Twenty-first Day’s Instruction
Mexico Concluded
A Description of some of the most important Places in Mexico.
In an easterly direction from the city of Mexico lies Tlascala, a town, which, two hundred years ago, at the time of the Spanish invasion, had a numerous population, and was in a wealthy and flourishing state. The inhabitants of this place were implacable enemies of the Mexicans, and aided the Spaniards in the conquest of their country. It is now, however, little more than a village, containing about three thousand inhabitants. Some parts of the ancient walls still remain, and are composed of alternate strata of brick and clay.
Six leagues south-west from Tlascala, and in the midst of a delightful valley, watered by a river which runs south-west to the Pacific Ocean, stands Puebla, the capital of an intendancy, and the see of a bishop. It is a large and regularly built manufacturing town, notorious for the profligacy of its inhabitants.
Cholula, once a sacred Indian town, to which pilgrimages were frequent, but now a mean village, is not far from Puebla. This place is, at present, remarkable only for a curious monument of antiquity, a pyramid which consists of four stages, and is about one hundred and seventy-seven feet in perpendicular height, and one thousand four hundred and twenty-three feet at the base. Its structure appears to consist of alternate strata of bricks and clay. In the midst of this pyramid there is a church, where mass is, every morning, celebrated by an ecclesiastic of Indian extraction, whose residence is on the summit.
Eastward of the intendancy of Puebla is that of Vera Cruz. This district is enriched with various natural productions, extremely valuable both in a commercial and economical view. The sugar-cane grows here in great luxuriance: chocolate, tobacco, cotton, sarsaparilla, are all abundant; but the indolence of the inhabitants is so great, and all their wants are so easily supplied, by the natural fertility of the soil, that the country does not produce one half of what, under good management, it might be made to produce. The sugar and cotton plantations are chiefly attended to; but the progress made in these is not great.
The chief city of the province is Vera Cruz; a sea-port, the residence of the governor, and the centre of the Spanish West Indian and American commerce. This city is beautifully and regularly built; but on an arid plain, destitute of water, and covered with hills of moving sand, that are formed by the north winds, which blow; with impetuosity, every year, from October till April. These hills are incessantly changing their form and situation: they are from twenty to thirty feet in height; and, by the reflection of the sun’s rays upon them, and the high temperature which they acquire during the summer months, they contribute much to increase the suffocating heat of the atmosphere.
The houses in Vera Cruz are chiefly built of wood; for no stone whatever is found in the vicinity of the place. The public edifices are constructed of materials obtained from the bottom of the ocean: the stony habitations of a kind of marine animals called madrepores. The town is of great extent; and is surrounded by a wall, and defended by a kind of citadel, which stands on an adjacent rocky island. The harbour is well protected; but the entrance into it is so narrowed by rocks, that only one ship can pass at a time.
On the annual arrival of the flota, or fleet of merchant-vessels from Old Spain, Vera Cruz is crowded, from all parts of the adjacent country; and a kind of fair is opened, which lasts many weeks. The principal inhabitants are merchants, but very few of them reside wholly in the town; for the heat of the climate, the stagnant water in the vicinity of the place, and the bad quality of the water used for drinking, are the cause of yellow fever and numerous other diseases.
The churches of Vera Cruz are much decorated with silver ornaments. In the dwelling houses, the chief luxury consists of porcelain and other Chinese articles. The whole number of inhabitants is estimated at about thirteen thousand. They are, in general, proud and indolent. The women, few of whom are handsome, live much in retirement.
During the rainy season, the marshes south of the town are haunted by alligators. Sea-fowl of various kinds are here innumerable; and the musquitoes, at certain seasons of the year, are very troublesome. Earthquakes are not unfrequent. The north winds are so tremendous as often to drive vessels on shore: these gales sometimes load the walls with sand; and so much inconvenience is occasioned by them, that, during their continuance, ladies are excused by the priests from going to mass.
The richest merchants of this place have country-houses at Xalapa, a town, in a romantic situation, about twenty leagues distant. Here they enjoy a cool and agreeable retreat from the arid climate and noxious exhalations of Vera Cruz. In the vicinity of Xalapa, thick forests of styrax, piper, melastomata, and ferns resembling trees, afford the most delightful promenades imaginable.
The intendancy of Vera Cruz contains, within its limits, two colossal summits; one of which, the volcano of Orizaba, is of great height, and has its top inclined towards the south-east, by which the crater is visible to a considerable distance. The other summit, the Coffre de Perote, according to M. de Humboldt’s measurement, is one thousand three hundred feet higher than the Pic of Tenerife. It serves as a land-mark to vessels approaching Vera Cruz. A thick bed of pumice-stone environs this mountain. Nothing at the summit announces a crater; and the currents of lava observable between some adjacent villages, appear to be the effects of an ancient explosion.
The small volcano of Tuxtla is about four leagues from the coast, and near an Indian village, called Saint Jago di Tuxtla. The last eruption of this volcano took place on the 2d of March, 1793; and, during its continuance, the roofs of houses at Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, and Perote, were covered with volcanic ashes. At Perote, fifty-seven leagues distant, the subterraneous noises resembled heavy discharges of artillery.
In the northern part of the intendancy of Vera Cruz, and two leagues from the village of Papantla, there is a pyramidal edifice of great antiquity. It is in the midst of a forest; and the Indians, for more than two centuries, succeeded in concealing, from the knowledge of the Spaniards, this object of ancient veneration. It was accidentally discovered, by a party of hunters, about thirty years ago. The materials that have been employed in its construction are immense stones cemented with mortar; and it is remarkable for its general symmetry, for the polish of its stones, and the great regularity of their form. Its base is an exact square, each side being eighty-two feet in length. The perpendicular height is about sixty feet. This monument, like all the Mexican teocallis or temples, is composed of several stages. Six are still distinguishable, and a seventh appears to be concealed by the vegetation, with which the sides are covered. A great stair of fifty-seven steps, conducts to the top, where human victims were formerly sacrificed; and, on each side of the great stair, is a small one. The facing of the stories is adorned with hieroglyphics, in which serpents and alligators, carved in relief, are still discernible. Each story contains a great number of square niches, symmetrically distributed.
On the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and at the distance of about three hundred miles south-west from Vera Cruz, stands Acapulco, the great western sea-port of Mexico. This place is the principal emporium for the Indian trade over the Pacific Ocean. The harbour is commodious, capable of containing several hundred ships, and defended by a strong castle. The town itself is mean and ill-built, but extremely populous. Earthquakes are here of such frequent occurrence, that the houses are all very slightly constructed; and the climate, also, is extremely unhealthy. These circumstances occasion most of the principal merchants to reside in the adjacent country, at all times except when business demands their attention in the town.
Several vessels, called “galleons,” laden with the precious metals, and with merchandise of other kinds, are every year sent, from this port, to Manila, in the Philippine islands; and others return, laden with the valuable productions of the East Indies. On the arrival of the latter, the town becomes populous and gay; and is then filled with the wealthiest merchants of Mexico and Peru. Such, however, is the general dread of its unhealthiness, that these do not sleep within the walls, but reside chiefly in tents in its vicinity.
At some distance east of Acapulco, in a beautiful and populous valley, stands the town of Guaxaca or Oaxaca; distinguished by the magnificence of its situation, the temperature and salubrity of its climate, the excellence of its soil, and its general majestic appearance. The streets are wide, straight, and well paved; and the houses are chiefly built of stone. The churches and monasteries are numerous, and richly decorated. On one side of the great square is the town-house, which is constructed with stone of a sea-green colour. The bishop’s palace and the cathedral form two other sides of the same square: they are surrounded by arcades, as a shelter against both the sun and the rain. In the suburbs of Guaxaca are gardens, and plantations of cactus or prickly pear-trees, on which great numbers of cochineal insects feed. Guaxaca is not only watered by a beautiful river, but is abundantly supplied, by aqueducts, with pure water from the adjacent mountains. Its population, including Indians, mulattoes, and negroes, amounts to about twenty-four thousand persons.
The intendancy of Yucatan forms a peninsula, about a hundred leagues in length, between the bays of Campeachy and Honduras. A ridge of low hills extends along it, from south-west to north-east; and, between this ridge and the Bay of Campeachy, the dry and parched soil produces logwood in great abundance and of excellent quality. For nearly five months, during the rainy season, the low grounds are partially inundated: in February the waters are dried up; and, throughout the remainder of the year, there is scarcely any stream to be found. Hence the inhabitants can only be supplied with fresh water by pits and wells. The eastern coast of Yucatan is so shallow and muddy, that large vessels cannot approach within four leagues of the shore. The chief productions of this peninsula are maize, cotton, indigo, and logwood.
The governor resides at a small inland town called Merida, situated on an arid plain, and containing about six thousand inhabitants. The principal sea-port is Campeachy, near the north-west extremity of the peninsula. This town has a good dock, and a fort which protects both the place and the harbour. The houses are chiefly built of stone. Campeachy has some cotton manufactories, and a trade in wax and salt; but its chief trade is in logwood.
Honduras is an important province, south of Yucatan. Its climate is superior to that of most other parts of America, within the torrid zone. With the exception of a few months in the year, it is refreshed by regular sea-breezes. The periodical rains are here excessively heavy. The dry season is usually comprehended within the months of April, May, and June; and the sun, during this time, is excessively powerful. This province is about three hundred and ninety miles in length, from east to west, and consists of mountains, valleys, and plains, watered by many rivers. Honduras abounds in honey, wax, cotton, corn, fruit, and dyeing woods. It has some gold and silver mines; and its pastures feed great numbers of sheep and cattle. Its vineyards yield grapes twice in the year; but, from indolence and want of cultivation, many parts of it have become desert.
There is a British settlement at a place called Balize, near the mouth of a river of the same name. This town is immediately open to the sea; and, though in a low situation, the groups of lofty cocoa-nut trees, and the thickly-interspersed and lively foliage of the tamarind trees, contribute to give a picturesque and pleasing effect to the dwellings of the inhabitants. The number of houses, of all descriptions, is about two hundred; and many of them, particularly such as are the property of the most opulent merchants, are spacious, commodious, and well finished. They are built of wood, and are generally raised eight or ten feet from the ground, on pillars of mahogany. The stores and offices are always on the lower, and the dining and sleeping apartments on the upper story. Every habitation, likewise, has its upper and lower piazzas, which are indispensably necessary in hot climates. Balize stands at the edge of a swamp many miles in extent, which prevents nearly all intercourse with the interior of the country.
The principal articles at present imported from Europe into Honduras, are linens, printed cottons, muslins of the most costly manufacture, negro clothing, broadcloths, hosiery, hats, shoes, boots, earthen and glass wares, silver and plated goods, hardware, and cutlery: salted provisions, from Britain or America, are also in continual demand for the food of the slaves.
Few countries possess greater commercial advantages, in an agricultural view, than this. The productions of the West Indian islands, might all unquestionably be cultivated here, as well as most others which are grown within the tropics. But the cutting of logwood and mahogany is the chief occupation of the British settlers. The banks of the river Balize have long been occupied by mahogany-cutters, even to the distance of two hundred miles from its mouth.
About thirty miles up the Balize, on its banks, are found what are denominated the Indian hills. These are small eminences, which are supposed to have been raised by Indians over their dead; human bones, and fragments of a coarse kind of earthenware, being frequently dug up from them.
Nicaragua is a Spanish province, between Honduras and the isthmus of Darien. It is about eighty leagues in length and fifty in breadth; and consists, for the most part, of high and wooded mountains, some of which are volcanic. The valleys are watered by many streams, but only one of these is of any importance. This is the river Yare, which runs, from west to east, through the northern part of the province. The most important productions of Nicaragua are timber, cotton, sugar, honey, and wax. The chief town is Leon de Nicaragua, a place of considerable trade, situated near the north-west border of the lake of Nicaragua; and in a sandy plain, at the foot of a volcanic mountain, several leagues from the sea.
From New Spain we must return northward, for the purpose of describing the British dominions of Nova Scotia and Canada.