Travels in North America Part 19

Nineteenth Day's Instruction.

MEXICO OR NEW SPAIN.

The Spanish possessions in North America, extend from the isthmus of Darien, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, to the distance of more than two thousand two hundred miles. One half of them is situated under the burning sky of the tropics, and the other belongs to the temperate zone. Their whole interior forms an immense plain, elevated from six to eight thousand feet above the level of the adjacent seas. The chain of _mountains_ which const.i.tutes this vast plain, is a continuation of that which, under the name Andes, runs through South America. They are, in general, little interrupted by valleys, and, for the most part, their declivity is very gentle. In consequence of this elevation, the Mexican provinces, situated under the torrid zone, enjoy a cold rather than a temperate _climate_. The interior provinces, in the temperate zone, have, like the rest of North America, a climate essentially different from that of the same parallels in the European continent. A remarkable inequality prevails between the temperature of the different seasons: German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sicilian summers.

This country suffers many inconveniences from a want of water, and particularly of navigable rivers. The Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado are almost the only _rivers_ of any importance. The _lakes_ with which Mexico abounds, are merely the remains of immense basins of water, which appear to have formerly existed on the high and extensive plains of the Cordilleras. The largest of these, the _Lake of Chapala_, contains nearly one hundred and sixty square leagues, and is about twice as large as the lake of Constance.

A great portion of high land, in the interior of New Spain, is dest.i.tute of vegetation; and some of the loftiest summits are clad with perpetual snow. This country is not so much disturbed by earthquakes as several parts of South America; for, in the whole of New Spain there are only five _volcanos_; Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Tuxtla, Jorullo, and Colima.

The _volcano of Jorullo_, in the province of Valladolid, was formed during the night of the 29th of September, 1759. The great catastrophe, in which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a considerable s.p.a.ce of ground changed its appearance, is, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions in the history of the earth. Geology points out parts of the ocean, where, at recent periods, near the Azores, in the Egean Sea, and to the south of Iceland, small volcanic islands have arisen above the surface of the water; but it gives no example of the formation, amidst a thousand small burning cones, of a mountain of scoria, near seventeen hundred feet in height, above the adjoining plain. Till the middle of the year 1759, fields cultivated with sugar-canes and indigo occupied the extent of ground between the two brooks called Cultamba and San Pedro. In the month of June, a subterraneous noise was heard. Hollow sounds of most alarming description, were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which succeeded one another for fifty or sixty days, to the great consternation of the inhabitants. From the beginning of September every thing seemed to announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity; when, in the night between the 28th and 29th, the subterraneous noises recommenced.

The affrighted Indians fled to the mountains; and a tract of ground, from three to four square miles in extent, which goes by the name of _Malpays_, rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this convulsion are still distinguishable in the fractured strata. The Malpays, near its edges, is only about forty feet above the old level of the plain; but the convexity of the ground thus thrown up, increases progressively, towards the centre, to an elevation of more than five hundred and twenty feet.

The persons who witnessed this astonishing catastrophe, a.s.sert that flames were seen to issue forth, for an extent of more than half a square league; that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to prodigious heights; and that, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. The rivers of Cultamba and San Pedro precipitated themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which were distinguishable at a vast distance. Eruptions of mud, and other substances, indicated that subterraneous water had no small share in producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of small cones, from six to nine feet in height, called by the Indians "hornitos," or ovens, issued forth from the Malpays. Each small cone is a "fumorola," from which a thick vapour ascends; and in many of them a subterraneous noise is heard, which appears to announce the proximity of a fluid in ebullition. In the midst of the ovens six large ma.s.ses, elevated from one thousand three hundred to one thousand six hundred and forty feet above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most elevated of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is continually burning, and has thrown up an immense quant.i.ty of scorified and basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. These great eruptions of the central volcano continued till the month of February, 1760. In the following year they became gradually less frequent. The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the new volcano, had abandoned all the villages, within seven or eight leagues of it. They, however, gradually became accustomed to them, and returned to their cottages. So violent were the eruptions of this mountain, that the roofs of houses in Queretaro, though at a distance of more than forty-eight leagues, in a straight line from the scene of explosion, were sometimes covered with ashes.

The Mexican _population_ consists of seven races, 1. Individuals born in Europe; 2. Creoles, or Whites of European extraction, born in America; 3. Mesti zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, descendants of negroes and Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7.

African negroes.

The number of _Indians_, including those only who have no mixture of European or African blood, are more than two millions and a half in number; and these appear to const.i.tute about two-fifths of the whole population of Mexico. They bear a general resemblance to the Indians of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil: they have a similar swarthy and copper-coloured skin, smooth hair, little beard, squat body, long eyes, with the corners directed upward towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, and thick lips. There is a great diversity in their language, but they appear to have been all descendants from the same original stock.

It is probable that these Indians would live to a great age, did they not often injure their const.i.tution by drunkenness. Their intoxicating liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize, and the root of the jatropha; and especially a wine which is made from the juice of the great American aloe. The police, in the city of Mexico, sends round tumbrils, to collect such drunkards as are found lying in the streets. These are treated like dead bodies, and are carried to the princ.i.p.al guard-house.

The next morning an iron ring is put round each of their ancles, and, as a punishment, they are made to cleanse the streets for three days.

The Mexican Indian, when not under the influence of intoxicating liquors, is grave, melancholic, and silent. The most violent pa.s.sions are never depicted in his features; and it is sometimes frightful to see him pa.s.s, at once, from a state of apparent repose, to the most violent and unrestrained agitation. It is stated that these Indians have preserved, from their ancestors, a particular relish for carving in wood and stone; and that it is astonishing to see what they are able to execute with a bad knife, on the hardest wood. Many Indian children, educated in the college of the capital, or instructed at the academy of painting, founded by the king of Spain, have considerably distinguished themselves, but without leaving the beaten track pursued by their forefathers; they chiefly display great apt.i.tude in the arts of imitation; and in the purely mechanical arts.

The _Spanish inhabitants_ and the _Creoles_ are noted for hospitality, generosity, and sobriety; but they are extremely deficient in energy, patriotism, enterprise, and independence of character. The women have black eyes and hair, and fine teeth: they are of dark colour, full habit of body, and have, in general, bad figures. They usually wear short jackets and petticoats, high-heeled shoes, and no head-dress. As an upper garment they have a silk wrapper, which, when they are in the presence of men, they affect to bring over their faces. In the towns on the frontiers and adjacent to the sea-coast, many of the ladies wear gowns, like those of our country-women. The lower cla.s.ses of men are generally dressed in broad-brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats, smallclothes open at the knees, and a kind of boot or leather wrapper bound round the leg, and gartered at the knee. The spurs of the gentlemen are clumsy: they are ornamented with raised work; and the straps are embroidered with gold and silver thread. The Spanish Americans are always ready to mount their horses; and the inhabitants of the interior provinces pa.s.s nearly half their day on horseback. In the towns, and among the higher ranks, the men dress in the European style.

The _amus.e.m.e.nts_ of this people are music, singing, dancing, and gambling: the latter is, indeed, officially prohibited; but the prohibition is not much attended to. At every large town there is a public walk, where the ladies and gentlemen meet and sing songs. The females have fine voices, and sing French, Italian, and Spanish music, the whole company joining in chorus. In their houses the ladies play on the guitar, and accompany this instrument with their voices. They either sit on the carpet cross-legged, or loll on a sofa: to sit upright, on a chair, appears to put them to great inconvenience.

Both in _eating_ and _drinking_ the Spanish Americans are remarkably temperate. Early in the morning those of the higher cla.s.s have chocolate. At twelve they dine on meat, fowls, and fish; after which different kinds of confectionary are placed on the table; they drink a few gla.s.ses of wine, sing a few songs, and then retire to take their _siesta_ or afternoon nap. The latter is a practice common both to rich and poor: the consequence of it is that, about two o'clock, every day, the windows and doors of the town are all closed, the streets are deserted, and the stillness of midnight reigns throughout. At four they rise, wash and dress, and prepare for the dissipation of the evening.

About eleven o'clock refreshments are offered; but few take any thing except a little wine and water and candied sugar.

The _commerce_ of New Spain, with Europe and the United States, is carried on through the port of Vera Cruz only; and with the East Indies and South America, through that of Acapulco. But all the commercial transactions, and all the productions and manufactures, are subjected to such severe restrictions, that they are at present of little importance to the prosperity of the country. Were the various bays and harbours of Mexico and California to be opened to the trade of the world; and were correct regulations to be adopted, New Spain might become both wealthy and powerful. Many parts of the country abound in iron ore, yet iron and steel articles, of every description, are brought from Europe; for the manufacturing or working of iron is here strictly prohibited. This occasions the requisite utensils of husbandry, arms, and tools, to be enormously dear; and forms a great check to the progress of agriculture, and to improvements in manufactures.

The _ancient Mexicans_ preserved the memory of events by figures painted on skins, cloth, or the bark of trees. These hieroglyphical and symbolical characters, being considered by the ignorant and bigoted Spaniards to be monuments of idolatry, the first bishop of Mexico destroyed as many of them as could be collected. In consequence of this barbarous procedure, the knowledge of remote events was lost, except what could be derived from tradition, and from some fragments of those paintings which eluded the search of the monks.

With regard to the _public edifices_ of the Mexicans: their temples were merely mounds of earth faced with stone; and it is probable that their other public buildings were equally rude. The ancient natives bestowed little attention on agriculture, and were strangers to the use of money; but their ornaments of gold and silver indicated considerable ingenuity.

They were acquainted with the manufacture of paper, of coa.r.s.e cotton-cloth, gla.s.s, and earthenware; and they possessed the arts of casting metals, of making mosaic work with sh.e.l.ls and feathers, of spinning and weaving the hair of animals, and of dying with indelible colours.

The _religion_ of the ancient Mexicans, like that of all unenlightened nations, seems to have been founded chiefly on fear; and consisted of a system of gloomy rites and practices, the object of which was to avert the evils that they suffered or dreaded. They had some notion of an invisible supreme Being; but their chief anxiety was to deprecate the wrath of certain imaginary malignant spirits, whom they regarded as the enemies of mankind. They worshipped idols, formed of wood and stone; and decorated their temples with the figures of serpents, tigers, and other destructive animals. They believed in the immortality of the soul; but their notions of a future state may be collected from their funeral rites: the bodies, or the ashes of the deceased, were generally buried with whatever was judged necessary for their accommodation or comfort in the other world, where it was believed they would experience the same desires, and be engaged in the same occupations, as in this. The religion established by the Spaniards is the Roman Catholic; and it is computed that one-fifth part of the Spanish inhabitants are ecclesiastics, monks, and nuns.

The _Spanish government_ in America is vested in officers called viceroys, who represent the person of their sovereign; and who possess his royal prerogatives, within the precincts of their own territories.

In its present state, New Spain is divided into twelve intendancies, and three districts, which are called provinces[2].

FOOTNOTES:

[2] For particulars respecting the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, see "Biographical Conversations on Eminent Voyagers," p. 59 to 73.

Twentieth Day's Instruction.

MEXICO CONTINUED.

_Narrative of Mr. PIKE'S Journey from Santa Fe to Montelovez._

Mr. Pike and his men were escorted from Santa Fe by a Spanish officer, and a troop of soldiers. On Thursday, the 5th of March, they arrived at a village called _St. Domingo_. The inhabitants of this place were about a thousand in number; and the chiefs were distinguished by canes, with silver heads and black ta.s.sels. Mr. Pike was permitted to visit the church; and he was much astonished to find, enclosed in mud-brick walls, many rich paintings, and a statue of the patron saint, as large as life, and elegantly ornamented with gold and silver.

On the ensuing day, the party marched down the eastern side of the Rio del Norte, the snow being still a foot deep. Near the village of _Albuquerque_, they observed that the inhabitants were beginning to open the ca.n.a.ls, for the purpose of letting in the water of the river, to fertilize the lands. They saw men, women, and children engaged in the joyful labour, which was to crown, with rich abundance, their future harvest, and to ensure them plenty for the ensuing year. A little below Albuquerque, the Rio del Norte was four hundred yards wide, but not more than three feet deep.

In their journey southward, they pa.s.sed through several villages. One of these, called _Sibilleta_, was in the form of a regular square, appearing, on the outside, like an immense mud-wall. All the doors and windows faced the interior of the square; and it was the neatest and most regular village Mr. Pike had ever seen.

Beyond this village, the party met a caravan, consisting of three hundred men, escorted by an officer and thirty-five or forty troops, who were proceeding, with about fifteen thousand sheep, to the different provinces. They afterwards met a caravan of fifty men, and about two hundred horses, laden with traffic, for New Mexico. On the 21st of March they arrived at the _Pa.s.so del Norte_: the road now led them through a rough and mountainous country; and pa.s.sing through _Carracal_, and some other villages, they reached _Chihuahua_ on the 2d of April.

They were conducted into the presence of the commanding-officer of the place, before whom Mr. Pike underwent an examination, as he had previously done at Santa Fe. He was treated with great apparent respect, and was offered both a.s.sistance and money. He afterwards visited in the houses of some of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants. At the house of the governor, when wine was put on the table, after dinner, the company was entertained with songs in the French, Italian, Spanish, and English languages.

There are, at Chihuahua, and in its vicinity, fifteen mines; thirteen of silver, one of gold, and one of copper; the furnaces for all of which are in the suburbs of the town, and present, except on Sundays, volumes of smoke, rising in every direction. Chihuahua is surrounded by piles of cinders, from ten to fifteen feet in height. In the public square, stand the church, the royal treasury, the town-house, and the richest shops; and, at the western extremity of the town, are two other churches, an hospital, and the military academy. About a mile south of the town, is a large aqueduct. The princ.i.p.al church of Chihuahua is a most superb edifice: its whole front is covered with statues of saints; figures of different saints are set in niches of the wall; and the windows, doors, &c. are ornamented with sculpture. The decorations in the interior are said to be immensely rich. On the south of the town is a public walk, formed by three rows of trees, the branches of which nearly form a junction over the heads of the pa.s.sengers below. At different distances, there are seats for persons to repose themselves upon; and at each end of the walks, are circular seats, on, which, in the evenings, the inhabitants amuse themselves in singing to the music of guitars. This city contains about eleven thousand inhabitants.

After a residence, in Chihuahua, of somewhat more than three weeks, Mr.

Pike received an intimation that he and his men would be escorted out of the country. Accordingly, on the 28th of April, he was accompanied, towards the frontier, by a Spanish officer. Near Chihuahua they pa.s.sed a small ridge of mountains, and then encamped in a hollow. At the distance of about fifty miles they reached the river _Florida_; on the banks of which are many important settlements, and well-timbered lands. One of the plantations on this river, extended thirty leagues; and had been valued at three hundred thousand dollars.

The country through which they now pa.s.sed was mountainous. On the 11th of May, they reached _Mauperne_, a village situated at the foot of the mountains, and near which eight or nine valuable copper-mines were worked; but the ma.s.s of the people were in a starving and wretched state. The proprietor of the mines, however, gave the travellers an elegant repast.

They pursued their march three miles further, to a station, on a little stream, which flowed through gardens, and formed a terrestrial paradise.

Here they remained all day, and at night slept under the shade of the fig-trees. In the morning, Mr. Pike was awakened by the singing of the birds, and the perfume of the trees around. This place, however, was no doubt rendered the more interesting to the travellers, in consequence of their having previously suffered much inconvenience from want of water.

On the 20th, they arrived at the _Hacienda of Polloss_, a handsome place, at which the Marquis de San Miguel, a wealthy n.o.bleman, who possessed extensive property in this part of New Spain, usually pa.s.sed the summer. The Hacienda of Polloss is a square enclosure of about three hundred feet: the building is no more than one story high; but some of the apartments are very elegantly furnished. In the centre of the square is a fountain, which throws out water from eight spouts. There is also, at this place, a handsome church, which, with its ornaments, is said to have cost at least twenty thousand dollars. The inhabitants are about two thousand in number.

_Montelovez_, situated on the banks of a small stream, is about a mile in length. It has two public squares, seven churches, some powder-magazines, mills, a royal hospital, and barracks. The number of inhabitants is about three thousand five hundred. This city is ornamented with public walks, columns, and fountains; and is one of the handsomest places in New Spain[3].

South-west from Montelovez stands _Durango_, the chief city of the province of Biscay. In the vicinity of this place are many rich and valuable mines; and the soil is so fertile as to produce abundant crops of wheat, maize, and fruit. The climate is mild and healthy. Durango contains about twelve thousand inhabitants; and has four convents and three churches.

_A Description of the City of Mexico._

This magnificent city is the capital of New Spain, and the residence of the viceroy. In its _situation_ it possesses many important advantages.

Standing on an isthmus, which is washed on one side by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other by the South-sea, it might possess a powerful influence over the political events which agitate the world. A king of Spain, resident at this capital, might, in six weeks, transmit his orders to Europe, and, in three weeks, to the Philippine islands in Asia. There are, however, difficulties to be encountered, arising from the unfavourable state of the coasts, and the want of secure harbours.

During several months in the year, these coasts are visited by tempests.

The hurricanes, also, which occur in the months of September, October, and March, and which sometimes last for three or four successive days, are very tremendous.

Mexico was originally founded in the lake of Tezcuco; and, at the time when the Spaniards first invaded America, it was a magnificent capital.

Cortez, describing it in the year 1520, says, that it was in the midst of a salt-water lake, which had its tides, like the ocean; and that, from the city to the continent, there was a distance of two leagues.

Four dikes or embankments, each two lances broad, led to the city. The princ.i.p.al streets were narrow: some of them had navigable ca.n.a.ls running along them, furnished with bridges, wide enough for ten men on horseback, to pa.s.s at the same time. The market-place was surrounded with an immense portico, under which were sold all sorts of merchandise, eatables, ornaments made of gold, silver, lead, pewter, precious stones, bones, sh.e.l.ls, and feathers; earthenware, leather, and spun cotton. In some places were exposed to sale hewn stone, tiles, and timber for building; in others game; and, in others, roots, garden-stuff, and fruit. There were houses where barbers shaved the head, with razors made of obsidian, a volcanic substance not much unlike bottle-gla.s.s; and there were others, resembling our apothecary-shops, where prepared medicines, unguents, and plasters were sold. The market abounded with so many things, that Cortez was unable to name them all. To avoid confusion, every species of merchandise was sold in a separate place. In the middle of the great square was a house, which he calls _L'Audiencia_; and in which ten or twelve persons sate every day, to determine any disputes which might arise respecting the sale of goods.