
seated on the steps of the altar, the blood trickling
from his wounds, each person devoutly kneeling
to kiss his hands and feet."
" As I entered the door of this edifice," (Nuestra
Senora de Loreto), says Mr. Brantz Mayer, " the
first tiling that attracted my notice was a side

88 "LA SEMANA SANTA."
altar converted into an arbour, in the centre of
which was a well, with Christ and the woman of
Samaria beside it. The lady had been fitted out
by a most fashionable mantua-maker, in a cos
tume of blue satin, picked out with pink; and
while she leaned gracefully on a silver pitcher,
resting on the edge of the well, our Saviour stood
opposite in a mantle of purple velvet, embroidered
with gold, and covered with a Guayaquil sombrero !
(a broad-brimmed straw hat) ."
One instance more of my own observation.
When in Lima, many years ago, I passed Holy
Thursday in marking the religious observances of
the day. I came at night to one church, where
our Saviour and the twelve Apostles, in wooden
effigies, were seated at the Last Supper. The
figures were all dressed out in full canonicals, a
real bond fide supper was laid out on the table,
with bottles of wine and glasses; and into the
mouth of Judas was stuffed a red Chili pepper,
the Cayenne of the country. Let me add, in
extenuation of this ultra display of material
devotion, that all the viands and wine on the
table were, on the close of the church, distributed
among the poor.

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 89
Then, on Good Friday, not only in the churches
of the City of Mexico, but in every one through
out the Repubhc, the Crucifixion, death, and
burial of our Saviour, are enacted materially,
the idea being to give a faithful representation, to
the mind, through the eye, of the great and
solemn event which is commemorated.
Although the same outline is taken up in every
church and procession, there is a vast variety of
modes adopted in filling up the picture, from
general down to the minutest features. Where
the latter are displayed, it is generally for the
gaze and wonder of the vulgar, who must have
nothing left to the imagination — no abstract de
scription — but a palpable image set before them of
their Saviour's sufferings, — the only sure way of
rousing their religious feehngs. It is not easy to
go into the details of the religious observances in
a highly-Catholic country, without offending both
Cathohc and Protestant. The former are accus
tomed to all the real paraphernalia of the imitative
crucifixion, death and burial, and they consider
conscientiously, that from the highest to the lowest
representation of the same, as being so adapted
to the various capacities of Roman Catholia

90 "LA SEMANA SANTA."
worshippers — from the purest to the grossest intel
lect — it is the best mode of preserving a religious
feeling in the country. In a highly-Protestant
country, the pubhc mind not only shrinks from
such acts themselves, but shudders at a bare
recital of them.
I have, therefore, only to say, that in Mexico
Good Friday is a day of mourning, prayer, fasting,
and sorrow with all good Catholics, and that their
outward demeanour and vestments correspond
with their inward dejection.
The most striking part of the religious ceremo
nies of la Semana Santa, in Mexico, are the even
ing processions ; and they are the great passion of
the common people, and apparently acceptable to
all ranks. To see those of Holy Thursday and
Good Friday, you would have fancied that the
whole population of the city was gathered toge
ther. The balconies and the windows along the
whole line of the circuitous route were completely
filled with fashionable people; and the crowd in
the streets was dense and compact throughout.
The chiaro-oscuro light thrown upon the innume
rable costumes and figures, added much pictu-
resqueness to the scene ; and the full moon rising

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 91
brilhantly over the great cathedral, showing it in all
the softened grandeur of its lights and shadows, was
a truly splendid sight. The processions were of an
immense length, and of the most imposing nature.
That of Thursday consisted of what I may call an
almost interminable succession of tableaux. The
Virgin Mary, on a resplendent throne; 'and under
a velvet canopy, in different characters; our
Saviour, before and after the crucifixion; the
Trinity; and the Apostles — all moved on, borne
aloft on scaffoldings resting on the shoulders of
companies of men. The dresses were of the
richest kind, and the spaces between each tableau
were filled up with the dignitaries of the Church,
the monks of all the convents, cofradias or com
panies, laymen of rank, and others. Torches and
tapers, wax candles and lanterns, illuminated the
procession as it moved along; and the rear was
brought up by a mingled crowd of devotees, male
and female, with many Indian children dressed
up in a fantastic but picturesque style, and
accompanied by their admiring friends and
relations. Madame C — de la B — gives a very animated
account of the procession of Good Friday; and as

92 "LA SEMANA SANTA."
I could only repeat badly what she says so well, I
will condense her account of this closing ceremony
of Passion- Week. To avoid repetition, I have
myself omitted those particulars which equally
apply to Thursday and Friday.
Our fair authoress saw the procession from the
balconies of the palace in the great square ; and
she doubts " whether any other city could com
pete with it in the brilliancy of its coup-d'ceil."
From her elevated situation she saw all the differ
ent streets which branch out from the square
filled with gay crowds, hurrying towards it.
Refreshment-booths, covered with green branches
and garlands of flowers, were everywhere, and
thirsty souls in and around them. All were in
their gayest dresses, and they looked " like armies
of living tulips." Here was a group of ladies, some
with black gowns and mantillas ; others, now that
their church-going duty was over, equipped in
velvet or satin.
" As a contrast to the Seiioras were the Indian
women, trotting across the square, their black hair
plaited with dirty red ribbon, a piece of woollen
cloth wrapped round them, and a httle mahogany
baby hanging behind," its head jerking, but with

" LA SEMANA SANTA." 93
the most resigned expression on earth. The re
spectable secondary classes were in smart white
embroidered gowns, with white satin shoes, neat
feet and ancles, and rebozos as usual. There were
also " the peasantry and country women with
their short petticoats of two colours, generally
scarlet and yellow, their satin shoes, and lace-
trimmed chemises ; or bronze-coloured damsels
all crowned with flowers, strolling along with their
admirers, and tingling their hght guitars. And
above all, here and there a flashing Poblana, with
a dress of real value and much taste, and often
with a face and figure of extraordinary beauty,
especially the figure large and yet elancee, with a
bold coquettish eye, and a beautiful little brown
foot, shewn off by the white satin shoe. The
petticoat, fringed or embroidered, in real massive
gold, and a rebozo shot with gold" completed in
some instances dresses costing not less than five
hundred dollars.
Then in the motley crowd were men dressed a
la Mexicaine, large ornamented hats and serapes,
or embroidered jackets; leperos in rags, Indians
in blankets, officers in uniform, priests in their
shovel hats, monks of every order — Frenchmen,

94 "LA SEMANA SANTA."
Enghshmen, Germans, Spaniards. The venders
of hot chesnuts and cooling beverages phed their
trade briskly; a military band struck up an air
from Semir amide; and the noise of innumerable
matracas (rattles) broke forth again, as if by
magic, while the sale of the Judases (fireworks to
be let off next day, in the form of that archtraitor),
again commenced. These hideous figures were tied
together on long poles, and held up aloft.
" But the sound of a distant hymn rose on the
air, and shortly after there appeared, advancing
towards the square, a long and pompous retmue
of mitred priests, with banners and crucifixes and
gorgeous imagery, conducting a procession, in
which figures representing scenes in the death of
our Saviour, were carried by on platforms. There
was the Virgin in mourning at the foot of the
cross, the Virgin in glory, and more saints and
more angels, St. Michael and the dragon, etc. etc.,
a glittering and innumerable train. Not a sound
was heard as the figures were carried slowly on
wards, in their splendid robes, lighted by thou
sands of tapers, which mingled their unnatural
glare with the fading hght of day."
On Saturday morning all is noise, bustle, and

"LA SEMANA SANTA." 95
rejoicing. Fireworks were let off in every direc
tion. Salvos were fired — the bells rang as if they
had been seized with a sudden attack of St. Vitus's
Dance. Private carriages dashed about ; and every
Simon (such is the name given to the rumbling
old machines which do the work of our street
cabs), seemed to be engaged. The " Semana Santa"
had closed.

96

LETTER XXXI.

POLITICS.

Mexico, 11th May, 1849.
I propose here to take a cursory view of what, in
my opinion, ought to be the pervading principle
of the international pohcy of Great Britain and
Mexico. The onward course of population in the United
Kingdom, the increase of capital, and the almost
feverish stimulus apphed to British enterprise,
make a wider and wider field of commercial inter
course not an advantage to England alone, but a
necessity, pressing upon the country with an accu
mulative force, which extends pari passu with the
growing population. Not to find adequate em
ployment for our swarming milhons — not to find
vents for our multifarious objects of industry, is to
sap the foundation of the empire. Insufficient
employment leads from poverty and want, to

POLITICS. 97
discontent, outrage, and insurrection. No one
can deny the palpable fact ; and therefore the first
duty of a British statesman is, to provide new and
advantageous outlets, both for our commerce and
for reproductive emigration. With foreign states,
almost entirely dependent on the manufacturing
and shipping of other countries, a free intercourse
cannot fail to bring the highest advantages to
England, where the comparatively cheap rate at
which she can providt; the world with every object
of manufacture, distances competition, and esta
blishes for us a new market. If that country at
the same time be thinly inhabited, it brings the
additional advantage of readily absorbing a part of
our surplus population. A daily augmenting taste
and necessity for the produce of British industry,
a partial amalgamation with the habits and customs
of our people, and a gradual, however slow, advance
in the science of good government, these all follow
in the train of English immigration into young
and still open countries. It is planting, without
the expense of keeping, colonics of our own. Such
a country as I speak of should Mexico be to
Kugland. Of the imports of Mexico, I suppose thivc-
VOL. II. F

98 POLITICS.
fourths are British ; and a close friendship between
the two nations would lead to such fiscal ameliora
tions in this, as would progressively, and to a
wonderful extent, develop the resources and the
riches of Mexico ; and by increasing its power of
consumption, would give elasticity to its com
mercial capabilities. A mutual confidence thus
estabhshed, and a better government organised
here, I make bold to say, that there is not a
country on the face of the globe where England
could lay out surplus capital so securely and so
profitably as in Mexico. The working of its mines
alone would give employment to milhons of money
and thousands of additional hands.
This mutual good understanding between the
two nations would by degrees lead, naturally and
inevitably, to a tide of emigration from England
towards Mexico. The variety, but everywhere the
beauty, of its climate is proverbial ; and in mining,
in agriculture, in pasturage, in the common arts,
there is room in Mexico for ten times its actual
population. Politically, and supposing the entente
cordiale to exist, it is impossible to exaggerate the
importance of Mexico, as an ally of England.
The only barrier against that colossal power

POLITICS. 99
which threatens some day to shut out England
altogether from this great continent would thus be
raised. Mexican independence, fostered by England, is
more worth England's attention than all the
influence she can possess on the old and worn-out
theatre of European continental politics. To the
new world, not to the old, England must look for
a continuance of her due weight. And let her not
say that this is a premature view ; for, while she
sluggishly looks on, others are advancing, by
gigantic steps, to the goal of their ambition.
But if the advantages likely to accrue to England
are great, to Mexico they are vital. The entente
cordiale with England is the assurance to the
Mexicans — first, of their existence as a people;
and secondly, of their rapid advancement from
tlieir present low point, to their proper place in
the scale of nations. Two great countries are
deeply interested in the question of Mexico ; but
the policy of the one is to depress, of the other to
uphold. It is the interest of the first, as a delibe
rate and systematic aggressor, to weaken and
divide, in order to annex ; the nobler aim of the
second is, as a friend, to strengthen and consolidate.

100 POLITICS.
The upas tree kills every plant which interferes
with its growth — the oak spreads his branches to
protect circumjacent vegetation. Let the two
countries lay these truths to heart, while there is
yet time to profit by them. Let them hasten to
establish the entente cordiale; and then, while
Mexico will have gained a powerful supporter,
England will reckon on one of the most practically
important of all her many allies.
The present state of the pohtics of Mexico
forms a heterogeneous mass of conflicting parties,
now coalescing, now changing, and anon " running
a-muck" in a style which no one but a Mexican,
and hardly he, can comprehend. Their movements
work upon the head of a straightforward man as
a hurdy-gurdy jars upon the ear of a refined
musician. The moderates, the " puros," the
Monarchists, the Annexionists, the Santanistas,
all mix up in a pot-pourri which defies any clear
separation of parts, and sets at nought every
attempt at analysation. The present executive is
an epitome of this chronic confusion. The Pre
sident Herrera himself professes to be nobody,
and the Minister of Finance has just turned out
Prime Minister Cuevas. Then the former (Mr.

POLITICS. 101
Arrangoiz), being a Monarchist, presents to the
Chamber of Deputies, for their approval, Mr.
Pefia y Pefia, another Monarchist, as new Premier.
The Chamber snubs Mr. Arrangoiz, otherwise
their pet, and refuse to have Pena y Peiia. The
Minister of Finance is then indirectly attacked by
his colleagues, who present to the Camara a Mr.
Lacunza, a lawyer, who is forthwith sworn in as
Foreign Minister.
So matters rest now ; but by next packet I may
have to announce a totally different state of affairs.
" Esto no puede durar" — says the phlegmatic poli
tician of the Lonja (Exchange) — "This cannot
last," and no doubt he is quite right. Not one
man of the Cabinet, it is said, knows what his
coheague is doing in the service or disservice of
the state : each only knows that they are all
plotting against one another.
In a word, the whole body politic — from the
lowest subordinate up to the highest functionary
(with here and there honourable exceptions) — is
sufficiently rotten at the core; and we must ex
claim with Hamlet — " Oh, reform it altogether !"
To make " confusion worse confounded," there is
the " federal system," which sits about as well on

102 POLITICS.
Mexico as a Parisian beauty's ball dress would sit
on a Yorkshire bumpkin. Federation here is at
once the most absurd and the most costly farce,
which any set of pohtical mountebanks could
exhibit to the public. Fancy twelve or fifteen
mock parliaments in the different provinces, now
called sovereign states of Mexico ! having all the
expensive paraphernalia and machinery of so many
independent communities ! And imagine not that
this imperium in imperio has anything to do with
the better administration of public affairs in each
particular province ; for these free and independent
states, which invoke " God and Liberty" to all
their acts, are simply organised to provide so many
more snug places for themselves, their families,
and their hangers-on : an ultimate object, we must
confess, pretty closely kept in view by pohticians
of all nations, not excluding our own.
But while I speak thus lightly of some of the
" Mandones" — those who occupy the high places,
do not suppose that the voice of the country at
large is with them, or that they represent the feel
ings of all the Mexicans. There is a respectable
party in the country, which embraces the thinking
men, both in the higher and middle ranks — those

POLITICS. 103
irho have something to lose : men of real property ,
merchants, trading retail dealers — the rich and
industrious classes. These observe with indig
nation and sorrow tlie misrule of the land ; but,
as things go. they are both afraid and ashamed to
mix themselves up with the politics of the country.
Were they well backed by a powerful ally, they
would come forward and assert their right trf an
equitable administration of affairs. These are the
men who would support, with heart and hand, an
English influence and alliance, if England would
take an active part in their affairs ; but those, also.
arc the men who, if England step not in, will, in
despair, submit to sacrifice their name and their
existence as a nation at the shrine of a good,
secure, equitable, and cheap government, even
though coming from the people whom they
dislike. Congress is about to close its labours ou the
21st instant ; and when I seek, in my own mind.
for some one, good, efficient, and large measure
passed by them during their long sittings. I am
as much puzzled as Diogenes was when in search
of an honest niau. In fact, if they were called on
to make a statement of the legislative effects

104 POLITICS.
which they leave behind them, their return would
certainly be nil.
The question of the hostilities of the Indians
and insurrectionists of the north continues to be
discussed by the press, and loud complaints are
made, that the authorities should still be unable
to put down this servile war ; but the fact is, that
the " Indigenos " have little to do, as principals,
with these scandalous aggressions in San Luis
Potosi. It is a question of banditti and lawless
hordes on a large scale, with which the imbecile
local authorities are afraid to come into contact.
The pubhc scandal of universal robbery on the
highway seems to be on the increase. Not even
when you take a ride of a couple of miles out of
this city are you safe without pistols. The other
day the diligence from Vera Cruz was stopped a
very few miles from the town by a band of these
robbers, and a poor American was shot. The
occurrence was passed over as a matter of course,
and I have not even seen it noticed in one of the
many newspapers published. Here, of course,
the general government has nothing to do with
murders and robberies committed in any of the
federal sovereign states, save that of Mexico Proper.

POLITICS. 105
From the mining districts the . accounts con
tinue to be satisfactory. Letters from Tepic of
the 28th ultimo, inform us that the " Oregon,"
U. S. steamer, had arrived at San Bias, from
San Francisco, on the 21st, and sailed for
Panama on the 25th. The " California" was
expected at San Bias in a few days. H. M. S.
" Constance " was cruizing on the coast, picking
up freight, on which I presume the luckless bond
holders will not receive the duty which ought to be
paid, but which is not paid by the shippers. A
sufficient number of vessels having arrived at
Mazatlan and San Bias on the West coast to
carry forward the crowds of Californian gold-
hunters detained at those ports, and at Tepic,
they had mostly taken their departure for San
Francisco. Although I now write on the 11th, our packet
letters due on the 8th have not yet arrived; and
in three days hence our letters must be sent off,
whether we receive our correspondence or not.
The arrangements are really vexatious. A packet
established expressly for the convenience of the
Mexican trade, is every day becoming more and
more a nulhty. We had letters on the 9th from

106 POLITICS.
Havana, bringing English dates to the 22nd
of March; and yesterday, via New Orleans, we
had all Fjuropean news up to the 7th of April,
yet we have not our own packet letters of the 1st;
and before we can answer them the packet may
have taken her departure. As for any one who
has studied the routes, thinking of going to
England by a Royal Mail Steam Company's
Packet, the case every day becomes rarer; almost
aU go by way of the United States. Let the
Directors of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Com
pany remedy this evil if they would have the
Mexican line be of any use to the pubhc, or of
any profit, through passengers, to themselves.

107

LETTER XXXII.
LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
Mexico, 11th June, 1852.
My own time and attention are now so completely
devoted to the advancement of my mission, that I
shall here avail myself once more of some passing
observations on our " visit," contained in extracts
from H — 's journal, commencing 18th April. I
omit such topics as I have already taken up
myself. "We had visits from Mr. Thornton and Mr.
H — . The former and one or two other Eng
lish gentlemen have lately got an English boat
to row on the canal here; and as we rather
quizzed the experiment, Mr. T. invited us to go
next day to have a row, to which we agreed.
But, being now in the rainy season, just as I
prepared to set off, the water began to pour from
above, preventing our excursion on the water

108 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
below. We have heavy rain almost every after
noon. " In the evening there was a concert in the
theatre, given by the Deutsche Verein here, for the
benefit of the Foundling Hospital of this city.
The lady singers were professional; the gentle
men, amateurs. It was very creditable on the
whole ; and although there were no solo perform
ances, there were some good choruses and part-
singing. The theatre was really worth seeing.
It was well lighted, and decorated with flowers.
Then all the ladies were en grande toilette, which
has a beautiful effect when the house is well filled
(as it always is on these grand occasions), the
fronts of the boxes being so low, that nearly the
whole figure is seen, and that to the greatest
advantage. In one box there were four girls in a
row, three of whom are acknowledged beauties,
all dressed alike in simple white and chaplets;
and the frame of the picture (i. e. the box) being,
as it were, a wreath of flowers, you can imagine
that the effect was most pleasing. In our box we
had many visitors during the evening, which I
spent very agreeably.
" 29th.— On the 22d we had a drive in the

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 109
Paseo de las Vigas, which is always amusing ;
and I am sorry the season for it is drawing to a
close. Yesterday Mr. Falconnet and my father
accompanied me to the Paseo Nuevo, to which I
generally go alone. What amuses me most there,
is, to see the original manner of greeting which
the fashionables here adopt. There is no such
thing as gentlemen bowing ; but, instead, an odd
sort of movement of the hand, a gentle wave of
the four fingers; whilst the ladies either do the
same, or wave their handkerchiefs or fans.
" Mr. P — , one of the United States Consuls,
whom my father had known in England, dined
here yesterday, just arrived from California. He
gave us many amusing and curious incidents of
his travel. For instance, he told us that, on his
arrival, seeing a man who stood idle, he asked
him to carry his portmanteau to the inn, for
which he offered him five dollars (a sovereign) ;
' And I'll give you ten if you'll do as much for
me,' said the man.
" On the 30th we had ah a pleasant drive to the
Rancho de los Remedios, Tacubaya, and thence we
went to a very large building, the palace of former
archbishops, but now used as a sort of barrack.

110 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
It is consequently in disorder and dilapidation;
but situated towards the top of the Barranca, or
hilly ground, it commands a splendid view of the
valley of Mexico and surrounding mountains. A
Mexican party, friends of Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh,
joined us at the palace ; and two very good-na
tured and pleasant girls, gave themselves up for
the time, to my advancement in Spanish. Every
one is extremely kind with me in this respect.
" On the 6th May, Madame Levasseur gave her
second ball, which went off with great spirit.
There was plenty of dancing, and some very ex
cellent amateur singing; and Miss A — particularly
distinguished herself, having a beautiful voice.
Madame Levasseur, as the presiding genius of the
night, carried everything with eclat.
" 9th May. — Yesterday we went at last to see
the Enghsh boat, Mrs. Mackintosh, Mr. T. M — ,
Mr. F — , and I drove down to the canal. Mr.
M — , Mr. B — , and my father went on horseback,
and rode along the canal bank, whilst we got in
and were rowed by four of the gentlemen owners.
Mr. M — and my father ere long turned back, the
road being very bad, with every now and then deep
ditches. Over the first they coaxed their horses,

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. Ill
but at the second they failed. Mr. B — , however,
being of a somewhat impetuous character, got
over it, and reached the third, through which
he plunged, and had just reached the top of the
opposite side, when the horse stumbled and floun
dered, and Mr. B — was left in the ditch, not
without danger. Luckily he was not hurt; so,
although wet and covered with mud, he got into
the boat — one of our gentlemen, Mr. T. M —
volunteering to ride the horse home.
" We now proceeded to the celebrated Chinam-
pas, or floating gardens (which, in our school
days, astonished our weak minds) ; but they are
now decided fixtures, although still pretty and
novel in their appearance. Altogether our excur
sion was a most pleasant one, notwithstanding
heavy rain in the course of it.
"Five p.m. 11th — I was sitting this morning,
quietly copying a letter for ' the Mexican commis
sioner,' and trying not to think of the packet,
when, hearing the sound of a horse briskly enter
ing the patio, I rushed to the window, and saw
Mr. T — on his ' Frison,' giving a large packet
into my father's hands. 'Beraza has arrived —
there are your letters' — said this kind friend — and

112 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
having soon after received my share of the spoil, I
have been busy with it ever since.
"On the 15th, we called on our friends the
Robles. Poor old Mr. R. died about a week ago,
and the custom here being for all friends and
acquaintances to call during the first nine days
after a death, the family is occupied in receiving
visitors during that period. When we entered the
room there were several visitors, all in mourning,
and as silent as possible. A slight remark, now
and then, in a low tone of voice, was alone to be
heard. But Miss Robles detained us till the other
visitors had retired, and then in a pleasing, sub
dued manner, entered into conversation with us.
"On the 16th, we went to see the Tobacco
Establishment, which is very interesting ; but the
account of which I leave to my father.
"Thursday, the 17th, being the last day of the
Paseo de las Vigas — it is called the ' Combate de
las Vigas' — the last struggle, as it were, of this
popular amusement. So we made up our little
party for it. Mr. F— went with me, en coche;
and Mr. B — , Mr. T — , and my father accompanied
us, a Cavallo. The scene was animated and exhi
larating, for the paseo was crowded in every part —

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 113
the canal, the footpath, and the carriage-way ; and
I enjoyed it much.
" On the 21st, we went to the palace, to see the
Senate and Chamber of Deputies, as ' Parliament '
was to be prorogued that day by the President.
His principal aid-de-camp received us, and showed
us ah over the state apartments, some of which
are really handsome. He told us that the senators
and deputies were likely to sit longer than had
been expected, and meantime he offered to show
us the garden, called the Botanical Garden. It is
pretty enough ; but the one remarkable thing in
it is the Arbol de la Manito, or hand-tree, of which
it is said there are only three in the repubhc. It
bears a flower exactly the shape of a hand, and
hence its name. The old gardener, who was
delighted with the interest we took in his various
flowers and plants, promised to let me know when
the Manito was in flower, which I told him I was
very curious to see. Mr. S — , the President's
aid-de-camp, gathered a beautiful bouquet for me,
and then we returned to the palace, to await the
' closing of Parliament.' While we were again
poking into the different salons, we somewhat sud
denly came upon an elderly gentleman, dressed in

114 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
a grand military uniform, whom the aid-de-camp
introduced as His ExceUency the President ! We
bowed, and General Herrera begged us to take a
seat in his salon. The ceremony of the closing
was to have taken place at one, and it was now
half -past two. So my father remarked that at
that hour he thought it would have been at an end.
' So did I,' said the President, with the greatest
good-nature ; ' but no doubt those gentlemen (the
legislators) have a good deal of business to get
through with, and I am waiting here tiU they
send for me.' While we were exchanging compli
ments, and about to retire, the message that ' All
was ready,' came, and so we dispersed. Of the
chambers you will probably have another account ;
they are plain, but handsome. What amused me
most, when we visited them before the prorogation,
was to see the leperos in the gallery appointed
for the public, listening to the debates with the
most profound attention, and apparently deepest
interest ! Bat where can you go in Mexico with
out falling in with some of these worthies ?
" On the 22nd, Mr. Buchan, the manager of the
New Real del Monte Mining Company, dined here,
a very clever and agreeable person, who kindly

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 115
invited us to go and see the mines, and to pay a
visit to his wife and himself, which we readily
promised to do.
" The 24th being the Queen's birthday, the gen
tlemen dined at the British Embassy.
" I must now tell you that' at Whitsuntide every
year there are three days' fete at a handsome and
picturesque village called San Agustin de las
Cuevas, about ten miles from the city, and where
several of the good families here have handsome
country houses. Among the rest our kind friend,
Mr. Escandon, who invited us, with Mr. and Mrs.
Mackintosh, to spend the three days at his house.
Mrs. M., being unwell, could not go ; and as there
were no ladies in the house, I proposed only going
on the last and principal of the three days."
So far H — ; and as she did not go to St.
Agustin till the 28th, I must give you some ac
count of the two previous days.
Which may be the strongest passion of man's heart
I will not pretend to say, but I am sure the passion
for play is very deeply rooted in our evil nature ;
and I think that, par excellence, the Spaniard is, of
all European people, the most generally addicted,
if not the most passionately devoted to, play.

116 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
The seed has lost nothing by being transplanted
to the Americas.
The fetes of San Agustin in Mexico are, beyond
any others I have heard of or witnessed, the most
celebrated for gambling. All the world is occu
pied in the city a considerable time before the
fetes commence in making up their book — in their
fashion — that is, in acquiring, by hook or by crook,
by the needy, and in shadowing forth, more or
less, by the weU-to-do and the rich, the share they
are to stake respectively in the three days sober
madness of San Agustin. As I was busy putting
up some correspondence for the Vera Cruz post,
H — dashed into my room to say that Mr. Escandon
was waiting to whirl me off to San Agustin. At
the door stood the caratela or phaeton, a very
elegant and light one. It was drawn by two
superb "frisones" — very large, fine North Ame
rican carriage-horses. Mr. E. had the "ribbons"
in front, with Mr. F — by his side ; Mr. Mackintosh
and I occupied the body of the carriage; and
away we drove in first-rate style. Three mounted
servants accompanied us, and they had under their
charge our saddle-horses. The drive along the
level road, from Mexico to San Agustin, five

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 117
leagues distance, is not only, in general, beau
tiful, but, in one particular part, remarkable and
unique. As you advance, your eye dwells on a
succession of the best farms in the valley ; exten
sive meadows, divided into sections by splendid
rows of the universal fresno (ash-tree), and covered
with cattle ; well-cultivated fields, principaUy of
wheat, and extensive plantations of the Mexican
aloe, or algave ; and, every here and there dotted
with farm-houses and villas, the whole road is
diversified and agreeable.
At about four leagues from the city, we passed
the splendid Hacienda de San Antonio, and close by
is the toll, where a heavy tax is levied on all
vehicles, with the romantic view of some day or
other repairing the roads with the proceeds.
Another very curious object pointed out to me
was, from one great trunk two different trees, with
wide -spreading, strong, and perfectly developed
branches, quite beyond any other graft I ever saw.
The remarkable part, of which I have spoken, is
a long volcanic track on one side of the road caUed
the Pedregal, or stony place, presenting an irre
gular stony surface, mixed with lava, in naked
sterility, and which continues on from San Agustin

118 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
over a succession of volcanic hills and elevations,
reaching the celebrated mountain of Ajusco, which
lies on the road to Cuernavaca. But this track
—this strange interloper in the beauties of the
valley between Mexico and San Agustin — has a
very striking and novel effect.
We drove into and through the very pretty
village of San Agustin towards sunset, and found
quite splendid arrangements made for the three
days' fete by Mr. Escandon at his beautiful country
house, just on the outskirts of the village.
We sallied forth, about nine o'clock, to view
the preparations made for the morrow, when
Mexico was to pour her thousands into the great em
porium of play, the Conclave— not of cardinals, but
of card-players — the field of battle, where ounces
of gold, not ounces of vulgar lead, were to deter
mine who were the victors, who the vanquished.
The great banks were all in order, and twenty
to thirty thousand doubloons, as the van force of
the bankers were ready, with a reserve, to meet
the attack of any amount of (gold) metal of all the
great guns from the city, brought up to engage in
the mighty battle of " Monte." The bankers are
" all, all honourable men ;" and nobody thinks, for

LIFE IX THE CITY" OF MEXICO. 119
a moment, that there is the shghtest impropriety in
capitalists opening a gaming-house for three days
every year in San Agustin.
Some may think it an improvement on former
times, others did consider it a most unnecessary
innovation, that the executive government —
president, ministers, staff and functionaries —
were not this year transferred, bodily, from the
palace in the city, to the mansions of monte in
San Agustin. General Herrera and his ministers
set their faces against government-gambling, ex
officio. The " banks" are established in the best houses.
I was told that on one occasion, one house had
been let for the monte week for 1,500 dollars, or
£300. At each of these great banking-houses,
"all the dehcacies of the season" were, through
out each day, a la disposition of the gentlemen
players. Having inspected, then, these great "banks,"
we descended gradually in the scale. I was con
ducted to a bank where silver (that is, dollars)
was allowed to be placed on the table. This
might be said to represent the "middle class,"
substantial and comfortable, without that air of

120 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
aristocratic luxury which the great banking-houses
display. Again we descend a step, and come to
pesetas and reales — silver stih ; but now somewhat
rough in the appointments. At length we come
down to medios, the lowest silver coin, and clacos
(penny-pieces) : these may be called the banks of
the tatterdemalions. They were held in booths
in the square.
I visited these booths next day, when they
were in full play, as being certainly the most
entertaining, and to a stranger the most original
part of the fiestas. I found that the heaps of
copper on the table were great, and so were the
heaps of rags on the backs of the players. The
torn blanket prevailed; and among the females
(for there was a good sprinkling of them) the
costume, in many instances, was at once scanty
and dirty. But it was a curious melee — various
grades of the lowest ranks, various dresses, a truly
motley crew, and requiring much time and space
to individualise.
The morning, and indeed the whole of the day,
of the 27th, the commencement of the fetes, was
indeed a busy one in San Agustin; and I can
best give you, in a few words, an idea of the

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 121
scene, that it was a " Derby day " on a smaller
scale than our own; the road and the arrivals
being very much of the same kind. Towards the
afternoon, San Agustin was crammed. It was a
great fair, " a great gambling fete champetre," as
Madame C — de la B — calls it, where every one
seemed bent on one purpose — that of thorough
enjoyment and recreation.
I visited all the banks and gaming-booths ; and
one thing remarked by every one, and not un
worthy of remark again, could not fail to strike
the stranger — that, from the highest to the lowest
of the gaming establishments, all was order, quiet,
and perfect sangfroid ; whether losing a thousand
ounces on a turn-up card, or backing with a
handful of clacos the favoured suit, you could
never tell, by the looks of the players, whether
they were winning or losing.
I must here state to you, that Mr. Escandon
entertained his party (a dozen in number) in
first-rate style. Nothing could exceed his hospi
tality, nothing the very handsome manner in
which it was carried out. Then his large and
really beautiful country-house, which stands in the
midst of a garden filled with the finest of roses,
VOL. II. G

122 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
and of every other sort of flowers, of shrubs and
of trees, afforded more than ample room for all
his recherche and perfect arrangements.
There was something so truly characteristic and
original in these San Agustin fetes, that I felt
quite sorry H — had not witnessed their com
mencement. I resolved, therefore, that she should
be out the second day, instead of only the last ;
and I shall give you her impressions and observa
tions on what she saw and did. On the evening
of the first day, continuous torrents of rain fell,
which interrupted some of the diversions ; but the
rainy night was succeeded by one of the most
lovely of Mexico's lovely mornings. The beauty
and fragrance of the roses glittering in the early
dew, were enchanting. I culled one rose to show
to H — as a specimen — one than which even our
own England could produce nothing more ex
quisitely beautiful.
At six o'clock, a.m., all was bustle — servants
hurrying about with chocolate and brushed coats,
shining boots and jugs of hot water. Grooms
were saddling for the cavalleros, and harnessing for
the carriage-drivers. Guests were calling for Juan !
Geronimo ! Ventura ! and the various sounds within

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 123
were mixed with the neighing of the impatient
steeds without. At half-past six, a.m., we started
for Mexico ; and thus H — relates the second part
of the Fiesta de San Agustin : —
" On the evening of the 26th, Mr. E— 's party
for the occasion began to find their way out ; and
he himself drove Mr. M — , Mr. F — , and my
father to the place of rendezvous in one of his
caratelas. Some very amusing accounts of the
' fiesta ' are given by Madame C. de la B — , who,
by the way, passed part of one in Mr. Escandon's
house. All Mexico goes out of Mexico for the
time being, leaving the city under the dismal
appearance of a total desertion. I began almost
to repent that I had not accompanied my father ;
for after passing one day in total seclusion, I had
the prospect of another.
" To my no small surprise, however, I was
awakened next morning by my father, who had
come in with Mr. Landa, in his caratela, accom
panied by Don Antonio Escandon on horseback,
to take me out in the afternoon, an arrange
ment to which I very readily agreed. After
a beautiful drive, we arrived at San Agustin at
four p.m. Rain kept us to the house during the

124 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
afternoon, and at seven a splendid dinner was
served up to a large company. After dinner all
the gentlemen went to join the ' Monte' table,
saving Mr. L — , Mr. F — , and my father who re
mained with me. So we had first music (a piano
had been sent out for the occasion), and then a
moonlight walk in the garden, which was a wilder
ness of sweets. None of the family having been
in the house since the Americans had possession
of the country, the garden had been neglected,
although now overgrown with roses and lovely
flowers of every sort ; I never saw anything to
compare to it. A fine clear stream of water, too,
runs rapidly through the garden and grounds>
and, now increased by the daily rains, its gurgling
noise broke pleasingly in upon the stillness and
silence of the moonlight night.
" Next day, being the day, we had several new
arrivals to breakfast. Mr. R. G — , the Marquess
de Raddepont (a most agreeable Frenchman),
Mr. W — , Secretary to the American Legation,
and Mr. G. M — .
" After another walk all over the charming
grounds, a carriage driven by Mr. L — came
round ; a party of four of us, including, ' the

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 125
commissioner ' and myself, got into it. We went
through the village, and stopped at one of the
gambling-houses, to see the wonderful game of
' Monte.' It was a pretty house, with a nice
garden, and there sat rows of men with rows of
doubloons before them, silent and orderly — no
confusion or quarrelling, but the most profound
attention to what was going on, was observed by
every one present. Heaps of the gold ounces
were now scraped into the ' bank,' now de
liberately appropriated by winning players, and
new heaps were transferred by losers from their
stock on hand to the centre of the table, for the
next venture, all with imperturbable gravity and
sang froid. It is indeed most extraordinary
to see the wonderful calmness with which the
Spanish race win or lose large sums of money in
this way.
" From the Monte Bank, we went to view the
two most celebrated gardens belonging to the
country-houses of this fashionable place. One
was that of, I believe, the late General Moran,
the most extensive and best kept. It was very
fine and very large, laid out more in the French
than in the English style.

126 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
" On our return, I retired to read in a pretty
httle summer-house in the garden, whence I was
called by Mr. Escandon to meet some ladies who
had come to lunch. These were the Misses L — ,
and a Miss E — , Mr. L — , the Spanish Charge
d' Affaires, with one or two other additions
to our party, which had now swelled to a large
one. Miss L — , who is considered one of the
most musical young ladies in Mexico, sang very
nicely to us. After their departure, I spent two
hours quite alone in the house, seeing I was not
to be tempted into the ' Plaza de Gallos,' either by
the promise of a most splendid cock-fight, or of
a most brilliant ' Concuirencia'; for although the
ladies here will not now patronise a bull-fight,
yet at San Agustin, once a year, all the elite and
beauty of Mexico honour with their presence and
gayest toilettes — a cock-fight*
* Note by W. P. R. — Although I have not the slightest penchant
for cock-fighting, and had never been but in one cock-pit in my
life, on the principle of seeing every trait, if possible, of the cus
toms and habits of a new people, I went to the cock-pit at San
Agustin. I witnessed two fights out of the great number of the day ;
and these two were quite enough for my not over-strong nerves,
where deliberate cruelty is the basis of amusement. Otherwise
the cock-pit presented a curious and animated scene. It is a
fine commodious circus, with rows of boxes rising from the ground
circle, in which the operations are carried forward. To complete

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 127
" At five o'clock, with prognostications of rain,
I went in a carriage with Messrs. E — , M — , F — ,
and B — , to the hill called ' Calvario,' whither at
that hour of this particular day, ah the world — at
H — 's account of the San Agustin amusements, I shall here
quote what Madame C. de la B — says of the cock-pit in 1840,
when she visited it. With one or two slight differences, her
observations were very much my own.
" We went to the Gallos about three o'clock. The plaza (or
circus) was very much crowded, and the ladies in their boxes
looked like a parterre of various- coloured flowers. But while
the sefioras in their boxes did honour to the fete by their briUiant
toilette, the gentlemen promenaded round the circle in jackets,
high and low being on the same curtailed footing, and certainly
in a style of dress more befitting the exhibition. The President
and his suite were already there, also several of the foreign
ministers. " Meanwhile the cocks crowed valiantly, bets were adjusted,
and even women entered into the spirit of the scene, taking bets
with the gentlemen, sotta voce, in their boxes, upon such and
such favourite animal. As a small knife (it is scimetar-shaped)
is fastened to the leg of each cock, the battle seldom lasted long,
one or other falling every minute in a pool of blood. Then there
was a clapping of hands, mingled with the loud crowing of some
unfortunate cock, giving himself airs previous to a combat where
he was probably destined to crow his last. It has a curious effect
to European eyes, to see young ladies of good family, looking
peculiarly feminine and gentle, sanctioning by their presence.
this savage diversion. It is no doubt the effect of early habit
 unlike cock-pits in other countries (v. g. England) at
tended by black-legs and pick-pockets and gentlemanly roue's,
by far the largest portion of the assembly was of the first young

128 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
least that portion of it which can tear themselves
from the fascinating ' Monte,' adjourn. There we
found a very curious and motley assemblage of all
ranks. We walked about a little — saw ' thimble
rig,' or I suppose something very like it, and all
sorts of race-ground tricks going forward. We
admired the view from the top of the hill, and
then returned to the carriage, whence I sat watch
ing the arrivals, which was amusing enough,
especially as the Sefioras Mexicanas came out,
'positively on this occasion only,' in bonnets
which were in great variety, and of course in
French fashion. At six o'clock the dancing on
the sward began ; but whether it is going out of
fashion, or whether the cloudy sky alarmed the

men in Mexico, and for that part of it, of the first old ones also.
There was neither confusion nor noise, nor even loud talking,
far less swearing among the lowest of those assembled in the
ring." When I attended the " ring," there were neither President nor
minister present, a breach of custom which I very much applaud.
What amused me more than anything were the brokers, who at
once made and legalised, as it were, the bets. Many of them
were of what we should call the " unwashed," but they did their
business quite honestly, and brought lords and leperos into com •
petition. " No offers refused," and '• No questions asked," where
the money was forthcoming, were the understood principles of
the betting.

LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 129
Senoritas, none of the higher classes ventured to
' trip it on the light,' etc. Be that as it may, I
think, during the time I was there, I saw and
spoke to every one of my Mexican acquaintances.
" We were a party of sixteen to dinner, which
was more sumptuous than yesterday ; and after a
little music, and some first-rate Spanish comic
songs from Mr. L — , we walked to the Plaza de
Gallos, where the concluding amusement of the
fete — the ball, was to be given. My father accom
panied me, as did Mr. Escandon, and Mr. M — .
We went to a box in order to look on, which is
what the ' gente de tono ' (fashionable folks)
do. We had visits from all our friends ; and at
last, Mr. G. M — , having introduced me to Mr.
H — , a young Englishman, I was persuaded to go
down and have a closer inspection of the motley
throng, which, indeed, was truly repubhean. But
dancing, and ' hail, fellow, well met', were the order
of the evening — so well attended, too, that we
could not find room in the quadrille about to
commence ; and so we looked on. The company
was very gay — dresses and classes of every kind —
a pot pourri ; but all the elements of which it was
composed mixed up in the most kindly fusion;
g5

130 LIFE IN THE CITY OF MEXICO.
all classes present, mingling for a moment into
one. I danced a polka, returned to our box, and
soon afterwards we left, thus concluding the varied
and novel entertainments of the day.
"Next morning we all breakfasted early, and
by and by, the whole party, some in carriages,
some on horseback, quite a picturesque cavalcade,
started for the city. The fiesta in San Agustin
being over for this year, fortunes having been lost
and won in these three exciting days — the people
having all come to their senses, quietly returned
to their every-day pursuits, as if these had suffered
no sort of interruption. Fancy my seeing a man
who had lost nearly .£20,000, and this seemed to
be thought nothing of!
"We had a delightful drive home, without fear
of robbers, who generally swarm on this road, and
once more quietly in Mexico, San Agustin seemed
to fade from every one's thoughts, and looked to
me like a dream."

131

LETTER XXXIII.
POLITICS.
Mexico, l\th June, 1849.
The politics of Mexico, as now in the course of
development, merit the attentive observation of
the English nation and government. We approach
graduaUy to the alternative of Mexican Indepen
dence, or American annexation; and a large
portion of this people contemplate no distant day
when they must gird up their loins to struggle for
their national existence.
In looking at parties here somewhat closely of
late, I have been endeavouring to ascertain the
real value of the public press, and to what extent
it either leads, or is entitled to lead, what httle
pubhc opinion exists in the country. Seeing,
therefore, how much England is interested in the
impending struggle, I have thought it might

132 POLITICS.
perhaps not be unprofitable, and certainly be
curious to analyse rapidly the present state of
parties and the pubhc press in Mexico.
The metropohtan press enjoys a sufficient amount
of liberty ; but this does not extend in an equal de
gree to the various States of the Federation, notwith
standing the amplitude of the law which establishes
free utterance of thought. The state governors
and legislators are, in fact, so many petty tyrants,
irresponsible in proportion to their distance from
the seat of general government.
But, after all, the press generally does not
exercise any great influence over the country :
because, first, the number of readers is limited;
and secondly, because the country is destitute of
any decided public opinion, still more of any deci
ded public spirit. Besides, the press, in general, is
anything but luminous in its productions. The
provincial, or federal press, is entirely occupied
with purely local matters; while in the capital,
public writers are busier in tenaciously maintaining
personal and party disputes, than in enlightening
the masses, or in discussing the vital interests of
the nation.
The principal newspapers of the capital are : —

POLITICS. 13
the Siglo XIX., or " Nineteenth Century," which
is not badly sustained, as far as temperate language
and correct writing go ; but it has nothing piquant
to give it a relish. It is the especial defender of
the moderate party. When Senor Otero, the great
leader of the Moderados, was prime, minister, the
Siglo was ministerial, both on account of the
intimacy subsisting between the minister and the
owner of the paper, and because the latter was
exclusively paid for the insertion of state papers — a
lucrative job. Since Otero, however, has ceased
to be minister, and the patronage of the govern
ment has becu withdrawn, the Siglo is in opposi
tion ; all the stranger, that Otero again aspires to
figure in the cabinet, and that, under his shadow,
his public organ works for the return of his best
customer. The Monitor does not professedly belong to any
of the three contending parties — Moderados (An-
nexionists). Puros (Republicans), and Monarquists.
The Monitor represents the breeches-pocket of the
proprietor, said to be unscrupulous in gaining
his ends. He defends the government when it
subscribes for a large impression, and gives him
its state papers as advertisements. But when

134 POLITICS.
this patronage is withdrawn, or even when the
subscription and advertisements are not regularly
paid for, the Monitor makes a furious onslaught
on the government. This print (as well as the
Siglo) has its three first pages filled with stale
foreign news, and generally unreadable articles —
the fourth page being reserved for events of the
day, mixed up with tit-bits of scandal and personal
attacks. It is, by the way, a curious prerogative
of the Mexican press, that only the fourth page
and the feuilleton of all the papers are read by the
Mexicans generally. The fourth page contains all
the chit-chat. Go into a cafe, and you will see all
the Mexican world at the fourth page of the paper,
and no other. The Monitor being always pretty
well charged with on dits, the subscribers are
numerous. In all countries folly preponderates;
but here scandal is the principal aliment of news
mongers. Those who take pleasure in serious or
instructive reading are the exceptions, and not the
mass. El Universal represents the Monarchical party,
and is edited by men of education, and of in
finitely better principles than those professed or
acted on by the parties connected with the Siglo

POLITICS. 135
and Monitor. In El Universal are found articles of
general interest, or of an instructive character.
But then the Universal is high church, intolerant
in its principles, having a clear tendency to a
retrograde movement in pohtics, as well as in
religion. I come to speak last of the best-conducted
paper in the metropolis, and the most useful to
the Mexican community. This is El Globo y Es
tandarte de Mexico — the " Globe and Mexican
Standard." Two months ago it was entitled
simply El Globo, and it then was in favour of
liberal or Puro principles ; but having " pro
nounced" most energetically for a fusion of the
monarchical and liberal interests against the An
nexation, or moderate party ; having entered most
manfully on an advocacy of the nation ah ty of
Mexico; having preached "Union" against the
domination of the " Yankee," it took in addition
its patronymic of Estandarte de Mexico.
This Globo is edited by two or three gentlemen,
of undoubted talent, education, and enlightened
principles; but it advocates intercourse with the
foreigner, and this is a mortal offence with a large
proportion of the Mexicans. The other papers

136 POLITICS.
take advantage of this senseless prejudice on the
part of the people, and so the Globo is hunted
down as " sold to the foreigner." But magna est
Veritas et prevalebit. El Globo is making rapid pro
gress in its patriotic career : the Annexationists
begin to tremble; and those who, hating Ame
rican aggression, were yet most disheartened, are
plucking up courage, and begin to beheve that
Mexico may still continue to exist.
In all other respects, the Globo is the cleverest
of the Mexican daily press. Its information is
good, its writing often vigorous, and it attacks
abuses wherever they are to be found.
There are other papers published in the capital,
but they are of an ephemeral character : — one
comes out to-day, to fulfil some party view;
another appears to-morrow, to satisfy a personal
revenge ; and then both sink into the tomb of all
the Capulets. The Periodica Oficial is simply what
its title indicates — a register of decrees and official
documents, only defending, now and then, some
particular Government measure.
Turning, then, from the press to parties, I may
say, that the Moderados are the most insignificant
as to numbers ; but they reckon among them men

POLITICS. 137
known for intrigue and cunning, who are either
actually in power, or who rule unseen, through
their influential position and secret councils. This
is the party which concluded peace with the
United States; and its principal members are
secret advocates of annexation.
The monarchical party boasts of men of talent
in its ranks. The influential class of the clerical
body, as well as many landed proprietors and men
of wealth, belong to it. This party now begins to
beheve it cannot immediately establish a mo
narchy in Mexico, in consequence of the actual
state of Europe, and of the ground already gained
by the United States; but they do not for a
moment lose sight of their object. Meanwhile,
to save the country from the Americans, and to
vanquish the Moderados, they are disposed to ally
themselves with the Puros.
These reckon among their number men of
intelligence, but ultra in their democratic views.
Thev are generally now without much property,
and consequently their influence is accidental, and
merely owing to their boldness. They, too, are
disposed to lower their pretensions, in order to
ally themselves with the Monarchists; for, even

138 POLITICS.
more than the latter, they detest the Mode
rados. If the Monarchists and Puros could compass
the fusion which is meditated, it would ensure at
once the downfall of the Moderados, and give a
blow, for the present, to the hopes of the United
States and the Annexationists. But, to say the
least, the fusion is most difficult, from the absence
of a point d 'appui, such as would be afforded by a
cordial union with England. They want some
strong and direct impulse to give hfe to some
thing hke patriotism — to activity, to disinter
estedness — some controlling power able to abate
the conflicting views and interests which tend to
ahenate one from another.
What the country most pressingly wants is,
to crush the federal system, which is rapidly
destroying the liberties and consuming the pubhc
resources of the country.
With regard to the war carried forward in the
northern provinces with the Indians, with whom
are associated the very sweepings of the Mexican
people themselves, I am sorry to say it assumes a
more and more formidable appearance, breaking
out now in one, now in the other province. A

POLITICS. 139
sort of peace was patched up in the principal
theatre of the war, San Luis Potosi, to be broken
whenever it suits the views of the insurgents, and
the aboriginal castes in alliance with them.
To my no small surprise, I have to tell you,
that for thirty days the executive government has
remained without any change in its personnel.
Nevertheless, I make sure of a pohtical pot pourri
being dished soon ; for the quidnuncs are all agog.
The Moderados are indubitably losing ground;
and I heartily rejoice at the fact; for you will
observe, it is the decadency of the Annexationist
influence. Congress closed on the 21st ultimo, and is sum
moned for the 1st of next month. Its extra
labour will be restricted to measures of finance,
including a plan for consolidating the pubhc
debt. Before rising, the Chambers passed one good
law : they reduced the export duty on silver to
5 J per cent. ; that is, to 2 per cent, internal duty,
and 3 J per cent, on export. The former rates
were 5 per cent, each — 10 per cent, in all; a
fruitful cause of smuggling.

140

LETTER XXXIV.

MEXICAN GOSSIP.

Mexico, July 15th, 1849.
My time and attention have been so completely
engrossed with the affairs of my mission since the
beginning of June, that I have not been able to
go on with my journal satisfactorily. I propose,
therefore, giving you two or three letters towards
the close of my residence here, to embrace, gene
rally, what I have yet to say on Mexico, its people,
institutions, and various other matters. To the
great object which brought me here, my mission
on account of the foreign bondholders of this
state, I shall dedicate one letter ; and I hope to
illustrate the leading branch of industry of Mexico
mining — by the details of a visit which I propose
making next month to Real del Monte — an esta
blishment so celebrated in former years in England,
and once more one of great public interest here.

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 141
In the meantime, I shall continue to re-produce
H — 's notes of what she has seen and is still
seeing of Mexican life, going on from the fete of
San Agustin : —
" 4th June. — My father offered to ride out with
me next morning. Having had a horse for some
time, and beginning to despair of the arrival of
the ' Dean,' * I had got a habit made here — very
inferior, in make and texture, to my own, but
yet much dearer. So before seven o'clock in the
morning I was actually on horseback. You can
conceive nothing more dehghtful than these morn
ing rides, with the beauty of the climate, freshness
of the air, diversity of roads, and never-ending
change of the finest scenery. We were joined,
before we got out of the town, by the Marquis
de ;r_ Mr. B— , Mr. T— , and Mr. H— . The
exercise was exhilarating, and I enjoyed myself
accordingly. We met many cavalleros, but no
ladies. "This was the day of the third of Madame
* A merchant vessel, by which I had shipped a piano,
saddles, H — 's riding-habit, and sundry other things, and which,
bv a " singular coincidence,'' was wrecked, as well as our unfor
tunate " Forth" ; and our goods and chattels went to the bottom
of tie sea.— W. P. B,

142 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
Levasseur's monthly balls, but which, from the
indisposition both of Mrs. M — and my father, I
did not attend. These balls are conducted with
so much savoir faire and spirit, that they are
forming an epoch in the fashionable records of
Las Sefioras Mexicanas.
"9th. — We have spent our time during the
week in our usual way : many visits from our kind
friends, and among them Mr. Piiia y Cuevas, the
ex-Minister of Finance, as well as one of the most
agreeable of our acquaintances, a Mr. W — , Se
cretary of Legation (as I think I have mentioned)
to the United States Legation. He has been
Charge d' Affaires here, and I dont know that
they could have a better. He is intimately ac
quainted with everything Mexican, and his talent
is accompanied by a wit and drollery which make
him a favourite wherever he goes. I have been
with Mr. and Mrs. M — to the Theatre, no longer
the Opera ; and I found that the drama here de
pended, as in England, a good deal on the French
school. The comedy was a translation of one
which I had myself seen in Paris.
" On the 6th we had accounts from England, by
way of the United States, to the 5th of May, just

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 143
thirty days. We ought to have our letters of
May by the packet on the 8th.
" We had an excellent sight of the Corpus Christi
procession on the 7th; and that being a great
holiday given up after the imposing ceremony to
paying, visits : we had our share of these, and
passed the day pleasantly.
" 9th. — We rode to Chapultepec, which I ad
mired more than ever. It is the finest embodiment,
if I may so speak, of the grandeur of Mexico,
which I have anywhere seen.
" 12th. — Our packet letters arrived this after
noon, when we had begun to despair of them.
Mr. T — , on his grey, dashed in with ours, and
at all times a welcome and agreeable visitor, you
may guess he was not in an inferior degree, when
he so kindly and considerately came to reheve our
anxiety.

" 15th. — Thanks for your feelingly expressed
sympathy in our late perilous situation. I need
scarcely say that I knew you would sympathise
with us in so momentous an affair. *
" I am getting quite accustomed to Mexican
life, and I now like it a great deal better than I

144 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
did at first. I then felt the want of my accus
tomed exercise, the ' Kensington Gardens' of this
place not only being at some distance from where
we hve, but inaccessible to a lady, except at early
morn (for so fashion rules it), and then of course
not as an unprotected, but as a protected female.
Now, however, I go out on horseback every morn
ing early. To-day I had a very pleasant ride to
Tacubaya; and, although you could hardly call
it the country, seeing it is not so far from Mexico
as Bayswater is from the City, yet the road is
somewhat different, as you may imagine, when I
teU you that we were rather alarmed on discover
ing that the gentlemen had forgotten their pistols,
several robberies having lately been committed on
this very road.
" The mornings are so lovely here — the air so
cool and clear, and the views of the mountains so
fine — that I enjoy these rides above everything else.
We go generally from seven to half-past eight,
for then the heat (in the sun) begins to set in.
I may mention here, that the coolness of the air,
when not exposed to the vertical sun, enables the
Mexicans (that is, in the city) to wear their clothes
like other Christians ; but in ah the parts called

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 145
' Tierra Calienfe,' they dress in la Campechana.
I got a dress of that country, and will shew you,
when we meet, that their contradiction of the
received rules of dress has not a bad effect. I have
not given up my bonnet, ai I never walk, and in a
carriage it is not much observed. The Mexican
ladies who only walk to early mass, then sometimes
wear a mantilla, or, as is more common, they put
their shawls over their heads, this indeed being
the almost universal costume. When driving they
wear nothing on their heads. The lower orders
wear the nlozo. a curious sort of scarf (made with
the hand), dark brown or blue. This is put over
the head, and the right end is thrown over the
left shoulder, and thus forms anything but an un
graceful piece of dress. It is wide enough to reach
to the waist, and is a sad excuse for laziness, as it
completely envelops the upper parr of the figure.
The lower outward garment consists of a petticoat,
which is generally white, from the waist to the
depth of a quarter of a yard, the resr being of
some colour. On Sundays the petticoat (or dress1
is of beautiful white or coloured muslin. How
artists must delight in this country, and how often
I long for A — to be with me. There is hardly a
VOL.11. H

146 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
figure or object that would not do for a study.
The miserable, sad-looking, toiling Indians, — their
huts with the rose hedges, — the lepero with his
indolent air, — the lower classes of men and women,
— the ranchero (or farmer) with his wife clasped
round the waist, as she sits before him on horse
back, — the large canoes with their dusky pas
sengers, singing, playing, and dancing lazily in the
cool of the evening, all dressed in their best, and
bedecked with the very gayest flowers (the roses
being more common, they are neglected for the
gayer poppy) ; — in fact, I must wait till I can
explain to you by word of mouth, how the pic
turesque predominates here over the useful and
common-place. " The female part of the upper classes of
Mexico, although not enjoying as yet a very liberal
education, seem anxious to improve (many, for
instance, cultivate the English, and most of them
the French language), and they are veiy ready to
see their own faults. They have a savoir /aire,
which conceals any deficiencies they may have,
and a sense of dignity which makes their manners
fit for any society; and, accordingly, they are
perfectly lady-like, and very agreeable. Like most

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 147
of the daughters of Eve, as I suppose I must
admit, they are fond of dress. In the morning,
mass — in the forenoon, visits, chatting, music,
standing in the balcony, or any other pasatiempo
which offers ; then dinner ; after which they dress
and go to the Paseo, where they drive up and
down, bow to their acquaintances (and, of course,
hke all other ladies, criticise their toilettes); all
are in full dress, i. e. bare arms and necks, flowers
in their hair, and a scarf or shawl, such as we
use in going to a ball, thrown over them. Of
course, the fine warm climate has much to do
with this dissimilarity from our own afternoon
dresses. The ladies return from their drive at
half-past six to seven — have their chocolate,
and dress for the theatre or evening party (the
former being the rule and the latter the excep
tion), and in their boxes they receive visitors
during the evening. On all occasions, the pleasing
manners of the Mexicanas, their complete tact, and
their conversational powers, naturally produce
very great effect. Another of tlieir customs, I
may add, is that they always embrace each other
when they meet, instead of shaking hands.
"I have omitted as yet to tell you that on the

148 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
13th of last month, we went to the Senora de
A — 's ball. It was the prettiest one I have seen
here. The patio and the stone staircase were
nicely carpeted ; the rooms, which are very
handsome, were beautifully hghted ; and the ladies
were more richly dressed than I have yet seen
them. The show of diamonds was splendid.
White is the favourite dress for such occasions ;
but there is every variety of material, from satins,
brocades, and blondes, down to the simple tar-
letan ; and flowers are very much worn. All the
fashionables of Mexico were present, and the
whole thing was conducted in a way to impress
one with a very high opinion of the good taste, as
well as of the riches of the leading society of
Mexico. " On the 17th, having been invited by Mr. L — ,
we rode out to his house at Tisapan to breakfast —
accompanied by four or five of our English friends.
We had a charming ride, the scenery, most of
the way, being diversified and picturesque, passing
through San Angel at a distance of between
two and three leagues from the city, and arriving
about nine o'clock at the pretty village of Tisapan,
about a league farther on. Mr. L — received us

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 149
very kindly, and presently took us through his
garden, then by the banks of the stream, and at
last to his azotea, whence the view is very fine ; all
to divert certain ravenous appetites from thoughts
of breakfast, as he was still waiting the arrival of
other guests. Towards eleven, Mr. L — began to
entertain serious fears of a pronunciamiento by our
now rebellious party, when happily two carriages
drove up with the expected arrivals; and that
most abundant and varied of all meals, a Mexican
breakfast, was served up, to the contentment of our
mal-contents. " The walks about the sequestered village were
truly delightful. In the course of them we sat
down under a large mulberry tree, and there
conversed with ' the oldest inhabitant of the
place' — the owner of the tree and the adjoining
cottage, an amusing old man, and although of a
very advanced age, both hale and hearty.
" After our rambles, we returned to Mr. L — 's
very pretty country house — had music (for bachelor
as he is, we found a piano in the drawing-room) —
farther refreshments, in the shape of a late lunch ;
and, in the cool of the afternoon, we enjoyed a
pleasant ride home, after a delightful day.

150 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
"I must just tell you, en passant, that on the
,20th we all went to a concert at the theatre, to
hear the principal performer — a black artiste — on
the violin, and which, considering he has been
almost self-taught, he played very well indeed.
" Again, on the 23rd, we went to see a German
conjuror, yclept Herr Alexander, who performed
some very clever tricks ; among others, Houdin's
celebrated one of the boy suspended in the air.
" We have now got into the rainy season, which
is so far unpleasant, that we fear we may not be
able to get out much. It is curious to see the
regularity with which the rains fall. They com
mence about three or four o'clock in the after
noon, and last for two, three, or four hours ; and
it rains so heavily that many of the streets become
impassable, and one cannot ride out on account of
the muddy roads. Yesterday we had such a storm !
— thunder and lightning, with rain, which fell in
torrents, the like of which I never saw before.
Our rides, however, are always in the morning,
when, although the roads are often bad, there is
no rain. There is nothing here from which I
derive so much pleasure as from these rides,
notwithstanding the early rising ; but six o'clock

MEXICAN GOSSIP. 151
in the morning here is quite a different thing from
the same hour in London.
" The town is on the qui vive, on account of the
arrival of Madame Bishop and Bochsa, who are
about to enhven the fashionables with a series of
concerts. " 5th July. — We dined with Dr. and Mrs. Mar
tinez del Rio, who had a very pleasant party, all
acquaintances of our own, including Don Jose
Martinez del Rio (our host's brother), whom we
had the pleasure of knowing in England. We
spent a dehghtful evening. Both Dr. and Mrs. M —
are very musical, and they played duets on piano
and violin, in a manner far superior to the general
performances of amateurs ; while the fair Senora
sang charmingly many pretty Spanish songs, as
well as Itahan and others. She is a most pleasing
person — young, pretty, and accomphshed — of
Spanish and Italian descent; yet more French
than either. Reconcile this, if you can ! Mrs.
M — 's father was Itahan, her mother was a Spanish
lady, and she herself was educated and hved (till
she was married) in Paris.
" 7th. — We all went to the monthly ball at the
French Embassy, which went off with the usual

152 MEXICAN GOSSIP.
eclat, and which I enjoyed accordingly. Indeed,
the reunion was so agreeable — all so nicely managed
both by Monsieur le Ministre and Madame — that
we did not leave till two in the morning. So,
instead of being up at six, as usual, my father had
actually to awake me at ten, by throwing my
packet letters into the room ! No event brings
such interest with it as the packet ! I could do
nothing tiU I had read all my letters ; and then,
having made my toilette, I joined Mr. F — , Mr.B — ,
and my father, who, in the library, were deep in
the European news ; and so much had we to talk
about, that, to my surprise, three o'clock struck
when our friends retired. So quickly had the
hours flown past !
" On the 9th, Mr. M — gave a fareweU dinner,
on the occasion of Mr. Falconnet and the Marquis
de Raddepont leaving Mexico. It was a most
agreeable party ; it included Mr. T — , of our lega
tion ; Mr. W — , of that of the United States ;
Sir J. L — , and Mr. Beraza. I need hardly
teU you that we spent a pleasant evening."

PART IV.

REAL DEL MONTE.

h5

LETTER XXXV.

REAL OEL MONTE.

Real del Monte, l%th August, 1851.
At noon of Monday last (13th), I finished my
correspondence for the packet, and walking over
to Bcraza's house, found him packing his mails,
and about to take his departure for Vera Cruz.
On Tuesday, I was busy preparing for our trip
to Real del Monte, writing about my mission, and
taking leave for a week of my political antagonists,
through the medium of the newspapers ; and with
other matters. We were obliged to be stirring —
with a lady in the case, no smaU affair — at
five a.m. the next morning. At the coach-office,
wc found Mr. Escandon and Mr. G — , our feUow-
visitors to Mr. Buchan ; and at five minutes past
six, wc were all in the diligencia, rattling over the
stones of Mexico, en route for Real del Monte.

156 REAL DEL MONTE.
The morning broke beautifully clear and warm,
and away we sped, aU in good spirits. Don
Manuel Escandon, I consider one of the most
agreeable men in Mexico. I never knew any
one so completely desprendido, "unassuming,"
although having indubitable claims to preten
sions of a high order. Amiable and kind-
hearted ; talented, travelled, a man of the world ;
in short, a first-rate traveUing companion, Mr.
G — is a congenial spirit, and high in the general
esteem. We had scarcely got to the end of our first
stage, when an alarm was given that robbers were
on the road ! And we were aU unarmed !
Mr. G — , thought he had a pocket pistol ; but,
on drawing it out, it proved to be a flask of Cognac!
The fact is, that Wednesday was the feast-day of
Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion (Assumption), which
is always kept as a high day and holiday at
Pachuca, a little town at the base of the moun
tainous ridge on which Real del Monte lies ; and
on aU such occasions gamblers go from Mexico,
carrying with them a plentiful supply of doubloons
for their banks at Monte. So the robbers, it was
said, were on the road, looking out for the

REAL DEL MONTE. 157
jugadores (gamblers) bound for Pachuca by the
diligencia. Now three out of four of these gentlemen had
taken places by the diligencia by which we came ;
but not arriving at the booking-office in Mexico
at the precise moment, Don Manuel, knowing
their vocation, and not liking their company,
insisted on the coach starting to the hour, so that
two of the speculators in cards were left behind.
Meantime, the peril seemed imminent, that
Messrs. Escandon and G — , with myself, would be
mistaken for the Monte bankers, and maltreated
for not giving up doubloons, which we had not in
our possession.
Under these circumstances, we held a councU of
war at the first post-house. We there found a
loaded pistol, and an unloaded rusty carbine — no
powder or shot being at hand. So Mr. Escandon
had a taU, stout, young feUow, belonging to the
post-house, mounted on a fiery steed; the un
loaded carbine was slung conspicuously across his
saddle-bow, and from his girdle projected the butt-
end of his horse-pistol. We then set off, our
man-at-arms, thus accoutred, careering and cara
coling in front. I put my watch and chain in my

158 REAL DEL MONTE.
boot ; H — hid her's ; and Don Manuel, and the
one jugador, who was with us and not a little
uneasy, stuffed their gold and silver into the
linings of the diligencia.
We looked for the attack in traversing a long,
deep wood, through which we had to pass. But
whether the robbers, like the gamblers, missed the
diligencia, or whether, hearing there were Ingleses as
passengers (a class they are not fond of attacking),
or whether it was altogether a false alarm, — the
fact is, we passed through the wood, and the
robbers did not appear.
The road to Pachuca stretches through the
plain of Mexico, now made specially verdant by the
periodical rains. The splendid mountains which
rise in every variety of shape beyond the verges of
the vaUey, and form a noble amphitheatre of nature,
lent much grandeur to our drive; whilst lights and
shadows cast upon them by the sun, crossed every
now and then by a fleecy cloud, heightened the
charm, by giving a constant variety to the
view. We breakfasted, a la Mexicaine, at a httle
¦village (I forget its name), and the dishes pro
vided — guisados, frijoles prietos, chile rellenos,

REAL DEL MONTE. 159
huevos revueltos, sopas, and other delicacies, were
done justice to by aU, save by H — , who pro
nounced against the grease and the garhck, and
confined herself therefore to tea (brought by Don
Manuel), and tortillas.
Towards the afternoon, we were overtaken by
two or three of those sudden and heavy showers
which fall at this season, and which diversify the
appearance of the landscape not a httle. We ar
rived at half-past three at Pachuca, the resting
place of the diligencia.
Pachuca hes at the very foot, almost in the
faldas or lap of the mountains, which are here weU
wooded; while the trees in the vaUey display a
rich foliage, amidst a vegetation everywhere luxu
riant. Here, however, as almost everywhere in
Mexico, the want, to complete the scenic effect, is
that of water. Pachuca is picturesquely situated,
as you may imagine ; but it looks best at a httle
distance, many of the smaU towns of Mexico, as
far as I have seen, being somewhat mean in their
architecture, often dirty, and as often with a look
of decay.
When we alighted from the diligencia, we found
an open carriage, a very weU-constructed one,

160 REAL DEL MONTE.
belonging to Mr. Buchan, with four jet black,
large, handsome, and sleek mules, waiting to take
us to Real del Monte. It was a double phaeton,
caUed here a caratela. A sumpter mule took our
luggage. H — and Mr. Escandon occupied the
body of the carriage ; Mr. G — and I took the
front seat or dickey, and the postiUion mounting
the near wheeler, we set off, commencing from the
very door to mount the acclivities.
From the moment you commence ascending,
you behold the wonders and beauties of Real
del Monte, — I mean the wonders of Enghsh enter
prise, and the beauties of nature. The Spanish-
Americans are proverbial for their bad roads, and
their no roads ; and, in this respect, Mexico is no
better than her sister ex-colonies. The road
between Vera Cruz and Mexico has perhaps had
most pains bestowed on it ; but you have heard
how we were jolted there.* And in mountain
districts, thinly inhabited, almost aU the tracks
and by-ways are dangerous, many of them all but
impassable for a mule, and not a few only fit for
laborious foot transit.
* Let honourable exception always be made of the road
between Santiago de Chili and Valparaiso, constructed by
O'Higgins, the Macadam of that country.

REAL DEL MONTE. 161
Judge, then, of your surprise, on leaving Pa
chuca, to enter on a beautifuUy Macadamised
carriage road, winding or zig-zagging among what
would be termed in England, mountains. In
point of fact, we rise two thousand feet from
Pachuca to Real del Moute ; and this road, from
the one place to the other, you find parapeted at
the innumerable, smaU, intersecting ravines, by
solid and handsome mason work, rendering the
whole line an uninterrupted carriage way, with an
almost imperceptible gradient, so that the mules
cantered along as if they were travelling from
London to Brighton, before the days of the rail !
You have constantly the deep ravines on one side,
and the peaks of the mountains on the other.
The levelling of the surveyor has been so carefuUy
and so skilfully done — the road winds from
mountain to mountain, rounding the ends of the
ravines so ingeniously, if I may so speak, — that,
as you advance, you look east, west, north, and
south alternately.
And what scenery ! The mountains, from their
tops to their bases, clothed with timber trees,
shrubs, and brushwood, everywhere intermingling
as usual with the wild flowers ! Then, as you

162 REAL DEL MONTE.
gradually rise, and survey the scenes at foot,
you have views of the valleys, luxuriant in their
herbage and their crops, with here an hacienda,
there some cottages, — Pachuca being the only
town; and you see in the distance mountain over
topping mountain, the intervening ones, here and
there, opening up views of plains, which stretch
far and wide, till the whole component parts of
the interminable vista are blended into one dark
and undefinable mass !
Such is the character of the scenery till you
approach Real del Monte, about ten miles from
Pachuca. As you ascend the last eminence to
enter it, an uncommonly beautiful conic hhl rises
before you, covered with larger and finer trees
than the others, of a deeper green and thicker
foliage. Around the base of the cone are large
openings or swards, equalling in beauty the finest
lawns in England.
Descending, we found ourselves at the back of
the town of Real del Monte. The objects which first
struck our eye were shingle-covered cottages, scat
tered on the side of the ravine, opposite to that which
we descended, and three or four tall brick chimneys,
rising above the mass of buildings which sur-

REAL DEL MONTE. 163
rounded them. As we advanced, the irregularities
of the town became more distinctly visible, the
houses being clustered on different hiU sides, which
formed, however, a continuous ravine, and showing,
from the bottom to a variety of eminences, buUd-
ings jumbled about, here isolated, and there
forming two irregular and curious-looking hnes,
the principal, I may say the only, street, which,
from one end to the other, twisted itself through
the town. At length, after much ascending and de
scending, we came to the parish church, when, turn
ing sharply round, we presently found ourselves in
Mr. Buchan's patio, just as the sun went down.
Our host received us most kindly ; and, indeed,
I myself having seen him three or four times in
Mexico, and met him at Mr. Mackintosh's table,
we were old acquaintances. In the drawing-room
we found Mrs. Buchan — young, handsome, and of
particularly prepossessing manners ; and she was
equaUy cordial with her husband in welcoming us
to Real del Monte. With Mrs. B — we found
Miss C — , who had preceded us on a visit to her
friends at the "Real."
Towards seven we were aU drawn round a
cheerful blaze (within the tropics and in the

164 REAL DEL MONTE.
middle of summer !) in the drawing- room, whence
we adjourned to the dining-room, also weU heated
by a good fire ; there, seated round the hospitable
board, we did ample justice to a capital dinner,
and afterwards spent the evening in great hilarity. .
Mr. Buchan is of a good Scotch family, but an
Enghshman by birth and education. He is full
of vivacity, good-nature, and talent, — a most
agreeable as weU as instructive companion. He
was educated at the Royal MUitary Academy of
Woolwich, along with other cadets intended for
the Artillery and Engineers. Had he, indeed,
continued in the army, he would by this time have
attained the rank of field-officer. But coming out
here in 1825, he gave his valuable services to the Real
del Monte Company ; and he has since continued
to devote his energies, which are untiring, and his
great capacities, to mining pursuits. Mr. Buchan's
large household is admirably arranged, and his
kindness and hospitahty are quite proverbial. As
director of this great mining concern, he receives
a thousand a year, with five hundred a year more
as table allowance. His management, in every
particular, may emphaticaUy be pronounced first-
rate.

REAL DEL MONTE. 165
Mrs. Buchan is a lady whom to know, is at once
to esteem and admire. The beauty and animation
of her countenance are a happy index of her hvely
disposition, her warm heart, her good sense, and
her cultivated mind. Mrs. B. was also born of
Scotch parents in London, her father, Mr. Auld,
having long held the Secretaryship of the Scottish
Hospital, and some other appointment, from both
which he retired a few years ago, respected by aU
who knew him, to the honourable enjoyment of a
" green old age."

166

LETTER XXXVI.
REAL DEL MONTE CONTINUED.
Real del Monte, August 1849.
Having written a good deal to you about what
I have seen in Mexico at large, I propose here
to give you, as well as I can, a sketch-history of
this celebrated Real del Monte.
From the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards,
upwards of three hundred years ago, this part of it
was known as a mineral district, and thenceforward
mining was, in the rudest manner, carried on by
hundreds of small miners. They dug their holes,
called mines, worked downwards till their progress
was arrested by water, and then they abandoned
such works, to open up and commence with others.
At last, in 1739, a Biscayan, named Don Pedro
Jose Romero de Terreros, having, some time
before, left Spain for the New World, established
himself at Queretaro, capital of the adjoining

REAL DEL MONTE. 167
province to Mexico. Here he made some sixty
thousand doUars, with which he determined to
return to his native country ; but passing through
the district of Real del Monte, and struck with
the appearance of its mineral riches, he felt an
irresistible desire, by acquiring some of them, to
add to his stores. He was associated with a
friend, caUed Bustamante. They shortly, in their
enterprise, exhausted their capital; but, nothing
daunted, the latter went back to Queretaro, whUst
the former proceeded to Mexico, to endeavour to
raise new supphes. Bustamante was unsuccessful;
but Terreros contrived, on the most ruinous terms,
to raise funds in the capital. He returned ac
cordingly, and at last feU upon some veins, which
ended in produemg for him eleven milhons of
doUai-s. Terreros then divided his property into
several mayorazgos or entaUs, Regia being the
principal ; and he was hereupon ennobled, under
the title of Conde de Santa Maria de Regla. The
hacienda of that name being thus raised to a
mayorazgo, the Conde, in 1760, commenced the
huge pUe of buUdings which constitute the
manor-house, chapel, and mining-works of the
estate. The town of Real del Monte began to

168 REAL DEL MONTE.
rise, and cultivation to spread; and in the due
course of nature, leaving his powerful name and
influence thus established, he went the way of aU
living. Of course, the Regla famUy had become one of
the first in Mexico, and was speedily strengthened
by high aUiances. But the present Count, grand
son of the founder, turned out a man of ex
travagant habits, another Duke of B — , and he
may now he said to be aU but ruined, unless
the mines return to the magnificent yields of
the time of the first Count, of which, appear
ances as yet give no indications.
In 1822-3, then, Don Ignacio Castelaso, the gene
ral agent of the Count de Regla, having drawn up
a somewhat elaborate report of the mines of Real
del Monte, his Italian friend, Rivafinoli, proceeded
to London, with the view of making something of
them, in conjunction with the Count ; and, in point
of fact, he brought about the formation of the
celebrated company of Real del Monte, with which
Mr. Kinder was so immediately concerned. Eng
land was, at the time, labouring under a plethora
of riches, which was ere long lowered by the
bleedings of foreign investments, led on, I may
say, by Real del Monte.

REAL DEL MONTE. 169
The agreement was for a given number of years
(I think, twenty-one); and the lease provided,
that, after aU capital laid out was reimbursed by
the produce of the mines, then Count de Regla
was to have half of the remaining proceeds yearly;
whUe, meantime, he was to be aUowed alimentos,
or a yearly advance against his anticipated profits,
of sixteen thousand doUars a year. Under no
circumstances could these instalments, or, per
haps, more properly, this annual ground-rent be
withheld ; for, were that done, the right of actual
and entire possession reverted, in the very act,
to the proprietor. This mode of disposing of the
Regla lands and tenements was, in point of fact,
giving a lease of the whole estate, subject to a
ground-rent of sixteen thousand dollars, and a
royalty on the nett produce of the mines — not
to commence, however, till after deduction of
capital previously expended, and likewise of the
aggregate alimentos theretofore paid.* The outlay
of capital on the mines, together with the rent
paid to the Count de Regla, now amount to sorne-
* This proves, that the alimentos are neither precisely, a rent,
nor yet an advance against future royalties ; not a rent, because
it was to be deducted from future royalties ; not a royalty, be
cause, whether the mine produced anything or not, the tenure
was subject to the payment of sixteen thousand dollars.
VOL. II. I

170 REAL DEL MONTE.
where about six or seven miUions of doUars, so
that he and his posterity are not likely to get
much more out of this magnificent estate than
the sixteen thousand dollars yearly. I must
mention, too, that the Count's after-necessities
having forced him frequently on the Company's
purse, covenants in the original agreement were,
from time to time, modified, untU at length the
lease was made perpetual, and the present Real
del Monte Company have become the indefeasible
proprietors, always subject, nevertheless, to the
ground-rent of sixteen thousand dollars, a mere
pepper-corn for such a truly princely possession.
The London Real del Monte Company com
menced working on a magnificent scale; then,
under the influence of panic, suddenly deserted,
in the most critical time (as I shaU explain by
and by), their judicious, talented, and indefati
gable agents, Captain Vetch and Captain (now
Colonel) Colquhoun; and the result has been
unmitigated ruin. The mania at the time was
so strong and so general that no expenditure
was for a moment grudged. People thought
that they were laying out tens, to receive back
thousands, so they " paid up " their tens with
surprising alacrity. The management, in London,

REAL DEL MONTE. 171
of many of the new companies, under the re
action, was miserably bad ; and, in the end, many
shareholders were completely ruined, and retired
to cottages, there to abandon for ever their " cha
teaux en Espagne."
In 1825, the late Mr. Kinder, the enthusiastic
leader of the Real del Monte Company, was
offered sixteen hundred pounds for each of his
thirty shares of one hundred pounds paid up in
that concern : he refused to sell ; that is, he
would not take forty-eight thousand pounds for
what had cost him three thousand. The re
action set in, and down went all shares. In
1845-6, those of the Real del Monte were to be
had at two pounds ten shillings each; that is,
Mr. K — 's thirty shares, which, in 1825, were
worth forty-eight thousand pounds, had. graduaUy
dwindled down to seventy-five pounds ! The com
pany was all but bankrupt : no more " caUs "
were listened to ; and the debts could not be paid
with unsaleable engines, though they kept up the
steam — nor yet with stones, although shver was in
them. The shares have since gone to nil ; no one
wiU have them, fenced in as they are with unknown
responsibilities and debts. In vain did their new,
active, inteUigent, and enterprising, though prudent,

172 REAL DEL MONTE.
manager and agent, Mr. Buchan, write to the
shareholders to take heart, and not to throw away
their property. They had been panic-stricken in
the first instance ; they had got sick of the busi
ness in the second; and in this last and most
hopeless fit they entered into negociations for the
sale of the property to a Mexican company. A
bargain was struck, and the perpetual lease of
Real del Monte, with everything on it, passed
from the hands of the Real del Monte bondholders
for an old song. The entire sum paid was one
hundred and thirty thousand doUars, for a busi
ness on which seven miUions of dollars had, first
and last, been expended; and, even of the mite
to be received, three-fourths were not to go into
the hands of the bondholders at all, but to be
appropriated in Real del Monte itself in the liqui
dation of sums still due to the servants of the old
company. What a winding up ! Shares once worth
sixteen hundred pounds sterling each, now not worth
sixteen pence ! And the actual moveable property
on the estate, in houses, workshops, machinery,
mining establishments, timber, wood, iron, imple
ments, utensils, steam-engines, horses, horned
cattle, mules, and many valuable miscellaneous
materials, must be worth altogether some miUions

REAL DEL MONTE. 173
of doUars. The house at Regla alone cost a million
and a half, and now is valued at a million of doUars !
AU gone for twenty-five thousand pounds !
Thus did Real del Monte pass from the Condes
de Regla in Mexico, and thus has it passed from
the luckless shareholders in London; the first
paying the penalty of personal extravagance, the
other an equaUy severe one of wUd speculation
and injudicious disbursement. It is now in wiser
hands than theirs ; and prosperity dawns on this
almost national estabhshment or colony, as you
wiU gather from what I have yet to say.
The house which Mr. Buchan inhabits in Real
del Monte is designated by aU the neighbours
la casa grande (the large house), from being by far
the most conspicuous and best in the little town.
It belonged to the Conde de Regla, and he made
it his occasional residence. It is, as I have said,
situated close to the Church, and (as in aU Spanish-
American houses) you enter by a large gateway,
which opens into the patio, a square surrounded
by the buUdiugs and corridors. Behind is an
uupaved yard, round which again are all the
offices. The ground-floor of the principal building
is chiefly devoted to business purposes ; a double

174 REAL DEL MONTE.
flight of steps leads up to the corridor, which
extends along the front and two sides oi tlie patio,
adorned, as is the general custom, with a profusion
of flowers, creepers, and flowering shrubs in vases,
at least two hundred in number. AU are ever
greens, and two or three of the creepers, which
gracefuUy festoon the raUs of the corridor, being
now covered with delicate and brilliant flowers,
look extremely pretty.
On the first-floor are all the public rooms, and
most of the bed-rooms of the house, the former
large and lofty. The roof is of shingle, high and
pointed, on account of the heavy rains. I occupy
the library, converted into a temporary bed-room,
whence I have a good view of the hiU. It is,
indeed, a pleasant room. The shelves are fUled
with books, principally scientific works, although
general literature, including the chief periodicals of
the day, is by no means excluded. Here I spend
the little time I can spare in reading or writing.
The cold was unexpectedly severe the night we
got here, and this, too, within the tropics, in the
middle of summer ! In fact, there has been frost
since we arrived, for there is no great difference
of temperature between summer and winter ; it is

REAL DEL MONTE. 175
always very warm in the sunshine, and cold in the
shade, and in the mornings and evenings either
approaching to frost or freezing.
My room is the nicest, but the coldest in the
house. When I got up at six on Thursday morn
ing, I shivered at my toflette. A cup of hot
coffee came opportunely and pleasantly; and at
seven (without H — , who after the previous day's
exertion was in no mood for early rising), we
walked out with Mr. Buchan to see the working
of the greatest of their mines hard by. I had been
out myself half an hour before, wandering about
this curious, straggling old place, where cottages
cover the face of the hills to their tops, rising
abruptly to the height of two or three hundred feet.
At the " Boca Mina," or mouth of the mine, is
the great steam-engine, of four hundred horse
power, there placed to work a huge draining
pump. The machinery is beautiful, and kept in
shining order. The whole operation of pumping
is interesting in the extreme. The fuel which
feeds the furnaces is drawn from inexhaustible
supplies of the surrounding plantations on the
estate of the company.
At eight o'clock precisely the miners began to
descend, by a difficult spiral stair, to their daUy

176 REAL DEL MONTE.
tasks in the bowels of the earth, some hundreds of
feet below the surface. Mr. Buchan invited us to
accompany the miners, but we all declined the
subterraneous visit, my own reason for doing so
being, that I had, in former years, groped my way
through the dark recesses of coal pits in England,
and silver mines in South America.
As soon as the miners begin to descend in a
long string, one by one, each with a candle stuck
in front of his helmet-shaped felt cap, they com
mence the morning hymn, and sing it in chorus,
as they wind their way down to the dark caverns
of mother earth. This appeal to God, as these
poor creatures are losing the sight of heaven, has
an affecting sound to the ear, more particularly as
it dies gradually away in the descent. They
remain working till eight at night, and they are
replaced by a fresh gang, who work till eight next
morning. The works are suspended on the Sundays,
and on some of the many holidays of Catholic
countries. WhUe the miners are below, they take
no food, but have their dinner and supper in one
when they come up. What a life ! And to us,
who too often neglect the obligation of thanking
God, daily and nightly, for all the blessings which
surround us, — what an example is the contentment

REAL DEL MONTE. 177
of these oiu" poor feUow beings, who are shut out
from almost all such blessings !
The working miners arc chiefly Indians, who
ctnupose about three-fourths of the population.
of the town. The mining officers, captains of
gangs, etc., are Creoles, with English superin
tendents of the whole work.
Adjoining the engine-house are the smithy, the
turning-room, the place for metal easting, and the
carpenters' department, till of which we inspected.
Everything is admirably conducted; and these
parts of the establishment are under the super
intendence of Mr. Arthur, the chief engineer,
a good-natured, merry follow, whose size and
scientific abilities are equally groat. He is as
sisted, I think, by Captain \sueh is the title of
head minors') Daw, one of the superintendents.
All the artisans are English or Creole, and
among the latter we found one or two very clever
workmen. Atter viewing all the scientific and mechanical
elements which Mr. Ihiehau had at his tvmmand,
at this his principal station, we walked about the
town, observing its oddities and its sinuosities,
with its puiquerius, and its houses aud cottages,
scattered about in " most admired disorder." The
i 5

178 REAL DEL MONTE.
pulqueria signs were, for the most part, drawn on
the waUs— rude paintings of many colours, repre
senting trees, animals, men and women, and gods,
according to the name of the pulqueria, — as the
pulqueria of the Sun — of Colossus, — of the Good
Friends, — of Apollo, and so forth. One had a
group something like that which you see in
ginger-beer shops at home, thus : —
On the left-hand side sat some ladies and
gentlemen drinking wine, and opposite, on the
right, the couplet —
" Los Monarquistas en Roma
Beben vino de ley ; "
Then, another company drinking pulque, oppo
site which is the completion of the verse —
" Pero nosotros los Indios
Bebemos -pulque fino de Maguey"
To be translated thus : —
" All the Monarchists in Rome
Drink the very best of wine ; "
" But we Indians like to quaff
Pulque of Maguey divine.''
Of the pulque made from the maguey — a plant
so important in Mexico — I shaU give you a succinct
account by-and-by.
We returned to the " Casa Grande " at nine,

REAL DEL MONTE. 179
and at ten we had a famous Mexican breakfast, to
which we aU did ample justice.
At two p.m., the caratela, or phaeton, to which
four horses were harnessed, with the old trusty
driver, drew up to the door, and Mrs. Buchan,
Miss C— , Mrs. Chenowith (denizen of the " Real"),
and H — , took their seats. Four of us mounted
on horseback, having Mexican saddles and ser apes,
and off we aU set: — a grand cavalcade — to make
our first inspection of some of the many beauties
of Real del Monte. Mr. Buchan chose for our
ride and drive a place caUed GuajalSte (the
Indian name for a turkey), but familiarly desig
nated now as " the Farm." We went by a fine
road, which skirted a romantic vaUey, our view
enlivened by the opposite hills, wooded, as usual,
from base to top. Presently we came in front of the
famous Penas Cargadas, hteraUy, " loaded rocks."
They are immensely large, rugged, and bare, boldly
depending in imposing grandeur from almost the
top of the mountain. There are two of them, both
partiaUy hidden by the rich foliage of surrounding
trees, so that with the verdant carpet spread over
the vaUey beneath, the whole effect produced is ex
tremely fine. One of the bare rocks is said to
vibrate when the wind blows very strong.

180 REAL DEL MONTE.
We got to the head of the vaUey, and entered
on the romantic woodlands. On each side of the
road, we had a great variety of weU-grown trees
(some very large), shrubs, underwood, and wUd
flowers. A conical hiU was covered entirely with
pine, fir, and spruce of every kind, which had a
good effect among the other diversified woods.
Winding through these, with an occasional peep
of the more open scenery, we emerged from them
to look down on Guajalote, the loveliest of plains,
or rather the finest of parks, adorned with trees
clumped on a fine sward. This was " the farm,"
where the cattle, horses, and sheep were pastured.
After gazing for a whUe at the scene which thus
lay at our feet, we returned to Real del Monte,
admiring once more the beauties which nature,
with so lavish a hand, had scattered among the
surrounding boundaries of the mining district.
Our dinner-party was increased by Mr. Brench-
ley, a gentleman who had been long in the employ
ment of the old Real del Monte Company, and now
about to proceed to England. The social enjoy
ments of the evening formed a pleasant sequel to
the out- door amusements of the day.

181

LETTER XXXVII.
MINING STATISTICS.
Real del Monte, August, 1851.
It is not at all my intention (seeing it is not within
the scope of my actual capabflities), to enter into
any historical account of the mines of this country,
nor yet to give purely scientific details of the various
processes of mining at large, as practised in Mex
ico ; but as the mineral riches of the country con
stitute its most important feature, I cannot entirely
pass over the subject without notice. In what I
have to say, I shall borrow from Mr. Ward, to
some extent; for his elaborate and interesting
account of " the mines of Mexico," is the best, if
not the only one I have read ; whUe his book is
not now generaUy accessible to the reading com
munity. I shaU keep principally to leading sta
tistics, except in the case of Real del Monte.
Mr. Ward gives a table, by which it appears
that the registered coinage of the Mint of Mexico,

182 WINING STATISTICS.
from the year 1796 to the year 1810 (inclusive),
amounted to 342,111,285 doUars, or an average
of 22,807,619 dollars yearly. He adds, for
sUver (registered, and unregistered) not coined,
1,192,381 doUars; thus giving twenty-four mil
lions of doUars as the whole annual average
produce of the mines of Mexico, during the fifteen
years which immediately preceded the revolution
of 1810.
The total average of exports of sUvcr, during the
same time on merchants' account, may be taken
at about 13,000,000 dollars ; and on king's account,
about . 9,000,000 „

together 22,000,000, leaving an accumulation in
Mexico, of silver, in these 15 years, of about
thirty milhons, less tho amount consumed for
domestic and other purposes.
It may be sufficient here to observe, in regard
to the produce of the mines and coinage, from
1810 to 1849, that the mining interest suffered
severely during the course of the revolution ; but
that in later years, the coinage has graduaUy in
creased, till in 1848, it reached to little less than
20,000,000 of dollars, a near approach to the most
flourishing times of the Spanish rule.

MINING STATISTICS. 183
During certain epochs between 1810 and 1850,
the faUing off in some of the mines of sUver, was
very striking. In the district of San Luis de
Potosi, for instance, the decrease of produce du
ring the first five years (after 1810), amounted to
nearly ten millions of dollars. " The produce of
the Biscayna vein, at Real del Monte, in seven
good years before the revolution (from 1794 to
1801), was six millions of dollars, or 857,042
dollars per annum; from 1809 to 1823, it only
yielded 200,000 dollars, in all, or 14,285 dollars
per annum 1"
In Mexico, when rich veins of ore are fallen
upon in the mines, they are called " Bonanza,"
"fine weather" nautically — "prosperity" meta
phorically;* and marvcUously fine, indeed, has that
weather sometimes been. The Marquis of Bus
tamante acquired millions of doUars by his great
bonanza at BatopUas ; wc have seen how the
* Mr Ward says, " it always signifies that things (in the mine)
aro going on satisfactorily ; in short, that you arc in the trades,
with studding-sails set, and every prospect of a prosperous voy
age." In Peru, tho flourishing mine is said to be in Boya, a
buoy; whence- buoyant, or following out a nautical similitude,
liko Mr. Ward, " en boya," " you aro in a clipper, malting a quick
passage."

184 MINING STATISTICS.
Conde de Regla succeeded with a bonanza at Real
del Monte; and at a mine belonging to the Fago-
aga famUy, called Sombrerete, when giving about
half a million of dollars annually, they feU on a
celebrated bonanza, which disgorged eleven milhons
of doUars in eight months.
There are mints established in the Republic
for the coinage of their precious metals, at
Mexico, Guadalaxara, Zacatecas, Durango, and
Guanajuato. In 1826, the whole coinage
in these five mints did not exceed 7,463,300
doUars. At the present time, the fbUowing extract from
Mr. Ward's book (vol. ii, p. 49) is curious and in
teresting, as shewing that seventy -four years ago,
such a country as Spain was benefited by Free
Trade. "This [a fund created for helping miners with
loans'], in conjunction with the removal of the
commercial restrictions, by which the progress of
the country had before been cramped, but which
were much dimmished in 1778, by the decree of
Free Trade, exercised so beneficial an influence
throughout New Spain, that the produce of the
mines increased (in a term of ten years) from

MINING STATISTICS. 185
112,828,860 doUars (silver raised from 1760 to
1769) to 193,504,554 dollars from 1780 to 1789,
when the ameliorations introduced began to pro
duce their full effect. From 1790 to 1799, stUl
further progress was made, the produce having
amounted to 231,080,214 dollars, or more than
double what it had been in 1769."
In 1810, the country was supposed to contain
500 "reales," or "realitos" (spots on which mines
were worked, with from three to five thousand
mines, large and smaU), included in the thirty-
seven mining districts or departments, into which
the viceroyalty was divided.
It is not necessary, indeed it would not be so
interesting now, as in the time of Mr. Ward
(twenty-four years ago), to. go into aU the dif
ferent phases of Mexican mining, from the first
attempt at separation of the colony from the
mother country — the declension, the prostration,
and the recovery of the leading interest in the
state. The mines were, and are, to Mexico,, what
arable acres are to England or France; and
no pohtical circumstances, however violent or
adverse, could annihUate this great source of the
riches of the country. That source was troubled

186 MINING STATISTICS.
and muddy, and dammed up for a time ; but the
force of its own gravity cleared away aU obstacles;
and thus, whUe Mexico never was before reduced,
politically, to so low a point as at present, its
material, and foremost of all, its mineral interests
have not been so flourishing for forty years as
now. No smaU impetus, let it be observed en
passant, was given to the mining interests of
Mexico by the different companies formed in
England, from 1824 and onwards, for the work
ing of Mexican mines. These companies threw
an aggregate original capital into the country of,
perhaps, four or five milhons sterling, exclusively
devoted to the improvements in mining, and its
development through improved machinery, more
especially hi several instances, and Real del
Monte most strikingly, through the splendid
steam-power introduced into the country, and
by the assistance of able mineral and mechanical
agents. In former times, a great part of the mining
interest was managed through the agency of
rescatadores, meaning, literally, " ransomers," a
class of middle-men, who made advances to the
miners, taking their ores, at prices agreed upon,

MINING STATISTICS. 187
in repayment. The rescatadores then carried off
the ores thus purchased to estabhshments of their
own, where they were reduced, and sent as sUver
to the mint for coinage. These rescatadores, how
ever, have very generally disappeared, more espe
cially since the estabhshment of foreign and
native companies, which, again, buy ores from
their poorer neighbours.
It is worthy of remark here, that, in the pro
vince of Sonora, lying so close to California, and
so well known for its auriferous riches, some very
extraordinary specimens of virgin silver were
found, nearly a century and a half ago. The
discovery of the famous balls of silver, dug up
at Arizona, Mr. Ward says, would be fabulous,
were it not that ample proof of their existence is
found in the vice-regal archives. The weight of
the pieces discovered was, in all, 165 arrobas 8 lbs.
(4033 lbs.), one mass of pure silver weighing
2700 lbs., and another 225 lbs. Even the vice
regal records, however, will scarcely make the
first of these weights, upwards of a ton, credible
in these incredulous times.
Humboldt calculated, in 1803, that Mexico
had then yielded an aggregate of silver equal in

188 MINING STATISTICS.
value to 1,767,952,000 doUars;* and, in addition
to what I have already incidentally mentioned,
it may be interesting here, to give some further
instances of the mineral wealth produced in par
ticular locahties. Thus —
1. — In Guanajuato, the Valenciana mine averaged
annually, from 1788 to 1810, 1,446,067
doUars.
2. — In San Luis de Potosi, the Catorce yielded
2,854,000 dollars per annum, from 1800 to
1804.
3. — In Temascaltepec, state of Mexico, the Real
del Arriba, 600,000 doUars per annum.
4. — In Chihuahua, the Santa Eulalia gave, in
eighty-six years, 100,000,000 doUars.
5. — The metalliferous dust of the famous mine of
Zavala (also in the north), produced 4,000,000
dollars in two years.
6. — In the state of Mexico, the mines of Santa
Ana and San Geronimo were so rich in their
* Or 2,027,952,000 dollars, if one-seventh be added for un
registered silver ; but this seems a low or mistaken calculation,
since it appears that the registered coinage of Mexico, in one hun
dred and thirty-six years, amounted to 1,708,173,436 dollars ;
whereas the silver raised from the mines extends to a period of
two hundred and eighty-two years.

MINING STATISTICS. 189
yield, that, after living upon their produce
during his whole hfe, the owner bequeathed
by his wfll, of which Mr. Ward has an authen
tic copy, 4,000,000 dollars, the greater propor
tion of which was left to pious institutions.
7.— La Luz, denounced* in 1804, and which stiU
continues to be a celebrated mine, has given the
original proprietor, " the Licentiate Gordoa,
the estate of Mal Paso, near Zacatecas (for
which he paid 700,000 doUars), and 1,000,000
doUars capital." f
The value and purchase of ores are taken by
the carga, weighing 300 lbs. : now, that may con
tain one mark (8 ounces) of silver, or it may con
tain any indefinite higher quantity — 50, 100, 200
marks, and so forth — and, of course, the price of
* Denunciar means, to apply to the government for the occu
pation of a certain small space of land, for the purpose of mining,
and which, the party offering to fulfil the conditions laid down
in the mining code, must of necessity be conceded. Failing
fulfilment within one year, the property reverts to the state.
+ The mine of San Bernabe, in Zacatecas, worked by the con-
quistadores, was so productive as to give rise to this couplet, in
an old song, in reference to the first owner, Ybarra, who married
the viceroy's daughter : —
" Had the metal of St. Bernabe not been of such good ley (standard),
Ybarra never could have married daughter of virfy (viceroy)."

190 MINING STATISTICS.
the carga is according to the supposed, or tolerably
weU ascertained, quantity of sUver which it con
tains. Poor ores, if they can be brought to the
surface largely and inexpensively, can be worked
to profit and advantage ; rich ores, it need scarcely
be added, can stand a high expense, and com
paratively small extraction from the matrix.
Thus, the carga of the best ores in the Licen
tiate's rich mine sold at from 340 to 380 dollars ;
and in the ores from a particular level of La
Purisima (at Catorce), belonging to the opulent
family of the Obregons, sold at 380, 400, and
even 600 dollars per carga. Nay, some of the
ores of Santa Anita, belonging to the Marquis
of Royas, during the great Bonanza of 1740, sold
for their weight in sUver, in consequence of the
large proportion of gold contained in them. The
ores of Real del Monte, which are at present
poor, but apparently inexhaustible, are not worth,
on an average, more than four or five doUars per
carga. It must also be observed, that the carga depends
on another circumstance for its value ; that is, the
probable quantity of gold mixed up with the sUver
in the ore. Some ores have given as much as two

MINING STATISTICS. 191
thousand grains to the mark, and some only
contain pure sUver. While stating this, I may
say that aU sUver containing gold is sent for
separation to the Apartado in Mexico, an estabhsh
ment, the new one now just finished, built on the
most magnificent scale, and, I presume, beyond
anything of the same kind in the world.
A rich mine is, for the purpose of partial sale
or partnership, generally divided into twenty -four
barras— or shares, which, in the best mines, have
sold for, and are worth, large sums of money — from
so many hundred up to perhaps twenty or thirty
thousand doUars each, whatever may have been
their primitive value — something in the way of the
Great Bridgewater Canal shares*
* The mine of Quehradilla, when the company, to whom it
belonged, was dissolved in 1817, divided 75,000 dollars on each
barra, although the partnership had only existed seven years.

192

LETTER XXXVIII.
MINING STATISTICS CONCLUDED.
Real del Monte, August, 1851.
From my desultory remarks and facts, you wiU
gather how it comes that mining is the paramount
interest of Mexico ; and it has this farther im
portant bearing on the country, that it gives a
vigorous impulse to the other great interests of
the state. It offers a market for an immense
amount of national produce which could not, to
any advantage, be exported. A large population
is engrossed by the mines — thousands and tens of
thousands of animals are required for their work
ing. Produce is wanted, and lands are conse
quently cultivated to bring it forward. Every
town and city (with a few notable exceptions, no
doubt) depend on the mining industry and capital;
and thus, both commerce and agriculture are
vivified and expanded by mining interests.
The following summary is at once so complete

MINING STATISTICS. 193
and so compact, that I cannot help giving it to
you, somewhat compressed ; because it not' only
completes appropriately what I had to say on
Mexican mining, but because I could not possibly
do the thing so well as Mr. Ward. My quotation
is long, hut too full of matter to be anything hut
interesting. " The most fertile portion of the table-land — the
Haxio — contiguous to Guanajuato, comprising a
portion of the States of Guanajuato; the valley of
Toluca, and the southern parts of the State of
Valladolid, which supply both the capital and
adjoining mining districts ; the plains of Pachuca
and Ap;iur, to the foot tit' the niountaius, upon
which the mines of Real del Monte and Chico are
situated; Itzmiquilpau, which owes its existence
to Zimapan ; Aguascalientcs, supplying Zacatecas ;
a considerable circle in the vicinity of Sombrcrctc
and I'ivsnillo; the valley of the J arol, and plains
about Sau Luis de Potosi (rivalling the famous
mines of Potosi, in Peru). A little farther north
is Matuahala, with seven thousand inhabitants,
created by the discovery of the Catorce ; while
Duraugo has sprung from San Dimas and Gua-
risamev. Its population rose in twelve years
vol. n. K

194 MINING STATISTICS.
from eight to twenty thousand inhabitants, whUe
whole streets and squares were added to its extent by
the munificence of Zambrano, owner of the mines.
Santa Eulalia gave rise to Chihuahua (to the
north) ; Batopilas and El Parral are surrounded
by vegetation ; so is ' Jesus Maria ' ; Mapini,
Cuencame, and Indee, served to develop the natural
fertility of the banks of the Nuzas ; while in the low,
hot regions of Sonora and Cinaloa, almost every
place, now designated a town, was originaUy and
is still, a Real or district of mines."
An infinity of other places, Mr. Ward goes on
to say, arose, which but for the mines never
would have existed; some surviving, and others
giving way with the mines which had caUed
them into existence ; in which case, however, they
sweUed the population of the more fortunate
vicinities. Mr. Ward then proceeds thus : "An examination
into the sources of the wealth of the principal fami
lies of the Mexican nobihty, will confirm what I have
stated in regard to the towns, by leading us nearly
to the same result. The famUy of Regla, which now
possesses landed property to an immense extent,
in various parts of the country, purchased the

MINING STATISTICS. 195
whole of it with the proceeds of the mines of
Real del Monte. The Fagoagas owe their present
importance to the great Bonanza of the PaveUon
at Sombrerete. The estates of the famUy of
Vivanco proceeded from the mines of Bolaiios.
The houses of Valenciana, Ruhl, Perez Galvez,
and Otero, are all indebted for their possessions
to the mines of Valenciana and Villalpando, at
Guanajuato. The famUy of Sardaneta (Los Mar-
queses de Rayas) takes its rise from the mine of
that name. Cata and MeUado gave to their first
proprietor (Don Francisco Matias de Busto) the
Marquisate of San Clemente, with immense wealth,
a part of which has been transmitted to his
descendants. The Canada of Laborde at Tlal-
pujahua, with the mines of QuebradiUa and San
Acasio, at Zacatecas, aU contributed towards the
three fortunes of Laborde. The family of the
Obregones owes its beautiful estates (at Leon) to
the mines of La Purisima, and Concepcion at
Catorce ; as does the family of Gordoa the estate
of Malpaso, to the mine of La Luz. The son of
Zambrano (the discoverer of Guarisamey), wasted
as his rightful property has been, is stiU in pos
session of four of the largest estates at Durango ;

196 MINING STATISTICS.
and BatopUas gave to the Marquis of Bustamante
both the means of purchasing his title (for which
he paid by a loan of three hundred thousand
dollars to the Royal Treasury), during the revolu
tion, and the affluence which he is now enjoying
in the Peninsula."
Mr. Ward makes so few exceptions of families
who have not owed their wealth and position to
mines, that I think the circle might safely be
enlarged ; at least my impression in Mexico was,
that there were many great hacendados, not only
unconnected with mines, but who had not acquired
their status and riches from mining ancestors.
Mr. Ward adds, that " the mines furnished the
means of buUding the vast Presas de Agua, or
Reservoirs, without which agriculture can so
seldom be carried on successfully on table land ; "
and this, I presume, may be taken, less or more,
to be the fact.
My business being more especially with Real
del Monte, I shaU only further cull from Mr.
Ward's conscientious review of the leading mining
establishments of Mexico, his notice of the one
named, as it existed in 1826.
'" The possessions of the Real del Monte

MINING STATISTICS. 197
Company on the two great veins of Santa Brigida
and La Biseaina (which are usually regarded in
England as one mine), cover a space of 11,800
yards, and are intersected at intervals by 33
shafts, varying in depth from 200 to 270 yards,*
but all sunk with a magnificence unparalleled
in Europe. The whole of these shafts, together
with the great adit, which follows the direction
of the two veins, branching off from the Santa
Brigida vein at the point where it intersects
that of the Biseaina, and from which the wealth
of the Regla family was principally derived, were
delivered over to the company in July 1824, in
a state of absolute ruin. Many of the shafts had
fallen in (though cut, at intervals, in the solid
porphyritic rock) ; in others, the timbers had given
way ; and in aU, as the adit was completely choked
up, the water had risen to an enormous height.
In July 1826, when I visited Real del Monte, the
* The lowest is the Dolores, given, in 1848, as 320 varus (a
measure of two feet nine inches) deep. Cayetano is 347 ; Santa
Teresa is 335 ; Terrero, 370 ; Guadalupe, 210. Santa Agatha
and San Francisco are the highest. The great adit is 242 varus
below the mouth of the Terreros shaft, being 2^ varus high, and
1 J wide, throughout ; and, with a very gentle fall, runs for 2\
miles, to the opening in Moran, below.

198 MINING STATISTICS.
adit was cleared and re-timbered, from the mouth
(near the mine of Moran), to the shaft of Dolores
(a distance of 2,807 yards; seven of the great
shafts on the Biseaina vein, and two on that of
Santa Brigida, were repaired down to the adit-
level (213 varas), forming, in aU, a space of 12,439
feet that had been re-timbered, and 5,921 feet
that had been actually dug out anew, in order to
free it from rubbish, in the course of two years :
45,400 yards of road were likewise made during
the same time, by which a communication by
waggons was opened from the different shafts to
the farms on the mountains, as well as to the
great hacienda de Regla, between which and the
mines 600 mules were formerly employed daUy,
in the conveyance of ores. At aU the principal
shafts, buUdings were erected, with magazines,
and workshops for carpenters and smiths, enclosed
by lofty stone walls. At Regla, a 36-feet water-
wheel had been made ; and a wheel -pit built for
its reception. Eight of the old arrastres (crush-
ing-mhls), worked by water, had been repaired;
dweUing-houses for miners built ; smelting-fur-
naces erected; stabling completed for 500 mules
and horses; and every preparation made for

MINING STATISTICS. 199
putting the whole establishment into activity,
the instant that the drainage of the mines could
be effected.
" To accomphsh this, five large steam-engines, a
steam stamping-engine, and two smaU saw-mUl
engines, amounting, in aU, to 1,500 tons of ma
chinery, were sent out from England, aU of which
have been transported from the coast to Real del
Monte by the party under the orders of Captain
Colquhoun, whose exertions on this most arduous
enterprise, had they been made in the field,
would have excited both the surprise and the
gratitude of the country. Seven hundred mules
were employed, during five months, upon this
great work, with from seventy to one hundred
men, without including those who had been pre
viously occupied in repairing such parts of the
road, between Vera Cruz and Perote, as must
have proved impassable for loaded waggons.
"Nothing could be more honourable to the
director, Captain Vetch, than the flourishing
state of the estabhshment at the period of my
visit; nor do I think that the most timorous
of the shareholders would have murmured at
the expense, had they seen the ability with which

200 MINING STATISTICS.
the whole plan had been traced, and witnessed
aU that two years had enabled their agents to
effect." Real del Monte continued to languish; for,
after a struggle of twenty years, it never got to
the point of paying its own expences and im
provements, estimated at 30,000 doUars monthly.
But not a shadow of this untoward result is
to be attributed to the principal managers at
Real del Monte. They were enabled to lay a
splendid foundation; and then, I may say, were
given bricks without straw to rear the edifice.
" The energy and skiU of our countrymen,"
justly remarks Mr. Latrobe, " in the construc
tion of new shafts, and the substitution of steam
for animal power; the great roads constructed
to Pachuca, Regla, and to Vera Cruz, whence
aU their machinery has been transported on its
arrival from England ; and the order and wisdom
evident in aU the operations, are not unworthy of
the British name."
As none of our party descended any of the
shafts, and as I want you to gather a general
notion of the best Mexican mines, from my
account of Real del Monte in particular, the

MINING STATISTICS. 201
following extract, from Latrobe's " Rambler,"
you wiU find interesting.
" But now, if you choose, you may accompany
us to the mouth of the Dolores shaft, when, having
been garbed in miner's dresses, with heads well
defended with a kind of felt helmet, we began
our descent by ladders, accompanied by two of
the English captains or overseers, and went down,
down, down into the bowels of the earth. We
passed the mouth of the adit; and reaching the
bottom of the mine, in our progress from one
shaft to another, visited every part of the ' work
ings.' To gain and examine some of these re
quired a certain degree of strength and resolu
tion, from the dangerous nature of the descent
and exit. They were various in appearance;
sometimes a shapeless excavation, and at other
times wrought into the form of a gallery, accord
ing as the rock had been rich or poor in the
ore, which is found in a quartz matrix, embodied
in the porphyry rock, of which the whole chain
consists. " The system of mining struck me as peculiar.
The common miners are, for the most part, of
the Indian race. A few of them band together,
k 5

202 MINING STATISTICS.
to work in company, and take their equal share
of the proceeds. They are paid four rials a day
by the company, and take, as their perquisite,
one-eighth of the ore extracted.
" On issuing from the mouth of the mine,
the confederates themselves divide the lumps of
ore, rich and poor, into eight heaps, in the pre
sence of one of the overseers, and that overseer
determines which of the eight shall be given
up to them; There are subterranean offices,
where the tools and candles are kept, and regu
larly served out and reclaimed, by an officer
charged with that particular duty. Blasting,
and other operations, are carried on, as in other
mines. " There are, upon an average, about three
hundred Indians constantly thus engaged in the
different parts of the mine, and the scenes pre
sented in those gloomy caves, where they work
by the red hght of their tapers, with scarcely
any covering, are far beyond my describing.
" The ascent of the great shaft of the Terreros,
from the depth of nearly a thousand feet, by
means of a series of perpendicular ladders, thirty-
two in number, was one of the most fatiguing

MINING STATISTICS. 203
exploits I ever undertook. We were, neverthe
less, highly gratified by our adventure."
Any further notice I have to take on mining
operations, you wiU find in my own personal
narrative.

204

LETTER XXXIX.
SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE.
Real del Monte, August, 1851.
Resuming now the thread of my story, I proceed
to say, that on the morning of the 17th (the
ladies still lazy), Mr. Brenchley having offered his
services as cicerone, we were on horseback by seven,
and went to a place situated among the moun
tains, caUed Canalejos. The ride there was in
describably beautiful ; winding by a narrow path
which bordered a clear and rippling stream all the
way : now meandering through the thickest and
most luxuriant of the woods — the wUd flowers
scenting the ah' — and the branches of the trees
only now and then letting in the rays of the
morning sun. Then came a fuU opening ; and all
the wood-covered mountains, cliffs, and ravines,

SANCHEZ  VELASCO — SCMATE. 205
were suddenly disclosed to our view! Anon a
beautiful sward terminated by jutting rocks, copse-
wood, and undulating ground. The whole ride
opened up a perfect gem of romantic scenery.
Our ride, in the keen morning air, caused on
our return, an enormous demolition of the Mex
ican-English breakfast to which we sat down.
It much reminded me of the real Scotch one ; for
to many tempting substantials, were superadded
splendid tea, cream, fresh butter, Enghsh hot
roUs, and new-laid eggs.
Our second expedition, 4 \is day, was to Sanchez
and Velasco ; two prin' ral estabhshments of the
Company. The three ladies, Mrs. Buchan, Miss
C — , and H — , were mounted on horseback, so
that we made quite a gaUant and picturesque
appearance as we defiled through the mountain
passes, ascended the heights, or cantered along the
fine Macadamised road, constructed and kept in
exceUent repair, throughout the whole ravine.
This we descended, and traversed by the side of
the mountain stream, which brawled and leaped
over the scattered rocks and stones, lying in its
bed, as it made good its course to the plain below-.
We were now to the north of the town of Real del

206 SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE.
Monte, in the opposite direction to that which we
had taken the clay before ; but the high moun
tains were, as ever, covered with wood, whUe their
steep sides, rising abruptly from the bottom of the
ravine to their summits, rendered the scene even
more striking, because bolder and grander than
that which we had seen on the south side.
Arriving at Sanchez, some two mUes on, we
found it was a very extensive establishment for the
crushing of ores ; brought hither from the mouths
of the mines, for the purpose of extracting the
sUver by amalgamation.
There are three processes by which the crushing
is effected, and which, of course, we saw in opera
tion at Sanchez. First, the morteros, or stampers,
moved by water; secondly, the arrastre, or crushing
mill ; and thirdly, by edge stone mills.
The ores, on their arrival, are broken down
with hammers by labourers, after the fashion of
our stone-breakers by the road sides. The metal
without ore is cast aside, and the remainder ar
ranged in heaps, according to quality. The richest
is reserved for smelting, the rest brought to silver
by amalgamation.
The first process then is that of the morteros.

SANCHEZ— VELASCO — SUMATE. 207
These are sets of heavy stamps or beetles, workhig
horizontaUy on the ores in their first state, and
very efficaciously crushing them ; but not to so fine
a powder as the amalgamating process requires.
Then let us look at the arras/res. Fancy a great
shed (caUed here " Galera"), supported along its
length by two rows of wooden pUlars, and covering
from thirty to forty grinding mills, all at work,
each of which is worked by four mules (here and
there an old horse instead), which walk slowly
round, moving four circular stones which revolve
within the miU ; both the waU and bottom of this,
and the stones themselves being of granite. The
ores are thus being crushed to an almost impal
pable dust or mud. Your view is nearly lost in
the distance as you look from one end to the other
of the double range of mules performing their
melancholy, slow, but constant rotatory task.
The old process of amalgamation is tedious and
intricate ; and I need not, I think, go into all its
parts and particulars. If you are anxious to make
yourself master of the detaUs, I refer you to Mr.
Ward, vol. ii. pp. 436 — 38. As he states it, the
operation, in few words, commences with making
each class of ore into a "torta" or pie, in a large open

208 SANCHEZ — VELASCO— SUMATE.
space {el patio) ; then each torta into heaps; then is
added first a certain quantity of salt; next so
much magistral (a copper ore), then quicksilver.
Next, the whole is worked up or kneaded for a
length of time — four to six weeks, to insure a per
fect mixture of the sUver and quicksUver : again
the mass is washed in large vats, to get quit of all
earthy particles : again it is strained — the amal
gam separated — the sUver well roasted (the quick
silver being sublimed, and afterwards condensed)
— the pure silver cut into wedges, melted into
bars, and so sent to the mint.
But in Mr. Ward's time the new process of
amalgamation by revolving barrels was not known
in Mexico, but which Mr. Buchan is practically
proving to be the best and most efficacious. I
believe it was first practised at Freiburg, in
Germany. They are set in huge troughs, one set
on the ground, another on the first floor of the
large apartments in which they move. They are
longitudinally placed in several rows ; when
loaded with stones, and turned by water-power on
their axes, they reduce the ores beneath them*

* Since this was written I have received Mr. Buchan's report,
to which I refer.

SANCHEZ— VELASCO — SUMATE. 209
We examined the whole mass in the vats, at the
bottom of which lay the quicksUver, which was
brought up and squeezed off in leathern bags — a
curious enough operation. The loss of quicksUver
is from nine to eleven ounces in each mark (eight
ounces) of silver. The cost of reducing a heap
of 2.200 lbs. of ore to sUver, is about twenty
doUars, and as much more for raising the ore from
the mine. These two sums are equivalent to five
marks of sUver; and therefore the additional
quantity rendered by the monton goes to the
miner. According to this calculation (it is Mr.
Ward's, at the mine of Salgado), where a monton
of 2200 lbs. of ore, did not yield five marks of
sUver, a loss would be sustained. The montons he
saw, were expected to yield, the rich, fourteen
marks, the poor eight, both giving a profitable
result. Sanchez is situated in the very heart of the
mountains, so as to give it a good water-power.
AU the interesting operations, at which I glanced,
were explained to us in the most lucid manner by
Mr. Buchan ; and, of course, when you have under
you the wonders of nature, and see them rendered
subservient to the uses of man by ah the aids of

210 SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE.
industry and science, a much more vivid interest
is created than by a mere register of them with
the pen.
The estabhshment is under the superintendence
of Mr. Petrowski, a Polish gentleman, of scientific
acquirements, who seemed thoroughly to under
stand his business. He amused us much, by
showing us some curious effects of the blow-pipe,
and by iUustrating some of the phenomena of
metallurgy. After having spent three hours over Sanchez,
we proceeded to Velasco, two miles farther on,
and about two leagues and a half from Real del
Monte. The drive and ride continued to be ex
tremely picturesque, and the road most exceUent.
On our arrival at Velasco, which is finely situated
just at the opening of the vaUey of Regla, we were
kindly received by Captain Paul, the manager of
the estabhshment, and by his wife.
Velasco has been fixed upon by the new Com
pany of Real del Monte, under the reports and
advice of Mr. Buchan, as the great central point
of then' ramified and splendid undertaking. In
accordance with this view, the works now going
on are of the most extensive, solid, and imposing

SANCHEZ  VELASCO — SUMATE. 211
nature, and when finished wUl constitute a very
noble mining estabhshment. Velasco is intended
principaUy for the amalgamation of ores; and
lying nearly equidistant from the principal mines
of the Real, and the smelting works of Regla,
with which there is constantly a great traffic, its
position is greatly superior to that of Sanchez.
The amalgamation of the ores will, I understand,
be chiefly effected by the revolving-barrel system,
to which Mr. Buchan seems to give a decided
preference. The premises in progress, accordingly,
for carrying out this mode of reduction, are on
quite a grand scale, as regards extent, with a solid
and plain architecture, — the material used being
a beautiful granite. The whole thing, when
finished, wUl form the completest, and at the
same time most compact estabhshment of the
kind in Mexico. As Mr. Buchan wiU require to
be very much at his central point of his opera
tions, he is erecting a pretty cottage contiguous
to the works, and in this, as in aU his other
labours, he has been singularly happy in the
choice of his spot. Here also, with his family,
he wiU agreeably vary his general residence at
Real del Monte.

212 SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE.
In high spirits, and at a pace which only
Macadamised roads would permit, we returned
towards dinner hour ; and with the addition of one
or two mining officers at table, we again finished
the day agreeably, resolving to make, on the
morrow, an excursion to the pinnacle of Sumate, a
celebrated mountain near Real del Monte, and
about eleven thousand feet above the level of the
sea. We were all in the palio, mounted, after break
fast, our party consisting of Captain Gros, our
leader, (attended by an Indian on foot), Miss C — ,
H — , Don Manuel Escandon, Mr. G — , and
myself. I have already said much about the English-
made roads of Real del Monte — wide, smooth,
Macadamised, and always scientificaUy seeking the
best gradients. Of the old Spanish- American
highways, and of their byeways and bridle-paths,
I may just say that in Mexico they are nearly all
of one character — just made passable, narrow,
broken, rugged, rocky, muddy, shppery, steep,
and dangerous, but always leading you through
beautiful scenery — the more romantic, the worse
the road.

SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE. 213
And so to Sumate. Entering on one of these
paths, we mounted a high hUl, almost perpendi
cularly, slowly and gradually leaving the deep glen
at our feet.* The scenery, fine throughout, seemed,
if possible, to improve at every step, as we advanced
upwards. At length, after a partial descent of the opposite
side of the hiU, with such difficulties as great
slabs of bare rock every now and then forming part
of the pathway, over which our horses had to
slide or jump, we reached a point beyond which
our sturdy and sure-footed animals could no longer
scramble. There, at the base of an apparently
* As we entered upon this glen, and skirted the high and
impending side of the great ravine, we rode for some short time
along the rivulet wliich brawled and played through such of
the disjecta membra of the mountain rocks, as lay in the
stream, or sparkled on those which were scattered along the
sward in every variety of shape and size. Then, kneeling on either
side, and here and there on the flat stones in the rivulet, were
assembled a long string of Indian females, who, having thrown
aside their rebozos, appeared scantily but cleanly dressed in
white. They were the washerwomen of Real del Monte ; and,
of course, at the stream they were plying their vocation. The
clothes were laid out to dry on the sward, the nearest bushes, or
the rocks; and as we passed through the long ranks of the
lavanderus, I thought I had never witnessed a more primitive
scene.

214 SANCHEZ— VELASCO — SUMATE.
unattainable height, crowned by the bare and
huge rocks of Sumate, we left our horses, and,
assisting the ladies as we best could, began to
climb the perUous ascent, wiiose surface presented
loose stones, jutting rocks, trees, bushes, thick
underwood and brambles, aU verdant, and, as ever,
intermingled .with flowers and creepers. Now we
laid hold of twigs, now of roots and stumps of trees,
sometimes slipping back, sometimes advancing, but
all merry and laughing at each other. The only
casualty was the loss of H — 's eye-glass, torn from
the chain, and which has yet to be found by
some traveUer who may foUow our adventurous
footsteps. At last we aU made a safe landing on our first
stage, on the great flat surface of the lower of the
two giant rocks which crown the majestic Sumate.
Heaven ! What a scene burst on our dehghted
view ! As far as the eye could reach, what a magni
ficent panorama under our gaze ! — mountains,
rocks, woods, vaUeys; extended plains, dark and
savage ravines, — presenting a tout ensemble of
aU that was grand and beautiful in nature !
Then scattered about were cottages and farms,
cultivated fields and villages ; while the blue

SANCHEZ — VELASCO — SUMATE. 215
smoke ascending from the pine forests, spoke of
the rugged and lonely hfe of the carbonero. Water
alone, as too often happens in Mexico, was the only
feature wanting to render the scene complete.
Here we remained, resting, and enjoying the
vision for an hour; and Mr. G — , produemg
his " pocket-pistol" (more likely to benefit us
now than on our way from Mexico to Real del
Monte), and finding, at the same time, some
crystal clear water in a hollow of the rock, we
enjoyed the refreshment. Some of us enhanced
it by a mild Havana. I was cheered or jeered,
I do not know which, by saying that we required
" summat" on the summit of Sumate.
But the highest point was the pinnacle of the
second or superior rock; and, to enable us to
mount it (for it was perfectly bare, and nearly
perpendicular), Captain Gros had made our Indian
guide bring a rope, slung at his back. Chamois
like, he was, in an instant, on the top; and,
making fast one end of the rope to an excrescent
point of the rock, the other end was held, nauti-
caUy, "taught" by Captain Gros below; so that
laying hold of the rope, as you would the "rigging"
of a plank, we were easUy enabled to ascend. We

216 SANCHEZ  VELASCO — SUMATE.
got another splendid view, a slight enlargement,
in fact, of the first, from the real pinnacle of
Sumate; and there, from one or two fissures
which held a scanty soil, I gathered several little
stunted plants, which, in small flower -pots, I am
about to carry to Mexico.
I have already mentioned, that the summit
of Sumate is calculated at 11,000 feet above the
level of the sea : that makes about 2,500 feet
above Real del Monte: Of these 2,500 feet, the
two crowning rocks embrace, I should think,
450 feet; 300 the lower, and 150 the higher.
The girth of the latter could not be less than
200 feet.
We returned from Sumate by a stiU more
beautiful road than that which had conducted
us to it. There were several openings in the
woods, presenting from twenty to a hundred
acres of sward or lawn, with here or there a
standard tree or a clump, which no scientific
gardening could have placed with more symme
trical beauty. We got to Mr. Buchan's at six,
and enjoyed the evening over many anecdotes of
the day's work and " hair-breadth 'scapes."

217

LETTER XL.
THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
Real del Monte, August 1851.
On Sunday, the 19th, we made no excursion.
In the school-room of the " Real," Mr. Buchan
reads prayers regularly on the Christian's day of
rest; so to this memento of Protestant England
we proceeded, about the usual hour of eleven,
the ladies in the caratela, driven by Mrs. Buchan,
and we, the men, jogging along on foot. A respect
able male congregation was assembled, together
with some nice-looking children; but, somewhat
to my surprise, no females, except those who came
from Mr. Buchan's own house, attended prayers.
The fact is, there are very few English females
in Real del Monte : aud being all married, with
families to look after, the head has often to do
Sunday- duty for aU the household.
Mr. Buchan read the service impressively and
VOL. II. L

218 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
we had very fair singing from an amateur choir.
The number of persons present was about sixty ;
and, I need scarcely add, that the deportment
of all was of that grave and decent character
which, at home and abroad, so peculiarly marks
an English congregation.
We spent the remainder of the day at home
quietly, every day more and more dehghted with
our host and hostess. At night we made our
party for the Hacienda and Barranca of Regla,
the great excursion of Real del Monte, and
which will form my concluding topic of one of
the pleasantest weeks I have spent either in
Mexico or elsewhere.
We started from Mr. Buchan's (Monday, 20th)
about seven in the morning ; our party consisting
of Miss C — , H — , Mr. G — , and myself, in the
carriage, and Mr. Escandon and Captain Gros on
horseback. We passed through the beautiful glen which
leads to Velasco, where we observed an enormous
amount of different work going simultaneously
and energetically forward. Emerging, at this
point, from the hilly country, we entered on the
plain or valley below; and you cannot imagine

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 219
a finer or more English-looking country than that
which we traversed. The road, like aU the roads
made by the company, is as good as the best we
have at home ; and, although not hemmed in by
hedges, a row of fine trees on either side of us,
with cultivated fields beyond, and mountains in
the distance, formed a very pleasing scene as a
whole. In the enjoyment of this picturesque
country, we deviated, after a few mUes, from
our direct line of march, and passed through
the Indian village or town caUed Jantla, where
orchards and a luxurious vegetation added a
variety to the landscape; and then, advancing
another mUe or so, we came to San Miguel, a
pleasant country-house, belonging to the Regla
family. Here we stopped, and were received by
Don Ignacio Castelazo, the administrator of the
present heirs of the celebrated Count de Regla.
We were politely received by Don Ignacio, his
wife, and daughter; and, at the same time, he
introduced us to a gentleman of some celebrity
in Mexico, and of whom we made a pleasant
friend, M. Floreci, an Italian marquis, long en
gaged in mining pursuits, and now connected
with the new Real del Monte Company. He

220 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
has made two or three fortunes in mining, and
lost them, I fancy, by his too ardent and specu
lative temperament.
The marquis is now erecting buildings, on a
large scale, for the purpose of reducing the poorer
ores, on an economical principle, invented by and
only known to himself. The buUdings appeared
to me to be of too decorative a style for mere
working purposes in Mexico ; and, when finished,
must cost much more, I should think, than his
own estimate of fifty thousand doUars. As he
is deeply interested, however, in the success of
his novel, and, by aU accounts, scientific enter
prise, a criticism of his modus operandi may fairly
be considered as premature. M. Floreci is a
gentlemanlike and accomplished person ; perfectly
acquainted with the English language, and other
living idioms, having travelled over and resided
in many parts of Europe.
The great attraction here is "el ojo del agua,"
a splendid spring, wliich waters a beautiful glen,
adjoining the residence and works of the place.
Through this vaUey the rivulet finds its devious
way. Its high sloping banks are profusely decked
with trees, creepers, air plants, and wUd flowers.

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 221
The soft murmuring of the waters, as they play
among the large stones which are scattered
throughout the stream, soothe the ear in the
midst of the sylvan scene. We found here the
wUd grape, and strawberry, the apple and other
fruits. A drive of two miles or less, brought us from
San Miguel to the Hacienda de Regla. which
forms the most extraordinary mass of biiUdings I
ever saw in my life. I scarcely dare attempt a
description of the place, for I fear I never could
convey to you any correct idea of what it is — the
prison-like castle, with its mining works — a
gigantic, strong, irregular pde of household build
ing, over dungeons, vaults, and tunnels, with
magazines, spires or turrets, courts, back yards,
furnaces, smelting and amalgamation works — aU
forming a toute ensemble, which one must see. and
not have described.
Mr. Ward visited Regla. After mentioning
the forests and farms which constitute part of the
great estate, I might safely say. the principality
of Real del Monte, he teUs us that it is proposed to
introduce English farming into the district. That
has been quietly making its way, and is now decid
edly on the advance. When I get to England, I

222 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
intend to lend a helping hand in so good a
cause. Mr. Ward then says : — " These farms are
situated between the Real del Monte and the
Hacienda de Regla, which is likewise ceded to the
Company. I visited, on the 25th of July, this
stupendous monument of the magnificence of the
old Mexican miners, which may be regarded, at
the same time, as the best proof of the value of
their mines. It is situated in a deep ravine, about
six leagues to the east of Real del Monte ; it not
having been found possible to obtain a sufficient
command of water at a less distance.
"The hacienda is composed of a vast pile of
buUdings, constructed apparently without plan
or regularity, but comprising every thing that a
mining establishment can require ; immense vaulted
rooms for the reception of the ores : twenty -four
arrastres (crushing mUls), worked by horizontal
water wheels ; a number of furnaces for smelting ;
and two covered patios (courts), each of about 200
feet in length, in which the process of amalga
mation was carried on. These are to be replaced
by a water wheel (now constructing by the Com
pany), which is thirty-six feet in diameter, and is
to put in motion forty-eight stamps. .

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 223
" The whole hacienda is supposed to have cost
nearly a million of doUars;* and this I am not
inclined to regard as an exaggerated estimate.
In 1795, 5000 cargas of ore were received there
weekly. Yet even this enormous estabhshment
was thought insufficient for the mines; and
another hacienda, San Antonio, was constructed,
at a httle distance from Regla, which is likewise a
splendid mass of buUdings, although not com
parable to Regla in size and importance." So far
Mr. Ward; and I may just add that San Antonio
has been abandoned, as a mining establishment.
We entered, then, this great citadel-castle by
a broad rising causeway; and proceeding up a
stair, found ourselves in a long and somewhat
dilapidated corridor. We were received by Mr.
and Mrs. Bell, the worthy couple who have the
charge of the hacienda ; he being chief smelter of
the Company. They have but recently arrived
from Durham, and having yet their northern
accent, their homely dialect sounded oddly to my
ears, in a palace .which the lords of Regla had
* Captain Lyon says, £ 500,000 or two millions and a half of
dollars; and I certainly think Mr. Ward's estimate is much
under the actual cost.

224 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
buUt, httle imagining that a plain denizen of
Durham, with his tidy Enghsh wife, would one
day supplant and rule over the vast feudality which
they, the lords paramount, had created at the
expense of mUlions of doUars, extracted from the
bowels of the earth underneath ; and which they
compeUed, as it were, to afford them the means of
accomplishing their gigantic works.
If we had a feudal and lordly buUding, Mr. and
Mrs. BeU certainly gave us a feudal and baronial
breakfast. Such another breakfast, for variety
and substantiality of viands, saw I never. Beef
steaks, chops, pies, stews, roasts, hams, fowls,
vegetables, omelettes, eggs, puddings, pancakes,
cheese — washed down with claret, sherry, and
excellent ale. And then, came tea and coffee, with
splendid bread and butter, toast and cakes ! That
was a breakfast, of which no Count de Regla need
have been ashamed.
From the breakfast table, Mr. Bell conducted
us to the great smelting works of Regla, which
were at the time in actual operation. The vault
or cavity into which a row of huge furnaces dis
gorged their contents, was about two hundred
feet in length, and eighty to a hundred in width.

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 225
smoke-dried, black, and rough. The scoria
from the ores came out of the furnaces, in soft,
ductUe cakes; and as they gradually cooled, they
were thrown on heaps of now vitrified masses,
misshapen and strange in their conformations. To
look into the heated furnaces, would have been
something terrific to such as had not visited our
our own manufacturing districts, more particularly
those of Staffordshire ; and, adding the blackened
visages of the workmen, with their long iron im
plements for handling the glowing materials of
their vulcan-like home; the scene was one of
almost satanic grandeur. How few consider, and
how stiU fewer know aU the intermediate processes,
by which metals, extracted from mother earth,
come to administer to the wants of a complicated
civilisation, from a doubloon down to a pin !
Of the whole process of smelting, I need not
here speak ; for it is one, the acquaintance with
which is open to aU, either through actual observa
tion in England, or through popular or scientific
publications. From the fundicion de metales, we proceeded,
through vaults and tunnels, to the back part of
the gigantic hacienda, there to have our wondering
l 5

226 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
eyes directed to a very different,, but stiU more
interesting object — the waterfaU of Regla. The
great castle-house is buUt on a platform by one
side of the river ; and on the opposite bank rises a
gigantic natural waU or rampart, frowning over
the leviathan building itself.
Having viewed the caverns there, and passed
through the tunnels of the monster house, we
emerged into light, and found that the river
flowed through a continuous range of immense
basaltic pillars, with great blocks of which the
ground was strewed. These had, by time or storm,
been detached from the great range; and this
terminated with a beautiful faU, the water having
scooped out for itself a semicircle of the rocks,
over which it plunged into a deep pool beneath.
The fall, though imposing in its appearance, is not
more than twenty-five or thirty feet in height ;
but its fine curve adds greatly to its effect and
beauty. A daring enthusiast once leapt from the
fall to the pool, and was saved. " The basaltic
columns," in Captain Lyon's words, " are re
markably regular; the left-hand cliff cannot be
less than one hundred feet higher than the fall,
where the waters are fancifully divided by two

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 227
piUars, which appear so much separated from their
neighbours, as to lead to a supposition that they
wiU soon be entirely detached and broken. The
river flows rapidly over a rugged bed of broken
columns, after its escape from the basin, which is
almost overshadowed by beautiful trees. The
ravine is one of the most beautiful and perfect
basins of basalt in the world. The steep banks of
the stream, which are composed of the debris of
the overhanging columnar cliffs, are eminently
picturesque ; and amid the blocks and broken
basaltic pillars are flourishing luxuriant rock plants,
unknown to Europeans ; whUe, on the precipice to
the left hand chmbs an immense plant of the ' five-
leaved vine,' which fancifuUy covers the columns
to a great extent with its bright scarlet and green
leaves." So says Captain Lyon, in 1826; and such I
found the fall twenty-three years afterwards. I
have only to remark farther, that " the two pUlars "
still stand ; and that I saw the most curious object
of aU, the five-leaved vine, which had spread out
into larger dimensions, and which clung to the
basaltic pUlars with an embrace so close, as to
impress one with the idea, that to them alone did

228 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
it owe its life, and strength, and beauty. The
whole scene assuredly was strikingly grand.
About one o'clock we aU (minus Miss C — )
mounted our horses, and proceeded to view the
Barranca, or precipitous ravine which extends for
many leagues in the direction of Tampico. In
fact, I was told by all that the road hence to the
province of Taumahpas and Tampico itself traverses
one of the portions of Mexico most remarkable for
its fine scenery. This was, indeed, the grandest of
aU our excursions. In proceeding to the Barranca,
we rode for three or four miles over a beautiful
table land, skirted on aU sides by woods and hUls.
We then entered the wood which clothes the Bar
ranca itself; and when at last we dismounted, and
stood on the edge of the precipice, there lay a
scene — far, deep, and perpendicularly below us —
which beggars description. It was the narrow but
cultivated vale through which flowed the meander
ing river. We had a bird's-eye view of aU its
windings; and we were told, that in going to
Tampico by this valley, the traveller has to cross
the river some thirty or forty times. The high pre
cipitous banks were, as usual, one mass of foliage.
The heat in the narrow vaUey below approaches

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 229
to tropical, and many of its productions are of
such a clime. On the table land, the temperature
approaches nearer to that of the frozen than the
torrid zone. We sat on the culminating point of
the Barranca, contemplating the lovely scene, which
lay some six or seven hundred feet below us. The
adventurous Captain Gros gathered flowers for
H — from the precipice, a somewhat dangerous
piece of gallantry. We then retraced our way to
Regla, whence we set off on our return to the
" Real." We visited Velasco (where we changed
mules, and drank good Mexican ale) ; and at San
chez we once more examined its great and well-
appointed mining works. At six p.m., we arrived
at Real del Monte, delighted with the day we had
spent. On Wednesday, the 22nd, the hum was heard
of busy preparations for the grand event, to
celebrate which Mr. Escandon had visited Real del
Monte — the christening of Mr. and Mrs. Buchan's
infant. In the absence of a Protestant clergyman,
the curate was to officiate, our own Church accepting
the baptism of the Roman Catholic, and vice-versa.
A splendid altar, profusely but tastefully adorned,
was fitted up in the drawing-room; and Don

230 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
Manuel went to Pachuca, thence to escort el
Senor Cura, whose absence in Mexico had delayed
the ceremony.
At five, the company began to arrive ; and by
six we were aU assembled in the drawing-room.
At that hour in came the bustling curate, followed
by the Prior of the Fernandino Monastery at
Pachuca with an attendant friar. The room
blazed with the wax candles on and around the
altar, shining with gold and silver ornaments,
mixed with others of porcelain, and I know not
what; while, on either side, it was flanked with
splendid flowers and green branches. The room
was fuU — the passage filled with servants, retainers,
and spectators ; and, amid the congratulations and
applause of all, Mr. Escandon standing godfather,
little " Catherine " became a member of Mother
Church. Don Manuel, after the ceremony, saluted
his comadre, Mrs. B., and shook hands with his
compadre; distributed to every one present a
" bolo," which was a new gold doUar (worth 4s.) ;
and then from the window, he scattered hand-
fuls of medios (half-rials, silver, value 3d. each)
to the crowd of men, women, boys, and girls,
collected together for the scramble. Miss C —

THE HACIENDA DE REGLA. 231
was godmother, and according to etiquette, her
" bolo " was a new silver rial. AU friends coming
near a compadre, on these occasions, are entitled to
a "bolo;" so that I don't know how many dozens
of golden doUars Don Manuel was called on to
present. At 7 p.m., twenty-two of us sat down to a
capital dinner. A list of the dishes, as at a Lord
Mayor's feast, would do ample justice to the
housekeeping of our fair hostess; but, omitting
that, I shaU confine myself to a hst of the com
pany, which, considering we were in Real del
Monte, is curious. There were Mr. and Mrs.
Buchan, the happy father and mother; the com
padre and comadre ; Mr. Brenchley, a discrimi
nating admirer of female exceUence ; " Don Cruz,"
so called at the Real, but Anglice, Captain Gros ;
the good-natured engineer, Mr. Arthur; the
doctor of the estabhshment; our curate and the
prior; the Marquis Floreci, and Mr. Petrowski,
the manager at Sanchez; the alcalde or justice
of the peace of Real del Monte ; Mr. Woodfield,
formerly of the old Real Company, now a gentle
man at large; Mr. Chenowith, employe, and his
amiable little w-ife ; the judge of the district, and

232 THE HACIENDA DE REGLA.
a cousin of Mr. Escandon, both from Pachuca;
Mr. Richard G — , and ourselves. These com
prehended individuals born in Spain, Mexico,
Peru, Italy, Poland, England, Scotland, Ireland,
Wales, and Smyrna. I have only to add, that
the evening was spent in great conviviality, not
breaking up tUl midnight.
The company departed. Mr. G — and I
(having to start long before daybreak), took leave
of my now dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Buchan,
both so justly beloved in their present home.
All I could get Mrs. Buchan to charge me with,
on my return to England, was, to pay a visit
to her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Auld.
H — remained behind me, to enjoy herself for
another week, and then to return with Don
Manuel. At half-past four in the morning, Mr. G — and
I, accompanied by the judge of Pachuca, set off
for that town, where we left him. At six we
took our places in the diligencia ; and, after a
melancholy drive, I found myself once more in
Mexico, at half-past two p.m.

233

LETTER XLI.
MR. BUCHAN'S REPORT OF REAL DEL MONTE.
[London, 14th August, 1852.
What I have re-written on Real del Monte,
during the present year, led me to request my
friend, Mr. Buchan, to furnish me with a report
on its actual state and prospects; and, having
received it, I think such of my readers as are
interested in mining affairs wiU thank me for
inserting that report here. It shews, with much
clearness and abUity, how mining, the great
source of the riches of Mexico, may be carried
out, as a safe and profitable investment, instead
of being, as it too generaUy is, a lottery, offering
alternate prosperity and loss. I give Mr. Buchan's
report verbatim et literatim, considering it to be
of too great importance to be condensed, and
too clear and luminous to be in any way altered.]

234 mr. buchan's report.

"Real del Monte, April 1th, 1852.
" My dear Sir, "As you are about to publish
some notes on your residence in this country, and
teU me that your visit to Real del Monte is not
omitted ; perhaps a short sketch of the past his
tory and present prospect of its mines, may not be
uninteresting to you.
"Prior to the year 1749, but little is known of
these mines, except that they had yielded con
siderable quantities of silver, from irregular and
detached surface workings ; and had at last become
almost entirely abandoned from the impediment
of water, as the excavations increased in depth.
" At the above period, Don Pedro Terreros, an
enterprising merchant of Queretero, joined with
an intelligent miner named Bustamante, in a
general ' denuncio' of the district ; by which they
obtained possession of its two principal veins, La
Biscayna and La Sto Brigida, on the condition of
effecting their drainage by a long horizontal
gallery for the exit of the water, and known in
technical language as an adit.

MR. buchan's report. 235
" For this important work, a point was chosen
sufficiently down the slope of the northern descent
of the valley, to insure its entering the principal
mines of the Biscayna vein, at the depth of two
hundred yards from the surface ; but as the dis
tance necessary to obtain this difference of level
was nearly 3000 yards, the work, although com
menced in 1749, was not completed until 1759.
" Bustamante did not survive to see the result
of his great work ; but Terreros persevered to
reap the reward, for having by this adit freed the
mine from water, and thus rendered its workings
economical, he extracted at comparatively small
cost, up to his death in 1781, the large amount
of fifteen miUions of doUars; having been pre
viously ennobled by the King of Spain, under
the title of Conde de Regla.
"His successor, the second Conde, continued
the working of the mines, but not to equal profit
with his father; who having exhausted the up
per portions of the veins, rendered dry by the
adit, left his son the more difficult task of con
tending with the water under that level.
"This drainage was effected by horse ma
chinery, caUed 'malacates,' which raising the

236
water in skin bags to the level of running out
at the adit, was for some time sufficiently effec
tive; but graduaUy as the mine became deeper,
the difficulty and cost of drainage with such
imperfect machinery also augmented, until, in the
year 1801, the twenty-eight malacates then at
work, occupying twelve hundred horses, with four
hundred men, and costing 250,000 doUars per
annum, were not found sufficient to keep down the
water to 108 yards under adit, at which depth the
workings on the Biscayna vein had been attained,
in the mines of Sta Teresa and Guadalupe : and
consequently, although these mines were then pro
ducing at the rate of 400,000 doUars per annum,
the drainage was suspended, and their deeper
workings abandoned to fiU with wrater.
" After this the workings were hmited to a
higher level, and on the hitherto unexplored
extremes of the vein ; in which directions, and up
to 1809, when the second Conde died, the mines of
San Ramon and ' Dios-te-Guie ' continued to yield
about 300,000 doUars per annum.
" From this period, the produce of the mines
graduaUy decreased, and the war of Independence
having commenced, their working was entirely

mr. buchan's report. 237
suspended in 1819, the total produce since the
death of the first Conde being 10,000,000 doUars.
"After the independence of Mexico had been
recognised by Great Britain, the attention of
Enghsh capitalists became directed to the mines
of this country ; and at the suggestion of Mr. John
Taylor, a celebrated mining engineer of London,
an association, known by the name of the Real del
Monte Company, was formed, for restoring and
draining the mines of the Regla family.
" In July, 1824, when Captain Vetch, of the
Royal Engineers, and the First Commissioner of
of the Real del Monte Company, arrived at the
mines, they were in a state of utter ruin ; most of
the vertical pits or shafts, which had formerly
given access to their deep workings, had faUen in,
leaving their former site only to be detected by
the immense craters, overgrown with brush-wood
at their mouths. A stiU more serious evU, was the
destruction of the great adit, which having in
many parts been carried through soft rock, requiring
constant attention to support it with timber, had,
during many years of neglect, gone so to ruin, that
it no longer carried off the water, which conse
quently rose to a great height in the mines.

238 mr. buchan's report.
AU the machinery in the large reduction works,
formerly employed for extracting the sUver from
its ores, was gone, the population become very
scarce, and the town nearly a ruin.
" As the chief inducement of the Company to
resume the drainage of these deep mines was the
advantage which they expected to derive by the
substitution of steam power, applied to the modern
system of pumps, for the imperfect and costly one
of horse machines, raising water in skin bags, — a
body of miners, engineers, and mechanics, with a
number of steam engines, pumps, and other ma
chinery, forming the cargoes of three ships of three
hundred tons burthen each, arrived at Vera Cruz,
in May, 1825, under the charge of Lieutenant,
now Colonel Colquhoun, of the Royal Artille
ry, and then the Second Commissioner of the
Company. " Our experience of the chmate of Vera Cruz was
then but slight ; and thus the worst possible season
— the commencement of the rains — had been
selected for the arrival of this expedition on that
unhealthy coast. Another difficulty arose, for
the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa being still in
possession of the Spaniards, the port of Vera Cruz

mr. buchan's report. 239
was closed; and consequently whUe the ships
anchored a few miles to the south, in the exposed
roadstead of Sacrificios, the heavy machinery had
to be landed, with very great risk and difficulty,
on the open beach of Mocambo. Next came its
transport to the interior, for wliich purpose the
expedition had been very completely supplied with
waggons and harness from the Royal Arsenal, at
Woolwich ; but the mules sent from the interior
for draft were unbroken, and the Indians of the
coast perfectly unused to their management ; whUe
the roads of deep sand rendered the movement of
heavy waggons a most tedious and difficult task.
The rainy season commenced, and its usual scourge,
the yeUow fever, soon made sad havoc with both
English and Mexicans. Colquhoun, however, with
the true spirit of a British officer, persevered
through aU difficulties, and by May, 1826, the
engines had arrived at the mines.
" In the meantime, Captain Vetch had lost no
time at Real del Monte, which district had been
carefuUy surveyed ; the great adit cleared and
restored ; many of the shafts, but particularly that
of Dolores, on which it was decided to erect the
first steam engine, had been repaired down to

240 adit ; buildings, workshops, and stores were arising
round the mines ; many important new shafts for
the future working and examination of the veins
had been traced out, or commenced ; and, though
last not least in importance, a good carriage-road
had been constructed, with much cost and great
engineering skiU, through the rocky ravine that
intervened between the mines and reduction- works.
" From this period the clearing and restoration
of the mines progressed slowly but steadily, until,
by the end of 1829, the drainage had been effected
to the depth of 108 yards under adit, by two smaU
steam engines of thirty-inch cylinders, which dis
charged six hundred gallons of water per minute,
and whose annual cost did not exceed 30,000
doUars, being an immense saving, as compared
with the large sum of 250,000 doUars, which the
twenty-eight malacates had cost the second Conde,
when, at the same depth, he abandoned the lower
workings on the Biscayna vein, in 1801.
" It, however, soon became evident, that the
drainage, at the distant points of San Cayetano and
Dolores, was not sufficiently effective for working
downwards the richest portion of the vein, in the
mine of Sta Teresa, and that a new vertical shaft,

mr. buchan's report. 241
and more powerful engine, was absolutely necessary
in that neighbourhood. To meet this difficulty,
Captain Tindal, R.N., who had succeeded Captain
Vetch in the direction of the Company, commenced,
in January, 1830, the new shaft of Terreros; but
the depth to which this pit had to be carried
down to reach the old workings being 380 yards,
it would have required many years to sink that
distance, in hard rock, by only one drift from the
surface. The saving of time being a matter of
the greatest moment, it was determined to drive
it at the same time from five distinct points, by
bringing gaUeries from the old workings, and
at different levels, to points directly under that
which had been fixed for commencing the shaft at
the surface, and then both rising and sinking from
them. This operation, which is one demanding
the utmost skiU in mine-engineering, was happUy
concluded in January, 1834, by the joining of the
eight ends, and forming as straight and perfect a
shaft as if it had been driven only from the surface.
An engine of fifty -four-inch cylinder having been
erected, and assisted by the smaUer ones at Dolores
and San Cayetano, this portion of the Biscayna
vein was worked for some time with considerable
VOL. II. M

242 mr. buchan's report.
profit, and to the great depth of 470 yards from
the surface, or 240 yards under adit.
" At this point, the water having so increased as
again to overpower the engine, Mr. John Rule (the
successor of Captain Tindal) erected a stiU larger
one of seventy-five inches at Dolores, and removed
that of Terreros to another new shaft, which had
been sunk with one of the thirty-inch engines,
near the old mine of Acosta. The reward of these
new adventures was two bunches of rich ore : the
one discovered on the Sta Brigida vein, near
Acosta, and called La Luz ; the other, San Enrique,
on the Biscayna vein, near Dolores.
" Up to the end of 1847, however, the general
result of working these mines had been decidedly
unfortunate to the Enghsh adventurers; for al
though they had profited by the three rich bunches
of ore at Terreros, Acosta, and Dolores, and had
produced 10,481,475 doUars worth of sUver; stiU
the outlay on aU the undertakings of the Real del
Monte Company had also reached the larger amount
of 15,381,633 doUars; leaving the great loss of
nearly five mUlions of dollars, as the result of the
twenty-three years they had held the mines.
" The deep workings of the mines were now

243
230 yards under the great adit, or 122 yards below
the point in which they had been abandoned by the
second Conde ; and the difficulty of the drainage
had so increased, both from the augmented quantity
of the water, and the greater height to raise it
to the point of discharge at adit, that the three
powerful steam engines at Acosta and Dolores.
which were dis charging two thousand seven himdred
gaUons per niinute, at a cost of 90,000 doUars per
annum, could barely stem the coming water of the
mine. " To show what had been effected by Enghsh
energy and enterprise, a comparison of the cost
and effect of steam drainage, as compared with
the plan of the country, becomes at this point
interesting. As before shown, the Enghsh Com
pany at the commencement had easUy effected
with two smaU engines, and with a cost of 30.000
dollars, what the Conde de Regla had been obliged
to relinquish in 1S01. with twenty-eight ir.alr.carcs.
and at a cost of 250,000 doUars: but new with
increased depth, and greater volume of water,
three powerful pumping engines, spending 90,000
doUars. were barely able to maintain the drainage ;
whUe to replace them would have required at least

244 mr. buchan's report.
180 malacates, employing seven thousand horses,
with upwards of two thousand men, and with an
expenditure of not less than two millions of doUars
per annum. In fact, not only from its cost, but
from the number of men and shafts necessary to
work so many machines, it would have been per
fectly impracticable to have carried down the mine
to its present depth by horse-power.
" With this increased difficulty of drainage,
seeing three rich bunches of ore all worked out,
and a debt of five miUions of doUars stiU out
standing, it is not surprising that the energy and
perseverance of the Enghsh adventurers, which
had distinguished them since the year 1825, and
through so long a period of heavy expenditure and
hopes deferred, were at last exhausted.
" Towards the middle of 1848, I came here, at
the request of the directors, to see what could be
effected; and I certainly found affairs in a most
critical state, from pending debts and liabUities,
which had been incurred to a large amount, and
at a heavy rate of interest, in the city of Mexico.
Add to this, that the mines were producing far
less than their expenditure, and that the com
pany was involved in two very critical and costly

mr. buchan's report. 245
law-suits. StUl I felt convinced, that the con
cern might be rendered a good one, if but a
smaU capital could be supplied, for, at least,
paying off its most urgent liabilities, and effect
ing some reform in its reduction-works ; but the
complicated interests of share and bond-holders,
who represented the company, seemed to com
plete the natural despondency of aU parties in
London; and, rather than risk any farther
capital, the Enghsh company was dissolved in
October 1848, and I was directed by the trustees
to dispose of the concern in this country.
" It was, however, no easy matter to find pur
chasers in the city of Mexico for mines which
had faUen into such perfect discredit ; and a still
more difficult task to convince monied men, that
an enterprise which, aided by aU the energy and
capital of a powerful Enghsh company, had,
during the last twenty-three years, incurred a
loss of five milhons of doUars, and whose mines
were now deep, poor, and working to the extreme
extent of its powerful steam-engines, could be
rendered profitable. I am, therefore, the more
obliged to my friends, Don Manuel Escandon
and Don Nicanor Beistegui, who, without being

246 mr. buchan's report.
miners themselves, reposed so much confidence
in my technical opinion and judgment, as to
come forward, under such discouraging circum
stances, and, in May 1849, boldly take up the
enterprise, on terms which, although not return
ing to the Enghsh adventurers much of their lost
capital, at least reheved them from aU farther
responsibUity. " In a few words, I wiU now explain the
grounds on which I was induced to take the
responsible measure of inducing the present par
ties to enter on this extensive undertaking, and
the manner in which, by the investment of fur
ther capital, I proposed to obtain for them a
better result in future.
"After giving aU due credit to my predeces
sors for the skiU and energy with which their
mining operations had been conceived and car
ried out — and fuUy admitting, that it is far easier
to criticise results than to plan measures — it
appeared to me, that the concern had hitherto
been worked, as weU on too limited a scale, as
with too expensive an estabhshment; but par
ticularly, that, without any effective attempt to
render the poorer and more abundant ores available,

MB. buchanjs report. 247
or to make new discoveries on the higher and
stiU virgin portions of the veins, every effort
had been directed to the search after rich ores
in depth, which, when at last discovered, did
not remunerate the large amount invested to find
them. Experience had convinced me, that, to
render an extensive mining enterprise like this
secure, it should mainly depend on the poor and
abundant ore of its veins for the current cost
of exploring them; so that the richer bunches,
which would occur in a regular and systematic
process of working, might be found without any
forced effort or outlay, and thus become more
profitable. It was further clear, that, as certain
costs, such as general management, drainage,
rents to owners, etc., etc., were unavoidable, and
nearly the same under any scale of operations,
that a larger return of the poorer ores must be
obtained, in order to support them; and, lastly,
that a perfect system of economy, in every branch
of so large an establishment, was most essential
to its success.
" To carry out these views, I commenced by
arranging the entire system of accounts on such
a plan, that every week's result, in each mine

248and reduction-work, might be clearly shown, and
the economy of the different departments thus
fairly compared against each other. To reduce
the excessive cost of drainage, I abandoned (to
some future and more favourable moment) the
very deep workings on the Biscayna vein, and
only maintained the water to 130 yards under
adit, by one large steam-engine at Dolores;
while, at the same time, the extraction of poor
ores (which existed above this level in great
quantities in the north and south veins of the
Santa Brigida and Santa Inez) was facilitated
and increased by additional shafts, winding-
machines, internal rail-roads, yards for picking
and storing the ore, etc., etc.
" Conjointly with these operations, I selected
the eastern and yet virgin portion of the Biscayna
vein for the site of new trials, in high ground,
above water-level. In making this choice, I was
guided by the well-ascertained fact, that the
former rich formation of ore, which had been
worked to so much profit, from the Santa Teresa
and Terreros shafts, was caused by the coming toge
ther of the Biscayna and another paraUel vein,
caUed the Tapona ; and by my having ascertained,

mr. buchan's report. 249
by careful surveys, that another similar junction
might be expected to the east of the old and
once-celebrated mines of La Pahna and San
Ramon, then the furthermost workings in that
direction. To solve this interesting mine-pro
blem, I continued driving the great adit in that
direction; a work which, as far as I can ascer
tain, had been discontinued since the time of the
first Conde de Regla; and after passing through,
as was calculated, a long portion of dead or un
productive vein, my expectations have been at
last reahsed by the discovery of a new, and, as
far as we can yet judge, very promising formation
of ore. At present, being four hundred yards
to the east of the nearest shaft, the ventilation
is so bad, that, even with the aid of air-machines,
we can with difficulty continue to work on a
very limited scale ; but, by the end of this year,
we hope to communicate the adit with the new
shaft of San Patricio, which, simultaneously with
the under-trial, I commenced in that direction;
and then there is httle doubt of our having
a perfectly new and good mine, with the very
great recommendation of its being also a dry
one.
m 5

250 " But the most arduous and costly part of my
plan for returning a large quantity of poor ores,
arose from the necessary extension of reduction-
power, which the company then possessed on a
very hmited scale in the haciendas of Regla and
Sanchez. " I must here explain a peculiarity in the forma
tion of the mineral veins of this district; that,
whUe those which run in an easterly and westerly
direction produce ores that are readUy reduced
by the usual amalgamation process, which is prac
tised to so great an extent in this country; the
ores from the north and south veins have quite
a different mineral character, and, in many cases,
cannot be made to yield their sUver by this pro
cess. Trials at the hacienda of Sanchez having,
however, proved that they could be advantage
ously reduced by a modification of the weU-known
system of barrels, as practised at Freiberg, in
Saxony; and the great mass of poor ores on
which we could count being of this character,
I determined to adopt the barrel-amalgamation
on a very large scale.
"For this purpose, my chief attention during
the last two and a half years has been directed to

MR. buchan^s report. 251
the erection of the two entirely new works at San
Miguel and Velasco, as weU as to enlarging and
reforming those of Regla and Sanchez ; a heavy and
costly undertaking, which I am most happy to say
is at last concluded, and these four large reduction-
works are now in fuU operation. That of Regla, in
addition to smelting aU the richer ores that we are
likely to obtain, can also amalgamate, by the patio
or common country process, 800 cargas of ore per
week, and which I count on soon supplying from
the new eastern discoveries on the Biscayna vein ;
wrhUe the three other haciendas of San Miguel,
Velasco, and Sanchez, can amalgamate, in barrels,
2700 cargas more of the abundant refractory ores,
from the north and south veins.
" In the haciendas of San Miguel and Regla, which
have been placed at a distance of twelve mUes
from the mines, in order to take advantage of a
powerful stream wliich rises out of the ground in
their immediate neighbourhood, water power
is alone used to drive the extensive machinery,
which is employed to blow the furnaces, grind the
ores, or revolve the barrels ; but at the haciendas
of Sanchez and Velasco, which are built at the
mouth of the vaUey descending from the mines,

252 mr. buchan's report.
and only depend on the limited quantity of water
extracted by the engine from the veins, steam is
also employed as an auxiliary power. So that
besides the powerful pumping engine of 75 inch
cyhnder which drains the mines, we have now in
motion at the reduction- works, two smaUer rota
tory steam engines, and eighteen water-wheels of
different sizes, which drive 110 wet stampers or
pounding mUls; sixteen large "arrastres" and
three edge-stone mUls, all employed in grinding
ores ; besides revolving sixty-four large barrels, in
wliich the prepared ores are afterwards amal
gamated. In the hacienda of Regla, there are ten
blast furnaces used for the smelting of rich ore
when we can obtain it; and in San Miguel,
Velasco, and Sanchez, thirty-six reverberatory
furnaces, for drying and chlororising the ores
preparatory to amalgamation in the barrels. Two
of these furnaces at Velasco are revolving ones,
which both feed, and rake the ore and salt, by
machinery. " Over and above the discovery of ore already
alluded to, in the eastern ground of the Biscayna
vein, we have also at Pachuca, a mine called
Rosario, in very good produce ; and in which, in

mr. buchan's report. 253
an adit driven to the junction of the Rosario vein,
with the famous one of Xacal, a large body of
good ore has been met with.
"My calculations, on commencing operations
for the new adventurers, were as foUows : — that
returning 3000 cargas per week, of the poor but
abundant ores of the north and south veins, from
which an average produce of 4 to 4 J marks of
sUver per ton might be expected, would pay
aU cost, and a moderate interest on the new out
lay that was necessary ; leaving the probable
chance of discovering richer ores, for increasing
the profit.
"During the last two and a half years, and
whUe augmenting our reduction- works, we have,
besides those returned, and producing 1,683,713
doUars' worth of sUver, also accumulated 90,000
cargas of these poor ores, and we are now extract
ing 3000 cm-gas per week; but owing to the
superior class of those from Rosario mine, the
average yield has increased to nearly six marks per
ton, and our produce of sUver to twenty bars,
worth 20,000 doUars per week; which is likely to
increase as soon as the new discovery on eastern
Biscavna is ventilated and fairlv worked.

254 mr. buchan's report.
" With this produce, I can confidently count on
leaving a steady annual profit, of at least 200,000
doUars; which you wiU aUow is no bad result
for mines, which only three years ago were on
the very verge of ultimate abandonment ; whUe
should our discoveries on the eastern ground of
the Biscayna, or elsewhere, lead to the produce
of any quantities of the rich ores, which this
vein has yielded in other parts; our profits wiU
of course be greatly increased.
"I have, as yet, omitted to mention, what in
my opinion, is a work of the greatest interest,
as one which would secure the continued pros
perity of the mines of this district for many years
to come. It wUl be remembered, that the first
Conde de Regla distinguished himself, and made
the fortune of his famUy, by driving the present
adit or horizontal tunnel, which drained the mines
of the Biscayna to the depth of two hundred yards
from the surface, but that having exhausted all the
known riches of the veins above that level, the
second Conde had continued their excavations to
a hundred and eight yards below it ; being the
limit to which they could be worked with profit
by horse-power drainage.

mr. buchan's report. 255
" The English Company, by the powerful aid of
steam, afterwards carried down these workings to
more than double that depth, or 240 yards
under adit; but here we find another limit to
profitable working, as the deeper excavations on
the Biscayna vein are again abandoned to fiU with
water. To Don Jose Castelazo, the mine-agent of
the late, or third Conde de Regla, is due the credit
of having planned and begun to work, in 1816,
a second or deeper adit; which, commencing at
the mouth of the valley, and near the smaU
town of Omutlan, would enter and drain the mines,
to 130 yards below the level of the present, or
Conde's adit.
" It is true, that the great distance which this
gallery had to be driven, of 4,500 yards from its
mouth to Dolores' shaft, and that mostly through
very hard rock, rendered it an undertaking of
considerable time and cost to accomplish. Yet
had it been actively and constantly persevered in
by the English Company, and with the investment
of but little more capital than that expended in
applying larger steam engines, it would have long
since reached the mines, and no doubt given a very
different turn to the fortunes of that Company.

256 mr. buchan's report.
" When the working of the mines was resumed
in 1825, their deepest pits were only 108 yards
under the old adit; so that this new one would
have laid the mines completely dry, and even have
enabled them to be sunk below that level, on the
same footing as the second Conde had worked
below the first adit, with all the additional advan
tage of steam over horse power. But unfortunately
the more speedy plan (as it was supposed) of
carrying down the mine by dint of powerful steam
engines, was adopted, in preference to the slower
but surer one, of first driving home the deep adit ;
the progress of which, during the last twenty-five
years, has been so slow, that about 3,000 yards are.
stUl wanting to reach the Biscayna.
" My present plan, for securing, in the first
instance, the stabUity of the Company, has been
to return with economy, and on an extended scale,
the poor ores that are rendered accessible by the
steam engine already erected and at work, making
at the same time discoveries on the high and
virgin extremes of the vein ; but I also consider
it of the greatest importance not to neglect the
great work of the deep adit, which, besides laying
the whole district dry to the depth of 300 yards,

MR. BUCHAN S REPORT. 2j/
with the great probabUity of making important
discoveries on the many mineral veins to be inter
sected in its course, wiU also form quite a new era
in the working of the deep mines of the Biscayna.
by reducing their drainage-depth from 240 to
110 yards : and consequently rendering again
lr.ghly profitable the workings which were aban
doned in good ores at the bottoms of both Terreros
and Dolores.
" At present we are only driving this deep adit
^called the "' Socabon Aviadora") from two points.
and barely progressing at the rate of three yards
per week ; but as soon as other arrangements
permit, we propose to push on this important
work from two other intermediate points, by
which means it would be completed in five
years : and thus enhance, to a very great extent,
the value of the ruining property belonging to the
new Real del Monte Company.
• ' Your*, my dear Sir, very truly,
•'• John H. Buchan."

258

LETTER XLII.
THE MINES OF FRESNILLO.
[London, August, 1852.
Before taking leave of the subject of mining in
Mexico, I must here insert another though short
report which I have received in Spanish, and trans
lated, of the celebrated mines of the Fresnillo,
analogous to those of Real del Monte ; and showing
how much may be safely done in mining with good
management and economy, however uninviting
the ores to be worked may be. It would, indeed,
be well for the mining interests at large, as it ap
pears to me, were operations adopted less specula
tive in their nature than the sanguine temperament
of miners make them — something more reduced
to a systematic business, such as is now established
at Real del Monte and the Fresnillo. By seeking for
rich ores, and despising poor ones, no doubt briUiant
results are here and there now and then obtained ;
but it would appear that a steadier prosperity would

THE MINES OF FRESNILLO. 259
be insured by making poor ores the foundation of
mining operations, obtaining from them the " daUy
bread," and so having continuous and certain means
of steadily working into rich veins.]
NOTES ON THE AFFAIRS OF THE MINES OF FRES
NILLO, IN THE STATE OF ZACATECAS.
It is known, by original documents, that the
mines in the Cerro (or mountain) of Proano, were
occasionaUy worked from as early a date as the
year 1617. In 1751, the works began to be
carried on with less interruption, and very rich
and abundant returns were reahsed over a con
siderable extent of ground. At this time, the
administrator-general of these mines was Don
N. Murguia, who left behind him very circum
stantial accounts of the exceUent state in which
he abandoned them, for want of capital supphed
by the person who then owned them, one Captain
Don M. Munoz, protege of the old house of
Aldaco, of Mexico. The mines were afterwards
worked by various rich inhabitants of that city,
but in so parsimonious a manner, that their works
were never carried much beyond the surface.
Murguia' s accounts, however, were found to be

260 THE MINES OF FRESNILLO.
so very exact, that they led the government of
Zacatecas to undertake and carry forward the
draining and working of the mines from the year
1830 to 1835, when the general government leased
them to the Zacatecano-Mexican Company.
This association was divided into 120 shares,
or, as they were called, "decimos de barra" (tenths
of a bar), equivalent to the twelve whole bars,
or shares, ceded to the company by the govern
ment, which reserved to itself twelve bars more,
or, in other words, the half of the mine, in quality
of aviadas.* One condition of this contract was,
that it should remain in force for twelve years;
and another, that, besides the necessary sums ex
pended in working the mines, the company should
make a loan to the government of 1,300,000 dollars,
repayable from one-third part of the profits ; and,
from both these obhgations, sprung the enormous
* The usual custom is, to divide every mining business into
twenty-four bars or shares : barras aviadoras are those which
are ceded by the owners of the mine to others, on condition
that, both for the time, and in perpetuity, they shall pay all
the expenses of the working; while the barras aviudas are
those which the owners reserve to themselves, and who, without
any obligation to contribute towards the outlays, are entitled to
their share of the profits, after deducting the expenses incurred
by the aoiadores in working the mines.

THE MINES OF FRESNILLO. 261
disbursement of 23,300 doUars for each of the
120 shares.
The cerro, or hiU, of Proano contains eighteen
mines, the greater number of which have been
worked by the Company in question; and this
is at present done, beneficiaUy, in five of the
mines of considerable extent, called Barreno,
Oscura, Belena, Colorada, and AmariUa, whose
several veins extend to five thousand varas, or
Spanish yards, in length, whUe the Company
preserves its works of discovery in such other
mines as present the most favourable aspect, and
from which indeed very satisfactory results are
generaUy obtained. They have twenty-one adits
(tiros) in good repair, and of different depths;
among these, the most remarkable are of the
Beleiia and San Francisco mines, being the prin
cipal drains, and of the length of 450 varas. On
these are placed two steam engines of the highest
power in this country, with cylinders of eighty
inches diameter, and capable of working, to good
effect, down to 650 or 700 varas.
The Company possesses three reduction-establish
ments ; viz., that of Guadalupe, with 48 tahonas,*
* These are circular mule-mills, or arrastres, with millstones to

262 THE MINES OF FRESNILLO.
or mills ; of Rosario, with 16 ; and of the new
and large one, erected at the foot of the hiU, of
250 tahonas, and capable of containing in aU 314.
Here have been concentrated aU the amalgamation
works. In the factories, general buUdings, ma
chinery, stock, etc., etc., received by the Company
on commencing its contract, or made and purchased
since, about 1,500,000 doUars have been invested.
The new hacienda just mentioned, the largest
and handsomest of any in the repubhc, is capable
of being greatly enlarged, and of considerable
improvement. It is at present intended to work
the different mUls in which the metals are crushed
by steam, replacing with this powerful agent the
large number of animals, which, up to this time,
have been employed in the crushing. This very
useful reform, for the realising of which an intel
ligent and practical engineer has arrived from
England, wiU double the produce, with an incal
culable saving at the same time. True it is, that

crush the metal, and worked by one or two mules. The Company is
about to put up twelve mills of a new kind, worked by steam, and
which by this power will crush from 20,000 to 25,000 quintals of
metal weekly. The steam engines will be constructed in the well-
known establishment of Messrs. Harvey and Co., Hayle Foundry.

THE MINES OF FRESNILLO. 263
in no other hacienda has greater economy been
practised, for the FresnUlo has contrived to make
metals of the low average produce, of three marks,
pay; a fact of which there is, perhaps, no other
example in the mining history of the country.
Up to the end of 1837, the Zacatecano-Mexican
Company had to make not only the disbursements,
which the complete working of the mines required,
but those to which they were bound by the loan
to the government. In September, of the said
year, the shareholders began to receive their divi
dends; and they continued to be paid without
interruption, each successive year, up to the expira
tion of the twelve, which were stipulated as the
duration of the first contract.
The produce of the Fresnillo, during the above
time amounted to 21,356,353 doUars 73 cents,
which, after covering the amount expended in
setting up and furmshing the mines, amounting to
1,414,699 dollars, left a net profit of 3,357,463
doUars 25 cents.
As, during the course of the twelve years men
tioned, the partners had acquired not only the
perpetual property of the twelve barras, which the
government had ceded to them, but the other

264 THE MINES OF FRESNILLO.
half of the enterprise, which had at first been
reserved in quahty of aviadas, there was formed in
September, 1847, by the incorporation of one
with the other, the new and present Zacatecano-
Mexican Company, divided into 230f shares, with
perpetual and exclusive dominion over aU that is
comprehended in the vast business of the FresnUlo,
as shown by deeds and documents, which solemnly
guarantee the legitimacy of their titles of possession.
The produce of the enterprise, since the time
mentioned, is stated in the foUowing detail : —
From September, 1847, to December, 1849 : —
Dollars Cts. Dollars Cts.
Produce .... 1,737,331 46
Expenses .... 1,414,914 25

Nett Profit .... 322,417 21
In the year, 1849 : —
Produce .... 1,398,386 68
Expenses .... 980,384 33

Nett Profit .... 418,002 35
In the year, 1850 : —
Produce .... 1,279,762 37
Expenses .... 1,006,209 91

Nett Profit .... 273,552 46

1,013,972 02

THE MINES OF FRESNILLO. 265
Of these sums the following have been distributed
among the shareholders : — Dollars Cts.
Prom September, 1847, to December, 1848 402,687 00
In all 1849  346,227 40
In all 1850  207,685 80

956,600 20

In concluding these notes, it is proper to state,
that the haciendas, offices, and houses of the com
pany — the steam-engines and other machinery
in use — the effects and stock, of which a vast
amount is always on hand — and the large num
ber of animals occupied in mining labours —
represent fairly a value of more than a miUion
and a lialf of dollars; that, in the court of the
principal hacienda, there are always, in ordinary
times, from three to four thousand heaps of metal,
of twrenty quintals each, ready for crushing, with,
at least, twelve or fifteen hundred marks of sUver,
of the value of from one hundred to one hun
dred and twenty-five thousand dollars : in fine,
that there is an abundant supply of every thing
which can be required for the working and the
labour of so large a business, in which upwards of
tluee thousand persons arc employed.
VOL. II. N

266 THE MINES OF FRESNILLO.
As may be seen by the foregoing data, the
FresnUlo mines have given rich returns. Its
metals, although of low produce, are so abundant,
or rather, it may be said, so inexhaustible, its
administration is so economical and so well regu
lated, and aU its circumstances are so analogous
with a weU-conducted mercantile or industrial
undertaking, that it is not subject to the ordinary
vicissitudes of mining affairs. It may, accord
ingly, be asserted, that the FresniUo wiU continue
to give to its shareholders an annual income of,
at least, from three hundred to four hundred
thousand dollars.

PART V.

REVIEW OF MEXICO.

n2

269

LETTER XLIII.
THE CITY ANB THE DESERT.
Mexico, 21th Sept., 1849.
The time of our leaving Mexico, and our many
kind and hospitable friends, and of breaking up
the truly agreeable society which we have enjoyed
here, is now drawing near. Indeed, we have
already lost our two principal " Tertulianos" and
one of our most agreeable friends. By the packet
of the 13th of July, Mr. Falconnet and the Mar
quis de Raddepont took their departure ; and
Mr. B — , on the 31st of August, commenced a
tour on a scale not much known in Europe. He
was to proceed, by the City of Tepic, to the ports
of San Bias and Mazatlan, on the Pacific. Thence
by steamer, he was to coast the whole of that
ocean, touching at Acapulco, Panama, and Gua-
yaquU,, remaining some time in Lima ; and
on, by the intermediate ports of Peru (Pisco,
Arica, Islay, etc.), to Coquimbo and Valparaiso,

270 THE CITY AND
in ChUi. From the capital of this republic,
Santiago, Mr. B — proposed crossing the Cordil
lera de los Andes, and the Pampas, to Buenos
Ayres ; thence to BrazU, on to the West Indies,
and home by the United States. The whole,
including a view of aU that is most interesting in
the republic of Mexico, may be done comfortably
within the year; thus visiting almost every
country and people in the whole of the Southern
Hemisphere. To those who can spare the time and
the money, having at the same time a moderate
intrepidity and earnestness of character, I recom
mend Mr. B — 's nice little trip, as the most
useful, instructive, and suggestive, that can be
undertaken. WeU ! we have now arranged as to the mode,
form, and time of our own departure ; and my
Mexican commission being closed, so far as I can
arrange it in this country, I have ten or twelve
days on my hand, for pleasure and travel. But
two or three more letters, and not long ones, must
suffice to chronicle what I have yet to say of the
city, plain, and people of Mexico.
Mr. B — 's departure was preceded by two
pleasant dinner parties, given on the occasion.

THE DESERT. 271
Of one, by our host, Mr. M., I wiU say nothing
more than that it was at once a pleasant and a hand
some affair. Of the other banquet I must say a
few words more, because it came off at the princi
pal hotel in Mexico. It is caUed the Hotel de
Compagnon — it is the Mivart's of the city. Here
Mr. Falconnet and Mr. B. had their apartments
during their stay; and here the latter gave a
dinner, " de despedida," to his friends, two days
before his departure.
Before the estabhshment of the Compagnon, the
city of Mexico was very poorly off for a good
hotel. The Spanish people are noted for their
bad inns; and their transatlantic descendants
have not much redeemed the character of their
fathers. I did not see one reaUy comfortable inn
or hotel in Mexico, save the Compagnon; the
second in rank being that of La Gran Sociedad.
The enterprising founder of the new dynasty of
hotel-keepers has done his work well, and it pays
him weU. The house is weU furnished, the rooms
good, the service very fair, and the creature com
forts provided are not to be despised. The dinner
got up at the hotel for Mr. B — was as exceUent
a one as a bon vivant could desire, and the wines

272 THE CITY AND
of every kind were exceedingly good. The
general charges I thought very moderate for an
expensive place like Mexico; and accordingly I
recommend all travellers, who are looking out for
a good hotel in the city, to bend their steps to
the Compagnon.
During part of Mr. B— 's stay, he had one
discomfort, which was but temporary. The
town was suddenly filled with great musicians ;
Bochsa, Mrs. Bishop, Herr Coenen (a splendid
violinist) Mr. Douglas, a black one, and two or
three others of less celebrity. Their individual
rehearsals were all at the hotel; so that sounds,
however pleasing in solo development, fell in such
discordant mixture on Mr. B — 's ear, that morning
after morning he had no alternative but to leave
the field of battle in possession of the din-stirring
enemy. We found, as the day of the packet's sailing
approached, we were likely to have many Mexican
passengers ; and some of them attached to my own
party. In particiUar, I engaged to take a widow
lady and her famUy, consisting of an unmarried
sister, and two daughters, nine and eleven years of
age, under my charge from Vera Cruz to London.

TIIE DESERT. 273
The charge was an onerous one ; but Mrs. Ijanda
was connected with Mr. Escandon. She was going
to take charge of her only son ; left unprotected in
Spain, by the accidental drowning of Mr. Landa,
whUe bathing in the sea. I could not therefore hesi
tate ; though when I considered that those under
my charge were to travel through the United
States in winter; and that they had never gone
farther beyond the city of Mexico than Tacubaya,
where Mrs. L — had a very pretty establish
ment, I could not help feeling dubious as to
the results of the new, unimagined, and tempes
tuous course, into which these poor ladies and
children, all of delicate health, were about to
plunge. Up to the time of agreeing to take Mrs. Landa
and her family under my wing, neither H — nor 1
had seen any of them. The matter was arranged
with Don Jose Landa (Mrs. L — 's brother-in-law),
one of our nicest friends ; and of whom, as brother-
in-law also of Mr. Escandon, we had had an
opportunity of seeing much, during the latter part
of our stay.
But it was necessary now to make Mrs. Landa' s
acquaintance ; and to that effect she asked Mr.
n5

274 THE CITY AND
and Mrs. Mackintosh and ourselves, to dine with
her, and some of her near relations, in her own
house at Tacubaya. So we went on the 15th
(September), and were entertained in exceUent
taste and style. Mrs. L — we found a very lady
like person, with a quietness of demeanour ap
proaching to sadness ; no doubt increased by her
recent heavy and most unexpected bereavement,
under the melancholy circumstances of the case.
I argued, however, from her calm and placid way,
a passive resistance, which would get her well
through her coming troubles. The little Misses
Landa were amiable, and, evidently, very weU
brought up.
After we had spent a quiet but agreeable even
ing at la Viuda Landa's, H — and I went, under
Don Manuel Escandon' s care, to his brother, Don
Joaquin's villa, at Tacubaya; not at present inha
bited by him. It is one of the many handsome
country-houses of the Mexican gentry. The
view from it is superb, and the garden rich and
luxuriant in its flowers ; but above aU in its roses.
We slept at Don Joaquin's, and at six, next
morning, were enjoying the freshness of the air,
and the beauty of the scene. We called on the

THE DESERT. Ii/0
Count Cortina, and viewed his house and grounds,
which, also, are very fine.
The 16th of September is the anniversary of
the Independence of Mexico ; and the great
National trumpet proclaimed a mighty holiday.
The Alameda was brushed up, seats and walks were
cleaned, statues were whitewashed, and fountains
were set playing. Garlands were hung about in
profusion ; the great town awning was spread from
the plaza to the Alameda gate ; in the morning,
boom went the cannon, and up flew the rockets.
In the forenoon were high mass, grand procession —
president, ministers, municipahty, guards, militia,
regulars, bands of music, and citizens — harangues
from great men, huzzas from httle boys — windows
and balconies crowded with beauty — streets
thronged with leperos — flags, muslin curtains,
flowers, everywhere. In short, one would have
thought that the people had really something worth
while to celebrate, in keeping alive the remembrance
of their Independence. Alas ! I could not but
fear that it might aU be likened to the heralded
and escutcheoned pomp and parade of high and
mighty funereal obsequies. Grandeur to the eye,

276 THE CITY AND
but on lifting up the shroud — death, in all its
paUor. In the evening we went to Mr. G — 's house ;
the balconies of which look into the Plaza, where
there was a grand display of fireworks. The scene
was both animated and beautiful. On the mas
sive dimensions of the fine cathedral just opposite
to us, deep shade and brilliant light were so happily
divided, as to appear the work of premeditated
art ; not the casual effect, as it was, of the glare
from the lights of the Plaza, falling on the fronts
and projecting towers and divisions, while others
fell into the shade. Much order prevailed amid
the dense and motley crowd ; and the day concluded
to the apparent satisfaction of the worthy citizens.
On Tuesday, the 18th, we had lightning, which
frightened many, and nearly blinded me. We
have had, during the last four or five weeks, a
good many of the heavy rains which constantly
fall during this, the rainy season : yet not nearly
to the extent, we are told, of ordinary years. In
fact, there has not been much more rain than was
agreeable, the roads still inchning sometimes to
dust rather than to mud.

1HE DESERT. I. , i
On the 19th, Wednesday, we had a caU from
Mr. Herz, who has made both noise and money
here, by having himself proclaimed in every possi
ble and impossible manner, the prince of piano
performers. The concerts have been famously
attended ; but Coenen, the violinist, who accompa
nies him, has been the most attractive of the
two. On Thursday, the 20th, we had "a day at
Cuajamalpa, and the desert." Mr. Escandon pro
vided a dUigence for the occasion ; and at half-past
eight, it left his door with himself and his brothers
Joaquin and Antonio, Mr. Bringas, Mr. T — , our
British attache, Mr. Mariner, from the interior, and
Messrs. L — and G — , H — and myself. Mr. G —
had sent off his servants at an earher hour, with
all the necessaries of a Mexican breakfast, to be
consumed at the fete champetre. An excursion
of this kind is caUed a " dia de campo " — a day in
the country, as it really is; and therefore the
viands include aU that is united in a " dejeuner a
la fourchette," an Ascot provision, and a pic-nic. I
added to the numerous dehcacies provided for the
occasion, a barrel of punch-royal; one -half of
which our driver contrived to spiU in the street, by

278 THE CITY AND
turning the barrel downwards, and shaking the
peg out.
We set off in high spirits, the road going
through Tacubaya, from which point the ascent to
Cuajamalpa is continuous. As we rose above the
the vaUey, the beauty of the views and of the
country increased ; and after passing a little place
called Santa Fe, we arrived at a very long and
steep hUl leading to Cuajamalpa. At the bottom
. of this ascent we all got out of the diligence (saving
H — and Messrs. Joaquin Escandon, and Bringas)
and walked to Cuajamalpa. The road was very
fine, but the great rarefaction of the air, made the
walk somewhat toUsome, the distance being from
two to three mUes. I enjoyed it, nevertheless,
very much, and at half-past eleven we arrived at
Cuajamalpa, which is a large inn, with some small
houses scattered about it, and the first stage on
this road from Mexico.
Here it began to rain, which obhged us to
change our plan. The people gave us a capital
room, clean, large, and airy, — not the traveller's
room, but the private sola of the family. David
(Mr. G.'s butler) here laid out his sumptuous
breakfast (we ought to have taken it at the

THE DESERT. 279
Desierto) and, I assure you, we all did it ample
justice. At one, the day being now fine, we set off for
the Desert, which you must not fancy is a bare and
arid plain. The ruined convent, to which we
directed our steps, is situated in a beautiful and
verdant wood.
The walk to it (H — , Mr. Bringas, and Don
Joaquin were on horseback, all the rest of us on
foot), is the most romantic you can imagine. It
is along a wooded barranca, skirting a deep and
magnificent glen, which hes beneath you. The
wood is composed of the finest forest trees, princi
paUy of the pine famUy, and the "woodman's
stroke" resounded in divers parts. Two mUes
brought us to the bottom of the glen, through
many a winding path ; and then once more
ascending to the opposite height, or barranca, we
had the road by which we had come, just facing
us, with the glen lying between.
All at once we came upon the ruins, situated
on an open bit of table land, but surrounded by
woods. The convent was originaUy one of the
finest hereabouts, and was finished in the year
1616. The walls and the corridors are all stiU

280 THE CITY AND
standing with their roofs; though of most of the
rooms, the bare walls only remain. So of the
cloisters. Along these long corridors, the walls of
which are covered with names of visitors written
with charcoal, we advanced to the chapel, which,
though dilapidated, with all the windows gone,
maintains its lofty roof unimpaired. It was once
a splendid structure. It was here we had intended
to breakfast; but our leader's good sense had been
shewn in exchanging a picturesque banqueting
room for a comfortable one.
On the walls, names, sentences, and verses
abounded in thousands : and (not to be behind
our neighbours) Mr. L — , mounted on the
shoulders of two sturdy Indians, with extended
arms, and charcoal in his hand, wrote on the wall,
twelve or thirteen feet from the ground,
H. Robertson.
Wm. Parish Robertson.
Joaquin Escandon.
Manuel Escandon.
And their Friends.
We next proceeded to inspect the vaults which
ran completely round the whole quadrangular
building. Three or four of the Indians with us

THE DESERT. 281
lighted our way with huge blazing faggots of
resinous pine. What an interminable range of
deep, dark vaults and dungeons ! What massive
walls to divide one from another ! Some were
used during the time of the monks, we were
told, as penitentary prisons, some as ceUars: and
certainly for deeds of darkness — for fanatical
vengeance — for the imposition of lingering human
suffering — nothing could be either more appropriate
or more complete. The mind shuddered as fancy
conjured up all the terrible scenes which these
dungeons must have witnessed, and all the groans
of despair to which their waUs must have listened.
It was a relief to the spirits to emerge once more
into open day.
At some distance from the convent, and at the
bottom of what had once been extensive gardens,
now tangled with underwood and trees, stood a
large alcove. Thence we walked round the con
vent, and read the tablet fixed on one of the walls,
which bore witness to the date of the completion
of the buUdings. Next we contrived to get on
the parapet of one of the domes, whence we had
a splendid view of the surrounding country. De
scending once more to the chapel, we found our

282 THE CITY AND
caterer standing in the centre with a basket
containing glasses, pastry, and loads of ice ; whUe
the barrel, containing the punch, stood at his
side. It seemed delicious after aU our rambles
and researches. We found we had a superabun
dant supply both for ourselves and servants, and
our party brought the scene at the Desert merrily
to a close.
We now resolved, instead of returning to
Cuajamalpa, to proceed down the gorge of the
whole Barranca, about six miles in length, emerg
ing from it a league nearer Mexico than the
post-house. Messengers were despatched to order
the dUigence to go on to the point at which we
were to come out ; and H — , Mr. Bringas, and
Don Joaquin once more on horseback, the rest
of us on foot, set off to traverse this most beau
tiful of glens. L — put a bottle of brandy in his
pocket, and M — armed himself with a tumbler
from the butler's stock.
The beauty of that glen ! it is in vain to at
tempt to paint it — you must just imagine every
thing most exquisite in wooded scenery, and then
you have it. Our path was narrow, and so rugged
that H — 's horse was led all the way by the

THE DESERT. 283
gallant Mr. T — . Our whole way lay along the
clear and rapid stream, which, over its rocky and
pebbled bed, fretted its way. The noise of the
waters was music to the ear; and I think they
were most particularly grateful to the joUy Mr.
M — at those points where we halted by the
rivulet side, and where, seated on the broad flat
rocks, we drew crystal water from the stream, and
sparkling cognac from the bottle, to assuage the
thirst caused by our long and warm, though truly
splendid walk.
And when at last, to gain the main road, we
mounted a steep ascent from the vaUey, and sud
denly stood on a high table-land, what a scene
burst on my astonished view ! The sun was de
scending on the most lovely of aU tropical evenings
— the light perfect but soft — the air balmy but
cool. On one side, in a single coup d'mil, I got
the whole winding glen through which we had
passed, with wooded hiUs, one range rising above
another, as they receded in the distance. The
Barranca itself is three or four hundred feet deep
— aU wooded. On the other side, stretched away
the great valley of Mexico, the wonder and glory

284 THE CITY AND
of this splendid country ; cultivated, planted,
green, dotted with haciendas, and in the centre
the city of Mexico, with its towers, and spires,
and palaces, glittering in the rays of the setting
sun. Beyond, lay the semi-circle of lower moun
tains, and, verging on the horizon, the great snow
mountains, Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, rear
ing their hoary heads to the clear blue sky, and
also Ulumined by the sun's now softened light ! I
was rivetted to the spot : I waved to Don Manuel
to go on, and before I could force myself to the
carriage, my friends were half angry and half
amused with the way in which I had delayed
them. We had an accident going home, which detained
us upwards of an hour. As we approached the
garita, or city gate, leading into the Paseo nuevo,
Mr. T — 's horse, ridden by his servant, shied
violently, and leaped right into the wide, deep
ditch running along the road, and fiUed with
water. The poor feUow scrambled out — the horse
remained — and being a favorite one of Mr. T — 's,
he, with two or three others jumped out of the
diligence to assist in pulling the animal out.

THE DESERT. 285
This was efl'ected with difficulty; and nine
o'clock had struck, when we joined Mr. and Mrs.
Mackintosh at the dinner-table.
Thus ended our Desierto exclusion ; one of the
pleasantest we have had in Mexico.

286

LETTER XLIV.
CITY SIGHTS AND COUNTRY QUARTERS.
On Friday we were a good deal taken up preparing
for our departure, as the arrieros, who take our
principal luggage are twenty days on the road
from this to Vera Cruz. On Saturday night we
went to Herz's very last concert, his real last
one; for we have had three sham "last" ones;
and it was moreover called a monster concert.
We had some good playing, and bad singing, and
at the end they gave us the new national hymn
composed by Herz ; performed by two orchestras,
seven pianos, played by thirteen professors, a
chorus, and Mr. Herz with variations. Great
was the noise, great the applause, and great my
pleasure when we got home.
Yesterday, Mr. L — gave a grand morning

CITY SIGHTS AND COUNTRY QUARTERS. 287
party, as a leave-taking to H — and myself. I
have spoken of him before, and his pretty resi
dence at Tisapan, five leagues from this. He
made up a gay party of sixteen (including the
Misses A — , one a celebrated and good musician)
to meet us ; and after aU I was taken ill. So I
sent H — under the protection of Mr. G — , who
spent a very pleasant day.
To comprehend better the modes, habits, and
customs of the people here, I have, among other
tilings, witnessed some of their rehgious ceremo
nies. Plenty there are of them ; for each church,
on the anniversary of its saint's-day, has its great
go, with a vast variety of little intermediate goes.
Monday was the fete-day of Nuestra Senora de
las Mercedes ; and her church is one of the most
noted in the city ; whUe the " Mercedario " friars
are among the most celebrated of the monkish
orders here.
I mentioned to you, that Mrs. Mackintosh, H —
and I went, on Sunday evening, 23rd, to see the
Mercedario fireworks ; for the operations commence
on the eve of the great day itself. The coach
could not advance for the dense crowd in the
streets immediately surrounding the great pile of

ZOO CITY SIGHTS AND
the Merced church and convent. So I got out,
determined to penetrate the throng. What an
assemblage ! Two-thirds were leperos — the remain
ing third a mixture of all the other classes, saving
the very highest. I rubbed against rags and
tatters and half-naked bodies all the way. Men,
women, and children were huddled together, and
pushing to and fro. The houses were illuminated
generally with lanterns, placed in the windows ;
and on either side of the streets were ranged men
and women, with heaps of every kind of comesti
ble — fruits, and many horrible-looking things in
the sweet line, for sale. They plied an active
trade ; but I could no more understand their
incomprehensible cries, than how they contrived
to keep the populace off their street-strewed
stands. I got to the church, and entered with the in-go
ing stream, buffeting with the outcoming. It was
grandly ht up, particularly the great altar. The
images, of which there were many, large and small,
were all decked out in their most splendid habili
ments ; the priests were in their gorgeous appoint
ments ; their assistants in aU their characteristic
dresses ; and prayers were going on, accompanied

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 289
by a fine organ, a band of music, and a full
choir. I found the church full of leperos, and women of
different classes ; some in the aisles, many squatted
in the body of the church, either talking to one
another, or attending to the priests.
With great difficulty I fought my way out on
leaving the church, through the crowd which
surrounded it; particularly at two intersecting
streets, where stages were erected in the centre,
for bands of music ; to listen to which the people
were packed together in almost impenetrable
masses. I got back to the carriage which was
waiting for me outside the crowd, and we saw not
the fireworks.
Next morning was the grand procession ; which
I went to see. The crowd was stiU greater than
overnight, and all the windows and balconies were
fiUed with spectators. What I could not compre
hend well, was to see a great number of boys and
men on the tops of the houses, waving pocket-
handkerchiefs tied as bundles, and containing (to
me) unknown substances. A line was kept open
for the procession ; and an immensely long string
of ragged, dirty boys walked along each side of
VOL. II. o

290 CITY SIGHTS AND
the line with candles. In the centre were men,
with coarse church ornamental coverings, who
carried banners, crosses, and so forth. Then came
music, next padres or friars ; and last the virgin,
elevated on a large and profusely decorated
platform. Her dress was a blaze of sUver and
gold ; and her stand moved on, supported on the
shoulders of twenty strong men. As it neared
me, the object of the pocket-handkerchiefs be
came apparent ; for at each house which the
virgin passed the bundles were swung round, three
of the corners were let go, and out flew thousands
of pieces of coloured paper, round and oval, of
the size of this page, with dried flower leaves ; aU
which being let loose, fiUed the air, and then
descended in showers on the virgin's moving altar.
At one place a rope extended from two opposite
azoteas; and as soon as the image approached, off
flew a boy from one side, dressed as an angel, with
a glittering helmet ; then gliding along the rope
to the centre of the street, and there hanging over
the virgin as she passed, he let go an enormous
bundle of papers and flowers. The band played,
the beUs rung, rockets went up, and aU was a scene
of hubbub the most complete.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 291
It was in the midst of this that my watch, which
was in my waistcoat pocket, secured by a gold
chain round my neck as usual, was neatly cut
away, without the slightest perception of the
coup de main on my part ; and one for which I
was all the less prepared, as to avoid pockethand-
kerchief robbery (never dreaming of my watch-
chain being cut), I had taken my place in the centre
of a knot of monks, who walked with the proces
sion.* Certain it is, however, that I returned from
the procession with my chain and (thanks to the
dexterity of the lepero pickpockets) without my poor
old watch, which I had worn for twenty-five years.
On Thursday, the 27th, we had the anniversary
of the real independence of Mexico, which was
effected by Yturbide, first the patriot, afterwards the
emperor, next the proscribed, and then the martyr
on his return from England. He is now deified as
the hero of the revolution.f Great doings again in
* I was afterwards assured, that it was no uncommon case
for leperos, in such processions, to assume the garb of the friar,
and so to facilitate their operations.
f His body was removed from the place where he was shot, to
the cathedral of Mexico, with a pomp vying with that which
accompanied the remains of the Emperor Napoleon when brought
to France. (See Frontispiece, Vol. I.)

292 CITY SIGHTS AND
the way of processions, pubhc harangues, music,
promenading and Uluminations. In the evening,
H — and I went to a fareweU party, given to us by
Mr. G — ; a most pleasant affair, with some capital
singing by Miss A—, known among her intimates
as " Natcha," and without dispute one of the most
charming beUes of Mexico. She sang some of
the little national, as weU as Spanish airs — comic
— with inimitable grace and fun. We had a
splendid supper — many toasts and speeches — and
we separated at half-past one.
According to previous engagement, we set off,
on Saturday at 3 f.m., for San Mateo, one of the
estates (haciendas) and principal seat of Don Joa
quin Escandon. We went in a dUigence, drawn
by four large, black, and beautiful North American
horses (frisones). Our party consisted of the
three brothers Escandon, Mr. Doyle, our Charge
d' Affaires, Mr. T — , Attache of the Legation, Mr.
W— , American Charge d' Affaires, Mr.- Bringas,
H — and myself. The drive was pretty as far as
Tanepantla, a smaU town four leagues from Mexico;
and from that to the hacienda, two leagues farther,
it was beautiful. We found ourselves in one of
the finest parts of this splendid valley.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 293
Many of the houses of the haciendas here are
rough and dilapidated : Don Joaquin's is exactly
the reverse — a beautiful country seat, kept in the
finest order. Passing through an avenue of well-
grown trees, you enter the patio, and ascend by a
handsome flight of steps, adorned on either side
by trees and shrubs, to the principal corridor,
one hundred feet in length, and sixteen feet in
width. The parterre is redolent of flowers in pots
and vases. The patio is immensely spacious ;
the rooms all very fine, as you may suppose,
the house having a frontage of one hundred
feet; whUe the views on every side are magni
ficent. At seven, we sat down to a capital dinner and
exceUent wines ; and aU retired early, to be ready
for an excursion on horseback early next morning.
AU our horses, saddled, had been led out from
town by Mr. Escan don's grooms.
We were mounted by half-past seven, and pro
ceeded through scenery, now wUd, now cultivated,
always romantic, to Don Joaquin's adjacent estate,
caUed the Lecheria, or dairy estate. The famUy
never resides there, hut the house and buildings

294 CITY SIGHTS AND
are of enormous extent. It has a pretty chapel,
where mass is regularly said.*
We returned by a different and stUl more
beautiful road (always in Don Joaquin's grounds)
to San Mateo, and after a fruit and iced
champagne lunch, we had an afternoon ride
through new scenery. Towards sun-set we
walked in the gardens, very extensive and
prettUy laid out. At half-past seven dinner
— at ten a display of fireworks — and, re
turning this morning aU on horseback, for the
weather was enchanting, by quite another road,
Mr. T — , an old hand, declared he had seen
nothing to surpass the beauty of the scenery, even
in the beautiful vaUey of Mexico. It is indeed
most surprising — most incomprehensible to know
that this Mexico is going to decay, when one sees
such proofs on every hand of its natural and
acquired riches. Let me mention, as one instance
of the latter, that on our way home this morning,
we visited a flour-mill, the property of a rich
Mexican famUy, and to give you at once an idea
of its enormous extent and importance, I have
* On the grounds is a grand represa de agua — a reservoir —
solidly built with stone, at a very large cost of money.

COUNTRY QUARTERS. 295
only to say that it yields its proprietors a hundred
thousand dollars — twenty thousand pounds of
annual income ! They have just erected additional
buUdings fitted up with Enghsh machinery, at a
cost of seventy thousand dollars, yet it is not one
sixth part of the entire buUdings ; including
mUls, warehouses, granaries, flour stores, dweUing-
houses, stabling, and I know not what other out
houses. We arrived in the city at nine this morning,
delighted with our trip, and more and more grate-
fuUy ahve to all the disinterested kindnesses which
we had received, and were receiving at the hands
of Don Manuel Escandon, and the various mem
bers of his family.

296

LETTER XLV.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
Mexico, Sept., 1852.
I have stated, in one of my former letters, that
I should reserve for my concluding pages some
misceUaneous observations on a few of the more
remarkable points (not yet mentioned) which
Mexico presents to the view of the traveller.
My matter, meantime, has sweUed into a bulk
so much greater than I anticipated, that I can
only glance at some further particulars which I
think may prove interesting. You wUl reacLUy
perceive, at the same time, that the scope of this
slight work could never, in its very nature, in
clude more than mere sketches of Mexico and its
people ; for anything beyond that, required in the
first place, a more lengthened residence, a closer
examination than mine ; and, in the second, that
coming after other, and recent publications, of a
more elaborate nature, I should run the risk of

miscellaneous notices and remarks. 297
tiring, rather than ensure a certainty of instruct
ing my readers.
This premised, I shaU now, in a cursory way,
proceed to fulfil my aUotted task.
Of the churches of Mexico, I have not much to
add to what I have already said, The principal
of them having been mentioned in my account of
the Semana Santa, viz : the cathedral, San Fran
cisco, San Augustin, Santo Domingo, La Profesa,
Santa Teresa, and Santa Teresa la Nueva; to
which may be added a long hst of secondary
temples, which it would be tiresome to de
tail. AU the churches in Mexico, great and small,
are in their interior fitted up always with a showy,
sometimes with a gorgeous, but often with a
gaudy magnificence. The total amount of money
laid out in gUdings, carvings, plate, dresses, and
jeweUery, could it be calculated, would be some
thing incredible, and only to be accounted for
by the fact that all this exterior show of religion
ministers to the strongest passion, perhaps, which
the Mexicans, as devout Catholics, entertain.
With respect to the nunneries (the two finest
of which, are " La Encarnacion" and " La Con-
o 5

298 miscellaneous notices and remarks.
cepcion"), of course, I can say very little; for to
me, as to the great generahty of persons, they are
a sealed letter; and with regard to the friars,
as far as I could observe, they are pretty much
the same here, as in Spain, and its other trans
atlantic ex-colonies. The clergy enjoy a very
fair reputation among the Mexicans themselves;
but justice compels me to say, that, as the prime
movers of the highly intolerant religious spirit
which pervades Mexico from one end to the
other, I look upon the clerical body at large,
as forming the chief barrier against the advance
ment of Mexico in the scale of nations.
Although I have just stated that the nun
neries are a sealed letter to aU comers, I must
make, as regards myself, one exception to this
general statement ; for you will be rather sur
prised to hear that I breakfasted one morning
in a nunnery, and a very remarkable one too,
being that of Las Monjas Indias, or the Indian
nuns. I must give you some short account of our
visit. Some particular occasion arose, I think an
annual one, when the bishop had to make a visit
ation of the nunnery, at which time, the abbess

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS. 299
generally invites him and some of his friends to a
morning repast. Mrs. Mackintosh very kindly
got H — and myself included in this year's invit
ation. The nunnery is situated in a distant and poor
quarter of the city, and is not to be spoken of
as a pubhc buUding. Within, all is plain and
homely, but clean ; and indicative in its details of
the class to which the asylum is appropriated.
The door was opened by a " sister," and by her
we were conducted to the Lady Abbess. Many
other nuns were about, and they proceeded to
show us over the convent. They were aU habited
in a coarse black dress, with a whoUy impervious
veU thrown over the head and face ; and how they
contrived to see through it, I cannot comprehend.
We observed, however, when they had any par
ticular object to search out or look at, they con
trived so to adjust the veU as to attain their
object, without those around being able to see
them any the better. They seemed to be all kind,
simple creatures; talkative, communicative, and
full of every-day gossip. Most of them appeared
to me to have passed the prime of life ; and in
deed many of them talked to me of the great

300 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
number of years they had been in the convent.
Some of them were quite affectionate in their
manner with both H — and myself, calling her
" Hermanita," and me " Padrecito" at every turn.
They showed us all over the establishment, the
chapel, the gardens, and various offices. The
endowment is very poor, but the Monjas Indias
seem to be quite content with their lot. The
abbess, as might be expected, was of a superior
character to the others.
About twelve o'clock we sat down in the
Refectory, to a " dejeuner a la fovrchette," com
posed of dishes purely and exclusively Mexican ;
indeed I have seen nowhere so curious and so
characteristic an exhibition of the cuisine of the
country, as on this occasion. The chef d'ceuvre
was, the Mole de Guajalote, which was pro
nounced to be quite faultless. This, as weU as
the other dishes, most of them redolent of
garlic, would have made many a Londoner stare.
We aU, notwithstanding, made a most exceUent
breakfast. The bishop sat at the head of the table, and did
the honours of it most gracefuUy. He was bland
in his manners, full of savoir faire, and through

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS. 301
his kindly nature there ran a vein of wit and hu
mour, which rendered his conversation irresistibly
attractive. Near to him sat the Abbess, and
around several important personages of the City.
The nuns waited with assiduity and apparent
pleasure upon the company, although they were
not destined themselves to partake of any of the
good things which were going. They exhibited
to us, before we went, specimens of their own
dietary, a purely vegetable one, and of the coarsest
products, most plainly prepared, of the kitchen
garden. Such was the Convento de las Monjas
Indias; and I saw nothing in Mexico which
pleased me more.
Mexico boasts of a number of very fine pubhc
edifices and buUdings; and I am sorry I can do
httle more than enumerate most of them. Of the
Cathedral and the Casa de Mineria I have already
spoken, and of both as of the highest order of
merit. Of the Palace also, I need say no more
than I have already done; and the principal
theatre, not remarkable as a building, has hereto
fore come under review. The buU-ring has fallen
into desuetude, and now has only the appear
ance of a great heap of ruinous wooden buildings.

302 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
One of the most prominent, and, at the same
time, most interesting of the pubhc estabhshments
of the capital of Mexico, is the university or
museum. It is a fine old solid piece of architecture,
with much of monastic gloominess, but very im
posing. It forms, hke aU the other buUdings, a
great quadrangle ; and its various and lofty apart
ments are rich in monuments of the Astec dynasty,
and antiquities of every kind; many of them
unique, ah interesting. Mr. Branz Mayer devotes
a space equal to fifty or sixty of these pages, to
the Museum and its contents, and to him I must
refer the antiquarian reader.
In the centre of the great patio of the museum,
stands the Colossal equestrian figure of Charles IV.,
cast by the celebrated Tolsa, the architect of the
Casa de Mineria. The statue is a noble work of
art, equaUed by few of its kind; and it is a
thousand pities it has been removed from the
Great Plaza which it formerly adorned ; and
where aU its fine proportions and grand outline
were seen to the greatest advantage.
In the museum is now also deposited the famous
sacrificial stone, on which the human victims of the
Astecs were immolated by their priests. I may

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS. 303
here also observe, that the gladiatorial stone, used
for the sacrifice of warriors taken in battle, stUl
hes buried in the great square, although Mr.
Mayer gives a plate of it in his work : and, finaUy,
I have to notice, that the ancient Mexican calen
dar — also a round carved stone, and which, in
the opinion of the best antiquarians, was the
tonalponalli, or " solar reckoning of the ancient
Mexicans" — was found in the year 1790, about
six feet below the surface of the Plaza in Mexico,
is now walled against the base of one of the towers
of the cathedral, and passes by the name of " el
relox de Montezuma," or " Montezuma's watch."
The mint forms part of the great palace build
ings ; and it is a large establishment. The ma
chinery is old and rough ; and one is surprised to
consider, that from it so many mUlions of weU-
coined doUars issue yearly. But new ma
chinery from England is about to replace the
old and in a year or two the establishment wUl
probably equal any other of the same kind, even
in Europe.
But one of the most splendid pubhc estabhsh
ments which I have ever inspected, is certainly
the Casa del Apartado, where all silver, holding

304 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
gold, is sent for separation by chemical process,
the one metal from the other; that is, for the
extraction of the gold mixed up with the bars of
sUver, sent to Mexico for the purpose of being
coined. This great and truly national establish
ment is only now in process of completion ; and
in no part of the world could it be excelled, either
materiaUy, mechanicaUy, or scientifically. I be
lieve the Casa del Apartado, when finished, wiU
cost two or three hundred thousand dollars. Its
detaUs are most interesting, and it seems to be
worked in a perfectly able, judicious, and scientific
manner. El Estanco del Tabaco is another estabhshment
of an extraordinary and highly interesting nature.
In Mexico, tobacco is a government monopoly;
but so badly did it succeed when in the hands of
the government itself, that they wisely farmed out
the revenue, and Messrs. Escandon, Mackintosh
and Bringas took the contract for a given number
of years, on advantageous terms for the govern
ment. No longer sinking revenue in the manage
ment of the monopoly, the state at once began to
receive monthly payments in hard cash.
The whole business underwent a thorough

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS. 305
reform : order, activity and economy, took the place
of wasteful expenditure by irresponsible agents,
and unscrupulous jobbers. A guard was appointed;
undoubtedly the finest body of men in the repubhc,
and the contraband trade, the bane of every fiscal
operation of Spain and her descendants, was
altogether crushed in the tobacco revenue.
In this new and better state of affairs, we visited
the Estanco del Tabaco, accompanied by the Em-
presarios above named; and, under the guidance
of the chief administrator, we spent some hours
in the great establishment.
The building stands on an open piece of ground,
not far from the Paseo Nuevo, and scarcely within
the precincts of the city. It is only one story
high, but runs round large patios, and is of a size
commensurate with the great manufactory carried
on within the walls. About six or seven hundred
people are employed in all, in the various processes
of segar and snuff-making. Three-fourths or four-
fifths of the operatives are women, married and
single, middle-aged and young. The most perfect
division of labour exists, and the work ascends
from the lowest to the highest points by the
nicest gradations. There is the receiving and

306 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
opening of the rough tobacco — the preparing it,
through different operations, for segars ; " puros,"
or leaf segars, of various qualities — for paper segars
— for snuff. Then there is the preparation and
cutting of the paper into the tiny pieces destined
to form one paper segar : then the making into
packets, making boxes, packing, marking, sending
away; aU is done in parts, like the making of
a pin. See one box of the paper segars ready to
be sent off, and you see a fac simile of every one
package of this manufacture which leaves the
premises. The female operatives work in suites of long
rooms, ranged from one end to the other, with ample
space and air, and a forewoman to look over each.
The neatness and celerity with which all work is
done, is surprising. There order, decency, and
propriety preside over the whole establishment;
and when you consider that aU the females are
from the lowest class of such a population as that
of Mexico, you are surprised to see such a clean,
neat, weU-appointed set of factory girls. But
there is a great esprit de corps in the operatives of
the Fabrica de Tabaco, and they stand quite above
the rest of the surrounding population as a class

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS. 307
of themselves. Their general morals are many
grades higher ; and after they have once joined or
been admitted into the Fabrica as operatives, there
is nothing that the women so much dread as losing
caste, or being dismissed for bad conduct. They
have all piece-work set them, and the most indus
trious and expert make exceUent wages. They all
assemble from seven to eight o'clock in the morn
ing, take their dinner with them, and retire from
work at sunset, six or seven.
One fact connected with the Estanco must not
be omitted. There is a school attached to it for
the younger children of the married workwomen ;
and nurses to take care of the infants of the
same class, whUe the mothers are at work.
The director, as may be supposed, from his
general kindness — his care of his large flock —
the firmness, yet amenity with which he keeps
up the moral standing, as weU as efficient
working of the estabhshment — is not only re
spected, but what is better — beloved by aU.
And he accurately reflects the feehngs and
wishes of his employers.
The distribution of the tobacco and segars over
such a wide surface as that of the Republic of

308 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND REMARKS.
Mexico, is managed by depots* and sub-depots
throughout the country ; and a perfect system of
accounts is maintained throughout. One of the
principal federal states has pronounced against the
Tobacco monopoly by the Government — that is
Puebla ; and a more selfish, or anti-national piece
of rebelhon cannot be imagined. For it is not a
question of monopoly or no monopoly throughout
the land ; it is simply one state exonerating itself
from a tax which aU the other states pay towards
sustaining the central Government.
* If you could fancy England supplied with malt liquor from
one great brewery in London, through the medium of their vint
ners of the city and country at large, you would have an idea of
how the Estanco goes to work. It would be in England, at every
public-house, " England's Entire," as it is in Mexico, in every
place you visit, " Estanco del Tabaco."

309

LETTER XLVI.
PUBLIC WORKS — COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS.
Among the most striking objects in the environs
of Mexico, are the two grand aqueducts which
supply the city with water. The greater of these,
running from the vicinity of Chapultepec, divides
the high road into two (with intermediate pas
sages), and has its handsome terminus near to the
extremity of the Paseo Nuevo. It is solidly buUt,
although not in good repair ; and consists of nine
hundred arches. The other goes by the road of
San Cosme; one of the most pleasant paseos out
of the city. The water is soft, and comes from
pure and abundant fountains.
The Desague of Huehuetoea, or great sewer,
formed to reheve Mexico from an overflow of the
surrounding lakes, was one of the greatest works
of the old Spaniards. The lakes are Chalco and

310 PUBLIC WORKS.
XochimUco on the south, their level being more
than three feet above that of the great square
of Mexico ; north-westardly the lake of Tezcuco ;
and more northerly, in a continuous range, are
the lakes of San Christoval and Zumpango. This
last is eighteen feet higher than the former, which
again, is higher by twelve feet than Tezcuco, and
this, three feet above the level of the great square.
In 1629, the whole city of Mexico, with the ex
ception of the square, was inundated ; and up to
1634, some parts of the town were stUl traversed
by canoes. From the inundation Mexico was
relieved by an earthquake ; and then the Desague
was commenced, and finished in 1789. The
length of the cut from the sluice of Vertideso to
the Salto, or rapid of the river Tula, was 67,537
feet ; made at a cost of eight miUions of doUars.
What would our Commissioners of Sewers say to
a work of this kind ?
Since the formation and conclusion of the
Desague, all fears of inundation have ceased. In
some of the stiU so caUed lakes, there is no doubt
water; but where it exists, it rises httle above a
mud-puddle, except during the heavy, rainy
season, and at aU times it is quite superficial.

ACORDADA, OR PUBLIC PRISON. 311
They are certainly the poorest lakes, properly
speaking, I ever saw. On the other hand, from
the drainage and cutting down of trees in many
places, what was once water and verdure, is now an
arid and salinitrous surface, as I have mentioned,
on our entry into the city of Mexico. Nothing
can be more dreary-looking, nothing so unlike a
deluge. Even the famous Tezcuco, dried up
during the heat of summer, sends forth so far and
wide a fetid, sickening smell, that it often of a
night reached us in the Capital, although distant
many mUes from the marsh.
The establishments in Mexico in connexion with
public crime, indigence, mental and physical
suffering, and general amelioration of the poorer
classes are various. I shaU first speak of the
Acordada, or public prison.
The Spanish race has perhaps made less pro
gress in the treatment of public crime, than any
other nation. The terrible state of their prisons
and dungeons is notorious; no means of moral
correction has in them ever been attempted ; the
person only of the criminal is watched and
guarded ; and he is too often treated as a mere
ferocious animal, rather than as a human being of

312 PUBLIC WORKS.
stamp Divine. I fear Mexico offers no exception
to the general statement.
The Acordada is a very large building, situated
at the extremity of a square beyond the Alameda,
and on the way to the Paseo Nuevo. Here also
is the Morgue, or dead house, a view of which, and
of the bodies taken there day by day, is open to
the public, through a low barred window in front
of the prison. There are constantly grim instances
of violent deaths, and here those who are missed
from home or haunt are looked for.
As usual, the building runs round a quad
rangular court; and here, well watched and
guarded, the great body of the criminals are
gathered together during the day*, except when
* " The whole of this area," says Mr. Branz Mayer, " is filled
with human beings ; the great congress of Mexican crime, mixed
and mingling like a hill of busy ants, swarming from their sandy
caverns. Some are stripped and bathing (in a fountain of trou
bled water in the centre) — some are fighting in a corner — some
making baskets in another. In one place, a crowd is gathered
around a witty story-teller relating the adventures of his rascally
life. In another, a group is engaged in weaving with a hand-
loom. Robbers, murderers, thieves, ravishers, felons of every
description, and vagabonds of every aspect, are crammed within
this court yard ; and almost free from discipline or moral res
traint, form perhaps the most splendid school of misdemeanour
and villany on the American continent."

ACORDADA, OR PUBLIC PRISON. 313
in gangs, they are driven by pairs chained to
gether, into the streets, there to work as scaven
gers, and where nothing can be more disgusting
than their appearance while, half naked and dirty,
they are raking about in the ditches and open
sewers of the suburbs of the town.
Apart from these criminals here spoken of, are
a somewhat better class of prisoners, kept within
the corridor; but on the whole, there is scarcely
any distinction between the slightest and the
greatest offenders against the laws ; and one thing
is certain, that contamination of the comparatively
innocent, by juxta-position and intercourse with
the very worst, is inevitable. The Capilla, in wliich
condemned criminals pass the last three days of
their life, is in a corner of the quadrangle, " and
at a certain hour, it is usual for aU the prisoners
to gather together in front of the door, and chant
a hymn for the victim of the laws. It is a solemn
service of crime for crime."
The female prisoners and evU-doers occupy a
separate part of the prison, and they are divided
roughly into those who have occupied a com
paratively reputable place in society, and those of
the lowest grade. Of course the latter form the,
VOL. II. P

314 PUBLIC WORKS.
great bulk of the prisoners. Both classes are
superintended, more or less, by a society of ladies,
who endeavour to instruct and do their best
to reclaim these wretched criminals and minor
offenders against the laws. Those who have been
tried and sentenced are principaUy condemned to
labour in the prison (not very hard), and this is
carried out in a large vaulted gaUery under their
prison rooms. A less guilty set are, in a large
haU, employed in menial offices; and in an adjoin
ing court, on which the room opened, the stiU
innocent children of some of the prisoners are
to be seen disporting in the open air.
Although the prison, I believe, is under the
jurisdiction of municipal directors, it is guarded
within and without by a mUitary force. The
commanding officers and subalterns have a large
and lofty apartment, for themselves, in the front
or principal part of the prison, and in the guard
room, all the business connected with their charge
is carried on — "Amid the hum of the crowd, the
clank of chains, the shouts of prisoners, and the
eternal din of an Ul-regulated establishment."

ACORDADA, OR PUBLIC PRISON. 315
Mr. Mayer gives the foUowing criminal statis
tics for the year 1842 : —
During the first six months, there
were imprisoned in the City of Males. Females. Total.
Mexico  3197 1427 4624
During the second six months . 2858 1379 4237

Total .... 6055 2806 8861
It was not possible for Mr. Mayer to gather
from the returns, the number of finally convicted
prisoners, but he shews the chief crimes for which
the prisoners were incarcerated.
1. For adultery, and prostitution
in its worst forms . ... 312 179 491
2. Rohbery  1500 470 1970
3. Quarrelling and wounding . 2129 1104 3233
4. Quarrelling, bearing arms, etc. 612 444 1056
5 . Homicide (murder) attempt at
murder, and murder and
robbery  70 17 87
6. Other crimes  75 22 97

Total .... 4698 2236 6934

During the same year 113 dead bodies were
found — 17 individuals were executed, and 894 sent
to the hospital. This was in 1842 ; and it would

316 PUBLIC WORKS.
seem to argue a diminution of the higher
crimes, that in this year (1849) I cannot call to
mind one execution as having taken place;
certainly not one of any public importance, as
involving a more than ordinary atrocity.
In 1842, the cost of the Acordada, was £4121
in salaries of officers, and £30,232 for the support
of the prisoners; together, at the rate of about
£7000 per annum.
From the Acordada, it is pleasant to pass to the
Cuna, from guUt to innocence, from every thing
which most revolts, to aU which most interests
humanity. The Cuna — literaUy cradle — is the
Foundling Hospital. No one who has visited our
own in London, and looked careftdly over its
detaUs, can have left it without profound im
pressions of the moral good which it accomplishes
— of the incipient misery which it cuts short for
thousands, substituting in its stead, health, happi
ness, and contentment, to those who are the
objects of so pure and so heart-stirring a bounty.
The Cuna of Mexico, differs, in some particulars,
from our Foundling Hospital in London. In the
former the babes are not only put out to nurse,
under the system of the nurse herself giving

SAN HIPPOLITO. 317
security for good behaviour, but many infants are
nursed in the establishment itself. They are
divided from the chUdren who have been weaned.
All is cleanly and comfortable; and a junta of ladies
of the first famUies take the utmost pains to see
that the children are weU cared for. Then the
kindly and truly maternal nature of the higher
orders of the female sex in Mexico, leads to a very
wide system of adoption; and in such case the
chUdren are brought up as belonging to the
famUy, with invariable care and affection. The
acting directresses of the estabhshment are females
of unimpeachable respectability ; and thus the
whole charity is carried out in an efficient, kindly,
and Christian-like spirit. AU honour to such an
institution ! and aU praise to the high-minded
individuals, male and female, who make the pros
perity of this charity their daUy care, as I am sure
it must be their internal and most justifiable
pride !
The great hospital for the insane, is that of San
Hipolito — a large airy and most exceUently con
ducted pubhc establishment. The treatment of
the patients is exceUent, and indeed treads
pretty closely on that adopted at the Hanwell

318 PUBLIC WORKS.
Asylum. It is true they have in San Hipolito
dark rooms for the refractory, a Quarto Negro, or
black hole for the furious, and strait waistcoats;
but the general system pursued is that of mild
and gentle treatment ; and it has its reward. The
great majority of the patients are quiet and weU
conducted — dine together in harmony ; enjoy the
fine gronds, and have a great respect for the
director. The Hospital de Jesus de los Naturales, is a large
and handsome building, and is extremely weU
managed. It is for both sexes. It has every
convenience for the patients, including hot and
cold baths. Attached to it is a chapel, and on
the azotea is a dissecting room. In the old
church of San Hipohto, was deposited, by his
own express desire, the body of Cortez, who
founded and endowed the estabhshment ; but his
remains were removed during the revolutionary
troubles, to avoid worse treatment.
There is also the Hospital de San Juan de Dios,
and another, originaUy erected for lepers, caUed
San Lazaro : and there may be others which did
not come under my notice.
An admirably managed institution in Mexico,

MONTE PIO. 319
is the Monte Pio, the same sort of thing which
exists in France, under the name of Mont de
Piete, a national establishment for advancing
money on pledges, at a low rate of interest. The
government undertakes to be pawnbroker.
The Monte Pio of Mexico is now established in
that which was once the palace of Cortez, forming
a corner of the great square. The amount of
property pledged here by high and low is prodi
gious, and ranges over every article, from brUliants
down to common wearing apparel. The interest
charged is very moderate. The pledges, after a
given time, if not redeemed, are offered for private
sale, at the lowest price acceptable to the pledger :
if no sale can thus be effected, then the pledges
are, after a time, put up to pubhc sale, sold to
the highest bidder, and, after deduction of interest
and charge of sale, the surplus is paid to the
owner. All this is done with the most scrupulous
justice towards the unfortunate pledger ; and such
a rehef is a great boon, as I say, both to high
and low.
Very many years ago, there were, in fine wea
ther, to be seen almost daily in Mexico, three old
gentlemen taking their evening walk together.

320 PUBLIC WORKS.
They were great and intimate friends, inseparable
companions, congenial in their nature, feelings,
and pursuits. They had been merchants, and
after amassing a handsome fortune each, they had
retired from the turmoUs of active life and pur
suits, to enjoy the otium cum dignitate. They were
aU three rich men ; but, unlike rich men generaUy,
they had not aUowed wealth to warp or destroy
the original kindly and benevolent bent of their
feelings. These three old gentlemen were natives of Spain,
born in Biscay, and although they had finally
cast their lot in Mexico, their love of Fatherland
had never been duUed, but continued through
their hves to burn with a pure and bright
flame. In one of their evening stroUs, they passed
through an outskirt of the city, a quarter where
many poor Biscayans were located. Their atten
tion was called to the chUdren, healthy and chubby
enough, but playing about in the dirty streets,
dirty themselves, and neglected. They interrogated
many of them, and found they were in a state of
great mental destitution.
They proceeded gravely on their walk, when,

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 321
after a short time, one of them paused, and thus
addressed his two companions, —
" My friends, is it not a sad thing that which
we have just witnessed — the chUdren of our own
people in the state of unenlightened heathens?
Let us educate them."
"Bien," said the one, and "bien" (good), said
the other in laconical assent.
" I wUl put down," said the leader of the
three, " a hundred thousand dollars" (£20,000).
" I wiU do the same," said the second.
" And I will do the same," said the third.
This was aU the fuss that was made by these
worthy Biscaynos, on proposing to commence
their phUanthropie and noble undertaking, with a
capital of sixty thousand pounds !
They went home, and set immediately but
quietly about bringing their first idea into a
tangible shape. They had more particularly no
ticed the little female children, and conceived,
rightly enough, that if they could make good
mothers of them, they would lay the best founda
tion for an improved race.
They bought a large and splendid site, in a
healthy and pleasant outskirt of the city, for the
p 5

322 PUBLIC WORKS.
buUding which they determined to erect; and
they proceeded on a scale which was suited to
their own large ideas, rather than to the amount
of their " first " subscription : and the result was,
that they produced, what I believe I am correct
in asserting, the noblest asylum which was ever
raised in any part of the globe by individual
munificence — El Colegio de las Biscaynas.
By the kindness of Mr. Mackintosh, we saw
the Colegio to the best advantage. He made up
a party of our own immediate friends ; and the
Administrator, a gentleman most highly and de
servedly respected in Mexico, received us, and
kindly offered his services in shewing us the
estabhshment. Without him, we should only have
half comprehended what we went to see.
The building, we found, was after the universal
custom, a great square, and modelled, as I under
stood, after the Regal Palace of Madrid. Built
with the highest degree of solidity, which charac- .
terises all the Spanish architecture of note, the
detaUs of the college were plain, which, on so
magnificent a scale, seemed to enhance the gran
deur of this noble work. The patios, the corridor es,
or gaUeries, the lofty pubhc rooms, the stair-cases,

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 323
and the fountains were strikingly impressive. The
whole plan on wliich the charity was conducted, on
the other hand, appeared to me to be absolute
perfection. When the three Founders had arrived at the
point of opening the coUege, they stipulated
that, towards admission to it, a preference should
at aU times, and in every case, be given to the
chUdren and descendants of Biscayans. But it
was ere long found, that the college was not
only sufficient for aU such parties thus entitled
to it, but for many more. It can commo-
diously provide for about 500 chUdren, although
that number I beheve is never reached, besides
giving work, as I shaU have occasion to re
mark, to many who are no longer on the foun
dation. Let us examine the detaUs of management. The
whole establishment is under the charge of the
Administrator, who, however, does not reside in
the coUege; but the exact knowledge he pos
sesses of every one, and of every thing done
in it, is wonderful. Then comes the Rectora,
the lady, who, under the Administrator, carries
out his orders and plans, and superintends the

324 PUBLIC WORKS.
whole establishment, having a nice set of rooms
for herself. The next arrangement, which struck
me as at once novel and admirable, is the division
of the chUdren into what may be called families.
As thus : — A matron of the very best character
has charge of eight or ten of the chUdren; and
she has a httle menage of her own, entirely inde
pendent of the rest of the college. She has every
thing within herself — kitchen, parlour, smaU
offices, bed-rooms ; and she herself lays in her own
marketing and general provision. She receives
the money from the Rectora, and gives in an exact
account of her expenditure at the end of the week.
She is the mother of her family. Multiply this
by forty or fifty, and you have the domestic
establishment of the college. Neatness, cleanli
ness, order and economy presided "over every one
of these family quarters ; and of course, the
matron and her " chUdren" do the whole of the
household duties.
Divided into classes, and mustered in splendid
school rooms, the work of education goes forward
during the day ; and a number of female teachers
fuUy adequate to their work, impart the knowledge
considered necessary to their pupUs — reading

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 325
writing, arithmetic, and from plain sewing up
to the most elaborate and beautiful embroidery
I ever saw. Indeed, many of the pupils of the
college are nnrivaUed in this department.
The chUdren, when they have finished their edu
cation, and arrived at an age when they can earn
their own livelihood, are placed out with the great
est care; while the colegio provides employment
for those who choose to continue to work there
with the needle — or those who for this purpose,
and preserving an unimpeached character, choose
to return to it : aU are received and employed.
The working rooms are like aU the rest, large,
commodious and airy ; and there we saw many
of the young women who had been brought
up at the coUege, busily employed at their
avocations, as embroiderers. The work which they
put through their hands, whether in plain em
broidery of cambric, or in the gorgeous vestments
and hangings of the church, in gold and silk
— in tissue and brocade — are of unsurpassable
taste and beauty.
The children are healthful and happy ; in both
which respects, the space and air they enjoy- — the
interminable corridors — the great patio — the foun-

326 PUBLIC WORKS.
tains, the gardens, and the azotea (the level roof ) —
tend greatly to promote such health, and such
happiness. To those who have inspected the Foundhng
Hospital in London, I can at once convey an idea
of the cleanliness, order, decorum and method of
the Colegio de las Biscaynas; the one competes with
the other, and both are unimpeachable.
The room in which the church vestments are
kept, serves as a confessional for the pupUs. But
the priests are in another room, with gratings in the
waU, for the purposes of confession.
Forming part of the estabhshment of the Colegio,
is a large and handsome chapel, richly adorned and
gUded. Though belonging to the great buUd
ing, the body of the chapel, is entered by a door
from the street, open to aU Catholics; but the
inmates of the establishment itself hear mass from
a gaUery above, to which they ascend from the
coUege, where a grating in front obstructs the
gaze of the multitude below. This gaUery is ex
tremely curious in its shrines, saints, and relics.
The organ stands in it, and many of the young
people join the sacred music with their voices.
In another part of the gigantic edifice, is to be

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 327
found a very different place from the chapel. It
is a great oblong haU, fitted up as a theatre, for
the amusement of the scholars ! At one end is
the stage and proscenium, and seats and accom
modation for the audience fiU up the rest of the
large haU. I need scarcely say that the the
atricals are of a primitive kind — something, I
fancy, hke our old " Mysteries ;" and that both
actresses and audience, consist of those who hve
in the college, or are attached to it as having
been pupUs in earlier life.
After traversing a very long aisle, or corridor,
running towards the back of the coUege, having a
deserted look, not in keeping with the other parts,
we stopped at a low door, through which, on being
opened, we entered, and found ourselves in the
open air. We were in the cemetery of the Colegio
de las Biscaynas ; a touching memento mori, and
suggestive, somehow, of the whole history of the
charity and its founders. They could do aU for
the happy little inmates of the coUege, whUe they
lived : but no care — not the best — will keep out
the visits of death. So here was the habitation of
death. Some very plain inscriptions, inserted in
the waUs, marked where lay Rectoras, who after

328 PUBLIC WORKS.
fulfilling weU their responsible duties, had gone
the way of aU living. And round about were the
graves of the departed pupils. I may say, the
most sedulous attention is paid to the health of
the living : an exceUent laboratory is fitted up in
the college, and the first medical assistance is
always at hand.
The azoteas are admirably adapted for morning
and evening exercise; and the gardens, the cor
ridors, and the great patios, with their foun
tains, render the resources for health most com
plete. We finished our long tour and examination at
the Board-room, where the trustees meet occa
sionally and transact their business. It is a neat,
plain, business-like room ; and its great attraction
and ornament, are the full length portraits of the
three Biscaynos, who buUt and founded the college
in which we stood. I wiU not say much for the
artistic merit of the paintings; but it was suffi
cient to make me look with reverence on the
effigies of the three worthies ; and I felt, after once
seeing them, that I should not like to have them
replaced by any higher works of art.
Before concluding, I have one very remark-

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 329
able fact to lay before you; it is, that with
out doubt, the trustees of the coUege of las
Biscaynas, established long before we ever thought
of it — the system of ragged schools. Ten years ago,
writers on Mexico had not even the name to
give; but they bear testimony to the fact. In
one part of the coUege — with a quite separate,
side entrance, there are two very large school
rooms, fitted up as such, and in the strictest
sense, ragged schools. AU the chUdren who
choose to enter — or aU who are taken there day
by day — are gratuitously educated. The poorest
and most wretched may go, without enquiry
into what or who they are. It is of course a
day school; and excellent teachers are provided.
They are divided into classes ; and writing, read
ing, and arithmetic are taught to aU, and sewing
and embroidery to the girls. We found the
chUdren better clad than could have been ex
pected; and the order and decorum established,
shewed what may be done with the poorest and
the lowest, if we wiU only condescend to con
sider them as God's creatures, and to treat them
as such.
I have gone largely into my detaUs of the

330 PUBLIC WORKS.
Colegio de las Biscaynas, for three reasons : —
first, that, as superior to any thing of the same
kind estabhshed by individual munificence I had
ever seen, it made a powerful impression on my
mind. Secondly, that as a perfect model, I thought
it my duty to hold it up, as far as my feeble
powers go, to the admiration and imitation of the
good and the wealthy of England ; and lastly, to
impress upon you, my readers, that where such
an institution as this exists now, in all its pristine
vigour and healthfulness, there must be germs,
even if they lie latent, of general good.
The Administrator told me, that during the
whole of the troubles which had fallen upon Mexico
during her revolution ; during the disorders of
contending parties, and the excesses of internal
war; during bloodshed and riot, and invasion of
foreign foes, the Colegio de las Biscaynas had
followed up the even tenor of its way : no one
had dared to interfere with the haUowed sanctuary
for young and defenceless females.
The funds possessed by the coUege have always
been ample for aU the purposes of its foundation :
and such is the exact economy, unstained by the
slightest parsimony (for peace and plenty are

COLEGIO DE LAS BISCAYNAS. 331
evident everywhere), exercised in the management
of this great estabhshment, that you wiU be sur
prised to hear, as I was, that the whole annual
expenditure of this princely institution does not
exceed twenty-five thousand dollars — something
less than five thousand pounds per annum.

332

LETTER XLVII.
THE PASEOS AND ENVIRONS OF MEXICO.
I have insensibly gone on occupying so much
space with my foregoing letters, that I must
greatly curtaU what I had yet to say on a variety
of topics — omit many altogether — and take you
very rapidly indeed through the United States;
which I regret.
Leaving the heart of the city, its public build
ings and institutions, I shaU in this letter take a
somewhat wider range.
As stated in our letters, there are three pubhc
drives and promenades — paseos, as they are shortly
and appropriately caUed in Spanish — the Viga,
the Paseo Nuevo, and the Alameda.
Las Vigas is the paseo of the city of Mexico at
large ; the Paseo Nuevo is the drive and the ride

THE PASEOS AND ENVIRONS OP MEXICO. 333
of the aristocracy : and the Alameda was once
fashionable, but is so no longer.
A peculiarity affecting Las Vigas is, that the
promenades only commence with Lent, and con
tinue daily through that season (as it ought to be
at least) of religious preparation. From Eastei
they are held on a few holidays and Sundays :
then comes the combate or conclusion, and the
meetings are forgotten till Lent comes round
once more.
The Paseo de la Viga * is the most completely
national gathering I have ever witnessed ; and I
defy any country to shew a more characteristic
or more amusing show of the manners, customs,
and aesthetics of its people, than the Viga shews
of those of the Mexicans.
The paseo hes on the south-east side of the plaza
of Mexico, and before getting to it, you pass through
large and desolate-looking places, very partiaUy
built upon. The ruinous buU-ring hes on one
side ; and clearing the whole at the boundary line,
you enter on the paseo. On your left hand is the
canal, with double rows of trees on its banks, and
* Viga means the beam of a house, or large log, but why the
paseo is called " de la Viga," I do not know.

334 THE PASEOS AND
plenty of space ; in the centre is a wide line of
road for carriages and equestrians; and on the
right hand are again two rows of trees to form the
double avenue.
As you approach, you find yourself in a stream
of human beings, all moving to the paseo — on
foot, on horseback, and in carriages, mixed up in
one heterogeneous mass — leperos — Indios — secon
dary and inferior classes of Mexican men and
women, vendors of fruits, sweetmeats, and other
things, are the pedestrians; and as they arrive
at the paseo, they disperse among the trees, or
keep to the foot-way, or loiter on the banks of
the canal. Scarcely any respectable-looking or
weU-dressed person, however, is to be seen in the
motley groups. But on horseback, what an ex
traordinary variety of classes ! Mexicans of every
grade — from the Europe-travelled scions of the
highest houses, and the cavalleros proper, boasting
of their Spanish lineage and unadulterated native
grace and greatness, down to the very lowest who
can contrive to sport a nag, however Ul-fitted
both man and beast may be for such a concurso :
and the splendid looking-intermediate classes
The rancheros — the gay citizens — the fancy men of

ENVIRONS OP MEXICO. 335
every kind — many of them mounted on fiery
steeds, and decked out in splendid Mexican cos
tume — the horses covered with rich trappings,
here in silver, there in fine stamped leather — what
a mixture ! Then foreigners of every nation —
particularly the French, Enghsh and German —
our own countrymen, generally, keeping to their
own equestrian proprieties, and, as I believe,
superiority. The whole equestrian turn-out forms
a rare sight.
But no less heterogeneous is the concourse
of carriages and vehicles of every kind. You have
them from the value of five or six hundred guineas,
down to twenty pounds. The equipages of the
first families are reaUy fine, weU appointed, and
with splendid frisones — the large American coach-
horses. Some of them cost two thousand doUars
(£400) a pair.
Then come others, somewhat less dashing,
with fine mules ; and from this point down they
go by degrees, till you get to such a famUy
carriage as I have described at page 63 of this
volume. The concourse is immense. The carriages
go up and down the principal drive, of about a

336 THE PASEOS AND
mile and a quarter in length, forming complete
and compact moving lines ; and at two or three
different points they draw up, in standing lines, to
observe, in silence, the passing to and fro of the
moving panorama. The horsemen draw up, ever
and anon, in the same way ; while in the wide and
commodious centre, are parties — some moving in
slow masses; others trotting along, in familiar
chit-chat; and here and there, more hvely
spirits galloping, three or four abreast, in gaUant
style. Throughout, order is maintained, when
necessary (although that is seldom) by a detach
ment of cavalry, stationed at different parts of the
paseo. WhUe all this is going on by land, the canal
running parallel with the Viga is nearly covered
with canoes, fiUed with Indians, who ascend and
descend, partly on pleasure, partly on business.
The canal springs from the lake of Chalco, passing
by the Chinampas ; once floating islands, now low
lying garden grounds, separated by deep and wide
ditches (little canals, in fact) ; and then goes on (I
speak of the canal) to form a junction with the
lake of Tezcuco.
The canoe-passengers enjoy themselves quite as

ENVIRONS OF MEXICO. 337
much as their Viga rivals, if not more. The
women's heads are profusely adorned with gar
lands, principaUy of double red poppies; and both
sexes mix in their slow, listless dance, on the ample
boards of their flat-bottomed vessels, aided and
assisted by the old thrumming guitar. How much
this adjunct to the paseo de las Vigas tends to add
to its picturesque and varied aspect, you may
easily imagine : it renders the amusement unique
in its kind.
About sunset, when this great medley of human
beings is at its height, — equipages, horsemen, and
pedestrians begin to bend their various ways to
wards the city ; and the melee of the departure is
even more truly repubhean in its character than
it is in the gathering of these heterogeneous
masses as already described.
I have much less to say of the Paseo Nuevo
than of the Viga. It is the stately promenade of
the fashionables of Mexico, and has already been
mentioned as the Paseo de BucareUi. As a pro
menade, its principal if not only attraction
is the view from it of the mountains of Popoca
tepetl and Iztaccihuatl — otherwise it is a long
wide avenue (something more than half a mile)
VOL. II. Q

338 THE PASEOS AND
with trees on either side. It leads out to
the terminus of the great aqueduct, and to
Chapultepec. To this Paseo, then, all the fashionables of
Mexico resort, in carriages and on horseback,
and spend one or two hours in promenading up
and down, and in occasionaUy taking up a stand
at a side or opening, there to look at those who
continue to move. A few gentlemen pedestrians
are to be seen here and there, solitary sort of
wanderers ; and this, I believe, is all that is to be
said, of the Paseo Nuevo.
In going to it from the city, the carriages (and
generally the gentlemen a cheval) pass through the
Alameda ; and this passage seems now to be the
principal purpose for which the old-fashioned
place — a mixture of gardens, walks, and drives —
is kept up. In " the morning early," a few, but
very few, fashionable people, walk in the Alameda,
(the only time that such an abomination as walk
ing is permitted to Mexican ladies) . Later in the
day, seedy-looking citizens, or lazy leperos, are to
be seen seated under the trees, on the outer part
of the gardens — and in the afternoon the place
assumes a hvely appearance, from the throng of

ENVIRONS OF MEXICO. 339
carriages and horsemen hastening through it to
and from the Paseo Nuevo.
As this may seem rather a disparaging account of
the once fashionable Alameda of Mexico, I must,
in justice to it, quote what an old Irish monk,
Thomas Gage by name, who found his way to
Mexico, nearly two hundred and fifty years ago,
says of the promenade.
"The gaUants of this city shew themselves
daily ; some on horseback, and most in coaches,
about four of the clock in the afternoon, in a
pleasant shady field called the Alamaida, fuU cf
trees and walks, somewhat hke unto our Moorfields;
where do meet, as constantly as the merchants
upon our Exchange, about two thousand coaches
fuU of gallants, ladies, and citizens, to see and to
be seen — to court and to be courted — the gentle
men having in their train blackamoor slaves, some
a dozen, some half a dozen, waiting on them, in
brave and gallant liveries, heavy with gold and
sUver lace, with silk stockings on their black legs,
and roses (rosettes) on their feet, and swords by
their sides. The ladies also carry their train of
slaves by their coaches' side, of such jet-like dame-

340 THE PASEOS AND ENVIRONS OF MEXICO.
seUs, as have before been mentioned for their light
appareU; who, with their bravery, and white
manteU over them, seem to be, as the Spaniard
saith, 'Mosca en leche,' a flie in milk."* Since
these grand old times of trains of slaves, with silk
stockings on their black legs, what a falling off to
be sure !
* Gage went from Ireland to Spain, and then entered a con
vent of Dominican monks. He was sent to the Phillipines in
1625; made money, got back to England, abjured the Catholic
faith, and obtained the living of Deal in Kent.

341

LETTER XLVIII.
CHAPULTEPEC  TISAPAN  MAGDALENA.
The plain of Mexico, as often stated, is, for a great
part of the year brown and arid, exposed, uninter
ruptedly, to the burning rays of a tropical sun.
But almost all the rising ground on the opposite
side of the city is full of interest and beauty, both
from the diversity of fine scenery, its general
cultivation, and the good account to which, in
many ways and in many places, the natural riches
and advantages of the country have been turned.
Several of these places have been particularly
mentioned in our preceding pages. Tacubaya, San
Augustin de la Cuevas, Guadalupe, the Haciendas
de San Mateo and la Lecheria, Cuajamalpa, and the
Desert. Some have been touched on incidentaUy,
but one or two which we visited, have scarcely been
spoken of at aU,

342 chapultepec — tisapan —
The most remarkable of aU the objects around
and near Mexico, is Chapultepec. It is only
about two miles from the City : it is visited by all
comers — it is described by all in the same way ;
and I can add nothing new to this somewhat
hackneyed part of Mexican travel. Chapultepec is
a viceregal palace, of immense dimensions, placed on
a splendid eminence, where once stood the favourite
retreat of Montezuma. The present edifice (never
entirely finished) was buUt by the young Viceroy
Galvez, at an expense of three hundred thousand
dollars; but the court of Madrid, jealous of the
power which a viceroy might exercise, with so
dominant a position over the capital, gave it to be
understood that the occupation of the new palace
would be " a custom more honoured in the breach
than the observance." Now the building is
caUed a military school ; and, as far as we could
see, the occupation of it was still "a custom
more honoured," etc. It had an untenanted and
ruinous appearance.
But the gardens and grounds about Chapultepec
are weU worthy of aU the eulogiums bestowed
upon them. They do indeed form solemn
groves worthy of the memory of Montezuma.

magdalena. 343
They consist principaUy of cj^presses of an extra
ordinary size, with a grey and hoary lichen de
pending a long way down from their branches,
which give them the air of giants of ancient and
bygone times, beyond the reach of modern descrip
tion. " The magnificent grove of cypress," says
Ruxton, " outlives aU the puny structures of man,
and, stUl in the prime of strength and beauty, looks
with contempt on the ruined structures of genera
tion after generation which have passed away."
The " cypress of Montezuma," fifty-one feet in
circumference, is a tree of the most noble propor
tions. It meets your eye soon after you enter the
grove, and stands alone ; but as it looks like three
united in one — I agree with Mr. Ward in thinking
that the second grand tree, springing from one
trunk, is the more striking of the two. As you
walk through the long lines of these wonderful
productions of nature — where they have stood for
half a dozen centuries at least — probably for many
more — you are inclined to apostrophise them, in
the words of Lady Douglas — " Ye woods and wilds,
whose melancholy gloom accords with my soul's
sadness" — and you feel for the time being, shut
out from aU the vanities and frivolities of life.

344 CHAPULTEPEC  TISAPAN —
Let me shortly conclude, in Mr. Ruxton's
words, by saying — that "from the summit of the
hUl to which a path winds through a labyrinth of
shrubs, a fine [indeed it is perhaps the finest]
view of the vaUey and City of Mexico is ob
tained, and of the surrounding mountains and
volcanic peaks."
One of the prettiest outlets from Mexico is by
the garita, or gate, de la Piedad. A beautiful
ride from the garita, through an avenue of trees,
about a mile and a-half in length, leads to the
Capilla de la Piedad, a picturesque church, and
thence you get into the open country. Passing
through a small village, called Miscuaque (pro
nounced Miss Quaeky) situated in the midst of
small haciendas, you come to the handsome
vUlage of San Angel, a place of some import
ance, as resorted to by many fashionable families,
"during the season," for health and recreation.
Madame C — de la B — resided here for some
time, and gives very interesting particulars about
it, and its adjoining village Coyohuacan, particu
larly during Passion Week. San Angel is cele
brated, also, for its convent, — a comfortable one
with a large garden surrounded by a high wall.

MAGDALENA. 345
All sorts of good things, it is said, are to be had
in it ; and the padres are particularly famous for
the pears which their garden produces.
We passed through, and made ourselves partiaUy
acquainted with San Angel, on two or three occa
sions, on our way to visit our friend, Mr. L — ,
at his country house and cotton factory, at
Tisapan — a league and half further on. We had,
in company with other friends, two or three
Mexican breakfasts at Mr. L — 's estabhshment;
and they were quite perfect in their kind.*
Mr. L — 's factory, in its machinery and manage
ment, might weU vie with many of those in his
native land. The machinery is worked by water
power, and Mr. L — produces, in much perfec
tion, every kind of manta, or unbleached cotton.
Whether these factories, of which there are now
many, wUl stand the new impulse of free-trade, —
for at present they are highly protected, — is a
question which I wiU not here discuss. It is
enough to say that the business is well done, if
not cheaply done ; and that one could not see,
without great regret, the present industrial system
in cotton manufactures upset in Mexico.
* See page 149.
Q 5

346 CHAPULTEPEC  TISAPAN 
Mr. L — 's house, garden, and factory stand in
highly -picturesque grounds. The small, but rapid
river which affords him his water-power, and which
very seldom fails him, turns a wheel of great
dimensions. His people earn good wages; and
the united kindness and firmness of his character
ensures him good and contented operatives. It is
something to see a British subject thus established
in Mexico, beyond the jurisdiction or protection
of the capital. Of course, Mr. L — has had, as a
foreigner, his troubles in gaining his dominant
position ; but now all seems to work smoothly.
The country round about is very picturesque.
Mr. L — 's house stands on the verge of the Pedre-
gal of which I have spoken ; and a fine view of the
mountain of Ajusco and the wUd country around,
is obtained from his azotea. Hence Mr. L —
pointed out to me the very difficult line of march
through this mountainous and rugged country,
which the American invading force had chosen as
their approach on the capital. Mr. L — himself
witnessed all the operations of both parties at
this interesting point of the attack.
On the 5th of July, Mr. Mackintosh most
kindly made up a party for us to Magdalena and

MAGDALENA. 347
the Canada — places of which I find no mention
made in any of the Mexican travels which I have
read. The village of Magdalena lies three or four
leagues beyond Tisapan; and as the road is of
and belonging to the Pedregal, the way thence is
here and there rugged. We set off, a pleasant
party. In a commodious omnibus, drawn by four
powerful frisones, were Mr. W — , of the United
States' Legation, the M. de Raddepont, and myself;
on horseback, H— , Mr. Mackintosh, and Messrs.
F— and B— .
After passing a paper-mill on a large scale, in
the course of erection, and in which Mr. M —
has an interest, wc got to the Magdalena,
about eleven a.m. ; and here wc found the pro
prietor of the factories • — • to see which was
the main object of our visit — who had come
over from his country-house, near San Agustin
dc las Cuevas, to have his great industrial
establishment properly shown to us. It is
one of the largest in Mexico, and comprehends
not only a first-rate cotton-factory, but manu
factures of a very great variety of woollen
stuffs.

348 MAGDALENA.
We were received with all the hospitable kind
ness and urbanity of manner of which we have
seen and experienced so much in Mexico. A truly
magnificent dejeuner a la fourchette was laid out
for us in the great dining-haU, at which we were
joined by some friends of the proprietor, while
he himself, without participating, moved about in
agreeable conversation with every one alternately,
only seeing that we all did justice, after our long
ride and drive, to the ample board spread before
us. We proceeded to inspect the cotton-factory,
which we found in perfect working-order;
having all the latest improvements introduced.
It employs five or six hundred hands, among
whom the greatest order and disciphne have
been introduced. To give you an idea of what
sort of people the owner could reclaim and
discipline, I must tell you that, desiring us to
leave H — behind, he showed us into one room
where the roughest preliminary work was going
on, and where sat about sixty men, shirtless and
bare from the waist upwards. They looked like,
and were of, the class lepero. " Now," said my
informant, " there is not one of these men who

MAGDALENA. 349
has not a tajo, a cut of some kind, in his face or
body. They have lived desperate hves : while they
remain here, they are perfectly weU-conducted
operatives." The water-wheel of the Magdalena
fabrica is the largest in Mexico. To look on
the mighty monster turning round, was some
thing wonderful. We went into the vast abyss
which contained its body — a splendid work, to
which we approached by a fine, wide, inclined
plane, solid and paved. Round the wheel ran a
platform ; and hke so many pigmies — little Gulli
vers before the Brogdignagian queen — we walked
round, and admired the vast proportions of this
noble specimen of machinery.
The woollen manufactory interested me still
more than the cotton, from the great variety of
successful experiments which were in process.
The dyeing of the wools was exceUently done;
and some admirable specimens of fine cloths and
other woollen fabrics were exhibited to us. Then
a neat shop in the vUlage was well furnished with
both the woollen and cotton stuffs in aU their
variety, for the supply of the paysanos, the country-
people, far and near.
It was a pretty sight— that of all the factory-girls

350 MAGDALENA.
dispersing through the viUage when the dinner-
bell rang; and of returning from their modest
homes to resume their work. Such a sight is, of
course, much more striking to an English travel
ler in a picturesque Mexican village, than in the
streets of a manufacturing town of his own
country. The superabundant water-power of the Magda
lena is obtained from what is called La Canada,
a far-famed place; which, after concluding with
La Magdalena, we proceeded to view.
A short walk brought us to the place, a private
property, going by the indefinite name of El
Rancho, "the Cottage;" for there is only a farm-
steading on the grounds ; but I have seen many fine
houses without grounds ; although I never yet saw
such fine grounds as those of the Canada without
a house. They were formed in a deep ravine;
and so far as this was turned into garden and
pleasure-walks and grounds, a series of terraces,
with a separate walk along each, led you from the
rancho to the top of the acclivity. Here the scene
was very beautiful; and, stretching beyond the
cultivated part, the walk went through woods
and groves, alternating with openings apparently

MAGDALENA. 351
made by nature to show her other surrounding
works. At the end of this walk, in aU perhaps of a
mile and a half, we turned to the left, and were
gradually led to the banks of the river, the course
of which we had now to follow, as it impetuously
forced its way to the great wheel of the Magda
lena. It was the very perfection of mountain
river scenery ; even finer, I think, than that of the
" desert," which I have already described.
We returned to the fabrica ; were again regaled
with the best of creature-comforts (particularly
with a variety of choice old Spanish and other
wines, in which our host was curious, and a
connoisseur) ; and, towards evening, we bade adieu
to our kind host, to whom we had been indebted
for a day so profitably and so pleasantly spent.
One of the well-known rides from Mexico, is to
the viUage of Los Remedios, about four leagues
off, celebrated at once for the splendid view ob
tained from it, and for the effigy of the Virgin,
second only in renown to that of Guadalupe. I
can oiUy afford to give a condensed account of it.
The road to Los Remedios leads through
the viUage of Tacuba, which I have not yet

352 LOS REMEDIOS.
mentioned. It is in a somewhat ruinous state,
but remarkable for a very noble church, erected
by Cortez, and for a Montezuman cypress, of im
posing height. Hence the road to Los Remedios
ascends by rugged hUls and a difficult way.
La Virgen de los Remedios, was the Spanish
Patroness;* her image, brought over by Cortez,
having replaced the Indian idols in the great
temple of Mexico, after due purification. It is
said to have been concealed on the famous and
historical "noche triste," or sad night, when the
Spaniards retreated from Mexico, through Tacuba,
to the adjacent heights. It was afterwards found
(according to the legend) on a barren mountain,
in the heart of a maguey, by an Indian. It then
received the name " La Virgen de los Remedios,"
and was reputed to cure many maladies; being
more especially famous for putting an end to long
droughts. A temple was built on the spot where
the image of the virgin was found : the belief in
her miraculous powers spread far and wide : gifts
of immense value poured in upon her sanctuary :
* Called La Oachupina, by the Mexicans; the old Spaniards
being designated generally by what is meant as the contemptuous
name of Gachupin.

LOS REMEDIOS. 353
and her jewels, and diamonds, and dresses, amoun
ted at last to an almost fabulous value. The
image itself, of a foot in length, is a poor and
mutilated one ; but its value is so great, that it is
now generaUy preserved in the cathedral, and
only brought out on great occasions, particularly
and especiaUy when a procession to mitigate the
evils of a drought takes place; and on some occa
sions, it is said, the image is let out for processions
at a very high price. Removed to the cathedral,
the Virgen de los Remedios fulfils her mission in
her own temple vicariously; her representative
being more brilliant to the eye, but much less
costly in its appointments. Her festival is cele
brated annually by vast numbers of votaries,
almost exclusively leperos and Indians. Thou
sands attend it; and the scene, as you may
imagine, is one of the most original and curious
that can be pictured by the mind.
The grand view of the surrounding country is
obtained from the top of the steeple; and it
embraces, better than from almost any other
point, all the striking points and prominent
beauties of the panorama, and particularly of
the valley of Mexico, which stretches out below.

354 LOS REMEDIOS.
Near the vUlage, are to be seen the ruins of a
noble aqueduct of fifty arches, built by the
Spaniards. Two other shorter excursions than the Remedios
are among the pleasant rides from Mexico. One,
the Olivas, or plantation of Olives, an " hacienda,"
now deserted, but the grounds of which were
beautiful in their day. The other, Los Morales,
"mulberries," is very prettUy situated, and the
gardens and grounds are in nice order.

355

LETTER XLIX.
De Omnibus Rebus.
Mexico, 30th September, 1849.
There is much which is amusiug in the streets
and out-door population of Mexico. The total
absence, however, of well-dressed women, is a
great draw-back to the fashionable streets,
such as the Calle de los Plateros (the Bond
Street of Mexico) ; and while lounging in them,
all you are permitted to see of the "'Seiioras
de tono," is their shopping. They come in
their carriages, stop at the shop doors, proceed
from one to another, and in this way carry
forward the momentous business of a lady's life.
The early morning walk to the Alameda is their
only indulgence in peripatetics.
The great plaza is the most curious part of the
city ; the most bustling (except in the vicinity of

356 DE omnibus rebus.
the markets) ; and the most picturesque and
various in the shops and in the shoppers. AU
classes are here mixed up, — minus the " Sefioras
de tono" aforesaid — from the poor Indian up
wards. During the day, a constant stream of
people move round the plaza, and give great
animation to it. The whole side of the square
fronting the Palace, and half of the next, forms an
arcade, filled with shops and other establishments
of the most diversified and heterogeneous kind;
toy shops, book staUs, cafes, sUversmiths, with
curious specimens of Mexican wares, silver-work
of every kind, clothes and Mexican costume
shops, everything Mexican, and all ostentatiously
displayed with great abundance. Then follows,
ending at the south-west corner, from which you
cross over to the palace, the " Parian," a great
bazaar, where the lower and common classes
are fitted out with every possible article of dress
and ornament, both of foreign and national tex
ture and make ; but stiU, on the whole, presenting
a truly Mexican appearance. Near one corner of
the plaza, sit the " Evangelistas," letter writers em
ployed by those deficient in calligraphy ; — lovers'
letters — business — family — any sort of letter you

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 357
hke to dictate. In the centre of the square are
the municipality, a dirty-looking place, and the
" Lonja," the exchange of the city, open to native
and foreign subscribers; offering every facility
both for business and pleasure. The great salon
is a large and handsome one, properly fitted
up, and weU supplied with foreign and domestic
papers and periodicals. Beyond, is an exceUent
biUiard room ; and refreshments are always to
be had. The Lonja is managed by a joint com
mittee ; and here, subscription balls and concerts
(for the elite), are sometimes given. We attended
some of both, and found them extremely weU
conducted. At Herz's concert, I had the honour
of an introduction to general Herrera, and his
daughter; and I found him, as I have found
almost every man in power I have known in
Spanish America, unostentatious, and indulging
in that sort of happy familiarity, characteristic
of the Spaniard, which never descends below the
mark of good breeding.
From a street running parallel with the palace,
and into which you turn from the " Parian," you
enter on the great market of Mexico ; and as far
as the fruits and the vegetables go, it is a very

358 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
wonderful display. Such an abundance and such
a variety of the vegetable productions of nature
can nowhere else be seen. The climate of Mexico
allows of every production both of tropical and
cold climates ; and its very numerous indigenous
plants and fruits being added to those of almost aU
other countries, the result is quite striking. The
markets are principally supplied by the Indians, who
bring their stuffs by the canal from Chalco. Mr.
Bullock was quite in raptures with the market ; and
he teUs us it was his constant morning's excursion.
" I was never tired of examining their fruits and
vegetables," he says ; and I say the same myself.
I do not think you have any Eurropean fruit which
you may not find here ; and if you add " various
kinds of bananas, plantains, pawpaws, custard-
apples, soursop, citrons, shaddock, ackee, sapotes"
(three or four quite distinct kinds), "abocatas,
tunnals, pitalli, ciayotte, chennini, genianil, pome
granates, dates, annonas, mangoes, star-apples," etc.
— not forgetting, as Mr. BuUock does, the finest of
all fruits, the chirimoya, the Aguaeate (which is
the Peruvian Palta, a delicious fruit), and many
others — you may conceive the variety which the
market offers to the eye, and ministers to the

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 359
taste. With animal food, Mexico is also well
supphed ; but they have only one kind of good
fish, something like a whiting (not so fine),
caught in fresh water. Wild-duck from the
lakes is so superabundant, that they are brought
down by a cannonade, rather than by shooting.
Frogs are eaten, though rarely ; and the most
curious of their delicacies are mosquito's eggs,
taken in myriads by lines laid across the marshy
grounds about the lakes.
The leperos have often been incidentally men
tioned in these pages, without being exactly
defined. Many others have defined them ; but
none, I confess, to my own satisfaction. They
are not professional beggars, although their rags,
tattered garments, torn blankets, filth, and appa
rent poverty would entitle them to rank as such.
AU leperos, they say, are thieves. I wUl not back
this assertion; but I do think that almost all
thieves and pickpockets in Mexico are leperos.
In picking pockets they are particularly expert.
They will work merely to hve ; but assuredly they
do not live to work. Idleness is their supreme
delight. The pulqueria, or a sunny corner, is
their choice retreat ; yet processions, the churches,

360 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
promenades, swarm with leperos. They wiU do all
sorts of odd jobs to gain a few clacos, or pence.
When the streets are flooded and totaUy impass
able during the heavy rains, the leperos ply as
ferrymen — whip you up in their arms, or take you
on their backs, at aU the worst crossings. Of
course they are fond of gambling ; but they are
also great politicians, and listen in the " strangers'
gallery," with serious interest, to the debates in
the chambers. Their modes of employment
are numerous ; for work they must sometimes,
although many of them, no doubt, prefer to thieve.
Yet among them are some of the most ingenious
workmen in wax and other materials. In short,
they are ready for anything and everything, to
supply their few wants beyond pulque. To a
foreigner they are a riddle, to the city of Mexico
they are undeniably a disgrace.
The beggars of Mexico are very numerous, and
many are very disgusting ; whUe no sort of police
whatever seems to be exercised over them.
From leperos and beggars, one naturaUy goes to
pulque, the nectar of such classes. It is obtained
from the aloe, or Agave Americanus, called in
Mexico the maguey. When it attains its height,

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 361
the great stalk and flower are cut down, and the
trunk is so scooped out as to leave a hollow recess,
whence the fluid, which is rapidly and abundantly
distilled by the plant, is sucked off through a tube,
and conveyed to a leather bag, or bota, by the
Indian labourer who has charge of the plant.
Then the juice is left to ferment, and is of a con
siderably intoxicating nature. I only tasted it once,
and never had the shghtest desire to repeat the
trial. Each fuU-grown plant is estimated at eight
doUars ; so that, as it comes to maturity in eight
years, it increases in value one doUar per annum.
It is cultivated in fields with as much care as we
cultivate wheat, giving profitable returns to the
hacendado. The maguey is chiefly, if not only, grown
as a farming product hi the state of Mexico Pro
per; and the extent and importance of the trade
may be inferred from the fact, that the carriage
alone of the article to the city, the centre of con
sumption, costs three hundred thousand dollars
annuaUy. Throughout Mexico, according to its varied lati
tudes, you have in active cultivation almost every
production of nature — wheat, barley, oats — all
our own cereal and green crops — the sugar-cane.
VOL. II. R

362 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
coffee, tobacco, cotton, rice, and minor products
of warm chmates. For cochineal the country is
celebrated ; and of timber and wood of every kind
they have inexhaustible stores. Silver and gold
I have only to mention, to make their importance
understood by all. Quicksilver they also have;
and iron-mines are in operation. In short, a
country more abundant in every species of mineral
and other riches than Mexico (even after her loss
of New-Mexico and California, having stUl Sonora
and other parts), I do beheve exists not on the
face of the earth — excepting, perhaps, the United
States, since their people have possessed them
selves (after their own fashion) of such splendid
territorial enlargements to their democratic em
pire as Texas, California, and New-Mexico.
The climate of Mexico, like its productions, is
various ; but throughout, I should say, salubrious.
On some of its coasts, and particularly in the
Gulf, it is held to be quite otherwise ; but on this
point, as I think I have shown in the earlier of
these letters, there is much misapprehension.
With proper care and precaution (which means,
by omitting, and not committing, excesses), the
climate, generaUy speaking, on the coast, I believe
to be innocuous.

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 363
In the interior the climate, so far as I expe
rienced it, is beautiful — here warm, there cold;
but always healthy. But even in the city of
Mexico you wUl do well to study the climate :
you must not forget that you are near to the hue,
and you must live accordingly.
The rainy season, in the city of Mexico, is not
unhealthy ; but the rains themselves deserve some
special notice. During the four months which,
more or less, they last, they are marked by an
almost methodical regularity — a fine morning and
forenoon; torrents of rain from three p.m. tUl late
in the night. The streets are so inundated on some
occasions, that they are not only impassable, but
appear exactly like canals. I have looked out on
the CaUe de Capuchinas, when in this state, after
the lamps were ht (particularly during a crescent
moon), with interest and pleasure. The light
played and sparkled on the accumulated waters,
and gave a truly picturesque effect to the canal-
street, with its palaces on either side.
We have earthquakes in Mexico; and during
our stay we experienced three or four smart shocks.
The houses are admirably adapted to resist their
effect. Notwithstanding, an earthquake is always

364 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
an awkward thing ; and to find your chair moving,
and aU the crystal drops of the chandelier jingling,
and to hsten to a low, hoUow, murmuring noise,
with an odd coolness in the air, and to hear the
people hastening into the street — aU this is not
pleasant, although it was the utmost extent to
which our alarms were aUowed to proceed. Of
the great volcanic mountain, Popocatepetl, so
close, comparatively, to Mexico, I have already
spoken ; and you must use your own discretion in
estimating how far its fiery eruptions have con
nection with the labourings of mother earth under
the capital.
Of the foreign commerce, internal trade, im
ports and exports of Mexico, I do not, in this
slight work, pretend to treat. On these points I
must refer to others, particularly to Mr. Ward
and Mr. Brantz Mayer, who have elaborated these
important features of the republic. I wiU only
give one statistical fact, of a suggestive kind,
which may not be inopportune.
The great export of Mexico is sUver. Last year
it is understood that twenty millions of doUars
were coined ; and assuming the amount of sUver
produced, but not sent to the mint, as 20 per

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 365
cent, of the coinage, we should have four mUlions
of doUars more. Let us add, hypotheticaUy, for
gold, cochineal, vanUla, and minor articles of ex
port, one milhon of dollars more — in aU, twenty-
five millions. We have here twenty-five mUlions
of dollars, or five mUlions sterling, of exportable
produce from Mexico per annum.
Supposing, therefore, the imports and exports
to be balanced, Mexico now consumes, in one
shape or other, five miUions, nett value in the
republic, of foreign produce and manufactures.
The Custom-House revenue is levied on gross
value of imports; and taking that at thirty-five
millions of doUars, and the average duties on im
ports at 30 per cent., we should have an income
from the Customs on imports of . $10,500,000
And take the Custom-House duties
on exports at only . . . 1,500,000

We should have a total Customs in
come of  $12,000,000
Properly recovered, perhaps three mUlions of dol
lars from internal resources of revenue might be
calculated upon — giving ways and means per
annum of $15,000,000.

366 BE OMNIBUS REBUS.
This would be a very flourishing, although a
very natural, state of affairs ; but, unfortunately,
it is one which we know does not exist. What the
Government actually receives, I beUeve, nobody
knows. That a large proportion of what ought to
be pubhc revenue, is turned into the current of
contraband, I believe every one knows; but how
much goes to the Government, and how much to
the contrabandista, is a problem which I cannot
pretend to solve. One thing, however, wiU be clear
to every reasoning and reasonable man — that if
Mexico would adopt a more liberal commercial
policy than that which now cripples her revenue,
and encourages the baneful system of smugghng,
the country would reap an enormous harvest by
the change, and lay the foundation of a prosperity
which, as yet, the country has never enjoyed.
A remarkable feature in Mexican history now,
is the utter discredit into which the military
profession has fallen. There is no regular
army worth mentioning — the National Guard sup
plies its place. I much applaud the change.
There are stUl many generals, colonels, and
officers of lower grade ; but by one and aU the
uniform in public is eschewed. You never see

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 367
one in good society, or at the theatre, or other
places of amusement. The uniform only appears
on those public occasions or processions on which
duty requires its use. The occasion over, the
uniform is doffed. In former years, the fiestas de
San Agustin were crowded with the most brilliant
mUitary dresses ; this year, not one.
In speaking, by the bye, of religious processions,
I have omitted to mention the grandest of aU in
Mexico, as in other places — that of Corpus Christi,
which we saw to great advantage. On this solemn
occasion the Host is carried through the city to
the cathedral ; and the whole of the public func
tionaries, including the president and his ministers
and staff, the archbishop and all the dignitaries
of the Church, the judges, etc., attend. This was
the greatest display, in a military point of view,
which we saw. The whole length of procession
was lined by National Guards ; and several regi
ments of these, with one or two regiments of the
line (aU that could be called into requisition),
some squadrons of cavalry, and a good train of
artUlery, brought up the rear of the grand display.
On this occasion the uniforms and dresses of the
old generals and other field officers were quite

368 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
magnificent. The Church dignitaries were clothed
in a stiU grander and more imposing way : their
gold and sUver vestments, their embroidered sUks
and brocades, their jewels and ornaments of every
kind, were dazzling in the extreme.
The higher arts and sciences have made little
progress in Mexico; and, under its present un
settled state of government, they continue to lan
guish, which is natural enough. A knowledge
and greatly extended use of machinery has grown
up since the English Companies were established;
and this branch goes on advancing. Of mining I
have already spoken, as you are aware it is the
science cultivated in Mexico. The Mexicans are
curious artificers in gold and silver, both for use
and ornament. Some of their figures are modelled
in the most artistic manner ; and yet most of the
best and most ingenious workmen are amateurs in
humble circumstances. The wax figures have been
rendered celebrated in England by Mr. Bullock.*
The leperos are great workers in wax; and their
representations of Mexican manners, costumes,
character, and of almost everything else they
* There was a full and very beautiful collection of these figures
in the Exhibition of all Nations.— "W. P. K. (1852).

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 369
attempt, are most admirable. In embroidery of
every kind, the richest and the finest, Mexico is
hardly to be surpassed by any other country.
In printing, in aU its branches, great advances
have been made in the city; and I wish I had
space to give you a full account of one of the
most interesting things, whether considered in
itself, or in the view of progress, which I saw in
Mexico — I mean, the printing and publishing
estabhshment of Don Ignacio Cumplido : it well
deserves a chapter of itself.
It comprehends printing in every possible
variety and shape (with the exception, I think,
of stereotype), plain and ornamental ; lithograph ,
carried to a degree of very high perfection ; book
binding in all its branches; periodical publica
tions; a daily newspaper; Ulustrative literature;
an "Annual" of much beauty — in short, every
thing connected with the press, in a truly credit
able manner to the enterprising founder of the
establishment. Then the machinery employed is
all of a first-class order, principaUy imported from
the most celebrated foundries in London ; and, in
fact, I could see nothing omitted which coma
tend to make Mr. Cumplido's estabhshment a
r 5

370 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
perfect model for those who chose to foUow in his
steps in Mexico. AU this is very encouraging;
and shows what may be done, under every dis
advantage, where energy, industry, and intelli
gence form the basis of a novel and great
enterprise. But I have not yet mentioned what was the
great characteristic of Mr. Cumplido's establish
ment; namely, its order, method, and perfect
division of labour. Carried to an extent which I
think I never saw surpassed, these essentially
fundamental elements of successful enterprise
have naturally led to the growing prosperity of
Mr. Cumplido's great undertaking.
He himself, as you may suppose, was the
fit interpreter of aU his labours. Without os
tentation, but with a sober enthusiasm in his
calling, he delighted to show me exactly what he
had done, and what he still proposed doing. He
employs a very great number of hands, and is
sedulous in studying their comfort and advance
ment. He has a school for the boys employed
by him and under his especial charge ; and while
he rightly maintains the authority of the master,
he appears to take a fatherly charge of all his
workmen.

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 371
Mr. C — made me presents of various illustra
tions of his labours ;* and I must not omit men
tioning, that before we left, he sent H — one of
the celebrated boxes of chocolate, made in Oaxaca,
the lid and sides of which are adorned with
figures and landscapes in miniature, characteristic
of the country, perfectly and beautifuUy modelled,
aud aU made from the pith of a tree.
What a world of good is such an establishment
as Mr. Cumplido's in a new country calculated to
produce ! and therefore, I say, aU honour to his
name !
I have as yet said nothing of the population of
the Mexican republic ; and in mentioning it now, I
can do httle more than refer you to the statistics
of my predecessors. The population has been
roughly calculated at from seven to eight miUions,
of whom one million only are said to be white (or
pure Creoles), and the remainder, Indians and
castes, as Zambos, Mestizos, Mulattoes, etc. I
cannot pretend to speak ex cathedra, but I should
set down the Creoles at a somewhat higher figure,
* I have availed myself of one of them in my Frontispiece, the
Lithograph there being a fae-simile of one produced by Mr. Cum
plido, in a very handsomely got up account of the transfer of
Yturbide's ashes to the Cathedral.

372 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
and the Indians and castes at a lower. Supposing
seven mUlions to be the population, six parts of
mixed breeds to one of original, is a heavy dispro
portion ; but yet it may be so.
The city of Mexico is calculated at from 160,000
to 200,000 inhabitants. The first number is
probably nearer the mark than the second.
If the statistics of Mexican population could
be accurately drawn out, perhaps the most start
ling line would be that of robbers. In London
we have two miUions of inhabitants; in Great
Britain and Ireland, twenty-five milhons. How
many highway robbers could we count in that vast
population ? In London, scarcely one ; in the
empire, a most insignificant number. Certainly,
in Mexico it is otherwise ; and to draw this long
misceUaneous letter to a close, let me finish off
with a robber story, which came under my own
cognizance during my residence in the city of
Mexico. One cannot take a drive, or a ride, or a walk,
beyond something like the centre of that city,
with absolute security, if unarmed. Highway
robberies have been perpetrated in the suburbs,
— in the outskirts — in the streets — in the paseo

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 373
nuevo, with a daring and nonchalance proper to
the Mexican salteador.
A much respected and somewhat fearless friend
of mine, returning on a certain occasion with two
companions from his hacienda, by the Tacuba
road, in a close carriage, but altogether unarmed,
passed the garita sometime after sunset. Within
the precincts of the city therefore, and entering by
one of the great thoroughfares, his carriage was yet
suddenly arrested, the driver instantaneously dis
mounted by armed men, who quickly but calmly
opening the doors of the vehicle, began at once
the work of personal pillage. No one was near,
resistance was impossible; so watches, purses,
coats, waistcoats, hats, were instantly abstracted
by the adroit robbers. The carriage was then
permitted to proceed; and thus denuded, my
friend with his two guests walked quietly into the
drawing room of his town house, where part of
his family and some company were assembled;
and who, first with unmitigated astonishment,
and then with hearty laughter, greeted their for
lorn relative and his companions.
Amongst the company in the salon was a rever
end padre, the daily tertuliano and intimate of my

374 DE OMNIBUS REBUS.
friend. His reverence made no show of conceahng
his contempt for the pusiUanimity of three men,
who, at their very door, had thus permitted them
selves to be robbed ; and he only wished that he
had been there, to shew how different would have
been the result. My friend merely observed that
he had no doubt of the padre's courage and daring,
intimating that it would have been pleasant to
have had the advantage of both in the dilemma in
which they had been placed.
A fortnight afterwards, the affair of the robbery
being forgotton, my friend invited his reverence —
a customary matter — to pass a few days with him
and some friends at his hacienda. In addition to
other pleasures, the padre calculated, as usual, on
a httle quiet monte, of which he was very fond.
The second day our host proposed an excursion to
a neighbouring hacienda, whither aU went, my
friend and a companion on horseback, the others
in two carriages. The first of these drove on at a
brisk pace ; the second, in which the padre and a
friend occupied places, proceeded more leisurely,
accompanied by the horsemen.
Presently a man came gaUoping up, and whis
pered to my friend the host. " I must return,"

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 375
he said to those in the carriage, "to keep an
appointment I had forgotten, but drive quietly,
and I shaU soon overtake you." Our host gaUoped
home, changed his attire, blackened his face, put
crape over his eyes, armed himself; and with
three or four of his men, sirnUarly disguised, he
quickly made up to the padre's carriage. Those
with him were in the secret.
" Alto ! — halt ! " the pretended robber caUed
out — and the terrified driver stopped. "A tierra ! "
was the next roar.
" Que es esto," said the reverendo, anything but
at his ease ; " what 's the matter ? "
"Ladrones! — Ladrones!" said his companion;"
"for heaven's sake, padre, let us get out and
throw ourselves down — boca abaxo (literaUy, mouth
down)." His reverence hastened to do as he was bid, aud
presently his host was striding over him with a
rusty pistol in Ins hand.
" Eh ! " said he in a disguised, harsh, and im
perious tone, " give us aU you have — quick —
strip ! " The padre took out his watch, puUed off
his cassock, and stopped. " <S« dinero ! " shouted
my friend (your money).

376 DE OMNIBUS REBUS,
"My son," said the padre meekly, "how do
you expect that a pobre religioso hke me should
have any money ? I have none."
" Eh ! eh ! " exclaimed my friend, and drawing
his long sword ; " your money, I say, your money
— or you die ! "
"Padre, padre," said the companion, " do as I
am doing ; give up your money ! "
The padre, terrified out of his wits, drew from
a smaU inward side pocket a little leathern purse,
containing four or five doubloons, intended for the
possible exigencies of monte, but wliich he now
made over to the robber ; who then with his fol
lowers, took his departure.
My friend managed his business so weU, that,
again restored to his usual calm figure, and smo
king his little paper segar, he was at the termina
tion of the pleasure drive before the padre's
carriage came up ; and from him, stUl agitated by
his sudden and unlooked for adventure, the robber
received the particulars of the ferocious attack,
and condoled with the padre accordingly.
"These robberies," said the reverendo, "are
generaUy nothing ; but there was a devil incarnate
in this case — a facineroso — an assassin — who only

DE OMNIBUS REBUS. 377
seemed to want the shghtest excuse for murdering
us all."
The padre was next day informed that the whole
case had been laid before the Justice of the peace,
whose people were scouring the country in search
of the daring offenders. Of course, nothing came
of it; for, as you may suppose, the Juez de
Paz, had no information laid. But some time
after the padre's return to Mexico, my friend
caUed on him and said : " Padre, I have news to
give you : the parish priest of my district has
delivered up to the Juez, all that was taken from
you, ordering that no questions should be asked.
Doubtless the ladron went to confess, and was
absolved on condition of restoring aU the fruits
of his robbery."
The reverendo was afterwards told the true
circumstances of the case; but, to avoid aU dis
agreeable discussion, he professes stUl to beheve
that his friends would amuse him with a pleasant
fiction ; and that he has too faithful a knowledge
of Don  ever to have confounded " a devU
incarnate," and a "fadneroso," with so good and
respectable a man.

PART VI.

MEXICO TO ENGLAND.

381

LETTER L.
departure from the city or Mexico.
Vera Cruz, October, 1849.
It was a matter of no smaU disappomtment to
me, that my constant avocations in the city had
not permitted me at any time to visit Cuernavaca,
and its celebrated cavern of Cacahuawamilea, or
more shortly (for it goes by both names), Caca-
huamUca. Cuernavaca, a part of which is, as a
generic name, caUed " Tierra Cahente," hes at a
convenient distance for the traveUer from the city
of Mexico ; and embracing, as the excursion does,
the ruins of the pyramid of Xochicalco, the cavern
just named, Cautla de AmUpas, Cocoyotla, and
other interesting places, aU who can, do go to this
part of Tierra Cahente.
The beauties of the country and the surpassing
wonders of the cavern I did not see; and therefore

382 DEPARTURE FROM
I must refer you, for an account of them, to
Madame C — de la B — ,* and Mr. Brantz Mayer.
Having on several occasions expressed to Mr.
Escandon my regret at leaving Mexico, without
seeing some of the finer parts of it, comprehended
under the name of " Tierra Cahente," he himself
determined to come to the. rescue, in a manner
I very httle expected. He told me, some time
before our proposed departure, that he had made
up his mind to visit Orizava, where the family
* Madame C — de la B — conceives that the cavern cannot he
described; because, as she observes, "there is nothing with which
the cave can be compared." But there are several celebrated
caverns in Europe of the same kind, composed of stalactites and
stalagmites, petrefactions and crystallisations; and he who has
visited the caverns, mines, and petrifying wells of Derbyshire —
the Rutland, the Cumberland, the Devonshire, the Fluor, and the
Speedwell caverns — can form a tolerably exact idea of the cavern
of Cacahuamilca. The difference lies in the extent of the latter.
It is like most of the wonders of nature in the New World —
altogether gigantic in its proportions. Indeed, the termination of
the Cacahuamilca cavern, after passing through saloon after
saloon, galleries, and amphitheatres, for miles, has never been
reached. A beautiful, but small, cave, which I have visited, was a few
years ago discovered in the Cheddar cliffs, Somersetshire; and it
displays very comprehensively, though on a reduced scale, the
wonders of the stalactite and stalagmite world. Some of the
conformations are altogether wonderful.

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 383
had possessions, and he had interests of magni
tude; and thence to proceed to New Orleans to
meet his sister, then on her way to Mexico from
Europe. He gave such an invitation as could not
be refused, to H — and myself, to place ourselves
under his wing, and to proceed to Vera Cruz,
instead of going by the ordinary route by which
we had come. Thus, unexpectedly, and much to
my satisfaction, not only were H — and myself to
escape from the toilsome and monotonous return
journey to the coast by the way we came ; but,
under the best auspices, I was about to visit a
part of Mexico quite out of the usual beat of
traveUers, and abounding with objects of interest
both natural and social.
We had already made so many social acquisi
tions during our stay in Mexico; we had been
treated with so much kindness on all sides; so
much had been done to render our residence
agreeable; and the welcome and hospitality ac
corded to us had been of so purely disinterested a
nature — that our grateful feelings were mixed with
unfeigned regret in parting with so many valuable
and kind friends — Enghsh, Mexican, and foreign
— even though we were returning to our native

384 DEPARTURE FROM
country. To Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh, in parti
cular, our obligations were of a nature never to
be obliterated from my daughter's or my own
mind. For the last two or three days we were very
much occupied paying farewell visits to aU our
friends. On the 5th of October we dined with
Mr. Doyle ; and the following day, the eve of
our departure, Mr. Mackintosh had a farewell
party not only for us, but also for Dona Antonia
Aguero and her daughter, who were to be our
fellow-passengers to England.
Mr. Escandon's arrangements were, that he
and we, accompanied by Don J. and Dr. Martinez
del Rio, two more of Mr. E.'s guests, should
proceed by the Vera Cruz route as far as
Nopaluca, in the diligencia. Accordingly, on
the 7th of October, H — and I (happily unen
cumbered by much luggage) were in the great
establishment of Mr. Zuratuza; and we set off, on
a beautiful morning, at five o'clock, for Puebla,
accompanied by Mr. Escandon and the Messrs.
Martinez del Rio, with a good escort for the
road. With such pleasant compagnons de voyage,

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 385
splendid weather, and incomparably fine scenery,
time flew quickly on. If we were disappointed on
our approach to the valley of Mexico, we were com
pensated on our departure from it. We had it,
under a cloudless sky, in aU its mixed beauty and
grandeur — the morning sun giving a dazzling
brightness to the snowy summit of Popocatepetl.
We had also a better opportunity, on this occa
sion, of observing the different places through
which we passed. Clearing the lake of Tezcuco
and the Peiion Viejo and Tlapishuatla, we came
to the town of Ayotla ; then, passing by Amaluca
and the Venta de Cordova, we arrived, about
eleven a.m., at Rio Frio, where our old acquaint
ance, the German hostess,* who was particularly
pleased once more to see H — , welcomed us aU,
and again gave us a famous breakfast, to which a
six hours' drive lent a keen rehsh. We went on
to Tesmelucos, an Indian village; and, changing
horses at San Martin, had time to see this rather
neat and clean-looking town, of some historical
celebrity. The Hacienda de Santa Rosa was our
next point ; and as we approached Puebla, we had
* Vol. L p. 320, — where, by the way, an error of the press,
line 7 from bottom, has converted Frio into " Fris."
VOL. II. S

386 DEPARTURE FROM
a fine view of Cholula, and the ruins of its far-
famed pyramid. To what use it was employed by
those who buUt it (the aborigines), is not now
known. When discovered, it was found to rise to
four stories; but its base stands on an area of
1,355 feet, although its height now is only 172
feet. Its traditions are lost even to the Indians.
It is constructed of adobes, or sun-burnt bricks,
interspersed with layers of plaster and stone-work.
Behind it, has been erected a Catholic church,
surmounted by a dome, and dedicated to Nuestra
Senora de los Remedios.
Before entering Puebla, you pass a handsome
bridge which spans a smaU stream, here crossing
your way.
At Puebla, where we arrived at half-past four
p.m., we met Messrs. J. and A. Escandon, and
Bringas, who were to form part of our brigade,
and Mrs. Landa and family, going direct to Vera
Cruz, where we were again to meet. I had time
on this occasion to take a better view of Puebla,
visiting its public gardens and other objects of inte
rest, aU denoting the importance of this fine city.
At the great Diligencia hotel, a long table d'hdte
was laid out at half-past six, and we all joined it.

THE CITY OF MEXICO. 387
The party was pleasant and merry ; but we retired
early, to be ready for an early start in the morn
ing. Another friend had joined us for the Orizava
tour — a retired colonel advanced in years, a relative
of the Messrs. E — , very hvely, of the old school,
and extremely amusing as a feUow-traveller.
At five a.m., Monday, the 8th, two dUigences
started — Mr. Escandon having secured one entirely
for his own party; seeing we now mustered eight in
number. After passing through the two towns of
Amazoe and Acajete, in no way remarkable, and
skirting the Cerro del Pinal, we got to breakfast at
Nopaluca; and here our diligencia travelhng ended.
From this point our picturesque expedition
began ; and after the two diligencias had departed
on their weary and dreary way for dismal Perote,
the Nopaluca Diligence Inn presented an animated
appearance. The plan of the campaign, if I may
so speak, had been arranged and superintended by
Don Joaquin Escandon ; and, under his orders, it
was very admirably carried out.
Two open travelling-carriages of the family—
the coche de campo and a handsome caratela-~
were drawn up to the door, and many good things
for country travelhng were stowed away in them.

388 DEPARTURE FROM MEXICO.
To the famUy coach six fine mules, and to the
caratela four equaUy good, were harnessed. Three
or four saddled horses were then brought up, led
by grooms. Then came sumpter mules, which
took our baggage and many creature comforts;
and relay mules for the carriages foUowed. Don
Joaquin's favourite gardener (going down to carry
out some improvements at the hacienda) and his
"tiger" (a black), a butler, and Don Manuel's
body servant, Ventura, all mounted, completed our
travelling array. In the carriages went Messrs.
M. and A. Escandon, J. and P. Martinez del Rio,
and Bringas, Colonel, Garmendia, H — , and
myself. Don Joaquin, dressed in the handsome
costume of a Mexican country gentleman, rode a
beautiful horse, saddled and caparisoned a la
Mexicaine; for he ever preferred the saddle to a
cushioned seat in a carriage We were in aU, I
think, twenty-three souls ; all our attendants,
drivers, and muleteers being domestic servants of
the Escandon famUy. Thus we made our start ;
whUe at the same time the clanking of arms and
accoutrements informed us that our escort, chosen
from the "tobacco" guards, and headed by one of
their officers, had mounted, and were dashing past
us, to head the cavalcade.

389

LETTER LI.

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.

Vera Cruz, October 1849.
Very soon after we left Nopaluca, by the Ori
zava road, we entered on a country fuU of magni
ficent mountain scenery, clothed, as ever, with the
finest woods of the richest foliage. We foUowed
a road made on the mountain side, and skirted
the smiling vaUeys below. We halted in the
vicinity of a very noble estate, the hacienda de San
Francisco — the palace-hke buUding standing on a
shght declivity of the table-land behind, sur
rounded by plantations, and commanding a view
of the great vaUey and mountain-ridges which
stretched out in front.
Here we changed mules and horses ; our escort
drew up in line, saluted us, and was replaced by a
new corps.
From San Francisco we had to proceed, that

390 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
evening, to the hacienda of Santa Ana, a patrimo
nial estate of the Escandon famUy, and where
preparations had been made for our night's lodg
ing. The distance was about five leagues ; and as
we advanced, the table-land, as far as the eye
could reach, stretched away on every side, covered
with immense crops of barley and Indian corn.
These are chiefly raised for the breeding of pigs,
which are here extensively reared by farmers.
The heat of the afternoon knocked up our car
riage-mules; and Don Antonio Escandon and I took
to pedestrianism, six or seven mUes from Santa
Ana. The walk was somewhat toilsome, but
novel and interesting. We tried near cuts through
heavy fields, and found we had only further to
walk. We skirted the town of San Andres, lying
in the very lap of the great Orizava mountain;
and we did not get to Santa Ana tiU after dark,
both of us not a httle fatigued with our long waUi
over heavy roads.
The gathering at the manor-house of the hacienda
de Santa Ana had a feudal aspect. Two or three
friends and neighbours who had gone out on
horseback to meet the Messrs. Escandon, sweUed
the coming retmue. The great patio, after we

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 391
entered, was a gay and busy scene, fiUed with
traveUers, friends, retainers, carnages, horses,
mules, and escort — aU preparing first for a good
dinner, and then most of us for a good night's rest,
after a very long day's journey.
The dinner-table we found laid out in the great
salon, with about thirty covers ; and at half-past
seven p.m. we sat down to our abundant and
exceUent cheer. Several guests from San Andres
had come in to welcome the lords of the soU, and
among the rest, el Senor Cura. But the most
interesting and amusing personage was a distant
relative of our hosts, Don Manuel Argiielles, a man
of infinite humour, a poet, and an unsurpassable
improvisatore. The dinner withdrawn and the wine and the
fruit left on the table, the brindis, or " toasts and
sentiments " went round. Fun and wit sparkled
with the wine. Many off-hand and good brindis
were given. Every one of Don M. Argiielles's were
capitally and quite poeticaUy improvised. In
many of them I could not detect a flaw, and every
one had a good point. Of the many, here is one
as a specimen of the Spanish, only presuming that
the brindis was addressed to Don Manuel, and had

392 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
reference (in very high terms to make the rhyme
suit) to his friendship for myself.
Bien contemplo que en el viage,
Placer tu alma encontraria,
Por venir en compaiiia
De un ilustre personage.
Tu amistad no se relaje,
Conservala intacta y pura
Supuesto que tal ventura,
A pocos es concedida
En esta mesquina vida
De tormentos y amargura.
The foU owing punning impromptu by M. Ar-
giieUes, was made on another occasion. A young
lady of San Andres, named Angeles (diminutive
Angelita), having been courted for seven years by
a gentleman called Don N. Camino, at last gave
her hand to a stranger, whose Christian name was
Angel. Siete Aiios por un Camino (road)
Angelita transito :
Pero del Fresnillo vino
Un Angel que la indico
Que no era ese su destino.
"Angelita went for seven years by one road,
but an angel from FresnUlo came and shewed her
that her destiny lay not in that way."
The company broke up at eleven, and then we

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 393
retired to beds provided for aU, H. having the
state bed-room of the house.
On Tuesday morning, the ninth, we were astir
at five o'clock. Our coffee was discussed, and
our preparations finished by seven, when we
started as the day before.
We passed through and examined the pic
turesque town of San Andres, the capital, as it
might be caUed, of the district. Thence, wind
ing round to the opposite side of Orizava, we got
to a rising ground, from which we obtained a truly
magnificent sight of the massive proportions of the
mountain. We were at its very base, wliich formed
a complete garden. We seemed to be almost within
reach of the noble summit, which rose majesticaUy
above us, undisturbed by lesser eminences. The
rising sun, in the clear morning, shone upon the
snow of dazzling brightness which capped this
most beautiful of aU mountains, and fiUed the
mind with indescribable feelings of wonder,
awe, and dehght. The altitude is upwards of
seventeen thousand feet, and nothing interfered to
distract the attention from its wondrous height.
To view the peak of Orizava from the far
distance is grand ; but to be placed thus in proxi-
s 5

394 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
mity to its giant proportions is sublime. I have
crossed the Andes, and gazed on Tupungato, the
highest peak of the whole four-thousand-mUe
range — superior even to Chimborazo; but as it
rises graduaUy for leagues from the level of the
sea, and is surrounded by other mountains, it does
not appear to the eye nearly so elevated as Orizava.
As we continued to wind round its base, we di
verged from the main road, and cut across to the
Canada de Istapa, or, as now called, de Morales.
StUl as we receded, mile after mile, Orizava towered
above us, as if we had not budged from the spot
where we rested and took our first view. We seemed
stUl to be at the base ; and aU the difference was,
that at every turn of the road we saw some new
and striking beauty in the lap of this wonderful
work of nature.
At Morales we stopped to breakfast, and a
most amusing affair it was. A rough, dirty,
large and substantial homestead; dogs, cats, and
pigs ; earthen floors, wooden platters and spoons,
two or three saw -hke knives, and as many one-
pronged forks, for aU the party ; dishes which, in
their cookery, could not have altered for a couple
of centuries; a table for half of us, and old

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 395
cupboards for the other half to stand at and eat,
either with one-pronged forks or with their fingers .
It was laughable and very entertaining. Don
Joaquin was in despair ; his people were employed
in every direction ; but (I am glad to say) he could
not take the rehsh of the breakfast out of it. For
myself, I never enjoyed one more in my hfe.
After leaving Morales, we entered on one of the
great wonders of this part of Mexico, caUed the
" Cumbres" or "Summits." It was a wide carriage-
road, made at an incredible expense, and crossing
a succession of mountains and narrow intervening
vaUeys. The road zig-zagged the whole way, and
that, from the abruptness and great height of the
mountains, at the sharpest possible angles. Even so,
the road rose and feU on very steep inclinations, and
in fact as our line of carriages and horses stretched
out, one part going due south, and another
due north, we were always within speaking dis
tance of one another. From each of the "Cumbres"
we obtained magnificent views of the vaUeys under
us; and when in these, we seemed to be com
pletely hemmed in by the surrounding heights.
The road ought to be paved aU the way, but there
are many gaps and roughnesses, although constant

396 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
repairs are going on, and a toU is levied to pay for
them. The heavy torrents, however, which pour
down during the rainy season, are scarcely to be
withstood by human exertions. When dark, the
road is in many places very dangerous.
At length, after an arduous march, the most love
ly and fertile of aU vaUeys — that of Orizava — opened
up its beauties to our wondering eyes. This vaUey
is twenty-four miles in length, and is watered by a
fine stream throughout. The scenery I must leave
to your imagination, for it baffles description.
At the pleasant and hvely little town of Acul-
zingo, we were received by the director of Mr.
Escandon's great cotton factory at Orizava, Mr.
Thomas Grandison, of Glasgow, accompanied by
other friends.* Proceeding onwards, having about
seven leagues stUl to accomphsh, we feU into the
main road at El Ingenio (the Engine MiU), another
smaU town, having a very fine and powerful course
of water, running by it ; and we entered the city
of Orizava in the dusk of the evening, stopping at
the Administracion de Tabacos, where we were most
politely and kindly received by El Senor Elguero,
the administrador of the estabhshment. The house
* See Appendix.

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 397
is handsome, and of great extent : the rooms, as
must needs be in TierraCahente, large and lofty.
We found a banquet prepared, and sat down,
fourteen in number, to enjoy it ; and at night we
dispersed. Don Manuel, H — , and I, accompanied
Mr. Grandison to his house at the factory,
"Cocolapan" about a mile off : Messrs. J. and T.
Escandon, and their uncle, the Colonel, remained
with Mr. Elguero ; Mr. Bringas went to a brother
settled in Orizava ; and the Messrs. Martinez del
Rio took up their residence with Don FranciscoVal-
lejos. We ourselves got installed into most capital
quarters, and after nineteen hours of travel and
movement, we enjoyed our repose.
One word of statistics here, in reference to the
department of Orizava. It forms part of the
state of Vera Cruz : is divided into three cantons —
Orizava, Cordova, and Cosamaluapam : has sixty-
three "Pueblos," towns, and villages, and about
100,000 inhabitants. Of these, from 8,000 to
10,000 form the population of the city of Orizava,
which boasts of many exceUent houses and good
streets. What we should call the High Street is,
I think, the widest I have seen in Spanish America,
where quadrangular uniformity is the basis of all

398 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
the towns. All tropical productions flourish in
the department; but the two staple articles are,
tobacco and coffee.
We spent Wednesday, the 10th, in viewing the im
mediate beauties of Cocolapan, and in a minute in
spection afterwards of the factory. When I tell
you that, first and last, it cost the parties who
erected it about one mUhon two hundred thousand
doUars, you may imagine its extent and the
high perfection of every part of its numerous
buildings and works, and of its machinery. When
this sort of property became depressed, a very few
years ago, Mr. Escandon purchased the Fabrica
de Cocolapan, and all its appurtenances, for a very
much smaller sum than it had cost.
Mr. Grandison is a son of the engineer of the
same name in Glasgow, and he has, as it were,
been born and bred in the midst of machinery
and manufactures. To his practical knowledge of
his business, he unites general intelligence, energy
of character, urbanity of manner, and patience
of temper (the latter so indispensable in his
business in Mexico) ; and accordingly, you may
suppose what is the fact, that all proceeds pros
perously and smoothly under his rule.

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 399
We had a courier this day, from Mexico, with our
packet and other letters ; and to our great regret,
we found that Mr. Escandon' s communications
compeUed him to give up his trip to New Orleans.
He was called on to return to Mexico, without
even going as far as Vera Cruz.
The next day (Thursday) was given up to an
inspection of Orizava, and to a large party given
by Mr. Elguero, at whose house, to our great satis
faction, we found our esteemed poet Argiielles had
just arrived. The metal was too attractive at
Orizava to allow him to remain at San Andres ;
and so he had foUowed us. He had been benighted
among the " Cumbres" after very heavy rains, and
was in no small danger ; and his indignation that
for such bad roads he should have had to pay a toll,
broke out, as much fun went forward after dinner,
in the foUowing impromptu : —
Por lograr el placer cierto
De veniro? a abrazar,
He tenido que pasar
Mil trabajos en el muerto.*
Vengo de lodo cubierto
* " Muerto " — la Cuesta del Muerto — the dead man's hill is
full of danger to traverse during the rainy season. The hill, or,
as we should certainly call it, mountain, forms the crossing from
the valley of Charchicoumla to the city of Orizava.

400 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
De la Cabeza a los pies,
Y asi, Manuel, qual me ves,
El piage se me ha exegido,
Que pagar he resistido,
Por que de Justicia— no es.
Here to meet the certain pleasure
Of a parting, kind embrace,
Dangers have I, without measure
In Muerto dared to face.
Smeared with mud from head to foot,
Shaken, bumped, and bruised to boot.
Yet, oh Manuel !* in this plight,
Toll exacted was from me :
I resisted such a right,
Sure that just it could not be.
Mr. ArgiieUes kept us in great merriment during
the evening with his droll accounts of his dis
astrous journey, interspersed with his poetical
toasts. One of them addressed to H — was full of
gaUantry; and his concluding one called on aU
present to "brindar" to the favours which
Mexico had constantly received at the hands of
England. Next morning (Friday), before breakfast, we
aU made an excursion to a beautiful place called
Rincon Grande, in order to view a celebrated
waterfall there. We got to the edge of a wooded
* Mr. E. was one of the road trustees.

NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA. 401
precipice which overhung a deep deU, down which
rushed a mountain stream. Descending, we
found at this part of the river two or three islets,
rocks, and immense trunks of trees, which lay in
a rapid of the stream. Its course thus obstructed,
it rushed round the impediments with incredible
force and impetuosity; while the curves again
meeting under the precipitate bank, formed a
whirlpool, which added a striking feature to the
scenery of the place. Another faU, higher up
the river, at Zoquitlan, is composed of one deep
sheet of water, said to be extremely fine, but a
visit to which we were unable to accomplish.
We spent the remainder of the day (after par
taking of a grand Mexican breakfast at the
Fabrica), between Cocolapan and Orizava, with
an excursion in the neighbourhood, through
a charming country. In the evening we went
to a nice little theatre wliich, with very
creditable performers, Orizava possesses, and we
returned on foot to Cocolapan sufficiently late to
have the light of the waning moon.
On Friday, the twelfth, we began preparations
for our departure for Cordova. We paid our
farewell visit to many agreeable Orizava friends,

402 NOPALUCA TO ORIZAVA.
including Mr. Nieto, a clever and entertaining
naturalist. His coUection was extremely curious,
particularly as iUustrative of the natural history of
the province of Orizava ; and he made me up, as
a reminiscence of the place, a small case of the
feathered tribe, weU prepared, and containing some
handsome ornithological specimens. We went to
an evening party given by the Senora Vallejos
(with whom our friends Messrs. M. del Rio were
staying), in order to introduce us to a more ex
tended circle of the good families here. We had
dancing and music, and, by a Spanish gentleman,
some inimitably well-sung comic songs — those of
Andalusia, which for racy humour cannot be
exceUed. We were much pleased with all the
genuine tokens of kind-heartedness which we
received — always refreshing to those who have
lived in great cities, where the feelings are either
blunted, or their warmth hidden under the cold
conventionalities of mixed society.

403

LETTER LII.

ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.

Vera Cruz, October, 1849.
On Saturday, the 13th, then, at an early hour of
the morning, we bade adieu to our kind friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Grandison, and our old party,
(Colonel Garmendia, however, replaced by Mr.
ArgiieUes), took our way to Cordova. We
graduaUy got into the richest and most luxuriant
scenes of this part of Tierra Cahente. As we
approached the old-fashioned, primitive town, the
coffee plantations rose about us, and the plants in
the fields adjoining the road, mixed gracefully with
the taU hedges on either side. You know how
beautiful the coffee plant is, when nurtured and
strengthened by a tropical sun and a rich soU. The
beans, yet in their dark green, hung in clusters,
clothing the plants with a great additional
beauty. We got to Cordova between ten and

404 ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.
eleven, and alighted at the house of Mr. Saenz,
by whom, and his famUy, we were expected.
After one of the old and accustomed Mexican
breakfasts, we sallied forth to view the town.
There was a primitive and old-fashioned air about
it — a peaceful and quiet aspect — which I have
never seen exceeded. The Plaza is large and airy ;
and the municipal and other public buildings run
along two sides of it. On another side is a sort of
conjoint market and bazaar, where many incon
gruous things are sold. In the plaza also, of
course, is the parish church of Cordova, redolent
like everything else of the olden time. It was a
pleasant morning's stroll.
In Mr. Saenz's garden-patio, lioxmi the most mag
nificent parasitical plant I had ever seen in my life.
It spread over the whole length of the long and high
wall to which it clung, and Was covered from one
end to the other with a splendid light blue flower.
Mr. Saenz, seeing how much I admired the plant,
had one of its large bulbous roots dug up for me,
carefully matted, and placed in one of the carriages,
where I had also, by the by, a magnificent col
lection of air plants, very rare in Europe, and
gathered in the wUdest districts of Cordova.

ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ. 405
We set forward after the mid-day heat, and at
sunset arrived at the finest of the Escandon estates
— that of "the Potrero." I find jotted in my
note-book — " Describe the beautiful scenes of this
day" — but easier said than done. I have, doubtless,
long ago tired you with my scenic sketches of
Mexico, where, in its natural aspect wonder rises
upon wonder. Suffice it here to say, that every step
we took increased the beauty and richness of the
country around us.
We arrived at the hacienda at sunset, and, as
had happened throughout our progress, we found
every preparation made for us ; and they were simi
lar to aU the others preceding — comfortable in
every way. We retired pretty early; but towards
one o'clock, I was awakened by sobs from the next
room, where H — slept. I hastUy half-dressed,
went in, and found her very Ul. Don Manuel
also had risen and dressed, and was soon by my
side. We called up Dr. Martinez, and I shaU
never forget the solicitude with which he attended
our patient, and the skUl with which, in two or
three hours, he removed aU anxiety from our
minds. It is not always that, under such circum
stances, one happens to travel with a medical

406 ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.
friend of such weU-known and acknowledged
reputation as Dr. Pablo Martinez.
"AU right," — at half-past six next morning,
Sunday, the 13th, we were caUed to bid adieu to
the three brothers Escandon, to Dr. Martinez,
and Don Manuel ArgiieUes. I must not trust
myself to say a word of my feelings on giving a
last abrazo to Don Manuel Escandon and his
brothers : from my simple relation of facts, you
can infer how far H — and myself had become
their debtors. It was a sorrowful parting. Mr.
ArgiieUes, with aU his sans f agon and joyous spirits,
did not like it; and Dr. Martinez looked pen
sively on the leave-taking.
The old family coach of Seiior Vaenz — as best
fitted for the heavy roads — was drawn up to the
door, and our friend Don Martinez del Rio, H — ,
and myself, set off for San Diego, en route for Vera
Cruz. We were silent enough, although the
beauty of the Hacienda del Potrero, through
which we passed, beggars all description. How
pleased Sir WUliam Hooker would have been to
be with us. The tropical flowering shrubs — the
orchids, quite unknown in Europe, as I believe,
which hung on almost every tree — the trees them-

ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ. 407
selves — the flowers without end — to say nothing
of the ever-varying scenic beauty of the woodlands
through which we passed — were something to
astonish any one not accustomed to such climates,
and such redundant beauties of nature.
The road would only allow the old family coach
to carry us to the extremity of the "Potrero," a
distance of three leagues.
Here we found three literas, and the necessary
relay of mules waiting for us, accompanied and
superintended by the faithful Ventura, Don
Manuel's body servant.
After passing the various points and villages of
Chiquihuite, Puente del Macho, Paro Ancho, El
Camaron, and Palo Verde, we approached the
river Xamapa. But two hours ere we had done
so, daylight had closed in upon us, rendering the
latter part of our day's journey half amusing,
half alarming, for we constantly got separated
in the dark woods, — the mules got tired, — we kept
haUing one another — deviating from the road —
uncertain whether to go on or stop. Ventura
contrived always to keep me near to H — , but
Mr. Martinez was sometimes so far from us, and
sometimes so long of coming up, as to make us

408 ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.
quite uneasy about him. In short liter eros, passen
gers, arrieros, and mules, staggered up to the
banks of the river, I dont exactly know how.
The crossing, too, in utter darkness, was a
tremendous business, for the paso is very wide
indeed, a sort of estuary to grope through,
which, in literas with mules tired out, deaf to
remonstrance, and impervious to blows, was a
somewhat nervous operation. At any rate, we
gave "Gracias a Dios" when we fairly found
ourselves in the miserable village of San Diego.
Such a night as there, passed I never. We first
went to one horrible sort of public -house, but it
was so full of men, women, horses, mules, and
other living creatures, that Ventura went in search
of some other. He hit upon one, where we had
at least the open corridor in front to ourselves.
To this place our literas were brought, and arranged
as beds. Is was now ten o'clock, p.m., and we
were to be stirring at three, a.m., by phaetons sent
from Vera Cruz. We had had seventeen hours of
travel, pleasant as regarded the country, but by no
means easy, as touching our bodily comfort, —
in point of fact, we were altogether knocked up,
and desirous of rest.

ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ. 409
But behind the house, in a corner, lay a dying
horse, whose convulsive movements, in its agony,
every now and then distressed our nerves; in
another corner a dog howled to the stars ; in the
house four or five chUdren lay at death's door
with hooping cough; and to listen to them and
to the wailing mother and attendants was some
thing terrible. The smeUs which assaUed us were
anything but pleasant ; and if you add to aU this,
that the mosquitos seemed to take a demoniacal
pleasure in blistering every accessible point of
our bodies, you wiU comprehend the nervous im
patience with which H — , Don Jose, and myself,
without any attempt at sleep, awaited the hour of
half-past three, a.m.
Monday, the 15th, was the last day of the
expiring moon, so the night was as dark as pitch.
Two volantes or phaetons had been ordered for us
from Vera Cruz; so, insisting on Ventura's re
turning to his master at Orizava, we left San Diego
under the guidance of two lantern-bearers, who,
marching in front, shewed our drivers, as they
best could, the sinuosities, the ruts, and the holes
of the road. We drove through a wood, and
many were the bumps and thumps we received
VOL. II. T

410 ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.
before daylight broke. But, as the sun rose, we
sped our way cheerily through a pretty country
of wood and pasture ; and arriving at eight, a.m.,
were received, as we had been before, with a
hearty welcome.
It was our fortune, or rather our misfortune,
on this occasion, to participate largely in the
annoyances and troubles consequent on a strong
" Norther." It commenced the day we arrived at
Vera Cruz ; but as the packet had not yet come
in, we did not, then, so much mind the gale.
On Tuesday, the 16th, our friend Beraza
brought us the city correspondence, and I
received mine from England. Much of my con
vention, of which I have yet to speak, I found
was considered disadvantageous by the Committee
of Spanish American Bond-holders; but I con
soled myself with the belief, that all minor
difficulties would disappear upon my arrival in
London. Wednesday, as the day before, the " Norther"
kept acquiring force, but still no packet appeared.
Meantime we lived pleasantly ashore, making the
acquaintance of several of those who were to be
our fellow-passengers. We found Madame L —

ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ. 411
and her famUy, Madame G. de A — and her
accomplished daughter, and Mr. H — , with whose
father I had been connected, five and twenty
years before, in the River Plate — the son now
going home to visit his relations with his wife, a
Guanajuatense lady. Here, also, I renewed my
acquaintance with Don Jose Garay, a gentleman
whose name has acquired a world-wide fame
as the holder of the celebrated Tehuantepec
privilege, to form a communication between the
shores of the Mexican Gulf and those of the
Pacific Ocean.
On Thursday, the 18th, our packet, the
" Teviot," came in, with the " Norther" stiU un
abated : but orders were issued to the passengers
to embark the following morning.
On Friday, the 19th, accordingly, a note of
preparation was sounded, and we were stirring at
half-past five, a.m. The "Norther" had lulled, and
we were all on board at eight o'clock. We our
selves, with our friend Mr. Garay, were the last
to embark in the Resguardo boat, the breakers at
the Mole stiU running high. Scarcely were we on
board when the " Norther" again blew a gale,
rendering the shipment of the sUver impossible ; so

412 ORIZAVA TO VERA CRUZ.
that all hope of saUing that day was given up. We
had the " Norther" aU night, and in the morning
it blew with increasing fury. We were miserable
enough on board, fidgeting to be off, and yet
despairing of a move for some days. We were
sixty-two passengers in number; and no com
munication with the shore possible. And although
our commander, Captain Rivett, a man of agreeable
manners, did his best to keep us in good humour,
the task, I fear, was somewhat difficult.
On Sunday, the 21st, we were stUl without a
hope of starting, the gale being, although not
quite, yet nearly as strong as the preceding
day. The passengers were patient enough,
although we had now lain forty-eight hours at
anchor; but it was very trying. Captain Rivett
sent a market-boat on shore, but nothing could
be sent off; the breakers stiU sweeping over the
Mole. But Monday, the 22nd, brought a welcome
change. The " Norther" had given way the previous
evening, and Captain Rivett was then able to
land. At six a.m. a busy scene commenced. In
four hours $250,000 in specie and 200 bales of
cochineal were shipped. Tbe day was beautiful.

ORIZAVA to vera CRUZ. 413
Our friends came off to see us ; and at two, p.m.,
with a hght breeze and calm sea, we were steaming
through the ships in the harbour, on our way to
MobUe and New Orleans. Such are the pleasures
of a " regular Norther," and such was our de
parture from Mexico.

414

LETTER LIII.
MY MISSION TO MEXICO.
I have hitherto avoided saying anything of the
course of the mission which was the ostensible object
of my visit to Mexico ; but as it was of a public
nature, and had no smaU bearing on the financial
and even political affairs of the republic, I propose
here to sum up, as concisely as I can, the results
of my operations as commissioner of the Mexican
bondholders. On the 11th of June, I addressed a long letter
to Mr. Arrangoiz, recapitulating aU that had
taken place since my arrival; and ten days after
writing that letter, I determined to employ Don
Ramon Olarte, a palace-broker, as a medium of
communication between Mr. Arrangoiz and my
self. Mr. Mackintosh, I am bound to say, did
not approve of this step ; but I took it after
mature consideration, having at the same time, as
I had throughout, the support and friendship of
Mr. M. to depend upon, even although we might

MY MISSION TO MEXICO. 415
differ somewhat as to the best mode of arriving at
our common object.
I agreed to secure to Mr. Olarte one-half per
cent, on such portion of the indemnity-money
as we might recover, and to increase his brokerage
to one per cent., should arrangements with the
Government be made to my satisfaction.
I pass over all the difficulties which successively
arose in my endeavours to arrive at such a final
convention regarding the exterior debt of Mexico,
as I believed would be at once carried here, and
acceptable to the bondholders at home. Never was
there a more arduous or more difficult task under
taken, considering the discordant elements which
I was forced to blend into one. Suffice it to say,
that after a fortnight's patient labour and anxious
consideration had been exhausted in my nego
tiation with the Executive, Mr. Arrangoiz and I
finally signed, on the 7th hist., the convention,
which, translated into English, follows this
letter.* The Executive believed that they could secure
the ratification of the settlement by congress ;
and I made no doubt that, after due explanation,
* See Appendix.

416 MY MISSION TO MEXICO.
it would be at once accepted by the bondholders
in London, as the very best bargain which, in
her actual state, could be made for them with
Mexico. Mr. Mackintosh entirely approved of the terms
which I obtained, as did Mr. Doyle, Mr. Escandon,
and other immediate friends ; while I may safely
aver, that the pubhc at large was surprised to find
the universal anticipations of the total failure of
my mission thus contradicted by the event. And
on all sides the convention was characterised as
highly favourable for the bondholders, even after
aU the new sacrifices I had made.
My undeviating object was to make a con
vention that could be practicaUy carried out in its
detail. To attempt this and a continuation of
the nominal payment of the five-per-cent. interest
was wholly and totaUy impracticable. Hence the
concessions, which in this respect were for ten
years, stipulated.
As soon as the terms for our convention were
known, and indeed, before we had concluded, I
fancy our opposing party began their machinations
to defeat us in congress. The consequence was, from
Monday, the 9th, a sort of crisis in public affairs,

MY MISSION TO MEXICO, 417
which ended in the absolute resignation of Mr. Ar
rangoiz as minister of finance. He was, with
many other absurd aUegations, accused of having
been corrupted by Enghsh gold, and, honourable
and upright as any minister I have known, he
indignantly refused to remain in office under im
putations at once so monstrous and so unjust.
Meantime, with my friends, I was working, I
may say, night and day to influence the ratifica
tion of the convention in the Chamber of Deputies,
and, although we had many and unscrupulous
opposers there, I had every reason to believe
success would be on our side. The Senate also
was moved to reject the agreement, but I knew
that if the Chamber supported the Executive, the
Senate would not withstand pubhc opinion. In
the Chamber we had almost aU the respectable
party with us, particularly Mr. C — , the President,
a man who, for his integrity and abilities, stands
certainly as high as any other in the country;
whUe the three members of the Committee of
Pubhc Credit, aU respectable men, were with us ;
and they determined to report favourably on the
convention. I requested to have a conference
with the Committee, which was agreed to. I had
t 5

418 MY MISSION TO MEXICO.
also a most satisfactory interview with Mr. C — ,
the President of the Chamber; and indeed I
was becoming favourably known to many of the
leading men here, who desired to see justice done
to the Bondholders.
I wished the question to be amply discussed
by the public press ; for the more the business was
comprehended, the more reason we should have
to anticipate a triumph. Mr. Doyle, although
scarcely recovered from a very serious illness,
continued to exert himself with energy on our
behalf, and Mr. Mackintosh went on taking
every step to secure our success. In short,
nothing was left undone ; and, for the honour of
Mexico, as well as for her own good, we hoped,
as we certainly did expect, that the contract
would be ratified.
As we could not, however, be absolutely cer
tain of success, I had resolved on my course,
should the convention unfortunately be rejected by
Congress. I intended to apply immediately to
the Supreme Court of Justice for an order to
obhge the Executive to pay the full amount of
the arrears of interest, which form now a simple
debt of the Government to the creditors, uncon-

MY MISSION TO MEXICO. 419
nected with the Bonds. I had not the least doubt
that such an order would be obtained. And I
proposed applying by three separate petitions for
each year's arrears, with interest thereon tiU the
date of payment. We could not sue in this
country for compound, but only for simple in
terest on the whole debt, as each portion fell due.
But by applying for one year's dividends in each
petition, we should lay the foundation for yearly
applications in case of need hereafter, which I
believed would be supported by her Majesty's
Government. Accordingly, I sent home copies of my letter
to Mr. Doyle, and his answer regarding my
proposed proceedings with the Supreme Court ;
and I begged the Committee not to lose a mo
ment in waiting on Lord Palmerston, and endea
vouring to induce him to send out his instructions
to Mr. Doyle, by the way of the United States,
in order to lose no time here.
I obtained some other advantages in my con
vention, on which I need not enter here, over and
above the four and a half miUions of dollars of
the American Indemnity Money.
In my conference with the Committee of Pubhc

420 MY MISSION TO MEXICO.
Credit I was received very weU. I dwelt for half
an hour on the business, entering into all its
detaUs, and particularly into the great concession
which the Bondholders had made, and the losses
to which they had from time to time submitted.
I laid before them the views of the Committee of
Bondholders on this subject, and shewed them
that I was in the predicament of carrying a con
tract which was distasteful to both parties. I
expatiated on the disgrace which would accrue to
Mexico if the contract were not ratified ; and I
shewed them how grateful they ought to be for
the forbearance of their creditors. I also men
tioned frankly aU I was going to do, if the contract
was not ratified. I retired with many assurances
from Mr. Elguero, the chairman, that the Com
mittee would support the Convention.
Mr. Arrangoiz having been offended with some
proceedings of Messrs. John Schneider and Co.,
in regard to a dividend which was announced for
payment in a sectional shape, he proceeded, with
the sanction of the President and his own col
leagues, to remove the Mexican Agency from the
hands of their house. He gave the six months' notice
required by agreement, and he named Colonel

MY MISSION TO MEXICO. 421
Facio as Mexican Agent in London, with secretary
and assistant to keep the accounts of the foreign
debt. All this he did without communicating
with me, although I heard of the proceedings
through another channel ; and I thought it would
be right to shew Mr. Arrangoiz, that the bond
holders could never consent to the receiving and
distributing of their funds by a Mexican employe,
however high and honourable, without any inter
vention on their part. Colonel Facio had pre
viously taken his departure for England.
My reasoning on the matter satisfied Mr.
Arrangoiz ; and our conferences on the subject led
to the special contract regarding the agency which
follows the convention. I felt assured that it
would meet the views of my constituents at large,
though I should not have considered myself as in
any way authorised to interfere with the rights of
Messrs. Schneider and Co.; the removal of the
agency having, in fact, been exclusively the work
of the Government. Colonel Facio, whom I did
not person ally know, was said to be a gentleman of
perfectly good faith, and desirous of doing what
ever was right in his agency.
Mr. F. deP. Falconnet, agent and representative

422 MY MISSION TO MEXICO.
of Messrs. Baring, Brothers, and Co., having
left for the United States and England, to take his
passage by the Great Western steamer, offered,
in a very friendly manner, to be of any service
in his power which might forward the interests
of the Bondholders. I therefore agreed with
him, that he should remain a short time at
Washington, to ascertain how far the three pay
ments of the indemnity money could be at once
secured to the bondholders, and placed beyond the
risk of eventualities between the United States
and Mexico. Mr. Falconnet promised to use his
influence quietly to bring about a friendly desire in
Washington to meet the views of the bondholders,
endeavouring also to engage Mr. Crampton's
co-operation in the matter. Finally, Mr. Falconnet,
who had on various occasions lent me his aid
in carrying out my plans, offered to explain to
the committee the whole course of my operations,
and the motives and causes which led me to rny
final arrangements.
In regard to the parties with whom I had to
treat directly or indirectly in forming the con
vention, I have to say, that Mr. Arrangoiz, the
minister of finance, acted throughout with a

MY MISSION TO MEXICO. 423
straightforwardness and good faith calling for the
highest commendation. He showed the most
praiseworthy desire to uphold the honour, and to
fulfil, as far as he could, the obligations of Mexico
towards her foreign creditors, the best proof of
which wiU be found in the convention and
auxiliary agreement. His Excellency the Presi
dent gave his entire approval to all our arrange
ments ; as did their Excellencies, Senor de
Lacunza, the chief of the cabinet ; General Arista
and Doctor Jimenez, the other ministers, by
whom our measures were unanimously adopted
and sustained.
I am sorry to say, that the completion of the
work was the last official act of Mr. Arrangoiz;
for the day following he resigned his portfolio as
minister of finance.
The bondholders were, throughout, under deep
obligations to Mr. Doyle, Her Majesty's Charge
d' Affaires, who warmly and efficiently seconded
all my efforts in this business ; and, of course, my
tried friends, Messrs. Mackintosh and Escandon,
were of the most essential service to me in
carrying it to its completion.

424

LETTER LIV.
THE UNITED STATES.
St. Etienne (France), 20th October, 1852.
An old Scotch skipper who, many years ago,
consigned his vessel to me in Buenos Ayres, and
who, never having crossed the tropics before,
continued his homely system of navigating by
dead reckoning, drew up in the latitude of the
river Plate, but in three or four hundred miles to
the west of his right longitude. So he lengthened
his passage by aU this distance ; and when one
of his passengers was at last deputed by his
bewUdered companions to ask him whereabouts
they were, the skipper answered, with great sang
froid, "Weel, accordin' to ma reckonin', we're
amang the bushes lang ago !" In hke manner, I
have been navigating my book by dead reckoning.
I am wofully out of my longitude ; and if my
readers wiU look at the paging here, they wiU find
I have been among the bushes long ago. I mean

THE UNITED STATES. 425
that, as the skipper ought to have been at Buenos
Ayres when he was hundreds of mUes from it, I
ought to have been at finis a hundred pages back,
whereas I am only now entering on our travels in
the United States.
Now, although I have full notes of those travels,
and feel inclined to have my say, as others have
had theirs, about our transatlantic brethren, I
must deny myself that pleasure almost in toto,
satisfied as I am that a very great volume of
matter such as mine, is more than likely to prove
a very great bore, if not, indeed, a great dis
couragement to looking into it at aU.
We saUed, then, from Vera Cruz, on the 22nd
of October, 1849. The weather was very fine,
and in four clays we were to be in a country which
for years I had desired to visit.' Yet, when I
began to consider the onerous charge I had under
taken, I was somewhat daunted as to the result.
I had ten individuals (eight of whom could not
speak English), to take charge of, directly or
indirectly, from Mexico to London, including a
tour by land of some thousand mUes in the
United States. However, I had prepared them

426 THE UNITED STATES.
aU for the worst, and they seemed resolved to
carry out resolutely our great undertaking.
We had a pleasant, though somewhat rough
passage (touching at Tampico) ; and we were five,
instead of four days over it. We arrived off MobUe
point at noon, 27th ; and here a dispersion began.
Some were for Mobile, some to take a small
auxUiary steamer for New Orleans, and some
were to remain in the packet to proceed by her to
Southampton. It wiU scarcely be credited that
only two passengers remained for the entire
voyage, and even then, not because they liked it,
but because of the additional expense of the United
States' route. It was sad for an Englishman to
see thus practically the superiority of another
nation over our own, in what we so much pride
ourselves — expeditious travelling. And I am
bound, moreover, in justice to the United States,
here to remark, that I sent all my original com
munications from Mexico, via New York, leavins:
the duplicates for the direct steamers ; nor, as far
as I can recollect, did any of my duplicates precede
my originals in arrival. Such a state of things
was sure to work its own cure ; and it is pleasant
to observe that we are now in a fair, way to having

THE UNITED STATES. 427
an efficient working of the Royal MaU Steam-
Packet Company.
To return to the Teviot. Finding that a con
siderable part of Mr. Escandon's family were at
MobUe, en route for Mexico, I determined to
proceed thither alone — proposing to rejoin my
party at New Orleans on the 29th, and leaving
H — to take care, tiU then, of aU our friends —
a serious undertaking for her, but to which aU
assented wilhnglv.
MobUe is a second New Orleans, renowned for
cotton. When I had seen our Mexican friends,
who were at the great hotel (I need scarcely repeat
what so many have said, that everywhere in the
United States you have huge hotels), and had
made a comfortable breakfast, I sallied forth to
pick up the latest Enghsh news. At the door I
found a gentlemanlike American, and begged him
to direct me to a reading room. "You are a
stranger?" he said, in the interrogative style.
" Yes, I am." " Then," said he, " I wUl accompany
you to our reading rooms."
" Any particular news from England ?" said I,
as we walked along. He stopped, and stared
at me. "Particular news from England?" he

428 THE UNITED STATES.
repeated, — " Where have you been ? Astounding
news !" — and he made a fuU pause. I prepared
myself to hear of a revolution. " Five eighths !"
he exclaimed, with frightful energy — "Five
eighths ! by the morning's telegraph." I then found
that speculation was running high in the " raw ma
terial" at Liverpool; and that the packet had
brought news of a further faU or rise (I forget
which) of five-eighths of a penny per pound in
cotton. And I beg you to understand, that I am
giving you literaUy what passed between my civil
guide and myself.
The fohowing day I spent most pleasantly with
my new friends, and Mr. Eustace Barron, a gentle
man of great celebrity, and of the highest standing
in Mexico. He belongs to one of the promment
Irish families settled in Andalusia, of whom I have
spoken in the first volume. Having two or three
days to spare, Mr. Barron and Don Fernando
Escandon resolved to go over to New Orleans with
Mr. G — and myself, and there, on my arrival,
I found my party " aU right," at the palatial Hotel
of San Carlos, a buUding which, if viewed as a
mere public house, might, indeed, safely be caUed
the eighth wonder of the world,

THE UNITED STATES. 429
The New Orleans friends, for whom we had
letters of introduction, were very kind, and
shewed us aU the wonders of this great capital of
the south. The extent of the buUdings in which
the cotton is deposited, the quantities of the raw
material, and the packing, cannot be viewed
without unfeigned astonishment.
We walked along the Levee, on the 30th, accom
panied by our friend Don J. Martinez del Rio, who
had been our fellow-passenger thus far. We went
to choose a steamer for Cincinnati, — for the Levee
at New Orleans is a very different affair from the
levee at St. James's. The former is a noble quay
and embankment, stretching along the Mississipi,
and forming the harbour, or we might almost say
docks of the vast port. Steamer after steamer of
mighty dimensions — ship after ship, of every kind,
lay alongside this grand Levee, and shewed at
once the extent of both the home and foreign
traffic and commerce of New Orleans.
And such a puffing and blowing of steamers
ready to saU ! It was almost frightful, when high
pressure came across one's mind. I said so to
Mr. Behn, our kind New Orleans friend ; and in
answer, he gave me the comfortable hint to see that

430 THE UNITED STATES.
Miss R — was always well abaft in the steamer,
as there, in case of an explosion, the danger was
least. Even at the Levee, not many days after our
visit, one of the high pressure steamers exploded,
with most disastrous results, close to the very spot
over which we were walking.
We fixed on our steamer — one of the best — called
the " Concordia." Next morning, the ladies did
all their shopping ; at 5 p.m., 31st, we went on
board, and an hour afterwards were steaming up
the Mississipi. Of this great aqueous highway of
the States, so much has been written, said, and
seen, that I may weU afford to give but a passing
glance at the seven days which we passed in
stemming the tide of waters which, under the
name of the Mississipi, flow from their source
into the ocean. People, in general, complain much
of the monotony of the vast forests through which
the river chiefly flows : but for my part, I was so
wrapt up in the magnitude of the woods, in the
expanse of the waters, and sometimes for hours
together in the stiUness and solemnity of the
scene, that aU feeling of tedium, consequent on
monotony, was banished from my mind. Besides,
the Mississipi does not always bathe forests on

THE UNITED STATES. 431
either side of its course : towns, vUlages, hUls,
villas, cultivated lands and farms, with occasional
eminences, rise, at no great intermediate spaces,
before your view ; and finally, the steam-boats and
vessels which you are constantly meeting and
overtaking, — with the dangerous, but exciting
amusement of racing with other boats, of which
we had our share — all diminish the monotony of
the Mississipi, such as it might doubtless be forty
or fifty years ago.
On the 5th of November, and fifth day of our
voyage, after having passed the towns of Natchez
and Vicksburg, with other minor places, we arrived
at Memphis, a rising town, hke aU those on this
line of river, and of which we took a hurried view.
Here we changed steamers, and prosecuted our
voyage in one caUed the " Chief Justice Marshal."
The next place we made, New Madrid, is at
this moment doing its best to outstrip the old and
more celebrated city of that name; and on the
8th we left the Mississipi to enter on the Ohio at
another aspiring place, Cairo, which stands at the
junction of the two rivers. The scene here is very
fine, and we enjoyed it under beautiful although
very cold weather. We had Kentucky on one

432 THE UNITED STATES.
side, and Indiana on the other. On the 9th, at
an early hour, we arrived at LouisvUle, where we
went on shore, having the advantage of a few
hours' stay, whUe the steamer unloaded old and
reloaded new cargo. Louisville is a very hand
some city, with a regular go-ahead population.
Judge: in 1810 it had 1,357 inhabitants; in
1820, 4,012; in 1830, 10,352; in 1845, 21,210.
At the same rate of increase, doubling its popu
lation in five years, it had in 1850, 42,400 ; and
at this present day, 1852, it must have nearly
60,000 inhabitants. So LouisvUle in forty years
has doubled its population four times and a half.
Going on at the same ratio for the next forty
years, LouisvUle would contain in 1892 about a
mUlion and a half of inhabitants. We were on
board our steamer at half-past ten, a.m., and at
eleven set forward on our voyage. Before day
light of the 10th we were at the conclusion of our
river passage, Cincinnati, the queen city of the
West. So many traveUers have made it familiar
to the Enghsh reader, that I may safely pass it
almost sub silentio. We found stUl ahve there
people who recoUected the spot as part of the
great forest ; and now, the forest cleared, we have

THE UNITED STATES. 433
a beautiful city of 100,000 inhabitants, and a
cultivated country aU around. As New York is
the recipient of Irish immigrants, so of German
is Cincinnati, the great point whence they spread
themselves over the far west in agricultural pur
suits. We spent one day here, and among its
other wonders, we had an opportunity of seeing
its porcine riches. About one-third of a mUlion
of hogs are annuaUy slaughtered and cured in
this place. Its total yearly exports amount to
upwards of sixty mUhons of doUars. And of
Cincinnati I have no time to say more than
that we spent a delightful day in it and its
environs. Here we were to commence our raUroad travel
ling ; and, keeping to the programme of our tour,
we could give only one day to Cincinnati. But
the fbUowing day was Sunday, when there is no
traffic on the raUways, and special trains were
here unknown. Nevertheless, I went in the
evening to the terminus, and to the resident
manager there explained our dUemma. With
great pohteness, he at once offered to communi
cate with his superior : and the result was
the foUowing curious document, which now lies
before me.
vol. n. u

434 THE UNITED STATES.
"Mrs. G. de A—, Miss A—, Mr. Z— , Mr. S—
4; Mr. Robertson, Miss Robertson, Mrs. Landa,
her sister, her daughters, 6; Mr. Garay, Mr. J.
Garay, Mr. and Mrs. H— , Mr. M— , 4 ; Mr. B— , 1 ;
Mr. Sierra, 1 ; Mr. Castro, Mr. Castro, jun., 2 ;
Servants, 2 ; in all 21 persons.
" Pass Mr. Robertson and twenty persons from
Cincinnati to Springfield on L. M. R. R. $200.
" (Signed) P. W. Strader,
"Cincinnati, 10 Oct., 1849. Agent."
A pretty formidable party to have under my
charge ; yet, with here and there an exception, all
worked harmoniously enough.
So at ten, a.m, of Sunday, the 11th, a special
train came up to the station to receive us, and off
we set ; although, by the bye, I ought to mention
that, finding we should have nothing to eat at
Springfield unless previously ordered, I despatched
a telegraphic message, and received answer, that
dinner would be ready for twenty-one at half-
past three, p.m.
Our whole way to Springfield ran along the Con
necticut river, and through wood-land, with some
clearances to make room for towns and villages ;
and as we whirled along their main streets, great

THE UNITED STATES. 435
was the surprise of the inhabitants to see a special
train, the first that had ever traveUed on the line,
which enjoys the name of the Little Miaini
Railroad. A derangement of the engine delayed
us till four p.m.. when we got to the hotel of
the pleasant and important town of Springfield.
Here is the United States' armoury (the most
extensive in the country'), biult round a square
of twenty acres of ground, and 3000 men are
employed in it. The town contains 20,000
inhabitants. We found an exceUent dinner prepared for us ;
and wlfile my party were enjoying their coffee in
the evening I walked out alone. I found hundreds
of decently and respectably dressed people going
into the different churches. Between two con
venticles or Methodist chapels I myself passed
thi'ee hours : and I hstened with interest and
curiosity to the fervid, although exaggerated,
pravers and discourses in both places of worship.
The earnestness of the listening congregation, and
their devout deportment and appearance, struck
me as being highly creditable to the people of
Springfield. We left that town at ten p.m. by the railway,
and traveUed aU night, arriving at 11 a.m. at

436 THE UNITED STATES.
Sandusky, on the south of Sandusky bay, and
there, admiring the beautiful view we had of lake
Erie, we immediately took boat to cross for Buffalo
and the Niagara faUs. The steamer was a splendid
one, the weather fine, the scene at once grand and
novel — a lake 250 miles in length, with a pic
turesque shore, which we skirted as we went along.
I do not know that I ever enjoyed anything much
more. The two principal places at which we
touched were the towns of Cleveland and Ohio,
the greater part of the former buUt on a table
land eighty feet above the lower city, and com
manding a boundless prospect. At Buffalo we
arrived at nine a.m., the 13th, and there we spent
the day, concluding it with music and dancing, at
our grand hotel, of (as usual), enormous size. It is
kept by a Quaker ; and when dinner-hour ap
proached, I found, to my horror, that he would
let my Mexican friends and ourselves have nothing
but water ! It was a temperance hotel. The scene
which ensued between us was laughable ; but we
arranged in the end, and had our wine.
The city is reaUy handsome, and containing
from 40,000 to 50,000 inhabitants; although in
1812, during the war, our attacking force left
only two houses standing.

437

LETTER LV.
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
St. Etienne, November, 1852.
Having much to see, we started very early next
morning, for the faUs ; and, to reach them,
we had to do twenty-two mUes by raUway to
Schlosser, and thence a short distance by a
stage-coach. By this time a considerable number
of our party had separated from us, and only
our more immediate friends accompanied us to the
falls. We were, however, stUl fifteen in number.
Now with regard to the faUs of Niagara and
many other things which we saw in North
America, I come too late to say anything which
could be new or interesting. "Tout est dit, et
Ton vient trop tard," as La Bruyere pathetically
complains when he commences his Caracteres, —
" Le plus beau et le meilleur est enleve. . . ."
Accordingly, of the FaUs of Niagara and their
surrounding beauties, I have little more to say
than that we spent a long day in viewing them,

438 THE UNITED STATES.
our enjoyment enhanced by the most beautiful
weather. We saw, I believe, everything; and
here I shall simply venture some facts to refresh
the memory of those who have seen the falls, and
to induce those who have not, to go and see them.
1. The quantity of water discharged over the
falls is 370,000 tons, equal to 78,800,000 gaUons
per minute.
2. The falls are situated on the Niagara river,
fourteen miles above Lake Ontario, and twenty-
three below Lake Erie, on the New York side.
3. The river forms the outlet of the great
upper lakes, which, with Erie and Ontario, drain
an area of 40,000 square mUes of land.
4 The extent of their surface is calculated at
93,000 square miles.
5. They contain nearly one-half of the fresh
water on the globe's surface.
6. At a right angle to the N.E. the river is
suddenly contracted in width from three mUes to
three-quarters of a mUe.
7. Below the cataract, the river is half-a-mile
in width, but 300 feet in depth.
8. The cataract is divided by Goat or Iris
island, of seventy-five acres.

AND CANADA. 439
9. The principal channel is on the Canadian
side, and forms the Great Horse-shoe fall, over
which about seven-eighths of the whole is thrown.
10. A smaU island named Prospect re-divides
the eastern channel between Goat Island and
New York State, forming a beautiful cascade.
11. The fall on the American side is 164; on the
Canadian side, 158 feet.
12. A bridge connects Bath and Goat Islands ;
and here the waters rush with the greatest velocity
towards the abyss.
13. From the west part of Goat Island, the
Terrapin bridge juts out, and projects 10 feet over
the Horse-shoe fall.
14 A stone tower, 45 feet high, built on the rock
at the verge of the precipice, with an open gallery
at top, affords a view of the falls.
15. The descent to the bottom of the falls, on
Goat Island, is accomphshed by covered winding
stairs. 16. You can pass from Goat Island, when below,
a considerable distance behind the falls.
17. A ferry, quite safe, 100 feet below the faUs,
connects the two sides of the river.
1 8. From the foot of Table Rock, on the Canadian

440 THE UNITED STATES.
side, you can pass 153 feet behind the sheet of
falhng water.
19. A steamer, called " The Maid of the Mist,"
runs to the very edge of the cataract.
20. The Niagara Suspension Bridge crosses the
gorge of the river, between the cataract and the
whirlpool, in view of both, the span being 800
feet long, 40 wide, and 230 above the water.*
21. The whirlpool, resembling in appearance
the Norwegian Maelstrom, is three miles below
the falls. The river here is only 30 rods wide, —
makes nearly a right angle in its course, with a
current of such velocity as to force up the water
in the centre 10 feet above the sides.
22. Last — though, by his own account, not
least — is Mr. Barnett's Museum, a short distance
from Table Rock (Canadian side) ; but you must
not believe in Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Sherwood
and Company, of JamesviUe, Onondaga, County
New York, when they tell you, as they do, on Mr.
* At present, the bridge is only a carriage and foot-way, but
when finished, the span or crossing will include a tube, 20 feet
in width, by 18 in depth, the upper line of which will be traversed
by a railway. Towers will finish off the extremities of the bridge,
which, supported by sixteen wire cables, is supposed to be the
longest, between the points of support, of any in the world.

AND CANADA. 441
Barnett's card, that " the Museum and Camera
Obscura are truly the most interesting of aU." I
join, however, in their hope "that no American
wiU leave without calling here, and spending a day
at least on British soU."
My dry detail of the principal objects which
engaged our attention during eight hours, wUl
easUy satisfy you that in common, no doubt,
with ninety-nine in a hundred of those who have
visited the faUs of Niagara, this day was indelibly
fixed in my memory. Nor must I omit to say,
that as an Englishman, I felt an undeniable,
though not a generous pride, in seeing that the
Great Horse-shoe, on the British or Canadian
side, was by far the finest of the two falls.
Before leaving the faUs, I must tell you, that as
soon as we got, as Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B — and
Company say, " on British soil," I led my company
to the hotel which at once greeted our view; and
there all my distinguished Mexican friends joined
heartUy in drinking the first bumper of cham
pagne to the health of Queen Victoria.
We got to Buffalo at dusk, and prepared to
leave it before day-break next morning. We were
desired to be at the terminus at five a.m. ; and if
u 5

442 THE. UNITED STATES.
I was made to stare by the aristocratic temperance
of " Phelp's House," I was no less confounded by
the democratic display of voracity which we
witnessed at the railway eating-house. Twenty
minutes before we started "breakfast" was an
nounced, and we were hurried by a great crowd
of passengers into a long room, where a table d'hdte,
reaching from one end to the other, was covered,
not with a breakfast such as one could eat at
five a.m., but with a perfect load of viands,
hot and cold, boiled, roasted, and fried. It
began to disappear with amazing velocity,
and was finished by the time that our own
party had drunk a cup of coffee, seasoned with a
little dry toast. It was all we could manage at six
hours before the breakfast hour of Mexico.
We started at half-past five, and passing through
Attica, we got to Rochester at half-past eight
o'clock. Here the doors were thrown open, and
the porters bawled out, " Dinner on the table !"
Dinner at half-past eight in the morning, instead
of half-past eight in the evening ! Calculating
that if they dined at that hour they would sup at
noon, or so, I told them we should wait for
supper. "Then," said the porter, "you must

THE UNITED STATES. 443
wait tiU you arrive at Albany at seven o'clock."
So. we were fain to dine at half-past eight, a.m.;
though I must here remark, that the breakfast
and dinner on this raUway were the only extrava
gant derehctions from eating and drinking con
ventionalities to wliich we were subjected during
all our sojourn in the States.
Rochester is but seven mUes from Lake Ontario,
and is beautifully situated on both sides the
Genesee river, while passing also through the city,
is the Erie Canal, over which is thrown an aque
duct, on eleven arches, 804 feet in length.
Our next principal point was Canandaigua,
situated at the north end of the lake of that
name. Then came Geneva, at the north-west
corner of Seneca lake, the finest of those of
Western New York. We then arrived at Cayuga
lake, the taU of which we crossed on a bridge a
mile and a half long, whUe another celebrated
bridge, farther up, serves for the highway traffic.
From both a fine view of the expanse of water is
obtained. On we went, and got to Auburn, " love
liest viUage of the plain," wliich hes on the outlet,
two and a half rnUes from Owasco lake ; and here
is the celebrated state-prison, conducted on the

444 THE UNITED STATES.
system of labour and sUence. It is of great size,
and surrounded by a quadrangular waU 2,000 feet
in extent. There is still another lake, Skaneateles,
which we passed at five miles' distance ; and then
we stopped at Syracuse (to let down and take up
as usual), a place famous for its manufacture of
salt : thence, through Rome (!) we got to the
handsome city of Utica, on the Mohawk river,
fifteen mUes from which are the Trenton Falls,
six in number. Through a variety of other
places, travelling all the way by the banks of the
Mohawk, we came at last to Schenectady, one
of the oldest places of the Union; and here
the railway leaving the river, took a direct cut to
Albany, where we arrived about six in the even
ing. The whole distance is 325 mUes ; so we only
accomplished about fourteen miles per hour — a
slow pace for those who have travelled from
London to Exeter in four hours and a half.
Yet, in spite of this difference in speed, it may
safely be averred, that the railroads established
and working throughout the immense territories
of the United States, traversing vast forests, and
conquering every obstacle presented by nature,
afford as ample a proof of the energy, spirit, and

THE UNITED STATES. 445
capacity of the Americans, as can be claimed by
ourselves on our greatly reduced scale, and with
the unbounded capital we have always at com
mand. The whole hne of railway between Buffalo
and Albany is highly interesting and exciting to
one who, for the first time, passes rapidly through
the diversified scenes which at every turn meet
and surprise him. I was kindly permitted to
take my stand on the front gangway of the train,
and thus had an excellent opportunity of seeing
everything. The denseness of the forests, and
the newness of the towns and villages, were what
struck me most forcibly. " There," the guard
would say to me as we dashed through the centre
street of a village, " there is a place of about
2,000 inhabitants, which was begun the year
before last." The woodland and river scenery is
pretty, but of course without any grandeur. The
lakes are very fine ; and altogether a week could
be most agreeably spent between the Niagara
Falls and the Hudson.
The first thing we did on our arrival at our
hotel, at seven, p.m., as you may imagine, was to
order supper. That was warm and comfortable —
the night was excessively cold; so we all made an

446 THE UNITED STATES.
early retreat to bed, to rise refreshed for our
departure in the morning.
Albany, as all the world knows, is a fine city,
beautifuUy situated on the river ; and the Hudson
is the glory of the United States. I can do no
justice to it here, and, therefore, must refer you
to the many chronicles which exist of all its
beauties and of all its grandeur. It affords,
perhaps, the most perfect river scenery in the
world. We started at seven, a.m., by the " New World"
steamer. The hotel-keeper asked me by what
boat we were going. I answered, by the " New
World." " Well, sir," said he, " the ' New World'
is the finest boat in the States, and, therefore, I
calculate, the finest boat in the world." My
calculation is exactly the same. In saUing
qualities, appointments, size, and sumptuous fit
tings, I do not believe the boat has a rival.
The distance between Albany and New York is
145 mUes; we cleared the former port at half-
past seven, and at the rate of nearly twenty knots
an hour, we steamed through a constant succes
sion of new and wonderful scenes, which rivetted
our attention throughout. At four, p.m., we were

THE UNITED STATES. 447
in comfortable quarters in the Irving House.
We had completed our tour of 3,000 miles, from
New Orleans to New York, in sixteen days.
My letters of introduction were to Messrs. Good
hue and Co. ; and, beside our esteemed fellow-
traveller, Don Jose Garay, weU acquainted with
New York, some of my oldest and most intimate
South American friends resided there. In par
ticular, Mr. John C. Zimmermann, Consul for the
Netherlands; General Alvear, the Argentine
Minister Plenipotentiary ; and Mr. Frederick Des-
brosses. Don Jose Martinez del Rio, whom we
had left at New Orleans, we also found here.
With the assistance of all these gentlemen,
we saw in six days most of the wonders of the
great mercantile Metropolis of the Western
Hemisphere; and I cannot refrain from expres
sing my sense of the obligation which they laid
me under during my stay, with the difficult task
I had on hand of conducting such a party as that
which I headed. I had also the advantage of
making the acquaintance of Mr. Bunch, British
Vice Consul at New York.
Of the " sights" of that city I shaU say nothing
save of one — at that time of very deep interest.

448 THE UNITED STATES.
On Tuesday, the 20th, Mr. Gray, partner in
Messrs. Goodhue and Co.'s house, took ah our
party to see and inspect the " Pacific" steamer,
the first of Mr. CoUins' line sent to sea, and then
only in process of fitting up for her first voyage.
Mr. CoUins himself was on board to receive us, and
with the greatest politeness and care, he shewed
us over and explained every part of the splendid
vessel. We all, and our Mexican friends in par
ticular, viewed its detaUs with admiration and as
tonishment. That is just three years ago ; and now
" CoUins' line" is one of our " household words."
Having determined, before leaving Mexico, to
visit Washington, with a view to seeing Mr. Clayton,
Secretary of State, and Mr. Crampton, Her Ma
jesty's Charge d' Affaires (now, most worthily, Her
Majesty's Minister), in reference to my Conven
tion; I left New York on the 21st November, with
Mr. Sierra, attached to the Mexican Mission,
at Washington, and proceeding to that city
under my charge. H — said she would prefer re
maining with our friends at New York. But ere
I got to PhUadelphia, I much regretted having
assented to her staying behind, and therefore sent
back a telegraphic message from that interesting

THE UNITED STATES. 449
town, requesting her at once to join me there.
At noon next day she arrived, under charge of
our friend Desbrosses, and we spent a most de
lightful day viewing the beautiful and interesting
capital of Pennsylvania and its environs.
On Friday, the 23rd, we proceeded to Balti
more, where we spent three hours ; and at half-
past seven we arrived at Washington.
My first visit was to his exceUency, Mr. Rosa,
Mexican Minister, to whom 1 made over my
charge, Mr. Sierra, and with whom I had a long
and friendly interview.
I had a letter from Don Manuel Escandon
for his old friend Don A. Calderon de la Barca,
Minister from the Court of Madrid to the United
States Government, with whose name, as weU as
that of Madame, aU the world is so well ac
quainted, and which had been long familiar to
myself through mutual friends. My next visit
was to Mr. Calderon. Madame was not at home,
but I found the amiable and highly gifted diplo
matist exactly what I had expected. There is,
among the highest class of Spaniards, a genuine
and unostentatious frankness, an easy unpre
tending manner, which constitute a charm in

450 THE UNITED STATES.
your intercourse with them, aU the more refresh
ing that, in this world cf conventionalities and of
" outward shows and forms," it so seldom crosses
the beaten path of life.
Mr. Calderon at once addressed me as an old
friend, and told me he had of course heard of all
our adventures. He hoped we would stay a few
days among them — asked me to bring H — to
dinner that day, as they had a little party ; and he
expressed his regret that we had just missed a
presentation (or levee), as there had been one
the day before, when we might have seen aU the
notabilities. I told Mr. Calderon that an old
friend was dining with me that day ; but that I
had caUed expressly to ask Madame and himself
to aUow us to spend the evening (Saturday) with
them, as we were under the absolute necessity of
returning to New York on Monday morning.
" We may then, Mr. Calderon," I added, half
joking, " perhaps see some of the notabilities."
" Muy bien — muy bien," said the Minister ;
" but come early — come and take your wine with
us, while your daughter makes the acquaintance
of Madame."
I next proceeded to caU on Mr. Crampton, who

THE UNITED STATES. 451
received me with the affability for which he is
distinguished. When he heard how I was pressed
for time, he took some trouble to procure me an
interview with Mr. Clayton. We spent the better
part of an hour with the State Secretary. He gave
Mr. Crampton and myself every assurance that he
would wUlingly lend his assistance in giving all the
practical effect which the United States Executive
could legaUy extend to the Mexican Bondholders,
when my ratified Convention should come before
it ; and that he should at all times be happy to
have Mr. Crampton's suggestions on the subject,
with a view to carrying them out if possible.
This matter satisfactorily discussed, Mr. Clayton
threw himself back in his large easy chair, which
he amply fiUed, and began to discuss, in the freest
terms, the relative position of the United States in
Mexico, in the first place, and the inevitable
dominion and progress, per fas aut nefas, of the
Anglo-Saxon race. I retired strengthened in
my conviction, that I'idee fixe in the bosom of
every citizen of the United States is — the Old
World for England — the New World for her
descendants. Finding I should meet Mr. Crampton again in

452 THE UNITED STATES.
the evening, I hurried to overtake H — , who was
to set out at noon to see the lions, accompanied
by an old friend whom I unexpectedly found at
our hotel, Mr. Parrot, the American Consul at
Mazatlan. " We met accidentally," said he to
H — , " five years ago in London — then in Mexico
— now at Washington — and next, I suppose, it
wUl be in Paris."
I overtook them at the Capitol : a magnificent
buUding, on a magnificent site, for "Capitol Hill"
commands the country round, both far and near.
You know the incompleteness of Washington as a
capital ; so we finished our tour and saw every
thing before the close of the day.
Mr. Parrot dined with us ; and in the evening
we proceeded to the residence of His Excellency,
M. Calderon de la Barca. We were not only received
in the kindest manner both by the Minister and
Madame, but the latter told H — that they had been
endeavouring to get together, on so short a notice,
as many of their friends as they could. Indeed,
ere we left, there was quite a brilliant assemblage,
including the Russian Charge d' Affaires (a person
of fascinating manners), and other members of
the Corps Diplomatique; and presided over by

THE UNITED STATES. 453
the accomplished and talented Madame Calderon,
you may imagine how agreeably the evening
passed. Madame, I am proud to say, is a country
woman of my own, and belongs to one of our
old Scotch families.
Mr. Crampton invited us to his pew for the
foUowing day (Sunday), where, he told us, we
should have an opportunity of seeing the President
and his family. We went accordingly, and in a
pew only two removed behind us, there, as a
plain citizen, sat Zaehary Taylor. He carried
not with him the shghtest outward indication
of his being the chief magistrate and ruler of
one of the most powerful nations on the face of
the globe. Here was no " Prince President,"
surrounded by glitter, and show, and pomp.
General Taylor simply made one of the congrega
tion, undistinguishable and unremarked. There
was something grander in this than in mere regal
display, in so far as solid power without show,
impresses the mind much more strongly than
show without solid power.
Nothing could weU be more original than the
personal appearance of the late President of the
United States, to whom his countrymen gave the

454 THE UNITED STATES.
soubriquet of, "rough and ready." He was
dressed in a suit of plain clothes ; his blue coat
of anything but the last Bond-street cut. The
weather being cold, he wore coloured worsted
gloves, which were something too long. His
straight hair feU smoothly on his forehead ; while
his face, browned under many a sun — his temples
furrowed with many a thought, gave token of the
deeds he had performed, and of the anxieties he
had suffered in his country's cause. He had a
pleasing expression in his eye ; and now humbly
standing in the presence of his Maker, surrounded
by his fellow- citizens, all within seemed tranquU
and serene. There was not the slightest approach
to aristocratic bearing about the man : quite the
reverse. I could have fancied I was in the parish
church of Deal, contemplating the figure of some
bold, tried and weather-beaten pilot, scrupulously
dressed in his Sunday suit, donned for the decent
performance of the solemn ordinances of the day.
After service, we had a pleasant and pretty
drive to George-town, two or three mUes from
Washington. Then we had farewell caUs from
M. Calderon de la Barca and Mr. Parrott, and
starting at five p.m., we retraced our steps to New
York, where we arrived next day at two p.m.

THE UNITED STATES. 455
We had aU our old friends about us on Monday ;
several of them dining with us, and in the evening
we went to a pleasant tertulia, which Mrs. Zimmer-
mann got up for us, and where we had an oppor
tunity of seeing many of the New York belles.
They were all very ladylike in their manners,
lively in conversation, and (including our hostess's
fair daughters) some very pretty. I also met that
evening with good specimens of the American
gentleman; and pleased with aU vie had seen,
we retired, at a late hour, to prepare for our
departure ou the following day.
But, before I leave the United States, I am
desirous of saying something of the impressions
left ou my mind, after a sojourn of a month
and a day (iu the States a day is something),
in that colossal confederacy. It will be said that a
month is much too short a time to study a
nation's character, and to be able to arrive at just
and correct conclusions. That would be true,
were we speaking of any great independent
State, differing from England in language,
manners, customs, institutions, — everything.
Instead of that, however, the United States is but
a modification of Great Britain, and a month to

456 THE UNITED STATES.
an English observer there, is worth a year to him
at Constantinople or Saint Petersburgh.
The great difficulty we have to contend with, on
a first visit to the United States is that, generaUy
speaking, we go there full of false views, erroneous
information, and multitudinous prejudices, aU the
stronger that they turn on the minor differences
of character existing between the American and
the Enghshman. Admitting that I was one of
the many in this case, I am certainly well pleased
that I went to judge of the Americans by my
own personal observation.
In coming to a right conclusion on the manners
and habits of the people of the United States, a
very great deal depends on how you travel through
the country, and on the opportunities you have
of seeing aU classes. We have over and over
again had accounts from travellers, of a class which
may be denominated that of the fast men of the
States; and they have been held up to us as a
fair specimen of American society at large. You
might as weU travel over England, and at all
the towns restrict your intercourse to what is
found in second-rate hotels, and called the "Com
mercial Room," appropriated to travellers for

THE UNITED STATES. 457
commercial houses; and then assert that the very
amusing, but not very highly polished society
which you there meet, is an epitome of English
Society at large.
It is a mere vulgarism thus to judge of American
customs ; but yet one so generaUy spread abroad,
that it will scarcely be credited when I say, that in
traversing the states with my party, from one end
to the other, we never, except in raUway trains* —
where, as there is but one class, the society is of a
wry mixed kind — were once hurried at our meals;
never saw heels over the backs of chairs — were
never offended by expectoration — were not
astonished by nasal pronunciation — had no imper
tinent and long sets of queries put to us : in
short, I shall lie "pooh-poohed," when I say
that with, few exceptions, we found society in the
United States, its habits and its customs, pretty
much assimilated to those of England.
It is said that the Americans are a vain-glorious,
and boasting people, when speaking of their ow
country, and that they are insufferably tiresome
on this prolific theme. WeU, that is more or less
* As illustrated in our five a.m. breakfast, and nine a.m. dinner
on the Buffalo and Albany Railway. X

458 THE UNITED STATES.
true, according to the class of Americans with
whom you converse. Among the best informed
and best educated of the commercial community —
among men of property and of standing — men
of letters — and among aU those generally, moving
in respectable and upper ranks, I do not think you
wiU find this over-weening vanity thrust upon
your notice. We too are proud of our position,
our country and our institutions, and I should
like to know if John BuU is very modest, among
the nations of the Continent, in asserting his own
superiority, and in expressing his contempt for
everything which is not Enghsh.
As a test of the difference of civilisation in
England and America, I may be told to look at
our House of Commons, and at their House of
Representatives. As our members are said to be
the quintessence of the English gentleman, so we
ought to take theirs as the most favourable repre
sentation of the Americans. And then the pro
ceedings of the Lower House of Congress are
pointed to as shewing the great inferiority of the
staple. But look at the constitution of our House of
Commons and that of the House of Representa-

THE UNITED STATES. 459
fives. Look at the innumerable new, distant,
and scarcely civilised States sending to the great
national assembly men elected by universal suf
frage. Consider that their House is of but seventy
years' standing, and ours of ages. Consider that
the members are sent up, in the majority of
instances, by rough Repubhcans, and are not the
nominees of princely houses, or of venal coteries.
There is no point of comparison.
There is but one degrading — but alas ! how
degrading — a characteristic in the national charac
ter of the American, which seems to place a gulf
between him and rapid civilisation. I need not
say that I aUude to slavery, legalised by the
nation, and held with the grasp of death by one-
half of the States. TiU this foul blot disappears,
the United States wiU in vain strive to assert for
her people at large, a civilization equal to that of
Great Britain, or any other country where slavery
is repudiated and loathed.
Many of my readers will be shocked to hear me
say, that, in my opinion, a great countervailing
benefit which the United States enjoy, is that
of having no national Church. In saying this, I
do not mean to attack, directly or indirectly, our

460 THE UNITED STATES.
own. I belong to it. But I say, that if England
were to be re-constituted to-morrow, our Church
would not be re-constituted as it exists now. If
so, the Americans did right to have no national
Church. There you have none of the Odium
Theologicum which tears and distracts Great
Britain and Ireland. There you have no Popish
aggression to fear, no hierarchical schemes to
denounce. There you have no pampered pluralists
to provoke satire and scandal — no half-famished
curates to draw forth a sigh. There you have
not a Protestant hated by a Roman Cathohc
population. There you have toleration as a
word unknown, and freedom of religion as the
substitute. But if you have none of our church grievances
in America, I can fearlessly assert from a pretty
close examination, that there, in the more en
lightened of the States, you have at least as much
true religion as we have at home. I am almost
tempted to believe, although I really hope I am
wrong, that, with fewer pretensions, the Americans
have almost more religious sincerity than our
selves. The Americans, it is aUowed on aU hands, have

THE UNITED STATES. 461
all the enterprise and industry, with a large share
of the mechanical genius, literary attainments,
and noble aspirations, of the stock from which
they sprung. Their sagacity and quicksighted-
ness are proverbial. Their social qualities are of
a high order; and, from the nature of their
country, they outstrip us in hospitality. Their
love of country and ambition are both unbounded :
but when I have reproached some of them for
the unscrupulous means they have used in carry
ing out their plans of spoliation, I have invariably
been answered with the Tu quoque, " What have you
done in India ?" And there we must leave the
matter to rest.
I must not proceed any further ; but with these
reformed views on the subjects at which I have
glanced, and on others which have equally dis
abused my mind, you will not wonder that I now
say to all who would argue with me on the United
States — first visit the United States, and then let
us talk about them.

462

LETTER LVI.
THE MACDOUGALLS AND THE MACLEODS.
On the 28th of November, accompanied by our
Mexican friends, as our fellow-passengers, and by
others who desired to see us embark, we went on
board the Cunard Line steam-ship, America,
commanded by the well-known, and no less
respected Captain Judkius. We had a good run
to Halifax, where we arrived at about ten on the
night of the 30th.
Here the packet merely stops for mails and
passengers, but the mail agent, Lieut. Biddock, r.n.,
acceded to my desire of going on shore with him,
accompanied by Don Joaquin Sayago, who was
also anxious to have a peep at Hahfax. The cold
was intense. We drove in a smaU mail carriage
to the Post-office, and there leaving Mr. Biddock
and the bags, Mr. S — and I proceeded, in the

THE MACDOUGALLS AND THE MACLEODS. 463
mail cart, to make a moonlight inspection of the
streets and public buildings of Halifax.
Although well wrapped up — Mr. Sayago in a
splendid Leopard-striped poncho, and I in my
great coat — we felt the cold much, and Mr. Sayago
looked out wistfully for some place where a glass
of hot brandy and water and a segar might be
procured. Every house of entertainment, how
ever, was shut up ; but at last, the driver seeing
our difficulty, said there was a meeting of some
kind that night at one of the pubhc halls, and
there we drove. We found the building lit up,
and great doings going forward within. The front
door was opened to us, and in the hall we found
ourselves in the midst of butlers, servants,
bottles, and bustle. "You cannot be admitted
here, sir," said some one to me; "it is a sub
scribers' public dinner." "And what is the
occasion ?" said I. " Saint Andrew's day — the
30th of November."
We had no time to lose. My informant and I
soon understood each other, and accompanied by
M. Sayago, I went into the banquet-room, which
contained a company of about 120 persons. The
"croupier," or vice-chairman, being near to the

464 THE MACDOUGALLS
door at which we entered, I quietly sat myself
down, a little behind, but close to him. He
looked at me somewhat suspiciously : but I told
him that I was a Scotchman ; had just landed from
the packet with my friend ; that we had found
our way there; that I had attended many a
St. Andrew's day's dinner; and that I was sure
he would allow us the pleasure of drinking a glass
of wine at a board so congenial with my feelings.
The Vice-Chairman's face glowed with Scottish
hospitality. "What wUl you take? Claret?
Champagne ? What wiU you have — Port ? Come,
Sir ! I am most happy to pledge you and your
friend in a bumper !" So, M. Sayago, who stood
with his serape thrown gracefully over his shoulder,
admiring the scene before him, and himself
attracting no small degree of attention, responded
with me in a glass of good old port.
In this state of affairs the Chairman, who was
also, I think, Mayor of Halifax, called for a
Dumper. " Gentlemen," he said, " we have un
expectedly been honoured by a visit from two
gentlemen just landed from the packet from New
York. One a distinguished Mexican, the other a
countryman of our own." Then, after some happy

AND THE MACLEODS. 465
remarks on the occasion of our visit, and personal
compliments, the Chairman concluded by request
ing a bumper to the health of M. Sayago and
myself. Great and unfeigned was the surprise of myfriend,
in finding himself thus prominently and suddenly
brought forward in an assemblage of aU the notables
of Halifax, whom he had so httle dreamt of seeing
or knowing that night; and stUl more was he
surprised, when he heard the loud applause with
which his name was received. He gave me a look,
however, as much as to say, " You must carry out
what you have begun." So I stood up aud
returned thanks for M. Sayago and myself.
I told the Chairman that I had, on more than
one occasion, presided over a Saint Andrew's
day's dinner in foreign and distant lands; and
that, as I entered that splendid hall, I knew weU
the hearty welcome with which my friend and I
would be greeted. But I added, that although
I could dUate with pleasure on the gratifying
sight before me, our time was short ; and as I
wished to volunteer a Scotch song, I could not
indulge in a lengthy speech. What I said was
x5

466

THE MACDOUGALLS

well received ; and then I sang, " Get up an' bar
the door."
Under the peculiar circumstances, my song
produced no small excitement. The applause
had scarcely subsided, when a gentleman laid
hold of my arm, and in our own vernacular (of
which on such occasions we make free and un
reserved use), he said : "Come awa', Mr. Robeson,
ye've been lang enough wi' the Vice-Chairman —
the Chairman wants to shake hands wi' you."
M. Sayago and I, accordingly were trans
planted to the upper seats, and amid many de
monstrations of cordial feeling, we were seated on
either side of the chairman. AU was hilarity and
good fellowship, in the midst of which we became
oblivious of our steamer, our passage, our Admiralty
Agent — and weU it was that the latter did not
forget us. The post-office mail-cart had gone back
for him; and when I was preparing for a second
song, in rushed Mr. B., whose energetic remon
strances with the chairman were drowned in
vociferous plaudits. Down he was placed among
us, nolens volens, and once more aU went well.
" Duncan Gray" came off in grand style : one

AND THE MACLEODS. 467
or two short but pithy speeches followed, and
excitement was the order of the night.
Meantime, Captain Judkius, uneasy at the un
wonted length of absence of the Admiralty Agent
(not knowing the extent of a Saint Andrew's day's
coercion in Halifax), left his vessel in search of us,
and at half-past eleven he entered the banquet
ing haU, just as I was about to sing " Ae day a
braw wooer cam doon the lang glen." The
excitement rose with the new occasion (for Cap
tain J. was an immense favourite in Halifax).;
so if we were received with a bumper, and the
Admiralty Agent with applause, Captain Judkius
was welcomed with hurras and clapping of hands.
In a moment he was seized by four athletic
Scotchmen, carried in triumph to the head of the
table, and placed between the chairman and
myself. All remonstrance for the moment was
in vain. The song was sung — the bumpers were
emptied — a more jovial sight never was seen.
But it was highly necessary to bring our visit
to a close. Her Majesty's mail-bags, wliich
generaUy wait for no man, had been detained
nearly an hour extra, for midnight was approach
ing — and detained, I must say, vi et armis, in so

468 THE MACDOUGALLS AND THE MACLEODS.
far as the gentlemen having them in charge were
concerned. . The leave-taking was something tre
mendous. I had such Scotch and Halifax grips
from every man in the room, that my fingers
were pretty well reduced to a jelly; but invita
tions to return to my Halifax friends were heartUy
tendered on every side, with a more especial one
from the chairman.
When at last I came to my first-made friend,
the vice-chairman, he seized me by both hands.
We had all thrown away the Corinthian English
for the Doric Scotch. " Noo, Mr. Robeson,"
said the warm-hearted croupier, " when ye get
back to Halifax, ye '11 find plenty o' freens, but
nane sae glad to see ye as the MacdougaUs and
Macleods. Mind — ask for them. The chairman's
a Macdougall — I 'm a Macleod. Ask, I teU ye,
for them! Dinna ye forget the MacdougaUs or
the Macleods." And I certainly never shaU.

Our passage home was a most agreeable one,
for among our fellow -passengers from New York
we found some truly pleasant companions. A
more gentlemanlike, a more attentive, or more
friendly commander than Captain Judkins is

ARRIVAL. 469
nowhere to be found ; and his officers were of the
same stamp as himself. We left exactly at mid
night of the 30th; and, although a derangement of
one of our engines not only stopped us for three
hours on the 6th, but became unavailable during
the rest of the passage, we arrived in the
Mersey about daybreak on the 12th of December,
after a run of thirteen days and some hours from
New York, and of eleven days and six hours from
Halifax.

FINIS.

APPENDIX.

" Convention concluded between Ms Excellency the Mexican
Minister of Finance, Dox Francisco de Arrangoiz,
and the Agent of the Bondholders of the English Debt,
Whliam: P. Robertson, Esq.
"1. From the 1st of July, 1849, till the same date in
1859, the interest of the said debt shall be 3£ per cent.
instead of 5 per cent, per annum.
"2. In just compensation of this diminution, the Govern
ment gives up to the said Bondholders, — over and above the
assignments of which they are actually in possession, and
which consist of the export duty on specie at the Mexican
ports of the Pacific, — of the fifth part of the duties paid
at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico de
Tamaulipas, — and of the sum arising from the tobacco
revenue, which is assigned to the Bondholders by the
ninth article of the arrangements concluded with the
creditors of that revenue on the 28th January of this
year, — the circulation duties in the ports of the Pacific,

472 APPENDIX.
and the circulation and export duties upon specie at the
ports of the Gulf of Mexico, in order that their amount,
less the burdens with which they are actually encumbered,
may be devoted to the payment of the dividends and the
sinking fund of the foreign debt.
"3. To satisfy the arrears of interest at the rate of
3£ per cent, per annum, from the 1st of July, 1846, to the
same date in 1 849, 4,000,000 dollars shall be devoted from
the American indemnity, to be taken proportionally
in third parts from the portion not yet recovered, and
without payment of fresh interest on the part of
Mexico. "4. Mexico shall make the payment mentioned in the
preceding article at the favourable exchange of forty-six
pence in the dollar.
"5. If the said four milhons of dollars, at the above-
mentioned exchange of forty-six pence, should not suffice
to satisfy the amount of the interest at 3£ per cent, per
annum, which has become due from the 1st of July, 1846,
to the same date in 1849, the deficit shall be given up by
the Bondholders in favour of Mexico.
"6. The permission to import raw cotton, which the
Government gave to the creditors on the 19th July, 1847,
to the amount of 680,000 dollars, in payment of the sums
which belonged to them, and were abstracted from the
maritime custom-houses of Vera Cruz and Tampico,
remains definitively for account of the creditors, what
ever may be the loss at which they may realise it.

APPENDIX. 473
"7. The difference of the interest from the 1st July,
1846, to the same date in 1859, at the rate of 1$ per cent.
per annum, or altogether 19i per cent., is ceded to Mexico
in toto, and without ground for any future claim on the
part of the Bondholders of the foreign debt.
" 8. In compensation of this cession, the Government
agrees to pay the Bondholders 500,000 dollars from the
American indemnity, proportionally by third parts, in each
of the portions which are still pending recovery, which
sum of 600,000 dollars shall be devoted to the interest
already become due and not paid.
"9. If in the period which elapses between the 1st of
July, 1849, and the 1st of July, 1859, the dividends are
not paid at the rate of 31 per cent, on their becoming
due, it shall be at the choice of the Bondholders to annul
the present contract, and they shall re-assume their actual
rights. "10. On tho 1st of January, 1859, the Government of
Mexico and a Commissioner of the Bondholders shall
make fresh arrangements for the payments of dividends
posterior to the 1 st July, 1 859, more or less favourable,
according to tho state in which the Republic then happens
to be.
"11. The presont arrangement shall not cause to Mexico
any expense for printing new bonds, or for any other
outlay arising from commissions, brokerages, etc., which
may have to take place in England with referonce to the
said arrangement.

474 APPENDIX.
" 1 2. All the stipulations of the preceding articles are
subject to the ratification and approbation of the Mexican
ongress, and of the general meeting of Bondholders of
the foreign debt. " Francisco de Arrangoiz.
" William P. Robertson."
" Mexico, July 6, 1849."

Convention concluded by Mr. Robertson, respecting the
London Agency and Remittances. " Mexico, July 8, 1 849,
" It being for the interest of Mexico, as well as for that
of the Bondholders, that the remittances to England in
tended for the payment of dividends should not be
apphed to any other object, his Excellency the Minister
of Finance, D. Francisco de Arrangoiz, and the agent of
the Bondholders, William P. Robertson, Esq., have agreed
on the following : —
" Art. 1. The agent of Mexico in London will keep the
books referring to the debt, which he will receive from
Messrs. Schneider and Co. Should these gentlemen
make any difficulty in giving up the books and other
papers, the agent of Mexico will open new books pro
visionally till the delivery of those existing shall take
place.

APPENDIX. 475
" 2. As the funds for the payment of dividends will
be remitted to the Bank of England, they cannot be
abstracted thence on any account but exclusively for
the payment of dividends, which will be made by mutual
agreement between the agent of the Republic and that
of the Bondholders.
" 3. The agents of the Bondholders in Mexico, when
receiving funds on account of the debt, will give notice to
the agent of the Republic in England, and to the agent of
the Bondholders in the same country, by separate com
munications, of the sums which they send by every
vessel, or of remittances in bills ; and the agent of Mexico,
as well as that of the Bondholders, will publish in two or
three of the most widely circulated newspapers a notice
of the sums which thus arrive, and the amount existing in
the Bank at the date of the publication of the said
notices. " 4. If by any accidental circumstance at the end of six
months the sums existing are not sufficient to pay a
dividend corresponding to that of the preceding six
months, the said amount can be divided pro rata at the
request of the Committee of the Bondholders.
" 5. The sums which the agents of the Bondholders
residing in Mexico receive for the payment of the divi
dends, will remain at the risk and for account of the
Bondholders from the moment their agents receive their
money. " 6. The exact amount of each consignment, with

476 APPENDIX.
deduction of all expense of remittance to London, will
be credited to Mexico. Mexico will have nothing to pay
for commission for receiving the money, or any other
expenses, but those occasioned by the agency of the
Republic. " 7. The regulation of the agreement, which without
opposing the literal sense of the present stipulations, shall
be carried into effect by mutual consent of both agents.
" F. De Arrangoiz.
" William P. Robertson."

In reference to the account I have given of the factory
at Cocolapan (vol. ii. page 396), I have been lately favoured
with the following letter from Messrs. James Grandison
and Sons, already mentioned in the body of the work, and
I think the information it contains will be, to many, an
interesting addition to my slight detail.
" Glasgow, 8th October, 1852.
" Wm. Parish Robertson, Esq., London.
"Dear Sir,— We beg now to furnish you, so far as we
are able, with answers to the queries you propose in your
favour of 27th ult., regarding the factory at Cocolapan.
"It contains 15,000 spindles, which are driven by one

APPENDIX. 477
water wheel of 130 horse power, and another of 50, both
made in Glasgow. There are from 12 to 18 foreigners
(mostly Scotchmen) employed ; but we are neither able
to say how many operatives there are altogether, nor how
many hve on the premises.
" There are produced altogether, about 3,000 pieces of
cloth, 30 yards each, per week, and we understand that
the quantity is increasing, from the new improvements
brought into operation. We do not know how much
cotton is consumed.
"Our brother arrived here from Cocolapan in June
1850. He came to Liverpool through the United States,
and left Liverpool in the Orion Steamer, which was
wrecked off the coast of Portpatrick, he escaping with the
loss of all his luggage. He was accompanied by a son of
Francis Vallejo, Esq., who also escaped.
" While in Glasgow, our brother had made for him a
number of self-acting headstocks, and also patent sizing or
dressing machines, which have made a very great
improvement in the quantity and quality of cloth pro
duced. " By the dressing machines, more especially, they have,
at Cocolapan, been enabled to make more than double
the produce of the looms, and they are kept up at only a
fourth of the expense of the old machines. They also
produce four times the amount of work more than the old
machines. "A number of scutching machines were also made,
which have produced great improvements.

478 APPENDIX.
" The bulk of the old machinery is United States' ; all
the new was made in Glasgow by ourselves.
" Our brother left in November, 1850, by the West
India Mail Steamer, and by the latest accounts we have
from him, he is doing very well. Since he went home he
has erected a mill for ginning cotton ; and we have sent
out to him also a number of agricultural instruments for
the improvement of his farm. They have also com
menced the cultivation of flax, and have taken a crop off
the ground, from the appearance of which, they think it
likely to succeed. We sent over to them a farmer from
Ireland, acquainted with ' the cultivation of flax, and a
supply of seed at the same time.
" If we can supply you with any other information you
may wish, we shall be happy to do so,
And are, meantime, " Yours truly,
'¦ James Grandison and Sons."

V ERTHEIMEU AND CO. FRINTEaS FINSUUHY CJHCUF.

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